This chapter also contains direct segments used in the chapter Knell from The Conversion Bureau: The Other Side of the Spectrum. But it's okay since we're co-authors and helped write Spectrum. Trust us on this.

"Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him. Yet so little faith do we find now in the world beyond Lothlórien, unless maybe in Rivendell, that we dare not by our own trust endanger our land."

- Haldir of Lorien, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

Simmons: D'you ever wonder why we're here?
Grif: It's one of life's great mysteries, isn't it? Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some... cosmic coincidence? Or is there really a God, watching everything, you know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don't know man, but it keeps me up at night.
Simmons: ...What? I mean why are we out here, in this canyon?
Grif: Oh. Uhhhhh. Yeah.

- Simmons and Grif, Red vs Blue, series 1, episode 1: Why are we here?.

When you're going through hell, keep going.
- Winston Churchill

***

London, January 25th, 2030 - 'Avatar' Earth

The first five minutes after David had disappeared were torturous for Hell Blazer. The yellow Converted found himself pacing, mixed with a little bit of glancing at Lyra and keeping her stable as best he could (the odd healing spell - they were keeping her alive, but not much else). He didn't know if David would succeed - he didn't even know where in Equestria he would end up - but he did have faith, no matter what David thought. He had faith in David to pull something out of his arse.

Still, he didn't think he'd live to see it. Outside, Jan Lockett and her soldiers were holding off Royal Guard who had begun an assault on their position - the same Guard he, Elliot and Lyra had engaged and the same Guard that had injured the latter. Hell Blazer practiced summoning and dissipating fireballs. He got the feeling he'd need one.

A few moments passed, and the sound of shooting abated from outside. He tensed - did that mean that they had killed Lockett and her team, or…?

He was almost scared out of his skin when Lockett entered the small room, looking surprised, her mask pulled off, exposing scarred skin. It was all he could do to not instinctively chuck a fireball at her.

"You ain't gonna believe this, sir," she said softly. "The bloody Guard…"

"What about them?" Hell Blazer asked, frowning in confusion.

Lockett paused for a moment before replying. "They've gone!"

***

Under escort of Stabsunteroffizier Viktor Kraber. Boston, November 16th, 2023 - 'Spectrum' Earth
12 hours and 14 minutes after the disappearance of Marcus Renee

Elliot's weapons were taken from him in short order and he was placed under guard. If the troops he had fought alongside before were strange (and impressively equipped), then these were even more so. There was a weapon on the giant Earth Pony's back that made the experimental P220 look like a nerf gun. The bearded man who had spoken was carrying a big heavy MG2019, but Elliot wasn't sure, it had been a long time since the days when guns like that had been a common sight. Elliot's old Vollmer VK-12 was about the most advanced weapon he had, and he had access to the best. He knew some people who had Thompsons and BARs, Brens and AK-47s, M16s and the occasional standard issue L85 that had survived the six years of conflict: the latter were considered pretty damn lucky.

Elliot knew the man's voice and face, he realised with a frown. It brought up memories of a time before he had become the Avatar…

***

There had been a PER man clutching his balls, his face a pulped ruin. A scowling Afrikaner with a spiked helmet with several more spikes attached, like a chariacture of a pickelhaube, dripping blood, had been standing nearby, an old revolver in one hand, his knuckles battered. Blood dripped from the old pickelhaube, and there was a lead pipe that impaled a Convie's neck, pinning him to a wall. Yet another PER man had taken a cheap beer bottle to the face. Another one looked to have been beaten with his own severed leg.

"He 'eadbutted me in the balls!" the last surviving PER man had screamed.

"Not bad," Elliot had smirked. He had been assigned to duty in Plymouth briefly - only a Sergeant, and yet still already on his way to being well-known, more for recklessness and daring tactics than anything else. "I've seen less efficient ways of dealing with these bastards."

"Who gives a fok about 'efficient'?" the man had said, chuckling. "I'm just having too much fun for regrets." He had held out a hand. "Viktor Kraber."

"David Elliot," Elliot had replied.

***

This Kraber, however, remembered the two men meeting... a little bit differently.

Of all the people he had expected to see, besides his children, his wife, his cousin Richard, thanks to Celly being in an inevitably more-sadistic-than-usual mood, David Elliot had not been one.

They'd met after some mission, one of the first after Kraber was transferred to the Bundeswehr, right after he and Aegis had been on leave. It had been cold and miserable, right in the middle of New York, just after Kraber had run into Angus Reid again, inquired about poor Dominique from Taskforce Paris, and he and Aegis had found themselves in some bar with a couple of Brits. It had been a little while before Verity had gotten ponified too...

***

"Damn, you guys can really put it away!" John Constantine had laughed, as Kraber downed a mug full of bourbon.

"Oh, that's nothing," Kraber had laughed, "You should see Aegis on a good day!"

"Not sure if I'd want to," David Elliot had smirked, while his friend Sam had slumped onto the bar, passed out. "But fuck it, I'll race you to ten pints."

And after that race (Kraber had won), somehow they'd ended up singing 'Going out in Style', muddying the words until they collapsed against the floor and Kraber had to ride Aegis out the building.

***

The David Elliot currently walking behind them frowned as he considered this familiar yet unfamiliar man. His hands weren't bound, but he understood well enough that he was a prisoner of this group of people and ponies. Wherever they were taking him, he hoped it would be somewhere where he could get some answers about... all of this.

The man and the pony were talking, but they were speaking so quietly that Elliot couldn't hear a word of it. He caught the odd word - mainly a whole load of "fok" - but most of it was too quiet to hear, and his Afrikaner accent was broader than the English Channel.

"Hey," he said. "How much farther?"

"Shut up," one of the other soldiers said. "Fuckin' HLF bastard."

"You think he's HLF?" another one asked. "You heard what Winston said - fuckin' magic sword from nowhere, man. That ain't HLF."

"Well what the fuck is he then?" the first soldier said.

"Annoyed at being referred to like he isn't here," Elliot muttered.

"I said shut up!" the first soldier snapped.

"Why don't you all shut the fok up?" Kraber snapped at them all. "You," he said, pointing at Elliot, "can keep quiet until we reach the base, and then they'll ask whatever they want and you can answer them. I got the feeling we should be nice. The rest of you," he added, pointing at the soldiers, "can shut the fok up because you're fokking getting on my nerves. Even if I have no idea what the fok he's going on about, he's still a friend."

"I barely even know you," Elliot pointed out, frowning at him. "I don't even know why you'd be here."

"...Not helpin' your case, Dave," said the giant Earth Pony.

"Well, 'course I'm here. Where else would I be?" Kraber asked.

To that, Elliot had no answer.

"Besides, maybe you just don't know this me," Kraber said.

A tense silence fell, the muttering of the giant Earth Pony and Kraber aside. Elliot frowned at that.

'This me', he said, he thought to himself. So. That's interesting.

Parallel universes then. That idea kept popping up. Maybe...

'Maybe... maybe this is a world with the Tyrant attacking early, while the Barrier's still expanding,' he thought to himself. 'Might explain a few things. Doesn't explain the difference in the potion, or that... thing. Or maybe this is the past, and I just never knew about any of this...'

Nah. That couldn't be right. Besides, somehow, he felt as if he was just trying to convince himself.

"I'm in another world, aren't I?" Elliot asked, sounding (and feeling) exasperated. "Just no way of getting around it."

"Another world with my friend," the giant Earth Pony said thoughtfully. "Am I in it?"

"I think I'd remember a pony as big as you," Elliot said.

