Author's Notes:

Augh! This chapter took far longer than it should have. Took forever to figure out how to introduce some new faces. This is just a surface skim of them though. Next chapter will expand their depth.

Oh the depth in some of them...

Nuzzling further into the back of Twilight’s head, I felt the strands of her mane brushing against my nose and face. The two of us were sharing a slow morning in bed as the fingertips of my right hand drew lazy circles over her stomach, my right arm comfortably tucked around underneath her. She was holding my left arm against her chest with one foreleg, her other hoof making slow motions against my forearm.

The squad we’d been waiting for was set to arrive today. We were meeting them for the first time a few hours. The whole afternoon was set aside for evaluation and preliminary work before anything beyond basic training goals were made. In a way, it was a chance to familiarize us all as a group before starting the more involved planning.

With Nightmare Night less than a week away, I hoped we could take a more gentle introduction to heavy physical training. While Rainbow Dash and I were already at that level, and Applejack shouldn’t have too much trouble adjusting, the others were hardly at military fitness standards. I felt Twilight relied a little too much on magic, even though she had a modest degree of exercise in her routine.

Regardless of the unknown time limits we had to work with for the trials ahead, being so sore that the girls could barely move was both bad for an emergency and for the holiday. Nothing we might accomplish with physical development in that short period of time was going to make any appreciable difference anyway.

It was a thought for later anyway. Something that could wait until Twilight and I were done having our cuddle time and intermittent conversation. Our focus of the moment was yesterday’s full medical baseline of my two body forms.

Don’t even know if I changed in my sleep somehow, or just fell asleep this way last night. The mobile ears on my head or the distance of my eyes from the end of my muzzle. The way my tail shifted when I moved, even the unique difference of moving a leg and feeling my hoof sliding under the covers rather than toes. It was different and not in a way. My regular human form and pony mode were both as comfortable as the other. The sheer lack of oddity to my view of it was the oddest thing about it.

Unnaturally natural? Is that a thing?

Dr. Hoofmeister had also officially been designated as my primary care physician because he was the only non-pony specialist in town and well trusted on top of it. The results that he gave me regarding my physical capabilities in pony mode were unexpected. My mind drifted in that place between mostly awake and partly asleep, nosing still further into Twilight’s mane to relish her presence just a little more, my left ear giving a lazy flick.

Twilight’s wings twitched as she shifted a little deeper into my hold, her voice coming in a soft tone. “It seems like every other time I turn around, we’re learning another unexpected thing about you. Now that you had that checkup done on both your forms, and the trouble we’re expecting, I feel a little worried for you. When you change, you gain far more muscle density and your joints appear almost reinforced somehow from the scans. You even have an estimated fifteen to twenty percent increase just in the suggested tensile strength of your different bone composition and density… I have to agree with Dr. Hoofmeister. Your pony mode really seems to be built to withstand greater physical forces than should be natural.”

I didn’t reply right away, instead taking time to breathe deeply of Twilight’s scent like I suspected I was growing addicted to. The fingers tracing patterns on her stomach stopped, my palm pressing flat against the soft warmth of her belly as I pulled her in a little tighter with both arms. Even though there had been nothing I could call bad news, the results of the tests for my human body and my new second state revealed further mysteries.

The discovery of my new form being substantially more durable, on top of everything else, was raising new questions. It also added growing credence to the hanging one.

Was I somehow designed to be Twilight’s lover and protector?

There was little to nothing I could do about it, and nothing was likely to change even if I did get an answer to that biggest question. It also made me more than a little nervous. What would that kind of truth say about my existence as a whole?

I am getting so tired of having even more new questions, without even answering most of the ones I still have. Couldn’t I have some time to adjust at least? Was that too much to ask?

Another deep breath of Twilight’s scent helped keep me grounded. As long as I had her, it would not matter to me so much. Maybe I lost everything I ever knew on Earth, but that didn’t mean I had nothing here on Equus. Even if it was all relatively new. Twilight is my balance now, regardless of the rest.

