Author's Notes:

Yeah... This is late... I'm just gonna stop with my excuses and try to work harder.

I felt my eyes slowly open as I felt the dawn light start to hit me. I let out a small groan as I sat up, stretching as I did so, more out of habit than anything else. Glancing around, I saw through the glass doors leading out to the at the sun had just come up over the horizon, making the land gleam a bright gold.

I smiled as I saw this. It brought back memories of home, a home which I would most likely never see again. Frowning, I shoved those thoughts aside as I prepared to get ready, only to realize that I didn’t really have to get ready. I didn’t have to pee, didn’t have to try to tame my hair, just grab the stuff I had placed in the dresser last night.

I first grabbed the sheath from the larger drawer, which attached itself to my back with a small metallic click, same as it had before. Opening the smaller segment of the dresser, I grabbed my wallet, keys and phone, which I put in my pocket.

Opening the glass doors, I beheld the glory of Canterlot in the early morning. The brilliant shine of the daybreak sun made the tall spires glint like pieces of gold. I paused as that thought ran through my head. ’That was rather… eloquent.’ I thought to myself, ’Cyborg thing heightening my vocabulary?’ I thought about that for a moment, before shrugging. ’Sounds better than when I normally talk anyway.’ I continued to stare out over the cityscape of Canterlot until a knock at my door drew my attention.

Turning back to the door, I heard Princess Celestia’s calming voice flow through. “Hello? Mr. Crane?” she asked, “Are you awake?”

I walked over to the door and opened it. She was standing there in an identical dress to yesterday, a white garment of the finest silk. “Yes, I am.” I responded, hoping this new heightened vocab wouldn’t make me sound too weird while talking. “Just woke up a few minutes ago, as a matter of fact.” I smiled, “And please, call me Jack. Mr. Crane sounds far too formal.”

Celestia smiled back, “I shall endeavor to remember that.” Her smile became serious. “As much as I enjoy talking with you so casually, I have a matter that I need to talk to you about.”

My smile also vanished, replaced by a slightly concerned look. “What’s wrong?” Scenarios played out quickly through my mind, from Chrysalis escaping to a new foe on the horizon to fight.

Celestia sighed, “Chrysalis wishes to speak with you. What about, I don’t know. All she told the guards was that she wished to speak with you and no one else.”

Now, I was curious, along with mildly irritated at the thought of the bitchy woman. Why did she want to talk to me? The guy who almost singlehandedly took down her invasion. ’That’s still a wacky thing to imagine. Me stopping an invasion.’ I thought for a moment before responding. “She’s locked up tight?” I asked. “No way she could escape by letting me in?”

Celestia shook her head, “Her cell is built with stone inscribed with magic-nullification runes. It would take the power of an Alicorn to break out of the cell.” She informed me, “It’s completely safe. Don’t worry.”

I sighed, rubbing the back of my head with my hand. “Well, I guess I should talk to her then.” I said, “See what’s so important that only I can be told.” I stepped outside the room and closed the door. “Shall we go?” I asked, to which she nodded.

We began to walk down the hallway in relative silence. I could still hear snoring through Twilight’s door, so I imagined both she and whoever else were in there were still asleep. “How did you sleep?” Celestia asked me once we were a bit further down the hallway.

“I slept well,” I replied, “Nothing woke me up, thankfully.” A smile came to my face as I recalled the visage of Canterlot bathed in the golden gleam of the early sun. “The sunrise was beautiful though.” I told her.

Her smile grew almost exponentially. “Even after these many millennia, it still always feels good when someone compliments how I raise the sun.”

I raised an eyebrow, “And by raising the sun, you mean…” I asked, thinking she had a different meaning behind ‘Raising the Sun.’

“What I said,” she told me, “I raise the sun in the morning and lower it in the evening.”

