I. Am. Eternal.

"So cold."

The wideness of space gave about many a blot of darkness to the naked eye save for the few tiny dots illuminating the sky at night on many atmosphere-available planets.

"So empty."

Space was actually filled with all sorts of wonders and colorful things that have yet to be discovered. Is it possible that, perhaps, there are new sources of energy? Or perhaps a fourth, true element aside from the supposed "plasma element"? So many planets, so many wonders that await the most curious and most advanced of species seeking to get into this dark, cold void and discover.

"So...alone..."

It was common occurrence in space to see comets, asteroids, and other small rocks fling themselves through this seemingly dead, three dimensional void, their speed unrestricted by lack of gravity and collisions with airborne particles. These colossal behemoths of mineral had a habit of colliding into other, larger celestial objects and could create terrible catastrophes depending on their size and composition. These flying pebbles could come from all manner of occurrences, such as being leftovers from the formation of a planet, or the destruction of a large celestial body.

"How long has it been? I feel nothing. I see nothing. I smell. Nothing. I can hear...nothing. Am I to drift eternally? Is my destiny after my failure to be but a simple piece of dust that must swim through the black ocean for eternity and more to come? Is retribution out of my reach?"

In one particular spot of the universe, sat a tiny planet wielding two celestial objects within its grasp. One being a star, and the other a captured asteroid. A strange occurrence here would happen commonly, such as the bodies rotating by unnatural phenomenon, or flipping and performing bizarre "tricks" of an almost impossible magnitude. And towards this somewhat colorful planet, a few more rocks were raining down upon, and these could cause damage...if it were not for the moon moving to block them. Its girth alone was enough that its dented exterior meant nothing as the hurdling stones impacted its surface. Only a few managed to escape it, and while many scattered themselves far and wide, one particular fragment shone as it entered the atmosphere.

"Warning! Body entering planetary atmosphere. Friction caused by air particles causing intense elevation of thermal temperatures." spoke a voice with a deep constance mixed with a powerful and proud digital voice."Warning! Trajectory angle incorrect. Possibility of extinguishing within atmosphere ninety-six point four three percent. Rectifying."

The sky within this planet shone brightly, giving way to a beautiful meteor shower. Its power of illumination was enough to drag many out of their homes to see what the sounds of whistling in the sky were. Naturally, many of the inhabitants of this world were marveled at the appearance of such a spectacle, many of the "loving" couples hugging each other closely, allowing the stallions to sort out an excuse that is based on how such beauty reminded them of when they first met. Little did they know that this signifies that the one they love is actually now ugly. VERY ugly depending on the time slate.

"W...warmth? Impossible. How long have I been drifting? It feels like so many thousands of years."
"Trajectory rectified. Calculating
.
.
.
Calculations complete. Trajectory rectified. Collision with solid surface in five minutes, thirty seven seconds. Employing protective breaker."

There was one problem with the meteor shower, and that was the growing wave of fire that continued to chew its way through the atmosphere. The further it went, the bigger it got, only to finally turn into a narrow projectile of burning sparks and imminent destruction. Throughout the locations within the land, blaring sirens emitted their cries across the once sleeping grounds of Equestria. While the smaller rocks impacted the ground released small tremors and threw dust into the air, the cone of fire struck the planet with such strength that the entire world shook with an unbelievable ferocity. The deafening crack echoed all across the plains which it touched as the shockwaves skid across mountain and prairie, breaking the sturdiest of materials but weakening as the distance grew. The earthquake was enough to awaken even the deepest sleepers, and many creatures nearby were either completely obliterated or thrown far enough and high enough into the air that it didn't matter where they landed. Gravity would continue its job.

The tremors and aftershocks caused by this immense celestial object and its smaller cousins rocked Equestria and the nearby ocean for well over two hours. Mass destruction and damages lied in the wake of the disfigured Equestrian plains. The once wide and verdant green soil now turned to a brown, charred block of glass. Night time had never been so bright.

"System scan and repairs complete. Deep scanning reveals no corrupted pockets of data. Databanks and memory drives damage repaired and stored data has been retreived and reconstituted. Backups in process of creation. Mechanical body in perfect contidition. IRM ready for reactivation. Last date of activation: Two thousand and thirty five years, forty-seven weeks, twenty-four days ago."

It was around nine a.m. The sun was still trying to wake up, but like any other creature, wanted to go back to sleep as it lazily rose into the sky, its brightness not quite at full capacity. The massive crater in the plains still sat there, and little particles soon returned to their birthplace, gently levitating into a comfortable spot amongst the sand and mounds. Around this hole stood a few dozen canine-esque creatures. Their bodies were covered with a grayish-white fur, and their eyes stuck out like snail eyes. Their two rear legs were bent like a half square. These were tumbledogs, and they had a habit of going around to look for rotting flesh to feast upon, so why couldn't they find any here?

Suddenly, without warning, a mound of sand from the middle of the crater began to rise and rise until it easily surpassed the dogs who simply watched the rising pile as all the sand slid off the large body they protected and covered. This being was bipedal, and seemed to be made of several plates of metal. It was mostly gray-blue, but the true blue painted on its body had long since chipped off. The feet seemed to have no toes, but it did have a small, curved extension on the heel. The body itself seemed to have been made from several plates of metal not from Equestria. They overlapped each other like scales on the arms of this frightening creature. As it rose higher from the ashes, its head came into view. This thing has a crevice in three different portions of the face, forming a perfect triangle when crossed with each other. This orbs constantly changed color, signifying a change in the visual spectrum. These orbs had a default color, said color being blue with a black interior. The top and sides of its head also wielded some sort of long bladed extensions, supposedly sensors for the surrounding areas.

This great creature of metal stood proudly on its legs, and observed the surroundings, making sure to let its internal scanners finish their job. As it observed the surroundings, it reached for its back and attempted to grab...nothing. It looked at its hand and began to think.

"Grovash! I lost it! My AMW. Internal scanners, switch to the detection of my Adaptive Molecular Weapon."

"Commencing multi-vector scanning on multiple wavelengths and frequencies. Warning! Biological components in close vicinity. Hostile intent detected within heartbeat and nerve movements. Lethal force advised."

"Lethal? Already that something lives would be quite the astounding discovery. Let's get out of this hole."

The tumbledogs leaned forward to get a better look at this giant, but many curled up into a ball and rolled away to safety as flames came from the invader's boots, boosting it high into the air and landing with a loud thump upon the ground, making it bend a little before regaining its initial composure.

The remaining tiny creatures continued their observations of this strange new being. At first, they carefully approached it and sniffed its legs, letting the colossus chuckle a bit as its sensors showed signs of functioning once again. However, very soon, they sensed how dangerous it was, and started to growl as they turned around it, like a predator about to pounce upon the wounded prey.

"Hm? It seems they want to kill me. Hmph. I may not have my AWM, but my martial prowess has still won me many battles."