The hand pressed against her stomach began faintly massaging, hearing and feeling her give a pleased hum, then reward my efforts with a slight shiver. My voice was a little muffled after I planted a kiss against the back of her mane. “All that matters in the end is it gives me a little bit more of an edge to keep you safe.”

“And I love that I can say being in your arms makes me feel like nothing could ever hurt me,” Twilight said in a near whisper, a sort of glow coming across our link as she pulled my arm tighter against her chest, trying to snuggle that much deeper into my embrace.

Then her emotions took a turn from unsettled into sadness, faint tremors in her form as she gave a tiny sniffle. After a moment longer, she turned over and clung to me as she tried to control her breathing, radiating sorrow, anguish and desperation as she pressed her face beneath my chin. I felt dampness as she held me tight as she could with all four legs and her now free right wing.

My only response was to pull her in tight in turn, my left hand coming up to the back of her head as my fingers sank into her mane. Though I suspected what was on her mind, it was still only an educated guess since our link didn’t share the thoughts behind our emotions. I just held her tight, letting her take the time she needed. She would talk to me when she was ready.

Twilight’s voice was muffled and strained when she finally spoke, along with a rise of determination slowly filling her. “I know Celestia and Luna said there’s no known way to stop you from burning out, and that soul magic is mostly unstudied due to the risks involved, but I am the Element of Magic. I will find a way. There are a number of incomplete ways to deal with the various aspects of your condition. One of those includes a means to shunt magical power before it flows through your body, but that is still mostly theory right now. I already have some ideas coming together though. Even if I dropped everything, it still means several months of research for me to figure this out, but I will find a way.”

As she pulled back, I saw remnants of tears on her face, but there was fire in her eyes too. She stared at me for several seconds before pressing her lips to mine with furious passion before pulling back again and speaking in a confident tone that belied the challenge of fulfilling the task in her words. “I am not going to lose you. No matter what it takes.”

It wasn’t an answer to my gradual soul conversion, brought on by our link forming, though I did appreciate hearing her say that.

The natural ambient magic channeling through me was safe for the time being, but it would eventually overwhelm my less magically-capable body like an overloaded fuse. It was a simple enough process really. Expressed at first as primarily physical heat until there wasn’t even ash left, I’d become a burst of raw mana rejoining the ambient fields as a very powerful surge of raw power. It might also ramp up over an entire day or longer, so I had a very slow experience to look forward to.

I’d go out in a blaze of magnificent glory, at least.

I wasn’t sure if there was going to be a way or not for her to deal with the process I was in the early stages of, with Twilight’s alicorn soul fragment gradually taking over the rest of my own.

I fully believe she could find a way if she has enough time. Problem is, I don’t know if I have enough time to give.

Then again, with all the strange stuff going on with me and all the unknowns, I bet we’ll figure out something soon enough. I saw the breakdown of why Celestia and Luna tell me I’m going to die of mana overflow, but I’ve got almost two years and a lot of options ahead. The thaumic math was a bit beyond me just yet, but I could follow the data they showed me. At least I could understand more than simple graphs by now.

Besides, I couldn’t actually be dying when I felt completely fine. I’m sure we’ll find out it’s some kind of mistake.

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight probably just made a mistake…

The time had finally arrived as the train pulled into the station over thirty minutes late. The members of the squad should be somewhere onboard.

Twilight, Spike and I stood together on the wooden platform to greet them. The rest of the girls planned to meet us later at the field that had been designated as our training area just outside of town.

The usual squeal of brakes sounded throughout the station as the train stopped with a hiss of steam. The doors opened, followed by a few ponies disembarking. Looking to be the last to disembark, the squad members stepping onto the platform from the last car by the caboose were immediately obvious by the armor. The first was a thestral stallion. His coat was a deep gray and his visible tail was black with stripes of midnight blue mixed in. He wore the cobalt blue armor of the Lunar Guard, and what looked like a rugged, drab set of saddlebags and pack. The moment his eyes landed on us he straightened up and began heading our way with a stoic expression.

