Phoenix

Chapter 18

Dante looked back to the two pictures he had in his hand. “So I’m going into this legally blind, huh? Well… can’t say this is the first time I’ve ever done it. Probably won’t be the last.”

Dante sat up on the couch, Bulwark following the repositioning. He released the stallion, allowing him to find his hooves on the floor and steady himself.

Dante brought both hands to his face and rubbed. “Ah, fuck, so I have two allies with any political clout in this fucking place. Only one of them is actually interested in helping and the other is fucking terrified of me…”

Dante nodded his head, Fortnite opening her mouth to say something, though was cut off by a knock at the door.

Bulwark and Fortnite turned to look at the door, as Dante seemingly produced a pistol from nowhere in particular, his right hand moving impossibly fast to retrieve it from where ever he had stored it while sleeping.

The handgun leveled at the door, Bulwark merely rolled his eyes, Fortnite reassuming her pony disguise in a flash of fire.

“Dante, stop pointing guns at ponies.” She whispered, the Human turning to look at her.

“That’s a regular sized pony out there.” He whispered back. “Besides you and Bull, who the fuck would else be knocking on this door who is also a regular sized pony?

“Put the gun down, Dante.” She whispered a bit more urgently this time at Bulwark, having also grabbed his helmet and replacing it on his head, finally reached the door, opening it.

“Good evening!” A white unicorn stallion, wearing an impeccable black tuxedo paired with black bowler hat greeted, as he glanced to Bulwark’s armor. “Sergeant,” The unicorn used his hoof to tip his hat, Bulwark returning a salute.

“MP Fancy Pants.” He stated with a nod, moving to allow Fancy Pants to enter the room.

To which the fancy unicorn was greeted with the barrel of a firearm pointed at him and the sight of a wrecked room reaching him.

He quickly sidestepped away from the handgun pointed at him, Dante choosing not to follow, and glanced around the room. “Oh, dear! I certainly hope I am not interfering with anything, am I? I can certainly leave and return at a later time if I am.”

Dante glanced around the room, looking for anything suspicious. He lowered the handgun. “No, you’re not interrupting anything. In fact, we were just discussing you.”

“Ah, well, certainly nothing bad, I would hope.” He approached the two, holding a hoof out to Fortnite.

“Fancy Pants, a pleasure to meet you, Miss…” Fortnite met Fancy’s hoof in a bump.

“Four-tw-… er, Fortnite.” The changeling shook her head lightly, something Fancy missed.

The stallion turned to the sergeant who had allowed him into the room.

“Sergeant, I’m afraid I missed your name when I first entered.”

“Sergeant Bulwark, sir.” The guardstallion responded.

Fancy raised a hoof to his chest. “Purely out of curiosity, might I inquire as to how you know General Jaeger?”

The stallion nodded. “With the approval of Princess Celestia, General Jaeger appointed me as the Equestrian Liasion Officer to the Imperium of Phoenix.”

Fancy’s eyes lit up at the explanation. “Ah! You were the officer who accompanied General Jaeger on that mission of his down to Ponyville which saw the release of many Diamond Dog captives, weren’t you?”

“I know I wasn’t exactly subtle about that, but how do you know about that? The last time I knew about it, those guys were still receiving medical aid before being processed.” Dante stated as he returned his pistol to its storage place.

Fancy turned to the biped. “Oh, they most certainly are still being treated and debriefed by guard units. However, somepony saw fit to telegraph Canterlot and inform them of the situation. From there, one of the guardstallions leaked the story to the press and it was released yesterday. But the story is making waves around Canterlot, though it still does not seem to have made much of a dent in Parliament. I swear, the ponies there have some of the thickest skulls I have ever had the displeasure of having to meet.”

Fancy Pants held out his hoof to Dante. “Although I believe we both know each other’s name, I do believe a formal introduction is in order. I am Fancy Pants, MP level one.”

Dante glanced to the hoof, balled his fist up and met it in a bump. “Dante T. Jaeger, General of the Phoenix Legion Marine Corps.”

“Pleasure to meet you, General!” Fancy stated, tipping his hat once more.

Dante held a hand up. “Please, Fancy Pants, just Dante is fine.”

The stallion nodded. “And Fancy is just fine as well, Dante.” Fancy cleared his throat. “In any case, I came her for a few reasons. The first one was to introduce myself to the alien who’s been the talk of the elite. The second is far more pressing. The inquiry.”

Dante sighed, laying back on the couch. “Oh, jesus, I just got vibes from my old shrink officer.” He nestled himself back further into the couch. “Well, go on Fancy, lay all the shit I need to expect onto me.”

“Very well, Dante.”

Twilight attempted to ignore the incessant knocking on the door to Golden Oaks. She had closed the library for a reason, why was somepony bothering her.

She was reorganizing the library, did this pony not realize how important this was!

She, once more, attempted to force her way through the incessant pounding. And for five minutes, she managed to ignore it, and she would have ignored it for even longer, that is, until Spike came strolling out of the kitchen holding a sandwich.

“Geez, Twi, will you answer the door, please? Somepony’s been knocking on it for a good ten minutes.”

Twilight held out a hoof. “Spike, no! We’re closed, I put a sign on the door.”

Spike waved a claw. “Why are we even closed?”

“I’m reorganizing the library!” Spike gave his adopted big sister a look, his eyes calling her out.

“No you’re not. You’ve reorganized the library before without closing it, so why are you doing it now.” Spike’s claw went top open the door, but stopped at Twilight shouted at him.

“Spike, do not open that door! I do not have the time to deal with anypony today! There is the possibility of a major scientific break through coming soon.”

“You’ve been awake for, like… a day, Twi, go get some sleep. I’ll deal with whoever this is.” He opened the door, revealing a bright eyed Rainbow Dash holding a suitcase in her mouth.

She dropped it on the ground once the door was open. “Hey there Spike, how ya doing? Is Twilight here?”

Spike thumbed behind him, pointing to the purple unicorn who had a book held in her magic.

“Rainbow? Was that you knocking on the door for ten minutes?”

The multi-color maned pegasus trotted into the building. “Yep, hey Twilight...” She spoke, stretching the unicorn’s name. The name rolling off her tongue with a sick sweetness that was not natural to her ‘cool’ demeanor.

Honestly, it kind of freaked Twilight out.

“So… we’re best friends and all and you know how best friends do nice things for each other? Well, best friend, I was really hoping that you could do something really super nice and co-”

“What do you want?” Twilight bluntly cut the pegasus off.

“Could you buy me a two way train ticket to Canterlot?”

“… Why?” Twilight asked, the incredulity obvious in her voice. She shook her head as she looked Rainbow Dash in the eye. “Why don’t you just fly there? Also, why do you need me to buy you a ticket? While manager for the weather team may not be the highest paying job, I also certainly know it has a respectable wage.”

Rainbow uncharacteristically fidgeted on her hooves. “That’s sort of the problem, Twi. My wing and leg are still sore from when I broke them.”

“Wait… broke? They don’t look broken to me.” Twilight questioned as she glanced to examine both Rainbow’s wings and legs. “You can’t have broken them recently, it’s been… what? A day, two since the last time I saw you?”

