> A Wish That Could Be
>  by Faithful Brony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Wishing Mishap
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Wish That Could Be
chapter one: The Wishing Mishap


BEEP, BEEP, BEEP,
The sound of the alarm clock woke the sleeping form in the bed. slowly crawling towards the alarm clock, the human reaches forward and slaps the off button on the front of it. he rubs the sleep from his face and pulls the blinds open. after stretching, the young male reluctantly goes to work getting ready for the day. after eating breakfast then working out, he showered. once he finished, he got dressed and walked over to a mirror looking at the reflection to begin stylizing his hair and goatee. The young man was five feet eight inches tall, has a barrel chest and a semi-muscular build. 
He had brown medium length hair and was wearing a black shirt. he was wearing Carhart Jeans that were just slightly longer than his legs proper. he put on a black hoody with a large moon graphic on it and he wore a thick, very large coat over it. overall it was quite durable.

"Russell, get out there, you're going to miss your bus if you don't," his mom called from the kitchen. 

Don't worry I won't miss it," he got his backpack and then headed out to catch the bus to school. In another house not too far away, another human was getting ready for school as well. 

"Have a good day at school Jessie," the boys' mother called from the house door.

"You to ma," Jessie said while running down the hill to the bus stop. Jessie was five feet nine inches, had black hair, and wore a pair of jeans and a hoody with a white shirt underneath. Jessie made his way to the bus and got on.

In a hotel about fifty miles away, another guy was sitting at his computer typing on the keyboard. 

"Great, another chapter finished and ready to add to the story. I wonder what I should make them do next," The guy said as he finished uploading the file to the internet. He went to check his main page after that for a text from one of his fellow writers. When the page loaded up, he noticed the picture that randomly chose a different wallpaper pic every time it loaded. The screen showed the words Fimfiction on the face of the web page. He scrolled down a bit and saw the name of his profile, RobCakeran53. 
The guys' name is Robert, but his fans know him by his writer name. RobCakeran53 was ok with it so he let Bronies call him it when he went to the conventions. He was slightly above average height rounding at six feet one inch with light brown hair. He had a long body with a slightly above average build. Rob clicked on the log out button because he had an assignment to get to. He looked at a letter unfolded right next to him, remembering what it said and being surprised, to say the least.

"Well, it looks like I'm going to be substituting at a school to get my final grade in writing," said Rob with a hint of enthusiasm. At least after this, he would be done with his last year of college. Rob got his coat and went out to his car to drive over to the school where his assignment would take place. All three people reached the same location and got out at the same time like in the movies. They all looked at the new day with a sigh.

“Looks like another boring Wednesday to me,” they all said in unison and made their way to their respective classes. Jesse and Russel were able to make it through first and second-period class without being bored out of their minds. 

"Hey Jessie, hows it going," Russell asked as usual?

Pretty good, you?

Bored, hey do you know when the My Little Dashie movie is supposed to come out, It's been a while since the original release date was announced?" 

"Yeah, it should be coming out sometime within the next seven month. I know how you feel man I’ve waited a while for this movie to come out, I'm excited." Jessie said energetically

"So am I man, also I was wondering when Bronycon is supposed to be because we are going to that too," Russel stated with determination.

"I think it's supposed to be some time during the summer possibly in July, I don’t know I would have to check." 

"OK that’s cool, anyway did you hear that Robcakeran53 the writer is substituting as our English teacher at school today, Russel said with interest" 

"Yeah, I heard about that and I’m actually quite surprised. Isn’t he in college?" 

"Yeah but he's almost done, just one or two or more weeks left. He posted something about it last weekend on his fanfiction profile. What you didn’t read it?" 

"No, but I guess I'll have to give him congrats, hey we should go now and get our lunches.' both of the friends sat there talking for a little bit while enjoying a nice lunch. After lunch was over they got through the third and fourth period with relative ease and now they were in their fifth-period writing class. they slowly arrived at the writing class. 

"I’m glad the school day is almost over. Soon I’ll be able to get back to reading the rest of this awesome fanfic I found." 

"Hello class my name is Rob, I’ll be your English teacher for today, now since this is my first time teaching here, I would like to get your names so that I know who is who. Alright let start with Jesse," 

"here," 

"okay, Russel," 

"here," 

"Alright, Zack"… all of a sudden there was a bright flash of light that shot through the window. When everyone could finally see they were shocked to find a rainbow appeared in the room. At the epicenter was what seemed to be like a portal that appeared inside the vast array of colors. It surprised everyone, even more, when they looked behind it and there was no stream coming out the back through the now shattered window. Russel slowly got to his feet and picked his desk up after getting knocked back by the shock wave that emanated from the portal. 
Looking at the portal, he slowly approached it. Russel stuck his hand in the portal, slowly moving it around inside. He turned to Jesse with fascination and said, 

"It feels warm and as if everything I see now has a higher clarity of color to it. It feels like my hand is weightless by the way. You've got to come and check this out," Russell said excitedly. Jesse slowly approached the portal as well and did the same thing. He too felt the sensations just by touching the portal and received the same effects as well. The portal all of a sudden started to destabilize, making a shimmering ripples through it every few seconds. 
" I'm not completely sure where that portal leads, but you know how it felt. This feels like a golden opportunity for adventure to me. I want to see where this goes Jesse and I think you do too. I'll see ya on the other side," and with that Russel jumped through. For a second, Jesse didn’t know what to do. So he did the only thing he felt was right and jumped on through following his friend. 
Rob just stood there dumbfounded, not knowing how to react to the shocking turn of event. He finally said something after a few seconds, 

"You’re not going anywhere, get back here students" and with that, he ran off through the portal after his students. A calm came over the trio as they were enveloped by the light of the portal. slowly everything in their vision began to change. their own bodies began to take on a permanently brighter hue and saturation of color. finally after what felt like hours of floating in an endless stream of every color imaginable, they final popped out on the other side of the closing portal. the portal decreased in size until finally it winked out and with it, the only way back to the classroom. They slowly got up, trying to make sense of their surroundings and attempting to figure out exactly where they are. 
The first thing they noticed is how animated everything looked. they were standing in a large grassy area There appeared to be a dense area of a forest behind them stretching far in either direction. Jesse poked both Rob and me to get our attention. When he did, we saw a sight that we never expected to see. Looming in a field of grass was a town, but not just any town. They recognized it well, It was Ponyville. 
They immediately knew it from the show 'My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic. The trio felt overwhelming wonder and amazement as they looked at the town from the outskirts. They were right next to the Everfree Forest. Finally, the silence was broken, 

"Well, it looks like it came true."Jesse turned around to look at Russel, confused on what he was talking about. He continued, Rob, Jesse, I think you should know that this is probably my fault that we are all here." 

"What do you mean Russel," Rob said with a confused but slightly interested look as if he was expecting an explanation for where he was or how he arrived. 

"Well Rob, I made a wish on a rainbow. Actually the first real rainbow I've ever seen now that I think about it. I have always seen rainbows in TV shows and in movies but I never saw them outside of that. I’m just pulling at straws here but I'm not exactly sure since this has never scientifically happened before. To be honest, I'm quite baffled at how this ever worked but I made the wish at that moment and today during class It came true. Jesse then pondered for a minute before he finally asked a question.

"Russel this is great and all but what are we supposed to do now? If you haven't read some the fanfics, then you should know that to the ponies humans are a weird myth. Just waltzing into Ponyville might cause a bit of a panic amongst the population." 

"Well Jesse, I honestly didn’t think that far ahead for you guys-," Jesse turned around, interrupting Russel before he could finish 

“Wait what did you meant by you guys, Jessie asked confused about what he meant?" 

"Jesse I’m afraid I won’t be joining you on your trek to Ponyville, I have had other ideas from the start when I made that wish. I plan on heading through the Everfree Forest to get to the ports where I know I will find a boat out of Equestria." 

"Why Russel, where are you going?" 

"Exactly where I want to go, but don't concern yourself about me. You got enough to think about already. I wish you both luck in your endeavors here. By the way, don’t worry I promise we will see each other again," Russel nodded to them. With that, he took off into the forest. 

"Well Rob it looks like we're stuck here, might as well nut up and go meet the locals." That’s when Rob finally decided to speak up again. 

"Hey, Jesse, what do you suppose will happen once we go into the town? And another thing, who do you think we should go see first?" Jesse stood there for a moment to ponder on that thought than simply said 

"I honestly don’t know, I can think of one unicorn who might be able to help us. First, let's go see if we can get a little back up from a certain yellow Pegasus." They began their short walk to Fluttershy's cottage. "I just hope we don’t scare her," Jessie thought to himself nervously. He worried About what might happen to the timid pony when she saw them.
> First Meeting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



"I wish the ring had never come to me Gandalf, I wish none of this had ever happened," 
"So do all who live to see such times but that is not for them to decide. What is for them to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you."

Frodo and Gandalf the Grey, Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring-







Fluttershy was at her cottage taking care of all her animals that she loved so much. she gave the squirrels their acorns, handed the raccoons their fruit, and passed out the various vegetables and greens to all the other animals gathered around for lunchtime.

“Alright now my little friends time to eat,” the animals began chowing down on the food showing the approval she got every day. Fluttershy felt a tug on her leg; she looked down to see her favorite animal and friend. 
“Oh hello there Angel Bunny, I didn’t forget about you. Here are your carrots just the way you like them,” Angel hopped with joy as he ate his carrots. There was a knock at the door a few seconds later. Angel immediately went over to the door, opening it slowly. He closed it soon after; hopping on over to Fluttershy and tugging at her wing to rouse her attention. 
“What’s the matter Angel Bunny, is somepony at the door. Who is it Rainbow Dash, Angel shook his head, “is it Pinkie Pie,” Angel shook his head again and started to pull Fluttershy to the door “ok, ok I’ll go see who it is.” When she opened the door she did not expect to see the spectacle in front of her. She looked at the creature her legs shaking frantically. It was about a foot and half taller than she was and there was another creature that looked similar to the first one but this one was taller than the fomer. 
Fluttershy dropped to the floor and covered her face; cowering from the creature hoping it would go away. Fluttershy felt something poke her then she heard a soft voice.

"It's alright, we aren’t going to hurt you,” Jessie said trying to comfort her. Fluttershy slowly looked up to see the creature holding out its hand, smiling. She slowly grabbed his hand shaking furiously. From Jessie's point of view, it looked like she was almost having a seizure. 
“Hello my name is Jessie what is yours,” he asked while trying to hide his excitement. Jessie was holding the temptation back to glorify as he was meeting his favorite pony from the show. 

"My name is Fluttershy,"

"I'm sorry what did you say," Jessie asked as he couldn't quite pick up on what she said.

"My name is Fluttershy,"

"One more time please, and just a little bit louder please," he repeated his request again.

"M-my name is Fluttershy.... wh-who’s your f-friend,” fluttershy asked pointing at Jessie's comrade. 

“His name is Rob” 

“Howdy”

“M-may I ask w-why you’re here,” fluttershy asked still very confused about the situation.

“Well, we were hoping you could help us. we are kind of lost and we need someone smart to help us,” Jessie pointed out to the small pony. Fluttershy blushed because of the strange creature compliment. 

“W-well I’m not that smart when it comes to giving directions. I have a f-friend who c-could help you, though. She is really smart and could probably fix your problem.”

“Well then could you take us to her, Jessie asked attempting to get the shy pony to help?”

“S-sure just let m-me go get something” Fluttershy closed the door then went to get her bits. She had to do a little shopping in the marketplace so she thought it to be a good idea.

“Well, at least we got off to a good start. Now that we got Fluttershy to back us up, maybe she can make the others feel more inclined to help us.”

I don’t know man, I have doubts about this. Maybe she's not the best choice for a first contact situation. You know how timid she is, she couldn't exactly explain something like this to her friends,” Rob said showing a lot of doubt in this plan

“Well we don’t have many options now do we. We couldn’t go to any of the others, except for maybe Pinkie Pie but that would have been a little bit more difficult. You know how hyper she is; she would probably just try to throw us a welcome to Ponyville party rather than give us directions. Also, I don’t know where Sugarcube Corner is.”

“Good point,” Rob said not being able to argue with the facts. Fluttershy came out of her cottage and closed the door. 

“Ok let’s go, Fluttershy said as she pointed down the road”

“May I ask you something Fluttershy?”

“Yes Jessie, what is it,” she said listening closely.

“Who are we going to see I mean our situation is kind of a unique problem?”

“We are going to see my friend Twilight. If there is anypony that can help you with your problem she can," Fluttershy said softly.

“I appreciate your help taking us to her house, we didn’t feel like going into town without a guide. as you can see, we might have gotten less than positive reactions.

“You’re very welcome, I was actually going to go there anyway. I’ve got to get food for my animals from the marketplace. First, we will stop by Twilight’s library,” she said just loud enough for them to hear before going silent altogether. The rest of the way there was awkward because nobody talked. After about twenty minutes of it, Rob couldn't take anymore so he finally said something to break the ice. 

“So Fluttershy what do you do for a living exactly? That seems like quite a lot of animals to care for,” Rob asked interested in just about any conversation at this point.

“W-well I run a daycare for animals. I also act as the towns vet in a way so I make enough,” Fluttershy explained smiling at the thought of her great animal friends.

“That’s cool that you provide such a service for the town,” Jessie said complimenting her work. 

“T-thanks, I like the quiet it’s peaceful, plus I love taking care of animals. I have a choir of birds that I teach to sing for some of the events held in town every year. Many of the other animals help me clean up and help take care of my garden. my most favorite of all is my friend Angel Bunny.”

“Yeah, I saw him when he answered the door, how long have you had him?”

“Well he is actually the first animal I took into my cottage to take care of, that was almost 6 years ago.”

"That sound like a lot of work for one pony how do you do it all by yourself,” Rob said knowing that becoming a doctor even for animals is hard.

“Well it was hard at first but I can talk to the animals so that helps. I think that's why they get along with me so easily; I understand them.” I don't know why I can I just do, Fluttershy said as she had never figured that out. as they were conversing a Cyan blur knocked Jessie and Rob off their feet when they looked up standing in front of them was none other than Rainbow Dash.

“Are you ok Fluttershy, what are you doing. I saw these weird things following you, they could be spies. Don't bring them into town,” the rainbow mane pony said not liking the looks of the human.

“I’m fine and they weren’t attacking me Rainbow, They were following me. I was taking them to see Twilight's so she could help them, they are a little lost.”

“Shy I’ve never seen creatures like these before; they could be here to hurt somepony.”

“We are not here to hurt anyone, we just asked Fluttershy to help us. That’s exactly where she was taking us, to get help.”
Rainbow looked at Jessie then looked back up at her friend to see her nodding. She slowly backed off the two and flew up into the air.

“Alright Fluttershy, but I’m keeping my eyes on you two," she said to the two humans. Rainbow Dash then proceeded to give them a mean glare before urging them to keep going. When they finally arrived at Twilight's library they heard several crashing noises and Rainbow knocked on the door.

“Hey Twilight you in there, we heard some noises. Are you alright,” Rainbow Dash called to the other side of the door. The door was surrounded by a purple aura and then opened. The group proceeded in heading over to the main section of the library to see a huge pile of books on the ground. A disoriented Twilight popping out of them along with her assistant Spike. 

“Yeah Rainbow I’m fine, we were just organizing the bookshelves again and Spike slipped knocking one over.” She then noticed Jessie and Rob standing a few hoofs back behind them. She jumped out of the pile and ran over to the new beings.

“Excuse me, who are you, I’ve never seen Creatures like you before. You certainly aren’t from Equestria; wait, did you girls bring them here,” Twilight asked looking at her friends for answers.

“Well, Fluttershy said they were lost and she was bringing them to you. she told them you could help them, personally, I think they are spies.” 

“My name is Jessie and this is Rob. We asked Fluttershy for help because we are currently stuck here and we were hoping you could help us go back home.” 

“Hold on a second,” Twilight said as she went over to one of the shelves and pulled out several books. she cross-referenced a few things to find out more about the two Aliens. After a few minutes reading, she looks up at RD and Fluttershy with a shocked look. “Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, this is incredible.”

“What is it Twilight are they spies just like I said” 

“No they are more interesting than that, they are Humans.” The two Ponies looked at her confusingly so she continued.
“I thought I saw a drawing of them somewhere before, it says here that Humans are considered mythical creatures. They are bipedal, have opposable thumbs for picking up things, and have a high capacity for intelligence. Its probably to make up for the lack of no wings or magic abilities. In fact they have actual been seen before supposedly. The scholar who had documented this also said he actually saw a human once. He got this information from studying it, but he was never proven factually because no one else saw it.” This is great, now that I know what you are I have a lot of questions. However, first I must send a letter to Princess Celestia. I must tell her about this, Spike, write this down." As Twilight was making the letter Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy walked over to Jessie and Rob to get a look at the two mythical alien beings.

“Wow this is awesome, the others are going to be shocked about this.” Rainbow looked at Fluttershy then flew over to the couch and sat down. Shortly after that Twilight came back in the room.

“Well I’ve sent the princess the letter but it’s going to take a while. She is slumped with a huge amount of day court stuff, that gives me the chance to ask you guys some questions.” She pulled up two chairs with her magic for Jessie and Rob to sit down before doing the same for herself. she then let loose her barrage of questions and note-taking. Jessie and Rob both sat there and sighed knowing they were going to be in for a long day. Twilight's curiosity for learning was voracious, almost insatiable. She ecstatically wrote down every detail, the entire thing was like Christmas for her. Rob and Jessie did their best to answer what they could but were obviously going to be in for a long day.
> The Big News
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth… not going all the way, and not starting. 

-Buddha

    





To say Jessie and Rob were tired was an understatement. they were mentally exhausted from the series of questions that Twilight was asking. Finally, after six hours of this assault, she had ended her rampage to go over her notes and finalize every detail they went over.

“Wow, Twilight I didn’t know you could tire someone out by just asking questions,” Jessie said with a sigh before slinking back in his chair. Rob got up to stretch his legs than proceed to comment on the subject.

“Yeah Twilight, maybe you don’t need magic to fight your enemies, maybe you could defeat them with mental overload.” He proceeded to chuckle for a bit before it died down a minute later. Rainbow couldn’t help but make a few snickers at that joke too. she soon noticed Twilight giving her a glare and Rainbow stopped, knowing how Twilight could be when she got angry, she did not like that version of her.

“Hey, I like to be very well informed and thorough when learning about new things.” Twilight huffed then went back to file her note away in her desk. Silence stood for a few seconds but as if right on cue to break the ice, Spike belched and a letter was shot out of the flames. Spike grabbed the letter and was about to open it when Twilight snatched it and opened it with her magic. She looked up a second later to see the angry look on Spikes' face.
Spike grunted and said,

“Hey what gives Twilight”

“Sorry, Spike” Twilight said putting on an apologetic smile hoping to cheer up the dragon. Spike walked over to Twilight and just hugged her. He couldn’t stay mad at her when she did the puppy dog eyes. She proceeded to read the letter and looked up with fear now noticeably present on her face. she started to run around the room babbling out nonsense while trying to clean up the library.
Rainbow Dash immediately stopped Twilight to calm her down.  
Rainbow was finally able to get her friend to slow down a bit.

“Alright, Twilight whats wrong,” the technicolored mare said, worrying about her friend. Twilight's eyes widened, her pupils dilated and she blurted out,

“Celestia is coming over Dash, she will be here in a few minutes and I’m not prepared for a visit from her.” Rainbow turned to look around at the room then back to Twilight.

“It’s alright Twilight, your library doesn’t have to be spotless for her to come over. I’m sure she will be glad to see you either way,” Rainbow Dash said before being blinded by a light.
The brilliant flash of light filled the room, blinding everyone for a few seconds. When the light finally died out, Jessie and Rob looked over near Twilight and Rainbow to see the princess Alicorn herself. Celestia look around to see Fluttershy laying on the couch, Twilight and Rainbow Dash standing near her, and then her vision finally settled upon the two humans standing before her.
She took in every detail about the two. One was just as tall as Applejack's brother Big Macintosh, had glasses on his face, black hair, wore a grey hoodie, blue jeans and a weird device protruding from under his hoodie that went straight into his ears. The other human was almost as tall as her coming up a to her neck, he had brown colored hair, wore a red zip-up hoody, and dark grey jeans. She spoke soon after finishing her once over of them,

"Hello my little ponies I’m glad to see you, now tell me Twilight what have you learned about them and keep it simple, stick to just the main things."

“Well, Princess I learned that their names are Jessie and Rob.” “They are from a planet called earth and how they got here; well I was going to wait until you were here to listen to that part.”

“OK, thank you my faithful student” Celestia turned to the Jessie and Rob and walked over to them.

“Jessie, Rob would you mind telling us how you got here.” Every one of the ponies in the room sat down to listen to them. Jessie then realized something, he couldn’t tell them what happened without letting them know the secret that there was a third human here on Equestria and Jessie would not give away his friend like that. He then came up with an idea hoping it would work.

“Well, I know this is going to sound a little silly but I made a wish on a rainbow that I saw yesterday an hour after I got home from school.” “The next day I came to school and the portal opened up in the middle of class, Rob and I entered the portal and ended up on the edge to the Everfree Forest." "We then went and got help from Fluttershy and she took us here.” Everyone looked at them with confusion, then Twilight broke the silence. 

“Wait how is that even possible, last I checked rainbows don’t have magic do the ones on earth have magic.”

“No, magic doesn’t exist in our world.”

“So if it doesn’t exist there how is it this rainbow sent you here.”
Celestia interrupted Twilight’s train of thought. 

“Well I have heard about strange phenomena like this but it’s very rare and there hasn’t been much research done on the subject since it doesn’t happen often and I’ve never personally seen it happen myself.” 

“What is it princess, what are you talking about.” Celestia teleported a book into the room that looked like it hadn’t been touched in ages, opened it and started to read a passage. 

"I have never seen anything like this in all my days of conducting science." "I have discovered a small trace of magic inside of Rainbow and it seems to be made of both lunar and solar magic, which is odd because not very many things have the ability to use such powers and it has to lead me to the conclusion that the Rainbow used these powers naturally." "How it happened I haven’t been able to figure out, what I have been able to figure out is that the magic formed with the Rainbow in its creation but here is the interesting thing the Rainbow itself did not form naturally." "Somehow it was created artificially but no such record other than the fabled Rainboom mythology exists to explain this." "I must further my research on this subject." Celestia closed the book and took a slow relaxing breath.

“The pony who discovered this anomaly wrote down in his journal about an event similar to this although it was never fully proven it did spark ideas in science and his journal was made into a newer copy.”  “The original journal is gone and this is the only other copy of it, which has been in the Canterlot Library for centuries.” 

“Princess Celestia if this is true then the only way for them to have gotten here was for someone on earth to do the Sonic Rainboom and I asked Jessie about animals on his planet.”  “He said that Unicorns, Pegasi, and talking ponies don’t exist in their world. “  “He even said that the weather on his planet moves on its own.” Rainbow Dash spoke up next. 

“Well I don’t know if this helps but yesterday I was working on a new version of my Sonic Rainboom.” Everyone turned to Rainbow and she continued. “Its called the Astro Rainboom.” Fluttershy gasped.

“Wait I thought you said you weren’t going to do that again after the last time you tried you almost died Rainbow.”

“Hold on a second what are you two talking about and what is the Astro Rainboom” Twilight spoke to keep Rainbow Dash on the topic she would have to talk to the other subject later because she never heard of rainbow dash getting into a life-threatening wreck.

“The Astro Rainboom is a new move I made to impress the Wonderbolts and ensure a spot for me on the team.” “It involves a series of escalating shot into the high altitude of space, I would proceed to dive down at immense speed and to make sure I survived I asked Doctor Whoove the pony scientist who lives in that nice house just a little bit a ways from where I train to make a few things that would help with that.” “The first was a solar shield kind of like the one you use as your personal shield princess, to protect me from the high heat that would be created. He also gave me a mask that would allow me to breathe in the high atmosphere and it would also trail with my Rainboom creating a starry effect when I broke through the Mach cone. “I had been practicing that move for a while and I just succeeded yesterday.”

“So if Rainbow did that somehow the phenomena must have enhanced the already existing magic’s that she was using and must have been powerful enough to create a bridge from their world to ours, the only thing it needed was for Jessie to make a wish on the rainbow that formed on their world simultaneously.” “Princess Celestia do you think Rainbow could do it again and send them home,” Twilight said with hope in her voice.

“I don’t think so my little ponies, if what the stallions researched says is correct then this event can only happen once every five-thousand years.” “He goes on to explain a theory about how the atmosphere needs to build up enough lunar and solar magic for Rainbows to perform this unpredictable effect.” “If this is true then I’m deeply sorry to inform you, Jessie and Rob, that you cannot go back to earth, I’m afraid you’re stuck here.” This realization hit them both like a ton of bricks.

“So what you’re saying is that we can never go back nor will we ever be able to see our families again,” Jesse said with fear in his voice.

“I’m afraid so Jessie, I am sorry that this mishap has occurred for the both of you.”
Jessie walked out of the library and sat down on the porch. Rob then started to ask some questions while he was gone.

“I got a few questions, first what are we supposed to do now.” “We obviously can’t return to our world and I don’t know if we can do anything here without attracting a lot of attention.” 

“That can be arranged I might be able to get you two some jobs so you can earn a wage and get your own houses until then I will assign both of you to a different bearer.” “Jessie will stay with Twilight and you can stay with Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres." "Twilight I want you to get Applejack over here and explain the situation to her, I’m sure once she hears about their plight she will be more than willing to let Rob stay there." Twilight nodded and teleported to the farm to retrieve her. 

“Another thing Celestia, what about the extreme attention we are going to receive, after all, it not every day that humans just wander into Equestria.”  

“Don’t worry about that Rob, I will take care of that detail. Goodbye, my little ponies I have a few things I need to take care of and with that Celestia teleported back to the castle.” Fluttershy hopped off the couch and went to the door.

I’ll be going now; I have to go get the food for my animals so see ya and with that Fluttershy was gone. When Fluttershy exited she saw Jessie sitting there, she started to shiver sensing the gloomy atmosphere coming from him and went to sit down beside him.

“Are you going to be alright Jessie I know this may be hard for you.” 

“Yeah, I guess I will, it’s just kind of a big change for me to go through.” Fluttershy leaned over and hugged him. 

“Y-you’re going to be ok." there was a long pause, then Fluttershy spoke again "I’m going to tell you something a lot of ponies don’t know about me." "I wasn’t always like this, so timid and easily frightened," you see when I was young there was an accident, my parents died while saving me." "When our house caught on fire they sacrificed themselves.”

“Wow, that must have sucked.”

“It did, for the first month I didn’t talk to anypony but soon I was sent to flight academe and that’s where I met Rainbow Dash." "She brought me out of my shell and helped me to be braver." "I thank her for that, every day, she is my best friend."

“It sounds like you admire her a lot for that.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Thanks for this pep talk you really are the element of kindness.” All Fluttershy could do was blush at that comment and then walk off to get her animal feed at the market stand. 


Once Fluttershy exited the library, Rainbow turned around to see Rob sitting on the couch looking around. They sat there for a few minutes before rainbow couldn’t stand the silence any longer.

"Well I think I will go help Fluttershy with her shopping; I just wanted to say to you that the joke was funny but I’ve still got my eyes on you two," and with that Rainbow bolted out the door after Fluttershy. Another flash of light blinded Rob then he saw Twilight in the room with Applejack in tow.

“Alright now slow down there Twi, what are ya talking about and who is Rob.”
Applejack turned to see a creature holding out his hand. 

“Hi, my name is Rob.
> Learning the Ropes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



“Your Ancestors Called it Magic, but You Call it Science. I Come From a Land Where They Are One and the Same.”

― Thor Odinson_ Thor the Movie







It was six o’clock in the morning and Applejack woke up bright and early at Sweet Apple Acres to get started on bucking the apple trees. She went to the barn and opened the door; she proceeded inside and went over to a big pile of hay. There on top sleeping peacefully was the human that she just met last night. Applejack replayed the event of last night back in her mind.

“Hello there,” she said hesitantly shaking the creatures hand then turned to twilight confused about all of this. “Alright, Twi I'll bite what’s this all about,” this whole thing had now peaked Applejack's interest.

Well, Applejack this creature right here is called a human, his name is Rob and he is in quite a predicament. Twilight continued the conversation telling her the whole situation starting with the first meeting, sending the letter to Celestia and her coming to the library, the conversation that they all had, what they had learned, and finally ending it with how they can never go back. After Twilight was finished she waited for her friend to respond. Applejack spoke after a long silence.

“Well Twi I have to say some the stuff you just said didn’t make any sense but I got the gist of it.” “So Celestia wants me to take this one in on my farm’” Applejack got a confirming nod. “I don’t know Twi, I have to run it by family and I don’t know how they will react” plus Applejack didn’t know if she could trust them at all.

“Applejack please look at it from their point of view, they are far away from everything they ever loved or cared about and are more than likely never going to see them again.” ”they didn’t want to put any trouble on us, in fact, they probably didn’t mean for all of this to happen.” “We are the Elements of Harmony, it’s our job to help those in need out, and if they can’t turn to us for help who can they turn to.” Twilight looked at her with pleading eyes. Applejack lowered her head in with a sigh; she knew all too well the feeling of being away from loved ones. She remembered the day she left home and went to Manehatten to find her special talent and how homesick she felt during her time away from granny smith and Big Macintosh. 

“Alright Twilight I’ll let him stay but I still have to run it by Granny Smith.” Twilight jumped for joy knowing that she was helping them out. “But Rob is going to have to work on the farm in order to earn his keep.”  Rob finally decided to enter the conversation he was quite the talker he just didn’t talk until he had something worth saying.

“That won’t be a problem; my grandpa owned a farm when I was a child, I use to work on it all the time.”

“Well we will see how well you do in the morning, I got some things you could do now let head to the farm you’ll need your sleep.” The two headed out the door and back to Sweet Apple Acres. 

Applejack shook her head to get out of her thought bubble and went over to the pile of hay to wake Rob up. She shook him several times but to her surprise, he didn’t get up. she shook him again and this time more aggressively but with no response. She took a bell and rung it over his head however still had no luck, she finally decided to Tartarus with it and buck the entire hay pile sending Rob flying. She then proceeded over to him and she was shocked to see he was still asleep.
Applejack started to get worried but was relieved when she saw Rob stir in his sleep and finally get up.
Rob felt a little groggy but looked down to see Applejack standing there he smiled then said.

“Did you have fun trying to wake me up” he snickered at the look she was giving him and said, “my grandpa had the same problem. you see no matter what he did, he could not wake me up." "Trust me he tried everything in the book my grandpa finally learned I don’t wake up until I've slept the appropriate amount of time.” “My internal clock is weird like that.”

“Ookaayy well Rob we should be getting started. I have a few jobs I want you to try, let’s see if we can find you something to do.” Rob followed her out to the apple orchard and they got started. “Rob I want you to buck this here tree and Knock the apples down.”

“You got to be joking, I can’t do that I have no way to.”

“You got a strong pair of legs kick it.” Just to do something funny he went over to the tree and jab kicked it. He looked back to Applejack who had a serious look on her face.

“Now that ain’t kicking, quit messing around and kick the darn tree.” 

“You obviously don’t know this Applejack but human legs aren’t built like ponies are. Humans don’t buck trees, and all the apples magically fall off and land perfectly into barrels. We usually have to pick the apples off the trees one at a time or get a machine to do it. See, on Earth, most labors like that are completed using some sort of machines to do all the heavy lifting. Granted there are still jobs and projects that require humans intervention, but for the most part, machines do all the work. We haven’t done anything like your suggesting in over a hundred years.” Applejack just stood there stunned, processing the foreign concepts about the daily work style of humans.

“Alright we’ll try something else, let’s see if you can plow the fields for new trees to be planted with Big Mackintosh if that ain’t too hard.” They headed over to the new field that had been cleared for new trees to be planted. There over on side Big Mackintosh was getting his yolk hooked up to the plow he was going to use for the day. “Hi there Big Mac I need your help showing this guy how to get set up and doing this job. 

“I know how, it’s been a few years since I last visited my grandpa to help him out plus your stuff isn’t exactly built for human use.” She stared at him for a second but realized he was right.

“Ok, ok, I get what you mean we’ll have a yolk built for you later if you can handle this but for right now you can use that one,” she pointed to another yolk that was lying next to the barn.

Big Mac can you help him get up and get started I need to get back to bucking apples. 

“Eeyup” he then proceeded to get the yolk hooked up to the plow and told Rob to slip in. it was a little uncomfortable but he could handle it, he started to push but it didn’t budge at first so he pushed harder his muscles now bulging it slowly started to move. After that Big Mac got himself set up in another plow and went to work. After a few hours, they were done, Rob got unhooked breathing somewhat heavily then looked at the work they had just completed. He gave a victory grin and said

“I’ve still got it.” Applejack came over to check on the progress, she was amazed to see it was done. She just stood there dumbfounded, Applejack thought Rob would fail but he had done the job with success.

“Told you I could do it and you doubted my abilities.” She turned away shamed that she had doubted this human and made a quick assumption about Rob. She felt bad about those thoughts but quickly shook them aside and came out of her daze. 

“Well now that you're done with that I need you to feed the animals, I will show you where all the feed is. Once we have done that then Granny Smith wants to see ya. They headed over to the barn grabbed the animal feed and gave each of the animals their respective foods. After completing that task they went inside the house.

“Hey Granny Smith, I brought Rob in what did you want to see him about.”

“Well howdy do kids so this is the creature you mentioned Applejack, he is rather tall looking feller.” They turned around to find Granny Smith coming out of the kitchen.” “Why hello there sonny, what is your name?”

“My names Rob, short for Robert, did you want to see me about something.” 

“Darn tootin, as a matter-of-fact I did. I need you to help me with an old apple family recipe for my cinnamon apple soup.”

“Well, that sounds rather odd hearing those words together in a sentence. I’ve never heard of someone ever using apples in a soup, but yea, I’ll try anything at least once.” 

“Well Rob today's your lucky day, you’re going to try the best apple soup in the whole world.” They headed into the kitchen granny put the final touches on her soup, grabbed a bowl, put some of the soup in there and gave it to Rob. He proceeds to take a bite. The flavor hit him immediately; it tasted exactly like apples and cinnamon the flavor was sweet, sour but at the same time good and soothing to the throat. He sat there letting the taste linger a bit more before finally swallowing he looked to Granny Smith and said,

“Wow this tastes great, kind of like apple pie except more soup-like.” He took another bite letting the taste overwhelm him. Applejack sat down with a look of relief glad to know Granny Smith can impress anypony, even a human with her apple recipes.

Well, thanks Rob, that is mighty kind of ya to say. we have great friends but it’s nice to know someone new who can give a positive view of our apple recipes.

After a few minutes Rob finished the soup and put the bowl in the sink, he then proceeded to thank Granny Smith for the great meal then headed out of the house with Applejack to do more chores. When the day was done and all the chores completed Rob let out a relaxing sigh. It felt good to work on a farm again. He went to sit down on the grass enjoying the sunset and night sky becoming visible but his thought brought him elsewhere, thinking of how Jesse was faring on his first day in Equestria. His mind brought up other thought, wondering what Russel was doing and how he was faring on his first day here too. His thoughts were disturbed however when Applejack came over to where he was currently sitting. 

“I reckon it’s getting late you should probably get some shut eye cause tomorrow I got some new jobs I want you to try” but all she received as a response was silence. “Is there something bothering you Rob you look like you got a lot on your mind. Rob didn’t know what to say just like Jesse he wasn’t going to say anything about Russel being here in Equestria so he decided to tell her something that would answer her question.

“Well I’ve been thinking about how this whole thing happened with the whole rainbow bring us to Equestria and I can’t help but wonder if fate meant for this to happen.”

“I ain’t following ya what do ya mean.”

“Well I am one of those types of people that watch the universe in motion, taking in every detail, looking for unexpected signs and I think somehow fate meant for us to come to your world.” “I believe everything happens for a reason so what if fate decided to send us here for a reason, a purpose cause to me, this is too big of a coincidence for the wish to have been made at the exact moment Rainbow Dash pulled of her new Astro Rainboom stunt.”

“You got a point there Rob it sounds too weird to have been a lucky accident, although I’m not equipped to even understand the subject.” ‘I’m sure if Twilight or Princess Celestia find out anything that could help in your return to earth they will surely try to get you back.” 

“See that’s the thing, I don’t know if they will ever be able to find anything because there certainly has never been a spell created for a situation like this and there no other magical item I know of that could possibly mimic the effect either.” “As far as I can tell Jesse and I are going to probably spend the rest of our lives here on Equis that’s not a bad thing in a lot of ways but it was also unexpected for me.”

“Look, Rob, I don’t know hardly anything about you. I probably will never be able to fully understand you or Jesse either, but I understand what you’re going through. Rob, I’m going to tell you a story that not a lot of ponies know about me and hopefully, this will help you with your problem. When I was a filly, I didn’t have my cutie mark when the others did. I wanted it so badly that I left the farm and went to Manehatten to live with my aunt and uncle. They were part of the fancy lifestyle, attending dinner parties and high-end events. 
One day I got really homesick after figuring I would never fit in. I was torn up inside from missing my family but I thought that if I left I might not ever find my special talent. Then something happened that changed my life. Do you want to know what that was?” Rob knew this story from the show but he nodded anyways. This was actually making feel a little less stressed out and a little more calm inside. 

"Go ahead"

“I was looking out of my bedroom window trying to think hard about what I should do when I saw an explosion of color. Then I saw a rainbow appear over Ponyville and somehow I knew that my place was with my family on the apple farm.” “Shortly after that I got my cutie mark and I knew my place. From then on my special talent was farming and harvesting apples. So you see, when you dwell on the past or the future, you miss where your home is in the present. Right now your life may have changed but that doesn't mean you cant find your place or even a home in it.

“Thanks Applejack, that made me feel less worried and calmer about my situation. You really help me out with that.”

“Think nothing of it and if you do have to live here the rest of your life, I hope this story will remind you to keep your chin up and find your special talent in it.” Applejack let out a loud yawn, “Well that’s me, I’m going to catch some shut-eye. Don’t stay up too late, I need ya to wake up early,” and with that, the farm pony went inside the house to sleep. 

