What Is A Pony Worth?

[993AB Day 190]

"I must say, Miss Alfalfa Ponyworth, you come highly recommended," Thomas Mane said to the sky-blue coated pegasus mare with a light-green mane and tail who was sitting on the other side of his office desk. He closed the file he had taken a moment to glance over once more during the interview for the position that she had applied for. "But a Butler isn't exactly one regarded as appealing to somepony with credentials as prestigious as yours."

"Thank you for your kind words, Mister Mane," she replied to the wealthy earth pony stallion with a mahogany-colored coat and jet-black mane and tail. "But when one gets to the level I reached with the Royal Guard, being a soldier becomes less important than being a diplomat, yet both fields of service requires one to be a manager first and foremost. I hope I can serve you well in your household. And while we can always hope that my combat skills will never need to be called upon, it never hurts to have somepony able and ready to raise their hoof in your defense. Unfortunately, one never knows until it's too late to wish we had such when we're lacking. And many who might try, they would not expect somepony in the position of Butler to have such skills as I possess."

"So true," Mane acknowledged with a nod. "So very true. Despite the Guard Services and Princess Celestia's best efforts, there are always—untoward incidents occurring."

"Well, I would be honored and happy to have you in my services, Alfalfa," he announced, reaching his hoof out to her. "Welcome to Mane Industries. Please call me Thomas, or Tom, whichever you prefer. Report for work here tomorrow, and I'll introduce you to my wife and son."

"I am honored and happy to be of service, sir," she said in gratitude as she took his hoof, and they shook in agreement.

After Thomas Mane saw her out, he went back and opened up the folder and reread the enclosed letter one last time.

My Dearest Friend,
Yes, Thomas, I do indeed know of Alfalfa Ponyworth.
And it is only to my deepest sorrow that she is leaving my services in the Royal Guard, but not everypony can be as long-lived as I am, and I do understand the need for somepony in her situation to finally seek for greener pastures. The job she currently holds with the Royal Guard is one, regrettably, one best suited for the young, and unfortunately, Alfalfa is no longer young. My loss, however, is your substantial gain, as I've seen her performance over many years, and every assignment and campaign she has ever been on was a resounding success. She has had assignments in the RG as diverse as Drill Instructor, Combat Hoof-to-Hoof trainer, Infantry and Artillery Combat Weapons Instructor, Central Intelligence Operations, and Special Assignments Service, and I trust that I need not elaborate just how prestigious those last two branches are if you seriously wish to consider her for any position with Mane Industries.
And given that you are a major supplier of Royal and Equestrian Guard equipment, I am sure that her contributions to your business will also continue her substantial services to Equestria through her advice and insights regarding the needs of the Guards, which you would be very wise to take under advisement.
It would give me great joy if you were to seriously consider to hire Alfalfa as she is a tremendous fount of wisdom as well as a very capable soldier. I trust that you will not be disappointed in her performance.
Yours, Truly and With Warmest Regards,
Princess Celestia

"Yes, she should do very nicely," he said as he closed the folder. Smiling, he fed it into the waiting shredder. After that, he took the basket and sprinkled the remains into the flames of the lit fireplace….

[993AB Day 191]
The next day, Alfalfa Ponyworth knocked on the door, and Thomas Mane answered the door. She cocked an ear at him.

"I believe, sir, that answering the door is supposed to be my job," she greeted.

"If you wish, I can always dock your pay for it," he shot back with a grin.

"I think we can overlook this incident just this once, sir," she responded, also grinning.

"Well played, Alfalfa," Thomas Mane laughed, as he invited her in. "Mareta, Buck," he said to the ponies waiting in the Foyer, "this is Alfalfa Ponyworth, the pegasus mare I hired to be our Butler."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," the sea-green earth pony mare with a dark green mane and tail greeted, raising her hoof to the pegasus. "Thomas informed us of your qualifications and accomplishments, Alfalfa. I must say, I am very impressed."

"Are you really a spy?" the young light-tan colt with dark brown mane and tail excitedly inquired.

"The proper term would be former spy, Master Buck," Alfalfa politely responded as she shook the colt's hoof. "And 'spy' is really a misnomer for what I did with most of my time at the CIO. My job was—mostly analytical—in nature. I would get the reports from the field, and after consulting with a number of subject matter experts, we would devise what we hoped would be the most appropriate action for our field operatives should take."

"Yes, well, we shouldn't burden Miss Alfalfa with too many questions, Buck," Thomas Mane told his son, chuckling. "I'm afraid I asked enough questions of her last night during the job interview."

The rest of the day was spent introducing her to the mansion's staff. Thereafter, she began reviewing records of the household expenses. It didn't take her long to find some discrepancies, albeit minor ones. However, it was the nature of the discrepancies that stood out. Food stuffs and other consumables were one matter, as variations due to haggling are a normal part of society. Things such as the types of tools and construction material being requisitioned were another. Especially when a number of items were being listed as being requisitioned for use at Mane Industries. As she understood the situation when Mister Mane explained her duties during the job interview, anything to do with the family's corporation was supposed to be completely separate from the household.

Thomas Mane hummed as he looked over the report that Alfalfa had put together and brought to his attention. "So, what exactly am I looking at?" he finally asked after reading through the complete file.

"Sir, I'm rather concerned there are some activities that are untoward in these purchases," Alfalfa explained. "And seeing as how they all bear your signature—Sir, if you don't know about them, then I'm afraid there might be somepony using your name in an attempt to embezzle funds from the household. If those purchases were truly for Mane Industries, then they should be made with corporate accounts and be considered corporate assets."

"That's true," Mane nodded in agreement. "Any idea of how to find out who is involved?"

"Unfortunately, thus far I've only seen a few samples of your signature, sir," she told him. "While the signatures on these purchases are close, they don't seem to be done with the same hoofwriting as your own. Except for these," she said, pointing to six of the earliest requisitions. "Their signatures are almost spot on for your hoofwriting. It's as if the forger is having more problems imitating your writing as time goes on. Usually, forgeries get better as they try to copy their targets' signatures."

"And what is your recommendation when we find out who it is?"

"Why, immediate termination, sir!" Alfalfa exclaimed. "We can't have a thief working for the household in any capacity!"

"Of course," Mane nodded. He sat there for a few moments, tapping his hoof to his chin while Alfalfa awaited his orders.

"Please come with me," he finally said, moving out from behind his desk to walk over to one wall that was covered over by book shelving. He used a hoof to tap a spot that Alfalfa didn't pick up on its significance, until Mister Mane stepped back and waited for a section to finish moving. To Alfalfa's surprise, a large section of the shelving slid out then swung to the side, revealing a metal-lined room behind it.

"This way, Alfalfa," Mane nonchalantly told her as he stepped toward the small room and turned around once fully inside. After she followed, Mane pressed a button on the inside wall. She could see the bookshelf begin to reverse its earlier motions, but the view was soon cut off by a sliding metal panel that completely enclosed the metal room. Then the room began to move.

"A secret elevator, sir?" she asked, puzzled.

"It leads to some caverns below the mansion," Mane explained as they rode it down. "I found them years ago, and thought they'd come in useful."

"'Useful'?" Alfalfa inquired, but Mane held his tongue the rest of the way down, and she was forced to politely wait until her employer was ready to elaborate further.

The elevator finished descending and the door opened up.

"Ah, Lucius! Just who I wanted to see!" Mane called out as he led the way out onto a catwalk before stopping a short distance. Alfalfa walked up beside him, a hoofstep back, as was proper. "And you're wearing one of the armor suits that's been giving us such problems? Perfect! Could you come stand here, please?" Mane pointed to a spot just before him.

"Uhhh—there, sir?" the non-pony identified as Lucius asked. There was a very nervous tenor to his voice.

"Yes, there," Mane cheerfully confirmed.

With a look of resignation, bordering on dread, Lucius donned a helmet and stepped up to face the two ponies. He wore what Alfalfa knew just from looking, that it was one of the Royal Guard enchanted chainmail suits. Although Lucius wasn't a pony, the style of armor was performing as expected in that it would fit the wearer, no matter the species. But something clearly wasn't right with the suit. There was supposed to be an illusion that activated whenever the helm was donned, one that was supposed to hide cutie marks on ponies or any other identifying features that might exist on the wearer. As a result, the creature standing before her was wearing a dark-gray, formfitting outfit and helm that covered most of the creature's face. In the darkened space, it was rather hard to make out exactly what 'Lucius' was, in fact. What she could tell about him was he was quadrupedal, nearly had a pony's height at the shoulders but had a substantially smaller head, he had with small feet—more like paws, he had three tails, and that before he had put the helmet on, his face had thick luxurious orange fur.

"Lucius, I'd like to introduce you to Alfalfa Ponyworth, the new Butler of the Mansion," Thomas Mane said. "Alfalfa, this is Lucius, one of my top researchers at Mane Industries. He's been looking into a small problem that we've been having with the enchantments going into our suits."

"Oh?" Alfalfa inquired. She was puzzled as to what, if anything, this had to do with the matter she had brought to Mister Mane's attention a little while ago.

"Yes, as you can see, the normal enchantment that is supposed to render the suit invisible whenever the helmet is worn isn't working properly," Lucius said. "As you know that same function is supposed to disguise the wearer to hide identifying features, like cutie marks."

"Yes, I can see this is a major flaw in its operation," Alfalfa replied.

"Indeed," Lucius said. "Every so often, when we make a suit at the company, the enchantments don't take properly. And we end up with a suit that won't meet the government's Quality Assurance standards, no matter how we fiddle with the spells we use to try improving that success ratio."

"What isn't so obvious," Mane spoke up, "is that, every once in a while, we get a suit—that—does something quite unexpected. Which brings us here."

"And that is?" Alfalfa inquired.

"As you know, government contracts are rigorously scrutinized for any signs of misappropriation of funds," Lucius explained. "Any product that fails to meet QA standards are considered to be an acceptable loss on the part of the contractor, therefore, any funds that are applied to research into repairing such an item that has already failed QA inspection is considered to fall under—misappropriations."

"So—you're misappropriating household funds to do your research?" Alfalfa surmised.

"Which creates a small problem of its own," Lucius muttered.

"Indeed," Mane said. "And seeing as how Alfalfa so quickly discovered that problem, sorry, Lucius, but it seems I have to fire you," he said, yanking on a rope that she hadn't noticed before. At the same moment, Lucius grimaced and braced—

WHAM

—and just like that, Lucius was gone.

Alfalfa couldn't believe her eyes, even as the large battering ram swung back across the spot where Lucius had been standing on the catwalk bridge; nor her ears, as she heard something crashing and bouncing off several levels of metal grated floors below.

Then there an eerily yipping laughter coming from the depths of the cavern. Spooky in that it was getting louder as the source was randomly moving about down there as it steadily approached.

"Wh—wha—what just happened!?" Alfalfa demanded.

Thomas Mane calmly waited until the swinging battering ram slowed its pendulous movements to where he reached out a hoof to finally bring it to a halt and hang from its supports just to the side of the catwalk.

"He was the one forging my signatures," Mane said. "Of course, that was after Lucius had alerted me to the fact that if the government ever did an audit of my household funds, any signatures authorizing this work could be legally used against me. So, that's where I told him to forge my signing so that there would plausible deniability. And, fortunately or unfortunately, you found the records straight away. What I'd like for you to do, Alfalfa, is help me clean up those records to make sure any auditors won't ever find such tampering."

"But—why—do that to him, if he was following your orders!?"

"Oh, that is only tangentially related to what we were discussing before, Alfalfa," Mane explained. "Your services come, very, very highly recommended. And I'd like for you to help us with tracing down the issues regarding the enchantments," he told her.

By that time, the source of the utterly and creepy yipping laughter had finally reached their level and was coming closer from the other end of the catwalk bridge. Into what little lighting there was, stepped Lucius, prancing toward them.

"Another one that works just the last, Mister Mane!" Lucius happily announced as he removed the helm to reveal his orange furred face.

"Six over the past three years, and no discernible pattern to these—mutations—to the enchantments," Mane sighed.

"As you can see, the flaw in the enchantment sometimes gives us a suit that can do far better than the normal suit could ever do," Lucius told her. "Anypony, even an earth pony, would be killed with a hit like that," he said, pointing a paw to the battering ram, "with a normal Royal Guard suit. But I didn't feel a thing, other than a bit of discomfort where I was hit. About the same as what I could expect from a hoof fight from a normal pony."

"We'd like to be able to isolate and make use of those more beneficial flaws to the enhancements, and hopefully fix them to allow the illusions to take hold on them, as well," Mane explained. "That's been Lucius' role, as chief researcher."

"Just what sort of creature are you!?" Alfalfa demanded.

"Oh, I'm kitsune," Lucius replied with a toothy grin.

Alfalfa groaned as she facehooved.

Kaylee's Venture

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[993AB Day 230]

After about forty days or so after arriving, Kaylee Anderson had had just about enough of the isolation.

She didn't know if she was in some sort of coma, but it seemed clear she wasn't about to wake from this dream.

Part of her recognized this place as Equestria, or at least a part of it. For some reason, she couldn't quite recall from where in the series that this location resembled. And on a couple times, when it seemed she almost remembered, there was just such agonizing pain ripping through her brain that she completely lost consciousness while screaming, only to forget any progress she may have made in her recollection whenever she would finally wake again. And worse, were the nightmares that would wake her in screaming terror afterwards.

But that's all she could remember: the moon held the image of Nightmare Moon's face on its cratered surface, and she was in someplace that seemed familiar from something she had seen in the show.

And also, her body wasn't that of a young girl anymore, but some strange fire-breathing monster, with thick heat-resistant scales, a four-footed stance, huge wings, thick reptilian tail, claws, and teeth that could shatter diamonds and other precious gems. A creature, whose label, she knows she should remember—but trying to remember was what threatened to drive her utterly insane with pain every time she tried.

There were certainly benefits to staying put. The gems in that pile were tasty beyond belief, and the lava lake was so-o-o soothing to swim in. Except, there was just nobody to talk with.

On the other hand, if this was Equestria, she needed to get help, and soon! Only, she had no idea of which way would get her to Canterlot and the alicorn Princess Celestia.

"Alicorn!" she muttered. "Combing all three aspects of earth pony, unicorn, and pegasus into one creature. Princesses Celestia and Luna are alicorns!" That, she could remember.

But trying to remember what sort of creature she was supposed to be—that only brought pain!

"Celestia—and Luna," she whispered. "They're sisters!" Where was her own sister, Jessica? Where were her parents!?

She wandered, not for the first time, to the outer lip of the massive caldera and looked out over the expanse of jungle that began at the base of the huge mountain. There were no signs of other habitations in any direction on those times where she had looked out at different locations along the rim, searching for any clues as to where the Kingdom of Equestria might exist. However, this was the first time she finally decided to set out and find it she started down the mountain's outer western slope….

[993AB Day 242]

Even though they proved to be impervious to her flame, the rockgators, or whatever they were supposed to be called, attacking her discovered her claws were still formidable enough to get through their rocky hides. However, that didn't mean that her fight with them was going entirely in her favor. For every monstrous mutant rockcroc she managed to kill or injure enough to make it drop out, another fresh one was there to take its place.

Their bites couldn't penetrate her own scales, but they did hurt—with a crushing, bruising ache. Her only recourse to dealing with that type of attack was to grab each of the creatures by the ends of their snouts and R-R-RIP-P-P-P-P their damned fucking jaws off their skulls.

As the fight progressed, she did find her rage at these rocklizards rather useful for boosting the strength she needed as she removed them one by one….

[993AB Day 259]

Shelter wasn't something easily found in the jungle. Fortunately, few things were willing to risk taking her on, so most times, she was able to sleep unmolested.

Except for things like those rockgators. Or those barking wood dogs—

"Dear Dad, Mom, and Jessie," she began praying as she made the best bed that she could from the forest debris. "I don't know if you guys are still alive. I can only hope so. It's been over two months now, and—and—I'm scared. I've never been so fright—"

The image of a deep funnel of water, lit by a lightening bolt coming up from it depths suddenly flashed in her mind….

"—ened—" she finished, the image causing her to trail off of her prayer.

"Timberwolves!" she exclaimed, suddenly remembering the term the show used for the wood dogs. "Twilight and the others! They fought timberwolves!" she yelled, happily remembering something. "There was that time when Spike and Applejack got chased by timberwolves and the dragon—"

"EYYYYYYYAAAAAGHHH!!!" she suddenly screamed, clutching her head as an insanely sharp agony ripped through the middle of her skull. Writhing and twisting about in excruciating pain, she lashed out with her claws at everything around her. And she flamed….

[993AB Day 263]

She woke, groaning from the memory of the agonies she had suffered for hours, if not days, to find herself surrounded by meters and meters of ash in the midst of a burned-out circle in the jungle.

"Wh-wha—what the hell hit me!?" she gasped.

"Dragon! EYAAAGH! Dragon! EYAAAGH! Dragon! EYAAAGH!" a passing macaw screamed as it flew by….

[993AB Day 267]

Her aching head hurt something fierce.

Each step she took only made the throbbing worse.

But she couldn't stay in this place any longer.

She had to find the pony princesses to make the pain end.

Celestia would help her.

Luna would help her.

Twilight and her little dragon brother Spi—

"EYYYYYYYAAAAAGHHH!!!" she suddenly screamed….

[993AB Day 271]

"L-L-Luna—why!?" she whimpered as she lay on her belly and looked up at the orb in the night sky. "Wh—why—why are you hurting me!?"

"Please—make it stop, Celestia!" she cried out.

"Wh-wha--what have I done to you, Twilight!?" she begged.

"Please, d-don't s-send Sp-Spike to hurt me anymore—*gasp*—he's a dragon!!" she exclaimed.

"EYYYYYYYAAAAAGHHH!!!" she suddenly screamed….

[993AB Day 285]

She growled in constant rage.

Her muscled frame was taunt with constant anger.

Her eyes burned with constant hatred.

Her stomach roiled with constant fury.

The constant pain had finally worked its toll upon her.

She was now constantly insane….

[993AB Day 312]

"I will kill you, Celestia!"

"I will kill you, Luna!"

"I will kill you, Twilight!'

"I will kill Equestria!"

"BURN IT ALL DOWN!!"

Those creatures that had the least amount of preservation instinct in them quickly got out of her way. Those who didn't—didn't survive….

The Transfer

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[993AB Day 315]

"A transfer, sir?" Sergeant End Right inquired. "You're sending me to Ice Station Crystal?"

"That's correct, Sergeant," Lieutenant Cyst confirmed.

"…"

"You'll ship out tomorrow."

"Sir! They don't exactly sell parkas here in Baltimare, and they'll expect me to be fully equipped when I arrive!" he protested.

"Not my problem, sailor!" Cyst snapped.

"Begging your pardon, sir," End Right spoke up, "but, by any chance, have I offended you in some manner?"

"Now don't get smart, sailor," the lieutenant chided him. "Don't think of this as a demotion, but rather as—an opportunity—for promotion."

Ah, yes. Risk getting turned into a unicorn popsicle to be eaten by a white bear rather than risk falling overboard to be eaten by a shark—I can see the obvious promotional potentials here already…. he thought.

"Aye, aye, sir!" End Right morosely replied, saluting.

[993AB Day 316]

At least the files are safe from discovery, End Right thought as he watched the departing scenery of Baltimare roll by. Now, if only I can find an officer who will be willing to buck the chain to send it on up to Command….

Broken Feathers

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[993AB Day 375]

"Pr-Princess Celestia!?" Spitfire exclaimed, surprised by the visitor who stepped into her office. "What brings you here!?"

"Good morning, Spitfire," the tall alicorn greeted. "I'm just here on a social call, and to check on how one of your crew, Wingnut was doing."

"Not well," Spitfire sighed as her face fell. "It's been eighty days—since—as you know, his—his wing had to be amputated. He appreciated your visits, but—he's not coming out of his funk."

"Yes, I remember it well," Celestia said. "He even asked me to stop coming to see him. I had to respect his wishes."

"I do apologize, Princess," Spitfire said. "That kind of—mutilation—to a pegasus. It's worse than even blindness! At least, the recruit who caused his accident won't be able to do anymore damage. He was summarily dismissed—"

"That recruit is why we're here," another voice spoke out as a dark brown earth pony with black mane stepped out from behind Princess Celestia. He was a pony whom Spitfire knew from numerous business news reports and from more or less indirect supplies requisitions.

"Thomas Mane!" Spitfire exclaimed. "Well, this is an honor, sir! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"The honor's all mine, Captain," Mane replied, as a couple more figures joined him in filing into her small office: a pegasus mare of whom she had a vague recollection, and a fox who had three tails. Confused, she shifted her gaze among all four of the intruders in turn again before settling upon the Head of Mane Industries once more.

"I'm—at a loss to understand," she ventured.

"The Wonderbolt recruit whom you had dismissed," Mane explained. "He sought employment with my company last week. He explained that he was kicked out of the Wonderbolts, and why. He told us he was responsible for his instructor losing a wing due to his having lost control during a training flight and his instructor had to risk his own life to save his and those other Wonderbolts he nearly crashed into. He went on to express tremendous remorse over the incident. He also showed amazing insight into some of our—less well known—and still highly and strictly theoretical—projects."

"I'm—glad he's at least acknowledging responsibility for the harm he's caused," Spitfire growled. "I hope you turned him down."

"Now why would you hope that, when as part of the conditions of employment, he was offering to donate his own wing as a transplant limb to restore Wingnut's ability to fly?" Mane asked.

Spitfire was utterly shocked to hear that.

"Wh—h—he what!?" she stammered.

"The idea of using a donor's living wing for such a transplant is theoretically possible, given the tissues already have all the required mana channels needed to assist in flight," the fox said, cutting into the conversation. "However, there are numerous factors that make the idea beyond our capacity at this time: tissue rejection, the progressive danger of necropsy setting in from the moment the wing is removed from the donor until it is completely tied into the recipient's blood supply, sensory and motor nerve connections not matching up, resilience of the mana channels if the donor wing can't handle a stronger flyer's normal magic flow—that being especially a risk to consider in this case, for one—and numerous other factors that all add up against the idea being viable."

"Spitfire, this is Lucius, one of my top researchers at Mane Industries," Mane said by way of introduction. "And this is Alfalfa Ponyworth, my Butler and Aid."

"Alf—Alfalfa—Ponyworth!?" Spitfire choked, instantly recognizing who the mare was now. "You're a BUTLER, now!?"

"Surprise," Alfalfa said waving a hoof.

She snapped her glare at Princess Celestia. "You evidently keep friends in high places, you know that!?" she accused the alicorn.

"It tends to happen," Celestia replied, smirking, "but I have no idea why."

"And—Lucius—Fox?" Spitfire asked.

"Kitsune, actually," Lucius corrected her. Spitfire blinked and then glared at Thomas Mane.

"…You do know, 'kitsune' is Neighpony for 'fox', right?" she asked him.

"He does that all the time," Alfalfa muttered. "Don't encourage him," to which Lucius gave Spitfire a toothy grin.

"Well, which brings us to why we're here," Mane cut in. "While we're not able to effect pegasus-to-pegasus wing donations at this point, we do have a project that we've been researching at Mane Industries for quite some time, a project in which we've had considerably higher success."

"Oh?" Spitfire asked, intrigued.

"A magitech bionic replacement," Lucius explained. "Essentially, a metal wing, with the proper enchantments, that we've had a better than an 85% success rate."

"Whoa!" Spitfire exclaimed.

"Of course, it has its own set of drawbacks," Mane circumspectly added. "There are considerable lack of sensory signals, responsiveness is not nearly as quick or as finely tuned as it has to be for high performance flying, and it draws a greater pull of mana from the pegasus when in use than his living wing normally does, making for some rather lopsided flying for the pegasus—"

"But it can get a pony into the air," Alfalfa finished.

"Oh, my!" Spitfire whispered. She looked up at Princess Celestia.

"We'd like to see Wingnut and speak with him, if it's at all possible," the Princess told her.

"Of—of course!" Spitfire exclaimed, jumping out of her chair. "Oh, this news just might save his life!"

Quest for the Sapphire Stone: Chapter 3 (edited #2)

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[994AB Day 13]
Being careful to not disturb any of the treasures here, Daring Do finished inscribing the glyphs from the ancient temple's treasure room for a later in-depth deciphering. The items of this temple were not her goal, but rather the information which spoke of a much richer prize which wasn't even in the temple or within the abandoned and jungle-reclaimed city surrounding it which was bordering the Dragonlands.

Putting her notebook back inside her pocket, she carefully watched her footing as she began retracing her route back out. She had only gone three steps before she felt the vibrations and heard the rumble of stone sliding against stone. She was at first fearful she had inadvertently triggered a tripwire she had missed and set off a trap that would entomb her. But as she quickly looked around for where the danger was coming from, she felt more and more of those vibrations, louder and louder rumblings.

Something else is causing that! she realized. Somepony else must have entered the temple!

Quickly running toward the exit, focusing on making sure her haste to leave didn't trigger a trap at her location, even as it was very likely that whatever had blundered into the temple had already blocked her only route out, she zigzagged through the maze of safe tiles.

Her worse fears were not only realized when she looked out into the passageway leading to the treasure room but was exceeded by what she saw barreling down the passage. A dragon!

"Kill Celestia! Kill Luna! Kill Twilight! Kill Equestria! BURN IT ALL DOWN!" the female dragon was muttering, oblivious to and clearly unimpressed by all the hundreds of poisoned tipped arrows raining down upon her from top, bottom, and both sides, nor the numerous wrecking balls of stones swinging to impact its head, neck, shoulders, wings, or sides.

"DRAGON! STOP!! YOU'LL BRING THE WHOLE TEMPLE DOWN UPON US BOTH!!" Daring Do screamed out.

"DRAGON!?" the dragon roared. Just then, a heavy wall of stone slammed down upon the base of the dragon's neck as it screamed and was driven to the stone floor.

Daring gasped with her hoof going to her mouth in horror at the sight of the crushed dragoness. She was still screaming, her body was flailing about in a vain struggle to deal with the tons of dead weight that had come down upon her.

But then, something happened that was perhaps even more horrific that seeing a creature getting crushed by tons of granite. That was watching the creature lift those tons of solid granite. It didn't stop there, either. The dragon was still screaming, and then she twisted about to bring her limbs into play and began using her claws to tear at and knock chunks of solid granite apart like it was balsawood.

The impacts the dragon delivered to the wall that had tried to crush her was starting to shake apart the entire temple and Daring Do had to dodge a large chunk of the ceiling in the treasure room that came loose. Fortunately, the missing piece of the ceiling exposed a new route to the outside!

"PONY!" the dragon screamed, having caught sight of Daring Do. Daring looked and saw that the dragon had finished freeing herself from the drop trap. And the dragon was clearly pissed!

Screaming in rage, the dragon blasted a massive torrent of flame at her.

Screeching in terror, Daring Do did the only thing she could do: fly!

The problem, she knew, was that the treasure room had been rigged to slice off the wings of any pegasi foolish enough to take to the air in the chamber. However, with that large chuck having fallen and nearly crushing her, it had inadvertently swept away any of the microfine wire traps, leaving a clear path straight up and out of the temple.

So that was the path she took.

She was nearly clear of the rock roof when the dragon burst out from the passageway and saw her. Screaming, the dragon quickly grabbed the huge chunk of debris and flung it as hard as she could at Daring Do.

Not being a perfect fit, the flying missile impacted the edges of the opening and blasted through like being hit by cannon fire, causing the roof of the temple to explode outward. One of the pieces of shrapnel clipped Daring Do's right wing as she desperately tried to evade.

Flailing about as she fell over the side of the collapsing temple, Daring Do was saved from a fatal landing on the street's cobblestones at the last second when she went through the branches of a mangrove tree.

Daring Do could still hear the dragon screaming, even as the temple continued to collapse, and she saw large chunks of stone being thrown out that clearly had nothing to do with gravity pulling them down. Jumping back to her hooves, she ran as fast as she could, northward, out of the city and away from a very, very pissed dragon.

[994AB Day 14]
Fortunately, her wing wasn't broken. But Daring Do couldn't afford to stop until she had left that dragon far behind, so she ran all night. When the sun finally rose the next day, she stopped to check just how badly she was hurt.

"Bruised, battered, and sprained," she grumbled as she carefully and gingerly stretched out her limb, hissing at the sharp stabs of fire when she stretched out less than halfway on her normal wingspan. "It almost sounds like a recipe that belongs in a griffon cookbook," she added, using her hooves to massage her sore joints.

"Still, it could've been worse," she sighed as she pulled a roll of athletic compression bandage from her pouch and got to work wrapping her wing up so as to keep her from risk making things worse. She still had a long way to go before she could recover the Sapphire Stone she sought.

Having to spend the rest of the day and all night digging herself out of the rubble and frustrated that the pony that had caused her such unbearable agony had gotten away, the dragon slowly trudged in the direction she had last seen it running and resumed her constant muttering "Kill Celestia! Kill Luna! Kill Twilight! Kill Equestria! BURN IT ALL DOWN!"

Finally confident that she managed to evade the dragon who injured her wing, Daring Do made her way through the tropical jungle, eventually founding herself surrounded by a tiger, a black panther, a lynx, a cheetah, and a white house cat….

Prologue

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Forty-six days after Equestria's Summer Sun Celebration commemorating 994 years After Nightmare Moon's Banishment, at a lake near Ponyville, no living creatures witnessed the momentarily bright flash that lit up nor the booming retort which echoed throughout the bucolic night-shrouded meadow. The figure burst out of the instantly fading disturbance and skipped several times across the pond before the water of the small lake slowed it down enough to settle. And once in the water, it sunk like a rock, with numerous bubbles rising up to finally pop on the briefly agitated surface. After a couple minutes, stillness returned to the meadow pond, as if nothing had happened at all….

Fatal Fishing

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[994AB Day 47]

Sunrider, the orange pegasus stallion who was in charge of Ponyville's weather team, settled down on the shore of a large pond outside the village after a long day of work.

"I think that new filly will work out just fine for us," he happily muttered as he performed some stretching exercises in preparation for going fishing. "She's fast as anything I've ever seen flying, and pretty quick in the brains department, too. Which is pretty rare, unfortunately," he grumbled in annoyance.

"But looks like she'll make a topnotch weather pony someday," he thought out loud just before leaping out to dive into the water to look for his favorite fish: trout.

He never surfaced and was never seen again….

Seeing Whispers In The Dark

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[994AB Day 057]

"I am just truly amazed by your accomplishments, Tom!" Princess Celestia exclaimed. "In just eighty days, Wingnut has been transformed from a broken shell of a pony to a pegasus who's found a whole new meaning in life! Even if it's not as a Wonderbolt, the stallion's back in the air again, being very productive in his new job as a Guard Courier!"

"I'm just glad that particular magictech wing wasn't one of our failures, Your Highness," Thomas Mane replied. "We've had so many setbacks. Fifteen percent is still way too high of a failure rate."

"Nevertheless, this certainly calls for a new contract between the Crown with Mane Industries, Tom! This time for pegasi rehabilitation," she insisted. "No other company has come even close to your achievement! Not Hoofthor, not even Pony Stark!"

"Well admittedly, it is rather easy to beat them on getting a flightless pegasus back into the sky when those guys are only interested in blowing stuff up," Thomas replied laughing. "Although, I do hear that Pony is making pretty good progress in retractable plate armor and rocketry propulsion."

"I've heard the same," Celestia said, nodding. "His work certainly sounds intriguing. Still, how about I provide you some additional help with enchantments to help you work out the bugs with your wings? You think that might entice you to sign? It comes with several million bits—" she said in sing-song. "Like a five hundred several," she added. That got him to coughing in surprise.

"Okaaay, toss in a dozen more enchanters to help me research the standard Royal Guard gear and I'll bite," he counteroffered. That got Celestia to blink.

"Your—Royal Guard armor is exemplary, Tom," she pointed out. "All the armor we've been getting from you fully meets our QA standards. Why do you need additional enchanters to work on them?"

"As you know, Your Highness, there are always some manufacturing defects," Thomas explained. "There's one particular defect that we've been seeing that serendipitously has qualities that exceed the standard armor's protectiveness rating but has a drawback in that it doesn't allow for the normal cloaking and illusionary effects. We're still trying to find ways to reliably duplicate the—variance—and to incorporate that higher protection value while still meeting the Crown's contractual requirements for identity concealment."

"Hmm, how much increased protection are we talking about?" Celestia inquired.

"At least twenty times," Thomas told her.

"You mean about twice what we're getting with your standard shipments?" she asked, intrigued.

"No, I mean on top of the ten times protection of non-enchanted chainmail," he said grinning. This time, it was Celestia who choked.

"That's—that's right up there with Pony's plated armor!" Celestia exclaimed. "And you're still talking about chainmail!?"

"I am, indeed," he confirmed.

"If the laws didn't require you all be in strict competition with each other, I'd be very interested in what the three of you could come up with if you were allowed to work together on something!" she complained.

"I'm sure we all would agree with that idea!" he replied, nodding.

"Okay, what about if I toss in some unicorns for your research on the Royal Guard armor, as well as workers to help you with the wings, for say, seven hundred and fifty severals, if you put your geniuses to work on a little idea that I've been dying to see happen for a long time," she proposed.

"What—kind—of 'idea'?" he cautiously inquired.

"Have you ever heard of Thestrals?" she asked him.

"Vaguely," Thomas replied, frowning. "Aren't they supposed to be the legendary bat-ponies?"

"They are, indeed. Long ago, they made up the Night Guard," Celestia answered. "There are several pockets and tribes of them scattered all over Equestria."

"I see," Thomas said, his curiosity piqued. "What do you want me to do about them?"

"They're still an honorable tribe," she told him. "They still stand ready to serve the Crown at a moment's notice. But some of their abilities are unique among the pony tribes. For one, they have exceptional hearing as well as a near perfect night vision that allows them to see in pitch blackness what a normal pony can see in daylight."

"Okay," he replied, thinking she was painting him a sufficient picture to understand what she wanted.

"There are a number of old friends of mine among their tribe," she ventured. "Unfortunately, age and exposure have cost them much over the years. Some of them have lost much of their hearing so that they can only hear as well as a normal pony, although some have gone completely deaf. Likewise, some have lost much of their vision, and even some are completely blind. And then there are those who've lost both senses."

Oh, you aren't—? Thomas began to dread.

"You—want me to help restore their vision and hearing?" he asked, laughing.

"I do, indeed," she replied. And deadly seriously, too.

"Certainly, a worthy cause," he acknowledged, still laughing.

"No less worthy than helping pegasi get back into the air."

"And a damned tight contract!" he sighed, shaking his head.

"Sorry, but I am pretty restricted in what I'm allowed to negotiate, Tom," she replied, shrugging her wings.

"Next, I'll bet you'll be asking me to help restore a unicorn's horn!"

"That is on my bucket list, yes," she replied with a grin.

"Well, this will certainly help Alfalfa with the household expenses," Thomas muttered.

"Wait—you mean you've been financing your research into the armor issue out of your household finance!?" she exclaimed.

"Yes," he replied. "That, and the magictech wings." That made her choke again.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" she angrily exclaimed. That got the attention of the guards who were standing at appropriate distances so as to not be involved in the Princess' private discussions.

"You know how tightwad those accountants of yours can get where it comes to anything that might possibly be classified as 'inappropriate funding'," he explained, shrugging his shoulders as Celestia lifted a wing to signal all was alright to the guards.

"Indeed, I do," she grumbled. "Let me see those household records of yours, Tom, and I'll be sure to toss in heaping amount of reimbursement to cover your work. Fortunately, as bad as my accountants are, they do prefer seeing nice round numbers. I don't know what kind of 'New Math' they're teaching in schools these days, but those idiots can't do simple arithmetic to save their lives. I'll make the contract out for an additional thousand million."

"You do know, Princess Celestia? We call that a billion, right?" he inquired.

"Shhh! Be careful in using the B-word when talking contracts, Tom!" Celestia warned him. "They're stuck in that 'New Math', after all. It's easier to let them think a billion is a million million."

"I'll be sure to have Alfalfa deliver them to you post haste," Mane replied. "This will certainly be a relief for her. She's all in favor of this type of work, but the poor mare's been pulling her mane out trying to balance the household funds. And believe you me, a bald pegasus isn't pretty."

"Don't I know it!" she replied with a horrified shudder.

"You're a tough negotiator, Your Highness," Thomas said, toasting her with his teacup.

"I try," she said, giggling as she returned his salute. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Tom."

"Likewise, Your Highness."

As Thomas Mane left the castle, he reflected on one of the things the Princess had mentioned, "That is on my bucket list, yes." Funny that she would have thought about that—seeing as he was already working on the idea….

Fledgling In The Nest

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[994AB Day 058]

"You said what to her, sir!?" Alfalfa exclaimed. That got Lucius, who had been holding a malfunctioning bionic wing in his telekinesis, rolling on the floor, yipping with laughter, prompting young Buck to step forward and take the wing into his hooves to keep it from falling to the floor or impacting a table.

"I explained that we were using the household funds to finance the work that we're doing down here," Thomas repeated. "On that note, I'd like you to take the records to show her."

"Um—you do know that I only just got through doctoring those records?" Alfalfa nervously warned, rubbing at her mane.

"Then we'll see how well your alterations hold up," Thomas replied, grinning.

"Look at it this way, Alfalfa," Mareta spoke up. "You'll finally be able to get the finances in order here."

"But the Crown's auditors!? This will prompt them to come down here and take a look at all the work!" Alfalfa protested.

"Princess Celestia specifically said there would be reimbursements for work already done," Thomas countered. "It's a brand-new contract authorizing the research we've been doing, including additional teams of unicorns to help Lucius with analyzing what's going on with the enchantments so that we can perhaps provide new products to the Crown. We'll move the working wings and some of the mutant armor back to the workshop where Lucius can apply the better technology that we have there to help figure them out. And—we might still be able to do some advanced ideas here, like improvements into our research into unicorn horn prosthetics. Princess Celestia has hinted that she's wants to have somepony look into that, too. Since we've already been doing some work in that direction, this will give us a substantial jump ahead of our competitors."

"I definitely can use the help," Lucius said, picking himself up off the floor. "There, I can—" but a sudden humming noise interrupted him, and they all looked to stare at Buck Mane, still holding the bionic wing in his hooves, and was hovering a couple feet in the air.

Immediately, Buck let go of the wing and both he and it dropped. Lucius, however, was quick with flipping one of his tails and caught the wing in his telekinesis before it could land on the floor.

"Buck!? What did you do!? Are you okay!?" Mareta exclaimed, rushing over to hold him.

"I don't know!" the colt exclaimed. "I was just holding it and suddenly it was lifting me up!"

"Are you okay, son!?" Thomas asked.

"Yes, dad, mom, I'm okay," he replied. "It just surprised me, is all."

"That's 'all', you say!?" Lucius demanded. "You got it to work, Buck! I've been working on that thing for months and I couldn't get it to function once! What did you do!?"

"I didn't do anything! I was just holding it!" Buck protested. "Did I break it!?" he fearfully added.

"It was 'broke' already," Lucius grumbled. "What I'd like to know is how did you get it to work!?"

The four adults all looked at each other and silently, they agreed.

"Buck, please show us what you were doing when it activated," Lucius begged.

"I wasn't doing anything," Buck repeated. "I was just holding it."

"Then show us how you were holding it, please," he asked, using his telekinesis to give it to the young colt. At the reassuring nods from his parents, and even Alfalfa, Buck took the wing into his hooves.

"I—I was holding it like this," Buck explained, adjusting his hold. One hoof was cupped under to support the wing's weight, the other hoof was held against the part of the device that was meant to blend into the wing-shoulder joint of the potential pegasus meant to be its recipient. "Just like this," he repeated. Only nothing was happening.

"Anything else?" Thomas asked. "Were you moving your hoof over it?"

"Well, yes, dad," Buck admitted. "I was—well—admiring the feel of this part," he explained, moving his hoof to show them. "It's really smooth and easy on the hoof, Lucius. I'm sure that any pegasus who needed it would appreciate the sensation," he told him, to which the kitsune gave him a toothy smile. But still, nothing was happening, and his smile faded.

"But it's not working now," Lucius muttered, his left ear twitching. "You must have done something, Buck."

"Honestly, I don't know what I did," Buck replied. "I'm sorry."

"Are you sure?" Lucius asked. "Nothing like pushing your mana into it somehow?"

"I—I'm not even sure how to do that!" Buck protested. "All the teachers at school say that earth ponies can't do magic like pegasi or unicorns!"

"We do have magic, Buck," Thomas told him. "It's a different type of magic, however." Lucius snapped his jaws together and cocked his head at Thomas Mane. Then he looked sharply at Buck again.

"Were you thinking of something?" Lucius asked. "Or feeling something when you activated it?"

"Well—while I was looking at it, I was wondering what it would be like to fly like a pegasus—"

And Buck was floating a couple feet in the air….

The Commanding Officer's Mast of Sergeant End Right

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[994AB Day 063]

"I'm extremely disappointed in you, Sergeant," Lieutenant Scab told End Right. "Not only have you broken regulations by your unauthorized duplication of classified information, but you attempted to subvert the Chain of Command of your previous commanders when you tried to pass this report up to Command through me!"

"Sir, I am convinced that Command should be made aware of this incident—" End Right tried to explain, but the lieutenant cut him off.

"Your previous commanders had made it quite clear that Command needed not be bothered with this uncollaborated report!" he yelled. "Don't you think I wouldn't have spoken with both Fester and Cyst? And since you've given me this report, I now know just why Lieutenant Cyst transferred you here! Clearly, you're a problem that he hoped that somepony else would be able to straighten up rather than take care of it himself," Scab spat, showing what he thought of the idea.

"Very well, since he won't—I will!" the lieutenant announced, using his magic to incinerate the report of an incident that had occurred in Baltimare Harbor some two-and-a-half years ago. "Sergeant End Right, you are hereby reduced in rank to Corporal! May this demotion help in serving to teach you proper military discipline and etiquette in the future as well as an appreciation for the Chain of Command. Dismissed!"

"Aye, aye, sir!" End Right bitterly replied saluting before turning to leave.

Fortunately, he bitterly thought, I still have a copy safely stashed away….

Chicks Teaching Adults To Fly

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[994AB Day 078]

"Hmm… Still nothing, Lucius," Thomas Mane said as he stood there, flapping the prosthetic wings attached to his gray chainmail armor while trying to get them to lift him into the air. He looked up in annoyance at his son as Buck leisurely drifted around him.

"It should be working. We made sure the manna channels were set up the same way in all the suits," Lucius told him.

"Well, I'm trying," Thomas grumbled.

"'Do! Or do not! There is no try!'" Alfalfa spoke out.

"What was that?" Thomas demanded, glaring at her deadpan.

"That was what my old drill sergeant always told us," she explained, grinning. "It always worked on us. Well, except for Pinfeather. He washed out of the Guard when he accidentally fired off a mortar during Princess Celestia's inspection of our unit—"

"Fortunately, there are no mortars here," Lucius quipped.

"Very fortunate, indeed," Alfalfa agreed.

"Are you two done?" Thomas growled.

"No, sir. We're just getting started," Lucius replied with his customary toothy grin while Alfalfa smirked. Thomas just sighed in resignation.

"You're supposed to flap your wings, Master Buck," Alfalfa instructed.

"Um—I haven't figured out how," the colt nervously said, coming to a stop in his drifting around.

"He is at least moving around in the air as he wishes," Lucius pointed out, shrugging his shoulders.

"But that's not how pegasi fly," Alfalfa grumbled.

"He's not a pegasus," Thomas reminded her. "But he is 'doing', as you put it."

"True," she grumbled. "Maybe it's an 'age' thing?"

"…" Thomas replied.

"Good point," Lucius said, cocking his head to the two test subjects wearing what they had come to call the mutant chainmail armor that each had been modified with a pair of prosthetic wings and added manna channels to direct some of the earth ponies' magic from their hooves into the wings.

"How is it coming?" Mareta asked, bringing refreshments for all of them.

"Buck's gotten the hang of flying," Lucius reported, as Buck settled on the ground and he and Thomas walked over to join everypony.

"But not the 'hang' of being a pegasus, yet," Alfalfa grumbled.

"But Thomas still hasn't," Lucius finished.

"Although, Mister Thomas is able to flap his wings," Alfalfa pointed out.

"Maybe he needs to focus less on flapping and just concentrate on flying?" Mareta asked.

"You know—she just might have the right idea," Lucius suggested. "Would you mind giving it go, Mareta?"

"Oh! But I don't know—"

"You can't do any worse than me," Thomas grumbled.

"Don't feel so bad, Thomas," Mareta told him. "Cloudsdale wasn't built in a day."

"No, but she was tamed in a day," Alfalfa quipped. Everypony looked at her. "If you'll recall from history class, Cloudsdale was a storm that was about to hit Baltimare until Commander Hurricane's pegasi captured and tamed it."

"How does that get me up into the air?" Thomas demanded.

"It doesn't," Alfalfa replied. "It's just good to remember important events in history, Mister Thomas."

"Tell me, how did you guys ever fix the barometric problem with Cloudsdale?" Lucius asked.

"What barometric problem?" Alfalfa asked.

"That explains a lot," Lucius muttered.

"Explains what, again?" Alfalfa asked, puzzled.

"The soggy ground beneath wherever Cloudsdale is parked," Thomas told her.

"…" Alfalfa responded.

A couple hours later, Mareta was fitted with her own suit and stood with Thomas and Buck.

"I'm not sure how to do this," she complained.

"Just think of flying, mom!" Buck said, quickly lifting up and he began circling around his parents.

"Okaaay—" Mareta said. She closed her eyes and focused on what her son had explained about how he was able to rise up, and tried to imagine herself rising as he said.

"Hmm… Good, good," Lucius muttered.

"But you should remember, pegasi don't fly blind, Mistress Mareta," Alfalfa instructed.

Mareta opened her eyes and saw she was several feet up, with Buck hovering in front of her, grinning like he had gotten away with stealing cookies from the pantry and her stallion scowling like he had lost 50% on the stock market—

Wai—I'm how far up!? she thought, just before she dropped to the floor….

Prologue

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In Manehattan, on a cold, wintery night six days after Hearts and Hooves Day, some 994 years After Nightmare Moon's Banishment, two guards on patrol witnessed a bright flash lighting up and heard a booming retort coming from an alley. However, they were not in a position to see the cause nor the figure being violently ejected from the source of the disturbance. Neither did they see the figure twist about in midair and apply rear limbs to gently break the high momentum against the brick wall of one of the buildings, nor how the figure immediately pushed off the wall and smoothly dropped down onto the ground on her hind legs….

The Quicksilver Cat

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[994AB Day 257]

She stood up and looked about her, blinking in the darkness, as her vision soon adjusted. Her ears alerted her of the approach of creatures at one end of the alley.

"Who's there!?" a masculine voice loudly demanded, as an intense light suddenly lit up that end.

Immediately, she turned and ran.

As she approached the other end of the alley, however, she spotted some creatures up ahead. And then something caught her eye about what she was seeing:

There were four vaguely equine shaped figures. From what she could see, there were three (perhaps) adults and a much smaller (probably) juvenile. But one of the adult figures stood apart from and was facing the other three. This one had a horn that was glowing a light blue and between it and the other three, there was what appeared to be a crossbow, also surrounded by a deep blue glow.

The other two adults seemed to be poised as if they were being accosted by the lone adult, with the juvenile cowering behind one of the other two adults. These three had clothing, and it looked as though their garments were well made, while the slate-gray unicorn with the crossbow had no clothing at all other than a quarrel containing several bolts for the crossbow.
That's when she noticed there was a bolt suspended in the air, the tip of the bolt about to strike one of the clothed adults, despite what it looked like the other clothed adult was trying to shield the one that would be hit by the b—

Wait! she suddenly realized, That arrow is still moving!

Immediately, she rushed forward and reached out to grab the bolt from the air.

At that moment, the creatures suddenly came to life, reacting to the one who had fired the cross bolt.

"—ive me those pearls!" the unicorn was shouting.

"—n't shoot!" one of the adults was shouting.

"—omas!" the other screamed.

"Dad! Mom!" the juvenile yelled.

Then they all reacted to her.

The four equines all screamed in shock. And, based on what the juvenile shouted, she suspected those three were a family.

"Wha—who the bronk are you!?" the unicorn angrily demanded. She saw that the crossbow was cocking itself and a new bolt was floating up from the pouch he wore, also now surrounded by a blue glow.

Angrily, she let go of the bolt she had caught and rushed forward, slamming both her paws into the base of the unicorn's throat. Instantly, the creature went flying back through the air, trailed by the crossbow and bolt, only to crash into cluster of trash bins in the alley, whereupon the glow of the unicorn's horn vanished, and the crossbow and bolt clattered to the ground beside the creature, also without the glow they previously had. At the same time, the bolt she had dropped finally clattered to the ground in front of the other two adult creatures.

"Y-you saved us!" one of the creatures shouted at her.

"What's going on out there!?" the voices from the other end of the alley demanded.

She smiled at the three.

"Sorry about your troubles, but I think I have to be going," she apologized to them before running off.

As she ran out of the alley, she instantly saw that life in the city appeared to freeze again for her. There were more of the strange-looking equines populating the street: unicorns, pegasi, and somewhat more-normal horses. But they were still, in her vision, many in the process of taking a step, the pegasi all paused in midair hovering over the street, an ordinary horse-thing performing a juggling routine before what looked to be another family, but the balls were likewise frozen in the air. Still, she kept running, hoping she could get away from what she assumed were some sort of guards coming to arrest her for some reason….

"Wh-where did she go?" Tom Mane exclaimed, looking around.

"Everypony stay where you are!" one of two city guards shouted as they came out of the alley and skidded to a halt before the scene.

"What happened here!?" the guard demanded.

"That unicorn was trying to rob us!" Tom Mane told him, pointing at the comatose figure laying among the disrupted garbage bins. "He had just shot at my wife when some bipedal creature just suddenly teleported in and grabbed the bolt out of the air and kept it from hitting her. Then the creature knocked him out and teleported away. But I've never seen a teleport like that before."

"What sort of creature was it?" the lead guard asked, taking out a notepad and pencil to take their statement.

"Well, it was bipedal, as I mentioned before," he explained. "Looked to be a blend of Diamond Dog and some sort of feline. Female, I think, there wasn't much time to see it—uh—her? Tall, perhaps as tall as Celestia, but very thin, although she had quite a large barrel of her chest. Thin waist, long thin, but well-defined muscular limbs, and a long tail. She was furred, tawny with small black spots, but with a white throat, belly, and inner thighs. She did have distinctive teardrop black markings from the inside corners of her eyes down around her muzzle…."

The Dark Stallion Steps Up

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[994AB Day 257]

"Did you have an enjoyable evening, Mister Thomas?" Alfalfa Ponyworth asked when the family arrived home.

"No, Alfalfa, we didn't!" the head of the house replied to his butler. "Mareta was almost killed, and—"

"How dreadful!" Alfalfa exclaimed. "What happened!?"

"Quite a lot of things happened! Fortunately, not all of them were bad," Thomas Mane finally replied. "But the entire incident has gotten me to thinking. There was a creature, definitely not a Diamond Dog—more of—almost a cat—but she possessed magic that I've never seen before."

"A dangerous creature that needs to be tracked down and eliminated?" she asked.

"No! No, in fact, she was the one who saved us!" Thomas snapped. "She saved us from a unicorn stallion who was trying to rob us. Whatever magic she possessed, she was not only able to overcome the unicorn who was actively using magic to attack us, but—and everything I've ever heard about magic says that a creature like her isn't supposed to have any magic—at least, nothing that is supposed to be on par with a pony. But, I swear, she had to have teleported!"

"That sounds strange, indeed, Mister Thomas," the mare butler agreed. "What are your orders, sir?"

"As I said, the whole incident has given me a lot to think about, Alfalfa," Thomas said. "First thing, earth ponies such as us shouldn't be potentially held hostage to criminals that exist in the other tribes. You were in the Royal Guard. Do you think you could teach Mareta, Buck, and myself how to fight?" Alfalfa looked at Mareta and their son standing there listening to their discussion. There was a look of determination in his mate's face that matched her stallion's, and their son had a look of curiosity.

"Teaching hoof-to-hoof combat to raw recruits was one of my specialties when I was a Drill Sergeant, Mister Thomas," Alfalfa replied with a laugh. "I'm afraid you're paying me way too many bits to have me go back to doing that again!"

"That's true," Thomas agreed, laughing as well. "Which is why I want you to train us to be more than just hoof-to-hoof experts. I want you to train us to be able to do more. A lot more."

"I see, sir," she replied.

"And tonight's incident made me give reason to reconsider some of the ideas you mentioned last week regarding some of those failed experiments that Celestia has been helping us," Thomas added. "You may be right that we shouldn't work so hard trying to reliably replicate them to meet QA specs for the Guard. I think we should look into pursuing other lines of research in how to make use of them."

"I see. Anything else, sir?" she asked.

"I'd also would like to find out all that's possible about the creature we met," he ordered. "Something tells me that she might have some impact to the destiny of ponies all across Equestria. And—it's just a gut feeling I have—but she might not be the only one we need to keep an eye out for."

"Of course, sir," Alfalfa replied. "I'll get some of my friends on this matter right away."

"Thank you, Alfalfa," Thomas said.

"We'll see how much you're still thanking me once you start going through basic training, Mister Thomas," she said, smirking. Her employer looked at his mare and son, then back to Alfalfa.

"Indeed!" Thomas agreed, laughing.

The bipedal feline being discussed in the Mane household was, at that moment, huddled inside a discarded carboard shipping box in an alley several miles away from where she had first appeared in the city, shivering in the cold as she nervously watch on the nightlife of the nearby busy street, looking at the strange vaguely equine creatures going to and fro….

Searching For Fast Food

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[994AB Day 258]

Where am I? she wondered when she woke. Looking down at her hands—that were almost paws with such stubby fingers—she wondered, Better question: what am I?

The bipedal felinoid creature nervously looked about the slowly waking city. At that time of the morning, there seemed to be very few of those quadrupedal creatures wandering about.

Poking more of her head out of the carboard box, she cautiously looked around. She was alarmed to see a couple of the creatures further down the alley, loading debris into a large dump tru—

Garbage collectors! she thought, suddenly realizing why the scene, so unreal in its detail, looked so familiar in the setting. Instantly, she ran off.

Literally "instantly".

The moving world of strange surreal creatures doing the varied tasks of ordinary living came to a halt once more.

But only long enough for her to rush over to the entrance of another alley across the main road, where she stopped to look back and watched for any signs of pursuit.

"Did you see that?" one of the earth ponies asked the other.

"Eh. We probably just scared off a cat," the other muttered uninterested as he lifted one of the garbage containers and emptied it into their trash truck.

Zipping from the entrance of one alley to another, pausing only to use their cover to look out upon the city life going on, she made her way down one main road after another, looking for any sort of familiar landmark. However, all she saw was more of the surreal environment: an ordinary city, not too unlike any such place on Earth, but with just more of those four-footed creatures, resembling equines only in a very vague manner, making up the populace. She knew horses—these things were NOT horses! Some had wings. Some had horns. Most wore clothes. This was some sort of civilization, just not a human one!

But then, she wasn't human anymore, either.

The sudden realization made her come to a complete stop.

"Momma! What's that!?" a voice sounding like a child's called out. She turned to look and saw a young creature pointing its hoof at her. Its evident parents stared at her in fear and moved to shield and protect their young. That's when she realized she had come to a stop in the middle of one of the main roads.

Instantly (again, literally), she sped off to the cover of a nearby alleyway before pausing to look back at the scene. The creatures all blinked and looked around confused, as if they hadn't seen where she had run off.

More and more of the same types of creatures throughout the city.

"Just how big is this place!?" she wondered aloud while crouching down near the entrance of another alley to fearfully look out onto yet another main highway.

But then, such a wondrous appetizing scent suddenly caught her attention. Looking about, she spotted what looked like it might be a restaurant, and the sight of the evident clientele shocked her.

On the street, there were still the ubiquitous quasi-equines walking and or flying about, but she could see a new set of creatures were coming down to line up for the restaurant. They were part bird-of-prey in their front half, part feline in their rear. What was especially shocking was the fact that only a few of the city's equines were reacting to the new creatures, and even then, only barely. And those reactions, from what she could see, seemed to consist entirely of normal social greetings: a few waves from the equines that were often returned as the individuals walked on by, a few that stepped aside to chat with each other, and even a number of the winged equines joining the line seeking to enter the establishment.

The sight made her blink. And blink. And blink.

The new creatures were clearly predatory. What she was smelling was the wonderful aroma of meat cooking. And yet, the equines didn't seem to react to these predators. Clearly, she, herself was a predator, now, and they all had looked at her in fear, if not outright terror.

Why!? she wondered.

She looked at the scene again, trying to understand what was going on.

Half-bird, half-c— "Griffons!" she suddenly exclaimed out the rest of her thought.

Immediately, several of the griffons looked at where she was crouching at the alley's entrance. A few of the winged equines did too. She caught her breath, wondering if she was going to have to run off again. Instead of fear or hostility, however, they all simply looked at her in curiosity.

She was trying to take her time, to make up her mind, hoping she wouldn't be forced to run off again, when a rumbling from her belly decided for her. That wonderful aroma was making her hungry, and she was already feeling like she was beyond starving.

Resigned, she stood up and walked across the main thoroughfare and approached the end of the line.

"Mmm, not bad," she could overhear from one of the griffons staring at her. "I wouldn't mind a little of that for dessert." That got the griffon speaking a light hoof punch from a nearby equine.

"Be nice, birdbrain!" the equine grumbled, earning a few laughs from other griffons and a couple equines in line. "But, yeah, she is rather cute."

Rather self-conscious due to her nudity, she glanced over the twenty or so creatures in the line. But then, only a few were wearing clothing, a mix of griffons or equine, while the rest were likewise nude, their modesty hidden by their fur and tails. Most of them went back to their own conversations while a few individuals let their eyes linger on her for a little while longer until she clearly took her place at the end of the line, then they, too, went back to minding their own business.

A few more griffons and equines arrived behind her as the line began moving, even including a horned equine, who struck up a conversation with one of the griffons.

"Okay, I came up with a new idea," the horned equine suddenly blurted out. "Equestria and Germane versus the rest of the world."

"Against Yakyakistan, Neighpony, and Saddle Arabia?" the griffon asked. "Hmm, sounds doable for the Legion. The League would lose Equestria's economic and military might while picking up Neighpony's naval force that would still try to decimate Equestria's western fleet on their first move. The League's best attack would be to have Saddle Arabia and Neighpony support Yakyakistan through their uncontested land bridge to pound on Germane. Don't forget, as weak as Yakyakistan is, their hoof-soldiers roll snake eyes far more than is statistically normal. We've both seen our share of times where Yakyakistan wipes out half of the Germane forces on the first move. If that happens, Germane just wouldn't be able to produce enough unicorns and pegasi to hold all that off in time for Equestria to rebuild their fleet to provide support."

To her ears, those two seemed to be talking in some sort of code rather than having a normal conversation, but the words unicorn and pegasi stood out.

She looked sharply at the winged equine creatures.

Pegasus! she thought. Or pegasi! Of course! I should have seen that!

And unicorns! she considered, glancing back at the creature behind her in the line.

"Uh, hello?" the griffon spoke to her. "New here?"

"Uh, yeah," she replied. "I—arrived in town—yesterday," she admitted.

"Oh, well, welcome to Manehattan," the unicorn spoke up, grinning.

"Thank you," she replied, surprised. "Sorry about eves dropping on your conversation, but I couldn't help but overhear. What were you talking about?"

"Heh! We're discussing a board game that we've been playing ever since we were young chicks," the griffon told her. "'Leagues And Legions'. Ever hear of it?"

"Uh-no," she replied, confused.

"It's based on a centuries old war, where there were several nations fighting," the unicorn piped up. "Equestria was allied with Saddle Arabia and Yakyakistan against Germane and Neighpony—"

"It's not exactly a historically accurate game," the griffon added. "Each nation has a starting set of troops in different territories and the players controlling the nations each take turns. Yakyakistan goes first, then Germane, followed by Saddle Arabia, Neighpony, and finally Equestria—"

"And each turn consists of phases," the unicorn took over the explanation. "There's a technology development phase, purchase phase, combat moves, combat resolution, non-combat moves, and finally placing the troops you bought during the purchase phase. You get economic rewards on how many territories you control at the end of your turn—"

"And each type of troops you have advantages and disadvantages on their attack and defense die rolls—" the griffon added.

"As well as each nation seems to have certain advantages on those die rolls," the unicorn cut in, "although that was never really acknowledged by the game creators, but so there are so many anecdotal stories about Yakyakistan's hoof-troops and other nations' troops—"

"After all, how can dice know when you're playing Yakyakistan and not another nation?" the griffon protested. "And yet, it's real! We've both seen it! Those dice know!"

"…" she reacted.

"Oh, and ignoring the politics that existed back then, you can also swap around who is in the Legion and who is in the League," the unicorn added. "Each nation has different economic, strategic, and tactical strengths. Equestria and Germane are the two strongest economic powers, while Neighpony and Saddle Arabia are medium, and Yakyakistan is the weakest—"

"But the die rolls make Yakyakistan the most tenacious on the board," the griffon said, to which the unicorn nodded.

"I see, I guess?" she replied, shrugging her shoulders, not really understanding what they were talking about.

"So, are you here for the fish, the pork, or the beef?" the griffon asked.

"I—I probably shouldn't even be here. I don't have any money," she sadly admitted. "But the smells are just so wonderful. I hope I can talk the owners into hiring me. I mean, I can work for my food, can't I?"

"Oh—" they both said, looking at each other.

"Well, how about we pay for whatever you want?" the unicorn offered.

"I don't want to impose—" she protested.

"It's no imposition," the griffon told her.

"And tomorrow, I'll introduce you to my uncle," the unicorn said.

"Your—uncle?" she inquired astonished.

"He's the owner," the unicorn said, grinning.

"Really!?"

"Yeah, he does," the griffon said, shrugging his wings. "Me, I just come here for the food and music."

"… So Gandon, here, saves my rump from a severe beating from those earth ponies, and we've been friends ever since," the unicorn, who was named Fireplate, finished regaling her about their friendship. He reached for his glass to drink after the long story.

"Not that that beating wouldn't have been well deserved, seeing as how it was Fireplate who pulled that prank on the hoofball team, but it was such a great gag, I felt I had to step in," Gandon added, laughing. "A pony that devious deserves the chance to grow in maturity and excel in his future pranks!" That caught Fireplate by surprise and got him to coughing in laughter.

"So, where do you come from, Jackie Valentine?" Fireplate asked when he finally recovered. "I've never seen or heard of your kind before."

"I've been all over just about everywhere," she evasively told them. "I was part of a four-girl band, but we got separated on our last gig. I ended up here."

"A band?" Gandon asked.

"Musical band," she answered, resuming her full attention to the group of musicians currently playing. It was a mix of three ponies, one from each tribe as their species was explained to her, and four griffons. The selection of music they played was quite rich in dramatic chords, lyrics, and themes. Their instruments were very much like those she and her friends were used to playing.

"These guys are pretty good," she said, listening to their singing.

"They sure are!" Gandon agreed. "Griffon ballads are popular here."

"Gee, I wonder why," Fireplate sarcastically said, prompting Gandon's fist-thumping his shoulder, getting them both to chuckling.

Jackie focused on their play, watching how the griffon guitarist plied his four-talon style. Whatever that speed-thing she seemed to be gifted with, it let her slow time down almost at will so that detailed and intricate motions were easy for her to catch their complexity and varied rhythm.

As Fireplate and Gandon had escorted her to their table, she had been keeping her eyes peeled to note things like how the tableware was laid out for arriving customers, the way the pony waitresses took orders, delivered the food, and how the tables were bussed when their meals were finished, and the customers departed. And the musicians also caught her attention. Several options for employment were percolating in her mind.

She really wanted to take work here, as the meal they provided her was so freaking awesome, she was almost convinced that she had already died, and this was Heaven!

"So, what sort of music do the customers here like?"

"We just told you. Griffon ballads," Fireplate replied deadpan.

"No, I mean, aside from the songs they've played, I've never heard of Griffon ballads," she explained, laughing. "I'm not from here, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Fireplate said, facepalming—or facehoofing? she wondered if a term like that would apply here.

"So, what makes up a 'Griffon ballad'?" she inquired.

"Fighting, fighting, fighting, and more fighting," Fireplate quickly jumped in. "Chick kicks butt, gets some cock, lays some eg—" Gandon clamped his talons over Fireplate's mouth.

"Don't listen to him," the griffon grumbled. "Griffon ballads hold a very simple formula: fighting, fighting, fighting, and more fighting, chick kicks butt, gets some cock, lays some eggs, does more fighting, gets more cock, yada, yada."

She blinked at him and Fireplate glared at him sideways.

"No, just kidding," Gandon said to her grinning. "And I know where you were going with that," he added to Fireplate as he removed his talons from holding him.

"Seriously, though, Griffon ballads are a pretty simple formula," Gandon told her. "Fighting for family, friends, and nation, in that order, an epic struggle, heroic actions, and facing impossible odds. And no, the chick doesn't always get the cock. Sometimes the heroes die, but it is their fight that is remembered."

"You say your uncle is the owner of this restaurant?" she asked Fireplate.

