Author's Notes:

The beginning events of the story's prologue (when Justin and Ruby were dragged into the other world) are based one month after the return of Nightmare Moon, or during the events of "Boast Busters". At some point in this storyline, it will cross with the original storyline, which will alter the future events from the official episodes from Hasbro in this timeline, leading to non-canon results (AKA. Something will happen that wasn't in the main story.) What that means is that, while Justin and Ruby aren't in Equestria, the events of the show are still going on like the episodes, only anthro-based, and not in the show's direct order. Then, when they run into each other, the events of the MLP storyline in this story will be altered, sometimes in simple ways, while others in more large-scale proportions, possibly even adding more episodes in-between!

The green text at the end of each chapter leads to the song, "Silence Before the Storm", from the game, "Final Fantasy X". I plan to make a fan-based anime out of this story eventually, and might use that song as the ending credits (also giving the proper credits to Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano, the composers of the FFX album, of course!).

(I think it's awesome, and I'm sure a lot of people will agree on that, as well!)

If you want the music to play without losing this page, you can hold CTRL, and left click the link. It will open the music in a different tab. There will also be moments in the story that have sentences in green italic text. Those words are also links, but they will take you to another person's story that requested that I use the italicized event as a reference to their own story, in a "crossover event" between them, where both parties refer to the other one for a short moment before carrying on with their business. More information on this can be found further below, shortly after the "Copyrights 'n Other Stuff" section.

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Copyrights 'n Other Stuff!

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This is, in case you didn't notice, a fan-based story for the hit TV show "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic". I am, in no way, shape, or form, the creator of any of the music, MLP, and all that razzle dazzle, and gain no money from any of this! If you like MLP, and/or the music, please show your support to the ones who properly made it by letting THEM know! If you like my story, and wish for it to develop further, then please let me know!

I do not claim any ownership on any of the characters, except for those I've made up, such as Justin, Ruby, Gilded Blade, and a lot more characters that have yet to be introduced.

I hope y'all can forgive me if the cover art isn't that great. I wasn't really that skilled with drawing, even though I've tried countless times. I will, however, admit that it's improved before, so it can improve as I progress! Also, please be aware that I didn't have a graphics tablet, or anything fancy like that to draw it. The only resources I had was a pencil, paper, a lot of free time, a scanner, and an awesome program called GIMP. (Holding SHIFT while using the paintbrush tool helps... a lot.)

I also don't ask for a critic, so if you have nothing nice to say, then please kindly keep it to yourself. Thank you!

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Crossover Details!

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Are you working on a story that could make a potential crossover with this, but need more views? (IE: Based in the same world, but in different areas?) PM me, and I'll probably be able to throw in a reference for you, as long as you throw something in your story in return!

For example:

My Story: "Justin was walking through Ponyville, hearing a few rumors about something big going on. Along the way, he could've sworn he saw a [Link to your story starts] Unicorn with a black mane, and dark gray coat, wearing a white lab coat, covering whatever he was wearing underneath [Link to your story ends], but he decided that the events in the center of town sounded like they were far too important to ignore."

Your Story: "Dark Mane couldn't stand the thought of his nephew moving into his house, so he decided to walk away from Ponyville, and into the Everfree Forest for a few moments, putting on his white lab coat as he left. Out of the corner of his eye, he could've sworn he saw a [Link to my story starts] tall bipedal creature like him, only it looked like it had a larger beard, little to no fur, and a yellow jacket on. It greatly resembled a human, the creatures found in the local myths that Lyra Heartstrings constantly spoke about [Link to my story ends], but he decided to ignore it, since he was already dishing in way too much than he could chew at the time."

A word of advice, though! My character will eventually couple with Pinkie Pie, so any romances with her in your story would probably lead to a conflict in mine. If that were the case, I could still make a reference in my story where your character appears in a dream she has, or something similar.

