What Defines A Soul?

by The Joeker

First published

I've asked this question before, but what makes a man a man? or a human a human? I've been looking for the answer for a while now, maybe I've found the answer and it's in front of me... I hope to find out, have you ever wondered what defines a soul?

[there might be no mane 6 in this story by the way]

Who am I? or... what am I? am I even human anymore?

Have you ever wondered what defines a soul? well I hope you find the answer, i really do, and when you do, let me know, because I'm still searching for my soul...

Well, I've died thrice now, and it's not that enjoyable, I either expected eternal damnation or ascension, but no, I was given another chance, by... well we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, you'll know who he is VERY soon, no worries.

I have been given a third chance at life now, but where am I? what time is it? who am I? why am I asking you these things? just read the story.

(And to warn you my char is kind of a Mary Sue but he will still get his ass kicked and many other things which show that no matter how badass you are, things can go horribly wrong, so don't dislike because of that fact because I warned you.)

Not a chance in- wait, where am I?

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Dead...

Again...

You know, just when I think it's over, it's not... at all...

I was in a car crash, lost my legs and died.

I was brought back as a cybernetically enhanced superhuman, and was blown up.

Then I met G-Man, who made me a deal to go to a world that needed me.

In said world, I did the heroic thing and sacrificed myself for them, earning me the gratitude of a nation or two, and a very stubborn Princess.

And the love of another, the lengths we go to, eh?

But it turns out that wasn't enough, as I now find myself in the void once more.

"When I said, 'We will never speak again.' it turns out I was wrong, Mr. Francis, and for that I apologise, as I am not usually wrong." said G-Man.

"Its fine, it was good while it lasted, a few hours." I chuckled, I was once more human, not a cyborg.

"However, this world still needs you, Mr. Francis." he said ominously... who the fuck am I kidding? everything he says is ominous.

"Ok…" I waited for him to elaborate.

"Hmm, I need to know I will have your full cooperation... Mr. Francis." he said.

"But of course sir." I said in a posh accent.

"Excellent, I have already placed your mortal body where you need to be, I also reconstructed it exactly to scale since you... errm... imploded, the bad part is it has been found by… shall we say… bad people or ponies in this case… and you went on a bit of a rant about something, you sang 'Voices' or 'Randy Orton's old theme song' and sparked something…"

"Wow... really?" I asked.

"Yes, luckily you were but a blurred illusion and not fully conscious or fully formed, and you may suffer slight memory loss when you wake up Mr. Francis." he said.

"I see… Francis… Basilli Francis… haha" I chuckled. "I assume you know?" I asked him.

"But of course, the question is: who do you trust enough?" he asked.

"Currently? no one…" I answered.

"All I will say Mr. Francis is relationships are not built on lies…" he said.

I looked at him quizzically.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You may… or indeed may not see, in time Mr. Francis, now then, are you willing to take another chance?" he asked.

"Of course." I answered; I seemed to be doing a lot of answering.

"You have something on your mind Mr. Francis?" asked G-Man.

"Yeah, what's your angle in this?" I asked.

"That is… not as simple a question as you think…" he… lied, he lied again!

"That is a lie." I stated.

"You are ever vigilant Mr. Francis, for seeing through me, which most people can't, and for what you've been through... you deserve an answer." he said.

"Thank you." I said in a 'finally!' type voice.

"My… dear little sister… Queen Galaxia, was the monarch before the sisters, she is with us somewhere in the abyss currently, as is my brother-in-law, they wanted some... protection for their daughters, insurance if you will as lately the tide of fate has been changing, and I obliged, I sent them you, you performed your duty admirably, however your fate was... premature." He said.

"Your brother and sister?" I asked.

"Yes, my dear baby sister wished only harmony on her world, and my brother 'Sol Flare' or King Cosmos as he is known now did also… and it ended… violently, they were lucky to get here, now I- hold on a second…" he said and picked up a phone. "Mmm hmmm, yes… yes… indeed." he said and put it down.

"Well…" I said, waiting for him to explain.

"I need to go for a minute Mr. Francis." He said and in the blink of my eye, disappeared.

"Huh, rude…" I mumbled.

"Yes, my brother is known for that particular characteristic." came a soft feminine voice and I spun around to reveal a bright, vibrant white pony, she was an Alicorn with a silver crown with a ruby in the center atop her head.

"Queen Galaxia." I greeted.

"Mr-" she started.

"Please ma'am, call me Baz Mr. Francis is- was my father." I said.

"Very well, if you call me Solana, that was my name before I was monarch." she replied.

"Yeah, sure whatever floats your boat." I said, and she laughed.

"You have no respect for authority, and I love it! too much, too often people used to grovel at my feet and beg for mercy, even though I wouldn't harm any of them." she said sadly.

"I'm sorry." I said, I truthfully didn't know what to say.

"I have also imprinted this trait in Lulu and Tia, Lulu might act like she wants to be worshipped, but she truly just wants to be loved, as does Tia, you wondered why she instantly returned your affection, didn't you?" she asked.

"Yeah, I didn't expect her to tell me she loved me, maybe she felt similar but not exactly the same, it surprised me, but I was too busy being on the brink od death to pay much mind." I said.

"You will find out why eventually, and I thank you for saving my great nieces kingdom, and for sacrificing yourself for it." she said.

"Yeah well… you know, now I can cross 'implode' off my bucket list of death." I chuckled.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about, you talk to people of authority so casually, and we need that." She chuckled.

"Ok, back to the point at hand, or hoof in your case respectively, I know roundabouts where I'm going but not exactly where." I said.

"You will find out soon enough, Baz." she said.

"So… Lulu and Tia huh?" I asked, trying to make small talk... to a fucking Alicorn.

"Yes, but they only use those names in each others company, and only dear friends call them that." she said.

"Sounds about right." I smiled.

"Yes, but... where you are going… is very dangerous." she said solemnly.

"…" I gestured to myself.

"Hahaha... really though…" she said and had a serious expression on.

"What? dangerous? Sombra is the most dangerous thing I've come across." I said truthfully.

"You will see what I mean…" she said.

"I suppose I will… first-hand." I replied.

"I wish I could help you in some way, but immortals like you and me sometimes must rest." she said.

"But I'm not immortal…" I replied.

"After being here physically you are, and those implants of yours increase your lifespan by tenfold anyway, a beneficial trait, I think for you." she said.

"Providing I don't implode again." we both laughed.

"Yes, I have to go now, farewell Baz." she said.

"Goodbye Solana." I waved as she ran into a white light away.

"I see you met my sister.. and you are even on a first name basis with her." said G-Man, who appeared through the portal she left.

"Yes, apparently so." I said.

"You must go now Mr. Francis, I may see you again." he said, and I started to fall...

What the fuck?

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I'm awake... what the fuck happened?

How did I...?

As far as I remember... I- I don't remember anything at all... worrying.

I bolted up out of bed-

Wait, bed? when did I...?

Hang on... where am I?

Well, in a dark room to be precise, but where exactly in the world? Russia? I could be for all I know, I could even be on an alien planet! hope I wasn't probed.

Wait… I could hear voices on the other side of the door… hopefully they can help me.

I put my ear to it and listened and I could hear them perfectly… with no muffle… weird.

"That thing sang a song that rang out from Witherford to here, it spurred some of the non-blessed on and sparked a revolution in some non-believers."

"Yeah... plus, I found an odd shape that seemed to be materialising, I brought it here in case it's a bomb!" said an obviously crazy person.

"A bomb? Ahhhhhhh!" shouted another.

"Yeah yeah it's in there." he said quickly, both these people were crazy…

"What? No no no! we need to dispose of it!" said the other, meanwhile I collected a small knife and as the door opened I stood behind it, I snapped the persons neck and threw my knife into the other some kind of bodily instinct made me faster than usual, with reflexes- what the fuck!?

Ponies just walked into my room… fucking ponies! What the fuck?!

They must be trained, their owners must have ordered them to check on me

I found a sword in a holster on my back and wielding it just felt… right.

Wait… this was the sword from MGS… and I felt something moving in the back of my head…

I let it out somehow and I suddenly had computer interface in front of me, and it said:

'Welcome, Project Ezekiel.' my legs felt… odd… like they aren't natural, before I could vocally ask the computer it seemed to be connected to my subconscious and able to detect when I wanted to ask it something.

"Your new legs are 100% cybernetic, and your real ones were lost in a [DATA EXPUNGED]" damn! Classified info meant the government got their hands on me… for whatever reason…

I also realised I could fight and look at the interface because I heard:

"What th-" before a slicing was heard, and I figured out how to bring my visor down, I was covered in blood and so was my blade, the thing is, I felt myself move and I was moving myself consciously but at the same time I wasn't, it's like I know what to do and I do it without sending my brain the signal, I just killed a pony without paring him a glance...

I looked in a very small mirror and saw myself… cyborg ninja…

I'd always dreamt of being Gray Fox… but to actually be him…

I experimented with a few things to get the hang of everything... I needed answers, and I wasn't finding them standing around.

I 'retracted' my suit and left.

I walked away and went out before I triggered a trap, I jumped backward, but a swinging spear (imagine a log trap from SW:TROTJ where the Ewoks use swinging logs to take down an AT-AT but replace them with spears)pierced my shoulder, I knew to not retract my suit unless I'm definitely safe.

I snuck past some guards with some awesome acrobatic moves, I still couldn't see any human owners maybe they left…

I got to the exit door and opened it… what the fuck…?

It looked like old New York.

Old New York in the middle of a fucking zombie apocalypse!

There was a sign that says Manehatten... maybe it was a joke?

I turned and saw some 'crazed ponies'; they had green dilated eyes and ragged fur!

"There! he is untouched by the God of Chaos' glory!" shouted a human pack leader I guess, I mean ponies can't talk and a bunch started to run after me, god my brother would love this, he loved zombie invasion stuff and always wanted one to happen…

My brother, my family… they must be worried about me… I need to get back.

I sprinted through the streets, avoiding crowds of the bastards as I went.

I could fucking sprint fast! And I never ran out of breath as much as I used to!

I saw I was surrounded on all sides so I fucking Prince of Persia'd that shit!

I kept going through the city, getting away from the things as best I could, which was pretty amazingly well with my new legs!

What the fuck was going on though?

Some kind of Ponyocoplypse?

Whatever's going on it's fucked up, I can say that at the least...

I kept running away from these crazed animals, there were so many of them...

Eventually I got into an alley and hid from them.

"Whew... close one..." I breathed.

I saw the massive hoard still running past, how many were after me? there must have been a few thousand at least.

"Time to move." I said as the last of them were gone and I ran in the opposite direction.

"Time to find someone who can help my sorry ass." I said and ran again to get as far away from the bloodthirsty ponies as possible.