The IRM positioned its arms and legs into a strange position as a bit more sand lodged in the joints slipped out. The tumbledogs were confused at first, but one of them jumped for the being's throat, but immediately found its own neck grabbed and slapped aside, the contact between hand and skull bringing about a loud thunderclap. While the other tumbledogs attacked in union, they were all cut down by this entity. Its movements were extremely agile for something that certainly weighed several tons. It hopped on the head of one dog and bent its back to grab another by the neck by using it's ankles. With one swift hip movement, a resonating crack. The dog was dead and its body just flopped onto the ground, limply. The IRM then twisted its hands and hopped off its podium, landing in front of yet another jumping tumbledog. This was a grave mistake, for as the next cracking movement required a second, it only took a fraction for this metal giant to tighten its hands into narrow, joined fingers and strike the canine several times in several vital points, then to hop off to the next beast and crush it with a leg lifted all the way to the biped's head.

In only half a minute, the majority of the dogs were dead, and this giant simply stood back up, stretched its joints a bit, small sparks erupting as they left their trapped spaces. The few remaining tumbledogs rolled up and tumbled away, screaming in fear as they did so. The metallic being played with its hands, stretching and twisting them to ensure their full functioning.

"Hm. It seems I landed on a lively world. Impressive. I didn't believe that I would meet any other forms of life, albeit savage ones. Have any other sentient life forms been detected? Preferably, those with a sentient form of civilized intelligence?"

"Affirmative. Detected within outer reaches of the forest. Subject is puny and on the verge of death. Needs to aid insignificant. Recommend search for AWM as top priority."

"...No. Also, deactivate your voice module. I wish to have some internal peace. Now then. A little trip to that forest in front of me seems like the best area to start searching. I almost missed the cold breeze of weather."

The mountain city of Araiy dug into the side of the mountain upon which it sat was in dire trouble. Its foundations were damaged, threatening to drop the entirety of the portion still outside of the mountain. Smoke was bleeding from its every corner, and pegasi were going high and low to fly about this enormous city with extremely tall buildings. Near the middle of this already walled city sat a gigantic castle, literally towering over even the tallest building in Araiy which easily reached at least four-hundred feet. This place held its own wall, and it was less damaged than the rest of the royal city, mainly thanks to the mages that protected its structural integrity. Many of them were sent out to aid in the repairs of this once majestic capital.

Several statues showing two alicorns standing side by side ornating the entrances to this caste would suggest egocentricity, but this was only something that the inhabitants created to thank their rulers, the controllers of the sun and moon. Within the castle grounds spread immense gardens with many more statues depicting heroes of the Equestrian history, as well as some showing scenes. These ones required expert craftsponyship for details and many more. The grass was greener than the word, and the trails across the castle grounds were divided from the common dirt by carved bricks of a half-circle shape, the paths themselves ornate with white rocks, all hoof and hand polished. The main doorway for the castle was made in a well polished, dark brown wood lined by golden ornaments. The white marble used to construct this immense fortress was tough enough in itself that that stone was nearly impossible to find, but the eccentricities used here are certainly signs of full pockets. Too full, even.

The interior of the castle was beautiful as well. It was a well known fact that every day, the workers would change the smell by using diverse forms of perfume. Today, it was the smell of peaches and lemons. All across this immensely bright place were tapestries which were adorned with either the symbol of Equestria, that being two ponies' head opposite of each other and holding a hoof out to the sky, or other interesting things, such as the old rulers or characters of high importance and standing. Plants and armor decorated the walls while lamps were strewn high above to avoid hindering anypony. This palace easily had over fifty floors, and each was massive as well as massively decorated. On the same first floor, if one entered the main doorway to reach the lobby, besides the little balcony used to reach the higher floors, there were two enormous doors that easily reached ones eyes without any effort. The door on the right was lined with pastel colors while the main portion was covered in a bright, white paint. All of this was put together by the symbol of a sun placed in the middle of this color company. Said sun possesses six wavy arms. The door's main body was a hue of dark blue while its lining was a silvery color. This one possessed a simple crescent moon, and wasn't very enamorous, but it didn't need to be. Just the moon was enough for anypony to recognize who it belonged to.

As the expert craftsponyship creaked open to welcome a new visitor, two royal guards wearing silver colored armor were seen holding the doors open. A red rug led all the way to the two thrones at the end of the throne room. Said room was unimaginably enormous, with banners hanging from the high ceiling, and which obviously depicted the same symbols as those on the doors. If one were to put a hundred ponies on each other's backs, it would still be insufficient to reach the white ceiling. Many pillars were bult within the walls, and arches were created to provided support to the higher portions of this room. Many ponies wearing thin clothing and others just showing off their newly refurbished appearance were locked onto the sides of the pathway by more of the royal guards, each more different in coloration and mass than the next. A loud cacophony ripped through the air and gave quite the ambience to this room as well.

A single stallion wearing a tuxedo vest and with a well-coiffed black mane, ran towards the thrones of the castle as fast as he could, making sure to keep his monocle in place as it bounced. He was in an immense panic. Finally, with a skidding on the red carpet, he bowed before his rulers. A deep yet serene stallion voice boomed upon his unworthy ears:

"Yes, Costo. What do you require?"

"It is about the celestial object that the moon failed to block, and which caused considerable damage to your kingdom as it struck the soil, King Sol Invictus."

Sitting upon his sun-shaped throne sat a very tall white stallion. He was an alicorn, to be precise. His white coat shone with the brightness of the sun. His pastel mane and tail were both of short lengths but just long enough that they could flow freely in the wind. His pink eyes depicted both strength and serenity.

"What is this all about? I thought there was nothing more to report!" a hoof slammed violently on a foreleg hold.

"It is nothing, Queen Lisis." Costo spoke, slowly moving away as he hesitated to look at the enraged mare alicorn.

This alicorn had a rather violent tone to herself, her appearance being more similar to that of a tomboy. Although her starry mane and tail were fairly long, they were tied up into ponytail fashion. Her deep blue eyes represented the universe in its whole as she stared at the frightened stallion, his eyes trying to flee the queen's night blue coat. Even if she was, by external appearances, violent, she was known to be a softy deep inside.

"Lisis, stop yelling." Sol rolled his eyes.

"I am not yelling!"

"Yes you are."

"I..."

"Hm." Sol Invictus nodded in approval."Now then. What about this incident? I've...No. WE'VE already sent aid and rescue parties everywhere. What more is there to do?"

"I...There was something in the crater."

The cacophony suddenly ended, and everypony but the king and queen stared at the frightened stallion.

"Surely a beast that slipped within." the king laughed with his wife as they exchanged sights.

"No. My king, this is bigger than anything we've ever discovered."

"Why?" Sol asked, caution slowly rising in his voice.

"The thing in the crater blasted out with some sort of flame spell, then landed back on the soil, scaring away some Tumbledogs."

"Tumbledogs? It must have perished afterwards."