“I broke them fighting a cyclops and then Dante killed it before it could do anything else and used some weird alien stuff on me to instantly fix my wing. But they’re still a bit sore so I won’t be able to fly on them for very long.”

Twilight’s eyes twitched as she processed this new information. “He… did what?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, not a fan of repeating herself. “Crusaders were getting chased by cyclops, I tried to stop it. It broke my wing and leg and then Dante came and killed it and use some sort of alien stuff to fix me.”

Twilight smacked herself in the face with her hoof. “Okay… that still doesn’t answer why you just don’t buy the ticket yourself.”

Rainbow gave a deadpan glance, as she wondered how one of the smartest ponies she knew could be this dense. “Twi… hello, I’m sixteen, remember? I can’t buy train tickets by myself. I’m a minor.”

“… Ah, yes.” Twilight responded, her mouth staying slightly open. “Well, this also still doesn’t explain why you want to go to Canterlot. It’s not like you to do this. And I thought you said you hated Canterlot.”

“I do! It’s filled with nothing but a bunch of out of touch bigwigs trying to tell us what our local weather needs to be! ‘Oh, you need rain because you’re in a drought? Nope! You can’t make it rain and if you do, you’re going to have problems with us.’, I swear, the pegasi in the Ministry of Atmospheric Conditions are the most annoying flank-holes I have ever dealt with. Do you know how much paperwork I have to go through just to chase off an incoming line of thunderstorms that might flood the area? A lot, Twilight! A lot of paperwork! There’s more paper when I’m dealing with MAC then there is in this library and I hate it!”

Twilight looked at her friend confused. She just used three relatively long words and one of them ever had four syllables! Four syllables!

“So why do you want to go there?” Twilight pushed further.

“Because! I just… feel like going there.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, as she pushed the matter further. “You and I both know that’s untrue. So why?”

“Because, I just felt like going there. Seriously.”

“Rainbow Dash, I’m not going to buy you the train ticket unless you tell me right this instant why you want to go to Canterlot so suddenly.” Twilight insisted.

Rainbow Dash groaned, throwing her head back in an exaggerated gesture, rolling her eyes at the same time. ‘Ugh… Fine! My brother sent me a telegram telling me there’s a parliament inquiry regarding Dante happening tomorrow and I need to get to Canterlot before this so I can see it.”

“Wait… so… let me get this straight… Rainbow, you want to sit through a government function that’s going to take several hours and will be most likely boring… willingly.”

Rainbow shook her head excitedly. “Yep! But I’ve learned that nothing is ever boring around Dante, so I’m sure something is going to happen at the inquiry and if it does I want to see those big wigs get it. I know some of the Brass who happen to have ties to the MAC happen to also be MPs, so if something does happen to them, I definitely want to be there to see it happen.”

Twilight shook her head, shocked. “I’m just amazed you even know all of this, Rainbow.”

“Hey!” Rainbow protested. “Sure, I might not be as smart as some other ponies, but I have to know a small bit of politics in order to manage weather teams. I’m dumb, not stupid. And yes, there is a difference.”

Twilight sighed. “Well… let me pack my bags and Spike’s. You can’t ride the train by yourself.”

“Why not?” Rainbow Dash questioned, cocking her head to the side.

“The Royal Train Commission doesn’t allow unaccompanied minors on the train without a lot of paperwork and interviews beforehoof, we don’t have time to do that, so I’ll just have to come with you. Spike!”

The purple unicorn began trotting up the stairs as the purple dragon groaned, finishing off his sandwich. “Yeah, yeah, I heard you. I’m coming.”

Twilight shook her head. “No Spike, go collect the rest of the girls.”

Spike turned his head. “Why?”

“You know how Pinkie has those ‘doozies’? Yeah, I think I’m having one right now.”

Spike returned to the house three mares following him. Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy, the three carrying bags. The small drake apparently having managed to convince Rarity to not pack a large amount of personal effects. As he made his way into the library, Rainbow was sitting on a couch looking bored as Twilight was finagling with a bag.

“Spike, where’s Pinkie?” The unicorn asked without looking up from what she was doing.

“Uh… I went to go get her and the Cakes told me that she had left just a few minutes before I got there… for Canterlot.”

Applejack trotted forwards from her position in the group. “Enough about that crazy mare, Twi, just why are you dragging us all away the way back to Canterlot when we just came back to Ponyville a few days ago.”

Twilight merely pointed a hoof to the bored looking Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow wants to go to Canterlot.”

“… Okay? Apart from the fact that Rainbow willingly wants to go to Canterlot, which is a bit weird, why do we need to go as well?” Applejack responded.

“She’s not old enough to travel by herself, the RTC doesn’t allow unaccompanied minors without a lengthy process and she can’t fly at the moment.”

“Still doesn’t explain why me, Rares and Flutters are here. And why you wanted Pinkie here as well.”

“We haven’t used the Elements in a while and the reason why Rainbow Dash wants to go up to Canterlot is to watch the Parliamentary Inquiry for Dante.”

There was a silence in the room, as the mares took in the news.

“Rainbow wants to sit in a room for hours on end and the only thing to do is listen to politicians speak?” Rarity questioned, turning her head to look at the pegasus mare. “Rainbow, dear, you how much I enjoy conversing with the elite of Canterlot, even I find the idea of sitting through an inquiry to be dreadfully boring.”

“But this is Dante we’re talking about, Rarity!” Rainbow Dash protested. “Anywhere he goes something interesting happens! And I know… I just know something is going to happen at this hearing! I can feel it in my gut!”

“So… Twi, you’re worried that we’re going to need to use the Elements? Uh… do the Princesses know we’re coming?”

Twilight shook her head. “No they do not. Spike, cou-”

“On it.” Spike stated as rolled up the scroll, pinching the end between two claws and then bathing it in his green flames. “Should get a message back pretty soon, Princess Celestia’s pretty on-point responding to these things.”

“And there’s no time to waste. I’d like to get there before night so I can get some great sleep in.” Rainbow Dash stated as she hopped up from the couch she was sitting on, landing on her hooves and beginning to trot out the door. “Come on now, no time to waste. If I’m going to be sitting through a meeting where Dante’s going to be verbally attacking some of those stingy politicians that make my life a living pain, I want to be awake for all of it.”

“What makes you think he’s going to do that?” Rarity asked as she pickewd up her single bag, following Rainbow Dash out of the door.

“Have you met him… at all, Rarity? The dude’s got no filter on his mouth. You saw at the wedding, he was cussing right in front of the princesses and insulting them. He doesn’t care for… what’s that word you use all the time?”

“Fabulous?” Rarity questioned.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No, no. The other one… uh… duh… dec… deck-rum?”

Rarity raised an eyebrow, the rest of the group following behind the two, Twilight having locked up the library and explaining it would be closed for a little while with a sign on the door.

“Decorum?”

“Yeah, that. I don’t know… I just feel like he could be speaking to an actual… well, like an actual god and not be nice. I don’t think he cares what anypony thinks about him.”

Fluttershy mumbled from the back of the group.

“I’m sorry Dear, what was that? We couldn’t hear you.”