Just what the fuck was going on exactly? zombified ponies? I sure as hell hope not!

Just where can I go for help though? it's not as if help is in an abundant supply... and what did that unseen person mean?

'God of Chaos' glory...' maybe some kind of cult? probably.

"Ok... time to move." I said.

But as I was running I noticed a shop that was selling science supplies... hmm...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzq_l4UlA00

Done... I'll have a nice surprise for these zombie bastards...

I headed to what I assume is the town square.

I hid behind a wall and heard voices.

"Are they all gone?"

"Yes, all the revolutionaries have either fled, died or have joined our cause!!!" I heard them leave and kept moving through the back alleys.

I saw the town center and placed the merchandise down.

"Ok... time to fucking leg it!" I said to myself and sprinted to the outskirts of town.

(Maybe add your own dramatic music to the background)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7guNNC2QEKo

I kept running until-

(Might wanna turn your sound down)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNxfYWA08JM

I turned around and put my hand on my brow as if trying to look far away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j2n0ba2__0

I have no idea how the blueprints for that bomb found their way into my head... but damn... a small nuke, enough for a city, no fallout as far as the rest of the world outside 0.5 miles of Ground Zero.

-Meanwhile, Princess Celestia's POV-

As me and Luna marched with our small army to Manehattan to take it from Discord's minions or even destroy it.

Suddenly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNxfYWA08JM

"Shiiiiit..." said a guard, but a glare from Luna made him button up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsqZ33ZMnC8

"Well... somepony took'st care of that for us..." said Luna, it was true, less casualties for them, suddenly a note landed in front of them that said all civilians were taken to 'Chaos Camps' and none were caught in the explosion because every citizen had either escaped or been taken, she also felt a presence... a familiar one, as if it delivered the note in case they thought the pony that did this was out to get them...

It appeared Luna felt it too, but neither sibling pressed.

"Indeed dear sister, come we must away to the Chaos Camps." said Celestia as they marched onward...


Meanwhile the man now known as Gray Fox marched...

Imagine the army and Baz walking away through what appears to be a desert on a split screen, with a camera flashing over the Princesses faces and Baz's face to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXGOorzqtgQ

Bombs a fallin'... Death's a callin'!

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I jumped the wall of the 4th base I've taken out I started sprinting, this place even had sirens somehow...

Suddenly the timer on my interface beeped.

(start the first vid first and then the second straight after its finished to get the timing correct)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5dMD9B9OS4

And suddenly...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uj74a78lZw

I was thrown by the force of the blast because I wasn't far away enough.

I felt the radioactive wind go rushing over me and suddenly it all went black...


-£rr0r... c0nn£cttttt111ng... coooooon£ct10n £stttta6l1sh£d...-


-Earlier... Fillydelphia... time... 0900 hours...-

Ok... so I'm now in Philadelphia, but it's spelt Fillydelphia, maybe the ponies rename every city they capture, it looked like Victorian maybe... early era Philadelphia? I still have no clue what time period it is, I've overheard conversations of the last 2 bases I've taken out of a 'Discord' who sounds like a God to these, but I've never caught a glimpse of the humans saying it... or any humans for that matter... weird... maybe they use camo like me... but that would contradict the Medieval/Victorian setting...

I've also heard talk of a resistance movement against this so-called 'god'.

As I snuck through the streets I Assassin's Creed'd that shit and hid in hay piles... something that proved a problem at one point as a pony stated to munch through it and I had to escape out of the opposite side of the stack.

You'd be surprised to know that these people/ponies keep the ingredients for building nukes lying around their shops... seriously though, it astounds me.

I crept through the backstreets to get to where I was going... town center, I'll give you 3 guesses why...

-Meanwhile, in the Base of The Two Sisters(the castle isn't built yet and it's in a secret location)-

"Sister! another enemy stronghold hath been obliterated with none of thy or civilian casualties alike, whomever this pony is, he or she is immensely dangerous thy sister, but luckily enough on our side, we request a small platoon to accompany us to the site to find any evidence." said Luna

"We need thou here thy sister, to help us coordinate our army-" *ground shakes*

"Your highnesses! Fillydelphia has been blown up!" said the Captain.

The two sisters looked at each other.

"With 100% enemy casualties, all of our ponies were freed by an unknown force." said the Private who ran in with him.

"Hmm, this 'unknown force' is very powerful... to simply explode something..." said Luna.

"Indeed... we must find out who this pony is." said Celestia.


-Present time...-

Suddenly I woke up, in the same location I passed out in, I had to get out of there.

I got up and ran from Ground Zero of my latest attack against these bastards.

I plant the bomb in town centers so I have access to all escape routes, but this time I misplaced it, I only had one exit that was sealed off...


-30 minutes ago, Baltimore Baltimare-

As I turned around I saw a whole army of ponies between me and the exit... the only exit...

I unsheathed my sword and held it by my side, the flat of the blade facing in front and behind me.

I leapt into the air and impaled a pony through his back.

I then spun around and cut another's head off as they started to attack me.

I dodged hoof and hindleg alike as I cut a swath through the horde, opting to wall run and parkour where I could.

I was surrounded on all sides but I was managing to fight with grace.

-On a building above, Captain Lucky Horseshoe's POV-

As I watched the fight unfold, I couldn't properly see the one who was fighting against the crazies, but the way he wielded that strange sword was like art... the way he was cutting through the buckers like they were nothing!

If he was on our side the Princesses would love to meet him! he has the grace of a Pegasus in flight, the patience and level headedness of an Alicorn, the knowledge of pony anatomy and where to hit is like a unicorn and the strength of an Earth Pony!

He also managed to free our soldiers and some civilians who survived, he was doing what he could to help us!

I instantly flew away to alert the Princesses of this...

-Present time-

"Computer, check infections." I said, I'd also played around with the computer's commands a little so I know what to say now.

"None, radiation has been implemented in lead lined darts for use." it said.

"Cool." I said and kept walking to my next target.

I didn't even know both sides of the story... well too late now, I've already blown up one sides bases, looks like I chosen my side...

Apparently the resistance leaders are Celestia and Luna, both Princesses, but 'pretenders' to Discord minions, I read some book written and it appears that they are the rightful rulers by bloodline, born to King Cosmos and Queen Galaxia, but Discord stole it out from under them, from what I've read states Discord is somewhat of a Demigod, that may be but I've yet to meet something that can outsmart a cannon shot...

Oh yeah I found out I have this awesome cannon! I think it's a Vulcan Cannon! sweet!

As I walked I noticed I was in a forest and decided to test something...

I jumped into the trees and let instinct take over, I jumped from branch to branch like a lemur or whatever and kept moving, enjoying myself on the way to my next target.

-Meanwhile-

"Your majesties!" said Horseshoe as he literally lay down on the floor in front of the sisters.

"Go ahead thy guard, what news hath you?" asked Celestia.

"I saw the one responsible for eliminating Discord's bases your highness, he blew up Baltimare! but on his way out, he used a strange sword, and he was eliminating Discords forces like it was nothing!" he said, both sisters looked at each other.

"He has magic?" asked Luna.

"I do not know your highness, he didn't seem to use a magic field to wield the weapon." said the Captain.

"Hmm, I-" started Celestia.

"Your majesties! forgive my interruption, but the scavengers for the supplies to build the castle are back!" he said.

"And? how is this important enough for an interruption?" asked Luna.

"Because, they said they dropped the bag and it got surrounded by crazies, and they left it so they wouldn't be followed back here, but the bag was placed outside of our base in front of the men, with this note:" said a guard as the Princesses levitated it to read it.

-10 minutes ago-

As I leapt from branch to branch I noticed two ponies walking along, suddenly they were attacked by crazies and dropped some kind of really heavy bag that they had to carry between them.

I saw the crazies watch them run and took my chance, I activated my camo and jumped down, picked up the bag no problem and jumped back into the trees, when they turned around the look the gave was hilarious as I jumped after the ponies, I found them running to a massive underground energy signature that must lead to the rebels base... hell, I sound like Darth Vader if I say that out loud.

I wrote out a letter as they ran toward m and dropped the bag in front of them as they descended the stairs into the base.

-Meanwhile, the Princesses started reading the letter-

'Dear Your Royal Highnesses Princess Celestia & Princess Luna'

'Here are the supplies your guards dropped, I give them to you in good faith. If ever you wish to set up a meeting, leave a note outside of your base, '

'Yours Faithfully'

'Gray Fox'

Who am I?

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Not long after I left both Princesses the letter, I kept delivering them the supplies until they left me a letter saying they didn't need anymore, I had also set up camp outside of the base but had it hidden.

I also learned of their plan to overthrow Discord, not long after and I planned to join in.

SInce Discord had lost most of his support they decided to attack, they left me a letter saying they would like to see me after the attack.

Little did they know they would see me much sooner...

I waited for them to begin the march and walked beside them in camo as they did, we marched across a checkered landscape with flying fish... I would be surprised but hey, I learned about flying ponies and unicorn yesterday and spent last night staring at the wall trying to contemplate this change of events, I went from school kid to cyborg ninja, damn my life took a u-turn and landed in the wrong place.

They seemed to be without any humans, they must be meeting the leaders there.

I walked next to two Alicorns, and suddenly:

"ATTACK!" and we were swarmed by crazies.

The two Alicorns at the front were swarmed.

"Charlie Alpha November November Oscar November!" I shouted and jumped in front of the Princesses like Ray McCall and shot my cannon.





I took out about 8 ponies with my cannon.

I landed and pumped the top like a shotgun and got ready for more.



I blasted more ponies away with it before it let out a 'click' to signify it's out of ammo.

I clamped my mask shut and retracted my cannon and pulled my sword out and got into a fighting stance, I could imagine my name coming up MG style with awesome dramatic music or some awesome dialogue.

As the horde ran at us I sliced my blade through the air, only the sound of the blade cutting through air was heard and about 5 ponies fell dead, I backflipped as a magic blot sailed under me and I landed beside the Princesses, not that they knew because of my stealth camouflage.






I deflected magic bolts as they were thrown at me and I Jumped and front flipped into the crowd before swinging in a circle with my blade extended, cleaving flesh from bone with each pass, I stopped and was dizzy, and an enemy took advantage and headbutted my stomach sending me a few feet away.

I opened the bottom of my mask and spat some blood out before resealing it.

I jumped up, but as he moved to block the sword I opted to land on his head and crush his skull.

I went to return to battle but saw a bad sign.

I noticed they had ambushed and outflanked the army who were getting their asses kicked.

I noticed the two Alicorns were leggin- err hoofing it, to the forest I couldn't blame them, these soldiers knew what they were getting into, but now I had a choice, go with the Alicorns, or help the soldiers...

