[ 3rd Person POV ]

Ace strode purposefully through the corridors of the ancient castle deep in the Everfree, Spike at his side. Shadows danced across their forms as they moved through the patchy lavender light cast by small balls of magical energy along the walls, though neither of them paid them much mind.

“So what’s the situation?” Ace asked, one hand gripping the handle of the sword strapped to his hip.
“You heard about the explosion at Zecora’s place?” Spike retorted. He waited for Ace to nod before continuing. “Well, we caught the guy who did it sneaking around the gorge below the castle.”
“How close was he to the refugee’s?”
“Not very.”
“Good.”

The man and the dragon turned a corner, nodding briefly to a random pony before descending a flight of stairs, eventually ending up in the castle’s dungeons.
“I thought the dungeons weren’t in working order?” Ace asked, looking to his draconic companion sceptically.
“They’re not,” the drake huffed. “We’re improvising.”

They turned another corner, finding Twilight sat on a small stool, book in hand and horn alight. Further inspection revealed that a large, purple wall had been constructed out of raw magic, fully blocking one of the many dilapidated cells.

“Twilight,” Ace spoke, gaining the mare’s attention. “How’s the prisoner?”
“Quiet,” the lavender alicorn replied, motioning to a large, black-bladed, double-bearded axe with a scarlet handle. “We confiscated that from him, but we couldn’t get him to give up his mask. He’s made no attempt to escape so far.”
“Thanks. I’ll be seeing him now.” Twilight nodded, creating a small opening in the wall, which Ace quickly stepped through. It sealed behind him, locking the man in with the mysterious prisoner.

He wore a simple pair of ash-grey sweats over his charcoal fur, bandages covering his entire upper half and his feet. Ace couldn’t see his face, as the way he sat, cross-legged with his head down, caused his long, shaggy, charcoal-coloured hair to fall forward, the scarlet tips blocking any view.
“So,” Ace began, staring down at the prisoner. “Let’s talk.”

With it’s whirring, cough of an engine going full, the TARDIS slowly manifested itself at the edge of a thick forest. Once it had fully arrived, the Guardian poked her head out with a smile.

“Ah, here we are!” she said in her lightly accented voice. “Universe EN101. Should be quite a nice one here.”
Her companion, Screwball, followed the Time Mare out into the new world, looking around. To her disappointment, it seemed to be just like the world she knew. “This one doesn’t seem very different,” Screwy sulked.
The Guardian couldn’t help but giggle a little at the filly’s reaction. “You must remember, Screwball, not every universe is going to be drastically different from your own. Now come along, we have much to see.”

Screwball sighed, following the elder mare in the direction of a nearby village. The two trotted along, though the Guardian certainly had a cheerful spring in her step, making the filly smile and giggle. Seeing the strange alien so peppy always had a way of making her smile. Once the pair reached the edge of the village of Ponyville, though, the Guardian forced the filly to a stop by putting her hoof in the way.
“Huh? Why aren’t we going in?” Screwball asked, a little annoyed her curiosity was left unfulfilled.
“I may have made a small miscalculation in coming here,” the Guardian said, looking wide-eyed into the town.

Screwball’s head tilted in confusion before looking as well. What she say was mind boggling to say the least. The citizens of the town, which appeared to be made entirely of solid gold, certainly were not ponies by any means. One would easily say that they were monsters. And they were everywhere, not a single pony in sight.

“Uh, Guardian, are there supposed to be monsters in Ponyville? ...an is it supposed to be covered in gold?” Screwball asked, a mixture of fear and confusion running through her veins.
“No, no there are not,” the Guardian said plainly, watching as a bomb-shaped robot with razor sharp teeth walked by not twenty feet from them. “Just back away slowly, sweetie. Let’s get back to the TARDIS before any incidents arise.” Screwball nodded, walking backwards with the Guardian until there was no chance of being seen. Together they raced back to the alien ship, locking the door to prevent any from entering by chance.

“What the heck were those things?!” Screwball panicked, rushing to the Guardian’s side as she flipped switches and pressed a variety of commands into the central console. “There were monsters! In a GOLDEN Ponyville! What is going on?!”
“We’ve arrived later in the timeline than I had originally aimed for,” the Guardian said as she read over a constant stream of data and code on the screen. “Much farther.”
“But if the monsters have Ponyville… then where are the ponies?”
“That’s a good question,” the Guardian nodded. “Let’s try and find out, shall we?” The mare quickly sped around the console, switching switches, dialing doodads, and wheeling wheels. “Increase the scanner’s range a little, search for any equine-ish life, and… voila!” The screen lit up, showing their position with a brown dot and many series of coloured dots further into the forest. “See? Look at that! Looks like all the ponies fled to the Castle of the Two Sisters. Convenient for us! Don’t bother strapping in, Screwy! This is gonna be a quick trip!” The Guardian pulled the lever, causing the TARDIS to lurch and send Screwball screaming into a pile of junk.

