Outside the walls of Aephoceria 1:00 am Rage's P.O.V.

---

The stink...

The very air was foul with the stink of bodies. Bodies of traitors, rapists and smoke. No matter where you went in Aephoceria and no matter how many pegasi tried to clear the air with wind, it will still remain.

The stink...

I was busy along with two of my fellow harbingers, as well as many other volunteers, dragging the mutilated carcasses of Ash's victims to one of the many fire pits created to burn these pigs. The one in my hand had been ripped in two diagonally, from the shoulder to the waist, and not with any blade, but with brute force. I was carrying just the top half while the other half is either lost somewhere on the battle field, or had been cast into a pit already. I decided to stop and take a breath. I looked towards the sea and saw some of the ships the enemy had arrived on had been burned to the point they were a mere shadow of what they once were, the rest were being loaded up with bodies to then be cast adrift and burned as well. I didn't think these bastards deserved that type of burial, but if we didn't get rid of them this way it would take us longer to clear these bodies. Looking towards the city and the castle I sighed and wondered if anyone was going to be able to get any sleep tonight. It didn't seem likely. I decided to get on with my task, but I couldn't help but let out a grunt of pain at the wound in my left arm from a stray crossbow bolt.

"Sir Rage!"

Looking towards the voice I saw a couple of the royal guards trying to get my attention.

"You'd better rest right now sir, we can handle the rest," one of the guards said.

"Ugh the hell, I can't look at this. We aren't even halfway done yet," I grunted as I gestured to the battlefield.

"We are aware of that sir, but you are injured. You need to rest." The other guard spoke up.

"This...This is nothing but a scratch," I said.

"What about that slash to the back and the one to your thigh?" the first guard asked, causing me to pause and remember a coward who attacked me from behind with a claymore and another who speared me in the leg.

"I'll live, both those wound have been treated," I said as I began making my way towards the nearest fire pit to dispose of the corpse in my grasp.

"But they haven't healed! Please sir, you'll risk opening up those wounds if you keep this up," the second guard said. Groaning and dropping the corpse I turned back to him.

"Fine, but I'm coming back out here if the work isn't even half finished by sunup. Understood?" I said as I looked and pointed at the two guards. They saluted, I nodded and spread my wings tacking off back to the castle. As I flew over the city I saw many individuals were awake and working on repairing or grieving on what they lost, whether it be their home, business or loved ones. I could do naught more but sigh and feel sorry for them. I felt angry at myself for not being strong enough to stop what had transpired. I became so lost in my thoughts that I nearly smashed into one of the castle towers if I hadn't swerved out of the way in time. The sudden shift in my flight forced me to make a landing in the castle gardens. A place that was once so vibrant and full of life was now reduced to ashes and burnt wood, all thanks to a burning boulder from a catapult. Looking around my landing site I recognized where I was. It was the clearing where we found Posy's body along with Dust's family. My thoughts travelled to the black bird who had disappeared when the battle was over.

With a shake of my head I looked at the small clearing and saw the bodies of Posy and Dusk's lover, along with the nest and egg shells, had been removed and put to rest. Making my way inside the castle I began just walking the corridors with no real destination in mind. There was no way I would be able to sleep and I certainly didn't feel like doing anything else. I aimlessly wandered about until a voice broke me out of my thoughts.

"What do you mean he's gone?!"

Raising my head I looked at where I ended up and saw I was outside the royal bedchamber. The voice I heard from inside definitely belonged to Nightmare.

"I mean he's gone as in he left. All that Ash left behind was a letter," came the voice of Spitfire.

"Let me see that," Tempest said before I heard the sound of rustling paper.

My curiosity piqued I knocked on the door and waited for a response. The door was opened slightly and I was greeted by Luna.

"Rage, I thought you were at the beach clearing away the dead?" Luna said in surprise.

"I was, but a couple of guards were worried about my health and told me to rest. *pfft* like I could anyway," I said.

"I see, but what brings you here?" Luna asked.

"I was passing by when I heard Nightmare shout and I figured I might check to see if everything was alright," I said.