Then again, Pinkie IS known to break the fourth wall on a daily basis, so she could probably say something on the nature of "talking to herself on the phone, while her other self informs her that SHE is dating [Your Character], while Pinkie in my world claims that she is dating my character, and that she must be in a [Link to your story starts] different timeline than ours [Link to your story ends]." When she brings it up, however, everyone in our worlds will just ignore it as her just being "Pinkie Pie", except for my character in my story, who would believe that anything is possible in a world filled with magic. Your character, of course, can respond however he/she wishes to respond, since that one would be on YOUR story, after all!

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Okay, folks! As Pinkie Pie would say, "Enough chit-chat! Time is Candy!" Enjoy the show, My Little Bronies!

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The inside of the airship was nothing short of spacious, according to Justin. He was sitting in a black wooden seat, trimmed with gold on the edges, rested below a black, large, and square-shaped table, which also had a golden trim around it's edges, with an added detail to it; a golden eagle-shaped carving in the center, resembling the flag that belonged to Gryphonia, the land that the massive airship departed from about a month ago. Around the table were seven other chairs, excluding the one Justin was sitting in, that resembled said one in both shape, and color, with two on each end. The entire setup was in the center of the huge room he was in.

The flooring was a light brown, with a dark brown square-shaped pattern on the edges of the floor, where the darker wood raised one foot over the brass and gold-colored walls. On the wall that blocked outside the room, however, was a large window that covered most of the wall space. The window was transparent only to those inside, however, and on the other side of the wall, the room was concealed to look like just another wall.

Most of his and Ruby's friends that they made from Gryphonia stayed in Skyhaven, the Capital City of the high-rising kingdom. One of their friends even chose to follow them! He was a Gryphon Mercenary named Gilded Blade. Despite the usual 7 foot heights of the other gryphons, he was a lot more taller, standing at 8'2, while Justin was about 6'1, and his muscles made him twice as wide as Justin, who's arms were about six inches thick. Gilded Blade's arms were about two feet thick, which gave him the "Muscle-Builder" shape that most humans could only dream of having.

Gilded, like most Gryphons, had an eagle-like head, with white feathers from the very tip of the scalp to the bottom of his neck, but on his chest, the feathers shaped upwards, forming a very thin "V"-like pattern, while the rest of his body was covered in brown fur, excluding below his elbows.

From the bottoms of the elbows, his arms and hands were a bright orange color like his beak, and instead of five fingers, his hands had four claws, with two of them that act like thumbs. He had golden eyes that, if shrunk, would make a cat-like diamond shape.

His legs were shaped like a lion's, with the claws retracted in the pads of his paws, and his shins bending further back than a human's. He also stood on his toes like a cat.

He was wearing a dark gray kilt, with a golden belt that strapped it on. Below it, he was wearing white briefs. His chest had a harness on it, with two large shoulder pads that had three spikes on the ends of them, each pointing up, and all at the very tips of the pads, far enough to avoid any contact with his head, even if his arms were lifted all the way up. On his wrists were a pair of iron bracers, which were padded underneath with a thick layer of cotton, wrapped in cloth. Wrapped around his shins were light cloth legwarmers that were guarded with iron leg protectors that ended where his paws were, and covered the fronts of his shins, up to where his knees were. The legwarmers, however, lowered to the centers of his paws, giving his claws enough room to move in and out of the pads of his paws.

Justin sighed and, after looking towards Gilded while lowering the atlas he was given by the locals of Skyhaven, asked in a concerned voice, "Hey, Gilded. I was wondering how much longer it should take us to get to Equestria? I'm kinda worried Ruby might get bored in here quickly at this rate..."

Gilded looked at Justin, and smiled. Then, in a tomboyish accent (the one where he could "voice the leader of a 70's gang of jocks", as Justin would put it), he replied, "Hey, relax, Justin! That's why we gave Ruby all of those toys!" Then, he looked outside through a window, and sighed, with his smile fading quickly. "Looks like we're flyin' over Druathica, though, so it'll probably be about another three months."

