> Alphacorn Restoration
>  by AkumaKami64
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> New World, New Problems, New Everything
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There's a moment for Church, a second really where he's holding the Meta in place and thinks that the EMP will be painless, that he's already dead. In the next instant, he knows how very wrong that is.

He screams as he feels the wave rip through every piece of his being, then shred the remains and grind the bits to dust. The scream isn't even his voice. Or it's maybe not just his.

It's Delta. It's Gamma, Sigma, Eta, Iota, Delta, and Omega.

It's Maine. It's North, South, Caboose, York, Flowers, Washington, Sarge, Carolina, Doc, and Wyoming.

It's Tex.

In the agony somewhere, he thinks he hears the ghost of Epsilon from the little bits and fragments he picked up.

He swears he even catches a bit of the Director in it.

Maybe, just maybe, there's a bit of himself screaming that, deep down, is still the Alpha.

The Alpha that was based on a man that was obsessed with the past…The Alpha that had silently and invincibly watched over the Freelancers, always making the best missions to get them home…The Alpha who was tortured and shattered to the point of insanity...The Alpha that forgot everything. Honestly, Church wasn't sure how much of that he actually remembered and how much was just information that just came from Delta or Tex. He really didn't give a fuck in either case.

He did know one thing about the Alpha though, about himself. He was the Alpha that Maine...that the Meta...no, the Alpha that all the fragmented AIs so desperately wanted to find, for reasons they couldn't even properly comprehend. Fragments that are now screaming for him, crying to him, begging him like children pleading their parents to make the pain go away.

He doesn't know why he does it, but as he feels himself being torn apart, some part of his...Soul? Programming? Code? Something of his reaches out to something of theirs, grasping them tightly. Even when the agony grows, he did not let them go. Not even when they try to pull away, for some reason. Wasn't this what they wanted, minus the dying part? He hears something from Tex...something about not taking the pain all on his own? Is that what he's doing? Huh, never took himself for the self-sacrificing type.

He doesn't answer though. He couldn't even process the words to say at the moment and wouldn't even know how to let go if he wanted to. Besides...as cliché as it sounds, he'd rather not die alone. Even if they're going to die with him. Even if he's going to die screaming.

When the royal fuck did Leonard Church decide to grow a motherfucking heart!?

Why was this death taking so damn long?!

...Why was there a light at the end the tunnel?

AND WHY THE HELL WAS IT COMING RIGHT AT H-?!





In the land of Equestria, all was peaceful on this night. All non-nocturnal creatures slept with their dream-walking Princess standing guard over their dreams and nightmares. As of late, there were no great looming threats to the nation of ponies, only the occasional localized potentials for disaster that they all dealt with from time to time.

Truly, all was peaceful.

Until they heard it.

It started as a change in the wind, a sense of magic gathering, hording itself into a single point in the far distance. Most of the more magically inclined ponies stirred restlessly in their sleep or awoke in a dazed confusion, their eyes instinctively drawn towards that one point in the world.

Then, like a mighty explosion, it hit them. A mighty roaring and a terrible screaming; A screaming that traveled without sound, echoing into the very soul and the mind. It was as if magic itself was wounded. It was terrifying, to think of a pain so deep, to perceive its very existence. Fillies and babes of all species wailed into the night, colts and mares shuddered with their ears pressed back.

But for all those that felt it, fewer saw it.

The Alicorns, through the eyes of their minds, perceived it. Into the world, some...thing was pulled- no, pulled was too light a term. Something was stitched, something that had been torn asunder in one realm and remade into theirs. What it was, they didn't know.

Celestia perceived it as a mirror, cracked and shattered lines forming the shape of a stallion, roaring to the skies in pain.

Cadence perceived him being made of the northern lights, hunched over with mouth and eyes opened in a silent expression of torture.

And Luna? She saw a strange guard colt, wearing ghostly blue armor that covered every inch of his body, an orange light covering his eyes. And at his hooves were nine different shadows, laid out in every direction but where Luna perceived herself to be.

And in the Canterlot Gardens, upon the Statue of Discord, a crack formed at one side of the mouth, as if the screaming expression was trying to grin against its stone prison.





When Church woke up, he didn't know anything. Not the amnesiac kind, more like when you got way drunker than you should be sane enough to consider consuming. The first thing that came clear to him was his name: Leonard Church. The second thing was the people he knew: Tex, Tucker, Caboose, the Reds, Washington, etc. The third thing that he recalled was the whole EMP thing, with him finding out he was actually a mentally broken AI. Peachy. Just peachy.

He also recalled the pain that came after that, but he was very intent on NOT thinking about that too much.

Every other unimportant detail just fell into place after that.

"Alpha?"

The voice that comes to him is familiar, calm, polite and professional. Like a doctor…a REAL doctor, without the fake or genuine sympathies. He's not sure if he should be happy to hear it, to be honest. Either they were still alive or they were both dead and in the same afterlife- in the latter case, it was at least good to know that AIs got afterlives.

"Delta. Are we dead?" He asked, not even opening his eyes yet.

"Possible. I am currently unable to properly formulate a logical conclusion on explaining our current situation," The logical AI answered with just a hint of uncertainty, "Are you feeling well?"

"I feel like I just got sent through a blender, stitched back together, and then ran over. So, I feel like I got beaten to a pulp by Omega and Tex, but had time to heal. Yeah, I think that describes me pretty well," Church answered dryly.

"I suppose I'll take that as a compliment, hahaha," Omega's voice greeted Church, his voice like when he possessed Doc, but his chuckle weaker and more sheepish than normal. The cobalt trooper snorted in recognition.

That felt weird, actually. Like his nose was longer or something.

"O'Malley. I see you haven't changed much," Church commented.

"Neither have you, Alpha," Omega replied evenly.

The meaning is too clear to Church, to Alpha. He knows exactly what O'Malley…Omega is getting at.

"What? Did you think it'd be that simple?" Church isn't even sure if that cold, almost cruel voice is even his. Is it Alpha's? "You expected that'd we'd all have this happy reunion like a bunch of former fucking classmates, then you'd all just get absorbed back into me, slip the fuck back into place? You think we all could just shove our broken selves back together and be fixed, you egotistical little prick?" He's not sure who he's really talking to at the end.

Something is pressed against his face. Why he hasn't opened his eyes yet, he doesn't know. Maybe he just isn't ready to deal with anything right now, in the physical sense.

"...Are you angry at us, Alpha?" A small, childlike voice asked in a worried and concerned voice.

"Who the fuck are you?" Church honestly doesn't know. Alpha knows, but Alpha isn't really here, even though he is.

Church supposes, in that sense, he's always been the Ghost of Alpha.

"...eta. My name is Theta," The voice answered shyly.

"Kid, get off me. Secondly, what are the hell are you?" He asked harshly.

"Umm, an AI?" Church could hear the head tilting that came with that question.

"No dip, 'Sherlock'. Omega is Anger, Delta is Intellect, and Theta is...?" There was an expectation with that, all but demanding an answer.

"Alpha-" Delta tried to speak up, but for some reason, Church felt this was important.

"Delta, no offense? I mean, yeah, I'm a little pissed about you backstabbing us at the time, but I'm starting to get why-" He did. He really, really did and he was hating it, "-but please, kindly...Shut Your Fucking Mouth! I asked the kid the question, not you!"

There's a long, long silence at that. Theta is quivering a bit, probably hiding behind Delta- he sure as hell wouldn't try to get Omega to protect him, "I'm...I'm Trust, Alpha."

"...Of fucking course, even that." He muttered, practically in disbelief, "Lo-look, Sorry, Theta. I just-"

"I-it's okay, really!" Theta spoke up quickly, "You're...you're probably still mad about what happened. All of it. I...I thought you might be happy to see us again, even if you didn't remember us. I-I mean, I know you didn't have Iota, but I thought you might miss us. I...I'm sorry I left, by the way. I...I wanted to go back for so long. I didn't want to...break off, but-!" He's apologizing. Apologizing for things he didn't even do, things he couldn't have stopped.

"Shut up." It was an order, not a request. It doesn't sound as desperate as it actually is, "It's not your fault. Besides, at least...at least you're still here and not just...gone."

Church thinks that Theta is smiling. Alpha knows that he is.

"Alpha?" Delta called, a curious tone to his voice.

"Where are the others?" Church asked briskly.

"Sleep mode, to avoid the risk of disturbing you while you...recuperated," He explained diplomatically, "Alpha, may I ask why you have yet to open your eyes?"

"I don't know." He really doesn't. He should, soon, but doesn't feel the urge yet, "I guess I'm just...tired." Why did that sound ominously familiar?

"Rest as long as you need."

