Prologue (Edited)

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A long long long time ago... when Equestria was first beginning to grow into the country it would soon be known across the world. Legends and stories of heroes, villains, and monsters were still new to the continent. Many of its land was still new and fresh, cities were still small villages while notable legends were like any other pony… before even the rule of alicorns.

Celestia and Luna were still hidden from the public eye, only a specified few knowing of their existence… the two sisters were sadly not ready for the world… not ready to rule Equestria yet. Having been discovered by Starswirl the Bearded, the two sisters were kept hidden in a castle within the Everfree Forest where they were protected by loyal knights and friends of Starswirl. While the existence of these two powerful beings were kept hidden, they still had little control of their powers; like foals, they needed somepony to guide them… that was what Starswirl was there for.

Soon as the ages would past they would become great leaders; they would become the princesses of the sun and moon… but this isn’t about them. No, it’s about another set of figures… back when both alicorns were still new to Equestria and it’s ponies. This was a story full of adventure, monsters, lands unknown… and… love… but not the love you think… but, the love of companionship. The two sisters will forever change as well as many more who’ll encounter these nine heroes… or, villains.

While some legends are known far and wide, others were forgotten. This legend was kept hidden to all, with the two living beings who know of it’s story being both Celestia and Luna. This story has many names and many titles, but only one was ever true… this was the story, of “The Nine Stars of Maniae”… the stars of insanity.

Once upon a time, when Equestria was still anew… the three pony tribes; pegasus, unicorn, and earth pony, wished to follow under one flag. Still… with no ruler for them to choose, the tribes leaders await the day somepony worthy would lead them in their new land… but, within the tribes very ranks… signs of treason are slowly growing… War, is coming.

With the alicorn sisters not properly trained, there was no possible way to stop such a war from happening… unless… a miracle were to appear. A miracle so grand and great… that not even the greatest of prophecies could outweigh the importance it gave to all of Equestria and its ponies… And of course, our story begins… with a reason… because…

No story can’t begin when there isn’t a reason to why a story has begun.

In another land… another world… another time… another place…

Deep within the outstretching deserts of an unknown continent… the sound of metal can be heard across the seemingly endless halls of the underground castle. The castle, which was made not of stone… but of metal; it’s floors paved of glistening stone, patterns of colors shone below. The halls roof were the darkest black… seeming as if it were an endless hole above those who walked down these halls. The noise continued to grow louder and louder and louder, what seemed to be the sound of metal hitting metal turned into the sound of gunfire and explosions… A battle was being waged.

Within the castle’s core, was a tall obelisk-like object, the center glowing of a yellow light… an orb, brimming of energy sparking the castle to life... defending itself against invaders. While the castle’s king was busy handling… other things, the king’s loyal knights stand tall, defending the heart of the castle. Nine invaders against nine knights… sword against sword, gun against gun, fist against bloody fist… it was indeed a fight nonetheless.

But to whom were these knights, willing to risk their lives to defend such a holy object? Why… they my readers… are the main characters. “BLOODY ELL!” shouted one of the “knights”.

Sadly to say… I digress with my description of knights… for these were vagabonds and criminals, aren’t the sort of heroes who’d you be thinking about. These nine souls, their hearts full of the most psychotic kind… follow the king of insanity himself; his known by many titles, the Four Jinxes, the Green Menace, the Moving Plague, Green Eye… Versales… well, maybe that last one was more of an alias than a title.

Known as the greatest terrorist to ever roam this vast world, the gang leader of a notorious criminal group… and once or twice a suicide bomber on his side-job as a mercenary. He was a man of great strength, both physically and spiritually; none would stand his grand power… that’s were we have the invaders.

The great king and his fellow “knights” were suddenly attacked within their very castle… by ten familiar foes. While in another world or life, “he” would be considered dead, the leader of the intruders face one-on-one with the king; fighting him in another part of the massive castle. Whilst the knights faced the lead intruder’s followers… yet even though our knights of insanity are the protagonists of our story… the intruders being the antagonists… this isn’t a story about heroes…

It’s a story… about villains; behold, known across this world they follow this king, with unwavering loyalty until the end. They themselves are called by many names… but… you can call them by one notorious title they themselves give…

Ins0ne Par1y…

“BY THE DEITIES, MATHREE! YOU WERE IN CHARGE OF PATROLLING THE PERIMETER AND MAKING SURE NOBODY FOUND OUR BASE! BECAUSE OF YOU, THE BOSS IS LITERALLY GOING TO BLOW UP EVERYTHING IN HIS PATH NOW!”

Now, let’s introduce each of the members of this wicked group of psychopaths. The one shouting is the group’s strategist/hacker/genius/another word for “Smart-ass”, Arnold Ingine aka A.I, who was currently dodging a stray bullet fly by.

“Oh shut your gob, Arny! OY TIM, NEED A LITTLE HELP HERE!” shouted Mathree, blocking an attack.

The big lug of a giant who’s coming to the aid of his smaller yet nimble partner is the organization’s muscle man himself, and the only member who says one single line… ever; Tim Vlion. “BOHO!” shouted Tim, saying his iconic line whilst throwing a punch at Mathree’s assailant.

Meanwhile at the farther side of the battlefield, are a pair of two figures, both similar yet different. These would be the twins, Lov Kel and Eliya Kel, “The Kel Sisters”… Who are currently dodging and parrying synchronously together toward their own pair of opponents.

“Sis! You’re up!” shouted Lov, giggling in delight.

“Yeah yeah, whatever,” said Eliya, throwing an arrange of throwing stars.

The twins spin, jump, and duck, nary a scratch or a wound on them; on the opposite side of them is the luscious and trickiest member of this crazed group. Known to be their spy, and handler with shady deals and exchanges, is the beautifully deadly, Loarven Swuen. “Tut tut, my my… aren’t you the feisty one,” said Swuen, lifting a finger up. Did I forget to mention she’s also an assassin. “I’m surprised you want to fight me… I can kill you where you stand, and that’s not me being boastful… Not like that demon child.”

“WHAT YOU CALL ME YOU BITCH!?” screamed Mathree, waving his knife like a toy.

Ah yes how could I forget, Mathree aka Maxwell Arvion III; a fallen prince from a fallen kingdom… Who’s sadly been cursed, targeted to be killed by his own family no less… and don’t get me started on his tendency too… well… I rather not say. Mathree is this group’s… uhhhmmm… well… I have no idea what he is. Oh right, his their… “enforcer” or in better terms loose-cannon which is funny considering the group his in. While Mathree seems the type to kill his own allies, he has his advantages and uses; with him being part royalty his a very charismatic individual surprisingly, making him gain access to parts or areas… that you wouldn’t be able to enter. His also the one responsible with the organization’s finances and loot shockingly… though, he is the greedy bugger so he would be protective of money and sorts.

“Insult me again ‘woman’, and I’ll shove this knife so far up your-”

“Boho,” said Tim, interrupting Mathree.

“Whhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttt!” shouted Mathree in response. “What you mean they’re going to blow up the core! It’ll level this entire place to the ground dammit!”

“Don’t worry your little head boyo, I got this,” This here is the speedster of the group, Rubert Crane; while he isn’t like the others with their own feats and powers, Rubert is quiet the remarkable engineer, having his own devices to increase his speed and maneuverability. His also the blacksmith of their little gang, creating weapons for them… though, he does it more of a hobby than his main job. The vehicles he makes are also very important, considering each member either go out in single or duo missions sometimes, making him a valuable member.

Near the core, some of the invaders near it plan to destroy this entire base… but protecting it is Rubert’s younger sibling, Joseph Crane; he… well...

“BLOW UP MOTHAFUC-” A loud explosion is heard across the whole area, the cloud of dust near some of the invaders, but not harming done and only leaving them with shallow cuts from the shrapnel.

...He blows things up; while that may seem a crude way to explain his skills, Joseph is a master in bombs, grenades, dynamite, mines, guns… that use explosives, and way more explosive weaponry to count. Now… your wondering, “Why does this organization need somebody like him?”… I ask myself everyday. Every single one of these members are insane, psychotic, reckless, bunch of “children”…

Oh right, where are my manners… I haven’t introduced myself… Don’t let my manners fool you… I’m more different than I am from the outside. My name, is Vallan; second-in-command, clone, and mercenary. Now what I can tell you about myself is… well...

“Joseph, Rubert; protect the core! Mathree! You, Tim, and the twins make sure none of these intruders leave… alive! Swuen your with A.I, get our security systems online!” shouted Vallan.

I’m more of the silent type, who only speaks when needed to; I’m an expert with my two custom-made guns, “Blood & Spirit”. Now they may be the same weapon but, both weaponry are unique on their own will. I’m able to use an arrange of different type of ammunition from average bullets, explosive, sticky, EMP, and more. They’re also only can be used by myself only… they are genetically sealed, meaning only I can use them… Well, that’s half true.

“And what might you, our glorious ‘leader’ are you going to be doing?” asked Mathree, speaking in a mocking tone.

“I’ll handle their leader’s second-in-command. You do your part...” said Vallan, twirling both guns in his hands. “And I’ll do mine.”

“Darling, would it be fine to listen to some music… We can’t fight without music, now can we,” said Swuen, smiling deviously.

“You spoke the words right outta my mouth sister,” said Mathree. “HIT IT TIM!”

“Boooohoooo,” said Tim. Reaching toward a device, rectangular in size and black in color, the machine came to life, spewing it’s song of battle… and practically our anthem.

“There’s nothing like a bloodbath in the morning!” shouted Mathree, charging with his blade forward.

The battle felt like it lasted for decades… sadly, time doesn’t matter to someone like me. Considering we’re underground and we could have been here fighting for days. The opponent before me stood tall, with her weapon clutched with both hands… do I mention she was a woman. Now I’m no sexist, but no matter what opponent I may face… I’ll fight without holding anything back… I did gain the rep for being remorseless in battle and missions.

In the middle of the battle, a stray arrow from the enemy side shot toward the boombox… destroying it with the music from it. “YOU SON OF A… Ohhhh your going to get it now… DIE MOTHA-”

Mathree didn’t get the chance to finish his line… he was sent flying toward the twins who themselves were having enough trouble themselves. Now stuck in a pile of bodies, the intruders make their move to attack.

“Dammit kid! Watch were your swinging that thing!” shouted Eliya.

“Oy, who you calling kid?!” said Mathree.

“Sis! Watch out!” shouted Lov. Above Eliya was an enemy sword ready to slice off her arm; but coming to the rescue was Tim. Now Tim’s body is harder than any metal I ever witnessed. The man is a living tank, and he can handle blow by blow. With his tremendous strength, he grips the enemy’s sword and bends it as if it were a spoon.

“BOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” screamed Tim, bellowing out his signature line. With a powerful punch, he sends the enemy soldier crashing into a wall, knocking him unconscious. With huff of his nose, a long stream of steam comes out, flexing his arm in triumph.

Mathree frees himself of the pile he was in, looking around he notices a loud beeping noise. Searching for the source of the noise, Mathree finds a bomb on the side of the core… a bomb that isn’t their bomb.

“...Son of a bitc-”

A loud thunderous explosion echoes across the large open space, stopping everyone in their tracks. With Joseph and Rubert who were nearest to the core were sent tumbling down, who were luckily unscathed by the explosion or any nearby shrapnel.

“WOOOOOHOOOOOOO! Now that… was an explosion!” shouted Joseph, gleefully clapping.

“Please tell me that wasn’t you, Joseph...” said Rubert, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Nay… wish it were me though,” said Joseph, smiling stupidly.

Before Rubert could retort a response, a loud crackling can be heard behind them; the two brothers turn around to find the core to be sparking… dangerously so. I, who was busy with a staring contest with my own opponent noticed the odd silence. “Why’s everything quiet all of sudden?” thought Vallan, turning to see his question answered. “Oh… that’s why.”

“RUN!” shouted one intruder.

“THAT THING’S GONNA BLOW!” shouted another intruder.

All nine intruders ran from the soon to be crater sized hole, while myself and my allies watched in blind curiosity… What would happen if an explosive object were to make contact with an all-powerful energy source, which is the equivalent of five nuclear bombs? You get an explosion big enough to take out twelfth a continent, that’s what.

As the core implodes, it sucks everything up like a black-hole, both us, the nearby debris, and anything of value to us gets sucked to oblivion… Now this isn’t one of my worse days in my life… but it’s certainly one of my more interesting ones. The first to be absorbed in are the Crane brothers, Joseph and Rubert. Following behind them is the lifeless body of Mathree, unconscious luckily; next was Swuen who had A.I. in her grasp, both the two tumbling away. Nearing close was Tim, holding both the twins into a tight hug… and finally myself.

There is of course a tenth person, our boss… but his currently fighting the intruders’ ringleader; an old enemy of his… and previous target of mine. You ever have one of those days where you regret to not do one thing in the past… well… I’m having one of those days.

“Bloody deities… I hate my life,” said Vallan, crossing his legs and arms whilst flying toward the growing black-hole.

In a snap of a finger… all members of Ins0ne Par1y are sucked into another world. Let’s hope our boss can take care of himself while we’re away.

In another world of another time… a nation is being born; in a castle deep within a mountain range, a certain… unicorn eyes the skies with her telescope. The unicorn in question wore a cloak with a piece of rope tied around her neck to keep the somewhat frail looking cloth together. The pony, whom was a mare had a coat close to the color of silver, her mane and tail being of mixture of light and dark green… her eyes were of touch of purple, sparkling under the glow of the moon.

“Ahh… nothing like some good stargazing to lighten tonight’s mood,” said the unicorn, smiling whilst keeping an eye in her telescope.

The unicorn in question gave an inquisitive rise of her brow… when the sky began to glow brighter than usual. “Hmmm… What in the heavens?” said the unicorn. With a flick of her horn, the unicorn zoomed into the strange lights in the sky. “...My… word...”

In another part of the same world, on a cloud was a pegasus, gazing sleepily at the calm night sky. Her mane and tail were close to resembling a calming campfire, she wore armor suited to that of a solider, her coat and wings were of a mixture of yellow and orange; with her eyes being of a darkened blue. “Tonight’s beautiful,” said the pegasus, smiling.

In an instant, a bright light temporarily blinds the poor mare; quickly reacting to the sudden light. The poor pegasus gasps seeing the sight before her eyes. “IN THE NAME OF- I mean… wha-wha-what is that!?” said the pegasus, meekly shocked. “I-I-I need to-to-to tell the C-C-Co-Commander, qui-quickly!”

Elsewhere, a pony naps under a tree on top a hill; the pony has no horn nor wings. The normal looking pony has a shirt that was made for equines and a hat on her earthly green mane; her eyes were of a teal color as her eyes slowly open, awoken by the bright light. “Wha? Who’s there?” asked the pony, shaking herself awake.

Looking up the pony’s eyes widen, both in shock and interest. “Well I’ll be… now that’s something you don’t see everyday,” said the pony, lifting her hat up to see.

Far far within a mysterious dark forest, a castle surrounded by a cavern is covered in the light of the moon. On one of it’s many towers, a winged and horned being, both young and powerful stares at ‘her’ night sky. The mare in question, her mane and tail swishing against the air, glistening like the stars itself. Her coat is a dark blue, but light enough to tell it’s blue and not black; the strange half unicorn-pegasus being gawks at the night sky… shocked at the very spectacle before her.

“By the moon… Whom has done this, for even though I control the moon and stars… I am not responsible for such a feat,” said the large pony, her eyes glued onto the event before her.

In the starry sky… was the most beautiful and brilliant sight that anypony in the soon-to-be Equestria has ever seen. For while this continent’s residents have arrived here some time ago… they themselves are shocked to see such a rare sight; in the sky were nine comets, glowing brightly as the sun itself.

Each of the comets were unique from one another, showing their own sign of beauty; one comet flew by, leaving a trail of tiny explosions, leaving those looking in wonder. Another moved quick as the wind, not slowing down the slightest. A pair of small comets twirled together making it look as if they were one; another small comet violently shook in different directions but, surprisingly was able to keep up with it’s fellow brethren. A very large comet while not as quick as the others, shone with such resolve that it would make anypony smile from staring at it. One comet, slim and slender moved elegantly in the sky, not slowing down or quickening it’s own speed at the slightest. The eighth comet had an interesting color of hues, switching from a light blue to a dark gray… as if it didn’t decide what to be yet.

However, in the center of all of these comets was one that was normal as any comet’s size; it’s colors were a mixture of green and purple, leaving a trail of green with a purple hue surrounding the green. Surprisingly, all the other comets followed the green comet… as if it were it’s leader… but out of this beautiful sight… there was one thing that caught the giant mare’s attention.

“Is… is that… is that music?” thought the mare. With a lift of her ears, she listened and indeed it was music… but where? It then came to her realization that the music was coming from the comets, each one crashing into pairs; the two small comets crash by a nearby military camp of the pegasi tribe’s. The second pair, the slender comet and the comet switching between colors crashed near the unicorn’s recently built city, Canterlot, on a mountain adjacent of it. The third pair, the speedster comet and the explosive comet crash near a settlement of earth ponies; which left the final pair of comets to crash near the castle in the mysterious forest, these comets being the miniature comet and the giant comet.

“Wait? What happened to the comet leading the others?” thought the mare, searching the sky.

Looking for the ninth comet, the mare spotted the last comet, crashing somewhere in between where it’s other fellow comets fell. Surprisingly enough, where the ninth comet fell is where the music was coming from too. A certain word arrives to the mare’s ear from the strange music… a word that’s both unfamiliar to her and to possibly many others.

“...What’s… a hand?” asked the mare, rubbing her her chin in thought.

Falling (Edited)

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Cold... All I could feel was the cold embrace of death... Which was strange... because I can’t die, not in the way many assume. I woke awake with a groan, feeling something between my fingers... sand? “Hmmmm...” said Vallan, rising up. Indeed it was sand... above was the blue sky, the sun was out and I noticed I was near a lake... which lake I wasn’t sure of. Behind me was a forest... again, unclear to where my destination is.

“Where am I?” thought Vallan, rubbing his head. I remember... fighting... and... an explosion...

...

I... I remember now; the core exploded sucking myself and everyone... but to where... I... I also remember us falling... and music? Vallan sighed, not happy with his lack of remembering what happened to him the last previous hours after what he assumed was him being sent to another world. Better question... Where’s my guns?

Sometime earlier; several hours in the midnight sky. Vallan and company, who were sent to another world... found themselves crashing toward what they assumed... was a continent. While most of the continent was empty of light, there were three spots that shone with flickers of lights. Some of the members of Ins0ne Par1y were conscious while a few were... unconscious; in the air with them was surprisingly the boombox that got shot with an arrow... currently playing music as if nothing happened to it... yet.

“Could someone turn that bloody music off...” said Mathree, mumbling in his sleep. Mathree rubbed his eyes, opening them to see what situation he was in now... Mathree’s eyes stared at the ground that’s slowly approaching him every passing second... he was falling. “WHAT THE FUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKK!”

“You’re awake... Had a good nap?” asked Swuen, calmly.

“HOW CAN YOU BE SO DAMN CALM!? WHERE’S THE BOSS!? WHY ARE WE FALLING!? THIS BETTER NOT BE YOUR FAULT DAMMIT!” shouted Mathree, attempting to go back up only to make things worse for him. “STUPID GRAVITY WON’T WORK!”

“Gravity is working perfecting, now quit moving or you’re going to make things worse for yourself,” said A.I, entering the conversation.

“Ah, Mr. Ingine. How is our other companions?” asked Swuen, smiling sweetly.

A.I. pushed his goggles back up to the bridge of his nose; with a look around A.I. mentally counts those accounted for and those unconscious.

“Well... Joseph, the twins, and Vallan seem to be the only ones unconscious; everyone else however is fine. By guessing the distance of the ground and how fast we’re currently falling... we have ten minutes until we make contact,” said A.I, crossing his arms. “Good news, we’ll survive the fall.”

“What’s the bad news then...” said Rubert, gliding toward his fellow allies. “There’s always bad news.”

With a sigh, A.I. stares at Vallan who would be the best one to explain a situation and is the better leader-type than the logical and analytical A.I. Pointing at the ground with a finger, A.I. explains the “bad news” to his fellow companions. “The second we hit the ground... we’ll be unconscious for... three? Five? Hmmmm... eight, we’ll be unconscious for eight hours once we hit the surface,” said A.I.

Everyone stared at A.I. shocked at the lengthy time of how long they’ll be out... and what could transpire during that time. Tim, the last person conscious joins the conversation, putting his own question.

“Boho?” asked Tim.

“Yeah, you have a point Tim,” said Mathree. “Tim said that we should pair up together, so if we were to go unconscious we would wake beside someone we know.”

A.I. rubbed his chin in thought... and with a nod, agreed with the idea of crashing with a partner. “Well then that might work; since the twins are already paired, I’ll go with Miss Swuen. Rubert you go with your brother, and Tim and Mathree will be together... That just leaves...” said A.I, looking toward their sub-leader, and second-in-command.

“Vallan...” said Swuen, her tone sad. “Will he be fine alone?”

“Don’t worry, Vallan is a tough son of a bitch! The bastard can handle punches and take bullets more than we can... He is the clone of the boss after all,” said Rubert. “Besides he won’t be alone... he got the boombox with him.”

Ironically beside Vallan’s body was indeed the boombox, playing a tune right near him. With a nod from those who were awake, they each paired together preparing to crash down.

“Now remember, once we wake up, we are to find each other... immediately. I’m not sure where we ended up too... but we need to remember. We’re in an unknown land, so be cautious once your awake,” said A.I, with a salute he waves his allies a farewell. “Farewell! May we meet soon... or in another life!”

“You too, you stupid nerd,” said Mathree. “YIPPY-KI-YEAH!” Mathree began to laugh psychotically, riding on top of Tim’s back whilst the two began to crash down.

Swuen and A.I. nodded to one another, readying to land roughly. The Crane siblings or in this case Rubert grabbed hold of Joseph, noticing he was crashing into a thicket of trees. “...Fuck m-”

The twins who’re unconscious crashed too... probably not noticing their own crash landing; finally, Vallan crashed with the boombox, which was surprisingly continuing to play music still. The nine warriors, separated in a land unknown to their knowledge. Will it be the greatest obstacle and challenge they’ll face... or will it be the end of them. Either way, this world only gotten a little more crazy.

Back in the present; Vallan scratched his head in thought, unable to remember anything from before. Looking at his surroundings, Vallan sees beyond the other side of the lake some cliffs and possibly more land. The other direction led to a forest, possibly full of dangerous creatures. Except Vallan couldn’t leave his destination, for without his guns, he was defenseless and who’s to say the locals of this world will be friendly.

Now myself and the others can’t be the only things that fell here... Some stuff from our base must of fell here too... Vallan stood up, standing tall on two feet he scavenged the beach for anything. So far Vallan has found in the last five minutes were some scrap metal, charred remains of wood, and apparently the boombox... in perfect shape but...

“Thing is out of battery,” said Vallan, tapping the side of the boombox. “At least we got some entertainment to listen to... once I find the others.”

Leaving the boombox where he found it, Vallan notices something; in the bottom of the lake he can see two lights... Two very familiar lights. Disrobing himself, all that remains on Vallan’s body is his shorts; perfect as underwear and for swimming. I recognize that glimmer, and the only thing in this world or any world with that shine... “Are my guns,” said Vallan, finishing his own thought.

Staring at the glimmer reflection of his guns, and how deep the lake is, Vallan won’t be able to reach them and go back to the surface in time. Looking around Vallan decides to climb the top of the cliff-side; once reaching the top, he stares down below the lake. With a quick inhale of breath, Vallan dives toward the lake swimming for his prized weapons.

This lake’s pitch black, and it’s probably the middle of the morning. Well I better get my weapons before I drown now. With all his might Vallan swims down for the glimmering light, and reaching with both hands... he feels the handles of two guns. Gotcha.

In the surface of the lake, Vallan comes rising up like a bullet; reaching the shore he places both guns on a rock, so they may dry and be ready in the future. Seeing as the only clothes he has wet are his shorts, Vallan decides to gather what stuff he can on the beach and pile together. Now where did I put that boombox?

Gathering metal scraps, sticks, some rocks, the boombox, and luckily five batteries; two the size of his hand, and three the size of a box. With all the supplies he can find, Vallan decides to rest by sitting and leaning against a tree; now under some shade Vallan let’s his thoughts wander as he slowly descends to sleep.

I wonder if the others are awake now? No matter... for now I’ll continue the day tomorrow. Good thing I don’t need to eat as often as the others... considering my origins. As Vallan’s eyes slowly close... he swore he heard a scream in the distance, only for it to be a scream from the past... from an old nightmare.

In the mountains was a city made from the purest and whitest of stones, where the greatest deposit of ores and gems could be found; here was the aristocracy lived. Here where the unicorn tribe called home... Canterlot, the first Equestrian city. Ponies far and wide come to the grand city, for trading, show their art, and so much more. At Canterlot Castle was the ruler of the unicorn tribe, Princess Platinum... who was in the middle of a very important meeting with some in her words... “unruly peasants”.

Princess Platinum sighed on her seat, watching the bickering of two farmers complaining about how much land they should have or not. Whilst Platinum was indeed the most possible likely leader for Equestria... in honest truth she didn’t wish to rule all of Equestria; all she wanted was a place for her ponies, the unicorns, to live in peace. Except with the earth pony and pegasus tribes also having found this new land; they are force to share it. Each of the three tribes’ leaders, her being one of them, each leader must focus on three important things for Equestria.

The leader of the pegasus, Commander Hurricane, was in charge of handling Equestria’s security and military might if other nations were to invade their new home; two possible invasions could come from either the griffin kingdom or the minotaur lands. The leader of the earth ponies, Chancellor Puddinghead, was responsible for handling Equestria’s food and finances, she would had to register the number of supplies and bits the nation had in case of future projects or... incidents.

Then finally there was her, leader of the unicorn tribe; she was in charge of Equestria’s democracy and rules. In other words... she was responsible for handling everypony’s complaints. Now she can talk her way through anything, but to be fully honest... she wasn’t the sociable type many believed. Platinum had few friends, and these friends weren’t other nobility or such... but rather the opposite; she was bored of listening to everypony’s pleas and wishes that she almost said yes to a pony who wanted to marry her. My it was one interesting morning when that happened.

I rather count the number of apples in a barn than... THAN THIS!

Before Platinum were two farmers, both stallions from the farms that Chancellor Puddinghead’s adviser, Smart Cookie was supposed to handle. Apparently these two stallions were mad that they don’t have enough land to grow their crops and the only land free is the same one they want. Both stallions were close to pummeling the other to the ground, but considering their in front of royalty they held that urge back.

“LOOK BUDDY! I need that plot of land more than you! So-back-off!” shouted the one stallion, on Platinum’s left.

“Nope! I need that land, you have more land than I do!” shouted the second stallion.

“Oh sure I have more land, well what about you! You have so many workers under your command, you practically have your own army!” shouted the first stallion.

Both stallions continued their arguing, until the doors that led to the hallway outside the room they were in swung open. Coming inside the now silent room was Princess Platinum’s own adviser, lead researcher of magic, and... close friend; Clover the Clever.

OH SWEET APPLE PIE, THANK YOU! Princess Platinum stood up on her seat, steadying her pace, while also making sure to meet her friend. “What brings you here my adviser?” asked Platinum, showing her regal look.

“Well...” said Clover, only to stop and look behind her princess. “...Am I interrupting something?”

“What?! No no no no no nooooooo, we were simply finishing right now,” said Platinum, smiling.

“We were?” said both stallions in confusion.

“Why yes, and as to who gets that land... Uhhhhhmmmm... You’ll both share,” said Platinum. Before both stallions could complain even more, Platinum hushed them and explained her reason. “Now don’t going rambling on about this and that; you two have a quota to meet and aren’t nearly close to completely finishing it this season. You two either share that land and complete your quotas... or I’ll send you both to the dungeons.”

Both stallions gulped, deciding to not argue with her majesty any further than needed. “Y-yes, Princess Platinum,” said both stallions bowing. Once both the stallions left, both Platinum and Clover headed to her chambers.

“Now... what was it you need to tell me?” asked Platinum, the two trotting down the hall with two guards following behind.

Clover coughed into her hoof, almost forgetting about why she came here the first place. Once making it to Platinum’s chambers, both guards wait outside while both the princess and her adviser enjoy some tea on the balcony of Platinum’s tower.

“Well... your grace, I-”

“Oh please Clover... there is no need for formalities. We’re alone so go on and... well, talk the way you always have. Your always so adorable when explaining something new you discovered,” said Platinum, giggling.

Clover blushed, drinking her tea in embarrassment. “Of course my- I mean... Yes Platinum,” said Clover. “Now... did you see the stars the night before?”

Platinum raised a brow, finding this topic to be interesting now; placing her teacup down with her magic, Platinum watches her friend’s movements. “Sadly no... I was asleep. Considering yesterday’s meetings were, as usual... boring,” said Platinum, placing her hoof under her chin.

“Well I was; when I was stargazing with my telescope... I saw nine comets raining down, crashing toward Equestria,” said Clover. “From what I can tell, two of them crashed near Commander Hurricane’s military camp, two near that earth pony settlement, and two somewhere in the mountains near Canterlot.”

Platinum rose from her seat, looking over the edge of her balcony; whilst looking away from Clover, the princess continue to speak. “And what of the other three?” asked Platinum, her full attention on Clover.

“For those three, two of them landed... in the Everfree Forest,” said Clover, gulping from mentioning that place.

The Everfree Forest... A place of evil and death. “And the final one?” said Platinum, turning to face Clover.

“The last one’s location is unknown, but that’s not why I’m telling you this,” said Clover, rising from her seat. “Each comet was giving off high magic readings from my new device I created with my mentor, Starswirl the Bearded.”

Starswirl? Haven’t heard that name for awhile, I wonder if his doing fine, that old stallion has always been getting himself in all sorts of trouble. “Ah Starswirl... How is he?” asked Platinum, clapping both hooves together.

“Well, his handling his own little pet project; you know how he is,” said Clover. “Anyway, I wanted to ask you permission to send a search party to the nearest crash. I myself will go too, but if I’m correct... that magical energy my scanners detected... it could mean another situation like the Windigos.”

With a frown Clover sadly stared at her teacup, seeing her tea swirl within the cup. Platinum in return frowned, sitting back onto her seat she places a hoof on her friend’s hoof, comforting her. “Do not worry Clover... I know, that maybe back then the tribes had... their differences, but now we’ll make a better home, for all ponies. I’ll prepare a party this afternoon; if you find anything report to me immediately,” said Platinum.

“Of course... your highness,” said Clover, bowing her head.

Clover left her seat departing Princess Platinum’s chambers to prepare her trip to the comet crash near Canterlot.

At the same time, some distance from Canterlot is a fairly big camp; within this camp held both the pegasus tribe and Equestria’s future military force. A certain pegasus began to glide through both pony and obstacle, in a hurry with very important news... well, for her it was important. Nearing her target, she accidentally trips on something causing the poor mare to begin tumbling into a tent. With a quiet yelp she meets muzzle first with her commander and leader of the pegasus tribe; Commander Hurricane himself.

“WHAT THE!? PRIVATE PANSY! WHAT IN THE NAME OF OUR ANCESTORS ARE YOU DOING!?” shouted Hurricane, pushing the mare out of his tent.

“Sorry sir, but it’s about something I saw the night before; and since you were busy with a meeting with the other generals, I had to wait until this morning... Sir!” said Pansy, raising a hoof to her forehead, only to hit herself. “...Ow.”

When Commander Hurricane stepped out, he had his armor on but his helmet was still inside his tent. The second Hurricane gazed down he saw a whimpering Pansy, rubbing her forehead in pain. With a sigh, the commander used all his might to get the poor private in ready action. “Up and at em private!” shouted Hurricane, his voice catching the attention of anypony nearby.

Pansy immediately rose up from her pitiful state and salutes back at Hurricane, straitening her back and gazing up. “YES SIR!” said Pansy, wincing a little from touching her forehead again.

“Now… What is it that you saw last night? Was it one of the other nation’s armies?” asked Hurricane. It better be, we haven’t fought anything since the Windigo incident.

“Uhm… no sir. I saw nine glowing objects falling from sky; comets,” said Pansy, remembering if there was anything else needed to be said. “Sir!”

Hurricane, with a bored and annoyed look grabbed Pansy by the shoulder, causing the mare to shake and shiver from her commander’s sudden touch. Pansy slowly looked at Hurricane’s eyes; the anger in his eyes made her shrivel down toward her leader’s gaze. “Pansy… What did we say about which is important… and which isn’t important,” said Hurricane, his voice becoming angrier over time.

Anypony nearby watched, but not showing pity toward the scene playing before them. Private Pansy and Commander Hurricane always had “talks” like this… which involved a lot of shouting and Pansy screwing things up. While Hurricane imagined this being Pansy overreacting with something, Pansy’s expression changed from her previous cowardly look… to something of pure fear. Usually Pansy would look scared, but she respected Hurricane and tried her best to look brave in front of him… this was different.

“It’s just… the lights those comets gave out… They reminded me so much… of the Windigos,” said Pansy, the color on her face disappearing. “Those lights were just… so… so…” Pansy faltered down on the ground, nearly hyperventilating in front of her very commander. “Something about those lights… It wasn’t natural.”

Commander Hurricane’s face softened; he had never seen Pansy like this before, now she was a very pathetic mare, but to join the military at her age… She showed true courage and gusto, which was why Hurricane knew she would make a wonderful leader in the future… whether many don’t see it or not. Not only that, but while Hurricane made up all the battle strategies, Pansy was of some help and had a talent of telling when things were going to go hairy or not; whether a battle was worth winning or it was better to live another day.

Sighing, Hurricane patted Pansy’s head, getting her attention to look up. “We’ll go search where you saw these comets crashed. You said nine correct?” said Hurricane.

Pansy was happy that her leader was being understanding today, and went back to saluting. “Yes sir, but they all crashed into different directions. There should be one crashed near us, the other tribes may have sent their own parties to find the others; we’ll probably receive news of them finding them too,” said Pansy. “Should I go get some others to come with us, and search the perimeter?”

“That would be helpful. We’ll leave in two hours!” said Hurricane, returning to his tent. I guess today won’t be so boring after all.

In a small settlement near the Everfree Forest, but a good distance away, the earth pony tribe made their home here. Though the settlement has no name yet, it would slowly become a good place for trade and sort considering it’s in between Canterlot and the military camp some distance away. Trotting down the dirt roads was a yellowish mare, who wore a hat and vest of sorts. Many ponies welcomed and recognized the mare, the mare in return welcomed them back. In the center of the settlement was a building being complete in time; with the skeleton of the building down, walls and windows would slowly be added soon. In the front of the soon to be done building, was an interesting figure; she wore a hat that resembled pudding, her dress too had also looked as if it were pudding too.

The mare who wore the pudding hat noticed the other mare, waving toward her in excitement. “OH, THERE YOU ARE SMART COOKIE!” shouted the mare with the pudding hat.

“Good morning Chancellor Puddinghead; I was taking a nap near this spot that would make a nice spot for a farm,” said Cookie.

“That’s good that’s good,” said Puddinghead, trotting toward her secretary. “But we have bigger news!”

“We do?” said Cookie. Does she mean the comets from last night, they were bright and all but I doubt they would be in the big news category.

“Now, this morning I saw a long pillar a smoke some ways outside of the settlement. I decided to check it myself… and guess-what-I-found!” said Puddinghead, her excitement increasing.

Oh cupcakes, don’t tell me she found another dragon. “What did you find Chancellor?” asked Cookie, worry growing in her voice.

Puddinghead placed both her front hooves together, grinning childishly. “I… found… A NEW SPECIES!” shouted Puddinghead, jumping in one spot.

“Not another d- Wait… did you say new species?” said Cookie, confusion in her voice. Out of all the things she found… she found a new species… This can’t be good. “Are they sentient?”

“I don’t know… they were both unconscious when I found them. I brought them to my home so they can rest up. This way!” said Puddinghead, trotting away.

“WAIT! CHANCELLOR!” shouted Cookie, following behind. Please be a dragon, please be a dragon, please be a dragon, PLEASE BE A DRAGON!

Awakening (Edited)

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The light of the afternoon light shone across a vast forest, creatures of both the mysterious and dangerous kind; a castle stood tall and solemn among the forest, a cavern separating both the castle and forest meeting. The castle while in the outside was made of stone and didn’t shined or glimmer like the castle or buildings of Canterlot, wasn’t built to look pretty. The residents of the castle lived in some of the dangerous parts of Equestria, the Everfree Forest, and because of this the castle was built to withstand any of the Everfree’s more dangerous creatures.

Inside the castle, a total of fifty-three ponies lived in the castle currently; fifteen soldiers, fifteen maids, ten chefs, nine different experts on different professions, a single butler, and three very important figures. The first of the three was a respected wizard and teacher of Clover the Clever; Starswirl the Bearded. The other two were however a special case… for they were the only ones of their kind that were ever recorded in Equestrian history. The first alicorns in existence ever; Celestia and Luna, the future rulers of Equestria.

Celestia, Luna’s older sibling slept quietly in her room… until a quiet knock was heard. Opening her one eye slightly, her bed covers shuffled as the form of a giant white mare rose up; with a quiet and adorable yawn Celestia rubbed her eyes with a hoof. Instead of getting out of bed, the white mare falls back to sleep, grumbling something out. “Five more minutes...” said Celestia, snoring lightly.

In response to her grumbling, the knocks continued to grow louder, with it was a familiar voice to the young alicorn. “Tia! Get up, you overslept again! You missed this morning’s classes and breakfast!” The sleeping alicorn recognized the voice of that being her young sister, Luna; with a groan she stepped out of her bed, trotting toward the door.

Opening the door open was another alicorn, her fur was blue but seemed to show a dark shade to it. Luna looked at her slightly taller sibling, frowning at her sleepy figure. “Tiaaaaa,” said Luna, extending the “a” part of her sister’s nickname. “Why did you have to leave me alone this morning? It was so boring listening to all those classes, that I nearly fell asleep.”

Celestia yawned rubbing her head after noticing what time it is now. “Sorry Lulu, I stayed up last night and was studying this spell Starswirl was teaching me,” said Celestia.

“Wait, you were up last night? Did you see the night sky then!” said Luna, her expression changing instantly.

“No sadly, I was so deep in my learning I kind of kept my eyes glued to my books. Why, was there something interesting tonight?” asked Celestia.

“Interesting? Interesting! You should of seen it, the sky was as bright as the sun, filled to the brim with so many different colors… and that music,” said Luna, grinning. “I don’t why, but it was really catchy. It went something like this; dun, dun-dun dun, dun-dun dun, dun, dun, dun-dun-dun dun, and something after that… but it was a really catchy tune!”

Celestia tilted her head in confusion; her sister giddily hopped where she stood, remembering what she experienced the night before. From Celestia’s perspective it seemed as if her little sister may have eaten a little bit too many late night snacks before going to bed. “Luna… maybe you should lay off the cookies before going to bed,” said Celestia, leaning against the door-frame.

“I wasn’t seeing things! Ask one of the guards or anypony, maybe they saw it too,” said Luna. “It’s not my fault you’re too busy being a bookworm!”

“I wasn’t reading, I was studying! They’re two different things!” said Celestia.

“Reading, studying; tomayto, tomahto… It’s the same thing,” said Luna, in response.

“No, it’s not!”

“Yes, it is.”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

Both the alicorn sisters kept going back and forth with agreeing and disagreeing when from the far end of the hallway… was a bearded unicorn. The old unicorn wore a hat strung with bells and a cloak with stars adorning it’s cloth… who sighed from seeing the spectacle of two unique beings… arguing like a bunch of fillies.

“Well… they are pretty much fillies, though they are older than I,” said Starswirl, speaking to himself. “I should probably stop them before they cause an incident… again.”

Starswirl trotted toward the two alicorns, each one arguing back to the other. Turning from the other side of the corner was one of the fifteen soldiers, with him was a scroll in his mouth. Both the alicorns stopped their bickering to look at the frantically running stallion. “Ecuse muh!” said the messenger, through clenched teeth.

“Yikes!” shouted Celestia, stepping back into her room.

“Hey!” shouted Luna, leaning back to the hallway wall. “Watch where you’re running!”

“Sworry!” shouted the messenger back to Luna. The messenger turned to face in front of him when he spotted the pony he was looking for; in an instant, the messenger stopped to a halt screeching against the castle’s floor. The stallion stood in front of Starswirl who was equally confused as the alicorn sisters; with a quick salute the stallion spat out the scroll onto the floor. “STARSWIRL SIR! MESSAGE FROM THE OUTER PERIMETER PATROL, SIR!”

“How many times have I told you; call me Starswirl, I’m a wizard not a captain!” said Starswirl, directing his focus to the scroll. Using a simple levitation spell, Starswirl unwraps the scroll and reads it, mumbling some of the words out of habit. “Light… noise… critters running… fighting…” Starswirl’s eyes widened until he screamed out the last part of the scroll’s message. “ALIENS!”

Both the alicorn sisters looked at one another, both their eyes bulged out in intrigue. “ALIENS!?” shouted both Luna and Celestia. Instantly, Celestia and Luna teleported behind Starswirl to read the scroll he was given. “WHAT ALIENS!?” said Celestia and Luna, leaning behind Starswirl.

Starswirl quickly teleported the scroll to his private chambers before turning to face both his apprentices, giving each one a powerful glare. “Ohhhhhhh no you don’t! You two are staying in the castle and continuing your studies, or I will enchant this whole castle… again!” said Starswirl.

“That thing,” said Celestia, waving her hoof in front of Starswirl. “I already know where you keep the runes and know how to disable them.”

“Is that so? Well tell me then… where are they?” asked Starswirl, expecting an answer.

“Why, one’s in the kitchen, another in the library, and you keep one both under mine and Luna’s beds,” said Celestia, folding her hooves in triumph. “Beat that!”

Starswirl began to clap his hooves together, grinning. “Well done well done… except… you forgot I always place five,” said Starswirl.

Celestia’s triumphant smirk faltered, facehoofing herself for forgetting that. Drat!

“I told you we missed one...” said Luna, whispering to Celestia.

Starswirl sighed again, rubbing his eyebrows in frustration. How in the world were these two were prophesied to be Equestria’s new rulers? Still… I promised I would do all my power to teach these two, and show them the destiny they were given. After going through his thoughts, Starswirl looked upon the messenger standing before him.

“Send a patrol to check where you last seen these… aliens. I’ll come too, but I must first send a letter to my apprentice about this,” said Starswirl.

“Of course, sir!” shouted the messenger, saluting. After the messenger made his way down the hallway, leaving Starswirl with Celestia and Luna; Starswirl turned to face the two young alicorns, raising a brow.

“Now… What exactly were you two arguing about?” asked Starswirl, crossing his front hooves together.

Both sisters gulped, knowing they’re in big trouble now; both sisters began to nervously laugh slowly shrinking in size. Sometime earlier in the day within the Everfree Forest, a small patrol of soldiers are going through a designated path made specifically for them so nopony would get lost in the large maze-like expanse of the mysterious forest.

Booooooring… I swear, after this I’m going to ask the captain if I can do guard duty in the castle. At least there I’m warm, have some decent food, and don’t have to deal with this creepy place. The soldier yawned, beside him was another soldier giving him the stink-eye.

“Now now, don’t go dozing off on me. I don’t want to let last time’s incident happen again,” said the soldier, angrily bonking the other soldier’s helmet.

“I said I was sorry… I didn’t see that cockatrice,” said the first soldier rubbing his head.

“It was because you fell asleep while I almost turned into stone… You’re lucky lady Clover was visiting his teacher, and saw us in trouble,” said the second soldier. “I rather deal with whatever she has to go through than your sorry plot!”

Before the first soldier could retort… a loud noise was heard. Both guards panicked expecting an attack… but the noise only grew even more. Suddenly from the bushes on their left came a torrent of critters and other dangerous animals, running by them as if they weren’t there at all. “GET DOWN!” shouted the second soldier, pushing her fellow ally to the ground.

Both soldiers kept their heads down; when the noise finally died down, they both looked where the critters ran from. “What-was-that-all-about?” asked the first soldier.

“I don’t know… but it’s better than walking back and forth,” said the second soldier, grinning deviously. “Come on!”

“Wha- WAIT!” shouted the first soldier, catching up with his comrade.

Both soldiers trot through the shrubbery and trees, until they both find themselves in an open field. The field has grass that reached up to their legs; in the center of the field was a pillar of smoke… and a putrid smell. What’s that smell?

The second soldier focused her gaze ahead… until she felt her stomach drop. In the center of the field was a giant crater, surrounding the crater were several Timberwolves of varying sizes… but among all of them, there was a figure that stood taller than a pony… maybe taller than a minotaur. The figure wore something around his legs, a brownish cloth; he wore a white shirt with a collar around his neck; he had no hair on his body or head… except around what was assumed to be his mouth. The figure’s eyes were thin so nopony could see his pupils; he was bleeding from a number of claw and bite marks on him, possibly from the Timberwolves. Below him was another figure, possibly unconscious who was smaller in size and shape than his gigantic counterpart. The giant figure bellowed out a word or noise, that shook the air around the field; the female soldier shivered from the noise, slowly trotting away from the scenario she was seeing.

“BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” screamed Tim, raising both fists in the air.

At the same time, all the Timberwolves began to rush forward; the giant figure stood his ground raising both his fists in a defensive poise. Punching through bark as hard as steel, he shattered through all the Timberwolves that came into impact with his fists. Not slowing nor moving, the giant figure continued his defensive onslaught, while more of the Timberwolves seized the chance to find an opening; both soldiers watched until the first soldier shook her comrade into reality.

“We need to report this, asap!” shouted the first soldier.

The second soldier nodded; pulling out a scroll she begins to write something down. Once finished she uses her magic from being a unicorn and sends the scroll to the one pony who could make sense to who… or what these things are. Come on Starswirl, you better get here quick… because I don’t know who’s a bigger threat. The Timberwolves… or… that… “thing”.

Back in the present, Vallan wakes up from what he can guess was an hour or so. Looking around, the sun was still up but, was slowly descending now. Standing back up, Vallan sees the shorts he used to swim have dried quite quickly now; grabbing the rest of his belongings Vallan sees his weaponry is dry and in ready condition. Searching through the pile of scrap he collected, Vallan finds a silver box with his organization’s symbol on it. At least some of our stuff fell with us. Opening the box, inside is three separate compartments; the first compartment had medical supplies, the second had ammunition ranging from bombs of multiple uses, bullets, and small but very sharp dagger. The final compartment was the most important one; inside were three crystals, one yellow, one red, and one purple. Each crystal had their uses but with quick movement he placed each crystal in a pocket around his waist. Taking a handful of bullets and placing them in a container, some grenades, a roll of bandages and a bottle of pills… and Vallan was ready.

Good… now I need to hide this stuff… but how? Vallan looked left and right, until he spotted some branches with leaves on them still. Grabbing as many branches he can, Vallan covers the pile of junk with leaves, sticks, some rocks, sand, and some dirt as an extra precaution. Once done, Vallan began to climb the tallest tree he could see.

Okay, this is the plan; I search my surroundings and find another and better vantage point. From there I mark my location and draw a good idea of the area around me. Once from there I find the nearest form of civilization on this realm, however if the locals aren’t… friendly; then I go into hiding. I find the others, we return back to this lake, we gather what we can from this pile and find a good location for a temporary HQ.

Finally reaching the top of the tree, Vallan scours the area; pulling out a compass Vallan sees he is currently looking north from where he stared. From the north was a tall mountain, from the side of the mountain he could see a castle; from his east is a small settlement, barely complete but stable from what he could tell. On his south was nothing but from the distance was complete barren land… possible zero civilization too, making it a perfect place to go to hide; and finally on the west was something that peaked Vallan’s curiosity. In the distance was a military camp guessing by the tents and sound of metal… but what truly caught his attention was the two pillars of smoke, signaling the locations of his other comrades. One pillar of smoke was at some mountains northwest of him, while the second pillar of smoke which was closer was south-west of Vallan. Rubbing his chin Vallan decides to go the closer pillar of smoke. Whoever is there might still be there… and by guessing by that military camp… whatever beings from the camp get to that pillar of smoke first… Vallan stopped his own thoughts, realizing that one of this allies were in danger; with a quick flick of his hands he began to hop from treetop to treetop not slowing the slightest.

Some distance from Vallan’s position, a small group of pegasi soldiers, accompanied by Commander Hurricane and Private Pansy begin searching the area, from Pansy’s description; a smoldering rock the size of a carriage. While all of the pegasi could possibly fly up and find whatever their looking for quicker that way, Commander Hurricane can sense danger ahead and flying would possibly let what or whoever their looking for their position. One pegasus grumbles angrily for being unable to fly, kicking a rock from his path. “Commander, permission to speak freely, sir,” said the pegasus.

“Permission granted,” said Hurricane, pushing a branch from his path.

“Commander Hurricane, how do we know that… whatever Private Pansy saw...” said the pegasus, at the same time glaring at Pansy. “Was just some star that shone brighter than the other stars, or was simply a bunch of fireflies, sir?”

Commander Hurricane stopped at his tracks, but continued to face forward. “Soldier… I have believe in what Private Pansy has seen and said. Whether what she saw was simply a squirrel or some dust in the wind; it is our responsibility to check every disturbance no matter how small it may be. What if it were a small brigade of bandits, or a group of enemy scouts from another nation? What then would happen if we lazily stayed in our camp and did nothing? We would of failed our responsibility of protecting this nation and it’s ponies!” said Hurricane. “Now quit bickering like a mare, and continue stomping those hooves forward!”

The pegasus continued forward, right after he gave Private Pansy a harsh look. Private Pansy didn’t noticed, when a noise rang across the forest; everypony stopped at their tracks, slowly pulling out their swords. Hurricane raised his hoof, making everypony halt; the rustling grew… until a small bunny popped out, hopping away. “Just a bunny soldiers. Forward!” said Hurricane.

Everypony sheathed their swords, when Pansy saw something in the corner of her eye. Stopping to kneel down, she picked up something sharp and metallic; it was a strange object that resembled a star with four pointed ends facing all directions of north, south, east, and west. What is this? Pansy placed the object into her saddlebags, until she heard a shout of a fellow soldier to catch up. “Coming!” shouted Pansy, running to the rest of her group.

The second Pansy left… two figures came out the shadows; both the figures looked exactly like the other… but one smiled while the other frowned. “Ohhhh, that was my favorite throwing star,” said Lov, kicking the ground.

“No worries sister… once they reach our trap…” said Eliya, pulling out a kunai. “We strike.” With a flick of her wrist, Eliya threw the kunai until it embedded itself in the bark of a tree. Both sisters returned to the shadows, slowly following the group of ponies.

Elsewhere, a small group of ponies led by Clover the Clever were given permission by Princess Platinum to search the mountains near Canterlot from the west. Last night, Clover spotted a rare arrange of comets raining from the sky; one of these comets crashed near Canterlot from the mountains adjacent of the city. Sent to check these comets, Clover’s group reaches the mountains; luckily the season isn’t too cold and didn’t needed to heavily clothe themselves for the cold temperature. “We’re almost there! Just a few more trots and we’ll reach the crash site!” shouted Clover.

The team of seven ponies including Clover, with two researchers, three soldiers, and a guide made it to the top of the mountain. Once reaching their destination, a tall pillar of smoke rose from the bottom of a crater. The first to notice the crater was Clover, instantly teleporting to the bottom of the crater. “Miss Clover, what are you doing!?” shouted one of the researchers.

“Don’t worry, I just need to get a close examination of the area,” said Clover. That was a lie, in reality Clover wanted to be the first to be inside the crater of a comet or star or anything. Clover was giddy with excitement, ready for the unexpected… what she saw made her freeze. Under the rubble of what she assumed was pieces of the comet… was a hand; it wasn’t like a hand of a minotaur who only had three fingers, for this had five instead. What in the name of…

Before Clover could finish her thought, the hand twitched; Clover reacted out of instinct and stepped away. Tripping on a rock, Clover lands plot first on the ground with a loud thump. What’s wrong with me… something like this shouldn’t freak me out. I’m the apprentice of Starswirl the Bearded for pony’s sake… but… for some reason… My instincts are telling me to not go near that hand… There’s something… wrong with that hand.

When Clover was rising back on all fours, the rubble began to move; not moving an inch the rubble moved and rising from it was a figure that stood slightly taller than her, but was short enough if she stood only on her hind-legs. The figure wore glasses, it’s only sign of hair was the top of it’s head; the color of it’s hair had two separate colors, on the left side was a dark green while the right side was gray. It wore a light blue lab coat similar to the researchers back at Canterlot; it’s clothing was covered in dirt, dust, and dried blood. The figure stood tall staring at the wall behind Clover; thinking it hasn’t noticed her Clover slowly sneaks away until it spoke.

“Excuse me miss,” said A.I, coughing to get Clover’s attention.

Clover slowly turned her head to stare at the blank expression of the tall being. In return the being kneels down until it’s eyes met with Clover’s; both beings, separate races but shared an equal knowledge of both their worlds. Clover could only open her mouth in shock while A.I. sighed, scratching the back of his head; looking back at the shocked pony A.I. extends his hand in an unfamiliar fashion towards the pony, but recognized it as a form of greeting.

