> No Man Left Behind
>  by CrimsonWolf360
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prelude
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The smell of smoke and fire was thick in the air. Buildings burned all around, and the sound of explosions in the distance rang out so loud that even the bloodied bodies scattered throughout the decaying city seemed to tense slightly at the sound. The horizon was misted over with the fog of war, blotting out the light from the land below. Even the orange-blue light of the planet's sun could not penetrate the thick plumes of black smoke as they rose to the atmosphere.

Jason's breaths came heavy as he moved from building to building, and pile of rubble to pile of rubble. The screams of dying men etched themselves into his ears as he ran, hunched over to provide the smallest silhouette possible. He gripped his rifle so tightly in his hands that his knuckles shown white through his tattered and burned gloves. He blended in well all the same, with his uniform dirtied by soot and mud, along with a fair share of blood on his vest and sleeves. He carefully maneuvered from cover to concealment, insuring that anyone up the street wouldn't see him, or at least have a hard time shooting him if they did. 

As he approached a broken-down truck, his eyes detected movement. Down the road, a man stepped out of a half-destroyed cantina. He wore a dark grey, ink-block patterned uniform with a black vest, helmet, and joint pads. His visor was clear, allowing Jason to clearly see his face. He showed no signs of even knowing he was being watched. In fact, he seemed blissfully unaware of the enemy soldier just a few dozen meters down the road.

Jason quickly ducked behind the truck and eyed his rifle. The magazine seemed to be in-tact, and the fire selector still worked. The butt-stock had a long gash on it, and was locked in the furthest extended position, but that was fine. He preferred it that way. One look at the rail told him that his bi-pod had been reduced to an off-balance mono-pod. Still, not all was lost or damaged. Upon inspection of the charging handle, he found that it slid back with little resistance, and revealed a round in the chamber. He breathed a silent sigh of relief, and checked the scope. The adjustment knobs were in-tact, and even though there were several small scratches and gashes along the length of the optic, one look down the sight told him that it still worked and was clear as ever, save for some dirt on the lens. 

Mentally thanking the lord for his good fortune, all things considered, Jason turned around and shouldered the rifle, aiming through the passenger-side window. He brought the sight to his eyes and aimed at his target, who by now was starting to walk down the steps of the cantina and onto the street. He stilled his erratic breathing and did his best to steady his heartbeat. In that moment, everything around him dissipated in the blackness of tunnel vision. All he could see were his cross hairs and his target.

Seconds dragged on like hours, and with each beat of his heart, Jason could feel his nerves twitch. A constant battle of shoot vs don't shoot warred in his head as each footstep took the man further and further away from him. Finally, he made up his mind and pressed his finger against the trigger. He felt his heart beat in the pad of his index finger just once before something obstructed his vision of the target. He quickly dismounted his eye from the sight and looked at what had just appeared in front of him. 

To his complete surprise, it was another soldier... walking right towards his position. They noticed each other simultaneously, and before Jason could even comprehend the severity of his situation, the soldier screamed.

"SNIPER!" He shouted.

Jason didn't wait for someone to respond. He quickly brought the scope to his eye, found his cross hairs, and pulled the trigger. A deafening *crack* filled the air, and the soldier lifelessly dropped to the ground, dead. Jason pivoted his shoulder to reacquire his first target, but found nothing. Instead, he heard his radio blare back to life from his left shoulder.

All... be advised... -coming. I repeat... rounds... -coming. All troops... enemy lines... -ave one mic until... -shdown.      

Jason turned his head skyward, and to his horror, saw the tell-tale streaks of white as they descended from the heavens. There were thousands of them, all plunging toward the ground at lightning speeds. He quickly dove into the passenger side of the truck and brought his hands to cover his ears. Only a second later, the sound of explosions rang out in the distance, growing closer and closer until they were only a few hundred meters away. Deafening cracks and booms echoed through the air, and even with his hands covering both ears as securely as possible, the sounds of annihilation still rocked him to his core. Every bone in his body vibrated with each powerful explosion, making him visibly shake in fear. 

Soon enough, the building to his right vanished in a shock wave of destruction and awe, and all Jason could do was duck his head down and hope for the best. His precious cover was nearly ripped to shreds by shrapnel from another building meeting its end, and even with his body curled up in the fetal position, Jason felt each supersonic wave of god-like power reverberate through his bones, making his entire skeletal structure feel like jelly.

Jason screamed, not in terror or pain, but out of a primal, deep-seated need to vent his breath and keep his body from shutting down completely. All the same, his voice was lost to the cacophony of earth-shattering explosions and mind-numbing destruction that wracked the world around him. Even when his lungs were empty and burned for oxygen, he could only push air out. His entire world lit up around him like a fantastic display of light and fire, but the only thing he could think of was one simple question:

"Is this how I die?" 





"Hey, McKnight, wake up!" A voice shouted.

"Huh?" Jason managed, shaking himself awake, "Captain Lupika?" He asked, quickly glancing back and forth while his head shot up.

"No, dipshit, it's Jamerson. Lupika just called a meeting for all the S and R teams on the bridge. Let's go." Jamerson admonished before heading out of the room.

Jason rolled over in his bunk and looked at the rest of the room. His heart pounded in his chest for a few seconds before he finally calmed down, and his tense nerves relaxed. With a quite sigh, he glanced around the room and stretched his arms. The skeletonized walls were made completely of steel and titanium. His bunk was one of two in the room, and there didn't seem to be any sign of the rest of his bunk mates anywhere in the room. 

He lazily rolled himself over and slid his legs off the bunk. They connected with the floor with a dull *thunk* and the ice cold steel sent chills up his body. He rubbed his eyes with his hands to try to dispel some of the residual sleepiness he still felt before standing up and reaching for his locker. He opened it to reveal a few uniforms and boots, along with a picture of Earth and his parents.

Jason smiled at the memories that poured into his mind every time he looked at the pictures in question, before donning his uniform and boots. Within a few minutes, he was dressed in his duty uniform. The black boots and navy blue slacks were clean and sharp, ready to pass any kind of inspection. His top was pressed and cleaned, and his silver name tapes easily read "McKnight" and "UGSC" respectively. He quickly wiped a fingerprint off of the three chevrons that adorned his collar and set off for the bridge. 

As he walked through the ship, Jason passed by several soldiers of differing rank, organization, and class. All the same, each one stepped to the side and gave a nod. He returned a few, but as he continued through the ship, he grew more and more annoyed with the constant acknowledgment, and his crisp, deliberate movements became sluggish and less caring. Eventually, he just ignored them as he walked.

Jason arrived at the bridge to find no fewer than thirty other men and women standing around the holotable in the center of the room. The air was filled with the constant chatter of everyone inside, although, much of it died down upon watching Jason enter the room. Several heads turned, and many of the soldiers in the room regarded him with a nod or a quick glance. Jason quickly marched past them and found his seat next to the holotable. Once he was seated, the rest of the room drifted back into conversation with one another, allowing him to simply fade into the crowd.

"Eddie, Mike, what's up?" Jason asked, taking his seat between them.

"Not much. How was your nap?" Eddie replied.

"I've had better. Mike?" 

"Ah, you know how it is. We're all bored. This mission sucks. Blah blah blah. What I wanna know, is where is the captain? I've been sitting here for an hour already." Mike answered.

"I'm sure if it's got Lupika taking his sweet time, then it's probably something pretty big." Jason offered.

"What, did he find the Malevolence?" Mike sarcastically asked.

"Doubt it. That ship hit a black hole. If anybody even survived, they're just dead bodies in space by now." Eddie shrugged.

"We've been at this for almost a year now. If anybody's still out there, they're dead. It's not like we're gonna find anything other than bodies in the void of space after this long." Mike complained.

"No man left behind, right? What if it was you out there, man?" Eddie asked.

"Just saying, I ain't dead." 

"Lock it down, guys. Captain's here."

"Attention on DECK!" A voice shouted.

Everyone in the room immediately dropped what they were doing and stood at attention. The room became silent, and all eyes focused on the lone man with a captain's rank on his chest.

"At Ease." Captain Lupika called out. 

Instantly, the atmosphere became less tense and everyone sat back down in their respective seats. The captain walked over to the holotable and entered a sequence of digits into the touchpad. Within a few moments, a cluster of stars appeared over the table. 

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. I know you've been waiting for a while, but this is important, so bare with me here. We had to triple check our records to make sure this was legitimate." Captain Lupika announced.

The already silent crowd became even more deathly quiet. Each Marine in the room eyed the hologram with more intensity, and their ears perked up as the captain continued.

"Now, to be honest, this might just be another goose chase, but as you all know, almost a hundred and fifty years ago, mankind left the Milky Way, and traveled to Andromeda. The first ship to ever conduct this voyage, was known as the Icarus. According to any kind of records that survived the last hundred and fifty years, it should be arriving on Earth in just about fifty two years, along with a thousand other ships that made the journey just after. Now, the reason we're all here, is because we've just received a distress signal from that ship. It dates back almost two years. We had to run through century-old channels to even decipher what we were getting, but it's there." He explained.

Captain Lupika moved to the table and typed in a series of coordinates into the touchpad.

"Now, as you all can see, the coordinates only put us within a solar system of where this thing allegedly went down. As I'm sure you can all guess, that doesn't narrow it down as much as we'd like. Fortunately, embedded in the signal, there was a code signaling an escape pod launch. Now, we don't know where it landed, not for sure at least. However, we have located the closest planet, and there is a good possibility that the pod crashed there and all four crew members are still alive at this very moment. As such, we're setting a course for this solar system right now. Lieutenant Jamerson, you're up." 

"Yes sir. Alright, listen up, people, we've got a lot of possible distress signals to look at, and these dudes are ancient. They're cryopods probably kept them from aging too much over the last hundred and fifty years, but don't be surprised if they freak out when they see you. I mean, really, these guys still had to deal with cancer when they left." He began, a small chortle of laughter rang out as he talked.

"Now, as for the mission, we're gonna go Threat Con Four on this one, so only one F-25 for atmospheric entry. Once you have them in your possession, just radio up to one of the comms buoys and they'll relay that up to us. We'll swing back and pick you up within a couple weeks." Jamerson finished.

Eddie raised his hand. 

"Yeah?"

"Sir, how long, approximately between comms checks?" 

"Good question. Due to the lack of info we have on this planet, we're gonna set it to every two to four months. You guys are gonna be scouring an entire planet, we don't expect comms to be a constant. There could be pockets of radiation, atmospheric interference, and any other load of bullshit. We'll have more info as we get closer, so expect some homework tonight and tomorrow."

Eddie nodded and scribbled some notes down in his personal touchpad.

"Alright, now, as for the team taking this one, we've designated Charlie Company as the lead, and Vulture One as your flight crew. Any questions?" Jamerson asked.

The room was silent.

"Alright, go get ready guys. We'll be arriving in the next thirty six hours. If the worst were to happen, and you can't get off world or let us know anything through comms checks, then we'll swing by in six months to pick you up, or whatever is left of you." He finished.

"Alright, you heard him. Sergeant McKnight, I understand you're filling in for Gunnery Sergeant Frost. Are you and your men good to go?" Captain Lupika asked.

Jason stood at attention and responded, "Yes sir. We'll be ready to deploy by the end of the night." 

"Very good. Dismissed everyone." 

With that, everyone departed the bridge. Jason walked beside Eddie and Mike. As the crowd dispersed, they finally found some conversation.

"So... We're gonna be down there for six fuckin' months?" Mike asked.

"Only if, we don't get comms." Eddie pointed out, raising a finger to make his point.

"Yeah, well we don't even know where we're going yet. For all we know, this planet could have some radiation or some shit that makes comms impossible." Mike replied.

"Regardless, we're going." Jason declared, leaving no room for debate.

"Got it, Sarge." Mike and Eddie quickly replied.

The trio walked through the many intersecting corridors of the ship as soldiers from every corner of the galaxy busied the hallways. Eddie glanced over at a long window looming over a small hanger. Inside, there were a group of soldiers training in several different variants of enhanced battle suits.

Eddie whistled, "Damn... look at that armor. Those new EVA suits are badass... Does that dude have a fucking Kukri on his shoulder?" 

Mike and Jason looked over at the soldier in question.

"Well, shit... That guy looks ready to kill." Mike muttered.

"Wish we had suits like that during the war." Eddie replied.

"Well, we didn't have them then, and we're not gonna have them on this mission either." Jason replied.

"I get that, but still... The damn war would've been over in a few weeks if we had those." Eddie said, shrugging.

"I know... Let's just meet up with Vulture One." Jason said, turning a corner while Eddie and Mike followed.

Soon enough, the trio arrived in a large landing bay, finding dozens of space faring craft parked all along the landing strip in the center of the massive room. 

Mike whistled, "Damn. Every time I see her she just looks more and more beautiful." He praised, looking at the sleek, geometrical profile of their F-25.

The craft in question stood at nearly one hundred feet tall, and five hundred feet long. It's wings spanned an impressive four hundred feet from wingtip to wingtip. It's harsh angular profile along with radio absorbing material and stealth drive all confirmed that it was one of the lowest profile ships in the entire fleet. 

"I still can't believe this thing is still in service." Eddie offhandedly mentioned.

"She did a lot for us in the war. I guess this is just retirement for her." Jason answered.

"I remember seeing her wipe out an entire fleet of SRY-99's." Eddie huffed. 

"And now she's a search and rescue ship. Oh, how the mighty have fallen." A new, masculine voice spoke out, diverting the group's attention away from the spacecraft.

"You must be our pilot." Jason remarked upon noticing his flight suit.

"You got that right, Sergeant. The name's Chief Warrant Officer Smith. I take it you're the fabled Team Two from Charlie Company?" Smith asked, looking curiously at their uniforms.   

"Yes sir." Jason replied.

"Good. I heard about what you did at Bellruse. With guys like you on the ground, we'll have these guys in no time." Smith said, offering a friendly smile.

"Thank you sir. We'll have these guys back home and out of your hair in no time." Jason replied.

"I'm sure of it. Besides, even if you guys don't find them, I'm sure some guys from the other teams will." 

"Hey, sir," Eddie chimed in, "Do we have any more data on these guys other than just 'they were in the ship that crashed'?"

"Well, as far as I know, we only have their names." Smith replied.

"What are they?"

Smith reached into his pocket and pulled out a touchpad. He scrolled through several pages for a moment before arriving at the page he wanted and paused.

"Alright, so the guys we're gonna be looking for are... Richie Vilovoy, Roman Doss, Issac Clarke, and... David Lawson."
> Chapter 1: Once More Into The Fray
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason sat on his bunk with his elbows resting on his knees as he stared out his window into the void of space. Twinkling stars and distant nebulae flashed by before his eyes, but he merely sighed as he watched them for what could have been the hundredth time. He slowly turned his head around until he saw his equipment resting in the corner of the room. Dressed in his jet black undersuit, he pushed off of the bed and moved to adorn his gear. 

He grabbed the woodland camouflaged vest and strapped it onto his torso. Next, he grabbed both pieces of thigh armor and clipped them into place on his legs. He fumbled with the buckle on the left thigh piece for a moment before it finally complied, and he was able to move on to the calve armor and boots. Once they were all fastened, he placed the shoulder guards and forearm armor in their respective locations on his body. He grabbed his gloves and slipped them on one by one before looking over to his rifle leaning against the wall. 

With another melancholy sigh, he grabbed the rifle and slung it over his shoulder. He grabbed his helmet and checked the interior as he pressed the 'on' button and watched the series of flashing lights while the helmet booted up. Once he was satisfied that everything was in working order, he turned the helmet back off and turned to leave. Before he even took a step forward, there was a knock at the door, and Jason already knew who it was. He opened the door to reveal Eddie and Mike, both kitted out in similar gear to his own, only Eddie's gear was set up for explosives while Mike's gear was designed around his role as the SAW gunner.  

"We're about five minutes out. You want to meet with the rest of the squad, Sarge?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah, let's get to the ship." Jason replied.

With that, the trio headed out and through the hallways of the crew quarters towards the flight deck. After a few minutes of walking in complete silence, Mike turned towards Jason and gave him a lopsided look.

"Hey, Sarge? You alright? You seem kinda quiet lately." He asked.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired is all." Jason replied.

Mike nodded, apparently satisfied with the answer. 

"SERGEANT MCKNIGHT, PLEASE REPORT TO THE BRIDGE. SERGEANT MCKNIGHT, PLEASE REPORT TO THE BRIDGE." A static voice rang out over the intercom, directing the trio's attention to the speakers.

Jason sighed, "Guess we're gonna have to go see what that's about." He said.

"Want us to meet you at the landing bay, Sarge?" Eddie asked.

"No, it's fine. Come along with. Whatever he wants me for, it probably involves you guys too." Jason replied.

With that, they headed off in the direction of the bridge. After a few minutes of wandering around the large ship's corridors, the group arrived at the flight deck. Jason punched a series of numbers into the keypad, and after some metallic whirring, the doors opened. The three Marines stepped inside, finding dozens of personnel dealing with their normal taskings. 

"Sergeant." A voice called out, directing Jason's attention to the bridge.

Jason turned to his right to find Chief Warrant Officer Smith sitting at his pilot's seat. As the trio approached, Smith tapped at his screen and entered a series of coordinates before turning to address them properly.

"Sir?" Jason asked.

"Just wanted to give you a quick peek at where we're going." Smith replied, nodding towards the cockpit window.

Jason, Mike, and Eddie all turned to look out the window. The planet that greeted them, shocked all three of them. With blue oceans and massive amounts of greenery on all land masses, it took their breaths away.

"Wow... It looks just like-" Eddie began.

"Earth..." Jason finished.

"Well, maybe before twenty-sixty five." Mike offhandedly commented.

"She's beautiful..." Jason whispered under his breath.

"I figured you boys would like that," Smith commented, "We'll be there in a little bit, so get ready for planetary entry."

"Roger that." Jason replied, before turning away and heading back out towards the doorway.

Mike and Eddie quickly fell in line behind him, and the trio was soon well on their way to the landing bay. Mike nonchalantly looked back and forth before quietly nudging Eddie with his elbow and slowing down slightly so that he fell further behind Jason. Eddie quizzically looked at him for a moment before slowing down to walk beside him.

"Hey." Mike whispered.

"What?" Eddie replied.

"Are you sure the Sarge is alright? He's been pretty quiet lately." He asked.

Eddie looked back up to Jason to ensure he wasn't hearing their conversation. When it was apparent that he was paying them no mind, he turned back to Mike and answered.

"Nothing's been the same since Bellruse. He, uh... He doesn't like to talk about it very much. Can't blame him. I barely made it out of there alive, and he was twenty clicks further in than me." Eddie explained.

"But that shit was over a year ago. I know we got put in separate units for a while there, but I got here a month ago, and it just feels like the last few days, he's been really quiet." Mike asserted.

"I think it's just the timing. People deal with that shit at different paces, you know?" Eddie replied.

"Alright... I guess I'll just take your word for it." Mike whispered.

A moment later, they both moved back up to where they were just walking behind Jason again as he reached the landing bay doors. He tapped on the touchpad against the door for a few seconds before the sound of metal grating on metal raked at their ears.

"Damn... They really need to get that fuckin' door fixed." Mike complained as they all walked inside.

The landing bay greeted their eyes in all its open, metallic glory. There were four separate sections in total, each currently occupied by twin-rotor, fixed wing V-45 Phoenix aircraft. Each one had their rotor blades angled back and the engines tilted backwards. Several straps connected the structural segments of each wingtip to each painted off segment of the landing bay that each aircraft filled. Dozens of maintenance crew members littered the floor in every direction, with at least four to five working on each individual V-45.

Jason, Mike, and Eddie all watched the busy commotion of the mechanics and maintenance workers while they made any last minute checks. Eventually, they came up to the aircraft at the far right side of the bay and paused. 

"Fuck!" A muffled voice shouted.

All three of the Marines looked around in confusion for a moment. They could all hear the sound of someone torquing a wrench, but none of them could see the person causing it. After looking around for any other mechanics to speak to, and finding none, Jason cleared his throat loud enough for the person in the Phoenix to hear them.

After a pregnant moment of silence, a pair of legs plopped out from inside the front wheel housing unit, quickly followed by the rest of a particularly dirty looking pilot.

"Oh, hey. Sorry about that. What's up?" She asked, giving a winning smile to the trio.

"Um... Are you our pilot?" Jason hesitantly asked, noticing the warrant officer rank on her collar.

"Depends. Are you guys from Team Two?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am." Jason replied.

"Oh, drop the ma'am shit, Sergeant. I just fly the bird. You guys do all the hard work." She dismissively replied. 

"Right... Anyways, I can't exactly read your name-tape. It's, uh... It's covered in all that grease and muck." Jason explained.

"Oh!, Right, sorry. The name's Williams. Rebecca Williams." Rebecca explained.

"Right, well, if you don't want us to call you ma'am, then what do you want us to call you?" He asked.

"Oh, just Chief is fine. But if you get on my good side, you can call me Becca." She teased, giving him a playful wink.

Jason uncomfortably looked back and forth to Eddie and Mike before slowly nodding. 

"Right then, Chief. Maybe once the mission is over, then we can get more personable with each other. A-anyways, have you seen the rest of the squad yet? They were supposed to meet us here around this time." Jason replied, quickly shifting back to his more professional attitude.

"You're no fun... As for the rest of the squad, I haven't seen them yet." Rebecca said, pouting slightly.

"Hey Chief, where are the rest of the mechanics anyways? Why're you the only one working on this bird?" Mike asked, waving to the V-45 for emphasis.

"Ah, those dipshits. You know they put like, seven mechanics on each bird and not a single one of them could even tell me where the crank shaft on the rotors draws power from." Rebecca exclaimed.

"From the fuel drive, right?" Eddie inquired.

"Yes! Holy shit! You're not even a fucking mechanic and you knew that!" She shouted, comically sticking both arms in the air before settling back down, "But yeah. Bunch of new dicks had no idea what the hell they were doing so I told Smith that I'd work on her myself. I didn't fly eighty six combat missions during the war to die because one idiot couldn't do proper maintenance on my aircraft." She explained.

"Well, I guess that's fair..." Mike replied, before noticing Jason, "Hey, what'cha looking at, Sarge?" He asked.

"I think I just found the rest of the Squad." Jason replied, turning and heading over to the other side of the bay.

"Right... We'll catch you later, Chief." Mike said, waving to Rebecca.

"Alright. Just swing by whenever. I'll be here." She shrugged and went back to work.

Mike and Eddie hurried to catch up to Jason just as he reached his destination. What greeted their eyes, was a group of five other Marines, four of which, were in the midst of cleaning their rifles and staging their gear in a box shape. As they approached, one marine turned around to see them. Jason suppressed a groan as he read the nametape that read "Frost".

"Gunny." Jason acknowledged him as cordially as he could.

"Sergeant McKnight, Corporal Icon, and Lance Corporal Jones... It's about time you three got here." Frost replied.

"Sorry about that, gunny. We were just meeting our... pilot." Jason replied, glancing back at the V-45.

"Is that right? Well maybe next time we go on vacation, we can talk to every single person on the ship so that you get acquainted with everyone," Frost sneered, "I gave you all a time hack last night. I know for a fact that the Chief up on the flight deck didn't take more than a couple minutes of your time, yet here you are, almost ten minutes late."

"We-" Jason began.

"I don't want to hear it. Stage your shit. We're getting on the birds in five minutes, so you'd better check your guys and make sure you all have everything." Frost dismissed, turning back to the other four Marines.

Jason barely held back a long, drawn out sigh, "Roger that, Gunny," He replied before turning to Mike and Eddie, "Alright guys, you heard the man. Stage your gear."

The trio quickly deposited their packs and helmets on the ground in a triangle pattern before setting their rifles down. Jason swiftly went over both Mike and Eddie's kit, examining them for missing equipment, damaged gear, as well as extra batteries. When he was satisfied that both of his men were adequately prepared, he sat down next to his pack and motioned for them both to do the same.

"Alright, you both square on the mission?" Jason asked.

"Roger," Eddie replied, pulling out his touchpad, "We're gonna land with the frigate, set up a temporary FOB at the LZ, then start conducting S and R missions via the V-45." He explained, pointing at the aircraft in question.

"Right, and you both remember how far we're expecting to travel each day?" Jason inquired.

"The V-45's have a range of... two thousand miles. So the plan is to clover leaf out two hundred and forty five miles at a time. If we find anything, then we just pick them up and fly back. Mission accomplished." Mike replied.

"Unless?" Jason hinted, tilting his head to the side.

"For some reason we can't safely extract our four VIP's without risking the bird. In that case, we'll set up a perimeter and mark our location on the V-45's GPS so that she can fly back and bring us extraction equipment suitable for whatever situation kept us from leaving in the first place." Eddie explained.

"Right, and lastly, why does our primary plan not involve just using comms?" Jason pressed.

"Because due to the planet's radiation and a number of environmental factors, we're pretty damn sure that two cups and a string would be more effective than our radios." Eddie finished.

"Damn straight. I'm still not sure what the hell is going on down there," Jason said, nodding towards the slowly enlarging planet through the Landing Bay doors, "But from the brief earlier, it looks like it's some kind radiation we've never seen before. Our long range scanners and radar can't seem to cut through that shit, and the entire northern hemisphere of the planet has been declared a no-go zone. If our lost crew is somewhere in there... chances are, they're long dead and we might as well pick up our bags and head home. Hell, even the 'green' side of the planet has some weird pockets of radiation that seem to randomly pop up all over the place." He explained.

"Got it, boss." Mike responded.

"Alright, as usual, you guys know your shit. I don't know why I even ask anymore." Jason said, shrugging slightly.

"Been asking myself the same thing for years." Eddie teased.

"Heh, alright. Looks like frosted flakes is coming back. Get ready to go." Jason replied, glancing over at Frost as he approached.

"Sergeant. Are you and your men ready?" He asked, upon arriving in front of the group.

"Roger. We're all squared away and everybody knows the plan." Jason responded.

"Alright. Get them on the bird. I'll get the rest of the squad together and meet you there." Frost ordered.

"Roger." Jason said, standing up and strapping on his pack while Eddie and Mike did the same.

The three Marines quickly grabbed their rifles, machine gun, and helmets, before heading back over to the V-45.

"So, uh... What's Gunny's problem?" Mike asked.

"Gunny thinks that because he's been in for fifteen years, that everyone else needs to kiss his ass." Jason muttered.

Eddie sighed, "Man, it's times like these I wish we still had Johnny. That kid would tell him to eat a dick and say 'fuck the consequences'." He said, sadly.

"I know, Eddie. We all wish he was still here." Jason said, his tone a shade darker.

Soon enough, the three Marines arrived at the V-45 to find Rebecca, wearing a clean uniform and leaning against the aircraft while giving them a smug smile.

"So, you three came crawling back. I knew it wouldn't take long." She joked.

"You got us, Chief. We just couldn't stand being away from you." Mike teased back.

"Hehe, glad to hear it. You three ready to go?" She asked.

"Just waiting on Gunny and the rest of the squad." Jason replied.

"Alright, well, hop in and find your chairs. We're gonna be breaking through the atmosphere any second now. It's gonna get bumpy." Rebecca said, hopping into the cockpit, herself.

Jason, Mike, and Eddie all climbed in through the open side door behind the cockpit to take their seats. Jason sat in the middle of his row while Mike and Eddie took their seats at either side of him. All three of them deposited their packs between their legs and stuck their weapons upright between each seat. Without another moment of delay, they donned their helmets, and powered them on.

After a few seconds, Jason's HUD flashed to life, and he gave a thumbs up to both Mike and Eddie. They both returned the gesture, indicating that their HUD's were up as well. Jason gave a confirmatory nod and turned his head to watch as Frost and the rest of the squad boarded the aircraft.

Once the entire crew was seated and had their equipment powered on, the side doors beeped three times, and slid shut, sealing the Marines inside. There was a moment of silence as the crew sat in wait for the next, inevitable step in their landing. Soon enough, a static voice spoke out in the cabin intercom.

"Alright gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. Now I know we've all done this shebang a thousand times before, but doctrine dictates that I have to warn you to please keep all hand and feet inside the vehicle at all times... Not like you can really stick them out anyways with the doors closed, but whatever. Anyways, fire extinguishers are located in the front, back, and on either door of the V-45. If there should be an emergency landing, please exit my aircraft in an orderly fashion. Any questions?" Rebecca explained.

One Marine raised his hand.

"Good, because we're entering the planets atmosphere now." She continued.

Right on cue, red caution lights turned on, and the entire ship began to vibrate. It started out softly enough, but quickly began to grow more and more violent, and as Jason looked out the window to watch, the outside world turned blood orange as the frigate plunged into the unknown planet's atmosphere. Each Marine inside the V-45 felt the powerful vibrations through the floorboard of the aircraft and all the way up their spines. 

Just as soon as it began, however, it was over, and the ship quickly stabilized to a more normal flight path. The red caution lights promptly turned off, and the mood throughout the entire landing bay relaxed.

"Man, that part always scares the shit out of me." One Marine from the back said.

"Yeah, you never really get used to it." Another replied.

"Alright, gentlemen. That was fun. Now for the really fun part. We're spinning up rotors. Touchdown at the designated LZ will be in about... three minutes." Rebecca's static voice spoke through the intercom as the engines on the V-45 spun to life. The rotors quickly accelerated to full power, and within thirty seconds, they were airborne and hovering in place.

Every V-45 in the landing bay slowly turned to face the massive ray shield doors, seeing only blue skies and clouds in their wake. Another moment of pause before a green light flashed throughout the bay, and every aircraft accelerated forwards and out of the landing bay. Immediately, they dove down toward the ground and fanned out, covering several thousand square feet of area before finding individual landing sights.

"Remember when we used to have to-" A Marine began to speak.

"Shut the fuck up, all of you-" Frost ordered.

"And there it is." Jason muttered under his breath.

"-We're boots on the ground in two minutes. Shut your mouths, and get ready to secure the LZ." Frost finished.

"Roger, Gunny." The Marines all replied in unison.

After a minute of forced silence, Rebecca's voice again came through the intercom.

"Alright gentlemen, we're touching down in thirty seconds. I'm opening the side doors." She said, before tapping the touch pad to her right in the cockpit.

Every Marine heard the mechanical whirring of the doors opening, before the rush of air hit them from the depressurization. However, they barely flinched as their helmets kept them from experiencing any painful side effects. 

With the doors now open, Jason could fully appreciate the natural beauty of the world they were landing on. He glanced out to see rolling hills and beautiful pastures of green. He smiled to himself at the utter majesty of the world in front of him, before Rebecca's voice once more broke him from his thoughts.

"Touchdown in three... two... one... Touchdown, touchdown, touchdown." She said as the V-45 gently landed on the ground.

Every Marine inside immediately stepped out of their seats and jumped to the ground below. It was a short drop, and within a matter of seconds, they pushed out fifty feet in a circle around the stationary aircraft. Rebecca kept a keen eye on the troops around her, and once she was sure that they were all off loaded, she gave a thumbs up to Frost, which he promptly returned. With her current duties satisfied, she pushed forward on the throttle, and the V-45 quickly took to the air once more. 

Meanwhile, on the ground, Jason quickly gathered his team up and formed them into a wedge formation while Frost did the same with his. Once they were formed into two wedges, Frost gave the signal to move ahead, and Jason promptly took point. They had a lot of ground to clear.
> Chapter 2: Planetary Problems
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

An hour after landing, and finding no threats of any kind, the Marines returned to their original landing zone. Mike popped a smoke grenade, and a plume of green smoke quickly rose through the air. Before long, they all watched as the frigate descended to the massive stretch of land they'd secured and kissed the ground. A colossal wash of displaced air washed over them and blew the smoke away as it touched down, and the Marines had to brace themselves against the wind as it rushed over them.

Once the frigate rested on the ground, Frost turned to the rest of his squad and addressed them.

"Alright, that's step one. Our pilot should be touching down any minute..." He said, looking skyward at the V-45.

He didn't have to wait long, as Rebecca brought the aircraft down and landed next to the group of Marines within a matter of seconds.

"You boys need a ride?" She asked through the outer speakers. 

"If you wouldn't mind giving us a lift," Frost cheekily replied before turning back to the Marines, "Alright, let's go. Get in there." 

The group quickly boarded the V-45, retaking their original seats, before Rebecca pushed the throttle forward again, and the spinning rotors lifted the aircraft into the air once more. They flew up into a circular pattern with the rest of the V-45's as they rotated around the frigate, before a green flare was launched, and every aircraft splintered off and away in different directions.

Rebecca headed North, and soon enough, they were all alone, traveling across an unknown planet, and marveling at the world around them. Green, grassy fields below them and large, rocky mountains on either side greeted them as they flew along, and every Marine inside watched in fascination at the sheer and utter beauty of this planet. There were no machines in sight. No modern marvels of man, no tall buildings, no trash, and no people. Just the sprawling greenery and monumentous mountain ranges as far as the eye could see. There was a pristine, natural beauty of a world untouched by man, that made Jason's heart beat just a bit faster.

He looked out the open doorway to watch the clouds as they gently floated past the V-45, and saw foamy waterfalls off in the distance. White tips all along the mountainsides gave way to serene valleys and eventually those valleys gave way to soft rolling hills that filled out the landmarks below. 

Smiling at the sight, Jason turned back and watched as the chopping rotors cut soft contrails through the air. The ocean blue sky stretched endlessly into the horizon, and even further out, far off mountains stood tall and proud, as if greeting the otherworlders. Just a little off to the side, he could see an endlessly expanding ocean, and the reflection of the sun's light on the choppy waves turned the sea a brilliantly blinding yellow. It was enough for him to turn on the tint in his visor and grin.

"Not like Earth at all, is she?" Eddie asked through their private comms.

"Not at all, man... Not at all." Jason wistfully responded.


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The V-45 softly touched down at the landing zone, and Rebecca quickly shut off the engines upon making contact with the ground. The weary Marines stepped out of the aircraft and walked back towards the frigate just as the sun fully set behind the horizon. As the tired group walked, they were passed by a group of fresh Marines heading to another V-45 waiting nearby, it's rotors already spinning to life. Through the flashing lights, fresh squads of Marines, and loud chopping of rotor blades, Jason, Mike, and Eddie walked with a tired step.

"One day down... one hundred, seventy nine to go." Mike whined.

"Just take it one day at a time, man. I'm sure we'll find these guys soon enough and then we can go home." Eddie replied.

"Screw going home. You saw how beautiful this planet is. I can actually see outside, and the air feels clean." Mike said.

"You're not even breathing it." Eddie fired back.

"Yeah, but I can feel it. You know?" 

"Our suits are air tight. No, I don't know." Eddie deadpanned.

"Man, you know what I mean. It just... looks clean.. like if you took a breath of the air here you'd feel amazing, you know?" Mike frustratingly asserted.

Eddie chuckled, "Yeah, yeah I do know what you mean. I almost wish we could take these helmets off and just take a breath." 

It was Jason's turn to weigh in, "Well... from what readings we do have of the air quality here... it's almost identical to Earth. So... you probably could take your helmet off and take a breath... Don't do that though. If you do, we'd have to quarantine you and chances are that any kind of bacteria on this planet would kill you in a hundred different horrible ways." He explained.

"Yeah, just imagine it," Mike chimed back in, "You're eyes could explode, or your stomach wall could disintegrate, pouring stomach acid out into your organs, or you could puke out your lungs." He listed, much to Eddie's annoyance. 

"Alright, alright, I get it. I wasn't gonna fucking do it. I was just saying. It'd be kinda nice, you know?" 

"We know man... We know." Mike replied as the group stepped into the decontamination room.

Three loud beeps rang out through the room before the doors sealed shut, and bright, flashing Gamma ray lights peppered the room, killing anything that wasn't wearing a suit. After a few seconds, it was over, and the group of Marines were walking through the frigate once more.

"Sergeant." Frost called.

"Gunny?" Jason replied, looking back over his shoulder.

"I expect you to be at the landing zone early tomorrow. Do not be late." He ordered, turning and heading off down a different hallway.

Jason flipped him off after his back was turned, and continued on his way with Mike and Eddie beside him.

"He really has some issue with you, doesn't he?" Mike asked, glancing back behind him in case Frost suddenly reappeared.

"He's resented me ever since the court martial. I make him look bad despite that, ergo, he hates me. It is what it is. We lost all the good NCO's in the war." Jason muttered.

"Not all of 'em, Sarge." Eddie replied, pointing to Jason's rank.

"Heh, thanks, Ed." Jason said.

A short walk later, the trio arrived at the end of the long hallway and found their own room waiting for them. Jason punched a few numbers into the keypad, and a moment later, the door slid open. The three weary Marines stepped inside to find three bunks, two of which were arranged into a bunk bed setup, and the third off by itself against the opposite wall.  It was a fairly spartan room, to be sure. There was a dresser in the corner, and a one person bathroom at the end of the room but nothing else. Mike happily sighed and flopped onto the bottom bunk while Eddie unslung his rifle and backpack, setting them both down against the wall. Almost simultaneously, they removed their helmets and began removing their gear.   

It didn't take long, and soon enough the three Marines were taking turns using the latrine to brush their teeth, shower, and any number of other tasks one would use a latrine for. Upon stepping out of the shower, Jason glanced at the clock on the wall. The time read '2155'. He sighed quietly to himself before finishing drying off and heading for the dresser with his clean clothes. He quickly changed into a simple pair of boxers and a plain white t-shirt. Mike and Eddie were already on their beds, trying to fall asleep, and Jason had to suppress a chuckle at how quickly they'd both headed straight for bed.

"Alright guys, you still awake?" He asked.

"Mmhmm?" Mike responded.

"Yeah?" Eddie replied.

"Alright, just checking. We need to be up by zero five hundred." He explained.

"Ugh... Fuck Frost, man." Eddie bitterly groaned.

"I know, I know. He's got a stick so far up his ass, he could pick his nose with it. Either way, it is what it is." Jason said, settling down into his own bed.

"We're not even supposed to leave until seven in the morning tomorrow. Why are we getting up so early?" Mike asked, ironically much more awake due to the prospect of lost sleep.

"Because we have to show up early. You know the drill. Fifteen minutes prior. Formation is at six thirty, and so naturally we'd be there at six fifteen. Now he wants us there early, so we need to be there no later than six. You two take a full forty five minutes to get ready in the morning, so you see how that works?" Jason explained.

Mike groaned, "Ugh... Fine. Let's just... get this shit over with." He grumbled, rolling back over and fluffing his pillow.

"I know it sucks, but it's only for tomorrow. After that, we can make sure we get an actually decent amount of sleep." Jason replied, softening his gaze. 

"It's not your fault, Jay. Frost is just a fucking douche." Eddie chimed in, burying himself in his blankets.

Jason sighed, "Thanks, Ed. You both get some sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day, I can already tell."

With that, Jason turned the lights off and threw the plain white bed sheets over his body. He eagerly nestled his head into the most comfortable spot on the pillow and closed his eyes. Within a few minutes, he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.


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The sound of harsh banging on the door woke the three Marines from their sleep. Jason awoke with a start, and almost fell out of bed as his body jolted from suddenly being awake. His heart pounded in his chest and he instinctively grabbed his rifle and pointed it at the source of noise. After a moment to calm down, and with the banging on the door continuing the whole time, he sighed and placed the rifle back down on the floor. He glanced back and forth to see Mike and Eddie hastily climbing out of their bunks and dropping to their feet. 

Jason squinted slightly in the near complete darkness before turning and looking at the clock. He had to rub some of the sleepiness out of his eyes before his vision cleared enough for him to properly see the digital time, and he immediately scowled. The clock read '0234'.

"Alright, what the fuck?" He said, more to himself than anyone else.

Jason walked over to the door while Mike and Eddie looked at the clock, only to share similar reactions with their Sergeant.

Jason pressed the keypad next to the door, and immediately, the door slid open, bathing the room in white light. Mike and Eddie had to cover their eyes to deal with the temporary blindness of so much light suddenly being introduced into their dark room, but Jason simply stared ahead with a scowl on his face. 

"What is it, Gunny?" He asked, murder on his mind and agitation clearly present in his voice.

"Get your guys and get your gear. One of the night crew teams fucked up and took some casualties. You're going out as their replacement." Frost explained, a mutual level of agitation present in his tone as well.

"What happened?" Jason asked, his tone softening.

"Apparently, the dumbfucks went and fucked with some of the wildlife. Some shit about a bear that their rifles had no effect on. Hell if I know. All I do know is that we have to supplement their rotation for the rest of the night." Frost replied.

"Did anyone die?" Jason asked, some concern weeding its way into his voice.

"Again, I don't know. Either way, we just got word that we need to supply a replacement team. You're it." 

Jason barely suppressed a groan, "Roger that. We'll be there in twenty minutes."

"See to it that you are." Frost replied, turning and heading back to his room.

Once he was sure that Frost was gone, Jason closed the door and cursed under his breath.

"Man, this is some bullshit." Mike angrily complained as he slipped his bodysuit on.

"I feel like he volunteered us just because of the 'late' thing earlier." Eddie remarked.

"Yeah, I know. I know. Let's just get this over with. If we're lucky, he'll let us take our actual shift off and just sleep." Jason said, slipping into his bodysuit as well.

Eddie sighed, "Roger."

With that, the trio quickly dressed themselves in their respective gear. Jason looked over Mike and Eddie to confirm they had all of their equipment once more, before grabbing his pack and slinging it over his shoulder. Mike and Eddie quickly did the same, nodding to Jason as all three of them grabbed their rifles and helmets. 

Jason lead the way out the door and through the frigate. The eerily quiet halls greeted them as they traveled through, their tired shadows dancing along the sparsely lit hallway the whole time. As they walked, Jason lazily rubbed his eyes, in a vain attempt to get the rest of his sleepiness out. As expected, he was unsuccessful and instead just had an annoying stinging in his eye that seemed intent on making each step forward even more aggravating. To his left, Mike yawned and smacked his lips to try to wake himself up somewhat. On his right, Eddie simply stared at the ground while they walked, trying his best to focus on one step at a time before sleep would claim him again.

The Marines continued this way until they reached the airlock. They groggily stepped inside and closed the door behind them. Donning their helmets in quick succession, and powering them on in the process, they activated their personal pressurization one by one. Once they had an air seal, Jason gave a thumbs up to the camera, and the sound of decompressing air filled their ears. Just as soon as it began, it was over, and the door to the outside world opened, allowing the Marines to proceed down the ramp and to the V-45 landing zone.

The rotating blades of the aircraft caused a deafening chopping sound to fill the air as the Marines approached. Jason grimaced at the loud noise raking at his ears. Even with the built-in noise dampening, halting most of the noise from making his ears bleed, Jason was simply too tired to be dealing with that much noise that early in the morning. 

Reluctantly, the group made their way over to a group of Marines that were formed up in a box shape. 

"You guys Team Two?!" The Staff Sergeant shouted through his helmet speaker, over the rotors.

"Roger! Heard you lost some guys! We're here to replace them!" Jason shouted back.

"Alright, Specter One is gonna be your ride! She's over there!" He called back, pointing to the furthest V-45. Once he received a confirmatory nod from Jason, he readdressed the rest of his men, "As for the rest of you, you know the mission! Move out!"

Jason, Mike, and Eddie made their way over to their V-45. As the group approached, Jason noticed that it was the only one whose rotor blades had yet to spin up. Upon arriving, he suppressed yet another groan at seeing their pilot.

"Hey there!" Rebecca called out, waving expectantly.

"How're you doing, Chief." Jason replied, giving a small wave in return.

"Oh, you know. On my second shift. Heard about what happened to these guys. They're saying it was some kind of 'space bear'." She replied, throwing in air quotes.

"Space bear?" Eddie asked, incredulously.

"Yep. I didn't catch all the details, but apparently their rifles didn't do a damn thing. Bullets just went right through the bear like it wasn't even there. They took four casualties." She explained.

"Any dead?" Jason asked.

"One, so far. I think it was a private... Jenkins? I don't know. I mean, it may have been space bear, but it was still a bear. You guys' armor isn't really gonna stop that from tearing into you." Rebecca shrugged.

"Dammit..." Jason muttered.

"I mean... Maybe if we had those new exo-suits... I want a kukri..." Mike muttered.

"Riiiiight..." Rebecca replied, "Anyways, you boys ready to get back out there?" She asked, a little more enthusiasm present in her voice than she meant.

"Unfortunately." Eddie responded, already stepping into the open side door.

"Right, well, let's get going then." 

With that, the rest of the team stepped into the V-45 while Rebecca took her spot in the cockpit. She quickly strapped herself in and powered on the aircraft. Twin rotors quickly began to spin, and within a minute, the chopping of the blades was deafeningly loud once more. Jason and Mike shut the side doors in an effort to give them some semblance of peace and quiet from the noise, but they could only silence so much of the engine's output.

Rebecca quickly went through her pre-flight checks, and pushed the throttle forward, lifting the V-45 into the air. The rest of the aircraft in the vicinity quickly joined them, and before long, they were on their way out to conduct their mission.


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Jason awoke with a start. He grabbed his rifle and shouldered it as if dozens of enemies were approaching directly in front of him and flicked the fire selector from 'safe' to 'semi'. A few tense seconds passed while he breathed heavily, before he finally realized there was no threat in front of him and he flicked the weapon back to 'safe'. He quickly glanced around him to find both Mike and Eddie in their full combat gear, sleeping in their seats in the V-45. He immediately remembered the mission and checked outside to see that the moon was still high in the sky. A quick glance at his watch told him that he'd been asleep for at least an hour. He arched his back and stretched for a good ten seconds, making sure to really stretch his legs, before turning on his comms with Rebecca.

"Hey, Chief. Where are we?" He asked.

"Oh, there you are, sleepyhead. I was wondering why I hadn't heard any chatter for the last half hour. We're about two hundred miles out right now. I was about to turn us around and head back towards the frigate." She replied, cheerfully.

"Chief, how in the hell can you be so damn cheery? Didn't you get like, three hours of sleep... max?" Jason asked, slightly in disbelief at her tone.

"Oh, well that's the magic of coffee, Sergeant. I don't know what I'd do without it." She replied.

"Heh, I'll bet."

A pleasant silence overtook the aircraft for a few moments before Jason got tired of it and spoke again.

"So... Anything exciting happen while I was asleep?" He asked in a bid for some small talk.

"Nope. Just same 'ol, same 'ol. I think you'd really like the view of the night sky, though. It's particularly pretty on this planet." Rebecca answered, gazing up at the stars.

Jason turned and looked out the window. He had to slightly angle his head with the wing of the V-45 blocking his vision, but after a moment, he could clearly see up into the night sky. 

"Wow..." He breathlessly whispered.

"Hehe, guess I was right to have you pegged as a stargazer." Rebecca teased.

"Well, it's not like you can even see the stars anymore on Earth." Jason replied, his gaze still transfixed on the nebulae and stars spanning the entire night sky.

"I know... Makes me wonder sometimes..." She trailed off.

"What about?" 

"Well, you know... Huh? That's weird..." Rebecca replied.

"What is it?" Jason asked.

"Well... My radar is getting a little fuzzy... But we're nowhere near the radiation zone, so that shouldn't be happening unless..." Rebecca trailed off.

"Unless... what?" Jason asked, a fair amount of concern spilling over into his voice.

Rebecca moved her jaw to reply, but just as her words began to leave her lips, a blinding flash of light choked off her reply.

"Gah!" She shouted through the comms.

"Chief, what's going on!?" Jason called out, already moving to Mike and Eddie, "Guys! Get up now!" He shouted.

Mike and Eddie awoke with a start, hastily looking about for the cause of their sudden wake up call.

"Huh?" Eddie asked.

"Sarge? What's up?" Mike questioned, quickly moving to the window.

"Chief, talk to me! What's going on?" Jason called to Rebecca again.

Harsh static sounded over the comms, before white bolts of lightning flashed past the windows of the V-45, and momentarily illuminated the Marines.

"Fuck!" Mike shouted, falling back from the window onto his back.

"What the hell was that!?" Eddie called.

Jason glanced out the window to find more and more streaks of lightning flashing by the windows every second. He pounded on the cockpit door.

"Rebecca! What the fuck is going on!" He demanded.

Without warning, the cockpit door opened, and Jason hastily rushed inside. In just two steps, he was standing behind Rebecca's pilot seat and looking out the cockpit window. Smoke obstructed his view for a brief moment before he could clearly see the pilot. 

"Rebecca!" He shouted, grabbing her by the shoulder and shaking her as hard as he could.

Rebecca's head lifelessly slumped down and swayed as Jason shook her body. Upon noticing her apparent unconsciousness, and the massive crack on her visor, Jason swiftly unclipped her harness and pulled her out of the seat. He hastily dragged her back to Mike and Eddie, who both helped lay her unconscious body on the floor. As soon as she was out of his hands, Jason bolted for the pilots seat and assumed control of the aircraft. 

One quick glance at the control panel told him everything he needed to know about their current flight status. The screens had all completely blown out, leading to the smoke filling the cockpit, and presumably, their unconscious pilot. Sparks shot out of the shorting wires and threatened to start a fire in the cramped confines of the V-45's cabin. 

Jason cursed under his breath as he realized that he had no way of telling the aircraft's air speed, altitude, or direction of travel anymore. With no options in mind, he grabbed the flight controls and attempted to steer the damaged aircraft away from the lighting storm they'd unwittingly flown into.

As expected, the controls simply did not respond to Jason's commands. Whether it was from the damaged computer, or something else, he wasn't sure, but the farther into the storm they traveled, the more the V-45 seemed to be attracting lightning, despite it's design specifically being made to prevent that.

Jason had no time to ponder such matters. As his attention was instantly pulled to the rippling waves of electric energy seemingly circling the V-45. A vortex of energy and spiraling static twisted around and around the aircraft, dizzying him while he struggled, in vain to pull away from the terrifying display. After several seconds of straining to veer away from what appeared to be oblivion, Jason saw a strange sight. Pulsing waves of light energy enveloped the V-45, almost knocking him out of his seat, and completely knocking Mike and Eddie off their feet. 

A strange, almost hypnotic humming drowned out even the sound of the rotors as they continued to spin towards the light. Jason gripped the controls so tightly that his knuckles turned white, but still, it was all for naught. Just as his vision became completely obscured by white light, there was a deafening 'pop', and then silence.

Jason blinked his eyes back open and looked around the cockpit, finding nothing new, except for more smoke trailing out of the computer. He chanced a glance out through the cockpit window, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. There was a forest as far as the eye could see, and mountains in the far off distance. A dazzling display of majestic auroras littered the sky, and at the head of them all, the moon gently crawled across the early morning sky. Jason was starstruck for a moment, before a terrible screeching sound caught his ears. 

He turned to look at the right wing to find that the rotors were sputtering out and dying. A fraction of a second later, and the left engine died as well. The blades immediately slowed, and the V-45 quickly lost altitude. 

"Ed, how's our pilot?!" Jason shouted.  

"She's alright, but whatever hit her knocked her the fuck out, and I think her helmet's leaking air!" He heard Eddie yell from behind while trying to cover Rebecca's cracked visor with his hands.

"Well we're fucked then. Get strapped in, we're going down!" He called back.

Mike hastily looked out the windows to confirm the suspicion, before fearfully nodding back at Eddie and moving to Rebecca. Together, they pulled her into a seat and strapped her in place. Once they were sure she was secure and as safe as they could make her, they strapped into their own seats, and assumed crash positions. 

Meanwhile, in the cockpit, Jason fought with the controls, doing everything in his power to reignite the engines, or at least get out a distress call.

"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. This is Charlie Two-One to any UGSC units in the area, we are going down. I say again, Mayday, Mayday, Mayday." He said, broadcasting with his personal radio, "Specter One is down, we've lost power to our engines and computers. We are going down in unknown territory. Mayday, Mayday, Mayd-" Just as he was about to finish, Jason's HUD shut off, and he lost his radio signal. 

"Guys!" He shouted, "I just lost my HUD. Can either of you broadcast?" 

Just as Eddie was about to reply, his HUD disconnected, followed immediately by Mike.

"Did you just-" Eddie began to ask.

'Yeah, you too?" Mike pressed, already knowing Eddie's question.

"Fuck! Jay, we just lost our shit too!" He called out to Jason.

"Fucking... Alright, hang on! This is gonna be a rough landing!" Jason called back.

Once again, Mike and Eddie assumed crash positions and hoped for the best. Jason reached back behind his head and pulled a large, red lever, disengaged the rotors from the engines. The mechanical lever worked as expected, a first for the last ten minutes, and the rotors began spinning freely. Knowing he had little time to act, Jason grabbed the controls and gently pulled back. However, just like before, there was no reaction from the aircraft. 

After finding nothing, Jason sighed and watched as the tree tops grew closer and closer. With each passing second, the inevitable rough landing became more and more of a terrifying thought in his head, and he quickly stepped out of the pilots seat. He quickly made his way back to the rest of the group and found his seat among them.

"I take it we're fucked?" Eddie asked upon noticing him.

"I disengaged the rotors from the engine, so the auto-rotation should kick in and buy us some time, but the fly-by-wire controls are fucked. There's no mechanical bypass in these damn things, so I can't flare the nose on landing. We're going in at a decent angle, but our nose is gonna hit the ground first... It's gonna be rough." Jason quickly explained.

"Right. Got it." Eddie replied.

"We're gonna be okay though, right?" Mike pressed, glancing out the window as he spoke.

"Yeah. We're gonna be fine. Just hang on, bud." Jason comforted.

Mike gave a mute nod in acknowledgement before taking a deep breath and assuming a crash position. With each passing second, nerves battled to and fro in each of the Marine's minds as to what to do next. Unfortunately, a profound feeling of helplessness welled up in each of their hearts as they realized that there simply was nothing they could do. They were at the mercy of the plummeting metal beast they sat in, and their only chance at survival was simply to hope. Hope that they could survive the imminent crash.

Jason glanced out the window to see the treeline just barely cruising by beneath the window frame. There were only a few dozen more feet to fall. With no options left, he closed his eyes, and hoped for the best.

It didn't take much longer. Maybe it was ten seconds, maybe five. Regardless, the V-45 crashed into the ground below with frightening speed, knocking the wind out of everyone inside and shattering the left side door window. The nose scraped off of the ground and dug into the dirt below as the belly of the aircraft slammed into the ground. A sharp dent formed in the floorboard of the V-45 just under Mike's foot where a particularly large rock met the belly of the beast. 

As they continued to burrow into the ground, the powerful vibrations shook the crew and threw them through a dizzying array of shaking limbs, flying shards of glass, and mind numbing impacts. After the third hard hit, the rotor blades on the right engine found their way into the ground, ripping each blade out and flinging them off into random directions. A second later, the left engine met the same fate, only one of the rotor blades was launched directly into the cabin door. It punched right through the titanium and wedged itself just underneath Jason's seat. 

Just when they thought they could take no more, the V-45 finally slowed and came to a rest. Smoke billowed out of its abused engines, and the broken shards of glass came to a rest on the floorboards of the heavily damaged aircraft. Jason reeled from the ordeal, and tried his best to get a sense of his bearings. Whatever lights remained in the aircraft slowly dimmed and faded out entirely, leaving all inside in a state of near total darkness. 

Jason hurriedly unclipped his harness and rose to his feet. He turned to Mike and Eddie to find them doing the same. 

"Get the door open. I'll get her." He ordered, swiftly turning to pick Rebecca up and out of her chair. 

Mike and Eddie immediately jumped into action, pulling the door with all their might. After a few strained seconds, metal harshly scraped against metal, and the door slid open. Mike jumped out and landed on the blackened dirt below while Eddie grabbed all three packs and tossed them to him. Once all three bags were out, he followed Mike and jumped down to the ground below. 

Jason quickly dragged Rebecca over to the door and gently lowered her down to Mike and Eddie's waiting arms. Once she was safely on the ground, he too jumped from the side door and landed beside his men.

"Alright, is she stable?" Jason asked.

"Well, whatever hit her, hit her hard enough to knock her out even with a helmet on. I don't see any signs of bruising or severe head trauma, so I think she'll be okay. She's leaking air though... I'm not sure we can really fix it out here... Plus, I don't know how long she's gonna last without a proper medical attention if something is wrong with her." Eddie explained, looking over Rebecca's unconscious form once more.

"Can we use some of the C4 to plug the leak?" Jason suggested.

"I mean, we can try, but it's not gonna be a long term solution to that." Eddie replied as he dug into his pack and pulled out the plastic explosives. 

"It's the only thing we've got that can actually plug a leak right now." Jason muttered as he watched Eddie work.

As Eddie stuck more and more C4 on Rebecca's visor, the slight hissing sound of leaking air slowly began to fade and wither, until he finally mushed the plastic explosive over the last bit of cracked visor, and the hissing stopped.

"Alright... One less thing to worry about." Jason sighed as he sat down.

"Yeah, now we just need to worry about her head trauma." Eddie shook his head.

"Well, we're not gonna get her anywhere in that thing..." Mike said, eyeing the severely damaged V-45 with a sad glance.

"Did you get out a distress call?" Eddie asked.

"I tried. My comms cut out halfway through and then I lost my HUD." Jason explained, smacking his helmet in an effort to turn in back on.

"Yeah... I lost mine right after you... You think it had something to do with the storm?" Eddie pressed.

"Maybe... That wasn't a storm I've ever seen before though. There was lightning all around us..." 

Mike decided to chime in next, "Well, you remember that one really bad lightning storm in Vegas right? Back in twenty one twenty seven? Zapped the power grid and the entire city lost power for a week." He explained.

"Yeah, but that was due to the amount of steel skyscrapers and a thousand other factors... It wasn't just... targeting one lone bird in the sky..." Jason replied, placing his hands on his hips and looking back up at the sky.

It was at that moment, that something became apparent to him.

"Hold on a sec... There were no clouds..." He said.

"What?" Eddie asked.

"There were no clouds. I remember. I was looking out at the night sky with her," He explained, pointing to Rebecca, "We could see the stars as far out as possible! There were no clouds in the sky at all. I mean, look!" He exclaimed, pointing at the night sky.

True enough, the fleeting night sky was barren of any clouds. Not a single obstruction in sight. Just beautiful, open air as far as the eye could see.

"What the fuck?" Eddie asked to no one in particular.

A sudden groan caught their ears, and the three Marines looked over to see Rebecca slowly waking. Eddie quickly moved to her side.

"Woah, hey there. Take is easy, you got hit in the head. We're not sure if there's any kind of serious trauma." He said, gently helping her sit up.

"Y-yeah, thanks. Ugh... Fuck my head hurts..." Rebecca complained as she sat up, "...What did you guys do to my visor?" 

"You were leaking air, so we had to plug the leaks with C4." Jason explained.

"You... covered half my visor in explosives?" She replied, disbelief in her voice.

"We had nothing else. It was either that, or let you run out of air. Besides, C4 is the most stable explosive ever. You'll be alright, Chief." Eddie chimed in.

"Fuck's sake..." She grumbled in response. 

"You had us worried there for a second." Mike added.

"Yeah, no... Glad to not be dead... I guess... Wait... is that? Oh for fucks sake!" She whined, upon looking at the V-45, "What did you do to my aircraft!?" 

"The best I could," Jason, somewhat irately replied, "Not like I'm a pilot or anything, and the electronics were all fucked. I had no control." 

"Jesus... My baby... Forty three missions in that bad boy and this is how it dies?" She continued to whine.

"Look, I know you're a little concussed right now, and dealing with the loss of your 'baby', but I don't think you realize the situation right now. We're lost. All of our electronics are fried, you're helmet is fucked thanks to that huge crack in the visor, and we have no way of communicating with the rest of the fleet. So unless you've got a bright idea somewhere in that possibly hemorrhaging brain of yours, then quit whining." He ordered, looking increasingly frustrated by the second.

Rebecca looked away and pouted while Eddie walked over to Jason.

"Hey, Jay. You good?" He asked, almost a whisper.

Jason sighed, "Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Look, we're not getting anywhere tonight, and we're all a little banged up from that. Let's bed down here for the time being, and figure out if we can't get a radio to work in the meantime." 

"Alright. I'll try to get something working." Eddie replied.

Jason turned to Rebecca and offered her a hand to stand up with. After a moment, and albeit begrudgingly, she took his hand and was helped to her feet.

"Mike, you got first watch. We'll switch every three hours. Don't let any space bears sneak up on us." He ordered, while helping Rebecca towards the V-45.

"You got it, boss."
> Chapter 3: Second Contact
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Under the gentle darkness of her bedroom, a mulberry unicorn with a broken horn peacefully slept the night away. Her soft breaths and the gentle rise and fall of her chest provided the only quiet sounds in that quiet abode. However, as with all things good, it was not destined to last, and long before the sun would make its way into the sky, her alarm clock blared to life.

Tempest's eyes shot open at the sound, and her ears irritably flicked back against her skull. She sighed and rolled over in bed to turn the alarm off. Upon doing so, she saw the time read '5:00AM'. Once the alarm was silenced, she brought her hooves up to her face and rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes as best as she could before throwing the sheets off her barrel and hopping down to the floor. 

She flexed her back and stretched her forelegs out, giving her the appearance of a cat for just a moment, and popping several vertebrae in the process. Once she was satisfied, she stood back upright and craned her neck from left to right, popping even more vertebrae. She gave a happy sigh upon the last pop, and made her way over to the nearby dresser. 

Tempest opened the top drawer and pulled out one of several black bodysuits. She slipped it on, over her scarred body with practiced ease, and headed for the door. Before making her exit, she grabbed her spare key from the nightstand and headed out, making sure to lock the door behind her.

"Old habits..." She whispered to herself.

Just as she was heading down the hallway in the large crystal castle, a creaky door opened behind and down the hall, making her stop in her tracks and turn around.

"Tempest?" A filly-sized purple dragon groggily asked.

"Yes? What is it, Spike?" Tempest replied, tilting her head to the side.

"What're you doin' up so early?" He asked, suppressing a yawn and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Going for a morning run. I'll be back in an hour or so." She coolly replied.

"It's like... five in the morning... why are you going so early?" 

"My shift begins at six thirty and ends at the end of the day. Until Twilight gets more guards, this is my only time to exercise." Tempest explained, matter-of-factly.

Spike looked like he was having trouble processing just what she was saying for a moment, but eventually shook his head and sighed.

"Well, can you at least tell me where you're going? So that if Twilight wants to know I can give her something of an answer." He relented.

"I'm just going for a run through the White-Tail woods. I'll be back in an hour at the latest." She replied.

"Alright, thanks... Have a good run... I guess. I'm going back to sleep." 

With that, the purple dragon stepped back into his room and closed the door. Tempest let out a dry chuckle at the teenage dragon's sleepiness before heading down the staircase and towards the front door. Once there, she unlocked the massive golden doors and closed them behind her. She quickly re-locked the door and began stretching her legs. She took her time on each one, making sure that she wouldn't be pulling any muscles on this particular run. Once she was good and stretched out, she started walking towards the edge of town. 

Since the Castle was located on the far side of Ponyville, the entrance to the White Tail woods was just a simple five minute walk away. Tempest softly sighed to herself as she approached the edge of town and saw the beginnings of the forest still bathed in pale moonlight. The green leaves shown with a slight reflection of white, turning an otherwise dark forest into a surprisingly well lit path just in front of her hooves.

Tempest glanced over at the moon, "Hmm... The sun should be rising in about... half an hour? I should be able to make it to the tip of the hill before that happens." She said to herself, thoughtfully gazing back at the forest.

With a final nod of confirmation, Tempest broke into a quick gallop and charged into the forest. She blew past trees on either side of her with incredible speed, leaving a thin trail of dust in her wake. She smiled to herself as her hooves pounded against the dirt trail and carried her along the path.

Oh yeah, today's gonna be a good day.





Mike sighed for what could have been the tenth time in the short few hours since the crash. He glanced back at the downed V-45 to see Jason, Eddie, and Rebecca sitting around the wreckage, each doing some small part in salvaging what was left of the aircraft. Rebecca seemed intent on fixing the flight computer while Jason and Eddie made a point to focus on the rotors. 

As he turned his attention back to the forest, he noticed the declining land in front of him and a small creek flowing just over to his right, undisturbed by the crash in any way. To his left, there was a large rockface spanning several hundred feet ahead and almost one hundred feet high.

"Good thing we didn't fly right into that..." He muttered under his breath.

The sound of boots on dirt behind him quickly drew his attention, and Mike turned around to find Jason approaching him.

"I got this. Go see if you can't fix anything back over there." He instructed, unslinging his rifle.

"On it. Just so you're tracking, there's a creek just over there to the right. Not sure how drinkable that water is, but if worse comes to worse, we can just boil it." Mike explained.

"Thanks. I'll keep it in mind." Jason replied.

With that, Mike headed back over to the downed V-45 while Jason got comfortable in his post. He glanced over to the creek and gave it a curious look before turning back and looking into the forest. 

After quite some time of staring into the woods, Jason struggled to keep his head up. Exhaustion from the previous night's lack of sleep and the sheer number of hours spent awake at this point made his eyelids droop, despite the sun having been up for quite some time now. His head grew heavy, and the helmet just seemed to weigh him down more and more by the second. 

Immediately after the crash, the adrenaline had kept him fueled and full of energy. However, now, about three hours after the crash, he was quickly finding just how tired he really was.

Ugh... I need to walk around a bit... Wake myself up. He thought to himself.

Jason stood up and stretched before turning around and calling the rest of the group.

"Hey guys! I'm gonna walk around the perimeter for a bit. If anything happens while I'm gone, just shoot some rounds off. I'll find my way back to you."

"Alright! Want some company?!" Eddie called back.

"I'll be alright! Just going about a hundred meters out, or so!" 

"Alright. We'll be here." 

With that, Jason turned on his feet and headed off into the forest. His boots dug into the mossy ground somewhat, but even so, he effortlessly stepped through the sparsely packed woods with no trouble. After reaching his desired estimate of one hundred meters, he turned right, and made his way around the crash site in a clover leaf pattern, never losing sight of at least a small portion of the aircraft the whole time. As his walk took him towards a large boulder, he considered the possibility of getting a better vantage point.

Well, I'm at a decline from the crash site, but we could only see treetops from up there... Maybe up here I'll find something useful. He reasoned in his head.

With his mind made up, Jason promptly slung his rifle and scampered onto the boulder. It took a minute, and more than a few slips along the way, but eventually, he made it to the top. Once he was sat down and comfortable, he took to perusing the nearby foliage for any signs of trouble, or hopefully, help. Scanning right to left, Jason began a long sigh as his efforts seemed to be fruitless, until something caught his eye.

"Is that..." He began, before quickly climbing back down the boulder and briskly running towards the object of his interest.

He had to push through some major brush, but soon enough, he arrived at what appeared to be a dirt road. His boots skid to a halt just as he arrived on the path, and he hastily looked to his right to see if his eyes weren't deceiving him.

"No way..." He breathed.





Tempest trotted along the dirt path to the top of the White Tail Wood's largest hill with a heavy step. She panted for breath with each passing second, and as she looked up toward the end of the road, a feeling of utter contempt welled up in her heart.

"Okay... I guess... I'm not... in as good shape... as I remember..." She wheezed through heavy breaths, "Guess that's... what I get... for not exercising for the last year..."

Tempest slowed her trot down until she was walking at a snail's pace. She tried her best to catch her breath, and after a few moments, her heart finally settled back down to a more acceptable level. 

"Whew... I can't believe how out of shape I got... I used to be able to run hills like this in my sleep." She complained to herself, wiping the sweat from her brow in the process.

With her breathing finally back to acceptable levels, Tempest focused instead on her goal, and looked forward to find the end of the hill just a few hundred feet ahead. She sighed to herself while gazing up at the sky and seeing the sun climbing higher with each passing second.

"Well... Hopefully downhill will be easier... I really don't want to be late on my first day of actual guard duty." She thought aloud.

A few minutes passed before the mulberry unicorn arrived at the turn in the road she was aiming for. Upon reaching said turn, she spun around and gave a happy little sigh.

"Alright. Now for the fun part..." She said, losing her motivation with every word.

Tempest sighed harshly one more time and began a slow trot forward down the road. Just as she began to pick up speed, a sound startled her into a complete stop. Her hooves skidded on the dirt, and she swiveled her head to the side toward the sound of rustling leaves in the brush. She instinctively lowered her body into a fighting posture, and her muscles tensed, preparing for whatever could be coming through that bush.

Her heart rate quickly steadied while she slowed her breathing down. Each second passed by slower and slower as the adrenaline flooded her system, and her eyes gazed through the bush like a piercing laser, ready to annihilate the threat without mercy. 

Yet, when the creature finally did come through the bush, it didn't even notice her. It stumbled through the brush, just a scant few feet in front of her and immediately turned away to face the road leading toward Ponyville. A moment later, it spoke.

"No way..." It said.

Tempest's jaw dropped immediately and she quickly rose out of her fighting stance. The completely alien looking creature, standing almost twice her height on two legs and clad in some kind of camouflaged armor just spoke, and it still hadn't even noticed her. In its hands were a long, metal looking stick of some sort. Presumably, it was some form of a weapon, if the rest of the creature's attire was anything to go off of. She tried to speak, but just as her jaw moved, the creature turned around and looked right at her, immediately freezing the blood in her veins. 

The creature was startled, to say the least, but quickly regained its composure and gave a small wave with its gloved, minotaur-like hand. With its helmet on, she couldn't quite see its face, but she could just barely make out the contours of its features. It appeared to be smiling at her.

"Well, hey there little guy. Aren't you just the cutest little thing?" It said in a definitively masculine voice.

Tempest's jaw dropped once more, and she froze in shock.

Did... It... Cute? Me? I just... what!? Her thoughts raged back and forth through her head.

Before she could even react to the complete absurdity of the situation, the creature leaned forward and brought its hand toward her head. She instinctively leaned back, causing the creature to tilt its head to the side.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." It said in the friendliest voice Tempest ever heard.

Again it leaned forward, and although her instincts told her to lean back once more, she hesitated for just a moment while her brow furrowed slightly. That moment was all it took for its hand to gently caress her cheek, ending in a light scratch at the base of her ear. It's fingers softly parted her fur and scratched at the skin underneath, causing an involuntary shudder to run through the mulberry unicorn's body. Even with armor on seemingly every part of the strange alien creature, the material of its gloved hand just felt soft, and comforting.

"Hehe, wow. You've got such pretty eyes," He said, before noticing her scar, "Oh damn, that must have hurt. And it looks like your horn broke off too... But hey, you're still here, ain'tcha?" 

Tempest tried to reply, but found that while her mouth could move, no sound came out. So, she simply blinked owlishly at the alien creature still gently scratching her ear. If she weren't so frozen in place, she might have even admitted that it felt particularly good.

"Huh? That's neat." He said, looking down at her black bodysuit, "Cool little suit you got yourself there. Hmm... If I didn't know any better, I'd say someone made that for you... Which means... Somebody lives here!" He cheered, nearly jumping for joy, "Oh thank God! We can't be too far from rescue after all." 

Tempest could literally hear the relief washing over the alien as it made that proclamation. It quickly wheeled back around and pet her head, flattening her mane back in the process. 

"Thanks for coming by, little buddy. I gotta go let the guys know that there's some kind of civilization nearby. You may have just saved our lives." It said with what appeared to be a grateful smile, although, it was hard to tell through its darkened helmet visor.

With that, the alien turned on its feet and jumped back into the brush, not leaving any room for a rebuttal. Tempest stared at the bush for several moments before her mind fully processed exactly what had just transpired, and she finally found her voice. 

"What... Just... Happened?" She asked nobody in particular.

Another few moments passed while she just stared after the alien, the sound of it chugging along through the brush growing ever distant, before the reality of the situation finally dawned on her.

"Oh my stars..." She whispered before breaking into a gallop toward Ponyville, "I need to tell Twilight!"





Jason hastily found his way back through the dense vegetation and to the crash site. Once the rest of the group was within earshot, he called out to them.

"Hey guys!" 

"Yo!" Eddie replied.  

"I found something!" Jason called back as he broke into a light jog to cover the rest of the distance between them as fast as possible.

Upon hearing his excitement, Rebecca, Mike, and Eddie all dropped what they were doing to meet him halfway. Once they were all within comfortable conversation range, Jason spoke again.

"Alright, so I went down the hill a little ways over there," He began, pointing back to where he'd just come from, "And I found a road."

"Seriously?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, but that's not the best part. I ran into what looked like a little horse over there." Jason excitedly replied.

"Huh?" The rest of the group simultaneously replied.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It sounds crazy, but I promise I'm not hallucinating or anything. I still have a few days of oxygen left, so I'm not going crazy from oxygen deprivation or anything. It was literally a little horse. Maybe around... three, three and a half feet tall...  It was so weird... It's face didn't really look like a horse face at all. It was way flatter, and it had such gorgeous blue-green eyes. Poor guy had a nasty scar over its right eye, and it's horn was broken off, but that wasn't even the crazy part-" Jason explained.

"Wait, hold on," Rebecca interrupted, "It had a horn? Like a unicorn?" 

"What's a unicorn?" Jason asked.

"You don't? Wa- Wait, you don't know what a unicorn is?" Rebecca asked, incredulously. 

"Never heard of it before. I mean, this thing didn't look like an ordinary horse at all though. It was a purple-redish color, and I swear it's mane was done up in a red mohawk. But anyways, the most important part! It was wearing a black bodysuit. Now, obviously, a horse can't make that kind of shit by itself, so that means that someone else had to make it." Jason replied.

"So you're saying..." Eddie began.

"That there's alien life on this planet and we might have just found a way to get out of here." Jason finished.

"Holy shit." Mike whispered.

"I still can't believe you've never heard of a unicorn. Everyone knows about unicorns." Rebecca said, shaking her head.

"Well sorry, but I just never heard of them before. Besides, don't you think you're kinda missing the point here?" Jason replied, somewhat annoyed.

Rebecca sighed, "I guess."

"Either way, we should probably get ready to head out and look for that unicorn. If we find it again, it just might lead us to some people that can actually help us." Jason reasoned.

"Sarge, are you sure it's a good idea to leave though? I mean, I'm down to find some civilization too, but we've got supplies in the V-45 that we'd be leaving behind if we just went off on a wild goose chase for some tiny horse thing that might not even lead us anywhere." Mike asserted.

"I know it sounds a little irrational, but I don't think we really have many other options. We've only got a few days worth of oxygen each, save for Chief over here, and only enough food and water for a little over a week. If we follow this thing, we might be able to at least deal with the food and water issue." Jason explained.

"And as for the air?" Rebecca deadpanned.

"Well I'm not gonna assume that whoever lives here can help us with that. We just have to hope that they can help us get back in communication with the frigate and get out of here before we run out of air."

"So... essentially, we're fucked." Mike shrugged.

"We're not fucked. Look, I know it sounds crazy, but if there's even a one percent chance that there's civilization nearby, then isn't that worth looking into? Otherwise we're just stuck here hoping that someone flies by and sees us." Jason said, frowning slightly.

"And that's not even considering the possibility of them getting shot down in the lightning storm like we were." Eddie added.

"Yeah, speaking of that, how the fuck did we get struck by lightning? There were no clouds at all last night." Rebecca questioned.

"We don't know. Look, we can worry about the clouds later. It's probably just something to do with this planet's atmosphere or something. Right now, we need to focus on looking for help." Jason pressed.

"It's your call, Sarge. You're in charge right now." Mike replied.

Jason paused for a moment and sighed, "I know that... But this is a unique situation. I want to get us all home safe and sound, but I don't know what the best course of action is right now. I want your input. All of you. Sitting here and waiting could be just as suicidal as heading off into God-knows-where and just hoping that we can convince whatever lives here to help us." He explained.

"I'm with you," Eddie said, "I think we should go for it."

"You serious?" Mike asked.

"It's either stay here and hope we don't die, or go out there and maybe have a fighting chance. I don't know about you man, but I like to have my destiny in my own hands. I'd rather find my way out of here than just stand around and pray that someone else comes and saves me." Eddie reasoned.

"Well... When you put it like that..." Rebecca chimed in.

"Oh come on, you too?" Mike questioned.

"I mean, he has a good point." Rebecca shrugged.

"Well shouldn't we at least salvage what we can from the bird before we go off on a suicide mission?" Mike asked, exasperated. 

"I guess it couldn't hurt to take some components with us. Just remember that the more shit you bring, the more weight you're gonna be carrying." Rebecca replied.

"Alright, then we're decided. Everybody grab your gear and pack what you can. Once we clear everything out of the V-45 that we're taking with us, we've got a trail to follow." Jason declared, ending the conversation with the finality of his tone.

"Got it." Eddie replied.

The group quickly began to load their gear and packs in the most efficient way possible. Despite his protests, Mike followed his orders to the letter, and packed his gear as quickly as he could, albeit it with some minor grumbling on his part. 

Within a matter of minutes, the team was packed with all of their equipment and ready to go.

"So, are we sure Chief is gonna be alright with that head wound?" Mike asked, eyeing Rebecca curiously.

"I'll be fine. At worst it's a concussion, and I just won't take a nap for a bit." Rebecca cheerily replied.

"She's right. Besides, if it is something worse, there's nothing we can do until we get back to the frigate. Besides, the air situation is a bit more important right now than the head issue." Eddie chimed in.

"Alright... If you guys are sure." Mike responded, shaking his head while slinging his pack onto his back, "But if this gets me killed, I'm haunting the shit out of all of you."

"Duly noted," Jason interrupted, "Now, let's get what we need from the bird and go."





Tempest galloped as fast as her legs could carry her. Even with the exhaustion of her morning run burning in her legs, she pushed harder than she thought possible and reached the edge of the forest in record time. She broke out through the entrance to the White Tail Woods and cantered into Ponyville. 

The ponies in town were all out and about now, as the morning sun was quickly rising towards its apex. Even with the School of Friendship closed for summer break, there was an abnormally high amount of ponies out enjoying the Monday morning sunshine. A healthy amount of them were heading to Sugarcube corner for breakfast, and the rest seemed to be starting their work days off. Everything seemed to be in perfect order. 

Therefore, it came as quite a shock to most of the ponies in town to see Tempest barreling past them, dripping in sweat and looking like a mad-mare. Plenty of eyes followed her as she came to a screeching halt at the front door of Twilight's Castle and fumble with the lock for a moment, before unlocking the door and forcing her way inside. 

Slamming the door shut behind her, Tempest bolted for the stairs and quickly found her way up to Twilight's room. Once there, she pounded on the door, loud enough for the sound to echo down the halls. 

"Twilight... I need to talk to you... Now!" She shouted between heavy breaths.

The sound of grumbling and a long, drawn out yawn played out through the door, and after a few moments, she heard the lock click, and the handle turned. Twilight cracked the door open and peered through the crack, giving a curious look to Tempest.

"Ugh... Tempest? Wha- What is it? It's like... six in the morning. I don't need to be up until seven today," She pouted slightly, before taking in Tempest's physical state properly, "Are you alright? Why are you so sweaty... and panting so hard? Did you just go for a run or something?" 