"...Am I in it?" Kraber asked.

"Oh, here he goes," sighed one soldier. "He's just gotta be everywhere, doesn't h-"

"Yeah, you are," Elliot said.

"Wha - goddammit," the soldier sighed.

"Though, you look a lot older where I'm from - though I suppose that makes sense."

"Where are you from, though?" the huge Earth Pony asked.

"The British Isles," he replied. "Actually this small little patch of nowhere in Yorkshire, though I was in London when I left..."

"Bullshit," one of the soldiers muttered.

"Well, what're they like?" the giant pony asked, ignoring the comment.

"A hell of a lot worse than here," Elliot said, desperately hoping that wherever they were, whatever happened, his friends back home were alright. "They're the last places left in the world the Barrier hasn't eaten up -"

"Definitely sounds like you're from another world," said the huge Earth Pony. "I don't know about half the stuff you're saying."

"What? You're accepting it? Just like that?" Elliot asked.

One of the soldier was scowling. "Yeah, he could be a-"

"What?" Kraber asked. "He could be a what, pulling a magical sword out of nowhere?"

"Eh, when you hear some of the stories this one tells, you'd believe anything," the huge Earth Pony said, pointing one hoof up at this strange, younger Kraber. "Tell him about that time you dropped a helicopter on that Newfoal that could resurrect the dead!"

"Oh, that was not kwaai," Kraber said. "Then I had to set her on fokkin' fire… then all my limbs got broken… It was like the second worst pain I've ever felt. Think I might have gotten paralyzed for a second."

"... you know what, I can see how you might be accepting," Elliot said, smirking slightly and shaking his head. "Think I might want to hear that one later…"

"You sure? It's a long, long story," the huge Earth Pony said.

Elliot just kept smiling. After a moment, he began chuckling slightly, and within a few more moments he was laughing aloud.

"What the fuck is funny?" the soldier from earlier asked.

"You mean apart from my entire life?" Elliot asked, still laughing. "God. Nothing. Nothing at all. Lay on, Macduff and co. Take me to your leader. I might as well confuse more people than myself before the day's out."

"Which one of us is Macduff?" Kraber pondered aloud.

***

Kraber had eventually escorted Elliot to what was the base of operations for their unit. It was, as Elliot might have come to expect from these people, full of advanced-looking tech and generally felt more like a base than a repurposed old corner shop.

Lucky bastards, he found himself thinking with a mirthless smile. He counted half a dozen weapons that he knew were all but non-existent in his world, and there were at least three he didn't know at all. The most recognisable gun he saw was an Andra FD-99 someone was holding, and even that looked modified.

They had taken his weapons from the soldier who had confiscated them and put them in a box somewhere - he still didn't like it, but he hadn't had a choice. Now he was sat in a room, waiting for someone to come and speak with him. Eventually, a wiry blonde man with a little more muscle than he looked like he should have entered the room, wearing fatigues with a rank insignia that looked like that of a Lieutenant.

"So, my name is Lieutenant Kellman," the man said idly, looking at a clipboard and frowning slightly at whatever he was reading. "I think we'll start this simple. Your name please?"

"Major David Elliot, BDF," Elliot replied, as sharply as he could. Might as well start professional.

"Uh huh," Kellman said, nodding slowly. "And what's the BDF?"

"Stands for British Defence Force," Elliot explained. "Bit of a misnomer really - it's a loose coalition of troops from everywhere, but BDF was what was chosen to gather everyone under one authority so that all the different troops from armies could work together, and you have no idea what I'm on about, do you?"

"... no," Kellman admitted with a strained smile. "Alright then - where do you come from?"

"Britain," Elliot replied.

"More recently?" Kellman asked.

"Funny you should mention time," Elliot smiled slightly. "It's 2023, yeah? Well, you're not gonna believe this, but I come from 2030. Was just in London, in fact."

Kellman paused slightly, and frowned in disbelief. "Time travel I could almost accept - we know Doctor Whooves, after all. But Britain fell years ago."

"What?" Elliot said, his eyes widening in surprise. "But… but the Barrier hasn't even burned through America yet..."

"Well it started at CERN," Kellman said with a slight shrug, looking irritated. "Europe was always the first in line to go."

"No," Elliot said, holding up a hand, "it started on Portal Island, in the Pacific."

Kellman sighed, now clearly irritated. "What the fuck are you talking about?! Besides, having a portal randomly appear in the ocean would have all kinds of bizarre climatological effects. What about, I don't know tsunamis?"

"Do I look like a geography student or a bloody climatologist?" Elliot said, raising an eyebrow. "We always assumed it was just magic. Because, you know, magic. Pastel ponies were a bigger deal than an island smaller than diddly squit appearing, and that was before the Barrier started expanding." He paused. "What the fuck happened here?"

"Here?" Kellman asked. "As in, this city?"

"As in this planet," Elliot clarified.

"Shit happened," a new voice said. The owner of the voice was a stern looking man with a German accent, wearing some sort of armour that reminded Elliot vaguely of some of the designs for the Iron Clad program back in the old days, albeit made from what looked like ceramics and hardened plastics, rather than the Paladin I prototypes which were all steel and the Paladin II steel/titanium alloy.

Behind him came Kraber and his Earth Pony compatriot - the former giving Elliot a slightly ironic wave that he returned with a sardonic smile - and a maroon pony mare with a cutie mark of three smiling flowers. It was the armoured man that caught Elliot's eye the most though. He looked almost like a...

"Hello," Elliot said, smirking. "I guess you're the 'Knight' I heard about."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's me. Major Stephan Bauer. You know Kraber and Aegis, and this is Cheerilee."

"Why are they here?" Kellman asked.

"Cause he knows me, and I know him," Kraber said. "Or at least, we know a version of each other."

"Though, from what Kraber tells me," the armoured man said, "last time he met you he couldn't do that sort of thing."

"Major David Elliot," Elliot said. "So - shit happened? What kind of shit?"

"You don't know?" Bauer asked, frowning.

"Indulge the poor crazy British man," Elliot said with a slightly sarcastic tone, spreading his arms wide.

"Fine," Bauer said. "Celestia somehow managed to join a portal to CERN. She spent a year provoking humanity, trying to make an excuse for war, bring tensions up to make us more desperate. Then, she expanded the Barrier across Earth… Britain was one of the first places to go. It's just landed in the Americas, and we're in the process of evacuating. Haven't got much time left…"

Elliot took a moment to process all that he had just heard.

"Well... fuck." He blinked, feeling suddenly, irrationally angry. "Fuck this. Fucking FUCK THIS! Are you telling me that I travel the space between dimensions, end up seven years in the past on a parallel Earth, and there's still a Celestia that went mad out to fucking annihilate the human race?! Are you FUCKING kidding me?! What the fuck is it with Equestria?! How the fuck do you even fucking function?! Is this some predetermined crap, that you fucking just come and wreck people's shit in every possible version of reality?! Why in God's name can't I come somewhere NICE?!"

He paused, taking a breath, before slumping in his seat. Everyone looked somewhat shocked at his outburst.

"...Present company excluded, I guess. Sod's law is a bitch," he said after a moment. He smiled sheepishly, feeling a little embarrassed by his outburst. "So who are you ponies, anyway? Equestrian Resistance?"

"Don't be stupid," Kellman said with a frown. "They're with the PHL."

"PHL?" Elliot asked blankly.

"Oh, everyone's heard of the fucking PHL," Kellman said exasperatedly, "where the fuck have you..."