I decided to do the former and ran into the forest, leaping the trees, keeping up with the Alicorns, admittedly they were walking but they already had a head start.

-Meanwhile, Celestia and Luna's POV-

"Sister, we just left our soldiers, was that wise?" asked Luna.

"They can handle themselves, even so, we have to get to our objective." said Celestia.

Suddenly a crazed pony jumped at Luna and she fell over, trying to crawl away from the beast that was about to pounce.

It was about to bite her neck and Celestia couldn't react quick enough.

"LUNA!" yelled Celestia as her little sister was about to be bled to death when suddenly a blur was seen go flying by and the crazed pony ceased movement before his head fell off and Luna was motionless.

"Luna... are you ok?" asked Celestia.

"I... I was almost..." she said before shaking her head, truth be told they were both new to killing, they had been taught the complete opposite at birth and still had trouble coping.

"Come on Luna, get up." smiled Celestia and helped her sister up.

"What was that?" groaned Luna as she got up

"I think that was our friend, our helper who destroyed Discord's towns... come little sister, we mustn't dwell, we need to move, the cave is just yonder, we must get there verily." said Celestia and they continued walking.

-In the trees ahead-

"I see a massive energy signature up ahead." said the computer, I asked it where it was likely they were headed.

"Ok, thanks." I said and jumped a few trees ahead, I saw a group of ponies awaiting the Princesses and decided to give them a surprise...

-Meanwhile, just outside the entrance to the cave... Celestia's POV-

"Come Luna, we mu-" I started before a pony came flying into the brush with a yell and he hit a tree beside us, smashing his face and killing him.

We heard intense magic use ahead and peered into the clearing, we saw a pony getting smashed against the right cliff wall, killing him and we saw static as a unicorn attempted to shoot where he;d seen the static but was picked up seemingly and thrown into the wall beside him on the left, suddenly we saw another static outline and one got his chest sliced before also getting smashed into the wall on the right, another static showed the thing simply walking down the road toward the unicorns for a split second and the group of crazed unicorns concentrated fire there but no magic was hitting it.

And then one flew into the wall and kept getting smashed into it repeatedly, blood splattering the wall on the third smash, by then the 'crazies' abandoned their friend and fired at him, only to just hit his corpse as it was thrown at them and broke one of their necks, suddenly this... thing landed in a crouch after seemingly staticing into existence, facing the last unicorn and jumping behind him before tripping him and cutting him in half!

Luna and I were gagging at the blood and the smell of blood, but we saw a unicorn laying on the floor who'd survived their friend being thrown at them, it shot rapid magic at him but it was deflected almost too fast for the eyes to see but we were ALicorns so we could, but even we couldn't actually see his hand moving, it seemed as if some other entity was deflecting it, but there wasn't, the unicorns horn fizzed and getting up, prepared their horn to impale.

"Take this!" he shouted but the thing grabbed his horn and did the impossible... it tore his horn off with a claw and sliced his chest open, everything going quiet as the corpse hit the floor.

We saw the entrance to the cave was blocked as we burst into the clearing, and we saw the last unicorn impaled on his blade that was pointed at the sky and the thing was facing us, but the unicorn in the blade was facing his assailant.

"It- it's a... ghost..." He said before the thing did a 180* and kicked him(roundhouse kick) through the rocks blocking the cave, killing him and mashing the rocks out of the way, he then static'd out of existence again, the only evidence being the corpses left to rot.

"Sister... did thou see that...?" asked Luna in disbelief at the scene.

"Yes... we have made a dangerous ally Luna." I said.

We walked into the cave, unaware of the static outline sparking next to us for a second before disappearing again.

Suddenly we saw it!

"The Tree of Harmony..." said Luna, suddenly a pony was thrown from behind the tree and landed in front of us, dead upon impact, and there was now a bloodstain in front of us, what followed was a masked thing, in a black and orange metal suit.

It landed with a thud in front of us.

We were silent for a second.. unsure of what to say...

Before...

Harmony in Equestria.

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As both Gray Fox and the Alicorn Princesses stood face to muzzle, no pony or no one spoke at first, there was silence...

"He was waiting for you both." said Fox, the voice was robotic and raspy as he gestured to the broken body.

"Who art thou?" asked Luna suddenly but collapsed as did Celestia, Fox hadn't seen but they took some hits, truth be told so did Fox.

"I... am Grey Fox(the spelling of grey will be changed sometimes)" he introduced and held his... claw? out for me, Luna took it cautiously and he helped her up, he looked a little shell shocked from something, and he didn't speak royal voice, so the sisters played it safe and used normal Equish..

Truth be told he was doing a double take... there were no humans... the ponies had been talking all along, when the pony said 'It's- it's a ghost...' he thought he was imagining it.

He then helped Celestia up before we turned to the tree, they locked eyes for a second and looked away.

"What are you doing here? This is a place of great power, I can sense it, absolute power corrupts absolutely, give me a reason why anyone should have it." he said. and turned his head slightly.

"You mustn't be from here, above this cave a mad monarch rules, me and my sister seek to stop it." said Celestia and Fox laughed.

He looked us up and down critically before he and he nodded, both sisters blushed under his stare, they felt intimidated... yet humbled when he nodded at them.

"Yes... I gathered as much, you may have noticed my handiwork as the smoking craters in the landscape." he said.

"Yes, we noticed, may I?" asked Celestia, it was not often Celestia asked to do something, Fox nodded to her.

She cast her magic on the tree and the elements showed themselves… except one that was locked in a box...

"Are you sure?" asked Luna and flew up next to her sister while Fox perched on a branch next to them.

"We have managed to discover the only means by which we can defeat Discord and free the citizens of Equestria, even without these elements, the Tree of Harmony will possess a powerful magic, as long as that magic remains, it will continue to control and contain all that grows here, but what is this?" asked Celestia referring to the box.

This 'Gray Fox' jumped up and claimed the box and it opened to reveal a bright light.

He seemed to gasp in surprise.

"Memories..." he said, he also sensed another presence here... but that presence wasn't actually here however.

"What?" asked Celestia.

He seemed to bring it to his head, it turned black in the room for a second but it returned to normal after a second.

"Nothing..." he said as Celestia claimed the Elements, he looked at both sisters... they looked so regal with their wings out, he averted his gaze as thy landed.

"We are ready..." said Luna with a smile.

"Good, lets go." said Fox and disappeared again.

"He certainly is a mystery." said Luna.

"Yes I am." he said in Luna's ear and she jumped with a blush.

"Don't you agree?" he asked Celestia, who also blushed as she felt him next to her, both sisters felt safe when he was near, as if nothing could touch them, in face he most like meant to startle them but he got a bigger reaction than that, they both walked out.

-Gray Fox's POV-

I reappeared and walked beside the sisters as we headed to Discord's throne, we saw the bodies of the army and the crazies but deadpanned our faces and continued on.

"So wh-" Fox went to ask but the mad laughter of Discord cut in as they approached the throne.

"Oh, this is so much fun. How about a game of 'Pin the Tail on the Pony'?" said Discord, but before he could use his trickery magic something stopped him in his tracks.

"Oh, what is this? nice animal, wherever did you find it?" he asked, truth be told he was nervous, this thing's face was pure metal, and emotionless.

"A sharp tongue is no indication of a keen mind, Discord." replied Fox.

"Ahh! it speaks! and it knows my name." said Discord a if he were flattered

"Playtime is over for you, Discord." said Celestia.

The thing cracked its claws and even though it had a metal face Discord could tell... it was excited... it wanted to be let loose on him...

"Oh, I doubt that. Hungry?" asked Discord as he munched, he noticed the thing eyeing the ground where they were dropping... it was on to him!

"Very, but I don't take food from those who I've come across decomposed bodies that are less offensive than they are." he said, Discord started sweating because he was nervous, he had just noticed the sharp piece of metal on the things back...

"Suit yourselves... oh! What have you got there?" he asked as the Princesses wielded the Elements.

"The Elements of Harmony." replied Celestia.

"With them, we shall defeat you." said Luna.

"Well, I see you defeated my minions! and who's this? a visitor?" he asked as he appeared next to Fox.

-Fox's POV-

I instantly punched him square in the jaw, he went flying and landed hard on the ground

"uu bwoke why jawr!" he said as he tried to get it back in place.

I started landing blows on him before giving him an uppercut and he went flying and was almost knocked out.

"Sister now!" shouted Celestia.

both sisters charged some kind of energy and it passed to me somehow, a ball of magic surrounding us

"Got it! my jaw's fine! Oh what's this?" he asked as we charged up

They shot a beam of rainbows at him and I added a dark taint to it, they obviously tried to drain his power, as it subsided he had turned to stone.

"That didn't go as planned." said Celestia as she collapsed.

"We... agree." said Luna as she collapsed as well.

I looked at them, partially drained myself.

"Ok..." I simply said and I slung them both over my shoulder and headed to the partially built castle that was close, the world seemed to be recovering from the madness that overtook it.

I kicked the door open and limped forward, I was actually hit bad back there.

"Great, we're in a land of ponies... and I'm lucky enough to be trapped here terrfukingriffic." I said as I walked into a room and put them on the bed.

I suddenly noticed a crazed pony jumped at me, I deflected blow after blow, he charged at me and I went flying through the wall back outside.

I kicked his chin and he went flying.

The Princesses woke up and ran to help but... shit! he hit the timer on one of my smaller bombs!

I threw it away and ran back.

"Get down!" I yelled, they put personal shields (body shields) up and I dived on top of them so their shields would stay up and the bomb threw me far into the forest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngXjJoNCzu4

The explosion threw me off into the forest, and threw the sisters back to the throne, it got me badly, my suit was partially destroyed and it retracted, as did my visor, my sword was intact I think...

I smashed through the trees of the forest, damn near smashing my body to pieces, I landed hard somewhere within the forest...

-Meanwhile, back at Discords old throne-

Both sisters deactivated their shields and turned over on their backs to face each other.

"Sister, art thou ok?" asked Celestia.

"Yes, our shields would not have held if it wasn't for Grey Fox." she said.

"He was thrown into the forest by the explosion!" said Celestia.

Both sisters jumped up and turned, seeing the broken trees, they followed the trail, not knowing that he had already been dragged away by two ponies.

They both went back to the partially finished castle and deactivated the invisibility spell, which Fox could see through...

"We... failed him sister... he... he was destroyed." cried Luna, he saved her life twice!

"Yes... we did." said Celestia, also crying.

"We should put his name on the list of names who helped construct the castle, he did provide the materials after all." said Luna as they entered the castle.

"We shall Luna." said Celestia as the partially finished castle's door shut with their magic...

To subjugate another is to subjugate oneself.

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-The Abyss-

I opened my eyes and I was... in a spectral plane... was I dead?

