"YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS... ARE THE BIGGEST MISTAKES IN THE HISTORY OF ALL CREATIONISM!"

For my Grandmother, who could be a pretty badass old lady herself.

Applejack stood in the darkness of the dream realm, looking up at a blanket of stars, "W-where am ah? Oh, the dream again," she said to herself as she watched the stars begin to twinkle and fall to the ground

When Friendship falls, and hope is banished, Conquest will rise.

The Stars will fall

The crowned king will take the life of life of the chosen one

"Yeah, Ah know this already. The stars have been falling and darkness will eclipse the lights. Starfleet has been losing members all the time lately: Dyno, Myte, Buddy, and who knows what planet Starla is on. Though we seem to be the only ones who care!" Applejack said.

Darkness will envelope the lights

"Ah told you, Ah know-" she pauses when she saw five lights in the distance, each one matching the colors of her and her friends. Then the lights began to become surrounded in darkness. "No, you can't mean-"

But, if mind and heart unite, then darkness will be pushed back.

" Wait what do you mean?" Applejack began, only to get interrupted when a bright light shown in the middle of the group that pushed against the darkness. "Whose heart, whose mind?"

When the lights unite in harmony once more, then hope will shine anew, but if Conquest should fall then-

When Applejack heard the pause, she asked, "Then what? What happens" As if in answer, a blinding red light blinded her vision

Applejack shot up with a gasp, sweat beading down her head. She tried to wipe the sweat off from her brow. With a few short pants, she found her breathing starting to return to normal, while she just stared into the darkness if her room in a quiet shock. After a few seconds of staring, she heard a soft snore to her left.

She looked to the source of the snoring and smiled softly. Caramel laid curled up by her side. Ever since he had become her sleeping companion, she found her nights to become calmer and she's been able to sleep easier. She gently ran her hand through his light brown hair and leaned in to kiss his forehead, "Thank you for helping me with my dreams."

Rolling herself out of her bed, she walked to her dresser and put in a long sleeved shirt with some jeans. While the October cold wasn't too bad for Fall, she wanted to dress warmly. Reaching out to her side, she pulled out her favorite hat and put it on, thinking to herself, " What did that dream mean? Whose heart? Whose mind?" shaking her head, she turned to walk out the door.

""Are you alright?" asked Caramel as he began to wake up.

Applejack had a smile on her face, "Yeah, just had some crazy dreams, its nothing. Ah am just going to run and get my legs working before breakfast."

"Ok, just remember-"

"Make sure to actually eat something, don't work myself too hard, anything else, boss?" Applejack said with a roll of the eyes.

Caramel blushed and shook his head, "No ma'am."

"Good," Applejack said, walking out with a swish of her tail. Even though they hadn't done more than cuddle with each other, there were times when Caramel acted like a doting husband to her. The idea of Caramel being her boyfriend made Applejack's face turn a slight shade of pink and she quickly began to run out the door.

A few minutes into her run and she was in a small grove of apple trees. Breathing softly, she cleared her mind to kick the trees around her. A solid side-kick here, a roundhouse kick there, and a few bucks helped to get her blood pumping within her body. As she trained, her mind began to think about the dream ,"If that dream is right, then that means Conquest will be aiming for us after he's done with Starfleet. And what about those 'corrections' soldiers?' she asked herself as she delivered a well placed buck to another tree.

It had been only a week since the attack on the Empire and while things had seemed peaceful, she knew the truth. K-COLT had been giving out stories about how Conquest had been attacking other little town and cities all around the continent, some that Grand Ruler said came as a surprise, even though some of the populace had given fair warning. For Applejack, this ticked her off, feeling like the lives lost were on her shoulders. What frightened her the most, however, were the corrections that she fought, "Who were they!? Why did they come, and what do they have in common with Raven?" Applejack yelled as she punched a tree, breaking the bark.

When she pulled back her hand, she looked at how it had gotten bloody from that last hit, and turned away in disgust, "Got to get stronger, if Ah can't beat that mare, then how can Ah protect my best friends? How can Ah lead them to victory?" she whispered.

Her ears perked at the sound of a mare yelling, "Get the buck off my land!"

"Granny!" Applejack shouted, running through the woods, she made her way the house. When she arrived at the edge of the orchard, she saw two Unicornicopians standing in front of the old green mare.

"Miss Smith, we are just asking you to come with us. You are unable to complete the customary training to be fit," said a grey Unicornicopian.

Granny Smith frowned, "Ah don't need any training or exercise, Ah am fine just being here!"

"Ma'am, you have to exercise, how else are you going to be strong enough to help Starfleet?" asked the blue unicorpain.

Granny Smith frowned, "Look, Ah just want to relax and die here, with my family. Do you think Ah waste that that time exercising when I can barely outpace a snail?"

"Ma'am, the law says everyone must be fit and that means ever-"

"Ah said," Granny Smith pulled back her fist, making it glow a bright yellow, "Get out!" she then thrusted her fist into the stomach of one of the unicornicopians, sending him flying away. Before the other could respond, Granny grabbed her walker, made it glow the same shade of yellow and swatted the other out of the way. After looking at her two fallen aggressors, Granny turned to look at her eldest grandson, "Big Mac, be a dear and take these two gentlecolts off the land."

"Yes, Granny," Big Mac said, walking to each Unicornicopian and pulling them away.

"Granny, that was amazing," Applejack said breathlessly, before sitting on a chair next to her grandmother, 'How on earth did ya do it?"

"Oh that? Just a little old earth pony magic," Granny Smith said, smiling as she sat back in her chair.

"But, Ah always thought Earth Pony magic as all about strength, durability, and being a farmer. Ah never seen anything like that," Applejack said, shaking her head.

"Oh, course you haven't. There aren't that many earth pony fighters left out there that know how to use Hamon," Granny Smith said.

Applejack lowered her head to the side, "Hamon?"

"You mean that Twilight never told you? Thought she would, what with her love of all things magic. Well, just sit right there and I'll tell you all about it," Granny said, closing her eyes as she recollected the memories in her head, "You remember how it was, way back before the union of the tribes?"

"Yeah, we all hated each other. The only reason why we even tolerated one another was because one had something the others wanted," Applejack frowned, "Almost as bad as right now."

"And you can expect this led to some might bad confrontations once in awhile, some pretty bad wars," Granny Smith said. "And how do ya think we earth ponies kept up with the other tribes?"

Applejack looked up in thought for a second, "Well, Ah know one way was with Earth Pony alchemy. Kind of had a run in with that a few months back. Ah also think Pinkie told me somethin' about baked goods being used in the Winter War and whatnot."

"The other way, was with Hamon," Granny Smith said. "It was an ancient fighting art that allowed us earth ponies to match unicorns in their spell casting and match the pegasi in speed. A hamon user is capable of doing impossible feats, such as breakin' out of a unicorn's hold, breakin' a shield, or out-maneuverin' a pegasus.. It also helped us Earth ponies live for a very long time. You wouldn't know it, but ah am actually 120, not 80."

"Wow," Applejack gasped out in shock. "Amazing. Do you think you can teach me that?"

Granny Smith then looked at Applejack weirdly, "Ah thought you already knew it. From the way you exercise and fight, you already had some of the basics down. The way you breathe, keeping yourself focused, that's all the basis in Hamon. In a way, you make me think of your pa, Celestia rest his soul. He had the potential to be a great Hamon user, but he chose instead to raise his his family. Good choice if you ask me, no sense in fighting if the world's peaceful."

Applejack nodded as she followed Ganny away from the house, "Ah guess you're right about that. Wait, you say Ah'm like pa?"

"Of course you are. The both of you are as determined as can be, and hard headed too," Granny said, getting a chuckle form Applejack. The two made it to a small grove of apple trees, "Now, the reason why Hamon works so well for us earth ponies, is because it taps into our basic element of Earth. You know how a tree gets it strength and energy from photowhatsits"

"Photosynthesis, Granny," Applejack said.

"Ah don't need a 30 bit word to tell me how trees work!" Granny Smith grumbled. "Hamon is based on the same principle, you are breathing in to take in the energy from the Sun and transferring it to you own body. Now breathe deeply."

Applejack began to breathe slowly, letting her chest rise and fall with each slow breath, "Like this?"

"That's it, slow deep breaths," Granny said with a smile. "Feel the air go into your lungs, taking with it the warmth of Celestia's great gift. Breathe out, feeling the power of the sun go into your cells and empower them with energy. You are like the trees you raise, strong, enduring, and powerful. You are an earth pony, which means your magic is about strength and endurance. The sun is a part of that, feeding you strength and keeping you strong against the harshest of fights." then she looked up at a tree, "There is a fruit bat up in this tree. When you are ready, punch the tree and wake up the bat, without disturbing the apples."

Applejack nodded and continued to breathe. After few short seconds, she drew back her punch and delivered a hard blow against the tree, knocking down some apples. Applejack looked down in defeat, "Not good enough."

Granny Smith patted Applejack on the back and gave her a hug, "You'll get it it. It just takes some time."

"Ya, you're right," Applejack said, then she looked up at Rainbow Dash, creating a double rainbow in the sky as she practiced her flying. "After all, she wouldn't quit."

"Ah yes, one of your many friends, " Granny said, smiling as she sat with her granddaughter, "I am glad you met them, they seemed to have a positive effect on you."

"You think so?" Applejack asked, looked at her grandmother.

Granny nodded, "Before all of this, you used to be so headstrong and focused on your work that it was hard to get you away from it all. Ah used to worry if you were gonna work yourself to death. Now look at you, you open up more, let other help you out, and have become a great mare. If your pa were here, he'd tell you right now... you did good kid, real good."

---

"Weak, pathetic, useless," an earth pony said, sitting in the shadows as he watched Applejack's tender moment. All around him were video screens of Applejack.

"Oh, don't be like that doc! So what if your five creations fell, you can get them next time," Dark Conquest said, stepping into the monitor room.

The doctor shook his head and turned to look at the screen, "It's not them. I have abandoned them long ago as failures. I am thinking more about Applejack."

"Aw, does my little doc have a crush?" Conquest laughed.

"You know I have no interest in sex or romance," the doctor said. Then he frowned, "I just despise her. She is everything I hate about earth pony society. Complacent, joyful, and trying to think that we are equal to those inferior breeds. She should be putting her talents and her title as an Element of Harmony to good use. To make the lesser races bow down and worship us. But, enough of my ramblings, what bring you here, sir?"

Conquest reached into his pocket and threw a small ring at the doctor, "Present for you."

"Thank you, but I have no desire to marry you," the doctor said, closing his hand around the ring.

Conquest chuckled, "Oh please, like I am into marriage. That is a gift from our dear friend Titan. It seems that his new friend Dusk Shine brought back some of Meadowbrook's items with him. That is the Ring of Fear. It forces all who are near it to suffer their worst fears."

"And you want me to do what with it?" asked the doctor.

"I want you to copy the magic of that ring, just enough to give some of my soldiers the magic of the ring," Conquest said.

The doctor looked at the ring quizzically, eating a jelly bean as he began to talk, "Planning on a new assault? So soon? Was the Empire not a failure for you?"

"Hell no!" Conquest said, spinning around and sitting on a desk, his smile wide, "The Empire was only a means of an end for me... and Titan. He got the chance to continue whatever little game he has planned behind the scenes, and me? I got the chance to hurt Lightning even more. It's why I told the little fairies to only hurt and attack the newbies."

"You know that was needlessly cruel. They didn't even have a chance to show off what they could do," the doctor said.

Conquest waved his hand, "Ah, what does the world care, they were cannon fodder for me anyway. It was just the chance to watch Lightning see this new chance to prove himself, and in the end, take it away. I love it when a hero breaks like that!"

"Makes the final moment all the more sweeter for you, doesn't it?" asked the doctor. "I will finish your ring by the end of the week."

"Thanks doc!" conquest said, skipping out of the room, then he looked in, "By the way, you really need to work on those voyeur tendencies of yours."

The doctor ignored this joke from Conquest and looked down at the ring, his mind thinking back to a few years ago...

Peach Berry woke up, her head was swimming from the anesthetic, "Wha-Fire ball...where's my husband?" the peach colored pegasus asked.

"The blood loss must have affected you harder than I thought," the doctor said, looking at a heart in a jar," Your husband died in front of you a few minutes ago. You were screaming so much that I had to put you under or else you would've broken my tools."

Peach, still a little groggy, asked, "Tools, what do you mean?" with a moan she began to look around the barely lit lab. All around her were bloody instruments on trays, body parts in jars, and corpses being hung from meathooks. At the look of all this gore and viscera, she began to feel sick. This was some feeling had started to return to her, and she felt like she was lighter on half of her body. When she looked to her left side, she saw that her arm and leg were sawed off.

As she gave out a trembling scream, the doctor sighed and shook his head head, "Oh hush up! Your husband had a lot more dignity when I removed his heart from his body. Died a lot quicker too." Calmly he picked up a notepad and wrote down, "Note, a unicorn can live with their heart out of the body for one minute if you pump the blood by hand."

Peach looked to her side, and saw her husband laying there, his ribcage torn open. With a whimper she asked, "W-why are you doing this? "

"To prove Earth Pony superiority," the doctor said, picking up a test tube and giving it a shake, watching as the blue liquid turned to green. "You pegasi and unicorns believe yourself to be our equals, which is a foolish idea. Take away the wings and pegasi are useless, take away mana and an unicorn is just a pony with a horn, but we earth ponies are different. We are the earth, we are the strongest, the most durable. If it weren't for us, you would all be starving ponies!"

"N-not true," Peach whimpered. "We all have our own strengths and weaknesses. That's what being in harmony means. We need to use our differences to better our world."

The doctor scoffed as he took out a sharp scalpel and cut it along side the face of Peach, causing the mare to scream in agony, "See? An earth pony could take that pain. Pegasi have weak bones for flying and unicorns are weaker without magic. These are undeniable facts."

"You are a monster," groaned Peach.

"Yes, that's what they will say when they see my work in the beginning. They will call me monster, savage, and so much more, But in time, they will be wowed by my discoveries. They will be shocked and amazed by all that that I have discovered that I will be called a genius!"

"No, you will still be called..." Peach paused when she heard a door opening, "Please whoever you are, hel-" a crossbow bolt hit her in the forehead, killing her on impact.

The doctor turned to look into the doorway and smiled when he saw the figure of Grand Ruler steppin through the door, "Grand Ruler, sire. I must say, I am not surprised that you and Starfleet have found me. Seeing that Shining Armor was critical in stopping my work the first time, he must have has a few files on me. When ponies wen tmissing you-"

"Captain Shaina, please recon the premises and make sure no one disturbs me," Grand Ruler said.

Shaina bowed her head and walked outside, "What is this?" the doctor asked.

"I have not come here to arrest you, but rather hire you for your services," Grand Ruler said.

"Hire me? What for?" the doctor said.

Grand Ruler smiled as he walked over to the various jars and body parts, "Though my United Equestria is as perfect as can be, there are still several mistakes that need to be fixed. Errors the need correcting, that sort of thing. In the past I had specialized soldiers who did the correction and fixing, but with Titan's last assault I have lost my advantage. You, with your expertise in biology will be able to help me create those soldiers so they can fix Equestria's mistakes."

The doctor smirked, an intrigued look in his eyes, "What is in it for me?"

"I will give you test subjects, a lab to call your own, and all the equipment you will need. I will keep you hidden, to the point where nopony will even know you exist."

The doctor smiled, "When do I start, sire?"

The doctor placed the ring onto the table and looked back at the screen, "Bee 1, keep an eye on Applejack."

---

The little bee kept to the sky, following applejack closely. It flew after her as she walked away from her farm and towards the large library.

Applejack looked at the schoolhouse as she left her little sister behind. There was a part of her that wanted to tell the school that their teacher was now a secret agent bent on taking down the regime. The rest of her decided to just add shake her head and walk away.

"Hey all you cats and Dolls, you are listening to K-COLT, Equestria's most free radio station in the country. We are here giving you all of the news that is not fit to print. Now, we all know that Conquest has been doing small scale attacks all over the country, ravaging a farm here and there or taking out a small city to remind us that the big attacks are not the only ones to keep an eye on the news for. But, there is more, seems he isn't only fixated on Equestria, not that Grand Ruler cares. Old Conquest has been attacking other races too, leaving as much pain and death as he can make. Grand Ruler's response? 'We must marshall all of our forces at home before we help other countries.' Well, maybe if you didn't focus so much attention on seven, sorry, now three soldiers, we would actually have a force. This other bit of news has ticked me off so much that I can't even say it."

Over the radio, Octavia sighed deeply, "Take a good look at your latest maps and you will see something that might horrify you. If you do not see the difference yet, bring out a map of United Equestria before the war and look up new Horn Kong or some of the other towns that Starfleet failed to save. See the blank spot? Yes, it's true."

"It seems that the Grand Ruler wants to remove his mistakes," Vinyl said with a hint of disgust in her voice. "So, any town that is lost has been officially been removed and abandoned."

"If you have loved ones in those towns, please, pray for them. I don't know when, but the dawn will come one day. The sun will rise over those towns lost and we will save them," Octavia said.

"Yeah, the moment the Umbra Circle kicks our current ruler off his can and brings back the true home-girl, Princess Celestia!" Vinyl shouted. "Woah, you know what, I think we are getting way too depressing, here is some Ponytones with some music in honor of tomorrow."

Applejack turned away from the radio in disgust, focusing instead on walking to her destination. Looking up at the old library she had a smile that quickly turned into a frown when she heard, "Get out of my way you lousy Equestrian." shouted an unicornicopian as he pushed Bon Bon to the ground.

Bon Bon groaned as she got up, "You bumped into me."

"Stop your lying you filthy non magic using-"

"Back off," Applejack said, grabbing the Unicornicopians hand.

Seeing the green eyes of Applejack caused him to shudder before backing away, "Oh, I am so sorry your ladyship" he said, and then added "I'll leave to handle the riffraff. Though, trash should be handling trash."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Applejack growled.

The unicornicopian shrugged, "It's what we have been figuring out, and how the news tells it. The only reason why your little knights have been winning is because Starfleet is backing you up. That whole empire thing was saved because Starfleet sent in reinforcements to save your hides at the last second."

"No, the real heroine was Belle!" Applejack growled. "We would've lost if it wasn't for her!"

The Unicornicopian smirked, "That's the point. You needed trash to save you. You guys are useless without Starfleet's help. The news has told us everything, and we always trust the news given to us by Grand Ruler."

As the unicornicopian walked away, Applejack grumbled, "Stupid Unicornicopian hick." she then looked to Bon Bon, "Are you ok?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. He just pushed me a little and I," Bon Bon gasped as she looked at a broken photo, "OH no. I was buying that to surprise Lyra when she got home, and now it's ruined."

"It's ok, Ah'll find somepony to fix it," Applejack said.