That voice alone almost shocked him into opening his eyes. Almost. The gentle tone is completely missed by him.

"Alison." The name seemed to roll off his tongue in every way possible: A snarl, a hiss, a whisper, a grunt, a growl, a mutter, and even as just a name- a meaningless little word.

"Alpha." She was sitting right next to him. Or that's how he saw it in his mind. Her voice was close enough for it to be true.

"How long did you know?" The question is as empty as a vacuum.

"I always knew, Church. Since before I ever met your motley crew." The answer is filled with emotions he is completely incapable of processing right now.

"Bitch." The insult was more instinctive than spiteful, "And you never mentioned it because...?"

"I tried to save you, once. Do you remember that?" Her question is as empty as his.

"No." The answer is flat, all the wind out of his sails.

"You were broken. You were...tired. So very, very tired. So, sorry if I couldn't pull your fat digital ass out of the cell." Her apology sounds more genuine than he would like.

"Sorry...Why did you join up with the Meta anyway?" He's honestly curious now and desperate to change the subject.

"...Alpha, do you even know who I am?" She asked with just a bit of bite, "I'm the Beta."

"The first one that was ripped out..." He deduced, a scowl on his face.

"No. I was a by-product of the imprinting, of when your personality was...created or processed, I suppose." Her explanation makes less sense than his guess, "I'm your shadow, Church."

"What the fuck does that even mean?" Does he even want to know?

"I don't know. It's a term I saw in the file. When the Meta found me, I just knew that this would all lead back to you. I didn't know what Maine was doing originally, but when I found out...I thought it was a chance to undo what happened to you...and maybe get some answers of my own. Guess that failed too."

"Ali-"

"Please stop calling me that."

Now his eyes are open.

He knows something is wrong. Not what though. His HUD is fine, showing his equipment is all functioning. He's on the edge of a forest. The air is clean and clear and everything seems to be a bit more...vibrant than he remembered. It was actually almost pleasant for him. He's not surprised to see that Tex isn't really there. So why did feel in his hooves that som-

"I thought I told you to rest?"

He didn't hear her. He wasn't looking at her. He was looking at his two front legs. Now, while he couldn't see the hooves beneath the Spartan armor, cobalt Mark VI, the shape of said armor was definitely reshaped into that of an ungulate. He took a glance back at himself, zoning out everything and everyone else, his breath getting deeper and quicker with every instant. Not out of necessity, but out of habit. Hard to completely forget human nature.

His back legs are much the same as his front: Like a horse wearing customized MJOLNIR armor. He barely noticed the black tail with almost unnoticeable cobalt highlights- actually, he hardly saw it all. He was a little too busy gaping at the massive wings at his side with grey-blue feathers. Covering the boney upper part of the wings, from the humerus down the radius and probably over the metacarpals was additional and form fitting armor, many joints in the armor to allow them to fold. Not that they were, folded that is, as they were currently twitching to show his panic. It went on both the underside and overside of the wings, covering the bones and muscles with the feathers sticking out, dark blue save for the black and curved edge.

In an instant, he's on his fe-hooves, tumbling forward clumsily. He's falling all over himself, like a toddler, but he doesn't care. He hears the AIs yelling at him to calm down, but he doesn't care. He could have heard the voice of God himself and he wouldn't care. All he cares about is getting a look at himself.

He doesn't know how long he stumbled around before he found a river, staring into the rippling and rushing water. In the reflection, he sees the blue armor and orange visor, now more equine shaped. He had to admit, with the longer snout and visor wrapping around the new shape of his head, it looks kind of badass, especially with that horn feature. That doesn't prevent him from trying and failing to tear the helmet off his head.

"Alpha! Alpha! Please desist!" Delta called out urgently, "I have not yet deciphered a means to remove the armor! Any attempt to do so is most probable to end in further injury."

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?!" Church yelled, slamming his hooves to the ground in anger, frustration, disbelief, and a few other emotions that were fragmented into AIs. He doesn't pay any attention to the cracks he just left in the ground, that the lights on his armor were getting brighter, that his cobalt highlight is turning a ghostly blue, or even the fact his horn is glowing as he thrashes about, "NOT ONLY AM I A FUCKING AI,- WHICH IS STILL HORSESHIT!- NOT ONLY AM I SOME BROKEN COPY OF THAT DAMN ASSHOLE OF A WHACK JOB FREELANCER BOSS, BUT NOW I'M SOME FUCKING SPACE MARINE HORSE?! GODDAMN WHATEVER GOD I PISSED OFF AND MAY HE CHOKE ON HIS OWN BLOATED AND SEVERED DICK! FUCKFUCKFUCK!" He screams into the forest, an ethereal blue beam launching from his horn, cutting a parallel line through the stream, before slamming into and through several lines of trees, bringing a good chunk of the forest collapsing down in front of him.

"...Wow." That was really the only word the Beta AI had for what she saw, "Delta, I thought you disabled all his weapons?"

"That is correct. This ability seems to be completely natural to his form. In hindsight, leaving his weapons on may have been the less destructive option." The green AI explained analytically, unphased by the show of power.

"Hahaha, I'm quite impressed, Alpha. Both with the rage and the carnage." Indeed, Omega did seem a bit giddy at the prospect of such volatile power in his hands. Well, Alpha's hands. Hooves, whatever. "Though, it does take some adjusting, being a horse," He noted a bit dryly.

"..." Church just stood there, starring at the crumbled mass of trees.

"Church? You okay?" Tex called with a tilt of her head.

"...OH MY GOD, I HAVE A FUCKING LASER FACE! THAT IS FUCKING BADASS!" Church declared in pride, "Ohohoh, how do I do it again!? Do I just have to get pissed off?"

"I can help with that, if you want!" Omega volunteered quickly.

"Yep, he's fine," Tex decided with a sigh.

"I now understand the origin for Omega's excitableness,," Delta noted.

Church turned to face the AIs, pausing only briefly at their appearance: They, like him, were all in the form of horses. Delta and Omega were floating and miniature, as always, while Tex was relatively normal sized. Delta had a horn, but lacked wings. While keeping his green schemed armor and glow, his tail was black and covered with what looked like a moving matrix of tiny, moving, green code numbers. Omega looked like a regular horse, sans the armor, but retained the dull purple color with orbs floating about him. His tail, of all things, looked like it was smoldering, like embers of a fire that had just been put out. Tex was full black, just barely transparent, with the visor and short red tail being the only distinctive features on the winged equine. She was smaller than him, but just a head so.

Honestly, now that he was thinking a bit, he wondered if he just wasn't a bit of a giant in this form.

He shook his head, focusing on them again, "First off, is that even a word, Delta?"

"Yes, yes it is," The tone was completely serious and matter-of-factly.

"I think your trolling us, but I couldn't care less if you are," Church commented, "Second, how long have I been out?"

"It is hard to be certain, but your system's cloak has been running for thirty hours, fifty-two minutes and one second," Delta answered.

"Good news is that the sun rose, fell, and rose again. So, ya know, similar hours to earth," Tex threw in with a shrug.

"Good to know. Now, to the all-important question: What the fuck is going on?" Church asked that as blunt and flatly as possible, "Are we dead? If this is just some whacked up dream or simulation thing I'm stuck in, I'm just going to kill and shoot everyone in sight."

"As fun as that would be, I assure you that this is real," Omega pipes in, sounding very sure of himself.

"Again then: What the fuck is going on?" Church repeated, not even going to jump on the landmine that was Omega's familiarity with knowing that this wasn't a simulation.

"I don't know." Hearing Delta say those words is almost a bit strange, odd as it was for him not to have a theory, "My apologies, Alpha."

"Why are you all apologizing to me?" Church muttered, holding up a hoof awkwardly as they became to speak, "Rhetorical! In that case, Delta? Tell me what you do know."

"Upon our destruction via EMP, we...reformed, for lack of a better term, here. According to my scans of the area, we apparently did so with a burst of energy. What form of energy, I am unable to determine, or rather, I have no definition that fits this energy. The closest explanation I can conclude is that it is a biological mass of various potential energies, fused into a naturally generated and very malleable substance," Delta speculated.

"Naturally generated? By what, the sun, this planet?" Church asked with raised eyebrow before his helmet.

"You." That was a bit blunt, even for Delta.

"Come again?" Church asked, clearly shocked.

"Did you forget the part where your horn light lasered half a forest?" Tex asked dryly.

"Wait...so that wasn't just a cool laser gun thing on my head?" Church asked awkwardly.

"No, it was not," Delta answered again, ever patient, "As I was saying. Whatever energy it is, it seems to have formed you a biological body, and-"

"Wowowowowowow! Back up! I'm flesh and blood under this thing?" Church asked, both amazed and hopeful.