The ship rumbled and shook for a good long moment before settling back down again. “Well, that went better than expected,” the Guardian said with a bright smile.
“Pleh!” Screwball exclaimed as she spat out a very large screw. “Yeah, it went swimmingly.”
“Oh… sorry ‘bout that. Maybe I should have had you strap in.”
“Ya think?!”
“Ah ah ah, no lip, missy. Now come on, adelante!” the Guardian proclaimed as she cantered to the door. Screwball sighed, using her propeller hat to fly out of the junk and follow the Time Mare. Guardian opened the door, only to have the sight of several, anthropomorphic ponies pointing spears at her and Screwball while the others watched from the sides with a mixture of fear and disbelief.

“Well… this is going to be fun.”

[A Few Minutes Prior…]

Ace sighed, rubbing his temples in exasperation.
“So you refuse to give us anything?” he asked, receiving a low grunt from the prisoner. “Ugh, fine. Stay in here for a few days, see if that loosens your lips a little. Twilight!”

On cue, the wall opened up again, resealing once more once Ace had stepped out. The man opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted when a stallion in shoddy leather armour sprinted round the corner.
“Princess Twilight! Ace!” the stallion shouted, pausing to catch his breath. Ace raised his brow at the stallion.
“Yes, Private? What is it?” Twilight asked.
“W-we have a situation in the old throne room,” the guard wheezed. “Two strange creatures that look like quadrupedal ponies just appeared.”
“What!?” Twilight shot to her feet, moving to sprint out of the room before Ace stopped her.
“Twilight, stay here. You know full well that the barrier gets weaker the further you are from it.” He paused, looking to Spike. The drake nodded, moving to leave. “Me and Spike’ll check this out.”
“...Fine,” the princess huffed, sitting back down and re-opening her book.

Ace turned, sprinting out of the dungeons and heading for the throne room as fast as he could. They had set up a medical bay in there, so if someone was attacking, they would have the easiest time in there.

The man shot around a doorway, skidding to a stop in the centre of the room with Core Strike drawn. He faltered when he saw a small, wooden shed sat where the thrones would have once been, a mare and a filly stood in front of it with at least seven different spears pointed at their throats.
“...You’ve got to be kidding me…” the man groaned, striding forwards. “Are you really some kind of Time Lord Displaced?” he asked, dismissing the guards with a wave.
The mare giggled with a bright smile. “Well, you’re partially right. A Time Lord I am, but a Displaced I am not. I’m the Guardian and this is Screwball. It is nice to meet you, Ace.”
“Not going to ask why you know who I am,” Ace groaned, rubbing his temples. “What are you doing here, if you don’t mind my asking.”
“To see you, actually,” the Guardian replied, never losing her cheery disposition. “You see, I’ve travelled the multiverses for a long time and after so long, I’ve decided to share my knowledge about you lovely little Displaced.” As she spoke, the Guardian cantered around the room, even grabbing a piece of fruit from a guard with her magic, taking a bite without stopping her speech. “So, I have little Screwball here- oh this is delicious, Sweet Apple Acres? Ah, doesn’t matter- Anyway! Screwball has always been curious about your people, so! Here we are, ready to learn about your exciting… monster filled world. You know, I had that planned out better in my head; odd how things always sound so much better in there, quite remarkable isn’t it?”

Ace stared at the mare for a moment before sheathing Core Strike with a sigh.
“And what exactly is it you want to know?” he asked. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re not exactly in the best of places right now. The Doom Raiders are active after I have no idea how long - honestly, they should actually be dead right now, they’re that old - and we’ve been forced out of Ponyville. Ponies here are either hurt or traumatised, some died in the attack, and some even went missing entirely.”
Hearing all that quickly made Screwball shudder and hide behind the Guardian, who sneered at the Displaced. “I can understand you’re going through a rough time at the moment, but that is no way an excuse to make a little filly upset. If need be, I can help you. But you’ll have to allow me to do so. Is that acceptable?”
“Sure,” Ace sighed, running a hand through his hair. “We could use all the help we can get. I’m not even sure where Celestia and Luna are.” He paused, looking to the Time Lord with tired eyes. “And I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset her. I haven’t slept since the attack, and now we have some… guy that blew up Zecora’s hut, but he won’t talk!” The man slumped down on an empty cot with a groan. “I didn’t sign up for this…”
“Won’t talk you say?” the Guardian said, a hint of intrigue shining in her eyes. “Now that sounds like something I can help with. Show me the way, good sir!”