It was then that Luna's face fell, she opened the door further and gestured for me to come inside which I did, Luna shutting the door behind me. It was then I saw Tempest holding a sheet of paper out towards me which I accepted and saw something was written on it.

Can't Stay

Need Time

Don't Come Looking For Me

"We found it not too long ago when we went to check on Ash, but discovered he wasn't here, along with some of his clothes. Seems he needed to be alone for some time and we don't know when he will be back...or even if he will be back," Spitfire said sadly.

"Spitfire!" Luna shouted.

"You saw the letter too Luna and what's more he said to not come looking for him!" Spitfire screamed back.

"I know that, but don't you think you could be a little bit more considerate to others in the room?" Luna hissed as she gestured over to her counterpart who had her hands cradling her large belly while gazing down at in in worry.

Spitfire seemed to get the message as she slumped down onto the floor with her back against the bed. I didn't need to see to know the room was full of such a sick depression I couldn't help but feel angry at Ash for just up and leaving like this, but what with how the contents of the letter were worded I could tell Ash was scared of himself and after all we saw tonight I am too. That thing we all saw was different, it wasn't like the time with me or Epsilon. Hell, not even with Red or when Ash let his fury out on Garian this was...uncharted territory. I was about to say something to the mares in the room, but before I could I saw all four of them were looking miserable, causing what I was about to say to die in my throat. I decided to say something to cheer them up.

"You don't honestly believe Ash won't come back, do you?" I asked, causing the four to look at me. "Look, whatever happened out there tonight happened and frankly everyone is going to need some time to adjust to it, Ash especially, but I have no doubt in my mind Ash will be back once he gets his head screwed back on. After all, he married and has had children with you Luna, Ash has yet to meet his child with you Moon and Ash loves the four of you unconditionally. So anyone who says he ain't coming back is either a fool or a liar, you hear?" I said causing all four mares to smile.

"Thanks Rage, we needed to hear that," Luna said. I nodded and turned towards the door, but before I reached it I stopped and turned back to face the mares.

"You mind if I take this?” I asked as I held up the note “I wish to see if I can gain any clues to Ash's location, just in case we need to get him."

The four mares simply shook their heads, to which I simply nodded, before opening the door and leaving the room. Closing it behind me I began to walk away.

*sigh* "What are you doing Ash?" I muttered.

With a shake of my head I continued on my way. I figured I'd see how the mane 6 are. I know they were pretty shook up after last night, so with a snap of my fingers I vanished and reappeared in front of the Paradise Acres farm house. I gave the front door a strong knock and waited for a response. I didn't have to wait long till I was greeted by a mare of the Apple Family I haven't met yet.

"Hello there miss, I'm looking for Applejack. Is she here?" I asked politely.

"Yes but...you see mah cousin...," the mare said, but I could tell there was uneasiness in her voice.

"I take it she's not exactly herself?" I asked, causing the mare to nod. "I see, if you don't mind I'd like to try and talk to her."

"Ah don't see the harm in that personally, but I don't see how one more can help," the mare said as she opened the door wider to allow me in.

"One more, are there others?" I asked as I stepped in.

"Yep, all of cousin Applejack’s friends dropped in. Honestly ah'm a might bit jealous," the mare said.

After asking where Applejack and the others were, along with a nod of thanks to the mare, I began to walk further inside the house. Soon I walked into the family room, where I saw the CMC sleeping in front of the lit hearth and, if the small smile was any indication, little Apple Bloom was having a favourable dream ,which made me smile. Going further into the house I walked by the dining room and saw Mrs. Cake, along with Pear Butter, sitting down at the table having some drinks and treats, no doubt made by Mrs. Cake for her friend to help her cheer up. Judging by the frown on Pear's face it could have been going better. I wanted to offer some words of my own, but I never really had a chance to talk to the mother of the Apple trio, so I figured the best thing would be to try and leave Mrs. Cake to help her friend and I'll introduce myself later, or another time if necessary. Turning away from the two mothers I began to make my way upstairs. I soon spotted five of the mane 6 outside of Applejack's bedroom. My footsteps must have alerted the mares, as they all turned to face me.