"Yepper," he replied, smiling.

"Do you think that gives you enough pull to introduce me to that band over there?" she asked….

A Whiff Of Something Rotten In Trottham

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[994AB Day 259]

"Is something the matter, Mister Thomas?" Alfalfa inquired when she greeted Thomas Mane at the front door and saw his expression.

"You might say that," he said. "Can you tell me where Mareta and Buck are?"

"They're both with Lucius, working with him on the latest of his mad-scientist experiments," Alfalfa replied, getting Thomas Mane to smile at that. He had noted that his pegasus butler and the kitsune technician had developed a rather complex relationship. There were lots of verbal jousting between them, and Alfalfa certainly had encounters with kitsune in her past which she was not yet willing to speak about them, and yet there was a clear respectful admiration she showed for Lucius.

"Good," Thomas said. "Let's go join them."

"Good afternoon, Lucius," Thomas greeted when they arrived in the caverns below the mansion. "How are things at the office?"

"There's been another failure with the chainmail enchantments, but as usual no useful extra features this time," he reported while continuing to monitor how Buck and Mareta were doing with their pegasus-modified chainmail armored suits. "The teams that Princess Celestia provided are looking into the enchantment spells to try and figure out what's going wrong with them. I'm hope they can find something we've overlooked."

"You're hoping they find a mistake!? Something both you and the Mane unicorns couldn't find?" Thomas asked, astonished.

"A mistake on our part, we can fix," Lucius said, shrugging. "If this is something else—I'm not sure what we can do. Or even if we should."

"I see your point," Thomas agreed. "I also see you've added the prosthetic unicorn horn to our outfits without removing the pegasus wings."

"I figured it to be a time saver," Lucius explained. "The horn has only been added to the helm for testing, while we can simply shut off the mana channels to the prosthetic wings to prevent interference." Thomas nodded at that explanation.

"How's it coming?" he asked.

"A little tricky," Lucius replied. "They've figured out how to do some remote levitations and some light spells, but except for the light spells, there're no visible auras about the horn or on their target props. Buck is definitely faster than Mareta or you on learning these tricks."

"Hmm," Thomas hummed. "Would the lack of an aura be a real problem?"

"I'm not sure," Lucius admitted. "There's never been a definitive explanation as to why unicorns exhibit auras when doing their magic while other creatures who use magic, such as pegasi, you earth ponies, and us kitsune, don't."

They watched as Buck entertained himself with firing off stun bolts at some targets at the other end of the testing area. Many of his shots went wide of their mark and only a few actually hit anywhere near the silhouettes.

"Well done, Buck!" Thomas exclaimed.

"Not really, Dad," he responded. "I missed nearly every target!"

"But you got that spell to work at all, Buck!" Mareta told him. "You've been a unicorn for how long now? A couple hours?"

"Indeed, Master Buck!" Alfalfa spoke up. "I'm sure you'll do much better with some practice. Do you think unicorns who have applied to the Guard and have been unicorns their whole lives can hit their targets the first time on the firing range? I'd say you were only just a little below average."

"Take a break for now and come over here," Thomas told them. "I've got some news to tell you."

When Buck and Mareta joined the other three, Thomas gave them a disturbing report.

"So, when I went to the Court to make a statement regarding Jack Black, the unicorn who had tried to rob us, I found out he had been released on bail last night," he told them. "But when I tried to find out who posted his bail, I couldn't. Further, it was posted in cash."

"For robbery and attempted murder!?" Buck exclaimed. "That's—that's like a huge bail, isn't it!?"

"At least a 10,000 bit bond," Mareta said.

"10,000 is what would be for just the attempted murder charge," Thomas told them. "Throw in the robbery, that's another 5,000 bits."

"And the robber had that kind of money just lying around?" Alfalfa asked.

"That's the thing," Thomas said. "Jack Black doesn't have any known job."

"Is it possible that had accumulated that many bits with all his robberies?" Mareta asked.

"If he did, he would have to be a one-pony crime spree the likes the city's never seen to get that much from pawning off the occasional pearl necklace and such," Alfalfa pointed out.

"He's clearly getting support from somepony," Thomas concluded. "And from somepony who doesn't want him to be traced back to. I just wish we were further along with our training to go out and see if we can try find out who's helping him. Fortunately, we do know where he's supposed to live."

"Unfortunately, however, there's no way I could ever let you or your family go out right now, Mister Thomas," Alfalfa spoke up. "I can call on some old friends of mine to come in and help, though."

"Guard?" Thomas asked.

"Former Guard," Alfalfa corrected. "Retired Guards, like me."

"I can't ask you to go out and risk yourself," Thomas protested.

"Who said anything about me going out there?" Alfalfa shot back. "I said former Guards who were like me: retired from the Guard. But I would like to ask if it's possible to borrow some equipment from Mane Industries. Some of the night-vision and hearing enhancements we're working on?"

"Too risky to involve equipment paid for by the Crown," Thomas said, shaking his head.

"A 'field test'?" Lucius suggested.

"What was that?" Thomas asked.

"Why not sign some of it out, and call it a 'field test', and return it in a few days?" he asked. "They'll all have to be tested in a real environment eventually. Why not get an early start on such thing, so that we can see how they'll perform and might need adjustments to refine them?"

"And if it just so happens that our testers see or overhear something—?" Alfalfa added, shrugging her wings.

"Which, of course, would get recorded on the crystals we will just so happened to be using for evaluating our tests," Lucius pointed out. "After all, we can't be responsible for what somepony may happen to be seen doing or speaking about when we just happen to be in the neighborhood."

"Such—uh—retired Guards—won't they have to be on our payroll?" Thomas asked.

"I know at least a couple of such who already are," Lucius and Alfalfa simultaneously said. They blinked and then looked at each other.

"Red Sovine and Match Box?" Lucius asked. "They already are Mane Industries employees, Red was hired as a courier, Match is a security guard, both of them years ago."

"I was thinking of Fred Hummer and High Flyer, both who are hired as security," Alfalfa replied. "Hmm, but Red might do. Match Box… Match Box? Isn't he an earth pony?"

"He is," Lucius confirmed, nodding.

"Then not him," Alfalfa said. "We'll want pegasi. In case things go south, they'll have the entire sky as an escape route."

"Outfit night-vision, hearing enhancements, communications gear, and recording crystals for three pegasi, then?" Lucius suggested, looking to Thomas. "The more test cases, the better data collection. Wouldn't you agree, Tom?"

"They'll have to coordinate their movements with each other," Thomas said, "but they'll also have to be careful not to do or say anything that might be incriminating to either them or us."

"They'll know what to do," Alfalfa said. "Regulation 46A: 'if communications are being monitored, no uncoded transmissions on an open frequency'. Even if it's just us monitoring our own communications," she added with a grin.

Thomas Mane considered the situation and risks. He then nodded….

How WOULD One Calculate Barry Allen's Hourly Wage?

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[994AB Day 262]

Half an hour after closing, Jackie Valentine looked over the completed work on her fifth night as the night janitor, and after checking the clock, she smiled.

In reality, it had only taken her thirty seconds to finish, wiping down the tables and booths, setting out clean silverware and plates, cleaning off the dishwasher and cooking surfaces in the kitchen, sweeping and mopping the floors of the multi-level establishment, and finally the restrooms. But when closing time came, she had to make a show of gathering the cleaning supplies while the rest of the staff did their final work, and the manager completed his accounting work and prepared the store's money bag for the night deposit to be dropped off at the bank. Then after the unicorn Big Joe, Fireplate's uncle, escorted everyone out, she waited another minute after being locked inside, before earnestly getting to work at speed.

"Hard to tell if I'm actually getting faster or if I'm just more familiar with the layout of this place," she muttered as she guided the cleaning cart back into its storage closet. The first night, it was clearly due to her unfamiliarity of the restaurant, as it had taken her a full five minutes to completely clean up everything as Big Joe explained to her what her duties would entail. The next night, she was done in two minutes, then a minute and a quarter, last night just forty-five seconds, and now just thirty seconds.

She then went to her employee locker and pulled out the packet of pages she had been working on for the rest of the time she had for the night and used one of the customer tables to work on them. This project took considerably more time, not that she wasn't making use of her speed, but accuracy in recall and her musical ear was more important now.

Prior to Fireplate's introduction to his uncle, he and Grandon the griffon introduced her to the musical band that had been playing that day. The band had two griffon lead singers, male Gus and female Griz, each of which would be the voice for their particular songs as needed, although everyone in their band could sing. Gus also worked a magical electric guitar, while Griz liked to use a violin. There was a piano-playing griffon female Gia, and an organ-playing griffon male, Gitaly. Percussions were performed by an earth pony stallion named Hammer, a unicorn mare named Victoria played a variety of brass instruments, and a pegasus mare named Flitter who apparently was very versatile in that she did most anything else the band needed such as harp, flutes or other woodwinds, xylophones, etc.

Jackie explained her situation to them, as much as she felt it was safe to reveal, about her getting separated from her friends as they were traveling to their next venue, and that she was her band's drummer, but also had stood in to play other instruments when someone wasn't able to perform that night. When she asked to see the music sheets they used, she realized she could not read their language, however, she could tell they used musical notation that greatly resembled that used by humanity. She immediately came up with a plan.

"I'm not familiar with any of your Griffon ballads," she had told them. "The songs you sang today are the first I've ever heard. But there are songs from my home that might be a close approximation, if you wouldn't mind playing them? Do you think you could allow me to provide you a couple and see how well the crowd likes them?" she asked.

"It can't hurt," Gus had replied. "Except you say you can't read our language, and it's not likely we can read yours, either. How can we play your music?"

"It looks like we have the same musical note structure," Jackie had said, "and we speak the same language. Once I have the songs written out, we'll go over them together. I'll read out the lyrics and you'll write them down in your script."

Jackie looked over the pages one more time, satisfied that she had all five compositions completed. Now, to pick out which might be the most appealing to—

The noise of keys unlocking the door caught her ear and she looked up in surprise.

It can't be morning already! she thought in a panic. I couldn't possibly have taken all night to look over these songs— But sure enough, she could see Big Joe through the glass of the front door. She hadn't even gotten any sleep for the night!

"Sorry to surprise you," he said, spotting her as he came in. "I had forgotten—" Then he stopped and stared about the restaurant.

"You—you—can't have gotten done already!?" he angrily exclaimed. "You—you just—you just sit there!" he said as he marched over to the stairs going to the upper level.

Jackie sat there, with a sinking feeling in her gut as Big Joe took his time. It felt like an eternity, and it didn't need her speed kicking in to make it seem so. She looked at the clock and saw he had left the store only a quarter hour ago.

The unicorn eventually did come back downstairs, but when he did, his expression was considerably less angry and substantially more stunned and confused. He continued his inspection of her work through the rest of the restaurant, making sure to check under every table and confirm every booth actually was cleaned. Then he left her to go into the kitchen and was gone for quite a while longer. When he finally came out of the kitchen, all anger was gone from his face. He took a few steps toward her, sat down, and stared vacantly ahead and didn't move.

Several minutes passed, and Jackie stepped out from the booth and approached him. Big Joe didn't react to her movements.

"Big Joe? Are you okay?" she asked, gently touching him.

He was in a state of shock.

"H-h-how!?" he whispered. "This place is cleaner than it was when I first opened it and got my license from the Health Department!"

"I'm—fast?" she slowly ventured.

After Big Joe got over the worst of his shock, she explained that she had no idea of how she ended up in Equestria, but she discovered that she could move so fast that time seemed to come to a stop for her. She even gave a demonstration by rushing from where they sat to the other side of the dining area and back. And how ponies all seemed to be freaked out by her.

"That's likely because it looks like you're teleporting, Jackie," Big Joe told her. "Only unicorns can teleport, but you're not a unicorn. To somepony not understanding, it looks like you're using magic that only somepony like me can use."

"Oh," she responded. "I thought it was because I was a predator. But then I saw all the griffons lining up to come eat here, and how ponies weren't weirded out by them. Hell, they even got in line with the griffons, too! And were talking with them like ordinary people. I thought it was just something about this place, where a predator like me could go and not be scaring everything in sight!"

"You didn't run up to come here?" he asked.

"No, I walked."

"That's why. You walked. You didn't just appear," he explained, laughing. "But this does cause me some problems. I'm supposed to be paying you by the hour, and you got done in like, thirty seconds!? So, what have you been working on?" he asked, glancing at the stack of music sheets.

"I was hoping to join that griffon band," Jackie said, handing over one of the compositions for him to look at. He picked it up in his telekinesis and flipped through a few pages of it.

"I'm not able to read this," Big Joe muttered, "but then, I'm not musically inclined. But the lyrics aren't in Equestrian or Griffon scripts. I don't think Gus and his guys can read this, either."

"We all speak the same language, just apparently don't write it the same way," Jackie said, shrugging her shoulders. "I was going to meet with them to transcribe the lyrics to your writing and then find out how the audience will like them."

"And all this time—you didn't have a place to stay?" Big Joe asked.

"No," she admitted. "I—I've been sleeping here after I finished the cleaning and working on these songs."

"Hmf!" he snorted. "Screw it! You're off the clock. If you can clean as good as this from now on, you're on salary! Gus and them pretty much live on the tips. You've impressed the hay out of me, and I'm rather interested in seeing how your songs will do."

Gus, Griz, and the band showed up early in the morning before the restaurant opened as they usually did so they could go over the daily song list and rehearse before the crowds entered. Jackie and Big Joe were there to meet them. Once the band members began reading the music, their reactions closely mirrored Big Joe's earlier that evening. Their eyes were all huge and the griffons all fluffed out their feathers.

"Do you think these are any good, Gus?" Big Joe asked.

"Any good!? This music is freaking awesome!" the griffon exclaimed with tears welling up in his eyes. "I'm just worried if we're good enough to play any of this! And these are the lyrics to go with this!? Jackie, please, please say they're in the same language as we speak!"

Big Joe just grinned at Jackie.

"Folks," a nervous Gus bellowed out at the start of the brunch meal. "Most, if not all, of you have heard numerous ballads from Equestria, the Griffon Empire, the Dragonlands, Yakyakistan, the Satyrs, and many other cultures, some from so far away they're almost mythical." He looked around to Jackie, who had joined them to wield a bass guitar.

"And while we have all heard of—humans," he continued, and with that word, he suddenly had the rapt attention of every single being in the restaurant, "creatures who've not been seen in our world for thousands of years—we have never heard any of their music—never have heard any of their stories—never have heard of what gods they worshipped, what monsters they fought, or of what nations they had built—and all this time, we have never known why—until now—"

"A few days ago, one has come to us,"Griz spoke up at that moment, "bringing tales of some of their struggles. Today, you'll hear one such story, in the words of one such human."

Everyone in there waited with bated breath as the band tensed up.

"No one would have believed," Gus began, "in the last years of the Nineteenth Century, that human affairs were being watched from the timeless worlds of space. No one could have dreamed we were being scrutinized, as someone with a microscope studies creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. Few men even considered the possibility of life on other planets. And yet, across the gulf of space, minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded this Earth with envious eyes. And slowly, and surely, they drew their plans against us—"

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

When the band was finished with their performance, it was a near riot….

Cat Scream Fever

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[994AB Day 262]

"So, let me get this straight: the riot was because they liked the song?" the earth pony sergeant skeptically asked.

"Have you ever had to face a hundred and fifty plus griffons who came in already really hungry, only for every single one to hold off on getting any food until they finished listening to a song?" Big Joe asked. "And then when it was over, they ALL want to eat RIGHT NOW!?"

"How long was the song?" Sergeant Fently asked.

"About—an hour and a half," the unicorn estimated.

"No, I can't say that I ever have," Fently said. "And I don't think I ever will want to. What about the band?"

"Oh, they made off like bandits," Big Joe laughed.

"They robbed you!?" Fently exclaimed.

"Sorry! No! I mean they never did so well," Big Joe had to quickly tell him. "They work for tips after all, and their performance today raked in over six hundred bits, better than five times their normal draw. Happy griffons are good tippers, you know."

"No, I wouldn't know," Fently sardonically muttered. "I've never seen griffons of either kind. They sure tore this place up to show just how happy they were."

"That's just because they were still very hungry," Big Joe reiterated to which Sergeant Fently gave a noncommittal grumble.

"Can we speak with the band members?" Fently asked.

"Of course," Big Joe said. "They're just upstairs on their break before going back to work this evening."

"With this much damage, I'm afraid your restaurant isn't in any condition to be open this evening," Fently told him.

"Afternoon everypony," Sergeant Fently greeted the band members when he led his two teammates upstairs. "Would anyone care to give a statement about today's events?"

As Gus explained how the new song that they had sang had such an effect on the customers, Corporal Higgs gave Fently a nudge. When the sergeant glanced his way, Higgs gave his eyes a twitch to focus on one of the band members, using an old Guard trick of silently communicating between each other so as to not alert somepony not in the Guard. Fently let his gaze slide across the members of the band on the way to look at the griffon who was speaking. Only, one creature sitting deep in the back was neither griffon nor pony—but it did match the description for an All Points Bulletin, specifically a Creature of Interest mentioned as being involved in foiling an attempted robbery of a certain Thomas Mane.

"…and so, I really feel sorry for Big Joe about the mess they made down there, but I think the next time we try to do one of those songs, we're going to ask that evergriff has their order in first," Gus finished, laughing.

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea," Fently agreed. "Corporal Higgs, be sure to get everypony's name for the report," he said, nodding to his unicorn companion. Fently took a position to one side of Higgs while their pegasus team member stood ready, should their Creature of Interest try to bolt.

One by one, Corporal Higgs took down their names, species, and identifying features in his notepad, starting with Gus, the griffon, male brown eagle/calico mix. Griz, the griffon, female owl/persian mix was next. Gia, the griffon, female, falcon/jaguar mix. Then Gitaly, the griffon, male, axbird/tiger mix. Gandon, the griffon, male, crow/alleycat mix—note: an acquaintance of but not a member of the band. Fireplate, the unicorn, male, reddish-orange coat, yellow and orange mane/tail, cutie mark: saucer dish holding a flame—note: an acquaintance of but not a member of the band, nephew of restaurant owner.

"And let's go with you next," Higgs said, looking at Jackie Valentine. "Gus said you're the one who wrote that song? Name?"

"Jackie Valentine," she replied.

"Species? And you're not one I'm familiar with," Higgs prompted.

"I—I'm not really sure," Jackie said, looking a little forlorn.

"Let's go with what we can determine," Higgs suggested.

"Oh, maybe I can help," Gitaly spoke up. "Years ago, I used to have my eye on a nimble little minx. A peregrine/cheetah mix. Now she was one fast chick, let me—!"

"Ch-chee-cheetah!?" Jackie exclaimed, suddenly looking down at herself in horror. "I'm a CHEETAH!?"

The Guards all tensed. This was the sign the perp was always going to bolt. What happened next, however, took them all by surprise.

"EYYYYYYYAAAAAGHHH!!!" she suddenly screamed, clutching her head as an insanely sharp agony ripped through the middle of her skull. Writhing and twisting about in excruciating pain, she lashed out with her claws at everything around her….

The Geometry Of Shadows, Part III

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[994AB Day 262]

"Cardinal on lock."

"Blackbird on position."

"Hummingbird on site."

"Okay, ladies," Red Sovine said into his mike. "Eyes and ears open. It's showtime again."

"Copy," High Flyer responded.

"Copy," Fred Hummer replied. "Confirming Crystals are awake."

"Roger Crystals," High Flyer reported.

"Ditto," Red said as he kept watch over the alley behind the unicorn Jack Black's home. "Now, we shall see what we shall see." The other two pegasi were covering the street in the front of the apartment building.

"Hope we get a better show than the last few nights have been," Fred Hummer muttered.

"Ooo, I've got twenty-one, already!" High Flyer reported from his position just to the west of the apartment's front door as he spotted the unicorn wearing a shabby cloak walking out. "From the well-dressed dealer, heading east."

"That didn't take long," Fred Hummer commented. "And this should be interesting. I see ghost walkers coming up to the table—and—walking right by the dealer," he added in singsong as a pair of Equestrian Guard who were headed west on the same street walked on by Jack Black, whose ankle bracelet and horn suppression ring were still visible despite the cloak the unicorn wore.

"Confirm!?" Red Sovine nearly shouted as he was flying toward the next vantage point that was prearranged in case their subject went in that direction.

"Ghost walkers definitely saw the dealer's bling," Fred Hummer reported, staying put to keep his eyes on the action while High Flyer flew by going to his next vantage point further east. "Didn't even ask how much they cost."

"Well, this movie's starting to stink," Red muttered.

"Yeah, I'm smelling mildew, too," High Flyer said, settling down to cover the street to wait. "But it's an interesting stink. Let's see just how bad it's going to get."

"Getting tired, Master Buck?" Alfalfa asked with a smirk as she delivered a fury of blows down on the colt. "Remember, I'm just a pegaus. We're physically weaker than you earth ponies."

"You're a trained assassin, Alfalfa!" Buck protested.

"I'm a trained soldier, Master Buck," she said, disapproving of his assessment of her.

"Plus, you're a spy! That makes you a trained assassin!" Buck countered. That made Alfalfa pause to consider it for a second. But only for a second.

"You're right!" she said grinning and resuming her attack. But her pause was enough to throw Buck's pattern of blocks out of synch with her attacks and when she began again, she was able to land several telling hits on the colt until he collapsed.

"I know the earth pony's natural reaction is to block, Master Buck," Alfalfa told the colt as she called a halt to their hoof-to-hoof combat exercise. "As my old trainer explained it to me: 'Avoid, rather than check. Check, rather than hurt, Hurt, rather than maim, Maim, rather than kill. For all life is precious, nor can any be replaced.' But remember the key to controlling the fight is at the border between where you should avoid and where you should check. Try sending your opponent off balance when you block by avoiding the attack."

"How do I do that, Alfalfa!?" Buck exclaimed, panting.

Thomas Mane settled back to the ground from his practicing flying under Lucius' monitoring, and Mareta paused in her horn marksmanship to both come over to see how their son was faring.

"So, get up and come at me, and I'll explain," Alfalfa told him.

Buck got up and shook out the wings and prepared to attack. It didn't seem fair that Alfalfa wasn't even wearing any of the mutant chainmail armor and she was still wiping the floor with him.

Has to be all that training, he considered as he looked for the best attack. But she was simply waiting for him to come at her, so now was all he had.

Rearing up, he brought his forehooves into play as she had taught him. And was missing her with every swing.

"This is what I mean by 'avoiding'," she calmly said as she kept dodging just out of his reach.

"And this—umph—is what I—oof—mean by 'blocking'," she said as she shifted her defense to actively block his hooves with her own. Despite his youth, his earth pony strength made it clear that his blows were having an effect on the former Guard pegasus. On the one hoof, he felt good about being able to get some good hits on her, on the other, he felt bad about hurting Alfalfa—she was just doing as his father asked and teaching the family members how to defend themselves. Fighting isn't fun and games, after all. It does involve hurting somepony and being hur—

"And this is what I meant by finding the boundary between the two," she said as she dodged half a step back while shifting the move of her hoof that was going to block his incoming punch to grab the outside of his blow and gave his arm a yank forward and to the side, suddenly sending Buck sprawling out on his belly.

"—wha—what was that!?" Buck exclaimed in astonishment when he was able to catch his breath again.

They followed Jack Black into the heart of the warehouse district, leapfrogging over each other to keep tabs on the unicorn. And aside from the pair of Guard who passed him near his home, Jack Black didn't have any more encounters with any authorities. Still, the unicorn didn't seem to be too concerned until the final few blocks, when he began to inexplicably keep an eye out for anypony following, including looking up. Fortunately, the three pegasi tracking him wore full dark ninja coverings, so Jack Black never saw them.

Then, after Jack Black ducked down an alley, he did one careful check on his surroundings before tapping a hoof against the wall of one of the warehouses. A section of the wall suddenly and silently recessed and slid to the side, allowing the unicorn entry before the wall section slid back into place and the wall returned to its normal looking façade.

"Cardinal! Please tell me you got that, too!" High Flyer hissed, as he looked in shock at how the unicorn had just vanished.

"I did, indeed," Red Sovine grimly stated. "Well played, Dealer!"

"What's happening?" Fred Hummer asked as he flew over, looking for his partners, not having been in position to see Jack Black's unorthodox move.

"The dealer found a new gambling house to play in," Red Sovine reported. "He left our table high and dry."

"So—do we—try to see if we can get invited, too?" Fred Hummer asked as he landed beside High Flyer.

"I don't think they're going to let us in through the front door, that's for sure," Red Sovine muttered while High Flyer pantomimed with his hooves to Fred about what Black Jack had done, how a section of the wall had opened for him and the unicorn had gotten away.

"Well, they do have a service entrance," Fred Hummer said, pointing to the windows near the roof. "Think they'll let us in if we ask real nice?"

"Our old friends might object," Red Sovine replied.

"Right," Fred said, sighing.

"Well, we are supposed to test these eyes and ears," High Flyer pointed out. "Might it be worthwhile to test just how good they really are if we don't go in?"

"So, you're finally getting the hang of flying, now?" Alfalfa asked Thomas.

"And shooting with the unicorn horn," he happily stated. Both Thomas and Mareta were smiling.

"Good! Now you can really start learning to fly by not thinking about flying," she said, grinning at them both, robbing them of their own smiles.

"Whu—?" Mareta got out.

"Do you earth ponies think about walking around when you step out of bed?" Alfalfa challenged them. "Do unicorns or kitsune think about levitating when they're lifting something up?"

Lucius just grinned at her as he sat there, and she rolled her eyes.

"No! You just do it! The same way we pegasi just fly when we want to get somewhere. We never have to think about flying. We just do!"

"Can't we train for hoof-to-hoof, instead?" Thomas asked.

"No, you're not ready for that, yet," Alfalfa said.

"I beg your pardon!?" Thomas nearly yelled. "Hoof-to-hoof is an earth pony specialty!"

Alfalfa stared at him for several moments.

"Okay, if you think you're ready for it, both of—no—all three of you come at me," she challenged. "If you can land a punch, I'll train you on hoof-to-hoof combat first. If not, then you'll do it on my schedule."

In less than two minutes, Thomas, Mareta, and Buck were all on the floor with Alfalfa sitting equal distant between them, while Lucius was rolling on the floor yipping in laughter.

"Okay—what went wrong there?" Thomas demanded as he struggled to get up again.

"You've got the talent for hoof-to-hoof combat, Mister Thomas," Alfalfa explained, "but you lack skill! Years of training, and I was trained by earth pony masters, sir! Earth pony, pegasus, or unicorn—anypony in the Royal Guard with my experience would be able to hoof your butt over to you just as easily.

"I'm focused on training Master Buck first because his youth makes him more malleable and he picks up the lessons quicker," she continued. "While you two have determination, your age does make it harder to take the lessons so fast. It's not that you can't learn, it's just that you're slower at it! It's your determination that makes it possible for you to learn at all. You WILL learn, but you'll learn at the speed that you're able. I can't make you learn faster—only you can do that. So, USE IT!"

Alfalfa helped Mareta to her feet.

"You all are learning very quickly," she assured them. "But now that you've got an idea of how far you have still yet to go, let's get back to the schedule, shall we? I trust the next time you'll challenge me—and you will—I expect you lot to do much better!" she said smirking at them.

"So, how is this batch coming along?" Jack Black asked the pegasus mare who was at the wall panel controls for the huge vat in the center of the large chamber.

"Your zebra friend brought in the poison joke yesterday. It's mixing well with the magic mushrooms—this time," the mare said. "Your friend gave us all a rash and a shit for you not being here. Especially as you have been out three days, now."

"Couldn't be helped," Jack Black replied. "Wrong set of Guards patrolling outside my home until tonight."

"Your friend suggested—and I say, strongly suggested—the next time, you don't pick somepony like Thomas Mane to rob. And that's one scary shaman. You don't want to ignore that advice. Just so you know, we all agree with your friend."

"You let me worry about my friend," Jack Black growled. "And as soon as I find out where that poison joke is coming from, we won't need our little friend any longer."

"HEY!" a shout from above sounded.

"juntaH!" Red Sovine shouted and instantly, all three darkened pegasi scattered from the two divebombing pegasi that swept through the air space in which they had been hovering. A glint of light was enough to warn them that at least one of the two were wearing wing blades. Likely, both.

The phone from the main office rang, so Alfalfa took over monitoring the family's flight and horn training while Lucius went to answer.

"Tom!" Lucius shouted out after a few minutes of talking. "Trouble at the office! Fred's been hurt!"

"How bad is he hurt?" Thomas demanded as he, Lucius, and Alfalfa stood in Thomas' office at Mane Industries. "Were you followed?"

"It's a clean slice. Serious, but Fred will live," Red Sovine reported. "They were definitely Guard trained, just not trained well enough," he added grinning. "And you don't have to worry about us being followed. They're not going to follow anypony with their wings broke. And our departure from the scene was vectored well off from Mane Industries, so they'll not be able to guess we're from here."

"I don't like it!" Alfalfa growled. "Too many signs of bad Guards are popping up. Former Guards aren't supposed to take jobs as mercenaries for drug dealers!"

"You'll like it even less when you see the recordings," Red warned. "There are active corrupt Guards who let Jack Black walk on out with his ankle bracelet and horn ring. And enough for him to know when he can and when he can't come and go when he wishes."

They watched the recordings from the night's activities.

"And now we've got idiots mixing magic mushrooms with poison joke!? In volume!?" Lucius asked when the view showed the inside of the warehouse through the window they had been hovering outside of. "It's a wonder half the city hasn't been blown up yet!"

"This is bigger than we feared," Thomas stated. "A few corrupt Guards letting a petty crook out maybe because he's too boring to keep an eye on, I could buy. A major drug operation? With stuff this dangerous!? And coordinated to let one of the major players know when he can come and go!? We can't rely on the local Guard to handle this," he said, picking up the phone….

The Geometry Of Shadows, Part II

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[994AB Day 264]

"I'm here to see my employee, Jackie Valentine. How is she?" Big Joe asked.

"Sorry, sir, but she's still screaming her head off," the disinterested earth pony desk officer muttered as he kept his focus on writing something in his log. "You'll not be able to see her at this time."

"Why hasn't she been taken to the hospital!?" the unicorn stallion demanded.

"Medical checked her out and found nothing medically wrong with her," the desk officer replied.

"And what has she been charged with!?" Big Joe demanded.

"Sir, she is a material witness to an attempted robbery and attempted murder of one of Equestria's prominent government contractors," the bored desk officer said, finally looking at the pony addressing him.

"Which 'prominent government contractor'?" the unicorn demanded.

"Thomas Mane, of Mane Industries," the desk pony intoned after taking some time to look down through several entries of a ledger.

"But she's not been charged with any crimes, now has she?" he asked.

"No, sir."

"So, why is she in jail!?" Big Joe yelled.

"For her protection."

"Right," Big Joe scoffed. "Then why is she not being protected from the likes of you!?" he spat before walking out.

"…Intriguing," Alfalfa said to the person on the other end of the phone call. "Yes, he'll be happy to hear the news. Thank you," she said before hanging up.

"Oh, Mister Thomas!" she called out to her employer passing in the hallway. "You'll be pleased to know we found your mystery cat."

"What? Oh, really?" Thomas inquired.

"Yes, she was seen in the Griffon's Way Restaurant as part of their live entertainment band a couple days ago," Alfalfa told him. "And she's evidently an accomplished songwriter, to boot. Her name is Jackie Valentine—"

A knock at the front door interrupted Alfalfa's report.

"That's odd. We're not expecting anypony, sir," she said, frowning in confusion.

With Thomas standing off to one side in the foyer, Alfalfa answered the door.

"Yes?" she inquired of the unicorn stallion waiting there.

"Good afternoon, ma'am. My name is Big Joe, I'm the owner of the Griffon's Way Restaurant," he announced. "I need to speak with Thomas Mane."

"…I don't believe the Manes have ever eaten at your establishment, sir," Alfalfa said, unsure as to why he was here. "Not that they have any animosity toward Griffon fare—"

"It's in regards to an employee of mine," Big Joe cut in. "She was apparently involved in stopping an attempted robbery and murder of the Manes several nights back. Two days ago, she was taken in as a material witness by the Equestrian Guard, but something's happened to her and they're not giving her any medical treatment. They're torturing her!"

"I'll take it from here, Alfalfa," Thomas said, stepping out from where he had been listening. "Won't you come in, Big Joe?" he invited.

[994AB Day 265]

"Thomas Mane and Big Joe of the Griffon's Way Restaurant in Manehattan, to see Princess Celestia," Sharp Quill announced during Court.

Princess Celestia glanced up from the documents she was looking over between petitions.

"Tom?" she muttered, curious as to the visit. Usually, he made appointments in advance when he wished to see her. And she didn't know of the other pony who was accompanying him. "Yes, please, show them in," she instructed.

"Good afternoon, Tom," she greeted them as they came in and bowed to her. "This is an unexpected surprise, but perhaps fortuitous for both of us, I suspect."

"Apologies for coming on such short notice, Your Highness," Thomas said to her. "We are in need of your assistance. Big Joe, here, has an employee in protective custody, a bipedal feline, named Jackie Valentine. That creature happens to have been the one who saved my family and myself from a unicorn who tried to rob us a week ago."

"Is your family okay!?" Celestia exclaimed.

"Yes, thank you," Thomas replied. "As I said, Jackie saved us. But then she was picked up from Big Joe's restaurant three days ago, and the authorities won't let Big Joe see her. I tried to help yesterday, and they wouldn't let me see her, either."

"Your Highness, Jackie's being tortured!" Big Joe spoke up.

"TORTURED!?" Celestia demanded.

"Yes, Your Highness! They did something to her that set her to screaming when they came by my restaurant, and as they were taking her away, she was holding her head, twisting and flailing about the shield spell in which they held her."

"Both of you, come with me!" Celestia commanded, getting up from her throne. "Where is she being held!?"

"In the Manehattan Equestrian Guard jail, Sixteenth Precinct, Your Highness," Thomas replied, falling in step with her as she led them toward the side doors, followed by Big Joe. "We each tried to see her yesterday to check on her condition, but they won't let either of us in to see her."

"Sharp Quill, please inform the rest of the petitioners that Court is adjourned," she ordered as she led them out.

"Yes, Your Highness," the aid sighed.

"I have an issue to speak with you, as well, Thomas," Celestia said as she calmed down a bit. "I received a report this morning from the Manehattan Detachment of the Royal Guard, evidently a discovery some of your employees supposedly made of a major drug operation going on in Manehattan. Tell me, why didn't you inform the local Equestrian Guard?"

"I had reason to suspect someponies in the Manehattan Equestrian Guard are corrupt," Thomas explained.

"That's a very serious charge to level to make, Thomas," she admonished him.

"I agree, Your Highness," he said. "However, it was when my people witnessed the local Guard of just walking right by the very unicorn who tried to rob me and my family that I began to harbor my suspicions. It got worse when they happened to see the unicorn duck into a warehouse, and they saw there him meet a mare who was mixing a huge vat of magic mushrooms with poison joke—"

"WHAT!?" she yelled, skidding to a stop to glare at him. "The report I got from the Royal Guard said nothing about that! They said they found nothing at all in the warehouse!"

"…" Thomas was stunned to hear. "When did the Royal Guard say they entered the premises?"

"Last night, in fact," Celestia replied.

"… I personally made the call to the Royal Guard two nights ago, Your Highness!" Thomas told her after getting over his own shock. "I also let them know that accomplices to the criminals discovered my employees had overheard them, and those in the warehouse would be scrambling to move their goods as soon as it would be possible for them to do so. If they took that long to respond and investigate—then I fear that it is not only the local Guard who are compromised, Princess!"

"Be careful, Thomas!" Celestia warned him. "You're already making serious allegations—"

"Your Highness, I have proof!" he interrupted. "They're on recording crystals that was collecting data during field testing of the night vision and enhanced hearing projects you personally requested. I made copies before turning the originals over to the Royal Guard."

"…" Celestia paused. "I will want to see them as soon as we're finished looking into the matter about this Jackie Valentine," she said, resuming her march.

"Of course, Your Highness," Thomas grimly replied.

She led them to where her chariot was parked with a team of pegasi Guards waiting on standby.

"Please don't be afraid of heights, my little ponies," she said stepping into the chariot. "It's perfectly safe."

"Not my usual mode of transportation," Thomas muttered, hoping it was too low to be heard. It wasn't. Big Joe heard him, but silently agreed. Celestia heard him, too. She just smiled.

"We'll be going to the Manehattan Equestria Guard facility, Sixteenth Precinct, Sergeant," she said to the leader of the chariot team.

"Immediately, Your Highness!" the lead pegasus replied, saluting.

"Princess Celestia to see the creature in custody known as Jackie Valentine," Thomas Mane loudly announced as they entered the front door.

"Y-Y-Your Highn—" the desk officer stammered in shock.

"Now, if you'd please," Celestia coldly commanded.

"Of—of course, Your Highness!" the desk officer replied, hesitating only for a moment for him to get his brain back into gear again. "Right this way!" He led them into the holding area and to the cell that held the bipedal feline.

Jackie looked up fearfully at their approach, and Celestia could see from her posture that this was a broken creature.

"On your feet, cheetah!" the desk officer yelled. "You're in the presence of Princess Celestia!"

"Ch-chee—cheetah!?" the creature exclaimed, suddenly looking down at herself. "I'm a cheetah!? EYYYYYYYAAAAAGHHH!!!" she immediately began screaming and clutching her head while flailing about on the bed. She soon hit the floor as she tumbled off, continuing to scream.

"What did you do to her!?" Celestia angrily demanded of the Guard.

"Th-that's the way it's been since being brought here, Your Highness," the desk officer stammered.

"And you never sought the advice of a physician!?" she shouted.

"Medical checked her over and cleared her of any medical issues, Your Highness," he explained.

"Cleared her of only medical issues?" Celestia inquired, clearly not impressed. "Were there no attempts to find any other causes that might not be just medical?" she pressed.

"Um—I—I don't know," he admitted.

"Leave us!" she ordered in a tone that brooked no question from him. "And leave me the keys!"

"Yo—" he began, but the glare she snapped toward him instantly shut him up. "Y-y-yes, Your Highness," he finished, hoofing over the keyring to her before departing.

"Will she be okay, Your Highness?" Big Joe anxiously asked as Celestia used her magic to unlock and open the cell door.

"That depends upon what is ailing her," Celestia grimly said as she entered. Jackie was still screaming, seemingly unaware of Celestia's approach.

She enveloped Jackie with her magic and gently lifted her, then after closing her eyes, she began going through a number of scanning spells to try finding out what the problem was. Thomas and Big Joe silently waited for her to conclude the examination. After several minutes of watching Jackie being levitated, still flailing her limbs, writhing, and screaming, they saw Celestia's eyes snap open.

"Ah! Just as I suspected!" she exclaimed. "Took a bit to find it, though. It was cleverly hidden and had me actually second guessing myself for a while!"

"What is it, Your Highness?" Thomas ventured.

"A very tiny sliver of Dark Magic," she said sighing in resignation, "Barely a flea's whisker in thickness, but it's threaded throughout her brain. The tough part now, will be to pull it out without doing any more harm than has already been done to her. Please wait outside and don't permit us to be disturbed."

When they left the area, Celestia looked grimly at the bipedal feline as she tightened her telekinetic hold on Jackie to keep her from thrashing about.

"I'm so sorry," she said to the still screaming and unaware creature. "This isn't going to be pleasant for either of us."

Once Celestia started the process of removing the strand, Jackie's screams immediately doubled in volume, and the screams only got louder as she progressed. But once started, Celestia couldn't afford to stop, for Jackie's sake. And as delicate as the operation was, it took time—too much time—and the screams only got louder.

Jackie's eyes snapped wide open, and she was pissing herself. Still, Celestia couldn't let up on her….

First Gate: Arrival

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[Day 1]

She felt like shit. That was her first sensation.

Her second was the realization that she was soaked through to the bone, but the sun was warm, so it wasn't too uncomfortable. However, she was laying on her side on a patch of rather course and rough sand.

She tried sitting up and discovered there was a large boulder right behind her, so she used it to help herself to sit up.

Blinking, she forced her eyes open and looked around. Straight out from her was the yacht's longboat, over tuned and wedged on top of some large rocks in the water. To her left, toward the rising sun, she saw several people scattered about along the length of the shoreline. Most everyone was clearly still out of it, but one girl near her and one guy further down the way were just waking and struggling to their hands and knees. Then she saw, just beyond the struggling guy….

"Patty!" she yelled out.

Patty didn't stir, but she was several dozen yards away. She spotted Allan, their roadie, closer to Patty, but he was still unconscious. She glanced to her right and saw the top of the Black Tulip, where it laid on its side, looming up above her just a few feet away. And in the water, was the boat's skipper, lying face down in the water.

As much as she wanted to run over to her friend, Jackie Valentine scrambled over to catch ahold of the man's life vest and turned him over. Only he was already blue in the face, there was a large visible dent on the side of his head, and his eyes were rolled up into his forehead.

"Somebody, help! I think he's dead!" she yelled out. The guy whom she had seen earlier had gotten up and was checking on Patty looked up at her call. He left Patty, who was now showing signs of rousing, and he started coming over, still a little unsteady on his feet. As he passed them, he paused to check on first one man, then Allan, and then the woman whom the girl was trying to rouse, then he checked on the crewman to rouse him before wading out into the water to join Jackie.

"I'm afraid we're in pretty bad shape," he muttered as he checked the old man's condition. "Let's get him to shore," he said, pulling on the old man's life jacket.

Together, they floated him to land near the now awake crewman.

"I'm sorry, Willy," the man said to the crewman as they pulled him to firmly land him. "It doesn't look good. I'm afraid he's gone." Then the man waded back out into the water and started swimming toward the aft end of the yacht.

"Where are you going!?" Willy demanded as he checked on his skipper.

"The others are washed up on the other side of the boat!" the man yelled back over his shoulder.

The others—!? Jackie wondered, looking over the scene around her and she suddenly realized Cathy and Sherry weren't accounted for!

"He's right," Willy quietly said. "There's nothing we can do for him. He's dead."

"Can't you do CPR on him?" the older woman asked as she and one of her daughters approached.

"I'm afraid not, Mrs. Anderson," Willy replied. "His skull was badly fractured." He stood up and looked up at the cliffs surrounding their little spit of sandy beach where the yacht laid. He also looked out to sea toward the horizon. "I—don't recognize this place," he muttered.

"We must be at one of the other islands," Mrs. Anderson said as the others all joined them. "As soon as you contact someone in Suva, they'll come and rescue us."

"I know all the islands in Fiji, ma'am. I've seen them from all angles around every one of them," Willy said, turning toward her. "This place isn't anywhere in Fiji."

"That's just ridiculous talk, Willy!" Mr. Anderson sternly spoke up. "You'll get on the radio—"

"Found them!" a voice yelling interrupted the large man. It was the man who had swam off earlier. He was leading Cathy, Sherry, and another girl around a huge rock against which the front of the yacht had impacted. They looked shaken but otherwise alright. "I'm afraid the keel's broken in a couple places and the starboard bow is in a hopeless mess. This rock here's really gave her a good—oh shit!" he yelled, suddenly rushing into the overturned yacht.

A few moments later, he clammered out of the remains of the kitchen's ceiling.

"Sorry about that!" he called out, resuming his walk toward them. "The stove was lit up like Christmas, and we can't exactly afford to burn the ship up right now! We'd better all go through the ship and secure all the lights and power that we can. We're going to be here for a while."

"It shouldn't take us anytime to get back to civilization, Dmitri," Mr. Anderson loudly said. "As soon as Willy gets on the radio, someone in Suva will be out in no time and get us home!"

"That's—not likely to happen," he said point up toward the sky above them. "We're nowhere near Fiji. Or Earth, for that matter. And we'll probably want to be real careful who we call out to, too. Chances are, we were brought here, and whoever did this to us clearly wasn't too awfully concerned about what condition we'd be arriving in."

They all turned to look into the sky, and everyone was horrified at seeing a freaking huge moon covering at least ten times the sky as Earth's moon, sitting serenely above them in a third quarter phase.

"We'd also better get busy burying Hans," Dmitri said as he joined the group as if he wasn't the least bit fazed by the realization that they were all on another world. "His corpse isn't going to last long in this environment."

"We're—on another planet!?" Mr. Anderson spoke out. "Which means there's no food! Should we be burying Hans so quickly? There might not be anything edible on this world!"

"If there's nothing edible on this planet, then going cannibal won't help anyone much," Dmitri countered, glaring at the bigger man. "The—last survivors will only last for another month, at best, at which point there won't be anyone else left to eat. Then you starve to death in a week beyond that. So, what's the point?

"Me, I'd like to find out if there's food out there rather than for us to all start killing each other in the next hour or two," he growled. "Also, I'd like to find out just who brought us here. And why. Maybe, just maybe, we can find a way back? Assuming we don't have to fight whoever brought us here—too much."

Willy directed everyone to go through the wreck to shut off all lights and other power consuming devices, they all gathered to bury the skipper using shovels Willy located in the yacht's tool cabinet. Willy and Mr. Anderson each said a few words about the man they were consigning to this strange new world. They dug his grave as close to the ship's wheelhouse as they could.

Afterward, Willy pulled Dmitri over for a few words as Jackie joined everyone else to begin the process of cleaning up the broken glass and debris from the inside of the yacht. In a short while, Willy and Dmitri joined in as well.

"There are a few things that everyone should understand," Dmitri spoke out as he began helping with the cleanup. "There are a couple of rules we should all remember here. Rule Number One: the decisions we all make will affect whether we live or die, and even if no one makes a wrong decision, even if every decision we make is the right one, there may come a situation where someone's going to die. But remember that any bad decisions we make will kill us all off just that much faster. Rule Number Two: whoever we chose as a leader, that person's responsible for everyone's life—but that leader will never be able to change Rule Number One.

"Now, just because I'm not freaked out by the fact we're on another planet, it doesn't mean I'm the expert about dealing with this shit. And to be honest, I really, really hope we don't have an expert regarding extraterrestrial travel among us," he added, grinning at Willy, who grinned back. "If we ever do make it back to Earth, I have no doubt that each and every one of us will come down with a very severe and hefty dose of PTSD when we return. There are only two reasons I'm not completely and totally freaking out to the point I'm functionally useless right now. One, I've had years and years of watching and reading Star Trek, Doctor Who, and dozens of other sci-fi and horror movies and books growing up. Two, I've had—not quite as many years—serving in the US Navy. And if it's one thing those two past life experiences combined will teach you, panic will kill you!

"Oh, and that reminds me, something else I heard once that might help to keep you all level headed," Dmitri said, smirking. "There's a saying that I liked when I first heard it: the Universe gives us all just one chance to live in it, then it spends the rest of our lives trying to kill us. Eventually, it wins, but the point of the game is don't let it!"

Willy, Alan, Sherry, and Patricia all snickered at that.

"Someone's certainly done something to earn a lot of karma," Willy muttered.

"I'd like to think of it as the Universe has suddenly decided to really amp up its game on us," Dmitri countered. "I'd have to conclude it's cheating."

"So, you really don't know how to get us home?" Mr. Anderson demanded.

"No! And I never said or implied I could," Dmitri sharply responded. "But I do know this: aside from whatever monsters this world will be throwing at us, our situation really isn't all that different than it would be if we just simply ended up on another island back on Earth with no radio to call out with. Survival is going to primarily depend on anyone with skills for roughing it with just the shit we have on our backs, in this boat, and what we can make from what we find on this island or whatever it is. Which means, we'll need good suggestions on how to survive in the wilderness. You're a businessman, Mr. Anderson, sir, and I'd have to say a pretty good one to make it this far in someplace as messed up and corrupted as Suva. But I don't think your background in business management and accounting can help us here. My own skills are in electronics and computers, but unfortunately, I've got shit for surviving off the land. The only thing I think I can help with in this situation is keeping an eye open for any alien tech or traps that we might find out there. And hopefully, a cool head so I don't flip out, myself, when we end up going toe-to-tentacle with a Third Space Vorlon."

"The girls and I have been in numerous situations where we had to make do when our van would break down in the middle of nowhere, in deserts, heavy woods, jungles, and so on," Alan spoke out.

"Then I'd say we've found our George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Ben Franklin," Dmitri said, patting Alan on the arm.

Dmitri and Willy helped identify the debris that was salvageable and potentially still useful from pure trash or dangerous to keep, like the broken glass that widely littered the area of the wreck. They, with Alan and Sherry, recovered the jetty longboat which, although damaged, it was fortunately still in a serviceable shape.

They also recovered what food they could from the refrigerator that had gotten knocked clean out of the kitchen and smashed against the same huge rock that the bow of the ship had smashed against. Unfortunately, the forward cabin of the yacht, which was originally a guest bedroom just beyond the front bulkhead of the kitchen, was a total loss, with its starboard side entirely smashed in and the debris was jammed nearly solid against the interior port side hull. Jackie and her friends were devastated. All of their musical instruments, as well as their changes of clothes they brought for the trip to the Andersons' island, were in there.

As they all worked together, Willy and Dmitri spoke at length with Alan, Patricia, Sherry, and Mr. Anderson about how they should go setting out to explore the land they were washed up against, while the rest of the girls mostly listened. They agreed they needed to determine if this was just an island or something bigger, what dangers might exist here, such as predators, deadly foliage, or even the landscape itself, and what might be searched out as possible food sources. Although Jackie knew she and her friends were well versed in survival skills, since the band had had many adventures over the years, Willy and Dmitri both seemed the ones most knowledgeable about, and oddly the most confident, about being on another planet. Mr. Anderson appeared to listen very closely. Jackie felt he was a shrewd businessman, but clearly not one who had gone soft over the years for owning his own corporation in Suva. He was close to the same size as Alan, and during the cleanup, showed he was just as strong. Jackie and her bandmates were enthusiastically helping to clean, as was one of the Anderson teens, Jessica. The other teen, Kaylee, whom had been the one Dmitri had brought around the ship and had a bit of a goth theme going with her outfit, was a little less eager to be involved. Mrs. Anderson was nearly useless, however. Fortunately, her husband well made up for her lack of contribution to the work with his efforts.

They kept up a running discussion about the planned exploration. The surrounding cliffs towering above the small beach by several hundred feet posed a potentially formidable challenge to getting into the interior, so they decided they would initially use the longboat up and down the coast to look for an easier route inland. They also spoke a lot about how they should continue using the wreck of the yacht for shelter as long as possible, barring storms.

They made arrangements for the girls to all sleep in the aft main bedroom. Now, cleaned up from all the smashed glass that the wreck had caused, they managed to rebuild the original four pole poster bed and they erected several rigid poles between the port bulkhead, which was now the ship's ceiling, and the still flooded starboard bulkhead. Between those poles, they fashioned hammocks for the seven women. It had two direct routes, port and starboard, to the living room/kitchen space. As the sea water would eventually be the utter ruin to everything, the passengers strung some fishing nets to serve as a temporary deck in the bedroom so that no one should track water throughout the rest of the yacht.

One deck up and a little to the rear, there originally had been used a serving bar and lounge. It had a route to the Wheelhouse. Those two spaces, were now the sleeping quarters for the men.

It was agreed by all that the portside stairway from the lounge to the bedroom would be off limits to everyone during sleeping or times for changing clothes, and it was decided that those standing watch would have the rest of the ship to patrol and keep an eye out for any dangers.

"Please, call me Fred," Fred Anderson suddenly spoke up. "This constant 'Mr. Anderson', is starting to make me sound old and rather pretentious. I'm not in my office anymore, and I don't know if I'll ever get back there. And, quite frankly, as it's been pointed out several times, we're all in the same boat. And yes, while this is my boat, I know what the saying means," he finished with a laugh.

"And Amanda, for me," Amanda Anderson added, chagrined.

The sky outside suddenly darkened, and Fred Anderson looked at his watch.

"Ah! About time!" he bellowed. "I was beginning to wonder if the sun ever was going to set!"

Jackie looked at the large wall clock on the kitchen bulkhead, and it showed it was nearly eight hours since they had buried the poor skipper.

"It'll be interesting to see what stars we've got for this world," Dmitri said, stepping through one of the open panels of the living room's ceiling and out onto the sand outside. He looked up.

"Ah, Mr.—Fred, I think you'll be wondering a bit more about when sunset is supposed to be—" he instantly said.

"Different world, remember," he said grinning as he pointed up when everyone else joined him.

Looking up, they were all amazed by the view of the sun, that had appeared to be nearly the same size as that of Earth's, was now hidden by the gigantic moon. It had gone behind the object nearly a twelfth of the way down from the upper limb. There was a bright red arc covering much of the edge of the moon.

"We'd better not look too long at that," Willy warned.

"Yeah, just like solar eclipses back on Earth, infrared can burn our retinas in next to no time," Dmitri agreed, quickly looking back down at everyone. "And I think that thing's got an atmosphere of some type, too, if that glow is any indication. This must be a double-planet. The rotation's a lot slower, a lot longer than one of our days. How long has it been since we woke up?"

"I—I'm not sure," Fred admitted.

"We must be close to just half of this planet's day," Dmitri said, glancing up. "We spent several hours going through the ship, shutting down all the switches, burying Hans, and then nearly eight hours cleaning up."

"Gathering up what food we could," Amanda spoke up, to which Dmitri nodded.

"At least ten or eleven hours, maybe more," he concluded. He glanced up again.

"This sun's a lot lower in the sky," he said after a few moments. "A lot lower than Fiji. Definitely the northern hemisphere if that way's east," he said, looking out toward where the distant shore met the horizon. "It feels about like—Southern Florida, which puts us around the mid-twenties in latitude. If the day's closer to forty to forty-four hours or more for this world, then the nights are going to get a bit chilly."

"Not to mention whatever storms might show up," Willy pointed out, to which Fred nodded.

"Or critters," Dmitri added. "We should set up some kind of watches around the clock, like we did in the military. Two or three people up to keep watch out for trouble for a few hours while the rest of us gets some sleep, and we rotate out, so no one set of people are too worn out for work."

Dmitri explained the concept of how the Navy conducted around-the-clock watches involving a group of traditional four-hour watches, with two two-hour Dog Watches thrown in, which he admitted was just plain weird and made little sense. However, given their short numbers, and the fact that everyone would be expected to be awake during the periods of the Terran day, they reworked the idea that their sleep-time security watches should be set for a steadier three-hour watch cycle that wouldn't overwork those who were needing to be awake to patrol. Dmitri, Willy, and Jackie were to take the first three-hour watch, Alan, Fred, and Kaylee Anderson would do the next, followed by Cathy, Patricia, and Amanda, and finally Sherry and Jessica would finish up the patrol. They agreed that rotations and adjustments to the combinations were very much still on the table, but that this current arrangement would do for now.

"Sleeping's going to be a lot of fun, especially if it's going to get cold at night," Willy said. "I'd like to try again to get what blankets and clothes we can from what's left of the front bedroom."

"Does anyone recognize the stars that we can see?" Dmitri asked.

No one could. Dmitri watched Willy closely as the crewman searched the sky for anything familiar. In the end, he turned and shook his head.

"Let's get up this rock and onto the ship so we can see the rest of the sky on the other side," Dmitri suggested, pointing toward the regolith that had done so much damage to the yacht's bow. "One good thing about having a big eclipse like this, we don't have to wait half of whatever year this planet has to see the stars beyond the sun." The entire group accompanied them to also have a look.

They used the rock to climb up on the port side of the overturned ship and sat to gaze out into the darkened sky.

"Remember, if we are anywhere near Earth, the constellations in the direction of home will still be there, just smaller and dimmer in the sky," Jackie heard Dmitri quietly tell Willy. "And you might have to try seeing past some brighter stars to find anything recognizable." Willy just silently nodded.

"Why is that important?" Jackie asked.

"We'll need to know which way to go in order to get back to Earth, if we can ever find and decipher the shit that brought us here," Dmitri replied. "Willy's our best chance on finding which way that is on our own. I doubt any alien tech we dig up is going to have tech manuals written in English, saying 'Earth is here.'"

"I have an eidetic memory," Willy quietly spoke up. "I remember everything I see. Everything! That's how I knew we weren't anywhere in Fiji the moment we woke up this morning. I've seen all of our islands from every angle imaginable."

"Likewise, the stars of the night sky are literally burned into his brain," Dmitri added. "So, he's our best substitute for Mr. Chekov."

"No, none of these stars, either, I'm afraid," Willy sighed after looking over the western view of the sky.

"Well, there's still the view north to search through," Dmitri said looking up at the cliffs towering above them. "Plus, the night sky once the sun sets. And don't forget whatever's still hidden behind that rock up there. Then there's however long it will take for this planet's orbit to give us a view at the stars down at the east and west horizon." Willy nodded at that.

"What's that glow up there?" Jackie asked, looking up at the moon.

"Earthshine," Dmitri and Willy spoke said simultaneously without looking.

"No, the orange glows on its face," Jackie corrected. They both looked up sharply at that.

"Cities?" Willy asked, to which Dmitri shrugged.

"They—don't—seem to be spread out like cities," he slowly muttered. "You got any binoculars?"

"Yeah," Willy replied, jumping to his feet and made his way down the length of the side until he reached the Wheelhouse. They all followed until Willy stepped down and they waited as the crewman entered by himself to search. In a short time, Willy crawled up out, holding up the binoculars for Dmitri to take and give the crewman a hand up. Then Dmitri looked through them toward the moon.

"They look like—maybe—volcanos," he finally said. "I see several smoke plumes—unless those are some seriously dirty factories they've got up there," he chuckled, handing the binoculars over to Willy to have a turn.

"I—yeah, I think you're right," Willy said. "And I think I see some fairly large seas or oceans, but they're not eating up nearly as much of the surface as they do on Earth. They're more like just globs of huge lakes, like the Caspian or Black Seas. I don't see anything that could be settlements at their edges. Those orange glows are nowhere near those seas or lakes. They're all well inland, and yeah, those look like mountains around them," he finished as he lowered the set of binoculars. He handed them to Jackie for her to have a look.

The view through the binoculars was beautiful, if a bit stark in its beauty. The overall glow from the moon made their location dim like twilight, not anywhere near as the full dark of nighttime Earth even with a full moon. She passed the set to Cathy, and eventually, everyone took turns looking up at it.

"We'd better stop," Willy warned. "That glow around the edge is the sun coming out from behind it."

"Yeah, and we've still got something like eleven hours, give or take, before sunset," Dmitri said, leading them all back toward the bow of the ship. "We're all going to have to set up to do those watches, get some rest, and plan out how we're going to tackle this world when we wake up," he said, still taking the lead to the sandy beach.

"We wake up, it's going to be the start of night!" Amanda protested.

"With a moon that big, it's not really going to be too dark to see by," Dmitri said. "That damned thing's covering at least ten times the sky that our moon does. Once the sun goes down—" he paused to do some rough calculations in his head, "at its quarter phase, it's still going to be at least fifty times brighter than a full moon back home. And it's only going to get brighter as the night progresses as it gets fuller."

"Except for the lunar eclipse," Willy suddenly cut in.

"Hmm?" Dmitri inquired.

"Solar eclipse? Double planet?" Willy asked suggestively, smirking.

"Oh, yeah," Dmitri laughed. "Yeah, that's going to get rather dark! Almost pitch black!"

The area suddenly lit up as the sun emerged from behind the huge moon, and they noted the time. After that, they were all starting to feel the effects of being up and working nonstop for the length of a full day.

Jackie knew she was just still too excited to sleep, which was why she chose to volunteer to stay up with Willy and Dmitri for the first watch. They started with a short venture back up to the Wheelhouse where Willy recovered another instrument while Fred and Alan climbed down to find their hammocks. While Dmitri stood on the hull and used the binoculars to scan the cliffs above them and both sides of the beaches, Jackie watched Willy work the instrument.

"What do you have there?" she asked him.

"An astrolabe," Willy muttered. Dmitri looked sharply at him.

"Get out of here!" he exclaimed. "Really!? You've got a fucking working astrolabe!? Shit! Look at you!" he said laughing, clearly impressed.

"Yeah," Willy laughed. "And, hey, you were spot on with that call we're in the mid-twenties. This thing says we're at twenty-six degrees, eight minutes North."

"Well, I've spent enough time in Miami. You quickly get to know just that feeling when you're looking up at the sun," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "It puts a certain—crick—back there," he laughed.

"We'd better not stay up here too long," Willy said. "This is a good way to get sunstroke."

"I hear that!" Dmitri said, wiping his brow. "I don't see any signs of life out here or up there. If anything's going to show up, it might come at us in the later hours or at night." They took shelter at the forward end of the living room so as to not talk too loudly and disturb the girls sleeping.

They talked about a wide variety of matters, places that Jackie's band had gone to perform, places that Dmitri had seen in his time in the US Navy, and areas outside Fiji that Willy had visited in his younger days and how he came to meet and join Hans in the water taxi business, and later how the Andersons bought up their boat. They also spoke about many of the shows they used to watch, and despite Jackie's interest, it was clear Dmitri and Willy had a lot more in common in their tastes.

However, after a lull developed in their conversation, Willy suddenly blurted out something.

"What about 'My Little Pony'?" he asked.

"I've—never heard of that," Jackie said, uncertainly.

"Wasn't that—some little girls' show?" Dmitri asked with a suspicious look on his face.

"I had an older sister, remember?" Willy said, sighing. "She made me watch it. ALL of it."

"And of course, you'll never be able to forget it. God, that must've been the worst, most painful, most horrendous mind-destroying moment you ever experienced," Dmitri said. Willy grinned.

"'The day you were chosen as Dragon Warrior was the worst day of my life,'" Willy quoted from Kung Fu Panda 3, even doing a fair imitation of Dustin Hoffman's voice. "'By far. Nothing else came close. It was the worst, most painful, mind-destroying, horrible moment I had ever experienced. But once I realized the problem not you, but within me, I found inner peace and was able to harness the flow of the universe.'"

"Hey! I get that reference!" Jackie exclaimed, slapping the arm of her chair.

"Actually, the show wasn't that bad," Willy stated, shrugging his shoulders. "They hired John de Lancie to do the voice for a Q-like character, named Discord."

"Wait, how is that possible?" Dmitri demanded. "Q was from The Next Generation, and that was a '90s show. I remember My Little Pony in the '70s! It was before we had remote controls and it wasn't easy to jump up and run across the room fast enough to change the channel! De Lancie is too young to have worked with Sandy Duncan back then!"

"…" Willy looked at him. "OH! You're thinking of the Generation One show! No, de Lancie was on the Generation Four version of MLP."

It was Dmitri turn to gape at him, this time.

"They had four versions of that crap on TV!?" Dmitri nearly yelled. "Who the fuck did they have to bribe to get four versions of 'My Little Pony' on the air!? And how much did they have to bribe them with!?"

"No idea," Willy admitted, shrugging. "Anyhow, as I said, the Generation Four show I watched wasn't that bad. And I saw a video on Youtube that showed de Lancie being asked about it at a Star Trek convention. He explained that the producers came to him and told him they wanted him to do Discord, and they wanted him to play the character like Q. He said it was the scripts they showed him that convinced him to go for it, because the show was presenting quality role models, good challenges and quality villains for the protagonists to go up against, and good resolutions. There were a lot of positive things he explained about the show, and because of his interview, it pulled in a lot of Trek fans—even a lot of men—over to it. Seeing that video was what convinced me to seek out a fan site, and damn, if some of the fans put out quality stuff as good as any of the Trek, Who, or other sci-fi fan sites."

"Huh—" Dmitri grunted. "Well—maybe I'll give it a shot—if we ever get back—" He looked at the clock on the wall, and it was nearly time to wake Fred, Allan, and Kaylee….

Points Of Departure

View Online

[994AB Day 265]

The creature had passed out when the thread was completely withdrawn from her, but Celestia couldn't stop to check on her condition as the danger of the Dark Magic was still active and required her full attention. The thread continued to morph and change on its own, attempting to escape even as she held it in place. Celestia had to quickly dispose of the sliver before it could escape, so she focused one final blast of searing heat to obliterate the shard before she could relax.

Sighing, Celestia looked at the being named Jackie Valintine, and the creature was staring in terror at Princess Celestia.

"Wh-wha-what did you do to me!?" Jackie screamed at her. Before Celestia could respond, she had jumped to her feet and was running toward her. Celestia instinctively dodged before the princess realized the cheetah's goal was to get past her. Before she could react, the bipedal feline had grabbed the door handle and yanked the entire door off its hinges and sent it flying behind her as she ran out of the holding area. She was gone before the door had even traveled a few apples' height.

I've never seen anypony move that fast before—except for Rainbow Dash—! Celestia thought, belatedly coming to the decision she needed to chase after her, so she was moving while the door was still sailing across the room.

Celestia ran after the bipedal cheetah, rushing out of the Guard facility and out into the main road, which wasn't easy for the alicorn. The creature was deftly dodging around everypony in her way, and Celestia realized that at that speed, even an accidental contact could seriously injure or kill a pony! But for Celestia, it was much harder to dodge bodies until she had followed Jackie outside. There Celestia was able to bring her wings into play and worked to catch up with Jackie on her left.

Thomas and Big Joe, who had been arguing with Sergeant Fently and the desk officer for several minutes over the commands that Princess Celestia had made when she ejected everypony from the room, were startled by the sound of the door impacting and splintering against the far wall of the holding area.