That wasn't the news Justin wanted to hear. As soon as he heard that, he groaned, and rested his forehead in his hands, then just sat there silently for what felt like a few minutes. Shortly after his minute of depression, he felt a small arm wrap around him. He lifted his head slightly, only to find his daughter, Ruby, hugging him. Seeing that it was his daughter embracing him in a hug, he couldn't help but smile, as he found his arms wrap around her, avoiding her wings, of course, while gently brushing the back of her mane, avoiding the golden horn on her forehead.

"C'mon, Daddy! It can't be that bad, right? At least Mr. Gilded Blade is with us! Maybe he can tell us a little bit about this place, while we go exploring some more! I hear there's a party going on in the 'Lobby', after all!" Ruby said, sounding much more cheerful than anyone else that was on board. Justin couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm.

"Alright, honey." Justin said, trying to hide his disappointment. "First, though, I need to make sure you look alright! Don't forget, it's important that we hide your wings when you're in public! Oh, and they're starting to come loose, again... here, let me help you." With that, he gently tucked his daughter's golden colored wings back under her dress.

He wasn't sure why they kept on popping out of place, but he decided to just go on about saying it was just a natural reflex for wings to try to stay exposed, due to the discomfort of being tucked into clothing.

After a few minutes of quick inspecting, Justin smiled when he saw the progress on his daughter's appearance. She was a golden coated Alicorn, with a red mane, red eyes, and a dark golden colored dress that lowered to her knees.

On her hooves were black buckled-down slippers, rested on top of a pair of long white stockings that raised just below her knees.

Rested in her hands was a pair of stuffed dolls that were shaped like a bunny and a baby alligator.

"Okay, now I need to get a good look at myself in the mirror, make sure everything's in order, and then we can go. Alright?" Justin asked, to which his daughter nodded with a groan. Checking himself out in the mirror, Justin smiled at his looks, while giving himself a slight whistle. "Who'd have thought a month's worth of work can tone my muscles THIS well? Even when all the stuff was so light!" He asked, as he looked in the mirror once more.

He was a Caucasian human, with a light tan, due to the work he's been doing in the sunlight. He also had light blue eyes, and long brown hair which swooped over his right eye, with a medium-sized beard that covered his face, and lowered down to the bottom of his neck.

On his chest, he wore a modified yellow hooded jacket, made of a lightweight cotton-like thread, but the modifications made it resemble a trench coat.

On the bottoms of the sleeves were fingerless leather gloves, while on his fingers were four rings, one made of ruby, one sapphire, one emerald, and one diamond.

He wore thin blue jeans, which covered his whole legs, and even lowered halfway down the brown hiking boots he wore on his feet.

Below his jacket, he wore a dark gray long-sleeved shirt, which was slightly torn here-and-there, but patched up in some spots.

Wrapped around his right shoulder was a leather shoulder pad, which was attached by a belt that diagonally wrapped below his left arm, but above the right, and wrapped around his right armpit for support.

Around his waist, he wore a large leather belt that was originally intended for minotaur use, but Justin felt the extra protection would be nice.

Rested on his left hip, attached directly to the belt, was a large, magically enchanted, modified saddlebag. The modifications allow it to carry as much objects as Justin wanted, and it wouldn't make the bag bulge, or shift it's weight.

On the back of the belt, Justin had a longsword sheathed on the right, with a shortsword sheathed on the left, both of which had golden hilts, and was sheathed in dark brown sheaths that was made out of leather.

Rested on the back of his jacket, he had a medium-sized wooden buckler, about three feet in diameter, that had a metal ring around it. The buckler was hooked onto the center of the shoulder pad's belt.

Below the buckler, he had a large wooden staff hanging in the opposite direction of the shoulder pad, rested in a "c"-shaped loop built specifically for it to easily clip on and off. It was angled to where the top of the staff was visible behind Justin's left shoulder, while the lower half went slightly lower than the area behind Justin's right knee.

Giving himself one last look in the mirror, Justin turned around, and started to leave, only to be stopped by the sighting of a distant airship. "Huh... another ship? Isn't this route intended for one ship each? ...Eh, must be from another location." He thought to himself, before brushing the thought off, and heading outside the door of his room.