"Hey," I greeted with a haphazard wave.

"Hey Rage," Rainbow said, her voice sombre and without its usual bravado.

"We thought you'd be out clearing the fields of the dead," Twilight said.

"I was, but a couple of guards said I should rest due to this," I said, gesturing to my injuries.

"Shouldn't you be resting then?" Fluttershy asked. Bless her heart, always looking out for another's wellbeing rather than her own.

"Not like I could anyway, after what happened," I said, causing the five to nod in agreement "I take it Applejack is holed up in there and refuses to come out?"

They all murmured in agreement

"So it’s that bad." I said, almost to myself.

"Caramel is in there now, trying to coax Applejack into coming out to talk," Rarity said.

"That's a nice gesture Rarity, but I personally think it would be best if you let those two be for now. Sometimes it’s better to be comforted by your other half," I said.

"That's true," Rarity agreed.

"This obviously happened because of Red taking over Ash," Rainbow said, a hint of anger in her words. Her distrust of Red was obvious and reminded me of when we first met. The others seemed to mirror her resentment, as I felt the whole room shift into an angry mood.

"I wouldn't be so sure," I said.

"What do you mean darling?" Rarity asked, causing me to pull out the letter.

"This was found by Luna and the others today, it would seem Ash has up and vanished," I explained, as I handed the note over to the mares.

"Wait he just left!...The buck!" Rainbow shouted, as she and the mares all looked at the note I handed them.

"But why would he just leave, especially after what just happened?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, he vanished before we could throw him a ‘Thanks For Saving Us Even Though You Nearly Killed Applejack’ Party!" Pinkie cried out, causing everyone to stare at her in disbelief.

"Anyway, back to Twilight's question. I believe it's because Ash was scared and needs time," I said with a shrug.

"Time for what? We just got attacked! Hundreds of homes have been burned down and countless are dead!" Rainbow shouted as she got in my face.

"You don't think I know that!" I roared as my body became briefly engulfed in flames, causing the rainbow maned speedster to back off, before I took a breath. "Listen you five, last night has taught us many things about ourselves. One is that now that the caribou know where we are, we’re extremely vulnerable. Second is that Elisa, Evan and myself are too weak compared to the force we now face, which means we need to step up our game. Three, we can't rely on Ash to bail us out of every problem we now have, so that means we need to suck it up and play the hand life has dealt us, whether we like it or not, because whining on about it ain't gonna fix anything!"

Suddenly the door to Applejack's room opened. The orange mare herself walked out, followed by Caramel.

"Applejack are you..." Rainbow began, but was stopped by Applejack raising a hand.

"Rage is right ya'll, now ain't the time for mopen and cryin cause it ain't gon do us no good," Applejack said, before she turned to me with a smile, which made me smile back.

"Well, I hope you don't plan on doing any physical labor, since you’re pregnant and the same goes for you two," Caramel said as he looked towards Twilight and Fluttershy.

"Wait a sec, I think I got an idea. Applejack I need you and your family to start prepping meals, a lot of meals," Twilight interjected.

"Ah get what yer going for, we're gonna set up a relief system," Applejack said, causing Twilight to nod.

"Pinkie, I need you to help out Applejack, we're going to need all the help we can get," Twilight said.

"You got it princess!" Pinkie declared with a salute, before she and Applejack left.

"Next we're going to need blankets and new clothing. Rarity, Fluttershy can I count on you for that?" Twilight asked.

"Of course darling," Rarity said, while Fluttershy nodded with a smile, the two leaving as well.

"Oh! Oh! What about me?" Rainbow asked.

"There are still a few small fires in the city. Can you gather some pegasi and a few rainclouds to put them out?" Twilight asked.

"Leave it to me," Rainbow said with a smirk, before zipping out of the house, through an open window down the hall, in the blink of an eye.

"Caramel, I need you to gather up some earth ponies who are capable enough to clear away the rubble of the destroyed homes, so the rebuilding process can begin," Twilight commanded.