"I think," Elliot cut him off, "that it's been well established that I'm not 'everyone' - so what are they?"

It was Cheerilee who answered, her voice calm and collected. "Ponies for Human Life - founded by Lyra Heartstrings and now one of the biggest forces fighting against Celestia."

Elliot's eyebrows raised in surprise at that. "Lyra? Huh."

"What?" Bauer asked.

"Nothing, just..." Elliot said, trailing slightly. "I knew her."

Lyra unconscious. Lyra dying, her life's breath shallow as the damage from the spell took its toll. Him, too slow.

Again.

"Is she around?" he asked quietly.

"Fuck me, where the hell have you been?" Kellman yelled.

"Lyra's dead," Cheerilee explained shortly, drowning in confusion. "Celestia had her executed. It's rather well known..."

"Oh," Elliot said blankly, nodding slowly. "Oh, I see."

"Easy on him, he's not from this world," Aegis said quietly.

"That is bullshit," Kellman said, and even Bauer nodded slightly at that.

"Really? You're being skeptical now?" Kraber asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, really."

It's hard to pronounce the absence of a question mark or punctuation. Kraber managed, if only because the sarcasm managed to drown them out.

Bauer nodded at that. "Okay, fair point, Stabsunteroffizier." He turned back to Elliot. "I'm not going to say that nothing surprises me anymore, but we're getting there. So - according to the report, you have certain... abilities. What's the story?"

"What do you mean?" Elliot asked.

"I mean, how did you get them? We checked you - no runes. Nothing on your weapons to explain it, nothing in your clothes, no tattoos. So how can you do magic?" Major Bauer asked.

"Wait, that's where your magic comes from?" Elliot asked. "We considered using runics back home - if we got the bloody Iron Clad project to work, bloody no time or resources to make the things…"

"Well, we had to work the hard way for most of this," Major Bauer said, cutting him off. "Doesn't answer my question."

"It's internal," Elliot explained.

"What, like internalised runes? How would that work?" Cheerilee asked.

"No, not internalised runes - the magic is internal," Elliot clarified. "It's a power I am… blessed with. Or cursed with. Depends on your point of view."

"What do you mean?" Cheerilee asked.

"It's not important," Elliot said with a shrug.

"So this internalised magic - it gives you immunity to the potion, it lets you use spells and summon a big sword, and you don't even need any tattoos or armour to make it work," said Major Bauer, sounding like he disapproved. "Is that an accurate summary?"

"It is," Elliot replied with a nod. "Though not a complete one - there's other stuff I can do that I haven't needed to here yet."

Bauer frowned, looking as though this concerned him even more.

"If it's so useful, why haven't you shared it with others?" Kellman asked, frowning. "Seems like it might be good for others to have."

"I sort of did share it, but it's unique magic - I can't just copy it to others," Elliot explained, thinking of Sir Eric. "For one thing, I didn't make it happen and the man who did is… not here. For another, there's… well. There's side effects you wouldn't want."

"Does it… does it cause tumors?" Cheerilee asked, concerned.

"What? No. Magic doesn't do that," Elliot said, confused. "Not even pony magic -"

He was interrupted by a whoop of joy from Kraber. "I FOKKING CALLED IT! Damn, I haven't felt this good since I found out Grunkle Stan had a twin!"

"Focus, Kraber," Cheerilee said.

"It makes perfect fokkin' sense, though!" Kraber said. "Think about it - Why would Celestia tell us the truth? She doesn't give a fok about us, so that makes a great ultimatum. If human weapons can't do kak to the barrier, then the only thing that might is magic!" He was shaking with excitement, then his face fell. "But if she hobbles us, cripples years of advancement, by telling us we'd melt, that's scary enough that most scientists would be too scared to test it. So then, so many fokking kwaai projects get canceled, I don't get my fokking MG2023 and neither does anyone else, probable billions die, including Lyra because the PHL were so… fokking... slow to experi..." Kraber was shaking in anger as his voice trailed off and the realization of just how badly he and all humanity had been conned set into his mind. "Fok that fokking mank genaaide bergbok, I'll rip off haar kop en piss vlam gonorree in haar skedel…"

"...Translation?" Cheerilee asked.

"No," Aegis and Elliot said. Both remembered, in different contexts, Kraber telling them that South Africans swore to put the fear of God in people, and his usual profane slips into Afrikaans were enough to make Aegis wish his foals (who were on the 501, somewhere in upstate New York or Vermont) never learned the language. Elliot, meanwhile, had heard the slips into Afrikaans mainly when Kraber had been dealing with PER during his tour in Plymouth. It had been... violent, and Kraber had usually referred to himself as "disassembling" them - which wasn't entirely inaccurate.

"I want some magic like yours," Kraber said, "or maybe the ability to explode newfoals with my mind again-"

"That'd take too long to explain," Aegis interrupted. "Just go with it."

"It was hilarious, though!" Kraber laughed. "I'd always dreamed of having superpowers, and then, suddenly, I had head-explody!"

"You... wouldn't want what I've got," Elliot said, looking slightly bemused at Kraber's amusement, and Aegis rearing up slightly, crossing and uncrossing his hooves in an almost universal sign for "Don't ask."

"Why not?" Kraber asked. "Shooting spells, giant sword, never having to worry about the fokkin' potion..."

"Because I'm dying," Elliot said bluntly. "Magic burnout."

"What?" Cheerilee said, frowning. "What's magic burnout?"

"Overload of magic to my system," Elliot said shortly, feeling surprisingly clinical about the whole thing, considering. "Magic isn't inherently harmful to humans, but the human body isn't designed to internally channel magic all that much, especially not an unaugmented body like mine. We didn't realise until I fell into a coma wiping out an entire army of Convies and Guard at Cornwall."

"What happened there?" Cheerilee asked, looking confused.

"Sparkle and an army landed on a beach," Elliot said with a shrug. "I… stopped them."

"An entire army?" Kellman said with a raised eyebrow. "How?"

Elliot smirked slightly. "By… possibly starting a self-generated hurricane. Not sure, can't really remember much about it. I think about twenty ponies plus Sparkle survived that one, though I think a few of them promptly got decapitated or otherwise effed up by this crazy fella who charged out to help me when I collapsed."

"...You created a hurricane," Aegis said, sounding vaguely awestruck. "The things we could do with that…"

"Yeah, like, for example, cause your entire cellular structure to begin degrading," Elliot said with a sarcastic grin. "Kinda like mine is."

"...Ouch. Still, if your world's that much more desperate than ours, I think it'd be worth it if you won," Kraber said.

"I keep telling myself that," Elliot said with a smirk. He coughed slightly, frowning at his hand when a fleck of blood appeared. "I don't even know how long I have left."

"The candle that burns brighter burns fastest," Aegis said.

"The candle that doesn't light the room you lit it for ain't worth the wax," Elliot retorted with a mirthless smirk. "I could fart rainbows and it wouldn't matter if I died before I fulfill the reason I was given this power."

"...I'll talk to PHL medical. I'll see what we can do," Kraber added. "Might not be much, and I might not be your Kraber, but there's probably something." He paused. "I had this idea once, of implanting alicornal tissue into people, but it never seemed like a good idea. Might help with your burnout. Which reminds me, now that we know magic isn't harmful, can I have that MG2023 now?"

"Yes," Cheerilee sighed, looking visibly resigned.

Elliot looked between the two of them, bemused. "And that is?"

