“Alright, let’s see how many Ruby Slippers I’ve got,” I muttered, reaching into a small pocket dimension.

“Ruby slippers?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What are shoes gonna do to help us?”

“That’s the name of a potion I created,” I replied. Finally, after a bit of digging, I came out with two small bottles of clear, sparkling red liquid. Shaking them a little bit, I added, “This is how I can bring others with me to other dimensions, or times, without screwing up the continuity of their story.”

“How does it do that?”

“Well, to understand it, you gotta know what I typically make it out of.” I uncorked one bottle, and sniffed it, making sure it was still fresh enough to last. “Oh, that’ll do nicely,” I grinned.

“Okay, what do you make it out of then?” Dash interrupted, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, right! Ruby Slippers. Basically, I make them out of two critical ingredients: dust from a Sorcerer’s Stone, which creates temporary immortality, and my own blood.” At her wide eyed look of shock, I quickly said, “My blood dilutes the immortality, making them ageless, but able to fall in battle, while also giving them the ability to return to their point of origin.”

“Wow. That’s pretty useful!” Pinkie said, looking at the crystal bottles. “So how many people are you bringing?”

“Unfortunately, my last stock of potion got destroyed in a lab accident, and now I’m down to two doses. This means I can only bring two people…but who?” I asked, scratching my beard.

“Didn’cha say somethin’ ‘bout bringing in an old friend to help us?” Applejack reminded me.

“Yeah, Gordon.” I smiled, and laughed for a moment. “He’s one of my old friends. Heck, he was one of the ones who helped me meet Jenna!”

“Really? Wow! Is he a really strong fighter? Or a superhero?!” Dash asked excitedly.

At this, I had to stifle another laugh. “Sure, he’s strong in mind…Not so much in body. Ask him to lift a suitcase, and he’ll get winded after a few stairs,” I joked. “Gordon’s a wizard. Extraordinarily powerful one at that.”

“So he’s like a human version of Twilight?”

“No! Twilight is potentially much stronger, and she has better social skills,” I deadpanned.

I drew a circle in the dust with my sword, and sealed it off with a snap of my fingers, filling it with energy. “Give me a moment; I’m bringing him here now.”

“How do you know if he’ll even WANT to help us?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

“Simple. The spell will give him a warning, and he can ignore it, or accept it. Like a friend request on facebook, only less annoying.”

The circle started to glow a faint white color, giving off a radiant glow that filled the room. Slowly, but surely, shadows began to dance around the room. Images of blazing wildfires, freezing blizzards, and roaring thunderstorms flickered across my field of vision. The ponies winced, and in a loud voice, I began to chant in a rhythmic tone. Dust rose up from the floor, surrounding me, and the circle, in a tornado-like cloud, occasionally crackling with electricity.

Finally, an unfamiliar voice rose above the noise of the vortex, and said, “Alright, alright, I’m coming! I just need a mom- AAAAAAHH!”

A black robed figure with ash-blonde hair stumbled out of the circle, and fell to the floor in a tangled heap. I got up from the circle, grabbed his arm, and lifted him to his feet. We gave him a quick dusting off, and he sighed in displeasure.

“Great, I just had these cleaned. Do you have any idea of how hard it is to get dust and dirt out of these robes?” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, good to see you too buddy,” I said sarcastically, before giving him a high-five, and pulling him into a one-armed hug. “How’ve you been?”

“I would be better, if I had more warning.” I ignored his complaining, and handed him the potion. He eyed it for an instant, before saying, “Hm…I’m not quite familiar with this potion. Your own creation, I assume?”

“Yeah. I call it a Ruby Slipper. Shut up and drink it, kay?”

He sighed, but lifted the bottle to his lips and poured the contents down his throat. After a bit of spluttering, and gasping, he finished it, and choked out, “Okay, not the worst I’ve had.”

“Right. Well then, let me get the other guy here. You guys can introduce yourselves to each other while I do that,” I said, stepping back into the circle.