I stopped in my tracks. Yes, ponies like Twilight and Celestia could break the laws of Physics with this ‘Magic’ of theirs, but come on! Was everything I knew about physics going to be destroyed by this world? “That’s… impossible.” I said shortly. Celestia’s face showed her confusion at my remark, so I explained further. “A planetary body, such as the earth, revolves around the sun because of the sun’s much higher weight and mass.” I said, “Also known as gravity. By the same mark, the moon revolves around the earth because the earth is so much bigger than the moon.”

She stared at me for a moment, before shrugging. “Maybe in your world, it works like that, but here the sun revolves around the earth with the moon due to mine and my sister’s magic,” she said, “If we didn’t, then both would fly off into space.”

I stared back at her, before shaking my head. ’Magical ponies controlling celestial bodies bullshit…’ I grumped to myself before speaking up. “Nevermind… What’s the situation with my chopper?” I asked her, “How is it getting back to Ponyville with us?”

Celestia smiled, “It’ll be on one of the cargo cars on the train.” She informed me as we reached the dungeons. Her smile turned serious, “One last chance to change your mind.”

I sighed, steeling my determination, “No, I should see what she wants to talk about.” I told her as we walked down into the dungeon. The walls, previously made of a shining white stone, were now made of a darker, depressing grey stone, lit by torches at equal intervals.

Numerous cell doors lined the walls, and all of them were filled with the same thing. Changelings filled every single cell as far as I could see. A few of them hissed as Celestia and I passed, but the majority of them either ignored us or tried to get away from us as fast as they could. I noticed Mandible in one of the cells, and he gave me a look that almost bordered on respectful. I gave him a small nod as we passed, which he returned.

Eventually, we came to an actual metal door that glimmered slightly with what I assumed to be magic. Two heavily armored guards stood on either side, holding a sword and shield each. Upon seeing the Princess, they bowed low and placed their hands upon the door, where fiery lines of magical energy shot through the door, before slowly fading away.

Sounds of heavy locks unlocking began to ring out, clanking heavily to my auditory sensors. Eventually, the sounds died down, and the door smoothly slid open. The inside of the cell was darkened, so I could only see inside due to my enhanced vision. A bed lay inside, with the figure of Chrysalis sitting on it. On the walls, I could see a few unpowered electric lights. At least, that’s what my sensors told me.

As we began to walk inside, Chrysalis’s voice spoke out. “I’d ask you both in, but I’d rather not be tempted to hide under a rock from the sun.” She said in a sarcastic tone. “I want to talk to the warrior. Alone.”

Celestia looked at me, wordlessly asking if I still wanted to continue. I gave a subtle nod, and she backed up. “Knock on the door, and we’ll let you out.” She informed me as I walked into the room, the heavy metal door closing behind me. Chrysalis smiled as best she could, wincing after a second as the electric lights activated, revealing her to me. She looked weary, on top of incredibly nauseous.

I didn't return the smile. The thought of her threatening to rape Twilight and the others was still sharp in my mind. “You wanted to speak to me?” I said, draining all the emotion out of my voice. It sounded cold, and robotic.

She nodded, noticing my tone. “I did. On top of everything else, I wanted to apologize for my words yesterday during our fight.” She paused, thinking her words through. “Angering your enemies is a good way to make them sloppy, for them to make a mistake.” She looked up at me, “I didn’t mean a single word that I said.”

At first, I didn’t believe her. It seemed too coincidental to be true. But then, these pop-ups appeared on my H.U.D., telling me that she was, in fact, telling the truth. ’So, I can tell when people are lying or not?’ I mused, ’Handy.’ I sighed, letting go of the anger I held was harder than I felt it used to be. “I believe you,” I finally said, “But I still don’t like you much.”

Chrysalis nodded in understanding, “I thought as much. Although that makes this next part harder for me to ask you.” She looked away for a moment, “I need your help.”

I sighed again. ’Yeah, it makes sense that she needs help, but why ask me?’ I wondered, ’She knows I don’t particularly like her, and I don’t imagine she’s too big of a fan of me.’ After another moment of mental debate, I decided with a response, “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll see what I can do.”

