Chapter Ten: The Return.

***

When Elliot walked with Celestia back into her throne room from the gardens, having spent all night out there trying to meditate, he wasn't really expecting much from it. It had been a big request after all. He had asked that any ponies who agreed to join him meet him in the throne room in the morning, where he would begin discussing what to expect.

To his surprise, the moment he entered the throne room he was faced with all nine of the ponies he had asked for help, each of them looking resolute. It took him a moment to realise that each and every one of them was here because they had chosen to join him. When he did, he didn't believe it: he had hoped, but he hadn't expected all of them: hell, he had only really expected True Grit, and that only because the Royal Guard had told him.

"You're all…" he began, looking uncertain. "You're all coming?"

Twilight Sparkle stepped forward, apparently chosen to speak for the group. She cleared her throat.

"We've spent all night thinking it over," she said softly. "And we've talked about it. We can't just let your world suffer, not if we can do something to help you."

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash put in. "We're gonna help you kick the evil Equestria in the flank."

"And then have a big party right after," Pinkie Pie added cheerfully.

The other ponies all nodded, each of them looking - if not exactly happy, than at least resolute in their decision to help. He smiled.

"Thank you," he said softly, then his smile faded. He turned to Celestia, who had sat on her throne while he talked. "I take it there is a way to get back to my world?"

The ponies looked confused.

"Don't you know a way back?" Twilight asked him. Elliot chuckled softly.

"That… is an excellent question. I was sent here by Hell Blazer," he said softly, smiling slightly as he thought of his friend. "I didn't come under my own steam. Plus we both kind of assumed it was a one way trip: if I wasn't killed by the travel, I'd be killed by Solamina: we kind of hoped I'd get her first, mind you, but we weren't relying on it."

There was a pause while everypony thought about what he had said: most of them looked morose - if there was no way to return to Earth, then what could they do to help the people there? Twilight however, noticed that Princess Celestia was looking thoughtful.

"Princess?" she asked. Everypony and Elliot looked at the Sun Princess, who looked unhappy but resolute.

"I know… one way to return you to your world," Celestia said simply, looking reasonably certain of what she was saying, "and though it will take a little while to organise, and is hardly my preferred method to send you home, I am certain it will work."

Elliot nodded shortly, smiling slightly in gratitude.

"Thank you," he said simply. "For everything."

"It is my counterpart who has made this necessary," Celestia said unhappily - it looked to everypony as though she had done a lot of thinking herself during the night. "Be assured, David Elliot - I only wish I could do more."

***

While the group waited for Celestia to sort out their means of travelling to Elliot's world, the human warrior had to do something else. He brought the group to the Canterlot training room, saying that he would explain when they got there.

When they arrived at the small training room, Shining Armour was engaged in some martial art practice. True Grit looked at him oddly, the words he had exchanged with Elliot staying with him. He had always known the Captain was a better fighter than him, but knowing that some version of him had died fighting the other stallion… well, that was an entirely different matter.

"What do you want?" Armour asked narrowing his eyes at Elliot slightly as the group entered.

"Use of the training facilities," Elliot replied quietly. "Unless you have an objection?"

"None," Armour said, slightly sullenly. He moved to leave the training room.

Twilight regarded her brother: did he know what Elliot had asked of them? Did he know that Celestia was allowing it? It suddenly occurred to her that she might not see her brother again: she hadn't considered the possibility that she might die in a battle…

Though it didn't change her decision, she felt the need to do something before he left.

"Shiny," she said softly, moving to stop him going. "I love you, you know that right?"

"Yeah, of course I do, Twily. I love you too," he said, giving her an odd look at the somewhat out-of-the-blue comment. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she lied, all-too-easily. "It's just… it’s just I haven't said it in a while. I… wanted you to know."

"Ok," Shining said, frowning slightly. He gave the human a brief glare, which the man studiously ignored. "Be careful around that… thing, Twily. I don't trust him."

"I will be," Twilight promised softly, privately wondering how her brother would react to what she was planning to do. "Go on."

Shining Armour gave her a last, reassuring smile, and left the room. Twilight turned to look at Elliot, who was going through a series of exercises, the other ponies watching him.