"She's gone!" Big Joe exclaimed.

"They're gone!" Thomas corrected, being in the better position to see that both the princess and Jackie were no longer in there.

"Calm down, Jackie!" Celestia called out. "I'm not going to hurt you!"

Celestia hadn't thought anything could look more terrified as Jackie had when she had left the jail cell, but the expression Jackie showed when her head snapped about to look at who was speaking to her put that original horrified expression to shame. Still, the cheetah's response was a lot more than surprising when Jackie executed a sharp left turn, ducking beneath Celestia to run down another main street. Celestia was once again left behind by the unorthodox evasion as that street was several lengths behind before she realized she would need to bank sharply right in order to swing around for a full 270-degree turn in order to follow.

Her entire world tilted sideways, with the ground on her right, while the universe rotated from head to hoof in front of her before she was finally aimed down the correct road to follow her. Righting herself, Celestia had to shake her head for a moment to overcome the dizziness. It had been almost a thousand years, after all, since she had to make a move that extreme.

By the time Celestia was barreling down the road several blocks after the creature zigzagging and dodging the ponies filling the road, she just caught the view of Jackie quickly ducking to the right to go down an alley between the city block's main buildings. And it took time for Celestia to reach the entrance to that alley and she flew as fast as she could, trying to catch up. However, there were several times she herself needed to zig and zag through the uneven protrusions of structures jutting out into the alleyway, and she was unable to see any sign of the fleeing bipedal cheetah. Eventually, she came to the four-way intersection of alleyways in the middle of the city block, and Celestia was forced to give up the chase. There was simply no way for her to determine which way Jackie might have gone.

Dejected, Celestia flew up to exit the maze of buildings to fly back toward the Equestrian Guard facility. She never felt the fearful gaze upon her that watched from behind one of the many large industrial-sized garbage bins populating the alleyways.

"Wh-where did they go!?" Sergeant Fently demanded of Thomas and Big Joe. "That wasn't a teleport! That couldn't be a teleport!"

"Looked like a teleport to me," Thomas muttered.

"You're not freaked out by that!?" Big Joe asked, surprised at Thomas' lack of reaction.

"I've seen it before," Thomas said, shrugging. "Jackie used it to pop in on Jack Black when he had shot at my wife, then popped out before the Guard showed up to arrest him."

"But they should not have been able to teleport!" Sergeant Fently protested. "This entire building is warded against teleporting! Not even the Princess should be able to do that!"

"I don't know about Princess Celestia, but Jackie is just simply—a little quick," Big Joe said evasively, earning him a curious look from Thomas.

"I'm going to have to take you two into custody until this mess is sorted out!" Sergeant Fently said.

"You should worry more about the trouble your lot are currently going to be in with the Princess," Thomas told the Guard. "You'd better hope all that trouble isn't going to be rolling downhill."

"Some of it certainly should," Big Joe grumbled. "This guy, for one—" he said, glaring at the desk officer, but a commotion at the entry to the Guard facility interrupted anything else Big Joe was going to say. Princess Celestia had returned, and she wasn't the least bit pleased. She pushed her nose into Sergeant Fently's face.

"I. Want. To. Speak. With. Your. Lieutenant," she growled at him. "Yesterday!"

"So, what will you do now?" Thomas quietly asked Big Joe while Princess Celestia continued to berate the entire Equestrian Guard Precinct.

"I'm not sure," Big Joe whispered back. "The band has been playing the songs she wrote out for them, and their tips have gone through the roof. She's entitled to her share, of course. We'll hold onto her bits until she comes back for them. But why did she run off like that? I know she had to have seen me standing here when she ran by. I know she should have remembered I'm her friend."

"I don't know," Thomas sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "The princess said that she had to pull some kind of Dark Magic out of her. I can only surmise the procedure may have affected your friend's mind."

By rushing from cover to cover, she eventually came across something that utterly shocked and surprised her. Despite it clearly wasn't Earth due to the inhabitants, Jackie stumbled across what looked to be nothing less than a genuine set of railroad tracks cutting a swath through an impossible city that also looked like it could almost be any big city from Earth.

Setting her sights on the distance, Jackie took off at speed, hopefully leaving any pursuit behind, especially that horrible winged, horned four-footed monstrosity that was every bit as fast as she was! Soon, she was well out of the confines of that metropolis and surrounded by the typical semi-dense copse of woods often growing up on either side of the tracks before she dared to slow down and catch her breath.

Pausing by the side of the railroad, she squatted down and fearfully looked behind her, dreading the signs of something following. Fortunately, nothing was coming after her.

Shivering in fear and cold, she remembered—

She remembered the horror of being swallowed by the ocean—

She remembered waking the first day on that world and seeing the alien moons in the sky—

She remembered all the days she and her fellow survivors tried to explore the island—

She remembered the encounters and fights with that bunch of crystalline insects, the tribe of lizard people, and those Jurassic Park Raptors that went on for weeks—

She remembered those horrid monsters that captured her and her companions—

She remembered being put into that vat—and OH GOD!—the PAIN as that vile liquid ate away her flesh while she drowned in the goop—how it continued to eat away her muscles—even her bones—!

—how she managed to not go insane from the agony, she had no idea—

She remembered finally being pulled out of the vat—how she gagged, choked, and vomited that nasty picante slime up until she was able to breathe again—

She remembered the horror of finding out she had been changed—!

She remembered the horror of finding out she wasn't the only one—!

She remembered where she and the others were let out to wander the island some more—

She remembered more of those fights with the other creatures on the island—and how she and her fellow passengers discovered they were all both less and more than human now—

She remembered the plan that everyone decided upon to assault the base where they had been held and put an end to those monsters' plans to save not only Earth, but other worlds, too—

She remembered the final fight—that thrown wrench—the explosion—

Finally, remembering waking and opening her eyes to find that new monster standing over her—and the horror that new monster was just as fast as she was—and the chase through the city—

She stood up and began walking on down the tracks away from the city, but with each step, she started having the feeling she was forgetting something—

She glanced back over her shoulder, looking back toward the city and pondered that feeling—

—something important—

Uncertain, she resolutely turned her back toward the city one last time and kept on walking….

The Geometry Of Shadows, Part I

View Online

[994AB Day 265]

"Thank you for trying to help Jackie, Princess Celestia," Big Joe said as they rode in the chariot on their way to his restaurant. Since the distance was so short, the pegasi Royal Guard pulled the chariot along the city streets. "I only hope that she'll remember she has friends here and come back to us. She's welcome, anytime."

"I hope so, too. It's good to know that she has friends who care about her," Celestia replied. "I'll have posters with her likeness and your comments put up to let her know she's welcome in Equestria."

"Oh, that might not work, Your Highness," Big Joe told her. "She doesn't know how to read Equestrian. She reads and writes in some other language."

"She doesn't read Equestrian?" Celestia asked, astonished.

"No, Your Highness," Big Joe replied. "She wrote several songs for our in-house band, but they had to work out how to translate her writings into Equestrian."

Celestia and Thomas looked at each other.

"I have more business to conduct with Tom," Celestia said, "but I would like to hear this music of hers at the earliest opportunity."

"The crystals can wait, if you wish, Your Highness," Thomas Mane said. "The matter of their content isn't going to improve or worsen with time, but I have to admit, I'm rather curious as to what your friend created that could get griffons to riot over a song they liked." His words made Celestia's eyes open wider in surprise.

Big Joe looked up at the position of the sun.

"They should be just about ready to start this afternoon's session by the time we arrive," he told them. "Of course, you're both welcome."

"I'm—rather curious about something," Thomas said. "Back at the Guardhouse, you said something about Jackie was—'a little quick'? That seemed a rather odd choice of words to say about her. What did you mean by that?"

Princess Celestia snorted her giggle.

"That's one way of putting it!" she said, laughing as she winked at Big Joe. "I tried to follow her and was able to catch up, but there were other factors in play at the time, such as the fact she was dodging everypony as we raced down the street. In a straight run, I dare say she could probably leave me in the dust. And her reaction time is far faster than mine!"

"You—were able to keep up with her!?" Big Joe exclaimed, so astonished that he completely neglected protocol when addressing the princess. She genuinely smiled at that.

"Almost," she stressed. "As I said, there were other factors at play that worked to slow her down a bit. But the mystery of Jackie's magic isn't a mystery anymore. She's not using magic like a unicorn does in order to teleport. Her magic is much like yours, Thomas. Your magic manifests in your body, as does hers. Only her magic makes her extremely fast."

"We're—we're here, Your Highness," Big Joe announced as they came up on the 'Griffon's Way Restaurant'. "Please, come on in."

"We'd be delighted," Celestia responded, as they stepped down from the chariot, and followed Big Joe inside.

Just as before at the start of their sessions, Gus provided an introductory commentary:

"Folks," he confidently bellowed out. "We know that many of you have heard these next few songs before, but there are still a number of you that this will be your first time at hearing this. This is not one of the numerous ballads we have sung of Equestria, the Griffon Empire, the Dragonlands, Yakyakistan, or any other of the known cultures, some from so far away they're almost mythical.

"This, like the one we did during lunch, is another song about—humans—" If Celestia's ears were any longer, the tips would likely have broken the sound barrier at how her attention snapped forward on hearing that word.

"Creatures who've not been seen in our world for thousands of years," Gus continued unaware of the laser-like attention now focused upon him by the figure still hidden in shadow. "We have never heard any of their music—never have heard any of their stories—never have heard of what gods they worshipped, what monsters they fought, or of what nations they had built—and all this time, we have never known why—until now. These songs were recently gifted to us by a good friend, who unfortunately, cannot be with us at the moment to help us tell it."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5jwxrTqoEA

"That was most impressive," Celestia told Big Joe after the music session was over.

"Indeed," Thomas agreed.

She had seen how the griffons' attention throughout the performance was riveted on the band and their meals went untouched as the staff brought their orders out. Now, once the band took a break, she watched how the audience came alive again to dig into their cold meals and excitedly talk about their business, much of what she could overhear involved the story conveyed by the music.

"Would you and Thomas like to have a table yourselves?" Big Joe inquired. "We also serve pony food, if you wish."

"I've tried and enjoyed griffon fare before," Celestia told Thomas. "I have a few favorites, myself. I would be very interested in seeing how your establishment prepares them. Would you like to challenge this, Tom?" she asked him.

"I've never had griffon food, myself," Thomas replied, shrugging. "But I'm willing to give it a try. Yes, please, Big Joe," he told the restauranteur.

"Right this way, then," Big Joe gestured and led them to a secluded private booth.

"And from what I can see," Celestia spoke as they walked, "your customers really like their food, despite their dishes sitting untouched throughout the music. That also says a lot about how those songs affect your clientele, which indicates just how important it is that we find and retrieve your friend."

"Thank you so very much for taking an interest in this," Big Joe said. "I'll have somepony over right away to take your orders. And might I make a suggestion--be sure to have your orders in before the next set of music. I made that mistake of having the sequence reversed the first time one of Jackie's songs played. The repairs needed—were extensive," he finished before leaving them at their table.

"This next song," Griz spoke up addressing the audience about an hour later, "does speak of one of the human nations as it gives voice to their dreams, their hopes, and their aspirations, and—we're not sure—perhaps some significant event for which we have no reference to, but may have greatly impacted them."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIyuJOh3T-Q

When that song finished, Celestia had been moved to tears. Such poignancy! Such heartache it conveyed. And she wasn't the only moved, as many of the griffons also displayed great distress over it, even as they showed their approval.

Thomas wasn't moved to tears, but he did find the song intriguing and heartfelt.

"W—we have to find her!" Celestia hoarsely whispered to him. It was only when he looked up at her that he saw how if had affected her.

"Are you okay, Your Highness?" he instantly asked, concerned at how broken she suddenly looked.

"I—I will be—assuming I don't hear another like that one for a little time," she said, struggling to get her emotions back under control. "That—was a very powerful song! Big Joe, I'd like an opportunity to speak with the band members when they have a break," she said to the owner, who sat nearby.

"Of course, Your Highness," he replied.

"Their culture is a complete mystery to us," Griz spoke out to the crowd. "What little we do know, is contained within the five songs our friend provided. Whether the stories in their music are true or fanciful, we cannot say. We know nothing other than what has been written in them. But from what we do have, it is clear that humans knew of battle, knew of wars, knew when they needed to fight and when such wars were utter folly, for they tell us this much in them. This—is another such message—and perhaps—a warning," she said before beginning the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGY9k5PeoQA

This time, even Thomas had been moved to tears, and when he looked at Celestia, he saw that this one had a strong impact upon her, too. Likewise, to the griffons.

"We know just how much those songs have affected you," Gus spoke out. "It affects us the same way, and we're the ones who have to play it to the quality that our good friend wrote them out to. Believe us, it hits us just as strong, every time. But just so that you don't depart in such emotional wreckage, we'll leave you this evening with this ever-popular and cheery griffon tune to reawaken your appetites and thirsts for all that it is to be—a griffon!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58wJRrvVgZI

"Thank you! Thank you all, and good night, everygriff and everypony!" Griz shouted out over the cheers as they finished up.

"Let's go," Celestia commanded, and Big Joe escorted them both backstage to meet the band.

"Princess Celestia!" Gus exclaimed when he saw who was coming to meet them. "Th-this is an honor! Have you heard the music?"

"Indeed, I have," she greeted them. "It was exceptionally moving. I understand that Jackie Valentine wrote some of those songs for you."

"Have you seen Jackie!? How is she doing!?" Griz eagerly asked. "Is she going to be released!?"

"There's been—a complication, I'm afraid," Celestia told them. "Can we talk in private?"

"Of course!" Gus exclaimed. "Right this way," he said, leading them to their dressing room.

"This—is going to sound distressing," Celestia began once everyone was inside and seated. "Big Joe and Thomas Mane came to me with news about how your friend was being treated while in custody." The griffons and ponies of the band all gaped at Thomas Mane sitting among them. Of course, Big Joe had informed them when he had approached the Guard the day before, and how he was going to go see the owner of Mane Industries that evening. However, they had no idea that things would escalate so high.

"When we arrived, I saw what condition she was being held in," Celestia explained. "Shortly after I got the chance to see her, I witnessed a distressing event involving Jackie that alerted me that something was seriously wrong with her. I understand, that while the Guard were interviewing you, that Jackie just suddenly and inexplicably started screaming?"

"Yes, that's true, Your Highness!" Gus exclaimed. "None of us could understand what was ailing her. Eventually, the Guard took her, and she was still struggling and screaming."

"The agony she was suffering was due to an odd curse that had infected her," Celestia told them. "It was just the barest sliver of Dark Magic, so small, I almost missed it even as I suspected it was what was ailing her. But I was able to finally locate it and pull it out of her and destroy it—but—the experience left her terrified—and she ran! And I've never seen any creature able to move that fast before! I'm sorry to say, but I lost her before I could explain, and she got away."

"Hopefully, she'll remember she is safe here," Gus quietly said.

"That's all we can hope for," Big Joe spoke up.

"But—there's the possibility that pulling that curse out of her may have damaged her," Celestia cut in. "She might not remember any of you. She might not remember she has friends or a home. I've left strict instructions with the Guard that they are to treat her kindly and gently, and to inform me immediately if they can't calm her down on their own."

"I see," Gus replied.

"But there's another matter that makes finding her all the more urgent," Celestia added. "I heard your performance tonight."

"I—I'm not sure I follow, Your Highness," Gus said, after sharing looks with his fellows.

"You mentioned to the audience that the songs you were playing were related to humans," she stated. "Am I correct in assuming that those songs came from Jackie?"

"Yes, that's correct," Gus replied, still not understanding the significance of her inquiry.

"It is true that humans have not been seen in our world for thousands of years," Celestia said. "Aside from me, no one has ever seen one. If Jackie Valentine knows of them, we need to find her, and quickly!"

"Is there a danger?" Thomas asked.

"No, but her knowledge of them must not be put at risk," Celestia said. "Speaking of which, I understand she does not write in Equestrian. Would it be possible to see her notes on the songs?"

"Oh, of course, Your Highness!" Gus said, getting up to gather up a stack of papers and handed them to her.

They waited as the princess looked through the sheets. For Celestia, the written notes which were not Equestrian were both surprisingly familiar and exotic. Many of the symbols used were the same as she recalled as being used in human writing, but quite a few were completely unrecognizable, as were the spelling and what sentence structure she could assume from her past knowledge. However, here and there, a word stood out that she knew.

"Thank you," she quietly said as she used her magic to pass the sheets back to the griffon.

Languages and writing styles can drift over time, she surmised. Especially when a culture lacks a stabilizing anchor like an immortal ruler. The griffons' writing styles drifted considerably over the past two thousand years and they're the closest of Equetria's neighbors. A fraudster wouldn't normally think of that. They would incorrectly assume that the language would never change or they would just make up a totally random new language, using the old symbols in ways that wouldn't match up with how they were used in the original language. I think—these—are genuine! So, how did this Jackie Valentine even know of humanity!? That Jackie had been exposed to human culture was now an absolute certainty in Celestia's mind.

"Thank you," she repeated, getting up. "I'll be sure to inform the Guard as to this new urgency in the need of locating Jackie as soon as possible. Come, Tom," she said to him. "It's time we looked into the other matters we had discussed."

"Of course, Your Highness," Thomas Mane said, standing up.

"Good evening to all of you," she said in parting.

"Good evening to you, Princess!" they all said in unison.

"How is your research coming along, Thomas?" she quietly asked as they traveled via her chariot flying to his home.

"We've been making some pretty good advancements, Your Highness," he replied.

"Have you!?" she challenged.

"Oh, yes! We have," he said. "As you'll see when you review our recordings. Functionally, the thermal and night vision goggles are better than we expected them to be, as are the audio enhancement systems. Those capabilities were what we were field testing the other night. Of course, the real trick will be to develop an interface that will tie the sensors directly into a pony's mind—"

"I'm not speaking of that research, Tom," she whispered conspiratorially to him. "I'm talking about your other research."

"O-other research!?" he asked, puzzled and surprised by her inquiry.

"You got over your dread of flying way too quickly," she slyly whispered to him. "You're testing out those prosthetic wings on your own—I'm guessing you're incorporating them into a few of your stronger chainmail suits to test them with, since falling from any height in them would still give you plenty of protection."

He stared at her in stunned amazement, numerous ideas running through his mind as to how she found out.

Did Alfalfa or Lucious tell her!? he fearfully wondered.

"Don't worry that you have a spy feeding me any information, Thomas," she chuckled at his expression. "Earth ponies like you don't just get over your discomforts so quickly. You had to show you still had such fear with Big Joe in the chariot, but now that it's just us, you dropped it. And don't try to tell me that it's just you have simply gotten used to flying with me. You still showed such dread when we last rode together only a few months ago."

Her comments forced him to finally grin. Yes, he'd been caught.

"Okay, I'll show you what we've accomplished," he promised her, "assuming what you see in the recording crystals won't make you so furious that you'll sun-blast my home."

"No promises, I'm afraid," she said, sighing as they began their decent toward his mansion.

"You were right to be worried about my temper, Thomas," Celestia grimly said after she saw the events play out that were overheard at the warehouse. She indeed had reacted badly when Equestria Guard ponies clearly ignored the sight of Jack Black walking by them with the restraining ring on his horn and ankle bracelet still quite visible despite the cloak he wore. The conversation Jack Black had with his accomplice only confirmed matters were far worse than she had initially thought when she first saw the incident.

"That they're mixing poison joke with magic mushrooms, and that there are Equestrian Guard evidently complicit with those two!?" she hissed. "But that they have enough of their own intel network to know which Guard they can trust and their patrol schedules!?"

"It gets even better, Your Highness," Alfalfa said. "Keep watching."

Celestia then watched the aerial fight that ensued when Thomas' pegasi were discovered. She gasped in horror at seeing the moves used their adversaries as the combat began in earnest.

"Those are Royal Guard moves!" she angrily exclaimed at seeing the maneuvers used by the criminal guards.

That one of the Mane Industries ponies was eventually injured wasn't at all surprising, given what she spotted at the beginning of the conflict. Furthermore, she nodded in satisfaction every time one of their enemy was knocked back or injured.

"How is your injured pony?" she inquired after the fight was finally concluded.

"The cut they gave him was serious, but I'm told Fred will recover," Thomas told her. "And it was right after they got back and we saw their recordings that I called the Royal Guard, myself. The rest, Your Highness, you know," he said with meaning. "The only question remaining is what happed between my call and bringing the original records to them and you getting the report this morning."

"Good on your team for taking them down, Tom!" Celestia finally spat. "That it should come to former Royal Guard fighting former Royal Guard is bad enough. That they're working with anypony crazy enough to mix those two substances—" She had to stop to consider what to say next.

"Is there any way they can trace your injured pony?" she asked.

"No. We're using our own internal clinic to treat Fred's injuries," Thomas told her. "And Alfalfa has folks quietly looking into the hospitals for signs of any pegasi coming in with broken wings. But so far, nothing. They're—either using their own resources—or—we can assume they're simply disposing of such failures."

Princess Celestia stood there, considering all the implications the recent revelations would be soon generating.

"This—will require considerable effort to root out corruption going this deep," she finally said, sighing. "Clearly, there are still some good ponies in both Guard, and I am loath to burn them along with those who have failed this nation. But there is too much at stake to seek either a slower long-term solution or a quick immediate fix. I need both! But each of them has too much risk to miss ponies in important positions who are so thoroughly corrupt."

"Is there anything that we can do to help, Your Highness?" Thomas asked, and she looked at him sharply.

"Why don't you show me some of what you've been working on, Tom?" she asked him sweetly.

I wonder which one is going to be more shocked, Thomas wondered, looking between the princess and his butler. He quickly decided, Let's find out!

"This way, Your Highness," he cheerfully said, getting up from the seat at his desk to walk over to the large collection of books on shelving lining the wall, and he had the satisfaction at seeing Alfalfa's face as he did so.

"This is new," Celestia said smiling as the section of shelving slid out to reveal the metal lined room behind it.

"Nice. I have two of my own at the Castle," she muttered as they rode it down. Thomas merely smirked as Alfalfa still looked to be shock.

Oh, we're playing that game, are we? he thought, grinning. Just wait, Princess. Your time is coming soon.

"Good evening Lucius!" Thomas greeted as they walked across the elevated bridge. "Be so kind as to prep the training arena for a full workout session. We have an interested party who would like to see the results of some experiments." He led the mares down to the monitoring station and began to put on his own chainmail outfit once they all arrived.

"Of course, sir! Right away!" the kitsune called back, grinning. "I was wondering when she was going to show up," he muttered as he began setting the controls.

"Batwings?" Celestia noted, her voice giving emphasis to her sense of irony.

"Well, I have to say I borrowed the idea from you, Your Highness," Thomas replied, zipping his armor closed. "You were the one to mention the Thestrals, for which we're doing the work on the night vision and hearing augmentations. It seemed appropriate, given how much you inspired this work with your support."

"Of course," she responded, smirking. Then her face showed her shock when she saw what Thomas picked up next. She stared at Alfalfa, Lucius, and Thomas in turn. Alfalfa was by now, more at ease to having her there; Lucius just gave her the briefest glance before continuing to focus on what he was doing with the controls—shooting her one of his ever-ready grins; and Thomas had an obscene-level smirk as he donned his helmet that now hid everything of his face save his mouth.

"Please tell me that that is only decorative—" she begged him, wide eyed.

"Now, where would the fun be in that if I did so, Your Highness?" he asked as he levitated a polearm and marched out into the training area….

We Are Gray….

View Online

[994AB Day 265]

"So, how did I do, Alfalfa?" Thomas asked as he rejoined Princess Celestia and the others.

"Much better, sir," his butler replied. "You've still got far more to learn, but you are definitely improving."

"You've been teaching him all the Royal Guard moves!?" Celestia demanded.

"No, I've been teaching them, Your Highness," Alfalfa replied. "I'm teaching Mistress Mareta and Master Buck, too. While I am able to teach them what I know of pegasi moves, I only know the basics of earth pony fighting, and unfortunately, the spells to properly utilize the unicorn horn are beyond my capabilities. Lucius was able to get them to learn basic levitation, but with him being kitsune, I understand that anything beyond simple levitation diverges far from unicorn magic. That's why I'm going to be bringing in some associates to help teach them."

"Interestingly enough, young Buck has been learning to do kitsune magic," Lucius told her. "We suspect it has to do with the flexibility of the young mind to learn things that far too many adults have so much resistance to understand."

Celestia looked at them in disapproval for several moments before sighing.

"We already have one set of rogue Royal Guard retirees," Celestia grumbled. "I'm loath to employ and encourage yet another. But it seems, I have no choice in the matter. I cannot give official approval of this operation—"

"But unofficially?" Alfalfa stressed with meaning.

"Unofficially—" she began, then shook her head. "As tempting as it is, 'unofficially', I cannot approve of it, either," she stated, still shaking her head.

She sighed again.

"But I suppose I again have no choice but to just look the other way and simply not see this," she finally concluded. She turned to glare at Thomas. "DON'T let me see or hear about any of this, Thomas!"

"See what, Your Highness?" he innocently inquired, cocking his head.

"Exactly!" she said firmly nodding. "You will, of course, NOT provide detailed reports of ANY and ALL your activities, and you will NOT send them as soon as you are able! Do you understand!?"

"Of course, Your Highness," he replied.

"I'll handle the correspondences, Your Highness," Alfalfa said. "Encoded, naturally."

"We'll have to develop encodings that aren't being used in our normal channels, Alfalfa," Celestia told her. "It's imperative this operation NEVER existed!"

"In the meantime, as your recordings have shown me, I have a bit of housecleaning to do with the Royal Guard!" she growled.

"Yes, Your Highness," Thomas said. "I'm so sorry you had to find out in that manner."

"Your sentiments are greatly appreciated, Tom."

"…And it was shortly after that, she departed," Thomas finished up the account to his wife and son.

"So, what does this mean for us?" Buck asked, still not quite understanding the implications.

"It means, we will be operating pretty much completely outside the Law," Thomas explained.

"It also means, that should anypony be captured by the authorities, the full weight of the Law will be coming down hard upon us, and there won't be the usual—underhoofed agreement or handling of those kinds of situations that would normally exist between the Guard and various Black Ops that are unofficially acting on behalf of the nation." Alfalfa said. "We'll be totally on our own. We'd be facing trial by Celestia, herself, and she'll have no choice but to deliver the harshest of verdicts upon us, and we won't be able to appeal to her as part of our defense in any way, even behind closed doors."

"We'll be literally 'thrown under the wagon', as they like to say," Thomas succinctly put it.

[994AB Day 266]

"… And because the material witness known as Jackie Valentine escaped protective custody and is unable and or unwilling to appear before this court, and further, as the state of mind of said material witness is in question, it is the ruling of this court that the charges of attempted robbery and attempted murder against the defendant, Jack Black, be dismissed!" Judge Flake announced, slamming her gavel down with a loud bang.

"Your Honor! I protest!" Thomas exclaimed. "As victims to his crimes, we demand the right to testify against him!"

"You are out of order, Thomas Mane!" she harshly declared. "Furthermore, your attempt at introducing new charges against the defendant through cleverly crafted and invented evidence—"

"That is far enough, Your Honor! Princess Celestia suddenly interrupted.

"I believe you are also out of order, Princess Celestia," Judge Flake pointedly said. "The case against the defendant has already been dis—"

"Only the charges of attempted robbery and attempted murder can be dismissed in your court, Your Honor," Princess Celestia countered. "The evidence recorded the other night were brought to the Royal Guard and to me, and those charges have yet to be filed! And they will be heard in my Court!"

"You—you—can't do that!" the judge protested.

"Excuse me? I believed you are forgetting something," Celestia challenged.

"You said the evidence was brought to you, Your Highness!" Judge Flake argued. "You cannot be both the investigator for the prosecution and the judge!"

"I suggest you reread the Constitution, Your Honor," Celestia pointed out. "All authority for each of the Branches of Government, the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches derive from the Princesses of Equestria—that, currently, would be me! The responsibilities that the Guard, Nobles, and Judges assumes may not be allowed to cross over to each other's branches, but their authority, and likewise, the responsibilities for all of those duties of each Branch derives comes from me! That is why I am the Head of State of Equestria. That is why I am the final approval on all laws that are passed by the Nobles. That is why I have a Court at Canterlot Castle! I am not just all three Branches of the Government—I am the Root!"

"But—but—but—"

"Furthermore," Celestia went on, "it has come to my attention where numerous disturbing and troubling signs have come to light that there is some severe corruption going on in the governance of the District of Manehattan. I already have substantial evidence of such in both the Equestria and Royal Guard detachments here, by the same irrefutable evidence that shows Jack Black is currently in league with agents who were seen mixing poison joke with magic mushrooms, and in mass quantities! And yet, they intentionally sat on their rumps giving the defendant's accomplices sufficient time to clean up and move their worksite. You should be quite aware of just how deadly a mixture that can be, both as an illicit narcotic as well as the potentially explosive and destructive nature of just such an operation! And the Constitution gives me the full authority to investigate and track down any and all indications of abuse and malfeasance in any and all Branches of Government, does it not, Your Honor?"

"Y-yes, Your Highness," Judge Flake whispered, visibly wilting.

"Guards, take the defendant into custody and remand him into a holding cell to await transfer to Canterlot where he will face trial in Court, there," Celestia ordered. "Oh, and for your information, Jack Black," she addressed him sweetly, "These Guards are not assigned to the detachment here in Manehattan. I brought them."

"Judge Flake! You were supposed to get me cleared of all that! That's what I paid you for!" Jack Black suddenly blurted out as several members of the Royal Guard converged upon him.

"Well, now—! That certainly sounded like both a confession and an implication," Celestia cooed, turning to look at the bench and the even more deflating judge. "Guards, please be so kind as to take Judge Flake into custody, too."

Thomas Mane, his family, and Alfalfa stayed behind with the princess as the court room was soon cleared out.

"And so, it begins," Celestia finally muttered. Then she looked at Thomas. "This one problem was relatively easy to trace, once I reviewed who was involved in setting the conditions of his bail to begin with. Others, won't be so smooth, however. And I imagine your work will likewise be considerably more difficult to ferret out any corruption still there once you get started, Tom."

"It is considerably still a bit too early for them to begin field work, Your Highness," Alfalfa spoke up.

"But we will keep what you have told us in mind, Your Highness," he replied. "Other than staying out of your sight and hearing, as well as out from under your hoof, do you have any suggestions where we should begin?"

"Information will be your greatest asset and weapon, Tom," she said as she departed. "Guard any such information you gather jealously and with your life, for all your lives will depend upon that knowledge. And best of luck to you. Just be sure to don't let me catch you."

Kaylee's head hurt something fierce.

Blinking at the light coming in from the entrance to the cave where she woke, she crawled out to look out upon the landscape.

Nothing looked familiar.

There was no sign of the thick jungle that she remembered walking down into from the volcanic landscape. These woods, while still wild and untamed looking, were not nearly as thick and varied in plant life as the start of her journey had been. While she knew it was possible they were connected, the types of plants were considerably different. Plus, the weather was much cooler here. It made her pause.

She had absolutely no recollection of the transition between there and here.

Stepping out, she looked around, dazed and confused. Other than the sun low in the sky, she had no idea which way was east or west.

Which way is civilization!? she wondered. However, that thought brought her up short against another thought.

Will they even let me in to a city!? she questioned, looking down at her arms. What kind of creature am I!?

A sudden and sharp stab of pain in her skull made her regret even thinking of that question.

It took quite a while for the pain to ease. When she could think and see clearly again, she witnessed the sun suddenly setting and was immediately replaced by a large moon.

"Luna!" she exclaimed, upon seeing the pattern of dark spots on the face of the orb in the sky.

"Oh, I'm in Equestria, somehow!" she remembered. It was a show she used to watch off and on, since it was Jessica who really liked it.

"That must be west, then," she sighed, rubbing her temples. Then she stopped with a sudden jolt of realization.

"Wait—Fuck!—I forgot! The show sometimes had the moon and sun rising and setting in the same place, just like it happened just now! With their magic, east and west might be just any old random arbitrary point on the map, depending on what wild hair is growing up the princesses' butts at the time!"

She looked again at the moon.

"Luna's face is still on the moon," she whispered. "I—I'm before the first episode."

She started walking in the direction the celestial objects had exchanged their dominance of the sky. Logic told her that with the arrival of night, she should return to the shelter of the cave. However, some urge made her want to head that way, now. So, she walked on into the night.

Jackie watched from the cover the foliage and night provided her and waited for the train to finish passing as it traveled down toward the city that she had left until it had finally cleared her view.

It was unnerving to see the strange misshapen creatures sitting and riding in the rail cars as though they were ordinary people doing ordinary human things.

It was only after she could no longer hear the train clanging down the tracks that she stepped out from the bushes and resumed her trek away from that weird metropolis….

No Net

View Online

[994AB Day 270]

"Princess Celestia!?" Alfalfa exclaimed when she opened the door. "Won't you please come in? Is this a social call, or business?"

"I'm sorry to say, Alfalfa, this is a call that never happened," she said, sighing.

"I—see," she replied. "Mister Thomas is down below."

"Good," Celestia said. "What I have to say would best be spoken about down there."

"Right this way, then, Your Highness."

"…It's just so weird seeing unicorns wielding kitsune magic," Celestia heard a burly unicorn stallion grumble as she got in hearing range to the party. Thomas, Mareta, and Buck were there, along with Lucius.

"It's not like I intentionally tried to teach anything like that to Buck. Or to them," Lucius responded. "Can you, or can't you, teach them unicorn magic?"

"Well, it's not like you're unicorns. But, for that matter, none of you are pegasi, either, and yet the Major has managed to teach all of you to fly," the former Guard replied. "I'll do my best to teach him, and the rest of you, to use those horns."

"That's all we're asking of you, Flashfire," Alfalfa spoke up as they emerged from the shadows of the cavern.

"Princess Celestia!" Thomas Mane exclaimed when he caught sight of her accompanying his butler.

"Princess!" the unicorn exclaimed, snapping off a sharp salute.

"At ease, Lieutenant Flashfire," she responded. "Enjoying your retirement?"

"I'll admit retirement was getting a little boring, Your Highness, even if I was working on Guard-related stuff at Mane Industries," he answered. "At least, until Major Ponyworth brought me in on this little side operation."

"Just so long as you know, this operation of theirs doesn't exist, Lieutenant," Celestia sternly said. "Not even 'unofficially.'"

"I—fully understand, Your Highness!" he responded.

"Good," she snapped. "Thomas, we've got a problem. Can we talk?"

"Of course, Your Highness," he said, giving looks with clear meaning to the others. They all stayed there as Thomas led Celestia to a secluded corner of the caverns.

"Am I in trouble, again, Your Highness?" he asked innocently. "You only call me 'Thomas' when I am."

"I only call you Thomas when the situation is serious," she countered. "Of course, it's always serious when you're in trouble. But it's not you—this time. Jack Black escaped custody while enroute to Canterlot. He had help."

"I—see," he said soberingly. "How—how many were killed?"

"Five," she said. "And three more badly injured out of a team of ten. We killed four of them, but they successfully managed to extract him."

"How many did they have?"

"Only six on the raid," she told him. "Whoever broke him out clearly favored pegasi and unicorns. If you're planning on going after ponies like them, you're going to be at a severe disadvantage, Thomas."

"We've got a few advantages of our own, Your Highness," he said, spreading the wings and lighting up the horn of his suit with a gray aura. "They won't know we're not Thestrals, pegasi, unicorns, or even alicorns, for that matter."

"Not to mention, the unknown number of former Royal Guard on their side," she pointed out in opposition. "None of those who were in on that raid could've been involved with the incident where your ponies recorded the goings on in the warehouse. Broken wings don't heal that quickly, especially wings broken by former Royal Guard ponies during a combat skirmish. Plus, there's Jack Black, the unicorn who helped him escape, and any other unicorns they may have working for them."

"But there are three of us," he replied. "Of course, I know we're not ready yet. Not by a long shot. Alfalfa is doing her best. Flashfire will naturally be a big help, but we've also got a few tricks that not even Royal Guard know: Buck's pretty good with that kitsune magic he's learned from Lucius, while Mareta and I are fair to middling. In addition, we've got one more thing going for us, Your Highness."

"What is that?" she asked.

"Commitment," he sternly stated. "We're determined. We're motivated, like nopony's business. We've already have had our lives in Jack Black's hoof once before, and quite frankly, I don't care for my family to ever be there again! Neither do they!"

Celestia stared at him for several minutes, while he stared up at her with a steady determination.

"I've had to send many ponies on missions for which they were not ready," she finally told him. "Most of them didn't come back."

"And those that did?" he asked, still staring at her with his steely gaze.

"Many of those did so in body bags," she replied.

"And the ones who lived?"

"Injured. Damaged. Broken. Often in both mind and body."

"All of them?"

"Not all."

"What about those who weren't? What happened to them."

"They grew," she admitted.

"That sounds like good odds, Your Highness," he seriously shot back.

"Really?" Celestia challenged.

"Yeah, Alfalfa gave us a talk much like that awhile back," he answered, grinning, to which she snorted in amusement, too.

"If you wouldn't mind, Your Highness, could we go over the details of the incident with Mareta, Buck, and Alfalfa? I think Alfalfa is going to balk at it, but it would be irresponsible of me to not at least listen to her input. She is in charge of our training, after all."

"They barely have had a quarter of the time of a standard bootcamp," Alfalfa grumbled, "much less any specialized combat training. They're each on seriously different levels and capabilities of learning. There's been no unicorn training at all to date, which is what we were still in the process of negotiating when you walked in!" she said, glaring at Flashfire. "Pegasi maneuvers are progressing but still incomplete, and earth pony skills are barely basic as it is. And you're thinking of sending them up against ponies who are trained assassins, which chances are, they probably rank right up there with me!? This is going way beyond anypony's definition of 'not ready,' Your Highness," she finished, glaring at Celestia.

"I'm interested in their progress so far," Celestia said. "Thomas just told me just how determined he and his family are. So, let's see it."

The Manes all shared a look and nodded.

"Very well," Alfalfa said, sighing. "But you'll need to see just how outclassed they're going to be. Flashfire, join me with this little training session, will you?"

"Sure, Major," he said, getting up to march out to the training area to join the Mane family who were donning their helms. "What are we going to work on?"

"Everything," Alfalfa stressed.

But then, everypony was stunned when Celestia, herself, stepped into the arena.

"As you said, they're going to be outmatched by a great deal," the princess pointed out. "Let's see how they handle it."

"As usual: standard stun spells, and any hits you can land on us, Mister Thomas," Alfalfa announced. "We'll try to paint you and knock you out of th—" She was interrupted as several stun blasts from Buck suddenly and unexpectantly shot out to hit Alfalfa solidly in her chest, which knocked her back to the edge of the training area. Other shots from Buck were barely deflected off of the shields Flashfire and Celestia erected the instant the attack began. Mareta rushed the princess on hoof while Thomas flew at her, also sending stun blasts at the alicorn. Likewise, Buck flew at the unicorn.

"Oh, I like how this colt thinks!" Flashfire exclaimed as he reared up on his rear hooves to meet the oncoming young stallion.

Celestia was kept busy as both adults engaged her, trying to land a hoof on her, and Flashfire countered Buck Mane's blows and spells. The melee went on for about a minute with neither side gaining an advantage until Thomas suddenly yelled out.

"Mareta! Get on Alfalfa!" Thomas shouted. At the same time, Buck backed off from Flashfire and erected a shield spell with his horn. Buck also reached out with his telekinesis to grab both of Celestia's legs on the far side of her body from him and yanked on them, forcing them beneath her belly and between her other two legs. She was surprised by the move that successfully tripped her and she went down hard on her side, disrupting her shield spell. Immediately, the adults rushed in and tapped her with their hooves.

As soon as they made contact, Thomas rushed over to where Alfalfa had fallen while Mareta now went to assist her son with his opponent.

"Tap, tap, Alfalfa!" Thomas cheerfully said to the pegasus mare who was still struggling to get up from the unexpected stunning. After that, he rushed over to help his family against Flashfire.

Celestia shifted about how she laid on her side to watch the remainder of the fight. She shot a smirk at Alfalfa, and saw Lucius up by the control panel, just grinning up a storm.

With the odds now three-to-one against him, Flashfire was hard-pressed to defend himself against all three of the Manes. The fight went on for another minute before he was finally able to score against Buck and Mareta with paint spells, but at the cost of Thomas finally being able to get a hooftap in on his flank.

"You cheated!" Alfalfa grumbled, getting up to glare at him.

"Yes, we did," Thomas agreed. "We also coordinated our attacks as we walked out here. The helms give us enhanced hearing at frequencies too high for anypony else to hear, and the unicorn horns allowed us to speak to each other at those frequencies. That shout I gave to Mareta was Buck's prearranged signal to attack Celestia like he did while Mareta knew not to act on that command, so as to confuse and confound you."

"And they used kitsune magic!" Lucius shouted down at them.

"And we used kitsune magic to get through unicorn shields," Thomas added, grinning. Alfalfa simply stared at him for several moments.

"Good job, sir," she finally stated, nodding. "You've shown you can outthink ponies who are Royal Guard trained. But you'll still be at an extremely high risk with the unknown number of enemy ponies."

"Agreed," Thomas said. "And we know that their tactics are going to try to adapt once they see how we take out some of their fellows. So, we're going to have to make sure they don't see us taking out anypony on their side."

"And before you can do that, you're going to have to find them, first," Celestia warned. "And make sure that none of my ponies see you looking for Jack Black's group even as mine are searching themselves."

"It is just another Germane game of Kriegsspiel, Your Highness." Alfalfa said.

[994AB Day 277]

"Night's coming to an end, children," Red Sovine said, glancing at the glow emanating from the horizon.

"Blackbird. Still no eyes on the Dealer," Highflyer reported through the broadcast channel.

"Kitt. Same here, but I see a pony with stripes," the earth pony Matchbox whispered into his microphone.

"Confirm!?" Red Sovine exclaimed.

"Got eyes on me? Check my two, down a furlong," Matchbox said. "Brown cloak, but those legs definitely have stripes."

"Fall back, Kitt!" Red Sovine ordered. "Dealer and Lady Peg said they were working with a shaman!"

"I remember," Matchbox grumbled as he stood still and kept watch on the disguised zebra walking down the street. "That's why I'm not getting any closer to Stripes!"

"Blackbird. Eyes on Stripes," Highflyer stated. "All clear. Get him, Cardinal!"

"In…Three…Two…."

"Ooof! Whathappenedtoone!?" Matchbox exclaimed as Red Sovine grabbed him off the street corner.

"I lopped it off so as to keep them from knowing just when to attack and take two of us out," Red Sovine told him.

"Good thing Cardinal's not on our side. He's got an excellent tackle move. I've only got three unbroken ribs, right now."

"Would you like to learn how to fly?" Red Sovine grumbled at the earth pony he carried.

"Don't we need our ribs to work our wings?" Matchbox asked.

"Oooh, good call, Kitt!" Highflyer tossed in as he chuckled at their banter. "We'll make a pegasus out of you, yet!"

"Yay," Matchbox unenthusiastically cheered.

[994AB Day 278]

"I really hope the Major's awake," Highflyer said as they touched down in front of the Mane mansion just after dawn. "She's always bitchy before she's had her coffee in the mornings."

"Then it's a good thing I was up all night," Alfalfa said deadpan as she emerged from her cover in the bushes surrounding the building.

"AHHH!" the two pegasi and earth pony all exclaimed in shock.

"I really, really hope for all our sakes, that you managed to evade anypony following you better than you were keeping up your situational awareness just now."

They kept glancing between her and the bushes she emerged from several times until she cleared her throat, indicating that she was still waiting for their report.

"Y-yes, ma'am," Red Sovine spoke up. "Highflyer kept us informed of any pegasi in the area at all times. Nopony followed us here!"

"Uh—n-negative contact on the Dealer, Lady Peg, or any likely pegasi working CAP for them in last night's search, but we did sight a suspicious zebra just before dawn," Highflyer said as they all hoofed over their recording crystals to Alfalfa. "It tells us that we might be getting close to the right neighborhoods."

"Any details you can provide on the zebra?" she asked.

"No, the suspect was heavily cloaked and too far away," Matchbox said. "Impossible to tell if it was a stallion or mare. Hopefully, you'll be able to pull something useful from the crystals."

"We also encountered several Royal Guard patrols throughout the night, but we didn't do anything to arouse their suspicions," Red Sovine reported. "We didn't recognize any of them as the usual patrols. They did seem to be new to the area, which meshes with what the Princess must still be doing to clean house here."

"Understood," Alfalfa said. "Go and get cleaned up and be ready for tonight's patrol. We will plot out the next search zone and brief you this evening."

"Have a good day, Major!" Red Sovine said as he picked Matchbox up.

"I will after I have my coffee!" she called out as they flew away, making the three ponies wince.

"So—let's see what they saw," Alfalfa muttered as three armored figures emerged from the bushes on either side of the mansion's front door.

"It's so much better training out here than in the cave!" Buck happily said.

"Perhaps, but harder for Lucius to collect the data to ensure those suits are functioning properly, Master Buck," Alfalfa told him as they all filed in through the door.

"So, Jack Black, unicorn stallion, Unknown pegasus mare, Unknown pegasus stallion, Unknown unicorn mare, Unknown zebra, all walking around," Thomas listed out as they reviewed the recordings down in the cavern's conference room. "Three Unknown pegasi, all stallions, all likely former Royal Guard, condition unknown. One unicorn mare, ID'd as former Equestria Guard, dead, three pegasi stallions, ID'd as former Royal Guard, dead. An unknown number of additional ponies, some of whom might be Guard-trained, working for them."

"A few hooffulls of possible accomplice distributers of various tribes," Alfalfa reminded him.

"Unlikely to be able to be called in to rush to their aid once the fighting starts," Thomas countered. He quickly held up his hoof to forestall Alfalfa's interruption, "but always possible for somepony to be on hoof ready to jump in at a moment's notice!"

"Sighting that zebra should help narrow down where to search," Mareta spoke up. Thomas and Alfalfa both nodded.

"And following their distributers should help narrow it down even further," Alfalfa said.

"Any luck in getting the vision and hearing enhancements to transmit their signals to the mansion?" Thomas asked.

"Their range is rather limited, I'm afraid," Lucius told them. "For them to transmit their images and audio to here from all the way from across town, you'd need a hefty transmitter and power sup—" He suddenly stopped as he just thought of something. "But if we had a number of relays set up across town, the signals could bounce from one to another all the way back here!"

"Oh, YES!" the kitsune exclaimed, suddenly hopping about excitedly. "That's it! We make a multichannel signal booster—we only need a few channels—encrypted of course—but we hide them as a number of unused channels in the relays that are ostensibly designed to amplify all the channels of the city's entertainment industry!"

"You're suggesting we commit ourselves to a philanthropic venture?" Thomas inquired, confirming what he understood Lucius to be saying.

"Publicly, yes!" Lucius confirmed as he returned to his seat. "While we, privately, piggyback on our own network!"

"I definitely like the sound of that," Thomas said, nodding and smiling as he considered the favorable factors in the idea. "How many relays would we need?"

"That would depend on their power requirements," the kitsune replied. "But the limiting factor is their ability to receive a good signal—a hexagonal grid—of perhaps twenty furlongs apart between relays should suffice."

"'The Griffon's Way?'" Mareta inquired as their carriage came to a stop before the restaurant. "Since when did you start eating meat!?"

"A couple weeks ago, when Celestia and I came here to help Big Joe with getting Jackie Valentine out of jail," Thomas admitted, grinning.

"Jackie Valentine? She's the bipedal creature who saved us that night? The one that didn't show up in Court to testify against Jack Black?"

"That's the one," he said, nodding. "Evidently, Jackie had written some music related to humans from mythology, and Princess Celestia was very interested in hearing it. Those were some impressive songs I have to say. The Princess is, apparently, also fond of griffon fare, and invited me to give it a try. She gave some suggestions on what dishes to try out to see whether I liked them or not."

"And?"

"Not bad at all," he replied. "Actually, it was quite tasty. So, I thought I'd give it another go, and I wouldn't feel good if I didn't at least invite you and Buck to see if you would enjoy some, too. Plus, they don't just sell meat dishes here. Plenty of ponies have been coming here, some to socialize with their griffon friends or just to enjoy the ambiance, so it's no insult if you want to stay with the usual fare."

"Hmm—" she grumbled uncertainly.

"Don't worry, we're not going to dive in and start eating haunch of pony, zebra, cow, or anything like that," he told her.

"Griffons eat fish, rodents, and other small non-sapient animals. They also eat many of the same foods we do, but Princess Celestia said their best dishes are where they mix them together into appealing salads, stews, or such. Oh, and I would also suggest trying something they call a 'sushi roll,' apparently, a Neighpony delicacy."

"Mist—er—Tom!" Big Joe happily greeted them as they entered, belatedly remembering to address Thomas as he wished. "Great to see you again!"

"Hi Big Joe," Thomas returned. "I thought I'd give your food another go and brought the family along to see your establishment, too."

"My pleasure! My pleasure! Please, come on in! We'll get you seated and served right away!"

"Any word on Jackie?" Thomas asked, and the question dampened Big Joe's enthusiasm a bit.

"No, still nothing," he sadly replied. "But considering how the Guard treated her, it's not surprising, I'm afraid. It may be a while before we hear anything about her. I—I just hope it won't be bad news—when we finally do hear something."

"Same here," Thomas said sympathetically.

"So, what do you think?" Thomas asked as they relaxed after the meal and were waiting for the band to play something.

"Hmm—you're right—it's not bad," Mareta equivocated. "The texture takes a bit getting used to. Stringy, but just a bit rubbery, like a mushroom. The flavor's nice and smooth, though. It's definitely has its own taste as I bite into it, but it blends well in the soup."

"This fish salad was great, Dad!" Buck exclaimed, having quickly finished off his plate once he got going. "Can I get some more!?"

"Oh, dear, he's gone full cannibal on us, Tom!" she laughed.

"That's 'carnivore', Dear," Thomas corrected her grinning. "And, no, that's a fish salad—best we can call it is 'omnivore'. So, what's the verdict? One hoof up, two hooves, three…?"

"Um—four hooves up," she finally said.

"Mmm, I like the sound of that—" Thomas growled under his breath.

"Get a room, you two!" Buck muttered.

"BUCK!!" Mareta screamed while Thomas guffawed.

"What's a 'human', Mom!?" a young griffon's voice loudly and suddenly called out from the next table out in the middle of the floor near them, interrupting the band leader's introductory speech.

"Very few know of them, little one," Gus replied to the child from the stage. "They're said to have been a bipedal warrior race that died out thousands of years ago. Most, all we have to go on are legends, or as some would insist on calling them, myths. Princess Celestia knows of them—and maybe Lord Torch—but none are as old as they are, and even they have only heard rumors of humans. The only other one we know of that has any idea is, unfortunately, not able to be here with us tonight. We wish her well in her travels, but she gave us these gifts to us to share with you all. So, without further delay, we bring you—a song of one of their battles."

"No one would have believed," he began, "in the last years of the Nineteenth Century, that human affairs were being watched from the timeless worlds of space. No one could have dreamed we were being scrutinized, as someone with a microscope studies creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. Few men even considered the possibility of life on other planets. And yet, across the gulf of space, minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded this Earth with envious eyes. And slowly, and surely, they drew their plans against us—"

"Mom? Dad? Aren't those the Flying Thrushes?" Buck quietly whispered to his parents as the music began, pointing toward the table where the young griffon had called out from.

Thomas looked over and did see a resemblance of the two adult and the older child sitting at the table to the famous acrobatic traveling circus family. The circus was currently touring Manehattan and were scheduled to be here for a few weeks.

"We can ask them once this song is finished," Thomas whispered back.

"Why—yes we are," Jay Thrush answered when Thomas inquired of the griffon patriarch. "My mate, Erith, our daughter Mag, and—"

"And this little hatchling is Robin," Erith interrupted with her own introduction of their son.

"Mo-o-om! I'm not a hatchling!" young Robin protested.

"I recognize you!" Jay spoke out. "You're Thomas Mane! Of Mane Industries!"

"That we are," Thomas replied. "Please call me Tom. And this is my wife, Mareta, and our son, Buck."

"Glad to meet you," Jay said. "You're sort of a new customer since we were here last year. Ponies sometimes come and go over time, but I know most everypony here. And the band's definitely gotten some new material since then, too."

"We only just started eating here, ourselves," Thomas told him. "A—friend—suggested I give it a try, so I did. I don't know how often we can do so, but we're definitely coming again."

"Big Joe and his chefs always do a great job with the griffon fare," Jay said nodding.

"So, how much longer is your troupe in town?" Thomas inquired.

"Oh, we'll be moving out to Las Pegasus in a couple weeks," Jay told them. "We'd love to have you come see us."

"We'd love to watch you perform," Thomas said. "When is your next performance?"

"Tomorrow," Jay replied. "We're on a three-on, one-off schedule. Tonight's our break night."

"Then tomorrow, we're coming to watch!" Thomas promised.

"So, you really bind your wings and perform on the trapeze?" Buck asked.

"And we do so without a net, young one," Erith proudly told him.

"Wow!"

[994AB Day 279]

"Good morning, Sharp Quill," Princess Celestia greeted her aid as she arrived at her desk to review the stack of written petitions before holding Court.

"Good morning, Your Highness," Sharp Quill replied as she poured the tea into the princess' cup.

The first few petitions were the usual long-winded, bellicose, never-ending, miles-long scrolls from the usual suspects she had to deal with over all her centuries of sitting upon the throne.

I so miss Luna! she morosely thought as she waded through the perpetual diarrheic diatribes. She always had such an inventive mind where it came to how she would deal with petitions such as these—one wouldn't think there could be SO many ways with which one can destroy a scroll—

Fortunately (or unfortunately, as one might reconsider the implications involved), Celestia had developed substantial speed-reading skills over the years, so getting through them wasn't exactly taking up too awfully much real time. But the small scroll she picked up next was a bit of a pleasant surprise.

She saw it was from Thomas Mane.

Ah! Tom's petitions are always short, sweet, and to th— her thoughts trailed off as she began to read.

A Proposal:
A Zoned Network Grid for Improving Entertainment Transmission Reception over Equestria
Mane Industries would like to construct a radio network grid to improve the transmission distribution of video and audio entertainment channels to ponies across all of Equestria.
As no such network currently exists, Mane Industries requests the Crown to consider and approve the granting of a temporary license to Mane Industries for the creation and development of an initial experimental prototype network to cover the City of Manehattan.
Should the proposed experimental network work as anticipated, Mane Industries would seek further approval from the Crown for the expansion and permanency of said license, at a future date to be determined, for the necessary construction to allow the system to eventually cover the rest of the nation.
Our technical experts concluded that while there would be a negligible cost to operate each of the requisite devices that would make up the network, taken together, the costs would eventually grow as the network expands to cover more and more territory. At the current estimate to cover Manehattan, the power needed to enable all the proposed experimental network would cost Mane Industries six bits per year.
As the network is intended to benefit all inhabitants of Equestria at no cost to the consumer, Mane Industries asks the Crown to consider the proposed service as a charitable philanthropic endeavor and requests only a modest reduction in corporate taxes of three bits per two thousand square furlongs per year.
With Best Regards,
Thomas Mane
CEO of Mane Industries

Hmm? Just—exactly what—do you have in mind, Thomas? she considered as she finished reading. Dabbling in entertainment communications, too?

She did a quick calculation in her head.

Even with the Crown subsidizing his idea at three bits per year to cover just Manehattan, he's losing three bits per year, and will be at an additional three bits per year for the equivalent land area of the city as his network expands. The overall reduction in taxes from the impact of the network on his overall corporate profits won't even begin to benefit him until the network has expanded at least several thousands of times—

I sure hope all those impacts he's taken while testing his suits hasn't ended up knocking a few gears loose in his head, she thought as she signed her approval to his petition.

"So, did you enjoy the show?" Jay asked Buck after the performance and most of the audience was leaving in orderly fashion. Thomas and his family, along with Alfalfa, stayed behind to speak with the Thrushes.

"I sure did!" the colt exclaimed.

"A very impressive performance, indeed!" Thomas congratulated the acrobatic family. "Thank you so very much for inviting us to see it."

"I wish we could get that kind of training," Buck blurted out, to which Thomas started coughing. Alfalfa raised an eyebrow at that.

"Well, that level of acrobatic skill takes years to learn, Buck," Jay told him. "We started teaching Mag and Robin when they were each just fledglings. Mag's been publicly performing with us for over five years now, and Robin's been practicing with us for two years."

"Almost three years, Dad!" Robin protested.

"Yes, almost three by now," Jay agreed.

"Awesome!" Buck exclaimed.

"Be careful what you wish for, Buck," Thomas warned after they were all alone in the carriage and traveling down the road toward their home. "You may get it."

"Indeed, Master Buck," Alfalfa added. "We'll start tonight by shutting down your wings."

Buck nervously gulped.

"You're still young, son," Thomas assured him. "Almost as young as Robin. I'm sure you'll be able to learn it as well as he has."

"Uh—Dad? I'm almost as old as Mag!"

"Never too late to learn, son," Thomas teased him.

"That's an excellent attitude to have, sir!" Alfalfa said grinning. "Once Buck has his confidence in his acrobatics firmly acquired, we'll start in on you and Mistress Mareta."

Thomas and Mareta both nervously gulped.

[994AB Day 281]

"Well, that didn't take long," Red Sovine commented as he finished securing the first of the small transmission antennas needed for the network to the building.

"Indeed," Lucius replied as he connected the power feed and signal cables to the devices mounted on the antenna frame. "And I'm surprised she didn't drop by for a visit and ask about it. Especially, now."

"I do have quite a number of different projects going through Mane Industries that have absolutely nothing to do with our little non-existent side job," Thomas Mane said as he oversaw the installation. "It isn't my fault that things such as this can serve a dual-purpose."

"How's reception?" Red Sovine asked over their communications channel.

"Actually, we're seeing a definite improvement already!" Fred Hummer reported back. "This just might work out better than we thought!"

"Oh, thank you!" Mosely Orange cheered. "The picture's never been so clear!"

"Why—you can actually make out the faces of the hoofball players!" his wife exclaimed. "Oh, please be sure to pass on our appreciation to Mister Mane!"

"I sure will, Mister and Misses Orange," Fred Hummer told him as he packed up his tool kit.

"One down, Mister Mane! Just seventy-six to go!" Fred Hummer happily reported when he reached the building's roof. "Already, we're getting lots and lots of very happy ponies cheering on this work!"

"Good!" Thomas Mane said. "The more of the population that's cheering in support of this, the harder it will be for any of the Dealer's ponies to oppose it. How's your wound?"

"I may not be up to full duty status just yet, sir, but I'm healed up enough to do this routine stuff," Fred responded. "But I would like for you to wait to give me some time to pay some of this back."

"I can't promise anything," Thomas said, shaking his head. "There's a damned big vat of that stuff out there somewhere, waiting to either drive this city insane or blow up and demolish a full quarter of it. As important as setting up this network is going to be in helping us look for it, we're wasting enough time as it is doing everything possible just to find it!"

"Understood, sir," Fred said, nodding.

"Hey, Fred," Thomas said, reaching out a hoof to him. "It's just a gut feeling I've got, but even after we're done cleaning up this mess, I'm pretty sure there are still going to be plenty of opportunities for you to get back in on the action."

"Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" Fred said smiling before taking to wing and joining Red Sovine, leaving Thomas and Lucius to use the stairway.

[994AB Day 282]

"And I was really impressed at how you—somehow in midair—while you were tumbling—you just—suddenly sprung your body out like a spring and flew out to reach your dad!" Buck was telling Mag as the two families dined together once more at the "Griffon's Way." "That was just such an incredible—it was just so—so magical!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa, there, stud!" Jay sternly exclaimed. "Let's not be getting any ideas about my daughter!"

"Whu-wai—what!?" Mag and Buck both exclaimed in shock and they started blushing, much to the evident delight of their parents.

[994AB Day 283]

"Alright, Buck," Flashfire told the colt. "I want you to hold that combat shield up to a hard assault. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Buck grumbled, bracing his legs for the impacts to come. Flashfire was momentarily distracted by Lucius' sudden yipping in full-blown laughter. Usually, the kitsune did that when something amused him, but there was nothing currently happening at the moment—

Flashfire charged up his horn and let a strong blast of concussive force shoot at, not directly at Buck, in case his shield failed, and he would get hit if it did so, but he aimed slightly away from the colt. Only for the unicorn to be surprised when the bolt of magical energy passed through both front and back of the shield dome and strike the wall behind Buck—except the bolt hadn't disrupted the shield at all—as if it were just an il—

A tapping on his shoulder got Flashfire's attention. He looked over and saw Buck standing there, staring up at him. By now, Lucius was rolling on the floor up at the control panels as he convulsed in laughter. Alfalfa sighed as she facehoofed.

"Good one, Buck," Flashfire grumbled. "But we're supposed to be teaching you unicorn magic."

"I know," Buck replied grinning. "But I just couldn't resist."

"That colt—!" Mareta growled, but Thomas had a thoughtful look on his face as he stared at Lucius yipping on the floor.

"Lucius!" he suddenly bellowed out.

"Yes, boss?" Lucius inquired, looking up at Thomas walking over to him.

"You saw through Buck's illusions just now, didn't you!?" he sternly demanded.

"Of course, I did," the kitsune said grinning as he got back to his feet.

"Is there anyway we can see through them, too?" Thomas asked.

"Of course, there is. Be born a kitsune," Lucius replied grinning again. Then he looked thoughtful. "Oh—I think Princess Celestia can see through them—well, most of them, maybe—? Kyuubi, hachibi, and perhaps even nanabi might give her a challenge," he finished, cocking his head from side to side as he spoke.

"I'm serious," Thomas said sighing.

"So am I," Lucius told him. "Oh, and be at a higher level. I'm sanbi. Buck is at an ichibi level at best, so it's easy for me. But a gobi or higher? I probably wouldn't be able to."

"But can you develop a technomagical way to do so?" Thomas asked.

"That—would be harder," Lucius said frowning. Then he did a doubletake, and frowned again. "You know, that expression just feels so weird." He frowned again, then grinned in amusement at the strange sensation.

"But you were able to tie the synthetic unicorn horns into our hooves to tap our earth pony magic," Thomas pointed out, "AND they allow us to utilize kitsune magic. So, there must be a technomage way of doing so!"

"…" Lucius said.

"To be honest, I have absolutely no idea how that happened," Lucius admitted sitting down and cocked his head in thought. "Nothing like this has ever happened before, in our legends or in yours. I doubt even a kyuubi no kitsune would be able to figure it out. The only possibility of an explanation that comes to mind is the fact that you, Mareta, and Buck are earth ponies but you're able to use both pegasi and unicorn magic, albeit through technomagical means—which in itself, would seem impossible. But because you have also been exposed to kitsune magic, Buck seems to have somehow tapped into that unnatural talent as well and has developed some skill of his own in it. And because he was able to learn it, you and Mareta were also."

"So, you don't think it's possible?" Thomas asked.

"Kitsune magic is a mix of real and illusionary effects," Lucius explained. "Our illusions, however, affect the mind more than the eye. Training your mind to see through our illusions is your best defense to overco—" and he trailed off as he thought of something. His head cocked side to side several times as he pondered the ideas that were popping into his mind.

"But there is a mix!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Interesting—!" he said as he bounded off over to his desk and used his three tails to telekinetically manipulate quills to scribble equations on several sheets of paper.

"Well, that looks like the end of training for tonight," Alfalfa sardonically muttered stepping over to Thomas after hearing the exchange.

"True," Thomas sighed. Then he turned to look out over the training arena.

"Hey, Buck!" he called out. "You want to go see another performance at the circus?"

"Oh, YEAH! DO I!!"

"Great! Let's get cleaned up and go see them," Thomas yelled down. "I'm sure Mag will be in fine form, tonight!"

"Looking forward to seeing her—HEY!?" Buck shouted.

Mareta smiled, Alfalfa smirked, while Thomas openly grinned as they walked over the bridge to the elevator.

[994AB Day 287]

"They're really singing your praises again, Mister Thomas," Alfalfa said as she served breakfast to the family and handed Thomas the newspaper. "The network grid is almost eighty-eight percent complete, and those ponies who are covered have been getting very vocal against your detractors. Most of them have finally realized they are in a no-win battle against it."

"Who are the detractors, Alfalfa?" Buck inquired as he ate his cereal.

"Mostly owners of some of the entertainment channels we are carrying, Master Buck," Alfalfa told him. "They seem to be jealous that they hadn't thought of the idea first. There are also a hooffull of politicians and nobles who are grumbling about how the service is free where they can't tax it."

"They'll be even more upset once they reread the fine print and realize there's a modest tax break in it for us," Thomas said smirking as he ate his jam-coated toast.

[994AB Day 288]
Mag flipped herself off of the trapeze, spinning the half-dozen times as she normally did, counting down the rotations for the moment to whip her body out to reach for her mother's claws.

She did so, and the audience applauded as her mother, suspended by her father who was holding Erith by her feet, extending their combined reach, caught their daughter. But then, the unthinkable happened, and the trapeze holding her father failed and all three griffons began falling toward the ground.