"Twilight... Weird, alien looking creature... White Tail Woods... Right now..." Tempest tried to explain while catching her breath.

Twilight did a double take, "Wait, what? What do you mean 'alien'?" She questioned, opening the door fully.

"It... looked... I've never seen anything... Like it before... Could talk... Spoke Equish and everything... Said something about looking for civilization.... I think they're headed this way." Tempest explained, finally catching her breath.

Twilight's eyes widened with every word Tempest spoke.

"What did they look like?" She asked.

"I only saw one of them. Uh, it walked on two legs, but I couldn't really see its fur or anything. It was wearing some kind of suit, covered in camouflaged armor and it had this weird metal looking stick in its hands. I could just barely make out some of its face through its helmet, but I'm not too sure how to describe it." Tempest explained, biting her lip in thought.

"Tempest, are you sure? It's very important that you be as specific as possible." Twilight pressed.

"I am! All I could make out were some pouches on its torso and that its hands looked something like a minotaur's before it started... scratching... my ear..." Tempest trailed off, a small blush forming on her cheeks.

"It just went straight to scratching your ears?" Twilight gasped, surprising Tempest that she could even hear that last bit.

"Uh... yeah... I don't think it knew I can talk. It was talking to me like I was a stray dog or something." Tempest replied, awkwardly scratching the back of her neck.

"What do you mean?" 

"You know, that 'hey there little buddy' kind of way you talk to your pets. It even raised its voice a few octaves..." Tempest explained, her already dark blush becoming even more evident.

"So you just stood there and let it talk to you like a stray dog and didn't say anything?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't know what to do! I've never been in a situation like that before!" Tempest exclaimed, pointedly trying to hide her now extremely obvious blush from Twilight's eyes.

"Okay, okay, relax," Twilight said, holding her hoof up to calm the mulberry unicorn in front of her, "You said that this creature was over in the White-Tail woods?" She questioned.

"Yes. It kept using terms like 'us' and 'our', so I think there are at least a few of them further in the forest." Tempest replied, regaining her composure somewhat.

"Hmm... This... could very well be exactly what Celestia and Luna were worried about when he landed here all those years ago." Twilight muttered, her brow furrowed in deep thought.

"What? Who?" Tempest questioned.

"Sky." 

"You mean... that's what he used to look like?" Tempest asked, astonished.

"Well, I'm not sure. You said it was wearing a helmet and you couldn't make out the features of its face, so I'm not entirely certain. There could be dozens of bi-pedal alien races for all we know. I'd have to see them in person before I could say for sure." Twilight reasoned.

"Wha- What, are you planning on going and just popping by to say 'hi' to those things?" Tempest pressed, 

"Actually, yes." Twilight replied, not even batting an eye.

Tempest facehoofed, "Do I really have to explain to you the thousands of reasons as to why that's a horrible idea?" She deadpanned.

"Well, from what you've told me, they seem to be very friendly and want to pet ponies or scratch our ears. That's exactly what Sky did when he first got here. Seriously, he would pet every pony he saw for almost a month." Twilight shrugged.

"Okay, yes but that was ONE of them. We have no idea how the rest of them are going to react if you just pop in there and start talking to them." Tempest defensively rebutted.

"Tempest, if I'm right, then this could be Sky's people. We owe it to him to at least try to communicate with them. For all we know, they could be here to rescue him." Twilight offered.

"I don't think he needs any 'rescuing', Twilight," Tempest replied, using air quotes, "He's the happiest stallion I've ever met. Midnight makes sure of that." 

"I agree, but if these other 'possible humans' came all the way out here for him, don't you think we should at least let him talk to them? I'm sure he'd tell them that he's happy here, but who knows how hard it was for them to get here. Some of them could have even died along the way. Don't you think they at least deserve a chance to speak with him, assuming they are here for him?" Twilight reasoned.

"That's just the thing, though! How do you even know that they're here for him!? They could be a completely different species for all you know! They could be extremely dangerous!" Tempest nearly shouted.

"Well, if we don't go and see, we'll never find out, now will we?" Twilight said, giving Tempest a coy grin.

"What? Did you seriously not hear anything I just said!?" 

"I did, and I'm making an informed decision to go anyways. As my guard, you should come with me... but I would understand if you just wanted to stay here." Twilight explained, making an exaggerated shrug in the process.

Tempest deflated immediately. Her withers sagged as her eyes fell to the floor and she deeply sighed.

"Ugh... You're really going to pull rank on me right now?" She asked.

"As a matter of fact, I am. You're job is to keep me safe. My job is to help other ponies, and unfortunately, sometimes my job puts me in harm's way. I can't just change that now that you're going to be protecting me." Twilight reasoned, comforting Tempest as best as she could with a gentle pat on the wither.

Tempest groaned, "Ugh... Just... Let me shower and get my armor before you go and get yourself killed." 

"Just don't take too long." Twilight cheerily replied.

With that, Tempest turned on her hooves and headed to her bedroom. She sluggishly unlocked the door and made her way inside, heading straight for the shower. 

I take it back... This is going to be a horrible day...





Jason, Mike, Eddie, and Rebecca walked through the heavy brush toward the road. As their boots dug into the mossy ground below, they all kept their heads on a swivel, constantly watching for any signs of life around them.

"It should be just... through... here!" Jason announced as he tore through the last of the bush and found his way onto the road.

"Well no shit. It really is a road." Mike said, shaking his head.

"Now the only question is, where is this 'little horse' you talked about?" Rebecca mentioned.

"Well the little guy probably took off back home... but it looks like there's still some tracks in the dirt here." Jason replied, kneeling down to observe the ground below.

"Yep, those are definitely horseshoe-shaped." Eddie observed.

"And it looks like they're heading down that way." Jason replied, pointing down the road.

"Hey, what is that?" Rebecca asked, pointing down toward the edge of the forest.

"It... looks like a big rock formation made out of... really, really shiny rocks... Think that's where your little horse friend went, Sarge?" Mike commented.

"Maybe. The hoof-prints lead in that direction, so we might as well go find out." 

With that, the group set about on the trail and headed toward the edge of the forest. For almost twenty minutes they walked in a somewhat tense silence, with their eyes constantly scanning for any possible threats that could pop out of the forest at a moment's notice. Jason absentmindedly gazed upwards to find the sun trailing high in the sky, and gentle clouds floating by. He squinted for a moment as what appeared to be a rainbow trail followed one cloud in particular, but after blinking a few times, it was gone, and the cloud just glided away.

"Huh? Must be pretty heavy winds up there." He mentioned, pointing at the cloud.

"The weather on this planet is weird. There was no wind of any kind last night, and now the clouds are moving all over the place. Speaking of which, we still haven't discussed how the hell we got hit by lighting when there weren't any clouds at all last night... Not like I can see any of them right now anyways..." Rebecca commented.

"It might have something to do with the planet's magnetosphere. I know on Horizon V, we saw some weird weather but the locals all swore up and down that it was normal." Mike offered.

"Yeah, but lightning with no clouds to speak of? I mean, where did it come from? The ground?" Rebecca questioned.

"It's possible. Jay, remember that one asteroid we had to cover those Raiders on when they found that resistance mining op?" Eddie chimed in.

"That was the one where Johnny got shot in the ass, right?" Jason asked.

"Yeah! Haha, he milked that for months." Eddie laughed.

"Heh, I would too. Poor kid couldn't even sit down for the first month." Jason reminisced.

"Yeah... Miss that kid." Eddie trailed off.

"We all do, Ed. We all do." Jason replied.

"A-anyways, yeah. That asteroid has some wicked lightning on it. It was coming out of the ground and everything. If I remember the briefing right, they said it had something to do with the core of the asteroid and the fusion reactors in our F-99's." Eddie explained.

"Well my V-45 doesn't exactly have a fusion engine, so..." Rebecca said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm just saying. There might have been some material in the V-45 that attracted the lightning, and for all we know, on this planet, you don't need clouds to have lightning." Eddie reasoned.

Rebecca shrugged, bringing an end to the conversation at hand. Once he was sure that she had nothing more to say, Eddie turned back to Jason.

"So, uh... This little horse you found... Did it look... you know..." Eddie trailed off.

"Look... what?" Jason questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"You know... Edible?" 

"It was purple, dude. I'd bet my entire life savings on it being poisonous." Jason deadpanned.

"Well, I mean, we can't know that for sure, can we?" Eddie pressed.

"Are you really suggesting we find the little horse that could very well lead us to a way out of here and just... eat it?" Jason asked, raising both eyebrows.

"I'm just saying," Eddie replied, defensively raising his hands, "If we run out of food, it might not be a bad idea."

"You know there's like, a million reasons as to why that's a terrible idea, right?" Jason sighed.

"Again, last resort. Only if we run out of food." 

"Jesus... Let's just cross that bridge when we come to it, okay?" Jason relented.

"Alright, deal." 

"Hey guys, look." Mike said, pointing straight ahead.

Jason and Eddie looked forward again to find what appeared to be the end of the trail leading out of the forest.

"Damn. That was what, just a few miles?" Eddie guessed.

"Couldn't have been more than four or five miles. Hey, hold up... You guys see that?" Jason said, squinting his eyes.

The rest of the group quickly followed suit, and collectively gasped at what they saw. Just beyond the forest, through a large break in the trees, and maybe just a few hundred meters further, was a small town. Just beyond that, was the rock like structure they saw from before, only now, they could clearly see it was made of some kind of reflective crystal. Purples and pinks shown off its reflective surface as brightly as the sun, and each member of the group looked back and forth between each other before all finding their eyes drifting over to Jason.

"So, uh... Guess you were right after all." Mike surmised.

"Let's just hope that they're friendly, whoever they are." He replied, taking the first step forward.

The rest of the group quickly followed, and within a matter of minutes, they were at the end of the forest and walking into the town. As they approached, Mike, Eddie, and Rebecca's jaws all dropped upon seeing the locals.

"Uh... Sarge? You said you saw one tiny horse... right?" Mike hesitantly asked.

"Y-yeah..."

"This looks like a lot more than just one..."

There were hundreds of tiny pastel horses running about, and doing what appeared to be normal human hobbies. There was even a market place filled to the brim with the creatures doing what appeared to be buying and selling goods. The smallest of the horses ran and galloped around, playing what the group could only assume was a game of tag.

With each step further into the town, more and more eyes turned their way, and the alien equines dropped their tasks one by one to look at the newcomers to their quaint little village with an interested eye. Mike nervously gulped as an entire classroom's worth of tiny horses stopped following their large, apparent leader to stare at him and his machine gun. Rebecca glanced over and did a double take as she saw several unicorns drop what they were doing, turn to each other, and appear to whisper into each other's ear before heading toward the group of humans. Jason looked up to the sky to find, much to his surprise, that there were even tiny flying horses as well.

"Okay... They can fly... That's a thing that's happening right now..." Jason commented, his eyes still glued to the sky.

Mike, Eddie, and Rebecca all hesitantly looked up to the sky to find that Jason was in fact, telling the truth. 

"Holy shit... Pegasi... Unicorns... And they're all... so... adorable... I mean, I can only see out a third of my visor but what I can see is cute as fuck." Rebecca gushed.

"Where in the fuck are we?" Eddie asked.

"Uh, guys... They're staring at us..." Mike spoke up, breaking the rest of the group from their trance.

Indeed, the entire populace had dropped their day to day tasks, and instead took to observing the humans as they stood, unmoved at the entrance to the town. Eerie silence flooded the streets, and the four otherworlders glanced back and forth between each other for a few moments before Jason made a move.

"Alright... Keep your cool... The one in the forest was super docile, but they might attack if we provoke them too much... Keep your weapons ready..." He whispered just loud enough for the group to hear him. He slowly unslung his rifle and shouldered it, keeping the muzzle down but ready in case of an attack. 

"What? They're little mythical creatures!? They're not gonna hurt us!" Rebecca whisper-shouted.

"Chief, we don't know that. I'm not trying to take on two hundred of these things with just the four of us so unless you have a better idea, shut the fuck up and shoulder your rifle.." Jason quietly ordered, the severity of his tone drying up any resistance Rebecca had to offer.

The rest of the group quickly shouldered their rifles, and prepared for what could potentially turn into a bloodbath.

"What's the plan?" Eddie whispered.

"Back up slowly, and get back into the forest. There's a lot more of them than I expected." Jason ordered.

One by one, the group stepped back, each keeping their rifles pointed toward the ever increasing crowd of small horses staring at them with mixed expressions on their muzzles. Much to Jason's despair, for each step he took back, the crowd seemed to take a step forward. Whether it was simply pure curiosity or mounting hostility, he couldn't be sure, but one thing was clear; he wasn't making any distance on the ever increasing numbers of small horses. 

Just as they reached the edge of town, movement caught Jason's eye, and he squinted slightly to see the front door of the castle open. He couldn't quite identify who stepped out, as the pegasi flying in blocked his view, but one thing became clear very quickly, the crowd was dispersing for them.

"They're flying in behind us now." Eddie quietly warned.

"Spread out. Form a wedge on me." Jason instructed, eyeing the pegasi circling behind him.

The team quickly formed a wedge shape pointing toward the forest, and continued to reverse while the alien horses continued to close in. Faster than he imagined possible, Jason was quickly finding that they were surrounded. The approaching crowd was closing in on one hundred feet, and what almost sounded like hushed whispering filled the air.

"Alright, guys. Unless they're surrounding in a good way, we need to get out of here. I'll pop smoke, then break contact. Disperse into the forest and regroup two hundred meters up the road." Jason instructed.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Eddie asked.

"Nope, but I'm fresh out." Jason replied.

He quickly grabbed the smoke grenade from its pouch on the left side of his vest, under his armpit and slung his rifle with the other hand. He brought his now free hand to the pin and grabbed it, cautiously eyeing the crowd for any outward signs of aggression. Just as he was about to pull the pin, he heard something that made him freeze in place.

"Hello there!" A feminine voice called from the crowd.

All members of the group similarly froze in place. They quickly scanned around to find the source of the voice, but found no sign of any other humans. Even the crowd of alien horses seemed to turn in on itself to see the source of that particular voice. 

"Chief, please tell me that was you..." Jason whispered.

"I don't sound anything like that." She replied.

Just a few moments later, a lavender horse stepped out of the crowd and took its place at the front. Jason, Mike, Eddie, and Rebecca immediately noticed the pair of wings on its barrel and the horn jutting out of its head, just above what appeared to be a golden crown with a purple starburst at the center.

"Don't tell me..." Jason began.

"Hi! I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle. It's good to meet you." She said.

"Aw hell..."
> Chapter 4: Gears in Motion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight looked at the alien creatures with a friendly smile on her face. The rest of the townsponies surrounding her looked back and forth between each other as the strange looking group stared back at their princess, motionless in their place. After a few moments, the silence that raged in that empty space between ponies and otherworlders became almost painfully unbearable. 

Movement from the back of the crowd drew many eyes away from the apparent standoff and toward the source of the commotion. The gathered ponies parted ways for Tempest as she galloped through them, fully dressed in her black armor. Within seconds, she was at the front, her hooves grinding to a halt as she appeared next to Twilight. The creatures appeared startled for a moment by her sudden appearance, but after a moment, the nearest one tilted its head to the side and pointed at her, before turning to its comrades. Ponies strained to hear its voice, but they were all just a tad too far away to hear them just yet.

"Are you insane?" Tempest whispered to Twilight.

"What? They were already here." Twilight reasoned.

"So you just leave without me and go say 'hi' to them!?" Tempest raised her voice, drawing the attention of the creatures once more.

The nearest one hesitantly took a step forward, causing a collective gasp from the rest of the surrounding ponies.

"Tempest, I know you're just trying to protect me, but I'm fairly certain that these creatures mean us no harm. If they did, they would have done so by now." Twilight lectured.

Another step forward, and yet another gasp throughout the crowd.

"Uh, Twilight-" Tempest tried to speak.

"I'm not done yet, Tempest. I understand you want to do your job to the best of your abilities, but sometimes you need to just trust me." Twilight finished, turning back toward the creatures to find the forward-most one stepping even closer to her.

Now it stood merely twenty feet in front of her, and albeit hesitantly, it stepped forward once more. The rest of it's group pointed their strange, metal sticks at the group, slowly traversing across the gathered ponies like some kind of scanner. This continued until the being in front was just ten paces away from the Princess of Friendship, and the ponies now only a mere two dozen feet away strained to hear what it had to say.

It slowly slung it's strange metallic stick around its shoulder until it rested comfortably there next to its backpack, and then, it spoke. Not to Twilight, but to Tempest.

"Are... Are you the same... unicorn... from the forest?" It asked, its deep and masculine voice reverberating through the crowd.

Every pony in the crowd, including Twilight, all stared intently at the mulberry unicorn guard and waited with bated breath for her response. Tempest, in turn, nervously gulped at the sudden turn of attention towards her and glanced over to Twilight for an answer. The Princess of Friendship merely shrugged and gave a quick nod of her head, motioning for her to respond.

"Uh-Um... Y-yes. Yes I am. Who... or rather what, are you?" She slowly asked, deliberately choosing her words as carefully as possible. 

The creature immediately turned back to the rest of its group, finding them all lowering their metal sticks and looking about the crowd much more calmly.

"If I tell you the answer to those questions, will you answer mine?" It asked, glancing over to Twilight for a moment.

Feeling like the question was directed completely at her, Twilight decided to intervene, "We would be more than happy to answer all of your questions. However, would you like to come to my castle and talk there? I understand that having a crowd of ponies staring at you like this might be a little... intimidating, to say the least."

The creature turned on its feet and waved the rest of its group over with its hand. They all quickly moved up until they were all together in a triangle shape. 

"Lead the way." The apparent leader said.

"Right, follow me." She said, turning on her hooves and addressing the crowd, "If everypony could just give us some room, I'll show our guests to the castle. I'm sure you'll have more than enough time to meet them once I've had the chance to show them around first." She called out.

The sea of surrounding ponies immediately parted, allowing for a long aisle to form between the now separated group. Once there was enough room to comfortably stroll through, Twilight lead the way through the crowd with Tempest quickly taking up her place at her princess's side, and the alien creatures quickly falling in line behind them.

As they walked through the crowd, each creature turned back and forth, looking at each and every pony they passed. The one with a strange paste covering half of it's visor tilted its head to the side and lean forward towards a particular pony, apparently sizing them up in the process, before moving to joint the rest of its comrades. Hushed murmurs in the crowd quickly began to grow louder and louder until the ponies were talking and conversing like there was nothing strange in the world at all. 

"Wow! Those things look so cool!" A prepubescent voice loudly exclaimed.

"I can't believe we've never seen any of them before. They look so unique." Another female voice spoke out from the crowd.

The crew of strange creatures hesitantly glanced back and forth as the displacing ponies started to talk about them more and more. One merely shrugged, prompting another to return the gesture, before the group simply continued on after Twilight and Tempest.

Eventually, they all arrived at the Castle of Friendship, and Tempest opened the door for the large group. Each creature hesitantly followed Twilight inside the large doorway until all four of them were inside, and Tempest slowly closed the door behind them. 

Once inside, one of the creatures immediately let out a whistle as it took in the castle's interior and crystal decorating. All four of them seemed entranced for a few moments before Twilight cleared her throat and caught their attention. 

"If you'll all please follow me, I'll take you to the meeting hall and we can be properly introduced." She said, turning on her hooves and leading the way.

The leader of the alien creatures slowly followed after her, emboldening the rest of the group to follow as well. Twilight led them through the dining room first, allowing them to all look and appreciate the crystal furniture and decor throughout the room. Each one looked around the massive room, apparently taking it all in as if it were their first time in such a grand castle.

Quick enough, Twilight led them out of the dining room and into the meeting hall. Once there, she turned and properly addressed the alien creatures standing before her.

"Alright. Now that we're here, and you don't have all of Ponyville staring you down, let's properly introduce ourselves. Like I said outside, my name is Princess Twilight Sparkle," She said, holding a hoof to her chest, "And this," She pointed to Tempest, "Is my personal guard, Tempest Shadow."

Tempest gave a small nod and looked intently at the creatures as both her and Twilight waited for a response. Soon enough, the leader of the group took a step forward and spoke again.

"My name is Sergeant Jason McKnight. This is Corporal Eddie Icon, Lance Corporal Mike Jones, and Chief Warrant Officer Rebecca Williams," Jason said, gesturing to each of them respectively, "We're UGSC Marines from the planet Earth."

"So you are humans, then?" Twilight asked.

Jason tilted his head to the side, "You know about us?" 

"Well, you aren't the first humans to arrive in Equestria." Twilight replied, smugly grinning at Tempest who, in return, scowled at her.

"You mean... Huh... You know why we're here, don't you?" Jason pieced together.

"As a matter of fact, I think I do, although, I do have to warn you. If my notes on Sky hold true, then you're all in danger just by being here." She warned, her tone taking a more serious edge.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked, a slight edge in his voice mirroring hers.

"If our experience with Sky was anything to go off of, Equestrian magic is deadly to humans. Your species doesn't have the necessary mana pathways for our magic to flow through your bodies without causing harm. It took about six months, but we almost lost him." Twilight explained.

Jason raised an eyebrow behind his visor, "Uh, right... Listen, we're not looking for anyone named 'Sky'. I'm not sure how this planet works, but I'm not particularly sure I follow." 

"Oh, right. Sorry, I've just gotten so used to his new name that I almost forgot his old one. Sky is David Lawson." Twilight cheerily replied.

Jason immediately tensed at the name, "So David Lawson is here? Right now?"

"Well, not here in Ponyville, but he is just outside Canterlot. I'm sure he'd be more than ecstatic to meet you all." 

"Canterlot?" Rebecca spoke up, her feminine voice catching Twilight's attention.

"Yes, it's the capital of Equestria. Home to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna... By the way, are you a human mare?" Twilight asked, eyeing her curiously.

"Uh... what?" Rebecca replied, glancing to the rest of the team for help.

"Are you female? I've never seen a human female before. Oh this is so exciting! There's so much I want to learn about all of you," Twilight exclaimed, excitedly clopping her hooves together, "Also what's that paste all over your helmet?" 

"Um... O...kay... It's uh... nothing. Just helps keep the air inside." Rebecca hesitantly replied.

"We're getting off topic," Jason interrupted, "We need to find David Lawson. Can you take us to him?" 

"Well, I'm sure I could, but if you'd like, I could send him a letter and have him here by tomorrow or the day after at the latest. I'm sure he'd be in a rush to get here if he knew you were all here." Twilight replied.

"Could you please do that then?" Jason asked.

"Of course!" Twilight replied, turning around and heading over to a nearby table.

She channeled her magic through her horn, causing a purple aura to surround the appendage, before similarly wrapping around the top drawer and pulling out a quill, ink, and a piece of paper. Jason, Rebecca, Mike, and Eddie all jumped back at the scene, causing Tempest to visually tense at their sudden movement.

"What the fuck?" Mike asked, much louder than he meant to.

"Hmm?" Twilight turned around, "Oh! Right, you don't know. Gosh, I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to startle any of you. I'm just so used to using magic that I forgot it must be quite strange for creatures that haven't even seen it before." She explained.

"How did you do that?" Eddie asked.

"Magic. I know it must be hard for you to understand. Sky was the same way for the first few weeks he was here, but basically, there are mana channels in each and every pony that allows us to use the natural energy of the planet to control objects and sometimes, bend the laws of physics, just a tad." Twilight explained.

"How... What?" Jason breathed.

"I know it's hard to understand at first, but I assure you, it's just the way of things here. Some ponies have larger mana channels, and that allows them to do more with their magic than others, but all ponies have some level of magic in their bodies. It's how we fly, grab things with our hooves, and channel that magic through our horns to cast spells and such." Twilight further elaborated.

"Wait, you can pick things up with your hooves?" Eddie asked, incredulously.

"Mmhmm." Twilight replied, turning around and picking up the quill with her hoof to demonstrate.

"Son of a bitch..." Mike whispered.

"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you?" Jason asked, still in disbelief.

"Oh, right. Of course. I am an alicorn. Tempest over here is a unicorn. I'm sure you saw a few of them out there, but any pony with wings is typically a pegasus... unless of course they have leathery wings, in which case they're probably a thestral, but anyways... We're all ponies, and you've landed in Equestria!" Twilight triumphantly explained.

"And... you can all talk?" Jason asked.

"Yep! There's a lot of creatures in Equestria that can talk. In fact, the school over there just closed for summer break, but we have all kinds of creatures in there. There's Ocellus, our resident changeling, Yona, a yak, Gallus, a griffon, Silverstream, one of the only hippogriffs this side of the planet, and of course, Smolder, the only dragon in the school... besides Spike, of course, but he's been here as long as I have." Twilight listed, sticking her tongue out in thought for a moment.

Jason and the rest of the humans stared at her with a mix of awe on their faces. The ponies couldn't see any of their reactions, but if their silence was anything to go off of, they were stunned.

"Holy shit... Griffons and dragons... Where the fuck are we?" Eddie whispered.

"Regardless of all that... We're here on a mission. Finding David Lawson and getting out of here is our number one priority." Jason announced.

"I understand. I'll send him a letter now." Twilight replied.

With that, the lavender alicorn willed magic into her horn once more, and the quill quickly rose off of the table, only to be quickly dunked into the ink and brought it to the paper once more. Twilight quickly scribbled out a letter, and placed the quill back on the table. Without another moment of delay, she concentrated for a second and the letter simply blinked away.

The group of humans stared at her in abject shock.

"Did... did you just?" Jason began to ask.

"Hmm? Oh yes. I just teleported the letter to Sky's house. Midnight and I both have a two way link so we can send each other letters and such, so she should have just received the letter. I expect we'll hear back from them in a few moments and then you'll probably get to meet them both tomorrow morning." Twilight cheerfully explained.

"Wait, wait, wait. Who's Midnight?" Rebecca chimed in.

"She's Sky's wife. They actually just got back from their honeymoon a few months ago. You'll love her. She's very nice." Twilight replied, smiling away.

Each human slowly turned to each other and shared a unanimous moment of silent communication.

"David, uh... he married a pony?" Jason asked, cocking an eyebrow back.

"He did. Trust me, they were practically made for each other. Anyways, I'm sure you're all tired from your journey here, and if what Tempest told me was true to any extent, then you're all in need of assistance, unless I'm mistaken?" Twilight pressed, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"We... We crashed a few miles out in the forest. Something happened with our aircraft, and we lost power. Everyone made it, but we can't seem to get our communication equipment working." Jason explained.

"Hmm... I'm sorry that happened to you. Are any of you seriously hurt at all? We could take you to the hospital and properly check for any kind of trauma." Twilight offered.

"Besides a bit of a concussion, I think we're all fine. Chief, how're you holding up?" Jason asked, turning to Rebecca.

"I'm good. It's just a dull ache at this point, no need to worry about me." She replied.

"Yeah, we'll be alright." Jason said.

"Hmm... Well, while I do insist that you go to the hospital and get it checked just to be safe, I understand your hesitation. In the meantime, I don't think we can expect Sky to arrive until at least tonight or tomorrow morning at the earliest, so if you'd like, there are several delegate rooms available for you to stay in for the night." Twilight replied, giving a sincere smile.

"I... Think that would be extremely appreciated. Thank you, Princess." Jason said, giving a polite nod.

"Oh, please, call me Twilight. I've never been a fan of being so formal. Here, I'll have Spike show you to your rooms." Twilight responded, turning on her hooves and heading for the doorway, "Spike! Could you come down here real quick!?" She called.

"Yeah, one sec!" A teenage, boyish voice called from upstairs.

As they waited for Spike to come down the stairs, Twilight glanced to her left to find Tempest staring intently at Jason while he looked toward the door. Her eyes were fixed on just him, despite there being three other humans in the room, and the lavender alicorn was almost certain she could make out the tiniest trace of a blush on Tempest's face while she eyed the tall man.

The group of humans shared a glance as the pitter-patter sound of feet on crystal floors reached their ears, and after a few moments, a small purple dragon walked into the room through the open doorway.

"Oh, wow. Who're you guys?" Spike asked, eyeing the four humans curiously.

"Spike, this is Jason, Rebecca, Eddie, and Mike. They're more humans, like Sky." Twilight explained, motioning to each human respectively.

"Oh, sweet! I was wondering if more of you guys were ever going to show up." Spike exclaimed.

"Uh..." Jason muttered, still taken aback at seeing a dragon with his own eyes for the first time.

Twilight noticed the lack of a response Jason or any of the humans were giving, for that matter, and decided to speak up herself.

"Spike, do you think you could show them all to the extra delegate rooms we have upstairs?"

"Oh, yeah. Sure. Follow me and I'll take you guys there." Spike announced, turning on his feet and heading out the door.

Each human eyed each other for a moment before Jason hesitantly followed Spike's lead and headed out the door. One by one they followed him, leaving Twilight and Tempest alone in the room.

"This place just keeps on getting weirder and weirder..." Mike muttered as he left the room behind him.

Twilight and Tempest sat alone together in silence for a few moments before the mulberry unicorn decided to speak.

"So... You're letting them stay in the castle?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow back.

"Well of course. What else was I going to do? Ask them to stay at a motel?" Twilight shrugged.

"I guess not... But why didn't you tell them more about how magic will make them sick and eventually kill them if they stay here." Tempest asked, eyeing her curiously.

"I did! I mean, at least I thought I did. Either way, it's going to take months upon months for the effects to seriously start affecting them, and Sky will be here either tonight or tomorrow. Judging by the way they all responded to half the things I told them, I doubt they'd believe me anyways. It'll be up to Sky to convince them that I'm telling the truth." Twilight reasoned.

"Why wouldn't they? They saw you use your magic, so they know it's real now." Tempest pointed out.

"It's just a lot for them all to take in, I'm sure. Don't worry, by tomorrow night, we'll have everything sorted out and they'll be fully informed of what dangers they need to watch out for in Equestria." 

"I hope you're right..." Tempest whispered.

"You may want to talk with them some more. I would, but I have that meeting with Celestia and Luna today... Speaking of which, I should definitely tell them about four more humans in Equestria." Twilight mentioned, scratching her chin.

Tempest tilted her head to the side, "Wait, why do you want me to talk to them more? Isn't that kind of your job?" 

"Well, yes, but like I said, I'm going to be pretty busy today... and I saw the way you were looking at him." Twilight smugly replied.

"What? Who?" Tempest asked, feeling her cheeks heat up.

"Jason!" Twilight teased, "The one that scratched your ear." 

"Wha- I couldn't even see his face!" Tempest defensively rebutted, "And I was just making sure that they didn't do anything to hurt you. You know, that job that I'm supposed to do now that I can't exactly do if you have me over with the humans all day while you have your meetings?" 

"Tempest, we're just using a communication crystal. It's going to take a while, but I'll still be in the castle all day. You're only going to be a few doors down, besides, whether you could see his face or not, I know that look you had. That's exactly the kind of face you make when you're interested and you know it." Twilight teased, zeroing in on Tempest's obvious insecurities.

"I don't- You're not... Ugh! Fine. Tonight, I'll go talk to them some more." Tempest relented, blushing hotly.

"Fair enough. Just know that once they take those helmets off, you just might fall head over hooves for him. If Sky was anything to go off of, humans are adorable!" Twilight gushed.

"I'm sure they're just as attractive as any other species in the world, Twilight. Now, can you please stop being weird." Tempest deadpanned.

"Oh, you're no fun. This is probably the most exciting thing to happen since Sky crash landed a few years ago! Think about all the knowledge they could share with us! For all we know, there could be a thousand more of them somewhere nearby and this could be the beginnings of a long and prosperous relationship between human and ponykind!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Or could be the destruction of us all." Tempest rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, stop being so over dramatic. Humanity doesn't want a war with us just as much as we don't want a war with them. Besides, like they already said, they came here to find David, which probably means that they're a rescue squad." 

"If they're a rescue squad, then why are they dressed in so much armor? And what are those metal stick things they're all carrying around?" Tempest rebutted.

"Well for one, they're from space, so for all we know, those suits and armor are just to protect them from adverse environments... And I believe Sky said something about humanity using weapons that look like metal sticks once... I think he called them 'guns', or something like that." Twilight replied, sticking her tongue out in thought.

"Oh, so they were just pointing their weapons into the crowd of ponies and at you, and you just smiled like everything was okay?" Tempest deadpanned.

"I was sure that if we presented the most pleasant and friendly atmosphere possible, then there would be no reason to be afraid, and as you can see, everything's fine!" Twilight declared.

"Ugh... You're gonna get us both killed one day, you know that, right?" Tempest asked.

"I'll try my best not to. Besides, why are you so adamant that they're hostile? You know almost nothing about them." Twilight pointed out.

Tempest sighed deeply and looked away from Twilight.

"I... I'm just trying to protect you, okay?" She admitted.

"Tempest," Twilight said, stepping closer and placing a hoof on Tempest's wither, "Thank you for trying your best. Really, I appreciate that, but you also have to trust me a little. If you try talking with one of the humans tonight, who knows? You might just find out that we have more in common with them than you think." She said, giving a friendly wink.

"I'll... give it a shot, I guess... I just hope you're right." Tempest relented, giving a small smile in return.

"Thank you. Now, in the meantime, can you please relax a little. Everything's going to be fine. Just trust me that much, okay?" Twilight offered, giving a sincere smile.

"I'll... try. No promises though." 

"Heh, good enough for me."





Sky sat on his favorite seat on the front porch, casually sipping away at a glass of lemonade in his hooves. His reflective sunglasses kept the majority of the powerful summer sunlight out of his eyes while he enjoyed his morning sunbathing. With birds softly chirping away in the nearby trees, and the gentle smell of warm summer air all around him, the crimson pegasus couldn't have less of a care in the world. He closed his eyes and softly sighed while further relaxing into his chair until he was nothing more than a pile of red jelly soaking in the sun. 

As if to cue that he was relaxing just a tad too hard, the front door opened, making his ears flick back slightly. The sound of hoofsteps on hardwood quickly reached his ears, and he slowly opened his eyes to find a gorgeous mare with deep blue eyes looking down on him.

"Enjoying the sun there, big guy?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and grinning.

"I was. It's been a hot minute since I just laid back and... relaxed," Sky casually replied, "Of course, the lemonade only made it better, Mid." 

"Glad I could help," Midnight gave a triumphant little smile, "Now, scooch over a bit. That's my favorite chair." 

Sky happily wiggled over to the side of the chair, giving her ample space to hop on with him. She quickly climbed onto the chair and laid down alongside the pegasus, before finding a comfortable position against him and kissing him on the cheek. Sky gently traced a hoof along her chest fluff and down to her belly.

"So... Any luck?" He asked, almost a whisper as his hoof did little circles around her stomach.

"Not yet, big guy. Don't worry though, it's not really my estrus cycle yet. Should be in a few more days at the latest." She replied, softly rubbing her hoof over his as it paused on her belly.

"Okay. Soon enough though. That's good. I can't wait." Sky whispered, placing a tender kiss on her muzzle. 

"Hehe, that makes two of us, big guy." Midnight smiled, kissing him back as he pulled away fully.

For a while, they just laid there in the sunlight, pressed ever so gently against each other, without a care in the world. The sun slowly climbed through the sky and warmed the world around them more and more, filling both their bodies with the most profound sense of comfort and safety. Eventually, Sky wrapped his hooves around Midnight's barrel and pulled her in closer, meshing their chest fluff together in the process. She happily accepted his advances, and nuzzled her muzzle into the crook of his neck, finding his slow, steady heartbeat against her cheek, before giving out a small sigh of contentment, and closing her eyes.

Then a loud popping sound startled them both out of their impromptu snuggling session, and they both turned their heads up to see a letter hovering just above in a light purple aura.

"Twilight?" Midnight asked, squinting her eyes to see slightly better.

"Looks like it, if the purple magic is anything to go off of." Sky replied, reaching up and grabbing the letter out of the air with his hoof.

He bit down on the end of the envelope and gently tore it open to reveal its contents. Midnight scooched up slightly to see better, and together, they set about reading the actual letter.


Dear Sky and Midnight,

I hope you are both doing well, and while I know Sky was just here for Tempest's knighting ceremony, I'm afraid I must ask the both of you to come to Ponyville as soon as possible. Humanity has arrived.

Your friend, Twilight Sparkle


Sky held the letter for a while, his jaw having dropped some time ago. Midnight read over the letter five different times, just to be sure that her eyes weren't deceiving her, before looking up at Sky to gauge his reaction. 

"Uh... You okay, Sky?" She hesitantly asked.

"I-I just... I didn't think I'd ever read those words on a piece of paper in my entire life... How did they get here so fast? I mean... I get that technology would advance over the last hundred and fifty years, but... Holy shit..." Sky slowly trailed off, his brow deeply furrowed in thought, "We have to talk to them." He suddenly announced.

"Well, yeah. Those are your people. They'll die if they stay here as long as you." Midnight replied, rolling over and hopping off the chair.

"Oh my god, you're right... I completely forgot about that... Twilight would have told them though... Right?" He asked, following behind and jumping off of the chair.

Midnight walked over to the doorway and opened the door for both herself and Sky. 

"Oh I'm one hundred percent sure she told them already. Now, if they'd believe her or not... Well, let's just say that you didn't believe in most of what everypony told you for the first few months you were here. They might not have believed her either." Midnight reasoned.

"That's a fair point, but I'm ancient compared to these dudes... Who knows what they could have seen over the last century and a half." Sky muttered, heading inside and pacing in the entrance.

"Well that's all the more reason to go see them and find out for yourself, right?" Midnight supportively suggested.

"Me? You're not coming with?" Sky stopped in his tracks and looked at her with a sideways glance.

"You want me to?" Midnight asked, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"Of course I do! Why wouldn't I?" Sky rebutted, a little hurt in his voice.

"I just... I didn't think you'd want to risk them being upset over your... dating choices," Midnight hesitantly replied, "I just remember how you said dating outside your species was considered wrong and gross on your homeworld way back when you first got here..." She trailed off.

"Mid... I don't give a fuck what anyone thinks about me being with you. I love you and you're the best thing that ever happened to me. If humanity still has those views, not only when you're an intelligent species, but I'M part of that species now, then they can fuck right back off to whatever planet they call home these days. I don't need them." Sky declared, stomping a hoof on the ground to emphasize his point.

Midnight tried to hide a blush that quickly rose to her cheeks, "I-if you're sure, big guy. Thank you." 

David walked over to her and brushed his cheek against hers, nuzzling her in the softest of ways while he sat down on his haunches and wrapped his hooves around her neck.

"No matter what anyone else says, you're my reason for waking up in the morning, Mid... Heh, if anything, I should be the one more nervous about how my kind would react, not you." Sky teased, punctuating his statement with a little nip at Midnight's ear.

Midnight gasped at the sudden sensation of Sky's teeth on her sensitive appendage, and a small shudder ran through her body. She retaliated by softly biting at his ear, causing him to let go of her and kiss at her neck. Quick enough, she let go and they resumed nuzzling each other for a few moments before finally pulling away.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you more." He replied, giving her a cheesy wink.

Midnight giggled into her hoof before leaning forward and stealing a quick kiss from Sky's lips. 

"Alright then. I'm pretty sure we missed any trains leaving for Ponyville today, so how's about we go first thing tomorrow morning?" She offered.  

"Alright. Sounds good to me. What do you want to do for the rest of the day then?" Sky replied.

"Hmm... Well, first let me send a letter back to Twilight to let her know we'll be there tomorrow morning, and then after that..." Midnight said, trailing off as she sauntered up to him, bringing her muzzle up to his ear, "How's about we keep trying?" She whispered.

"Did I ever tell you that you can read my mind? 'Cause you totally can." Sky responded, kissing her cheek.


.

.

.

.

.


Jason paced back and forth through the large crystal bedroom while the rest of the team sat on the massive, silky bed. Rebecca trailed her hand across the satin silk sheets and tried, in vain, to feel the softness of the material through her gloved hand.

"Damn... Wish I could really feel these sheets... They look so fuckin' soft." She mumbled.

"So, Sarge... What are we gonna do about food? Not to be a bitch or anything, but I'm getting kinda hungry." Mike complained from his lazily sprawled out position on his back. He expectantly glanced over at Jason while slowly sinking into the mattress.

Jason paused as he stared out the crystal glass windows and into the setting sun.

"I'm not too sure... We could just hold our breaths, take our helmets off, and try to eat the MRE's we've got with us, but then we'd have to depressurize, and repressurize between bites... so that's just a pain in the ass that just isn't worth the hassle..." Jason muttered, never taking his eyes off the setting sun.

"Well, we weren't supposed to be stuck on the ground for long periods of time. If they had planned for that, then we'd have those badass EVA suits with the liquid calorie injectors and shit. What do you guys think? Poor planning on the command team's part, or just low budget?" Eddie asked, trying his hardest to scratch an itch on his back that he just couldn't quite reach.

"We're Marines, Ed. It's always a low budget issue." Jason chuckled.

"Well we can't just sit around here and not eat a damn thing. We're gonna starve before we run out of air. Speaking of which, I don't think these ponies are gonna be able to get us back to the frigate." Mike chimed in.

"I know... When I think of an answer for you, I'll let you know. For right now, let's just focus on the mission. From what Twilight said, Lawson replied to her letter a few hours ago. We can expect him to be here tomorrow morning. That leaves three of the crew to go." Jason explained, turning to address the group as a whole.

"Am I the only one that heard that purple pony thing say 'when' he was human? You know what that implies, right?" Mike asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well she also said something about their magic being deadly to humans too, didn't she? Or am I just remembering shit wrong?" Eddie added, "No, you know what, I remember now, she definitely said that, both of those things."

"Magic... Jesus Christ, what in the fuck even is this place." Jason muttered, turning around and resuming his pacing.

"I dunno. Right now, I'm a little more concerned that they sent us up here and we haven't seen any of them since the princess came to tell us Lawson is stopping by tomorrow. Now I don't know about you guys, but that seems a little fishy to me." Eddie mentioned.

"I don't think they want to hurt us at all... They had more than enough time to do that earlier... and if their magic is as powerful as they claim it is, then they wouldn't need a whole village either... that princess could have taken us all out when we were in her dining room." Jason replied, once more glancing out the window at the setting sun.

"That's a big if... I mean, how do we know that what we saw down there wasn't some kind of illusion or something?" Mike asked.

"We don't. I doubt they'd have a reason to lie to us, unless of course, they were some kind of super intelligent species that lures victims in by pretending to be friendly, only to eat them the first chance they get." Eddie rebutted, holding up a finger for emphasis.

"Um, not to derail this... fascinating conversation of yours, but aren't you all forgetting one super teeny tiny, yet ever so crucial detail right now?" Rebecca chimed in, turning all eyes in the room toward her.

"And what's that, Chief?" Jason asked.

"We're running out of air. Me, in particular. I've got, what? A day and a half left? I think you're all kind of missing that massive roadblock that will literally kill us all unless we figure it out. I've almost suffocated a few times during trainings and one particularly bad mission - it ain't fun." She lamented.

"I don't know what we're gonna do, Chief. Maybe if Lawson survived here without filtered air, then we can too." Jason admitted.

"You willing to risk your life on that?" Rebecca raised an eyebrow.

"If it comes to it." Jason quickly answered.

"Alright, calm down, let's focus on figuring out our current situation, and then you two can go at each other later." Eddie spoke up, motioning with his hands in a placating manner.

"Agreed." Jason replied.

"Fine, there's still a massive elephant in the room you guys haven't addressed yet." Rebecca said.

"What's that, Chief?" Mike asked.

"They all speak fucking English." She deadpanned.

Everyone in the room took a moment to stop what they were doing and look at the pilot in silence.

"Uh..." Mike tried to think of something, only to come up short.

"Well... They're not the first sapient species we've ever come across... So... Maybe they have some way of picking up a new language just by hearing it?" Jason suggested.

"What, like the Varrack on Cliptus?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah."

"Those things just parrot what they hear, though. They're not intelligent by any definition." Eddie replied.

"I know that. I'm just making a suggestion. If that's not it, then I have no idea. Maybe we should just ask them later." Jason shrugged.

"Eh, not a bad idea, but I doubt they're going to tell you the truth." Mike guessed.

"Maybe... God, this is all so fucking weird. First we get shot down by God-knows-what, and now, little talking alien horse things. I don't know what to make of it all," Jason sighed, "Look, you guys just wait here for now. I'm gonna go see if I can figure some of this shit out. Maybe get some answers if nothing else." 

"You're not planning on going alone, are you?" Eddie cautioned.

"I know that it's not a tactically sound decision, but these creatures have given us no reason not to trust them... so far. Look, I'll be back in an hour. If I'm not, then come looking for me. If you can't find me in an hour after that, start shooting, cause I'm probably dead," Jason replied, turning and heading for the door, "Besides, I need to clear my head for a bit."

Jason opened the door and stepped outside. He glanced left and right down each hallway to find nothing but crystal floors and walls lining the halls and tapering off into two separate stairways; one going up, and one going down. He elected to follow the ascending one, and headed off to his left. A short walk up the stairs later, and he found himself approaching a balcony of sorts. After a quick glance left and right for any prying eyes, he stepped out and walked over to the railing.

Jason sighed as he brought his forearms to the metal railing and leaned his weight forward. The last few rays of sunshine licked over the horizon as the fiery ball of light descended behind the planet, and he soon found the stars peeking out from the darkness to greet him after such a long day.

He was lost in the view and his thoughts for quite a while, before metal horseshoes on crystal alerted him to an unexpected visitor. He quickly turned around to find Tempest rounding the corner in her full suit of black armor. She nearly jumped as her eyes fell on him, but managed to maintain her composure this time around and quickly cleared her throat.

"I, uh... Didn't expect you to be up here." She greeted, taking a few steps forward.

"I... didn't expect to see you up here either... What, uh... what're you doing up here?" Jason awkwardly asked.

"Well... I was going to go see how you were all doing... but, um... I suppose I just... needed some fresh air... Uh, what about you?" Tempest replied, equal amounts of awkwardness in her voice.

"Well... that room was getting kinda stuffy." Jason replied, watching her closely as she stepped towards him. He kept a careful eye on her posture and position, in case she tried anything he wasn't expecting.

"Ah, I see..." Tempest replied.

What's your game... do you even have a game? Jason's thoughts quickly filled his mind, making him eye the mulberry unicorn just a little more carefully.

For several seconds, the two of them stood in awkward silence, neither one willing to broach the topic any further until it became almost unbearable. Tempest glanced back and forth between Jason and the floor for a few more moments before stiffly scratching the back of her neck with a hoof. She hesitantly took a step forward and spoke, getting Jason's full attention in the process.

"Just, uh... just a few months ago I was in a similar situation... Well, not really, but I did end up spending an entire day in my room." She mentioned in a slightly awkward bid to make small talk. 

"And how'd that happen?" Jason asked, turning slightly as Tempest stepped toward the railing. He watched her carefully, as she walked past him, making sure to keep his torso pointed in her direction in case she suddenly turned on him.

"Well... Suffice to say, I've made some bad decisions in my life... and some of them came back to bite me..." Tempest slowly replied, choosing her words carefully. 

Jason's eyebrows both rose at her ease of admission, and his mind fumbled for the proper response for such a statement.

"Ah, I know the feeling." Jason somewhat awkwardly admitted.

Why is she opening up to me so easily? She doesn't know a damn thing about me...

Tempest gave him a sideways glance before frowning slightly and looking out over the horizon. Her apparent shift in mood, made Jason tilt his head to the side, and he slowly turned until he was facing the end of the sunset with her. He kept an eye on her while he thought of what to say, but her slight frown strangely brought a genuine sting to his heart, and he couldn't help but bite his lip as he watched her.

What the hell? She looks so sad... 

The mulberry unicorn kept her eyes glued to the sun while the man next to her stiffly looked back and forth and twiddled his thumbs. Eventually, the silence became too much, and Tempest turned her head to Jason. She moved to speak, but just as the words were about to leave her lips, she closed her mouth and shook her head. 

"What?" Jason pressed, having noticed her attempt at communication.

"Um... It-It's nothing, really. I just thought of something but, uh... I figured it out. Never mind." She replied, a heavy hint of sadness sprinkled in her voice.

Jason stared at her for several more seconds and frowned. She kept her gaze leveled on the sun as it disappeared from view, making it clear that she did not want to continue that particular train of thought.

Fuck me... why do you have to be so damn cute... Jason whined in his head.

"Hey, uh... can I ask you a question?" Jason asked, the sudden change of subject causing Tempest to immediately turn her head to face him.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Well... How are we speaking the same language? I've never heard of another species just... speaking perfect English before. Did... Did Lawson teach you all that?" Jason asked, clearly grasping at straws for an explanation.

"Um... Well, actually I was wondering the same thing. You're speaking perfect Equish and it really confused me when I first ran into you in the forest." Tempest replied.

"Hmm... Alright, now that's something to look into..." 

Hold on... why didn't she say anything in the forest?

"You know what, speaking of the forest, I had another thing I wanted to say to you." Jason spoke up.

"Shoot." 

"Okay, this is, uh... kinda awkward, but, when I first saw you... I honestly didn't know you could talk... You didn't say anything when I... you know..." Jason trailed off.

A blush quickly began to form on Tempest's face, "Oh! Uh, d-don't worry about it. It's fine, really. From what Twilight told me, Sky was the same way when he first got here." She quickly replied.

"Yeah, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about that. It wasn't my goal to come off that way," He apologized, sounding as genuine as he could, "But I do have to ask, why didn't you just say something? I would have stopped right away if I knew you could talk." 

Tempest's blush darkened further, and she swiftly looked away from the tall man standing next to her before finding her words.

Is she blushing? Okay, either she's been genuine with me this whole time or these ponies have human emotions down to a 't'.

"I... I just couldn't find the words... The whole situation was so... bizarre... I just had no idea how to react." She admitted, her gaze never venturing back to Jason.

"I... I get that. Again, I'm really sorry. I wasn't trying to demean you or anything." Jason apologized.

"Don't worry about it. Honestly, it's not a big deal." Tempest assured him, giving a gentle smile as her blush faded.

"Okay... If you're sure... Thank you. I just didn't want any bad blood between us."

"Heh, no bad blood here. No need to worry." Tempest replied.

Another silence reigned over them as the man and pony took to glancing out at the fading sunlight and rising starlight. Jason's eyes darted upwards just in time to see a shooting star as it bolted through the skyline and disappeared. A thin smile formed on his lips before he glanced back down at Tempest, finding her head also angled skyward, but her eyes were closed. Another few moments passed before they slowly opened, and the white dots of starlight shown in her turquoise eyes.

"You make a wish?" Jason asked with a small grin.

"Yeah... Here's hoping it comes true." Tempest replied, a rosy blush creeping onto her face once more as she shyly glanced away.

"Heh, I guess we're not so different after all then." Jason chuckled.

"Heh... guess not." She whispered.
> Chapter 5: Proper Introductions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason awoke with a start to knocking on the door. He quickly rolled out of bed and scanned the room, grabbing his chest with his hand as his heart thundered away against his ribcage. His eyes focused on the doorway for several seconds before he finally realized the situation and looked around for his team. He quickly found them lazily rolling over and groggily crawling out of bed as the polite knocking continued.

"Seriously guys?" He deadpanned.

"What? I haven't had my coffee yet..." Rebecca whined.

"Ugh... what time is it?" Eddie groaned.

Jason looked out the window and saw the sun was already high in the sky.

"It's late. We've got someone at the door, come on and get up." He ordered, moving to see who was at the door.

"Man... sleeping in these things fucking sucks." Mike complained to no one in particular while eyeing his armor.

Jason reached the door before swiftly unlocking it and swinging the heavy wooden door open. He was immediately greeted by Spike.

"Hey. Uh, Jason, right?" Spike asked, eyeing his armor closely.

"Yeah... Yeah, that's me. Was there something you needed, Spike?" Jason replied.

"Oh, I don't need anything, Twilight just told me to come ask if any of you wanted to join us for breakfast. I made waffles." He beamed.

Jason took a moment to look back at his team. Rebecca was still struggling to crawl out of bed while Eddie and Mike looked like they were both about to pass out again.

"We'll, uh... We'll see. Maybe after we meet Lawson and discuss our situation with him, then we'll eat." Jason hesitantly replied.

"Oh, uh, alright. Well, his letter said that they'd be taking the first train here, so he should be here in a little under an hour if I remember right. Twilight'll probably have Tempest go meet him and Midnight at the train station and bring them back here." The purple dragon explained.

"Right, right. Thanks for the heads up. We'll, uh... We'll be downstairs in a little bit." Jason replied.

"Okay. See you in a bit then." Spike replied before turning away and heading back down the stairs.

Jason closed the door once the purple dragon was out of sight, and sighed as he turned around to face his team once more.

"I swear, everyone here is way too nice to be genuine. There has to be some kind of ulterior motive right now." Mike asserted.

"I don't know. Maybe by some miracle, we just landed in a world of talking horses that are all super friendly for... some reason." Jason shrugged.

"Well, I'm about ready to rip this helmet off and go take some of that food he was offering. I'm fucking starving." Mike complained.

"I know man, me too... As soon as Lawson gets here, and we get some legitimate answers, then I'm all for it, but until then... I'd prefer we just not risk it." Jason replied, feeling his own stomach growl in protest.

"Ugh... This sucks..." Rebecca added.

"How about we just go downstairs and try to get some more answers out of Twilight?" Eddie suggested.

"And be surrounded by food that I can't eat? I'm hungry enough, dude, fuck that noise." Mike retorted.

"Well we can't just stay cooped up in here like some bratty teenagers." Rebecca replied.

"Eddie's right. We need to go downstairs and talk to Twilight. I'm not sure how trustworthy she is just yet, but I don't think she has any reason to lie to us. Besides, there's still a lot we don't know about where we are, and I'd like to get some answers. First off, where's the rest of Lawson's crew?" Jason said, redirecting all eyes in the room to him.

"I don't think she ever said what happened to them." Eddie replied.

"Exactly. So either she doesn't know, or she's hiding something" Mike added, before another thought came to mind, "You don't think..." He started.

"That the ponies killed them?" Jason finished for him, eyeing Mike curiously.

"Y-yeah..."

The room fell silent for a few moments while each member of the group thought over the idea of ponies killing the human crew flashed through their heads.

"No, no, they couldn't have. I mean, look at them. They're not the killing type." Rebecca asserted.

"Looks can be deceiving... We all know that." Mike replied, shrugging slightly.

"Well then why is Lawson still alive?" Eddie asked, "-And if they wanted to kill us too, why didn't they already?" 

"Fuck if I know, man... Maybe he made a deal with them of some kind?" Mike suggested.

"What? 'Spare me and I'll activate the beacon to bring more humans here for you to kill'?" Eddie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I know it's unlikely... and I'm not entirely sold on it either, but I'm just trying to see every possibility here." Mike reasoned.

"On the other side of that coin, it's totally possible that these ponies are completely genuine and honest, and they mean us absolutely no harm. Hell, Tempest seemed pretty genuine and down to Earth last night." Jason explained, crossing his arms.

"Wait, what? You talked to one of them last night?" Mike asked, curiously.

"I ran into her on the balcony. We talked for a bit, and either she can display human emotions more accurately than most people, or she was being genuine with me the whole time." Jason explained.

"Still... I don't think we should go off talking to the ponies on our own... Might get kidnapped or some shit." Mike mumbled.

"Look," Jason let out a heavy sigh, "I know that not all of my decisions are the best, but maybe there's something to be said for gaining these ponies' trust if at all possible. Even if we can breathe the air here without getting sick and dying, we're gonna need to find our way back to the frigate. God knows where we landed, so my best bet right now is to get any help that we can. If that means being a little more transparent with the ponies, then that's honestly a risk I'm willing to take." He explained.

"Frankly, I don't think it matters. At this rate, we'd starve to death by the time we actually needed air. I can already feel the muscle deteriorating..." Eddie exaggerated, eyeing his bicep and frowning.

"Don't remind me... I finally hit four o' five on bench two weeks ago." Mike whined.

"Let's not dwell on that right now. As far as I'm concerned, the only thing we can really do until Lawson gets here, is to go talk to Twilight." Jason announced.

Rebecca sighed, "Alright, if it'll get us out of this room for a bit." She said, hopping out of the bed and heading for the door.

"We going down there red? Or what?" Mike asked.

"Amber. For now." Jason replied, grabbing his rifle and slinging it over his shoulder. Eddie and Mike quickly followed while Rebecca held the door open for them.

"You bringing a weapon, Chief?" Eddie asked.

"I seriously doubt I'll need one." She replied.

"Fair enough."

Jason, Mike, and Eddie were right behind her as they all stepped through the doorway and into the the crystal hallway. Jason took the lead from there and headed down the stairs with the rest of the team in tow. The sound of chatter between Twilight and a few other ponies reached their ears, causing a slightly hopeful feeling to rise in Jason's chest.

Hmm... Maybe Lawson's already here and we can hurry this up already. He thought to himself.

When they arrived at the dining room, they saw not only the Princess, Tempest, and Spike like they had expected, but seven more colorful equines as well. Jason stopped in his tracks as each new pony quickly turned to acknowledge him and his team, finding nothing but smiles and happy looks being thrown his way.

"Oh! There they are! Twilight, your human friends are here!" The pearl white unicorn with an elegantly curled purple mane and tail called.  

"They sure are. Come on in. I'd like you all to meet my friends." Twilight announced, stepping out of her chair and walking over to the Marines.

"Uh..." Jason muttered, his eyes trailing from one pony to the next.

"Don't be shy, darling. We've been hoping to meet some humans ever since Twilight told us about Sky." The disturbingly beautiful white pony said.

"Girls, this is Jason, Eddie, Mike, and Rebecca." Twilight announced, gesturing to each human respectively.

"Uh... Hello there." Jason said, giving a small wave to the group of ponies surrounding the table.

"General Kenobi..."

"What was that?" Eddie asked.

"Nothing!" A violently pink pony in the back called.

"Right... Uh, Jason, Eddie, Mike, Rebecca, these are my best friends, and some of the most heroic ponies in Equestria," Twilight interrupted, "This is Rarity," She gestured to the alabaster white pony with a majestically curled mane.

"A pleasure to make all of your acquaintances." Rarity greeted.

Eddie gave a small wave to the strangely attractive equine before Twilight continued.

"This is AppleJack," She motioned to the orange pony wearing a stetson.

"Howdy, ya'll." AppleJack said, tipping her hat.

Once again, Eddie gave a small wave.

"This is Rainbow Dash." Twilight proceeded, gesturing to a cyan blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail.

"Hey dudes!" Rainbow excitedly waved.

Jason gave her a cordial nod.

"Over here is Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie." Twilight pointed at a butterscotch yellow pegasus and an absurdly pink pony respectively.

"Um... Hello." Fluttershy meekly greeted, waving a hoof.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! But you already knew that, hehe, I've never met a human before! Well, except for Sky, kinda, but not really because he was already a pony when I saw him, but then again, we didn't really talk that much, so instead I guess that makes you the first!" Pinkie blurted out in one breath.

"Uh... Nice to meet you?" Jason replied, giving a small wave.

"You already know Tempest," Twilight said, motioning to the mulberry unicorn with a broken horn at the end of the table."

Tempest gave a small nod to the group of humans, and received a small nod in return.

"And last, but certainly not least, this is Starlight Glimmer." Twilight announced, gesturing to the last pinkish-purple pony in the room.

"It's nice to meet you all." Starlight politely greeted.

"What's with these ponies and all the fruity names?" Mike whispered to himself.

"So, Twilight said you all crashed in the White-Tail Woods yesterday." Rainbow spoke up, "I flew by there last night to check it out. That crash site was gnarly!" 

"My baby..." Rebecca frowned.

"Yeah. It was a rough landing that we weren't exactly expecting." Jason replied.

"Well I'm just glad you're all okay." Fluttershy smiled from her side of the table.

"Thank you. We all appreciate that." Jason responded, giving a polite nod.

"So, uh, what're those sticks ya'll got there?" AppleJack asked, eyeing the human's rifles.

"These are our rifles. Don't worry too much about them, they don't bite or anything." Eddie replied, holding his rifle up for emphasis.

"Hmm... Why's yours so much bigger than the rest of yours?" Tempest asked, eyeing Mike's machine gun.

"That's because I'm the SAW gunner." Mike coolly replied.

"That doesn't look like a saw..." Rarity mentioned, tilting her head to the side.

"SAW stands for Squad Automatic Weapon. Basically, my job is to keep the enemy suppressed so the rest of these guys can do what they need to do when we're on mission." Mike explained.

"Hmm... Interesting..." Tempest replied, apparently satisfied with his answer, before looking at the clock, "Oh, it is just about time. I'll go get Sky and Midnight from the train station." Tempest said, rising from her seat and making way for the door.

"When can we expect you back?" Jason asked as the mulberry unicorn walked past him.

"Maybe half an hour or so. The train station is at the other side of town and the train is supposed to arrive in ten minutes." Tempest replied. There was a slight hint of eagerness in her tone. A hint that did not go unnoticed by Twilight.

"Alright, then we'll see you in about half an hour, Tempest." Twilight said, giving off a knowing smirk.

Tempest blushed ever so slightly before ducking out of the room and making her way out of the castle. She pushed through the massive entry doors and into the bright light of yet another beautiful Equestrian morning, and found the ponies of Equestria out and about, more so than usual around the castle.

A few ponies gave her a curious glance as she stepped out of the castle and into the light, almost as if they were expecting someone else to come out. Tempest merely shrugged their apparent staring off and proceeded toward the train station.





Sky and Midnight sat together in a warm train cart while they rode to Ponyville. Midnight had her muzzle gently nested under Sky's chin, and her hooves wrapped around his barrel while she snuggled up next to him. In return, Sky wrapped his right foreleg around her barrel to pull her in closer, and used his wing as a makeshift blanket for her to snuggle under.

"Mmm..." Midnight mumbled in her sleep, gently squeezing tighter against the crimson pegasus holding her.

"Hehe, cutie." Sky whispered before placing a tender kiss on her muzzle.

The ride continued in pleasant silence for a few more minutes before the train horn sounded, and the screeching of brakes on train wheels filled the air. Sky looked out the window to find Ponyville once more appearing in his vision, before looking down to Midnight's still sleeping form.

"Hey, Mid, we're here." He whispered, gently nudging her awake with his hoof.

"Hmm? Huh? What's up?" She replied, her eyes slowly fluttering open.

"We're in Ponyville. You ready, sleepyhead?" Sky teased.

"Hehe, yeah," Midnight yawned, ending with a slightly squeaky sound, "I'm ready whenever you are, big guy." She smiled.

Sky kissed her one more time before they both hopped off their seats and headed out of their train cart. A few moments later, they arrived at the entrance to the train, and stepped out onto the train station. There were a few ponies out and about, but one in particular stood out above the rest, literally.

"Tempest!" Sky cheered, making his way over to her with Midnight trotting in behind him.

"Sky!" Tempest called back, hurriedly meeting him halfway and pulling him into a hug. 

"Long time, no see." Sky teased, squeezing her tight.

"Hehe, it's always good to see you." She replied, releasing the hug and turning to Midnight.

"Midnight, I'm glad to see you." Tempest said, pulling the graphite mare into a hug.

"It's great to see you, Tempest. I am really sorry I couldn't make your knighting ceremony. Sky told me it was awesome, and I really wanted to go, but I just couldn't make it was all the crap Luna threw on me at the last minute." Midnight explained.

"Oh, don't even worry about it. I'm just glad to see you again." Tempest dismissed.

They held the hug for a few more moments before releasing each other and turning to Sky.

"So, you excited?" Tempest asked.

"Oh, you know. A little bit." Sky nonchalantly replied with a shrug.

Tempest just raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, a lot. It's pretty exciting... and scary. I'm not sure how they're going to react once they see I'm a pony now, but regardless, It's exciting." Sky explained.

"Okay, that's more like it." Tempest grinned, "Come on, there's a bunch of your people you need to meet." She teased.

The three ponies turned and made their way off the train station platform. Within a few minutes, they found themselves trotting through town and passing the Ponyville residents as they went about their day to day tasks. 

"So... How are the new humans?" Midnight inquired.

"They're... interesting... to say the least. I think you'll like them, but they're pretty hesitant to trust anyone here so far... At least, most of them are." Tempest explained, gazing off toward the castle while her cheeks heated up slightly.

"Well, if I'm being honest, I'd be worried if they weren't a little suspicious of this place. I know I was for a while," Sky replied, "How many of them are there?" 

"So far, only four. They mentioned something about a larger group of them, but so far, they're the only ones anypony has seen. Twilight sent you that letter as soon as she had them in the castle, so not much information has been exchanged since." Tempest explained.

"Ah, okay. Well that's good. At least I'm not gonna have to talk to an entire army of people, hehe." Sky nervously chuckled.

"You'll be fine, trust me. These humans; their leader is named Jason. He's pretty calm and seems pretty understanding for the most part." Tempest mentioned.

"Jason, huh? I knew a Jason way back. Well, if nothing else, this will be exciting." He said, shaking some nerves off in the process.

"Well, we're about to find out." Tempest replied as they rounded the corner and the Castle of Friendship came into full view. There was a smallish crowd of ponies gathered around outside, but they paid the small group no mind as they seemed to be focused on the castle itself. The trio made their way through the scattered crowd of ponies waiting outside the castle while Midnight and Sky glanced back and forth between the ponies.

"So, uh... Are they all here for the humans?" Midnight asked.

"I think so. They were here earlier this morning, but it looks like they've grown in numbers since I left earlier." Tempest replied.

"Well, it's good to see that humanity can at least still draw a crowd." Sky commented.

"Honestly, I'd be more surprised if there weren't any ponies interested in the new creatures showing up out of nowhere." Tempest remarked.

After a few moments of walking through the crowd, the trio arrived at the front door of the Castle of Friendship, and Tempest pulled the doors open for them.

"Well... Here we are..." Midnight trailed off.

"Remember what I told you yesterday." Sky said, nuzzling his cheek against her neck.

"Thanks, big guy. Love you." She whispered.

"Love you more." 

They headed inside while Tempest closed the door behind them. Immediately, all three of them could hear voices coming from the dining room. Sky and Midnight both nervously gulped as Tempest led the way inside and they hesitantly followed behind. 





"-So then I said 'You've only got yourshelf to blame'!" Pinkie exclaimed, doubling over in laughter.

"Uh... hehe, that's a... good one..." Jason awkwardly replied.

"Holy shit, how many more bad jokes do we have to hear today?" Mike whispered under his breath.

"Yes, yes, Pinkie. You got me good," Twilight sighed, "Anyways, Tempest should be back soon-" She stopped short, as the sound of the front door opening and multiple sets of hooves on crystal reached her ears, "-and speak of the devil, I think they're here." 

All eyes in the room darted to the doorway just as the mulberry unicorn came rounding the corner. She greeted them all with a curt nod, before two more ponies walked in behind her. The first, was a crimson red pegasus with a chocolate brown mane and tail. It had friendly brown eyes, and a muzzle that seemed a bit broader and jutted out further than any of the other ponies in the room, leading to the assumption that it was male. Most of all, there was a uniquely friendly complexion that gave way to its nervous expression. Following just behind, was a dark grey unicorn with a jet black mane and tail. Two absurdly gorgeous sapphire eyes looked back at them, seemingly taking the room in its entirety before making any judgements.

"So... Cute..." Rebecca whispered.

Jason immediately raised his eyebrow.

"Uh... Where's Lawson?" He asked, turning back to Twilight.

"Right here." A masculine voice spoke out from behind him, making Jason spin around and face the pegasus.

Jason looked down on the pegasus stallion with a mix of emotions on his face, "What? Lawson is human. We're not here for a pony." He somewhat angrily replied.

"I know that... I am David Lawson," Sky explained, turning to Twilight, "Twi, did you not tell them?" 

All eyes immediately darted to the lavender pony princess in question.

"Well, I wanted to, but they were having such a hard time believing everything else I said that I didn't think they'd believe me." Twilight replied, stepping out of her chair and making her way over to the group of humans.

"Hold on a second, you're not seriously trying to tell me that you turned Lawson into a pony, are you?" Jason asked, glancing back and forth between the ponies.

"That's exactly what happened." Sky replied.

"What the fuck?" Mike whispered.

"I don't believe this..." Jason said.

"I mean, I can prove it. Ask me anything only David Lawson would know." Sky declared.

Jason crossed his arms, "We don't have time to play games like this." 

"It's not a game. Believe me, I know it doesn't make any sense, but I swear it's the truth." Sky persisted.

"Jesus... Fine. If you're really David Lawson, then what city were you born in?" Jason relented.

"Los Angeles, California." Sky replied.

"Did you serve in the military at all?" Jason continued.

"I was in the Army for three years. Stationed at Fort Valor in Florida." Sky immediately replied.

Jason bit his lip and pulled a notebook out of his admin pouch. He flipped through a few pages before arriving at the page he wanted and skimming through the notes.

"And... What year was interstellar space travel made possible?" He asked, wearily.

"Two thousand thirty seven." Sky instantly replied.

"Okay... What was the name of the first ship to make the journey?" 

"The Icarus... my ship." Sky replied, a bit more melancholy than before.

Jason bit his cheek, "And... who were the other five crew members?" 

"There were only four of us on the ship." Sky replied.

Jason nodded, "Just confirming. What were their names?" He pressed.

"... Richie Vilovoy, Roman Doss, and Isaac Clarke. My best friends... And all dead." Sky trailed off.

"Son of a bitch..." Eddie said aloud.

"How?" Jason asked.

"Died in space. I was the only one to get off the ship and land here." Sky explained.

"Fuck..." Rebecca whispered.

"So you actually are David Lawson... how in the fuck did they turn you into a pony? And why?" Jason asked, gesturing to the rest of the room.

"I can answer that," Twilight spoke up, directing Jason's eyes to her specifically, "If you recall, yesterday morning, I told you all that Equestrian magic is dangerous to humans. Well, that's because Sky over here almost died within his first six months here. The magic of our world formed a tumor of sorts in his brain, which eventually led to severe hemorrhaging that almost killed him. It wasn't our first choice, not by a long shot, but we had no time to think of something else, so we used an ancient spell to turn him from human to pony." She explained.

"You can just fucking do that?" Eddie asked, astonished.

"Well, no. It wasn't easy, not by any stretch of the imagination. We needed both Celestia and Luna to help with almost all of their magic on top of mine to get the spell to work, but the end result, as you can see, is a perfectly healthy pony stallion." Twilight beamed.

"Uh... Can you not talk about me like I'm a lab experiment, Twi? I'm right here." Sky asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Right, sorry. Hehe, I'm just a little proud of my hoofwork, is all." Twilight replied.

For a moment, the room fell silent, as the humans all shared mixed looks of silent communication. 

"So... what, we have to get off of this planet or we're all gonna die?" Jason asked.

A more uncomfortable silence fell over the room like a blanket, before Twilight awkwardly coughed into her hoof and spoke.

"Um... Well, while I can't say for sure, I think six months would be the limit of human tolerance for our magic." She explained.

"Fuck me..." Eddie whispered.

"Well that's not so bad, I mean, all we need to do is just get back to the frigate and get out of here before that, right?" Mike suggested, trying to be optimistic.

"Yeah, that's gonna be tough. When I was still human, I was losing my memory and having the worst migraines every day. By the tail end of those six months, I was having a hard time remembering much of anything." Sky chimed in.

"Shit... This isn't good." Rebecca whispered.

Jason slowly walked over to the nearest wall and leaned his back against it, before sliding down until he was sitting on the floor. All eyes in the room slowly turned to face him as he sighed and gazed up at the ceiling.

"Welp... Just one more thing to worry about, I guess." He muttered, disdainfully.

"I-I'm sure there's a way we can get you all to your people." Twilight spoke up redirecting eyes to her.

"Yeah, Twi, can't you just teleport them over there?" Rainbow asked.

"Well... I'm not entirely sure where they originally landed," Twilight explained, "Teleporting over long distance gets increasingly inaccurate the further away you try to do it, not to mention the risks of teleporting a non-magical species." 

"We know where we landed. If we show you on a map, do you think you can send us there?" Jason asked, tilting his head down to look at the lavender alicorn.

"Well... I can try. Here." She replied, igniting her horn and popping a scrolled up map into the room. 

Twilight laid the map out on the table while Jason rose to his feet. Soon enough, the entire room was huddled around the map and looking intently at where the humans had arrived.

"Right there," Jason said, pointing to the Southernmost corner of the map, "We landed there and flew out about two hundred and forty miles before we crashed." He explained.

Twilight's brow immediately furrowed and she glanced up at him for a moment.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Positive." 

"Well... this... isn't going to be within my abilities," She admitted, with a sigh, "You landed on the complete other side of the planet, on the southernmost hemisphere. How in the hay did you land there and end up in the White-Tail Woods?" She asked, more to herself than to Jason.

Jason's shoulders immediately slouched, and his head dipped down just a tad.

"We... We don't know... There was just some weird lightning, and we ended up here. Are you sure you can't do anything?" He asked, straining for a ray of hope.

"I... I'm sorry, Jason... If I try to teleport you that far, you could end up any number of places. You could end up a thousand feet in the air, you could end up a mile underground, you could even end up-" Twilight explained, before being cut off.

"Ah think they get the point, Twilight." AppleJack interrupted.

"Right, sorry." She replied.

"Well... What if you teleported us somewhere closer? Somewhere where you can still be accurate enough to not kill us or anything, and we can just walk from there? I mean, you said we got six months, right? That shouldn't be too hard." Mike chimed in.

"I wish it were that easy... But if you look at the map, the area you landed in is surrounded by the harshest terrain on the planet. Right here, there's a gorge that's twenty miles wide and over a mile deep," Twilight explained, pointing to a section of the map, "Even if I did teleport you just outside that, which could possible kill you outright, it would still take you well over a year to travel all the way back to your ship." 

Once more, the room fell silent, and the four humans in the room appeared completely crestfallen, despite their faces still being hidden by their helmets. Every pony in the room shared mixed glances of sympathy and concern over the otherworlder's well-being, before Tempest slowly walked over to Jason's side.

"I-I'm sure there's a way we could help you. I'm not an expert by any means, but there has to be some way." She comforted, placing a hoof against his thigh. 

Jason slowly looked down at the mare for a moment before gently taking a hold of her hoof with his hand.

"Thanks." He said.

"Um, what about the chaos crystals?" A new voice spoke up, prompting all eyes in the room to dart over to the graphite mare who, thusfar, had been completely silent.

"What?" Jason asked.

She seemed to shrink in on herself just a tad as his gaze fell on her, but continued nonetheless, "The chaos crystals... They're rare, almost unheard of even... but I almost used one to turn Sky back into a human... They might be able to help keep you all from dying." Midnight explained.

"Are you serious?" Mike exclaimed.

"Twilight?" Midnight asked.

Once more, all eyes in the room unanimously darted to the lavender alicorn at the far end of the table while she stuck her tongue out in thought.

"Well... I mean, they could work... but you had the last one in Equestria. To get any more... We'd need to travel all the way to..." She trailed off.

"Where?" Jason pressed.

"The Island of Magicae Artes Earumque... It's uh, it's not exactly an easy journey." Twilight explained.

"The island of what now?" Pinkie chimed in.

"Magicae Artes Earumque. It's a lone island in the northernmost corner of the planet. Allegedly, it's the source of all magic in Equestria. To get there... it'd be extremely dangerous." Twilight clarified.

"How far away is it?" Jason asked, eyeing the map closely.

"It's... If I were to take you as close to it as possible, it'd still be another few months of travel... but I have to warn you, it's extremely dangerous to ponies to travel there. We have no idea what the island would do to you, especially since you have no magic." She explained.

Jason's shoulders slumped some, and slowly gazed over towards the other side of the table, where Sky happened to be standing. A thought popped into his head immediately.

"How do we even know if your magic is going to affect us at all? We haven't even breathed any of your air yet." He pointed out.

"If you want, I can bring in a scanner I made after Sky became a pony. I know you're having a hard time believing a lot of what we're telling you, but maybe that could serve to prove it?" Twilight suggested.

"Do it. 'Cause I need something concrete here." Jason exasperatedly said.

Twilight quickly ignited her horn and summoned her magic into a bright light. A moment later, there was a loud 'pop', and a strange device that somewhat resembled a mirror appeared in her magical grasp.

"This is kind of like an MRI, only it detects magic under the skin. Here." Twilight said, holding the device in front of her horn with her magic. Immediately, a bright flashing light shown on the screen facing Jason, indicating the presence of magic just inches away from the sensor.

"Let me see that." Eddie chimed in, holding his hand out.

Twilight quickly magicked the device into his hand, and he aimed it at the closest pony available, who just happened to be Sky. At first, there was no sign of any magic, but as Eddie brought the device closer to Sky's wings, the light flashed to life once more.

"Pegasi have a lot of magic in our wings. It's how we fly so good." Rainbow Dash pointed out with a grin.

"Seems that way..." Eddie replied, turning around with a frown.

Eddie brought the device over to Jason and held it over his head. Instantly, the light flashed brightly, and the presence of magic was detected. Jason sighed while Eddie brought it over his own head, only to have the same effect. One by one, Eddie went to the remaining humans and checked them for magic, and just like before, the light flashed brightly.

"I can't say for sure that you'll die in six months if you stay here... but our magic is clearly affecting you already. There's a chance that you'll be fine either way... but I'd rather not take that risk." Twilight explained.

"How in the hell could this happen... We've been completely sealed off from the environment this whole time." Jason muttered.

"Magic can flow freely through just about anything except specifically anti-magic material. I'm afraid your suits won't stop it." Twilight sadly admitted.

Jason sighed again.

"So... what? We just wait here to die?" Mike questioned.

Jason didn't answer. Instead, he gazed out the window for a few moments before glancing over at Sky once more.

"How did you survive breathing the air here? Isn't there bacteria and other shit that should've killed you a long time ago?" Jason asked. There was a certain lack of life in his voice that did not go unnoticed by Eddie.

"I can answer that too," Twilight spoke up, and Jason slowly turned his head to look at her, "I had similar concerns when Sky first landed here, so I, along with an expert medical team, ran tests on his body to see if any bacteria or germs would make him sick or worse. The results... were astonishing. As it turns out, there simply aren't germs strong enough, or bacteria powerful enough on our planet for the human immune system. Sky's white blood cells simply dealt with literally everything that came into his system and he barely even got a cough." She explained.

"Are you serious?" Rebecca asked.

"I didn't believe it at first either," Sky chimed in, "But after a month living here, and Twilight checking every disease or bacteria known to Equestria, she couldn't find anything stronger than the common cold against my immune system. Ponies don't exactly have a super strong immune system like humans do, and anything their bodies couldn't normally handle, they have magic to deal with." He explained.