"That's the thing. It just looked in my research team's direction and chuckled as the dogs sniffed it. They then pounced on the thing, and at least twenty of them were killed instantly!"

"What?!"

"W-WE DIDN'T EVEN SEE WHAT HAPPENED!" Costo was sweating profusively and found himself watering the ground.

"That's impossible. Tumbledogs are so well organized that it is nigh impossible to kill them! When one is attacked--"

"The others replace it." Lisis finished.

"This is...what did it look like?"

"Like nothing we had ever seen before. Either it was in the asteroid when it struck...or it was the asteroid."

A dark atmosphere settled upon the room. It was not chilling. In fact, it was burning everypony up from stress. What was this thing? How did it come from an asteroid that Lisis' moon missed? So many questions, so little time.

"GUARDS! I want everypony assembled. We must find that creature and bring it in for questioning. I prefer a quick and clean capture. If it resists, you have my permission to use lethal force."

"You will be given a regiment of my Moon Mages. They are of the utmost importance and strength, so keep them safe."

"Yes. Your majesties!" the guards slammed their chests with their hoofs and galloped out of the throne room with utmost haste.

"I only hope this is just some farce." Lisis frowned as she thought of the possible consequences.

"I forgot how much I hated trees and foliage."

The mechanical being used its arms and hands to push aside branch and bush in his path. The forest wasn't very thick, but it was still more similar to a jungle than a forest, what with enormous roots erupting from the ground as well as vines and bugs pretty much invading everything. Some smaller yet insignificant creatures would spot the metal monstrosity from under their position, but would quickly scurry away when it twisted its sights to them.
The biped had been wandering around the forest for at least fifteen minutes. It was annoying it, and it wanted to leave as quickly as possible, but it could not. It had a mission to fulfill.

"Grovash! This is irritating m--"

"AHHH!" yelled a very high pitched voice.

The being quickly ran to the source of the noise, but as it neared the location, it quickly hid behind the two very large rocks the smaller creature was leaned against. Two creatures had blocked it. Both had the most bizarre appearance the alien had ever seen. They both possessed large blue beetle shells that were wide open in order to show their thin wings. Their black bodies twitched with each step placed by feet possessing to forward-swept toes and one rear-placed. Their "hands" were actually claws possessing three fingers in the dead center of these enormous crushers. Their heads were rather narrow, but they still had one large blue eye looking at their new prey, constantly twisting their faces and twitching their mandibles. Occasionally, they would push each other aside and shriek, but would quickly get back into line to slowly inch towards the food.

"Eh! Go away! How DARE you go against the queen of changelings!"

"Queen? That tiny thing?"

The beasts hissed again.

"AHHH!"

"Time to intervene."

As the beasts were just a step away from the "queen", the two rocks behind her began to shake and tremble, letting smaller shards drop down. All three watched the two gigantic boulders get lifted into the air by a single creature of a metallic hue. It stared down the two creatures who began to cower at the display of strength.

"Wh-who are you?" the little queen asked.

"I. Am. Eternal." the biped replied with a deafening, metallic voice.

Food for thought

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The two creatures stared at the metal monstrosity as it easily held the two gigantic boulders above its head. As they began to cower, the being gestured towards them, imitating a possible throwing movement. They quickly scampered away, making strange sounds in the process. As it watched them cower, the metal giant chuckled and threw the immense rocks several feet away towards the beetle creatures. While the two objects rolled around a bit, the IRM looked down to see the tiny "queen" staring at him with wide eyes, but soon return to her haughty self.

Said tiny changeling stood back up, adjusting her appearance to look more "regal", in a way. Her tiny black legs had a few holes in them, but not many. This still baffled the machine as it wondered how such a thing was possible. Sure, there were creatures on its planet who possessed similar traits, but those turned out to be auditory receptors. Whatever this strange creature was, it seemed to be a combination of mammal and insect, what with the chitin on its body and the strange , turquoise colored, transparent wings. Her eyes bulged of a color just a few shades lighter than turquoise, and both what could be considered a mane and tail, although it looked more like kelp, slopped downwards until they curved towards the sides. The tail possessed this feature even more than its neckly counter-part. The strangest feature was her crooked horn seemingly growing out of her forehead like an unwanted protuberance With her high-pitched voice, the...thing...spoke:

"Thank you for freeing me from those beasts, although, being the queen of changelings, I could have easily fended them off." the queen put a hoof to her chest in pride and looked upwards in an elegant manner, but seemed irritated when the giant metal creature did not react."Hey! You are being addressed by a queen! You should feel glad enough that I'm actually addressing you in pony! WHY WON'T YO--"

The queen smashed herself to the ground as her eyes widened in pure shock. What scared her so much? The fact that the metal being slammed its open hand over her and literally managed to plow its fingers into the ground. This was all a ploy to gently pick up the tiny queen and flip her over in a position that revealed her "tummy".

"H-hey! I'll have your head for this! I'll kill you for this. I'm powerful. You'll regret it!" her voice began to reach an even higher pitch as the queen began to threaten the being in desperation. She was only brought up to its face to be looked at more closely by the creature.

"...You are on the verge of death." it spoke with a more natural voice.

"No I'm not! I am doing quite fine. Now unless you want me to feast upon you I suggest you release me at once."

"Haha! I'm not holding you hostage, and you ARE dying. Your internal nutrition reserves are dwindling immensely fast. How can you not feel this? Every creature suffers during the final stages of autophagy. How can you resist such a thing?"

"I...Because I'm a changeling. We are used to such hardships."

The metal biped threw its head back in confusion and its eyes seemed to "blink" as it looked around, stuttering, trying to make sense of what it heard. Suddenly, its dark eyes flashed green, then pink, then orange, then purple, then back to their normal color.

"Hm. It seems your species has grown an evolutionary resistance to hunger. A great adaptation, but a fatal one as well. I'm also interested in your species. I never saw things like you before."

"WHAT?!" Cocoon screamed at the top of her lungs.

Suddenly, she began to spin her eyes and tilt in the metal biped's hand.

"I don't feel so good." she said with a tone of sickness.

"I know. Let's see...nourishment inconclusive?! Find a bypass! Something as a replacement for her main diet. Mhmm...Mhmm...Sugar?"

"We don't...eat sugar. We eat l...l-l-l...looo--"

"Shush now." the mechanoid put its finger on Cocoon's mouth and looked at her with its best face of concern...despite it not having a face."There is a...small village north-north-east of here. Hmmm. Seems to be fairly large for a village. I've got seventy-three minutes before she's gone..." the IRM looked down at the tiny changeling starting to suffer from her side effects and twisted its feet into the ground."Guess I have to go by times one jet." its feet somehow 'exploded', and it took off towards the village its scanners detected.

As it skid across the somewhat flat plains under an increasingly dark sky with some menacing clouds indicating Gaia's future rage, the mechanoid thought to itself:

"It's a good thing I'm adaptive. I really want to see what these changelings are like, but I'll have to see their society first to come to a social and general pattern of thought. If this 'queen' was unprotected, I wonder if there are any other sentient creatures here?"