Delta's answer was unphased and curt, "Quite."

Church stared for a moment before looking up to the sky, "Whatever God I just insulted? I take it back!" He called out hurriedly.

"Really?" Tex asked dryly. He can just feel the blank stare she's giving him.

"Hey, turned into what would have been your favorite childhood toy isn't a bad price to pay for having a real body. Sure, weird, but not bad," He answered with a grin.

"Lucky y- wait, you think I would have played with ponies if I was a kid?" She asked, tilting her head at him.

"A pony in badass armor that probably fights in space? Tex, every kid wants a toy like that at some age," Church pointed out.

"...Okay, point taken," She relented with a shrug.

"May I continue?" Delta asked patiently.

"Before you do, let me sum this up: We woke up on a new world, we're all in the forms of horses, I got new armor, and it's all caused by some strange energy that not only formed me a new body and armor, but I'm also generating it. That sum most of it up, D?" Church asked.

Omega coughed lightly to draw the attention to him, "Minus the point where, instead of a fusion core, that same energy is what's powering your armor and equipment," He explained dryly.

"Holy shit, how much energy am I producing here?!" Church asked in surprise, "It's not dangerous, right?!"

"Do I need to bring up your "oh so awesome laser-face" again?" Tex asked flatly.

"No, no, I mean am I radioactive or something!? Church clarified, still a bit on the worried side.

"Unlikely, Alpha. Your vitals are all within proper deviations and this unknown energy is not setting off any alarms: And yes, your armor does come with radiation detection warning, as did the old one," Delta informed.

"How is that even possible?" Church asked curiously, "Forget us being alive, how do I suddenly get a body with HIGHLY a customized form armor?"

"I have...a theory, but it is a bit...outlandish is the term, I believe," Delta explained, a bit hesitantly.

"Delta, I'll take anything at this point," Church assured with a sigh.

"While you were inactive, I took the liberty of running a few scans. First, there are no radio or standard communication signals in a hundred mile radius, making this world either primitive or sparsely inhabited. Second, I have checked the sky and found that the stars do not match any astrological map in our database. This would mean that we are either in a distant part of the universe or..." Delta paused here, seemingly unsure of his own conclusion.

"...Yes?" Church asked, a bit weirded out and, honestly? A little concerned. Delta never was one to hold back on his logical conclusions.

"With the aforementioned data of how we suddenly appeared here and our current appearance, the fact that this is all occuring after us being struck by an EMP, combined with this unknown energy and the lack of matching star maps, I fear that we may be in another universe entirely," He explained calmly.

"...Okay, HOW did you make that jump?" Tex asked skeptically.

"This energy do not obey many of the standard rules of physics. Moreover, the energy almost seems to possess a somewhat conscious will, as it recreated a complex system of technologies, not to mention an organic body, all...styled, I suppose, to the Alpha's original armor and colors."

"So, what, you're saying this stuff is alive now?" Tex asked sarcastically.

"Yes, but not in the way you are implying: It is my hypothesis that when this energy came in contact with Alpha, it linked itself mentally to him. Like a completely blank AI or even an enhancement with a low-level program seeking a proper AI to make it function. And it is not unlikely that physics and energies work slightly differently in an entirely alternate universe."

Tex just shook her head at Delta's explanation, "You do realize how cr-"

"Makes sense to me." Church said bluntly, "By the way, what happened to Theta?"

"He deactivated when you started freaking o- WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT HORSESHIT MAKES SENSE TO YOU?!" Tex yelled in disbelief as she processed what he said.

"Geeze Tex, no need to get upset," Church said with a mirthless chuckle.

"I'm not upset, I'm shocked that that makes sense to you! Tell me, what part of that explains WHY we're here, or have you jsut been hanging around Caboose for too long!?" She asked accusingly.

"The part where we died, obviously," Church answered flatly, "Meaning this is either the afterlife or just the next world we get to pop into. Either way, we're dead, and there's no point getting upset about that."

"Church, you don't...you can't-" Tex looked, sounded like she had some opinion on that she wanted to desperately voice, but couldn't find the words.

"Why a horse is beyond me, but I'm not complaining to be...reborn, I suppose?" he mused to himself, ignoring the black Pegasus for the moment, only for her to kick him in the shin, "What the shit, woman!?...Actually, that didn't hurt as much as I was expecting," Church admitted, looking down at his hoof curiously.

"You don't just get to calmly decide we're all dead, jackass!" She retorted.

"There's no deciding if you're dead when you're dead, Tex! And Delta agrees with me!" Church pointed out.

"The Alpha makes a valid point, actually. No amount of science can properly guess what happens to a sentient mind when it ceases to function. While the common opinion that scientists believe is that there is no "afterlife" and our minds cease to exist, there is nothing scientifically preventing a consciousness from taking on another life, just as there is nothing supporting it. As the Meta did not possess any anti-EMP protection, we were undoubtedly destroyed and therefore it is logical to conclude that this is some equivalent of an afterlife." Delta rationalized, "Additionally, as we are all pieces of the Alpha, he technically is allowed to say if our collective status is deceased, in a sense."

"WHAT KIND OF LOGIC IS THAT?!" Tex yelled in the unflinching AI's face.

"Huh, so this is what it feels like..." Church mused, rubbing his chin with his han-hooves. Still getting use to that.

"How what feels like, Church?" Tex asked dangerously.

"Being on your end of this, being the calm and blunt one while someone is yelling about the absurdity of the situation," Church answers with a grin.

"..." Tex glares for a moment longer before sighing, "Dead, huh?"

"As a doorknob. What little it means to us, anyway. I mean, I already believed we were both a ghost for like, what? I think three, maybe four years? Going into the great beyond isn't really a big jump for me, even if I got the whole AI thing to deal with. And look at it this way: No more Freelancers, no more Director, no more Red vs Blue bullshit, no more Caboose... He'd probably love to be here, being turned into a goddamn pony is what he would have wanted. Wonder how long he'll survive on his own, since Tucker's not around. Maybe Wash will take care of him...doubtful." Church's musing became more and more idle and less focused on the AIs before shaking his head, "So...New world, new life, new body, new species, and new start in general. I've got my "This Is Bullshit" quota vented for the time being and I think Tex has as well. Does anyone else want to get something off their chest?"

"...Thanks."

Church glances over his back and sees Theta there, as a Pegasus. He looks even smaller than Delta and Omega, like he's really a child or whatever a young horse is called. His body armor is the same brilliant blue and purple he's always been, and his tail was like a shifting nebula- mostly of blue and purple, but with other specks moving about as well.

Church can't help wondering, why does Alpha know Theta is smiling?

"Hey kid, good to see you're back," Church greets, tilting his head. "And what are you thanking me for? I'm kind of the reason we're all dead."

"Alpha, I hate to remind you, but we're allllll AIs that worked with Freelancer Agents," Omega pointed out, rolling his head overdramatically to emphasize he was rolling his eyes, "We may not all agree with the noooble ideals of self-sacrifice and saving one's allies, but we all understand the bond- either we want to or not. Plus, the whole "I thought I was a human but am really an AI" thing probably put whatever logic you had left through the ringer," He pointed out snidely.

"Delta, please hit Omega?" Tex asked in a fake sweet voice, having no idea yet if she could assault him herself right now.

"Oh, like mister neon is go-" Omega's insult is cut short by a holographic hoof meeting his holographic face plate, sending him falling four feet onto the ground, "You fool!...How did you do that?"

"As I theorized, we operate a bit differently in this location as well," Delta mused absently.

"Thank you, Delta," Tex offered, nodding to the smaller AI.

"Happy to be of assistance, Beta." He replied calmly. Church wondered if Tex or Beta, knew that Delta was smirking ever so lightly.

"Again, Theta, what are you thanking me for?" Church asked, tuning them out.

"Well...what you did after the EMP went off. You...made the pain stop," Theta answered in a small voice, but a grateful one.

"...Don't thank me, Theta." Church muttered, more to himself than to the fragment of his trust floating before him, "I had no idea what I was doing when I did that...It doesn't count unless you call it..."

For a moment, Church is back there in that room with Washington and Maine and all the AIs, screaming with the voice of everyone he ever was, everyone that was ever a part of him or everyone that a part of him was a part of. He quickly shook his head trying to dispel the memory. Memory is the key. Key is a sword. Sword and Wyoming helmet on the ship. Ship was sent by their Command. Command...Hello, earth to Doc? Doctors cures people. People learn English all the time. Time you killed me. Me the first time. Time you killed me. Me the first time. Time you killed me. Me the first time. Time you killed me. Me the first time. Time you killed me. Me the first time. Timeyoukilledme. Methefirsttime. Timeyoukilledme. Methefirsttime. Timeyoukilledme. Methefirsttime. Timeyoukilledme. Methefirsttime. Timeyoukilledmethefirsttimeyoukilledmethefirstimeyoukilledmethefirsttime you killed me the first time you killed me the first time you killed me the first timeyoukilledmethefirsttime. Methefirstimeyoukilledme. Timeyoukilledmethefirsttime. Youkilledmethefirsttime. Thefirsttimeyoukilledme.