"Um, Mr Elliot… um, sir," Fluttershy said, holding up a hoof to get the man's attention, "what exactly are we… um… doing here? If you don't mind me asking," she added, shamefaced.

The human gave her a look, and then - to everypony' surprise - he smiled.

"Simple," he said. "I want to assess you."

"Assess us?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. "Like… a test?"

"If you like," Elliot said with a nod.

Twilight frowned. Normally she liked tests - but this test was likely going to be… different to the norm.

"What kind of test?" Applejack asked, the Earth Pony frowning suspiciously at the somewhat odd expression on Elliot’s face.

Elliot rolled his shoulder and his neck, and struck a combat pose, facing the group of nine with a slightly cocky grin on his face.

"I want each and every one of you to attack me," he said, holding out one hand in challenge. "And I'm going to assess your combat skills."

The ponies looked at each other uncertainty etched in all their faces.

"Oh dear," Fluttershy said quietly, looking at the ground. "I - I'm not sure I can…"

Before she could continue speaking, Elliot had leapt right at her, faster than any of the group could see, tapped her on the nose, and stepped back.

"You're dead," he said simply. "Lesson one. Hesitation leads to defeat, and in my world defeat is death - or worse." He grinned, the barest hint of sadistic malice in his expression. "Come on then, let's see if any of the rest of you are even close to competent."

While most of the ponies - the coolly professional True Grit aside - looked concerned, Rainbow Dash scowled at the implied insult to her friends.

"Alright then, buster," she said angrily, snorting slightly. "You want a fight, you got one."

Before anypony could stop her, she charged right at him. A moment later, Applejack followed, equally angry. A moment later True Grit charged as well, looking grim. Pinkie, Rarity and Twilight looked at each other, uncertain as to what they should do, and Lyra could only watch the next few moments in fascination.

Rainbow immediately threw a punch at Elliot, who blocked it, grabbing her hoof. He twisted her entire foreleg behind her back, before throwing her away from him just in time to catch Applejack's first buck, which sent him sliding backward slightly on the wooden floor. Grinning, he gripped the ankles of her back legs, spun her once and threw her across the room, before spinning again to block a series of expertly thrown attacks from True Grit, who so far seemed to be the only truly competent fighter in the group.

"What the buck just happened?" Rainbow asked Applejack, who shook her head and growled.

"I dunno, Sugarcube, but I ain’t gonna stop so easily," she replied with a snort.

Elliot dodged more blows from Grit, noting that none of the rest of the group had moved yet. The Guard was good, but Elliot was more experienced, easily dodging or blocking every punch and kick. Suddenly, he spun around, his leg sweeping the ground, and Grit was knocked to the floor.

Suddenly, he felt a kick in the back - Applejack had recovered faster than he had anticipated, and bucked him in the back. He grinned at that, rolling and getting to his feet. At the same time, Rainbow Dash immediately charged at him, but he grabbed her wrist at the first punch she threw, before throwing her straight at Applejack. The orange pony dodged, but Rainbow landed in a heap. Elliot, to his mixed surprise and shame, was enjoying himself at least a little. In a fair few ways, this was as close to therapy as he was ever going to get.

By this point, Twilight had gathered enough wits to throw an offensive spell - a simple stunner, similar to one she had used against the changelings at Shining Armour's wedding. Elliot caught the spell coming and dodged the first one, before - to Twilight's shock - catching the second and third spells in his hand. He gave a smirk, before throwing the spells back in their general direction, where they impacted on Rarity and Derpy, who had been watching in shock at the speed of the engagement. Rarity had time to let out a shocked "oh" before falling over, stunned. Derpy didn't even do that, tipping backwards in unconscious the minute the spell hit her. Twilight grimaced, ceasing her fire.

"Lyra," she called out, "pincer!"

Lyra got the gist of what Twilight meant, and moved to one corner of the training room, while Twilight moved to the other. This gave Rainbow and Applejack time to charge at Elliot again, but their attacks were all intercepted - he dodged a kick from Applejack, blocked a punch from Rainbow Dash, and then diverted the blow from another kick into the Pegasus, who stumbled backward winded, before spinning around and kicking Applejack in the side hard enough to knock her to the ground. He turned around - only to find himself facing Pinkie Pie's party cannon.