Now, the real question is, who is it gonna be? I can only afford to bring one more person here, and I need them to be ready to fight an entire army. Someone who’s used to fighting things like changelings, or dragons, but who can actually take on an entire army of them…they’ve gotta be able to turn the tides, and preferably look scarier than Hell.

Wait. I think I know someone who fits the bill entirely!

“…Magic, talking, ponies.” Gordon ran a slender hand through his hair, and shook his head in amazement. “I fought demons, an undead suit of armor, and found out that my father is literally death itself, but…I fail to understand how PONIES, of all things, are sentient.”

“To be fair, a race of nearly hairless, bipedal creatures seem just as strange,” Rarity pointed out to him.

“Touché, salespony…touché…” idly, he snapped his fingers, and conjured up a small fireball to light up the cave.

“So…you’re Gordon, then?” Fluttershy asked meekly. She had to constantly fight the urge to hide behind Rainbow Dash, as this tall, slim figure appeared slightly terrifying to her. That, and the fireball he held in his palm didn’t really help out at all.

Gordon tensed, as he realized that now, after years of practice, and failed attempts, he would have to do something he could never do right.

Socialize.

“It’s nice to meet you,” the Pegasus continued. “I’m Fluttershy.”

“Hello, my name’s Gordon,” he automatically replied, his brain falling back to his list of default responses he had memorized from a book. “What’s yours?” He then smacked himself on the forehead, and muttered, “Wait, you already said my name! No! Hold on, I know the right response!”

Immediately, and without any warning whatsoever, a pink haired blur popped in from ABOVE HIS EYES and yelled, “HI! I’m Pinkie Pie!”

“Gah!” he shouted in surprise, stumbling backwards. “How did you do that?!”

“Well, I took a big breath of air, and then I let it out and said-”

“No, how did you just go from-but you were over- and then you popped in!?” he pointed at her, and tried to make sense of what had just happened.

Pinkie Pie giggled, and responded with a casual shrug. “I dunno! I just leaned over you and said, “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!’.”

Gordon tried to form a coherent response, but as Pinkie was still defying the laws of physics by hanging over his head, it was admittedly a little hard for him to do so. This pony was pretty much laughing in the face of everything he believed was true about physics. Did that extend to the rest of them as well?

Before his sanity snapped, he was gladly distracted by the sound of Omnius shouting, “Ah ha! Now this is what I call backup!”

I had a wide smile on my face, as I rejoined the others. Bowing to them, I said, “Mares, Gordon, and Royalty…”

A thunderous THUD echoed throughout the cave.

“Please, give a warm welcome to my good friend…”

A second thud reached our ears, shaking dust from the cavern, and making us all shake a little.

“A space marine, and mighty warrior, who happens to owe me a few favors…” I grinned wickedly, and pointed at the hulking figure that had just entered the light. “Captain Titus.”

The Ultramarine nodded his head at the awestruck ponies. Even the princesses and Shining Armor seemed to feel a little intimidated by the giant, power-armor clad man that towered over them.

“It is an honor to meet you all,” he said finally, breaking the silence.

I turned to him, and asked, “Did you bring what I asked you for?”

He opened a metal fist, and dropped a keychain with his emblem, a golden skull with wings set in a sort of loop, into my hand. “Use it wisely,” he cautioned.

I summoned my blade, and slapped the keychain into place. A bright flash lit up the cavern for an instant, before disappearing as quickly as it had come. Grinning, I swung the sword experimentally, and laughed. “Oh, now we’ve got a chance at this,” I said, hefting my new chainsword Keyblade onto my shoulder.

Captain Titus nodded, and I quickly tried to get introductions out of the way. Once everyone knew everyone’s name, Titus looked to Princess Celestia, and asked, “Is she the ruler of this world, then?”

“One of them,” I answered.

“Hm…” Titus looked closer at Celestia, as if he were debating with himself over something.

I shrugged, and elbowed his side. “She could technically be considered an alternate-reality version of the Emperor, if you think about it.” At his questioning gaze, I continued, saying, “Well, think about it…Virtually immortal, heroic, legendary…kind and benevolent?”