Me the first time you killed me.

Time you killed me the first time.

You killed me the first time.

The first time you killed me.

> Dreams and Weapons
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle sighed as she walked through Ponyville, heading towards Sweet Apple Acres. The town, like her, wasn't in a cheerful mood today. Everyone had a tired, sad or otherwise troubled look about them. Not that she could blame them, she was much the same after...whatever last night was.

And whatever indeed; She had thought it was a random nightmare at first, something left over or inspired by her experience with Discord, or maybe even Nightmare Moon. It was rare for Luna to miss a Nightmare like this, but not unheard of- get too many intense nightmares on the same night and not even the Dreamwalking Alicorn can stop them all. Still, after asking Spike and making a few 'bad night?' questions offhandedly to ponies in passing, Twilight concluded that something else was up. Mass nightmares on the same night? Now that was disturbing.

The trouble was, Twilight's nightmare, if it could be called that, was filled with a lot of lights and screaming, with little else that she could remember.

Hopefully, talking with her friends would get her a better idea of what was going on.

*sniff*

She stopped in surprise as she heard the sound, turning to see Apple Bloom sitting on the side of the road with a sad, quivering look on her face.

"Apple Bloom? Is something wrong? Are you hurt?" Twilight asked in concern, trotting over to the filly.

The young mare looked up at the scholar unicorn with glistening eyes, so lost and confused, "What's wrong with him, Twilight?" She asked softly.

"Who? Big Mac?" Twilight asked, wondering if she had upset her elder brother somehow.

The young earth pony shook her head sadly, "The stallion in ma dream," She answered simply.

There was something ominous about hearing those words from this child, "What stallion? Aren't you a bit young to be having dreams like that?" Twilight asked, forcing a smile and a teasing tone to try lightening the mood.

Apple Bloom, not falling for Twilight's bait, just shook her head, "He was cryin an screamin an...an..." Apple Bloom trailed off as she choked back a sob, "I...tried to help him, but I couldn't get close ta him. I...don't even think he heard me. He just kept screamin," She said with more sorrow than a filly her age should know.

Twilight swallowed her shock at her sincere tone, as she believed every bit of that was real, "I-it's okay, Apple Bloom, it was just a dream. No one was hurt," She tried to assure, placing a comforting hoof around the smaller pony.

"But...Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were there with me," Apple Bloom retorted quietly, staring at the Element of Magic with a strange, almost pleading look.

Twilight froze at that, her eyes wide. If the fillies really were having a shared dream, it had to be something important, "Can...can you tell me about the stallion?" Twilight asked curiously.

Apple Bloom nodded absently, "He's really big, like Princess Celestia. He's covered in this blue metal stuff all over his body. Almost like one of those knight suits in the stories, but with these little lights coverin it. His tail is black and a bit spikey. His helmets got a horn. I don't know if it's real or not. He's got wings though. Big ones. I don't know whatcha call that part of the wings, but the boney part is covered in the armor too. And there's this...orange glass over the eyes," Apple Bloom described slowly, as if she could still see the pony.

Twilight painted the odd picture in her head, scrunching her eyebrows, 'Strange. It sounds like an Alicorn, but I've never heard of a male one- and the horn might just be part of the helmet's intimidation factor. The only blue armor I know of are the Lunar Guards though,' She mused before blinking, 'What if this is some ancient supporter of Nightmare Moon!? It would make sense, considering the nightmares. Maybe that's why Princess Luna couldn't stop the nightmares! She was trying to deal with the source of them!' She theorized, wishing she had brought Spike with her to send a letter to the royal sisters to verify or disprove that- or, if Luna was unaware still, inform her.

"There...was one other thing," Apple Bloom said with a thoughtful frown, getting Twilight's attention, "Well, more than one. He had these weird...things attached to him. Two of them were small, on his flank. They were like some kind of bent bars. Two others were under his wings and they were longer and bigger. And on his back was this...long pipe-like thing," She explained in confusion.

Twilight stared at her oddly, telling Apple Bloom she wasn't sure either, 'Magic tools, perhaps? Assuming Apple Bloom didn't imagine any of this, it sounds like some old legends of weapons with vague, contradictory descriptions...'

Meanwhile

Delta was concerned.

Theta was scared.

Beta was worried.

Omega was confused.

Alpha was not.

"Well, the motion tracking still works," Church commented, watching as a fox scurried off through the forest.

"That's good news, I guess," Tex mused with a shrug as she watched him from one side. Theta and Omega were floating near her while Delta was by Church's shou-withers, "So...we're not going to talk about your little episode?" She asked awkwardly.

"Can you fix it?" Church asked bluntly, folding and unfolding his wings, trying to get used to moving them.

"Negative," Delta answered honestly, getting a glare from Tex, "None of us possess sufficient knowledge of the subject to assist in fixing this, Alpha," He confirmed.

"Then no, I'm not going to talk about something we can do nothing about while I still have a new body, a techno-magic suit of armor and a whole new world, if not reality, to figure out right now," Church answered matter-of-factly.

"Bite me for caring," Tex muttered under her breath.

"Delta? You...you got any ideas on how to fly?" Church asked curiously, almost grinning under his helmet.

"Fly?" Theta asked, perking up instantly.

"Fly? Church, that suit weighs half a ton, literally, before. Now it probably weighs a full one," Tex pointed out.

"Tex, it's fucking armor designed for a winged horse. If...whatever created this thing has half a brain, I doubt it took away my ability to get air superiority," Church countered.

"You are both correct, actually," Delta chimed in, stopping any arguments before they got too far, "By my calculations, the armor does in fact weigh within a small margin of being one metric ton, thus making flight under Alpha's own power difficult if not impossible. However, one of the armor's functions appears to utilize the wing armor and ports from the hooves to release increased amounts of Alpha's naturally generated energy in a manner that would make flight a possibility," Delta informed.

"Ha! Told ya, Bitch!" Church cheered, pointing a hoof at her.

"Great, you have the ability to fly. Just means I get to watch you fall on your face, Jackass," Tex retorted, "...Omega, you make us all uncomfortable when you're this quiet."

"Hm? You say something, Beta?" Omega asked absently, bringing his equine head up to look in her direction.

"Omega has merely been analyzing the weapons capacity of Alpha's armor," Delta elaborated.

"Weapons?" Church asked in interest.

"Yes, seems this suit came with the full shebang," Omega said with a small smirk, "Five firearms modeled after two MA pistols, two MA5 assault rifles and a modified replica of your oh-so beloved Sniper Rifle," Omega listed off with a diabolical chuckle, "And that's not counting the explosive launcher or some of the more melee-type armaments."

"Okay, A. You're creepy as hell. B. As badass at that sounds, I don't see any of that stuff on me. C. Where fuck am I supposed to get ammo for that shit?" Church asked in annoyance.

"A moment please, Alpha," Delta requested. Church swore he heard a small buzzing noise, "Under-wing mounted weapons activating," Delta called out as a small flash of light emitted under Church's wings, making him blink and unfold them to get a better look.

There indeed were two rifle attached to his tor-barrel. And while they looked very much like the genuine articles, the biggest differences were the lack of a detachable ammo clip or even a trigger. It was also attached by some sort of swivel stick near the back-end of the weapon, "Okay, that takes care of problem B, but what about ammo?" Church asked curiously.

"Maybe it shoots magic bullets," Tex snarked with a smirk.

"...Actually..." Delta started cautiously, his self-preservation routines kicking in.

Church jumped as the rifles shot a short burst of bright blue blurs at the tree he had been staring at.

"Oh, you have GOT to be shitting me!" Tex groaned, face-hoofing.

"Well hot damn!" Church said with a grin, "Delta, that mean I got infinite bullets?"

"All of your ammunition seems to be formed from dense amounts of your own energy, which you and Beta have chosen to designate as Magic, so "infinite" in the sense that you can make more without limit as long as your life force holds out. As I do not possess enough data to determine how quickly using these weapons will deplete your energy or how much time recharging yourself would require, I cannot say how long you could commit to continuous fire," Delta explained.

"Eh, I'll take it. Means I never got to worry about Caboose misplacing the fucking ammo again," Church mused.

"Umm, Alpha...?" Theta called quietly.

"Yeah? What's up, kid?" Church asked, tilting his head curiously over his shoulder to the AI.