"Say hello to my leedle friend," she said in an oddly-accented voice, a grin on her face. She fired the weapon, but impossibly, he dodged.

"Nice reference," he said with a grin. "But beat this."

"… Reference?" Pinkie said, as Elliot made his move.

He ran at the cannon, then jumped up in the air, both arms suspended up in the air either side of him, and then he kicked out with his foot, knocking Pinkie from the top of her cannon to the ground. He landed on the cannon, grinning smugly.

Just in time for a pair of spells to knock him straight off of it.

Twilight and Lyra sent a barrage of the same stunning spell they had used before straight at him hoping to knock him out. Thankfully for Elliot, most of the spells impacted on the cannon. The first ones had only stunned him for a moment, allowing him to rethink his strategy.

"Is he down?" he heard Lyra call out.

"No, don't move!" Twilight called out. Elliot grinned, stood up, and charged at Lyra, who had walked a little too close to his position. He slid on his knees to get closer to her, ending up right near her, and then…

"Tap," he said playfully, bopping her nose. "You're dead."

He grinned, stood up and charged at Twilight, who sent more spells at him. He managed to block each one, sweeping his arm across his field of vision. He reached her, slid tackled her to the ground, knocking her over, and then stood over her, placing one foot gently on her chest as she looked up at him, pressing down just a tiny bit too much for it to be comfortable. She coughed slightly, looking Elliot in the eyes. There was an odd note in them - like restrained fury, barely contained, just waiting to lash out at her.

"Dead," he finally said, sounding far more serious than he had with Lyra. He took his boot off her, and faced the remaining opponents.

Applejack was stunned and apparently not getting up again for this bout. Rainbow Dash and True Grit were still active. Elliot smiled again.

"Come at me," he said softly, his eyes glinting with… something.

Rainbow Dash and True Grit charged again. Dash was as predictable as ever, but her attacks came in faster this time. Elliot managed to block them still, but it was a close run thing. He grimaced slightly as a punch managed to nick the side of his head, but he shrugged it off and backhanded Rainbow, knocking her away. True Grit had reached him by this point, but Elliot was ready, managing to grip onto Grit's hooves and hold them behind his back. Rainbow Dash got to her feet and snarled, preparing to charge again, but as she did so, Elliot launched Grit at her, and she impacted on him, sending them both sprawling.

Elliot smiled slightly at the disoriented bunch of ponies he had just resoundingly defeated. All of them were groaning slightly, except for Rarity and Derpy, who were being woken up by Fluttershy.

"Not bad," he said, grinning.

"Not bad?" Rainbow Dash said, groaning slightly. "Not bad?! You wiped the bucking floor with us!"

"Literally in your case," Pinkie Pie added, frowning. "Not even my party cannon did anything!"

"Think about our relative skill levels here," Elliot said to the otherwise dejected bunch of ponies. "I've been fighting a war for six years, against ponies. I know how ponies are put together from an anatomical perspective, how they fight. I've often fought against groups, all as well trained as a True Grit here." He indicated the slightly shamefaced Guard with a smile, which faded as he continued. "I've killed a lot of ponies. You lot, on the other hand, have never so much as seen a human before me. You didn't know how to fight us, you didn't know how to beat us, and you don't have nearly as much solid combat experience as me. That being said, there was no way you were going to beat me."

"Then why the test?" Twilight asked, a little sore and a little unhappy from having been beaten so resoundingly.

"I never said you had to beat me," Elliot pointed out. "I said this was me assessing you, and let me tell you: you didn't do half bad."

"We still lost," Rainbow said, sounding irritated.

"Yes, and against me when I'm not gawping at someone I think is dead, that's… well, if I'm brutally honest, pretty much inevitable unless you're Solamina," Elliot said, giving her a look. "But you displayed improvisational skills, some combat skill… at this level, if I bring you back to my world, you'll need training up, but you aren't going to be helpless. That's important, and it's very good to begin with."