Off in the distance, several guards pulling wagons filled with researchers and equipment began to roll towards the crater in hopes that the scientists could determine whatever the Abyss that creature was and how it killed the tumbledogs. Walking straight in front of the caravan were some strange ponies covered in dark purple robes with their heads covered by hoods casting a shadow upon their unsmiling mouths. On said cloths were several images of the moon and the various appearances it could take in the sky. Two, in particular, stood up front. These mages gave off a very chilling filling to those around them. In fact, the majority of the free guards stayed away from them as best they could.

The two standing in the front held night blue canes with a half moon for the tip, showing that each mage still needs each other to complete anything and everything. Their powers were known throughout Equestria, and it showed, as any creature crossing these two would scamper away in pure fear, no matter how big they were.

With great joy did the guards let go of their cargo and slump onto the dusty ground, faces of relief washing over each and every one of them. The scientists exited their transports and began to unpack everything. Many who grabbed their tools directly out of the strapped luggage revealed their true professions. Most were chemists, while a few more were archeologists, and lastly, there were the few Moon Mages who appeared to be Magilosiphers. If there was any magic involved, they would detect it. Not only were they rare, but these particular mages seemed to have weird tubes coming from their bodies, and many pieces of them seemed artificial, such as the enormous bulging eye of one, and the extra forelegs of another.

As everypony sat down to do their appointed tasks, the two mages holding staffs stood in front of the soon-to-be camp, ever still and ever silent, slowly rotating their heads around to intervene in-case some creature foolish enough to come would get close to the site. Watching them from afar, a young trainee looked at them with utter curiosity. His custard coat with his brushed vanilla mane seemed rather unusual for a guardspony.

"What are you looking at?" a more seasoned guard asked.

"Them." he pointed.

"The elite mages? Don't talk to them. They're very strange. I've heard rumors."

"You're around your forties and you fear rumors?" the custard stallion lowered his head and crocked an eyebrow as a smile formed along his face.

"I...uh...FINE! Your problem, kid."

"Oh no. I'm going to talk to them. I'm doooooomed."

"Ha. Ha."

The stallion giddily bounced towards said targets, both whom payed no attention to him when he arrived.

"Hi. I'm Custard Swaily. I'm new in the royal guards. I thought it would be a good idea if we became more acquainted, seeing as we're both on the same team and all."

"Hm. Nopony ever comes to talk to us." a rawky voiced mare spoke.

"So so. They thing of us as 'monsters' because of the sacrifices we duh to our bodies for bettering the lives of everyponeh else." a rather deep and rawky voiced stallion added.

"Well then. We should introduce ourselves for this special occasion."

Both turned around and removed their hoods, revealing some rather shocking facial displays. The first was a lavender colored unicorn with a bluish mane possessing two streaks of pink and purple going down vertically across her mane. Although it seemed well kempt, there was a long diagonal line going through her mane and across her face. It looked like a terrible wound that was poorly stitched up seeing the way the skin had "collapsed" along the fault line of the wound. Her left eye was normal enough, what with the simple purple iris, but the other's pupil had grown enormously, consuming its own iris. While some would think that this could grant some form of "super vision", the mare was blind in this eye.

The second had a yellowish coat mixed with some bright turquoise to give a weird tone reminiscent of medication. The skin covering his mouth was gone, making it seem as though he was constantly baring his teeth. Luckily for him, he still had a portion of skin over the right side of his mouth, but it was insignificant. It was still easy to see through his cloak that he had some weird tubes coming out of his legs. Whatever purpose they served would remain unknown to anypony outside of the Moon Mages. His vibrant thunder-orange eyes sent shivers down Custard's spine, but he cloaked them with a wide smile.

"I am Twilight Sparkle, and this is my colleague, Sharpshire Willow." spoke the lavender pony.

"Pleased to meet you. I know this is sudden and, perhaps, completely uncalled for, but...what happened to your bodies? I apologize in advance if I have offended you."

"Not at all! We--" Twilight was pushed back by Sharpshire as he put a foreleg in front of her.

"Weh have ways of ding things. It's our weh of work. We cannot tlk about it to you, I'm afraid. Thr is only one way to learn about the resons, but theh are painful."

"Okay then. I won't bother you on that subject anymore." Custard sneaked a question to Twilight Sparkle by gesturing her to get closer to him and asked:

"Why does he talk like that?"

"That is a side-effect from what we do. Don't worry. It hasn't made us crazy...yet." Twilight gave a nervous chuckle.

"Aha. Um. Why HAVE you come here? I mean, the guards are here. It's not like this thing could actually harm us with so many."

"That's where you're mistaken. It probably came from space, meaning that it's an alien. This can also indicate that it utilizes a great technology if it can resist both an entry into our atmosphere AND a collision with the surface."

"So...couldn't it also have some sort of resistant exoskeleton?"

"Dat culd be possible." Sharpshire pointed out as he began to push the sand from the crater around.

"Even so, it's highly unlikely that such an evolved creature could have survived in the vacuum of space. As we all know, there is practically no heat, depending on where you are, there's no oxygen, and no atmosphere to place pressure on your atoms. Therefore, you'll practically die within moments of exposing yourself to that cold void."

"Then why are you so interested in something that sounds so evil?"

"Because we--"

Everypony stopped their actions when they heard some type of loud explosion, followed by a weird creature jetting out of the nearby forest and jumping seemingly several hundreds of meters with only one jump, and crossing impossible lengths with said jumps too. It was heading towards a city located further away atop a hill. The ponies began to mumble about what that thing was. Twilight and Sharpshire smirked.

"We found our target. Custard, tell yor companiuns that Twilight and I 're going on a little tripe."

"Yes sir."

The mechanoid was cradling the tiny changeling in his arms, listening to her mumblings about threats and whatnot. She was shaking way too much, and based on the scannings of her anatomy and current stamina, her remaining strength was going away faster than hoped for, and this was detrimental to the biped's morale.

"Grovash. I'm an IRM. I should be able to reach that village fast enough. I may not know this thing, but my top priority is saving innocent creatures and beings. She is no exception. Just a few more, and I'll be in range of that city. Hopefully, I'll be able to stop in time to observe their culture. I wonder how changelings live."

With that thought of curiosity deep in mind, the biped hopped several times on the steepening hill, only to clamp its right hand into the wall of a house and swing himself upon the roof, making sure not to stress the changeling. It carefully crawled on the rooftop of red tiles and "gasped" at what it saw. The creatures were not changelings, but colorful equidae.

"What? I thought...It seems that this planet has a multi-sentient stage of existence, and with minor differences to each too. Let's see. There's a...hmm...pony? Yes. Pony. There's a pony with colorful fur, then there's one up there with wings. Reminds me of the mythological Kukos. Then there are those with horns. Huh? What purpose could those serve?"