Rob too let out a yawn and decided to go to sleep, “thanks Applejack and I hope I do too.” Rob headed into the barn and plopped down on a pile of hay, within seconds silence filled the air.
> A Learning Expierence
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy





The sun was shining through the window with a golden glow bringing a comforting heat with it. Twilight stirred in her sleep, pulling the covers over her face. Somehow the sun intensified its light. She thought to herself about how Celestia might purposely be making it shine brighter just so she would get out of bed. She finally decided to get up and go into the bathroom and started drawing a bath. She looked in the mirror for a brief minute while the water was filling up to give a once over. 
She had bed head that was sticking hair out everywhere and baggy eyelids that she knew were from the many times she stayed up late. Twilight turned the water off and got into the tub allowing the nice hot relaxing water to melt all those sore muscles away. 

Jesse got out of bed after being rudely awakened from a nice dream by the suns bright rays. He thought to himself about how he could just shut the blinds and pull the covers over his face. He decided against that however since his stomach growled indicating that he needed to be fed. He headed down the stairs and into the kitchen where he smelled something great cooking. He investigated it further to find Spike in there making eggs and pancakes.

‘Hey Spike what’s up, that smells good what is that” Jesse walked in and sat down while talking to Spike.

“Thanks, Jessie, I put a lot of work into my cooking. Twilight has given me a lot so I’m just returning the favor. So do you want some?” as if on cue Jessie's stomach rumbled loudly. “I will take that as a yes then,” Spike laughed as he serves some up and handed it to Jessie. he grabbed it and took a bite and to his satisfaction, it tasted really good.

“Wow Spike that’s pretty damn good, have you considered getting a job as a chef.” Spike blushed a little from the praise.

“Well I’ve thought about it but I'm not sure yet. I have other plans right now though”

“What might they be,?” Spike was hesitant at first but walked over to Jesse and started to whisper.

“Jesse since you’re a guy, Can I talk to you about something." Jessie noticed Spikes awkwardness and turned to look at him 

“Why, can’t you tell Twilight," Jessie questioned him?

“This is something that she wouldn't know how to help me with.” There was a long silence held before it was broken again.

“Ok Spike I’m listening, what’s up”

Spike didn’t speak at first, looking around to make sure no one was listening, he turned back to Jesse.

“I’m in love with Rarity,” Jesse already knew this but acted surprised anyway.

“Well Spike, Even though she is your big sister/mother in a way, I understand why you feel like you need to talk to a guy about this dilemma. That is understandable, however, she's not clueless. I think she has real advice to give you but that's your choice ultimately," Jessie said as he gave him something to think about it”

“but do you think you can help me win her heart, I love her and I want to show her that," Spike spoke genuinely?

“Oh I can definitely help, but I think that having two to help will give you a greater perspective. I’m going to get Rob and together we’ll come up with a plan that I’m sure will win you Rarity's affection.” 

“Ok, here comes Twilight,” Spike darted back to the stove and started serving up the other two plates, acting like nothing happened. 

“Good morning Spike, good morning Jesse. what’s for breakfast spike?”

“Good morning Twilight, I made pancakes and eggs with hay toast,” Spike said while setting the plates on the table.”

Twilight took a seat at the table right next to Spike and started to eat her breakfast.

“Wow Spike, this is good, you really have outdone yourself.”

“That’s exactly what I said.” Spike just sat there blushing a little darker shade of red than an apple.”

“Jessie, after we're done with breakfast, I wanted to ask you more about your world and humans.”

“Okay Twilight, I don’t really have anything to do right now.” They finished up breakfast then went into Twilights study so she could write down more research on the humans and Earth. They recapped on the info she already had, starting with his solar system, how many planets, Earth’s population, how many countries, the different governmental types, all different types of technology earth possess, what they do for fun, and many other subjects. 

“Now that we are done with that, on to the questions. She asked Jesse about the food requirement for humans. The different types of religions and people. She inquired about how relations are between different countries. she even asked about the wars there had been in human history. She asked about many subjects till late into the afternoon.

“Wow, Twilight you sure do have an ich to know things. I hope we don’t have too many of these sessions. It could become quite a hassle,” Jessie asked which prompted Spike to jumped in at this point.

“Yeah Twilight, you keep this up and you might make him go comatose with all those questions.  Then he won’t be able to answer any of them,” Twilight scoffed and puffed her cheeks up at Spike comment.

“It will not Spike, I’m just curious about his world. We've never seen humans before and now is my chance to study them and ask one questions about his world. If he ever does go back, this might be my only chance to learn about them. Also, to confirm and debunk some of the things any pony scholars may have written about in their mythologies. Now to your comment Jessie, no we won’t. Just a few more of these and then we’ll be done, don’t worry too much. 
We are done for the day, however, so we will continue this tomorrow. Jessie, have you thought about what type of job you want? Maybe there's something in town that interests you," Twilight asked wondering what he would do.

“Not really, I haven’t had much time to go look. what with you asking all these questions and a lot of things being on my mind. I haven’t really had the time to go and look.” 

“Well the bookstore in town is hiring, maybe you can stop by there. I know the owner and he could use the help considering he just received a large order of new books from Manehatten. he could need help organizing them.”

“I guess I could go check that out, but first I got some things I need to do. I will get that done later.” Jesse said as he headed out the door of the library and ran to Sweet Apple Acres. On the way there he looked at many of the buildings and shops that were in town. He saw many buildings, some with intricate designs with fancy lettering. Others had simple signs that displayed to the ponies bluntly what the shop was selling. 
Jessie noticed quite a few restaurants and coffee shops and then a thought occurred to him. Once he obtained a job, he should take the girls out to say thanks for what they've done for him and Rob. He decided to slow down his walking to take in the clean, warm, fresh air of Equestria. The dull, shitty air he was used to did not even compare. "Wow, Equestria in a certain way is a lot better place to live than Earth." When he finally arrived he spotted Rob picking apples out in the orchard.

Hey Jessie"

“Hey Rob, what are you doing?”

“I’m just picking some apples for Granny Smith so she can make her apple cider for Nightmare Night this year. “Apparently she makes hard spice apples cider and its supposed to taste like cinnamon apple candy. It sounds really tasty if you ask me.”

“That's awesome, can't wait to try some. Anywho, I came here to talk to you about Spike.”

“What’s up?”

“You know how he’s in love with Rarity?” 

“Of course I know that, anyone that's watched the show knows that. Why?”

“Well he asked me for help and I told him we would come up with a plan that could win him Rarity's affection.”

“I don’t know man, I would love to help but what if he gets turned down. The kid is infatuated with the mare and i think it would just crush the kid. plus you also got to factor in the possible implications if she says yes as well,” Rob stated 

“Dude, come on, you know how much he loves Rarity. Plus he is kind of looking to us to help him figure this out. we would be really helping out with his self-esteem and love life.”

“Well if I am to help, we need to go over every detail, plan everything carefully and we need to pick the perfect time place and setting. Another thing we would need to do is teach him how to talk to a girl properly plus he needs to be more confident, this whole thing is going to take a while so be ready for a long time of planning and work.”

“It doesn’t matter to me just as long as we accomplish this goal of helping out Spike.”

“Alright but I got to finish picking the rest of these trees in this section so could you help me it will go much faster.”

“Yea I guess I could.” Jesse grabbed one of the buckets and started picking at another tree. “Rob, have you figured out what job you’re going to try and go for?”

“Well I don’t know, I certainly ain’t going to continue doing this though. “My talent is literature and story writing so maybe I could write a book or be a teacher maybe.”

“Well, I did hear from Fluttershy that the Mayor is directing funds to build on to the existing school. Probably has something to do with the recent increase in the population of Ponyville. New families are buying houses out here. They might need another teacher pretty soon to help out.”

“I will have to look into that, thanks for the heads up.” “What about you Jessie, what job have you picked?”

“I haven’t really picked anything yet, but Twilight did suggest I go to the bookstore and look into working there. Personally, I think she just wants discounts so she can buy more books for her library.” The two shared a laugh then Rob continued picking apples. Jessie decide to help him since he had nothing better to do. Once they were done they set all the apples in the barn and headed out to see if they could get some jobs in town. While in town the two headed back to the library to go over some ideas with Spike on winning Rarities affection. They entered the Golden Oak Library and found Spike sitting on the couch reading.

“Hey Spike, where did Twilight go?”

I sent her out on a long errand run to pick up a few things. I managed to come up with a huge list of things that we need. That should keep her busy for a little while,” Spike explained while grinning, he thought it was pretty clever.

“Okay that should give us a decent amount of time to think up a few ideas, but here’s the thing, Spike you will have to do everything we say. It is very important that you follow this plan to the letter. First We will go over each plan then pick the best one and get to work on it,” Jessie and Rob explained. 

“Spike the first thing we are going to teach you is how to talk and act around ladies.” This whole thing went on for hours until finally, Twilight got home around six o’clock. “Well Jessie, it looks like we're done for the day. We will discuss this further at a later date,” Rob whispered before going over to the door and exchanging pleasantries with Twilight.

“So Jessie, did you go see about that job that I recommended,” Twilight asked after speaking with Rob?

“Yes, and unsurprisingly after mentioning that you were my reference, I was hired almost right away. Now I've finally got something to do.”

“See, told ya you would get it. How about you Spike, what did you do while I was gone.” 

Spike just blushed and said “nothing.”

“Hold on a second, where are Rarity and Pinkie Pie? We should have at least seen one of them by now. Especially considering Pinkie is able to defy the laws of physics,” Rob said to Jessie.

“Yeah, I find that to be quite odd,” Jessie replied in an alerted tone prepared for anything.

“Excuse me but, how do you even know them. I haven't introduced you to the rest of my friends,” Twilight said now curious as to how they knew things she believed they couldn't.

“Well Twilight, in our world, you, this place, your friends, even Celestia are all part of a television show that is made to entertain people and teach children important life lessons.”

“That doesn’t sound likely, although you do live in a different kind of reality so I guess it could be possible. However, that does sound really strange.” Twilight sat there trying to process this new info.

“Back to the question at hand. Where’s that pink puffball of cotton candy going to pop out from?”
.........
.........
……….”hellotwiightnicedaywhosyournewfriendsaretheyaliensdotheyhaveaspaceshipcanirideinitohineedtothrowthemawelcometoponyivilleparty,”  The party pony blabbered out incoherently as she popped out from a book on the table.

Rob turned with a shocked face and simply uttered with a scared tone “oh no.”
> The Party Planner
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



"Remember Peter, with great power comes great responsibility."

-Ben Parker from Spiderman






The two humans sat there not knowing what to do but Twilight immediately responded.

“Hello Pinkie Pie, yes it is a nice day. Their names are Jessie and Rob, and no they are not Aliens. Well, I guess in a way they are but not the type your thinking of. They're humans and no they don’t have a spaceship. They came here by magic and even if they did I wouldn’t allow you to ride in it. If you want to throw them a party you’re going to have to ask them if they want one,” Twilight finally finished what she had to say and took a deep long breath. 
Pinkie Pie looked at Twilight feeling somewhat saddened that they didn’t have a spaceship but perked up immediately and tackled the humans to the ground. 

“Hey, guys do you want a party, they’re really fun. There will be lots of games and food and drinks. Oh and lots of ponies will be there too so do ya, do ya,” Pinkie Pie stared at them with her big cartoonish eyes waiting for their response. Rob and Jessie were still stunned by the tackle and were processing what had just been said. Finally, Rob spoke.

“I don’t know, I'm quite booked right now looking for a job. I also need to get started on learning some of Equestria's history. Have to be ready for any job interviews. Plus we've got some other business to take care of as well,” Rob stated while also trying to get up after being tackled. Pinkie pies hair deflated and was beginning to develop tears in her eyes so Jessie quickly countered that statement.

“But that doesn’t mean you can’t schedule it for some other time. Maybe we could plan it for a specific day that we are all free. Plus there should be some planning involved don’t you think,” Jessie end it with a wink. Pinkies hair poofed back up and she grew a wide smile before jumping around.

“Oh yes, there has got to be a lot of planning. I want it to be the best party you have ever had. I've got to get to work right away,” and with that Pinkie shot out of the library faster than a rocket.

“Wow, where does she get all that energy. If I didn’t know any better I'd swear Pinkie Pie is using some unknown kind of magic. Have you figured her out yet,” Jessie asked as he turned to Twilight? Twilight responded with a simple shrug and a sway of her head. Jessie looked to Rob with a stern look. “Rob why did you go and do that. you almost made Pinkie cry and then we would have had a real problem.” Rob turned to Jesse with a glare. 

"Can't you see that this is a bad Idea. We shouldn’t get to attached to these ponies or let them get close to us. We don't know if Celestia will find a way to send us back home and if she does, what do you think is going to happen? These ponies will cry, especially Pinkie Pie. You know that she could easily get depressed over a sad thing like that happening. If she were to become our friend then Celestia found a way to send us back, what do you think would happen? 
She will be the most heartbroken out of all the six and I certainly don’t want to be responsible for that.” Jessie saw Rob had a solid point to his argument.

“Never the less, we should treat it as if we are never going back and just live out our lives here. I would much prefer to think that way than be pessimistic about it. Yes, you may be correct, She may find a way to send us back. However, here’s the thing, she also might not. The magic that sent us here is probably a lot older than Celestia in which case, this magic might not be able to be harnessed by Luna or Celestia. it's might be a type of magic that is beyond their control. 
We just so happened to be affected by it at the right time and when it built up enough energy, granted the wish that was made. Don’t worry about it too much Rob. Just know that whatever happens, fate put us here for a purpose and someday we will figure that out. Until then, don’t dwell on it so much.”

“You do have a good a good point Jesse I just- Rob stood there silent for the briefest of moments but it felt like minutes had passed, “I just don’t want to see these ponies cry over anything having to do with us.” Rob then left the library to contemplate on what Jesse had said. At some point, Twilight had left the room and came back after hearing bits and pieces of the argument.

“Jessie, what was that all about?”

“Rob doesn’t want to get close to you ponies because of the possibility that Celestia and Luna might find a way to send us home. he doesn’t want anypony crying because of us leaving.” Jessie then pulled a chair away from the desk and sat down.

“I can tell you that even though you are alien to our land, we care about all living creature. Certainly, no matter who they are and no matter where they come from.”

“Is that why you nor Celestia could never truly end Discords life even after all the unspeakable atrocities he committed while he ruled and came back the second time.” Jesse looked over to Twilight and found a completely befuddled look on her face.

“How the heck did you know about that, we never told you any of this?”

“Remember what I said earlier, I know a lot more than you think Twilight. All I can say is don’t worry about it, Rob is probably still getting used to living here. I know this because I’m still doing the same thing. I just can’t believe that I’m actually in Equestria, it has always been kind of a dream of mine to come here and to see the sights of your world.” Twilight was interested in these humans, they possess great compassion in her eyes and she couldn’t help but feel happy knowing that she was here being able to talk to them as if they were any other pony on Equis.

“So Jessie when is your interview for the bookstore job I suggested to you.”

“It’s this weekend actually, that's also the same time Rob has his job interview.

“What job did he pick?”

“He signed up to be a teacher at the school, that’s why he wants to learn Equestrian history and a few other things about pony society. He wants to be able to properly teach the foals if he gets the job.

“Well, he can have access to any book in this library that will help him towards that end. As for you, there are something’s I need to talk to you about as far as how you got here. I received a letter from the princesses a few minutes ago.”

“What’s up, did Celestia discover something?” Twilight sat there for a second choosing her words carefully for she knew this news would not be at all pleasing.

“Yes and no, you see her research ponies have been working on learning more about the magic that brought you here. However, they have learned only a small amount of knowledge, enough to confirm two things at least. The first is that it’s a new magic in itself and they have dub Astral magic. They confirmed that it’s a mix of Celestial and pony magic which are quite common but with something else present. They found a third type in it called Ethereal magic. Ethereal magic is a magic that exists only in the wake of Celestia and Luna’s hair. That magic is kind of a byproduct of the spirit world. It somehow leaks through by means of alicorn hair when it’s in its ethereal form and in very small amounts. That's why it takes so long for it to build up in the atmosphere because there is only two alicorn that we know of who possess ethereal manes. For some reason Cadence, the third alicorn does not have an ethereal mane yet and nobody knows why. There also may have been more alicorns like Celestia or Luna at some point but are either long since dead or left this world.”

“Alright, so far I’m following ya but how is it that it happens to leak through.”

“Well, they cant ascertain the full details about that part, unfortunately. The second thing they were able to confirm is that this magic cannot be controlled by anypony here. Even if they were able to figure out all about it, they would never be able to gain control of the magic and use it. It's a new kind of magic altogether that no pony has ever controlled. That means we can’t send you back, the portal as it would seem was a one-way ticket after all. I’m sorry we can’t help you get home, Twilight finished explaining as she tried to give Jessie a comforting smile.

“It’s alright Twilight I have already accepted that and I know I should not dwell on the what ifs. Thanks for the info Twilight, I’ll tell Rob about it later. For now, though, I’ve got to get ready since my interview is this weekend. I have to prepare for it and I would appreciate it if you could help me Twilight.” Twilight was all too eager to help someone in need. So they set to work to get him ready for interview day.

Rob was walking around in the marketplace watching all the ponies going about their business buying and selling merchandise. His legs were starting to get sore from all the work and walking today. He decided to sit down on a bench that was nearby. The bench was secluded, for the most part. It was by a building that was a little bit away from Sugarcube Corner. Rob sat there thinking about everything that had happened so far since he got here and on what Jesse had said. 
It was true, Jesse had a point and was right on a lot of what he stated. Rob started talking to himself but in a low tone so that the ponies passing by could not listen.

“I don’t see how Jessie can be so content with what has happened, I just don’t get it. How can he think this is anything but a major problem. I understand what he was saying and don’t get me wrong, he put up a decent argument. He doesn't seem to understand that even if Celestia cannot find a way to send us back, we are still new to this place. We're never going to be completely accepted by all of them let alone fit in with these ponies regularly? He needs to know that it’s probably not going to happen. 
If he's read any of the stories on the internet about them, he’d realize that even though these ponies may be nice, there's evidence that ponies aren't immediately accepting of different races. I mean, did he not see the hearths warming eve episode or the one with Zecora in it. all these points need to be considered.” 

Rob sat there for what seemed like minutes to him but when he looked up at the clock it read five o’clock. “Wow time sure does fly,” Rob took notice as he stood up. "I don't know, maybe he's right. I guess I may be a little overly gloomy, I am living every Bronies dream after all. I should be happier and not be pointing out all the negatives about our situation. It’s just hard to think about all the good things since I have to leave a lot of other stuff behind, stuff that was important to me. 
Well, it looks like I’ll just have to find a way to adjust." Once he was finished with his thoughts, he got up and headed back to Sweet Apple Acres. Rob was unaware though that a pony was hiding in the empty trash can near the bench the entire time.

“I can’t let another pony be sad, even if that pony happens to be not a pony, but a human. He looked so depressed, but I'm willing to bet I can make him smile. There has never been a creature alive that I have not gotten to smile when I throw them a party. I will show him that even though he is human, we will not think of him so differently as he believes.” Slowly a pink pony got out of the trash can and disappeared into the shadows with a large smile on her face. "I will get everypony to accept you and make you feel welcome or my name isn’t Pinkamina Diana Pie.
> Party Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



"Why did he give away the rubies," 

"Well maybe he thought it was good sport, you see some men don't want anything logical or material. Some men just want to watch the world burn."
-Alfred, the Dark Knight





Rob woke up to a rooster poking him in the arm which made him get up to see what was going on. 

“Good morning little guy how is your morning going so far.” The rooster just sat there staring at him then sarted poking at the ground. “That good huh, well time to get up anyways after all the entire west field still needs to be harvested.” Rob went over to the cabinet where the food was stored and fed the animals their breakfast, Rob however decided to skip breakfast so he could get to work, he got his specially designed hammer he made to do this job and headed towards the apple orchard to begin harvesting the apples. 
Applejack was woken up by loud banging in the orchard; the sound was the trees straining under pressure of someone hitting them pretty damn hard. 

“Gosh darn it, why does Big Mac have to be bucking apples so early in the morning and real loudly to boot.” Applejack got out of bed and headed down stair and out the door to the orchard. “Dag gum it Macintosh why are you making so much noise, you do realize Apple Bloom is still sleeping and she has to get up early right” 

“Yea sorry about that I will try to keep it down but there are no guarantees, these trees are just old.” Applejack turned around to find Rob bucking apples with his modified hammer. 

“Wait a second, that was you making all those loud banging noises,” Applejack was very puzzled she had been around Rob long enough to know that he has never made that much noise when hammering away at the apple trees.

“Eeeyuup” was all Rob responded with and continued with his Job. 

“Why are you up so early, you don’t have to get up and start doing this for at least another hour and a half?” she never took Rob for an early bird person.

"Yea I know, I just wanted to get a little bit more done after all I won’t be able to help you as much because I start my teaching job after this weekend and today is the last day of the weekend so I want to get as much work done as possible, now I am going to go back to work on the entire west field." Rob continued whacking away but a little bit quieter so to not wake Applebloom. Applejack just stood there watching him for about 5 minutes before she spoke again. 

"Alright now I know there is something on your mind cause you have been real distant with everyone and you hardly speak and when you do speak you don't even try to be interested in any of the friendly conversation, it doesn't help that you don't seem very interested in going to Pinkies party she's throwing for you and Jessie. What is on your mind that's bothering ya so much?" He stood there for a few minutes with his back turn and Applejack was beginning to wonder if he was going to respond to her question at all. 

"You know, I've always like the sunrise." Applejack jumped at the sudden response from the human. "It peaceful and quiet because nobodies up, the quiet allows me to contemplate on things specifically the aspect of magic as of late. I have always wondered what exactly happened that day when me and Jessie arrived here, up until that point I never believed magic existed because humans were never capable of performing magic." 

"Sound like it would be big thing to witness." 

"Yea, of course after it happened some part of my mind for quite a while has been in huge shock and awe of this whole new concept on life. I wonder why it is that this magic choose to make it self known all of a sudden to grant some persons wish, after all I didn't want to even believe it at first and I saw it happen with my own eyes. That's not what's on my mind the most however, what is on it is the realization that I will never be able to see my world again nor the people that are in it, the place that I grew up in is now billions of miles in space that direction," Rob emphasized this by pointing to the sky. "I don't know about you Applejack but that would make any person I know want to sit down away from everyone so to get a new perspective about things." 

"Wow that's a lot to think about, I guess I would be feeling the same way but I would say that Jessie is enjoying this so maybe you should to. Look, I don't know much about magic for obvious reason but Twilight has told me that magic can be random or do thing without explanation. Perhaps this was meant to happen to you after all from what you tell me this is one of those once in a lifetime experience thingy's other ponies always talk about. I know that it seems hard but try to look on the bright side you have come to a completely new world with new experiences to enjoy plus I think Pinkie really wants to be your friend, I haven't seen her put this much effort into making a party for anypony since Twilights welcome to Ponyville party so please try to have fun." Rob looked at the farmpony who was siting next to him. he didn't know what to say to that, she really was smart in fact a lot more smart then she let on.

"Thank you Applejack; I'm going to miss my world but maybe you and Jessie are right. I guess I will try to enjoy my time here in Equestria. I'm going to finish up the west field now." Rob continued to work in silence after that. Applejack knew that all he need was a little encouragement and a good talking to because somehow it always worked when she did that with all her other friends so she thought what the hay maybe it would work for him too and she didn't know why but she had a good feeling about him. She decided to help him with harvesting the rest of the field. 


Light, that annoying little glare of light is what disturbed Pinkie from a really good dream that she really wanted to continue having. She was dreaming about her party that was to come later to officially welcome Jessie and Rob to Ponyville. 

"Aaaaaaaaawwwwwww the dream was getting good too, well I don't have to dream about it any longer because today is the day that I put a smile on my new friends faces." She jumped out of bed and went to work on getting everything for the party. "Alright lets get the list out and check to make sure all the preparations are ready for the party." First she checked the location which was the building used to host the Summer Sun Celebration when Nightmare Moon had returned. Pinkie headed towards her destination using her signature party cannon. "Ready, set," BOOM and with that she was away. 
Rarity was busy setting up the decorations for the party. 

"I'm thinking blue and purple for the balloons now to check the streamers." When she turned around Pinky fell in through the sun roof of the building scaring her half to death. "Pinky... must you... do that"  Rarity said through  shaky breath. 

"Sorry Rarity didn't mean to scare you I just came to check in on the party preparation."

"I'm almost done I just need to pick out the color for the streamers, I'm surprised that you are working so much on this party especial for these humans that you know next to nothing about."

"Well I'm throwing this party because I would do that for anypony who is new to Ponyville but I'm making it extra special cause they need some friends right about now after all you heard Princess Celestia they will most likely never see their world again and they try to hide it but I see it on their faces, they are sad so I'm going to make them not sad and turn those frowns upside down."

"Darling you truly are the nicest pony I know," Rarity stood there for a few minutes deep in thought from what Pinky could tell. "Aha, I know what color I should use" this promptly made her run to the corner of the room and ran back after a few minutes of searching. "Silver complements the blue and the purple splendidly."

"well I guess that means the decoration are set so what's next on the list." she looked at the note and the next was the guests she went to each of the guests houses and slowly checked them off the list. after a few hours of traveling to a bunch of different houses pinkie managed the list.  "Alright so far these are the ponies who are coming" 

Ms. Cheerlee....going
Mayor Mare,,,,, going 
Twilight Sparkle....of course
Spike...you know it
Scootaloo.....going
Rainbow Dash....totally
Sweetie Belle...yeah
Apple Bloom....you bet
Derpy Whooves....yes
Fluttershy....reluctant at first but convinced her to go after giving some encouragement
Doctor Whooves...delighted
Bon Bon....going
Berry Punch....going
Lyra Heartstring....excited to attend 
Big Mac....eeeyuupp
Rose luck... sure
thunderlane... alright I'm  up for it   
Carrot Top...why not

the DJ.... Vinyl Scratch
refreshment and treats management...Applejack
decorations management....Rarity Belle

"well that's is everypony on the list, now I just need to check the cake which Mr. and Mrs. cake should be finishing up in a few minutes."  Pinkie got into another party cannon and launch herself on a course for Sugarcube Corner. When she arrived she did a tuck and roll through the opened top door flap landing perfectly on the stores floor. 

"Nice landing Pinkie, that's a perfect score." The Cutie Mark Crusaders each held up a cards with the number 10 on them. they turned to look at their flanks only to find them still blank. 

"Aaaaaaaawwwwww that just sucks" Apple Bloom said while making an unhappy face.

"Well we can scratch off score judge as a cutie mark Scootaloo stated with dismay."

"lets go back to headquarters and figure out what to do next" Sweetie Belle said with confidence.
they zoomed off leaving Pinkie thinking of something that she could do to help them with their cutie mark quest, but that would have to wait. her mission was to check on the cake. 

"Mrs. cake how's the delicious cake coming"  Pinkie Pie ask with her usual hyper voice."

"Its done Pinkie, come take a look" the cakes called in from the kitchen. When she came into the kitchen she saw the cake and smiled with joy.

"That looks absolutely perfect." She was really happy the cake turned out the way it did. It looked exactly like what she wanted it to look like. "Now all we have to do is get it to the location and wait for the party to happen. The three ponies began hauling the cake over to the building being used for the party, and get last piece of the puzzle put into place.


"Why is it that we have to wear these blindfolds when it a party you made for me and Jessie" Rob ask,  very annoyed that he was being guided around by Pinkie for quite a while.

"Its a surprise and I want you to look surprised when you see it," Pinkie said with as much enthusiasm that she could put into her voice. 

"Well how much longer are you going to be leading us around, Rob is getting antsy." Jessie knew this because he was getting a little nervous as well.

"Its not much farther, just a few more paces and we'll be there" Pinkie stated. They walked continued walking for a few more minute before they came to their destination. "Alright were here you can take those blindfolds off ."

"Surprise, welcome to Ponyville" everypony that was at the party yelled out in unison.

The building they were in was huge with decorations of purple, blue and silver adorning the walls and pink streamers falling in the air from the party cannons that went off when they entered the building. they stood there for what seemed like minutes and Pinkie was scared that they might not like it but that changed when she looked at them closer. they had the hugest smiles she had ever seen from them and she knew that she accomplished her mission. The pony's in the room started to mingle. Pinkie watched as the night started to unfold. The girls were talking with other ponies, Jessie was being spun around to start the pin the tale on the pony game, and Rob was getting some cake and punch while talking with Ms. Cheerlee about something. as the night progressed Pinkie manage to introduced Jessie and Rob to the ponies they did not know in the room. after quite a few hours into the night the party was officially over and ponies started heading home. 

"I Should be getting Sweetie Belle home, she needs her sleep, great party Pinkie and have a good night darlings." Rarity exchanged good byes and headed back to the Carousel Boutique.

"I should probably do the same and get Scootaloo home too so see ya later girls," Rainbow Dash said goodnight and left to return the young Pegasus to her home.

"see ya later girls, it was nice to hang out with you at another one of Pinkies parties again," Fluttershy said before taking off back to her cottage.

"I should be getting Spike back to the library as well so see you later girls, great party Pinkie as usual. come on Jessie," and with that they headed back to the Golden Oak Library. Applejack let out a big yawn even for her.

"Well that my bed calling, I think its time I got Apple Bloom back to the house, come on Rob we should get going. thanks for that great party Pinkie." Applejack headed back to the farm with Apple Bloom on her back. Pinkie sat there reminiscing through todays events.

"Pinkie," she turned around to see Rob standing there.

"What's going Wwwaaaaaahhhh-" Rob kneeled down and surprised her with a hug.

"thank you Pinkie Pie for throwing this party for me and Jessie it great to have a friend like you." Pinkie was stunned to say the least. not only was she able to get a smile out of him but Rob also considered her his friend, that warmed her heart and so she returned the hug with the same affection.

"I will do anything to make my friends smile so your welcome Rob and your smile was what I want to see." Rob thanked her again then headed out of the building to catch up with Applejack. Pinkie headed back to the Sugarcube Corner glad to know that her plan worked out perfectly and was reward for her efforts with a smile and a new friend.
> Teachers First Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

  

 "I hope you don't mind if I use your line Hannibal but, I love it when a plan comes together."

-Face, The A-team





The sun was rising over the horizon which marked the start of a new day, but for a certain human this was the start of a nervous morning. Rob was at the new and improve school of Ponyville waiting for the little fillies and colts to arrive. 

"Alright so the curriculum for this week is in your desk and my office is just down the hall and to the left if you need any help getting your bearing," Ms. Cheerlee said to Rob while giving him a layout of the new school.

"Thank you Ms. Cheerlee for your help but can I ask you a question?" Rob said shaking slightly.

"Please go ahead, ask away," She said starting to sense the nervousness and tension coming from the human.

"How do you do it, I mean with all those ponies staring at you how can you be so calm about it. It feels like they stare at you waiting for you to fail, I don't know about this." Rob was having a panic attack and for obvious reasons. Cheerlee understood why and knew exactly how to calm him down.

"It really is a nerve racking for first year teachers, even I had jitters my first day but you want to know what I did to get through it, Rob looked to her waiting for her response. "I thought that even though the job comes with a lot of responsibility and chance of failure these ponies are young and they depend on us to teach them the things needed for life. Just remember that these ponies depend on you, and it always nice to be depended on by somepony. I know you are going to do a good job because I knew you were capable of performing this position duties, after all I would not have given you it unless I knew you were going to succeed." She noticed Rob starting to visibly calm down.

"Thanks Ms. Cheerlee for the help, I guess I'm ready as I will ever be, so when do the little ones arrive." As if on cue the bell rang signaling the start of the school day. She wished him well and headed out the door to her office down the hallway. Given the new size of the school Ms. Cheerlee hired more teacher and she was given the position principle by the mayor because of her years of dedication to teaching. All the young fillies and colts filed into the classroom and into their assigned seats so class could begin. Once they were all seated they finally noticed their new teacher.

"Hello everypony my name is Rob and I will be your new teacher for this school year. Now before we begin I need to do attendance, after that I will answer a few of your questions than we will begin todays lesson by each of you stating your name and maybe tell a little bit about yourself so the new ponies can get acquainted with the regular students. For the assignment you can give your, hobbies, future dream jobs anything will do, now lets take roll." Rob pulled out a clipboard and began checking off names on the list of ponies who were there. Once that was completed the younglings all raised their Whooves so they could be picked to ask the first question. After looking around for a few seconds Rob picked one of the ponies in the first row. "Yes Twist, what is your question."

"Well not to be rude or anything but what happened to Ms. Cheerlee and why are you our teacher".

"Well that's because when they added on to the original building to make it bigger Ms. Cheerlee had to hire more teachers and she became the administrator here at the school because of it, As for your other question I just applied for the job like any other pony did." He scanned the group and picked a colt from the second Row, "Snips its your turn ask away."

"What are you exactly because I've never heard about you before," Snips asked with general curiosity.

"Well to answer your question Snips, I'm a human being." Another filly decided to pipe up at that moment.

"I thought humans were a myth at least that's what I was told," this pony was a greyish silver color.

"You are only partially correct Silver Spoon you see Humans are not native to this planet. I came here by means of some ancient magic that formed a portal to your world and it brought me and a friend of mine here." He looked for a good choice and decided upon another filly in the front row, this one was pink with a tiara on her head. last question goes to you Diamond Tiara.

"If magic brought you here why haven't you gone back yet, there are plenty of unicorns in Equestria."

"Well the reason why I havent done that is because unicorns cannot possess this kind of magic. The magic that brought me here is far older than even the princesses. It was just a dumb luck and random magic that brought me here and I know that it will be a long, long time before something like this could ever happen again. Ok that's all the questions for today now lets begin the lesson, Applebloom you go first." 

Applebloom got up out of her seat and went to the front of the class. "Well as most of you know my name is Applebloom, I live with my sister Applejack and big brother Big Macintosh and my Granny Smith at Sweet Apple Acres. Me and a couple of my friends formed a group called the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and my dream job has been to help other ponies all across Equestria find their Cutie Marks." Once Applebloom was finished she went back to her seat. 

"That was a great presentation, well done. Alright next is Diamond Tiara, and so that went on for quite a while. after about an hour and a half they were pretty well through the list of names and the presentations. Alright next is," at that moment the bell for recess went off. "Ok we'll pick up where we left off after break so go play everypony." All the ponies filed out of the room leaving the teacher behind for the other half of the day. Rob slumped down in his chair with a feeling of pure relief as he made it so far. 

"Well it looks like your having fun, is it really that stressful on you first day." Rob recognized that voice and turned to see Jessie standing there with a humored look. 

"Hey im just trying to survive here. Substituting for your writing class for one day was easy because I knew it was just one class but this, im going to be here for an entire school year with these little ponies, I mean yeah I did get training because I wanted to be a writer but not a writing teacher. At least I can say that the first day usually is the hardest to get through, after that its pretty much straight forward. Anywho, how was your first day at work Jessie, any exciting books to read?"

"Actually yeah, the book store has the entire series of Daring Do. I read when we don't have customers coming and going, whats odd is Zecora happened to come in today, but what's real funny was the surprised look on her face when she saw me. You'd think she wouldn't have been so surprise seeing as how she's seen stranger creature before."

"How, I mean she lives not that far from Ponyville, inside the Everfree Forest just near the entrance. I don't think she's going to run into to many strange creatures, at least not like, us strange."

"Actually yeah she could, she was born and raised in Zebrica and only moved here recently if you go by the entire My Little Pony Fanfiction information, she's only been here for a few years and im pretty sure her age is like late twenties. Anyway, did you know that some of the information on the internet is actually true about this world. I've been reading some of the history books of Equestria, and a couple of them talked about the rest of Equis. There's even an actual full on global map in one of the pony encyclopedias with other countries and different races in a lot of theses other places."

"Huh I wonder which one Russell went to, do you know which one he went to Jessie?"

"No but he did leave a note saying that we shouldn't worry, that he was going to stay in Zebrica for a month or two so that he could learn potion making from the zebras, than he was going to head north to find a more permanent place of residence. When he does he will try to contact us at some point after that. I guess we'll just have to wait for him to send us a letter, until then we shouldn't think about him. anyway I got to get back to the store, I'll see you at the library after work to show you those maps." Jessie turned around and head out the door leaving Rob to continue his day. Rob got through the rest of the day with relative ease. After work was over, Rob was getting ready to go packing his book bag with paper work that he needed to finish once he got back to the farm. The door to his class room opened and he turned to see Ms. Cheerlee and the Cutie Mark Crusaders right next to her. Rob continued packing his book bag while speaking.

"Hello Ms. Cheerlee, hello girls, did you want something."

"I was told by these three that you did an amazing job and that they loved having you as their teacher, what do you have to say to that."

"Yeah and we want you to continue being our teacher," the three fillies said in unison. Rob stopped packing and looked directly at them.

"You really want me to continue teaching you," the three fillies simultaneously nodded their head. "I guess I will just have continue teaching my great students, thank you girls it really means a lot. you mind if I talk to Ms. Cheerlee alone, just for a few minutes."

"We'll leave you alone come on gals lets go to the ice cream shop,  CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ICE CREAM MAKERS-" and the three fillies were out of there in seconds heading to the ice cream parlor to ask Lickety Split how to make the delectable treat. 

"I get what you just did there and I want to thank you for that." Ms. Cheerlee walked up to him and gave him a hug

"Well I guess I saw potential in you when you thought less of yourself, and your charming looks happened to help you as well." she let go and walked out of the room but not before seductively winking at him. Rob just sat there stunned for what seem like minutes before leaving the classroom and heading over to his next destination.

"She really winked at you," Jessie said while getting some parchments out.

"Yea, it was odd but definitely in a good way that's for sure."

"She's definitely has the hots for you dude, he finally grabbed the scroll he wanted and pulled it out. alright so these are the maps. They are in parts for some weird reason but when you fit the pieces together you get the globe." Rob looked at the huge map in front of them noticing all the details of it. he then looked at Zebrica and moved up from there but stopped when he noticed something. 