The group of ponies looked only slightly mollified by this assessment. Elliot laughed slightly, trying to ease them up a little, before sitting down in a relaxed cross-legged pose.

"Alright," he said quietly to them all. "That's enough physical exertion. For all we know, there's gonna be a battle the minute we arrive in my world. The last thing we need is the lot of you being too tired out to fight if you need to."

He patted the ground near him.

"Come on," he said. "Everypony sit down."

Slowly, the bruised and battered ponies sat, forming a small circle. Elliot smiled at them all.

"This is good," he said softly. "This is important."

"What, sitting in a circle?" Rainbow Dash asked, sounding sceptical. Elliot gave her a look and she quailed slightly, but then he smiled again.

"There's something you learn to savour," he said slowly, "when you're in a war, you learn to savour the peace, the moments when you aren't fighting, aren't seeing friends die. You savour the memories of peace, the memory of sitting with your mates. Every moment is sacred if you think it might be your last - and sometimes, you're right about that…"

***

Manchester, March 11th, 2026.

Ten fires burned, small things but still strong against the darkness of a black night. In front of each fire, there was a small picture of a Pegasus pony, and under each picture was a name tag.

David Elliot stared at the fires with a constricting feeling in his chest, but he felt surprisingly light hearted. The names were familiar: the fallen members of the illustrious Grey Squadron. Lightning Dust, Royal Flush, Orange Swirl… but the most important name was the name of the leader of that group - Ditzy "Derpy" Doo.

In front of the fires sat Errant Flight and Cloud Ranger, the last two survivors of Grey Squadron. Ranger was sat alone, brooding, but Errant Flight walked up to Elliot, a grim look on his face.

"Commander," he said softly, using the unofficial rank for the man. Officially, Elliot's rank was only Lieutenant, but the war had destroyed much of the traditional organisation of the armies, leaving a lot of soldiers with lower ranks in charge of larger forces than their ranks would suggest. By virtue of the death of Colonel Paul Watts, Elliot was the Commander of this force, and that was the term by which most troops now addressed him.

"Errant Flight," Elliot said to the Grey Squadron survivor. He turned to look at the ten fires. "As memorial services go, this works very well."

"I thought so," Flight said. He looked at the pyres. "We weren't able to recover most of the bodies. A pyre like this seemed fitting."

"Warrior funeral," Elliot noted with a slight smile.

"A Pegasus funeral," Errant replied, giving Elliot a look. "And it depends on whether you'd say we were warriors." Errant sighed, his eyes still glancing over the pyres sadly. "Flush wasn't, he was a gambler. Derpy…" He sighed. "She didn't like her job you know. Everything she did, she did to keep Dinky out of the war, to win it so her daughter didn't have to fight."

"No, Ditzy wasn't a warrior," Elliot agreed. "But she went out as one."

"I suppose they all did," Flight noted. He sighed.

"What's the future for Grey Squadron now?" Elliot asked him after a moment. Strictly speaking, as the highest ranking member of Grey left, Errant flight was in charge of the selection process for new Pegasi for the squadron. Flight sighed at the question.

"Cloud's transferring to another squadron," he said heavily. "Which just leaves me. I… I don't think I'll be rebuilding Grey."

"Why not?" Elliot asked, looking at Errant Flight with concern. "Grey Squadron's one of the best groups we had…"

"Had being the operative word," Errant Flight rejoined. He pointed at the pyres. "Just yesterday, I was talking to these ponies. They were my friends, my comrades. The squadron wasn't just the name…" He sighed, looking away from Elliot. "It was a family. And they're gone. You know?"

Elliot turned to regard the pyres with a thoughtful expression, thinking back to all the friends he had lost.

"I think I do," he said softly.

"One day, I might bring Grey back," Errant continued, "if this war doesn't kill me first. But until then… until then, I'll do something else. Special forces or something. Might even get Cloud Ranger to join me wherever I end up. Maybe Blue Squadron."

"You wouldn't," Elliot smirked.

"No, I wouldn't, and neither would she," Errant Flight smiled. "Because Blue's a squadron for posers and plotwipes, and Cloud Ranger knows it."

Elliot looked over at Cloud Ranger.

"You wanna talk to her?" he asked the pony.