Fluttershy gulped and then spoke a bit louder. “Or… maybe where he’s from it’s considered rude to not be… well… rude.”

“Like how gryphons consider a challenge to combat to be a sign of mutual respect? And refusing one is a serious insult?” Twilight questioned, Fluttershy nodding.

“Yes, or maybe its like how wolves play. They look like they’re actually fighting but they’re just having fun.”

“You mean General Jaeger considers belittling every pony he meets to be fun?” Rarity questioned, Fluttershy shaking her head once more.

“Yes, perhaps his kind just considers mocking each other an intrinsic facet of niceness. If you’ll notice, he didn’t continue to mock Chrysalis when she attacked him. In fact, he barely insulted her at all following her final attack. So, maybe he considers insulting us to be a show of… friendliness. Which would, of course, mean we’ve been being rude to him the entire time.”

“But he’s been rude to us.” Applejack protested, Twilight shaking her head.

“No, therein lies the problem with two different cultures interacting with each other, Applejack. What we consider rude may be friendly to him, and what he considers friendly may be rude to us. But with that being said, I’m not sure if I can support that idea. I don’t think he really means anything when he insults us, but I think that’s more of his personality then a facet of his culture.” Twilight responded, the train station coming into view. “In any case we’re here.”

“So… basically, politicians are snakes and should an issue arise, look to you or Blueblood?” Dante summed up all that he had heard from the MP know as Fancy Pants.

The stallion nodded. “Yes, though preferably me. As Blueblood is not guaranteed, though he is likely. Also, not all of the MPs are against, though they’re not your allies either. They’re currently resting on the fence. Though I believe most fence sitting MPs are leaning towards you. That article on you in the Canterlot Times certainly helped your popularity!”

Dante glanced to the stallion, then to Bulwark and Fortnite. “Article?”

Fortnite answered Bulwark’s and Fancy’s confusion. “He’s been locked in this room the past day. He hasn’t seen it.”

“Ah.” Fancy replied as he opened his briefcase and levitated a rolled up newspaper, passing it to Dante, who took it from the magical grasp, moving himself into a sitting position on his pilfered couch. He unrolled it, and was greeted by a blurry black and white photo of himself on the front page.

His eyes scanned the article, flipping to the continued on page as he finished the front page.

A minute passed as he finished reading the article. Then he closed the newspaper and spoke.

“Swamp gas.”

“I’m sorry?” Fancy Pants questioned, unsure of what he meant.

Dante rubbed his face with his hand. “Weather balloon. Secret military aircraft testing, unplanned air raid drill, blah blah blah. It’s a cover up. The story’s a lie. ‘The alien known as General Jaeger defended the life of two royal guards and a doctor by killing a group of Diamond Dog prisoners in transit. The group attempted to escape, injuring another guard in the process. General Jaeger happened to be nearby and responded to the commotion, utilizing deadly force in defense of the injured guard.’ No. That didn’t happen. First, there was only one guard. Two, no one was injured. Three, I murdered them. The only people I was defending were any possible future victims. What I’m saying is that one of the princesses, or both, pulled a shit ton of strings and made it look like I’m not a murderer.”

Dante waved his hand as he finished. “I mean, I didn’t see those fucking dogs as intelligent beings to begin with, so in my opinion killing them was about as bad as me shooting a rabid skunk, but… you know. Different governments have different feelings on what is and isn’t murder and what equals an intelligent being. In my opinion, those dogs were below even sentient animals, but I have a feeling Luna and Celestia take a different point of view from me.”

Fancy made to say something, opening his mouth, though he paused. His lower jaw hanging open at the admittance of having committed murder, with no hesitation either!

He raised a hoof to his chin, thinking.

“Hmm… Well… I would advise you to not admit that during the Inquiry. While Blueblood can veto, the Parliament can override with a two-thirds majority. You need all the allies you can get, so if you can pull some of the fence sitters over to your side.”

Dante blinked, fixing the stallion with a stare. “You took the news that I’m a murderer extremely well.”

“What news?” The stallion asked, winking to the biped.

Fortnite, having taken a spot on the couch next to Dante, spoke.

“The news that he actually murde-” She received a light elbow in her ribs from Dante.

“Fort. Stop. I don’t think he cares.” Dante stated as he wrapped an arm around her and then pulled her down with him as he shifted to a laying position.

Ignoring the light yelp that came from the disguised changeling, he turned his head to look at the stallion who had come into the room.

“Well, I have to thank you for taking the time out of your day, Fancy, for coming here to help me. I’ll keep what you told me in mind. And we’ll see you in the morning.”

Fancy got up to leave, though pulled a pocket watch from his tuxedo. “Absolutely, I am glad to help. Though, I must inquire. Are you nocturnal? It’s only one in the afternoon.”

Dante pulled the changeling closer to his chest, pulling a blanket over both of them. “No, I’m naturally diurnal. But depression makes me enjoy sleeping. As such… you know… I’m going to sleep… until tomorrow… because I feel like shit and sleeping lets me forget the fact that I’m stranded on an alien planet, was in a coma for five thousand years and I have no way to get back home, never mind the fact that everyone I love is probably dead and my blood is the last in the universe...”

Dante cleared his throat. “Long story short. No, I’m diurnal, just tired.”

Dante paused as he stared at the ceiling. “Old men like their naps. I’m an old man, ergo, I like to sleep.”

Bulwark took a step from the corner of the room, a hoof landing to rest on Fancy’s withers. “Sir, it’s probably best you go. General Jaeger is… going through… health issues.” The stallion stumbled on some of the words, trying to figure out the best way to make the situation less awkward, though Dante’s bluntness did not make his job easier.

Fancy Pants nodded. “Of course. You’ve no argument from me.” He trotted to the door, opening it with his magic and then backing out. However, before leaving fully, he bowed his head.

“General Jaeger, I wish you a peaceful sleep and I certainly do hope you’re feeling better in the morning.”

Dante merely lifted his hand in the air, palm open.

Fancy Pants raised his head and met Fortnite’s eyes. “Miss Fortnite,” He glanced over to Bulwark. “Sergeant, please take care of General Jaeger as Equestrian hosts.”

The two nodded, well, Fortnite attempted to, though found her head held close to Dante’s chest. Thankful for the green fur preventing her blush from showing.

Fancy Pants fully exited the room, closing the door behind him.

Dante snapped his fingers and the room was bathed in darkness.

There was near silence, with breathing being the only thing cutting through the blackness.

Finally, Bulwark spoke.

“Uh… sir...”

“Yes, Bulwark.” Dante responded.

“Is there anything else I need to do?”

The stallion heard a patting. “You could always join the snuggle pile.”

He heard a growl, and then a light tap and yelp. “Fortnite, stop that. Share the snuggles.”

“I… think I’ll just go back… to the barracks...”

“Geez, the nerve of someponies.” Twilight muttered to herself as she entered the train, her face betraying the irritation she felt.

“‘Oh, is she your daughter?’ She asks, while looking back and forth at our IDs. No, Rainbow is not my daughter, I’m nineteen for goodness’ sakes! She should know who I am, it’s not like Ponyville’s the size of Manehattan or Phillydelphia! Gah… at least she didn’t ask if Spike was my son...” Twilight shook her head as she stowed her bag, Rainbow following closely behind her.

