We made it to Canterlot a few minutes after I summoned the two Blue Thunders, the royals having teleported ahead to get a medical team ready for Applejack, and they didn't disappoint. I was in one Blue Thunder, with Applejack and Twilight, who wanted to make sure Applejack didn't injure herself if she woke up, in the other.

The tow craft landed, and we disembarked, the Thunders disappearing just after, Applejack held in Twilight's magic. "Get her to the medical wing," I say. "I'll be there soon."

"Right," the lavender princess said, nodding, and she went to the medical wing, but, as she did, I saw something fall out of Applejack's deck, which I them went to pick up.

I did so, and picked up her Cyber Dragon card. "Hello," I say.

"Hello," the spirit inside said before it appeared, though at a smaller scale than in the duel. "You are the one who dueled Lady Applejack?" he asked.

"Yeah," I say, Chrono and the Reactors appearing behind me. "Why?"

"I wish to thank you," Cyber, yes, that's what I'm calling him, said. "Lady Applejack and I may have met when she was being controlled, but she was still much herself then. As she fell, I wanted to free her, but had no way to. You, however, were able to do so, and for that, I thank you."

"Why did you not try to say anything during the duel?" Chrono asked.

"I could not," Cyber asked. "The Order has made a habit of destroying cards that speak during duels or speak out of line, and I feared that, if I did, Lady Applejack would destroy me then and there."

"I thought you would have been loyal to the Order," SK said.

"No, I am not," Cyber said. "I am not the only one, either. Many spirits are enslaved by the Order, and wish for it's down fall, but their owners are entirely enthralled, and many spirits have been destroyed because of that."

"And you're telling us this why?" RE asked.

"Because I hope that when Lady Applejack awakens, she will wish to strike back at the Order, and after seeing you duel, I hope you will teach her."

"She doesn't need a teacher," I say. "She played her cards well, she simply became cocky, and could have beat me by destroying SK with her cannon after it got two thousand attack points, due to it's effect preventing it from being destroyed by any monster that's lower than level seven, and SK's a level five."

"He is correct," SK said. "If she had considered what her cards were capable of, she may very well have won."

"Enough talk guys," I say. "We should talk with the Princesses, see if they know anything else about the others, assuming you don' know anything, Cyber?"

"Very little," he said. "Only that the Elements of Generosity and Loyalty often duel together, even though their decks do not reflect that."

"So you know what monsters they use?" Y FI asked.

"Dragons. Pure dragons."

I smiled. Good thing I made a dragon killer deck. "Well, I'll keep that in mind. Now, come on, we should speak with the Princesses."

"Right," my monsters said.

"What about you, Cyber?"

He bowed as much as he could and said, "I believe it best if I go with you, to inform them of how the Order works."

"Then let's go," I say, and I led the way to the medical wing.

When we arrived, I saw Twilight and the others outside. "Something already went wrong!?" I ask.

"No," Twilight said, and I saw that Lone had his arm around hers. "The doctors just wanted to make sure the checkup went okay, and asked us to wait out here." At me looking at her and Lone, she said, "Oh, sorry. This is Lone, my stallion friend."

The two of us stared at each other before he smiled. "Thanks for saving one of Twily's friends."

"No problem," I say. "Glad I could help."

"Uh," Cadence said, "whose the other spirit?"

"One of Applejack's," I say. "Name's Cyber."

I looked at him, and I saw him coil back, and even saw fear in his eyes, which I didn't think, seeing as how he's a machine, possible.

I looked where he was staring, and it was in the general direction of the two alicorn princesses. Call me curious now. Still, he got himself under control and said. "I am indeed one of Lady Applejack's monster spirits, and will serve her faithfully. You need not worry about my betrayal. Other, though, I can not be certain about."

"We will keep that in mind," Celestia said. "And thank you, Josh, for freeing one of the Elements."

"Of course," I say. "And I know you most likely do not wish to speak of this, but what do you know of the other Elements?"

