With their plans set into motion, our heroes prepare for a battle of historical proportions. As they get ready to strike, however, many unexpected things would appear to be happening inside the mighty fort; specifically, within the very same room that Ruby and Zula are in.

Ruby and Zula just stood there, wondering what the armored Minotaur was planning on doing. So far, he just... stood there.

He looked around, and hummed to himself. "Thor'lok likes games... do Alicorn and Zebra like games?"

That sudden question caused Ruby and Zula to raise an eyebrow, and look at each other. Then then looked back at Thor'lok, and nodded their heads, while Ruby replied, "Y-yes, sir. We like games... why do you ask, though?"

Thor'lok chuckled, before slowly pulling his red helmet off, revealing his red fur, brown mane, amber eyes, and crimson tusks. Then he replied with a smile that seemed to oppose the ways the other Minotaurs' smiles would express; in a friendly manner, "Thor'lok want play game with friends."

"Friends?" Ruby asked, now tilting her head out of confusion. "Who are your friends, exactly?"

Thor'lok hummed out of confusion, before replying with his head tilted, "Pretty Pony, and Pretty Zebra, of course!"

At that statement, Zula's and Ruby's eyes both widened. "Wait..." Zula began, "so you aren't here to harm us?!"

Thor'lok shook his head, before replying, "Thor'lok no like being bad. Thor'lok promised friends for doing good, by keeping friends inside this room."

This sounded like the spark of hope that Ruby was looking for, but under the current situation, she couldn't muster up enough courage to show it. With a saddened expression, she sighed and turned away from him, which caught Thor'lok's attention.

"What wrong, Pretty Pony?" He asked, with his tone actually showing genuine concern.

Ruby looked back up at him with a halfhearted expression, and then counter-asked, "Thor'lok... why am I here?"

Thor'lok hummed, before rubbing his chin with his right hand. "Thor'lok no understand... Boss said he marry you, I be Pretty Pony's friend."

Ruby closed her eyes, and glared through the back of her eyelids. Finally, out of built-up anger, she shouted, "I have a name, you know! IT'S RUBY!"

Thor'lok, despite his size compared to her, was taken aback by her sudden outburst, and even flinched his face with both of his arms, which caused Ruby to raise an eyebrow. "Please! No hurt Thor'lok! Thor'lok not know name, but mean well! Ruby nice name! Thor'lok call Ruby 'Ruby', now!"

Ruby's annoyed expression turned to one of concern again. "Oh... I'm sorry, Thor'lok. I didn't mean to scare you..." Then she sighed, and looked at the fireplace, while Thor'lok uncovered his face, and saw the sad expression on Ruby's face. "It's just that... I'm not really in a good mood."

Thor'lok's expression turned from fear to concern, as he slowly walked up to Ruby, and asked, "Ruby can tell Thor'lok. Thor'lok keep secret, if wish. A friend of Thor'lok's can trust Thor'lok... trusting be what friends do, right?"

Ruby looked up at him, and weakly smiled. "Only if you let Zula stand closer than what Stonefist said... deal?"

Thor'lok nodded his head, and looked at Zula, who still looked at him uneasily. "Thor'lok befriend Pretty Zebra... Zula her, right?" Ruby nodded her head. "Then Thor'lok be Zula's friend, too! If Zula say, that is."

Zula raised an eyebrow, before weakly smiling. "Of course... but first, you have to do something for us."

Thor'lok raised both eyebrows and smiled widely, before replying, "Gladly! What Thor'lok do for friends?"

Zula looked at Ruby, before replying, "You have to listen to our story."

Thor'lok's smile widened, while he nodded again. "Of course! Thor'lok like stories!"

Ruby nodded her head, and stated, "Well... this story is a true story... based on what happened when my daddy and I got to this world." And with that, she began telling Thor'lok the events that transpired from the journey, starting at the beginning of when they first arrived.

From behind the front gates, a few Minotaurs were standing guard, two on each side, while below their feet, they couldn't detect a certain Fox clawing through the ground, carrying a bundle of dynamite on his back in the process; with the addition of a string attached to each dynamite. Then, once he placed enough dynamite to stretch across the entire front entrance, he quickly crawled back the way he came, and tapped on the single red button on a small, metal handheld device he carried within his bag, and looked up towards the guards' towers.

From on top of the guards' towers, a single Minotaur was watching the lower halves of the ground; armed with a bow, a quiver of arrows, and a longsword on his waist. He looked around left and right; an arrow drawn from his quiver, and stretched through the bow; eagerly awaiting his next daring, foolish, and/or unsuspecting victim.

