We were preparing the ship to leave for Appleloosa, I was saying goodbye to the former elements as we would be away for a long time.

“I’ll talk to you via skype once a week to tell you how things are going” I said to Twilight, giving her a hug, she had really got the hang of how to use the tablet computer and she could work things out really quickly.

“Sure” she said, before taking a step back.

“On the slim off-chance that something happens and I get killed, thank you for everything you’ve done” I said, looking at all of them “thank you all”

“Aw, shucks” Applejack said “don’t be gittin all mushy on me now, and say howdy to Braeburn for me when yawl git tah Appleloosa”

“Will do” I said, she then stirred, as if remembering something.

“A quick word of warnin’” she said, “best if yer changelin’ friend doesn’t go into the town, ah know he’s a decent pony, but they don’t, I don’t want him gittin’ ‘urt”

“I’ll keep that in mind” Echo said “and thank you for being so trusting of me and my fellow changelings” Applejack nodded.

“Ah can tell pretty quickly if someone’s up to no good” Applejack said “and you aint”

“Well” I said “we must be off now”

“Are you sure you can’t stay for a little longer?” Twilight asked.

“Sorry, but I’ve been wanting to do this for ages” I said “I’ve made my decision, plus it would be a waste of resources” I then jerked a thumb towards the ship, they all said goodbye and myself and the rest of the Toa walked onto the ship.

“I still can’t believe we’re finally doing this” I said to Autumn.

“I still can’t believe you two pulled that stunt on the cloud and left me to look after not only Aurora, but your kids as well” Minion said.

“Brother” I said, sighing “I do not want to spend to entire expedition with you pissed off at me, I feel bad enough as it is, I’m sorry okay, it was stupid, we both fucked up and we both realise that” Minion just rolled his eyes and walked off.

“He’s still pissed off at you” Vinyl said, crossing her arms.

“No shit, Sherlock” I said “and I don’t need two family members constantly pissed off at me and Autumn”

“Can you see why we’re pissed off though?” Vinyl asked rhetorically.

“For fucks sake” I said “YES!”

“Dad?” Garnet asked, poking his head around the corner “are you okay?” I took a deep breath and sighed.

“Yes, Garnet” I said “I’m fine” Garnet deadpanned.

“They’re still annoyed over what happened, aren’t they?” he said, giving Vinyl a look.

“Don’t worry about it” I said “go and play with your sister” he hesitantly walked off.

“Did he just…?” Vinyl trailed off.

“Even the kids are starting to get annoyed by how you and Minion are acting towards us” I said, before walking off, I saw Autumn glare at Vinyl before walking after me, once we were out of earshot I turned to Autumn and said “I really hope this doesn’t affect how we work as a team” Autumn lent her head on my shoulder.

“You know Minion isn’t the type to let it affect how we work as a team” Autumn said “as for Vinyl, I’m not so sure”

“I BUCKING HEARD THAT, BITCH!” Vinyl yelled, I face palmed.

Fucking great” I muttered “our siblings hate us hates us and I’m a terrible parent”

“Vuur!” Autumn chastised “don’t say that”

“How am I not a terrible parent after what I did?” I shouted, before walking away, ignoring her protests as I did. I needed some space to think.

---

I was stood on the bow of the ship, with a bottle of cider in my hand.

“Bet you’re really fuckin’ pleased with me now, aren’ you, Dad” I said, slipping into my northern accent and taking a sip of the cider.

“Vuur Koning?” I heard Sumerki ask.

“What?” I growled “if you’re here jus’ ‘ere to bi’ch abou’ ‘ow fuckin’ terrible a father I am, then you can go fuck yerself!”

“Look!” she said, reflecting my tone of voice “I might not know you that Vell, but even I know that you need to stop beating yourself up over vhat happened”

“Ave you ever been a parent?” I asked, raising an eyebrow, she didn’t answer “tha’s wha’ I though’, those two mean the world to me, an’ I screwed up big time, nothing can change tha’, Minion and Vinyl are righ’ to keep reminding me about i’”

“Vith all due respect, sir” Sumerki said “but they can go pieprzyć się, yes you screwed up, yes what you did was stupid, but what’s done is done, and not even a Kenohi Vahi can change that, you need to stop Vallowing in self pity” I glared at her.

“Who are you to tell me what to do?” I growled, I turned around fully and started walking towards her “I am your captain, you’re jus’ a techy who can turn ou’ the ligh’s, you don’ know what it’s like to ‘ave children, you ‘ave no idea how I’m feeling a’ the momen’. So go fuck yerself!” to her credit, she didn’t back down, she matched my glare.