Instantly, they each separated and grabbed at the buckle of the harness that held their wings closed to rip it open. It was a move they rarely ever needed to do, but it had saved their lives on more than one occasion.

To her horror, however, the buckle was stuck! Immediately, she looked to her parents, hoping they were able to undo their harnesses. Instead, her horror only increased when she saw that they, too, couldn't get free!

That's when she realized, not only were they all about to die, but that they had been murdered!

The ground was very unforgiving of their mistake….

The Geometry Of Shadows: Part O

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[994AB Day 288]
The Manes and Alfalfa all immediately rushed to give what aid they could. Jay and Erith were both dead as their necks were both obviously broken on impact. Mag, however, was just barely alive on with several broken bones evident.

"Please hold on, Mag!" Buck said to her as the adults were doing their best to render assistance to her. All he could do was hold her claw and give encouraging words to her. "We're doing everything we can to help!"

"Zucco! What are you—!? AAAHHHH!" Buck heard somepony suddenly scream. Instinctively looking, he witnessed a pegasus with a sword accosting Mag's younger griffon brother. With his father and Alfalfa busy working to save Mag's life, Buck was torn between staying to help keep her focused and fighting to live and leaving her to save her brother. But he had no choice, and so he let go of her claw and turned to run as fast as he could.

"The dancing digits! They made me kill them! They told me to do it! Have to obey—!" Buck heard the pegasus ranting as he came up on them. Robin was holding a bloodied arm with his other talon as the griffon was busily dodging the pegasus wildly tried to slice the young griffon, so neither saw Buck's approach. "I have to keep trying to slice y—!"

The blow delivered to the pegasus' jaw holding the sword should've been the end of it. After all, pegasi bones are the lightest, least resilient of the three pony tribes, which helps with their ability to fly, and earth ponies have the greatest physical strength, given their natural connection to the earth. Even though Buck wasn't fully grown yet, his natural strength pushing his hard mass of keratin right into the pegasus' lower mandible with enough force to shatter quartz.

But to the horror of both Buck and Robin, the pegasus merely paused and slowly turned to glare at Buck. It was as if the pegasus simply never felt the slam of an earth pony's forehoof to his jaw. It was becoming even more unnerving that the pony's jaw was obviously and visibly caved in, with the sword dangling severely in his bite. And their feelings of dread got worse as they watched the pegasus stallion to nonchalantly flick his head, sending the sword twirling end-over-end in the air over his pol, only for the pegasus to catch the sword handle with the unbroken side of his jaw. Then the stallion began to advance on Buck. And he smiled.

"Whutthahay!?" Buck whispered in stunned shock. He saw that Robin was just as horrified at what they just witnessed. "ROBIN! Get to your family, NOW! I'll do what I can to keep him busy!"

"You—" the pegasus spoke with a manic gleam shined in his eyes. "The dancing digits—they dance on the tiles for you. They dance on the tiles for us both! Now, our dance begins—! And then we'll make room for your father and Alfalfa to join us before my dance is finished!" And then Buck was in the fight for his life, dodging and deflecting the deadly blade being swung at him.

Mag was shocked at how Buck had tried to comfort her and then suddenly left her. But then she saw what was happening with Zucco and her brother and how Buck rushed to help Robin. Robin soon arrived to take over speaking words she could no longer hear. She felt cold as her body was slowly shutting down, but her heart was warmed at how the earth pony now fought the pegasus who had killed her and her parents and had tried to kill her brother. A tear slid across her beak to blind her other eye.

"He—he—w—would—have made—a—g—good—griff—" were her last words.

"MAG!?" Robin screamed at his sister.

"I'm afraid there's nothing more we can do for her, Tom," Mareta told him as she felt how the griffoness' pulse ended. "Go help Buck!" she growled.

"Alfalfa! On me!" Thomas ordered as he raced toward the combatants.

"Is everypony we're going up against Guard trained!?" he demanded once they got some distance from the griffons.

"Those aren't Guard moves of any kind, Mister Thomas!" Alfalfa exclaimed flying alongside. "He's too wild! Too random! He's got to be crazed and insane to be fighting like that! And it's not possible, but he's still flying, despite Buck having managed to break one of his wings during the fight!"

What!? Thomas barely had time to think before he and Alfalfa were upon the pegasus. She had gone high and dived down upon the crazed pony slashing at his son, while Thomas aimed to launch himself toward the stallion's ribs.

Just before contact, however, the pegasus spun on his own axis and twisted up out of Thomas' way—only to bring himself into Alfalfa's reach all the quicker. The only problem was, Alfalfa had been aiming for his undamaged right wing, and the maneuver turned the stallion upside down, causing her to instead strike his already broken left wing. The impact managed to get a grunt of pain from him, but not to be outdone, Zucco slashed at her with the sword, catching her on the right wing.

Thomas wasn't to be denied, however. He, too, quickly adapted to the stallion's unorthodox move and kicked out with his rear hooves as he passed beneath. While not have the full advantage that his momentum could have given him, his hooves did manage to clip Zucco's right wing at the metacarpus joint, dislocating it.

Alfalfa was forced to roll when she hit the ground and was back on her feet just as Zucco came crashing to the ground on his back. Buck, taking that opportunity, leapt forward and slammed a hoof down upon Zucco's exposed jaw, breaking that side of his mouth as well, and forcing the sword to be dropped.

Except Zucco was not yet out of the fight. He instantly rolled over to his hooves and picked the sword up by his forehooves and reared up on his hind legs, brandishing the deadly weapon on all three ponies surrounding him.

"What's it going to take to bring him down!?" Buck demanded with a scream.

"Buck! He's on the mushroom joke mix!" Thomas exclaimed. "Remember what we read about it!"

"Roadapples!" Buck hissed. "It can do all this!?"

"Far worse, Buck!" Thomas countered. "It can do far worse!"

For her part, Alfalfa wasn't seriously hurt, but the cut to her wing had effectively crippled her in the fight against a pony who was fighting at an equal-to-superior level than earth ponies could on their own turf. She was at a major disadvantage right now and it was only that Zucco's attention was more focused on the Manes which kept her alive for the moment. She quickly looked around for anything to help and spied the debris on the ground.

"MISTRESS MARETA! THE TRAPEEZE!" Alfalfa screamed, and the earth pony mare immediately left Robin's side to try grabbing the rope and bar lying on the ground, which got Zucco's attention. Doing so meant she couldn't take her eyes off him to see where Mareta was going to throw it. But it did give Thomas an opening to rush in and deliver a double-hoof back kick to Zucco's right rear leg, giving him two brand new joints in long bones that normally didn't have such.

Zucco only seemed mildly annoyed at the new modifications to his anatomy, as he calmly twisted about to drive the sword down toward Thomas. Fortunately, Thomas was able to roll out of the way in time and the sword tip was buried a hand depth into the dirt.

Taking that opportunity, Buck rushed toward Alfalfa. "Alfalfa! Toss it to me!" he yelled, and Alfalfa glanced back to see the bar and rope had landed right behind her. Instantly, she grabbed and tossed it toward Buck.

Just as quickly, Zucco yanked the blade out and had it at his ready again. But he was too late for once, as Buck had snagged one end of the rope and whipped it about, aiming to snare the pegasus stallion. Zucco swiped the blade to cut the rope, but enough had already started wrapping about him, and the portion he cut was the length that connected Buck to him—the remainder was already whipping around and entangling his body and limbs, and he finally fell to earth. However, Zucco wasn't going to be defeated so easily as the pegasus struggled to wield the sword to cut his bindings. Alfalfa and the Manes all moved to intercept that action.

Fortunately, at that moment, a unicorn's aura grabbed the sword and yanked it out of Zucco's hooves. They all stopped and looked around and spotted an Equestrian Guard team descending upon them, one of which was a unicorn corporal.

"Make way!" the sergeant earth pony commanded. "Just what the hay is going on here!?"

"Sergeant Fently!" Alfalfa spoke up. "Thank Celestia you're here! There's been a terrible accident—only it might not have been accidental—"

"The Dark Lord sleeps!" Zucco suddenly screamed. "The digits of the clawless paw—! I—I see them—! I see them!! Th-they m-made me cut their rope! Their dance on the tiles will awaken the Dark Lord! Ph'nglui mglw'nafh C— "

Just then, the stallion's head suddenly exploded with a loud, messy, wet pop.

"Wh-what the hay just happened!?" Sergeant Fently demanded with a horrified expression. The other guards also were just as shocked.

"I'm afraid an autopsy will probably show that he was under the influence of mushroom joke," Thomas Mane told him, looking at the remains of the pegasus' skull. "Jack Black is perhaps only more insane than this pony was to even think of mixing magic mushrooms and poison joke. This—" he said, gesturing with his hoof, "is typical of what happens to anypony who gets exposed to it."

"Mushroom joke!?" Fently exclaimed. "I—I've only heard rumors of that."

"Weren't you there at Jack Black's hearing. The one where the judge dismissed the attempted murder and robbery charges against him!? Prince Celestia mentioned it when she took him into custody! And I and my family testified as to the evidence our field testers recorded!" Thomas demanded.

"Sorry, but we were under strict orders from our superiors to come in only when called upon, testify, and leave immediately once we were done so as to not contaminate the legal process of us hearing another pony's testimony," Fently explained.

"I see," Thomas sadly said, sighing.

"Well, I looked up the information on that stuff," Thomas told him. "Aside from what it did to drive this poor pony crazy and blew his head apart, Jack Black is involved in creating huge quantities of mushroom joke. Enough to drive every pony in Manehattan as crazy as this guy, assuming it doesn't explode first and demolish a quarter to half the entire city! What's worse is, he escaped Princess Celestia's custody and he's still has that large vat of it stashed away somewhere! This guy is only the first of the victims we'll be seeing."

"What's going to happen to poor Robin?" Mareta asked Sergeant Fently.

"He'll probably have to be set up in the orphanage," the Guard told her. "We can try asking around to see if there are any griffons who would be willing to take him in."

"I know plenty of griffons," Thomas spoke up. "They're generally an honorable and honest species, but their way of life doesn't leave much room for charity. Adoptions are rare, almost to the point of being non-existent."

"Then nothing doing!" Mareta protested. "We'll take him in!"

"There will have to be a formal process—" Fently started to say, but Mareta interrupted him.

"For us to adopt him, yes, I know all that!" she spat. "But he can stay with us until that's settled. No sense in shoving him into the orphanage only to uproot him all over again if there's somepony already willing and on hoof to take him in! Am I not correct!?"

"—Of—of course, ma'am," Fently sighed….

[994AB Day 289]

"Is there a problem, officer?" Thomas Mane inquired as he and Lucius exited their carriage in the warehouse district, where his work crew was being confronted by an earth pony warehouse manager and several Equestria Guards.

"Thomas Mane!" the lead Guard pony called out, seeing who it was.

"Yes?" Thomas responded. "Do I know you? You seem fam—Sergeant—Fently, is it not?"

"Yes, sir, I am," Fently replied. "Are you in charge of these ponies?"

"Yes, I am, sir," Thomas answered. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Sir, your ponies are wanting to come into my warehouse, and they don't have authorization—" the warehouse manager began, his voice a little bit whiny despite his heavy build.

"Is this true?" Thomas angrily demanded of his team.

"No, sir! Not at all!" Red Sovine instantly responded. "We explained to the manager that the antennas we are installing would be going on their roofs and we wouldn't be needing to have anything to do with what's going on inside. We explained we wouldn't even be tapping into their site's power system, at all. We'd be drawing power straight from the Manehattan grid itself."

"Well, sir?" Thomas inquired to the manager.

"Yes, that's what they told me, but to get to the roof, they'll have to go through the warehouse—"

"But—sir—they're—pegasi!" Thomas interrupted. "They don't need to step inside at all. They can fly straight up there."

"Uh—" the manager began, uncertain as to how to respond.

"Sir!" Lucius cut in as he quickly flipped through several sheets of rolled paper to show him. "This project isn't just simply a booster signal network for the entertainment channels. As you can see from this map, your building is at the center of a twenty-furlong diameter zone needed—" But before the manager could get a good look, Lucius was flipping through a few more sheets until he presented the one he wished. "—for a very special and potentially lifesaving project that's been personally approved by the Princess, herself! Here's her signature granting the petition—" And Lucius was flipping more pages to yet another sheet. "—for this urgent and vital project which is ninety percent complete, and as we are standing here, is waiting for the final ten percent to get finished! Your building, along with six other sites here in the warehouse district, is all that's keeping this urgent and vital service from coming fully online! Just think of all the lives that could be saved—" the kitsune pointed at Sergeant Fently "—because these fine officers here will be able to radio for help and get a response right away! But if this project isn't completed, because you're standing in the way of ponies who can fly, and don't even need to go through your warehouse—well, sir—think of all the lives who will be lost when poor Officer Fently here won't be able to reach anypony at the Guard!"

"Uh—" the manager said, looking about, and stopping when he saw the steady glare from the lead Guard pony. "Uh—s-s-sure," he finally said, nodding. "Fine! Fine! If they don't need to come in, I-I guess it's okay—"

"Thank you, sir!" Lucius exclaimed, instantly grabbing the pony's hoof and giving it a good shake. "Thank you! Thank you! You won't regret it!"

"It's all good, then?" Thomas asked Sergeant Fently.

"If there are no further objections from the manager then, I don't see a problem with it," he said.

"Uh—c-can I—can I at least have one of my security staff go up with them to make sure nothing funny happens up there?" the manager asked.

"I have no problems with that," Thomas said smiling. "By all means, please do so."

The manager stepped in and soon returned with a big white pegasus stallion fifty percent larger and more solid-looking than Red Sovine.

"What's this job entail?" the newcomer asked, his voice a deep rumble that set Thomas' nerves on edge.

"We're just mounting an antenna assembly to the chimney structure on the roof," The manager stepped in and soon returned with a big white pegasus stallion fifty percent larger and more solid-looking than Red Sovine. "It's a communications relay that's part of a citywide network that we're testing out."

"If it works out as we're hoping, we're looking to eventually expand it nationwide," Thomas added.

The guard looked at them for several moments, clearly evaluating all of them.

"All right," he finally said. "No funny business," he warned.

"Wouldn't ever think of it," Red Sovine responded as he, Highflyer, and Fred Hummer lifted off, followed by the warehouse guard.

"Damn, Lucius!" Thomas whispered once they were back inside the carriage. "I'm glad you're on our side. I almost bought in on that!"

Lucius said nothing, but just grinned.

"What is all that crap going on out there?" the unicorn stallion demanded of the warehouse manager.

"That was your old friend, Thomas Mane, of Mane Industries," the earth pony replied, shedding his meek and timid act. "They are wanting to put one of those new communication relays on our building. I've got Decker keeping an eye on the pegasi he's got working for him."

"Thomas Mane, again? Hmmf! Oh, yeah. I read about those 'relays' in the papers," Jack Black spat. "How they're supposed to improve reception of the entertainment channels. Another rich toy for some rich boy to play around with. What a waste of bits. Too bad I couldn't take him down when I had the chance. Well, soon, we'll all be just as rich as him, and probably just as clean as him with how he got to be so rich," he said grinning. "And believe you me, I won't be wasting my bits on charity work!"

"That fox of his makes a good salespony," the earth pony muttered as they watched the carriage and the Equestria Guard ponies move out of sight. "He almost got me sold on the idea. But so long as they don't interfere with what we're doing, it's not our concern."

A little while after the last antenna was mounted in the warehouse district area and the team reported back to the Mane Mansion, they had their after operations briefing.

"That was a surreal experience," Red Sovine muttered. "I'm not used to looking up at ponies."

"I don't know about you, but I didn't like how that guy was staring at me while we were doing that install," Fred Hummer told Thomas. "Either my scar was catching his eye, or maybe he remembers me from our time in the Guard, but he did seem awfully familiar."

"Same here," Red complained. "You'd think someone as large as him would be more memorable. Odd that I can't recall where I've seen him, either."

"Couldn't be helped," Thomas said. "But we know they're somewhere in that general area. As you said, you've got a bad feeling about them? So, let's make that warehouse the first one we take a good long hard look at. We've all had some long hard days of late, and we're rather late making any hoofball scores in this game. This installation was wholly paid for in the blood of Robin's family," he grimly stated. "Get some sleep, everypony. Tomorrow night, we're back on shiftwork!"

[994AB Day 290]

"Okay, colts and fillies, we're all on live TV! So, behave yourselves," Red Sovine said into his microphone. "Graywing, how do you read?"

"Loud and clear, Cardinal," Thomas Mane replied from his vantage alongside Highflyer.

"Cardinal to all units, report!"

"Graymare online," Mareta responded.

"Grayson online," Buck radioed in.

"Blackbird good to go," Highflyer reported.

"Hummingbird lives again," Fred Hummer said, grinning.

"Kitt is rolling along," Matchbox said as he used a scooter to speed his movements on the roads.

"Okay, that accounts for all the little birds and the cat," Red Sovine announced. "What about you folks back at the Lair?"

"Mother Hen's got eyes and ears on everypony," Alfalfa said. "Toothy's so happy he's grinning up a storm, so watch out for lightning."

"Graywing, going IR," Thomas reported. "I have numerous targets on several levels. Um—twelve that I can count. There's a sizable warm object in there, too."

"Blackbird concurs," Highflyer cut in, nodding to Thomas. "At least three guests are wingers. By the way, no outside wanderers in view, so no unexpected party crashers are anticipated at this time."

"Lair concurs," Alfalfa reported. "We suspect that what Graywing and Blackbird are seeing is the punchbowl. And it looks like it's finally starting to cook. I'm afraid we're out of time, sir. There's no time to call in the professionals."

"Then it's up to us. Graymare, Grayson, on me!" Thomas grimly said as he dove down, aiming to go in through the upper windows of the warehouse.

"Kitt, Cardinal, Hummingbird, move in to assist!" Alfalfa ordered.

"Roger that!" the three ponies simultaneously acknowledged. Red Sovine and Fred Hummer filed in behind Mareta and Buck who were following Tom, while Matchbox had kicked his scooter into high speed and rolled down the road toward the warehouse front doors. From Highflyer's viewpoint, it looked like it might be a close race between Matchbox and Thomas as to which would get there first.

"RAMMING SPEED!" a dark-clothed earth pony yelled as he burst through the doors, startling everypony inside the warehouse, but before they could react, the windows above suddenly shattered as a dark figure blasted in, aiming for the largest pegasus hovering over the area: Decker. Decker's Equestrian Guard training instantly kicked in and he nimbly dodged the immediate threat coming from above. However, the newcomer somehow anticipated the move and brought itself to a halt to engage the burly pegasus in hoof-to-hoof combat.

Decker grinned, despite the unpleasant surprise. Hoof-to-hoof combat was a specialty of his, and his physique made him the equal to most earth ponies.

More figures burst in from the windows, one of the flyers pausing in midair and was somehow began shooting out the lights, but Decker's attention had to be focused on this immediate opponent as he aimed a hoof at the figure's armored head. Some sort of Guard outfit, from what he could tell. Sadly, such armor rarely helped his sparing partners back in—wait—is that a unicorn horn!? he suddenly wondered as his hoof landed on the helm. And then his grin quickly disappeared when his punch apparently did nothing to the pegas—wait—are those bat wings!?

Then the horn lit up with a gray nimbus, and Decker suddenly had over two dozen Royal Guard-spec stun bolts painfully impacting several locations on his body: one to each eye, one to his forehead as the unicorn's aim shifted from his left eye to his right, once to the back of his throat through his open-mouthed shocked expression, then the outside of his throat twice, his chest a few times, his left wing for at least six shots, his gut more than a few times, and finally his balls. Ten for there!

THAT—was—BRUTAL—! Decker admirably thought as he tumbled out of the air, bouncing off first one then a second catwalk on his way to the floor. Whoever that fucker is, he really knows his shit! The floor was the last major impact he felt, but shortly after that, it got real comfortable. He felt like taking a nap.

"Jack, I'm getting concerned about the mix," his pegasus friend was saying to him. "I've noticed it's starting to get a little hot—"

The sudden sound of the warehouse doors being blasted apart and a pony hollering, "RAMMING SPEED!" interrupted what she was going to say. In addition, that event was instantly followed by several dark figures bursting in from the roof-level windows to dive toward them.

"No! No! NO! NO!! NO!!!" Jack Black screamed, immediately shooting off a beam toward the intruders coming down at them, but there were so many, and they were each already on evasive flight patterns that hitting any of them was nearly impossible. Not to mention, the lighting system was being systematically taken out, quickly plunging the entire warehouse into an increasingly progressive darkness.

Everything of his plans were just suddenly falling apart! With all the chaos, there just wasn't any time to think…. And aside from all his followers who were all quickly finding themselves getting their plots stomped, there was one of those dark-suited flyers coming right straight for him!

Instinctively, he fired off his most powerful blast at the approaching pegasus and was happy to see the idiot didn't even bother to dodge—his beam struck the intruder full on the snout! Jack smiled.

Then his smile faltered when the ceiling behind the flyer exploded outward, leaving a satisfyingly large hole in the structure—and yet the incoming flyer wasn't affected at all—the figure he knew he had shot was still coming straight at him as if he had completely missed!

Wha—!? he barely had time to wonder before a powerful impact slammed into his side, knocking him off his hooves from where he had been standing on the edge of the vat and into the lurid glowing and bubbling mix he had been overseeing.

"JACK!!!" his pegasus friend screamed, and she instantly dove in after him.

Red Sovine flew as wingpony for Mareta to keep her safe, while Fred stayed with Buck. Unfortunately, there wasn't a spare pegasus to stay with Thomas Mane with Highflyer needing to remain outside to be their eyes and CAP pony and Matchbox was a non-flyer stuck on the ground.

As soon as they were inside through the windows, several pegasi who were walking the catwalks took to the air to engage them, while Mareta was taking a moment to use her horn to systematically blast all the lights in the warehouse to give their team the dark-field advantage. Thomas was immediately having to contend with the big burly pegasus, who had been yesterday's escort for when they were installing the relay on the roof. Red had suspected he was Guard-trained, only for the stallion's moves as he fought Thomas confirmed it. Red would have moved to lend a hoof to Thomas, but for Sovine recognizing another pegasus, who was now flying up to meet him and Mareta, had also been in the Guard. In addition, as this new threat came at them, the rogue former guard had a mare flying alongside him, giving Red no choice but to stay with Mareta to keep her from being both outnumbered as well as outclassed.

"Dammit! Mother Hen! Graywing's got his hooves full with our big white friend, but I've got another rogue rooster along with a chick coming at Graymare and me!" Red reported just as part of the roof suddenly got blasted out.

"Stay with Graymare, Cardinal!" Thomas cut it. "The big white hope is dope, now."

"Roger that!" Red happily sighed, readying to meet his counterpart.

"BUCK! What did you DO!?" Mareta suddenly screamed out. Red winced at the breach in communications protocol. But they each had little time to worry about it as their adversaries were at hoof.

"What he had to, Graymare!" Red barked at her as he evasively flew and tried to use his wing blades against those of their opponents. "This is a killing situation! You know it as well as Grayson does!"

"Sorry, Graymare," Buck contritely called back after a few moments. "It was either give him a hard landing or a soft one. I am surprised that mare dove in after him, though."

Once he had burst through the warehouse cargo door, Matchbox instantly came under fire from a unicorn mare. That she kept her cool and immediately engaged him made him suspect that she was Guard-trained as well. But they all knew that Jack Black favored pegasi, unicorns, and only then earth ponies, in that order, and so he came prepared. He first launched a pair of brightly painted null-force bolos at the mare, only to see her immediately dodge to the side.

Yeah, definitely Guard-trained! he thought, smirking, as he ducked under her shot back him. An inexperienced unicorn would have tried to use her teek to grab them and be tangled up by them anyhow. Or at least tried teleporting and have to contend with the requisite disorientation time needed to reacquire her target.

While he was busily dodging her horn blasts among the crates occupying the warehouse floor, Matchbox used his hoof to pull out another set of null-force bolos, this set painted a much darker color, and transferred the lanyard connecting the balls to his mouth to momentarily hold them before reaching for another pouch for the special weapon contained in there.

Buck saw that Matchbox was already contending with one unicorn mare shooting bolts at him, but there were two more unicorn stallions galloping from the other end of the warehouse to join her. He immediately dove down with Fred shadowing him.

Thomas had little time to relax after subduing the huge powerfully built white pegasus, as he saw two more pegasi stallions coming at him. Fortunately, they didn't seem to be nearly as formidable as their fear was quite clear on their faces, evidently shocked at how easily their larger cohort was taken down.

He didn't give them any time to try cinching up their courage before he launched a dozen stun bolts at one of them. The results were spectacular as the stallion looked like he had just face-planted right into a wall and immediately fell from the air and landed fifty feet below. The other stallion instantly decided he wasn't getting paid enough and hightailed it for an opening in the ceiling that had not been there just moments before.

Thomas hesitated, almost deciding to let the stallion go, but just as Jack Black's departing minion reached what he thought was safety, Thomas launched several stun shots that nailed him solidly in the plot.

"AhAIYEEEeeee!" he screamed as he bolted out the opening.

Once that stallion was gone, he turned his attention to Fred and Mareta's situation, just in time to see Mareta finally cause the mare she had been fighting to fall. But Fred was evenly matched with the skill of the rogue agent he was fighting.

Still plenty of charges available in this thing, he grimly thought as he powered up his horn.

Matchbox patiently waited for her to track him down. He had been quietly listening to his own teammates calling back and forth to each other. But he had also been listening to his opponent try to call for her own allies as she hunted for him. From what he heard from both sides, his was quickly racking up the points. And this mare had just lost the two reinforcements she was counting upon to help corral him, thanks to Buck.

"Roach! Walter!" he heard her suddenly hiss into her microphone soon after Buck reported he had taken down two unicorns. "Where are you guys!?"

Matchbox quietly stepped out from around the crate he had been hiding behind and fired off the blunderbuss he had been holding without bothering to aim it. At just ten feet away, he didn't need to. The exploding burst of powdered null-stone surrounded the mare with a cloud of magic damping dust, which was immediately followed by a pair of bolos made of the same substance that quickly entangled now choking unicorn's neck, and the impact of the hard balls into her head finished the job of incapacitating her.

Buck was very satisfied at how he had managed to trick the two unicorns working for Jack Black into shooting each other by planting an illusion of himself landing right between them, although only one was fully taken down by his partner, and Buck had to step up and finish the job on the remaining, only partially stunned unicorn stallion.

He looked about, searching for more combatants. His parents and the three former guards were still busy with active fighters, but they were all considerable distance from where he stood at the base of the large vat. He was about to launch to go help Matchbox, but then he spotted a large valve and pipe built-in to the bottom of the vat, marked "DRAIN".

"Mother Hen, you said that the mixture shouldn't react to seawater, right?" he called.

"Not anymore than it's liable to explode on its own, no," Alfalfa replied.

"Then the important thing is to get rid of this stuff, right?" Buck confirmed.

"I see what you're thinking about, Grayson," Alfalfa said. "I say, go for it!" And immediately, Buck began cranking the valve wheel open.

"I just hope it doesn't mess up the fish in the harbor," he muttered as he worked.

"That is a valid concern, Grayson," Alfalfa acknowledged. "But it's one better left to worry about later. In the meantime, you've got an earthpony coming at you, Grayson!"

"I'm on hi—ooof!" Fred exclaimed, only to bounce off the pony he had impacted into and landed on the floor. "Woah! Tough hombre," he muttered, shaking his head clear. Then he looked up to see it was the warehouse manager they had dealt with when they were installing the communications relay.

"You've got that right," the stallion growled, glaring at him. While Fred's impact hadn't knocked the stallion down, it had halted his charge at Buck.

"Relax, Hummingbird," Buck said, stepping forward. "I've got this."

"'Hummingbird', huh?" the earthpony inquired, turning to face Buck. "Good name for him. He has to be like the lightest pegasus ever to hit me. And who are you supposed to be? Because you sure as Tartarus not a Thestral alicorn! But I have to say, it's a good costume for Nightmare Night."

"I'm Grayson," Buck told him. "And as for you, the nightmare has only just begun."

"Real cute comeback, foal," the warehouse manager said, smirking. "Points for that. Too bad it's not going to save you from me stomping all the roadapples out of you," he said, raising up and aiming his right forehoof at the youngster. Only to be stunned when the darksuited figure easily blocked the blow by angling his left wing to take the impact with the sound like a hammer hitting an anvil.

"Wha—?"

Then Buck's horn glowed with a gray aura and the warehouse manager found himself suddenly flying over the younger stallion and landing with a painful impact where the drainpipe connected to the bottom of the large vat and fed into the floor.

"Uhh—arrgh!" he grunted, slowly pulling himself out of the confining space. He shook his head clear and saw Grayson slowly approaching him with an easy walk.

"Hmmf! Impressive, foal. Good trick," he said before spitting out some blood from his mouth. "But you fucked up. I don't know how you pulled off that wing trick, but you've revealed you're just a unicorn, and I know how to beat unicorns!" he said, charging forward.

Only to run through where Grayson was walking.

"Huh!?"

WHAM!!

The double-hoof blow to the back of his head was even more shocking. He turned his head to look and barely had time to realize he was about to be hit again when Grayson's back hoof slammed just as hard into his snout.

WHAM!!

The kick knocked him skidding several yards across the warehouse floor. Then, as he was struggling to recover from that, Grayson's horn lit up again and fired off several Guard-spec stun bolts into him.

"Th-th-at's—impossi—" he got out before finally succumbing to the spells.

Buck stepped over and helped Fred to his hooves and looked around.

Suddenly, a bright light burst out of the darkness and began to grow and spread, starting from the blackness where the edge of the warehouse district met the city's expansive bay. Eerily, it stretched out, jagged and jerking, it advanced, vectoring up through the streets. So surreal in its appearance, it looked like all the world to be a lightning bolt burning its way through the ground, melting and vaporizing everything in its path…coming closer…still silent…exactly like the instant just before the crack of thunder finally hits…

Thomas looked about the warehouse. The fight was over. All of the ponies working for Jack Black were down and/or tied up. He looked at his family and team and grinned.

"We did it—!" he said, but there was a sudden call from Highflyer that interrupted him.

"GET OUT OF THEEERRRRE! GET OOUUUTTTT—!" just before the last of the remaining mushroom joke still flowing out the drainpipe detonated…

Washed up on the shore across the bay by the tremendous explosion, two exhausted figures struggled to move to pull themselves up out of the water. A pegasus mare and a unicorn stallion.

"Jack!? Jack!?" the mare cried out, reaching out to him. "Are you alright!?"

"I'm sorry, but Jack is dead," Jack Black responded, his face locked in a rictus grin. "The Dark Lord sleeps. I—I see who I am now. I know how we're all connected! Who it is that I'm supposed to be! I see them! Digits of the clawless paw dancing on the tiles. Their dance dictating who and what we all are! Their dance will awaken the Dark Lord. But—but—we have much to do before everypony's dance is complete! The poison joke—it's been trying to tell us the truth all along! The flower—the wonderful flower—it's finally found a way to speak! I AM the poison joke!! The universe—the whole universe—is nothing but—One—BIG—JOKE—!!!

"And I—I—I AM—THE PUNCHLINE!!! HAHAHAHAH!!!!"

Nests Of Ash

View Online

[994AB Day 290]
"MISTER MANE!? MISTRESS MARETA!? MASTER BUCK!? RED!? FRED!? MATCHBOX!? ANYPONY!?" Alfalfa screamed. She hissed at the sharp pain when her still-healing wings spread in alarm.

"No telemetry from anypony," Lucius reported. "Not even Highflyer."

"Could the blast have gotten him, too?" Alfalfa inquired. "We've got to get out there!" she said, leading the way across the bridge to the elevator.

"If the vat was still full, I wouldn't doubt it for a minute," Lucius soberly said, following her. "A blast from that much mushroom joke would disassociate the very air, itself, for furlongs around! You'd have a hard time identifying anything in that part of the city. But we're still getting network signals from all the cells surrounding the warehouse, except those leading toward the wharf. In addition, the network is dead for at least three or four cells out from the main part of the harbor. Looks like most of the blast happened there."

"Then what happened at the warehouse?" Alfalfa demanded as the elevator took them up into the mansion.

"Likely destroyed by any of the stuff that was still in the drainpipe," Lucius replied. "The explosive potential of mushroom joke is no joke! But you're not going to be able to get out there. Your wing is still healing. I can get there quicker. You get to Mane Industries and be ready to throw the switch." Alfalfa snapped her glare at him.

"We knew this might happen," Lucius grimly told her as the door opened into Thomas' office and they walked out. "We planned for this, even as we knew what it would cost us."

Alfalfa nodded, and Lucius bounded off for the front door, while she got on the phone and dialed up the number for Flashfire at his Mane Industries office.

"Flashfire here," the unicorn answered at the other end of the call.

"Flashfire, this is Alfalfa," she grimly began. "There's—been a complication with tonight's operation…." She hesitated, praying that they were just overreacting and that everypony was still okay out there. But Master Mane was counting on her to carry it through in event of a worst-case scenario. "Activate 'Operation Torchwood'," she finally ordered. There! It's done, but I'm so sorry Master Mane! Tartarus take us all!! she silently prayed as her tears flowed down her face.

There was several moments of silence on the line.

"Understood," Flashfire softly responded.

"B-be sure to go through and collect ALL the security recording crystals before you open the vault. I—I'll join you there as soon as I'm able," she finished before hanging up the phone.

As soon as she set down the hoofset, she rushed out of the home office and nearly tripped over Robin.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Robin! I didn't see you there!" she apologized to the young griffon tiercel.

"Is s-something wrong, Alfalfa?" he inquired, seeming a little too aware that something indeed was wrong. "I just saw some sort of fox creature running out like all its tails were on fire."

Complications! Alfalfa instantly thought. Always, complications, or potential complications!

"Th-there might be," she evasively replied. "There seems to have been an incident at Mane Industries, and I need to get there right away. I—I'll let you know what I can where I get back. In the meantime, you should stay here. The staff can ensure you get anything you need while I'm gone."

"Okay, Alfalfa," Robin replied, with definite uncertainty in his voice as she ran on out.

The griffon fledgling stood still and stared after her after she left. Then, after he was sure she was well and gone, he walked over to the doorway to Thomas' office and peered back inside.

There are no windows and no other doors, he thought as he considered the puzzle. So, where did they come from? He was torn between wanting to figure it out and wanting to ignore it. It was just possible that he hadn't seen them going in, but he was certain the room was empty when he had just walked by it just moments before their canid employee had rushed out. As he initially moved to walk away, an idea suddenly came to him, one borne from experiences shared with his natural family, and he stepped back to consider the office space from his vantage at the entrance.

No other doors that I know of! he suddenly realized, after finally deciding to advance into the room.

The circus that his family traveled with had numerous practitioners of sleight of hoof, each with dozens of secret sets, tricks, traps, and stage props at their disposal. As part of their extended family, Robin was privy to many of those secrets. What if—?

When he had first been given a tour of the mansion, he was highly impressed by just the sheer massiness of the structure. With his griffon instincts, he had an enhanced special awareness, and he quickly had a mental map of the place, made all the firmer with each of his wanderings since then. All the walls were extra thick, evidently to support its own weight. Not only that, but that the Manes would never have to worry about the weather. There wasn't a tornado that all the pegasi of Equestria could ever put together that should even be able to touch the place!

But this room—only now, did he feel anything odd about it—well, odder.

The walls about it were even thicker than anywhere else in the mansion, more than twice as thick as any other wall in the building. Which made no sense, given there was nothing about the second or third floors above it to account for the need to build it so solidly like this.

And now that he thought more about it, he realized the thickness of the deck between the first and second levels was almost enough for another entire floor to fit between them!

His eyes slowly looked over the bookshelves lining nearly all of the available surfaces before his gaze settled on the wall to his left.

Except this wall, he realized, staring at it. His mind told him it was well over twice as thick as the other three walls in here! Why? he wondered, blinking at it.

Walking over, he slowly scrutinized the shelving for any telltales like he was familiar with from his life in the circus.

Here, maybe? he wondered when he found one vertical shelf divider about a third of the way toward the center was more than twice as thick than any of its like in the rest of the room. He followed it down all the way to the floor. Nothing immediately suspicious about it, but from there toward the center of the wall, the wainscotting did appear a little different from the outer section. Then, at a third of the way to the back wall, there was another double-thick shelf divider. He followed it up to the top of the shelf, needing to use his wings to fly up and hover while he looked it over.

No obvious seams, he considered, as he settled back to the floor, a little disappointed his examination didn't find what he was looking for.

Then he looked closer at the forward divider, checking first the side toward the center of the wall. The woodworking was high quality and firmly attached, but when he looked at the other side, he saw the woodworking was much poorer. Almost sloppy. Almost like what he was used to seeing in his old home, of an often-used circus prop. He stepped back a pace and extended a wing out, carefully bringing his primaries toward the crack he had found, and he felt the slightest flow of a steady breeze.

His beak slowly grew a knowing smirk.

"Blackbird to Mother Hen!" Highflyer called out diving down to look for anypony. "The warehouse has been completely demolished! No response from anypony else on the team! There's nothing left of it! Do you copy!? MOTHER HEN!? TOOTHY!? Respond, please!"

There was no response to Highflyer's call.

"Probably because there's nothing left of the relay here, either," Highflyer muttered. We set those things rather spread out to get maximum range to look for them, but we've got minimal redundancy if we lost one, he thought as he desperately searched for signs of life, switching back and forth between IR and light-enhancement vision while doing so, and this warehouse was the center of the zone. It's only a matter minutes before someone from the Guard shows up and finds somepony, and then whoever's left alive will have a very short and unpleasant talk with the Princess!

A shift of plating caught his attention and just as he turned to investigate, the plating shifted again then tilted up on its edge and was pushed over to fall flat on the ground by Buck's expanding shield spell! Moreover, Fred was there as well! The pegasus was just shakily getting to his hooves as Highflyer landed.

"Thank Celestia you're still alive!" Highflyer exclaimed. "I can't raise anypony else, though."

"I think our comm units were damaged by the blast," Fred spoke up. "Buck and I were trying for several times when we came to, but we couldn't even hear each other."

"How did you guys survive!?" Highflyer asked, astonished.

"I threw up a shield spell when you yelled at us," Buck said. "I couldn't maintain it, but when it failed, most of the blast had already dissipated. Have you found Mom or Dad?"

"Not yet," Highflyer said. "You're the first I was able to find."

"We've got to find them!" Buck exclaimed.

"I know!" Highflyer said, pulling out a tracking module to show him. "That might be a problem, though. Neither of you are showing up, either. And I can't call to Mother Hen or Toothy, either, although that might be simply because we're out of range. The relay on this building was the center of the cellular coverage here, and I don't know if any of the other surrounding relays survived. You didn't get to see that blast!"

Buck looked over to where the vat used to be. Or at least thought he was.

"We were over there—I think," he said. "The others were about four rods up and four or five rods from the vat over that way," he said, pointing with his hoof. "Matchbox, though, was dodging about the crates that were stacked up all around here, trying to evade that unicorn mare shooting at him."

They all lifted up and began searching for the others.

"How bad was the explosion?" Buck inquired as they scanned for any heat signatures of living beings.

"I don't think the harbor exists anymore," Highflyer told him. "It's just a mountain of smoke there right now. Likely to be tons of casualties over there if anyponies were on those ships, but it could've been much worse. The water probably mitigated the explosion, while this warehouse borders one of the mostly densely populated areas of the city. If that vat had been full when it went off—never mind we wouldn't even be here talking about it—but ponies for leagues about would be dead! You did good, Buck!" he firmly told the colt.

"Let's hope Celestia thinks so," Buck grumbled.

"As you know, she will, Buck!" Fred said, fully agreeing with Highflyer. "But as she warned us, the Crown, however, will not!"

"Over here!" Buck suddenly called, pointing before diving for the piled mass of debris.

"Why haven't we started hearing sirens yet?" Fred inquired as they landed and began shifting large metal plates out of their way. But most of the pieces of debris were too much for the pegasi or even the earth pony to move. But Buck realized he could still use his artificial horn to lift objects far heavier than he, himself could move on his own.

"Easy, Buck!" Highflyer warned. "You don't want to cause an avalanche. One piece at a time and pile them up over in that clear area."

"Probably they're all busy with the bigger blast being at the harbor," Highflyer responded to Fred as Buck concentrated. "But there's sure to be somepony come along here, sooner rather than later."

"That's Red!" Fred called out as another large chuck of wall was lifted off and he could finally see the figure laying there. He rushed in beneath the wall even before Buck had safely finished removing the mass from the scene. "He's alive!" Fred yelled, quickly yanking off numerous bits of piping and wiring from the downed pony. "But barely!"

"This is some seriously tough armor we've got," Highflyer whispered in awe to Buck as the colt dropped the wall on the newly formed pile of debris. "Get him up and to the clinic as soon as you can, Fred!" he yelled at his partner.

"Roger that!" Fred said, hauling the larger pegasus to lay over his shoulders before taking off.

"Red was staying on as wingpony to Mom, last I saw them," Buck said, anxiously looking about. "She should be around here!"

"We'll find them, Buck!" Highflyer assured him, touching the colt's shoulder with a forehoof. "You guys have the most advances in your suits, they should be even better protected than Red was."

Celestia was having a bit of insomnia for some unknown reason.

Lately, she had been having innumerable visions of Luna showing up in her dreams, with the impending date of her sister's return looming. Sometimes, she was disturbed by dreams of naked, screaming anthros falling out of the sky. Other times, some dragon-like predators or squidlike monstrosities would come flying at her. Or somepony's leisure boat being sucked down a vortex toward a watery grave—only it wasn't an ocean bottom it landed upon…

Tonight, it was nothing specific that she could recall. Only a strange heavy pounding in her chest when she woke and a vague feeling of dread.

A check through the entertainment channels for any strange goings on showed nothing odd going on at the moment. As usual, whenever she had trouble sleeping, she knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep until she raided the kitchen. As she left her quarters, she made an inquiry to her Guard, who had nothing new to report. Then she would make such trips into a game of evading being seen by the castle's roving patrols—and they all knew better than to let her get through without challenge, or there would be consequences and severe reprimands. She did better than usual this time, but she was eventually caught and challenged to confirm her identity, satisfying her that they were doing their duty in staying alert.

After retrieving a slice of cake from the refrigerator, she returned to her quarters and turned on the VAD again, this time to look for an appropriate non-stimulating mind-numbingly stupid dumb roadapples normally playing around this time to lull her back into dreamland.

"The story you about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the guilty. The innocent can go fu—" the deadpan voice intoned.

>click<

Too intellectual, she thought, as she hit the remote.

"Lu-u-CI-I-I-I-ILLLE—!" her husband screamed.

>click<

Too funny.

"Fire Phasers!" the captain commanded.

>click<

*sigh*

"Oh! The pain! The pain!"

"Danger, Will Robinson!"

"Ah, this will work!" she happily muttered, getting ready to take a bite from her cake. "Just the right amount of 'stupid' to put me back into a coma."

"We interrupt this program to report there's been a tremendous explosion at Manehatten Harbor! The cause is currently unknown! Dozens of furlongs appear to have been demolished around the center of the blast site, and it's feared there could be hundreds dead—!"

"Fwoaphfdapples!?" she exclaimed, spitting out the mouthful of cake.

Fred Hummer was just about to leave the clinic when Buck and Highflyer burst in the entrance, carrying Buck's parents.

"WE HAVE INJURED, HERE!" Buck loudly bellowed. The triage team at the Mane Industries Clinic had already been alerted when Fred brought in Red Sovine that there would be more coming. But he hadn't informed them that it would be the Manes, themselves.

"Bring them to Thomas' ward!" Doctor Clydesdale immediately ordered.

"Go with them, Buck," Highflyer ordered. "Fred and I will go back and search for Matchbox," and Buck followed the triage team down the passageway.

"How are they?" Fred inquired as he followed Highflyer outside, and they took off.

"I'm afraid Mareta's dead," Highflyer grimly informed him. "Thomas was still alive, but he was unconscious the entire way here. Fortunately, we found them right next to each other. Finding Matchbox is going to be a lot tougher since we don't have a good idea where to start looking. We only found his parents because Buck was using some sort of unicorn or kitsune magic to scan for them, and they were still close to the surface of that mess. He was somewhere down on the floor at the other end of the warehouse among all those crates you and Buck were thrown up against."

"Not to mention, that unicorn prosthetic allowed Buck to lift all that garbage," Fred acknowledged.

"Perimeter complete, if not exactly secure, Lieutenant," Sergeant Fently reported, saluting his earth pony superior.

"Thank you, Sergeant," earth pony Lieutenant Manes Gordon replied, well aware they didn't have enough Guard on hoof to cover the block where the warehouse used to be, let alone the nearly three-quarter league additional wreckage leading back to the Harbor. With almost every available hoof out there, where the blast was known to have originated, there was little left to spare to look into as to why the disaster inexplicably reached out to this point. "Come along, Detective Paddock. Let's go see how this is connected to that blast at the Harbor."

"Whatever you say, rookie," his unicorn partner, Harvey Paddock grumbled. They look at each other, and then grinned, as they walked toward the crime scene and the waiting team of a dozen or so Equestrian Guard, who were standing by to help the detectives to search for evidence but had strict orders to not touch anything unless lives depended on it. Sergeant Fently accompanied them.

"This—is about where the warehouse began, Lieutenant," Fently told them.

"Are you sure, Sergeant!?" Paddock exclaimed, glaring at the stallion. "There's literally nothing here!"

"I was here just yesterday, Detective," Fently replied while Gordon bent down to look closer at the ground a little to their side. "I was called out by the warehouse manager to respond to a trespassing complaint. There was some dispute that had erupted between him and some ponies working for Mane Industries who were supposed to be installing one of those VAD relays on the roof. The manager didn't want them all walking through his warehouse."

"He's right," Gordon muttered. "You can barely see it, but here's where one of the structural beams was sunk into the concrete. Blast broke it off almost clean. How was the dispute resolved, Sergeant?" he asked, standing back up.

"Thomas Mane had to personally show up and point out the obvious," Fently replied. "All his ponies were pegasi who could fly up to the roof without ever needing to step a hoof inside. Made the manager look like a total idiot. The stallion finally backed down but had one of his own pegasi accompany them to oversee the installation. There were no more problems after they did their work and left."

Both officers grunted at that.

"Detectives! We found somepony! He's still alive!" a call from one of the perimeter Guard suddenly called out, and the three of them went running. "Stay here but send a med team after us!" Gordon yelled back at the waiting team of Guard.

They found a beige pegasus stallion who had apparently faceplanted into the ground, his wings splayed out, and with his rear still stuck up into the air. He was mindlessly moaning in pain and for good reason. His plot had taken some obvious and severe trauma.

The medical team arrived on their heels, and while they worked, Paddock took note of the stallion's location, description, cutie mark, nature of his injuries, and wrote down the circumstances and condition in which he had been found.

"Be sure to have your hospital assign some security staff to keep an eye on him," Gordon instructed the paramedic pony-in-charge. "He's a material witness to whatever happened here, and we'll want to question him after you get him stabilized."

"Will do, Lieutenant," the unicorn paramedic replied.

"I'm done here," Paddock announced, closing his notebook and storing it back in his pocket, and they walked back to their planned starting point.

"Alright!" Gordon said, raising his voice to be clearly understood by the Guard team. " You all know the drill: we're doing this by the book! Spread out but keep each other in sight at all times. Keep your eyes and ears open, look for any signs of something out of the ordinary. If you find bodies or body parts, don't touch it, but call Harvey or me! If you find anypony alive, call us and go get a paramedic team asap. DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING UNLESS SOMEPONY'S LIFE DEPENDS ON IT! And for Celestia's sake, be careful where you step! There are plenty of ways for somepony to get hurt or killed in here, and we don't need to add ourselves to the body count! I highly doubt that whatever blew this place up was natural, and there might still be some of it still about!" He paused to check to see that his words were received and clearly understood. The nods he got from the Guard told him they were.

"Alright, let's go!" Gordon order, leading the way in.

With his natural speed matching that of ponies, Lucius' loping gait gave him greater far greater stamina to run long distances. Despite that, it still took him over 90 minutes to reach the warehouse. Moreover, he was spying innumerable scattered bits of debris long before coming up on the scene.

But he became seriously worried when he saw the entire block was now swarming with Guard poking about and trying to secure the area, setting up floodlights and triage tents, along with fireponies who were putting out spot fires here and there. Not as many Guard as he was expecting, given how devastating the blast clearly must have been, and the devastation by the docks being likely far worse, but their presence here was seriously going to hamper his search for the Manes and their team.

"Yeah, definitely not a pleasant expression to experience!" he muttered to himself, noting that he was frowning at the sight.

A direct run in was clearly out of the question by now, and his head turned sharply as he looked for another way to approach. He quickly bolted off for a hopefully better route to his goal.

It didn't take Lucius long to find a way in, as it was clear they didn't have enough Guard present to hold a secure perimeter, and so, he started his search.

"Toothy to any lost birds, come in, please," he quietly called on the radio, mindful of the Guard carefully wandering about sifting through the disaster area. "Toothy to any lost birds, come in, please," he repeated after moving to a different location, but worried that his effort was in vain. The blast that hit this place was completely devastating, barely anything was left to show this had been a warehouse structure at all. And their communications and recording systems were mounted on the outside of their suits. Even assuming that by some miracle a pony had survived, there was little likelihood their gear did.

"Toothy to any lost birds, come in, please," he called out once more, spending more of his time trying to stay out of sight of any Guards patrolling the mess than in searching for his lost friends.

"TOOTHY!!? THIS IS BLACKBIRD! I READ YOU!!! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

Lucius winced in agony as the response nearly blew out his eardrum and had to scramble into hiding while yanking the earpiece out. After adjusting the volume control, he put it into his other ear before responding.

"Toothy to Blackbird, I'm at—" he paused to consider what appropriate code phrase to use, then grinned at the idea that just popped into his head. "I'm at the—playground. That's quite the mess you left it in," he quipped. "Time—time for you all to come in from your playing. Where are the rest of the children?"

"We're just coming back to look for Kitt," Highflyer said. "Everypony else is recovered or accounted for." The tone of his statement told Lucius enough. Something bad had happened—not like he should be surprised. Just how bad was yet to be revealed—but—Highflyer had said 'we'!

"How bad was the score?" Lucius pressed, looking around for places he could go and search and not be seen, leaping from location to location.

"Hummingbird's with me right now," Highflyer reported. "Graymare got tagged out. Graywing and Cardinal are getting patched up, and Grayson is with them all right now. He's okay, and he kept Hummingbird safe. But all our comms are dead except for mine."

Translation: Bad, and could've been a lot worse. Might still get worse, if the injured were too badly hurt. But at least two who were in the middle of all this came out okay, enough for Fred to still be functioning to lend of hoof to look for Matchbox, was way better than expected!

"Understood," Lucius said. "Just be aware, there are new kids in the sandbox. And I don't think they like how you left it. They're complaining about all the cat litter you left behind," he added with a grin.

"Yeah—" Highflyer drawled. "We can see how they're all lit up over it right now."

"Lieutenant Gordon, Detective Paddock! Over here!" Corporal Ponying called out.

Watching their footing as they trotted over, the sight of the decapitated head of a unicorn mare was disheartening.

"Messy way to go," Paddock muttered as he lit up his horn to pick her head up. "What—!?" exclaimed when his telekinesis failed.

"What's wrong, Harvey?" Gordon asked.

"I can't pick her up," he replied. They both looked closer at the body part.

"Are those a set of bolos wrapped about her head?" Gordon asked. Paddock tried to do a scan on them and discovered his magic was failing to do that, too.

"Waitaminute!" Paddock growled and focused his magic to pick up a small piece of debris, and he was able to pick it up easily. "Huh!?" he exclaimed, dropping the bit of metal. "How about that?"

"Null-stone!" Gordon and Paddock said simultaneously.

"Somepony came equipped," Gordon said, to which Paddock grunted in agreement.

"And they came equipped for her," Paddock said. "This place isn't just an accident. It was a battlefield. So, what were they fighting over?"

"The thing that blew up, maybe?" Gordon inquired.

"There's another one, sirs!" Ponying said a short distance away. "This one's in better shape."

They had to blink in surprise at what they saw: an earth pony stallion in a very dark gray chainmail suit that, aside from its coloration, looked much like a Guard Force uniform.

"Is he alive!?" Gordon asked, astonished.

"No," Paddock said after doing a quick scan. "No heartbeat. Odd, though, I don't see any wounds in his body to account for what killed him. There are no broken bones, damaged organs, or contusions from whatever blew up here."

"Careful, Harvey," Gordon warned him. "He could've been the one throwing those null-force bolos. He could have other items on him."

"Yeah, I was being careful with my scan," Paddock grumbled. "And yes, I found several still on him. What's more," he said grinning, as his magic focused on an outside pocket to pull out a small black rectangular slab, "it looks like he's got some military grade comm gear and a recording crystal."

"Now, maybe we can get some answers," Gordon agreed, pulling out an evidence bag.

"Looks like they found Matchbox," Highflyer said as he and Fred set down beside Lucius.

"Hmm," Lucius grunted from their hiding place, seeing the activity of the ponies apparently in charge. "We need to be able to get to him, in case he's still alive. We need some sort of distraction."

"It'll have to be a big distraction," Highflyer observed.

Suddenly, there was a large shift of debris close to the center of where the warehouse used to be, causing many of the searching Guard to start running for their lives.

"Um—will that do?" Fred inquired.

Flashfire met Alafalfa at the lobby of Mane Industries with a couple dozen trusted company unicorns accompanying him.

"Okay, we've disabled the security systems and gathered up the recording crystals like you ordered," he told her. "How are we doing this?"

"We have to make it look like one or more of the team betrayed the company," Alfalfa said, noting who all that Flashfire brought. She was relieved to recognize that Everypony there was familiar with the side work that was being done at the Manor House. "Given the size of the blast, I'm sure that at least somepony died out there. We have no choice but to publicly throw their carcass and reputation under the wagon."

"Bloody Tartarus, that sucks!" Fiona, Thomas' personal secretary spat.

"Agreed," Alfalfa replied. "Privately, we'll honor whoever ends up getting the blame, but it has to be. Everypony involved knew it might come to this, and we all agreed to it. Lucius ran out to the warehouse where the operation was taking place in the hopes of finding somepony alive. He'll likely bring them to the Clinic, so get on the line to MIC and keep us apprised as to who shows up, and—who won't be coming back."

"Will do!" Fiona said, running off for the elevator.

"Flashfire, we'll need to break open one of the vaults," Alfalfa said to him. "Preferably an empty one, but officially the one that supposedly held those special Guard outfits that we've been working on. What can we do to hide the unicorn signature so it can't be traced to anypony?"

"I thought that might be what you'd be needing," he replied, nodding. "That's why I got these guys. Forensics teams always have a nightmare whenever more than a dozen unicorns apply their magic simultaneously to break-ins or other crimes. I figured that all of us here working together should be able to confound anypony the Guard will send to analyze the scene. And we've got just the vault picked out."

"Good," she said. "We'll also have to torch Thomas' office for the fallpony to be supposedly trying to hide his or her identity."

"Understood," Flashfire said, nodding. "Alright gang, we've got work to do!" he spoke out to the unicorns. "We've got to make it look convincing, but we can't overdo it. Remember, we have to put this place back together again and get back to normal business after the Guard complete their investigation!"

"Aye, aye!" "Roger that!" "Yes, sir!" came several choruses of agreement as they turned to march together to the elevators.

Celestia popped into the air above the Manehattan Harbor after teleporting straight here from Canterlot and then had to use a spell to enhance her vision to see in the dark. The devastation was even more shocking than the news had warned her it would be. She quickly swept her view over the scene, looking for where the first responders would need the most help, but as she did so, an oddity really stood out and caught her attention.

The center of the explosion had evidently been at the water's edge, somewhere around where Piers 92/94 used to be, with a deep, nearly perfect, semicircular bite taken out of the city structures surrounding that spot. But there was an inexplicable jagged scar stretching out from a northeast portion of the near perfect circular edge to the blast zone snaking inland through the city that had ripped up the road it followed, as well as heavily damaged several buildings and warehouses along the way. Puzzled, she flew to find the other end.

It didn't take her long to see where that was, as there were dozens of Equestria Guard ponies positioned around the area forming a perimeter, and they had brought in enough floodlamps to illuminate the block so that they could search for survivors and evidence. A relatively small group of ponies had already entered the remains of the affected structure, which effectively no longer existed. And then her gaze fell on three figures huddled apart from the Guard who were picking through the ruins, watching them, and she scowled as she recognized the three-tailed kitsune. She couldn't tell who the pegasi were, and they were pegasi, with him, but she didn't need many names in her list for guessing as to who they were.

If they're here, then it's evident as to what caused the explosion, she surmised, aiming to land there beside them, even if questions remain as to why the blast took this shape. But perhaps they can provide those answers.

But just before she could properly join them, there was a rumble of noise and a large mound of debris suddenly began shifting as if something quite large inside it was raising up, causing a minor avalanche of metal plates, steel girders, and tangled wiring, which instantly alerted the searching Equestrian Guard. And it didn't take long for it to be revealed that it was indeed quite large, and clearly the shattered chunk of a very large, very thick-walled black bowl that finally cleared the mound of debris that had previously buried it. And at seeing the reason that stupendously large chunk had lifted itself into the air, the Equestrian Guard ponies were either instantly running, flying, or teleporting the fuck out of there!

"What!?" Celestia softly exclaimed, seeing a beefily-muscled white pegasus stallion hefting that chunk of black metal over his head as he looked about for targets. It didn't take long for the monstrously strong pegasus to spot some, and he threw the massive chunk of debris at the fleeing Guard ponies. Instantly, Celestia reached out with her magic to stop it, and felt the brush of kitsune magic also being used to slow its flight down. It was quickly brought to a halt and dropped to settle on the ground.

Lucius was clearly startled by the glow that enveloped the chunk of debris that aided him in slowing it to a stop and looked about for the source. Spotting her above and behind them, he flashed her a toothy grin then turned back to face the pegasus.

The pegasus, for his part, didn't seemed that bothered that his impromptu weapon had failed to hit anypony. Indeed, he didn't even seem to wonder why. His focus was solely on the fleeing Guard ponies, and after a few moments of apparently making up his mind, he decided to fly after them.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Lucius growled, flicking one of his tails around, and the large white pegasus careened into the inside of the piece of the shattered vat bowl. With a satisfyingly loud thud.

A couple seconds later, he was back up in the air, but facing away, and seemingly confused. Looking about, he spotted the Guard still running and launched off at them again.

"STOP!" Celestia yelled with a resounding roar, managing to get the large pegasus' attention. He did indeed stop for a moment before turning to look at her. Then he flew at her with the same single-minded purpose he had shown earlier.

He came in too fast for her to react, and his sweeping hoof actually succeeded in knocking her out of the air, sending her to bounce across some of the debris littering the ground before she finally came to a stop at the base of a mound of building fragments. She looked up to see the pegasus diving toward her to attack again, only for him to be diverted by the two dark-suited pegasi who were accompanying Lucius. And diverted, the big white pegasus was—as he focused on the two Manes associates and flew after them, completely ignoring her.

"LEAVE HIM TO ME!" she yelled as she launched back into the air.

A little more searching had soon revealed the cleverly concealed latch for the hidden door, but Robin was utterly astonished by what he saw when the large section of shelving smoothly pushed out and swung aside.

"Wow! No mere set of spiral stairs or firepony pole for this guy!" he whispered in awe at seeing the elevator waiting for use. Before stepping fully into the metal room, he took the time to carefully look over the workmanship. "He didn't spare any expense putting this together," he muttered, highly impressed. Folks doing anything like this back at the circus would have needed to cobble together items to perform the desired function, often out of mismatched and subquality devices and material resources, resulting in the often shoddy-looking appearance to their finished products. "Not bad," he said, nodding in approval.

"Well, let's see what we've got downstairs," he said, stepping into the elevator and pressing the button.

He was even more impressed when the elevator let him out at the end of a metal grated bridge spanning a deep dark chasm that he couldn't see the bottom to. Across the way, he could see panels and banks of electronic systems, like the ones used for those high-end electronic calculators that he's seen advertised on VAD channels or mockups of such being used as props in some sci-fi movies as part of some evil rich mastermind villain's lair. Thinking of the latter, he smirked.

"Maybe such ponies really do exist?" he surmised as he stepped out—only for an odd glint of light catching his eye for barely a fraction of a second to stop him. He looked about but didn't immediately see the cause.

Puzzled, he slowly backed up, and there it was again. Intrigued, he tried to look directly at it, but he found his eyes were having trouble focusing, which was exceedingly odd, given he was a griffon. Moreover, it was easily lost when he tried to shift his head slightly to identify what it was, how far away it was, and where it was coming from, or which light source scattered throughout the dimly lit cavern was responsible for it. The strangeness made the feathers on the back of his neck suddenly rise. It seemed to be visible only when his head was in this specific spot in space. All he could determine was that it was an unfocused glint of reflection.

With his head's position noted, he slowly shifted his head side-to-side, up-and-down, forward-and-back, but still the glint would disappear whenever he moved more than a claw's thickness away from the spot. It didn't give him any information as to what it was, but it did tell him the cause for the glint of reflected light, itself, was a specific point in space, too!

Going back to where it had been visible, he tried adjusting his head movements, this time in diagonals to the cardinal directions. This time, and only in one axis, the light source stayed a little longer before vanishing again, but it lasted for over a talon-length. Moreover, it moved! That finally told him it was quite close.

He returned to his starting position and adjusted the angle of his head movements slightly, and this time, got a steady bead of light to move along with his vision. Still trying to focus on the source, he found he was still having trouble resolving the cause. But its motion along with the position of his head seemed to indicate it was quite near—much too close—almost as close as one of the series of metal frames which framed the walkway along its leng—then he leapt back in the shock of sudden realization.

After he got his racing heart to slow down again, he focused on the metal frame, only now noting the oddity of it compared to its clones along the bridge: this one had a rope attached to it!

Being careful not to move much, he let his only his head and eyes follow the rope up into the darkness of the cavern, but his vision could just barely make out the cable that snaked through a pulley, across the upper side of the far cavern wall, and over to a—

He had to blink at the sight.

Straight out of a Manes Pone thriller—an honest-to-Celestia battering ram—set to swing down over the spot just between that metal frame and the frame beyond it!

"They really do exist!" he hoarsely whispered after a nervous gulp, thinking of the stereotypical Ponesque-villains.

And something else that he only just picked up upon—the bridge was lacking those ubiquitous OSHA-mandated guardrails along its entire length.

Now, it finally made sense. The glint of light had been a stray reflection from the tripwire that was set to release the battering ram to sweep any intruder off into the depths below.

More than a little freaked out at how close he had come to joining the rest of his family in the grave, he was also rather intrigued by the entire setup. Why go through all this elaborate security measure? What's Thomas Mane hiding over there?

Slowly backing up all the way to the elevator, he considered his options:

1) he could go back upstairs and pretend he was never here—and with luck, they'd never know he had been down here.

2) he could try flying across—but with the elaborate measure Thomas Mane had put into making the bridge an inviting deathtrap, just flying across the chasm wouldn't likely be a good idea.

3) he could try avoiding the tripwire and go on across the bridge to see what there was to see—with who knows what other deathtraps that Mane might have installed, in case the battering ram didn't work?

Or, 4) try something a little different.

Well, there was that old saying, one that someponies claimed was rather racist although griffons all found it more than a bit amusing, "Curiosity Killed the Griffon". Robin figured he had either just spent one of his 4½ lives (another of those amusing racist pokes) with that save, or that he had only barely managed to avoid losing such. However, citing yet one more saying often used about griffons, "fortune favors the bold," he finally decided upon Option #4.

He walked back out and went to the edge of the bridge and climbed over and under, using his talons to hold onto the grating. With a little practiced leverage, he brought his back feet to press against the bottom of the mesh to give considerable tension to his talons as he essentially "walked" on the bottom of the bridge all the way across, whereupon he climbed back up to the upper side of the bridge before continuing with his exploration.

To his disappointment, however, he didn't find anything informative about the setup on that side of the chasm. The electronic calculator banks were turned off, and without knowing how to switch it on, more importantly, how to shut it back down again, he couldn't risk touching it. There was an evident console along one long side of an oval-shaped pit that it overlooked, and a set of stairs next to the control station led down into the pit at one end and a slightly raised platform on the floor at the other end. He could see numerous cameras along the upper walls of the pit as well as the ceiling. Along far the wall of the upper level, opposite of the console station, there were several near pony-sized lockers, but they were all empty and there was nothing he could see that indicated what those compartments had held.

There were no papers, folders, books, or manuals were laying out in the open, although there might be something in the filing cabinets lining the upper level above the pit at the end above the platform. Walking over, he checked, but all the drawers were locked. The locks were the simple standard file cabinet design, and while he had been taught how to easily pick such locks, he didn't have any tools available to do so. If he wanted to find out what they contained, he'd have to go and find something and come back for them.

On the other talon, there was more of the cavern to explore that might give him some idea of what was going on here.