The other members of the squad stood out in the same way as they left the train, armor and travel packs leaving no question to them being military. I noted a steel gray earth pony stallion nearly the same size as Big Mac in gold armor. His tail was a slightly lighter shade of steely gray. What really struck me was he seemed to have what looked like a slight metallic sheen in his coat and tail, almost like his fur was glinting in the sun. He wore a blank, almost bored expression as he headed our way at a sedate pace.

A pair of pegasi followed after. One was a mare in the different, lighter armor of the Pegasus Force. She had a bronze coat and her tail was a vibrant red. Moving right beside her was a stallion in gold armor with a green coat and a whitish greenish tail, wearing a red bandanna tied around his neck. Both wore relaxed, neutral expressions as they followed their comrades.

Right behind them was a unicorn mare wearing a black cloak with the hood down and a smirk. She had a pale light yellow coat, her uncovered mane and tail had streaks of dark pink alongside multiple lighter pinks, in many ways reminiscent of Celestia’s mane. They looked a bit wild in their style. The moment her eyes landed on me, her smirk got bigger and her eyes twinkled with some sort of mischief.

I already sensed trouble ahead.

Before I had a chance to think much on that, I found myself distracted by the tall form of a female minotaur exiting the train in gold armor. She had a large single, and rather familiar-looking, drab canvas bag slung over her shoulder. She looked to be a mild blue-gray in color and her hair was jet black. I noticed her eyeing me as she headed over. I’d swear she was appraising me with a bit of amusement in her eyes, with her expression otherwise professional. She looked to be a little taller than I was, which was quite a change after only being around ponies for two months. It was also a strange experience to find myself perplexed for the briefest moment upon seeing the form of her chest plate. It was clearly made for a bipedal female form.

I had to give myself a mental shake at that. After two months without the slightest bit of familiar forms in those around me, it caught me off guard to see something generally similar to humans in another living being. Rather than male interest though, it instead sparked a flash of longing for everyone and everything I’d left behind on Earth.

A strange thing to make one feel introspective and somber, all things considered.

A soft bump of Twilight’s wing against my leg made me glance at her. Her face said she would ask what was on my mind later, once we were done for the day.

It had been hardly more than two months since I arrived here by an accident that probably wasn’t. Everyone and everything I’d ever known was hopelessly beyond my ever seeing them again.

I was grateful that Twilight was happy to listen to me ramble about Earth when homesickness hit me. Seems like whenever we’re alone without any specific focus, I end up telling her stories. The antics I used to get up to with my two best friends growing up tended to make her giggle. Or the trials and tribulations of taking care of my daughter when she was an infant.

It helped to talk about the good memories. Aside from the photos my phone had, memories were all I had left of them.

All I’d lost was still pretty raw, even if I had mostly accepted my situation through lack of choice. For now, I refocused myself on the present and forced myself to put it out of mind. Again.

The first members of the group reached us as the train made ready to depart, the earlier delay leaving the conductor to move with haste. The train station was already almost empty aside from the squad and ourselves, most other ponies having hurried away to wherever they were going. It was then that I experienced a moment of confusion. From what Twilight and I had been told about who to expect, we were missing a pegasus.

The thestral stallion stopped in front of us and stood at attention. His deep gray coat was thicker than the average pony now that he was closer, up to and including his fluffier ears. There was also something striking about his midnight blue cat-like eyes. His right forehoof came up in a sharp salute, which was copied by the rest of the squad, despite the smirking unicorn mare being rather jaunty about it.

The stallion spoke in a deep, firm voice that ticked something in the back of my mind. “Greetings, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Guardian Vojin Drayce. I am Major Thunder Breaker. Myself and the other members of the special duty team have arrived as ordered, Your Highness.”