“It’s nice to meet you miss. My name is A.I, and… I would like to ask you of your assistance…” said A.I, smiling to make himself more appealing. “Please.”

Clover continued her shocked expression unable to respond a single line… except one that answered both her situation and the being’s request.

“What?” said Clover, bluntly.

Separated (Edited)

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Commander Hurricane and the rest of his search party, continued deeper into the forest, searching for the crashed comet. Looking at the sky, Hurricane sees a pillar of smoke a few trots from their position. We’re close, either that’s the crashed comet… or somepony’s campfire. Hurricane turned to his soldiers that they’re near their destination. “We’re near, if it’s not the comet, I want two pairs of soldiers from the left and right. If anything goes wrong, jump in and flank whoever we’re dealing with. Everypony else is with me,” said Hurricane.

“Sir, yes, sir,” said every soldier, all nodding. Once everypony headed to their designated positions, Hurricane, Pansy, and the other remaining pegasi head out of the forest, finding themselves in an open patch of land the size of a small lake. In the center of the patch was a crater the size of a tree; a large pillar of smoke rose up.

Commander Hurricane signaled the two other soldiers who came with him and Pansy to check the crater, while he and Pansy check the surrounding area for anything. Both soldiers near the crater, but when they reach the edge… the ground beneath them began to shift. “What the?” said one soldier. Checking underneath him, the soldier found a rectangular box-like object; it had the drama mask symbol on it which was the color pink oddly. Before the soldier could report what he found, a boom rang from where he and the other soldier stood, sending both of them in a blazing ball of fire, landing with a big thud.

From the trees came both Lov and Eliya; Lov laughing giddily while Eliya pulled out two kunais, charging straight at Commander Hurricane and Private Pansy. “AMBUSH!” shouted Hurricane, signaling the others to attack.

The other four pegasi came out of their hiding spots, unsheathing their swords and pointing them toward the attackers. Eliya noticed the flanking maneuver and sent a barrage of shurikens at them; the shurikens flew by the first pegasus, flying up to avoid them… the second pegasus wasn’t so lucky as his fur was covered deep with shurikens. From Lov’s perspective, she pulled out a lengthy katana, blocking and parrying attacks from the other two pegasi that came from her left.

Commander Hurricane stared at the two mysterious attackers, not recognizing them of what race they hail from. “What are these things!?” shouted Hurricane, backing off a little. “They look like minotaurs but, their not covered in fur!”

“M-m-maybe th-th-their a-a-aliens,” said Pansy, nearly dropping her sword.

“Nonsense! The day that happens is the day I’ll cut my wings off!” shouted Hurricane. “Pansy, you said you felt something from those comets you saw… are these the ‘things’ that have the same feeling as the Windigos?”

Pansy focused her gaze on the two mysterious beings, but didn’t felt that same fear she sensed before. No… nothing… maybe it must of come from the other comets then. “No… It may have been one of the others,” said Pansy, frowning.

“Well that doesn’t matter; these things attacked us and may have to do with the thing you sensed before,” said Hurricane, at the same time a stray shuriken flies by him. Hurricane dodges the shuriken with ease, looking to see his fellow soldiers are having a hard time fighting the two beings. “Pansy, get back to camp, asap! We may need reinforcements; I’ll fight them off, until then fly as fast as you can! YOU HEAR ME SOLDIER!”

Pansy was spooked from the sudden command, but didn’t falter a second. Sheathing her sword, Pansy salutes back at Hurricane. “Sir, yes, sir!” shouted Pansy.

“Well don’t just stand there… FLY!” shouted Hurricane back at Pansy. Pansy immediately flew up, flying back where they came from. At that same time Eliya threw shurikens at Pansy, but Hurricane flew up and blocked them with his sword. “Oh no you don’t! If you’re asking for a fight, then fight me!”

Eliya sneered, pulling out a kunai with a piece of paper attached to it. “Oh, you wanna play the hero, huh...” said Eliya. “Then you go right ahead… because everyone knows, the hero dies… IN AN EXPLOSIVE FINALE!” Eliya threw the kunai, where Hurricane was going to block it like the rest… until the piece of paper began to fizz and burn away. Immediately out of instinct and reflex, Hurricane nearly dodged the explosion from the kunai; however in the process some of the embers from the explosion and the kunai itself, sliced a bit of his wing off, forcing him to land.

Once landing Hurricane saw the destruction that was before him; all his fellow soldiers were either unconscious or covered in cuts. Luckily all of them lived from the slow rise and fall of their stomachs. Both of the Kel sisters began to circle Hurricane, Eliya with her kunais and Lov with her katana.

“Now before you die sweet cheeks, I think you should know your killers,” said Lov, twirling her katana around. “My name’s Lov.”

“And I’m Eliya,” said Eliya, stopping on Hurricane’s right.

“And we’re...” said both Lov and Eliya, synchronously. “THE KEL SISTERS! ENJOY YOUR NEW LIFE AS OUR NEXT MEAL!” Both sisters rushed Hurricane, ready to slice him into pieces.

Hurricane, pulled out his sword preparing to counter the charge. Finally, a challenge. Whether I die today or the next… I’m going to go all out; no holding back. Hurricane rushed the two sisters, blocking, and swinging blow after blow. The battle continued to rage on, neither side holding back their onslaught of metal clashing with metal.

Within the Everfree Forest, the battle with Tim and the Timberwolves continues on; the muscular man punching, kicking, and throwing some of the smaller Timberwolves at their other brethren. The two Equestrian soldiers watch from the safety of the shrubbery, watching the madness unfold before them. Until a voice is heard from behind, both soldiers expect a Timberwolf and instinctively pull out their swords, only the blade of their tips meet an equine face.

“Whoa! Put-the-sword-down,” said a fellow soldier.

“Sorry; did you get reinforcements?” asked the first soldier, sheathing his sword.

The newcomer nodded, directing his snout behind him to reveal a good sizable force of the outer and inner perimeter soldiers; with them was Starswirl the Bearded, holding a staff and a tome of magic in case things have gotten this serious. “Starswirl, thank the heavens you’re here,” said the second soldier.

“Indeed I am… now...” said Starswirl, stepping closer to see the fight. “Where is this… alien, you speak of from your message? To see an otherworldly being is simply...” Starswirl stared a the large mass of wood, noticed a stick or two fly off to the sky; in the center of it all was a hairless, ape-like creature that held back the large force of wooden claws and teeth. “Well this is not what I expected to be doing this afternoon.”

One of the two soldiers that were watching the ordeal stepped forward. “Starswirl, sir! From what we could examine, the thing in the center is protecting something similar to it, but smaller. We believe the big one is the parent or guardian while the smaller one is possibly a foal,” said the first soldier, saluting.

“So a mother and it’s foal,” said Starswirl, intrigued.

“Actually, I believe it to be a male, sir,” said the second soldier, joining the conversation.

“Well, it doesn’t matter if it’s a he or a she; they’re both in trouble and if we don’t save them, we may not be able to make good peaceful connections in the future. Especially if one of them can withhold a mass of Timberwolves, whilst protecting one of their own kin,” said Starswirl, turning around to face the rest of the soldiers. “Captain Coin Flip!”

Stepping out of the large group of equine soldiers was one fellow soldier that wore armor separate from his other peers. His helm had the emblem of the unicorn tribe, showing which tribe he hails from; on his armor was a symbol of his rank. Captain Coin Flip of the Unicorn Division of Equestria’s current military was known to balance the tide of battles to his favor. Coin Flip salutes towards Starswirl, listening to his orders. “Yes sir, what is it you wish for me to do, sir?” said Coin.

“I need you and your platoon to surround the area; all unicorns need to use any fire-based magic on the Timberwolves, but try your best to avoid hitting our alien friend, please. All pegasi are to stay perched on the tree branches and fire enchanted bolts. As for the earth ponies, when I give the signal to you, all of you rush in and take out each Timberwolf with quick and efficient strikes,” said Starswirl, directing orders to Coin.

“Of course sir,” said Coin, facing his soldiers. “You heard him, get to position, stat!”

All soldiers, including the two soldiers who were watching the ordeal prepared their attack. The Timberwolves continued their assault, unaware of the attack that’s coming. From a good distance from the battle, Starswirl and the fellow soldiers were the two alicorn sisters; following Starswirl, they were able to skip their punishment and classes. Celestia lowered the binoculars and gives them to her sister, Luna.

“We need to help,” said Celestia, stomping her hoof on the ground.

“And how do you think we do that? We can barely teleport from an inch ahead of us, you think we can help fight off a group of Timberwolves,” said Luna, after finishing her turn with the binoculars.

Celestia began to think of a way to assist the soldiers and Starswirl, but without being noticed by them at the same time. Looking for something to help her, Celestia stared upon something metallic on the ground; the object gleamed with pristine glow. Picking it up with her magic, it was a knife… but the knife’s handle was made of something that reminded Celestia of… well… something… “leathery”, the blade itself had a reddish glow to it, as if it has been covered in a reddish liquid for decades of use.

“What you found Tia?” asked Luna, seeing the object in her sister’s magical grip.

“I’m not sure...” said Celestia, but grinned deviously. “But I think I got an idea.” Celestia began to place the knife into her saddlebag. Once placed, she began to fly up into the sky, Luna follows behind; after some moments of flying they reach cloud level of height where nopony other than other pegasi can see them. Now above both the Everfree Forest and the current battle below them, Celestia looked at her younger sister.

“Luna, do you remember that spell we found that can… well… blind creatures,” said Celestia, asking Luna.

Luna gave a confused look, until she too understood what her sister was thinking too; but became confused once more when she stared below. “But how are we going to warn Starswirl and the soldiers? What if we accidentally blind them in the process?” said Luna, having second thoughts about her sister’s plan.

“That’s why were going to use this,” said Celestia, pulling out the knife. “I’ll use it to shine some light below, and since we’re so high, nopony can tell it’s us and think we’re some pegasi that were passing by.”

Luna frowned at her sister, forgetting one thing about her plan. “That… makes sense… but how in the heck do pegasi use magic? Unicorns can’t stand on clouds,” said Luna.

Celestia’s grin faltered, going back to her thinking; with one hoof on the blade she then has a new plan. “What if we don’t use our magic… What if...” said Celestia looking around for something. After searching her surroundings… she spots the one thing that can make her plan come true. “What about the sun!”

Luna raised a brow than stared at the sun… then her sister… then back at the sun… then back at her… The sun, her, the sun, her, the sun, her. Luna’s eyes widened realizing the craziness in what her sister is thinking. “ARE YOU NUTS! STARSWIRL TOLD US NOT TO MESS WITH THE CELESTIAL BODIES! ESPECIALLY THE SUN!” shouted Luna, but quickly closing it shut with her hooves in case somepony might of heard her.

“I know, but Starswirl said… well mentioned, that it’s possible for us to move something… well… as big as that. He did say we have three times the magical energy and strength than an average unicorn. Even the most skilled and strongest unicorns don’t have the correct energy to lift something that big,” said Celestia, boasting her own abilities.

“Yeah but, that was a theory. A THEORY, not some idea that you can just do without thinking of… sudden dangers,” said Luna. “And besides, what if somepony notices the sun moved! What then; we’ll be found out and probably worse!”

Celestia began to wave her hoof whilst making a ‘pshhhh’ noise from her lips. “Trust me Luna, this will work, besides I only need to move the sun until it faces directly at the Timberwolves eyes. Now, I need to focus, make sure nopony sees me… okay?” said Celestia, preparing to do the impossible.

Luna gulped, sweat covered her face and drenching her fur. She nodded slowly, going near the edge of the cloud, looking below of the upcoming madness to come. What have I gotten myself into… Starswirl is going to turn us into chickens.

Meanwhile at Canterlot; Princess Platinum waits patiently for Clover, her adviser and close friend to return from her small and assumed to be quick voyage to the mountains from the east of Canterlot. The news of nine colored comets seemed to caught the ears of all pony tribe leaders and each sent messages to each other… well… sort of. From the pegasi tribe, their leader, Commander Hurricane and his right-hoofed mare, Private Pansy went to investigate a nearby crash of one of the comets. The earth pony tribe has also sent news of seeing these comets, but so far there has been nothing else mentioned from the leader’s tribe or her secretary the previous morning. Finally… there’s Starswirl the Bearded, Clover’s master; apparently he too spotted the comets and is currently investigating one as well… immediately in fact, quicker than Clover even surprisingly. As to how he was able to gather a group and find the crashed comet is a mystery, but Platinum was too busy for the well being of her friend. While where she went wasn’t dangerous… it was what she would find within the comet, that made her shake in both anticipation… and worry.

The two massive doors that would lead to her court room, opened wide; expecting Clover, Platinum was ready to stand up… until she spotted it was one of the butlers. The butler made his way to his highness, bowing with all hooves knelt down until raising his head up. “Princess Platinum, Miss Clover the Clever your adviser has returned,” said the butler. Platinum was smiling knowing her friend was okay, slouching down on her seat, only to compose herself once more.

“These are grand news… Has she found anything near the crash?” asked Platinum, a tad curious. The butler, nodded having more news to report too… but Platinum noticed a certain look on him. His expression was a mixture of disgust… and… fear.

“Your highness… Miss Clover has found… what appears to be a hairless minotaur,” said the butler, seeming to almost puke from what he was saying.

Platinum blinked her eyes in quick succession, dumbfounded by the answer she was given. “Pardon… but did you say… ‘a hairless minotaur’?” asked Platinum.

“Indeed, Miss Clover said she found the… ‘creature’ near, nay… at the crash site,” said the butler. “She is currently outside those doors right now, she told me to tell you of her arrival… However, Princess Platinum...” The butler rose up, looking very skeptical at the two massive doors he came from. “I must warn you of the creature that came with Miss Clover… Something about it… is very unnatural… as if it shouldn’t exist; that it shouldn’t be walking here and now… That it doesn’t belong.”

Platinum wanted the old stallion to cease what he was saying… but Platinum saw the fear in his eyes… The same fear when the Windigos came and nearly froze their new home, and her and the other leaders of the other pony tribes. Luckily, with the help of Clover and those other ponies… she and the others were able to be where they are today. Platinum nodded and accepted the butler’s advice, making sure to keep a close eye on… Clover’s new “discovery”. “Of course… You may bring them inside,” said Platinum, giving the order.

Immediately the butler stepped out of the court room and made his way to the hall, where Clover was. After the butler had left, Platinum heard the voice of the butler, Clover… and a third; Platinum wasn’t sure who was the third voice, but before she could guess, Clover came entering the room. At that moment Platinum stepped off her throne, but made sure to not rush and trotted in a proper manner toward Clover.

“Your highness,” said Clover, bowing.

“Clover...” said Platinum, at first keeping a straight face. “What have you found, my adviser?”

Clover slowly rose up, her face was as hard as the toughest marble… only to shatter immediately. “I-I-I can’t explain what I’ve witnessed… Who I witnessed!” shouted Clover, pacing back and forth. Clover’s original calm manner changed to her usual panicky one, whenever she has forgotten about a very important appointment, or dozing off in Starswirl’s classes. “He isn’t like anything I ever met!”

“He?” asked Platinum, leaning in to listen to her dear friend. “Who’s he?”

“That be me.”

All eyes stared at the source of the voice, what everypony saw made them freeze. Standing in the middle of the court room, and somehow not being noticed by the guards that were stationed to see from every possible point of entry… was a tall figure; the figure was tall as a minotaur… possibly taller considering that instead his legs being slanted it was straight. His hands instead of having three digits like how most minotaurs are suppose to have, instead had five. His body instead of covered in fur was fur-less, and instead was covered in clothes; only his head being bare and was the only spot that had something similar to a mane. The figure wore glasses that were a light gray but still made it impossible to see the figure’s pupils; his clothes was an interesting touch considering what he was wearing. He wore something resembling a wizard’s cloak, but was white and long, reaching until it’s thighs; he wore light-brownish pants, and on the very bottom was something that was unfamiliar to the princess, it were a pair of oval shaped… horse shoes? Except instead of resembling an actual horseshoe, it hid the figure’s hooves… or claws; nevertheless the strange horseshoes were black or a dark blue.

All the guards immediately surrounded the figure, pointing sword, spear, and crossbow directly at the figure. The figure in return simply blinked, moving his arm to his eyes, staring at an object on his wrist. “Wow, it’s been five seconds and you already surrounded me… you boys work fast,” said the figure. “Or in this case… stallions...” The figure spotted a few mares among their ranks and fixed his mistake. “And mares, I mustn’t forget that now. To imagine to forget a basic and common detail as that.”

Princess Platinum wanted to scream, faint, anything… sadly she was this nation’s… well one of this nation’s leaders. With an easy tactic to calm yourself, she counted to two, breathed in, counted to two again, and breathed out. She composed herself and stared right at the figure, trotting closer to seem more intimidating.

“May I ask… but who or what in the name of Equestria are you?” asked Platinum, sounding more of an order than a question. “Are you some kind of mutated minotaur.”

The figure tilted his head… until making an expression that showed he was insulted… and Platinum could tell considering she’s always surrounded by ponies who knew ways to show expressions that seemed more of a skill than a talent. “Me, a minotaur? Please, I’m a human… well, a subspecies of human but, there are so many different varieties of humans that it’s easier to simply call us human,” said the figure.

Human? What is a human? Must be some kingdom we never heard from; he must be from the west or south. We haven’t discovered much of those regions yet, so it’s understandable there are species that we haven’t been fully introduced too… still… He doesn’t seem to be an ambassador… unless that’s what their ambassadors look like, which means their probably highly skilled in magic, guessing by his clothing… maybe I can make a good impression and make good relations with his kingdom. Princess Platinum, coughed into her hoof, preparing to do the most important thing with handling other nation’s diplomats… first impressions.

Back at the military camp, Private Pansy rushed to a fellow general’s tent; the other general who was the same rank as Hurricane but who was recently promoted to her position only some months ago, was surprised by the sudden visit. The mare dropped a scroll she was reading, and focused all her attention on Pansy. “Pansy, what’s wrong!?” said the mare, noticing the pegasus’s state.

“Hurricane… crash site… ambush… everypony is… unconscious,” said Pansy, taking deep breaths after each word said. “Need… help… please. Re… in… force… ments… quick… ly...”

Pansy dropped to the ground, the mare quickly running to her side; the mare immediately carried Pansy to her bed. Once that was done, she exited her tent; searching her surroundings she spotted a fellow soldier trotting by until stopping to salute somepony higher rank than him. “Commander Star Gleam; is something wrong, sir!” shouted the stallion.

“Yes… there is...” said Star, still remembering Pansy’s words.

“Sir?” said the stallion, confused.

Star focused her stare at the stallion, immediately the stallion reacted by continuing his saluting. “Soldier… What’s your name and rank?” asked Star.

“Sir! Sergeant Quake, sir!” shouted Quake.

“Well Quake… it seems Commander Hurricane and his group that went to check the crash near our camp… has met some complications. Prepare a squadron of twenty, nay… fifty, soldier… all races. This is a class five alert, I repeat a class five alert!” shouted Star, giving her orders.

Sergeant Quake nodded in response; if Star didn’t look carefully enough, she would of seen the grin from Quake. Since the Windigo incident, Equestria hasn’t met many dangers the past months to follow… but a sudden attack like this… well it would make anypony happy to know that they won’t be guarding instead but finally using their weapons for their intended purposes. “My pleasure, sir,” said Quake, running to spread his orders to other sergeants.

Star watched Quake leave; in the distance she could of swear she saw a pillar of smoke… and the sound of a certain pegasus fighting against who knows how many enemies. You better not die… you stupid pegasus.

During this time, Commander Hurricane fought back the Kel sisters, Lov and Eliya. By now Pansy has probably arrived at the camp and found one of the commanders… I just hope these are the only two attackers… because if so… I hate to imagine more of them. Commander Hurricane stared at the two sisters… who seemed to be fine; while Hurricane has seen better days. Hurricane who out of the three was covered in bruises and cuts, while Lov and Eliya are fine and aren’t breaking a sweat. It shows that the two sisters have more combat experience than the commander… maybe even more so.

Even though these… things don’t look like anything like an enemy soldier… they are somehow holding their own against me. Could it be possible… that they’ve seen worse than even I? Compared to the Windigo incident it wasn’t that bad… but… these two… Commander Hurricane looked at the sisters eyes… Their eyes showed the kind of looks of somepony… somebody, who seen things that would break both your mind and soul. “Who taught you to fight?” asked Hurricane.

“Now it ain’t smart to let your guard down,” said Lov, grinning. “But if you must know...”

“We learned from surviving in the wilds,” said Eliya, answering for her sister.

“The wilds?” said Hurricane. “What you mean the wilds?”

Both sisters looked at one another, and sighed; Eliya, the one who carried an arrangement of shurikens and kunais, placed them back into their respective pockets. She then proceeded to sit on a nearby rock the size of a tree trunk, she crossed both her legs while her sister grabbed a piece of stone from her pocket and began to sharpen her sword. “The world we come from… and yes, we come from another world whether you believe us or not… It’s nothing like your world,” said Eliya. “It’s a vicious and merciless world… while yes, there are good people… but… Where my sister and I come from… can’t be said the same.”

Death is a normal thing that can be seen in our world, it’s a part of our daily lives; especially for my sister and I. We lived in a harsh land… a small continent the size of a large island called… Xecarvl; also known as “The Island of the Sinned”. Those who live or are born on this island… are all considered prisoners, you see… the island had a large facility holding dangerous criminals across the world. Sadly one day, a grand war was waged on a nearby continent that caused many problems; because of this war, many of the guards and wardens from the island were forced to join the war… leaving all their prisoners behind. Now you may think this was a stupid idea… but the prisoners were smarter; if they left, either they were chased and killed later on… or forced to join the war. So instead, the prisoners decided to make a place… a place where they were free to do whatever they wanted without any government or law restricting them… that was when Xecarvl was made.

Once news of the independent nation was heard, the continent that originally owned rights for the land gave it up, deciding it wasn’t worth the hassle to retake the island considering out of the continents that existed that time, Xecarvl had the greatest defense out of them all. So… Xecarvl was named an independent land, and it’s own continent even… sadly, there were three rules they still had to follow of the people of Xecarvl. One, all citizens born or currently living on the island cannot leave… ever. Two, the only way anyone could leave was by living on the island at least for twenty years; once you’ve lived for that limit, you are allowed to exit and even return to the island if you wish to. Finally… the third rule… in order for Xecarvl to continue to exist… they must mine a specific ore that exists on the island… Aura Crystals. Xecarvl was known to have the greatest source of aura crystals out there; because of this, we had the second greatest economy in the world, number one source of weapons and defense, and number one for independent freedom… sadly, while this sounds like heaven… it isn’t.

The first two years sounded okay for Xecarvl… but that was because, the prisoners thought nothing could go wrong… oh how wrong they were. Many of the island was still… not under their control; you see, on the island was an A.I. system that help the prison guards and wardens make sure no prisoners escaped the island or their designated zones… seems someone forget to tell that A.I. that the original owners left and that the prisoners were in charge. For fifty years, a war was waged against the prisoners and the A.I. and it’s robotic defenses; many died in that war… even our parents. Funny… our parents weren’t prisoners nor prison guards… they were volunteers; scientists, doctors, they came to the island to research the mind of the criminally insane and the aura crystals… they were actually interested into one specific insane mind… He would later become our boss… and later… our stepfather.

But as I was saying; our parents were killed through a misunderstanding, apparently the A.I.’s goons thought they were escaped prisoners… and killed them where they stood. My mother lived long enough to get me and my sis to somewhere safe; we were both three that day. She was slowly bleeding and would have been killed by some prisoners… if “he” hadn’t come to save us; he was simply strolling by the asylum halls… minding his own business. One of the prisoners began to rush him and cut his arm off… what happened next… changed my life…

In another world, two years after the founding of Xecarvl…

“Oy! I said… GET YOUR BLOODY ASS OUTTA HERE!” shouted the prisoner, charging at the mysterious newcomer. Instantly the prisoner cut off the mysterious figure’s arm off… is what the prisoner thought. Instead, the prisoner’s blade turned into a pile of slag; melted by an unknown source. “Wha-what the hec-”

The prisoner was grabbed by the head by the mysterious figure, at first all the other prisoners thought he was going to crush his head… but instead, he melted his whole head and body in nothing but red puddle. He screamed… but it was quickly subdued; the other prisoners charged forward… they were finished with quick ease; their screams and death gurgles were silenced by the mysterious savior before her… but she knew this figure… or should she say, “test subject”.

“Y-y-y-y-ou,” said the female scientist, slowly crawling back. “No… no no no NO NO NO! Not you, please anything, but please NOT YOU! Please don’t hurt them… you can have me, but please don’t hurt my children!”

The female scientist was slowly crawling back, but was met with a wall; with no way out she tightly hugged two small figures in her arms, her tears slowly dripping off her face. Awaiting her death… she felt nothing; looking back up the mysterious figure knelt down meeting her eye to eye. The figure spoke, but what he said shocked her more than the actions he done around him. “Family… Family… is important,” said the mysterious figure, lowering an open hand towards her.

The scientist smiled; where this whole time that this… certain prisoner was just an insane psychopath… but her husband was right… he was special… that maybe… if something were to happen to them… he could be trusted to care for their children… It was a silly joke her husband said, but now… she started to believe it may be true. Slowly at first, she handed her two children toward the mysterious figure; in response the figure gladly excepted… no melting. The figure began to walk away with the two babies, the scientist watched bleeding on the floor; she smiled and after moving through her pocket found a photo of her, her husband, and her two children; two names were written at the back of the photo… the names of the two children.

“Live on my children… Live on the lives you deserve… My two angels… my little angels; Lilly and Ella,” said the scientist. At that moment… the scientist’s hand twitched and immediately… the photo fell, slowly drifting into the ground; beside it… a lifeless hand.

Some hours ago…

The mysterious figure with two infant children boarded a stolen boat… well he did not stole the boat… he killed those who did. The figure never was a prisoner… he infiltrated the prison and pretended to be a prisoner… why? Well… he sensed something… something that reminded him of himself… and that something… was coming from both these small infants. “You… Remind me of me… You have the same energy… the same… aura as I…” said the figure. “We may not be of same blood… but… when the time comes… blood will not connect us… Neither points of view of this… ‘dead’ world. No… our bond… like the many others I shall recruit… It will be a bond… made...”

Slowly the figure’s voice began to change… sounding more psychotic and insane… as if the person before was replaced by someone else… but the first infant giggled when she heard the voice while the other frowned but, held a hidden grin. “FROM INSANITY!” screamed the figure. “BLOOD SHALL FALL DOWN UPON OUR ENEMIES! WE’LL WARP THEIR MINDS TO THE DARKEST OF THOUGHTS AND THE DEMONIC OF ACTIONS! WHETHER YOU SHALL FOLLOW ME OR NOT IS YOUR OWN CHOICE… but I will tell you this… No matter what… no matter what happens to me… to you… even to your sister… We are all family… and family… is something you can never… replace.”

From that day on…

“I never doubted his words,” said Eliya. Eliya smiled but it quickly vanished and returned to her original frown. “Well… that’s all your going to know of mine or my sister’s past. So if you got anymore questions… well too bad, bucko!”

Commander Hurricane was so entranced by the story… he didn’t realize that Lov, Eliya’s sister had secretly tied him up, and thrown away all his weapons. Hurricane struggled to get free, but realized that the ropes surrounding him were five times as thick than the regular rope they use. “Nice work sis! Good on you to distract him while I tie him like a pig!” said Lov, giggling.

At that… Commander Hurricane snapped. “WHAT YOU JUST CALLED ME, YOU LITTLE BUCK!” shouted Hurricane, viciously attempting to break free.

Lov gave a confused raise of her brow, unaware that he used a swear on her; when she finally caught on, she began to laugh hysterically, rolling on the ground. “B-b-b-bu-buck! That’s his swear word? BUCK! Bwaahahahahahahahha!” shouted Lov, slamming her fist on the ground.

“Control yourself Lov… we got company,” said Eliya, pulling out her weapons. Coming from the trees was a massive force of possibly thirty or more ponies; earth ponies, unicorns, and even pegasi surrounded the sisters and Hurricane. Hurricane smiled, recognizing a familiar face… and frowned realizing the position he was in.

You could of came earlier and assisted me… but no… you were too busy watching me fall for that trick and get myself captured… Bloody horse-feathers, Star, your going to pay for this.

Back at Canterlot, Princess Platinum, Clover, some of her guards, and the tall figure called a human went to a secluded part of the castle, to talk about… negotiations; as of what sort of negotiations… that was unknown. While Platinum has spoken to some previous unsavory figures, like the griffon’s and minotaur’s ambassadors… this was entirely different. The human sat calmly while surrounded by five guards, equipped with swords and spears… yet the only one in the room that showed any sign of fear was Clover, who decided to stand on the far wall of the small room. The room used to be a storage room, but was converted for interrogating intruders or traitors… now being used the first time as a negotiation room; Princess Platinum didn’t wish to use this room especially for this sort of reason, but the human respectfully wished to speak in an isolated part of the castle… this was the closest thing to isolation they could get.

What should I do? I know I done this many a time… but… this… human character… His nothing like the griffons or the minotaurs… his more clever than he looks; but he gives off an aura of sorts… my instincts are telling me to run, but in order to get more answers from him I must do this… even if I am following his requirements for him to speak. Platinum inhaled quietly, not wanting anypony to notice her stressed mind. “So… Mr?” asked Platinum.

“You may call me, A.I,” said A.I. “I won’t reveal my true name… I am the sort… that keeps secrets.”

This didn’t help Platinum mindset at the slightest; not only did she faced a creature she hasn’t seen nor heard of, but one that was secretive too. Why do I get the difficult ones? With a sigh, she continued her next question. “Mr. A.I-”

“Sir… Sir A.I,” said A.I, correcting Platinum.

Platinum’s eye twitched; she didn’t like his personality nor how he treated royalty. If he were actually an ambassador, he was doing a horrible job at it… or maybe… it was she who was doing a horrible job. “Sir… A.I,” said Platinum, forcefully smiling. “I must ask… Where and why have you come to our land?”

A.I. stared at one of the guards; a mare, she saw him staring at her and tried her best to seem intimidating… instead, A.I. responded but not to Platinum but to the mare. “Is there something wrong?” asked A.I.

The mare was shocked that he ignored their princess but, spoke back at the human. “What you mean? You were looking at me, and don’t ignore her highness,” said the female guard, pointing her sword at him. “Or I’ll cut off your ear!”

A.I. grinned, but the grin wasn’t sadistic but gave the chills to everypony in the room. “Oh? Am I being rude… sorry, but I started off my day by getting invaded in my own home; teleported to another world, fell from the sky… and now, I’m currently being interrogated, not because I invaded someone’s land but… because I-look-different,” said A.I, sounding angrier after each syllable.

The mare froze, she wasn’t able to think or speak of a good retort and lowered her sword to the ground. “I… I’m sorry I didn’t kne-”

“Oh hush, I been through worse; heck this is probably normal for me… so calm yourself...” said A.I, giving a toothy grin. “I don’t bite.”

“That will be enough, sir A.I! Now… please answer my question,” said Platinum.

“Why of course… it all started one simple… day...” said A.I, recalling the events that led him here.

I was researching something one of my fellow comrades brought back… sadly he was followed and it led to the downfall of our base of operations to be nearly destroyed. The last thing I saw was the reactor core that gave power to everything in our “home”, explode and create a portal that sucked myself and everyone else into… this world. Whilst falling, only some of us were conscious and made the idea to fall in pairs; I crashed with our more feminine member of our group on what appeared to be some mountains… that was when I met her.

A.I. moved his gaze to Clover, who didn’t want all the attention directed to her. “The second she saw me she nearly fainted; the other ponies who were with her almost killed me… Well, they tried to kill me, but after seeing my comrade injured from the crash, they gave us passage to their citadel. Now all I know is my ally is safe and currently being healed by your own knowledge on medicine or the like… You assumed originally that I was some sort of ambassador, correct… well, to answer all your questions… the answer is, no I am not an ambassador, and if your going to ask what I am or what I do for a living… You’ll probably won’t understand and if you even did, I wish not to speak about it,” said A.I.

Platinum and everypony else in the room, other than Clover who heard the story were shocked that nearly one of the guards almost dropped their weapons. A.I. pulled out something from his pocket; it was a bag of sorts, inside were tiny pieces of candy. Grabbing one piece he placed in his mouth, chewing the delicious taste it spilled out. “With that done… I have three requests I ask of you,” said A.I.

Platinum shook her head and regained her focus. “And what exactly would you want from us?” asked Platinum, suspicious of A.I’s past.

“Firstly… I like a map of this world; not just of Equestria… but all maps you have available. Secondly; my injured friend must be cared with the best of your nurses and doctors; and if she has awakened, tell me immediately. Finally… I would like a room of my own, and somepony to help me guide around the castle if I am to stay here for now,” said A.I, finishing his requests.

“Is that so? Then I’ll send somepony to guide you around and-”

“No… I think I know who to pick…” said A.I, looking at one particular pony. The mare who originally talked back toward A.I. blinked a few times, then looked around to see if he was looking at somepony else… sadly he picked her.

“Wait… ME!? Why me!?” shouted the female guard.

“Because I like you...” said A.I. The mare was about to speak, but A.I. stopped her in mid-response. “Not in that way… you intrigue me; and I want to see… How you ponies… tick...”

A.I. grinned maliciously; his sadistic scientist part of him being revealed. The mare gulped already regretting coming to volunteer for this negotiation already. She looked at her other fellow guards, but they stepped back, rather wanting to guard nothing for days on end, dealing with boredom… than who knows what he’ll do with her. “Oh… horse-apples,” said the mare, whispering to herself.

Lov and Eliya, stared at their surroundings; they were surrounded, in a bad position, and were currently running low on ammunition. Most of the traps they placed are gone, only leaving a few minor traps meant to daze than knock someone out. All possible escape paths were blocked for them, and their hostage was now free in mere moments… they were in deep trouble now.

“Surrender and put down your weapons, now!” shouted a random guard.

Both the Kel sisters looked at one another and grinned; they returned their gazes at the big squadron of ponies before them, outnumbered by fifty trained soldiers… it was going to a fun battle for them today. “THEN BRING IT ON!” shouted both Kel Sisters.

Eliya threw some smoke bombs whilst Lov charged with her katana poised to kill… However, what the two sisters didn’t knew was the small group of pegasi hiding up in the clouds… awaiting the right time to strike. As Lov was nearing the blockade of ponies who had their shields raised, the hidden group of pegasi flew downward to attack. Lov didn’t see it coming, in the next few seconds… she found herself crashing against a tree from the sudden charge of pegasi; her sister Eliya reacted angrily and threw a barrage of shurikens, kunais, and more at the sudden attackers of her sister.

“LEAVE-HER-ALONE!” shouted Eliya.

Eliya was able to clip some of the pegasi, but they all surrounded her and took her down in seconds. While the two sisters had fought in many battles before; the only reason they stood where they were was because of their leader and their fellow companions. Alone, the two were a force to be feared… sadly they couldn’t hold against the planned and strategical might of a military force, especially a force they never heard of.

Now subdued and unconscious, the twin sisters were led away in two separate cages; possible to be convicted of attacking a military scouting group and more accusations. Commander Hurricane was untied by the ropes that held him and met face to face with the young and newly promoted commander; Commander Star Gleam. “Commander Star,” said Hurricane.

“Commander Hurricane,” said Star, grinning a little. “It seems that you were bested by… what I assume are two little fillies. How low the mighty fall.”

“Don’t give me that sass! Even though we’re the same rank, you are still a newbie at this work. The only reason you’re a commander this early in life, is because of the skills that was seen by the other commanders; but you’re too young… Whatever these… things are, there are more of them, and the only reason you were able to capture them was because they weren’t prepared for a full military force to overwhelm them,” said Hurricane. “I want soldiers to check the perimeter around this crash site and the camp… If I’m right… we may have made ourselves a new enemy.”

Star raised a brow but let Hurricane orders to fly by her ears; she stared at the two figures in the cages. While both looked young, maybe younger than her… they had that look in their eyes… the sort of look of somepony… somebody who’ve seen horrors far worse than any living being can witness.

Star turned to face one of her fellow subordinates, and directed her orders to them. “I want these two ready to ship off to Canterlot; the wizards there need to find out what these things are. Where they came from. What they want; and most importantly… if there are more of them. For now they’ll stay in the camp so I want ten guards on the clock guarding each cage. Is that understood soldier!” said Star, swiftly giving her orders.

“SIR YES SIR!” shouted the stallion, saluting and leaving with the two cages.

“Good; we’re heading back to the camp! Pack everything we can get and let’s move out; it’s not safe to be here at dark,” shouted Star.

All fifty soldiers and their two new captured prisoners head off to their camp… Unbeknownst to them all, a figure from within the tree’s branches watched the whole ordeal happen before him. Vallan gritted his teeth, staring at the commander who led the attack and capture of his comrades… of his “nieces”.

Death to all who cross us… for may their bodies turn to ash, their hearts into empty husks, and their souls to nothing. Bring me vengeance upon my foes and those who harm my allies… For death is what I wish and death is what I’ll be; I am not innocent nor are my actions, but none shall have the right to harm another. Deity of insanity… guide me to my destination and bring before all who block my way…

“A death they wished they wanted,” said Vallan. The clicks of two guns can be heard in the forest… for tonight… the sky will rain down blood; and the cries and screams will echo across the winds of this land. None are safe… for Vallan the Relentless has begun his hunt… his target… all those within that camp.

Not even Tartarus’s residents can compare to the actions he has done… and the things he has witnessed.

Caged (Edited)

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Darkness… All around me is darkness… This cold emptiness… I hate it so much; I never want to feel that sensation again… but he came to save me. He came to save both of us… we never truly accepted him as a part of our family… even if he looks like “him”. Still… this sensation; this emptiness… it’s so cold… If he saved us… saved us… then he is the only one that can save us…

He would never let someone a part of his family be in a situation like this… He will come… he must… he will… Not even death can stop him… for he brings death… not receive it.

Night was approaching, the sun will soon set; in the far edge of a camp, four watchtowers were recently setup. In between the towers were enchanted fences as tall as the trees that surrounded the camp, the space in between the towers had several soldiers patrolling in a circular manner. All the soldiers patrolled around two sizable cages that can hold five ponies in each. Inside the cages were a single silhouette inside both the cages; in the cage on the left side of the space… was a small figure. The figure curled up in a ball under the blankets it was given; after a few movements from the pile of blankets… Eliya emerged, who was unconscious and recently woke up.

Where… am I? I remember… I remember Lov and I fighting that sudden attack from that group of ponies… Some were… flying… others using magic, while a couple used some shields and crossbows. Eliya looked around her caged space; the cage was made of metal, but if she had her weapons she probably could break free… however that was impossible.

Looking down on her body, were two clamps placed on her ankles which had chains connected to the cage itself. The only injuries visible on her were a few bruises and scrapes, but she was fine and only felt a heavy throbbing in her head when she woke up. Looking from the other cage across her was her sister Lov; who was asleep on top a pile of blankets. Eliya frowned having remembered a familiar situation she found herself and Lov were in on a past job they did.

Well ain’t this deja vu, all we need to finish this touch is a guard to approach me and say-

“Oh… your awake.”

“Bingo,” said Eliya, turning to the source of the speaker. Eliya stared at a stallion who wore armor around his torso, but wore no helmet. The stallion seemed to have a sense of superiority but kept his look calm whilst the slight shudder or two showed.

“My name is Sergeant Quake… You must be the… ‘alien’ that everypony is talking about,” said Quake.

What’s it going to be? Interrogation? Torture? Bribery? I can list this on and on… “What you want, guard?” asked Eliya, gripping the bars of the cage. “You here to insult me, or maybe to throw a rock. Is that it, hmmmm?”

Quake was taken back a bit, not expecting it to speak, but exhaled and focused his eyes on Eliya once more. “No… I was curious, and wanted to see… well… whatever you are,” said Quake, explaining his reason here.

Eliya was surprised her eyes widening a little… until she resumed her bored look. “You’re kidding me,” said Eliya.

“Pardon?” said Quake, in response to Eliya’s answer.

“Your saying you came here… just to… look at me.”

“Um… yeah, is there something wrong with that?”

“Is there something…” said Eliya, facepalming herself. “What kind of military force allows their own soldiers to willy-nilly see their prisoners like this!?”

“Excuse me but first off… I do have permission to come here. Secondly, you’re not a threat considering we removed you of your weapons, you have no physical traits to allow you to escape, and what we can tell is that you can’t use magic,” said Quake.

“And how you’re sure I don’t have magic… What if I do then what then?”

“We enchanted you and your accomplice’s cages that if you do have magic, the enchantments will activate and nullify any magic sensed within or outside the cage. Only way these doors will open is through keys given to the commanders,” said Quake.

Commander you say?

“Also… I’m not a commander,” said Quake, answering her thought.

Drat.

“I also brought you dinner,” said Quake. Slipping through a slot, a tray with a plate and small cup on it are seen. The food on the plate is; a cooked potato, cut pieces of a carrot, and fish.

“Fish?” said Eliya, confused.

“Yeah, fish; we make look like ponies doesn’t mean we can’t eat meat. Especially pegasi, who are omnivores and can stomach fish, but as to how I don’t know. We weren’t sure if you could eat meat or not, but we did a good share of meat and food that a herbivore would eat… so… here you go,” said Quake, gesturing with his hoof.

Eliya looked at the plate, sniffing and poking it with the fork given to her. Quake sighed and went to grab a piece of a carrot and began to eat it in front of her. “See… not poisoned, so stop touching your food and eat. Your lucky some of our chefs in our cafeteria actually went to make some food for you and the other one,” said Quake.

Eliya looked at the stallion than back at her food; with her fork she pierced a carrot. “You didn’t need to do this; and… say thanks to the… ponies who made this. Also, we both eat meat and vegetables, so if it’s fine we’ll eat an omnivore meal,” said Eliya, placing the carrot near her mouth. “Still, we’re your prisoners so I doubt this food will taste that goo-”

Eliya’s eyes widened once she placed the piece of the carrot in her mouth; Quake noticed the sudden silence and peered inside the cage noticing the motionless figure of Eliya unmoving.

“Hey… you not allergic to carrots are you? Uh… kid?” asked Quake, starting to worry. Quake was about to break into the cage… when he heard sniffles; looking back inside, he saw Eliya shedding some tears… but quickly wiped them away. “Jeese, it’s just military food; it’s not the best but it can’t be that bad.”

“I… I never had this kind of food before… The last time my sister and I were captured… We nearly died by those who caught us,” said Eliya. Eliya slammed her fork to the ground, and stood up immediately. “Is this some kind of joke!”

Quake was spooked by the sudden jolt of movement, and tumbled into the ground; some of the nearby soldiers saw this and were ready to move in. Quake gestured with his hoof to go back to what they were doing, some of the soldiers listened while a few watched the conversation continue. “What you mean?” asked Quake.

“What I mean is, are you trying to persuade us that you’re not the enemy. I know this tactic and I won’t let it happen again… not again… never… again,” said Eliya. Eliya clutched her hand into a fist, her nails nearly piercing her skin, droplets of blood dripping off her fist.

Quake stood back up and looked directly at Eliya, staring straight into her eyes… Her eyes were empty… cold… like everyday of her life was more and more death. “I don’t know what you been through… but we don’t treat anypony… Anybody, like what your thinking right now… Whatever you think we might do to you… We’ll never do it… ever,” said Quake, conviction heard in his voice.

Eliya kept her gaze on Quake, until another voice spoke; one of the soldiers approached Quake, he wore armor meaning he was of a lower rank possibly in charge of guarding their recent prisoners. “Sir, visiting hours are over now. Commander Star Gleam also wants you in her tent; she needs to hear your report with the prisoner today,” said the guard.

Quake nodded and made his way to leave, but before he did he took one final look at Eliya. “I need to ask… Is it true that you took down a whole squadron?” asked Quake. “You seem really young and… it seems impossible considering what the others say, and seeing you now...”

“Don’t judge us based on our looks… We probably seen more death than your kind as a whole has ever witnessed… The life my sister and I have lived is the only life we have… and I’d never give it up,” said Eliya.

“And why wouldn’t you? Who would risk their very lives for a life of debauchery?”

“...The kind who had everything taken from them… The kind who’ve been abandoned by their own kind… ‘He’ on the other hand was there for us… all of us… I owe him my life and I’ll continue to work under him until I’m nothing… but ash.” Eliya stared back at Quake; both figures stared at one another until the guard motioned for Quake to leave. Once Quake left the containment area, the last thing he saw was Eliya curling up into a ball.

What in the buck did those two gone through to make them not even fear Tartarus?

Elsewhere; Commander Hurricane and some of his fellow soldiers rest up in the medical tents. Entering his part of the tent was Private Pansy, with her was Commander Star Gleam; Commander Hurricane opened his left eye, staring at the two with confusion. “Well hello there ladies? How may I help you?” asked Hurricane, sarcastically.

“Enough with the pleasantries,” said Star. Star stepped in front of Pansy; grabbing a seat she sits on the right side of Hurricane’s bed. “What in the heck were you thinking? Going into the middle of a forest without telling the other commanders about this; you nearly died!”

“Nothing gained, nothing ventured,” said Hurricane, grinning.

“Oh shuddap!”

Both commanders gave each other a good glare, until both began to chuckle. While many of the commanders are jealous of Star since she’s promoted to a high rank in a young age, both Commander Hurricane and Star challenge one another; the old veteran pony vs the newbie genius. Neither tried to cheat the other, but will always do their darn best to reach the top; in the process they became rivals, but at the same time good buddies.

“It’s good your alright Commander Hurricane, sir,” said Pansy, saluting lightly.

“Now now Pansy, there’s no reason to salute. I basically failed my mission of trying to capture our target; your lucky you made it out safely back to HQ,” said Hurricane.

“I still feel I haven’t done my best as a fellow soldier to this company… sir,” said Pansy.

Pansy stared silently at the ground, feeling ashamed for not staying and fighting back the enemy. Hurricane though is the type to never surrender or back down, he needs to know all of his soldiers strengths and weaknesses; the reason he sent Pansy away was for two reasons, though she willingly joined the military she has zero chances of winning any battles. Another reason was the fact that Pansy has an interesting ability; she has the power to persuade any group or force with swift action, in other words she is the military’s number one diplomat for handling military trades with other countries and so on. If they were to lose her, Equestria’s military would lose an important asset; sadly with her low rank her skill isn’t highly acknowledged or even known, with only some of the Commanders and a few selected ponies who do know.

Still, at least she has got the guts to be a soldier; she would have been a great friend in another time… sadly our paths weren’t meant to meet. “Now Star… What has your sergeant told you about our… prisoners?” asked Hurricane.

“He hasn’t seen me yet, but he should be coming right about...” said Star. At the same time Quake entered the medical tent, saluting once he saw his superior. “now.”

“Commander Star, you ordered me to come see you at your personal tent, but somepony told me you were here. I’m sorry if I am interrupting anything,” said Quake.

“No no nothing at all; to be honest it’s perfect timing you’re here… Commander Hurricane here wishes to hear your report with our prisoners,” said Star.

“Of course; I visited the prisoners as per your request and met with one of them to be awake. She seemed to speak she’s from a faraway land so that rules out her being a foreigner instead of a native; she also seems to mention that her and the other prisoner may be siblings, twins maybe. She has some mistrust issues but that may have to do with her past; she said she was captured previous times so that either means she has a criminal record or was captured by another nation before,” said Quake, speaking his report.

Star Gleam began to pace around the tent and Hurricane’s bed; she looked back at Quake then Hurricane, finishing her staring with sigh. Approaching Pansy, Star gives her specific orders to the guards patrolling around the prisoners. “Pansy, tell the soldiers at the prisoner’s compound that there might be enemy forces that may free their allies. I want the soldiers there and at this camp to watch for any sudden movements outside the perimeter; have some of the pegasi fly up and patrol the sky, I want the unicorns to place some sigils around the area to track any movement, all the earth ponies are to prepare some defenses. Check the armory and our recent patrol paths, I want them changed ever thirty minutes until we get backup from the other pony tribes; send some scrolls to Canterlot and the nearby settlement if they have any ponies they could send just in case,” said Star, giving her orders to Pansy.

“Sir, yes sir!” shouted Pansy, saluting. Once given her orders Pansy heads off leaving the tent with Hurricane, Star, and Quake to continue their conversation alone.

“Is there anything else that you may have forgotten Sergeant Quake?” asked Star.

Quake pondered his mind for any other small details he’d forgotten… then it popped into his head. “I almost forgot; our prisoners are omnivores, they both eat meat and vegetation, sir,” said Quake, remembering that small piece of information.

“That’s good to know; well for now on you’re to speak to them and give them scheduled meals. I don’t want the other commanders or higher ups to make a move and get those ‘things’ to be executed; we need to find out what they are and why they’re here,” said Star.

“Well well, look who’s finally taking things serious for once,” said Hurricane, grinning.

“I’m doing this to protect our nation from unwanted guests… besides,” said Star. “If I’m able to get information out of them that means I may get promoted… maybe even becoming your superior.

“Bha! The day that happens is the day I retire; and we both know that ain’t happening anytime soon,” said Hurricane. Both commanders began to laugh heartily enjoying their small conversations and challenges with one another; Sergeant Quake knew about his commander’s challenges with Commander Hurricane, sometimes he and the other boys would come and watch… it was good entertainment especially if all your doing is trotting around an area that has nothing to protect than your own hide.

Back at the prisoner compound; the light of the moon shines down upon the land, revealing the many strange wonders of the night. Within Eliya’s cage, she is woken from her sleep; rising up she still sees her sister is asleep… but then she hears a noise. The sound is coming from somewhere… until she could hear the sound behind her. Turning to see where the sound is coming from… is a very surprising sight; behind her was the core of her base… the Main Battery. It stood tall before her, but then when she looked around her surroundings… was another surprise; the once rock hard floor and distant forest was now gone, replaced with a cavernous cave system with entrances leading to more tunnels or hidden facilities deep underground.

What shocked Eliya even more was instead of being inside of a cage, she found herself standing on top a platform. The whole area was barren of life, only the small flickers of light seen in the distance, the nearest being the light from the Main Battery. Of course that isn’t it’s name for it’s real name has long since been gone, and instead gave it the name of Main Battery… as to why though is the real mystery. Eliya had no idea how she could be back home especially having the last time seeing it when it was consumed by a white explosion… unless…

This is a dream; of course it has to be. If not then I’m either really high… or dead.

Eliya began to wander in her old home… her only home; while it wasn’t the perfect place to live, home isn’t where you live… but who you’re with. She was part of a band of criminals and psychopaths, and each one of it’s members were there for each other. He was the one to bring them together, why was still a mystery… but he gave them something to live for, a purpose… a family; and now his alone once more.

Eliya examined her surroundings and everything she remembered was where it was… but it wasn’t real… none of it was. In a blink of an eye, it all disappeared; what was once the home of Eliya and her sister was now a cage. Eliya gripped the cold bars of her prison, staring at the lunar symbol on the sky, gleaming with light.

“I promise… I will get us back home… The both of us… even if it means I have to die doing so,” said Eliya. “I don’t care if these… ponies treat us well… I won’t be someone’s prisoners… I will never be caged… not again...”

Eliya sat there on the cold floor of her cage, contemplating a plan of escape… however… her chance for freedom shall come through a domino of events to come… For Equestria will know the true wrath of insanity and it’s fellow apostles.

Suspicions (Edited)

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Uhhhhh… It hurts; to move, to think… Where am I? I remember falling, and crashing into… a mountain I believe? Either way, I need to find someone… the others… I need to find…

“Vallan...” said Swuen. Swuen slowly opened her eyes and gazed at her surroundings. Swuen found herself on a bed; possibly used for taking care of the injured and sick… guessing by the bottles and medical equipment strung around the room. The room itself was glimmering white, the floor and walls made of marble; a window was opened on her right side of her bed, the moonlight shining inside. A single candle was lit on a table beside her, on it was a plate and a glass of water; the plate held a loaf of bread… it smelled like honey.

I need to get out of this room, and find out where I am. Swuen attempted to move her body, and the second she set her feet onto the ground, she felt a quick pang of pain throughout her body. A small gasp comes out, as she tumbles to the cold marble ground; taking a close look at her body, Swuen was covered head to toe in injuries. Apparently the crash landing she took with A.I. wasn’t so light for her, noting the bandages wrapped around her torso. Before Swuen could move, the door opened as a very strange creature appeared before Swuen’s eyes.

The creature was a pony… well, a pony with a horn above it’s eyes; the most strangest description on the pony was it’s bright colored fur and mane, as if someone vomited a rainbow of colors all over this strange creature. Instantly the pony spotted Swuen and gasped, rushing to her side; Swuen’s hearing was still having trouble and when the pony spoke all she heard was some garbled sounds, but after awhile she heard the next line of words the pony said.

“Miss, you shouldn’t be out of bed; I don’t know how long you’ve been here, but you need to rest,” said the pony. The pony’s horn glowed and suddenly, Swuen found herself floating in the air, until she was gently placed back on her bed with a simple plop; the pony’s horn glowed again and this time, Swuen’s blanket hovered and landed on top of her. “Now I’ll be right back, I need to tell Master A.I. of your awakening.”