The next thing he knew, an arm suddenly grasped his mouth; muffling his scream, before a blade soon found its way into his chest. Then he fell limply to the ground; his eyes rolling up, and his blood flowing out of his chest, until the arm removed its grasp from his now breathless mouth. Finally the mysterious figure walked towards the corner of the wall and knelt behind a pile of crates; right as a ghost arrow landed in the center of the area.

As soon as Ruby finished telling the story of her adventure so far, Thor'lok looked surprised at the two of the, now obvious, "prisoners" and "hostages".

"B-but... Thor'lok told that he being good, though!" His eyes filled with tears, before he fell to his knees, and shook his head. "Why they lie, and hurt poor Ruby? Why they hurt poor Zula like that?!"

Ruby walked up to him and placed her left hand over his right shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, Thor'lok... none of it was! It was them who told the lies, after all."

Thor'lok's expression turned from a sad one to a slowly built-up glare. "Well... they no treat Thor'lok friends like that!" Then Thor'lok stood up and stretched his hand out for Ruby to take. "Thor'lok be good for friends, then! Thor'lok... help you escape!" As he said that, he looked at Zula. "And Thor'lok help Zula, too! Zula Thor'lok friend too, right?"

Zula and Ruby looked at each other and smiled, before they turned their heads back to Thor'lok, and nodded in unison. "Of course you're our friend, Thor'lok!" Ruby replied, before accepting his hand.

Then Thor'lok lifted her over his shoulders and offered his hand to Zula.

"Ruby hang on tight... Thor'lok fast runner!" Ruby nodded her head as Zula took his hand.

What she didn't expect, however, was for Thor'lok to lift her up, and place her on his shoulders behind Ruby. "Zula hold onto Thor'lok, and keep Ruby from falling. Thor'lok protect you both!"

The two of them nodded their heads, and tightened their grips. Then Thor'lok slowly walked towards the door, and placed his hand on the door. What the Alicorn and Zebra didn't expect, however, was for him to push the door and run... the opposite direction.

"Wait, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Ruby and Zula asked in unison, before Thor'lok lifted his arms over his head in a defensive stance to protect them from the impact; his forearms over their hands and their forearms, and then rammed his head into the wall; smashing through it, and into the hallways.

While Justin awaited for Stealth to plant the bombs, he looked through his arsenal once more. Now, to protect his skin from the cold winter breeze of The Shaded Meadows, he had a fur chest piece over his jacket; brown, with a pair of white shoulder pads; covered in leather for additional defense. Over his jacket's built-in fingerless gloves, he wore a pair of dark brown fur gauntlets that rose to his elbows. Over his jeans and boots, he wore a fur padding that rose up to between his thighs. Below his waist, however, his yellow coat still flew out and about freely, and over his head, he wore his yellow hood. Over his face, however, he wore a gas mask with a pair of built-in night-vision lenses.

As soon as Justin landed on the guard tower, he froze in his spot and hummed to himself. "Huh... I didn't expect someone else to be here against them... an escapee, perhaps?" He then lifted his right hand over his ear, and said, "King Goldheart... was someone else supposed to assist me in assassinating the upper halves of the tower?!"

He stood there for a moment, listening through his headpiece. "Uh-huh... then I guess we might have another one here who has a problem with the Black Wings. Might have to watch our aim... he could be useful, if he was able to sneak up like this. Be careful, though... he could also be another threat, too."

"I assure you, I'm not your threat." A low, serious-toned young male's voice replied through the shadows. Justin froze in place, but turned his head towards the source of the voice.

There, now standing up from behind the crates, was Zero Gravity; his Ninjato Sword still in his right hand. The sword was angled downwards, in a non-threatening way, so Justin considered his words, and turned the rest of his body around towards the Pegasus stallion. "I see... well, that's a relief. So... what business do you have with these guys?" Then he moved his face closer to get a better look at the stranger. "You aren't here for my daughter and I, are you?"

Zero shook his head, and then replied, "Not in the way you might think... I was on my way back to Equestria, when I heard rumors of an alien creature on the same path. I kinda figured you could use the extra pair of hands."

Justin moved his head back in a normal stance, and sighed. "Well... you've definitely shown me that you can handle stealth... but can you handle a fight?"

Zero nodded his head, and then replied, "This sword isn't just a prop, y'know. I know my way around the battlefield, even if it's in a foreign land. Heck... I've even managed to defeat countless enemies with their own weapons!" Then his expression turned into a small frown. "But don't think that I take joy in it... I only fight for those who are good... I can fight in ways that defy gravity, and I have a zero tolerance for evil... thus my name, 'Zero Gravity'."