"Jessie look at the that spot right there," Rob was pointing a little bit forward from the middle of a particular land mass and saw a creepy looking bone yard. Rob grabbed a book and started flipping through it trying to find something before finally finding what he wanted. "It says in this book that that country is home to many dangerous creatures but few match the giant sand worm. The native zebras call it an oryashrin. Its is a giant worm except with tiny legs and sleeps in the sands.  our friend is headed right towards it. 

"We cant do anything about it though which sucks, all we can do is pray that he makes it safely across." Rob and Jessie stood there thinking of what their friend might be doing at the moment. "Well anyway there are several land north from there which makes it almost impossible to figure out where he's going as I said before." 

"Lets continue researching this tomorrow and try to lower the list of possible places for him to go to. I'll see you then Jessie, take care my friend." After they exchange good byes Rob headed back to the farm leaving Jessie alone to his thought. as Jessie was cleaning up their work and putting the books away while thinking what he would do when he saw his missing friend again. 
> Things Overlooked
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



"The difference between what we are doing and what we're capable of doing would solve most of the worlds problems."

-Mahatma Ghandi





It was seven o' clock in the morning and at the Golden Oak Library Twilight, Spike, and Jessie were all eating breakfast which consisted of eggs and waffles. Twilight was reading, Spike was sprinkling rubies on his eggs, and Jessie was thinking to himself. The whole time it was rather quiet which suited everyone just fine. it went on like that for a while. After they were done eating Twilight and Jessie thanked Spike for the delicious cooking and then headed into the magic users  study area. Jessie promptly choose the nice plush couch to sit on while Twilight went up to her desk and pulled out some paper and began her work. Jessie really was deep in thought for he was close to figuring out his friends location, but he could not pinpoint it exactly and that's what frustrated him most of all.

"Hey Jessie, did you hear me," Twilight called to him jolting him out of his thoughts.

"What, oh, sorry I didn't hear you there I was just thinking."

"Yeah I could see that, what were you thinking about," Twilight was truly puzzled on why Jessie insisted on being so quiet? its not that she didn't like it, in fact she found it quite soothing but she was curious as to what he was thinking about. Jessie knew that she would have probably ask the question again and he couldn't let her know yet about the elephant in the room so to speak, so he quickly diverted the topic.

"Its nothing, I'm just pondering something, anyway what are you doing today."

"I've got a lot of stuff I have to do. First need to get my dress picked up from Rarity since she said she was done putting what I wanted on it, after that I need to go to Aloe and lotuses spa to schedule an appointment next week, then I need to go to the market place to get some groceries, and finally I need to get back just in time to get a package that I've been expecting from the Pony Express for a month now." Twilight did not look forward to her day.

"Well maybe I could help you out, since todays my day off I could go get those groceries and schedule your appointment at the spa, then all you would have to do is get your dress, leaving you with plenty of time to get back and wait for the package."

"That would really help me out but are you sure, you don't have to do that," Twilight said with a hint of a blush.

"Nah, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest in fact, I'll go do that right now and you can go get your dress." Twilight handed him the bits need to for the groceries, she also tried offering some bit as a reward but he declined, and he went out to complete the errands. Twilight headed out of the library and began her walk to Carousel Boutique. The walk was a short one since she took a short cut between two buildings half way there. Once she got to the store she rang the bell and stood there waiting. 

"Just a minute darling, I will be right with you," Rarity said in a sing song tone. The door opened a minute later with Rarity standing there. "Well hello Twilight, I assume your here to pick up your dress." 

"Hello Rarity, yes I am actually, thank for adding the extra piece."

"It was nothing, after all I'm always ready to help a friend dear. Just wait here a minute and I will go get your order." She headed into the backroom for a second and came back out with Twilights gala dress and on it the new feature. It was a sapphire bow going around the waist with little stars twinkling in the material.

"Wow Rarity its beautiful, thanks," Twilight went up to Rarity and gave her a hug which she returned warmly. 

"Like I said, it was nothing dear. Its always nice to help somepony out, anyway what's got you so excited all of a sudden."

"Well Jessie's been real helpful around the library lately, real dependable. He gets me discounts on books when ever I order a new shipment of them through the bookstore he works at, not to mention he volunteered to help me with errands today and he wouldn't take payment for it either. he is really sweet and kind, just like Fluttershy."

"Well darling have you thought that maybe he's just trying to pay you back for letting him stay in your house, plus I get the feeling he's keeping something secret, something he doesn't want us to know."

"I don't know, I guess he could be. He did seem to be in deep thought this morning, more than he usually is, plus When I asked him what he was thinking about he completely dodged the question and moved in onto something else. Maybe he is hiding something, but there nothing we can really do about it, I mean it could be something personal that he might not want to talk about. We will just have to wait and see if he will be willing to tell us, so until then lets just leave it alone." 

"Alright Twilight, what errand did you send him on anyway," Rarity said while working on a new dress.

"I sent him to get some groceries and to set up an appointment for me at Aloe and lotuses spa, I should be getting back though, I have a package to wait for." Twilight wave goodbye and went out the door and back to the library. On her way however she was ran over by three small blurs. Twilight recognized all to well the famed Cutie Mark Crusaders symbol right before being Knocked over and into a tumble roll with the three fillies. 

"Oh, sorry Twilight, we didn't mean to do that, we were just in a hurry," Applebloom said apologetically. 

"Its alright Applebloom just be more careful next time. Where are you three headed to anyway, and where's Babs Seed I thought she was here for the rest of the week."

"Well we were going to go try getting our Cutie Marks in construction today then after that Babs-" Scootaloo landed on Applebloom and interrupted her.

"Then Babs is going to come with us to try and get our Cutie Mark in ghost hunting, until then she said she wanted to try some the sweets they got at Sugar Cube Corner, we were going to meet up later," Scootaloo then grabbed Sweetie Belle And Applebloom and ran. 

"Well that was odd, well back to the library," and continued on she went, unaware of the fact that The crusaders were in the bushes ten feet away from where she was previously standing.

"Why did you stop me from telling her about what Babs wanted to show us," Applebloom said quizzically. 

"Because what she wants to show us is right next to the secondary entrance of the Everfree Forest you know the one near that odd lake."

"Well yeah we know that, but why cant Twilight know that," Sweetie Belle stated questioningly.  

"Because she might say its too dangerous and try to stop us, beside what if its treasure, we could get our Cutie Marks in treasure hunting. that would be epic, finding treasure and becoming rich, I can already see the gold now."

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS TREASURE HUNTERS-" and off the fillies went to go about their day.

Jessie was busy walking through the market district, looking through the many stalls that were there, in hopes of finding what the list says he needs to buy. It takes him a little bit but he eventually figures out where most of the carts are without much effort. Unfortunately a couple of the carts were kind of difficult to find, and one in particular was moving periodically which made it difficult to get the last item. After a little bit of looking he eventually found the annoying moving stall and got what he wanted. 

"Now that that's completed I need to get over to the spa," this task took him half an hour to do since the spa was near Fluttershys cottage. Once he got there he talked to the receptionist and scheduled Twilights appointment. With that done he was about to head out when he ran into Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. 

"Hello Jessie, what are you doing here, if you don't mind me asking that is," Fluttershy said with her usual soft tone.

"Oh, well I was just setting up an appointment for Twilight, I pretty much offered to Run some of her errands cause she was busy."

"Wow that is so nice of you, but you should join me and Fluttershy since we were about to get treatment done," Pinkie said while jumping up and down.

"Oh, no I cant unfortunately, I need to get this stuff back Twilight but maybe next time." Jessie head for the door but was pulled back and pushed into the spa room, surprisingly by both the girls. 

"No you are going to relax, you must be tired after having to run all over Ponyville to get these errands completed, stay and join us it will be fun if you want to have fun that is," Fluttershy said with a meek determined look. Jessie saw no point in arguing with her in fact he actually wanted to go to the spa, but he wanted to get his task done first. After their continued asking he gave up and decided to join them. He went through a round while talking to the girls, explaining the different types and aspects of music.

"I think Rock is pretty good although, it really has more interest to me than most of the others although rap is pretty good too."

"I think those sound really funny bu-", Pinkies tail started to twitch, "Uh-oh, my tails a twitcha twitching, something's going to fall," and Pinkie promptly put on her rain hat. Not but a few seconds after, the door to the spa opens.

"Usual delivery load of incense for Ms. Aloe and-", right then a bucket of water fell of the door onto the guy and made the floor slippery causing the him to slip and fall over. 

"See told ya," Pinkie then went over to help the mail pony up

"Anyway, I think those types of music may be great for somepony like Rainbow Dash but don't think I could listen to that, it sound to loud and frightening," Fluttershy said while shaking slightly.

"I can see that, well there's many genres of music on my planet that are interesting and some are quite relaxing. I'm sure there's a type of music that would fit you perfectly, we will have to try to figure that out at some other time. Right now I have to get this stuff back to Twilights," after they exchange goodbyes he set off on a route back to the library. 




XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX





Sometimes you ask yourself what is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen, well for Jessie this was certainly in the top five. Sunsets on earth were good but in Equestria your compelled to enjoy its warm rays of color and just bask in its sun, Jessie was really enjoying his walk back to the library . It was peaceful for him, listening to the winds as he walked by. However there's always been something that could disturb even a peaceful day like this, and that is a child, which there were three of right now currently running towards Jessie at alarming speeds for a filly, and not slowing down either. He soon recognized them to be the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the inevitable crash was imminent. The three fillies ran right into him at somehow a surprisingly slow velocity for the how fast they were going and hit him with little force. They went tumbling over and landed in a pile. Everypony started picking themselves up and dusting off. "What are you three running so fast for?" The three fillies jumped up immediately and started pushing him.

"YOU GOT TO HELP QUICK, BABS IS DROWNING," the three fillies said scared out of their minds. Jessie started running as fast as he could with the fillies barely keeping up. once they got over the hill and were on the other side, they could see the lake up ahead and Babs near the middle of it barely treading water. Jessie ran up to the lake and not wasting a minute jumping in as he began to swim over to the drowning filly. Jessie swam as fast as he could was almost there when she started to sink. he dived under the water swam down, grabbed her in his arms and back up in what would probably have been a new swimming speed record. once they got to shore Babs crawled up and started coughing up water.

"What happened, why didn't you guys jump in and get her, instead of getting me to do it, the three of you could have easily done that," Jessie said breathing heavily.

"Weeell, me and Applebloom cant swim that well and Scootaloo can't swim just like Babs can't," the three fillies stated with sad expressions. Babs seed got up and turned around and ran over to her friends giving them a hug, after that she ran up to Jessie giving him a hug too. 

"Thanks for getting help gals and thank you for saving me Jessie, I was really scared," she said in her Manehatten accent.

"Your welcome, but just what exactly were you doing in the water in the first place if you cant swim?"

"Well I was trying to retrieve the treasure that's floated down to the bottom of that lake by now. It was right there on the shallower area and I thought that maybe I could reach it, but when I went to grab it I slipped and it got pushed further in, at that point I was starting to drown."

"Well if its so important why not just get someone who knows how to swim to retrieve it for you."

"well since your here could you retrieve it PLEEEASE," Sweetie said while making an a adorable begging face.

"Yeah can you can you," the other three crusaders put on similar adorable begging faces. Under the combined cuteness of all four fillies Jessie's will could not fight it off, and he succumbed to the cuteness overload. 

"Alright I'll get the thing for you, but I'm still telling Applejack what happened," Jessie proceeded to jump into the water and swim up to the middle of the lake and then dived. He swam down to the bottom and started searching the immediate area. He searched around for a bit and couldn't find anything at first, but as he was swimming by an indentation in the sand, he saw a flash from something shiny and swam towards it. Once he had the shiny object he raced back towards the shore, tired from all the swimming. After getting out of the water he opened his palm to show the girls what he grabbed. In his hand sat a large platinum bit that had a little patina look to it. 

"Woooow its a real odd bit, I wonder how it got there," Applebloom said with a puzzled look.	

"Lets go look in the library and see if we find out what exactly this is,' Babs said with urgency. 

"Ok we will go see Twilight, I been trying to get back to the library for hours now," Jessie said, glad to finally be getting back to the original task he was given. The group got on the trek back to the library and not at a moment to soon because it was going to be dark in minutes. Once they arrived they went into the main room of the building and saw Twilight and Applejack looking at something. The pair saw the group come in and Applejack ran up to her sister grabbing her and giving her a bear hug.

"Where have you four been," Applejack said standing there with a stern face. 

"Hold on now AJ, before you get all mad at them for being out late let me explain, I can vouch for them."

"Is that true girls, what happened," Applejack asked as she visibly started to calm down. The girls explained everything that happened not sparing any details. After the fillies finished speaking the two mares sat there processing this. 

"So all this happened for one little bit which you took a huge risk to get," AJ said incredulously.

"Jessie, may I see this coin you retrieved," Twilight asked wanting to see the cause of all this. Jessie held out the coin for all to see. Twilight then searched for a book and came back with a small hard covered book. On the cover it said guide to every currencies since the beginning of Princess Celestia and Luna's rule. Twilight thought the name of the book was ridiculous, but she began flipping through the pages until she found a particular one. 

"I knew I saw that coin somewhere before, this book says that coin is rare, and it says that bit is worth fifty-thousand single bits. It looks like you girls actually found some treasure, that is a major find." The Crusader jumped up and down cheering about this news.

"Alright you girls settle down now, you've had your fun, now I need to get you home." 

"Jessie can you come with us, we want to give you your reward for saving Babs and getting us that treasure. That reminds me," Applebloom proceeded to turn around and look at her flank which the other three mimicked. They were a little saddened to find it still barren and void of a Cutie Mark. 

"Aaaaaaaaww, well anyway are you coming Jessie," Applebloom said already over the latest failure. 

"I guess, I mean I got nothing else to do so lead the way," Jessie said curious about this and so he followed them back after dropping the stuff off on the table. When the group made it to the farm the three fillies put a blindfold on him and lead him through the orchard for several minutes. When they finally came to a stop they took the blindfold off him and he took notice of his surrounding and he recognize it immediately. The club house was bigger than it looks when your standing in it.

"Jessie, you have saved the life of a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and you have also brought us great treasure.  Therefore we would like to reward you with your own spot in our group and your very own Cutie Mark Crusader signature cape if you are ready to take the oath." This was an offer that he was inclined to accept seeing as how he always like watching their crazy crusader antics on the tv show, it was funny and enjoyable. 

"Yes I accept this offer with great appreciation, I'm ready to take the oath," Jessie said getting excited. They recited the oath for a good thirty minutes since some how the revised version was made longer than the original.

"Jeez scoots could you make it any longer," Sweetie Belle said jokingly, Scootaloo just blew raspberries at her 

"Alright, by the power vested in me as a leader of the Cutie Mark Crusaders in Ponyville, I now give you the title of Cutie Mark Crusader Knight, welcome to the club." This day couldn't have gotten any better for Jessie because it was already perfect, he had fun for the first time in a while since coming to this world. So the day ended with much adventure and excitement for the fillies and one human.
> Trials To Come
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



"Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when your riding through the ruts, don't complicate your mind. Flee from the hate, mischief and jealousy. Don't bury your thoughts, put your visions to reality. Wake up and live."
-Bob Marley





It was a really nice morning at Sweet Apple Acres and Rob was enjoying a relaxing nap under a tree on an average sized hill with the wind blowing in his face just ever so slightly, like a hand gliding effortlessly across his face. The sun only added to the effect, giving off a warm and inviting glow that truly made the whole thing feel serene and calming. Rob enjoyed the mornings, it was quiet and peaceful. The young ones were not awake, Granny Smith would be making breakfast, Big Mac was taking care of the north and west field, and Applejack was taking care of the south field plus plowing a new field for more vegetables. Rob was tasked with getting the east field harvested, and he had decided to take a quick rest after about three hours of knocking apples out of the trees. The morning sun rising was a great sight as well and Rob simply took it all in. The peacefulness would soon be interrupted however as Twilight came running over to him talking quite loudly to Applejack. 

"I need you to come with me to the library," Twilight said in a hurry.

"wait, whats going on, and i have work to do here," Rob asked questioningly.

"look, I don't have time to explain it to everypony individually, just come with me and i will explain to you all at one time," Twilight said before turning around and heading towards her next destination.

"Ok I guess I will follow, though I don't see how much help I could be," Rob said before the two ran after her. After catching up, the three headed towards the Carousel Boutique which was not that far from Sweet Apple Acres. Once they got there Twilight started knocking on the door. 

"Come in and I will be with you in a second, Rarity said in her sing song voice. They headed in and saw the fashionista fitting a dress for none other than Pinkie Pie. Why hello darlings, don't mind me, I was just putting the finishing touches on this new dress I made for Pinkie here to wear at the next Grand Galloping Gala," She said right before putting a pink lace on the dress. 

"It look great but do I really need a new dress for the Gala, I could just wear the one I already have," Pinkie Said with a smile.

"Sweetie, I think its time that you started looking into the idea of dating. Maybe with this new dress your luck might turn out great," Rarity said in a motherly way.

"Girls, the dress is great and maybe a stallion in Pinkies life would be good, but I need you both to stop what your doing and follow me," Twilight said in in a rush.

"Why, where are we going," Pinkie asked with excitement right after taking off the dress.

"We need to get Rainbow Dash who we will most likely find at her special training area, We need to get Fluttershy at her cottage, and we need to find Jessie but I don't know where he is." The two girls joined the group headed towards Rainbows training place. It took a little longer to get there since her spot was at a secluded area on the outskirts of Ponyville. Once they got there, they could see Rainbow Dash performing tricks and Fluttershy trying to improve her cheering. The pair of pegasi saw the group, waved and flew over.

"Hey girls what's up, Rainbow Dash asked casually?

"I need you to come with me and do either of you know where Jessie is," Twilight asked in a hurry? 

"I saw him this morning, he asked me if I had any extra quills he could use for sketching," Fluttershy said with her usual softness.

"Well, Rainbow can you find him and bring him back to the library so I can say what's going on," Twilight asked. Rainbow responded with a nod then taking off to find the human, the rest of the group headed back to the library. After reaching the library they had to wait thirty minutes before the two showed up. 

"Alright now that everypony is here, Twilight paused for a moment to get some papers out. Celestia sent me this letter last night in the middle of my late night reading session."

Dear Twilight,
I am sending you this message because something very important is going to happen. In a year, the treaty that I made with the dragons is being renewed and so one of the elders of the dragon nation is coming to Canterlot for negotiations. I think it would go great if you, the rest of the girls, and the two humans were there to help me. I will need you to learn what ever you can about dragons, this way you will know what to expect when you meet the elder. The meetings will begin on the night of nightmare night and will go on for an unknown amount of time, so be prepared. I will have a chariot sent to your house on that day so you will be here before it starts, see you soon Twilight.

sincerely Princess Celestia 

"Wait, so your telling me a dragon is coming to Equestria, and she wants us to be there as advisors." He better have good manners because I will not deal with another ruffian like the last one we met," Rarity said adamantly. 

"I don't think he's going to be like that dragon. He is one of the three elders of the dragon nation, a huge dragon city inside Mt. Volcaina," Twilight stated informatively. Spike came into the room with a tray of chocolate cookies and handed everypony one. 

"did she say what his name was," Rainbow Dash asked with no interest in the whole conversation

"If your looking to know his name, there's a book on dragon society on the shelf, Spike said which alerted them he had been listening the whole time. Spike walked over to the shelf, pulled out a big leather bound book and put it on the desk. This book will tell you all you need to know," Spike said in a lecturing manner.

"I've never heard of any book on dragon society, just about them as a species specifically," Twilight said with amazement.

"This is one of three copies made for the different pony nations after the peace treaty with the dragons was made, at the beginning of Celestia's ruling, Spike explained. The Dean at the library gave the book to me since he thought it would help me find out about my past, he added in. Spike opened the book and started flipping through pages until he got to one with three giant illustrated dragons on it and on the next one was their names and a little bit about each of them. The one we are going to meet is Rockjaw. He commands the Vanguard dragon army and he deals with diplomatic issues foreign and domestic," Spike stated. 

"Wow, thanks this will help Spike, thanks my number one assistant," Twilight said then she gave him a hug. Letting go of the baby dragon she turned to her friends and conjured copies of the book handing one to each of them and said to start reading. After reading for an hour, Jessie got Robs attention and motioned for him to follow. The two got up an walked out onto the library deck.

"so what's up with the quietness," Rob asked confused?

"Well, I can't find more info so I wanted to show you my findings to the whereabouts of Russell," Jessie proceeded to pull out a global map. "He said that he was going to live in Zebrica for a couple of months learning about their potion making skills," Jessie drew a line from the Everfree forest to the ports of Zebrica and then to the north east villages. "He said that once he was done learning those skills was to find a more permanent living space, either the Dragon Nation or the Griffon Empire," Jessie proceeded to draw a line north all the way to the two countries of topic. "This should be the path that he will take. So what do you think," Jessie said glad to be able to share that with Rob. Rob stared at the information now presented before him and he was impressed, but one thing caught his attention. There was a little four headed worm looking thing in the middle of what appeared to be a desert that separates Zebrica from the two countries. 

"Hey Jessie, what is that thing on the map," Rob asked while pointing at the worm looking creature. Jessie saw what he was pointing at and immediately went into the library. After about a few minutes he came back out with a red hardback book and the title said Bestiary.

"This book was made by a famous scholar pony named Burstmark. He went all over the world to record and cataloged information about every creature on this planet then he put it into this book." Jessie opened the book and flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for. The image was of what Rob saw, a four headed worm except now he could see it in full detail. It was a giant creature with spikes all over its body and many thousands of rows of teeth inside each mouth. The creature truly looked terrifying and now Rob feared for their mutual friend. 

"I'm concerned on how he is going to get pass the desert and that thing, that's one big bug," Rob said with bewilderment. The two were now concerned about how their friend was going to get pass this unforeseen obstacle. 

"I know him and if anyone can find a way passed it, he can. He was resourceful enough to figure out a way to come here, right, so we shouldn't be so worried," Jessie said forcefully. In truth Jessie was panicking on the inside. His compadre was headed for something dangerous and they had no way of contacting him without letting Celestia know the big secret. Jessie and Rob picked up all the documents and books and took them back to Jessie's temporary room in the library. After they cleaned up, Jessie and Rob joined the girls in the main room again but noticed the extra ponies in the library. Princess Celestia and Luna were standing there talking to Twilight and then they took notice of their presence. 

"Hello Jessie, Rob, I was just talking to Twilight about getting you two but now that your here I can explain why we have come. You see approximately four hours ago I felt a disturbance of magic that I have not felt in a long time, not since my sister and I fought Discord. Not soon after, I got the letter from the dragons about the peace treaty renewal. These two occurrences have happened to close together to be a coincidence, and if my spellcasters are not mistaken than the disturbance happened not to far from their homeland," Celestia finished. She looked around gauging the groups reaction.

"Can you tell us exactly where the disturbance was located," Jessie asked with reserve in his voice. 

"Yes but I would need a map, Twilight can you get me a global map please," Celestia asked her pupil. She pulled out her own copy of the world map and laid it out on the table. Celestia pointed to the location where the magic spike occurred, and Jessie immediately did a silent takeback. The spot she pointed at was in the middle of the great scar, the desert Russell had to get pass on his journey. 

"The magical disturbance was brief and if it wasn't so unique we wouldn't have paid any mind to it. Since it was, we plan to do an investigation on the matter in hopes to find out what wields this power," Luna said with reserve in her voice.

"When we find out more I will notify you Twilight, until then I want all of you to continue your studies. I will give you further instructions when the time comes, now we must take our leave," Celestia said before both Alicorns teleported away. The group got back to work studying, only now Jessie had something else to think on. And so the year went on, ponies going about their days and the group continuing their jobs while doing the task assigned to them. 	
> An Unexpected Surprise
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



"For the man sound in body and serene in mind there is no such thing as bad weather, every day has its beauty and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously." 

-George Gissing




(a year later, in the land of the dragon nation, Vovin.)


Lava and smoke spilled out from many of the tiny volcano tubes that littered the mountain city of Volcana. The lava provided most of the light within the city. In the hall of the elders walked one of its residents, this one was called Shojima. He had recently received a notice from one of his brethren that the elders wish to speak with him. It was said to be a matter of great importance. Heading down the hall he came to the council chamber doors. 
These doors were made of obsidian with many ancient hieroglyphs on the wall in the dragon language. He had seen these doors many times since he had become the apprentice of one of the elders known as Rockjaw. Shojima simply referred to him as master or teacher. He pulled the doors open and entered the chambers. He proceeded to the middle of the room and got down on one knee. 

"Elders, you summoned me, what do you command," Shojima asked with the utmost respect for his leaders. The room lit up a little, enough to see the three great dragons that stood before him. The first was eighty feet tall with azure green scales and purple eyes, her name was Naga. The second was one hundred feet tall with crimson red scales and yellow eyes, his name was Linwiloke. The last one was ninety feet tall with black and grey scales, and blue eyes, his name was Rockjaw. The three elders stared directly at the one kneeling before them and then Rockjaw stepped forward, shaking the ground slightly.

"My apprentice, I want you to come with me to Equestria while I meet with Celestia to renew the peace treaty we hold with her.," Rockjaw said as his voice resonated throughout the room. 

"I understand master, I will prepare for departure," Shojima then stood up and bowed to the elders before leaving. When he got back to his room he pulled out two swords from his weapons locker that were completely identical. They both were made of star metal, an ore that dragons used to make their weapons and armor with. It was ten time stronger than pony steel and three times the weight. Each one was adorned with an obsidian hilt and a small amethyst in the pommel. He dawned the two swords then grabbed a necklace from a box. 
Once he was finished packing his things he went out to the entrance of the mountain where the elder was patiently waiting. After he joined with the elder, they took off in a long flight towards Equestria. 

"My student, is there something on your mind, you seem distracted," the Elder dragon asked with a low rumble?

"There is some personal business that I have in Equestria. I have ask though, why it is that you need me with you to deal with this," Shojima asked while holding in large amount of air he didn't know he was holding. 

"I'm sure you will figure out whatever it is you need to do. I'm bringing you because you need to learn how to negotiate with her. You are being groomed to become an Elder someday," the Elder said to his student sincerely. The rest of the flight was spent in silence flying as high as possible so to get there on schedule.  


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was a warm fall morning in the land of Equestria, especially in the castle town of Canterlot. Celestia had raised the sun like she normally did, before she decided to go lay back down. she was feeling like she wanted to sleep in a little longer. She had recently been feeling more tired than normal, and she had every right to be. This year the Grand Galloping Gala was going to be two days after Nightmare Night. The day was going to be long. 
The biggest thing was the fact that during the next few weeks, she was going to play host to an elder dragon. This was going to be problem because most ponies in Equestria today have not seen such a sight. The whole thing was announced to the country but it didn't make anything easier for the ponies. Her subjects do not like them and are easily scared of dragons. She decided to take every precaution possible for Rockjaw arrival. Celestia had a big room made in the lower parts of the castle near the Crystal Cave. 
It was specifically for him to sleep in during his stay. As Celestia walked the halls, she could see the decorations being hung up for the Gala. The staff ponies asked many questions about the decorations, food, and other things. Many things still needed finalization to be ready for the event. When she went around the corner and into the kitchen a nice sweet aroma hit her. She recognized it immediately as Chef Pierre cooking. 

"Good morning Chef Pierre, what are you cooking up this time," Celestia said wondering what smelled so good. Her personal chef was one of the finest cooks in the Griffin Empire and he's the only one that could please Celestia with his refined taste for sweets. 

"I have no doubt that these sweets will be simply amazing. It is of course going to be the main desert options for the Gala. This has to be my finest craftsmanship with vanilla in quite a while," Pierre explained.

"Can you bring up that big bottle I had made and stored in the freezer, i'll also need the special sweets I had you make for our guest," Celestia asked with a smile.

"Oohh, yes the dragon, I'll have that brought up right away. This should be interesting having a dragon as my client for this week," Pierre cracked his claws and got to work cooking many other things. Exiting the kitchen, Celestia didn't get more than five feet before another pony approached her.

"Princess Celestia, I have the latest updates on the guest list for the Gala and also I was wondering if you wanted me to notify the guards to go pick up Twilight Sparkle and her friends" the pony ask. 

"Yes please, and tell them to take all the time they need," the catering pony ran off to go tell the guards, this gave Celestia a moment catch her breath and sigh. I've been doing this for a couple hundred years now and I still never get use to how much goes into prepping for this event," Celestia said to no one in particular. She continued her walk and it led her to the garden. 
There were many animals wandering around the area and some would even approach her and start to play. Many ponies didn't know it but Celestia herself had a love for animals. She would play with them when the time was available for her to. Philomena her pet, flew in and sat next to her nudging her side. Celestia began petting her lightly. "I wonder how well things are going to go these next few weeks Philomena, it is going to be a little difficult keeping the nobles in check since the elder is coming. 
They always make everything difficult, saying their stupid comments and don't get me started on the hell Blueblood is going to give me throughout the entire time he is here." Philomena made a few encouraging gestures and then gave her a hug. 

"It seems Philomena has the right idea." Celestia turned to see her sister, Princess Luna standing a few feet away.

"sister-"

"You can't let the nobles bother you. They will continue to complain and that's all they will ever do why'll the elder is here, Luna said as she walked over to Celestia. Blueblood especially will always make trouble because that's who he is. I recommend that you tell the guard to keep him out except on the day of the Gala," Luna suggested giving her sister a hug as well.

"Alright, I will, but why are you really out here. Your face betrays you," Celestia asked curiously?

"Well, I recently became aware that Elder Rockjaw will not be coming alone. He is bringing his apprentice," Luna said admittedly. 

"Why did he not send a letter, more importantly when did he get an apprentice," Celestia asked with shock on her face? 

"I don't know, I would like to know as well," Luna said with as much surprise as her sister had.

"This is definitely shocking, he hasn't had an apprentice since we took over as Equestria's monarchs. I will send a message to Twilight and the girls to let them know about this. i will need you to help me get the rest of the Gala ready," she asked Luna in a hurry? Celestia gave her a bear hug that would rival pinkies before leaving. thank you sister for what you said, you keep me strong, more than you realize, the elder princess thought as she ran off to do what she needed to.

"She is too stressed out, we really need to find a way to get her away from all of this for a while. Maybe someday soon, we can get her to go on vacation. Why is it the Elders kept this information from us until now? I wonder who it could be, Luna asked to no one in particular? Philomena, can you help me with something? The phoenix looked to her and nodded flapping her wings ready to take off. 
I knew I could count on you Mena. I need you to intercept the dragons and lead them to Canterlot," Luna instructed. Philomena immediately took off with a roaring blaze from her wings which propelled her faster towards her destination. Luna got up and walked into the castle to continue what her sister had been doing.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The company of two dragons and a blazing phoenix were flying along the ocean surface with the sun lowering down to the horizon indicating that the day would soon end. 

"We will be arriving soon," Elder Rockjaw said interrupting the silence, and from what he could tell, Shojima's train of thought. the elder was right as the city of topic came into view. To say that Canterlot was a interesting sight would have been an understatement. it was simply breathtaking the way the evening sun light hit the city and illuminated every aspect of its buildings and walkways.

"You know, in all my times of coming to Equestria I have never actually been to its capital. I usually tend to stay away from it. Now I see that it was worth the wait. It truly is a spectacle to see up close," Shojima said looking at every detail of the city as they got closer. Philomena turned left slightly and headed directly for another part of the castle leaving the dragons to find their own landing area. As they flew over the city, ponies looked up at them just staring as if they were waiting for something to happen. 
After nothing happened, the ponies went back to their usual business. The dragons descended into the courtyard of the castle. Six pony guards and one that looked more decorative stood their waiting for them. After landing, the decorative one approached them with walk that said military. 

"My name is Captain Shining Armor, I official bid you welcome to Canterlot. If would follow me to the great hall, the Princesses are waiting for your arrival. this way, Shining said as he led the way to the throne room 

"Master, I will meet up with you in the great hall in a little bit. I got to go check on our accommodation and unpack," Shojima said before bowing to his teacher and giving the unicorn stallion a nod. Leaving the group, the pony and dragon continued on into the castle. The inside was made of polished marble and gold with decorative glass windows lining the halls. Each one of the windows depicted different events and stories told about all over Equestria. They started with the Princesses battle with Discord all the way to the reinstatement of the Elements of harmony. 
The elder noticed a window with six ponies and a small dragon holding a crystal heart on it. He wondered why it was there.

"Captain, what can you tell me about this story right here," Rockjaw asked, pointing to the ornate window.

"That one actually happened somewhat recently, my sister and her friends defeated the tyrannical unicorn overlord known as King Sombra. They restored peace to the inhabitants of the Crystal Empire. An achievement of which my brother Spike played an important part," Shining Armor said as they came around a corner. They soon saw the giant doors to the great hall. Adorned on it were the goddesses of the sun and moon standing on their hind legs creating an arch. The guards at the door saluted to the Captain and he did the same. 
The two guards stepped aside and opened the door letting them through. The great hall was huge with a relatively long table in the center. Sitting at the other end of it was the two Princesses he knew for hundreds of years, another princess he did not recognize, six ponies with a baby dragon, and two other creatures he recognize immediately beside them. They all stood there staring at the massive dragon before them. 

"Greetings Elder Rockjaw, we are delighted to see you again, its been a long time," Celestia said with grace.

"Yes Princesses, it has been to long, however I do not recognize the third. Who are all your friends here, Rockjaw said as his voice faintly rumbled throughout the room.

"This is our niece, Princess Cadence and these six are the Elements of Harmony," Celestia said queuing them for introduction. 

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, I'm Celestia's personal student and the Element of Magic," the purple one said with courtesy. 

"My name is Rarity Belle, I'm a renown designer and the Element of Generosity," the white one said very professionally.

"My name is Applejack, I own Sweet Apple Acres and I'm the Element of Honesty," the orange pony said tipping her hat to him. A cyan blue ponies started hovering in the air.

"The names Rainbow Dash, and I'm the fastest flyer in all of Equestria, oh and I'm the Element of Loyalty," the Pegasus said with vigor. A pink pony immediately got his attention.

"Hi, my name is Pinkie Pie and I'm the Element of Laughter. I like making ponies smile, oh, maybe I can throw you a party later and then you will smile too. Then we can be the best of friends having so much-" Applejack immediately stuffed a hoof in the party ponies mouth.

"All right now, simmer down ya hear. I'm sorry, she can be a bit energetic at times," Applejack said apologizing. She got quite a different response however.

"Hahahahahaha, its okay little pony, I do not mind. In fact its quite refreshing, to see one so young and full of life," the elder said with a smile.

"Hello, my name is Jessie. I'm a Human and I come from a place called Earth," the shorter one of the two said as he took a step forward. The other one followed suit.

"Hello, my name is Rob and its the same thing for me as well," he said politely." The baby dragon waved, getting Elder Rockjaws attention.

"My name is Spike and I'm Twilight younger brother," the little dragon stated proudly. The yellow Pegasus was the last one to approach, hiding behind her long pink mane.

"Hhh-hello, mmm-my name is fff-Fluttershy, I'm th-the Element of Kindness," she said shyly.

"Its nice to meet you all, I see you are the ponies from the window pane back there. I would very much love to hear about that story," Rockjaw said with interest.

"I will tell you all about it later. Right now I want to meet this apprentice of yours, where is he," Celestia asked with the same interest?

"He is currently checking out our accommodation. He likes to know his surrounding and he is constantly working. This is actually the reason I brought him with me. He will one day succeed me as Elder, so I thought it best that he meet his allies," the elder dragon explained.

"Sounds like an egghead to me. I'm sure he and Twilight will become the best of friends," Rainbow Dash said making a joke. Twilight responded by throwing a book at her missing just barely.

"Actually no, he is quite the adventurer. He doesn't spend a lot of time in the library, and when he is its just to learn about his next quest. he also goes to learn new spells to cast. he has become quite the spellcaster.".

"Wow, I didn't know dragons could use magic," Twilight shouted now super excited.

"Oh we do, its just not pony magic. Its dragon magic, the way of the voice. Now he does know quite a few pony spells too but it's mostly battle magic and defensive spells. He has taken quite an interest in that area and has become adept at using them." The elder dragon turned his head slightly as the room got somewhat dim. "Here he comes now," Rockjaw said promptly. 
The doors to the great hall opened and even the hallways outside the throne room were dim. A huge black mist came swirling in through the door settling at the entrance. It began moving forward as if someone was walking. Slowly a form started to appear in the shadow before condensing into a solid mass and taking shape. Now standing at the other end with the elder was a nine feet tall odd looking dragon with very well made armor. It was a full body samurai suit with a hooded helmet completing it. 
The armor had decorative looking gemstones on it. Some sapphires and amethyst but mostly gems with a decent sized gem on the chest plate. Even the mask looked intricately done. He however from the start was different in so many way compared to his master. The only reason you could tell he was a dragon was by the spikes and talons that he supported.
"everypony, I would like to introduce you to Shojima," Rockjaw said pointing his huge hand towards his student.

"Thank you master, I think I can finish it from here. Greeting to you all, its nice to finally meet you. Shojima turned towards the two humans. Before they could introduce themselves however, he was standing right behind them. Its nice to see you guys again, its been to long," he said before patting them on their shoulders then disappearing again and reappearing back by his master.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I met you before," the two humans said in unison.

"Oh, silly me, I forgot that you probably wouldn't recognize me in my new form. Well, I think its about time that I reclaimed my true name. master, ponies humans, and little dragon, please allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Russel."
> A Forgotten Promise
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



"We are each on our own journey. Each of us is on our very own adventure; encountering all kinds of challenges, and the choices we make on that adventure will shape us as we go; these choices will stretch us, test us and push us to our limits; and our adventure will make us stronger than we ever known we could be."

-Aamnah Akram




"Please allow me to reintroduce myself, my name is Russel," at this Jessie and Rob approached shocked more than anything at his new form. 

"Russel is It really you," Jessie and Rob said as they came up to their changed friend. it seemed like an illusion at first but they knew that somehow it was their friend. the hybrid creature knelled down to a more appropriate level for their height.

"Yes it is, before I left I did tell you we would see each other again, did I not, Russel said as he embrace his friends happy about their reunion. Letting go he stood back up. He turn to the group of ponies some still in shock others now conversing amongst themselves. Don't be so shocked, its not like it wasn't in your thoughts, whether these two were the only ones that came through the portal that day.