"No, you are not dead." came a voice, I turned around to reveal a white Alicorn, with a dark blue mane at the top that trailed into peach coloured, it was very glittery and she had a swirling circle on her flank and her wing looked as if it were made of flame... then there was the one who spoke, a dark blue, almost black Alicorn with a mane of light purple that had a center of dark purple, and his wings were.. odd, parts of them floating.

"You are simply dreaming." said the mare.

"Just fantastic, who are you again?" I asked.

"King Cosmos."

"Queen Galaxia." they greeted.

"Fox, Grey Fox." I introduced and held my hand out, they glanced at each other and began laughing, and it was contagious because I joined in! I wasn't a cyborg anymore either...

"We just told you we are King and Queen and you held your hand out! for a shake!" laughed Cosmos.

"Oh, that was good, most of the time when we introduced ourselves our ponies used to grovel at our feet... we just wished to fit in..." said Galaxia.

"Sorry your highnesses." I said and did a fake bow.

"So you were the right choice." said Cosmos.

"Pardon your maje-" I started.

"You can call us by our first names, you saved our babies after all." said Galaxia.

"Although they are not little anymore." said Cosmos.

"Princess Celestia and Luna?" I asked.

"Yes, Tia and Lulu." said Galaxia sadly.

"We cannot enter their dreams, we used to guide them and advise them sometimes, but now we can't, and we have no idea why." said Cosmos.

"They do not even need it anymore, we just wish to say goodbye." said Galaxia.

"Which is why you were the correct choice." Cosmos stated.

"Choice? choice for what?" I asked.

"They are lonely... both of them... more than they care to admit." said Galaxia.

"Yes, they are..." confirmed Cosmos.

"You will find out eventually, we fear the next part of your life will be... trying." said Galaxia.

"Yes, we wish we could help you... but alas we cannot." said Cosmos.

"Thanks, I guess." I said.

"We must go now, good luck Grey Fox..."


-3 months later Grey Fox's POV-

As I woke up I noticed something rather strange... I was in a bed... a poster bed... was I back- ahh!

Goddamnit everything hurts!

I sat up and I saw a mare walk in with a picture of soap on her flank... I remembered they could talk... but not much else... Discord, I remember that... two others helped me... who were they? the face to the name... hell even the name is hard to remember.

"Excuse me miss, could I get some water?" I asked, I noticed my normal clothes on a side table, a black hoodie, a beanie gray hat, Slazenger trainers, black Nike trackies and under my hoodie a plain black top.

She gasped and ran out, I got up and tried to get my armor, but it was damaged.

A second later she came back in with a... posh pony? is that possible?

She held a tray in her mouth and I took the water, mouthing a thank you and I drank.

"Ah, good, our guest is awake, come downstairs when you're ready." said the posh pony.

I finished my water and dressed myself, I opened my bedroom door to reveal a massive interior, there must be about 10 bedrooms!

I headed to the stairs and holy shit...




It was amazing!

I headed to the library, where the maids directed me to.




Even the library was grand! I saw the posh pony sitting on a chair that looked fit for humans and I sat down by him.

"Mares, get us some refreshments." said the posh pony.

They complied and walked out.

"This is a very nice house." I said.

"It is, isn't it? my name is Gilded Cage but it's Mr. Gilded to you." he said.

"G-" I stopped. "Jaeger, Frank Jaeger" I replied.

The maids brought our refreshments in and quickly left.

I had some cake and tea.

"Enjoying yourself?" asked Gilded.

"Yes." I said.

"Good, I cannot wait to parade my new pet in front of the others." he said- wait what?

"I ain't a pe-" I stopped as his horn flared and he zapped me with a jolt of painful electricity, suddenly a collar appeared on me! a shock collar.

"Ahhh!" I yelled and fell to the floor on my knees.

"Save your bowing for the Princesses, the Gala is coming up in a week or two, and I want you tamed before then, lets begin, up." he said.

"Fuck- ahhhh!" I yelled as he zapped me.

"That word was dangerously close to 'buck' so shall we try that again? get up." he demanded and I refused.

He zapped me again and I yelled out.

"Get... up." he said.

"No." I said.

"How dare you disobey me?! I am Gilded Cage! I am distantly related to Starswirl the Bearded! you are a bucking animal! fit and bred for nothing other than obeying!" he said and continued to zap me.

He got me in a magic bubble, which tired him out and he threw me at a wall, which spun into a secret ro- oh fuck...

It was a torture room!

He came in after me and put me in a newly designed rack, obviously made for me specifically. because the bonds were damned near impossible to break, even for me.

"You should be thankful! I dragged you out of that forest and healed you!" he said and got a knife ready, and got my top off, neatly at least.

He cut into my side and I never made a sound.

"Ah, I see you're resilient." he said and picked up what looked like something that goes around your neck, except he clamped it around my head and activated electricity.

"Mmmmmm." I groaned rather than yelled.

"Hmm, very resilient." he said and punched me with a hoof, to my satisfaction is hurt him as well.

"Ahh, you're made of strong stuff." he said and grinned evilly.

He picked up a... cattle brand?

"This will signify you are my property!" he said and seared my chest.

This time I let out an:

"Ow! fuck!" and he hit me in the face with the hot part of the brand.

"Ahh ahh ahh... no swearing." he said and waved the tool like a finger in the 'no' fashion.

"Fuck you!" I said.

"We will continue tomorrow, oh, and don't try to sleep, each time you do, you will be zapped, good day." he said cheerily and walked out.

-7 hours later-

As I struggled to keep my consciousness I saw the wall open and a maid walked in.

I then write against my bonds.

"It's ok, I;m not here to hurt you, just clean you up, the master wants you clean for his session in a few minutes." she said.

I ceased struggling and resigned to the cleaning.

"I'm sorry, you don't deserve this." she said.

"How did you end up in his service?" I asked.

"He bought me from a different noble, promised I would be safe..." she muttered.

"I'm sorry." I said.

"It's fine, the bastard will get what he deserves one day." said the maid.

"What is your name?" I asked.

"Bright Spot, kind of out of place." she chuckled.

"You should run away Bright Spot, go." I said.

"I can't, he has these collars on us as well, some of the other girls have had it worse than me, I take solace in that, but maybe that's because I'm not as old as the others." she said.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"13, going on 14." she said.

"Holy fuck..." I aid and was zapped as Gilded walked in.

"Remember what I said... ah good, you cleaned him, back to your duties." said Gilded to Bright Spot who bowed and quickly left, throwing me a sympathetic look.

"Lets start again, how was your night?" asked Gilded.

"Sleepless." I growled.

"Excellent!" he said and let me down, I lunged for him but apparently if I ame within a certain proximity of him the collar set off and I fell to the floor grabbing at it.

"If you tamper with it, it will make it tighter." he grinned.

I stopped and he led me out of the room, we went back to the foyer and he put a leash on me... a fucking leash!

I started toward him but the collar set off again.

"You'd think an animal would learn." he said condescendingly and walked out of the house, dragging me along, after a minute he let me stand and walk.

We walked the street of what I assumed to be a grand city, honestly, I didn't care.

I held my head up proudly as I walked and he stopped at a stall.

"Hello Fresh Fruit! do you have my order?" asked Gilded.

"Yes, I do, what is that?" asked Fruit, referring to me.

I was about to speak but he did it for me.

"Thi is my new pet." he said.

"I can speak for myself..." I said and he zapped me.

"You refer to me as Master, got it?" he asked.

I begrudgingly complied.

"Animals should learn their place." said Fruit and turned away, he pulled me along to some of his stuck up friends.

"I say, what is that old bean?" asked a pony with a monocle.

"This is my new pet, I found him in the forest, I have been trying to tame him." said Gilded, that was it! I charged at him and the collar activated and I fell.

"You see? he is kept in line." he said, but I got up and this time I resisted the shock, I kept moving toward him.

"Stop! I command you! stop!" he said, he turned the voltage higher.

I kept moving toward him, he was backed into a wall.

"You will obey!" he yelled and allowed me to pass out, which I did...

Torture, Tar and Feathers...

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Suddenly I woke up back on the rack, my body was burnt in places from the electricity and still felt tingly, my neck was stinging something awful.

I saw Bright Spot come in again and she applied a cold wet cloth to the burns.

"Ahh.." I grimaced at it and she pulled back for a second before I nodded.

"You were brave to stand up to him like that." she said.

"The fuck do you care?!" I snapped, she was taken aback and so was I.

"I... I'm so sorry..." I said.

"It is ok, it's a side effect of the torture, mood swings." he said.

"Ahh... your boss uses the word 'obey' loosely." I stated.

"He... I think he is a control freak, he thinks you are simply an animal, and we are better and more dominant, he wants control of everything." she said.

Suddenly he burst in and gestured to her, she nodded and left.

"Will you submit?" he asked.

"Burn in hell horsey." I said.

"Alas, we must continue." he said and got a length of rope.

"Wha-" I cut off and started choking and gagging as he laced the rope like Hitman around my neck and pulled with his magic, because I was on a rack it choked me.

He kept going, I almost lost consciousness but that zap thing kept me awake, he let go after 50 seconds and I gasped for air.

"Now I must resort to the crudest torture..." he said and got a hammer in his magic.

"Bring it bitch." I coughed.

He hit my ribcage first and I grunted.

"I will break you." he said and hit my face on the cheek.

"You can try!" I spat blood in his muzzle

"You will yield." he said and hit my kneecap, it hurt but only a little because they connected nerves to my legs but they were not as prominent.

"I will persevere."

"You will obey me." he said and hit me... there... and I yelled in agony.

-4 hours later-

After 4 hours he never stopped, just kept going...

"Submit." he said.

"Go... to.. hell." I said and he smacked me hard in the face with the hammer and it broke on impact, Gilded was panting from the force he used.

I was bleeding really badly.

"I have one more thing." he said manically.

Two maids brought in two tubs.

"Ever heard of tarring and feathering? it is a favorite of the nobles here." he smiled in glee... I could smell the burning tar.

"You have caused me a lot of trouble, and I intend to make you pay." he said.

"Bring it on sweetheart." i smiled back at him defiantly.

A few moments later I felt my clothes being removed and he laughed.

"I'm going to enjoy this and savour it." said Gilded

And then I felt boiling tar being poured, and I wailed in agony, it was modern tar, not pine tar.

"AHHHHHH!!!! FUUUUUUCKKKK!" I screamed as the boiling substance wa applied... and then rubbed all over me with magic.

"Time for the feathers!" he squealed and poured the tub over me.

I was covered from head to torso in feathers that burned into my skin, he then used a spell to cool it.

"Ah, I saved the best for last... but we can't have you walking around like that as my pet! we must cut the feathers out!" he said and got a scalpel out and started cutting into my skin.

