I let out a satisfied sigh as I hold Luna a bit closer to myself. Ends up doing the act in someones head is just as good as doing it in reality. Good to know, I'm sure it'll come in handy eventually. The only odd part about it was having all of the memories around us, but we found a simple solution for that. Normally I just go with the motions and try to guess what would please her the most, but having all of the memories with us was an amazing cheat sheet. Sadly, at the end of it we couldn't resist kissing, so now we're in the spare room at my place.

I had initially questioned why we were here, but I had a sleeping Luna to occupy my curiosity. I guess I got out before she did, so that may, or may not have let me have some plausible alone time to feel up her body. It's as plausible as her pregnancy.... I regret nothing.

I snap back to her as she finally starts to wake. She stretches her hooves over her head and lets out a little moan before resting her hooves over my shoulders. I lean forward and giver her a little peck on the lips, which she intensifies instantly.

"Hey." I say when we finally pull away to breathe.

"Hey." She says tiredly. "How long was I out?"

"Not long, did you actually fall asleep in your mind?" I ask, getting a chuckle from her.

"A little, no thanks to you." She says as she playfully pushes on my chest. "So... we should probably get going, huh?"

"Yeah, fuck being busy."

"Tell me about it." She agrees as she scoots closer. I smile to her and lean in to kiss her one more time. It was short and simple, but the message was loud and clear.

We left the room together, saying our goodbyes before Luna left to find Regina. It felt... odd. As in, we were a normal couple heading out to our normal lives. Wake up, go to work, come back and repeat. Though with more passion than that, and I know that once we do leave that door normalcy stays behind... it's nice to have something normal- something real in my life. No worries of power, conflict, or fear. Just me and my love, procrastinating away with sweet kisses.

.... fuck, it's too early to be this sappy.

With a spring in my step I go to my room and open the door-

FWOOOOOSH

"AAAAAAAAAHH!"

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...

...

...

Oh, that's right. Normalcy isn't allowed beyond this door. Okay, now that my brain has reset, I watch as the black flames die away. Where my bed once was is now occupied by Damian and CC and lot's of ash. Damian is on top of CC and seems to be on the verge of passing out. CC on the other hand... she seems... well... the best way to put it would be mixing orgasmic and fearful.

"Okay, get the fuck out and buy me a new bed." I order them as Damian rolls over. "... is that it?"

"Fuck you.... tired... nap." Damian huffs back.

"Did you really need to burn my bed?"

"I don't have control over that... barely avoided burning... burning... sexy flanks over here." Damian says as he waves a hoof in CC's general direction.

"Y-yeah." CC mumbles before rolling into Damian's embrace.

".... NO! Get out of my room and buy me a new... a.... new..." My trail of thought ends when a red wisp floats up from the floor. It takes the form of a woman in a long flowing pink dress that hangs loosely over her supple form.

...

...

...

...

"Oh... a lust spirit... that explains the awesomeness of the bed." Damian comments sleepily.

"Yo-"

"No." I cut off the spirit, getting a confused look from it. "Damian, be sure to make it to the next citizens meeting. CC... whatever, attractive spirit thing, I didn't see you, you didn't see me." Before anyone could respond I shut the door and walk away. I don't think I've ever seen a spirit with that much clarity before... I hate Damian. I need to think of some kind of revenge to get on him... I'll think of it later. I have crap to do.

I make my way downstairs where I find True Will and Dust Devil sleeping on the couch, well, Dust Devil is at least. True Will is just laying beside her, letting her drool pool up on his foreleg.

"Sir?"

"Wake her up and armor up. We're heading out." He nods to me as I head out to the back. I head over to my shed and... fuck. Why did I install that lock? Maybe I can point my hoof the right way... well.... fuck. I guess I don't get armor. How would it fit anyway....

Leaving stupidity aside, I head back inside and take get as ready as possible. I find a bed sheet and turn it into a toga and grab Susurrans sword and.... well... that's as ready as I'll ever be. I'm sure it'll be fine.

"Why are you wearing a bed sheet?" Dust Devil asks as she pops some gum into her mouth from the kitchen.