"So hold on a second, you're saying that ponies don't have things like Measles? Whooping Cough? Small Pox?" Eddie asked, tilting his head to the side in disbelief.

"We do," Twilight replied, "The difference is that our versions of all of those diseases are extremely weak compared to yours. If ponykind were to go to Earth at any point, we'd need to use our magic to keep your germs and diseases from killing us. However, since your immune systems are so much stronger than ours, you can survive on our planet without worry of getting sick. As long as none of you have compromised immune systems, you'll be fine." 

"Well, we're all clean there, but... Aren't we all just giant germ factories that'll kill you all if we touch you then?" Mike quizzically asked, looking at his  hands as if they were murder weapons.

"It's extremely unlikely. The magic in all of our bodies deals with foreign germs and diseases particularly well. Midnight was with Sky for pretty much the entire time he was still human and never got sick from any germs in his body or whatnot."

"Plus, we were all cleared of any illnesses when we left port, remember?" Eddie replied.

"And we had to go through the ray shields every time we went outside the ship. They kill literally everything not wearing an environmental suit." Rebecca pointed out.

"The ship was scrubbed bow to stern too... There wasn't a germ in that damn frigate when we got there." Jason said.

"So... can we take these helmets off?" Mike hesitantly asked.

Jason glanced up at him for a moment, before his gaze slowly trailed over to Sky once more.

"You're sure there's nothing special about you? No gene that makes you immune to germs here or something?" He asked.

"Positive. I swear to god that I was as normal as you. I still am, to a certain extent. I still have my human teeth." Sky replied, grinning in such a way to show off his canines.

"Huh... How about that?" Rebecca asked to no one in particular.

"Welp, if that's the case, then I guess it's time to take the plunge." Jason said, moving to grab his helmet.

"Wait, Jay!" Eddie cried out.

He was too late, and Jason clicked the manual switch on the back of his helmet, depressurizing it in the process. The sound of venting air quickly filled the air, before he grabbed the helmet and twisted it to the side, fully breaking the seal. In one fluid motion, Jason slid the helmet off his head, tugging at his hair slightly in the process.

For the first time, his grassy green eyes opened to the world around him without a visor in the way. His unkempt, charcoal hair settled back down, framing his squared jaw-line. His warm beige skin felt the suns rays for the first time as they passed through the crystal glass, and even his relatively long stubble didn't interfere with the subtle heat that found its way settling onto his skin as it was bathed in light.

Tempest blushed, hard.
> Chapter 6: Risk Takers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason inhaled slowly through his nose, before breathing out fully, and looking up at Eddie.

"Are you crazy!?" Eddie shouted.

"Sarge, that was reckless, even by my standards." Mike said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well we only had another day of oxygen left anyways. I figured if anyone was going to check this planet's air first, it should be me." Jason replied.

"Hold on, you were all running out of air?" Tempest asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Yeah. Chief has it worse than the rest of us with her helmet cracked the way it is." Jason explained.

"I mean... I have another twelve hours of air..." Rebecca mentioned, "Thanks for taking the risk from me." She acknowledged.

"Don't mention it, Chief." Jason smiled.

"How do you feel?" Twilight asked, walking over to him and eyeing him closely.

"Honestly? I feel fine. Actually feels pretty damn good to get that helmet off after a while." Jason said, shrugging slightly.

"Oh my gosh! So that's what humans look like?" Rainbow exclaimed, springing off her seat and flying over to Jason's side at a frighteningly quick pace, "So cool!" 

"Uh..." Jason managed before more ponies spoke up.

"Darling, you have just the cutest little nose! And I absolutely adore your eyes. They're like little green buttons." Rarity gushed.

"Thank... you?" Jason hesitantly replied.

"Ah've gotta admit, fer once I agree with Rarity, partner," AppleJack added, before turning to the rest of the humans, "You all look like that?"

The three remaining humans in the room shared a quick glance with each other before looking down at Jason once more.

"Uh... Are you sure you're good, Sarge?" Mike asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. The air is breathable and everything, so I'm pretty sure we'll all be fine." Jason replied.

The rest of the crew once more shared a look before collectively sighing.

"Well, go on then. Might as well." Jason shrugged.

One by one, they all removed their helmets, and breathed Equestrian air for the first time. Eddie was the first to go, freeing his tan skin and patchy scruff to the outside world. His hazel eyes and blackish brown hair shown brightly under the light, although he wore a slightly nervous expression on his face.

Once he was sure Eddie was not going to die any time soon, Mike followed suit. He quickly removed his helmet, revealing his pale skin and much bushier beard to the world. Much like Eddie, he had blackish brown hair that almost resembled dark chocolate, although, it was buzzed down to just under a half inch in length. Two dark brown eyes that radiated with a sense of eagerness greeted the world around him, and he turned to Rebecca as she reluctantly moved to grab her helmet.

As Rebecca pulled her pilot's helmet off, her long, blonde hair, and sparkling blue eyes shown with a kind of lightheartedness that was uncommon in her line of work. Her light beige skin was soft, and tender, making almost all of the ponies in the room gasp.

"Oh... my... goodness... You're all so cute!" Pinkie cried, the sheer overwhelming amount of joy in her voice making her literally vibrate with excitement. 

"Uh... Right... Anyways..." Jason trailed off in an attempt to change the subject.

"I just wanna give you a hug!" Pinkie shouted, suddenly appearing next to Jason.

"What the fuck?" Jason barely managed before being swept up in a tight hug by the pink party pony. She nuzzled her cheek against his while he struggled to get out of her grip.

Twilight smiled away as the rest of her friends hopped out of their seats to gush over the humans and how cute they were, however, one pony in particular caught her eye. While the rest of her friends talked away and interacted with them, Tempest simply stood still, here eyes wide as saucers as she simply watched Jason. Barely suppressing a snicker, Twilight walked over to her guard and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Huh? What?" Tempest jumped, suddenly startled from her mesmerized stupor. 

"Caught you staring." Twilight teased, grinning all the while.

Tempest immediately looked away as if the nearest wall was suddenly the most interesting thing in the whole world. Her cheeks burned from the embarrassment of being caught so easily, and her ears pressed fully against her skull.

"I-I wasn't..." She mumbled.

"Oh, come on. You don't have to be so embarrassed about it. I remember feeling the same way when I first saw Sky." Twilight replied, placing a comforting hoof on Tempest's wither.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about." Tempest stubbornly replied.

"Alright, alright. I won't pry. Just know that he pet you first." Twilight teased, walking away and flicking her tail at Tempest.

The mulberry unicorn fought hard to hide the increasingly large blush on her face, but to no avail. Twilight's last words sent her into yet another embarrassing fit of reddening cheeks and nerves. After a few moments, she managed to control herself and calm down. With a deep sigh, she made her way over to the rest of the room just in time for Jason to speak up.

"Alright, alright, thank you. All of you. We appreciate the attention, but we were kind of in the middle of something if you all remember?" He insisted, straining to remove Pinkie from his torso.

"I'm afraid Jason's right. We have a unique problem that we need to solve, and as cute as humans are, we need to focus." Twilight announced, managing to break the rest of her friends attention from the humans.

"Aww..." Pinkie grumbled, releasing her death grip on Jason and walking a few feet away to mope.

"Thank you." Jason said.

"Don't mention it. Anyways, that does bring us to the matter at hoof. While I'd like for all of you to stay, you simply can't. Not until we can figure out a way to keep our magic from hurting you." Twilight said, adopting a more professional tone.

"I don't suppose you're close to a break through in that particular department." Rebecca said, crossing her arms skeptically.

"Well... no, no I'm not. We haven't had any humans here since Sky landed and well... he's been a pony for over a year now." Twilight explained, deflating slightly.

"Well... is this whole planet affected by your magic? Or is it just this particular section of it." Eddie asked, eyeing the map of Equestria once more.

"The Northern Hemisphere is particularly dense with magic, however, while the Southern Hemisphere has magic as well, it has a lot less. I honestly think that if you were still down there, you'd have years before our magic became an issue for you." Twilight explained.

"So we just need to get out of the Northern Hemisphere then?" Eddie pieced together.

"I'm afraid that even if I were to teleport you as far away as possible, it'd still be at least another year long journey through some of the most perilous terrain Equis has to offer." Twilight sadly replied.

"So what do we do?" Mike asked, more to Jason than Twilight.

Jason clicked his tongue in thought for a few moments and looked down at the floor. For a few moments, his attention seemed completely focused on that one particular spot of crystal just in front of him, but eventually, he gazed up. The first thing to greet his vision, was the graphite mare married to Sky.

"Midnight, right?" Jason asked.

"Huh? She replied, gesturing to herself with a hoof, "Me?" 

"Yes."

"Um, yes, that's me." She said, eyeing Sky for possible advice. He shrugged.

"You said you almost used a... 'chaos crystal' to change Lawson back?" Jason continued.

"Y-yes. That was over a year ago though." Midnight explained.

"And there aren't any left here, at all?" Jason pressed.

"Midnight had the last one." Twilight answered for her.

"Well what happened to it?" 

"Chaos crystals are... finicky. Like I said, they're only found on one island way up north, and they can't survive outside that island for more than a few weeks. The crystal Midnight had disintegrated less than a month after she got it." Twilight explained.

"But... these have the power to keep us from dying? Right?" Jason deduced.

"Well... it would require a charged spell, or something to that extent, but your average unicorn could probably take care of it no problem. It's just that getting the crystals in the first place is the problem." Twilight elaborated.

"Well, again, we don't know what it'll do to humans, right? So there's a chance that we could go up there, get the crystals, and have you work your magic, right?" Jason pressed.

"Well... once more, you're right about one thing. We don't know what that island will do to you. It could make everything a hundred times worse, or it might not affect you at all... There's a lot of unknown factors about that place. I'm not so sure it's a good idea for any of you to go there." Twilight reasoned.

"Well it doesn't look like we've got any other options at this point." Mike pointed out.

"Yeah, it's either 'go try the island and maybe die in the process', or 'stay here and for sure die within six months'." Eddie agreed.

"Looks like we have a pretty serious decision to make." Jason said.

"Hold on, hold on. You could all die going up there, and you're just going to do it anyways? I mean, I know staying here isn't safe either, but there's at least six months of study we could do and maybe find a way to protect you from magic if you stay. If you're hundreds of miles north, we can't do anything to help you." Starlight exclaimed.

"Unless we go with them!" Rainbow exclaimed.

All eyes in the room darted to the prismatic pegasus while everyone processed her words.

"Uh... sugarcube, I hate to break it to ya, but I don't think we can just drop everything like that." AppleJack reasoned.

"I can't leave Angel bunny all alone for months. Who knows what kind of trouble he'll get into." Fluttershy agreed.

"And who will run the boutique if I'm gone? Sweetie Belle?" Rarity questioned.

"I'd like to go just as much as the rest of you, but I can't leave the school without a head mare." Starlight added.

"Most importantly of all, if we all leave to head North, how can we take over Celestia and Luna's jobs when they retire?" Twilight finished.

"So basically, it's a resounding 'no' from all of you." Jason surmised.

"Honestly, if you can give us some good maps, and point us in the right direction, we should be fine." Eddie chimed in.

"Hold on, before we go and decide anything, you should all talk to Celestia and Luna first. If anypony will have any knowledge on the island, then it'll be them." Twilight said.

"Well where are they?" Jason asked.

"They should be here any minute." Twilight replied.

"Wait, why are they coming here?" Starlight asked.

"Well, yesterday when I was having my meeting with them, I told them about our four human guests, and they immediately wanted to visit. Obviously, they want to meet you all." Twilight finished, looking at Jason.

"I know you said you're taking over for them in a bit, but who are they again?" Jason asked.

"Celestia and Luna are the two ruling princesses of Equestria. Celestia raises the sun every day while Luna raises the moon every night. There's another princess named Cadence- she's married to my brother- but she doesn't have power quite to their level. Anyways, Celestia and Luna are both well over a thousand years old and have been taking care of Equestria almost the entire time. " Twilight explained.

Jason stared at her with a blank look.

"They raise the sun and moon?" He deadpanned.

"I know it sounds like bullshit, and I didn't believe it for a long, long time, but after some of the shit I've seen here, I honestly do believe it now. Celestia and Luna do control the sun and moon." Sky explained, taking a step towards the still seated man.

"Alright, so can't they help us out with our little predicament, you know, since apparently they can move a fucking star?" Eddie reasoned.

"While I'm sure they would want nothing more than to help you, I don't think they'll be able to do much more than me when it comes to teleporting you anywhere. The only thing I'm sure they can provide is knowledge of the island." Twilight said.

"Fucks sake... So when are they supposed to get here?" Jason asked, hitting his head against the crystal pillar.

As if to answer his question, there were three loud knocks on the front door that sounded out through the halls and into the dining room. Every head in the room turned to the source of the noise before Twilight took the initiative and made way for the door.

"Right now, I suppose." She said.

Twilight walked over to the front door and pulled it open to reveal two large alicorns. Standing to the left, was a very tall pony of pure white. Her mane and tail flowed as if the wind was spurring them on indefinitely, and her calm rosy eyes gazed into the castle with a hint of excitement behind them. Next to her, stood a slightly shorter, yet still fairly tall midnight blue alicorn. Her mane and tail followed suit, flowing about in some nonexistent wind while her teal eyes scanned the foyer, almost as if she was looking for trouble. 

"Celestia! Luna!" Twilight exclaimed, darting forward and giving a big hug to the taller mare.

Jason stared at them in wonder as Twilight moved to hug Luna. Eddie, Mike, and Rebecca shared his feelings, and glanced back and forth as they sized the new princesses up. Meanwhile, the rest of the ponies in the room, barring Tempest, made their way over to the new ponies and exchanged their greetings. Sky and Midnight quickly joined the group, and made their way to the front.

"Tia, Luna." Sky smiled.

"Princesses." Midnight greeted, giving a friendly wave.

"Sky, Midnight. It's good to see you both again so soon." Celestia smiled a warm, toothy grin.

"Indeed. Oh, I am terribly sorry about all of those last minute changes, Midnight. I understand you wanted to be here the other day for the knighting ceremony, but I simply could not trust any other pony to get the job done." Luna explained, an apologetic look in her eyes.

"Oh, don't worry about it, princess. It's fine." Midnight dismissed with a wave of her hoof.

Celestia, having been satisfied with the greetings, turned to address the group as a whole.

"It's wonderful to see you all again. However, as I'm sure you know why we're here, we'd very much like to meet the humans." Celestia announced. Her voice was soft, and smooth. Despite his initial reaction being one of distrust, Jason felt slightly more at ease just from her voice alone.

"Of course, they're right this way." Twilight said, gesturing toward the dining room and the humans standing around inside.

Celestia and Luna made their way through the crowd and arrived in front of the group of Marines within a few moments. Jason stood upright, his back rigid, as she approached, and the rest of the Marines quickly did the same.

"It's very good to meet you all. I am Princess Celestia," Celestia said, gesturing to herself before pointing to Luna with a hoof, "And this is my sister, Princess Luna." 

"It's an honor to meet you both. I'm Sergeant Jason McKnight. This is Corporal Eddie Icon, Lance Corporal Mike Jones, and Chief Warrant Officer Rebecca Williams." Jason replied, gesturing to each squad-member respectively.

"It's a pleasure. I hate to just jump straight to the point, but I take it you've met Sky, correct?" Celestia continued.

"We have. We're aware of his situation and the rest of the crew he was with." Jason said.

"I see. It was a tragic loss of life that I wish we could have prevented... Might I ask what your intentions are with him?" Celestia pressed, eyeing Jason critically.

"I'm not sure I follow." Jason replied, glancing at the crimson pegasus in question.

"From what Twilight told me the other day, you've come to recover the lost crew, correct?" 

"Yes, that is our mission." Jason coolly responded.

"Well... Sky is the only surviving member of the crew. I'd like to know if you're planning on taking him back with you." She explained.

"What?" Sky jumped in, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks. 

"We're... not sure. He isn't human anymore, that much is for certain. Even if we did take him back with us, I don't think we could change him back." Jason replied after biting his lip.

"Uh... Why are you guys talking about me like I'm not right here?" Sky interrupted, looking at both parties with a frown.

"Sky's not going anywhere. Not unless he wants to." Midnight spoke up, darting in and wrapping her hooves around him in a protective manner.

"While... it is our mission to bring him back... Ugh... Look, things are complicated enough with us just trying to get off this planet alive... I'm not planning on ripping him away from a life that he clearly has here if that's what your worried about. If Lawson wants to stay, then he's more than welcome to do so." Jason decided, glancing curiously at how defensively Midnight was holding onto the crimson pegasus.

"Thank god." Sky sighed, leaning into Midnight more as he exhaled.

"Thank you. I'm glad to hear that," Celestia relented, "Now, as for you four, I'm sure you're aware by now what our magic does to humans." 

"From what we've heard, it'll kill us in a matter of months if we don't get out of here." Jason replied.

Celestia seemed to frown slightly as he spoke, but she quickly hid her reaction before anyone could read into it much.

"Indeed. While I am glad to see more of your kind here, I'm afraid that you simply can not stay for you own sake." She said.

"Yeah, we were just trying to figure out how to deal with that little issue when you got here." Eddie chimed in.

"What is your plan? We might be able to assist you." Luna responded.

"At the moment, our plan is pretty much the dumbest thing I can think of, but Twilight said that teleporting us away isn't going to be an option." Jason explained.

"Hey, what if she just teleported us short distances over and over again until we were far enough away to get out of here?" Mike suggested.

"I'm afraid that won't work either. Teleportation is an extremely difficult spell. To do so with all four of you, especially considering how large you are compared to a normal pony, would be extremely taxing on even Twilight. Not to mention the effect teleportation could have on you all." Luna replied.

"What do you mean? What effect?" Jason asked.

"Well, Sky was never teleported as a human. We were afraid of multiple abnormalities from such a sudden shift in position. There are literally thousands of things that can go wrong, especially when you consider your species' lack of magic. In all honesty, teleporting would probably kill you all the first time, let alone ten to fifteen times." Luna explained.

"Well I guess that narrows our options down a bit, doesn't it." Rebecca sarcastically spoke up.

"I suppose so. What were the other options you were considering?" Celestia replied.

"Twilight, what's the name of that island again?" Jason asked, promoting the lavender alicorn to speak up.

"The Island of Magicae Artes Earumque." Twilight replied.

"Oh..." Celestia trailed off.

"We understand the dangers presented with going there, at least, some of them," Jason elaborated, "But we were hoping that you might be able to tell us more before we fully commit to this." 

"Are you absolutely sure there are no other options?" Luna asked, there was an almost pleading tone in her voice.

"We've gone over just about any other option I can think of. Our radios are completely shot, so we can't communicate with the rest of our forces even if we got close enough. Trying to walk out of here simply isn't going to happen, and we only have six months..." Jason trailed off.

"Well, we're not one hundred percent sure if that's exactly how much time you each have-" Celestia began before Jason interrupted.

"No, not for us... For the rest of our guys on the other side of the planet... I just remembered... Fuck... They're leaving in six months." Jason's shoulders slumped and he visibly staggered back a step.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck..." Mike whispered.

"Son of a bitch." Eddie cursed.

"Oh... Oh no..." Rebecca sighed.

"What do you mean? Why are the rest of your people leaving so soon?" Twilight interjected.

Jason didn't reply for some time. With the many eyes in the room staring at him as if he held all the answers, time seemed to slow to a crawl, and the thirty or so seconds before he finally replied dragged on for what felt like hours.

"They have a mission... We have a mission... It's why we came here in the first place." Jason spoke slowly, as if finding the words was proving increasingly difficult as he went on.

"What mission?" Sky spoke up.

"We were at war... It was a war that spanned all the way from the Milky Way to Andromeda..." Jason trailed off again, a deep frown on his face.

"What happened?" Twilight asked, stepping towards Jason with a worried look on her face.

"It started like just about any other war, I guess... I barely remember how. Andromeda wanted something, the Milky Way wanted something else. It's a long discussion- the point is, a lot of ships went down over the course of the war, and our jobs for the last year have been to search for and rescue lost crews throughout space. That's what got us on Lawson's trail, and that's why our people are leaving. There are literally hundreds of distress calls still out there. We can only afford a few months per planet." Jason explained, huffing slightly.

"So... what happens if we don't get you back before you're supposed to leave?" Twilight pressed, a look of worry creeping onto her face.

Jason did not reply. He gazed at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the room, before Eddie spoke up for him.

"We get left behind." He said, frowning heavily.

Painful silence filled the air while the ponies in the room tried to think of some way to respond to that. Twilight pawed at the floor while Celestia and Luna shared a look of concern with each other. 

"Well... what about your ship? The one that crashed in the White-tail woods? Can't you fix it?" Spike chimed in after some time.

"Same thing with our radios... Even if we had the tools to fix all the obvious damage to her... the wiring's all fried. We'd have to completely replace two thousand meters of wiring and electronics. That bird's never flying again." Rebecca mournfully replied.

"What... what are you planning to do then?" Luna asked.

"I think that really does only leave us with one choice... We have to go to the island." Jason said, shaking his head.

"The Island of Magicae Artes Earumque is still a perilous journey at best... Are you sure there are no other options?' Luna pressed.

"It's either we leave for the island, or we stay here and hope you can find a way to protect us from your magic. Honestly, I'm leaning towards taking our chances with the island." Jason replied.

"I still say that we can figure it out. We have some of the brightest minds on the planet here now. Don't you think you're making that decision just a tad too quickly?" Starlight spoke up once more.

"We're not rushing into a decision. We just don't have much time to chose. The sooner we get to that island, the sooner one of you can work your magic to help us, and we live. If we wait and try to figure it out here, and you can't help us, then we miss our window and die no matter what." Jason replied.

Starlight frowned and cast her gaze to the floor while the rest of the ponies in the room shared contemplative looks with each other. After a few moments, it was Celestia who broke the silence.

"While I can't say I believe the island is the only course of action for you, I do believe it might be the best. As dangerous as it may be, we have next to nothing when it comes to your species and magic. For you, the journey could be a simple affair, however, just as easily, it could be the most extreme and painful experience of your lives. Many ponies have died along that path, but we simply don't know how it will affect all of you." She explained.

"Regardless of whether or not it's the best choice, we're still going to discuss it more. I'm not deciding on anything right now. I want more time to think about the risks and what our best course of action is going to be. Tomorrow morning we'll probably decide." Jason declared.

"I understand. We will stay for the night. Please, inform us of your decision in the morning. We'd all very much like to know what you decide." Celestia calmly replied.

"We will. In the meantime... I think I speak for the four of us when I say that we should get some food." Jason said, feeling his stomach grumble in agreement.

"Oh! We have food! I just made breakfast." Spike eagerly piped up, gesturing to the rest of the table.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm not sure we can eat your food... can we?" Jason asked, turning to Sky.

"Oh yeah, you can eat the food here. I mean, I wouldn't have made it six months if I couldn't." Sky replied, dismissively waving a hoof.

"At this point I'm starting to think that this planet is just a second Earth with magic radiation." Mike shook his head as he walked over to the table and grabbed a muffin.

"Seconded." Eddie agreed as he followed suit.

Jason and Rebecca were quick to follow, prompting a small chuckle from the day princess.

"It appears you were all quite famished." She joked.

"Well, not eating for a day and a half will do that to you." Jason shrugged before biting into a blueberry muffin.

The warm, moist bread practically melted in his mouth, and blueberry flavor quickly followed suit. It was all he could do to not moan from the taste right on the spot.

"Hehe, I do believe a meal is in order then. Let us discuss more serious manners afterwards then." Celestia offered, already well aware of the answer.

The group of humans shared a collective nod, much to the amusement of everypony in the room.


.

.

.

.

.



Hours later


With the sun high in the sky, and everypony else moving along with their day, Sky and Midnight took to one of the many balconies in the castle. The warm sunlight gently heated their coats and brought a calming sense of relaxation to the world around them. Unfortunately, calm and relaxed were the last things Midnight was feeling.

"You can't be serious!?" She questioned, raising her voice.

"Mid, I know it's not the best idea I've ever had, but I really feel like I need to do this." Sky reasoned.

"No! Absolutely not! You can't just go with them to that island! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to ponies!? You'll die!" Midnight shot back, pressing a hoof against his chest.

"I'm not going to die... but I can't just let them go without me." Sky said, his eyes falling to the floor.

"Why!? Nopony asked you to go with them? They didn't even ask you to go with them!" Midnight shouted.

"I know... but I just... I can't let them go alone, Mid... I mean... I just can't." 

"Why?" Midnight questioned, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Because what kind of person would I be if I just let them go and risk their lives when they're only here because of me?" Sky said, stopping Midnight in her tracks.

"W-well... I-You..." She trailed off.

"Mid, trust me, I'm just talking about asking them if they'll let me tag along. I'm not saying it's even for sure yet. Besides, I'm not planning on going all the way to the island. If it's as dangerous as everyone keeps saying, then I'm just gonna hang back while they get the crystals. I promise I'm coming back to you either way." Sky explained, gently caressing her cheek with a hoof.

Midnight sighed and dropped her gaze to the floor.

"I know you feel like you have a responsibility to help these people... but... we had plans... we were just about to start a family." Midnight whispered as a tear streaked down her cheek.

"I know... and I want to have a kid just as bad as you do... but how can I look my son or daughter in the eye and tell them I stood idly by while good people died and I did nothing? I can't, Mid... I just can't." Sky pleaded.

Midnight closed her eyes to stop anymore tears from falling and shakily nodded. 

"Alright then... I'm coming with you." She declared.

"What?" Sky did a double take.

"I'm coming with you. You want to risk your life like this, then I'm coming with. At least that way I can make sure you don't kill yourself doing something stupid." She said, the firmness of her voice declaring that this wasn't up for debate.

"Mid, I can't let you put yourself at risk like that. I love you way too much to- ooooh... I see what you did there, you flipped it on me." Sky realized.

"Heh, exactly. And it's not up for debate. If you're sure about this, then I'm coming with you. End of discussion." Midnight said, giving a cheeky grin.

"Are you sure? It's not exactly gonna be a cake walk." Sky reasoned.

"Neither was carrying your heavy ass up that mountain, but I did that and I can do this. Anywhere you go, I go, big guy." Midnight shot back.

"Fair enough. Let's just be careful then. If something happened to you, I couldn't live with myself." Sky replied, nuzzling his cheek against her neck. 

Midnight quickly returned the gesture and pulled Sky a little closer with her foreleg.

"You just remember whose bright idea this was." She whispered, before nipping at his ear.





Jason paced back and forth while the rest of the team sat around in their room in various positions. Mike took up his spot laying down on his back on the bed while Eddie sat on the floor with his back against a wall. Rebecca took to simply laying down on the bed next to Mike and staring straight up at the ceiling.

"So, uh... you have a plan yet, Sarge?" Mike asked, eyeing him as he paced to and fro.

Jason paused in his pacing to sigh and shake his head.

"Not yet, Mike." He said.

"Alright, just checking." Mike shrugged as best as he could from his position.

"We've all been sitting up here thinking about what to do since breakfast. That was four hours ago now. I think getting some air might do us all some good." Rebecca suggested.

"You're welcome to go outside and get some air, Chief." Eddie replied.

"Okay, but I mean like, all of us. Especially you." She said, pointing at Jason.

Jason raised an eyebrow at her gesture, "What? Why me?" 

"Because you're clearly driving yourself insane over there trying to figure out the best course of action right now." She replied, a slight tone of parental disapproval in her voice.

"It's not an easy decision to make... I went over the route we'd have to take with Twilight and... it's gonna be rough. There's a desert, mountains, months of sailing... Regardless of what we end up doing, I don't think we're getting out of here any time soon." Jason sighed.

"Well, our first issue is the magic thing, but after that's solved, I can get our radios working. It's just going to take... a while to make the parts that're fried. Once that's done, and they work, I can radio up to one of the comms buoys and get us an evac." Eddie shrugged.

"How long is 'a while'?" Mike asked squinting slightly.

"Uh... depends on how long it takes to process the raw materials here, but... maybe a year? Two?" Eddie shrugged once more.

"A fucking year..." Mike whispered, looking back up at the ceiling.

"I wish I had a better answer, but the way things are here... it looks like they don't even have the methods of production that we had back in the early two thousands. To fix just one of our radios is gonna... it's gonna take some time." Eddie replied, looking down at the floor.

"Of course, none of that matters if we're all dead in six months anyways." Jason spoke up, directing all eyes towards him.

"Man, are we really sure that we believe them about all that shit? Like, do we really believe that 'Sky' is actually David Lawson? It just seems like too much to be true." Mike pointed out.

"He knew things that only Lawson would know." Jason replied.

"I mean, they could have just tortured the information out of him." Mike suggested.

"They tortured every single piece of information out of him that he could have possibly known, in the hopes of us showing up just so that they could lie to us and have a random pony pretend to be him by answering questions they couldn't have possibly known we would ask?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Well... when you put it like that..." Mike petered off.

"I think we're down to our last option here, then." Rebecca said.

"Looks that way. I guess we're gonna have to make the trip to the island." Jason replied.

"Welp, I always did want to die somewhere tropical." Mike shrugged.

"It's in the north man. If anything, it's gonna be like Antarctica." Eddie pointed out, holding up a finger for emphasis. 

"...Fuck." Mike sighed.

Before any of them could say anything else, there was a knock at the door. Jason made his way over to said door and opened it, revealing Sky and Midnight. 

"Lawson- Er, Sky... what're you doing up here?" Jason asked.

"Well... We wanted to talk to you guys. You got a minute?" Sky replied.

"Uh, yeah. Sure, come on in." Jason held the door open for them as the two ponies entered the room. 

"So, I know that you guys don't really know me... and I know that you're hesitant to trust anyone here, but I really need to know... Are you going to the island?" Sky said, speaking calmly and slowly.

"We're... still deciding on that. For now, it looks like that's our plan." Jason replied, crossing his arms.

Sky sighed slightly, "Alright. Can we come with you?" 

Jason simply stared at him as if he heard something wrong while Eddie did a double take. Mike and Rebecca both rose up to sitting positions to make sure they understood him correctly.

"Wait, you wanna go with us?" Mike asked, puzzled.

"I know it probably sounds crazy. Mid and I... Well, we talked about this a lot while you were up here... and I can't help but feel like you guys being here is my fault." Sky explained shyly rubbing a foreleg with his hoof while Midnight rubbed his wither.

Jason sighed, "It's not your fault. This was our mission, plain and simple. We all knew what we signed up for. Don't blame yourself." 

"I know. All the same though, I'd like to help you guys if I can. I remember my first month here and how alone I felt, and... well, you guys are likely the only humans I'm ever going to see again. It just wouldn't feel right to me if there was something I could do to help you out and I didn't... and if any of you died because of that..." Sky continued, looking at each human in the room one by one.

Jason, Eddie, Mike, and Rebecca shared mixed looks of appreciation, disbelief, and gratefulness before Jason looked back at the two equines standing in front of him.

"What about you, Midnight? I can't imagine you want to go off and do something so dangerous with us." He pointed out.

Midnight tensed up slightly at the sudden attention, but took a small breath and spoke.

"I've already talked it over with Sky a bit, and there isn't a chance in Tartaraus that I'm letting him go do something this dangerous without me. Besides... I really appreciate the fact that you weren't going to just take him away without regards for his feelings on it. So, thank you. I'd like to help you all too." She explained squeezing Sky just a tad tighter in the process.

"Jesus they're so cute..." Rebecca whispered.

"Well... thank you. I think we're going to need all the help we can get on this one. If you're both sure... then we'd all greatly appreciate the help." Jason replied, giving a friendly smile.

"I'm not too sure just how much help we'll be, but every little bit counts, right?" Sky said, giving a small grin.
> Chapter 7: When Do We Leave?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tempest paced back and forth in the foyer as Twilight, Luna, and Celestia ate breakfast together in the dining room just behind the door. As much as she believed it as her duty to protect the princesses, she just couldn't focus. Her thoughts raced back and forth over and over again while she bit her lip in growing frustration.

"Just... ask. You can do that much, Tempest. It's not that hard... but you literally just started... yes but this is a very unique circumstance... Besides, she knows just as well as I do that they need all the help they can get... Ugh." She thought aloud.

Tempest walked over to the nearby window and glanced outside at the sun. As it hung low in the sky, and the hot light peered in through the window, she let out a long, drawn out sigh.

"Looks like it's gonna be a hot day today... Ugh, why am I like this?" She whispered to herself.

Before she could answer her own question, a doorway up the stairs opened, and her ears flicked towards the source of noise almost instantly. Boots on crystal steps sounded through the air, and before Tempest could even see them, she had a fair idea as to who was coming down the stairs. 

Jason walked down the steps and quickly saw the mulberry unicorn as she stared back at him. He gave a friendly smile at seeing her and made his way over to her side.

"What'cha looking at?" He asked, glancing out the window.

"Oh, uh, nothing..." Tempest replied, realizing that she was staring and looking away, "Just... you know, it's pretty warm outside already. I think it's going to be a hot day today." 

Jason looked out the window and squinted, "Yeah, it might be a bit warm today... You look a little hot to be honest." 

Tempest looked at him with a look of confusion, only to realize that a steady blush had crept onto her face after he arrived. Her eyes widened and she nervously gulped.

"Uh, hehe, y-yeah... It's the armor and... I'm a little warm right now. I-I'll be fine though." She stammered, giving him a dismissal wave of her hoof in the process.

Jason tilted his head to the side at her behavior, "Uh, are you sure you're okay? You seem kinda nervous." 

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. Really, don't worry about me." Tempest quickly replied, trying her best to give a winning smile.

Before Jason could respond, another voice spoke out, directing both of their attention back to the dining room.

"Ah, Jason, and Tempest, there you are. Why don't you both come in for breakfast?" Celestia asked, eyeing them both with a motherly smile.

"I think I'll take you up on that offer, your highness," Jason replied before looking down at Tempest again, "What about you?" He asked.

"Um... s-sure." Tempest hesitantly said.

Jason and Tempest walked to the dining room and followed Celestia as she lead them to the table. Just as yesterday morning, there was a mountain of food on the table. Everything ranging from muffins to pancakes, and strawberries to bananas littered the table in some manner or another. As the three of them approached, they were met by Luna and Twilight, who by the looks of things, were just in the middle of breakfast themselves.

"Good morning, Jason. It is good to see you up so early." Luna greeted, giving Jason a curt nod.

"Thank you, your highness. I uh, I've always been something of an early bird." Jason replied, giving a nod in return.

"Oh please, no need to be so formal. Honestly, I think we all prefer to be more casual with each other. Please, just call me Luna." Luna insisted.

"Same for me. Please, just call me Celestia." Celestia added.

"Um, well if you're both sure. I will, thank you." Jason said.

"Now come, sit. I don't suppose we can expect the rest of your team to be down here soon, can we?" Celestia continued, igniting her horn and pulling a chair out for him and Tempest.

Jason slowly took his seat and gave a thankful nod to the solar diarch, "They'll all be down in a few minutes. Same with Sky and Midnight. We were all up pretty late last night." Jason explained.

As he talked, Tempest hesitantly took the seat Celestia had pulled out for her, which just so happened to be right next to Jason. She kept her head straight and tried to keep her eyes facing ahead, although she spared a glance his way every so often as he continued.

"I see. What were Sky and Midnight discussing with you, if you don't mind my prying?" Celestia calmly asked before sipping her morning tea.

"They want to come with us." Jason replied.

Celestia nearly choked on her tea. She devolved into a minor coughing fit for a few moments before regaining her composure, much to everyone in the rooms relief.

"I-I'm sorry, did you say they want to go with you?" She asked, her voice a little strained.

"Yes... Uh, I wasn't too sure at first either, but Laws-er, Sky, made it clear that he felt responsible for us being here, so he wanted to help." Jason explained.

"That stallion..." Celestia shook her head.

"And Midnight?" Luna pressed.

"Anywhere he goes, she goes. At least, that's how she explained it to me last night. I understand though, she seems really protective of him. He must mean a lot to her." Jason shrugged.

"Indeed. I just wish that they weren't so ready to risk their lives at a moments notice... I've grown rather fond of those two..." Luna replied, pursing her lips.

"If you'll let them come with us, I'll make sure nothing happens to them. My guys and I have a lot of experience in hostile environments. We should be able to get any ponies that come with us back in one piece, no problem." Jason confidently said.

"That... is good to hear. I assume this all means that you've decided on making the journey to the island then." Celestia pressed.

"Yeah. We're pretty much decided at the moment. We're planning on leaving today, if at all possible." Jason explained.

"But you just got here, and that's a loooooong journey. Wouldn't you like to stock up on some necessities first?" Twilight asked.

"We have just about everything we need in our packs... Well, maybe not for six months, but we'll survive." Jason shrugged.

"Are you sure? I know you want to get started as soon as possible, but it might be a good idea to stock up for a day or two." Twilight suggested.

"I know, and normally, I'd agree with you... but there's only so much we can carry anyway. Not to mention, we don't know exactly how long this journey is going to take or how long we all have, so at this point, every second counts." Jason replied.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Jason. Every second they spend here is a second they could spend on their journey to the island." Celestia chimed in.

"So... you're leaving today?" Tempest asked, a tiny trace of dread in her voice.

"Yeah. As much as I'd like to stick around for a bit, we're gonna have to move out today if we want any chance of making it out of here alive." Jason replied, apologetically shrugging.

Tempest frowned and dropped her gaze to the floor.

"Well then, when will you leave?" Luna asked.

"Probably in just a few hours-"

Tempest immediately looked back up at him as if she was going to respond. Her jaw worked to speak, but the words simply wouldn't come out, and once more, she fell silent, her eyes dropping to the floor. Twilight watched her with growing concern while Jason continued to speak to the princesses.

"-Honestly, we're mostly just going to be waiting for Sky and Midnight. My team can be out of here in a few minutes if we really needed to." Jason explained.

"I see. Well, we wish you good fortune in your journey. It will not be an easy one, but we all hope that you are successful." Luna replied.

"Thank you. I hope to see you all when we get back. You've been very kind to us, and it means a lot." Jason responded, nodding his head in thanks.

"Think nothing of it. We always hoped to meet more humans in such a civilized manner." Celestia smiled.

"Hehe, thanks. Speaking of more humans, I'd better go see what's taking the rest of them so long. I'll be back in a minute." Jason said before standing up from his chair and making his way out of the dining room.

Twilight immediately seized the opportunity and hopped out of her chair. She quickly made her way over to Tempest while Celestia and Luna continued eating their breakfast and drinking their tea.

"Tempest?" Twilight tapper her on the shoulder.

Tempest appeared to be deep in thought, and the tap on her shoulder snapped her out of her stupor enough to look at Twilight with a questioning glance.

"Um... Yes? What is it?" She hesitantly replied, glancing back at the princesses the whole while.

" I need to talk to you. Come with me," Twilight said, heading for the doorway before addressing the other princesses, "Celestia, Luna, I'm gonna talk with Tempest for a moment. We'll be right back."   

"Hmm? Alright." Celestia replied, glancing up from her tea.

Tempest slowly hopped out of her chair and followed the lavender princess out of the dining room and into the foyer. Once there, Twilight turned around and took a deep breath.

"Okay, I want nothing but the best for you, Tempest, so I need you to answer me truthfully here, okay?" She began.

Tempest could only nod once while a feeling of dread welled up in her heart.

"Do you want to go with the humans?" Twilight asked.

Tempest owlishly blinked at that for a moment before finding her voice, "Uh, ex-excuse me?" 

"Do you want to go to the island with Sky, Midnight, and the humans?" Twilight pressed, "I need to know the truth here."

"Uh... W-why does that matter?" Tempest slowly replied.

"Because I can see that them leaving is hurting you, and I need to know if it's just a small crush, or you maybe feel something more here. I don't know if anypony else notices it, but I sure do. The way you look at him, and the way he captures your attention so completely when he speaks, or when he's anywhere near you, it's obvious that you have some feelings for Jason, Tempest." Twilight explained.

Tempest's cheeks heated up. She bit her lip and looked away, but quickly found she had nowhere to go. She had no place to hide, and no one to protect her from this line of questioning. Soon enough, she realized that Twilight was growing impatient for a response, and she had to say something.

"I... I really would like to go with them... But I can't. I'm your guard. It's my duty to stay here with you. B-besides... they're leaving once they're safe. There's no point in pursuing anything with any of them... let alone Jason." Tempest replied, with a sad undertone in her voice.

"Tempest, you don't know that. For all you know, they might decide that they want to stay. I know Sky did after he met Midnight, and for all you know, that could be the same with Jason or any of them for that matter. Now, as for making that journey, I'm willing to let you go with them." Twilight said, placing her hoof on Tempest's wither.

"W-what?" Tempest gasped, "B-but, I just started guarding you the other day!" She exclaimed.

"I know. That said, I can see how much this is affecting you, and I know that you don't feel this way often, if ever. If there's even a chance for you to find some happiness out of this whole situation, and maybe make Jason happy too, then I'm more than willing to let you go and do so. Consider it a uh... early vacation?" Twilight grinned.

"Twilight... I can't just accept this." Tempest replied, struggling to digest Twilight's kindness.

"Okay, think of it like this. I'm 'ordering' you to protect Sky and Midnight while they travel with the humans on their journey. Sound better?" Twilight beamed.

"I... I don't know what to say." 

"How's about 'Yes ma'am, I'll go pack my things immediately'?" Twilight teased.

"But... what if they don't want another pony going with them?" Tempest asked.

"Oh, stop worrying so much. I'll take care of that. You just go pack your things." Twilight dismissed.

"Thank you." Tempest replied.

For a moment, she seemed unsure of what to do, but eventually, the mulberry unicorn quickly wrapped her forelegs around the lavender alicorn and pulled her into a gentle hug. Twilight happily returned the gesture, and after a brief moment, they separated. Tempest gave a quick smile, and headed off to her room at a full gallop, leaving a smiling Twilight behind.

"Hehe, that mare needs to learn how to accept a gift." Twilight chuckled before heading up the stairs toward the humans' room.





Jason pinched the bridge of his nose as he watched the scene in front of him unfold. Mike and Eddie barely suppressed their own groans and snickers as they watched alongside him.

"Uh... Guys? Please help." Sky pleaded as Rebecca squeezed him tighter in a bear hug.

"So... fluffy." She whispered.

Midnight raised an eyebrow at the display before turning to face Jason, Mike, and Eddie.

"So... are any of you gonna help him? Or do I have to go get Sky out of that?" She asked.

"Eh, they're having a moment." Eddie shrugged.

"Midnight's right. Come on, Chief. Put him down." Jason ordered.

"But... he's so fluffy." Rebecca whined, nuzzling her cheek against Sky's mane in the process.

"That I am... But we kinda need to go... and you're... squishing me..." Sky managed as he was squeezed even tighter.

"Alright, that's enough. Please let go of my stallion." Midnight said, igniting her horn and prying Rebecca's arms off the crimson pegasus.

"Nooooooooooooo..." Rebecca complained as Sky jumped out of her embrace and landed on the floor.

"Oh thank you. I can breath again." Sky gasped, quickly making his way over to Midnight and nuzzling her.

"Hehe, anytime, big guy." 

Jason spared a small grin for the pony couple before turning to address a completely crestfallen Rebecca. However, before he could say a word, there was a knock at the door, and Mike quickly turned to open it. Once the door was open, they were greeted by Twilight, who gave them a warm, albeit confused, smile.

"Hi there. Just wanted to check up on all of you and see if you still wanted breakfast?" Twilight began before noticing Sky, Midnight, and Rebecca, "Uh... what happened in here?" She asked.

"I miss the fluff..."  Rebecca whispered.

"Nothing. Just a... small misunderstanding of personal space. Nothing serious. We'll be downstairs in a few minutes. Thank you." Jason replied.

"Good to hear. Although, there is... one more thing I'd like to talk to all of you about." Twilight continued.

"What's that?" 

"How would you like to have another pony come along with you? One that has a lot of experience outside of Equestria and can help you navigate the safest path to the island?" She asked, a knowing grin on her face.

"Well... that sounds absolutely amazing. I don't think you're asking if you can come with us though, are you?" Jason replied.

"Hehe, no, I'm afraid not. I'd like Tempest to come along with you if at all possible." Twilight explained.

"Tempest? Isn't she your guard though?" Mike asked, a skeptical look on his face.

"While Tempest is indeed my personal guard, I have a lot of leeway with where she goes at the moment. The plan originally was for her to start a new guard regiment here in Ponyville for me, but I planned that all out months ago, before I knew I was going to be taking over for Celestia and Luna. The current plan with her is just for her to be absorbed into the Canterlot royal guard, but that can wait until after your journey. Also, she really wants to go." Twilight continued, a sly smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

Jason gave her a look of pleasant surprise, "Does she? Well, that's actually great. I really like Tempest. By all means, at this point, the more the merrier." He replied, glancing back at the rest of the team.

"Tempest is coming with us? Hell yeah." Sky smiled.

"Are we expecting any more ponies to join us out of nowhere?" Mike asked, looking at the window as if another pony was going to smash through at any moment.

"Tempest is a very smart pony. She's also very adept when it comes to survival outside of Equestria. She managed to survive for seventeen years by relying on nothing but herself. Trust me, you'll want her to come with you." Twilight insisted.

"Well, if it's good with Jay, then it's good with me." Eddie shrugged.

Twilight looked at Rebecca to find her still pouting slightly.

"Anything you have to say, Chief?" Jason asked, crossing his arms.

"She's not fluffy though..." Rebecca muttered.

Jason stared at her for a few seconds before leaning down to Twilight and whispering, "Is there a chance that this magic of yours makes people act kind of... weird?" 

"I'm afraid so. Sky had a lot of problems, especially with his memory. It really just depends on where the magic decides to settle down in your head." Twilight replied.

"Alright, well... No time to waste then. Guys, get all your gear and meet downstairs. We'll grab breakfast, and then we're moving out." Jason announced.

The room was quickly cleared out as all parties inside grabbed their gear and weapons. In a matter of minutes, they were all out the door and heading downstairs, with Twilight taking her position right beside Jason.

"So... are you sure you don't want to make any last minute preparations?" Twilight asked.

"If this stuff is already affecting our pilot... then we need to go asap." Jason replied, sparing a glance downward at the lavender alicorn.

"I understand. I hope that you'll be able to make this journey quickly enough though. I know it's a long way and everything, but I really do want to learn more about each of you." Twilight said, giving a soft smile.

"Thank you, Twilight. We'll be back in no time. Don't you worry about a thing." Jason replied with a cheeky grin.

Upon reaching the bottom of the steps, and stepping into the foyer, the group came upon Tempest, who by the looks of things, had just finished packing her saddlebags.

"Tempest, I hear you're going to be joining us." Jason happily greeted.

Tempest's ears immediately perked up at his voice, and she nearly dropped her saddlebags.

"Oh, yes! Um, if that's alright with you, of course." She replied.

"Well if what Twilight's told me about your knowledge outside of Equestria is true, then I don't think we can afford to do this without you, if I'm being honest." Jason admitted, scratching the back of his neck.

Tempest glanced down at Twilight to find her already giving an implicative smirk. Once again, her cheeks began to heat up, but she quickly refocused her attention on Jason and smiled.

"I'm more than happy to help." She said.

"Glad to hear it. Now, we'd better get some breakfast while it's still being offered. I don't know how often we're gonna be able to find food out there, so it's better to leave on a full stomach." Jason explained while heading into the dining room.

The rest of the Marines and ponies quickly followed him in and practically dove into the food waiting for them at the table, much to Celestia and Luna's surprise.





"Alright, I think that's everything." Mike summed up after zipping his pack and closing it. 

"We've got enough MRE's for a week, so let's try to use those as an emergency last resort," Jason replied, slinging his pack in the process, "Thanks to Twilight, Celestia, and Luna, we've got a healthy amount of bits to take care of anything once we're out of Equestria." 

"Wait, is Equestrian currency even good outside of... you know, Equestria?" Rebecca asked.

"It's solid gold. It's worth something. Might not be worth quite as much, but it'll be worth something." Jason replied.

"Uh... where is all of it then?" Eddie asked, looking around for a pile of gold.

"In here." Midnight chimed in, tapping her horn.

"Uh... what?" 

"Celestia and Luna gave me access to a private account in the royal archives. They also gave me a spell that lets me teleport the bits to us." She explained as she strapped her saddlebags on.

"Wait, I thought you guys couldn't teleport things over long distances? How're you gonna get the bits once we're out of the country?" Eddie asked, a puzzled look on his face.

"It's... different than just teleportation. Technically, this spell rips a hole in the fabric of the universe in two separate locations, and then we just pull the bits in from there." Midnight explained.

"So... you have a spell that literally lets you make a worm-hole?" Eddie questioned, having to physically restrain his jaw from hitting the floor.

"Well, kind of. It's just a very small hole, no bigger than a couple centimeters in diameter, so it's not too hard to maintain, but I can't exactly hold it open for long periods of time. I don't have that kind of magic capacity. Not to mention only heavy metals can pass through it. Everything else just gets lost along the way for... some reason." Midnight shrugged.

"Really wish we could just leave all the food and water here and just, you know, pull it through when we needed it." Mike sighed.

"Me too, but this spell has only been around for a few years now. Give it another hundred years or so and somepony will figure it out." Midnight replied.

"I spent years learning how worm-hole tech works and yet here you all are... just... already doing it." Eddie pouted.

"You can all talk about the exciting worm-hole technology once we're on the road. For right now, get your stuff on. We don't want to miss our train." Jason chimed in, grabbing Eddie's pack and throwing it to him.

"Yeah, yeah. I hear you." Eddie replied as he caught his pack.

The group quickly donned the rest of their gear and loaded their packs onto their backs. Just as fast, the three ponies accompanying them finished packing their saddlebags and strapping them on as well. Once he was sure they were all good to go, Jason took a moment to address the group.

"Alright, guys. You already know I'm not great at speeches, so I'll keep this short. Aside from our pony friends here, we don't know jack about this world. Once we're out of the country, it's gonna be a whole different ball game. Watch each others backs, and keep your eyes open. Remember your training, and remember everything we've been through together. This should take us five months to get there provided we follow the route given to us and keep a decent pace every day. Stick to the plan, and we'll all go home." Jason spoke, his eyes slowly scanning the group from one side to the other.

"Amen to that." Mike replied.

"I don't know what he's talking about, that was a great speech." Sky muttered.

Tempest allowed a smile to form on her face as she listened to Sky, before looking back at Jason and finding him giving her a smile.

"You ready?" He asked.

"Ready." Tempest replied, a stark determination filling her voice.

"Alright, let's head out." Jason announced.

With that, the group headed out the front doors and was immediately swamped by a crowd of no fewer than a hundred ponies.

"There they are!" One shouted.

"The humans!" Another cried.

All around them, cheers and excitement reigned out through the crowd at the sight of the human crew. Jason, Mike, Eddie, and Rebecca all shared mixed looks of confusion and surprise, before a lavender alicorn made her way to the front of the crowd.

"Jason! There you guys are. Come on!" Twilight called out over the crowd.

Jason motioned for the rest of the group to follow behind as he trailed after the lavender alicorn. She quickly led them through the crowd while ponies asked for autographs, pictures, and even a few hugs. Rebecca gave a few away before hurriedly catching up to the group. 

After a few minutes of pushing and squeezing through the crowded ponies, the group finally made it to the thinnest part of the crowd. Twilight confidently led them onward, much to the rearward crowd's displeasure, and soon enough, the train station came into view. Immediately, Jason could see two alicorns waiting for them; one shining white with a rainbow mane, and one midnight blue with a mane that resembled the night sky. Behind them, six more familiar ponies stood on the platform waiting for them.

Most of the crowd continued to follow behind at a distance, but fell even further behind as the sight of the royal sisters came into view. All the same, the humans and their ponies quickly made their way to the train station to greet them.

"There you all are," Celestia said, relief emanating from her voice, "I was starting to think you might miss your train."

"There won't be another heading to the Crystal Empire until tomorrow, so it would be quite unfortunate if you missed it." Luna added.

"Well we would've made it here a little sooner if we weren't held up by the crowd back there." Jason replied, stepping up onto the platform.

"You fella's must've drawn in three quarters of Ponyville." AppleJack pointed out, eyeing the somewhat distant crowd.

"Indeed. It was a struggle just trying to get past them all to the train station. I imagine it was even harder for you all to get here all the way from the castle." Rarity added.

"Well humanity does tend to draw a bit of a crowd here in Equestria." Celestia chuckled.

"Too bad we couldn't stay and sign a few autographs." Eddie joked.

"Once you all return." Celestia smiled.

"Oh! I can throw a 'Welcome back to Ponyville 'cause you're all not dead even though technically you've already been here once but we didn't have enough time to give you a party so instead we're giving one to you now' party!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing in place.

"A little celebratory drinking wouldn't be too bad after this trip." Mike shrugged.

"Oh! You guys have got to try out AppleJack's zap-apple cider! It's the best cider on the planet!" Rainbow excitedly pointed out.

"Heh, guess we'll have to try it." Jason smirked.

"When do you think you'll all be back?" Fluttershy asked.

"If everything goes well, we'll be back in under a year." Jason replied.

Fluttershy's jaw dropped.

"What? Five months there, then five months back." Jason shrugged.

"We just didn't think you'd be gone for quite so long, darling. I suppose that means it's a good thing we brought you some gifts." Rarity spoke up, magicking a tightly folded cloth out from behind her mane.

"What's this?" Jason asked.

"Oh, just a little something I whipped up last night after we talked about you going to the island. It's not much, but it's waterproof, and  it will keep you just a little bit warmer in the North." She said, levitating the fabric over to Jason's hand.

He took the fabric and eyed it curiously. It weighed almost nothing, yet it was clearly wrapped in on itself dozens of times to a size just bigger than the width of his hand.

"Well... thank you. This really means a lot." Jason gratefully replied.

"Think nothing of it, darling. Once you return, I would very much like to design some clothes for all of you. I have yet to break into a 'bipedal' line of clothing at my boutique and I have some ideas I think you'd love." She beamed.

"We'll look forward to it." Jason grinned, before AppleJack stepped up beside Rarity with a paper bag in one hoof.

"Think ya'll got room fer a little more rope?" She asked, pulling a fair amount of rope out of the bag, "I know it ain't much, but this rope is some of the toughest stuff I've ever had. It'll hold at least three of ya'." She explained.

Mike stepped forward and took the rope from the country mare and eyed it closely.

"You know what, I think we'll have some use for this. Thanks, AppleJack." Mike nodded.

The farm pony blushed slightly and gave a nod in return, "Heh, don't mention it partner." 

Starlight quickly stepped forward and held out a silver bracelet in her hoof. 

"It's a mini magic detector. It'll, uh... Help you figure out how far along your magic issues are... As you already know, I wish you would stay so we could help you properly, but if nothing else, maybe this'll help out a bit." Starlight explained.

Jason took the bracelet and clipped it over his wrist. It fit snugly, and immediately, a feint blue light glowed to life on the inside portion of the bracelet.

"This is unbelievably helpful... Thank you, Starlight." Jason replied, giving a thankful smile.

"I did the best I could in the time I had. The further along the magic gets into your heads, the warmer the color should get. It should turn from blue to green, green to yellow, and yellow to red." Starlight elaborated further.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Thank you for your help." 

Next up, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie stepped forward with their own bags.

"Okay, so I know you all have food and stuff, but I have the best chocolate sauce you've ever tried and I wanted to give it to you since I didn't really have anything else to give and I remember something about MRE's not being very tasty so hopefully this'll help." Pinkie explained, holding out a small jar filled to the brim with chocolate sauce.

"Oh, uh... thanks, Pinkie." Jason replied, taking the jar and setting it in his pack alongside Rarity's fabric.

"And, um, I got you some honey from the bee's at the animal sanctuary. It's um, not a lot, but every little bit helps, right?" Fluttershy spoke up, hoofing over another small jar.

"Dibs," Eddie said, taking the jar of honey, "Thank you. I love honey." He said, getting a bright smile from the butterscotch mare.

Lastly, Rainbow Dash stepped forward and held out a hoof, holding what appeared to be a small cloud in a bottle.

"It's a baby cloud. The cap has pores in it, so when it starts to turn black, just squeeze the bottle and some water will come out. It takes a day or two before it fills back up with water again, but hey, you dudes are going through a desert, so you need all the water you can get." Rainbow proudly explained.

"Alright, that's actually really cool." Mike said, clearly impressed.

Jason took the bottle from Rainbow's hoof and gave her a grateful nod.

"Thank you. All of you. We can't tell you how much we appreciate the gifts. We'll have to pay you all back once we're out of this situation." He said, turning to each of the gathered ponies.

Luna smiled at the scene before she turned to the crimson red pegasus and graphite grey unicorn in front of her.

"And as for you two-" She said, stepping toward Sky and Midnight, "You had better return in one piece. I already feel a lapse in judgement for letting you go on this journey, so you'd better not make me regret it." She admonished, poking Midnight's chest with her hoof.

"Princess, I promise that we'll both make it back. You don't have to worry about us." Midnight replied, smiling at Luna's concern.

"Yeah, besides, I'll keep her out of any trouble." Sky teased, wrapping a hoof around Midnight's wither and squeezing her closer to him.

"What I said goes double for you." Luna responded, squinting at him slightly.

"Wha? Me? Why?" Sky asked, feigning insult.

Luna and Midnight both raised an eyebrow at him.

"Alright, alright. I'll be careful." Sky relented, holding his hooves up in mock surrender.

"You'd better be... I don't want anything bad to happen to you both." Luna said, frowning slightly.

Sky sighed before taking a step forwards and pulling the night princess into a hug. She gasped at the sudden affection, before leaning into it and hugging him back. A moment later, Midnight joined in.

Meanwhile, Celestia continued to converse with Jason and the rest of the group.

"I do hope to see you all again soon enough. I know the journey will be long, but if there's any other way my sister or I can assist you, please just send a letter. We'll do everything in our power to assist." She said.

"Same for me. I've already let Cadence know to expect you, but if there's anything else I can do for you, have Midnight send a letter." Twilight added.

"Thank you. All of you. We weren't too sure about you ponies at first, but your help has been extremely appreciated. Once we're back, I'll have to find some way to repay all of you." Jason replied, giving a sincere smile.

"Oh, think nothing of it. It's our pleasure to help you." Celestia said, dismissively waving a hoof.

Jason gave a grateful nod, before the sound of a train horn redirected his attention to the incoming train. Every human on the platform stared with slack jaws as the colorful abomination of a train pulled into the station. From heart-shaped windows, to gingerbread house themed carts in the brightest, pinkest color combination possible, the train came to a stop, and the doors opened.

"Jesus fucking Christ..." Mike muttered.

"Welp... I guess that's us..." Eddie hesitantly announced.

"Yeah, the trains here are really... colorful... Tia, you gotta do something about that." Sky said, shaking his head.

"Wha? I had nothing to do with that! The train company thought it was appealing to all audiences." Celestia defensively replied.

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight..." Sky chuckled. 

"Not like we've got many options. Let's go." Jason ordered, taking the first step into the train. 

Eddie, Mike, and Rebecca slowly followed behind, leaving Sky, Tempest, and Midnight on the platform with the three alicorns.

"Alright, I guess this is gonna be goodbye for a bit." Midnight said.

"I'm afraid so. Please, do return safely. I've grown quite fond of our weekly get togethers." Celestia replied.

"Eh, don't worry too much about us. We're just gonna go walk half-way around the world. Nothing big." Sky grinned.

"Sky, it's only two thousand miles. That's not even remotely half-way around the planet." Luna chimed in.

"I know, I was exaggerating! Either way, we'll be okay. We'll see you in a few months." 

With that, Sky stepped forward and hugged the alabaster alicorn, who happily returned the hug. Midnight smiled for a moment, before Celestia's horn lit up, and she was quickly pulled into the embrace.

Tempest smiled softly at the scene as she stepped toward the train, only for Twilight to quickly trot up to her.

"Wait, Tempest!" She called.

"Hmm? What is it, Twilight?" Tempest replied, turning around to fully face the mare.

"Before you go... here, take this." Twilight's horn lit up, levitating a small sapphire crystal to her waiting hoof.

"What's... this?" Tempest asked, curiously eyeing the crystal.

"It's... a work in progress... I wanted to finish it before you left, but with everything else going on, and how difficult it is to rework crystal into a mana matrix... It's not quite finished yet." Twilight explained.

"You... you don't mean..." Tempest trailed off.

"It won't completely replace your horn or anything like that, and it certainly won't last long on this journey, but I'll get started on another one while you're gone, so when you come back, I'll have a finished version. Just, uh... try to save it for extreme circumstances." Twilight finished, giving a friendly smile.

"I... I don't know what to say... Just... You're the best friend I ever could have asked for." Tempest replied, blinking back several tears.

"Just... Take care of yourself out there, okay?" The lavender alicorn sheepishly said.

"Heh, don't worry about me, Twilight. I'll be okay." Tempest chuckled, smiling gratefully.

Twilight bit her lip in thought for a moment before lunging forward and pulling the mulberry unicorn into a tight hug. Tempest quickly returned the gesture, and pulled her close.

"I hate goodbyes, so this is just a 'see you later', okay?" Twilight said.

"Deal. I'll see you later, Twilight." Tempest replied, nuzzling her cheek against Twilight's neck.

Not a moment later, the train horn sounded, and everypony on the platform brought their gaze to the open door of the cart.

"Well... Time to go, I guess." Sky admitted.

"We'll see you soon. Be safe." Celestia replied.

With that, Sky, Midnight, and Tempest headed into the cart, and the door closed behind them. They quickly found their seats among the humans, and the train jolted to life. As the group inside looked out the window, they quickly saw the fading silhouettes of the three alicorn princesses and element of harmony bearers waving at them. Soon enough, they were out of sight, and the grassy fields around them gave way to open plains. 

"So... Anybody got any good board games?" Mike asked.
> Chapter 8: Crystal Empire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The train chugged along the warmly lit tracks on its way to the Crystal Empire at a steady pace. The only seven passengers on board could barely be bothered to look out the windows to appreciate the beauty of the outside world though. There was something far more interesting inside the train keeping their attention.

"So, hold on, you ate an entire wheel of cheese in the middle of a firefight?" Sky asked, tilting his head to the side and raising his eyebrow.

"Hell yeah. No shit, there I was, wearing nothing but my helmet and boxers, shooting out the kitchen window with all that food around me, and I hadn't had anything to eat in three days, so I took a break." Mike shrugged, smiling smugly.

"What he neglects to mention, is that he hadn't shaved the whole time we were out, so he looked like a viking, in underwear, with a machine gun." Jason added.

"And that's not even mentioning after we fought off that insurrectionist assault and the Captain came by to congratulate us all. I don't think that man stopped laughing for an hour straight." Eddie finished.

"Well... that's... gross." Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do." Mike shrugged.

"Sky, what about you? You got any good war stories?" Jason asked.

"Well, uh, no, not really. I was in the Army during peacetime. I didn't really get to see much of anything other than Fort Valor." Sky recalled.

"Ah, well, now's your chance to explore the world, isn't it?" Eddie offered.

"Hehe, I guess it is." Sky shrugged.

"It's definitely exciting to go see the Crystal Empire. I've never been this far up North before." Midnight chimed in.

"You're going to want a scarf... and a beanie... and boots." Tempest recollected.

"You've been up here before?" Jason inquired.

"I... spent a few months up near the Crystal Empire before returning to Equestria... The Empire itself is warm and pleasant, but outside the effect of the crystal heart, it drops to negative twenty just about every night." Tempest replied, sticking her tongue out in thought.

"Oh... well that sucks." Sky frowned.

"Not a fan of the cold?" Tempest teased.

"Not when it's that cold." Sky replied, shivering slightly.

"I'm sure we'll be alright. We're not planning on being up here more than a day." Jason offhandedly replied.

"Well that's good, 'cause we're hitting the snow now." Eddie commented, looking out the window.

Sure enough, a moment later, the train plowed through the snow piling over onto the tracks, and pushed forward into the Crystal Empire. Everyone inside the train took a gander out the window to find dark skies, and harsh, billowy snow pouring from above. At best, they could only see a few hundred feet outside of the cart due to the horrible visibility. Mike shook his head and turned away from the sight.

"Thanks, I hate it." He muttered.

"When I was in the royal guard, we were issued magically enchanted armor that kept us warm in freezing temperatures, but I don't think they'd do much for this kind of cold." Midnight mentioned.

"Is that like a police force for ponies?" Rebecca asked.

"Kind of. The Royal Guard is more like our military, but they also do the local police work in Canterlot. Just about everywhere else has its own local police department, but crime is a pretty small occurrence in Equestria." Midnight explained.

"Huh? A pony military. Interesting." Eddie scratched his chin in thought.

"What was your job in the guard?" Jason inquired.

"I was a medic." Midnight proudly replied.

"No shit?" Mike smiled, "Well how's about that? Everyone here has at least some time in some form of military or another." He turned his attention to the mulberry unicorn to his right and nudged her with his elbow.

Tempest hesitated for a moment before biting her lip, "I... uh, hehe. Yep." She fake smiled.

Jason's brow furrowed some at her answer, but he maintained a smile and returned his attention to the rest of the group.

"Anyways, we should be arriving at the train station in a few minutes. Once we get inside, Twilight said a princess 'Cadence' was going to meet us along with her brother, Shining Armor, or 'BBBFF'... whatever that's supposed to mean." Jason explained.

"What time are we heading out tomorrow?" Sky asked.

"First train leaves at seven, so we'll head out and catch that train in the morning. Once we leave, we'll officially be out of Equestrian territory. Our next stop is gonna be..." Jason paused for a moment as he pulled a notebook out of his admin pouch and opened it to the first few pages, "The Jewel Desert. How there's a desert up here, I don't know, but that's the route we worked out." Jason elaborated.

"It's... pretty far to the East. We're gonna be on that train for a whole day at least." Tempest added.

"Well, there you go. Once we're in the desert, expect long hikes from there on out. We won't have any more trains or serious transport at that point." Jason pointed out.

"Where're we headed after the desert?" Sky inquired. 

"After we get out of the desert, we're going to have to scale a mountain and find a giant cave... Yikes." Jason shook his head.

"Great... Climbing mountains is always so much fun..." Midnight rolled her eyes.

"After we're done scaling the mountain, we'll be in an arctic climate again, and apparently it's somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty four miles to the coastline. There's supposed to be a town there, named... Ponpei?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"I've been there once before. It's, uh... it's a small village. Only a few hundred ponies live there." Tempest chimed in.

"Why are ponies living this far outside of Equestria?" Mike asked.

"There's nothing keeping ponies from moving anywhere they want. Most countries are pretty welcoming to any creatures that want to move in, especially now after all the work Twilight and her friends have done for foreign relations the last few years." Tempest shrugged.

"Well, hopefully that contact Twilight has over there got her letter and has a boat ready for us, 'cause the rest of the trip is pretty much just gonna be sailing a few hundred miles up North until we find this place." Jason explained, before a shot of pain rocketed through his brain.

He immediately grabbed his forehead as his face contorted into a pained grimace.

"Jay?" Eddie asked, quickly moving to his side.

"Are you okay?" Tempest quickly grabbed him with her hooves.

For a few seconds, Jason couldn't reply. The pain in his head stung like a railroad spike being hammered into his eyeball, and he grunted in pain as it only got worse.

"Looks like it's starting..." Sky sadly admitted, his eyes falling to the floor.

"What's starting, what's going on?" Mike demanded.

"It's the magic. The migraines are starting. They'll start for all of you soon enough. It only took me a few days to get them too. Don't worry, the pain will go away in a few seconds." Sky explained.

Mike quickly looked back at Jason while Tempest held onto his shoulder and rubbed small circles on his back with her free hoof. A few tense seconds passed, before Jason finally let go of his forehead and leaned back up, breathing heavily.

"Fucking... Christ..." He gasped.

"You okay?" Midnight asked with a genuine look of concern on her face.

"Y-yeah... holy shit. That was fucking terrible..." Jason replied, before turning to Sky, "You said this is only going to get worse?"

"Yeah. About four months in, on Hearth's Warming, it got so bad that Luna had to knock me out. I think that was one of the most painful moments of my life." Sky somberly responded.

"Fuck... me..." Jason groaned.

For a moment, Jason stared at the ground. His mind still reeled from the excruciating pain finally leaving his brain, and only one thought kept bouncing around in his head while he completely recovered.

It's only gonna get worse from here...

"Are you sure you're alright?" A voice spoke to his left, and in that moment, Jason realized that there was still a pair of hooves on his body. One tightly held his arm while the other softly stroked his neck down his back, just to the top of his armor.

Jason slowly turned to the side to see Tempest holding him with a fearful look in her eyes, and even though he still felt the remnants of pain darting across his vision, he felt a need to reassure the mulberry unicorn.

"I'm okay. Thanks, Tempest." Jason said, giving a soft smile.

Tempest slowly nodded and released her grip on him. She quickly settled back into her seat, although, noticeably closer than before, and returned her attention to the rest of the group. Jason watched her for another moment, and, to his surprise, saw the tiniest trace of a blush on her face. He hesitantly looked away from her and returned his attention to the rest of the group as well.

"So... on a scale of one to ten, how bad was that?" Mike asked, looking at Jason as if he had just seen a ghost.

"Thirteen. That shit was awful." Jason shook his head.

"Fuck..." Eddie leaned his head back until it gently thumped against the wall.

"Is there any way to... I don't know, maybe dull the pain a bit?" Rebecca suggested.

"Well... Twilight did cast a spell on Sky to relieve his migraines one time... but that was on Hearth's Warming." Midnight sadly shrugged.

"And it only made the pain a thousand times worse, until Luna knocked me out." Sky finished for her.

"Well, that's not good." Jason pursed his lips.

"What about something more physical? Like, pills and shit?" Mike proposed.

"Mike, you find me Tylenol that can deal with pain that intense, and I'll give you my entire paycheck for a year." Jason shook his head.

"All the more important that we get you to the island then." Tempest declared.

"Amen to that." Eddie replied.

For a few moments, the rail car descended into silence. Mike and Eddie both took to twiddling with their thumbs, while Rebecca entertained herself by poking Sky's feathers and inspecting his wings, much to his annoyance, and Midnight's amusement. Jason simply stared out the window at the snow covered landscape, that is, until a bright light caught his eye. He squinted at the sight until he realized that whatever it was, it was only getting closer.

"Hey, uh... does anyone know what that light is?" He asked, directing all eyes to the window.

"That's the outer edge of the Crystal Empire. We're just about to cross over through the shield." Tempest explained.

Just a few moments later, the train plowed through the barrier, and instantly, white light beamed in through the windows. The storm clouds and mountains of snow were gone, and instead, open, grassy fields stretched as far out as the eye could see. Distant mountains and clear blue skies greeted the train, and the instant temperature shift caused steam to billow off their cart and trail behind as it was warmed by the much hotter temperatures inside the shield. 

"Woah..." Mike whispered.

"It's... beautiful." Sky smiled.

"Can't believe we've only been up here one time." Midnight added, casting a loving look Sky's way.

"If you think that's impressive, just wait until you see the crystal ponies themselves." Tempest pointed out.

"It sure is a gorgeous sight." Jason mentioned, more to himself than to anyone else.

"And I think I see the train station over there." Rebecca said, pointing out the window.

Sure enough, there was a quaint little station for the train to pull in to, just a few minutes ahead. A small tower, with a spiked roof, and a few windows, stood tall next to the actual station itself, and covering everything, was a sheen of reflected crystal light.

"So... is that whole thing made of crystal? Like Twilight's castle?" Mike raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. The whole Empire is made of Crystal. Literally. Like, even the houses and roads." Midnight replied.

"Well ain't that something?" Sky said.

A few moments later, the train station came into full view, and the train came to a complete stop. The horn sounded, and everyone inside the cart moved to get their things and get out to the Empire. Jason, Eddie, Mike, and Rebecca quickly shouldered their packs and slung their weapons while Sky, Midnight, and Tempest strapped their saddlebags on and headed for the door. Upon exiting the train, the warmth of the sun quickly permeated into their coats and heated the cool air from the inside of the train.

"Man, even with that thing being magically heated and everything, it was a little chilly in there, not gonna lie." Mike commented as he stepped outside.

"You know, if you said that exact sentence to me a week ago, I would've asked you what you were smoking and told you to give me some." Eddie replied.

"And you wouldn't have gotten a damn ounce." Mike smugly smiled.

"Right, right. You two can go smoke when this is over. Right now, wasn't there supposed to be another pony princess here to pick us up?" Rebecca said, looking around for the aforementioned pony princess.

"Twilight said we would either get picked up by a princess named... Cadence, or her brother, Shining Armor." Jason said, once more reading the notepad for information.

"Well, I think that might be him then." Sky said, pointing at a white unicorn stallion approaching them.

The stallion in question stood just a couple inches shorter than Sky, excluding his horn. He had a cobalt blue mane and tail accompanying his shiny white coat. His eyes, which seemed to exude authority and calmness, were a soft blue, like an early morning sky after the sun had risen.

"You must be the humans Twily told me about." He said, his voice was a mix of friendliness, and hesitation.

"That's us. I take it you're... Shining Armor?" Jason replied, reading off his notepad once more.

"That's me. Glad to meet you all. Twilight told me that you're in a bit of a hurry, so I won't hold you up too much, but if it's not too much trouble, could I get your names? I got them in the letter, but I want to make sure I pronounce them right." Shining replied, giving a friendly smile.

"I'm Sergeant Jason McKnight. This is Corporal Eddie Icon, Lance Corporal Mike Jones, and Chief Warrant Officer Rebecca Williams." Jason replied, gesturing to each member of the crew.

"It's good to meet you all. An officer, huh? So, I take it that you're in charge then?" Shining Armor responded, looking at Rebecca.

"Me? Oh no, not me. I just fly the V-45," She replied, shaking her head. She quickly pointed to Jason, "When we're on the ground, he's in charge. I'm just here because we all crashed together." 

"Interesting. I have no idea what a 'V-45' is, but you humans have a strikingly similar rank structure to us ponies." Shining commented, scratching his chin.

"We've been hearing that a lot lately." Jason replied.

"I'm sure you have. Most ponies are probably just excited to get to talk to aliens," Shining smiled, "But uh, anyways, here, I'll take you all to the Empire. Cadence would've come to greet you all herself, but Flurry Heart decided to throw a temper tantrum and dealing with that is kind of an alicorn level job these days." He explained.

"Flurry Heart? That's your daughter, right?" Jason asked, skimming through his notes.

"Yep! First alicorn ever to be born. All the rest ascended, including Twily." Shining beamed.

"Well... congratulations," Jason awkwardly smiled, "Let's head over there and meet the rest of the family." 

"Of course, just follow me." Shining replied. 

The stallion quickly turned on his hooves and trotted toward the city, prompting the rest of the group to hurry after him. Once they were all caught up, they slowed down to a comfortable walking pace, and took to perusing the city as they slowly entered its premises. Brilliant, angular crystal buildings as far as the eye could see stuck out and grabbed the attention of the four humans while they walked along, but even that paled in comparison to the crystal ponies themselves. 

As the group made their way past the gathering crowds, more and more details of the local population stuck out to the humans' eyes. Their manes and tails, while still freely flowing and having the composition of normal hair, appeared to be completely crystal, and semi-transparent. Even their coats, which again seemed to be covered in actual fur and soft to the touch, appeared reflective, and almost geometrical in nature. Every color of the rainbow reflected off the crystal ponies a thousand times over, and even their irises seemed to be octagons instead of the circular shape every other creature had.  

"Okay, I know we've seen some weird shit before, but this... is some weird shit." Mike muttered as a small crystal mare waved to him.

Mike hesitantly returned the wave and continued onward with the rest of the group. The further they walked into the heart of the Crystal Empire, the thicker, and denser the crowd grew, until there was a sea of crystal ponies lining the streets and investigating the strange new alien creatures following their prince.

"Woah." One said.

"Are those things aliens?" Another called out.

"Oh my gosh, they're adorable!" A young mare gushed.

Mike frowned, "Okay, one more of these ponies calls me cute, and I'm gonna get upset." He muttered.

"Oh, quit being such a baby," Rebecca nudged him with her elbow, "It's better than 'oh god, eww' when they see you." 

Mike sighed and carried on. Soon enough, the group arrived at the massive Crystal palace standing in the center of the city. Said palace stood on four large bases that arched together to form the spire itself. Sapphire white crystal lined the entirety of the structure, only to be covered by massive blue tapestries displaying checkered patterns of cobalt. At the top of the spire, stood three separate towers, and at the top of the center tower, a bright white light shone out and dispersed all over the empire.

Eddie gave a long whistle.

"That sure is something, isn't it?" Sky asked, his eyes practically glued to the palace.

"Heh, if you think the outside's nice, just wait until you see the inside." Shining replied.

"How do you ponies build things like this out of crystal but you don't have electricity?" Mike asked.

"Well, we use magic for just about everything that needs some form of power to run. As for the crystal, that's actually pretty interesting. See, we use a spell to turn the raw crystal into a paste, and then we bring it to wherever it's needed, apply that paste to what we're working on, and then blast it with a heat spell until it's hardened. Then, it's just a matter of cleaning it up and shining it with some polish, and voilà, crystal castle." Shining beamed, gesturing to the castle in question.

"Huh? Neat." Mike nodded.

The group continued on until they were under the massive crystal castle. Jason, Eddie, Mike, and Rebecca looked around for an entrance, but could see nothing that looked to be a door.

"So, uh... How do we get inside?" Jason asked, eyeing Shining Armor curiously.

"Juuuuuuuuuuuuust a second. Sometimes I have a hard time finding it." He replied as he walked over to the nearest base.

Shining tapped on the crystal a few times until there was an audible click, and two plates of crystal separated in front of him. A moment passed before the doorway opened further, and revealed a dozen crystal guard ponies standing along a silver staircase. They instantly saluted their prince, to which he returned the gesture. Shining turned around to find the humans and Sky staring at him with a mix of surprise on their faces.

"Oh come on, you can't tell me that's the coolest thing you've seen all day." Shining teased.

"He's got a point, you know." Tempest chuckled.

"Yeah, it's just a door, guys." Midnight smiled.

"Right, right," Jason replied, snapping out of his surprise, "Let's go meet this princess."

The rest of the group quickly followed his lead, and headed into the structure. Once inside, they followed the staircase as it spiraled upwards and into the actual castle. All along the way, more and more crystal guards snapped to attention and saluted Shining Armor while he led the group towards the castle foyer. He quickly returned the salutes and proceeded on until arriving at a set of white doors guarded by two more crystal ponies. 

Shining gave a quick salute and nodded to the guards, and the door was promptly opened, revealing the crystal castle in all its glory. A long, maroon carpet was strung out over the brilliant white floor, all the way to the next set of cobalt double doors. The walls were lined with several crystal columns and windows, reaching all the way to the impressive thirty foot high ceiling. Above everything else, white hot light gently filled the room from the crystal light fixtures, shaped into hearts.