Chrysalis nodded again, “Changelings, when absent from positive emotions for too long, start to turn feral,” she told me, “If somepony would volunteer to share positive emotions every so often, my mind would be at ease just a little more.”

I looked at her skeptically, “That seems awfully risky on my end. What can you promise that will make me be even willing to suggest this to the princess?”

Chrysalis frowned, “The knowledge of who had me attack Canterlot in the first place.” She said with a slight snap.

To say I didn’t expect that to come out of her mouth was a severe understatement. “What?” My H.U.D. pop-ups helpfully told me that she wasn’t lying. ’That’s really helpful. Almost cheatingly so.’ I thought to myself, before mentally shrugging, ’Not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth.’ After I calmed myself down some, I made a motion for her to continue.

Chrysalis paused for a moment, apparently not expecting me to believe her so easily. “W-well, every night when I went to sleep, this voice spoke to me,” she told me, “It was strange. I couldn’t tell its gender, or keep it out for very long.”

She looked suitably concerned as I took that in. “What did the voice say to you?” I asked, “Surely not looking for grandma’s old cookie recipe.”

She gave me a strange look before continuing. “No, it wasn’t looking for cookies,” she said, shaking her head, “The voice told me that the ponies were planning an imminent attack on my hive, with the intent to wipe us out.”

If I hadn’t already been paying attention before, I was now. “An attack?” I asked, “From what little I know of Celestia, she doesn’t seem to be the one to wage an unprovoked war upon someone else.”

Chrysalis nodded, “Celestia’s not a warmonger. Everyone knows that much. The only reason she would fight is to defend her ponies… But…” she sighed, “The voice’s persistence on top of the things it showed me…” A small tear rolled down her cheeks, “I succumbed eventually… and I marched my whole hive here to stop what I thought was my hive’s total doom.”

I stood there, silent for a moment as I digested this new tidbit of information. ’So, there’s someone who wants a war between ponies and the Changelings… But what could anyone gain from that…?’ I shook my head, deciding to tell Celestia about it when I saw her. “This is definitely some important information,” I said finally, “I’m gonna tell Celestia about it when I leave,” I said to her, the last of my dislike slipping away, “We’ll find out who did this. And I’ll talk to Celestia about getting volunteers for your changelings.” I said before walking up to the door. I knocked a few times, hoping that they would get the idea.

Sure enough, I heard the fiery rush of magic, and a moment later we both heard the heavy locks begin to unlock. As I stood waiting, I heard Chrysalis speak up. “Warrior.” I turned to see Chrysalis looking down at the floor, almost nervously.

“Jack,” I corrected her. She looked up in confusion. “My name isn't warrior. It's Jack. Jack Crane.”

“Jack… Crane…” Chrysalis said slowly, testing the word out, “That’s a… unique name.” I chuckled silently. If only she knew how common it was. “I just wanted to say…” she paused for a moment, before sighing. “I wanted to say thank you. For all that you’ve done.”

I finally smiled, “Well, despite all the things you did, I can tell that you did them all for the good of your Hive, so the least I could do is help you out.” The locks finally opened, with the door swinging open as silent as the moon rising in the sky. “I’ll talk to you soon,” I promised before walking out of the cell.

“I look forward to it,” I heard Chrysalis say as the door shut behind me.

Celestia was leaning against the wall near the cell as I had come out, and walked over to me. “So, what did she want to tell you?” She asked me.

The small smile that had adorned my face after leaving the cell vanished quickly, replaced by a serious frown. “Chrysalis believes that she was tricked into attacking Canterlot.”

Like myself beforehand, Celestia was shocked at hearing this news. “Tricked?” Her tone betrayed her dubiousness at the mere idea. “And you’re sure she wasn’t lying?”

I remembered back to the H.U.D. pop-ups that told me she wasn’t. “Positive.” ’Those really are almost cheating…’ I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. “She said that a voice spoke to her in a dream, telling her of an incoming attack by the ponies to wipe out her hive. An unnatural, recurring dream at that.”

Celestia was suitably troubled at the news. “But… Who would do such a thing, and why?"

