“Princess, I don’t understand what it is we’re doing.” Rainbow Dash said in a confused voice.

“Tis simple, Rainbow Dash. My sister and I are attempting to summon an object of great magical powers, and thus we have made preparations should anything go awry.”

The two princesses had gathered the Elements of Harmony and a small number of guards. On the floor was an intricate array of runes that confused those who weren’t magically inclined. Meaning only three of the eighteen ponies had even the faintest idea of how the array worked.

“So were just back up?” Rainbow Dash asked, floating just above the floor. The other girls were busy trying to keep Pinkie from touching the complex and strange mystical sigil.

“In essence, yes.”   The pony of the moon replied, glancing at her sister who was conversing with her student over some matter.

“Eh, I can live with that.” The loyal flier said, giving the princess a nod before dashing over to her friends.

“Something bothering you Luna?” Celestia asked in a hushed voice, glancing over to were the Element bearers had gathered, her prized student informing them of their purpose.

“It is just . . . do we have to summon the ring back? Would it not be safer to return the elements instead of risking our sanity to the ring? You do remember what happened to Dis-“

“I remember what happened to him well, Luna." The solar pony said with a stern voice. “But at this point I fear we have no choice.”

“There is always a choice, Celestia!” Luna declared loudly, drawing the attention of the other occupants of the room. Celestia waved them off before returning her attention to her blushing sister.

“I thought we were over the Royal Canterlot Voice, Luna.” Celestia lightly jested.

“I apologize, I’m still adjusting, but my point still stands. There are other options! We had six other failsafe’s, the ring was the last do to the danger it possess. Why do we not use one of those? Why not give the Elements to the tree? Or . . .” The Lunar goddess would have continued, had Celestia not cut her off.

“The others are gone Luna. I had to use them to maintain the barrier since I did not know where you hid Tritonus or Kalima to drain their magic. Without the ability to drain their magic I was forced to sacrifice their artifacts to keep them asleep. And the other three were reclaimed by the creatures over the years. The Elements and the ring are all that’s left.”

“They were able to cross the veil?!” Luna yelled in surprise. With yet another dismissive hoof wave and a quick ‘nothing to worry about’ Celestia once more turned to her sister with a smile that did not quit meet her eyes.

“You must stop doing that Luna.”

“I am sorry if this conversation is causing me to lose control over my ‘inside voice’, but it is cause of distress.”

“I know it is and trust me, I do not like the creatures being able to cross the veil either. But its only the angel command, high water civilization creatures and terrasaurs that can cross the veil. And this has only happened within the last one-hundred years and I have thus far been able to force them to return fast enough so nopony would notice.”

“And the reason we cannot return the Elements to the Tree?”

“I worry what might happen later if we sacrifice the Elements now.”

Luna closed her eyes and breathed deeply for a moment before asking,” What does Twilight Sparkle think?”

Celestia smiled, knowing her sister was giving in. “She agrees that it would be best to use the Ring to put the Monarchs back to sleep.”

“Then let us perform the spell.”

---lb--

I glanced at the children, so excited to hand me the gifts they bought with their parent’s money, so happy to see the sad look banished from their faces.

“Alright J, check this out. I know you don’t know much about the show, but I got you this in case we managed to get you curious about it later. Or at least be able to keep up with the conversations between me and Trish.” Ken said excitedly, rubber wings bouncing on his back as he wiggled in his seat in excitement, passing me a small book.

‘Trish and I’ I mentally corrected, taking the book in my hands. It was a dull purple, or maybe lavender- I am not that great with colors- with a picture of a few multi-colored ‘ponies’ on the front in a group picture. ‘A episode guide disguised as a journal. How thoughtful.’ I thought as I lightly skimmed the colorful pages, noticing various ‘entries’ with dates and ‘hand written’ entries.

“Thank you, Ken. Now I won’t have to worry about being so confused by all those references you were spouting in the car. I believe that this will make me,” pausing to read a highlighted phrase,” ‘twenty percent cooler’.” I received a light groan from all four teens.