"Well, this is cool and all, but those crystal spikes on the walls are a safety hazard, just saying." Mike shrugged.

"Hehe, well we haven't had any accidents yet, so hopefully we won't need to worry about them." Shining laughed.  

Mike gave a small nod and continued forward.

"So where's Cadence? It's been a while since I've seen her." Sky chimed in, trotting alongside Shining.

"Just through this doorway." Shining replied.

With an effortless flick of his horn, Shining pulled the massive cobalt doors open to reveal the throne room. At the far end of the room, with a tired look on her face, sat a pink alicorn. Her mane and tail were a mix of purple, magenta, and cream colored highlights. She held a small bundle in her hooves - A bundle that moved and squirmed with each passing second.

Shining quickly led the group over to the throne and smiled as he approached his wife.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Cadence." He addressed, holding out a hoof to the pink alicorn in question.

Cadence tiredly looked up at the group gathered in front of her and smiled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." She said, her voice was soft and friendly, like a cool breeze on a summer afternoon.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, your highness-" Jason replied, only to stop as she held up a hoof.

"Please, if you're friends of Twilight, then you're friends of mine. Call me Cadence." She smiled.

"Thank you, Cadence." Jason gave a polite nod.

"Is that Flurry Heart?" Midnight asked, stepping toward the throne.

"It sure is. She's kept me up for the last twenty seven hours... but I finally got her to take a nap before you all arrived. Thank you for not making too much noise and waking her." Cadence gratefully answered.

Midnight stepped up the throne until she was standing on equal level with Cadence. She hesitantly looked down at the bundle of slightly squirming pony, only for Cadence to gently magic her closer.

"You can look, you know?" Cadence teased, smiling down at the slightly shorter mare.

Midnight stifled a gasp at being unexpectedly moved, before leaning down and looking at Flurry Heart for only the second time in her life. The alicorn baby was a soft, pinkish-white color, with a curled mane and tail of pinks, purples, and sky blue. She softly snoozed away, unaware of the now growing number of ponies and humans looking down on her.

"Oh my gosh... She's adorable..." Midnight whispered, finding it hard not to smile at her. A subtle lightness filled her chest and made her heart beat just a tad faster. She quickly glanced up at Sky before looking back down at Flurry Heart and sighing softly.

"Wow... It's like you took a baby, and dialed the cuteness up to eleven." Eddie shook his head in disbelief.

"I want to hold her so bad..." Rebecca whined.

"Chief, don't take this the wrong way, but I really don't think you should be holding anyone's kid right now." Jason replied.

Rebecca glared daggers at him.

"Hey, look at what you did to Sky and tell me I'm wrong." Jason shrugged.

Rebecca sighed and looked away, "Jesus, fine. I won't squeeze anymore ponies." She pouted.

"You squeeze ponies?" Shining asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Not in a bad way!" Rebecca defended, "It's just that some of you guys are so cute and fluffy..."

"Hehe, I take it you're the human female Twilight wrote about." Cadence said.

"Yep... That's me." Rebecca replied, twiddling her thumbs.

"Well, if you promise not to squeeze her, I'll let you hold Flurry Heart." Cadence smiled.

Rebecca gasped, "Really!?" She asked.

"Mmhmm." Cadence nodded.

She ignited her horn and brought the small bundle that was Flurry Heart over to Rebecca's waiting arms. She gingerly received the foal and brought her into a secure cradle, supporting her head with one hand, and the rest of her body with her forearm. Rebecca gazed down at the sleeping pony and felt a wide smile form on her face.

"Oh my god she's so cute I think I'm gonna cry..." She breathlessly whispered.

"Heh, I know the feeling." Cadence smiled, before turning to see Tempest at the back of the group, "Tempest! How are you? I didn't think you were coming along." She jovially exclaimed.

"I'm doing well, princess. It's good to see you again. Twilight allowed me to come along at the last minute, so she probably just hadn't put that in the letter." Tempest replied, returning a friendly smile.

"Ah, I see. Well, regardless, I'm very happy to see you again so soon." Cadence smiled.

"Likewise." Tempest grinned.

Cadence turned back to Jason and fixed him with a friendly, yet slightly apologetic look.

"I hate to just cut to formalities, but we do have a few rooms available for you and your friends, should you want to take some time to rest. I understand that you're on a rather tight schedule, but I would recommend exploring some of the Empire and mingling with my ponies. I'm sure your arrival attracted at least some attention, and they'll all be ecstatic to meet you all." She explained, giving a hopeful smile.

"I'm... not sure how much time we can spare. It's already past noon, and our train to the Jewel Desert leaves at seven tomorrow, so we can't stay out and about for too long." Jason reasoned.

"Sarge, it's not like we're just gonna sit in the rooms for the next twelve hours." Mike shook his head.

"I know that. My only concern is someone getting lost." Jason replied.

"Oh yee of so little faith. It's not like the castle is hard to spot or anything." Sky chimed in.

Jason sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Alright, how about this. If you want to go and explore the Empire a bit, you have until eight o'clock tonight to do so. At exactly eight, we all meet back at our rooms. Does that satisfy everyone?" Jason asked.

The group shared mutual nods and signs of approval before turning to Jason and unanimously nodding.

"Alright. Cadence, could you please show us where we're going to be staying for the night?" Jason asked, turning to the pink alicorn.

"Of course. Shining?" Cadence looked to her husband with a pleading smile.

"On it." He quickly replied.

Shining hopped down from the throne and led the group toward the end of the room and out the door.

"Right this way." He said as he hooked a right and headed to another doorway. 

Shining used his magic to pull the large crystal door open and revealed a long hallway. There were several bright blue doorways on the right side, and long, clear windows on the left that held a stunning view over the Empire.

Eddie whistled at the sight while Shining led the group ahead and to their rooms.

"Alright, so here you all are. We have six rooms in total, so you can each have your own, with the exception of Sky and Midnight," Shining explained, "We kinda figured you two would prefer that anyways." 

"Thank you." Midnight gratefully replied.

"Don't mention it. If you guys need anything else, just let me or one of the servants know." Shining smiled. before turning around and walking away.

"Alright people, put your shit away." Jason ordered.

The group quickly entered their respective rooms, and set their packs down. It only took a few minutes before they had all of their belongings downloaded and left to explore the Empire.


.

.

.

.

.



Jason walked through the streets of the Crystal Empire with close to a hundred ponies following him. He groaned while pinching the bridge of his nose at the obsessive amount of attention he and the crew were drawing to themselves.

Why did I agree to this? What's wrong with me? We don't need this kind of attention. At this rate, we'll never make it back to the castle or to the train station tomorrow morning...

Jason trudged along with the sound of camera flashes and ponies scrambling for his attention close behind. He took one step, then two, then three, and finally, on the forth step, he reached his breaking point. He quickly spun around and pointed a finger at the nearest building.

"Look! I just saw the rest of my team!" Jason shouted loud enough for the entire crowd to hear him.

"Where!?" The crystal ponies shouted in unison, their heads all pointed in the direction Jason had indicated.

Jason immediately dove into the nearest ally and hid in a bush. Once the ponies turned back around to find him gone, they let out dejected "aww's" and groans. The crowd quickly dispersed with no alien to keep them entertained, and Jason hesitantly lifted his head out of the bush to scan the area. Once he was sure there were no more crystal ponies that would see him immediately, he sighed and crawled out of the bush.

"You know, I gotta hand it to you, I've never seen that actually work before." A familiar voice spoke, prompting Jason to fall back into the bush from the surprise.

"Jesus fuck!" He shouted. 

Jason looked up to see Sky hovering just a few feet above the bush, his wings flapping effortlessly every second or so. The crimson pegasus suppressed a chuckle at Jason's reaction, but lowered himself down until he could reach him and offered a hoof.

"Need some help getting out of there?" He teased.

"Uh, sure," Jason replied, grabbing the offered hoof and pulling himself out of the bush, "How are your wings not displacing any air? I was right under you and I didn't feel anything at all? Also, how the hell were you just hovering when your wings were flapping so slowly?" He questioned, giving Sky a quizzical look.

"Do you really want me to say it?" Sky raised an eyebrow.

"Magic?" 

"Magic."

"Right, should have figured. Anyways... What're you doing here? I thought you'd be with Midnight." Jason commented.

"Eh, Mid's with Tempest. They wanted to go try the crystal ice cream down by the park." Sky shrugged.

"Ah, okay. I didn't take Tempest for the kind to have a sweet tooth?" Jason asked.

"Well, it's a bit of a secret, but she's really got a thing for smoothies. Don't ask me why, but you get her one and she'll drink the thing down in thirty seconds, max. No brain freeze or anything. Not sure how she does it." Sky replied.

"Huh? I'll have to ask her about that later." Jason thought aloud.

"So where are the rest of your guys?" Sky asked, looking around for any sign of the crew.

"Well, Rebecca is over by the spa, giving out free hugs to every pony she sees... Which is a lot. Mike's out at the park, and Eddie wanted to go watch a movie and get the 'pony movie experience', whatever that means." Jason shook his head.

"Heh, everybody just wanted to do their own thing for a bit, huh?" Sky chuckled.

"Normally, I'd be against it... but with how friendly the ponies have been to us so far... and the fact that we've spent the last year and some change on that ship all cooped up together... I guess we all needed a little time to relax, even if the crystal ponies are making that kind of hard with how much they want to talk to us and take pictures." Jason explained.

"Yeah, they are kinda excited about you guys... but you are right though. Some time away from each other for the night will do you all a lot of good, and I know for a fact that the ponies would never try to hurt any of you. It sounds crazy to a human, but these ponies... well they're just the kindest creatures I've ever seen." Sky replied, gazing out at the crystal ponies off in the distance.

"Is that why you married one?" Jason asked.

"That's... not something I'd expect you to ask." Sky raised an eyebrow.

Jason sighed and leaned against a nearby wall.

"I know. I'm just kind of curious, you know? I mean... did you fall in love with her before or after they turned you into a pony?" Jason asked, trying his best to not sound offensive.

"Why the sudden interest?" Sky replied, skeptically.

"No reason... I just... I had to ask. These ponies are adorable... but... they're just so different." Jason shrugged.

"You were born over a century after me. Has humanity really not found any kind of alien life in that time?" Sky questioned.

"We have, it's just that they're not sapient. Well, some are kind of sapient, but nothing like the ponies. It's just plain bestiality to do the nasty with one of them." Jason shook his head.

Sky sighed, "Well that's disappointing. I was hoping that inter-species relationships were gonna be more common like they are here in Equestria." 

"They're common here?" Jason asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah. Most species are sapient here. Inter-species relationships are really common. I mean, didn't Pinkie tell you she was dating a yak?" Sky replied.

"No, I... I never asked... You still haven't answered my original question though, you know?" Jason responded.

Sky pursed his lips in thought for a few moments.

"Well... She makes me happy. When I wake up in the morning, and I see her face, it genuinely makes me feel good. She saved my life... she gave me everything and asked for nothing in return... I guess... It's not the pony on the outside that I fell in love with in the first place, but rather... the person she is on the inside. She's beyond adorable, and I really, truly do think she's beautiful now since I became a pony, but that was never the real reason I fell in love with her. She makes me a better person, and if I have to live in ponyland with four hooves and wings instead of hands and feet, well... I think that's a pretty fair trade at the end of the day to be honest." Sky explained, looking thoughtfully into the fading sunlight. 

"Wow... That's... I don't know what to say to that... I'm sorry that you crashed here and lost your friends... but I am glad you found someone that makes you happy. She really seems like a nice girl." Jason replied, smiling softly.

"Thank you. That means a lot. Actually, speaking of Midnight, I think I see her and Tempest over there." Sky said, looking past Jason to the edge of the nearby park.

True enough, Midnight and Tempest were both headed their way, and upon seeing them, Midnight gave a friendly wave. Sky waved back, and within a matter of minutes, the mares were within earshot.

"There you are. I was wondering where you flew off to." Midnight said before stepping in and giving Sky an affectionate nuzzle.

"I just wanted to see if I could break the sound barrier. Rainbow Dash makes it look so easy..." Sky joked, returning the nuzzle.

"Heh, maybe one day, big guy," Midnight replied, before turning to Jason, "How're you doing, Jason?" She asked.

"Oh I'm doing alright. Just trying to get away from the crowds for a bit. Sky was just keeping me company." Jason replied.

"You wouldn't mind if I stole him from you for a bit, would you? I need a little bit of help with... a thing." Midnight said, smiling sheepishly.

"A... thing?" Jason raised an eyebrow. 

"It's uh... kind of private." Midnight replied, a slight trace of a blush creeping onto her face.

"Well, uh... okay. Don't let me hold you up. Have fun with... your thing... I guess." Jason responded, a stark amount of confusion in his voice.

"Thank you." Midnight gave a grateful smile before her horn lit up and her sapphire aura wrapped itself around Sky. 

"Wait, why ar- wah!?" Sky began as he was yanked away by Midnight's magic.

She hurriedly galloped off toward the palace, leaving Tempest and Jason alone.

"So, uh... They seem to be in a hurry..." Jason said, trying to get some conversation started.

Tempest, who thusfar had been completely silent, and staring at Jason with a muted look on her face, broke out of her stupor at his words and stuttered for a response.

"Oh, u-uh, y-yeah. They're... always doing things like that this time of year. Midnight must be hitting her estrus cycle." Tempest replied, glancing down at the floor while her cheeks heated up.

Stupid stupid stupid! Don't just stare at him like that, are you trying to creep him out!?

"Estrus cycle?" Jason asked, tilting his head to the side.

Tempest's blush darkened even further.

Nononononononononononono!!!! I can't explain that to him!

"Uh... it's... well..." Tempest stammered, quickly casting her gaze to the floor.

"Hey, you're looking a little... off again, are you alright?" Jason asked, stepping toward the mulberry unicorn while she fumbled for her words.

"I-I'm fine, i-it's just that... well..." She trailed off again as her eyes finally came up to find Jason standing less than a step away from her.

Before she could speak, Jason brought his hand down to her forehead and gently pressed the back of his hand against her short fur. Tempest's mouth hung slightly agape as Jason held his hand against her, and her blush somehow managed to darken even further.

"Well, uh... I'm not too sure how to tell with you guys, but you seem really warm... Like, almost too warm to be okay. Are you sure you're feeling alright? I don't want you to get sick or something." Jason warmly smiled down at her.

The soft feeling of his gloved hand felt unbelievably gentle and calming pressed against Tempest's forehead, and even though her heart was pounding in her chest, she felt an overwhelming calmness blanket over her body. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she could barely feel her body lean forward into the touch. For a few blissful seconds, there was nothing except for that gentle warmth that settled into her fur and calmed her erratic mind.

As with all good things, it was destined not to last, and soon enough, she felt those wonderful digits pull away from her head and return to Jason's person.

"Um... Tempest? I'm starting to get a little worried now." He said, eyeing her with concern.

"Oh, um... Sorry about that. I just kind of... spaced out for a second. I-I'm fine. Really." Tempest replied, giving her best attempt at a reassuring smile.

"Okay... but seriously, if you're not feeling well, just tell me. You're a part of my team now, and your health is just as important to me as the rest of the guys." Jason said, giving a friendly smile.

"Thank you... I really appreciate that." Tempest replied, glancing down at the floor once more and shyly rubbing her foreleg with her hoof.

"Well... In any case, you were going to tell me about what estrus is?" Jason pressed, determined to continue the previous conversation.

Tempest's blush immediately returned in full force.

"U-uh, w-well... basically... estrus is a time of year, or two times, rather... when a mare becomes..." Tempest trailed off, her eyes gluing themselves to the floor.

"When a mare becomes... what?" Jason asked.

"Well... we aren't exactly... fertile all year." Tempest managed.

"You aren't what?" Jason leaned closer to hear her better.

"Y-you know... fertile." She finally said, before biting her lip and looking away.

"Fertile? As in... you can't have kids?" Jason tilted his head to the side.

"Um... yes. Under normal circumstances... pregnancy is pretty hard to accomplish unless a mare is... well, in estrus." Tempest had to fight to keep the recurring blush from staining her coat a permanent dark purple color.

"So estrus is just... a time when a mare gets really fertile and can have kids?" Jason pieced together.

"Yes." Tempest quickly replied.

"Huh? Well that's interesting. Good to know. You aren't... you know, going into estrus or anything, are you?" Jason asked, looking at her curiously.

"What!? No!" Tempest shouted, her eyes widening to the size of saucers.

"Woah, woah," Jason defensively held up his hands, "I wasn't trying to insult you or anything, it's just... with the blushing, and the stuttering, I wasn't sure if maybe that might be it." He hastily explained.

"I-I am not in estrus! I'm just... nervous, is all..." Tempest trailed off after realizing how much she was saying.

"Nervous? What are you nervous for? It's... not because of me, is it?" Jason asked, his tone taking a softer approach.

Tempest felt a pit form in her stomach, and she quickly glanced away.

"Tempest? Look, if I've done something or said something to make you nervous around me, I'm sorry but-" Jason began.

"It's not that..." Tempest cut him off, "I mean... it's not your fault. It is you, but it's not because of you... if that makes any sense." She said, turning on her hooves to face away from him. She slowly sat on her haunches and gazed up at the darkening sky.

"I... don't think I follow... Why are you nervous because of me?" Jason asked, hesitantly stepping forward.

"It's... ugh... why'd I have to open my big mouth." Tempest muttered, dropping her gaze to the ground.

For a few seconds, Jason did nothing. He did not reply or move, however, as the seconds ticked by, and the mare in front of him looked more and more upset with herself, he stepped forward and sat down beside her.

"Tempest... I promise that you can talk to me. Even if it's a problem with me. I just want to make sure that you're okay." He said, a friendly smile quickly appearing on his face.

"I just... I'm not sure what to say... I don't know how to describe it, but when I'm around you... my heart beats faster, and I get this pit in my chest... my throat dries up, and I can't, for the love of Celestia, stop blushing!" She exclaimed, exasperatedly stomping a hoof into the ground.

"And... it's just around me? Not Eddie, Mike, or Rebecca?" Jason asked, curiously.

"No... At least, not anywhere near as bad... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything-" Tempest started, only to be cut off by Jason wrapping his arm around her barrel and pulling her close.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I think I understand, and... you can't control how you feel about certain people. All the same, I'm really glad you came with us." Jason said. There was a friendly warmth in his voice that did not go unnoticed by Tempest's ears as they flicked toward him.

"So..." Tempest trailed off, her eyes slowly trailing over to the human seated to her left.

Jason pursed his lips and fell silent for some time. Tempest felt her heart grow heavier with each passing second, and her eyes slowly fell to the ground below.

"I'm not saying it's impossible-" Jason suddenly spoke up, prompting Tempest to quickly look at him, "-but I'm not Sky... I don't really... see ponies in that way, at least... not yet. I can't say anything for sure is going to come of us being here for the next few months, but... I do like you, Tempest." He explained, squeezing her tighter in the process.

Tempest felt a wave of relief wash over her body, and her shoulders slumped as she let out a shaky sigh.

So... there's a chance... there's really a chance... please... please let this go further... just once... She thought to herself.

Tempest subconsciously leaned into Jason's side, and rested her head against his shoulder. Judging by the way he only held her a little tighter, he wasn't opposed to the gesture. In fact, after a few seconds, he leaned his head to the side and rested his cheek against Tempest's head, squishing down her mane in the process. They both gazed up at the sky to find that night time had fully settled over the city, and there was a beautiful purple aurora lining the skyline. They both shared a pleasant smile and watched the stars for some time after that.
> Chapter 9: Rash Decisions (Clop)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Midnight pushed through the doorway with Sky hot on her tail. With a quick flick of her horn, the door shut behind them, and she turned to the crimson pegasus with a sultry smile on her face.

"So... You're in a good mood." Sky teased, grinning at the graphite mare as she slowly walked up to him.

Midnight brought her chest to his, brushing their fur against each other in the process, and kissed his neck, just below his jawline. He quietly gasped at the feeling before she kissed him again on his cheek, and then once more on his muzzle. Finally, the teasing mare brought her lips to his, and snaked her tongue out to meet his. Just like they did a thousand times before, Sky's tongue happily met hers halfway, and they slowly danced together in an increasingly heated display of passion. 

Sky felt each contour of Midnight's soft, velvety tongue against his, and even though his eyes were rolling back in his head from the pleasure, he gently brought a hoof behind Midnight's neck to deepen the kiss just a tad. A soft moan escaped her maw into his mouth, prompting a sly grin to tug at the corners of Sky's lips, but again, he only kissed her harder. 

Eventually, they pulled away from each other and breathed for the first time in nearly a minute. Midnight gave Sky a half lidded stare while she recovered from the kiss, before slowly turning around and heading for the bed. She maintained eye contact the whole time, and soon enough, she laid down on the bed, her hind legs spread wide, but her tail just barely covering her sex from Sky's view. 

The pegasus in question stared at her with rapt attention, his own arousal slowly starting to peak out from the excitement, before Midnight finally spoke again.

"My estrus just hit this morning... I'm not gonna lie, it's been really hard to keep myself off of you today..." She said, biting her lip as her eyes fell down to Sky's half erect stallionhood.

"So... You're sure you wanna do this now?" Sky asked, hesitating slightly, "I mean... I'm one hundred percent down... but we're gonna be traveling to the island for the next few months... Won't that be hard if you're... you know..." He trailed off.

"Sky, come here." She ordered.

Like a moth to a flame, Sky followed her command and crawled onto the bed, finding his place right at her side. Before anything could be said, she lovingly planted her lips on his, and they shared another passionate kiss. Just like before, neither one of them broke the touch of their lips for almost a minute, and when they did, they both panted heavily.

"Pregnancy lasts... a year for ponies... it won't be a problem... until six to eight months in... and by that time, we'll be back in Ponpei... I can go into labor there for all I care." Midnight breathed. There was a hint of desperation in her eyes, as if she absolutely needed this, no matter the risks.

"If you're sure... then I'm sure. I love you." Sky replied, looking into her sapphire eyes with the warmest, gentlest of smiles, "Just make sure to tell me if there's any issues along the way. I won't risk you getting hurt. Ever." 

Midnight's heart fluttered in her chest, and she quickly pressed her lips back to his in thanks. Sky's hooves instinctively found themselves drawn to her barrel and neck, and he gently pulled her ever closer, until their chest fluff intertwined again, and they could feel each other's beating hearts. Slowly but surely, Midnight felt her body leaning to the side, and eventually, she found her position resting on her side while Sky continued to kiss her, ever desperate for more.

Slow, soft strokes against her coat soon became needy, and long as Sky's desires grew to match the graphite mare now laying below him. Just as quickly, he grabbed her foreleg with his hoof and used his leverage to roll her fully onto her back, breaking the kiss. Midnight gasped at the sudden change, but her surprise quickly melted into a slow, soft moan as Sky brought his lips down to her neck and kissed her again. He softly nibbled at the small tufts of fur along her neck, trailing little kisses of pure love and devotion down to her collar, and slowly trailed back up with a long, deliberate lick up her jugular. Midnight gasped again as Sky repeated the action, focusing purely on the act of kissing her, and ignoring the strain on his painfully erect member.

Just as he reached her jawline for the third time, Midnight brought her teeth to his ear, and gently bit down, forcing an audible groan of pleasure to leave the pegasus's mouth as he tilted his head to the side. Midnight smiled at her work before Sky was on her again, only this time, he trailed his affection lower, to her belly. Soft, loving kisses trailed from her chest fluff, down to the bottom of her belly, just above her nipples. For just a pregnant moment, Sky hesitated with his lips just a micrometer from the soft, prickly flesh, but a whimper of pleading drew his eyes up to Midnight's sapphire orbs as she stared down at him.

"No teasing this time... Please... I... Really need this right now." She said, her soft, bashful voice hit Sky like a freight train, and he quickly lifted himself off of her.

"You got it, Mid. No teasing. Promise." He smiled, before leaning down and kissing the graphite mare one more time.

Upon breaking the kiss, Midnight managed a shaky nod, before Sky leaned back some and lined himself up with her marehood. He took a cursory glance down to insure he was properly aligned, and in doing so, the soft, supple folds of her sex greeted him. Her tail and dock were already soaked in her natural lubrication, having left a trail of droplets in the sheets next to her. In the momentary span of time since he glanced down, her clit winked out at him over and over, practically begging for his member to come and play.

Sky smiled at the sight, and gave himself a tiny little shake before leaning forward and bringing his head to her lips. Just like a thousand times before, her soft, velveteen vulva gently parted, allowing his length to press into her labia, and with a quick thrust, he was inside. Midnight instantly moaned, singing her praises with each inch further as Sky pressed forward. Soon enough, his medial ring was at her labia, and she gasped again as is pressed against her clit in just the right way. 

Being on a hair trigger as she was, Midnight felt her muscles go rigid, and for just a moment, all she could see was white as she came all over Sky's legs and her own tail. Still, Sky pressed on, determined to fill her to the brim before they were done, and before she could even come down from her high, his flat head pressed against her cervix. Midnight's vision returned just in time for her to lose it again as Sky pulled out, his medial ring rubbing against her clit in just the right way once more. Quick enough, he found a rhythm, pumping into her just as she came down from her last orgasm, only to send her spiraling down into another one. Marecum flowed out of Midnight's sex as she helplessly moaned and gasped for breath. With each passing second, she felt a kaleidoscope of sensory information dart out from her nethers to every corner of her body, just for them to be redirected back and implode into a cacophony of unbridled ecstasy that filled her mind and left her trembling.  Her legs shot out and held rigid while her muscles tensed over and over, firmly planting her into the bed, like a statue made out of pleasure.

Sky smiled victoriously down at the love-drunk mare below him, and kissed her neck over and over while he thrust into her like his life depended on it. Her inner walls squeezed and tensed around his member for all they were worth, but again he pressed on, undeterred by the vice grip now holding him and trying its hardest to milk him dry. Even with his resolve, Sky knew he could only last so long, and decided to up the ante. He leaned forward again, and brought his tongue to the base of Midnight's horn, drawing a long, slow lick to the tip, and igniting a fire in her mind.

"GAAAAHHH!!!!" She screamed, her back arching, and her marehood convulsing around Sky's length.

Midnight's entire body shook like lightning, and her eyes rolled about helplessly in her head. Sky was quick to act, and bit down on her exposed jugular, like a hungry predator. Once more, Midnight shrieked, and she came for what could have been the thirteenth time. Sky brought his hooves around her barrel and hugged her close while planting reassuring kisses on her neck. The bite was only superficial, but it had the desired effect, and once more, Midnight was putty in his hooves. 

Sky started his rhythm again, pounding into the barely conscious graphite mare for all he was worth. Whether it was the combined effort of the whole affair, or simply the way she looked at that moment, Sky felt his time was quickly nearing its end. His member flared hard, and he knew he only had a few moments before he would lose control and finish. With his time up and his options out, Sky did the one thing he knew would always work to get her to cum with him. He held her close with one hoof, while bringing the other behind her neck and bringing her eyes to his. Without another thought, he leaned in and kissed her one more time. With her last bit of strength, Midnight returned the kiss, and her tongue quickly met his in the same display of passion and love they'd come to know for years.

It was like a fire spread between them, connecting them from their sexes, and Sky's member finally shot its load deep into Midnight's warm, soft folds. Shot after shot of cum filled her cervix until there was simply no more room to spare, and the white hot payload soon seeped out of her labia, and into her tail. All throughout the kiss, Midnight's body shook with the finality of her last orgasm, and the prickly dots of white fire that danced about in her vision finally cleared. Sky finally broke the kiss and panted for breath, with Midnight doing much the same under him. Together they fought for breath as the past few minutes finally began to register. 

Midnight leaned her head back and sighed while Sky slowly pulled his member out of her sex, pouring more of their mixed fluids out in the process. The crimson stallion slowly brought his muzzle to hers and drew slow, sensual licks up her cheek, to the soft fur of her ear. For a few minutes, he simply traced loving licks across his mare's face. She drunkenly smiled up to him from the affection and ended the affair with a long, pleasureful kiss. 

With Midnight lying completely satisfied below him, Sky leaned back up to properly look down at her. His eyes slowly trailed down from her face, to her soft belly, and finally to the mess between her legs, and he raised eyebrow at the sight.

"You... want me to clean you up? Or do you got it?" He asked, already well aware of the answer.

"I'm... too tired... Can you please?" She asked, her voice just above a whisper.

"Anything for you." Sky replied, hopping off the bed and making his way into the bathroom. 

A moment later, the sound of running water filled the air, and Midnight tiredly glanced to the bathroom. For a few moments, there was only the sound of running water to keep her company, but quickly enough, the faucet was turned off, and Sky reentered the room with a warm towel on one wing.

"What took so long?" Midnight teased as he stepped onto the bed.

"Had to wait for the water to heat up. Didn't want to clean you off with cold water." Sky stuck his tongue out at her.

Midnight's heart melted at his words, and she felt a blush creep onto her face as he settled down between her legs and brought the towel forward. Soft, scrubbing motions filled her inner thighs and just outside her sex, but he was always gentle, and never scrubbed to harshly. A pleasant warmth soaked into her coat as the sticky sensation of their mixed fluids was washed away, and a serene smile found its way onto her face while the crimson pegasus worked away.

Soon enough, she was cleaned up, and Sky threw the towel into the hamper from across the room. He grinned at her before climbing back onto the bed and settling down next to her. Midnight held her forelegs out invitingly, and Sky quickly accepted her offer, burying his muzzle into her chest fluff as her hooves held him tightly against her.

"Thank you for that. I... Don't think I have the energy to even cast the clean up spell right now." Midnight said, her hoof already stroking Sky's mane.

"Don't worry about it. I'd do it for you even if you did have the magic right now." Sky lovingly replied.

"How did you... my horn... I think I died for a few seconds there." Midnight continued, her eyes darting up to the appendage in question.

"I've been reading lately. Figured since my wings are my weak spots, you must have at least one, and hey, I was right!" Sky proudly exclaimed before nuzzling his cheek into her chest fluff just a little more.

"Wow... and here I didn't even know about that..." Midnight shook her head and placed a gentle kiss on Sky's forehead.

"Hehe, what can I say? I just couldn't get enough of you..." He trailed off for a few seconds before looking up into Midnight's eyes, "So... do you think that did it?" He asked.

Midnight pursed her lips in thought for a moment before smiling down at the large crimson pegasus.

"You know what... I think it did." She smiled.

Sky's eyes widened and a smile found its way onto his face. He squeezed her tighter and brought his lips to hers, planting a gentle, albeit needy kiss on her soft lips. Soon enough, the kiss broke, and they quickly fell asleep. Still wrapped in each others forelegs, and with their hearts beating in sync, the loving couple slept the night away in peace.


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Jason awoke with a start to a low alarm buzzing over on the nightstand next to his bed. His eyes shot open and flicked back and forth as his heart hammered in his chest so loudly that for a moment, it drowned out the alarm. Several seconds passed before he finally relaxed, and looked to his hands to see that his knuckles had turned white from gripping the sheets so tightly. With a tired groan, he slowly glanced over at the device to find the time reading '6:00 AM', and sighed before tapping the top with his hand. The alarm immediately silenced, and he rolled out of bed. The satin silk sheets slipped away from his skin, and the calm warmth he'd become accustomed to over the night swiftly left him, leaving a slight chill over his body as he rose to his feet. 

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and walked over to the sink to find his beard had already grown to nearly half an inch, and he frowned at his slightly scruffier appearance. He glanced down at the sink to find all the common toiletries one would expect to find at a five star hotel. A toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, mouthwash, and even scissors were present, but what caught his eye was the apparently electric razor just next to the hand towel. He shrugged and grabbed it.

A large black button on the back greeted his thumb, and without any hesitation, he pressed the button. A loud, buzzing sound quickly raked at his ears, and Jason pursed his lips.

"Huh? Must be powered by magic... God... I can't believe I just said that." He sighed, before bringing the razor to his cheek and shaving away the excess hair.

Quick enough, he had a well trimmed five o'clock shadow on his face, and he stepped into the shower. He dialed the knob to a warm setting, and within a few seconds, hot water sprayed out of the generously sized shower head. Jason felt the warm water soak into his skin, and wash away the tiredness of the early morning. He grabbed the nearby bottle of shampoo and squirted some into his hand. The smell of apricots immediately filled his nose, and he smiled a little as he rubbed his hands together and washed his hair.

Much sooner than he'd like, Jason stepped out of the shower and into the room, finding his clothes and gear already situated on the floor next to his bed. He wiped the last of the moisture out of his hair and began dressing himself. Just as he had done so many times before, he slipped into his body suit and tied on his boots. His calf armor and thigh armor were donned next, immediately followed by his chest piece and shoulder guards. After a moment of tweaking, he slipped the forearm armor over his wrists, and locked them both in place. Lastly, he donned his gloves, and shouldered his pack. 

With one last look over the room for any missing gear, or personal items, he grabbed his rifle and slung it over his shoulder. He stepped out the door and into the crystal hallway without another thought. 

Only a few moments passed before Mike and Eddie stepped out of their own rooms, finding Jason waiting patiently in the hallway for them. They both walked over to him just as Tempest stepped out of her room wearing her black bodysuit, armor, and saddlebags. She glanced down the hallway and quickly followed suit. 

"Well, that's three down, three to go..." Jason crossed his arms as he waited for the remaining ponies and human.

"We told them to be outside by six thirty, right?" Eddie asked, looking at a watch he acquired the previous night.

"I know Sky and Midnight are aware of our timeline... But as for Rebecca... I'm not so sure... I thought you told her." Tempest said, glancing at Jason.

"I did..." Jason sighed, "Ed, can you please go bang on her door and get her out here. We have to leave in five minutes if we want to make this train and get out of the Empire today." 

"On it." Eddie replied.

He quickly made his way down the hallway to Rebecca's room and pounded on the door. A few moments passed before a sleepy Rebecca opened the door and stepped outside, dragging her pack behind her. She tried to rub the sleepiness out of her eyes for a few moments before she found herself in front of Jason and the rest of the group.

"Chief, you alright?" Jason asked.

"No... No coffee..." She mumbled, her crusty eyes barely opening to acknowledge him.

"Right... I'm sure we can get some on the way out," Jason replied before looking over her shoulder and calling to Eddie, "Hey Ed! Can you bang on Sky and Midnight's door too!?" 

"Yeah!" Eddie called back before knocking much more politely on Sky and Midnight's door.

Not a moment later, Sky pulled the door open and stepped outside with Midnight following close behind.

"Sorry about that. We kinda overslept a bit." Sky apologized.

"Don't worry about it. We're still on time. You both good?" Jason asked, turning to leave.

"We're good. Although, is there a way we could speak to you later, Jason?" Midnight asked.

"Of course. We can talk on the train. Right now, let's get going before we miss whatever breakfast they have for us here." Jason replied.

The group headed out through the hallway and into the main foyer of the castle. There waiting for them, was Shining Armor and Cadence, both with equally tired smiles on their faces.

"Good morning." Cadence said.

"How are you all doing?" Shining added.

"We're doing alright. Just got some tired people, but they'll be fine. We can sleep a little more on the train if it's that bad." Jason coolly replied.

"Good, good. Let's get something to eat before you head out for the day." Shining said, turning and heading toward a large doorway on the opposite side of the foyer.

Cadence quickly followed behind with the rest of the group following after her as Shining opened the doors to reveal a massive dining room with a long, glass table. Just as with their last breakfast, there were foods of every shape, color, and variety present. Pancakes, cinnamon rolls, bananas, strawberries, and even what appeared to be bacon, although, upon closer inspection was actually just hay, littered the table all the way to the end. 

Mike, Eddie, Jason, and Rebecca felt their mouths water at the sight, and before long, everyone took their seats at the table to dig into the literal mountain of food.





Jason stepped onto the platform of the train station and glanced back at the group behind him. Mike and Eddie were the first to step up behind him, immediately followed by Rebecca, Sky, Midnight, and finally, Tempest. At his gaze, she hesitantly gave him a small smile, to which he promptly returned. Tempest felt an immediate warmth fill her chest, and she continued onto the platform before Cadence and Shining Armor filed in behind her.

"Alright, well, the train should be here any minute... Is there anything else we can do for you all before you go out there?" Cadence asked, her eyes darting between Jason and Tempest curiously.

"I think you've done more than we could have asked for already, Cadence. Thank you for you help and hospitality. We already owe the ponies of Equestria a lot for helping us so much, and this just adds to it." Jason humbly replied.

"It's our pleasure," Cadence smiled, but upon noticing a contemplative look on Jason's face, she dropped the smile and tilted her head to the side, "Are you sure there's nothing though? You seem a little unsure."

"Uh... It's... nothing." Jason lied.

"Jason, come over here for a moment." Cadence said, stepping to the far side of the platform, away from the now curious eyes of the rest of the group.

Jason hesitantly followed behind her until they were both just barely out of earshot from everyone else.

"Alright, spill it. What's got you troubled." Cadence said.

"Well... ugh... it's a weird issue. I mean... it's not really an issue, it's just that... I'm not sure how to feel about it." Jason admitted, before sitting down on the platform and letting his legs hang off the edge.

Cadence sat down beside him and fixed him with a curious look.

"Well, I'm sure you can talk to me about it... It does have something to do with Tempest, doesn't it?" She deduced.

Jason turned to her with a surprised look on his face.

"How... how did you know that?" He asked.

"I am the Princess of Love for a reason, Jason. Besides, you two look at each other with the kind of look Midnight and Sky used to give each other when he was human." She smugly explained.

Jason sighed, "Damn... it's that obvious, huh?"

"Only to a trained eye," Cadence smiled and gave a friendly wink, "So tell me. What's the issue between you two that has you so... contemplative." 

"Well..." Jason turned around to look for prying ears, but found the rest of the group busy conversing with each other and Shining Armor. He slowly turned back to Cadence and twiddled his thumbs, "Last night... She told me that she has some feelings for me... and while I like her a lot... I can't say that I really... see you ponies in that way. I mean, I'm not gonna say that I'll never change my mind or anything... but it's hard to see another species as attractive when your whole life..." He trailed off.

"You've only found your own species as attractive?" Cadence finished for him.

"Yeah... that. I really do like her, and I don't want to hurt her or anything by telling her all that... but on the other side of the coin, I really like being around her. It's weird... I barely know her, but the few times that I've talked to her already, I've really enjoyed... and maybe that's reason enough to give her a chance." Jason shrugged, looking to Cadence for answers.

"Hmm... You know who you sound like right now?" Cadence asked.

"Who?"

"Sky, after he'd been here for a few months or so." She smiled.

"Really? I kinda thought that he just... was always okay with it." Jason tilted his head to the side.

"Not at all. For a little while Celestia, Twilight, and I, were trying everything in our power to get him to try dating a mare, but he kept using that excuse. 'Oh, I'm not too sure... I've only ever found my own kind as attractive'." Cadence replied, a grin forming on her face.

"Well... what changed?" Jason asked.

"Honestly, I think he just saw the value in Midnight. I know the thought of dating outside your species is strange and foreign to you humans, but I promise you, it's completely normal here. Besides, you're going to be out there with only Tempest and the rest of your team to provide company for the next five months or so. Your opinion just might change over that period of time, especially if you give Tempest a chance to win you over." Cadence explained, giving a friendly smile.

"You know, I think you just might be a tiny bit biased." Jason chuckled.

"Indeed I am. I'm the Princess of Love. It's not only my job, but my purpose in life to spread love and help ponies find their significant other. That even goes for strange creatures like you," Cadence playfully winked again, "Besides, from the way you two were looking at each other, and the conflicted feelings I can sense on you, I know you feel something for Tempest too." 

"What? What do you mean?" Jason's brow furrowed.

"Trust me, I've been doing this for a long time, and I know when two creatures are meant for each other. Even if you're having a hard time admitting it, there's a base attraction there between you and her that you feel deep in your heart. I know for sure that it's there whether she's a pony or not, otherwise you wouldn't even be having these thoughts in your head in the first place. Besides, from what I gather, you care more about her personality and who she is, rather than what she is anyway." Cadence explained.

"And how do you know all that?" 

"It shows in your mannerisms, and the way you present yourself. You say what you mean and you keep a rational head on your shoulders. You're not the type to react emotionally and say something you don't mean as far as I can tell. So, by way of that, along with the fact that I can literally sense your feelings of attraction for her with my magic, I know for a fact that you want something with Tempest, even if you don't know it yet." Cadence gave him the smuggest, widest grin she possibly could.

"... You're scary." Jason shook his head.

"I'm only scary to my enemies, and you, Jason, are a friend. I'm just trying to help you." Cadence beamed.

"Well... I need to think about it some more... It's... not an easy decision to make just like that, you know?" Jason admitted.

"I fully understand. All I ask is that you don't push her away just because of her species. You might just find that there's more to her than meets the eye." Cadence replied.

"I'll... see where it goes. I can't promise anything, but... who knows? Maybe you're right? We'll have to see." Jason shrugged before getting to his feet.

"We will, and I look forward to seeing you when you return from your journey." Cadence smiled.

"Likewise." 

With that, Jason and Cadence headed back over to the group as they continued to chat among themselves.

"Everything good?" Eddie asked upon noticing Jason's return.

"Yeah. Everything's good. Everyone good to go?" Jason replied.

"Yep. We're all here and ready to go. Just waiting on the train." Eddie nodded.

A few moments later, a train horn sounded, and the same abomination that drove the group to the Crystal Empire before, was back again.

"Okay, seriously, you guys need to update your trains or something. That thing is just hideous." Sky shook his head.

"Hehe, maybe one day." Cadence chuckled.

Soon enough, the train stopped at the station and the doors opened, allowing for everyone to enter. 

"Alright, this is it. We both wish you all the best and hope to see you in a few months." Shining smiled.

"Please do be careful out there and return in one piece. We'll count the days down until your return." Cadence added.

"Thank you both again for everything you've done for us. We'll look forward to coming back here once we're all safe and sound." Jason replied before stepping onto the train. 

Eddie, Mike, Rebecca, and Tempest quickly followed behind, leaving just Sky and Midnight on the platform with Cadence and Shining Armor.

"Before we go... Cadence, can you cast a quick spell for me?" Midnight asked, a sheepish smile on her face.

Cadence gave her a knowing grin, and her horn lit up in a pale blue aura. Immediately after, the aura formed around Midnight's midsection, and for a few seconds, there was only silence. Then, the blue aura flashed green, and Cadence dropped the spell.

"Yep. I'd say... Probably a boy." Cadence grinned.

Midnight's eyes widened, and she turned to Sky to already find him beaming. She quickly threw her hooves over his withers and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Ohmygosh... I can't believe it... We finally did it!" She whispered.

"I know... I just... I'm so happy... You're gonna be the best mom in the whole world." Sky replied, squeezing her just a little bit tighter in the process.

"Congratulations you two. I can't wait to see what he'll look like." Shining said.

"I'm hoping that he'll have his mom's eyes." Sky replied as he stroked his hoof through Midnight's mane.

"You're gonna be such a good dad..." Midnight whispered.

For a second, they pulled just far enough from each other to look into each other's eyes. In that moment, the sheer warmth and love radiating from their eyes alone was enough to bring a small tear to Cadence's eyes. Just as fast, the moment was over, and they parted from each other, both with a profound sense of warmth in their hearts.

"You be extra careful now. Pregnancy is no joke. Even if it takes sixish months for the symptoms to really start to show, you can't be running around and jumping off buildings or anything like that. I know you can't exactly guarantee anything, but try to take it a little easy while you're out there. You might have to stay in Ponpei until you go into labor if traveling becomes too difficult." Cadence instructed.

"I'll be careful. Thank you so much, Cadence. Just... thank you." Midnight smiled as she fought back tears.

Cadence took a step forward and wrapped her hooves around Midnight's withers. She pulled her into a gentle hug, one that the graphite mare was happy to reciprocate, before releasing her and wiping the beginnings of a tear away from her sapphire eyes.

"Now now, no tears. This is a happy occasion." Cadence chuckled.

"I know... I'm just so happy... I get a little teary eyed when I'm really happy." Midnight admitted, allowing a small laugh for herself.

"-And you," Cadence said, turning to Sky, "You make sure to take care of her." She ordered.

"I'll keep her out of trouble. Promise." Sky gave a cheesy smile.

"Good. Glad to hear it." 

With that, Cadence stepped away from the couple and walked back over to Shining. 

"We'll see you when you get back." Cadence said.

"We'll be counting down the days." Midnight replied.

Sky and Midnight stepped into the train, and the door quickly closed behind them. The train horn sounded a few seconds later, and once again, they were gone within a matter of minutes. Upon stepping into their train cart, Sky and Midnight found Jason sitting on his chair with Tempest to his immediate left, and the rest of the group sitting across from them.

"Jason," Sky called out, getting the man's attention, "Can we talk to you for a minute?" 

Jason quickly stood up from his seat and walked over to the ponies at the end of the room.

"Can we talk privately?" Midnight asked.

"Sure. Over here." Jason replied, opening the door to the next cart and stepping inside.

Sky and Midnight quickly followed behind, to find the next cart over was completely empty. Once they were completely inside, Jason closed the door behind them and fixed them with a curious look.

"Alright, so what's up?" He asked.

"Okay... So, what we're about to tell you, you have to realize that it won't jeopardize this mission at all... but it's something that we've been planning for literally years now... and we couldn't really wait until the next time so..." Sky began to explain, awkwardly rubbing his foreleg with his hoof.

"You're pregnant." Jason said, staring right at Midnight.

"Uh... yeah... How'd you know?" Sky replied, looking at Midnight and Jason curiously.

"Tempest told me you were going into estrus last night. I had to ask her what that meant, but once she told me, I kinda put two and two together pretty quick," Jason crossed his arms, "So... how long do pony pregnancies last, anyways?" 

"About a year... Jason, please understand that this won't harm the mission. You don't have to take any special precautions with me or anything since I won't start showing any symptoms or having any issues until around the six month mark, and if worse comes to worse, we can just stay in Ponpei while the rest of you go back to Equestria. We just... we've wanted a family for a long time now and..." Midnight explained, her eyes falling to the floor.

Jason sighed, "While... I wish you would have told me about this before just going ahead and doing it... I understand. You had plans, and we just kind of showed up one day. What I don't really understand, is why you're still coming with us. I mean... you're pregnant. That should take priority over helping us, don't you think?" He asked, turning to Sky.

"Believe me, I'd like to stay home and just take care of Midnight all day... but we told you we were going to help you with this, and we're going to do exactly that. Besides, you need a unicorn to cast the spell through the crystal once you get it, and as much as I love Tempest... she's can't really use her magic very well." Sky replied, an apologetic look plastered on his face.

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed again.

"Fuck... I guess you have a good point there. Well... if you say it won't be a problem, then I believe you... but please, if you're having any issues at all during this mission, tell me. I won't risk you having complications for us, no matter how badly we need you." He said.

"Thank you, Jason... I promise, we'll do everything we can to help you... and... really, thank you for caring. I kinda expected you to be mad, to be honest." Midnight replied, giving a sheepish smile.

"How could I be mad at you? You guys had a plan, and we interrupted it. Just... please tell me if you're going to do something like that again, okay? What I don't like, is not knowing what's going on with my guys, and if you wake up one morning with morning sickness, or whatever, I'd hate to not know why until after the fact." Jason replied.

For a few moments, the graphite mare in front of him was stunned, but eventually, she found a shaky smile forming on her face.

"You're a good man, Jason." Midnight said, before taking a few steps forward and rearing back onto her hind legs.

She quickly wrapped her hooves around his back and pulled him into a tight hug, to which he slowly, and clumsily returned. Jason awkwardly patted her back and held her wither before she dropped back down to her hooves and stepped away.

"Sorry... I just really wanted to hug you." Midnight sheepishly said.

"Hehe, don't worry about it. Thanks." Jason chuckled.

"Do I get a hug?" Sky joked.

Jason sighed, "...Alright, come here."
> Chapter 10: Dry Dry Desert
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Three days later


Jason trudged along through the sand with sweat dripping off his brow. Each step forward sapped at his energy and drained his resolve, until he was barely more than a walking zombie in a white desert. Following not too far behind him, Eddie, Mike, and Rebecca were in much the same state. The blinding sun beat down on the marines like an unending furnace, and they were powerless to stop it.

Trailing just behind the group of humans, Tempest, Sky, and Midnight walked along, their coats slick with sweat and covered in a thin layer of white sand that only worsened the unbearable heat. Sky held one wing open over Midnight's back, to keep some sun off of her, but even that did little in the vast expanse of the open desert.

"Sarge... where the fuck is this place?" Mike wheezed.

Jason glanced down at his map and frowned.

"Should be just another twelve miles. We're almost through this guys. Just a few more hours." He said, glancing back at the group.

"Oh boy, only a few more hours. That's just lovely." Rebecca bitterly replied.

"Ah, shut up Chief. You'll make it." Eddie quipped, just as bitterly.

"Fuck off." 

"Hey, that's enough. Look, we've been going for a few hours now, and everyone's a little dehydrated. Let's take a break, and pick back up in fifteen minutes." Jason ordered, stepping between Rebecca and Eddie.

"Roger that, boss." Mike replied, before flopping onto the ground and sighing.

"You okay?" Tempest asked, upon walking over to the sprawled man.

"Oh just lovely..." Mike said.

He sat upright and unslung his pack from his back. After a few seconds of digging through the side pouch, he found his canteen, and opened it. Mike quickly unscrewed the cap and poured out what little water was inside out to his waiting mouth. Only a few drops of waters dripped out before the canteen was completely empty, and Mike cursed under his breath.

"Fuckin' desert..." He muttered.

For a moment, Mike just sat there in angry silence, until the sound of magic filled his ears, and he turned his head to see Midnight levitating her canteen over to him.

"I don't have much, but I can spare some for you." She said, giving a tired, yet optimistic smile.

"Thanks... but you need water too. I'll be alright." Mike shook his head.

"I'm okay. Besides, you're the one carrying that big thing," Midnight replied, pointing to his machine gun with a hoof, "You're probably carrying more weight than the rest of us."

Mike sighed and glanced down at the sand for a few seconds before taking the canteen out of her magic. 

"Thank you." He gratefully said before bringing the canteen to his lips and drinking down a good portion of what was left of the water.

"Any time." Midnight smiled.

She magic'd the canteen back into her pack once Mike was finished, and quickly made her way over to Jason, Sky, and Tempest.

"How're you all holding up?" Midnight asked.

"Loving... life..." Sky panted.

"Sky... you need more water. Here." Midnight brought her canteen out again and brought it over to the crimson pegasus.

"You know... this fluff... is great for high altitude flying... not so great for walking in the desert..." Sky continued before taking the canteen and greedily drinking down the rest.

"The desert is particularly harsh on pegasi. I would say he should fly up ahead of us, but I don't think the air up there is any cooler than it is down here." Tempest chimed in, glancing up at the flaming ball in the sky.

"Sky, you're gonna have to take it easy for a bit." Jason added.

"No complaints... here." Sky replied after finishing the canteen and hoofing it back over to Midnight.

"How're we all doing on water?" Jason inquired.

"Mike and I are completely out now." Midnight said.

"I've been out for hours." Sky added.

"I have a few sips left in mine." Tempest replied.

"Empty." Eddie called.

"Same." Rebecca finished.

"Alright... so we're just about completely out of water... and we've got about twelve more miles to go until we get to the town... Now I wish we'd brought more from the train station." Jason said, wiping a bit more sweat off his brow.

"That hermit wanted to charge fifty bits per canteen. Biggest rip off I've seen in years." Midnight grumbled.

"Well... at the moment... I'd pay a thousand bits for a bit more water..." Sky mumbled.

"You can have the rest of mine." Tempest said, bringing her canteen out of her saddlebag.

"No, no. It's okay... You need water too... I'm just... being a bitch." Sky shook his head.

"You're not 'being a bitch'. You're a pegasus with more fur than either me or Midnight. You're at the greatest risk of dehydration here. Don't worry, I'll be fine." Tempest assured, holding her canteen out to the crimson pegasus in front of her.

Albeit with some hesitation, Sky eventually took the canteen out of Tempest's hoof and greedily drank down what water was left. He hoofed the canteen back to Tempest and sighed.

"Thank you."

"Anytime." Tempest replied.

"Alright... so that puts us at... a quarter canteen. For all of us. The cloud Rainbow gave us will be a last resort if one of us is about to die or something," Jason wiped his brow once more, "Alright, we need to pick it back up and make the last of this trip. Once we reach the town, we can rest up for a bit, but that mountain is gonna be calling our names by tomorrow morning." Jason announced.

"Alright, Sky, Midnight, you both okay?" Tempest asked, rising to her hooves.

"Yeah. I can make it. Don't worry about me." Sky replied.

"I'll be fine, and I'll take care of him, don't worry." Midnight added.

"Mike, Eddie, Chief, let's go!" Jason called.

With a groan, the rest of the group rose to their feet and continued forward into the blistering sunlight.


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Mike took two steps into the town entrance before collapsing onto the ground. Jason fell right behind him, dropping Sky off his back in the process. Midnight and Tempest were quick to come in from behind, both panting heavily and checking to make sure Sky was still okay. Just behind them, Eddie walked in with Rebecca on his back, and unceremoniously dropped her to the ground before falling down himself.

"Fuck... the... desert..." Jason wheezed.

"Sky... you... okay?" Midnight asked, nudging the stallion with her muzzle.

A dry groan was the only response she received, and the graphite mare quickly placed a small kiss on his ear.

"Okay... I'll get some water... Just hang on..." She said, before turning to Tempest, "Tempest... Are you good?"

"Y-yeah... Just... a little... thirsty..." Tempest managed as she unsteadily walked towards the downed pegasus.

"Come on... Let's go get water..." Midnight said, turning on her hooves and heading into the sparsely populated town.

Tempest followed behind, and for a few moments, the two mares walked through a town that barely seemed to notice the arrival of three ponies and four humans. However, the further they progressed along the sandy road, the more heads turned their way. Large scaly creatures watched them with curious eyes as the two exhausted mares walked to the nearby water tower. A gruff, reptilian creature with spines as sharp as razors stood behind a table in front of them, his arms crossed, and an eyebrow cocked back as they approached.

"Welcome to Outer Reach Springs. What can I do for ya?" It asked.

"We need... water... Our friends... are dying..." Tempest managed.

"Water is forty silver shills per canteen fill." The creature replied.

"We have bits... Do you know the currency exchange?" Midnight asked.

"Bits? Never heard of 'em." 

"Oh come on! Bits are solid gold! Equestrian currency? We'll give you gold, sound good?" Midnight exasperatedly shouted.

"Calm down little lady. Gold you say? Lemme see and maybe I can cut you a deal." 

Midnight ignited her horn and a small vortex immediately opened to her right, allowing for dozens of bits to spill out onto the table in front of her. The creature grabbed one of the bits and eyed it suspiciously. After a moment, it placed the bit in its mouth and bit down. Appearing satisfied, it placed the bit back down on the counter and eyed Midnight curiously.

"Alright little lady, you've got some genuine gold there. I'd say... twenty per canteen fill." The creature smiled down at her.

"Alright, fine. Deal. Just give us some water. My husband needs it now." Midnight ordered, slamming more bits onto the table.

"Relax, relax. Hand me your canteens." 

Midnight and Tempest hoofed over their canteens to the creature. It quickly turned around to the water tower and opened the tap, filling the canteens in a matter of seconds. Once it was satisfied, it turned back around and handed the canteens back to Midnight and Tempest.

"Pleasure doing business with you." The creature took an exaggerated bow and collected the deposited bits off the table.

Midnight and Tempest quickly galloped back to the town entrance where Jason, Mike, Rebecca, and Eddie were all busy trying to cool Sky off. They managed to drag him into the shade of a nearby building, and were in the process of trying to elevate his hooves off the ground.

"Sky!?" Midnight called as she quickly reached him.

Sky slowly looked to her and gave a lousy grin.

"Hey there... Mid..." He managed.

Midnight quickly unfastened the cap on her canteen and brought it to his lips.

"Drink this," She ordered. Once Sky complied, and the water quickly began to drain into his throat, she turned to Jason, "What did I miss?" 

"He's at the stage of heat stroke where he's getting pretty loopy. We got him to the shade as fast as we could, but he started getting really dizzy so we elevated his hooves. You should probably pour some of that water onto his coat. It'll help him cool off." Jason explained.

"You need some water too." Midnight replied.

"I've got them. You worry about Sky." Tempest cut in, hoofing her canteen to Jason.

"What about you?" Jason asked.

"I took a sip before I came back here. I'm fine." Tempest responded, still holding the canteen out.

"Alright... If you're sure." Jason said, giving her a curious look. He took the canteen and took a long swig before a grateful sigh left his lips.

He immediately handed the canteen to Mike, who took an equally long swig. Eddie and Rebecca followed up and drained the canteen to just a fraction of what was originally inside. Tempest took the canteen back and took a few steps away from the group before chugging the rest of the water down and sighing. After placing the canteen away, she looked back to find Jason's eyes on her once more, and she hurried back over to the group.

"You okay?" Jason asked.

"I'm fine. Why?" Tempest replied.

"Nothing. Just making sure." Jason said, turning his attention back to Sky.

"How's he holding up?" Tempest inquired.

"He's dehydrated as all hell, but he'll be okay. We just need to take it easy for the rest of the day. Maybe get some food and more water in him. Once we leave tomorrow, we won't have civilization like this for another few weeks at the least." Jason replied, frowning at the sad state Sky was in at the moment.

"Here, I'll go see if I can't get us a room or two for the night somewhere." Mike said as he stood up to his feet.

"Eddie, go with him." Jason ordered.

"On it." Eddie replied.

The two Marines quickly made their way to the nearest saloon and entered, leaving the rest of the group outside to focus on Sky.

"Rebecca, can you and Tempest go get more water? Midnight and I will take care of Sky." Jason asked.

"Yeah... yeah, on it." Rebecca replied as she rose to her feet and headed to the water tower.

"We'll need some bits." Tempest pointed out.

Midnight quickly ignited her horn and opened the portal, spilling a small pile of bits out in the process. She levitated them over to Rebecca's waiting hands before she turned around and headed to the water tower. Tempest quickly followed behind, leaving just Midnight, Jason, and Sky out on the street. 

"Ugh..." Sky groaned, "Tell Tia I hate the sun now..." 

"Hehe, I'll let her know, big guy." Midnight chuckled.

"You need to be more careful out there man. I can't have you dying of dehydration on me." Jason chastised.

"Well... in my defense... I've never been in a desert as a... pony before..." Sky weakly chuckled, before his dry throat caught him and he fell into a quick coughing fit.

"No more trying to be tough. You feel like you're dying, you tell me, alright?" Jason said.

"Deal... deal..." Sky said.

"Just... take it easy for right now, okay big guy?" Midnight whispered, nuzzling her cheek against his.

"Hehe... I will... don't worry about me." 

"Hey guys!" Mike called, diverting attention to the saloon across the street.

"What's up?!" Jason responded.

"They got three rooms here that we can stay in. Bring him over and we'll get him situated." Mike called back.

"Alright, I got him. You go get Tempest and Rebecca. Tell them where to go." Jason instructed as he grabbed Sky.

"Okay." 

With that, Jason lifted the crimson pegasus into a cradle, and Midnight hurried over to the water tower.

"Uh..." Sky said as Jason carried him across the street.

"Don't make it weird. It's hard enough carrying your furry ass, I don't need you making it awkward too." Jason cut him off.

"Got it. Shutting up now." Sky replied.

Quick enough, they were across the street, and Jason deposited Sky onto a chair near the entrance.

"Alright, I'll figure out which room we'll be in, and then I'll come get you." Jason said.

With that, the man walked into the saloon and made his way over to the front desk. There was another strange reptilian creature standing behind the desk, eyeing Mike and Eddie curiously.

"So how much for three rooms?" Mike asked.

"One hundred silver shills a night." The creature replied.

"Well... we don't have any silver shills... but we have bits. Tons of gold bits, actually." Eddie responded.

"Hmm... that will do. Eighty bits a night per creature then." 

"Man that math just don't add up." Mike muttered.

"Deal. Do you have any food here?" Jason chimed in.

"We have some food available... for a price." The creature smugly replied.

"Figures. We'll deal with food later. Right now, we need to get our friend to a room. He's very dehydrated." Jason explained.

"Payment first. Room and board, second." 

Mike turned to Jason and slowly walked over to him.

"Can I just waste this fucking guy?" He whispered.

"No. We don't need that kind of attention or hostility right now." Jason replied, before looking back over to the creature at the front desk, "Hang on, the pony with our bits will be here in a moment." 

As if on cue, Midnight, Tempest, Sky, and Rebecca filed into the building just a moment later.

"Hmm... ponies? Never seen any of your kind this far away from Equestria... and such interesting companions you brought with you." The creature mentioned, its eyes drifting from the ponies to the humans in the room.

"How much for the room?" Midnight asked.

"He wants eighty bits per person." Jason explained.

"That's more than a hotel in Canterlot, but fine." Midnight bitterly replied.

She ignited her horn and the small vortex opened once again, allowing a steady stream of bits to flow onto the table in front of the creature. As with the last one, it took a bit in its claw and bit into it. With a predatory smirk on its face, the creature handed the keys to three separate rooms over to Jason.

"Thanks." Jason said as he took the keys.

The group quickly made their way up the stairs and up to the three rooms in question before Jason abruptly stopped and turned to face the group.

"Alright, I don't trust that guy as far as I can throw him. I want at least one person awake the whole night, just in case he tries something funny." 

"But we're gonna be in three separate rooms." Mike pointed out. 

"That doesn't mean one of us can't stay awake and just check on the other two rooms for an hour or so throughout the night." Jason replied.

"Well Sky is pretty much out for the count, if I'm being honest." Mike pointed out, looking down at the sluggish pegasus in front of him.

"Sky's just going to rest for tonight. The rest of us are in much better shape than him so we're going to pull guard shifts," Jason looked down at the watch on his wrist, "It's five o'clock now. If we want to get a decent amount of sleep, lets go to bed soon and start taking shifts. We leave first thing in the morning." 

"I guess it's MRE's for dinner." Mike sighed.

"I wish we had another option, but like I said, that dude is shady. I have a feeling he'd probably drug our food or something just to kidnap Midnight for all our bits." Jason replied.

"Fair point. That said, we've only got enough MRE's for about a week, and it's gonna be about a week for us to travel over that mountain and get to Ponpei." Eddie chimed in.

"Well we're just gonna have to figure something out as we go. I don't like this place at all. I've got a bad feeling about staying here for long." Jason shook his head.

"Then we'll leave tomorrow and find food along the way. Water won't be a problem on the mountain. We can just melt the snow and drink that. I'm sure that we can find somethi-ARRGH!" Eddie started, before a rocket of razor sharp pain stabbed at his brain. He instantly fell to his knees and gripped his temples while the pain shot through his head over and over again.

"Ed!" Jason said, quickly moving to grab the man as he clutched at his head.

"It's the magic..." Midnight said, a sad frown on her face.

A few more seconds passed before Eddie finally let go of his head and got back to his feet.

"Fucking... shit... Fuck me..." He gasped.

"You okay?" Jason asked.

"Y-yeah... yeah I think so... fuck me." Eddie replied.

"That shit does not look fun." Mike shook his head.

"Trust me, it's not." Eddie grumbled.

"You sure you're good?" Jason asked.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm good." Eddie replied as he slowly got back up to his feet.

"Take it easy for a bit." Jason replied, before turning to the rest of the group, "Okay, come on, everyone get to a room and let's get some food in us. I want at least one human with a loaded rifle in each room."

Eddie and Rebecca made their way to the door on the far right while Sky, Midnight, and Mike took the middle room, leaving the last room for just Jason and Tempest. The mulberry unicorn in question glanced back and forth between the two other rooms for a moment, before Jason unlocked the door and stepped halfway inside.

"You coming?" He asked.

"Y-yes. Right behind you." She replied.

They stepped into the room and closed the door behind them without another word.


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Tempest awoke to the sound of footsteps to her immediate left. Her eyes quickly darted open, and her ears flicked toward the source of noise. In the darkness, she could just barely make out Jason as he donned his armor and grabbed his rifle. He took a cursory glance around the room, and stepped over to the doorway. As gently as he could, he opened the door and stepped outside to check the other rooms. A few moments later, he returned, apparently satisfied with the lack of hostility outside. He closed the door behind him and made his way back over to the other side of the room. 

Jason opened the door to the small balcony and stepped outside to the wooden railing and sighed. He glanced out at the full moon and the stars littering the sky. He only glanced down when he heard Tempest's hoofsteps on the wooden floor behind him, and he turned around to greet her as she stepped outside.

"What're you doing up so late?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"You uh... you kinda woke me up when you got up." Tempest sheepishly replied.

"Oh... sorry about that. I tried to be quiet." Jason rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's fine. Don't worry about me. I'm pretty used to getting only a few hours of sleep," Tempest dismissively waved a hoof before walking over to the railing and looking up at the stars, "I still remember when I was lost in the desert all those years ago. Every day felt like it was going to be the last day, but somehow... I managed to last until the night. That was my only solace, I suppose. The moonlight always looks so soft and gentle in the desert." She reminisced.

"Yeah..." Jason replied, turning his head up to the stars as well, "It kinda reminds me of Horizon V in a way." 

"How's that?" Tempest fixed him with a curious look.

"Well, when I was there we were at war... Most of the time we were fighting somewhere depressing, like a swamp or in a blizzard... but there was this one time when we took a fuel depot in the Ranger Desert. I still remember getting orders to prepare for a counter attack and being told to set the men up for security the whole night... Funny thing is, they never showed up. That night, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so I got a good look at the stars. In fact... I think that was the first time I ever saw stars. I never bothered to look out the windows of the frigate when we left Earth, and the light pollution is so bad there that you can't see anything anyways." Jason said, his eyes glued to the sky.

"How... how old are you, Jason?" Tempest asked, eyeing him with surprise.

"I'm at the ripe old age of thirty. Joined the Marines as quick as I could, and spent the last decade or so fighting a civil war between two galaxies... Sounds crazy, doesn't it?" Jason darkly chuckled, prompting Tempest to fully turn to him.

"A decade of just war? I... I'm sorry... That must not have been easy." She said.

"It wasn't..." Jason's eyes fell to the sand below, "I lost a lot of good friends over the years... Managed to get promoted all the way to staff sergeant during the war... then I blew it... hehe, that's kinda why I'm here right now." He admitted.

"What do you mean? What did you do?" Tempest asked.

"Well... I'm not sure if you want to know all that. The war... things got dark... so dark that we starting doing things that made us not sleep so well at night." Jason turned away from her.

"I know what that's like... trust me." Tempest admitted, looking down at her hooves in shame.

"What did you do?" Jason asked.

"You tell me first." Tempest replied.

Jason chuckled for a minute before turning around to face her once more.

"Let's just say that a lot of good people died in that war... on both sides... It's something I regret every single day." Jason admitted.

For a while, Tempest stared at him in silence. Her face was a mix of concern, surprise, and most surprisingly of all, understanding.

"I've... learned a lot since I came back to Equestria... One of the things that stuck with me the most was forgiveness. Even for things that didn't affect you specifically. Besides... I've noticed you kind of split yourself off from the rest of the group a lot, just like I used to... You did bad things but you thought you were doing them for a good cause..." She replied, her soft turquoise eyes trained on his.

Jason sighed deeply before leaning against the railing and sliding down until he was sitting next to Tempest.

"Yeah... Our orders were to destroy everything... Scorched Earth policy. They refused to surrender, even after twelve years of war... One day, they ordered me to blow up an entire town with the people still in it. At that point... I'd done so much wrong... killed so many people... I just couldn't do it anymore. When I refused, they took my rank, threw me in the brig and court martial'd me. Called it 'disobeying a lawful order from a superior officer during a time of warfare'. I was going to be executed, but my old captain had some connections and pulled me out. Next thing I knew, I was with a Marine Raider unit and leading the final assault on Bellruse. We got something of a name for ourselves after that... 'The Legendary Team Two' they called us... Said we struck fear into the hearts of our enemies... Heh, I never bought that crap. We're just men... nothing more..." Jason trailed off.

Tempest looked at him with a sad frown before taking a step forward and placed a hoof on Jason's thigh in a comforting manner. He slowly glanced over at her and gave a bittersweet smile before continuing. 

"Anyways... once I survived that, they put me on this mission. Said I had to make up my disobedience by serving for another few years after the war." Jason explained.

"I... I'm so sorry that happened to you. That sounds-" Tempest began.

"Don't feel too sorry for me, Tempest... I still killed a lot of people that didn't deserve to die... When we attacked Bellruse, we hit the city with everything we had. It was going to be the 'first planetary bombardment in history' as the general put it. Fuckin' prick wanted to wipe out the entire world, not just their leadership." Jason bitterly recounted.

"Why... why did they send you in there if they were just going to blow everything up?" Tempest asked, an awestruck expression on her face.

"We had to disable their defenses. The planet had shield generators in Bellruse that would have protected all of the major cities from the incoming attack... Tempest, you have to understand... this was at the end of the war. Horizon V was the last planet they had, and they had no space faring ships. We had already won... Bellruse was revenge, plain and simple... I think over a billion people died on that day alone." Jason trailed off, a sad look on his face.

"I... wow... a billion? I can't... I just don't even know what to say to that..." Tempest shook her head in disbelief. 

"I wish it wasn't true, but that's just the way war is... So much killing... So much death... Out of my original squad, Eddie's the only one left... Mike joined us five years into the war, and, well... Everyone else I fought alongside is dead." Jason shrugged. It wasn't much, but Tempest could just faintly see a glossy look in his eyes, one that made her heart ache.

"...How... how do you deal with the things you've done?" She asked, her hesitation evident in her voice.

"I think... for me at least, you never really deal with it... It's always just... kinda there. In the back of your mind, waiting to remind you of how horrible you are. Eventually the guilt starts to fade and you're just left with numbness... Sometimes I wish I could just go back in time and fix my mistakes, but... you can't live in the past... you have to move forward," Jason replied, thoughtfully looking at her, "You seem like you have something you want to get off your chest." He pressed.

"Me? Well... I... I've never really talked about the things I've done... Always been too ashamed I guess." Tempest admitted.

"You shouldn't be ashamed... The things you did... they made you who you are now, even if they were bad. Hell, just earlier today when we got into town, I know for a fact that you lied to me about the water." He chuckled.

"What are you talking about?" Tempest looked at him nervously.

"You didn't drink any before you gave the canteen to me and the rest of the guys. I told you to drink some water and you said you did, but that was a lie." Jason shrugged.

"How... how do you know that?" She asked.

"Just by the fact that it was completely full when you gave it to me. Also by how you chugged what was left... You put the rest of us ahead of yourself. That kind of selflessness... it means something, Tempest... Even if you did some bad things before, you're not a bad pony." Jason recounted, giving her a level smile.

Tempest looked around nervously for a few moments before pursing her lips and finding her voice.

"Well... When I was a filly, my horn was broken by an ursa minor... For a unicorn, to lose your horn... especially at such a young age... to say it was devastating would be an understatement. I ended up running away from home and Equestria altogether. I thought that if I could find a way to fix myself, then I'd be whole again, and everything would be alright. Heh, as it turns out, I was half right." Tempest explained, her eyes drifting down to the floor once more.

"How so?" Jason asked.

"After nearly two decades on my own, I met the Storm King. Despite my instincts telling me that he was evil all the way to his core... he promised to restore my horn in exchange for magical power... I guess that was all I needed to hear." Tempest continued.

"I thought you couldn't really use magic because of your horn." Jason inquired.

"I can't... At least, not anywhere near as easily as Midnight or any other unicorn. That's why I agreed to lead him to Equestria to... to take the princesses magic from them." Tempest admitted, a pit forming in her stomach all the while.

"Woah... you... betrayed your country?" Jason asked. He was shocked, and his face confirmed it.

"I know... I was selfish, rotten, bitter... maybe even a little evil myself. When Twilight offered me friendship, I didn't take her offer... It wasn't until the Storm King betrayed me that I knew I was fighting for the wrong side... I was so stupid then..." She said, her shaky breaths indicating that she was nearing the verge of tears.

Jason quickly picked up on her pained expression and leaned toward her. He placed a hand on her wither and gave her a gentle squeeze, breaking her from her thoughts and redirecting her eyes to his.

"Hey, what you did back then, it's in the past now, and Twilight clearly forgave you for it, otherwise she wouldn't have you as her guard." He said, giving a comforting smile.

"That's... not the worst part though..." Tempest's gaze again fell to the floor.

"You can tell me, Tempest. I promise you that I won't think any less of you." He replied, his brow furrowing in concern.

Before she could speak, a nearby door opened, redirecting both Tempest and Jason's attention back to the other side of the room. Mike stepped into their room and looked around for just a moment before finding them outside on the balcony.

"What're you both still doing up? It's my shift now, Sarge." Mike said.

"Is it?" Jason asked as he looked to his watch, "Damn... I guess that last hour just flew right by me."

"Eh, it happens when you're talking with your girlfriend." Mike teased.

Tempest's cheeks heated up immediately while Jason cocked an eyebrow back at Mike.

"Mike... just... go do your job for a bit." He said.

"You got it boss." Mike chuckled as he headed back through the door and back to his room.

"Sorry about that." Jason apologized, turning to look at the mulberry unicorn still sitting next to him.

"It's fine, really. Don't worry about it." Tempest lied, faking a smile.

"Anyways... if you don't want to talk about it, then I understand. Hell, I still have a hard time talking about Bellruse." Jason sighed.

"W-why's that?" Tempest asked.

"How's about I make you a deal?" Jason said giving her a sideways glance.

"Okay." She replied.

"When you're ready to tell me about what happened to you, I'll tell you about what happened to me in Bellruse. Hell, maybe you can tell me why you always wear that bodysuit while you're at it." Jason chuckled lightly, prompting Tempest to laugh a little herself.

"Alright... just... when that time comes... just know that I might cry a little." She joked.

"Hey, I've been there. Spent a solid month crying like a baby when we lost Johnny. You won't get any judgement from me." Jason replied.

"Alright. Then we have a deal." Tempest held out her hoof, to which Jason, albeit hesitantly grabbed and shook.

Tempest giggled at him for a second before his confused look caught her attention.

"Hehe, you're supposed to bump it, not shake." She explained.

"Oh... my bad." Jason shook his head before bumping her hoof with his fist.

For a few more moments, they simply watched each other as the moonlight gently filtered down onto the world around them. In that moment, Jason was struck with a striking realization. With the white light softly bouncing off her mulberry coat, and a gentle smile on her lips, Tempest was strikingly cute for a pony. He swallowed nervously and pulled her into another one armed hug, to which she gratefully accepted, before gazing up at the stars once more. 

Tempest felt a blossoming warmth fill her entire body, and as she looked up at the stars, her vision was just partially obscured by the tall man holding her close against his side. It was a strange feeling, being held by someone bigger than her, but for only the second time in her entire life, she didn't want it to end. 

Unfortunately, that only made it that much harder when he pulled away and looked back into the room.

"We should probably get some sleep. We need to head out pretty early tomorrow." Jason said.

"Right. I'll... see you tomorrow then." Tempest replied, some disappointment clear in her voice.

The pair quickly made their way back inside and laid down on their respective beds. Sleep came quickly, and soon enough, they drifted off.
> Chapter 11: No Such Thing As Hiking in a Bad Mood
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tempest awoke to the suns rays peering in through the window and falling right onto her closed eyes. With a groan, she rolled over until she was facing away from the light and pushed herself off of the bed. A tired yawn escaped her lips before she hopped out of bed and landed on her hooves. The wood panels creaked slightly as they accepted her weight, but she ignored their protest, and walked over to her gear to adorn her armor and saddlebags.

Not far behind her, Jason woke up to the sound of her moving around with a start, and quickly pulled himself out of bed. He glanced back and forth as if some evil creature was about to kick the door in, before sighing and looking down at the floor, much to Tempest's confusion. For a few moments, he just stared at the ground as if he was contemplating the pros and cons of going back to sleep. Eventually, he rose to his feet and dressed himself in his armor and gear. 

"Um... are you okay?" Tempest asked, with some concern.

"Yeah. Sorry about that. I, uh... Waking up isn't always fun for me." Jason replied, his voice filled with melancholy.

"Are... you sure?" Tempest pressed.

"Yeah. Don't worry, I'm good. It's just a morning thing. I'm used to it." Jason responded as he grabbed his chest piece.

"Alright... If you say so..." Tempest conceded, not believing most of what he'd said.

Several minutes passed in silence, save for the sound of the man and mare donning their gear. When Tempest was fully dressed and wearing her saddlebags, she turned to Jason to find him strapping on his pack. She glanced down at his rifle and, after a moment of thought, walked over to it. She grabbed the metallic hand-guard with her hoof and held it out for him to take. It was surprisingly light, given its materials and design, and she couldn't help but eye it curiously for a few moments before Jason accepted it from her hoof.

"It's an M7X1 carbine." Jason said, suddenly.

"What?" Tempest asked.

"This rifle. It's an M7X1 carbine. Eddie and Rebecca have the same model and Mike has an MG2070." Jason elaborated.

"Oh... I see. How exactly do they work? I've never seen anything like it." Tempest continued, with genuine curiosity.

"Why the sudden interest?" Jason teased.

"I guess I just never really looked at it this closely before. It almost looks like a magic staff of some kind with all the edges and length, but I know that it's not." She replied.

"Well, it's a pretty long story. I'll tell you another time. For now, we need to get going." Jason said.

"Right, right."

The pair quickly opened the door and headed out into the hallway. Jason quickly made his way over to the other two rooms and knocked on the doors until he heard movement inside. He stepped back toward Tempest, and after a few minutes, both doors opened. Mike, Midnight, and a much healthier looking Sky walked out first, before Eddie and Rebecca walked out of their room.

"How're you doing?" Jason asked, looking at Sky.

"Feeling a lot better today. Thanks." The crimson pegasus gratefully replied.

"Good. Alright, let's get out of here before something stupid happens." Jason instructed.

They all quickly filed down the stairs and out the front door without a word to the reptilian creature behind the front desk. Jason barely paused long enough to throw the three room keys onto the desk before stepping outside with the rest of the group.

"Have a pleasant day." The creature chuckled as it grabbed the keys and returned them.

Once outside, Jason and the group headed back to the water tower once more and filled their canteens. Just like the day before, the reptilian creature gave a predatory smile and charged twenty bits per canteen. Once Midnight, albeit angrily paid, their canteens were filled, and they proceeded onward. 

"I hope we never have to see this stupid town again." Midnight muttered as she walked.

"We won't. Promise." Sky replied, giving her a soft nuzzle.

She leaned into the affectionate action, before they broke apart and continued forward. Within a few minutes, they were at the complete other side of the small town, and an imposing mountain range greeted the group. Sharp, jagged cliff sides and towering rock formations blocked out the morning sun, casting a long shadow over the group and most of the town.