I shrugged. “Anyone with a grudge against either Equestria or Chrysalis’s Hive,” I theorized, “And as for why, that's easy. Whoever did this wanted a war.”

Celestia’s face took a grim turn. “What could anypony get out of a war?” she questioned, “All wars do is cause death and destruction.”

“Create jobs,” I said, causing Celestia to look at me strangely. “You need one thing to fight a war, supplies. Whether those supplies are munitions, food, armor or troops, someone needs to make them, and be paid for it,” I said, “Could also be to topple an oppressive regime, but I don't think that's the case here.”

Celestia sighed, “Well, we won't know until we find out more about this mysterious voice, whoever it is.” Her face shifted to a kinder look. “I'll keep you up to date on information as we get it. Your outside perspective would be a large help, if you were willing.”

I nodded, glad I was able to help in some way. “Of course. I was going to offer my assistance anyway.” I decided to run Chrysalis’s request by Celestia. “Another thing she brought up, Changelings go feral when absent from positive emotions for large periods of time.” I said, “She would like for volunteers to lend Changelings positive emotions so that they don’t go feral.”

Celestia sighed, “While I don’t want to see a horde of feral changelings rampaging through Canterlot, I can’t think of anypony who would wish to show Changelings any form of positivity at all.” She sighed again, “I shall look into it. In the meantime, you should head to the banquet hall for breakfast.” She said before turning to a guard, “Please, bring Mr. Crane to the banquet halls, and make sure that the Elements of Harmony are awake and ready for breakfast.”

The guard nodded and began leading me back through the dungeons and up into the main castle. After another minute or two, the guard brought me to the same hall that we were eating in last night. “Please enjoy your meal, Sir.”

I nodded to the guard, saying, “Thank you,” before walking into the room. Currently sitting at a table was Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, each with something different to eat. Applejack had a few apples, Pinkie Pie had a large… cupcake? ’Not the best breakfast…’ And Fluttershy had a simple muffin and banana. “Good morning.” I said, pulling over a chair and sitting down.

After the few various forms of ‘good morning,’ Applejack began talking. “So, how’d ya sleep sugarcube?”

I shrugged. “I slept pretty well. The morning sunrise over Canterlot was beautiful,” I said to the group as a waiter came up to me.

He was dressed in the standard waiter getup: white shirt, black vest, red bowtie. “What would you like for breakfast this morning?” He asked me. With the accent he was speaking in, I expected him to say something like, ‘It’s wafer thin!’

I thought about it for a moment, before deciding, “I’d like a glass of apple juice, please.” I noticed Applejack give me a look of approval on my choice of drinks.

The waiter gave a stiff nod. “I live to serve.” He said, his overdone french accent filled with contempt for… something.

I raised an eyebrow. “That guy needs a day off from work,” I muttered, before looking up at the rest of the group. “What's on the agenda for the day? Once we get to Ponyville, I mean.”

“Ah gotta check on the farm,” Applejack said first, “It's only been a few days, but ah’d like to make sure everything's going just fine and dandy.”

“O-oh. Well, I have to check on my animal friends. They can get so lonely without somepony to care for them,” Fluttershy said next, “Not to mention Angel Bunny can get so overworked in my absence.” I saw that Applejack grimace at the mention of this rabbit, but she said nothing about it. I made a note to ask about it later.

Pinkie spoke up next, and, whoa boy, can she talk. I honestly couldn’t tell what she said, and instead followed the actions of Applejack, who nodded while smiling congenially. “So that’s why you need to be ready-ready-ready for when you get to Sugarcube Corner!”

I blinked, wishing I knew what she had said. I opened my mouth to say so, but Applejack beat me too it. “Sounds mighty good Pinkie!” She gave me a look that read, ‘drop it.’

As the other three went back into a relative silence while eating, a noise outside the banquet hall stirred my sensors. It sounded like a small group of people. Concentrating, I discerned what they were saying.