Okay, maybe the last one was a stretch, but you never want to call the God-Emperor anything BUT that, especially when an Ultramarine is standing right next to you.

Either way, Titus sighed, and said, “Very well then. For now, at least for the duration of this mission, I will refer to her as the highest power.”

“Good.”

Gordon cleared his throat then. “Speaking of ‘the mission’…well, what’s our plan?” he asked. “What are we up against, for that matter?”

“Alright, let me get you all up to speed…”

“…You haven’t really changed that much, have you?” Gordon said weakly, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

“If by that, you mean I still constantly get into situations that spiral out of control as fast as possible, then yeah, that hasn’t changed,” I said cheerfully.

Titus seemed to still be slightly uncomfortable with the idea of an alternate-reality pony version of his Emperor, but then again, there was a mission to be completed. Not only that, but one of his brothers was in need of his help. That took precedence right now.

“So, we all clear on the plan then?” I asked everyone.

“What plan?!” Gordon shouted. “Your ‘plan’ is basically to just go out there, metaphorical guns blazing, and try to take out as many of them as possible!”

I smiled. “When has the plan been anything different?” I joked. Gordon rolled his eyes at me, but let out a small smile. It was just like old times.

“So…we’re doing this for the pony, then?” the wizard asked, glancing at the unicorn that was in the corner. “And…you’re in love with her?”

“Yep,” I instantly replied.

“…A pony?”

“Unicorn if you wanna get technical,” I shrugged.

Gordon sighed, and shook his head. He gave Twilight one last look, and said, “Well, if that’s what makes you both, erm, happy, then I guess I can’t really say anything against it.”

“Smart move,” I chuckled, clapping him on the shoulder. “Shall we get out there then?”

With that, Gordon, Captain Titus, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, and I strode out of the cavern. The rest of the girls, and Shining and Spike, would stay behind to pick up any stragglers that managed to find their way there. That, and Shining would keep up a constant shield around Twilight at all times.

Our job was to get out there, and take care of any beast that got close enough to hurt her.

Easy enough, right?

“…The armies got a bit bigger, I think,” I muttered, as we stood on the ledge that overlooked the field where our enemies were standing.

Indeed, now the Diamond Dogs were equipped with heavier armor, and some of them were swinging crude swords at us now, howling in excitement for the upcoming battle. The changeling swarm seemed to double in size, and it looked like the dragons were the only ones who remained the same.

“Who am I fighting?” Titus asked, looking at the army nonchalantly.

“Titus, you and Celestia are going after the changelings,” I instantly said, going with my instincts on this one. “Gordon, you and Luna are gonna take out the dragons. Stay up here, fire as much magic as you can.”

I hefted my Traveler’s Blade off of my shoulder, and charged down the mountain, calling out at them, “I’ll handle the dogs! ESPERANTO!”

After I said that, all Hell broke loose. Soon, I was lost in the horde of Diamond Dogs, while everyone else went for their targets.

Titus ran down the side of the mountain, his weight literally starting several small avalanches. Without hesitation, he activated his thruster pack and launched into the heart of the changeling swarm, his chainsword hacking through them with ease. “FOR THE EMPEROR!” he cried, smiting his foes in the instant they had been foolish enough to challenge him.

Soon, though, his momentum started carrying him down towards the ground, as gravity resumed control over him.

Fine by him. Now he could squash the foes that were underneath him.
Many of the changelings, or whatever it was that Omnius called them, attempted to assume his form, but with mixed results. Some of them just took on a patchwork blue color, while others increased in size, but only some of his power-armor had been able to be copied onto them. Either way, they failed to copy his appearance, and only wasted precious time, as he brought his sword closer and closer to them.

“Feel the wrath of the Emperor!” he called out, as he slammed his boots on the heads of the insects that were unfortunate enough to be in his path to the ground.

The impact was quickly absorbed by the armor, but a changeling, larger than the rest, had crashed into his weapon, and managed to tear it out of his hand. Now weaponless, he started throwing punch after punch at the changelings, but they kept coming at him faster than he could take them down.