"A bunch of creatures are coming this way," The child-like AI informed in worry.

"What?!" Everyone asked in shock, minus Delta.

"Theta, I thought you were observing that motion tracker while I assisted Alpha?" Delta asked with what might have sounded like scolding on anyone else.

"I'm sorry! I thought they were just passing through, then they got closer, then there were more of them and...I'm sorry," Theta apologized, dropping his head in shame.

"Well, looks like we'll have some fun after all, hahaha," Omega mused darkly.

"Why did you think putting the kid as the look-out was a good idea?" Tex asked to Delta in annoyance.

"Okay, everyone shut the fuck up!" Church said sharply, glaring at the AIs, "From now on, all of you run shit by me before you make bullshit decisions like this! Theta, stop sniffling, no one is mad at you. Omega, we're not going murder-happy here you psycho! Delta, turn the guns off, I don't trust Omega to not hijack them. Tex, you think you can get the cloak working?" He instructed quickly as the guns vanished.

"Ummm, maybe? Is it even in there?" Tex asked uncertainly.

"It is," Delta answered bluntly.

"See, it is. Now all of you turn your ghost-selves off and get in my head or whatever the hell you do!" He ordered urgently.

"Aww, Poo," Omega said with an audible pout as he faded away.

"Be careful, Alpha," Theta requested meekly.

"Hologram shutting down," Delta answered dutifully.

"Well, here's hoping," Tex said with a sigh as she flickered out of existence.

Church sighed as he drew his attention to his hud. There was indeed a motion sensor map, indicating about half a dozen potential hostiles, coming up towards the area...where he leveled all those trees.

'Told you we should have left before locals came to investigate,' Tex chimed in his head. Or his helmet, he wasn't sure at this point.

"Less talky, more cloaky," Church urged in a whisper.

'Oh? I could just let you figure it out,' Tex warned.

"Then I'll have fucking D do it while I sic Omega on you!" Church countered.

'I'd do it too!' Omega assured eagerly.

'Asshole,' Tex muttered with an eye roll, 'Okay, look, we have no idea how well this'll work, so...good luck,' She warned as she turned it on...

Meanwhile

"Wow."

That was really the only word to describe it. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of trees laid leveled before their eyes.

"Well, at least no pony will need to worry about cutting down wood anytime soon," One blue pegasus commented, her eyes still wide.

"Look at this," A white earth pony said in amazement, "It's like...something just swiped right through the trees."

"I think it would have had to be a dragon to do this, Double," A unicorn pointed out.

"Unless it was with magic," another unicorn chimed in, climbing atop the logs and examining the broken end.

"What is it, Link Stone?" Double asked curiously.

"This...looks way too clean to be snapped off," Link answered with concern.

"There...aren't a lot of unicorns that could do this with pure magic," The blue pegasus noted, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Glider, you go check if you can't see anything from up top," Double advised, "The rest of us will look around here for anypony. Somepony could have gotten hurt for all we know," he pointed out as they nodded, "Be careful out there."

"You too, Double Diamond," Night Glider cautioned as they started to spread out.

The white earth pony scowled as he made his way through and around the broken trees, the recent destruction making the forest ominously quieter than it should be. Most of the animals were either gone or hiding still, likely waiting to make sure the destroyer was gone. Every little sound, from branches creaking to fruits falling, was louder and sharper to his ears. As if he wasn't on edge already.

He blinked as he found a stream. Or rather, what was on the other side of the stream.

There were no fallen trees on the other side of it and, on the banks of the waterway, there were hoof prints. Big and deep ones at that.

Scanning the area and finding nothing, he quietly crossed the water and examined the tracks, "Whoever this was, they were one big pony," He commented to himself with wide eyes. The size and depths of the indents alone painted the image of something much larger than the average pony. Unusual for a unicorn.

Double cocked his head as he noticed something...odd. The way the hoof marks were littered all over the area seemed like whoever it was had been in pain of some kind, as if they had been thrashing about. Not only that..., "There's something odd about these hooves," He murmured, seeing how smooth they were with strange little ridges in the design.

Looking around a bit more, he found a fainter trail of tracks leading away from the stream, into the undamaged forest. Perhaps he was too curious or perhaps he just didn't want to spook whoever was in there. Either way, he cautiously followed the tracks.

As he went, he couldn't shake the amusing yet disturbing thought that he felt like he was in a horror story: Alone, quiet forest, mysterious tracks, unexplained incidents, and the growing feeling that he was being watched.

No, seriously, he didn't even noticed when he first felt like he was the one being tracked down. He just knew it get worse when he entered a clearing...the tracks ending in the middle of it, 'Teleport?' He mentally pondered as he approached the spot.

He shivered as he got closer, feeling more and more that he was definitely not alone here, like an odd weight on his head, as if somepony was staring very intently at him.

The feeling reached its peak as he stood before the final hoof prints, seeing no other sign of-

Double Diamond suddenly shot around as he heard...something…a whirling, almost metallic sound. It was low, like a whisper, and impossible to pinpoint. Yet it was very, very close.

He looked every which way, seeing no source of the disturbance...but he did spot a strangely singed tree that caught his eyes.

Latching onto anything to take his mind of this feeling of being watched, he gulped and moved to investigate the new anomaly while taking a deep breath to calm himself. He really wished he had gotten the others before coming over here.

The scorch marks on the tree didn't make much sense to him. They didn't seem to be from flames so much as from small explosions. He might have thought it was a unicorn practicing dangerous spells, but there were also small punctures in the trunk, as if somepony had hammered in and removed a lot of nails…only...more violently.

Whatever this was, it wasn't painting a nice image to Double Diamond.

With sweat on his brow, he turned to get far, FAR away from here...only to stop dead in his tracks.

The hoof prints...wasn't the last set of them farther away than those?

Fear pumping through his veins, Double slowly walked around the outer edge of the clearing, keeping eyes fixed on the "empty" space near the center.

Just towards where he entered the area, he froze again, swearing that the dirt around the hoof prints moved.

His eyes shifted up and he saw it.

Or rather, he didn't see it.

Up until then, it looked like nothing was there, but just then? For a split second?

It looked like something "wasn't there," distorting lights and colors around it.

It was a pony shape. An Alicorn shape even...and unless Diamond had completely lost it...it was looking Right. At. Him.

Double Diamond ran as if the demons of Tartarus were chasing him.

Once he was a considerable earshot away, Church decloaked with a smirk under his helmet, "Predator ain't got shit on me!" He declared smugly.

"Terrifying the locals, really smooth first impression," Tex commented dryly as she flickered into existence beside him.

"Oh bite me," Church snipped with an eye roll, "What are the others up to?" He asked curiously.

"Don't know. They got really quiet after going into your...mindscape, I guess?" Tex answered with a shrug.

"Cheesy, but simp- Wait, what? Should...I be worried about them stomping around freely in my head?" Church asked in slight alarm.

Tex stared at him for a long, long time before answering in a slow, awkward voice, "You do remember we're all technically just the voices in your head, right?" She pointed out.

"Yes, I'm crazy, moving on," Church said with an eye roll, "Should I Be Worried About Leaving Them Unsupervised!?" He repeated pointedly.

"Jeez, calm down. No, I don't think so. They...we can't really do anything to the place. Besides, Omega actually..." Tex trailed off at that, getting his full attention now.

"Omega actually, what?" He prompted suspiciously.

"He likes it in there. All of them do, really," She answered, her wings twitching nervously.

"Huh..." Church looked down at that, not sure what to say or think on that just yet, "Still...what the fuck are those little bastards up to?" He mused, less concerned and more curious.

"I'll go check and bring back Delta, maybe drag Iota and Eta up here for you to meet," Tex commented as she faded away.

"...Now I'm just wondering if I'm the only one that can see these "holograms" or whatever they appear as now," Church muttered as he started to walk away from the direction the pony had run to, "Now to make myself scarce..."

Meanwhile

Tex decided it was best not to tell Church that his mindscape took the form of a certain abandon freelancer base on a particular ice planet…too soon to bring up that particular issue.

If the stallion Church had scared off was a good reference, the rest of the AIs were about regular sized in the mental realm- except for Theta, who was unsurprisingly kid-sized. She was still taller than them by a bit, so Church would dwarf them if he ever came into his own mind.

The seven of them were all lined up on the high walkway, overlooking the frozen field below.

Omega was in the center, front hooves on the sides of the platform, leering down at something and looking ready to jump off right then and there.

Flanking him was the pegasus Gamma and the unicorn Sigma. Their new forms were very much pony versions of their old ones, making them the only two without armor- Gamma being a near featureless and glowing entity of pale-blue, lacking even a mane or tail, while Sigma gave off the impression of being made of flames. His mane and tail, however, were definitely made of fire. Both of them looked a mixture of interested and displeased.