I wailed and cried, I'm not ashamed to admit.

I suddenly started thinking:

"Go to your happy place, go to your happy place..."

Suddenly I felt my mind uplifting... and I was in my dream...

"Welcome back." said Galaxia solemnly, I was in perfect health here, but somewhere in my mind.

"What happened? why am I here?" I asked.

"You are having an out of body experience, your subconscious has decided to protect itself and has closed it's doors and now you are here although this is real, make no mistake." said Cosmos.

"So, what now?" I asked.

"We could not tell you..." said Cosmos.

"It pains us to see another being in so much pain." said Galaxia with tears streaming down her face.

"Hey hey, it's ok, I'll pull through, don't I always?" I chuckled, where did that come from? I've only ever met them once.

"I suppose." she said and smiled at me, I looked at Cosmos who had a soft expression on his face.

"What the fuck are you staring at? got a problem? fuckface?!" I blurted out and clamped a hand over my gob, but Cosmos held that fatherly expression.

"I... I-" I was cut off as he put a hoof around me and hugged me.

"It is ok, I know." he said.

-Galaxia's POV-

And he cried... he cried into my King's shoulder... to see such a strong character, a strong man, break down like this...

He was one of the strongest individuals we know, my brother brought us many humans suitable to protect our daughters, all of them either went crazy after figuring out they were dead, went crazy in Equestria after seeing the talking ponies, grovelled at our hooves after we told them we were royalty or were just crazy... until he brought us Baz, he wasn't conscious at the time, and had died in his world, my brother brought him to us, we gave the go ahead for a test run, and he never went crazy, then the unexpected happened... he woke up... when he died again my brother quickly grabbed his soul and the 'blueprints' for his body.

Then we sent him back and did the unexpected again... he sacrificed himself after making a deal with my brother, he then met me personally, and Baz met me, he was the perfect candidate, he made me laugh, he never cared I was royalty, and he was a caring man, and a nice person, he was the kind of person my little mares needed, although he didn't know that, when he met them, they felt the raw power emanating from him.

And now... to see him like this... it's painful...

I hugged him as well and I searched his mind... it was a mess... he hadn't fully formed his memories and the torture was distorting the ones he had only just made... he was trying to forget...

He needed an Alicorns touch to reactivate his memories...

He sank to the floor and we both watched him go back to consciousness.

"Moon and Sun help you..." I said.

"May lady luck grace you." said Cosmos and we both looked down in sadness as we could only watch helplessly.

Whosoever believeth in him, will believeth in anything.

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I woke up again, truthfully I was never asleep, just within my own mind.

I saw my body was badly cut up, feather merged with skin on the floor around the rack, luckily he hadn't gotten to my implants yet.

I coughed out blood and rested as much as I could on the rack, he was going to continue with the torture, i knew it, and I needed as much rest a I could get before our next round.

A maid walked in that wasn't Bright Spot and began cleaning me and using... disinfectant on my wounds and I hissed in pain.

"Where is Bright Spot?" I asked, but the maid had this... blank look in her eyes, and her eyes were grey... almost unseeing, uncaring and cold, as if she were a shell of a person.

She simply finished cleaning me and walked out, leaving me without so much as a glance.

I waited for a while before he came back in.

"Ah! good morning!" he said.

"Morning." I replied weakly.

"Is that the sound of you breaking I hear?" he asked.

"No." I stated.

"Ah, well after today, I'm sure you will, my friend who is a Griffon, told me they use this method in their army called 'waterboarding' I am eager to try it." said Gilded and inclined the rack 20 degrees quickly.

He stuffed a rag in my mouth, put one over my face and brought a jug of water and kept it hovering.

"Ready?" he asked and poured it over my head, I began to struggle, and drown, it was horrible, I was thrashing and writhing and gagging, and almost threw up but had to swallow it.

I knew if he kept this up I was actually going to die from oxygen deprivation.

I was coughing, spluttering and almost dead, but he removed the cloth before I was granted the sweet release.

"You... son-!" I stopped as I realised... I was covered in water and if he shocked me...

"I would love to berate you for that, but I know your body cannot take much more so I will not zap you, but today I will break you." he said and circled me.

"Give me your best shot." I said.

"Oh, no not you, I won't grant you the pleasure of death... bring her in!" shouted Gilded and they brought a struggling Bright Spot in and my eyes widened.

"MMM!" she tried to speak but was gagged.

"I overheard all your conversations." he said matter-of-factly.

"So?" I asked.

"So... you will break..." he placed a hoof on the back of her head and pushed it down and he... "Or I take her innocence." he stated with a sick smile as he started to mount her.

"If you touch her-" I said but cut off as he licked her neck and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Like that?" he asked and licked his lips.

"MMM!" she struggled against his magic but it was no good.

"I'm going to rut her senseless... and. there is nothing. you. can. do. about it..." he said.

"MMMMM!" she cried.

"Hmmm...unless... you give in." he said.

Suddenly Bright Spot stopped struggling and frantically shook her head at me.

"I... I give in." I mumbled.

"What was that?" he asked as he pressed her down more.

"I give up" I muttered.

"Try that again..." he said as his member came out of it's sheath.

"I FUCKING GIVE UP YOU SICK FUCKING PEDOPHILIC CREEP GOD, SHE'S FUCKING 14!!!" I yelled.

"Wow... really? I expected you to put up more of a fight..." he said and backed up a little.

"Good, just let her go..." I said.

"But this is for all those times you insulted me." he smiled wickedly and pushed into her.

"NOOO!" I yelled and struggled.

"And this, my dear is for calling me a bastard." he said into her ear and pulled out and reentered.

"MMMMM!!" she cried.

"And this is for calling me a control freak." he said and repeated the action.

"And this is for calling me a sick bucking pedophilic creep." he said and pushed in again, he pulled out of her and went round to her front and put his member into her mouth and released and held her mouth shut with his magic.

He pulled out of her mouth and walked over to me, then two butch Earth Pony stallions walked in and got my arms in their teeth as I was released.

"Try to struggle and we will have a repeat of that event, with my two friends here joining in." smiled Gilded and gestured with his head. "Put him in the conversion tank" he said.

They dragged me through the halls of the mansion, the maids not even looking at me, not avoiding my eyes just getting on with their duties...

They put me in a dark, soundproof room and I was levitated from the ground and I couldn't move my arms or legs that were glued in a star shape... sensory deprivation chamber... the only sound was Gilded's voice recorded and infused with magic in the walls of the room...

I couldn't see...

I couldn't feel...

I couldn't smell...

I couldn't taste...

"Obey, obey, obey, obey..." was the only thing I could hear... the voice spoke over and over, I tried to sing, I tried to talk to myself but I couldn't escape that voice...

that damned voice...

"Obey, obey, obey, obey, obey, obey..." I started repeating, I just couldn't get that damn voice out of my head!

That voice...

That damned... voice...

Obedience is the mother of success and the bride of safety.

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As Bright Spot was curled up in the chamber where Gilded molested her she wondered where they took Frank...

The bedroom?

No, Gilded wasn't into that, no matter how twisted his mind was, he wouldn't do that.

At least she hoped not... maybe he took him to talk? trying to persuade him to be his 'pet' probably...

Unless...

Oh no...

She got up shakily and began to limp out of the chamber.

She saw Gilded dining at his table, eating.

She approached him and he glanced at her.

"Back so soon?" he asked.

"Wh- Where is Frank?" she asked him.

"In the conversion chamber... oh, that reminds me, I must go see to him." said Gilded and wiped his mouth and got up, Bright Spot followed him into... oh no, she was right!

He went outside the conversion chamber, that combined with sleep deprivation, and in his case... torture... was why the maids had a dead look in their eyes, why they followed his orders without question.

Suddenly the door opened and she heard an excited laugh from Gilded.

"He's ready!" he exclaimed.

Suddenly the door to the chamber opened and out walked Frank... with the same dead look in his eyes that the maids had!

"No! no no no no!" exclaimed Bright Spot and ran up to him and he ignored her as she shook him with her hooves.

"Are you loyal? will you obey?" asked Gilded as he readied his electric spell just in case.

Suddenly Frank bowed.

"Yes, master." he said in a monotone voice, he had lost all emotion in his voice and face apart from anger...

"Just call me 'sir' none of that Ponywan stuff." he said, quoting the very famous sci-fi play.

"Of course sir." he said, still bowed.

"No need to bow pet, keep it for the Princesses, just hang your head, when in public I expect you to do that all the time." said Gilded.

"Yes sir." said Frank.

"I will need proof... now as a test of your loyalty, I order you to kill Bright Spot." said Gilded, suddenly Frank turned to her, cracked his knuckles and approached her with the only emotion in his eyes being murder.

"N-no, Frank please..." she said, but it was no use, he wasn't Frank Jaeger anymore, he was a shell, a husk of his former self, she cowered before him and knew she was powerless to stop any attack.

He was about to wrap his hands around her neck before:

"Stop." came from Gilded who had a pleased smile on his face.

He suddenly just dropped his hands to his side and he turned to Gilded and nodded.

"Good boy." smiled Gilded.

"Thank you sir." he said.

Bright Spot breathed a sigh of relief and stood up to her full height.

"Now, do you need a turn in the chamber?" asked Gilded to Bright Spot.

She shook her head.

"No, sir." she said, her voice quivering.

"Good, to your duties." he said and she complied, she was too worried about Frank's mental health than her own right now, no doubt what Gilded did would leave a scar, but in the short term she had to help Frank, if not for him, for herself, he was dangerous in Gilded's grasp, as she experienced first-hoof.

"Now then pet, the Gala is in a few days, we can't have you walking around like that in front of the Princesses." said Gilded.

"What would you have me wear sir?" he asked.

"I already have your measurement due to the rack." said Gilded, he saw Frank's eyes flash their old aquamarine blue for a second and decided not to mention the torture, or anything before he was conditioned.

"I need to go out and get some suits made, I have a picture of those cloth things on your legs and hooves and will get some of them." said Gilded.

"Of course, sir." said Frank.

"You are in charge whilst I'm gone." he said.

"Yes sir, how would you have me run the house?" he asked.

"Harshly, no room for mistakes." said Gilded.

"Punishments?" asked Jager.

"The Alicorn O' Nine Tails." said Gilded and handed him the instrument as he walked out.





The conditioned maids cocked their heads at him as their master walked out and he surveyed the room, looking at them.

"Back to work mares!" he yelled and they complied, Bright Spot whimpered as he struck the surface near her face as a warning to them all.

"I'm sorry Frank... so sorry..." she cried, thinking it was her fault he gave up and turned. "If the Princesses knew about this..." she whispered to herself... who was she kidding? she couldn't leave the house or be shocked, and she doubted she could get away from Frank.

