"Woah, Woah, Woah!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she got up out of her chair and pointed at Spike across the table. "Are you telling me, Spike, here fought in a tournament, and won?! Who did he fight? A bunch of unorganized books that needed to be stacked?"

"Ha-ha, very funny." Spike sarcastically laughed as he rolled his eyes. "I've gotten a lot stronger over these past few weeks! You shouldn't underestimate me!"

"Oh really? So, who did you fight anyways?" Rainbow Dash snickered as she sat back down on her chair and put her feet up on the metal table.

"Well, I fought Sigrid- a cursed Viking-pegasus, Viper- a snake-mercenary, Cyro- an ice dragon, and Jhettei- a monk!" Spike listed; using his fingers to count.

"Wha-. Jhettei? You fought Jhettei and won?" Rainbow Dash gasped as she covered her mouth with one hand.

"Wait, you know him?" Spike wondered.

"Of course I do! He's the pony who taught me karate! I met him before you and Twilight arrived in Ponyville!" Rainbow Dash reminisced. "He's one of the only earth ponies ever to beat me in hand-to-hand combat! How's he doing by the way? Did you talk to him?"

"He seems fine, he's got a partner now- the ice dragon I mentioned, Cyro," Spike explained as he took a drink from an ice cold bottle of soda Masami ordered for him. "Mm, this is good. What flavor is this Masami, and who makes these weird drinks?"

"Mountain Haze Ginger-Ale," Masami read off her own bottle before taking a sip as well, "made by Fenway.co, they pretty much run the soda industry."

"There's an industry in soda?" Twilight lightly chuckled as she thought about the idea in her head.

"Of course," Charles answered Twilight as he too took a sip from a bottle of soda. "Industry, science, invention. All these things help keep the gears turning in Ausrüstung, both metaphorically and literally. There's an industry for almost everything, including food."

"Heh, you guys are weird." Rainbow Dash laughed as she looked at the colorful label on her bottle.

"That is a matter of perspective." Charles reminded Rainbow Dash as he gently set his soda on the table. "In this airship, you and your friends are all considered elephants in the room."

"Mr. President, we are entering Eisen airspace now!" A pilot hollered up to Charles as he turned his chair to look out the window. "We should be landing in a short few minutes."

"Splendid! Give word to Evelyn, tell her I'll be meeting her at Chesterfield Manor shortly."

"Yes, sir!" The pilot nodded.

"Oh wow..." Draven uttered under his breath as he hopped down to the lower level; gazing upon the approaching city. "Blow me down, look at this lads!"

Everypony gathered around Draven and peered out the window; seeing the peaks of towering skyscrapers that poked through the clouds and grazed the upper atmosphere. Within seconds, the Ambassador lost altitude and descended to the bustling city below. Spike whistled as he looked down at the brick streets and sidewalks, the metal clock towers clanking away, and the shops and markets in the downtown district. Every building followed a similar format. All were chrome and had a smooth space-age design; each shining brightly in the afternoon sun.

"It's beautiful." Fluttershy sighed as she saw colts and fillies playing in the streets; holding her chest as she felt the environment around her overwhelm her senses.

As they approached the edge of Eisen, they came across the industrial district. However, it wasn't as grimy or dirty as Canterlot's. It was just as polished, if not cleanlier than the downtown due to the lack of traffic on the streets. Workers could be seen in the large buildings that passed by, toying away at menial tasks with bright smiles on their faces. As they passed by some workers stopped and waved at the Ambassador; hoping their president would wave back at them. Sure enough he did, and he did so with a smile on his face.

"It's good to be home..." Charles exhaled in relief as he looked at Twilight.

"This is amazing! How can you make buildings this big?" Twilight practically pressed her face up against the glass as she gazed upon the steel structures in astonishment.

"High strength steel and quantum-powered anti-gravity generators." Masami interrupted as she pointed over to an island floating in the sky. "We use the a-grav generators to support the weight of objects and suspend them in place, like the science academy over there."

"Sir, we are approaching Chesterfield Manor." A pilot informed Charles.

"Everyone to the teleporting chamber then, Evelyn and the others are waiting for us."

****

In a flash of blue light, Spike, and the others warped out of the Ambassador onto a large landing platform just outside of a vast and exquisite mansion. The outside was primarily white unlike most of the other buildings in Ausrüstung, and sturdy stone pillars supported the entrance-way into the mansion. Gin whistled as she looked up at the massive pillars lining the front.