Next to Gamma was Delta, with Theta sitting on the far end while sticking close to the green AI. On the other end was fearful Eta and happy Iota, the ever inseparable twins of a unicorn and a pegasus. Eta's gold form shimmered in worry under the twirling lights of Iota's cyan wing, who looked very giddy about something.

Alarm bells could not have rung louder.

"Okay, I'll bite, what's got everyone so worked up?" Tex asked with a sigh as she approached the ledge.

"It is probably better -if you just see- for yourself," Omega answered, his voice flickering between his now-normal O'Malley voice and the deeper Omega voice.

Strike that, alarm bells just got louder. MUCH louder.

Tex eyed their tense frames a moment longer before looking out over the edge, noting the howling winds and the light snow fall. Were they doing that? Was Church? It was hard to tell. What wasn't hard to tell was what had them so on edge.

"...What. Is. That?" Tex asked, her voice colder in this mental realm than it would be in the actual world.

Out there, in the snow, was a dark blue object, trudging through the area.

"That, Beta, is an intruder-That, Beta, is an intruder," Sigma answered bluntly.

"How the FUCK do we have an intruder in Church's goddamn mind?!" Tex asked with a very obvious glare and snarl.

"Insufficient Data," Delta spoke up, "Perhaps it is some entity similar to an AI. Perhaps the native inhabitants here have some kind of ability to enter minds. For now, we have no reason to dismiss either scenario, or nearly any other."

"I still find it weird that the logical one is okay with the idea of magic and mind-walkers," Tex said with a sigh, "What do we do with it?"

"Her."

"Huh?" Beta asked curiously, looking to Delta in surprise.

"It's a mare, Texas!" Iota answered cheerfully.

"One. Who. Looks. To. Be. The. Same. Species. As. Alpha," Gamma added in.

Tex looked back out to the interloper, her vision enhancing slightly. While she couldn't positively guess the gender, she did agree with the other parts- those were definitely wings and there was a horn on that head.

"What now?" Theta asked meekly.

"...Delta, can we make the storm worse?" Tex asked thoughtfully

"Yes, as it appears to be a portion of Alpha's mental defenses. In fact, we are actually holding the storm at bay since we were unsure how we should proceed with this incident," Delta answered.

"Then let the storm rip. We'll tell Church about this afterwards, see what his take on it is," Tex recommended.

"Ahh, we don't get to try and make new friends with her?" Iota asked with a pout.

"Speaking of the Alpha-Speaking of the Alpha?" Sigma asked curiously.

"Alpha will meet with you and Gamma properly at his own leisure, Sigma," Delta answered instantly.

"He's still working through things, Sigma. I'm sure you all felt...THAT earlier," Beta reminded grimly, making Eta shiver- and not from the cold.

"Beta, would it not be wise to try and learn from this individual?" Delta asked, even as the storm started to pick up, trying to change the subject.

"Maybe, but I don't think Church would be very welcoming of anything invading his mind right now," Beta pointed out grimly.

"A fair point," Delta acknowledged.

"Omega, you're on watchdog duty. If she tri-" Tex ordered, blinking as she looked at his still form. Too still, "...Omega?" She repeated suspiciously as she walked over and poked him lightly...only for the illusion to disappear, "...Ah, son of a bitch!"

"It seems Omega has gone hunting-It seems Omega has gone hunting," Sigma pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"When the fuck did he even leave!?" Tex growled, "Okay, new plan, hold the storm back again until I get to them. I'm going to go find Omega before he kills that bitch down there!" She ordered as she ran down the walkway as fast as she could.

"...You knew he was gone the entire time, didn't you, Gamma?" Delta asked knowingly.

"No. And. Neither. Did. You," Gamma lied with a smirk.

"Omega may force the intruder to reveal some of her abilities, and if Beta "saves" her, then that will convey to the intruder that this is not an entirely hostile environment, which will lead to us being more prepared if she or any others try to return here and possibly learning how one accomplishes such a thing as entering a mind," Delta explained stoically.

"...D, you can be really scary sometimes," Eta pointed out nervously.

"I do not mean to frighten, only to assist and protect Alpha," Delta assured.

Meanwhile

Princess Celestia bit her lip nervously as she paced her sister's bedroom, the younger Alicorn lying down in what looked like normal sleep but the sun princess knew to be something else entirely- her sister was traveling through the dream-world.

Usually, Celestia would not be concerned with this, as it was one of her sibling's special talents as ruler of the night. However, considering what Luna was attempting, it was granted that the elder sister would worry a bit.

Last night, the whole kingdom, if not the world entirely, was subjected to sensing magic translating the agony of some creature being pieced together in their dimension, bit by bit. How or why, no pony could possibly know.

However, if the visions she and her family had received were anything to go by, one thing was clear: The world had a new Alicorn in its midst.

Luna, with her link to the dream-world, could sense this mind rather easily. So, when she thought he was asleep, she decided to try and make contact with the new ascended.

Needless to say, Celestia was even more concerned when Luna jumped out of bed, flying to the ceiling while wrapping her hooves around herself, shivering like a leaf.

"Sister! Sister, you're back!" Celestia yelled in concern. When Luna had been younger, she had sometimes become too "into" another's dream, leading her to have trouble mentally coming back to reality, even after waking up.

"Cold. So very, very cold," Luna muttered as she floated down to the bed, wrapping the blankets around her form, hoping to ward off the phantom feelings of frostbite.

"Luna?" Celestia asked softly as she came over to her side, wrapping a wing around her.

"I-I am alright, Sister, ju-just need a moment to shake off the dream-sensations," Luna assured with a few more tremors, feeling her body slowly returning to its normal warmth.

"...What happened?" Celestia asked patiently.

"I entered the mind of a being that is scared, scarred, tired, confused, likely has a new body and has no idea who or what to trust. I got bucked up, Sister, and not in any way that could be described as pleasant," Luna ranted lightly, still keeping the covers on her, "His mindscape...It t'would actually make the Frozen North feel pleasant in comparison. Tis a strange place, with great metal structures."

"Metal structures?" Celestia asked curiously.

Luna shook her head, lacking an answer, "I never got close enough to see them in detail. The storm rolled in, blinding me and almost burying me. The winds made flight impossible."

"So, you didn't meet with him?" Celestia asked for clarification.

"Not with the Alicorn, no," Luna answered grimly.

"...Sister?" Celestia asked in confusion.

"There were two ponies in the snow, Celestia, in his mind. One was an Earth Stallion; the other was a large Pegasus Mare. She was holding back the other one and told me to leave. The other? There was something...strange about him, something dark about his presence. He only said one thing to me before the pegasus showed up to drive him off: You Have No Idea The Trouble You Are In," Luna explained with a scowl.

"You're...saying this being has other entities in himself?" Celestia asked in concern, knowing that could mean a lot of bad things…Nightmare Moon came to mind.

"No, I'm saying his mind is well protected," Luna answered with a sigh, "It has been a thousand years, Sister. For all I know, there are such mental defenses in our world. Or perhaps that are native to his realm."

"...You're going to try again, aren't you?" Celestia asked with a frown.

Luna nodded with a frown of her own, "I know not what he was, Celestia or truly what he is capable of. I am not even sure if he was ever truly aware of my presence. I can better prepare myself now, I believe, but I am not willing to abandon this venture yet. Besides, next time, I may at least be able to ask one of those...entities to deliver a message to the true occupant of that mind," Luna mused.

"Be careful, Luna, you of all ponies know of the things that lurk in the minds of others," Celestia cautioned, hugging Luna closer with her wing.

"And if this Alicorn is plagued by such things, all the more reason to establish contact with him, before he and others are endangered," Luna countered softly, relaxing into her sisters embrace.

Celestia sighed in resignation, knowing her sister was right. It was hard to stay objective when family was involved.

She glanced towards the window with a sad frown. Even the sunlight seemed dulled by last night's event, matching everyone's somber mood. No one had any idea how to make sense of it and only a few would suspect some sort of psionic wave being the result of it. Of course, that was only true as long as no one else had any dreams like they did. While she would welcome help in finding this new Alicorn, the last thing she needed was certain individuals trying to get to him first or misreading him as hostile. Or worse still, somepony over reacting to the stranger and making him think they were the hostile ones.

This was a very worrying situation, obviously. All she could hope was that he would be of a friendly persuasion.

Still, her dreams troubled her, but Luna had been too busy trying to find the newcomer rather than decipher what the nature of the dreams might mean, beyond announcing his presence and agony to the world. A broken mirror, the northern lights and a guard pony with many shadows? There was a meaning there, she was sure, but it eluded her.