"Elder, why is it that you didn't notify me when you learned of his existence," Celestia asked in a regal tone even though she was quite aggravated. 

"When you first sent that letter, I didn't know. He did not arrive until five months after and when he was brought before us he pleaded for asylum. the conditions were that no one outside Volcana knew that he was there," Rockjaw said explaining the agreement. Cadence approached putting a hoof on Celestia shoulder indicating her turn to speak.

"Aunty that's not important right now. we should be asking is how is he standing before us in this form, or why he's able to use magic very few ponies know about," Cadence asked now raising even more questions amongst them.

"Well, that's a very long tale that I will only tell if you forget your anger with my master, Russel said stoically. 

"That we can do," princess Celestia said agreeing to the deal.

Then my story I will tell," Russel said as he sat down in a crisscross position. The other took hint at this and all sat down waiting to hear the story. " First you must be optimistic and open as I retell these past events. Now, let me take you back to the beginning of my adventures on this world," Russel said as he recalled his first day here in Equestria

( Flash back to a year ago after the wish happened)


Russel bowed saying goodbye to his friends then took off at a fast pace into the Everfree Forest. Running through the forest he dodged branches, sticker bushes, and other plants that would slow him down. After about a few minutes of running he came to a slow walk. 
Looking around, he took in his surroundings noticing all the trees and the vibrant shades of color he could only see dulled on earth.

"Its so beautiful here, this world is so much more peaceful and serene. How could anyone not like this world," Russel said in awe of the real life canvas before him. He felt more alive here than he ever did back home. Continuing on the dirt path, Russel followed it for awhile until he came upon a hut that seem awfully familiar. "Well, I did not expect to be running into this," Russel said as he recognized Zecora's hut immediately. Sneaking around the hut to the other side where the dirt road continued, he got back on his journey only to walk right into something and fall over. 
Recovering quickly from the unexpected fall, Russel stood back up and saw what he crashed into. It was none other than Zecora herself and she was now staring at him with a curious expression. Russel was stunned, he couldn't believe he allowed himself to get in this position. At this moment, he didn't know what to do so he did the only thing his instincts would allow. He bolted forward past the zebra and ran knowing that if he let Zecora catch up she would surely bring him to Twilight and everything would be ruined. All he could hear as he ran away was her yelling some sort of rhyme that he couldn't make out.
After running for what seemed like hours he came upon a glade where he fell onto his back. He was completely exhausted and just laid there and watched the sun set on the edge of the tree line. Slowly Russel fell asleep tired to the bone. 

CRACK- Russel shot up immediately and rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. His eyes adjusted to the darkness as he looked around searching his surroundings for the noise. It didn't take long however as he turned to a bush nearby that had multiple glowing green eyes in it. Several timberwolves came out from behind it stalking towards him. Russel quickly darted towards a tree a few feet away and ran up it grabbing a tree limb to pull himself up. The timberwolves ran towards the tree to try and get him but failed, so they sat there growling. 
Russel looked around the tree trying to find a large limb to break off so to use as a club. After searching for a minute he found a sizable one and grabbed it. It broke off after some tugging, then he braced himself. He jumped off the tree and land getting into a fighting stance. The first timberwolf was almost immediately upon him. Swinging up with the branch, Russel hit the wooden creature directly in the head resulting in a loud crack before it was knocked clean off. 
The head went flying leaving the rest of the body to go limp and fall over. The others started circling around Russel waiting for him to let his guard down. Two wolves charge him but he counters by using the branch as a shield then tossing them to the side. Another charges from behind and lands on Russel biting him in the shoulder. He quickly throws the wolf on to the ground and curb stomps its head. Picking the branch back up, he gets into his fighting stance again ready to continue.
The rest of the pack runs at him from all directions. Russel takes the limb and spins around in a circle, hitting all of the targets on the head. The force of the limb knock down all the wolfs, stunning them for a few seconds. Standing there, he suddenly felt dizzy and his vision became blurry. Russel strength began to weaken and he stabilized himself with the branch. 

"Oh crap, I think that bite has a bit of a kick. I don't think I can last much longer- need to make a break for it," Russel said as the poison he could feel, coursed through his veins. Swinging the branch, he launched it towards the abominations and then ran. Heading off into the forest, Russel could hear the vicious creatures following close behind. He continued to run but was losing to much stamina. He searched for a place he could hide but nowhere seemed good enough.
He would have to try climbing. Veering towards a big tree not to far away, Russel ran up it grabbing at the lowest branch but just couldn't reach. He saw another tree that was smaller and attempted that. Finally he was able to connect, grabbing and pulling himself up just as he felt the air of one of wolves trying to bite him. They surrounded the tree as he moved up. Stopping about halfway up, he climbed out and ran forward jumping to the larger tree and grabbing a small branch. 
Russel was hanging from it but at least he had made it. He could feel all the adrenaline running through his body at a very fast pace. All he could think about in that moment was surviving, so he continued climbing the tree pushing through the pain. After about half a minute he came across a group of branches intersecting together, he would rest there. Laying out his jacket to make it comfortable he laid down and calm his body down. Russel was exhausted and the sleeping poison the timberwolves gave him quickly knocked him out.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 


A small clicking nearby awoke Russel from his slumber. Looking up he could see the sun well into the sky. Although he could not tell the time, Russel assumed it was around 4:00 or 5:00 pm. He lifted himself up slowly but he still felt fatigued. He began climbing down the tree barely being able to perform the task. As he got to the bottom he looked down to make sure there was no danger.
After searching around Russel concluded the coast was clear and dropped down on the grass. He walked slow since every muscle in his body was sore and beating like crazy. Trudging on through the forest, he came upon its edge. Pushing through the brush, Russel could feel the sun hit him fully as he walked out into the open field. Grass was a nice sight for once so he laid down felling its soft blade on his sore body. After loitering around for a little bit, he got back up and looked at the view below.
Russel could see a big port city down near a harbor which he set as his next destination. He found a path nearby and followed it down to the city. As soon as he got down there he jumped behind the first building. Sneaking through the city, he crouch-walked through alleys and behind buildings until he got to the harbor. There were a lot of boats docked and a lot of ponies as well. Russel knew it was going to be hard to sneak on one of these ships let alone hijack one and sail away without being spotted.
He dipped down into the water quietly and swam to each boat looking and inspecting which one to choose. After half an hour, he found one that was decent size and had very little occupant. Climbing on board, Russel stalked over to the cabin door and opened it. Looking through the crack of the door, he could see the room was quite large for a ships room. He checked the entire cabin as well as the storage bay. there were a couple of ponies asleep in the storage guarding a door.
Russel took some rope and tied them up then gagged them with some cloth. He then proceeded to hit them in the head then put them in a crate and dragged it up to the deck. He placed the crate over by the anchoring rope on the dock. Heading back down to storage to get rid of whatever it was they were guarding. He broke the lock and opened the door to a sight that he never thought he would see. Inside the room was a bunch of weapons lining the walls and armor in crates. 

"I'm not going to be able to move all this, I hope whoever owned this ship has insurance," Russel said with remorse. He closed the door then ran back up to the deck. He untied the rope to the ship than went to the captains wheel. Slowly he used the current to turn the ship around to head out to sea. Going down to the deck, Russel loosened the ropes and let the sails down. He retightened them then the ship began moving.
He ran back up to the wheel and began setting a course to get out of there. The ship began picking up speed after about a few minutes and was quickly reaching its maximum acceleration. His luck would not hold however as he could hear siren bells from the harbor. 
"Damn, they must have discovered the ponies I knocked out," Russel declared as he jammed a chair in the wheel. This would keep the ship in a straight direction, as he started loading the cannons to ready them for a possible battle. Finishing the job, Russel ran down to mid ship to get something to light the fuses with.
He grabbed a torch and lit it then went to see how many pursuers he had. He came back up and saw no such thing which shocked him. He expected to see at least a couple of ships but it looked like the port was undisturbed. Russel didn't know what to think, but he calmed down and put everything away and went back to manning the wheel. He felt odd, like something was effecting his body then a grogginess hit him. He couldn't explain where it came from but he quickly steadied himself before turning the ship a few degrees to the left. 
"Lets see if I can figure out where to go, I need to at least find a doctor. Hopefully this direction will bear fruit," Russel said as Equestria slowly became a small mass in the background. He did not know what laid in store for him but he would find a suitable place to begin his mission.
> Village of the Sands
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



"Observe good faith and justice towards all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all."
-George Washington





The sea rocked back and forth, gently knocking at the boat and making it do the same. All was calm as the boat continued to drift in a slow moving fashion. everything was peaceful and it allowed Russel a respite in which he used to get some sleep. He was feeling more tired than he usually was and this did not sit right with him. He had been tired before but not like this, no this was different. Russel crawled into the captains bunk and laid there quietly. Listening to the waves crash and his own heartbeat, it didn't take long before Russel fell asleep. 
A couple of hours past then an unexpectedly strong wave tossed Russel out of his bunk. Rubbing his eyes and cursing at nothing in particular, he got up and headed to the door. The light of the sun was barely a sliver in size as it began its slow rise. Soon enough a beautiful reddish-orange hue was visible on the horizon. It was almost surreal the way the light illuminated the ocean, like a perfect picture. 

"Wow, you just never see sunrises like this," Russel said as he proceeded to each rope unfastening it so the boat could get going. Sailing was pretty fun but he would reach land within a short amount of time. He knew it wouldn't get him where he needed to go so he would sell the boat for money as soon as he found a dock. The boat had plenty of weapons and armor but he would need supplies on his quest. It wasn't helping however that he had to resort to guessing which direction to go. His knowledge of how boats worked were extensive but his navigational skills left something to be desired. Russel added another week on to the few weeks he had been afloat as he spotted a possible destination.
Slowing down as he looked for a port, he spotted a small shanty dock that looked hastily put together but usable. Russel came to a drifting speed and eventually docked. Flipping his hood over his head, he set up the docking ramp and came down to tie the ropes to shore. Proceeding slowly to the dock master, he signed in and paid the fee with some bits he found in the captains cabin. 

"Thank you youngster, is there anything I can help you with today," the dock master said as proper procedure mandated. 

"Yes, which continent am I on and can you give me directions to a guide," Russel asked monotonically.

"Oh yes, your on the Continental Territories of Zebrica and if you want to get a guide a shaman is your best bet. There is one who lives not to far from here but its dangerous. The war lord who controls that territory is not kind to outsiders," the dockmaster said warning Russel of the dangers.

"Thank you sir, I must take my leave and I bid the a good day," The human said as he bowed and then proceeded to the coordinates he was given. The air was hot and the land was arid but he would have to manage. There was somewhat of a road but it looked rarely used. The road led on for several hours before a village came into view. It was a bunch of shanty shacks with a giant stone building in the epicenter. The place was pretty worn and old and it showed its age. It looked like there was little sign of repair and tons of damage on several sections. When he finally got into the town, most of it was empty save for a few passing zebra's staring at him with confusion and suspicion. They mostly just looked at him but some actually followed, Probably to see what he was doing here. Finally reaching the stone building, he walked up to the front gate which had a few guards outside. They immediately noticed the extra presence.

"Who or what dares come to our village without permission," the burly guard said stepping in front of the shrouded human.

"I desire to speak with the village leader, I seek his permission to get directions from his shaman, Russel said as he stood there.

"Ha, you dare ask an audience with his lordship. we shall see if you are worthy," the zebra in the middle said as they all drew their weapons. This was an unexpected turn of events and he did not feel even close to full strength. This was a real fight and he was handicapped but he adopted a karate stance none the less. The target on the left came at him with a spear which he narrowly dodged. Coming up under him, Russel launched his fist into the zebras jaw knocking him over. 
The other two soldiers came at him immediately with scimitars slashing at him relentlessly. Russel stepped back and jump to the side dodging their attack. regaining his balance, he jumped at them knocking the trio over. Getting back up, Russel picked up an old plank of wood next to the building and smacked it across one of the recovering zebras breaking it. The other two got up and responded by slashing furiously from both sides. Russel dodged one but the other was able to slice at his arm, cutting a large gash into it. The pain was intense but he got back up and jumped at the zebra pikeman. 
Russel punched the warrior multiple time finishing with an uppercut that knocked him out. His focus on one target however made him lose focus on the other allowing the enemy to come up behind and stab Russel in the leg with a dagger. Screaming in agony, he quickly elbowed the other zebra warrior and jumped back falling down as he landed. He pulled it out and felt white hot searing pain, the attack left him near defenseless. 

"I'm not going to be able to last much longer. I've got to find a way to end this quickly or I may die, Russel quietly stated to himself. Whatever he was going to do, he had to do it now or risk losing to much energy and not having enough left to fight. Adrenaline once again coursing through his veins, Russel ignored his pain as much as he could and ran up to the warrior duo punching at there faces. They were to slow and his fists connected with their faces, knocking out a teeth or two. Russel jumped at the left one and started wailing on him. After a few seconds he rolled back and pivoted, launching his leg at the other and connected with the zebras side. The force of the blow knocked him back a few feet but it cause Russel to land on his bad leg. That attack did the lone human in, wasting to much energy and now was finished. The zebras got back up, shaking off their pain and got back into fight mode.

"Give up, this fight is over creature and you have no strength left in you. Leave now before we kill you for interrupting or lords peaceful town," the zebras called as they mocked his weakened state. They turned to walk back to their posts laughing as they did. Russel slowly got up then ran at them dropkicking one into the other in a last ditch attack. Landing on them, he starting pound the closest one in the face trying to resist his fatigued. The second zebra retaliated from behind Russel and punched him sending him flying forward a few feet. 
Russel tried getting to his feet but fell back to his knees, knowing He was finished. He had no strength left to fight with as the two zebras came at him, he would be unable to dodge this one.

"STOP," a loud voice called out. This got the soldiers to stop and turn to the mysterious owner of the voice. 

"Little Ms. Ramble, your not suppose to be out here. You know your father doesn't want you out here when we need to deal with outsiders," the lead zebra lectured to a shaded figure. 

"Don't lecture me about what father wants and I'm not little, Zanzibar," the figure yelled as it came out into the light. It was a young female zebra, wearing a white dress and some sort of desert flower in her ear. 

"I'm sorry Ms. Ramble, but we need you to go back inside so we can finish our business with this punk." Zanzibar was hushed up by a hoof held in front of his face. 

"I do not want to hear this crap, I want to know why it is that you are about to kill this defenseless creature," Ms. Rumble asked with a less than pleased tone.

"He's an outsider, if outsiders wish to see the lord then they must go through us," one of the other zebras pined in stating what they had said so many times before.

"I don't care, a blind man could see that the entire time he had been fighting you with a cripple. I swear, you may call yourselves warriors but you are clueless when it comes to your eyes," the young royal zebra said while her eyes were fixated on the hooded thing in front of her. Russel tried to get up one more time but his body failed and he fell face first into the sand. They all ran over to him to see what happened. Ms. Rumble turned him over and put her ear to his chest and listened, finding a weak heartbeat.

"Is he dead," one of the warriors asked confused since they had never seen  anything like him before.

"He is weak, something's killing him. We need to bring him to the shaman or he will die," Ms. Rumble said as she tried to lift the human but found it difficult. She glared at her warriors and they got the hint picking him up and following the royal inside. 


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


Russel was floating in darkness for what seemed like hours before he could finally feel consciousness take hold. When he woke he didn't even open his eyes, they burned to much. His whole body ached of pain and he almost wanted to scream. He could hear hoofsteps nearby and remained on edge. When he was finally able to open his eyes, Russel could make out shapes and colors. His vision was blurry at best but he did manage to turn his head. He could see a shape moving around singing something but it sounded only like a warble in Russel's ears. After a few minutes he attempted to sit up, but as soon as he did he felt a very intense burning sensation. The pain was like nothing he had ever experienced before. his nerves were on fire but his skin was ice cold. His muscles tensed up to the point where it took a lot of energy to stay upright. He sat there for a few more minutes giving his body time to relax. He was soon able to make out more then just shapes and he could feel he was on a bed of some sort. Russel tried his luck at standing but his legs immediately gave out from under him and he fell over letting out a pained scream. Whoever it was that was in the room immediately noticed and galloped over trying to lift him up with its neck. Russel did not reject this because he knew he couldn't do it on his own. He finally got back up in the bed being more sore than when he woke up. He was eventually able to see enough to make out who was helping him. It was an older female zebra, maybe in her forties with more white in her mane than zebra should have. she wore an assortment of gold neck bangles and gold loop earrings.

"You must refrain from leaving, you don't have the energy to be moving," the zebra said in a rhyming fashion.

"Where am I," Russel asked coming out in rasps from his dry throat.

"My name is Shaman Arishazi and you are in my grove. This is a room inside our temple building, who are you I must know," Arishazi asked looking for answers. Russel sat their for a moment thinking. He could not use his own name. he would reveal nothing other than where he wanted to go but he needed to give them a name to call him. 

"My name is Shojima, I came here to speak to you actually. When I docked at a port station near here, the dock master told me I had to go see you about how I'm suppose to the great nations north of here. When I arrived I knew I was going to have to speak with the lord of this land since he would know where you are. However I arrived at the gate only to be stopped by those warriors and told that if I wanted to see his lordship that I would have to beat them in combat. As you can see I failed," Russel said a little bit disappointed about that.

"Don't blame yourself for your loss, you were not at your best that why the battle was tossed. I have never seen anything like you, please tell me, what are you," Arishazi asked with a bit of interest. 

"I'm human if that makes any sense to you, what happened that made me lose. I know I've been experiencing a bit of grogginess and weakening in my limbs but stuff like that has happened to me before," Russel asked more confused than ever.

"It is easy to feel a weakening when you got poison coursing through your veins. A slow acting one, probably timberwolf paralytic saliva is what made your physical abilities wane. I will introduce you to my lord husband Ronktif the great, but you need to have something to negotiate," Arishazi explained using her wicked rhyming skills. 

"Don't worry, I have several things that may be worth the trade," Russel said not too worried about it. Russel felt a breeze on his back and he finally noticed something unusual. "WHAT, WHY DO I HAVE NO ClOTHES ON," Russel yelled completely embarrassed at the thought of someone undressing his unconscious body.

"Oh, your things are over there in that corner, we had to take your clothes off to treat your wounds and to cure you of the poison," Arishazi said trying to calm the human down.

"W-wait we, uuumm, w-who's we," Russel asked slightly stuttering a deep blush now visable on his face.

"Why Ms. Rumble of course, the warlords daughter was the one that saved your life. She was actually very eager to help heal your wounds and purge the poison from you last night," Arishazi said as she remembered the events. Russel was now feeling a heavy amounts of butterflies in his stomach and his face turned completely red. 

"Did you say last night, how long was I out," Russel said the blush still very visable.

"I can see you are embarrassed but don't worry, she didn't seem to mind when she was helping me fix your body. you were out for six hours at least, you were touch and go there until we managed to kill the beast,: Arishazi said while going over to the corner to grab his things. She handed them to Russel then went towards her brewing station. Russel quickly got dressed and reequipped himself then walked over to the door. 

"So may I meet the lord of this land now," Russel asked waiting for an answer. The Shaman didn't responded other than with a follow me motion of her hoof. She proceeded out the door and headed down the hallway towards a big room. There were many candles and lamps hanging everywhere as they brightly illuminated the room together. Many zebras moved about the temple doing there normal routinely things as she led him through the area. When they got towards the middle, other zebras started to take notice of the newcomer and all began to follow and gather in the middle. There was a big chair carved into the side of a giant stone and sitting right next to it was the zebra he recognized as Ms. Rumble. On the chair however was a large looking zebra probably bigger than most with an armored cuirass made of bones. He had a headdress that looked ceremonial and a bunch of jewelry on his ears and neck. 

"May I present my lord husband and ruler of this village, Lord Ronktif. Now you and him may speak," the Shaman said as she sat down right next to her mate.

"What is your name and state your business here in my kingdom," Ronktif bellowed in a loud voice.

"I seek your Shamans help to find a way across the desert alive. I must get to the lands far north of here," Russel said emphasizing it with finger pointed north.

"Well that does sound like a predicament but If you want something from me than you must pay me. If you don't have any money then get out before I have you killed just for wasting my time," the zebra Lord barked with a fair amount of roughness in his voice.

"I may not have money but I do have something to trade for it," Russel stated getting the attention of everyone there.

"Go on then, what is it you have to trade for my wife's help," Ronktif said now showing interest in the conversation.

"I have a warboat full of armor, weaponry, and other things that you could use for your own benefit," Russel said with enthusiasm added to it.

"Sound like an interesting deal to me, I will except your proposal and will even give you some food and water for your journey. Now, what say you stay while my shaman draws you up a map, we shall feast to celebrate this deal," the zebra lord said now excited at the prospect of what he could do with the boat and everything on it. Zebras started bringing out foods that Russel recognized and others he didn't. He was given a seat next to Ronktif and as soon as he sat down the food started getting distributed by female zebra dancers. It was odd for Russel because he was not use to being served, he usually did everything himself. When he looked up from the table, he saw Ms. Rumble sitting across from him. She was staring at him with a captivated eye causing a light blush to appear on his face for the second time today. 

"so, what do we call you, do you have a name," Ms. Rumble asked now having the attention of the table on Russel?

"My name is Shojima, greeting," Russel said monotonically. It was going to take him a little while to get use to using that name.

"That's an odd name, so where do you come from," she asked interested in learning everything about their new guest. 

"I come from a really far away place that I'm never going back to," he said hoping this would at least get her off the topic. 

"How come, do you not have family or something," lady Rumble asked pushing the topic further.

"I don't feel like talking about it honestly, my future is ahead of me not in the past," Russel stated preferring to look at the food as it was finished being served.

"Oh come on, you can tell us. At least tells me what's the name-" Lord Ronktif  waved his hoof in the air gaining silence from his daughter.

"Please honey, he is tense, he obviously doesn't want to talk about it so just leave it at that. I'm sorry, she loves learning about places beyond or village as she doesn't travel." The zebra Lord stood up on his back hoofs holding a chalice up to everyone at the table. "To the all mother, may her spirit guide us on the path. Also, I would like to give thanks to our new friend, may our lives be more fruitful because of this partnership. If you ever need help don't hesitate to asked us for advice," Lord Ronktif said as they all bellowed together in agreement.

"Thanks for your hospitality and thank you for all your help. I share the same sentiments, may you have better days ahead." The dinner was long, lasting most of the night. Filled with many tales of their tribes history. When it finally ended, it was midnight and many had left to go back to their respective huts. The zebra lord kindly offered Russel a room to stay in, informing him that the deserts were to dangerous to travel in at night. 
Many hostile monsters were far more active at this time.  Russel thanked him for the offer and kindly took it as he was tired and sapped of energy anyway. The hut was rather small but the bed worked just fine. Russel flopped onto the bed and relaxed into it when thoughts of his friends surfaced in his mind. He wondered what they were doing and how their own progress was in Ponyville. It pained him that they had to depart the way they did but Russel knew it was for the best. 
He could not complete his mission with "The Princesses" in his shadow. He looked forward to the day when he would see his friends again. Russel pushed those thoughts aside and was eventually able to fall asleep.
> Journey Through the Maw
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



"A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being."

-James E. Faust





The morning welcomed a sunny day, which if you were in Equestria probably wouldn't be such a bad thing. Here on the outskirts of some village in a desert country was a different story. At first it didn't bother Russel, but the heat would eventually get to him and he knew it. He recieved from the village three water pouches, a few bundles of food, and sand shoes made for him which was going to help a lot. He said his goodbyes to the Lord of the village and got a longer than needed hug from his daughter. Russel could've sworn Ms. Rumble whispered something in his ear that he wished she didn't. 
It only served to send shivers of creepiness down his spine. He couldn't walk away casual fast enough. When he got farther away he began running as fast as he could. Navigating through a desert is a true test of a persons ability to survive dangerous situations. Russel understood this now more than ever, the land look the same everywhere he looked. The map the shaman drew up for him was a life saver, since it practically paved a road to his destination. 
Following the instructions on the map, he was able to navigate past sand pits and other dangerous areas that would have been in his way. Russel continued going for several hours before he had to stop and take a drink. checking the map again, he noticed it had been marked with a structure that said "possible location for resting the night" under it. He set his sights for the structure with little other choice and he trudged that way. The wind began to pick up and made the sand fly into the air. This made it harder for Russel to see. 
He could barely view the outline of a building matching the image of the structure on the map. It was rather sizable and decrepit thing, that looked like it had seen better days. It would have to do so he ran for it. Reaching the door and getting inside was a relief since the dust storm was making it harder for him to breath. As he looked around, he realized that this place could have been a fortress outpost hundreds of years ago. It probably was impressive back then, but its prime was long gone. 
The ruins were falling apart piece by piece, but it would at least hold for the night. After setting up his bedroll, Russel gathered anything burnable in the area and put it in a pile. He got down on his knees and began striking two stones together. After half a minute of doing this, he got a spark started. He fanned the flame until it got bigger than it rose on its own. Russel backed up to his bedroll and sat there looking at the fire relaxing as he did. 

"I wonder what their doing right now," Russel pondered as he thought of his two buddies a whole continent away. He laughed as he thought of Jessie going on adventures with the Cutie Mark Crusaders around Ponyville. His thoughts turned to his other pal Rob and if he was adjusting well to his new home. He smiled thinking about hearing what they did in his absence, but soon he was laying down in his bed tired. Russel turned on his back to look up at the sky through a broken hole in the ceiling. The moon was crescent shaped and their were many star patterns he could make out. 
A few he recognized, but most he could only guess what they were or meant. His eyes slowly closed, soon falling into a heavy sleep.

several hours later

Russel woke up and stretched as he felt the sun light pour in. His bones popped as he got up and went to make some breakfast. He  soon was eating some bread and a small assortment of fruits. After consuming his meal, Russel packed up and headed out the door into the blaring light. The sun was brighter which only brought more heat down upon him. For the next six hours, he continued to follow the map traveling as fast as he could. 
Stopping only for a drink of water, he continued on for another ten minutes before looking at the map to figure out his position.The next destination seemed to be a large hill or plateau sitting out in the desert. Russel continued following for quite some time until he caught sight of the landmark. He closed the distances within half an hour. He checked the map and took another swig of his water pouch. The map showed that the next marker would indicate him being near three quarters through the desert. 
However it was just a pillar on the map, and it didn't seem to have any distinctive markings. It was looking difficult but he continued on anyways traveling only slightly northeast for about three more hours before he checked to make sure he was correct. While he was staring at the map, the ground started to shake and tremor. It continued to get louder and  the sand started to vibrate intensely. When it went completely silent. The lone human stood there for what seemed like hours, yet only minutes passed. 
It was truly quiet, then like a lightning bolt, it hit without warning. "BOOMMMMMMMMMM", the noise rang loudly from the sand and the ground shook with it. Russel looked to his left and immediately saw what had caused all the noise. A massive worm like creature had arisen from under the sand that had to be as big as the zebra village. It flailed its head around before slamming down on the ground and headed towards Russel. Russel immediately ran to his left hoping that the giant worm couldn't make sharp turns. 
He kept running further into the desert with the worm right on his tail. He had maybe about a hundred feet on the giant worm but it was covering the distance like it was nothing. He turned to get a better look at his adversary and saw spike all over the thing, like barbs on a rose. He started running for the rage monster and figured his timing to the mark. Russel jumped and caught onto one of the thorns in mid-air as the worm came at him. It continued rushing in the same direction and it gave him all the time he needed to search for a weakness. The Giant worm had blind spots because it didn't have any sort of feeler to sense where he was. The worm was going completely on vibrations in the sand caused by movement. If he could move as slow as possible, maybe the worm wouldn't sense his movement and he could get away. Russel jumped away and rolled onto the ground making sure to spread his weight evenly so it didn't shake the ground. The worm kept going before stopping to search for him. When it couldn't sense movement in the immediate vicinity, it roared then dove under the sand again. 
Soon everything settled again and Russel got back up slowly. Testing the ground, he ever so carefully took one step forward. When it was apparent that it couldn't detect his movement, he continued on ever watchful of ever step he took. Pulling out the map, he looked to see where he was. He could still see the plateau, and by his estimations he was about a thousand feet away. Looking at his map, he noticed that their was a small pillar looking thing about half a mile from his current position. 
Seeing as there was no other alternative, Russel put the map away and headed in that direction. He headed that way for about an hour before he had to stop and rest. The sun was at his its height of the day, signaling that the time was mid-day. He was definitely feeling the full effects of the deserts heat and all its unpleasantness. Russel poured the last contents of the second water pouch on him and took a big swig of the third, making sure to conserve the last of his third pouch. Russel ate took a short bit to eat his lunch then continued onward still making sure to not make a vibrations in the sand. 
Russel guessed that it would take the whole day and a half to get out of this hellish wasteland that he was in. He also came to the realization that unless he could find some resources or at the very least water, he would not make it. His rate of speed was not helping either since it was taking to long to get anywhere. After about another hour and thirty minutes of agonizingly slow walking, he barely spotted a small pillar like object but it was hard to make out anything definitive yet. The distance would take all day however and he really couldn't afford to go this slow. His odds were slim but, he decided that it would be more prudent to run than to continue this pace. 
Taking a deep breath and reading himself, he set his sights on the pillar and focused. Everything around him faded to background images as he took off with as much power as his legs would generate in this terrain. The distance seem to shorten exponentially after only a few minute but as he suspected, the awaited "Boom" happened. He could hear the monster coming for him and a fear like never before gripped Russel. His heart starting beating faster than he ever thought it could and finally the adrenaline hit him, sending his body into overdrive. He soon could make out the object he was suppose to get to, and it looked more like a tower than a pillar as the map had described.
These zebras didn't seem to know much about structures, but he didn't have time to worry about that at the moment. His legs were on fire as the his blood pumped through him at a very fast rate. Russel was now a hundred feet away from the tower, but he didn't know if he was going to make it. The snake was only a short distance away and for Russel time seemed to slow down. The seconds ticked slowly as he got closer and closer to a safe haven from the beast after his giblets. The building was just in his reach as he made the final jump and slammed through the door rolling down a few steps and sliding to a halt. 
Russel slowed his breathing down to a more steady rate as he sat up. Looking out the door, he could see the worm only a few yards from the building as it roared and took off in the other direction. Taking in his surrounding, Russel noticed several knocked down columns that probably once held up the small tower but now only three remained. He got up slowly as looked around some more, scanning for anything out of the ordinary. Once he assessed that the room was empty of pretty much anything, he walked over to the other side of the room and saw what appeared to be a bunch of empty torch holder. This was evidence that maybe something else might be here, something that might be hidden. 
Slowly feeling the wall, he soon found what he thought he would fined. Several cracks he found residing in the brick wall were connected and Russel went over to the torch holders and began inspecting them. After a minute of that, he pulled one and the tower began to shake. The wall beside him made a series of clicking sounds then a crack noise before it opened like a door. The secret door opened to what seemed like a small cavern with old torches and cobwebs on the walls. Following the path down, Russel came to an old passage way that was rather dark. 
Grabbing one of the torches, he pulled down a rather large chunk of cobwebs and wrapped it around the torch. After doing this a couple of times he took a couple of stones nearby and lit the torch. With the fire burning brightly, he could now see the many old grave shelves that once held many coffins. Most of them were decayed beyond recognition but some of them still held together by seriously rotting wood. The hallway had a very creepy feel to it and it even made his bones shiver. The whole place was cold and somehow had many plants growing in the cracked stone floors. 
As he descended further, Russel became more uneasy. The air felt like it was getting thicker as he continued deeper into the old building. After a while, he started noticing crystals on the wall that glowed brighter as he crossed their path. It was almost like they could sense his movement and lit up to guide his path. He tossed the torch since he didn't need it anymore and advanced further down the winding dirt path. It soon opened up into a huge cavern that seemed almost unreal. 
There were statues that probably represented something majestic but now they stood as an age long since passed. The tables were still mostly intact since they were made of stone. one even had ornate candle holders and deteriorated paper sitting on it. Russel then noticed a rather large door with pictographs on it and several levers nearby. He figured it to be a puzzle and so began searching the room to find anything that would help him solve it. After an agonizing amount of time searching, he found nothing, so he sat in one of the stone chairs to think. 
Russel began scanning the walls, soon finding a few images that seemed to match some of the images on the door. Studying both sets, he figured out a pattern. Russel walked over to the levers and pulled them in the same order guessing it followed the same pattern. After completing the pattern, he heard a slow clunk followed by a few more afterwards. The door began to lift, opening up into another equally large anti chamber with crystals all over the walls. Dusty ornate stuff littered around the room but In the middle laid a coffin that seemed to clean and new for its age. 
Next to it was a stone table with a treasure chest siting on top. Examining the treasure chest further, he noticed it had a weird keyhole that was fitted to a round key. Russel searched the entire area but found nothing that matched it shape. This got him thinking that maybe it was in the coffin, however he really didn't want to open it. Russel thought back to all the videogames he ever played in which he had to go dungeon diving. He remembered every time there would be corpses or skeletons that would reanimate and attack you on sight. 
He was not in the mood for such things but since he now resided in a magical world, it had to be considered a possibility. Approaching the coffin and taking a hold of the lid, he slowly opened it. He soon got the surprisingly heavy lid off, seeing the key that he needed. It was in the folded skeletal hoofs of the coffins dead occupant. Russel hesitantly reached over and carefully lifted the key out of its boney hoof. Breathing out a sigh of relief, he returned to the chest and inserted the key into the lock. 
He twisted the key but could not complete his action as he was thrown against the wall by an unknown force. He witnessed the unicorn skeleton reanimate and get out of the box. Walking over to him, the creature looked at Russel for a brief second before saying something in an unknown language. When it didn't get a response, it sent a sword flying into the stone right next to the humans face. The sword lit up and sent out a bubble of electricity, shocking Russel with it. It stopped moments later, leaving a searing pain behind all over his body.

"Whoa now, I don't know what your problem is but I can't understand a word you're saying pal," Russel said through pain fillled gasps in a hopless attempt to get the creature to stop its hostilities. It was apparent that it could not understand him and it soon levitated a book over to it from its death box. The creature chanted something and Russel felt a tingling sensation run through his body, followed by a sharp pain in his throat. The pain subsided after a second and the creature began to talk again. At first it sounded like warbling, but it soon became clear.
He could not speak to the creature so much as he could interpret what it was saying and it understand his speech.

"What art thou doing in thine holy tower of the old ones. nothing else is permitted here not even aliens. So why have you come here alien of another world," the creature asked with a projected voice?

"Hey, I didn't even know about this place, I just happened upon it. There was a giant sand worm attacking me and this was the only place I could take shelter. I thought this place was abandoned, I didn't think it would be a crime to hide until the creature went away. I certainly didn't mean to disturb your slumber. I just got explorative and found this chamber," Russel explained accentuating his discovery of the cave by stretching his hands wide.

"It does not matter, you have gone were you are not allowed. This is the holy temple of the old ones, the masters who will one day return to take the world for there race again. You have seen to much and it is time for your death,"the skeletal drauger said telekinetically pulling out a sword from its coffin. The creature stepped forward, raising the giant sword with its magic then time began to slow. As the sword came down Russel closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable hit. "CHINK," the noise rang out as something knocked the sword away. Russels eyes immediately opened like saucers, shocked that he was still alive. The creature began searching for the new target and found a shadowy figure up near the tunnel. 

"RAAAAWWWWWRRRR, you dare interrupt me, you do not belong here and now you too will die. Show yourself to me at once lesser being," the creature commanded of the shadowy figure.

"Yeah, thats what you would like me to do. You are not the first to say that and your certainly not the first to underestimate me. Now let go of him and prepare for your defeat priest," the pony figure said as it stepped out of the darkness and into the bright glow of crystals light.
> Shocking Introduction
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



"Our human compassion binds us the one to the other - not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future."
-Nelson Mandela






The undead priest stared up at the pony figure as it stepped out of the dark. When the light crystals illuminated, Russel immediately recognize it as a Pegasus. It was a mare with safari gear on from what he could tell, including the big hat. Her face however was still obscured because of the low light level. The Pegasus pulled a crystal out and tapped it before throwing it down in front of the priest. The priest kicked it and jumped in the opposite direction. 
The crystal landed behind the stone that Russel was chained to right before it exploded. The explosion cracked the rock in several places and crumbled apart, pulling the bottom half of Russel under the rubble. Russel attempted to get out from under the heavy chains and rocks holding him down but met some resistance as his hands were still chained to two heavy pieces of stone. He turned to look seeing that the priest had got back up and was preparing some sort of spell. It was safe to bet, this dead priest was deadly with magic as it shot an energy ball at the cliff that the Pegasus pony stood on. She lassoed a rope she had to a lone stalactite, then proceeded to swing down onto a table before the spell blew apart the cliff face. 
She turned around and flew towards the undead priest and kicked it into the wall five feet away. The bones surprisingly held together as it hit the wall and slumped down before getting back up. Another energy ball was sent at the Pegasus only for it to miss as the pony jumped to the side. Russel saw the energy ball miss and head straight for him. He braced himself as the spell flew within inches of his head and hit the wall in front of him. Russel crawled out from under the rubble and tried pulling the rocks only to be disappointed as they would not budge. 
It also looked as if the Pegasus's luck wasn't going any better. The undead priest had her dodging constantly and not being able to take the offensive. Russel picked up a decent sized piece of stone and chucked it at the creature in an attempt to distract it. The stone collided with the priests head, sending it falling to the floor. It quickly got back up and telekinetically choke Russel, lifting him into the air. Russel felt like his lungs were on fire as he was running out of oxygen fast. 
His vision was starting to fade when suddenly, he fell out of suspension. He was able to suck a huge gulp of air into his lungs, slowly recovering from his stunned state. He got back up and saw that the Pegasus had lassoed the unholy thing, launching it against the wall. The pony proceeded to assault the undead priest by smashing it against the walls. Russel was amazed by this pony, she seemed to be able to hold her own in a fight. He turned and walked over to the box to see if it had anything that might help kill the creature. 
Turning the key the rest of the way, he lifted the lid and viewed the contents that was inside. He was confused upon seeing the item cause it didn't make sense as to why it was so closely guarded. The item was a fake horn, almost like a prosthetic limb for unicorns if their actual horn was chopped off. Upon closer inspection he realized it was made out of gold. Russel was almost entranced by the way the gold shined so brightly even in the crystals dim light. He suddenly had the extreme urge to want to put it on, almost as if it had him in a trance. 
Russel then lost all control of his body as some unseen force now manipulated his actions. Like a prisoner inside his own body, Russel watched in shock as he was magically forced to put the contraption on. Once the false limb was attached firmly on his head he felt something spark within him. It was almost like an intense energy that connected with ever cell in his body. Images and words started clouding up his vision. Russel had never seen them but for reasons unknown, he could vividly understand like he experienced them first hand. 
He felt a rush of light that filled him up and then the images disappear. Russel shook his head to regain awareness of his surroundings. When he came to, he spotted the undead priest standing up and knocking the Pegasus into the wall. Second after seeing this, a ghostly whisper passed into his ear and he raised his hand almost naturally. His hand begun to glow and a telekinetic field grabbed hold of the undead creature. This got its attention as it begun to rise up in the air, taking on a dark reddish hue. 
It grew even more bazar to Russel when he began speaking a language that he never heard before but understood none the less. It basically translated into, let thy light raze thee asunder foul creature of the abominating darkness. A flash of light blinded the entire room and an explosion of light occurred. When the light settled, the undead creature had been reduced to ash by the explosion spell casted at it. The Pegasus pony got up and shook off the fatigue from the battle. She turned her vision towards the human she now noticed. 
He was about to say something when he suddenly fell backwards and lost consciences. The pony caught him just as the room began to tremor from some unknown force.