The other mares and Spike and also followed her on board the train car and stowed their bags, taking their seats.

Most of them settled in for the relatively long ride from Ponyville to Canterlot, though Rainbow took a seat next to Twilight.

“So… what can we expect, Twi?” Rainbow asked as she glanced around the car cabin, Twilight pulling a book out of her bag.

“What do you mean?”

“You know? At the inquiry? You know, can we expect a fight? Maybe some,” Rainbow punched the air with her hooves. “Ehn, ehn. You know, a few hits thrown around?”

Twilight glanced over to the mare, a bemused expression on her face. “Uh… while it is true the Parliament used to fight fairly regularly, that mostly ended when they were divided into tiers. So, there shouldn’t be any fighting.”

Rainbow lowered her hoofs. “Okay, well… maybe no fighting. But Dante’s definitely going to verbally attack them, right?”

By this time, Twilight had already opened the book she brought and began reading. She looked up from the text.

“I mean… maybe, it’s hard to guess what he’s going to do next… Generally, though, the Inquiry is just a long Q and A session. So, I mean, for all we know, that’s what Dante’s going to do.” She went back to reading her book.

Rainbow Dash groaned, leaning her head back on the rest behind her. “I really hope Dante does something during this thing and I don’t waste hours of my life.”

Twilight snorted, not looking up from her book. “Oh, don’t worry, Dash. From the precedence he’s set, I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts a brawl.”

The purple unicorn glanced up from her book, taking a look at her group of friends, unable to shake the uneasiness from her stomach.

The hybrid known to the ponies as Dante stood in front of a mirror. He had just finished his morning preparations, mainly showering, shaving and just getting the general stink from him. Though, knowing ponies, they undoubtedly had a more sensitive nose then most of the alien populations he had ever interacted with, and his body odor could very well still smell horrible to them.

Still, he had scanned himself and the readings seemed to be low enough for it to be tolerable for the ponies. They thought they were hiding it well, but he easily spotted the occasional cringe when some of the ponies got close enough to him. He imagined it was about as bad for the ponies as it is when a Human stands near another obese Human suffering from intertrigo.

He ran his hands down the front chest plate of his armor, the helmet that went with the armor resting on his hip at the four-thirty position.

His service pistol rested in its holster on his right thigh, the Imperial general issued service pistol resting on his left thigh.

His eyes were bloodshot, he internally groaned as he thought about what he was going to do today. It wasn’t the first time he did anything, but at least the last time he was still running on anger over the war. And there was still that familiar feeling in his head, the voice he couldn’t get rid of. Something was going to happen.

He turned to waiting Fortnite. “I don’t smell like a drunk, do I?” He noted the small twitch in her facial features, coupled with light ear flicks and small swish of her raggy black tail. All of these things she most likely didn’t even realize she was doing.

“No, you don’t.”

Dante chuckled, as he began walking to the door of the room. “Bullshit.” He replied as he opened the door, Fortnite shifting into her pony form once more.

“I’m serious, Dante. You smell fine.”

She exited the door, Dante following behind her and closing it. He slid his hand over the door, activating something with a click.

“Fort,” He stated, as the two began their walk down the hallway. “I’ve been in the game for far longer then you. I was reading people fifteen thousand years before you were even a twinkle in your daddy’s eye. So, seriously, tell me the truth.”

Fortnite sighed, her ears drooping. “Okay… so you do smell… a tiny bit. But honestly, it’s the tobacco that smells more then the alcohol.”

“Ha!” Dante snorted, as he removed the pack of cigarettes he had looted from a dead man removed one, placing it in his mouth.

He held his trigger finger up to the end, muttering something in an utterly alien language that Fortnite had no hope of understanding. A small flame flickered to life on the end of his finger, lighting the cigarette.

“You can do magic?” Fortnite inquired, her curiosity piqued. She knew of the existence of alchemists and the zebra shamans, but she had never seen a creature lacking a horn use magic.

The biped nodded in confirmation, killing the flame on his finger and taking a drag from the cigarette.

“But how? You have no horn. And you didn’t use a potion to make that flame either.”

Dante blew smoke from his mouth as he removed the cigarette from his mouth. “You remember the other night, Fort? When you saw me half naked?”

She was taken aback by the question, but nodded her head, looking away to hide the blush at the memory, Dante merely rolling his eyes.

“And you remember those tattoos covering my arms and going all the all way into my sleeves, as well as the ones on my legs? The blue and black ink?”

“Uh… yes.”

Dante twirled a finger in the air, taking another drag from the burning cigarette and then releasing the smoke. “Magic but home is… or rather, was thought to be a fairy tale. The Imperium is fully well aware of it, but Humans lacked, for the most part, the connection needed to use it. The Humans who do know how to use it, need to treat it sort of like math. You need formulas to activate it, and some way to activate it. The most common and effective form is speaking. A user will choose a language they know and that will activate the formula. For example.” Dante raised his left fist, the fingers curled inwards as though he was grasping a ball in his hand.

He spoke once more in the alien language, Fortnite watching with curiosity as a swirling ball of water formed in his hand. “That was the word for ‘water’ in my mother tongue. A tongue lost to the ravages of time. I’m the last one to speak it. I was trained in how to focus magic by a Celtic witch, she was also responsible for the blue tattoos I have. I was still able to do magic before I met her, but it was so unfocused and random, it wasn’t much use to me.” Dante took another drag from his cigarette, blowing the smoke out.

“Of course, speech isn’t the only way to activate it. I’ve met mute, deaf and mute and deaf witches and warlocks before. It’s pretty fun watching them use sign language to activate their’s. And then there’s also a few issues with magic.”

Dante brought the ball of water to his mouth, sucking it in like one would drink water, and then following it up with another drag of his cigarette.

“First issue is that its stupidly energy intensive. You’re forcing natural processes to occur in the span of microseconds and you’re using your body as a conduit to force it to occur. And the second issue is limitations. I can’t make things from thin air. Fire and water are easy. The ingredients needed for those are everywhere. Levitation gets trickier, requiring both mental strength and physical strength. Magic designed to block attacks are better replaced with actual shields. And teleportation? You have to keep your thoughts clear, otherwise you could end ripping yourself to shreds. And the farther you go, the harder it is to keep yourself in one piece. Magic is great, but it’s far better augmented with tech and, in many cases, outright replaced with tech. The Imperium can set up long range void gates that connect two areas with each other, acting as a sort of teleportation that doesn’t run the risk of… well, losing body parts.”

Dante raised an open hand snubbed the burnt out cigarette on it, then tossed the butt into his mouth and chewed.

He heard Fortnite gag, as he looked down to her. He swallowed the butt, suppressing his own gag and raised his eyebrow.

“What?” He asked, raising hands slightly to his sides. “I may be an asshole, but I’m not a litterbug, and I don’t really see any posts around here to safely dispose of a butt.”

“Dante, that was gross, please don’t do that again.”