Nothing incriminating that I can see so far, but this setup is highly suspicious, he considered as he took another set of stairs to continue he exploration. Mane Industries is listed as doing a lot of contractual work for the Royal Guard, and this all could be legitimately be part of that work. Mister and Misses Mane took me in after Zucco killed everygriff rather than letting me be farmed out to some orphanage, and me sneaking around like this might be a poor repayment to their kindness. But that boobytrap is worrisome. Whatever they're working on, they think it's worth killing to keep it secret. And just who—and what—was that fox creature that had run off? Alfalfa didn't seem to be worried about him, even as he ran off from the same room as she had been in. Instead, she said there had been an incident at Mane Industries and that she needed to go there.

"Alfalfa!" Fiona screamed out when the elevator doors opened, getting her attention while she was watching Flashfire and the unicorns work their magic.

"OVER HERE!" Alfalfa called back as she turned and ran to meet the unicorn mare.

"I was able to locate Buck Mane at the MIC!" Fiona reported. "Mister Mane and his mare were brought in along with Red Sovine!"

"That's—that's wonderful news!" Alfalfa exclaimed.

"Not entirely," Fiona said. "Mareta is dead. Mister Mane and Red are barely holding on."

"Damn!" Alfalfa cursed. "What about Buck?"

"He's fine, or so he reported," Fiona responded. "He said that Highflyer and Fred went back out to search for Matchbox, who's still missing."

"Is Buck able to talk?" Alfalfa asked.

"Yes! He's standing by the phone for you to call him back," she explained, leading the pegasus mare toward the elevator.

"Master Buck! You're okay!?" Alfalfa demanded as Fiona stood by at the reception desk for Thomas Mane's office.

"Yes, Alfalfa," Buck replied over the phone. "Fred and I were a bit shaken up, but we're okay. Mom didn't make it, though, and they're trying to save Dad and Red right now. They suffered some sort of smoke inhalation. Fred and Highflyer went back out to look for Matchbox."

"Not the best of news to hear, Master Buck, but better than expected," Alfalfa said. "We had feared the worse that everypony was lost. Lucius has also gone to the site to look for any survivors—or bodies. We're in the middle of 'Operation Torchwood' here."

There was silence on the line for a few moments.

"Understood," Buck finally said. "As for the Clinic, they've only been told that an accident at Mane Industries was responsible for their injuries."

"Wise move," Alfalfa responded, nodding in agreement. "Hopefully, Matchbox can still be brought safely in with nopony being the wiser about us being involved at the warehouse. But just in case, we'll be ready here. I'll hold off torching your father's office until we know more."

"I'll be sure to get word to you as soon as they get back with Matchbox," Buck told her. "Hold on…"

Alfalfa waited while Buck muted his end of the call.

"Alfalfa," Buck said, "Dad—didn't make it."

"Oh, Master Buck! I'm so sorry!" Alfalfa exclaimed sobbing.

"I told you lot to clear out of there and let me handle him!" she shouted, hovering before him.

"Nothing doing, Celestia!" Lucius countered. "Yes, you're powerful and ageless, but not unkillable. Something happens to you, who raises the sun and moon? The entire world dies because there aren't enough unicorns with the needed power to raise them as there used to be!"

"Your interference only ended up getting them killed!" she challenged. "He still ended up knocking me down long enough for him to get away where he's going to hurt somepony else!"

"Our interference was what pulled him off you when he finally knocked you silly and slammed that chuck of the vat down on you!" Lucius yelled back. "He's way stronger than you, Celestia! Which means, if you intend to beat him, you're going to have to fight much smarter than you were doing! And that means, YOU NEED HELP!"

"You were no help!" she snapped.

"No, we weren't enough help! And neither were you!" he angrily countered. "So, now, we have to somehow find ponies who will be!"

"What do you mean by that!?" Celestia all but shouted at him.

"I mean, you fought like your horn was restrained, your wings were bound, and your hooves hobbled!" Lucius said, snarling at her. "I've seen you take down far stronger opponents with much less effort before! What gives?"

"How dare you speak to me like that!"

"I dare because while you were playing with him, I watched!" Lucius hissed at her. "I've seen that big white pegasus before! He was here when we were installing the communications relay on this warehouse, and I saw him fight when Thomas busted inside to take down Jack Black and his operation. I suspect he might even be former Guard. But there was off about him, this time! He's much stronger now than any pegasus I've ever seen before, probably far stronger than most earth ponies I've ever met, but he seems to have lost something, too! Last I saw him, he was very close to the vat that held the mushroom joke where Thomas knocked him down, and maybe that stuff did something to him when it blew up. We need to figure out what it did to him and how to counter it!"

"It's bad enough I now have to weed out tons of rogue agents in both the Royal AND Equestrian Guard, but I simply cannot hire a bunch of rogue former Guard to accomplish that! I will show just you how inhibited, bound, and hobbled I can be, Lucius, when I take you and Thomas down!" she warned him. "Would you like that? Don't ever get in my way again!"

"Well then—if you'll excuse me, Princess," Lucius said, snarling. "I have a couple good ponies that I have to go bury somewhere before the Crown shows up and makes an even bigger mess of things than it has already, now don't I?"

"If you ever live long enough to reach kyuubi no kitsune, Lucius," she growled at him, "then you'll end up burying as many good ponies as I have done in my time, same as I have had to bury many good kitsune. Just remember, the bad ones, I leave to rot under the sun!"

"I know that all too well, Princess," Lucius said, limping away. "I've seen them."

"Princess Celestia!" Lieutenant Gordon called out when she landed among them. "We saw the fight! Are you alright?"

"I am well enough," she flatly stated. "I am disappointed that that pegasus got away. How are all of you?"

"I'm afraid we lost Sergeant Fently when he went to distract that monster after you got knocked down and slammed by that chunk of debris." Celestia started at that.

"You—you should not have gotten involved," she told them, reminded of the all-too fresh argument she had with Lucius.

"I agree, but we had to do something," Gordon said, sighing. "But somepony had to do something! That monster was about to slam down on you again after he buried you! And—I couldn't be sure, but it might have looked like there some other ponies up there, too? Something seemed to have distracted him from finishing you off."

"There were—others who were not supposed to be involved, either. But they're gone now, too," Celestia stated.

"You wouldn't happen to know if they were related to this guy, Your Highness?" Detective Paddock inquired, bringing the dark-suited body of an earth pony stallion over for her to see.

Matchbox! she realized, staring at him. This explains why Lucius and the others had been here. They were probably looking for some way to recover him before the Guard could find him. I do hope they managed to get rid of any sign that Thomas or his family were ever here!

"I'm sorry, but I can't say that I recognize him," she finally said.

"Well, maybe we can get answers from his gear and that other pony we recovered," Paddock muttered.

"Please keep me apprised of what you find, Lieutenant," Celestia said. "Right now, I had better see to what resources are needed at the Harbor and I need to search around to find that pegasus," she finished before taking off.

"LUCIUS!? WHAT IN CELESTIA'S NAME HAPPENED TO YOU GUYS!?" Buck exclaimed at seeing the kitsune limping in and telekinetically carrying Fred and Highflyer's bodies through the emergency doors.

"Celestia happened—at least—in part," Lucius grumbled as he set their bodies on respective gurneys and a triage team got to work checking him out. "The other part is—" He hesitated, mindful of ears of those whom it might be best that they didn't get to hear unfiltered details. "You remember that big muscle-bound pegasus your father had words with earlier tonight? Well, he's back!" he singsonged with a toothy grin.

"What!?"

"More bad news, too, I'm afraid," Lucius added. "Somebody found our dead cat."

"I'm afraid these two are dead," the attending physician reported, breaking into their conversation, as he turned to start scanning Lucius. "Their necks are clearly broken. And you've got a broken hind leg, sprained forelimb, and one of your tails is dislocated."

"No—shit?" Lucius mocked asked. "And here I thought all this pain I'm feeling was just a rash from eating something bad for me. I'm allergic to grapefruit, after all."

"Has eating grapefruit ever broken your leg before?" the doctor's return shot made Lucius blink in surprise.

"…It's—been known to," Lucius quipped so as to not be outclassed with his snark.

"Then I'd say you've got bigger issues than food allergies to worry about," the doctor replied.

"I like you," Lucius said, grinning.

"Well, we'd better get you into a room and get you treated," the doctor told him. "Get up on this gurney, please."

"Um—I'm bit short of functioning limbs at the moment," Lucius told him. "Could—could you please oblige? Thanks." Grumbling, the doctor levitated the kitsune up.

"Be sure to take him to my parent's ward, Doctor," Buck instructed. "I'll be up shortly to speak with him when you're done treating him."

Buck immediately got on the phone to call back to Alfalfa at his father's office in Mane Industries.

"Princess Celestia! Thank goodness you're here!" Commissioner Friesian Cob exclaimed when she flew over and landed by the command tent.

"Commissioner," she greeted as soon as she set down. "Apologies for not arriving here sooner. I heard about the explosion and came as soon as I was able, but when I arrived, I needed to investigate what appears to have been the source of the blast."

"Um—by all accounts, wasn't this the source of the blast?" he asked.

"It would've seemed so, but evidence shows that the cause was something that was poured into the sewers in the warehouse district, but only exploded when it accumulated down here at the waterfront," she told him.

That damned Gordon! Friesian cursed in his thoughts. That hackneyed pony was right! Now, I'll have to give him credit for his cockamamie theory when this is all done!

"Still, the major damage is clearly here," Celestia continued, unaware of the commissioner's thoughts. "I've sent for the Royal Guard, and they'll be here shortly to provide all the aid that we can to search for any possible survivors and get them to the hospitals immediately."

For his part, the strongly built white pegasus didn't worry about the ones he had fought. He didn't have many thoughts in his head at all. Only feelings.

Where he was right now wasn't someplace that felt comfortable.

Seeing living creatures had not been comfortable, so he had tried to smash them.

When attempted to do so, something frequently hit him and for a moment, he couldn't see the things that were making him uncomfortable. Even so, he was still uncomfortable, and when he looked for a route to someplace better, he would see the creatures that made him uncomfortable again. Rinse and repeat. At one point, he managed to bury one such creature under some large hard rock-thing he had picked up, but before he could permanently make it stop making him uncomfortable, some other things had knocked him away. Fortunately, he was able to break them, and his discomfort diminished a bit—at least until something else had moved him from where he had been.

Only then, did his uncomfortable feelings reduce to the point where he didn't feel the need to smash everything in sight.

As he wandered about, walking along a path of broken rock and smoldering stuff. The discomfort slowly began to ease, and noticeably lessened the more he travelled. Eventually, he came across a wide expanse of broken, smoldering ground, and his discomfort almost—but not completely—vanished. He wandered out into the wide field without worry, and it took him a long time to reach a place where the ground ended, and water began. The discomfort was almost gone—still, just a little bit remained—and he felt a comforting feeling calling to him—somewhere beyond the water.

Without hesitation, he walked into the liquid that steadily raised over his legs, his body, up his neck, and finally over his head. But the feelings were getting better the more he proceeded forward, so he kept walking, until he was underwater. And still, he kept walking.

"Buck!? What in Tartarus happened!?" Alfalfa demanded when she arrived. "You told me that Fred and Highflyer were both alive and well when we last talked!"

"I know! Like I told you, they left to go back and look for Matchbox, but evidently somepony else found him first. But Lucius brought them back a little while ago dead. He's got all the details, but he couldn't say much with all the triage ponies around us," Buck told her. "I'm still waiting for them to let me in to talk with him when they get done patching him up. But he was able to tell me enough. That big musclebound pegasus Dad fought apparently killed them."

"He didn't have any kind of Guard suit to protect him!" Alfalfa hissed. "How in Celestia's name did he survive the blast!?"

"Well, I sure I hope Lucius can explain it, because I haven't a clue how we survived that explosion," Buck whispered back.

"Any word on Red?" she inquired as they both walked along the corridor on their way to the Mane's private ward.

"They're still working on him," Buck replied. "How's it going at the office?"

"We're proceeding according to plan," Alfalfa stated. "Thanks for getting us a name to pin this on, by the way. It's a crappy enough way to handle it, especially with us having to throw Matchbox's reputation under the wagon like this, but with the Guard in possession of his body, we have no choice. Matchbox had a mare he was married to after all, unlike everypony else involved."

"Damn!" Buck hissed.

"How are you feeling?" Alfalfa asked.

"Fair to middling," Lucius replied. "They're being a little skimpy with the painkillers, but they made the casts correctly. All my weight is being transferred to the areas above the break and sprain. Can't do anything about the tail except use one of the others to magically support it. I guess it's effectively back to being an ichibi for a while," he said, grinning.

"So, what exactly happened out there?" she demanded.

Lucius explained how he had just arrived to see that Matchbox had been found by the Guard shortly before Fred and Highflyer got back. None of them could tell whether their friend was alive or dead yet. While they were still trying to decide on how best to try recover him, that's when the large white pegasus dug himself out of the debris and began to attack the Guard by throwing a huge chunk of the broken vat at them. Lucius tried to stop the fragment from smashing all the ponies, and Princess Celestia had evidently just arrived herself and helped with that.

After that, the four of them were forced to engage Jack Black's enforcer. The pegasus' strength was phenomenal, but there was something off about him. His attacks were confused, sluggish, and seemed to be done without any sort of planning to them—not at all resembling the Guard-like coordination and reaction that he had shown earlier when Thomas had engaged him—but that was not to say his actions weren't effective. His enhanced strength and speed made up for what he was lacking and was proving more than enough to be a match for Celestia herself!

After that, things went downhill. Celestia insisted on fighting him alone, then she kept repeatedly getting knocked down. One of the Guard got involved and got smashed to pulp. Lucius explained he had to play dodgebrick with him the whole time while Celestia got back up and got knocked down again. Somewhere along all that, Lucius got hit a few times. With Celestia still out of the picture for a bit, the three of them continued trying to distract him, but Fred, and then Highflyer, got their necks broke. Celestia finally got back into the fray and then was back down again, leaving Lucius no option but to overstrain his own telekinesis and knock the brute out of the area with that massive chunk of vat which the pegasus had tossed earlier with ease. At least it seems that he wandered off after that.

"Princess Celestia wasn't happy in the least, however. Things were said, there was quite a bit back and forth—and we didn't part on the best of terms. And you know what? I really don't like this expression!" Lucius concluded, frowning.

"Well, we're proceeding with 'Operation Torchwood' at the office," Alfalfa told him. "I just hope Matchbox is dead, so he doesn't have to suffer going to trial over this. Come on, Lucius. I'll take you home. Master Buck, are you coming?"

"I'm staying here a while longer," Buck told them. "I have to make arrangements for Dad and Mom, and somepony should be here in case Red wakes."

"Very well, sir," she replied. "I'll relieve you in the morning and stand watch over Red."

"Thanks, Alfalfa," Buck replied.

At first, Robin was quite weirded out at seeing the disembodied pegasus and Thestral wings mounted in a series of display cases inside the shielded container. But he also saw that a right wing from a Thestral was laying on a workbench, all the stranger in that he could see there were some sort of open rectangular panels set into the limb with numerous wires dangling out of the holes.

When he walked on into the apparent laboratory, he soon realized the wings were all artificial. A closer inspection of the openings into the inner workings of the limb showed a variety of components cobbled together that he wasn't all that familiar with, but there did seem to be some elements that might be artificial musculature and tendons. The mate to the one on the bench was evidently still hanging in another display case. There were dozens of measuring instruments of various types scattered about and surround the wing, a couple of electrical meters, a thaumatic meter, a thaumatic field analyzer, a bio field detector, a neuro scanner, a sortilege calculator, and so on. Nothing was currently switched on or powered up that he could tell.

Leaving that room and closing it up, he checked the next room, also a shielded container structure. This one had several examples of what looked like unicorn horns, with many of the same type of meters on the workbench awaiting the return of the technicians who had been using them.

Another compartment contained a collection of what looked like carnival masks for a masquerade ball, but with similar components which were being installed into the eye sockets of the masks, with much the same type of testing and measuring devices involved with their function.

And yet another shielded compartment had what looked like pony ears being designed, again, with more of those fine, delicate internal components built into them.

What in Celestia's name are they working on!? Robin wondered.

He continued to wander about, not finding much of anything interesting for quite some time, until he discovered one large chamber which held several dark-colored covered chariots. At first, they didn't look that interesting, that was until he realized they didn't seem to have any means for hitching up a pony or a team of ponies to pull them.

By then, his stomach began grumbling, and he realized that he had been down there for quite some time. He hoped that none of the Mansion staff were going about looking for him. Getting back would be quite a run for him, not to mention the time it was going to take to cross back ~~over~~under that bridge.

The route back to the elevator was still deserted and he felt relieved that whoever worked down here had not showed up yet. As the elevator's door opened and he stepped out into the office, he came face-to-face with both Alfalfa and that fox-creature.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. They just stared back at him.

"Um—hi?" Robin ventured, nervously smiling.

The figure slowly emerged from the water as he continued to walk toward the marshy banks on the other side of the river from the blast site.

Here, the large white pegasus happily thought. The discomfort was finally gone. He walked further into the swamp and after a short search, found a place in which to rest….

And Now For Something Completely Different…

View Online

[994AB Day 291]

Celestia could finally sigh in relief as she raised the sun.

She had wanted to raise it immediately when she first arrived in the middle of the night at the blast site, but that would have been unfair to the rest of the planet. Instead, she had to endure the agonizing tension in her heart as Guard, first responders, and civilian ponies struggled with the chaos of the devastation for hours.

But now the sun was up. Ponies could better see the disaster. True, it was disheartening, but it was also challenging. Ponies weren't unused to dealing with hardships. It was hardship that had prompted them to build the city of Manehattan in the first place, and even though the city had suffered a serious wound in mere moments, she knew they would all rise up to that challenge and rebuild.

And rise to the challenge, they did. With daylight and able to make out the details of how the debris was scattered and laid down, the organizers picked up in alertness and began directing their teams to better search for survivors and get them to aid stations, sift for evidence, and begin recovering and sorting property so that undamaged goods could eventually be delivered to their customers.

Fortunately, no homes had been affected, so there wasn't the anguish of seeing family members scattered about and desperately needing to reunite. But there were ships and their crews that had been affected, and the only upside to that was that the ships in port only had their night watch teams on board. Ship captains or ranking officers in charge had arrived in the middle of the night and had already been working at accounting for their crewmates as well as trying to locate and recover those who were not accounted for. With daylight, their tasks would now be much easier.

She settled down to meet with Commissioner Friesian Cob and her ranking Royal Guard onsite officer, Lieutenant Lame, after she finished raising the sun.

"Thank you for raising the sun, Princess Celestia," Lieutenant Lame said. "Our work will be much easier in the daylight."

"Agreed, Lieutenant," she replied. "I do wish I could have raised it earlier, but our treaties with other nations forbids it, even for emergencies such as this."

"Understood, Your Highness," Commissioner Cob said. "We'll take it from here. We'll find out the cause and search for those responsible to bring to justice!"

"Very well, Commissioner," she stated. "I'll leave it to you and the Lieutenant. If you have further need of me, you can reach me through the normal Guard channels. I do have other matters to attend." And with that, she lifted off into the air.

As she flew, she thought back to her encounter with Lucius, Fred Hummer, and Highflyer last night. With the pegasi dead from the fight, she considered, Lucius would most likely take their bodies to the Mane Industries Clinic. That's where I should start from. I know that they were involved with that explosion, but despite Matchbox being killed at the warehouse, Fred Hummer and Highflyer were very much alive immediately following the blast. Hopefully, Thomas and his family are okay, too.

However, the more she flew over the city, she slowed, feeling like she was forgetting something important. Then her eyes snapped open in surprise at seeing the Metropolitan General Hospital.

Of course! How stupid of me! I can't go straight to the MIC, she realized in shock. It's much too far away from the blast site to go visit first! I had better visit all the other hospitals and clinics which are closer in before I go there!

Several hours later, Celestia finally arrived at the Mane Industries Clinic. With the disaster being what it was, all of the medical facilities were in full emergency mode dealing with the influx of injured, dying, and dead ponies, and she spent most of her time ensuring the facilities were being supplied the resources they needed.

Checking in at the reception desk, Celestia learned that the MIC had been alerted to the emergency and were standing by but had not yet received any patients from the sites affected.

"I—see," she stammered, at a loss at how to proceed with finding out how badly Thomas Mane and his team were faring without potentially revealing their involvement. "So—no major problems yet?" she inquired.

"Nothing from the explosion that's on the news, no," the nurse responded. "Although there was an unrelated incident at Mane Industries last night. There was apparently an emergency there that resulted in Mister Mane and his wife being killed, as well as several Mane Industry staff also being injured or killed. We haven't reported anything to the press at this time. We're going to wait for the Headquarters to release any news regarding what happened. They're still in the middle of their investigations this morning."

"Thomas! And Mareta, both!?" Celestia exclaimed. She knew it was quite possible they were injured, even killed. What could've happened that let Fred Hummer and Highflyer survive but not them!? As I understood it, their equipment was even better than what the pegasi were wearing.

"Their son, Buck Mane, is here, too," the nurse told her. "He's alright and has been here all night. He was here for their passing and has remained to keep vigil over the others who were also injured."

"I'd like to see him, if he's willing," Celestia softly said.

"Princess Celestia," Buck said, greeting her with a bow as she entered. "I was wondering when you would be arriving."

"I'm so sorry, Buck," she gently told him. Their deaths—it's already greatly affected him! she considered. He—seems so much older now! "I was busy all night with the disaster at the Harbor and the warehouse where the blast had originated. I—was checking on the city's hospitals to ensure they could handle the situation. I only found out about your parents when I arrived."

"I—interesting," Buck carefully replied. "Thank you for your condolences, Your Highness. For your information, Red Sovine died this morning, after Lucius brought Fred and Highflyer in last night."

"Yes, when we can, I'd like to speak with you and Lucius about what happened in more detail," she said. "For now, though, can you please give me an idea of what happened? Officially? Your parents were very close and dear friends to me, after all, as are you."

Buck looked at her sharply, then smirked when he clearly understood where this visit was coming from.

"Of course, Your Highness," he replied. "Apparently, we had—a—an employee who betrayed us. He broke into one of the vaults and stole some material that the company was still researching. Dad, Mom, and I were there last night, when the break-in happened, and Dad's office was torched, either to distract us or hide the thieves' identity. Fortunately, they were not able to get away completely clean. We IDed one of the ponies involved as Matchbox, who had been hired to be a security guard at the Headquarters some time ago."

"I see," Celestia said, nodding. "Well, the Crown will do what it can to help track him and any of his accomplices down, Buck. I'll send whatever available Guard I have to the Mane Industries office building to help with the investigation. Of course, there is the emergency that is tying up much of my staff right now."

"They'll have our full cooperation, Your Highness," Buck responded.

"In the meantime, is there anything I can help you with, Buck?" she kindly asked him.

"I'll—work with Alfalfa and Lucius to do the necessary funeral arrangements," he sadly said. "With Red dead, there's nothing to keep me here right now."

"Then, can I at least arrange to get you home?" she offered.

Celestia had no problem in getting a local cab to ferry them both to the Mane family mansion, and Alfalfa greeted them at the door.

"I understand there was an unfortunate incident at Mane Industries, last night," Celestia said as they entered. "Buck told me about what happened, officially. And I'd like an opportunity to get more details when you can arrange for a time to speak about them. But for now, how are you holding up?" she inquired.

"Quite well, considering," Alfalfa replied, leading them to Thomas' den. "Although I think now is probably the best time to speak about such things, seeing as a new issue has popped up while we were all busy."

"Oh?" Celestia and Buck both inquired.

"Oh, yes," Alfalfa said, pressing the latch to open the way to the elevator. "You're going to love this!"

Alfalfa was tight lipped on the ride down into the cavern, and Celestia was partially dreading the inevitable confrontation with Lucius after their argument last night ended so poorly. But seeing a griffon tiercel sitting alongside the kitsune when they arrived was not something that she had ever thought would happen. Buck's expression, likewise, was of utter shock.

The discussion they had barely touched on the dispute that existed between Celestia and Lucius, at least until the very end. Instead, there was a long discussion on what Robin had done and why he did it. But it also showed just how freaking brilliant the tiercel was to have figured out the secret hidden inside the mansion's office.

In the process, they had all decided to also come clean to Robin, telling him about how the Manes had been accosted the other night, how Thomas had elected to direct his energies to defending not only his family, but to seek for a way to protect the citizens of Manehattan from the likes of Jack Black. They told him of Jack Black's involvement in the production of the mushroom joke and how dangerous it was, both as a drug and as a highly unstable explosive. They told him how hard it was to track their hideout down. And how it was that Zucco was under the influence of the mushroom joke when he killed Robin's family. But that there was a great legal jeopardy for the Manes to be doing any of this operation.

During their explanation to him, Robin was simply astounded that the kitsune had been able to create devices that allowed earth ponies to not only fly, but to use magic as though they were unicorns.

"That's—that's just incredible!" Robin exclaimed, staring at Lucius in awe.

"Not so surprising, actually," Lucius replied with his customary grin. "The idea of artificial mana channels isn't a new concept. That's been around for centuries. All I did was design a method for Thomas and his family to redirect their natural mana from their hooves to power the wings and horns. The vision and audio enhancements are strictly technological and powered by conventional batteries, but with a few mana channels thrown in simply to control their functions. What's truly astounding was that Buck learned to duplicate kitsune magic, too! And moreover, he had started teaching his parents and friends. If only we had had a few more weeks to train, I dare say that Thomas, Mareta, and the others might have survived that blast."

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand," Robin said. "There's a difference between kitsune and unicorn magic?"

"Considerable differences," Celestia assured him. "Buck should not be able to do any of that at all, based on everything that we know of magic. The only thing that makes sense is Lucius' theory that the combination of Buck's young age and exposure to kitsune magic allowed him to make an inspired conceptual leap once he learned he could perform unicorn magic through artificial means."

"Starswirl the Bearded was always fond of saying, 'I didn't know it was impossible when I did it'," Lucius quipped.

"Yes, he was," Celestia agreed, laughing. "And in most every magical breakthrough throughout history, the pony discovering such said something similar."

From there, the discussion went directly to what happened at the warehouse. Lucius played the recordings that had been transmitted to the mansion up until the time of the explosion. After that, only Highflyer's equipment was still functional in recording and communications, but the relays between the warehouse had been destroyed. His gear showed just what changes were evident in the muscle-bound white pegasus who had been working for Jack Black.

"Please let me see that recording of the fight before the warehouse again!" Celestia demanded. "I want to see that big pegasus that Thomas encountered."

"I have seen him before!" Celestia said, staring at a still frame of him for several minutes. She levitated a blank sheet of note paper to scribble detailed notes on his description to take with her.

"He's even bigger now, you know," Lucius spoke up, "and stronger. Way stronger!"

"I know," she replied, sighing. "I haven't forgotten what we spoke about, Lucius. There is merit to what you said. Likewise, there is merit as to why I had ordered you away from the fight. Fred and Highflyer being killed is proof of my argument. I was worried for all of you."

"Understood, Celestia," Lucius replied, grinning. "My point also stands in that they had sworn oaths to protect and defend Equestria from all enemies, foreign and domestic. That includes protecting Equestria's princess. Their oaths didn't end with retirement from the Guard."

"Agreed," she said, sighing. "To that effect, we do need to develop ponies, and other beings, who can work together to defeat such destructive forces that are arraying against us. Believe it or not, I do have a plan in the works to accomplish that. But that the possibility exists that even my preparations won't be sufficient, I agree that we should do more in that department. Just be aware, it is still problematic in how such units are put together. Because of that, the Crown is still unable to acknowledge some of those ventures, including this one."

"Because there are rogue elements from the Guard among us here, who are fighting rogue elements of the Guard?" Robin asked. "Guards who ultimately were responsible for allowing Jack Black to poison Zucco, and caused him to murder my family, and ultimately Buck's own parents, too? Guards who were supposed to keep Jack Black confined to his home, even with substantial evidence of his direct involvement in the earlier attempted murder of Buck and his parents?"

"Precisely," Buck replied.

"I—see," Robin said, growing quite to think about his choices. "Then I accept joining the Mane House in this venture, Your Highness! I'll be one of those 'other beings' you mentioned," he fiercely declared.

"Remember Robin, here, I'm not the Princess," Celestia firmly reminded him. "I'm here as a friend and that's all. But I hope you fully appreciate the gravity of such a decision, young griffon," Celestia warned him. "All hooves of Equestria, and all claws, talons, and hands of her allies, will be against you if you are found out."

"No worse than I've already suffered, Your Highness," Robin countered. "No more than Buck, here, has, too. My parents told me many tales of the griffon clan wars, how long-termed feuds got started when criminal griffons were sheltered by those of their blood rather than being rejected for failing to uphold honor above all. The rogue Guard who caused this are the dishonorable ones. Because of them, I not only lost my real parents, but I'm barely a day into being a fostergriff to Thomas and Mareta, and then I lose them, too! You can't know what that's like, Princess Celestia!"

You would be surprised, young one, at just how much I do know of familial loss, she thought.

"Well, those squits just don't know what kind of enemy they made tonight! I know they are well hidden among Guard who are honorable, and it will require a very careful hunt for us to be able to pick them out from the rest of the herd. But we griffons are made for just such hunts! Buck now has my talons as his own!" he vowed.

"Very well," she said nodding. "I wish you luck. You will most definitely need it, Robin. You will have nothing else to protect you because I cannot."

After Celestia left, Lucius stared hard at Robin, and continued to stare, making the griffon quite uncomfortable.

"What!?" the tiercel finally demanded.

"I wonder—" Lucius drawled. "With all that the Manes were able to do, I wonder what could you do with the outfit?"

"What do you mean, Lucius?" Buck asked.

"Think about it, Buck," Lucius said. "He's young, like you. Because of your flexibility, we were able to make three earth ponies into virtual alicorns—Thestral alicorns, at that—and using kitsune magic, on top! What do you suppose we can we do with Robin, here? A griffon-alicorn? Or even a Thestral-griffon-alicorn!?" he finished with a very toothy smile.

"NOBODY'S PLUCKING MY WINGS!!" Robin suddenly squawked, realizing what his words could imply.

"You marched in here uninvited, chick. There's always a price to pay," Alfalfa muttered, smirking. Then she looked at the kitsune "But you've got me rather curious, Lucius. What do you have in mind?"

"Hmm," Buck hummed in thought. "I think I see what you mean."

"WHAT!?" Robin screeched at him.

"Easy, Robin," Buck laughed. "It's all cosmetic. It's the outfit that makes it possible. But to make him look like a Thestral would be a tricky operation, Lucius. It's not like we could simply sandwich his wings with a pair of painted metal sheets."

"Give me a few minutes," Lucius said, getting up out of his seat to go over to the whiteboard.

"More like, 'give him a few hours', Robin," Alfalfa grumbled. "Let's get you upstairs and something down your gullet. You're probably starving by now, and you'll be passed out from hunger if you stay here to wait for him to be done."

"Gyah!" Lucius suddenly exclaimed. "Do you folks have any idea of how hard it is to write these equations with just one tail!?"

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea!" Robin chirped, looking back at the kitsune.

[994AB Day 292]

"Lieutenant Manes Gordon from the Manehattan Guard to see Princess Celestia!" Sharp Quill announced, as he was escorted to the throne.

"Good morning, Lieutenant!" Celestia greeted. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Apologies for bothering you, Your Highness," Gordon said as he bowed to her and received her acknowledgment to rise. "Might I suggest we clear the room? I have a matter to discuss with you that may possibly involve some high-level Royal Guard operations going on in Manehattan."

"I—see?" she inquired. She knew the Lieutenant was already quite aware of the Royal Guard's involvement where they were working alongside the local Guard on determining the cause of the blast and bringing the perpetrators to justice, as well as her own involvement at the warehouse. To what other Royal Guard operations could he be referring? she wondered. And it's not like there was any "high-level" operation going on related to the investigation, or anywhere else happening in Manehattan that I am aware of. "Very well, Lieutenant. Sharp Quill, could you see to it that the Court is cleared? And send for Captain Armor, please."

"At once, Your Highness!" Sharp Quill responded before putting out the usual announcements for the public to depart. As standard, one of the Guard at the door quickly departed, running to fetch their commander.

While they waited, Celestia spent the time making small talk with Lieutenant Gordon, inquiring as to his health and family, et cetera, to which he reported all was well. Likewise, he asked how she was faring after the incident and her fight at the warehouse. She was able to assure him that she suffered no adverse results from the fight.

"Manes! Longtime, no see!" Shining Armor called out when he entered the Court. "How's retirement working for you?"

"I might not be in the Royal Guard anymore, but I'm hardly what you call 'retired'," he groused good naturedly. "Are they keeping you buried with enough paperwork, yet?"

"Yep! I'm a paperwork zompony, now. Freshly back from the dead," Shining Armor shot back. "So, what brings you to disrupt the Royal Court, today? Not that I would ever object to you doing so. Please! Disrupt it some more! PLEASE!"

"It has to do with the explosion we had in Manehattan the other day," Gordon told him, causing all joviality to end between them. "In addition to the main blast centered at the Harbor, there was a secondary explosion that ripped through the heart of the warehouse district, to end at one particular warehouse. As the Princess is aware, we found several ponies who were killed outright by the blast. We—also had a few anomalies—that night. The Princess, herself, encountered one such when she arrived to help. Another anomaly—was an earth pony found dead, near the remains of a unicorn mare—or—what was left of her."

"I was certainly surprised by the strength of that pegasus," Celestia spoke up. "He was far stronger than he should have been. But there was something definitely—off—about him, too. Not to mention, he looked familiar, for some reason."

"Could he have been one of those you've got us looking for?" Shining Armor inquired.

"I'm—not sure. He didn't fight like he had been the Guard," she said, frowning. "He was—entirely bestial—barely seemed aware of me, but when he was, he was brutal, fast, and incredibly strong. Still, I've got inquiries searching for any record of him. If he had been, they should find out who he is. Unfortunately, despite his light coloring, it didn't help that it was so dark. The few times I was in a position to get a good look at him were those times that I was too busy fighting him to spend time trying to pay attention to those details."

"We're hoping the survivor we found can answer some of that," Gordon said. "He was found outside of the remains of the warehouse with severe injuries to—uh—to his posterior—apparently caused by more than a dozen or so stun bolts."

"Hmm, a little excessive," Shining Armor grunted. "Guards are trained to shoot only three or four bolts into any region of a pony's body as more than that increases the risk of unnecessary internal injuries."

"Well, he suffered a ruptured colon, among other injuries, and that is a potentially life-threatening problem," Gordon continued, reading from his file. "The doctors are optimistic he'll pull through, though. Based on his identifying features, he's a one Shetland Hoofley, a down-on-his-luck pegasus who turned to being a smalltime crook a few years back. He's rarely ever been involved in anything major, until now."

"I see," Shining Armor muttered. "Anyhow, the other anomalies you were speaking about, Manes?" he inquired.

"Yes, the earth pony," Gordon said, resuming his report. "He was found dead, but I don't think the blast was what killed him. Autopsy showed he had died from some kind of smoke inhalation. Otherwise, his body was in pristine shape. This, despite him being found inches from the very messy remains of a unicorn mare who had a set of null-stone bolos wrapped about her throat and head, but where the blast almost certainly caused her death!"

"How is that possible!?" Shining Armor exclaimed.

"Unknown," Gordon replied. "But he was wearing what seemed to be a variation of Royal and Equestrian Guard chainmail—but one that was completely dark gray, with none of the usual enchantment for disguising the pony."

"A Dark-Ops outfit!?" Shining Armor asked.

"Nothing that should be there," Celestia steadily said while dreading what was going to soon be revealed. "Were you able to ID the pony?" she asked.

"That's just it," Gordon said. "He was a retired Royal Guard, named Matchbox."

"MATCHBOX!?" Shining Armor exclaimed, having to sit down from the shocking news.

"You knew him?" Gordon asked.

"Yes, I did. Or at least I thought I did," Shining Armor replied. "He was a good, disciplined, competent earth pony, bit of a daredevil. Had good instincts for knowing when and how to draw out enemy attention and could switch from making himself the hunted to becoming the hunter in a heartbeat. Was a great asset to whichever team he was assigned to."

"Hmf," Gordon grunted. "In addition, we found a VA recording crystal with an encrypted portable transmitter in his suit," he added, and Celestia closed her eyes. Any second, now…. she fearfully thought.

"Unfortunately, the video portion of the crystal was damaged," Gordon told them. Celestia opened her eyes to stare at him.

"It took some doing, but I was finally able to pull up the audio recording," Gordon continued, apparently unaware of the tells she was giving off. "I have a transcript made from it," he said, letting her take the folder while he prepared the crystal to run in the player. She read along as the audio played and allowed Shining Armor to stand beside her to read it, too.

"Okay, colts and fillies, we're all on live TV! So, behave yourselves. Graywing, how do you read?" male voice #1 [~~unknown~~Cardinal]
"Loud and clear, Cardinal," male voice #2/[Graywing].
"Cardinal to all units, report!" male voice #1 [Cardinal]
"Graymare online," female #1 [Graymare].
"Grayson online," an indeterminant voice #1 [Grayson].
"Blackbird good to go," male voice #3 [Blackbird].
"Hummingbird lives again," male voice #4 [Hummingbird].
"Kitt is rolling along," male voice #5 [Kitt].
"Okay, that accounts for all the little birds and the cat. What about you folks back at the Lair?" male voice #1 [Cardinal]
"Mother Hen's got eyes and ears on everypony. Toothy's so happy he's grinning up a storm, so watch out for lightning." female voice #2 [Mother Hen]
"Graywing, going IR. I have numerous targets on several levels. Um—twelve that I can count. There's a sizable warm object in there, too." male voice #2 [Graywing]
"Blackbird concurs. At least three guests are wingers. By the way, no outside wanderers in view, so no unexpected party crashers are anticipated at this time." male voice #3 [Blackbird]
"Lair concurs. We suspect that what Graywing and Blackbird are seeing is the punchbowl. And it looks like it's finally starting to cook. I'm afraid we're out of time, sir. There's no time to call in the professionals." female #2 [Mother Hen]
"Then it's up to us. Graymare, Grayson, on me!" male #2 [Graywing]
"Kitt, Cardinal, Hummingbird, move in to assist!" female #2 [Mother Hen].
"Roger that!" several voices blended simultaneously.
"RAMMING SPEED!" male voice #5 [Kitt]
"Dammit! Mother Hen! Graywing's got his hooves full with our big white friend, but I've got another rogue rooster along with a chick coming at Graymare and me!" male #1 [Cardinal].
"No! No! NO! NO!! NO!!!" male #6 [unknown]
Sound of explosion.
"Roach! Walter! There's a mudpony with Guard gear hiding among the shipment crates in here along with those pegasi! Get over here and help me track him down!" female #3 [unknown]
"Stay with Graymare, Cardinal! The big white hope is dope, now." male #2 [Graywing].
"Roger that!" male #1 [Cardinal].
"JACK!!!" female #4 [unknown].
"BUCK! What did you DO!?" female #1 [Graymare]
"What he had to, Graymare! This is a killing situation! You know it as well as Grayson does!" male #1 [Cardinal]
"Sorry, Graymare, It was either give him a hard landing or a soft one. I am surprised that mare dove in after him, though." indeterminant voice #1 [Grayson].
"AhAIYEEEeeee!" indeterminate #2
"What th—?" male #7 [unknown]
"Shoot it! Just shoot!" male #8 [unknown]
Sounds of struggle.
"Two needle studs out to pasture, Kitt. It's just you and your mare playing tag now." indeterminant voice #1 [Grayson]
"Roach! Walter! Where are you guys!?" female #3 [unknown]
"Mother Hen, you said that the mixture shouldn't react to seawater, right?" indeterminant #1 [Grayson]
"Not anymore than it's liable to explode on its own, no," female voice #2 [Mother Hen]
"Needlemare down." male #5 [Kitt]
"Then the important thing is to get rid of this stuff, right?" indeterminant #1 [Grayson].
"I see what you're thinking about, Grayson. I say, go for it!" female voice #2 [Mother Hen]
"I just hope it doesn't mess up the fish in the harbor," indeterminant #1 [Grayson].
"That is a valid concern, Grayson. But it's one better left to worry about later. In the meantime, you've got an earthpony coming at you, Grayson!" female voice #2 [Mother Hen]
"I'm on hi—ooof!" male voice #4 [Hummingbird].
"Woah! Tough hombre," male voice #4 [Hummingbird].
"You've got that right," male #9 [unknown].
"Relax, Hummingbird. I've got this." indeterminant #1 [Grayson]
"'Hummingbird', huh? Good name for him. He has to be like the lightest pegasus ever to hit me. And who are you supposed to be? Because you sure as Tartarus not a Thestral alicorn! But I have to say, it's a good costume for Nightmare Night." male #9 [unknown]
"I'm Grayson. And as for you, the nightmare has only just begun." indeterminant #1 [Grayson]
"Real cute comeback, foal. Points for that. Too bad it's not going to save you from me stomping all the roadapples out of you." male #9 [unknown]
sound like a hammer hitting an anvil.
"Wha—?" male #9 [unknown]
"Uhh—arrgh!" male #9 [unknown]
"Hmmf! Impressive, foal. Good trick. But you fucked up. I don't know how you pulled off that wing trick, but you've revealed you're just a unicorn, and I know how to beat unicorns!" male #9 [unknown]
"Huh!?" male #9 [unknown]
Sound of something getting hit
Sound of something getting hit
"Th-th-at's—impossi—" male #9 [unknown]
"We did it—!" male #2 [Graywing]
"GET OUT OF THEEERRRRE! GET OOUUUTTTT—!" male voice #3 [Blackbird].
Tremendous sound of explosion—end of recording.

"I—I—I don't know what to say," Celestia softly said, greatly disturbed. She closed her eyes as tears fell from her eyes, knowing what her duty dictated her next action to be.

"There was no Royal Guard operation here," she sternly told Lieutenant Gordon, glaring at him. "Official or otherwise." Gordon looked to Shining Armor, who shook his head. He sighed.

"I was at least hoping that it was a deep, unofficial action," Gordon whispered. "Even one unofficially sanctioned that I'm not supposed to be aware of would have been better than none at all."

"I have to agree with the Lieutenant, Your Highness," Shining Armor said. "Whoever they are, this certainly sounds like a well-equipped, highly trained, very disciplined team. And I can't imagine Matchbox joining up with any such group who wasn't at least sanctioned to some degree. Everypony on the aggressor team are using codewords to identify themselves, they never seem to drop their real names, which means they don't trust whatever encryption they're using for their transmissions for some reason, and that 'Blackbird' seems to have been flying CAP for them outside. Interestingly, I'm having a hard time telling which one seems to be in charge, other than possibly the two mentioned at whatever base they were working from. For the onsite members, at first, it seems 'Cardinal' is nominally in charge, then later, it seems to be 'Graywing'. Too bad there was no video to go along with it. I have to wonder what prompted that later guy to comment on 'Grayson' looking like a 'Thestral alicorn'. But whoever the invading team was fighting, it sounded like they had some trained agents among them, as well. Just not as good. Like they possibly had a mix of former Guard and civilians."

Shining Armor took possession of the transcript while Celestia spoke with Gordon.

"I'm sorry, but I can't give you even that as an excuse," she said. "There have indeed been too many former and active Guard, both Royal and Equestrian, who have gone rogue. We're currently in the process of trying to find and weed out such and locate any former Guard who have decided to abuse their training. You have the full authority to hunt down and bring all parties involved in this incident to justice, Lieutenant Gordon. Be aware, that when you do find them, they are to be brought before this Court!"

"Then, I would have to conclude that we've all been exceedingly lucky, Your Highness," Gordon said to her. "From the exchange between this 'Grayson' and 'Mother Hen', the source of the explosion at the harbor was most likely caused by something that was flushed into the sewers from the warehouse, and that it was probably some residual amount still in the pipes that ignited and blew out the warehouse. I have no idea how much was originally there, but if that full amount had exploded before 'Grayson' had sent it down the drain, then there would've been thousands or tens of thousands of ponies dead in the homes surrounding that end of the warehouse district!"

"I have good reason to believe the substance we're speaking about was mushroom joke, Lieutenant," Celestia told him, and Gordon suddenly sat down in shock. Even Shining Armor looked sharply at her in surprise.

"Sweet—Celestia! You're kidding!?" he whispered in utter shock.

"Moreover, I recognize the voice of your unknown 'male #6'," she grimly told him. "A criminal who had escaped Royal Guard custody nearly three weeks ago while enroute to this Court: a unicorn named Jack Black."

"Ja—Jack Black, huh?" Gordon inquired, slowly getting over his shock. "Yeah. Yeah, I recall that name. Now, that you mention it, I do remember there was concern he was mixing up some mushroom joke. But, given the devastation at the Harbor, plus the stuff had to have been partially diluted by the time it exploded, how much are we talking about!?"

"When you finish piecing the vat back together that was in the warehouse, we might have some idea, Lieutenant," she grimly told him. Gordon's eyes grew enormous at the possible implications. He looked again at his copy of the transcript and another element caught his eye as possibly significant.

"I remember seeing how thick the walls of that vat were! Wide enough for a pony to stand on the edge! 'Dove in after him'?" he quoted, tasting the phrase. "And right before that, 'Grayson' says, 'it was either give him a hard landing or a soft one'. Could he—have knocked Jack Black INTO the mushroom joke!?"

"If so, then we might not see Jack Black ever face justice," Celestia sighed, "but perhaps he has finally faced his karma."

"And might I suggest that it could have been Matchbox who was this 'Kitt'? It's been quite a while since I last saw him, but 'Kitt's' voice sounds a lot like the tone and cadence of how he spoke, not to mention the apparent cat-mouse he's alluded to be playing by 'Grayson'. That was Matchbox's shtick, after all." Shining Armor offered. "'Needles', and variations of the word, are frequently used as code words for enemy or hostile unicorns. 'Kitt' mentions that he had incapacitated 'needlemare' just moments before the explosion. At the same time, 'female voice #3' desperately calling out to 'Roach' and 'Walter' to come help her, those could be the 'needle studs' that 'Grayson' claims to have taken down."

"Those ideas jive with my suspicions, too," Gordon said, nodding thoughtfully at his copy of the transcript as he used a pencil to update his notes. "Thanks, Shining. Do we have any idea of where Matchbox went after he retired?"

"He went to work at Mane Industries," Celestia spoke up before Shining Armor could.

"This thing itches!" Robin complained after they zipped up his suit with his wings inside and had him walk around a bit for the suit to settle about his body.

"We never tried hooking the mana channels to pegasi wings up for remote controlling Thestral wings before, so there are bound to be adjustments we'll have to make," Lucius told him. "I just want to see if the concept is a valid one. Just give it a try and spread your wings."

"…How do I do that?" Buck asked.

"Think of how you drive a self-propelled wagon," Lucius explained. "You just have to conceive of it as an extension of your own body. In the circus, you were binding your wings, but here, they're also free for you to use."

Robin blinked at that, then the Thestral wings unfurled as if he had been born with them.

"Whoa! Would you look at that!" he whispered in wonder. Then he saw Alfalfa moving and stretching out her Thestral wings. Like Robin, Alfalfa had elected to try the experiment as well.

"Wait, you said you've never done this before, so how is she doing this so quickly!?" Robin demanded.

"I drive all those carriages you saw downstairs," Alfalfa said, flourishing her wings. "This sort of thing is old hat to me."

"…Oh."

"So, you really think he can do unicorn magic, too?" Buck asked after he and Flashfire finished suiting up also.

"It depends," Lucius said, grinning. "Griffons have similar cloud walking and weather manipulation abilities as pegasi. You're neither unicorn nor pegasi, but the artificial mana channels allowed you to use those skills. It may be possible for Robin to learn them, too. The math seems to hold up, but it's his mind that will be the barrier he has to overcome, just as your mind was yours."

"Wait, you said, 'the math seems to hold up'," Robin said. "What if your math is wrong?"

Lucius tilted his head in thought.

"Then you go boom and take the Manor out with you," he concluded.

"What!?"

"Don't worry," Alfalfa said, patting Robin with her artificial Thestral wing. "He's kidding."

"…Maybe…." Lucius said, his head tilting the other way.

"Maybe," Alfalfa agreed as she led a suddenly unnerved Robin down into the training area.

Buck smirked at Lucius as he followed, but the kitsune was still tilting his head back and forth.

"You think he's kidding?" Flashfire asked Buck in a whisper.

"Maybe?" Buck replied with a shrug. "With Lucius, you never know."

"That's why we're not giving him a unicorn horn just yet," Lucius called out. "We don't want him phasering the moon out of orbit from down here!"

"Good point," Flashfire said, nodding.

"Okay, we're not going to do anything fancy," Alfalfa said to Robin and Flashfire. "We just want you two to work on getting control on your wings. Simple motions and stretches for now. Afterward, we'll work at getting your magic to flow through the cables to give you lift."

"So, let's start with just spreading them out," Alfalfa instructed, but Robin was distracted, looking at Buck and off to his side, then back to Buck. Very quickly, it soon became apparent he was alarmed at something.

"Now, that's very interesting," Lucius said from above them. "Buck, I think he sees you!"

"Yeah, I think he does, at that!" Buck said as he faded away and reappeared several yards closer to Robin.

"I—I saw something," Robin said. "I saw you split in two, with one of you walking toward me!"

"Interesting," Buck muttered. "Lucius, is there anything about griffons being immune to your illusions?"

"Not that I've ever heard," Lucius said. "At least, not inherently. They should be just as susceptible to us as you ponies are. Mind explaining that, Robin?"

"What do you mean?" Robin asked, looking uncertainly between the kitsune and Buck.

"Buck was getting set to prank you," Lucius told him, "so he was using kitsune magic to throw an illusion that he was still standing over there while using invisibility to sneak up on you."

"Kitsune? Kitsune! Oh! Ha! Good one!" Robin exclaimed, laughing. "Oh, that's right! You wouldn't necessarily know about that! As part of the circus life, my family toured with several different troupes. That included PT Barnum's Circus."

"Wait! Pent Tail Barnum!?" Lucius suddenly exclaimed. "You worked with Pent Tail!?"

"Yeah!" Robin happily said. "Of course, every circus has their own secrets, but part of the fun is learning to see through various tricks and misdirections. It was a real challenge to learn to see through her tricks."

Lucius whistled. "This chick has stood in the shadow of greatness, Buck!" he said, grinning. "Pent Tail is a legend! I've seen several of her performances in my youth! Such a shame she retired. It's been, what—? Five years now, I think. Never found out why, though."

"She grew two more tails," Robin said, shrugging.

"Oh—that would do it," Lucius said, understanding.

"What's that?" Buck asked.

"She was a gobi. Now she's nanabi," Lucius explained. "When kitsune advance, we grow two more tails, but we kind of also undergo a new life cycle. We—change—our personalities and outlooks, seek out new pursuits and goals. The changes can be rather drastic. She—essentially outgrew any interest in circus life. Who knows what's she doing right now? Celestia might or might not. Even close friends won't probably know."

"Sounds like a rather sad way to live," Alfalfa said.

"Well, we usually live for a few centuries at a time between advancing," Lucius said, grinning. "Most of the friends we make in one phase will have passed on anyhow before we grow new tails, so it's much the same for us. But, with Robin able to see through some of our kitsune illusions, that might be helpful for me to figuring out that problem Thomas asked of me: making a technological solution to seeing through illusions."

In the late afternoon, the phone rang.

"Mane Manor," Alfalfa said, answering it.

"Get out of the road now! The Royal Wagon is rolling straight for you!" the voice from the other end of the call said.

"Understood," Alfalfa replied. "Thank you, Yo—" but the caller hung up before Alfalfa could finish speaking, startling her. "I—see—" she muttered after setting down the hoofset.

"Who was that, Alfalfa?" Buck inquired when he walked by the still stunned mare.

"A—a friend?" she wondered. "Or perhaps—a former friend—whom I believe wishes to remain anonymous. But she issued a warning: 'get out of the road now, the Royal Wagon is rolling straight for you'."

Buck stared at her.

"Well—we knew this was going to happen," he finally said with a sigh. "How well was 'Operation Torchwood' conducted?"

"Lucius, Flashfire, and I ensured it was completed," Alfalfa reported. "We can only hope it's leakproof, Master Buck," she added, and he nodded in understanding.

"Well, nothing we can do about it but wait…."

…It's…(edited #2)

View Online

[994AB Day 292]
Fiona knocked at the entrance, interrupting the conversation between Buck, Alfalfa, Lucius, and Flashfire. "Sir, a Lieutenant Gordon from the Metropolitan Equestrian Guard is here to speak with you."

"Thank you, Fiona," Buck replied. "Please send him in."

"I apologize for disturbing you, Mister Mane," Lieutenant Gordon said as he stepped into the burned-out office formerly belonging to Thomas Mane.

"Please, call me Buck," he said. "'Mister Mane' was my father. I'm afraid it's—going to be some time before I get used to being called 'Mister'," he said, looking about at the damaged room.

"I understand," Gordon said. "My condolences to you for losing your parents like this."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Buck said. "We're planning to make a public announcement about them in a few days or so, once the Royal Guard are finished collecting what evidence they can gather and we're able to get back up to an operational status."

"I came to speak with you about that, as a matter of fact," Gordon said. "That, and about the pony apparently responsible, a former Royal Guard named Matchbox, whom I was told, worked here?"

"We're still going through our inventory with the Royals, Lieutenant," Alfalfa broke in. "We're trying to pin down how much damage Matchbox did to us here."

"I see," Gordon said, jotting a note into his pad. "Far be it from me to step on the Royals' hooves, but we do have joint jurisdiction in this matter, especially as Matchbox was found to have been involved in some way with that massive explosion at the Harbor. We recovered his body at the warehouse site."

"Of course, Lieutenant. We know how this works," Alfalfa replied. "Flashfire and I were both in the Royal Guard, too. Unfortunately, Master Buck is being forced to wear his father's shoes in such short notice, and I'm primarily the manager for the Mane Household. Hopefully, Flashfire and Lucius can answer any questions you have regarding Matchbox and what was affected here."

"That would be helpful, yes," Gordon said. "I'd like to start with getting a timeline of events as they occurred."

"We've already gone through that with Lieutenant Cornwall. I would be more comfortable discussing this while reviewing what we've already gave him," Flashfire said. "I know that any discrepancies that come up during interviews are closely scrutinized, but please understand, Matchbox and those working with him had managed to get to our security systems and destroyed our recording crystals. All the accounts we're able to give are estimates and best recollections from our memories."

"Hmm. It sounds like Matchbox knew what he was doing," Gordon said, noting down the information given to him. "What was his actual assignment as a member of your company?"

"Much like he did when he was in the Royal Guard," Flashfire replied. "Security monitoring systems, as well as hoof-to-hoof combat. In the Guard, he had additional skills from being in our Special Forces Operations." Gordon's eyebrows rose at that.

"You mean like specialized tactics, infiltration, espionage, that sort of thing?" the Lieutenant inquired.

"Indeed," Flashfire stated. "You seem surprised."

"It is surprising!" Gordon protested. "Special Forces members are supposed to be screened for honesty and loyalty in order to get into such programs."

"That is a matter that has greatly concerned Princess Celestia of late, given how Jack Black was broken out of custody on his way to Canterlot," Alfalfa stepped in. "There were several former Royal Guard who were involved with that attack."

"Yes, I had spoken with the Princess before coming here," Gordon said. "She did seem rather tense while discussing what was found at the warehouse. A few former Guard going bad, I can understand, but this seems to be a much more serious matter. So, Matchbox would have knowledge about just where to hit you. What exactly did they get away with?"

"Several experimental chainmail suits that we were researching for their enhanced protection rankings," Lucius spoke up. "They were originally supposed to be to Royal and Equestrian specifications but had failed on their contractual requirements. However, we were looking into what we could make of them and hoping to find a way to make them reliably repeatable. You see, the flaws they exhibited indicated they have properties well exceeding normal protection rankings."

"How much more?" Gordon inquired as he scribbled.

"At least twenty times greater," Lucius answered.

"I see," Gordon muttered.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant, but you said that you recovered Matchbox's body at one of the explosion sites," Lucius said. "Was he still wearing that outfit by any chance? Do you currently have possession of it?"

"Yes, we do," Gordon answered.

"Then if you can, we'd like to get that back as soon as possible."

"I'm afraid the outfit has to be held as evidence," Gordon explained.

"You don't understand, Lieutenant," Lucius said. "The suit's protection rating isn't just twenty times, like Royal Guard rating is only ten times higher than non-enchanted chainmail. I mean twenty times on top of the Royal Guard ranking."

Gordon stopped writing and looked up at the kitsune in shock.

"And Matchbox was one of our personnel involved in the testing of the suits, so he knew exactly what was best to steal from us," Lucius went on. "Which means those who helped him steal them also know about that. And I doubt your evidence locker is a match to the vault they broke open here to get them. Just look at how easily they did here!"

"We're going to need an army to guard that thing!" Gordon whispered in horror.

"Your army won't be enough," Lucius warned him. "Matchbox had several unicorns and pegasi helping him with the break in here. They're still going to have their own suits. If they try to recover it from you, you won't be able to stop them."

"I can't afford to write down what you told me, either!" Gordon muttered, looking down at his notepad. "We already know Matchbox was a member of one set of rogue Guard. Jack Black had other rogue Guard working for him, some still active in the Metropolitan. We don't know who we can trust at this point!"

"Exactly," Lucius pressed him. "We can at least safely secure them, assuming we can keep any traitors in our midst from looking over our shoulders when we get them back. We have several vaults where we can select randomly where they wouldn't know which we're storing them in. But every Equestrian Guard knows where your evidence storage is, especially the bad apples."

"I—see," Gordon said. "I—don't exactly have enough authority on my own to check the suit out for storage offsite, and I doubt the Commissioner will look favorably on us trying to store it where it got stolen from in the first place."

"Then you'd better draft your army, Lieutenant," Flashfire grimly stated.

"And without blabbing on why we'll need to have that kind of security," Gordon sighed. "Getting that level of protection will also be—problematic."

"Will there be anything else, Lieutenant?" Alfalfa inquired as silence ruled for several moments.

"Yes, I—I had better get back to this interview," Gordon said, taking up his pencil again. "I'll still need the timeline, locations, and sequence of events as best as you can remember. And don't worry if you're off by a minute or two in your recollections."

Lucius started off with explaining that he, Thomas Mane, Mareta Mane, Flashfire, Highflyer, Fred Hummer, and Red Sovine were all working at the office building in various offices when the break in happened. Lucius said he just finished with his last set of tests and had locked the suits up in the vault when the power in the building went out. Highflyer, and Fred Hummer were with him. They all immediately knew something was wrong as the building has a very ribose backup power system designed to not allow power outages, and the power stayed off.

Flashfire stepped in to tell the officer that somepony had caused the building to go into lockdown, and the barriers wouldn't allow their staff to override to reach the security center in order to determine the cause. He tried to call Thomas Mane, but there was no answer in his office, so he contacted the Mansion and reached Alfalfa there.

Alfalfa then explained how she and Buck left immediately for the office building.

Lucius explained that by the time they all managed to get through the barriers from where they had been trapped, they found the vault had been broken into. It was about then that they all felt the blast.

"Likewise, I was trying to get here to Mister Mane's office," Flashfire stated, "as I was too far from the Security Center to try going through all those barriers. This office was closer. I felt the blast that happened in the Harbor before I was finally able to reach the office here. At the time, I had thought the blast was what caused the office here to be engulfed in flames. I did what I could to put it out and discovered the Manes and Red Sovine had taken shelter from the fire. It was around that time that Alfalfa and Buck showed up. They let me know there had been a huge explosion in the city while they were trying to get here."

"Lucius and the others with him got here shortly after that," Alfalfa spoke up. "Master Buck, Highflyer, and Fred took his parents and Red to the MIC. I stayed here with Flashfire to do what we could to secure Mane Industries, while Lucius tried to track the thieves."

"It took some doing, with the blast at the Harbor and warehouse messing up scent trails something fierce," Lucius stepped in. "I had just traced Matchbox's scent to the warehouse when Highflyer and Fred caught up to me from the MIC. We all got there in time to see Princess Celestia start fighting what looked like some super strong pegasus." Gordon looked up sharply from his notepad at that.

"We all immediately stepped in to try helping her," Lucius continued. "Unfortunately, while trying to distract that guy from turning the Princess into paste, Highflyer and Fred were killed, and I got injured. I'm not sure where that pegasus wandered off to, but after the fight, I brought Highflyer and Fred back to the MIC."

"I helped Flashfire as much as I could here before going over the MIC to see how Master Buck was faring," Alfalfa spoke up. "We had called the Royal Guard, but with the blast sites, they were understandably a little busy. Mistress Mane was already dead when they left here, and I learned that Mister Mane had died while I was still here. Red Sovine was still lingering on when I arrived, and Master Buck indicated he wished to stay to oversee his recovery. Lucius got there with Highflyer and Fred and informed us of the goings on at the warehouse. Later, Princess Celestia brought Master Buck home to the Mansion."

"We've been working with the Royal Guard ever since this morning," Flashfire cut in, "as well as trying to restore our operations back into some semblance of order."

"Thank you," Gordon said, closing his notepad. "That's very helpful. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to consult with the lead investigator in the Royal Guard."

"No problem," Flashfire said. "I'll escort you down to the vault."

After they left, Lucius showed off a very toothy grin as he dug up a page from Thomas' desk. "I bet she'll be very appreciative of us throwing her under the Crown's wagon for a change!" he said as he started writing a note to Celestia.

Alfalfa and Buck saw he had written, "Get out of the road!" before it was rolled up and sent to the Princess with kitsune fire. The two ponies had to smirk at that.

Gordon reflected that their statements made a lot of sense, and they meshed with what he, himself, had witnessed. He recalled there had been some odd creature that vaguely looked like that kitsune, if one considered the distance, darkness, and chaos involved. And he had assumed the dark suited pegasi he thought he saw in the air alongside the Princess were active Guard trying to help keep the big white one she fought distracted, but it seems they were working for Mane Industries, instead.

Still, it will require another visit to Canterlot to confirm their involvement, he considered. Odd that she never mentioned them, though. I wonder why.

Flashfire introduced Gordon to the Royal Guard officer in charge of their investigation, Lieutenant Hoof Cornwall.

"To whom do I have the honor, Lieutenant?" Cornwall inquired.

"I'm following up some leads related to the explosions the other night," Gordon explained. "A warehouse that was also destroyed looks like it was the source of the material that wiped out the Harbor. It turns out that an earth pony stallion who was found dead at the warehouse used to work here, a former Royal Guard named Matchbox."

"Ah," Cornwall grunted, knowingly. "The same Matchbox, it seems, who was responsible for this, I assume?"

"Looks that way, yes," Gordon replied. "I'm told that this was the vault where several specialized chainmail suits, somewhat related to Guard armor, were stolen from."

"And a damn well professional job it was, too," Cornwall stated. "Well over a dozen unicorns had simultaneously applied their magic to this break in, and that was an impressive feat all in itself, given the vault door and bolts were all coated in null-stone!"

Gordon whistled in awe. "Then they must've had tools specially made to slip in the crack to attack the bolts?" he asked.

"That's what we think happened, yes," Cornwall said. "Tool marks on the vault door, the bolts, and the door-jam supports that theory. Probably specially made, thin hacksaw-like blades of some sort. We found a small mass of melted metal with traces of null-stone powder mixed in over there," he said pointing a hoof over to a couple Guard still running instruments over the area. "They likely melted their tools down to keep us from ever IDing them."

"A Diehoof 24-bolt, 22.5 ton, Quad-timed, Dual-combination," Gordon listed off the features of the opened vault door as he gazed at it. "Top of the line stuff. Not an easy thing to crack, but not impossible."

"Not for a determined team, no," Cornwall agreed.

"They did have several hours to attack her, sir," Flashfire said, "what with them activating our own lockdown systems against us."

"Hmm," Cornwall grunted in agreement.

"Well, that covers pretty much everything I can do from my end," Gordon said. "I'll send you what I have, Lieutenant, if you can reciprocate?"

"No problem, Lieutenant," Cornwall said, extending his hoof. "Good meeting you, sir."

"Likewise, sir," Gordon replied shaking the Guard's hoof before departing.

That evening when the Hayburger franchise closed for the night in Millstone, a small community nestled among the 27-league expanse between Manehattan and Fillydelphia, Short Order took the unsold remaining dozen or so precooked hayburger patties to the dumpster as he did every night.

The earth pony had just flipped open the lid to the dumpers and began pouring the patties into it. However, he noticed nothing was falling into the container from the box he held. Puzzled, he looked at the box he was holding and saw it was empty. Looking down into the dumpster, he confirmed there was none of the patties he was throwing out were there.

But then, he noticed there were numerous tracks of footprints in the snow laying on the ground leading down the alley. He felt the hairs of his mane start rising. The ground had been pristine when he came out of the restaurant on his way to the dumpster!

Setting the cardboard box down, he grabbed one of the numerous slats of wood littering the alley to use as a makeshift club and began cautiously following the tracks. Even more unnerving was the fact that all the tracks were clustered together, as if several creatures had marched in single file. They looked to have been caused by perhaps a dozen dogs, with many footprints overlaid one another in a confusing order as to which sets of prints were made first.

Taking the slat, he followed the tracks to the underside of a neighboring store's back porch. Peering underneath, he saw what looked like a spotted diamond dog. It looked back at him in frozen shock, caught in the act of taking a bite from one of the patties he had been throwing out. He nervously gulped.