"Wake up, hey, can you hear me. Ooooh horse feathers, okay then. Alright, whatever you are, don't die on me yet," the Pegasus said as she draped his body over her. She flapped her wings as fast as she could, propelling her up through the structure. She zoomed around trying to avoid falling rocks as she climbed back up to the entrance. When the light of the outside came into view, she burst through the door and up into the sky. 
Turning around, she witnessed the tower crumble down like it was the weakest structure ever built. After it completely collapsed, the sand dropped into a sink hole created by the building, filling it up rather quickly. There wasn't much left after, just a couple pieces of stone strewn around the area. The pony wiped her brow and turned to fly east towards a small village off in the distance. 


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After getting the human to the village, the shaman doctors did their best to wake him from his sleep. They tried everything they could with little success. They eventually told her that if she wanted to speak to him than she would have to wait. From what she could gather, the being she saved was in some sort of magical sleep. They continued to explain that the horn was affecting him physically and that it was the direct cause of his sleeping state. The horn was immovable however so they decided that the best thing to do was wait. 
After they finished speaking, the Pegasus went into the room and over to the bed Russel laid on. She tested the legitimacy of their findings and sure enough, the horn wouldn't budge no matter how much force she applied. What she didn't understand was why he was even at the temple in the first place. Her research told her that centuries ago, it use to be a place of worship for servants of the old dragon order. This group would do the biddings and commands of the dragons that once ruled the world long ago. They were overthrown in a century long war by a free faction of ponies. 
These ponies formed the three empires residing in what was now called Equestria. She came in search of adventure as usual and boy did she find it. Dodging traps, fighting undead creature, finding the treasure and claiming it for her ever growing collection of artifacts from around the world. This was her life, she loved every minute of it and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. However, today was the most surprising. She never would have expected she'd meet an alien but that didn't make the whole situation any less intriguing to her. 
Her thought were interrupted by a small flash of light coming from the sleeping form next to her. The horn in which he had securely fastened to his head just faded into him and disappeared as the light dimmed out. Minutes after, he began to stir and shot right up in a pained expression. 

"Oooowww, my head, it feels like I got into a boxing match with Mike Tyson and lost. Can somebody please get me some water," Russel said as he held his head while squinting his eyes. The Pegasus ran out of the room and came back with a canteen that she handed to him. He quickly gulped the whole thing down and set it down next to him, still holding his head but relieved a little. 

"What were you doing down in that cavern? An amateur such as yourself shouldn't be delving into mystical ruins without a proper team present. What were you thinking, you could have gotten yourself killed," the pony scolded, more curious than ever about the bipedal creature. 

"I wasn't there on purpose, I was forced in there by something that I couldn't content with. A giant sand worm is not an easy thing to fight against. Wasn't many options so I picked the best one and ran straight into that tower. Didn't realize that it was still occupied, it looked abandoned for quite some time and then I found the hidden door. Who are you, and how did we get here," Russel asked as the light got less bright and he was finally able to open his eyes? He saw the pony that was with him and she was clearer now that they weren't in a dark cave. 
It was definitely a Pegasus mare with safari gear on. she had yellowish tan fur with a black mane and tail. The mane had a stripe of grey in it and her eyes color was magenta. 

"My name is Daring Doo but most ponies know me by my pen name, A.K Yearling. You were lucky I was there to save you when I did, you would probably be dead. On that note, do you feel fine, any odd sensations or strange feelings. Do you feel different than when you entered that temple," Daring Doo asked as she looking over him closely. Russel was feeling very uncomfortable with the pony invading his personnel space.

"No, I'm fine other than the splitting headache that is hitting us right now. So what are you, a thrill seeker, treasure hunter, or archeologist?" Russel didn't even need to ask that question, he knew who Daring Doo was. She was basically the pony version of Indiana Jones, one of his favorite movies. Inside he was excited to meet the awesome and famous Daring Doo but he needed to keep up appearances.

"I'm a bit of all those things. I travel all over the world uncovering ancient ruins and discovering old civilization long since gone. All the while I donate pieces to museums minus the stuff I keep for my own collection and they fund my expeditions. Enough of about me, who are you and how in Celestia's name did you come to Equis," she was confused by this out of place meeting? 

"My name is Shojima, we come from a distant planet by means of a magical portal that linked these two planets together. the connection was only opened for a brief period. I was lucky enough figure it out and utilize it in time Russel said revealing part of his presence there to Daring. 

"You are certainly interesting, but why are you talking all funny," daring questioned pointing out his error of speech?

"We-, I don't know, we think it may have something to do with that horn I put on. it is the strangest feeing, I know things about this world that I should not know yet it feels like we've known it all our life. It's quite awkward for me too, What was it exactly i put on," Russel asked the famous pony explorer?

"The horn you put on, is call The Horn of Ponicon. It is a mythical artifact said to contain all the knowledge dragon priest unicorns gathered during the days when ponies served dragon overlords. I was going take it to a safe location but it would seem that it wanted to merge with your body. Try doing a spell that only an experienced unicorn can do. That will prove its connection worked," Daring stated as she asked him to test his new found abilities? Russel focused on any spell that would come to mind and at first nothing, but he soon thought up something clever. 
His eyes began to glow and a greenish red hue enveloped his whole being. When the light settled, Daring Doo looked back to see an exact copy of herself sitting on the bed. her jaw drop at how exact the image was and was impressed by the magical feat. She had only known a few that could use that spell and he performed it without much effort. 

"So what do you think," Russel asked but with her voice.

"I think its safe to say the merge worked perfectly. Are you traveling, and if i may ask, where to," Daring asked with much curiosity?

"I'm heading north to find a place where I can begin my research. It would seem I also need to meditate and hone my skills with this new found power. Thank you for saving me by the way and for the help, Russel said transforming back into himself. He walked over and gave the explorer a hug. Daring was shocked at first but returned the sentiment. Letting go, she wanted to do anything she could to stop him from leaving. She had so much she wanted to learn about him and the horn still but it was a part of him now. There was nothing she could say to get him to go with her though so she settled on something else.

"Here, before you go, take this, Daring said tossing a gem at Russel. He caught it examining the piece. It was a sapphire stone with a dim light inside it.

"What exactly am I suppose to do with this? Its just a gem," Russel stated pointing out what he thought was obvious.

"Its no ordinary gem, that's an enchanted gem made for communication. Use it to call me if you happen to find any relics of interest or of similar nature to the horn. I know the horn is safe but many enchanted items still remain needing to be found and figured out. Just tap it three times and it will connect with the twin gem I have. Ill come save you again, I always save the damsel in distress," Daring said making fun of his earlier predicament.

"Ha ha, I almost forgot to laugh at how funny that was," Russel said with as much sarcasm as he could produce. He waved to the adventurer as she flew away from wherever he was. Come to think of it, he couldn't recognize this place and he didn't see on the map the shaman drew for him. It took a while to figure out where he was as he had to find a zebra who could tell him. After searching a while he was finally able to gather his bearing thanks to a helpful fur trader. He was not far from the path he was heading. 
Russel was near the edge of the desert bordering the two nations he was heading towards. He had made great timing thanks to Daring Doo and so he resumed his trek out of the desert. Deciding on a location for a time, he picked the Dragon Nation as he guessed that the dragons had better relations with Equestria than the griffons. After much contemplation on how he was going to gain entry to their domains, he knew the best way was to become them. How, he did not know, but Russel loved a challenge and would do whatever it took to get his quest completed. So with as much speed as he could muster, he headed northeast on a road that didn't see much use. 
It was probably due to the fact that dragons scared many due to the ones who had succumbed to their greed. He imagined the ones who could control their greed were far different and much less hostile. he traveled along the road for several hours thinking on what he would see. When he finally reached his destination, he noticed that the land was dry and barren in the surrounding area. What caught his eye the most however was the incredible mountain towering far above his head. He estimated it to be about the same size as Mt. Rainier back on his world. 
The only differences were that this one seemed to be more alive and had no snow on it. It was truly a sight as he made his way towards the base of it. Walking the path up, he could see that it obviously had much use. He saw no sign of activity however, like who ever had used it vanished. He did manage to find an entrance at least. The entrance was more like a tunnel with some boulder shaped doors that seem as if they could be slid open. 
When Russel went to open the door, it felt like it weighed a ton and would not budge. It was obvious that its construct was made for someone far bigger and he could proceed no further. He searched around but found no other point of entry. 

"This cant be happening, I traveled all this way only to be stopped by a couple of damn rocks. This is just great, I can't get in there. I honestly don't like griffons, but I don't know who to ask for sanctuary," Russel said to no one in particular. He shuttered at the thought of asking the birdbrains for help considering all the lore he read said they were conniving thieves. They were without honor and that's not the type he'd like to Associate with. After a few minutes he sighed and picked up his stuff to proceed down.  
Going back down the path was a little hard since it was steep and he had nothing to keep him steady. He eventually made it down though and was about to continue when a loud roar sounded out. It was projected so loudly that it caused the ground to shake. Russel didn't like the sound of it so he ran for any cover he could find. He opted to duck behind a rock that was just big enough to hide behind crouched. It was apparent that there was nothing else to take cover behind. 
When the ground stopped shaking, he took a peek to see if anything was following but no visible creature was in sight. He hesitated to get up since he could now sense the presence of many souls. It was hard for him to even comprehend what he was feeling. There was so many heart beats that it blurred into one loud noise that came from beneath him. Russel put his hand on the ground and something just snapped in his mind. Russel eyes lit up green like the feeling activated something dormant within him. 
He held out his hand and pointed it towards the mountain he was just on. 

"CHRISTEOS OIAD NIISO OL masters ODO NOROMI OI OLANI NOALN seek help LOAGAETH BOOAPIS." Russel voice echoed into the very dirt and stone around him. Soon it died down and Russel mind returned to normal. He was a bit dazed by the sudden possession and couldn't quite figure out how it was doing that. A loud explosion came from half way up the slope where the entrance was. Fire shot out from the entrance and several dragons burst from it. 
They came out in volleys of ten and in minutes the sky was being darkened by the shear mass of dragons in the air. A few of them descended towards the area he was taking cover behind. 

"We know your here, we can smell you. Your scent is unfamiliar, show yourself or prepare to be burned in fire," one of the dragons yelled out. Russel was freaked out, he did not expect this scenario. The dragons didn't seem to take kindly to Strangers at all. He wondered how anyone had a peace treaty with them or any relationship with them for that matter. Russel thought that maybe this wasn't such a good idea as he looked for a way out. 
Not much was there though and he doubted that he'd get very far since dragons had the aerial advantage. The dragon roared out again but this time Russel could feel the atmosphere around him become hotter and dense with smoke. The smoke almost smelled like sulfuric gas which was odd. his eyes went wide eyed as he realized why right before a small whoosh and an explosion sounded out. It consumed a thirty foot radius around him. He flinched back as he thought his death assured only to feel, nothing. 
It had become a normal temperature and so he risked a peak. A shield had formed around his body and he could feel the want to live light up inside him. It was apparent that the horn of Ponicon had a stronger link with his mind than he thought. Probably due to all the knowledge held within its ancient enchantments. It became obvious that it did not want its host body to die. Russel did not think long on this though as the familiar energy channeled through him again. 
He lost control of his body once again and succumbed to the power of the horn. Russel hovered out from behind cover and his hand pointed at the dragons who attacked him. The fiery drakes were more shocked than anything to see the unrecognizable creature. Three streams of light burst forth from his hand and hit the three drakes sending them to the ground instantly. More came down and he did the same thing to them. The rest of the dragons soon descended and surround the lone human. 
Russel was scared that even the power of the horn would not protect him from such a hoard. 

"Your doubt is misguided young one. we provides protection to those who we deem worthy of wielding our knowledge. The host must survive for the knowledge to be used," the unknown voice resonated whispers in his mind. All the dragons perked up and turned towards the mountain they came from. A gigantic red dragon flew out the top of the hollowed out peak. The dragon who was probably an alpha, landed, followed by every dragon bowing before it. 
Russel took a defensive stance, ready to fight his way out although he was seriously doubting the capabilities of the horns power.

"Your fear is misplaced, we have no intention of harming you. We thought you were a spy sent by the griffons to find out our weaknesses. I am sorry if we showed any hostilities by mistake," the red dragon whispered. Its voice was somehow in his minds. Russel strangely felt somewhat at ease by the words it spoke, it made him lessen his guard a little. 

"How do I know that to be true, one of your dragons nearly incinerated me and another tried to blow me up. That didn't exactly seem like a mistake," Russel said, still hesitant to trust them completely. 

"My name is Elder Linwiloke, We extend our sincerest apology's and we will heal any injury you may have sustained in the fight. All I ask is that you follow me, I have many questions for you. The first being, why do you posses something that I know for certain was buried many ages ago?"
> Admission for an Outkast
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change. 

Martin Luther King Jr





It is known that the most innovative structures constructed throughout history have been carved out of the very earth that we live on. Most overlook the idea of building into a mountain or a cavern. Everyone tries to be cost effective and build in large quantities. This idea did not fall past the eyes of dragons, the city that Russel stood in was proof of that. When he was led into the mountain by the large red dragon, he did not expect to see something so magnificent in design as the drakes home. Most of the mountain was probably dug out over the decades due to expansion. 
In place of that were many elegantly carved cavernous rooms that he had only seen in movies. There were giant pillars that were so large and tall, they could hold the mountain up forever. There were pathways everywhere leading to many rooms throughout the entire city. It looked like it could hold thousands of dragons and it probably did. The walls were perfectly shaped with many drawings and pictographs that most likely told the history of the residents that called this place home. The details in many of the drawings were fine and artistic in nature. 
What little he heard from others on this planet about the fire breathers, did not come close to describing them. The rumors didn't even hold much truth, but what can you expect from just rumors. These were amazing creatures capable of many beautiful things but overlooked and feared because of their size. Russel frowned at this for they were truly misunderstood, and he felt sorry for them. The paths were large perfectly carved tubes that extended for some distance. He was soon led to a room that had giant doors made of solid onyx. 
Many pictographs and things were etched into it. Each carve was perfect in lay work and they came together in an elegant piece of art. It had a big tree with what looked like words around it but he couldn't read them. They were foreign, but it almost felt like power lied within the words carved into the massive doors. The drake whispered something into the door that he couldn't pick up on and every shape on the door proceeded to light up. The whole thing began to shake before opening by themselves. 
He surmised that dragons could project their voices at any level which would explain why he didn't hear him speak. The inside was dark and Russel couldn't see which made him feel uneasy. He was tempted to ask for a torch, but just as the thought occurred words began to form in his mind. He still did not fully understand the connection he shared with the horn. It creped him out to no end that it was now a part of his brain. He was hesitant but slowly said them as they formed.

"Illuminate OIAD ORS OI OLPIRT IPAMIS find." Just as he finished, his sight turned a bright blue. Everything that was covered in the dark he could now see. The room was made from gold, or at least what he could make out. The blue vision did not allow for many other colors to be seen by his eyes so he could not tell for sure. He did however figure out that the room was gigantic, definitely able to accommodate the giant he was following. 
They never ceased to amaze Russel with their construction capabilities.

"The mountain is a perfect home for dragons. It was found with quite a few natural tunnels already formed. We needed only to expand them out for use. The size allows for us to live peacefully without notice or conflict from other nations. I see you are impressed by our work," Elder Linwiloke projected the words into Russel's mind.

"Alright that really creepy, how are you in my head. Are you telepathic or something," Russel asked wondering since he found it rather invading?

"Your mind is alien, but I can still project my voice into it and even read certain thoughts on the surface of your mind. We will begin the Gathering in a moment," the Elder stated before clapping his hand together. The ground began to rumble and out of the walls, two more dragons almost equal in size to the first showed up. The other two noticed Russel and gazed at him with no noticeable reaction.

"Who is this one you have brought before us. He is radiating with magic that is unmistakably familiar, like from some distant memory, the cerulean colored giant questioned its red counterpart.

"He apparently stumbled across one of the old dragon priest crypts but how or which I don't know. Tell us alien, what is your name," Elder Linwiloke turned and asked as he took his place with the other two.

"My name is Shojima and I found the artifact purely on accident. It's a long story, one that will probably bring you more questions than answers. Some I will be able to answer but other I cannot for you may not understand. You are right about one thing, I am alien to this planet," Russel said beginning his tale from where it started. He told them everything he could without revealing anything about his home planet, or his friends in Equestria. He mostly stuck to telling his audience abut his journey to get to the land he was now in which they referred to as Vovin.

"It seems, you have been on quite a venture to get to Vovin. I sense though that their are things you are trying to hide. Tell us, why do you feel the need to keep secrets," the black dragon questioned as he looked at Russel more closely.

"Like I said, there are thing I cannot tell you because you wouldn't fully understand. All I can tell you is that I mean you nor your city any harm. I've traveled here because I'm looking to find a temporary place to stay. I will not bother you or anyone else here, I just didn't have a lot of options to choose from," Russel explains hoping that will satisfy them and the question.

"We know of a few places you could have gone to that would have been much easier to reach. There's a country not far from here that is ruled by a ally of ours. Her name is Princess Celestia and she has a more suitable country for you to live in," the red dragon spoke his thoughts out loud with tiredness in his voice.

"No offense to Celestia and her country, but I'm an omnivore and I refuse to give up eating meat just to live in her country. I love the taste bacon and I wont give it up. All. That. Bacon. Hmmmmmmmm so delicious, I refuse to be a vegetarian," Russel shuddered at the mere thought of becoming a vegetarian. 

"Oh, well, we all have certain tastes, and if you like to eat meat then there are no objections from us. However, there is a problem, you are not dragon. The rest of the populace does not take to outsiders very well. Even more so, your an alien, and we don't know anything about your race. You would need to prove to the rest of the city you could be useful enough to warrant taking you in. What knowledge do you posses that we could use to give you citizenship in Vovin," the black dragon asked studying Russel curiously. 
Russel felt like the large dragon was gazing into him rather than at him and it gave an uneasy feeling. He thought about all the thing that he could do to be useful. He then remembered the hundreds of first person shooter video games he had played over the course of his life. He had become quite an expert in strategy formulation and spy tactic.

"I know much about military tactics as well as fighting styles that are very effective in combat. I could teach these to your warriors if that's the type of knowledge you want," Russel offered trying to give something that would guaranty his usefulness. He had read much on fighting styles used by branches of his own countries military. This seemed to peek their interest.

"That would be a usefulness that would warrant us giving you emergency citizenship. It will take time to arrange things but once you can ensure this claim, you will become one of the citizens of our great city. If you will follow me, I will show you to your temporary quarters. We await to witness your skills," Rockjaw directed as he waved for Russel to follow him through the door. The black drake led him down a separate tunnel to the end of the corridor and into an open area. It looked like an area for sleeping but didn't see much use.

"This will be your temporary quarters until a proper one is made more to your size. my name is Elder Rockjaw and you already met Elder Linwiloke. the other one is Elder Naga, she is the most hesitant to outsiders of us three. She sees the potential worth of your knowledge so she's willing to give you a chance. As you could see coming into the mountain, everyone works to earns their keep and they all share a sense of community working together. Your job is to make the other citizens here see that you also share that sense of community and work with them. If you can do that, than you should be welcomed as a member of this city in due time," the Elder said with reserve.

"Thank you for your hospitality, it is most appreciated," Russel said as he bowed in thanks of the elder dragons kindness. The Elder nodded before turning around and walking away. Russel found the room to be quiet and peaceful, that was a plus. Russel went to the middle of the room and sat down. This place was so different in many ways to his own world and yet he felt a connection with the dragons. They shared quite a lot of views that he found similar to his own. 
He thanked god they weren't a bunch of violent destructive creatures as most inhabitants on this planet described them as. As he sat there, Russel began hearing whispers but he could not pinpoint the exact location of where it was coming from. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere yet nowhere all at the same time, and this confused him.

"[/Be not confused young one for we will explain all within due time. Your mind is very different, we like the change. Dragon priests don't do or say much of anything in the way of conversation. Its nice to have such a fresh young mind to be apart of. It's refreshing to get new knowledge and perspective added to our collection," the invisible voice spoke more clear in Russel mind. He now knew it was coming from the horn.b] 

"Wait, what, hold on a second let me catch up here. So not only do I have an extremely old and powerful magical artifact fused to my brain, but it has its own conscience too," Russels head began to hurt from the situation. The surprises seemed to just keep coming with this new attachment to his brain.

"[/Well we don't like being referred to as old but, yes we do have our own level of consciousness. Pease allow us to introduce ourselves, we are legion, for we are many and one, all at the same time. It will be confusing for a while but you will eventually get use to us. There's lots of room in here and you could use a little education when it comes to this world. You are out of your element and we know it. Your mind needs to be adjusted to allow for more usage of our knowledge. 
We will guide you in thine process but for right now, meditate so we can teach you about the world you will come to call home. Let us beginb]," the voice said as it began to assert its own will on Russels body. He sat in a meditative position and began to float up in the air. His body rose about fifteen feet off the ground and stayed there. He began to feel this sudden urge come over him, then words and images began to flow across his vision. It was like a wall blocking his sight from anything else.

"'I'm no expert on brains, but wouldn't that massive amount of knowledge cripple any one persons brain. I don't want to end up like a coma patient," Russel said now actually scared to learn.

"Fear not young one, we will not import to you that which your mind cannot handle. Like we said, your going to go through some changes and we will help you through such changes. You have no need to fear, now let thy learning begin."
> The Challenge
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



“When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace.”

—The 14th Dalai Lama






The first month following that day was far more daunting for Russel. The horn told him many things about Vovin, its people and what their society was all about. It said that the dragons long ago were once considered gods in the earliest history's of Equis. Many creatures of different forms and shapes bowed down to dragons because of their sheer size and awesome power. For a long time, many territories had to make tributes of gems and other precious stone. In exchange, they were allowed to live and keep their territories from being destroyed. 
The dragons ruled like this for a long time, hoarding and enjoying the great riches that were brought to them. After a while a group of unknown creatures showed up. These beings were pony like but took on traits of all three races, they were eventually dubbed alicorns by their brethren. They soon began amassing fighters. In a short time they had built an army with many capable warriors trained for one purpose, to fight dragons. The next time they showed up to take the annual bounty, the ponies constructed a trap and triggered it on their once sworn overlords. 
The trap killed many dragons and allowed for the army to catch them off guard and gain an advantage when they did battle. Many were slain on both sides, but the ponies managed to drive back the dragon and out of their land. After that battle, one by one, the lands were slowly freed. It brought a new era for all the races that existed under the sun. Lots of dragon scattered to different caves succumbing to their inner hoarding desire which made them into more primal beasts. The rest that survived fled and found a place to survive in a desolate wasteland. 
The ponies had finally achieved victory after many battle. The war however had a price and it was paid in many lives. Even the Alicorns suffered loss, many of their group had been killed and only four remained. However they didn't have time to grief for another problem was soon presented. Earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi from many different places flocked to the Alicorns, revering them as the true gods and goddesses of their world. The Alicorns had to lead them as the races were to use to being under control and having no freedom. 
They were helpless and so the Alicorns excepted their new titles and help to organize towns and create cities for them to live together. The Alicorns became the leaders of this new nation of ponies and ushered in and era of advancement and evolution. they made laws and rules to govern the society. The earth ponies became master tillers and farmers growing the food for everypony. The pegasi learned to control the weather and began bringing in the four seasons on a yearly schedule. Lastly, the unicorns who learned how to channel magic through their horns, used it to build new technology and advance the culture of the newly formed nation. 
Under the Alicorns, the nation grew and prospered. the new leaders built connections with the cosmic universe and became the keepers of the sun and moon. They made the day and night cycle come and go everyday on a proper time schedule. For a while there was a great calm and everyone lived in peace, but in the shadows a new evil was forming. A group called the order of the dragon priests was made and their purpose was clear. They believed that the dragons were going to bestow a great gift upon everyone for their sacrifices but now were angry. They believed that the dragons would be back and would take back everything. They wanted to be spared the punishment so they planned on eliminating the Alicorns. It would serve as evidence of their loyalty to their overlords and give them safe haven from the heathens destruction. The group planned for many years and then one day was given the chance to act on it. The group had slipped an assassin into the newly minted Royal Guard getting close enough to the rulers. One night, the assassin poisoned two of the Alicorns drinks while they were performing night court duty. 
he proceeded to slip into the royal bed chambers and kill the other two by stakes to the heart. The assassin promptly left the castle only to be caught before he made it out of the city. The horn didn't know what exactly happened but it figured that they got information out of the killer before they executed him. This thought was brought on because the royal guard eventually found the group members one by one and eliminated them. Each member was found with a powerful magical artifact that was imbued with mystical enchantments. They were all buried in deep catacomb built to house their tombs; each one being guarded at all times. 
After it was over the horn could not say what happened since it didn't know the history past that point. The horn made assumptions about the rest with what little knowledge Russel had in his own mind. It deduced that at some point the world fell out of balance by the extinction of Alicorns. The death of the Alicorns must have upset that balance; so the universe probably created the Draconequus Discord in its first attempt at fixing it. When that didn't work, it corrected that by birthing two new Alicorns. After the horn explained what it could about the past, it started to focus more on training Russel. 
It showed him how to control and use the magic it bestowed to him by its enchantment. Russel was instructed to focus on a small rock until he learned to telekinetically lift it. It took a few days but he eventually managed to levitate it for at least a minute. Russel continued making greater progress after that initial day and quickly mastered levitation. He was so happy to achieve this mile mark that he showed more enthusiasm to master others. The artifact had hundreds of spells at its disposal to teach, and Russel was eager to learn it all. 
The more he learned the more he craved and the faster he mastered spells. Although his magic use improved over the course of the month, his relationship with the rest of population hadn't. The Elders were impressed with his strategic prowess. The soldiers he trained and the rest of the general populace however, did not. Everywhere he went in the great city he got looks of hatred and disgust. He could not set foot outside his house without getting one look of distain. 
The dragons that he was training also gave him grief. They only listened to him because they were instructed to by the Elders. Other than that, they did not give him any respect or even the time of day. Russel felt like an outcast but it was ok for him, this just freed up more time for him to study magic. A little over three weeks into the second month and he had mastered all the basic spells; as well as a few in the more intermediate levels. One day on his way to go teach his next lesson, several dragons and dragonesses converged on his location with looks that made him feel threatened. 

"Hey guys look, its the clueless shaved monkey thinking he has another important lesson to teach. You don't belong here, your not even on our level," a young green dragon said as it stepped out from the crowd. Russel hazard a guess and thought that there were at least twenty dragons following this one. he was large for a youngster and looked like he was more than displeased to be around him.

"Yeah, puny ape, you have nothing worth teaching us. Your wasting our time," another dragon yelled from the crowd.

"You may have impressed the Elders but we are not. Your lessons are second rate, only dragons can come up with great plans. You are nothing compared to us," a golden dragon yelled over the crowd. All the other dragons agreed in unison and shouted there own nasty remarks and comment. Russel held his finger to his throat and energy sparked between them. 

"I still don't see why you constantly make all these idiotic statements about me. I am simply keeping my end of a bargain. Why do you feel the need to say snide comments to me everywhere I go? What I'm teaching is not going impede you, it is new perspective and way of thinking you do not possess. Teaching you what I know will give you better insight when initiating a battle plan. You may need to change strategies in the middle of executing an attack. 
Variety will give you an advantage that your opponent might not have. Since it seems you are not going to stop trying to scare me out of your city; I have a wager for you. One of you will face me in the combat arena. It could be anyone of you, it doesn't matter who. If you beat me then I will leave and stop wasting your time as you like to put it. If I win however, you will stop harassing me; give me the respect I deserve and pay attention to what I have to teach," Russel said as his voice was projected to a loud ethereal voice. 
Russel removed the finger and rubbed his neck from soreness after speaking in that voice. The dragon who led all the harassment mobs stepped up to the human and shove him onto the ground. 

"Alright alien, we will accept your wager however short the battle may be. You will be in the most pain you've ever felt when I'm done with you. You will learn your place," the green dragon said as he punched russel in the torso. The drake turned around and swept some dirt at Russel which prompt him to shut his eyes. When he opened them again, the crowd was walking away as if they triumphed at something. Russel got up wincing in pain as he brushed his body of all dirt. 

"He's a bit hard headed but if you beat him they may actually listen to you." Russel turned towards the voice to see a lone dragoness leaning against a rock.

"I doubt that but I thought it was worth a shot. The problem is that they all believe and follow him without a second thought. Change is hard but in order to adapt, it needs to be accepted. If this wasn't a widely recognized thought, entire species would fade into history. Its a subject that should be regarded by everyone," Russel responded before sighing.

"You will make a good teacher, just don't do so much lecturing. Rakharr is hard headed and you unfortunately will not get any support unless you start with him. Most of the young ones follow his lead since he is the established leader of their group. You've got to earn everything in this city but at least your doing go so far. Good luck with the battle, you'll need it. By the way the names Saheir I'm part of the new set of soldiers to join your class," the dragoness said as she held out her hand. 
Russel reciprocated the hand shake then they continued to the training grounds. Russel sensed that this dragoness was the only one that was going to be of any help and more active to learn. Now if only he could at least get the rest to give him such enthusiasm. The rest in general were not going to be receptive to learning since the younger ones have taken to following a complete idiot. Rakharr was going to be quite a problem and to be honest, Russel had his doubts about the match. The only reason he ever stood any chance against these reptilian behemoths was because of the enchanted item inside his cranium. 
he had learned many fighting styles over his life but he had never been in a live combat situation. Russel had basically challenged Rakharrs control since he was the one who trained the fighters before him. It was really primitive how they worked for how smart they were. As sentient creatures, they were almost backwards compared to other races on the planet. Russel did not want to cheat by having the horn fight for him. That would not prove his own fighting skills which is what he needs to do if he's to win over their loyalty. 
This was going to be a true test of power and prowess. Russel had many trials he was going to have to pass, that was for sure. The horn said he would need to go through changes. The loyalty and respect of the populace would go a long way towards furthering those goals. Russel entered the training area to begin his next lesson and saw the usual trainees. A group of teenage dragons who obviously were uninterested in the class but did it because they had nothing better to do. 

"Hello class, alright today we will be learning about something a bit different. A soldier must be capable of holding his or her own on the battle field; but it is also just as important to know how to blend into your environment around you. The art of invisibility is the next thing you are going to learn. This ability is an important aspect especially in reconnaissance. To do this you need to figure out two things. The first is to know what environment your in. 
There are many terrains and each has its own set of shades and range of color. To best use it to your advantage, you either want to already have your own natural color that looks near to it, or make a camouflage suit out of the local elements around you. Would somebody like to help me demonstrate," Russel asked to which he got no reply. Russel was about to point at someone but was interrupted by Saheir that gave him advice earlier. 

"Il do it, what do you need me to do," she said standing at attention. Russel used the transfiguration spell to turn a rock into a hollow shell that looked like a rock. 

"Take note that this still looks and appears like a rock, but when you lift it up you see the façade." Russel lifted up the rock to show that it was completely hollow on the inside and didn't weigh much at all. 

"This would only work in a rocky area and not many places where cities exist are near such a place," one of the dragons said trying to poke figurative holes in the camo. 

"Normally yes, but it can be used in certain places like forest or plains terrains. You can also use it as a home defense system since your land has the perfect terrain to use it on. This would be good for ambushing enemy squads who are invading. I am using it as an example for this test so this will do just fine. Now, would you be so kind as to put it over you and cover up inside it," Russel gestured to Saheir to begin. She did as instructed and hid under it.

"We still know where she is. It doesn't seem effective or useful to me," one of the dragons said being a smartass and pointing out the obvious.

"Thank you for that wonderfully accurate observation. Lets see how well you do under different circumstances," Russel said as he casted an illusion spell. A wall of shimmering mist appeared than many more rocks appeared exactly like the one she was hiding under. The group of trainees stood there perplexed on how one rock became so many.

"Umm how are we suppose to find her if all these rocks look the same," one of the dragons asked with confusion.

"That class, is the lesson of the day; knowing how to use your environment. So let begin," Russel said as the group of warriors lined up to start the session. They trained for the next few hours practicing their own stealth capabilities as well as spotting hidden things. Most did not do well but a few showed exceptional promise, including Saheir who helped him teach the lesson. After class was over Russel headed back to his den to prepare for the fight of his life. This was going to be especially difficult though as his opponent had a clear advantage. 
These dragons worked with some pretty strong steel they called star metal due to the fact that it came from space. It also happens to have an impact strength that's equivalent to diamonds, making physical attacks useless. Beating Rakharr was going to rest solely on Russels magical capabilities and since he only knew a few attack spells, he was going to have to get creative. He knew there was no way that his opponent was going to be fair in this fight. Rakharr was going to use every trick in the book to beat him so Russel needed to learn new spells. Russel arrived at his den and went over to a secondary chamber that he used for a meditation room. 
Sealing the room, he went over to the middle and sat down. 

"I need to learn a new spell, and it cant be a basic set spell either. I need to learn a more complicated battle spell than any I currently know. the ones I know are not enough to beat Rakharr," Russel said his request out loud as he had done in the past to call upon the horn. 

"I'll teach you something that may help, but you need to know something first. Certain spells., if taught to an unexperienced magic user can bring more disaster than help. Our magic well is artificial and this link we share through the magic, it's not perfect. If you don't perform the spell right, our power could go into flux and obliterate you. Our well will grow the more we sync together so be mindful and patient. remember, I am an artificial extension to your minds natural capabilities. Learn how to use our powers as such. now This spell I'm going to teach you is a form of petrification. If performed correctly, he will not be able to move. You can use this to get the upper hand on him and end the conflict before it can escalate any further. It is the best option," the magical AI said informing Russel like a guide.

"I can work with that, and don't worry; I wont overdue it. I am ready as always to learn more. So how do we perform the spell," Russel asked as his eyes glowed green and a calmness set in him that he hadn't felt all day. 

"Its a bit more tricky than performing your average spell," the horn stated knowing that this was going to be quite the challenge.
> READY.... FIGHT!!!!!!!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



"Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don't ever apologize for anything."

Harry S Truman






The arena was crowded, hundreds of young dragons made up the mass surrounding the entire arena. The seats were packed for what they thought was shaping to be a quick and decisive match. Many were chanting Rakharrs name as the announcer came out of a tunnel to begin the introductions. The battle field was set up with all sorts of debris like rocks and dead trees to give it a little more of a natural look. The announcer raised his claw to silence the crowd, and as quick as it began the noise went silent. 

"Dragonesses and gentledrakes, I welcome you to the weekly fight night that we enjoy so much. Today's contenders are bit different than normal. In one corner we have reigning champion and training master for the young warriors dragon militia, Rakharr!" As his name was called out he came from one tunnel on left side of the arena waving his arms and amping up the crowd. 
"In the other corner we have the human who recently moved in. He has gained quite a bit of infamy since making home in our great city. He is the only outsider to become adviser to our elders, Shojima!" Some of the crowd continued cheering but most elected to switch to booing. The majority of the them were being heavily influenced by Rakharr misguided way of thinking. Now it was time to prove he was wrong, ready for another lesson. When they made it to the middle the referee approached, them to begin the match.  
"As you know the rules are simple, this is a one on one fight. It ends when either one of you submits or until they are no long able to stand. of course as always their will be no low blows or killing, LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!" As soon as the ref threw the flag in the air he flew off and Rakharr attacked immediately. He threw a punch towards Russel only for him to dodge by diving to the left and recovering just as quick. Russel turned and leaped at Rakharr drop-kicking him; forcing the big lizard to stumble but failing to fully knock him over. 
Russel got back up but was promptly sent flying towards a rock when Rakharr spun and hit him with his tail. Russel slammed into the rock knocking the wind out of him and forcing him to his knees. Russel recovered after a few seconds but was not able to get up before Rakharr punched him sending him tumbling again. Russel ached all over but forced himself to get back up and began casting a spell. He built up an air current inside his hands and condensed it, as he waited for Rakharr to get close. Once in range, Russel blasted the air at him in a concentrated wave sending him tumbling backwards. 
He recovered however and was back to charging at Russel as if the attack hardly affected him. Russel ran towards cover as the drake fired a burst of flames at him. He managed to dodge it barely just as the flame hit the big rock he was hiding behind. Rakharr ran to the other side of the rock and was confused when his opponent was not there. He turned around only to see him on the other side of the arena not even focused on his opponent. Rakharr charged him and swiped his hand down at the target only for it to phase completely through; making the fake image dissipate. 
He turned around to search for the real target and saw him again at a completely different spot of the arena. Rakharr ran towards it and blew fire at the image only for it to dissipate as well. The angry dragon roared in frustration. every time an image of his opponent showed up and he attacked, it was a fake. Russel however was really hiding behind the tree on the far end of the area of combat out of harms way. Some of Rakharrs cronies saw this and started trying to get the angry dragons attention. When he finally turned around to look Russel stepped out from behind the tree. 