"You got it Twilight," Caramel said, leaving the house.

"Gotta say Twi, I really like the confident and princess-like version of you," I said.

"I had some really good role models," Twilight said with a smile.

"So, what task will you have me undertake?" I asked.

"Nothing. You need to heal and get stronger," Twilight replied, still keeping her smile.

"By your command your highness," I said with a bow, causing Twilight to roll her eyes, but still retain her smile. "Before I leave though, what will you be doing?"

"I'm going to the library to try and figure out a way to protect this place, so that this doesn't happen again," Twilight proclaimed.

"Luck and wisdom be you're greatest allies then," I said before Twilight vanished and I too teleported out of the Apple family's home, only to reappear outside the hall of armours worn by Ash long ago.

"Now then, I'm sure there are some warriors from Ash's past who have a fighting style that I can use to my advantage," I said, as I began to look through the rooms from the time period before the use of firearms and which weren’t mass produced.

My search was long and tiring, but I finally found a warrior who wielded weapons which were in my arsenal as well. The Berserkers of The Warborn from the three way (four way if you count the Wu Lin) war. Turns out Ash had done some research into each of the factions' warrior's, learning their fighting styles so that he could learn to counter them, even going into detail on their lore. My intrigued peaked I decided to borrow some of the books for further study, and to see if I could pick up some new skills, before leaving.

As I walked through the halls towards the training grounds, I passed the throne room, where I heard the sounds of pacing and muttering coming from inside. So I took a look, spotting Celestia walking to and fro across the room, one arm across her waist, while the other was resting upon the first and rubbing her chin. Judging by the look on the mare's face she seemed anxious, the sight made me raise an eyebrow, considering this was out of character for the monarch of the dawn.

"You keep pacing like that, you're gonna wear a trench into the floor," I said as I stepped inside, pulling the princess from her thoughts.

"Oh Rage, apologies I was...never mind how goes the...clean up?" Celestia asked.

"Last I saw slow, but progressing. Couple of guards pulled me away to rest...pfft laughable," I said, causing Celestia to shake her head with a smile. "And what of you?"

"Me?" Celestia asked, as she gestured to herself by placing a hand just above her bosom.

"Who else?" I retorted with a raised eyebrow, causing her to sigh.

"It's Daybreaker," Celestia said.

"You're evil twin, wait don't tell me she escaped from the dungeons?" I asked.

"Rest assured Rage, she is still under lock and key but...," Celestia said.

"But what?" I asked and it looked like Celestia was gonna say something, but suddenly had second thoughts. "Celestia, what's wrong?"

"...Rage, I think Daybreaker may have...," Celestia started.

"May have what?" I asked.

"She may have...had...herwaywithAsh," Celestia squeaked.

"Care to repeat that last part?" I asked, causing Celestia to take a breath to try and suck up some courage.

"...She may have...had her way with Ash?" Celestia said causing me to stand there and stare waiting for Celestia to tell me that this was all a joke, but the expression on Celestia's face was one of total seriousness.

"How is that possible, this is Ash we're talking about and what about Luna and the others, do they know?" I asked, refusing to believe what I had just heard.

"I don't know about Ash's herd, but I do know I could smell Ash's scent all over Daybreaker and her all over Ash," Celestia said.

Now I wasn't mad, I want this to be made perfectly clear and kept on record, you see, mad would be a word to describe someone, who was much calmer then I am.

"I think it's about time I meet this mare," I sneered, before I teleported to the entrance of the dungeons.

---

Third Person P.O.V.

---

The entrance to the dungeons was being guarded by four of the Thestral night guard, whose golden slit pupil eyes, fangs and leather bat like wings could put a regular individual to flight with just a glare. These ponies were like their day counterparts, back straight, their senses sharp and vigilant and stone faced, but the sight of Burning Rage, brother to their king and god, Seventh Knight of Equestria, Harbinger of War, General of the Equestrian Army and praised as a War God through several nations, suddenly appearing before them caused them to tense up in anxiety at the sight of the being before them, as he marched forward, while smoke and embers flowed from his body, the rage clear in his eyes like two burning coals. The Thestrals did nothing but step to the side to allow the muscular titan of a man entrance into the darkened passageway behind them, once the guards had let the man enter they began to move back into place, only to be nearly bowled over by the Princess of the Sun herself as she rushed to catch up with the enraged knight.