“I don’t even watch that stupid show,” cue angry glares,” and even I know that phrase is dead.” Dan said with folded arms, indifferent to the glares from Trish and Ken. “Besides, the present Alice and I got you is way cooler than that dumb thing.”

Seeing yet another potential fight, I quickly asked,” Oh? What is it? Not another expired gift card I hope.” I joked. It worked as intended as the siblings blushed and the other two to smirk, as we all remembered the old gift card they gave me on my last birthday, which just so happened to be expired. A fact which escaped my notice until I was forced  to pay for a rather expensive dinner the same night.

“No, nothing like that.” Allie said blushing as the other sibling set snickered at her expense. “It’s really cool!”

“Well if it’s so cool,” Trish began,” then why don’t you show us?”

Faces still flushed, my fellow Kaijudo fans reached into a small bag and pulled out the last thing I expected to see.

The Chotens tech-gauntlet.

It was glowing slightly from a beam of light from a nearby window as the two passed it to me, I took it with a face straining to remain calm and marveled at its cool feel.

“Well, are you going to try it on or not?” Alice said.

I sliped it on, noticing that it was a perfect fit. “Were did you get this?” I asked, geeking out as I marveled at the intricate details in the glove.

“It was over in the corner near the Dan Vs. booth. Not a people around it sadly. The guy there had a bunch of different gauntlets, they even had a pre and post-Infernus mana gauntlets for Ray.” Dan said happily, sending a ‘beat that’ look over at Trish and Ken.

“It’s handmade and is made of stainless steel!” Alice said, sending the same look her brother had at her two friends.

“Well thank you, you two. Its, well, I find I am at a loss for words. Now, Trish, I believe it is your turn.” I said to the girl, who seemed a little down. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, I don’t think you’ll like what I got you. It’s not as cool as that glove thing, and probably not as interesting as that book.” She said with a frown. ‘I don’t think I will find that book even remotely interesting, but I can’t say that in front of Ken.’

“Don’t worry Trish, as long as it is not an expired gift card, I am sure I will love it.”

The reminder of the tragic gift seemed to settle the girls nerves, and she placed a small box on the table before sliding it over to me. The box was nothing fancy, just simple wood with a ‘Mal’s Magic Merchandise’ logo on it. Opening the box, I saw three curious kids lean over to see what was in the box.

In the box resting on a deep purple cushion was a simple silver ring with a five pointed star engraved in a large grey stone set in the ring. At the tip of each point was a small gem of various colors; red, blue, green, white and black with a purple stone in the center. A small plaque on the inside of the boxes top said, ‘Ring of Kaiju’.

“Trish, this is beautiful. I don’t see why you thought I would not like it.”

The girl blushed before saying quickly,” Well, it’s not as unique as that glove or book,” Ken nodded and I thought it was weird that the book wasn’t something massed produced, until I noticed the ‘Written by hand by Lauren Faust’ sticker on the front,” there were a bunch just like it. But got it anyway because it had Kaiju on the box, and I just thought,’ hey, that’s like the name of the show J likes.’ And I saw I had just enough for it and bought one.” She paused for a moment, before looking at us starring and quickly saying, “Sorry for rambling. I’m done now.”

“Well I love it, all of your gifts are fantastic. Now why don’t I give you all the gift of lunch?” With a cheer they all started to rush to the counter of the café and started the trying process of choosing which greasy food would be best to eat.

Chuckling, I put the Helm on my head and put the book and the rings box in my suitcase back pack, which contained; four sets of my current clothing, a tooth brush/paste, documentation showing I have guardianship rights to the children, and some pajamas. This is a three day trip after all. I laid the box and book on top of the mesh holding my possessions in place, and clicked it shut.

I looked at the ring then at my right hand, there was no way to fit it over the gauntlet, and I refused to wear it on my left ring finger. So, shrugging, I slipped it on my right index finger. ‘For now, so Trish does not feel bad.’