"Nah, sir," Errant Flight said softly. "That ship sailed."

Elliot nodded, smirking slightly. He looked back to the pyres again, and took out one of his canteens. It only had water in it, but it would do. He passed it to Errant Flight and took out his spare.

"To friends," he said softly.

"Yeah," Errant replied with a smile. "To friends."

They drank, and watched the fires burn, remembering their lost comrades…

***

Elliot sighed at the memory. "You learn to savour every second you have with your friends, because they might never come again,"

There was a moment's silence as the gloominess of the human's words settled in on the ponies.

"Do you know any songs?" Pinkie Pie asked suddenly. Elliot blinked at the question, and even the other ponies looked at Pinkie in confusion.

"Pinkie, I don't think Mr Elliot will know many songs," Twilight ventured. "He's a soldier, he wouldn't have…"

"Actually," Elliot said, cutting the unicorn off, "I know a fair few."

He was actually slightly annoyed at the presumption that his 'job' (not that he really saw fighting as a job anymore) would prevent him from knowing any songs.

"Ooh, can you sing one?" Pinkie asked smiling excitedly.

"Yeah," Lyra added. "It'll be really cool to hear a song from the human world."

Elliot blinked, somewhat surprised by the request. There were other men from other groups who would be better for this than him - Eric or the Undead were men who could sing their woes, express something through their voice. Elliot had never thought much of his own singing.

But they wanted to hear him sing. He sighed, and then he smiled.

"Ok," he said softly. "I'll sing you a song."

He thought back to what sort of songs might be fitting for the ponies to hear. And then he thought back to the night of the pyre…

***

Grey Squadron's Pyre, March 11th, 2026.

Elliot and Errant Flight stared at the little funeral pyres for a good long while. Elliot had never been the religious type, but for some reason a song he had heard a long time ago stuck in his mind.

"Abide with me, fast falls the eventide,
The darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide…"

Errant Flight began singing too, softer than Elliot but with more emotion, his mind filled with memories of his lost friends.

"When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me…."

***

Canterlot, present.

Without realising it, Elliot had sung the first stanza of the hymn, the haunting tune silencing the ponies who heard it. The group sat around him were staring at him as he continued the little hymn, his eyes closed as he remembered those who had fallen.

"Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day,
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see -
O Thou who changest not, abide with me."

There were tears in some of the ponies' eyes as he sang: his voice was rough, but there was real emotion in it, the loss he has suffered tingeing his voice as he sang.

"I need Thy presence every passing hour,
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me."

True Grit had closed his eyes, soaking in the song: though his expression was stoic, there were tears glinting in the corners of his eyes.

"I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me."

Twilight and the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony shared a look between themselves, each of them looking suitably morose. Lyra was smiling, though there were tears in her eyes too.

"Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me."

Elliot had finished, looking up at the ceiling with a contemplative look on his face. Through his mind, memories played.

True Grit, a smile on the face of the scarred veteran.

Ditzy Doo laughing with her squadron between missions.

The Doctor, before his change, a tired smile on his face.

Laugh lines, normally buried, on the face of the Doctor after his change as he laughed about something.

Lyra talking to Hell Blazer before another mission, the yellow former-human smirking at something.

When he opened his eyes, he saw the three of his old friends still, each of them looking at him with eyes filled with unshed tears: though they didn't know the significance of the song, everypony there had been moved by the raw emotion in Elliot's voice.

"Ahem," a voice said, interrupting them all. Elliot looked up, to see Luna standing in the doorway of the training room. Her eyes too held the unshed tears, suggesting the possibility that she had been stood there for some time, listening to the song.

"Princess Luna," Twilight said, voice cracking slightly from emotion. "What can we do for you?"

"Our sister has sent us to collect thee," Luna replied softly. "She has acquired thy means of transport."

Elliot stood up at once, and moved to the door without a word. The rest of the group followed, each of them still slightly caught up in their thoughts about the song Elliot had just been singing.

***

Before they went to meet with Celestia, they were taken to pack the last essentials they needed. Elliot was gratefully reunited with his various weapons, a grin on his face as he gave the daggers an experimental spin. He noticed Rainbow Dash giving the daggers a dark look, and he smirked slightly. It wasn't entirely fair to be vindictive.