Bon Bon sniffled a little, "It's not alright. I wanted to make that photo look all nice and neat for when Lyra gets home so she would have a nice present and it's ruined."

"Ah think she won't m-"

"I just miss her so much. I know she is doing this to make sure that we can have a happy life again, so I won't keep getting nasty looks just because I'm a lesbian. But...but...it's still so hard," Bon Bon whimpered.

"Wait, you know what Lyra's doing?" Applejack asked.

Bon Bon nodded, "Of course I do! Lyra never could keep a secret from me, ever. And I am fie with it, really. It's just that, you know. When it''s the one you love the most, it's hard not to think that you need to be there for them. That, there has to be something you can do."

Applejack pulled her hat down from her chest and sighed, "Ah don't have a coltfriend or anything like that. But what Ah can tell you is that the best thing you can do for her is to make sure that her home is thee for her. That she has something to come back to."

"You think so?" Bon Bon asked, looking at Applejack with a soft smile.

"That's what Ma always said she did when she waited for Pa to come home," Applejack said, putting her hat on and walking away.

Bon Bon nodded as she said, "Thank you Applejack, you helped me feel a little better."

When she got to the library, Applejack slowly opened the door, "Belle? You here?"

Swaying a little bit, Belle put her hand to her forehead and breathed a little deeply, "Oh, h-hey Applejack."

"Bell you alright? You look a little woozy," Applejack asked stepping to offer a hand.

Belle smiled and shook her head, "I'm fine, just got up a little too fast." she straightened up and fixed her mane, "Did you need something?"

"Yeah, Ah kind of need a book on Earth Pony magic," Applejack said, walking through the living room, looking at the various shelves."

"Sure! I think I have some. Like I have this one book about an earth pony that fought vampires with his hooves. Then here is this one book-"

As Belle began to excitedly list off the various books on the shelves, Applejack began to look around the living room. She sighed contently when she saw how homely she had made the entire tree. In the span of six months, she had made the place look like she had lived in the home for years. When her eyes looked at a picture n a table near the window, Applejack noticed how familiar it looked, "Well now, isn't this a pleasant sight. Isn't this the photo we took a few days ago?"

"Yeah, it is," Belle said, putting some books into a pile behind her. Walking to Applejack and looking over her shoulder at the photo of the six together, she sighed, "I think it's my favorite photo."

"Why that?" Applejack asked.

Belle smiled softly, "Because it is the first time that I felt like I was truly a part of the group, like I was one of you."

"Belle, you have always been one of us. Rainbow Dash told ya, and now am telling you, you are our friend, end of story," Applejack said, looking into Belle's eyes, smiling warmly.

Belle nodded, " Well, I know that now. But, that photo really cemented it for me. I am Belle Amie, not Twilight Sparkle. I'm not a replacement pet for you. I am my own mare, with my own friends. Though...I am a little worried."

"About what?" Applejack asked.

Belle sighed, " I'm scared about what will happen when I finally gain my memories back and I find out I am a horrible pony. What if the me now hates who I was or vice versa. What if I am some sort of tool meant to lure you all into a trap."

Applejack smiled warmly as she said, "Sugarcube, Ah don't care if it turns out that you are the daughter of Lord Tirek himself. It doesn't change a dang thing my eyes. You are Belle Amie, end of story. It don't matter to me who you are in the past, what matters to me is who are now. And quite frankly, Ah like the mare in front of me just fine."

"But, what if Ah turn out to have done something horrible," asked Belle.

Applejack shrugged, "Then the you back then did something bad, but the you now has more than made up for it. The past is past, that is what I believe. I prefer to pony in the now, not the past."

Belle smiled a little, "Thanks AJ."

"You know, you almost make me think of myself right now," Applejack said, looking at another picture, thi s one of Twilight at her coronation, "Am Ah doing this right, am Ah leading the team correctly?"

"Applejack, you don't need to compare yourself to Twilight," Belle said.

"Ah'm not though, anymore than Ah compare myself to mom and pop," Applejack said with a shake of her head. "It's that, Ah'm moe afraid of not doing the right thing. Ah'm scared that Ah messed up something fierce or that Ah can't lead them right. That this isn't how she would want things."

Belle smiled, "Applejack, I may not be Twilight, but I can tell you something right now. You have done a marvelous job so far leading us and keeping us safe. I mean, sure, we may have some cuts and bruises after all this time, but we are still alive."

"You really think so?" Applejack asked.

"Of course. You are the best I have ever seen," Belle complimented.

Applejack then smirked, "So, face with those facts, should we really be worrying about the small stuff?"

Belle pulled back, realizing what Applejack was saying, then giggled and hugged her friend nuzzling her, "Yeah, guess we should."

---

"Fools, of course it matters," growled the doctor as he glared at the screen. "Once you have done something wrong, then it forever marrs you. You cannot change who really are! Your past determines who you are and nothing cannot change that."

"Speaking from experience?" Dementia asked, stepping out from the shadow of the door, "Or are you just throwing your own opinions on a situation 0."

"Dementia, so good to see you in my office. Finally found time away from your toy to talk to me?" the doctor laughed.

Dementia growled, "I am going to ignore that remark for the moment. Conquest wants an update on the ring."

"Tell the boss that the rings should be done in a few days time, I still need a moment to crack the code," The doctor said, looking at the rings admirably.

"Wow, so the great doctor has found an unicorn item that even he can't break, I am surprised," chuckled Dementia as she looked to one of the monitors, watching the footage of Applejack and Belle. Softly she sighed, and then looked at a video of a young foal and her mother, "Tell me, what do you think of memories?"

"Useless things. They only hold one back. If I had my way, I would wipe all memory of myself from the ponies of Equestria so they can better appreciate my genius, rather than my demonic intentions," the doctor said.

Dementia sneered, "Is that what you did to Raven?"

"Raven? You think I messed with Raven's memories?" The doctor laughed at this.

Dementia looked at him, "Of course you did! It's obvious to anyone with half a brain."

The doctor shrugged, "I mave have given her a bloodthirst, but messing with her memories? I did not do that, only to my five test subject."

"Then who-"

"That my dear, is a secret I'll take to my grave," chuckled the doctor as he looked at his workbench, another memory flooding back to him...

The doctor walked in front of five cages, each holding an equine that slept. He smiled when he went to Ragamuffin's cage, "So why these ponies?" asked Shaina.

"These equines have been untouched by Celestia's light, and thus are interesting to research. Each possess an unique magic that has been unseen in this world for generations, and makes them worth the study," the doctor said, chuckling.

Shaina looked at the pony in the cage, "And the earth pony?"

"My dear sister here is a control," the doctor said. "She is the earth pony I need to prove earth pony superiority."

Shaina had a look of disgust when she looked at the pony, 'You did that to your own sister?"

"Make no mistake," the doctor said calmly, "After spending years searching for me, she found what I had been doing to be morally reprehensible and wanted to stop me. But, after a few adjustments... she saw it my way."

"You... experimented on your own sister?" asked Shaina.

The doctor only smiled as he looked to the opening door, "Ah, and now we get our latest volunteer."

When the three figures stepped through the door, the mare in the middle began to fight and struggle against the two Unicornicopians, " Let me go, you jerks!"

"Feisty one, aren't you" Asked the doctor stepping to the bat-pony and kneeling before her. " And your name is?"

"Raven Wing," the bat pony spat as she glared her yellow eyes at him. Now, how about you call off your men and let me go back home to my husband?"

The doctor smiled and tucked her chin, "My dear Raven, I suggest you forget about you lover. In places like this, memories of your loved ones tend to fade into the ether. Take her to her cell."

The doctor had a cruel smile on his lips as he watched the bat pony being carried away. Turning to look at his other subjects, he couldn't help but admire his work on the subjects and how he had crafted their powers.

"What I don't get, is the obsession with Applejack," Dementia said looking at the screens. "Why not Pinkie Pie as well?"

The doctor scoffed as he looked back at one of the rings he was working on, "I have checked that pink one's lineage and she is corrupted. There is pegasus DNA within her body, and thus is useless. But, Applejack is pure Earth Pony, and thus is a shining example of what our species can accomplish."

"So, basically you are just playing favorites," Dementia said, walking away.

"Yes, I am," The doctor admitted, before looking back at the screen. Typing a few buttons on his keyboard, she said, "Show me the events of Nightmare Night."

---

Pound began to giggle as Artie dabbed some black marks on his little cheeks, "And there we are! The momma lion has her two little cubs for tonight."

"Thank you," squeaked the little pegasus as he leap from the couch and ran towards Cup Cake, who was dressed in a lion outfit.. Leaning down to pick up her son, she smiled as she said, "Come along, we are going to meet your grandmother before we start."

"Yay" cheered the little colt.

Artie gave out a sigh as he watched the mother and son leave, his heart feeling a bit warmer. Turning to look back at the cupcakes, he reached for an icing gun when a high pitched voice broke him out of his concentration," My costume's done!"

Turning around, he he exclaimed, "Wow, nice outfit Pinkie."

"Thank you," she said, adjusting her straw hat. The red vest and blue shorts gave her a short of tomboyish look.

"So, who are you supposed to be?" asked Artie as he watched pinkie spin around, making her pink mane and tail bounce with her movements.

Pinkie Smiled and tipped her hat, "Straw Hat the Pirate. He's this fun rubber guy that is all about sailing the high seas and having adventures! I loved reading the book series so much that I had to dress up as him."

"I never read that series," Artie said, trying to a little blush as he also noted that the wink Pinkie gave made her look cute.

"So," Pinkie trialed off, resting hr elbows on his shoulders from behind, "You coming out?"

"Pinkie," Artie sighed, "You know how United Equestria feels about holidays, with the exception of Founder's Day."

"Which was boring by the way," Pinkie said, which elicited a confirming chuckle out of Artie. She then finished her next thought with an impression of Grand Ruler, "You should not be celebrating holidays like Nightmare Night and Hearth's Warming! You could be attacked at any given moment. You should never let your guard down like those little mares."

"Precisely," said Artie.

Pinkie shook her head, looking down, "But Artie, you shouldn't live everyday thinking that something evil is going to happen or some monster is gonna attack you. That is a horrible way to live, and it only hurts you."

"Yeah, but it's been that way for ages. Always vigilant, always steadfast, and-"

"How has that been working so far?" Pinkie asked, looking into Artie's green eyes. Smiling she said, "Look, life is like a big party, you can't always be moving and jumping around, sometimes you gotta sit down and eat some cake and take in the fun. You can't always think that there is a monster around the corner, it tires you out. And it only hurts you in the end. You said that you don't feel close to your team right?"

"Yeah," Artie said, the mention of his team making him frown slightly.

Pinkie smiled, "And how do you think you form a close bond? You spend the time to have fun and relax."

""You know what?" Artie said, getting up, "You are right...it's silly. So, I think I am going to go with you.'

"Really?!" Pinkie said, smiling wide and grabbing Artie by the arm ,"Come on then!"

"Wait, Pinkie you can't possibly have a costume ready for me," Artie exclaimed, being pulled by the hand to the upstairs.

Within the span of a few hours, Artie found himself walking through the streets of Ponyville, a half full bag of candy in hand. Looking back at Pinkie, he stammered, "I still can't believe you had a costume ready for me." he gave his costume another look over. It was a blue and striped shirt with a pair of yellow shorts and an orange wig, "Who did you say I was?"

"Navi, Straw Hat's faithful navigator!" Pinkie said.

"Un huh," he then looked around, noticing many foals getting candy, "Aren't we too old for this?"

"Like I told an old friend once, you are never too old for free candy!" Pinkie cheered. Then, she felt a shiver down her spine. Looking at her back, she squeaked when she saw a little rubber bat with fangs, "A bat! Run!"

As she ran away, Artie followed, "Ok... why is it that you can run into a fight without a care and then be scared of a little bat?"

Pinkie giggled as she climbed down from a tree, "I'm not really scared, silly. It's just what you are supposed to do on Nightmare Night. Be a little scared and have some fun."

"Just pretending?" asked Artie.

Pinkie nodded, "Yeah, I always like pretending to be afraid at this time. It's a lot of fun, though I did mess up once. I almost ruined it for Princess Luna."

Noticing Pinkie's frown, Artie asked, "You did?"

"Well, what was I supposed to think? She came in riding on a chariot pulled by cool looking bat ponies. Then she pulls out this scary voice, and then begins to make declarations. I thought she was playing the part of an evil queen that wants to kill us all. Then T-my friend pulled me aside and told me about how bad Luna was feeling. Then I started to feel bad, then I gave her plenty of cupcakes to make up for it," Pinkie said.

Artie chuckled, "Must have been quite an experience for her. But me, I just don't see the fun of being scared. It's not really in me to be it."

"Aw," Pinkie said, noting a figure behind him, sneaking up with a spider. "I bet if you gave it a try you would be."

"I don't think I wou-" he paused when he felt something on his back, "What's that crawling on my baaaaaaaahhhh! A spider!" Artie said, jumping up into the air.

Rainbow Dash laughed hard as she watched Artie float in the air for a few minutes, "Hahaha, can't believe the Starfleet hero is afraid of Spiders."

"Yeah," Pinkie laughed, hoof bumping Rainbow Dash.

"I-i can't help it," Artie said nervously, climbing back down, "Spiders are icky and get in your pants and mess it all up."

"And that's it?" Dash laughed again slowly getting up and dusting off her outfit.

"Hey, nice costume by the way," Pinkie said, looking at Dash as walked in front of Pinkie in her red bodysuit.

"Thanks, it's based on what ponies said that Buried Alien looks like. Red coat with a blonde mane and tail," Dash said.

"Cool!" Pinkie said.

Dash then smiled at Pinkie, "So, you look like you are having a fantastic time."

"I'm loving it, have got quite the stash tonight," Pinkie cheered. Then she looked around, " Is Fluttershy staying at home?"

Dash nodded, "Yeah, she hates this night and wants to just read. But, I was thinking" she then whispered in Pinkie's er.

"Wow!" Pinkie smiled and gave Dash some of her candy, "How did you know what I was thinking?! Are you psychic?"

"Nah, I just know how you think," Dash laughed before flying off to Fluttershy's.

"You know," Applejack said, "Ah heard Rarity is giving out candy by the truckload."

"What?!" Pinkie said, grabbing Artie by the hand and pulling him away, "That's App-"

"Just call me a wandering swordsmare," Applejack said, tipping her hat and walking off, her cross shaped scar shining in the moonlight.

As Pinkie and Artie walked, the clouds began to darken. In the sky, a dark alicorn with dragon-like eyes descended from the heavens, "Behold citizens, I Nightmare Moon have returned to-"

"Moon Pie?" Pinkie asked.

Nightmare Moon looked down at the moonpie, smiled, and turned back to Luna, "I find these moonpies to be acceptable, and thus I may announce the commencement of the rest of the festivities!"

"Thank you princess," Pinkie said, bouncing away. Artie looked at the scene, smiled, and followed along with Pinkie to the to door of Carousel Boutique.

"Halt! Or else," Glarity said, popping out from the door, dressed in a long black gown with long fingernails.

Pinkie Pie smiled, "Nightmare Night, give me something good to bite!"

"My Pinkie, what an unique costume," Rarity said, stepping out from behind the door, her belly bulge sticking out from within the cat-suit.

Artie cocked an eyebrow, "And who are you supposed to be?"

"I am the fabulous Orange Peel, who has finally given into my desire for the handsome Shadow Steed. We are married and have a lovely baby on the way," As if on cue, Spike came in with a fancy suit and a bowler hat.

"Good evening, gentlecolt and mare," Spike said, putting on a fake british accent.

Pinkie giggled, "Good evening sir."

Rarity looked at Pinkie, 'My brave pirate I wish you all the luck in your conquests!"

"And to you, my fun spy," Pinkie said, smiling and giving her friend a hug. Then she gave a little laugh when she felt the baby kick, "Ok, I am hugging you too."

As the festivities carried on, nopony watched as Luna looked to the edge of the woods where her statue was. Carefully she walked up to it and whispered to six hidden mares, "Ok, you can come out."

At this command, six mares came out dressed in brightly colored suits with helmets on, "Why are dressed up as a superhero team from a foal's comic book?" Carrot asked, looking at her orange outfit.

Trixie grinned under her light blue outfit, "Because this was the best way to disguise the three of us and make sure that nopony recognizes us."

Raindrops looked at Luna, "Princess... are you sure this is all right? Should we be out here?"

"Raindrops, remember, we need to relax and calm our minds once in awhile. If not, we run the risk of burning ourselves out and becoming useless. Besides," Luna smiled as she looked in the direction of Ditzy and Lyra, "We have one other reason to visit."

Ditzy smiled when she saw an teenager walk with a little foal, "Ditzy, Sparkler, I'm glad you're safe."

"Bon Bon," Lyra sighed, watching as Bon Bon began to hand out candy.

"Sometimes, after a battle like what we had, we need to see our loved ones again. If only for the memory of what we are fighting for," Luna said. There was a slight frown on her lips as she said this, looking down at the ground.

Carrot Top placed her hand onto Luna's shoulder, "We all came on this mission of our own free will. We knew it would be tough to do this, but we were all aware of the sacrifice."

"Speaking of mission, where is Spark?" Trixie asked. "Trixie thought she was coming along with us for the fun as well."

Cheerilee shook her head, "Spark is really busy right now. She has been looking over all the data about what has happened to Equestria ever since Grand Ruler arrive and United Equestria came into being."

"A shame," Trixie said, "Because she will miss Trixie's grand show! Come team, let us proceed to paint the town red."

And so it was, the partying and the candy hunt went long into the night. Many danced and played until they were ready to drop, while others had problems getting their young children to sleep after a evening of indulging on sweets. Some, were just excited to have a great evening. Others, notably the Unicornicopians, all stayed away, calling the festivitie a fruitless exercise in frivolity. Fluttershy walked outside to find a small basket of candy, waiting for her. Pinkie, meanwhile, found herself belly flopping onto a bed covered in candy, Artie having to roll out of the way, laughing. Covered in candy, Artie sat up and knocked some of his candy off, "Ok, I have to admit-"

"Yes?" Pinkie hissed, a licorice rope in her mouth.

"This was the most fun I have ever had in a long long time," Artie said, laying on the pillow and looking up at the ceiling.

Pinkie, licorice still in mouth, crawled up next to him and nodded, "Told ya."

"Pinkie, I just want to-" he paused and smiled warmly at Pinkie. "Thank you. For being my friend. For opening yourself t me. You never needed to or even had to."

"It was never about having to or letting be my job, it's because I wanted to. It's who I am," Pinkie said with a smile. Then she looked away, "If anything, I kind of want to thank you too."

"Me?" asked Artie.

"For proving me right," she smiled warmly. "For a while, I thought that maybe I was wrong, that maybe... all of you would keep your hearts closed forever. Then you showed that you guys can actually have a little fun and character to you."