Ace stood, wordlessly leading the two visitors towards the dungeons. He motioned for them to wait for a moment when they reach the final bend, turning it himself to find Twilight still buried in her book.
"You know," he said, stopping beside the mare. "I never did ask what you were reading."
"I thought I'd go through the book you found on Skylands," Twilight replied, not looking up. "Who did you say the attackers were? The 'Doom Raiders'?"
"Yeah, that's them." He paused, scratching his chin. "Hey, I think I have a way to make Mister Silent talk."
"Really? How?"
“That would be me,” the Guardian spoke up, spooking Twilight.
“Uh…” Twilight stared at her for a moment before leaning in towards Ace, whispering in his ear. “Why is she a quadruped?”
“Multiverse,” he said simply. “Now, we need to see the prisoner again.”
“Oh, right, sure.”

With that, Twilight opened a small hole in the magical wall, allowing the man and the mare through. The Guardian stopped though, telling her little companion to wait with Twilight.
“Aw, but I wanna help!” Screwball whined.
“Not with a criminal, Screwy. I’m not putting your life in danger on purpose, after all. Just wait with the funny looking Twilight.”
“Hey!”
“Fine,” she huffed, sitting on her rear end with her forehooves crossed.
The Guardian quickly followed Ace into the cell, stopping a couple feet from the crook. “So, this is who we’re dealing with? Has quite the criminal look, if I do say.”
“Yep,” Ace grunted, poking the prisoner with his toe. “Blew up Zecora’s hut. We found him skulking around in the gorge below the castle, thankfully not too close to the refugee camp we had set up down there.”

The charcoal-coated man below them looked up for the first time, revealing a silver-grey coloured metal mask covered in crimson flame decals, cut so that it wrapped around his long snout, following his jawline. His amber-coloured eyes shone like flashlights out of the dark holes of his mask, shock and disbelief evident to any who looked into them. After a moment, the shine faded, and he lowered his head once more with a huff.
“Well that’s new,” the Guardian said with a slight smile. “But certainly not the talkative sort. Hmm, perhaps a little magic will change his mind.” Her horn lit up with a golden aura, the same aura appearing around the criminal. “Oh, OH, oh mhmm, oh that makes sense.” Her horn powered down. “Well, the spell I was trying to use isn’t going to work. There’s no way to get him to talk. Because, well, he can’t. We have a mute on our hooves here.”
“Mute?” Ace asked, kneeling down. The prisoner glared up at him. “Huh. So how do we question him? Pen and paper?” The mentioned objects appeared in a lavender flash. “Thanks Twi!” He handed them to the prisoner, cutting his hands free. “Now you behave and write down your answers, okay?” He stood back up, straightening out.

“First off - what is your name?”
The prisoner wrote down his answer before showing the paper. Don’t have one.
“How is that possible?”
I denounced it.
“Why?”
Wouldn’t you like to know?
“This isn’t getting me anywhere…” Ace turned to the Guardian. “Help me out?”
The Guardian smiled and moved a little closer to the prisoner. “Well, you’re not being very friendly and helpful, now are you? But, I suppose we could always skip the interrogation. After all,” her horn lit with magic again, “There are… alternatives to extracting the information we need. I’ve been told breaking down the walls of one’s psyche is quite painful, most are never even the same again. But if you want to do it the hard way…”
The prisoner quickly scribbled something down, taking a little more time than before. The Guardian smiled a little smugly as he held up the pad.
I have witnessed my entire species be burned to ashes by my own hand. I have little to no control over the powers I hold if I don’t remain perfectly stable in mentality. I am constantly terrified of harming anyone that I get close to just by sneezing. So if you want to unleash an unstable, raging inferno on all of the ponies in a twenty mile radius, then by all means do your worst.