The biped ‘hmphed’ as the two walked into the castle courtyard. He lit up another cigarette as two guards watched him. He merely smiled and raised his thumb up.

“Dante, you’re committing a crime in front of them.”

“Article two-forty-seven of the fifteeen-twenty-seven millionth galactic convention legalized the possession of drugs for species where they’re in common use so long as the drugs are for personal use and not trafficking.” Dante took another drag. “So they can suck my dick.”

“We’re not in Imperial jurisdiction, Dante, Equestrians run the place.”

With the cigarette in his hand, Dante made an up and down motion to his groin. “Suck. My. Dick.” He raised his middle finger to the guards as he passed by them, the finger tracking them until his shoulder was unable to move any further back.

Dante called back behind his shoulder. “Just kidding, love you adorable faggots.”

The two guards watched as the odd duo left the courtyard through the gate. One of the guards turn to his companion.

“Sir...”

The other stallion shook his head. “No, we have standing orders not to interact with him unless it’s to keep ponies safe.”

“So we should just...”

“Just keep watching the courtyard.”

While the two guardstallions had been having their discussion, the duo had covered their first block on the surprisingly long walk to the parliament building. On the other side of the city.

The sun was just beginning to rise in the sky, and the city was mostly dead. A few workers here and there getting their shops ready to open.

“So, can I ask why you seem to be so insistent on smoking even though we’re going to the place that… well, made the law banning that.”

Before Dante could give his explanation, a shout sounded from behind them, the two turning their heads to be greeted by the sight of an unarmored Bulwark trotting up to them.

As he got closer to the two, the couple having slowed down their pace, his brow furrowed and his snout scrunched up.

“Sir.” He spoke. Dante nodded his head towards the stallion.

“Yo.”

“You are aware that tobacco is regulated in Equestria, right?”

Dante nodded his head, the stallion falling in line to his right. “Yep, and I don’t care. You also interrupted me explaining to Fort why I’m so insistent on smoking.”

At the mention of the changeling’s name, Bulwark glanced past Dante’s legs, meeting Fortnite’s pony eyes.

“Good morning, Miss Fortnite.” He nodded, the mar returning the nod.

“Good morning, Bulwark.”

“Anyway...” Dante spoke, as he finished the cigarette, snuffing the embers out and swallowing the butt once more.

“Dante!” Fortnite protested.

“Tell the Equestrians to put in some damn poles and I’ll stop swallowing the butts! Until then, I will not be one of those assholes who just drops their butts everywhere because they’re too much of a lazy asshole to hold onto them until the find the proper receptacle!”

“So your solution is to eat it?”

“I have to agree with Miss Fortnite, Sir.” Bulwark chimed in. “I’ve aided in the destruction of several tobacco farms and… may or not have occasionally consumed a few leaves. The leaves themselves are gross, I can’t imagine a cigarette tasting any better.”

“Oh, no,” Dante began, lighting up another cigarette. “It absolutely tastes like complete shit, but I don’t drop my butts every time I’m done with them.”

This argument continued on for a while, as they approached the parliament building far sooner then any of them had realized.

“Listen, Fort, all I’m saying is that dropping your butts is way more gro- Oh, hey, look we’re here.”

Dante led the way, the two ponies falling in behind him as they entered the main lobby of the building.

As they entered, they were greeted by a group of six ponies and one dragon.

Rainbow Dash was the first one to see the tall biped. She flittered over to the biped, raising a hoof.

Dante bumped it with a closed fist, the two greeting each other.

“RD, what in the hell are you doing up here?”

“Well, my brother sent me a telegram telling me about the upcoming inquiry and… well, to be honest I just wanted to watch you verbally tear into these ponies. Mainly because they’re really annoying when I’m trying to do my job.” The pegasus’ eyes seemed to zone out, becoming unfocused. “So… much… paperwork.”

Dante glanced around, slightly confused. He waved a hand in front of the hovering pony, getting no response. He then snapped his fingers and clapped his hands right in front of her face.

“Well… shit, I’ve seen people get PTSD over a lot of things, this is the first time I’ve seen someone get PTSD over paperwork. Hey there, Twi.” Dante raised a hand as he saw purple unicorn. “Hey guys.” He nodded to the rest of the group, eyeing Spike. “Hello there weird looking reptile person.”

“Weird? Reptile? I’m a dragon and my name is Spike!” Spike’s brow furrowed, Dante paying no mind.

“So… would anyone like to explain why there’s six ponies and a… reptilian Humanoid here? Listen, I love you guys, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t understand why you all made the trip up from Ponyville to here. That’s a pretty long trip.”

“Rainbow wanted to come up here to see the inquiry but her wing was still too sore to be flying long distances after her fight with the cyclops and she’s too young to take the train unattended.” Twilight explained as she absentmindedly organized the bag she brought along.

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash protested, waving her front legs in the air. “I’m not too young! I’m the manager of the weather team! It’s just that they have some stupid set in stone age for what’s considered an adult!”

The biped glanced to the whining pegasus, an eyebrow raised. “Just how old are you, RD?”

“I’m sixteen.”

“Jesus fuckin’ christ.” Dante responded, not a moment of hesitation. “Sixteen? And you’re a national hero… well… I’d rip Celestia a new one for employing child soldiers, but the Imperium did the same thing with the partisans, so… that being said I do need to rip her a new one for employing children in her national defense pl-… wait, no… I can’t do that either… well, fuck...” Dante threw his hands into the air. “For once, Equestria does something similar to the Imperium.”

“The Imperium uses yearling soldiers?” With the exception of Dante and Fortnite, the being in the room scrambled to bow to the entering Celestia and Luna, Luna having been the one to speak.

Fortnite, quickly followed the example set by the other ponies, respectfully bowing to the two diarachs, though Dante chose this time to produce yet another cigarette and light it, flipping the two alicorns off in the process.

“Sort of.” He responded once he had gotten the stick lit. “In the regular armed forces? Hell no. You need to be eighteen to join. But minors were used extensively during the Occupation War, the younger ones were used to run messages back and forth. They were less suspicious then adults running about. The older kids picked up rifles and fought alongside the adults.”

Dante took a drag from the cigarette, ignoring the glances he received from the two diarchs. “It’s a philosophy that’s been in place since the Imperium was first founded by the escaped slave army. The government’s job is to protect the people to the best of its ability. But when the government fails, anyone who can pick up a rifle, must. Failing to practice the civil duty doesn’t result in criminal punishment, but it’s made pretty clear to children from the day they’re born. It’s better to die on your feet a free man then to live on your knees, chained as a slave.”

Dante clapped his hands together, the cigarette resting in between his lips. “In any case, where the hell is everyone and why the fuck is this lobby as empty as my motivation to continue living?”

“General, you do realize tobacco is highly regulated in Equestria, right?” Celestia questioned, glancing over to her sister, unsure of how the biped was going to react.

He merely rolled his eyes, waving his hand. “Yeah, yeah. We’ve been over this already. It’s banned, I don’t care. It’s a power play.”

“A… power play?” Luna questioned.

The biped nodded. “Yep. You’ll see.”

“Overlord, repeat, how copy?”