Artie chuckled at that, and then frowned, "Pinkie, want to tell you something."

"What?" Pinkie asked.

"Back when...Twilight died, I know that it seemed that a lot of Starfleet saw you as a child and condemned you for the crime of being emotional. And they did, but I never did. In fact, I was just a pissed off at them as your friends. I actually watched my grandfather pass away, I know what it's like to see a loved one dead before you, so I knew you had every right to cry. Hell, I wanted to yell at Rhymey, but every time I was about to, something went on in my head and I just let it slide."

"So, you were on my side?" Pinkie asked, her eyes opening wide.

"Yeah. But, Rhymey, I swear I think something is wr-oof!" he was hugged by Pinkie, who then rubbed her nose against his.

"Thank you!" she said, looking back at his green eyes with big blue ones.

"No, thank you for being a friend that I needed," Artie said.

Pinkie smiled, giving another wink, "It's what I do." she said. Yawning and the rubbing her head against his chest as she began to fall asleep.

---

"Such heartwarming nonsense," growled the doctor as he put down the ring and stepped away from the console. Getting up and stretching his muscles, he walked out of his computer room. Walking down the halls, he did not block the sounds of slaves begging for mercy, or the horrifying screams of the dying. For him, it was more like a beautiful melody, a bunch of sounds of inferior ponies meeting their justified ends. Breathing in the air of the HQ, he continued his walk, only stopping when he heard a weird sound. Taking a moment to listen he realized it was voices from down the hall. Stepping closer, he saw the forms of Titan's trio and Starla wearing weird outfits, "What on Earth?" asked the doctor.

"Think they'll like it?" asked Starla. "I mean, it's just a party."

"To be frank, considering that they are slaves and their lives are horrible" Mysterious said, looking down. "It might not."

Rep gave Starla a hug, "Don't listen to him, they need this. We need this."

Dementia nodded, "I think you also need a break from training, you have been taxing yourself to exhaustion."

"No I haven't...not that often," Starla said turning her head away from Dementia, blushing a little in embarrassment.

"Yes you have," chuckled Dementia as she rubbed Starla's mane, looking at the now short-cut purple mane, "Rep, I think you did an excellent job with her mane. Maybe you could become a barber later on."

"Funny," snarked Rep as he opened the doors to the slave quarters. As the doors opened to the many slaves that were sitting around at the various tables, Rep quickly pulled out the big box that they were carrying and threw it down onto the ground. With a flash, the box oped up to a collection of party favors and banners.

"What is this," asked a unicornicopian.

Mysterious smiled at the slaves, " Happy Nightmare Night, and all that it brings with it."

"We're celebrating Nightmare Night, here?" Asked a pegasus.

"Why no?" Rep asked. " They are celebrating on the surface right now. Why should they have all the fun?"

Starla lifted a pumpkin and nodded, " We need something to help with lifting our spirits and I think a party will be the best way."

"I agree," Inquirious said, stepping out from within the shadows. "I say, what reason do we need? Let's party tonight and forget the horrors if this place for at least tonight."

There was no disagreement from any of the native Equestrian slaves as they began to hold a party within the slave quarters. For the moment, it was as it the problems f the world around them was beginning to fade. Though tomorrow meant a return to hell, for tonight it was a time of fun and laughter. The doctor sighed and watched, smiling a little, "Maybe, I should invest in some frivolity myself. It had been a while."

As he said this, his mind drifted back to a few years ago...

Raven let out another scream as she felt a jolt of electricity flow through her bat wings, "Interesting, you bat wings are thirty percent tougher than a pegasus's."

"So, is this you all do for fun , try and make equines into Grand Dickless' personal soldiers. Or do you have a girlfriend?" Raven asked with a smirk.

"You misunderstand, this is a job and nothing more. I am not doing this for fun," the doctor said, looking down at his charts.

"Then why?" asked Raven her breath coming out in short pants.

The Doctor put his pen away into his clipboard and sighed, " I suppose I could tell you a sad tale about me being bullied in school because I w as an earth pony without magic. Which is stupid, seeing as all earth ponies have magic, ours is based on farming and the earth itself. I was angry for another reason, for the ponies stupidity."

"Stupidity?" asked Raven.

"Those pegasi and unicorns all had the foolish idea that they were equal to us. That they had any right to stand on the same ground with us earth ponies when they should look up to us!" the doctor said, frowning.

Rave shook her head, "That is insane! We are all equal in Celestia's eyes! No one species is better-"

"Now who is the liar," the doctor said. "We earth ponies are responsible for the land, for the food and crops. Why, without us, half of the technological innovations that Equestria has would not be possible! Trains, planes, airships? All ours! If an earth pony stopped farming, then the town starves. See? Without us earth ponies, you would all starve."

"But without pegasi,"

"Pegasi and unicorns are weak. It's just a shame nopony else ever saw what I saw or knew about the truth like I did,",The Doctor sighed. "But, I did try to show them through my experiments. This one time at camp, I shared a bunk with a pegasus. Without his know, I made a tiny tuc in his wing, to test how durable a pegasus was. He almost died when he tried to fly off a cliff. Then there was this unicorn friend of mine. Been friends since kindergarten. Punched him the nose one time while we were talking, for no reason other than I wanted to test his durability. Took three hits before we dissolved our friendship."

Raven's eyes widened at this, "You're insane."

"That's what two of my friends said when they introduced me to their newborn," The Doctor said, chuckling, which made Raven's blood run cold. "The baby was only about two months old, an adorable little unicorn. I was curious as to how long a baby can hold their breath, and if it was different for unicorns. So, I turned on the faucet."

He didn't need to say more, the implication made Raven turn her gaze from one of horror to pure hatred, " You sick monster!"

"Yes, that is what they called me when they came in to save the baby," The Doctor admitted, no sign of regret in his voice. "I make no qualms about myself. It is said that evil people do not know that they are truly evil but I embrace it. I know when the world finds out about me, they will call me monster, demon, and a beast; however, I know the truth. One day, they will look upon my experiments as works of genius! They will see what I accomplished as something grand and I will be regaled as a hero. A fair price for being labeled a monster I think."

These words passed through Raven's ears and she looked on in shock. Then she smiled and said, "Berry Blast."

"What?" the doctor asked.

"You told me that I would lose memory of my husband, but I still remember his name. No matter what you do to me, I will STILL remember!" she laughed, mostly at the anger of The Doctor as he walked away.

"Stupid Conquest," growled Raven, knocking the doctor out of his memory. "Stupid Titan making me see things!

The Doctor halted and listened to the rantings of Raven, when his ears picked up another voice, "Problems, Rae?"

Raven growled at Conquest, "OH, let's start with the fact one of your high general messed with my head earlier this month and now I am seeing things. Weird things, like the bearers being there for my wedding! OR that I was there when Luna came back to us! OR lets not forget why you would keep a guy who is obviously against you on your team!"

"Now, that is the question, why am I letting Titan stay? He isn't with me, he has bigger and badder plans than I do, and probably is waiting to betray me the first chance he gets," Conquest said, placing his finger to his chin. Then his green eyes narrowed and smiled, "Personally, I just want to see where his plot will go. I want to know what he plans on doing. I am already stronger than him, thanks to the hate of this world. So, really, I am not afraid of anything he has going on."

"What about the remaining bearers?" asked Raven.

Conquest chuckled, "Those five are still broken. Trust me, even if they fight back, they are so far gone that they have no chance against me. Interesting, isn't it? For all of his hate about mockers, he makes a mockery of real heroes, and now they are broken."

Raven chuckled and walked away, leaving Conquest alone with the doctor. Looking over his shoulder, the black alicorn smiled, "So, are we gonna tell her about the memories, or do you want to wait for the surprise?"

"Wha-how did you-"

Conquest waved his hand dismissively, "Oh please! I know all of your secrets. Had my eye on this world for a few years now and have had plenty of time to study every inch of this little mudball of yours. So, I know all of the dirty little secrets you've got."

As these words flowed through his mind, The Doctor began to think back on Raven's experiment.

"Berry Blast." Said Raven smirking.

Grand Ruler looked to the chained bat-pony, "What is this? What is she doing?"

"Reciting her past. She claims it's to prove I have no control over her,"" The doctor said," it's quite pitiful if you ask me."

"My bachelorette party was held by Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle wedded us, Rainbow Dash gave me ketchup as a present as a joke. Rarity designed my gown, Fluttershy gave me a bat as a wedding present, and Applejack brought us together. MY husband's name is-"

"See? She does this after a tough session of tests and modifications," the doctor said, looking at a jar, "Quite pathetic actually."

"OH, hey Grand Dickwad, come for the party?" laughed Raven.

Grand Ruler said another for a moment, instead holding out his hand and generating a golden horn, "Well, I guess it's time she received my gift."

"W-what's that thing?" asked Raven.

"It's a gift. One that I gave to Cerisse Wonder, one I gave to Lightning Dawn, and one I now give to you," Grand Ruler said, lifting up the golden horn and placed it to her forehead."

For the first time, Raven felt fear, "N-no. no, stop!" she pleaded as the horn was placed on her forehead, making her scream and writhe in agony.

The doctor shuddered, and looked away while Grand Ruler smiled, holding the horn to her forehead, "Now, I am going to tell you what I told Lightning. Just keep thinking those happy thoguhts of your loved will make your pain all the easier to digest."

"Ah-ahhhhhhhhhh!" Raven continued to scream in pain, , the golden horn electrocuting her, making her twitch. As she screamed, her mind began to think of her husband, but her memories began to get changed. She now saw her husband dead thanks to a cart, Celestia ignoring her cries. Every minute, her cries and screams were echoed through the lab.

Grand Ruler smiled, "Who took away your happiness?"

"C-Celestia," whimpered Raven, the golden horn stuck on her head.

"And how will you pay her back?" asked Grand Ruler.

"Hurt those who love her!" growled Raven.

The doctor sighed, his mind trying to get her haunting screams out of his mind. Turning to go back to his computer room, he saw the video screen pick up on Applejack as she walked to the Carousel Boutique.

---

A small chime rang out from the doorway as Applejack entered the building, "Hey Rarity? Ah need a favor."

"Ah, Welcome Applejack," Rarity said, walking in with a warm smile on her face. "What do you," he paused when she saw the armor in Applejack's arms, "Let me guess, you need your armor repaired?"

"That obvious?" Applejack asked, her ears dropping.

Rarity looked over at the yellow, pink, and white armors that laid on their mannequins next to Twilight's still shining armor, their image reflected in the visor as if it was watching them, "Fluttershy and Pinkie were by here too, asking for the same thing. Even Glarity asked for some touch ups."

Applejack looked at how Rarity sighed, a frown on her lips, "Rarity, you don't need to-"

"Yes, I do Applejack. This is my small part to help you out, even if it feels like it is a small thing," Rarity sniffed.

Applejack asked, "Are you ok?"

"Yes," Rarity sniffled, "Yes, I am. Really, I just, feel a little bad that I am not there with you. I suppose it is a little selfish of me, wanting to put my needs above my child's life, but sometimes I feel horrid that you are facing hell and I am not there! That all I can do is just sit and watch via Glarity."

"Do you regret it?" Applejack asked.

Rarity shook her head, smiling a little, "Of course not. I would never regret making this little one, ever. When me and Spike decided to consummate our relationship, it was during a time of peace and harmony. If this had been Equestria of old, me and Spike could've had our baby and it would've been months, if not a year before the next major god came along to destroy us all. But no, Starfleet keeps us in constant battle, constant stress, and wanting us to fight fight and fight without rest!" Tears started to roll down her cheeks, "And now, because I wanted to do something for both of us, to express our love for one another, because I was selfish for one thing I can't be with you when you need me!"

"Rarity," Applejack said, hugging her dear friend closely. Softly she stroked the unicorn's back, "Look, you couldn't have expected Conquest, none of could. What you two did, was because you thought that you were in a time of peace, that you plenty of time to enjoy you lived. But, what happened, happened and you have given up so much to help us and the baby."

"Doesn't feel like it," Rarity said, looking away.

" You could've given it all up for the sake of us, but you didn't. That's rather strong o f you," Applejack said, smiling, " You made us suits. Gave us allies, and so much more. You have done so much for ys, and couldn't ask for more."

Rarity smiled at this and hugged her friend, "Thank you."

"Hey, it's what Ah am here for. To be your pillar," Applejack smiled and hugged Rarity again before leaving.

The door then opened with a loud swing, "Hey Rarity!"

"Put your suit on the table," Rarity said, looking at her work load.

"How did yo-," she saw the workload on the table and chuckled, "Oh, I get it. I'll just set my suit on the table."

"Yes, and then you can," Rarity let out a high pitched gasp when she saw the suit, "What did you do to my armor?! There's black spots all over it, and there is burnt places all over!""

"Just normal wear and tear, I guess," Dash said.

"Rainbow Dash," Rarity said, looking at the suit and then back to Dash"I designed this suit with the material to withstand your top speed. How fast have you been going?"

"Well, when I do my speed mirage move, or use an after image, I tend to go a little faster than that. And when I vibrate, I tend to put a lot of power onto the suit and," Rainbow Dash said, only to be interrupted by Rarity.

"I get it it, I get it," Looking back at the suit, she sighed, "I was using some of the heat tempering from Spike's armor and used it with the Starfleet armor to make your suit more durable. But, I might have to try a different enchantment."

"You can do that?" Dash asked.

Rarity looked at the suit, "With the right jewels, I can do anything. As a matter of fact, I know of a speedy pegasus by the name Joy Garrish who was the inventor of the speed friction spell. IF applied right, I could use it to apply a friction proof material to your uniform."

Dash smiled and grinned, "Wow Rarity, that is awesome!"

"Thank you dear," Rarity said.

Rainbow Dash sat back and watdhed as Rarity worked. With a curious look, she began to take in stock of the room, looking around at all of the various tools and equipment Rarit had lying around. When she saw the suit that was meant for Twilight, She smiled softly, thinking of her friend. Then she looked to Rarity" Hey Rare?"

"Hmm, yes dear?" Rarity asked, adjusting her glasses.

Rainbow Dash got off her chair, "How do you make time for all of this?"

"All of what?" Rarity asked.

"This," Dash said, looking around, "A business, getting ready for a baby, and of course helping out your boyfriend. How do you do all of that?"

"You are asking me, the mare who tries to make time for her sister, but fails, how she hold some time for her life? Are you ok?" Rarity asked with a giggle. Then she looked serious at Rainbo, "Are you alright?"

"It's just that, I haven't felt like I have making time for everypony as well as I should,' Dash said. "With my own squadron, Fluttershy, Scoots, and the others, I feel so scared Scoots' dad is missing, did you know that?"

"No, I didn't" Rarity said, shaking her head.

Dash slammed her hand against the wall, "I didn't either! And I am supposed to be her big sister. I told her I help her with anything and be there for her and yet... I'm not.'

"Oh Rainbow," Rarity said, sitting with Dash and hugging her.

"I feel down, knowing that everypony needs me and I can't be there for them" Rainbow looked away. "Belle tried to help me with a schedule, but I feel like I am saying one of them is more important than the other. They're not! I love my friends equally and I feel like I am failing them in some way by not being the best I can be."

"Rainbow Dash," Rarity said, rubbing her back. "Nopony is expecting you to do anymore than you have to. You have put everything you have into being there for all of us and that is wonderful. We know you try hard to fulfill your duties, and that is what we need. We don't need perfection, we need Rainbow Dash."

"Yeah," Dash let out a chuckle and then looked at Rarity, "Giving out helpful advice? Man you are getting into the motherly role ain't ya?"

"Well," Rarity smiled and flipped a hand through her mane, "Doesn't hurt to practice. Now,she rubbed her nose against Rainbow's "Do not worry about putting one over the other, just devote all of the attention that you can at the moment and cherish it with them."

Dash smiled, "Thanks Rare." she then got u and walked out of the door. After walking for a few minutes, she Caught Applejack standing near a tree, looking off in the distance. A smirk came across her face as he flew above her friend, and got ready to surprise her.

"Don't even think about it, sugarcube," Applejack said, looking up at the airborne pegasus.

"Aww," Dash said, landing with a frown, "How did ya know it was me?"

"Ah could hear your wings flapping from a mile away," Applejack said, tipping her hat.

"Oh," Dash chuckled, looking behind her. Then with a smirk, she asked, "So, want to race?"

Applejack uncrossed her arms and looked at Rainbow Dash incredulously, "Rainbow Dash, Ah think we both know that you can beat me in a race. The way you've been flying lately, Ah surprised you can't become light."

"Trying," Dash chuckled," Oh sure, when it comes to wings, I am a natural. But on foot, maybe it's a different story. Maybe you can actually beat me? Doubt it, I mean, you only have muscle to back up your speed."

"Are you saying Ah'm slower than you? That just because Ah haven't read as much as you, that you are faster than me?"

"I'm not saying it, you are. I mean, you won't race me on foot, so you must be slow," Dash smirked, getting the rise she wanted in Applejack's eyes.

"Oh, ok. You want to play it that way? Fine. From her to Sweet Apple Acres," Applejack said, getting into t a starting position.

"Right," Dash said, standing next to her friend. "1, 2, 3...GO!"

Applejack smiled and ran off, taking the lead. After standing still for a few moments, Rainbow Dash smiled and raced after her friend. For the rest of the race, the two kept neck and neck, jumping over obstacles. Some of the places they ran do, they had to duck under the low branches, smiling at the ponies they had missed along the way. Most of the unicornicopians who saw this little race just shook their heads, while the equestrians smiled enjoying the sense of normalcy that a rave between friends brought.

---

The Doctor sighed as he pulled a screwdriver away from the ring, his eyes not leaving the screen, "Why lower yourself to he. You have so much strength that you could easily outpace her."

Conquest stepped in, a smile on his face as he patted the doctor on the back, "Hey doc, how is our little project going on?"

"Meadowbrook was a genius, there are so many spells and contingency spells to back those up that it is almost impossible to duplicate," the doctor said.

"Which means that you are already half done?" asked Conquest.

There was a chuckle coming from the doctor's lips as he said, "You'll have your rings by tomorrow."

"Great!" laughed Conquest as he hugged the doctor, "You know, you always were my favorite scientist! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some slaves to pull the nerves out of slowly before my three o'clock murdering. Tootles!"

The doctor shook his head, looking back at the screen and smirking, "If only you could've faced my boar at his strongest..."

"Gone?! What do you mean that my twelve experiments are gone?" The doctor frowned as he stepped into his lab.

Shaina nodded, "It is as I said, three servants of the Dark King arrived, broke in, and stole your twelve experiments."

The doctor bit his finger, "i was using those species to compare their unique magic to our Earth Pony magic. I had even experimented on them to see what my serum would affect their bodies."