“They’re too dangerous to even keep locked up!” A voice I recognized as Rainbow Dash said vehemently. “You were there with me, Twilight. How can you say they deserve any mercy!?” She sounded royally pissed.

“Yes, Rainbow, I was there.” I heard Twilight’s voice reply. She sounded annoyed. “I also remember them not hurting us. Clearly, they didn’t want to harm us any more than they had to.” Their argument was heard by the others, who looked up from their meals as Twilight and Rainbow walked in. With them was Rarity, and the purple and green scaled ringbearer from yesterday. I think Twilight said his name was Spike. “Look, all I’m saying is that we shouldn’t overreact until we’re positive we know all the information.”

“What other information is there!?” Rainbow exclaimed, making Fluttershy give off an eep as she hid in her sweater. “They’re evil emotion stealing bugs who should be treated with as much care a spider in your food!”

I looked over at the others who were eating. They all looked less interested in their food, now that Rainbow had said that glorious little comment. “Great thing to say during breakfast, Dash,” I called, drawing her attention, “Everyone wants to think of spiders in their muffins.”

She looked excited to see me, “Raiden! Finally, someone who’ll speak some sense.” She said as she pulled up a chair. “You agree with me, right? That the Changelings are nothing but love sucking evil monsters that should be squashed.”

I gave her a surprised look as the rest of them sat down. “That’s sounding rather vicious, coming from you,” I said, before looking away, “And besides, no, I don’t agree with you.”

I turned back to see her face agape. Maybe she expected me to agree because I fought so hard against them yesterday? “How can you say that after fighting so hard yesterday!?”

’Called it’ I shrugged, “Cause I’d do the same against ponies that were doing the same thing. Besides-”

At that moment, the waiter came back with a glass of apple juice. “Your drink.” He said, barely hidden contempt in his voice, as he placed the glass down, “Sir.”

I glanced up at him with an eyebrow raised, “Thank you.” I raised the glass to my lips and took a long quaff. ’Damn. This shit’s good.’ I thought as I placed the glass down again. “Besides,” I continued, “It’s like Twilight said, you don’t know everything that happened.”

Rainbow glared at me. “And you know? Is that it?”

I nodded, taking another long drink. “I do.” I said, “However, it’s most likely classified, so if you want to know, I’d recommend taking it up with Celestia.”

Rainbow glared at me before slumping back in her chair, looking defeated. “Whatever…”

The waiter moved to her and asked-in a much nicer tone, I might add-what she wanted to eat. “A bowl of Oats,” she mumbled, the waiter nodding and leaving once he got the orders from Twilight, Rarity and Spike.

Taking another sip of my apple juice, I turned to Twilight, “So, what needs to be done before we can leave?”

Twilight grinned, “Good morning to you, too. This wasn’t a very long trip, so most of us just have to pack up a few things, then wait for the train. What about you?” she asked me, “Do you have anything you need to pack?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I have everything with me. I just need to make sure Celestia gets the bike on the train before we leave,” I said, taking another sip of my apple juice. “I don’t know how this works, being mostly robot and all, but this tastes fucking amazing.”

Everyone let out a gasp, and the waiter gave me his strongest glare yet. ’Man, this guy could give Cyclops a run for his money…’ I thought to myself, wondering what had set them off.

Twilight seemed the most upset, “Please, Jack, there are kids present!” She gestured towards Spike, who looked like he was going to fall asleep at the table.

’Oh, right. Children.’ I berated myself. “...Right. Sorry, my bad,” I said sheepishly, “I’m used to hanging around guys my own age, who don’t care about vulgarity.” I snorted, thinking back to my college buddies, “Honestly, I’m probably the most prudish out of all of them.”

Rarity huffed, “Well, I don’t think I speak for only myself when I ask you to try to tone down the language.” She turned her nose up into the air, “Especially when there are children around.”

I nodded, holding my hands up in what I hopped was a placating manner. “I’ll work on it. No promises though if something slips out.”