Master… A.I? Swuen watched the pony leave, rushing to wherever A.I. was; but right now, many questions began swarming Swuen’s head. What has A.I. done now? Why are these… ponies, being so hospitable to us? I expected to be locked in some sort of cage, but this was the last thing I expected… Stay calm Swuen; you need to stay calm. Your Psycho Corps’ number one infiltrator and espionage specialist; only I can handle these kind of situations. I can probably think of a story to explain what I am and my purpose here without raising any suspicions.

“That isn’t necessary Swuen.” Swuen stopped in mid-thought and glanced at the door the pony from before went through. At the doorway was A.I, and behind him was the same pony from before. “I need some privacy with my friend; could you call Princess Platinum and her adviser… Clover was it, to meet me in the dining room.”

The pony, who Swuen now realized was wearing a maid outfit, making her a maid of this place bowed down and rushed away. A.I. turned to look at Swuen, giving off a smile, but the kind of smile that makes the hair on the back of your neck stiffen… for Swuen, all it did was make her glare angrily. “What’s going on A.I?” asked Swuen.

“A lot of things actually; but to better simplify it...” said A.I, walking up to his fellow companion. “It’s best to show you.” A.I. extended an upturn fist, opening it to reveal a very familiar pill. The pill laying on A.I’s hand was a regenerative pill; Swuen and A.I’s boss who had the natural ability of self-healing, shared that power with his followers. Taking the pill, Swuen swallows it whole, grabbing the glass of water to make the process easier. Once downing the whole glass, Swuen feels a strange sensation across her body; flexing her hands, Swuen steps off her bed, able to stand on both feet once more.

“Lead the way,” said Swuen. A.I. nodded, and made his way to leave the room; before Swuen followed, she grabbed the loaf of bread which was coated in honey, making her hands sticky. Taking a bite of the sweet pastry, Swuen smiles and decides to ask the chef who made this to make more for her in the future.

Swuen and A.I. exited the room; outside standing by the room’s entrance was a pony, wearing armor and a helmet, signifying her role as a guard. The pony turned and saluted at A.I, but when she noticed Swuen, she stepped back and was ready to point her weapon. Before anything could happen though, A.I. raised a hand for her to stop. “Now now… she’s with me… Now come; both of you, we need to see your princess,” said A.I.

The guard takes a look at Swuen and follows behind; in return Swuen follows too, walking beside the guard following A.I. Swuen took a bite of her bread, until a voice spoke up; looking around it was the guard who pointed her weapon at her before. “Are you… ‘his’ mistress or something?” asked the guard. This caught her off-guard, and caused Swuen to spit out a piece of loaf, nearly gagging in the process; the guard went straight to action and began patting her back until Swuen could breath once more and speak.

“MISTRESS!? I ain’t nobody’s mistress you hear; he and I are of equal standing. Heck, I could kill him where he stands,” said Swuen.

“You’re not wrong,” said A.I, agreeing. “Though, I do have my uses.”

“Well… He seemed worried when you were brought to the infirmary wing of the castle… So I assumed...” said the guard.

Swuen eyes widened, looking at A.I, then at the guard… until she exploded into laughter. “Him… worrying… Pffft; the only thing this heartless bastard gives a damn is his own hide and research,” said Swuen. “I also have a feeling he didn’t strung you along just so he needed someone to guide him around the place.”

That caused the guard to shudder, as she took a few steps away from A.I. “Anyway, my… my name’s Sharp Sight; I was assigned with Master… A.I. here as his personal bodyguard and guide,” said Sharp. “I’m also unlucky enough to be his lab assistant.”

“By lab assistant, does he tell you to stand pretty while he stares at you and writes notes down; while other times, poking you with strange instruments?” asked Swuen, raising a brow.

“Well… yes,” said Sharp, blushing. After answering Swuen’s question, Sharp gazed at her spear, taking a sudden interest on it.

“Of course he is,” said Swuen, taking another bite of her loaf.

“I have more reasons than that Miss Loarven; besides… we’re here,” said A.I. In front of the trio was double-door made of wood and some other material like gems or some sort of rock. A.I. opened both doors with ease for his thin frame and stepped inside; Swuen and Sharp followed close behind.

Once inside, they found a large long table, with numerous seats surrounding it; two large seats were set on the far edges of the table, while ten smaller seats were set on the sides which made a total of twenty two seats for the table. Sitting at the far side of the room was Princess Platinum, with her was Clover the Clever who decided to stand than sit. The princess was in the middle of conversation with her until she noticed A.I. entering the room; stopping her conversation, Princess Platinum focused her attention towards him.

“Sir A.I, why have you called us this late at night?” asked Platinum. “Are there news of your friend’s status?”

“Indeed… you could say she’s doing fine now,” said A.I, sitting on the other large seat. At the same time that he sat down, Swuen found a seat of her own near A.I, while Sharp stood on the wall left of A.I. “Princess, I would like to introduce to you, ‘Mistress’ Loarven Swuen.”

Platinum gave an inquisitive look and placed a hoof onto the marble table, making a quiet tink noise. “Mistress you say? So is she your-” Before Platinum could finish, Swuen slammed a fist down and glared daggers at Platinum.

“Whatever your thinking, I don’t have those kinds of relationships with… him,” said Swuen. “Mistress is simply a codename we use among each other; it also portrays our… skills.”

Skills? Clover gave A.I. a glance, wondering if he was their leader considering his intellectual personality, and cold but logical tactics. It makes perfect sense if he were the leader; but his companion seems to show signs he isn’t. So what is he then?

While Swuen continued to eat her bread angrily, the surrounding guards who were standing by were prepared to strike when necessary… however… Sharp knew better to deal with these “creatures”. A.I. who seemed flimsy as a stick and could break any second, held a strange feeling to him… as if a cloak of ice was surrounding him. If you couldn’t sense it then you would notice it from the way he looks… his eyes; his lifeless but focused light blue eyes. A.I. shifted his hand and pulled something from under his cloak; every guard froze and focused their attention at A.I… but what came next came to a surprise to everyone.

“What I have on my hand is something that many of you may assume by it’s look… it’s not what you think,” said A.I. On the palm of his hand was a silver crystal, it gave off a strange aura around it; everypony in the room stared at awe at the strange crystal. A.I. gently placed it on the table then slid it toward Princess Platinum. “That would be my payment… or incentive in this case.”

“Incentive?”

A.I. stood up and walked toward Platinum and Clover then stopped only a few steps away from them; grabbing a chair A.I. leaned on it with ease. “You see, those crystals are from my world and while yes they are rare, I am the only being on this world who have’s the capabilities to make them,” said A.I, staring at his feet.

Princess Platinum used her magic and levitated the crystal to her view; the strange crystal while would possibly be sold for a thousand bits… was possibly more valuable than Canterlot’s treasury. “And what do you wish in return?” asked Platinum, tossing the crystal back to A.I, only for him to catch it without looking.

A.I. stared at his creation and pocketed it back inside his coat; he then stopped leaning against the chair and stood straight, staring at the two mares with a crazed look. “Three things… Knowledge, security, and information on any strange sightings from the last several days,” said A.I. “These are my requests and in return I will give you these special crystals in return; I won’t tell you how to use them though.”

“And why not?” asked Clover, stepping a few trots closer to A.I.

“Not all crystals share the same reaction on every being it makes contact with; it could have adverse effects on your kind so I recommend experimenting them in the future. Another thing you should know is that if your attempting to change anything about the crystals, tell me in advance… I don’t want to find a blackhole when I’m walking around the castle halls,” said A.I. “One more thing… Whatever you do… do not… combine… two separate crystal types… ever.”

Clover glared daggers at A.I. having hearing that last piece of advice very… vague. “And why shouldn’t we do that? Will something happen if we do so?”

“Yes, but will it be dangerous… probably not… if you know how to contain it of course,” said A.I, grinning. A.I. made his way walking back to his side of the table, sitting down on his chair with his arms planted on the arms of the chair. “Do you accept my offer?”

Princess Platinum contemplated this and looked toward her adviser; as the two spoke together, A.I. waited patiently for a response. “What should I do Clover? While we don’t know what his capable of, he might give us an edge on the other nations… and possibly the other pony tribes,” said Platinum.

“Platinum; we mustn’t think like that, we made peace with the other tribes… but you’re not wrong. I can sense a powerful energy coming from that single crystal, if we had something like that the other nations wouldn’t dare wage war with us.. We could even begin a new era…”

“Then it’s settled...” said Platinum. Platinum rose from her seat and took in a deep breath as her voice increased in volume. “Sir A.I, I accept your deal; the ponies of this castle will grant you any assistance you may need, and in return you create these… gems for us. However; you and your companion cannot leave the castle’s grounds until we properly introduce you to the public… is that correct?”

Swuen took a good look at A.I. until she saw it; the faint glimmer he had when he was gambling with a situation that could possibly support his plans… or be the death of him. “I accept; from this day forward, I A.I. and my companion shall stay here and create any crystal you ask of me. Whilst in return you give me all the knowledge you have within this castle and beyond,” said A.I, bowing.

Sharp whilst was beginning to fall asleep since it was getting late… saw it. At first it was small like a snowflake, but then it grew to a chunk of ice. Within A.I. was a light blue piece of ice that glowed; it was unnoticed by anypony but Sharp knew that whatever she was seeing… it gave her more than the chills… it was as if something was trying to freeze her soul.

“Well with that done, I must return to my bedchambers. Good night; sir A.I,” said Platinum. Platinum trotted with Clover as a small posse of guards followed behind. Leaving only A.I, Swuen, and Sharp Sight in the room. At that moment Swuen rose up and began leaving the room.

“Now where do you think you’re going?” asked A.I.

“I was asleep for half a day; where do you think I’m going, I need some food to eat. You and your ‘bodyguard’ can go back to your creepy experiments for all I care,” said Swuen.

“Oh I don’t need her for awhile; for I need all the privacy to make the crystals for her highness. Sharp!”

Sharp shook the sleepiness from her eyes and focused her attention at A.I. “Yes, sir A.I,” asked Sharp, saluting.

“You mind showing Swuen where the castle’s kitchen is,” said A.I.

“No of course not; I’ll bring her right away. This way Miss-”

“Just call me Swuen; it gets aggravating when someone calls me Miss… makes me sound like I need protection twenty-four seven,” said Swuen.

“Of course… Swuen, this way.” Sharp led Swuen away to the castle’s kitchen; while they left, A.I. was left in the room. Once he checked he was truly alone, he pulled out a rectangular object out of his coat. Pushing a few buttons, a few whirs and beeps are heard as the radio turns back on to life.

“At least this isn’t broken; third head of Cerberus, this is Virus. Do you copy, over?” A.I. awaited a response but only heard static. “I need to make a few tweaks before I could get anyone to hear me… looks like I may need to ask a few favors.”

A.I. walked away from the large room, leaving behind a trail of ice with each step. Just where A.I. was sitting, the seat is slowly engulfed in ice, as the room is slowly coated in snow from a mysterious power. “I should really control my abilities… I haven’t been this excited in years,” said A.I, from outside the room; not noticing the path of ice he left.

Elsewhere in the castle, Sharp and Swuen arrive at the castle’s kitchen; inside the kitchen were some ponies, possibly the cooks that were cleaning today’s dishes. At first everypony continued to work when they spotted Swuen; instantly everypony froze where they stood to stare at the strange creature standing by the doorway. One of the chefs approached Swuen, he wore a chef’s hat and had a mustache on his muzzle. “So you must be Sir A.I’s companion, you don’t know me but I was the one who prepared the food for you until you awoke. My name is Fresh Scent; it’s my pleasure to finally meet you,” said Fresh.

“Its nice meeting you and thank you for the food, it was so delicious I decided to have seconds… if that is fine with you?” asked Swuen.

Fresh smirked and chortled in response to Swuen’s question; Fresh then led Swuen to a table which had plates of leftover food from this evening’s dinner. “This is food some of the guards didn’t finish; you can have it… if you can eat it all,” said Fresh, stroking his mustache with his hoof.

“This isn’t a problem… I am hungry; haven’t ate since the day before yesterday,” said Swuen, taking in the scent of the food.

“That long huh; well hope you enjoy our cooking, we weren’t sure what you eat so we made that honeyed bread since it was the only thing that anyone would eat,” said Fresh.

“I actually loved it to be honest… I originally wanted to ask if you could make some more.”

Fresh thought about making the honeyed bread he did before and nodded his head in agreement. “I could make some in the morning for you, simply come down here to have some alright,” said Fresh.

“Of course,” said Swuen, grinning. “By the way I forgot to introduce myself; I’m Loarven Swuen, but you can call me Swuen. Well… time to eat, I-am-starving!”

Swuen ate her food happily, whilst talking with the cooks of the castle; some of the conversations was small talk, rumors, and recent news from outside the castle. No news of Swuen’s fellow allies so far, but A.I. has that under the bag; as time went by, Swuen was able to eat all the leftover food, saving some drinks for later use. “Well it was nice meeting you all, have a good night’s sleep,” said Swuen, bowing.

“It was wonderful meeting you Swuen, hope we have more conversations like this in the future,” said Fresh, chortling.

After taking her leave, Sharp took her back to the infirmary room which was now her room. Once arriving at her room, Sharp left with bow but before she could Swuen stopped her for one second. “Hold up Sharp,” said Swuen.

“Yes Lady Swuen?” asked Sharp.

“How many time I told; just call me Swuen. Also, if A.I. ever does anything creepy or gets on your nerves, just find me and I’ll make sure he doesn’t try anything,” said Swuen, grinning and raising a thumbs up.

Sharp smiled knowing that A.I. is the only strange being she would meet today. “I’ll make sure to… and, thank you for watching my back,” said Sharp.

Swuen grinned happily and waved Sharp goodbye, returning to her abode; Sharp continued patrolling the castle halls since she has nothing else to do… until a particular memory rises up. I should probably check if Master A.I. hasn’t done anything to blow up the castle yet. Sharp made her way to where A.I. was residing in the castle.

Meanwhile at Princess Platinum’s royal chambers, Clover the Clever speaks to her highness about A.I’s part of the deal. The princess and adviser sit upon a table on the princess’s balcony, as moonlight shines upon them. Clover takes a sip of her tea, and glances at the far reaching lands of Equestria; imagining the future for this nation. “Princess Platinum… I don’t think Master A.I. will keep his part of the bargain,” said A.I.

“What makes you think of this possibility?” asked Platinum.

“Now this is just speculation… but if I’m correct, it’s possible A.I. may come from a dangerous group; to whom is the leader of this group is still unknown and as to where they originate too is unknown. However it’s clear A.I. is possibly a high ranking member of this group, same for Lady Swuen too… my guess is to say is that she’s their spymaster while A.I. might be their adviser. Which leaves two important members of their group… the commander and ambassador.” Clover used her magic, levitating a spoon to swirl her tea in a circular motion. Her attention was taken away when she stared at the lights down below Canterlot Castle; while it was midnight many of Canterlot’s residents move to inns and other such places that sell a good drink.

“So your saying they might be members of another nation?”

“No, I doubt it… they hold a sense that they might be mercenaries or something related to that occupation; whatever it is they do… A.I. can’t be trusted… the looks in his eyes… Their the kind of look someone who has nothing to lose… his betting everything he has… The question is; what is he trying to gain?” said Clover, placing her spoon back down. Clover took a sip of her tea, savoring the taste; Princess Platinum was too curious to A.I’s true intentions, but was busy handling with Canterlot’s nobles and other issues arising.

“Well for now, we can’t focus our attention on him, but I give you permissions if A.I. does anything… unsavory,” said Platinum. Standing up from her seat, Platinum makes it to the balcony’s fence glancing down at the capital of Equestria. “And if he does break his side of our arrangement… lock him and his companion to the dungeons… I don’t care if his some outsider that got lost… Nopody will belittle me; I may not be like the other pony tribes’ leaders… but I have a few tricks up my hooves.”

Clover rose from her seat, and bowed before her princess before speaking. “Of course my princess; your wish is my command. He won’t dare cross you… nor this nation,” said Clover. “May your reign last, and prosper.

Guests (Original)

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I have the worst headache ever… Everything smells like burnt skin, dirt, and the slight tinge of grass… Am I… Am I… Did Joseph blew me up again? If so then one my limbs should feel like its been ripped off or something. Somewhere in Equestria; a very pissed off ‘someone’ was unconsciously thinking of angry thoughts of a certain ‘somebody’ about a number of explosive related incidents from the past; recent or not.

When I wake up, Joseph is going to get a long lecture about when he should be using his explosives or not… If I do actually wake up of course, for now I need to lay down here and sleep… Got nothing else better to do but sleep… rather sleep than be awake; haven’t been able to get a days’ sleep without being woken up to fix something or form the large noise of something going kaboom… as usual. The angry person who was having angry thoughts of someone else; Rubert Crane, elder brother to Joseph Crane. Rubert wasn’t completely sure how he gotten to this situation in the first place; like a jigsaw puzzle, he had to put the pieces together to see the full picture… or in this case, see how his brother fits to all of this.

I swear if I found myself surrounded in bombs… I’m gonna- Before Rubert could finish his train of thought, a noise was heard; it was quiet, but noticeable enough for Rubert to hear. Listening, it sounds like someone is speaking; possibly to someone else.

“Chancellor, just what exactly did you find?”

“Well… I’m not sure what I found, but they were in the middle of the path I was walking for one of my early morning strolls; I decided to carry them back to my place and so far I was able to patch them up.”

“Are you capable of patching foreign beings, we don’t even know their a threat! What if one of them attacks us?!”

“Oh hush Smart Cookie; I know what I’m doing. I wasn’t voted to be our tribe’s leader because I made these delicious pastries… well that was half the reason why, but… you get my point.” The voices sounded both feminine, and one of them mentioned a ‘Chancellor’; so one of them was some sort of representative of a group of sorts… Just what kind of situation did Rubert gotten himself into now.

Yesterday morning Chancellor Puddinghead led her secretary, Smart Cookie to her carriage. Once there the duo found the carriage parked by Puddinghead’s temporary office/home while her real home was currently being made with the help of some earth ponies and a few other members from the other tribes. While Pudding head isn’t the brightest of the three tribe leaders, she has a ton of charisma and knows how to handle the problems of the populace and can relate to a sense too; making her the best candidate to handle all problems and future projects toward her.

“Chancellor; by any chance did you not do anything while you found these… ‘things’. Nothing to disturb or… agitate them while they were unconscious?” asked Cookie.

“Whaaat?! Of course not Smart Cookie, I take important care to travelers and strangers to my fullest. I would never do something that would make them uncomfortable,” said Puddinghead.

Thank the ancestors; for a second I thought she would try something-

“Though I may have spilled a cup of chocolate milk when I checked if they were awake.”

Never mind… Smart Cookie followed behind until the two came upon Puddinghead’s carriage. The Chancellor opened the flaps the covered the inside of the carriage to reveal two motionless figures; both tall and thin. Cookie wasn’t sure if they were thin when Puddinghead found them or they haven’t eaten anything when they wee found… but considering they were found by Puddinghead, it was unlikely for the two strangers to be malnourished.

“See Cookie, don’t they look weird. They look like minotaurs but, they have no fur covering their bodies, but not only that but instead of the usual three fingers on a minotaurs hand, they have five,” said Puddinghead, stating her discovery. Before her and Cookie were two hairless creatures that did indeed resembled a minotaur, but without fur covering them. Another interesting fact to note was that instead of hooves, they had ‘hands’ where their hooves should be, making the two creatures even more stranger than before.

While Puddinghead was ecstatic with excitement… Smart Cookie didn’t share the same enthusiasm as her boss did; to put it simply, Cookie was freaking the buck out. “WHA-WHAT, CHANCELLOR!? JUST WHAT ARE DOES THINGS!?” shouted Cookie, who was instantly hushed by Puddinghead.

“Not so loud, we don’t want to wake them up. The doc said that they need to rest in order to recover, so keep your voiced lowered… please,” said Puddinghead.

Cookie gave Puddinghead a glare of both annoyance and worry; the veins in her face ready to pop out any second. Cookie however calmed down, breathing in and out every two seconds until her mind was cleared to handle the situation brought to her. “Now… Chancellor, is there… anymore of these things, where you found these two? We don’t want to be given the assumption that we kidnapped these two or anything.”

“Nope; when I arrived at that crater, all I found where the two of them. Nothing or anypony in site-”

“WAIT, DID YOU SAY CRATER!?”

“Yeah… why, is there something wrong with that?”

“SOMETHING WRONG WITH- Chancellor, if what your saying isn’t just your over-imaginative mind giving you false information, then what you witnessed was either a bunch of mysterious creatures doing a dangerous experiment and ended up here… OR YOU JUST FOUND THE FIRST EVER EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE KNOWN TO PONYKIND!”

Cookie began to shake Chancellor Puddinghead so viciously, that they haven’t notice the sudden shift in movement coming from the figure on the left of the two ponies. Rising from a death-like sleep, the explosive happy maniac of Psycho Corps, and the brother of Rubert Crane, Joseph Crane open his eyes as quick as the fuses on his bombs. The mad demolition expert rose up watching two tiny horses fighting each other; well actually the horse in the left of Joseph’s view who wore clothing that resembled a cookie started shaking another horse who wore clothing that was similar to chocolate pudding… Either Joseph gone to a new level of insanity or he sniffed too much nitroglycerine.

The tiny horses continued their interesting (and cute) arguing, until Joseph spoke to interrupt the two. “Oh look, ponies… Is it my birthday already?” said Joseph, grinning stupidly.

Both equines froze where they were, Smart Cookie was the first to turn and look at the slim and dirty figure of Joseph, who waved back with a silly expression on his face. At that moment… two things happened, first someone or pony screamed… Secondly… An explosion happened.

Waking up from the sudden boom of what Cookie could assume what sounded like thunder, she woke up to stare at the slightly singed and burnt off carriage of Puddinghead where only Cookie and the other strange creature were left inside. A lot of questions were going through Cookie’s head, but one in particular came up first than the others.

Where’s Chancellor Puddinghead and the other creature?

Elsewhere, Puddinghead was currently being carried by a very spooked (I think) and dangerous Joseph, who was currently tossing bombs every direction. Most were harmless being smoke or paint bombs… while a few set-off a tiny kaboom down his path of destruction. Surprisingly, Puddinghead calmly watched the mayhem from her view while grabbing a few of the explosives (the non-kaboom ones) and tossed or dropped them too as well. The two continued their mad dash for destruction until they came upon an interesting sight; before the two, well Joseph since Puddinghead was facing Joseph’s back was a large pool of water. The pool was big and wide enough to allow for both to swim within its cooling and refreshing looks. Instantly, Joseph dropped Puddinghead with a simple plop and swan-dived into the pool without a second thought.

“INCOMING!” shouted Joseph. With a loud splash, droplets of water went every direction; rising back up from the water, Joseph stared at a slightly soaked Puddinghead. In return Puddinghead gave out a light giggle that slowly increased in volume, she then began to carefully remove her clothing and fold them a safe distance away until she too joined with the swim.

“You call that a splash; I’ll show you a splash!” Puddinghead began to slowly take a few trots back, until she began running full speed, jumping at the last second screaming with all her breath. “CANNONBALL!” As she made contact a giant wave of water was created as it developed Joseph in the process. Both equine and humanoid creature brought both their heads out of the surface of the water staring at one another; in the end… they began to laugh.

“I knew you’d be fun to hang with once you wake up… but, I want to know why you were so spooked when you woke up?” asked Puddinghead, tilting her head in confusion.

“Spooked? I would prefer that my reaction was me being shocked; when I saw a pair of talking ponies, I was ecstatic with excitement. Let’s say when I explode things, its my way of being happy… though I do that often so I guess that means I’m happy everyday. GRAHAHHAHAAHHA!” said Joseph, laughing crazily.

Puddinghead found this strange creature oddly fun to be with, though its method of having fun is somewhat dangerous, it still brought a smile to one of the leaders of the pony tribes’ somewhat boring day. Still it brought a few questions that needed to be answer… questions that couldn’t wait.

“I was wondering… since I haven’t seen you before and have no idea what you are… Can I ask you a few questions? By the way, my name is Puddinghead… Chancellor Puddinghead,” said Puddinghead, extending her hoof.

Joseph accepted the hoof, shaking it happily. “Puddinghead… funny name; mine’s Joseph,” said Joseph, grinning.

“Joe… sith?”

“Joseph; Jo-sa-phhhh, that’s how yah say my name… Speaking of names, you wouldn’t have seen my brother Rubert? He looks like me but…” said Joseph, taking a look at himself. “Less dirty and more of a pessimist at times.”

Puddinghead placed a hoof on her chin, thinking until remembering the other creature she found with Joseph. “Oh, you mean that thing! Yeah, I myself found you and your brother… but you kind of went ballistic and took me here… We can head back…” said Puddinghead. “...Riiight after we dry off of course.”

After taking a quick rest from swimming, Puddinghead and Joseph returned to Puddinghead’s carriage, where a distraught Smart Cookie and still unconscious Rubert were left when the two disappeared. After some worried looks and a long angry talk, Cookie was able to calm down… until she remembered the ‘thing’ that started all this standing right in front of her. Joseph waved silly-like at Cookie with Puddinghead happy to have a new friend.

“Chancellor… Are you sure his… ‘same’ to be with?” asked Cookie, taking cautious glances at Joseph.

“Whaaaa?! Of course he is… kind of… But his fun to hang out with; besides his as afraid as I am when he saw us,” said Puddinghead.

“I am?” said Joseph, confused.

Cookie took a harsh look at Joseph for his response, but sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose with a hoof. Let’s hope the other one isn’t as rowdy as this one.

Present time, Rubert listened into the two voices conversation until he had the strength to open his eyes. While the room was mostly dark, some light spilled from a window with the curtains closed; orange tinge of color spilled across the floor. Joseph raised his upper half of his body until finally leaning against what he assumed to be the bed frame’s backboard. In the room was the silhouette of another bed which looked recently used.

Was someone sleeping in the same room I was in… Joseph?

Closer examination revealed he was in a primitive form of bedroom considering the bedding was filled with straw… and it oddly smells of horse in the room. Rubert also carefully checked himself and found some bandages across his torso, a few wrapped around his arms, and one wrapped carefully around his head.

Well where ever I am, they sure did patched me up… and I have a feeling I got myself injured by Joseph… again. Carefully, Rubert placed both his feet on the ground and the second he made contact, they were cold to the touch. Now that he thinks of it… its really cold… strange. Guessing by the bedding and the fact this room alone feels like a blizzard came through here, I’m guessing these people aren’t that advanced… Sigh; just what did I get myself in now.’

Walking to the door Rubert opens the door to greet his “saviors”, but what he’ll find won’t be his regular crazy antics of his brother… it’ll be far worse. The second the door swung open is when all hell broke loose.

“Oh hey bro! Yeah finally awake, I want you meet my new friends,” said Joseph.

“Friends? What frie-” Rubert stared at the most peculiar site ever; sitting beside his brother was a pony wearing clothes, another pony was busy on a desk going through some paperwork as if it were working… and that’s not the weirdest part. Each pony had a strange unique symbol on their flank and their mane and tail were of bright colors that you wouldn’t find an equine. “Joseph… Why are there a pair of bright horses in clothes with you… and why is that one glaring at me with daggers?”

“Because I ain’t a horse, I’m a pony and I got a name!” said Cookie, getting off her seat. “And I got myself some questions about who you are and what your doing here.”

The second Smart Cookie spoke was the moment Rubert’s eye twitched. In a brilliant play of words, Rubert spoke the first word to best describe his current and rather odd predicament.

“Nope,” said Rubert, simply.

“Nope?” asked everyone.

“Nope means nope. Come on Joseph, we’re outta of here.”

Before Rubert could grab his brother, the pony sitting with him got in between him and his brother. The pony while seemingly harmless gave a serious almost threatening look, that temporarily shocked Rubert and even Cookie. The pony in question, puffed up her chest and spoke in a serious almost politician voice.

“My name is Chancellor Puddinghead; leader of the earth pony tribe and one of Equestria’s leaders. In the name of both my ancestors and this nation, you will not leave this house!” said Puddinghead.

“Now you listen-”

“NO, YOU LISTEN!” shouted Puddinghead.

Rubert stepped back from the sudden ferocity in the pony called Puddinghead’s tone of voice, that it made him quiet, but not afraid. “I don’t know what you two have been through, but Joseph isn’t somepony you can just boss around. Sure he can be of airhead and… destructive sometimes,” said Puddinghead, glancing at a corner of the room that was still smoking. “But so far, this short time with him has been… a really special experience for me. At a young age I had to live in a village under poverty, and this was way before the three tribes started hating each others guts. I became the leader of my ponies because I want to give generations ahead of us something they can look up to… a life of not poverty and depression… and live in peace.”

Rubert folded his arms but knew Puddinghead wasn’t done and let her continue her ranting. “I sacrificed my own happiness and freedom, but sometimes I have fears that one day I’ll make a mistake… a mistake I’ll never be able to take back. I’m always smiling and positive but I do it so everypony has no reason to worry… that everything is all right. Never once in my life… have I ever felt truly happy, that someone like Joseph would simply give up his time while he has friends that need him… That kind of trust in another pony… is something I doubt I can ever have; for I held my tribe together without a single time asking for help. I do have Cookie and I know she does her best to… but that kind of faith Joseph holds in his companions… is something I can never accomplish.”

“To my point, I am saying that Joseph willingly stayed here while holding the risk of possibly causing unwanted attention to himself. By looking at you and him I can tell you weren’t doing things under legal terms.” Rubert felt a drop of sweat slipping off his forehead, not daring to wipe it off. “But… I myself can say or judge what you’ve done… You have your reasons as much as why I allow your brother and you to stay.”

“So your saying you want something from us?” asked Rubert.

“In short… Yep,” said Puddinghead, grinning.

(The rest of the chapter was stopped in mid-production due to lack of creativity and sleep. Please come again later during business hours.)

Guests (Revamped)

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Earlier this morning; Chancellor Puddinghead hops down the recently made road that leads to her home. Following behind her is Smart Cookie, the chancellor’s secretary, who frantically tries to catch up. Far in the distance is Puddinghead’s home and temporary office; the two-story house is simple, made with wooden walls – not painted yet – a straw roof, simple two by two windows and a door. To others it may look like it’s in complete shambles, to Puddinghead… its all she’ll need.

Nearing the home, Puddinghead pushes the door open with a hoof and enters inside, with Cookie close behind. Once inside, Cookie instinctively closely the door with a loud thud, turning to face Puddinghead with a fearful look. “Chancellor… Where-is-the… ‘creature’?” asked Cookie.

Puddinghead, placed a hoof to her mouth to hush Cookie, then pointed above her. “They’re sleeping. I placed them in my guest room; it’s the door on the left in the end of the hall,” whispered Puddinghead.

Puddinghead motioned Cookie to follow, Cookie nodded and went up the stairs with Puddinghead. Upstairs is simple as was the outside; the walls too weren’t painted but a few decorations were placed, some portraits, a wooden stand to hold a pot of flowers, and a statue of an earth pony. Standing outside the door that Puddinghead said her guests were in, she began to ease the door slowly open. Peeking inside, two long figures are laid on the beds that are meant to fit a pony, their appendages stretch out of the beds’ edges, hovering over the air, their strange “claw-like” - hands I believe is what their called – appendages slackened and still.

Closing the door, Cookie stares at Puddinghead with both complete and utter fear, and shock.

“You weren’t joking… You… you actually found a new species…” said Cookie, shocked.

“Told you so,” said Puddinghead, in a sing-song voice.

“Are they… alive?”

“Uh huh; they’re lucky I found them on one of my walks. They were just… there.”

That was when Cookie returned from her inner thoughts and focused her attention toward Puddinghead. “What do you mean, they were just there?” asked Cookie.

Puddinghead instantly stiffened up, and continued to look at the two strange creatures, scratching her chin. “Weeeeellll… I saw them… on one of my walks… in a crater-”

“IN A CRATER!” shouted Cookie, grabbing Puddinghead by the cheeks. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY CRATER?!”

“Shey vhere jush yhere, en da wole.”

“What?”

After letting go of Puddinghead, she took a deep breath and repeated what she said. “They were just there, in the hole. That’s what I said, I couldn’t just leave them-”

“What? No, no no nonononono nooooooo! Its not a bad thing for you to help two defenseless beings… It’s just… You found them in a crater?” asked Cookie.

“Yeah… It was odd, but that’s how I found them. It was as if they fell from the sky,” said Puddinghead, contemplating the idea. “But they didn’t see to be able to fly and a mode of transportation by air is ridiculous; right Smart Cookie… Smart Cookie?”

At that moment, Smart Cookie froze stalk still, beginning to remember something that happened the night before. Flashing lights, falling stars… strange music; it only could mean one thing, nothing else… AT ALL. With every ounce of air she has and her very own voice, she screamed the one word to best describe the current situation.

“ALIENS!”

Cookie’s screaming continue for ten consecutive seconds, her scream echoing within the unfurnished home and all the way outside. Puddinghead covered both her ears with a single hoof, sitting down on her plot to stabilize herself. Unnoticed by either mare, one of the beds’ sheets shifted slightly; the one in the left slowly begun to rise.

After done screaming, Cookie took a few deep hard breaths to get her oxygen capacity to full – probably scream again – when Puddinghead shoved a hoof in her mouth. “Smart Cookie! We have injured here who’re trying to sleep. While I’m impressed how clear your voice is, I don’t believe this to be the best spot to do this. So please… stop-screaming,” said Puddinghead. “Are we clear?”

Smart Cookie nodded twice; Puddinghead’s hoof left her muzzle, the taste of dirt and something sweet leaving her mouth. While the two mares sat on the floor, they heard an audible creaking from behind them. The two slowly turned their heads to find the source of the sound; standing up to the height of two ponies was the most terrifying sight before them. Considering the only source of light coming from the candle set outside the room, they couldn’t see much but were able to a good image of the creature.

It stood on two legs like a minotaur, but straight not slanted like most minotaurs are. Its left hand which was visible in the dim light had five tiny thin – in the minotaur dialect – fingers instead of three like all minotaurs have. While tall for its size, it was surprisingly thin but was able to stand up unfazed by its own weight. However what was truly strange was the lack of a fur, the only spot of there being some on the top of it’s head; its mane being spikey, the pointed tips having a black charcoal color. Strangely though is that the creature smelled of something… it was similar to smoke but… there was a distinct scent.

But out of all of this… what truly terrified the two mares… was that its eyes glowed with strong intensity, as if they were capable two bright torches. The two mares sat stalk still, clutching each other in their grasp, not daring to make a single move… the creature had been staring at them the second they turned around.

It knew they were in the room; it was looking, no, examining them with its piercing look. Smart Cookie could imagine it staring at them with a hunger… for them. The creature reached forward with both it’s lengthy appendages, its two giant – another minotaur word – hands hovering above them. Before the creature could grab their tiny heads… somepony screamed.

Puddinghead was holding a scream inside the whole time but after seeing the creature reaching for them, she couldn’t hold it in. This however created an opening for them; the creature was now holding both its hands against the sides of its head. Not wasting a single second, Smart Cookie grabbed the scruff of her neck and tossed her out of the room, her following behind. Once in the hallway, she slammed the door close, grabbing anything in hooves reach to block the door. Chairs, stools, a pile of boards, and a hammer and nails; she boarded up the door and blocked it with an arrangement of items.

Slowly she trotted away from the room’s entrance as if it were cursed. She kept her gaze on the door, afraid something might happen, but after some quiet seconds of nothing, her body loosened. With the room not having a window, the only way out was through that door; securely blocked by Smart Cookie. Cookie slowly looked at Puddinghead, and the two began to laugh. At first it was quiet when a noise was heard. It started out slow, then it increased in speed and volume… until they heard something.

It was quiet ticking noise, as if a rain droplet was hitting something metallic; the noise continued to get louder and quicker. That was when Smart Cookie looked at Puddinghead, having realized something she forgot to ask before they arrived.

“Chancellor… Did you check their belongings?” asked Cookie.

“Oh… yes… why?”

“It’s just… what did you find?”

“Nothing m-much… I did found some dynami-”

“DYNAMITE! WHERE IS IT!?”

With a single hoof, Puddinghead pointed at the barricaded door. Smart Cookie heart sunk; she turned around, grabbed Puddinghead and ran downstairs. At that exact moment, a large boom was heard and the door, the hall and the wall where the previous existent door was adjacent from were all blown away. Walking out of the still smoking hole was the tall lanky figure, holding two red sticks with white wording. The words are blocked by its hands, but puts the two red sticks inside a pouch strapped to its side.

Twisting its body in an impossible way, the figure walks toward the stairs as it smiles sadistically. The two mares dove straight behind a table that was knocked on its side from the explosion.

“Why did you leave dynamite in the same room they were in?” said Cookie, whispering.

“I was surprised he had dynamite, but I was more surprised they were still alive!” said Puddinghead, whispering back.

“Well now one of them is up, and wants to blow us up to the moon,” responded Cookie. Cookie began to rub both her eyes with each her fore-hooves, tired from all of this. “What are we going to do?”

“Maybe we can talk to it. It could be just as scared of us, as we are of it.”

Cookie gave Puddinghead a cold and annoyed glare, having wished she ended up frozen before than this nonsense. However, before she could say a retort, the table was lifted away with such speed that the two mares took a long second to register what happened. Both of them looked to what moved the table and saw the figure having tossed the table aside as if it were a stick.

Cookie grabbed hold of Puddinghead, wishing comfort before her demise. Cookie continued to mumble random prayers and wishes, when the figure and Puddinghead made eye contact. Now staring at one another, face to face… Puddinghead realized how curious of a look the figure had before they panicked and ran downstairs.

She tilted her head to try something and in doing so, the figure followed. She then lifted her left hoof to the air; the figure doing same with his left hand. Puddinghead tried something more complicated, blinking her left and right eye in a certain code. Just like that, the figure copied it perfectly. Puddinghead slowly moved her hoof forward, and so did the figure; both hand and hoof were about to make contact when a third voice spoke.

“Joseph… What the hell, are you doing?”

Puddinghead stopped her action and swiveled her head to the new voice, when she saw the other figure leaning against the wall with probably the most angriest looks she seen… ever. The other figure was also tall and lanky like his fellow comrade, but his choice of clothing were slightly… different, so too was his hair. While the one with the explosives had hair that made it look like a fuze, the other one’s hair seemed to be similar to fire – to Puddinghead it reminded her of a jester’s hat – of some sort.

Wait… Did it just talk?

Both mares realized that if the other one could talk… that means…

“Ah Rubert, why you’d ruined the fun… I was getting to the good part.”

“For deities sake, you and your sense of sadistic humor… I swear I would kill you for if you weren’t my brother.”

The two figures began talking to one another – well it felt more like arguing – ignoring the gawking stares from both Chancellor Puddinghead and Smart Cookie. Cookie was the first to shake from her stupor and spoke up toward the two figures. “COULD SOMEPONY EXPLAIN WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?” shouted Cookie.

The figure that stood by the wall stared at Cookie, glaring with unbridled rage when it all smothered within a moment’s second. “Joseph, help me here,” said jester-haired figure. The fuze-haired figure moved in a swift motion, slipping his arm under the other figure’s shoulder. The jester-haired figure leaned his weight against the other figure, the two walking as one toward the two mares until both crouched down. They made perfect eye contact with the two mares; each pair of creatures looked at one another until the jester-haired figure spoke up.

“Sorry about my idiotic brother and his crazy personality. The name’s Rubert… Rubert Crane,” said Rubert.

“Oh let me do my introductions too bro!” shouted Joseph, unnecessarily increasing his voice. “Hi, my name is Joseph Crane! I like exploding things!”

Cookie was so flabbergasted that she couldn’t say a single word… Puddinghed however could. “Me too me too! I want to introduce myself tooooo! My name is Puddinghead, but you can just call me Puddin!”

In that single second, all the rage that Rubert tried to hold back was unleashed in a single enraged sentence.

“NOT ANOTHER OOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEE!”

After a few hours of cleaning, and explaining later; Joseph and Rubert sat on two stools adjacent from where Cookie and Puddin sat, where instead of stools they sat on a bench near the front of Puddin’s house. Rubert talked about himself, his brother, their jobs – not the whole story – why and how they came to this… world. Cookie was amazed by the whole story, while it did sound slightly unbelievable but with everything that’s happened, it’s no surprise to her anymore.

Puddin however wasn’t shocked the slightest, keeping a complete straight face from start to end. She would rub her chin and continue to listen, but when Puddin raised her hoof to ask a question, all of that faltered instantly.

“I’m sorry for interrupting… but what’s a vehicle?” asked Puddin

Rubert facepalmed himself while Joseph laughed hysterically, slapping his knee with the palm of his hand. “As I said before; it’s similar to your carriages but has a power source, capable of traveling long distances, depending on the container until it needs another refill,” said Rubert, rubbing his forehead. He then looked at Smart Cookie and spoke to her, annoyed of the whole situation. “Is she always like this?”

“Constantly,” responded Cookie. The two sighed in agreement, while Joseph and Puddin just laughed it off. “Anyway; it’s best that you understand about our… ‘world’.”

Cookie was still suspicious of the idea of other worlds, but it was better theory than saying they’re aliens or mutated minotaurs. The prospect of other worlds is actually not that old, considering Starswirl mentioned of such a theory actually possible, but as to there being a capable way of traveling to other worlds… that is uncertain.

Cookie began the story of how the three pony tribes founded Equestria, the Windigos, the three pony tribes’ leaders – Puddinghead being one of them – the strange lights in the sky, and the present with them meeting the Crane brothers.

From what Cookie could understand, Rubert was something they called a ‘mechanic’; it’s apparently similar to a blacksmith, while Joseph was a master of explosives. The ponies aren’t confused of the idea of dynamite and gunpowder but still have limited knowledge on the method, with the closest thing to explosions is through magic. The Griffin Kingdom and other races however are a slight head start within the technology side of things, meaning their weaponry are more advanced.

With their pasts roles revealed, Smart Cookie could summarize that they belonged to some sort of personal army of sorts; a mercenary group of sorts. Still… if they were mercenaries… where are their other comrades? “You mentioned there being other strange lights? Where did these lights landed?” asked Rubert.

“I’m sorry but… I was half-asleep when it happened. Only Puddin found you two because a pillar of smoke was happening where you two crashed. It’s possible the other tribes may have found your friends,” said Cookie.

Rubert showed a worried expression, his brother oblivious to the obvious problem at hand. Within seconds Rubert stood up and began to walk, stopping to turn his sight toward the two mares.

“I must ask… do you know where we crashed?”

After heading back to said crash, it had cooled down the ground easier to traverse through. The two brothers dug through the dirt with the help of the two mares. Puddin stopped her digging and glanced at Rubert.

“What are we trying to find here?” asked Puddin.

“Anything; when we crashed I noticed some stuff falling with us. Some of it must of crashed with us, sooooo… AHA!” Everyone stopped their digging to look at Rubert. He was holding a strange device, it looked like a sword but was blunt, it looked like a stick but was thicker than a branch. Rubert swing the strange stick, making loud swooshing noise with each movement. He then placed both hands on each end and suddenly it shrunk, putting it inside his vest.

“Bro, you found your baton! I wonder if I could find my grenada?” said Joseph, continuing to dig.

“Let’s hope you don’t… Don’t want another incident,” said Rubert, whispering.

Before Rubert could continue digging, a loud boom echoed behind him. Turning to see what happened, he saw Puddin holding his brother’s grenade launcher. The launcher had a cylinder-reloading system, with a pretty sturdy handle. There were two triggers; one was used to shoot said grenades while the other exploded them manually. Some of his brother’s ammunition was still inside and Puddin accidentally clicked a button with the word “KABOOM!” labeled on it… Luckily it was only filled with smoke bombs.

“CHANCELLOR!” shouted Cookie, running to the explosion. “Are you okay!?”

Puddin coughed a cloud of dust into Cookie’s face, who is now also covered in dust too. “I’m… I’m fine,” said Puddin, her voice raspy.

Joseph extended a hand, and Puddin accepted it kindly. He then lifted her up with strength that’s strange for his lanky figure. He gave Puddin a piggy-back ride, smiling crazily. “Nice boom!”

“Thank you,” said Puddin, smiling back.

Joseph was somewhat acting different than his usual, “Blow up everything in sight” attitude. Rubert and his brother didn’t had a happy childhood… well a happy life is a better way to put it. He quickly shook his past memories away, somewhat glad his brother is busy enjoying life than explosions.

Smart Cookie noticed this and smiled with him; while these two strangers are somewhat… volatile. Their good folk, Cookie could tell but while they didn’t tell a lot of themselves… Did that really matter? All that does is that they may have made some new friends… and possible allies in the future.

Rubert looked up to notice the sun going down earlier than its supposed too, but shook the thought away. “Seems to be getting dark,” said Rubert. “We’ll continue our excavation later.”

“I’ll tell some of the stallions to place some torches here to make sure no wildlife get near this site. While we wait out the night, I’ll cook something for us to eat… By the way… what do you two eat?” asked Cookie, having forgotten to ask that.

Rubert completely forgot that they eat meat and telling that fact would definitely make their new friends, skeptical of them. Thank the deities for Joseph’s sudden interruption.

“I WANT PIE!”

“YEAH! PIE! PIE! PIE! PIE!” shouted Puddinghead, agreeing too.

Both Puddin and Joseph kept chanting the word pie over and over, making their way back to her house. Smart Cookie simply stared but gave up to their antics and followed. “Pie it is...” said Cookie, following.

Rubert watched the trio leave, ready to follow when he stepped on something. A loud clank was heard; looking down he saw a rectangular shape in the ground. No way… that can’t be… Not wasting a single thought, he crouched down and dug the object out. “Well call me a monkey’s uncle.”

Said object was had a metallic pole coming form the top, extendable like Rubert’s baton. It had several buttons and switches, but what truly made the object interesting was the see-through screen on the top. Rubert clicked a button, the hand-held radio coming to life.

If I get this working, I can contact the others… Maybe even the Boss…

Distracted by his find, Cookie shouted back at Rubert, getting his attention. “Hey, you coming!”

Rubert looked up and pocketed the device away, making sure to turn it off to save the energy on it. “Yeah, I’m coming… I’m coming,” said Rubert, his voice going quiet. And then… I’m leaving.

Invaders

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Earlier this morning, Starswirl and the soldiers try their best to subdue the Timberwolves and save the strange creatures. Without anyway of attracting or neutralizing the Timberwolves, leaving them with only one option. Each of the soldiers held a torch with their magic or in their mouth, slowing surrounding the Timberwolves in a circle of flames.

“Keep them surrounded, don’t leave a single gap for them to leave through!” shouted Coin, levitating a torch for himself.

The soldiers continued their march, the space became smaller and smaller for the Timberwolves. With the strange creature, smashing the Timberwolves to pieces and the wall of fire slowly engulfing them, there was nowhere for them to go… unless they had backup. Coming out of the bushes was another pack of Timberwolves, charging toward some of the soldiers and Starswirl. In an instant, Starswirl placed a magical barrier to protect himself and the other soldiers nearest to him, “We need help here Captain!” shouted Starswirl.

The captain stared at a few of his fellow soldiers and nodded toward them. “You three, with me; the rest, tighten that formation!” shouted Coin.

The captain threw his torch at one Timberwolf, the torch bouncing off its sturdy bark skin. He and the other soldiers pulled out their swords, while not sharp enough to cut, but heavy enough to bash and smash their wooden forms.

A small skirmish between the second Timberwolf pact and some of Coin’s soldiers began to happen, with Starswirl supporting them with spell after spell. Up in the sky, watching the whole situation was Celestia and Luna. Originally, Celestia planned to move the sun to blind the Timberwolves… except with them having no actual eyes, it was impossible to blind them. Changing plans, Celestia twirled the knife with her magic, swishing it back and forth while Lune watched with the binoculars.

“Now what Tia? We can’t use the sun, we can’t use any magic, and we can’t fly down their and help!” said Luna, letting go of the binoculars as it dangled on her neck.

“Let me think… Maybe if we-”

“NO! No more of your impossible ideas! The only reason I came here was to find out about these aliens. I am not going down there so I can become Timberwolf chowder; especially if Starswirl finds out I’m out here! I’m leaving, and you can’t stop me,” said Luna, readying to fly away.

“Luna! Wait!” shouted Celestia.

Celestia tackled her sister, holding her down on the cloud they were standing together… until Celestia lost focus and dropped the knife she was holding with her magic. The knife began to fall down toward the strange creature, making a quiet but slowly increasing whizzing noise. The two sisters stared at the dropped knife, then began to stare at one another.

“Uh oh.”

Meanwhile on the ground, the strange creature smashed the muzzle of a Timberwolf that tried to flank behind him, causing some of its teeth to fly off. It stood with both fists raised, and watching from every angle, focusing on his own battle. As one of the Timberwolves were ready to pounce, the audible noise of something falling from the sky was heard. The Timberwolves looked up to notice a knife falling, the glint it’s giving off from the sun. The smaller figure that was unconscious began to stir, suddenly it stood upright, jumped on the big figure and using its own momentum to flung itself up. Reaching high in the air, it grasped the knife and landed with a loud thud.

The small figure twirled the knife with it’s small digits, examining the aged weapon with an insane smile. With a new fire within its eyes, it charged one of the Timberwolves; the Timberwolf charged forward but didn’t expect what would happen next. In mere moments, the small but nimble figure curled itself around the Timberwolf, ending up behind it with its knife pointed upwards. Before the Timberwolf could react, its wooden body began to crumble and began to split up into tiny wooden pieces, leaving behind a pile of timber and sticks. The Timberwolves began to slowly walk away from the small figure, until it screamed – loudly – with unbridled ferocity.

The scream was so sudden, all the soldiers and other pact noticed what was happening. Instantly all the Timberwolves began to run; the small figure began chasing them, slicing apart those that weren’t quick enough. It laughed sadistically, cutting them apart with such ease, it frightened the soldiers.

“I’LL CUT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU WOODEN FUCKERS! COME HERE SO I CAN TURN YOU INTO TOOTHPICKS!”

The threat was so effective that all the Timberwolves whimpered and ran with their tails between their legs – literally. The soldiers and Captain Coin Flip stood ramrod stil with such shock, that they didn’t dare move until the small figure turned to look at them. All the soldiers flinched back, but after it took two steps forward… it fainted.

Before the small figure could fall face first to the ground, its larger companion grabbed and heaved it up and slung it over its shoulder. The large tall figure stared at all the soldiers, tilting its head to the side as it stared at everypony.

Fascinating, seems they can speak… the question is if they can understand us or not. Starswirl stepped forward as he told the soldiers to stand down and let him speak with the massive giant creature. “Excuse me, we mean you no harm. My name is Starswirl the Bearded; we wish to help you and your… spontaneous companion… Do you understand me?” asked Starswirl.

The creature tilted it’s head the other way… until it uttered one word.

“Boho,” said Tim, responding.

Everypony – even the two sisters who watched above – stared dumbfounded at the short response, that one pony coughed awkwardly about the situation. It was until Starswirl sighed, rubbing his forehead. “This is going to be more difficult than I thought. Do-you-under-stand-us?”

“Sir, I’m not sure it can communicate with us. I have never heard of a creature making that sound before, or even communicating that way either.”

“Nonsense Captain Coin Flip! Every being that walks this world has a different way of communication; if this is this creature’s way of talking, then I’ll translate it until I create a potion for immortality so I can continue translating!”

Tim realized that the colorful ponies can’t understand him (yes, he can understand them; his not stupid). Instead of saying his signature line, he instead uses body language, like shaking his head up and down or side to side, another method is using his hand to show gestures that they may understand. Doing this intrigues Starswirl and he nods in return.

“It seems our friend can indeed understand us, seems that was his way of talking. Well everypony isn’t born the same I suppose; well Captain, let’s help our new guests back to the castle. Also make your soldiers to search the area for anything ‘interesting’, if it relates to these two, it may help us to better understand them,” said Starswirl.

“Of course sir… but what about his other friend? He seemed… violent,” said Coin, staring at the unconscious small figure.

“Indeed, we can’t let him roam free after that fiasco; let me ask our new friend if it’s alright for him that we put his ally in the dungeons until he calms down,” said Starswirl, turning to face Tim. “Excuse me… I don’t know your name, but is it alright we place your friend in our dungeons. He didn’t do anything wrong but, I believe it is best he stays there until his calmed down from… his episode.”

Tim glanced at Mathree, rubbing his mustache in thought, until nodding in agreement. Everypony sighed, happy that the giant figure was complying with them. Tim lifted Mathree up, his unconscious body dangling above a pair of earth ponies. After laying him down on a stretcher, they carry Mathree ahead toward the castle within the Everfree Forest. All the soldiers return back to the castle but Starswirl turns to Tim and asks him one final question.

“Sorry for stopping, but may I ask your name… if you can say it of course.”

Tim rubbed his mustache, but began to write it on the ground; written in large letters – considering Tim’s fingers are big – is his name.

“T-I-M… Tim… interesting name, haven’t heard anypony or anybody called Tim before. Well, it’s a pleasure meeting you Tim, I hope you can stay with us until we’re ready to show you to the other pony tribes’ leaders,” said Starswirl, grinning.

Tim grinned back – well his mustache curled up, and his mouth was still straight, only curling up the tiniest bit. Back in the sky, Celestia and Luna already went ahead after hearing Mathree being placed in the castle’s dungeons.