"It matters not," Grand Ruler said, stepping into the broken lab, his shoes cracking the glass as he walked, "It's time we began my final plant to finally incorporate the bearers into my power and bestow upon them the true powers of harmony."

"I thought you could not manipulate the harmonic energies of this world. After all, the last time you touched the tree-"

"I know," Grand Ruler said, waving his hand in pain, "The moment I touched it, it burned my hand. It still hurts a little. However, I have recently discovered a legend, thanks to Dr. Callebreon."

"A legend, sire?" the doctor asked.

Grand Ruler nodded and began to recite the legend from memory, " 'When the darkness returns, and magic fades from the land, Hope will spring anew to combat the darkness. If the six virtues can ignite their truest selves, Harmony will grant them a gift. To combat the darkness, the six must prove themselves to deliver us all."

"The darkness, what does that mean?" the doctor asked.

"I do not know, perhaps an evil yet to come or a foe they yet to fight. However, I do know this, it has given me an idea," Grand Ruler walked by some monitors, showing the bearers separated, "The six refer to the bearers of harmony, Twilight's old friends. If I can find a way to tap into their inner magic, and bend it to my own, then I can give them my give and bestow upon them the true essence of harmony."

"You mean to turn the into soldiers like your Starfleet, push them away from peace and into war," The doctor said.

"Why not? I abhor their ideals and their desires for peace. WE need to send a message to the rest of the galaxy that we are not to be trifled with. If they see that the symbols of virtues have become stronger by power instead of friendship, then the rest of the galaxy will recognize that we are the superior beings and will bow to us," Grand Ruler said.

The doctor placed a thumb to his chin, ":And you want me to jump start this prophecy, correct?"

"Correct," Grad Ruler said.

"It will be hard," The doctor said, "In order to connect to their inner magic, I will need their cutie marks. But to do that, I need a spell powerful enough to do so."

"There is a village..."

A few days later, the king and his doctor found themselves in a valley barren of of plant life. NEar the bottom of the valley was a little village, set up in a equal sign with a house at the end of the village. As they strode in, the populace all looked at the new visitors, a big smile on their lips as they said the same thing, "Welcome."

"I discovered this village not too long ago, and I have to say I was impressed by the sight. Look at it, orderly, controlled, and no sign of anyone trying to be anything more than they are. No one dreams, no one wants, it is pure harmony," Grand Ruler laughed.

The doctor nodded, "Yes, but with all things like this. It does require someone at the top to make sure that it all runs smoothly and that no one tries to break the equality that has been established."

"There is, and here she comes," Grand Ruler said.

A light purple unicorn with a two toned mane came walking down the stree, smiling, "Welcome! Oh!" she smiled warmly, "Grand Ruler, are, and what to I owe the pleasure?"

"Starlight Glimmer, this is my good friend Doctor K-"

"Please, just the doctor for now. When I want my true name broadcasted to the world, I will let it," the doctor said. Inwardly, he began to think 'Doesn't help that I remember your mother.'

Starlight bowed top the doctor, "A pleasure, but why is he here?"

"I have need of a certain spell of yours? You know... your trademark?" Grand Ruler smiled, casting a silence spell around the trio. "You can teach it to an earth pony, can you not?"

"It will be hard, but not impossible," Starlight sid, walking around the doctor, "Let's get started."

A few weeks past and he became skilled at the magic that Starlight had taught him. Grand Ruler looked at him as his training commenced and said, "One last thing, in order for this plan to go well. I need Tirek."

"You want me to control Lord Tirek? The devil himself? The god of evil? Sire, my science is capable of much, to control the devil is to invite death," the doctor said.

Grand Ruler shook his head, " No need to worry, I am not that mad. But, I believe that you could make me a version of Tirek."

"Create a version of Tirek?" gasped the doctor. "It would take a lot of magic, and time to create something that is even one-fifth the power of the great lord."

"You will have what you need," Grand Ruler said, looking down at a newspaper telling Starfleet's battle against Dark King, "After all, time is all we have."

The doctor was pulled away from his memories as he heard a commotion from one of his monitors. Turning to look at the screen, he saw the trio walking towards Starla in the training field. His curiosity piqued, he pressed a button on his console, turning on the audio from his bee camera and listened to the scene at play.

Down on the grounds, Starla turned to look at Dementia walking towards her. She smiled and sighed softly at seeing the woman as she strode towards her, "Dementia, what's going on?"

The ruby haired general smiled, "It's time to give you something that you have been needing for a while."

"W-what?" asked Starla, shaking. Though she had come to trust them, she had still felt a little nervous around some of the generals.

Dementia smirked and stepped to the side, revealing Rep and Mysterious to be holding a two-layer chocolate cake, "Happy Birthday kid."

"You , are celebrating my birthday?!" she gasped. "B-but why?"

"Look, besides hanging out with us or training, you haven't really gotten a moment of happiness," Dementia said. "And what's more, you have spending your time helping out the slaves instead of taking care of yourself."

"It's about time you took some time out for yourself," Rep stallion said with a smile as he brought out his scythe. "What better way than to celebrate your birthday?"

Starla gave out a small sniffle and walked to the cake, "Thank you," she whispered before blowing out the candles.

With candles blown out, Rep eagerly began to cut slices of cake, "May I partake in the cake?" asked Inquirous. Almost as in anticipation of her answer , Rep happily gave her a piece. After the pieces of cake was distributed, the unlikely group of friends began to take their seats to eat. Dementia and Starla sat on a tree branch, Mysterious leaned against a tree, and Rep and Inquirious sat on a rock together.

For a few moments, they eat eagerly in silence, taking large bites of the chocolate and strawberry cake. Sticking her fork through a star that was made of icing, Starla looked up from the pink confection, "Do you ever find it weird? The here we are, eating cake and enjoying our lives when only a few years ago, we would've been ready to kill each other?"

"Such is the way of friendship," Mysterious sighed, licking the icing off his fork, "It makes us look beyond our prejudices and focus on what truly matters."

"Yeah," Rep chuckled as Inquirous laid her head on his shoulder, "But I bet none of us expected to end up like this."

"Why not?" Mysterious said, "It all started with those tow, and worked it's way to the rest of us?"

Stala blinked, "Me?"

"Eh, I mean, sure I hated your guts. But, then I saw that you needed a friend, that you needed a light to hold back against the hell you went through," Dementia said, smiling at Starla, "And I guess I wanted to help you."

" Thank you," Starla said, sitting closer to Dementia, "I don't think I can ever say it enough, but thank you for. Everything. I would've been lost without you."

Dementia smiled and hugged Starla. Rep saw the moment and called up, "Hey, she ain't the only one her little bit of friendship called out to. I did something to all of us too."

"Indeed," nodded Mysterious. "While the three of us were friends already, it was thanks to Dementia that we became friends with Starla and opened our hearts."

"It brought us all closer together," smiled Inquirous, looking into the eyes of Rep, a small blush coming over her.

"But, it's so weird, you know?" Starla said. "We were always told that you three didn't have hearts. That your souls were black as pitch and were incapable of feeling. Now, seeing you being friends and know that you have been this wya even before all of this. It's just so," she said, looking down at the ground below.

"Against everything you know?" asked Dementia. "I know the feeling. Ever since Titan mae us, were were told that we didn't have hearts, and that we had no soul ect ect. Was that ever true?"

"The bigger question is, when you get home, will you stand by you team and eliminate us?" asked Mysterious.

Stara put down her plate, "A year ago, yes. Now, I just don't were told for years that you guys have no hearts, that you are soulless beings with no emotions or deserving of redemption. Now that I spent time with you, became friends with you, I don't know if I can believe them anymore. The problem is I know that they are too stuck in their fanaticism to even see things in any other ight."

"So would you stand with them?" asked Inquirious.

Starla smiled, "You guys have stayed with me through this hell. You lifted me up and gave me a life. I consider you my true friends, so of course, I would defend you even if I was alone in the world."

Dementia smiled at this and pulled Starla in for a hug, nuzzling her. Starla let out a sigh as she hugged Dementia back. With a deep breath, Starla added, "At least I know you won't abandon me."

"They haven't abandoned you," Dementia said comfortably.

"They almost did once," Staral said, frowning, "When I was getting married and was caught by Sombra, they were willing to let me out because it was according to regulations. It's why I like being with you. You guys act like a real team."

Rep-Stallion smiled and then looked from Inquiour to Starla, " Hey, Mysterious needs somepony special."

'Hmm?" asked Mysterious, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I've got Inquirous," Rep sid, kissing Inquirous on the cheek. "Amd Dementia has her girlfriend."

This was met with a thrown piece of cake in Rep's face, "Hey! I prefer to think fo us as sisters." Dementia said, snuggling up closer to Starla. Starla nodded with a giggle and hugged her back.

Inquirious licked the cake off her friends face while Rep continue, "The point is, Myst is the only one of us who don't have a partner. I think we need to ive him one. How about a book?"

"Funny," Mysterious said calmly.

Raven appeared from behind a door, "If this little love fest is done, I need to take Mysterious away from you for a bit."

"Why?" Dementia asked, narrowing her eyes at Raven.

"Because the boss wants him to join him for a planning session tonight. Seems he wants him to lead the assault in the next few days," Raven said, nudging over her shoulder.

"Why me?" asked Mysterious.

Raven smirked, "Because, somebody hasn't been on a sortie in a while, and Conquest thinks you have been missing on all of the fun."

"Fine," Mysterious said, leaving the others, "But, we will be leading this assault my way."

The doctor turned off the bee and went back to work, looking over each ring. Using a pair of pliers and a screwdriver, she slowly began to make adjustments to his ring. Occasionally, his eyes would drift up to his computer screens. One sight began to catch his attention, "Hmmm, let's see what our little friend Rhymey is up to."

---

"My apologies for your recent loss," said an unicornicopian as he walked out the door.

Rhymey nodded, "Yes it was a harsh loss for us all. But, i will carry on my family's name and legacy. For now, please let me mourn in my own way. Much like how I am now letting Fluttershy, my wife, handle this loss in her own way away from my home."

"Yrs sir," said the uncornicopian as he closed the door.

Rhymey rolled his eyes as he began to walk away, "Good, I thought they would never leave. Well-wishers my foot, they all just want to look good for me. To say that they cared for my family just to make themselves look better."

"Sire," said a servant as he watched Rhymey walk down the hallway from the entry hall, passing by several pictures of his family, "We must talk about the finances and your responsibility."

"What of the money," asked Rhymey calmly.

"Well sir, it's just that you have devoted a rather large sum to surveillance and investigations. So much so, that I don't know how you are going to help support Starfleet in the war," the butler said.

"I care nothing for this little war and how it affect this pathetic mudball or even Starfleet. Once I have my wife back in my arms then I will take her and my mother to a new life on another world," Rhymey said, dismissively.

The butler stuttered at this, "B-but sir! The wards have had a long history of supporting Starfleet, being one of the first families to join its prestigious ranks. It is your responsibility to-"

A glare from Rhymey quickly silenced the butler, "How can I focus on my responsibilities when my wife is being comforted by those savages. Those foalish idealistic idiots who do not deserve to walk upon the same planet as myself. I will focus on nothing else until my doll is back in my hands, purified. I can then work on securing my name in the halls of Starfleet, but until then, Fluttershy is my priority."

"Yes sir," said the butler as he turned away, walking down the hall and leaving Rhymey behind.

Rhymey stepped in front of a large steel door. Making a small cut in his hand with a dagger, he lifted his bloody palm and place it on the front of the door. In his other hand he held up a vial of his father's blood and placed it onto the vault, " It is tradition for the father to pass on the spells and tools of old to the next generation. However, seeing as my father is no longer here..." the yellow unicornicopian smiled as he began to open the vault.

With a slow and loud lurch, the large grey vault doors began to open, giving way to a large dusty room. Stepping into the room, Rhymey took in the old smell of dust and grime while he gazed over the rows of books, potions, and mystical objects. As he past by the many objects, his hand reached down to his pocket to feel for the object he kept in a special case.

After walking past a few more rows in the dimly lit room, he found a small vial on a distant shelf. A small smile crept along his face as he pulled out the vial and then pulled out the object in his pocket, a case containing a strand of Fluttershy's mane. Turning the blue vial in his fingers, he opened it and let a drop of the blue liquid drop onto her mae, "While you may have stopped my mnemonic powers from affecting you and stopped my mnemonic abilities, you can see that we wordsmiths are capable of different kinds of mind magic. It is something that this family has picked up over the years being the first family to fully embrace the Starfleet code."

When the liquid touched the strand of Fluttershy's mane, it caused the pink strand to glow brightly before burning up and floating away in a blue mist. Rhymey chuckled as he whispered, "Go my little darling, remind Fluttershy of who her heart yearns for. Bring her back to me.,"

Back in the quiet of Fluttershy's cottage, far away from the events inside of Rhymey's house, Fluttershy slept soundly. For a moment, her dream were occupied with the happiness of her animals and her friends talking to her. Contly, she let out a tiny snore as she took her blanket and held it close to her, muttering soft noises as she thought about her dreams. That was when the blue magic floated into her room, hovering above her head. Softly the magic .landed on her head. Though she could not hear it, the mist brought with it Rhymey echoing spell, " OH mist, allow me to enter her mind. Allow me to control her dreams and bring her home to me."

---

Fluttershy snuggled up close to Rainbow Dash, breathing softly as a bird landed on her shoulder. Across from them, Twilight and their other friends were all playing a game of catch. Looking up, she smiled at Rainbow Dash, her wedding singnet around her neck. Leaning up, Fluttershy prepared to kiss Dash on the cheek, only to be shocked when the world faded, "Fluttershy, come back to me."

"Rhymey?" Fluttershy asked, looking around the black void tha she stood in. A shudder went through her body as she felt a finger trail across her spine.

"Fluttershy, come back to me," whispered Rhymey in Fluttershy's ear, tucking her chin with his fingers.

Fluttershy backed away from his fingers, "No! You mind raped me, put thoughts in my mind. You never loved me!"

"That isn't true," Rhymey whispered. "I loved you as much as as any man would love his wife. And you do too. What started as manipulation has turned into desire."

"N-no! That isn't true!" Fluttershy denied, stepping back, only to get pulled back by the hand to the spectral image of Rhymey.

The voice whispered, "No? Then you deny that a part of you still years for my touch, for the heat of our bodies against one another, and for my lips?"

"I do-" before Fluttershy could say another word, Rhymey placed his lips against hers, kissing her and eliciting a moan.

"See? Your mind denies this, but your heart cannot deny me," Said Rhymey, his eyes narrowing at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy pulled back, spitting out his taste from her mouth, "You're wrong!"

"You say that, praying that it will be true; however, you still want me. You want my control, you crave to be enslaved and dominated. You are too weak to desire anything else. That is why you let yourself to be controlled," Rhymey said, running his hand through her mane.

"N-no," Fluttershy said, shaking her head.

"And you dare not tell this to your friends. They will never trust you again. You are-"

"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU ILLEGITIMATE SON OF A THOUSAND FATHERS!" Shouted Luna's voice, waking up both Fluttershy and banishing Rhymey.

As the world faded around her, leaving Luna back in the starry plane of the dream realm, the night princess began to think to herself, "So, Rhymey is a blue magic master. I should've figured as such and it give more fuel to this mystery. Grand Ruler, Rhymey, memories... they are all connected in some way. I'll bring this up to Spark later."

---

Fluttershy woke up with a jolt, holding her hand to her chest and the blanket to her. Breathing in short pants, she began to look around the room, as f that would confirm that she was awake and no longer in the dream realm. After a few more moments, she finally managed to calm herself down enough to think about her dream, "He's wrong, I don't love him. I don't want him back. Oh, but," she shivered, "What if he's right?"

Fluttershy's thoughts were quickly interrupted by a slight tug on her blanket. Looking down, she saw her little bunny Angel pointing down the stairs, "Angel? What is it?" Fluttershy asked, following her bunny out of the room ad to the front door. When she opened the door, she found Belle Amie passed out on the ground. Letting out a gasp of shock sh said, "Bell! Are you alright?"

At the sound of Fluttershy's voice, Belle slowly got up and nodded slowly, " Oh, I am sorry, I guess I just had a fainting spell."

"A fainting spell?" Fluttershy asked, her own troubles quickly forgotten as she helped her friend up. " Have you been getting them a lot?"

Belle nodded slowly, " It started about a month ago. I would be fine for a few minutes and then I would begin to get woozy."

"We should tell the others" Fluttershy said.

"No!" Belle exclaimed, " We can't let the others worry about me. Not right now!"

Fluttershy put a hand onto her friend's arm and said, " But you should seek help if this has gotten that bad."

"Please Fluttershy, I need to be able to handle this myself. I can't let the others worry about me over nothing"

"But," Fluttershy paused and calm nodded, " All right, I won't say anything."

Belle smiled, " Thank you Fluttershy."

---

"So, rather than talk about her fears and worries, she chose to help a friend," the doctor said to himself, eating a jelly bean. "Interesting, I wonder how her fears will affect this little ring of mine." turning his eyes to look at the screen with Rhymey, he muttered, 'As for Rhymey, I think Conquest should keep an ee on him. His drive to grab Fluttershy might make him an interesting ally. After all, it wouldn't the first time that someone under Grand Ruler's thrall betrayed him.

"...Somewhere where things go to disappear," whispered the doctor as he walked into the portal, leaving the members of Starfleet and the Bearers of Harmony to stand in shock. They did not see the smile on his face appear as he walked through the portal, knowing that the two groups would be arguing as soon as he left. After stepping through the portal, he found himself standing in front of a large fortress, "What on Equestria."

"Greetings KEED!" said Dark Conquest as he stepped out from the shadows and made his way to the perplexed doctor.

The doctor shook his head, looking at the black hedgehog, "W-what on earth?"

"Oops," Dark Conquest said, chuckling as he began to transform into a bipedal alicorn with red mane, "My apologies, I forget what form I am supposed to take when I travel from universe to universe. I was just getting away from my latest conquest and I completely forgot to get my face on."

"Who are you? What are you," the doctor asked, backing away from Conquest with a look of fear, disgust, and curiosity.

"Allow me to introduce myself," Conquest said, taking a bo and raising his hand above his head, "I am Dark Conquest, conqueror of worlds, destroyer of innocents, rapist of the highest caliber, obliterator of characters, burner of homes, and the holder of the title of universal chef five years running!"

"Dark... Conquest?" asked the doctor as Conquest began to walk around him, a interested look in his eyes.

Conquest nodded, "Yep, and over there is my best buddy in the world."

"Hello," the figure in the cloak said, raising a cloven hoof before standing next to the wall.

"He's not-"

"Anthro, I know," said Conquest. "My dear friend wanted to keep his normal form when he is in this world."

"That answers the who, but what are you? How can you change forms like that?" asked the doctor.

Conquest smiled, "You know of the multiverse?"