Elliot hadn't been entirely fair for a while.

He shook his head. He’d have to jettison that kind of prejudice, especially if he was going to be commanding these ponies in battle. They deserved him being fair, and if he kept comparing them to their counterparts… well, that just wasn’t.

When they entered Celestia's throne room a few minutes later, Twilight gasped slightly at the individual she was talking to.

"Discord!" she exclaimed.

Indeed: standing next to the Princess was the mismatched form of the Draconequus Discord, the recently reformed spirit of Disharmony. To their surprise - and unhappiness - he was looking far more grim than anypony had ever seen him. This could only mean bad things: if even he was looking serious, the situation could only be bad, especially if somepony - well, some Draconequus - who had control over the fabric of reality was looking concerned.

"What the hell is that thing?" Elliot exclaimed, looking at Discord with wide eyes. The soldier had seen many horrors during the war, beings that made no sense to him whatsoever, but this was on a different level. This thing wasn’t from the deepest depths of your nightmares, it was from your drunken ramblings.

"Nice to meet you too," Discord replied, looking grumpily amused. "I take it you're the displaced Homo Sapien with anger issues I've been hearing so much about."

"David Elliot," Celestia said, sounding more than a little frustrated (most likely at Discord), "meet Discord, the spirit of Chaos and Disharmony."

"That's Discord?" Elliot said, eyes wide at the sight of the Draconequus. "Wow."

"You said you'd heard of him," Twilight pointed out, frowning slightly.

"Yeah, 'heard of'," Elliot replied, waving an arm in the general direction of the being. "Seeing is an entirely different matter."

"On that, the good Avatar and I agree," Discord said, walking up to Elliot and staring him in the face. "Ooh, that's a nasty case of magic burnout you're developing there…"

"Yeah," Elliot said, frowning at the Draconequus. "I know."

"And do you know how long you've got left?" Discord asked, grinning a slightly nasty grin. Elliot, to his credit, didn't seem perturbed.

"Enough time," he said cooly. "I would hope."

"We shall see," Discord said, smiling slightly. "We shall see."

"What are you doing here, Discord?" Twilight asked, mentally storing the ‘magical burnout’ topic for later. The Draconequus looked away from Elliot at last and focused his gaze on her with another slightly unpleasant smile.

"I'm here at Celestia's request," he said.

"I've discussed with Discord the possibility of him sending you to Mr Elliot's home world," Celestia added before Discord could continue. "He says he can do it."

"Not only can I send you back," Discord added, frowning slightly at Celestia, "I can also send you back to about a second after you left."

Elliot's eyes widened in shock, and despite his efforts to suppress it, a wide grin came upon his mouth.

He had been gone three days: he had assumed his friends would all have been killed in that time, given the dire straights of the battle as he had left it. Now, however, this Discord said he could send him back at the exact same moment he had gone - that was brilliant news! He might have a chance to save Lyra and Hell Blazer after all, maybe even win the battle!

"That's excellent!" he said out loud, grinning. A thought occurred to him. "Wait, maybe if that's the case, we could hold off on -"

"I figured you might say that," Discord said, holding up a claw. "And no, you have to go as soon as possible."

"Why?" Elliot asked, his face somewhere between annoyed and crestfallen. "If I had three months with these nine -"

"Because I'm interfering enough with three or so days of timeline-bending," Discord said, scowling. "Three months or however long you're thinking would be pushing it too far. There are rules."

"You follow rules?" Twilight asked.

Discord turned to regard Twilight's group with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, believe it or not, I occasionally follow rules, especially when the alternative is obliteration by your annoyed peers."

There was a moment's pause, then Elliot nodded. "Alright, we go now."

"Yes you do," Discord agreed. He looked back at the ponies. "Are you ponies sure you want to go though? I've met humans: a nasty, savage bunch they can be, especially in any iteration of their mid twenty first century…"

"You've met humans?" Fluttershy said with a slightly confused frown. "When?"

"Never mind that!" Lyra said, bouncing slightly with excitement. "What are they like?!"