"Well this has been real fun watching you run around like a chicken with its head cut off. I think however its time to finish this," Russel said as he got into a snake style karate stance and urged Rakharr to come at him.

"Hahaha, your attacks are nothing, you could never hurt me. Its futile how you think your going to win, time to put you out of your misery. BEGONE," Rakharr yelled as he charged at Russel raising his right claw ready to strike. As he swiped down with his claw to deal the crushing blow, Russel slid under it and the rest of his opponent completely. Russel quickly got up and ran for the middle of the arena and stood there waiting. Rakharr turned around and ran at him drawing a breath and shooting out a ball of fire. 
Russel dove to the right saving his life but got hit on his left leg receiving many burns up and down it. Russel yelled in pain but got up slowly none the less. Rakharr slammed his fist into the side of Russel causing him to lurch in pain. Russel could feel one of his ribs crack by the shear force of the punch and knock the wind out of him. Rakharr was about to deliver the finishing blow when Russel slammed his hand on the ground lighting up the arena. The light emanated a green aura and flashed brightly before settling down to a more consistent glow. 
Russel took this time to recover his breath. As soon as he felt he could get up he tried to slowly while holding his injured chest. Russel got up and decided to look upon his handy work. Rakharr was frozen in mid chop motion looking at him confused as to why he wasn't moving.

"Now its time for me to explain. You see as you were running around trying to take me down, you had no clear battle plan which was your downfall. All that time I had you hitting those mirages I was secretly inscribing and drawing a powerful spell around us. The middle  was made to be the focal point. It is designed to paralyze everything in place, minus the spellcaster of course. Once I was in the middle of the arena, all I had to do was channel my magic into the ground and activate it. Pretty ingenious if I do say so myself."

"Release me you cheating rat," Rakharr yelled at Russel trying all his might to move but producing no results.

"Ref, question, is it against the rules for me to use my magic?"

"Uuummmm, technically we never established any rules on magic in the battle arena. so yes," the ref said feeling conflicted as dragons don't use unicorn magic. 

"You see, now shut up, I'm speaking. you'll get your turn soon enough. You have been the one chosen to train your cities youngest fighters and yet you have neglected to even properly do that. Your soldiers are ill prepared and if they were to be in a state of war they would lose terribly. You think your hot stuff and yet you show no humility or acceptance when an outsider is willing to offer you help simply because they are not dragon. You know what that displays, that you're racist, arrogant, and have an over abundance of pride. When your facing someone in battle, you must respect them as your equal or you will underestimate them. That would surely be your downfall. 
As you can see I have just displayed exactly how. I came in here with little knowledge on your species or how to use magic; and with the little I did know I was able to distract and subdue you without even throwing a punch. With all your powers you were defeated and that is why I want to help you. Your race was powerful once but It fell because of the way it treated life. You have a chance to become powerful again but for a different reason, to be protectors. You can be the kind of creature that can defend his brothers and sisters in battle as well as save the innocent from being harmed. 
You have a chance to set a real legacy for your people. you need to be willing to take a chance and work with me so you can learn and grow physically, mentally, and spiritually as a result. so, will you take my hand and accept what I have to offer you? That is a choice I will leave to you, Russel said finishing what he was saying. He slamming his fist down on the ground forcing energy into his punch releasing the spell holding Rakharr in place. He was now able to move again and retracting his fist to begin rubbing the soreness he felt in his wrist. 
Rakharrs face showed the gears turning in his head; contemplating what Russel said.

"I guess I was wrong about a lot of things. You have showed only kindness and help towards us yet I have batted your hand away at every turn. You, an outsider cares for my people as if they were your own and have offered much. All you asked for in return was sanctuary and I have done the most out of anyone to drive you out. I was wrong about you and especially wrong about myself. I would like to formally say I'm sorry. 
We have always turned outsiders away because we never thought they could prove helpful. I think its time to make some changes around here starting with this. I ask that you please consider accepting my apology," Rakharr asked extending his hand out and gripping Russel's?

"I always have room for forgiveness. I hope that in the future you will be as eager to learn as the rest of the students that we will be teaching. I accept your apology and look forward to working together in the future," Russel said as he shook Rakharrs clawed hand. Russel let go and threw up a magic ball of white light signaling his surrender. The crowd went into an uproar. some were a little angry about the outcome and others were just excited that Rakharr won. Many flew down to the ring some awaiting to see what would happen next.

"Everyone, Shojima will not be removed from our city. I was wrong to continue following the old ways that we have always done. We could benefit from an outsiders wisdom and he can give us just that. We were once a great people and he made me believe that we can be great again. I ask you all that we stop trying to push him out and accept him in to our city." Rakharr turned around, got down on one knee and put his fist to the ground in a show of respect. 
Some followed suit immediately, other were a little hesitant at first but eventually did the same. All of them did this and Russel felt he finally got out of them what he was searching for. Russel bowed to them and they all raised with him. He then put his finger up to his throat and amplified his voice with his magic. 

"You will see just how strong you can become. In the months ahead we will build a better world, not just for dragon but for every species on this planet. We will stop the bad from happening and allow the good to flourish. You can make this world a better place for every generation to come if we all work together. The strength of the dragon race has not died. not just you but everyone on this world will see exactly what I see in you now. It will be hard, and it will test you but I'm confident that you will succeed. 
We will need to build allies because friends can be your greatest power. Today is a new day for all, lets begin building this new world. We will start with this city," Russel finished then removed his finger and rubbed his sore throat. 

"So what are we going to start with," Rakharr asked wondering how the plan would unfold. 

"Well first things first, if I'm going to help you I need a bit of an upgrade first. This body is, limited, even at its fullest capabilities for the things that I have planned. Can you find Saheir, I'm going to need both your help for this," Russel requested of the dragon.

"I will find her at once," Rakharr said as he began searching around for Saheir. The rest of the dragons dispersed and went back to the things that they normally do during the day. Russel headed back to his chamber to wait for Rakharr and Saheir to show up.

"Are you sure that everyone will be ready to accept this new path. Some of the species on this planet may have a bit of a disagreement with this new world you plan on building. Some creature thrive off chaos," the AI said bringing up an important question.

"I know I can bring together all the zebra tribes and forge them a long lasting friendship with the dragons nation. Once I've explained it to the princesses of Equestria than I'm sure they will eventually join us too. Once they join many more races will follow. the ones that don't I'm sure I can find out what I need to know about them to convinced them. If they still choose chaos then they are the enemy. I am on the side of life and the preservation of it, but if something living threatens life than it must be eliminated. The path to heaven wasn't made with good intention but that doesn't mean it can't start with it. Whatever bad may come then we will deal with it. But lets not focus on that right now. I've got to focus on the good that we can do and hope it makes up for the bad that will come. We have a lot to do," Russel said as he arrived at his den. Russel began writing a list of things that he would need to get started, and it was going to require a lot.
> Change Begins at Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



"It is paradoxical, yet true, to say, that the more we know, the more ignorant we become in the absolute sense, for it is only through enlightenment that we become conscious of our limitations. Precisely one of the most gratifying results of intellectual evolution is the continuous opening up of new and greater prospects."
Nikola Tesla





Russel tended to his wounds as he paced back in forth in his home. Each wound was burning as he used a healing spell to fix the gashes and cuts on his body. His body ached with pain as the bruises would attest to when they fully formed but something else was present. Tension was thick in the atmosphere of his den. It was so thick that you could almost cut it with a knife. He was in an intense conversation with the literal voice in his head, and it was disagreeing with everything he was saying.

"I like this place, it is beautiful in so many way. This world has great potential but it needs help. If your in my mind than you have seen what my race has done to its own. I want to make sure this one doesn't end up the same. With the knowledge i gained on earth they have a chance to be different. The inhabitants here can be the best of themselves and the best of humanity without the bad of either. 
I wasn't powerful enough to change my world, but maybe I can here. Do you think I should not," Russel asked in a questioning tone?

"Its not just that though is it, like you said I'm in your brain. I know what motivates your plan and I know your not doing this all just for them. What you're going to do is both reckless and dangerous; you could die. More importantly, what would your friends in Equestria say to you if they knew what you're about to do? You have much skill I'll give you that, but you also have been incredible lucky so far. Your race has barely any magical potential and what you intend to do, it's stupid and a detriment to your life . 
I will help you since i cant stop you, but i strongly advise against your current course of actions, the horn said warning Russel of the dangers. Just as Russel was about to make a retort he heard movement coming from outside his den. Seconds later Rakharr and Saheir came in through the entrance and stood ready to receive instructions.

"So what is it you need the two of us for Shojima," Saheir asked trying to discern the mission quickly?

"I need you to head to the location I have marked on this map for you. Once you arrive there, be friendly and quick with your stay. At the village center there is a temple; go into the temple and speak to the Zebra Chief there. He goes by the name of Chief Ronktif. You must remember the "Chief" part as a show of respect. Ask him if he would be so kind as to let me borrow the assistance of his Shaman Arishazi. 
Tell him I'll owe him a favor for it. Now make haste, every second counts," Russel said as he finished the instructions and sent Saheir off to retrieve his guest. 

"And what would you have me do," Rakharr inquiring of his own mission?

"I need you to go to Equestria and retrieve another shaman by the name of Zecora. She lives in a place known as the Everfree Forest near a town called Ponyville. Here are the coordinates, fly fast cause there is a lot of land and sea to cover."

"I know the place, I have a cousin who pasted by there on the annual dragon migration they do every year. It shouldn't take too long maybe a few days at most. I'll be back soon enough," Rakharr said before taking off as quickly as possible towards his destination. As soon as he left Russel quickly made his retort.

"Look, do you think I'm not aware of the risks. I know little about what I'm going to attempt and you creating more doubts is not helping. this is why I'm sending for the only two shamans I know, to make my one shot at this successful. I know the danger but someone once said something very true. Sometimes we have to pay a heavy price for the knowledge we seek. I will never know unless I try now will I," Russel finished then went about his business? 
The horn doubted that any of it would even be possible. However he had been lucky so far, maybe his luck would hold out in the end. Over the course of the next few days they worked together to set up a few alchemical tables. On top of the table were many vials, beaker, pestal and mortars, several chemical mixing stations, and a whole lot of various herbs and plants they could use experiment. He also requested of another dragon to retrieve him some enchanting gems. The very gems now sat at the other end of the table next to the herbs. 
These items however were just the beginning of the process. They were still going to have to find out the right set and sequence of ingredients needed to perform the process correctly. There was undoubtedly going to be many failed attempts before they find the right one. it could take weeks, months, maybe even a year but Russel was determined to see it done. with the set up complete, all he needed was the shamans he requested; which should be arriving any minute Russel imagined. he went out to inspect whether or not his new colleagues had made it back yet when he found Saheir in the tunnel district with Arishazi in tow. 
Russel went over to greet her with a bow and she did the same.

"It is good to see you again, I foresaw us meeting a second time way back when. I will say this though, I did not expect it to be like this though. what is it you need me for, I am anxious to learn more," Arishazi asked eager to find out why she was there? He simply grabbed her hoof and led her back to his den where she got quickly orientated with all the tools at her disposal. Rakharr showed up not to soon after with who Russel recognized to be Zecora. She however was not surprised to see him again for some reason.

"Fate has chanced for us to meet again. You forgot to tell me, what is you name human," Zecora asked as she smiled at him?

"My name is Shojima, and i would like to formally apologize. I am sorry for literally running into you like that. I didn't see you coming and I didn't have time to stop and chat, I had a time table. That was rude of me to do. I hope that you can forgive me for my transgression," Russel asked with respect as he bowed?

"Your apology is accepted though truth be told I was elated. I am more than happy to give you my help; but what do you need me for... well," Zecora inquired ready to get started? Russel was stunned that she was willing to give her expertise over for his venture. He quickly introduced her to Arishazi who was more than happy to work with another shaman. He then sat down with them and explain his plan over as best he could. The entire time he was explaining, he was also watching their faces for the reactions they would give. 
It was a mix of apprehension, silent nodding and questioning looks. When Russel finished they looked at each other and back at him with hesitation.

"The plan you have laid out is skeptical to test. We don't know if it can be done but we will do our best. The problem is in your biology, it is not comparable to anything we can see. You would have to take on some form native to this realm. Something that can handle the immense magical intake well," Arishazi explained telling him the requirement of his personal endeavor.

"Well there are many which can wield magic but we need one that resembles the human body as closely as possible. Which one would best fit that requirement," Russel asked since it would be the first problem?

"A dragon form would do well. Their body structure closely matches from what I can tell. Their organs not so much as they have ones i can tell that you do not. I think we could find a way around this, but I would need a sample we can look at to test this. How we go about that I do not know," Zecora chimed in with a solution to the enigma. Russel pondered on it for a second then turned to the perfect living pair of specimen not but ten feet away.

"Saheir, Rakharr, I'm going to need your help with one more thing," Russel asked as he picked up a couple beakers and walked over to them?

"What else do you need Shojima," Saheir inquired wondering what they could possibly do to help further?

"I need this beaker filled with your blood because it is the key to completing this experiment. It is needed to design a potion that will help me to achieve my new form for the future i imagine. However the blood must be freely given from a willing participant so i need your decisions. If you say yes than i will need you two to fill up these beakers. If you say no I'll respect it and begin looking for volunteers of which i could use your help with. So what will it be," Russel asked after he finished explaining the guidelines of each answer? 
Saheir and Rakharr looked at each other for a minute and then nodded to each other. They turned to Russel and grabbed the beakers from Russel.

"How much do you need from each of us," Rakharr asked as he extended his claw and put it to his forearm?

"Thank you, Fill it to the one pint mark and that should be a sufficient amount," Russel instructed the two. The two cut their arms then leaned them over the beaker as the blood dripped into them. After a few minutes they filled them up to the required measurement line and passed them to him. Russel put his hand over their cuts and healed them instantly. He then took the beakers over to the alchemist tables and set them down. He took out a compound microscope and set it down before pulling out a knife. 
He proceeded to place a drop of his blood between two glass plates then slid it under the microscope. Russel then took one of the filled beakers and placed one more drop of blood between two plates. He motioned for the two shamans to take a look and compare the cells since he already knew what human blood cells looked like. Zecora was the first to look and as soon as she did she was immediately surprised by it. She then let Arishazi take a look and she too was surprised. 

"Your an interesting creature to be sure. Tell me, has your blood always been that way before," Zecora questions as she pushed him urging to look at it himself? When he did he could not believe what he saw. The cells didn't look like the normal red colored disks which human blood cells resembled. Instead it looked more domed shape with a radiation like glow to it. Russel quickly switched it out with the dragon sample and it was astounding. 
Their blood cells had a ball like shape with little tendrils on each one. The most interesting part however was that they had the same radiation like glow. 

"How the hell did that happen, that's not what its suppose to look like. What the heck is going on," Russel yelled out loud shocked by the recent images! 

"If it's not normal for it to look like that or glow, than we got to figure out what made it so. Is their anything that you have consumed that would make it change so soon," the two shamans harmonized their question? 

"It must have been when i took in that magical artifact. When the artifact merged with my body it must have bonded to my cells so that I could access its powers. That explains why it looks like radiation, Its got to be magic or something that's giving off that glow. Its probably infused into every cell in my body by now. Since everything else on this planet has some sort of magic capabilities than that explains why they both have the same glow. that's not something I expected to see though," Russel said as he was still confused but relieved that it was at least explainable. 

"We need to start by figuring out how to make them compatible. We got a lot of equipment and herbs here, lets see what your blood can handle. lets get started now," Arishazi said as she grabbed some material and some herbs. She went to work immediately trying to figure it out. Zecora and Russel followed suit as they got started on mixing different concoction together. They knew it would take quite some time to solve the mystery but they were determined to find success in the long endeavor that was before them. 
> The Long Road Ahead
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



"It is clear that we are just an advanced breed of primates on a minor planet orbiting around a very average star, in the outer suburb of one among a hundred billion galaxies. BUT, ever since the dawn of civilization people have craved for an understanding of the underlying order of the world. There ought to be something very special about the boundary conditions of the universe. And what can be more special than that there is no boundary? And there should be no boundary to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there is life, there is hope."

Stephen Hawkings





The next couple of months was a struggle for the two shamans and human. They were hard at work attempting to solve an almost unsolvable problem. the trio tried countless different variations trying to make the right potion but with no success. There were many problems that needed to be solved and they were not giving up the answers easily. After the third month they were still no closer to finding the solution. It was getting pretty discouraging since there had been virtually no progress made. 
It was becoming more difficult to continue trying and frustration was rising. Russel was looking at some books on transformation and transfiguration one morning when something shot to the forefront of his thoughts.

"I think i figured out something important," Russel stated in excitement which got Zecora and Arishazi's attention.

what have you found, shows us it now," Arishazi asked waiting for his thoughts to be made known?

"What if we're going about it all wrong? Instead of trying to find a potion alone, lets try to create a mix of both magic and alchemy. Hand me the enchanting gem on that shelf over there," Russel asked Zecora who hoofed it over? Russel searched through spell books and the vast repository of knowledge made available with the help of the magical AI. After a few hours he found the spell he was looking for and showed it to the two shamans. 

"I understand what the spell will do, but I fail to see how this will help us and you. Please explain," Zecora asked indicating for him to continue?

"We attach the spell to a gem then create a potion designed to change my appearance using the dragon blood as the base. The potion will start the change then we use the spell to fuse the change and make it permanent. I will take care of the enchanting and you get can get started on the potion. Lets get to work," Russel said as he immediately went to work channeling magic into the gem. Zecora and Arishazi got back to figuring out the modifications to the potion. 
It took them a few more tries but they were eventually able to find the right mixture and began making the brew. When they finished mixing it, Zecora filled a potion vial and hoofed it over to Russel who was just finishing up the enchantment on the gem. 

"Alright stand back, I don't know what is going to happen. No matter what happens, do not try to help. I don't want you two getting hurt in the process," Russel said as the shamans backed up a good distance. Russel drank the potion and instantly started feeling pain radiating in his stomach. He threw the empty vial against the wall then grabbed the gem and slapped it to his chest. The spell burst out of the gem and flew at him with enough force to knock him down. 
He got back up only to fall to his knees in immense pain clutching his gut. Russel started screaming as the pain now radiated throughout his whole body. Zecora and Arishazi took a few steps towards him only for him to wave them away. Russel began to light up with a slight glow that got brighter by the second. It build up to almost blinding brightness as his body continued its change. Russel grew exponentially and his body features changed slowly. 
The nails on his fingers and toes grew and became pointed at the end with sharp edges. His eyes became a deep sapphire blue with slits instead of the round pupils they use to be. Russel grew far taller than his original size and with much bigger muscle mass. His skin gained a pearl like sheen to it like when you hold one up in the sunlight. His spinal bones grew out of his skin and became more like dragon spines. It finished with a pair of large wings that grew out from his shoulder blades. 
The entire time Russel screamed in pure agony and when it finally end he fell to the ground. Zecora and Arishazi couldn't take any more waiting and so they ran over to check on him. When they looked at him he laid there sprawled out, unconsciousness, and clothes torn apart. The two shamans attempted to lift him but he was to heavy so they went and got Rakharr and Saheirs. When they returned, the two dragons immediately picked Russel up and brought him over to his bed roll to lay him down. 

"So I take it the operation was successful," Saheir asked pointing out the obvious?

"Yes, this is in fact true, but we do not know the extent of the change he has gone through. There will need to be tests run. Soon we will know exactly what it has done," Arishazi stated while she cleaned up the mess that was made around the lab area. 

"The potion caused him much pain. He passed out cause he could not handle the physical strain," Zecora explained while she grabbed a steamed towel and laid it on his head. 

"The difference is drastic to say the least. Its strange seeing such a change  but it is what he wanted. I will notify the elders immediately," Rakharr said right before he flew off to notify the elders of shojima's success. 

"One thing is certain, he's definitely going to need some new clothes. His old ones are completely destroyed," Saheir stated as she burned what was left of his shredded clothing. 

"I don't understand it fully but I know there will be no more need to worry. The changes are done," Arishazi said as she went about checking Russel's vitals signs and other health statuses. Even though some drastic physical alterations happen, most of his facial structure remained the same. The majority of his teeth remained however some took on a more jagged and pointy shape. His ears had taken on a more arrow shaped form like the dragons. His hair deepened to a pitch black color that was dark enough to hold its shade even in the light. 
That was the extent of the changes to his face, however he was still recognizable even with the new look. 

"Well, I don't think Shojima would want to be sleeping at a time like this. We should wake him up," Saheir said as she walked over to his sleeping form and shook him several time. It didn't seem to have any effect so she backhand him across the face. Russel didn't flinch or even react to the obviously painful hit. Saheir was shocked but didn't show it as she turned to Arishazi. 

"I know not how he failed to wake from his slumber after such a hit. It is indeed strange to see him still sleep but I think there is more to it," Zecora said unmoved by the unforeseen complication. 

"Can you make something to lift him from this state he is in," Saheir asked hopeful it wasn't permanent?

"I think all he needs is a bit of rest, the change was drastic so this may be for the best. If by the end of the day he has not awoken than we'll try to break him from the slumber he is caught in. For now lets leave him be," Zecora finished as she waited for them to exit the cave with her. They left the room but Saheir lingered for a bit longer before leaving as well. She felt bad about slapping him but she knew that he had to wake up eventually so she would apologize then. They tried to keep themselves busy for the next few hours by doing their own things. Arishazi and Zecora went about seeing the different structure of the dragon city. Rakharr did his usual business and trained the younger dragons while Saheir simply left the mountain for a little while to fly around. 

Back In The Den


Russel felt nothing at first, it was like he was drifting in darkness. Slowly consciousness started to take hold and with it, a lot of pain. He felt like he did after the battle with Rakharr only the pain was all over his body. It was also much more intense but he did not expect to make it at all so that was a plus. Feeling returned as well along with control of his body so he decided to test it. Russel got up but had a little trouble at first due to his rapid size change. 
The pain was more intense for a moment, but that soon subsided as his body adapted to the new changes and additions to him. Russel stretch his wings and the rest of his body but soon folded them back up due to being cold. Soon aware of his apparent lack of clothing, he used magic to lift the bed roll and cast a spell. The bed roll turned into a large black roll of cloth. Using another spell, he turned the newly made clothe into a long enough tunic that would suffice for its purpose. Russel puts the new clothing on immediately then fits it out quickly. 
Once done he went down to the forge with one intent; to design and construct a suit of armor made for him. After figuring in the dimensions and making the molds, he wanted to test a theory he had since he woke up. Russel took in a deep breath and felt the infernal fire ignite within him. He let it build up for a few seconds and then opened his mouth exhaling it all. The fire blasted at the furnace heating the forge up to a higher temperature. Heating it up for the molding process was going to be a difficult task as it needed a lot of heat. 
He did this several more times before he felt the furnace had reached the necessary level of heat. He continued to fan the furnace while taking the the block of star metal and placing it the decent sized crucible. After an hour the now molten metal was ready. Russel transferred the metal using a thick large ladle and poured the rudimentary mold. He let it mold for ten minutes before pulling out the first piece of semi solid metal; a chest plate. He took it over to the anvil and began beating it into the design he wanted. 
It took him a few time going back and forth with the whole process. After another two hours the whole chest piece was done. He followed the same routine with the rest of his armor and finished it in another four hours. The last piece to be finished was the helmet. It took some fine work to get the right look, but it came out as a good piece of headgear. After it was done he took a minute to admire his work. 
The armors color was a match to his hair color and had many customization's on it. The Gauntlets had small shaped slots on them with claws and the end of the fingers. The Vambrace had long folded points extending past the elbow. It had spikes spaced out on it and a slot in the middle. The Spaulders came down to almost mid bicep with three individually layers; each attached over the other. They were decent size and they too had empty slots on them. 
The boots were pointed at the toe area and came up a little pass the ankle. The Greaves were plated as well with thick and large arrow shaped knee guards. The Cuisses was two pieces of metal that folded from the front to the back in a half square. Each one went on its own thigh and a full pelvic guard was between them. The Cuirass was a front and a back plate attached together by chains on the sides. A sigil of a blue moon with a shining star in front of it sat on the front chest plate. Another empty slot was in the middle of the star.
The helm had a samurai look with wings going up from the top of it. The eye slits glowed white and the mouth piece was shaped just like the front of a boat turned upside down. It had thin slits to speak through and a slot on the forehead area. A metal ridge rose up and went all the way down the back of the helm. It was missing something to be complete six somethings to be exact. Six magic gems to fill each slot on his armor. 
Russel went over to a chest near the armor rack and opened it. Sifting through the contents of it and pulled out a large uncut gem. He placed it in the center of the room and stepped back a distance before picking it up with his magic. Using another spell, he shot a precision laser at the gem and watched as it started to glow. After half a minute the gem exploded into six smaller pieces which he shaped further by cutting with the laser spell again. With the now finely shaped gems, Russel placed them into each slot on the armor and stood back. 
He drew an alchemy circle into the ground and drew a similar one on his armor. He proceeded to recite some of the dragon language.

"kuz suleyk nol naan luhaal tholaar ni meyar fod unadaan." When Russel finished, the symbol on both the ground and the armor glowed at the same time. They got brighter then the gems began to glow. After a few seconds the light flashed intensely then winked out. When light level returned to normal the gems gave off a very faint glow as if on standby. He quickly dawned the armor and tested its weight which surprisingly was not as heavy as he thought it would be. 
He however took the recent change that he went through into account and realized his error when judging the weight. The armor fit perfectly when he fastened it on himself and maneuvered with little resistance. After the tests were done, he got to work making his weapons to go with the armor. He chose to make two katana's, one with a black wood handle and white leather wrapping braided down it. The sword was roughly six feet from the pommel to the end of the sheath and had a black blade. The second sword had an opposite look with a white wood handle and black leather wrapping braided on it. 
The sword was five feet from the pommel to end of the sheath and had a shining white edge. Russel tied the swords to the suits waist belt, then headed to his den to wait for his guests to return. 
When the group of four met up again, Zecora and Arishazi had seen much of the dragon society and its inner working. Rakharr and Saheir had just been wondering about their comrade mostly. It took a few minutes for them to reach their destination and that is when they saw the enormous amount of light coming from inside. They ran to the door and looked inside only to be shocked by what they saw. Inside was a bunch of light glowing lights hovering in the air in a still position. The one they knew as Shojima was standing near the center in front of a table looking at something on it.
He turned towards them and they got a good look at Russel's new look. They looked in awe at the armor he now wore and its incredible detail. 

"Awesome armor, it seems you posses some skills in metal work," Saheir said being the first to break out of the shock.

"I did work with metal on my home world for over a year and a half. So yeah, I learned some pretty useful skills then but I continue to learn new things as I go. this is my best work so far," Russel said as he took his helmet off. they were now able to see his eyes which glowed a deep saphire blue.

"What are you looking at, is it something interesting," Rakharr asked inquiring about what he was looking at?

"Its the next phase in my plan to help you regain your honor and help this world. Their are many things I have to offer and I want to get started on improving this nation. Take a look at them for yourself, their is much work to be done and a lot to explain. The worlds going to change and will learn much in a short time," Russel said as they gathered to look at the stuff on the table. Many schematics to different technologies and plans for projects were all across the table. It all looked very awe striking and they all said the same things.

"Where do we start?"
> Unexpected Gift
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                            “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” 
~ Mahatma Gandhi


(Current day and time)



The group sat around conversing amongst themselves after listening to the story Russel told. The ponies had varied reactions to the tale including the princesses. Jessie and Rob however were just glad to see him again and know that he was okay. 

"What do you think of what he just said," Rainbow Dash asked Twilight in a low tone so not to be heard?

"I don't know, its difficult to determine the validity but it may be true. Princess, what do you make of him," Twilight asked Celestia quietly? 

"I don't know my student, it hard to read him. Something about him however seems off, I don't quite know what it is. I feel like he's hiding things or withholding information. We will have to talk about it later, right now their are other answers that are needed at the moment. I wonder about his full intentions here," Celestia answered as she showed mistrust about what his motives were. She gazed at Russel intensely as she continued to try and read him. 
She was usually able to tell another creatures intentions by a combination of reading body gestures and facial expressions. If that failed to work she would always use a mind reading spell as a back up method. This situation was different as neither had worked. Celestia couldn't see his face and his body gestures were hid well by the armor he wore. When that failed she attempted the spell but saw only a thick mental fog. A few seconds after that and she still couldn't read anything. 
She guessed that he had some sort of mental block in place to keep others out of it. She made note to learn more about Russel's achievements so far to better understand his goals. On the other side of the table, Jessie was telling Russel about everything that happened while they were separated.

"Nice man, so your like an official Cutie Mark Crusader now. Way to go dude I'm proud of ya, that sounds like loads of fun. By the by, good job on becoming a teacher Rob. You both seem to have done quite well making lives of your own here. So how does it feel to be here," Russel asked them as he felt happy talking with them once again. 

"Its great, their is so much of a difference here. When it comes to the pure water or the clean unpolluted air, its wonderful. Even the vegetables and fruits are better than the quality of the ones back home. I feels healthier here and I have more energy than i ever had before. I'm able to do more than I have ever done. Although I do miss home sometimes," Jessie told him as he sighed lightly. 

"I concur, its great here but I still feel uneasy sometimes too. Now I'm okay with it at least, I wasn't for quite some time though. Making friend here helped a lot to let go of the longing of home," Rob added to the topic.

"Well I've got a gift for ya, just wait a few min and I will show you it. Back to answering questions guys," Russel said as he turned to the ponies. They soon faced him all wanting answers. He had much to explain to them.

"Its pretty much known now where you went, what you did, and how you got there. There are still a few details that we need you to share, like the magical artifacts," Princess Luna said wanting answers

"Yeah, what happened to the one you put on. Is it gone," Rainbow Dash asked trying to figure it out?"

"Its still connected but on a more meta physical level. It essential became my artificial magic well since its apart of me. I've become pretty decent at using magic. What else do you want to know," Russel asked politely?

"You don't have a horn to charge and direct the spells. how do you even cast them then," Twilight asked wondering how it was even possible. 

"The great thing about being human is our powers come from the written and spoken word. Power resides within the very words we speak. That why humans create such powerful music and tell fascinating stories. Most basic spells I can recite in my mind and it will work. Some spells that are more powerful require me to speak out loud. Casting in front of sigils works pretty well too," he said as if it was completely normal to say. Twilight's jaw dropped, but seconds after retracted as the gears begun to turn in her head.

"If your magic well is artificial than it cant grow on its own. You weren't born magically capable. How does it increase its size then," Princess Celestia asked as she finally said something? 

"All artifacts hold magic in them and I extract it using a modified spell I devised. I absorb it then the item become inert and useless. I get stronger with each one I absorb and more powerful spells become accessible. Its quite helpful actually," Russel explain as he waited for the next question.

"WHAT, how many of those artifacts have you found,"  Twilight asked? She was sad to see these historic items lose their abilities.

"I have personally found four not including the horn. Another two were located by a merc for hire and I managed to buy one from a traveling merchant.  So eight in total," he said stated simply.

"How many of them artifact are left to wrestle up," Applejack asked wondering just a little?

"five remain but I have resources scowering for information to the locations of them. I go there and retrieve it as soon as the next one is located," he explained. 

"why are you looking for more magic anyway silly," Pinkie Pie asked hopping up and down and smiling like normal? 

"I cannot fully disclose at this time. Its part of a personal mission only known by me and that's all I'll say for right now. That's enough question for the moment, Jessie, Rob, can you please stand. I have something to give you in payment for your loyalty and faith as my friends" Russel said to them. 

"You don"t need to repay us for that, that's what friends are for. What is it though if you don't mind me asking," Jessie was slightly interested? Russel held out his hand in a closed fist. His hand began to glow a faint green color that grew brighter by the second. After a minute the room flashed with light, then it dimmed back down just as fast. When they could see again, everyone in the room looked to see two glowing multi colored orbs of energy in his hand. 
An image that switched between a horn, a wing, and a plant was inside it. 

"For your what you have done this is my gift to you, the gift of a new life. I want to give you what you told me you desired the most. These spheres of energy will do one of two things for you two. If you say yes, you can pick between the symbols and it will turn you into the race of pony that corresponds with that symbol. I'm sure you can figure which one goes with which," Russel explained as he gave the orbs to Rob and Jessie. the ponies were shocked and even the princesses showed surprise to this scene of events.

"I honestly don't know what to say, accept, thank you man. How though, how did you manage to do this," Jessie asked as he gave Russel a bro hug?

"I perfected the original alchemical spell that I performed to turn myself into a Dova. These will do the same for you accept it will turn you completely into the pony race of your choice. Not halfway like it did for me. This is my gift to you for being true friends." 

"What was the other thing you said it could do," Rob asked wanting to know?

"While I understand that it would be what you desire, its not the only thing you want. I know your hearts ache for home, since that is the case  the orbs can also open a door back to Earth. You can go back to your old lives back home if you choose. Ponder on the offer for a little while, its a hard choice. When you feel like you are ready, choose which one you want," Russel finished as he turned to the ponies. 

"How are you able to return them when we couldn't even find a way," Twilight asked perplexed by the offer he had just given?

"I found the original seam in this dimension that brought us here. Using residual energy that i collect from the opening, I was able to give it a command spell. If they ask it, it will immediately open," Russel stated answering Twilight's question.

"What about you, you could have done that for a while now. Why haven't you tried to go home yet" Applejack asked pointing out the option?

"I have already made the change and this form would cause to much trouble for everyone. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. The magic in this world is now part of every living cell inside my body. I don't know what would happen if I tried. My guess is, the trip would cause unknown ill effect towards me and I don't feel like attempting it. Plus I made the decision to stay and I have no quarrels with that. 
moving on, Elements of Harmony, I have gifts for you as well. I would first like to personally thank you for taking care of my friends and helping them. You helped them despite the fact they are different and not of your world. I see the elements chose well in picking you six as their hosts. Here is my way of saying thank you," Russel said as a flash of light appeared over each of the mane six. Four loud thuds sounded out in succession. 
The first to notice anything was Pinkie Pie. In front of her laid a recipe book with several images of desserts on it. Next was Rainbow Dash who saw a Daring Doo book in front of her. After her a flash appeared over Rarity and out came a special large roll of fabric. Next was Fluttershy who received a cage and inside was a small bird. Twilight was next as she received a book that looked old and had an inscription on it. 
The last being Applejack, except she didn't see anything land in front of her. Instead she saw Russel with her hat in his hand. He waved his other hand over it and it came out repaired. He waved his hand over it again and it vanished only to reappeared on her head. It still felt and fit the same as it always had. 

"Pinkie Pie, your gift is a recipe book of every dessert I ever had back on Earth. It even has a few smoothie and drink recipes in it as well. Rainbow Dash that Daring Doo book is her latest edition, Daring Doo and the Secret of Ambrosia. It not going to come out for another month at least, enjoy. Rarity, the fabric i gave you has many different environmental images. Maybe you'll find some inspiration for a new line of dresses or something. 
Fluttershy, that bird is a young phoenix so it not fully grown. It lost its mother and I couldn't find her. It needed a good home so I felted you would take good care of it. Applejack, I knew you probably wouldn't want anything fancy or big. I decided to just repaired your hat to make it look brand new. Hope it was okay, you seemed to cherish it a lot. 
It should fit just like it did before. Lastly Twilight, that book contains over three hundred spell that the horn has in its repository of knowledge. Hope the book serves you well when you need it." 

"Thank you," the six ponies responded individually. They all had smiles on their faces and that was the response he was hoping for.

"As for you princesses, I would like to thank you as well for giving my friends safe harbor in your country. I know it probably wasn't easy getting it all setup and i am grateful for everything you have done. I didn't know what to give three princesses who already have everything. maybe the gifts in your rooms will help to show my sincerity. Thanks again for all you've done to help these two," Russel stated as he bowed to them. The princesses responded likewise and they all returned to their individual seats. 

"First, I would like to say that I appreciate the gestures of apologies and good will. Its a nice thing and it has gone a long way towards proving your sincerity. I would also like to formally recognize the start of the treaty negotiations and resigning. Now as it is late into the night, I feel that it would be more appropriate to continue tomorrow. We all need some rested and a good healthy meal. We shall reconvene these negotiations in the morning. 
Is there anything else that would like to be said before I end the session for tonight," Celestia asked. The whole room seemed to agreed since no response was given. Celestia slammed her hoof on the table like a gavel to signify the sessions end. She was still unconvinced on their strange guest and his intentions. She would have Twilight find out his intentions even if it meant tailing him. The group left the rooms and went to their individual rooms as their meals would be brought to them. 
Celestia made sure she and her pupil were the last ones out of the room so they could talk in private.

"So princess, what did you want to discuss about Russel. I know Jessie and Rob didn't tell us about him but it seems he had his reasons. He did give us gifts and apologized," Twilight said as she put her new spell book on her back to carry it.

"I know something else is going on, I have held many negotiations over the years. I can tell when somepony is withholding information from me. There are thing about him he does not want us to know, that's why he gave you gifts. They were probably meant to deter you so that you would not be suspicious of him. He has an agenda and I am tasking you with following him. I sense something about him that he is keeping from everypony. We need to figure out if I'm right and if so, what he is planing," Celestia stated as she relayed her thoughts to Twilight.

"What do you want me to do," Twilight asked wondering what could she possibly do to help her teacher.