"Nudity is a crime in some countries." I tell her, getting a slow nod from True Will. "Ready to go?" They nod, so we head out together.

I'm the first to step through the mico platform. Moosden is covered in a thick layer of snow and is dead silent. There is no lights coming from any of the homes, no smoke, just silence. I take a few steps out, finding the snow cold as it crunches under my hoof. I look back when another flash appears behind me and signal to Will to stay quiet.

"Trouble?" He asks quietly as he walks beside me.

"Maybe. It's too quie-"

"SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!" Dust yells at the top of her lungs when she appears.

"SHHH!" I shush her and shoot her a look. She tilts her head in confusion and walks to my left. We stand there in the cold for a few moments, letting the silence settle in. I know there weren't that many people living here, but it shouldn't be this quiet.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"SPARTANS MOVE!" I yell as I take off through the snow. Dust Devil jumps into the air and flies off as Will teleports ahead. Fucking cheaters. Running through the snow proves to be more strenuous than I would have originally thought, but thanks to my long legs I make it to the town center in good time. I hear high pitched screeching coming from ahead, but have no clue where-

"NORTHWEST HOUSE UP AHEAD, I'M GOING TO ENGAGE!" Dust yells from above before darting towards it. I hear True flash away as well, leaving me to play catch up. I finally see the house she's talking about after weaving through a few empty houses. The roof has been busted through in several places and I can hear True fighting something inside. The screeches are getting louder as whatever is in there fights back.

Dust flies through the hole in the roof as I run towards the front door. When I get there I throw my shoulder into it and crash through, hitting something else as well. Whatever it is, it's big. A bit bigger then me with long, sharp teeth that snap loudly as it tries to bite me. I push as kick it away as it claws at me, cutting my legs and chest up pretty bad.

SHNK

It lets out one last high pitched scream before falling limp to the ground. I let out a sigh in relief when- out of nowhere- it crumbles away into a pile of dust.

"What the fuck was that?" I ask as I get up, noticing the wounds on my legs fading away.

"Time moles." Dust Devil says as she sheaths her dagger. "This was just a pup, the mother must be nearby, where's True Will?"

"In here, we've got wounded civilians!" True yells from the back. We run over to the room his voice came from and find him with three other ponies. One is a elder pegasus mare with a dusty tan coat and long grey hair with a cutie mark of a mountain with a trail going up it. Her golden eyes are pinpricks as she watches the stallion before her bleed out, clutching a dark grey newborn tightly. The unicorn stallion is all black with short, rugged, white hair. He has a cutie mark of some playing cards being held out. He has a long, deep gash on his side, but it shouldn't be fatal.

"M-mom.... Dad?" Dust says as she walks into the room.

"Dust Devil?" The mare says as she breaks her stares away from the stallion and looks up to Dust. "Dust.... is... is that really you?"

"MOM!" Dust yells as she runs over and embraces her, being careful of the young one. True Will pauses adding the bandages to look up, but continues after a groan comes from the stallion. "I don't believe it! You guys finally came home! How long have you been here?! Who is that? What happened to Dad?"

"Those things attacked us when we were bringing in some wood fire! We tried to hide out in here, but they just broke in through the roof! What happened to you!?" She yells as she pushes Dust back to glare at her. "Why did you leave us like that?! Where have you been!? Why are you so buff?"

"I think you should take this to the other room so True can fix up... this guy." I state as Dust stumbles over her words. They look down at the stallion before Dust stands up. She nods to me and takes her mothers hoof, guiding her to the front room. I open and close the door for them, sighing as the room finally falls quiet. I take a seat next to True and watch him as he works on the now unconscious stallion.

"... so who are these ponies?" True asks after a few minutes of wrapping up.

"If I remember correctly from her memories, this is Devils Play, and that woman was Dust Trails. They are her parents, though I think the kid is new. They must have been the new people to move in recently."

"Oh... okay... I didn't know she ran from them." He states as he finishes tying off the last of the bandage. We sit there in an awkward silence as Dust and her mother talk in the other room. They don't get loud enough to hear properly, so we end up just avoiding each others eyes. I can tell he wants to ask some things, but I can wait for him to do it on his own.

...