Spike, who seemed to have managed to wake himself up a little bit more, cast a bleary gaze in my direction. “You’re Raiden… Right?” He asked, a yawn punctuating his statement, “Twilight mentioned you when she woke me up.”

I nodded. “People do seem to be calling me that,” I said, honestly kinda amused by the whole thing. ’I told them my real name is Jack Crane, but they still insist on calling me Raiden.’ I shook my head. “If you want, you can call me that, or my real name, which would be Jack.”

Spike nodded, the waiter having finally come back with the rest of the table’s orders. Placed in front of him was a plate of… gemstones? “Oh, sweet!” Spike exclaimed, his previous exhaustion seemingly forgotten. He grabbed a handful of the gems and shoveled them into his mouth. While doing so, I noted the lines of large, sharp teeth that lined his mouth. As he brought his mouth down on the gems, I fully expected them to break. Instead, the gems were crushed, and he devoured them like he would a piece of rock candy.

I stared at the sight for a moment before sighing. “Not even gonna ask…” I muttered, resigning myself to probable eternal confusion over how this world works. I took another drink, noticing with slight sadness that it was almost all gone, before speaking again. “So, Spike….” I began, wondering how to phrase my question without seeming rude. “...as someone from another world, could you please tell me what you are?”

Seeing no bursts of outrage from the others, I assumed that I had worded it well enough. Spike opened his mouth to speak, but instead burped. As he did so, a torrent of flames shot from his mouth, startling me. “Excuse me,” he said, “Anyway, I’m a dragon.” Spike's chest puffed out in some degree of pride.

By the burst of flames, I figured as such. Still… “This world is so weird…” I muttered, finishing off my apple juice and laying my head down on the table. After a moment, I lifted my head and inspected Spike. ’That sounded creepy.’ I thought to myself after a moment of retrospection, ’Inspection is a bad word, especially when it’s a younger person.’ During this inner monologue however, I noticed something odd about Spike. “Spike… You said you were a dragon… Don’t dragons have wings?”

Spike nodded, “Well, from what I’ve seen, they do.” He glanced at his back before taking another handful of gemstones. “But… Ponykind doesn’t know much about dragons, so there's no real way of knowing when they’ll grow in.”

“From what little friendly interaction that we’ve had with dragons,” Twilight cut in, “It would seem that they grow in sometime between birth and adolescence. Which, for a dragon, can be anywhere from twenty to forty years.”

I nodded, tucking that little bit of information into my mind. “That’s an interesting bit of information. Thank you.” Looking around, I saw that everyone was still in the process of eating. “I’m gonna go find where Celestia has my bike stored,” I told everyone, standing up. “I’ll meet you at the train station?”

I got acknowledgments from most of the group, and a small, half-hearted glare from Rainbow Dash. ’She’ll calm down soon…’ I thought to myself, ’I hope…’ Walking towards the doorway that I had entered before, I looked around, hoping to spot a guard that could help me. Unfortunately, there was no-one in sight. Groaning quietly, I resigned myself to searching through the castle until I found her.

Thankfully, it didn’t take that long. I had barely moved around the corner when I spotted Celestia walking towards the breakfast hall. “Princess!” I called out, jogging over to her.

Celestia paused at my voice, smiling once she turned to me, “Oh, hello Jack.” She said, “Was there something you need?”

I nodded, returning the smile as best I could. “Yeah, actually. I was wondering if you could tell me where my motorbike is?”

Celestia smiled, “Even better, I can show you.” She said, starting walking and gesturing for me to follow.

I eagerly complied, but something struck me as I did so. “Don’t you have princessy things that you need to do?” I questioned, “Large affairs-of-state that need to be addressed after an attempted invasion?”

Celestia gave me a small, but wry smirk. “Yes, I would, if I was the sole ruler of Equestria. My sister’s return has afforded me many opportunities to not have to work as hard on occasion.”

I nodded, “Ah. Alright. That makes sense.” We had reached the gates of the castle, and was about to head into the city of Canterlot proper. Despite it not being my first time in the city, it would be the first when it wasn’t being invaded by changelings. “How far is my bike from the castle?” I asked, not entirely sure how the city would react to my presence.