When he reached the hallway that led to the main lobby, he smiled sheepishly at his daughter, who looked slightly annoyed at him. "Daddy! Why do you wear that stuff all the time?! We're safe in here, you know!"

Scratching the back of his head with his right hand, he replied, "Yeah, I know... still, though! You never know for sure, until it happens!" A few seconds after that, the father and daughter ended up rambling on about how "overprotective" he seems to be to her, which she often ended up complaining about, since he rarely gives her freedom to do anything herself.

Gilded sighed, and placed the palm of his right claw on his forehead. "If you two are done arguing, can we go on into the lobby?" After he asked that, the two looked back at him, and smiled sheepishly, before nodding. Then, with Justin in front, the three headed back into the lobby, all while Gilded remained in the back of the line, looking around uneasily. Silently, he muttered beneath his breath, "I only hope they didn't follow me..."

When they made it back into the main lobby, they were surprised to see a lot of guests in there, celebrating some sort of party. From the looks of it, it was the honeymoon of a lucky couple; a Unicorn man, and a Wyvern woman. With a smile, Justin walked up to them, and congratulated them, which they appreciated highly, considering he was a creature of myths. They said to each other, "If even the legends of mythology agree to our relationship, then who are we to argue, eh?" It seemed that the party was open house, meaning Justin, Ruby, and Gilded Blade were free to join them. Of course, due to the long nature of the trip, they agreed without even the slightest bit of hesitation.

The couple told them that they were planning to move to a small town in Equestria, known as "Ponyville", since there were rumors of a dragon being allowed to live there. The thoughts of such hospitality gave Justin hope that perhaps there are plenty of towns out there that could welcome his daughter and he with open arms. He looked towards Ruby, but noticed that she wasn't around him. Before he could ask where she went, though, the couple pointed behind him, while giggling. Following their finger, Justin sighed with relief when he saw Ruby in a group of children of different races, and smiled when he saw that she was getting along with them quite nicely.

Suddenly, Justin felt someone nudging on his right arm, which instinctively made him look to see who it was. It was Gilded Blade, but he had a slightly worried look on his face. Silently, he motioned Justin to follow him, which he did, excusing himself from the table in the process. He was about to get Ruby, but he stopped himself, and silently murmured, "Nah... she needs to spend some time with people of her own peer group." With that, he followed Gilded Blade into a long hallway, only for the two of them to stop in a corner.

"Look, Justin... I need to be honest with you. I don't feel comfortable in here." Gilded said, which won Justin a confused look. "I know what you're thinkin'. How can a Gryphon feel uncomfortable, when he's naturally born to fly. Well, it isn't necessarily about the height that worries me." He looked around the corners of the hallway, before whispering. "I think we're being hunted."

Now, Justin's confused expression turned into a worried one. "You don't suppose it's that ship in the distance, do you?" Now, it was Gilded who had a worried look on his face.

"Ship?! What ship?!" Justin explained his finding earlier, which made Gilded look more nervous. "Justin... we have connections through every harbor! If you really saw a ship, then that means they aren't supposed to-" Before he could finish his sentence, the ship began to shake furiously. Quickly, Gilded rushed towards the nearest window, and peeked out of it, only to turn back around, facing Justin.

Justin saw his eyes were widened, and his pupils were shrunk, confirming that he was panicking. "What's going on, Gilded?!" he asked, now also on the verge of panic.

With a gulp, Gilded looked Justin in the eyes, and replied, "The Black Wing Pirates!"

On the bottom of the airship, there was a large amount of black smoke coming from one of it's rooms. Beside it floated another airship, only this one was made of an iron-like substance, and had a black flag floating on the top. In the matter of seconds, the top half of the ship folded downward, into the lower half, leaving a few meter-long rails on top of a wooden surface. Standing on the wooden surface was a large group of gryphons, diamond dogs, and two minotaurs. All of the crew wore black leather vests, pants, and boots. They also wore red headbands with the pattern of a black bird stitched in the center of them. One of the minotaurs, however, wore a black hat, with a red outline on the center that shaped into a bird like the others.