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Any second now...

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I think I hear a mare crying...

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Oh! They made up now...

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"OH JUST ASK ALREADY!" I yell as True, making him fall over in surprise.

"What!? Ask what already?" He asks defensively as he gets back up.

"You know what!" I say as I glare at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" He yells back as me. We begin to glare at one another, each one waiting for the other to break first.

"Uhg.... wha... where's Dusty?" The stallion on the bed asks groggily as he comes to. Neither of us break eye contact to answer, I know he's going to break soon... any second now...

"Guys, is my... oh... uh, what's going on?" Dust asks as she steps in.

"Dust Devil? Is that you?" The stallion asks as he tries to move off the bed, stopping when the pain is too much.

"Dad, don't move. You got hurt pretty badly. Look, I know there's a lot that we have to talk about, but Moosden is in trouble and we're the ones responsible with keeping it safe. We're going to go and take care of it, but I promise I'll come back, okay?" Dust tells her father as she helps him back into the bed.

"You still got that lucky ace?" He asks weakly.

"Never go a day without it." She tells him as she kisses him on the forehead.

"That's my girl, go give them hell." He tells her as he lays back in the bed, trying to get his breathing back under control. Dust leaves quickly before either of us could ask anything. With a quick glance to each other, we run after her, leaving the house and heading north out of town.

"Do we have a destination?" True asks as we follow after her through the snow.

"There's a clearing of trees about two miles northeast of here. That's where they first ran into them. From there... I don't know, we'll have to spread out I guess."

"No, splitting up is stupid." I say as I walk along side her. She nods in agreement as we continue through the forest. After almost an hour of silence I finally get too antsy and ask Dust the question. "Are you going to be alright?"

"... yeah... maybe... it's going to be a long day." She says as she trudges forward. "I assume you don't know anything about Time Moles, do you Captain?"

"No."

"Yeah... this is going to be tricky. They basically are creatures from the Chaotic Era, back when Discord was in power. I guess he found it funny to give some moles the ability to manipulate time. They live by stealing time from their prey and living outside the normal time parameters. Since we're probably near one of their dens, we've probably lost a few days already-"

"You know, all this time skipping crap is getting a little annoying." I comment as I look off to the side. "Are they easy to kill?"

"Well... one on one... kind of. When they steal time from you, they add it to themselves. That means their wounds heal because time went on for them in that instant. Luckily though, if you kill one that steals time from you, you get your time back. So, any wounds that they would inflict, never happened."

"Hmm, interesting. Would they happen to look about two meters tall, have black skin, long jagged teeth, beady black eyes, sharp claws at the end of long skinny forearms and hover in the air by about fifteen centimeters?" I ask, making them both stop.

"Uh... yeah." Dust says as she draws her daggers. "Where do you see one?"

"Six to our right. But they're keeping their distance." I say as I signal to the group watching us. They're grouped closely together and out about fifteen meters from our position. They aren't making any positions or trying to even avoid sight. They're just floating there, watching us.

"That's... not good. It they're keeping their distance, we must be near the mother." True Will says as he draws his sword and watches our backs.

"What does the mother look like?" I ask as I draw my sword.

"Well-"

THUD

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH

"Nevermind." I say as I turn and gawk at the massive beast. It's easily ten meters tall and look similar to the smaller ones, only it's so fat that it's on the ground. It pushes trees down as its fat, blubbery body ripples worms around us, a low growl emanating from its hungry throat.

"What's the plan Captain?" Dust asks as we follow it around.

"True and I will distract it down here. You get in the air and get behind its head."

"Do you really think it would be wise to-"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" We all falter as it roars at us, opening its maw as widely as possible as spit flies out. I drop down when I feel the energy from me begin to be pulled out from me. I force myself to look up and see a trail of green energy being pulled from me into the beast's gullet. A red energy is coming from True as well as a tan energy from Dust.

I tighten the grip on my sword and force myself forward, charging at it's maw with my blade held over my head. I bring it down on the bottom of its jaw and bury it in its gums. It let out a terrified shriek as it thrashes about in pain, my blade slipping out in its first thrash. I look back at Dust and True and see them on the ground, unconscious. I see True's sword laying before him and make a run for it just as the monster turns and charges at the three of us.