“Well, I have it stored in a warehouse near the train station, so it should be a ten minute walk from here,” Celestia informed me before pausing. “Oh, I almost forgot. Give me one moment.” Her horn lit up, and her figure shimmered. In the next moment, the almost seven foot tall alicorn shrunk down to under six. Her horn disappeared, her long extravagant dress became a more modest sundress, and her hair changed from a multichromatic flowing rainbow to a simple paleish pink that hung down past her shoulders.

I must’ve made quite the image, cause I only snapped out of my staring once Celestia started giggling. “What in the name of the holy hand grenade was that?!” I exclaimed, “How did you do that?!”

Eventually, Celestia calmed down enough to speak. “A not-so-simple illusion spell,” she told me, “I simply appear as I am not. I use this when I walk among the people of Canterlot without wanting to raise excitement.” Celestia smiled. “When I am like this, please refer to me as Sunny Spark,” she requested of me before she began walking.

I nodded, following Celestia through the busy city of Canterlot. It was exceedingly pleasant, seeing the city at least somewhat full of life, as compared to what it was the day before. “I gotta say… I’m really impressed, Sunny.”

She looked over at me, a small smile adorning her features as she did so. “They are an impressive bunch, aren’t they? Not one full day, and they’re already back to a semi-normal state.”

A smile found its way onto my own features, “They are stronger than they look.” After that, the two of us fell into a comfortable silence for the rest of the walk. Eventually, we came to where my bike was being held.

Stopping out of sight from where the Royal Guards were posted, Celestia changed back into her full Alicorn form. “Now, we should be able to enter without too much trouble,” she told me before walking back into the open.

The guards, upon seeing Princess Celestia, stamped their spears on the ground and saluted. “Princess!” they barked out in respect.

Celestia gave them a motherly smile, “At ease, my little ponies. I’m just here to show Mr. Crane his ‘motorbike,’ and move it to the train station.” She then turned to me, “And now, I shall take my leave. If I find any new information into that lead you found...” she nodded towards the guards before taking off into the skies and flying back to the castle.

I watched her fly away before turning back to the guards. “So, I guess you’ll be showing me to the bike?”

One of them nodded. “Yessir!” he exclaimed, saluting to me. “As you probably already know, the object was found in a courtyard sometime during the invasion.”

I nodded, still not completely comfortable with being saluted. “Yeah… I’d just like to see it, and ride it to the train station if I could.”

The guard nodded once more. “Yessir. If you would just follow me,” he said, walking into the Warehouse, and after a moment in which I nodded to the other guards, I followed him.

Inside the warehouse was the standard assortment of wooden boxes, along with what looked like Changeling weapons and armor. “The warehouses are being used as storerooms for the Changeling armaments?” I asked the guard, “Is that the safest place for them?”

“Normally... no, they wouldn’t be,” the guard informed me, “But due to the sheer amount of items recovered from the attack, we just don’t have enough room to hold them.” He sighed. “We’ve temporarily taken over warehouses like this around the city until we can figure out what to do with them.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but then, we came into sight of my chopper. It amazed me how it looked just the same as it had before. Sleek, black with the elongated front end, the only difference between it and the original was the saddlebags, which I figured I would need to carry things to and from the convention. ’Damn… it feels like the convention was years ago…’ I shook my head. ’No point in getting sad about it now.’ I turned to the guard. “Nothing seems damaged on it?”

The guard looked at me uncertainly, “Well… as far as we can tell, it looks okay… but we’ve never seen anything like it before. Something could be broken, and we just wouldn’t know.”

I sighed, reaching into my pocket and grabbing my keys out of it. “Well, time to test her out then.” I muttered, sitting down on the bike and placing the key in. After going through the main steps, I hit the kickstart on the bike twice before it started, the loud roar of the engine making nearby guards back away in shock. “She missed me…” I muttered, running a hand alongside the fuel tank. Turning to a nearby guard, I revved the engine slightly, “So, how do I get to the train station?” I asked, spotting a nearby open door.