"Little," Luna said. "Simply that Rainbow Dash and Lady Rarity are always seen dueling as a team, Fluttershy attacks aggressively, and Pinkie Pie uses cartoonish monsters."

"And Shining Armor?"

"They seem to fit with what he was," Chrysalis said. "Which is to say, a soldier."

"I also have something else to add," Cyber said. "The seven best duelists of the Order often have magic modifications to match with their type. The Elements of Loyalty and Generosity, for example, have had magic used on them so that they are part dragon, including the scales."

"Okay," I said. "That one sounds awesome."

"Definitely," Lone said, which got a glare from Twilight. "What? All I'm saying is that dragon scales are cool."

"Which reminds me, where's Spike," Twilight asked.

"I hope you don't mind Twilight," Celestia said, "but I asked him to help in probing the Order defenses in Cloudsdale."

"Are you mad?" Cyber asked. "Cloudsdale is one of the most secured places the Order controls, they made sure to broadcast that just to show their strength."

"Which is why I cast the strongest stealth spells on him," Celestia asked.

Before it could escalate any further, a doctor leaned out the door and said," She's awake. You may see her if you wish."

"Thank you, doctor," Luna said. "Shall we enter?"

"I think so," Chrysalis said, and she was the first to enter, followed by me and the spirits, then the others.

Applejack, true to the doctors word, was awake, and was sitting up in her bed, and, I imagine because they knew she would want them off, her order robes were removed, and the clothes she wore underneath, a white T-shirt and jeans, on. She turned ot face us when she heard the door opened, and went into freak out mode.

I'll save you all that, and give you the gist of it. Ahem: "What in Tarnation is a changeling doin' here?!" Believe me, what she actually said was much worse, I think she even used cuss words we haven't invented yet.

"Applejack, calm down," Cyber said as he slithered, I have no other word for it, up to Applejack. "The changelings are allies of Equestria, or did you forget?"

"Cyber?" she said. "That you?"

"Indeed it is, Lady Applejack," Cyber said with a bow of his head. "You were recently freed from the Order's control by him," he said, gesturing to me with that last part.

"Hello, Applejack," I said, myself and my spirits bowing. "It's an honor to actually meet you."

"Thanks, I guess," she said to me. "So, what are ya, anyway?"

"Just a third party," I say. "You can call me Josh, though."

Before she could say anything, though, the others finally got there. "Hey, Applejack," Twilight said.

"Hey, Twi," she said. "Hey, Lone."

"Hey, AJ. How you feeling? You know, considering?"

"Good," she said. "Hey, Princesses."

"Hello, Fair Applejack," Luna said/

"Hey, Applejack," Cadence said. "Good to know you're doing alright."

"Hello, Applejack," Celestia said.

"So, what's been going on with y'all?" she asked.

"Well, you know we and Chrysalis made a treaty due to the Order," Luna said.

"Apparently that happened after the whole issue," Applejack said.

"Just after you, actually,"  Chrysalis said, getting glares from the ponies.

"And here we go," I mutter as I facepalm.

"You sound glad that that happened," Luna said.

"Because I didn't have to deal with the Order by myself," Chrysalis said.

"Assuming you aren't with them," Cadence said. "Who knows? You may be a double agent. That's what your kind's best at, isn't it? Disguise and betrayal?"

"The wedding was only so my people could survive!"

"Then why not try diplomacy?" Celestia asked.

"Because of this response she was afraid of, for Christ's sake," I say, stepping between the ponies and the queen. "You ponies do have a reputation for being hypocrites, after all. Twilight here is the Element of Magic, but over looks even the simplest magic spells. Need I point out you used a spell she made that wasn't even complete to summon me? Or how you treat your allies. You practice and preach Harmony out your asses, but deny that to even other species, and try to make Equestria look like a god damned Mary Sue!"

"What's that? Cadence ask, to which I face palm.