"I need you to follow him and watch what he does. If he does anything suspicious I want to know about it. You will switch with Luna in shifts so you can rest and take care of your daily activities. You start tomorrow, I pray that you are right Twilight. I do not like having to do this, especially to a guest," Celestia said as she yawned. she was incredibly tired from the looks of it. 
Twilight walked her back to her room but unknown to her, Luna had begun her part after raising the moon. She turned into a shadow and was tailing right behind him. He walked all the way back to his room and closed the door as he entered. She slid right under the door and zipped to a corner of the room that was out of view. First thing he did was remove his armor and weapons. When he took off his helmet, she got a good long glance at his mutated look. 
She was slightly impressed by his appearance but mostly in awe seeing the changes without his armor on. He peppered a few candles with fire as they immediately lit up. He held out his hand and light glowed in front of it. Soon it was replaced with a satchel. He reached inside and pulled out some sort of mixture in a vial. He uncorked it and chugged the whole thing before tossing it in the waste can. 
It seemed to burn as he rubbed his throat softly. He went over to the middle of the room and sat down in a crisscross position. Russel then drew a sigil in front of him before slamming his hand down on it. Just as his hand hit it a magical shield rose up and encompassed him. He went into a meditative state and started to breath slower. Luna felt it was going to be a long boring night having to watch him. 
> The Reasons for Change
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.
Saint Augustine




The new day started off slow after Celestia rose the sun. It had only been six hours since she rose the sun that morning yet it felt like it lasted longer than most. She paced there wondering what today would hold after the revelation she had yesterday. She was very much interested in solving the mystery of Russel's goals. He was hiding something and she was sure of it. Some how he blocked her spell from reading him. 
It was as if a fog of darkness had blocked her from connecting. The fog seemed familiar but she couldn't quite place where she had seen it before. She briskly walked to Luna's bedroom to confer with her on it. When she entered Princess Luna's room, it was eleven thirty and her sister was already up sitting at her desk writing something down. 

"Morning Celly, how well did you sleep last night," Luna asked calling her sister by the nickname she had given her as a child? 

"Well enough I suppose, it took a bit of tossing and turning to get to sleep. How about you, did you sleep well this morning," Celestia responded with while rubbing her eyes?

"I'm pretty efficient at sleeping and I fall asleep fast so, no trouble there. Just finishing up the night court report and finalizing some documents. So what was in the present Russel got you," Luna asked as she finished up her work?

"He gave me a pair of diamond crafted aviator glasses and a note. He thinks I should go on vacation to a beach and relax more. I don't know what he means, I relax and get out often enough. What did he give you Lulu," Celestia inquired back. In response she began laughing which only got her a odd look from her older sister.

"Are you sure about that, he may have a point. I think you could stand to get out more Celly. Anyway, I haven't looked, there was a note on it that said don't open it yet. Its said I'll know when to, but I don't even know if I want to. He need to be figured out first and I don't want to think about opening it until then," Luna said while looking through a court records book.

"So what did you learn about find out about him last night," Celestia asked getting to the point?

"Well sis, I learned that the horn has indeed granted him much foresight into magic. He understands its intricacies in a way the average unicorn doesn't. Its odd, he even posses some degree of control over dark magic, but I cant figure out how. He didn't do much anything last night though, he even elected not to go to sleep. He just sat their meditating," Luna reported while groaned in frustration. She was not use to just watching but that's all she could do since he didn't reach the dream state. 

"We'll have to look further into this, however it may just be that he chose not to sleep last night. In the mean time, I was given some interesting news by my advisers. Dragons that have been scattered all over Equestria have all been migrated back to Volcana. The dragon nation has been increasing in size over the past few months and more are flying in. Something is going on, only nopony knows what it is. I plan to make an inquiry about this in the next session," Celestia stated telling Luna what she had learned this morning. 

"That is interesting news, I doubt its anything bad though. They're probably just trying to rebuild their broken culture. Now, I'm done with this boring report and I feel famished. Come sis its breakfast time," Luna called as she walked out the door lingering only to emphasize her words with a follow me gesture. Celestia quickly followed to catch up before switching back to a walking pace.

"In light of the recently bizarre events I neglected to ask for your opinion. What do you make of our guests," Celestia asked wanting to hear her sisters thoughts? 

"I think everything the elder said so far is truth. I do believe that is the extent of what he knows. There is obviously more to it though. I believe Russel knows something and he is keeping it secret. He knows things, spells that not even Twilight or Cadence know. That horn has taught him spells that I had personally buried knowing that they should never be used again. 
I was so sure that I was the only one who knew that wisp spell he used in his theatrical entrance yesterday. It doesn't make sense," Luna said thinking back on the memory of what happen when their guests arrived.

"Lulu, its doubtful that he has any major knowledge of dark magic. You know as well as I do that mere mortals cannot wield its power without becoming corrupted by its influence. King Sombra was the perfect example of dark magic infecting the mind with evil. Mortal minds are weak and incapable of using it, that's why we locked up all knowledge pertaining to dark magic in the vault. Nopony is capable of getting their hoofs on it so I doubt that he has anything to the extent of what you believe he has. Does he sound or look like someone under its effect, I don't think so. 
The horn is old so at most it might know a couple of spells from the old days. That's probably the extent of it though. The way Russel explained how he found it leads to the conclusion that it was likely lost for centuries prior to that. It may be a receptor for knowledge but it cant absorb it if its been sealed in one place all this time. He may know something but its certainly not that," Celestia said bringing her sister down from her train of thought. 

"Maybe your right, its probably nothing. Lets just try to subtly confuse him into telling us the other things he did after his transformation. Maybe he will slip up and reveal something, lifting the shroud on what his agenda is," Luna said as they reached the dinning hall. They opened to door to find most of the visiting party there. Most of the elements were there minus Rarity and Twilight. Rarity was probably trying to find the right dress for the occasion or just to be fashionably late. 
Twilight on the other hoof was probably up late reading her new spell book and slept in late. The only other late party seemed to be Russel. As the princesses sat down they thought to call a guard to retrieve them when Twilight and Rarity came walking through the door. Twilight was dressed natural and Rarity was wearing a fancy new dress she made. They were followed by Russel who was adjusting his armor to a uniformed straightness. He then removed his helmet allowing the ponies and his friends to finally see the physical changes in his face. 
The physical changes looked exactly how he described them. His skin shined and his eye glowed but he acted like it was all normal. As soon as everyone was seated, Chef Pierre came through a side door and bowed to the princesses. 


"Bonnes princesses du soir et invités ont assisté. We have a lovely banquet prepared for breakfast this fine morning. We have some deliciously crunchy hash browns with a nice eggs Benedict and to top it off, some lovely powdered crepes. prendre plaisir," the griffon said with a thick griffonsque french accent. A bunch of ponies wheeled in the food and set it at each place at the table. They then wheeled in the largest plate shaped dish they could find in the kitchen with a huge portion of food on it for Elder Rockjaw. 
They all proceeded to eat their meals with much satisfaction on their faces. The princesses and company gave their approval to the chef before he and the staff left the room. The group went on enjoy their meals as they made casual conversation. It was mostly about their everyday lives and gossip they read about in the newspaper. Once they were finished, they headed to the throne room to continue the negotiations. They soon arrive and were seated to start. 

"Alright now that we can continue, I want to inquire about something. Lots of scouts around Equestria have reported seeing numerous dragons in the sky. Later I was sent a letter by one of my navy captains. He reported that some massive dragon migration was happening and was wondering if he should be worried. Tell me Elder Rockjaw, should we be worried," Celestia asked trying to quell any stray bad thoughts she may had. 

"No, we are merely trying to reinforce our society by bringing together the strays who have lost their way. After The Great War, many retreated back to Volcana but quite a few dragons broke off and scattered about. They either let themselves be consumed by greed or formed pocket colonies migrating from place to place during seasons. I personally sent out an ancient call, a call that no dragon can ignore.  Faan Wah Bild Niist Zin, a call to defend their honor. Their honor is only tested in times of great strife or conflict," Elder Rockjaw stated though hesitating on that last part.

"Your people have had many years of rest and solitude in your seclusion. Why now, whats changed," Luna asked getting straight to the point. Russel held his hand to the elders forearm in concern as if saying he doesn't need to continue. 

"After I had trained the first group of soldiers and sent them to reinforce our borders. I gave them a crystal that would allow two way communications between us. The inspiration for that came from my colleague here in Equestria that finds me the locations of the artifacts I seek. I received a message a month later from Nahlokaaz who was the captain of said group. They were under attack and were requesting additional support. When I asked who was attacking though, he said it was the griffons. 
I sent my second in command, to give them backup, and to confirm what was going on. By the time he got there however, it was already to late. The entire group had been killed and he confirmed that it was indeed griffon crossbow fire that killed them. I sent my spy unit to sneak into their capitol city to find out more and I was shocked by what she learned. They have not only increased their borders significantly but have almost doubled their army. Their whole army numbers in the hundreds of thousands while the dragon population is only twenty thousand strong. 
That however isn't the whole story," Russel explained.

"So that's what you did after you gained your new form. You began retraining the dragon race on how to fight," Celestia said piecing the story together.

"Yes, I spent much of my time for the next few months training them in human fighting styles and tactics. I knew how from my life before thanks to Virtual technology and simulation programs. The reason why the griffons have been able to increase their territories is they're killing our border patrols and taking dragon territories. Months later we received a letter from the griffons. This also happens to be days before we came here. It pretty much confirmed everything we knew for months. 
It said that the time for dragon existence is over, and that the time of the griffon is coming. They openly threatened us with extinction because they think we no longer have the right to exist. We aren't going to sit back and let that happen so we are preparing for war. Our only hope is that we win but the odds are stacked heavily against us," Russel finished as he sat down for the first time since entering the room. Most of the ponies were shocked however Fluttershy fainted from the disturbing news. Rainbow Dash immediately went about waking her up.

"Why must this happen now. Isn't there anything that can be done to prevent this from escalating," Twilight spoke out not wanting to see this happen.

Unfortunately Twilight it must, I wish there was a way. I don't want be resorted to killing in order to protect myself and other. The griffons have apparently come to far for anything else," Russel answered back.

"How is this even possible? The griffons are a strong race, but they don't have nearly the strength needed to do what your suggesting," Celestia stated fishing for answers.
"That's the thing, they're getting help from someone. I just don't know from where and we cant figure it out. I don't know where to look unfortunately. Teacher, its probably time to ask them what needs to be asked, Russel suggested. Elder Rockjaw nodded in agreement.

"I ask that if war does come that you do not interfere. Whatever happens in the near future is meant to happen and you need not intervene as it is not your ponies responsibility to do. So please promise me that you will follow this request," the elder asked with an air of concern that Celestia noticed right away. 

"We will need to think this over but, it is something that I don't know yet. This is something that goes against my better judgement as a leader. Why are you asking this of us," Celestia wanted to know.

"You don't need to suffer any losses. Plus if anything does happen, we want you to be the ones to take care of what we leave behind. You proved your prowess in battle during the great war and your wisdom since then which shows you are worthy. Worthy to receive our secrets," the elder dragon said as Russel cast a spell. Immediately a rather large book fell in front of her. She looked at it and noticed a symbol of a drake circling a dark red ruby on the front of it. 

"What is this book about," Twilight asked in wondering. She already wanted to look at its content with much curiosity.

"It is everything we are and know, our whole history is in that book. In the event that extinction does occur, we want all our recorded knowledge to live on in your hoofs. That is why we are giving this to you, we need to be careful. its just a precaution," Elder Rockjaw explained. That's when everything clicked in to place. They were here presenting her with a gift of faith. 
They were trying to make up for the past mistakes made while they still could. They were holding on to hope for the future. Celestia was honored by this but also saddened under the circumstances of why its happening. 

"Thank you for trusting us with it, it means a lot for you to give this to us. We will protect it with the utmost care," Celestia said with genuine emotion on her face. It was sad to even think of a species threatened with extinction much less see it happen. Russel pull a crystal out of a pouch that was attached to his belt. The crystal was shaking on its own until he touched it. As soon as he did that, a beam of light sprang up and channeled into an magic wave line. a voice soon spoke out.

"I have another piece located if you chose to accept. The coordinates is marked on a map that will be with you shortly. Be at the usual meet up  point for the transaction. Good day," the voice said right before winking out. 

"Well it would seem that my attention is needed elsewhere. Is there anything else or can you handle the rest master," Russel asked as he put the crystal back.

"Yes, I think I can inform her of the rest of the details from here. The princesses are the ones you need to get the okay from. Its their land," Elder Rockjaw said as he turned to Celestia waiting for an answer.

"Its okay with me but you must take Twilight and one of her friends with you; so that no trouble is caused. Twilight, who do you want to take with you," Celestia asked expecting a quick response from her student. Twilight sat their looking at her friends and pondering on it for a minute.

"I choose Rainbow Dash," Twilight decided as she went to stand next to Russel. Rainbow Hoof pumped in the air for a second before doing the same. The map appeared and Russel grabbed it, stuffing it in the same pouch as the crystal.

"So where are we going," Twilight asked right before he placed his hands on both hers and Rainbows backs. 

"Hold on tight, this may feel odd. RITHWUNDUN," Russel yelled and a field of energy formed around them. After half a second it dissipated and they were gone.


(Somewhere else in Equestria)

the energy field faded, and they were no longer standing in the castle. They were now standing on a rocky mountainous area. Russel started hiking in a particular direction.

"Why are we here, and how far did we travel? I thought we were suppose to go get the artifact," Twilight stated as the two ponies followed him. 

"This mountain is the place where the artifact is. How far we traveled is roughly five hundred miles north of Hoofington. We're in a place called the Andalusian mountains range. It wouldn't be in a easy to reach building," Russel said back to her. The trio hiked for a while until they reach what looked like a cave. The entrance to it looked rough like it wasn't carved out well and the doors were blown apart. 
They walked amongst the debris and entered through the broken doorway. 

"It seems to have been like this for quite some time. The tunnels look structurally intact but its hasn't been maintained for quit some time. I wonder what else is falling apart though," Twilight asked out loud as she looked around at her surroundings. They continued to travel further in and it only got darker as they went. Eventually it got dark enough to where they couldn't see in front of them. 

"Shuluv Rith," Russel spoke and an orb of yellow light appeared. It glowed brightly, lighting up a thirty foot radius. Twilight cast a lantern spell and doubled its range. They continued for another hour before they came to a corridor. The corridor went on for another fifty meters before they reached a door with symbols all over it. 

"It seems to be a door but there is no way for opening it. how do we get through," Rainbow Dash said as she was confused by the construct.

"There is a mechanism to opening it, its a word mechanism. Speak the key word in dragon speech and the door will lift. I have to find each letter hidden in the randomized text to figure out the key word. That will take time," Russel said as he studied the glyph's on the wall. Twilight and Rainbow Dash found a comfortable spot and sat down to wait for him to figure it out. Twilight cast a spell that summoned a chess set so she and Rainbow could occupy their time. 
Over the course of the next thirty minutes, they played three different games. Twilight had beaten Rainbow all three time. Twilight was a champion of chess and it didn't take long for her to win each round. They had already set up the fourth game and were a few moves in when they heard a loud "CLUNK" coming from the door. It begin to lift up and Russel stepped back to allow it to retract up.

"So what was the key word," Rainbow Dash asked as she got up and stretched?

"It was yol shun, the fire is cleansing, He replied before being quiet again. When it was done he wasted no time and continued walking further in. They walked for another thirty meters before turning down a path and down a flight of stairs. The stairs led to a very open room with a door at the end. As they walked through it they took notice of the many things inside the room. There were many ancient ornately carved stone caskets lined up along the wall. 
There were a few decaying tables and scrolls that looked like they hadn't been used in a long time. Candle wicks that harden to stone were sitting on the tables and there were jars that were in varying states of damage. The room had obviously been abandoned for quite some time. The trio walked through the room getting a creepy vibe from the place as they did. They were about fifteen feet from the door when Twilight accidentally bumped into one of the pots and caused it to fall over. It made a loud clattering noise as it came in contact with the floor. 
Russel turned back to look at Twilight and she blushed in response. 

"Sorry, I wasn't looking," Twilight said as he continued walking.

"Just be careful, the dead aren't so dead in this place. An ancient spell sits upon some of the corpses that wakes them up. Their designed to protect this place if trespassers are heard inside. Be quiet and stay on your hooves," Russel stated at a low volume. As they passed through the door they came into an even bigger chamber. This chamber had waterfalls in the back cascading down to a large pool of water naturally formed at the bottom. 
The water snaked through several carved out river beds that had formed over time. There was a few areas of land that they could pass through. On the far end was an alter with a casket on it and candle holders that no longer had candles. About ten feet to the side of it was a stone treasure chest that sat on a naturally formed table. The trio walked slowly over to it, paying attention to the casket the whole time they were moving. As soon as they reached it, Russel motioned for Twilight and Rainbow Dash to stand back. He then proceeded to open it and found a single armor piece for the right fore leg. 

"Well it looks like you found your armor piece. Grab it and lets go," Rainbow Dash said as she was ready to get out of the creepy place.

"No its not, it cant be the only one. One of the times I went to find an artifact it was the rear leg guards. The thing is, it was two pieces and they were both sitting in the chest together. Wouldn't it make more sense to do the same with the foreleg guards as well," Russel said as he tried to get the point across. Then it dawned on him, if it wasn't in the chest then the only place it could be was, in the coffin. He walked over to it and lifted it open. 
Inside laid what looked like a lifeless dragon priest. On its left front hoof was the other armor piece. He reached for the piece but his hand was instantly grabbed by the other dead hoof as it came to life. It screeched at Russel and launched him to the wall with a punch. 

"So that's what they do, the foreleg guards give the wearer increased strength. Thats frighteningly interesting," Twilight said out loud as she watched the drauger climb out of its box and walked towards Russel.

"And since it looks like an earth pony, that would mean that its adding to its already natural given strength. Allowing the punch to packs quite a wallop behind it," Rainbow Dash said right before she ran forward and bucked it. As her buck came in contact with the skeletal body, it went flying to the left and into the wall. Rainbow was pretty strong as well and she knew the kind of strength this creature had at its disposal. It had to be as strong as Big Macintosh or stronger because of the armor piece. 

"Rainbow, keep it still long enough and I can take the armor piece off. Pin it down," Twilight advised as she ran to help her friend out. Rainbow Dash was running towards it when it reach out with incredible reflexes and grabbed her by the neck. It climbed out of the indent in the wall and threw her across the room. Twilight charged forward and launch a beam spell at it. The drauger held up its armor piece which deflected the spell at the floor near her. It caused the floor to blow up and the force sent her flying against the wall. 
The drauger was about to come pick her up when she saw Russel appear in front of her and backhanded it to the wall again.

"You two need to get to the door. I will cast a shield spell to keep you safe once your there. Go now," he yelled as he picked her up and ushered her away. As soon as they were there, he waved his hand and a force field surrounded them. He turned around only to get punch towards the wall again. The drauger then jumped up and started pounding on his torso armor. 
It was making sizable dents in the armor but before it could do any real damage, Russel grabbed it and tossed it upwards in the air. He then extended his wings and took off, catching it as it came back down. He took it to the ceiling of the room and threw it with force towards the ground. It crashed into the ground and a lot of debris flew out from the impact. The dragon priest tried to climb out but Russel slammed down onto it and ripped the armor piece off its leg. He then inhaled and let out a blazing stream of fire, burning the dark creature to ashes. Russel proceeded to wave his hand and release the shield spell releasing Twilight and Rainbow Dash. They trotted over to look at the two recovered armor pieces.

"Looks like you showed that undead pony a thing or two. Who is the pony by the way that we are suppose to meet, Rainbow asked as he did not say before they left.

"You will find out soon enough, in the mean time. Gaar lu tol ofan daar vuuk suleyk ahrk vos nii meyz oraan do dii meyar," he spoke activating the gems on his armor. The magical essence of the armor pieces flowed through the gems on his armor and into his chest plate gem. He dropped the depleted pieces and the magic glowed through his eyes as it became part of his now expanding magic well. Once the process was complete, he picked up the relics and put it in his bag. He then fixed the dents in his armor before heading back the way they came. 
When they made it out of the cave Russel immediately performed the same transportation spell and teleported the trio to the desired location. The transport was instant as the girls recovered from it to find themselves standing in front of an old museum. 

"So this is the location, its not what I was expecting. Who would be meeting us here," Rainbow Dash said as she thought up different scenarios of who it would be.

"Here she is now," Russel said as a Pegasus with explorers gear approach. She tipped her hat and the two fillies immediately recognized the figure. it was their favorite character and archaeologist pony, Daring Doo.

"Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh, its Daring Doo. This has to be one of best days ever. We actually get to meet "The" Daring Doo. Can we get your autograph PLEASE," Rainbow Dash asked as she fan girled majorly. Twilight stood back in respect but Daring Doo could tell the lavender mare felt the same way as the rainbow one she thought. she was blushing intensely and had a big smile.

"Yeeeaah, sure, just as soon as me and him are done with this transaction, Daring Doo said. She felt awkward by the loads of attention Rainbow Dash was giving her. Russel motioned for her to lead and they followed her into the museum. When they entered Twilight was instantly at wonder of the many artifacts and old books that were on display here. She started zooming around looking at all the cool items in the different exhibits.

"So what are you going to do with this old place," Rainbow Dash asked as it looked like hardly anypony came in here. 

"Well someday it'll be reopened as, Archaeological Finds of the Rare and Mystical. The items in this exhibit are mostly things that I found on my adventures that weren't to dangerous to be displayed. And right here is the exhibit that he is helping me with. This exhibit is for displaying the dragon priests enchanted armor set. Those armor pieces are some of the oldest magical artifacts to ever be recorded about in pony history. They contained awesome powers and if combined together, will make the wearer a very powerful force. 
Each piece has its own individual enchantment designed to enhance the wearers abilities with the body parts they are designed to. The horse shoes give the wearer lightning fast speed and the rear legs give unnatural jumping powers. This right here is the display I had designed for the armor," Daring stated as she showed off the armor to them. The pieces she had were set up on the ponyquin perfectly.

"Speaking of which, here are the foreleg guards," Russel said as he handed them over to her. She went right to placing them on the ponyquins front legs. As soon as she was done she went to the back of the library and opened a drawer on her desk. She came back a few minutes later with Russel's payment of one thousand bits. She tossed it to him and hoof over two autographed photo shots of the epic adventurer. Rainbow Dash and Twilight both thanked her and giggled excitedly.

"Now if you will go, I have many things I have to do. I will report back to you when I find another possible location," Daring said as the trio left the building. 

"That was awesome, I cant believe we just helped the Daring Doo. This day just got twenty percent cooler than it was before we got here. It was already amazing to begin with too," Rainbow Dash said as she squeed with excitement. 

"I know, today was great day indeed. Now let get back, I'm sure the girls are wondering where we are. I wouldn't mind getting something to eat either since I'm feeling pretty hungry," Twilight stated as her thoughts turned to food. Russel repeated the teleport process one more time and the they returned to Canterlot castle. The scenery changed to the familiar white and gold walls that the girls were use to seeing. As Twilight and Rainbow Dash headed towards the kitchen, Russel headed down the opposite hallway. 
This almost went unnoticed by Twilight but she caught it just in the nick of time. She waited for a few seconds before turning around to follow him. Twilight kept a minimum fifteen feet behind him as he made a left turn down the next corridor. He then headed up a flight of stairs and into the guest wing. She was about to call it quits when he stopped in front of a painting of beautiful flowers all in a meadow. The meadow was bathed in moonlight which only made the image look more serene. 
She watched him wave his hand over it then fell back in shock as he stepped into it. After a few seconds she recovered from her shock and ran up to the painting. She pushed her hoof into it only to feel a solid surface. She stood there perplex on how he did that. After trying to figure it out for fifteen minutes she called it quits as she didn't want to be there all night. Plus the girls would start to worry if she stayed much longer. 
She took one last look at the painting and decided she would come back later when she had time to figure it out. She headed to the kitchen to enjoy lunch with her friends and to fill her stomach to her hearts content.
> Seeking the Truth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is the harmony of the diverse parts, their symmetry, their happy balance; in a word it is all that introduces order, all that gives unity, that permits us to see clearly and to comprehend at once both the ensemble and the details.
-Henri Poincare



Twilight pondered through dinner how Russel disappear like that. More importantly where did he go, she saw him step into a painting and then he simply disappeared. She didn't know if it was some illusion or ancient spell but she was determined to find out. After dinner was done and everypony headed to bed, she ran back up to the painting and hid behind a decorative suit of armor nearby. She had check the room that Russel was staying in and he still had not returned. She planned to see what would happen then report it to Celestia.
As she thought about where he could have possibly gone, the picture began to warp and distort. It changed from the image of the sun and the hills around the castle to an image she could not recognize. The image was too distorted to make out anything definitive but it looked void of color. She waited and the image shimmered as Russel passed out of the picture. It returned to its original state shortly after. He stood there for a moment like he was pondering something before he headed to his room. 
As soon as he was out of sight, she walked up to the image noticing that the picture held some residual energy. It was like the portal was waiting to be opened again. She teleported to Princess Celestia's bed chamber to tell her about the events she witnessed. The solar princess was sitting at her desk reading a book. Whatever she was reading must have been interesting. She did not immediately take notice of her student standing there patiently waiting for her to respond. 

"Hello Twilight, how was your day? Sorry i didn't take notice sooner, I've been enjoying this new book by Prancy Drew. Her crime stories are really exciting reads. What do you want talk about," Princess Celestia asked as she closed the book and put it back on the shelf. 

"It was definitely different than I thought it was going to be but still productive. I also stumbled upon something interesting about Russel," Twilight said as she began the long process of telling her where they went and what they did. She talked about the natural mines they explored. She talked about the transaction and even Russel's vanishing trick through the painting. When Twilight finished sharing her findings she was surprised to see that Celestia was not shocked at all. 

"What you're telling me isn't uncommon, there are many realms that exist alongside our own. They normal never interact with each other. Discord has proven this as he can travel through to his own pocket dimension. That's all I know, I don't have the time to investigate them. Luna would have more knowledge about this, she travels through the dream realm almost every night. In fact she probably in her room right now, Celestia explained before waving her hoof for Twilight to follow. They walked at a brisk pace down the corridor to the Princess Luna's chambers. 
When they entered, they found her busily filling out scrolls. She had a look of annoyance and anger about her. 

"Hello sis, I cant do much at the moment. the night court paper work has got me swamped and i wont be done for a while. this stuff is so annoying and the further i go the more angry i get. complaints from the nobles are hardly worth my time. what is it you need," Luna ask as she was about ready to just throw all of the scrolls in the waste bin.

"Luna, what do you know about inter dimensional bridges," Celestia ask which got Luna's attention.

"Well, they are complex passages that normally are closed. With the right know how and enough magic you could open the passages and walk through. they are unpredictable however cause passageways cant be opened up just anywhere. They exist in fixed locations and you have to find them. However they are undetectable by location spells. The only way to track them is to feel for the vibrations of the portal and each one exists on a different wave length. Since few have ever existed that can detect those vibrations, they go unnoticed by pretty much everyone. Why do you ask," Luna said as she got out of her chair, no longer caring for the work she was previously doing. 

"As luck would have it, Twilight stumbled upon one when she followed our guest Russel to it. She witnessed him open it and step through for two hours before returning. I was hoping you'd be interested in taking a look at the portal when I confront him about it at the meeting tomorrow. He knows where it leads and I'm pretty sure I can get him to confess everything," Celestia explained the plan to Luna. 

"Ill give it a look, maybe something interesting will come up. See you tomorrow," Luna said as the two vacated the lunar princesses bed chambers. Twilight and Celestia called it a day and went to their respective rooms as well. When twilight made it to her room, she crawled into bed and laid there wondering what exactly was going on. Russel seemed friendly and he was making an effort to show thanks to her and her friends for taking care of his. That did not dismiss the fact that hes keeping secrets about certain things and she wanted to know what they were. 
He was doing things that she could only dream of doing and she wanted to know how he did it. She was eventually able to clear her mind and fall asleep, however her dreams were not much more relaxing.

(The next day, meeting reconvened)

As the new day continued into the afternoon, the meeting remained mostly uneventful. It consisted of renewing and revising different terms and amendments. This session had including some new things into it but their wasn't much. They had finished with a particular set of terms that involved a shipment, some material in exchange for precious stone. Celestia decided that this was as good a time as any to confront Russel about her suspicions.

"Russel, I understand that you learned quite a bit about magic in its many aspects. What do you know about seams and natural portals," Celestia asked as she began staring at him intensely. She scanned him for any hiccups in his answers. 

"Like the one that brought me, Jessie, and Rob here; or are you referring to a different kind of portal, Russel responded albeit slightly interested. 

"To a degree, there are many portals and I was wondering what you knew about them. You posses a fair amount of knowledge about ancient things," Celestia asked pushing for more answers.

"I know that they behave of their own accord. They open up only under the right conditions and you have to know how to sense them. They are not as easily traceable like artificial portals. They require special knowledge to find them. Why do you ask," Russel said in a stoic demeanor. 

"its a little convenient that you are capable of doing such complicated magic. Things even my student Twilight who with all her knowledge knows very little about. How were you able to locate the seam so easily," Celestia questioned.

"Thats was fairly simple once i learned how. i remembered the exact spot where the seam was that we came out of. once i tested it on the portal we came out of, i knew the method worked accurately. i honed its precision from there Russel said as he smirked. 

"Well that's not the only one you've encountered. Twilight saw you going through one in the east hallway on the second floor. When you were given your original room you requested for a different one not to long after. You said that you like rooms with large views. Now there are many rooms in this castle that fit that bill; however you specifically requested the one that conveniently sits fifty feet from a portal. Such a portal could be considered a dangerous breach of Equestrian security and that goes against section forty-two clause eight of the cooperation act. 
Involvement of anything that could result the immediate danger of Equestria's citizens must be made aware to the princesses. Such defiance of said clause is grounds for immediately dismissal of trade operations with the respective party," Celestia said as she had him backed into a corner. He had to reveal how he discovered it and what he had been using it for.

"Whoa whoa whoa, whoa, now hold on a second. I learned and seeked that portal during my personal time so that claim has no validity here. I neglected to tell my master for that exact reason, and I don't like that tone you giving me. What I do on my own time is of my own accord and has no direct involvement of the dragons. I also kept it a secret because I made a promise to a another that I'd do so. However, if you insist on knowing what I have been doing then I'll show you. 
I'm almost done with what I was doing there anyway. I was going to go there when this meeting was over so, follow me. In Krosis Fah Ni Fun Hi Nuz Zu'u Fen Dal Maltid," Russel said as he bowed to his mentor. He proceeded to lead the three princesses and the rest of the group to the picture in the east hall.

"It looks like an ordinary painting, how is this a portal, rarity asked with much confusion.

"You will see, you all need to stay close to me once we pass through. Remember, whatever you see on the other side, do not bother with it. Everything there is dangerous and regular magic doesn't work. Only dark magic can," Russel warned the group before he waved his hand in front of the portal. The picture began to contort and change into the dark fluid like image that Twilight saw before. It held the same grey scale colors and did not show much life to it. 
Russel stepped through and disappeared into it. Twilight walked up to it and touched the swirling image before hesitantly entering. The rest of the group soon followed. The transition took several minutes but everyone eventually showed up on the other end. They all took a good look at their new surroundings. There were many gigantic trees that towered so high you couldn't even see the top. 
The ground was mostly dirt and and bushes were scattered about in the nearby areas. The whole place looked like one big forest but there was no color and everything was in shades. The things in the forest normally with light feature were light grey, the dark things were pretty much pitch black and everything else was different shades in between. 

"Why is this place so dull and lifeless," Applejack asked as she was shocked by the lack of color.

"This place has many names and exist separately in every universe you could ever find. In my world its called Purgatory or Limbo, in your world its called Afterlife. Its the transition plain between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Before we venture any further there are some things you need to know. This place is not friendly to the living. It is filled with the souls of dead creature from your world who have long since passed. 
They all possess varying degrees of awareness but all want to come back to life. In order for them to do so, they have to possess a living body. That means they need to purge you from yours since your soul already occupies it. I've only met one so far that acted neutrally and that's who we're here to see. I will protect you as much as i can but you'll need to be on your guard. You must be ready for a fight if it comes down to it and it probably will. 
This way," Russel explained before starting down a pathway in the forest. The rest of the group kept behind him as they continued deeper in.

"This whole place is so filthy, why would anypony elect to stay here? Its so drab and colorless," Rarity said in disgust of the whole dimension.

"some souls do not want to move on. Some of them feel like they have been cheated by death, that they were taken at the wrong time. They crave to feel alive again. Most have unfinished business on the plain of the living and refuse to go until they're completed. They've even constructed buildings here to make it feel more like home," Russel stated as he pointed in a one direction. The group followed its line of sight until they saw a small group of buildings down the hill path they were standing on. 
They looked plain and very worn but they stood tall non the less. He waved to the group and they continued down a different path leading away from the area. This new path took them to through a winding dirt road leading out into a fairly sized opening in the fauna life. Sitting at the middle of this small clearing was a modestly small house. It looked like it was capable of housing two ponies at most and was very plain if not mostly bare. As they got closer to the house they could see a very faint light coming from inside. 
It was an odd source of light as its hue was blueish in nature. Russel approached the door and immediately knocked in a serious of thumps that sounded like a code. As soon as he was done the door opened and out stepped a pony who was completely cloaked. The cloak was mostly tattered and there was a mark patch on the side but it was to worn to make out. The mysterious pony removed the cloak and what the rest of the ponies saw shocked them. The pony had white fur and a green mane and tail. 
Her signature Cutie Mark however was the dead give away. It was none other than Clover The Clever.
> A Deal Set In Stone
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough."
-Franklin D. Roosevelt



The group stood looking at a very visible Clover the Clever. Her overall colors however were dull and void of brightness that was in everyone else present. She stared back at them for a few seconds before turning to Russel. 

"This is the reason why we're here, I did not see that one coming. You've been pretty busy lately doing all sorts of things I gather," Rob said shocked to see all of this.

"Yeah, well like I said before, not sleeping free's a lot of time up to get things done. A person can get a lot done in one year," Russel said bringing to light the gravity of how much is possible without the need to sleep.

"Is there a reason why thee hath brought other ponies here? We do believe We asked thee to keep this event between us," Clover said with little bit of annoyance present in her voice.

"Weeeelll, I kind of had to, Princess Celestia pulled the diplomacy card on me. She told me to tell her where the portal led, or else consequences and such. So were you able to complete the formula," Russel asked with little clue to anypony else on what he was talking about. 

"Yes, now all we need thee to do is to go prepare the rest and everything will be good to go. Thou can get started at any time," Clover finished as she turned to look at the group that was still staring. "Are they going to have strokes or something?"

"No, I think they're more shocked than anything right now. Come everyone, let go inside so we are not standing out in the open. Clover lead on," Russel said as the pony in question turned around and headed inside. Russel was first followed by  the princesses and the rest of the party. When the group walked in they immediately noticed how barren the small building was. It had a desk with a chair and a bench nearby that sat next to a small coffee table. 
There was a fire place but it looked like it hadn't been used ever. The rest of the house was empty.

"How could somepony live in such a drab and deserted house if you can even call it that?," Rarity asked since she saw the place as an eyesore.

"Everything in this place is barren, Limbo is not meant to be pretty. It represents a way station to the afterlife, that's it. We needed to do our research in peace anyways. Not to mention that even if your a ghost like them they still treat you with little respect. Most of them are angry and want to return to resolve their issues with whom or whatever they may be with," Clover explained.

"I guess I can see why you are are by yourself than with the other ghost ponies if they treat you like that," Applejack said with not much else to input.

"Why have you not moved on Clover? I thought when you passed you were content and happy with how your life went," Celestia asked with a touch of concern to her voice.

"We know, and when we got here we thought that too. However before we were about to pass on, we had stray thoughts about what Equestria would look like. We thought about what would happen to the country after we're gone. Thats when another thought came to mind. We made the mistake of never having children in life. By the time we had the capability to it was to late, we were already to old. 
When we finally arrived here we thought, would we be remembered," Clover said a little saddened if her expression said anything.

"Of course you are, you are written down in the history books as one of the most influential unicorns to ever exist. You are told about in children stories and even some of Starswirls greatest works. Your celebrated in the Hearths Warming Eve festivals held every year thanks to your efforts. If you ever had doubts you can put them to rest," Celestia said as she consoled the spirit of one of her oldest friends.

"Thank you for your words of reinforcement princess, but we're taking a do-over. We're going to do what we were to short sighted to do during our first life. Thats why he's creating us a new body. Once we've done what we wanted to do, we will live to be old again but this time happy and peacefully content. Most ponies don't get that chance and we do. we're going to take it," the mint green and white unicorn said with enthusiasm.

"I'm still finding this all hard to believe even though I can see it with my own eyes. Ghosts aren't suppose to exist. Science says this shouldn't even be possible," Twilight said out loud. She was not comfortable with this. It was one thing when science couldn't figure out Pinkie Pie or her Pinkie Sense. She was eventually able to except that, but now this. 
This was frustrating her to no end, yet at the same time she couldn't have been more excited. The fact that she was able to meet one of the two ponies who played a part in creating the Elements of Harmony. This was an amazing opportunity to see Clover the Clever in action.

"Well I'd get use to it if i was you. I've learned in life that science cant explain everything nor should it be able to. Some things your simple suppose to take on faith. Know that anything that can happened no mater how unlikely, is possible. That includes the supernatural, now Clover where is the sigil you said you prepared," Russel asked? Clover walked to the middle of the room and stomped on the ground as hard as she could. 
A bunch of dust flew up in the air and a very intricate and large sigil was revealed underneath. Everyone saw the intricate line work and symbols that made up the sigil. It definitely looked like it took a lot of effort and time to make it.

"The sigil has always been here, its the safest place we can think of. We spent several years designing and putting this all together. This couldn't have been crafted better even if Starswirl the Bearded were here to do it himself.

"Do you know for a fact that it will work," Russel asked as he had never tried anything like this. It was one thing to do to himself what he did and he had help at that time. Bringing a living creature back from the dead he'd imagine was going to be much harder than that.

"Starswirl trained us well, we know it will work. Do thee have the necessary amount of magic for the spell? That's all you need be concerned with," Clover stated wondering if he did.