“You need to stop beating yourself up over vhat happened” she said “just think about vhat I said” she then walked off, I walked back over to the railing.

“Fuckin’ emo bi’ch” I muttered, taking a sip of cider.

---

*pov 3rd person*

Sauradox watched the scene unfold with worry, he may be their enemy, but he knew they had to stop tearing their team apart over what happened, he walked up behind Vuur Koning.

“I know you’re there, Red Dawn” Vuur Koning said “and you can fuck off! I don’ ‘ave time to deal with the likes of you”

“I’m simply here to say that the Toa of shadow is right” Sauradox said “and that you need to remember why you ended up adopting the two Kirins, you are supposed to protect them, not drown your sorrows every time you buck up” Vuur Koning glanced over his shoulder, looking at the former Pegasus, his eyes widened in realisation and he looked at the bottle of cider before chucking it over the edge.

“Whatever, just get out of here” Vuur said, as Sauradox was leaving Vuur Koning turned around “by the way, thank you” Sauradox stopped and looked over his shoulder, he nodded to the toa before leaving, next Sauradox looked for Minion, he was on his own, perfect, he isolated the Toa in a vail of shadow.

“Sumerki?” Minion asked “if this’s your idea of a joke then it’s not funny”

“This is no joke” Sauradox said, revealing himself, minion drew his blade but Sauradox waived a hand dismissively “I come bearing no ill will towards you…yet”

“Why are you here?” Minion asked, lowering his blade.

“I’m merely here to tell you that your actions towards your brother have led to him to a pit of self-loathing” Sauradox said, smirking slightly “and I didn’t even need to do anything to make it happen, Vuur Koning truly regrets what he’s done, only you can’t see that”

“What do you mean?” Minion asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Even the Toa of shadow was trying to help Vuur Koning” Sauradox said “only to be pushed away and rejected, under the excuse that she didn’t know what it’s like to be a parent”

“Why are you trying to interfere?” Minion asked.

“Because I know what it’s like, to take care of someone young and buck up” he said “you need to go easy on your brother. Otherwise when the time comes, your team will fall apart. All because you constantly pushed him over a mistake that could be easily forgiven. The Toa are divided over what happened, you need to grow up and forgive him, his children already have” Sauradox then disappeared, leaving Minion to think about things.

---

*pov 1st person Vuur Koning, the next day*

I walked towards Minion’s quarters, I needed to talk to him about a few things, I knocked on the door and after a few seconds Minion opened the door.

“Oh, hey brother” he said.

“There’s something I need to tell you” we both said at once.

“Oh, you go first” Minion said.

“Look” I said “you were right, me and Autumn fucked up big time, what we did was stupid, and unforgivable, but I hope you can find it in you to forgive your younger brother”

“Well” Minion said, rubbing the back of his neck “I’m sorry as well”

“What!?” I asked.

“I shouldn’t have constantly reminded you about it every chance I got, you felt bad enough as it was and I was just making things worse by pressuring you, what’s done is done, and we can’t change it, but what do you say we put this behind us and forget the stupid thing. Friends?” he held his fist out and I bumped it with mine

“Friends” I said, and smiled.

---

*1 month later*

After weeks of almost constant flying we finally reached Appleloosa. Smooth desert stretched out for miles, with Apleloosa acting as Equestria’s, and the other northern countries, gateway to the south of the world, it was now a thriving community. Myself and the rest of the Toa stepped off the gangplank and was greeted by a pale yellow earth pony with a Stetson and felt jacket. Standing next to him was a large buffalo with a chieftain’s crest.

“Howdy yawl, and welcome to A-aaaapleloosa” he said “the names Braeburn, and it’s nice to meet y…” then he noticed the changeling.

“Is there a problem?” I asked.

“We don’t take too kindly to its kind being here” he said, frowning and pointing at the changeling.

“Even if Applejack trusts them and all of the changelings on this ship are part of the Equestrian navy?” I asked.

“You know cousin AJ?” he asked, I nodded.

“I command Echo here” I said “and Echo commands the changelings. They wouldn’t dare undermine my authority, because they know what I can do when angry” Echo stepped forward.

“If I may be so bold” Echo said “all of the changelings on this ship are exiled from their hives, they have no reason to cause trouble, if you want, I can have them walk around in disguise if that would make you happy”

“How do ah know ah can trust you?” Braeburn asked.

All of us are guardians” I said “and I chose him personally to lead the changelings on my ship because he’s loyal to me”

“Alright” he said, uneasily “but first sign of trouble, and they aren’t welcome no more”

“Thank you” I then turned to the buffalo “and who might you be?”