“Tia! Where are we going now!?” shouted Luna, catching up with her sister.

“Where else, we’ll head back to the castle and see this alien-thing in the dungeons!” shouted Celestia, beaming with curiosity.

“WHAT!” Luna was gawking, her mouth agape as she stared at her sister impossibly, afraid of what the smaller alien was capable of doing, considering what it did to the Timberwolves.

Some hours later, Mathree awakens; the air smells of something foul – something rotting? Everything is cold as if he were laying on stone, wait, scratch that, it feels like he’s on something itchy.

Is that… wheat? Mathree’s eyes opened instantly; he stood tall and began to examine his surroundings. Yep, I’m in a jail cell… fuck.

Elsewhere, within the castle, Celestia and Luna entered the castle through Celestia’s room, nopony noticing them being gone. Once both sisters are inside, they hear a knocking on the door; Celestia and Luna look at one another, until Celestia shouts.

“Who’s there!?”

“It’s me, Starswirl! I’m back from our little alien searching, and you’ll never guess what I found my student!” shouted Starswirl, excited.

Since Celestia and Luna saw Tim already, their looks of shock weren’t there – well they were but for a different reason – if Starswirl found out they were outside the castle… they wished they were locked in the dungeons.

Both sisters looked at one another, putting their thoughts through their expressions. Now what Tia?

Let me handle this.

Celestia then opened the door to see Starswirl, and standing beside him was the tall giant creature known as Tim. “Oh Luna, you’re here too. Well I guess this makes things easier. Girls I like to introduce to you our guest, Tim,” said Starswirl, pointing his hoof at the giant being.

Tim waved his massive hand toward the two young alicorns, giving a pleasant expression toward the two. Both sisters while not shocked were disturbed by Tim’s friendly look while his appearance was the complete opposite. Luckily this was enough to convince Starswirl that the sisters felt unnerved by Tim.

“Now now, I know he looks… ‘odd’, but he and his companion are both good…” said Starswirl, looking at Tim. “…I’m sorry but what are you again, I believe you never told me?”

Tim rubbed his chin in thought when he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen – which wasn’t invented in Equestria yet which raised some brows – and wrote down a single word. As he showed the piece of paper, it had the word “HUMAN” written on it in capital letters.

Starswirl turned to the two sisters and spoke the word that Tim wrote. “He is a human… Whatever that is.”

Both Celestia and Luna looked again at Tim until Celestia went to look at Starswirl. “So… is there something you want Luna and I to do, Starswirl?”

“Oh not Luna, but I do want you Celestia to show Tim here around the castle. Just make sure he isn’t brought outside beyond the castle’s limits and tell any of the solders or others that didn’t see him yet that his a guest here and any harm to him means they have to talk straight to me. Maybe you can take him to the gardens; I need to prepare to talk to Tim’s other companion and his… strange but effective fighting tactics.”

Starswirl whispered something as he stared at the ground, but only Luna was able to hear it since she had better hearing than her sister. “I have never seen anypony or anybody alive to fight that… viciously before.”

“You said something Starswirl,” asked Celestia.

“Nothing nothing. Well I must take my leave; Celestia please take Tim around a tour, and Luna you can go with your sister if you wish but if not then you can continue your studies.”

“WHAT!?” shouted Luna, upset by the suggestion.

“Now don’t give me that attitude young lady. I’m not allowing you to wander the castle, especially when we’re in a middle of one of this continent’s greatest discoveries since I found you two!” said Starswirl. “Now I must go, but don’t cause any trouble… and I mean it this time.”

Starswirl left the two sisters with their new arrival as he took and turn. Once he left out of sight and hopefully hearing range, Celestia turned to Luna but looked back at Tim. “Um excuse us Sir Tim, I just need to talk to my baby sister here for a second,” said Celestia as the two returned to Celestia’s room.

As Celestia closed the door behind her, she turned to Luna and spoke out her thoughts. “He’s way more intimidating up close than down below,” said Celestia, letting out a breath she must have been holding in.

“Well lucky you...” said Luna, grumbling.

Celestia noticed this and sighed and placed a hoof on her sister. “Now Lulu, I don’t know why you’re being upset about this. You are the lucky one here,” said Celestia.

Luna looked up at her sister and frowned. “And how am I lucky here, Tia? You get to do nothing but show that ‘homin’ around the castle,” said Luna, trying her best to say human. “While I’m stuck either watching or doing my studies.”

Celestia thought of this and began tapping the ground. “True, true… but that means Starswirl will be too busy to keep an eye on either of us… Especially you,” said Celestia, grinning mischievously.

Luna tilted her head and confused but instantly caught up to her sister’s idea. “Which means I can go to the dungeons to see that Tim fellow’s companion, while you spend time with him!”

“And with each of us both seeing these strange human creatures, we can tell of our experiences once the day is over; it’s a win-win scenario,” said Celestia, finishing the rest of Luna’s thought.

“BRILLIANT SISTER!” shouted Luna, but closed her muzzle.

Celestia turned back to the door but heard no noise from the other side; both sisters sighed but looked at one another and giggled.

“Well I hope you find a way to sneak to the dungeons.”

“Don’t worry, I’m a master of the shadows,” said Luna, raising her wing as if it were a cloak, blocking her lower half of her head, showing her eyes only. “It’s never impossible for me to enter any room; besides, I been to the dungeons before and know a few hidden holes I can crawl through.”

“Well try, not to get stuck,” said Celestia, teasingly.

“Says the mare who eats five cakes everyday.”

“I eat four everyday, not five!”

“And how’s that suppose to help your argument,” said Luna, grinning.

Celestia rolled her eyes and followed her sister as they left the room; once outside they saw Tim haven’t moved an inch, busily looking around – except his eyes weren’t visible and only his bushy mustache and thin but somewhat bushy eyebrows were only seen. Celestia coughed catching Tim’s attention as he lowered his body until his head was before the white mare’s eyesight; this caught Celestia off-guard as she backed up a little but shook her sudden anxiety away. Calm down Celestia, his just some tall, furless, looking-minotaur. You saw minotaurs before… well… in books… but his nothing different from the many creatures within this forest; you seen worse. Celestia looked up again, but gulped when she was unable to see Tim’s eyes, even when they were this close. By the ancients, his more terrifying than I thought.

Celestia was shaken out of her thoughts when Luna literally shook her a little. “Well you better get to showing Sir Tim around, I’ll go and do my ‘studies’,” sad Luna, winking when she said studies.

Celestia got the gesture and took Tim by the hand, placing her hoof in his palm but let go when she felt him. “My Sir Tim, you’re warmer than I thought, right Luna?” When Celestia turned to face her sister, she was gone, already heading to the dungeons.

“Seems she’s off already.”

When Celestia went to look up, she saw Tim having the same simple but creepy expression. His mustache and eyebrows were straight with only his mustache slightly curling by the ends. His body was slackened and relaxed but it was hard to tell by the numerous bulging muscles surrounding his bare-naked chest. He wore brown pants with straps over and around his shoulders, and wore a belt with a particular symbol. It showed a silver gear with jaded skull; the skull was dirty and showed tiny scratches showing how old and possibly ancient it was. He wore boots but were shoes for his size that were enough to crush a small rock. Something was bulging out of his pockets but Celestia saw something glinting from the little sunlight inside the hall.

“Well Sir Tim, I believe we should begin our tour; please follow me and I’ll lead you to the main hall,” said Celestia.

Instead of talking Tim nodded, which was a bit interesting but Celestia continued to walk forward. I guess his the silent-type, maybe his shy or he might have trouble speaking. It doesn’t seem his badly injured…

As the two left, Luna popped her head at the end of the hall’s corner. “Good luck Tia,” said Luna, whispering. “Now, let’s see about this other companion that Starswirl mentioned.”

Luna ran off, heading to the dungeons but first needing to take a quick detour to one of the hidden spots she mentioned to get in the dungeon.

Elsewhere, Mathree lazily splayed his body on the ground, staring at the ceiling until he heard the sound of hooves hitting the cold stone ground. The sound was multiplied by the empty long hallways, and sounded that there were more than just one set of hooves. Two… three… five… no, seven; yep seven set of hooves. Seven hooved creatures, which either means they’re a bunch of idiotic warrior beasts, or those are this world’s version of guard-dogs. Either way, without my bitching knife I can’t do nothin in this stupid cell of a shitting dungeon. Also…

“WHY THE FUCK IS THERE A TRAY OF HAY!” screamed Mathree, kicking said tray. The first thing that Mathree saw that was supposedly his food was a tray, but instead of bread or even a glass of water was hay… hay as in for horses, bloody horses.

The sudden outburst caused the set of hooves to stop, confirming Mathree’s suspicions. Their not idiots and if they were guard-dogs they should be growling… so their intelligent then.

Coming into view of his cell were five armored pony-like creatures, there was a sixth armored pony but it didn’t wear a helmet and seemed to have a sense of authority. He must be in charge of these buggers. The final and seventh pony was wearing a wizard’s get-up and had bells strung on it’s hat, which was odd, even for Mathree. And they can use magic… grrreeeaaat.

The first of the pony-creatures to speak was the authoritative-looking soldier, looking at the wizard pony. “How come this one can speak Starswirl?”

Mathree looked at the bearded wizard pony called Starswirl; Starswirl caught this and instead of answering the other pony’s question, moved forward but far enough to not be grabbed by their occupant. “So you can speak, but not your companion,” said Starswirl.

The second Starswirl mentioned his companion, Mathree lunged forward slamming his whole body to the cell bars, gripping them violently. “WHERE’S FUCKING TIM!? IF YOU DID ANYTHING TO HIM, I’LL GUT THE LOT OF YOU INTO THIN NEAT PIECES OF MEAT!” shouted Mathree, glaring viciously.

All the soldiers stepped back except for the lead soldier, and Starswirl. “Very talkative, isn’t he Captain Coin,” said Starswirl, still looking at Mathree.

“OY! ANSWER MY QUESTION AND QUIT IGNORING ME YOU BLOODY GOAT!”

Starswirl sighed and decided to answer the caged human’s questions. “If you’re wondering about your friend, his fine. We found the two of you being attacked by wooden wolf-like creatures that we call Timberwolves. You woke up when a knife fell from the sky; you tore apart all of the Timberwolves while we watched your carnage. While both you and your companion can handle yourselves in a tight situation, it seems you’re the wild-card out of the two. Your friend, Tim I believe is his name isn’t harmed other than some few scratches from the Timberwolves, we welcomed him with open hooves… actually his being led through a tour by one of my students. She’s fair and trustworthy for her age, though she’s considered a child by our standards, she’ll lead your friend around and show him around the castle grounds. Now with that done, I like you to answer my questions… Who are you, and what are you doing here?”

Mathree didn’t interrupt Starswirl not once, but when he started asking questions is when Mathree smirked, which caused everypony to give a confused look. “So that’s how its going to be, huh. You show my friend Tim how friendly you horses are, while you torture and beat the stuffing out of me in secrecy… is that it.”

“Ponies.”

“What?” asked Mathree, staring at Captain Coin who spoke.

“We’re called ponies, not horses; a lot of the many different nations confuse us for our distant cousins.”

Mathree glared at the captain before shrugging. “Ponies, shmonies; don’t matter to me...”

The captain gritted his teeth but was stopped by Starswirl, who shook his head, dismissing the idea and whispering. “Don’t do anything you may regret. He may have had a weapon when taking out those Timberwolves, but he may still have a few cards up his sleeve,” said Starswirl, giving a firm look at Coin Flip.

Coin looked at Mathree, before nodding as he steped back to continue watching the questioning to continue. Starswirl sighed and looked at Mathree to state a few things before continuing. “We’re not doing any of what you said; we’re simply curious and being cautious considering after you annihilated the Timberwolves, you looked at us as if we were your next target before collapsing from exhaustion.”

Mathree was about to retort but stopped and scratched his head. “Huh… you got a good point; I was ready to shank the living daylights out of anything in my sights,” said Mathree, agreeing. “K then; I’ll answer your questions… but make it snappy!”

Starswirl smiled and began to question Mathree, sitting down as he was not bothered by the cold stone floor. “As I asked before, who are you and what are you doing here?”

Mathree spoke, leaning against the far wall facing Starswirl and his group; he looked up to search through his thoughts before coming with a response. “Maxwell Arvion III is my full name, but just call me Mathree. Also I don’t know why I’m here, all I remember was that my mates and I were engulfed in a white explosion before finding myself falling down like a bunch of flightless birdies; trust me it sounds unbelievable but it’s the honest truth,” said Mathree, waving his hands in defense.

Starswirl looked at Mathree and his somewhat dirtied and roughed up appearance. If he was in a middle of a fight then that would explain his appearance. He also mentioned that it wasn’t just him and Tim, which means there are others like him; I should ask how many next. “I see, and from how we found you you were definitely in a middle of some sort of fight before you met the Timberwolves. By the way, you mentioned others were with you… Do you have other allies than just Tim?”

Mathree thought of the idea whether to tell the full truth or not. I could just lie to these buggers… Mathree looked up at the group of ponies and remembered they treated Tim properly with respect and not putting him in a cage. But they did give Tim the red carpet… I guess since I gone this far, telling them about our little gang wouldn’t be trouble; just need to not mention the unpleasant parts though.

“Well there are a couple of us; you see we’re what you call… ‘helpers’ back from where we came from. At least nine of us including myself and Tim were falling when we all scattered apart. I don’t know where they are now, but their probably still live and kickin! I knew them maniacs since day one, and we’ve been working together ever since,” said Mathree, reminiscing the memories he had with his group.

“Helpers? What you mean by that?” asked Starswirl.

“Well we did some odd-jobs, favors you could say; sometimes we did our own missions that would benefit our group,” said Mathree, responding nonchalantly.

Starswirl thought of this, thinking through what Mathree told him so far. So their mercenaries or something close to that. That would explain their hardened forms, especially the strange fighting tactics we seen. They may have come from somewhere far away; maybe somewhere around the minotaur lands or beyond. That leaves one final question…

“This… ‘white explosion’ you mentioned… What caused it?”

That was when Mathree stood still, staring at Starswirl but turned to face away from him, not daring to look back. “Can’t say,” said Mathree.

“Why can’t you?”

“I just can’t.”

“Are you hiding something, because if we want to continue to work together we-”

“Who said we were working together? I don’t remember making no contract with your sorry arse.”

“NOW YOU LISTEN HERE!” shouted Coin, trotting past Starswirl. “We’ve been patient with you and your attitude, but if you’re hiding something, especially something that may be a threat to this nation! I won’t stand by and let this stupidity to continue!”

Coin Flip breathed in deep and snorted out a stream of steam from his nostrils. Mathree continued to stare while everypony gawked at their captain’s sudden outburst. Mathree stood up and walked toward the cage’s bars and while he was smaller, that all changed when they saw it. It lasted for a few minutes but it was intense from seeing it and feeling it; surrounding Mathree was a sort of energy or cloak of some sort that looked ethereal. The color was what got everypony to be shocked, it was sick-looking green bringing nothing put pain and suffering to those who dare to cross Mathree.

“If I were to tell you just what caused the explosion… I’d had to kill, no… Wipe out your whole bloodline until your very existence is nothing… Now then; do you have a question or do I need to break these bars and come for your smug ass,” said Mathree. The strange ethereal surrounding him began to wildly lash out around the cell, causing small markings to spread out with Mathree being in the center.

Before anypony could say anything Starswirl stood on all fours and glared at Coin Flip. “COIN FLIP! I THOUGHT WE SAID YOU’D CONTROL THAT TEMPER OF YOURS! DO I NEED TO CALL THE HEAD-MAID TO REMIND YOU ABOUT USING YOUR INSIDE VOICE INSIDE THIS CASTLE!?” shouted Starswirl, staring at Coin threateningly.

Suddenly, Coin’s glaring stopped and he gulped, not wanting to be told and reprimanded by the old mare, who’s bite is worse than her bark. “N-n-no, Sir… I’ll remember to keep my calm,” said Coin, staring downwards.

At the same time Mathree’s sudden change ended as he stared at Coin… and began to laugh. Everypony was spooked by the sudden change, but stared at the giggling mess that was Mathree. “Mate! I was just pulling your leg!” said Mathree, slamming his face on the ground, repeatedly.

Coin Flip stared baffled, but sighed and chuckled to his own actions. “I see… I guess you Sir Mathree and I are going to be alright after all. I’m sorry for any foul tidings between us,” said Coin.

“Nay it’s all good; by the way, just call me Mathree. Sir sounds too… serious,” said Mathree, smiling. “Also can I eat something else then hay? I’m not going to eat something that doesn’t look edible.”

“Again, sorry about that. Before you woke up, we placed that there but forgot you weren’t a pony,” said Starswirl. “What exactly do you and Tim eat?”

“Meat.”

Everypony was taken back the sudden response, that a few of the soldiers began checking their ears while Starswirl coughed and asked again. “Pardon… did you say-”

“Meat, I said meat. Me and Tim eat meat; the rest of my gang eat meat...”

With this new information, all the ponies stared bug-eyed at Mathree, considering whether to run screaming or puke here and there… until Mathree spoke again.

“Though we do eat something called pizza,” said Mathree, tapping his chin.

All the ponies sighed knowing they didn’t let two carnivores into their home… but raised their heads and gave Mathree an inquisitive look. “Um, question… What’s pizza?” said one of the soldiers.

Everypony looked at Mathree while the small figure thought of this and spoke about the food called “pizza”. “Well it can have many different toppings on it like fish, vegetables like pineapples, mushrooms, and more; you can also add meat,” said Mathree, causing everypony to flinch. “But the main three ingredients that are important for pizza are bread, cheese, and tomatoes.”

“This pizza sounds edible and considering the other ingredients aren’t required, I guess we ponies can eat it too. Though we need to know how to make such a delicacy; do you know how to make pizza?” asked Starswirl.

“Naw sadly…” said Mathree. The sound of disappointed whinnies from hearing the delicious sounding food never being made was heard, but Mathree scratched his head and completely forgot of who can make pizza… almost forgot. “Actually… there is one… You said Tim’s here right?”

Meanwhile at the castle’s gardens, some soldiers and maids who were busy wandering or doing their tasks within the castle saw the strangest duo ever. Moving down a pathway through the garden was Celestia, and Tim; well Tim was walking but Celestia had to speed-trot in order to keep pace with the giant human.

“So this is the castle’s gardens; we grow some herbs here to make potions and make some ingredients for the chefs to make food. Speaking of food, it’s almost dinner,” said Celestia. Celestia had to look up, her neck craned upward to look at Tim. While this caused her neck to hurt, it was the only way to properly speak to him.

Tim – who was still quiet – nodded and followed Celestia. The two made it through the gardens heading to the castle’s cafeteria until they were stopped by a pair of soldiers; the two soldiers was a mare pegasus and an earth-pony stallion. Both soldiers glared at Tim – the mare giving a curious look while the stallion giving a suspicious one – Celestia spoke to catch both soldiers attention.

“Excuse me, my companion and I are heading to the cafeteria to eat. He and I haven’t eaten yet so would you mind we continue to our destination, please,” said Celestia, smiling.

“I don’t think so princess,” said the stallion. While Celestia and Luna gave off vibes of being royalty, they were just two special mares, and that was it. The two sisters were sometimes bullied by some of the staff for their strangeness, but Celestia was the one to always take the brunt of it. Luna was ignorant of such things either because most of her daily activities were during the night and most of the staff are asleep leaving only the night-time shift soldiers and sometimes Starswirl and Celestia herself.

“What my fellow and rude friend here means is, who’s this and why is he here?” said the mare, returning to the same look every soldier had.

“He’s a guest of Starswirl’s and he said that if anypony were to harm him and his companion, they had to speak directly to Starswirl about it,” said Celestia, speaking with utmost authority.

“Yeah right girly,” said the stallion. “I don’t know what kind of freak you brought with you, but he better go back to whatever dark cave he came from. He looks like some kind of hairless minotaur!” The stallion began to laugh, Celestia glaring angrily at the attitude this pony was giving to her guest and herself too.

The mare who was with him began to shush him, but he shrugged and spoke again. “Oh come on; the bloody thing isn’t reacting one bit, it’s probably as dumb as a minotaur too!”

“THAT’S NO WAY TO SPEAK TO HIM!” shouted Celestia, stepping forward.

The stallion glared down at Celestia, the sudden glare making her shrink down. The stallion began to talk in quiet tone but showed all the fury he was holding back.

“You listen you little brat. The only reason we soldiers and the other staff are being tolerant of you is because of Starswirl. Everypony here knows him and he trusts us, and the we’re doing this because of him… not some pair of freaks with horns and wings. To be honest, beside this thing here, you and your sister are the real freaks. You piece of-”

Before the guard could continue his rant, he felt something grab him from the scruff of his neck. What happened next was that he found himself kissing the muzzle of a statue, before said statue shattered into dust, leaving a frazzled and dizzy stallion splayed on the podium. Everypony who watching the rant happened stared bug-eyed at the sudden motion of one of their own being tossed like a pebble. The one who tossed the stallion was Tim, who while his expression was still the same had steam coming out of his body, showing how angry he really was. It was so fast and quick, no sound came from the giant human until he stared down at the other mare. The mare was sweating bullets and slowly trotted to her fallen ally.

“I’ll g-g-go and c-c-ch-check if he’s o-ok-okay,” said the mare, dashing off.

Tim watched the mare go to the stallion until he returned to his original pose and looked down. Staring back up at him was a teary-eyed Celestia; her face was stained with her own tears making her fur slightly darker. She tried to wipe the tears way, but suddenly froze when Tim pulled something from one of his pockets. It was a handkerchief and he began to wipe her face and gave it to her to sneeze into.

Celestia looked at the handkerchief and used her magic and blew on it. She returned to Tim as he pocketed back to the pocket he got it from. “T-T-Thank you… but you didn’t need to do that,” said Celestia, kicking the ground.

Tim was still silent; Celestia wasn’t bothered by his silence and it sort of calmed her down. Since she and her sister were the only young ponies in the castle, hearing the voice of somepony older then them wasn’t helping anymore, but the silence was calming her in a way that she liked.

Suddenly Tim took a few steps forward but stopped to swivel his head and point with his thumb to where he assumed where the cafeteria was. Celestia sighed and followed, showing him where to go. “It’s this way… Oh… and, while you aren’t talking to me, you can call me Tia,” said Celestia, smiling.

The two headed inside the cafeteria which was somewhat empty with a few soldiers and maids eating together. Celestia and Tim sat in one corner at the almost empty cafeteria which was where her and Luna eat. They were about to head to the kitchen when another soldier stopped them, but this soldier was sweating apparently running, and seemed not to be the kind to insult Celestia or Tim.

“You’re… Tim… Vlion… correct?” asked the soldier.

Celestia recognized the soldier saying Tim’s name, but when she heard the third word she looked up at Tim with a curious look. “Your full name is Tim Vlion? Sounds like Tiny Violin,” said Celestia. Celestia realize her unexpected joke and began to giggle but stopped and looked back at Tim with a sorry look.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to insult your name; especially what you done for me! It was funny and-”

Celestia was stopped mid-sentence as she felt Tim’s large – and warm – hand scratching her head. The strange feeling was so comfortable Celestia started making quiet pleased whinnies but stopped and removed her head from his touch. She looked at the nearby soldier who stared by the strange sounds coming from Celestia but blushed and looked away.

She looked up at Tim and while as always his expression hasn’t changed, he seemed very pleased with the joke. “Oh! So you like jokes too! I guess I’m not the only one then; heard of the pony who crossed the trail?”

“Sorry to interrupt you, but I need to tell Sir Vlion about some news from his companion.” This stopped Celestia and she looked at the soldier with new curiosity. “He told me to tell you, ‘It’s baking time.’”

This raised a brow as Celestia was confused by the strange line, but heard Tim making some sounds. Tim was rubbing his hands together – also it seems his mustache may have curled upward slightly. It was then that Tim finally spoke and Celestia found what he said somewhat silly but befitting the giant.

“Bo-ho.”

Tim looked at Celestia and make some gestures of a pot and throwing items into said pot. Celestia understood that Tim needed to cook something for him and his friend to eat. “I understand; I’ll ask the chefs if they can let you use some of their ingredients and utensils to make some food for you two. They’ll anypony use the kitchens if they have acceptable cooking skills or some new recipe to make,” said Celestia.

Tim nodded, and pointed one muscled finger toward the kitchen and spoke out loudly. “BOHO!” shouted Tim, charging forward.

“Huh! Wait for me!” shouted Celestia, following behind.

The soldier and everypony else who was in the cafeteria stared at the strange duo before going back to their previous activities. The soldier returned to dungeons to relay that Tim received the message.

Back at the dungeons, Starswirl and his entourage had left, leaving Mathree to rest. Sneaking inside the dungeon through a hole in one of the nearby cells close to Mathree’s was Luna. She tucked her wings in and made an audible pop as she got out of the hole, letting the trapped air moving through the hole once more. The sound woke up Mathree as he scanned where the sound came from… until he saw eye to eye with Luna who was sitting inside the other cell. Both Mathree and Luna began staring at one another, until they both tilted their heads and uttered a single sentence.

“What the heck are you?” said both Luna and Mathree.

“That’s my line!” said Mathree.

“No its mine!” said Luna, retorting back.

“No mine!”

“Mine!”

“MINE!”

The two began to argue until Luna’s horn began to glow and she teleported inside Mathree’s cell without thinking. “ITS MY LINE!”

This spooked Mathree, but he grinned viciously. Luna was confused but when she looked around her, she realized her mistake; with an audible gulp, she began to crawl backwards until she was leaning against the cell’s bars. “Opps.”

“Opps indeed,” said Mathree, smiling.

Luna was freaked out by Mathree’s creepy look and vicious smile, she began to cower and cover both her ears and close her eyes shut. Tia, please… Help me. Luna was expecting anything and when she felt something touching her, she screamed but was shut instantly as Mathree shoved his hand inside her mouth.

“Quit your screaming,” said Mathree, through gritted teeth. Mathree began to move his fingers through Luna’s surprisingly silky-like mane and touching her cheeks. They were soft and squishy… Mathree had an idea; he began to pinch and rub her cheeks when a grandmother would do to their grandchildren. This caused Luna to fuzz over the sudden contact as she began slapping her hooves around until they made contact with Mathree’s face.

The loud audible sound of good buck-slap by a pony with a horn and wings was not the first thing he expected to happen to Mathree when he arrived to this strange world. Luna gasped covering her mouth with her hooves, staring at the red mark on Mathree’s face. Mathree looked at Luna, glaring at her with strong intent… until he responded with a good quick slap back.

The hit was powerful… but for Luna it felt like a filly hit her. She stared back with the same intent on Mathree… and slapped back.

Mathree in returned slapped again, and so did Luna.

The two looked at the other, challenging them… afterwords a full on slap battle was waged. Both alicorn and human began slapping each other to see who would win the sudden competition. The sounds of cheeks being hit with hoof and palm were heard; it would be remembered for all centuries… that was unless somebody from another world had a camera, and was recording said event right now.

Back above ground, Starswirl walked down with Captain Coin Flip when the two heard some commotion coming from the castle kitchen; there was laughter and talking, which was louder then the usual banter that happens at the cafeteria. When the two went to investigate, they found everypony who was off duty enjoying some strange triangular delicacies with cheese and tomato sauce oozing off.

“What’s the meaning of this?!” said Coin, getting everypony’s attention.

All the soldiers under Coin’s command stopped their foolery and saluted while all the maids bowed down to Starswirl and the captain. It was when one of the soldiers approached the two, levitating two slices of the strange food toward the two.

“Captain, Sir Starswirl; these are the so called ‘pizzas’ that Sir Mathree had mentioned his comrade, Sir Vlion could make. Please, you must try these delicacies!” The soldier levitated the two slices until both stallions took them in their own magical grip.

Looking at one another, they took a bite synchronously. Their eyes bulged out and they began to stuff the pieces in their mouths so quickly, nothing remained but breadcrumbs on their muzzles.

“THIS IS DELICIOUS!” shouted Starswirl.

“I been to places far and wide for my kind of service, visiting different villages and their different culinary arts… but this… is HEAVENLY!” said Coin, licking his muzzle clean. “Are there more of these, pizzas?”

“Sadly no sir; the pizzas were so delicious we asked for seconds, then thirds, then fourths, and then we ran out of wheat and cheese. We may need to order more from the nearby settlement being handled by Miss Puddinghead. However, Sir Vlion is helping to cook some food with the chefs, and wants to hand down his skills to make pizzas and the many toppings to add on top.”

“Well I’ll send a message through one of the trained hawks and sent one to her secretary, Smart Cookie. She’ll bring more ingredients… speaking of which, are Tim and Celestia still in the kitchen, I like to speak to them,” said Starswirl.

“Let me go check sir,” said the soldier. As the soldier left to check the kitchen, Coin spoke to Starswirl alone.

“Sir… while Sir Vlion and Mathree are indeed strange beings… They been helpful so far, and haven’t cause much trouble to us… However...”

“However what captain?” asked Starswirl.

“Well… it’s about what the other pony leaders will think. Princess Platinum while is known to be a rude, prissy young girl is wiser than she looks. I known for a long time and she may react negatively to these new… ‘guests’.”

Starswirl looked at Coin before taking a sip of tea that was given to him by one of the maids. “You think she’ll see them as not as future allies… but invaders… don’t you.”

Coin sighed and rubbed his brow, sweat dripping from his already drenched mane. “It’s not the first time she’s gone and overreacted; her father is busy making sure the rest of her tribe back at our homeland makes the journey here to make this new land our home. While she’s given the responsibility to prepare for all the remaining members from all three of the tribes to make the journey here, we need to keep control of what territory that we can gain… She’ll do anything for her ponies.”

Starswirl agreed; young Princess Platinum was still new to ruling a nation but she will sacrifice her own connection to royalty so she can give the home her ponies deserve from the countless harsh winters and harassment from other nations. “While the three tribes have never been in good terms, they’ll agree upon to defend one another if threatened by a common foe,” said Starswirl. “While the incident with the Windigos was the only event where the three tribes current leaders were close to be turned to icicles… Luckily their assistants thought otherwise, I may have never thought my student about the idea of teamwork, but sometimes everyone needs to learn their own lessons.”

“Speaking of your student, where is Celestia? Didn’t that private mention she and Sir Vlion were in the kitchen?” asked Coin.

At the same time, the same soldier from before entered back from the kitchen and showed a worried look on his face. “Private! Where’s Sir Vlion and her tour guide, Celestia!?” shouted Coin, catching the private’s attention.

“Oh… Well captain… She’s um, well… They’re not there anymore sir,” said the soldier, sweating.

Starswirl spat out his tea while the captain stared angrily but with controlled fury, smiling creepily. “What… do you mean… their gone?”

Back at the dungeons, Tim and Celestia were given permission by the soldiers stationed their to see Mathree’s companion, bringing with them two slices of extra pizza from the left over ingredients. One slice for Mathree and one for Luna, and since Celestia knows Luna’s already in the dungeons – and probably without the other guards knowing – the four can hang out at the dungeons… that was until they saw what was inside Mathree’s cell.

“Thank you Tim for making this slice for my sister. These pizzas are delicious, I’m sure she’ll love them!”

“Boooho,” said Tim, rubbing the back of his head.

While Tim could only say that one line, she can understand how he feels from the way he speaks and his expressions. It was actually easier to understand him this way then listening how they felt; Celestia could understand somepony better by their physical expressions then what they said. It gave her a better judgment on ponies, which was why Starswirl and few other ponies were the only ones she could trust with her and her sister.

As they turned and arrived in front of the cell… they saw Mathree and with her was Luna, except…

“LUNA! What happened to you!?” Luna’s face was swollen and beat red, same was Mathree; it seemed both were stung by a swarm of bees but Celestia noticed they were tired and kept slowly swinging their arms at each but only to drop them to their sides. The two turned to stare at Celestia, until Luna spoke.

“Owh… Whello Teia,” said Luna, through her swollen face. “Sweems vyou bwough Swir Tem.”

“Uey Tem… sworry, wbut di geot en anotethar wfight,” said Mathree, spotting Tim.

Celestia gawked at the two realizing they fought one another; she knows Luna will get in a random tussle whether because her quick temper or the fact she was to challenge herself. She was afraid that Tim would find this insulting that his ally was attacked, but… then she heard snickering. Turning she saw Tim was trying to hold in his snickering, it was when Celestia spoke he lost it.

“Uh Sir Vlion… is something funny?”

“BOHO HO HO HO HO BOHO HO HO HO!”

Tim fell on his back and began repeating the same word, slamming his fits on the nearby wall; slowly Celestia joined his laughter and the two laughed at the two inside the cell. “Har de har har,” said Mathree. “Bou mend elping eus haer?”

Celestia used a quick healing spell to quicken but not fully heal their wounds form their earlier fight. While Celestia and Luna could defeat a trained pony soldier instantly, it was surprisingly that Mathree had the stamina and dexterity to outlast Luna, which explained why the two were still standing and not falling from exhaustion.

“So the reason my sister fought you was because you started… touching her?” said Celestia, skeptical. “Now I find it alright you’re both sorry and friends now… But if you were trying to do anything with her-”

“WHOA WHOA WHOA! I was only trying to check her aura power,” said Mathree.

“Aura… power?” asked both sisters.

“Its complicating… If my buddy A.I. were here he’d give a better explanation but it’s similar to your magical levels. The higher the aura you have the stronger you are, and the easier visible it is showed how skilled you can use it. If an average joe say… one of these earth-ponies saw your residual magical energy means you know how to control your abilities like a pro… You can of course conceal your power, but again that takes years of concentration and only a true genius would be able to do it on their first try.”

“Interesting… So, aura and magic share similar characteristics; I suppose we’re not so different after all… Other than you having no fur and us having fur… and that you walk on twos and we on fours,” said Luna, stating what she learned.

“Well not really; aura is actually a being’s life-force, from what I can understand, magic is only available to you ponies or creatures similar to you. These minotaurs and griffins can’t use these magical abilities… meaning aura is more of a natural thing while magic is limited,” said Mathree.

“Oh...” said Luna, frowning.

“Don’t worry sister, I was confused when Mathree was explaining, but maybe his friend… A.I. was it?” said Celestia.

“Boho,” said Tim, nodding fro confirmation.

“Right, your friend A.I. knows a lot about aura and can give us a wider explanation… Maybe I can ask Starswirl if he can send a letter to the other tribe leaders to search for your friends.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I bet they’ll be fine; we didn’t survive our world by being nice,” said Mathree, laughing. “Ghahaahahhahahaha!”

The four ate the pizzas together in the dungeons, enjoying one another being together. Mathree took a bite when he thought he heard something. “Boho?” asked Tim, worried.

“Nothin big guy… Just thought I heard something,” said Tim, taking another bite.

Faraway from the castle in the Everfree; near a military camp, are two girls imprisoned by one of the pony tribes’ commanders… but watching the sun slowly set and the moon rise, a figure wielding dual guns stares with purple, empty eyes. There’s no life in these eyes, but the rage the figure imposes is strong enough to kill. The figure glared at a passing sentry, making his rounds, loading his weapons with a loud clack.

“The hunt… begins,” said Vallan.

Pulling the slider back, he loads a special round with the initial “EX” written on the bullet, it’s tip colored darkly. The figure points the gun at the watchtower he’s been eying since he followed their group; he places his finger on the trigger… The first shot is fired.

Escape I: Wrath

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Midnight, Equestrian Military Camp; Random Sentry Tower

Two sentries, one a pegasus the other a unicorn watch the vast empty darkness; the quiet chitter of insects and wildlife can be heard from the forest near the camp. The pegasus yawns, bored of yet another perimeter watch. Once this is all over, I’m going to the nearby village… Maybe I can find a mare to keep me from falling into boredom. Moving clouds is more appealing than guard duty.

“Anything to report!” The unicorn finds where the shouting came from and sees another unicorn levitating a lantern in his magic at the bottom of the tower.

“No! All clear here!” shouted the unicorn.

The unicorn with the lantern nods back at his fellow pony and continues down his planned routine. The unicorn goes back with his pegasus companion and leans against the wooden post of the tower, stretching his back; a few loud pops are heard making the pegasus shudder.

“I don’t understand why everypony does that… Its gross,” said the pegasus.

“Well considering that literally half of the soldiers here either do nothing or guard, having your muscles stiff isn’t a good thing either. It’s best to keep your body limber and ready,” said the unicorn, doing more stretches.

The pegasus soldier sighs, going back to listening to the wilderness than watching his companion continuing his stretches… That was when he heard it. Or in this case, the lack of noise; the whole forest as a whole went eerily silent in an instant. “Hold on… Do you hear that?”

The unicorn stops his stretching and grabs his spear with his magic, walking up to where his fellow soldier is looking at. “Hear what? I hear nothing-“

“Exactly,” said the pegasus, interrupting the other soldier. The pegasus grabbed his telescope and started to look at the other sentry towers and saw that the soldiers in them too also noticed the sudden quietness of the forest… That was when everypony heard it.

It was faint, and sounded like the buzzing of a fly… then it grew louder, and as a final crescendo to a song… an explosion happened. Some distance from where they were, a fellow sentry tower blew up in a fiery explosion of debris and gore, as the limbs of soldiers began to fall down upon the ground, spraying their red liquid everywhere.

In an instant the pegasus soldier grabbed a horn-shaped object to point toward the very heavens; with a deep breath, he blew.

The deep and loud noise of a horn being blown was echoed across the whole camp, waking everypony from their sleep. Ponies began to scramble of their tents, putting on their equipment and getting into their battle stations.

“Get one of the commanders here! STAT!” shouted the pegasus.

“Wha-what’s happening!?” asked the unicorn.

“There’s no time, get going now and-” Before he could finish, another whizzing noise was heard and before he knew it, his tower was hit by an explosion. All he could see was a bright light… then nothing.

The unicorn soldier woke up, he found himself splayed on the ground… not the tower. Looking up he saw the tower ablaze alight, ponies trying to put out the fires and find survivors. The unicorn stood up but felt a pain on his right fore-hoof. Some debris was lodged inside, bleeding down his leg. A nearby medic-pony approaches him to check for anything serious.

“You alright!?” asked the medic-pony, checking his leg.

“I… I think so… Wait, what about the other soldier with me? Is he alright?”

That was when the medic-pony stopped and glanced to the side, speaking once more. “His body was covered in burns and shrapnel from the tower and whatever was shot at the tower you two were in. Whoever is attacking us, seems to be alone… but to do this much damage already… is just unspeakable.”

The unicorn raised a brow but when he looked around, he realized how much has happen in just a short moment. Many of the towers were either still burning or blown to bits, a few were still up but were under attack by some unknown assailant. What was worse was not the towers but the ponies; many were covered in wounds… or dead. Some were cowering or enraged from this sudden attack.

The unicorn realized he was lifted up onto a stretcher and being moved by two earth ponies wearing white caps with a red cross on them. “Where are the commanders? Is somepony planning a counter attack?” asked the unicorn.

The medic-pony looked back at him after examining the situation, and nods her head. “Don’t worry; I saw some of the commander run off into a tent and are currently planning a retaliation to this attack. You just rest now, and let us ponies handle this.”

As the unicorn was taken to the medical tents, the medic-pony began to run down the wall to find more injured in the attack.

Elsewhere, shot after shot were fired at the camp’s defenses and wall, pieces of it being shed off like leaves on a tree. Explosions and fires began to spread out, making the wall groan from the repetitive powerful blasts. Vallan stood over a jagged-pointed rock that slanted near the edge of the forest. Firing explosive rounds toward the camp’s wall, reloading between guns with each clip emptied.

When Vallan followed the group of ponies that captured his nieces, he scanned the camp and every tower, every wall, and every patrol route. While the place his nieces, Lov and Eliya were kept contained was an inner wall within the camp, it was impossible to sneak in without getting caught. So Vallan planned a more direct route; to go on the assault without slowing down, carving a pathway toward his nieces and exiting his way through the other side until they circle around, back to where he left their equipment.

First, he would fire off explosive-tipped rounds, and once he had the wall weakened… then would come the interesting part.

I believe in a foreign language from those books A.I. collected, it was called… a “Blitzkrieg”. What I lack in manpower… I can use in firepower. With that, Vallan aims a special round with the letters, “CB” on them; the tip has blackened dots covering it and has tiny bumpy spots covering the sides of the bullet.

Within the camp, the military leaders all gather in the camp to plot a plan to their attacker. The seven gathered commanders, led by the lead commander all gather and put together their best strategies together.

To the right and left are one of each from the three pony tribes; two pegasi, two unicorns, and two earth ponies. The seventh and final commander that was voted and recommended by Starswirl himself is a unicorn with a cracked horn. His armor is black like obsidian, wearing boots with a silvery outline and spikes sharpened to the point. His weapon is a razor sharp sword that curls at the end.

The commanders that are seated on the left are all the senior commanders, with the first being the senior earth pony commander; Commander Shatter Wave. Beside him is the senior unicorn commander; Commander Moon Glaive. Finally, sitting at the far right seat is the senior pegasus commander – who was recently released from the medical wing of the camp; Commander Hurricane.

The commanders that are seated on the right are the future young commanders that were hoof-picked by their fellow soldiers for their skills, talents, and experience in battle. The first is the unicorn commander; Commander Star Gleam (she was smiling for some odd reason). The next beside her was the earth pony commander; Commander Smoker. Finally, all that remained was the pegasus commander; Commander Swirlmaker.

“We are here, and accounted?” asked the obsidian armored commander.

“We’re indeed, High Commander Meteor Shatter. All commanders are here and ready,” said Commander Shatter Wave, the old stallion moving hoof across the table.

“Good… From what the scouts have told us, a figure similar to the one that Commander Hurricane found, and Commander Star Gleam have captured at the forest around noon. The figure is taller than the two smaller ones we have caught, so far it’s alone but we can’t underestimate our foe… Commander Moon Glaive, casualty report?”

The senior unicorn stood up, using her magic to pull out a list with names; beside the names are either the words injured… or deceased. So far the injured list fills the majority of it while a few deceased are spread out on the list. “So far, we only have thirty injured, and five deceased. Many of the injuries comprise of shrapnel from the towers, minor burns, broken bones, and limbs cut off because of severe damage or from the explosions… However, the odd part is the cause of the explosions.”

“Was it caused by magic?!” shouted Commander Smoker. A stream of steam comes out of his muzzle, creating a small puff of smoke. “I swear if we’re being raided by some ponies who disagree with the tribes uniting under one flag…”

“Luckily, that isn’t the case. So far the scouts have only reported one figure, but the attacks are magical in nature,” said Commander Moon Glaive.

This caused all the commanders to raise a brow until Hurricane was the one to end the silence. “Just… What caused those explosions?” asked Hurricane, curious.

Moon Glaive who wore glasses strung up by a string, pushed them up with a hoof, continuing to examine her list. “At the source of the explosions we found a metallic shell of some sort, and a strange powdery substance… Whatever caused the explosion came from these metal shells.” Using her magic once more, she pulls out several shells that have burn marks on them and smell of something volcanic.

Meteor Shatter stared at the shells, examining one with his hoof before putting it down. “From my experience of battle, I have not seen such weaponry used before. In the past there may have been similar situations, but… Whatever the case may be, it is best we don’t run blindly without understanding what the enemy is capable and what they want.”

“I may have an idea!” Every commander turned to stare at Star Gleam – who was raising her hoof like a filly – she stopped raising said hoof, and blushed embarrassed of her enthusiasm.

Commander Meteor, tapped Star Gleam on the shoulder, allowing her to speak. With a quick inhale and exhale she spoke out her thought. “I believe it has to do with the two prisoners we captured. Sergeant Quake, who went to talk with them told him that they had an uncle… I believe this uncle of theirs is the same attacker who’s currently assaulting us,” said Star Gleam, explaining.

All the commanders gave different looks; a majority gave inquisitive, skeptical looks. A few stared curious of the idea, while Hurricane and Meteor Shatter agreed on the possibility. “I can agree; during my fight with the two, they mentioned having family with them,” said Hurricane, putting out his thought.

“Which means that he's here for them!” said Moon, realization hitting her. “Commander Meteor Shatter; we need to set up defenses around the prisoners, and set up traps in a certain route that the attacker will certainly take!”

“Scouts reported that his attacking from the forest south of here,” said Swirlmaker. “We can place traps from the southern to eastern camps which lead to the prisoner block.”

“Then it’s settled,” said Meteor. “Commanders Smoker and Swirlmaker; you prepare traps to slow or possibly capture the attacker. Commander Moon Glaive will plan and coordinate all the teams to prepare for the attacker. Then I want-”

Before Meteor could finish giving orders, a massive explosion rang across the camp. A soldier ran inside the camp to find the commanders, it was Sergeant Quake. “What’s going on out there!” shouted Shatter.

“The southern wall… IT’S BEEN DESTROYED!”

All the commanders stood up from their seats and ran outside the meeting tent. Outside, a large plume of smoke was visible from here where the southern wall once was. Commander Meteor stared unfazed but stared with unknown feeling. He then turned to everypony as they instantly saluted.

“Change of plans; Commanders Hurricane and Shatter Wave, go to the southern wall and slow down the advance of the intruder! Do anything you can to make sure the others are prepared!” shouted Meteor.

“High Commander Meteor, sir! What shall I do?!” asked Star.

“Set up a defense around the prisoners; if something were to happen to the other commander’s plans, you are the final line of defense, but if you’re unable to hold the line, retreat to the northern wall.”

“WHAT!? But sir, I-”
“THAT IS AN ORDER COMMANDER STAR GLEAM! Do I make myself clear?” Meteor stared down at Star Gleam, who could do nothing but look down.

“Yes… High Commander.” Star Gleam trotted away to the prisoner block with Sergeant Quake following behind.

Hurricane watched the young commander leave, a sad look in her eye. She wants to make her old man proud… Trust me kid, its better you find doing something else than fight a monster than to show how much you grown to your pops.

“COMMANDER HURRICANE! GET YOUR SORRY PLOT HERE AND HELP ME PREPARE OUR ATTACK FORMATION!” shouted Shatter, already in his armor.

“Hold up you old codger,” said Hurricane, grabbing a pegasus-sized spear. Standing beside Shatter, the two senior commanders prepare their forces for the attacker to be sighted.

A couple of minutes before the destruction of the southern wall. Many of the ponies scramble left and right; putting out fires, bringing the injured to the medical tents near the western wall, and repairing any damage to the southern wall. While this was all happening, another whizzing noise was heard.

“INCOMING!” shouted a random soldier, taking cover behind a fallen wooden post.

Suddenly a shower of red hot metal began to pierce through the wall as wooden shrapnel began to rain upon. Those who were in cover began to whimper and cover their ears from the sudden noise… those who couldn’t reach cover though. Once the attack ended, the ground was covered in red hot pointed shells, and the bodies of ponies, their blood pooling up. The sound of ponies crying and emptying their recent dinner are heard.

What kind of hell is this? Before the soldier could get up, he heard another whizzing noise an expected another attack to happen but instead, a shell pierced the wall and imbedded in the ground.

A few soldiers were curious of the strange shell as it was bumpy and the tip began to flash and light up like a torch. “The heck is that thing?” said one soldier.

“Somepony touch it with a stick,” said another.

Before anypony could find out what it was, the shell’s tip began to grow brighter and flash in-and-out in quicker intervals… until there was a loud and blindly light. What came next was pain; the soldier opened one eye and when he stood back on all fours saw a horrifying sight.

The southern wall… was compromised; the wall and anything near it was blown to nothing as a giant gaping hole was left in the southern wall. Ponies who were closer to the explosion were still alive, but had shrapnel and holes littered all over them. Some had their limbs ripped off, while a few unluckier ones were either blinded or went deaf from the blast. Most grotesque was that one stallion had his jaw ripped off and was struggling to speak.

Realizing what has happened, ponies began to pick up and help the injured while a majority of soldiers rushed to the gaping hole and started making repairs or preparing for an attack.

“GET YOUR ASSES UP THERE! NOTHING, AND I MEAN NOTHING GOES THROUGH THAT HOLE! I DON’T CARE IF YOU HAVE LIMB MISSING OR NOT! WE DEFEND THIS POINT UNTIL THE COMMANDERS MAKE A PLAN OF ACTION! DEFEND THIS POSITION!” shouted a high-ranking pony, shoving and pushing those who could still stand.

Everypony else was led away to the medical tents or helped handing out weapons. Once a line was made, unicorns prepared incantations, earth ponies standing in the front with shields or massive weapons, finally leaving the pegasi carrying spears or crossbows to fire upon anything that walks through. There was still smoke rising from the gaping hole… until a crunch was heard; everypony stiffened up and pointed their weapons to the hole.

“HOLD YOUR GROUND MAGGOTS! IF ONE OF YOU EVEN THINK OF RUNNING; I’LL FIND YOU AND HANG YOU BY YOUR NETHERS!” shouted the high-ranked pony.

With each passing second, felt like an hour to the soldiers. Stepping out of the smoke and rubble was a figure that stood taller than anything any of the ponies have ever seen. It wore clothing of green and darkish brown, its hair was a filthy green, and skin was pale. It wore shoes that were big enough to crush a pony’s skull. On each of its hands was two massive objects that were in the shape of an L and had small trigger-like mechanisms on them. The figure stared with dark purple eyes; it glared at the soldiers with empty rage… an endless relentless wrath.

There was silence… and it spoke. “Where is-”

A bolt was fired and struck the figure in the right shoulder, everypony stared at a young pegasus who wasn’t nearly old enough to be considered a stallion. The poor colt instantly dropped his crossbow, instantly regretting for firing.

“SOLDIER! HOLD YOUR FIRE! HOLD YOUR FIRE!”

The figure grabbed the bolt, pulling it out with ease, dropping it with a clatter. Rolling the shoulder that was shot at, he spoke again.

“As I was saying… Where is,” With a powerful roar that felt beastly. “MY NIECES!”

In speeds that were unmatched toward any pegasus, the figure rushed forward and pointing two of his strange weapons at the soldiers, he unleashed a fury of hot shells, point-blank at them. The screams of countless ponies were heard; both stallion and mare.

Back at the prison block, news of the attack spread out quick and the soldiers that were told to guard the two prisoners went on the clock to set up defenses and traps for the intruder. Lov watched giddily as she woke from the sudden noise. “Hey sis! SIS!” shouted Lov.

Eliya turned to look at her sister, who was busy checking something. “Yeah Lov?”

“The silly ponies are running around like a punch of ants! Doesn’t it look funny?”

Eliya looked at grinned too. “Sure does, but I wonder who’s coming to our aid?” said Eliya, wondering.

“I bet its Vally! He’d never let some smelly ponies go about and let us rot in some dumb cage!”

“True true…” As Eliya thought of this, she spotted two familiar faces, glaring at them with anger.

The two figures were Star Gleam and Quake, they both were wearing armor and were equipped with their respective weapons. Star Gleam’s weapon was a pair of short swords that were levitated by her magic. Quake carried a massive Morningstar that looked impossible for any pony to lift… well not for Quake.

“Good evening girls!” said Star, smiling. “Nice weather we’re having?”

Eliya glared at Star, put turning around to stare at the floor. “What you want?”

“I just came here to tell you that your friend who’s coming to rescue you two won’t get through what we have planned for him. And even if he finds a way, he won’t get through us; my soldiers have this place locked down, and we set up runes everywhere. Not to mention that he needs one of the commanders to free you two, but as long he doesn’t know that he won’t be able to get you out. Though… let’s say he does find out, he still won’t be able to get you out because none of the commanders would dare help him!” shouted Star, laughing at them.

“Commander,” said Quake. While he hasn’t shouted, just saying that one word has stopped Star’s sudden rude attitude. She sneers down at the two sisters and trots away; once she’s far enough Quake turns at the two. “Sorry about her… Her father denied letting her join the main attack force. She feels upset from his choice and wants to let out her feelings… Sorry about her sudden change of personality.”

“No problem Bob,” said Lov, grinning.

“My name’s not Bob.”

“Whatever you say Tommy.”

Deciding to forget the other sister’s strange way of communication, Quake turns to Eliya who stares back. “We been through worse; we have a father who haves multiple personalities… That and the fact his insane makes that even crazier for us to handle,” said Eliya, folding her arms.

“Oh… that must, be hard for someone your age…”

“Eh; it’s not that bad. It makes life interesting you know.”

“Yeah! This one time, he brought a caravan full of stuff when we were little, and gave to us as a birthday gift!” Lov pulled out a pendent which the crystal was a diamond the size of her eye. “He gave me this when I was just six.”

Quake stared at the eye-sized diamond with a bit surprise – and skepticism. “This, ‘father’ of yours… Is he a dragon?” asked Quake.

The twins look at one another… and begin to laugh; Lov is rolling on the ground in giggles while Eliya snickers, covering her mouth but brings out a few loud guffaws. “A… A dragon!? Please, our dad is just your average psychotic terrorist murderer!” said Eliya.

Quake was fazed by what Eliya said, but shook his head. I can’t tell if their lying through their teeth… or their insane too. Quake looks up to catch Lov, hanging on the cage’s roof with her feet. Never mind… their insane.

“Quake! Get back in position, we need to prepare if the attacker gets through the assault force and the traps!”

Quake sighed and took a final look at Eliya. “Even though you’re a prisoner… I’m sorry that it came to this,” said Quake.