Ace read over the words with a frown, staring into the prisoner’s cold, stony gaze when he was done.
“Who are you…” he whispered before turning to the Guardian. “I don’t think he’s bluffing. What do you want to do?”
The Guardian never lost her smile. “Well, that’s easy.” She turned to the prisoner. “You see, I have a vehicle that can take me any where and any when I want to go. It would be quite simple to shove you in and just take you to the most horrifying of places. There’s an entire planet filled with bugs that like to latch on to living organics and burrow into their skin to make homes. Or how about a cluster of asteroids where the inhabitants dismember each other as a way of saying hello?” She pushed her muzzle right into his face. “I have seen and done things that would make you go white with fear and I know how to make you experience the greatest pains that even Void Dwellers avoid. Do not toy with me mister, now tell us what we want to know.”
The prisoner gave a sigh as he began writing again, holding the pad out once he was done.
To be honest, I have no idea what it is I’m being accused of. I’ve done nothing wrong. I was walking through the gorge trying to find a place to sleep. I started sneaking when I noticed there were ponies because I didn’t want to risk their safety, so I was going to leave as fast as I could before some blue mare with a rainbow-coloured mane barrelled into me shouting about Zecora - who, by the way, is a dear friend of mine that I would never even think of harming.

Ace stared into the prisoner’s eyes for a moment before nodding, turning to the wall.
“Twilight, drop the barrier,” he called, banging his fist on the purple structure. “He’s not our guy.” The barrier dropped, revealing Twilight with her face still in her book and Screwball still sat pouting.
“About time,” the lavender mare stated, not even looking up. “I was beginning to get a migraine.” She turned a page. “So what ha-”

She was cut off as an explosion shook the ground, throwing her off of her chair. Ace grabbed the wall, managing to keep his balance.
“What was that!” the Alicorn yelped from her new location on the ground. Ace blushed hard when he looked to see Twilight in a very compromising position, rear end raised and skirt hiked up.
“You might want to fix yourself, Twilight,” the Guardian said, covering Screwball’s eyes. “There are children around.”
“Hey! What’s going on? Why can’t I see?”

Twilight blushed, flipping over and pulling the hem of her skirt down as low as it could go in an attempt to save her dignity. She glared at Ace, who merely stared at the wall with a dazed expression.
“Well?!” she demanded. “Aren’t you gonna go see what that was?!”
“...white…” Ace replied, barely above a whisper. He snapped out of it just in time to dodge a bolt of lavender magic, scrambling out of the room with Screwball and the Guardian, dodging magic bolts the whole time.
“You might want to consider switching to pants, honey!” the Guardian called out to Twilight.

Ace spied a small platoon of guards sprinting past the turn-in for the corridor, eyes narrowing as one of them slowed to a stop before creeping into a side door, seeming not to notice them.

“What’s he doing…” he muttered, moving to the door with the two visitors in tow. He crept forward, slowly reaching out for the door handle, his fingers curling around the cold metal. He motioned for the mares to keep quiet, carefully pulling the door open and slipping through. They were shocked to find themselves in an empty utility room - no guard in sight.
“Oh, this is what I love about this old place,” the Guardian said in a chipper tone. “There’s a hidden passage in here, well they’re everywhere really. Hmm, but where’s the switch? Whatever those guards are up to, I don’t think it’s for the betterment of their own kind.”
“It better be,” Ace growled, running his hand over the walls. “I seriously hate it when someone betrays their home. It just feels like the worst thing you could do.” He sighed in annoyance, leaning closer to the wall. “Where is that…”
“Found the switch!”

Ace whirled around just in time to see Screwball push on a brick in the back wall, causing a trap door to swing open below her hooves, dropping her into the dark space below. “Woohoo!” I heard her scream out in joy.
The Guardian walked over to the hole and looked down. “Those sisters and their fun.” She shook her head with a chuckle. “Well come on then, Acey! Adelante!” She jumped in after her companion. Ace shook his head with a sigh and followed.

The man was surprised to find himself landing quite quickly, the feeling of cold metal appearing beneath him as he began to slide downwards. He could just make out the faint shape of the Guardian ahead of him, eyes widening when she began to rise. As he followed, however, he realised that the slide curved upwards, so he reasoned that there was some kind of enchantment altering the gravitational pull of the slide.

Before long, Ace saw a small square of light ahead of him, tumbling out not long after the Guardian and landed on top of the mare, eyes shut from the surprising brightness of the room.
“Well now, Ace, I never expected you to be so forward,” the Guardian chuckled.
“Wha…” Ace muttered, eyes inching open as he adjusted to the light. As soon as he looked down, however, his eyes seemed to work just fine, snapping open as his face turned a dark crimson.

Below him, with her hind legs open and him between them, was the Guardian, a cheeky, half-lidded gaze directed right at him. He scrambled back, apologising profusely as he did so.