"It's a big fokkin' machinegun with an underbarrel tesla weapon," Kraber said gleefully. "Lightning arcs to whatever the bullets hit, so…" he smiled. "Oh, this'll be so much fokkin' fun to use on newfoals, I can pop them like balloons!" a light cackle escaped from him. "Also, uh… I wanted to modify that revolver."

"What the fuck," Kellman muttered. "You can fucking make hurricanes? Who the hell are you?!"

"I told you," Elliot said. "I'm a Major in the BDF."

"There's more to it," Bauer said with a frown, leaning forward slightly and narrowing his eyes at Elliot. "You used spells, summoned a magical sword, but don't have any runes. What are you?"

"Where I'm from?" Elliot said. "I'm my people's last hope. Here? Fucked if I know."

"I mean, what the fuck are you?" Bauer said again, sounding frustrated for the first time in the conversation.

Elliot smiled. "Albion. Avatar of."

Kellman snorted. "And what does that mean?"

"I am the vengeance of a nation," Elliot replied evenly. "All of Britain's latent magic, maybe even all of the world's if you want to be generous, it's all burning through me. When I want it to - or need it to - it becomes my weapon. The sword I use isn't just any old thing. It's Excalibur, blade of Arthur, now mine to bear against the Tyrant."

"That's…" Kellman said, shaking his head, but Elliot leaned forward, sudden purpose in his eyes.

"Now I have a question," he said.

"We're asking the questions," Kellman frowned.

"Yeah well, here's a big one," Elliot said quietly. "Your Celestia."

Cheerilee scowled. "She's not 'our' Celestia."

"This Celestia, then!" Elliot said, frustrated. "How powerful is she? More powerful than when she was Princess Celestia? I need to know!"

"Well, good luck," Kellman said sullenly. "No one's ever seen her in action and lived."

Elliot sat back in his seat, putting a hand over his eyes tiredly. "I see."

Bauer narrowed his eyes at him. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because I'm going to fight her," Elliot replied simply.

Kellman let out a short barking laugh. "What? You? On your own?"

"Yes," Elliot said, unironically. "Me. On my own, if I have to anyway. Someone has to."

"And what, praytell, makes you think she won't atomise you on the spot?" Kellman said, looking altogether amused by Elliot's words. "Fancy swords and internal magic don't make you the equal of an Alicorn."

"No, they don't, but that's not all I have," Elliot said. "Besides - my destiny is to face the Sun Tyrant in battle. I guess…"

He trailed off.

"What?" Cheerilee asked.

Elliot shrugged. "I guess no one ever specified which Sun Tyrant."

There was a long moment's pause.

"Everyone outside," Bauer said. "Mr. Elliot - Major Elliot. I'll ask you to wait here."

"Not like I've got a choice," Elliot shrugged.

With that, Bauer motioned and everyone exited, leaving Elliot alone with his thoughts.

'They probably think I'm crazy. Except Kraber of course - they might listen to him, or they might not. Doesn't matter either way.'

Depressingly, he could see no way any of this would help him return home. Despite their obvious technological advancement, they apparently had less knowledge of magic - or at least, human magic - than he did, and he was the first to admit that he didn't really know a damn thing other than it existed and that Hell Blazer was able to chuck fireballs around once in a while (as well as the spell he had used to send Elliot here in the first place). If these guys didn't know about these things... well.

"Either way," he said aloud to himself, "I've got to get out of here."

***

London, January 25th, 2030 - 'Avatar' Earth

Hell Blazer stood on a street corner, staring out at the ruined city. Behind him he could hear the whirring of helicopter blades as a medical evac copter lifted off into the air, Lyra Heartstrings - stabilised by specialist magic healers - was airlifted away.

The city of London had been under attack for nearly a week. Everyone and everypony fighting in the city had expected this attack to be the one that drove the BDF and Resistance to their knees, to wipe the city from the map. Despite the loss of some good ponies though (Goddammit Grit) they had managed to hold the city. There was talk of sending teams into the underground to flush out stragglers, and in general the fighting had been hard, but they had held.

They shouldn't have been able to.

"So," Errant Flight said from behind Hell Blazer. "Why did they leave?"

Hell Blazer sighed and turned to his friend. The Pegasus was in the red flight shirt of Red Squadron, the team he had led after the annihilation of Grey Squadron. The Squadron had arrived a short while ago, the lack of Guards in the area leaving them surprisingly unhindered. Most of them were somewhere else now, coordinating with other troops.

"I don't know," he said honestly.

"Could it have been David?" Errant asked, raising an eyebrow. "Could he have done something that made them retreat?"

"Could've been," Hell Blazer nodded, turning back to the city and looking up at the broken skyline. "But we don't know whether he succeeded in doing anything, or whether he just scared her into pulling her troops back. He could have killed her… or he could have been wiped the fuck out."

"Which do you think happened?" Errant asked.

Hell Blazer didn't reply, frowning slightly. "Dunno. I get the feeling there's something more to it than we realise."

Errant moved to stand next to him, eyes full of skepticism.

"Yeah, I know, sounds poncy," Hell Blazer added, grinning slightly. His grin faded. "But I just think there's more to it than we know. Like… I dunno."

"I don't get it," Errant admitted, "but there's a lot about this human magic business that always confused me." He sighed. "What do you reckon happens now?"

"Sod me if I know," Hell Blazer smirked. "That's up to Anderson, Blueblood and Sato. Here's hoping they don't make a pigs ear out of this opportunity."

Both of them knew exactly how that would go.

***

PHL/UN Taskforce Forward Base. Boston, November 16th, 2023 - 'Spectrum' Earth.

12 hours and 42 minutes since the disappearance of Marcus Renee.

"So," Kellman said, glancing at the clipboard in his hands, "we're pretty much all agreed that this guy is a loon, right?"

The group exchanged glances. Stephan looked thoughtful, a hand stroking his chin. Cheerilee looked thoughtful as well, though she had taken to pacing slightly. The only reason she had come here - travelling via Doctor Whooves' TARDIS - was the report of the magically-augmented human. The Doctor had been almost insistent, which she had thought was odd. She resolved to ask him about it when next she saw him.

"I mean," the Lieutenant added, "nothing he says makes sense. Internalised magic? We've never heard of anything like that. It's ridiculous."

"This entire war is ridiculous on paper," Stephan said wryly, looking up at the man. "But it still happened. I think we should consider the possibility of him telling the truth."

"I believe him," Aegis said, surprising everyone. The big pony talked even less than Big Macintosh from Ponyville, so to hear him this insistent came as something of a shock.

"Why are you two here?" Kellman sighed irritably.

"Cause I know a version of Elliot," Kraber said. The appearance of his old pub buddy had evidently sobered him up quick - he'd been in an incredibly angry mood, working off a bad hangover. "And Aegis is a bit of a calming influence. And I did bring him in..."

"Fair enough," Stephan said, waving a hand. "So. Why do you-"

Kraber cocked his head, body language marking him as standing with Aegis.

"-two believe him?"

"Sure. What he says is ridiculous," Aegis said. "But Stephan's right. The war's ridiculous… and think about just one thing. We're all focused on asking what really happened, but we're not asking: 'Why would he say any of this?' I… I can't explain it, but I feel like-"

"It's too specific, too ridiculous for him to really be lying," Kraber said. "And what would the point of lying be here?"

"There's the question of some of his practices," Kellman said with a frown. He glanced at his clipboard. "According to First Lieutenant Winston, he has a collection of pony manes sewn into his jacket. Not a practice anyone wanting to be in our 'good books' would be honest about."