That greeting was about the time it finally registered that the title and rank position Celestia and Luna had given me was going to get salutes directed at me, whether or not Twilight was present. Once I was given enough training as an Equestrian officer, and met the Major’s approval as such, command of the squad would pass to me and the Major would become my executive officer.

I blinked at the thought. It was one more thing I’d have to adjust to. At least it was a weirdness I could share with Twilight, for what that was worth. I enjoyed the thrill of fighting, and never backed down when trouble came up, but I was never military.

Twilight gave him a sheepish smile and waved off the salute. “At ease, Major.” She gave a slight cough. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to that,” she mumbled under her breath. “Thank you for coming. We can’t discuss why you’re all here in public, but I’m glad you are all willing to help us. I have to ask though. Aren’t we missing somepony? I thought there would be one more pegasus coming.”

Major Thunder Breaker made a slight grimace, his sonorous voice again a touch familiar in some way as he replied. “Your Highness, my apologies. I am afraid the Lieutenant Colonel has chosen to forego the train ride and fly himself over. He will be meeting us at the training field at the previously arranged time. I also apologize for our somewhat late arrival this morning. Our train was delayed by some lazy cows sleeping on the tracks. They were being rather obstinate about getting up until the train engineer finally requested our assistance. Why they refused to budge until someone with authority asked, I really do not know.”

“Understandable, Major. Don’t worry about it,” Twilight said with a smile. “Well, we might as well get official introductions done all at once when we meet up with the girls, so let’s just swing by the houses that have been set aside as your quarters so you can all set down your bags. Then we’ll head out to the field where I’m sure we’ll be spending a lot of time after today. And please, just call me Twilight. I don’t really like being saluted or being called ‘Your Highness’ all the time.”

“As you command, Princess Twilight,” the Major replied in the same professional tone.

Though she gave no outward sign, I felt Twilight experience a twinge of exasperation.

Soon enough, we were all gathered out on the training field. The girls were clustered together next to Twilight and I, with Spike standing between us.

Before us was the special duty squad. The large steely gray stallion on one end, with most of the rest in a line to his right, all at attention, with one exception. The smirking unicorn mare on the far end was rather laid back, turning her eye on me often. Major Thunder Breaker and the minotaur female stood a little to my right and separated from the rest at a right angle to the formation.

Major Thunder Breaker spoke to us once the squad had lined up, the same faint grimace coming to his face as before. “The Lieutenant Colonel should be along any second now. He was probably watching us all from a cloud somewhere.”

Like the Major’s words had been a cue, there was a deep boom in the air above, causing us all to look up. A ring-shaped cloud was spreading out overhead, with a sparking cloud trail following behind a pegasus in gold and blue. Rainbow Dash let out a faint, restrained fangirl squeal.

The pegasus stallion was swift in tying his own cloud trail in a knot before shooting into a tight corkscrew. Before our eyes, he caused a sideways cyclone to form as the clouds were drawn in. The stallion was a blur as he forced the air and clouds into shape, shot away from the churning cylindrical cloud mass for a second, then snapping back around in a staggering hairpin reverse I didn’t think was possible.

Another ring cloud spread out the moment he turned around as another boom sounded. The stallion streaked right through one end of the lateral tornado he’d made moments before. A ripping sound seemed to follow him as it looked like he cut a straight line through the vortex and making it dissipate a moment after he passed. I heard Rainbow let out a gasp and another restrained squeal.

My eyes tracked the stallion as he shot down towards us, then flared his wings and made a perfect four-point landing right beside Major Thunder Breaker with little dust disturbed on the ground. There was a cocky smirk on his light blue muzzle, his windswept dark blue tail settling easily with his soft landing. The blue armor with a large gold lightning bolt along the sides looked streamlined and built for aerial maneuvering, while still keeping vital areas covered.