"Damn, this is fancy," Gin admitted as she walked inside the gigantic house with the others.

"Welcome to Chesterfield Manor," Charles announced proudly as he directed the Spike and his friends inside.

The mansion was styled much like an Equestrian noble's house, and was extensively decorated with priceless paintings, furniture with beautiful designs carved into the wood, and suits of armor and antique weaponry encased in glass lining the main hallway leading into the heart of the mansion.

"How old is this building?" Twilight wondered as she examined what appeared to be a suit of Equestrian guard armor sealed up behind a glass case.

"It has been in my family for over two hundred years. Before Mayor Old Glory left with the other three founders, he gathered up all of his belongings, including his royal guard armor. He used to be in your army before he became the first mayor of Ponyville. He built this house with hopes and dreams... it is very dear to me." Charles sighed as he admired Old Glory's armor in the case; brushing his hand across the smooth glass as he pressed on with the others following not far behind. "Ah, but I ramble! Come to the living area! I have some interesting friends I think you should meet!"

Charles stopped in a large room with dark furniture and closed curtains. The bright orange light emitted from the chandelier created a comforting ambiance in the living area and tied the room together nicely. Draven noticed the doors leading into rooms were very tall, around sixteen feet in height, and the ceilings extended even further upwards.

"Why is this door so bloody big?" Draven gawked at the giant doorway.

"Oh, that's for Edgar... another member of Task Force One." Charles answered politely.

"Speakin' of which, where is the big lug?" Butch wondered.

"He should be in the kitchen cooking up dinner. Here, I'll call him over." Charles poked his head out the down and yelled down the hallway. "Edgar! Our guests have arrived!"

On one of the many sofas in the living area was a pony with his back facing the group, just in front of the unlit fireplace. He appeared to be flicking a butterfly knife about, only this knife seemed to have two blades on both sides of the handle. The way the stallion's hands were moving were robotic and precise, far more coordinated than any other pony Spike had seen, besides Winslow.

"Liazo, what did I tell you about that blasted knife and my leather couch?" Charles scolded the stallion, who turned around in response.

"What the..." Spike thought as he stared at the stallion as he stood up.

The stallion sitting on the couch was Viper. He had the same dark navy-blue complexion of a changeling, and his toothy smile, although, he seemed different. His blue hair was much shorter than regular Viper's red locks, and it had silver frosting; giving his hair a snowy look, and his blood-red long-sleeved silk dress shirt and black leather pants complimented it nicely. He did not have snake-eyes like Viper, his eyes were gold with silver rings around his pupils. He was certainly easier on the eyes than most stallions, far more attractive than Viper could ever hope to be, and his demeanor seemed to resemble the composure of Constantine, but he had a more cool vibe to his aura, like smooth jazz.

"Viper..." Spike jumped to conclusions as he clenched his fist.

"I'm sorry kid, what?" The half-changeling scoffed in a confused manner.

"Who's Viper?" Rainbow Dash scratched her head.

"He's the slimy bastard Spike fought in the tournament." Gin growled as she shot the stallion a wicked glare.

"Ok, ok... I see what's going on! You think I'm that asshole Viper, don't ya?" The half-changeling laughed as he drew closer to Spike. "Listen, me and him are two of seven clones. We're all clones of that rat, Constantine!"

"Clones? You mean like copies?" Twilight asked the relaxed stallion.

"Yes, before the civil war, the old dictatorship made a shady deal with an individual now known as Constantine. It was an experiment, a rather foul one if you ask me." Charles shook his head in shame.

"Yeah, my siblings are all around the Blacklands doing shit. Who knows, you'll probably stumble across a few in your travels. By the way, name's Liazo, I'm one of the less ugly ones." The half-changeling grinned as he put his hand out towards Spike, who shook it reluctantly.

"Daddy, daddy!" A filly and a colt cheered as they piled on top of Charles.

"Who are these giants?! My-my, have you grown since I left yesterday?!" Charles chuckled as he scooped his children up in the air and danced around. "James, Lucy... I want you to meet some friends of mine. These are our guests, they will be staying with us for a while."

"Oh wow! Are those dragons! Oh boy, real-life dragons!" James clapped his hands as he looked at Spike and Draven with curious eyes. "Can you breathe fire, like in the movies?!"

"Well Spike here can, I shoot lightning!" Draven bragged as he winked at James.

"Oh wow! Can you show me?!" James giggled with delight.