“Poet 1-5 Actual, Overlord is confirming Liwaa Harb is refusing to pull the First Division from Mosul until his daughter is retrieved. How copy?”

The Legionnaire grabbed the crumbling foregrip of an AK clone wielded by an ISIS militant, using it to throw the man off balance by pulling it towards him, he grabbed the man by his shoulder, crushing it, causing the militant to scream in pain, though it was quickly silenced as the Legionnaire slammed the left side of the man’s body into a nearby wall, splattering gore over the room and himself, as the body was crushed.

He released it as he looked around the room, and the multitudes of bodies in it.

“That’s a good copy, Overlord. Contact him again and tell him that the First needs to move. Over.” The Legionnaire proceeded out of the building he was in, not wearing his traditional armor. He had wanted to, but this was supposed to be deep undercover, he was supposed to blend in with the locals. Resulting in him wearing jeans and a t shirt, a plate carrier resting on his chest.

The AR thumped against his chance as he forced a burned door open, shots ringing out as dust billowed up in front of him. Fat lot of good blending in was doing good.

Faster then any Human had a right to move, his left arm raised, a shield like shape forming in front of him, radiating with energy, letting off light that shone through the darkness of the night.

Shots slammed into it, the shield easily stopping the 7.62x39 rounds commonly used by these militants.

He raised the AR, his scanners marking out four targets in the building across from him.

Four shots of 5.56x45 rang out, as four corpses collapsed to the ground in reply.

“Stupid fucks.” He muttered.

“Poet 1-5 Actual, Overlord, Harb is still refusing to withdraw until his daughter is found. He reports heavy incoming, but he is obstinate in his refusal to move. Over.”

“Son of a..” Poet began, but stopped, keying up his comms. “Overlord, get me the girl’s last known position.”

The scanners in his eye gave a sweep over the destroyed land scape, gun shots and explosions formed the background noise, though the immediate area came up clean. So he continued onto where he had parked his transportation.

His picked his way through his rubble, to a black a sports bike sitting silently, hidden behind some debris.

“Poet 1-5 Actual, this is Overlord Actual, VIP was staying with relatives near Arbil, harb was hoping the Kurdish presence so close would prevent Daesh strikes. Reports coming in, however, seems to indicate the village she was staying in is currently being besieged. If you want to reach her in time, you need to gun it. Over.”

A satellite feed popped up on Poet’s integrated HUD, a map taking up another corner, as he mounted the motorcycle.

“Venus, ETA to VIP?”

“ETA, max speed on the bike, half an hour.”

Poet gunned the throttle, setting off to his target.

“The First won’t survive without that little girl, we need to get her.” He said, not expecting a reply from anyone.

The darkness was held back by the fighting taking place behind the, the scream of rockets and the shrieks of bullets. The quenching of the ground with blood, and the payment of freedom with bodies.

The armored biped walked up to the cube shaped podium, examining the crowd. He was struggling to keep the voice in the back of his mind down. It wasn’t screaming, but it wasn’t being quiet either.

A hush fell over the crowd as he took to the podium, both Bulwark and Fortnite by his side.

He scanned the crowd, looking for his two ‘allies’. Blueblood was easy enough to find, standing right in front of him. Fancy Pants was a tad more difficult, but was quickly found by the experienced Marine.

The podium contained a glowing stone being held in the air by a pole in the ground.

“Greetings, Everypony, to the official Equestrian Parliamentary Inquiry of General Dante T. Jaeger.” Blueblood spoke, his voice magically raised via another glowing stone suspended in the air by a pole.

The crowd remained silent, their stares focused intently on Dante, and by extension.

He could feel Fortnite tensing up at the attention, leaning into his right leg.

He rested his hand on her head, the tensing dying down a bit at the move.

While Blueblood spoke, going on with formalities, Dante glanced to the changeling.
“Keep calm, Fort. They’re looking at me, not you.” He whispered.

Bulwark leaned in, glancing to the nervous changeling and then looking up to Dante.

“Is she okay, sir?”

Dante looked to the stallion. “I can’t say for sure, but I think changelings have a primal fear of attention. Or, at least, being the center of attention. She should be fine.”

‘I hope.’ Dante thought to himself, the voice in the back of his head getting louder.

“And now, for the record, would General Jaeger identify himself?” Blueblood spoke, glancing to the biped.

The biped in question merely moved his head slightly forward, to bring himself closer to the glowing stone. “Just speak into this?” He questioned, the Prince shaking his head in confirmation.

“General Dante Thomas Jaeger. D-A-N-T-E T-H-O-M-A-S J-A-E-G-ER, Phoenix Legion Marine Corps.”

“Thank you, General. And, for the record once more, could the ponies accompanying you identify themselves?”

Dante gestured to the magical stone, Bulwark taking the initiative.

He stepped forward, bringing himself close to it.

“Sergeant Bulwark, Equestrian Royal Guard, Canterlot Division. Currently serving as the Equestrian Liaison Officer to the Imperium of Phoenix.”

He stepped back, allowing Fortnite to take the stage.

Or at least that was the intention, instead she had merely pressed herself harder into the armored leg of the biped, frozen in fright.

Dante quickly acted.

“The unicorn by my side is Fortnite. Uncommon spelling, F-O-R-T-N-I-T-E. She suffers terribly from the stage fright, but she wanted to come along today.”

Blueblood nodded. “Very well. General, if you would like to open this inquiry.”

“Ah, geez, a speech...” Dante patted his chest as though he was looking for something. “There’s a reason the Legion banned me from making formal speeches. I suck at them… uh, listen. I’m not even going to try to BS you all by claiming I’m honored to be here… I’m not. I’m just here so I don’t get bothered by you all during suicide attempts.”

The crowd cringed at the callous mention of the topic. Blueblood was the first to recover, clearing his throat.

“I will assume that was a translation erro-”

“It wasn’t.”

Blueblood gritted his teeth. “Translation. Error.” He cleared his throat once more.

“As has been noted, we have a series of questions, regarding you and your intentions. As was suggested by several MPs, given the… sensitivity of this situation and our want to know more about you, we want to get the basics out of the way. General Jaeger, we know your name, but may we also have your age.”

Dante grinned, fangs flashing. “Just Dante is fine, Prince Blueblood. As for my age… I was born quite a ways before we had any thing even resembling an accurate time table, so I can only give you a ball park figure… ten-thou-, er… no, actually, sorry, probably around fifteen-thousand and some change.”

Dante grinned as the Parliament spoke in hushed whispers amongst themselves.

He lifted his left hand, whirling his trigger finger. “But those last five thousand years were spent in a coma, so they don’t really count.”

An MP raised his hoof, Blueblood raising his own hoof to gesture to the MP. “Yes, Affluent Shirts”

Dante struggled to hold in a laugh at the ridiculous name. And it only got worse when the pony stood up, the laugh becoming a snort and a deep sigh as the biped waged an internal war.

And indeed, the pony was wearing an especially fancy shirt… or at least as close as ponies could wear. Along with a ridiculously tall top-hat.

“Hmm… yes, General Jaeger, I am Affluent Shirts, representative for Phillydelphia. My question was regarding your age.”