"Yes, the dimensional universe that-"

"No, not that lame explanation that Grand Ruler tells his people. The true multiverse, you know, the many different realms that exist just outside of your little home," to demonstrate his point, Conquest made his hand glow, opening a portal. When the doctor peered within, he saw a vast black void, covered in stars, "Each of those stars, is a world and those nebulas are multiverses that hold those worlds. I am an multiversal being that feeds upon a world's hate and uses it to conquer and destroy it. This world will make about number thousand on my list."

"And that explains the wide," the doctor said, his eyes opened wide at the possibilities that laid out before him.

Conquest nodded, "Yes, you see I have had my eye on this dimension for a while now. Letting the hate to simmer for a while until it reached its peak, and now, I have come to harvest it. After all, it's been awhile since I have taken a world so beautifully radiating hatred like this one!"

"So why bring me here, wherever here is," said the doctor.

"Here is a pocket dimension that exists just outside of normal space, some call it hell, some call it the dark dimension, but me? I call it home," Conquest said with a grin. Then he walked to the doctor's side, "As for why I brought you here? Simple, I have need of you."

"Of me?" questioned the doctor.

"Yes, you have had the time to study the basic magic of so many species and races. The knowledge of many different parts of United Equestria lies within you, and I think I can use that knowledge."

"What's' in it for me?" asked the doctor.

"You know how Grand ruler only gave out a few specimens to play with?" Conquest asked. "I am offering you a chance to work on Unicornicopian biology."

"And all of this, just for my helping you?" the doctor asked, and then smiled, "You have a scientist."

"Yo, doc!" Conquest said, stepping into the lab, "Time for the presentation, bring the rings."

"Yes, master," the doctor said, standing up. Looking at the five rings in his hand, he smiled about his past. Thanks to Conquest, he had made many strives to further the cause of medical science. He let out a chuckle as he began to think of what else the new slaves will bring him.

Once he left the lab, he made his way to the stage, where he could hear Conquest speak, "...OK everybody! I hope you all had fun with your little raids and attacks today, because that ends tonight!" Conquest said, thrusting his hand in the air and letting his black trenchcoat billow. "Because tonight, we are going for the big one. The big Apple itself," slapping his hand against a backdrop, he revealed a poster of a large city, "Manehatten! Yes, Manehatten, the last remaining port of United Equestria, and the biggest place of art and fun next to Canterlot. We take this and we leave this little continent all alone and isolated!"

"So what's the plan, boss?" asked a soldier.

Conquest smiled, "Of course we will do the usual attack patterns, but we are going to add something new to the mix. Thanks to the awesomeness of Titan, we have been given a gift." he then held up a ring, "The ring of fear, one of Meadowbrook's eight magical items! This little baby will make a pony endure their greatest fear and suffer it."

"Ok, but how are we going to use this in the fight?" asked an Unicornicopian.

"To explain that, I would like to turn the stage over to our wonderful scientist," Conquest then bowed to the curtain, "Dr. Emil KUDOS!"

Kudos stepped out from behind the curtain and smiled, holding up one of the rings, "This ring, when activated, creates a field that will induce a hypnotic spell that will force everyone but the user to see what the fear most."

"What's to stop that thing from affecting us?"

"Simple," Kudos said. "I modified these rings to detect the magical auras of the Bearers of Harmony and Starfleet. So when you activate it, it will only harm them and not you. You are then free to kill them as you like."

"I am giving one of you lucky soldiers one of these rings. When you spot any of the members of Starfleet, turn on the ring and then beat them within an inch of their life. After we secure the city, kill one of them, like I don't know... Artie."

"But sir, shouldn't these be given to the generals?" asked a soldier.

Conquest shook his head, "Brilliant idea! Then when my enemies see that they should be aiming at the generals in order to save the day, they will kill the opposition and ruin my plan. Thanks for the idea."

"Sorry sir," said the soldier.

Conquest then looked to Mysterious, "Mysterious here will be leading you into battle. You need to prep and attack in about two days from now. Now, let's get going!"

---

Lightning sat alone in his bedroom, breathing slowly while looking at the wall in front of him. At his side was a plate of week old food, uneaten. As he stared, his mind began to replay the events of the past few months again and again. His mind could kept playing Starla's screams for help as she was raped, the death throes of his various teammates, and the failures of his past again and again like a sick broken record. A strong shudder went through his body as he tried to close his eyes or to block out the sights. However, they kept coming back to him, making him relive his trauma again and again.

This was his life for the past few weeks since the battle of the Empire. Uncaring of the world around him, unresponsive. His mind would barely register the basic of introductions or ponies talking to him. Even when grand Ruler condemned him for his failure, he barely acknowledged his sire. The only thing that seemed to be left in his world was his mind.

As He sat there, alone, two events played out in his head. One was the sight of his wife being raped, begging for his help while Conquest laughed. The other, was of his second failure, however, the even played out differently than before.

Lightning stood there, utterly shocked by the displays of magic before him. Through all of his life in Starfleet, he had never seen two combatants go at eachother with magic like this. His eyes barely could keep up as Twilight teleported out of the way of Raven's fire balls, while Raven had to dodge a fiery ball of magma that flew at her. When Raven flew up, she used a gravity spell to slam Twilight back to the ground.

Twilight shook her head, and blocked an incoming barrage of stones with a shield spell, and took a step back. When she did, Lightning could feel his mind fading and a single word being uttered through his mind, "Now." Nodding, he stepped forward and placed his hands down on the ground, activating a rune buried deep in the grass.

Not seeing this, Twilight got into another fighting stance and prepared a fireball, but gasped when nothing happened, "My magic! What happened to my-"

Twilight barely had time to ask before she got punched by Raven.

Lightning let out a whimper as the image played through his mind, trying to avoid the question that he was afraid to ask, the revelation that his mind was trying to tell him. Instead, he let out a shuddering breath and just looked at his wall, motionless. Then he heard something from his room, a light crying noise. Looking up, he let out a hoarse, "Krysta?" rolling off the bed, he stepped into the next room and saw the little fairy crying on his sofa cushion.

Looking up, Krysta wiped her eyes and sniffed, "Lightning!" she said, hugging him tightly around his neck ,"You're ok!"

"Y-yeah, I am," Lightning said, sighing. Then he looked down at her tear stained face "why were you crying?"

"My people, my family, they," she whimpered and sniffed, "Have all been turned into zombies by some evil demon and no one seems to care but me! My world is gone, dead and I can't do a thing to help them."

Lightning was about to say something, his mind thinking back to his lost homeworld and people. However, the moment he tried, he stopped, "What am I doing? My best friend here is crying over the loss of her people and all I can think of is me? Maybe Applejack's right, I am a selfish and horrible friend. Oh, Kyrsta."

Krysta let out a whimper, "And of course, no one cares, I'm just the little fairy tagalong that no one cares about! All you ever needed me and my people for was just to make portals. That's it! Even Spike has done more than me! You people... forget about me."

Lightning shook his head, "N-no, Krysta that isn't," stopping himself he sighed, "you're right. The rest of us, we did forget you. Heck, I am surprised that any of them even knew you existed at all. And me? I'm the worst of the bunch. Here you are crying your eyes out and I was about to make it all about me again by saying your problems are smaller than .mine."

Krysta looked up and shook her head before hugging her friend, "No, I'm the worst. The moment you came out of a mental breakdown, I shoved my worries onto you!"

"No, me!" Lightning said, "Applejack is right, I always find a way to turn the situation onto me."

"No me!" Krysta said.

"No, me!" Lightning growled, and then began to laugh and sob, "Let's just be the worst together, all right?"

"Ok," Krysta laughed and then hugged Lightning a little closer. With a deep sigh, she began to speak, "See, this is the Lightning know. The guy who could be kind and friendly to others. The stallion who actually wanted to live life to the fullest, not Lightning the lapdog. Lightning the hero, or any other title... but Lightning Dawn, my friend."

'Krysta, I," Lightning paused and then hugged her again, "Thank you, for being the only friend I have left."

"You're welcome," Krysta said.

"Come on," Lightning said, getting up, "I think it's about time I started to change my life."

Krysta took flight, "How? And what's with that cloak?"

"I am going to see what Artie told me, in-"

---

"MAnehatten?" Artie asked, painting one a canvas a picture of Dash resting on a cloud, "What for?"

Applejack adjusted her hat as she walked around the painter, "Ah want to check up on Aunt and Uncle Orange for a bit. It's kind of obvious that Conquest plans to make a huge attack on a city soon. Belle says that it's likely that it's going to be Manehatten and Ah want to make sure they're safe."

"Rarity says that there is a book on enchantments that Belle doesn't have in her library and she wants me to pick one up," Glarity said, looking into her bag for her bits.

Pinkie nodded and the playfully booped Artie on the nose, "I am just heading there because it's fun."

"Fluttershy's been having some bad dreams-" Dash said, about to move.

"Please don't move," Artie said, looking back at the painting.

Letting out an annoyed grunt, Dash got back into her position, "Anyway, Flutters been having some bad dreams, though she hasn't said anything. I think taking her out of town might help some."

"Belle's not coming?" Artie asked.

Pinkie shook her head, "Nope, she has something to do, she said."

"Um," Artie pulled away from his painting for a moment, "Forgive me for being a little forward. But, can I come too?"

The group looked at him confused, leaving Applejack to ask, "Why?"

"Well," Artie let out a sigh, "I am still learning what it means to be a hero, and I am starting to learn that part of it mean to not have to worry about an attack all of the time. So, I figure relaxing with... friends is a good way to do it."

"Pinkie?" Applejack asked, "What do you think?"

"YES! Come with with us," Pinkie Pie giggled.

---

Among the various businesses of Manehatten, few stood out more than the business of the Orange family. Here the Orange family ran catering services out of the Orange family hotel, known for its home cooking and decor. Here, in the top of the large tower Orange Sherbert began to work on the meal for when her husband and daughter came home. As she looked at the placement for the food one last time, she heard a knock on the door. Fixing her orange mane, the pale orange pony walked to the door and opened it to reveal her niece, Applejack. Applejack stood in front of the door, a smile on her face as she hugged her aunt, "Howdy Aunt ORrnge, long time."

"Applejack!" Sherbert said, hugging her niece tightly, smiling, "I haven't seen you in ages. What are you do-"

Before she could ask, Applejack moved aside to let the other bearers into the room, "Hope ya don't mind, but I brought some friends. This is Pinkie Pie."

"HIII!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly, Artie following behind.

"Her friend Artie. This is Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy," Applejack said letting in the two pegasi, Rainbow holding Fluttershy's hand. Applejack then nodded to the white unicorn, "And this is Glarity."

Glarity paused, still unused to having her own name, "Pleased to meet you, Miss Orange."

"Oh please, call me Auntie. That is what a lot of townsponies do." Sherbert said, looking at the group as they all stepped in, "So, Applejack. Are all of you coming for dinner."

"Yup!" Applejack said. "Hope that ain't too much of a problem."

Sherbert smiled, "Are you kidding, the more the merrier."

As the family dinner above commenced, Lightning was down below the streets, living amongst the ponies. With his cloak and hood, no one could see that this pony was actually the commander of the Starfleet forces.

His journey took him through many of the back streets of manehattan and alleys of the bustling city, his eyes seeing evidence of what Artie had said before. Unicornicopians would chuckle as they looked down at the Equestrian brethren, some even would refuse their business to others. His ears would pick up the occasional insult or rant about Starfleet; however, these conversations were quickly silenced due to fear of reprisals from oth er s.

Grabbing the sides of his hood, Lightning tried his best to shrink away from the views of the ponies walking around him, not wanting anyone to see the anger in his eyes that he was starting to build for his own people. Instead, he chose to kick a small can and listen to it roll down the street. As he made his way pas an alley, he heard a young colt scream in pain, "Heeeelp!"

Tugging his coat over himself, he ran into the alley where he saw two Unicornicopians kicking a young pegasus stallion on the ground, "Hey, Starbuck, I don't think he's learned his lesson yet."

"No, please, I'm so sorry. I won't go into your gym again. I just wanted to work out and get stronger," the pony whimpers, holding his head.

The red unicornicopian, known as Starbuck, cracked his knuckles, "Kid, you are fighting a useless battle. A puny Equestrian like you has no chance of matching us. So stop trying."

"Leave him alone," Lightning said, standing in the shadows of the alley.

Krysta peaked out from under the hood, "Lightning, show them who you are. They will back off."

"No," Lightning said, hearing Star's whisper. "They'll lie to Lightning Dawn. But, to an Equestrian, they'll tell me the truth."

"And why shouldn't we be doing this, punk?" asked Starbuck as he walked around Lightning. "We were just reminding the little Equestrian of his place in the world. He is inferior, and we are the superior race. He has no place in trying to become like us."

"But it isn't right! Starfleet doesn't bully and insult Equestrians," Stepping back, and lowering his head, Lightning let out in a whisper, "At least... we don't mean to."

Starbuck's friend laughed out loud and stepped forward, "What kind of bullshit have you been fed, kid. Look, this isn't bullying, we are just reminding the kid of an important fact. That we are just better than they are."

"But the Equestrians are our friends and allies," Lightning argued.

"Buddy, you forget one certain fact, we are superior to the Equestrians in ways of strength, speed, power, technology, knowledge, and experience… by FACTS and ACTUALITIES. We are the ones with Grand Ruler's blood in us, we have his power coursing through our veins," Starbuck said, leaning against the wall.

"It isn't right!" Lightning yelled.

"Then why did Grand Ruler tell us that we have all of this power. Why tell us that we have the superior strength and then tell the Equestrians that no matter how hard they train, how much they do, they will never match us," Sarbuck said, pushing a hand through his hair.

"Because they're," Lightning paused, and opened his eyes wide in horror as he said, "Facts."

"Exactly," Starbuck said. "So what if Grand Ruler tells us to be nice ad kind to the Equestrians. Last I checked, he ain't here to say no. He is just busy in his castle all day long and not here to polce us."

Starbuck's friend nodded, "Here is how the world works, buddy. Those in power will usually lean how to hold it over ponies. Sure, if they are reminded that they are equal, they won't. But, tell a bunch of people that they are superior to another culture and, sooner or later, they will abuse that power over those who are weaker than themselves."

"But, Starfleet-"

Starbuck shook his head, "Starfleet are a bunch of soldiers. They have no idea about how the real world works. And they never will. Now, go home and play kid. We have some unfinished business."

As the stallion walked away, Lightning grabbed his shoulder, "No."

"Lightning, if you are going to morph, now will be a good time," Krysta said.

"No, I am going to fight them...as an Equestrian," Lightning sad, as Starbuck's fist collided with his face and sent Lightning into a wall.

Slowly, Lightning got back up, trying to shake off his daze. Before he could, Starbuck's friend kneed Lightning in the stomach and drove and drew elbow into his back. Wheezing, Lightning tried to catch his breath, as he was kicked in the side by starbuck.

The two Unicornicopians laughed and high fived as they walked away, leaving Lightning in the ground. However, as they prepared for another round, they heard Lightning whistle and turned to see him standing back up. With a cold glare in his eyes, Lightning raised up his hand, and waved at his two opponents to come at him.

As the two punks charged, Lightning could see in his head, how Applejack would fight them and plotted accordingly. Crouching down low, he uppercutted Starbuck in the jaw as he approached Lightning. As Starbuck's friend came at him, Lightning moved to the side and crescent kicked the punk in the back, taking them both out.

Breathing hard, Lightning walked to the young colt and help him up, "Are you alright?"

"Yes sir, thank you," the colt whispered, "My name is Yellow Arc. I was just trying to get into a gym to bulk up and that is when they jumped me."

Lightning nodded as he picked up one of Yellow's books, "I see. Don't worry, I made sure that they-" he paused when he read the title of the book, "Treatise on Friendship, by Twilight Sparkle."

"Yeah, Twilight's kind of my hero," Yellow said, smiling. " She started off so small, as just the student to Celestia, and then she grew up into becoming a hero. I always admired how, nopony told her to go and do the things she did. She did them because it was the right thing to do, it was what was needed to be done to make sure others were safe."

"Oh really?" Lightning asked.

Yellow nodded," Yeah, I always said, that if I wanted to be anyone... it would be a hero like Twilight and not like Starfleet."

Lightning smiled warmly, "I think you made a good choice in idols, kid."

---

As the dinner slowly died down and the girls all went off to do their separate hobbies, Applejack sat by the window, looking over the city. With the way that the sun began to set on the large city, it bathed all of the building in the warm orange light. Sighing, her green eyes looked over the vast metal buildings and to the green hills in the distance. With a warm smile, she leaned her head on her fist and just admired the sight, "You always loved the window, even when you were here the first time."

"Oh, hey Aunt Orange," smiled Applejack as she looked to her aunt. "What are you doing here?"

Orange shook her head as she sat on the bed across from Applejack, "Cleaning up from your friends. Ah swear, they can be quite the handful when you get them together."

"Yeah, Ah know," applejack chuckled, "Part of living out in the country."

Sherbert then frowned as she looked up to Applejack, "This isn't a conjugal visit, is it?"

Applejack took in a breath to object, and then she sighed, shaking her head and looking away, "No, it isn't. Belle, another friend of mine, is predicting that Conquest might attack this town next and Ah wanted to come here to make sure that you and the family are ok. And maybe warn ya so you can get somewhere safe when the bg battle comes."

"Should've known," Sherbert laughed half-heartedly, "It would take the war to get you to finally visit your aunt and uncle after all this time."

Applejack looked up at that comment, and then frowned as she turned her head, ear drooping. With a forlorn look she said, "Auntie, Ah'm so sorry, it's just that."

"Tut tut, none of that. I understand completely," Sherbert said, and looked at he window, "I should've known that you wouldn't fit in here the moment you came to us in the first place."

"Ah only came here because Ah thought becoming a city gal would help the family back home easier," Applejack said. "But, Ah just-"

"Got homesick, Ah know," sherbert said. Then she looked up at Applejack, "Were you at least happy here. When you stayed with us? Was I a good aunt?"

"Auntie," Applejack said with a sigh, "You took me in, helped to take care of me, and made sure Ah came back home safely. You were terrific as an Aunt, Ah'm just sorry Ah can't come by as often, what with work and all."

Sherbet sighed and looked at Applejack fondly, "You sound so much like her."

"Like who?" Applejack asked.

Sherbert smiled, "Your mother. You even act a lot like her too. Always pushing herself, trying to be everything for everypony. My sister just never knew when to quit, and you are just like that."

Applejack smiled and played with her hair, "Thanks. Ah try to be a lot like her, you know. Trying to watch out for everypony."

"And, are you getting plenty of rest in between that? You do need to watch out for yourself sometimes dear," Sherbert said, narrowing her eyes at her niece."

"Auntie!" Applejack whined. "Ah swear, between you and granny."