"Now, now James, we can wait some other time, Daddy has some important business to take care of first." A warm motherly voice hummed from the other side of the living room.

A sweet looking mare leaned up against the doorway near Charles, and he immediately sprung at her; tossing her around with joy and kissing her on the snout.

"Hello, Eleanor." Charles smiled as he set her down. "Everypony, this is my wife Eleanor."

"Hello everypony, I take it these are your guests?" Eleanor asked Charles as she looked toward Spike and the other.

The older filly looked over at Fluttershy, and she wore a knit sweater with bunnies all over it, and this sparked intrigue in Fluttershy.

"Hello..." The little filly uttered weakly as she brushed aside her long brown hair that obscured her vision.

"Hi..." Fluttershy squeaked as she crouched down to speak to the timid filly. "I like your bunny sweater..."

"Thank you... I like your hair..." The shy filly mumbled as she scratched her chin; trying to avoid eye-contact.

The group's conversations were interrupted when a loud stomping noise echoed throughout the house; sending a chill down some pony's spines. The stomping grew louder as the unknown source drew closer, until eventually... a humungous hulking pony filled up the doorway.

He was around fifteen feet tall, and his massive arms were larger than Winslow's body. The creature's breath seemed to make the ground quake as he moved to the center of the room. His pale gray face and body were horribly scarred, and his cheeks seemed to be missing, as his teeth were all visible. His eyes were white, and empty, but still functional. He wore a short-sleeved dress shirt and vest, and covering his lower section were giant torn brown jeans held up by belt fashioned out of what appeared to be industrial steel wire. Long red hair stretched down to his hips and was brushed back like a hedgehog's spikes, and his forearms were not normal... they seemed to be clunky robotic gauntlets, and they delicately held a silver tray full of crackers topped with a strange green paste. Spike was shaking as the "pony" approached him with the tray; offering him one of the small crackers.

"Crackers with pistachio patè." The behemoth groaned.

"Th-thank y-you..." Spike muttered; almost soiling himself.

"Everypony, meet Edgar. He's a member of my family." Charles presented the bulky goliath, who nodded with a grunt and sat down at a massive chair in a corner; custom made to fit him.

"I always love the look on their faces..." Edgar smiled as he rocked his chair.

"Gets me every time." Liazo snickered as he plopped back down on the sofa.

"Now, what the bloody hell is going on out here! What did I tell you all about keeping it-." A mare with a voice similar to Rarity's trailed off as she entered the gargantuan living room. "Oh, we have guests... my apologies."

"Very subtle, Eve, very subtle indeed." Masami sarcastically clapped as the mare blushed. "Now, greet everypony... don't be shy!"

The mare was short and seemed quite restless. She sported a long white lab coat over a sky blue blouse and navy blue jeans. She had black fur and pink eyes, along with grass-green hair that was shaggy, and cut short at the chin like a young colt. She sighed as she approached each of the guests politely and shook their hands; cleansing her own with a bottle of anti-bacterial liquid she drew from her pocket once she had finished greeting everypony.

"This nervous bundle of paranoia is called Evelyn Aquarius." Masami teased the impatient mare as she rested her arm on her shoulder.

"Amusing..." Evelyn rolled her eyes and forced a grin. "It's... a pleasure to meet you all."

"I'm proud of you Eve, that took bravery." Masami mocked Evelyn as she scratched her under the chin.

"Oh, quiet you!" Evelyn cried in outrage as she weakly punched Masami in the shoulder. "I apologize for Ms. Akiyama's actions in advance everypony."

"Aw... I love you too." Masami chuckled as she gave her a hip-check.

"Well then! Now that we have been all properly acquainted, how about some food? I take it you all must be famished after the long journey!" Charles proposed as he marched down the hall to the dining room. "Wait, where's the food, Edgar?"

"I told you before Charles, an artist never rushes his work." Edgar crossed his arms stubbornly. "A proper ratatouille takes time!"

Charles sighed as he trotted back into the living room "Very well then, we eat in..."

"An hour," Edgar grunted as he grabbed an apron off the wall and stomped over to the kitchen.

"An hour-?!" Charles cleared his throat and relaxed. "Okay then, we eat in an hour!"

"Good I'm starved, some grub would be groovy." Liazo purred as he slid his butterfly knife back into his pocket.

Author's Notes:

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Took me a long time to visualize these characters, so I hope you like em'! As always, I hope you enjoyed! See you in the next chapter!