Burning Rage was making his way down the steps to the dungeon. Each time his boot met the ground it came down with enough force to almost smash the rock to fragments...almost. His burning eyes never left the path ahead of him, his mind focused solely on finding the wretch who had forced herself upon his brother and making her beg for the sweet reprieve of death, one he would not grant easily. He soon entered the dungeons and upon entering, the caribou and stallions who had been down here the longest decided to keep their heads down and away from the bars, while the newest residents of the dungeons decided to throw themselves up at the bars to sling insults and taunts at one of the individuals who brought down their army, but the roars of anger soon became cat calls and words of debauchery, when Princess Celestia stepped into the dungeon. Some even tried to go the extra mile by putting their arms through the bars in a vain attempt to grab onto the princess, but before anyone could react Rage suddenly took a great lungful of air and turned towards one of the cells that contained some of the fools who were reaching out for Celestia, only to be set ablaze by flames that were spewing forth from the maw of the Seventh Knight, like the flames of a drake, and when the flames ceased, all that was left of the fools was charred meat and bones. The scum didn't even have the time to scream.

"Anyone else?" Rage asked coldly, as he gazed at the remaining prisoners, who could only stare in shock and fear at what transpired. "No? THEN SIT DOWN!"

And just like that any hope of escape, delusions of grandeur by mounting an inner assault of conquering the castle, were swept away. The rules had been brutality smashed into the minds of every new prisoner in the dungeons, as they all sat down and kept quiet, before Rage continued onward, with Celestia not far behind.

"You shouldn't have come down here Celestia, you know what these pigs do when any female sets foot in this place," Rage said.

"Please, the nobles in day court are far more vicious then anything that's kept down here," Celestia said before the duo stopped in front of a cell that contained only one prisoner. "...all except one that is."

Inside the cell was an alicorn mare, whose fur was once like driven snow, was now slightly dirty, her mane and tail, which both shone brightly and fiercely, like a star going supernova, was now dimmed and barely flickered. She was still dressed in the armour she wore when she arrived, but her magic had been sealed off by a suppression ring around her horn, and her limbs were chained to the back wall. The expression on her face did only show boredom.

"Well, so the brother of the king has decided to grace me with his presence," Daybreaker said in a tone that said she couldn't even be bothered, even if she tried. "Tell me, do I bow or do I curtsy, because I can't be bothered to do either."

"I only have one thing to ask of you Daybreaker," Rage said.

"Oh?" Daybreaker asked lazily.

"Did you rape Ash?" Rage asked.

The dungeons were silent, so silent one could hear a pin drop and echo off the walls, as the Harbinger of War burrowed his gaze into an unfazed Daybreaker.

"Maybe I did...but then again maybe I didn't. I honestly don't think it matters, considering it's no business of yours what happens between two individuals," Daybreaker said smugly.

"ARRGHH!" Rage roared, as he slammed his hands into the bars, causing a massive clang to echo off the stone walls, before he began to make his way to the door, only to be stopped by Celestia.

"And just what do you plan to do?" Celestia asked.

"What do you think? Just because she's a mare it doesn't mean she's exempt from facing the consequences of what she's done, like the rest of the scum rotting in here," Rage said.

"And on any other day since this started I would agree with you, but she is my darker self and so is a problem that I have to deal with, Rage," Celestia said.

Rage's glare burrowed into Celestia, but he turned away from her in a huff, before storming out of the dungeon, leaving Celestia behind.

"I never knew you cared," Daybreaker said teasingly.

"Silence! Don't misunderstand your situation. I'm honestly tempted to have Rage come back to tear your wings off and stuff them into your throat to choke on them. In fact I may just do that myself, because of what you've done," Celestia growled.

"Oh, don't get my hopes up," Daybreaker said, still maintaining her smile as Celestia turned and left.