Justin rubbed his right hand over his chin, hummed, and thought for another few seconds. Finally, when his decision was made, he nodded his head, and then said, "Well, Zero Gravity, if you're true to your word, then you can come with us. Just don't try anything around my daughter, and there won't be a problem. Deal?" He held his right had out, which Zero shook firmly, and nodded his head. "And the name's Justin, by the way... Justin Daniels."

After a few moments of silent flying, Gilded Blade scanned the area with his goggles. "And here I thought they would've at least improved their security!" He shouted through both; his mic and the wind.

Swift replied through his headphones in an equally-toned volume, "No kidding! I can't find a single guard on the outskirts! It's almost like something is going on inside there!"

From inside the dining hall, Thor'lok stood in front of Ruby and Zula; bashing, hacking, and slashing the skulls, the chests, and any other parts of the countless Minotaurs that dared approach them with weapons in their hands. In both of his hands, he held two-headed axes half his size, with blades that reached seventy-five percent of his width, which was around eight feet from shoulder to shoulder. His axes were made of red iron, and was shaped with two blades that lowered close to his knuckles in the front. In the center, they had spikes that were capable of emulating the results of a spear. On the backs, the blades were slightly smaller to avoid damage to the wielder, but were still spiked on the tips to increase the piercing damage.

He roared with vigor, as more and more arrows were deflected with one axe, while a few were even caught between his teeth, and spat out. These actions even caused the enemies' eyes to widen in shock.

"Th... there's just no way!" One of them said in fear, before the front doors opened.

As soon as they turned their heads towards the front doors, they breathed sighs of relief when they found Lord Stonefist walking inside the dining room; a pair of massive swords in each hand, and a glare painting his face, as he walked in.

"Thor'lok! What is the meaning of this?!" He shouted, before pointing his right sword towards Thor'lok. At this point, he was still across the room, standing twenty meters away from Thor'lok.

Thor'lok's glare intensified, as he spat on the ground. "You harm friends! You let them escape! Thor'lok quit, because Thor'lok good guy!"

Stonefist groaned and rolled his eyes, before stabbing one of the swords into the ground. "Thor'lok, we've been over this a thousand times! You are being good when you keep them in that room! Celestia's Blood, what lies have they fed you? That I'm holding them against their will?! Look at the little one, and ask her if she even wants to marry me! I'll guarantee you that she would say-"

"NO!" Ruby shouted at the top of her lungs. For some odd reason, though, when her voice echoed through the room, she heard herself say, "Yes."

"W... WHAT?!" She gasped, before covering her mouth and looking up at Thor'lok and Zula, who were both staring at her confusedly.

"What do you mean... 'yes'? Ruby, he's trying to take you away from us! He's trying to take you away from your father!" Zula said in a concerned tone, as she looked Ruby in the eyes; unable to believe what she was hearing.

Ruby tried shaking her head, and replying with, "I said 'no'! Didn't you hear me?!" Instead, she unintentionally nodded her head, and then replied, "I know that... but it's for the best."

Her eyes moved from Zula to Stonefist, and widened when she noticed one of his necklaces glowing.

While Thor'lok scratched his head in confusion, Ruby's left eye widened towards the necklace, which made Zula turn towards Stonefist again. Then, it was her eyes that widened. "Thor'lok! He's controlling her responses with that glowing necklace!"

Thor'lok looked from Ruby to Stonefist, and gasped. "Y-you... you LYING to Thor'lok! YOU MONSTER! YOU LET RUBY SPEAK FOR SELF!"

Stonefist gave another audible sigh. "Well... I guess that one didn't work... but, I suppose there's a 'Plan B' for a reason."

In a split second, Stonefist appeared behind Thor'lok in a puff of black smoke, and whispered in his right ear, "Zure odol traizio duzu, anaia." "You have betrayed your own blood, brother."

Thor'lok's eyes widened at both; that statement, and his unexpected speed. Before he could turn around to retaliate, though, he felt a sudden sharp pain, as one of the scimitars that Stonefist held before was pierced through his back, and out of his stomach, making him scream in agony, while Ruby's eyes widened, and then filled with tears.

"THOR'LOK! NO!" Ruby yelled, before running towards her fallen friend, only to get lifted by her hair by Stonefist, as Thor'lok fell to the ground on his back, and clutched his wound with his right hand; the one closest to where the new hole was located. "YOU MONSTER! I... I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS!" She yelled at Stonefist, before spitting in his face.