Eliya stared back at Quake, with a neutral look. “…Me too…” said Eliya, looking away.

As Quake began to trot away, ponies began to move the twins’ cages to a better area to defend. Lov watches Quake and turn to face Eliya; Eliya doesn’t notice at first then looks at Lov with a raised brow.

“Something wrong sis?”

“Nothin… It’s just that stallion seemed really nice to you… Did he do the ‘funny’ with you?” asked Lov seriously.

Eliya sputtered and began to blush furiously. “LOV! WHAT DID WE SAY!?” shouted Eliya, embarrassed.

“Sorry sis; we promised not to delve into each other’s privacy unless we both agree to tell something in our minds.”

“Exactly… so don’t go assuming something like that… alright.”

Lov shook her head quickly, and went back to asking one of the nearby ponies’ random questions. Eliya sighed and went back to staring at the distant explosions. Vallan if that is you… You better get us out of here, you idiot.

Near the southern tents; Commanders Hurricane and Shatter Wave have prepared a suitable assault formation toward the southern wall. Torches have been set up to have a better visual of the darkened area. Fires and smoke can be seen at the far distance, the only light visible at the southern wall. Scouts have reported that the soldiers at the southern wall have all been… massacred. When they arrived, they found the mauled and shredded bodies of ponies, no survivors. The figure that was attacking has vanished but it’s possible that it will be coming our way very soon.

Hurricane glanced at some of the soldiers among their ranks; many are either volunteers or simply recruits. Since a majority of the military from all three tribes were small in the first place, combining the three forces wasn’t enough so new blood was required. Sadly, this meant that the other soldiers were veterans older than Hurricane or ponies with some battle experience but not enough to be near Hurricane’s level of skill.

“Grrraaaahhhh! What the heck is taking those two?! They should be done setting up those traps by now!” shouted Shatter. Commander Shatter Wave stomped his hoof in anger; the two younger commanders, Smoker and Swirlmaker were still preparing traps.

“They’ll be here Shatter, for now we need to hold this line until so,” said Hurricane. “Private Pansy! How’re the soldiers doing?”

“Many of the soldiers are wondering what is happening as they just woke up, while a few are a bit ants in their pants right now,” said Pansy. “We also gotten word that the traps are done and some final adjustments are being done. Commanders Smoker’s and Swirlmaker’s soldiers should be back soon, to help in the assault.”

“Good; go and check our perimeter one more time to be sure! I don’t want us to be caught taking a shit,” said Hurricane.

“Uhm… Yes, sir,” said Pansy, scrunching her nose.

As Pansy flew away, Shatter Wave began to chuckle. “What’s so funny?” asked Hurricane.

“That mare of yours sure is nice; haven’t seen a filly that sweet a long time. Many of the mares I’ve met in my day were usually loud-mouthed and hardened from farming. It’s good to know that many of the youngins won’t end up like us… My daughter is giving birth to a colt; I’m going to be a grandfather soon.”

“Congratulations… And please… I rather not talk about my private like that… She isn’t some young floozy.”

“Sorry; just me being old. It’s lonely after having your soul-mate dying earlier than you… But it’s lonelier to grow old alone… You need to find somepony Hurricane, while you still can. To be honest, you’re younger than many of the veterans here. Before you use to be young and fresh like Star Gleam… Now… heh, you’re just as grumpy as the rest of us old ponies.”

The two veterans began to have a good laugh, until they heard screaming. In an instant Hurricane grabbed his telescope and saw what was up ahead. Some of Smoker’s and Swirlmaker’s soldiers were running from the figure, with them was Smoker; on his back was Swirlmaker who had two of her wings missing.

“Get them to safety now! PEGASI!” shouted Hurricane, giving orders.

The pegasi swooped down and picked up all of the soldiers, as well as Smoker and Swirlmaker. Once they were in safety, Shatter grabbed the young commander by the shoulder and began shaking him. “What in tarnation happened out there?!”

“It-It-It happened so-so-so f-f-fa-ast…” said Smoker, retelling what he can remember.

A few hours ago, Swirl and I were setting up some of the traps with our soldiers. We were doing one final check-up… when “it” appeared.

“COMMANDERS! THE ENEMY IS SIGHTED! I REPEAT THE ENEMY IS SIGHTED!” shouted one soldier.

I looked toward Swirl and she nodded; looking at our soldier she gave out orders to retreat… But as we were about to head back… Oh god, it started happening.

That thing just ran straight toward us, right at the traps… but when trap after trap was sprung… It simply shrug them off. It began to bulldoze over us all, killing every single one of us like we were parasprites. I saw soldiers I considered friends! It showed no mercy; for bloody sakes, it snapped one pony’s limb off and started clubbing that pony with its own limb!

But… The worse was to come; it started to take each one of us down meticulously. It started with those who were farthest from it, killing them off in quick gory executions. Then finally were the slowpokes, it began to tear them apart, ripping their organs and innards out like some animal. We thought those in the center were dead, but it left us alone… but it spoke.

“It spoke?” asked Hurricane, listening to the story in a hushed tone.

“It asked which one of us was the commander… It didn’t knew two of us were there… I didn’t know wh-what to do!? Swirly… She… she said she was the only commander among them…” said Smoker, tears starting to spill from his eyes.

Shatter and Hurricane watched Smoker’s whimpering, taking a quick glance at the unconscious, handicapped Swirl.

It approached her with slow but deliberate steps. Each time it neared her, the more I began to shake and shiver. I looked at her and she stood stoke still; I thought she must be the bravest mare ever… then it grabbed her.

It turned her until her wings were facing the sky; it shoved its boot on her neck and gripped both her wings with iron grip. I saw her eyes… she wasn’t fearless or brave… She was scared, for heaven’s sake she was bawling her eyes out and staring at me… I thought I was afraid but she… she was scared senseless. I stood there staring at her, not doing anything to stop it.

With a quick and sharp movement… Her wings came off. It was so quick and instant, that it felt like she never had any wings. The only reminder that she did was the fact her wing’s nubs were bleeding and bone was poking out. She was screaming so hard, blood was coming out her mouth; the figure though was done with her. It gripped by the mouth and was going to place that strange object in her mouth. I had enough…

I rammed him with all my might, but the only reason he budged was because he wasn’t expecting one of us to attack back. Instead of continuing my attack, I picked up Swirl and shouted for everypony to run. We ran for so long and hard that I thought it was chasing us; it was hard to tell but I believed it stopped having interest in us after I tackled it. Swirly was bleeding on my back, her blood making a trail.

“I’m a coward… I left some poor filly to have their wings ripped off them! I should have been the one to die; heck even if I lived, I rather had my eyes scooped out than this!” Smoker began to wail, crying in a fetal position.

Shatter left him be, and shouted a few medic-ponies over. “Get these ponies to the medical camp… And get this bastard tied to a bed; if he tries running away, I want you to knock him out… Painfully,” said Shatter, gritting his teeth.

The medic ponies escorted the wounded away, but right before they were getting Swirly away, she gripped my hoof tightly – as tight as she can in her current state – where she began to speak in my ear.

“Please… forgive Smokey… It’s not… his fault… pleeeee…” said Swirly, her eyes slowly closing.

Hurricane grips Swirl’s hoof tightly. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure Shatter doesn’t do anything too harsh on Smoker… You just rest now,” said Hurricane.

Swirl smiled, and began to rest with a smile on her face. The medic ponies began to leave with her and her team. Once they were out of sight… they heard it.

Standing on a pile of rubble – and ponies (are my eyes deceiving me) – is the most terrifying sight anypony has ever seen. Glaring down at them with two purple, lifeless eyes is the figure that has caused so much blood and gore for a single pony to handle. It was drenched in blood and smelled of something burning; one hand held the strange object, the other holding a pair of pegasus’s wings (they look familiar?).

Bastard is holding Swirl’s wings… I’m going to cut this monster into pieces once I get my hooves on him.

“Soldiers! Prepare for battle; here we hold our ground… or die trying!” shouted Shatter, grinning madly.

“Great words of encouragement,” said Hurricane, sarcastically.

“Thank you!”

Everypony stood tall and ready, awaiting the either side to make their first move. Preparing for a fight, Vallan places the two wings on his back, grabbing his other weapon. Vallan stretches both his legs out and moves to a sprinting position. With his gaze moved to the ground, he shouts out one final sentence to his opponents.

“PRAY TO YOUR DEITIES! FOR YOU’RE ABOUT TO SEE THEM!”

Using his own momentum, Vallan propels himself off the mountain of debris and corpses, launching toward the oncoming army. Pointing both his guns, he fires off volleys of hot lead, sheering through row upon row of ponies. Landing in the middle of their forces, he points both guns to both his sides and begins turning wildly. Spraying bullet after bullet, bodies begin to rain down like the very shells that he fires. He points both guns up toward the fearful pegasi, unleashing two explosive rounds, sending them falling among their brethren.

Vallan puts away both his guns and grabs to swords; charging fearlessly he slaughters pony after pony with killer precision. Limb and leg are cut off, heads begin to roll, blood begins to pool, and organs hang upon tents and poles like decorations. The once standing army is turning into a bloodbath; all that remains is a those at the far back of the army, or those too in shock to realize their alive.

Vallan stabs both swords to the ground, leaving a strange crossed pattern on the ground. As he begins to walk away, he hears one loud voice toward him. “HOLD RIGHT THERE!”

Turning around, he sees an old earth pony carrying a giant hammer as his weapon. The earth pony stares back with giddiness for his old age. Behind him is a familiar face; the pegasus that his nieces fought stands ready with his own weapon, a pair of wingblades.

“You… You’re the one who fought my nieces,” said Vallan, pointing at Hurricane.

Star Gleam was right, they are related. “Yes, I fought your nieces… Are you here to save them?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Vallan pulls out both his guns, pointing them at the two commanders. Before Hurricane can get ready to attack, Shatter stops him with a hoof.

“What are you doing Shatter!?”

Shatter doesn’t say anything but turns to look at Hurricane with a sad look. “You shouldn’t be here Hurricane. You’re way too young to be fighting battles like this. Me… I’m old enough to be dead right now… To be honest, I was supposed to die years ago, but my deceased wife saved me… I miss Hurricane; you deserve somepony in your life… That young mare, she’s nice… Go to her.”

Hurricane was shocked by Shatter Wave’s sudden change of attitude, but shakes out of his stupor and ready’s to fly away but takes one final look at Shatter Wave. “It was a pleasure working with you.”

“You too boy… you too.”

Hurricane flies off toward the sky, hearing the sound of metal and explosions behind him. As his far enough to safely land, he finds Pansy surrounded in smoke; Hurricane lands in front of her, but before he could speak, Pansy bumps into him and lands on something wet. A loud squelch noise is heard is she tries to stand back up. Hurricane looks down to see Pansy has landed on a pool of blood. The smell starts to get stronger and he realizes that they’re both standing in middle of a bloodbath.

Dammit, if she opens her eyes she’ll see this and faint!

“PRIVATE! DON’T OPEN YOUR EYES!” shouted Hurricane.

“Commander? Why no-”

“I SAID NOT TO OPEN THEM!”

Pansy close her eyes shut, only able to smell the foul smell of whatever is surrounding her; she hasn’t realized the sticky wet sensation of blood on her hooves and fur yet. Commander Hurricane looks around and finds a clean piece of cloth from a tent. Ripping the cloth off the tent, he blindfolds Pansy. “I’m going to lead you back to the northern wall; the enemy has comprised through our forces. We need to retreat to the northern walls!”

“What about Commander Star Gleam, sir!?” shouts Pansy, trying her best to hold to Hurricane’s hoof.

Hurricane realizes that with the assault force gone, the only ones left defending the prisoners are Star Gleam’s forces. I need to get Pansy to the northern walls and get to Star Gleam and warn her.

“Pansy! Hold on to my back, and don’t let go!”

Pansy nods and grips Hurricane’s mid-section; this causes him to shudder from the sudden touch. Stupid Shatter, why did he have to ship me with my own private of all ponies?

Meanwhile; Vallan has defeated Shatter Wave, the old earth pony riddled in bullets but smiling even in death. Vallan looks down at the old pony and stares at his weapon; grabbing it as a trophy, Vallan heads to his final destination. Time to clean up and stomp the pests.

Vallan walks by bodies of ponies, trudging over them without a single fidget or glance down. Vallan’s stare to the distance reminds him of a memory his forgotten of from his days with his group.

In another world, some years before Ins0ne Par1y arrive to Equestria.

“Vally! Why do we need to practice to learn how to use guns? I use a katana and sis uses her ninja skills,” said Past Lov.

“You must learn to use every weapon at your disposal; even ones you never know you’ll ever use. For example,” said Past Vallan. Vallan grabs two swords and dual wields them, he then blocks and parries attacks form the drones that roam their base. “Remember, anything can be a weapon… Even the enemy’s body can too… You just need to be… ‘creative’.”

Lov watches in awe while Eliya stares back with boredom. “That’s literally one of the few lessons a ninja has to learn. I don’t know why I have to do this stupid training.” As Eliya is about to leave, one of the drones is about to slice her in half… but is stopped by Vallan who grips the blade in his hand. Blood starts to spill from his hand, but he shows no sign of pain.

“Drone, end training simulation,” said Vallan, letting go of the blade. The drones stopped their programmed training and return to their previous schedules. Vallan sighs and looks down at Eliya. “Niece-”

“I’M NOT YOUR NIECE!” Eliya glares with venom in her eyes, daring for Vallan to continue with his sentence. “You’re nothing but a shell… A clone of father… Don’t dare, say we’re family because we are not!”

“…” The eerie silence causes Eliya to shudder and look down in shame.

“I’m sorry… Father always tells us you are family… but it’s just that with you being a clone and unable to feel anything… I… I’m so-” Before Eliya could finish her sentence, Vallan pats her on the head and rubs her hair, causing it to poof up.

Vallan begins to leave the training area but takes one final look at his two nieces. “Whether I am real or not… doesn’t matter. You are my family… I’ll never let you two down… ever.

The memory ends and Vallan returns to reality; standing before him is another army and beyond them is the two cages of Lov and Eliya. He can barely see but ahead he can spot the two girl’s faint aura signatures within the cages.

I’m coming… Nobody is coming between me and my family… Nobody.

Star Gleam prepares for the attack to arrive but as she’s getting her forces ready, a scout runs up to her with fear plastered on his face. “Commander! The assault forces have fallen!”

“Wait, already! We haven’t gotten the defenses here ready yet!” shouted Star.

“It is true, word of Commander Shatter Wave being killed in battle, and Commanders Smoker and Swirlymaker are heard to be in the medical tents as we speak.”

“Wha… What about Commander Hurricane… Is he?”

The scout checks his message and shakes his head side to side. “No sir, the commander seems to not be mentioned dead. A few soldiers spotted him with his private heading back to the northern wall.”

Star Gleam sighs out of relief, happy to know her close friend is alright. Why am I so worried about that fool? His been through worse; heck I know him better and seen in far worse wounds before.

“There’s also another message Commander Star Gleam; specifically for you.”

There is? “Who’s the message from?”

“The message was sent from High Commander Meteor Shatter; Commander Moon Glaive has told him that chances of your team holding the intruder back are sure to fail. He wants you and everypony to retreat to the northern wall; the prisoners are to be abandoned and left to the intruder.”

The rage seething from Star Gleam can be seen visible, but instead of shouting in rage, she breaths in calmly and stares back at the messenger. “Tell them I’ll deny that order; my only mission is to make sure that nothing goes through my forces and to keep the prisoners in lock and key. I am the one to capture them, and they attacked one of our own… I won’t let myself be a coward and run with my tail between my legs without putting up a fight!”

The messenger stares at her unbelievably, but sighs and beings to return back to retell his message. “I see… Well, good luck Commander Star Gleam.”

The messenger salutes and runs off to the northern wall; Star Gleam looks down upon her forces and shouts out a message. “Soldiers! It is apparent that the assault forces have failed and the traps set up have not slowed down or hindered our attacker! But do not waver; we are the future children of this rising nation! We will not let some invader to shake us from what we destined to have! We founded this land with our sweat and blood, and won’t let it go without a fight; are you with me!” shouted Star.

The ponies looked at one another unsure; as a final moral boost, Star Gleam breaths in deeply and screams with all her might. “I SAID; ARE-YOU-WITH-MEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!”

All of the soldiers gathered shout with vigor, as stare down at death itself. Earth pony, unicorn, and pegasus stand together as a great machine, defending in their own beliefs and to defend those they love. For they will hold onto this future for generations to come, until they gain the home they deserve.

Back at the northern wall, Commander Hurricane has arrived and see the countless soldiers – both wounded and those who survived the intruder’s attacks – gather. The soldiers have made a makeshift wall that stretches from the northern to western walls. What in the world is going on here?

Commander Hurricane drops down and let’s Private Pansy off, he then removes her blindfold, allowing her to see the countless ponies here. “Sir, is this all who remain?” asked Pansy.

“Sadly it seems…” said Hurricane. Hurricane spots a passing pony wearing medical cap, he stops the mare to speak to her. “You! What’s going on here? Why is this wall set-up, why is everypony here? I thought those from the northern wall were going to support the forces guarding the prisoners?”

“Commander Hurricane!? Sir, haven’t you heard?”

“Heard what? What’s going on?!”

“Sir… High Commander Meteor has called upon a full-retreat. Creatures from the Everfree and nearby wildlife have become attracted to the blood and noise from the camp. Whatever has attacked has gotten them riled up for some reason. We aren’t just dealing with the intruder but nature itself; many of the soldiers are staying here to defend the wounded. It was even issued by the High Commander himself to do a full-retreat and drop all operations and stay for further orders within and near the northern and western walls.”

Hurricane couldn’t believe what he was hearing; not only was everypony giving up, but it was High Commander Meteor of all ponies to be the one issuing this order… unless… Moon Glaive.

“Commander Hurricane, you’re safe.” Hurricane turns around to find the very pony his looking for; Moon Glaive.

“What is the meaning of this Commander Moon?” The very fury that Hurricane is trying to hold is barely being held back as he wants to punch the stupid mare right in her muzzle.

“Survival… and I don’t deserve the title ‘Commander’ anymore…”

Hurricane was shocked but before he could respond, Moon was ahead of him. “Once word spreads out that a unicorn; especially one with noble blood was the one to suggest a full-retreat… No doubt the aristocracy at Canterlot will ridicule my family name… Well to hell with that… Full my whole life I’ve been taught to be above others… After seeing all the death and destruction today… It’s changed my view of others; both the other tribes and many others… Many in the future, I could be reincarnated to make a better future… maybe one for my ancestors. Where we aren’t some snobbish unicorn nobility… that we were good ponies in the end.”

“You don’t mean…” said Hurricane, realizing what’s she’s saying.

“I’m saying I am resigning myself from the military, and nobility... I met a nice stallion at the nearby village called Spell Lula; he and his family are travelling gypsies… At first I thought of him some low unicorn that gave up his noble title… But I realized even unicorns are part of the common pony… I want a family Hurricane… We’re getting too old, and the world is beginning to change…”

Hurricane couldn’t believe what was happening; first Shatter now Moon. Back when they were younger, he remember Shatter being this ruthless earth pony military leader that can force any soldier into a battle and winning unscathed. Moon was known for being an excellent strategist and being cold to the touch… To finally see the two change makes him feel that he’s the only stubborn pony alive.

“Sigh… I can’t be mad at you… I hope this stallion and you have a wonderful life; I’ll visit, alright,” said Hurricane, grinning.

Moon took a deep exhale and smiled back at Hurricane. “Thank you Hurricane… you’ve been a good friend… If our tribes became allies earlier… Do you think our routes would have changed?”

“Maybe… maybe…”

The sappy moment ended when Pansy came interrupting the two. “Commander Hurricane!”

“What now Pansy?”

“That feeling I got… The one similar to the Windigos… It’s coming from where Commander Star Gleam’s forces are stationed!”

It then came to Hurricane in an instant; that overpowering feeling from just look at the intruder, the countless bodies slaughtered by one being… It could mean one thing…

By Equestria… It’s worse than the Windigo incident! “Raise the alarms, the thing that’s invading us is as strong as or worse than the Windigos! Get a squadron of pegasi to warn Canterlot; if this thing and its allies are capable of something of this destruction… Imagine them all together!”

Moon Glaive got the message and started barking her final orders to somepony to get a warning to Canterlot. Hurricane beings to fly away, hearing the shouting and protests from both Moon and Pansy. I need to warn Star Gleam; if that “thing” reaches her… It’s on a level that not even she or anypony can fight against.

Back at the prisoner block, Star Gleam stares at the intruder. It stood tall, possibly as tall as two or three ponies if they were stacked. It looked like nothing like a minotaur; while minotaurs looked more buffer and thicker, this one looked lanky and had a strange look to it… as if it were unnatural or something. The figure looked at the army with unfeeling gaze, creeping all the soldiers and making a few think twice.

Already their cowering; I won’t let this thing cross me! Nopony or nobody crosses Commander Star Gleam of the new Eauestrian Military.

“SOLDIERS! HOLD FIRM; DO NOT BE SWAYED BY THIS THING!”

All the soldiers looked up at Star Gleam and tightened their formation, assured by their Commander’s message.

Quake looked at the strange figure and the two objects in its hands… but then the figure did something odd. It started to put away the two objects… and began to reach for something. Something’s not right… Those who survived said that this thing was capable of bringing immense death with those two objects… Why would it put them away... unless… Quake’s eyes bugged out; and he instantly drops his Morningstar and starts to run toward Commander Star Gleam. Those he ran by were confused by their Sergeant running like a mad-pony.

The figure pulled out a strange object that was long and lengthy, it was cylinder like a pole. One end was wide while the other was thin. Strange glass hollow columns were strung on the object’s sides. What was truly interesting was another cylinder that was attacked to the side, it had two holes but with a thin glass placed on both ends. The small cylinder was placed on the figure’s eye, as it aimed the strange device at the ponies. Many were curious of the device and began to taunt it to come at them, becoming cocky at it standing there.

“What’s it doing?”

“The heck’s that supposed to do, blow us away!”

“Now I look at it, it doesn’t look that scary. GAHAHAHAHHA!”

Quake continued to run, and as he ran the device on the figure’s shoulder started to make a quiet but audible noise. The sound started with a quiet buzzing, but intensified and grew until it sounded like a swarm of bees were amassing. As Quake finally was close enough to Star Gleam to catch her attention, she turned to face her Sergeant.

“Sergeant Quake; what is the meaning of this!? Don’t tell me you of all ponies are afraid of this sad excuse of a-”

“COMMANDER! GET DOWN!” Star Gleam was frozen from Quake’s sudden fearful expression that when he tackled into cover, she didn’t bothered to make a single noise or protest. Overhead a large bright purple blast showered all of Star’s forces… all that remained was ashes… and after that… dust.

No screams were heard, nothing… absolute silence.

Vallan stood tall; on his shoulder was a device created by A.I. The weapon was a prototype and was going to be given to Tim for future use. The weapon was called, “The A2n1hil4t0r”; it was capable of causing a near invisible radiation in a form of light. Anything that’s touched by the light will be sheered into dust, basically burning them super-sonic speeds. Sadly the problem was that the device gave off ton of heat and radiation, making it unsafe for all the members of Ins0ne Par1y… except for Tim, their leader… and Vallan himself.

Energy readings are normal…
Light Ray at 20% usage…
Radiation expulsion is nominal…
Heat readings are under safe…
Targets… Neutralized…
Thank you for using Prototype Gamma: The A2n1hil4t0r… Have a wonderful day…

I forgot… this thing has a computer system inside it to keep the weapon’s systems in check. That and the fact that this thing if not handled properly is a good replacement as a bomb.

Vallan puts the powerful weapon away and pulls out his two guns; Blood and Spirit. He walks through the empty grounds, walking piles of dust as the dust-covered air begins to clear. In the distance are some remaining soldiers who fly than fight… leaving him with his target. Ahead of him is two cages on wheels; inside them are his two nieces, Lov Kel and Eliya Kel… The twins.

I found you. Vallan began to sprint and when he finally reach the cage, he extended each of his arms into each cage, grasps both girls’ hands.

“Are you two alright?” asked Vallan. “Have they done anything to you two?”

“We’re fine Uncle Vally. They have some nice fish here though,” said Lov, smiling.

“Fish?” said Vallan, glancing at Eliya.

Eliya who was looking away – but still holding on to Vallan’s hand – was rubbing her shoulder with her other hand. “They were nice enough to feed us properly…”

Vallan looked at Eliya, and continued to stare; it began to make Eliya blush from being stared at. “What is it? Is something on my face,” said Eliya, flustered.

“No no no… It’s just that you’re cute when you blush.” (Awwwww… cute.)

This caused Eliya to let go of his hand and cover her face in embarrassment. “I hate you!” said Eliya, in a muffled voice.

“I know I know… Let me get you ou-” Then Vallan noticed something… The locks had strange markings on them, and when he tried shooting them off, the bullets did nothing… “Strange…”

“The locks are magically locked Uncle Vally… You need to get one of those Commander fellas; I think?” said Eliya, rubbing her chin in thought.

Commanders… At that same time, Star Gleam is seen after the dust has cleared. “Commander…” said Vallan, repeating his thought.

Vallan slowly approached Star, the poor unicorn began to run but winced and realized her back legs were slightly singed… possibly from the strange beam of light. They were somewhat burnt but still moveable. She tried to drag herself to safety, but felt Vallan’s powerful boots stomp on her legs. He then grabbed her by the neck and lifted her to his face.

“You’re not… getting my help… freeing them… I’d rather die than… help you… Bastard…” said Star, speaking through Vallan’s iron grip.

“Ohhhhhh sass; me likey!” said Lov, laughing mischievously.

Vallan stared coldly at her… but then he looked at her horn… then back at her… Vallan then had an idea.

“Who said I needed you?”

A cold sweat and realization came to Star… She wished the bright light engulfed her.

Commander Hurricane was close to the prison block and saw from his distance the strange bright light some moments ago; the dense amounts of dust have blocked his view but after it was all clear, he spotted the prisoners cages… and Star Gleam.

STAR GLEAM! I FOUND HER!

As Hurricane was about to dive bomb toward her, he noticed that Star Gleam was in the air… and saw she was being lifted up by the figure. The figure was slowly moving her closer and closer to him; from his distance he can see the fear in Star’s eyes.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” shouted Hurricane, dive-bombing instantly.

Waking up from the blast, Quake trudges out of the pile of dust that covered him. After making his way to where he guessed was where the prisoner cages were… he spots two familiar silhouettes. Star Gleam… and the INTRUDER!

Quake rushed forward to the two silhouettes and when he finally could see that… he saw the figure reaching for the Commander’s horn. THAT SON OF A BUCK! HIS GOING TO- Quake stopped himself mid-thought, and was ready to pounce but winced and saw his right foreleg was slightly bruised and smelt funny. I got hit by the beam, dammit! “COMMANDER!” screamed Quake.

Star Gleam watched in horror, everything was blissful silence, all that was around her was the figure that stood before her… and the regrets she held. She regretted not telling Sergeant Quake that she despised him for not being a unicorn. She regretted not telling anypony that she hated the idea of uniting under one flag. She regretted not telling Hurricane that she may have had a crush on the old stallion… But what she regrets the most… Is that she never told her father how much she loves him.

Daddy… I’m so sorry…

Star’s life flashed before her eyes; and to end it all was the slowly approaching hand of this demonic figure.

There was silence… and to replace that silence was the audible cracking of her horn being ripped off.

Held tight in Vallan’s hand was this unicorn’s bleeding horn. For ponies, they sure bleed a lot for their size.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Vallan looked up to see an old pegasus with rage covering every inch of his body, bomb-diving directly at him. Vallan moves out of the way, and pulls out his gun; instead of firing a normal bullet, he fires a stun bullet. Hurricane’s body began to shake violently, but he tries to move toward his target, but with two more stun bullets… the Commander goes out cold.

“That’s four…” said Vallan.

“COMMANDER!” screamed Quake.

Oh not another one. Pulling out his gun, Vallan is ready to shoot but stops. Instead of the pony charging at him, it runs toward the fallen mare unicorn. The pony picks her up in her arms and checks her missing horn. With the pony busy, Vallan walks to his two nieces and free them from their imprisonment. Using the unicorn’s horn as a key, the locks unlatch and the cages open; the twins exit their cages.

“It was fun being in a cage, but I think being outside is my kind of tea,” said Lov, stretching her arms.

“Do you have our stuff?” asked Eliya, crossing both her arms.

…I knew I forgot something. Eliya sighs seeing that Vallan hasn’t responded yet.

“Hold on… Let me talk to someone for second.”

Eliya walks up to the pony holding his commander, and notices the sudden shadow looming over him. Looking up he sees the now free Eliya… he holds now angry toward them… but he saddened that things have come to this.

“Hey Quake…”

“Hey Eliya…”

The two stare at one another with in silence, until Eliya’s twin sister; Lov and her uncle, Vallan appear behind her. Quake quivers before Vallan, holding on tightly his leader, Star Gleam.

“Where are my nieces’ weapons and equipment?” asked Vallan, with a lifeless look in his eyes.

“Uncle please… Let me handle this… and don’t hurt him…” said Eliya, looking back at Quake. “His been nice to us.”

Vallan gives a skeptical look and stares down at him, before shrugging and walking off. With Quake alone with the two sisters, he loosens off and looks up at Eliya. “You want to know?” asked Quake.

“Yep… If that isn’t a problem, I hope.”

Quake looks away for a second… then looks back up. “There’s a weapon’s shed where we kept your belongings near the northern wall… Before you go there… Just give them this; it’s something the High Commander gave to me when I was sent to work under his daughter… It’ll be the only proof you have for you to get in and get your stuff.” Quake gives Eliya, a rusty looking key that has aged overtime.

Eliya takes the key and puts it in her pocket, and heads back to Vallan. “We need to head to the northern wall… and let me handle the talking. Don’t do anything reckless, please,” said Eliya.

Vallan shrugs and follows behind her. “I’ll see if I can try,” said Vallan.

“Try harder, dammit.”

“Hee hee hee… You said harder.”

Eliya groans and face-palms herself; before the trio leave, Quake stops them. “Wait… Before you leave… Who… Who are you?”

The twins stop and turn toward Quake, standing straighter than usual. “We are members of Psycho Corps; and part of the mercenary group, Ins0ne Par1y. We are the twins, ‘The Kel Sisters’. And behold of our second-in-command… Vallan the Remorseless.”

Vallan turns around, and suddenly Quake sees it – surrounding him is a strange purple glowing essence surrounding him like an invisible cloak – the strange glow gives out a strange feeling within Quake… as if something wild wants to be let loose from staring at the strange glow surrounding him.

The trio leave, but Vallan stops to look at Quake one final time. “Be glad you’re alive because of my nieces… Hope that we don’t cross one another… ever,” said Vallan, his expression going from an impossible mask to crack.

Quake watches them leave… their names forever etched in legend and myth for all time.

High Commander Meteor Shatter watched above the northern wall; below him are the countless survivors of this sudden incident. Right now this moment in history will be written forever… if there is anypony to tell what has occurred here. Standing with him is Commander Moon Glaive… well ex-Commander; having told him of her resignation, he will permit it once they reach Canterlot once the sun rises.

Commanders Hurricane and Star Gleam should be back here. I was told Hurricane went out to get her back here… They better be here soon or I’ll drag them back myself.

Meteor was snapped from his thoughts when a horn was blown. “ARE WE BEING ATTACKED!” shouted Moon, staring off in the distance.

Coming out of the dust-covered air… were three figures; two of them was the prisoners, but walking beside them was the intruder… Many of the recruits and veterans have named him the Relentless Demon for his unending attacks and unrelenting ways of executing ponies without mercy.

Everypony expected a battle but instead, one of the prisoners spoke, and held in her hand was a rusted key. To everypony in meant nothing… to Meteor it meant everything. Where did she get that key!?

“My name is Eliya Kel… I was told this key was an easy… ‘key’ to get my sister’s and my stuff… So hand it over or… well, I think you know perfectly well what this guy can do,” said Eliya, pointing at Vallan.

Vallan pulls out one of his guns and fires at a random target outside the makeshift wall. A large explosion happens as debris is sprayed everywhere. The soldiers inside shake in fear and begin to cower, even hardened veterans have second thoughts about the situation. High Commander Meteor stares at the key and what it represents.

“High Commander, sir! What are your orders?!” shouted Moon, saluting.

“Open the gates.”

The sudden order shocked Moon to the point that she thought she was talking to somepony else and not Meteor, who was known for being four times as ruthless and ignorant. “Pardon but… you want us to do what?”

“I SAID OPEN THE DAMN GATES!”

Moon backed away from Meteor and ordered a random soldier what he told her. The gates opened as the trio entered inside; they were led to where their weapons and equipment were kept. Lov and Eliya reequip themselves, and follow Vallan to meet the High Commander face-to-face.

Vallan and Meteor Shatter stand before each other on top of the northern wall; the nearby soldiers feel the sudden unease between the two juggernauts. Many of those who heard of Meteor Shatter know of the countless battles he fought, and the wars he were in. Some of the recruits have begun to spur stories of the strange figure and word of his name will soon spread… All will know of Vallan the Remorseless.

Meteor stares at Vallan, then looks at the rusty key in his grip. “Quake gave you that key?” asked Meteor.

Vallan doesn’t speak but nods instead, Eliya then moves beside Vallan to speak up. “Considering how serious we are about this… We would like to ask one final favor,” said Eliya.

Meteor continues to stare at the key but changes his gaze upon Eliya; Eliya fidgets under the sudden glare the High Commander is giving her. The glare ends when Meteor turns to face the outskirts of the wall. “Go on…”

Eliya sighs and takes a deep breath. “We’ll give you back the key… but you can’t chase after us… Until sunrise comes… do we have an agreement?”

Those who were nearby such as Moon Glaive and some fellow soldiers gawk at the request but stay quiet to await Meteor’s response. The High Commander continues to stare off at the distance… and speaks once more. “I’ll accept these conditions… if your friend returns something else that belongs to us.”

Eliya was confused when she heard a loud plop. Piled on the ground were a pair of pegasus wings and a unicorn’s horn. The nearby soldiers turn around and empty their stomachs, a few stare at the impossible sight. Meteor Shatter simply levitates the ripped off limbs and gives them to Moon Glaive who carries them in her magic. “Give these to the medics; I want them to be in cryo-freeze. Place time-stop runes until they’re reattached to their owners. Also send a squad to the prisoner block to retrieve Commanders Hurricane and Star Gleam and anypony else they may find.”

Moon Glaive stares dumbly but shakes of her stupor and turns to do what the High Commander has told her to do. “Yes High Commander, sir!” shouted Moon, leaving.

Meteor Shatter turns to leave, but catches the tosses rusted key. He swivels his head to see Vallan and the girls leave.

“High Commander… Are we actually letting them leave?”

Meteor watches the trio leave and enter the tree-line, he then loops a chain around the key and hangs it around his neck. The silhouettes of Vallan and the Kel Sisters disappear… the moon begins to shift away, signifying sunrise to come soon.

“Postpone any messages to Canterlot until sunrise… I am a stallion of my word. Once the first light of the sun touches this camp, send a warning to Canterlot…”

“What kind of warning sir?”

High Commander Meteor Shatter levitates his sleek obsidian helmet – the helmet has two curved horns on the side and hole to fit his cracked horn, spikes adorn the top and back as ancient runes are etched on the helmet, making an eerie glow from the helmet – and wears it. He slowly steps down the stairs on the side of the wall, and begins his trek to the now destroyed southern wall.

“Tell Princess Platinum… That we may have an enemy in our hooves; the battle has been lost, but the war has just… begun.” Meteor levitates a massive claymore with his magic, where he balances the massive sword on his back with ease. Beneath the High Commander’s visor… is the grin of sadistic warrior.

Escape II: Betrayal

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Morning, Canterlot Castle, A.I’s room.

The morning’s dew has arrived and as the frigid morning air moves through Canterlot, its inhabitants slowly learn of the news of what has occurred last night; that Equestria has encountered its first attack.

It started out as rumors, then stories… and then it became news; ponies slowly begun to swarm toward the castle, but the soldiers have created a blockade to keep both the nobility and populace from doing anything “stupid”.

Inside, A.I. busily works on another experiment that involves one of the crystals he brought with him. In his own private room is a shelf with several crystals; each crystal is labeled, with a barrier around each one.

A.I. turns some knobs and flicks some switches, after which he pulls a lever. The machine turns on and the crystal inside – a dark purple crystal – hums; the noise starts off slow but begins to increase, a dark bright light begins to envelop the room and A.I. who stares at the light, not fazed at all.

At that same time, the door to his study opens; a loud gasp is heard – something metallic clattering. A.I. sighs, turns off the machine; the light ebbs away and the noise stops, and turning to the source of the noise, he finds Sharp – the soldier who was requested to help A.I. - covered in some strange liquid from one of A.I’s jars.

“What is this stuff?” asked Sharp, trying to wipe it off her snout.

“Would you rather like to know, or start answering why you’re in my room, when I said specifically not to disturb me at this time?” said A.I. While it sounded like he spoke politely, his cold eyes were enough for Sharp to know that she pissed off A.I. with his… Whatever he was working on.

“N-N-Noo-No!” said Sharp. She tried to wipe the strange goop off her, but all it did was get her coat more sticky… and there was an off smell about this slime. “I came here because Princess Platinum has some recent news about your companions.”

A.I. wasn’t fazed by the news and continued to work and check his notes. Sharp sighed and tried to stand on all hooves but kept on slipping, due to the slime.

“I see… does she want me to come to her, or have you come here to give a message?” said A.I, mixing something in a vial.

“No; she wants you to meet her in her own royal chambers… However...” While A.I. was still focused on whatever he was doing, Sharp suddenly became quiet and serious, giving A.I. a warning. “She mentioned something about an attack; she’s been awake in her room since the sun rose up.”

A.I. stopped; the vial he was swishing was gently placed on a pedestal. He turned to face Sharp with an emotionless stare; bringing his right hand up and pointing it toward her, a small blast of cold wind was sent at her. Sharp shivered but realized the slime became solid and broke like glass as it clattered around her, and before she could say her thanks, A.I. picked her up by the scruff of her neck. She found herself staring at a very unamused A.I; she could not tell if he was angry or didn’t believe her.

“Bring me to her highness… Now.”

Elsewhere; Canterlot Castle, Canterlot Kitchen.

Eating breakfast, Swuen was enjoying some toast, a bowl of potato soup, and a glass of apple juice – it tasted like apple juice. Well she was enjoying her meal with some of the chefs from their short break after making breakfast for all the staff in the castle. Swuen has become friends with a majority of the servants – the maids, butlers, chefs, and a couple of the guards – with her being the only one interacting with anypony in the castle.

“This is some nice soup; so you have to make your own food, and the food of everypony here? Is there any other job you can do?” asked Swuen, taking a bite of her toast.

“Well, nobility or those with the bits can get the proper education to get jobs. Those who don’t have several options alone,” said one of the maids, sipping some tea.

“You either become a farmer in your hometown, be a maid or butler to serve a noble, join the military, or explore unknown lands and find adventure. There is of course raiding villages, or working for the other nations but only the truly depraved or desperate will go for that option,” said a blacksmith.

“Not a lot of options, huh.”

Many of those present nodded in agreement; one young servant, a young stallion who had some hair growing from his chin, smiled at Swuen, finding the stories she’s mentioned interesting. “But you’ve traveled the world before where you come from Miss Swuen! What was it like, fighting dangers, overcoming deadly lands, and meeting interesting ponies?!”

Swuen took a drink of her juice, and once finished, smiled sweetly at the young stallion and had her eyes lidded as she looked back at the stallion.

“Please… Call me Swuen; about my adventures… its something I can’t tell you as the group I belong to are very secretive.”

“Awww! Can’t you at least tell us something about yourself?”

“Now now Heart Beat, Lady Swuen said she doesn’t want to talk, then you shouldn’t be pestering her about it. Besides, being a group of mercenaries may sound too much for yourself.”

“Oh come on Snowflake, the colt needs to understand the dangers beyond our borders… besides, hearing some stories from faraway lands won’t harm him.”

“Says you Windslice, for being an ex-soldier you know way more about what goes on out there.”

“I’m not that old; the only reason I retired was because of some chronic injury I received. The glory from being a soldier isn’t truly glamorous, most often you end up doing guard doing… the rare chance of battle comes from dueling against another soldier or a wild beast.”

“Don’t forget that the soldiers love to flirt with any young mare when they get the chance to go on leave.” Everypony started laughing after that joke, Swuen simply grinned and chuckled lightly. Swuen stared off at the group and had memories of her childhood… she frowned sadly having a certain memory rise from her psyche.

One of the servants noticed and place a hoof on Swuen’s hand. “Lady Swuen? Is something bothering you?”

Swuen stared at her soup, which reminded her of a dark part of her past… something she hasn’t told anyone else in her group… except for Vallan. “Well… While I can’t tell you of my adventures with my group… I can tell you of my past…”

The servants huddled around and listened to her latest tale; Swuen sat straight and kept one hand balancing her head. She muddled through her memories but came to the right one, where she began her tale.

I wasn’t like many children… I was taught how the world works, and who is who… but again… I wasn’t like many children. You see, while the poor wandered and try to make ends meet, the nobility most often rarely had to do anything to make it to where they are. Most noblility become noblility because of finding some riches, other noble families are part of bloodlines of heroic knights, making them legends in the military. There are of course the rare few of the nobility who started off poor but became rich through hard labor… only these families give charity to the poor and have a good relationship with the poor… I actually knew some who were actually part of infamous gangs and who were the leader of these gangs.

I on the other hand… I was the fourth princess of a royal family of the nation I was born to.

Here everypony gasped, never realizing Swuen was royalty. One of the servants bowed out of instinct until one of the other servants told them to stand up. “Yo-Yo-You’re royalty!” shouted Heart Beat.

“Was… The royal family I was part of died a long time ago… But back to my story.”

I was the youngest in my family; four daughters, three sons, a king and a queen… Life was alright, and our kingdom was in peace. Crime was a down low and everyone lived prosperously… Well… that’s what I thought around my youth. Apparently a restless part of the kingdom wanted change… and it all started because of some madman.

War… A war that would last for generations to come, out of the greed of one man who wanted something that never existed. There was a legend in the royal family of a treasure so powerful… they could rule the world. In reality, this treasure was a being so ancient it could see the future… sadly, this being had died during the reign of the old king, and with that being’s death… peace came upon all.

The war brought so much sadness that once everyone realized what has happened… it was too late. Men, women, children, and so many races of many backgrounds died; riots started and sides were broken and went to disarray. Those who joined the madman were executed, and the madman was brutally killed off… sadly, that didn’t stop the riots thirst for blood… and they directed their rage toward the royal family.

No one knew who was friend or foe, and the blood of the innocent would stain the ground forever. When they came bashing through the gates of the castle… The screams… the many screams, and it didn’t just come from the guards, but even simple servants. None was sparred and when they finally came for the nobility and royalty… they executed them one by one.

When my time was coming… a servant girl saved my life, but paid the price. That girl’s death was enough to anger… a deity. A bright light was blasted to all, searing their skin until all that remained was burning corpses. I… was spared… but without a price; the light took my sight, and the crushing sound of a million angels was enough to make me deaf… I was alone, things that I depended on taken from me… surrounded by a field of corpses… Until I was discovered… by him.

Those listening to the story had mixed emotions, but all were amazed… except for one pony in particular. “Impossible; something like that couldn’t had happened!” said Snowflake, crossing her hooves.

Everypony was about to retort, but Swuen raised her hand, and looked directly at Snowflake… that was when she saw her eyes. Swuen’s eyes were glossy, the color in her eyes dim and lifeless; the eyes of the blind.

“Whether you believe isn’t up for debate… but the one thing you should understand… Is that nothing is impossible… just hard to believe.” Swuen stood up and picked up her plates and headed to the kitchen. “Now I should leave, I believe your princess is calling me; something about news of my other companions. Farewell… Oh, another thing!”

Snowflake looked toward Swuen – who was smiling – Swuen looked back with a strange look in her eyes… as if she was hiding something. “There may have been… one lie in that story,” said Swuen, leaving the group of ponies.

With Swuen gone, everypony continued eating or went back to work; Snowflake stared at the ground until she too left, with one thought left in her mind. Why would she tell us that she lied… What could she be hiding?

Near the outskirts of Canterlot, atop Mt. Canterlot.

After gathering some supplies at the pile of rubble and junk that Vallan had collected near the lake he crashed by, Vallan, Lov, and Eliya head toward the capital of this nation; Canterlot. Here news of two of their companions have spread and are currently residing inside the castle… for now. So far, A.I. and Swuen aren’t imprisoned but watched vigilantly, and Vallan plans to get them out… whether it means to annihilate everything within the capital.

Vallan eyes the capital and its surrounding buildings with a telescope or something similar to the object. Eliya – who’s also examining the capital – spots several patrol routes by the city’s soldiers. Lov on the other hand is busily playing in the snow, making a small snowman, using whatever debris she can find as the arms, eyes, nose, and mouth.

“Now what Uncle?” asked Eliya, putting down her telescope.

Vallan continues to spot the different possible routes they could take until he too puts down his telescope. “There is only one way out of the capital, and considering the city is placed at the side of the mountain, it’ll be difficult getting down… Which means we not only need to get out stealthily… but find a form of transportation.”

“And how exactly are we going to do that without being spotted? We can’t just steal some sort of cart without news of a cart being missing spreading, now can we.”

Vallan stopped to think but remembered something; searching his pouches, he pulls out a dark blue crystal. A strange but magical glow comes from the crystal, causing a strange energy to well up within Vallan. In an instant, Vallan turns transparent as his nearly invisible; he puts away the crystal and turns back visible.

“We’ll use these to sneak in… as for our escape transportation… I’ll find something else for us to use, but now we move before the sun is at its highest. Prepare for now…”

Before Vallan could head back to their makeshift camp, Lov stops to ask a random question – when she was still building her snowman.

“What do we do if things go loud?” asked Lov, humming a tune at the same time.

Vallan stops and Eliya seems worried; there was only two things she’s afraid of in this world, her adopted father… and Vallan. There was a side to him that was ruthless and vicious with no end… that was the side she was terrified of seeing – and the side that Lov truly likes about Vallan.

“Then we make sure it stays quiet,” said Vallan, with a vicious tone in his voice.

Canterlot Castle, Princess Platinum’s Room.

Princess Platinum was laying on her bed with her back leaned against the backboard of her bed, where she was currently speaking with her adviser and close friend; Clover the Clever. Early in the morning, Platinum was told news of the strange beings that the military camp have captured have escaped, having been freed by one of A.I’s companions and caused many of their military force to decrease.

This not only displeased Platinum, but made her trust with A.I. to lessen. She called both him and his companion, Swuen to talk about the incident and ask if they knew of this attack happening.

“The attack was swift and sudden, the injured are in the hundreds, and… Deaths are unclear but its supposed to be around seven hundred,” said Clover, reading a report from a messenger.

Each passing second she heard that report was like a knife was piercing her heart; only a quarter of those listed are the ponies still MIA. Either they ran during the panic or… worse. A knock was heard at her door – two quick but deliberately separate knocks. Entering inside was one of the butlers who bowed and raised his head. “What is it?” asked Platinum.

“My lady; Sir A.I. and Lady Swuen have arrived. Shall I bring them inside?”

Platinum nodded and in response the two spoken figures entered inside; with A.I. was one of the assigned soldiers for him. Her name was Sharp I believe, or something like that.

“Where have you two been?! We been sending messengers to call you two since sunrise!” shouted Clover, standing up.

Swuen simply leaned against the wall beside Sharp – the two gave a small bump with Sharp’s hoof and Swuen’s fist – while A.I. stepped forward to answer the question. “Ah yes about that; those messengers that came for me… I sent them running with their tails partially frozen.”

This caused Clover and Platinum’s jaws to drop, while Swuen laughed; Sharp tried to stifle her own fit but only managed a suppressed snort. Before Clover could explode with rage, A.I. stopped her and finished his reason for doing such a thing.

“I mentioned specifically to not bother me during one of my experiments. It is not my fault if one of your servants, end up missing a limb… or a head.”

This made some of the soldiers outside the room to make a barf noise, Sharp though was used to A.I’s disturbing way of explaining things that she gave an annoyed sigh and continued to stand vigilantly.

Clover wanted to punch A.I. so badly, but Platinum needed to speak to the two… immediately. “Well… at least they aren’t harmed; now, Princess Platinum wants to talk to you two about-”

“Our companions?” asked Swuen, interrupting Clover.

Clover was about to speak but Platinum raised her hoof to stop her. She then tried to get off her bed but managed to have her back legs limply swaying on the side of the bed. She took a deep breath and gave a good long stare to her two guests.

She then motioned to Clover which she brought out a folder – the folder looked filthy and smelled of blood – which Platinum handed to A.I. Swuen became interested and approached her companion with bated interest.

“During last night, an attack was waged on our military camp near the capital within the forest nearby. All of the tribes military might is there with the other remainder here in Canterlot… Almost a thousand ponies have either been killed or injured… so far we only found at least a quarter of those who were deep in the fight. As to who attacked… we had some pictures of the assailant being taken, and you’ll be surprised who it is,” said Platinum. She then leaned back to her bed, which she now realized had become more uncomfortable for some reason.

A.I. simply stared at the folder and opened it… one picture came out – a black and white photo made of a yellowish paper – the photo showed a lone figure standing amongst the rubble of a wall of sorts. The figure is holding two strange L-shaped weapons that were mentioned to spew out hot metallic rocks, capable of piercing a pony’s armor and flesh in moments.

“Do you know who that is?” asked Clover.

“...” A.I. was silent; a strange chill came upon the room. Moments later… the chill disappeared, being replaced by A.I’s voice. “Yes… He’s the right-hand of our leader; Vallan the Remorseless, or also known as...”

The Hunter.

Everypony who was in the room or nearby started to scramble away from A.I. – even Sharp who was used to A.I’s attitude. The word “hunter” was a cursed word to Equestrians as it had two meanings; killer or… cannibal. To be given the title of hunter would mean that this Vallan character was someone… or something you don’t try to cross. This small piece of evidence was enough for Platinum to make her next move.

“I see… then I have no choice but to do this,” said Plainum. “Sir A.I. and his companion, Lady Swuen – I hereby order you two to stay and be watched in Canterlot Castle until your companion and those he freed are recaptured for their crimes!”

Swuen reacted instantly, she lunged forward so quickly nopony but A.I. was quick enough to see what she was doing. She brought a knife and held against Platinum’s throat; her face showed nothing but pure rage toward the princess.

“You little shit! You think you can just go ahead and call our friends criminals! You and your military were the ones who captured and treated our friends like animals; not only that but you messed with Vallan’s nieces! What kind of a family member would watch and let their family be treated like that! It should be you who should be put in a cage; YOU LITTLE-!”

“LOARVEN SWUEN!”

Swuen stopped and turned to face A.I, until she realized he had his hand on her shoulder. He gave her an empty cold stare, but it was enough for Swuen to think twice about what she was about to do. Swuen pulled her knife away from Princess Platinum, but the second that happened she felt a strange glow on her knife as it was pointed directly at her.

She watched from the corner of her eye and spotted Clover; her horn was aglow as she levitated Swuen’s knife at her. “HOW DARE YOU POINT A WEAPON AT HER HIGHNESS!”

“Calm down Clover-”

“DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! YOUR FRIEND HERE TRIED TO THREATEN HER HIGHNESS!”

“Wouldn’t you do the same if someone insulted someone you care about too,” said Swuen, her voice sounding like a viper’s.

Clover didn’t wanted to agree but Swuen was right; if somepony were to insult Platinum – especially in front of her – she’d tear them up… She always had anger issues and because of Starswirl’s training, she’s been able to control such urges, but sometimes… she would end up with fights with some of the guard or blast a part of the castle.

“Princess Platinum, my companion here… has a strong friendship with Vallan and has gone through a traumatizing past of mistrust with others… I must ask you rethink about what you have planned for Vallan; he is much of victim as any other.”

“What kind of a victim slaughters others?” asked Platinum.

“...The kind without a soul,” said A.I, readying to leave. “Now I must return to my lab to retry a certain experiment of mine that was interrupted. I am again sorry for Swuen’s behavior, it won’t happen again; farewell your highness.”

With that A.I. walked away but waited for Swuen to follow; Swuen stood still and followed behind. Her knife was still in Clover’s magical grip, but Clover felt a strange pull on the knife and suddenly… it appeared on Swuen’s hand once more. She sheathed the weapon away, and turned to face Clover.

“Surprised? You’re not the only one capable of using levitation you know,” said Swuen. “There’s still a lot you need to learn about ‘magic’.”

The two left but as Sharp was about to leave with that, Platinum spoke out. “You, guard!”

Sharp stopped and turned to face her highness. Did I do something wrong? I knew I shouldn’t laugh! “Yes… your highness?” asked Sharp, sweating.

“I wish to speak to you in private…”

The doors to Platinum’s room closed behind; Sharp was alone with Princess Platinum and her adviser… she was so in trouble. “Now then… I have a… ‘favor’ for you to do.”

Canterlot Castle, a random hall.