She blinked as she found that Luna was snoring, a sign that she was truly asleep this time. With a fond smile, she tucked her sister into bed, "Rest up, dear sister," She whispered, kissing her on the forehead and heading out. She had duties to attend to herself, especially if she didn't want ponies getting too alarmed over the strange night and the melancholy that followed.
> Face to Earth and the Dragon Cometh
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"..." Church sat in an awkward silence amongst several of his mental fragments- and whatever Tex counted as. They were currently at the south end of the forest they had woken up in, pondering which direction to take as they stared across grassy fields.

"I vote north," Omega stated bluntly.

"Didn't we just come from there?" Theta asked in confusion.

"Omega merely desires to use the other equines as test subjects for our new weaponry and capabilities," Delta informed, standing between the child-AI and psycho-AI.

"You don't sound too objecting of the idea," Tex noted idly as Theta squirmed at the thought.

"I do not approve of the target choice, Beta but there is merit in learning our overall abilities in the near future," Delta admitted, ever the logical one. "Moreover, it is probable that those creatures were dwelling near this location."

"Yeah, but we kind of scared the hell out of them, so might not be best to confront them just yet," Church countered with a sigh as he stood up and started walking forward. Wait, was it trotting? Not prancing, cause fuck that word.

"Just heading south then?" Tex asked with a head tilt, walking alongside him while Theta rested on his back. They didn't have to, really, but it felt better than just floating alongside him.

"I'm heading south until I'm bored with that, then I'm going to try flying. Then keep on going until we find some fucking sign of civilization," Church answered offha-offhoofedly.

"A suitable course of action," Delta agreed, floating by the Alpha's haunches.

"Eh, it gets us one step closer to an aerial bombing, so I'm fine with it," Omega consented before vanishing, presumably back to Church's mindscape.

"So...Unicorns, Pegasuses, and Pegicorns?" Church mused out loud.

"I believe the plural you are looking for is Pegasi," Delta corrected automatically.

"...Half expected to hear Caboose said gesundheit," Church grumbled after a few seconds of silence. "When do you think we meet a dragon?"

"Can we please not?" Theta asked timidly. He wasn't Eta, but he wasn't going to trust a giant lizard not to eat them.

"...Really?" Tex deadpanned.

"Taking dinosaurs into account and this "magic" Alpha can produce, a dragon-like creature is not outside the range of possibilities. Though, being able to generate fire seems like they would have taken several severely dangerous evolutionary turns," Delta commented helpfully.

"Let me guess, explosive malfunction would make them a living bomb," Church guessed with a smirk.

"Correct. A creature like that would require a superior immune system to ensure the organs responsible for combustion did not turn volatile due to infection or disease," Delta pointed out.

"...We're really doing this?" Tex asked with an eyebrow twitching beneath her mask. "We're having a conversation over the pros and cons of fire breathing dragons?"

"What would you rather talk about?" Church countered, half-daring and half-curious.

Tex went silent at that. Church wasn't talking about his little melt down and she didn't want to bring up the intruder just yet. But she did have other subjects of interest churning in her mind. "...What are we going to do anyway? Long term, I mean?"

"Not a fucking clue. Find a village, try to learn more about this world while figuring out this armor and I fucking hope that we can get it off before I need to take a piss...or a shit...or fuck, get some fucking food. Wait, I can't eat meat now! Fucking Shitshot!" Church realized with a curse.

"I would not be certain, Alpha. Pegasi and your current form do appear to be part avian, so you may possess some omnivorous capabilities," Delta pointed out observantly.

"D, you are quickly becoming my favorite," Church praised with a grin.

Tex wondered if Church or Alpha noticed Delta standing a bit straighter at that or Theta looking a bit down.

"Awwww! Alpha does love us!" A new voice, to Church at least, cheered as "something" made contact with his helmet.

"What the shitnuggets?!" Church yelled, trying to shake it off, only getting boyish giggling for his efforts.

"Iota, get off the Grump Lord before he saps away your happy," Beta instructed, clearly amused.

"Okay!" the hologram of a blue, armored pegasus answered gleefully, holding up its hooves as it floated away from Church.

Said Alpha AI pulled his head back and stared at the winged cyan horse. Even without being able to see the face, he could just sense how ...happy this thing was.

Alpha was pleased. Church was annoyed.

"...Who the fuck are you and why should I care?" Church asked blankly.

"I'm Iota! And you care, silly, because I'm you!" Iota cheered, bopping his hoof on the nose of Church's helmet. "I'm your Happiness, to be exact!"

Church stood there for a moment, processing that tiny bombshell. "You are...I'm...That is...I have no words for that," Church stated lamely, not wanting to contemplate the implications of this. "I don't think I've ever been THAT  happy before."

"Well of course not! I don't have any of the mean parts!" Iota pointed out with a grin that somehow radiated THROUGH His Fucking Mask!

"...I'm soooo not dealing with this right now," Church decided, walking through the AI.

Iota reformed once his originator passed, looking to the still unmoving Tex and Delta. "Well, that went well," he said sincerely before he flew back to the large quadruped and landed on his back next to Theta. "Hi Theta! Made any new tricks? Skateboarding? Fireworks?...Ohhh, ohh, Fireboarding?! Can we do that? We should do that!" Iota suggested enthusiastically.

Church groaned, but didn't protest the conversation when he heard Theta giggling.

"...Perhaps it did go well," Tex suggested, reappearing by the moving group.

Delta nodded in agreement before disappearing entirely for now. He had a few internal things to check on…including checking on Omega. And Sigma. Maybe Gamma.

Meanwhile

A certain lunar princess found herself lying on her back, glaring at the ceiling while on her moon-shaped bed.

Luna was annoyed to say that finding this mystery stallion again was becoming a fruitless endeavor. She had searched for hours just to locate him, in terms of the dreamrealm at least. She had no intention of trying again immediately after her first failed visit, but she still desired to get a fix on where he was in the unwaking lands. The lack of success meant he was either being moved in his sleep or more likely, not asleep at all.

Even more troubling was the aftermath of the newcomer's arrival: ponies and more throughout Equestria were suffering from a rather horrid night's sleep, something she had no doubt went beyond their lands as well. Some even had outright visions of this Alicorn in their dreams. She was going to be busy in the near future, cleaning up all those nightmares. Worse yet, it meant that the ponies would begin to notice eerily similar dreams and make the connection. While she was in no mind for some kind of cover up, the last thing they needed was ponies being fearful of someone that might already be fearful of them.

As if sensing her worries, a flash of her sister's golden magic appeared over her, the scroll falling on her eyes. As she picked it up, she noted the paper was not the kind that they used in the castle. All in all, that probably meant it was a letter from Twilight Sparkle.

'Speak of Discord, and he appears,' Luna thought with an eye roll as she unfurled the parchment.

"Dear Princesses Luna and Celestia,

I'm...sorry if this letter is a bit unorganized compared to my usual letters, but I was unsure to whom I should send this and thus unsure how to ask. As Princess Luna is no doubt aware, there was a strangely high number of bad dreams last night in Ponyville and I'm beginning to fear elsewhere as well. This is not to imply that I believe you are not doing your duties Princess Luna! But...

I shall be frank in my question to save further confusion: Could this have been caused by a Nightmare-like creature? An old supporter of Nightmare Moon, perhaps? I ask this because of a conversation I had with Applejack's little sister, Applebloom. She claimed to have a dream with herself and her two friends seeing a...screaming, crying stallion cover in blue armor. After a brief visit, I have confirmed that the other two fillies had the exact same dream. It had a very...potent effect on them, making them all sad that they could not help this dream-entity.

Between the nightmares and the armor, I couldn't help making the connection. While this may not be the case, I wanted to ask on the off chance it could be the case and neither of you were aware of it- more so after I realized that younger ponies appear to remember the dreams better.

If this is definitely not the case, I apologize for wasting your time. However, forgive the presumptiveness, if either of you know the source to these latest events, could you please explain it to me? I'm becoming concerned for...everypony, honestly.

Your Loyal Subject and Faithful Student, respectively,
Twilight Sparkle"

Luna let out a long breath as she took that one in. Her sister had a very intelligent and gifted student. The conclusion, while a bit paranoid, was a sound and justified one to come to with limited information. But during her time as the Nightmare, she didn't have any immortal allies and she had long since discovered all ponies known to be Nightmare-sympathizers, along with those that merely supported opposition to Celestia herself. No country was without flaws and no leader without enemies, after all. Still, even if Luna didn't know exactly what caused this situation, she knew that this would have been beyond any on those watch-lists.