When they were within range, they gently glided next to their victims, while the minotaur with the hat stepped close to the balcony, and lifted up a massive greatsword. Then, once the crew had the passengers' attention, the minotaur said in a microphone, which was connected to a loud amplifier, "Alright listen up, all of ya! We are the Black Wings, and we're gonna only ask ya once... come to our ship nicely, and we MIGHT just let ya live! Refuse, and ye'll all take a nice long nap... permanently!" The minotaur gave out a loud chuckle, while the doors to the Gryphonia Airship opened, followed by a long drawbridge attaching the two ships together through magnetic power. After it was stable enough, the passengers slowly crossed it, one-by-one, carrying a bunch of goods with them, and all appearing panicked, excluding one. That very one just happened to be Justin, who was carrying Ruby in his arms, instead of bags of treasure.

He had a serious expression on his face, even managing to glare at the minotaur with the hat, who walked up to them with a menacing smile. Ruby, with tears in her eyes, looked up at Justin, and whispered, "Daddy, I'm scared!"

For a quick moment, Justin looked at his daughter, and smiled, while gently whispering, and cooing at her. "Shh, it's gonna okay, honey. I won't let anything hurt you!" When he finished whispering to her, he suddenly halted his speaking, and looked at the minotaur, who was now standing five meters away from him, still smiling menacingly.

"Aren't you afraid of me?" the minotaur asked. Justin didn't say anything, but merely shook his head, which caused the minotaur to glare, and yell. "Do you even realize who I am?!" Again, Justin shook his head, which annoyed the minotaur even more. "Well, then! Allow me to-"

"I'm new here, so I don't really know who you are. All I can gather is that y'all are a bunch of pirates, and judging from how many people here are afraid of y'all, I'd say you're quite famous. Again I say, though, I'm new here, and haven't really heard about you before." Justin interrupted him, but instead of winning another glare and yell, the minotaur merely laughed, followed by his crew.

Justin saw him walking closer, which made Justin place Ruby on the ground behind him, while telling her things'll be alright. Then, he turned towards the minotaur, and extended his right hand, which caught a lot of people by surprise. "Nice to meet you. Name's Justin. Yes, I'm not from around here. No, I'm not a monster. Now, will you please just calm down?"

The minotaur raised an eyebrow, and sighed, before lowering Justin's hand with his left finger and thumb. "I think you've got the wrong idea here. You see, I'm Captain Iron-Hoof, and I'm what you'd call a pirate. This," he pointed his massive sword towards the others, "is my crew. We're not here to discuss pleasantries, either! We're here to loot you all, and take you all as our prisoners!" At this point, he was standing over Justin, who's head reached his chest.

Before Justin could respond to Iron-Hoof, a loud shriek caught his attention, and made his heart rate go up by a landslide. He turned around, and quickly began rushing towards his daughter, who was being dragged against her will by a bulky black-coated diamond dog. "Hey! Leave her alone!" Justin yelled, catching the diamond dog by surprise. He was about twenty meters from Justin, but Justin was lowering that number quickly.

When he was within range, however, he was quickly lifted off his feet by none other than Iron-Hoof himself, who was holding him in one hand; is left one, of course. He smirked, and held Justin over the edge of the railing, by the neck. Hearing Justin's choking noises, Gilded Blade stepped up, and yelled, "Put him down, Iron-Hoof!"

Iron-Hoof stopped for a moment, and turned around, ignoring the continued choking noises Justin was making, and smiling menacingly at the angry gryphon. "Well well... look who we have here! Gilded Blade!" Then, his smile turned into a glare, while he growled between his teeth, "Long time, no see." He spat on the ground in front of Gilded Blade, before continuing. "If I remember correctly, YOU were the one that killed my brother!" As he said "YOU", he pointed his sword at Gilded, before pulling Justin back over the rails, allowing him to catch his breath.