Dante nodded, encouraging the unicorn stallion to continue on.

“You noted that you have been alive for around fifteen-thousand years. With the exception of our beloved princesses,” Shirts nodded to the two watching princesses, both of whom politely nodded back, though internally rolled their eyes at him. “This is an unnaturally long time to be alive. Do all of your species...”

“Humans… or Phoenixes. I’m a hybrid.”

“Er… yes, is this normal for either of your species?”

Dante leaned in closer to the magical rock, a pony stand in for the microphones he was used to. “… For Humans, no… at least not when I was initially stranded. The average life span for all of Humanity was around ninety-five years. On Earth, I was extremely old and had witnessed the rise and fall of thousands of empires. But for Phoenixes… well, I barely scratched the surface of age. I was still considered young by many of my fellows and, in standing in as General of the PLMC, I became the youngest to ever achieve the rank of a four star general. My father is… several billion years old.”

A murmur cut across the crowd once more.

“And still showed no signs of slowing down. The Imperium itself is… also old. Around eight billion years old.”

Another unicorn stood up.

“Dusty Hunt, General Jaeger, I am not an MP, but an observer for the University of Vanhoover. I am an archaeologist and would like to clarify something.”

A small row began forming at the idea of an observer interfering in Parliamentary proceedings, though Blueblood quickly silenced the crowd. “I will allow the question.”

Dusty nodded to the prince. “Thank you.” She turned to Dante.

“General Jaeger, you stated you were fifteen thousand years old, correct?”

Dante leveled his right arm horizontally so it formed a line over his chest, his fingers pointing to the left and shook it a bit. “Give or take a few hundred years.”

She nodded. “And you stated your father is ‘several’ billion years old, correct?”

“Correct.”

“And you then went on to give an exact number for the Imperium. Eight billion years old.”

“Aye.”

“General Jaeger,” She fixed him with a stare. “What is the oldest known civilization for the Phoenix species?”
Dante narrowed his eyes. She was trying at something. What it was, he wasn’t certain. But he knew she was trying to drag something out of him. “From archaeological records, the oldest we were able to trace existed somewhere around twelve billion years ago.”

Dante scanned the area. This mare was sharper then most, she was trying at something.

“And am I correct in assuming that two species with such radical age differences did not evolve on the same planet.”

Dante raised an eyebrow. “I do not believe that’s a fair assumption. Earth also contained several long lived species. Some were even functionally immortal.”

The mare protested, smartly shooting back. “You’re using weasel words, General. What was the age range for these long lived animals? And the ‘functionally’ immortal animals? Were they sapient? Or were they merely animals who sat on the sea floor or floated through the sea doing nothing more then existing?”

Dante had to give it to this mare. She wasn’t even properly involved in the parliament and she was questioning him harder then anyone else on the planet had.

“The animals had a life span of around one hundred and two hundred years.” Dante answered, a triumphant grin growing on the mare’s face.

“So, in the grand scheme of things, those animals are not that far from Humanity’s life span, correct?”

“Well, I believe that depends on your view of things.”

“General, you’re avoiding the question.” Dusty fixed him with another glare, Dante returning it.

He could feel Fortnite pushing up against his leg.

“The issue I’m having with what you’re saying is not only are you obscuring your father’s age, but you’re doing in such a way so that we can not establish a timeline. We know that you’re around fifteen-thousand years old. Your country is eight billion years old. The oldest known civilization for your species is twelve billion. But you’re trying to tell me that a several billion year old stallion fathered a child who is now a mere fifteen-thousand years? That is a significant age difference, especially should Humans and Phoenixes be of two different species who did not evolved on the same planet.”

This mare was far too sharp for her own good.

Dante took a deep breath, sighing. “Dusty, was it?” The mare nodded.

“If you knew my father, you would understand why I do not like associating myself with him or his name. He was a shithead who abandoned both my mother and me, and as a result was directly responsible for her death. I spent nearly ten thousand years looking for him, and when I found him, he kept our blood a secret, until I discovered it in a file left behind by my deceased friend. In that file, I also found evidence linking him to death of one of my wives. Why am I obscuring his age?”

Dante sighed. “Simply put, I despise the man and I believe he receives more attention than he deserves. As such, I will not be making any indication of his identity. You are correct in saying Phoenixes and Humans evolved on separate planets, however. The meeting of my mother and father was a fluke and freak accident. And my birth even more so.”

The tan mare nodded her head. “I must apologize for interrupting, but thank you for answering.”

Dante filed her appearance and name away into his memory, he would have to keep an eye on that mare.

Before Blueblood could regain control of the proceedings, another pony stood up. This one a red coated earth stallion.

“General Jaeger, Red Hoof, MP for the Smokey Mountains region. My ponies have indicated concern for what your purpose is here. Various theories ranging from experiments to a hostile invasion. Can you answer any of these questions.”

Dante raised a hand, palm flat and towards the stallion. “I did not come here of my own volition. I was stranded here by chance following an incident that involved an enemy of the Imperium and my home planet of Terra.”

Red Hoof nodded. “Though, surely, if you have the ability to land here from… wherever it is your planet, Terra, is then you should also have the ability to contact your country for rescue, correct?”

The princesses cringed.

Dante sighed, once more. “Under normal circumstances, yes. The Imperium does have the technology to communicate across extremely long distances within a reasonable time frame.”

“So you are planning for an invasion force?” Red Hoof question, a nervous look on his face.

Dante gave a light smile, shaking his head to the side. “No, even if I was able to contact the Imperium, the main thing they would do is retrieve me and retrieve any Imperial tech left behind on the planet. However, that’s a moot point. I don’t have the long range communications device to even allow me to find my people.”

Red Hoof, though still nervous, raised an eyebrow. “Did you not have it when you crashed, or did it go missing?”

Dante sighed. “As I’m sure everyone in here saw the news, you should know the first day I woke from my coma, I engaged in a firefight with a unicorn. What many of you all don’t know, is the reason I engaged in that unicorn is because she stole my larcom, the only way I could get home… a few days, I was able to scan the planet and found the most likely place my larcom is...”

Blue Blood looked nervous, though.

Dante continued after a deep breath. “It was decided that I would not attempt to retrieve the larcom due to it’s inaccessible location.”

Fortnite glanced up the biped, her eyes catching the dullness in the once bright eyes. Neither of the differently colored eyes seemed to hold life in them anymore.

“It was decided that I would not attempt to retrieve the larcom due to it’s inaccessible location.”

A being watched the proceedings. It’s form impossible to accurately describe, the closest description of it would be a swirling mass of black.

In front of it lay a table, resting on black nothingness. The being looked upon the scene, the eyes of the General lifeless, the shine once in them gone.

“Well…” Its voice boomed, as it spoke to itself, echoes from seemingly nowhere. “This simply will not do. You’re still needed, my dear Dante.”

The scene went from the Parliament, to an overlay of the general area, Canterlot.

“No.” It spoke, a spindly black finger reached out from the black mass, as it spied a certain figure. “We certainly still need you, Dante. And you...” It tapped the figure with unnaturally long and thin finger. “You will be perfect in insuring the plan works.”