"Well we're both about to find out, everypony stand back. Clover I'm going to need some of your magical essence to bind with the spell," Russel said as he held out his clawed hand. Clover walked over and put her hoof on it and light began to warp from it and into Russel. He waved her away and after she was out of the circle, he slammed his hands onto the ground. The whole room shook as light began to emanate from the circle and then the whole sigil lit up. Every word on the sigil spelled out the spell that was written. 
Energy crackled all around him as it began to build. The whole room felt alive with power as it got more intense. The light started to grow and brighten even more with the magical power being fueled into it. It grew to such intensity's that the other ponies could hardly see anything after a certain point. The spell peaked and then electricity began arching across the sigil into the middle of it. It did this a few more times before the power flowed to the center of the circle and began forming a body. 
Once the body was formed to a proper setting, the energy pulsed outwards and burst before dissipating. When they were able to look again a ponequin looking body stood there motionless. It was of an earth ponies body decent. It had a mane and tail but the whole body was colorless and had no discernible features. It was completely blank and for all intents and purposes, an empty vessel waiting to be filled.

"We had our doubts but thou actually did it. It looks great, this will work nicely. Clover walked over to the body and begin drawing a symbol on the forehead. After it was complete she touched it and it light up before sucking her spirit into the body through the mouth. Once the body was filled, it began taking the color and characteristics of Clover the Clever. Her eye color down to the colors of her mane and tail was transmuted into the body. The only difference was that there was no horn and the symbol on her head was there. 
Other then that it looked exactly like her.

"The similarities are uncanny, I think it looks like it fits perfectly. How do you feel," Russel asked as the others took notice of her new form.

"It feels strange having no horn but at least the sigil should keep us inside this body. Wouldn't want any other spirits taking it from us. Speaking of which, we need to get out of here. The other spirits surely saw the light show thou made. We think we should move out quickly to avoid being here when they show up. Let make haste," Clover said as everypony ran through the back door over to the tree lines and took a short cut back to the way they came. 
Sure enough they could see a bunch of spirits coming down another path that led from the ghost town to Clovers house. They had a bunch of dead looks in their eye like there was no emotion in them other than anger. As the group got out of the area, they ran through side way paths and passages to make sure they weren't followed. After about an hour of this they finally made it back to the portal and were relieved to find the immediate area safe to be in. The ponies and humans one by one walked through the portal until it was just Russel and Clover remaining. 

"Now don't forget the stipulations of our deal. You may have given me all the knowledge you posses on dark magic but I still don't trust you. plus I don't need the princesses knowing that I helped you, that would ruin everything I have worked so hard to build here. Once you are through, you go as far away from the castle as possible. You may have a new body but even without your horn, someone may still be able to recognize you. Go to a place you feel where you would be least likely to draw attention to yourself. 
I don't need to remind you that what we are doing is dangerous not to mention could get me in a lot of problems. I swear if you even cause one iota of trouble and bring heat on me as a result of bringing you back. We will be seeing each other again and I will end your existence where the Elements of Harmony did not. Do you understand," Russel asked as he gave a stern look. Clovers closed her eye and opened them again only the original look was replaced for only a moment before changing back. The eyes themselves were translucent blue with teal irises and reptilian like slit pupils. 

"Did anypony ever tell you, you look sexy when your angry and threatening. Calm down, I remember what you said you would do so you don't need to go threatening me with your powers. Don't worry, I wont cause any problems for you. Don't act surprised but I know we will be seeing each other again one day, and it will be under much different circumstances than you may think. Goodbye for now Russel I cant wait to see you again, she said as she began laughing menacingly. Her visage took on the look of her true nature if only for a second. 
Nightmare Moons ethereal self shown through and was laughing along with her physical one. It disappeared soon after as she stepped through the portal. Russel felt creeped out every time he was around her but he knew that her knowledge was integral to his ultimate goal. She may have been inherently evil but her knowledge was necessary to his goals. No matter how much he felt it was a bad idea, he needed to hold up his end of the bargain. His personal honor would not allow him to break a deal or promise, it just wasn't in his nature to. 
He always kept his word, and now he was almost ready to do what he planned to from the moment he got to Equestria. Finally, with the powers of both regular and dark magic at his control he would soon have Immortality. All he needed was a few more pieces of the armor and he would be ready. Russel looked at the realm of Limbo one last time and said something he was relieved to say.

"I'm glad that for once I can say that I will never have to worry about dying. Russel shuddered at the mention of dying because contrary to what he told his friends, he actually did fear something. The one thing he feared most was dying. Most of all he feared dying without learning everything that he possibly could about the universe. He loved learning so much, he craved knowledge. He wanted to see what it all had to offer a living being. 
Maybe one day he would find the secret to ascending to an ethereal state without the need for dying. Until then he would do everything in his power not to die, and he came to terms with that long ago. With that Russel stepped through the portal knowing that he would soon not have those worries, and that gave him some comfort. As soon as he made it through he waved his hand over the image and it returned to its original state. After that they spent some time getting Clover/Nightmare Moon prepared for travel and said their goodbyes. He assumed she told them that she want to journey off somewhere until she found a place to settle down. 
After a long winded speech from Twilight saying she was sad not being able to learn from her, the group said goodbye and went inside. That left Russel to watch as she traveled further and further away until she was no longer visible. He hoped and prayed he would never have to deal with her again.
> A New Connection
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can't just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it's going to get on by itself. You've got to keep watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it. 

-  John Lennon



After the group returned they discovered that only twenty minutes had passed in the living realm, though it felt like an hour in limbo. Time always seemed to pass differently in other dimensions. It was weird and something that Russel was never able to solve. They came back to the castles meeting chamber where Elder Rockjaw sat discussing with Princess Cadence and Shining Armor about the treaty. They were going over a few of the details when they turned to acknowledge the groups presence. 

"Welcome back, so what happened exactly? You were only gone for a brief time," Cadence asked wanting to know. Celestia and Luna explained where they went and what they did but in a manner that was quick and shortly worded. After they had finished they sat for a minute to ponder on it while Celestia continued on with the negotiations. It was half an hour after she took over that Russel received another letter out of nowhere that landed in front of him. He observed the letter and immediately recognized Daring Do's signature. 
He immediately opened it and read the contents inside. She had learned from one of her own contacts the location of a new artifact. It also contained news of several obstacles that would likely present themselves. The artifact was in a territory that was racked with snowstorms constantly. Not only that but the area also happened to be rough terrain with many rocky mountains. When he finished, Russel explained the situation to his master who with reluctance excused him so that he may go on his artifact hunt. 
Celestia requested that he bring somepony with him who knew how to navigate the area and could defend themselves. He decided to bring along Applejack and Rob. Rob knew of the area since he'd been teaching about it to his class before the summit. He remembered some of the maps he'd shown of the North Tundra Wastelands. Applejack could take care of herself in a fight and she insisted on going. She didn't know why but she had an urge to go so she could make sure they stayed safe. 
After a few minutes of preparation, Russel used the same word of power he used last time to transported them as close as possible. He landed as far north as he could which put them a few meters from the border of the north frozen tundra. To say it was heavy with snow was an understatement. The whole area in front of them was in the midst of a storm that released both heavy amount of snow and hail. The wind bit at you as the air was severely cold and you couldn't see much more than five feet in front of you. If anything, it was the perfect spot to hide any important and dangerous artifact. 
Only the most brave and well equipped would ever attempt to traverse something as dangerous as this terrain. It seemed the weather pony teams control over the world weather was extended only to certain countries. Anything outside of it seemed to follow normal uncontrolled weather patterns like back on Earth, and this tundra was no exception. Russel used a spell to change his companions into more proper attire for the area. With them now in warmer fatigues, Russel created a heat shield so they could see without the snow getting in the way. They journeyed onward through the deep amount of snow and thick weather. 
After trekking for about an hour they stopped so Rob could allocate their position to his maps. While Rob tried to remember the details, Russel began scanning what he could of the landscape around him. He felt like they were being watched and he had to make sure the area was clear. Once Rob recalled the necessary details, Russel used their combined information to determine that the artifact was on a mountain somewhere in the general vicinity of them. The only problem was that they couldn't make out any mountains nearby because the storm was to thick. 

"Wait right here for a second. I've got to fly up high enough so I can determine where the mountain is." Russel quickly created a fire to keep them warm and then took off to the upper cloud banks. Rob and Applejack sat near the campfire staring at the flames as it whipped and flicked around with the wind direction. Rob wasn't thinking about anything in particular when he noticed Applejack shiver a bit from the cold winds nipping at her body. Rob moved close to her and wrapped his arm around her to share body heat. 

"What are ya doing? You don't have to do that, I'm not that cold," Applejack said lying and very badly at it. Rob knew this and continued anyways. Her fur was cold to the touch and she was shivering but trying to keep him from noticing. 

"I think the rest of you is telling a very different story. You don't have to act tough in front of me. I've lived with you long enough to now when your trying to put on your signature tough pony act. You don't have to do that around me, especially in place like this with how cold it is. Here," Rob said as he embraced her fully in a hug and wrapped the jacket around them both. Applejack was uncomfortable with the closeness at first but soon relaxed as she slowly began to stop shivering. 
Applejack was at a loss for words. When Rob did that, she felt a sense of calm and warmth pass into her that she hadn't felt in a long time. She couldn't describe it but when she was around Rob it seemed peaceful. A foreign feeling awoke in her and it was centered directly on Rob. She liked the feeling of his embrace and leaned into it. she hadn't felt this whole since her last hearths warming eve with her parents when they were alive. 

"Thanks, I guess I did need that," Applejack said as she wrapped her right foreleg around him as well. They looked at the fire together as it danced back in forth in the chilly wind. They sat like this for a time until Applejack heard the faintest hint of movement nearby. She was about to get up when something hit her over the back of the head and she fell over. Applejack had blurry vision but she was able to make out a couple of Changelings picking up Rob off the ground. She too was shortly picked up and retrieved and then she soon blacked out. 



XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX



Russel flew over the clouds and was rewarded with a beautiful sight of the sun as it was high in the sky. As he turned he saw the mountain they were looking for. The target mountain was a little further to the north and then they would have to turn in through a pass. The cave should be in that area. He descended back through the cloud bank and down to the campfire he made only to find his companions gone. Russel knelt over and began looking at the immediate area for clues as to their whereabouts and discovered the disarray of hoof prints and drag marks all over the place. 
He eventually pinned them to a set direction and tracked them. He followed the hoof prints and they lead to one of the mountains that veered off slightly from the planned path his group was going to take. He followed the tracks all the way to a tiny cave entrance. It was too dark to see inside so he switched to his dragon vision and continued on in. As Russel went further in, the caves got more extensive and finally lead a decently sized chamber. There were several tubes connecting to this one chamber but that didn't matter at the moment. 
The chamber was somewhat alive with Changeling activity and they seemed to be going about their day when he spotted his friends. They were being carried into another corridor tube and out of sight. Russel cast a spell to become invisible and quickly followed the captors to another slightly smaller chamber. Applejack was put into a pod/cocoon looking thing without to much trouble. However when they tried to put Rob it didn't quite go over so well. He did not fit and so the Changeling couldn't figure out what to do. 
A larger Changeling showed up and Russel immediately recognized it as a the queen. She walked up to the sac and began making modifications to the pod and then tried again. This time Rob went in without as much hassle. The Changelings left leaving the queen to look at her new captives. She was particularly interested in Rob.

"I have never seen a creature like you before but I do hope you have a lot of love in your heart. All the more to feed me and my children with. You however are going to be a sweet treat that I will enjoy personally," she said as she turned to Applejack. She regarded her like a foe and Russel could quite understand why. She licked her lips as a predator would after capturing its prey then started laughing manically as she left the room. With him now alone in the room, Russel turn visible and sneaked over to the pods to cut them open. 
When he did, his friends slide out and he tried to wake them up. Not much luck was to be had though as they seemed to be out cold. He picked them up and turn invisible again before going back out the way he came. When he finally reached the caves exit he extended his wings and flew to the mountain he spotted earlier. When he touched down near the base his friends started to stir so he let them down.

"Oh horse feathers, what the heck happened? Something hit me over the head and knocked me out," Applejack said as she rubbed the sore spot where she was hit. she stopped when she remembered and immediately turned darting her eyes back and forth looking for Rob. When she saw him slowly getting up, she sighed with relief and walked over to help him. She hugged him albeit a little harder than she probably should. when she realized this she quickly retracted her hug and blushed. 

"That was quite a hug, not that I'm complaining but maybe next time you could dial it down a bit. It was making it a little hard to breath," Rob said in a sort of teasing manner. Applejack punched his arm playfully for the teasing then hugged again but more softly this time.

"I was worried, I saw you being dragged away by Changelings. I thought we were going to be Changeling food for sure. What did happen exactly," Applejack asked as she turned to their behemoth savior? 

"The Changelings took you to their underground home and tried to store you away for later like food. I saw an opportunity and got you out of there as quickly as possible. I wasn't sticking around to find out who they were or why they took such interest in you when you were brought in."

"Its probably Queen Chrysalis, she has a grudge against me and the girls cause we stopped her from taking over Equestria. She was considerable weakened afterwards so we haven't really worried about her since," Applejack said as she remembered the detail of Princess Cadence and Shining Armors wedding.

"That sounds like an interesting escapade. I heard bits and piece about it during my previous dealings in Equestria. I didn't ponder much on it though because I'm more preoccupied with looking for the dragon priest artifacts. Well, now that your safe we can continue on with this venture. This time I'm not leaving you for a second. If they come looking for you, they wont last long. 
The cave is this way so lets get moving." Russel waved for them to follow and they headed up a very old almost completely worn down path up to two large stone doors.

"Well this seems like a problem and a half. How are we suppose to get through that," Rob asked somewhat shocked by all the obstacles they've had to go through so far?

"Well it wouldn't be proper if it was easy to get. That not a good way of protecting important treasure and the adventure wouldn't be as exciting. I like the puzzles, they've grown on me since I first started searching for the artifacts. I'll figure this out, just give me a few minutes," Russel said as he picked up a couple of torches and lit them with his fire breath. He handed one to Rob and then began studying the doors. They had marking on them like many of the other doors he had seen during his artifact hunt. 
It had a pattern and it was all about finding the correct sequence of symbols to open the door. He explained this to them as he found the exactly in the time he said he would and spoke the word of power. The the entire doorway lit up with an ethereal light and the words highlighted themselves on the door. The ground shook as the door slowly opened. 

"Well that seems simple enough, if you know how to read and speak the dragon language. Not much good for the rest of us though," Rob said as he looked to Russel. 

"Yeah, still its an important note about dragons and I thought it worth mentioning. Come on," he said as he descended into the cave. Applejack and Rob followed close behind. As the trio headed in, they could see just how long it had been since somepony had been there. The walls had cobwebs all over them and rubble strewn about all over the place. There was a lot of dirt on everything and the air tasted stale in the mouths of the everyone present. 
After continuing for about ten minutes they came across an old door that seemed to stand the test of time. It looked solid for its age and looked almost to good. Russel tried opening the door but it was locked tight. He then tried ramming it down but got sent skidding back when energy surged from the door. He decided to take a closer look and figured out the door was protected by a barrier spell. He then tried to dispel it using a counter spell but it still wouldn't budge. 

"If its locked, you cant bash it down, and you cant remove the barrier around it. How are we suppose to get in? It seems impossible," Applejack asked pointing out the big obvious problem in their way. 

"No, there is still one thing we haven't tried. Is their a lock on it," Rob asked Russel? When he looked sure enough, there was a old looking lock on it.

"Yeah, why, do you think you can pick the lock," Russel asked looking as optimistic as before?

"I've never done it but I once read a book on lock picking and it seems simple enough. I just need a large hook pick and a tension wrench," Rob explained the parts he needed. Russel took out a small knife and used his magic on it to reform it and molded a few of them out. He handed them to Rob who immediately went to work on the lock. As he began to pick the lock, he used the pick to feel around the inside of the lock and figure out how many tumblers he would need unlock. It turned out to be a medium level lock with five tumblers that had some resistance designed in them. 
He continued the long process of twisting and lifting the individual tumblers and clicking them into place. It took a few minutes and a broken pick but he started to get the hang of the whole process. After a few more minutes of fumbling with it and a couple more broken lock picks, Rob finally managed to unlock the door. Rob pushed the door open and the trio headed into the next room. It was a decent sized room apart from the huge pieces of rubble in different places in it. As they navigated their way through the area, they made sure to find more fuel for the torches. 
After that they moved through an opening into an even larger room. This room had statues of different types of dragons and water falling from their mouths. The water fell into artificially made streams routed throughout the room. They ended near the other end where their was a water wheel. It wasn't moving and hadn't looked it moved in ages. The trio began searching around for any sort of way to get the wheel moving. 
They searched for several minutes before Applejack came across a water tube that led up to an opening over the wheel. 

"Hey Russel, this tube leads up their above the water wheel. Do you think you can steer the water into this tube to make it go up there? Their should be someway to get the water over here," Applejack said as she got Russel's attention. He came over to the tube and tried to find a connecting one when he saw a small lane blocked by debris. He lifted the debris out of the path and soon enough the water started to flow through again. After a few minutes the water made its way up to the wheel and the wheel began to turn. 
Several clanking noises rang throughout the room as the floor in the middle started to shift. A pedestal rose out from the middle of the room and clunk into place. Russel walked over to it and found a lever at the base of it. Pulling the lever, a wall at the far end of the room raised up and gave way to an anti chamber. Rob and Applejack were the first to go through the door followed shortly by Russel. When they got a good look at the anti chamber they were taken aback by its structure. 
It was a giant cavern with a dragon throne on the other end of the room. It had dragon language carved all over the the massive throne and a stone obelisk in the on either side of it. Russel walked over and began deciphering it as Applejack and Rob looked around. Rob found a small chest in an inconspicuous area of the anti chamber. He picked it up and brought it over to the middle of the room to shed some light on it. It looked old and worn away slightly because of its age. 
Applejack couldn't find anything useful, just a small area with burial alcoves. Most of them were empty anyways, save for a couple of slots with partial skeletal remains in them. She joined Rob over by the chest since it seemed to be the only thing of value in the room. Rob opened it to find a weird artifact. They were metal contraptions that almost resembled Pegasus wings except they were made of gold and bronze. 

"Hey Russel, I think I found the artifact you were looking for. It looks like its two separate pieces connected together," Rob called as Russel turned around joined them. 

"These are the wings of Clavintus Reigns. He seems to be one of three founders behind this group of dragon worshipers. He garnered quite a name for himself apparently," Russel stated as he picked up the artifact and examined it closely. 

"How do you know that," Applejack asked as she stared at him with a confused look on her face?

"Because its all on the throne over there. According to it, he was targeted many time before he was finally taken down here. After he was defeated, they feared he might somehow come back so they agreed to scattered his bones across Equestria. They did that with several other members as well." Russel finished explaining as he held out the armor piece. He began to absorb its magic like all the other artifact previous to it. 
Once he finished, he cast a spell to miniaturize it and put it in his belt pouch then proceeded to finish reading the writing on the throne.

"Why are you reading, we got the artifact. Shouldn't we be getting out of here," Applejack asked. She wanted to get out of here as soon as possible because it gave her the creeps.

"I am reading it because I need to know if it contains any clue to the whereabouts of the last artifact pieces that I need." Applejack and Rob walked out the other room and waited for him to finish. After about twenty minutes Russel finish and rejoined his companions in the main chamber. 

"So what did it say," Rob asked now curious after having waited for that long. 

"It vaguely talks about several artifact which I've already collected but at least one stood out. Its an amulet that's suppose to intensify the magical capabilities of any unicorn that used it. So much so in fact that their power would become unrivaled by even the most powerful of unicorn. It didn't talk about what it looked like only that it was so powerful that it would corrupt the mind of the unicorn that used it unless properly shielded from its effects. The AI says it was called the Suleyk Lah Rii when it was first made but it could go by a different name now. It has been centuries since it was forged and I doubt the name would have stuck since it was dragon speech. 
Only a select few outside the dragon race know the language fluently so I'll just have to look for something that matches the description. Lets get out of here and get you back to the castle. I need to go see Daring Do about this," Russel said as he headed for the exit. A bunch of Changeling however came from it and blocked the path. They jumped at the trio attacking as fast as they could. Russel put up a field at the entrance to keep the Changeling from escaping. 
He pulled out his swords and start slashing at them slicing left and right. One by one the Changelings slowly fell to his blades. A smaller group of them broke away and went after Rob and Applejack while the rest kept throwing themselves at him. The two tried fend off their attackers as best they could. One launched itself at Applejack but Rob punched it in the throat before tossing it ten feet away. Applejack bucked a pair of them against the wall before continuing their defense. 
Russel eventually slayed the ones that were keeping him distracted before turning towards his friends. He was about to launch at them when the Queen Chrysalis showed up and stood in front of him. She hovered up and grabbed Russel by the face. Her eyes soon gained a sickly green aura to them. Russel was unaffected for a time and she started to think it wasn't working, but then his eye slowly did the same thing. She let go a few seconds later than disappeared into the shadows. 
Russel's eyes stayed that way for a few seconds before he shook his head clear of it and regained his bearings. He turned to his friends who were for their part defending against the changeling admirable. He erected a magic shield around them before promptly slaughtering the rest of the changeling present. Once the battle was over, Russel flicked the blood of his blades and sheathed them. 

"What the heck was that, why did they attack us again. Its not like they were going to win," Rob announced wondering what they wanted. Russel was about to say what happened to him a few second ago when unbeknownst to himself and his friends, his eyes turned the same green aura again. 

"I don't know, they may have been trying to capture you again to feed on you. Lets get out of here before they come back," Russel said before the aura went away. He shook his head and all of a sudden couldn't remember what he was going to say. Rob and Applejack ran past him and through the exit. Russel pondered on what happened before he shrugged off what he thought to be nothing and ran after them. Once they exited the cave system they took a moment to rest. 
Applejack walked over to Rob and embraced him in a hug before kissing him. Rob was shocked by this at first but soon excepted and returned the feeling. after a few second they let go and reveled in the feeling they were both sharing. 

"I just wanted to thank you for what you did back there. You got the stuff of a fighter and I was impressed by the way you chose to protect me without a second thought for your own safety. I'm usually the one doing that so it was something different when you did that for me. I have been having these feeling for you that I done can't explain for a while now. I shrugged them off as nothing at first, but when you did that, all those feelings came rushing back and my heart told me that I needed to show you how I truly feel. I think your a kind and smart person who cares a great deal for other. 
That's what I admire most about you. I don't know, I just thought you should know that," Applejack said letting everything out in the open. The air was full of nervousness as he didn't know what to say to that. Rob decided to do the only thing he could think of. He held her both her cheeks in his palms and kissed her, this time showing her the same passion she gave him. When he broke the kiss he saw so much joy in her eyes. She smiled as wide as Pinkie Pie, if that kind of thing was even possible.

"I hope that answers your question," Rob said as he stared lovingly into her eyes. They enjoyed the moment together before Russel came out of the entrance to the cave. Russel walked over to them and spoke the Thuum again, returning Applejack and Rob to Canterlot. He then promptly did it again and teleported himself to Daring Do to get his payment and some much needed information. When they were gone Chrysalis came out of the darkness of the cave and stared into the distance.

"He will be a most powerful slave yet. One who may finally help me accomplish what I started a year ago. Soon Celestia, you and your little Elements Of Harmony will cower in fear of me once my spell has taken its course. Nothing will be able to stop me then. All of Equestria will be mine," Chrysalis yelled and started to laugh maniacally as her eyes changed to the green colored aura once more. 
> One Last Piece
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let's not be afraid to receive each day's surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity. 
-Henri Nouwen





The day was winding down and the sun was reaching the end of its daily journey across the sky. The princesses were having dinner with the group when Applejack and Rob came walking through the door. The group greeted them as they got closer to the table. The new arrivals chose seats right next to each other. Rob pulled out the chair for Applejack like a gentleman. She blushed majorly before simply saying thank you and siting down. 
Rob sat down right after and looked lovingly at each other. They then noticed the group staring at them almost shockingly. 

"What, what are ya'll staring at? Do I got something stuck to my teeth or on my face, Applejack asked as she was confused by the looks they were giving. 

"Why darling if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were in love," Rarity said dreamily to her. 

"What, I-I don't know what your talking about," Applejack said now a little flustered as she stumbled on her words. This cause the group to see right through her lie.

"Yeah you do, when you were back on that mountain. you and Rob kissed majorly and couldn't stop hugging each other. Your definitely in love AJ," Pinkie Pie said as she took a huge bite of her food. 

"How did you know all of that Pinkie, you weren't even there? You couldn't possibly have known that," Applejack said shocked.

"Pinkie sense," she responded simply. Everyone else face palmed or in ponies case, face hoofed. 

"She is right though, you are terrible at lying. Oh my stars, this means you two are an item now. That is simply marvelous, and romantic. Oh I cant wait to make you two proper matching suits for the Grand Galloping Gala tomorrow." Rarity started talking about different designs when the two decided to pipe in before things got out of hand.

"We only kissed twice, one of those was after we got the artifact and got out of the cave. It was a spur of the moment thing, it doesn't mean we're official yet or anything of the sort. We just happen to like each other enough to explore the possibility," Applejack said as she placed her hoof on his hand. he held it in response.

"We've just noticed that we share things in common and some similar interests. We're going to wait until we know for sure," Rob finished for her as they looked at the group.

"Oh, well you two keep sitting there staring at each other like a couple of love birds. We'll be waiting to hear about it when you decide. In the mean time, I'm going to fix you two up a matching clothing sets for the Gala. Maybe I'll even come up with some concepts for your wedding clothes as well," Rarity said as she started giggling. Applejack and Rob both turned at the same time and said No quite loudly. This didn't bode well or help their situation and made everyone Laugh. 
The group commented on the adorableness of the two which only prompted Rob and AJ to blush simultaneously.

"So how was the excavation by the way? Did anything interesting happened while you two were out with Russel collecting the artifact," Twilight asked after calming down from laughter? She was definitely intrigued by this unforeseen turn of event with the unlikely couple. 

"Well it was interesting to say the least. It was freezing cold for one, I could barely feel my fingers I was so cold. However that was the least of our problems," Rob explained which Applejack nodded her head to. The ponies listened closer to the rest of it. The two explained how they got captured and how Russel quickly saved them before they became a changeling meal. About the puzzles they had to solve and lastly the battle and their escape. The whole time the group was showing looks of excitement, worry, and confusion at the different legs of the story. Twilight had a deeper question though. 

"You said Russel went to give the item to Daring Do after he sent you back here. Did he say where he was going after that," Twilight asked further as part of her task by Celestia?

"No, he didn't actually, maybe he went to find the next Artifact. I reckon he's more determined than ever. He may even be close to collecting the last piece by the looks of it. What does he have now like nine or something," Applejack said as she took a bite of the food that was brought to her during the story. 

"I think he has ten now according to my math. He has two more to go," Twilight said correcting her.

"Well according to the big stone dragon chair with the weird symbols he deciphered. It gave him some clues about the next artifact. It was being all vague about it though. It said that the next artifact was an amulet that was capable of magnifying power. Like it was meant for Unicorns to use. It makes them stronger instantly, but it has side effects. 
The unicorn that wears it is corrupted unless they have the proper magical shielding. It didn't really give him any specifics on the location of where it is though. So he could be a while," Rob said explaining what Russel had stated to him and Applejack. 

"I cant think of any artifact that does that. Did it at least give a description about what it looks like," Celestia asked deciding to become a part of the conversation? 

"If it did, we didn't see it. Russel was the one that was figuring out the language on the chair. We were busy keeping an eye out for anything that might pop out at us. Its a good thing to because we were ready for that ambush," Rob said before yawning. 

"I'm just glad that we are back now. I like the adventure that we get to go on as a group, but I still prefer the simple part of my life more. I'll stick to bucking apple trees for right now," Applejack said as she finished eating her dinner. The group continued chatting for the better part of an hour before everyone started to feel a little tired. 

"Well, I think that's enough excitement for me for one day. I'm going to bed, Applejack said as she said good night to the group. Before she left Rob walked up to her, caressed her face gently, then laid a passionate kiss on her lips. They held the kiss like this for what seemed like forever even though in was only a few second in reality. They finally parted and Rob could see a glazed look in her eyes after reveling in the feeling. 

"Sweet dreams AJ," Rob said lovingly as she finally shook the effect out of her head.

"I definitely could get use to that," Applejack said as she caressed his cheek too before leaving. The group gushed at them some more before they said good night and went to their respective rooms. Celestia and the Elder Dragon Remained behind however as he seemed to have something on his mind.

"What is it Elder Rockjaw, is something bothering you," Celestia asked wondering what was the matter?

"All of a sudden, I feel like something is off. Its strange, its almost as if I'm sensing a bad storm but I don't know where its coming from," the Elder Dragon said in a worried tone. 

"I don't think anything bad is going to happen. We are scheduled to have clear sky's for the next few days because of the treaty re-signing and the Gala. We will both be presenting it at the Gala Tomorrow and the royal guard will be on full alert. Nothing bad is going to happen to anyone as long as this event continues," Celestia stated trying to ease the dragons mind.

"I don't know, maybe your right. It could be that I am just use to getting these feelings. My race has been under constant threat of attack, I'm going try and get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow Princess," Rockjaw said as he headed for his room. Princess Celestia bid him good night and went to her room too. The feeling the Elder Dragon was having was still their even as he entered his room and laid down. 
It mostly surrounded his student but he couldn't quite explain why it was there. He tried to push it to the back of his mind though and fell asleep soon after.


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Russel had teleported to Daring Do's museum like he had done so many time before. When he arrived he could see more of the exhibit setup now laid out perfectly. Daring Do seemed to have it coming together quite nicely. When she finally came out from behind a frame she was setting up, Daring noticed his presence. 

"Hello again stranger, so how goes the hunt? Did you find anymore artifacts," Daring Do asked excited to have another piece secured.

"Yeah but I also have a couple of questions I need answered too." 

"Shoot, whats your question," Daring Do stated as Russel handed her the armor piece.

"I found some ancient draconian text written in the ante chamber I found that in. It talked about one of the other pieces specifically an amulet. The bad news is I don't think its in some dungeon waiting to be found. It gives reason to believe that the ponies who made that burial chamber took the amulet for testing. They were trying to figure out if it could be used for a different purpose. I think it may now be somewhere on the pony market. 
Maybe in a pawn shop or even some ponies collection possibly. Can you to talk to your sources and see if an amulet designed to increase magical power has come up on the market recently?" Russel waited for her to finish setting in the next piece. She soon returned to him with another bag of bit in hoof.

"I've seen and heard about a lot of different amulets. That ones going to take a bit of research to figure out. In the mean time, I found the location to the helmet. Your probably aware that Commander Hurricane was leader of Cloudsdale. It was called Pegasopolis before being changed a century or two after the princesses were crowned leaders. A few years after his death, a hall of heroes was erected in the Cloudsdale Museum to honor fallen Pegasus warriors. 
In the center of it all is his armor which is still highly coveted by them. His helmet happens to be the other artifact piece I need. It doesn't help though that I've asked if I could examine it to prove my theory and they turned me down. I went back several times and even with all the contributions I've made to their establishment they still wouldn't let me touch it. I need you to go to Cloudsdale to confirm that it is in fact the piece I believe it to be," Daring Do requested.

"And if it turns out to be genuine," Russel asked plainly.

"Then I need you to lift it while no pony is noticing and bring it back here once you've secured the piece," Daring explained.

"Do you think that if a random creature that most Ponies hardly see, walk right into the museum and takes one of their most treasured artifacts that its going to go unnoticed? I'm big and clunky and invisibility only helps so much. There's a pretty good chance that I could get caught. Not only that but even if I succeed, somepony is going to be suspicious that you got a helmet that look exactly like the one that just so happened to be missing from their museum. How do you plan to get around that," Russel asked seriously questioning the plan? 

"You will take this one which I had made to look exactly like it and replace the real one with this. That way no pony is the wiser and no real harm is done," Daring Retorted. She hoofed over the replica and Russel left with the bit and helmet in hand. he shrunk the helmet and put it away before depositing the bits into another bag on his armor belt. As he took flight he mulled over and thought, what bad luck it was to be in this situation.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

several hours later in Cloudsdale, half way passed midnight


Russel now sat outside a very big museum that had a very Greek like building style. The Pegasus building style was really reminiscent of that type of society. It was all made to look very big and imposing but he had seen much bigger architecture. He had been watching the guards movements ever since he got there and had figured out there passing schedules. He saw a half a minute gap where he could teleport to one of the doors and sneak in before the next guard passed around. When the next opportunity came up, Russel teleported to the door and turned invisible before entering. 
He began creeping through the halls of the public building which was closed down for the night. It didn't help that there were a ton of guards patrolling the buildings inside and the vicinity around it. The section that he needed to be in wasnt all that hard to find to be honest. They must have really respected their hero's by the looks of things as the section looked completely immaculate and dirt free compared to the rest of the building. Russel was making sure to be as light on his feet as possible but it was hard to do so as he was big and wearing bulky armor. As he round a corner he nearly ran right into a guard. 
Russel was barely able to back-step before he got to close. As the giant hybrid maneuvered around the passing pony, he waited for the pony to leave before heading further down the hall. He took a right like he had been instructed to then proceeded through a door at the end of the hallway. Sure enough when Russel went through, there was the majority of the Cloudsdale's champions on display for the world to see. There were many Wonderbolt costumes as well as proud military figure and heroes in the Pegasus race. True to what Daring had said, at the far end in the most flashy, gaudy display he had ever seen. 
The armor sat on a ponnequin that was carved to look exactly like Commander Hurricane down to smallest feature. There was a thick glass display case surround it. He slowly went to lift it as to not produce to much noise. When he got the glass case removed he set it to the side and began gently removing the helmet but without knocking anything loose. He finally got the helmet removed after fidgeting with buckles for several minutes. Cursing the unfortunate side effect of being a giant and having huge fingers, he shrunk the helmet and put it away. 
He then pulled out the replica and placed it on the Ponnequin head, fastening it on. After putting the replacement on, Russel picked up the glass case and slowly put it back on while trying to make as little noise as possible. Once he was finished, he turn to leave only to start to feel lightheaded. His eyes flashed green and went completely stalk still. After a minute he turned back to normal and shook it off feeling dizzy as he came to his senses. The voices were louder and really close now as he could see shadows coming towards his location. 
He could not leave the room now as he would be caught so he did the only thing he could do and turned invisible. He found the most secluded spot behind one of the displays and ducked down. He listen as a couple of ponies came through the room talking to someone behind them.

"We're happy to host you and give a tour of our fine museum. Its not every day we get a princess in here your highness," the ponies said as the princess in question came through the door behind them. It was none other than the princess of the night.

"The pleasure is mine, my sisters say I must catch up on the several hundred years of history that I missed. This museum would be a great method towards completing that. So teach me what you know," Princess Luna said reserved but slightly enthusiastic at the same time. 

"Well than this next stop will be perfect for that. This is the Hall Of Heroes, a room dedicated to the greatest examples of the Pegasus race throughout our recorded history. This hall houses weapons, armor, and the equipment of some of our warriors, and heroes. It even has its own section for the Wondebolts. We have all the different styles of suits as well as a lot of original memorabilia. However our proudest piece is that of Commander Hurricanes battle armor. 
This armor protected him through many battle and brought him countless victories. It is said that the helmet was forged in the earliest forms of pony magic and it seemed to give him telepathic power. Whenever he wore it, he was able to read the minds of his opponents and predict their moves before they made them. Of course some of us believe that it was just a natural ability he possessed and that the armor has no real power. We don't know however because it has never been tested," the museum tour guide said as they came to a halt at the display. Luna looked up at the grand display and examined it for a couple of minutes before saying anything. 

"This doesn't look all that impressive, why was it never tested," Luna asked wondering why nopony ever thought to try?

"Because after Commander Hurricane died, his armor was considered a national treasure by the Pegasus that were around at the time. They locked it up for a long time, saying anypony that was not Pegasus was not allowed to touch it. a couple hundred years ago was the first time any pony from another race was allowed to see the artifact under the condition that nopony was allowed to touch it. we would like to get it tested now though but that would have to get approved by our superiors first. they own the museum, the tour guide said as he stared at the piece himself.

"Well, I guess I will have to talk with them about that the next time I get the chance. I would now like to see your Wonderbolt Exhibit," the princess requested as she pointed to the section she wanted to see.

"Ah yes, we got many fantastic pieces in there. Right this way," the guide said as he led her down a hall to the side of the room. Luna stopped and looked back for a minute as if she sense another presence in the room before brushing it off and moving on. As soon as they were out of ear shot Russel let out a long breath that he didn't even know he was holding. Relieved that he didn't get caught, he quickly ran off in the direction he needed to go to get out of there. He took flight after he got out of there and flew full speed back to the Daring Do's own museum. When he finally arrived back at her building, she was standing outside about to lock the place up when she noticed him.

"Wow, that was fast, I thought you would be gone for at least another day or two. Did you get it," the explorer pony asked not bothering to know the details.

"Yes, and nopony will know its gone. It wasnt easy to get either, I was almost caught. Now did you happen to locate the amulet while I was retrieving this," Russel asked as he pulled out the helmet and quickly drained its magic before handing it over to her.

"Yeeeeah, about that, the trail is about as cold as a Windago. After you left I sent letters to several pony while I skimmed through some historical records. The only thing I was able to learn was that the amulet somehow after traveling through many hooves. After that it ended up in a shop called Antique Oddities. I sent a letter to the shop and when he wrote back, he said that he might have had something fitting its description. However about a year ago he sold it to a cloaked unicorn. 
He sold it to somepony wearing a cloak and that all he could tell me. I couldn't find anything else after that except this article in the Ponyville Inquiry," Daring said as she handed him the article. After that she hoofed him his payment then flew off to go home. Russel looked at the article and immediately recognize one of the ponies on it when he watched the first season of My Little Pony. It was Trixie except it looked like she was facing off against Twilight in a magic duel and winning. He then noticed the amulet on her neck and read the article. When he finished reading it he learned that it was discovered shortly after he came here. More importantly though, he now knew where it had to be. 

"If Twilight took it from Trixie after their encounter, she more than likely would have given it to Princess Celestia. after seeing the amulet she'd definitely sensed the incredible power coming from it. Celestia would locked it up in a place where no one could get it. The safest place in that regard has to be the castle, looks like its time to for me to go back. I just hope she'll be willing to give it over to me," Russel said as he took off into the air again. He headed back to the castle, ready to end his search and get the last item. Soon his goal would come to fruition and that gave him a sense of calm knowing that his life long mission would soon be complete.