The Guardian laughed heartily. “Oh calm down, child. There is no worries. I wouldn’t expect you to do anything so crude.”
Screwball tilted her head. "I don't get it."
“L-let’s keep it that way,” Ace stuttered, pausing when he realised where they were. “Wait… is this a bedroom?”
The Guardian looked around the rather spacious room, noting there were several symbols of a certain celestial body. “Well I’ll be, we’ve landed smack dab in Celestia’s bedroom!” She laughed a little. “Oh old Celly, you never cease to amaze.”
“No kidding…” Ace breathed. “Hey, is it hot in here?” he added, before clutching at his head, groaning in pain.
Screwball sniffed the air, sticking out her tongue, then put her hoof up. “There is fire nearby,” she said in a spy voice. “I can feel it!”
“Well, this is Celestia’s bedroom,” the Guardian pointed out. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the little minx played with fire on her downtime.”

“Oh, god!” Ace suddenly shouted, causing the mares to jump slightly. “That’s not just a fire, that’s a freakin’ inferno!” He looked around the room frantically, before his eyes locked on the old, four-poster bed pushed against one of the walls. He rushed forwards, gripping the corner and pulling with all his might, but to no avail.
“Here!” he shouted, grunting with strain. “It’s here! I know it is!”
“What’s here?” Screwball asked, watching Ace as if he were stranger than her own father.
“Just be quiet and learn,” the Guardian smiled, allowing Ace to do his thing.

The man eventually grew frustrated with his lack of progress, standing back and glaring at the bed.
“Move!” he shouted, drawing his sword and slashing at the posts. “Move, dammit!” The blade glowed sky-blue for a moment, morphing into a longer, lighter weapon: a katana. He took a few steps back, breathing heavily as he pulled the sword level with his eyes. The blade glowed sky-blue once more, and Ace let out a wordless roar as he slashed at the air, sending himself flying forwards and cutting the bed perfectly in half, straight down the middle. He staggered back again as the two halves fell away from each other, revealing a hidden metal box covered in strange runes that glowed red with power.
“Oh wow! Hidden treasure!” Screwball zipped over to the box, hugging it tightly. “I call dibs!” A sizzling noise came out, causing the filly to sniff the air again. “Something’s cooking!” She looked down to see her belly turning red and smoke coming off. “Oh, it’s me!” A couple moments ticked by before… “YEOWCH!” Screwball shot off and started bouncing between the floor and ceiling.
The Guardian couldn’t help, but laugh uproariously. “Oh Screwball, you nutty filly you.”

Ace crept closer to the box, sweat dripping from his brow.
“Is…” he murmured, narrowing his eyes at the box. “Is that…”

“Yes, Portal Master.” The three turned to see the guard - an Earth Pony with a red coat and white mane - they had been tailing stood in front of a wardrobe, sneering at them. “Golden Queen knew Celestia would have hidden it here, and now you’ve lead me right to it!”
“So not only are you traitors, you’re flat out rude,” the Guardian sighed. “Typical henchmen syndrome. Honestly, you’d think guards would have more class.”
“This is a Skylanders universe,” Ace sighed, raising his katana and falling into a battle-ready stance. “All of the villains are assholes, no matter how minor. Just look at Kaos.” He glanced to the Guardian, then to Screwball. “Either of you ladies know how to fight? Or do you like to run like that other guy?”
“Violence is so uncivilized,” the Guardian chastised. She smirked and put herself in front of Screwball. “Good thing I don’t care about being civilized.”
“Actually, the Samurai were pretty civil.” Ace twirled his sword. “They believed in the honour of a fair fight, and would take their own lives if they dishonoured their opponents.”
“Are you really giving a history lesson to the time traveler?” she asked with a deadpan.

“Right, of course…” He paused, looking up to see the guard stood there fuming. Literally. “Woah! You okay there, hotshot?”
“Don’t patronise me, you disgusting creature!” He paused, steam blasting from his ears and nose. “You and those abominations need to leave our world alone! You foreigners are the problem with Equestria, and the Golden Queen is going to purge you all from our land!”
“And yet,” the Guardian said, strutting in between Ace and the guard, “It’s not Ace the ponies are hiding from. It’s your Queen that they fear. Fear never leads to a proper leadership. It always fails in the end because there is always gonna be those that won’t give in to the fear, they won’t be frightened by you and your queen. They’ll tear you down and throw you out. You are the problem with this and any country. Ponies who are afraid of the unknown and would rather have it destroyed and forgotten than embrace the change and make something better of yourselves. How despicable!”
“And he’s racist, too.” Ace spat. “Never could stand a racist. True dirt of any economy.”
“Rrraaaaaaaarrgghhh!!!!!” The guard burst into flames, shocking all three of his opponents as he roared to the heavens. “Enough! I've had enough talk!" He narrowed his eyes, flames flickering across his hands. "Let's dance."