“I am chief Thunderhooves” he said, I noticed that his voice sounded very similar to the voice actor that played Toa Tahu, but slightly more gruff “I lead the buffalo in these lands”

“It’s an honour to meet you” I said, giving a quick bow “I am Toa Vuur Koning; Toa of fire and commander of the Toa Jörmungandr”

“What is this ‘Toa Jörmungandr’ you speak of?” Chief Thunderhooves asked.

“A Toa is a type of warrior, specifically one that has great proficiency in controlling a specific element, I control fire but there are other elements” I said, we all got out our weapons and demonstrated one after another our elements “Jörmungandr refers to our location, namely my ship, all Toa teams are named after the location that they are based in”

“So you are elementals?” chief Thunderhooves asked.

“In a manner of speaking” I said, Braeburn then showed us around Appleloosa on a lightning tour by pushing us to each location, despite the fact that the combined weight of all 15 of us was getting close to a ton. For most of the day we all explored the town, some of the settlers were wary around us, but eventually they warmed up to us. later that night my team of Toa, Aurora the two Kirin twins visited the buffalo camp, where I told the buffalo the story of our adventures, I also found out the buffalo have a deep respect for dragons, so Garnet, Ruby and Aurora ended up being spoilt with gems, Minion reaction to the fact that dragons eat gems was hilarious, I think he actually shed a tear when he saw Aurora eat a diamond, the kids also ended up talking with a young female buffalo called Little Strongheart.

“You are certainly well travelled” Chief Thunderhooves said “and blessed, a Toa of water could cure a drought for instance”

“I know” I said “I’m still adjusting to the fact that I can control fire” I absentmindedly manipulated the camp fire as I said this, Autumn tapped me on the arm and gave me a look before gesturing towards the campfire. I stopped manipulating the fire and gave Autumn an apologetic look.

“What is it that you plan to do now” Little Strongheart asked.

“The south of this world is almost totally unexplored due to the some of it being cut off by great mountains” I said “we plan to head into the unexplored lands, seeking new people and civilisations” the moment I said that Little Strongheart started talking to Chief Thunderhooves in their native language, they seemed to be having a verbal tennis match, eventually Chief Thunderhooves sighed and turned to me.

“Little Strongheart wishes to travel with you” he said “I don’t like it, but if she wishes to travel with you, then it is her decision” I looked at the young buffalo.

“Are you absolutely certain you want to travel with us?” I asked.

“Absolutely” she said.

“I can’t fully guarantee your safety” I said “I will try my best, but there may be times when you’re on your own”

“I can take care of myself” she said.

“Nor can I be held responsible for your death” she hesitated for a moment before answering with a determined look on her face.

“Understood”

---

*the next day*

Little Strongheart was saying goodbye to her tribe, she had some form of saddlebag on her back, filled with what little physical possessions she had. I was stood on the ramp leading onto the Jörmungandr waiting for her, she said goodbye to the buffalo before walking over to me. I held out a hand and stopped her before she could walk on.

“This is your very last chance to back down, once you enter my ship, there is no going back” I said, she looked back at the Buffalo for a few seconds before walking on the ship. I turned to a crewmember that was manning the ramp “close the door” he nodded before pulling a lever. A few seconds later I felt Frostfang pull the Jörmungandr into the sky, heading towards uncharted territories. I led Little Strongheart towards the Bridge.

“When we reach the bridge I’m going to go through a list of all the potential jobs you can do, however” I said, holding up a hand “because you’re under 18, you will only be working if the ship gets damaged and we need everyone working, so most of the time you’ll be under the reserve crew as lowest priority”

“What do I do then?” she asked.

“Whatever you want” I said, I then added “as long as you don’t cause trouble, you seem to get on with my kids and niece rather well, so hang out with them” we then entered the bridge, Little Strongheart ended up being assigned to standard crew, I then sent her away to do whatever.

---

*pov 3rd person*

Garnet stood on the gun deck of the Jörmungandr, leaning on the railing and watching the desert slide past. He suddenly heard some of the crew chatting, he turned around out of curiosity to see a changeling drone talking to a griffin. They noticed him looking at them and stopped talking.

“Vhat are you looking at veirdo” the griffin said, the changling next to him opened its second and third pairs of eyes.

“Yeah, weirdo” the changeling said, smirking and baring his fangs, Garnet heard a hissing from above him and looked up to see an eight legged warrior changeling climbing down the rigging. The warrior climbed down onto the deck and Garnet backed up.

“Free-loaders should learn to mind their own business” the warrior said.

“W-what?” Garnet asked, confused, the changeling lunged forward and picked the kirin up by his throat using a clawed foreleg.