He slowly wiped the spit from his face, and slammed Ruby onto the ground; rendering her unconscious again. "Good... then you will never forget it, either..." Then his gaze turned to Zula, who was leaning over Thor'lok; trying to administer First Aid to his wounds with strips of cloth that she tore from her dress just then. "Don't worry... you will join him, too." Slowly he raised his sword in the air and was about to make the killing blow.

Before his sword could reach over his shoulder, however, a loud explosion, and a sudden violent quake in the room caused his eyes to widen, and his jaw to drop. "What in the name of Tirek was that?!"

As soon as Justin and Zero finished shaking hands, Justin felt a sudden vibration in his back pocket. "Oh... hold on." Quickly, he pulled a metallic device similar to the one Stealth held out of his pocket, and pressed the button on it. "Looks like stations are set. Let me introduce you to the crew, though." Then he held his right hand over his ear and said, "Hey listen up, everybody! We have a new recruit here, so quick meeting on the ship before the attack!"

Zero looked from him to the ship in the distance. "Need a lift?" He asked.

Justin drew another ghost arrow for his bow, and then looked back at Zero. "Nah, but you might."

Zero grinned and spread his wings out. "I worked for the Wonderbolts, buddy... I know how to move quickly."

With an understanding nod and grin, Justin turned his gaze back to the ship, and fired the arrow, as Zero flew down in a blurring speed; cautiously to avoid being seen.

When everyone was back on the ship, Justin was the first to speak up. "Alright, everyone. This here is-"

Pinkie Pie gasped before Justin could even finish. "Oh my gosh! You're... you're..." Then, she started speaking in a speed that caught all passengers by surprise.

"You're Zero Gravity! The most daring-est, speediest, straight-to-the-point-i-est Pegasus Pony that ever worked with the Wonderbolts! Oh my Celestia! I saw you on TV! How did you manage to guide that stray tornado from Manehatten?! How did-"

Gilda rolled her eyes, before reaching into her saddlebag, pulling out a small biscuit that she held onto from the cave, and stuffed it into Pinkie Pie's mouth, muffling her constant speaking. "Pinkie... you're doing it again."

Her statement caused Pinkie Pie to stop speaking, and smile sheepishly at Gilda. "Oops... sorry, G." Then she turned back to Zero. "Sorry, Zero! It's just that my great friend 'Rainbow Dash' told me a lot about you! I... guess I kinda went back to being goofy ol' me!"

Zero chuckled nervously, before turning away. "It's alright, Pinkie... you aren't the first one out here who noticed me." His memories, of course, went back to the family he rescued earlier that day.

After the long and tedious process of introductions, Justin spoke. "Well, now that we know each other, we can... huh?" He suddenly felt a slight pain on his scalp, which caused him to remove his mask and hood; gripping the back of his head shortly after his scalp. Then he let out a roar of pain, as he fell to his knees. His hands started shaking violently; his knuckles clenching into fists. After another moment of head pains, he yelled again in agony, as he felt a surge of even more pain spread across his entire body.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at him, as Pinkie ran to his side. "Justin! Are you alright? What's going on?!"

Before he could reply, his cheeks puffed up, and in the matter of seconds, he spat out a small puddle of blood; letting out a gagging cough as he did.

Then, after taking another moment of deep breathing, he glared at the ground, slowly raised his gaze up towards the fortress, and said in a venomous, gargled-up tone, "Stealth... light the bastards up..."

With a gulp, Stealth nodded his head, and pressed a red button attached to a metal square disc-like remote. Shortly following that, a huge explosion in the front gate. Then Justin stood back up, and said, "Today... I'M KILLING THAT ASSHOLE TODAY!"

Author's Notes:

Oh, sweet Celestia! You would not BELIEVE how much work I've had to do to find time to work on this chapter! And trust me, being separated from this awesome community due to unexpected work thrown at me from my dad (who I still happen to be in the household of, at the moment), and the video below can pretty much explain how I feel when I'm gone... and occasionally when I return, and prepare for the critics to nibble at me. (Metaphorically speaking, of course! I love you all!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp1xnh6_at0

Anyways, I'm sure a lot of you were wondering what's been going on, and a few more might've thought that I must've died, or something. No need to fear though, My Little Bronies! I'm still alive, and kicking! Expect a few more edits in the previous chapters to better represent-ate the new way how I use Emphasis!

One more thing! Zula is no longer on the list of "Available Love Interests"! I have... plans for her, now. *Evil Laugh*