"Welp... it's gonna be a long hike." Mike sighed.

"If we can make it over the mountains in a week, we'll be on time. I hate to say it, but since we're gonna be pretty much out of food for most of this, we should probably only eat one MRE a day." Jason announced.

"Well, so much for my gains." Mike pouted, flexing his bicep in disappointment.

"We'll get them back. Just gotta survive this first." Eddie replied.

"Yep... wooohooo." Rebecca sarcastically added.

"No sense in waiting here forever. Let's start climbing." Tempest chimed in.

With that, the group headed forward to the first mountain in their way. The pace was slow going, and as they gradually increased their elevation, the town behind them grew smaller and smaller. The early morning sun gently warmed the world around them, but compared to the heat of the last few days, it was a welcome relief from the cold desert chills during the night. 

As they trailed up the mountain, the air gradually began to grow thinner and thinner, slowing progress more and more. Jason's legs burned from the effort of carrying on uphill for over a thousand feet, and each step shot pain all the way from his thighs to his calves. He panted for breath against the thinning air and pushed forward, even though he knew they still had thousands upon thousands of feet to go before they would reach the top of just this mountain alone.


.

.

.

.

.


Eddie dropped his pack off his back and unceremoniously dropped to the ground in exhaustion. Sweat dripped off his brow as he gasped for air in the high elevation, and his legs burned with enough severity to make him wince with each step forward. The rest of the group fared no better, with each member dropping their respective packs and saddlebags to the ground before flopping onto their backs or stomachs in a heap of exhausted pony and human.

"Okay... that's... five thousand feet down... three thousand more to go..." Jason wheezed.

"I... hate... mountains..." Midnight whined from her sprawled out position on the ground.

"If it makes anyone feel any better... we're making good time." Tempest optimistically chimed in.

"If you guys want, I can fly on ahead and look for more places to camp for the night or just take a break." Sky added, surprising not out of breath.

"How the fuck... are you... in such a good mood?" Rebecca asked, gasping for air all the while.

"High altitude does nothing to me. Just one of the perks of being a pegasus. The desert was my kryptonite, but up here, I'm in my comfort zone." Sky explained, a big smile on his muzzle.

"Well... Maybe you can carry me the rest of the way then... big guy..." Midnight managed through deep breaths.

"If you need me to carry you, I absolutely will." Sky said, leaning down until his muzzled was just an inch away from hers.

They shared a cheeky smile before gently pressing their lips together and kissing.

"Oh, get a room, will ya?" Mike breathed.

"Hehe, sorry about that." Sky apologized upon breaking the kiss.

"All jokes aside... Sky should go ahead and find us a good place to make camp for the night... It's going to get dark up here pretty soon." Tempest pointed out.

"Agreed... Sky, go find somewhere up ahead that isn't too far away and mark it... Once you get back, we'll make our way over there and set up camp for the night." Jason ordered.

"Alright, I'm on it." Sky replied.

He unfurled his wings and gave one powerful flap, sending him soaring into the air. He beat his wings a few more times and quickly disappeared into the clouds, leaving the group behind to rest.

"So... Now what?" Mike asked, having caught most of his breath.

"We wait for him to get back. Didn't you hear what I just said?" Jason asked, looking confused.

"Wait, you said something? I thought we just got here." Mike replied, glancing around in equal amounts of confusion.

"Do you not remember the last five minutes at all?" Eddie questioned.

"I...  we were just... n-no... I don't." Mike realized, his eyes falling to the ground.

Jason turned to Midnight and gave her a fearful look. She merely nodded and frowned at Mike's sudden memory loss. After a moment, Jason turned back to Mike and gave him a friendly nod.

"Hey Mike, don't worry about it. Once we get to the island, we'll be fine. Just gotta get over these mountains first, okay?" 

"Y-yeah... yeah... Roger that, boss." Mike hesitantly replied, his eyes still glued to the ground.

"Hey, you're gonna be fine, okay?' Jason said, placing a comforting hand on Mike's shoulder.

"Yeah... thanks, Sarge." He replied.

A few minutes later, the sound of flapping wings could be heard over the gentle mountain breeze, and all eyes turned to see Sky flying toward them. He gracefully came to a stop just above their makeshift camp, before dropping to the ground with a low 'thud'.

"I found a good spot just a few hundred feet ahead. There's an overhang and a ton of grass all over the place. It should be a good spot to rest for the night and get ready for tomorrow." He explained.

"Good. Take us to it." Jason responded as he got to his feet.

The rest of the group quickly followed behind, and soon enough they were on the move up the mountain once more. The tall rocks and boulders along the way made the travel difficult, but as each member of the group progressed forward, they felt their motivation increase just a little bit at the process of getting to a place where they could rest and recover for the night.

As they traveled along a particularly narrow ledge, Rebecca took a step that crumbled away beneath her foot, and she lost her balance for just a second. Right as she was about to lose her foothold on the ledge and fall, a mulberry hoof shot forward and caught her by her pant leg. She was quickly pulled back to the relative safety of the ledge, albeit with a massive pit in her stomach.

"Jesus... thanks." Rebecca gasped.

"Are you okay?" Tempest asked, quizzically staring at the woman.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that." Rebecca replied.

Rebecca pressed forward with Tempest coming up right behind her. It only took a few more steps, but Tempest kept a close distance until they reached the end of the ledge and found the rest of the group waiting for them. 

"You okay?" Jason asked.

"Yeah. Thanks to Tempest." Rebecca smiled, looking down at the mulberry unicorn next to her.

Tempest blushed slightly at the praise, before Jason's grateful smile made her blush even harder.

"Glad you're with us, Tempest." He said.

"Glad to be here... Hey, um, Jason. Can I talk to you real quick?" Tempest asked, motioning away from the group with a nod of her head.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Jason replied, stepping away from the group with the mulberry unicorn coming up beside him. 

Once they were just out of ear-shot, Tempest turned to Jason with a concerned look on her face.

"Okay, I'm not sure what just happened back there, but Rebecca just walked off the edge like it wasn't even there." She explained.

"What?" Jason asked, a concerned frown forming on his brow.

"She just... walked off. It was bizarre. I watched her just turn right and take two steps before the third... well, if I wasn't there to grab her, she would be dead right now." Tempest elaborated, looking past Jason at the woman in question.

"Jesus... and she didn't even notice?" 

"She had no idea... I'm worried that something like that might happen again, only next time..." Tempest trailed off.

"Yeah... I get it. Looks like this magic is affecting us more than I expected," Jason replied, glancing down at his bracelet. The color was still blue, albeit a slightly greener blue than before, "Fuck... Alright, I'll keep it in mind. Thanks again, Tempest. I really am glad you're with us." 

A sheepish smile found its way onto the mulberry mare's face, and she gave a small nod before turning back around with Jason and heading back to the group.

"What was that about?" Eddie asked as they returned.

"Just something else to look out for. Everybody watch each other's backs. That goes double for Chief." Jason announced.

"Wha? Oh come on, I just took a bad step, it was nothing major." Rebecca defensively replied.

"I'm just looking out for you, Chief. It looked like you just started walking off the edge on purpose." Jason rebutted.

"W-what? I... I did?" Rebecca questioned.

"Yeah... It must be the magic in your head... You just... walked off." Tempest added.

"Fuck me..." Rebecca muttered, her eyes falling to the floor in contemplation.

"Hey, don't worry about it, Chief. We're gonna get everyone out of here. We just need to get through this mountain first." Jason comforted.

"Y-yeah.. Okay. Thanks." She slowly replied, giving a small nod.

"How much further is this place?" Mike suddenly asked, looking at Sky.

"Just past that peak over there." Sky replied, pointing at an angular rock face a hundred feet ahead.

"Alright, let's get there already." Mike said, readjusting his pack and heading toward the peak.

It took another dozen minutes before they were able to scale the peak and find the spot Sky had indicated, but upon cresting the last few inches, the group found the perfect shelter. A large slab of rock covered what appeared to be a large cave with one side holding a massive view over the desert below. Just as Sky said, there were small patches of greenery growing nearby, and even puddles of water formed all along the rocky path.

"I guess this is gonna be our little base-camp for the night." Jason shrugged.

"It's better than anything else out here." Rebecca replied, taking the first step forward. 

"She's got a point. I could go flying around for a bit and find another place, but I don't think we'd get anywhere else before nightfall." Sky chimed in.

"Right. Let's get some tents set up." Jason ordered.

The rest of the group hastily made their way into the cave and surveyed possible locations to set up camp. Quick enough, they found a wide area about thirty feet into the cave with a large, dry area for their tents and other belongings. 

"Okay, this looks good. Here, Mike, Rebecca, Midnight and Sky, you guys set up the tents. Tempest, Eddie and I will start up a fire." Jason instructed.

"On it boss." Mike replied.

The group quickly split into two, and before long, three tents were erected inside. Jason pulled a small packet out of his pack while Eddie took what appeared to be a black wooden log out of his and placed it on the ground.

"What's that?" Tempest asked.

"Forever log. Just something I picked up a while ago when I was on Horizon V. It'll burn and burn forever as long as you have some fire jelly packets." Eddie explained.

"And I take it that that's what those are." Tempest replied, eyeing Jason's packet.

"Yep. All we need is a little spark, and this puppy will burn all night." Jason said, giving her an expectant look.

"Ah, so that's why you needed me for this." Tempest chuckled.

"Well that and I like your company." Jason grinned.

Tempest's cheeks heated up once more, and she darted her eyes to the floor for a moment, before giving Jason a playful look and smiling.

"Wow guys, I'm right here." Eddie chimed in, eyeing them both.

"Sorry. Here, put your log down." Jason replied, suppressing a bit of laughter.

Eddie did as asked and put the log down in the center of the half circle of tents. Jason quickly followed up by opening the jelly packet and pouring the viscous liquid all over the log until it was completely covered. Once he was satisfied, he gave Tempest a nod, and she leaned down to the log before bringing a spark to her horn and igniting the jelly.

Fiery heat quickly bloomed outward from the fire and warmed the three as they sat around the fire and waited for the rest of the group to finish with the tents. Just a few minutes later, they were joined by Sky, Mike, Midnight, and Rebecca as they sat down around the fire as well.

Jason glanced outward at the setting sun to find that a blanket of darkness was quickly settling over the world around them, and before long, the firelight was their only source of warmth as the cold mountain air picked up and the temperature dropped.

"Alright, we shouldn't need to have a fireguard set up, but I still think at least one person should be up and making sure nothing happens while we're up here." He said.

"There shouldn't be anyone else up here except for a few random creatures." Midnight replied.

"That's what I'm hoping for. I just don't trust this place. For all we know, some of those lizard dudes might have tracked us up here or something." Jason responded.

"I'll stay up for a while," Sky chimed in, "I got a full night's sleep last night anyways. You guys should all get some rest tonight."

"We'll figure it out in a bit. For now, let's eat some food." Eddie said, pulling an MRE out of his pack.

"Agreed." Jason nodded.

Everyone in the group grabbed their packs and quickly removed one of their MRE's and ripped into the packaging. Within a few moments, they had all of their food laid out in front of them on the open MRE bags and wrappers. 

"Hey Mike, whatcha' got?" Eddie asked as he slid his meal into the provided heater.

"Uh, I got the cheeseburger flavored paste... why? What did you get?" Mike replied, raising an eyebrow as he held his food.

"I got the fettuccine Alfredo. Wanna trade?" Eddie asked.

"Aww... I love Fettuccine Alfredo..." Midnight whined from a few spots over.

"Well what do you have then?" Eddie replied, turning to face the graphite mare.

"Uh... I have a daffodil sandwich with some carrots..." She sheepishly offered.

"Uh... thanks... but daffodils aren't exactly... my preference." Eddie declined as politely as he could.

"Heh, I understand." Midnight replied before taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"Carrots and daffodils... sounds like it'd go bad within a matter of days." Rebecca pondered aloud.

Midnight swallowed her bite before replying, "Well, our food pouches are enchanted to keep everything inside cold for almost a year." She explained.

"You're gear is enchanted?" Jason inquired before biting into his own meal.

"Not all of it, just the food pouches. I tried to get Twilight to enchant our canteens with something to make them colder or hold more water than they normally could, but she just didn't have enough time or magic to do that and keep our food pouches cool." Midnight shrugged.

"So basically you three have refrigerators on your backs?" Mike asked.

"Kinda. Twilight had to do a rush job and that level of magic is unfortunately, a little above Midnight's level for the most part." Sky chimed in.

"It's just really hard to get the mana fields to align right for the cold to be trapped inside..." Midnight pouted.

"Well either way, it's good to know. Glad we won't have to worry about your food spoiling any time soon." Jason replied.

Midnight simply gave him a smile in return, and went back to her sandwich.

"So... just out of curiosity, why is your food just a... paste?" Tempest spoke up, eyeing Mike's food curiously.

Mike raised an eyebrow as he looked over at the mulberry unicorn holding a sandwich in her hooves. 

"Well... it's a nutrient paste. Has all of the calories, sugars, proteins, and whatever else that your body needs, but it's more portable and doesn't go bad anywhere near as quickly. I mean, one of these has two thousand calories in it." He explained.

"Ah, okay... And you said yours is a... 'cheeseburger'? Is that like a hayburger?" Tempest pressed, clearly interested in the subject.

"Well, yeah. It's flavored like a cheeseburger, but it's nothing like the consistency of a real cheeseburger..." Mike elaborated, before a realization hit him like a truck, "Uh... what's in a hayburger exactly?" 

"Mostly just hay and some other deep fried junk that makes it taste good. What about a cheeseburger? I assume there's more in there than just cheese." Tempest chuckled.

"Uh..." Mike trailed off. He glanced to Jason, Eddie, and Rebecca for help.

"Well... you see..." Eddie chimed in, obviously looking for a way to explain the concept of eating meat to a vegetarian species.

"You guys can tell her, you know?" Sky spoke up, directing all eyes to him, "I ate meat for a long time after I got here. Hell, I still eat meat every now and again. Tempest knows that. She's not gonna get all freaked out." He explained.

"Wait, what? Really?" Rebecca asked.

"Mmhmm," Tempest nodded, "Sky told me all about how humans need meat a while ago. A lot of species in Equestria and beyond need meat to survive too, so it's not exactly world shattering to me." 

"So... you're okay with it?" Jason asked, looking at her curiously.

"Of course I am. I couldn't hold that against you. It's just a part of life. So long as none of you try to eat any sapient creatures, I have no issues with it." Tempest shrugged.

"Hehe, well you won't have to worry there. None of us would ever eat a creature that could talk and think like us." Jason chuckled.

"I thought as much," Tempest smiled, "So what is in a cheeseburger then?" She asked, turning to Mike.

"Well... it's mostly cow meat... unintelligent cow meat. Where we're from, cows can't talk." Mike explained.

"Okay. Interesting." Tempest gave a nod, apparently satisfied with his answer.

For a few moments, the group lapsed into silence, as everyone continued to eat their meals and rest in the firelight. Jason took to laying on his back, using his pack as a makeshift headrest while he gazed up at the ceiling. Mike finished his food and leaned back against his pack. He tiredly yawned before looking down at the fire and scratching his chin while appearing to be in deep thought. Eddie and Rebecca both took to kicking their boots off and warming their feet by the fire, while Sky and Midnight laid down beside each other, content to simply lean on each other for warmth and support. Lastly, Tempest stared at the flames in front of her with a curious look on her face. She leaned forward toward the warmth until the heat soaked into the soft and short fur of her muzzle, and warmed the skin underneath. 

"So..." Mike spoke up, getting everyone's attention, "Does anyone have any good stories?" 

"Stories... like?" Midnight replied, motioning for him to continue.

"You know, stories. Like, crazy shit you did or something insane you saw that happened. I know you guys have to have some awesome stories. What about you, sarge? You got anything?" Mike answered, turning his head to Jason.

"Mike, you were there for most of my stories." Jason deadpanned.

"Well yeah, but what about the ones I wasn't there for?" Mike pressed, giving a toothy grin.

"I don't know, Mike. I can't think of any good ones right now." Jason shrugged as he scratched at his beard.

"Midnight? Sky? You got anything?" Mike asked, turning to the couple across from him.

"I mean... we have some stories about us and when I first got here... but they're probably not what you're hoping for." Sky admitted, giving an apologetic smile.

"I think I have one." Eddie spoke up.

"Finally! Let's here it." Mike excitedly exclaimed.

"Alright, this one's good," Eddie said as he sat upright, the firelight catching in his hazel eyes. Everyone in the group leaned forward slightly with anticipation as he began, "Okay, so Sky, Midnight, Tempest, and Rebecca, you don't know him, but our old buddy Johnny was the craziest son of a bitch you ever met-"

Sky, Midnight, and Tempest nodded, clearly invested already and listening attentively for more details.

"-Alright, so one night, when we were heading to Horizon V, we were all pretty tired of the war. Everyone just wanted it to end, but command kept saying 'one more mission, this is the last mission, and then we can go home'. We all believed it, because you know, who wouldn't? Anyways, the four of us were in our bunks that night, just waiting for the big battle. Most of us couldn't sleep, and that was normal, but that night, the captain decided he wanted to skulk around the ship when we were all supposed to be asleep." Eddie continued, a wide smile forming on his face as he recounted the tale.

The rest of the group was all leaning forward and intently listening for the inevitable punchline to the story. Even Jason, who knew the story by heart, gave Eddie his full attention as he continued.

"So this guy comes into our sleeping bay and starts walking through the hallways of bunkbeds. Now, something you need to know about Johnny- he was a mad lad. This kid went into the forest with nothing and came back with six enemy dog tags one night. To this day, the thought of pissing him off scares the crap out of me. Anyways, our commanding officer thought, in his infinite wisdom, that he would fuck with Johnny while he was getting his beauty sleep before the mission. He brought his flashlight over Johnny's face and turned it on. Now, one more thing about Johnny- He's a light sleeper. Any bright light or loud noise at all, and he's up-"

"Oooooh..." Midnight whispered, already piecing together where this story was going to go.

"-So when captain dumbshit turns this light on right in Johnny's face, well... I've never woken up to a more terrifying scream than that captain when Johnny smacked the light out of his hand, twisted his wrist until it broke, and threw him on the ground so hard that he fractured his jaw." Eddie had to stop for a moment as the memories brought a genuine laugh out of him and the rest of the group.

"But- hehe, but that's not the best part. See, Johnny, he liked to sleep in the nude. So, imagine this, a butt-ass naked twenty four year old with tattoos all over his body, holding a captains face to the ground like he just stole his lunch money, and I swear to god, the kid looked like he was about to shit himself! Hahaha!" Eddie broke into a laughing fit. He was quickly joined by the rest of the group, and for a few precious moments, only their shared laughter filled the night air.

"Ah man, I forgot about that one. I fuckin' miss Johnny." Mike said after catching his breath.

"That kid made everything better. Especially when he bitched." Eddie chuckled, a mirthful smile on his face.

"Really?" Rebecca asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Oh yeah. See, when Johnny bitched, he always did it in the funniest way you ever saw... and he just had this voice that he would always do that was just so, damn, funny. I dunno, it's hard to explain, but he made every mission hilarious. Best guy you could ask for in that shit heap of a war." Eddie replied, smiling widely.

"You guys remember when he stole that German captain's ramen and we had to hear that dude running around for half an hour going 'vhere are mine noodles'!?" Jason added with a cheesy German accent.

"Ahaha! Oh my god, that guy was about to court martial all of us!" Mike threw his head back in laughter.

"Ah man, I miss that kid." Jason replied, shaking his head and sighing.

"What happened to him?" Rebecca asked, genuinely curious.

It was as if all the joy left the group, and a darkness settled upon them. Eddie glanced down into the fire while Mike chewed his cheek and Jason simply frowned. For a few moments, there was only silence, 

"He died in Bellruse... Didn't do anything wrong, or anything we hadn't done a thousand times before, he just... wrong place, wrong time." Jason said, albeit with some sadness in his voice.

A blanket of sorrow cloaked itself over the group, and everyone present felt a trace of sadness cling to their hearts. Mike's eyebrows knitted together as his pursed his lips and looked down at the fire. Across from him, Eddie bit his lip while absentmindedly tapping his fingers on his knees and slowly shaking his head.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know." Rebecca replied.

"It's fine, chief... Just miss him is all." Mike shrugged.

"If you don't mind my asking, how... how did he die?" Tempest hesitantly spoke up after several seconds of silence.

Although the question was directed at Jason, it was Eddie who replied first, directing the mulberry unicorn's attention in his direction.

"Sniper... All it took was one shot and... that was that." He sadly explained.

"I had a running bet with him," Mike spoke up, chuckling slightly, "A thousand dollars that I'd outlive him... I never got that money... Heh, never really wanted it, I guess." He finished, choking up slightly and blinking back the beginnings of a tear.

"We'll see him one day. I'm sure of that. Be it heaven or hell, we'll get our old boy back." Eddie said, smiling slightly.

"Here's hoping that when we do, first pint's on him. Bastard had to leave us too soon." Mike chuckled.

Jason glanced over at the horizon and watched the moon as it slowly crawled into the night sky. He quietly sighed to himself before getting to his feet and heading to his tent.

"Alright, I'm gonna get some sleep. Sky, you're on first watch. Everyone else, figure out a rotation. Just throw me somewhere in there." He said as he stepped into the tent.

"You got it, Jay." Eddie replied.

For another few moments, a slightly uncomfortable silence reigned over the group, before eventually, and one by one, they all left their respective seats and made for bed. Sky sat out for his shift with just the fire to warm him, until it was time to change shifts.
> Chapter 12: Too Close for Comfort? Or Not Close Enough?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason's eyes shot open in the darkness of the tent. He glanced about the confines of the waterproof fabric in a panic while his senses quickly came back to him. Immediately, he felt a warmth pressed against his back, and something wrapped around his torso. Despite his initial reaction being one of surprise and fear, the soft warmth had a strangely soothing effect on his erratic mind, and the panic that resided in his brain quickly dissipated, leaving him calm, and his heart beating steady once more.

He looked at his wrist to see his watch reading '2:00 AM' and sighed. He was laying on his side, and whatever was pressed against his back, spooning against him was still there. He almost jumped up out of the blanket from the surprise before his eyes flicked down and he looked down to see what appeared to be a dark foreleg wrapped around his waist. 

Is that...  He thought to himself as he slowly rolled onto his back.

As he rolled off of his side, more and more features of the pony holding him became apparent. It wasn't Sky, his forelegs were a bit too thick to be the pony in the tent with him. That only left Midnight and Tempest. As his eyes trailed along the extended limb, he eventually saw the jet black fabric that could only belong to Tempest's bodysuit. Another quarter turn finished his migration to his back, and he saw Tempest's face as she softly snoozed the night away. 

Jason immediately felt a warmth in his chest as he saw her features. He gently stoked his hand against her foreleg in an effort to wake her up peacefully, but the sheer softness of her fur caught him off guard. It felt like silk and velvet mixed into one and strewn all over a vaguely equine shaped body. 

Eventually, his ministrations had the desired effect, and Tempest's eyes slowly fluttered open. It took her only a microsecond to realize just where she was, and her eyes widened to the size of dinner platters. A dark blush crept up her chest and onto her muzzle faster than she could look away, and before she could even speak, Jason held a finger in front of her face, making her pause.

"Don't freak out, but I think you kinda snuggled me in your sleep." Jason explained, looking at her with a mix of friendliness and disbelief.

"Uh... I-I am so sorry, I don't... this... this has never happened before." Tempest replied, her cheeks burning from embarrassment.

"It's okay. I'm not upset or anything." Jason responded, giving her a compassionate smile. 

"Oh my gosh... I can't believe I did this... You... I don't know what happened... I went to sleep over there." Tempest explained, pointing to the other blanket several feet away.

"Tempest, it's fine. Really, don't worry about it." Jason said, stifling a small chuckle at her nerves.

"I just... Ugh... You probably think I'm some freak who sleep cuddles creatures she has a crush on..." Tempest muttered, looking away in shame.

"Hey, come on. Yeah it was a little surprising and weird to wake up like that, but no harm, no foul. Maybe you were just cold and kinda... I don't know, saw me and thought 'warmth' at two in the morning. Heh, maybe tomorrow we'll break out the sleeping bags. Besides, things like this happen. Most people's brains don't really work until they've been up for a bit." Jason encouraged.

"Thank you... I'm just sorry I did that... Here, I'll go back to my spot." Tempest replied.

She quickly released her hold on his waist and rose to her hooves. From there, it was only a few steps over to her blanket and small pillow. Jason watched her as she stepped away, a steady frown forming on his face all the while.

Come on you idiot. She's a nice girl. So what if she's a pony, you can't deny that being the little spoon was awesome for a change... Yeah, but do we really have time for a relationship during this mission? Especially a different species? Dumbass, this could be your last chance for a relationship, PERIOD. You don't know if the crystal is even going to work, so you might as well give the ONE creature that's shown any interest in you in the last fifteen years a chance. Jason warred with himself in his head.

Just as Tempest reached her blanket and pulled it back to slip under, Jason spoke.

"Hey, uh... Tempest?" He said.

"Yes?" Tempest immediately replied, turning her head to acknowledge him.

"Uh... Not to be... weird or anything... but, you know... if you wanted to... you could... stay over here..." Jason trailed off, feeling a blush much like hers slowly blooming onto his face.

Tempest dropped the blanket and stood to her full height.

"Y-you mean..." She trailed off.

"I mean... you know, if you want to... come back over here with me... It... wasn't bad waking up to that..." Jason explained, twiddling his thumbs.

Tempest felt butterflies flutter about in her stomach, and a bright smile forced its way onto her face.

"I... I would be okay with that... as long as you are." She replied, taking a hesitant step forward.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine with it... Just, uh... just for tonight... and maybe... who knows, it's uh... it's only gonna get colder." Jason awkwardly scratched the back of his neck as the mulberry unicorn stepped closer.

"O-Okay..." She said. Her voice was just barely a whisper as she walked back over to Jason's blanket. 

He deftly lifted the edge of the blanket for her, and with practiced ease, Tempest slipped under the fabric and found her place just at Jason's side. He nervously gulped before lifting his arm and allowing her to snuggle in under his armpit, with her head coming to a rest on his chest. 

Jason felt the immediate warmth of her body and fur against his torso, and almost without thinking, he rolled over slightly and wrapped his free arm around her barrel, pulling her into a hug. Tempest gasped at the sudden movement, and soon found her face just a few precious centimeters from his. Now it was her turn to nervously gulp, and she wrapped her hoof around his midsection just like before. For a moment, they laid there together, still as statues, and both afraid to breath or even make an indication of movement. 

Eventually Tempest caved, and pressed her muzzle against Jason's chest while shutting her eyes and hoping for the best. She nuzzled her cheek against his firm pectorals, and soon enough, she felt him rest his chin on her head, once more squishing her mane down in the process. Once he was set and comfortable, Jason's hand instinctively slid down her back in soft, smooth strokes. Tempest's eyes shot open and she audibly gasped from the feeling.

Jason froze mid-stroke and looked down at her with concern.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Y-yeah... Sorry about that. I just didn't expect you to do that." She bashfully replied.

"Sorry, I won't do it if it bugs you." Jason apologized.

"No!" Tempest exclaimed, before immediately quieting down, "I-I mean... It... It felt really good.. Please, don't stop." 

Jason was taken aback slightly by her outburst, but felt a soft chuckle well up in his chest at her much meeker tone.

"Of course." He replied.

Without hesitation, Jason resumed stroking her back from the end of her mane, all the way down to where her hips met her barrel. Within a few seconds, Tempest let out a soft sigh, and nuzzled her cheek into his chest just a little more firmly. In turn, Jason squeezed her closer and nuzzled his cheek against her forehead. The mulberry mare melted into his embrace, and soon enough she gave off gentle coos of encouragement and squeezed him tighter to her barrel in thanks.

Jason felt his heart skip a beat as Tempest made a sound almost akin to a purring cat while nuzzling her muzzle against his chest. Before he could stop it, a smile found its way onto his face, and he took to scratching her ear with his free hand while continuing to stroke her back with his other hand. The soft, fuzzy appendage flicked back at the first touch, but as he gently scratched away, it held firm, and once more, Tempest let out a soft coo of encouragement. 

You know... she is pretty damn cute... maybe Cadence had a point... Jason thought to himself.

It didn't take long for Tempest to fall asleep in his arms, and eventually her soft murmurs and nuzzles turned to gently snores and light breathing. For his part, Jason managed to stay awake just long enough to watch her sleep against his chest, and his heart felt a warmth it simply hadn't felt in a very long time.

Jesus... what is the world coming to? I'm falling for a pony.   He chuckled to himself before finally falling back asleep.


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Jason pulled the last knot out of the rope holding the tent up, and it quickly fell down to the ground in a heap of fabric. Mike, Rebecca, Midnight, Eddie, and Tempest all did much the same, each taking apart the three tents and depositing the materials into their respective saddlebags or packs. The sunlight peered down at them, indicating that the morning was already well underway, and it was quickly nearing time to get moving once more.

Once everyone was packed up, and all of their loose items were secured in their packs and saddlebags, Jason extinguished the fire. He tossed the log over to Eddie and turned to address the group.

"Alright. We've got about five miles to cover today. That means we have to reach the peak of this mountain, and then head all the way back down to the base of... another mountain... yay." He sighed.

"Oh boy... another mountain." Rebecca grumbled, feeling her stomach growl.

"I know. The good news is, we're only going about half way up this one. According to Twilight's books and maps, there should be a massive cave tunneling through this next mountain that leads all the way to the other side." Jason replied.

"Well that's a relief." Midnight said.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up too much if I was you." Eddie warned.

"Why's that?" 

"Because once we get to the other side, we have twenty four miles to the nearest town, and that whole side of the mountain is supposedly below freezing year round." Jason explained.

"Ah, so it's going to suck is what you're saying." Mike chuckled.

"Only as much as a frozen wasteland can suck." Eddie chimed in.

"Either way, we're about to find out." Mike shrugged.

"That we are. Let's go guys." Jason declared.

The group grabbed whatever they weren't wearing or still needed to pick up and quickly headed out of the small cave. Once they reached the entrance, they made way for the peak, and quickly found themselves hiking into even colder air. Jason shivered slightly as a particularly cold gust of wind blasted him, and sent chills racing down his spine. 

As they climbed further up the peak, more and more of the landscape became visible, exposing other mountains and valleys surrounding the imposing peak before them. Jagged rock ledges and the early traces of snow greeted the group as they traversed the peak and came to the other side of the mountain.

"Woohoo... Now we just... gotta go all the way back down... Yaaaay..." Rebecca groaned.

"Well, on the bright side, it's literally only downhill from here... for a while." Sky offered, giving an apologetic shrug.

"Once we reach the bottom of this ravine in front of us, we can take a break before climbing the next mountain," Jason chimed in, "In fact, I think I can see the cave over there." He said, pointing to what appeared to be a massive hole in the mountain in front of them. 

"Yeah, just... seven thousand feet down... and ten thousand more feet back up... Fuck everything about this." Mike muttered.

"Let's just get to the bottom of this mountain first. Then we'll focus on the next one, alright?" Jason authoritatively spoke up.

With that, the group continued downwards from the peak of the first mountain, and began the long descent to the base of the next one. Jason led the way down the treacherous terrain, finding the slippery rocks on the north face of the mountain to be particularly perilous after slipping and nearly falling multiple times. Eventually, he found something of a rhythm with the rocks, and continued down at a somewhat decent pace, with the rest of the group, particularly Tempest, following close behind.


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"Alright, let's take a break here, and in... twenty minutes or so, we'll start making our way up the next mountain." Jason announced as he stepped onto a plateau at the base of the incline.

As the rest of the group unloaded their packs from their backs and sat down in a vaguely circular shape, Jason sat his pack down against a rock and laid down against it, finding a comfortable position to rest his head and back. Albeit with some nervous hesitation, Tempest off-loaded her saddlebags and took up her seat right beside him. She glanced back and forth between Jason and the rest of the group a few times before deciding to lay down on her stomach alongside the tall man. For a moment, it seemed that nothing else was going to happen between them, but much to her surprise, Tempest felt Jason's hand come to a rest on the back of her neck, parting her mohawk slightly as his five digits found their marks . She glanced back at him to find a tiny smirk on his face, before he started stroking her neck all the way down to the collar of her armor. 

Tempest quickly looked over to the rest of the group to find that none of them seemed to be paying her and Jason any mind at all. She turned back to the dark haired man and gave him a slightly questioning look, to which he only shrugged.

Well... why not enjoy a good thing?  She thought with a half smile, and returning the shrug. She leaned her head down until she was resting peacefully on his thigh and closed her eyes to simply enjoy the feeling of his gentle fingers against her fur.

Meanwhile Mike, Sky, Midnight, Rebecca, and Eddie appeared to be in a heated discussion on the other side of the plateau.

"-And I'm telling you, breaking the sound barrier is physically impossible for an organic creature!" Eddie exclaimed.

"Yes, I know that, but I swear, I think I'm getting close! Besides, Rainbow Dash has done it a few times, and, you know, magic and stuff!?" Sky shot back.

"Okay, you can't just keep using magic as an excuse for literally everything in this world that doesn't make sense." Eddie crossed his arms. 

"It's not an excuse! It's literally the way the world works!" Sky waved his forelegs in the air in an exaggerative manner.

"There has to be some kind of law of physics in the world for everything to work, it can't literally just be 'magic' and everything just works!" Eddie replied.

As the two of them continued to bicker back and forth, Midnight, Mike, and Rebecca sat together and watched the exchange with a range of amused expressions on their faces. 

"So... are you gonna help your husband out at all? I mean... You kinda are the magic part of the argument that Eddie keeps saying is bullshit." Mike whispered, leaning toward Midnight.

"Well... I can't help Sky win all of his battles, now can I?" Midnight replied, giggling to herself.

"I guess not. Still, Eddie likes to think he knows everything about physics. Said he was gonna be a pilot but his colorblindness kept him from ever getting into the program," Mike shrugged, "Point is, he's not going to give up on an argument about this for... a long time." 

"Ugh... Can one of you please just make them stop... I'm getting a headache from hearing this argument." Rebecca chimed in, a frown on her face.

"Alright," Midnight replied before turning to Sky and Eddie, "Hey now, you two are giving Rebecca a headache. Let's finish this argument some other time." She said.

"Only when he admits that it's impossible." Eddie pouted.

"Ed, bro, you're acting like a child... and that's coming from me." Mike added, raising an eyebrow.

"Ugh, fine! Fine. Once we climb that mountain, we're finishing this conversation." Eddie replied, pointing a finger at Sky.

"Fine." Sky shrugged.

Eddie begrudgingly sat down and leaned back against his pack. He crossed his arms and gazed up at the clouds for a few seconds before closing his eyes and grumbling to himself.

"Ed... are you alright man? You're not genuinely pissed off about that little argument, are you?" Mike pressed, eyeing him curiously.

"No Mike... I'm not... It's just this headache hasn't gone away for the last half hour, and I'm hungry." Eddie muttered, keeping his eyes closed.

"Headache? How bad is it?" Midnight asked with some measure of concern.

"It's nothing like the one in that shitty town, it's just a normal one. It just won't go away is the problem." 

"Okay. Just let us know if it gets worse." Midnight replied.

"Will do. In the meantime... I'll just dream of food..." Eddie responded with a sigh.

"Well... I mean, you can probably eat some of your MRE now... you just might be a little hungry tonight though." Rebecca chimed in.

"Yes I'm aware, thank you. That's exactly why I'm not going to touch the damn thing until we make camp for the night... Speaking of which, what time is it? We must have been walking for half the day already." Eddie replied.

"Well... it's about four in the afternoon right now." Mike replied, glancing down at his watch.

"Alright, so basically, we've got... what, two more hours or so of this?" Eddie questioned.

"Yeah, something like that. Unless of course, Sarge wants us to just camp out here for the night..." Mike trailed off as he turned to look at Jason.

Sensing something was wrong, Eddie opened his eyes and looked over at Mike. Once he saw where he was looking, he looked over in Jason's direction as well, and immediately sat up in his makeshift seat. Soon enough, everyone in the group was looking at the Sergeant and pony accompanying him at the far side of the plateau. 

Rebecca was the last of the group to notice the apparent shift of attention, and she slowly gazed over at Jason to find him sleeping against his pack, with Tempest resting comfortably on his torso. Her head was laid out on his chest, while both of his hands were either resting on her back or on one of her forelegs. It was enough to make Rebecca gasp.

"Oh... my... god... They're so cute!" She exclaimed.

"Jesus, Sarge..." Mike shook his head and chuckled to himself.

"Aww." Midnight gushed, leaning against Sky in the process. The crimson pegasus smiled down at her and pulled her closer with a foreleg, ending with a small nuzzle against the top of her head.

"Jeez... No shame at all." Eddie laughed.

"You know, I'm pretty sure that's what they were doing in their tent all last night." Rebecca spoke up.

"I mean... Can't really blame him. You ponies are fuzzy as hell. She must be warm," Mike shrugged, glancing down at Midnight as she snuggled up with Sky.

"Should... should we wake them?" Eddie asked.

"Eh, give them a few minutes." Sky shrugged.

"Isn't he the one that said we're moving in twenty minutes?" Rebecca asked accusingly.

"Yeah, but that wasn't twenty minutes ago now was it?" Eddie smugly replied.

"Okay, fine, but in twenty minutes, I am waking them both up. Bastard tells me not to cuddle the ponies and then there he goes... Fucking hypocrite." Rebecca grumbled.

"The difference, is that he's not squeezing her." Sky spoke up, giving Rebecca an accusatory glance.


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Jason and Tempest walked side by side with noticeable blushes on their faces, and as they headed up the mountainside, they both made a point to avoid making eye contact with the rest of the group. However, their obvious embarrassment only fueled Mike's teasing as he waltzed over to Jason's side and nudged him with his elbow.

"So... you two hit first base yet?" He asked, giving a smug grin.

"Mike... shut up." Jason replied with a frown on his face.

"Ah, lighten up, Jay. We're not judging or anything, just thought you two looked adorable." Eddie teased.

Jason sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose while Tempest's coat adorned an even darker shade of purple. Just when she looked like she was about to turn violet, Midnight walked up beside her and gave her a friendly smile.

"Don't worry about it. They're just teasing. Besides, I'm pretty sure Mike and Eddie are just jealous." Midnight winked, causing Tempest's blush to disappear slightly.

"I just..." Tempest sighed, "I just got a little too comfortable  too quickly." She admitted.

"Oh, don't worry about it. You're overreacting." Midnight shook her head.

"I hope you're right..." Tempest's eyes fell to the rocks beneath her hooves.

"You're fine, Tempest," Jason said, making her snap her eyes back up to the tall man beside her, "Don't worry about it." He gave a small smile that brought with it a wave of relief that washed over the mulberry unicorn and made her withers relax involuntarily. 

"We've got to be getting close to the cave now..." Rebecca muttered after scampering onto a particularly large rock.

"I'll go fly ahead and check." Sky replied, unfurling his wings and taking off up the mountain.

"So anyways..." Mike spoke up again, "Were you two cuddling last night? Or was it just a spur of the moment kind of thing?" He joked once more, causing a another sigh to escape Jason's throat.

"Mike... Shut up. That's an order." He replied.

"Aww... It's just a joke." Mike pouted.

"A joke that you've been repeating for the last hour. I get it. You all saw me and Tempest together. We get it. Look, I get that it's funny and everything, but at this point you're kinda rubbing my patience thin. My relationship with Tempest is honestly none of your damn business" Jason shot back.

"Alright, jeez." Mike rolled his eyes and moved away from Jason.

"To be fair, you haven't let up since they woke up." Eddie shrugged as Mike reached his side.

"It's just a joke! I didn't mean anything by it..." Mike pouted.

Tempest's eyes flicked back and forth between Jason and Mike for a good few seconds after they were done speaking. The butterflies returned to her stomach and flittered about for a few seconds while her heart beat all the quicker as she realized the significance behind Jason's standing up for the both of them.

Our... relationship? Does... does that mean... Oh my... Cadence, I know you can't hear me right now, but if this all works out, I owe you big time. She thought to herself.

Eventually, the sound of flapping wings brought everyone's attention to the Sky as he flew down to their location, and only a few moments later, he landed with a small *thud* against the rocks.

"Well, find the cave?" Jason asked.

"Yep. You're not gonna like how much further up it is though." Sky admitted.

"How much further?" Midnight inquired.

"Probably about another six thousand feet or so. Man, I wish you all had wings. We could have covered this entire mountain range by now." Sky explained.

"Well... maybe you could carry us up there one by one?" Rebecca suggested.

"Hehe, yeah that's not gonna happen. I may be pretty good at flying now, but you all weigh close to two hundred pounds, easy. I'd be able to carry one of you maybe a thousand feet before running out of gas and being pretty useless for a while." Sky shook his head.

"Ugh, just workout more." Rebecca joked.

"It doesn't work that way for ponies. Sure we're fast as hell, but humans are the marathon runners. Once I'm tired, I'm tired for the rest of the day." Sky explained.

"Ah, so what you're saying is that ponies don't have the energy to break the sound barrier, hmm?" Eddie chimed in from behind Jason.

"Oh, fuck off." Sky gave him a flat look.

Jason turned to look at the sun as it just barely hovered above the horizon. He chewed his cheek in thought for a few moments before turning back to Sky and giving him a serious look.

"Alright, no bullshit. Do you think we can make it to the cave before nightfall?" He asked.

Sky pursed his lips and looked out to the sun much like Jason. After a few seconds, he shook his head.

"No way. At the rate you guys are climbing, we'd take another few hours to get there. It's probably best if we bed down for the night and all get some sleep." He admitted.

"Alright, then that's what we're gonna do. Sky, you fly ahead again and find us a good ledge or something to set up camp in. It doesn't have to be pretty or anything, but it does need to have enough room for all of us to fit." Jason instructed.

"Thank god." Eddie said, feeling his stomach grumble in approval.

"Alright. I'll see what I can find." Sky gave a quick salute and took off into the air once more.

"So... are we gonna wait here for him?" Rebecca asked.

"No, we'll keep climbing. He should be able to find us easy enough. There's no cloud cover or anything like that so he shouldn't have any trouble. Besides, the more we climb now, the less we'll have to climb when he gets back down to us." Jason responded.

"Roger that." Mike replied.

As they continued upwards, the strain of climbing the mountain quickly took hold once more, and before long, everyone in the group was panting for breath. Jason glanced over to the side to see jagged rock formations and cliffs with thousand foot drops littering the entire West side of the mountain. Far off in the distance, he could make out what appeared to be a glacier covering several hundred miles of land. He glanced back up to look for Sky, but saw no trace of the pegasus, so he turned his attention to the East, once more finding nothing but more mountains and sheer drops that were nothing short of fatal. 

As he looked around, the gentle breeze that effortlessly blew over the mountain picked up, and grew louder. With each passing second, the force of the wind screeched louder and louder against the side of the mountain, until it was howling so loud that no one in the group could even hear each other climbing.

Behind Jason, Tempest panted harshly as she pulled herself up a ledge with her hooves. Once she was able to get good footing, she turned around and offered a helping hoof to Midnight as she attempted to climb the same ledge. Midnight gratefully took the help, and quickly made her way up the ledge beside the mulberry unicorn. Just behind them, Mike tossed his machine gun onto the ledge and pulled himself up. Rebecca followed after him, and stepped up onto the ledge just a moment later. Lastly, Eddie climbed onto the small outcropping with a helping hand from Mike, and stood upright with the rest of the group.

"Alright, everyone good?!" Jason asked over the wind.

"Yeah! You see Sky yet?!" Eddie replied.

"Not yet! It must be pretty bad up there... We might have to keep climbing into the night!" Jason replied.

"That's suicide! The wind is only picking up more and more! At this rate, we're gonna get blown off the mountain!" Midnight shouted, fearfully glancing back and forth between Jason and the edge of the cliff.

"It's either that or climb back down!" Jason shouted back.

"Well we still haven't seen Sky! He could have found a spot just a little further away!" Tempest offered.

"That's a big if!" Mike replied.

Suddenly, a horrible sound filled the air. A definitively loud *CRACK* echoed over the mountainside, and all eyes on that ledge darted to the rock they stood on, only to find the spindly cracks spanning the entire inside of the ledge.

"No one move!" Jason shouted.

"Holy fuck, we need to get off this ledge!" Mike followed up.

"Everyone back down the side, one by one, now!" Jason ordered.

Eddie hastily stepped to the edge and dropped down to the side. He found a foothold quickly enough, and shimmied over to the side to allow for Rebecca to follow him down. Once she was down beside him, Mike hastily clambered down and shimmied over until the three of them moved over to an adjacent ledge. Once the three of them were safe, Mike hastily dropped his pack and dug into its confines to pull out the rope AppleJack had gifted him. He untied it as quickly as he could and fastened the rope around his torso, before tying the other end into a lasso-shape, and stepping back to the ledge.

Another terrible cracking sound filled the air, and half of the ledge Jason, Midnight, and Tempest were standing on gave way. Jason quickly sidestepped the falling rocks before finding himself huddling with Midnight and Tempest for just a few feet of space.

"Uh... Climbing up is all well and good for me... but I don't think I can climb back down..." Midnight admitted, the fear in her voice betraying the calm facade she was desperately trying to keep up.

"Here! Take the rope!" Mike shouted as he tossed the rope over to the graphite mare.

Midnight caught the rope with her magic, and brought it over to herself, Tempest, and Jason.

"Who's first?" She asked, her eyes wide and nerves fraying.

"You!" Jason shouted as he grabbed the rope and secured it around her barrel, just behind her forelegs, "Mike! You better have tied a damn good knot!" He shouted before shoving Midnight off the edge.

Midnight shrieked as she plummeted off the edge like a stone. For just one terrible second, it felt as if the rope wasn't going to hold, but then, it snapped taught, and Midnight was harshly jerked back upwards towards the other ledge.

"Ugh!" She managed as she came to a stop.

"Sorry!" Jason shouted.

"Ow..." Midnight mumbled as she was quickly pulled back up to safety.

Once they had the graphite mare within reach, Rebecca and Eddie quickly grabbed her and pulled up onto the ledge. They hastily unfastened the rope from her barrel, finding a thin rope burn trailing all around where the rope had been situated.

"Gosh, that burns..." She managed once the rope was completely removed.

"I know. I'm sorry but we're kind out of options." Mike apologized.

"Throw the rope back, quick!" Jason shouted.

Eddie immediately did as told, and tossed the rope back over the ledge and into Jason's waiting arms. Upon catching the rope, he turned to Tempest to find her giving him a disbelieving look.

"You first." He said.

"What about you? This thing isn't going to hold much longer!" She countered.

"Tempest, don't argue with me right now! You're getting off this ledge first!" He shouted back.

As if to signal the imminent danger, more of the ledge crumbled away behind them, leaving only a precious few feet for them to stand on. Jason glanced back at the impending doom for just a second before looking back at Tempest.

"I'm right behind you, okay? Promise." He said, his eyes softening some.

Tempest hesitated for a moment before biting her lip and looking at the rope.

"You'd better be..." She said, her voice nearly a whisper.

With that, she fastened the rope around her barrel and jumped off the edge. She fell for a terrible second, before being brought to an immediate stop by the rope.

"Oof!" She grunted.

Mike, Rebecca, Eddie, and Midnight all hastily worked to pull the mulberry unicorn up to the ledge, and within a few seconds, she was standing on her hooves and removing the rope from her barrel. Once she was clear of the rope, Mike stood up and threw it over to Jason. However, just as the rope came within reach, more of the ledge crumbled away, and Jason stumbled slightly, almost losing his balance in the process.

He missed the rope by only a few inches, and it sailed past him before falling some and quickly being pulled back up by Mike. Once the rope was in his hands again, he prepared to throw it, only for a final, terrible crack to fill the air. All eyes on the ledge, particularly Tempest, stared in abject shock, as the rest of the ledge gave way, and Jason fell with it.
> Chapter 13: On The Mountain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason inhaled sharply as the ground crumbled away beneath him, and he immediately felt the effect of gravity as he fell from the ledge.

"Jason!" Tempest shouted as he fell.

Right before all of their eyes, Jason dropped and passed their ledge, leaving only Mike and Tempest with a visual as he fell from the rest of the group's line of sight. Thoughts raced through his head as he plummeted, rocks falling past his face and skipping off the rock wall beside him the whole while. Far below, crooked rock formations and jagged walls littered the mountainside, and with each passing millisecond of free fall, Jason couldn't help but wonder.

So this is how it ends? Just... falling off a ledge?

He could make out the individual cracks trailing up the side of the mountain and the veins of ice slowly forming over them, indicating a millennia of erosion on the ancient rock-face. Each rock that sailed past his body as he fell in what felt like slow motion, his body merely holding its place while the rest of the world flew by, spun and danced in the air, almost making him dizzy. His eyes darted to the ground below once more to find that he was barely any closer than he was before, and even a quick blink didn't seem to change that. 

With his world slowing to a crawl around him, Jason's mind took the time to flash his entire life before him, and memories of his first day in boot camp quickly surfaced to the forefront of his subconscious. Days of being screamed at to run faster, or crawl faster, or shoot better, shuttered through his eyes like a film, and before he knew it, he could see his first mission. The way the light reflected off the ocean waves as he flew past them in a V-45, weapons at the ready, brought a small feeling of lightness to his chest. As quickly as it appeared, it was gone, replaced by a terrible memory of that same mission, on that same day, and he could see through the sights on his rifle as he placed the cross-hairs on a lone soldier, and pulled the trigger. 

The blinding flash of light that immediately followed gave way to a new image, one of his last mission, and the missiles as they soared through the air toward his position. White hot trails of smoke followed the projectiles as they made their way overhead, and he quickly saw himself jumping into the passenger door of a nearby truck as the world around him turned to Armageddon. Fire erupted around him and he witnessed the true power of human hatred as the surrounding city was turned to ash and waste around him. 

Just when he thought he could take no more, Jason's mind flashed back to the present, and the rock-face that was now infinitely closer than before. He gasped for one last breath before closing his eyes and exhaling for the last time.

Tempest watched in horror as Jason reached the bottom of the ravine, and even though a sick feeling of twisted guts reeled in her barrel, she could not look away. Neither could she speak, having found that the air in her lungs had long since exited from her screaming as he fell. Her eyes watered as the wind battered them and the rest of her body with its unrelenting force, making her vision blurry and distorted. 

However, it was in that distorted, blurry mess that she saw a light. A yellow-white arc of pure light that screeched past her vision so fast that she couldn't tell if it was real or not, but just as fast as it entered her field of view, it was gone, leaving only a gasping group of humans and ponies on the edge, alone.

All of a sudden, Jason was gone, and there was no sign of a body on the mountainside. Tempest glanced back and forth in vain to see if there was even a chance that he'd survived, but much like everyone else, she came up with nothing.

"Where is he!?" Eddie shouted.

"Jason!" Midnight cried.

"Sarge!" Mike followed.

All around her, voices spoke out yet she could not speak. Her lungs burned for air but she could not satiate them. The sick twisting knife in her gut twisted further, and her throat, long since dried of any moisture, burned before she collapsed to her knees.

"No..." She croaked, just barely above a whisper. A whisper that was lost against the howling wind.

"Did you see that light!?" Rebecca shouted.

"What the fuck!?" Eddie screamed, throwing a rock out into the abyss.

He placed his hands on his head and paced, panting for breath all the while.

"No, no, no, no, no, no... What the fuck, where are you, Jay!?" He cried, falling to his knees as well.

"He... he can't be... no..." Midnight whispered, her eyes falling to the floor.

"Sarge!" Mike shouted against the wind, as if his voice alone would drown out the will of nature itself.

"Where is he!? He didn't hit the ground!" Rebecca cried, glancing back and forth across the landscape below.

"I don't... I don't know where... Fuck..." Eddie breathed, tears forcing their way out of his eyes. 

He clenched them shut as tightly as he could, but the liquid pain poured out anyways, dripping into the rocks and staining them with his misery.

"Fuck!" Eddie cried, dropping to his elbows and slamming his forehead against the rocks in anger, "FUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!" 

Eddie shouted until his breath was gone and his throat was dry and raspy. All around him, the group descended into similar states of misery. Mike sat down and gasped for breath while his hands shook violently from the pain. Rebecca leaned against the wall and held her head low, while Midnight sat on her haunches beside her, tears streaking out into the short fur of her cheeks.

As she sat the furthest from the group, Tempest only felt an emptiness well in her heart, an emptiness that drowned out the pain and sorrow, and instead replaced them with apathy. Her eyes lost their color, and she gazed down at the landscape below as if it held nothing more than rocks and sand. Even the tears that now stained her cheeks faded from her knowledge, and all she could do was sit upright, her heart hollow, and her withers sagging with the weight of the world crushing down on her once more.

Yet just as the pain finally began to settle in for good, a faint sound rang out through the wind, a sound of wings cutting through the air and finding their way back to the group. A sound of wings that belonged to a particular crimson pegasus as he flew in with precious cargo in his forelegs.

They almost didn't react when Sky flew onto the ledge, their eyes still glued to the rocks and valley below, but as he came to a hover behind them, a new sound caught their ears. Two boots striking the ground, as if dropped from a few feet above, followed immediately by four hooves clopping onto the rocks behind. 

Tempest felt something shift, whether it was the air, or her ears flicking back toward the noise, she felt compelled to look away from the drop, and slowly, her eyes traversed toward Sky as he walked over to her. She froze upon seeing Jason right behind him. 

"You guys... owe me... big time..." Sky panted, stepping toward the group with a stagger.

"Jason?" Tempest asked, almost refusing to believe that her eyes were telling her the truth.

Immediately, everyone looked up toward the three of them, and a collective gasp filled the air as they all saw Jason with their own eyes.

"Jay!" Eddie shouted, getting to his feet and running over to him.

The rest of the group followed quickly behind, and Jason was tackled to the ground by both Mike and Eddie as they both simultaneously bear hugged him.

"Gah!" Jason managed as he was slammed to the ground.

"You're okay!" Rebecca exclaimed, joining in on the dog pile.

"What happened!?" Midnight asked, also taking up a spot behind him and squeezing Jason's head to her chest. 

Jason struggled to respond for a few seconds until they all released their hold on him somewhat.

"You... you can thank Sky for saving me." Jason managed after finding his breath.

All eyes darted to the crimson pegasus in question, who still seemed to be panting, yet blushed slightly at the acknowledgment anyways.

"Well... I mean..." Sky started before Rebecca tackled him to the ground and wrapped him in a tight huh, "Ugh..." He groaned as he was squeezed.

Midnight quickly made her way over to him and hugged him tightly while Mike and Eddie followed behind her.

"Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid... you're supposed... to get me... out of... death hugs... not join them..." Sky managed between being crushed by two vice like embraces.

"I know... I just love you so much, big guy!" Midnight replied, fresh tears breaking free from her eyes.

As Sky was assaulted with affection, Tempest took a hesitant step toward Jason. She was still certain that her eyes were deceiving her, and the tall man in front of her was merely a hallucination of her shattered psyche. Jason quickly noticed her approaching, and turned to give her a compassionate look.

"Tempest..." He said.

"You're... Are you... really here?" She asked, taking yet another step toward him, bringing her just a mere foot away.

Jason slowly reached out and cupped her cheek with his hand, parting the soft fur on her face and making her melt into the affection. She leaned forward, resting her head on his hand, and took another step forward until she was nearly standing on his lap. Her eyes screwed shut while tears threatened to claw their way out again, and she quickly wrapped her hooves around his back, pulling him into a tight hug while she moved her cheek to his neck. Her shaky breathes quickly turned into barely more than a whimper, and Jason quickly wrapped his arms around her, feeling his heart ache all the while.

"I... I thought I lost you..." She whispered, tears once more dripping from her cheeks and falling to Jason's chest.

"I'm sorry..." Jason responded, feeling the tears well up in his eyes as well.

"Please... Don't do that ever again... I can't lose you..." Tempest croaked, her sniffles barely choking back the tidal wave of tears she was holding.

"I promise. I won't leave you." Jason whispered, finding himself surprised at how easy the words came out.

"Thank you..." Tempest managed before leaning further into the hug and simply resting there, in his embrace.





"How did you do it!? Where did you come from!?" Eddie asked, taking his turn giving Sky a bear hug.

"I... can't... answer that... with you people... squishing me..." Sky grunted, slowly feeling the life being strangled out of him by tight hugs.

Eddie released his death grip on the crimson pegasus and gave him room to breath. 

"Alright, thank you... Okay, as for your questions, I was flying back to tell you guys about a spot I found but you weren't were I left you. You guys just left without saying anything so I've been flying all over the mountainside for the past ten minutes looking for you. I was starting to get really worried when the wind picked up, but then I heard you guys yelling-" Sky explained, after catching his breath.

"Yeah, things... went south pretty quick." Rebecca admitted.

"Right, and just when I was making my way over here along that side of the mountain," Sky continued pointing toward the direction the group had traveled from earlier, "I heard some rocks falling, and when I looked up, I saw the ledge give way. I wasn't sure at first, but when I heard you all start screaming at the same time, I was sure I saw someone falling. Then I just... well, I just put all my power into my wings and flew in as fast as I could."

"So... that flash of light was... you?" Mike asked in disbelief.

"Hehe, you know what, I think it was! I didn't break the sound barrier or anything, but I think I finally figured out what this mark means!" Sky excitedly exclaimed, glancing down at his cutiemark. A bit of static jumped out of the lightning bolt adorning his flank, almost as if to prove his point.

"Oh my gosh, Sky! That's amazing!" Midnight cheered, throwing her hooves around him once more before wincing, "Ouch." 

"What's wrong?" Sky immediately asked, having noticed her flinch.

"It's nothing, big guy, just a bit of rope burn." Midnight dismissed.

"Rope burn?" Sky questioned, turning his head to look at her barrel, "Holy shit! What the fuck happened?!" He exclaimed protectively holding onto her and eyeing the burns.

"We had no time and I... kinda got scared. The only option was to tie the rope around me and Mike and just jump for it." Midnight explained.

"You just jumped off the cliff!?" Sky exclaimed.

"We were out of time!" Midnight defended.

"Jesus Christ! You could've fallen to your death! The rope could have snapped, it could have seriously broke some of your ribs, you could have seriously gotten hurt or worse!" Sky continued, frantically searching the severity of Midnight's burns.

"Sky," Midnight said, grabbing him by the muzzle and redirecting his gaze into her eyes, "I'm okay. Trust me, we had no other options. Thank you for caring about me and trying to protect me, but I'm really okay. Honestly." She said, softly stroking her hoof through his mane all the while.

"I just... I promised I wouldn't let you get hurt." Sky dejectedly admitted, his eyes falling to the ground once more.

"Hey..." Midnight whispered, pulling him into a hug, "I'm fine. You did good today... You saved Jason, and you're still taking care of me. Don't you worry about this. I'm a big girl, I've been through worse." She comforted.

"Yeah, you're a hero , dude. You saved my best friend." Eddie added, giving him a friendly pat on the back.

"Thanks..." Sky replied, cheering up slightly.

"We should treat those burns now while we can though." Rebecca chimed in.

"Does anyone have anything for Mid's burn? Like, bandages and stuff?" Sky asked.

"Here, I have some biofoam. This'll help heal the wound and prevent infection." Mike spoke up, pulling a small canister from his pack.

He quickly opened the cap and brought the tip to Midnight's barrel. White foam poured out from the nozzle as Mike went over her barrel, and quick enough, the entirety of the rope burn was covered in a layer of white foam. Next, Mike pulled out a long bandage and wrapped it around Midnight's barrel, forming an "X" pattern on her chest. Once the bandages were all tied off and set, Mike took a step back and smiled.

"Well, you might have a tiny scar after this, but otherwise, you're gonna be fine." He said.

"Oh wow... it... feels really nice," Midnight replied, eyeing the bandage, "Like, it feels warm... but in a good way." 

"Yeah, that's probably the painkillers kicking in. You should feel really good for the rest of the night. Biofoam is good shit." Mike shrugged.

"Thanks." Midnight replied, relaxing her head against Sky's neck.

"Looks like we won't we making any more progress up the mountain tonight. The sun's about to set. We should try to make camp here for the night." Mike announced, looking out to the horizon.

"What do you think, Jay?" Eddie asked, looking back to Jason and the mulberry unicorn seated on his lap.

"We'll make camp here for the night. No more climbing today. One close call was enough." Jason replied.

Their decision made, the group quickly moved to assemble their tents and sleeping arrangements. While the sun slowly crawled down it's last stretch on the horizon, the group set up a fire just like the previous night, and soon found themselves sitting around the fire once more and tearing into their MRE's.

Eddie greedily ate his chili mac paste and tried some of the honey Fluttershy had gifted him, while Mike and Rebecca traded their food. Sky and Midnight laid side by side just like the previous night, only the crimson pegasus seemed to somehow be even closer to his wife, and had one wing protectively wrapped around her barrel while he nuzzled her neck and occasionally kissed her cheek. Jason and Tempest sat together at the far side of the fire, and ate their meals in silence, although, from his position, Eddie could easily make out Jason's hand holding onto Tempest's hoof through the entire meal.

"So... we're a bit behind now, aren't we, Sarge?" Mike spoke up after a while of eating in silence.

"Yeah. We were supposed to at least get to the cave today, but I'm not risking any more falls again. At this rate... we'll still make it with almost a month to spare... assuming we all have six months before we die." Jason replied, chewing his cheek in thought.

"We'll get to the island with plenty of time to spare. Don't you worry about a thing." Midnight cheerfully chimed in.

"Heh, here's hoping you're right." Jason shrugged.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna turn in early. I'm tired." Rebecca suddenly announced, before standing up and making her way over to her tent.

"We should probably get some sleep too." Sky said, glancing back at Midnight.

"Alright, big guy. Let's go to bed." She replied.

Mike yawned, "Ah, you know what, climbing a mountain does kinda take a lot out of you. Sleep sounds pretty good right about now." 

"I'm with ya," Eddie said, "Jay, you going to bed soon?" 

"I probably will in a bit." Jason replied.

"Still want someone up for the night?"

"With how far up the mountain we are... nah, I think we can all get some sleep tonight. Besides, those lizard dudes would probably freeze to death up here anyways." Jason shrugged.

"Alright. Night." Eddie replied.

"Night."

Mike and Eddie left to their respective tents, leaving just Tempest and Jason alone with the firelight to keep them company on the cold mountainside. For a few minutes, they both just stared into the fire in silence, and absorbed it's warmth. However, eventually, Tempest turned to Jason and bit her lip.

"Hey... Jason?" She asked.

"Yeah?" Jason replied, looking at her.

"When... when this is all over... and you're all safe and sound... are... are you going to leave?" She asked, clearly having difficulty saying the words. 

Jason looked at her for some time before looking down into the fire and biting his tongue.

"That's a hell of a question... I mean... I don't even know if we can-" 

"Assuming Eddie fixes the radios and you can... would you?" Tempest cut him off. 

Jason looked over at the mulberry unicorn sat beside him. His eyes slowly found themselves trailing down to her foreleg and his hand still gently gripping the appendage. It was strange, the feeling of her fur against his gloved hand. It was just enough of a feeling that he could tell what she felt like, but not enough to truly tell for sure. Albeit with some hesitation, he released his grip on her foreleg and grabbed the ends of the glove with his other hand. He pulled the glove off and immediately felt the cold world against his skin. With Tempest watching him the whole time, he brought his ungloved hand over to her cheek and gently brushed his digits through the short, soft fur of her face. The feeling was akin to velvet, and he couldn't help but quietly sigh to himself as his hand parted her fur just enough to slip underneath and touch the silky skin underneath. 

Even with the fur... she barely feels different from any human...

Tempest leaned into his touch, finding the gentle stoking motions of his fingers to be enough of an answer to her question, before he spoke, and her ears flicked toward him on instinct.

"If you want me to stay... I think... I'd be okay with that..." He said, taking his time with his words.

Tempest eyed him for a second with complete scrutiny, however, after several seconds of watching him, she could see no signs of deception. His words appeared to be completely genuine. Still, she stared at him for so long that he turned to eye her curiously.

"What? I mean, this planet is beautiful. Earth was just kinda... depressing to be on. Parents were killed by Horizon V terrorists way back, so I've got nothing to go back to anyways. Eddie, Mike, and... well... you... are all I've really got anymore." Jason said, giving a small shrug.

"You really mean that?" Tempest pressed.

Jason looked away from her for a second.

"I do..." He turned back to face her, "If you want me to stay... then I think I'd be oka-" He tried, but he was cut off by the mulberry unicorn pressing her lips against his.

For the second time that day, time seemed to stand still, and Jason's eyes widened in surprise. He was so lost in shock, that for almost an entire second, he sat motionless, however, once he registered the soft feeling of lips against his, he returned the kiss, and placed a hand on the back of her neck to hold her close. He screwed his eyes shut and just focused on the feeling of her lips against his.

Tempest's lips somehow felt even softer than her fur, and through the entirety of the kiss, Jason could only think of how gentle and loving it felt. With her muzzle as short as it was, and her tongue ever so gently teasing his lips, Tempest felt completely human, a thought that bounced around back and forth in Jason's mind, and practically forced him to lean into it further. Their lips parted, just for a split second, only for them to come together again, and the kiss continued once more. The cold world around them faded away as the warmth of their beating hearts quickly flooded them with enough heat to put a furnace to shame.

Jason's hand caressed through Tempest's mane, feeling each individual hair as the deceptively soft bristles danced through his fingers, while his free hand cupped her cheek and pulled her closer. The feeling drove his pulse up and filled his heart with a giddy feeling he couldn't remember ever feeling before. 

Each time they pulled away from each other, they only made it an inch away before one of them darted back in to steal one more second of pleasure from the other. Tempest brought her hooves around Jason's neck and held him there while she kissed him over and over again, until the warm feeling in her chest turned to a raging inferno of desire and passion. However, just as soon as it appeared, it was forced to flicker out and die as Jason finally pulled away completely, leaving her with a small quiver to her lower lip, and a sudden fear forming in her soul.

"Sorry..." She whispered, her gaze drifting down to the floor.

"For what?" Jason asked, gently lifting her chin with his thumb and index finger.

"I... I shouldn't have done that." She admitted, glancing away from him.

"Tempest... Don't even think about apologizing for that... that was..." Jason sighed, "It's been a long time since I've felt anything like that." He whispered, a sincere smile on his face.

"But... why did you pull away?" Tempest tilted her head to the side.

"Well... if we're going to commit to this... I'd just like to slow down a little, you know?" Jason said.

"O-oh... I'm sorry, I just... I thought I pushed too hard..." Tempest replied, twiddling her hooves together.

Jason chuckled, "Tempest, I kissed you back. If I thought you were pushing too hard, I would've just pulled away from the beginning."

"Hehe, I guess you're right." Tempest returned the laugh.

"Trust me... Somehow... against everything I've ever known... Everything about that just felt... right... and that is a compliment." Jason pointed out, giving a friendly grin. 

Tempest chuckled at his words for a few seconds before falling silent and gazing into the fire.

"So... now what?" She asked.

"Well... since we're both here... do you want to talk about Bellruse?" Jason replied, eyeing her curiously.

"Bellruse... but I thought you said you'd only talk about that if I was... ready..." She trailed off, her gaze once more falling to the floor.

"Yeah... So I'm asking if you're okay with talking about it. I mean... if... we are gonna be together... then I'd like to know more about you." Jason responded, squeezing her foreleg in an encouraging manner.

Tempest sighed before standing up to her full height and taking a few steps away.

"Tempest?" Jason asked, concern weeding into his voice.

"If... If you really want to know... I need to show you." She replied, before biting down on the zipper to her bodysuit and unzipping it fully.

She pulled the suit down with her forelegs, exposing a scar on her neck, just an inch from her jugular, then another on her wither, and another on her back. Once her upper half was free of the bodysuit, she shimmied out of the remaining half and showed her barrel for the first time, and the three massive scars lining the side. Once her hind legs were clear, she stepped out of the bodysuit, displaying the last and most gruesome scars covering her flanks. For a few quiet seconds, she stood by the firelight in front of Jason, her scars on full display.

"What happened?" Jason asked, a sad frown on his face as he took in each scar.

Tempest bit her tongue for a long few seconds before she found the courage to look up at Jason and speak.

"When I worked for the Storm King... I did more than just invade Equestria... I also attacked Mt. Aris..." As she spoke, her eyes watered, and the painful memories resurfaced once more, "I'm the reason the hippogriffs were forced into the sea... I burned their home to the ground and I... I... I killed one..." She finally admitted, her eyes glued to anywhere but Jason.

"You killed someone?" Jason asked, the clearly present pain on Tempest's face making his heart ache in sympathy.

"One of the hippogriffs ran away... We... I... gave the order to pursue... When we got close enough, I took him down myself... these scars are what he did to me before I... I... killed him..." Tempest finished, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

Jason immediately walked over to her and pulled her into a hug, to which she desperately returned.

"I... I just wish I could take it back..." She whispered.

"I know... I know..." Jason responded, gently stroking her now exposed back.

The soft fur on her body soon gave way to the three ghastly scars on her barrel, and Jason froze as his fingers felt the distinct lack of fur and scarred skin. He felt Tempest go rigid in his arms, before he gently pulled back far enough to see her face.

"Tempest... I don't think anything I can say will ever really make that hurt go away... but if nothing else, I do know what you're going through... You're not a bad pony... You've just been in some bad situations and had to do some bad things... I get that." Jason comforted, giving her a soft look of compassion.

"That... that's not all..." She whispered, drawing a worried look from Jason in the process.

"What else is there?" He asked, his voice a mix of gentleness and concern.

"W-when I returned to the Storm King... as a failure... He... he carved these scars into my flanks... said that's what they meant in his tongue... Failure... I... I'll never be normal..." Tempest continued, tears quickly streaming down her cheeks.

Jason pulled her back into a tight hug and held her tightly.

"Hey... you're not a freak or weird because of those scars..." Jason comforted, "You're one of the most amazing people I've ever met..."

"You... you don't understand... I'll never have a cutie mark... I... I can't fit in anymore... I'll always just be the evil, scarred, deformed, monster in Equestria." Tempest croaked, her tears now forming two distinct streaks on her cheeks.

"You are not a monster... you are not evil. Tempest, I don't really know much about 'cutie marks', but for all the time I've known you, you've shown that you're one of the most capable and smart people I've ever met... Whatever you believe about yourself because of your past... you don't have to anymore. I never got to know the old Tempest, but I do know you... and you're amazing." Jason replied, stroking his hand through her mane.

"How can you... be so sure about that? How can you look at... this," Tempest replied, gesturing to her scars, "And not be disgusted?" She questioned with a disbelieving tone of voice.

"Because I'm no better." Jason softly replied.

Tempest stopped in her tracks, "What?" She asked, looking at him with a mix of confusion and fear.

Jason replied by simply taking off his armor. He slid the forearm armor off before the shoulder and bicep armor, finishing with his chest piece. Once all the pieces except his lower half's armor was laid out in front by the fire, he unzipped the front of his bodysuit, exposing his muscular chest, abdomen, and the large scar running across. Tempest gawked at the sight of both his body and his scar, before his voice took her attention once more.

"When we were in Bellruse, on the way back from taking out the shield generators, my bird was shot down... A piece of steel ripped through the door and impaled me right here," He explained, pointing to the massive scar between his naval and his ribcage, "I was knocked out in the crash, but when I woke up, everyone around me was dead... I pried myself out of the ship and managed to pull the steel out... filled the hole with some biofoam and continued on mission. I hiked for six hours behind enemy lines, managing to stay out of sight, before I came to a tiny little town..."

Tempest felt her eyes growing misty as he told his story, and for a second, she was sure she heard a waiver to his voice.

"When I got into that town, I only had a few seconds to seek shelter before the bombing began... but I was spotted... Poor kid couldn't have been more than sixteen... just dragged into the war like everybody else... and I shot him... He screamed and I shot him dead, right there. Kid didn't even get a chance to shoot back..." Jason trailed off, his eyes downcast.

"Jason..." Tempest whispered.

"Next thing I knew, the entire world blew up around me... The bombing started, and all I had for cover was a little truck, so I jumped in there, and I curled up into the tightest little ball I could while they brought hell to Horizon... I don't think I've ever been so scared..." He trailed off again.

"Do you... ever have nightmares about it?" Tempest asked, cautiously.

"Almost every night... I still see his face... It'll probably haunt me until the day I die..." 

Tempest grabbed him and hugged him as tightly as she could, much to his surprise.

"Tempest?" Jason asked with concern.

"I... heh, here I was thinking I was the only one who had it bad... I'm so sorry you had to do that..." She whispered, before burying her muzzle into his neck and nuzzling her cheek against him.

"Heh, I guess we've both just done some bad things in our lives, haven't we?" Jason asked, giving in to the hug and wrapping his arms around her barrel.

"I guess so... Still... are you sure you want to stick around a monster like me?" She asked, still squeezing him tightly.

"Only if you can stand being around a monster like me." He replied, once more stroking her back.

"I think I can do that." She whispered.

"Then so can I." He replied.

For some time after that, they simply held each other. The feelings of pain and regret slowly washed away, and instead, a new feeling took their place. A feeling blossomed in both of their hearts and warmed them against the cold mountain air. A feeling that neither one had truly felt before in their entire lives, yet somehow, at that exact moment, it was the only thing that they needed.
> Chapter 14: The Hardest Choices
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Next Day


Jason grabbed the edge of the rock face and pulled himself up until he could roll over and reach the plateau. He panted for breath from the exertion for a few moments before rolling back over to the edge and offering a helping hand to Eddie as he climbed up below him. 

Eddie gratefully took the offered hand and pulled himself up onto the plateau as well. Once they were both together, Jason and Eddie offered their hands to Mike, who quickly pulled himself up as well. Rebecca followed behind, with Sky ferrying Midnight and Tempest up the last bit of height since they couldn't quite maintain a proper grip on the side of the mountain. Once they were all up together, the group took a minute to catch their breath, and take in the surrounding atmosphere.

"Welp... we finally made it." Mike said, eyeing the large cave entrance just ahead.

"Yeah... Now we just need to walk through there for like... twenty miles or some shit... how far was it again, Jay?" Eddie asked, turning to Jason.

"Hell, Ed... I don't remember right now... we're just gonna walk until we get to the end." Jason replied, catching his breath.

"Heh, fair enough." Eddie laughed.

"Well, on the bright side, we know how far it is to Ponpei from the other side of the cave." Midnight chimed in.

"Oh yeah? And how far is that?" Mike rebutted.

"Twenty four miles." Midnight said with a roll of her eyes.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay." Mike sarcastically replied.

"We're almost through most of the difficult part... Once we get to Ponpei, it's just sailing a boat for the rest of the journey." Tempest offered.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it smooth sailing from there on out since we're gonna be on a boat for like... three months. Seriously, why couldn't Tia get us an airship?" Sky shook his head.

"There aren't any left in service at the moment. The Storm King's army had the most airships in the entire continent but after he was defeated, crews started abandoning them and letting them rot. It would take months for Equestria to make one and get it over to Ponpei, and taking one from the start would've only taken longer than our original plan." Tempest replied, matter-of-factly.

"Well what about one of those civilian ones? I remember Twilight took one with her family not too long ago." Midnight asked.

"Again, too slow. Those are meant for cruising, not for high speed. Honestly, the actual boat we're supposed to have waiting for us is going to be faster than one of those air ships." Tempest shook her head.

"Well, we're not gonna get anything done by sitting up here talking about air ships all day. Come on guys, let's get inside this cave. I'm freezing my ass off up here." Jason spoke up as he got to his feet. 

Mike, Eddie, and Rebecca quickly followed his lead and got to their feet while Sky, Midnight, and Tempest got to their hooves. Once he was sure everyone was ready and good to go, Jason made way for the cave entrance, finding the looming overhang to give off just a tiny bit of an ominous presence as he entered. One by one they followed into the darkness of the cave, finding that despite the ceiling being well over thirty feet high, light barely made it into the dark expanse of the interior, and only darkness lingered as the group proceeded.

"Man... sure is dark in here." Mike said, eyeing the walls as if they were going to close in around him.

Mike stared ahead, and felt his stomach grow hollow at the sight of the blackness in front of him. 

“That’s… the least inviting thing I’ve ever seen...” Rebecca announced. 

"Midnight, Tempest, can you two get us any light in here?" Jason asked.

"I... can... but it'll be pretty unstable... It'd be more of a sparkly firecracker than a reliable source of light." Tempest admitted.

"That's alright, Tempest. I got this." Midnight replied, igniting her horn and bringing a pale blue light to the cave.

Immediately, the dark rock walls were illuminated, and the way ahead became more and more clear. With a better view ahead, the group proceed forwards through the long expanse of the cave. As they progressed further in however, strange paintings showed up on the walls, and the further inwards they went, the darker and stranger the shapes became. Faded colors mixed and played together clearly displaying that time had taken its toll. 

Mike walked over to the nearest wall and eyed it suspiciously. What appeared to be a four legged stick figure equine with a spear in one of its hooves stood tall and proud above dozens more smaller stick figure equines. Behind the tallest one, there was a half crescent circle, although the color had long since faded from the wall, leaving a strange question in his mind as to what exactly it was supposed to represent.

The painted ponies stood in grotesque figures around the standing pony. Further away, the figures twisted and turned, forming irregular, almost unrecognizable shapes. They laughed and played while barring the faces of cruel children. The swirls eventually became unrecognizable as it edged further out, forming shapes and patterns on a purely abstract level - Colors splotched with colors. 

“It’s…” Mike trailed off.

“It’s what?” Rebecca asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s… plain straight evil.” Mike muttered, shrugging. 

Dark blues spilled from a pale white moon. The colors poured down to fields of fleeing ponies. Looks of terror and grief filled their faded faces. The dark blue viscous color consumed them, leaving the others to run. The color showed no mercy. Children, elderly, earth pony, pegasus, unicorn, alicorn, all of them drowned in it; the rest only ran. Mike's eyes followed their direction, and saw where they led to, and let out a long, low whistle.

A white pony with a rainbow mane and tail awaited them, attempting to hold out her hoof, but she adorned a pained grimace, as though crying out for help to the other ponies doing the same. 

Ssenkaew si Ycnedneped

Etulosba si rewop. 

The ponies nearest what was clearly Celestia looked up in awe at the figure spearing Celestia through the barrel. 

Blue as the color spilling out from the moon, She stood on her hind legs with a smile as wide and as joyful as a shark tearing through its prey. Her wings spread, and the faded feathers molded and twisted into darker shades of blue and black and small hints of orange. It swirled and spread across the remainder of the cave wall. The colors slipped and slid between each other in a dance of chaos and order. The colors spread to drown out everything - all of it culminated to a part of cave wall that held no discernible shape - no recognizable symbol. Colors splashed on colors in swirls and swipes to create a vision, not of an idea, or a message, but an emotion: hatred. 