"Sir?" Kraber said, looking at Bauer. "All due respect."

"Bit late for that."

"I know. But… hear me out. At least this once. What's the point of a lie like this, right here and now? When I lied my way into the PHL, I pretended to be a Scottish bergie with no family or ID, hired myself as a merc for Yael Ze'ev, and lived in Aegis' house and read bedtime stories to his foals. I tried to make myself look unremarkable and believable," Kraber said. "...Unless you count that I cosplayed a character from Evolve, but that's beside the point. Till I got fokkin' woedend, anyway."

"Aren't you mad at him for that?" Kellman asked.

"Eh," Aegis shrugged. "He apologized, he didn't hurt anyone, and the foals loved him. And yet, our old pub-buddy from New York decides to summon magic out of nowhere in plain view, summon a magic sword, and show everyone how it's done. I'm pretty sure my friend here-" he pointed to Kraber. "-Had the better infiltration method."

"So he's a moron," Kellman said. "Still..."

"Moron or not - and I'd err on the side of 'not' - he has magic we didn't know existed," Cheerilee pointed out. "We need to approach this carefully."

"Agreed," Stephan said. "And we will."

"What's your order, sir?" Kellman asked.

"Keep him under observation," Stephan said. "He can stay in that room for now, I doubt he'll do anything too stupid."

"You can't honestly say you trust him," Kellman protested. "Sir."

"Not in the slightest," Stephan replied with a slight smile. "But there's too many questions and too many inconsistencies. An HLF man doesn't have magic. A PER man doesn't have pony manes, even as a disguise. No one we know has 'internalised magic'." He frowned. "We'll get him sent somewhere in due course as necessary, let someone with more time on their hands decide what to do with him."

"Ah… one question, though," Kraber said. "I actually know another version of this guy. We're pub buddies."

"...What?" Stephan asked.

"I could get the other version of him on the line," Kraber offered. "It'd be really funny, and we might learn a lot."

Stephan sighed. "Try it. God knows, it might clear something up. At the very least, it might break my headache."

***

13 hours and 11 minutes since the disappearance of Marcus Renee.

"Howzit?" Kraber asked, stepping into the interrogation room, Aegis at his side. "I got a call, and it's for you."

Elliot just looked confused at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Just go with it," Aegis said, as Kraber passed Elliot the phone.

"...Kay?" Elliot asked, picking up the phone. "Who is this?"

"David Elliot," said the voice on the other end, somewhat unnerved. He sounded British as well, and-

Wait…

"But… that's my name too," Elliot said.

"Oh God," the other Elliot said. He sounded younger, and slightly hung over. Just as Elliot himself realized that he was talking to himself, the other him spoke again. "Viktor, what the hell is this, some kind of stupid bloody prank call?!"

"He claims to be you," Kraber said, momentarily picking up the phone and turning it to speaker. "Looks just like you too, 'cept a bit older and - if the reports I got were right - carrying a big fokkin' sword..."

"Bloody Mildred Kraber," the... the other Elliot... said angrily. "I am not in the sodding mood for this." He paused. "Did fuckin' Constantine put you up to this? Again?!"

"Nope," Kraber said, raising an eyebrow. "Besides, we were planning to do this next week anyway. I was told I'm supposed to laugh at my nightmares, anyway. Make them easier to deal with."

"No, 'course not, 'cos this crap smells like an Errant Flight job..." the younger Elliot growled. "I'm gonna kill that little flying shitbag… Also, why the hell do your nightmares have that?"

"It'd take too long to explain," Aegis said. "Like, fifteen chapters. Maybe sixteen."

Kraber sighed. "Hang on a minute."

He frowned, and pressed a few buttons on his phone. He held the thing up and there was a small click of a camera phone. Kraber pressed a few more buttons, and then the next thing Elliot knew, the other him was swearing.

"Fucking hell," the man said quietly. "I look fucking terrible."

Elliot couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks, mate!"

"Shut the hell up," the other Elliot said conversationally. "Viktor, what in the name of all that's good and holy in the world is going on?"

"When I know, I'll tell ya," Kraber said grimly. "Personally, my bet is on 'other universe'. Gotta go. Technically shouldn't be on the phone, it's a fokkin' warzone here."

"Right," the other Elliot said. "I'm going to sleep - maybe if I'm lucky this is all a fucking dream."

"Sorry, chommie," Kraber sighed. "I've been hoping for that for years, and my dreams are kak anyway. We're not that lucky."

"Damn, you too, huh?" the other Elliot asked, and hung up.

The call disconnected and Kraber put his phone away. He sighed.

"What the hell," Elliot murmured.

"I just called David Elliot," Kraber said. "...Our world's David Elliot."

"And what did that even prove?" Elliot asked.

"Mostly, it was funny," Kraber said with a grin. "But on a more serious note - it proves that you're definitely from another world."

"Whoop de doo," Elliot said, smirking. "Question is, is that gonna get me out of here any time soon?"

Kraber's grin faded. "I... dunno. Sorry. Unless there's an emergency."

Elliot sighed and sat back. "Yay "

"Look on the bright side. You'll probably get out if things get really heavy," Aegis suggested.

"Things are heavy where I come from," Elliot said sourly. "I left my friends to die. I left them because I was going to Equestria to fight Astra Solamina and kill her. That was the plan. Every second I'm here, people who are counting on me are dying. They'll probably try and make another Avatar, and God only knows how that'll go..." His voice trailed off, with the clear implication that he wasn't positive about the possible result, and slammed his fist on the table. "Dammit all!"

"Don't worry too much," Aegis said.

"Why?!" Elliot asked. "I don't know what's happening, I'm in another damn timeline, I-"

"I think he was actually going to suggest that you stay calm, because he doesn't want you to panic and be unable to function," Kraber interrupted.

"Yeah," Aegis said. "That, and Elliot? You're with the PHL!" he reared up and waved out his forehooves, creating an impression of vastness.

"I can see that," Elliot said drily.

"Major Bauer once said it'd be harder to bottle a waterfall than to stop PHL R&D's creativity," Aegis said. "There's a good chance they can work to make something to get to your friends. And while you wait around, we could lend you some weaponry to take back."

"One man's worth of guns won't be enough," Elliot sighed, "and that's assuming I can get back."

"I wonder if we could ask the Doctor for help…" Kraber mused. Though privately, he doubted what Elliot said. He did have that huge arms cache on the 501 (which, if he had any luck, was probably in New York or Pennsylvania) with the bola rifles, Kalashnikovs, Rainmaker grenades, and Thunderclap, the one that he shared with Johnny C, Fiddlesticks, and Hauser.

"The Doctor?" Elliot repeated. He frowned, thinking of the old pony he knew now. "What does he look like right now? He hasn't regenerated yet, has he?"

"He actually looks kind of like David Tennant," Aegis said.

Elliot frowned. "So... not an older pony, wandering around with leather coat and bandolier?"

"Nope," Aegis sighed. "Sounds like the War Doctor, though."

Elliot thought back to the moment the Doctor had changed. "He said 'Doctor, no more - for Ditzy.'"

"Well fok," Kraber said. "Now I know it's gotten heavy over there."

Elliot covered his eyes with his hand, suddenly feeling very drained.

"Grit and Ditzy, Lyra and Hell Blazer and Sam," he murmured to himself, though loud enough to be heard. "One hundred forty million. Now fourteen. Not enough, never enough. How many more damn friends do I have to lose?"