I roll forward and grip the blade, focusing on it in an attempt to fuel energy into it. Luckily the beast is really slow on the ground, so once it starts to glow red I slash at the beast. A wave of red energy goes flying out slams right into the beast's open mouth, severing it.

"*INHALE*' Both Dust and True jolt up as they take in a large breath of air. I feel myself return to my original self as well.

"You might need this." I say as I hand True his sword. They look around before they notice the dead mother before them.

"Oh... shit..." Dust says distantly.

"I know, I've still got it-"

"You dumbass! Now the bull might come after us!" She yells as she stands up.

"The... bull?" I ask as the mother rolls over. It's stomach begins to ripple violently as something begins to push its way out of its stomach. The bulge pushes further and further out before it finally rips apart, sending bile and gore everywhere. From the hole emerges another creature. This one walks on four muscular limbs that end in three pronged feet. Its head is alien in that it doesn't have eyes and the mouth is just a circular opening. It stands before us and breathes loudly, its chest expanding and deflating to a sickly degree.

I raise my sword-

THUD

The next thing I register is being slammed against a tree with something strong and slimy grabbing my foreleg. I go to slash at it, but before I could act it tosses me aside. As I get up, I hear True send another beam of energy.

CRASH

I guess he missed. I get back up and look for the beast, finding it slamming Dust into the ground. True is behind it, about to send another slash. Before he could, the beast suddenly appears before him, both of its forelegs above its head. It brings them down and slams them into his chest, knocking him out. This thing is too fast. Every time we try to hit it, it just appears before us.

It walks away from True casually as it looks at the rest of us. It must think that it has nothing to fear. It has no threats here. Shit! How the fuck can I hit this fucker without magic!

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"From the right the six Time Moles charge at the bull, trying to scratch at it as a few others begin to suck its energy away. It beats two of them away with ease but falters as the next two jump on it and begin to scrape away at its soft flesh. They become a mass of screeches, blood, and flailing limbs as the young ones try to bring down the bull.

"CAPTAIN!" I look over to Dust and see her feeding a healing potion to True as she cradles him. "We need to back off! If the pups don't win, we're bucked!" I glance back before nodding to her.

"Can you carry him?"

"Yeah-"

"Then let's get going!" I yell as I start to move away from the mass of fighting animals. I wait for her to lift him up and take off through the air. When she gets over my head, I charge forward at the chaotic mass.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" I bring my blade around as the bull beats back the last of the pups, having many bleeding wounds over its entire body. In the last meter of my charge it sees me and suddenly appears before me, using one of its strong feet to grip my throat. With my arms free, I swing at its side, burying my sword deep into its chest. It stands there for a moment, its bile breath falling on me as it seems to stare down at me. With a grunt, I pull my blade out. The beast falls over and begins to melt away.

SMACK

"OW! What was that for!?" I ask Dust as I rub the back of my head.

"Because you're a dumbass! It could have killed you!" She yells as she sets True down. "What were you thinking!?"

"First off, don't talk to your superior officer like that. I'll let it slide this time, but do it again and it'll be a week on The Run. Secondly, that beast was going to kill them with ease. If I didn't take this chance to kill it, it would have just chased us down anyway. It was my one chance at getting that kill, so shut your fucking mouth." I say firmly as I tower over her. She backs off a bit, ears folding down as she paws at the ground.

"Sorry, Captain." She says quietly. I nod to her and start to walk away, leaving her behind. "Captain, we should gather the remains-"

"Why?" I ask as I turn back to her.

"These are extremely rare potion ingredients. They could become useful in the future. Especially the bulls." I think about it for a moment before nodding to her.

"I'll leave that task to you. Get it done." I tell her before I toss True onto my back and start to walk back to Moosden. First Night Fury challenges me, then Dust starts to question my actions... if this continues I'm going to have to kill one of them. I need to keep the Spartans in order... at least now I understand why Susurrans always said: Friends second, Life first.

Next Chapter: Chapter 184 Shiny Ordeals Estimated time remaining: 34 Hours, 29 Minutes