Before he knew it, he was buried beneath a mass of black, squirming changelings.

And in the next instant, they were quickly vaporized by a beam of white hot energy. When he reopened his eyes, he was stunned to see the white Alicorn standing before him with a look of fury in her eyes. Her horn glowed, and his chainsword returned to his hand.

“Keep fighting,” she commanded, before taking off in a majestic blaze of light.

If he had any doubts that she was the Emperor of this world, they had just been eradicated.

“FOR CELESTIA!” he shouted, as he rushed once again into the swarm.

Another bolt of thunder shot out from Gordon’s fingertips, where it struck a dragon right on its eye. The dragon roared in pain, only to have its wings quickly covered in a thick layer of ice, preventing it from flying properly. The wizard then clapped his hands together, and the dragon fell from the sky, and crashed into the forest below.

And then three more dragons rushed towards him in a vengeful fury.

“Oh, COME ON!” he shouted, as he ducked behind a boulder. “These things just don’t give up!”

“WIZARD!” Luna cried out, leaping behind the same boulder. “Are you injured?”

Gordon shook his head, and said, “No, I’m fine. But there are far too many dragons for my lightning to take out. If we really want to start reducing their numbers, I’ll need more power!”

“What do you need?” the princess of the night instantly asked.

He scoffed, and said in a cynical tone, “Unless you are capable of summoning a storm for me to call lightning from, I highly doubt that there is much we…” he trailed off as he watched Luna fly off into the night, her horn glowing a faint blue color.

Realizing that she had something in mind, he scrambled away from the boulder, and threw several flaming darts at the dragons. They did little to no damage at all, but they managed to catch their attention, allowing the Alicorn to fly higher into the sky, where she proceeded to…

“She can summon clouds,” Gordon deadpanned. “She’s a talking pony, who rules over the night, and she can call storms up. Of course.”

In almost no time at all, dark, charcoal colored storm clouds had appeared over their small battlefield, and Luna smirked at the look of awe on Gordon’s face. “Is this big enough?” she asked.

“Oh, this shall be entertaining,” he chuckled.

While the dragons tried to fly to a lower altitude to avoid the storm clouds, Gordon removed his gloves, and raised his hands to the sky. While he started chanting the words to a magic spell, his eyes started to glow a bright blue, as he channeled more and more energy into his frail body. The air started to crackle with electricity, and the Luna felt her fur stiffen in anticipation of the upcoming attack.

One of the dragons seemed to realize what was going on, and he attempted to rush the mage…only to be met with a gigantic bolt of lightning that shot out from the clouds. Before it could even screech in pain, it quickly disintegrated into a pile of ashes.

Gordon cackled, and started calling down more lighting, all while humming an all too familiar tune.

More dragons charged at him then. Some of them attempted to bathe him in a torrent of flame, but to no avail. Luna would divert the course of the fire with her magic, while Gordon would instantly fry them with another bolt of enchanted lightning.

As he reached the crescendo of the 1812 overture he had been humming, the storm roared above his head, and a tremendous explosion of thunder beat against the ears of the dragon armada.

“You won’t survive to regret this!” Gordon shouted.

More dragons appeared, and filled the skies.

“…Um, I mean, you have a lovely set of scales?”

They roared in unison, and Gordon winced.

“Okay, I’m just gonna keep zapping then.”

I ran towards the massive group of Diamond Dogs, and swung my blade at the nearest one. The sword easily tore through his armor, and the dog howled in pain. Pulling the blade back, I kicked the dog into another nearby group, scattering them. As I swung my sword at them, another dog tackled me from the side, knocking me away from them.

I pushed the dog off of me, only to have another take its place. Before I knew what was happening, more and more dogs threw themselves on top of me, and began pummeling me. I threw my hands up to take the worst of the hits, but they were relentless. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get back up. Every time that I managed to throw off one dog, two more were ready to keep beating at me.