"I know the feeling," Kraber said, suddenly looking older, a hand on Elliot's shoulder. "I've lost too many good friends in the past few years. Least my old da's still around."

"Remember that time the PER tried to threaten him?" Aegis asked, smiling.

"Ah, Paul Kraber, never change, you old sonovabitch," Kraber smiled affectionately. "It was a good thing he considers Vektor CR21s to be kitchen utensils, or it might have been really terrible."

"For you?" Elliot asked.

"No, the PER," Kraber said. "Well into his fifties, and the man's still a better knife-thrower than me."

Elliot smiled slightly. "It's nice to see some things are still worth smiling about."

"Bright Wonder told me to hang on to that sort of thing," Aegis said. "Otherwise, you get consumed."

"It's working for me too," Kraber said. "Haven't been a happy man in a while. This way, I'm at least content."

Elliot's smile faded as his two new friends spoke. He could feel something... odd. Like a tingling in the air, making it feel almost electrified.

"You alright?" Aegis asked, looking at him with a slight frown.

"Yeah," Elliot replied softly, frowning in concentration, "but... there's a thing."

Aegis cocked his head. "Hmmm?"

"Magic thing," Elliot clarified, still frowning. "'Great disturbance in the Force' thing."

"Well, the voices of newfoals sure as fok aren't silenced," Kraber said. "The people they were… they're still in there. And they don't stop screaming."

Elliot glanced up at him. "Preaching to the choir - I've been in one of those bastards' heads."

"I have too," Kraber said. "Least I ended up exploding it."

Elliot tried to smirk, but the smile wouldn't come. The feeling was strong...

Suddenly, Bauer burst in alongside Kellman, both looking panicked and harried.

"Kraber, Aegis," the Major said. "Get to your posts, now."

"What is it?" Aegis asked.

"Massive portal event - something's coming," he replied with a scowl. "I intend to be ready for it."

"I'm coming with you," Elliot said, standing up.

Bauer raised an eyebrow at him, folding his arms and saying nothing.

Elliot sighed. "Major - I realise I'm an unknown quantity, and that makes you suspicious as all hell. It's what any good officer would be in your shoes, and Lord knows I'd be suspicious if someone like you appeared in my world. But I can feel something - something big… and believe me, I think you need all the help you can get."

"I'll vouch for him, Sir," Kraber said. "Dock me for a promotion. Demote me if need be. But I trust him."

"You and me both," Aegis agreed. "Sir."

"Sir," Kellman began, looking less than happy about this idea.

"You're not Bundeswehr, this is between me, Aegis, and the Major," Kraber cut the man off.

"Please," Elliot added. "I don't know what's out there, but it's big."

Bauer looked thoughtful for a moment, before sighing.

"Alright," he said. "If this goes fucking pear-shaped and it's your fault, Kraber, you're answering for it."

“Thanks for that distinction,” Aegis said.

Major Bauer raised an eyebrow.

“Well, of course it'll go pear-shaped,” Aegis explained. “Only question is how.”

***

Elliot's weapons - including, to his relief, 'speed-killer', his favourite dagger - were returned to him in short order. While he looked hopelessly under-equipped next to the soldiers he was with, he didn't feel it. There was a tingle on the air, almost like the fallout of a bomb before the bomb landed... something big was coming, and he felt... ready. Like it was destiny.

There was a massive assortment of troops surrounding him, all armed to the teeth, guns of every type at their disposal. Again, he was struck by just how well equipped everyone was.

‘Give the Dead Men this they'd throw a fit and probably call it a new Life Day,’ he mused with a wry grin.

Bauer was muttering orders to various troops, who were moving off into covering positions inside buildings.

"Any sign of what it is?" someone asked quietly from near him.

"We don't even know what we're looking for," whispered one Polish man with a rifle that looked like an ACR.

"I think we'll know it when we see it, Petrikov," said a German with an immaculate G36.

"Whoa," said a blue pegasus pony with a mark of an oversaturated raincloud. "I got an update. From King William. It says he can see -"

"SOLDIERS OF THIS HISTORIC CITY! STAY YOUR WEAPONS! WE HAVE COME BEARING NEWS OF YOUR MISSING MILITARY COMMANDER!"

"...Princess Luna," said the pony, eyes widening at the sudden cry. There was a pause. "Discord's with her."

"I've some questions to ask, then, Tempest," Kraber said, almost zen, his grip on his gun tightening.

Elliot frowned, closing his eyes slightly.

"That must have been it," Aegis said. "That tingle of yours. Here's hoping this is good news."

The British man opened his eyes, scowling. "It wasn't her."

"... pardon?"

"The feeling I had - it wasn't her, and it wasn't Discord - whatever the fuck a Discord is," Elliot clarified.

"Say what?" one soldier asked. "The fuck are you, a Jedi?"

"He's the guy with the magic sword who cut through a hundred Newfoals earlier," Kraber said. "Magic Jedi voodoo is kinda his thing."

"And there's more out there than one Alicorn Princess," Elliot added with a frown.

"...This could be very bad," said the Polish man with the MSBS.

Elliot held out a hand, and suddenly Excalibur, ornate and glimmering, was there, glowing with a cold light, causing several people to stare at the weapon with a mixture of awe and confusion.

"Yes," Elliot said. "It could be."

"What are you sensing?" Bauer asked, frowning at him. It was a marvel they'd accepted it so well, but Elliot had the feeling that these people had simply grown used to the absurdity of their world.

"I don't know," Elliot said, "but it's big - and it isn't either of your current guests."

"Can you tell if there's any ill-intent?" the other Major asked.

Elliot glanced at him. "I don't know what Luna is doing in your world, but in mine, she's dead. Her being here now is... wrong."

"Doesn't answer my question," Bauer pointed out.

"Of course it doesn't," Elliot replied with a slight smirk. "I'm not a Jedi, I'm just able to sense their magic. They could be feeling homicidal, stoned, horny..."

"Bad mental image," Kraber muttered.

"... and it'd make no difference to me," the British man finished.

Stephan looked thoughtful. "Right then, Major Elliot. I guess you'll be coming with me."

"... what?"

"We have an Alicorn Princess to greet," Stephan said with a humourless smile. It looked more like a grimace. Like he was only making it because he didn't know what else to do. "And I don't want to keep royalty waiting."

"If I might make a suggestion, Majors?" Aegis asked. "Be careful."

"I'll be fine," Stephan said, his smile becoming slightly warmer. "I've an Ace up my sleeve."

With that, the masked and armed for of Trixie Lulamoon. The Blue Spy, flickered into view next to him. She winked at the assembled group, and Elliot frowned at the sheer incongruity of it all. Trixie Lulamoon? The bloody caravan pony-smuggler?

‘Constants and variables,’ he thought.

"No, I mean don't go postal, Sir." Aegis said as Trixie disappeared. "We don't know what this is or why she's here."

"Understood," Stephan said. "Everyone? Prepare for battle."

"Right," Kraber saluted, rushing into a nearby building to find cover for a new machinegun nest.

Elliot sighed, keeping his grip on Excalibur tight. "Ready when you are, Major Bauer."

"Right then, Major Elliot," Stephan replied, gesturing to Trixie, who vanished again. "Shall we?"

And with that, he set off, Elliot - and, presumably, Trixie - following.

This would be... interesting.