With that he punched at the air, sending a fireball at the Guardian. “Oh dear!” she shouted, ducking underneath the ball of fire, causing it to hit the far wall… and completely melt the stone. “Well… that’s a thing.” The Guardian looked to Ace. “I suggest tactical retreat.”
"We can't." Ace replied, slashing vertically in front of himself and blocking another fireball with the solid air created. “We can’t let whatever’s in that box fall into the Golden Queen’s hands. Especially if it’s what I think it is.”
“Oh blast,” the Guardian groaned. “I am really not meant for this. Robots and drones, I can fight. A living fire creature… I don’t think I have anything that could help with that.”

“I AM NOT LIVING FIRE!” the guard cried, erupting into flames once more. “I HAVE BEEN GRANTED THE POWER OF A VOLCANO! AND I WILL HAVE THE ETERNAL FLAME!”
“Aaaand there’s the conformation I was looking for.” Ace said, "We need to move the box.”
“Well if it’s the box we need to move…” The box was covered in the Guardian’s golden magic, lifting into the air. “Ha ha! The box isn’t magic proof! Do you know what that means?”
“We get the heck out of dodge?” Screwball asked innocently.
“Eeyep! To the window!”

Ace took the lead, smashing whatever glass remained as he leapt, swiping his blade across the sky. Screwball was the first to follow, and Ace breathed a sigh of relief when she landed safely on the invisible platform he had created.

The Guardian, however, did not.

“Oh dear!” she shouted, falling further down. Thankfully, she landed safely on a cloud that had been passing by. “Hoo! Good thing I remembered that old cloudwalking spell, eh?” She looked up and saw Ace and Screwball up above. “Mind giving a lady a lift, dear boy?”
“Uuh…”
“Ace, use your Life Element.” Kaze no Ran’na spoke up, causing both Screwball and the Guardian to jump.
“Finally decided to wake up, huh?” Ace joked, shaking the blade a little. “Okay, how does Life work then?”
“Picture yourself as a greenhouse. Allow nature itself into your being.”

Ace did as instructed, watching with a grin as the katana glowed a vivid green colour, becoming much more flexible and taking on a longer appearance. The grip molded around his hand, vines entangling his fingers and wrist, improving his grip immensely. When the light faded, a long green whip laced with blood-red thorns sat in his grip.

“Nice!” Ace shouted, snapping the whip at a nearby flagpole and grabbing Screwball. “A thorn vine!” He jumped, swinging downwards towards the Guardian with a grin. “Togetsuru!” He landed on the cloud without a problem, flicking his wrist to call the whip back to himself. “Hop on, milady,” he added, a cocky grin gracing his lips.
“Well aren’t you so coy now,” the Guardian smirked, jumping into Ace’s arms. “Be careful, I’ve got a hot box.” She floated the box into view just to make the point. “And if memory serves, I know just what to do with this little trinket.”
“All I care about is getting it and that guard away from the refugees,” Ace said, using his new whip to swing off the cloud and towards the ground. “This’ll definitely be handy, though.”

At that moment, an explosion of fire erupted from the bedroom they had just escaped from, a flaming form rocketing out and hovering in the air above the castle.
“Oh, come on!” Ace cried, throwing his free hand up. “He’s the Pony Torch?! So not fair!”
“Stop whining and get us back to the dungeon!” the Guardian reprimanded. “We have to get back there on the double!”

Ace immediately began sprinting towards the castle’s main doors, using the whip to pull one open before they reached it. He looked back to the Guardian as a thought crossed his mind.
“Wait,” he said, frowning. “Why are we going back to the dungeon when I just said we needed to get him away from the castle?”
“How else do you fight fire?” Screwball piped up as she flew by his head, using her propeller hat to float. “With fire, of course!”
“Very good, Screwball,” the Guardian praised. “Do try to keep up, Ace. Your adventure has only just begun, can’t have you getting behind already.”
“Wait, what kind of fire is in the-” He stopped, eyes going wide in realisation. “The prisoner!” he cried, speeding up and using Togetsuru to swing around the corner into the stairwell leading to the dungeons. When he landed at the bottom, however, he found the room empty. “Dammit! I forgot we released him!”
“He’s still in his cell, silly,” Screwball pointed out.
“Oh…” Ace turned to see that the prisoner was, in fact, sitting in his cell, simply polishing the blades of his axe. He ran over to the mysterious man, kneeling down in front of him.