The colors swirled in hateful and angry patterns; all of it faded with time. 

"This place is creeping me out..." Mike muttered, turning away from the painting.

“Well we're not gonna get out of here by staring at the wall." Jason said.

"Right... we should keep moving." Tempest mentioned, following behind.

The group gave a unanimous sign of agreement and proceeded onward.

"Hey, uh... Midnight?" Mike asked.

"Yes?" 

"Do, uh... do you know how this cave was made? And why?" He questioned, his gaze still locked on the wall.

"Hmm... If I remember right, this cave was made by the Children of Nightmare over a thousand years ago." Midnight said, tapping her chin in thought.

"The... Children of... Nightmare?" Mike hesitantly asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Basically they were a cult following of Nightmare Moon. Their ideas and philosophy were centered around her being the one true queen of Equestria, and trying to bring an eternal night over the planet. Basically a bunch of psycho cultists." Midnight explained with a shrug.

"Uh huh... and... Nightmare moon is..." Mike said, motioning for her to explain.

"She was Princess Luna... or rather, Princess Luna turned into her over a thousand years ago. Once she came back from her banishment to the moon, Twilight and her friends turned her back into Luna, and she's been ruling by Celestia's side ever since."

"Right, right. So if I'm getting this right, which I'm sure I'm not, she turned evil, was banished to the moon, then came back, and now she's a princess again?" Mike surmised, looking more puzzled than ever.

"I know our willingness to forgive might seem like a weakness, but overall, it's made us stronger as a species." Midnight replied, causing a small blush to form on Tempest's face.

"Well... If you're sure... As for the cultists?" Mike replied.

"No idea. I haven't heard of them doing anything for almost a thousand years, so I imagine they just kinda died off. That's probably why Twilight didn't even mention it. Not many ponies even know they existed." Midnight shrugged.

"And we're just waltzing into their sacred little cave, probably disturbing some ancient ghosts or some shit in the process like the retarded protagonists to some bad horror flick." Mike grumbled as he tightened his grip on his machine gun just a tad.

"Mike, you're being paranoid again. Just relax. No one's lived in this cave for about a thousand years." Eddie chimed in, rolling his eyes.

"Here's hoping you're right." He replied.

The group progressed further into the cave, finding more and more paintings on the wall, causing a pit to slowly form in all of their stomachs. Depictions of the stick figure ponies sacrificing each other to bring back Nightmare moon littered a portion of the wall almost one hundred feet long, and as they went from picture to picture, the sacrifices only grew more and more gruesome.

"I think they straight up ripped this one's head off..." Rebecca said, pointing out a particularly barbaric picture.

"Let's just not get too focused on what's not important. Stop looking at the walls and keep moving forward." Jason ordered, feeling a chill crawl up his spine.

The group walked for what could have been a mile. It was difficult to tell in the darkness of the cave and without any kind of reference, but eventually, they arrived at what appeared to be a large cave-in. Rocks stacked all the way to the ceiling blocked their path and prevented the group from traveling any further. 

"Well... this is a predicament." Tempest mused.

"I don't suppose you have enough C4 left over to blow this shit away, Ed?" Jason commented.

"No chance in hell. There's gotta be... fifty tons of rock here. I'd need a thousand pounds of C4 just to make a dent in it." Eddie replied, shaking his head.

"Well... what do we do now? I mean, going around the mountain will set us back days at the least." Sky chimed in.

"Is there a way around it?" Mike asked.

"Not that I'm seeing... Midnight, could you give us a little more light?" Jason inquired.

"Yeah, here." Midnight replied, pushing more magic into her horn and filling the surrounding area with enough light to properly see from one side of the cave to the other.

"You know, for a group of cultists, you have to admire their architecture." Eddie thought aloud as he looked at the arch of the ceiling.

"Not what we're here for, Ed," Jason chuckled, "Alright, look around for a passage around this blockage. If we can't find anything, then we'll have to turn around and figure something out. Going across the mountain on the outside is gonna be a pain in the ass and set us back a while, and that's time we just might not have.

The group spread out over the area and searched for any signs of a passageway through the cave-in. Jason, Tempest, and Eddie took the left side of the cave while Mike, Rebecca, and Sky took the left side. Midnight simply stayed in place, providing much needed light to the rest of the group while they searched their respective areas.

"Hey guys! I think I found something!" Mike called out, getting the groups attention.

Everyone quickly rushed over to Mike's position to find a hole in the wall no taller than three feet high and two feet wide. It appeared to be a small tunnel leading further into the cave.

"Welp... Is now a bad time to mention that I'm claustrophobic?" Sky said, gulping nervously.

"You'll be alright," Jason replied, before addressing the group as a whole, "Alright, here's what we're gonna do: Ed, you'll take point into the cave. Midnight will be right behind you giving us the light we need, and I'll be right behind her. Then Sky, Rebecca, Tempest, and Mike will bring up the rear in that order. We're going to take this slow. Weapons hot." He ordered.

Immediately, Mike unslung his Machine gun and pulled the handle back, charging the weapon and loading a round. Eddie, Rebecca, and Jason all shouldered their rifles and pointed them at the hole.

"Wish my red dot still worked..." Eddie sighed.

"We'll have to go irons for this. I know you can't hit shit with those, but in cave this size? You'll be fine." Jason said, smirking.

"Last time I checked, I had the top shot spot out of basic." Eddie fired back.

"With a red dot and magnifier." Jason shrugged.

Eddie chuckled, "Yeah, well it's not like you were any better. Come on, let's go check this hole." 

With that, Eddie crouched down just low enough to fit into the cave and crawled inside. Midnight quickly followed behind him, with Jason coming in a second behind her. The rest of the group hastily followed them inside, and within a minute, they disappeared into the darkness. 

Eddie kept his rifle pointed straight ahead in the cave as he crawled through. The light from Midnight's horn was able to light up the surrounding walls easily, however, rocks jutting out on both sides cast shadows that lingered and possibly hid the presence of someone, or something in the recesses of the walls. Keeping all this in mind, Eddie crawled ahead painfully slowly, and whenever he came up to a possible corner, he quickly swept the wall with his rifle, just to be sure. Over and over this continued, until he started to sweat from the effort of crawling for so long.

"Jesus... how fucking long is this thing?" Eddie asked, squinting to see if there was any end in sight.

"No idea, man. Just keep pushing. It can't be too much farther," Jason replied, before turning around to the rest of the group, "Hey guys, how're you holding up?" 

"Ah, you know... shitty." Was Mike's response from the back.

"Good enough for me." Jason replied.

Eddie continued to lead the group onward through the small cave for another hundred feet or so, before he paused, and held up a fist, signaling Jason to hold the group. Jason instantly reacted and halted the group, before leaning over a confused Midnight and whispering.

"What do you see?" He asked.

"It's not what I see... it's what I hear. Listen." Eddie replied.

Jason focused his attention on his ears and listened as intently as he could. Sure enough, after a few seconds, a faint sound reached his ears. He couldn't quite discern what it was, although it sounded almost rhythmic with its cadence.

"Okay... I hear it..." Jason whispered.

"What is that?" Midnight asked, her voice also a whisper.

"I don't know... but I don't like it," Jason replied before looking back up to Eddie, "Alright, take it slow, and be ready."

"Roger that." Eddie replied before turning back around and slowly crawling ahead.

Jason waved the rest of the group forward, and albeit with even more hesitation as before, they proceeded forward. As they covered more and more ground, one thing became apparent, the sounds echoing through the cave were growing louder, and soon enough, the entire group could hear them. Eddie fought the growing pit in his stomach as he progressed, and the unidentifiable noise soon turned into something that made him pause again.

"What's the holdup?" Jason asked, once more leaning over Midnight and eyeing Eddie with concern.

"You hear that?" Eddie asked.

Jason listened closely again, and once more, the sound echoed through his ears.

"Holy shit..." He whispered.

"It... sounds like chanting... Jay, I think that cult might not be as dead as we thought it was..." Eddie replied.

"Okay... okay, okay... Keep going, slowly. Midnight, get behind me, and tell Rebecca to push up one. Ed, keep your gun on the left, I've got the right." Jason instructed.

Midnight quickly backed up and squeezed past Jason until she was in front of Sky. Once there, she whispered into his ear, and he in turn whispered back to Rebecca. She hesitantly scooched past him and took her spot behind Midnight. Once they were all situated, Jason re-shouldered his rifle and took his position just to Eddie's right and slightly behind him.

"Alright, we do this just like that raid on Cliptus." Jason whispered.

"Got it." Eddie replied. 

With their security set up, Eddie and Jason crawled forward with the rest of the group closely trailing behind them. Midnight intensified the light of her horn just enough to give them a decent amount of lighting with two humans in front of her instead of just one, and kept her positioning just a foot behind Jason. For a few minutes, they continued onward in silence. The sound of chanting slowly rose and rose as they grew closer, and before long, they were able to make out what was actually being said.

"Ecifircas! Ecifircas! Ecifircas!" The voices chanted.

Jason and Eddie both held up the group once they were close enough to clearly hear them, before turning back to Midnight.

"Midnight, any idea on what they're saying?" Jason asked.

"I... I have no idea. I've never heard that language before... Maybe they made their own after a thousand years of isolation?" She suggested.

"Alright... Pass this down to Sky and Tempest: If things go sideways, cover your ears." Jason instructed.

"What? Why?" Midnight asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Just trust me. We're probably all gonna be deaf if we have to shoot in here, so we're gonna need someone to keep their hearing." Jason explained.

"O-Okay..." Midnight responded, before turning back toward Rebecca and passing the message along.

Once he was sure every pony down the line had received the message, Jason turned back to Eddie and tapped his shoulder. Eddie pressed forward without a word, with Jason retaking his position at his back-right. They progressed further into the cave for another dozen or so feet before a left turn appeared, and the way in front ended with a sharp corner. Eddie held his angle on the corner while Jason slowly crawled around him and pied the corner. Once it was cleared, he motioned for Eddie to move up. 

Once they were side by side again, Jason took the lead down another cave, with Eddie coming up on his back-left. They continued like this for a hundred feet before they saw a faint red light at the end of the cave. Jason held up a fist to halt the group once more before turning back around to Midnight and motioning for her to extinguish her horn. She quickly got the message, and cut off the light spell, reducing the back of the group to darkness. Once the light was out, Jason moved forward with Eddie until they reached the end of the cave, finding yet another corner. Just like before, as one held their angle, the other pied the corner, and they moved up together. 

They continued forward another few feet until they finally came to the end of the cave, and saw the source of light ahead. Jason's eyes went wide as he looked down on what could only be described as a sacrificial altar, surrounded by flames, and no fewer than three hundred ponies, all bowing and chanting.

"Ecifircas! Ecifircas! Ecifircas!" They cried.

At the top of the altar, stained with blood, stood a taller, pale white pony, with a skull on his head. On his back, was what appeared to be a cape of some sort, only it was covered in depictions of Nightmare Moon savagely murdering Celestia and devouring her corpse. Jason and Eddie both shared a look.

"You know, as far as evil cults go, they're not too far off the mark." Eddie whispered.

Jason leaned forward far enough until he could look straight down, and saw a sight that made him sweat. Bright red lava oozed around the altar, and the surrounding area seemed to be heated from the volcanic heat building up within the mountain.

"Great... This mountain is a god damned volcano..." Jason muttered.

He glanced back up at the pony cultists to find them bringing in a chocolate colored mare from the back of the room. Tear stains were clearly visible on her coat, and she trembled with every step forward. The two cultists poking her with spears to make her move forward did nothing to console her.

"Fucking hell..." Eddie whispered, "Jay... they're gonna kill her."

"Nothing we can do about it. We need to keep moving and get out of here." Jason replied, turning to head back to the rest of the group, only to be stopped by Eddie grabbing his arm.

"Jay, we can't just let her die." Eddie protested.

"I don't want her to die any more than you do, Ed, but we can't take on an entire cult with just the seven of us. Besides, I'm not risking anyone for a random cult pony that just got unlucky today." Jason shrugged off Eddie's hand.

Eddie only forcefully grabbed his arm once more, pulling him back.

"She's not with them. Look at her. The cultists are all wearing some kind of hooded cloaks, and they're all painted black." Eddie pointed out.

Jason slowly looked back at the group of cultists to find that their coats were indeed colored black, and they wore hoods that covered the majority of their faces. As he looked, the voice of the sacrificial mare quickly reached his ears as she cried out.

"Please! Just let me go! I... I don't want to die! Please, I'll do anything!" She cried, before being savagely smacked with the blunt end of a spear.

Jason cringed at the scene before Eddie looked to him again.

"And she speaks English. They don't. Jason... We can't just let her die." Eddie reasoned.

Jason ground his teeth for a moment before sighing.

"We don't even have any ROE for this kind of situation, and Celestia sure as hell didn't give us permission to go shooting ponies the first chance we get." He argued.

"You look at her right now and tell me that you honestly believe Celestia wouldn't give us the green light to save that pony's life without hesitation." Eddie shot back.

Jason glanced back at the chocolate mare in question and frowned. Tears streamed down her cheeks while her entire body trembled in fear. Bluish bruises shown through her coat all along her barrel, and blood dripped from an untended cut just above her eye. Jason bit his lip before turning back around and fixing Eddie with a frustrated look.

"Since when did you become the hero type?" He asked, shaking his head.

"Let's just say that Bellruse did a number on all of us. Come on, we've got maybe two minute before she's getting her heart ripped out and the dude up there eats it." Eddie replied.

Jason sighed again, "I hate when you're right."

He quickly crawled back to the group with Eddie following close behind. Once they found Midnight, Jason whispered for her to get Mike and Rebecca over to him. With some finagling, Mike and Rebecca quickly made their way over to Jason.

"Alright, here's the situation: Evil cultists are about to sacrifice an innocent pony. We're gonna stop it. We've got less than a minute to get this done and there's lava on the ground. Eddie and I will take point and bound up to her position. Mike, you're up on the ledge providing fire support. Rebecca, you're with Midnight, Sky, and Tempest. Protect them at all costs. If things go south, head back out the way you came and don't wait for us." Jason quickly instructed.

"Are you fucking serious?" She questioned.

"Deadly." Was the immediate response she received.   

Rebecca hesitantly made her way back over to the ponies while Mike, Eddie, and Jason moved to take their positions.

"What's going on?" Midnight asked.

"They're going to try to save a pony from the cultists. Uh... Just, be ready. We might have to run out the way we came if things go bad." Rebecca replied.

"They're gonna need help." Tempest spoke up.

"No, we need you here watching our backs. Besides us, you're really the only combatant here. If something or someone comes up the rear, we need you protecting it." Rebecca shook her head.

Tempest moved to speak, but bit her tongue, and sighed. Sky placed a comforting hoof on her wither and gave a small smile.

"Hey, don't worry. He'll be fine." He said.

"I hope you're right." Tempest replied.





Jason crawled out from the small cave entrance and into the larger sacrificial cave with Eddie coming up right behind him. Once they both reached the edge of the ledge, Jason glanced down at the pool of lava below once more and shook his head.

"Got any ideas on how to get past the lava?" He whispered.

"Just one." Eddie said before moving back to the entrance to get a running start.

"You've gotta be shitting me..." Jason muttered.

"Wish I was." Eddie shrugged.

Jason shook his head before moving over to Eddie's side. 

"Til' Valhalla?" Jason said, holding out a fist.

"Til' Valhalla." Eddie replied, bumping Jason's fist.

Just before they were about to go for it, Mike popped his head out from the cave entrance with his machine gun at the ready.

"Alright, you want me to set up... here?" Mike asked as Jason and Eddie broke into a sprint and jumped off the ledge.

They soared through the air for a good twenty feet before clearing the lava and tumbling down to the ground ten feet below. Jason somersaulted into a kneeling position with his rifle aimed and at the ready while Eddie rolled onto his stomach and took a prone position, his rifle also aimed toward the cultists. To their surprise, none of the pony cultists even spared them a glance. The volume of their chanting was so loud now that they couldn't even here the two humans landing behind them.

"Ecifircas! Ecifircas! Ecifircas!"

Mike facepalmed at the sight in front of him before moving over to the edge of the ledge and taking a prone position with his machine gun. He flipped the bipod open and rested it on the ground while pulling the buttstock into his shoulder and aiming at the group of cultists. He quickly spotted the chocolate coated mare as she was forced onto the alter by her two escorts. A frown quickly formed on his face as he saw the pure horror in her eyes, and he gripped the pistol-grip of his weapon so tightly that his knuckles turned white as the cultist leader ignited his horn and pulled a knife out of a scabbard behind the alter.

"Sarge, whatever you guys are gonna do, you'd better do it fast..." Mike muttered as he aimed at the cultist leader.

Meanwhile, Jason and Eddie moved up one by one, taking full advantage of the cultist's distraction to take the most tactically advantageous positions available. Eddie found a rock just a dozen feet behind the crowd that was barely large enough to hide his body from sight while Jason took his position behind a pillar overlooking the crowd. With their weapons trained on the cultist leader, they both took a deep breath, and flicked their fire selectors from 'safe' to 'semi'.

"P-please! I don't wanna die!" The mare screamed as she was forced onto her back on the alter. 

The blade magically levitated over her stomach and came to a perfect hover just above her heart. Her breathing became erratic, and she struggled against the two cultists holding her down, in a vain attempt to free herself as the blade came ever closer.

"Noitavlas fo htap suoethgir eht otno kcab su dael dna ,su ot nruter lliw ehs taht sepoh eht ni nigriv lufituaeb siht ecifircas ew ,Noom Eramthgin ,ytsejam reh fo yrolg eht rof!" The leader shouted, and the chanting stopped.

The blade quickly drew up until it was a foot above her chest, and the chocolate mare let out a terrified whimper as she closed her eyes and looked away. In that split second, a sound akin to lightning ricocheted through the sacrificial chamber, deafening every pony present, and making her gasp and reopen her eyes. The sight of the knife falling from its magical hold and clanging against the table, filled her eyes as the cultist leader fell away, blood spilling from his neck. Before she could even react, another roar of deafening proportions ripped through the air, although rather than a split second, the sound continued on with only a microsecond of a break between deafening roars, and she quickly clamped her hooves over her ears, lest they bleed from the sheer volume of the sound echoing through the air. 

She shut her eyes in fear as shouting and even more lightning danced around the room in a deafening display of volume so loud, she thought an explosion was going off in her ear every hundredth of a second. Tears streaked from her now tightly shut eyes as the horrible sounds only grew louder, and closer, and even with her hooves tightly clamping her ears back against her skull, the sheer volume was enough that she was sure her ears were bleeding. Over and over again, the catastrophic roar of thunderous explosions ripped though the air and echoed throughout the room, turning her legs to jelly and forcing her to scream out, just to hear something other than that painful cacophony of horrible sound.

Then, without warning, it stopped. Her body still shaking from the onslaught of decibels, she held her position, with her ears covered, and her eyes tightly shut while the tears continued to stream out.

"Hey! Are you okay?!"

She blinked. 

"Hey!"

With painful hesitation, she opened her eyes. She was laying on her side, still shaking, but the noise was gone, and she couldn't see any more cultists. Then, just as her wits came back to her, a foreign feeling gripped at her wither and shook her. She immediately closed her eyes and tried to stay as motionless as possible.

Just play dead. Just play dead. They might go away... Please, Celestia let them go away! She thought to herself.

Still, the shaking continued, until eventually, she was roughly yanked over onto her back. She let out a fearful yelp, before shaking like a leaf and fearfully opening her eyes once more.

Jason looked down at the petrified mare with his rifle pointed toward the ceiling in his free hand, the suppressor still smoking from the sheer volume of round he'd fired. 

"Hey! Look at me! We're gonna get you out of here, but you need to stay with us! Can you walk!?" He shouted, his hearing long since reduced to a painful ringing sensation.

"Uh..." Was all she managed to say before Eddie ran up the altar. She went rigid at his appearance before he patted Jason on the shoulder.

"Hey! We gotta go! Mike's getting the rest of the group now!" Eddie shouted, his hearing also gone.

"Right!" Jason replied before shaking the mare again, "Look! If you don't wanna die, then follow us! And whatever you do, don't fall behind!" 

The mare shook violently from the yelling and overall stress of the situation, before giving a hesitant nod and getting to her hooves. She immediately gasped and shrunk away in fear as she saw the scene of carnage below.

"Hey!" Jason shouted again, getting her eyes on him once more, "You don't look at them, alright! You look at me, and you stay close!"

She quickly nodded and kept her gaze pointed at him as he stepped down from the alter. She quickly followed behind, nearly tripping on the bodies of the cultists strewn about all over the room. Eddie took up his spot behind her, and kept his rifle pointed up as he scanned for any more of the cultist ponies. Soon enough, they were just outside the sacrificial ground littered with dead bodies and standing in what appeared to be some kind of entrance way into the rest of the cave system.

"Sarge!" Mike shouted, getting the mare to yelp in surprise and wrap her hooves around Jason's leg in a panic.

Jason glanced down at her before looking toward Mike and the rest of the group as they quickly made their way over to meet up with them.

"You weren't kidding when you said to cover our ears." Midnight said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"What!?" Jason shouted.

"Oh, right. You're good!" Midnight shouted back, before looking down at the terrified mare with her eyes tightly closed, "Hey, you're okay now. What's your name?" 

Midnight walked up to the chocolate mare and placed a hoof on her wither. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at the graphite mare, before a wide smile broke out on her face, and she threw her hooves around Midnight's withers, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Oh thank Celestia! I-I'm Melody..." She cried, more tears spilling out as she hugged Midnight as tightly as she could.

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you at all?" Sky asked, taking his place at her side.

Melody released her death hug on Midnight to look up at the crimson stallion for a moment before pulling him into a hug too.

"N-not too bad... these... these creatures saved me..." She said, looking up at Jason and Eddie while they continued to aim their rifles at the doorway.

"They're humans. They're friends, and they're all here to help." Tempest spoke up, giving a friendly smile.

Melody seemed to relax some at Tempest's words, before Rebecca stepped forward and spoke up.

"We can't stay here. We need to keep moving," She said, getting most of the groups attention.

"Hold on, I think they missed one." Sky replied, glancing at the alter.

At the alter in question, the cultist leader slowly crawled toward the lava, blood spilling from the hole in his neck, before reaching the edge of the drop off, and reaching into his robe.

"What's he doing?" Rebecca asked, aiming her rifle at the pony.

He pulled a strange, glowing red orb out of his robe and held it out over the lava, his foreleg fur singeing in the process.

"Oh no, don't let him drop that into the lava!" Midnight shouted, her eyes widening.

Rebecca immediately pulled the trigger, and once more, a deafening sound of pure lightning filled the cave, making every pony cover their ears and wince. Melody shrieked and squeezed a hold of Jason's leg again while he looked back at what Rebecca was shooting at.

"Fuck me! That's loud as fuck!" Sky cried, his ears flattened back against his skull.

Midnight quickly looked to the cultist leader to find his body laying lifelessly by the edge, and the red orb falling into the lava. With a quiet splash, it hit the super heated material, and disappeared.

"We need to get out of here, right now!" Midnight cried.

"Why? What was that!?" Rebecca shouted back.

"That was a mana battery! A red one! It has enough magic energy in it to blow up a city!" Midnight replied.

Rebecca felt a pit immediately form in her stomach, and she quickly turned to Jason before grabbing his shoulder to get his attention.

"We need to go, now!" She shouted.

Jason nodded before holding his hand up and waving forward,

"Mike, Ed, you're with me! Ponies in the middle! Rebecca bring up the rear! Let's move!" He shouted, and everyone quickly assumed their positions in the group. 

Jason, Mike, and Eddie pushed forward into the cave, finding a left turn almost immediately. They hastily pied the corner and proceeded forward when they saw no signs of any more cultists. Sky, Midnight, Tempest, and Melody quickly followed behind, with Rebecca coming in close behind them, her rifle pointed rearwards the whole time.

"How much time do we have?" Sky asked, eyeing Midnight.

"I don't know, maybe a few minutes? Maybe more?" Midnight replied.

"We can't negotiate these caves and hope to find a way out of here. We need an actual concrete way out of here." Tempest chimed in.

"Well it's not like any of us made any schematics of the cave while we were coming in." Rebecca chimed in.

"I-I can get us out." Melody spoke up, redirecting all eyes to her.

"You can!?" Sky asked.

"Yeah. My special talent is navigating. I was making an expedition from Ponpei to the Badlands when these cultists abducted me." She replied, sparing a glance to her map and compass cutie mark.

"No shit!? Melody, you are taking us straight to Ponpei once we get out of here," Rebecca said before looking up at Jason, "Guys! Melody can get us out of here!" 

Enough of Jason's hearing had returned by this point to where he could barely make out what Rebecca was saying.

"She can!?" He stopped and turned around.

"I-yes. Just give me a moment." Melody replied, bringing a faint orange light to her horn.

A few tense seconds passed in utter silence before an orange light shot out from the tip of her horn and darted forward through the hallway, taking a right further down. 

"There! That should be the fastest way out!" She said.

"Alright, double time! Move!" Jason shouted, breaking into a fast run with the rest of the group following quickly behind.

They rounded the corner, only to run into another group of cultists. They were armed with spears and other blades in their magical grasp. Immediately, Jason smacked Mike's shoulder and turned to the rest of the group.

"Cover your ears!" He shouted.

Everyone behind him hastily clamped their hooves or hands over their ears and closed their eyes just as Mike squeezed the trigger on his machine gun. Bullets darted through the air and the flashes of white light illuminated the dark corridor, casting shadows all along the walls as the cultists were cut down. The fire lasted only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity to Melody as she clenched her eyes shut.

Mike released the trigger on his gun and looked back at the group behind him. 

"Alright, let's move!" He shouted.

Jason nodded and tapped Sky on the back, getting his attention and opening his eyes.

"Keep her focused!" He shouted, pointing at the chocolate coated mare still trembling in place, "We need to get the fuck out of here now!" He ordered.

"Melody! We need you to keep that spell up!" Midnight exclaimed.

Melody meekly nodded and intensified her magic, making the line of orange light shine brighter in the air.

"Let's go!" Jason shouted.

The group continued forward at a quick pace, finding more hallways and dead ends in the labyrinth of caves. The occasional cultist appeared with a spear or sword in their magic, but were quickly dispatched by Jason and Eddie as they progressed through the maze of tunnels. Soon enough, the group found themselves ascending a steeply ramped cave, and quickly arrived at what they assumed was the next level.

Just as the group reached the plateau of the next floor, a terrible sound filled the air, and shook the very ground they stood on. Once more, an explosion akin to the sound of pure thunder split through the air, forcing everyone in the room to be jolted by the sudden force that drove cracks through the walls and split the floor in half down the middle. Red hot light shone through the cracks, and before anyone could react, another forceful blast sent lava spewing out through the cracks as the walls crumbled and massive rocks fell into the now pooling lava.

"Fucking shit!" Jason shouted as he fell on his back from the force. 

Scorching hot lava sprinkled all over the ground, forcing him to scurry back, lest he be burned alive. Tempest bit down on his collar and dragged him back to the relative safety of the doorway as the lava filled the room in front of them. Once he was out of the frying pan, she helped him to his feet, finding the rest of the group similarly huddled together in the doorway. 

"What do we do!?" Sky shouted.

"Can we go another way!?" Eddie questioned.

"The way back is blocked by more lava!" Rebecca shouted, looking fearfully at the pooling lava as it slowly flooded the ramp behind them.

"Was that the mana battery?!" Melody fearfully shouted.

"Yeah! It's setting off the volcano!" Midnight replied, her own fear finding its way into her voice.

"We need another way out of here!" Mike exclaimed, eyeing the rising lava in the room in front of them.

"Can we use the rocks to climb out?!" Jason responded.

"No chance in hell! The walls are too steep and it's at least another hundred feet up before any kind of ledge to rest on! This whole place could come down on top of us!" Eddie shook his head.

Jason frantically looked for any way for the group to escape the room, before his eyes fell on the orange beam of light trailing out of Melody's horn. He followed the stream of magic with his eyes, until it reached a smallish cutout of rock just below the ceiling of the room. 

Fuckin' hell...

He looked back down at a large pillar of rock, standing high enough to reach the ceiling, and furrowed his brow in thought. At its base, it was a solid twenty feet thick, however, there was a large crack splitting through the middle and filling with lava as the room flooded. Jason glanced up at the ceiling to find that the pillar tapered off and became much more narrow at the top. An idea popped into his mind, and he quickly turned back to Eddie.

"Ed! How much more C4 do you have!?" He shouted.

"C4!? Uh... Maybe ten pounds or so! Why!?" Eddie responded.

"Give me all your C4 and grenades! Mike, you too!" Jason shouted as he dropped his pack to the ground and ripped out three grenades.

Eddie and Mike hastily pulled out their grenades and C4 from their own packs and sat them on the ground beside Jason's. Once they were all laid out, Jason grabbed the explosives in his arms and hurriedly walked over to Sky.

"You see that pillar over there!" Jason shouted, dropping the explosives in front of the crimson pegasus.

"Y-yeah!" Sky replied, eyeing the lone pillar.

"I need you to fly these explosives into the crack at the base! Once you do that, fly back here as fast as you can!" Jason explained.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Sky whined, grabbing up the explosives with his hooves. He mushed the grenades into the C4 until they all formed one large blob of terrible explosives, and he hesitantly stepped toward the doorway once more.

"You can do this!" Jason encouraged, patting Sky's back.

Sky gave a shaky nod before turning to Midnight and wrapping her in a tight hug.

"You come back here as soon as you're done, okay!? You come back to me!" She demanded.

"I promise!" Sky replied before releasing the hug and unfurling his wings.

He gave a few good flaps to prep his wings before breaking into a gallop and leaping into the air with the explosives in his hooves. His wings flapped hard against the scalding air just above the lava, and he quickly ascended to a more comfortable height thirty feet in the air. Just as he reached the half-way point to the pillar, another explosion rippled through the mountain, causing a bubble of super-heated rock to blow out of the pool directly in his path. He deftly dodged to the side and rolled to avoid the particles of white hot magma as they soared through the air.

The room shook violently again, and more loose rocks fell from the walls, splashing into the lava and causing even more hazards for the crimson pegasus while he struggled in the heated air. Sweat poured from his body, just barely keeping his fur from being singed by the blistering heat emanating from the pool of lava beneath him, but he pressed on, determined to at least make it to the other side. 

Finally, he reached the pillar and grabbed a hold of the top of the crevice Jason had indicated. Boiling hot air singed at his coat, and burned his skin while he attempted to throw the explosives inside, forcing him to pull back and fly higher to avoid the heat.

"What's wrong!?" Jason shouted.

"It's too hot! I can't get close enough!" Sky shouted back.

"You have to! If you can't, we all die!" Jason exclaimed.

Sky glanced back and forth between the group and the crevice, finding an increasingly tight knot forming in his throat. He bit his lip and looked at Midnight one more time.

You come back to me... Her words danced through his mind, and he shakily sighed to himself.

Sky grabbed the explosives with both hooves and flapped his wings hard to gain altitude. He quickly soared up to the ceiling and looked back down at the crevice in question. It barely appeared larger than a tiny crack from his newfound elevation.

"What's he doing!?" Mike shouted.

"I don't know!" Eddie replied.

Sky took a deep breath and closed his wings, allowing gravity to take full effect, and he dropped like a stone. He angled himself downward and focused on the crack that slowly grew larger and larger with each passing microsecond. Adrenaline pumped through his veins while he readied his wings for the perfect moment. 

Three... Two... One!

Just like a parachute, Sky's wings unfurled and he quickly caught the scalding air, singeing his feathers and coat in the process. He winced from the pain of his skin quickly burning, but managed to keep his focus on the crevice quickly approaching at high speed. He waited for just the right moment before aggressively flaring his wings, bringing him to a complete stop directly in front of the large crack. The air burned his skin with each passing nanosecond, and tears quickly formed in the corners of his eyes as he felt his coat catching fire.

In one swift motion, he threw the explosives into the crack, finding his aim to be true and accurate, before powerfully flapping his wings once more and gaining altitude. Once he was out of the scalding heat once more, he banked back to the doorway and flew in for a landing. 

He came to a screeching halt against the rocks, his hooves skidding some dirt and pebbles away while he flared his wings and exhaled fully. Sweat dripped off his brow, and painful burns all along his legs and barrel quickly set in and stung. Immediately, he was grabbed by Midnight, who levitated a water-lodged rag over his charred legs and wrapped them together. The moisture immediately sunk into his blackened coat, easing the swelling and burning sensation, and making him relax slightly. Mike and Rebecca also quickly placed water-lodged rags over the other burnt sections of his barrel and forelegs.

"You did good, big guy! I'm so proud of you!" Midnight exclaimed, tears pouring out of her eyes.

Sky managed a shaky nod before resting his head against the ground and wincing slightly as Mike readjusted his rag.

"Sky!" Jason shouted, getting the crimson pegasus to open an eye and look over to him, "Thank you..." 

With that, Jason grabbed the detonator from the ground and pulled the trigger. Immediately, there was an explosion so loud that the walls shook, and rock fragments flew all over the room, sprinkling the rising lava with even more sustenance. The pillar's base was completely destroyed, leaving the towering rock structure with only the ceiling to hold it steady. Luckily, the ceiling quickly began to crack and fragment from the sudden weight, and soon enough, the pillar broke away, taking a large portion of the ceiling with it. Massive piles of rock fell from the great height, smashing into the walls and opening new rooms in the process. The pillar broke up into several segments, each one diving into the lava and leaving a long wall of rock for the group to climb.

However, what caught everyone's eyes, was not the rocks piling up in the lava in like a jungle gym, instead, it was the light that poured in from the ceiling, and spilling into the room below.

"Looks like we have our exit!" Jason cheered.

"Let's get the fuck out of here!" Eddie replied.

"Wait, we can't! Sky's hurt too badly to move right now!" Midnight shouted.

"I can get biofoam on him, but we've only got a few minutes before this lava floods our little level here!" Mike replied, glancing back at the still rising pool of lava in front and behind them.

"Eddie, can you carry him!?" Jason questioned.

"Yeah!" Eddie immediately replied.

He crouched down to Sky's level and tried to grab his foreleg to help him up, but a sudden yelp of pain from the crimson pegasus made him pause.

"Here, I can at least knock him out so he doesn't have to be in pain." Mike said, pulling his pack off and digging through it for a second.

He quickly pulled out a capped needle and removed the cap, before squeezing some of the blue material out to check for any air in the needle. 

"What is that!?" Midnight questioned.

"It's a sedative! It'll knock him out for the next few hours so we can move him without hurting him. He'll be alright, I promise!" Mike replied.

Midnight looked down at Sky as he shook slightly from the pain, before more tears split from her eyes and she gave a quick nod. Mike hastily brought the needle up to Sky's foreleg and searched for a vein. After a moment, he found a strong pulse and a vein underneath. He effortlessly slid the needle into Sky's limb, and injected the blue material inside. A few seconds passed before Sky's eyelids fluttered shut, and he stopped shaking. Midnight quickly pressed her ear against his neck, and insured his heart was still beating strong. Only when she was satisfied, did she let Eddie step in a pick his unconscious body up.

Eddie hastily shuffled Sky into a fireman's carry and made way for the exit. Once he was at the edge, he stepped out onto a large slab of rock. With the rest of the group behind him, he led the way up the piled debris and ascended the rocks. Soon enough, he reached the first of the large pillars and clambered onto it. The rest of the group followed close behind, and they continued to ascend the pillar until they arrived at the next one. 

The next pillar was laid out horizontally, having been stopped mid way down by the walls of the room. Eddie managed to climb onto it was a magical push from Midnight and Melody, before helping both mares climb up beside him. Jason, Mike, Tempest, and Rebecca clambered up after them, and the group made their way from one side of the room to the other on the horizontal pillar.

Upon reaching the next slab of rock leading to the next pillar, Eddie stepped onto the material, breaking away a section of it in the process. He hastily changed his footing, so as not to fall, before looking back at the rest of the group.

"I think this one is kinda loose. We should probably only go one at a time." He said.

"Alright, everyone stay back!" Jason ordered.

Eddie gave a quick nod before stepping back onto the ledge and quickly running up the rest of the section. Once he was at the other side, he gave a thumbs up, and Midnight hastily followed behind. Next was Rebecca, then Melody. Finally it was Mike's turn. Just as he stepped onto the slab, a boulder broke free from the ceiling, and fell straight down to the rock he was standing on. Jason glanced up just in time to see the falling rock, and sprinted forward, grabbing Mike by the collar and yanking him back onto the pillar. Just as he cleared the slab, the boulder slammed into it, breaking it apart and dislodging the pillar they stood on from its position jammed in the walls. 

For a split, horrifying second, Jason, Tempest, and Mike felt weightless as the ground beneath their feet and hooves fell from them, and they fell for a dozen feet, before the pillar found a new position, lodged in the walls. Jason slammed into the rock, forcing all the air out of his lungs, and making him gasp as he reeled from the sudden pain in his back. Tempest fared no better, hitting the pillar with enough force to crack her armor all along her collar. The force of the impact was enough to completely knock her unconscious, and her body slid toward the rounded edge of the pillar. 

Mike landed on his stomach, and felt the full force of the impact knock the wind out of his lungs while his elbow slammed into the rocks immediately after. A sharp crack and stabbing pain in his arm painted a clear image of a broken elbow, and he hissed in pain while struggling into a prone position. He fought to get some air in his lungs, before he looked up to see Tempest's unconscious form slowly slipping away toward the edge.

"Jason! Tempest!" He shouted, pointing a finger at the mulberry unicorn while he struggled to breathe.

Jason coughed as he got air into his lungs, and wearily followed Mike's finger as he pointed. His gaze slowly trailed over until he saw Tempest's body at the edge, slipping away. He forcefully rolled over and pushed himself to his feet, forcing a dead sprint from his battered body. Just as she reached the edge, he dove to the side and reached out, grabbing her by the cracked collar as she slipped off the edge. Her dead weight pulled at his body, forcing him to dig the tips of his boots into the tiny rock crevices he was laying on to keep his balance.

"Gah! Mike! Help me out man!" He shouted as her weight strained at his arm.

"I'm coming... I'm coming!" Mike breathed, getting to his feet and stumbling over. He coughed hard from the sudden intake of air, and a stabbing pain immediately shot through his lungs. He gasped for breath as the sharp pain forced him to cough again. 

Mike quickly brought his hand up to his mouth to wipe the bile away, but upon pulling his hand from his face, he saw blood coating the glove. A sickly feeling roused in his gut, and he quickly shook his head before walking over to Jason.

"Are you guys okay!?" Eddie shouted from way above.

"We're good, Ed! Get out of here! We'll meet you guys on the outside!" Jason shouted back, his voice filled with the strain of holding Tempest.

"What!? We're not leaving you!" Eddie shouted.

"Ed, for once in your life just do what I fucking say and get the fuck out of here!" Jason vehemently shouted back.

"Fucking... You'd better meet us on the outside!" Eddie replied before disappearing with the rest of the group with him.

"Sarge..." *cough* *cough*" I don't... I think I'm fucked up..." Mike admitted, stepping over to Jason.

"Just... help me get her up and then we'll fix you!" Jason grunted.

Mike leaned over to help, but just as he reached down to grab the mulberry unicorn, another boulder fell from the ceiling, slamming into the pillar and jolting Mike off his feet. He fell forwards and gasped as he completely lost his footing. Jason immediately shot his free hand forward and grabbed Mike's forearm, bringing him to an immediate stop with a sickening pop.

"ARGGH!" Jason shouted as his shoulder dislocated and his face distorted into a grimace of pain.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!" He cried, tears forming in his vision as the sickening pain stabbed at his shoulder.

Mike grunted in pain as his weight was held up by nothing more than Jason's hand. He felt the strain on his own arm causing a sharp pain to form in his shoulder, but he couldn't bring himself to complain about it as he looked up at Jason's pained grimace.

For a few horrible seconds, Jason held the two of them there, one shoulder dislocated, and the other straining with each passing second. He fought to pull Tempest back up, but the combined weight of both her and Mike was making him unbalanced, almost pulling him off the edge as well.

"Mike... you gotta... pull yourself up, man!" Jason grunted through the pain.

"I can't..." Mike coughed, "My elbow's broke..." He trailed off, the severity of the situation donning on him fully.

Mike glanced over to Tempest to find her unconscious form still being held by Jason's other arm. His grip on her was beginning to loosen, and it was only a matter of time before he wouldn't be able to hold her weight anymore. 

Mike slowly looked back up to Jason and gave him a solemn nod.

"You gotta drop me, boss." He said, almost a whisper.

"What the fuck... are you... talking about!?" Jason grunted, gritting his teeth in pain.

"Sarge... You can't hold me... you're losing your grip on her... I'm fucked anyways... You gotta drop me." Mike replied.

"I'm not... dropping anyone... Come on, man! Pull yourself up! Come on!" Jason cried.

"Jason..." Mike coughed up more blood, "I'm fucked man... You can still save her... Besides... somebody's gotta meet Johnny at the bar." He said, his eyes softening some.

Jason, grunted in pain as tears slowly streamed from his eyes.

"I'm... not... losing anyone else..." He whispered through grit teeth.

"It's not your call... See you on the other side, boss." Mike replied, releasing his grip completely.

"Mike! MIKE! STOP! DON'T YOU FUCKING LET GO!" Jason cried.

Jason's grip slipped up Mike's forearm down to his hand, and then to just his fingers. 

"MIKE!" 

Jason's grip failed, and Mike fell from view.
> Chapter 15: Picking Up the Pieces
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason stared down at the red hot lava below for several seconds in silence. Even with the throbbing pain in his dislocated arm stabbing at him with each passing second, he could only look down in disbelief. Another explosion rocked the core of the mountain, and shook the already unsteady platform he laid on, shaking him along with it. Still, he was frozen in place, and the tears streaking down his face fell to the boiling inferno below without a word.

Yet another explosion shook the pillar, jolting him up before he slammed back down against the rock, nearly losing his grip on Tempest's collar in the process. He slowly gazed over at the still unconscious unicorn and paused. There was a new cut on her temple, and the blood soaking into her coat made a pit form in his stomach, and a realization sparked in his mind.

I am not losing you too...

Finding newfound purpose, and coming back to his senses, Jason glanced around the room once more. The walls were caving in all around, opening up more pathways for him to escape to the outside world. Once he located the closest exit, he looked back down at Tempest and tried with all his might to pull her up. He grunted in exertion, but it was to no avail. The mare was simply too heavy with her armor on and his free arm unable to assist. Jason frantically looked for another option while the strain turned his fingers white, and the burning sensation crawled up his wrist and into his forearm.

His eyes darted back and forth, but he could find nothing to help him move her. He looked down once more to find the pooling lava still rising to meet him. He quickened his breathing and steeled himself for another attempt, before rolling over slightly onto his side and using as much of his good shoulder as possible to lift the mulberry unicorn away from danger. The strain turned his vision white, and he gasped as the pain snapped through his forearm over and over. Slowly, Tempest's body was pulled up from the danger until she was just a hair below Jason's chest. Biting back the pain that stabbed back in his dislocated shoulder, he reached for her collar with the disabled extremity and grabbed a hold. Once he had a hold of her with two hands, he continued to roll away from the edge, dragging her up to the side in the process. 

Her shoulders eventually passed the ledge and Jason cried out in pain and exhaustion as he completed the roll, dragging her fully back onto the ledge in the process. He panted hard for breath, nearly hyperventilating from the sheer exhaustion of the whole affair, before sitting up with a pained groan. He reached over with his good arm and grabbed Tempest by the collar once more, dragging her away from the edge completely and collapsing to the ground. Another deafening explosion sent cracks spider-webbing up the rock walls and driving another pit into his stomach. 

He exhaled sharply before forcing himself back up to his feet and grabbing the unconscious mare with his good arm. He finagled with her lifeless body for a few moments before he was able to get his head under her barrel and lift most of her weight onto his shoulders. He cried out in pain as he took her weight on his disabled shoulder, but continued on regardless. Finally, once he was ready, he lifted her into a fireman's carry and found his footing.

He turned around to face the only exit still somewhat level with his pillar before making the painful walk over to the other side of the rockface. Each step burned with the agony of her dead weight laid out on his dislocated shoulder, and he grunted from the exertion several times before making it to the other side. 

However, just as he reached the far end, more rocks fell from the ceiling, falling onto the pillar and dislodging it from it's position and forcing Jason off his feet once more. He cried out in pain as he was slammed onto his back again, with Tempest falling from his grasp and sprawling out onto the pillar once more. With tears clouding his vision, Jason pulled himself to his feet and walked over to her unconscious form. He grabbed her foreleg with his good arm and draped it over his neck before lifting her up and bringing his head under her barrel. Once more, his bad shoulder protested painfully at taking her dead weight, but he grit his teeth through the pain and forced her up onto the shoulder in question. 

With her weight once more on his shoulders, Jason pushed himself to his feet and turned to the rockface to find that the pillar had fallen another ten feet. He took several heavy breaths before walking to the edge and grabbing a hold of the rocks jutting out the side with his good arm. With his weight shifted the way it was now, all of Tempest's weight came to a rest on his dislocated shoulder, making Jason wince and grit his teeth even harder from the pain. He slowly found a solid hold and grabbed it with his good arm, before taking the nearest footholds and beginning the short climb. 

With each agonizing step up, more of Tempest's weight shifted around on his bad shoulder, forcing pained tears to steadily stream from Jason's eyes. He forced himself through the pain and continued to climb, knowing full well that each step up would bring even more pain with it. Still, he pressed on, each step taking a monumentous amount of effort that left him shaking as he reached the next handhold. Somehow, he managed to climb the ten feet without dropping the mulberry unicorn from his hold, and grab hold of the last handhold leading onto the next ledge. 

He put forth all of his strength and effort into one more strong pull, while pushing up as hard as he could with his feet. In one swift motion, he propelled himself upwards just enough to get his torso and Tempest onto the ledge, away from the immediate danger. He panted heavily for breath for a few minutes while Tempest's weight continued to press down on his bad shoulder, making him wince with each exhale. Eventually, Jason pulled himself up fully from the ledge and got back onto his feet with the unconscious mare still resting on his shoulder. 

Just as he was about to start walking away, another terrible sound reached his ears, and Jason slowly turned around to see the pool of lava as a final, massive explosion ripped through the material and sent a geyser of super heated rock toward the ceiling. The walls around him shook and cracked while the red hot material suddenly flooded the room, pooling higher a hundred times faster than before. Jason only blinked in awe before turning on his heels and breaking into a painful jog with Tempest's weight jostling about on his shoulders. 

He panted for breath as his already exhausted body pushed harder with the extra weight on top, and with each step forward, he could hear more and more cracks, and the sizzling of hot lava as it reached his level. He turned around while maintaining his jogging pace, only to see a tidal wave of molten rock and collapsing walls following behind him. He immediately turned around and increased his pace to a run. Each step sent a jolt of pain through his shoulder and the offending limb quickly throbbed from the pain. Still, he pushed forward, the red hot material following right behind. 

Jason ran through the hallways of the collapsing mountain and frantically looked for something, anything that might indicate a way out. He found doorway after doorway that all appeared to reach dead ends, before finally arriving at a doorway that lead upstairs with a large ramp. He hastily turned into the hallway and glanced back at the super-heated magma following him. He had less than twenty feet of room to spare, and the heat wave from the material immediately reached his face, making him gasp in surprise. 

Jason broke into a dead sprint up the ramp, his legs burning from the new exertion, and his lungs straining to find enough air to comply with his new demands. His shoulder throbbed incessantly, yet he pushed on, giving his all to reach the top of the hallway at the very least. Still, the magma flowed after him at a frightening pace, quickly flooding the bottom of the room and chasing after him with only a spare few feet of breathing room. Jason's heart pounded away in his chest as the sheer exertion burned all over his body. The feeling in his lungs quickly grew to an inferno of searing pain, and the taste of iron filled his mouth while he still pushed even harder.

At the top of the long hallway, a faint light shone through, and it took all of the power in Jason's battered body to push through until he reached the end of the hallway and found the doorway at the other side. White light filtered in to the immediate right, and he hastily banked the turn, nearly slipping in the process before he saw it. Daylight. With his lungs on fire, his legs cramping and straining to keep up, and his shoulder throbbing as if he'd been stabbed, Jason sprinted even harder into the light, and jumped into the abyss.

Immediately, freezing cold air blasted his face, and sent a chill up his spine as he soared through the air into the snowy landscape. The thirty foot fall caught him completely by surprise, and he gasped as he fell for a full second before slamming into the snow and tumbling down the side of the mountain, losing his grip on Tempest in the process. 

Over and over he flipped, rolled, and cartwheeled through the ice cold material, losing his bearings and sense of direction the whole way. Fifty, sixty, seventy feet he tumbled, before finally coming to a rest at the base of an icy ledge. He struggled for breath in his newfound environment while the now unbearable pain in his shoulder mercilessly throbbed its protest at such rough treatment. 

Jason grunted in pain while reeling from the dizzying tumble down the side of the mountain. It took several minutes before he had enough of his senses back to roll over and push himself to his knees in the snow. Immediately, he glanced back and forth for the mulberry unicorn, but could find nothing. His heart beat faster in his chest while he looked about for her in the snow. Left and right, back and forth he searched, but he could find no sign of the unconscious mare in the white snow, causing a panic to rise in his chest. 

Just as he rose to his feet and started moving back up the mountain to look for her, the mountain shook, nearly knocking him over in the process. He glanced up to see red hot lava exploding out of the top of the volcano and spilling all over the side of the mountain in a terrifying display of raw power. Super-heated magma and rocks splattered all along the snowy embankment, nearly hitting Jason in the process. He stumbled his way up the mountain, deftly dodging any material that came his way as best as he could, before a sight caught his eye. A mulberry foreleg stuck out of the snow just a few dozen feet in front of him, almost as if a cry for help took his attention, and he immediately disregarded the incoming lava. 

Jason pushed more power into his legs and pushed up the mountain. The strain after having just sprinted several hundred meters slowed his progress some, but quick enough he reached out and grabbed the foreleg in question. He pulled until her upper half was freed from the snow, before again bringing her into a fireman's carry and turning to move back down the mountain. Each step through the knee deep snow sapped at his energy, even going downhill, but he progressed until he was out of the immediate danger from the volcanic eruption. 

Jason looked back at the catastrophic display of nature in front of him before sadly shaking his head and making his way along the side of the mountain with Tempest still on his shoulders. For a while, he continued onward, his eyes scanning for any sign of the rest of the group, before the pain in his shoulder became too much to bear, and he paused to shuffle Tempest's weight more to his other shoulder. He quickly shifted his priorities to finding shelter from the freezing cold slowly sapping at his strength, and making him shiver.  His gaze lingered on the far side of the mountain for several seconds before a small cave several hundred feet away caught his eyes, and he trudged through the snow to get to it.

The deep snow sapped at his strength even more, and within a few minutes, he was panting heavily from the combined exertion of moving through the snow and carrying Tempest's weight. For a few minutes, he struggled against the snow, before finally arriving at the cave in question and walking inside. The ceiling was just high enough to where he could still stand upright with Tempest on his shoulders, and the walls were wide enough for them both to lay flat on the ground comfortably. 

With a position to rest finally found, Jason slowly unloaded Tempest from his shoulders and set her on the ground. He immediately placed two fingers against her jugular, feeling for a pulse. After a moment, he felt her weak pulse against his index finger and gave a thankful sigh. He glanced up at her temple to find that the blood had matted her fur and was slowly drying. With his only good arm, he unslung his pack and placed it on the ground, before digging through it for the rest of his biofoam. Upon finding the applicator, he unscrewed the cap with his thumb and index finger before wiping away what blood he could from her face and applying a fair amount to the cut on her temple.

Once the biofoam was applied, Jason pulled out some bandages and somewhat awkwardly wrapped them around Tempest's head with just one arm. After a few minutes, he had a wrap he was satisfied with that still gave the mulberry unicorn room under the bandages to see. With his work completed, Jason collapsed against the wall and slid down into a sitting position  on the ground. Cold air breezed through the cave and sent another chill down his spine, making him wince from the frigid air. He looked out at the angry clouds of the incoming snowstorm and shook his head.

Gonna be a long, cold night...

Jason gazed down at the unconscious mare in front of him and sighed quietly to himself as her body started shivering from the cold.

"Please be okay... Just... please..." He whispered as he felt a particularly cold breeze flood the cave and send a wave of icy pricks across his body.

Jason shivered in his position huddled up against the wall. He looked back outside to see dark skies, and the frigid snowstorm pelting the world with white. Another shiver crept down his body, sending angry chills down his dislocated shoulder and making the nerves cry out in protest. He cursed under his breath from the pain before slowly forcing himself to his feet and stumbling over to Tempest. With a pained grunt, he dug through his pack with his good arm for his sleeping bag. Upon finding the tightly wrapped bag, he unfurled it and opened it up fully beside the mulberry unicorn. 

The sleeping bag was just large enough for him to fit inside snugly, and with only a moment of hesitation, he unzipped the bag. He gingerly grabbed Tempest's collar and dragged her into the sleeping bag before zipping it back up enough until just her muzzle stuck out of the dark brown material. He dug through his pack once more and found the blanket from the previous few nights. With a quiet sigh of acceptance, he laid down against the wall and draped the blanket over his body. It did almost nothing to make him warmer.





Eddie laid Sky down on his side underneath a large outcropping of rock slabs. Midnight laid down beside him and rested her head on his wither. Rebecca and Melody sat down beside the couple and caught their breath while the erupting volcano spewed lava and debris that flew hundreds of feet over their heads and into the snow below. With the group now settled in place, Eddie looked over their shoddy situation and took stock of their surroundings.

Sky was still unconscious, and most likely would be for the next several hours at least. On top of that, his burns were severe enough that they'd require the rest of his biofoam, and Rebecca only had a small personal medi-gel packet for herself, leaving them with no more medical equipment if someone else were to be wounded again. Melody was in good shape as far as her body was concerned, however she was shaking, and most likely extremely traumatized from the past day or so. Lastly, Midnight was desperately clinging to Sky as if he was going to wake up at any moment, and Eddie's heart ached at seeing her so fearfully monitoring her husband.

Seeing no other options available at the moment, Eddie opened up his pack and took his biofoam canister out.

"Here, let me treat his burns. When he wakes up, he'll be good as new." He said, giving a compassionate smile to the graphite mare.

"T-thank you... Please just be gentle with him..." Midnight replied, having to pry herself away from the crimson pegasus.

"I will. Promise." Eddie replied.

He leaned down and slowly unwrapped the wet rags from Sky's legs and barrel. Once they were all removed, and the burnt, blistered skin was exposed to the elements, Eddie quickly applied the biofoam. It took several minutes, but eventually, every burnt section on Sky's body was covered in a layer of white foam. Next, Eddie took out the remainder of his bandages and wrapped them around Sky's legs and barrel, effectively wrapping him from head to hoof. Once the work was done, he leaned back and allowed Midnight to return to her place, laying against her husband and holding his head to her chest.

Eddie allowed a soft smile to form on his lips at the scene before turning to look at the outside world and frowning.

"Come on, Jay... Where the hell are you?" He muttered, just quiet enough for no one else to hear him.

Rebecca looked out at the frigid outside world for a few minutes before frowning and walking back over to Eddie.

"If they're out there, they're gonna need shelter. It can't be more than ten degrees out, and that's with the sun up. The storm coming in is only going to make it a hundred times worse." Rebecca asserted.

"They're out there. Don't worry. Jason knows what he's doing. Mike too. Hell, even Tempest knows what she's doing. If anyone can hack it out there, it's the three of them." Eddie replied, a measure of confidence in his voice as he surveyed the deteriorating landscape outside.

"I hope you're right... How are we gonna find them in this soup?" Rebecca pressed.

"The way I see it... We have two options. We either stay on this mountain and waste what little resources we have, not to mention risking Sky's life... Even with the biofoam, he's in bad shape. We need to get him to a town where he can properly rest." Eddie mused.

"...And the second option?" Rebecca questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"We go to Ponpei and wait for them there." Eddie replied.

"We can't just leave them out here." 

"I don't want to leave anyone anywhere... but like I said, Sky needs medical attention. Biofoam is nice and dandy, but those burns are third degree... Poor guy pretty much set himself on fire to get us out of there," Eddie said, sparing a sad glance at the crimson pegasus, "As much as I don't want to leave Jason and the rest of them out here... I know they can make it to the town... And we all owe it to Sky to get him to a hospital that can really deal with his injuries. We'd all be dead right now if it wasn't for him." 

Rebecca sighed.

"So... what? Do we just leave when the storm's over?" She asked.

"For now, that's probably the best course of action. I'm not trying to walk through that shit when I can't even see ten feet in front of my face." Eddie replied.

"Well... this isn't exactly the best shelter in the world." Rebecca said, eyeing the overhang above her with a frown.

"We have a tent between the five of us. If we all share it, we'll be warm for the night. We just need to set it up." Eddie explained.

"Alright. Let's get this thing set up." Rebecca replied.

Eddie turned to Midnight and Melody before unslinging his pack and digging for the stakes for the tent.

"Hey, Midnight, can you help us set up a tent? Once it's up, we'll get him inside and share it so that everyone stays warm tonight." Eddie asked.

"Sure. I can-" Midnight began, before Melody spoke up.

"I can do it. You just worry about your husband." She said, giving Midnight a compassionate smile.

"T-thank you." Midnight gratefully replied before returning her attention to Sky.

"Alright, here, grab the tarp and help us set the stakes." Eddie said.


.

.

.

.

.


Tempest awoke with a pained groan. A throbbing migraine danced about in her head, making the process of simply opening her eyes seem like a monumentous feat.  At first, she could see nothing, but after shaking her head to the side a few times to free herself of the sleeping bag's material, her head popped free of the fabric. Slowly, the dark cave revealed itself to her bloodshot eyes, and with deliberate, sluggish movements, she turned her head enough to look around at her surroundings more clearly. Immediately, she saw the dark clouds of the outside world, and the angry snow as it fluttered about through the air.

She glanced down at the sleeping bag and tilted her head to the side.

What the?

Tempest's ears flicked back on instinct, alerting her to a quiet sound coming from behind. She turned around as quickly as she could without making her migraine any worse, and gasped as her eyes fell on Jason's shivering form in the corner. The blanket he was covered with wrapped around his legs and torso tightly, although his arms hung limply to his side. His eyes were closed, and his breath came out in shallow wispy clouds that dissipated within a few inches of his face. 

Tempest pushed herself to her hooves and unzipped the sleeping bag enough to step free. The harsh cold instantly stung at her skin through her coat and bodysuit, forcing a sharp gasp to escape her lips and drive a hard shiver through her body. She shakily walked over to Jason and tried to shake him awake with a hoof. He awoke with a start, and seemed to shiver even harder as he came to.

"Huh, w-what?" He gasped, looking around quickly.

"Jason, what happened? You're freezing!" Tempest said, the concern in her voice drowning out the confusion at the current situation.

"I... y-y-you got... knocked o-out i-i-in the v-volcano..." Jason stammered in the cold.

Tempest looked back at the sleeping bag and frowned.

"Alright, you need to warm up. Come on, let's get you in the sleeping bag." She said, grabbing his right arm and and attempting to help him to his feet.

"Gahh!" Jason cried out from the pain, making Tempest immediately let go.

"What!? What's wrong?" She questioned, fearfully glancing down at his arm.

"M-my s-s-shoulder... f-f-fucked u-up." Jason tried to explain.

Tempest looked more carefully at the arm in question to find that it did infact hang just a few inches lower than his other arm. 

"It looks dislocated... Alright, here, let me help you into the sleeping bag, and when you warm up, maybe we can do something about it." She said, this time grabbing his good arm and pulling.

Jason slowly got to his feet and stumbled over to the sleeping bag. With Tempest's help, he managed to crawl inside and zip it up until it covered his entire body, save for his head. The mulberry unicorn's body warmth still clung to the fabric of the bag, instantly warming Jason's cold extremities and forcing a relieved sigh from his lips. 

"Better?" Tempest smugly asked.

"B-better." Jason replied.

"Now, Jason... What happened?" She pressed, laying down beside him.

"W-when we were leaving the volcano, w-we fell. You, me, and Mike all f-fell. You were knocked out and Mike broke his elbow... I... I almost lost you..." As Jason spoke, a frown slowly formed on Tempest's face, and she unconsciously glanced around the cave for any signs of the rest of the group.

"Y-you were about to fall... but I caught you... then... M-Mike fell... I caught him too... but I fucked up my s-shoulder... He... He..." Jason trailed off, a sad frown forming on his face.

"Jason..."

"He let go... He let go and now he's gone..." Jason finished, blinking back the beginnings of several tears.

Tempest felt a weight hit her right in the stomach, and she shakily exhaled from the force of the mental impact.

"No..." She whispered.

"I... I barely managed to carry you out of there... When... when I saw how bad you hit your head... I thought I was gonna lose you too..." Jason explained, feeling his chest tighten.

Tempest leaned down and rested her head on Jason's chest while hugging him with her forelegs.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered.

"It's not your fault... It's nobody's fault." Jason admitted, feeling a tender warmth from Tempest's body heat.

"I was nothing but dead weight back there..." She sadly protested, "If I hadn't been unconscious... then... then Mike would still be here..." She closed her eyes and sulked.

Jason moved his good arm to unzip the sleeping bag enough to reach out and grab Tempest by the wither. She looked down at his arm in shock before he pulled her a little closer and into a one armed hug. After a moment of hesitation, she gratefully accepted the embrace, and buried her muzzle into his neck. 

"What happened up there... That was not your fault. The whole situation was fucked. You do not blame yourself for what happened up there, you hear me?" Jason firmly declared, squeezing her tightly against his chest.

Tempest hesitantly nodded in his embrace before he released her and she pulled back far enough to properly see his face once more.

"I just... I just wish I could have done something..." She admitted.

Jason wearily sighed before replying, "Me too..." He said, almost a whisper.

"How do you do it?" Tempest asked, her eyes glued to the floor.

"Do what?" Jason asked.

"Just... keep on going. In that cave, you killed those cultists without a second thought... I... I could never do that... and losing Mike... How do you keep going?" She asked, her eyes finally rolling up to meet his.

Jason sighed quietly, "I have second thoughts about everything, Tempest... Those cultists... If we didn't intervene, they would have killed Melody... I don't like killing... I never have... but sometimes... Sometimes you have to do horrible things so that good people don't get hurt..." He explained.

Tempest was silent for several minutes as she mulled over his words. Eventually, she looked around the room once more and bit her lip.

"What about everyone else? Sky, Midnight, Eddie, Rebecca, and Melody?" She asked.

"...I don't know... I got us to shelter as fast as I could. I don't know where anyone else is." Jason admitted after some time.

"We have to find them." She replied.

"I know. If I know him as well as I think I do, then Ed's probably gonna head to Ponpei. I think getting there is gonna be our best shot." Jason mused.

"How are we going to get all the way to Ponpei? And what if they're out there looking for us, or worse, they're hurt and still on the mountain?" Tempest pressed.

"They got out. Ed got them out. I know he did." Jason replied.

"How do you know that?" Tempest questioned.

"Because I have to believe that... I already lost one friend today... I can't lose any more." Jason sadly admitted, his gaze dropping from the mulberry unicorn still laying on top of him.

Tempest frowned and looked down at Jason. She bit her lip in thought for a moment before leaning down and nuzzling her cheek against his.

"I'm sorry... If you're sure that they're going to head to Ponpei... then how are we going to get there?" Tempest said after pulling away slightly.

"Don't be... You're just trying to take care of the group, I can't fault you for that. As for getting us to Ponpei... I'm still working on that... First things first, I need you to help me pop this shoulder back into place." Jason responded, cupping her cheek with his good hand and gently stroking her soft fur.

"Jason... I don't think I should... I don't really know how to do that to a human... and if it's anything at all like a pony... it'd be better to wait until we get to Ponpei where a doctor can properly help you." Tempest reasoned, tilting her head to the side.

"Tempest, I'm gonna be completely honest with you right now," Jason said, getting an understanding nod from the mulberry mare, "I'm in a lot of pain right now... I really need this shoulder fixed and if I wait too much longer, I think I might start to lose it." He admitted.

"What if I just make it worse?" Tempest questioned, uneasily eyeing the shoulder.

"I trust you." Jason replied.

Tempest felt a small bud of warmth flicker to life in her chest, and although she still had several doubts in her mind, she slowly nodded and pulled herself off of Jason's body. Once she was clear, he sat upright and pulled his torso out of the sleeping bag, once more exposing himself to the chill of the outside air.

"Jesus... How are you not freezing in this shit?" He asked as he removed the shoulder armor with his good arm.

"Fur helps, but I'm still cold. Just not as cold as you." Tempest replied, a small bit of smugness filling her voice.

"Right, well... let's do this then." Jason said, twisting his torso to give her the best angle.

Tempest sat down on her haunches beside him and gingerly grabbed his arm with her forelegs. She lifted the extremity until she felt the ball of his humerus tap against the pocket of his shoulder. Jason instantly winced from the pain, and she froze in place.

"Are you okay?" She asked, eyeing him with concern.

"Y-yeah... Let's just... Just do it." Jason replied, steeling himself for the inevitable pain he was about to endure.

"Okay... I think I have it lined up right... I feel the pocket of your shoulder..." Tempest hesitantly continued, preparing to shove the joint back into place, "You're sure about this? We can still stop and have an actual doctor do this once we get to Ponpei." She asked.

"Just do it." Jason firmly replied.

Tempest bit her lip, and albeit with some more hesitation, she shoved the bone back into its socket. A painful pop sounded from the shoulder, and Jason immediately grunted in pain. He grit his teeth as the searing agony wracked at his shoulder over and over for several seconds, before finally slowing and dissipating. He sighed out in relief before working the shoulder over a few times to test for any residual pain or issues.

The shoulder rolled and moved just like before, and Jason turned to Tempest to give a grateful smile. 

"Thank you." He said, enough relief in his voice to warm the two of them in the cold, dark cave.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, stepping closer to inspect the still swollen joint.

"Yeah. All thanks to you." Jason replied, gently brushing his hand against her neck and tracing up to her cheek with his fingers.

Tempest leaned into the affection and took another step forward, bringing her muzzle just a few inches away from his face while she closed her eyes in relief.

"I'm just glad you're okay." She whispered.

"Me too. I was really worried about you back there..." Jason trailed off, his fingers still stroking at Tempest's cheek.  

Tempest breathed out a quiet sigh from the soft feeling of Jason's fingers through her coat, and for a short time, that gentle feeling was all she cared about. She blissfully relaxed into the feeling for longer than she realized before she felt her forehead gently come to a rest against his. Her eyes fluttered open to see two pools of emerald green softly looking back at her, and once again her defenses melted at those piercing green eyes. 

She pulled back only far enough to bring her lips to his in a gentle, yet desperate kiss. Jason warmly returned the gesture, and softly kissed her back. It was a moderate, chaste kiss, to be sure, but one that warmed both of them in the cold and sent a small chorus of fluttering butterflies through their chests. As fast as it started, it was over, and they pulled just an inch away from each other. Jason quietly brought his forehead against hers once more in the softest of ways, earning a pleasant sigh from the mulberry mare as she reciprocated. 

"No matter what happens from here on out... You stay with me, okay?" Jason whispered.

"Only if you do the same." She whispered back.

Jason kissed her muzzle and stroked her cheek once more, "Promise."
> Chapter 16: Cold
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Next Day


Sky cringed slightly while Midnight checked his bandages. The early morning sunlight shone over the arctic white wasteland in front of them, and bathed them in a warm shade of orange while she worked. 

The biofoam had done wonders to heal and prevent infection all over Sky's body, however, nearly a full day after it was applied, the foam did little in the way of numbing the pain anymore. It was especially apparent when Midnight pulled the bandages off to inspect the wounds, and ice cold air made contact with the tender flesh.

"Fuck..." Sky muttered through gritted teeth.

"I know, big guy. I know. Just bear with me here for a few minutes... It's actually amazing how much that foam healed your burns. These are all still pretty serious, but even a small hospital with a decent doctor could use a few spells to fix the rest of this right up, and you probably won't even get any scars from it." Midnight replied, giving a supportive smile.

"Y-yeah... Just... please be careful... It's... still really painful." Sky responded, suppressing a pained groan as Midnight checked more bandages.

"I'm trying to be as careful as possible. Trust me, I don't want me to hurt you either." Midnight gave him a playful grin and continued her work.

A few minutes later, Eddie walked over to the two ponies and tapped Midnight on the wither.

"How much longer do you think you guys are gonna be? We need to get moving soon. It's twenty four miles to Ponpei, and if we keep a decent pace, we can be there before sunset." He explained.

"Just a minute. I'm almost done." Midnight replied.

Eddie gave a small nod before looking over to Sky, "How're you doing?"

Sky hissed in pain as Midnight adjusted the last bandage, "Oh, you know... everything hurts real bad... and the cold isn't helping." He grumbled.

"I hear you. Don't worry man, we'll get you to Ponpei, and the doctors there will fix you right up." Eddie said, giving an encouraging smile.

"I don't think I can really walk though..." Sky muttered, sadly glancing down at his bandaged forelegs.

"You don't have to walk. I can carry you. Don't sweat it." Eddie dismissed.

"Won't that be kinda hard for you? It's twenty four miles." Midnight questioned.

"I've had to carry a lot of weight over really, really long distances before. It's gonna suck, no doubt, but I'm not stopping until we get to Ponpei. Once we get there, I'll drop you guys off, and then go back for Jay, Mike, and Tempest." Eddie declared, slinging his pack in the process.

"Eddie... you can't run yourself ragged like that. We'll get the rest of the group back, but you need to rest at some point." Midnight admonished.

"I'll rest when everyone's safe. I'm not leaving my friends to die out here, no matter how tired I am." Eddie replied.

"I think after carrying my ass for twenty four miles, you'll change your tune." Sky shook his head.

"Here's hoping I won't. Now, come on, let's get moving." Eddie said as he leaned down to pick Sky up. 

"Hold on. Here, I can make this work so you don't hurt him." Midnight spoke up, before igniting her horn.

A bright blue aura wrapped itself around Sky's torso and gently lifted him into the air. With an impressed shrug, Eddie crouched under the stallion and took his weight on his shoulders. 

"Do you have him?" Midnight asked.

"I got him. You can drop the spell." Eddie replied.

Midnight cut off the spell and allowed all of Sky's weight to come down on Eddie's shoulders. He took a moment to shuffle the weight around to make it more comfortable, before giving a small shrug.

"Eh, you're not that heavy. What, maybe a hundred pounds?" Eddie joked.

"Try one forty. I used to weigh damn near two hundred, but these hollow bones and smaller size took fifty pounds off." Sky chuckled.

"Well, let's get moving then. The less time I have to carry you, the easier this will be," Eddie replied before looking over to Midnight, "You ready?" 

"Just a sec." Midnight replied before digging through her saddlebags. 

She pulled out two beanies and scarves before levitating one of each over and onto Sky. Once they were situated, she adorned her beanie and scarf, and gave a determined smile.

"Alright, ready." She said.

Eddie chuckled for a moment.

"Good god you're adorable," He muttered before looking up at Sky, "I see why you like her."

"She thinks of everything." Sky replied, relishing in the warmth of his beanie and scarf.

"Heh, looks like it. Alright, let's go. Rebecca! Melody! You both good to go!?" Eddie called.

"Yeah! Just finished putting the tent away!" Rebecca called back. 

She and Melody quickly walked over to Eddie, Sky, and Midnight after packing the last of their things into Rebecca's pack.

"Well well, doesn't somebody look even more adorable than before." Rebecca teased the crimson pegasus.

"Rebecca, I swear to god if you try to squeeze the shit out of me while I have these burns all over my body, I will let Midnight blast you with every ounce of magic in her body." Sky replied, leaning away from her slightly.

"Woah, jeez. Relax, I would never do that when you're all fucked up." Rebecca defensively replied. There was a bit of undeniable hurt in her voice that made Sky purse his lips.

After a moment to study her face, and only seeing a sad frown, Sky dejectedly sighed.

"I'm sorry... I'm just in a lot of pain right now." 

"It's okay." Rebecca gave a half hearted smile.

"I think you owe her one good squeeze once you're feeling better, don'tcha think?" Eddie reasoned.

"Ugh... fine. You can have one good hug once I'm better... Again, sorry." Sky sighed, wilting slightly in the process.

Rebeca perked up immediately, "Yay!" 

"A-anyways, we should get moving now. Ponpei is still a long ways away." Melody spoke up, directing all eyes to her.

"Right. Let's go people. We've got a lot of ground to cover." Eddie announced, taking the first step off of the mountain and into the frozen wasteland below.





Jason and Tempest walked through the deep snow as more of the white flakes fell from the sky at a leisurely pace. Jason shivered under the blanket he'd wrapped around his body while Tempest trekked through his footprints behind. The icy cold chilled their bones and made each step further into the chilled world feel like an exercise in futility. A sharp breeze cut right through their clothes and sent freezing pricks of cold all through their bodies. 

Jason's feet were almost numb from the cold, and he struggled in vain, to keep some semblance of warmth in his hands while they slowly froze as well. Each step felt like a hundred needles stabbed at his toes, and below that, was a deeper, more dull, throbbing pain that made him wince with each passing second. 

Behind him, Tempest's hooves dug deep into the snow, sending a chill up her forelegs. She only had a beanie and her armor to keep her warm against the cold, but she persisted on. Her fur was covered in a thin layer of ice and snow from her constant exposure to the elements, but she managed to keep her complaints to herself. One look at Jason's exhausted gait, and she could tell that he was feeling worse than she was.

For a long time, they trekked onward. The white snow fell onto the white world around them, and everything blurred together in a mess of icy snow that made it impossible to discern which way was which. Jason paused briefly to check his compass and sighed. The mist from his breath quickly dissipated into the sky, before he turned around to Tempest.

"Alright... If this thing is still pointing North... Then we're still going the right way." Jason managed through the cold.

"Ponpei was just Northeast of that mountain... Even if we just go East, we'll get to the coast soon enough... From there, we can just follow the coast up to the town." Tempest replied, catching her breath.

"Right... You ready?" Jason asked as a particularly harsh gust of wind almost knocked him off balance.

"Y-yeah... Let's go." Tempest replied.

Jason turned around and led the way forward into the freezing wasteland. Tempest quickly followed after him, and soon enough they were slowly trekking through waste-deep snow. Tempest fell in line behind Jason's trail as he bore a path through the snow with his body. They continued on like this for several more hours.


.

.

.

.

.



Twelve hours later


Eddie trudged through the deep snow with Sky on his shoulders. The ice cold wind battered at his tired body, but he pressed forward through the pain with a grimace on his face. Behind him, Rebecca, Midnight, and Melody also waded their way through the deep snow in similar states of pain from the arctic chill - The ponies of the group especially, due to the fact that the snow came all the way up to their necks and frigid moisture soaked into their coats, making them feel even colder. 

"How much further?" Rebecca asked, turning to Melody.

"It should only be a few more miles. Straight ahead." Melody replied, her horn glowing orange.

"We've been walking in this cold for hours. We're gonna need to stop to rest pretty soon." Midnight chimed in.

"It's getting dark out. If we stop now, we might end up stuck out here for the night. Even sharing a tent, it'll be cold as all hell." Eddie reasoned.

"Are you sure you can keep going with Sky on your back for the rest of the way?" Rebecca asked with concern in her voice.

"Heh, I had to walk thirty six miles with this much weight back when I tried out for Recon. Trust me, I can make it." Eddie replied.

"Jesus... You guys are insane." Sky muttered from his position on Eddie's shoulders.

"Eh, you get used to it." Rebecca shrugged.

"Right, well, let's keep moving then." Midnight spoke up.

"Right."

The group proceeded forward into the frigid world around them. The sound of their boots and hooves on the deep snow made loud crunchy sounds as it was compacted under them. Midnight and Melody shivered from the cold sinking through their coats and sapping away at their bodyheat with each passing minute while Rebecca cupped her hands together and tried to blow warm air into them. Eddie struggled through the deep snow as he led the way, a thin sheen of sweat glistening off his forehead while he pushed on. On top of him, Sky struggled to keep any semblance of warmth due to his higher elevation than the rest of the group. His thicker fur helped greatly, however even with that advantage, he was slowly feeling the effects of the cold, particularly on his forelegs and hooves.

"So this town, Ponpei... It's got a port, right?" Rebecca asked, looking to Melody.

"Yes. We have a lot of sea traffic that comes through our port... I take it that's why you're all heading there?" Melody deduced, fighting off a deep shiver from the biting cold.

"Yeah... That's the plan. We'll see how it goes though. First thing's first, we need to get the rest of our group." Rebecca replied.

"I can go with you to find them." Melody offered.

"Really?"

"It's the least I can do for you all saving my life. Besides, you're going to need help to get back to Ponpei after you find your friends." Melody reasoned.

"Huh... Thanks, Melody. We all really appreciate that." Rebecca gave a friendly smile in return.

Melody gave a small nod before the group descended into a focused silence. For a long time after that, they merely pressed forward into the cold and toward Ponpei. As they walked, the sun slowly set on the horizon, and the already frigid temperature dropped even lower. Sky visibly shivered on Eddie's shoulders while he was carried through the cold, with Midnight and Melody not faring much better. Rebecca rubbed her hands together for warmth, but it was to no avail. She shivered from the bitter cold as it washed over her body again and again. Frost formed in both her and Eddie's eyebrows as the sweat turned to ice, and even the ponies of the group had ice crystals forming in the short fur of their muzzles.

Eventually, the sun completely disappeared behind the horizon, signaling the end of the day, and the beginning of the cold night. Off in the distance, harsh, nearly black storm clouds slowly closed in on the frozen wasteland. Eddie panted heavily from the exertion of carrying Sky for so long, and his weary legs ached from the strain, but as his eyes glanced at the incoming storm, and the harsh cold winds sent another icy chill down his spine, he pushed even harder to get to Ponpei.

Finally, after almost fourteen hours of trekking through the snow and cold, the soft lightning of Ponpei shown out in the dark night, and Eddie stepped into the town. Immediately, Melody took the lead and directed the group to the nearby hospital. Despite curious glances from the few ponies still out and about, the group made it to the hospital without delay, and Eddie stepped into the waiting room with Sky still on his shoulders. The heat of the building instantly sunk into their skin and fur, drawing a grateful sigh from nearly the entire group.

The nursing staff at the front desk looked at the group with quizzical glances before Melody and Midnight made their way over.

"We need a doctor. My husband has some serious burns that need to be taken care of." Midnight explained.