"I'm sorry," he whimpered.

Then she was gone!

He blinked. She still wasn't there anymore.

He dropped the slat. Just then, it came to him. He recalled hearing about Princess Celestia asking anypony seeing a tall, tawny-colored spotted feline that resembled a diamond dog to contact the Royal Guard immediately. The description said the female creature was likely non-hostile but may be very frightened by ponies and no hostile actions should be taken against her.

"Oh, boy," he whispered. "I think I'm in trouble."

[994AB Day 293]

"Yes, they were there," Celestia replied to Lieutenant Gordon's question. "Not my finest moment, since they died. It's a Royal Guard matter, though."

"I understand, Your Highness," Gordon stated. "It's just that I did recall seeing something like that kitsune, and their statements confirmed it, although I didn't see any pegasi there except the one you were fighting."

"They did help, but at a severe cost," she said. "I'm still angry that they disobeyed orders to clear out of there, but technically, they were civilians and not members of the Guard anymore. Despite their needless deaths, Highflyer and Fred Hummer are heroes. They will be receiving a hero's burial, as will others who were involved at Mane Industries."

"Good evening, Princess," Alfalfa greeted when she opened the door. "The usual tea-time?" Celestia smirked.

"Yes, if you would please," Celestia replied, as the mare invited her in.

As usual, there wasn't anything said as they rode the elevator down. When they arrived, she saw that Lucius, Buck, Robin, and Flashfire were all in attendance.

"Clever girls," Celestia said, using her magic to levitate Lucius' note back to the kitsune.

"Thought you'd like that," Lucius replied, grinning.

"So, you've mostly managed to survive one mission that's gone bad, and mitigated what you could from it," she stated to the assembled beings. "But just remember, all it takes is one mistake for the Crown to come to grind you all into the dirt. This is the very thing I warned Thomas about not even three weeks ago."

"Well, I have information for all of you," she added. "The Guard have the recording crystal Matchbox was wearing. Fortunately, the video portion was damaged, but they were able to pull up the audio exchange."

"That shouldn't be too damaging," Alfalfa said after thinking about it. "We were using codewords for our names throughout the operation. And we were using modulators to distort our voices, so they can't trace us through voice recognition spells."

"Except for when Mareta called out to Buck for evidently knocking Jack Black into the mushroom joke," Celestia countered, making everypony wince. "Fortunately, Buck's name happens to also be a common explicative. So, it would appear that, for now, they are assuming her surprise was just that. One mistake! You left them an extremely valuable and damning piece of the puzzle. They just don't know its significance. Yet! Let that sink in."

"We will never forget, Your Highness," Buck said after several moments of silence.

"When I'm here in this capacity, I'm Celestia!" she snapped at him. "You most assuredly don't want the Crown to be here! The Crown is not your friend! I am!"

"I meant no disrespect, Celestia," Buck quickly said. "Old habits."

"No offense taken," Celestia replied, returning to her gentle demeanor. "But be careful of 'old habits'. They're the source of making mistakes. Especially in situations like this. So, what's the next play in your board?"

"Are you sure you want to be here to hear it?" Lucius asked. Celestia glanced over and smirked.

"Still the clever girl, little fox," she said, smiling at him. He flashed a toothy grin back at her.

"We've got to get that suit of armor back," Buck firmly stated. "Gordon knows how dangerous that thing is. He'll be expecting somepony to come for it sooner or later. But the later we wait, the more likelihood that somepony else will find out what it can do."

"Which means he's liable to do what he can to make retrieving so much harder," Alfalfa said. "Booby trap it, coat it with null-stone dust, Lo-jack it, spike it to the shelf. That sort of thing. It's what I would do."

"And we've only got Buck who's fully rated on these suits," Flashfire said. "Alfalfa's wing is still on the mend. Lucius is, too. I'm not anywhere near proficient at flying. And Robin's too new for any of this."

"Breaking in and out of the Metro Equestrian Guard precinct isn't a one pony job," Buck said, walking about the platform. He looked at the kitsune.

"Lucius, how good is your invisibility?" he asked. "Can you still pull it off with just one tail?"

Lucius looked back at his tails. The bandaged one shakily lifted on its own, and he hissed in pain before letting it drop back to the floor.

"My magic is still at full strength," he replied. "It's just that I can only do one magical function at a time with needing to use one tail to telekinetically support my injured one. If I have to levitate something or do anything else, I'll have to drop my invisibility. What do you have in mind?"

"I've got an idea," Buck said, grinning.

"You know, that expression on a non-kitsune is—rather worrisome," Lucius muttered.

"We're shorthoofed as it is with that mess out there, Gordon!" Commissioner Friesian Cob all but yelled at the lieutenant. "We can't spare Guard to set traps for boogyponies! Besides, they'd have to be crazy to even think about pulling off a heist at an Equestrian Guard precinct!"

"Sir, we already know that Matchbox had at least a dozen unicorn accomplices when they broke into Mane Industries and stole the suit that he was wearing. They got several more like it, according to the ponies working there, and I've seen the vault where those things were stored! I only wish the place where I bank at had security as good as Mane Industries does, and yet the thieves were successful with breaking in there!"

"Get out of my office, Gordon!" Cob did yell this time. "You want to guard the evidence locker? Guard it yourself! But don't even think of putting in any overtime for it, mister! You're on my clock right now, and you'll be on my clock until your shift is done! Now, get back to work!"

"Well, they heard that all the way over at the evidence locker," Paddock muttered as Gordon joined the detective waiting outside Cob's office. "So, what now, rookie?"

"Like he said, if we want to guard the locker, we'll have to do it ourselves," Gordon grumbled. "So, that's exactly what we're doing."

"'We'!?" Paddock exclaimed.

"'We'," Gordon confirmed.

"Roadapples," Paddock softly muttered.

"Come on," Gordon said, taking the lead, "We've got some gear to put together before getting set up for tonight."

"Wonderful."

"All units check in," Buck commanded, looking over the precinct from the building across the street three hours after sunset.

"Torch ready," Flashfire stated, standing beside Buck and Robin. Only Buck was in the fully augmented suit with unicorn horn and Thestral wings. Flashfire wore a normal mutated suit modified for unicorns, and Robin wore a normal mutated suit that allowed his natural wings to be used. It had been judged too early to send him out into the field with the experimental arrangements Lucius had dreamt up just yet.

"Mail Truck still standing by," Alfalfa reported from the armored vehicle parked in an alley a few streets down from the precinct. "For your information, the package has been delivered well before closing time, so—"

A series of clicks on the communications channel indicated that Lucius was still waiting outside the evidence locker, patiently waiting for an opportunity to go in.

"Roger that, Toothy," Buck responded. He paused to glance at Flashfire and Robin before giving his status report. "Graywing online," he finally said, taking the ill-fated codename his father had used on his first and last mission.

"As is Grayson," Robin growled, carrying a large empty metal container on his back. "May I fare as well in battle as you had, Graywing," he stated, staring at Buck. They nodded to each other.

"Now, we wait for them to open the package," Buck said, sitting down to wait.

"Okay, Rookie! Hold your horses. I'm here!" Paddock grumbled at Gordon as he came in sight of the lieutenant.

"About time, Paddock," Gordon growled. "Remember, they were able to cut through the bolts of that vault door like they were shaving a beard. How well do you think that roof will hold up to ponies who can do that!?"

"And just the two of us against how many unicorns are we talking about, again?" Paddock inquired as they opened the door and stepped in. "Not to mention who or what else they might have working with them? Earth ponies? Pegasi? Other creatures?"

"That's why we've got all those recording devices hidden in there and around the building," Gordon reminded him, closing the door behind them and locking it. "Even if they take us out, there's going to be evidence left behind."

A series of clicks went out over the communications link.

"We heard, Toothy! Thanks!" Buck quietly responded to the code that Lucius sent. "Think you can locate and light them up?"

Another set of clicks sounded.

"Roger that," Buck acknowledged.

"Good thing we anticipated something like that," Flashfire muttered to Buck and Robin.

"Okay, colts and fillies! Looks like the audience has been kept waiting long enough, too. It's showtime!" Buck said, spreading his wings and launching up to glide over to the precinct building, followed by Robin. Flashfire fired off a grappling line that bit deeply into the masonry of the MEG station. After securing his end of the line to the roof he was standing on, he ziplined over to join Buck and Robin.

"Staking out our own evidence locker all night long?" Paddock grumbled, adjusting his night vision goggles. "You know, Rookie. This is going to get real old, real fast."

Sparks suddenly erupted from the ceiling. Some sort of beam was clearly burning through from the roof and cutting around a large chunk of concrete to make an opening.

"Or not," Gordon sardonicly replied, simultaneously ripping his nightvision off and getting his crossbolt ready and taking aim at the action going on up there.

However, just before the beam had finished cutting around to complete the opening, Paddock suddenly and loudly grunted in pain and fell at Gordon's hooves.

"Wha—?" Gordon exclaimed just as an enchanted stun bolt from a crossbow struck him behind the ear and he dropped.

"In-n-n-thfkinghorn!?" Paddock groaned.

Gordon couldn't do much other than be a passive observer from that point forward. The concrete chunk was finished being cut out and lifted to allow a dark figure to drop down into the space and land on the top level of one of the several sets of shelving filling the room, looking all the world to be a batwinged pegasi.

A Thestral!? Gordon wondered. So, they are real!

Only for the lieutenant start to become unnerved when he saw a gray glow light up a horn on the figure's head. A matching glow emanated from the items on the shelf that they had come for.

"There," the figure simply said, pointing. Instantly, two grapples shot down, one to snare the bulk of the chain mail suit, the other to snag the matching helmet. Once that happened, the figure's horn lit up again, and a cutting beam shot out to slice through the shelving around the chainmail suit until the section of shelf was cut away. Then the suit and the chunk of shelf fell away to dangle on the wire. Immediately, the figure did the same to the shelving on which the helmet was sitting while the suit was hauled up out of the room. The helmet was soon following it out through the hole in the ceiling.

The figure turned its head to look down at Gordon and Paddock.

"Clever girls," he (the figure certainly sounded like a male) said to them. Then his horn lit up again. This time, several locations started glowing about the room. Then those items began moving toward the figure, including one from Paddock and himself, and Gordon realized, to his horror, that those were the recording devices he and Paddock had set about the space to capture this very action! All of them ended up going into a pouch that the figure carried in his hooves. Then the figure spread his batwings and smoothly glided up and back out the hole in the ceiling.

Then another grappling line shot straight down to impact on the floor beneath the opening. Gordon puzzled at that, but then he saw that something had grabbed it, something he couldn't see or make out, and the line was withdrawn along with whatever it was that was holding onto it.

On the roof, Robin helped Lucius the rest of the way out of the room.

"Just a moment," Lucius said, dropping his invisibility, and he used his free tail to scan for any recording devices and several locations about the roof lit up, like as what had happened earlier in the evidence locker. Buck didn't bother with making his horn glow this time as he used it to simply reach out and grab the glowing objects and pull them all to him and gathered them to join their like in the pouch he carried. After that, he tossed the pouch into the prepared shielded and null-stone lined locker that they had placed Matchbox's suit and helmet. Once the pouch was inside, they closed it up and sealed it. Then Robin took off with it.

"See you back at the lair, Graywing," Flashfire said and he ziplined back to the other building. Once the unicorn was safely over, Buck used his horn to ignite the zipline into melted slag that fell as BB sized grains to the ground below.

Lucius then climbed onto Buck's back and Buck launched off into the night sky.

A few minutes later, Flashfire joined Alfalfa where she had parked the armored vehicle, and they were soon speeding down the darkened roads and out of the city proper.

"…And those missing recording devices are coming out of your pockets!" Commissioner Friesian Cob was screaming at Gordon and Paddock as Princess Celestia stepped into his office. "AND WHAT KIND OF AN IDIOT ARE YOU TO NOT KNOW AN OCCUPI—!" Cob was fully livid by now before he realized who it was. "Ah-ah-ah-!" he began stammering.

"You know, these late-night wakeup calls to your fair city are starting to become a bad habit, Commissioner," she sweetly greeted him. She looked over at Lieutenant Gordon and Detective Paddock. Paddock was rubbing his horn with a hoof, clearly in pain from something.

"M-m-my d-deepest ap-apologies, Your Highness!" Cob quickly stammered. "I wasn't aware it was—!" She waved him off with her hoof.

"Now, as I understood, from all the yelling, that these two had informed you of the need to provide sufficient Guard to protect the evidence locker, is this not so, Commissioner?" she inquired.

"Uh-uh-uh—yes, Your Highness," Cob meekly replied.

"I see," she said, and stared at him. For several seconds. He was beginning to sweat.

"And as I further understand it, from all the yelling, that you did not have sufficient Guard on hoof to set up a proper surveillance of the precinct due to the ongoing emergency caused by those explosions, am I correct?"

"Uh—y-yes, Your Highness," he answered.

"Then why are you yelling at them for being unable to stop the thieves on their own?" she sweetly asked. "This is apparently the same group that had broken into Mane Industries to steal those experimental suits, and they had a vault to protect those things with! It sounds to me, from all the yelling, that these two did the best that anypony could be expected to do. That they were overmatched is no fault of theirs. We'll just have to track down the thieves through any recording systems that you have of the break in."

"Um, that's a problem, Your Highness," Lieutenant Gordon said, speaking up. "There aren't any. We had numerous devices planted about, but they—somehow—found them all and got away with everything."

"Interesting," she said, narrowing her eyes at all the ponies there. "So, not your ordinary level of competence in our thieves, then? Then, it's even less of a reason for you to be upset with your officers, Commissioner. These are not the run-of-the-mill bank robbers you normally deal with. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Uh—yes, Your Highness," Cob sighed.

"Good," she finished and turned to leave.

"Uh—Your Highness?" Cob inquired. "H-how d-did you hear about this?"

"An anonymous tip, Commissioner. Good night," she said, smiling, over her shoulder as she walked on out.

Gordon's hearing barely picked up Celestia's whispered, "Clever girls," before the door shut behind her. His eyes snapped open wide.

"That's quite the dark day you've got going on, Celestia," Alfalfa said as she opened the door to the waiting princess.

"And good day to you, too," Celestia countered, smirking. "A far better outcome for this operation than the last one, I have to say."

"Easy to have a good outcome when you don't have stuff blowing up in your face," Alfalfa said.

"True," Celestia agreed. "Is it too late to do a debriefing or do I have to come back after I've raised the sun?"

"No, we're all still up," Alfalfa said, inviting her in. "They're downstairs discussing how they're going to have to redesign one of the shielded rooms to have an airlock so that they'll be able to work on cleaning up Matchbox's suit from all the null-stone dust and disable the trackers they put into it and the recording devices."

"The Royal Guard finished collecting the evidence from the HQ this afternoon and cleared the way for us to resume normal operations," Buck told her as they all sat about the platform. "We were able to get in and out with no problems tonight, and just finished storing the shielded box down below. They never saw Lucius there with them the whole time, and he knocked them down with a couple of enchanted stun bolts just as we cut through. With all that layered shielding between them and the precinct, we don't have to worry about anypony being able to trace the tacking signals to us before we disable them."

"I'm impressed that you caught all their recording devices," Celestia said. "Apparently, they had several stashed about, ready to pick up your images."

"That's not all," Lucius said. "I managed to get the recording crystal they recovered from Matchbox, too! They might have copies made stored someplace, but not the original."

"That will certainly be helpful to keeping your identities concealed," she agreed. "Other than tracking down that pegasus I fought, I think it might be a good idea for you to lay low for a while."

"I agree—" Buck said through his yawn. "This night job load of roadapples is starting to cut into our public performance. We've got a major news conference to deliver at the HQ to announce my parents' passing. And we have to publicly throw Matchbox under your Royal Wheels," he grimly said to her.

"I understand, Buck," she sadly said.

"It's even worse for the fact that Matchbox was married," Alfalfa said. "His wife shouldn't have to go through this. Can't we get her any sort of witness protection?" Celestia took some time to consider the problem.

"Not without a huge risk to revealing what really happened with Matchbox," she finally said. "Funding for that sort of thing is too easily traceable."

"If funding is where the danger lies, then how about we do it?" Buck asked. "Matchbox and his spouse at least deserve that much, especially given what we're going to do to his reputation."

[994AB Day 294]

Dandelion was absolutely horrified and devastated at the news this morning. During a presser at Mane Industries that announced that Buck Mane would be the new CEO in wake of his parents' deaths, her stallion was identified as being actively involved in the murderer of Thomas and Mareta Mane as well as a number of ponies who had tried to stop him at Mane Industries. Matchbox was posthumously declared a traitor to the Crown, and a terrorist, who died when he set off the explosion that had wrecked so much destruction on Manehattan. And now all of Equestria knew of her stallion's crimes! It wouldn't be long before her neighbors would be kicking in the door.

She ran for the exit of her apartment, only to come nose-to-nose with a fox-like predator already there waiting for her.

Dandelion slowly came to.

What was that—? she wondered as she tried to think. Then she gasped at seeing she wasn't in her home. She didn't recognize the room at all.

"Welcome back, my little pony," Celestia's regal voice said from behind her.

Dandelion looked around in shock. It was indeed Princess Celestia sitting there, apparently waiting for Dandelion to regain her composure. There was also that fox-like creature, who was sporting a cast on his left rear leg, and a bandaged right foreleg for some reason. Not to mention, the young Buck Mane—son of the couple her mate had supposedly murdered—was there, too!

"Pr-Princess Celestia! Mister Mane!" Dandelion exclaimed. "Honestly, I didn't know what Matchbox was planning! I swear!"

"We know, Dandelion," Buck Mane spoke up as he stepped forward, a flag of Equestria which had been folded in the manner of State funerals balanced on his back. "And we are all so very sorry for the lies and deception that had to be told about Matchbox."

"Wh-wha-what!?"

"You've been married to Matchbox for many years, have you not?" Celestia inquired. "You married him while he still worked as a Royal Guard?"

"Y-yes, Your Highness," she squeaked.

"Then you know of the existence of—operations that would be considered 'off the books'—requiring very deep covers for those involved and intense secrecy needed to keep its members safe?" Celestia pressed.

"Yes, of course!" Dandelion responded.

"Then know this, Dandelion," Buck Mane said, removing the flag from his shoulders and hoofing it over to her, "Matchbox died a hero, alongside my parents, and alongside three more colleagues who also died, in a desperate operation to try to save an innumerable amount of pony lives. I know this because I was there as well. That operation—you've no doubt heard about—was not entirely successful. Manehattan will be picking up the pieces for years yet."

She gasped in horror at the revelation.

"But our failure was greatly mitigated," Buck went on, "in no small part by the brave and selfless actions taken by Matchbox to keep hostile actors engaged while the rest of us attempted to dispose of the deadly material stored in that warehouse before it blew up. Matchbox was a mentor, a comrade, a friend to me and my parents. And more over he was a hero. I truly wouldn't be here alive today if it weren't for him.

"But—there was a tremendous cost—and not just the risk and cost of our lives, but to all our reputations, too," Buck added. "We had all accepted Princess Celestia's stipulation that if any of us were caught or killed, the Crown will disavow our actions. Even so, we were able to hide the involvement of all those who died, except for Matchbox. His body was found and recovered by the Manehattan Equestrian Guard before we could get back to him."

"You see, that operation is still ongoing," Celestia told her. "And due to the nature of the deep cover used, the Crown cannot publicly acknowledge your husband's true actions. Quite possibly not ever. Other loyal ponies involved would be at needlessly put at risk if the Crown were to do so. So much so, that the Crown cannot even provide you the proper compensation to which you are entitled, nor can it afford you the effort to put you into witness protection that you should also be allowed."

"But—but if that's true," Dandelion whispered, "then that means—there are problems within the Guard, itself!"

"Indeed," Celestia grimly stated, nodding her head. "If the rogue elements within the Guard found out that the Crown was providing you compensation of any kind, they would be alerted as to what Matchbox was really about and put the ongoing operation at risk. You are very intelligent to realize it this quickly, Dandelion. You are indeed a credit to Matchbox's choice as mate."

"But there is a way around that," Buck said. "Mane Industries will be footing the cost of the insurance and Guard retirement compensation that you deserve for his sacrifice, as well as administering the witness protection. This way, no rogue elements hiding in the Guard will ever find out about him or you."

"And while the Crown has no choice but to publicly demonize your husband's reputation, know this, Dandelion," Celestia said, putting her hoof to her heart, "we, who know the truth, shall never forget. A grateful nation will always remember, even if it can never speak of it."

"So—what happens to me?" she nervously asked.

"The pony known as Dandelion decided to suicide at hearing the news of her stallion," the fox-creature said, speaking to her for the first time. "Her body was recovered and buried in an unmarked grave. You, however, have arrived in Ponyville today to answer a job opening for which, as I understand it, you are eminently qualified for," he added with a toothy grin.

"I'll take it from here, Lucius," Celestia chided him.

"Of course, Princess," he responded.

"'Lucius'?" she inquired.

"A friend," Celestia told her. "Sometimes he can be a little abrasive, but his heart is in the right place."

"All the better for Celestia to know where to aim for when she wants to—" his muttering was abruptly cut off with a feathered appendage slapping him on the back of his head.

"I hope he wasn't rough when he knocked you out this morning," Celestia said as she guided Dandelion out of the room, leaving Buck Mane and the mysterious 'Lucius' behind. Dandelion was astonished at what she saw when they stepped outside into the daylight. It gave her some idea of what they had planned for her.

"Oh, no, I only got to see him for a moment before I woke up here," she replied. "I didn't feel anything between then and now."

"That's good to hear. Kitsune magic can sometimes have odd effects on ponies," Celestia said. "Welcome to Ponyville. Come, I'll introduce you to Mayor Mare and get you settled into your new life here."

"Isn't—aren't they coming with us?" Dandelion inquired, looking back at where they left.

"No, it's important you're not seen with them," Celestia explained. "It's all part of the security arrangement. There is still an unavoidable and unfortunate risk since ponies can never permanently change their appearance. You disappearing as Dandelion and showing up here will be suspicious enough. However, there are factors that we can use to mitigate that.

"Normal witness protection procedures would not have me involved in settling a pony into their new life in any way," Celestia continued. "Even so, such a change in procedure will not allay the suspicions of somepony looking for you. But the lack of Crown financing will. This sort of thing doesn't come cheap. Even my own personal expenses would take a noticeable hit if I were funding this—and yes, there are Crown Treasury agents constantly conducting oversight of my personal finances, believe it or not, and word might get out where rogue elements could piece the puzzle back together again well enough to trace you here.

"But with Mane Industries hoofing the bill, it hides any Crown involvement. And for the same reason, it's important you are not seen with anypony from Mane Industries right now. If the enemy were to guess their involvement, the ongoing operation would again be at risk, along with you," she finished.

"It all sounds like some story from a Pones Bond movie," Dandelion said.

"Where do you think Ian Fetlock gets all his story ideas, from?" Celestia asked, smirking. "Not to mention, it's important that Ian never figures this one out, either," she added, giggling.

Along the way, Celestia pointed out several sites and points of interest until they reached her destination at the town hall.

"Princess Celestia!" the gray coated mayor exclaimed as they entered her office. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Good afternoon, Mayor Mare," Celestia said, "I understand there is currently a job opening for a schoolteacher still in effect? Please allow me to introduce to you, Miss Cheerilee…."

…Not MPFC

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[994AB Day 294]

"Oh! Look at what the digits of the clawless paw dancing on the tiles has led us to!" the unicorn stallion gleefully cheered.

"W-we-we shouldn't be out here!" his companion said, fearfully looking about the ruins they were approaching. The pegasus mare would've much preferred doing this at night, despite how much spookier it would make the place seem. But to her, the bright daylight was an even more fearful environment for them to be in. "Somepony might see us!"

Years ago, it was the Colt Island Amusement Park, a place where families would come, and colts and fillies would laugh and play without a care in the world, all day and all night. But that was a very, very long time ago. Now, it was just a large collection of abandoned and decrepit junk: broken rides, ruined façades, rusted frames, trash of every sort littering everywhere, a mess that was simply too hazardous to dismantle and properly dispose of, too expensive for the authorities to try doing anything about, a blight on the community that the officials believed would just go away on its own if they just ignored it long enough. Just yet another failed capital venture which had been purposefully mismanaged and sabotaged beneath the nose of its creator due to too much trust put into his envious lieutenants, its dead carcass long ago left to rot under the sun.

He led her forward, fearlessly stepping through the broken gate that was supposed to keep wandering foals out.

"Relax, my dear. Nopony can recognize us," he said, grinning at her, using his right forehoof to gesture to both his features and hers. The royal purple fur, ryb green mane and tail, and beer-orange irises he now sported was far different from the colors he used to have. Even his cutie mark, a poker deck's face card of a Joker, was substantially different from the smooth tall red silo bin that he originally had. Likewise, her colors, consisting of her fur with a red and black diamond pattern across her figure, bright yellow mane and tail, and even her eyes had different colors; her right iris was dark green while her left iris was bright red, as well as her jester's hat overlaying a large mallet cutiemark were completely unlike the features she used to possess.

"Besides," he gestured with his hoof at the scene in front of them, "there's nopony here to see us." He smiled that ever-present smile he now wore. "This place is perfect! Heh! Heh! Ha! Ha! HA! HA! HA! HA-A!!"

Celestia casually walked through Ponyville after leaving Dandelion to start her new life at the Town Hall to head for the train station. She trusted Buck Mane and Lucius to unobtrusively return to Manehattan through their own means, and there was no intent to rejoin them as doing so would jeopardize the entire operation. By necessity, she had come with no Guards in attendance, but Ponyville was generally a safe town, despite its well-earned reputation for being a weirdness magnet.

Naturally, ponies spotting her stopped and stared before quickly bowing to her, and she quietly nodded her head to acknowledge them and serenely continued walking.

"OHMYGOSH!OHMYGOSH!IT'SPRINCESSCELESTIA!!HEREINPONYVILLE!!!" a sudden high pitched, rapid fired scream, like almost right beside her ear, startled her out of her calm, quiet reverie. Glancing over and then down, she saw an exuberant bubblegum pink colored earth pony mare gleefully staring up at her, a pony whom she had seen before but only in a few occasional premonitions.

"Why, hello there, my little pony," Celestia greeted her. "And whom might you be?"

"I'm Pinkie Pie!" the little mare exclaimed. "But—you already knew that somehow, didn't you? Just as my Pinkie sense told me when it let me know there was a new pony in town!"

"I've—seen you before, yes, but I never knew your name," Celestia replied. "And as far as me being new here, I'm—not exactly new. I've been here many times before, just not recently."

"OH! So that must have been a 'welcome back to Ponyville' twitch!" Pinkie Pie happily cheered. But then she frowned. "No, what I felt was definitely the 'new pony in Ponyville' twitch. So, how am I supposed to tell the difference between them if I can't tell which is a new pony and which is a returning pony!? It's going to ruin the party if I get it wrong!"

"Well, actually, there is a new pony in town, Pinkie," Celestia told her. "I just left her with Mayor Mare at the town hall. Her name is Cheerilee."

"OH! That's wonderful! Thank you, Your Highness!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I've got to get started on the 'Welcome to Ponyville' party right away!"

"Then I shouldn't keep you from your duties, my little pony," Celestia agreed, smiling.

"You—know? Something about you being the one to say that—? It just sounds so weird," Pinkie said, cocking her head.

"You're right, it does," Celestia said, nodding after thinking about it for a moment. "It would be nice if I could use it more often. It feels rather refreshing," she added, smiling.

"Glad I could help, Your Highness!" Pinkie cheered before rushing off.

"Yes, Corporal?" Shining Armor asked, looking up from his paperwork in response to the knock on his door frame.

"Sir, the prisoner in the infirmary has awakened," the soldier reported.

"Ah, good," Shining Armor stated, using his magic to retrieve a file folder to take with him. "Perhaps we'll finally be able to get some answers."

Resuming the walk to the train station, Celestia's attention was drawn to the sight of a pegasus stallion engaged in a workout routine involving a number of dumbbell weights.

It's uncanny, she thought, stopping to stare at him. His build, his eye, coat, mane, and tail colorings, his facial features, even his manecut are all identical to the stallion that I fought the other night! Only his cutie mark and the size of his wings are different. While it wasn't unheard of that so many similar identifying features could appear in any two random ponies, it was more often the case than not that this many usually appeared only in ponies who had close familial relationships. It can't be mere coincidence, she finally decided after watching him for several minutes.

Summoning the note that she had made regarding the fugitive stallion from its location on her desk, she approached him with it in her telekinesis hold.

"Oh, Your Highness!" Shining Armor called out when she returned to her Throne Room. "That injured pegasus stallion, Shetland Hoofley, finally woke up long enough to be interrogated. We were able to get leads on all those ponies working for Jack Black. A great many of them were former Royal and Equestrian Guard ponies, most of whom had been dismissed for conduct unbecoming or had resigned in disgrace, including a beefy large white stallion, named—"

"Sergeant Decker, a former drill instructor for an Equestrian Guard unit, who had been relieved several years ago for abusing recruits," Celestia finished for him, causing Shining Armor to blink in surprise and making her giggle at his reaction.

"Don't worry, I haven't developed mind reading as a skill," she assured him. "I encountered his younger brother earlier today and got the lowdown from him."

"Oh," Shining Armor said, wiping his forehead in relief.

"Well, in addition to what I was able to pull up on Sergeant Decker, I have yet another reported sighting of Jackie Valentine from last night," Shining Armor told her, pulling up a map showing the area between two of Equestria's major cities. On it were dozens of colored threads crisscrossing the region. "This one in a small community called—Locksburg," he finished after confirming his note. Then he added another colored thread to the map.

"Hmm. Almost five full leagues from Millstone," Celestia muttered, looking at the display. "Nearly backtracking her last movement only to overshoot it by a good thirty percent."

"She's simply too fast to chase, too random to predict, and too long ranged to set a trap for her. There's no pattern to her movements at all," Shining Armor said, looking at the map.

"Not—entirely," Celestia said, perking up her ears as she studied the map again. "There is a pattern, we're just having a hard time seeing it."

"There's no discernable goal that we can determine," Shining Armor protested. "With her ability to move so quickly and over such distance, I'm surprised that she's not on the other side of the continent by now!"

"And you just showed me her pattern, Shining!" she crowed.

"I did?"

"Don't you see? She's avoiding both Manehattan and Fillydelphia!" Celestia pointed out. "She left Manehattan three and a half weeks ago. She came quite close to Fillydelphia just a couple of days later before turning around. She's been bouncing between them ever since!"

"Then why hasn't sh—oh!" Shining suddenly exclaimed, now seeing something to the fugitive's pattern. "There's a large river on one side, and the ocean on the other. She's boxed in! But why hasn't she used any of the bridges over the river?"

"She might not know of them," Celestia suggested, looking at the map. "As you said, her movements are entirely random. She might not know how the land is laid out and as a result, she's going in whatever direction she can to get away. This also points out that she does have a discernable goal: evasion! Plain, simple, evasion."

"And doing a pretty good job at it, too," Shining Armor observed sardonically.

"There is another pattern that's evident, if you'll notice," Celestia said, smirking. "I saw it earlier in our discussion. All of these sightings are in towns. Think about it: she's a predator, Shining."

"Well, that's to be expected," Shining Armor complained. "Towns are where the most eyes exist to see her. She could spend some of the time hunting for food or sleeping in a field or woods or something."

"But look at the times of the sightings," she pointed out. "One day here, that night over there, the next day over in this town, another day another town. There are no days that she's not in a town! So, what would a predator like her find so valuable in towns that are not available in the wild?"

"Easy food," Shining said, understanding what Celestia was getting at. "But that doesn't make sense, Your Highness. She's not attacked anypony."

"Indeed, not," Celestia agreed. "Which means, like griffons, she's a civilized predator! She's going for those meals that are compatible for her. Don't forget, she found like company among the griffon customers of that restaurant. And there's one more thing a creature like her would find in towns that she wouldn't find in the wild, or even in large cities. Shelter."

"But there's plenty of shelter in Manehattan and Fillydelphia!" Shining Armor protested.

"Perhaps, but perhaps not the kind of shelter that she feels comfortable with," Celestia countered. "She was badly hurt when I pulled that sliver of Dark Magic from her brain. She might associate the larger cities as being dangerous to her, but a smaller town makes her feel safer."

"But this doesn't help us catch her," Shining Armor grumbled. "We can't chase her, can't predict her, can't trap her. So, what can we do?" They both grew silent trying to think of a strategy to use.

"We can try to entice her!" Celestia suddenly spoke up.

"Food?"

"Music!" she said, grinning at him.

"Music?"

"She wrote several songs that were being played by the griffon band," she said, reminding him. "We can perhaps try to anticipate her movements by setting up teams of singers to catch her attention with her own songs!"

"But we can't cover every town between Manehattan and Fillydelphia!"

"We don't have to," Celestia said, pointing to the map. "All of her runs are generally three to five leagues, a few that get up to six, but everything seems to be in a straight line from one town to the next town where she's seen next. So, the next time she shows up, we should anticipate that she'll run to one of the neighboring towns that are within those ranges. Then we send teams to communities which are about those probable targets to be ready to belt out one of her songs, along with a verbal message that we hope will get her to pause for a moment and think long enough to realize she doesn't have to run anymore."

"I see," Shining Armor said, nodding after thinking about it. "And if we miss her the first time, we redeploy about her next potential targets and keep at it until we finally get through to her. Yes, it might work. I'll try to round up enough troops who can carry a tune and get them deployed as soon as I can."

"Good," she acknowledged. "You might also look into recruiting the bandmembers who work at that restaurant for this. I'm sure they're as worried for her as we are and will be eager to help. In the meantime, I want several teams of Guards set up to blockade all the bridges across the river, the railroad tunnel from Manehattan, and the stretch between the tunnel and where the river comes out of the mountains. There's no way any of our ponies can stop her, but seeing them may cause her to avoid trying to get out of the region, thus keeping her hemmed in. So far, we seem to have been lucky that she's missed them, but I want to block off any avenues of escape into the rest of the countryside."

"I'm on it, Your Highness!" Shining Armor said, saluting before gathering up the map and running off.

[994AB Day 295]

Shortly after sunset, the shops were all closed in Hoofsville, one of the numerous communities between Manehattan and Fillydelphia, Jackie Valentine cautiously walked down one of the darkened main roads to avoid being seen by the few wandering equines still about. She walked past a shop with a large picture window built into the storefront, and a motion of color out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Looking over, she gasped at the images playing on the monitor. As she approached, she could just make out the sound coming from the television.

"Yesterday, Mane Industries announced the deaths of Thomas Mane and his mate, Mareta Mane, due to the actions of one of the terrorists who was also responsible for the devastating explosion at Manehattan Harbor earlier this week," the unseen announcer's voice could be heard through the glass. "Their son, Buck Mane, assumed control of Mane Industries following their demise. As a result of the news, stocks of Mane Industries were trading 20% lower on this morning's market—"

Boldly stepping up onto the porch, Jackie stared at the antiquated-looking television set, her breath quickly becoming ragged as her mouth suddenly went dry and the rest of what the announcer was saying was dismissed in her mind as being unimportant.

She reached out her paw to touch the window between her and the television, the screen showing the ponies being interview on the stairs leading up to some large concrete building they were all in front of. But her eyes were focused on one creature standing among the equine beings that wasn't an equine.

It was a griffon.

She whispered his name.

"Dmitri…."

[交尾] First Gate: Burning Memories

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She screamed due to the fiery pain and agony. She could do nothing but scream.

Totally immersed in the slimy green goop, everything burned! There wasn't anywhere on, or in, her body that didn't burn. It was everywhere!

So, she screamed.

But there was no sound.

The viscous alien fluid filled and burned the inside of her lungs. It coated and stung her vocal cords, silencing her screams, but she still screamed. It filled every opening in her, making her scream nonstop.

She had screamed the moment she had been dropped into the vat and the substance immediately began dissolving her skin, her flesh, her muscles, even her bones! Oh, but it did not dissolve her all at once. It took its sweet time, inexorably seeping into every entrance, and she screamed throughout it all. Even while she floated in the middle of the tank, eventually becoming nothing but just a collection of exposed internal organs, she continued to scream. Unable to blink since her eyelids had dissolved long ago, and her eyes simply floated along with what little remained of her. All of it burning with agonizing fire.

She had no idea of how long it was, but she screamed every second she was in it. Even sleep was denied her as it incessantly stimulated all her raw exposed nerves.

Thus, she continued to scream, never aware of when the vile substance finally got around to rebuilding her body, bit by bit.

Then the surprising noise of her screaming actually made a sound was her first awareness of something beyond the intense burning sensation.

Screaming, choking, and coughing.

Numerous stinging sprays blasted her body from several different angles all at once, while she hung above a grated platform, her head below as she vomited and spewed the slimy green mixture out of her mouth, her coughing finally clearing her lungs of the picante slime.

She continued to scream, but her agony slowly, so slowly, finally began to ebb.

Eventually, she stopped screaming.

Exhausted beyond words, she finally fainted, totally unaware of what the mechanical tentacles that held her carcass was doing to her.

Much later (she had no idea of how much time had passed) she woke. Instinctively coughing, she shakily lifted her head and looked about her.

She was in a very large, yet quite spartan room, laying on a long and wide block nestled in one back corner of the chamber. From the dull gray, sectioned segments that made up the walls, she estimated the entire chamber was a big square, roughly around 50 to 60 feet per side and perhaps 20 to 25 feet to the ceiling. There was a transparent wall before her, a noticeably thick glass slab taking up the entire surface that sectioned off a quarter of the entire chamber, creating a narrow corridor beyond, but holding the only exit she could make out at the far end of that partitioned space, a set of sliding double-paneled doors. Oddly, the corridor had the only lighting set in the ceiling, for its entire length. She immediately associated that glass barrier as being the front of her cell, which established her bunk was at the rear right corner of the space. Her area was the remainder of the square chamber, and was completely bare, except for a hole for a drain near the room's left rear corner and a small sink sticking out from the right wall between the front of the block upon which she laid and the glass front of the room. The bare slab that currently functioned as her bunk was roughly 15 by 30 feet. It wasn't metal, stone, or wood. She had no idea of what it was, but it wasn't chilled like metal or stone would be.

She raised her left hand to rub at her temple in an effort to soothe the headache she woke with and tried to remember how it was she had come to this place.

The dull ache slowly receded, but then she noticed that her "hand" should more accurately be called a "paw". It had short stubby fingers with dull nonretractable claws, like what one might expect from an anthropoidal dog's hand. The outer part of her limb was covered with short, wiry, tawny colored fur with numerous jet-black spots, while the inside was mostly a pure white with few spots and little of the yellow coloration. Her right arm was naturally a mirror image, but there was nothing "natural" about any of this! Both arms were rather longer than she remembered her human arms had been, although much thinner. But when she touched her arms with her opposite ~~hands~~paws, she could feal strong tight corded muscles beneath the fur.

Sitting up, she looked down her belly, finding it also sported a thick coat of short coarse white fur. Her A-sized breasts were totally gone, but in their place were a pair of bare pink nubs. In addition, there were three more sets of nipples, running down below where her normal breasts had been on either side of her belly in a line roughly aimed toward her crotch.

She had never sported a figure featuring the huge pendulous breasts that was considered envious among most girls to appease the stereotypical cravings of oversexed adolescent males. Hers, instead, had been that of a svelte, athletic figure. But she was going to miss those firm A-cup sized mounds. However, that was not to say that her chest could now considered small by any stretch of the imagination. Her ribcage was now FEAKING HUGE!

Moreover, as she looked lower, she could see her belly was almost impossibly caved in, nearly anorexic in appearance, becoming a narrow waist before smoothly blending out to a wide pelvis that split into two, extremely long, very, very muscular legs and finally ending with digitigrade feet, again reminding her of an anthropomorphic dog-like creature.

More of the black-spotted, tawny yellow caught her eye starting on either side of her belly and down the front of her legs. She looked around and discovered she also had a tail with slightly different pattern at its tip, and she realized she had seen this sort of thing before.

That's a cheetah's tail!

Her hands went to her face, and she felt around it.

There was definitely a muzzle there, mobile cat-like ears, and thick fur all over.

I'm like some anthropomorphic cartoon dog, or cheetah, character!

Getting up off the bed to stand, she slowly walked over to the glass barrier. It was brightly lit in the passageway beyond, and no lights in her room, but there was just enough to illuminate her body and provide a reflection as she cautiously approached.

And it was confirmed with the black teardrop markings on her face.

Definitely cheetah! she thought. But who, or what, could turn me into such a thing!? Moreover, WHY!?

She tried to recall how she got here.

There was a spike of pain through her head, and a terrifying memory of intense burning fire, but she could recall her name.

Jackie Valentine.

She was a member of a four-girl musical band currently touring a number of Pacific Island nations.

Their last gig was in Suva, Fiji.

They had taken a trip on a yacht.

There had been a storm and they were shipwrecked on an island.

Only it wasn't on Earth! she remembered.

She couldn't recall many details of that island, however. Recent memories were fuzzy, vague—and even more worrisome, they seemed to be—missing.

What happened to us!? she wondered, looking about her prison cell.

Yes, this is a prison cell! she suddenly realized.

The small, rounded shelf sticking out from the wall near the end of the "bed" caught her attention—there was running water in it.

Suddenly feeling thirsty, she walked over it. Looking down at her new "hands", she realized they were no longer useful for cupping water for drinking anymore. Instead, she was forced to dip her chin into the shallow pool of water in the bowl at the bottom of the recess until her mouth was submerged, where she was able to gulp down mouthfuls of the precious liquid.

Just as she reached her fill, a noise above her made her leap away in fright, and for good reason. A panel had slid open in the ceiling above her, and a trio of mechanized tentacles descended, holding a tray of cooked meat and set it on the near end of the bunk platform before retracting back into the ceiling, whereupon the panel slid closed again.

The scent reached her, and her starving stomach decided what she would do, despite her terror of the just-displayed prison technology trying to keep her away: she rushed forward and immediately began devouring all the meat in the tray. In mere seconds, she had licked the tray clean enough to be almost considered washed.

Not realizing that she had been lightly drugged from the food, she was soon feeling drowsy from her full belly and she crawled back onto the platform and sleep up against the corner in the back wall.

While she slumbered, the door panels in the passageway outside the window slid apart, and a figure silently glided in on its five large tentacles to stand before the glass. It looked impassively upon the formerly human female for several moments before turning to go back out and the door panels slid shut behind it.

There were numerous repetitive cycles of her waking, drinking, and being fed. So many that she eventually lost count of them and even lost her fear of the way the food was delivered, and the empty tray removed. And as the walls and bunk were far too hard for her to mark in any way, there was no way for her to try to keep track of time.

Of whatever beings were keeping her captive, she saw no sign of them, and boredom was soon becoming her biggest enemy. She could only guess that she was being fed once a day, or close to that schedule. The drain in the floor at the other side of the room was used for relieving herself. There was nothing to use for toilet paper, but fortunately her excrement was relatively solid and dry, so it wasn't too onerous yet.

Several times, she was suddenly awoken by a distant muted roar of some creature. The first time it happened, the sounds occurred something like several times in an hour, then long periods of silence, only for the sequence of distance roars to recure. This went on over several feeding periods, each roar was nearly equal intensity and duration so far as she could tell. Oddly, she didn't feel as if whatever was making those sounds was in pain. She had heard creatures crying out in agony as well as other emotions, and these just didn't have the same tremor to such. Nor did they sound like roars of rage—they were too regular for that emotion to account for them. Then the roars ended for a time, only to start up several feeding periods later. What she could sense, though, was the resumption was happening at a new location, and it generally followed the same pattern as the first time.

Over time, she began to tune the sounds out. Then they stopped again for several feeding periods, only to resume again—

Definitely a new location this time. she considered, puzzled as to what the sounds meant for her future. And there seems to be another creature roaring this time, too. A different voice. But the pattern of roars simply repeated as before with the two of them, but nothing to indicate to her that there was any fighting involved between them. As before, she began to tune them out as they just continued over several feeding periods.

As time went on, she increasingly began having—urges. At first, it wasn't that noticeable or localized, but after a few more cycles of feeding and sleeping, the—urges—had slowly developed into a definite—need. She only understood what the exact nature of that need was exactly when she woke only to find the pad of her right paw rubbing her crotch and her hand was dripping with a clear slimy fluid that she had just squirted out.

"Yipe!" she yelped in shock at what she had been doing in her sleep.

Just then, in the outer corridor beyond the glass, the doors opened, and a creature straight out of mythology walked through the portal—a griffon! A real-live lion-sized griffon!

Jackie fearfully crouched on her hands and feet as the griffon spotted her. It paused for a moment, then sniffed the air and proceeded in, its wings partially unfurling. Once past the threshold, the door shut behind it. The griffon curiously looked back at the event going on behind it, then looked to Jackie again. Even more alarming to her was the fact that she could see the glass wall receding from the frame near the griffon and it noticed the event, too! Apparently sniffing the air, it proceeded toward the opening that was now large enough for the large predator, its wings spreading out a little more.

Having no route through which to escape to, Jackie fearfully awaited her fate.

"Please, don't hurt me!" she whispered. The griffon cocked its head at her voice.

"I—I won't hurt you," it said. "Y-you-you're too beautiful for anyone to want to hurt. And you—smell really, really good!" To prove its point, it lifted its head, sniffed the air deeply, and licked its beak before resuming approaching her.

"Ple-e-e-e—" she squeaked, cringing as it came closer.

"It's okay," it gently said to her, slowing the walk toward her but not stopping. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." It began making purring and cooing noises toward her as it reached the bunk and climbed up to join her. "It's okay. It's okay," it whispered. "I promise I won't hurt you. Quite the opposite, in fact. I want you to feel pleasure." Its wings stretched out and slightly forward, blocking off any escape except perhaps by jumping over it, but her terror kept her rooted to the spot as she waited for it to make its move.

"Wh-what do you want?" she fearfully asked.

"You smell delicious," it repeated. "I want to taste you—but I'm not going hurt you!" it quickly said when its words made her alarmed. "You're so beautiful. Too beautiful! Such a beautiful cheetah. I like all cats, but cheetahs are my favorite. No one should ever want to hurt you. You should only feel good. And—and we both can feel good," it said, turning its head to glance at its rear.

Jackie dared a nervous glance to where it was indicating, and then she froze. She could see a large pink fleshy rod extending down from between its rear legs.

HE! It's a HE! she suddenly realized, nervously gulping. He wants to fuck! And the moment that the thought went through her brain, Jackie remembered that just before his arrival, there had been a very, very urgent and unavoidable matter that she was needing to take care of.

Fear and Lust suddenly had a very short and furious war in her mind—and Fear just lost badly, getting shredded into tiny little bloody pieces in the process.

Jackie immediately laid on her back, trusting the griffon male, and lifted and spread her legs, letting him have unrestricted access to her. For having a bird's face, his features were quite expressive, and she could tell he was very appreciative of the view before he was soon, slowly, lowering his beak toward her.

Fear had one last gasp of life left when she felt the sharp tip of his beak breach her opening, but the moment was all that Fear got to live again, as his beak opened barely a fraction of an inch. Then Fear was fully sent down into the grave as a thin sharply pointed tongue snaked out from his beak to furiously poke into and probe deeply about her canal.

"Ca-a-a-ack! Ca-a-a-ack! Ca-a-a-ack! Ca-a-a-ack!" she screamed at the sensations now shooting though her nethers and up her spine. So wonderful! Yes! This is what I'm needing! she thought as the griffon worked some amazing magic. She never imagined for a moment in her life that a bird's beak ever could feel so good down there! Although seemingly tough and hard, it somehow was malleable enough for him to make the cunninglingus he was doing with a beak the most awesome thing she had ever experienced as he used his beak to nip and nibble at her clitoris along with using his tongue to play with her, inside and out. Throughout it all, he didn't neglect exploring her body for other erogenous zones as he used one set of eagle claws to gently stroke and scritch the along the inside, backside, outside, and front of her thigh, often switching off with his forelimbs to attend to her other leg, sometimes stroking and teasing her pubic and lower belly regions as well as her tail. Now there was a new and fantastic erogenous zone for her to experience!!

All too soon, it ended, however. She looked up to see him having pulled up and was licking his beak, leaving the entrance to her pussy twitching in longing.

"As good as you taste inside, there's something else who wants his chance to enjoy your flavor," he said, grinning to her. Jackie blinked in shock.

He's got teeth in that thing!?

Unaware of the nature or source of her surprise, he slowly stepped forward between her legs, and as he did so, he did a doubletake looking at her belly. "Oh, as urgently as he wants you, I don't think I need to rush things," he muttered before bringing his beak to the first of the belly nipples lining her left side. His nipping beak and twisting tongue was soon igniting new pleasures throughout her frame, as she stared down her own length, her gaze locked on a waiting, twitching, and dripping pink rod still a longways distant from its waiting goal.

She smiled at the ministrations he applied to her lower nipple, but before the sensations started getting old and stale, he expertly switched over to the right side of her belly and worked on the nipple there. After another period of time, he moved up to the next in line on the right side and repeated the process. Then back over to the left side, then forward one more time.

He is very thorough, she thought, admiring his patient and focused attention to all eight of her new anatomical features, despite his own clearly aroused desire and appetite for her carnal pleasures. Finally, he stepped forward one last time, to stare directly into her face as he bent his body nearly in two so as to position himself before her entrance as well as preparing to kiss her directly on the mouth. He lowered both ends simultaneously, with the now freezing tip of his reaching her opening and sending a sharp shivering spike of electricity through her body just moments before his beak reached her muzzle.

The scent and taste of her own fluids still lingering on the tip of his beak hit her mind the same time as his first thrust shoved the enormous thickness through her narrow opening, and Jackie grappled his neck and attacked his hard lips with her teeth and tongue while they both savored the tingling sensations from their nethers, making Jackie emit a loud, rattling purr. "Sweet Jesus!" she swore.

"Oh, yessss," he hissed with his own loud purring. "I want to feel that again!" he said, nearly withdrawing the entirety of his organ from her before fiercely plunging back in. "Oh, sweet God, yes!" he hissed as he repeated the motions again, and soon he was furiously thrusting and pumping into her, leaving no time for words or even thoughts.

Unfortunately, the angle of their union prevented him from being able to completely hilt into her, causing him to leave a couple inches outside, but it was not for a lack of trying, and his efforts made her hiss from the momentary discomfort. Mercifully, he finally gave up on the attempt and instead simply focused on starting up and maintaining a furious pumping rhythm. Soon, they could only emit animalistic growls, purrs, hisses, and whines for the next dozen minutes as they both shifted and twisted their bodies about, each struggling to reach climax first.

With her feet locked about his waist by the position of his knees, she suddenly gripped him hard and used the leverage to lift her rear up to slam hard against him, unexpectantly hilting him in the middle of a withdraw, surprising him, and with his near autonomous motions already locked in, his latest thrust was now deep enough to penetrate her cervix. It finally drove her over the top, and her internal muscles strongly clamped down, squeezing his exposed organ!

"EEEEERRRRRRHHHHHAAAAAAAAA!!!" she screamed as he was suddenly and forcefully halted in his motions and had no option but to stand there while she rode out her ecstasy. He grunted in surprise at her unexpected grip. But it wasn't long before she was exhausted and finished and fell back to the bunk. She panted as she looked up at him, grinning in victory.

"First," she whispered, triumphant.

Then he grinned back at her.

He immediately resumed his fast and furious trusts, and she could suddenly feel his getting even larger inside her as he continued grinning at her.

"Yipe!" she whimpered as she suddenly realized her predicament, making her lose her smirk. His size was already very large, now it was almost too much to endure. As he pounded her insides even faster, she could feel something else—

Oh, fuck! His tip is nailing my cervix! she fearfully realized. Repeatedly! she thought, her eyes opening wide in terror.

A part of her mind argued with the very idea. It shouldn't be possible! The angle is all wrong— her mind screamed even as she was now being rapidly, repeatedly, deeply—and doubly—penetrated!

It's impossible for a human, another part of her mind argued. But I'm no longer human! was her last thought before one last deep powerful piercing spearing her inner sphincter and was held there, and it felt as though his tip had stuck the bottom of her heart, and had shoved her own heart all the way up into her throat.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" she screamed the intense pain from the force needed to push such an immense sized object so deeply inside her.

She then felt the thick, long, hot, stiff rod begin trembling and twitching alongside her gut, and the griffon instantly raised his head toward the ceiling.

And he ROARED!!

Even as her ears folded and she whimpered at the volume, she finally realized what all those distant roars had been about.

It was him!

His member spasmodically twitched deep inside her, and she gasped at the hot liquid sensation that pulsed and poured directly into the center of her womb. And she also understood, He's been mating with somebody, or something else out there, for several days now. And he just getting started with me!

There was one final sharp fiery ripping sensation throughout her pussy as he yanked out of her, "YYIIIEOUCH!" leaving her entire channel stinging, throbbing and spasming for several minutes as they both lay beside one another, panting, trying to recover their breaths.

"Hmmm," he sighed with a purr, licking his beak as he gazed at her. "I liked that! Want to do again?"

She glared at him with several mixed emotions going on at once: surprise, fear, rage, admiration, longing, lust—finally, it was the ridiculousness of it all that finally won out, and she laughed.

"M-may-maybe a little later," she finally replied. "I'm—I'm not quite up to the abilities of all those others could do with you," she told him.

"Yes, I wish I was still able to be with them," he sadly muttered, laying his head down. "We all had such good times until the machines pulled me out of their rooms and sent me somewhere else." Then he raised his head to look at her again. "But each time they moved me I was sent to another where we all had fun. They've sent me to you now."

So, it was him doing all those other roars, she thought, trying to clear her mind. Mating with other— then she paused at the realization, other prisoners—like me! A renewed twitching deep inside her pelvis and a reawakened urge in her heart threatened to distract her mind from her suspicions.

"Th-the others—" she began. "They're prisoners, like me, aren’t they?"

"Different," he steadily replied. "Lion, panther, sabertooth. You're cheetah."

Wow! This guys has a set of balls to fuck a lion!? And a sabertooth tiger!? Wait—

"Y-you don't mean real-animal lions and sabertooth tigers? You mean, like me, they were standing on two legs, like me, right?"

"Yes, all of them. Standing, like you," he said, shifting his position next to her to move closer so he could begin nosing at her crotch again. The idea of having another go with him like the last one was really starting to appeal to her, too, and it took some doing to resist the urge.

"I—I—h-have t-to tell you, I'm not a r-real ch-cheetah," she stammered, shaking her head and trying to push the words out.

"That's okay. I'm not a real griffon," he said, pushing his beak firmly into the opening of her crevice. "I'm a human. Name's Dmitri Fraser."

"ME, TOO!" she screamed as his beak and tongue just got started on her clit. That made him jerk his head up to stare at her.

"You're also named Dmitri Fraser!?" he exclaimed in shock, staring at her. His expression was so comical that she couldn't not laugh at him.

"No! I'm Jackie Valentine," she corrected him, getting up to crouch on her hands and feet. He adjusted his position to stand on his four legs and followed her. "Y-you—you know we're being drugged to do this! This sex!" she hissed at him.

"Yes, I know," he said with a sigh while nosing up beneath her tail and quickly nailing her pussy entrance. "Damned good drugs, too," he mumbled with the tip of his beak firmly docked to her vulva, the sensation of the tip moving in her ignited furious waves of pleasure throughout her body, while he firmly held her thighs with his eagle claws. Then his tongue got into the action, and their conversation had to be put on hold for a good long while.

The attentions applied to her rear forced her to lower her upper body while raising her pelvis with her legs, bracing her hands and feet to be ready for the lunges that would be coming soon. Innumerable nips and licks both on her clit and involving her entrance had her chirping, mewing, and purring in rapid succession. Given her previous round with him, it wasn't long before she quickly had an orgasm just from the oral sex alone, and he enthusiastically lapped up the juices she squirted out.

As she sighed at the finish of her bliss, he didn't give her any time to recover her breath before he proceeded to quickly mount her from behind. And this time, it was even more intense than the last! The angle of entry was considerably different, and the places his organ now impacted and reached was both far more pleasurable and immediately deeper. The entire bottom length of his rod was really pressing down and rubbing hard against the inside of her pubic bone, and thus, her G-spot, with each thrust! Moreover, his tip was seriously breaching her cervix repeatedly, every time, the impact and penetration was absolutely mind blowing, and she wildly cried out with each hilting. It was only the fact that every millimeter of her pussy had already been thoroughly lubricated earlier which made his furious, forceful, and deep pistoning into her able to be bearable at all.

"Oh, yes, this is so much better," he growled into her ear once he was in her and began rutting her in earnest. "I don't know what you're doing to me in there, but I really like this!" She wanted to let him know exactly what he was doing inside her, but she was unable to speak from the painful intensity of each thrust, she was too busy fighting her own body to bother with such triviality—too much of her was wanting this, and at the moment, that part of her was seriously winning that fight.

His loud, growling, rattling purrs with each thrust let her know he was feeling the extra stimulation of his tip getting such special treatment inside her, but after the first dozen or so deep piercings, she was beyond caring. With the assault on her G-spot and cervix, it didn't take long at all before she was loudly screaming from the intense orgasm exploding out from her rear. But this time, he wasn't blocked from being able to continuously thrusting into her throughout it all, and her orgasm had a much greater intensity and lasted longer than any of her other times.

But even after her screams returned to repetitive cries, he kept up his highspeed performance, with the unrelenting grind down upon her pubic bone and incessant stabbings straight into the center of her uterus. She barely got any breath back before she felt a renewed inner tension building again.

Only one small part of her mind was still functional while she was being rutted, and she brought her right arm from where she had been using it to help hold herself in place and brought it around to reach her hand to feel at her belly. To her amazement, she could feel the bulge of him moving inside, the end of him going as far as her naval! At that moment, her tension exploded once more, and she was loudly screaming again as wave after wave of electricity shot through her. Her latest orgasm seemed to go on forever.

Still, despite the tight grip her vaginal muscles delivered, he never relented the pace.

But eventually, the internal spasms ebbed, and she was back to her rapid mewing cry out with every thrust into her.

Instead, he started getting faster!

And bigger!

Her mewing cries were getting louder, too.

And a small, still barely functional part of her brain suddenly understood, this has happened before! And the sensations through her hand confirmed it—the bulge he was creating in her belly grew at least a hand's width above her naval before one final forceful impaling lunge into her that stayed stuck inside her and began quivering!

They roared together with their simultaneous orgasms. He refilled her innermost chamber with spreading heat while her entrance squirted copious jets of her own clear cum.

Utterly exhausted, she collapsed and finally began to relax, heavily and rapidly panting from the tremendous workout she had just endured.

Only for an unexpected, sudden, sharp tearing sensation throughout the entire inside length of her pussy being ripped out reminding her there still was one last action that was supposed to happen.

"YYEEEEEEAAAAAIIIIIIIIII!!!"

The opening of the panel above the end of the bunk woke them both, and they nervously stared at the several mechanized tentacles that brought in two full meal trays and set them down before them before retracting back up into the ceiling.

They laid there, each trying to gather their wits. She had been sleeping, spooned in his gentle grip with her back firmly pressed up to his belly. The deep muscles of her pussy were still intensely throbbing and spasming in a random pattern that was very difficult to ignore, forcefully reminding her about what they had been doing together.

"Dmitri," she said.

"That's supposed to be my name," he replied. "I distinctly remember you said yours was Jackie."

They both chuckled at that.

"You said you are human," she began as she reached out to pull one tray over to her, and he quickly did likewise with the other. They both began eating.

"I was," he muttered between bites. "I think those other—women—were, too," he added before taking several more bites of his lightly cooked meat. "But they're all cats, now. Like you."

"You know we're being drugged," she said, not sure if she had mentioned it before. He nodded.

"Most likely through the food," the griffon grumbled. "Can't do anything about that, however. We have to eat."

"But—I think—there's something more," he added as they continued. "The scent you—and the others—that's no drug. At least, not a drug in the food."

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking at him.

"You're in heat," he stated, staring at her. "Each of you, in turn, went into heat. That's what's messing me up. Of course, it's quite likely your heat is from the food being drugged, and it's possible I'm somewhat affected, too. But you girls are the primary drug that's hitting me. I can't resist having to fuck you all silly! Normally, I'd at least try to get to know someone before engaging in that sort of thing. You know, it usually saves on most of the typical hassles like lawsuits and such," he said, momentarily gesturing like a spinning wheel with his right set of claws. "But here, I've been having such irresistible urges, although not that I've noticed any of the others were lacking in urges, either. Of course, if things stay on schedule as it did those other times, this meal will knock us out any minute now, and we'll be doing round three as soon as we wake up again. We only get these short periods in between to talk before we're back at it."

"Did you get anything done other than fuck each of them all day and all night?" she grumbled, thinking of her abused pussy that was still rapidly twitching and strongly throbbing since they woke. If it doesn't stop doing that, she thought, fuming, I'm going to have another full-blown orgasm any moment now without him literally fucking my brains out! She tried shaking her head clear, but it didn't help stop the rhythmic pulsing down there.

"I got their names," he snorted. "Sherry Cabot, Patty Brown, Cathy McCoy, and you. Oh, and let me tell you, that Cathy is a real screamer! I nearly went deaf whenever she was cumming. Now don't get me wrong, I've certainly noticed that I'm rather loud now, but I can't hold a candle to her!"

"Oh, my God! Those are my friends!" she exclaimed, snapping to glare at him. "We're all in a band together!"

"Band?" he drawled, apparently confused. Then his eyes lit up and he leapt to his four feet. "The BOAT! You guys were the girl band who wanted to see the Anderson's island! We all got shipwrecked!"

"Shipwrecked!?" she asked, also confused, but then the memory came back to her. At least, some of her memories. "We—we ended up on another planet somehow! Who else have you seen?" she urgently asked.

"Just you four, so far," he said, then he widely yawned.

"But—how did we end up here!? Where are the others? And—what did this to us?" she wondered.

"No idea," he said, laying down stretched out on his belly much like a cat would. "I do remember a shitton of fiery pain while being stuck in some slimy goop for what seemed like forever. Then one day, the pain finally ended, and I woke up like this. I can only guess that it was weeks ago. Kind of hard when there's no view of days or nights and only mealtimes to go by." He yawned again and closed his eyes.

She sat there, contemplating what he said, and how closely it lined up with her own experience. But then, something that they had discussed got a new focus, especially as the incessant internal throbbing and twitching in her vagina seemed to be hammering for her attention. You're in heat, he had said, she belatedly remembered.

"Am I going to get pregnant!?" she screamed, as she used her ~~hands~~paws to feel at her belly.

At that moment, her pussy's building self-induced orgasm finally hit, and it hit hard, forcing her to emit a very long, very loud, rattling purr, as she fell forward and landed on her chest. Her legs straightened out some, with her feet spread out wide, making her look like a living tripod with her pelvis lifted high into the air. In addition, her tail rose all the way up to sway over her back, while her pussy squirted and squirted copious amounts of a clear, slimy fluid. Internally, her vaginal and uterine muscles clenched down hard, squeezing all of his contributions further up into her fallopian tubes, and she could even feel those internal convulsions through her hands!

My God! I'm actually twerking like some teenaged girl trying to imitate Madonna! she thought, as her rear controlled her entire body, making her squirts go flying far with each upthrust she performed.

When it was finally over, her legs folded, lowering her rear, and she panted through her nostrils as the surging after-bliss sensations now took control of her. As she slowly recovered her energy, she quickly was losing her terror over the potential pregnancy, to be just as rapidly replaced with, not merely acceptance, but she was beginning to actually look forward toward the prospect.

However, she was rather morbidly embarrassed at the display she had put on, and she nervously glanced at the griffon, worried at what he must have thought of that. However, he was clearly out of it long ago with his head stretched out on the bunk, loudly snoring. This brought a renewed internal conflict within her. On the one hand, she was relieved that he had missed seeing her doing that, but on the other, she regretted that he had not.

Still, perhaps its for the best, she finally decided, looking at him, perhaps critically evaluating him for the first time since he had entered her cell. He was big, fully the size of a full-grown lion! He had to have outweighed her by at least three or four times! Even sleeping, she could make out his powerful muscles beneath the fur of his rear, while the feathers covering his upper chest, neck, and head hid the definition, they couldn't hide his size! And yet, despite his fearsome build, he had been so very, very gentle with her. Moreover, this was no strange creature—this was one of her fellow castaway survivors, where vague memories informed her that they had all needed to rely upon one another to keep surviving.

They were trapped on an alien world, with every creature on the island they were on was out to murder them all. Somehow, she and her bandmates and he had been horrendously changed, but only in form. It seems that their personalities must have survived, too. Without him, she was alone and vulnerable. With him, she had a fighting chance to keep on living. And perhaps a fighting chance to find and deliver a much-deserved payback to whatever had done this to them all!

He would make a good mate for me, she blissfully thought. Then, To us! she concluded, belatedly remembered the other girls. Together, we should form a pride, like lions do, and turn the hunt upon our captors!

Suddenly, she shook her head, trying to clear it from the likely drugged induced conclusions she was seriously considering. It worked for only a second, however, and she was soon back to feeling like all this was the proper situation to be in.