It was hopeless, both for her and Frank.

Suddenly the whip cracked next to her.

"Did I hear talking?" he asked, with murder in his words.

"N-no." she said.

"No... what?" he asked and brought the whip to bear.

"No sir?" she asked more than said and he brought it by his side again.

"Good mare, now back to work." he said.

"Yes sir." she said quickly and began her washing up duties.

A little bit later Gilded came back in to find his house spotless, with the maids still working even when there was nothing to work on.

"Excellent my pet! you have done well!" said Gilded.

"Thank you sir." he said.

"Go and try these suits on for the Gala." said Gilded and Frank nodded, taking the clothes upstairs with him.

A while later he came back down with a suit on.

"I like this one sir." said Frank.

"As do I, good choice pet, now change back and get the maids to fold them with the other suits." said Gilded and Frank nodded and some maids went up with him, she wondered if he would do to them what Gilded did to her... no, he wasn't that kind of pony... at least she hoped...

He came down with no indication anything happened, thank Celestia!

"Now then pet, the Gala is tomorrow, and since it has been a few years..." he said.

"I thought it was a few months..." said Frank.

"No, I found you frozen in an incubation tank, or the opposite because of the cold, I Discord's last minions just have gotten their hand on you but dumped you straight away, their victims are usually more... mutilated." he said.

"How long ago was that sir?" asked Frank.

"A... few thousand years you have been in a coma, so you remember anything?" asked Gilded carefully and got the shock spell.

"Only a little." he said, he remembered there were two ponies... and one struck him as.... he couldn't even remember the emotion, but it was strong...

What Gilded didn't notice was a corner of both his eyes turned aquamarine again...

Freedom is never voluntarily given.

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The day of the Grand Galloping Gala, the grandest ball ever held in Equestria, where the high and mighty can mingle with each other as a massive group, with those who are less fortunate not able to enter, due to the cost of tickets, and most didn't even want to go.

In fact the Gala was starting tomorrow, but anypony who is anypony knows the Gala actually goes on for three days, the first day only the high, important ponies go to, which involves heavy drinking, club music and drugs, the second day it is the former ball most think of and the third day is when the nobles who fell asleep return home.

Gilded and his new obedient pet were walking in the square near the Castle Of The Royal Pony Sisters as he paraded his new pet around, who was behind him on a leash attached to his shock collar.

Gilded stopped to talk to nobles and they commented on Frank.

"I say! I see you managed to tame that beast of yours, Gilded!" said one noble.

"Please do not offend him, he is my head of the house whilst I am absent, and he is quite useful." said Gilded and tugged on the leash, bringing Frank forward forcefully.

"How obedient?" asked one.

"Well, here is an example, pet, kill Lord Sugarlumps." he said, referring to the stallion who asked.

"What? h- he wou-" he cut off as the pet cracked his knuckles and put a twisted smile on as he approached the Lord.

He got closer and closer and began to wrench the nobles neck...

"Stop." said Gilded and as quick as he was about to kill him he became neutral and returned to his master's side.

"I see he is very obedient." said Sugarlumps.

"He is, in fact he won't even react if I do this:" said Gilded and stamped on Frank's foot... hard and he didn't even flinch.

"Master, could you please get off my foot? I need both in working order to be able to serve you at the Gala tonight." he said, Gilded instructed him to say 'master' around the nobles.

"Of course! ever the practical thinker!" he said and got off his foot.

"He certainly is quite a... specimen..." said one of the other lords, Lord Polo.

"Well, we must be going now! farewell!" said Gilded and they walked back to the house.

When they got back, Frank got into his suit for the Gala.

"Now, you have a Noble's Pass as my second, not a servants, because you get free will tonight, but you must remain at my side, apart from at the greeting which we will come to later." said Gilded, in truth Frank was going to be given many drinks and was going to test some new drugs the nobles had brought in from a foreign land, he noticed another quarter of Frank's eye returned Aquamarine, giving him free will must have lessened th conditioning... which is impossible! half of Franks iris was now blue and the other grey...

"Thank you sir." he said.

"No problem." he said and they walked out, discussing the details of introductions on the way there.

Eventually they got to the Castle, formal introductions were made in front of the Princesses and when every noble is checked off the party begins, nobles only go in small groups to avoid suspicion from other lesser class nobles.

Glided was apparently a very important pony and had a private table with the Princesses and the inner circle of the upper nobles, which were Sugarlumps, Polo, and a mare called Jade Diamond, and now Frank.

They approached the guard whose jaw dropped upon seeing Frank...

muscular figure... very muscular...

But his hanging head, collar and leash say otherwise...

"High Lord Gilded, and... what is this?" asked the guard referring to Frank.

"This is my second." he said and got him off the leash, moving it's shirt collar to conceal it's... shock, collar...

"Very well sir, go on in." he said and they both entered the reception, which led to the throne room through 2 massive doors.

"Remember the practise?" asked Gilded.

"Yes master." he said.

"Good." replied Gilded, Frank moved to the side of the double doors as they opened so he wouldn't be seen yet and they closed behind Gilded and Frank prepared, he heard:

"Good evening your highnesses, a pleasure to see you again." he said.

"Good'st evening High Lord Gilded Cage." came a soft voice, it sounded... simply angelic to Frank's ears.

"Yes, good evening." he heard another smooth voice, was he talking to two angels?

"As always it is an absolute pleasure your majesties." he said.

"We understand, thou has a second witheth thou this evening." came the first voice.

"Yes, we wish to see them."

"Very well, Jaeger!" he shouted and Frank threw open the doors, he saw nobles lining the route to the thrones, but when he looked to the thrones he saw...

He thought he had finally died...

He saw the two most beautiful mares ever to grace his eyes... e heard Gilded tell him via telepathy spell their names were Luna and Celestia.

All eyes were on him as he slowly walked the red carpet to them, gasps were heard and one mare fainted.

He was before them and bowed deeply, practically kissing the floor.

"Good evening, who mightest thou be?" asked Celestia.

"Yes we wish to know thy name." said Luna

"Thou grace thy with thou beautiful presence your gracious majesties, my name is Frank Jaeger, but you canst call thy whatever you so wish." he said and kissed Celestia's left hoof all the way to the shoulder, luckily she was a master at disguising emotions or she would have been blushing.

He did the same to her right hoof and then with Luna who had a slight blush on her cheeks.

"We thank thou kind sir." said Luna.

"Nay, thank thou majesties for allowing me to back in thy wonderful glow." he said.

"Where are thou from?" asked Luna.

"I do not know majesties, Master Gilded found me and saved me, and I have sworn service to him as payment." he said and backed into the left line of nobles as Gilded had backed into the right.

Now all the nobles were checked off came Celestia's least favorite part... the party.

She never got to dance because it wasn't Princessly behaviour, she could luckily have a glass of wine, but no drugs which was her choice, although she had been offered many drugs, she always declined, as did Luna.

Then there was Frank... in his eyes he was broken, maybe from something that happened before Gilded found him, she noticed them when he walked in, and then when he saw her... he brightened up... it made her feel special.

She noticed another portion of his eye as coloured now... so there was only a quarter left...

"The party has now begun!" exclaimed Celestia and some cheers were heard.

Her and Luna delayed as long a possible before going to the nobles table.

She saw Frank over there and the fact he was being ignored and looking out of place, and out of his comfort zone, the same half dead, pained look in his eye as he stared into space as the festivities went on around him.

"Lulu, we should go over there." said Celestia.

"Art thou crazy sister?" asked Luna.

"Look at Frank, he seems lonely." she said.

"Who careth? he is but a slave, hath thou not heard the gossip?" asked Luna, she didn't really mean that, she was following custom, she hated it a much as Celestia but was better at hiding it.

"Come on." insisted Celestia and began to walk over.

"Fine." replied Luna and followed.

They got to the booth and the nobles were laughing like hooligans with pints in their magic.

Celestia sat down next to Frank and Luna next to her sister.

Suddenly Frank had a pint in front of him.

"Chug!" the nobles chanted and he did, faster than anypony Celestia had ever seen!

"Wow! get him a bigger glass!" exclaimed one noble.

"So how old are you Frank?" asked Celestia, the nobles insisted she drop the royal talk when at the table.

"Who knows your highness?" he asked and chugged another glass, what she didn't know was Gilded was subtly sending him magi signals giving him orders, giving him the feeling of free will and he ordered him to drink.

"So you don't know?" she asked.

"No your majesty." he said and chugged another.

"Somepony bring a bottle!" exclaimed Sugarlumps.

A bottle was placed before two of them and Frank hugged it in record time, beating Sugarlumps, the kept sliding bottles over to him and he drank, the Princess saw in his eyes like her, he didn't want to be here, but something was preventing him from leaving.

Even Luna slid a bottle over to him at one point, following their example.

The dance music was thumping and everything was blurred out for Frank, the alcohol catching up to him as bottle after bottle was slid over to him and he took them down.

Suddenly a familiar flash of metal was seen and a needle full of stuff was produced and forehooves were laid on the table.

"Now this is some new shit from a different country and it might be dangerous." said Polo.

"Wait, let's have Frank try it first." smiled Gilded and all eyes turned to Frank.

"But master-" he stopped as the shock collar activated and he stayed upright somehow and it subsided.

"What was that pet?" he asked as Frank laid his bare arm on the table.

"Yes master..." he said, Celestia was horrified! but this sort of thing was common and not illegal among the nobles, Luna looked benign, whether this was because she had come to expect this, or truly didn't care, Celestia couldn't tell.

"Good pet." he said and a needle was injected into his arm, nothing happened for a second before he started to spasm violently and foam at the mouth, he collapsed on the table and the only sound was the club music, magic was used to lift his face up and he had a goofy smile and twinkling eyes as somepony announced:

"He's alive! and that expression means this is good stuff!" and everypony apart from Luna and Celestia were injecting.

They gave him injection after injection and Celestia was getting worried about him, this could kill him!

But her relations with these nobles was more important, hers and Luna's kingdom would fall apart! s she had to sit back quietly and watch as he was subjected to injection after injection, bottle of alcohol after bottle.

"Yeah! your pet can take a lot of punishment!" exclaimed Sugarlump, rather dumbly from the drugs.

"You have no idea..." said Gilded much the same.

"Thank you... sir." he slurred quietly.

Suddenly he was shocked rather hard.

"What was that?" asked Gilded dangerously.

"Thank you... master..." he said and hung his head.

"Better." smiled Gilded.

"I have to go to the toilet." said Frank.

"Go ahead." said Gilded and practically passed out.

Celestia and Luna moved for him as he staggered and swayed away into the crowd of dancing ponies, who gave him a wide berth.

He went into the toilet and puked his guts out almost, over and over again in a bucket in the middle of the toilet floor.