One of the horned ponies began to levitate an object from a merchant's stall towards itself, both its horn and the object in question wrapped around in a colorful aura. It seemed to have a rather smooth muzzle and, if the IRM remembered anything about female anatomy, and judging by the non-equine appearance in facial structure, this was a female, especially with the high tone of voice it had. As the mechanoid continued to observe the surroundings and this strange civilization, Cocooon coughed a bit, a strange green substance starting to leak from her mouth.

"Her stomach fluids. I forgot about her. Hmmm. Let's see. Scanners, identify sweetened substances in the local vicinity. Preferably with as much sugar as possible."

Its eyes each became yellow with strange graphical interfaces imprinted upon them. As he looked around, all three locked onto a shop not too far from his current location. The house he was on seemed to have actually belonged to a row of quaint cottages on the exterior district of the city. It also seemed like a merchant street, judging by all the stands and carpets covered with various objects and foods. However, the shop the mechanoid's eyes locked onto was swarming with customers. If it didn't hurry up, there'd be nothing left. It had no choice. It'd need to get directly in the spotlight...or did it? Many bundles of hay, crates, carts, and other big objects were just enough for it to hide in plain sight.

"Here goes nothing. Now stay here in this bush. You should be safe here. ROOF SLIDE!"

Despite a few turned heads, the IRM fell into a cart full of hay, and waited there for a bit, watching the surroundings carefully. It then jumped out and rolled behind a few crates, then back flipped onto another roof in order to crawl quickly to the targeted location. Finally above it, the mechanoid wiped its forehead, forgetting it was a being of metal. Everything was going well, until a pegasus spotted it.

"Oh my Equestria! What is that thing?!"

"Ahhhh, shiosh." the IRM cursed."No time to waste anymore."

Everypony turned to see the being swing itself off the rooftop and twist its body to land directly in front of a large cake covered with pink icing and green flowers. The same colored mare at the stand was staring at this giant, unaware of its intentions...before it grabbed the caked and began to run off with it.

"H-hey! Come back here! Help! A thief! Somepony!"

Without a care, the IRM continued its path through the streets, ignoring everything in front of it, until two security personnel intervened...for about a second. As it hands were full, the IRM jumped up and kicked the two ponies hard in the heads, and knocked them into some nearby stands, tossing food and broken pieces of wood and glass everywhere. It finally skid behind a spice seller and smashed its right foot into the pots, created a painful smokescreen. It was just enough for the IRM to jump back behind the building, grab Cocoon, and hop further away behind another hill. It carefully set the black creature on the floor and took out a rough piece of cake.

"Here. Eat this." it said, presenting the pastry to the tiny queen, who pushed it away with a face of disgust.

"No...changelings...don't eat...sugar."

"..."

"OW! Groomf!"

The IRM had paused for a moment, then gave a tiny finger jab into Cocoon's stomach to make her open her mouth. It took advantage of this opportunity to jam the piece of cake into her mouth. It was...too big, and much of the cream slid to the sides, covering the tiny one's mouth with icing. The mechanoid then forced her mouth to chew on the cake, and moved her mouth and throat in a way that made her swallow automatically. After that, the biped stood up and turned around to see if anything was following them. Cocoon was choking on some of her "delicately fed" pastry.

"Blech! That was awful! Why would...you...I can...I can move?"

"Your anatomy suggest that a secondary source of nourishment for your kind is sugar. You must have some terrible adaptations to cavities to survive that."

"I heard from my mother that our people had a secondary source of nourishment, but that we forgot it a long time ago. We've been starving ever since."

"How? There are these...pony things everywhere and tons of food from what I've seen. Can't you interact with them?"

"We feed on love! Those ponies' are simply our prey. That's it. Nothing more to say."

"So for sentient beings that-Wait what? You FEED on love? That is illogical."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is. Love is an emotion. You can't feed on emotions."

"Yes we can!"

"..."

Cocoon was staring at the biped with a growl."Like a thing like you could understand."

"Hey!" the IRM stuck a finger at the little queen."I'm not a 'thing'. Okay? I'm a 'he'. Or at least, I was."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Just don't call me 'thing' anymore. At least call me IRM."

"Whatever."

"Why is a 'queen' so far from her people?"

"Because my stupid brothers overthrew me." Cocoon turned her back to IRM and began to eat the cake again.

"Oh really? Why? To have the throne? You know they're eventually going to turn on each other, right?"

"Wrong."

"Politics and power are never wrong."

"Nomf. They seem to want different things, although they've never told me. All they've done was hurt me when my mother's back was turned." she continued to eat her cake as she spoke.

"I seeeeeeeee...What are their names?"

"Psydon and Abdon."

"...Wow. Changelings have a bad imagination."

"Shut up."

"And bad mouths to boot. Listen tiny queen, I'll help you get your throne back, but first, we need to find my AWM."

"Your what?"

"My weapon. It fell somewhere near that immense mountain to your left."

"Immense...How did I not notice that?"

True to its calculations, IRM's scanner found that his AWM was somewhere in the jagged and rocky heights of an immense gray mountain overlooking the city near its base. There wasn't much to say besides "WOAH! That thing is huge!"

"Yup. Either you begin to wander about by yourself and eventually get attacked again, or you come with me."

Cocoon had finished her cake and turned to look a IRM's face, showing one of concern for herself. When she finally wiped the icing off her mouth, she looked down in frustration and kicked a pebble.

"Fine, but, as I am queen, you must do what I say."

"No."

"What?"

"This'll teach you some manners. Your 'rank' does not depict your true position in society. If you want me to obey you, then you have to earn my respect. Until then, you will obey me."

"I--"

"No back talking. Let's go. There are sweet fruits at two-thousand meters of altitude. We'll be able to make stocks and get you prepared."

Walking along a bridge was a rather scrawny pony. His four legs were painfully carrying him to the mountain further away. His once regal appearance gone, his powers nearly destroyed, the old king of the Crystal Kingdom was down on his luck. He may have been destroyed by the Moon Mages, but his horn was still intact, allowing him to regrow his body and a segment of his powers. His once shadowy mane was now a ruffled mess. His crown was no more, and his armor was recreated using the bits and pieces that he found spread everywhere in the arctic. His body was very thin, but only by pure rage did Fallen King Sombra persevere in his quest. After all, last night, he did see something enormous slam into the planet, and, while that was enough to pique his interest, there was a blue glow that fell into the mountain. If it was separated, it's possible that it could be something of great value. This was just a simple guess, but if he could retrieve his once great power and get the kingdom back from Prince Brine, then it would all be worth it. So, as he continued to frown and looked at the high stack of stone, he thought to himself:

"I must climb this. I'll destroy them all afterwards. My kingdom shall return to my grasp, and soon, I'll have complete control over everything. My family shall finally have something to be proud of...not that I care about them to begin with."