The nurse glanced back up at the crimson pegasus with a layer of frost frozen to his coat before hurriedly heading back to get a doctor. Her assistant gave a wary look at Rebecca and Eddie before leaning closer to Midnight.

"Um... Ma'am, what... are those creatures behind you?" She whispered.

"They're humans. They're friends of ours. Eddie over there just carried my husband over twenty miles." Midnight replied, giving Eddie a thankful nod.

Eddie sighed and nodded in reply before several nurses and a teal pegasus with a forest green mane stepped toward him and Sky. They wheeled in a gurney between the group of them, and positioned it right in front of the tall man. Eddie, taking the hint, gently slipped Sky off his shoulders and set him down on the gurney as softly as he could. Sky hissed in pain from Eddie's hands on his forelegs, but soon quieted down once he was laying completely on his back. 

"Can you tell us what happened exactly?" The teal blue pegasus asked.

"He got third degree burns from flying so close to lava. All along his legs and stomach, the fur was burned off or charred. We used some biofoam to heal the burns for the most part, but they're still second degree at best. Not to mention the last fourteen hours of us walking through the snow, so he's probably hypothermic too." Eddie recounted.  

"Right... Um, what's biofoam?" The pony asked.

"It's... ugh, it'll take forever to explain. Just go help him, dude. I need to sit down." Eddie waved the pony off and took a seat in a nearby chair. He sighed and rolled his shoulders to deal with some of the pain after carrying Sky for so long.

"Um... Could- could one of you explain things a little more then?" The teal pegasus asked, looking at Midnight and Melody.

"Are you a doctor?" Melody asked.

"Yes. My name's Doctor Icer. I need at least some information from you, otherwise I can't do too much to help your husband." Doctor Icer said, a slight frown on his face.

"Okay... Sorry. We're all just really tired from walking so far in the cold. Here, take me to Sky's room and I'll explain everything I know on the way." Midnight said, walking over to the door.

"Wait, you can't go back there. You're not authorized-" Doctor Icer started.

"Dude, just... don't." Rebecca chimed in.

"That's my husband back there. I'm going back there whether you like it or not." Midnight pointed out.

"I would just let her go back with you. Trust me, it's been a very long day." Eddie added from his seat.

Doctor Icer looked around the room for a few seconds before sighing and heading for the door.

"Alright, fine. You have to stay outside the ER while we operate on him though." He relented.

"Fine. Now, what exactly do you need to know?" Midnight replied, stepping toward the door with him.





Jason stumbled though the darkness and pelting snow as it fell from the blackened sky with Tempest struggling just a few feet behind him. The darkness that covered the land made it nearly impossible to keep track of where they were going, and the snow slowly trying to bury them alive did nothing to help their progress. Icy white clung to Jason's uniform and armor as well as Tempest's coat, slowing their movements down slightly while the continued to struggle onward.

Jason squinted through the harsh snow and looked down at his compass. The needle continued to point North, giving him a fair indication of where to go, however, just as he took another step forward, a sickening crack filled the air. His eyes immediately widened at the imminent danger, and he quickly turned around to Tempest.

"Stop!" He shouted.

Tempest froze mid-step and fixed him with a curious look.

"We're walking on i-" Jason tried to explain, only for the ice under his feet to give way, and he plunged down into the ice cold water below. 

"Jason!" Tempest shouted.

His head quickly popped back out of the water and he gasped for breath as the cold sucked the air out of his lungs. With shaky hands, he paddled toward the edge and grabbed a hold, before trying to pull himself out. The ice cracked under his hands, and gave way, dropping him back into the water once more, and stealing his breath in the process. 

Tempest quickly unfastened her saddlebags and took her armor off. Once she was down to just her body suit, she carefully made her way over to Jason as he struggled to pull himself up onto the ice. She stopped just a few feet shy of the fractured ice and laid down on her stomach, displacing as much of her weight with her legs as possible. As she slowly made her way over to him, Jason tried to climb out of the freezing water, but again to no avail. Each time he was able to get his torso free of the water, the ice gave way beneath him, and he plunged back into the water once more. His body shivered heavily from the cold, and his hands were nearly completely numb as he clawed back onto the ice again.

"Jason, stop trying to pull yourself out. You're just going to break the ice more. You need to calm down." Tempest instructed.

"E-e-easy f-f-for you t-t-t-t-to say..." Jason stuttered as he continued to struggle against the ice.

"Jason, please. Trust me. You need to stop struggling and let me come to you, okay?" Tempest again instructed.

Jason hesitantly paused his efforts and shivered in place with his hands resting on the ice to keep his head above water. 

"W-whatever... y-y-you're gonna do... d-d-do it fast..." Jason managed as he shivered in place.

Tempest gave him a reassuring nod before crawling forward on her hooves. She kept her belly to the ice, and spread her legs wide to provide the largest profile possible as she moved. She made her way to Jason painstakingly slowly, making sure to test the ice in front of her before allowing it to take her weight in any capacity. Only once she was completely sure that it wouldn't give out under her, did she move forward and eventually reach Jason. She gingerly reached out with a hoof and placed it over Jason's gloved hand.

"Okay, I need you to do exactly what I say, okay?" She said.

Jason gave a shaky nod.

"Alright, grab my hoof with your hand." She instructed.

Jason's free hand slowly, and shakily made its way over to her hoof, and he grabbed a hold. Tempest immediately felt how cold his hands were just through his gloves, and a shiver forced its way down her spine before she fixed him with a determined look.

"Okay. I need you to start kicking with your legs. Just as if you were swimming straight forward in normal water. I'll start pulling you up, but don't let go of my hoof, okay?" She continued.

Jason's response was again, only a shaky nod, before he started kicking his legs out as instructed. The splashing sound of his legs against the freezing water was all the signal Tempest needed to start pulling him out, and she slowly backed up with her hind-legs. Slowly, Jason's chest reached the ice, and with a good pull from Tempest, he was hefted up onto the frozen water. He kept kicking his legs against the water for a few more seconds, before Tempest pulled him fully onto the ice. He gasped for breath as the frigid air pelted his soaked bodysuit and skin. Tempest quickly bit down on his collar and pulled him away from the ice, onto the more solid snowbank they'd unwittingly stepped off of.

"F-f-fucking... H-h-hell..." Jason muttered through the cold.

Tempest's completely ignored him, and instead hurriedly moved to build up what snow she could into a wall of sorts to block out the wind from Jason and her. As she worked, she glanced back at him to find his entire body shaking violently in the cold. 

"Take your armor and suit off." She commanded.

"W-what? Jason stuttered.

"Armor and suit. Take them off, now!" She shouted as she patted the snow together to form a decent wall.

Jason gave a hesitant, yet shaky nod at her new aggressive tone, before stripping from his armor. While he worked to get out of his uniform, Tempest hastily finished up the wall of snow blocking the wind out, and started on another wall on the opposite side. The cold air stung at her coat and damp forelegs, but she hurriedly mashed together a wall-like mass of snow that could help to block out even more of the snow. Once she was done with that wall, she set about making two more. Meanwhile, Jason unzipped his body suit and gasped as the cold air met his bare skin. He slowly crawled out of his bodysuit, exposing his naked body to the freezing air entirely.

"Just try to warm up while I get these walls up. Do you have any way to make a fire?" Tempest asked as she continued to hike up more snow.

"N-n-no... E-e-Ed... had t-t-the log..." Jason managed through his shivering.

"Alright. Just try to warm up as best as you can. Use that fabric Rarity gave you." Tempest ordered.

Jason shakily grabbed his pack and pulled out the waterproof fabric Rarity had gifted him. He quickly unfolded it and wrapped it around his freezing body. After a minute of fighting with the fabric, he was tightly wrapped up and nearly completely hidden in the material. 

A few minutes later, Tempest finished working on the walls of the makeshift shelter. She glanced down at Jason's shivering form, tightly wrapped in the fabric, before biting down on the zipper of her own bodysuit and stripping out of it. 

"Make some room in there. I'll get in and you can use my body-heat to warm up." She commanded.

Jason only managed to give a sluggish nod and unwrap himself slightly from the fabric. Tempest quickly snaked her way inside and took up a position resting on Jason's stomach. She placed her hind-legs along his thighs, and wrapped her forelegs around his shoulders. His body felt cold against her fur, and still slightly damp. She suppressed a shiver at the sensation before laying her head down against his neck.

"Wrap us up and cover your head. Your hair's wet and that's just going to suck more heat out of you." She instructed.

Jason gave a weak nod before doing as he was told, and completely wrapped them both in the fabric. Once completely inside, Tempest's body-heat finally began to sink into his freezing skin, and Jason gave a sigh as the warmth began to sink in. Almost unconsciously, he grabbed her barrel with his hands and pulled her closer to him.

"T-t-thank you..." He whispered.

"Just try to conserve your energy. This isn't the best option in the world but it's all we have right now." She replied, squeezing him tighter to her chest.

"He-hehe... Yes ma'am..." Jason replied before burying his face into her mane.

"I told you to never do something like that again..." Tempest whispered.

Jason did not reply, he merely pulled away slightly and placed a gentle kiss against her forehead. Tempest only squeezed him tighter in response. 

Eventually, Jason's violent shivering died down to a much more acceptable level, and he even started to feel the warmth of Tempest's body soak into his skin. All the while, he held onto her tightly, as if at any moment, she would disappear forever. However, even with her body heat warming his cold torso, Jason's hands and feet were still ice cold and slowly turning blue. The needle-like pain of the icy chill, and dull throb of his nearly completely numb hands, kept Jason from getting too comfortable.

"Hah... G-gonna need some way to warm up my hands... and feet..." Jason whispered through shivers.

"Put your hands under my barrel." Tempest replied, lifting herself up slightly to give him room.

Jason placed his hands on his stomach, and was quickly rewarded by Tempest laying down on top of them, bathing his fingers in her warmth.

"Good god... You're so warm." Jason whispered.

"Perks of having a coat of fur... speaking of which, why doesn't your species have any? You've got some hair on your chest, but not anywhere near enough to survive up here." Tempest responded, giving a questioning prod at Jason's chest with her hoof.

"We... we're not really meant for arctic environments... Mostly tropics and the like... Doesn't stop us from coming up here to die like idiots though." He replied, giving a weak chuckle.

"I'm not going to let you die." Tempest said, casting her gaze downward.

"I know... I know..." Jason leaned down and placed another kiss on her forehead, "I owe you."

"No... We're even. If I have to save you again, then you owe me." Tempest teased with a little grin.

"Heh, here's hoping you won't have to." Jason warmly replied.

"Agreed." She smiled.

For a few more minutes, Tempest continued to simply lay on Jason's stomach and share her warmth, before moving down slightly to lay on his legs and use her tail to keep his feet warm. Her chin came to a rest on his stomach, and he quickly took to scratching her ears in thanks. They continued like this for some time- switching between warming Jason's hands and feet, before a distant sound caught Tempest's ear, and they flicked toward the source of noise on instinct.

"Hold on..." She whispered.

Jason paused his movements and looked at her curiously for a few moments before Tempest looked back down at him with wide eyes.

"I think I just heard Eddie."
> Chapter 17: Let's See Just How Far This Goes (Clop)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tempest poked her head out of the small makeshift shelter she and Jason were held up in, and glanced back and forth at the arctic landscape in front of her. The stinging cold slapped her in the face as she squinted in the wind, but the darkness of the night, and blinding flurry of white made it nearly impossible to see more than just a few feet in front of her. She quickly darted back into the waterproof fabric and fixed Jason with a look rife with contemplation.

"I can't see anyone out there... But I know I heard something. It sounded like Eddie calling your name." She explained.

"That crazy bastard... probably walked all the way back after getting them to Ponpei." Jason chuckled as he shivered.

"Well I don't want to leave you to go look. Without me, you'll go hypothermic in a matter of minutes." Tempest said, before biting her lip in contemplation.

"Yeah... Even with you on me like this I'm still freezing." Jason admitted, hugging her tighter in the process while his limbs continued to shiver.

"What about your 'rifle'? That thing was so loud in the mountain, there's no way he wouldn't hear it if he's close enough for us to hear him." She replied.

"Lost it when we fell. I don't have anything left that'll make a lot of noise other than my voice." Jason shook his head.

Tempest glanced back out through a tiny opening in the fabric and frowned. After a moment of thought, she poked her head back out through the hole and shouted.

"Eddie!" She called.

No answer.

"EDDIE!" She screamed, her voice straining against the howling wind.

Again, there was nothing but the wind to answer her call, and she heavily sighed as the snow pelted against her cheek. With a dejected shake of her head, she slipped back inside the fabric and gave Jason a sad glance.

"I... I don't know what to do. Maybe he's not even out there and I'm just hearing things..." She closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Tempest, if you heard him, then I believe you. We just need to think of something that he'll be able to see if he can't hear us." Jason encouragingly suggested.

Tempest's eyes shot wide open, and her jaw nearly dropped.

"Oh my gosh... I'm an idiot." 





Eddie, Rebecca, and Melody forced their way through the knee deep snow while the endlessly falling white pelted against their bodies. 

"Jason!" Eddie called.

"Tempest!" Melody cried out.

"Mike!" Rebecca followed suite.

Once more, their call went unanswered leaving nothing more than more falling snow and sharp wind that seemed to cut right through their clothes and fur and hit their very insides with its frigid chill. Following the orange light emanating from Melody's horn, the group proceeded onward through the storm, exhaustion clawing at them the entire way.

"Eddie... we've been out here for hours... If we don't get to some shelter soon, we're gonna freeze to death out here." Rebecca announced, stopping the group in their tracks.

"We can't leave them out here. Who knows what situation they could be in right now." Eddie replied, squinting through the snowstorm to see slightly better.

"I have to agree with Rebecca here... As strong as you are, even you need to rest eventually. You can't help your friends if you're dead." Melody chimed in, suppressing a shiver.

"And what if we stop and they're just over the hill there!?" Eddie shouted, pointing to the nearby hill to prove his point, "They freeze to death out here while we take a little nap!?" 

"Eddie, you know that's not what we're saying. You just need to slow down a bit. Melody's right. If you get yourself killed first, how the hell are you going to help them?" Rebecca rebutted.

"We don't have time to worry about us. Once we find them, we can work on something from there. For right now, we need to just buckle the fuck up, and keep moving forward." Eddie replied, before turning around to face the dark world behind him, "JASON!" He screamed.

"Eddie... We'll get them back. You just need to trust us enough to know that we're trying to keep you from dying before you get to them." Rebecca exasperated. 

Eddie shook his head and sighed. The wind picked up and howled even harder against the snowy environment, drowning out the world around them.

"Don't you think I know that!?" He shouted, "I know you're right!" He clenched his fists and looked to the snow below, "But they're my best friends... I've got nothing without those guys... I have to find them, even if it kills me." 

For a few moments, the world around them seemed to quiet down, and both Rebecca and Melody fixed Eddie with a sad look. Eventually, Rebecca glanced down at Melody and gave her a small nod. Melody returned the gesture, and they both walked through the snow over to Eddie.

"Alright. We'll keep looking. Lead on." Rebecca said, giving and encouraging pat on his shoulder.

"We're with you... Even if we freeze, hehe." Melody gave a cheeky grin.

Eddie gave them both a confused look at first, but as their words registered with him fully, that look turned into a grateful smile.

"Thank you. Come on, we'll keep looking for a little while longer... Then we'll take a rest." He relented.

"That's all we were asking for." Rebecca gave him a friendly smile.

"Hehe, too true." 

With that, Eddie pulled out a compass and glanced down at the arrow as it rotated into the correct place. 

"So, which way?" Rebecca asked.

"Well, North is that way," Eddie said, pointing North, "So let's keep heading down South and then West. They're bound to be somewhere in there." 

Melody and Rebecca each gave nods of affirmation, before they turned South and trekked into the deep snow once more. They only made it a few feet before bright light lit up the sky just in front of them, quickly followed by deafening cracks of explosions as they rocked the skyline. Eddie immediately broke into a sprint through the snow.

"JASON!"





Sparks flickered out and dripped off of Tempest's horn as she cut off the spell, and the last of the magical fireworks left her horn to explode in the sky above. She slowly looked back down to Jason to see him fixing her with a very surprised look.

"What?" She asked.

"You could do that this whole time?!" Jason questioned.

"I forgot about it! We were busy with everything else that's been happening for the la-" Tempest began to reply, before Eddie's voice cut through the air and reached her ears.

"JASON!" He shouted, and both Tempest and Jason immediately looked toward the source of the noise.

"EDDIE!" Jason shouted back.

"WE'RE OVER HERE!" Tempest added.

A few moments later, they saw an orange light slowly crest over the nearest snow hill, and Eddie slowly rose to the top. 

"I see them! Come on!" He shouted to Melody and Rebecca as they struggled to keep up with him.

Eddie quickly barreled down the snow hill and ran toward Jason and Tempest. Within a couple minutes, he reached their makeshift shelter and collapsed to his knees in a panting mess.

"Huh... Jesus... Thank god... we... found you... holy shit..." Eddie wheezed.

"Hehe, glad you could make it." Tempest replied.

"It's good to see you again, bro." Jason replied, giving a half smile.

"Heh... yeah... wait... why are you two in that bag together?" Eddie asked, tilting his head to the side.

"I kinda... fell into the water. Would've froze to death if Tempest hadn't thought so quickly and shared her bodyheat with me." Jason admitted.

"Ah... Just couldn't wait to get naked with each other, could you?" Eddie chuckled.

Tempest's cheeks darkened immediately, and she hastily looked away to hide her blush from Eddie's teasing gaze.

"Ed... shut up." Jason deadpanned.

Eddie laughed to himself for a moment before Rebecca and Melody arrived at the shelter.

"There we go... Jesus, what the hell happened to you two?" Rebecca asked upon seeing Jason and Tempest.

"Jay fell into the water. Tempest's warming him up." Eddie answered for them.

"Melody? What're you doing here? Where's Sky and Midnight?" Jason asked, glancing back and forth between the group.

"Sky and Midnight are at the hospital in Ponpei. He's getting treated and she wouldn't leave his side," Melody replied with a friendly smile, "I wanted to come back to help find you. You did save my life after all." 

"Hehe... Thanks for returning the favor." Jason replied with a grateful smile.

"So, where's Mike? He out looking for some firewood for you guys or something?" Eddie mentioned, looking around for the man in question.

Both Tempest and Jason shared a look before a sad frown quickly formed on Jason's face, and he looked up to Eddie apologetically.

"Ed... He's gone." He said, his voice almost a whisper in the howling wind.

"What?" Eddie asked, eyes squinting in disbelief.

"We... I couldn't hold him..." Jason gulped back the quickly forming knot in his throat, "He's gone, man..."

Eddie stepped back as if he was struck, and his mouth struggled to form any coherent words. Rebecca and Melody shared a fearful look before stepping closer to Eddie as the truth rattled around in his brain like a hand grenade.

"I... but... He can't... no..." Eddie managed.

"Eddie... There's nothing you could have done." Rebecca comforted, placing a gentle hand on his arm.

"No... no no no no no..." Eddie whispered, "No, he can't be dead..." 

His breathing began to quicken once more, and he stumbled back until he fell down into the snow behind him.

"Eddie..." Melody said as she walked up to his side.

Eddie's eyes fell to the ground below, and his head soon followed. His breathing still erratic, his hands slowly came up to support his head as the tears came. Rebecca and Melody did their best to support him as he wept, while Jason and Tempest looked on in solidarity. For a long time, the cold world around them faded away and they were left to just watch as the pain of losing a friend weighed heavily on the strong man. It was enough to bring tears to all of their eyes.

Eventually, Eddie finally managed to stop his grief and pick himself back up. He silently walked over to Jason before pausing mid-sep, his eyes still glued out at the blackened horizon.

"How?" He asked, his voice just loud enough to be heard by the human and pony below him.

"Eddie..." Tempest began.

"He fell... From the pillar we were on... I tried, man... I tried..." Jason spoke up.

Eddie gave a shaky nod as he pursed his lips. After a moment, he took a breath and glanced around. 

"Okay... Do you still have your fire jelly packets?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay... Melody, Rebecca... can you guys get a tent set up and give Jay some of those fur blankets we brought? I'll get a fire started... We need to dry his clothes and gear out and spend the night out here. We'll head back in the morning." Eddie replied, glancing back at the rest of the group.

"Alright." Rebecca replied.

"You got it." Melody added.

"Wait, you guys have fur blankets?" Jason questioned, eyeing the group curiously.

"Yeah. Just cut from a polar bear a few weeks ago," Melody replied, magicking the respective blankets out and giving them to Jason and Tempest, "He was from a shelter and needed a trim... and I figured you would need something to help warm up."

"Huh... Thanks, Melody." Jason replied, giving a small nod and taking the blankets.

"Hehe, don't mention it." Melody replied with a smile.

They quickly set about erecting the tent while Eddie brought out his forever log and took the fire jelly packets from Jason's pack. Soon enough, a warm fire was brought to life in the center of the group, and Jason's uniform was placed out to dry.

"It won't be too comfortable, that's for damn sure, but at least we can get you out of the cold." Eddie said with a small shrug.

"It's better than nothing. Thanks, Ed." Jason replied as he and Tempest scooched closer to the fire.

Not a minute later, Rebecca and Melody finished their preparations with the tent, and moved in to join in the fire and its warmth. Eddie surveyed around the group for a few more moments before sitting down beside Rebecca and pulling out the rest of his MRE's.


.

.

.

.

.


Sitting around the fire, the three humans and two ponies ate in silence. The welcome heat of the burning embers gently warmed them all as the cold world around them only grew colder. Jason and Tempest shared the fur blankets and relished in the warmth before he glanced at his wristband, and saw the greenish tint of the inside portion of the bracelet. A frown crossed his face as he glared down at it, before he went back to eating the small amount of food Eddie, Rebecca, and Melody brought with them.

Only a few minutes later, the group was finished with their MRE's, and Eddie stood up to survey the landscape. He squinted at the far off snowy horizon, before bringing out his compass and opening it. He took a few moments to discern where North was, before closing the compass and looking down at his wristwatch.

"Alright... It's just about one in the morning. We'll bed down here for the night and in the morning, we'll head back to Ponpei. It's only about six or seven miles NorthEast." He said, glancing at the rest of the group.

"Sounds like a plan... Eddie, are you sure you're alright?" Rebecca asked, gently placing a hand on his forearm.

Eddie was silent for some time, but eventually, he looked down at Rebecca with a sad frown.

"No... If I'm being honest, I'm completely fucked up right now... But we need to focus on the mission... We can mourn him once we're all safe." He said, before turning and heading into the tent.

"Ed..." Jason said, his voice just quiet enough to fall on deaf ears.

With Eddie resigned for the night in the tent, Jason frowned, and his gaze fell to the floor. A sad sigh escaped his lips before Tempest placed a comforting hoof on his back.

"He knows you did everything you could... It's just... fresh, is all." She offered, giving a gentle pat on his back.

"I know... just doesn't make it much better, is all." Jason muttered.

"Like he said, when this is all said and done, then we can... properly mourn him." Rebecca chimed in.

Jason gave a noncommittal nod before looking up to see Melody sitting next to Rebecca. The chocolate mare had been completely silent thus far, and her eyes seemed glossed over as she stared blankly at the snow in front of her hooves. However, as Jason's gaze fell on her, she slowly glanced up until she was looking back at him.

"Are you alright?" Jason asked, a trace amount of concern weeding its way into his voice.

"Y-yes... I just... It's my fault he's gone..." She said, her tone barely a whisper.

"No... Melody, it is not your fault. Don't you even think of blaming yourself for that." Rebecca chastised, pulling the mare into a hug.

"I just... If you all didn't have to save... me... then you would've all been fine..." Melody replied, tears forming in her eyes.

"Melody... you were about to be sacrificed by crazy cultists... You have nothing to blame yourself for." Tempest responded.

"I never wanted somepony to die for me..." She whispered.

"Melody... look at me." Jason said.

After a moment, the distraught mare slowly looked upwards until she met Jason's gaze with her own.

"You have nothing to blame yourself for. If it weren't for you, we never would've made it out of that mountain. Not to mention coming back for Tempest and I when you could have just gone home and pretended this never happened. Don't be upset with yourself for being in that situation. If you weren't... none of us would be here." He explained, his gaze softening all the while.

"I... I don't... thank you." Melody replied, taking a moment to wipe away the tears.

"Don't mention it." Jason responded, giving a gentle smile.

Melody gave a mute nod in response before turning her attention back to the fire in front of her and warming her hooves.

A moment of silence passed before Rebecca let out a long yawn, and blearily blinked her eyes a few times to clear her vision.

"Well... After the day we've had... I'm going to sleep like a rock. Are you all staying out here for long?" She asked, eyeing Jason, Tempest, and Melody curiously.

"Not me... I'll go in with you." Melody replied.

"I'll head inside in a few minutes. Just gonna soak up the heat for a bit longer before I do." Jason added.

"Tempest?" Rebecca asked, eyeing the mulberry unicorn sitting beside Jason in the blanket.

"I'll stay out for a little while longer too." She replied.

"Okay. Come on Melody. If it gets cold enough, we're gonna be sharing a sleeping bag." Rebecca mentioned as she got to her feet and headed for the tent.

"Alright. You two don't stay out for too much longer. You've been exposed to the elements for a while already." Melody said, giving a friendly look to Jason and Tempest as she followed Rebecca into the tent.

Once they were gone, Tempest and Jason both looked into the fire for a few moments in silence. Eventually, Jason slowly turned his head to face the mulberry unicorn and spoke.

"Hey... uh, Tempest?" He said.

"Yeah?" She replied, turning to match his gaze.

"I just... wanted to thank you. I... I didn't know what to do back there and you... well, you acted like a better leader than I have the last week... I owe you my life." He said, clearly taking his time with his words.

"Jason..." Tempest began, only for Jason to continue.

"I've, uh... Well, suffice to say, I fucked up a lot already... I... just, thank you." He said, his eyes slowly glossing over.

"It's like I said before. We're even now, nothing more. You saved my life too... and as for mistakes... you've done the absolute best you could with the situation you had... and you gave a poor, broken mare a chance in the process." Tempest replied, giving a small smile.

Jason chuckled.

"I guess so... but it's hardly fair when you look so cute." He teased, giving a half smile in response.

Tempest blushed slightly before leaning closer and nuzzling her muzzle under his chin. Jason replied by pulling her just a tad closer and wrapping his arms around her barrel, pulling her into a gentle hug. Her fur felt absolutely divine on his skin, now that he could actually appreciate its texture and how it gently enveloped his fingers.

Tempest smiled as she nuzzled her cheek just a bit harder into the crook of Jason's neck, squishing her mane against his cheek in the process. A warm feeling budded to life in her chest, and she slowly crawled into Jason's lap. She carefully avoided stepping on him as she did so, and within a few seconds, she turned in his embrace to wrap her hooves around his back. Her chin came to a rest just on his shoulder, and she squeezed him tighter, feeling his smooth skin against her belly and chest fluff.

As she held onto him, Jason's gaze slowly fell to the charred embers at the base of the fire, and he let out a sad sigh as his thoughts drifted back to Eddie. Almost immediately, Tempest's ear flicked to the side, and she pulled away just enough to make out his sad expression in the firelight. After biting her lip in contemplation, she gently cleared her throat, gaining Jason's attention in the process.

"Do... Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, her eyes softly trained on his.

After a few moments, Jason spoke, his words slow, and measured.

"I just... I've never seen Eddie act like that... Even when we lost Johnny, he... dammit... he blames me for losing Mike..." He responded, his eyes falling back to the embers with each word.

"No! Jason, Eddie doesn't blame you. How could he? You did everything you could to save him..." Tempest rebutted, giving him a confused look.

"That's not true..." Jason whispered, his eyes failing to even look at the mulberry unicorn still in his embrace.

"What are you talking about? Jason..." 

"I had a choice... You... or him... Mike was hurt... and that son of a bitch kept telling me to just drop him... and save you... I just... I couldn't hold both of you..." He admitted, his gaze unfocused, and downcast.

Tempest stared at him blankly for almost a minute before she understood the significance of his words completely, and a knot formed in her throat.

"You... chose me over saving Mike?" She asked, her voice just a whisper.

"Mike let go of my hand... and you were unconscious... If I had dropped you, and used my other hand to pull him up... He might've still been alive right now..." 

"But not me..." Tempest replied, her eyes falling to the ground.

"Tempest... I could never have dropped you..." Jason shook his head.

A rush of warmth flooded Tempest's chest, and her forelegs felt weak as they held onto Jason's shoulders. The knot in her throat tightened even more, and she buried her muzzle into the crook of his neck as she squeezed herself tighter to his chest. Jason's hands soon came up to her back and neck, and soon gently stoked all along her body, forcing a gentle sigh of thanks from the mulberry unicorn in the process. As he squeezed her tighter, Tempest nuzzled harder into his neck and chest, brushing as much of her cheek against the soft skin as possible, before pulling her head out and darting up to his cheek to resume her affections there.

Jason pulled away just enough to look at her gentle cyan eyes, and a feeling of nervousness quickly bloomed in his heart.

"Tempest... I..." He began, his voice just a whisper.

"Shh... You don't have to say anything. Just... if you want this to go further... then take the lead... I'll be fine either way." She replied, her voice also just a whisper.

For a few moments, Jason's brow furrowed in concentration, and he simply stared at the fire in front of them. Eventually, Tempest's ears drooped slightly, but she let out a content sigh as she hugged him just a tad tighter.

"If you want to... Then we have to be silent. They're gonna hear us in the tent if we make so much as a sigh." Jason finally said, perking her ears up in the process.

A fiery blush quickly covered Tempest's entire face, and she pulled away enough to look him in the eyes.

"A-are you sure?" She whispered.

"Yeah... I am." Jason whispered back.

"O... Okay... Just, one thing?" 

"Anything."

"I've... never... been with someone before..." She admitted, prompting a sympathetic smile to form on Jason's face.

"I understand. This'll be new for both of us." Jason replied, gently caressing her cheek with his free hand.

"Just... be gentle with me... okay?" Tempest asked, bashfully looking down and away from Jason as he held her tight.

Jason's response, was to gently nudge her chin with his index finger until she was looking up at him, and leaning in for a gentle kiss. His lips softly connected with hers, and everything else simply disappeared around them. The cold, the snow, the tent, all faded away until the only thing the mulberry unicorn could focus on was the strong man holding her close and sweetly kissing her as if she was made of glass. It only took a moment for her eyes to flutter shut and her withers to sag as she sunk into the affection, and returned the kiss. 

Tempest's lips felt akin to velvet against his, and Jason was surprised to feel her tongue almost politely poke out to tease him. He returned the gesture in kind, and slowly, almost reverently kissed her tongue with his own. The broad and smooth texture brought with it a sensation of floating on a cloud, and before he could even process just how sweet she tasted, she darted into his mouth and teased his incisors. 

A heavy shutter ran through the mulberry unicorn's body as she tasted him, and another as he eagerly returned the favor, brushing his tongue against the roof of her mouth. Their lips mashed together again and again, connecting them as they continued to share their affection and warmth with each other. The taste of strawberries even registered on Jason's taste-buds as he kissed her over and over again, relishing in her soft, sweet embrace.

Eventually, they grew bolder, and explored each other's bodies. Jason's hands trailed along her neck and down her back until he felt the toned muscles of her flanks. In turn, Tempest ran her hooves over his chest, feeling the sparse hairs against the sensitive fetlocks as she inched further down to his abs. Slowly, she reached around and felt the alien muscles of his back and shoulders. As if to thank her for her soft caress, he pulled her in closer, even going so far as to squeeze her flanks in the process.

A nearly silent sigh escaped the mulberry unicorns lips as Jason's fingers sent a flurry of endorphins flooding through her brain, and her cheeks flushed an even darker shade of purple as if to give a visual aid that his efforts were bearing fruit. Almost as if to turn the tables on him, Tempest felt a warm rod of flesh suddenly press up against her belly and just between her nipples. Jason's face immediately blushed, and he looked away slightly while she glanced down at the alien shaft now poking at her navel.

Tempest felt her ears burning even in the cold, with a nervous gulp, she slowly looked back up to Jason to find him hesitantly meet her gaze with his own nervous look.

"Are... are you ready?" She whispered, her soft cyan eyes calming his nerves somewhat.

"Y-yeah..." Jason hesitantly replied.

Tempest gave a shaky nod before releasing her grip on Jason and laying down in the blanket. 

"Well... Lead on then." She spoke once more, her voice nearly lost to the crackling fire.

Jason hesitated for a few moments before crawling on top of her form, and he glanced down at her slender body, toned flanks, and incredibly soft fur as he descended. He took one last moment to look at the many scars running all along her barrel and flanks, before his eyes finally found the subtle, yet prickly flesh of her nipples. Just a few inches further down, her sex greeted him with a quick wink. Before he could stop himself, Jason tilted his head to the side and gave a curious look to the mulberry unicorn below him.

"What was that?" He asked.

"It's... called winking. Um... I can't really control it, but... it's just something that happens when a mare gets... you know... aroused..." Tempest explained, her nervous look and deeply flushed face signaling just how afraid she still was.

Sensing her fears, Jason gave a gentle smile, and leaned down to kiss her once more.

"Okay. Just making sure." He whispered, placing a loving kiss on her muzzle.

Jason's efforts managed to assuage her fears for a moment, and a genuine look of relief crossed the mare's face before Jason's member gently kissed the lips of her sex, and she went rigid. For just a moment, Jason hesitated and glanced up to her for confirmation, and after a moment to swallow back the knot in her throat, Tempest gave one last shaky nod.

With all the confirmation he needed, Jason slowly pressed his hips forward until his length pressed into Tempest's labia, and gently parted her vulva to access her soft, velveteen sex. Fiery warmth instantly wrapped around his manhood as each inch slipped further and further into the sublime wetness of Tempest's sex. They both let out a silent sigh of pleasure as the warmth of their lower halves quickly seeped up into their torsos, and rose to their chests, igniting a fire in their veins, and passion in their minds that neither of them had ever felt before. Tempest's eyes were pulled down to Jason's member as it speared her folds open, and pressed into her depths, scraping along the walls of her canal the entire way. 

The burning heat of her soft, warm walls caressed and wrapped around Jason's length so lovingly and completely, that it felt almost as if it was made just for him. Each inch further seemed to almost pull him in, and the soft winking of her clit against the top of his shaft felt almost identical to a soft kiss against the sensitive flesh, sending his mind spinning. 

Finally, Jason's length reached the end of Tempest's depths and softly kissed her cervix. The feeling of being penetrated so fully left her quietly gasping for air, and her cheeks flushing with a deep purple. For a pregnant moment, they stayed there, fully connected, before Jason leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. The kiss was gentle, and tender, and within a few moments, it had the desired effect. Tempest's breathing slowed, and her painfully stiff limbs relaxed some, until she was able to place a hoof on the back of Jason's head to keep him close. Almost as if challenging her, he slipped his tongue out and licked her lips, quickly earning a lick in return. Almost immediately, her strength returned, and her tongue pressed his back in a display of passion as she tasted him once more.

Through it all, they stayed connected at the hips, Jason's length still speared deeply into Tempest's folds. A few painfully sensual winks finally forced their lips apart as Jason's hips bucked forwards slightly, pressing his head against her cervix, and causing a muffled cry of pleasure to escape the mulberry unicorn's lips. Almost instantly, Jason froze and glanced over to the tent to see if anyone was stirred by the noise. After a few seconds, and no sign of anyone waking up and checking outside the tent, he let out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding in, and looked down at Tempest.

"You gotta keep it in... I don't want to risk waking anyone." He whispered as gently as he could.

"R-right... Sorry... I just... didn't expect it to feel so good..." She replied, her burning cheeks somehow flushing an even darker shade of purple.

"It's okay," Jason said, taking a moment to softly caress her cheek with his hand, "Just... if you think you can't hold it back, tell me. I'll figure something out." 

"Okay." Tempest replied, basking in the feeling of his hand on her cheek.

Before she could fully prepare herself, Jason slowly thrust back into her sex, earning a quiet groan from the mulberry unicorn and forcing her to bite her lip to keep silent. He quickly reached her cervix once more, and yet again, a feeling of euphoric bliss shot up Tempest's spine from her womb, all the way to the tips of her ears, and her eyes rolled back in her head as Jason pulled out, only to thrust back in again.

In and out he thrust, his movements never speeding up or slowing down. His speed remained constant, like a machine, and with each slow thrust in, he sent a thousand waves of pleasure ricocheting up the mulberry unicorn's body and back down into the core of her womb. After less than a minute, it became too much pleasure to bear, and her steady breaths turned into needy panting. Her chest heaved, and her eyes rolled about uselessly in her head as the masculine musk of Jason's now sweating body quickly began to fill her nostrils and soak into her brain. She struggled to find words, any words that would convey to him that she was losing herself, and soon would be unable to contain her pleasure, but alas, just as her vocal cords cried out in ecstasy, Jason's hand clamped her jaw shut, and the sound died in her lungs. 

Her first orgasm hit her so hard that she nearly passed out. Tempest's muscles went rigid all over her body, and even with Jason's hand clamping her mouth shut, she let out a muffled groan of euphoria. A small torrent of marecum flowed from her pulsing sex, flooding past Jason's throbbing member as he continued to thrust away inside of her. For almost twenty seconds, her muscles held rigid, and her brain was scrambled about, unable to discern who or where she was anymore. Through it all, Jason continued to pound away at her virgin folds, claiming her as his own all the way through her orgasm and onward.

After nearly a minute, Tempest's eyes finally corrected themselves, and focused on the dominant human now muzzling her with his hand while he continued to plunge his manhood deep into her folds. A barely audible whimper escaped her maw as he finally increased his pace. Tempest's legs weekly struggled to move with the force of his movements now physically sloshing her sex-drunk body back and forth, but eventually, she managed to interlock her hind-legs behind Jason's back. With nothing else to do with them, she wrapped her forelegs around his back as well, and pulled herself as close to the man as possible.

Jason gave her a curious look, but at her pleading gaze, decided to say nothing, and instead opted to thrust even faster. Her walls convulsed and pulsed around his member in the most amazing, tight, loving way possible, and it took everything in him to not cum long before she had. Every wink of her clit sent a wave of pleasure rocketing up his length and into his stomach, and earned a groan of silent pleasure before he doubled his efforts.

As he thrust into her harder and faster than ever before, Jason became acutely aware of a particularity about Tempest. Sparks were slowly fizzing out of her horn and dripping down all over the blanket under them. The harder he thrust into her cervix, the more the sparks poured out of her horn. Eventually, a steady stream of bright blue poured from her horn and harmlessly dissipated into the blanket.

Oh god, please don't shoot fireworks off... that'll be hard to explain. Jason thought to himself.

With Tempest turning to putty in his hands below him, and his own end quickly approaching, Jason increased his speed yet again, and pistoned into the barely conscious mare. After a certain point, the sound of his thighs lewdly slapping into her flanks barely registered with him, and he focused entirely on reaching his climax. Under his weight, Tempest was rocked back and forth by the force of his thrusts, and once more she quickly approached her own climax. 

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Jason reached the end, and buried his length into Tempest's marehood, all the way to her cervix. White hot seed fired into her womb in concentrated bursts that sent her spiraling over the edge, and into an orgasmic fit that tensed every muscle in her body, and made her scream through Jason's hand over her muzzle. Rope after rope of human seed painted her womb a pearl white that quickly overflowed and spilled out into her tail and onto the fur blanket below. Through it all, Jason held her mouth shut, forcing any moan or cry to die in her throat while she panted through her nostrils for breath. 

Only when he was completely spent, exhausted, and sure that she had come down from her high as well, did Jason release his vice-like hold on her muzzle, and immediately, she gasped for air. With pupils heavily dilated, and her chest heaving even more harshly than before, Tempest struggled to get air back into her lungs. For several minutes, she laid there under him, panting for breath, but eventually, she recovered, and fixed him with a loving look.

"I... that was... I didn't think I would enjoy all of that so much..." She whispered, allowing a massive smile to form on her muzzle.

"Which part?" Jason grinned, as he laid down next to her.

"Just... all of it. I never... when you covered my muzzle... barely being able to breathe... I just... I had no idea that would be so... good." Tempest shook her head, struggling to digest the last fifteen minutes.

"Hehe, I guess we'll have to explore those new kinks of yours once we make it out of here." Jason teased, placing a hand over her chest fluff and allowing his fingers to sink into the plush fur.

Tempest gave him a hopeful look.

"Y-you mean..." 

"I want to be with you... Even after we're through this." Jason said, firmly.

A warm feeling blossomed through Tempest's chest and quickly rose to the tips of her ears. With what little strength she had left, she scooched over to Jason and wrapped her limbs around him. In turn, he pulled her into a tight hug, bringing her muzzle just under his chin, and closing as much distance between them as possible. A barely audible whimper left her lips as she almost desperately nuzzled his neck and jaw, before he gently scratched her ear and kissed her forehead.

"Thank you." She whispered.

Jason felt his heart ache as he held her close, and he placed another loving kiss on her muzzle before whispering.

"No... Thank you..."

For a while after that, they simply laid in each other's embrace, content to share their warmth in the fur blankets by the fire. However, as with all good things, they eventually had to separate, if only to relocate to the tent. Still wrapped in the blankets, Jason and Tempest hesitantly peaked inside to find that everyone was sound asleep. With barely contained sighs of relief, the couple snuck in to the far side of the tent and found their sleeping bags. 

They shared one for the whole night.
> Chapter 18: Ponpei
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Next Day


Jason, Eddie, Rebecca, Melody, and Tempest stepped into Ponpei just as the sun hit it's highest point in the sky, and the distinct smell of salt filled the air. All throughout town, ponies, griffons, minotaurs, and even a few abyssinians paused their daily tasks to observe the humans and ponies as they came into town, exhaustion clear on all of their faces. Eddie led the way, giving nothing more than a short nod of acknowledgement to the growing crowd of interested onlookers. 

Soon enough, they arrived at the smallish hospital, and stepped inside. Warm, refreshing air cordially greeted the group as Jason, Tempest, Eddie, and Rebecca took advantage of the soft seats available near the entrance. While they sat down and rested, Melody walked over to the front desk and addressed the snow white nurse sitting there.

"Excuse me?" Melody said.

"Hmm?" The nurse responded, looking curiously up at Melody.

"Hi, we dropped off a couple of our friends here last night. Their names are Crimson Sky and Midnight Shadow. Could we please see them?" Melody replied.

"Oh! Yes, certainly. They're in room one-eleven. Just down the hall and to the right." The nurse cheerily responded.

"Thank you." 

With that, Melody stepped away from the front desk and made her way over to the rest of the group.

"They're in room one-eleven. Just that way." Melody announced, pointing down the indicated hallway with a hoof.

"Alright. Let's go see them." Jason acknowledged as he got out of his seat.

The group quickly walked down the hall and past the empty patient rooms until they arrived at the last room in the hallway. Just beside the door, a large window allowed for light to spill into the hallway, illuminating the floor and walls in a gentle yellow hue. 

After taking a moment to confirm the room number, Jason politely knocked on the door and patiently waited for a response. It took only a few moments for Midnight's voice to come through the door.

"Come in." She called.

Jason opened the door and stepped into the room, followed by the rest of the group in quick succession. The first thing to greet their eyes, was the graphite unicorn sitting in a chair beside the bed. Lying on the bed, with bandages around all four of his legs, was Sky. His eyes blearily opened to greet the rest of the group while Midnight jumped off her chair and rushed to see them.

"Jason! Tempest!" Midnight cheered, quickly wrapping them both in a large hug.

"Midnight, it's great to see you. I'm glad you're okay." Jason replied with a smile.

"We were worried about you all making it." Tempest added as she returned the hug.

"Us? We were fine. We were so worried about you guys! When you fell, and the volcano erupted..." Midnight trailed off upon noticing the distinct lack of one of the humans. "Wh-where's Mike?" Her voice quickly dropped in volume, almost to a whisper.

Jason's smile faltered, and a sad frown quickly adorned his face before he glanced up at Sky. The stallion fixed him with a worried look, that turned to a dejected sigh upon noticing Jason's look. 

"He, uh... He didn't make it." Jason said, his voice barely a whisper, yet deafening in the nearly silent room.

"What?" Midnight asked, stepping back as if she had been physically struck.

"Mike, uh... He's gone, guys." Jason admitted.

With just a few words, all the cheer and excitement of the room died, and left behind only a sad undertone that kept anyone from speaking for several minutes. Eventually, it became too much to bear for the graphite mare.

"But... but how?" She asked.

"He fell." Eddie answered, before taking a seat on the floor with his back against the wall.

Midnight's eyes fell to the floor, and she slowly shook her head in disbelief.

"No... no..." She whispered.

"Midnight..." Tempest said, stepping over to her and wrapping a hoof around her wither, "Don't beat yourself up about it... There was nothing you could have done." She said.

"Jason... Eddie... I'm so sorry..." Midnight whispered as she looked over at the two men.  

When the only reply she received was sad silence, Midnight simply shook her head and fell to her haunches while Tempest continued to attempt to soothe her aching heart. Beside them, Rebecca and Melody followed Eddie's lead by taking their seats on the floor against the wall opposite of him, and shared their own sad sighs from the news.

Jason gave Midnight and Tempest some space as he stepped around them and made his way over to Sky's bed. Upon arriving, he noticed the tears forming in the crimson pegasus's eyes, and he took a tentative seat on the bed, next to him.

"Hey..." Jason said, directing Sky's eyes over to him.

"You did everything you could to save us and then some... If it wasn't for you, we'd all be dead. Every single one of us... I'm glad you made it out alright." Jason said, gently placing a hand on the un-bandaged part of Sky's foreleg. 

"Just... wish I'd done more..." Sky whispered, his eyes falling to the bed sheets.

"You did great. Don't think about it like that... How are your legs? You gonna be in a wheelchair or something?" Jason asked, giving the tiniest hint of a grin.

"Doc said my legs will be fine... Just need a couple days to heal the burnt skin and let everything grow back... He just said I need to stay in bed and rest until then." Sky replied, just as dejected as before.

Jason let out a small sigh.

"Well... That's good at least. I'm glad you're not seriously hurt," Jason said, before standing back up and acknowledging the group as a whole, "We're all lucky to be here right now."

"Amen to that." Rebecca chuckled softly.

The room descended into painful silence. For quite some time, no one knew what to say, or if they should say anything at all. Eventually, Midnight pulled out of Tempest's embrace and gave her a thankful nod, before making her way back over to the bed to be with Sky.


.

.

.

.

.


Jason stood outside on the balcony as the sun crested on the end of the horizon, and a warm hue of reddish light filtered over him as he watched the ocean. With one hand in his pocket keeping warm, and the other gently stroking his now long stubble, he chewed his cheek in thought. His gaze lingered on the crescent waves as they kissed the shoreline, barely a trace of ice to be seen in the shallows of the bay. 

For quite some time, he focused only on the waves, and the slowly disappearing sunlight instead of the biting cold stinging against his face and gloved hand. Even with the material thoroughly dried out, the cold still sunk through, and sapped at whatever warmth was trapped in his fingers. Even so, he kept his gaze neutral, and continued to stare out at the horizon until the door behind him opened up. Tempest stepped out to the cold balcony and fixed him with a curious look, before following his eyes to the ocean.

"I was wondering where you went off to..." Tempest said, her eyes flicking back to him, "They have food for us down in the cafeteria. Melody even pulled some strings to get a few brownies from one of her friends here..." She trailed off, finding that none of her words even seemed to reach the stoic man.

"Um.. Jason?" She asked, stepping closer. 

Finally, her words seemed to break him of his trance, and he looked down at her, surprise clear on his face.

"Oh, Tempest? Jesus... my hand is cold," He replied, shaking the offending appendage in an attempt to get some blood-flow back into it.

"Y-yeah... Did you hear any of what I just said?" She asked, her brow furrowing in concern.

"Uh... No... Not really. I just came out here to think... Guess I got a little too lost in my thoughts." Jason said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well, how's the shoulder? You still haven't gotten it checked out by the doctor..." Tempest lamented.

"It's fine. I don't need to waste their time with it." Jason replied, rolling the shoulder in question as if to prove his point. 

"That's... not a very good idea. You should at least get it checked while we can." She replied.

Jason sighed, "Alright. I'll get it checked out before we leave." He relented.

"Good." Tempest smiled at her little victory.

"Is there anything else you wanted?" Jason teased, a slight smile tugging at his lips.

"Well... are you sure you're alright? You've been out here for over an hour." She offered.

"An hour?" Jason's brow furrowed in disbelief, "I thought I just came out here a few minutes ago..." He said, his voice trailing off to nearly a whisper.

Tempest cocked her head to the side, "It's... almost six. You've been gone since five-ish... Maybe even four-thirty." Tempest rebutted.

Jason shook his head and glanced down at his wristband. The inner portion shown a bright green, with only a trace amount of blue to be seen anywhere inside. He sighed heavily before fixing Tempest with an apologetic look.

"Must be the magic messing with my memory... Kinda like Mike back on the mountain." Jason admitted, his eyes falling to the floor.

Tempest took a few tentative steps toward Jason before she arrived at his leg and gently wrapped a hoof around his thigh. Almost instantly, he dropped down to one knee and pulled her into a desperate hug, one which she was glad to reciprocate. 

A few shaky breaths left Jason as he held onto her, before she placed her free hoof on his shoulder and softly stroked his back. For a few minutes, they simply held onto each other as if there was nothing else in the world to stop them, but after a while, Jason finally pulled away. He kept his face just a few inches away from hers, and his emerald green eyes gazed in to her cyan ones with a strangely sad look that felt incomparable with his soft features.

"Jason..." Tempest whispered.

"I just... I want you to know that I care about you, Tempest... More than I ever thought I could..." He replied, his voice just as quiet as hers.

"I... I care about you too... More than I ever thought possible... especially after how short you've actually been here..." She trailed off, her eyes betraying her confusion at his admission.

"I just... I just want to make sure that you knew that. Where we're going now... I'm not sure if we're going to make it there in one piece or if what we need is even there to begin with... For all I know, this could just be a suicide mission from beginning to end." Jason admitted, casting his eyes to the ground while his shoulders slumped some.

"Hey, don't think like that. It's going to be okay. We'll get to the island, get the crystals, and use whatever magic we have to to save you. I promise." Tempest replied, nudging his chin up with her muzzle.

"Heh... I hope you're right. I haven't had much to hold onto for the better part of my life. Right now... Holding you like this... feels better than anything else I've ever done..." Jason responded, his tone gentle, and kind.

Warmth blossomed in her chest, and Tempest squeezed him closer, if only to plant a loving kiss on his lips. The contact was short, but their closeness remained, and they lovingly looked into each other's eyes as if they held all the world's secrets.

Eventually, the sound of the door opening pulled them from each other's gaze, and they turned to see Midnight as she stepped out.

"Hey, um... Are you guys okay?" She asked, some trepidation clear in her voice.

Jason pulled away from the hug just enough to respond, "Y-yeah... We're alright. Just... figuring out some things..."

"A-alright... Well... I don't want to interrupt, but Eddie said he needed you both inside. It was something about the ship." Midnight replied.

"Okay... We'll be there in a few minutes." Jason said, before returning to the mulberry unicorn in his arms.





Jason, Midnight, and Tempest walked into the plain looking cafeteria to find Eddie, Rebecca, and Melody sitting together at one of the many tables at the far side of the room. They quickly made their way over to the table, and sat down across from the rest of the group.

"What held you guys up for so long?" Rebecca asked, curiously.

"Just... figuring some stuff out. What's the situation?" Jason calmly responded.

"We've got a problem with the ship." Eddie replied.

"What kind of a 'problem'?" Tempest asked.

"A crew problem." Eddie answered.

"What's the issue?" Jason pressed.

"We don't have a crew." Eddie shook his head and sighed.

"What?" Jason and Tempest questioned in unison.

"The crew Celestia hired to be here and sail us out, aren't here. Either they got paid early and took off, or something happened to them." Rebecca explained.

"What about the ship?" Jason asked, his brow furrowing in disbelief. 

"Ship's here. She's been tied off at port for a month now. Crew's just... gone. No one knows where any of them are." Rebecca replied.

"What could have happened to them?" Midnight pondered aloud.

"It's anyone's guess. Hell, maybe they just thought long and hard about where we're going and decided it wasn't worth it." Rebecca shrugged.

"What the fuck?" Jason exasperated, leaning back in his seat and letting out a long, drawn out sigh.

"Well... are there any other ponies or creatures we could hire to do it? We still have access to one of the royal accounts, right, Midnight?" Tempest rebutted, turning to the graphite mare for answers.

Before Midnight could answer, Melody spoke up, driving Tempest and Jason's attention to her.

"That won't work. The creatures Princess Celestia hired were paid almost a million bits a piece. Even if you have access to one of the royal accounts, you won't be able to fund an entire crew." Melody explained.

"What, is there just not enough bits in there to satisfy them?" Tempest questioned, more than a bit of resentment dripping off her voice.

"Not even close. You'd need at least four million bits to get a decent crew, and even the royals have a spending limit on those private accounts. I should know, my mom was an accountant for Princess Cadence... I hate to say it makes sense... but you're asking the crew to take the ship to literally the most dangerous place in the world. Any sailor worth their salt is going to charge a foreleg and a hind-leg for that kind of trip." Melody elaborated.

"So... we're sunk," Jason sighed and his shoulders slumped some, "We can't send them a letter and wait for a response in god knows how long... and we can't afford a crew..." 

"But... we've come so far! We can't just give up now!" Midnight exclaimed. 

"Well, we just might have a way to deal with our current problem." Rebecca flashed a knowing smile.

At Jason, Tempest, and Midnight's quizzical looks, she nudged Melody with her elbow. The chocolate mare, taking the hint, cleared her throat and spoke.

"Well... If you would be okay with it... I think I can get you to the island." She said, a slight tremor in her voice, as if just speaking of the location itself was terrifying.

"You can?" Jason tilted his head to the side in disbelief.

"Yes... My special talent is in navigating and exploring... and I know how to sail a ship... You guys would just have to take care of a few other things that I can't do all by myself, but... it could work." She explained.

"Melody...are you sure? You've already paid us back more than enough for saving you. You don't have to go risking your life like this." Jason compassionately rebutted.

"I know... but I want to help you all," She replied, before her eyes fell to the table between them, "Besides... it'd be... kinda cool to say I was one of the only ponies to sail to the island." She shrugged.

Jason kept his gaze level on her, before glancing over to Eddie and Tempest to gauge their reactions. Eddie simply gave him a noncommittal nod in response, while Tempest chewed on her cheek in thought. After a few seconds, she turned to face him and gave a small nod. With that, Jason looked back at the chocolate mare in front of him and sighed.

"Well... I think we'd be damn near suicidal to pass up that offer. If you're willing to take us there, then we're more than happy to have you on board, Melody." He said, giving her a soft smile.

Melody gave a shaky nod in return before a small smile formed on her muzzle.

"Thank you... I'm still not one hundred percent sure what we'll find out there, but I hope that it works out for all of you." She replied.

Jason gave a small nod before glancing down at his bracelet once more. The color was the same as before, but a slight frown found its way on his face, before he looked over at Eddie.

"Have you guys not told her yet?" Jason asked.

"Told me what?" Melody questioned, glancing between the two men curiously.

"No... We've, uh... we've been a little too busy up until now." Eddie quietly replied.

"Melody..." Jason said, earning her attention, "We're going to the island because we're dying. Eddie, Rebecca, and I... We've only got a few months before we die."

"What? How?" Melody questioned, looking back and forth between Eddie and Jason.

"It's a long story, but the short of it, is that this planet's magic is killing us. At least, on this side of the planet... Not sure about our boys back in the landing zone. Anyways, we were told that there might be some crystals on that island that can save us. That's why we're going there." Jason elaborated.

"Oh my gosh..." She trailed off.

"Yeah... Just thought you should know all of the details before you agree fully." Jason said, giving a sympathetic smile.

"I... I understand," Melody said, pensively looking at the table between them, "And... I know that I want to help you. I'm in. One hundred percent." She declared, finding strength in her voice as she went along.

"Are you sure? It could be a suicide mission through and through." Jason countered.

"Well... I'm not backing out now... Have to make his sacrifice worth something..." Melody replied, feeling her heart ache as she said the words.

A sad silence quickly wafted over the table as everyone thought over exactly who she was referring to, and a few sad sighs escaped the group as they paused.

"Melody..." Jason started.

"I'm not doing this because I owe you anything... I'm doing this because if you all die... then he only died for me... and I can't live with that... not when I can help save the rest of you." She firmly interjected, her tone full of uncharacteristic strength for the chocolate unicorn.

"Alright. Well, looks like we have our crew then, huh?" Jason replied, giving a half smirk to the rest of the table.

"Sure does." Rebecca chuckled.

"So when do we leave?" Midnight asked.

"If you and Sky are still coming with us, we'll leave as soon as he's all healed up." Jason replied.

"What do you mean 'if'? Of course we're still coming with you." Midnight defensively countered.

"Alright, alright. I just wasn't sure... with the pregnancy and whatnot." Jason shrugged.

"Pregnancy? Wait, you're pregnant?" Melody exclaimed, looking back at Midnight.

An embarrassed blush quickly formed on Midnight's face as she looked down at the table.

"Yes... I'm only a few weeks along though - It won't be a problem until after we're back." She replied.

"I - but... you... you can't go to the island if you're pregnant!" Melody nearly shouted, "You could kill yourself and your foal!" 

"I-" Midnight began to reply, before Jason spoke up.

"Melody, we've already had this talk with Midnight. She's aware of the risks and both her and Sky have accepted them. I was only asking to make sure her feelings on it hadn't changed over the last week." 

Melody moved to respond, but was again cut off as Tempest jumped in.

"Besides, we're going to make sure nothing bad happens to her. We've been taking care of each other so far. What's another few months together on a boat?" She added.

Melody gave a defeated sigh before slumping back down in her chair.

"Fine... but you're not doing anything physical the whole trip... You can be the cook." Melody begrudgingly acquiesced.

"That works." Rebecca shrugged.

"How's your cooking?" Jason asked, cocking an eyebrow back as he glanced over at Midnight.

"It's... pretty good. At least, Sky never complains." Midnight responded with a small shrug.

"Well, there we go. We got a cook... what else do we need for this trip?" Rebecca asked.

"Well... If the ship has a magic powered motor, we won't have any trouble with sails and all that... I'd need to see the ship for myself to be sure." Melody replied.

"It better not have any sails, otherwise we're all gonna need to learn a whole lot about sailing real fuckin' quick." Rebecca added.

"How big is it?" Jason asked.

"Maybe... a hundred feet long. Forty feet wide?" Rebecca answered, chewing her cheek as she thought.

"Well, how's about we go and check it out. We can see from there." Jason suggested.

"Alright. It shouldn't be too hard to find." Melody agreed.

"You guys go ahead. I'm gonna go check on Sky." Midnight said, slipping off her chair and heading back toward the room.

"Alright, if we don't see you over there, we'll see you in about an hour or so." Jason replied as the rest of the group made their way to the front door of the hospital.

As they headed outside, Midnight quickly made her way to Sky's room and gave a hesitant knock on the door. A few moments of silence passed before a muffled 'come in' reached her ears, and she opened the door.

Sky was still laid out on the bed, his hooves and parts of his barrel all wrapped in bandages. He had an apathetic look on his face as his eyes stayed trained on the outside world through the window. He didn't turn to acknowledge Midnight as she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, nor when she took a seat right next to him, almost in his line of sight.

"Sky..." She began, "I know you're upset about Mike... we all are... but there was nothing any of us could do."

Her words came softly, and slowly, but even then they made Sky visibly wince.

"I just..." Sky sighed, "The whole point of us coming was to get them to the island safely... and we failed." He replied, his eyes falling to the floor between them.

"We did everything we could. You did everything you could. I wish Mike were still here... we all do... but... sometimes, there's just nothing we can do. We just have to accept the little victories while we can." Midnight responded, her hoof quickly finding it's way to Sky's cheek.

"I know... I just wish we could have saved them all..." He whispered.

"Me too... Me too." She replied.

"Could you... stay here with me? For a bit?" Sky asked, his sad eyes looking up to her as his muzzle pointed at the ground.

"Of course, big guy." Midnight softly replied with a smile.

The graphite mare laid down on the bed with her stallion and wrapped her hooves around him. She was careful not to touch his bandaged hooves, and soon found a comfortable position laying beside him. For the first time in a long time, Sky nestled his muzzle in the crook of her neck, and she placed a gentle kiss on his forehead as she held him tightly.





Jason, Tempest, Eddie, Rebecca, and Melody walked along the dock to find only one ship tied off at the end of the platform. It was a large, white ship that closely resembled a fishing vessel with two large wings that could be extended outward or retracted for storage. At the moment, the wings were retracted, and the ship calmly rose and fell with the swell of the incoming waves as they hit the shoreline. 

"Well... she doesn't have any sails." Jason remarked.

"He." Melody corrected.

Jason, Eddie, and Rebecca all simultaneously raised an eyebrow.

"What? Are ships referred to as female where you come from?" Melody asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Uh... yeah. You guys refer to them as male?" Jason asked, curiously glancing at Tempest.

"Yes. That's interesting." Tempest noted, tapping her chin in thought.

"Maybe that's just a... different culture kind of thing... Anyways, let's go check this ship out." Jason shook his head as he stepped on the boat, Tempest following quickly behind.

"He got a name?" Eddie gruffly asked, motioning to the docked ship.

"Sure does. Lemme just see real quick..." Melody replied, breaking into a quick trot toward the front of the boat,.

"Weird how all the genders roles are kinda reversed here, huh?" Rebecca mentioned as she watched Melody.

"I think it's because there's just so many more mares than stallions. Who knows?" Eddie shrugged.

"It's called the Stellar Flare." Melody called from the front of the ship.

"Huh? That's actually a pretty cool name for a boat." Rebecca shrugged.

With that, they all stepped onto the boat and looked around the quite open stern. The main cabin was closed off from the outside world, and there was a second floor that could only hold the bridge of the ship, judging by its location. As the three continued to glance around, the door in front of them abruptly opened, allowing Jason and Tempest to step out onto the deck.

"Welp, it's nothing special. Tight, dark, magically powered engine. As long as it can survive any rough weather, we'll be fine." Tempest remarked, shrugging slightly as she glanced back behind her.

"That's all it needs to do." Jason replied, before seeing the rest of the group, "What took you guys so long? We already checked out the rest of the ship." 

"Nothing. We were just taking a look at something." Eddie flatly replied, before stepping between Jason and Tempest to head inside the ship.

Melody and Rebecca shared a quick glance before looking over at Jason.

"He's been kinda like that all day... He's really beat up about Mike." Rebecca frowned.

Jason merely sighed and looked over to the open ocean.

"I don't know if he blames me or himself over it... I haven't really had the chance to talk to him." He half-heartedly shook his head.

"Well, now's as good a time as any. You should go talk to him." Tempest said, giving Jason an implicative nod toward the door.

"I don't know... It's only been a day since we told him." Jason replied.

"I'm with Tempest. You're his best friend. If nothing else, you can at least get an answer." Rebecca added.

Jason sighed.

"Alright. I'll go talk to him. You guys just... do whatever up here." He replied, before heading through the door into the ship.

Jason walked down a few steps and arrived at the crews quarters. It was easy to spot Eddie. He was standing next to one of the bunks at the end of the room and staring out a small porthole. For a few moments, neither of them did anything except stand there in silence. Jason awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and glanced around the fairly spartan room before clearing his throat and gaining Eddie's attention.

"Hey." 

Eddie did not turn to acknowledge him, but his response came all the same.

"Hey."

"You, uh... you alright, Ed?" Jason asked, the beginnings of a frown forming on his face.

"Yeah... yeah I'm alright. Just been thinking a lot." Eddie replied.

"You? Thinking? Now I know the world's going to shit." Jason chuckled, although it was short lived, as Eddie stayed silent.

Jason bit his lip and tried again.

"Um... Look, I know we haven't had much time to just stop and talk since this whole thing began, but I need to talk to you, man. You're not acting like yourself." He said.

Eddie let out a sigh.

"What do you want from me, Jason? We lost our best friend and you're over there taking it like you barely knew the guy." He replied, barely sparing a glance back at him.

"Eddie... Come on, man. You know that I loved Mike. He was my brother, and so are you... I mean... You said it yourself, we can mourn him once we're safe." Jason countered.

"Easier said than done..." Eddie bitterly whispered, "You and Tempest sure have gotten close." He added, finally turning to face Jason fully.

"We have... That has nothing to do with what we're talking about right now though... Dude, I get it... We went though this when we lost Johnny too... but please, for the love of God, don't accuse me of what I think you're about to accuse me of." Jason replied, shaking his head.

"What? Fucking the locals? 'Cause I don't need to accuse you of anything, you and her made more than enough noise last night." Eddie spat, his words suddenly laced with venom.

"What Tempest and I do in our spare time is none of your god damn business." Jason replied, his tone quickly filling with resentment.

"So, what? You couldn't wait more than a couple hours after telling us that Mike's dead to fuck your new girlfriend?" Eddie countered, taking a step toward Jason.

"Eddie." Jason said, clenching his jaw.

"You just wanted to get a good lay in so fucking bad that you couldn't wait until a little later after you'd given us the news about Mike?" Eddie continued, taking another step.

"Ed, I'm warning you..." Jason started.

"I bet you left him to die just so you could get some alien pussy, you-" Eddie fumed, before Jason punched him in the face.

His arm moved faster than Eddie could react, and the fist soundly connected with his cheekbone, knocking him off balance and down to the floor. For a few seconds, his vision spun, before he shook his head clear, and looked up at Jason as he now towered over him.

"If I could trade myself for Mike, I would. I wish so fucking bad that I had died and not him, and you know what? I wish that sniper had taken me instead of Johnny too. Don't you ever, ever accuse me of leaving my friends to die. As for me and Tempest... I'm sorry. What happened last night... I was weak... I needed someone to be with, to give me comfort in one of my darkest moments... and she gave herself to me, fully. What I feel for her... I don't know if I can call it 'love' just yet, but it's pretty damn close. You ever compare her to a cheap lay to scratch an itch again, and I'll break your fucking jaw." Jason seethed, his fists clenched, and his muscles rigid.

Eddie looked down to the floor and spat out a bit of blood.

"Are we clear?" Jason asked, his tone still drenched in anger.

"Yeah." Eddie bitterly replied.

"Good. We set sail as soon as Sky is healed up."
> Chapter 19: Time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Three Days later


"Alright, are we good to go?" Jason asked, looking back at the dock in case there was something still not on the ship.

"Yep, I think we got it all. Enough food and water for six months of travel... Still not sure how we fit that down below..." Rebecca shook her head as she looked at the checklist in her hands.

"Well, I hate to say it, but it is kinda fitting." Jason started.

"Magic?" Melody chimed in, stepping away from the railing.

"Yep." Jason nodded.

"Yeah... anyways, we have water, all the navigation equipment we could possibly need, and even some fishing equipment in case... well, we run out of food." Rebecca shrugged.

"Well it should be a three month journey there, and three months back. Here's hoping things don't go squirmy on us once we're out there in the open ocean." Melody replied, before heading into the crew quarters.

"Here's hoping." Jason echoed.

"Alright, then we got everything we need. Ready to set sail as soon as the three of them get here." Rebecca added, checking off a small box on her checklist.

"And speak of the devil," Jason said, pointing at the docks, "I think I see them." 

The rest of the group turned to look and quickly found Eddie, Midnight, and Sky as they walked along the dock toward the boat. The crimson pegasus gave a short wave to the group as he reached the ship and stepped on board, Midnight and Eddie following just behind.

"Hey guys. Thanks for waiting up for me." Sky joked, giving a friendly grin.

"Well I wasn't leaving without getting the hug you owe me." Rebecca replied, smirking mischievously. 

Sky nervously gulped as he backtracked slightly.

"Uh, hehe... well whatdoya know, I left... a thing back there, I'm just gonna go get it, okay thanks bye." He quickly said before turning around and trotting to the deck.

"Oh no you don't!" Rebecca shouted as she dove forward and tacked him to the ground.

"Ah come on!" Sky groaned as Rebecca's arms quickly wrapped around his barrel and squeezed him tightly.

"Hehe, I guess you did make a promise." Midnight chuckled at the scene in front of her hooves.

"Mid... save me... please..." Sky wheezed through the hug.

"Sorry big guy. You did promise to give her a good hug." Midnight replied, an evil grin forming on her face.

"Traitor..." Sky groaned as Rebecca sat upright and pulled him in even closer to nuzzle her cheek against his mane.

"Oh man you're so fluffy..." Rebecca giggled as she rubbed her hands into his chest fluff.

Sky looked at the rest of the group to find smirks and barely restrained laughter from the majority of the crew.

"Are any of you gonna help me out of this?" Sky pleaded, kicking his legs in vain.

"Sorry, bud. This is just too precious." Jason chuckled.

"I would help... but honestly it isn't my place to tell Rebecca to stop hugging anyone." Tempest added, a small giggle escaping her lips as well.

Sky looked to Eddie for help, but found him already turned around and heading inside. With a resigned sigh, he accepted his fate and slouched back into the hug.

"Five minutes." He grumbled.

"Ten." She immediately replied.

"Seven and a half." Sky countered.

"Twe-lve" Rebecca sing-songed.

"Jesus... fine. Ten." Sky relented.

Rebecca tightened her hold on him just a bit more.

"Yay!" She cheered.

As Rebecca continued to assault Sky with affection, Jason, Tempest, and Midnight turned to Melody as she stepped out on deck from the crew's quarters.

"Um..." She started as her eyes fell on Sky and Rebecca.

"She's getting the hug Sky owes her." Midnight explained.

"Oh! Right, okay. Anyways," Melody replied, turning back toward the group, "We're all prepped and ready to go. Everypony's on board and we can set sail whenever you like." 

"Good. We've got about four and a half months left. Here's hoping we get there in three." Jason replied, sparing a quick glance down at his wristband.

"Okay. Can one of you untie us from the dock?" Melody replied before heading to the crew quarters doorway once more, "I'll be up in the bridge."

"I got it." Tempest replied.

The mulberry unicorn quickly made her way over to the port side of the ship and found the anchored rope tethering them to the dock. With a quick motion of her hooves, the rope was untied and the ship was freely floating in the water. 

"Alright, we're free!" She called, loud enough so that Melody could hear.

Rather than a verbal reply, the sound of an engine starting up filled the air, and bubbly water quickly formed behind the aft. A few moments later, the ship jolted forward slightly, and began it's cruise out of the docks.

"Welp... Say goodbye to land for a while." Jason said as the coast grew further and further away.

"It's not a goodbye... It's a... see you later." Tempest replied, giving a small smile as she watched the coast with him.

"Heh, you know what, you're right. See you later, Ponpei." Jason replied, returning a smile.

With that, they turned around and walked back over to Sky and Rebecca as she continued to nuzzle his mane and idly stroke her hands through his chest fluff.

"Alright, Chief. I think you've had poor Sky as your prisoner for long enough." Jason chuckled.

"Aww... Five more minutes?" Rebecca replied, giving her best puppy dog eyes.

"That's up to Sky." Jason shrugged.

"Well, what do you say, little fluffy buddy?" Rebecca asked, giving another tight squeeze.

"Ugh... fine..." Sky grumbled.

Rebecca did a double take.

"Wait... Really?" She asked.

"Even I'm surprised by that." Midnight chimed in, a surprised look on her face.

"Well... you're not squeezing me too hard... and it kinda... feels nice... with your hand... on my fluff..." Sky trailed off, a dark red blush appearing on his face.

A wide grin spread on Rebecca's face.

"Aww!"

She squeezed him tight against her chest.

"Too tight... too... tight..." Sky wheezed.


.

.

.

.

.



One Week Later


Jason massaged his temples as the painful migraine pounded against his brain. His eyes were shut tight, and he angrily clenched his fists as the pain hit him again and again. He wasn't sure how long it lasted. It could have only been for a few seconds, or minutes, but the pain and pressure in his head was so intense that tears threatened to spill free at any moment, until the migraine eventually let up, and he could finally relax. 

Jason sighed and glanced out the small porthole to see the blackness of night time on the ocean, and the bright twinkling of stars against the waves. He pulled himself out of bed  and glanced down to find that his sweat had fully soaked the sheets. He gave another quiet sigh before looking around the room to find the rest of the crew sleeping. Biting his lip and pushing himself to his feet, he slowly trudged his way to the stairs. Once there, he quickly ascended to the bridge, and found Tempest at the helm. Upon seeing him enter, she quickly turned in her seat and gave him a curious look.

"What're you doing up this late? Your shift isn't until tomorrow morning." She said.

"Had another migraine. Bed's all sweaty and nasty so I figured I'd just come up here and hang out with you for a bit." Jason replied, his voice lacking it's usual strength.

"Oh... Are you okay?" Tempest replied, hopping off her chair and making her way over to him.

"I'll be alright. It's just painful is all." Jason sighed as he sat down on the floor to better match her height.

Tempest stepped up to his side and placed a hoof against his forehead. The soft contact of her fetlock against his skin brought a gentle smile to his face, and Jason lovingly looked at her as she bit her lip in thought.

"I'm... not sure what I can do to help... I can get you some water if that would help?" She offered, bringing her hoof back to the ground.

"That's alright. I can get some when I go back to sleep. I just wanted to give you company for a bit. Thought that might take my mind off it or something I guess." Jason shrugged.

Tempest smiled.

"Well, if you're willing to stay here with me, then it would make this shift a lot better." She said as she wrapped her hooves around him in a loving hug.

Jason happily returned the gesture, and for a few moments, they simply held each other in silence. The residual pain in Jason's head simply faded away as the mulberry unicorn held him close, and he squeezed her ever tighter in thanks. Soon enough, they parted from each other, and headed back to the helm. Tempest took her seat and looked out over the ocean as Jason sat down beside her and did the same.

"I'm glad you and Melody have some experience sailing. It would have made this a lot harder if she would have had to teach all of us how to stay on course." Jason said, glancing back at Tempest.

"Well, sailing is more of a catch-all phrase for what I did. Luckily air ships navigate the same way boats do. You just have to look a little higher up when you're all the way down here though." Tempest chuckled.

"Heh, I guess that does make sense, doesn't it." Jason chuckled as well.

"You know, now that you're here, I do have a question for you." Tempest said, turning to look at him.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Jason asked.

"What was your life like before the war? Your home, I mean. What was it like?" 

Jason pursed his lips and glanced down at the floor for a few seconds before responding.

"Well... Earth is hi-tech. Where I grew up, everything was man-made. I don't think I saw real grass until I was twelve, and even then, it was just in a park." He recalled, causing a steady frown to form on Tempest's face.

"That... sounds awful." 

"Heh, it wasn't the best. People - we, uh, we need things like trees, plants, nature, and whatnot to grow up healthy. Our brains need that stuff to really grow and develop. Most cities these days are trying to put as much green around as possible, but... well... you can tell it's fake, you know?" Jason sighed.

"I'm sorry that you grew up in that. Was there anywhere you could go to see some nature? At all?" Tempest pressed, tilting her head to the side.

"Heh, I wish. Most of Earth is crowded and colonized thanks to overpopulation. People live to a hundred and thirty these days and you have people popping out seven kids over their lifetime in some places. It's just too much for the poor planet I guess." 

"How... how do you deal with that kind of an issue?" She asked, a sad look on her face.

"Well... people like Sky. Finding new planets and colonizing them. We've grown too much for our own planet, so now we need to go find others. Been that way for over a hundred years." Jason replied.

"I suppose that does make sense. Still, I'm sorry you had to grow up like that." Tempest responded, giving a sympathetic smile.

"Eh, don't be. If it wasn't for that, I don't think I'd be so in love with your planet." Jason shrugged.

"Heh, Eques sure is beautiful, isn't it?" Tempest replied, looking up at the night sky aurora. 

"It is... and some of the locals aren't too bad either." Jason teased, leaning toward the mulberry unicorn.

Tempest felt a small blush creep up her face, before she leaned over toward Jason until their faces were just a few inches apart.

"Aren't you just a smooth talker." She purred.

"What can I say? The more time I spend with you, the more I like you." Jason replied.

For another moment, they held each other's gaze, then they kissed.




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One Month Later


Eddie heaved the fishing net out of the water with all his strength, finally pulling it free from the arctic sea. With a heavy grunt, he pulled the net onto the deck, and its payload of fish along with it. Jason and Rebecca quickly grabbed the net and pulled it over to the center of the ship where Melody was already waiting for them. They quickly opened the net and pulled the dozens of fish out for Melody to grab with her magic and sort appropriately. 

It was a simple affair, and soon enough the fish were all sorted by species. The fish with any deformities were promptly tossed off the ship and back into the water. As they finished, Sky and Midnight made their way over to the center of the deck to join in.

"Hmm... So what do we have?" Sky asked, eyeing the fish curiously.

"Looks like a lot of salt water salmon.... and maybe some trout?" Midnight replied, leaning in closer.

"Yeah. Looks that way. Should be a good amount of food for the week." Jason shrugged.

"If I have your species' caloric needs right, then this fish should be more than enough for the three of you for at least a week." Melody chimed in, scratching her chin in thought.

"Yeah, I think we'll be good. Just need to make sure we get some fruit and veges in there and we won't get sick or anything." Jason replied.

"I hope we have enough food down below... we've still got two months of this shit to go." Rebecca added.

"We'll be alright. We've still got more than enough for the rest of the trip." Jason calmly replied.

"Hey, uh... is Eddie alright?" Midnight asked, directing all eyes to the man who had thus far been silent. 

Eddie was leaned over the side rail with his hands on his head. Even through his bodysuit, his muscles were visibly tense, and he almost seemed to be shaking.

"Hey, uh... Eddie? You alright?" Rebecca asked.

There was no reply.

"Eddie?" She asked again, taking a few steps toward him.

Rebecca moved to place her hand on his shoulder, but just as she moved, Eddie suddenly stood upright, and turned away from her. He took a few steps before wincing in pain and dropping to a knee, his hand coming up to his forehead once more.

"Ed!" Jason exclaimed, quickly moving to his side.

Jason placed his hands on Eddie's shoulder and leaned down to his height. His muscles were tense and for a few seconds, it was unclear if he was going to be able to recover. 

Just as everyone on the deck converged on him, Eddie finally recovered enough to stand up, and harshly pull away from Jason. 

"I'm fine... Just another migraine." He muttered, before storming off away from the group and into the crew quarters.

Everyone on the deck stared after him for several seconds in a stunned silence, before Sky spoke up.

"Uh... What's his problem?" He asked.

"I know he's been really quiet lately, but that was just... not like him. At least, I don't think it was..." Melody added.

Jason sighed.

"It's probably best you guys don't worry too much about it. It's a personal thing between me and him. None of your faults." He admitted.

"What happened?" Midnight asked.