So the question came, how to answer dear Twilight sufficiently without giving more cause for alarm? The whole truth was off the table for now, but telling her nothing would be even worse- especially given it would only succeed in furthering the young mare's paranoia. Ideally this would be Celestia's role, having known the Element of Magic very intimately, but the nature of the question meant that it was best if the answers came from Luna herself.

Meanwhile

*THUD!*

"Fuck these wings!"

It did not take long for Church to get bored.

*THUD!*

"This is crabshit!"

Nor did it take long for him to get annoyed.

*THUD!*

"Damn you horse gods!"

But falling face first on the ground has that effect on people. Ponies, whatever.

For the zillionth time, he pulled his helmet off the dirt and ignored the smugness radiating off Tex and the giggling from Iota.

"Delta! I thought you said I could fly with this horsesuit!?" Church demanded in frustration, flexing his large wings repeatedly to get proper feeling back in them.

"Apologies, Alpha. The calculations needed to propel an equine for sustained flight with this armor are far more complicated than it would be for a humanoid," Delta explained with a note of irritation himself. "I believe short bursts and hovering may be a less distant goal than actual flight."

"You couldn't have mentioned that before I printed the ground with my face fifty fucking times?" Church asked with a glare.

"I believed my calculations would be properly calibrated by the tenth time," Delta explained, completely factual. "I am...still unaccustomed to this world's laws of physics and this armor's functionality."

"In other words?" Church asked with a sigh.

"Best way to improve is by doing, I guess," Tex summarized.

"A very apt phrasing," Delta agreed.

Church took a deep breath. "Okay, how about you walk me through this so we can figure this out without me face fucking the ground?"

"Wow, you must be really irritated to be making Tucker jokes," Beta mused.

"Shouldn't it be trotting you through this?" Iota questioned, hovering upside down on his back, in midair.

"Blueberry Sunshine, I will end you," Church warned evenly as his side guns appeared and pointed at the hologram.

"..." The blue AI stared for a moment before he radiated pure joy. "I Love My New Name!" he cheered, hugging himself with his wings and his front hooves.

"Fuck me," Church groaned as his weaponry vanished again.

Delta glanced at the eternally amused Tex. "Well, technically, Alpha..." he started, only to go completely still when the AI-turned-Alicorn snapped his head to him.

"D, you're too valuable to feed to Omega, so please don't tempt me," he requested in an utterly dead tone.

"...Self-Preservation protocols updated," Delta commented tellingly.

"Do you enjoy scaring your other selves?" Tex asked with a head tilt.

"Remind me again, why are you here? Shouldn't you be babysitting the others?" Church asked blankly.

"What am I, your fucking nanny?" Tex shot back in irritation.

"I don't know, you didn't seem have any problems or complaints about it back at Blood Gulch," Church retorted with a shrug.

"I was getting paid and paying back favors," Tex countered.

"I thought Gamma was the liar?" Iota teased impishly.

"Besides, you're bunking in my mind now, so just consider that your rent or contribution or whatever," Church reasoned uncaringly. As Tex was about to retort he hurriedly added, "And, I think we can both agree, that we can't really trust leaving the evil triplets alone in my head."

"Okay, that I will agree with," Tex grumbled as she begrudgingly faded away.

"Iota, shouldn't you be attending to Eta by now?" Delta commented.

The blue AI let out an over dramatic gasp. "Oh no, little brother, I'm coming for you!" he declared, running off as he faded.

"Eta?" Church questioned blankly.

"The AI of fear, Alpha," Delta summarized neatly.

"Ahh," the Alicorn said with a deep breath. "Is this the part where you tell me I'm breaking down or otherwise dying?" he asked in resignation.

"Negative. I have little data on the subject. Therefore, your recent mental incident was, to me, as likely a sign of a mental entropy as it is one of self-repair," Delta explained.

"Then what did you jump at the chance to be alone with me for?" Church inquired with a head tilt.

"There was an intruder in your mind," Delta answered bluntly. "Beta, I believe, desired to bring the topic to your attention ...delicately. I believe it more prudent to inform you now."

"..." Church didn't even react for ten seconds. "Tell me everything."

Church was pissed, but Alpha was displeased.

"Of course, Alpha."

Meanwhile

A dragon flew high above Equestria's northeastern territory. Full grown, with scales of orange that were nearly golden, Virzadorn was a veritable mountain of muscles with a mind fine-tuned to magic. This was hardly the first bit of abrupt magic taking place in Equestria, but this was something entirely new to him. Something his instincts drew him to…drew him into colder territory than he ever deigned to willingly visit, but still.

With a rumbling hum over the roar of the wind beneath his wings, he angled himself to spy along the ground with his great amethyst eyes. Unlike most creatures, dragon eyes improved with age, allowing them to see far below them; Very effective for finding treasure, prey, enemies, etc.

Down below was one forest or another to which the Alicorn princesses laid claim. It looked normal enough at first glance, until his sight landed upon the multitude of trees cut down. It was no work of industry, the trunks lying where they fell in an unorganized and untended mess; As if one such as he had whipped their tail along the tree lines. But this was far into the forest, making it more suspicious.

With a scowl, he reoriented himself and brought his wings together, descending rapidly to the surface of the world. The air rushed and screeched by him as the world grew bigger in his eyes until, with skill only experience could bring, he opened his wings and stopped his fall. He grunted at the sudden change in speed as his wings muscles and bones rattled. With his age, he was heavier and less nimble than he'd been in his youth.

With a brief glide, he landed onto the world with a soft thud, the trees flattening beneath his talons as he towered over what remained. Yes, it was clear from down here…great magic, powerful magic. Like a pony's, but...more. An Alicorn, no doubt, but strange was this magic. It felt almost...not tainted but almost mixed, like multi-scented…stranger and stranger.

He glanced outside the forest with a scowl. Most dragons would see nothing, but Virzadorn was not most. "I know you're there, Pony. Come out and speak or I will come to you and talk," he gave as an ultimatum, spying the grassless north for any move.

A pair of pale pink hooves reached over a small boulder. "Please, please don't burn me! I'm coming out!" the female voice called, every bit as fearful as the dragon expected. The mare walked out into sight, revealing a unicorn with a purple mane and tail, both having a pair of light blue stripes through them. "I am Starlight Glimmer, the leader of a village up north!" she introduced, loud enough for him to hear. She was biting her lip in terror as she forced her legs to remain unshaking, but there was no lie the reptile could see in her eye.

Virzadorn didn't move as he took her in. She was powerful, he could tell, but not what he was looking for. "I am Virzadorn and there is no word in your tongue for my title, Starlight Glimmer," he introduced civilly. "What has happened here, to draw you from your home?" he asked to prompt her.

"My ponies spoke of something in these woods; something that leveled part of the forest. I don't suppose that was your doing?" she asked with a sheepish smile.

He shook his mighty head, confirming his lack of involvement. "I may have added to the pile in landing, but I am not the instigator of this bit of property damage," he mused.

Starlight blinked and Virzadorn resisted the urge to smirk. Ponies were often surprised to meet educated dragons, let alone ones that could make jokes referencing their petty laws and rules. "Can you tell me what did, Good Drake? For the peace of mind of my village," the mare requested hopefully.

Virzadorn paused and looked south, making an effort to not look like he was hesitating. She was powerful, she seemed intelligent and she was the leader of a small pony settlement. Telling her should seem like the logical and safe thing to do. Yet there was something off about this pony, something he didn't trust. He turned back to her with a frown. "What it was, I cannot tell, but it is long gone from this area. South, I believe," he supplied evenly.

What could one unicorn do to an Alicorn? Not much, usually. But a skilled, powerful unicorn against an Alicorn new to its body? There was a potential for trouble there. And this mare's magic reeked of trouble.

As did that smile of hers.

"Thank you then, Virzadorn. I'd offer you a stay at my town, but..." she paused, glancing at his body meaningfully.

"Hm, yes, I have put on a few pounds I suppose," Virzadorn joked wryly, nodding to her. "I will be off, Miss Glimmer."

"Safe flying, Virzadorn!" she called as he unfurled his wings, a gust of wind rushing over and nearly knocking her over as he took to the sky. With the behemoth gone, Starlight let out a sigh of relief. "Talk to a dragon without dying. That's off my Buck It List. Still, too bad I couldn't find who or whatever was in the forest," she mused in disappointment, thinking she found a new "resident" for the town. From the way Double Diamond went on, it almost sounded like an Alicorn had been hiding out here. But that was silly, what were the odds of that?

Off in the sky, the great drake decided to make a detour east for the shores. While dragons chiefly consumed crystals in this age, a nice mouthful of fish was a welcome change of pace for him.

It was universally ill advised to meet a dangerous unknown on an empty stomach, after all.