***

Ruling Council Chambers, Scotland, January 28th, 2030 - 'Avatar' Earth

In a room somewhere in Scotland, two humans, one Unicorn stallion and an Earth Pony mare sat listening to another pony, a Unicorn mare, speak. One of the humans was a Japanese man in a smart, if slightly ratty from age, suit. Another was a hard-looking military man with cropped dark hair and a beard. The stallion was alabaster, with blonde hair and purple and black armour on. The Earth Pony mare was maroon, with a cutie mark of three smiling flowers and a tired, if still cheerful, expression. The final pony had blonde hair and hard eyes, and wore a smart suit-jacket, as though she were overcompensating for her position being less than what she wanted.

"The reports aren't one hundred percent confirmed across the board," this mare - Dinky Doo, Prince Blueblood's adjutant - said to the assembled Council Members. "We can't confirm complete retreat of Solaminan forces from all fronts. What we can confirm is that London and Plymouth both report a total absence of Solaminan forces. They've retreated from their two biggest fronts."

"Why?" the military man - General Paul Anderson, the designated commander of the BDF - said with a scowl, his voice filled with a noticeable Australian twang. "Why would they pull back from London? Or Plymouth? We were tied up at Plymouth right proper and they knew it, and London was their proverbial hammer blow. Even losing Shining Armour and Pinkie Pie shouldn't've taken the wind outta their sails that easily."

"The reports say that Hell Blazer, acting on authority from Major David Elliot, sent Elliot through a portal, ostensibly to Equestria, with the intention that he would assassinate Solamina," Dinky noted, speaking smartly and efficiently. She had been in this job a long time, and she was very good at it. "It's possible something came of that."

"There is more to this than we know," the civilian representative, Mr Hiroto Sato, said quietly. "We cannot count on Elliot's success without proof. That would be most unwise if we should be proven wrong."

"We have a monitor on all Resistance radio transmissions coming from the Empire," Dinky reported. "If anything reaches their ears, we'll know soon after. From what I can tell, they've been as confused as us"

"Which leaves us the question of what we do in the meantime," Prince Blueblood, official head of the Equestrian government in exile, sighed. "Without Elliot, we just lost our primary hard hitter on the 'magic weapons' scale."

"We lost our only hard hitter," Cheerilee, the Equestrian Resistance civilian representative, sighed. She wasn't technically part of the Council (having relinquished her post to Blueblood upon his defection and agreement), but her voice held a lot of influence. "I'm not demeaning anyone's work, but Elliot was a class of his own."

"There's something to take from all this," Anderson said quietly, a slight smile on his face. "We just got given a reprieve. Now might be the time to dust off some old blueprints."

Sato and Blueblood both looked at Anderson with slight frowns on their faces.

"What did you have in mind?" Blueblood asked.

Cheerilee frowned, knowing more of what Anderson meant than Blueblood. "You don't mean the..."

"You just said it yourself," the Australian said. "We lost our only hard hitter. The only one. That's ridiculous. We're short, but..."

"But the Iron Clads were never proven effective for the resource cost," Cheerilee countered.

"Then we make them effective for the resource cost," Anderson countered. "I'm sick of relying on one man. Sick of being careful.”

Sato gaped as Anderson continued.

“Careful might have kept us surviving, but it’s sure as hell not going to keep us afloat forever. Careful got us here - no Albion, no backup plan. And if he's gone for good, careful will get us reduced to throwing rocks. Well, to hell with careful - if this is the end of the human race, let's do something awesome before we go!"

Sato raised an eyebrow, somewhat nonplussed by this. Cheerilee and Blueblood exchanged glances.

"Well," the Prince finally said. "I guess we can't argue with that." He frowned. "What's an 'Iron Clad'?"

***

Boston, November 16th, 2023 - 'Spectrum' Earth
14+ hours since the disappearance of Marcus Renee

"I beg of your ears to hear our pleas, we know of your suspicion of our arrival, but we truly mean no harm!"

Elliot watched as Bauer and Trixie had a hushed conversation. For the moment, the British man was content to have his hand cannon out, Excalibur returned to... wherever he got it from. Hell Blazer had never been overly clear on that.

Bauer was certainly taking no chances. He had sent his troops to various covering positions around the area, presumably so they could open fire on the two figures on command. They were currently a few storeys up, looking at their targets from the window.

Luna looked exactly like he had heard her described by ponies before: blue, regal and yet smaller than Celestia. He had only seen her on television a couple of times.

Discord... well, he couldn't help but think 'what the fuck is that thing' when he saw him, but he restrained himself.

"Right," Bauer said, walking up to him: Trixie had disappeared, but Elliot wasn't concerned: Lulamoon was on their side: the same could not be safely said of Luna and Discord.

"What's the plan?" Elliot asked.

"We're going to meet them," Bauer replied gravely.

"You think that's wise?" Elliot asked.

“Sir?” Kraber's voice crackled in Bauer's earpiece. “Permission to speak?”

“Permission granted.”

“This is a terrible fokking idea.”

"There's far more to this than meets the eye," Bauer said tiredly. "They'd have already attacked if they were going to."

“Uh huh,” Elliot said. “And you know that how?”

“We've heard a lot about Discord - far as we know, he could have levelled the whole place if he felt like it,” Bauer explained. “But he hasn't, has he? Neither's Luna. Ergo, there's more to this than meets the eye.”

"If you say so," Elliot murmured. "Far be it from me to disagree, but regardless of how dense your Convies seem to be, these things aren't Convies. They'll know there's more than one way to skin a cat. This could be a trap."

"If they want to skin me, then good luck to them," Bauer said with a tired smile. "Command's ready to drop missiles on my transponder the minute they need to."

Elliot raised an eyebrow. "That's... convenient."

"Not something you're used to?" Bauer asked.

"It's hard enough making bullets for guns without making rockets, plus I'm pretty sure we can't get access to most of the satellites anymore," Elliot said with a wry grin. "We make do."

Bauer smirked. "Come on, if you can keep up."

And with that, he leapt out of the window. Elliot raised an eyebrow.

"Alright then," he said, closing his eyes. A moment later, there was a rush of golden energy and he was stood near a destroyed car, the Major stepping off of the ruined vehicle, having landed on it. He threw Elliot a look.

"Magic," Elliot grinned.

"No shit," an irate female voice growled from near him. He frowned, looking around: there was no sign of… well, anything.

“Huh,” he said. “Neat trick.”

"Like I said," Bauer grinned. "Ace in the hole. Come on."

He walked onward, hands on his rifle and a machete at one side of him.

"If you wanna get that big sword of yours out, now's the time," Bauer said quietly to Elliot.

Elliot shrugged, before holstering his hand cannon and bringing out his shotgun. "Save the big guns for the big show. Don't wanna bring my hand out just yet."

"Suit yourself," Bauer said.

A few moments later, they had reached the two figures. Elliot folded his arms, raising an eyebrow at the two.

The Alicorn looked at the armoured man first, smiling slightly.

"You are... Major Stephan Bauer," she said to him. She glanced at Elliot. "And this is... one of your men?"

"And how would you know that, Miss...?" Bauer said, his expression not changing. Elliot didn't bother correcting the Alicorn, taking his cue from the German officer. The Discord thing (seriously, why when he had heard the name had nopony ever thought to mention how ugly the thing was?) was looking at him, but he ignored it. If the thing could sense something off about him, Elliot was content to let him wonder.

"Because Commander Marcus Renee told me himself," the Alicorn replied with a beaming smile, "He was quite joyful in his explanation of your person."