“Greetings, Princess Twilight. Guardian Drayce. I am Lieutenant Colonel Soarin Skies. Second in command of the Wonderbolts Initiative. Reporting for duty.” He briefly let his face go serious as he saluted Twilight, who acknowledged with a small wave of her hoof. Then he smiled as he gave a quick wink and a wave at Rainbow Dash, who appeared to be wearing the most excited grin and struggling to resist dancing in place.

Isn’t she supposed to be familiar with military protocol? Arching a brow in mild confusion, I made a note to ask about later.

Major Thunder Breaker just gave a quiet huff and poked Soarin with a wingtip. “Was the fancy entrance really necessary?”

Soarin chuckled in response as he glanced at the Major. “What? You know I have to step up my game with you around. Besides, it’s kind of why I’m here anyway. You’re the one technically in command right now. I’m just on independent assignment to turn Lieutenant Dash over there into a fully fledged Wonderbolt.”

To my surprise, Major Thunder Breaker rolled his eyes ever so slightly with a small sigh before giving a nod to Twilight as he straightened up, his deep voice still catching something in my head. “Princess Twilight, now that we’re all here, I’ll get things started.

“As you already know, I am Major Thunder Breaker. Active member of Princess Luna’s Shadow Hammer legion within the Lunar Guard. I am also a member of the Night Mother’s Favored. I am your faithful servant and shall function as commanding officer of this squad until such time as I have given Guardian Drayce sufficient instruction on the duties and conduct of a proper Officer of Equestria. Once I have deemed him ready for command, I will function as his second for the duration of whatever we must face in the months ahead, per my orders directly from Princess Luna herself.”

Quietly from her position just on the other side of Twilight, I heard Rainbow comment under her breath, sounding shocked. “They sent us an officer from bucking Shadow Hammer?!”

Major Thunder Breaker turned his gaze to the squad and called out in a firm tone, “All of you will introduce yourselves, your squad sign, and offer a point or two of your purpose here. In consideration that Princess Twilight has demonstrated a preference for more informal greetings, we will honor her as such by being more relaxed but still direct in turn. A quick word on your background to help make yourselves more familiar, if you please. As you have all been briefed upon accepting this voluntary assignment, we’ll be here working with the Princess, Guardian, and the Bearers for the foreseeable future. Remember the standing security mandate. Any discussions of our duties here require anti-scrying preparations and the like from now on.”

He turned his eyes up to the minotaur beside him. “Lieutenant, if you would.”

“Yes, sir.” The female minotaur responded with calm seriousness. “Princess Twilight. I am Lieutenant Bergthora Bronzehorn. My squad name is Boulder. Prior to this assignment, I have been acting as chief biped trainer up in Camp Crucible, north of Canterlot. I’m here to bring Guardian Drayce up to Guard standards in combat for bipedal races. Separately, I’ll also handle all supplies and gear requisitions. If you need something, let me know.”

The idea that she would be a common sparring partner put a small smile on my face. I was looking forward to seeing what she could do with the longsword she had at her side now. I had to assume she was already aware of my fight with Shining Armor during the Trial of Proving that he put me through.

Hopefully she wouldn’t underestimate me based on that. Shining Armor was highly skilled, but he was also well trained against bipedal opponents already. For me, fighting a pony was strange due to them being quadrupedal and so low to the ground much of the time. Minotaurs were similar to humans in a general sense, so I was going to be much more prepared and familiar with how to react to any given movement.

The next in line was the large steely gray stallion. He spoke in a oddly high but flat monotone tenor, his face devoid of all expression. “Princess Twilight, I am Sergeant Major Steady Steel. Squad name is Sergeant Steel. The focus of my assignment is training Miss Applejack and Miss Pie. I am skilled in ground combat and a registered 4th degree master of Depth of the Mountain. That is an Earth tribe martial style. I can break rocks.”

He spoke with such a deliberate slow blandness, it was hard to get any kind of impression from him. It was like I was looking at a live version of what the show had displayed of Pinkie’s sister, Maud Pie. And speaking of Pinkie, a glance at her showed her staring at him with the strangest look.