Sherbert laughed and sat with her niece, hugging her tightly, "I am your aunt, it's my job to act like a mother to you. It's a purgative."

"Y-yeah, Ah know. Thanks for caring," Applejack said, cuddling up to her aunt.

A small laugh escaped her lips as Sherbert said, "But your friend Rarity should really know better about how to fix your mane to look like a lady."

Applejack could only grumble happily as she felt her aunt miss her mane.

In another room of the apartment, Artie smiled as he stood in front of Tangerine, Sherbert's daughter. Next to him was a picture of a princess standing in front of a demon, firing a powerful blast of energy, "And so, with the spirits of her four friends behind her, the princess blew the demon away. As she laid dying, she used the power of the crystal to bring her friend back to life and return to a normal life."

"Wow," Tangerine sad, looking on with amazement, "But, what about hr boyfriend, did she come back to him?"

"That is another story for another time. Don't you have homework?" Artie asked the little filly. As she nodded and walked off, she ran by Rainbow Dash who was standing by the doorway, "Oh, hey Rainbow Dash."

"Nice story,' Rainbow Dash sad, "Ever thought about becoming a comic artist one day?"

"The thought occurred to me sometime," chuckled Artie as he walked out of the door with Rainbow Dash. As he made his way down the hall, he could hear Pinkie Pie eagerly, talking up a storm with Uncle Orange, giving up various cake recipes. With a slight chuckle, he said, "She just doesn't know when to quit, does she?"

"No, she does not," Dash laughed as she listened to the conversation. "The girl is random as can be, but... she does know how to make a girl happy even if you don't want to."

"Yeah, or even if you don't realize that you needed a pick-me-up," Artie said, smiling at Pinkie. Looking down at his feet, he asked, " How do you do it?"

"Do what? Be this badass everyday?" Dash asked, flicking her hair back.

"No," Artie said with a chuckle, "How do you find the courage to stay here, with Starfleet and your friends. You could've left at anytime, ran away and did what you want. I feel like I'm losing my belief in who I am and yet, you keep going. How? And don't tell me it's because of your element, because I won't believe you."

Rainbow Dash laughed as she put her hands behind her head and leaned against the wall, "I won't lie if by saying that being the Element of Loyalty is part of why I stay. But there is more to it. Do you know the story of how I joined the academy?"

"Yeah, Spitfire was a drill sergeant nasty. You became so disgusted with the way things were run that you almost quit," Artie said, remembering the story.

"When Spitfire handed me that badge, I was so close to just throwing it back into her face. I wanted to, but then I asked myself... what would that change?" Dash said, crossing her arms under her chest and putting a foot t the wall.

"Change?" asked Artie/

"I leave, and then what? Spitfire is still a drill sergeant, the Wonderbolts would still remain the same, make the same mistakes, and whatever other flaws they made, and it still wouldn't be any different. But, if they had someone like me on their side, then maybe they can learn something from me. Maybe I can help make them better ponies in the end," Dash said, a smirk on her face. "I know for a fact that having somepony by your side who can help fix your weaknesses can make you a better pony." at that, she looked back at Pinkie, and then to Fluttershy. "And change you for the better."

"And that's why you stayed with Starfleet all of this time, because you want to help change things?" Artie asked.

"Well, yeah," Dash said, walking forward, "You guys have my awesomeness to strive towards, and you guys give me another limit to surpass and 's even-steven."

"Do you think it's working?" Artie asked.

"Well, yeah," Dash's said, "You're here ain't ya? You haven't called us idiots, or morons, or what have ya."

"You can thank Pinkie for a blt of that," Artie said, smiling warmly. "If it wasn't for her, I probably would'v defected to the enemy side by now."

"Speaking of which," Dash said, smirking, "Are you and her, you know, close?"

"Well, yeah. I mean she's-" Artie then got a good look at Dash's magenta eyes and shook his head, "N-no,nothing like that! She is just helping me learn to be a better person. That' all and nothing more."

"You're blushing," Dash smirked as she began to laugh, "Ah, just joking with ya. But, be warned...break her heart and I will break you after Maude is done with you."

As Dash walked away, Artie raised his hand to say something. The he sighed, shook his head and chose to watch Pinkie talk for a moment, a warm and heartfelt smile coming across his face.

On the outside balcony, Fluttershy began to sit on a small bench and listen to the birds..While she sat, she tried to allow the calm air around her take her mind off of the nightmare she had. A small shudder came to her as the memory of Rhymey's words came to her. With a quiet shake of her mane, she held out a finger to let a bird land on it.

"Fluttershy, come home to me," Rhymey's voice whispered, a light wind brushing past her mane.

"No," squeaked Fluttershy as she she shook her head.

"Is here a problem Fluttershy?" Glarity asked, walking into the garden.

":Oh, nothing, Glarity," Fluttershy said, looking away, "I can't tell them, what if he's right and I still have feeling for him. They'll hate me, think I'm a coward for trying to go back to him"

Glarity let out a soft breath, "That is still weird, hearing my own name being said."

"Why is it weird? That is your name you know," Fluttershy said, making room for Glarity to sit with her.

"Well, know," Glarity said, sitting with Fluttershy and putting her hands onto her lap, "It's that, you know I'm not real, right? I'm just a collection of mud, twigs, and magic created by Rarity and Zecora."

Fluttershy looked oddly at Glarity, and then smiled warmly as she placed a hand on Glarity's heart, "You have a heart, and it's beating just like mine. Its warm and like Rarity's."

"That's it though, it's Rarity's heart and memories. They're not mine," Glarity sighed."

Fluttershy shook her head, "No, it's not. Rarity hasn't gone on some of the adventures you have. She hasn't had some of the same experiences that you have. You, have a soul different than hers."

Glarity looked down at Fluttershy's hand, and then back into Fluttershy's blue eyes and smiled, "How do you girls do it?"

"Do what?" Fluttershy asked, looking at her weirdly.

"Treat us so... uniquely," Glarity said and looked up at two birds as they flew overhead. "I'm just a golem of Rarity and Belle is an amnesiac lookalike of your dead friend. But they way you act around us, we might as well be two different ponies altogether."

The two birds above them found a tree branch to land on and talk while Fluttershy just sat back and watched, "I'm an animal caretaker, I care and see so many animals in the world. For a lot of ponies, they think one bird is no different from any other bird. But, I know that there is a difference in how they speak, walk, or even preen their feathers."

"So," Glarity asked with a giggle as she watched the two birds snuggle up to each other, only to be joined b four other birds, "Me and Belle are birds?"

Fluttershy lowered her head and nodded bashfully, "In a way,yes. See, When you look at an animal, you just see the animal and nothing more. Ponies are like that too. I get nervous around new ponies, hard to believe right?"

Glarity chuckled, "You, shy? I would never have guessed."

It's true, I get nervous around new ponies and as far as I'm concerned, they are all scar things," Fluttershy then smiled, "But, if we get to know each other, then I see how different we all are and how special we can be."

"Yeah!" Pinkie said, jumping onto the deck and leaning her elbows over the back of the bench, her chin resting on her hands, "Sure, we may start off thinking that we are all the same on the outside, but we just need time to get to know each other to see the differences. It's one of the things I love about meeting new ponies. I get to know so many differences and new things about everypony I meet."

"Really?" Glarity asked.

"Really really," Pinkie giggled, "Belle may look like Twilight, but she's not. She's a little more emotional and expressive. And you, you may be like Rarity, but you act a little more aggressive and thoughtful. We are all different, we just need time to know," she then paused when she saw dark clouds overhead, "One...another."

Applejack shook her head when she saw the cloud, "Oh, please be a thunderstorm, please, Celestia, I beg you, just be a thunder-" her prayers were squashed when she heard booming laughter over head, "Oh, buck no."

Rhymey, who was hiding under the deck, cursed under his breath and left the three young mare alone to land somewhere else as Conquest's voice boomed out across the city, "Hello Manehatten! Are you ready to die in horrible agonizing ways and watch as the city you called home burns?"

Applejack looked to Orange Sherbert, and ordered, "Get your family out of here, now! Ah'll have Pinkie Pie and the guards get ya to safety,"

"But what about you?" asked Sherbert, as Applejack pressed her transformation button.

"Ah've got some flank to kick," Applejack asid as her helmet appeared on her head.

Conquest began to skip along the outer edge of the rooftop, smiling as he looked across the city, "Now, bet you were all thinking 'There is no way that Conquest was going to attack us today. He would skip us!' Nah! I was just attacking random settlements until now because I wanted my boys to relax," Conquest said, smirking as he looked to some dead guards, "Well, at least that's what your guards thought when I came by this morning and put their fears to rest. I just figured you all needed the holiday off from me killing all of you, and now, we get to have fun playing everypony's favorite game show, 'Run away from the mass murdering maniacs!' It's all the rage in the antelope lands."

Applejack ran into the center of the city, "You ain't gonna scare us! We are going to save these ponies and stop your assault on this city."

"Oh, I count on it, Abbigail," laughed Conquest as he twirled his microphone in his hand and smirked, "But I bet we know how this will go. As much as you will protect these worthless civies, there are three ponies you can't or won't save."

"Stuff it! We'll save them too!" Applejack growled. "You won't kill anymore of Lightning's team! Not today!"

"Oh, I bet I will. And then I will dance the macarena on their corpses!: Conquest laughed.

Applejack looked around her as Lightning, Artie quickly joined up with her. Pinkie Pie came next with her friends following close behind. Rhymey growled as he stepped up, "Lightning," Rhymey was about to say, but Lightning interrupted.

"Major Applejack, I await your orders," Lightning said, looking to Applejack as the group formed a circle.

"Sir," Rhymey stammer with a flabbergasted look in his eyes, "You cannot be serious! You want to take orders from her?"

"She has been more successful in every mission we have been on since this war started. This mare has protected lives and has helped as man ponies as she can. She knows more about organizing this team in a war zone than I do. This mare is-"

"An Equestrian," Rhyme growled, stepping in closely to Lightning, "A weaker, inferior Equestrian who knows nothing about real combat or war. Sir, she doesn't have any real experience fighting monsters, not unlike us."

With a growl, Lightning tapped his finger against Rhymey's chest, "MY team, my rules! I say who we follow and who we stand with. Unless you have a problem with that, major."

"No I don't... Commander," growled Rhymey.

Lightning turned around to look at Applejack, "Your orders, mam."

Applejack looked around her and nodded, "Lightning, you and I are on ground crowd control. Pinkie, Artie, you two start helping the guard with evacuation. Fluttershy, You do what you do best, and Rarity, you need to be in the sky. And remember keep an eye out for the Starfleet members."

"We do not need the help," Rhymey said.

Artie frowned and stepped in front of Rhymey, "Last I checked, we are down two members. I think we need their help if we are going to survive."

"If they died, then they died. The strong live and the weak fall. We mourn and then move one," Rhymey said. "No need to become crybabies and dwell upon it."

"You son of a-"

"You two, settle down!" Boomed Lightning, "This is no time for us to be at each other's throats."

"Yeah, save it for after the fighting," Applejack said as she looked to the sky, "Where in the hay is-"

There was a loud thud as Rainbow Dash landed on the ground, her fist hitting the pavement, "Ooooh, superhero landing!" Pinkie cheered.

"I just got through talking with my squadron," Rainbow Dash said, walking up to Applejack, "They'll be here soon."

"Good," Applejack said, "But You'll be alone up there for a few minutes, think ya can handle it?"

"Watch me work," Dash said, fist bumping Applejack, much to Rhymey's jealousy. Then Rainbow Dash took off into the air.

---

As the ground and air forces began to converge, striking and attacking various parts of the city, the ponies and Unciropians scream and run in panic. Though the guards and other members of Starfleet tried to fight back, they fell before the forces of Conquest. Screams and fire began to fill the air as the attack began in earnest. Some of the griffons let out a bellowing laugh as they dive bombed and attacked from the sky. When one pegasus flew down for an attack, a blue blur uppercutted him, taking him out. The blur then began to take out three more soldiers in an instant, a trail of Lightning flying behind her..

Once the blur stopped it's flight, Rainbow Dash turned around and smirked at her opponents. Shrugging her shoulders, she raised her arm in front of her face and got into a ready stance. The griffons smiled as they backed away and allow three harpies to take their place. Looking back and forth, Dash frowned and backed up a little, ready to try and escape to make her fight easier.

Before the harpies could attack, a light green blur with three others behind it took out the harpies with a loud crack. When the light green blue stopped moving, she revealed herself to be Lightning Dust. Dust Dust smiled at Rainbow Dash and gave her a thumbs up before flying back into the fray. Nodding, Rainbow flew through a small crow of enemy pegasi, laying multiple blows and kick to their bodies and taking them out. Looking behind her, she saw a griffon coming from behind her and raised a punch to bash it break in and knock it out.

All around her, the skies were filled with the knights of the wind facing down Conquest's aerial forces. Claw and hoof met wing and beak as the two armies battled it out in a strange sky dance of blood. The battle was not only consisting of the usual combatants, for the enemy was also was joined by the harpies. One such harpy reached out with a deadly claw for a griffon, but it arm was caught by a wonderbolt. Her friend then grabbed the other arm of the harpy and pulled it back, opening itself for a barrage by a third wonderbolt that took down the winged creature. The gryphon smirked and raised a thumb to the three soldiers and flew off to do battle with other in flight. The trio high fived each other and flew off to fight other soldiers.

Gilda ducked under a slash by a Unicornicopian, and then jumped back from another slash. When the Unicorpain triad for an overhead slash, Gilda caught the blade with one hand and smiled at him as the blade cut deep into her claw. The Unicornicopian looked oddly at Gilda, before letting out a gasp of pain as her blade dug heep into his stomach. With a kick of her lion paw, she knocked him off of her sword and spun around to slash at two harpies that were attacking from behind.

Hearing the sounds of multiple grunts, she turned to see Ace Ray kicking and striking at three separate soldiers. Spinning around in a tornado, he unleashed a wind strike that took out the soldiers. Gilda quickly slashed at one pegasus that was behind Ace and smiled at him, giving him a wink. Ace winked back, and blew his lady a kiss.

Rainbow Dash flew into the sky and looked at Spitfire. Putting on a pair of goggled, Spitfire gave a thumbs up to Rainbow Dash, who nodded back. There was an excited smile that came across her lips under her helmet that made her look like a wild mare. Looking back down at the crowd of airborne and land based fighters, the two pegasus dive bombed the sky, flying through the air at such a speed that a mach cone formed around their bodies. But, at the moment where Dash would break the barrier, creating her trademark, instead, she and Spitfire pulled up at the same time, cracking their hooves together to encase each other in Lightning and fire. The result was a pair of fire and lightning birds that flew through the city, fire balls and lightning bolt striking the airborne and land enemies. When the two broke out of their maneuver, they had taken out several enemies at oes. Looking back at her teammate, Dash high-fived her idol.

"Rainbow Dash, we need to talk, meet me a 3rd and fifth at the flump tower," Gilda said over the radio.

"Roger," Dash said, nodding to Spit fire, both pegasi flying to the tower to meet up with Gilda.

AS Dash landed, she asked, "What's up?"

"I don't like this Dash," Gilda said, "We're winning this fight."

"Yeah, and that's a problem, how?" Rainbow asked cockily.

Spitfire put a finger to her chin, "No, I see where she's coming from. You and I both know this isn't the only trick up Conquest's sleeve. He still has some other weapons ready."

"Yeah, like those zombie fairies," Gilda said. "We still don't know how to fight them off. Every city i heard that has met up with them has had massive casualties, and any survivors have said that the airborne guards can't beat them."

"Damn, you're right," Dash said, walking to the edge of building, and watching as the battle commenced, the air forces still battling harshly in the air while the ground forces were being joined by some of the city's militia. "Can we rain them out? We pegasi can fly in the rain, but those fairies are like tiny bugs? I remember how Krysta said she couldn't fly in the heavy rain."

"Yeah, and lowers our visibility as well" said Spitfire. "Not all of my team are team have been trained to fly under heavy rain."

"Lightning then," Gilda said.

"We are talking about thousands of fairies vs a few Lightning bolts," Dash said. "Plus, we risk getting your griffons hit too."

"Not to mention, the only three of us that are anywhere near good enough to wield Lightning on the level you are asking for are Dash, Lightning Dust, and Lightning Blitz," Spitfire said. "We need several controlled burst."

"Well, think of something fast, Rainbow Dash," Glarity said with grunt of pain.

"Glarity?" Dash asked, pressing her finger to her headset, "What's wrong.

On a distant building, Glarity panted as she heard a loud screech. Looking down, she winced when she saw the green blood leak out from her wound and down her arm, "Conquest has decided that I am worth keeping an eye on after all. He has sent these, black birds at me." Looking from her cover, he saw the flock of birds circle her sniping spot.

One of the birds looked down at her, flew behind her cover and extended her wings. Letting out a small cuss under her breath, Glarity ducked as a barrage of razor sharp feathers flew at her, One of the feathers cut into her shoulder. Letting out a yelp f pain, she pulled the feather out from the wall and fired it back at the bird. Opening the door behind her, she went into the building, "They have these feathers that they shoot out of their wings that are like swords."

"Stymphalian birds?" Belle said over the radio.

"I thought they only existed in the Gazelle plains," Fluttershy said.

Dash held up her hand, "Whoa, whoa, what are these stink birds?"

"They are birds with beaks of bronze and feathers of steel. It's rumored that Command Stormbreak saw these birds once and learned how to make wingblades from them," Spitfire said. "I am surprised that you don't know that. It's a-"

"Hey, unless it's sports or speed,I usually sleep in school," Dash said.

Gilda rolled her eyes, "That's for sure."

"The point is," Glarity said, "We have two problems, One is that I am pinned down and can't help anypony. Two, I saw on their wingtips, one of the zombie fairies. I think Conquest is going to launch a flock of these birds and attack you."

"If he launches those birds, and they fire their wings while those fairies are riding piggy back," Spitfire gasped, "We won't see the zombies coming and we'll be swarmed."

"You know," Dash said, "There are days when I really hate that asshole." Looking down, she saw a familiar gentleman in a cloak, "Spitfire, grab some of the soldiers and help Glarity out. Gilda, start organizing a plan with Soarin on how to take out those birds. "I have a meeting." smirking, she flew down on the roof of the adjacent building.

Mysterious smiled as he turned around, "Rainbow Dash. What do I owe the pleasure?"

"Simple," Dash said, stretching out her shoulders, "I have a feeling that you might have a clue how to stop those birds little surprise zombie attack."

"And?"

"If I beat ya, I get to learn how fast I need to break steel, and," she started to bounce on the toe of her feet, "You will have to tell me how to beat those birds of yours."

"My body is made of iron, miss Dash," Mysterious said, "You friend Applejack was only able to break my skin because of her-"

A series of punches interrupted his speech. As Dash stood back, she smiled and said, "I think I can learn."