Climbing slopes

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This particular mountain was actually a lone spike in the crust. Supposedly, it belonged to a longer chain of mountains that was mined away by a long-gone species. This giant stone was named "Sharp Arrow" by any who have tried to climb it. The name was taken from the reference of anypony climbing it to die as if they had been struck by an arrow in one of their vital points, their bodies tossed off the giant rock like dolls. Whatever beast was up there, it possessed a great deal of strength and ability.

IRM was simply placing hand after foot after hand, and he easily managed to climb the steep sides of the mountain. Cocoon, on the other hand, was struggling and seemed to be having trouble just keeping her concentration. They were still near the base, but the height was still enough to intimidate her, and thus why she had started to hug the wall and was making weird little whimper noises. In distance, Cocoon was already several feet lower than IRM, who had, as stated previuosly, been climbing without any trouble. Noticing the lack of the nearby superiority complex, the mechanoid looked down and face palmed.

"Come on! Just a few thousand more feet. It's not the end of the world."

"Gah!"Cocoon nearly fell as a piece of her ledge crumbled."How? I-I-I'm st-stuck here! C...can you come get me?"she asked, widening her eyes.

There was a long moment of silence, and, if it were possible, the IRM would have frowned, turning his inexistent eyebrows into a monobrow. With a loud, robotic sigh, IRM jumped off his spot and used his right hand to latch onto the wall, creating an increasingly longer crack on the surface of the rocks. A final skid and IRM was finally where Cocoon had been holding onto for dear life.

"Th-thank you for...LET GO OF MY TAIL! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

IRM had grabbed the tiny queen's tail and looked upwards. He was preparing to throw her like a rock in a sling-shot.

"N-Don't throw me!"

"It'll be faster like this."

"Can't you just carry me on your back?"

"...Nope."

"WAAAAH!"

Cocoon was flung with so much power that her body began to whistle thanks to her holes. She shot straight up through the low clouds, making it look like she fell into some mist. IRM simply resumed his climbing, grumbling about how long it would take him now. The Sharp Arrow was very dark thanks to its clouds sliding along its surface. Strong, cold winds were capable of freezing anything but the most tough and resistant of climbers, and their strength could knock off even those. Every clamp upon the mountain echoed into the wide void in the empty space, and small pebbles would fall, making one think that they would fall to their doom quite quickly. IRM didn't falter, mainly because he didn't have any blood to freeze or any body parts to slow down with the cold. If anything, he'd be bored with the situation. A few minutes later, he was a few thousand feet about the ground, and there was a small cave right above him. The mechanoid struggled to keep his grip within the stone, but at least the cave would give him respite for a few seconds. He would still find Cocoon...eventually.

As he continued his ascent, two giant gray-furred feet stomp on the ledge. The creature these belonged to was a gigantic creature with extremely pointy fingers possessing sharp nails. Its canine teeth outgrew the rest and became fangs outside of its massive maw. It was enormous and very bulky, and its green eyes seemed to glow with irritation.

"How DARE you climb upon me mountain. It's MY MOUNTAIN! MINE! You ALWAYS come and bother me. I kill you-AHHHHHHHHHHhhhhh..."

Paying no attention to aforementioned beast, the mechanoid, in his ascent, tried to grab for a higher rock and mistook the beast's foot for one. Once he pulled, the giant was thrown off the ledge to the hard ground far, far below. Its screams becoming muffled by the powerful winds flowing from the mountain-top. The metal creature literally paid no attention to the troll, actually more concerned about his three seconds of rest.

King Sombra, with his fatigued body, climbed the mountain himself, using every inch of fury in his body to push him through his searing pains jabbing at his body like white-hot needles. His face expressed his anger and his frustration to climb this hilltop. If he could get that weapon, then it would all be worth it. Every. Single. Shard of pain he felt rebuilding his body and losing his powers in the process. He could definitely destroy the Elements of Harmony if he could get a weapon from some unknown world standing in the cold void of space. Who knows what the thing could do? He was filled with more energy as he thought about it. Maybe it could turn him into an alicorn? Maybe he would become supreme ruler of shadows? Perhaps a power not yet seen would be his? The possibilities were endless, and the stallion of shadow eagerly hoped to get to the impact point first.

The ex king continuously grunted as he climbed every stone and pebble. There wasn't much for him to notice besides the screams of something he did not recognize. What sort of beast was it? Perhaps a flying beast. Yes. That would aid the ruler of shadows greatly. Sombra schemed constantly the higher he went.

"I. Hate. Climbing. I'll kill everypony who ever defied me and I'll corrupt the rest. Hahahaha!"Sombra's laughter bounced off the stone surface of the mountain, his deep voice creating a frightening ambience in the already death giving location.

IRM had found his way up to the top, his joints screaming in unison for the work they performed. With a creaking of his internal mechanisms, the machine witnessed his weapon castrated into stone and rock, the surface still heated from the impact and temperature. Around him sat several heightened piles of mountain rock. It gave the place a certain feeling of constant change, for only the place that was flat was the place where the weapon had landed. The entire area was surrounded by the thin layer of clouds usually found at such heights. As a consequence, the area was extremely cold and the sky was as white as could be.

"Ahhh. My Adaptive Weapons Module."

Wanting to advance and grab his weapon when a voice yelled out to him in anger and fury. Cocoon, however, was still dazed and waiting on the side, her contorted face demonstrating much of her current mental state.

"That's mine! You'll never get it! It is mine by right! I saw it land here first. It is the key to give me back my powers and my throne. You won't remove it from my grasp you...what in the Abyss are you?"

What lay in front of IRM was a tattered stallion that had certainly seen better days. His anger ceded to a more confused stare as the mechanoid's optics focused in place.

"Hey! Why'd you throw me?!" Cocoon yelled from behind a few rocks she wa stuck in.

"Hm?"

"Gnah!"

The little changeling hit IRM's leg, creating a tink sound. She soon fell to the ground and held her little hoofsie as she began to tear up from the pain.

"Who are you?" the robot asked as his optics focused.

"I'm the one asking the questions here!"

"Then we are getting nowhere."

"...Fine. I am King Sombra of the Crystal Kingdom."

"A king?" IRM said with a condescending attitude.

Even on this high peak with powerful winds, a white sky, and thick, cold fog that ran through your flesh like blades, IRM was capable of distinguishing the traits of this entity. He was certainly not relatable to a king.

"How does a so called 'king' reach your position? You are filthy, seem to have been malnourished, and you possess no clothing of rare materials. Were you deposed?"

Sombra was horribly irritated by the way this creature spoke. It was non-chalantly peaking ill of him and even worse, it did not know him.

"I have told you my name. What is yours?"

"Ah. Yes. I am IRM: Integrated Robotic Mechanoid."

"Great. Relinquish that artifact to me at once." the dark pony ordered.

"No. It is mine. It has always been mine, from my rebirth to my darkest days."

"I don't care. It will become mine."