Exhausted from that latest orgasm, she shifted to a four-limbed stance and crawled over to him, pressing her body alongside his. He grunted in his sleep at the pressure on his side. Barely waking in response to her presence, he lifted his wing to gently drape over her and gave her a gentle, yet firm, hug, once again demonstrating just how strong his form must be. Likewise, his tail curled around to join hers alongside her body and he resumed sleeping, purring louder with her there with him.

Feeling comfortable, warm, and safe for the first time since discovering she had been horribly mutated, she playfully tapped and swatted at his tufted tip, incidentally swatting the tip of her own tail several times. Her attentions didn't wake him, but she did get another firm gentle hug from his wing before she relented and began to succumb to her own lethargy.

A final, isolated twitch deep in her womb sent a sudden, shuddering shiver throughout her body, and her last conscious thought was, Yes, I like this….

A Quick Lead (edited #2)

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[994AB Day 295]
"Dmitri," she sobbed as her hand reached out to touch the window at the sight of an image where a griffon stood among several of the equine creatures.

"Mommy, why is that diamond dog crying?" a child's voice loudly inquired, shocking her out of her fugue state, causing her to whip her head about to spot the equines staring at her. In an instant, Jackie was gone.

[994AB Day 296]
Sobbing in pain, Kaylee held her aching head in her hands.

Eventually, the crushing headache abated enough for her to try to look about and get her bearings in the bright daylight.

First thing she noted was her hands were huge, powerful, clawed paws of some creature. Quickly looking over herself, she saw that she wasn't human anymore.

"What the hell am I?" she roared. Instantly, the crushing sensation in her head returned, and she had to hold her skull together again, trying to keep it from exploding from the pressure.

Right, she thought to herself. Don't try to think about that! she recalled.

In time, the agony eased again, and she sighed in relief.

But something else tugged at her memories.

"Equestria?" she ventured with a whisper, dreading the result. There was no pain this time, and she sighed again, this time in contemplation.

"Luna?" she tried again. Still no pain.

So, nothing about where I am or the creatures in Equestria, she thought, but something about what I—

The sudden spike of agony blasting through her skull put a stop to that.

"Yeah—let's not go there, anymore," she sighed after the pain finally ended.

This time, she looked about her.

Gone was the thick jungle-like growth that she had wandered through since leaving the volcanic caldera. It was still a wilderness, just not as heavily forested as before, more like an intermediate transition from forest to more open grasslands. There were also numerous tall narrow mountains all over the place as far as she could see between the gaps in the trees.

Not having any clue as to where to go, she just picked a direction at random and began walking in a four-legged gait that felt natural to her new body, with her wings not involved, it felt as though she simply had a new pair of arms to swing back and forth while she walked. It wasn't long before she came across a meandering stream, and Kaylee realized she was thirsty.

Seeing her reflection in the water reignited the ache behind her eyes and she had to close them and shake her head to dislodge the building thought to wonder where she had seen the like before. Finally, the pain faded once more, and she dipped her head to lower her mouth into the water.

After sating her thirst, she raised her head up and resumed her four-legged walk across the landscape, refusing to look back at the image of the creature that had stared up at her from the water's surface.

Shining Armor stared at the map of the region between Manehattan and Fillydelphia, trying to guess where Jackie Valentine would go next.

Based on the patterns that he and Princess Celestia had worked out, he had several stacks of notes for where the teams should be deployed, each a list of the most probable towns, depending on which community she would be in next. Of late, however, she had been hugging the large river that had been keeping her from escaping into the rest of Equestria. If she held to looking for a way across, he felt confident he could try a little modification to the tactic he had discussed with the Princess before.

"Are you sure we can find her, sir?" the griffon named Gandon asked.

Four ponies and five griffons either stood or sat around Shining Armor's office, consisting of the members of the band from the Griffon's Way Restaurant, in addition to Gandon and a unicorn named Fireplate, who were another couple of additional friends of Jackie's who volunteered to help.

"We hope so," Shining Armor replied. "But it's mostly a hit-or-miss guessing game, with how she's able to move so quickly. We believe she's running simply because she's afraid."

"Afraid of what, exactly!?" Fireplate exclaimed.

"That, we don't know," the unicorn captain said, sighing. "Although, it may have something to do with the agony she must have suffered when Princess Celestia removed that Dark Magic curse from her, it may also have something else going on. So far, whenever anypony so much as catches sight of her, she bolts."

"We've brought the recording crystals of the songs we performed from her music, as you requested," Gus said, handing over the jewels. "We hope they'll help."

"Princess Celestia suspects they may be the only things that will," Shining Armor said. "As I explained earlier, when the Princess pulled that shard of Dark Magic out of her, we think it damaged her mind and may have wiped her memories of you. But she clearly knew those songs long before coming to Equestria. Even if she can't remember who you are, she should at least pay attention to them."

"How else can we help, Captain?" Gus asked. "If we can, we'd like to come with you when searching for her, if we wouldn't be in the way."

"That's indeed what we'd like to ask of you," Shining Armor answered. "So far, she's not been violent in anyways that we've seen. She just—runs! And is gone before anypony can say anything to her. Her pattern, such as it is, seems to be to hide out during the day somewhere in or near one of the towns out there, and she doesn't come out until sunset or shortly after to search for food. But if there's a chance of getting her to pause for a moment, we're hoping your presence and her music will do it. However, since there are so many options for her to run to, we need to spread out pretty thin. It also means we have to split all of you up with the various teams. We're hoping that with you accompanying our teams, you can get her to slow down long enough to listen, to hear that she doesn't need to keep running, to let her know that nopony is going to hurt her."

There was a knock at the door.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" Shining Armor inquired.

"Captain, sir," Lieutenant Sideline spoke up, "there's been another sighting of her last night, in Hoofsville."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," he replied, then the captain looked over his assortment of stacked notes. "Hoofsville… Hoofsville… Ah, there it is," Shining Armor said, focusing his magic to retrieve the pile he was looking for. Then he sent individual sheets to each of the visitors. "Please report to these teams and join up with them as they go out searching for her. I'll be accompanying one of the teams with you, too. Good luck, everypony and griff."

"I think this is the better one to play with me being here, sir," Gandon said to Shining Armor, selecting one file to be ready to play. "I can't sing for squit, but this one's primary role is just narration, which I can do. Griz told me that all the singing roles are already stored in the file."

"I'm sure you'll do fine, Gandon," the captain said, nodding to him as he looked about the community of Trotten.

The town was just on this side of one of the major bridges that led across the river and an important one for traffic going into Fillydelphia. There was no sign of the fugitive bipedal cheetah, not that he was really expecting to see her at that point. His team, consisting of eight pegasi and three unicorns, was deployed about and between all the town's outer perimeter of houses well beyond the inner homes surrounding the Square, while he and the young griffon prepared one of several portable stereo boxes that had be requisitioned and borrowed from DJ Pon3's nightclub for this task.

Officially called the Town Square, it was anything but. Roughly oblong, approximately 3 chains plus 20% long by 3 chains minus 20% wide, with its longest dimension running in a mostly southwest to northeast direction. The town center was simply a wide, open space surrounding a well and four adjacent chimneys, along with a few other posts that had been constructed not too far from the area's center for commemorating festivals, but otherwise consisted of just simply a very wide zone where no structures or buildings were allowed. To the north of the well was a large prominent windmill. Two prominent homes straddled the northern upper sides while three smaller houses formed a misshapen arc enclosing the southwestern end of the Square.

On their way here, the young griffon had explained the selection he intended to play was a rather long program called "War of the Worlds" which had become a very popular piece at the Griffon's Way. Supposedly, a sample of human music that could cause griffons to riot in approval? Shining Armor wondered, remembering the report that had been forwarded from the EG unit in Manehattan. I'm almost afraid of what that must even sound like! he considered, having heard quite a few griffon ballads and songs in his career and thus had an inkling of what sort of music they liked. But with luck, this should draw her out to investigate. From that point, Shining Armor could only speculate about what would happen.

About thirty-seven-and-a-half minutes into the play, Gandon was speaking the line, "'I looked up enviously at those safely on board, straight into the eyes of my beloved'—" He broke off at that instant when he suddenly locked eyes with Jackie, herself, who was watching them from around the corner of a house just to the south of them!

"Jackie!" he hoarsely finished in shock. Shining Armor, who was developing quite an appreciation for what he had heard so far, quickly looked about at the griffon's sudden change in performance and got a view of the cat-creature, too.

"Easy, Gandon," Shining Armor quickly whispered, raising a hoof to gently touch one of the griffon's flaring wings. "We don't want to spook her."

He carefully pulled his hoof back to his ear and activated the communications device. "All units, remain where you are for now and standby," he quietly sent. "Somepony, please send to the Princess, 'she's here'." Then he slowly set his hoof down. By now, the music on the stereo system, which continued without Gandon contributing any further narration, had shifted to the leadup for the Battle of the Thunderchild. Annoyed by the otherwise good music that, through no fault of its own, had suddenly become just merely noise now interfering with their mission, Shining Armor used his magic to slowly turn down the volume while keeping his eyes on her. When it was low enough for it to not be distracting to his thoughts, he called out.

"Jackie Valentine!" he shouted. "Nopony here is going to harm you! You don't have to run anymore! We only want to help you! Can you understand me?"

She didn't respond other than flick an ear at his shouts to her, but she hadn't yet run off, so that was a good sign so far.

"Jackie Valentine, my name is Shining Armor!" he continued. "I'm the Captain of the Royal Guard contingent sent here to help you. If you are injured or in any sort of pain, we have medics on hoof who are trained to assist. This griffon beside me is Gandon. Do you remember him? He was one of the griffons you met at a restaurant in Manehattan where you used to work! You used to be friends with him!"

She muttered something, but Shining Armor wasn't able to fully make it out. It sounded like "demi tree" or perhaps just "dim tree". Then she was gone.

"Damn!" Shining Armor hissed in frustration, closing his eyes in defeat.

"Sir, she's back," Gandon suddenly whispered. His eyes snapped open again. Sure enough, she was back where she had been.

She's never done that before! Shining Armor nervously thought. Hopefully, we're getting through to her.

"Jackie Valentine, please! Let us help you," he called out to her. "You're not in any trouble. You've committed no crime that we know of. Indeed, from what we know, you even saved one family from being robbed and murdered!" Her ears flicking at his voice was still her only evident response, but while she glanced at him when he spoke, she was keeping most of her attention on Gandon.

"She seems very interested in you," Shining Armor whispered to the griffon, who nodded in agreement. "Try speaking to her." Gandon sharply glanced at the unicorn before looking back to her, and the griffon nervously gulped.

"J-Jackie! D-do you remember me?" Gandon hesitantly called out, and she quickly lifted up to a two-legged stance to stare intensely at him. "You came by Big Joe's restaurant about a month ago, where you met Fireplate and me, and Gus and the other members of the band playing there. You gave us this music as well as several other songs," he said, pointing over to the stereo sitting on the edge of the covered well. She glanced at the device before returning her glare on him. "Don't you remember us?"

"Try not to push her," Shining Armor whispered. "She might not remember. When Princess Celestia pulled the Dark Magic from her, it may have wiped those memories."

"I'm sorry, Jackie," Gandon tried again. "You might not remember us, but we remember you. We know you to be a very kind and honorable creature, with lots of knowledge about a race of mythical humans. That's where you told us you got this music from." She cocked her head at his words, and Shining Armor was encouraged by the progress.

She's listening! he thought triumphantly, bringing his hoof up to his ear to activate his communications link.

"All units, make your way slowly to the south side of the windmill and muster there. But whatever you do, avoid—repeat—avoid the two houses on the south side of the town center, especially the house to our south-east! All units acknowledge."

Shining Armor listened as the Royal Guard repeated and acknowledged his orders while he also kept track of how Gandon and Jackie Valentine interacted. She perked up and tensed at seeing the pegasi and unicorns in his team come into view and gathered at the structure behind him and Gandon. When the entire team had mustered, she visibly relaxed, only for her to suddenly shift back down into a crouch when a shadow passed overhead. Shining Armor angrily glanced up, only to belatedly realize it was Princess Celestia leisurely coming in for a landing.

"Please be at ease, Jackie Valentine," Princess Celestia called down. "Nopony is going to try to chase you or harm you. I give you my word, as Princess and ruler of Equestria, you have nothing to fear from us."

The fugitive kept her glare on the princess, but made no attempt to run, at least for now. Princess Celestia likewise, kept her focus on Jackie Valentine as she glided around the windmill and made it clear she was going to land by the well, where Gandon and he stood. In a few seconds, the princess had joined them.

Shining Armor could tell the creature was calculating her chances with all the ponies and the Princess being here, as she constantly shifted her view from Gandon, to Shining, to Princess Celestia, to the Royal Guard, and back, repeatedly.

"Jackie Valentine, I know we got off on the wrong hoof," Princess Celestia called out. "I can't imagine how painful it must have been for you, but please understand. At the time, you had been suffering from an evil curse that had infected you and I was endeavoring to remove it from you. It was already causing you tremendous pain, and I was only trying to help. Please, accept my deepest and most sincere apologies for the pain you suffered. You ran off before I could have a chance to explain." She waited for Jackie Valentine to respond, but all that the creature did was keep shifting her focus on everypony there.

"Did you know you're very, very fast?" Princess Celestia inquired, trying a different tact. "I have to say, I've never encountered anycreature so fast as you—well, with one or two exceptions—" she added, smiling to her. Then the princess looked to him. "Did you bring the chains I had requested?" she asked, clearly loud enough for her voice to carry to Jackie Valentine's hearing.

"Yes, of course, Your Highness," Shining Armor replied, still rather puzzled by her earlier instructions to him that all the teams bring such and have them on hoof. She never explained why when he had asked about it.

"Then use them on me," she ordered as she walked over to stand beside one of four stone chimneys that had been built about the town's well. "Tie me down."

"WHAT!?" he exclamation got all the Royal Guard and Gandon to snap their gazes onto the princess.

"I'm the only creature here who can possibly keep up with Jackie!" Princess Celestia sternly said. "We need her to understand, she has nothing to fear from us. She's only running because she's afraid of us! Afraid of me! So, if I can't chase her, then she'll feel just that much more safer, and she'll stay and listen to us! And I can't chase her if I'm tied down! Now, do it!"

Shining Armor glanced over at Jackie Valentine, who was still there, watching the spectacle unfold, then he nodded. He turned his attention to his team. "You heard her. Bring the chains," he ordered. There was considerable grumbling and hesitancy among the Guardponies, understandably so, given this wasn't the sort of thing one just does to the Princess! But they also knew it was their duty to obey all lawful orders.

"Be sure to make a good show to demonstrate how strong those chains are," Princess Celestia loudly commanded before he could remind them of their duty to obey all such lawful orders promptly. She turned her head to look directly at Jackie. "I want Jackie to know she is safe here!"

Shining Armor nodded to his team, and they obeyed, bringing the lengths of chain over to lay out before their princess. As instructed, a pair of pegasi took up either end of each length, one at a time, and gave a good strong tug, enough for the stronger of the two to pull the other a few hands before they brought the length over and began tying down Princess Celestia's wings to her barrel, hobbled her legs together, and finally bound her body to the chimney itself. Throughout it all, Jackie Valentine attentively watched. When it was finished, the Guardponies returned to the base of the windmill.

"Jackie," Princess Celestia said, deeply bowing her head, as much as the chains allowed her to move. "Again, please accept my deepest and sincerest apologies. I never meant to cause you any pain, but I knew that removing that sliver of Dark Magic from you was going to be a horrific torture for you. But you were already screaming in such agony from whatever the curse had done to you. If I hadn't acted, I fear that your mind, and even your soul, would have been lost."

For her part, Jackie Valentine had remained crouched since Princess Celestia had appeared, but now she slowly stood up once more. They all stood and stared at each other for what seemed to be several minutes.

"Gandon," Shining Armor whispered to get the griffon's attention, "don't rush her or do anything startling, but take a step toward her."

"Jackie, please," Gandon called out, reaching out a talon to her, getting her focus on him once more. He took a tentative step forward, then sat back down, and reached out again. "Come back home with us. Let us help you. Please."

"Dmitri?" she inquired, and that caught Princess Celestia's attention.

Who is she asking for? she wondered.

"I—I don't know what that is, Jackie," Gandon stammered. "What is a 'Demitree'?"

"Dmitri is a human name," Celestia spoke up, getting Jackie Valentine's attention again. "Someone who was named for Princess Demeter, one of the Ánthropos rulers from ancient times."

"I don't know what you were doing to me, but it hurt like all kinds of hell," Jackie finally spoke to Princess Celestia, taking a few steps slowly toward them.

"I really sorry, Jackie. I do wish I could have made it less so," the princess replied.

"I do remember," Jackie said. "But it wasn't the worst I've ever endured." The statement clearly puzzled Princess Celestia, but Jackie had gone back to focusing on Gandon as she cautiously approached. In a short while, she was standing just 15 links from Gandon, staring intently at the young griffon.

"You look so much like him," she whispered. "Or at least, what I remember he looked like. But you're clearly not the same color as he was."

"A griffon?" Gandon asked astonished. "Named 'Demitree'!? Is that who you're searching for? A friend you have lost?"

"A lover," she replied.

"Then, as a griffon, it would be my honor to help you find him," Gandon vowed. "To help reunite you with your mate!"

"He's—he's here!?" Jackie Valentine suddenly asked, evidently surprised by something in the discussion. Shining Armor felt odd about where this was going.

"Dmitri's here—?" she repeated, then a look of horror crept into her features. "Ohmygod, NO! The EXPLOSION!"

"You felt that explosion out here?" Princess Celestia asked. "Of course, you did. The mushroom joke devastated a large chunk of Manehattan. Fortunately, the Griffon's Way restaurant was well outside the blast—"

"No! No! No! Nonononono!" Jackie Valentine exclaimed, clearly panicked by something. "If I'm here, then they're here, too! The explosion! Oh, dear God, NO!! THOSE THINGS ARE HERE, ALSO!"

"Jackie? What's wrong? You were nowhere near Manehattan when the explosion ha—" Princess Celestia said, trying to calm her down.

"IT WASN'T AN EXPLOSION!" Jackie suddenly rushed up to grab Princess Celestia's peytral, screaming, "IT WAS A PORTAL!!" And they were all startled as the bipedal feline was pissing and defecating in front of them. Then she was gone….

PTSD vs PDSA (edited #2)

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[994AB Day 296]

"I'm—not sure, but I'm pretty certain we must have been talking about two different things just now," Shining Armor muttered as he helped remove the chains from the princess.

"That is the impression I got, too," she replied, frowning as she looked down at the mess that left in front of her. "She may have been running before because she was afraid of us, but now she's running because she's terrified of something else. Something else that she may have thought she escaped once, but now suspects that she hasn't escaped it at all."

"Princess Celestia, can we find her again?" Gandon anxiously inquired.

"That may take some doing, Gandon," Princess Celestia replied, sighing. "It took us long enough to figure out her pattern when she was just afraid of me. Now, she's operating on a completely new motivation. This is a disappointing setback."

"But Your Highness!" Shining Armor protested. "We did get through to her!"

"Yes. Yes, we did," she responded, nodding. Then she looked to him and smiled. "And we will do better next time," she added.

"Captain! Your Highness!" Corporal Wingnut called out as he stood near one of the other houses surrounding the Square, pointing to the space beneath an elevated porch attached to the building. The three of them walked over as the corporal backed away to give them room. Beneath it, they saw Jackie cowering there, shivering in cold and terror, staring out at them in wide-pupil horror.

"Jackie, please! Please let us help you," Princess Celestia gently pleaded. "Whatever monsters you are terrified of, you don't have to face them alone. We can help. We've fought plenty of monsters for centuries and won against them all. The Wendigos, Discord, King Sombra—Nightmare Moon. You're not alone." The smell reached them at that moment. "And let's get you cleaned up, young one. I know the difference between fear and terror, and you are terrified. I know how it can cause you to lose control of your body. There's no reason you should have to suffer in your own filth. You've done nothing to deserve suffering so."

"'Young one'?" Jackie snarled at her, making the princess smile.

"Trust me, Jackie. Compared to me, every creature is young," she giggled. "Even Lord Torch, the ancient ruler of the dragons."

Slowly, Jackie Valentine crawled out from under the porch. When she was standing before them, Princess Celestia slowly reached out with her right wing, letting the creature first see the primaries gently caress her. "Please, Jackie. You have friends here in Gandon and all the others from the restaurant who are out looking for you. And I want to be your friend, too," she said before taking a tentative step forward to fully envelope the bipedal feline with her wing and reassuredly hugged her.

"Y-you sh-shouldn't be doing this," Jackie Valentine stammered. "I-I'm filthy! And-and you're this country's ruler?"

"I've had many mentors when I was young, long before I became a princess," Princess Celestia told her. "One of my favorite mentors was a unicorn named Mike Roan. You would never believe how many dirty jobs he taught me to do and how much I appreciate his tutoring," she said, giggling.

"I know you must be so terrified by whatever horrors you're concerned about, Jackie," Celestia addressed her while she levitated the sponges to clean her up, "so I won't press you before you're ready to speak about them. But it would be helpful to know just what it is that we are going to be going up against. Although I promise only when you're ready, not before. Besides that, I really hope you can speak about what news you have about the humans you have encountered," she said cheerfully. "It's been so long since I've seen any. The music you provided your friends was so amazing, and from what I gathered from them, it seems that there have been many changes with humanity in all this time, too. I'm very interested in hearing what you can tell me."

"Well, I—don't know if I'm ready to talk about those monsters yet," Jackie responded with a snarl. "But if I'm going to explain anything about humanity, there's no avoiding talking about what those abominations did to me. There's a reason I know so much about humanity. You know how I said Dmitri is a griffon, who looks so much like Gandon over there?" she asked, nodding to him.

"Yes?" Celestia inquired.

"Well, Dmitri, me, the others who were on that boat—we were all human," Jackie stated, causing Princess Celestia to drop the cleaning items in shock.

"Tho—those creatures you're terrified of—they used transformational magic on you!?"

"I don't know what they used on us, but they dropped us into vats of acid—" Jackie backed up, shivering. "It—it ate away all my flesh! My entire body!" she whimpered, hugging herself. Princess Celestia instantly moved forward and enveloped Jackie in her wings to hug her.

"And it took its sweet time in doing so. It burned so much!" Jackie whined, then she began sobbing. The princess held on to her, whispering words of comfort that Shining Armor couldn't quite make out, but the whole scene made his soul ache in sympathy for the poor creature.

"I—I have no idea how long we were in those things," Jackie said, after she was finally able to recover some emotional control again. "But that acid somehow rebuilt us. I'm—I'm this thing now! Dmitri is a griffon, Patty, Sherry, Cathy are all like me, but are different cats. Patty's a black panther, Sherry a lioness, and Cathy a cougar. Mrs Anderson is some sort of birdlike creature, while her daughters are dragons, and Willy is some big, winged, cobra-thing, now."

"Beings who play with Dark Magic are those who frequently engage in senseless and needless torture," Princess Celestia told her. "King Sombra was one such pony, to everypony's shame of him being a pony at all. What creatures did this to you and your friends, we will find them and put a stop to their activities. Unfortunately, I don't know if there is any way to reverse what they did to you."

"Even if you could reverse this," Jackie asked, "where could we go? We were abducted from our home world by something that sucked us underwater. We don't have any idea where we ended up. And this doesn't look to be the same world where we were held."

"Dimensional portals," Shining Armor muttered, "to other worlds?"

"Possibly," Princess Celestia agreed, turning an ear to him.

"The report—the report about your arrival—in Manehattan," Shining Armor continued, "where you apparently saved Thomas Mane and his family—it mentions there was a loud bang and an intense flash of light."

"I—I have no memory of that," Jackie muttered with a look of concentration on her face. She looked at Princess Celestia. "One moment, we were fighting those monsters, the next, I was in that jail cell with you pulling that stuff out of me."

"Then it is as I had feared," Princess Celestia said. "Removing the Dark Magic from you has evidently erased your memories of those days soon after your arrival. But know this, Jackie Valentine, the stories I have heard about you were all good ones. Moments after your arrival, you apparently intervened in an attempted robbery and murder of a prominent business pony. Then the next day, you met up with Gandon here and a pony friend of his at the Griffon's Way Restaurant and got a job working there. While there, you provided several magnificent songs to a musical band who have been also working at the restaurant. You've made plenty of friends in Equestria in the short time you have been here, Jackie. They will all be very relieved to hear you are safe and sound."

"I—I don't know what to say," she sadly replied, shaking her head. "I don't—I don't remember any of that."

"Those actions tell us that you are a good creature, Jackie Valentine," Princess Celestia told her. "If you were an evil being, your nature would have been revealed many times over, given your opportunities, and especially given your extraordinary abilities. But even while you were running from us after leaving Manehattan, we had many reported sightings of you, and you never harmed or threatened another, no matter how desperate you must have been. That says a lot about you, Jackie."

"Even if you don't remember Big Joe, Fireplate, Gus and the others in the band, or me," Gandon told her, "we would all be honored to have you get to know us all over again, and to help you find any of your missing friends, too."

Jackie looked at each of them, Shining Armor, Gandon, and Princess Celestia, each in turn, then nodded.

"Yes, that—that sounds like maybe something I should do," she softly said.

Her decision to trust the equinoid monstrosities was easier said than done, however. When it came to being transported to their capitol city, Jackie completely balked at getting into a chariot to ride the flight there.

"Let me get this straight," she hissed. "You want me to stand in that while those creatures pull it through the air!?" she finished with a scream. The lead unicorn and the winged unicorn looked at her, then at each other. Their expressions could have been almost comical if it weren't for the fact that they genuinely seemed to think it was a reasonable thing to do.

"It's—perfectly safe," the unicorn muttered to her, apparently not able to understand her reluctance. "I do it all the time," he added with a softer voice a few moments later.

"Jackie, would you be willing to ride me there?" the griffon gently spoke up, coming to her rescue, "or would you rather follow us and run there?"

"Are—are you afraid of flying, Jackie?" the tall equine inquired. "We just don't want you to tire yourself out by running there on your own."

"I'm okay with flying," she replied. "We flew all over the world to do our gigs in other countries. Fiji's out in the middle of the Pacific, after all. It would have taken us weeks to sail there. It's just—that thing isn't exactly—aerodynamic. The space shuttle would do better than this will, and it flew like a brick!"

"Ánthropos—" the tall equinoid muttered.

"What was that?" Jackie demanded.

"Ánthropos," she repeated. "It's what you humans used to call yourselves, thousands of years ago. As I recall, your people always had trouble with understanding and using magic."

"Well, except for the fact that magic doesn't exist, we humans don't have any problems with magic," Jackie flippantly replied. That got the tall equine giggling, and it was a rather disconcerting thing for Jackie to see and hear.

"Oh, Jackie, you have a lot to learn," the leader of the equines told her. "For one, your speed is entirely due to magic. For another, without magic, none of us here could fly. Not Gandon, not my pegasi guards, and not me," she said, spreading her wings and with just a few flaps, the horse was hovering in midair. "Our wings are simply too small to carry our weight without the use of magic," Celestia continued before concluding the demonstration and settled back to earth.

Jackie was utterly at a loss for words.

"Ánthropos," Jackie finally muttered. "That's Greek, as I recall. You—your people had contact with my world?"

"A very long time ago," she replied. "And we lost contact around the time I was born. I grew up with the stories of the far-off magical land of Elláda and its magnificent cities Ánthi, Thíva, Spárti, and others. And there were a few remnants of the Elliniká on this side of the barrier to tell us their stories, but they all died off over the centuries since then."

"Athena, Thebes, and Sparta," Jackie said, smiling at the memories. "We did a number of gigs in those cities years ago, as well as Thrace, and Thessalonica."

"Yes, Thessaloníki and Thráki, too," Celestia whispered. "So, those cities still exist!"

"Probably not in the same form as they did back then, but yes, they're still around," Jackie assured her. "But—wait—you said your people lost contact with mine back around the time you were born!?"

"That's another thing that magic is responsible for: alicorn longevity," the smug horse said, smirking, to which Jackie harumphed.

"But I am also concerned about you, Jackie," Celestia said. "With you having been infected with Dark Magic, and what you told us about being transformed against your will, I want our medical staff to give you a thorough checkup when we get back to Canterlot. I was skilled enough to find and remove the influence from you, but you should be looked over by more qualified experts I have on staff so to ensure I haven't missed anything."

"I understand," Jackie finally said. She looked over at the chariot. "But I'm not comfortable about getting in that!"

"Would it help if I rode with you?" Celestia offered.

"Not really," Jackie muttered. "You can fly without that damned thing."

"True," Celestia giggled. "Would it help if I offered to let you ride me?" The flinch that every equine about her, as well as the griffon's expression, had when Celestia made the offer finally decided the issue for Jackie.

"I—I think I should take Gandon up on his offer," she said, sighing. "That is, if you don't mind, Gandon?" she inquired.

"I would be honored, Jackie!" he said, dipping his head to her in a bow to her.

"But—can you carry me? And for that distance—for however far it is?"

"You're not that heavy, and yes, I can fly that easily," he assured her.

"You have to understand, Jackie, that griffons will sometimes bite off more than they can swallow," Celestia said as she set down in the courtyard of the castle. "But they mean well. Besides, he got you most of the way here."

"Like many folks back home will try to do," Jackie said, dismounting from the tall equine creature. She went over to greet Gandon who was stepping out of the landed chariot and carrying the music player. "And I do appreciate the effort, Gandon," she said, giving him a hug. "Thank you!" During this exchange, Celestia dismissed the Guard to take care of their matters.

"And thank you, Cel—Princess Celestia," Jackie added after releasing the griffon to turn and bow to the horse queen.

"My pleasure, believe me," she replied. "And when we're in private, you're welcome to drop the 'Princess'. You're a friend, Jackie. I do apologize for all the bad looks you were getting for not addressing me as such. It's a habit I've tried for centuries to break my little ponies from doing, but they insist. After a while, even immortals, like me, will eventually give up," she finished, giggling.

"I suppose so," Jackie admitted. "I guess I can see where they're coming from, with you being able to control the sun and moon the way you apparently can. It freaked me out enough when you caused the moon to zigzag like that!" Celestia giggled as she did when Jackie had doubted her claims and challenged Jackie to direct where the moon should move, whereupon Celestia just lit up her horn and moved the damned orb!

"It's not like I really have a choice, Jackie," Celestia said, shrugging her wings as they walked toward one of the castle entrances. "The natural motions of the sun, moon, and stars were initially disrupted by Discord—permanently so, I'm afraid. And—before I came along, the tasks of raising and lowering the celestial bodies was taken up by several of our most powerful unicorns at the time. But the effort to do so every day and night quickly burned them out of their magic and shortened their lives. Not to mention the continued depravations from Discord over the years of his reign as he spread his chaos over the world. We—well, he was finally imprisoned by the Elements of Harmony. After that, we—we did our best to rebuild," she sadly finished.

They walked along several of the corridors in silence for a while. Jackie could tell the recounting was having a deep affect on the equines, especially Celestia, it seemed. The griffon, however, seemed to be more intrigued by the story, as was she.

"And I'll probably will hear a ton of complaints tomorrow morning for moving the moon around, like that," Celestia suddenly said, snorting after several minutes had passed.

"Fortunately, that was a long time ago," she continued brightening and smiling at Jackie. "Things are much better now, and they continue to get better, too. Now, let's get you something to eat and a place to sleep. And with the word going out to the other search teams that you've finally been found, I'm sure you'll have lots of relieved and eager visitors tomorrow. After that, we'll get you checked out with the clinic."

"Yes, ma'am," Jackie replied.

"Mmm, that's a new one," Celestia giggled.

"What's that?"

"Being called 'ma'am', instead of 'Your Highness' or variations of it," she quipped. "I rather like it," Celestia finished, smiling.

"These—hallways—they—seem to go on forever," Jackie said as she slowly became aware of just how big the castle was.

"That—they do," Celestia sighed. Then, she looked over with a conspiratorial grin. "Wanna race?" Jackie just blinked in surprise, then laughed. And it took her several moments before she could stop. When she finally did, she saw that Celestia had enveloped her in a wing and was helping to hold her upright.

"Th-th-thank! I needed that," Jackie said, sighing.

"That, you did," Celestia kindly yet sternly said. "You obviously have been going through way too many problems and haven't done enough to avail yourself of any joy in life."

"Yeah," Jackie sadly replied. "Well, lately, there hasn't been much to be joyful about. What with the shipwreck, the deaths of several friends and the constant attacks to take away the rest of them—or me along with them—the 'joy' of the acid bath that ate away my body and turned me into this cat—yeah, that quaint little island deathtrap I left behind was so much fun."

"Pardon me, but all that sounds like a collection of contradictions," a voice behind them suddenly spoke out.

"What?" Jackie blurted, looking at the speaker. It was a small purple unicorn staring back at her in apparent confusion. If Jackie had to guess, she would think this was one of their youths.

"Oh, good evening, my most faithful student!" Celestia cheerfully greeted the newcomer. "You are up late, tonight."

"My apologies, Princess Celestia. I was busy studying the lessons you assigned me—" the unicorn replied.

"And kept going for another twelve chapters after you finished what I had tasked you?" Celestia asked.

"Fourteen, actually," the creature squeaked out in a tiny voice, getting the taller equine to giggling.

"Only to stop when Spike reminded you that the both of you were hungry and needed to eat?" Celestia pressed. The unicorn looked down at her front hooves as she shifted her right forehoof behind its mate, seemingly like a child caught with her hands in the cookie jar again.

"Ididn'twanttostop," came a soft mutter, and Celestia giggled even more so.

"Come along, then, Twilight," she told the young unicorn. "You can bring Spike his food when you're finished eating with us. But I advise you to stop reading for tonight. Otherwise, you'll be too sleepy for tomorrow's lessons."

"Buh-buh-but PRINCESS CELESTIA!? If I don't study hard, I CAN'T LEARN!" the unicorn, named Twilight, practically screamed.

"Tell me, Twilight Sparkle," Celestia scolded. "Did you fully understand the lessons I assigned to you?"

Twilight Sparkle? Where have I heard that name before? Jackie wondered, cocking her head.

"Of-of course, Princess Celestia!" she instantly protested.

"And did you understand the extra material you read up on?"

"Well—y—yes?" she replied, clearly a little less certain. "At least the first ten or eleven chapters—"

"Then you are doing very well, indeed, Twilight," Celestia told her. "Your enthusiasm to learn serves you well, my most faithful student. But you must also learn to pace yourself. If you wear yourself out trying to absorb so much information all at once, you'll end up sleeping through your lessons during the day!"

"I promise, I only did that once, Your Highness! I swear I won't fall asleep again!" This time, Twilight did scream. "PLEASE DON'T SEND ME BACK TO MAGIC KINDERGARTEN!"

"Twilight Sparkle, nopony's sending you back to Magic Kindergarten!" Celestia scolded her. "I just want you to stay healthy as you are learning your lessons. So, come along with us, and we'll get you something to eat. And Twilight, this is Jackie Valentine and her friend, Gandon. Gandon, Jackie, this is Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn I have undertaken to tutor."

"Honored to meet you," Gandon said, bowing to her. Twilight did likewise in return.

"I am also honored to meet you, sir," Twilight responded. "I've never met a griffon before. You are even more impressive than I've imagined."

"I am not much of a great or grand specimen of griffons, but thank you very much for the compliment," he replied.

"Pleased to meet you, Twilight," Jackie said, reaching out a hand to shake. And had to wait as the unicorn looked at her in curious fascination.

"I'm—not familiar with your species," Twilight blurted out. "You—resemble the descriptions of a diamond dog, but you could also be an Abyssinian said to live near Kludgetown—those spots, however, aren't normal for eith—"

"I'm human, actually," Jackie told her, to which Twilight's eyes got huge.

"Human!? A real live mythical human!?" she excitedly exclaimed, but instantly shifted to an expression of skepticism. "But—you don't look anything like the descriptions about humans, either! *gasp* Can the books be wrong!?" she exclaimed, suddenly getting a horrified expression. "Oh, my gosh! If the history books can be wrong about what humans look like, what else could they be wrong abou—?" she screamed as she began running about in a tight circle.

"Twilight! Calm down!" Celestia spoke up, grabbing the purple unicorn in her horn glow and brought her to a halt to stand before them. "We are in the middle on introductions! If you had remembered the proper protocol, you would have learned in due time, that Jackie was born as a human, but that she is the unfortunate victim of transformational magic, or something very much like it."

"Oh," Twilight said. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Are—are you okay?" she asked.

"That's what we hope to find out after Jackie has had a decent meal and rest," Celestia answered for her.

"It wasn't exactly a pleasant experience," Jackie said. "I'm not in any pain now. And I do find it awkward to be naked, but then, all of you are, too, so I guess I'm not too outlandish with everything I have out on display."

"Is something wrong, Twilight?" Celestia inquired at the unicorn who had suddenly halted and was getting left behind.

"That—that statement, and the ones you made earlier, they don't exactly match up," the unicorn complained. "Your earlier comments indicated that you had suffered, and there wasn't much joy, yet you said the experience was so much fun. And now, it wasn't a pleasant experience. I—don't understand. It's all contradictory," she finished.

"I was—using sarcasm to remind Celes—Princess Celestia—of what I had told her earlier when we had talked in that other town," Jackie explained. "I—" she started to speak but then stopped, as her memories were dredged up again. Celestia quickly enveloped her in a wing to hug her and was gently speaking to her, but Jackie was now having a hard time making out the words the more her panic took over.

"Is—is she going to be okay?" Twilight asked as she stared wide eyed at Jackie. The young unicorn glanced worriedly at the mess on the passageway floor after Celestia had quickly lifted the creature into the air with her magic to move her away from it.

"We hope so, but it may take her some time to be able to face down whatever horrors that exist within her memories," Princess Celestia replied, continuing to nuzzle, and hug and caress the bipedal creature with her left wing.

"It's okay, Jackie," the princess spoke to the being. "You're safe here! Nopony is going to harm you! You can get through this, and we can help you. You are not alone! You have friends here!"

"It seems she suffered—terribly—before getting teleported to Manehattan, where I first met her," Gandon quietly said. "Even though she was safe in Manehattan, she still had some curse affecting her. Princess Celestia tried to help remove the curse, but Jackie ran off before she had finished. Jackie has been on the run for almost a month. We had a little time to talk when we finally caught up with her in Trotten. Whatever horrors she went through, when she's forced to recall them, she's like this."

"What happened to her?" Twilight asked.

"I was told she was infected by Dark Magic," Gandon replied.

"Dark Magic!?" Twilight exclaimed. "Could there be such a thing!?"

"There is, indeed, Twilight!" Princess Celestia spoke sharply to her, taking her attention off of helping the bipedal creature, "but that is a lesson I will teach you only after I feel you can appreciate the severity of the subject—and not before! It is an extremely dangerous matter to discuss. You have tremendous intellect, Twilight, and you may well have sufficient intelligence to use Dark Magic, but there is much more needed than mere intellect to do so safely. Emotional maturity and wisdom are even more important to have before you are ever exposed to those lessons! You may develop such in time, but you are not ready right now! As of yet, you do not yet have enough of either needed to learn of this! Do I make myself understood, Twilight!?"

"Y-yes, Pr-Princess Celestia," Twilight stammered, fearful she had displeased her teacher with asking about this subject.

The small blast had scorched his face, but he was still smiling. Of course, it wasn't for the lack of will on his part. Indeed, he wanted to frown, but he simply couldn't. His face was practically frozen in the rictus grin he sported since the explosion at the warehouse had destroyed his goal of getting rich.

"Hmm," he grunted, staring at the remains of the table where he had been trying to mix the minute amounts of poison joke and magic mushroom to restart his operation.

His partner cautiously peered from behind a massive piece of machinery in the building they were using as a laboratory which was nestled in the middle of the abandoned amusement park.

"It was working so well back at the warehouse," he muttered.

"We had the help of that zebra back at the warehouse," she offered as a suggestion.

"Ah, true," he replied, sighing. "I would rather that we shouldn't need that sort of help, though. Zebras are just—creepy!" he said, turning his face to her to grin at her in a creepy manner. "Despite looking like ponies, they simply don't think like us at all! Do you remember any of what that shaman did to stabilize the mix?"

"Well, she was being very careful to hide whatever she was doing from me," she replied, frowning enough to satisfy both of them.

"OH!" she suddenly exclaimed, searching herself. "I almost forgot—! YES!!" she triumphantly yelled, pulling a small metal box from its hiding place within her mane.

"I planted several cameras about the vat," she happily giggled as she opened the box to show him. "I recovered the recording crystals and stashed them away for safekeeping after her last visit!"

The rictus grin he sported was again genuine.

"Oooh, so, what we need now is a player," he happily said. He gazed up and out, seeing the digits of the clawless paw dancing on the tiles and momentarily read through their dance. "Wow! Look at that! Our first caper as supervillains! Rob a VAD store! Heh, heh! HEH! HEE! HEE! HA! HA!! HAH!!! HAH!!!!"

Entering Therapy (edited #2)

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[994AB Day 296]
"Oh, that was such a wonderful meal, Princess Celestia!" Gandon exclaimed. "I'm sad to say that Big Joe has some serious competition on his hooves!"

"Actually, that order was one that Big Joe had created," Celestia told him. "I had my chef start corresponding with Big Joe to trade griffon recipes. I have to entertain your ambassadors periodically, so it helps us all to make these little arrangements."

"Well, he'll be happy to know how faithfully your chef followed the instructions," Gandon said, happily sighing as he rubbed his belly. "I really couldn't tell the difference between his and this!"

"Is this what all griffon food is like!?" Jackie asked astonished. "You said that I was eating like this all the time I was working in that restaurant!? For several days!?"

"Yes," Gandon said. "And that music you brought us made even hungry griffons pause in their eating to listen to it!"

"I'm really sorry that I don't remember any of that," she softly said.

"What about you, Twilight?" Celestia inquired to the unicorn. "Did you enjoy that? I do believe that's the first time for you to eat griffon fare, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," she replied. "I do know that pegasi, and by extension, alicorns will routinely eat fish, and that all ponies can eat it, but we mostly don't for cultural reasons. I did find it was quite delicious though, and the meat texture was very interesting. It did have a flavor I couldn't identify, however."

"Ah, but that's the 'secret ingredient', my most faithful student," she cooed with a grin.

"May I have some more of that 'secret ingredient', Your Highness?" Gandon asked.

"But of course," Celestia said, levitating the carafe over to refill Gandon's glass.

"You mean the 'secret ingredient' is alcohol!?" Twilight sputtered in indignation.

"Whiskey, my unicorn friend!" Gandon corrected.

"Hooffield-McColt Whiskey, to be precise," Celestia added, nodding to the griffon, who toasted her in return with his drink.

"How is that a 'secret ingredient'!?" Twilight demanded.

"It's not called 'grilled whiskey glazed salmon' because it's shiny," Gandon quipped after sipping his drink, and the purple unicorn facehoofed for several moments.

"How is THAT a 'secret ingredient'!?" she screamed up at the ceiling.

"Because—you couldn't identify it," Celestia slowly replied, smirking at her.

Twilight's lower left eyelid began twitching.

Jackie had the oddest feeling that she had seen this sort of byplay happen before. Shrugging, she simply reached out to get another serving-spoonful of the fish for her plate. Although she was quite full, she just wanted a few more bites from which to savor the flavor of the dish.

[994AB Day 297]
"Ugh! What a mess!" Gordon exclaimed when he entered the store.

"Okay? I'm—impressed," Paddock softly muttered swiveling his head about to quickly gather up as many of details as he could before being forced to look away.

"The day-clerk is over there, detectives," Corporal Higgs reported, pointing at the green unicorn mare sitting in the corner—whose fur was orange. "We've kept her there ever since we got here to answer her call."

"Good. Thank you, Corporal," Gordon said. As he led Paddock over to her. "I can see why she's that color," he muttered to his partner who responded with a grunt of agreement. Or maybe the unicorn detective was just trying to keep his own breakfast down.

Jackie slowly woke in very soothing warmth and immense comfort, but the sight that greeted her when she opened her eyes nearly freaked her out, but by the next moment, she remembered how yesterday had ended: hearing a musical play from Earth, finally getting to talk with those equinoid monstrosities, reencountering that big one that had shocked her nearly shitless with being just as fast as she was, and the realization these creatures weren't her enemies who were out to do her harm. She slowly began to relax.

Then the specks of dust dancing in sunbeams cutting through drawn drapes began moving again. And the sound of a ticking clock started up again.

Her eyes focused on the motion of the dust specks, and she had to giggle to herself. In the time it took for her to wake up until she calmed down again, she realized she could have easily been from here and back to Trotten where they found her, and the only one who would even have a chance of keeping up with her was their head of state, Princess Celestia.

Jackie thought back to yesterday soon after they had finished dinner, about how Celestia had personally taken the time to show Jackie and Gandon about their guest rooms, after performing her apparent duty of lowering the sun and raising the moon, instead of pawing it off to some random castle staff. During that ceremony, Gandon certainly looked impressed, although his expression couldn't come close to reaching the level of sheer utter awe in that purple unicorn's face, but they both clearly had intense respect for the tall equiniod. And yet, such an obviously high-level dignitary had taken an extraordinaire amount of time to just explain to her how the toilet and shower worked! After a quick shower and blowdry, the moment she climbed into bed was the last memory she had of then until she woke up this morning so toasty and cozy.

Toasty and cozy? Toazy? she considered for a few seconds. Hmm… that might work.

She shook her head in wonder.

This didn't seem to be a creature who considered herself so self-important as to look down her nose at anyone—despite having a face from which she only could look down her nose at people—but instead, Celestia was evidently quite the humble being only interested in trying to help where she could. Years of traveling had taught Jackie how to spot the difference, but with these creatures not being human, she had had a hard time looking past their forms and seeing their natures.

Then she remembered.

She had had the same trouble seeing her friends through their new forms, after she and they had come out of those vats—

"NOooooo!" she cringed as terror began to overwhelm her.

There was no place to run.

There were only a few places to hide.

So, she hid.

She hid for hours.

It was so clammy where she stayed, but she was determined to not be found, so she stayed hidden.

She hid.

It was so quiet where she hid.

So, she was determined to stay even more quiet.

No matter how uncomfortable it beca—

Then the stink of piss and shit reached her nose.

Something in her brain suddenly switched, and she looked toward her nethers then hung her head in exasperation.

"Fuck!" she whispered barely over the sound of the ticking clock.

Pulling herself out from her hiding place, she looked around, rather puzzled.

I was hiding for hours, but I distinctly recall Celestia telling me that she would come get me in the mor— Then her vision caught the sight of the clock on the fireplace mantle, and she suddenly began to laugh hysterically.

There was a knock at the door.

"Jackie?" Celestia called out as the door opened.

Jackie laughed even harder at that, rolling over onto her back.

"Jackie? Are you okay?" the horse asked, quite puzzled as she approached that quickly switched to an alarmed expression. "Jackie!?"

It was the most hilarious thing Jackie had ever seen, especially the look on her face when Celestia must have finally caught her scent.

"N-no!" Jackie got out between guffaws as she held her sides while laughing uncontrollably. "I'm not!"

It had only been two minutes between the start of her panic attack and when she finally poked her head out from beneath the bed.

"Doesn't this remind you a little of that incident at the circus last week?" Gordon asked, looking critically at one of the victims.

"Like how that Zucco fellow's brains were splotched all over the inside of the tent?" Paddock inquired. "Has it only been a week since then? Seems more than just a few months since the city blew up! But, yeah—yeah, kind of does, now that you mention it," he said, glancing about at the walls and ceiling. "About a dozen times over. I thought with Jack Black dead, we'd be rid of this stuff by now."

"Is he truly dead?" Gordon challenged. "We never found his body."

"C'mon, Rookie! You heard Shetland Hoofley tell us that he saw Jack Black's rump get booted into that vat of manure!" Paddock argued. "Whether he was still in that vat or got flushed down the drain, when that stuff blew up, he would've been atomized!"

"Maybe, maybe not," Gordon replied, shrugging his shoulders as he gathered a swab of debris from the inside of a pony's head. "Either way, we didn't get all of his gang gathered up or accounted for. There might still be several of them out there working to make more of it. In the wrong hooves or right hooves, there's tons of bits to be made from mushroom joke."

"True," Paddock grumbled as Gordon inserted the swab into a test tube. They watched as the fluid in the tube turned into a bright medium violet-red. "Roadapples," he whispered.

"But—mass casualties of mushroom joke in a single crime scene—?" Paddock began, looking about again.

"My thoughts, exactly," Gordon quietly muttered. "Something's not right here—"

"Detectives?" Corporal Higgs said approaching them. "The clerk's finished the inventory. She reports that several high-end VADs are missing, as are the security recording crystals."

"How many high-end VADs?" Gordon asked.

"At least a dozen, each more than a thousand bits."

"Somepony using mushroom joke to kill over a dozen ponies as cover for a simple robbery!?" Paddock exclaimed. "'Something's not right here' is an understatement, Rookie!"

"I'm very worried about you, Jackie," Celestia said as the bipedal cheetah stepped out of the shower stall. "That laughter was not the laughter of a healthy individual!"

"I know," Jackie softly said, looking past the country's ruler to the cleaning crew who were just finishing up their cleanup work of the mess she had left under the bed. Then she chuckled. "But you have to admit, from my vantagepoint, it was pretty funny."

"Hardly!" Celestia protested, frowning at her. "I can't see anything that could possibly be funny about that!"

"Think about it," Jackie tried to explain. "I thought I was literally under there for hours! I thought the day had already passed, and when I crawled out, it turned out it was less than two minutes! Then you walk in right on cue—just putting that ironic situation right up there with Lex telling Clark their friendship would be the stuff of legends!"

Celestia raised an eyebrow at that in an otherwise deadpan face.

"You—don't know who they are, do you?"

"No, I do not."

"Okay—" Jackie said, thinking of another way to explain it. "Okay, I'm—essentially—Barry Allen."

"Who?"

"Oh, you don't know him, either…?"

"Mmnnn-no," Celestia said, shaking her head.

"Um—Barry Allen—? The Flash—? Fastest man alive? He's able to run nearly at the speed of light—" Jackie rattled off but stopped when she was getting more blank looks from Celestia.

"Okay—remember when we first met, and I ran? You flew after me, just as fast as I could," Jackie ventured, and Celestia nodded. "So, that's like the race between the Flash and Superman—" Another blank look from the winged unicorn horse-thing.

"But do you remember how compared to us, everyone else seemed—frozen?" Jackie asked.

"Yes."

"Yippie! A breakthrough!" Jackie cheered, throwing her ~~hands~~paws up into the air. That got a rather odd tilt of the head from Celestia.

"Okay, sorry about that, but back to how everyone seemed frozen," Jackie explained. "That was us moving at superspeed. Even though we had to travel the same distance as anyone else who might try walking the same paths we took, we were doing so, so fast, that everything else was literally standing still, but we had to go through every step, every dodge, every turn, where our minds were having to run just as fast as our bodies were doing so that our reflexes could keep up."

"True?" Celestia agreed but only enough to encourage Jackie to go on to get the point she was trying to make.

"So, from our perspective, that race through that city took several minutes before I finally evaded you," Jackie told her. "But from the viewpoint of everyone else on the planet, our entire run was so fast, no one could even see it! It all happened in less than a fraction of a second!"

"So, what are you trying to say?"

"While I was hiding under the bed, not moving at all, it seemed like hours for me! But when I crawled back out, I discovered it was less than two minutes!" Jackie said, and Celestia's face began to register the implications. "I was moving at superspeed, even though I wasn't moving an inch!"

"You lost control of your speed!" Celestia exclaimed, clearly horrified. "Jackie! This is very, very serious! You might be able to run as fast as all that, but while doing so, you're also aging so much faster, too! It's not much of an issue for me, since I have such a naturally long lifespan, but you do not!"

"I know," Jackie soberly replied. "I remember reading of a similar story in The Flash. There was this one time that Barry Allen was stuck at moving at superspeed and he couldn't slow down. He was living hours, days, even weeks, in mere moments."

"Then you do understand the danger you were in! How can you think any of this as being funny!?" Celestia angrily demanded.

"I wasn't laughing so much about it being funny—okay, maybe for a little bit, I was," Jackie had to amend her initial statement from the disapproving glare from the horse-creature. "But it was more from relief. I had gone through the same thing that Barry Allen had gone through, and somehow, I managed to escape from it even before I realized I was in danger from it."

Celestia raised her head and held a faraway look in her eye for several seconds. "Ah, I see," she finally said.

"You walking in at that moment only punctuated the fact of how close I was to that danger," Jackie finished to which Celestia nodded.

"And this incident was brought on by another panic attack?" she asked, and Jackie nodded.

"Then we must get you all the help possible to get you through this trauma, and it's in no small irony to say that you need help quickly!" Celestia firmly stated. Jackie chuckled at that.

"You should know, we humans absolutely love irony," Jackie said grinning. "We built our entire entertainment industry about that concept."

"Having met a few of your ancient Elliniká forebears, I came to learn and appreciate that about your kind," Celestia groused. "In that, you haven't changed. Much."

"I think that's what makes us human," Jackie replied, grinning.

"Okay, okay, I admit it!" he shouted back from her nagging. "That batch won't make us any money on the market. But you have to admit—it was funny to see all their heads pop like that!" he finished with a giggle.

She tried. She really tried. But it was only for a few more seconds before her stern expression broke and she burst into guffaws, and she was nodding in agreement. She had to hold onto one of the VAD crates they had taken to keep from collapsing to roll on the floor. And they both were gleefully laughing for several minutes at how the caper went down.

"Oh, that was so much fun!" she sighed as she came down from the hilarity. "Ah, but let's get these units set up so we can watch those recordings. We need to make us some cashrooms! Get it? Cash Shrooms!"

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Yes," he agreed. "But—you know—this current batch certainly does have its uses," he said, sampling a taste of the mixture he had sprayed into the faces of the store clerks and customers when they committed their robbery.

"True!" she said, nodding. "We should definitely keep that recipe handy for the future," she agreed, licking the remnants of the mushroom joke powder from his lips. "Hmm, so much potential there."

"So much kinetic, too, when their heads went kablooey! Hee! Hee! Hee!" he giggled, setting them both to uncontrollable laughter again.

"My deepest apologies, everypony," Celestia said as she and Jackie arrived in the dining room. "I was unavoidably delayed dealing with an emergency that popped up. But, as promised, here's Jackie Valentine—although, I regret to inform you that she's not the Jackie you knew. All of her memories from the time she arrived in Equestria until the moment I removed that sliver of Dark Magic from her have been lost." She then looked to Jackie.

"Jackie, these are the friends you had made while in Manehattan," Celestia said addressing the cheetah. "Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle, and Gandon, whom you've already know. This is Big Joe," she introduced the older unicorn stallion, "owner of the Griffon Way Restaurant. His nephew, Fireplate," another unicorn stallion, "and the members of the musical band, Gus," a male griffon, "Griz," a female griffon, "Gia," another female griffon, "Gitaly," the third griffon male in the room, "Hammer," an earth pony stallion, "Victoria," the other unicorn mare, "and Flitter," the pegasus mare.

"Welcome back, Jackie," Big Joe softly said, slowly getting up to approach her. He reached out a hoof to gently touch her arm. "We missed you so much!" All their expressions mirrored Big Joe's, being mixtures of relief, sadness, and hope. The evident sincere outpouring of concern for her threatened to overwhelm her.

"I—I'm sorry that I can't remember any of you," Jackie sadly whispered.

"Don't let that worry you, Jackie," Gus spoke up from where he sat. "We remember you! We're all just so glad that you're alive, safe and sound, and back with us! As Gandon explained the situation to us, we all stand ready to help you learn about us once more, and more importantly, to help you find your own lost comrades! Together, we shall find them and bring them home, too!"

"You have given us so much, Jackie," Griz said, getting up to stand before her alongside Big Joe. "It's the least we can do to repay you for those wonderful songs you provided us!"

"And I dare say, that when word gets back to the restaurant, every griffon who has ever eaten there will also take up the hunt to restore your lost friends to you," Big Joe said. "Or I don't know my griffons!"

"Honor demands it of us, Jackie!" Gus echoed.

"You will discover you have lots of friends in plenty of high places, Jackie," Celestia said, smiling down at her, making her laugh in gratitude. "Griffons are warriors and creatures with a deep sense of honor. They don't make promises they won't work to keep. And perhaps save for dragons, you'll likely never meet a creature with less determination or ability to carry out their promises than a griffon."

Jackie reached out and Griz did likewise and gave Jackie a sincere hug.

After they had their meal, they spent the rest of the morning telling Jackie what they witnessed of how she comported herself while working with Big Joe, and he spoke about how he had accidentally discovered that she had such superspeed ability. He laughed at how he was first thinking she had been slacking off, but then found that the place was far cleaner than he could have imagined, and that it had only taken her a few minutes to accomplish it. He was so impressed that he had no hesitation to introduce her to Gus and the band when he saw the sheet music that she had been working on after she was finished cleaning the restaurant. While Big Joe spoke, Gitaly stepped out to bring back a player so that she could hear the songs that she had gifted them.

She was astonished at how closely they had managed to reproduce the five songs she supposedly had jotted down. She knew that she had a very good ear to analyze songs, and it made her feel a little self-conscious that she had put so much effort to reproduce the sheet notes needed for them to play those pieces so faithfully.

Then Big Joe revealed how much money was waiting for her from her share of the tips, and Celestia had to explain how much a bit could purchase. Jackie almost had another panic attack….

First Gate: Welcome To The Neighborhood, Part H (edited #2)

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[994AB Day 297]
"Hmm, I suppose that in a world void of magic, utilizing a difficult-to-acquire mineral that has a steep obstacle to counterfeit as a standard for trade could work, but gold and gems are plentiful on our world," Celestia said as she concluded her explanation to Jackie. "As I mentioned before, the real economic standard of currency we rely here on is the PHW."

"'PHW'?" Jackie inquired.

"Pony-Hours Worked," Twilight Sparkle said, speaking up. "Naturally, there are numerous conversion factors that come into play where complex tasks are involved. As an example, like farming, where it's not only the amount of PHW put into the labor of the farmers evenly divided by their crop yield. There are various expenses that might be factored in, such as hiring weather ponies to deliver the right type of sun, temperature, and precipitation, any leans or mortgages they may have on their farms, but there might also be some extra care needed for growing specialized or exotic crops, as well as any potential competitors that might impact the ability to sell their produce at a price they can afford."

"That's not so much different from my world," Jackie said, "except we don't have any sort of weather control. The cost of goods and services are generally based on the amount of labor for production and how many middle-men will get involved. It's just that getting that much gold from just tips for singing a handful of songs would guarantee a very long visit from the not-so-friendly taxman who will have lots and lots of questions for you!" That set Celestia to giggling.

"For your information, as Head of State, I am the taxpony, Jackie," she said, shrugging her wings. "And yes, I do have lots and lots of questions for you, but they're not going to be about your income. I don't want to dredge up any traumatic experiences, but is there anything you can tell us about the places you came from that won't cause you to relive the horrors you have been trying to escape?"

"Well, my home world is pretty mundane," Jackie told them, "and it was a pretty wild ride on that world where we ended up. The real horrors started much later."

She told them of their trip out from Suva and how they got caught in the storm and the vortex that sucked their ship down into the ocean. She and her friends thought they were all going to drown at the bottom of the sea, but instead they ended up on the shore of some strange land on an even stranger planet. Other than having to bury the ship's skipper, their first day and night wasn't very eventful. With the moon as large as it was, the night was nearly as bright as a heavily overcast day, except during the hours of the lunar eclipse, then it was nearly black as pitch, but the stars were fantastic….

[BridgeWorld: Day 2]
They spent that first night (effectively their second day there) doing what they could to secure their home. Willy, Allen, with Patty, Sherry, and Dmitri helping, went through the ship, pulling out any parts that weren't immediately needed but could be repurposed to construct weapons like the three giant compound crossbows which were currently mounted on the side of the Wheelhouse and a little forward and to the rear on the port side. In addition, everyone had been provided a regular-sized compound bow and quivers of arrows, courtesy of their efforts, while the rest of the survivors did what they could to recover and get the refrigerator working again or tried their hand at seeing if this new ocean had any fish that would be interested in learning about a new sport just being introduced to their world.

Their established sleep period had been chosen to start soon after whichever eclipses were finished. Then, just shortly before the second dawn of that strange new world, they were all wide awake for the predawn activity. Jackie watched as Dmitri and Willy worked several of the radios in the yacht's wheelhouse, slowly scanning through the frequencies that they were designed to receive, but all they could pick up for the hour they were listening was static with no discernable signal that would indicate intelligence.

"So, there's no one out there?" Fred Anderson asked.

"Oh, there's definitely someone out there," Dmitri said. "Why we're not getting any signal could be from several factors. It might just be we're trying to listen when they're not broadcasting, they might be using very different frequencies that the radios simply can't pick up, or they might not be using radio to communicate with but rather something else entirely."

"Unfortunately, we can't keep running the radios all day long to listen since we don't have any way of recharging the batteries," Willy added crawling through the door back into the lounge area. "At least until we find a way of pulling out the motor and generator out of the Engine Room and setting them upright again. Even with that, there's the problem we're eventually going to run out of fuel."

"And once the sun comes up, that room is going to magically turn into an oven, so you're not going to want to be in here much longer," Dmitri finished as he also climbed out of the Wheelhouse.

"I think we're pretty lucky that nothing's come by to look for us yet," Allen spoke up.

"Try not to jinx it, dude," Dmitri muttered.

"Agreed," Willy said. "Mr. Anderson and I were able to get the outboard on the longboat working, so we can start trying to explore up and down the coast a bit."

"How far out are we talking about?" Allen asked, having agreed to accompany them for the first foray into the world.

"Up to about midday when the sun gets eclipsed," Fred said, "then we'll turn around and go the same distance down the coast after we get back here. Figuring out when to turn back from there will be a guess, but we aim to be back by sundown or thereabouts."

"Fortunately, our phones are still working, so we should get good pictures and videos of the coastlines," Allen said. "The rest of you do what you can to secure the boat from any unwanted visitors."

"Speaking of which, is there any way that we could, I dunno, maybe, un-tilt the ship?" Patty asked. All of the men blinked in surprise at the question. Willy coughed.

"She's a 22 ton boat, laying pretty solidly on her side!" he exclaimed. "Not that heavy as yachts go, but there's nothing nearby on which to hook the lines with the block and tackle you'll need to shift it" But Dmitri had a thoughtful look on his face.

"Hold on, I think she's onto something," he said. "We're on a relatively sandy beach. If we dug a deep enough trench along the keel, I think we can undermine her enough to entice the ship to roll over on her own, or if we have to, maybe chop down some the trees in the forest to help lever her into it. We just have to be careful to not be caught beneath when she starts to flip."

"But the keel is broken!" Fred Anderson protested. "This ship's never going to sail again!"

"She doesn't have to," Dmitri countered. "We just need to get her upright. And that would take care of needing to haul out the motor and generator. Otherwise, we'll have to dismantle them to get them both out, and I'm leery that we'll be able to get them back together again in working order."

"That'll be a major chore to dig out that much sand," Allen muttered.

"We're not going anywhere soon," Dmitri quipped, shrugging his shoulders. "We've got all the time in the world on this planet."

"Good one!" Sherry snorted. "It certainly won't get done in a day, even this world's day. So, where do we toss the sand?"

"I'd say to the stern," Dmitri said. "We're going to have the sea water to contend with, and we have to have the trench wide enough for us to have enough room to get out before getting squished when it starts to shift."

"Better make it at least ten meters wide, then," Willy stated. "The ship's four meters. Always watch out for overshoot when you're trying to be wild with a ship's motion!"

"How much is that in real measurements?" Jackie asked.

"Call it ten yards and add ten percent," Dmitri replied smiling.

"Show-off!" Jackie growled at him. He shrugged and smirked back at her.

"I'm used to working in metric. I've been around the world for a few more years than you guys," he responded. "You've been traveling out of the States for how long? Five years?"

"Off and on," Cathy confirmed.

"Ten years and twenty thousand leagues in the Navy, then nearly twenty years in the State Department before retiring out here to Fiji."

"We're not in Fiji, anymore. Remember?" Willy said, pointing up.

"You've got your flag planted here, Kimosabe," Dmitri shot back as he pointed his thumb toward rear of the boat, "and you guys keep calling us the 'colonizers'!" he finished, sticking his tongue out at him, and Willy barked in laughter.

"I'm a little concerned with the life of the ship's batteries," Dmitri said just as Willy, Fred, and Allen were about to head out in the longboat. Everybody was equipped with a compound bow and a couple quivers of arrows and keeping them close by now. "But if we switch off the radios to conserve power, and only turning them on every hour or so, we might miss an emergency call from the other."

"Not that either of us can come running to help, if one of us do get in trouble, but it can at least alert the other team about any nasties out here, so they don't blindly run into whatever kills the first group," Willy agreed. "But I checked the charge, and there should be at least five day's worth if we keep it just to the skiff's two-way."

"Roger that," Dmitri replied as he nodded. "We'll keep an ear open then. Good luck out there!"

"Same to you," Willy finished as they shoved off the sandbar and jumped into the longboat. Then Willy started up the motor and the three men were headed east up the coast.

Since they were going to be doing really hard sweaty work, everyone went to their sleeping areas to change from their casual wear and into their swimming outfits. Shortly after, they all assembled near the bow on the keel side of the ship.