The ring seemed to give off a small amount of heat, making it warm to the touch, a startling contrast to the tech-gauntlet I have on my right hand. My heart warmed as I looked at the gifts my pseudo-siblings had given to me. Sure, to some it would seem cool to get such nice gifts but they were more than mere gifts to me. Those kids had picked an item to give to me, and it wasn’t some crappy item they had grabbed off the shelf because their parents told them to, they picked items that reflected the love and friendship we had for each other. They are more than items, at least to me.

‘Those kids, they and their families have really had such an impact on my life. To think that . . .’

My musings were cut short by Alice calling that it was time for me to pay. Smiling, I started to walk over towards my charges . . . only to stumble as I was blinded by a white flash of white.

--lb—

“Did you see that?” A smooth voice asked, the recipient turned to face the other.

“Indeed, Councilmen Finbarr. It appears as though an energy signature matching the lost Helm of Ultimate Technology. What do you suppose this could mean.” A, colder mechanical voice responded to the introduced Finbarr.

Finbarr is a small, blue, vaguely humanoid being with antenna on his head and no noticeable mouth. He sits in his large mech suit, contemplating the wisest course of action.

“Cyber Lord Aqua Seneschal, you are to contact the other members with this news, then have them meet me in the council room in exactly one hour.” He directed the light blue humanoid with one eye and blue ‘veins’ covering his body.

“At once, Councilmen.” And with that, Seneschal glided away through the underwater capitol of the water civilization to inform the remaining two members of Council of Logos the newest development from Equestria.

‘But what does it mean.’ The leader of the water civilizations armies thought to himself.

--lb—

As the light died down I noticed four things at once. Number one was that I could no longer feel the contacts in my eyes, nor the wig on my head. Two, I could feel some kind of energy within myself. Three, the plastic prop on my head was no longer plastic- and if the data scrolling across my line of sight was anything to go by- no longer a prop. And finally, I was in a large white marble room surrounded by equines that are roughly half my height.

I started to panic before I felt a wave of calm wash over me. I quickly scanned the ponies, noticing that ten were decked out in armor, six were naked and loosely grouped together, and two taller ones were standing before me.

Also, the ponies around be either had wings, a horn, neither or both. Again a wave of calm flowed through me from my hand.  

“Hello,” I said politely, causing some of the ponies to gain gobsmacked looks on their faces, “can you please help me, I was going to help some children when I was sent here. I cannot help but to stress how inconvenient this abduction is. That is, of course, assuming that you are the ones that brought me here.”  I tried to be as polite as possible, after all they could send me back, and I rather did not want to be stuck in pony land.

“Alright, bub,” I pulled back as a flying pony with a fuckin’ rainbow for a mane started speaking inches from my face,” where’s the ring?” That question got the ponies around me attention, the ones wearing armor looking ready for a fight, while the group this one was with earlier motioned for her to get back away. Some data-which was scrolling by rapidly, barley giving me time to read it if I focused hard, but otherwise began to give me a head ache- told me that the flying one was hostile.

‘I didn’t need it spelled out for me.’ I thought, idly noticing the look of anger coming from the blue pony with wings and a horn.

“Are you even listing to me?” The blue one demanded.

“Rainbow, you get away from that fancy speakin’ critter, who knows what it could do.” A pony with a southern accent said hastily to the newly dubbed ‘Rainbow’.

‘Cowboy accent on a hoarse, quaint.’

The large white one approached slowly, moving Rainbow with a yellow aura.

Magic, my unhelpful helm supplied.

“I am Princess Celestia,” she said in a soft even tone,” who are you?”

That question, so innocent when it comes from most seemed to be a curse from Celestia. I saw past her calm tone and saw the fires of hatred beneath.

Names hold power, a voice whispered in my ear, showing as a line of text on the helms visor, why give her yours?

“You may call me, The Choten.”