"It's a long story... Suffice to say... He blames me for losing Mike... and he's not happy about me and Tempest... Especially so soon after we lost him." Jason explained, taking a seat against the railing.

"What!? How can he blame you for Mike? You did everything you could!" Midnight exclaimed.

"I know, I know. Look, don't give him any grief over it. While I've had Tempest to lean on... He's had nobody. Ed's got his own problems already, and losing one of our best and only friends hasn't been easy for him... Just give him some space if he needs it." Jason replied.

"Wait... you and Tempest are a thing?" Rebecca asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Where have you been the last two months?" Sky sarcastically asked, cocking an eyebrow back.

"I hate to agree with Sky there... but it has been kinda obvious." Midnight added, giving an apologetic shrug.

"Have you not seen them kissing and nuzzling each other just about every time they see one another?" Melody chimed in.

"Uh... geez... alright then... I remember you two snuggling up to each other but I didn't think you... liked ponies like that." Rebecca replied, giving a surprised look to Jason.

"Neither did I." Jason chuckled.

"Well... congrats..." Rebecca awkwardly replied.

"Thank you." 

"Okay, anyways... so, what? Eddie is pissed that you and Tempest got together and he didn't get with a pony?" Sky asked.

"I don't think he's into ponies, dude." Jason sighed.

"Well shit, there goes your chance, Melody." Sky tsked.

"W-what?" Melody asked.

"What's with you guys all trying to get with the ponies? Besides, if anyone's gonna bang Melody, it's gonna be me." Rebecca shook her head.

"Hold up... what?" Sky did a double take.

Melody looked back and forth between Rebecca and the rest of the group while a hot blush formed on her face.

"Uh... I... um..." She stuttered.

"Anyways," Jason spoke up, "Changing the subject... if you guys have any ideas that might... I don't know, make Eddie a little less pissed off, I'm all ears." 

"I don't think we can just change the subject like that, man." Sky rebutted.

"We can, and we are. Come on, Midnight, help me out here." Jason replied.

"Jason's right, Sky. Focus." She chastised, lightly tapping Sky on the forehead.

"Alright, alright. Fine. We'll just let that go I guess." Sky relented, rolling his eyes.

"Good. Now, like I said, any ideas?" Jason asked.

"Well, I mean... you could always try talking to him again?" Rebecca suggested.

"I don't know... It's been a month and he's barely spoken to me." Jason sighed.

"What if you let him come to you instead? You might be forcing it if you keep coming to him." Midnight offered.

"Even after a month?" Jason countered.

"You never know. He might need a lot of time. Everypony handles grief differently."

"Hmm... Alright... We'll see how it goes." Jason replied.


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Some time later


Jason, Tempest, Sky, and a slightly noticeably pregnant Midnight laid out on the deck together, staring up at the stars. They were all bundled up in blankets and cold weather jackets. Jason and Tempest laid together, the mulberry mare warmly held in his embrace as she nuzzled her cheek into his neck and stared up at the stars with him. Beside them, Sky was spooning Midnight, his cheek resting on her small baby bump and a wide smile on his lips as his gaze kept flicking back and forth between her bump and her eyes. 

For quite some time, they were more than content to simply hold onto each other in the cold and stare up at the beautiful display of stars over their heads. Even Melody and Rebecca enjoyed the view from inside the warmth of the bridge.

"You know... I don't even know how long we've been sailing anymore but I think I could get used to this." Jason said, just loud enough for only Tempest to hear him.

"I think it's been somewhere between two and three months... How's your head?" She asked, looking up to him.

"It's alright... for now. Last migraine lasted for thirty minutes though... That one brought the total to three this week." Jason replied, sparing a glance to his wristband. The inside now shown a bright yellow, and the tiniest trace of a frown appeared on his brow before he looked away.

Tempest bit her lip and glanced away.

"Well we're almost there, so don't worry. We'll get you taken care of soon. Just gotta hang in there for a little longer." She whispered, the trembling in her voice still easily detected by Jason.

"You're right. We're gonna make it, and everything's gonna be okay." He confirmed, stroking his fingers through her mane.

As Jason and Tempest continued to comfort each other, Sky and Midnight continued to share quick glances, forcing a small grin to form on the graphite mare's face.

"What are you doing?' She teased.

"Just looking back and forth between the two most beautiful things in the world." Sky casually replied, nuzzling his cheek against her belly.

"Hehe, Sky that tickles... and you aren't even looking at the stars." She replied, playfully rolling her eyes.

"I know what I said." He replied, before planting a kiss on her belly.

"Aww..." Midnight blushed.

Sky pulled away and shuffled up along her back until he was completely spooning her once more. He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek before she turned to kiss him back, and their lips connected. Across from them, Jason and Tempest stared with raised eyebrows and barely restrained chuckles.

"Hehe... no shame, those two." Jason quipped. 

"Nope... none at all." Tempest added.

For a few seconds, they glanced back and forth between each other before quickly closing the distance and kissing each other as well. 


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An unknown amount of time later


"You left him to die!" Eddie shouted, slamming his fist into the wall.

"I did everything I could to save him! He let go of my hand and I tried with everything I had to hold onto him! I've told you that three god damn times!" Jason shouted back.

"Guys! Stop, that's enough!" Rebecca interjected.

"Stay out of this!" Eddie shouted, before turning back and pointing at Jason, "Just fucking admit you chose her over him!"

"There wasn't a choice to make! For fuck's sake, why can't you get that through your fucking thick skull?! I held onto both of them for as long as I could!" Jason rebutted, gritting his teeth.

"Guys! Enough!" Rebecca screamed, physically pushing them away from each other.

"You left our friend to die!" Eddie shouted, completely ignoring her.

"Mother fucker, I couldn't have tried any harder to save him!" Jason angrily responded.

"You gave the order to leave! You told me to leave! I could have saved him!" Eddie barked.

"If I had done that, we'd all be dead! You, me, Mike, and every pony here!" Jason snarled, pointing back to the four ponies in the room for emphasis.

"We don't leave men behind! And you left him!" Eddie snapped back.

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh before readdressing Eddie with a much lower and calmer tone.

"Ed... He let go of my hand. He fell and the fucking volcano erupted. What do you want from me, man?" He asked, his tone filled with exasperation.

"I want my brothers back!" Eddie cried, tears welling in his eyes.

For a few moments, the room was filled with nothing other than the sound of Eddie's heavy breathing as everyone else took in his words. With all eyes on him, the man slowly turned away and walked over to the nearest wall. He stood there for only a moment before punching the metal with all his might, and hunching over. He stared at the floor for a while before finally speaking once more.

"I just want... my friends back... and when I see you two living it up and having a grand old time... It feels like you just don't care." Eddie vented, his voice so low that Jason had to strain to hear it.

"Ed... I get what you're saying... I do... but man... If we let his death tear us apart like this... we'll never make it. We'll just fail and die out here." Jason replied, taking a hesitant step toward him.

A single tear hit the floor, and Jason took another step forward.

"How do you do it? How the fuck do you stay so calm when we lost our best friend?" Eddie asked, squeezing his eyes shut.

Jason took another step forward while Rebecca shoo'd the ponies out of the room.

"I'm a mess too, Ed... I'm only keeping it together because of Tempest... I know you don't approve... and I know that sometimes it looks like we don't care about what we've lost... but I promise you... I'm hurting just as much as you are, man. Mike was my brother and I loved him like a brother." Jason replied, finding himself just a step away from Eddie.

"Fuck, man... at least you have someone... Even Rebecca kinda has Melody at least." Eddie shook his head.

"Ed... You're my best friend. You have been for over ten years... I'm tired of this fighting between us. If you blame me for losing Mike... then I get it... and I'm sorry... but you know me. You know that I would never leave anyone behind unless it was literally impossible to get them back." Jason comforted, placing his hand on Eddie's shoulder.

"I just... just give me some time... okay?" Eddie replied, not even acknowledging Jason's hand.

Taking the hint, Jason pulled away and stood upright.

"Alright, man... If you need to talk, just remember that I'm here for you. Everyone is." Jason replied.

Eddie gave a short nod before Jason turned around and walked out from the crew quarters. It only took a moment for him to find the rest of the crew out on the deck, patiently waiting for his return. Tempest was the first to notice him, and quickly trotted over.

"Is he okay?" She asked, a concerned look on her face.

"I hope so. I think I got through to him... Somewhat. Hopefully he'll be a bit better from now on." Jason replied, kneeling down to her level.

"I've never seen him explode like that. You think he just held it in all this time?" Sky asked, glancing back at the doorway.

"He's been pretty upset over losing Mike... He just placed the blame in the wrong spot is all." Rebecca responded, giving a small shake of her head.

"I hope he gets better... After we get off the island, I'm still not sure how you two are getting back to the rest of the fleet." Jason replied.

"Wait, what do you mean 'you two'? You're... you're staying here?" Rebecca asked, her eyebrows knitted up in confusion.

"I am. I've gotten just a little too attached to the locals." Jason said, scratching just behind Tempest's ear and earning a loving nuzzle in return.

"Jesus... any more massive revelations you wanna spring on me before we're done with this trip?" Rebecca questioned, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Wait, Jason, you're staying for good?" Sky chimed in, taking a hesitant step forward.

"Yep. Not too sure where I'm gonna go yet, but I'm guessing it's gonna be a castle... if they let me stick around." Jason shrugged.

"Oh they will. Twilight will have no problem with you staying, I can promise that." Tempest replied, smiling up at him.

"Well shit... Guess I won't be the only human around any more." Sky added, giving a happy grin.

"Looks that way." Jason returned a smile.

"Well, anyways... we should probably worry about all that stuff once we're done with this trip. I think I see a thunderstorm up ahead." Midnight spoke up.

All eyes on the deck turned toward the front of the ship to see massive black clouds and intense waves crashing about just  a hundred miles ahead of the ship.

"Hey, uh... isn't the island supposed to be in the middle of a perpetual storm or something?" Sky nervously asked, as he watched lightning bolts dance across the storm clouds.

"I think the map made some mention of it..." Jason hesitantly replied.

"How long have we been at sea? Do... do you think that's it?" Rebecca asked, looking back and forth between the group.

"I'll ask Melody." Jason replied.

He quickly broke off from the group and climbed the ladder to the bridge. Inside, he could see Melody plotting their course on the map, and hastily looking back up at the storm. With another quick glance at the blackened skies, Jason opened the door and stepped inside.

"Is that where the island's supposed to be?" He asked.

"I... um... I think so... We've been at sea long enough... and all my navigation equipment is pointing us in that direction..." Melody replied, after a nervous gulp.

"Then we head straight into it." Jason replied.

"What!?" Melody exclaimed.

"We don't have the resources to skirt around and look for a better way to get there. We're gonna have to go straight through until we hit the island." Jason said, giving a determined glance to the storm clouds.

"But... Jason, the waves must be three hundred feet high! The ship will capsize! We'll all drown!" Melody panicked.

"I trust you and Tempest. You'll get us through. No worries." He gave a small smile.

"I... but..." Melody sighed, "I hope you're right about this." 

"Me too." Jason  replied.


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Twelve Hours Later


Rain pounded against the windows of the bridge, and massive waves threatened to swamp the ship as it plowed into the water at full speed. Behind the helm, Tempest struggled to keep them on course as the force of the crashing waves threatened to capsize their ship. Standing just behind her, Jason braced himself against her chair as the ship dropped from the top of a colossal swell, and slammed into the water a hundred feet below. Beside him, Melody kept her gaze glued to the map, while her horn plotted out a course of light for Tempest to follow. 

"Please don't die, please don't die, please don't die." Melody whimpered as she fought to simply stay in her seat.

"We'll be fine. You guys just keep it up, you're doing great," Jason replied, before turning around and yelling down the stairs, "How're you guys holding up down there?!"

In the crew quarters, Midnight, Sky, Rebecca, and Eddie held onto whatever they could to keep from being flung around the ship as it crashed into yet another enormous swell.

"I think I'm gonna be sea-sick..." Rebecca groaned.

"Think you could... I don't know, not hit every wave in existence!?" Sky shouted back.

"Ugh... this is making my stomach twist..." Midnight pouted.

"We're doing our best! Just hold on down there, we're about to hit the worst of it!" Jason called.

"Worst!? You mean this isn't the worst yet?!" Eddie replied.

"If you think this is bad... Then don't come up here and look out the window." Jason responded, as a titanic wave, over three hundred feet high loomed in front of them.
> Chapter 20: The Island
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ships climbed with all its might against the still rising swell of the colossal wave, eventually reaching a nearly vertical incline on the rushing water.

"Anybody got any ideas!" Jason shouted as he hung onto Tempest's chair, his feet dangling toward the back of the ship.

"We're gonna fucking die!" Rebecca cried out.

"Not like this, not like this, not like this, not like this!" Melody chimed in, her eyes wide in terror.

"Does this fucking thing have any boost!?" Eddie called out, struggling to climb the stairs to the bridge.

"I'm giving it all he's got!" Tempest responded, eyeing the maxed out gauges in front of her.

"Maybe we should have stayed at port..." Midnight fearfully whispered as Sky held onto her tightly.

"Can we supercharge this engine or something!?" Jason exclaimed.

"No time!" Tempest shouted.

The ship reared back as the full force of gravity took effect against it's hull, and it slowly tipped backward in the swell. Over a hundred feet above the water-line, the ship quickly slipped back down the wave and completely tipped over, capsizing on it's top, and slamming into the water below. Immediately, every window in the bridge shattered, and ice cold water rushed in, instantly flooding the room. Jason, Tempest, and Melody were slammed into the back wall of the bridge by the force of the rushing water, and momentum of the ship slamming back into the ocean.

Below them, or rather above now, the bridge stairs quickly flooded with rushing sea water, blocking out the light and filling the room with freezing water. Sky, Midnight, Rebecca, and Eddie barely had time to take a breath in before they were completely submerged. Any lights in the ship were quickly extinguished, and everyone inside was plunged into darkness. 

Struggling to get his bearings in a now blacked out and upside down ship, Jason pinched his nose closed, and attempted to right himself. He was vaguely aware of water moving around him, and reached out a hand to grab the struggling pony to his right. The pony in question only seemed to panic more, and struggled in vain to reach the surface, although it was obvious that they were completely disorientated.

Jason reached out to his left to find the other pony in the bridge, but only found water. He blindly felt around while holding onto what he could only assume was the nape of Melody's neck. After continuing to find nothing, and feeling his lungs burn for oxygen, he pushed himself toward the window, dragging the flailing pony along with him. They were just about to reach the nearest window when the rush of water threw the back against the wall again, and their world spun once more. 

Jason rolled about with the pony in his arms as a bright light flashed before him, and suddenly, the water drained from the bridge, giving room to breathe. Almost as fast as it flooded, the bridge emptied it's water content, and left a retching Jason holding onto an equally oxygen deprived Melody.

As soon as they got their breaths back, they glanced at each other, then around the room, finding crashing waves and pouring water all around them. 

"What... the fuck... just happened?" Jason breathed.

"I... I think the wave flipped us back over." Melody replied.

Jason took one more look around the bridge before his pupils shrinked to pinpricks, and he pushed himself to his feet.

"Go check on everyone else. I need to find Tempest." Jason ordered, quickly moving to the door and stepping outside.

Melody groggily nodded and headed down the stairs. Luckily, most of the water had drained out the crew quarters doorway onto the deck, leaving just the tossed-around remains of the room instead. As soon as she stepped into the room, she saw Eddie and Rebecca trying their best to stay calm after the near drowning. 

"Are you guys okay?" She asked.

"Yeah. Go check on Sky. I think Midnight's hurt." Was the only reply she received.

Melody hastily left Eddie and Rebecca to look for Midnight and Sky. She quickly found them, laying by the bunks. Midnight was visibly shaking in Sky's hooves as he held onto her tightly and gently rocked her back and forth in the remaining water. His wings dangled limply against his back, one of them clearly snapped and bent to an odd angle.

"It's gonna be okay, you're okay, you're okay." He whispered, the waiver in his voice showing that even he was having trouble believing his words.

"Are you guys okay?" Melody asked, stepping over to them.

Immediately, she saw a ghastly sight. Midnight's foreleg was bent at a completely unnatural angle, and part of the bone was sticking out. Beside that, there were dark bruises clearly appearing on her barrel. A thin trail of blood leaked from her brow, and she was clearly unconscious in Sky's forelegs.

"Please wake up... Please wake up..." Sky pleaded, tears already spilling from his eyes.

Melody took a step back from the scene in front of her, before turning back to look at Eddie and Rebecca. They looked just as shell shocked as she felt, and her gaze only lingered for a few seconds before drifting back to Sky and Midnight.

"Sky..." She whispered.

"I... I don't know what to do... Melody, I don't know what to do... Please... help her." Sky begged, his voice straining.

Melody felt her own tears threaten to fall.

"I'll... I'll do what I can."





"Tempest!" Jason shouted against the storm.

The rain only answered him with more rain. 

"TEMPEST!" He cried out.

He received no answer yet again. Jason's eyes darted back and forth across the raging sea for any sign of the mulberry unicorn, but all he could see was blue and black. The rain pelted against his bodysuit and skin, forcing him to squint in the darkness, only limiting his vision further. Blindingly brilliant bolts of lightning darted across the sky every so often, giving him brief glances of the barren wasteland of ocean around him, but amongst all that darkness, he still found nothing. 

His hands migrated to the top of his head as his breathing quickly accelerated to nearly hyperventilating, and his bloodshot eyes strained ever harder to see any sign of her. When he still found nothing, Jason's heart sunk in his chest, and he fell to his knees on the deck.

"WHERE ARE YOU!?!?!" He cried.

When only the crack of lightning answered his call, Jason slammed his fist into the wood and screamed. The lightning sparked again, as if to cover his cries with its own, and only when his lungs burned, and there was no air left to scream with, did the sound finally die. 

The dark blue world around him suddenly illuminated with a bright purple light, and Jason instantly glanced up to see the explosion of magic fireworks just a few hundred feet away from the ship. He instantly looked down to the water and saw a dark blob that seemed to be splashing in the rising waves. Without a second of hesitation, Jason broke into a sprint and dove off the ship into the icy water below. 

Upon breaking the surface, he paddled hard against the water, and quickly gained distance. He panted for breath as he put forth all of his might into each stroke, and cut through the water like an angry shark. Soon enough, he heard her voice.

"Jason!" She cried, struggling to stay afloat.

Jason paused for only a second to reply.

"I'm coming! Hang on!" He shouted back.

Again, he pushed through the freezing water, each stroke burning his muscles and straining his lungs. Even with all his effort, the distance between them shrunk slowly, and he was quickly starting to tire out. He felt his body cry out in protest from the freezing cold water and the intense physical strain, but he did not let up. His arms cut through the water over and over, each individual muscle fiber screaming out in protest as he slowly closed distance.

Eventually, and be it with almost all his strength, Jason finally reached the mulberry unicorn. He struggled for breath as he grabbed a hold of her bodysuit, noticeably lacking the armor she was usually wearing, and pulled her close. She instantly latched onto him with her hooves and held onto him tightly.

"I didn't think you were going to make it!" She cried.

"I... couldn't... leave... you..." Jason panted, "Come on!" He replied, before turning back to the ship.

Tempest took the hint, and they both quickly paddled back through the water toward their vessel as it was rocked back and forth by the waves. They struggled hard against the current, Jason in particular. Eventually, he rolled onto his back to keep his head above water and used a backstroke to swim along-side Tempest. 

For quite some time, they fought the water to get back to the ship, but eventually, they reached the port side, and scrambled to climb the netting along the side of the ship. Jason's exhausted arms struggled against the thin material, and he only managed to pull himself a few feet up before stopping to rest. Meanwhile, Tempest fought to get any kind of grip on the netting, and only managed to keep herself alongside the ship. 

Sensing that he was alone, Jason looked down to see Tempest fighting to climb up behind him. He panted hard for breath before pushing harder, and climbing the net with all his remaining strength. Several perilous seconds passed as he struggled to climb, but eventually, his hand grabbed the railing, and he flopped over onto the boat. 

Taking almost no time to catch his breath, Jason pushed himself to his feet and grabbed the netting.

"Hold on to the net!" He shouted.

Tempest did as instructed, and held on tightly. Slowly, ever so slowly, the netting was pulled up, dragging her along with it. Just as she reached the half-way point, a rushing wave pounded her against the port side of the ship, and she almost lost her grip on the netting. 

When the water receded, she was able to climb up a bit more. Inch by inch, she was dragged, and dragged herself up the rest of the netting until she too reached the railing of the ship. She hastily threw her forelegs over the metal rail and pulled herself up onto the deck. She struggled for breath after the whole ordeal, but upon seeing Jason's exhausted form panting for breath on the other side of the ship, netting wrapped all around his bloodied hands, she quickly made her way over to him.

"Jason!" She cried as she reached his side.

"Glad you... could... make it..." He said between heavy breaths. 

"Your hands!" She replied.

"Yeah... You're kinda heavy..." He said, chuckling slightly.

Despite the absurdity of the situation, Tempest too quickly found a small giggle escape her lips. For a few precious seconds, they laughed together in the pouring rain and intense waves, before a glimmer of light caught Jason's eye. He slowly turned to look at it before his jaw dropped.

"Son of a bitch..." He whispered.

"What?" Tempest asked, turning to look into the light as well, "...Oh..." 

Not even a mile away, a majestic, tropical island covered in greenery shown like a beacon. All around the island, darkness enveloped the waves and rushing ocean, but there in the center of it all, a pillar of light reigned down on the small spit of land itself. On the beach itself, white sand stood out against the greenish water and palm trees blocking out the interior of the island from view. Against the blackened skies above, and violent waves below, the little island looked like heaven.

"There it is... Holy shit..." Jason said, his eyes still glued to the island.

"Told you we'd make it." Tempest replied, her voice still filled with awe.

Jason quickly pushed himself to his feet despite his protesting muscles, and headed for the bridge.

"Come on! Let's get there before these waves take us to God-knows-where!" He called behind him.

Tempest quickly trotted after him and together, they climbed the ladder on the outside of the bridge. Once they reached the top, they stepped inside, and found the controls.

"Think this thing will still turn on?" Jason asked, eyeing the dead gauges.

"As long as the water-proofing spell we put in the cargo and engine rooms held up, we'll be fine." Tempest replied.

She turned the key in the ignition, and almost immediately, the engine started up again. The gauges all jumped to life, and the ship jolted forward just a tad. Upon inspecting each gauge individually, and finding nothing out of the ordinary, Tempest spun the helm until they were heading straight toward the island. Once their course was set, she turned to Jason and gave a small grin.

"Looks like we're gonna make it." She said.

Jason smiled brightly before stepping forward and planting a kiss on her soft lips. Tempest happily reciprocated the action for a few seconds, before they pulled apart, and shared a tender nuzzle.

"I'm gonna go make sure everyone else is okay. You think you can handle this for a bit?" He asked.

"Yeah. We're past the worst of it, so getting to this island shouldn't be too hard. I'll call you or Melody if something happens." She replied.

Jason gave a small nod and pulled away. He headed down the stairs to the crew quarters to find water still covering the floor, and the rest of the group huddled over by the bunks. One look in their direction, and Jason felt a pit form in his stomach. 

Sky was off to the side by himself, one of his wings hanging limply at an odd angle. The pegasus was rocking back and forth and whispering something to himself, although, what it was, Jason couldn't tell. Next to him, Eddie and Rebecca sat together, although, their backs were to him, and Jason couldn't tell what they were doing. Lastly, on the far left, Melody seemed completely transfixed on what was in front of her, if her glowing horn and focused gaze were anything to go off of. It took a bit longer for Jason to realize that he was missing one member of the group. He looked around the room for a few more seconds before his heart sank in his chest, and his eyes fell on the dark grey foreleg being held in Eddie's hand.

It was as if all the joy was sucked out of his body, and Jason numbly walked forward in the ankle deep water toward the rest of the group. Upon reaching them, he saw the state Midnight was in. Dark purple bruises lined her entire barrel and flank on her right side, and the blood dripping from her foreleg only served to highlight the white of bone peaking through the skin there. Jason cringed slightly at the sight, but kept his composure well enough to speak to the group.

"How bad?" He asked, his voice stained with regret.

"Not good..." Melody absentmindedly replied.

"We need to get her to a hospital..." Rebecca whispered.

"We're hundreds of miles away from any kind of landmass. There's no way." Eddie replied.

"She's got a compound fracture on her foreleg, a possible concussion, and possible internal bleeding. If we don't get her some serious medical attention soon..." Melody spoke up as she felt Midnight's pulse.

With each injury listed, Sky cringed harder and harder. He desperately tried to hold back tears that threatened to spill from his tightly closed eyes, but it was to no avail. He barely choked back a sob as he grabbed Midnight's uninjured hoof and gently held it against his chest.

Eddie, Rebecca, Melody, and Jason gave Sky a sad look as he cried. For a few seconds, it was the only sound in the room, aside from the occasional slosh of water as the ship rocked back and forth in the waves.

"Is there anything we can do here? Any kind of spell you can do to check for internal bleeding? For all we know, that could just be a nasty bruise and the foreleg might be the only seriously injured part of her." Rebecca reasoned, turning to Melody.

"I... I don't know. I'm an explorer, not a doctor. I only know really basic medical spells to fix cuts and disinfect skin. I don't know anything about internal bleeding or how to check for it," Melody replied, deflating even more, "All I can do is check her pulse and try to keep her comfortable." 

"I wish our fucking medical scanners still worked... we could at least be sure." Eddie sighed.

"All we can do right now is just keep her comfortable and hope to God that it looks worse than it is." Jason sighed heavily.

"That's not good enough..." Sky whispered, tears threatening to fall from his eyes once more.

A painful silence filled the air as Sky's words echoed through the room. For almost a minute, no one knew what to say or what to do. The silence soon became deafening.

"I know... Sky, I... I'm sorry. I truly, hope she's okay." Jason finally said, placing his hand on Sky's wither.

Sky quietly nodded as Jason kneeled beside him. As Jason wrapped his arm around his shoulder and pulled him into a small hug, the crimson pegasus leaned his head against his chest piece and silently wept. 

"I just... I can't lose her..." He pleaded, "She's everything to me." 

"Hey, look at me," Jason ordered. It took a moment, but eventually Sky looked up to his emerald eyes, "She's gonna be okay, you hear me? She's gonna make it, I promise." 

Sky stared up at Jason with a stunned expression on his face, before his eyes flicked down to Midnight's unconscious body just a hoof's length away. He bit his lip as his eyes lingered on her wounds, before looking back up to Jason, fresh tears streaking down his cheeks, and nodded. Jason gave a small smile, before releasing his hug and standing back up. 

"We're almost at the island. We should be there in a few minutes. I'm not sure what it does to ponies, but I remember Celestia and Luna being pretty specific that it's not good for you guys to be there." Jason addressed the rest of the group.

"So... what do you want us to do then?" Melody replied.

"You, Tempest, and Sky will stay on the ship. Take care of Midnight. Find some ice or make it and put it on her bruises. That should help slightly. We've got some rags here we can wrap the ice, so get to that asap. As for her foreleg... the bone needs to be reset and splinted. Honestly, she's probably gonna have to go to a hospital and have it re-broken so it can heal properly once we get back to Ponpei, but for now, that's all that we can do." Jason explained.

"And as for us?" Rebecca asked, gesturing to herself and Eddie.

"We're gonna find those crystals and get the fuck off that island as fast as we can." Jason replied.


.

.

.

.

.


Jason jumped out of the small raft into the shoreline of the beach. His boots hit the sand with a wet splash from the gentle waves hitting the coastline, and he was immediately followed by Eddie and Rebecca. As soon as they all stepped onto the beach, a wave of energy hit all three of them, and they fell to their knees.

"Gah!" Jason shouted.

"Fuck!" Eddie cried out.

"My head..." Rebecca grit her teeth.

Needle-like pain shot through their brains and rendered them immobile for several minutes. Jason's body shook from the waves of intensity rolling over him again and again. The pain went from sharp, to dull, to throbbing, then back to sharp again every second, and it took everything in him to not break into tears from the sensation.

Rebecca and Eddie fared no better, having their minds rocked by the powerful magic of the island as it ripped into their brains and delivered more physical pain than either of them had felt in their entire lives. Each second ticked by like a lifetime of pain and agony, and for the three humans on the beach, time only seemed to slow down. 

None of them knew how long they lied there, unable to move, but eventually, the pain subsided, and they were able to get back to their feet. They struggled for breath for several minutes, before finally standing upright and speaking again.

"Okay... what... the fuck... what that?" Rebecca asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"The magic here hurts ponies, right? Well don't we have a bunch of pony magic in our heads right now?" Eddie asked.

"I guess... Listen, we need to find these crystals. Fast. I'm not sure how much more of that I can take." Jason replied, fixing his gaze on the tree-line. 

"I'm down with that." Rebecca responded, taking the lead.

Jason and Eddie quickly followed behind, and the group headed into the dense jungle in front of them. The green grass and gentle breeze against the palm trees was a welcome relief after months at sea with nothing but blue and grey to greet their eyes.

As they tread through the knee-high grass, they all kept their eyes open for any sign of the crystals in the dense foliage. The air around them felt warm, and humid, although not unpleasantly so. Ever deeper they traveled, the smell of salt managing to penetrate through even the deeper greenery. Surprisingly, there was no sign of any insect life on the island. No mosquitoes or flies to distract or annoy the group as they walked. 

Jason glanced up at the trees, finding a gentle breeze lightly blowing the leaves of the palm trees in its wake. He looked back down toward the ground to see the soft imprints of his boots in the deep grass, and he shook his head in disbelief.

"If I didn't know any better... I'd call this place the perfect little island paradise." He chuckled.

"Well, unfortunately, we do know better." Rebecca quipped.

"Just gotta get to the crystals... Speaking of which, do we even know what the fuck they look like? Or where they even are?" Eddie chimed in, giving Jason a critical look.

"They're black, like little obsidian shards. From what I understand, they're supposed to be in the center of the island." Jason replied.

"Alright... so how do we get there?" Eddie asked.

"Let me check my compass real quick..." Jason replied, pulling out the aforementioned compass and opening it. The needle spun in circles, giving no indication of where they were, "Well fuck... Looks like we're eyeballing it." 

"In a jungle? You know that's damn near impossible." Eddie replied.

"Unless you've got a better idea." Jason shrugged.

Eddie sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fuck... fine." He replied.

The group trudged on further into the expanse of the jungle, finding nothing more than the same greenery as they progressed. The closer they got to the center of the island, the more frequent the intense pain flared up in their heads, forcing them to come to a crippling stop every few minutes. Jason, Eddie, and Rebecca fell to their knees as their brains once again suffered the stabbing pain that rocked them to their core. For several minutes, they fought against the pain, before it finally subsided once more, and they were able to keep moving forward. Unfortunately for them, the pain only got more intense with each wave. After the fourth time, they all barely managed to stand back up.

"Fucking... Christ." Eddie wheezed.

"I can't keep doing this..." Rebecca admitted through tears.

"Just... a little... further... We got this, guys. Come on." Jason replied, grunting as he got back to his feet.

"Fuck." Eddie groaned as he leaned against a tree for support.

"I can't..." Rebecca said, her voice filled with pain.

"Chief, you have to." Jason replied.

"I can't go any further... My head... feels like it's gonna pop..." Rebecca responded, her eyes falling to the floor and her hands coming up to her temples.

"Jay... Let her go back... We can bring the crystals back." Eddie chimed in, shaking his head.

Jason looked over to Eddie, then back to Rebecca and sighed.

"Alright. Head back to the shore, Becca. We'll meet you there once we get them." He said.

Rebecca slowly looked back up to Jason and gave a slow nod before getting back to her feet. It took her a while, and she needed a helping hand from both Jason and Eddie, but eventually, she stood on her own feet, and walked back toward the beach. 

Now alone, Jason and Eddie turned back around and continued forward into the jungle. The walked onward through the brush for several more minutes before the leaves and terrain slowly opened back up, and a new sight caught their eyes. Down at their feet, the grass quickly changed into dirt, and from dirt, to stone. 

Soon enough, the dense vegetation thinned out as well, and they beheld a sight that stopped them both in their tracks. Ahead of them, only a mere hundred feet away, was a giant hole, nearly a thousand feet wide. The edges of the hole were an obsidian black, while the center shown like a brilliant red light. It almost appeared to pulse with life as Jason and Eddie stepped closer. As they approached the edge, they each took a tentative glance down at the abyss below, finding only the glowing red light and blackened walls.

"So, uh... Got any ideas?" Eddie asked, cocking an eyebrow back.

"I'm working on it..." Jason replied.

They continued to eye the light below for a few minutes before stepping away from the edge and looking around at their surroundings. In every direction, the only thing they could see were the trees circling around the hole in the ground, and the stone they walked in on.

"Jason, I don't think there's any crystals here." Eddie said, shaking his head.

"There has to be... This is the center of the island. Twilight said... something... about a red circle... I'm sure she did." Jason said, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

"Well, did she say anything about the crystals being in the giant fucking red hole?" Eddie replied.

"I... can't remember." Jason grit his teeth as he struggled to think.

"Well... I'm not jumping in there." Eddie shook his head.

"I don't think we have much of a choice man." Jason replied.

"Dude..." Eddie deadpanned.

"Well do you have any better ideas?" Jason retorted.

"Well-" Eddie started, only for another rocket of pain to shoot through his head, dropping him to his knees.

Jason fell too, and for a time, they both gripped their heads in pain, breath struggling to reach their lungs the whole time. Wave after wave of intense, burning pain seared at their brains, driving them both to tears as they desperately clutched their temples in a vain attempt to aleve some of the pain. Eventually, the pain subsided, and they were able to stand up again. 

"Okay... fuck it. Into the hole." Eddie spoke up after some time.
> Chapter 21: The Strongest Wills
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason and Eddie stepped toward the edge of the hole and leaned over to look down into the red light. The blackened edges of the abyss framed the crimson glow in a perfect circle of nothingness, leaving a sick feeling in both of their stomachs.

"Fuck me..." Eddie whispered.

"On the count of three?" Jason asked, feeling a pit form in his stomach.

"Yeah... yeah, fuck it. Let's go, let's do it." Eddie said, nervously jumping up and down.

"One... two... three!" Jason shouted, before jumping into the abyss, Eddie falling right beside him.

They fell into the red light for several seconds, their hair blowing back in the deafening wind, before Jason glanced down at his wristband. Even against the crimson light he fell through, Jason could easily make out a bright red glow on the bracelet. He looked over to Eddie to see him giving a questioning shrug as they continued to fall.

Deeper and deeper they plummeted, for far longer than either believed was physically possible. After a while, Jason looked back up toward the surface, only to see a tiny speck of light nearly a mile above. He whipped back around to face Eddie and pointed back toward the end of the hole. Eddie quickly saw his gesture and glanced up as well, his jaw dropping in the process. 

Eventually, the red light they fell through grew brighter and brighter, until it was all they could see. Jason clenched his eyes shut as yet another wave of pain shot through his brain, rendering him incapable of moving. He simply fell uselessly through the air as his mind reeled from the pain. He grit his teeth so hard that he was sure they were going to crack, but even that would have been a welcome relief from every nerve in his head firing off a thousand times a second, and pushing him to tears once more. 

Then, it was gone. He opened his eyes to find himself laying on his side in a dimly lit room. The pain receded from his head, and he pushed himself upright. A quick glance over the room gave him little more information, other than the pale  red light coming off of the nearest wall. He heard a groan to his left, and looked over to see Eddie getting to his feet.

"What the fuck?" Jason questioned.

"Don't... ask me... I'm probably more lost right now than you are." Eddie replied.

Jason slowly shook his head and pushed himself to his feet. He stepped toward the nearest wall and inspected the light coming off of it.

"It... Almost looks like some kind of ancient runes or something..." Jason said, squinting at the symbols on the wall.

"Runes? The fuck?" Eddie replied, stepping toward the wall and scanning it himself.

The lettering on the wall was in fact, the source of light in the room, making it easy to inspect and identify. The shapes formed a strange 'S' shape, and a strange triangle with three dashes piercing  through it. Both Jason and Eddie inspected them for a few moments before leaning back and glancing over at each other.

"Hmm... I have no idea what the fuck any of that shit means." Eddie shrugged.

"Same... Maybe you have to push them in or something." Jason replied, reaching out to the 'S' shaped rune.

"Hold on a second. We don't know what the hell these things do. For all we know, they could just flood the room and kill us." Eddie interjected.

"Well we're running out of time." Jason responded, rotating his wrist to show the red light of his wristband.

"Fuck..." Eddie sighed, "Just... fuck me... Alright." He shook his head.

Jason gave a short nod, and touched the rune with his hand. Immediately, the segment of stone it rested on glowed white hot, and a bright vortex opened behind them. Jason and Eddie quickly turned around to look at the portal, and quick enough, a sandy beach entered their view on the other side. They both stared in awe at the sight of beauty contrasted by the never-ending storm just behind it. 

"Wow..." Jason whispered.

"Is... is that the beach?" Eddie asked, equally in awe.

"Yeah... This must be the way out of here." Jason replied.

"Well that's good... but where are the crystals?" Eddie replied.

Jason's eyes fell from the portal and quickly darted over to the wall of runes. He removed his hand from the portal, and a few seconds later, the portal closed.

"Woah." Eddie said, taken aback by the sudden closing.

"What?" Jason asked.

"What did you do? It just closed." Eddie replied. looking over at Jason once more.

"I just pulled my hand off." Jason responded.

"Touch it again." Eddie instructed.

Jason placed his hand on the rune again, and the same effect happened once more. The portal opened, and the stone glowed white hot. After a moment, he pulled his hand off the stone, and the vortex closed after a few seconds.

"Alright... So now we just need to find out how to get to the crystals." Jason announced, looking the wall over.

"Right..." Eddie replied, glancing at the wall as well.

Jason pressed another rune, causing a separate portal to open. A brilliant blue light beamed in through the portal, and both Jason and Eddie were taken aback by the magical energy radiating through the vortex. They barely managed to open their eyes wide enough to look in and see a monumentous cave filled with white crystals. After another moment of looking, Jason removed his hand from the wall, and the portal closed.

"Well... literally none of that matched the description we got from Twilight." Jason sighed.

"They said the crystals were black... right?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah. Like obsidian. Fuck..." Jason sighed.

"Well... maybe they change color once they get here or some shit? We've already got fucking portals here - a crystal changing color can't be too crazy, right?" Eddie suggested.

"I... I guess so. I don't think we can even get to them though. You felt that heat... Felt like our brains would melt if we stepped any closer." Jason shook his head and leaned against the wall. He quickly slid down until he was sitting on the ground.

"Well we need to figure out a plan then. The nearest crystals were... what? Thirty feet away?" Eddie replied.

"Something like that... but trying to get to them is suicide. I could feel a migraine coming on just looking in there... We'd die for sure if we stepped in there." Jason shook his head.

Eddie frowned and looked around the room for another option, but his search quickly ended when he saw nothing but three other blank stone walls in the room. He looked over to Jason and bit his lip in thought before finally speaking.

"Do we have anything with us that might be useful for this?" He asked.

"No. All we've got is that tiny cloud Rainbow Dash gave us and whatever you brought - which I'm guessing isn't much." Jason replied.

Eddie sighed. He leaned against the wall next to Jason and slid down until he was seated beside him.

For a few tentative minutes, neither of them spoke. They thought to themselves in silence, not even sparing a glance in each other's direction. Eventually, Eddie shook his head and let out a small chuckle.

"What?" Jason asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You remember that time we got Mike to drink Johnny's stash of Jack?" Eddie chuckled.

"Heh, right after we raided that facility in the Aphelions asteroid cluster and Johnny was getting his first medal?" Jason recalled.

"Yeah... Bastard was so pissed when Mike walked in to the ceremony, trashed as fuck." Eddie grinned.

"Dumb bastard got us all fucked up for a month after that." Jason shared a small laugh.

"Ah, good times... Why'd they have to leave us?" Eddie sighed.

"I don't know... I wish things worked out and everybody was here right now. God knows Mike would come up with some stupid shit to get us to the crystals and it'd actually work." Jason shook his head.

"Heh... he had a way of un-fucking your fuck-ups, didn't he?" Eddie replied.

"You all did. I think that's what made us such a great team." Jason responded, his eyes glued to the floor.

"Yeah... I guess so." Eddie said, his eyes also migrating to the floor.

"Just wish I could rewind time..." 

"Don't we all?" Eddie replied, "Hey, Jay..." 

"Hmm?" Jason glanced over to Eddie.

"Look... I'm sorry about how I acted back before... on the ship." Eddie said, his eyes never leaving the floor.

"You don't have to apologize, man. I get it." Jason replied, giving a half smile.

"No. I do... I was just... I just wanted them back... both of them... and I needed something... or someone to blame." Eddie explained.

He took a second to clear his throat before continuing.

"-And when you and Tempest got together... I guess it just kinda clicked for me... and I'm sorry for that." 

"Apology accepted. Thanks, Ed." Jason smiled.

"Heh, don't mention it." Eddie replied, giving his own small smile.

"So... what now?" Jason asked.

"Tell me about you and Tempest. What is it that you see in her?" Eddie pressed.

Jason gave him a curious look, but answered.

"Well... She's adorable, for starters... Uh... She's really kind and gentle once you talk to her... She has some demons from her past that she's been fighting for some time, but she doesn't let that stop her... She's one of the only people I've ever met that genuinely wanted to hear what I had to say. I mean... I don't really know what else to say. You kinda caught me off guard with that." Jason explained, looking thoughtfully at the ceiling.

"Heh, just trying to make up my mind on something. Keep talking." Eddie replied.

"Uh... okay... Well, this one might be kinda weird, but I love the way her fur feels against me. She's so soft and gentle... and she makes me feel at ease... When I'm around her... I don't know, I just feel like everything's gonna be okay. She calms my nerves, I guess." Jason continued, his brow furrowing in thought.

"Hmm... do you love her?" Eddie asked.

"This is a pretty weird line of questioning for you, man." Jason replied, giving him another confused glance.

"Just answer the question, Jay." Eddie replied.

"Uh... well... I don't know... After everything we've been through, I... I think I do... Yeah... Yeah I guess I do love her." Jason answered, his eyes falling to the floor.

Eddie gave a sage nod, apparently satisfied with his answer.

"Alright. Let's do this then." He said, pushing himself to his feet.

"Wait, what? What do you mean?" Jason questioned, following quickly behind.

"Open the portal. I'll get the crystals." Eddie replied.

"What!? Ed, that's suicide!" Jason exclaimed.

"I know. That's why I'm doing it. Not you." Eddie calmly responded.

"Ed, no! What are you even talking about!? That's insane!" Jason rebutted.

"We're out of time and options. One of us is gonna have to stay here and keep the portal open anyways. We don't have any way to make the trip in there safe... It's gotta be me, Jay." Eddie explained.

"No! No one else is dying out here!" Jason shouted, grabbing Eddie's shoulders.

"Jay... We don't have time to figure something else out. If I don't do this... we all die." Eddie replied.

"No! That's not true! We can figure something out! We.. we can... we can go back to the boat. There's gotta be something there that can help us!" Jason hastily rebutted.

"We don't even know where the boat is in relation to the portal. For all we know, it could be on the other side of the island. Jay, we have to do this." Eddie said, his voice soft, yet firm.

"I am not losing you. You're my brother." Jason shot back.

"Jay... think about Tempest. If you don't let me do this... we all die. and then what?"

"We... We won't die. We'll figure something out and we'll all get out of here!" Jason responded, losing some of his momentum.

"What are we gonna figure out, Jay? There's no time, and we don't have any other options. Here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna open that portal, and I'm gonna walk through. I'm gonna grab those crystals, and I'm gonna bring them back to you." Eddie declared walking over to the wall and giving Jason an expectant look.

Jason quickly rushed to Eddie and grabbed him by his shoulders.

"There's still some time! We can still figure something else out!" He exclaimed, shaking Eddie in place.

"Jay, you look at that little wristband of yours and you tell me that we have time to be arguing like this." Eddie replied, giving a deadpan look.

Jason's grip loosened on Eddie's shoulders, and his eyes fell to the floor. He slowly looked over at his wristband to see the bright red light shining against the black outline of the bracelet itself. He slowly shook his head and sighed.

"Ed... Please... You're my best friend..." He whispered, just loud enough for Eddie to hear him.

"I know... and you're my best friend too... That's why I have to go." Eddie replied, pulling Jason into a hug.

Jason struggled to keep tears from welling up in his eyes as he returned the hug, and he took a shaky breath before Eddie spoke again.

"You know me, man... I don't have anything other than you and the squad... Not anymore, at least... You still have Tempest... and a future here... It has to be me, Jay... It has to." Eddie comforted, squeezing Jason closer.

"God dammit..." Jason muttered through grit teeth.

Eddie slowly released the hug and stepped away. Jason's head hung low as he sluggishly turned and walked to the runes. He placed his hand on the wall, and the rune once again glowed white hot. The vortex opened behind them both, and Jason slowly turned to watch as Eddie stepped toward the hole in the fabric of space. The magical energy wafting in through the portal hit him immediately, and he stifled a grunt of pain as his migraine flared up once more. He fought through the pain as he stepped into the vortex, and moved toward the nearest crystals. He walked slowly, each step taking more and more of his energy to complete as he forced himself toward the crystals. 

His boot connected with the ground of the crystal cave, and instantly, the pain in his head intensified. Eddie grit his teeth as he stepped forward again, the pain growing even stronger. Eddie's breaths came out in quick, harsh exhales as he struggled to keep his eyes open through throbbing pain. 

He took another step forward, and then another, and with each step, the pain worsened, until his limbs shook violently from the intensity. After covering half the distance, he cried out in pain and fell to his knees. His hunched over form writhed in agony while tears spilled freely from his tightly shut eyes.

"Ed!" Jason cried out, desperately holding back tears.

He looked back at the wall, and the rune his hand was holding onto before looking back at Eddie's collapsed form. 

"Fuck!" Jason shouted, before slamming his fist into the wall as hard as he could.

In the crystal cave, Eddie fought to bring air into his lungs, but the sheer amount of pain in his brain made each inhale a painful struggle. He grit his teeth so hard that he felt one of them crack, but even that pain was simply washed out from the absolute strain on his nervous system. 

Steeling his resolve, Eddie clenched his fingers into a fist, and pushed himself up to his knees. His body shook hard the whole time, but eventually, he was able to reach a standing position. Once there, he took a step forward, and then another. Each step forward was pure agony, and tears freely streamed down his cheeks as he choked back a sob of pain. 

Finally, he reached the end of the line, and stumbled against the wall of crystal. Just as he put his hand on the wall, a drop of blood seeped from his nose, and dripped down to the ground below. With his vision quickly failing, and more blood oozing from his nose, Eddie grabbed the nearest pair of crystals and pulled with all his might. His head felt like it was going to explode, and he had to suppress the urge to collapse in pain. 

Blood freely flowed from his nose as Eddie pulled hard, but the crystals simply refused to budge. Feeling the full effects of the magic ripping his brains apart, and his fine motor skill deteriorating, Eddie gave every ounce of his strength into pulling the crystals. A crack resonated through the air, then a snap, and the crystals finally broke free from the rock. Eddie was thrown back from the inertia, and fell down onto his back. His world spun around him for several moments, and even the pain dissipated for a moment. He saw a brilliant bright light straight up above him, and for several moments, he was memorized. He couldn't look anywhere except for straight up at that beautiful, blindingly bright light until the corners of his vision grew fuzzy and black. 

"Ed!"

A voice reached his ears, and Eddie slowly turned his head to the side, away from the light. There, in his hand, he saw the crystal, no longer a brilliant white, but instead, an obsidian black. He slowly turned his head over to look at his other hand, and saw the other crystal. He forced himself to roll over, away from the light, and look over to the vortex. There he saw Jason, tears freely streaming down his face as he watched his best friend dying. 

Eddie let out a groan as he pushed himself up just enough to rest his weight on one elbow. His vision was blurry and unfocused, but he could make out the portal easily enough. He squinted through the haze and blood now forming in his eyes, and threw the first crystal. It soared through the air and flew into the portal, hitting the ground and sliding to a rest at Jason's feet. 

Upon seeing the crystal hit it's mark, Eddie switched hands with the other one, and prepped to throw it. The pain threatened to claim his consciousness any second, and his body shook from the strain. With his vision fading fast, and his strength running out, Eddie cocked his arm back and threw the last crystal at the portal. It sailed through the air and into the portal.

Jason stared with a mix of awe and horror as the second crystal came to a rest right at his feet, beside the first one. He glanced up to Eddie to see blood streaming down his face, and his arm extended toward the portal. Eddie's fingers were once more curled into a fist, and his thumb was extended upward. He continued to give a thumbs up for a few more seconds before collapsing to the floor and going completely limp.

Jason stared at Eddie's body for a long time after that. He kept his hand against the rune, as if at any moment Eddie would come back to life and crawl the rest of the way back. After an unbearably long few minutes, Jason broke down. He cried out in pain as tears poured from his eyes. 

"God dammit... God fucking dammit..." He whispered.

Jason gave another look to Eddie's body, before finally releasing his hold on the rune, and watching the portal close. Once it was completely shut, he simply stared at the floor for a few more minutes. Memories flashed through his head as his fingers curled into fists. He took several shaky breaths before letting out a long, angry cry of pain. He slammed his fists against the ground so hard that he cracked his knuckles, but the pain barely registered with him. 

Only when his pain and anguish were completely spent, did Jason finally rise back to his feet. He wiped the tears from his eyes and grabbed the crystals off of the ground. He slowly walked over to the wall and pressed against the rune, opening the portal to the beach. He gave one last look over at the other rune, before sighing deeply and stepping away from the wall. He walked through the vortex, and onto a sandy beach. Feeling utterly numb to the world around him, Jason trudged across the beach toward where he assumed the ship was anchored off shore. It didn't take too terribly long for him to realize that he was on the opposite side of the island, and without so much as a sigh, he simply followed the beach in silence.





Tempest watched over the island with a mix of emotions on her face. She kept her eyes open and scanning across the beach for any sign of Jason, Eddie, or Rebecca, but for quite some time, she found nothing. Eventually, she turned to head back into the ship, but just as she turned, movement caught her eye. She hastily turned back and observed as Rebecca stumbled through the brush and onto the beach. With no other humans beside her, she appeared to be the only one left. 

Tempest's heart sank in her chest, and a pit formed in the back of her throat. Her mouth felt dry, and she stared, unblinkingly as Rebecca crawled onto the raft and paddled toward the ship. It only took her a moment to reach the starboard side of the ship, and she quickly tied the raft off to the side railing. With Tempest watching the whole time, Rebecca climbed onto the ship, and flopped onto the deck.

For several seconds, Tempest simply stared at her in silence, as if speaking alone would confirm her greatest fears. Eventually, Rebecca got to her feet and made her way over to the crew quarters doorway. She paused at the door to look up at Tempest, to see her looking down at her. 

"Are... are they..." Tempest began, a clear waiver in her voice.

"I don't know... I had to turn around and head back... The pain was too much." Rebecca shamefully admitted.

"So... Jason's still alive?" Tempest hopefully continued.

"I hope so..." Rebecca quietly replied.

Tempest hopped down to Rebecca's level and placed a hoof on her thigh in a comforting manner. Rebecca leaned down and gave a gentle hug to the mulberry unicorn. After a moment, they separated, and Tempest quickly opened the door for her. They stepped inside to find Melody and Sky sitting beside one of the bunks, with Midnight laying between them. Her foreleg was wrapped and splinted with two pieces of wood clearly broken off from one of the bunks.

"Rebecca!" Melody cried, hopping off her seat and trotting over to her.

"Hey, Mel." Rebecca replied, pulling the chocolate mare into a hug.

"Did you guys get fixed?" Melody asked, eagerly accepting the hug.

Rebecca sighed.

"Not yet... I had to turn back... Jason and Eddie are still on the island." She responded.

"Oh... Well... I'm sure they'll bring back the crystals in no time." Melody optimistically replied.

"I hope you're right." Rebecca said.

Rebecca and Melody separated from the hug and headed over to the bunks, Tempest in tow. They quickly arrived, and sat down beside Sky and Midnight.

"How's the wing?" Rebecca asked, eyeing Sky's splinted and bandaged wing.

"I can barely feel it." Sky softly answered, his eyes glued to Midnight.

Rebecca gave a small nod before looking down at the graphite mare.

"Any change with her?" She asked.

"Nothing yet... Still... Still waiting on her to wake up." Sky replied.

"She'll be okay... I know she will. It looks like the bruising hasn't gotten any worse since we left... and you guys got her leg all patched up too." Rebecca commented, gently placing her hand on Midnight's un-bandaged foreleg.

For a few minutes, all was silent in the ship as they simply watched Midnight sleep. Sky quietly sighed to himself as his eyes slowly fell to the floor, but quickly darted back up as Midnight groaned.

"Mid!" Sky exclaimed.

"Ugh..." She whimpered, her eyes slowly fluttering open.

"Mid! Oh my god, you're okay!" Sky cried, relief flowing through his voice.

"Ahh.... My foreleg..." Midnight responded, grimacing in pain.

"Don't move it! Just stay still. You got hurt pretty bad and broke it." Melody cautioned, gently holding her down with her magic.

"I... I did? Sky?" Midnight replied, turning to the crimson pegasus for answers.

"Yeah... When the boat flipped we hit something pretty hard. I broke one of my wings and you broke your leg... I'm just so glad you're awake..." Sky answered, gently caressing her good foreleg in his own.

"You've got some nasty bruising all along the side of your body, but otherwise you should be fine." Rebecca chimed in, giving a gentle smile.

"Is... is the foal okay?" Midnight asked, fearfully glancing around the room.

"We... We think so... There's really no way to tell right now." Melody sadly answered, sympathetically placing her hoof on Midnight's wither.

Midnight's eyes slowly fell until she was looking back at Sky. She blinked back a few tears before a choked whisper left her lips.

"I'm sorry..." 

"For what?" Sky replied, just as quiet.

"I don't want our foal to die..." She managed, her voice cracking.

Sky leaned down until his muzzle was just a few inches away from hers. He gave her a gentle nuzzle against her cheek, ending with a soft kiss on her lips. 

"I'm the one who should be apologizing for dragging you into this... You're the light of my life... I never should have put you in danger like this... God, I love you so fucking much." Sky replied, tears freely streaming from his cheeks.

Midnight choked back a sob as she held out her good foreleg. Sky immediately took the hint and leaned in for a hug. He carefully avoided putting any stress or pressure on her bruised body, and only gently held her against him as she cried into his neck.

Melody, Tempest, and Rebecca silently watched with mixed emotions on their faces. Melody gave a sympathetic smile while Rebecca and Tempest gave a sad look or a small nod of encouragement. For a time, they simply sat around, before Rebecca and Melody decided to give them some privacy, and stepped over to the stairs. They quickly reached the bridge, leaving Tempest with Sky and Midnight.

Eventually, Midnight managed to calm down enough to control herself, and pulled away from the hug. Sky reluctantly let her go, but continued to sit beside her, one foreleg draped lovingly over her uninjured foreleg. She gave a grateful nod, before turning to Tempest and sniffling a couple of times.

"S-sorry about that... I shouldn't be so pessimistic." Midnight said, her voice coming out weak and slightly strained.

"Don't ever apologize for caring about your foal... I'm so sorry you were hurt... but if it's any consolation, I think he's going to be fine." Tempest replied, giving a small supportive smile. 

"Thank you..." Midnight replied, giving a soft smile of her own.

"Anytime." Tempest winked.

"Where... where are Jason and Eddie?" Midnight asked, suddenly looking around the room and noticing the lack of two humans.

"They're still on the island... We're... not sure when they'll get back." Tempest hesitantly replied.

"The island? Wait... we're already at the island?" Midnight asked, curiously.

"Yeah... you've been out for a couple hours now. Rebecca went with them... but the pain was too much for her." Tempest explained, her eyes falling to the floor.

Midnight immediately picked up on Tempest's fears, and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Hey, I-I'm sure Jason is fine. Eddie too. They're strong, both of them." She said.

"Yeah... I know... Just hurts knowing that they're in pain and I can't do anything about it..." Tempest sighed.

"They'll make it back. Jason's tough as shit, and Eddie never quits." Sky chimed in.

"Heh... you're right... I probably shouldn't worry so much... but one thought has come to my attention." Tempest replied, looking back up at them.

"What is it?" Midnight replied.

"Well... since you're hurt... Can Melody cast the spell to save Jason, Eddie, and Rebecca?" Tempest asked, pawing at the ground with her hoof.

"I... I don't know... I think she can... I don't see why not. Why?" Midnight replied, giving her a curious look.

"No real reason... I just... I just have a bad feeling... Think it might be useful if I could get my hooves on the spell." Tempest absentmindedly replied, her eyes darting to the doorway, as if any second, Jason would come in.

"Um... Sure. Yeah, sure. The spell is in my saddlebags, over... where ever you guys put them." Midnight answered, looking around the room.

Tempest quickly headed over to the pile of saddlebags and packs, and pulled out Midnight's. She opened the flap and hastily pulled out the spell scroll in question. She read it over three times before it set in her mind, and she was able to cast it, provided her horn worked. Not a second after she set the spell down, did she hear Melody's voice shouting down from the bridge.

"Tempest! Get up here!" She called.

Tempest hastily dropped the scroll and galloped up the stairs. She quickly reached the bridge and found Melody standing by one of the broken windows.

"What is it!?" She exclaimed.

"Jason! On the beach!" Melody cried, pointing at the man in question.

Tempest's eyes immediately darted to the white sand of the beach to see Jason's silhouette, walking along the sand. He stumbled every few feet, and it almost appeared as if he was drunk. With her eyes widening in shock, Tempest watched him make his way to shore, until he collapsed at the water's edge. 

Tempest moved in a blur of motion, before she could even process what was happening. The world around her simply faded from existence as she galloped down the stairs and grabbed her saddlebag with her teeth. She gave no acknowledgement to Sky or Midnight as she bolted out the door, slamming it open with her skull, and jumping off the side of the ship. She vaguely heard several voices calling out her name as she leapt, but she paid them no mind. All she could see was the shoreline, and the silhouette of the man she loved laying on it, desperately in need of her help.

She hit the water hard, and immediately paddled toward the shore. She panted heavily as she reached the beach, and saw Jason laying just fifty feet away. He was so close that she could almost feel the relief of touching him once more flourish in her heart, but as soon as she stepped one hoof onto the sand, all she felt was pain.

Excruciating, only scratched the surface of the throbbing, stinging, burning pain that seared itself into Tempest's brain she she struggled to maintain her balance. She blinked back tears as each step forward felt like a titanic task that she could barely accomplish with one hundred percent of her strength. Still, she pressed on, only one thought in her mind, even despite the horrendous pain in her head.

I'm not leaving you...

Tempest fought against the pain for what felt like hours. She pushed with all of her might for each step forward into the island, and even though she made good progress, the pain of the island's magic clashing with her own was quickly wearing her down. Tears streamed down both her cheeks, and even her horn seemed to pulse with blue light that synced up to her erratic heart beat.

Just... a... few... more... feet...

Tempest's forelegs no longer responded properly to her orders, and instead, they simply locked out. Gritting her teeth in defiance, she pushed herself forward with her hind legs, enough to lose her balance and fall face first into the sand. The pain of the impact was lost on her as she desperately pushed once more with her hind legs until they too refused to cooperate. 

Eventually, her entire body seized up, just a few precious inches away from Jason, and even though every nerve in her body screamed out in protest at the pain and harsh treatment, she refused to give up. Once more, with all her strength, she willed her foreleg to move, if only just a few inches. For a few seconds, it simply refused to cooperate, until she finally saw the limb twitch, and inch forward ever so slightly. Her brain throbbed as if it was being smashed by a hammer, but even so, she willed her shaky body to crawl forward. One inch at a time. 

Finally, she touched Jason with her hoof, and pulled herself on top of him. With what little higher brain function she had remaining, Tempest thanked her luck that Jason fell face-up. It allowed her the ability to instantly see that he was unconscious, and there was a small amount of blood slowly trailing out of his nose. Stifling her fears, she dropped her saddlebag from her mouth, and shakily nudged the cover open with her muzzle. 

With now violently shaking hooves, she reached in and slowly managed to grab the lone crystal in her saddlebag. She plunked it out and slowly brought it to her horn, her hooves straining the whole way. Once she felt it reach her horn, she fired up a small levitation spell to hold it in place. Immediate, intense pain flooded her brain, one hundred times worse than anything she'd felt so far. She cried out in pain and fell to the ground, her entire body convulsing in agony. 

Only when she could finally she through her eyes once more, did she manage to push herself back up to her hooves. She was breathing heavily, but no amount of air seemed to fill her aching lungs, and the stress was quickly getting to her. 

With bloodshot eyes, she reached forward and grabbed one of the blackened crystals from Jason's limp hands. She felt a wetness slowly oozing down her forehead and onto her face, and after a quick wipe with her foreleg, she found it to be blood. Swallowing back a panicked cry, she glanced up at her horn, to find that it was indeed the source of the blood. Her eyes quickly darted back down to Jason, then back to her horn, and finally down to the crystal. 

She let out a quiet sigh, one that felt like it dragged all of the air out of her body with it.

I love you...

She brought forth all of her magic to the crystal held in place over her horn, the action alone driving a spike of pain deep through her mind. Her body went rigid as her mental faculties shut down, and more blood oozed freely from her crackling and cracking horn. She cried out in pain once more as the spell completed charging, her body only retaining enough strength to hold the obsidian crystal up above Jason's body.

Tempest put everything she had into completing the spell, and blasting Jason with enough magical energy to completely envelope him, turning the air around him white with light, and power. It was blinding, and drained every last ounce of her magical energy. Only when she was sure that the spell was completed, did she let go, and fall by his side, her vision quickly fading as her heart beat slowed.

The last thing she saw was a blinding light so white that it blocked out the sun, and then, her world plunged into darkness.


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Tempest's eyes slowly fluttered open. She barely bit back a groan of pain as her eyes blinked through the crusty sensation of waking up after a long sleep, and she instantly felt a dull throbbing in her head. Her eyes were hazy, and unfocused, making it difficult to see anything.

"Hey, she's waking up." A voice spoke up, directing her ears in their direction.

"Ugh..." She croaked, her dry mouth and throat stinging slightly.

"Take it easy. You took a hell of a beating out there." The voice said, before she felt a hoof against the back of her head.

The pony holding her head, brought a canteen of water to her lips, and she eagerly drank down as much as she could before it was gently pulled away.

"What... what happened?" Tempest croaked, her eyes finally adjusting enough to see Melody's brown coat beside her.

"You almost killed yourself casting the spell on Jason while you were both on the island." Melody replied, gently patting her wither.

"Where... where is he?" Tempest asked, fear once more clawing its way into her voice.

"Right beside you." Melody replied.

Tempest turned to the side to find Jason laying right next to her. He was softly sleeping away, and the picture of his gently resting body made her heart melt in her chest.

"After we got you two back on the boat, or rather, Rebecca got you two on the boat, he woke up. He was a bit dizzy and had a nasty migraine, but as soon as he saw the state you were in, he wouldn't leave your side." Melody explained.

"He's... they're all... alright?" Tempest hesitantly asked, as if the answer was too scary to even consider.

Melody was silent for some time, but upon seeing the pleading look in Tempest's eyes, her slight frown flipped into a gentle smile.

"Yeah... yeah, they're okay. You just get some rest. We made it through the worst of the storm, so now we just have a few months of sailing ahead of us." Melody replied, hopping off her chair and heading toward the stairs.

Tempest gave a small, but thankful nod, before relaxing back down into the mattress. She rolled over to her side, and pulled herself toward Jason until she was within forelegs reach. Just as quickly, his arm wrapped around her barrel, and pulled her into a soft hug. She let out a gentle whimper of gratefulness as she looked into Jason's emerald eyes.

"I'm glad you're okay." He whispered.

"I could say the same about you." She replied.

"I know you just woke up... but I have to tell you something." Jason said.

"Me too... but you go ahead." 

"I love you." 

Tempest sniffled as happy tears formed in her eyes.

"I love you too..." She whispered.

Jason hugged her tighter, and kissed her forehead. They spent the rest of the night in each other's arms, and when sleep reclaimed them both, they slept with gentle smiles on their faces.
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Many months later


Sky paced back and forth outside the delivery room. He couldn't hear any of what was going on inside, but he wore a worried frown on his face as he checked the clock for the fifth time.

"Come on... She's been in there for hours... Why won't they let me in to see her?" Sky grumbled, his eyes flicking back down to Ardent and Sapphire as they sat on the bench beside him.

"Labor can take several hours for some mares. I'm sure Midnight's doing well." Ardent replied, although the slight crease in his brow clearly showed that he was concerned as well.

"-And the doctor already said why you can't be in there. Hospital policy. They don't want stallions getting in the way when a mare is delivering a foal. No more than the doctor, nurse, and the patient." Sapphire chastised, a slight frown on her face as well.

"Yeah, but that's bullshit. Back on Earth, they just gave the dad a pair of scrubs and let him stay by the mom's side when she went into labor." Sky replied, shaking his head.

"Just be glad that she didn't go into labor half way back." Ardent responded.

"I mean... the air ship Tia got to meet us at Ponpei had a doctor... God, I just hate not knowing..." Sky sighed.

Before Ardent or Sapphire could reply, the door was pushed open, and the doctor, still covered in his scrubs, walked out.

"Crimson Sky?" He asked, looking to the group of three.

"That's me." Sky immediately replied, stepping toward the doctor.

"Would you like to meet your son?" 

Sky sniffled.

"Yes."

The doctor turned on his hooves and led Sky, Ardent, and Sapphire inside the room. Immediately, their eyes fell on an exhausted Midnight laying in the bed with sheets covering most of her barrel and legs. In her forelegs, a small bundle of blankets squirmed ever so slightly, bringing a wide smile to all of their faces.

Midnight tiredly looked up at Sky as he reached the side of her bed, and gave him a weak smile.

"Hey... big guy." She gently spoke.

"Hey..." Sky managed, his eyes darting back and forth between Midnight and the bundle in her forelegs.

"Heh... You can look, you know? He is yours, after all." Midnight teased, a serene smile on her face.

Sky slowly leaned forward until he could clearly see the soft, almost velveteen fur of his son. His mane immediately stuck out, being a jet black color, even darker than Midnight's. His coat was a shade darker of red than Sky's, but what stuck out by far the most, was the colt's eyes. A brilliant blue on one side, much like Midnight's and a chocolate brown on the other, much like Sky's.

"Oh my god... he has both our eyes..." Sky whispered, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

"He's beautiful." Sapphire gushed, a massive smile on her face.

"Oh, I'm a grandpa now... this is amazing!" Ardent grinned.

Sky leaned over to nuzzle Midnight's cheek, a gesture which she gratefully reciprocated. They eventually pulled away just far enough to look into each other's eyes. A tender moment passed between them, before they both looked down at their son once more, and Midnight placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"I can't tell, does he have wings?" Sapphire chimed in, leaning in closer to inspect.

Midnight suppressed a chuckle before using her magic to un-swaddle her baby just a tad until his wings were visible. 

"He's a pegasus... just like his father." Midnight said, casting another loving look Sky's way.

Sky beamed with pride for a moment, before leaning in and placing a gentle kiss on Midnight's lips. It was soft, and sweet, lasting only a moment, but conveying enough words to cover a lifetime with love, before he pulled away and spoke.

"I love you so much." He whispered.

"I love you more." Midnight winked.

"Not possible. Ask a changeling." Sky teased, getting a small chuckle out of Midnight.

Before Midnight could properly respond, there was a knock at the door that drew the entire group's attention. The doctor and nurse, who thusfar had been busy cleaning up the extra medical equipment, moved to the door and opened it, revealing Tempest, and Jason. Rather than his body armor and jumpsuit, Jason was wearing a simple pair of blue jeans, and a black t-shirt. Instead of the beard he usually wore, he had a steady five o'clock shadow, and his long hair now reached the bottom of his jaw-line on all sides. Tempest, on the other hand, was wearing nothing at all. Her scars and blank flank were visible to the entire world around her, but she barely even seemed to notice. They both gave a wide smile as they saw the group, and stepped inside.

"Jason! Tempest!" Sky excitedly exclaimed.

"Hope we're not too late. We got here as soon as we got your letter." Jason replied, quickly reaching Sky's side and pulling him into a hug.

"Hehe, you're just in time." Sky chuckled through the hug as he eagerly returned it.

"That's a relief. How are you holding up?" Tempest asked, her eyes darting to Midnight.

"A bit tired... and sore... but I don't think I've ever been this happy before... Well, maybe once." Midnight happily replied.

"Hehe, glad to hear it." Tempest replied, before giving Sky a hug of her own.

"Wow... So you're... a human?" Sapphire asked, looking at Jason curiously.

"Sure am. In fact, there should be another one coming any... second now..." Jason replied, looking to the doorway.

"Hold on! Wait for us!" Rebecca cried as she ran into the room with Melody at her side, the two of them almost shoving past the doctor and nurse in the process. Much like Jason, she was not wearing her pilot's uniform, and instead wore a simple flannel and jeans.

"There she is." Jason chuckled.

"I made it... Holy shit dude... stairs... suck..." Rebecca panted.

"We're not too late, are we?" Melody asked.

"You're just in time." Midnight chuckled.

"Oh my gosh... you guys are adorable!" Sapphire exclaimed, clopping her hooves together in excitement, "Midnight, I can see why you liked Sky so much when he looked like that." 

"Jeez mom." Midnight playfully rolled her eyes.

"Hehe, we get that a lot.," Rebecca chuckled, "So anyways, where is this little guy? I wasn't sure which room you guys were in so I ended up running through like, seven different rooms... I think one of those guys was peeing when I barged in." She said, placing one hand on her hip and one on her chin in a contemplative manner.

"Heh, he's over here." Sky replied, stepping aside so she could see the bundled up foal in Midnight's forelegs.

Rebecca and Melody both stepped forward to look down at the small bundle of blankets and pony. Upon seeing him, they both gasped.

"Oh... my... God... I actually am gonna cry, he's so fucking cute." Rebecca gushed, wiping away the tears from her eyes.

"He's adorable!" Melody cried, a beaming smile on her face.

Jason and Tempest also leaned in close enough to see, and shared a similar reaction.

"Aww..." Jason said, pulling Sky into a one-armed hug.

"He's so cute." Tempest smiled.

"What are you guys gonna name him?" Rebecca asked, holding back a sniffle.

"Well..." Midnight began, looking over to Sky.

"We were thinking of something that kinda... combined a human name and a pony name." Sky explained.

"We were wondering if you'd be okay with the name too, Jason." Midnight continued, earning a curious look from Jason.

"We were hoping to give him Eddie's last name..." Sky finished, giving a small smile.

Jason's eyes widened, and he took a few moments before a grateful smile found its way onto his face.

"I... I would like that a lot." He replied.

Midnight and Sky shared a happy grin before returning their attention to Jason.

"Then his name is Sable... Sable Icon." Midnight proudly announced.

"That's a good name. I like that name." Ardent chimed in. 

"Sable Icon? A fitting name for such a unique pony." A new, motherly voice spoke up, directing all eyes to the doorway once more.

Standing there, was Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Twilight, Shining Armor, Starlight, Spike and the bearers of the elements of harmony.

"Princesses!" Midnight happily exclaimed.

"You guys made it!" Sky happily added.

"Well we couldn't miss the birth of the first human-pony foal in history, now could we?" Luna teased, happily pulling Sky into a hug.

"-An we never got a chance to see ya'll after ya got back from yer trip." AppleJack added, giving a winning smile as the rest of the group quickly surrounded Sky and Midnight.

"We were so worried when we heard about what happened." Fluttershy added, giving a sympathetic look to Jason and Rebecca.

"Thanks... We appreciate the concern. Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. We were tied up in Canterlot getting adjusted to a new life here." Jason replied, his eyes slightly downcast, but a smile on his face nonetheless.

"I'm just glad you all made it back okay. As soon as I heard you were going into labor in Ponyville, I had to get the girls and make sure we were here for you." Twilight spoke up, taking her turn to give Sky a nice hug.

"We wouldn't have missed this for the world." Celestia chimed in, giving a hug to Sky after Twilight was done.

"I can't believe you all made it." Sky said, wiping a tear from his eyes.

"Like they said, we wouldn't have missed this for anything!" Rainbow exclaimed, proudly puffing her chest out.

"Indeed darling, we all wanted to see the new foal. How are you, Midnight? I imagine you must be exhausted." Rarity said, giving a pleasant smile to the graphite mare in question.

"I've only been this tired... once? I think." Midnight shrugged.

"Wellyougottahaveenoughenergyforyourspecial 'gladyouguysmadeithomeandwe'reallsuperexcitedaboutyournewfoalhessocuteohmygoshIjustwannapinchhischeekseeee'!" Pinkie cheerfully exclaimed, suddenly appearing next to Midnight on the bed.

"Uh..." Midnight stuttered.

"Pinkie's just a little... too excited, heh. It happens." Spike shrugged.

"But regardless, we're all thrilled to see you guys again. We missed you this past year." Starlight added, giving a friendly smile.

"Damn... it really has been that long, hasn't it." Sky thought aloud, scratching his chin in thought.

"It has. By now, the rest of the fleet should be off world. Hell, even if we could radio them up, there's no chance now. Our radios are beyond destroyed after the island." Jason replied, shaking his head.

"Well, at least the company down here is great." Rebecca shrugged, placing a hand on Melody's neck and scratching into her fur.

"Ah... right... there... that's nice..." Melody dreamily replied, arching her neck to give Rebecca better access.

"Heh, ain't that the truth." Jason grinned, casting a loving look Tempest's way.

Tempest blushed slightly before nuzzling his hip and giving her own smile in return.

"We're all just thankful that you were all able to return from your journey in one piece." Shining spoke up, a friendly smile on his face.

"Most of us at least..." Jason whispered, just quiet enough to where he believed no one would hear him.

"He'd be proud of you." Tempest replied, her voice just loud enough for him to hear her.

Jason glanced down to see her giving him a supportive smile, and after a moment, felt a flutter in his chest. A thankful grin found it's way onto his face as well, and he leaned down to pull her into a hug.

For quite some time after that, every creature in the room was content to talk of their journey and what they missed. The room felt light, and loving, and even though the sun was quickly setting on the horizon, no one seemed to want to leave.

That is, until Jason and Tempest headed for the door.

"Where are you guys going?" Rebecca asked, glancing at them curiously.

"Promised I'd take Tempest hiking. We're gonna go up to the edge of the White Tail woods and watch the stars." Jason replied.

"You two have a good night." Midnight called out, giving them a small wave.

"We'll see you later." Sky followed up, a friendly smile on his face.

"Count on it." Tempest responded, an equally happy smile on her face as well.

"Wait, Jason! Can I talk to you really quick before you go?!" Twilight spoke up, trotting over to the door.

Jason turned and paused mid-step. He looked back over to Tempest before giving her a nod, to which she trotted off ahead down the hall to wait for him. Once it was just him and Twilight in the hallway outside the room, he gave her a curious look.

"Alright, so what's up?" Jason asked.

"I just wanted to say... Thank you." Twilight replied.

"For what?" Jason asked.

"For making my friend the happiest I've ever seen her." Twilight responded, a thankful smile on her face.

"Heh, I should be the one thanking you. If it wasn't for you letting her go with us... We'd all be dead... and I wouldn't have her." Jason warmly replied.

Twilight wiped a tear from her eye.

"What is it about you humans?" She teased.

"Not sure. Guess we just have a weakness for adorable little ponies with big hearts." Jason shrugged.

"Hehe... I guess so... I would tell you to take care of her... but I know you will." Twilight responded.

"If anything, she's the one taking care of me." Jason laughed.

Twilight giggled behind her hoof before clearing her throat.

"Well, you have a good night, Jason. We'll take care of Sky and Midnight." Twilight smiled.

"Thank you. I'll see you around, Twilight." Jason said, before turning and walking down the hallway to Tempest.

Twilight headed back into Midnight's room and quickly found her spot next to Cadence while the rest of the room circled around the new foal.

"So... Have I sated your fears about Tempest?" Cadence asked, in a teasing tone.

"Heh, yeah. They'll take good care of each other. Those two were made to be together... Just like these two." Twilight chuckled, as she gestured to Sky and Midnight .

"Mmhmm. I know when two creatures are meant for each other. All the way down to the day they'll fall in love. Those two... well, it didn't even take a month." Cadence smirked, victoriously.

"Alright, alright. You'll get your bits. Geez." Twilight playfully rolled her eyes.

"That what'cha get for betting against the Princess of Love." Cadence winked.

"I didn't bet against you! I just thought it would take a bit more than a month... That's what all my books said, at least." Twilight grumbled.


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.


Jason and Tempest playfully ran and trotted up the hill as the sun set over the horizon. Blood orange and yellow light flooded the world around them and made the grass seem to flow like an ocean of color that endlessly waved at them in the evening breeze. With a backpack on his back, Jason ran ahead of Tempest, teasingly running his hand through her mane in the process, and getting her to gallop after him.

They quickly reached the apex of the hill, and Tempest easily caught up to Jason in kind. She tackled him to the ground, the two of them rolling over each other a few times until Jason stabilized on top.

"Hehe, you almost had me there." He chuckled.

"You only got on top because you had that extra weight on your back to throw me off balance." Tempest pouted, the tiniest trace of a grin forming at the corner of her lips.

Jason brought his hands up in mock surrender.

"Alright, alright, here, let me put it down then-" He chuckled, before unslinging the backpack and setting it down ahead of them, "There, happy nowaaaahh!" Jason gasped, as Tempest easily flipped him over.

He fell onto his back, and she instantly planted herself on his torso, effectively pinning him against the grass and his backpack. For a moment, he seemed too startled to react, but a soft chuckle quickly left his lips as he looked into her cyan eyes.

"You little cheater." He joked.

"Well, like I said, the backpack made it unfair." She teasingly replied.

"Next time, you're mine." Jason playfully replied as he placed his hand on her wither, the digits sinking into her plush fur and gently scratching the skin underneath.

"I don't know if there will be a next time. I kind of want to keep my perfect record." She replied, her limbs going slack as she rested in his embrace.

"Now that's just cruel. You wouldn't be that cruel." Jason shook his head, a good-natured smile on his face the whole time.

Tempest took a moment to bring her hoof up to her chin and think. At Jason's deadpan expression, she smiled, and leaned her muzzle forward until she gently bumped into his nose. She held herself there for a second before whispering.

"Boop." 

"You are too cute." Jason replied, pulling her into a kiss. 

As their lips connected, the sun set behind them, framing them in the picture of bliss. The world around them felt so warm and peaceful, but for a time, it simply didn't exist. All there was, was a man and his pony, and they were both okay with that.