“You have to help us,” he said, panting heavily. The man just looked at him. “I know we put you in here against your will, but you said it yourself. You try to keep ponies from getting hurt.” He paused to point at the box still floating in the Guardian’s magic. “Well ponies are going to be hurt because of that box. There’s a madpony out there, and we can’t let him get what’s in the box. We need your help in getting rid of him.”

The man just sat there silently for a moment before lunging forward, tackling Ace to the ground just as the stone above where he had been previously melted completely, the blazing guard floating down through the hole.
“Well isn’t this nice,” he sneered, launching a fireball at the door, causing it to melt in on itself, sealing the four of them in. “You’ve gone and trapped yourselves for me.” He sneered at them, holding out his hand. “Now give me the box.”

The Guardian pulled out her sonic screwdriver and activated a high pitch scream that slammed into the fire elemental’s ears. He spasmed, covering his ears as they bled. “That won’t stop him for long,” she cautioned, looking at the prisoner. “Please sir, these ponies need your help. If you don’t, then they, and countless others, will die. Your power will save them. Fulfill your destiny!”

The man stared at her, snapping to the guard when he let out another roar of pure rage, his flames bursting outwards as he did. Ace, Screwball and the Guardian braced for what would surely be an extremely hot end, but nothing came. When they opened their eyes, they saw the prisoner stood before them, arms wide as a wall of flames sprung from wall to ceiling, absorbing the guard’s flames. When the onslaught ended, the prisoner brought his arms together, clapping as the wall folded in, slamming together and sandwiching the guard between them. He raised his axe, the blades bursting into flames that doubled their size as he sprinted forward, performing an upwards sweep that sent the guard flying though his own hole and through many others like it, eventually rocketing off into the distance.

He turned back to them, resting the now-extinguished axe on his shoulder.
“Awesome!” Screwball cheered, pumping her hoof in the air.
The Guardian wore a simple smile, presenting the box to the stranger. “What’s inside is meant only for you now. Take it and become the stallion you were meant to be, Inferno.” A ghost of a smile danced on Inferno’s lips as he reached out, only for Ace to stop him.
“Woah, woah, woah! Slow down!” he cried, waving his arms in between the two. He turned to the Guardian. “I don’t disagree that we need to do something with this thing, but I don’t think anyone should have that kind of power in their body. It’d tear them apart!”
“His own power isn’t enough, Ace,” the Guardian argued back, determination in her eyes. “He simply needs to acquire some of its power to give him the boost he needs. You must have faith in your new ally. Inferno is only the first of many.”
“I know,” Ace sighed, shocking the mare. “That’s why I don’t want to risk it.” He turned to Inferno, staring into his piercing yellow eyes. “If you join my cause, you have to promise me that this power is last resort only. I don’t want to risk it unless it’s absolutely necessary, okay?” Inferno gave a soft smile before nodding. Ace replied in kind before sighing, running a hand down his face.

“That still begs the question of what we’re gonna do with it, though,” he said.
The Guardian stopped to think on that too. Only it was Screwball who had the idea. “The Elements!” the little filly shouted to near screech levels.
Ace stared at the filly as though she was crazy… er. “What?” he asked.
“The Elements of Harmony! Keep them together! No one would dare attack those ponies if they were holding these elements!”
“Uh…” Ace sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s a good idea, Screwball, but they’re gonna be attacked on a daily basis along with the rest of us. Maybe even more so. They’re a threat to the Doom Raiders.” He paused, staring off into the distance for a moment before snapping his fingers in an ‘aha!’ fashion. “But we can still use it! And the rest of it’s kind!”
“How?” the Guardian asked. “You just said they were last resort. Did you change your mind?”
“No! We can build a Core of Light!” Ace began hopping excitedly around the room, eliciting a giggle from Screwball, who quickly joined him. “But this one will be better! We can connect it to the Tree of Harmony! Then it won’t just have the Eternal Sources, it’ll use the Elements of Harmony too! It’ll be a… a….”
“A Core of Harmony!” Screwball cheered.
“Yeah!”