Faster than Luna could react, Bauer pulled out his machete, which transformed into a magical Claymore. As he pulled it out, it sliced through another car, carved through the door just before it rested under Luna's throat. She only blinked a few times before she actually realised just how fast it had all happened. Elliot raised an eyebrow, impressed by the speed of the draw and the precision of the swing. He could probably have pulled it off himself, but likely only if he was using Excalibur, with all the magical enhancement that entailed.

"Wha - what is the meaning of this?!" Luna gasped, stilling herself, watching the car door fall off with glowing bits of heated metal dripping off it.

'Well - damn,' Elliot thought, staring at the destroyed door. 'Thing's a bloody lightsaber.'

He never seen a sword like the one Bauer was holding. He was fairly sure it was just a regular machete with some magical properties to strengthen it, rather than completely changing its entire structure. It appeared to be based (from what little he'd learned of swords - mostly from over-eager Knights of Albion) along the lines of being a German forged two handed sword, just a tad bigger than the norm. It probably weighed a lot less as well, given that most of the sword was magical in nature.

"Funny," Bauer said with a voice that froze its tone for the Princess. "That's what I just wanted to ask."

He adjusted his sword a bit, and some of her hair seem to burn off.

Elliot watched with some concern as Luna raised a brow, looking the armoured man up and down, then glancing to the strange creature - ‘Discord, Dave, the name is Discord’ - for assistance in the rapidly deteriorating situation. Elliot frowned and shifted his stance, ready to bring his own weapon up in an instant, as he watched this Discord-creature roll his eyes and raise his claw… only for several blades to appear around his head, chest, and groin area.

A moment later, Trixie slowly melted into view, a look of annoyance on her face as Discord ignored the blades in favour of looking directly at her.

"Well…" the Draconequus said. "Was wondering when you'd drop the invisible act."

Trixie blew a few strands of her mane out of her face. "Well, how about a new act? Let's call it… how many blades does it take to make Discord tell us what we want to know?"

"Hmmm, kinky," Discord mused out loud. "But I can make these toys change on a whim, you know. Sad but true."

"And I have several teams ready to put a bullet in your skull several times over," Bauer growled as he held the blade closer to Luna's neck. "And if that doesn't work, a good amount of heavy ordnance can take care of the rest. I doubt you can survive such a thing, supposed god or not."

"He sounds serious," Elliot commented drily. "I'd do as he asks."

Discord only looked amused. "Well, then, lets see what you got."

Stephan brought up his free hand firmly, watching Discord follow with his eyes and waved his hand once. Luna flinched at Discord's howl of surprise and pain, before the roar of a weapon firing reached her ears. Discord blinked several times before reaching up and clutching the remaining of his blue horn, the missing piece tumbling to the ground and rolling away out of his sight.

"Right, you win." Discord raised his arms, his claws falling off his paws and scurrying underneath a parked car, causing Luna to look at him, almost in disappointment. "What? It hurt and that means they have runic magic on those bullets. I rather remain whole, thank you very much."

Elliot chuckled.

Stephan returned his attention back at Luna. "You still didn't introduce yourself. You seem to know about me, but yet, you haven't said anything about yourself or…" He threw a look at Discord. "Your companion."

“Well you didn’t introduce Captain Shabby there,” Discord pointed out, pointing at Elliot. Elliot smirked.

“Elliot,” he said simply. “David Elliot. I’m with him.”

"My name is Princess Luna, Diarch of Equestria, Caretaker of the Moon and Night skies," Luna said, ignoring Discord’s interruption. She slowly moved a hoof to the Draconequus, who was still looking at his horn with loss. "And this is Discord, God of Chaos and Disharmony, Lord of Chance and Change."

"Wrong," Discord piped up, causing Luna to falter. Elliot sniggered.

‘Like watching a bloody double act,’ he thought to himself.

"What?" Luna asked the Draconequus, nonplussed.

"I said you are wrong." Discord repeated, ignoring the blades, snipers, and machine-gunners focused on him. "Disharmony was something you and Celestia labeled me."

"Really, now? You found that this was the moment to go to that?" Luna asked, raising an eyebrow. "What about the other names?!"

"I approve of them."

Bauer cleared his throat, patience wearing thin. "That's nice and all, but can we now focus on if I and my men have to kill you or not? We've had a long five years, we're not exactly in a trusting mood here." He looked at Luna, then at Discord and back. "Okay, how about… You tell me what happened to Marcus. And I mean all of it. Don't leave out any details, or I get a lot less patient and understanding."

"Ah, of course we should..." Luna trailed off, her eyes slowly widening, a frown slowly deepening in her face. "Oh no."

She suddenly stared to the south, eyes focused on something only she could see. Discord was looking in the same direction, his face angry, but his eyes full of fear.

Elliot's eyes widened too as the feeling he had been having for several minutes - the sense of something powerful coming - suddenly crystallised.

"That's…" he whispered. "Oh crap."

"...Okay, I bite. What is going on now?" Bauer asked, frowning at them all.

"Major, and… whoever you are... it is imperative that your men leave this area," Luna whispered, completely ignoring the blade as she stepped away, her wings flaring open.

Bauer lowered his blade, frowning slightly. "I'm not going to leave until you tell me why you are here and where the fuck is Renee is!"

"There is no time, leave!" Luna yelled, this time in a voice so loud that Stephan felt like he'd been blown back.

"Why? What in the hell is going on?" Bauer yelled, his patience clearly at an end.

"Her," Elliot said, speaking before Luna could, the man already putting his shotgun away. He had a look of cold resignation on his face. "She's coming."

Bauer's eyes shot wide open. "You mean -"

And then a voice on his radio started screaming. "Major! Fall back! I repeat fall back! Confirmation of the Tyrant -"

Behind Discord and Luna, an explosive force of air rippled the atmosphere. The surviving glass windows of the various buildings shattered instantly, and the shockwave weakened several buildings' walls. Vehicles closest to the central point of the magical disturbance were lifted and thrown into the buildings like toys.

Elliot didn't see what happened to Bauer and Trixie, too wrapped up in his own survival - he was blasted backward from where he had been standing, his shotgun flying off of him and even his hand cannon being lost in the confusion. His daggers stayed sheathed, but he could already tell they would be useless. This was not a fight he could win with any ordinary weapon, and judging from the power he was sensing, it was not a fight he would be able to win with anything fancier either.

He allowed the magic to fill him, surrounding his body and slowing his descent to a vicious roll that cracked ribs. He grimaced, before using the magic to heal himself, feeling a wave of relief as the pain subsided. He had been blasted a clean thirty or more metres from where Luna and Discord had been, and he looked up to see what had happened.

Incredibly, they were both still there. Luna had a vicious scowl on her face, mane flowing behind her, which made her defensive stance seem all the more threatening. Discord had a look of annoyance, claws popping back upon his paws and his shattered horn growing back. Various trinkets appeared on his body, an unusual bracer appearing on his arm, an amulet the other, a trio of chibi looking dolls hanging around his neck, and finally a large scroll on his back.

"Talk about gameface," Elliot muttered, rolling his shoulders back slightly as he watched the arrival of… her.

He had never seen Solamina in the flesh, for which he was extremely thankful. Still, if he ever did, he expected her to have the same level of power, the same aura of absolute confidence and surety of purpose. It was definitely intimidating.

He watched as the Tyrant stepped out, the Elements of Harmony right behind her. There was a smile on her face as she took note of the several humans in the area, before speaking, her voice quiet and calm.

"Hello Luna, Discord. Come to join my Perfect Harmony? Or do I have to destroy you both?"

Author's Notes:

IIIIIIIIIIT'S....
UPDORT TIME, HUMPADUMPS!