“WHY THAT STUPID- How dare she think she can go willy-nilly, thinking she decides who should be punished or not! Its idiots like her why I joined Locust; at least his morals are right about our world. The same can be said for this world too!”

“I would disagree...” Swuen found A.I’s sudden disagreement surprising – considering his past. “This world has seen its share of horrors… we’re simply another reason why life here is shitty even more. Our world while has its own dangers… is a bit lax with certain things. The world isn’t as corrupted as it used to back home… Locust was right that the world will never change… but his wrong that it has changed at the slightest.”

Swuen wanted to smack A.I. so badly; out of all the members within Ins0ne Par1y… the only two that annoyed her was A.I. and Mathree. Mathree annoyed her because of his swearing without reason – though she was the same as well sometimes – but A.I. was worst. He was logical to a point that not even emotion exists in the man, and his bluntness for things didn’t help either.

“What in the deities are you talking about?”

“The reality is… even the most peaceful of lands aren’t as good that you think. The only worlds and kingdoms you can ever trust… are the ones where the cesspool and lowest of the low are seen openly. While sure they are too untrustworthy… they’re at least more easy to avoid than others.”

“Sure you’re right about that, but what does this have to do with-”

“The real threat isn’t those that are against us Swuen… but the demons we left behind. If we can’t deal with them then how you think we’re going to handle this problem?”

Swuen crossed her arms when she hated when A.I. started talking sentimental or something like that to a point. Though at times A.I. was right; the main reason anyone joined Psycho Corps was so their past wouldn’t come to haunt them – a place to forget the past… but there was another reason.

“Well, I’m going to go back to sleep. You go ahead and do your creepy experiments,” said Swuen. Swuen left A.I. as she went down her own separate path which led to her room. A.I. watched her leave as he too left to his side of the castle.

It seems I may have to leave an agreement I made behind after all… But who can I trust?

Near one of Canterlot’s entrances, Eastern Gate.

There are only two ways to enter Canterlot; the eastern and western gates which lead down the mountain’s foot. The northern side leads to the Canterlot mines with the southern wall being a steep drop off the mountain to a forest below. A magical field has been surrounded by the city making flying and teleporting impossible, meaning all three races are to take the only open routes… there is of course another way in.

Near the eastern gate is another gate which is used by Princess Platinum as her personal exit and entrance for her cart when she’s visiting the other settlements. This entrance is guarded tight… but there is a window; when the sun is at its highest, the area is blasted with so much heat, the guards stay inside for which it lasts for five minutes. Those five minutes are enough for Vallan and his team to sneak in – either by taking the window or using the stealth crystals.

Standing guard are seven guards – two outside by the gates, two inside by the gates, and three standing atop the wall above the gates – there are two small doors for the soldiers to move inside and outside. The path Vallan and his nieces are taking isn’t the gates or the side-doors… instead they’re taking the tower. To the side of the gate is a tower used by the guard, its however empty since some time ago, a majority of Canterlot’s military was sent to help and assist the survivors at the nearby military outpost.

Vallan turns to face his nieces as he repeats the plan once more. “The plan is that around this small window of five minutes, we will climb toward the tower, sneak to the bottom, take out any guards – alive – and bring them to the tower. We will then be separated in two teams; Lov, you find us a form of transportation, and meet us by the southern wall. Eliya and I shall head to the castle, once inside I will find A.I. and you will find Swuen. At most, avoid contact if you can… we want to avoid any attention as possible as we can,” said Vallan, repeating his plan.

Lov raised her hand as she had her legs crossed in a weird way. “Yes sis?” asked Eliya.

“Can… Can I go?”

Vallan was confused but Eliya quickly noticed first. “Oh co- You can go once we get in, just… hold it.”

“B-but sis!” Eliya placed her hand onto Lov’s mouth; she then looked over to the guards but saw they didn’t hear her sister.

“Just… hold it… Alright?”

Lov nodded; Eliya removed her mouth, and the time had come. A strong ray of light came upon the guards and Vallan’s group. They moved swiftly as this was planned – the guards outside took the side doors while those inside or on the wall moved and headed to the barracks – Vallan made a movement of his hand and directed them to the tower.

Swiftly they made it to the tower’s wall, and began climbing; since Eliya and Lov were trained for infiltration they were able to climb the wall with ease – though Lov made some grunts of difficulty. Vallan pointed one of his guns up and shot a strange hook which connected to the tower’s window. He then zoomed up beside his nieces and the three made inside, where instantly, Lov began bouncing wildly.

“C-c-ca-can I, n-no-n-now? Pl-l-lea-se?” asked Lov, begging.

Eliya sighed and pointed to a corner which had some crates; Lov nodded happily and quickly moved behind the crates. The sound of something hitting stone was heard – water… and… moaning? Vallan nudged Eliya and the two slowly but quickly made it down the tower’s steps with ease.

Not a single step was missed as they went down… but they heard something – snoring. At the bottom of the circular stares was a soldier who was sleeping as he sat on a chair. Apparently there was somepony inside the tower, but guessing that he had his helmet removed, he was avoiding guard duty – lazy ass.

“What now?” asked Eliya, whispering.

Vallan stared at the sleeping soldier, until he walked quietly up to the soldier… and tapped him on the head. The soldier began to wake up, but before he could open his eyes fully, Vallan inhaled deeply and tried his best impression of a drill sergeant – which was surprisingly good.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE PRIVATE!?”

The soldier tumbled off his chair and tried to get up and salute – miserably. “SIR, I WAS SIMPLY GUARDING THE TOWER, SIR!”

“ARE YOU LYING TO ME PRIVATE!? THE TOWER IS OFF-LIMITS! GET YOUR ASS TO THE BARRACKS BEFORE I GIVE YOU KITCHEN DUTY!”

“Sir?”

“ARE YOU DEFYING MY ORDERS!? BATHROOM DUTY OR LEAVE; NOW!”

At that moment, the soldier grabbed his helmet, shoved it on and without looking at Vallan – or his surroundings – he came running to the door and opened… he regretted that decision later on. “AHHHH; MY EYES!”

Vallan and Eliya laughed quietly where at that same time, Lov came back with a please but confused expression when she saw her sister and uncle laughing. “What did I miss?”

After they were done enjoying their quick prank, they peeked from the door the lazy soldier came from. They had two minutes left, so they made their time quickly; the sun’s light was bright but was beginning to dim, which means their time was short. They jumped off the wall and landed to the other side of the wall – the southern wall’s grounds. The southern wall was simply empty land meaning it was a vast empty piece of ground; there were some sparse small buildings but there was no vegetation or buildings.

This piece of land was a sort of testing and training ground for the military force in Canterlot and the researchers to test new spells or devices. The only one who did their tests inside the Castle was A.I. inside his personal lab.

One minute; we need to reach that shack at the far end. Once the soldiers reach their guarding posts, we can sneak the rest of the way forward. Vallan rushed for the shack… that was when he heard a door open.

Across from them was a lone pony, but he wasn’t a soldier. He wore servant clothes meaning he worked for the castle staff, other than that he hadn’t noticed Vallan and his nieces… yet. Quickly, the three pulled out the stealth crystals, their effect happening instantly – the three turned invisible.

The servant pony looked where Vallan and his nieces were invisible; he stared off with a suspicious look before shrugging it off and continuing with what he was doing. Afterwords, they sneaked in while invisible but slowly as the crystal’s effect becomes distorted from fast movement or overuse, meaning they had to reach to their destination immediately.

After getting inside the shack at the last second, Lov’s invisibility turned off right as she got in. Vallan closed the door and waited for the right time to move. Watching from a crack on one of the shack’s walls, Vallan watched as the soldiers left the barracks as the sun’s light dimmed from the mountain and the clouds dispersed around the summit. Once the soldiers gotten to their guarding posts, Vallan checked the area outside the shack, and found the area clear.

They left the shack and head to the boundary of the empty field, where they stood in the shadows of an alleyway. “This is where we depart; find something for us to escape with Lov… and remember… Don’t do anything to catch our attention.”

“Roger that, uncle-wenkle!” Lov bounded off as she climbed up the alleyway and unto the roofs. Vallan and Eliya, moved through the shadow’s of Canterlot, hiding under every dark spot the city could give them to hide under from the sun.

Canterlot Castle, A.I’s Lab.

A.I. had returned to his lab, but when he entered inside… he met a surprising guest inside. “Finally you’re here.” A.I. looked up and saw Clover in his room; she was currently examining some of his experiments, but she seemed to surround a particular dark purple crystal.

“May I ask what you’re doing here? After the whole conversation with her highness, I assumed I wouldn’t be seeing you until dinner,” said A.I.

“But there is something I must ask of you.”

A.I. grabbed a nearby chair and sat on it as he listened to Clover; she walked to one side of the room and turned to stare at the dark purple crystal. Strange siphoning devices surrounding the crystal filled a container of a glowing dark purple liquid. “When you told me not to fuse two different types of the crystals… I didn’t follow your own advice and something… happened.”

“...Let me guess; you created a blackhole didn’t you?”

“What, no! Something… else occurred,” said Clover. Clover rubbed her hoof with the other and stared at the crystal once more, a strange fascination in her eyes. “When I fused a dark purple crystal with a silver one… something happened. It started off slow, but then a strange glow brightened the room I was using; and suddenly just like that I saw the future.”

A.I. found this new revelation… surprisingly intriguing; the dark purple crystals were magic crystals – a very mysterious crystal that’s based off the element of darkness, giving its users strange abilities, or in this case… the ability to use magic – and gives many strange effects… but to use a boost crystal is rare as many are afraid of combining the two. A.I. himself has done something like it before but instead, the result involved… destroying a small part of their HQ.

“The future; what are you-” A.I. stopped mid-speaking and saw that Clover seemed outright frightful for some reason… she was terrified. “What did you see?”

“I saw… the future of this kingdom; some of the things I saw were good but some… were terrible. This land would soon be ruled by two sisters – two beings with wings of a pegasus, a horn of a unicorn, and the strength of the earth ponies – one was of the sun and the other of the night. They would rule the next coming thousand years; fighting monstrosities from the depths of Tartarus, a mad king ruling over an empire in the north, a spirit of pure chaos, and… a living nightmare. I’m not sure what those crystals did, but it showed me something I shouldn’t have seen… What should I do?”

Clover put both of her fore-hooves on her face, she was silently weeping and shaking. A.I. stared emotionless before staring back at the dark purple crystal… which he finally spoke back.

“Don’t worry about it,” said A.I, simply.

Clover’s reaction was of shock and utter disbelief to A.I’s tactlessness; she wanted to hit him so badly, but breathed in deeply and exhaled. A.I. wasn’t an idiot or an ignorant fool – that much could be told by his personality – so his somewhat blatant response had to mean something.

“What do you mean, ‘Don’t worry about it’? I saw the future of this nation, and you don’t want to worry about it! What if I do something that might change the timeline, or worse!”

A.I. seemed to sigh, and stand up; he walked to the strange machine that was around the dark purple crystal. He gave the crystal a once over before he glanced outside a nearby window, and stared off with a far-off look.

“Life can show you many strange things… I’ve seen my fair share of mysteries and tried to solve them with my own share of logic and knowledge… But there are times when I encounter… ‘moments of clarity’, where the world reveals something… unexplainable.” A.I. turned to slightly as he had one eye on Clover, the other staring off somewhere else. “Whether you see the future or the past; hold the world in your palm and given the power to do anything you desire… there is one thing I learned from… experience. You don’t live life so you can survive or to have a future… you live life with everything you have and give.”

Clover was speechless with A.I’s sudden talk; the heartless cold-eyed being was gone… replaced with someone else – a being who’s seen everything but unable to be a part of it. At first, Clover wanted to speak but a knock on the door was heard.

“I should probably check who’s that,” said Clover. Clover approached the door, but when she opened it, a large swarm of guards came rushing in. The guards at first pointed their spears at her then A.I; Clover quickly swatted one of the spears, and glared at the guards – they quickly realized their mistake and regretted it – where she proceeded to angrily speak at them.

“What’s the meaning of this!” shouted Clover.

“Adviser Clover; Captain Shield Breaker! We’re here to arrest Sir A.I. for betraying her highness, Princess Platinum!” shouted Breaker.

“Betrayed? Sir A.I. has been here the whole time, what in the heavens are you talking about?!”

Clover turned to where she assumed A.I. to be but, when she looked, A.I… seemed to stand there shaking. At first she thought he was afraid of the weapons but he disappeared to nothing, and suddenly the strange device from before broke and a message played out of nowhere.

I am sorry Clover and fellow guards but I wasn’t in this room at the slightest. You see, the machine that was in my room was creating an illusion of myself in this very room. Now illusions are unable to make physical actions and the like… that’s where the magic crystal comes in play; the crystal caused the illusion to be given physical contact and to seem as life-like as possible until the invasion of you guards.

Clover felt betrayed, she wanted to smash something, somepony… but the message continued to play.

You miss Clover were however not part of the plan as I didn’t expect you to come to my room, luckily I planned every possible contingency… I just did not see you being the one being fooled; I expected more from you, oh royal adviser. As to why I am doing this… My allegiance to whom is… questionable but for now, all you must know is that I… have a favor to keep… Which means I must overthrow our original agreement. You may keep the crystals I give you, but they won’t last as you don’t have the proper equipment and if you did, it would take you the next five hundred years to figure out my dear dear benign fools.

I am currently with my companion – Swuen – and her highness, we plan to leave this city… As to what may happen to your princess… well… Lady Swuen has a few things to “discuss” with her. Farewell.

The message ended and a loud beeping noise was heard; one of the guards checked what was the guards and saw something that looked like a box with a timer on it. Clover and the Captain both caught on what it was as they had something similar but a more simpler version. “DYNAMITE! GET OUT! NOW NOW NOW NOW!”

Everypony scrambled out, dropping their weapons, shields, and started pushing their way through the small doorway. Before Clover left, she looked at a strange small object – it was rectangular, and seemed to have something poking out from the top – and as quickly she could, she levitated the object and ran out of the room. At the last second, that part of the castle blew up as not just A.I’s room was scorched but some halls and floors both above and below were devastated.

Clover and some of the guards were able to get to safety… those who didn’t, found themselves buried under rubble or crushed. The castle was covered in flames and the stench of something that caused those to breath it in to start choking. “MAGIC BARRIERS! DON’T BREATH THE AIR, ITS TOXIC!” shouted Breaker. Immediately, all unicorns created magic barriers, and combined it to one big barrier. “PEGASI; BLOW THIS TOXIC AIR OUT, NOW!”

The pegasi flew up as they could and slowly but surely blew the deadly air away, where all ponies began to dig any ponies caught in the blast out of the rubble. Clover examined the damage and found one pony scorched to a charred black corpse. Clover was ready to throw up, but held her bile in; Clover saw the captain and approached him.

“Captain! We need to find her highness!” shouted Clover.

“Way ahead of you Lady Clover; we’re sending out any capable guards to search around the castle – every floor, room, nook and cranny will be examined,” said Breaker. “You should head to somewhere safe.”

“No, I must find her highness; I am as much responsible of her as anypony else.”

With that, the captain nodded in agreement, and the two began to search for Princess Platinum. Where have they taken you Platinum?

Canterlot Mines; somewhere within the underground tunnels of Canterlot.

Princess Platinum was led through the tunnels with a muzzle on her snout and a chain around her neck. The one leading her was Swuen and A.I; the two had sneaked in her chambers, knocked out the guards, and took as quick and quiet as mice. They were able to sneak by all the guards and any who dared to see them were… swiftly handled by Swuen.

I haven’t seen anyone move that quickly before… the way she moved with those weapons… she’s nothing like I seen before.

“Of course I’m not,” said Swuen, responding to Platinum’s thought.

Platinum was a bit startled by Swuen knowing her thoughts, that she stumbled and almost tripped from a rock. “Y-Y-o-ou hear-eard me?”

“I have reeeallly good hearing.”

Platinum wasn’t sure if she was being sarcastic or not, but before she could respond, A.I. swiftly raised his hand to stop them, listened, and made a motion with his hand, and they continued to talk. A.I. seemed to do that several times and it gotten on the princess’s nerves, but Swuen seemed to not mind the sudden stops.

The mines were a maze and while they weren’t done mining, it was still a maze for its size and misguiding pathways. Only her, Clover, and the lead mining manager knew their way through these tunnels… How would A.I. and Swuen manage to get themselves out with her as their hostage.

They’ll never get out of here, and if they did… there’s still the problem of what they should after getting out. The second they find the way out, they’ll be chased down by every single citizen of Equestria to the end of the world, and more of our kind are coming here to migrate and live here – surrounded by two fronts, with zero exits.

A.I. continued walking until he stopped again, and placed his hand on a random wall. He had his eyes closed, and had a focused expression before opening them, backed away and brought both his hands up. Before he was about to do something, he turned to Swuen and Platinum and motioned for them to move back. “You may want to stand back… Oh and your highness, you may be advised by your adviser and thought about your surroundings… but there are still things you must learn."

Platinum was confused but A.I. pointed both the palms of his hands and a sudden cold chill descended around them. At first it became unnoticeable and a tad annoying to some point with them in the mines, but it dropped to a sudden temperature, and around some nearby rocks and the pointed parts of the tunnel ceiling was frost and icicles. The ground around A.I. was frosted over, and the air seemed to have a colder, blue edge to it.

A.I. continued pointing both palms, and with a sudden thrust of his arms, A.I. focused his hands and said something in a whisper but loud for Platinum to hear.

“Chemical Freeze: Blast,” said A.I, speaking softly.

A wave of ice was sent forward and blasted against the rock wall he was looking at; the ice seemed to at first collect at the wall and suddenly the wall… was beginning to crumble. The ice started to deteriorate the rock wall as the rock started to slowly freeze and crack. After finishing his blast of ice, the remaining rock froze over and gave a translucent look, and were able to see the outside of the tunnels – sunlight and the sky.

“How, how were you able to do that!? You can’t use magic!” shouted Platinum, in utter shock.

Swuen grinned at her surprise, and spoke back with snide tone in her voice. “In our world, we call magic something else; Aura – a being’s life-force. Anyone in our world can use supernatural powers; some are born to have control of their powers, others have little control, while a rare few are overflowing with aura. A.I. here has an ice-based aura, which fits best with his personality, and skill with controlling ice based powers. His is really unique because it controls the chemical reaction of certain things, in this case-”

“My powers based off a specific technique of ice; the ability to chemically change the temperature of any object I may touch or focus my power toward,” said A.I, finishing Swuen’s sentence.

A.I. walked up to the frozen wall, and touched it; it cracked to pieces and opened a way outside the mines. A.I. turned to face Platinum, and he seemed to be grinning violently; the ice around him seemed to point up to him and looked as if it were trying to reach to him – it was making him looked like an ice demon… a Windigo.

By Faust… Save us…

Canterlot, the alleyways of Canterlot; Vallan moves through the shadows with Eliya toward the castle.

Vallan peers beyond a corner and spots a marketplace; many vendors have their shops opened, ranging from food, clothes, trinkets, and a blacksmith. Ponies wearing mostly fancy, costly clothes trot by these vendors, and some stare at the things they have for sale. Not a speck of a pony who wasn’t wearing any clothes was sighted… especially any pegasi or earth ponies, mostly unicorns.

It seems the aristocracy of this place consists of unicorns, the other races have to be either farmers or serve under the military, and are unable to make a living as a noble. Vallan turned to face Eliya – she was sharpening her kunais, and checking her other equipment.

“Eliya, this is the plan; we’re going to have to make a commotion at the marketplace. Once a majority of this city’s guard come to find what’s happening, we’ll leave them confused and strike the castle and sneak our way in,” said Vallan. “You’ll prepare for a good enough distraction, and I’ll be on lookout.”

Eliya sheathed her kunais and nodded; pulling up a piece of her clothing, she covered her mouth and pulled over a hood – it covered her entire head except her eyes that looked like slitted snake eyes. Vallan moved up the building and watched from the roof; Eliya slowly walked from the alleyway, still unnoticed by the crowd. Pulling out a strange object, it was shaped like a sphere with a strange pin on the end of it.

Let’s get this show started. Throwing the sphere as far she could, it bounced and landed amongst the crowd – a few are curious of the strange object, mistaking it as a rock – where a closer look on it revealed an imprint of a smiley face with a fuse on the top; one of Rubert’s customized bombs.

“FIRE IN THE HOLE!” shouted Eliya, throwing more of the bombs.

Many of the ponies became confused about what was happening, then the first bomb blew up. It wasn’t a threatening bomb but instead caused an amassed amount of smoke to appear; it made many to panic while some bumped into one another, many who were in the densest part of the smoke, started to cough. More of the bombs started to explode one after another, most of the marketplace was now a sea of confusion and choking smoke, as those far from the panic ran away while most ended with trampling others.

Vallan dropped down beside Eliya and watched the chaos unfold. “Well… that was easier than I thought; bloody ponies are too skittish for their own good,” said Vallan.

Vallan peered beyond the panic and spotted a small swarm of guards coming to find out what’s happening. “Look’s like that’s our cue; time to make our leave.”

Vallan and Eliya ran by the crowd, avoiding anypony and making it through to the other side of the crowd. The guards were blocked off by the panic and luckily did not noticed them; they were nearing the castle and spotted a few guards near the main gate to the castle’s courtyard.

Sneaking to the side to not be seen, Vallan examines the surrounding area – the main gate, the walls that surround the castle, and the few remaining guards around – when something was off in the distance. Around the far side of the castle, near the mountain, smoke was rising up – a black smog piling around the sky and that part of the castle – small figures were flying around; pegasi… someone attacked the castle.

“Seems A.I. made his choice; does that mean he made it out?” asked Eliya.

Vallan continued to stare at the destruction wrought by one of his companions, and shook his head. “Doubt it; guessing by the calmness of that crowd before, those outside the castle, don’t know what’s going on. Most likely, A.I. and Swuen are somewhere hidden in hiding… We need to get inside the castle, find out who might know where they may be, and head there.”

Eliya’s look in her eyes showed that they shouldn’t be here – surrounded by strange beings, in a city unfamiliar, a world not of their own, and separated from their fellows. Suddenly they heard shouting, and the guards who were at the main gate ran past them having not seen them.

Apparently, the guards who were stopped by the crowd sent somepony to get more help, resulting in the guards by the gate to come assisting them. This gave Vallan and Eliya to run through the main gate, running over the drawbridge; the other side was a path to the castle, with a circular stone path to two sets of stairs to the main doors which would lead to the castle. Young trees and flowers were placed around the walkways – they were recently planted, and seemed more were to be planted too – with statues of unfamiliar figures placed along the path.

Much of the courtyard was large and empty, there were some plots of land that were possibly to be used for future construction projects. So far there were no problems to face… except for one; nearing the castle itself, there was one thing separating them from entering the castle – a guard.

“Shit! That guard is too far to throw any of my weapons; if she spots us and runs to get backup, we’re screwed,” said Eliya, ready to book it.

Eliya did not realized this but the guard had already spotted them… and she was waiting for them – and Vallan knew this. Vallan stopped his niece and walked ahead of her; she watched him walk toward the guard, and followed behind. The signs of anxiety and skepticness were written all over Eliya’s face, Vallan however was calm and followed the path to the guard.

The guard stood there vigilant and unmoving like a statue, she wore the armor like the other guards and was an earth pony. A spear was held standing against her armor as it leaned back – the wood was dark and showed it was used often making it a personal item, the metal piece gleaming and sharp as it was repetitively taken care of – the guard then stood straighter and held her spear in one leg, keeping it up but not pointed toward the two.

“My name is Private Sharp Sight; I was assigned to one of your companions to assist them to day-to-day activities. I am no threat to you or any of your allies, I wish only to help,” said Sharp.

A strange look was around Sharp – she was composed than usual and had an aura of a powerful figurehead – and while at first it wasn’t noticeable, it would by her odd calmness toward Vallan and Eliya. The one common thing about the ponies of this land is they are very one-minded and seeing something unusual or an outsider would cause them to panic and throw assumptions like gunfire. Here, Sharp was collected and acted what a military figure would act toward this sort of situation.

“Why would you want to help us? You were only told by your superiors to work under A.I. and make sure he stayed by your leader’s side to the point,” said Eliya, glaring suspiciously toward Sharp.

Sharp did not respond to the glare but continued to speak in a soldier-like way. “I was actually personally chosen by A.I. and wasn’t assigned to him; ever since then, I believe he saw something in me and I have felt something about him… I only wish to help him escape to safety with the rest of his comrades.”

“If you wish to help, then tell us where he might be so we can get him out.” Vallan approached toward Sharp; the two were varying differences with one taller than the other, and while Sharp was trained to defend her nation and their leader figures, Vallan looked ready to wipe out a small squadron of soldiers naturally like blinking.

Sharp sighed and stared at the smoking part of the castle – a weird look was in her eye as if she was remembering something but hiding horribly. “The princess’s adviser is somewhere within the rubble left my your friend, A.I’s attack… She might know where he escaped.”

With that Vallan nodded, motioned for Eliya to follow; Vallan thanked Sharp and in return she gave a nod in return. While they walked up the stairs and entered the castle, Eliya felt a strange thing about Sharp – she was too… calm… it reminded her a little about whenever A.I. had a convoluted plan up his sleeve. She follow Vallan inside and the two disappeared within the castle’s doors; Sharp stared where they left, and she smiled… a smile of deception.

Canterlot, Northern Edge of Canterlot; A.I, Swuen, and Platinum find themselves outside of the mines.

After breaking a wall of the tunnel that would lead outside, the three find themselves by some buildings used for the miners who come around midnight and work till the sunrises. Nopony lives near the mines because of the noise and that only the main workforce work in the mines, but of course some noble families send their own workers and support the efforts of the miners like sending them supplies, and have their own managers to make sure their collected gems are used – either for selling, creating dresses or trinkets, or create a number of armor and weaponry for the militaristic noble families.

Swuen dropped Platinum as she carried her by the scruff of her neck; Platinum fell down and was left splayed with her snout shoved in the ground. When she raised her, she was met with the palm of A.I. – it glowed with the same light blue light when he was directing his hand at the stone wall.

“W-W-Wa-ait! D-Do-o-on-n’t!” shouted Platinum, scrambling back. Her restraints clanked on the ground as she scrambled to get away. Swuen stared back expecting this, and watched with a yawn, staring with a bored expression.

“Quick wasting time and get it over with,” said Swuen, twirling her weapon.

“I-I-I c-ca-n-n sti-i-ill he-a-ah-al-alp y-u-uo-ohh!” Platinum was crying and snot was dripping from her muzzle – she was terrified like never before.

Ha; so much for being high and mighty. Swuen grinned sadistically at Platinum struggle at the inevitable… except when A.I. fired a blast of cold wind, instead of finding a popsicle-pony… her chains were frozen and fell to tiny pieces.

Swuen watched with some shock but was interested what A.I. was planning in that mind of his. A.I. removed Platinum’s muzzle; she was left speechless but continued to sniffle and cry a little from fear.

Suddenly, A.I. did something nobody expected him to do; he was comforting Platinum, smoothing out her mane and scratching her ear with the other hand. At first it was surprising from the sudden contact as Platinum expected for her whole body to freeze from the touch, but the feeling felt calming and she leaned her head to his palm. Swuen – while not disgusted – was confused by this sudden act of kindness unlike the cold heart and logical mind of A.I; unfeeling with morals that would make anyone faint from simply knowing that knowledge.

What is he doing? Is he… IS HE SPARING HER!? Swuen slowly approached the two and was ready to pierce her weapon toward Platinum right through her pathetic head. She was ready to strike but A.I. spoke and what he said only made the situation more confusing.

“Now what did I say about lying to me; Sharp.”

Swuen stopped preparing to strike, and Platinum stopped breathing; she looked up with a small bit of fear and shock in her eyes. A.I. slowly pulled out one of his crystals – a yellow crystal – and brought close to Platinum. The crystal was a soul crystal and was used to rejuvenate and improve one’s aura – improving defensive and healing spells – it was the parallel opposite of a magic crystal as they give immense power and unpredictable abilities, often used for offensive spells. There was another use for the soul crystal and this other use was given a name; “Revealing Crystal”.

The crystal glowed and that glow surrounded Platinum, and replacing her… was Sharp Sight; sitting down before A.I. and Swuen with the most terrified look in her eyes.

“I… I can explain,” said Sharp.

A.I. stared unresponsive as he stayed crouched before her… Swuen on the other hand was… something else.

“SHARP! BU- YOU WERE- AND WE- AND I ALMOST- GRAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” screamed Swuen. Swuen walked up to a random barrel and shattered it, as splinters of wood were sent flying everywhere.

After Sharp was done flinching from the sudden wrath from Swuen, she continued to speak in a somewhat guilty expression – the kind when you were caught with the jar of cookies. (Uhhmmm,,, coookiiiesss.)

“Princess Platinum and her adviser called me and spoke with me in private; she knew I had a close relationship with you two and doesn’t trust me… but she wanted me to be her double if… you two were to do a coup. She did this knowing that if… if ‘she’ were to be captured and… something were to happen to her, I would take the fall instead. She did this knowing I became a close friend the short time I’ve been with you two… she doesn’t trust me so if you managed to get her and… EXECUTED HER…” Sharp was crying on the ground with both her hooves on her eyes – a stream of tears soaked the gravel ground, and her crying echoed through the empty area.

“I was worried that if I revealed it was me… The illusion wouldn’t stop until I were to… The only reason I joined the military was because I failed as a farmer… my family kicked me out after dozens of failures – both with my chores and with my family. The military was the only way for myself to be fed and have a roof over my head, and… I really thought I belonged here but even back at home… nopony cares for me, not even her highness!”

“I’M USELESS! I MEAN NOTHING TO ANYPONY! I CAN’T EVEN BE A CONVINCING DOUBLE!”

“I… actually thought you were Platinum,” said Swuen, speaking.

Sharp raised her head, and sniffed deeply; she was at least glad that Swuen was being her bright self. There was still the part of how A.I. knew it was her and not Princess Platinum.

“You think that matters,” said A.I, sounding more of a statement than a question. Sharp was confused about how A.I. could be so emotionless, especially how she explained her terrible life… but then she noticed something; it was faint, but… within A.I, – in his eyes – he was more than ever connected with her than before. “The reason I have not decided to ignore whether it was you or not, or why we could of just left you here to your own fate by yourself or her highness… was because you are mine.”

Sharp blushed, Swuen face-palmed herself; the way he said – while sounding suggestive – was somewhat sweet. “W-W-Wha-What are you t-ta-talk-k-ing about!?”

A.I. leaned forward, his eyes piercing into Sharp’s eyes – again that same feeling was in there, but Sharp couldn’t describe it. “The day I saw you, I knew you were a vital… No… An irreplaceable part to my plans; I knew this yet I took the risks. I did not know your loyalties and if you would run the second trouble came, but you shrugged through everything I threw at you… and moved on without a complaint-”

“Well, I kind of complained… especially with the needle part,” said Sharp, whispering.

“Which… is why for now… I shall decide your fate… What is mine is mine, and is mine own responsibility… Now before we continue escaping… I need to ask you why her highness make you her double, you in particular.”

“Well… I’m not sure… unless-” Sharp’s eyes widened and she stared back at the castle – a pillar of black smoke could be seen from where they were. “THEIR PREPARING A TRAP FOR YOUR FRIENDS!”

A.I. stood up and pulled out another crystal – a cyan crystal – and tossed to Swuen. She understood and used the crystal; a blur remained where she was and she ran toward the castle through alleyways and any obstacle in her way. After that, A.I. stood up and extended his hand to Sharp, where she took it and was pulled to stand back up.

“It appears you have made a terrible mistake… but we can think of your punishment later,” said A.I, nonchalantly.

Sharp gulped, and while she regrets meeting A.I. still… a small bit of her way happy that she met someone special. Thank you A.I… thank you.

Canterlot Castle, the destroyed part of the castle; Vallan with Eliya, wander through the smoldering remains of the castle’s eastern wing.

All around them was pockets of dust and rubble everywhere; the explosive left by A.I. while not as devastating as Joseph’s own creations, wasn’t designed for causing damage to any living beings but more of a distraction. The explosive – while deadly – destroyed a good portion of the castle and caused a mass amount of smoke and dust; the perfect distraction both to those within the blast and beyond it.

“This Clover girl was supposedly seen here before… Unless that guard lied to us,” said Vallan, moving some rubble out of the way.

“Either way, this dust is blocking our view of anything or body. We’re lucky enough that its blocking our location too from anybody else,” said Eliya, adding her opinion on the situation. “Let’s find this Clover and-”

Vallan stops Eliya and looks around the rubble covered remains of the eastern wing. “Shhh… I hear something.”

While unnoticeable by any normal being, Vallan can feel the aura of another living being; the colored silhouette of an equine figure can be seen by Vallan on top some rubble some distance from them. Suddenly more silhouettes begin to appear, and Eliya notices them too – twenty visible figures, fifty or more unseen, but their auras can be felt by Vallan.

“I see you noticed us; Lady Clover and her highness, Princess Platinum planned for this ambush from the beginning. She knew that it was impossible to corner your comrades as they were two hooves ahead of us… but that could not be said for you two. Surrender now, and tell us where is your third member?!”

Appearing on a hill of rubble was Captain Shield Breaker, with him was Clover; she wasn’t wearing her usual brown tattered cloak but wore something to what an actual wizard’s apprentice would wear. Within her magical grasp was a staff that glowed with the same glow of her horn, and pointed it toward both Vallan and Eliya. A bubble of magic surrounded the two and as Vallan attempted to walk through, it simply bounced him back to the center – they were trapped.

“You have nowhere to go, and don’t think of firing your firearms or those metallic rounds of yours will be reflected back to you,” said Clover, keeping a focused look on the two. “I am surprised you tried to come here after that fiasco at the military camp near here. We were ready for the two of you, and the same can be said for your third companion and both A.I. and Swuen. You’ll all be faced with your crimes against the Equestrian ponies – both directly and indirectly.”

Eliya was ready to retaliate when Vallan stopped her again, but this time he had his eyes closed when he said something that spooked Clover, Captain Breaker, and the other pony soldiers.

“...She’s coming; the Blind Meister.”

“What are you talking abou-”

“I see I wasn’t late for the party.” Standing at the very top of a nearly destroyed tower was Swuen – she was holding a cyan crystal while with her other hand, she threw her knife up and caught and continued to flip it. “Now then… What-did-I-miss?”

Just like A.I, a strange feeling surrounded Swuen but this time everypony noticed it; like a moth to a flame, the golden aura of Swuen’s coalesced with the surrounding area and made the area around her morph and change – like the waves of the sea. Swuen then took two steps forward and began falling off the tower toward the dozens of Equestrian soldiers, wielding a knife in one hand.

She landed atop a random soldier causing his body to be smashed against the ground, another charged swinging his sword when it was blocked by her blade and parried. Swuen slashed a deep cut across the soldier’s mid section, and continued to the next. Soldier after soldier rushed forward and met their own unique fate – one was bashed with the end of her blade, another had their eye slashed, and in doing so, she sent one soldier off a piece of a platform.

None could stop Swuen, and when they caught her off guard, she managed to block it; three of the soldiers made a small shield blockade, but she made three more blades appear and tossed them, each one penetrating through the shields and taking out their targets.

Some of the soldiers standing near Captain Breaker, began to be pushed forward by the Captain. “Don’t gawk, get your plots in there! Lady Clover, make sure that bubble is secured, we cannot let those two out!” Breaker unsheathed his own weapon and charged with his soldiers; Clover gulped and reinforced the shield and created three prepared spells in case.

“Is that all you got!” Swuen blocked one attack and retaliated with a stab through a soldier’s peytral. “I fought way worse than you bunch of donkeys!”

One soldier became insulted by the comment and went charging. “WAIT DON’T!” shouted another soldier.

Before the other soldier could stop his fellow soldier it was too late, as quick as it happened, the same soldier who charged was found having several blades stuffed into him from every direction. It looked so gruesome and impossible, Swuen simply walked away yawning in boredom.

“Any of you like playing with me?” asked Swuen, in a playful manner. “Don’t worry… I won’t bite.”

Many of the soldiers became unnerved by Swuen’s calm demeanor, and since many of the soldiers who were fighting have never met her personally as those who have – both who met her in the cafeteria, heard her stories, or fought with her during practice – were sent to reinforce those at the military base nearby that was attacked by Vallan. It was worst too considering Swuen was a master at mass manipulation as it was her job to infiltrate and gain intelligence off enemy or opposing factors in their missions… in general, this battle was lost the second she came.

“Captain Breaker, we can’t get through her style of fighting, for some reason, she seems to have an infinite number of concealed weapons. So far we counted twelve have being used and she still has more to spare.”

Breaker noticed this strange phenomenon, but before he could think of a counterattack… something happens. “Well I’d love continue our little dance but I must give you all an adieu,” said Swuen.

Before anypony could react… the world stopped; every single living thing froze like ice… except for three others. Swuen walked through the frozen soldiers as time came to a stop, and walked up to Clover.

“Sorry about this sweet-cheeks.” With quick precision, Swuen hit the blunt side of her blade on Clover’s side of her head. This single motion caused the glow around her staff to stop, the three prepared spells to vanish, and the bubble around Vallan and Eliya – who weren’t effected by Swuen’s ability – to be free.

“What took you so long?” asked Eliya. “I swear, you’re worse than-”

“DON’T… even say that little brat’s name; I’d rather not be compared to him, he and I are completely different.”

Eliya stared back with a bland look before rolling her eyes as she walked away. “Rrriiigght...”

Vallan approached the time frozen Clover, and before he left… he did something. He placed something on Clover’s snout, leaving a written message. “Come on Vallan, we mustn’t dilly-dally,” said Swuen.

Vallan followed behind; leaving a group of frozen – and soon to be confused – group of soldiers… this was going to be fun for them to explain to their superiors. (Its not going to be by the way.)

At the southern wall of Canterlot; Lov waits with bated breath for the others.

While Lov was busy finding a form of transport – a wagon without wheels – she dispatched several soldiers and guards who spotted her… non-lethally of course… by handing them by their tails… and sometimes manes… while putting make-up on them… especially the stallions.

Lov busily whistles a tune when she spots four, no wait… FIVE figures. They're finally here! ...But who’s the girl pony?

During their way back to the rendezvous point; Vallan, Eliya, and Swuen met up with A.I. and Sharp – Sharp was terrified when Eliya nearly chopped her head off, but luckily A.I. stopped that she was with him. While it stopped her from giving her glares, now she gave Sharp pity looks… I think she knows that A.I. was simply using her… now she feels like that strange curved sword was more of a welcoming sight now.

“You’re finally here slowpokes! Come on let’s get going; I managed to open a path through the south wall!” shouted Lov, sitting back down. “Lllleeeeaaaahhhttt’sss goooaaahhh!”

Eveyone began to climb up but when Sharp was about to come up, Eliya stopped her. “She’s not coming,” said Eliya.

“W-W-Wa-ait?!”

A.I. turned to see what was happening but sat where he was without moving; Sharp was afraid that A.I. would not help her here… but that was when Swuen spoke up.

“Actually, if it weren’t for her, you two would be screwed. She’s the one who told A.I. and me that it was an ambush you two were going to. So… she’s as much of an asset than anything else in this world… its also important to have a local on your side,” said Swuen. Swuen gave Sharp a thumbs up and sat back down.

By Faust, thank you Swuen!

That was when Vallan stood up, and stared at Sharp; Sharp has seen A.I’s cold lifeless look… but Vallan’s was another level – she felt as if a sea of nothing was staring back at her, and would take her away into its murky depths, the second she stepped into its waters.

Vallan continued to stare, and looked at A.I. where he seemed to be thinking – A.I. had one hand placed on the side of the wagon, and was glancing back at the castle. With a sigh of defeat, he stood up, knelt down before Sharp and extended a hand. Sharp gave the hand an incredulous look, and the number of things that could go wrong by touching that hand that can turn anything to an ice cube.

Should I do this… I mean I can stay here and pretend I was used as a hostage… but the Princess and those who know it was me and not her highness would know I helped them by telling them of the ambush… I… I.. shouldn’t be here… I shouldn’t be here making this choice. Out of all the ponies it can’t be me, what did I deserve this kind of choice… I’m… I’m…

“I’m afraid...” said Sharp, trembling.

All four of those who were on the wagon already stared down at Sharp with varying looks… except for one; the same person who gave any respect to her or openly seen her as some thinking living think… spoke the most kindness words she’s ever heard…

“Get in the wagon; I’m trying to save your hide.”

...Close enough.

Sharp looked up and snickered before laughing, then guffawing before calming herself and smiling back up. With one hoof she placed it on A.I’s and was heaved onto the wagon; the first two to welcome Sharp to the group was Lov and Swuen.

“WELCOME TO OUR GANG OF MISFITS!” shouted Lov.

“It was a good think you're coming with us, Sharp,” said Swuen, smiling back at her.

“I hope I can be of some help to you all,” said Sharp, a little timid.

“Our way out of this city of marble ain’t over just yet… So what’s the plan with getting down to the foot of the mountain exactly?” asked Vallan.

Everyone thought of some sort of idea, when A.I. stood up and came to the front – Lov was the first to realize what was happening… then Eliya… she began to have a look of despair.

“OH YOU SON OF A-”

Like the very wind, the ground below them froze turning to ice and the wagon began to slide down the mountain… toward the sharp pointy rocks across the south side of the city – the steep part of the city.

“BLOODY DEITIES DAMMIT IT A.IIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!” screamed Eliya.

“Logically, this is the quickest way out,” said A.I, back to his cold personality.

“How about- FUCK YOU, YOU STUPID PIECE OF ANIMAL FECES!” shouted Swuen, moving to the front. “LEFT LEFT! RIGHT! NO, MY RIGHT YOU IDIOT!”

Sharp held onto her seat, but noticed Vallan sat with such calmness it impressed the now ex-soldier… until she realized he was asleep. HOW CAN HE BE ASLEEP OF ALL SITUATIONS!? Sharp felt a hard tug and turned to see Lov smiling crazily back at her. “THIS IS NORMAL WHERE WE’RE FROM! YOU WILL HAVE TA GET USED TO IT!” shouted Lov, over the wind moving past them. “IN OTHER WORDS – YOU’RE GOING TO DIE! AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHHHHHHHHAAAAAA!”

Sharp slowly looked to the front of the wagon as she was surrounded a bunch of psychopaths and criminals… and sighed. “At least its better than being a farmer; I won’t be bored as often.”

With that, the group went tumbling down the mountain side with a care in the world… it was indeed a group of vagabonds.

Meanwhile back at Canterlot, the Throne Room.

After being freed from the sudden stopping of time, Captain Shield Breaker found an unconscious Clover – she was luckily alive, just a small headache – with a note on her snout. Captain Breaker took said note to Princess Platinum to the throne room; she wasn’t happy after hearing that the ambush failed, and was pissed than ever after finding out her adviser was attacked, and was possibly hospitalized for an undetermined number of days.

This note that the captain brought to me better give me a good clue to their whereabouts.

Captain Breaker entered the Throne Room with a small remainder of his squadron, as the wounded were sent to the healing chambers… while the deceased were to be given a proper burial. “Is this note what remains of the only clue to… A.I. and his companions?” asked Platinum.

“Yes your majesty; anything remaining in A.I’s room or Swuen’s temporary abode was destroyed… nothing remains. It was clear he did not want anyone to keep the research he had on him, leaving only what Clover knows and her own personal research the only information we have that originated from A.I… which includes this as well.” Captain Breaker levitated the note to Platinum, and began to read it – to herself and those in the room.

To the leader of unicorns and any of her allies,
YOU FUCKED UP!
Did you really think you’ll get away with this? That you can threaten us? You have no idea who’re you’ve just made your enemy… Do you?
We have destroyed empires, created cities through our actions, half of our members have annihilated entire armies, while the other half have their own set of skills that can send a chill down your spine.
We are Psycho Corps; and we are our leader’s personal army – Ins0ne Par1y. Fear us, for we are everywhere. Be paranoid, for we are everyone. Stay ignorant…
For we may slit your throats.
We will be back… and we will slaughter you like the dick-weeds you are… so stay put, and have a nice day, for we waged a declaration of war on your dumb asses.
From the seventh seat of Ins0ne Par1y;
Loarven Swuen
P.S. A.I. has something to say…
“People fear what they don't understand and hate what they can't conquer.”
― Andrew Smith
...Your lives ended the day you met us… You shall know true terror; and be warned… We may be gone… but you’ll regret, even after your death.
You should of taken my deal – many don’t survive if they don’t.
From the second seat of Ins0ne Par1y;
Arnold Ingine AKA, A.I.
P.S. ...Your move, your “majesty”.

Platinum was seething with rage, that in an instant the letter was sent up in flames as the ashes created small pile before her throne. “Send a letter back to High Commander Meteor Shatter… Tell him we need, actually… make this a direct order from his leader – bring every capable soldier to the capital… and tell him we’re hunting down all members and traitors to the nation who have an allegiance to this… ‘Ins0ne Par1y’… and leave no survivors.”

Escape III: Trust

View Online

A roadway between Canterlot and two other pathways; two forces meet each other at the crossroads.

After the attack at the military camp, and the somewhat attempted – but failed – trap at Canterlot to catch the prisoners and the attacker, Princess Platinum’s entourage, and an army of ponies from the military camp, meet in the crossroads that were made for safer travel. High Commander Meteor Shatter stayed behind to do repairs on the walls and fortify defenses, while Commander Hurricane – and his personal forces, also consisting of some earth ponies and unicorns – was sent to meet the princess.

Many casualties have been harmed both in Canterlot, and the military force from all three of the tribes, which only left a quarter of those forces standing. Three major areas were built, with Canterlot being the capital/first city built, the military camp to host the majority of the military might, and a small farming community which wasn’t named or considered a town as of yet.

Princess Platinum’s entourage stopped as they encountered Hurricane’s group; stepping out was Princess Platinum, who approached Hurricane, and noticed his furious look in his eyes. It appears he too has taken a major blow.

“How are those within the military camp? I was told many ponies died and some injured… I also heard that two of the unicorn’s leading commanders have ‘fallen’,” said Platinum.

Commanders Star Gleam and Moon Glaive were both absented from duty – Star having gone through injuries gained from the attacke, and Moon for shaming her title and family name – and with some of the other commanders having gone through similar wounds or… death. This only meant that three commanders remained, but only Commander Hurricane and High Commander Meteor were active as Commander Smoker was… “mentally unstable”.

“You are correct; our forces are scattered and through the guidance of High Commander Meteor, they still stand… I was sent to meet you for the simple reason that you and I have more encounters with each other than anypony else. I also have heard of the recent betrayal at Canterlot, and that they’re in the loose… especially one of your guards, correct?”

Platinum hated being mentioned of the incident as not only it was an embarrassment on her part, but Clover gotten injured in the incursion. She was luckily unharmed and only had a minor bruise, but she was dazed and had difficulty thinking.

“Yes, but forgot about my own problems; we must head to Chancellor Puddinghead and warn her of these invaders. We shall both go together, but I want both our forces to surround the community while a few of us go and see her… I just hope these bastards aren’t keeping the ponies there as their hostages.”

“YIPPEE-KI-YEAH!”

Puddinghead’s Community; somewhere around a current construction zone.

Joseph skidded down a slope of dirt, as he parkoured through the construction zone for another building. The brothers were accepted by all the ponies who were under Chancellor Puddinghead, and became good friends with the small community. Joseph bounded over into a recently dug hole with wires going to said hole; inside the hole were two other ponies – one a muscled stallion, the other a skinny mare who were both earth ponies – who were actually some worker ponies who were helping with the construction of this building, but had a problem.

The problem involved a sizable bolder that was too big to move, and was so dense it couldn’t be shattered with normal earth pony strength. From the help of Joseph’s expertise with explosives, the bolder would be no problem… not when a bomb the size of a pony’s leg was set upon the bolder.

This is going to be fuuuun! Placing both hands firmly on the device to set the explosive off, Joseph glanced at the two ponies to each of his sides – they both covered their ears quickly – and shouted with all his might. “FIRE IN THE HOLE!”

With a push, a booming sound to rival the crack of thunder echoed through the area; debris that consisted of earth, stone, and some material from the explosive flung from all directions – mostly to the sky – until falling down to land around the area. Some pieces fell upon Joseph, and the two other ponies but were small enough to cause no damage.

The three stood from their hole and glanced to see a small plume of smoke to rise from where the explosion happened. Approaching forward, they found a giant crater that was as black as night, leaving no bolder behind. The stallion sighed, and looked to Joseph with a thankful tilt of his head.

“Thanks for helping us with this bolder issue; we tried everything, and while we did have explosives, we weren’t sure how much to use… We recently found this stuff a couple of so months, and are still trying to figure out what kind of uses it has. I never imagined to meet someone with some expertise on the stuff,” said the stallion.

The stallion moved to look at his fellow pony, who was still ogling the hole. “Go get the Chancellor and tell her that her friend here was a great help, and we got the bolder removed to continue construction.”

The mare nodded and trotted off; Joseph grinned at his success of an explosion that he began to examine his master-piece… really close. Joseph tumbled down while the stallion wasn’t looking, and when he turned around he gave a bewildered look of where Joseph go. “Wha… Uhhh, where he go?”

Puddinghead’s Community, a random tent; Puddinghead, Smart Cookie, and Rubert stood around a map and blueprints for the settlement they were to set up.

“This building here we’ll use to store food, while this building will store material we may need in the future… OH! We should also place a farm here to grow more food; I walked through there dozen of times and the ground is just right to grow some carrots!” said Puddinghead.

“Alright Chancellor, I’ll get the builders to set those buildings up, and send some of our ponies to make a farm there,” said Cookie.

“Oh, also ask if that candy soup of mine is ready!?”

“Uhm… I don’t think you can make candy into soup Chancellor.”

“Nonsense, if we can fly and use magic, what makes you think there can’t be candy soup?”

“We can’t do that either… those are the pegasi and unicorns abilities.”

Puddinghead took a moment to pause, before turning to look back at Cookie with a smile. “I knew that… I was just testing if you remembered.”

Cookie sighed and looking in the corner of her eye, she spotted Rubert looking at a particular blueprint. He was leaning down examining the same blueprint ever since he entered inside; while Jospeh handled any help he could find, Rubert decided to see what sort of plans they had for this community of theirs.

“Hmmm… These are some ‘interesting’ plans you have, though I believe they need some improvement.”

“Improvement how exactly?” asked Cookie.

“Well for starters,” said Rubert. “Once you start expanding and building settlements across this new land of yours… you’re going to need a better mode of transportation than by wagon. I of course have an idea, but its going to take a lot of materials to take to make this… unless you have a mine nearby.”

Rubert laughed at his own comment, when he got a look from Cookie and Puddinghead who looked at one another. “Uhhhhhh,” said both of them at the same time.

Rubert stopped his humorous thought and noticed the somewhat awkward reply. “...You have a mine nearby… don’t you.”

“Weeeellll… sort of; the capital and the home to the unicorns has an underground tunnel system that has enough gems, ores, and stone to make whatever we need to make dozens of settlements… But what exactly do you have planned that might help with our transportation problem?”

This was where Rubert grinned and pulled out something from his pockets. “Have you ever heard of something called… a train?”

Cookie gave a tilt of her head while Puddin was just ecstatic at the word, and new idea; the blueprint Rubert pulled out showed the design of a strange snake-like machine that was capable of traveling far distances and powered by coal… there was one problem though.

“We don’t have coal; I mean if we found some back at our old home, the whole winter problem wouldn’t be one… Sorry to say this won’t work...” said Cookie, giving a solemn look.

Rubert thought of this but gave a snap of his fingers. “That won’t be a problem; we can change the design slightly that it won’t be powered by coal… but something else…” Rubert remembered that these unicorns mentioned by the ponies here can use magic, and since this magic was strongly similar aura… meaning they can use thunder-based aura or magic in this case. “The trains can be powered through electricity; these cells will be filled with water, and once powered by electricity from unicorns, it will create steam that will move specialized pistons to move the train, and boom – steam-powered trains!”

Suddenly at that same time, Jospeh came tumbling inside the tent with some smoke coming from his head; he was grinning like a maniac and had some soot on his shoulders… and smelled of smoked wood. “Did somebody say boom?”

“Not now Joseph,” said Rubert, automatically.

Cookie liked the idea… but frowned having forgotten one fact about the tribes. “That may work but not for long; the unicorns are to snooty and arrogant to try anything physically, especially working somewhere stuffy like these train things.”

“That’s why there’s another method to move the trains; you see, since these unicorns can use magic, it reminded me of how others can use aura. If they work the same way, it means they can make these crystals called elemental crystals. Using a certain element for example – thunder – then you can create a thunder crystal that can be handled by any of your kind, by putting it in the slot, which would-”

“POWER THIS TRAIN-THINGY!” shouted Puddin, finishing Rubert’s sentence. “With this machine, it can solve almost all our problems in one fell swoop; transporting ponies and materials, giving work to almost everypony for this train project, expand our borders, and allow trade to other nations – both old and new! Thank you Rubert, you practically solved all our problems!”

“Well almost, we need the other group leaders to agree on this idea. It may be costly, but worth the risks,” said Cookie.

Rubert bowed with his arm on his stomach, and the other extended somewhat forward as he faced the ground before Puddin and Cookie. “Well it was a grand time helping with you two, but I must go back to my personal plans; let’s make our leave Joseph,” said Rubert, leaving.