They first measured out and marked the digging area, based on the suggestions from Willy, that the final trench would be a ten-meter wide by twenty-meter-long canal. With the ocean lapping at the tail end of the ship, it was determined that the bottom of the trench should be no more than one meter deep below sea level. It was decided that there should also be a gentle slope to allow for people to run for if they needed to move out of the way in a hurry.

"There shouldn't be any problems with the boat shifting while we dig where the sand is dry," Dmitri said, "but once we start hitting the water table, things are going to get hard from the weight of the sand, as well as complicated because we're walking on the wet sand, and start getting hazardous because the weight of the ship is going to want to shift along with the wet sand as we're digging it out."

"So, we're going to have to stay alert to any sudden changes to the dig?" Sherry asked. "Got it!"

"One more factor," Dmitri added. "Our workforce is going to be severely limited with just six of us working at a time."

"Uh—there's eight of us here," Sherry pointed out the obvious.

"You're forgetting," he said, grinning. "We need to keep an eye out for any bug-eyed monsters showing up as well as keep an ear on the radio."

"Fu-u-u—!" Sherry started to curse, facepalming.

"So, we need to be able to shift off and spare each other so people can stand watch as they recover from the work," he explained.

"Plus, we should consider the best pattern to take when we start digging," Patty said, and Dmitri nodded in agreement. "It shouldn't take more than an hour to jot down the figures.

"Any particular area to dump the sand?" Cathy asked.

"Pretty much anywhere over there," Dmitri pointed. "Let's see if we can extend that sandbar out past behind the ship and try hem it in as much as we can from the water to give it some protection in case of storms."

"Oh, let's bury the place where I arrived at on this planet? The very spot that I was going to build a monument on someday in the future?" Sherry spat. Then she shrugged her shoulders as she set down her weapons away from the work area and picked up a shovel. "Works for me!"

Dmitri and Patty worked together on the ship to create the calculations about how long the task was going to take and the best approach to shoot for toward the ship's hull, while the rest shoveled the drier layers of sand and gravel, and they all quickly learned to not overload the buckets!

That crap was heavy! And this was just the dry sand. Once they got into the wet stuff, it was going to be murder! But they had completed leveling out down to the water table by the time Dmitri and Patty came back down. Who was going to take a rest next was decided by lot. Most everyone there was feeling the burn in their muscles since they had never done this sort of intense labor before, well, except for Sherry, who would often compete with Allen about setting up their equipment for the band's gigs.

"Please be sure to do a short radio check with Willy when you get up there," Dmitri told said as the girls went to the rock where all their bows and quivers had been stashed while they worked. "But don't talk too long. We don't want to give the bastards who brought us here any easy clues as to where we are."

"I remember," Jackie assure him.

She and Jessica went to the front of the ship and got onboard by climbing the large rock that had smashed its nose in and walked along the length of its side and entered via the Wheelhouse. Despite the door already being open and the boat's overhead canopy made for the Fijian environment, it was stifling hot in there already from the sun, unlike the shaded area of the beach where they had been working.

"Wow! He wasn't kidding about how freaking hot it was going to get in here!" Jackie muttered as Jessica yelped from the heat and rushed on past and through to the lounge. Jackie pulled the microphone off its hook and pressed the button.

"Drummer to Roadie for a radio check! How is it out there? Over," she said into the mike before releasing the button and there was a short squawk of noise.

"Roadie to Drummer!" came the reply. "Read you loud and clear, just like it was in Budapest. How do you read? Over!"

Oh, so we're playing that game? she thought, smirking. "Drummer to Roadie, reading you loud and clear, too. But you and I remember Budapest very differently. Over and out!" Jackie hung up the mike and quickly got out of the Wheelhouse.

"Toasty in there!" Jackie sighed, getting out of the heat and settling her bow and quivers alongside where Jessica had laid hers and picked up a pair of binoculars to scan the clifftops and over to the beach to the east. She tried to see if she could spot the longboat, but it evidently had gone around the bend of the shoreline. Wish someone had brought a drone that we could send up to get a view and a rough map of this place!

"You guys got out to Budapest!?" Jessica inquired from where she sat to rest up from their work.

"We did several gigs in Europe, but never in Budapest," Jackie replied. "Those were some lines from the Avengers movie. Dmitri and Willy had suggested we all use random pop culture references in the radio checks to make it hard for anyone out there to spoof our calls. If we constantly used the same calls back and forth, an enemy could just record our messages and replay them to make us think they were our guys." She left off the while the enemy captured and tortured our guys part of the conversation that had been told to them earlier. "This way, each of us has to prove we are who we're supposed to be. This is just a fun way for us to get through a terrible reality."

"That sucks!" the teen spat.

"Yes. Yes, it does," Jackie soberly agreed. "We shouldn't be here at all. We should be at your dad's island, giving a demonstration of our band and having a party to celebrate signing a recording deal. Or, we should be at the bottom of the ocean where that whirlpool sucked us down to drown. But we're not in either those places. Instead, we're here. And more importantly, we're alive! On the other hand, the fact that this ship's captain is dead means we're not safe here."

Jessica stared at her in shock.

"Dmitri and Willy were right: whatever brought us here wasn't natural," Jackie continued, sighing. "As much as I and my friends would like it to be otherwise, we all have to face the facts that some bad creatures did this to us. They want us here for a reason. Worse, they don't care whether we live or die in accomplishing their goals, so it's not for a noble cause as to why they did this.

"The girls and I had such dreams when we started our band," Jackie admitted. "We thought that traveling the world would be such a wonderful adventure—well, it did turn out to be an adventure, much like Willy had described it yesterday. 'An adventure is those moments we see in movies that if all that were happening to any of us, would be making our lives a lot like hell!'. Yeah, the 'wonderful' part tended to be rather hit or miss," she laughed. "But—despite the bad times we had, overall, it was wonderful. However, it did force us to grow up a bit. And pretty fast, too. That said, those experiences made us better prepared for whatever the world could throw at us."

"'Anything the world can throw at us'? Like this place!?" Jessica exclaimed incredulous.

"This is definitely new," Jackie agreed grinning. "But, yeah, if this had happened to us when we were just starting out, we'd all be dead in five minutes from the freak-out alone when we woke up yesterday. Like Willy said, somebody's upping their game."

"That was Dmitri who said that," the teen deadpanned.

"Was it?" Jackie asked, thinking back. "Oh, my bad. Well, anyway, I have to agree with him. Someone's cheating where it comes to this game. Yeah, we've been able to handle anything the world could throw at us, so it decided to get help from another world!" Jessica blinked in surprise, then laughed.

"Like the Boss Bitch at school, getting her friends to help bully us!" she said, realizing what Jackie was implied. "Oh, I so get that!" she laughed.

"Oh, you guys have that problem in Fiji, too?" Jackie asked.

"'Too'?" Jessica inquired.

"We have those in the States, growing up," Jackie explained. "I've heard such went on in the UK and Japan, as well. I guess that's a universal problem."

"Huh? I guess so, then," Jessica agreed, nodding.

Jackie took that pause in their conversation to scan the clifftops for anything that might be a threat to the castaways.

"Food is going to be a big concern," Jackie said, changing the subject. "We don't know anything about the fruits and vegetables on this world and we might end up killing the local constabulary if we try hunting game here. Assuming we can find any game."

"At least we've got food to last us a few weeks," Jessica replied. "We always stock up months of canned foods whenever we come out to Suva. While the refrigerator got thrown out when we crashed and ruined most of the food in it, the freezer in the lower hold is still working."

"There is that, at least," Jackie agreed. "But we're going to be here for far more than a coup—OHMYGOD!" she screamed and raised her binoculars to confirm what she thought she saw. It was worse than she initially thought. "Drop the ladder, Jessie! And get on the crossbow up there!" she ordered as she scrambled to climb out of the portside Wheelhouse door.

"EVERYBODY!" she screamed at the others working on the dig, "WE'VE GOT RAPTORS COMING! JURRASIC PARK RAPTORS! RUN!" Then she went to one of the other mounted crossbow contraptions. After quickly ratcheting the line back to its cocking position with the lever they had constructed for it, she loaded one of the thin, ten-foot long conduit pipes that had been scrounged into the groove. She then took aim toward the clifftops that were still filling up with numerous creatures. Arrows stared flying down from them. Fortunately, most flew way short of reaching the ship, but it illustrated one important difference from the Jurrasic Park stars—these things were even more intelligent than those in the movies had been!

"What do we do!?" Jessica asked, fearfully swiveling the weapon back and forth to aim at the clifftops, trying to decide which one to select. Jackie had already settled on one, and after taking care to account for the drop that the bolt would take due to gravity, she launched the ten-foot-long steel pipe. It sailed up with an unearthly hum, to spear one of the creatures and went on through it to nail another. Several of the hapless creatures' nearby companions screamed in outrage as the first one struck fell lifeless over the edge and down to the beach while the other had been knocked well back and out of her view.

The raptors responded with another volley of their own arrows. But despite having a tremendous height advantage, most of their arrows were falling well short, while those that did reach the ship landed a bit more than halfway along the length of the hull. And fortunately, none of the arrows struck the four people who were running full tilt to reach the Wheelhouse.

"Shoot!" she grimly replied as she paused to get over the surprise of her own success. Then she got working on the cocking lever to redraw the steel cable back to its cocking position again. Jessica released hers, but the pipe impacted the cliff face a foot below the top.

"And watch your aim!" Jackie added as she took aim on another cluster and let fly. This time, she cleanly killed another and severely wounded at least two more behind it, but she didn't see what happened with them as she got to work reloading her mounted crossbow.

Dmitri skidded to a halt by the third mounted crossbow and instantly started working to lever the line to its cocking position. Patty stopped alongside and whipped her personal bow from over her shoulder to fire off an arrow back at the creatures. Her first shot missed but it did show that their compound bows had the range to reach the raptors. A second arrow from her scored a hit, but the creature dropped its own weapon and retreated. When Dmitri was finished cocking the large mechanism, she paused to pick up one of the conduit pipes, ready to load it into the groove of his unit.

Sherry joined Jackie at that moment to help load and likewise, and Cathy went to aid Jessica. They each fired but missed this time. Sherry then took over cranking the big bow while Jackie did as Patti had done, pulling up her personal bow to fire back at the raptors. But she only got one shot off before Sherry had finished cocking the big bow, so she loaded the conduit pipe for Sherry.

"Pull up the ladder!" Dmitri called over his shoulder when he confirmed that Mrs. Anderson and Kaylee had finally reached the top and were safely onboard. "And somebody get on the horn to warn the others!" he added as he took aim with his device.

"What do I say!?" Mrs. Anderson screamed as Dmitri fired. Unfortunately, he only struck one of them, and it wasn't a clean kill, but the creature had been knocked off balance and fell to its death anyhow.

"Don't worry about the code!" Dmitri yelled back as he and Patty got busy recranking the crossbow. "Just tell them what's happening! But be sure to say 'over' when you're done talking! And wait for them to say 'over' before you answer them!"

The creatures were clearly upset at their losses with nothing to show for the efforts. Two groups formed from the rest of the raptor archers and began screaming at each other. Jackie perversely smiled and took careful aim and fired again into the center of one group. Dmitri must have had the same idea, because an instant after her bolt when sailing, his was on its way to strike the other group of arguing raptors. Hers ended up skewering two of the creatures, while his managed to nail three this time.

The effect was immediate. Both groups stopped arguing and looked at the ship while the archers all stopped at looked to what remained of the arguing raptors. A moment later, Jessica's bolt zipped by with a loud humming noise just in front of the long snout of one of the archers, yet another miss. Even so, it reminded the creatures that the enemy they had made was still able to shoot back at them, and war was still going on. So, as one, they all broke and ran.

"We—we won!?" Jessica cried.

"We did, indeed!" Jackie cheered.

"We survived! But this is just the start," Dmitri grimly replied.

"We killed at least nine or ten," Jackie pointed out.

"Didn't you see? They used bows and arrows and spears! They're sapients!" Dmitri countered.

"Yes, I did see that!" Jackie argued. "And we hurt them very badly! There were, what—? Like sixty up there?"

"More like seventy or seventy-five," Sherry spoke up.

"So, they know not to fuck with us anymore!" Jackie finished.

"Or they'll be back and know to be a lot more careful next time," Dmitri reminded her. "Lots of civilizations on Earth fell because they dropped their guard, thinking some old, defeated enemy wouldn't ever come back."

"He's got a point," Sherry softly muttered, making Jackie blink in surprise.

Damn, but he does! she morosely thought.

"Good move, shooting what looked to be their officers, though," Dmitri said grinning to her. "I had the same idea when I saw them start arguing among each other. Those were clearly the ones giving the orders."

"So, what do we do now?" Mrs. Anderson asked.

"We have no choice. We finish righting the boat," Dmitri replied. "Before, it was more of a luxury as it was a benefit. But now, it's vital to our survival! We have to make it way harder for them to reach us." He suddenly laughed.

"What's so funny?" Mrs. Anderson demanded.

"What I'm going to use as the code to call the others with," he said, going toward the Wheelhouse.

"Papa Bear to Goldilocks! Papa Bear to Goldilocks! Come in, please. Over!" Dmitri said into the mike. There was a considerable pause before the squawk signaled the incoming signal.

"By all rights that should be reversed, but Goldilocks here, Papa Bear!" Willy answered. "What the hell's going on over there? Over!"

"First it was 'ooh, and ahh'," Dmitri replied. "That's how it always starts. But then comes running. And screaming. Personally, I always thought Goldblum got that backwards. The screaming is always supposed to happen first. Over!"

"So, what was it!?" Willy demanded. Then belatedly, he called back with his, "over!" making Dmitri smile.

"A bunch of JP raptors," Dmitri said. "Only it gets worse. Over," he finished.

"JP raptors, you say!? Let me guess, they had a t-rex with them? Or a Spinosaurus? Over!"

"No, worse than either of those," Dmitri replied. "They had bows and arrows! These fuckers are evolving! Watch yourselves coming back here. They might have stinger missiles and jet aircraft by the time you arrive. Over."

"SERIOUSLY!?" Willy screamed, and Dmitri chuckled. The others laughed, too.

"Seriously, bro," Dmitri said, not waiting for Willy to remember the proper radio protocol. "They might even have nukes by then. Fortunately, no one here got hurt, thanks to the superior weaponry we had today. However, with them evolving, tomorrow is questionable. We managed to kill at least six of them before the others ran off. But we can expect them to come at us again sometime in the future. Hopefully, they won't have a TARDIS with them when they do. Over."

"Fred here," Mr. Anderson cut in. "What's the plan for securing the boat and keep yourselves safe?"

"Keep digging for now and try getting the ship turned over again," Dmitri replied, then winced as he belatedly realized he included the radio keyword in the conversation.

"How much more digging do you have to do?—Over!"

"We've made pretty good progress so far," Dmitri reported. "Assuming no one gets hurt from doing the work or hurt from any more attacks, we should be ready to try shifting the boat in two or three Earth days. How are things with you guy? Over," he finished.

"There are several places where we can try to get into the inland starting about three kilometers up from the ship," Fred continued. "After that, there are plenty of places for beach access. We're about twenty kilometers along. And—we've all agreed to start on back to you to help out with things there! Over!"

"Roger your recall. Unfortunately, those easy accesses you found can be used by the raptors to get to us on the beach, too!" Dmiti said. "They know their home a hell of a lot better than any of us! And we'll still need to know what the lay of the land is to our west, in case that route is a vulnerability to us, too. Over."

"Understood," Fred said after several minutes. "We'll work out any crew changes when we get back, then. Willy says try not to shoot us when we get back there. Over."

"We'll try, but no promises. We've got a lot of jumpy people here with itchy trigger fingers," Dmitri said, grinning. "See you soon. Papa Bear out!"

"That fills me with so much confidence," Willy quipped over the radio.

"Better than filling you with a bunch of holes," Dmitri shot back.

"Roger that. Out!"

"We'd better find a way to recover those pipes," Dmitri muttered as he hung up the mike….

[Equestria: 994AB Day 297]
"And those raptors were only the first of the many disasters we ran into there," Jackie said as she finished her tale.

"'JP raptors'?" Twilight Sparkle inquired. "Can you draw one of them, please?" she asked, levitating over a piece of paper, an ink bottle, and a quill.

"I'll—try," Jackie replied, taking the quill. "Unfortunately, most of my artistic talents went into music and not drawing."

Even so, with her hyper-speed, she was able to begin making marks on the page and successfully stopped herself from making marks that would have messed up the effort. Celestia's eyes widened in alarm at seeing how Jackie perform that task and still hold a normal conversation with Twilight as she worked.

"They were bipedal," Jackie tried to explain. "Their—foot bones—were longer in proportion to their legs than mine are now, the shins were slightly shorter. They had an inner toe claw that was enormous compared to the other toes. Long stiff tail, slim bodies with deep toros. Their arms were really thin, but long, and strong, with three very long, clawed fingers and an opposing thumb to match. The ones from my world's past didn't have thumbs. Long thin necks, and finally saurian-style heads with long snouts and vicious-looking teeth.—"

"What do thumbs have to do for making them special?" Twilight asked.

"These guys were tool makers and users, much like us humans," Jackie told them. "Without thumbs, you can't grasp anything, and you can't build shit without them. You simply can't have a civilization without thumbs."

Hammer and Flitter both noisily cleared their throats at her, and when Jackie looked at them, the earth pony stallion and pegasus mare made a show of holding their eating utensils in their hooves. Jackie paused in her sketching and laid her ears back.

"I—I'm—going to have another freak-out, aren't I?" she quietly muttered with a nervous gulp.

"You're forgetting we ponies are equipped with magic, Jackie," Celestia stepped in. "Holding things in our hooves and wings are second nature to unicorns as we generally rely on our horns to manipulate our environment, but for earth ponies and pegasi, it's their primary skill."

"Don't worry, Jackie. You were just as surprised back when we first met at the restaurant, but you found it a fascinating feature about the ponies." Gandon told her.

"You had me do all sorts of tricks to hold and pick up things for hours that first day," Hammer said, laughing.

"And I bet she's going to ask you do that all over again," Gus added snickering, and Hammer's face fell into a dreadful expression.

"Y—you are—aren't you?" Hammer worriedly asked.

"I—I guess I shouldn't," she replied. "I apologize if it offended you."

"Oh, it was no offense," Hammer quickly said. "It was rather amusing to see that amazed expression of yours as you had me do all those things—for the first couple of hours. After the third or fourth hour, though, it was getting a little tiresome."

"I did that for so long!?" Jackie exclaimed.

"Nyah! I'm just pulling your hoof—paw—foot, whatever," Hammer chuckled. "You came to accept the idea that earth ponies had magic in our hooves in like fifteen minutes! We're all just messing with you!"

"You've got plenty of magic, yourself, Jackie!" Big Joe spoke up. "The way you're able to zip around the room so fast, to anyone here, it's almost as if you're teleporting, which is something that only unicorns can do. The first time you showed up in Manehattan, ponies were frightened because you were appearing and disappearing out of nowhere! You thought we were afraid of you because you're a predatory species. But when you first saw the griffons lining up outside my door, you walked up to them, and nopony even batted an eye at you."

"It's true," Fireplate affirmed.

"We're all just glad you're back with us, safe and sound," Gus assured her.

"Th-thank you," she whispered, smiling at them. She took a few more seconds to work on her drawing, then with a final critical look over it, she nodded in satisfaction.

"Something like this," Jackie said, passing the drawing to the purple unicorn.

Twilight looked at the drawings. One was shown from the side, another from the front, and a third was from the quarter front view holding a drawn bow and arrow.

"They look almost like some kind of land drake," she said.

"No, Twilight, these aren't anything like our dragons, although there is a passing resemblance," Celestia said, taking the drawing into her magic aura to look for herself. "These are—more bird-like, and almost—reptilian. I have seen fossils of creatures like these."

"Wait—you have dragons? Really!?" Jackie exclaimed.

"Don't you remember, Jackie?" Gandon asked. "When you worked at the restaurant, Gus and them would always introduce the music they got from Equestria, the Minotaurs, the Dragonlands, Yakyakistan, as well as the Griffon Empire."

"No, I'm sorry, I don't remember any of that," she replied. "But minotaurs, too? And what are Yakyakies?"

"Yaks," Celestia replied.

"Wow," Jackie muttered in awe. "Your world is just chock full of mythical creatures!"

"Says the creature who is a myth in this world," Celestia quipped, smirking at her.

"Touché," Jackie laughed. "Anyhow, those things were very much like the velociraptors, a species of dinosaurs that used to be on my home world, more than sixty-five million years ago, before an asteroid wiped them out," Jackie explained. "Some differences from those, to be sure, but a strong resemblance. Velociraptor, utahraptor, or dakotaraptor, depending on which person you ask in paleontology. There was a series of old movies made about some nutjob scientists bringing them back to life to make money off of a theme park called 'Jurassic Park', and most of the movies had 'Jurassic Park' in the title. Thus, the label of 'JP raptors' for the real stars of those films. It's ironic that they got the science wrong when they made the first movie. They were supposed to be velociraptors, but the real dinosaurs were only stood as high as Twilight's shoulders. But the creatures made for the movies turned out to be precisely the right size for a couple other species that were found after the first couple of movies were made! Way too late to fix the dialogue referring to them.

"These guys were close to the movie creatures' size, a bit between the velociraptor and utahraptor. They came up to about here on me," she explained, holding her hand up to the top of her chest.

"And they were tool-using beings?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, they were tool-using," Jackie confirmed. "And trap-making, too! Dmitri was right! They were very intelligent, and not in the way that a pet dog or cat can be smart—they were human-level smart! Lethal without even needing to be there!"

"I—see," Celestia said, passing the sketch back to Twilight.

"Well, my little ponies," she continued, then paused at Jackie's startled reaction. "And—my little griffons and cheetah—" Celestia began again, only for Jackie to visibly flinch at that, too. "I'm afraid it is time to finish our meal here. It's past time that we got you examined by a specialist, Jackie, to make sure you're not still infected by Dark Magic, and to make sure you're not being adversely affected by your own speed either," she finished, standing up….

A Bunch of High Class Bits (edited #2)

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[994AB Day 297]
"That's the last of the null-stone dust!" Lucius reported as he and Robin stepped out of the shielded room's airlock chamber. The griffon carried Matchbox's folded suit and helmet on his back. They all headed for the stairs back up to Lucius' control center on the entrance level of the cavern.

The cast for his broken leg was gone, but Lucius' limp was but still noticeable. His injured tail no longer needed to be constantly supported by his magic, but it was still too sore to function yet. As a result, Lucius was constantly complaining and scowling over being an "even-tailed kitsune" of late.

"Thank Celestia!" Buck sighed. "Let's get all that stuff, along with their trackers and recorders—minus the crystals, of course, packed back into the portable shielded box and deliver them back to the Guard." They looked at him incredulously. "They paid for all that equipment. We're not thieves, after all," he added, shrugging his shoulders. "We were just taking back what belonged to us."

"Sounds fair," Robin muttered as Lucius grinned.

"We should just fly over the precinct house and dump all of it out of the box onto their roof," Lucius suggested. "If we put the trackers into the same bag with the null-stone, the dust will delay the magic in the trackers from going off until the bag breaks on impact, giving us the opportunity to fly away. No reason to leave them our shielded box. We paid for it after all, and those things aren't cheap!"

"Exactly," Buck agreed.

"What do we do with Matchbox's suit?" Robin inquired. "Set it up as a memorial to him?"

"As much as I would like to, the suit is too valuable to retire," Buck said, shaking his head. "We'll repurpose it for our operations, but we'll make sure to track it, so that whoever is wearing it knows its significance and knows to take special care of it to honor him, as well as the suits for all the others who were killed. We'll put up a formal memorial to him, Red, Fred, Highflyer, and my parents up here," he said as they arrived back to Lucius' station. There, they saw Alfalfa waiting for them. "And your parents and sister, too, Robin!"

"As much as I appreciate the sentiment, Buck, my family weren't involved in trying to dispose of the mushroom joke," Robin said.

"True, but they did train you in most everything you currently know," Buck insisted. "Whether they were formally part of this operation or not, they contributed in an enormous and invaluable way that can never be forgotten. Whatever we can contribute to improve your training, we're only building on the shoulders of giants." Robin could only stare at him.

"Too sappy?" Buck inquired, and Robin burst out laughing.

"Too sappy!" the griffon agreed, nodding through his mirth. "And—greatly appreciated," Robin added soberly, to momentarily grasp Buck by his shoulders. Then they broke apart and turned to Alfalfa.

"You got something for us, Alfalfa?" Buck inquired.

"Yes, sir," she responded. "You've gotten an invite to a social gathering this evening being hosted by Pony Stark."

"Sorry Alfalfa. Dad was the one to always attend those things," Buck waved it off dismissively. "I've got no time for society what with all that's happened. We're still cleaning up from the mess we had to make of our own offices to cover the involvement at the warehouse. Plus, we need to rebuild the communications network to cover the gap created when the explosion ripped through the city as well as increase the redundancy of the network so that kind of disruption won't knock the system down like that again. We were spread out at the maximum range of the relays because we didn't have time to make the system more robust while looking for Jack Black."

"Pardon me, Master Buck!" Alfalfa sternly scolded him. "But your father would make the time! He always ascribed to the notion of 'time management' for his duties, and you had better learn to do so, too!" Buck blinked and stared in shock at her sudden forceful manner. "He kept up with such social gatherings, alongside his work at Mane Industries, and all the time he was making for this little venture! Did you recall what Princess Celestia told us when Judge Flake was arrested? She said that information was our greatest asset and our greatest weapon! That we are to guard it jealously for all our lives will depend on that information! Well, just where do you think you're going to find out what's going on unless you put your own eyes and ears out there to gather that intel!?"

Buck slowly got over his surprise as he digested what she had said.

"So, you're saying I should accept?" he asked.

"How do you think your father was able to keep up with ponies of the likes of the Hoofthors, Duck Stark, and Trotter Queen?" Alfalfa challenged. "By attending their gatherings and listening to their ideas. He then comes back here and works out a way to get the jump on them!"

"But—didn't they also listen to Dad and try to get the jump on Mane Industries?" Buck challenged.

"Of course, they did," Alfalfa said, grinning. "It's a chess game for everypony involved! You just have to learn how to play. You do know chess, by now, don't you!?"

Buck just stared at her.

"You do have a sense of the game, after all, Master Buck," Alfalfa said, baiting him once more. "You just tried a move on me to counter the one I made, only for me to counter that move! Are you game for more of this, or do you give up and concede? My advice: give up this match because you are already checkmated! But learn the game, so you don't lose so easily next time!"

"Very well, then, I'll attend," Buck said, sighing in defeat. "But don't expect me to drop any hints as to what we're doing to them."

"Wise move, Master Buck," Alfalfa agreed. "Novices shouldn't engage grand masters until you've learned the game. But the winning move for you right now would be go ahead and use this very excuse you tried to give for not attending: that you're still cleaning up the mess left behind by Matchbox and his accomplices. It is the truth after all. The best lies to drop on somepony is not to lie. It's just a dishonest truth!

"Fortunately, for you, Pony Stark is nearly as much a novice as you," Alfalfa stressed, "what with him having recently taken over his family business after his parents' deaths, too. As are Ollie Queen and Lipizzan Hoofthor."

Buck grinned at that.

"There's still the Tawleeds, Prince M'bayar of the Walkaloosas, as well as Doctor Destiny and Water Riwoche to contend with," Lucius spoke up.

"True, that," Alfalfa agreed. "So, just watch yourself, Master Buck!"

"I'll be careful," Buck replied.

"You'll be dead!" Alfalfa shot back. "The Tawleeds and Doctor Destiny are no joke and not to be trifled with! Those are some very dangerous ponies!"

"Is something bothering you, Jackie?" Celestia inquired as they walked alone down the hallway. Ever since the meal was finished and the others were dismissed, the cheetah had been quiet and looking pensive about something. Jackie, who had been holding her paw to tapping her chin as she walked, evidently deep in thought, was startled out of her contemplation.

"What? Oh, um, no," she muttered, going back to her mulling. "It's just—I've heard that phrase before, somewhere—I'm just trying to remember when. And where—?"

"What phrase?"

"What you said back in the dining room: 'my little ponies'. I know I've heard it said like that before! I just can't recall where from."

"Is it important?" Celestia asked. "Something signifying danger?"

"I—don't know," Jackie grumbled. "I don't think it's a warning or anything like that. It's just—just out of my reach to remember it!"

"You may have heard me saying such while you were running from town to town," Celestia suggested. "There were at least three or four sightings of you while you were looking at a VAD."

"'VAD'?"

"Visual-Audio Device," Celestia explained. "They're pretty much ubiquitous around Equestria, showing news, sports, plays, and other entertainment."

"Oh, like a television?" Jackie asked, only to get a head tilt in response from the tall equine. "Probably something similar to our televisions," she replied. "Your description fits them to a 'T'. But, no, I don't think it was any broadcast of you saying the words. It wasn't your voice, that much I do remember. It's just frustrating that I can't recall it."

"If it's something was erased from your mind through arcane forces or from trauma, I do know some memory spells that might be able to help," Celestia offered. "We can try after you get checked out," she said as they came to a door that she opened. Inside, Jackie saw it was just like any hospital reception room that she had seen before—only manned by ponies dressed in physician and nurse's garb.

"…Then a pinch of this, and a dash of that, blend them all together, and goes into the vat!" the recorded image of the zebra rhymed in singsong while working.

"Ugh!" he groaned in agony. "That's the WORST rhyming in HISTORY! A three-year old racing pony could do a better job! AND JUST WHAT ARE THOSE FUCKING INGREDIENTS YOU'RE PUTTING IN THERE, YOU BLOODY PRISON-MULE!" he screamed.

"It was a wasted effort to steal all those VADs," he grumbled, clicking the remote to shut down the display. "We know even less about what was put into the mixture to keep it stable than we knew before the damned thing blew up!"

"Well, we know how much was being put in there," she pointed out. "And the colors of the stuff."

"It could be just like the crap inside those 'Equation of Harmony' pills, for all we know!" he yelled at her in exasperation. He sighed, and clicked the remote, reawaking the VAD. "At least we have this," he muttered.

"You know what I'll bet, these mares will understand me. Savvy? Savvy Confuscious?"

"Why bring sex into this?"

*slap!*

"The Three Studs!" he giggled. "I just love these guys!"

"There's plenty of good news, Your Highness," Doctor Przewalski reported as Princess Celestia and Jackie Valentine sat in his office. "There's not a trace of Dark Magic remaining in her. Moreover, from what we can tell, she doesn't seem to be aging from her superspeed. There were no detectable changes to her telomeres during any of those test runs. Oh, and thank you again for keeping the treadmill from melting! Naturally, we have no baseline to measure from, but from what we can tell by comparing her to diamond dogs and other similarly built creatures, Jackie appears to be in perfect health."

They both sighed in relief and smiled at each other at the news.

"That said, there are numerous abnormalities in her genetic makeup," he went on, snapping their attention back to him. "There are—best I can describe them—what looks like remnants of—something—in her DNA."

"What do you mean, Doctor?" Jackie worriedly asked.

"Mind you, for the most part, what we were able to analyze of your DNA, the genetic code reads just as you are: a bipedal creature with features greatly resembling that of a female cheetah—are you okay?" he paused when she nervously flinched.

"I'm—I'm okay," she said sighing. "I—I—seem to have a nervous reaction whenever I hear that word—'cheetah'—" and she flinched again.

"It could be from what you suffered while cursed," Celestia told her. "Your initial reaction was brought on when the Guard were interviewing you at the restaurant and everytime they spoke that word at the jail, you went into screaming fits. I've noticed you still get this look of horror on your face whenever your species is mentioned since then."

"Like PTSD?" Jackie inquired.

"'PTSD'?" Doctor Przwalski asked.

"Post traumatic stress disorder," Jackie explained. "It's an ailment that was identified in people who survived sudden disasters like wars and violent crimes and become jumpy at things like loud noises or surprises. In the past, it was called 'shell shock' or 'being gun shy' and was often considered a sign of weakness and cowardness among my people."

"Hmm—'post traumatic stress disorder'? 'PTSD'?" Doctor Przwalski muttered. "Hmm—quite an appropriate descriptive in a nicely concise term. Very clever of whomever came up with it!" he said, nodding his head.

"Anyhow, what we are able to read from your genes, they show that you are supposed to be a—as you are—" he amended what he was going to mention. "But the remnants—they show a completely different creature. Still bipedal, much like you are now, but with considerably different proportions of bone lengths in almost all your body parts—no tail, long phalanges at the ends of your forward limbs, short stubby phalanges for your rear, none of them with claws, very little fur, small teeth but from an omnivorous creature, much weaker muscles, and far, far, less stamina. Something—quite oddly—a closer relation to apes—gorillas and chimpanzees are the nearest genotype I could find in our records."

Jackie stared at him in stunned amazement for several moments before she burst out in hysterical laughter.

"I thought we were all done with all this mushroom joke business when it blew the city to smithereens!" Commissioner Friesian Cob bellowed at them as they stood outside the crime scene.

"Jack Black and most of his crew may have been wiped out, Commissioner," Gordon said as he watched the forensic team remove the victims' bodies and load them into the morgue carts, "but he still had plenty of accomplices who weren't caught in the blast. They're evidently still in business, as you can see," he added, holding up the test tube still full of the bright lurid liquid. "Tested positive for mushroom joke."

"Of all the—" Cob started grumbling, but uncharacteristically cut himself off before he exploded with another of his usual rages.

"Oh, and you'll like this even more, Commissioner," Paddock spoke up. "This was evidently just a cover for a typical robbery." Cob blinked at them in shock.

"That's—a pretty expensive murder weapon to use!" Cob whispered in awe. "How much did they get away with?"

"Twelve high-end home entertainment VAD systems and computers, total cost of thirteen thousand two hundred and seventy-three bits," Gordon reported. "In addition, there were the security system and recorders removed that cost another thirty-four hundred bits along with the evidence on the crystals. They could have paid in cash four times over for all that with what they would have made from selling the amount of mushroom joke they used to kill those ponies."

"Not our usual MO, then," Cob softly muttered, also considering the implications. "These sorts of criminals are normally motivated to get rich quick. That's a Tartarus' worth of a net loss to use that sort of thing to pull off a simple robbery. Good work, you two!" Cob grumbled. "The Mayor's not going to like this news."

"That was not a nice thing to do to Doctor Przwalski, Jackie!" Celestia sternly admonished her.

"Don't you get it!?" Jackie yelled at her. "Those 'remnants' of DNA he was talking about—that was ME! They were who and what I was—a human! Not—THIS thing!" she spat in disgust as she waved her paws over herself. She looked down at her own body as she held her paws where she had been moving them, and she was reminded of something. She moved her paws up to her upper chest and held them there, half-a-hoof over her pectorals.

"I used to have tits—out to here! They weren't much as tits go, but they were mine!" she snarled. "If there was still anything left of them to read in those 'remnants', I'm sure he would have eventually found them, too! Now? Now, I've got these useless things running down my belly!" she gestured to the four sets of small bare patches of skin on either side of her chest and abdomen. "Now? Now, what I used to be—now, what I was—I'm—I'm just pieces of trash! Torn up, shredded, and tossed—scattered about and left littering the room—while I was replaced by something else!

"I'm being told all the time, oh, and in so many not-so-subtle ways, that I'm better than I was—better—stronger—faster! Like I'm supposed to be some sort of six million dollar bionic cat-bitch!? Except, I'm not even bionic! This is all organic, and it hurt like all kinds of fuck while they changed me! Those monsters turned me into another monster! Changed us ALL into monsters! At least me and the other girls of my band are somewhat humanoid in shape—which can't be said for any of the others! WE'D ALL GIVE ANYTHING TO BE HUMAN, AGAIN!!" she finished screaming. Then she was gone.

Celestia blinked, then muttered a curse under her breath as she flew after Jackie.

Oh, yes! She remembered! Celestia inwardly groaned as she tried to follow, but Jackie's lead was steadily pulling further and further ahead. This time, she remembered I'm nearly just as fast as her, so she's running flat out!

Jackie was heading for the Canterlot Railroad Station and the route off of the mountain, so Celestia decided to cheat—she flew down the mountain and waited for Jackie there where the tracks leveled out. It didn't take the cheetah long to get there.

"JACKIE! PLEASE STOP!" Celestia yelled, but Jackie executed turns so sharp, she neatly traced out half of a perfect square path to get around Celestia hovering there, and the race between them was on once more. They zipped across the countryside and Jackie was still following the railroad. Jackie was steadily improving her lead over her, now reaching eleven furlongs out of her reach and still growing. The alicorn princess looked ahead and her eyes widened in alarm.

Just ahead was Ponyville.

"Ugh! I tell you, rookie, I never, ever want to look at another bowl of guacamole, chopped Brussel sprouts, pudding, or the insides of a carved pumpkin for as long as I—" Paddock suddenly stopped and urped, and was quickly rushing for the door of the restaurant to go through another series of dry heaves outside.

"I guess it's just hayburgers and fries for at least a week with him," Lieutenant Gordon muttered as he took another sip of the apple cider. He looked over at his partner, then had to look up to watch the sunset through the window because it was too painful to keep watching Sergeant Paddock lurching through his convulsions.

Odd, it's a little late going down, Gordon considered as he frowned at the sun still hanging in the sky.

"I must say, you're looking quite dashing in this outfit, Master Buck!" Alfalfa complimented him as she helped him get ready.

"I feel like a clown," Buck muttered.

"A clown outfit, I could do," Robin said, with similar sentiments. "And I've proudly done! This—is even more ridiculous!"

"Now! Now, you two!" Alfalfa scolded them. "Behave! I'll have you both know these tuxedos are the custom work of Hoity Toity!"

"Hoity Toity? Wasn't he one of the clowns in your circus, Robin?"

"Absolutely NOT, Buck!" Robin angrily shot back. "Our clowns are experts and professionals! And better dressed!"

"Hmm, must have been another circus, then," Buck muttered.

"IF you two are finished, then you can both enjoy a double workout session with me in the combat simulator!"

"I can go for that!" Robin happily chirped.

"Me, too!" Buck instantly agreed.

"AFTER we get back from tonight's gathering!" Alfalfa growled at them. Their faces instantly dropped.

"Yes, sir," they both meekly muttered with a salute.

"We're sorry, sir," Buck said.

"Won't happen again, sir," Robin moaned.

"We promise to behave, sir," Buck continued.

"Griffon's honor, sir," Robin added.

"I think I liked it better when you were insulting the tuxedoes," Alfalfa darkly growled. "How about a triple workout after we get back?" Both Buck and Robin winced and nervously gulped at that threat.

"So, before we all got rudely distracted with discussions of fashion, you were about telling us about what you knew of the Hoofthors, and the rest of the expected guests?" Buck prompted. The return to their previous subject caught Alfalfa up short.

"Alright, Lipizzan Hoofthor inherited his griffon stepfather's holdings when Lion Hoofthor died in an explosion and fire while inspecting a cluster of apartment buildings the family owned," Alfalfa explained to them. "Official inquiries determined that a faulty magical power tap had blown up and set the place ablaze."

"Odd," Buck muttered, frowning. "Those things almost never have problems like that. That's why we're using them in our relays."

"Indeed," Alfalfa agreed. "Nevertheless, that's the reigning theory. Soon after, Lipizzan had the burned out remains of the tenant block torn down and built the offices of ZzanCorp on the site. He also greatly expanded his dual-purpose manufacturing research into magitech and weapons ventures to supply the Guard, thus putting his family businesses into direct competition with the companies started by Duck Stark, Trotter Queen, and your father."

"All of which are now being ran by their offspring," Buck muttered.

"Yes," Alfalfa acknowledged. "Pony's parents were killed over five years ago by an assassin, who's never been identified, as they were coming home from a social gathering. Ollie and his parents were shipwrecked on an island for several years and his parents didn't survive. And we all know what happened to your parents."

"That covers the business tycoons. So, what about the others that we can expect to be there?" Buck inquired.

"What we know of Doctor Destiny is that he's an independently wealthy inventor, as is Water Riwoche, whom they both went through college together. Supposedly, they're friends, but Destiny is rumored to be a Latvian activist intent on liberating his homeland from the spheres of influence of Germaney and Stalliongrad. He's a very bitter pony with a big axe to grind. So far, Riwoche is the only pony who's known to be a moderating influence on his activism. How long that might last is anypony's guess. Both of them are brilliant, and quite possibly each are smarter than Duck Stark or your father ever were, but they've never shown much desire in starting business ventures. Their interests seem to be more geared for pure research and inventions. Some of your own father's products were originally created by Riwoche and your father bought the patents he held. Rumor is, the Starks did the same for some of their work."

"What about the Tawleeds?" Buck asked.

"They're a bit of a mystery," Alfalfa said, frowning. "Their wealth goes back several centuries, as do the Hoofthors and the Queens, and their bloodlines and social connections are frequently intertwined with both families. Yet, despite never having created any sort of business venture like the Queens and Hoofthors did, their wealth has managed to keep up with the others. The rumors are—considerably darker with them, too. The current head of their house, Genevieve, is expected to be attending tonight."

"Hmm. Several ponies to keep an eye on," Buck said, nodding. "You were right to insist I go, Alfalfa. Jack Black may have started us on this job, but there seem to be plenty of other customers who should stand for a closer look. And it's going to be a chore to separate them from the honest ponies."

"At least you won't have to deal with any of the Canterlot nobles," Alfalfa stated.

"Thank the Princess for small favors," Buck muttered as he frowned, checking the time. The sun was supposed to have set by now.

"But there still will be plenty of Manehattan socialites in attendance, so you're not getting that much of a break." She also looked over to the clock. "Hmm—the Princess seems to be running a little la—ah, there it is! Lucius is already downstairs waiting by the carriage with the box and your other outfits," Alfalfa informed him. "It should be well into the night by the time we get there."

"Good," Buck said, nodding. "Once the Guard are alerted, they're going to be very busy looking for anypony trying to get out of town as fast as possible. Instead, I want us to simply slip out of view on the way to the party so that we can deliver the goods and slip back into traffic and continue on as if we had nothing to do with it."

"Well, then try not to wrinkle the tuxes when you suit up, sir!" she admonished them.

Sure enough, she got away! Celestia fumed as she overflew the village, crisscrossing the sky above it hundreds of times, hoping to catch sight of Jackie again. With them out in the open, Celestia at least had a chance to keep Jackie in her view, but with the numerous houses and other structures available and her agility, Jackie was able to evade her just as she had in Manehattan. Now, her only option was to keep searching around and hope to catch sight of the elusive cheetah, but she was quickly concluding this was all in vain. For a creature who could move unbelievably fast, Jackie was equally adept at holding still and hiding. Distressed, Celestia kept flying over the town.

What if she went into the Everfree? she began to wonder.

"Hey, Princess Celestia!" a raspy voice beside her suddenly blared out. "Are you trying out for the Wonderbolts, too? Or are you just looking for a rematch?" Surprise made her snap her attention away from watching the ground and toward the brash sky-blue filly smiling back at her.

"Rainbow Dash!" she exclaimed. Then a new thought just occurred to Celestia. "WAIT! I need you!" she yelled, screeching to a halt to hover in the air. Surprised, the filly overshot Celestia's sudden stop and had to fly back a dozen furlongs to speak with her.

"Yes, Your Highness?" she inquired with a military precision salute.

"I'm looking for somepo—someone—she's a bipedal cheetah, and she's pretty quick," Celestia explained. "I could really use another set of eyes to help find her."

"Oh, is that why you haven't lowered the sun yet?"

"WHAT!?" Celestia exclaimed, first glancing at the sun near the horizon and then at the tower clock on Ponyville's townhall. When she realized what time it was, she facehooved.

"Damn!" she cursed, and Rainbow's eyes got big, no doubt never imagining that she would ever show such frustration. I'm going to be in so much trouble with the other nations, now! "How good is your nightvision, Rainbow?" she asked with a defeated sigh.

"Okay, I guess," Rainbow happily replied, then her face was etched in confusion. "But—uh—what's a 'cheetah'?"

"Well, that's everything ready that we'll be needing for Winter Wrap Up, Big Mac!" Applejack said as she slouched to rest from hauling the heavy snowplow from its storage closet. "Maybe we'll finally get done on time this year."

"Eyep," the large red stallion agreed.

"Now, don be getting' yer hopes up," Granny Smith cackled. "Ain't nothin' changed from last several years, Ah don see us gettin' more organized this time as we did befer. Ah keep tellin' that Mayor Mare that poor plannin' will get ya a poor harvest."

"Now ya shouldn't be bad mouthin' the mayor, Granny," Applejack scolded her elder. "Talk like that won't help to keep us in their good graces."

"Betcha your share of this season's cider harvest we're gonna be late this Winter Wrap Up, too, AJ," Granny Smith slyly challenged. Applejack nervously gulped. Numerous life lessons had taught her to never bet against Granny Smith when the old mare had that particular gleam in her eye.

"Speaking of late, what do ya think is delaying the Princess?" Big Mac softly inquired, pointing a hoof toward the open door. When the mares looked, they saw the sun was still up.

"Huh? Good question," Applejack muttered. But then, a sound from deeper inside the barn reached her ears.

"Uh—hold on, everypony," she softly muttered as she pulled out her always-ready rope and began twirling the lasso and began stalking the hidden intruder.

She quickly located the noise of occasional shifting of straw on the ground, and a sound that was not-unlike sobbing, was coming from the now empty stall where the snowplow had been stored.

"AH-HA! GOTCHA—ulp!" Applejack exclaimed while throwing the lasso at her target, only to get suddenly yanked off her hooves and slammed into the side of the stall and left in a heap among the newly broken boards. She blinked at the figure, looking all the world like a spotted yellow diamond dog who glared back at her. The creature gave Applejack a little hiss as it contemptuously tossed the rope back at her. Then it—no, she—moved off to the other side of the stall, squatted down and resumed sobbing.

"Heh! You okay, Applejack?" Granny Smith called out with the same tone she would use on any self-defeated victim whenever there was a 'hold my cider' moment.

"A little sympathy, if ya'd please, Granny?" Applejack grumbled as she stood up to dust herself off and rerolled the rope.

"Ya know where ta find sympathy, Applejack," her Granny chuckled. "She don't look like she's fixin' ta do anypony harm. Why doncha go fetch yer yellow pegasus friend ta talk her down a bit? We'll keep an eye on her."

"Better take a torch with ya, AJ," Big Mac muttered. "The sun's gone down now."

Applejack and Fluttershy had just left her cottage after she had explained the situation to the pegaus. Naturally, the animal-friendly pony was eager to meet a new creature and help out.

"Oh! Hi, Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy called out and waved after they had been buzzed several times as the blue pegasus had zipped back and forth in the night air. Standing right beside her, Applejack could barely hear the call that was about the level most ponies would whisper. Despite that, Rainbow suddenly stopped and hovered before the two of them.

"Um—I hope I'm not intruding, Rainbow, but isn't it a little late to be practicing for the Wonderbolts?" Fluttershy inquired.

"Oh, I'm not doing that right now!" the blue pegasus exclaimed. Then evidently something just occurred to her if the expression on her face was any indication. "Oh! By the way, have either of your seen a black spotted, yellow diamond dog hereabouts?"

"As a matter of fact, Ah was just taking Fluttershy over to mah barn to speak with the critter," Applejack told her.

"Great!" Rainbow exclaimed, getting ready to fly off, only for Applejack jump up and yank her back with her tail.

"Whoa, there, Rainbow!" Applejack yelled when she had the pegasus' attention. "Didja get yerself lost flying about in the dark!? Mah barn's over that way!" she said, pointing off in the other direction.

"I know that!" Rainbow shouted back at her. "I'm gonna to go get Princess Celestia! She's the one looking for that critter!" Then Rainbow was about to take off in another direction, only to get yanked back by Applejack again.

"Uh—RD? Why're ya flying off that way? First time, ya were going over there!" Applejack pointed in the respective directions.

"Come on, AJ! Will you let me go, already!? I can see the princess!" Rainbow angrily yelled at her, pointing with her own hoof first over one way, then sweeping it over the direction of one side of town and back again. Before Applejack could react, Rainbow shot straight up into the air beyond her reach and took off in a third direction, leaving behind a colorful rainbow contrail.

"Ah think all those highspeed turns has scrambled her brains," Applejack muttered looking after her, to which Fluttershy just giggled.

Oddly, when they reached the barn, Rainbow Dash and Princess Celestia were there speaking with Granny Smith and Big Mac just outside the door.

"I think we just need to give her time and space so as to let her calm down," the princess was concluding her conversation as they got into hearing range. Then the tall alicorn noticed their approach. "Ah! Applejack! I hope you didn't get hurt earlier. And Fluttershy, maybe just the pony I need! I understand you are very adept at calming creatures down?"

"I hope I can help, Your Highness," Fluttershy said.

"I hope so, too," Princess Celestia said. "She's been through a lot of trauma. She's told me how she and several of her friends had been tortured before she ended up here in Equestria somehow."

"Sh-she spoke t-to you!? Oh, my! I—I'm not sure I can be all that helpful," Fluttershy stammered. "I—I'm much better with animals than with ponies—or—I mean—other intelligent creatures."

"You should remember, we're all animals, Fluttershy," Princess Celestia corrected her. "Ponies, and even cheetahs, like Jackie Valentine. I'm sure your skills will benefit us with talking with her. She just needs a kind ear to listen and a kind heart to speak to her. I tried to speak with her myself, but she's partly upset with me, even though I tried to help her. I can't get through to her right now."

"Well—I—I'll try, then," Fluttershy whimpered.

Two hours later, the two Equestrian Guard detectives were approaching the entrance to their precinct so that they could fill out the paperwork on the VAD crime scene.

"I just hope I can get through writing the report without losing my dinner again," Paddock grumbled.

"Thus, that's why I was suggesting we get that done before going to eat something!" Gordon said, shaking his head.

"Hey, I was bloody hungry, rookie!" Paddock yelled at him. "I lost both my breakfast and lunch with this job, today!"

"Not that you couldn't stand to miss a few meals, Harv—" Gordon mercilessly teased.

"Just because you've got an iron stom—" Paddock's retort was suddenly ended at that instant when something exploded right in front of the pair, enveloping them in a thick, choking, dust cloud.

"Oops!" a dark figure that would have had a strong resemblance to a griffon had anypony been in a position to see it, although the presence of a horn on its head and bat-like wings would have certainly been confusing for anypony trying to identify it. It was accompanied by another very dark-clad figure, as they held an empty, metal-lined box between them. That other figure, had it been spotted, would have probably been described as a bat-winged alicorn.

"We were supposed to drop that on their roof! Not in front of their door!" its companion growled.

"Sorry, Graywing! I missed!" The griffonoid then looked down at the scene. "Look out, below—?" it quietly offered as compensation.

"Let's get the Tartarus out of here, already!"

And they were quickly gone, flying off back the way they had come.

"Let's get the Tartarus out of here!" Buck hissed as he and Robin quickly wrestled the empty metal container inside, then scrambled to get themselves into the back seats of the invisible carriage, which was parked in the alley off the main road and just across from the front door to the precinct. Alfalfa and Lucius had been in a perfect position to witness everything that happened.

"Problems, Master Buck?" Alfalfa calmly inquired from the driver's seat as the back doors were quickly shut and the earth pony and griffon began stripping out of their modified Guard gear.

"We might hear a few—complaints—about tonight," Buck replied.

"At least two," Robin quipped. That set Lucius off, sitting shotgun, into yipping from hilarity.

Alfalfa sighed as she put the carriage into drive and smoothly pulled out onto the road, calmly watching out for other vehicles. After they had invisibly traveled along the traffic for a block, Lucius used his second working tail to momentarily dowse the streetlights, plunging the entire road into darkness for a few seconds. Then, the lights began working again, and when they were back on, nopony was paying attention to the fact another carriage had appeared among the others on the road.

The billowing cloud of null-stone dust caused both of them to feel nauseated to the point they both were tossing their recent meal onto the sidewalk. A few seconds after their stomachs were finished being completely voided, the night was suddenly filled with the ear-piercing screams of dozens of activated antitheft Lo-Jack alarms.

Fluttershy had initially approached Jackie with a quiet inquiry, and it wasn't long before the yellow pegasus started hugging the cheetah in earnest with her wings. They spoke for hours, but with voices too low for even their own keen hearing to pick up from their position just outside the barn doors. But what they could make out was they were both crying and sobbing for much of the time. While they waited, a Royal Guard pegasus team had arrived with a chariot and stood nearby for further orders.

"What's gonna happen to that critter, if ya don't mind me asking, Princess?" Granny Smith loudly barked out. "She's not in any trouble, is she?"

"No, Jackie hasn't committed any crimes that we know of," Princess Celestia sadly replied. "She's a clearly a victim of whatever creatures had taken her from her home and is a refugee here in this land. It's a concern, though, that the creatures who harmed her may also be here in Equestria. If so, we need to learn what we can about them as quickly as possible. Only Jackie can tell us about them, but the trauma of her torture is intimately entwined with the vital information we need from her. It's an additional torture for her to even remember those experiences, and so she runs from the pain. And—she can run pretty fast trying to get away. Unfortunately, she can never run fast enough or far enough to ever escape those memories. She knows this, but she has still yet to accept the fact."

"Then, what can anypony do to help her?" Applejack asked.

"And how can we get whatever information you need to fight the bad guys!?" Rainbow exclaimed.

"The only thing we can do," Princess Celestia said. "Try to be her friend. When she feels she can open up about what happened to her, it will be when she decides, and not before. But we will be here for her."

"Announcing Buck Mane and his Plus One, Robin Thrush, and their assistant, Alfalfa!" the gathering's official announcer called out as Buck, Robin, and Alfalfa waited for their cue to enter. At the doorpony's nod, they stepped through the archway from the foyer and into the main reception room.

They had left Lucius behind to guard the carriage and the portable shielded enclosure. The kitsune did so in his customary manner to cool his paws while sitting back in his seat. With a flick of one of his tails, Lucius became invisible, and not enveloping the carriage and its contents with him into his cloaking field this time. Not that there was much danger of anypony trying to get past the mansion's security staff to riffle one of the several vehicles parked there, but rather it was for the security ponies they were taking those precautions. Besides, with the carriage's dark windows, there was no concern that anypony snooping around would be able to see the container or Lucius in any event.

"Ah, I see Mister Stark's butler, Jarvis, over there," Alfalfa muttered to them. "I'll leave you two to mingle, sir."

"Very well, Alfalfa," Buck replied as he led Robin over toward a group that frankly needed no introduction. They were every bit as well known to the public as Buck was becoming since his parents' demise.

Pony Stark was a russet colored earthpony with a golden mane and tail, wearing a formal black tuxedo that just missed covering his cutie mark that was a white colored disk with a depiction of five atomic nuclei about to smash together in the center. Lipizzan Hoofthor was also an earthpony, with a pale coat, shocking red mane and tail, with a green crystal showing for his cutie mark. And Ollie Queen was a dark gray pegasus with a striped green/gold mane and tail, and a bow and arrow cutie mark.

They saw him and Robin approach, and they smiled as they raised their glasses in a toast to them—or at least Pony Stark and Ollie Queen did. Lipizzan Hoofthor, instead, gave them a rather pointed scowl and refused to raise his drink.

"Welcome, Mister Mane!" Pony Stark greeted.

"Please! Call me Buck," he said. "I'm—still getting over my father's death, and he was always 'Mister Mane'."

"But of course," Stark replied. "And please call me Pony, here."

"Ollie," Queen said, offering his hoof to Buck to bump.

"Zzan," Hoofthor flatly said, giving him a curt nod.

"And this is Robin, of the Flying Thrushes," Buck said, introducing his griffon friend. Hoofthor's scowl deepened at that.

"The 'Flying Thrushes'? As in the circus performers?" Ollie inquired.

"The late circus performers," Robin corrected. "My own family was killed a couple days before the Manes, and I'm afraid the news of their demise was overshadowed by the explosion at the harbor and the deaths of the Manes."

"Oh, my deepest condolences," Ollie offered.

"Even worse, we were there when Robin's family were killed," Buck stated. "My parents had decided to adopt Robin so that he wouldn't have to end up in an orphanage."

"Only for me to lose my adoptive parents immediately after," Robin cut in. "It's been a rather rough ride."

"I can only imagine, especially for a griffon so young!" Pony sympathetically said. "Well! I think we should all form a 'Rich Orphan Tycoons' Club'," he then joked to which Ollie choked on his drink and Zzan rolled his eyes.

"That's why we love you, Pony!" Ollie spat when he could speak again. "Leave it to you to come up with the most offensive comment you can and somehow make it seem funny."

"Speak for yourself," Zzan growled.

"It's a gift," Pony said grinning, shrugging his hooves.

"Commander Jarvis," Alfalfa greeted the elderly earth pony stallion with a respectful bow of her head.

"I believe you have me at somewhat of a disadvantage, madam," Jarvis coolly replied.

"Then this must be one of the very few times that I can ever recall having such advantage of you, sir," she said, smiling at him. "Alfalfa Ponyworth, at your service."

"Ponyworth? Ponyworth?" he asked, trying to recall the name. Then his eyes widened, and he looked at her in surprise. "Alfalfa Ponyworth!? You've aged!" he exclaimed, and she laughed.

"We have! Indeed, sir!" she replied, still chuckling.

"Well! Good to see you again," Jarvis told her as she lined up beside him to keep an eye on the goings on in the room. "So, you're one of us, now? As the new butler to Mister Mane?"

"I am, indeed, sir," she said, nodding. "When I retired from the Royal Guard, I applied to work for Thomas Mane, and have stayed on for Buck. But—'us', sir? There was only you standing here."

Jarvis nodded his head toward the metal statue of a horse, and Alfalfa only now noted how much it did not fit in with the rest of the room's décor. It was a "statue of a horse" only in that it was in the rough conformations of a horse. But gapping areas allowing potential access into the body cavity in between curved steel bars representing ribs revealed the view of a hodgepodge of numerous cogged wheels, cables, tubes, wires, and pistons. Most of the components were showing considerable signs of general neglect from all the patches of rust and other corrosion evident in the mechanism. It was very unlike any of the other metal pieces of artwork scattered about the chamber in that those other items were all very well-polished, shiny, and form-fitting complete, and not looking like something cobbled together from a junkyard or two. At the moment, with it just standing there, there was nothing inside the metal horse moving or giving any indication that it was a functioning animatronic.

"That belongs to Doctor Destiny," Jarvis stated. "It arrived with him and apparently is able to function independently of him since the good doctor didn't need to give it any instructions. It's been standing there since they arrived. I can only surmise it's functioning perhaps as the doctor's aid and/or butler."

"Interesting," Alfalfa muttered. "Remarkable technology that must have gone into it, if it functions as you suspect."

"Indeed," Jarvis agreed before turning his gaze back to the event and the guests. Alfalfa joined him in keeping watch. He instantly spotted Buck and Robin, and the ponies they were conversing with. Other guests included the aforementioned Doctor von Destiny, quite the imposing figure with his dull gray plate armor and green horse blanket, complete with iron mask that only showed off a portion of his eyes. He was evidently engaged in a conversation with his former college classmate, Water Riwoche. At least, Alfalfa was able to tell they were so engaged by how Riwoche was animatedly waving his hooves about as they spoke. Doctor Destiny barely moved, much like his pet robot standing beside her and Jarvis. Several other ponies of the local nobility seemed to be interested in trying to follow their discussion. Judging from the glazed looks of most of their faces, however, they didn't appear to be successful.

She recalled reading the news about a magical accident involving Destiny and Riwoche a few years back. Destiny was quite the handsome stallion in his college days, but the incident was said to have left a scar on his face. According to Riwoche, who had been first on the scene when it happened, the wound was a minor one, and none of his injuries were life threatening. But thereafter, Destiny had started wearing the mask, refusing to show his face to anypony.

Such vanity! she sadly sighed. Why is it that the ones gifted with good looks are always the ones ending up getting cursed with tremendous egos? she wondered.

They slowly stepped out from the dark spacious interior of the barn, Jackie pressed close to Fluttershy, who held a wing over Jackie's lower back.

"I want you to know, we heard you talking out here," Jackie softly muttered, staring at Celestia. "It—it's still—too much for me to speak of it right now. But—but I did tell Fluttershy all about it," she said, glancing down at the yellow pegasus. She nodded to the equinoid. "Everything that's happened to me. And to my friends."

"She'll tell you what I said to her. But I can't be there," Jackie said with her ears laid back, shaking her head, looking back at Celestia.

"We understand, Jackie," Celestia told her. "If you're okay with it, I have a chariot to carry us back to Canterlot. I think we both ran a little much today and we can both certainly use the rest."

"Yes! Of course!" Jackie chirped a laugh.

"I will debrief you tomorrow morning then, Fluttershy," Celestia told the timid pegasus. "And—thank you so very much for helping us both."

"What are friends for, Your Highness, other than to be there for each other?" she inquired.

"Indeed, that is what friends are for, Fluttershy."

"Zzan seems like he doesn't like Robin, for some reason," Buck softly muttered to the others after the Hoofthor decided to wander away and socialize elsewhere. Pony looked after him as he continued chewing on the bite he had taken from his sandwich. Ollie stayed quiet.

"Rumor has it his griffon stepdad—wasn't exactly a nice pony," Pony finally stated in similar volume after swallowing his mouthful. "And after Zzan took over, any griffons still working for them—well—they either soon left the company—or had accidents."

Buck and Robin shared a look between them.

I'm not the only one who needs to watch their back! Buck darkly thought to himself as Pony motioned for them all to follow him to another cluster of ponies. Most of these were ponies known as part of Manehattan's elite nobility, but they were attentively focused on the debate going on between Water Riwoche and Doctor Victor von Destiny.

"…But it's clear that Nightmare Moon will soon be returning in just over three years, Victor!" the dark blue furred earth pony with a black mane and tail was saying when Buck got close enough to hear them. "And the prophesy and legends state that 'the stars will aid in her escape'. There can be no doubt in my mind that the prophesies are warning us of a Dark Magic event! We have to try getting to the moon and head that off. I could use your help in finishing the rocket in order to get there in time!"

That Destiny could visibly flinch under all that armor told Buck that Riwoche had evidently struck a nerve in the metal-clad figure.

"If you will recall, trying to seek out and destroy Dark Magic is what ruined my face, Riwoche!" Destiny's artificial voice boomed out from his mask. "You know that I have turned my back on those sorts of foalish endeavors! I will not help you!"

"But I know you developed a practical shield against wild magical fluxes, Victor! Please!" Riwoche pleaded. "All my tests so far tell me that there are numerous wild and chaotic ley lines above the atmosphere randomly sweeping about out there between us and the moon. If our rocket gets hit by any of them, the results could be catastrophic to the mission!"

"A so-called 'shield' is what did this, Riwoche!" Destiny's snarl in his voice came through quite clear despite the artificial modulation as he waved an armored hoof at his own mask. "It was a failed experiment that ended up in the trash where it belongs! If you need a shield to protect your ship, then design and build it yourself. Or, better yet, give up on this endeavor and save your own life by not getting involved! This conversation is ended!" With that, the armored figure turned and stalked away.

"All's not lost, Water," a unicorn mare with fuchsia-pink fur and blonde mane and tail, said to Riwoche. Her gown hid her cutie mark, however. "We'll find a way to get there and stop Nightmare Moon's return, with or without a shield."

"He was our last hope, Air," Riwoche replied to her. "I struck out with Princess Celestia and every other pony I could think of. He turned me down months earlier, but I had at least hoped that I could convince Victor to again take up the goal we used to have."

"He's become—rather bitter, of late, Water," she told him. "And, I'm also worried that his concerns over his homeland has become a full blow obsession of his."

"Water Riwoche, Air Storm!" Pony took that moment to speak up, "I'd like to introduce you to Buck Mane and Robin Thrush."

"Thomas Mane's son?" Riwoche inquired when he turned to look. "My condolences, sir! He paid us very handsomely for several of my inventions. I trust he found their functions and usefulness satisfactory? I always appreciated his patronage. And my condolences to you, as well, Mister Thrush! You family were quite the talented group. It was such a tragic loss!" he said, offering his forelimb to bump and shake theirs in turn.

"Thank you for such kind words," Robin replied as Buck nodded.

"And this is Fire Storm, Air's brother, and Ben Ground, our associate," Water said, gesturing to a red pegasus, also with a blonde mane and taile, nearby who nodded to them, and an orange earth pony with dark brown mane and tail in turn.

"Mister Mane," the deep voiced heavy earth pony greeted with a nod of his own and reached out with his hoof. "Nice meeting you, sir."

"Please, call me Buck," Buck told him returning the hoofshake. "Nice meeting you, too."

"Your father always treated us warmly, too, sir," Ben Ground said in return. "He was a very down-to-earth pony. He'll be sorely missed."

It was about this time that Buck noticed their cutie marks seemed rather odd. Ben Ground's cutie mark was a profile of a feathered wing. Fire Storm's was a flaming tornado. And Water's cutie mark was strangest of all, looking all the world like a blob of something with several protruding pseudopods of different lengths, as if supposedly giving a shape to something that was supposed to be shapeless.

A short distance away, Zzan Hoofthor was having a quiet conversation with Genevieve Tawleed. Meanwhile, the armored pony stood alone and glowered back at the ponies he had left and those now speaking with them….