Sombra took a fighter's stance and reared his head. He was ready to destroy whatever this creature was to regain his title and former powers. The goal was all that remained in the stallion's shattered mind. He cared of nothing else. It was all he needed, and it was just there in reach! He was even being taunted by the creature's non-menacing stance. It was more of a common stance taken by the minotaurs when they would hold a claymore to their waist with both hands. Meanwhile, Cocoon had managed to struggle her stubby legs out of her stony prisons and was looking at the scene from atop a small rock. Even if this unicorn was, as he put it; 'A fallen king', he still held enough power to be distinguishable from the common horned pony. She was sure the fight would last moderately long. It would be a way to test her name peon if he was worthy enough to stand in her shadow.

The black unicorn pounced at his enemy, his body encased in a thin, vibrating shield of black crystals. IRM moved to the side and slapped the pony into a rock wall with his hand. The weapon then morphed into a rather large pernach. The pony groaned and wiped some dust off his head. He then charged once more towards his enemy, determined to blast dark energies through its body upon impact. IRM understood that this equine was desperate, but thwacked it away with the pernach anyways, creating a resounding echo of metal destroying a magic barrier. This continued on for a few minutes. All the while, Cocoon became bored of the repeating spectacle.

"I'm disappointed. I was hoping for at least a reasonable fight. Not even. All "

Finally, Sombra fell to the ground, gasping with fatigue.

"We'll...call it a draw..."

"A draw? I crushed your defenses many times over."

"Nonsense. The king...of the Crystal Kingdom...will never submit..."

"Not my problem. I see that you are downtrodden. Perhaps you would appreciate company that could provide for your current needs?"

"I don't...need the help...from a thief..."

"It is not for me that I steal, but it is for this object that I've come to this peak. It is imperative that I also pick some fruits nearby due to their extremely high sugar content. It is a suitable food source for the tiny queen over there."

"Hey!"

"Tiny...queen? Is that a changeling?" Sombra said as he looked to his right.

"Yes."

"I refuse to consort with such abominations."

"Well, analysis tells me that you will perish up here within hours if you are not removed. You have also not been nourished for a few days. You either expire here or you come with us. After you have been properly fed, you may decide what you wish to do."

"I...Fine. I will come with you. I will leave immediately after I am sated, but I will not give up on obtaining that weapon."

"What? But I don't want him! He's stupid looking!" Cocoon yelled.

Sombra shot an angered look at her, causing the tiny changeling to take a few steps back.

"We shall leave later. Right now, rest for a few minutes. I believe I should be capable of creating a deep bowl to hold the fruits out of these stones with my AWM."

" 'Yours'? "Sombra taunted.

IRM's optics simply readjusted as they looked at the stallion before he began going through the rubble to find a proper stone.

"You and Cocoon can make use of this time to evaluate your thought son each other."

The two looked at the robot, then to each other, and frowned. This was not going to be an easy thing to get used to, but at least it would be brief.

"It's a Twin-Lock Mazeiyan!" yelled a stallion before being cut in two.

"Watch out! Noo--" yelled a griffin before getting picked up and thrown far away.

A group of pony researchers had been escorted by several mercenaries comprised of minotaurs and griffins. They had delved deep within the immensity of the Everfree forest and its many, many enigmas. This place housed many an interesting fauna and flora as well as ruins of ancient civilizations. In fact, the town closest to this haze of green was Flauna. It had been created specifically for researchers and scientists of study and explore the forest. The groups of ponies that lived there had enough funds to usually hire a mercenary company once or twice every year, but no more than that. The expeditions usually happened without much trouble. The worst that could happen was usually a manticore that would burst out of nowhere, but the mercenaries were well equipped to deal with such mundane threats. However, they were not equipped to fight what was considered extremely powerful and dangerous in the MH Guild.

The researchers, covered in suits, cowls, or simply wearing backpacks full of necessary supplies, were hiding behind a vast array of thickets, trees covered in vines, and many a boulder claimed by moss. The mercenaries, wearing suits made of a bluish leather, were being tosses, turned, and sliced in mere moments. The creature they were fighting was quite bizarre. Ir possesses a lower torso comprised of two gray, muscular legs, but the upper portion split into two separate bodies, both back-to-back. One was lime green and the other sky blue. The creature itself was very muscular, but it wore no armor, save for the breechclout it wore around its waist, the brown, stone cuffs around its wrists, and the helmets they wore that depicted a demonic face with long spiked teeth, a long tongue, and feathers on its head. These seemed to have been carved delicately from stone and had many inscriptions and drawings etched on them. The strangest thing was that this creature seemed to have been a statue at some point as well, judging by the rocky, geometrical shapes of its muscles and body. It held one macuahuitl in each of its hands, and its strength was adding tearing power and hitting power as well.

Somehow, it could twist on its waist to give way to spinning whirlwinds of power. Many a minotaur was torn to pieces or smashed through several tree trunks. No matter what the mercenaries would use, they couldn't stop the creature. It would even tear a tree out from the roots and smack many of the griffins out of the air.

"What frightening beast! It is curious though." one of the scientists said from behind his boulder.

"Yes. It is reminiscent of ancient Mazeiyan culture. Notice the carvings in its head and wrist bands. They seem to sport the art styles and craftings of the time." a mare answered

"What are you two babbling about? We risk getting killed by this abomination!" a scientist scolded.

Almost as soon as he was done, shuffling came from behind them, causing the scolding scientist to jump in fear.

"What is that? Is it another one of those things?!"

"Heehee. Not at all." spoke a joyful and light toned voice.

A pink pony with fluffy, cotton-candy hair came out from behind the thickets and showed herself. Her eyes had been replaced with black, crystal orbs holding a diamond-shaped green crystal. She was also wearing a black, iron armor over her body and legs, but a poorly kempt red over-shirt was pushing out from beneath it. This mare also had a long scar going through her mane, specifically starting at her right eye and going diagonally across. The scolding scientist asked:

"Are you Pinkie Pie? One of the lead Chaos Hunters?"

"Yup."

"What are you doing here?"

"We were told about a nasty beasty around here by a certain Flicker."

"The animal tamer?"

"Yupperino. And judging by this creature..."Pinkie's eyes lit up."This is...I can't believe it."

"What?"

"This thing has been animated by residual energies of Blumarak."

"Bluh-mer-ack?"the scientist shrugged.

"No. Bloo-muh-rack. A god of blood and marrow. It supposedly tried to conquer Equestria thousands of years ago, but its plans were foiled. I didn't realize its energies were still around. They had practically dried up. I could bring it to Flicker, though."

Pinkie Pie rubbed her chin in pensive thought, just narrowly avoiding the leg of a griffin.

"STOP THAT AND KILL IT ALREADY!"

"Fine. We'll capture it."

"' We'?" another scientist wondered.

Several ponies jumped from the trees and covered the creature in a net of powerful, magically infused steel strings. The creature still flailed about and managed to throw some of the ponies into boulders.

"Get the weapons!" Pinkie yelled.