The Crane brothers left were just when they left, a pony came in who wore a getup that showed he was a messenger of some sort. The stallion stopped who seemed to be sweating; whether this was because he was running or worry was hard to tell. “Chancellor Puddinghead and her secretary! I have a message from Princess Platinum and Commander Hurricane!”

After hearing these two names, Puddin smiled; after the three tribes united, they became friends in a way – well their second-in-commands did but the leaders too had to have some sort of relationship too. “OH! I wonder if they got my letter?!”

The messenger opened his satchel and handed the letter to them, which Cookie took it and read it while messenger stood by for some reason as most messengers would leave afterword. Looking at the letter, it stated the following…

To Chancellor Puddinghead,
These strange new beings that came to our world aren’t to be trusted; they have massacred our forces stationed with Commander Hurricane and the other commanders. Two of their kind who were staying at the castle have betrayed us and caused damage to the castle and harm to some of its citizenry. I sent this letter in hopes that you have no encountered these ‘things’ and prepared for them. If you however do know of their whereabouts, I must tell you to capture and interrogate them of the locations of their other allies.
Myself and Commander Hurricane with a small company of our respective forces are heading to the community you had set up. We wish that you have not fallen to the hands of these foul beings.
From,
Princess Platinum
P.S. We shall arrive around noon as soon as we can; we have passed the crossroads so we should be sighted by your sentinels sometime soon.

After Cookie read out the letter, Puddin had a sad look and frowned from the news; the messenger pony stood by still, but spook out. “I received the letter by another messenger who was sent by them Chancellor… I asked what happened, and everything written on that letter is all factual… I must urge that we must make a response, and to tell our guests of this. I shall await by if you wish to send me to Princess Platinum of any letters related to the matter; I shall take my leave.”

The messenger left, leaving the two mares to contemplate the news from the urgent letter.

Puddinghead’s Community, Outside of Puddinghead’s place; Rubert has his own workplace outside of Puddin’s home, while Joseph is busy with his own devices.

Rubert was sitting a stool he made from some leftover material during one of the projects led by Puddinghead; Rubert was examining and attempting to fix a radio he found yesterday. The radio was partially broken but possibility of fixing the device was very likely.

If I can fix it, I need to hope that another radio made it to this world and is in the hands of one of our comrades… if not then I’m literally holding an antique.

While Rubert continued to focus on the hand-held radio, Joseph cleaned and built more various forms of mini-bombs for his weapon – the grenade launcher. These bombs consisted from the material they found near the crater and from the hospitable ponies. So far Joseph has made more smoke bombs, some sound grenades, and a couple of shrapnel grenades, the shrapnel being some rocks, wood, and metallic junk.

Joseph set up several test dummies on an empty field by the house, and as he fired one shrapnel grenade, it landed right into the dummy’s head and exploded. Straw and pieces of debris flew everywhere from where the dummy’s head was; Joseph grinned and hummed to himself in glee.

“Well my grenada works...” said Joseph, noticing Rubert working on something. Joseph slung his weapon over his head as a strap accompanied the weapon so it was left hanging on his back; he approached his distracted brother before leaning over to see what he was doing. “Wha cha doing bro?”

Rubert at first didn’t answer as he had some goggled over his eyes before removing them but still keeping his eyes on the radio. “I found this radio by the crater the other day when we were looking… I’m trying to get it to work so we can contact the others. Now don’t go telling our equine hosts about this, alright?”

Joseph gave a confused tilt from the sudden secrecy. “Why though, they ain’t that bad. I think Puddin likes my booms.”

Rubert sighed and turned as his stool swiveled so he can face his brother. The two brothers before joining Psycho Corps were notorious thieves, known for armed robbery, dangerous getaways, and often not, an explosion after every heist… but they made one promise, and it wasn’t to hide anything from one another.

“Because… I just don’t trust these ponies, I mean we only met them yesterday… They can easily betray us and give us to the authorities… just like the others.” Rubert pulled out his baton, eying the weapon with some distant look to it; memories of old, an old gang, betrayal… he saw it all, and he never wants it to happen again.

Joseph knew what his brother knew, but combined with his deranged mind and somewhat whimsical attitude… he was a hard cookie to bring up any form of doubt to anyone – whether a person or equine.

“...They gave us pie,” said Joseph with a shrug.

Rubert looked up at his brother who wore a stupid smile; the smile became infectious and Rubert too joined in. You may be the youngest, but half the time I wonder if your the older brother here.

Rubert settled his things and stood up, and joined his brother with building his ammunition, when he remembered something that might help. Pulling out another blueprint, Rubert stared at the blueprint of a vehicle he never gotten the chance to make… until now.

With a grin that would make most maniacs shun before it, Rubert turned to his brother – he had a plan and it was glorious. “Joseph… I need you do something for me.”

“Yeah bro, what you want me to do? Do I get to explode something?!” shouted Joseph, giddily.

“No, not yet… I need you to get metal… Lots and lots of metal.” With that, Rubert placed the blueprint down; a picture of a machine that screams mayhem was shown, built for several people where one seat showed the driver seat, a few gunner turrets, and one bomber turret. A name was plastered above the picture of a monstrous RV – The Insomnia Truck.

Elsewhere, some distance from Canterlot; after escaping, Vallan and his group returned to where he woken up after the crash.

After tumbling downhill on a barely usable wagon, the group followed Vallan to where he woken up the first time they came here; crossing an empty grass field, they made it to a forest that was the same one where Lov and Eliya were caught. Swuen was still pissed by A.I. for his act of nearly getting them killed, Sharp was getting use to all this craziness but relaxed once they finally arrived at their destination.

“Finally… we’re here...” said Sharp, slumping down against a tree.

Vallan walked ahead of the group while everyone relaxed for now under the shade of some trees. Walking up to a pile of leaves and sticks, Vallan uncovered the hidden stash he hid here when he left, and not a single piece was moved. Making sure the surrounding area is clear, Vallan calls forth his companions to come to the pile he collected.

Swuen stopped her fiery upon A.I. to examine the junk and grabbing a few rations from a metallic box. A.I. was handed the prototype weapon Vallan used to free his nieces, checking for any damage or glitches to its systems. Lov and Eliya stayed by the shore – Lov busied herself on cleaning her katana, while Eliya drew doodles on the sand with one of her kunais. Sharp was the last to arrive at the pile and gave a perplexed look, tilting her head in fascination of the strange objects before her.

“By Faust, what is this stuff? I’ve never seen these sort of items before,” said Sharp, picking a piece of… something.

Said something made a click noise, and at that instant Vallan grabbed before Sharp could protest, and lobbed it into the water. A few seconds later, a column and blast of water sprayed upward before small droplets fell upon them like rain. Sharp’s eyes dilated as Vallan glanced at her; it was hard to tell if he was angry or not, but she could tell who was angry.

“Don’t… touch anything else...” said A.I, his tone cold.

Sharp shivered – both out of fear and almost killing herself – before Swuen knelt down and gave her something. Sharp was afraid it was another exploding rock but the object was a strange rectangular thing covered in something that make a crinkling noise.

“Here, you haven’t eaten for awhile – its food.”

Sharp looked at the strange thing that was food, and after holding it with one hoof, she was about to bite it when Swuen stopped her. After that she showed Sharp that it had to be opened, and what was revealed was this strange bar with nuts and other things stuck to it, but what really caught her attention was the smell. Sharp sniffed it in like sweet honey, and took a cute nibble before chomping on the delight without mercy. DELICIOOOOOUUUUUUUUS!

Sharp kept on going until she licked the strange covering, and heard Swuen chuckle. She didn’t care if it looked disgusting, she was hungry and this “food” was absolutely heavenly.

“Seems you like that chocolate bar, huh. Well don’t eat it all; we don’t have a lot and there’s more of us to come soon.”

“Uh huh,” said Sharp, licking her hooves of the chocolatey goodness.

Vallan focused on the pile and pulled a metal box; after opening the box was an assortment of bullets, and other things – grenades, crystals, and a few magazines. After grabbing what he needed, he approached the boombox they had with them, when a thought crossed his mind.

This boombox’s works… so if there’s a chance this works then that means-

Vallan raised his head and faced A.I, a plan already boiling in his head. “A.I, if the others were to have a radio on them… Can we use this boombox to contact them in anyway?”

A.I. thought of this after fumbling with the prototype weapon, and nodded in agreement. While the chance of any of their other comrades having a radio, there was the possible chance to use the radio to track their aura signatures – he was A.I. after all, if he can make a bomb out of what he had in that room, then he can make a tracker to find their remaining allies.

“Better; if I use what we have and the boombox, I can find our friends’ by their aura signature alone. Just give me the right materials, and a couple of hours… We might be here until sundown… better start getting some rest and a fire started.” A.I. left to check the pile, and with that everyone was given their roles.

“Okay then; Lov, Eliya, go check and guard the area at least a ten meter diameter. Swuen go find anything that looks edible, I’ll find some sticks for us to make a fire. Be back when it gets dark soon,” said Vallan.

Everyone left to do what they needed to do… except there was still one other person or pony who was left to do nothing.

“What can I do?” asked Sharp, expecting to help in someway. “I don’t want to just stand and do nothing.”

With thinking as quick as lightening, and reflexes to boot, Vallan grabbed a bendable stick, some string, a piece of metal – voila he made a fishing rod. Handing the rod to Sharp who gave a confused look before Vallan pointed on a rock near the edge of the lake.

“Go fishing… Fish for… fish...”

Sharp gave a gawked stare; while she doesn’t eat fish, the pegasi do occasionally eat some fish, and there was that one time she tasted it but only a lick, nothing more. There were a lot of things Sharp thought she never think of doing… apparently fishing was going to be one of those things.

Sharp wanted to shout, scream, throw the rod at Vallan… except she didn’t for two reasons – it would be rude to do that to the one who practically saved her, and… Vallan just left. With a frown and huff from her snout, she stomped to go fishing.

I better not end up eating fish, or I swear by Faust I will shove this rod right up his-

A loud boom, and Sharp thought they were under attack only realizing A.I. was checking if the prototype weapon was still working. A stray beam nearly hit Sharp, and she glared back at A.I. who simply shrugged back. “Huh, I guess it still works.”

Back at Puddinghead’s Community; Puddinghead, Smart Cookie, and some of her ponies waited for Commander Hurricane, and Princess Platinum’s arrival.

Puddinghead sat by a tree as she busied herself by examining the bark of the tree, while Cookie paced back and forth with a panicked look. She wasn’t alone as the other ponies with them were too freaked out, but kept a calmed cool as to see how will things go. Puddin hasn’t made her decision about what to do with the brothers, but her silences spoke volumes that she had something planned, but as usual… she hasn’t mentioned what said plan was going to be.

What should we do? If we don’t respond properly back to Princess Platinum and Commander Hurricane about this situation, we’re doomed! We haven’t even sent a letter about the Crane brothers, and now apparently their allies have gotten themselves in trouble. We can’t simply detain the brothers either, they haven’t done anything other than helping us so far. What should we do!?

“Do not worry Cookie, just relax and we’ll think of something,” said Puddin, staring at the tree still.

Cookie while trying her best to be calm – especially when working under somepony like Puddinghead – was unable to hold all the frustration that came upon in well fell swoop. Just like that she began to pull her mane and bite her own tail. “CALM DOWN! We’re standing here waiting for the other two tribes’ leaders, and not doing anything like sending a response or warning to Rubert and his brother, but sitting here! HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM ABOUT TH-”

Cookie was stopped mid-yell when Puddin shoved her hoof into her mouth. “My decision has been made… we will bring Princess Platinum and Commander Hurricane to our community, they will tell us their side of what has happened. For the Crane brothers, their fate has already been decided… for now; have some tea and sit with me Cookie.” Puddin pulled out a kettle and teacup out of nowhere and settled it on Cookie’s hooves, who sighed and joined the chancellor.

Cookie sipped her tea which calmed her nerves a little; movement was seen in the distance, and coming to the group of earth ponies was Princess Platinum and Commander Hurricane’s escorts. The escorts stopped, and stepping out a sizable wagon was said leaders.

Since the leaders were the only ones to come as Clover was still recovering and Pansy was left to help with repairs, the two leaders while keeping a composed look were still effected by their own recent problems. This combined with the fact that neither of the two knew that the Crane brothers were secretly being harbored by Puddinghead… would lead to some interesting complications.

Standing up from where she was sitting, Puddin approached the two and acting as her usual self, smiled jovially and with a wave was back to being… her. “It is good to see you two; it has been ages since the last time the three of us were in the same place together. How are Clover and Pansy doing?” asked Puddin, smiling.

Cookie sat there with a dumbstruck look, afraid of what their responses would be but as usual from these unexpected events, the two leaders gave a nonchalant response.

“Clover is… doing fine so far,” said Platinum in an absent-minded manner.

“I order Pansy to help back at the camp; she is in temporary command of my forces as are a trusted few,” said Hurricane, gruffly. “Now may we speak somewhere in… private?”

“Oh of course! This way!” With that Puddin bounced off with the two leaders following; their escorts simply parked somewhere nearby while a few followed. Cookie stood up and followed while the other ponies went back to their previous projects. Puddin decided to continue her conversation with the two as they trotted by tents and incomplete buildings.

“I must ask, what are these ‘aliens’ like? They must be interesting from your… letters.”

The two seemed to stop in pause before continuing to trot forward with Hurricane speaking first. “The two I captured were capable fighters but young; the older one was… ruthless is my best description.”

“The same can be said for myself, but while one was rude and had some feminine charm, the other was… cold – he lacked emotion and seemed to keep himself in a solitary manner. How about you chancellor, had anything interesting pop up?”

Here Cookie began to sweat bullets, but as usual Puddin had ways of giving her response without sounding suspicious. “Oh why of course; we got some help with some new workers and have been most helpful!”

Here Platinum wanted to ask who these new workers were but… something came up, or in this case a much needed distraction. “OH LOOK SNACKS!” At that Puddin ran away to a table of food; while this sudden distraction derailed Platinum, she was famished and needed to eat something.

The two leaders joined Puddin as they ate – Platinum taking a small meal, and Hurricane taking a lot for some odd reason, taking harsh bites from a piece of bread. Cookie sat by taking small bites watching nearby, but trying her best to not get some attention… but of course, fate has a strange way of making things go another way.

“How has your day been Smart Cookie, you been quiet though I assumed it was because you don’t usually see the three of together often and wished not to interrupt,” said Hurricane, chewing his bread.

Here Cookie froze mid-bite and nearly choked on whatever she was eating – it was a muffin of some sort – and looked up in deliberate slow manner. Why me?

“Oh well… I guess it started when I was sleeping under a tree two days ago...”

Puddinghead’s Community, Rubert’s Workshop; Joseph continued to help Rubert with his small “pet project”.

After Joseph gathered a number of resources from who knows where – most likely from the ground by blowing it up to find an ore vein in random. Rubert began work on what was given to him, using some tools he had on him at the time and started to fuse pieces of metal together to create a strange vehicle unseen by any being in this world before. The plan for building this was for an easier way to travel in this strange world; Equestria… that and Rubert was bored and needed to do something.

Finished with the engine, now I need to complete the weapon’s system and the gunner seats.

Rubert continued using his blowtorch when he heard a loud crashing of metallic objects behind him. He turned around pulling his welding mask up; Rubert saw Joseph tumbling onto a pile of scrap he found around the crater they were found at by Puddin. Joseph was scrambling up to his feet when one of his grenades – a smoke one, luckily – fell off his satchel and caused the pin to come off.

“Ohhh… crap,” said Joseph.

“...Sunava bi-” A large blast of smoke covered the whole workshop; it took a several minutes to fan out all the smoke, but afterwords Rubert had to postpone his work, due to the fact that something was happening, when one of Cookie’s workers came by.

“Uhhh, Mr. Rubert? Are you here sir?”

Rubert approached the young stallion who wore a hat with some stitches on it. The stallion was the same stallion who gave Puddin the message that the other two pony tribes’ leaders were coming. “Yeah I’m here, what you want kid?”

“Well… Miss Puddin wanted me to tell, no wait I mean warn; to warn you that the other leaders have arrived. They met your other companions… and let’s say they did not have a good first impressions to say the least.”

Rubert scratched his chin, with Joseph approaching, pointing his weapon toward the messenger. “And how can we believe you? You could just be some spy from said leaders, eh.”

Rubert raised his hand to stop his brother from doing anything reckless. “His not lying; I knew something like this would happen, which is why I started building this in the first place,” said Rubert, pointing a thumb to the skeleton of a vehicle. “I think I got a plan to make sure we make it out of this place, aaaand… to make it look like we aren’t friends with Puddin and her folks. Grab your stuff Joseph, we’re leaving!”

Joseph grinned wildly, already ready to blow something up. “HECK YEAH; TIME TO BLOW THIS JOINT! …We will come back some time right?”

“We’ll see Joseph… we’ll see...”

Back with Puddin’s group; as Cookie continued to tell her story of the past few days, she was nearing the end of her story.

“…And then we received news of you two coming here; so far the past few days have been… ‘peaceful’.” Cookie retold her story but left out the parts that involved the Crane Brothers, as all she mentioned for them was they received new workers when more of their kind made it to their new home. This was half true as before Ins0ne Par1y’s arrival, a caravan of their kind came here while some went to the military camp or Canterlot.

“Hmmm… I see; you two are lucky to not have encounter these strange beings, that’s for sure. But as a future warning, be wary of these strange beings… they’re not to be trifled with,” said Platinum, sipping some tea.

“Will do!” said Puddin.

At that same time… a quiet rumble came by the town, unsure where it was coming from when something the size of a house came rolling by. It was made of metal, and had four strange wheels made of something bouncy – other details were three domes around it, one on each of its sides and one on the top, the front was somewhat boxed like with a see-through part of it similar to a window where it had two doors on the sides made of the same metal. The back had massive door which had two smaller windows for only one’s eyesight to look through but not showing who was inside.

Out of all of this, there was one noticeable thing about the strange thing… who was sitting inside it on the driver seat; Rubert Crane. Rubert seemed to be wearing a motorbike helmet, and had a scarf on his neck that was a deep blue. Joseph appeared on the top dome, that was also different from the other domes as it had a strange nozzle than the two thing metal pipes.

From inside, Rubert flipped a switch which turned on the vehicle’s microphone and speakers – it was time to start the show.

“HELLO! My name is Rubert Crane, my brother Joseph Crane – the maniac on top – has a grenade launcher turret, loaded with deadly grenades as big as a rock that can blow up anything it makes contact with. Let us leave, and we won’t detonate this place to rubble; we got a deal or what?!”

Rubert’s voice echoed from the speakers for all to hear; many were confused – mainly those who knew the brothers for the past day – and were unsure what was going on, even Puddin had know idea what was happening. Hurricane approached and had a grimace on his face as he stared at the two other ponies who he thought knew what was currently happening.

“I thought you said you didn’t had any of these things here?!”

“I-I-I-” Cookie was interrupted by another outburst… from Rubert?

“They don’t; we been hiding nearby using some of their stuff in secret! Now that we got what we need, we’re going to skedaddle – is that right Joseph?”

Joseph seemed to have a far-off look before staring at Pudding; he then returned to his sadistic smile and cackled devilishly. “Time.. for… BOOOOOOOM! AHAHAHAHAH HAH AHAHHA HAHAHAHAAAA!”

With that… all hell was loose; a flurry of greenish-sized rocks – aka grenades – were sent flying everywhere. Buildings that were in mid-construction, and some already built ones, exploded in a cloud of dust and debris. Everypony ran for cover from the destructive mayhem… and Puddin watched this all before her eyes; her ears we folded down and had a sad look in her eyes, as she watched the Crane Brothers drive off.

After the destruction, everypony got out of once the close was clear; Cookie approached her leader when the other two leaders came by. Cookie was ready for them to be yelling and calling Puddin a traitor… instead she got the opposite.

“It is said that these ruffians destroy all your hard earn work Chancellor Puddinghead… We must to something about these troublemakers, quick!” shouted Platinum.

“We need to call a meeting; can we contact Starswirl anyway?” asked Hurricane.

Cookie raised her head at the mention of Starswirl, coming close to respond. “I can; Starswirl has given myself, Pansy, and Clover a way to contact him in case of emergencies ever since the Windigos Incident. Just give me a couple of hours to sent a letter and messenger where he is right away.” As Cookie was about to leave, she stopped before Puddin and coaxed her by placing a hoof and rubbing her back.

Everything will be already Puddinghead mam, I’ll do everything to find out why our friends did this.

Cookie went off, when at the same time one of Puddinghead’s workers came up to her. It was the mare who was working with Joseph before. “Chancellor Puddinghead; there’s something you got to see!”

Puddin shook away her stupor and followed the worker. “I… I am sorry about this, but I need to-”

“It is alright Chancellor; you have a lot of work to catch up. Myself and Hurricane will meet you at Canterlot for the meeting, farewell,” said Platinum, taking her leave.

Both the unicorn and pegasus leaders took their leave as they left with their own escorts. Puddin watched hem leave before following the worker. They arrived at what remained of a building that Joseph destroyed; the building was a charred mess as nothing remained but smoked wood and ash.

“What do you want me to see?” asked Puddin, taking a closer look.

“Well mam… After this building crumbled… we discovered that the foundation here was unstable. If this building had any occupants during heavy weather… the building would of collapsed. And the other buildings – both the ones that were under construction and finished – had similar problems. A few had rotten pillars in them that we needed them destroyed, while a few had design flaws that needed to be re-thought of… in general… if those brothers hadn’t done what they done, it would of taken us more time to destroy them and rebuilt them…” The worker seemed to smile, and looked at the distance where the brothers seemed to went off to. “I don’t know what others may think of this incident, but they were a help, even when they weren’t trying to… I wonder if they knew?”

Puddinghead looked to, and grinned when she giggled happily. Myself included… Those Crane Brothers are some tricky folks.

At Vallan’s Camp; sun-down approached as the group settled for the night to come.

After everyone had done their part with success, they prepared to eat, and luckily their fisherpony got some excellent catches. While Sharp fished, she managed to get enough fish for everyone and save some for the coming trip. Sharp nibbled a piece of a small fish… and liked it; Vallan cooked the fish, having some knowledge when it comes to surviving in the wilderness… or another world in this case.

“What do we do once we finish resting?” asked Sharp, nibbling on her fish.

“We won’t be here forever. We will leave around midnight, as I can tell your kind doesn’t travel at night, and considering I don’t want somepony to find our campsite from the smoke it’s making,” said Vallan.

“I agree with this plan… but what about the others?” asked A.I, who busied himself still with the prototype weapon.

“We will just have to find them some other time, or they can just handle themselves. I don’t want to help that scrawny brat as much as I can throw him.” Swuen snickered at her own joke, when she – and the others – heard a new voice.

“Ha ha, reeeeaaly funny, cunt.”

The group stood at the ready; stepping out of the shadows of the trees… were two familiar figures. A short child with a smile of killer, and a tall muscled man with unwavering body. Everyone had mixed reactions at the duo – Swuen crossed her arms, the twins either did not care or laughed, A.I. didn’t bother looking up, Sharp tilted in confusion at the child’s behaviour, while Vallan simply gave a small smile.

“Missed us you crazy bunch of psychos?!”

Back at Puddinghead’s Place, Puddinhead’s Kitchen; Puddin sat on her seat as she looked a list.

The list held what they needed to start rebuilding the building that were destroyed, and to ask for stone to make a stable foundation for said buildings. Puddin continued looking through her list… when she saw something on her table that she didn’t see before. It was a note… and it was from Rubert; opening the note and reading it, Puddin’s expression slowly changed from her curious stare to a smile.

To Chancellor Pudding Puddin,
I’m sorry about the destruction I and my brother had left behind during our escape, but the buildings we destroyed were already going to fall down… If you knew this… good for you.
I just wanted to write this down as a thanks for letting us stay and not running us away like any other kind of situation we’re usually used to. Your hospitable and homely response to the two of us… we haven’t seen kindness like that for a long time…
As our thanks, we left the blueprints I showed you that could help with your nation grow – trains, lampposts, electricity, skyscrapers, ships, and a heck more – it may take you a couple of centuries to get the resources and tech to reach this stuff… but when the time comes, remember to tell your grandchildren who helped you guys.
From,
Rubert A. Crane
P.S. Joseph wants to say goodbye.
BYYYYYYYYAAYAAAAAHHHHEEEEHHHHH!
Farewells from,
Joseph F. Crane

Puddinghead sighed and noticed a box under her table; after bringing the box on her table and opening it, she saw a good pile of blueprints, a map of Equestria that had spots circled for perfect settlement locations and possible locations to find resources. Those brothers… They might be tricky… but they sure are too nice for a bunch of troublemakers. Puddin snickered and snorted a cute laugh as she carried the box somewhere safe, for the future.

“It seems we may bring change to this new nation of ours, sooner than I thought...”

Farewell

View Online

Within the Everfree Forest, Castle Gardens; earlier in the morning before Joseph and Rubert planned their escape.

Sometime in the morning, the two sisters enjoyed their breakfast outside with their two new friends – Tim Vlion and Mathree. The giant of the man and the short boy sat with the sisters, eating some bread and tea. Tim lay the tiny teacup on the palm of his hand, sipping it gently as to not break the ceramic; Mathree glared at the castle’s staff, especially the soldiers who occasionally stare and whisper back.

Military figures will always be military figures; bunch of kiss-asses.

“Is something the matter Sir Mathree?” asked Luna, nibbling on a loaf of bread.

“Naw no prob here… Also; quit calling me sir, Mathree is just fine,” said Mathree, annoyed.

Luna’s ears folded down from Mathree’s tone, but he sighed and patted the young alicorn on the head, trying to avoid her horn. “Ayyyy don’t take it so seriously, thar no reason to be so serious about titles and the like. From personal experience, it bettar to be yourself than some fancy spants of the like; just no hard feelings, aight?”

Luna frowned, but gave a small smile and nodded back. “Kay.”

“Ahhh that’s the spirit,” said Mathree. “By the way, why’re we eating out, I like a good bite but outside?”

“There’s nothing wrong with being out in the sun, and enjoying a quaint picnic with friends,” said Celestia, smiling.

Mathree folded his arms and huffed back, Tim placed his teacup down and grunted back at Mathree. Mathree’s face contorted with a mix emotion between confusion and disgruntlement. “What!? Don’t tell me you like this!”

Tim shrugged and made short noises before Mathree waved his hand back at Tim. “Okay okay you got a point, I suppose there nothin wrong trying to be nice to us… though I wish we could do something… ‘entertaining’.”

That was when Luna rose up and her ears perked up, she had the cutest look as she gleamed with youthful energy. “OH! We could try playing in the underground tunnels; they’re a mess of maze-like tunnels, we can play a game of tag or hide-n-seek!”

“Wha? That’s… not bad actually, better than sitting here doing nothing; well time to go and check these catacombs out.”

“Yeah!” Luna rose up but before she could go, was stopped by Celestia who gave a worried look.

“Starswirl said not to go down there, mentioning that the caves haven’t been properly searched for any… creatures.” Celestia then felt a hand on her and turned to find Tim; with a simple thumbs up he grunted in a promise to keep them safe.

Mathree then grinned, patting Tim on the back – or one of his legs – agreeing with Tim’s statement. “Now don’t worry, this big guy is like a living statue, nothing goes past him so don’t worry yah little eads.”

Celestia was skeptic but from seeing Tim’s invulnerable body and Mathree’s sharp wit, they were both capable of handling any situation. “Alright, but I blame you if something happens.”

The four cleaned up their picnic and went back inside the castle, but somepony was watching them, the same guard who was humiliated by Tim Vlion. That giant is going to pay… horribly.

Inside the castle, Starswirl’s room; Starswirl busily worked on finding out more about where Tim and Mathree came from.

Starswirl scratched his head in frustration; ever since the two came to the castle in the Everfree – they call themselves humans – Starswirl has been researching and collecting his notes together to see if there was a possibility that Tim, Mathree, and his allies either came from a faraway land… or something else. However due to lack of research on the subject, and that many of the world is unknown – both their own land and beyond – Equestria was very ignorant of their own surroundings.

What exactly could they be, and where did they come from… They had strange faint magic around them but nothing I’ve know or heard of before. But what got me most curious… was that Tim fellow; out of all the sightings from Canterlot, the military camp, and Chancellor Puddinghead’s camp, their companions have strange abilities… Tim however is different.

Looking through his notes, was written mentioning of his odd build and of a strange heat source emanating from him.

“Its as if he’s a living volcano… but my greatest question is the fact I sense nothing from him – no magical energy or… anything. His companion, Mathree I can sense something, a small wisp of magic… but he holds nothing of sort, and at first I thought his situation was similar to the minotaurs and griffins, but they too have some sort of form of energy, he alone… is a true conundrum,” said Starswirl, mumbling to himself.

Starswirl’s mumbling was loud enough that one of the maids heard him; stepping inside to see what the noise was about, the first thing she saw was something else entirely. Now while Starswirl is the greatest magician their time… he wasn’t a good organizer.

“SIR STARSWIRL! WHAT IS THIS MESS YOU HAVE HERE!?”

Starswirl shook from his concentration and looked up with speed that would make any pegasus shocked. Starswirl gulped loudly, having noticed who has entered his room. “Miss Absolute! Wha-What are you doing here?”

Absolute Ready; head-maid of the castle, who’s in charge of all work staff in the castle, and is also known for her strict attitude, and need to keep everything nice and tidy… this involves having to remind Starswirl to have his room cleaned, or she would spew rant after rant about having everything organized and clean.

“Well if you must know, I heard somepony talking in here, only to find you here working… Did you get some sleep, you have to be tip-top shape – what if we got guests and we weren’t ready for them?!” said Absolute, ranting.

Starswirl heard nothing but “blah blah blah” and so forth, but that was when the ranting ended and he heard something of importance. “Oh by the way… Miss Smart Cookie sent a message meant for you about something, I haven’t ready the scroll, but it seemed urgent considering it was to be sent to you when possible.”

“A message, what is it about?”

Absolute used her magic and pulled out a scroll and gave to Starwirl; reading the scroll, scanning through it with rapid-speed, the scroll mentioned something about an attack happening at the camp – nopony was hurt – but it appears the purpose of the attack was to cover an escape by two individuals known; Joseph and Rubert Crane. The brothers were last seen escaping south in a strange mechanical vehicle of sort, similar to a wagon but much larger.

Mechanical vehicle? South; nothing is there but desert and wastelands… unless…

“Unless they don’t know that… Miss Absolute, I need you to prepare a small escort to Canterlot. Apparently, something has happened and the tribe leaders are in a panic, so until I return you’re in charge till then. Also tell Captain Coin to double the guard until further notice from any messages from myself.”

“Of course… And please clean your room before you leave, or I have to drag you back here from Canterlot.”

Starswirl gave a weak laugh, as a bead of sweat dripped from his forehead. “Ah heheheheeee...”

Beneath the castle, Castle Catacombs; Luna, Celestia, Tim and Mathree explore the caves and tunnels.

The Catacombs were a less complicated version of the cave system at Canterlot, but what it lacked in size, it had in complexity. The caves were retrofitted with false walls, numerous traps, and secret tunnels… well, that was to be planned in the future, right now they were full of stalagmites, puddles of murky water, and tiny night-dwelling critters sleeping in the cave.

“Wow, so this is the Catacombs, eh,” said Mathree.

The group were a few meters from the stairs that led to the Catacombs, meaning that portion was done already. A couple of meters in however was partially complete or still held its natural look, but had some equipment still set up. The workers are postponed, having busy with other projects outside the castle; extra help will arrive with the remaining ponies from the three tribes.

“Since nopony is working here, we’re allowed to be here, but we can’t go any deeper. Some of the workers mentioned hearing weird noises deeper in,” said Luna.

“We shouldn’t be here you guys, let’s go back,” said Celestia, looking back. Celestia turned to Tim for some support, but the giant man disappeared, having going ahead of the group; Tim turned and waved them back.

“Well Tim says its safe, so there’s no reason to be picky about things. Let’s get this game going!”

Luna jumped in joy as she trotted ahead to play their game of hide-and-seek; Celestia gave up her attempts of convincing them to leave, and joined them. The four decided that Tim would be it – that and he couldn’t shout “not it” – while the others went to hide. After counting to a hundred… or Tim’s way of doing it by making one hundred grunts, he began to search.

Tim walked through the caves, the drips of water coming from stalagmites echoed on and on. A quiet scuffle was heard, behind him; turning around he saw a pile of crates, and while there didn’t seem to be anything remarkable, Tim saw the slight tinge of a tri-colored mane, poking from the edge of the pile – quiet snickering could be heard, if listened carefully.

Celestia tried her best to stay quiet, but turning to see if Tim left, he was gone… except he wasn’t. Going back to look at the other corner, she saw face to face with Tim; Celestia was spooked but Tim placed a finger on her muzzle, and spoke a single word.

“Bo,” said Tim.

Celestia pouted, as she booped Tim back with a hoof. “For someone your size, you can be pretty quiet. Come on, let’s find my sister and your comrade.”

Tim stood to his full height, and moved with Celestia; elsewhere, Mathree hid the last place anyone would find him… the roof of the cave. Mathree held on to his butcher knife that was stuck to the roof – which he threw up and climbed up to hang onto – below him was Luna, who hid behind some natural rock formations.

I’m surprise she hadn’t spotted me yet… Though to be honest, I don’t want her to find me, whether she’s it or not. Mathree saw something in the corner of his eye, and thought it was Tim… but was something he hasn’t seen in his life before.

Luna was snickering wildly, and kept on gasping with held laughter; Tim and Celestia had passed by her and went deeper into the cave, and considering there were several passageways, it would take them awhile for them to find her. She slammed her hoof against the stone wall as she inhaled more air to breath, and afterwords she slumped down and relaxed.

“This is going to be really funny when they come back… Maybe I should scare them when they do.”

Luna then heard someone coming back, raising back on all hooves, she slowly went to the corner, and at the last second, she popped out to scare who was on the other side. “BOO!”

There were a lot of different dangers in Equestria, especially in the Everfree – manticores, cragcodiles, hydras, timberwolves, chimeras… and cockatrice. Standing right before Luna was a cockatrice… a really big one… that was glaring at her coldly… well the cold part would because her lower half of her body was feeling numb. Luna wanted to know why her back legs weren’t functioning, why she couldn’t look away, and why she was unable to scream. She was told of these creatures that they were to be feared more than any of the other creatures in the Everfree, she still didn’t know why… but she knows now.

Someone… help me……..

Her body started to freeze, and slowly her mind… until something came down upon the cockatrice; the blood-thirst from it’s eyes was intense that the cockatrice almost lost its focus… that wouldn’t matter though.

Luna fell unconscious, but when she woke up a few minutes later, she felt something warm splattered over her… and a strange smell. Opening her eyes, standing over her was Mathree – he was frowning and had something streaked across his face – he looked terrible; blood was dripping on his face, and held on one of his hands was a knife that didn’t looked like it was used to cut vegetables.

“You need to be careful you know; I also thought you said these caves were safe?”

Luna rose up with wobbly hooves, gaining some assistance from Mathree. “I didn’t… say that… I just said, that we can play here but… needed to be careful.” Luna noticed something behind Mathree, but before she could take a peek, her sight turned to darkness. “...Huh?”

Mathree had covered her eyes with a piece of his clothing, ripping it and making a makeshift blindfold. “Ieeeeehhhh wouldn’t look if I wey you… Yeesh, that stank es worse than leftover pizzas, the next time we play hide-n-seek, remind me of this.”

“What’s behind you… and why am I sticky?” asked Luna, naive.

Mathree turned to stare at the answer to Luna’s question; when Mathree saw the cockatrice and saw what it was doing to Luna, he came upon it without mercy, having slicing it to pieces from above. It spewed a ton of blood, some covering Luna, and himself… that of course couldn’t beat the smell. Footsteps and hoofsteps were heard, signaling the arrival of Celestia and Tim, the two arrived and spotted the carcase, and seeing Luna and Mathree near said carcass.

“WHAT HAPPENED!?” shouted Celestia, rushing toward the two.

Tim followed behind and when he neared the carcase, he carried it a distance from them to… “clean” the mess. Celestia tried her best to clean the blood on her sister’s coat, which only caused more smearing on herself and Luna. Mathree stood by watching with an amused grin; he then coughed and pointed out Celestia’s mistake.

“I’m no expert on how to clean blood… well I kinda of, but that’s not the point. Rubbing it like it’s some mud ain’t going remove it; we should head up and tell them what we found.” Mathree turned around only to find something smoking and burning; Tim came back with some smoke and bits of ember from his palms – the smell of charred cockatrice carcass was lingering in the air. “Really? You had to be extra careful and roasted the bloody chicken monster? I swear, I turn around and you do something without telling me.”

“Boho ho bo.”

“What you mean there could be more? How is burning the thing going to help?!”

“Bo bo ho.”

“They might think it was a dragon that killed their compadrie… huh… that actually might work. Alrighty than, if that’ll make the scaly chickens flee with terror, I don’t know what will… let’s get out of this damp cave, getting my shoes wet as it is.”

Sometime after the group went back above ground; Everfree Castle, Bathing Room.

Celestia helped clean up Luna after their short game of hide-and-seek, while Mathree simply cleaned himself up with a wet towel… Tim on the other hand simply gazed outside on one of the balconies. The alicorn sisters busied themselves cleaning in the castle’s bathing room; since most of the staff and guard busy cleaning themselves in the evening, and in turns – females first, males secondly. Of course anypony can take a bath any time of the day, mostly early in the morning or late at night.

“TIIIAAAHHH! Not so rough,” said Luna, her mane covered in soap. Celestia scrubbed roughly against Luna’s scalp as she tried to remove the stench of dried blood and dirt from her sister.

“Not after what just happened down there; I swear, the next time I listen to you, I’m putting a tracking glyph on you so you don’t do something this crazy again. I told you that it would be dangerous but nooooohhhh, you were bored and decided to go to the one place we were told not to go to!” Celestia kept on scrubbing Luna’s mane harder and harder, so much so that Luna squeaked from having her mane – and her head – being dragged back.

“Siiiis, stahp, I think you’re pulling some of my mane off!”

Celestia stopped her scrubbing and sighed, as she gave Luna a tight but warmth hug. “Sorry… just… please don’t do something like that again.”

Luna gave a warm smile and snuggled closer to her sister. “I promise...”

Outside of the bathing room, Mathree listened in and after leaving the two siblings to have their privacy, he wanders around before spotting Tim leaning against a balcony. Joining him, the two silently gaze outside toward the afternoon sky; neither speak, but this is how most of their conversations end up happening.

“So… what you think of those two? Apparently their suppose to be some powerful beings… well in the future of course, right now their just some kiddies. Makes me wonder; what would it be like to live a life of royalty… I left that life behind for riches and action instead… One of these days, I’ll be gone, you’ll be gone, we’ll all be gone… so why...”

Mathree turned to face Tim, with a solemn look in his eyes, before frowning. “Why is it that we have such lives, but given no purpose… Don’t you find it meaningless?”

Tim gave no response but grunted and gave a nod of his head. Mathree shrugged Tim’s response off, and continued staring at the sky.

“Yeeeeaaaah… No reason to be so questiony-questiony aboot things… Never was the type to be smart arse. Better go do something to keep ourselves busy; I think they have somewhere to train for the soldiers… Wanna spar?”

Tim swiveled his head in such a manner, you could imagine the creaking from his neck. “Bo… ho...”

The two left and made their way to the sparring grounds… underneath the balcony in the garden, a certain guard was listening in to their conversation – well Mathree’s random ranting, but same thing. The guard grinned as he prepared his plan to come to fruition, taking his leave and heading to the same place the two are heading to.

Everfree Castle, Sparring Grounds; Captain Coin Flip trained some of the soldiers, as they sparred one another or trained with some dummies.

“You, raise your sword higher, and remember to hold it with your mouth, not your teeth! Remember to keep shields up and your head lowered if you don’t want an arrow between your eyes! AND FOR FAUST’S SACK, CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL THAT PRIVATE TO QUIT FOOLING AROUND; THAT ISN’T HOW YOU USE A BOW!”

Captain Coin was screaming his lungs out at the soldiers training… for anything; the sparring grounds were stationed in the front of the castle, but a camo-cloth wall was surrounding the grounds to hide their position, and wards were placed to silence any noise they make, meaning their location is completely silent to anypony trying to find them.

We’re getting less and less recruits each passing day… but considering only a considered few were chosen for this mission, we can’t willy-nilly choose random ponies. Still… training these recruits is becoming a hassle, I wasn’t made to train anypony but give orders.

Captain Coin grunted before spotting two interesting figures approach the grounds; Tim walked stoically while a grinning Mathree strode beside him. Mathree was able to clean his clothes – even though he was covered in cockatrice blood – and is armed with his trusty cleaver, while Tim begins to crack his massive knuckles. Coin approaches the two on why they’re here… and why they seem to be getting ready for a fight.

“Sir Mathree, and Sir Tim… May I help you with something?” asked Coin.

“Ehy nothing for you to worry bout, just wanted to fight my buddy here; we usually tussle with one another when bored. It could also give these soldiers here how back home, we fight… wanna ask if that ayright with yah.”

Coin was about to deny this request, but paused; having the two fight would change things a little… and give something the soldiers to be entertained about. Ever since the two have arrived to the castle, Coin has been suspicious of them… but maybe finding out how they fight might give Coin a clue about who they are. Its better than trying to train these colts.

“Sure; you two can spar over there, and I’ll set up some barriers to see how big of an area you can fight in,” said Coin, turning around. “PRIVATE! BRING SOME BARRIERS, OUR GUESTS ARE GOING TO SHOW US HOW THEY FIGHT!”

Some of those training heard what was going on, and stopped their activities to watch the fight. Some of the soldiers started to talk amongst each other and spoke about the rumors they heard about the two – Tim’s brute strength, and Mathree’s skill with his weapon – but having the two fight would bring up moral and make the day, much more interesting.

Tim and Mathree prepared themselves, as each one of them went to a separate corner of the makeshift ring. Tim unarmed, and Mathree armed with his signature cleaver knife, and both of them were bloodthirsty their own way. Both fighters stared at one another when one soldier who would be overseeing the fight and make sure nobody were to get hurt… if only he knew what was to come.

These ponies are going to be surprised once they find out how we fight; time to show these ponies a real fight.

The soldier – who was a pegasus mare, and same rank as Coin – raised her voice to announce the fight. “Alright soldiers – stallions and mares – on this corner we have the tall, strong, and burly; Sir Tim Vlion! On this corner, we have the ecstatic, wily, and sneaky; Sir Maxwell Arvion III! Fighters, here are the rules; rule one, no hits to any vital points. Rule two, the only way to be eliminated is either knockout, ring-out, or forfeiting. Rule three, no weapons are allowed – both handheld or ones to improve one’s attacks, this includes magic of any-”

“Now hold on sister!” Mathree walked up to the mare, and was stopped mid-speech to listen to him. “This is our fight, so what we do we’ll do it our wey! Besides… What’s the fun in having rules, when you’re just going brek them.”

Mathree gave the mare a devilish smile which caused her to be a little red in the face before coughing away her embarrassment. “I am deeply sorry Sir Mathree, but will you allow the rule of no vital parts being targeted to be allowed… please?”

Mathree stared at the mare for awhile before turning to return to his corner. “K; now let’s get this fight… ON!”

The mare nodded and move from the ring to join the other soldiers. Making sure both fighters are ready – Tim standing tall, and Mathree lowering his form to almost a crouch – she raised her left forehoof. “...AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHNNNDDD FIGHT!”

In a rush of air, Mathree vanished from his corner and when Tim was about to move forward, Mathree appear right in front of him, and smashed his cleaver into his forehead. Everypony stared with eyes wide what Mathree did… when Tim raised his fist and nearly landed it on Mathree; Mathree skidded back and grinned in return.

“That was close, elmost gote me, mate.”

“SIR MATHREE! I SAID NO HITS TO ANY VITAL POINTS!”

“True… except this bugga got no vital points at all; his body is hard as steel, beside his fine. Right budd-”

Right before Mathree could finish, Tim was upon him as one of his massive fists was smashed just where Mathree was. Mathree dodged attack after attack, vaulting over Tim’s large arm, and sending his cleaver down upon his neck, only for the giant of a man to grab Mathree by his arm and fling him to the air. Everypony was leaning against the barriers of the ring, as the intensity of the match was increasing each passing second.

With each punch Tim swung, Mathree would return it with a chop and swing of his cleaver; it was a dance of bloodshed… except no blood was shed. Each time Mathree gotten a hit on Tim, it caused a spark to come off, but that’s all, and there were signs of bruising or dents of some kind, but no blood. Mathree on the hand while was a bit scuffed, held his own pretty well… but that was about to change.

Mathree loosened his poise, and rushed forward with speed to rival the quickest messengers. Jumping up and over Tim – using one of his swings from his arm – Mathree pulled out a second cleaver and spun himself to create a whirlwind of blade chops.

“MURDER DANCE!” Mathree continued and continued to chop and slash his cleavers against Tim, that the big man was forced to raised his muscled forearms over him as sparks flew everywhere. Mathree was cackling maniacally as he kept his onslaught going until he finished with one final move.

“Time to finish this; Butcher…”

At that same time, Tim backed away and started to pull his fist back as if it were a spring; both fighters were about to unleash their signature moves – Tim’s being known to shatter the greatest of walls with a fiery punch, called “Volcanic Crater” - and clash in the middle.

“...Cross!” Mathree sent both of his cleavers down in a cross-like fashion, causing a silvery light to come forth his weapons.

Both attacks caused a shock-wave to spread across the ring, as a blast of wind knocked back those watching and the surrounding weapon racks and tents. A cloud of dust appeared upon the two fighters, and as it slowly dissipated, a small crater was in the center of the ring with clusters of dirt and rock everywhere… except for Tim or Mathree.

Everypony became confused and worried something happened to the two fighters, when they looked up to see the two continuing to lung attack after attack in mid-air; Mathree was in the air by spinning his cleavers so quickly that it made him fly, Tim on the other hand was held in the air by streams of steam that was blasted to the ground from his feet.

The two were continuing to brawl, not noticing the mayhem they caused below them… the fight also got the attention of both the alicorn sisters, and Starswirl. The three came outside after hearing a loud thunderclap of a noise from outside, and when spotting a large crowd of soldiers staring up, they too look up.

“WHAT IN THE NAME OF FAUST IS GOING ON!?” screamed Absolute, coming outside. When she saw the mess out front, she nearly fainted as she fell onto her haunches, and placed both her fore-hooves on her head. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LAWN!”

Mathree spotted Luna and saw she was clean and had a towel wrapped around her mane, stopping mid-battle as he floated with one cleaver awkwardly. “Ey Luna, good to see yer fine lassy!”

“What are you two doing!?” shouted Luna, gawking at the sight before her.

“Oh me and Tim just brawling as usual, nothing weird here.”

“WEIRD!? WEIRD! YOU’RE FLOATING IN MID-AIR WITH YOUR WEAPON; HOW IS THAT NOT WEIRD!?”

Mathree shrugged, as he tried to avoid another attack by Tim, as he sent a fireball shaped like his fist. The attack went by him and went overhead the soldiers, until it dissipated into a small explosion. Mathree looked up at the explosion and back at Tim with a mixed reaction.

“TIM! The ell man, were you trying to blow me up!”

“Boho… ho ho...”

“Ohhh ohh ohhh you wanna play it lik that, uhhhh. Well so be it, time to take off the kiddy gloves!”

With that, Mathree held both his cleavers close together until bashing them together; the strange act caused both weapons to fuse and combine into a massive blade with two handles for both hands. The weapon was given a strange shape, as it wasn’t made to slice, but smash and demolish the bones in one’s body. Wielding his new weapon, Mathree sent the weapon falling upon Tim with a loud warcry.

“IT’S CHOPPING TAAAAAAIIIIIIHHHHMMMMM!” The weapon created a strange sound as it whizzed by the air; the sound was reminiscent of a bottle being slowly opened, as the pressure inside was released, until it created a loud pop that created an echo that spread out from the source.

An ever brightening light formed between Mathree’s weapon making contact with Tim’s arm; the light dimmed enough for everypony to stare at the one figure standing. It was Tim and his body was smoking from top to bottom, with no sign of Mathree anywhere.

“Where’s Sir Mathree?” asked Luna, scanning the area. It was at that moment, a sword fell blade first right near her, where she glanced up. Holding on to the rim of a nearby window, was Mathree; nopony could see it but Mathree’s attack caused him to be propelled upward and land face first to a window, where he tried his best to hang onto said window.

Maaaaybe I shouldn’t had tried my new weapon updrade jeust yet… Should of listened to olde Ingy.

“Anybody might elping me?”

Luna sighed, and made her way inside the castle; the rest of the crowd shouted and wooed about the fight, shouting out Tim’s name in victory. Starswirl, Celestia, and Coin went close to Tim to see he was alright, until some steam came out of his nostrils and ears. The muscled man shook off the dust and ash off like water, and stretched his limbs with the sounds of muscles popping.

“BOOOOOOO! HOOOOOO!”

Tim looked down at the three equines below him, and tilted his head in confusion; Celestia tapped Tim’s arm to get his attention as he turned to look at her. “Tim… youuu… alright?” asked Celestia, worried.

“Boho ho bo… bo… bo...”

“Uhhhhh… what?”

Tim made a noise that could be him sighing, but made some gestures with his hands – one gesture was him moving his hands together in a circular motion as if he were stirring something in a pot, while another gesture was of him chopping something – Celestia took a moment to understand the gestures and understood.

“You wanna cook? Well… it’s almost lunch time soon; Starswirl, is the kitchen’s food supplies stocked?”

Starswirl stared at the destruction before him before shaking his head to focus his attention to the one who caused said destruction. “W-wea-well… We haven’t received anything new, but we do have our own garden… You could possibly find something there to cook up… I’ll tell the chefs you’ll be in the room again…” Starswirl trotted away in a daze, a bit shocked by the sheer destruction that happened just a few moments ago.

Coin whistled at the duo’s fight, realizing that they’re no joke and could be the most powerful fighters his encountered before. “Haven’t seen a good sparring since… well, when Commander Hurricane sparred against High Commander Meteor Shatter. You and that friend of yours got some interesting fighting techniques… especially you; every time he sent his weapon on you, it simply left a spark but no blood… You using some sort of enchantment to protect you or something?”

Tim made a shake of his head, and motioned to look at Celestia as he pointed his fat thumb toward the castle. Celestia nodded her head and turned to look at Coin and bowed toward him. “Well, I hope your soldiers were entertained by our guests little… ‘demonstration of skill’ but it appears we have lunch to prepare. Have a good afternoon, Captain Coin.”

“You too kid...” said Coin, watching the strange pair of alicorn and human walking away. As he watched those two leave, one of his trainees approached him with a gaped mouth.

“Uhhhh… Cap… Yeah think any of us got a chance against him? I mean… I know their not a threat and all but some of the guys have heard rumors that his allies caused trouble with the other leaders… Do you think we might need to-”

Captain Coin raised a hoof to silence the soldier, before turning to him; Coin gave the spooked soldier a reassuring smile. “Whether they become our enemy or not… A know a fellow warrior when I see one… and those two are definitely won’t backstab any of us… Besides, we are under Starswirl, not the United Pony Tribes, meaning their quarrels aren’t our business unless Starswirl deems it so… For now, you got nothing to fear.”

The soldier gave a relaxed sigh… until he was glared by Coin in which the Captain started screaming at him. “NOW GET BACK OUT THERE AND GIVE ME FIVE LAPS AND FIFTY HOOF-UPS! PRONTO!” At an instant, the soldier went double-time and turned as he began running for his life; Coin turned to the other soldiers and shouted at them too. “THAT INCLUDES THE REST OF YAH LOUSY COLTS; GET MOVING, NOW!”

With that, everypony started continuing their usual training and drills… as if nothing happened, ignoring the crater the size of a carriage, just some distance from them.

Everfree Castle, Castle Kitchens; Celestia and Tim headed to the kitchens to cook up a meal for lunch.

Once entering inside, some of the chefs begin preparing for lunch when they notice Celestia and Tim entering inside. The head chef approached them after knowing Tim having cooked the delicious pizzas he made yesterday.

“Ah, Sir Vlion, it is good to see you! Are you here to cook another delicious meal for us, we’d love to learn about your… culinary skills.”

Tim nodded toward the head chef, and walked toward some ingredients; Tim moved like lightening as he started to prepare something edible to eat for everypony and his companion. Grabbing some pots, firewood, and a wooden spoon, Tim prepared to cook today’s lunch.

“Is there anything you may need for this dish you’re making?”

Tim pulled something out of his pocket – it was a recently written list – and handed it to the head chef. After reading it, the chef understood it and gave to one of his assistants. “Find anything in this list in the gardens and storage for Sir Vlion, swiftly. Also get others to help you get the tons of firewood too… it appears we shall be eating a feast sometime soon. As for the others; assist Sir Vlion with all your ability, but do not get in his way!”

With that, all the remaining chefs bowed and got to work; Celestia waited outside in the cafeteria to prepare the plating for everypony. Celestia placed down plate and utensil until she heard somepony coughing behind her, turning around it was the head maid, Absolute Ready.

“Miss Celestia… I see you are doing something that the maids should be handling… again.”