Seeing Pinkie looking almost predatory was… odd. I also couldn’t help but remember her comment on the train back from Canterlot about her being taken care of as far as a stallion was concerned soon enough. It wouldn’t be that easy for her, would it?

I reminded myself to never question anything she does. That path brings headaches.

Next in the line was the pegasus mare with the bronze coat and vibrant red tail. She spoke in a rather more normal tone and had a respectful yet warm, friendly expression. “Princess Twilight, I am Sergeant first-class Calm Stitch. Squad name is Sterilizer. I’ll be your squad medic. I was recruited to the team in order to train Miss Fluttershy for the same role, on account of her disinclination for fighting and established veterinary knowledge making her well prepared for learning the duties required. As an accomplished practitioner of Iron Wind, I’m also going to help prepare you and your friends for combat.”

She appeared to be rather unassuming. I found I couldn’t help but wonder if her squad name was related to her position or not. If such things were anything like Earth, each would have a story behind them.

Second to last one in the line was the pegasus stallion with a green coat and whitish light green tail. He seemed laid back as he spoke in a familiar accent. “Princess Twilight. Ah am CF Special Sergeant Cactus Root. Squad name’s Dusty. Ah’ve run a lotta different duties fer the Guard. Ah am a certified master of Cuttin’ Feather, so they keep mah wings busy. Ah’ll mostly be providin’ y’all with an advanced sparrin’ partner for now, and extra muscle fer any of the fightin’ we run into.”

Well, I suppose at least one of them had to be a cliche. The stallion appeared straightforward enough. Much easier to read than Sergeant Steel, at least.

No idea what any of what sounded like martial styles were supposed to be, but it would be pretty fun to spar with a few martial arts masters.

When my eyes settled on the pale yellow unicorn mare in the black cloak again, I found her eyeing me, once again, like a piece of meat. An eyebrow lifted as I met her stare.

The more I saw from her, the more it concerned me. And she hadn’t even said a word yet. Not a single peep. Just silent, with odd smiles and obvious lecherous stares.

The mare looked at Twilight with a playful toss of her uniquely colored mane and began to speak in an almost teasing tone. “Heya, Princess Twilight. I’m Disciple Bright Spark. You know, you are so much cuter up close. I’ll be handling combat magic. Files on you, Miss Rarity, and mister handsome, cuddly, and bipedal next to you already gave me a good idea what I can start working on with you, but I’ll need to do a little testing to lock down specifics.”

Then her eyes seemed to harden suddenly as an almost out of place glint flashed, her mouth taking a grim set. “Beyond a bit of teaching, I’ll also handle certain magical challenges that might come up when we’re on assignment. Worse comes to worse, I’ll be your main defense against the worst of the worst. And as per my oath to my Order when greeting those we are asked to serve, my life for yours if necessary.”

Then, as if her expression never changed, she was back to the pervy eyes and confident smirk. “I am so very pleased to meet you.” Her last words sounded almost like a saucy purr, now seeming a little odd after how cold she sounded a moment before.

She also left a distinct impression she was likely a moment away from waggling her eyebrows at me or Twilight. Prior understanding that the Disciples had a penchant for odd behavior appeared on target so far. Makes me wonder if she’s a good example, or a special case.

Also feel like every second or third pony I’ve met has come off like a pervert. Do I have some sort of pervy pony magnet stuck to me somewhere or something?

At least they tend to be interesting to talk to. Cloud Kicker was also good at keeping me on my toes. Still not sure how to feel about her borderline harassment when she’s pushing her boundaries, but it’s a good distraction. Maybe the fact it was a bit problematic and uncomfortable at times gave me a mundane, manageable problem to be bothered by. By contrast to the rest, Cloud’s overtness was almost a welcome headache.

Maybe it’s a bad sign that I’ve taken to viewing that as a sort of familiarity balance against the crazier worries. A kind of problem I might have had on Earth. I had so little around me that was familiar now, even if it was all slowly becoming so.