Mysterious smiled.

---

Lightning had to move quickly in order to duck under a fist from an earth pony, before he retaliated with twin uppercut to knock him out. Blocking a cross from one minotaur, he drove a front kick into his gut to knock him back. Hearing a grunt of pain, he turned around to saw an orange body fly through a nearby wall.

Before he could say anything he watch as Applejack came back to her feet, shake her head and smiled at the boar. Lightning watched with an impressed look as the boa raced at her, managing to ram his tusks into her arm. Applejack smirked as he planted her feet into the chest of the boar, flipped him over her head and into a group of ten soldiers.

Watching as Applejack rubbed her arms a little, Lightning said, "Applejack, I have something to say. I," he let out a sigh, "I know that I haven't been the best leader, or the best friend in the world. Quite frankly, I have treated your friends miserably for the past few years. I want to improve lot, and I guess the first step is for me to say-."

Applejack grabbed a fist that was meant to to hit Lightning and looked at him, "Look, you want to apologize, Ah get it. But right now, we have a city to protect and ponies to save. Let's focus on the fight right now and then afterwards we can talk." Applejack then pulled the minotaur closer and then uppercutted his head, sending him back. "But for what it's worth, Ah forgive ya."

Lightning smiled warmly at this, and then gave out a shudder as a cold breeze washed over the two. Applejack looked up and saw eight large figures walking towards them, fur covering their large muscles. Each one of them had large imposing horns on their heads the moved when they stared down at the two soldiers. Lightning was the first to say, "Reindeer?"

"What are reindeer doing here?" Applejack asked.

"There are places up north that even Yaks do not tread, we come from their," the head Reindeer, Bli-zen said. "When Conquest heard that the empire had enlisted the aid of the Yaks to their side, he came for us. He promised us grazing land and a life beyond the snowy wastes."

"And you think that what he's offering is going to be any better? He'll turn this world into a black wasteland!" Applejack said.

"If he has lied to us," Blitz smirked, "Then he lies. We only care for the battle. Consider this a vengange for the mistreatment of our brother who was killed not too long ago. His own magic corrupted"

"You're insane," Applejack growled.

"We prefer to think of it as, movin on in the world," Don-er said, stepping along his brother, "The dead will rise soon. The world will end in blackness, and we might as well get in as many battle as we can before the world is consumed."

"No happening," Applecakes said, stepping forward and throwing a cross into the chest of the reindeer. She let out a yelp of pain as she felt her hand slowly start to freeze, "ARGH! What the-"

"As Fire Mares in the south are the embodiments of fire, so must there be beings of cold. This is the way of nature, forever in balance," Vixen said, a smirk on her lips as she punched Applejack hard in the stomach. Before she could recover, Applejack then was hit by Vixen's cloven foot into her face. Then she blasted Applejack hard with a wave of cold that crashed the farmer into a wall.

As Applejack slid down from the crater she made, Com-met held up a hoof and blew a wave of cold at Lightning Dawn, slamming against a wall high on the building. Next to him his partner grinned and threw three ice spears, two of which pierced Lightning's wings, the other cut deeply into his thigh. Pran-cer laughed as he produced another ice spear.

Dash-er laughed as he picked Applejack up by the head and slammed her head against the wall several times. With a grin, he began to freeze her head slowly, "See, you cannot win. We Reindeer have lived in hell and survived. We are stronger, faster, tougher and better than any of your kind. Thus this makes us better by fact."

Lightning winced at these words as he was trying to squirm out of the ice spears, "But... that doesn't give you the right to impose..."

"Our strength is a fact, it is not imposing at all," Pran-Cer said, as he coated his hand in solid ice and began to lay blow on blow onto Applejack's back.

Applejack gritted her teeth as she felt the blows hit, breaking through the armor and hitting her back. Each blow laying a dark purple welt onto her back. She let out a small scream of pain when the reindeer hit a part of her back where the scars of her wings were. The cold from her helmet freeze was cause her to slowly black out as she felt the force of the blow increase in strength and intensity. Though she could not she the next hit, she managed to grab the next hit that was aiming at her back. With a low growl, she closed her eyes and focused, moving her leg to just the right spot. Using ever dwindling strength to its fulled, she kicked out her right leg at Dash-er's crotch. There was a resounding crunch as her foot hit testicles.

Hand still holding onto Pran-cer's, she twisted it in one smooth motion, "Stronger, but still has the same weakness as anything else out there." with a growl, she used hr left fist to punch the reindeer's head three times. Letting go of the other hand, she used an uppercut to stun the beast. Getting into a handstand, she pulled back her legs and then did a hard buck into the reindeer's stomach, sending him flying back.

Standing up, she took off her helmet, and then spat out some blood. Looking at the six reindeer, and then to the imprisoned Lightning, she said, "This might hurt."

"Hurt?" he asked as Applejack bucked the wall, causing it to shake a little. This, in turn, caused him to shake a little, allowing him to fall, with the side effect of it tear in his wings, "GAHHH! That-"

"Warned ya," Applejack said, getting into a fighting stance.

As Lightning looked at Applejack, he asked, "I thought your hands and feet froze when you touched them."

"They do," Applejack breathed slowy, trying to regain her breath, "Punching them felt like punching ice or bucking in the snow. It's cold and hurts like hell."

"Plan?" asked Lightning as he watched Applejack pull out her lasso.

Applejack looked up at the two ice shards, "Keep em busy."

Nodding, Lightning ran into the fray. As the commander began to fight, Applejac wrapped her lasso around the three ice spears. After getting a good knot on them she lifted the rop and begun to spin around. At the apex of her spin, she shouted to Lightning, "Duck!"

With the Reindeer in a single line, Lightning did as he was told and ducked under the spinning makeshift hammer. As the hammer hit the skulls of the six reindeer, it knocked them out. Lightning got up, and smirked at Applejack, giving her a thumbs up.

---

As Conquest sat on the rooftop of Tenpony Tower, he watched with glee at the battle that waged on. He let out a chuckle as he heard some of the screams from below, "You know, some of the guards and other Starfleet members down there make such fun and unique screams. Now, you see, if they didn't only focus on Lightning and his amazing friends and told people of the other groups of Starfleet, maybe they wouldn't have become so complacent! Ok, it would've still left them to their entertaining and fun little demise, but the wouldn't be complacent."

"Sir," reported a soldier, "The Knights and Starfleet members are in position."

"Oh goody," Conquest said as he stood up and clapped his hands together. Skipping to the center of the building, he order, "Engage."

---

Applejack watched with a queer look in her eyes as some of the soldier took a step back, "and the battle began to grow quiet, "What's going on? Lightning, do you-" she paused when she watched Lightning collapse to his knees, his white coat becoming paler," What's wrong?"

Trembling, he began to speak, "W-when Chrysalis sent me and the others through that cave, we were told we would be facing our worst fear. All we fought was monsters, so I never...I didn't ever think what my fear would be."

Before Lightning stood images of his family, all in various states of decay," Look at him, all alone." said his mother.

"It's what he deserves," said his father.

Buddy Rose, his body still broken in half, growled, "He doesn't belong anywhere. Not with a family, not with a people, and definitely not with a team."

Grand Ruler shook his head as he walked away, "He is too weak to be my son. He is worthless."

"I never loved him," Starla said, turning away as she covered herself, "I am glad I was raped by Conquest. He needs to be abandoned. All alone and without anyone.

"Alone," the voices began to chant, their tone getting louder and louder.

Lightning shook his head and lowered himself to the ground, "N-no, it's not true, I belong! I want to belong somewhere, please, don't abandon me!"

"Oh buck," Applejack said, straightening her hat and walking to her teammate, "Lightning you need to." she paused as the ring began to take effect and show her something that made her blood turn cold, "Oh goddess, not this. Anything but this." she said, shaking in horror.

Before her were two earth ponies. One had a red coat, wearing a torn and tattered stetson, his body horribly mangled, limbs messing, and several claw marks that left blood to slowly drip from his wound, "Look at her, a failure. Just not good enough."

"Pa, please don't say that," Applejack whimpered, shaking her head.

The mare, with a coat like Applejack's, shook her head, talking in the same haunting and whispering tone as her husband, "She's never good enough. She is too weak, and a failure."

"N-n-no, Ma," Applejack whimpered, shaking her head as tears came to her.

"You failed us daughter, you are such a disappointment," said Rambo Apple as he shook his head.

"You always failed us. You failed your sister, the farm, and your family. I can't believe I thought you could carry on without us. And now look at you," spat Gala Apple.

Before Applejack could speak, she heard a familiar voice speak, "How could you! I trusted you to protect our friends! And now they will die, all because you are too weak!" Twilight Sparkle said, stepping out of the shadows, her wounds still fresh on her body

As Twilight's words hit her ears, Applejack shook her head and said, "No, Twilight, please I... Ah tried my best."

"And you failed!" Shrieked Twilight, "You are not good enough, you will never be good enough!"

"No, Twilight, please," Applejack said, falling to her knees in shock. Her hat slowly fell off her head as she sat there in shock.

Elsewhere in the city, Rainbow Dash performed a flying tackle into Mysterious body, sending the two of them flying through a building and into the basement. Slowly, she stood back up and cracked her neck, "I think I'm getting an idea how to beat those birds now."

"Shame," Mysterious said calmly, his voice unwavering, "I was starting to have fun."

"Hey, give me a moment and-" she paused when her world began to grow black. Looking around her, she flt the walls closing in on her. A terrified look appeared on her face as she looked out of the small room she was in and saw her friends being slaughtered by an unseen enemy, A scream escaped her lips as she began to panic.

"Rainbow dash?" Ask Mysterious, looking at her oddly. "Are you alright?"

"Get me out, I got to get out!" Dash shrieked as she began to run around and claw at the walls.

Glarity stood on her perch, with her finger in her headset, " Rainbow? Applejack? What's going on?"

Before she could receive her answer, however, she heard haunting voices whisper in her ear, "Fake."

"What," asked Glarity shivering in fear.

"Fake. Fake of pony, fake pony," The voices continued to whisper, forcing her to curl up into a ball and shiver.

Rhymey couldn't help but smile when he watched Fluttershy lay on the ground before him, shivering in fear. Rhymey let out a chuckle, "You are facing your worst fear, aren't you. I wonder what it is, considering your own fears. I am unaffected of course, Thanks To my...

A haunting wail made his bones shudder in fear. When he turned around, he saw the ghost of Rhymey's father glaring down at him. However, his father's face was replaced by hidsown. Rhymey yelled, " No! I as m not him, I am better than him. I am superior to him. My abilities as required superior. I am not nor will I ever be him."

His screams drowned out Fluttershy's whimpers, " I'm not a monster, Ii... not a monster." she shuddered as she watched hordes of ponies, ponies she could've help, ponies she hurt because of her rag, and ponies that she hurt by being aggressive all began to taunt her. "Not a monster."

Artie stepped back when he saw himself standing before him. His body was dressed in a fancy attire, "Why should I care about the world around me. The only things in life that are truly important are money and myself."

"N-No, please. I could never be like that. Please, I am a hero, not some snob," Artie said, trembling.

"And that is six for six!" Conquest cheered fist pumping the sky, "I am on fire baby!" Quickly, he began to dance and jump around on the rooftop, "Oh, happy day! I am just so damn excited about this win that I think I might-"

His cheering and happiness was cut short, when he heard a sound that made him shiver. Something that made him back up and wince in pain.

A high pitched laugh

Some of the men who were ready to beat Artie to death as he trembled, turned up to the sound of the laughing and saw Pinkie Pie, laughing up a storm. It was a minotaur who asked, "What's s funny?"

"Oh," Pinkie said, stifling a laugh, "I just thought about this really great joke. Want to hear it? It's so funny that it'll bowl you over!"

"Tell us," an Unicornicopian said, frowning.

Pinkie happily nodded, and began her story, "So, once upon a time, I got lost. I mean really super duper lost in this deep dark cave. I was in there for so long that I thought maybe nopony would find me and I would die all alone in there. So, I decided to try and brighten my mood up."

"How?" asked a minotaur.

"Well, I remember what my Granny Pie, Celestia rest her soul, told me. She said, 'If you spend time to think about your fears and why you shouldn't be afraid of them, then whey won't seem so scary anymore. So, I did. I started with the dark. Why should I be afraid of the dark, it's just daytime but without the day. It's just the shadows that make everything so scary." Then with a laugh, she added, "Then I thought, 'but what if something eats me?' 'Well, I hope I don't taste bad!' I mean, can you imagine that? A predator has you in his clutched, ready to eat you, and when he takes that first bite, he spits that part out and says ,'Yuck! You taste horrible!" I don't know whether to feel sorry or just insulted!"

This sparked a round of laughter from the army, distracting them from Artie.

"So, I went through every rational and irrational fear I could think of until Maude, Ma, Pa, Inky, and Blinky found me! By that time, I had worked through every fear and I wasn't afraid of anything, except for one thing. Not being there for my friends when they died" Pinkie sighed and looked away at this last one, wiping a tear from her eye. Then she smiled, "But, Raven helped me to realize that I can make sure that never happens again."

"So, what's the joke?" asked an earth pony.

"Simple, every time that I was ever scared... I was faking it," Pinkie then picked up a large blue object with three holes in it. Then she put her fingers into the holes, her eyes flashing a bright rainbow as she said, "Which means, I'm not afraid of anything." Then she spund around, and rolled the bowling ball at the small group of soldier knocking them all out.

"Told ya it would bowl ya over," Pinkie said, taking out a notebook and marking down a strike. Turning around to look at the rest of the army as they charged at her, she smiled like a wild pony. Opening her hands, she let two hammers slide down out of her sleeves and into her open hands. Each had written on it 'For use in beatdowns only." she then said, "Now, let me tell you about me!"

As Pinkie Pie began to sing, she leapt at a minotaur and slammed her hammer against his head, knocking him out.

Leaping off from her downed open opponent, she struck another minotaur, ducking under a slash from an earth pony mare, and then extended her arms to strike at two ponies with her hammers spinning around in a circle, turning into a pink blur, she threw her extra hammer into the distance, striking an airborne pegasus. Looking back at the incoming horde of soldiers, she stood in front of the still stunned Artie and winked at them.

She sent the other hammer flying, before reaching into her back and pulling out a big hammer with the words, 'Love and friendship' printed on it. With a giggle, she slammed the hammer onto the ground, causing the earth to shake and rattle. Using the hammer explosion to launch herself into the air, she threw a bunch of super bounce balls into the ground, each one bouncing up and hitting a soldier with the force of a small bullet.

Once she landed, a boar grabbed her by the head and slammed her into the ground. He smiled as he picked her up by her man and kickjed her hard into a lamp post. He sneered as he watched the mare get back up, spinning out a little blood.

Looking at her, the boar charged right at her, piercing her with one of his tusks. Then he looked, and saw a balloon in place of Pinkie. Flicking his ear, he heard

Looking up, he saw Pinkie on top of his head, smiling through her helmet. In her hands were some confetti strings. BEfore he could move, Pinkie ties them around his legs and arms. Once she stood back up, she lightly pushed him down to the ground and threw a dance bomb behind her back for good measure.

Turning to look at a line of unicorns and unicornicopians, she put on a pair of roller skates and brought out twin frying pans

Hearing an invisible reff in her head, she skated down in between the lines of soldiers, hitting and knocking them all out with her frying pans. When she stopped, she looked at a rather large minotaur, and she waved hello to him.

He swatted at her, and Pinkie grabbed onto his bicep and swung herself onto it, riding it. As she rode on the minotaur's arm, she waverd hello.

The minotaur, enraged by her carefree fighting style, grabbed her by the mane, pulled her off of hm and punched her hard in the stomach. This sent her skidding across the ground. Before she could recover, an unicornicopian wielding double blades slashed her across the back, while an unicorn zapped her with Lightning and sent her flying back with a gust of wind.

They all smirked as the looked at her, thinking that they had beaten her. But they were all shocked as Pinkie got back up, blood rolling down her back. Her smile never leaving a she continued to sing.

Bringing out a piece of chalk, she drew a bunch of little squiggles and signs on the ground and then smiled at her work. Looking back up at the soldiers who attacked her, she smiled when she brought out a little sling shot with a marble in it. Letting the marble fly, it hit a loose stone behind the soldiers, dropping an entire building on their heads.

With a big grin on her face, she turned around and pulled out a pie bazooka to aim at the other soldiers and began to fire as she sung the chorus of her song.

Miraculously, Applejack could hear Pinkie's voice as she sang, and the spell began to wear off on her. Wickly, the vision vanished as she slowly stood back up to her feet and then picked her hat back up. Taking out two soldiers with her fists, she began to sing as well

Looking over to Lightning Dawn, she crouched down and patted his shoulder, "Ok, come on,. Enough of this moping around, you need to get up and fight!"

'"But I-" Lightning began, but was Interrupted by Applejack as she smiled at him.

"Look, Ah get it. You never faced your worst fear before,bet you never even knew what it was until now. Now you feel like you are alone and no one is here for you. Well, let me tell you right no," Narrowing her eyes, applejack commanded, "Forget it. You belong with us, here with a team. Now, maybe we ain't going to get along at first, but if you try... maybe we can be friends."

Lightning looked up with a smiled, "Do you mean it?

Applejack nodded as she helped Lightning up, and sang

Lightning smiled up at Applejack stood back up and began to sing with Applejack, getting back into a fighting stance.

She'll work real hard and do her best to turn that sad frown upside down

"Wha-" Glarity asked herself as she heard the song coming in from her headsets. Smiling, she give out a little sniffle and stands up. Wiping her eyes clear of some of her tears that she had been crying, she turned to look back at the monsters and soldiers that were in th sky and on the ground. Slowly, she reaches behind her back, pulling out her arrow and began to sing as she fired

Mysterious looked down at the shuddering Rainbow Dash and held onto her shoulders, "Rainbow Dash, you're scared right now and that's ok. Everypony has something that they are deeply afraid of. But, I think you are more afraid of not being there to help anypony. That is what this claustrophobia is about."

"C-c-can't get out, can escape. W-W-Walls are closing in," Rainbow Dash whimpered, shaking her head.

"Now you need to get over it or else you will lose both-" Mysterious was interrupted when he heard a song playing outside.

Rainbow Dash whispered, "Pinkie?" she smiled as she stood back up and looked to the wall. Taking a deep breath, she could feel her inner well of courage surge back forth. Turning around, she looked at Mysterious and winked, "Thanks for keeping an eye on me. I think i know how to stop those birds now."

"You're not going to try and capture me?" Mysterious asked.

"Capture who, I didn't see anypony," Dash said, before looking at the rubble and flying through it. Her voice reaching a crescendo as she sang along with the beat.