“I thought I could help while Tim is cooking… I do not see why I can’t do something as mundane as this.”

Absolute sighed and placed both her hooves on the young alicorn’s front hooves, lowering them down. “Because you and your sister are unique… Sometime in the future – maybe not soon, or later, but in the future – you two will be given a grand responsibility… and you must be ready to lead this nation of ours, and act like a leader. Doing work that should be done by the maids or other servants isn’t something you should do.”

Celestia frowned finding the need to act like royalty, useless. “But why; Sir Vlion isn’t being stopped when he cooks, so why is nopony stopping him? And why are Luna and I being prepared for something that nopony can explain to us with reason?”

Absolute glanced away but continued her explanation, as best she could to Celestia. “Sir Vlion is a guest and while we treat guests as best we can… He is… ‘interesting’ to say the least; he can cook and not only that but is from a foreign land. Our chefs are intrigued by his style of cooking and wish to learn from him… but as for you and Luna… That is something best asked by Starswirl...” Absolute looked up and entering the cafeteria after speaking with the head chef earlier. “Speak of that stallion, here he comes.”

Celestia looked up and rushed up to Starswirl while Absolute continued off where Celestia was. Starswirl was still dazed by the brawl that happened earlier until his vision was consumed by a confused Celestia.

“STARSWIRL! I have a question for you!”

“Uh-wha- Celestia! Don’t raise your voice; indoor-voice… Now, what is it that you want to know?”

Starswirl expected something simple or something the young alicorn in her age would ask… what he got was having to explain where Celestia and Luna came from… sort of. “Why am I and Luna alicorns, and why must we rule this nation?!”

Oh… oh dear… Well, today is going to be interesting.

Everfree Castle, somewhere in the upper floors; after helping Mathree out of his predicament, Luna led Mathree somewhere.

“Oy, where you taking me? I know you helped get me inside from the window… but seriously I’m fine; I don’t need no healing of the like.”

Luna took a turn while pulling Mathree by the arm – her leg was wrapped around one of his arms – until they approached two doors at the end of the hallway. The door to the left had a symbol of the sun on it and was made of white wood and painted gold, the door on the right however had a moon symbol, was made of a dark oak with silver painted on it.

Mathree stared at the moon symbol door until he glanced at Luna who simply pushed the door with a good push. The door opened to reveal an interesting sight; the room itself had items and furniture relating to midnight or the moon… with one slight difference…

“Well shite… that’s ah wot a staer charts…” said Mathree, entering the room.

Luna’s room was littered with star charts, books about the sky and stars, and varying types of telescopes. The room itself was a customized observatory, having everything from the equipment required to stargaze, research and notes, and more… well, the kind of stuff that Luna her age can muster getting.

Luna rubbed the back of her neck as she began to clean up her mess. “Opps… I suppose I should of cleaned up before I invited you inside. I thought after the whole cockatrice incident, and little fight with Tim we could wait here until lunch was ready...”

Mathree examined the various items in the room until he came across something interesting; it was a sculpture of some kind of a star… the odd part was it had twelve points. The first six points came from a bigger star while the other six were from a smaller version of the star but inverted. It wasn’t painted it but the strange sculpture gave off a strange aura.

“What’s with this weird star? Looks like somebody smushed a bunch of them together and glued another two together.”

Luna approached and sighed remembering making this sculpture but never remembering why. “I made that from a dream… I can’t remember the details, but I think the front star is a color similar to purple while the one in the back is a white-ish color. Other than than, the rest of the dream is a bit… foggy… I stopped when I couldn’t remember anymore details however.”

“Huh… Welp it looks weird what it does… … …I like it,” said Mathree, walking away.

Looking through more stuff, Mathree steps outside onto Luna’s window; outside he sees the Everfree Forest from above, a mountain with a castle, and much of the outside landscape – hills, plains, more mountains, forests, valleys, and plateaus.

“Wow… Nice view you got here. What’s that over there?”

Luna joins Mathree and sees what he’s seeing, spotting the castle in the distance. “That’s Canterlot Castle, it’s mostly where all the unicorns reside and their leader; Princess Platinum lives. Toward the west of the castle and us is Commander Hurricane is, its also where a majority of our military force is… and I think Chancellor Puddinghead was planning to set up a settlement some distance toward the east. Almost anything you see from here is going to be the future-United Equine Lands!”

Mathree tilted his head and looked at Luna with confusion. “United… Equine… Lands? That’s a mouthful… why not Equestria or something?”

“Well I’m sorry you don’t like my idea of a name for our future home… but yeah, everypony has been going with Equestria instead.”

“You suck at making names.”

“No! You suck!”

“Aaaaannnd there goes the context; suck all the way.”

“Suck what?” asked Luna, not understanding Mathree’s meaning. “What you mean by-”

“And this is the point of the conversation where it’s best you don’t ask anymore questions. How about we forget what we were saying, and you say what and I say exactly.”

“What?”

“Exactly.”

Luna shook her head not having the focus to pay attention on what was said earlier; looking outside the window, Luna sighs sadly before sitting down on a clear space. Mathree turns and joins her, sitting on a nearby chair, pulling it closer toward her.

“Hey, what’s wrong, you were just fine just now… Was it me making fun of your dream name for this place?” said Mathree, leaning closer to Luna.

Luna pushed Mathree away before looking out the window from her spot. “Its not that… Sometimes I wonder what’s it like out there. My sister and I have been in this castle since we were fillies… I just wanna see what the outside world is like… To explore, and discover new things. The only time I know things is when messengers send scrolls to Starswirl, but I wanna see them with my own eyes...”

Mathree leaned back as the chair tilted slightly, until he sat back down. “Well… can’t blame you; you’re some sort of important figure and they don’t wan ta loose trak of yeh n your sis… other than that, the outside world… can be dangerous.”

“I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF!?”

“Sur you can, and I’m pretty sure you planned into a pigeon’s bathroom by that chicken-lizard thing.”

Luna had nothing retort back, giving up her argument; Mathree scratched his head, and reached toward Luna until a knock from the door stopped them both. The door opened revealing Celestia with Starswirl beside her.

“Luna! Lunch is ready… Oh, there you are Mathree, Tim’s been wondering what happened to you.”

“Well tell that big lug I’ll be down…” said Mathree, facing back toward Luna. “Look… I’m not good when it comes to cheering others… but sometimes you gatta give up on some dreams… and make sacrifices toward other things… To put it simply; to make a dream come fruition, you gotta give up something in return...”

Mathree stood up and left the room, leaving Luna alone until she left to join eating too. Celestia walked beside her sister, curious about what they were talking about in Luna’s room. Starswirl on the other hoof, noticed something else that neither alicorn saw – Mathree seemed to drop something from one of his pockets, picking it up with his magic, Starswirl looked at the strange item.

The object was a crystal the size of an eyeball, and gave off a silvery glow, but what was strange was that once Starswirl picked it up with his magic, it gave an almost instantaneous boost to his abilities and magic. Dropping it into a satchel, Starswirl carefully putting it away for later research.

What kind of world do those two come from?

After eating lunch, many of the workers went to their usual schedules; Celestia and Luna returned to their lessons, while Tim and Mathree decided to stay occupied in their rooms. Once dinner came, the two guests decided to take an early nap, while everypony else ate. It was that night, when Mathree was staring out his own window at the night sky… that it was time to say their farewells.

Everfree Castle, Mathree/Tim’s Room; that night, when it became the darkest night of the year.

Mathree stared at the distant night sky, the glimmer of the stars being the only light that dark night. After hearing news of what has happened to his companions, Mathree has made a decision; to escape the castle, and regroup with his old teammates with Tim. Standing up from his bed, Mathree turns to face the door that leads to one of the castle’s hallways.

Tim rises from his bed, already knowing what Mathree has planned. “Boho… boho ho ho bohoo,” said Tim.

“Yeah… I know that we’re never going to come back here… ever… If you wanna leave something behind like a note or sumthin… Do it quickly.” Mathree steps out of the room before closing it behind him; Tim rises from his bed and reaches for a parchment of paper and an ink pen.

Outside the room, Mathree walks through the castle halls in a calm but quiet stroll, his steps echoing in the silent night. That was when a figure appeared from the darkness; standing in Mathree’s path was the soldier that Tim had humiliated yesterday. The soldier held his sword with his magic, standing with a cocky look in his eyes.

“Where you think you’re going?” asked the soldier.

“Not yah business… now es it...”

“Well, whether it is my business or not doesn’t matter… You see, I only joined this little project of that Starswirl guy was because the pay was good, and it only required for me to just guard a punch of fillies… even if their a bunch of freaks. Though, I heard the rumors of your posse causing a ruckus beyond this creepy forest… and I got ‘friends’ on the outside who would pay a lot for you bunch of mutants. So how about you just not struggle and come with us… oh and as for your friend, while getting the two of you would make the bits rain… I don’t think we need him alive.”

At the mention of “we” several more soldiers appear from the darkness – the mare from before who was with him and several other soldiers who given bad treatment to Celestia and Luna in the past. The soldiers held various weapons from maces, spears, hatchets, and crossbows. They were armed to the teeth, and every single one of them seethed of greed for money, and blood.

Mathree stood there unmoving… but sighed; the cold air from an opened window caused his breath to become visible. “You know… I wouldn’t judge why you do what you do… but...” said Mathree, his tone not like his usual broken-language. “I have three things to say to you and the chumps with you.”

“One; I really don’t like bullies… I loathe them. You try to act high n mighty cuss you got weapons? Cuss you got numbers? Cuss you act tough? Boy… you have no idea what you just done when you pointed your weapon at me, and think you’re going to win.” Mathree begins unclasping the buttons on his jacket, one at a time.

“Two; I have no idea if you watched what happened this afternoon… but Tim and I literally caused a crater… with our own bodies. You think you can just come up to me and start spouting all the bad shite you done? I KILL PEOPLE FOR A LIVING! Compare to you, its more like wiping shit from somebody’s arse! Next time, tell me if you slaughtered a whole town of mobsters. While bleeding. With a broken arm, n leg. While deaf… then we’re even.” After unclasping the final button, the sound of metal could be heard swinging inside Mathree’s coat. Some of the soldier’s allies slowly start to backtrack, leaving the soldier the only one standing alone.

“Three! Back home, Tim and I are kind of known by two nicknames given by our compadres. Tim’s called the unmovable object, while me… they call me the unstoppable force!” Mathree starts to reach into his jacket with both hands, slowly.

The soldier smirks, becoming more cocky than before, even daring to step forward. “So? What, you called that cause his big and heavy, while you are small but quick!”

Mathree grins sadistically, something metallic hitting against another metallic object. “Nah boy… his called that cus whenever he wants to do something, he don’t stop till it.. is done… I on the other hand,” said Mathree. “When I start cutting… I DON’T STOP TILL I’M SWIMMING IN BLOOD!”

Opening his jacket’s flaps, he reveals what’s hidden underneath; inside is an array of cutting knives ranging from big massive ones meant to cut the leg of large beasts, to tiny but sharp ones used to cut the tiniest of incisions. Mathree pulls out a chomper knife with teeth the size of an eye; in the other hand is three smaller knives that gleam under the moon’s light. Mathree begins salivating off his loose tongue that dangles out his mouth, with other details showing – his eyes shrink until only the white of his eyes remain, a snarl of a beast is the only response coming from Mathree, while his teeth now revealed are sharp and pointed with zero imperfections on them.

The soldiers begin to panic and shake, slowly backpedaling away as they possibly can. Mathree speaks once more but in deliberate slowness. “Boyyyyy… you fuuucked up… Thar no livvvviinngg sooouuulll heeerreee… Juuuussstt yooouuuu… annnnddd Iiiiiiiieehehehhehh ahhah ahhaaaaaa...”

“Whut the fuuuaaaahhhhhaaaakk!” The soldier stumbles down, tripping on his own hooves, leaving him staring toward Mathree. With one final push from his legs, Mathree sprints forward and jumps upward with unnatural speed.

“EEEEEAAEAHHHHTTTTSSSS! CHOMPPENNN TAAAAIIIMMMEEE!”

With one final scream from the soldier, the halls are stained with the blood of the cowardly, leaving only their screams to echo.

Everfree Castle, Luna’s Room; Luna was still awake at the time, due to having a nocturnal schedule.

Luna stargazes outside through one of her telescopes, writing down the stars’ formations tonight. It was at that very moment – and the fact she’s the only one awake and has her window open – she heard screams from across the castle.

That sounds like it’s coming from… Mathree and Tim’s room…

At that moment, Luna teleports outside her room and continues to teleport until she’s unable to, which she sprints to the source of the screams. Stumbling on a loose part of the carpet, Luna hears the screams getting louder; nearing the source, Luna slows down to take a glance around the corner of a hallway. At the same time she’s about to look, one of the soldiers’ start running from the hallway Luna was about to look to… until three knives sink into his flesh – one to his flank, another to his neck, leaving the final one embedded in his head – causing him to collapse to the floor.

Internally Luna wants to scream to the top of her lungs, externally, she clasps her muzzle tightly, tears streaming down her eyes. More screams could be heard but getting weaker by the second; a silhouette starts to come out of the hallway, it being one of the soldiers with a large cleaver is left inside their body, smashing through the armor and flesh.

The soldier turns to look at Luna, struggling to say something as blood pools in his mouth. “Haaalalppeeppe, meeaeaeaeehh...” The soldier falls, becoming a body as blood pools from the wound like a fountain.

Luna slowly begins to freak out, unable to move, unable to think, unable to breath. Many thoughts begin flooding through her about why this was happened, and who could cause it to happen. A shadowy figure steps out and past the body, reaching toward the cleaver causing sickly sound to come out from the force used to pull the large cleaver out.

The figure notices where the body was looking and turns to see… only to find Luna – terrified, naive, young, Luna – crying and having trouble breathing. The figure steps forward which the moon’s light reveal the figure to be Mathree, who was stained in blood, with little being his.

With this revelation revealed, Luna does two things that came rushing into her mind out of instinct and fear. Scream and run – well an attempt to run, instead crawling while tripping on her hooves.

Mathree instantly drops his weapons immediately, reaching toward Luna, having to pounce on top of her. “LUNA LUNA! CALM DOWN! CALM-DOWN!” shouted Mathree, trying to get a grip on the poor young mare.

“Plleaeasseeee! Doo dododontt attat haheehhururttt mehaeheha hhaehhee! EHEHHAEE AAAAAHAHHAhHAHEH! TIATIAT HAITATATAIIAIIA AHHAHEEh HHEELEELAEPAPEPEAP!”

Mathree is able to hold Luna by the torso and carries her away from the bloodbath, to an empty alcove. Once there, he grips Luna tightly by her head, still panicking and screaming, before reaching for something in his jacket. Fearing it to be a weapon, Luna is ready to fire a pure blast of magic, until stopped by a hankey, being used to clean her tears and snot.

Mathree starts making shushing noises, and smoothing Luna’s mane in a calm and slow repeat, daring not to stop at all. Making sure Luna was looking at the ground and nowhere else – especially the bloodbath nearby that just happened – Mathree, keeps calming Luna, until her sobbing stops and her breathing has slow down.

After a short while, the two are alone in a darkened alcove, where the only thing heard is Luna’s deep breathing and Mathree’s slow breaths. The first to speak was Mathree, speaking in a tone like one would speak to a child.

“Now… I’m not sure what you saw… and I won’t lie to you but… It is best, that what you saw is something you may never understand. Maybe not now, and maybe not soon… but some things, some… others’ morals make conflict with another’s. These ponies… they did because they were greedy… everyone can be greedy, but doesn’t mean they are; they looked out for themselves, not for others, and they wanted to hurt others whether it was wrong. What I did… what you saw… Is something I continue – and will – to do so, because I myself can… am… greedy. Greedy that, I want to protect those that matter, protect what is mine and mine alone, greedy that… I should be the only greedy one alive.”

Mathree’s words came like a river, but like a river, it was too much for her; every word stung, harder and deeper than any wound would cause. Luna wanted to block it all out, she didn’t want to listen… but she had to listen. Not because she would sooner learn or not, but rather… she wanted to know; Mathree had taught her few things through the times they be together, and those experiences… they were all worth it. She was taught that friends can come from the unlikeliest of ponies… or backgrounds, that not everybody is “innocent”, everyone can die, dreams don’t come true through belief but action, and… everyone makes mistakes.

“I’m not sorry what I done… Never am, never will be; death isn’t something to cry about, get mad over, heck it’s not even something to argue about. To be honest… I think those who keep complaining that death shouldn’t happen are morons! I mean, everyone LITERALLY walks over something that was once alive… and they don’t give a flying fuck! I don’t mean graveyards or some unmarked grave… I’m talking about the literal ground… DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY IDEA, THE NUMBER OF LIVING THINGS THAT DIE ON THE GROUND; ITS CLOSE TO THE NUMBER OF TIMES TO BLOODY COUNT TO INFINITY!” screamed Mathree, with as much vigor he can to get his point across. “...Forever… Forever, that’s how many times… I may not be sorry… but I am regretful; you shouldn’t have met me… Maybe… maybe after this, after everything that’s happen since day one on waking up here… We won’t be friends after this, so… so this is goodbye kid… Stay safe, and stay brave.”

Mathree was readying to stand up but was stopped; looking down, Luna’s horn was aglow, as she clutched tightly with her magical power on Mathree’s sleeve… which was weak from his perspective.

“I… I… I don’t care what you done… just… why? You could of spared them, you could of found another way… so why did you have to kill them?” asked Luna, her tears beginning to dry.

Mathree could of said anything, and it still wouldn’t of been an honest answer... so instead… he didn’t give an honest answer… he gave his own answer.

“Because… its in my nature to kill… Once you have the taste for blood, you can’t go back, but just go forward.”

At the same time, a blast of fire crashed down the hallway that Mathree came from; the inferno consumed the massacred bodies, and stepping from the inferno was Tim. Hanging from his shoulder was the female guard he met yesterday, dropping her unmoving – but still breathing – body beside him, leaving her leaning against the wall, facing away from the fire and its extreme heat. Tim while covered in embers, didn’t seem bothered by the fire and snuffed one flame out on his mustache.

Tim stared down at Mathree, moving his neck to the direction ahead; with one short bow of his head, Mathree looked back at Luna. “Well… seems time for me to leave kid… I don’t like saying byes… thought them to be too stupid to be honest, especially if you’ll say to someone you’ll likely see again...” With that, Mathree stood up and left with Tim, grabbing his weapons before leaving around the final turn of the hallway that led to the underground tunnels.

Luna watched as long she could… until she couldn’t stay awake from all the adrenaline slowing down. The last thing she saw, was her sister Celestia, being the first to check the fire that occurred after Tim and Mathree left.

Everfree Forest; some distance from the castle, beyond the perimeter and guard patrols.

Tim and Mathree managed to slip through a majority of the guard patrols, but luckily they were distracted, due to the fact that a large blazing fire could be spotted where the castle was, and if the fire wasn’t noticeable, the large source of light in the middle of the dark was a big indicator that something was happening. Another good thing was most of the wildlife was distracted by the fire too, making their escape that much easier… well, it wasn’t much of an escape, more of a secretive leave.

Once reaching outside the forest to an empty stretch of land; in the distance, a river, mountain with a castle on the side, and hills could be seen as far as the eye could see. The only source of light was some moonlight slipping through the various clouds moving by – they were outside the forest.

“Huh… we’re out… we’re out...” said Mathree, taking in a deep breather. “Well… what do we do now?”

Tim looked around and after staring at one particular direction, started to move forward. “Boho.”

“That way? Why?”

“Bo ho bo hoho.”

“Their that way huh… You remembered where everyone crashed didn’t you?”

A single nod was all that was needed to confirm Mathree’s suspicions; right before the crash, Tim watched where everyone crashed, and with his perfect memory, he was able to guess where they could be. Mathree slapped his kneecap and laughed out an insanely loud laugh before patting Tim on the leg. “You crazy son of a gun… Then let’s get going!”

It was after that small little trek through more forest and shite…

“Is where we managed to find you lousy piece of shits!” said Mathree, biting on his piece of fish.

After reuniting with the others at Vallan’s small camp, Mathree retold his perspective after the crash – from the timberwolves, to Tim making pizza, their small duel, the cockatrice incident… everything – to his companions… and their guest.

Sharp slowly raised her hoof like a filly wanting to ask a question about something they didn’t understand. “But… Why would those guards attack you? I heard rumors of some hidden project by Starswirl and certain individuals were picked to be trusted… Why would those same individuals attack one of Starswirl’s… well… ‘guests’?”

It was here where A.I. answered Sharp’s question with an explanation on the surrounding lands near Equestria.

“You mentioned to me that there are other nations besides Equestria… If this is the case, then most likely that your so called ‘Greatest Mage Ever’ has spies infiltrating his facility. Not only do they know about these… alicorn sisters, but about us and possibly more. Tim, were their any survivors left after Mathree’s skirmish?”

Tim thought of this and scratched his chin before remembering save one of them – a simply pegasus mare. Mathree translated some of Tim’s grunts and retold them to the others. “Tim saed that thar was one small little bugga… Aaaeeehhhh mare… with wings.”

Those around the campfire gave their own reactions – A.I’s was in deep thought about the situation, Swuen swore to herself, the Twins either didn’t care or were busy eating, Sharp was sweating worriedly, while Vallan stared at the camp’s fire – until Mathree ended the silence.

“WHY DID UO LET HER LIVE TIM!? THAT BITCH SHOULDN’T EVIN BE ALIVE!”

Tim on his part simply stood up and gave an accusatory grunt about a certain blue mare.

“Wha… I… You… Fucking clever… bastard...” said Mathree, quieting down. “...bugga...”

Vallan stood up – after throwing his fish into the fire – and turned around to face away from the others. After awhile, Vallan turned around again and stared at the sky as if someone would come down toward them. “These other nations won’t bother this land.”

Everyone was silent, with Sharp wanting to ask why but silenced by a rude A.I. as he shoved his hand onto her snout.

“If they got spies… then they know about us already, and if they know us… then they know what we’re capable of doing. Instead of invading a land with tons of unexplored land and too many risks… they’ll let the ponies do all the work for them, and slowly just as the Equestrians map this land… their enemies will gain said intel. This still won’t mean they will attack… because of us; we’re unpredictable, and since it’s shown we’re not with the Equestrians, they’ll let us be handled by the Equestrians, and while all of their resources are used up on us… The other nations will attack Equestria in one swift move…”

It was at that moment a majority of the group were smiling in their own unique way, leaving Sharp the last one being confused. After not being stopped by A.I, Sharp finally asked her question.

“And what exactly will happen stop the other nations from not attacking us?”

Vallan smiled – his teeth sharp and maddening, his eyes wide and crazed, his features showed not sign of rationality or sanity – and that same smile… was the same smile he used to kill half a quarter of forces in a certain military base.

“Why… we’ll simply give them a proper welcome… One they’ll never, ever,” said Vallan, sliding his gun out, and cocking it.

Forget.

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Vallan’s Camp; the group rested that evening from the day’s recent events.

Many members of the group decided to rest, leaving only two willing members to stay awake and guard the others. Tim sat on a large stone on the beach, while another figure stood leaning against the bark of the tree; the figure was Sharp who while extremely tired, wanted to still help, volunteering to vote to do guard duty… not knowing that Tim is the only one in the group who rarely gets any rest and guards constantly.

Stupid Sharp, of course they have someone picked to guard already! You just had to be helpful and do more work… I can barely stand upright as it is.

The poor ex-guard drowsily stood as tall as she could, but the calmness of the night and sounds of the wildlife was almost enough to make her lull to sleep… almost. It was until someone approached her and tapped her near her flank that startled; instinctively she bucked back to hit the supposed pervert.

“Whoa! Calm down Sharp, its just me,” said Swuen, raising her arms up.

After realizing what she almost done, Sharp woke up to high-gear and shook the sleep from her eyes. “Swuen; I’m so sorry, I thought you were… well… ‘him’,” said Sharp.

“You mean A.I? Please, that creep may do weird stuff but that… he’d rather dissect you than do something like that to you. Anyway, I just came here to tell you you can go and rest. I know you never expected Tim to do guard duty for us regularly, but that big guy is on a constant vigilant eye on everything – I’ll take guard duty for you while you rest, you deserve it.”

Sharp wanted to say no, but really she was desperate for any kind of rest right now, her body was ready to collapse from the lack of rest her muscles didn’t have. Swuen moved beside her and sat down, patting a piece of the ground beside her, Sharp accepted sitting beside her new friend.

Swuen stared at the statuesque Tim – he stared at the lake outside, the moon’s light reflecting off the still water – who sat with his boots dug deep into the sand, and his hands grasping the sides of the rock he was on. “You know… I thought about a lot of things about where I’d end up after I joined this group. Robbing people, taking out targets… that sort of thing… If someone were to tell me I’d end up in another world, stranded in said world, and friends with one of the inhabitants… I thought they were crazy,” said Swuen, chuckling. “Well, I bet their laughing to high heaven right now.”

Sharp wasn’t sure what kind of message Swuen was trying to send, but it made sense what kind of a life she and the others may had in their world.

“This place a dream come true you know; a place of second chances and new beginnings. Sometimes… sometimes I always thought my life would be just running and living with the guilt. Now… maybe I can settle down… though to be honest that sounds really stupid, heh.”

“You settling down? That doesn’t sound like you at the slightest,” said Sharp. “Besides, if you were to settle down, most likely you’d do it just so you rather not help A.I.”

“True, true.”

Both of the two laughed at their little joke toward A.I, finding him a real pain. That was until something caught their attention, as well as Tim’s; ahead at the other side of the lake from across of their campsite… were lights… from fire.

“Torches, a couple meters from the edge of the trees, it seems your Canterlot friends managed to catch up with us,” said Swuen. Above the air, a few winged figures could be spotted some distance above where the lights are. “And they got backup; wake up the others, tell them we got company.”

Sharp watched Swuen stand up and walk up beside Tim, following what Swuen told her, Sharp ran back to the camp. Tim and Swuen stood side-by-side, readying to hold the oncoming attack while the others prepare for an evac.

“Well big guy, let’s hope you try not take all the fun now.” Swuen whipped out both blades, a golden glow coming out the blades. “Time to get started.”

Vallan’s Campsite; the group awaken after hearing some commotion nearby.

“WE GOT TROUBLE!” shouted Sharp, running back from the lake’s shore.

Everyone woke up immediately until they heard the shouting and fighting happening at the shore. The first to grab their weapon and join the fighting was Mathree, rushing past Sharp yelling something about cutting open a… other than that, A.I. was the first to ask questions.

“Who’s attacking?” asked A.I.

“The Canterlot guard, a possibly the Pegasi and Earth Ponies; you guys really pissed off everypony didn’t you.”

“Well, a we’re not that famous for being nice,” said Lov, with a cheeky grin. “So what’s the plan?”

At the very same time, the boombox that Vallan was able to salvage started to turn on it’s own; a familiar voice can be heard through the static, before Eliya tunes in to hear it perfectly. “Hey, can anybody hear this; hello?”

“Wait, is that…” said A.I, tuning in the signal. “Joseph, is that you? If you can hear this, respond!”

For awhile, some static goes by until a voice is… and a big noise that’s reminiscent of an explosion. “RUBERT FOR THE LOVE OF THE DEITIES DON’T MAKE BOMBS IN THE VEHICLE! ...Oh hey A.I, yeah I hear you; where are you guys, I lost contact after the crash but are you guys nearby?”

“We’re in a forest near a lake, where are your current coordinates?”

“Uhhh, I see a forest and mountain with some sort of castle on it’s side.”

With the mention of Canterlot confirmed, A.I. needs to only ask one question to confirm their allies location. “Is the castle on the left or right of your perspective?” asked A.I, awaiting an answer.

For awhile of static and the continued sounds of fighting happening in the background, a response was given. “On theeee… left side from where I am… Oh and I’m also near a river, which is by some drylands of some kind,” said Rubert. “Are you guys north of me or south?”

“A bit north-west of you, but I have an idea; wait for us where you are, and we’ll come to you. If we don’t arrive before midnight...” At this point A.I. became silent, as well as those with him, until he breathed a deep sigh and responded. “Leave the area and head south; the lands there haven’t searched by the Equestrians as is supposedly there’s a wasteland that you can hide there without ever being followed. Remember… don’t come back for us no matter what, do you understand?”

“… … ...Yeah… yeah I understand, just get here quick, over and out.”

Rubert’s connection ends leaving the group alone with static from the boombox, and sounds of Tim and Swuen fighting back the attackers.

“You heard him, we’re moving out; follow down the river by the shoreline until you find Rubert and Joseph. Try to avoid any dangers if you can… until then, it’s time we get out of here, once and for all,” said Vallan, gripping both guns in his hands.

Lake’s Shore; the forces sent by Commander Hurricane and Princess Platinum find Vallan and his companions, but are stopped by Tim, Swuen, Mathree, and Lov.

Lov charges forward with one of her weapons – a large sword with red markings going through it with saw-like blade – sending the weapon to the ground, causing a zigzag of energy to grow through the ground toward a wall of soldiers. The attack causes an explosion of fire to arise from the ground, engulfing the soldiers within.

“Fire Wall!” shouted Lov. “Get cooked bitches!”

Coming from the sky, dive-bombing Lov are several pegasi with wingblades equipped, when something jumps from the trees toward the pegasi. “Oh no you don’t!” Mathree throws several knives that sail through the air and made their mark on each pegasi. “BULLSEYE!

Swuen came zooming by like the wind, slashing all the soldiers she went by, causing tiny cuts through vital points of their body, cutting their nerves to temporarily paralyze them. It was until a crossbow bolt was embedded right in front of her, right as she stopped; looking up was a unicorn who prepared to fire another bolt, and send forth multiple magical blasts at once.

“Things went south way to quickly! Tim, a little help here?”

Tim came rushing forward unleashing fist shaped fireballs toward the unicorn crossbow wielder. The unicorn sent its own attacks, the two in a close match, unable to move forward or back only able to sent another attack after the next.

“Group C! FORWARD!” Coming from the treeline were more soldiers, and with them was a blue pegasus wearing armor of that of a leader. Commander Hurricane, and Private Pansy have arrived to backup the other groups that were sent ahead to attack Vallan’s group.

Commander Hurricane came rushing forward as he sent his spear down onto Swuen; the attack but was followed by Hurricane swinging his weapon off the block, and jabbing it several times. Swuen tried her best to dodge the attacks but still received some scratches from the near close hits to her vitals.

Shit! This guy has got a serious grudge on us… Vallan you really need to clean up your mess.

Pansy came by, firing successful crossbow bolts that either kept the enemy back, or a close hit. Either way, both sides were taking one step forward, only to take one step back – a standoff with no clear winner.

Lov was attack more soldiers until she was overwhelmed, and like that she was out the count. One of the soldiers managed to push her back, causing her to stumble and take a hit, by slashing her torso, creating a large gash. While the gash was big, it only made Lov angry but backed off as Mathree helped her up.

“We got a man down!” shouted Mathree, gripping Lov by the arm.

“I’m a girl, jackass!”

“YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN! WHERE’S VALLAN?!”

At that same time… music could be heard; the boombox was found by a tree, and coming out from the shadows of the tree was Vallan. Embodying the relentless wrath and bloodlust to come of one who’s relentless, he is know for being remorseless to any who stand in his way – the Relentless Demon – he’ll take what he came for… or annihilate all who dare to cross him.

“MONSTER! YOU’LL PAY!” screamed Hurricane, rushing past Swuen. Hurricane charged straight for Vallan, until he raised both his weapons. Remembering what Vallan was capable of doing, he duck back behind a large boulder in the sand, as bullets whizzed toward the Equestrian forces. Luckily some were able to get out of the way, while those unlucky enough were hit by the bullets, left as bodies filled with holes.

Monster? I refer to myself as-

“A true warrior,” said Vallan, finishing his thought. “Time to clear some loose ends.”

Vallan crossed the numerous bodies littered around the shore, surrounded by soldiers – ten to one – with a grin plastered on his face. Swiveling his head toward his allies, he nodded toward them as he pointed one of his guns down the shoreline. “Follow the river, we’re regrouping with Rubert and Joseph. I’ll handle things here… MOVE OUT!”

With that final order, Tim and the others left Vallan to handle the Equestrians, alone; Vallan loaded two new clips into his guns, as the empty clips are left on the sandy ground. Posing with both guns crossed on his body, Vallan glared menacingly toward those he would fight… and kill.

Hurricane stepped out of his cover, and with the soldiers he brought with him from the military camp and Canterlot, they charged forward screaming out for victory. “FOR EQUESTRIA!” shouted Hurricane, and a majority of the soldiers.

Sword, spear, arrow, and shield were met with the bullets of various kind and type; Vallan against a whole squadron – and more – of Equestria’s soldiers.

Somewhere in the Everfree Forest, near the river; those who left and those who try to catch up are a couple hours from the fighting.

Having had a head start in leaving, while Tim’s group catches up, everyone has managed to leave while gathered what they can, and destroying what’s left so nothing can be traced or taken from them. The group has managed to get as much stuff they can by making a raft made of A.I’s ice, while the others carried everything else by hand.

“Was it okay for us to leave Vallan behind? There were a lot of soldiers, and I think I saw a few veterans among them too – like Commander Hurricane!” said Sharp, worried.

“Don’t worry, Vallan’s been through rougher waters,” said Swuen.

“Please don’t mention rough waters when we’re on a raft of all places.”

Walking by the shoreline was Tim, Mathree, and Lov; the three were carrying various items of the like, with Tim carrying all the heave stuff while Mathree and Lov carried a few items in their hands or various hidden pockets.

“Tim… Mind explaining why is it that I’m carrying stuff that’s completely light when you’re carrying all the heavy stuff? I told you I can handle all the heavy shite too!”

“Boho ho, ho ho… Bo… ho...”

“What you mean the last time I tried lifting I fainted… I was half-asleep when that happened.”

Tim grunted when Lov entered the conversation, rudely. “I remember that, didn’t Mathree almost break his arm when that happened. His bone was popping out and it made a loud of squishy sounds-”

That was when Tim stopped the group; something was moving in the forest beside them… and it was big. Bursting from the foliage was a rock-like crocodile that appeared and disappeared into the river, were bubbles were slowing going toward A.I’s ice raft.

All three of them stared for awhile, with Lov ruining the silence with a random but obvious observation. “That’s one big lizard.”

Back on A.I’s raft, those on it also noticed the giant crocodile heading toward them. A.I. reacted first by firing ice shards that were made of steel straight into the water, when a large form came bursting out, non effected by his attack at the slightest.

It tried to chomp one of them off the large raft until Eliya threw several incendiary bombs that engulfed the strange crocodile in napalm flame. Swuen tried to keep their cargo from not falling off, while Sharp simply panicked left and right in terror.

“SHARP! WHAT IS THAT THING!?” shouted Swuen, trying to keep a crate from falling.

“It’s a cragadile; their native in the Everfree! BUT THAT’S THE LARGEST ONE I’VE SEEN BEFO- AHHHHH ITS COMING FOR MEEEEHHHH!”

The cragadile chomped where Sharp was, nearly biting on her and only taking a chunk of the raft and some of her tail. Swuen swiped a piece of the monstrous creature but only managed to get some scales off; A.I. blasted it back as the reptile retreated back into the green waters.

Those on the raft kept a close eye on the water for any sudden shifts, except for Sharp who was shaking like a leaf. It was at that moment, the cragadile returned for round two, when A.I. froze the water it was coming from, turning it partially into a literal ice block where the only recognizable thing was its tail. After doing this, everyone let loose their attacks, ranging from precise stabs, explosive kunais, and sharp icicle shards.

Sharp watched as the cragadile was turned into nothing but a floating piece of leather, their attacks were merciless and relentless. Once the attacks stopped the cragadile was barely alive, with half of the body missing, and the once indestructible scales torn from it’s flesh. The sight was terrifying toward Sharp, but sighed in relief to being thankful she was on their side.

“Is it… Is it dead?” asked Sharp, poking the body.

Her question was answer with a single twitch from the body, that resulted in her getting spooked and Swuen using a powerful move on the somewhat alive body.

“Dust Slash!” With one powerful stroke of her knife, the cragadile was reduced to sand which sunk into the water.

Sharp stared dumbfounded of what just happened before her when everyone’s attention was taken to something else.

“We got a problem,” said Eliya. “There’s two paths ahead – one straight forward, and one to the left – which do we take?”

A.I. looked ahead until pointing to the path to the left, only to turn around and repair the damage done to the raft. “Joseph told me he saw the Canterlot on the left side of the mountain, meaning their somewhere south; the river path ahead would take us west, while the one on the left will take us south.”

“Alright then; Sharp, help me move the raft to the left. We’ll push the waters on the right side to get it moving.”

Swuen and Sharp started to move the raft with some paddles they made, causing the raft to start moving to the left, closer to the other path of the river. Once making their course down the river, they encounter the surrounding trees to be completely different than the forest they were staying in before; they’ve entered the inner parts of the Everfree Forest. Unsure of what may lurk from within, Mathree, Tim, and Lov regroup back on the raft as they all make their way down the river’s current.

Everfree Forest, Everfree Castle; after the flames have died down, and investigations were made, culprits were searched for within the castle.

Luna sits outside on the castle’s front steps, with her is Celestia and Starswirl; after being told who caused the fire and why was a shock to everypony. However, what was more of a shock was what the survivor had to say – the mare who Tim spared – telling Starswirl and Captain Coin that there are spies within the nation. The survivor had no idea about this, and assumed the reason some of the soldiers were attacking the castle’s guests do to them being strangers, and weren’t trustworthy as some of the soldiers didn’t agree with forming an alliance with them… but to find out that those she assisted were spies was a greater dishonor than anything else, making her actions treason to the nation.

Currently after everything has settled down, she’s being kept in the dungeons while everypony in the castle’s staff is to be suspicious of any traitorous activities, putting all under lockdown. The only ones who weren’t under lockdown was the Captain himself, Starswirl, the alicorn sisters, and a few of Captain Coin’s trusted who he personally selected. Everypony else is being kept in the castle, and anypony seen leaving is sent to the dungeons.

How can this happen? To imagine our ranks to be infiltrated by spies… just how long have they been here? Captain Coin slammed his hoof against the outside wall of the castle, getting the attention of Starswirl who approached with a hoof on his shoulder.

“This is a terrible time for us all; not only were our guests ran out due to the confusion, but that we have spies in our lands… I haven’t requested for a messenger to be sent, in fear that something may happen to them. We shall personally go to Canterlot to tell the news of this… and I think it is time to tell them about the ‘girls’,” said Starswirl.

At this Captain Coin spun around in surprise from Starswirl’s statement. “You wish to tell them of the alicorns!? With what’s been going on and this new development, do you think they’ll trust you after this?!”

“They won’t… but their advisers will; they know about the sisters, and a vote will be made to make them our leaders. It was to happen sooner or later, and it make take a year for everypony in our nation to accept them, but they’ll slowly rally… They will become the beacon for this nation.” Starswirl glanced at Luna and Celestia having blankets on them as they sat on the castle front’s steps.

They must succeed to lead this nation, and our ponies… if not, then we’ll all be swept away. I just hope that the other tribes’ leaders will accept them, just as I have.

Elsewhere at Vallan’s Camp…

“YYYYYEEEEEEAAAAAH!” A soldier charged toward Vallan with a spear; dodging the weapon with a spin, Vallan gunned down the soldier before firing more rounds at Hurricane’s forces.

Hurricane hid behind a large tree trunk with Pansy and some soldiers, ducking from the bullets whizzing by them.

“Commander! We can’t get near him, and if we try to surround him, he simply takes each one of us one by one! When will backup arrive, sir!” shouted one of the soldiers.

At that very moment, just when Vallan was approaching a barrage of magical blasts were directed at Vallan, as a magical barrier surrounded Hurricane’s forces. Coming from the treeline behind Vallan was Platinum’s forces, with her there in her regal clothing and at her side was High Commander Meteor. The unicorn soldiers sent out elemental attacks toward Vallan, who either dodged or blocked them by tossing empty gun cartridges.

Now forced in the center with no possible escape routes, Vallan finds himself in one tricky predicament. Low on ammo, exhausted, and barely had any rest since planning to free her nieces, Vallan stares at the two opposing sides with determination.

Princess Platinum stares down on Vallan, loathing him and what he’s done; with one final order, she commanded her forces to take down Vallan – no mercy. “Finish this,” said Platinum.

With a nod from High Commander Meteor, he engaged his forces forward as they unleashed everything they had on Vallan. Spells flew, arrows and bolts were unleashed as everything overwhelmed Vallan; a large dust cloud formed which was stopped after everything they had was used to their full extent. Hurricane’s forces stood by but vigilant, waiting for any sign of movement of any kind… and they saw him.

Vallan stood standing… but not in perfect condition; all gawked and gasped what lay before them – Platinum continued to stare, Hurricane stared wide-eyed but with some recognition toward this opponent. The one being that stayed behind to hold back their forces… was covered in arrows and bolts, scorch marks from flame or lightening-based spells, bruises from pure physical magical blasts, and the biggest wound was half his face was bleeding, the skin barely holding on as it could be peeled off by a gentle breeze. A pool of blood surrounded the still standing form, nopony dared to approach but neither they dare to drop their weapons either.

The one pony to move and see was Hurricane, with Pansy close behind as backup; approaching the body, Hurricane stared into Vallan’s eyes – they were as lifeless as he first encountered him… but more than usual, as they were grayed out instead of the sinister purple from before. Done with his examination, he confirmed Vallan to be dead… that was until Pansy noticed something.

It was a tiny detail but, after a short while… blood stopped dripping from his face… and that was when something came whizzing toward her; it was so quick she didn’t realize what hit her was Vallan’s fist. The hit was so hard that it caused Pansy to fly straight toward a tree, the landing itself however was what got her to go unconscious. Hurricane twisted around until he found himself being strangled by Vallan… or what remained.

“What… are… yoo-uuu?” asked Hurricane, being choked by Vallan.

Vallan glanced up with a weird look – his eyes weren’t gray anymore, and back to being purple but now having a strange energy seeping out from his wounds and mouth – as he stopped bleeding entirely. Vallan moved his mouth but no words came, just some wheezes and grunts; Vallan threw Hurricane back at his forces, until he turned to face Platinum’s forces.

Holstering both guns away, Vallan curled both his hands together until an ominous glow appeared from within his hands. Platinum’s forces slowly backed away from the glow until the ground sent a tremor that originated from Vallan; the tremors ferocity and speed continued grow every second, causing the strange glow from Vallan’s hands.

With one final look from Vallan, he stared at Platinum with eyes that only showed something you only see on those who didn’t remained after a battle; the eyes of a deadman.

“Soul Crush...” A massive wave of purple light engulfed everypony, and after the light died down, every single living soul was comatose. Not a single body moved, as anypony with a certain level of aura were either went unconscious – or dead depending on the user – except for three others.

Platinum and Hurricane were barely standing, leaving High Commander Meteor standing tall, somewhat tilting slightly only to stand tall once more. Vallan approached the High Commander… only for Meteor kneel down and bow in surrender. “I alone am not enough to face you… not in the state I am in of course; I kneel in mercy,” said Meteor, humbly.

Vallan glanced down for a long time before reaching forward, only to grab the boombox that was left over. After walking past Meteor – who was still kneeling – he stepped toward Platinum, staring down menacingly. Platinum barely stayed conscious but looked up with every shred of defiance that she could muster up… but it was all fruitless toward Vallan’s unwavering glare.

“Just… how? How… are you still standing? What… kind of… being, are you?” asked Platinum, heaving.

Vallan’s menacing look changed to a blank one; Vallan gave Platinum an empty looking as if he himself does not know… but gave an answer that described him by another companion… one that he’s closer than others think.

“I’m a body with no soul, a dead man… I’m… a clone - ‘his’ clone.”

It was all Platinum could hear before the land of unconsciousness took her; with that, Vallan left leaving them all behind as Hurricane stared at him and turned to stare at Meteor. Right before he took went unconscious… he saw the High Commander… he saw Meteor… smirk.

After a couple of hours, 2:00am; Rubert and Joseph wait for their companions by a river.

While Joseph busied making more bombs – a few exploding in his face, leaving a soot covered Joseph – Rubert awaited outside his newest creation, the Insomnia Truck. With some binoculars, the radio, and a stool made from wood – which Joseph made out of boredom – he sat by the river watching… and waiting… and waiting… oh and guess what, waiting.

It was at that time of the night… day… the time right before sunset, that Rubert saw something. Grabbing the binoculars, he managed to spot an icy platform with several figures on top; spotting A.I’s raft, he shouted toward Joseph. “JOSEPH! THEIR HERE, FIRE A FLARE QUICK!” shouted Rubert.

“WHICH ONE? THE ONE THAT GOES BOOM OR THE PRETTY ONE?”

“WHAT KIND OF QU- JUST USE EITHER!”

“...OKAY; I’LL USE BOTH!” Rubert sighed before turning on the radio to contact A.I.

“A.I, I spot you guys, do you respond,” said Rubert. Static was the only think he got in return, and deciding not to repeat his message again, simply placed the radio away. Well it don’t matter, I can see them from here and doesn’t look like their being followed. Better turn on the truck, so they can see us.

From A.I’s perspective, the group spotted a massive bright – and loud – flare/firework, that showed Rubert’s truck. Once reaching them, A.I. froze the part of the river that was near Rubert and Joseph to make a sort of ice bridge; everyone were happy to see the Crane brothers, and Rubert’s latest new vehicle.

“Damn! You made that, I’m surprised you could since these ponies got some primitive goods around here,” said Mathree.

“Well some of our stuff came falling with us… it was enough to make this bad boy… Hey, where’s Vallan?” asked Rubert.

It was that moment that Swuen came forward with a frown; most of the group stayed quiet, realizing that Vallan wasn’t with them which meant he stayed behind to slow the enemy from following.

Everyone was quiet until Sharp saw something in the distance across the plains; at the edge of the Everfree Forest that was where they were was… “HEY! ITS VALLAN, HIS OVER THERE!”

Everyone turned and indeed it was Vallan; he was carrying the boombox which answered why Rubert was unable to contact A.I. Vallan was covered in wounds that would of killed anybody… except maybe Tim or… Swuen… or anybody in this crazy group that Sharp could think of.

Vallan neared them, but dropped down with the boombox in hand, before keeling over from having to travel to the rendevous point while carrying something that’s sixth as heavy as Tim.

“Imma teeeaarrrreedd,” said Vallan, his speech slurred. “Wwaawvvvkkkyyy, mmemaehhh uauueeppp whahhheeennnn, iaiiiieiitttssss mmmomomomom… nnnnaaaaannniiieee-” Vallan flopped to the ground, being caught by Eliya and Lov; the twins cared their uncle to the truck, before Eliya turned to the others.

“Let’s get out of here before more crazy shit happens,” said Eliya, tired herself.

Some hours after Platinum’s ambush, 6:00am; Platinum and Hurricane’s forces – after waking up – return to Puddinghead’s Community, but once arriving there, they find two groups waiting for them.

Once both forces arrive, Platinum and Hurricane spot Clover who was speaking to Starswirl; seeing the two was both a shock to either of the two, when High Commander Meteor approached and bowed down to Starswirl and nodded to Clover.

“Starswirl the Bearded; Clover the Clever. I would ask why you are here… but it is not for me to judge… We have returned from Princess Platinum’s attempt of capturing several of the beings’ at a camp they set-up, as well as a traitor that joined them,” said Meteor, reporting what has occurred. “The plan itself failed, as I wasn’t the one under strategy for the ambush, simply giving orders… We lost some during the battle, and many are either injured or comatose after a strange power was sent by one of them… I believe he’s called, Vallan.”

Hearing the name Vallan, Clover came forward with a worried look. “Is the Princess okay, did he do anything to her?!”

“Nothing came harm to her… Some words were spoken, but all of it was vague… I can repeat what was said if you like?”

“I think, it is best that should come from the Princess herself… I also have told my apprentice that two beings came to… my group. They were friendly but sadly something had occurred at our site that… they were forced to leave,” said Starswirl, finding difficulty explaining what occurred.

“Like what?”

“...We… have spies amongst our forces, High Commander Meteor Shatter – and we weren’t the ones to find out.”

Understanding the situation has gotten more dire, Meteor turned to the now approaching Platinum and Hurricane who had Puddinghead, Smart Cookie, and Pansy – who was being held up by Cookie – arrive with them too.

“What happened to everypony? Looked like you all got it hit by the wildest storm ever… don’t tell me the Windigos are back.”

“NOT- the Windigos, Chancellor,” said Platinum, trying to keep calm. “Apparently… my plan to capture our assailants… has failed… I hope nothing worse could happen.”

Hearing that, both Clover and Starswirl gulped, instead changing the subject into something… “else”. “Well… I do have news, and… it may be something important to all of you… no… All of Equestria; I’d like you to meet my newest apprentices. They’re also the ones to lead this country to a grander future for us all… Meet, the Alicorn Sisters of Legend!”

Standing before the small group was Celestia and Luna – both were shy from being surrounded by unfamiliar faces, the only faces being somewhat familiar is the three advisers, having seen them come by but only a glance. A complete utter silence befell them all, with the first breaking said silence Platinum, uttering the a few words that described this whole situation… ten-fold.

“You… you… you two… both have… wings, and a… horn...” said Platinum… before fainting. (HAHAHAHA)

Seeing her lady faint, Clover would of panicked or anything, but knowing this was going to happen, Clover sighed and simply helped Platinum up as she slowly brought her to her tent. “Don’t worry your highness, everything will be okay.”

“Clovy? Is that you? I… I-I-I think I saw a myth… tell me what I saw was an illusion; please? Please? PLEASE!?”

“Uhhhhhmmmm… Sorta.”

“……..I hate you, and Starswirl sooo much.”

“I know… sorry.”

The two left the awkward silence before it ended again by Meteor who rather be doing something that standing around, left. “I’m not big on the political side of things; I’ll excuse myself as I must reinforce our forces after… some new developments have been made.”

Everypony watched Meteor left as Starswirl sighed and took everypony else to a sizable tent that was setup for meeting for them all. “Now while we wait for Clover to calm down Platinum… I must explain what our future plans are for this nation.”

“Hold on! What about Vallan’s group, they’ll stop at nothing to ruin this land of ours!”

Luna didn’t like how this complete stranger was negatively speaking about her new friends, friends. Ready to shout at the stranger, Celestia stopped her, hugging her tightly who was also upset by the attitude that was being sent toward their friends.

“Now now, we mustn’t forget that try to show aggressive action toward them. If I remember correctly, your forces try to search for two girls, and captured them… in a cage. Instead of negotiating a form of peace, you simply attacked straight forward, not only that, you did this without sending a letter to us first or telling those at the military camp. This is why I didn’t choose you for my secret project, Hurricane… not because you represent the Pegasus Tribe… because your reckless, and… when somepony is reckless, their dangerous.”

Hurricane wanted to retort but bit his tongue in frustration; Puddinghead was the next to speak, but more in a positive note that showed to Starswirl that he wasn’t the only one who had a good relationship with their possible allies.

“But… What will happen to them?” asked Puddin.

“Well, we haven’t search the south, and there’s a lot of land the search...”

I’m sure they’ll be fine… They managed to survive crashing from the heavens, I’m no sure being lost will matter, and besides…

They’re together.

Southern Equestria, 6:55am; somewhere… in the middle of nowhere…

Rubert’s truck zoomed by for hours, going by plains, trees, hills, until finally… they reached the south; outside there were plateaus, a vast emptiness as far the eye can see, a complete dry land with not a single bit of life anywhere.

The group stepped out of the vehicle one a time, making Vallan the last to step out; after having his wounds being healed and having regenerative abilities that worked more slowly for him, the group stood atop a cliff that overlooked the widespread view of the land.

In the distance could be mountains and a large canyon that stretched across the land like a wall, as the wind swept up the dirt causing small dust storms to go by. It was here where they could rebuild themselves… where a new beginning could be… where they could build something to make a stand.

“So this is the place,” said Swuen.

“Niiaacceee veeewww,” said Mathree.

“Preeeetttyyy.” Lov’s eyes glowed at the beauty of the land, finding it all perfect.

Eliya watched until the slow rise of the sun appeared, making the area even more beautiful; the sun brightened the land, mixing in numerous colors to create an unforgettable view for them all. Sharp was amazed by the scene, but saw A.I. in the corner of her eye. Instead of looking A.I. stared down at a small mound in the middle of nowhere with some rock protruding from the top.

“What you looking at?” asked Sharp.

“...I believe I found where we shall build our base,” said A.I. “That spot would make a perfect hideout, and the secluded area and the fact it blends with the area, making it completely unremarkable will make the perfect camouflage. What you say Vallan; shall we start building here?”

Vallan stared at the landscape with an intrigued look before staring down below; turning around to face his companions, Vallan grinned back.

“We won’t make a base here… This… This is where we’ll build it.”

“Build… what?” asked Eliya, curious.

...Home.

Insanity Has A Price

by Animatorsnake

Prologue (Edited)

Falling (Edited)

Awakening (Edited)

Separated (Edited)

Caged (Edited)

Suspicions (Edited)

Guests (Original)

Guests (Revamped)

Invaders

Escape I: Wrath

Escape II: Betrayal

Escape III: Trust

Farewell

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