“Well… that could have gone worse.” Dante spoke, cricking his neck. It had been a tumultuous few hours. “RD, did you regret coming?”

The hovering pegasus looked like she had just went through the underworld and back, her stare fixed to a far away point.

Twilight answered for her. “That probably means yes.”

Dante looked to the ground, ignoring the voice in the back of his head that was screaming at him. His gut was wrenching in anticipation as he looked back up, scanning the horizon and sky lines for any threats.

The voice only appeared when danger was around, and it had been screaming at him all day.

He looked to Bulwark, the unicorn stallion having forgone his armor.

“Hey, Bul.”

“Yes sir?”

Dante looked around, struggling to keep the nervousness from showing. The last time it had been this loud was before the initial bombing of Earth by the NPR.

And here it was, once more.

“Have there been any reports of anything suspicious around Canterlot recently? Any rumors in the guard, official reports?”

Bulwark shook his head. “No sir. Everything has been quiet in Canterlot. Something wrong?”

Dante glanced over the group. Six mares, Fortnite, Bulwark and the juvenile dragon named Spike were in it.

Pinkie had been surprisingly quiet, but she was also floating through the air, so there was that.

But the voice was screaming even louder.

Celestia and Luna had went ahead to the castle to get the staff on the move to make dinner for the group. The Parliament meeting having taken nearly the entire day. Celestia’s sun lowering in the sky, soon to be pulled down by the Solar Princess.

Dante once more scanned the buildings rising above the street they were on, and once more, he saw nothing. His scanners showed nothing as well.

But the voice was having none of it.

As the sun slowly moved lower, it was suddenly accelerated, disappearing from view, the moon appearing in its place.

“No, it’s nothing.” Dante answered Bulwark. “Just something I was worrying about.”

The voice was still screaming.

The mares were conversing amongst themselves, with the exception of Rainbow, still looking forward. Spike was walking near Rarity. Dante was flanked by Bulwark, Fortnite still keeping herslf close to his leg.

“In any case, I suppose, let’s get back to the castle. I’ve not eaten and my nanites are getti-” Dante was cut off as the moon accelerated, pulling the sun into the noon position.

Dante stopped, the group stopping as well. He glanced around at the various surprised looks on the ponies near him. Even the Canterlot crowd that seemed to be slowly less and less shocked by the tall biped stopped and stared.

“The fu-” Once more, the biped was cut off by the sun the accelerating, the moon replacing it.

This happened several more times, before it finally stopped, the moon and sun sharing the sky.

“What the fuck is goi-”

Dante lost his balance as the ground began violent shaking. The rest of the equines with him stumbling, Rainbow being the only one unaffected, due to her flying.

As the earth still trembled, a booming voice spoke.

“Greetings, Elements!” The voice sounded oddly familiar to Dante, the biped swearing he had heard a similar one in a tv show a long time ago.

“And General Jaeger, how nice it is to finally meet you!”

Dante cleared leather with the side arm issued to him by the Imperium. Using his right hand ot stabilize himself, he raised the pistol with his right hand.

He looked to Twilight, the ground still violently shaking. The mare’s eyes were pinpricks and she seemed to be frozen.

“Twilight, who the fuck is that!” He question shouted over the panicking of the crowds in the street.

“I would love to stay and have a nice conversation with the mares who locked me away for a second time, unfortunately,” Dante once more scanned the area, trying to find the speaker. All he saw was a crowd of stampeding ponies, and the group he was with.

The voice was even louder now.

“My plans involve you all being out of the picture.” Out of the corner of his eye, Dante caught movement. Quickly turning his head, he saw a large ball of energy. Flying at a high rate of speed directly towards them.

Before the sphere contacted them, the group disappeared.

Dante landed ungracefully on the stone floor of the throne room, on his back. The Elements, Fortnite, Bulwark and Spike appearing near him.

He rolled over onto his stomach, using his forearms and elbows to push himself up. As soon as his chest left the floor, he began vomiting blood.

Twilight snapped out of her paralysis, though noticed something, her eyes widening, and then narrowing once more.

Fortnite rushed over to the biped. “Are you okay?”

He groaned, as he coughed up more blood a large puddle of it having already formed under him.

He rasped.

“Oh, fuck… ugh, I sacrificed a couple of organs doing that. That jump was way too far.”

He looked up, pointing to Rainbow Dash.

“RD, go get Celestia and Luna. We need help.” He coughed up more blood.

“D-Dante.” Twilight, fear obviously etched on her face. She shakily raised a hoof pointing to the thrones.

Dante glanced to where she was pointing, only to be greeted by the sight of two stone statues of Celestia and Luna, shock and confusion evident on their faces.
Though, Dante quickly realized they weren’t statues… they were the actual princesses.

“Ah, fuck.”

“That was an impressive teleport.” The voice boomed once more, and once more it remained unseen.

“Discord!” Twilight shouted, though her breathing was becoming rapid.

“RD, get help!” The rainbow maned pegasus apparently having been shocked out of her trauma by the teleportation attempted to rush out of the doors leading to the rest of the castle, though before she reached them, they slammed shut.

She was barely able to stop herself before running into them.

Another ball of energy was sent towards the bunched up group, the injured Dante shooting up, the shield on his forearm activating, taking the brunt of the attack.

“Fuck!”

The smoke died down as the dust kicked up by the explosion settled. Still the creature known as Discord was no where to be seen.

“Show yourself!” Dante roared, the voice screaming even louder in the back of his head.

Without warning, the biped was yanked away from the rest of the group and slammed into a marble pillar, taking a section out of it as a wall finally stopped his body, leaving a dent in it.

He fell to the ground, whatever organs he had left now being crushed from the force of the toss.

Discord obeyed, materializing in the room.

A burst of light and there the manifestation of chaos stood. His body a random collection of different animal parts.

“Now, my dear General Jaeger, unlike normal villains, I learn from my mistakes!” The biped was struggling to catch his breath from the toss, the fact that was currently only in possession of one complete lung not helping him.

“And I also happen to know about you, and I happen to know most of my powers won’t work on you! As such!”

The chimera snapped his fingers, a circle of light forming on the floor beneath Dante. The hybrid realizing what it was, he struggled to pull himself out of the circle and to the safety of the stone ground.

“I certainly do hope you enjoy this universe! One with a Celestia who isn’t terrified of her own power!” He pointed to the petrified Celestia. “Unlike this one! As such.”

The portal opened up, Dante finding himself falling as though there was no solid ground below him. The light grew brighter, then dimmer. And then finally, nothing. The ground was back to normal.

The draconequus turned to the group he had separated the hybrid from, his arms raised into the air. “Au Revoir, General!”

Lightning struck behind him and thunder roared behind, silhouetting his form. The group could do nothing but look on.

Author's Notes:

Right. Well.

There's probably going to be some errors. I rushed the editing process mainly because I want to get this chapter out.

Please, enjoy it!

As always, if you liked and favorited this story, please tell me why. If you disliked this story, please tell me why you disliked it. Thank you very much. I also enjoy criticism as it helps me to improve. So if you do downvote, please leave a comment letting me know why. Be it grammar, spelling, pacing, or you just fucking hate the character!