Discord waved a hand dismissively. "Long story, my dear friends. Suffice it to say, I have lots of hobbies, including annoying a certain French Captain on a rather ugly starship." He frowned slightly. "Let us just say, I know the human race well. They're brutal - well, they can be, though I suppose in the case of your particular branch," he added, looking at Elliot, "that can be forgiven."

"We've made our decision, Discord," Twilight said with a frown. "You won't change our minds."

Discord shrugged. "Either way, it should be interesting. You've had my warning." He looked among the group. "When you're done, I'll know about it, and I'll bring you back… well, pretty much immediately."

"Why not come with us?" Fluttershy asked. Alone amongst all the ponies present, she considered Discord a friend. "I bet you could be a real help!"

"Possibly, my dear," Discord said softly, sounding altogether unhappy. "But I… can’t."

"Why not?" Rainbow Dash asked, smirking. "You scared?"

"Hardly," Discord replied, though there was something off about his comment that almost made it sound as though he was. "But I have no interest in getting involved in that frankly dismal parallel plane. No, I shall leave it entirely to you, I think."

"We could use the help," Twilight said, frowning slightly.

"By and large, Twilight Sparkle, I do not interfere with mortal - that is to say, human - affairs," Discord said with a frown. Then he grinned. "Except to see said bald French Captain in tights, but that's another story."

"Less of the yapping - if you aren't coming, just zap us there already," Rainbow Dash said, sounding irritated with Discord's antics.

Discord shrugged. "Alright. Everypony get ready."

While they spoke, Luna walked up to stand next to Celestia.

"Are you certain about this?" she asked. Celestia gave her a look and Luna frowned: only to her sister would the Sun Princess ever show her uncertainty, and her eyes were full of it. Nonetheless, she nodded, and Luna sighed.

"So be it," she said quietly. Celestia turned to the ponies and the human, a grim look on her face

"Good luck to you all," she said softly to them all. "I shall hope you return safely."

"We'll do our best to make you proud, Princess," Twilight replied, "and we'll do our best to stop Solamina."

"I know you will, Twilight," Celestia smiled. "And I believe you will succeed."

Luna inclined her head at Elliot, who saluted the two princesses smartly in farewell, and then Discord snapped his fingers, and there was a flash of light. And they were gone.

"Right," Discord said. "Anypony for chess?"

***

London, January 25th, 2030.

"Hell Blazer," Elliot said quietly as the makeshift HQ shook and dust sprinkled to the ground. "You know that plan you had?"

Hell Blazer looked at Elliot, eyes wide. "Yeah?"

"It's time," his friend said. "You ready?"

Hell Blazer didn't reply, instead grabbing a vial of salt from his coat pocket. He immediately ushered Elliot into the centre of the room.

"Here," he said. He drew a small circle around his friend. "Remember - once you get there, get to Canterlot, kill Solamina any way you can."

"Gotcha," Elliot said. "I'll do my best."

"I've got faith in ya mate," Hell Blazer mumbled as he began drawing more symbols in salt.

"You don't, but it's nice to say," Elliot smiled. He looked up at the ceiling. "I'm ready."

Hell Blazer mumbled a few words, and then there was a flash of light.

Hell Blazer covered his eyes with his front hoof, eyes stinging from the sheer brightness of the light from the transportation spell. He risked opening them after a moment, the light finally gone (though it had left imprints on his eyes). To his surprise, Elliot was still standing there - along with nine other ponies.

This was not the strangest thing however - the strangest thing was who said ponies were. One of them was the long dead Ditzy Doo of Grey Squadron. One of them was the recently deceased True Grit, now wearing Guard armour and with a longer mane. One of them was the spitting image of the shallowly breathing Lyra Heartstrings still laid out on the table.

And six of them looked exactly like the Elements of Order.

"What the bucking hell?!" Hell Blazer yelled.

"Don't worry," Elliot said, holding up both hands and apparently ignoring the Equestrian oath. "I can explain just about everything."

Author's Notes:

I believe this is what the phrase "this is where shit gets real" was invented for.

Thanks again to everyone who's commenting and favouriting :-)

This chapter was (re)edited 8th July 2015.