Executing the order, the Chaos Hunters tried their best. They were either crushed and torn to pieces whilst trying to do such a task. The pink pony just rolled her orbs and ran towards the creature. She took a dagger out from a hold on her back and held it in her mouth. The green side spotted her, then lifted itself up. It somehow lift its left arm into the air and smashed it down, creating a small trench. The hunter jumped onto the stony arm and jabbed the blade into a crevice on the wrist, making the creature howl in pain and having it twist around. Pinkie jumped off and slid under the legs, jamming the dagger into both of the Mazeiyan's ankles. It fell to its knees with a loud roar of pain and a tremor, allowing the pink pony to immediately get to her hooves, jump on the green portion's chest, and apply a run to its forehead and the back of the blue torso's head. All the hunters fled for cover, just as Pinkie did, although she hid next to the scientists.

"What are you doing? It's still alive."

"It will still be, just watch what happens.' the pony said with a smile.

As the dazed creature began to return to its senses, a loud, booming crackled came from above, and the scientists and remaining mercenaries all began to look around as they noticed the sky darkening. Much to their horror, thousands of thunderbolts began crashing down and striking the beast were it lay, charring and destroying the branches and the ground in their way. After a few seconds, the creature fell to the burnt ground, smoking and charred. Everyone poked their heads out of their cover to see the frightening scene. Other than the hunters, there was hesitation to move, mainly because the dark clouds above were still rumbling.

"What was that?!" the scolding scientist yelled.

"Paralysis rune." Pinkie answered as she walked over to deal with the stunned creature.

"PARALYSIS?!"

The scientist was slapped behind his head by one of the minotaurs of the mercenary group.

"We didn't sign up for this. Now give us our money and we'll leave. We've lost too many members to a supposedly 'safe' mission. Come to think of it, you should pay us extra for indemnities."

"Extra? And you're leaving?! We don't nearly have enough to pay you more than what was agreed upon in the contract! We even said that there was a possibility of something like this happening."

"SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENING?! That was a tri-star beast as indicated by the hunter's book of the MH guild! Star monsters are FAR from our expertise!"

"He's right. Why didn't you send an inquiry to to guild for hunters?" spoke a feminine voice.

"Because you don't have the income for such an expensive mission. We are only allotted certain quantity of money and we save some for missions like this...Who said that?"

"I did." spoke a cowled mare.

The scientist began to tremble as two figures walked through the forest towards them. The minotaur simply looked behind him with frustration.

"And who are you?"

"Twilight Sparkle. A lunar mage of Queen Lisis."

"A l-l-l--"

"Yes, and I overheard your conversation. The lunar mages are more than capable of getting your indemnities and pay. I would ask that you ignore the contract with these researchers and give me the information of your group so that I may provide the payment."

"And how do I know I won't be tricked and lied to?" the minotaur pointed at the unicorn with fury.

The minotaur began to groan in pain as it seemed like his skin was tightening around his body. It was visible to the naked eye, and it wasn't a pretty sight.

"Sharpshire! Enough."

"I sorry. I not like it when memers are thretnd. It is a difficolt thing. You can trust we, minos."

"Fine...I...But I will have a meeting with the king if this is not sorted out." the minotaur gasped.

"Take this paper and quill and write your company's information. I will do as I have said."

"What about ink?"

"It is filled with ink. It is a new project."

The minotaur hesitated, looking from the paper and quill floating in front of his face to the cloaked pony. His eyes were still bloodshot, but he had no real choice.

"Fine." he said as he reluctantly took the objects."Guys. Grab the bodies. We'll bring them back to camp."

"Sharpshire will retrieve the papers when you have finished. I must attend to the scientists, and then the hunters."

"Whatever. I just want my money and to get back to camp."

The unicorn lowered her head and stuck out a foreleg to salute the minotaur, then walked towards the scolding scientist.

"I believe that things have become much too dangerous for your research teams here. We will have a meeting with the king and queen to see if we cannot assign a team of hunters from the guild to scowl the forest. It would minimize casualties and improve income in knowledge and research."

"I...Okay. I just don't want this to happen ever again. Please. Take care of it. I must...WE must return to the town. I think you would need to speak to the hunters over there. The pink one said something about a blood god? I don't know. My head hurts."

"C'mon, stallion." one of the scientists said as they held him up and helped him back to the town.

Twilight Sparkle was met with the sight of a scarred, pink mare surrounded by an aura of tainted, orange magic. Each being was surrounded by an aura that the lunar mages could see, but the Chaos Hunters all had chaos tainted magics. Nopony really knew why, as they were a semi-independent unit whose existence had been kept secret from the magistrates.

"Pinkie Pie." the lavender pony spoke with a calm and serene tone.

"Hmph. Twilight. Why are YOU here?" the pink pony lashed out.

"I would very much prefer to speak to your face, rather than your rump."

"I'd prefer not to see you."

"That is hardly fair, but it is your choice. I've come to ask the aid of the Chaos Hunters in tracking a creature of unknown origin."

"Oh? The great and mighty Twilight Sparkle needs MY help? No, OUR help? What has changed that you would ask outsiders?" the pink pony laughed.

"It is something from space. This is clear from the particles and samples we have studied. We thought we had a lead but were lead astray in a forest. Which one, I have already forgotten, but we need the tracking ability of...your kind?"

"Haha...OUR kind...Fine. Bring me a declaration from Sol Invictus and we'll help you. Just be warned."Pinkie turned around and glared Twilight straight into her eyes."It might be useless as we don't know if this creature even has magic. If it is from space, it might not be like our world's kind at all. That, and we're made to hunt beasts of chaos, not walking space rocks. Now, I have to deliver this Mazeiyan to Flicker."

"The animal trainer? You followed a trainer so easily but not that of a pony given a high stature in the social order of things?"

"He thought it was a being of chaos. It turned out, somehow, the magics of Blumarak from the fallen Carnassian Imperium had concentrated enough into that statue and gave it life."

"That is bizarre. Supposedly that magic was sealed off quite a few centuries after the fall of the Imperium."

"Hmm. You said it came from space, correct?"

"Suddenly you wish to converse?"

"Fine. Whatever. Let's go. We're delivering the beast." the pink pony shouted to her group members.

Sharpshire walked towards Twilight with a folded piece of paper floating in front of his face, looking at the large group leaving next to the mercenaries.

"Dey aren't happeh?"

"No. Did you get the paper fully signed?"

"Yes."

"Then let us retreat to the tower. We will begin taking reports from cities in a specific radius that should be decided with our committee. Too big and we'll thin ourselves out too much. Too small and we will certainly miss the visitor.

Back in the mountains, IRM had returned from his trip around the side of the mountain with a deep bowl full of what looked like eggplant-shaped orange fruits. It only came back to see Cocoon and Sombra having a stare contest.

"I have no idea what sort of reaction I'm supposed to be having here." IRM thought to himself as we watched the scene.