The guard stepped forward, looking nervously at the chopper, “It’s just a few streets straight out that door, and then, you make a right, you can’t miss it.”

A notice appeared in my vision. New Primary Objective; Get to the Train Station A path had appeared on my minimap that showed me the path to take. ’That’s useful.' I thought to myself before nodding, “Can you clear the streets? I don’t want to accidentally hurt someone.”

The guard looked at his fellows, looking uncertain of what to do. After a moment of frantic looks being thrown, the guard nodded, “Yes… just give us a few minutes.” They rushed out, and I could hear them telling everyone to temporarily stay indoors. Eventually, they came back. “You’re good to go.”

I nodded, revving the engine before gunning it, sending me hurtling through the door and out onto the streets. The cobblestone streets of Canterlot made for a fairly bumpy ride, but to my new cybernetic body, it was next to nothing. ’Chrysalis’s drone’s hit harder than these bumps!' I thought with a slight smirk.

Sooner than I’d have liked, my turn came, and as I made it, I saw Twilight, Spike, and everyone else waiting at the train station. Smiling, I brought myself to a stop close to them, enjoying their shocked looks. “Eh… What’s up guys?” I asked them, idly moving the kickstand to let me get off the bike.

Dash was the first one to recover fully. “That is so awesome!” she squealed, her eyes literally sparkling. “Where did you get that!?”

I smiled, “Friend lent it to me from back home.” My smile turned wistful, “I don’t think I’ll have a chance to give it back.” I shook my head, “Anyway, the train is supposed to be here soon?”

Twilight had managed to recover next, with the rest shortly following. “Uh… Yeah, it should be here within the next few minutes,” she told me, everyone else nodding along.

I nodded and leaned against the bike as we waited for the train. True to Twilight’s word, within the next few minutes, the loud whistle of a train could be heard. As it came into view, I could see the train, which had a cargo compartment in the back. “I’ll meet you guys in the passenger compartments in a bit,” I said to the rest of the group before walking off towards the rear of the train.

It took another moment before the train fully stopped, but by that time, I was already in location for where the cargo compartment was. As the train came to a full stop, the rear doors opened up, and a ramp came down. Down the ramp walked a light blue female pegasus with a brown curly mane. She wore white and blue striped overalls, a similarly colored hat, and a plain white undershirt below her overalls. “Are you the special cargo we were told about?” she asked me upon seeing me, her voice an almost stereotypical manhattan accent.

I nodded, patting the bike, “Yep. Here she is.” I looked up the ramp, “Want some help getting it up there?” I asked, “This thing isn’t light for most people.”

The mare nodded, “That’d be nice, yeah.” She moved to the other side of the motorcycle and helped me keep it balanced as I pushed it up the ramp. “So… what is this thing?” she asked me, “Looks like a bicycle with an engine attached.”

I smiled as I moved it upwards, “You aren’t that far off. The original prototypes of this were literally just that, a bicycle with an engine attached. Thankfully, we have a few hundred years worth of updates to that original prototype.”

The mare nodded again as we got it up the ramp. “So, what’s your name Spikes?” she asked me.

I raised an eyebrow at the nickname, “It’s Jack. Jack Crane, and really, Spikes was the best you could come up with?”

She shrugged, extending her hand to me, “You’re spikey. It fits. I’m Little Harmony, but I’d prefer it if you just called me Harmony.”

I nodded, taking her hand with my own and shaking it, “Nice to meet you, Harmony. I should probably get back to my friends.” I told her as we let go.

She nodded back. “Just as well. It was nice meeting you, Spikes,” she told me as she started binding down the chopper.

I nodded before walking through the door that led from the cargo compartment into the passenger compartment. After a few more doors, I found the compartment that Twilight and the others were staying in. “Everything settled back there?” Applejack asked me.

I nodded. “Yep, it should be smooth sailing from here on out,” I told her with a smile, “Now, onto Ponyville.”