“Yes, yes all very exciting, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves here!” the Guardian reminded them. “We still have a flaming madpony to deal with do we not?”
“I get the feeling he’ll go running back to his masters with his tail between his legs,” Ace said. “And they don’t take well to failure. We won’t be seeing the Pony Torch anymore.”
The Guardian groaned and sighed at the same time. “Alright, alright. But I have a gut feeling you’re gonna regret letting him get away.”
“Eh, even if they do keep him around, we’ll be ready for him next time.” He clapped his hands, moving to the sealed doorway. “Question now is: how do we get out of here?”

Inferno placed his hand on Ace’s shoulder, pulling him out of the way. He then took up a batter’s stance, axe bursting into flames once more before he swung, the heat cutting clean through the slag. He wrestled the axe out, repeating the action a few more times before a decently-sized hole had been cut out. The four climbed out, dusting themselves off before making their way back to the throne room.
“Well,” Ace called, gaining the attention of the ponies that had gathered there for safety. “The threat has been dealt with!” He paused as a massive cheer rang out. “And we have a new weapon idea to drive back the Doom Raiders!” Another cheer. “And finally, Inferno has decided to help defend us from further attack!”

Silence.

Inferno just grunted, turning and heading back to the dungeons. Ace watched him go sadly before turning to the Guardian and Screwball.
“So what now?” he asked.
“Well, I think Screwball and I have done enough here. It has been wonderful meeting you properly, Ace. Your entry doesn’t do you justice, especially in the looks department,” she added with a wink.
“Th-thanks,” Ace said, blushing madly. “Feel free to visit whenever, I’d love to have you.” He paused. “Your notes! On the Core!”
“Nice save there,” she giggled. “But I suppose a little bit more help from the distant future couldn’t hurt. Step inside, shall we?” The Guardian strode into the small box that was her TARDIS.

Ace followed her without a word, taking in the vast differences as soon as her passed through the doorway. The room he had emerged in was domed, with orange-brown metal walls and struts. A large glass pillar ran through the centre, pulsing green light and surrounded by a large console.
“Huh,” he said simply, striding over to the control panel. “Smaller than I expected.”
“As an old friend taught me, it’s not the size that matters, honey,” the Guardian smirked as she ran through a few of her bookshelves nearby. “Now let’s see if I can find those old files. It’s been a long time in dealing with this form of world. Down here maybe?”
“What are you looking for?” Ace asked, blushing as her tail shifted just enough for him to peek at what was underneath, but only for a fraction of a second. He almost didn’t think it had happened. “You know what?” he added, turning and leaning on a rail facing away from the mare. “I don’t care. Just hurry up.”
“Aha! There they are, the little buggers!” The Guardian stood back to her normal height and held out a manilla folder to Ace. “This should be everything you need.”
“Cool, thanks.” Ace took the folder, rifling through it quickly. He paused, pulling out a folded piece of blue paper with white gridlines all over it. “Is this…”
“Prototype sketches only,” the Guardian assured, having moved over the console. “Can’t make it too easy, honey. Should be enough for Twilight to get to work on something, though. Or yourself, whoever it is that will be making the core. I honestly haven’t read that part just yet.”
Ace hugged the Guardian from behind, causing her to chuckle. “Down boy, alright? I’m happy you’re grateful, but I do need to get back to work.”

“Well like I said, feel free to drop by any time,” Ace said, waving as he moved to the door. “And knowing this thing’s track record, you will!” he added, laughing as he patted the TARDIS’ wall. “Wait… Where’s Screwball?”
“Oops! Almost forgot!” The Guardian trotted over to the door and looked out. “Aw, isn’t that cute? She’s making friends.” When Ace looked out, all he happened to see was Screwball screwing some of the guards out of their paychecks in poker.
“Full house, baby!” Screwball cheered.
“Please, never let me play against her.” He shuddered as she pulled her winnings - THE ENTIRE TABLE - towards her. “Ever.”
The Guardian couldn’t help but laugh uproariously. “Duly noted. Oh Screwball~! It’s time to get going! We have to get you back for school.”
“Coming!” Screwball replied, stashing all of her winnings inside her cap before flying into the TARDIS.
The Guardian giggled once more as Ace climbed out of the machine. “Oh, and Ace? There’s one more thing before I go.”
“What’s that?” the man asked, turning back as he stepped out the door. Before Ace could even react, the mare placed a quick kiss upon his lips before stepping into her machine.
“Until next time, Acey!” The door closed and the engines echoed through the throne room. Within moments, the shed, and the Guardian, was gone.

“Well…” Ace managed before falling backwards, staring at the ceiling of the throne room. “That wasn’t too bad for a first kiss…”