"I have to go to the little fillies room." announced Celestia to the nobles who grumbled and groaned in reply.

As Celestia passed Luna she heard whispered to her.

"Make sure he's ok."

Suddenly Celestia entered the bathroom and he was throwing up blood! dear sun!

She galloped the remaining few feet over to him and put her hoof on his back and rubbed his back and patted it.

"Let it all out." she said.

She nuzzled him, her sisterly instincts taking over as she had seen Luna like this with normal bile before and had to take care of her.

He stopped throwing up and turned to her.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why what?" she asked softly.

"Why do you care? I've seen it in your eyes all night, I may be pissed and shitfaced but I'm not stupid, you are concerned about me, pray tell wh- yyyy!!" he finished the last letter in a muffled scream as he turned to the bucket and threw up some more, when he finished he turned around to her.

"I have seen the pain in your eyes, you do not wish to be here." she said.

"Ah, so he sent you, so you can report to him when you exit?" he asked, he was getting some confidence.

He waved her off and began crying.

"Just- just leave me alone please your highness." he said and she complied, leaving the bathroom, as she walked out she passed Gilded who eyed her suspiciously.

When Celestia walked out her nuzzle sparked something...

"An Alicorn's touch..." a voice rang in his head, it was barely a touch but enough for him to recover recent memories at least.

The last segment of his eye glew Aquamarine as he got visions of the recent past... his armor... the nukes, the Princesses... it came back, but anything before that was still fuzzy.

Gilded entered the bathroom where his pet was sitting, staring at the wall, Gilded picked him up and stood him upright.

"What are you doing? get back out there!" exclaimed Gilded.

"No." was the reply.

"What the buck did you just say?" asked Gilded.

"I said no." he reaffirmed.

"Why you littl-" Gilded stopped as he was about to strike Frank but his hoof was met with a hand that started gripping... harder and harder.

"S-stop, I command you to stop!" exclaimed Gilded, the pain became too much and... suddenly it stopped, he had done it! he looked into Frank' eyes and... oh no... they were coloured.

"I remember now, you dragged me from the battlefield, you were a minion of Discord, I was neither alive, nor truly dead, an undying shadow in a world of light."

"I order you to let me go!" exclaimed Gilded, he stopped again and Gilded thought he had regained control.

"...you can't order me to to shit." said Frank calmly and with one press of his hand, crushed Gilded's hoof.

"AHHHHHH!!! my hoof! AHHHHHH!" he yelled, suddenly Frank Jaeger picked hi up and threw him into the wall, lightly by Franks standards, but by an average creature's standards it was hard, enough to leave a dent in the tiled wall.

Gilded looked up at Frank with half a broken muzzle.

"What are you?" he asked.

"I'm Grey Fox." he replied as he picked Gilded up, did a 180* and threw him through the wall with such force he smashed through the private table on the other side of the throne room, Frank was crouched in the rubble and stood up, Gilded was panicking as he lost control of the situation.

"You will obey me! you will all obey! my master commands it!" he yelled, Celestia approached him.

"What is the meaning of this Gild-" she stopped as he slapped her across the muzzle.

"You're both poor excuses for rulers! look at you both!" he yelled as Celestia was rubbing her sore cheek.



Suddenly this started playing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dOwHzCHfgA

Seeing this set Frank off and he started power walking to Gilded who tried to back away.

"I'm going to kill you!" he shouted as it played.

"And you back down!" he yelled and used the shock collar on full once which forced Frank into a crouch he recovered quickly and Gilded blasted him with it as Frank walked forward as if walking into a strong wind, suddenly the collar broke off of his neck from overload, and Gilded was still trying to use it frantically.

"I am in control! I am in con-" he stopped a a fust to the side f his body threw him a few feet away, Frank slowly walked after him. forcing every attempt to get up by him down with an application of foot to back.

"Help me your majesties..." he wheezed, Celestia went to stop him but Luna held her foreleg out and shook her head as she watched the events unfurl.

He flipped Gilded around and straddled him, punching his muzzle over and over.

"Fuck you you fucking horrible rapist pedophilic gobshite bastard piece of rotten shit putrid fucking areshole goddmn monster!!! I'm going to show you what 'gilded means in my language!'" he yelled.

"This is for me!!" he yelled and punched him left.

"This is for Bright Spot!" he punched him right.

"This is for Celestia!" he yelled and headbutted him.

"This is for being a prick!" he exclaimed and hit him square on, he picked him up by the shirt and said.

"And this one is just for the shits and giggles." he said in a sickeningly satisfied dark voice before kicking him through the Castle wall hard, so hard that he went flying into the gorge the castle overlooked.

Frank then turned to the Princesses and bowed as if nothing had happened.

"Your majesties, it has been a pleasure to attend, but I must now leave, adieu!" he said and used the hole he created to jump out of the castle.

"Sister, did you see that? he was so strong..." said Luna.

"Yes, we must search Gilded's house." replied Celestia, unaware of what they would find...

I made em' an offer they couldn't refuse...

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-A few hours later-

As Grey Fox crept through the dark streets he saw he was fast approaching Gilded's old home.

He got to the side f the house and hugged the wall, and peered around the corner.

He then saw there were guards posted outside, maybe looking for him? nonetheless he threw his voice to the other side of the street.

"Oi! pricks!" he said and as they turned jumped behind them and quietly entered the house.

As he entered he saw the maids still hard at work, unaware of the guard presence outside the door.

He saw Bright Spot crying and working, trying not to let a tear fall on the pristine sheets she was hanging up.

Suddenly an unavoidable tear dropped on one and she gasped when she turned around and saw Frank.

-Grey Fox's POV-

"Oh, mi'lord, I'm so sorry!" she said and cowered before me, how bad had it been under my watch?

"Easy Bright Spot, I'm not the monster you think anymore." I soothed, she flinched when I placed a hand on her chin and lifted her gaze to mine.

"F-F-Frank?" he quivered and placed her hoof on my face.

"Yes." I confirmed but she still seemed in disbelief.

"This isn't one of Gilded's tricks is it?" she asked.

"What? you mean the Gilded that is at the bottom of a gorge?" I asked.

"Y-y-you killed him?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Then it is over..." she sighed in relief.

"Not quite, there are still some things to finish up, I need my sword for one, and access to his private chambers, which I will achieve through brute force and then we need to free the maids." I said.

"They listen to you when Gilded is not here, tell them they are free."

"Right... here ye! here ye! you are all now free from Gilded Cage's control!" I yelled, the maids all gathered and stared at me for a second before their eyes started to get colour and their bodies became more vibrant, and rather than the gray shackle mark most had on their flank, they were each individualised.

They suddenly started questioning where they were.

"LIsten! you have been brainwashed by the stallion known as Gilded Cage! but he is now dead, and you are free!" she yelled, and all the maids cheered, before leaving, they heard some commotion with the guards outside but Bright Spot went out to explain, meanwhile I went upstairs and into the master bedroom... which was unlocked... I suppose he didn't expect anyone, or anypony to come up here unless ordered.

As I entered the chamber I noticed a few things, one was a black orb and the other was a display case with my intact sword in!

I broke said case and put it on a table.

I went over to the black orb and suddenly something was playing inside.

It seemed to be where he kept his notes.

"April 29th 2500 DA(Discord/Dark Era incase I forget, now known as Ante Monarchia, or AM.) Today the battle was won by meddlesome non-believer ponies! mostly due to the fact our strongholds were being infiltrated and blown up! they say the figure that did it is bipedal and wields a strange metal object, I will investigate further, long live the God Of Chaos!" and it finished.

Then another one started playing.

"June 1st 1, Post Tenebras(After Darkness) I found it! today I found the very thing that caused so much strife! before I could experiment on it, I had to move us back to our old home as the Princesses army as approached, I can't blow my cover!" it finished.

Then another.

"August 25th 300 PT: I found it! today I used the orb to search for a new master! and I found one! he is yet to be born but his name is Sombra, and he wants the Princesses as his brides, I have been feeding him information about them and this nation's defences. Long Live The King of Darkness!" and it finished.

Suddenly my anger flared and my armor came back! then I remembered something from the distant past, something I read...

"Subject has ability to conduct lightning to recharge other exoskeleton/bodily functions if needed."

Of course! when Gilded shocked me at the Gala! he must have unwittingly repaired my suit! awesome!

I holstered my sword and tested my Stealth Camouflage, which worked, and then my cannon which had been refilled, I was ready to rock and roll.

-A few days later, Princess Celestia's POV-

The last few days for Equestria's monarch of the day had been... strange.

First, a package shows up with the materials required to repair the wall, and Gilded's will, with everything bequeathed to the crown to do with whatever they pleased.

Then nobles began disappearing, just dropping off of the face of the earth, and their wills also being addressed to the crown, so they weren't losing assets, in fact they were gaining them as they could keep more profit now that the middlecolt had been cut out.

Somepony was cleaning house, and fast.

Then today Celestia had discovered a note on her bedpost, which read;

'I would like to meet your royal highnesses, tomorrow at noon in here.'

'yours sincerely'

'an old friend'

As promised both Princesses waited at noon for him to arrive.

They both looked around the balcony.

"How doth we know this is not a trap sister?" asked Luna.

"We don't." replied Celestia.

"Believe me, if I wanted you dead you wouldn't be having this rather insulting conversation." came a voice from behind them.

"Who ar-" started Luna before she noticed the figure clad in armor, with it's mask pulled back.

"Hello your majesties, a pleasure to see you again." said... Grey Fox!

"Are you responsible for the nobles disappearing?" asked Celestia, wanting to get the bad business out of the way so she could talk to their saviour all those years ago...

"Yeah, let's just say I made em' an offer they couldn't refuse..." he said.

Back to business.

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"I see... we only remember you a little..." said Celestia.

"The guy that saved you and Luna from that... dragon thing the other day." I said with a wave of my hand at the end.

"Err, you mean Discord? the one we turned to stone... that was... at least a thousand years ago... maybe more!" she said.

"That night... when I dreamt... I dreamt I was in a cryo chamber, it mustn't have been a dream" I realised.

"You can freeze yourself in time?" she asked.

"I was frozen-" I was about to answer but Luna cut in.

"Sister, we've news about the Crys-" she said in a strange, loud voice like Celestia but stopped when she saw me.

"Hello Luna, although I suppose it is truly Princess Luna now." I said with a bow

"it's thou... Grey Fox!" she said and hugged me.

"Yeah, it is." I said awkwardly as I patted her on the back.

She straightened up.

"Ahem, thank thou for saving us." she said.

"It's no problem, I happened to be in the right place at the right time" I said with a shrug.

"And you're here now, what were you going to say sister? maybe Fox can help?" asked Celestia.