“Very well, Choten, I have but one question for you. And you will answer it for me.” She said in a manner dictating seriousness.

“And if I do not?” I did not like the direction this was taking. I had been brought here for a reason outside my control, and now I am being cross examined by a white horse. I idly noticed that the blue one was conversing with Rainbow and company, they nodded to whatever she said, moving into a crescent formation with the purple unicorn in the center.

Big white apparently had been examining me, as she looked up into my eyes from my uncovered hand and softly stated,” Then I am afraid that you won’t be going back from wherever you came from.” A small green ‘truth’ popped up quickly in the corner of my eye. The helm was starting to give me a headache.

“Where did you get that helm and ring?” Was that it, I expected more.

“I got the helm from a magazine and the ring was given as a gift. Now can you . . .”

“You would dare lie to a princess?!” The blue one bellowed in anger. I was confused lie how?

“Luna!” Celestia scolded the blue one, who immediately backed down like a dog to its master. “Now tell me the truth, were did you get those artifacts?”

“I already told you, I bought and was gifted them respectively. Now, on to the matter that I wish to discuss. Can you send me home?”

She mulled this over, inwardly debating something before deciding something. “I can send you home, Choten.” She said. I went to thank her, but she held up a hoof to silence me,” If you give me the helm and ring.”

I did not need the blazing red ‘lie’ to tell it was a trick. Do not give them away, the voice and text said.

I chuckled lightly before responding,” Come now, Celestia. Surely you can come up with a better lie than that.” At her shocked face I smirked while turning around,” I suppose I shall have to find my own way out.”

I barely took a steep before a bolt of blue magic flew past me, the guards moving to block the entrance. “I am afraid that thou shalt not leave this room villain.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. All I had done was answer some questions and refuse to give them my stuff. Talk about over reacting.

Perhaps taking offence to my eyebrow raise Luna launched a spell at me, one I knew I could not dodge. ’Shit!’ I yelled in my mind as I brought my hands before my face and closed my eyes instinctively.

“What?!” Came a collective cry of several voices several seconds later. I slowly opened my eyes to see a glowing dome surround me, only to drop as I lowered my hands.

‘Lesson number one, your gauntlet can form a shield.’ I quoted in my head. ‘But if it can form a shield then maybe . . .’ I smirked to myself as I realized fully what this meant.

Apparently smirking and eyebrow raising are insults here because Rainbow yelled out in anger,” Don’t get cocky just ‘cuse you got lucky with that shield thing. We’re still going to kick your flank!”

“How amusing,” I said in the most condescending voice I could manage, I was through being polite,” but it is not me you will have to fight, but them.” Praying that this worked like I hoped it would I throughout my right hand and called,” Come fourth, Rapids Lurker, Wwhhshrll!”

It worked. When I said the name, the tips of my ‘fingers’ launched out into the air, trails of energy connecting them to my gauntlet. Everyone watched in shock and fear as two of the ‘finger tips’ pierced thin air, splitting it apart to reveal a swirling portal. The last three quickly flew in, the rapidly drew back dragging two large, blue eel like creatures with two flowing tendrils.

As soon as they were clear the portal was closed, and the tips returned to my gauntlet. The two Rapids Lurkers circled me protectively. I was momentarily in shock that it worked, but got over it quickly.

“You, you can breach the veil?” Celestia stammered out. That caught my attention, but currently I had something more important in mind. Namely getting the hell away from these ponies so I could think for a moment. The headache I had going only got worse with the two Lurkers around, their blank expressions showing my control over them, along with the two ‘Rapids Lurker’ icons on the helm’s display.

“Yes, now, I am leaving. But I leave you a gift.” Sweeping my hand to gesture to all the ponies I said, “Rapids Lurkers, ruin them!” The two swept forward, their flexible bodies dodging spell fire and weapons to bite and ram into ponies. With a sufficient distraction in place, I ran out the door.

Next Chapter: Chapter 3 Estimated time remaining: 48 Minutes