"Essentially someone that is perfect with no faults," I say. "Back to what I was saying. The yaks: you try to show them you can do their shit better than them. Here's a motherfucking hint for hospitality even I know, and I know nothing of basic hospitality: you do not give foreign dignitaries their own shit unless they ask for it, not every fucking time! Starlight Glimmer: the ponies wanted to live like that. Even as a Princess, you had no reason to do what you did, Twilight. Yes, they attacked you first, but even they knew you were trying to ruin their way of life. Where I come from, most jackasses are like that, trying to put their beliefs over other's. Even I am guilty of it! Hell, you and Applejack and your other friends shot down Fluttershy, who actually liked their way of life. Not that I blame her, seeing as how she'd be less nervous, but still. How about you fuckers learn the actual meaning of the words 'harmony', 'acceptance', and 'equality' before you go about fucking preaching them at the top of your lungs!"

"How dare you speak of our subjects that way!" Luna said before she tried to attack me, but, and this surprised me as well here, Lone and Twilight used their magic to hold her back.

"Princess, calm down," Lone said.

"Yeah," Twilight said. "I mean, he's not wrong." Cue the surprised stares from everyone, even the duel monster spirits. "What? Me visiting my friends in the human world exposed me to the kind of stuff we find back here, like just friends having an argument that would ruin their friendship over here, like have a place to sit, is nothing compared to what they deal with. They deal with violence every day for entertainment, so call me desensitized."

. . . "And just how long do you spend there on vacation?" Chrono asked.

"The longest was about two weeks," she said, trying to hide behind her hair.

"Twi, that's cute with you, it really is," Lone said, "but I think we all agree hiding behind her hair's Fluttershy's job."

This simply made Twilight blush more. "Getting back to what I was saying as I wasn't done; I don't fight because the ponies asked me to, I fight because the changelings asked, which is also why you two," I said, looking at Celestia and Luna, "are not getting training in dueling, while you three," and I look at Twilight, Lone, and Chrysalis, "do."

I then turned to Applejack, Cyber's card in hand. "I believe this belongs to you, Applejack," I say as I offer her Cyber's card. "He's your monster spirit, after all."

"Th-thanks," she said, taking the card.

"Of course," I say before turning to the three I will be training. "Canterlot Gardens, one hour. If you can think of anyone who would be able to help, bring them." With that, I snapped my fingers, and three decks appeared. "Twilight, here's yours," I say, one of the decks hovering over to her. "Lone, this one's you," another deck hovering over to it's new owner. "Chrysalis." The last deck.

I then head to the doors. "One hour," I say to them again before walking out.

"You think they're capable?" Chrono asked.

"Everyone starts from somewhere," I say. "Who do you think I'll be going against next?"

"No idea," SK said. "Though, we are surprised the Order modifies it's best members."

"Which begs the question," Y FI says, "what is Applejack's?"

"I got a better question," I say. "Why did Cyber react with fear to seeing the Princesses?"

"Perhaps he was afraid of what they would do to him because of his connection with the Order," FE said.

"Maybe," I say. "But still, you know who has a point, something's already off here."

"Agreed," Chrono said. "What should we do in the meantime before training?"

"I would suggest preparing practice scenarios, as those would be best," SK said.

"Only once they get the hang of everything, first," I say. "Those are meant for advance stuff."

"So just teaching and notes?" FE asked.

"Yep."

"Then let's get ready," Y FI said, and we made our way to the Gardens.

Osiris, sitting on his throne, clenched his hand in anger. One of the Order's best duelists had been defeated by something that wasn't even of this world. He took a deep breath, and unclenched his hand. Perhaps it was what Lord Ra wished, so that the Order may learn from Applejack's defeat. He heard a pop behind him. "What do you bring?" he asked.

"News, my lord," the mare who had just arrived said. "The being the four summoned, it has decided to teach the changeling, the newest princess, and her stallion friend."

"Any thing else?"

"Yes," the mare said. "Applejack has awoken, and has been corrupted by the false light once more. The duelist has even the ability to see other spirits."

Osiris smiled a little. "Then he has been touched indeed. Keep an eye on him."

"Yes, Lord Osiris."

"And tell Lady Rarity and Lady Rainbow it is time for their dragons to be unchained."