"Of course, go ahead Princess Luna" I said.

"The Crystal Empire... it has been corrupted... Princess Amore is... dead..." she said

"Really...? we need time to gather the Elements!" said Celestia.

"We need Star-Swirl The Bearded, can'st you escort him to the front lines?" asked Luna to me.

"Of course Majesty!" I said and saluted.

"I hereby name thou Sir Gray Fox, out personal aide and knight of Equestria" said Celestia.

Then a pony, with a beard and a starry cloak walked in.

"I'm not be escorted by... err this?" he asked.

"'He' is not an 'it' Star!" said Celestia angrily.

"My apologies sir." he said to me.

"That's ok son, I've been called worse." I said.

"'Son?' boy I'm older than you!" he said.

"Really? so you're over 1016 years old?" I asked, truly I lost track of how old I was.

"You look good for 1016, what's your secret? the Princesses won't tell me." he said.

"Maybe later, right now we need to head to this... 'Crystal Empire' place." I said.

He nodded.

"See you there your highnesses." I bowed and we headed to the train station where a locomotive was waiting for us.

"All aboard to the Crystal Empire! soldiers and royal representatives only!" called the conductor.

We got on, thanks to Star-Swirl giving us a pass and sat down.

"So, the immortality..." he said.

"To tell you the truth, I spent time in the Abyss, I assume you have Hell here?" I asked

"Of course, it's said all the really bad ponies go there, although we call it Tartarus." he said.

"Well, my soul has kinda been damned to Hell, I spent time in the Abyss because of it, I was lucky, spending physical time in the Abyss, if you get out, grants you immortality, even then my certain events may have altered my life-span also." I said, something tells me a friend had something to do with putting those thoughts in my head for an explanation...

"I see... I'm working on spells right now, quite a few in fact, but they don't have the fwomph! I want them to, do you do magic?" he asked.

"No unfortunately not, at least not to my knowledge." I said and he nodded as we fell asleep...

Then we arrived at the Empire.

We saw Luna and Celestia waiting for us at the station.

We got off the train with the soldiers and approached them and we both bowed before them.

"There's no need for that." said Celestia as we rose.

"Your majesty, what do you require of us?" asked Star.

"I need you to clear the mist and Grim to stay with us just in case, the sky is filled with corruption, so we can't fly in." she said.

Star cast a spell that cleared a path straight to the Crystal Palace.

"I can only hold it for a minute or two." he strained.

We walked along briskly and I punched any corrupted pony that got too close to the Princesses, they seemed to be discussing something at length.

We approached the courtyard where this King Sombra, Star had told me about was waiting.

Suddenly the mist went back and surrounded the courtyard like an arena.

"Well well well, the Princesses... and a new pet bodyguard? how quaint..." he said.

"Sombra! we will defeat you for threatening the peace in Equestria!" said Celestia.

"And I ain't no pet, bitch." I said to him.

"And I am not anyponies bitch." he said.

"You're gonna be these Princesses bitch when they're done with you." I said.

"Really?" as he said that he shot a beam of dark magic at them and a bunch of corrupted ponies leaped at us, Celestia and Luna were taken completely by
surprise I suddenly started to glow blue and time just... stopped...

Even the implants seemed to stop in my body.

I moved a little and realised this wouldn't last forever.

I moved the two sisters out of the way and shifted the corrupted ponies so they broke their necks when they landed those leaps.

I stood next to the Princesses again and Sombra watched in surprise as his beam hit thin air and his goons were dead.

"Surprised, Sombra?" I asked panting, whatever that was it drained me a little.

"How... how? you were just there... I..." he said, stunned.

The two sisters attacked and blasted Sombra away with magic beams.

"Ahhh!" he said as he fell.

The time stop sort of... clicked in my head, telling me it was ready again.

I released it before he got up and hit him a few times, they would sink in when time unfroze.

I moved the sisters to his unguarded side and gave him a few more kicks.

I stood in the middle of the courtyard and time resumed.

"Haha, nothing- oh, aw, ah!" he called as a lightening fast shadow of me landed a few hits on him, he fell to his side and the sisters charged the Elements, I
gave them a hand again somehow as the energy beams passed to me and his power was drained, absorbed by me somehow...

"You... you win... but I have one last thing..." as he said that I picked him up and dragged him to the tundra, I used the magic I absorbed from him to open
the ice rock beneath us and cast him in.

"The Empire shall vanish forever, only returning once I do!" he called as he fell.

I used everything I had left from him to shut the ground up and seal it, we got back on the train and noticed the Empire seemingly dissolving into nothing.

"Thank you... Fox, you saved us more than once today, we owe you our lives." said Celestia as we an to the station and gave me a sweet smile.

"Yes, we thank thou fair Fox, what was't that magic thine used today?" she asked.

"It was nothing, the magic was both dark magic and... Time magic I suppose..." I said as we got on the the train and sped off.

"What are you anyway?" asked Star.

"I am a human being, a bipedal race of war, peace, conflict and kindness we are mix of all of these, I personally do not know what I am." I said.

"You have saved us more than once, more times than anyone, yet you hardly know us, why?" asked Celestia.

"I can read people, you are both kind hearted and only want what's best, you let power hold no sway over you even though abusing it would be a cakewalk for you, you don't, I respect and admire that, and hope I can convey that same sense of self."

They seemed to think for a while before nodding at each other.

"Fox, we have discussed this at great length, and we would like to make you a Prince, mainly the Prince of Darkness, Dark Magics and Time itself, that way
you can learn that sense of self you mentioned." said Celestia

"We would'st be honored to have thou next to us on the throne." said Luna.

"I... I don't know what to say... thank you, but I can't accept." I said.

"That is why we want you with us, you have no desire for the throne, you already convey that sense of self, learn by taking your power to the next level and learn from it, and you are an ambassador for your race." she said.

"I see there's no arguing with your logic... I guess I have to accept." I said.

"We know you have to go again soon, so we will remember you, we will announce you as royalty so the next time you arrive here, you will have a place on the throne with us" said Celestia.

"I thank you." I said.

"We are trying to think of a Prince name for you..." said Celestia

"None of that, just call me Frank, Frank Jaeger." I said.

I fell asleep again halfway and was in the Abyss...

Love isn't something you find. Love is something that finds you.

View Online

I saw King Cosmos and Queen Galaxia again in the Abyss.

"King Sombra was defeated rather swiftly thanks to your efforts." smiled Galaxia.

"I assume you both had something to do with the throne thing?" asked Fox.

"We... may have planted the seeds of an idea in our daughters heads..." said Cosmos.

"Yes, a friend of ours wants to move you... time-wise, he has, but only by a few years, we have let our daughters know through... third parties... he will move you soon but not before some important events." said Galaxia.

"Sounds ominous..." I said.

"We know, a sad event it coming up, be prepared, and you have been in here for a good few days, such is the law of the Abyss, but because of our friends influence it had been a few years and just before the event you will come back here." said Cosmos and everything faded away.

When I woke up, I was on the train in the same car, I headed to the castle and opened the doors, seeing the sisters made me smile, Celestia in particular.

"Hey Celestia! Luna!" I said, Luna looked rather... sad...

They both approached with smiles, even though I could tell Luna's was fake.

"Hello Frank." greeted Celestia and hugged me... ok...

"Err... hi." I said and returned it.

"Good evening fair Frank." said Luna and we hugged as well.

"So, how have you two been?" I asked.

"Very well, thank you." said Luna.

"I know you're lying to me." I said.

"It's just the stresses of court, it just annoys me." said Luna.

"Well, if you need any noble carved up or removed let me know." I chuckled

"Will do, I am going to Night Court, my sister was about to do some paperwork." said Luna and left.

"Yes, boring paperwork..." groaned Celestia.

"You have to do it?" I asked.

"To keep the nobles off of my flank." she said.

"Ignore them, you deserve a night off, maybe we could go out instead?" I asked.

"Out, like..." she started with a blush.

"Like a date." I confirmed, also slightly blushing.

"Well... err, ok, I know just the place!" said Celestia and we walked out of the Castle.

"So how have you and Luna been anyway?" I asked.

"I have been fine, Luna not so much..." said Celestia sadly.

"Why?" I asked.

"Ponies are afraid of the night, most sleep or are scared of the night." she said as we looked at the starts on the way there.

"I can't see why, it is beautiful, with only one thing that could compare, and she is standing next to me." I said.

"F-Frank!" exclaimed Celestia and blushed even more.

"What?" I asked.

"Stop!" she exclaimed, i retracted my mask.

"Wow, your muzzle-"

"Face."

"Face looks so... soft..." she said and touched a hoof to my face and felt some scars, luckily I didn't scar easily, but that doesn't mean I don't scar at all.

"I'm so sorry for what happened..." she said and tears fell.

"Hey hey hey, no tears." I said and wiped them away with my thumb as I cupped her cheek, we looked into each others eyes for a while before we turned to the view, we were on the edge of the cliff with a perfect view of the moon.

"Its wonderful isn't it?" asked Celestia.

"It is." I agreed, Celestia laid down with her forelegs curled under her, I noticed her toned muscles, rather strong, she also look incredibly mesmerizing in the moonlight.

I sat next to her.

"How are you and Luna so fit and healthy?" I asked and she laughed.

"You ask the strangest things." she chuckled.

"Really, I just noticed your muscles." I said and her face dropped.

"Oh, you don't like them?" she asked.

"What? yes, I think they look wonderful, I like strong girl- I mean mares." I smiled.

"Oh, good, most stallions are repulsed or scared by them." she said.

"I'm not, I think they suit your wonderful figure." I said.

"Me and Luna work out every afternoon before dinner actually, just in case, we can't afford to be complacent and it gives Luna a chance to burn her anger out, especially our magic sparring, but sometimes they can get a little out of hoof." she said.

"Maybe I could work out with you both? and referee the matches?" I asked.

"That sounds wonderful." she smiled and we looked at the moon a little longer.

"You look beautiful you know?" I asked.

"Do I?" she asked.

"Yes, you always look amazing." I said and we locked eyes again... and slowly our lips touched in our first kiss.

Hers were so... soft and warm, a little fuzzy, I loved it.

I opened my eyes as we pulled apart and she was wearing her beautiful blush.

"Come, we should get back, I must get to bed." she yawned, she got up and tripped, falling into my arms.

"A little dizzy?" I asked and helped her straighten up.

"Indeed." she said, trying to get back into professional composure.

We headed back to the castle and she stopped at her door.

"You can have the guest room, it's between mine and Luna's." smiled Celestia.

"Good night, your highness." I said and she shut her door.

I entered the guest room and lay down on the bed, smiling as I thought about my first kiss...

I sighed as I shut my eyes and surrendered to the call of sleep.