Fluttershy could hear the song, and she smiled as she stood back up. Turning her eyes to the birds above, she called Rainbow Dash, "Those birds are predators, you might be able to win if you could gather them up as a group and hit them with a flying V."

"That was my plan Fluttershy," Dash called over the radio. " Spitfire, Soarin, Ace, Dust, Gilda. Fall back on me. We are going to knock these metal birds out of the sky."

"Right!" exclaimed the team as sht quickly got behind Dash in the shape of the giant v. Seeing their comrades flying in formation, The other knights began to gather the birds and made them follow them.

"So, what's the plan, Commander?" asked Gilda.

Dash smirked, "Rainbow V."

"What?" Glda asked.

Dash smirked, "Just keep fling and follow me," Dash said as a mach cone formed around her, "Spitfire, Dust, you swallow me, use your slip stream to give the three slower flyers speed."

"Just to let you know, boss," Dust said, smirking, "This is a crazy plan!"

"And kind of stupid," Spitfire said, feeling the speed increasing.

"Of course this is stupid. If I thought it was smart, I wouldn't think it would work!"Dash said, seeing the legion of birds coming at her. Breathing slowly, she began to feel her body connect with the air around her. The air, the speed, and the rush of adrenaline all came together in one moment as Dash slammed one hoof against the beak of the bird. This gave the others in the formation to launch a punch into the beaks of the other birds causing a shockwave that blew the birds clear out of the city.

Fluttershy saw this, and began to sing.

Pinkie smiled when she watched Artie get back up. With a bright wide grin on her face, she let out a big cheer and began to sing. The others joining in as they began t push back against the soldiers.

Conquest fell to his knees and screamed in pain as he heard the song. Struggling to get up, he growled, "ARG! What is up with this stupid, so-AHHH!" he screamed as another wave of pain hit him, sending to the floor writhing. Blood dripped from his ears and his eyes as the music continued. The upbeat melody, plus the mirthful lyrics began to make Conquest writhe in pain.

Steadily, he grabbed a pipe and picked himself up, "I-I-I:

"Sire?" questioned a soldier.

"Gotta get out of here!" Conquest said, teleporting away.

Every hit that struck, ever move that hit, seemed to posses something more. Whether it was additional strength, stamina, or energy, there was something new to each hit that the members of both teams delivered to their opponents. The more that the ponies sang along wit Pinkie Pie, the more powerful they felt. And unbeknownst to the knights of harmony, they all had an individual glow about them. For Applejack, it was orange, for Rainbow Dash it was red, for Fluttershy it was yellow, and Pinkie it was blue. It was as if Pinkie's overwhelming energy and optimism began to flow out from her and into the others. The same could be sad for Lightning and Artie as they began to share in Pinkie's strength.

The more powerful the song, the more that the enemy fell until only a few remnants remained. The remaining soldier began to see this power, and gasped in fear, some even wetted themselves before running away.

As Pinkie Pie began to finish her song, she did not notice a minotaur rise up from the fallen. He snorted as he watched Pinkie Pie dance and sing, rage burning in his chest. Looking at her with red bloodshot eyes, he held up his hand. Strapped to his hand was an unusual gauntlet, with a black or in the center. Growling, he kept his palm open as he began to charge black flame into the gauntlet. With a snort, he fired a giant black fireball at Pinkie.

Artie saw this with fear in his eyes, "Oh my Celestia! PINKIE!" he shouted, jumping in front of the fire ball. Pinkie Pie barely had time to turn around when her vision was blocked by an orange stallion that held up a staff to block the incoming black flames.

"Artie?" gasped Pinkie as she watched the scene with a mix of horror and disbelief. Her ears twitched as she heard Artie's unrelenting scream of pain as the black flame encroached on him. After a few short minutes, the fireball dissipated and Artie fell to his knees. Shaking Her head, Pinkie shouted, "Artie! N-no, please, don't die."

Weakly, Artie leaned against Pinkie in her arms and looked up at her. Seeing the tears forming in her eyes, he raised a shaky black hand to Pinkie's face and wiped some of her tears away, "Tears Pinkie? No, that's not right. That's not you. You're Pinkie Pie, you are supposed to bring smiles to ponies and make them happy. Please, don't cry."

"Artie, you are going to be ok," Pinkie whispered, shaking her head as more tears fell from her eyes.

"Promise me, Pinkie," Artie said. "D-don't stop smiling. Don't become like us and take away other ponies smiles, please." and with that, Artie closed his eyes and slipped from Pinkie's arms.

Pinkie trembled and whimpered as she laid the fallen starfleet member down. Saying nothing, she slowly stood back up, and began to sniffle as she felt her tears fade away. Her ears picked up the sound of the assassin's laughter and she narrowed her eyes in anger.

Feeling her tail twitched, she instantly leapt above a griffon dive bombing her and used her hand to slam his head into the ground. From there, she looked up at the Minotaur as he started to run away from her into the city and through the alleys. A feral growl escaped her lips as Pinkie charged in after him.

The minotaur kept running, panting, and trying to escape. Behind him, he thought he could hear Pinkie Pie panting and yelling for him to come back. After passing by several alleys, he saw a dead end alley. He sighed, but then gasped when he saw Pinkie Pie leap over the wall and land in front of him. A smile crept across Pinkie's lips as she waved, looking like a maniac that had found her prey.

The minotaur roared and charged at her with his horns pointed at her. Pinkie just grinned as she waited for the Minotaur to charge at her. With almost instant timing, she jumped, ran alongside a wall, and landed behind the minotaur as he rammed his horns into the wall. Stuck, he looked over his shoulder to see Pinkie Pie walk to hm with a hacksaw in hand, "No, please god no!" pleaded the minotaur, "Don't saw off my horns! Please, I'll be a laughing stock!"

"MY friend, he made me promise to never take away a ponies smile," Pinkie said, holding up the saw. "You're not a pony. I should take your head off! I should take away your smile!"

"No, please, don't, I beg of you," The minotaur cried.

"But-" Pinkie paused as she threw away her saw, "If I kill you, then I'll make some pony sad. Your family, your girlfriend, or someone. And I can't do that" Pinkie sighed, "No matter how much I want to right now."

""Then what are-OW!" he squeaked as he felt Pinkie bat hit him square in the testicles. The he passed out after Pinkie knocked him out with a bat.

"Knocking you out... now that I can do," Pinkie smiled, unaware of an unicorn with a fireball aimes at her back.

Before he launched it, a shout of, "Ink Vine!" came from the side. From a unicorn's horn, black tendrils that looked like Buddy's vines came out and grabbed the unicorn and threw him into a wall.

"Artie?" Pinkie gasped as she saw Artie stand in front of her, his leg trembling from weakness.

"H-H-Hey, Pinkie," Artie said, leaning against the wall, "Guess you're right. IT was easy to find something to fight for. Especially if it's a dear friend." he said, before finding himself glomped by Pinkie Pie.

From above in the sky, Conquest announced, "Awww, he lived. That's unfortunate. OH well, I did some damage to him. You did some damage to me, let's just call this a tie today and you guys can go home." and with that, he teleported his minions away.

"So, we won?" Lightning asked, watching as Pinkie carried Artie's beaten body towards Fluttershy.

---

"What is wrong with the boss?" asked a griffon as they watched Conquest push past them and towards the slave chambers.

An Unicornicopian shook his head, "I... don't know. The master was fine during the battle, but when Pinkie started to sing, that was when he started to bleed and writhe. It was like he was hit with the worst pain in existence."

"I think Conquest might have weaknesses we do not know about," Mysterious sid, walking past the soldiers.

"Hey, General Mysterious, where do you think you are-"

"To my friends," Mysterious calmly said.

Staral sat in her chambers, awaiting Conquest. As the door opened, she saw her rapist standing before her, "You look shaken. Why? The pink one too much for you?" she giggled as she stood up and walked to her mirror.

"You sound rather jovial," Conquest said, smiling as he took off his clothes. "Those friends of yours must be a good influence."

"Oh, it's not just that. Word on the base is that there is a chnink in your armor," laughed Starla. "So I am going to wear a smile on my face tonight as you do what you want to me. Because I know that you can be beaten. You will suffer for all of your crime-" she stopped when she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders.

Conquest chuckled, "Honey, I think you should hold off on your little celebrations. Cause you see... I'm hungry"

Starla's face went pale as she was forced to face him. Looking up into his eyes, she let out a whimper, "N-n-No. Please," as she felt her shirt tear away from her chest, she let out a powerful wail that echoed throughout the base.

---

Back in his main room, Conquest laughed and smiled to himself as he felt his eardrums heal. He ad to hold back n more laughter as he started to count down, "3,2,1. Cue Dementia!"

"CONQUEST YOU SICK SON OF A BITCH!," Screamed Dementia as she charged at Conquest, throwing a fist at him.

Effortlessly, Conquest dodged the first punch, grabbed the second, and then threw her to his table, "Aw, what's the matter baby? Upset that I might have ruined your little darling for men forever? Don't worry, I healed her so she can have a sexy body still."

"You Bastard! I'll kill you, I'll kill you!" screamed Dementia as she pounded weakly against his chest.

"Ahhhh, that's music to my ears," smiled Conques as he leaned in and whispered, "But maybe, instead of hating me, you should run to your girl Starla. I think she might do something drastic.

With a look of terror in her eyes, Dementia began to push Conquest off and run down the stairs and back to the room. Once inside of Starla's chambers, she saw Starla with a broken mirror shard in her hand, "Starla, don't-"

Starla did not hear her as she frowned at Dementia, put the sharp mirror to her neck and, cut off her hair, shortening it, "I'm done." Starla whispered as she looked at her cut hair, her mane now a short bowl cut.

"Done?" Dementia asked, sitting on the bed. Noting that Starla was about to cry again, Dementia pulled her close.

"I'm done with being raped, mutilated, insulted, and dragged through shit! I'm done with it all." Starla said, letting out a shuddering breath. "This... was the last straw. Don't know how, but I'll break out."

"And I'll there to help," whispered Dementia a she held her young charge close to her, holding her tight and running her hand through Starla's purple mane.

---

Pinkie Pie sat outside of the emergency room, waiting. Her arms were crossed under her chest as she shivered, the mental image of her friend's death playing on repeat in her head as she waited for news about Arties. After the third hour of waiting, the door opened and Nurse Redheart stepped outside. Pulling off the mask, she looked back at Pinkie and sighed, "He'll live."

"That's great!" Pinkie cheered.

"But, his hands. They were badly burnt by the black flame," Nurse Redheart looked away and sighed. Then she looked back at Pinkie with comforting eyes, "His hands have been burnt all the way to the bone."

"Y-You mean that he'll never be able to make paintings again?" whimpered Pinkie. As Nurse Redheart shook her head, Pinkie grabbed the nurse's shoulders, "Then just put some cybernetic hands on him and fix him up!"

The nurse shook her head, "Even if we could Pinkie, we can't. The flames burnt his nerve endings as well. That means we can't connect anything to those implants for them to work. I'm sorry Pinkie."

Pinkie looked over Redheart's shoulder, back into the room where Artie lay. Shaking her head, she pleaded, "But, painting is his life! He needs to paint and be a hero, he doesn't know how to be anything else. This will-"

"I know," Redheart sighed and looked back a Pinkie. "For all of their talk about being technologically superior, they can't do a thing to save one of their own. It sickens me."

---

Applejack ran through the streets of Ponyville, following Rainbow Dash as she flew over-head, "What the buck do you mean Pinkie just had a relapse?!"

"I just got a call from Mrs. Cake. She said Pinkie Pie came in with a weird look on her face and then ran up to her room. She won't' come out no matter what," Dash said, looking worried.

Behind them, Rarity slowly approached , Belle and Fluttershy following right behind the two ponies. "Rarity was the first to speak as they neared sugar Cube Corner, "h dear. This is bad." Rarity said.

Belle looked around nervously, "Y-Y-You don't' think she's going to-"

"Not on my watch!" Dash's aid as she led her team upstairs to the top of the house where Pinkie Pie lived.

Raising her fist, Applejack began to slam on the door, "Pinkie Pie! Open this door right now!"

"Go away!" Pinkie yelled, her voice weak, "I don't want to deal with this anymore."

"With what?" asked Dash.

"This war! Starfleet! This constant battle, always waiting for the next monster to attack! I can't stand it anymore! I-I-I just can't'!" Cried Pinkie as she brought her knees to her chest, and began to cry into them, putting her forehead to her knees and sobbing, "All that's happened since we joined is that we've had everything we believed in mocked, insulted, or dragged through the ud. But, hey, I was able to handle all of that. Even the constant fighting, i was able to get through with a smile, but..."

Fluttershy looked to the group, and nodded. She walked to a mouse near by and whispered into its ear, telling them to help open the door. As the door opened, Fluttershy slunk up to Pinkie and sat on the bed, "But, what?"

"But I can't stand losing any more of my friends," Pinkie cried, leaning onto Fluttershy's shoulder. Softly Fluttershy ran her hand along Pinkie's back, "I always thought, hey, I can survive this. I can handle everything I loved being stepped on as long as my true friends were right there with me. Then Twilight died, and I saw my worst fear come to life. And I tried, I really did! I tried to become strong like you guys, and work through t... but I can't!"

As Pinkie wailed Belle sat next to Pinkie, and gave her a hug, "Oh, Pinkie."

"Then, I saw that I finally got one of them to open up! Her was finally opening his heart to us and became our friend. It made me actually believe that maybe being silly isn't so wrong and that I can put a smile on a face, but then he gets his dream taken away by a monster!" She stifled back a sob, "What's the point! What's the point of having a friend if they are just going to get ehri lives ruined, or taken away from me again. What if you all die like Twilight? Alone, sad, and thinking that we won't come for you."

"Pinkie, I-" Rarity began, only to stop when she saw Applejack pull out a knife, "Applejack, what on earth?"

With a grunt, Applejack stabbed a knife through her hand, "Ah, Abbigail Jacqueline III do hereby promise that Ah won't leave my friends alone again. That no matter what happens from here on, Ah will fight by their side. And if we do die, it will be together. We will never be alone." she then looked up at her friends, "Now you gals. We're making a blood vow, right now. So Pinkie will know... she's not alone."

Rainbow Dash quickly grabbed the knife and stabbed er hand, before placing it on top of Applejacks,"I do too, Rainbow Miraum Dash."

"So do I," Rarity said, stabbing her hand and then she placed it on top of the group's hand, "Rarity Sapphire Belle."

Fluttershy calmly nodded, and winced when she stabbed her hand, "Fluttershy Firewing."

A grey hand came to rest on theirs, "Belle Amie."

"You guys, wha-" Pinkie asked, wiping her tears.

"Dear, you are so scared of us dying alone. This our way of showing, it will not happen, ever again," Rarity said.

"And no matter what comes our way, we'll fix it," Applejack held up her fist, "Together."

"So, come on," Dash winked, "Ready to join our little sorority?"

Pinkie nodded, wiping a tear before stabbing her hand and saying. "Pinkamena Diane Pie."

This chapter...Talk about, a transformation from the rough draft to the main page. We know the story by now, In the rough draft he was meant to die horribly in a montage like the rest of Starfleet sans Lighting Dawn. However, once again, this is where my desires as an author in the past conflicts with what I had planned.

Remember, back in the beginning, I had said I wanted to make sure that you guys CARED about these guys before I blow the sniper rifle I have on their heads? Well, that was where it had all started. See, I actually take the time to read up on Mykan's backstories and histories for his little world, and Artie...well, Artie became my favorite of the whole bunch. Yeah, there was a lot to be done, but there was something that just appealed to me about a guy who wanted to be a hero because it was the right thing to do. Interestingly enough, his backstory chapter is my favorite in the whole dang series.

Well, I began to work and work on him more and more. I began to find the more I worked on him, the more I cared for him as a character and the less I found myself wanting him to...die. I wanted him to live and become stronger as a character and as a hero. The turning point for me was when someone said that I made them feel bad about Buddy dieing. That was when I said, "Artie will live."

So, it led to the evolution of ths scene. It started with Artie dieing in Pinkie's arms, to him living and winding up in the hosipital. Of course, I added some more things into the story like Lighitng's character growth, the start of Rhymey's darkness, and so much more.

The Starla scene was going to be another rape, but by now (Thanks to my wonderful editors Zolt and Wyvern advice) it's become...borning. and frankly, I agree. Someone once said this story has moved on so much from the days of raping her just to make a statement. Heck, i had Starla cut her hair because I fully intend on making her fight back and become a hero instead of a victim. So, whaat did Conquest do to her?

I'll let you the fans decide.

Now for some trivia!

-Before this chapter was written...my grandmother died. So yeah, there was somethings that i refenced here that made me think of her. The double Rainbow thing was something grandma always said that grandpa made (My grandfather died before my brother was born) whenever Gradma felt sad to make her happy. The sitting on the porch was something we used to do together, as well as her getting mad when I corrected her

-Yes, Hamon. As in, I am a huge fan of Jojo now. Right now the first three jostars are my faves.

-Yes, each costume of the mane 5, Belle, and Artie is a reference: Pinkie is Luffy, Artie is Nami, Rainbow Dash is the Flash, Applejack is Kenshin Himura from Ruroni Kenshin, Glarity is Lust from Fullmetal Alchemist while Rarit and Spike are Emma Peel and John Steed from Avengers, the Umbra circle are a Super Sentai/power rangers team (Wich a refence to a Lunaverse fanfic)

-Speaking of wich, some of the lines Pinkie says are my own philosophy and the way i see her mind working.

-I think, out of all of the seasons, season 4 of Starfleet is my least favorite (Season 4 of Pony on the other hand is my baby) And Kudos is one of the reasons why. He has a stupid backstory, his reasoning for being evil is faulty, and everything about him feels like a whinefest. Longstor short, I despise him. Him and the idea that Earth Ponies don't have magic tha Starfleet tries to tell you.

-Yes, Conquest was a black hedgehog. He just came back from destroying a Sonic the hedgehog badfic where Sonic was an evil sorcerer that killed everybody.

-In case you are wondering...yes, that was some of Grand Ruler's magic pulsing through Lighting when he hit the antimagic seal.

-Krysta's comment was because I noticed that the more the seasons rolled on, the less importance to the plot she has had.

-Orange Sherbert is a reference to life in Manehatten

-Yellow Arc is a reference to a show I had recently fallen for, RWBY! He is actually Jaune Arc. Don't worry, he met up with Nora, Ren, and Pyhhra later on that day.

-Rainbow Dash is basically how I feel she thinks when people complain about the Wonderbolts.

-Tenpony Tower is a Fallout Equestria Reference.

-Stymphalian birds are some of my favorite Mytholgical birds. They are badasses!

-I came up with each of Starfleets fears based on their personalities (such as they are) and what I know about them. IT was easy with only three of them.

-It was hard to come up with that whole dash thing with the eight reindeer.

- I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!