Gilded grinned slyly at the angry minotaur, before raising one of his claws in the air... one that Justin instantly recognized the meaning of... it was, ironically, the middle claw. Apparently Iron-Hoof also caught the meaning, since he literally exhaled smoke through his nostrils. "You forget, Iron-Butt... it was YOU who betrayed the Mercenaries, and it was YOU who invited your brother to do your dirty work!" He lowered his middle claw, before continuing. "Your brother tried to kill me, so I only did what was necessary!"

"The necessary thing you should've done was die!" Iron-Hoof yelled, now stomping towards Gilded. When he was within reach, he stopped for a moment, and sheathed his sword on his back. Then, after cracking his knuckles, the other minotaur held onto Gilded's arms, which met with very little resistance.

When Gilded was completely pinned, Iron-Hoof raised his right hand and, with all his might, swung his fist at the left side of Gilded's face. When it collided, a string of blood ended up flying into the air, while Gilded yelled in pain, and just a second after the punch, he lowered his head, with a few drops of blood falling from his face and beak.

Then, he slowly lifted his head up, glaring sharply at the laughing minotaur captain, while breathing heavily; unnervingly large portions of blood lowering from his forehead, and circling his left eye, along with more blood below, and on top of, his beak.

After about ten seconds of silence, Iron-Hoof lifted his right hand up again, but this time, it was stretched out, and hovering over his left shoulder. Then, he swung his hand again with the same amount of force, resulting in a painful back-handed slap to Gilded's right face. The impact of this one made him loudly grunt in pain, while the crew laughed again. Justin was about to rush up there and help Gilded escape, but ended up being, quite literally, dog-piled onto the ground.

After turning around, and grinning at the commotion that was going on, Iron-Hoof chuckled. "Well, I'd guess the fun's over, now!" With that, he slowly drew his sword again, and raised it up, preparing to deal the final blow.

"Please! Don't hurt him!" Ruby screamed from the background, which caused Iron-Hoof to turn his head over his right shoulder, getting a good look at the screaming filly. Then, his eyes widened when he saw her back through a mirror that was conveniently placed near the wall that led to the inside of the ship.

"Wings, AND a horn?!" Iron-Hoof asked in a bewildered tone. "So that would mean..." Then, he gasped, and pointed his left finger at her. "You're an Alicorn!" That sudden statement caused the rest of the crew to gasp.

"I-I'm a... a what?!" She asked, now slowly backing away.

With a grin, Iron-Hoof lowered his sword, and left it to fall to the ground, before slowly approaching Ruby. Justin, however, was yelling for him to get away from her, but he wasn't listening. "You know... it's the royalty that fetches the best prices!" Iron-Hoof said in a chuckled manner, which made Ruby only back away further.

Suddenly, Justin used his Ruby Ring to burn the paws of the Diamond Dogs that were holding onto him, before rushing towards the captain, hands on the handles of his swords, prepared to strike. Before he could even cover half the ground, however, the other minotaur quickly grabbed him by the neck, and raised him off his feet again. This time, however, there was nobody to stop him from his intentions, which was given a nod from Iron-Hoof.

While slowly walking Justin to the edge of the rails, he lifted him over his head, giving Justin the chance to watch his daughter get picked up against her will by a group of Diamond Dogs. With a grin, the minotaur said in a menacing tone, "Don't worry, mate! We'll take good care o' her!" before throwing Justin over the rails, as he watched the two ships fly away. Looking down, Justin's eyes widened, as he just then noticed that they were about tens of thousands of feet in the air, and he was quickly lowering that number by every passing second.

After slightly crying, he closed his eyes, and prayed that his daughter would be safe. When he was nearing the ground level, the sounds of the pirates laughing at him while he was thrown from the rails still haunted his mind. Before then, though, he saw his whole life flash before his eyes. "Huh... I guess those rumors ARE true..." he thought to himself. A few short seconds later, everything went dark.