“Maybe your ears don’t work so well” the warrior said, Garnet gaged, this changeling stank

“Too bad my nose works just fine” Garnet said in disgust, turning his head away as best he could, the warrior growled.

“Why you insulant little…” the warrior changeling spun around and slammed the kirin into the wall, holding him here as the others started jeering, the warrior brought a sharp pincer to Garnet’s throat “any last words, boy” Garnet struggled trying to get out of the changelings grasp. He split the blades on his tail before swinging it at the changeling forearm, the blades cut clean through the changelings forearm and Garnet collapsed to the floor. The warrior let out a roar of pain.

“YOU LITTLE SHIT!” the warrior changeling roared, before kicking the kirin away. Garnet impacted against the railing hard, knocking the wind out of him. The changeling walked towards Garnet and pinned him to the floor, standing on his tail to make sure he didn’t try anything.

“Get off of me!” Garnet said, clawing against the changelings foreleg that was pinning down his throat

“Not a chance in Tartarus you bastard” the Warrior said “I’m going to kill you, slowly and painfully, I think I’ll start with your foreleg first” he then stabbed a clawed foreleg down on Garnets right arm, cutting it off at the elbow. Garnet shrieked out in pain and the changeling laughed sadistically before turning to the others.

“Which part goes next?” he asked.

“Take his wing” the changeling drone said. The warrior put a free claw to his chin and tapped it before sneering. The warrior never got a chance to carry out the request, as an orange and maroon blur slammed into the changeling, sending him into a metal wall and embedding him in the metal.

“GET THE BUCK AWAY FROM MY SON YOU BASTARD!” Autumn shouted, standing in front of Garnet protectively with her wrist-swords and wing-blades in an X formation. Her blades began to glow orange and parts of the metal rigging unknotted themselves and tied up the warrior, drone and griffin.

---

*1st pov Vuur Koning*

I heard Garnet scream and ran onto the deck, I heard Autumn shouting on the other side of the ship and ran around to see Garnet on the floor in a growing pool of blood and Autumn stood in front of him facing two changelings and a griffin, who were tied up with rigging. I noticed Garnet’s arm lying separated and ran towards him, he was pale, but still conscious, I got out my sword and moved what was left of his arm so I had a better look, all that left was a bloody stump

“Garnet, this is going to really hurt, but it will help you, okay?” he nodded weakly and my sword began to glow red hot “on three; one, two, three” I pressed to flat of the blade to the wound, cauterising it. Garnet screamed out weakly.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Autumn screamed.

“Cauterizing the wound to stop him from bleeding out” I said, I moved the blade away to see the wound burnt-shut, at that point some of the other toa appeared, including Saphyrus “Saphyrus, put him to sleep and block out his pain signals” the dragon nodded and Garnet fell unconscious a few seconds later.

“What the hell happened?” Minion asked, I stood up and rounded on the warrior changeling, punching him in the jaw and splattering green blood on the wall. Minion pulled me back.

“Get the fuck off me!” I said, trying to pull away, Scar grabbed hold of me as well “that bastard cut off my sons arm!” all of the Toa looked at the Warrior changeling and drew their weapons, Minion and Scar let go of me and I grabbed my pistol and pointed it at the warriors head.

“Vuur, don’t do it” Echo said, putting a hand on my shoulder “let my people deal with him” I yelled before pistol whipping the changeling, knocking him out, I then looked at the drone and griffin.

“Did either of you do anything to my son, or was it just him?” I asked “and you better tell the truth”

“Just him” the griffin said, I turned around.

“Get those scum out of my sight before I kill them” I said, several Equestrian guards appeared and took them away. I walked over to Garnet and picked him up, a lump formed in my throat when I saw his arm, I turned to Orca “can this be healed?” she shook her head sadly.

“The mask of healing doesn’t work on this kind of injury” she said “I’m sorry”

---

Garnet was in the infirmary, under sedation, Doctor Blutaderstauer walked out of the room and towards me.

“Quick thinking vhen you cauterized zee vound” he said “he might have bled out if you hadn’t”

“Is there any way of reattaching his arm? I asked, he shook his head.

“Our medical science isn’t advanced enough for zat” he said, sadly, he then stirred “zere is…an alternative, if you vould be villing to hear it”

“Anything’s better than him living the rest of his life with three legs” I said.

“Zere are working replacement limbs” he said.

“Really!?” I asked.

“ja” he said “if you vould follow me” he then lead me to a room filled with metal robotic parts.

“And you are sure it will work?” I said.

“Please” he said, rolling his eyes “I vouldn’t be a doctor if I didn’t”

Next Chapter: Chapter 44 Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 46 Minutes