To keep with the moment, the girls introduced themselves, with myself going last, though I was sure the squad knew who we all were before arriving.

With that, the Major decided to move things along, his deep voice again making me wonder what was familiar about it. “Princess Twilight, for today, we will begin running through initial evaluations and taking stock of where you and your friends are at. Tomorrow will be fairly simple exercise and overview of the things we will be training all of you in. The day after, we will do some first round sparring and see what kind of instincts you and your friends have in the suddenness of combat. Due to the circumstances, we are heavily accelerating the training. I apologize in advance for being tough on you and your friends, Princess. When we sit down for further discussion this evening, I will be able to inform you further of what the Royal Sisters have briefed me on.”

The evaluation process was dull.

As dinner time approached, Twilight and I were sitting in a magically isolated room with Major Thunder Breaker and Lieutenant Bronzehorn. We’d already had to review some paperwork and I’d have to learn how to read and analyze dossiers on the squad members this week. At least the dry stuff was done for today, though considering our current discussion, there was something to be said about things one might accept in trade.

“Yes, Princess Twilight. Put simply, both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia are concerned you and your friends might soon be targeted for assassination,” the Major said in a level tone. “At present, there are no immediate threats identified by intel, but the Royal Sisters are nothing if not quietly careful planners. Whatever has them willing to even mention such a thing without specifics is worth extra caution.”

I’d rather deal with just about anything than see Twilight at risk. If it’s within my power, harm wouldn’t even get a glance at her.

We shared a glance as we sat next to each other, not needing to say a word. Twilight and I would likely talk about it later, but for now we had a meeting to finish up.

“I...I don’t really know how I should respond to the notion, Major. Thank you for the briefing from yourself and Lieutenant Bronzehorn, all the same,” Twilight replied with hesitation.

“We are here to help protect you, Princess Twilight. In due time, you and your friends will be as capable as most members of the Guard as well. If you have no further questions, we can finish this briefing and remove the wards.”

Twilight shook her head, her horn lighting up. “I don’t have anything else. While I take down the wards, might I ask if you’re related to Captain Cloud Breaker, head of the Airship Navy?”

The Major gave a small huff. “While I do happen to be related to him, it’s a double dose of irony. We’re second cousins from two separate Breaker lineages.”

“Why do you say it’s a double dose of irony?”

“Because Cloud is an Earth pony with the pegasus Storm Breaker line. I am a thestral in the Stone Breaker line, which is an old Earth pony clan,” came the Major’s response.

I couldn’t help but smile a little. “Funny how life works sometimes.”

“By the way, Princess, your brother wanted me to tell you he’ll do what he can to fortify Fort Book against the nation of Armor and not to worry too much,” Lieutenant Bronzehorn said with a small smile as Twilight’s cheeks darkened just a little.

As I arched a brow, Twilight gave a mild sigh of exasperation. “Well I know he trusts you a lot if you know that. I really hope he didn’t tell you the whole story.”

The Lieutenant’s smile widened. “I’ve known him for a while. We were on the same squad for a time. And yes, he did. Captain Armor wanted someone he knew personally on this squad, and my being a trainer with combat experience worked perfectly for the requirements.”

We shared a bit more banter for a minute before they made ready to leave, when that nagging about the Major’s voice needed to be answered.

“Major, there’s something familiar about your voice and I’ve been trying to figure it out. I think it finally clicked and I wonder if you’d repeat something in an Earth language for me to see if I’m right. You mind indulging me?”

The Major arched his brow. “I suppose.”

I grinned and said the phrase with care so he could hear it clearly.

Then, in his deep voice, came the phrase in english, “<...Hello, I’m Johnny Cash?> Is that correct?”

That gave me a big smile. “Hah! I knew it! Your voice sounds just like a famous singer from my world.”

“Well I hope you don’t expect me to sing,” Major Thunder Breaker replied. “I can’t carry a tune to save my life.” He gave us both a slight bow. “We will see you in the morning.”