In a desperate attempt to get away from them, I started to hit the ground with my fist. If I was right, then I was just above one of their tunnels…

“OH JEEZ!” I shouted, as I fell into a narrow tunnel. Above me, the dogs had confused looks on their faces.

Well, this is a fine pickle, isn’t it? Stuck in a tunnel, hiding from some dogs that are too stupid to look underneath all the dirt and dust to search for their prey, and I’m fairly certain some of my ribs are broken again. I’m supposed to be keeping them from getting to my girlfriend, and the rest of our friends. Oh, let’s not forget that there’s an army of them against only one of me.

Yeah. Things aren’t looking up.

For a moment, I heard something whisper in my head, “Just stay down…you’re not strong enough to fight them…Give up.”

No. I can’t. I made a promise.

“But you’re weak. Injured.”

So? I’m also insane, because I’m apparently talking to myself. That’s never stopped me before.

“You can’t do this. You are only a small spark of light, in a desolate ocean,” the voice sneered, taunting me.

I slowly pushed myself to my knees, and said/thought, “You might be right about that…but there’s something you need to know.”

My eyes started to glow a fierce, burning orange, and the dogs finally noticed me. Some of them turned away from the mountain they had started climbing, and rushed at me, howling in anticipation of the kill.

[Right now, I’d suggest listening to “Man on Fire ~ The Megas”]

“Sometimes, to ignite a blaze of friendship…” I started whispering.

The air around me started to ripple slightly, as if caught in a massive heat wave.

“An inferno of love…”

Small embers started to dance along my fingers, while tiny tendrils of smoke curled up and rose into the air.

“And the fires of creation…all it takes…”

I snapped my fingers, and a small spark jumped off of them, and fell to the ground.

“Is a spark.”

Suddenly, a gigantic pillar of fire shot out of the ground, and engulfed me in a bath of red-hot flames. Any dogs that were unlucky enough to be caught in the blaze were gone in an instant. Not even their ashes remained.

When the pillar died down, I smirked at the dogs, and clenched my fist. Fire erupted from the ground, roasting the dogs around me, and I shouted, “BURN! BURN AT THE HANDS OF THE BLAZING ANGEL AURA!”

Enormous tongues of flame shot out from my arms, and I went into a fury, completely annihilating every single dog that had been foolish enough to challenge me.

“Can you feel the fire!? Can you see your cities burn!?” I cried out. More fire poured out of me, incinerating everything. Any of the dogs that managed to get close enough to land a serious wound on me were burned just by standing too close to me.

For what felt like hours, I fought through the dogs, pouring all of my energy into the attack. I didn’t bother holding back this time. When you’re fighting an army of this magnitude, and two goddesses are already helping you, you kind of get the green light to let loose.

Finally, the dogs seemed to realize that if they wanted to survive, it would be best to cut their losses and flee, while they still had the chance.

“Yeah, RUN!” I shouted after them. “And remember that I’m waiting for you the next time you want to get an uber-charge from a unicorn turning into an Alicorn!”

[Music over]

Once they were all gone, the fires died down, and I swayed on my feet.

“I guess I put too much energy into that attack,” I mumbled tiredly. “If it kept her safe though…”

I collapsed to the ground, and closed my eyes, too weary to do anything else.

“Worth it.”

Gradually, I felt my mind start to piece itself back together. “Ugh…okay, I’m not doing that again,” I groaned. “Too much energy in one rush…Gah…”

Attempting to stretch, I was surprised to find that I was tied to…something. What? Wait, where am I for that matter? The last thing I remember is me using my Blazing Angel Aura, and passing out afterwards.

“Ah, excellent. You’re awake,” I heard an all too familiar voice say. “Why don’t you open your eyes, and look at the face of your new great and powerful master?”

I swallowed nervously, and cracked open an eyelid to see a powder blue unicorn in a tattered purple cape standing in front of me.

“Oh, Trixie is going to have such wonderful fun with you,” she laughed.

Shite.

Next Chapter: 14) Ties That Bind Estimated time remaining: 56 Minutes