---

Meanwhile Rage was walking through the halls of the castle, having just stormed out of the dungeons. After a couple of minutes he came to a stop and just stood there in silence for a while. He remained completely motionless until his right arm suddenly swung out, impacting the wall and shattering it. Sighing he turned his gaze towards the windows.

"If only I was stronger, but what am I lacking?" Rage muttered to himself.

Rage then rememberd the book he took from Ash's library. He pulls it out and looks at the old leather bound tome, his mind going to work on an idea...an idea that could very well get him killed.

---

13 Hours Later

---

Eris, the daughter of Discord and Cosmos, both of whom are powerful entities of chaos, was walking through the hallways looking for her partner Burning Rage, who had disappeared after he went to confront Daybreaker with her actions against Ash. It didn't take long for word to spread from Celestia to the rest of the group and Ash's harem never looked so murderous before, but the worst came from Luna, as it was clear she had inherited an aura of death from her father. All four of them had marched into the dungeons in order to flay Daybreaker alive, for which no one could blame them, however they were all dragged out by Dream Catcher, Chrysalis, Cadence, Discord and Faust, despite them being just as angry themselves.

Shaking her head to remove the memory from the forefront of her mind, Eris continued to explore the castle to find Rage. As she passed the library she opened the door to look inside and was shocked to find Rage on the floor, face down and still.

"Rage!" the draconequus shouted in shock, as she rushed in and got on her knees beside Rage. She placed her hands on Rage and immediately felt something damp, when she pulled back a hand she saw it was stained with blood, much to her horror. As she began to roll him onto his back the man let out a groan, much to Eris's relief. After placing him on her lap Eris began to scan him for injuries.

"Rage, talk to me baby," Eris said as she scanned him over, finding nothing wrong at first glance. She looked at his face just in time to see his eyes open.

"Hey beautiful...hey, hey, hey, I'm alright, don't worry," Rage said, reaching up to grab her hand to stop her scanning him.

"By the gods Rage, you scared me half to death. I mean what the hell happened to you, your cloths are covered in blood," Eris said.

"Uh, like Ash before me, I did something irresponsible," Rage admitted as he got up.

"What?" Eris asked as if she misheard him.

"Yeah, to be blunt I did something risky and gambled if it would bear fruit," Rage said, standing up to face Eris.

"Unbelievable! I swear you brothers have a death wish," Eris said with a glare, to which Rage responded by kissing her on the lips and holding it for a few seconds, causing Eris to moan passionately.

"Yet you still love me, because you know I would be boring otherwise," Rage said teasingly.

"Moron, I only love you because you're a good fuck," Eris said, while having a playful expression on her face.

"Oooo, so I'm loved only because of my impressive cock huh," Rage chuckled, once again engaging in a brief kiss.

"Seriously though Rage, what happened?" Eris asked.

"Later, promise. First thing's first I need to go have a chat with Elisa and Evan, we've got some shit to fuck up," Rage said.

---

Roam 3 Hours Later

---

Roam, the capital city of the caribou, largely based off the city of ancient Rome from Earth, with towering columns and luxury villa's. In the dead centre of the city was the palace and, unlike the buildings that surrounded the towering behemoth, this one looked like something out of a fantasy book, with tall towers with pointed roofs and bleach white walls of stone. At first glance from a distance this city would seem like a gem full of great culture and arts, but upon closer look you'd see that the females of the city were miserable, having to crawl around on their knees like animals, while the only clothing they were permitted to wear was a collar around their necks or wing boxes for those with wings, which they were forced to keep on at all times. There were those who wore clothes that scantly covered their assets, but the less fortunate wore none at all, exposing their bodies to the elements. As for the males, well they were holding leashes that connect to the collars the females were wearing. They were walking around as if they were walking their dog, when in reality they were showing off their most beautiful slave, and all throughout the city many males would hold little competitions on who had the best slave. These contests would include who could give the best blowjob, judged by how much they could manage to fit into their muzzle, or how much pleasure they could give. Even testing the females endurance and the size of their breasts. As for art, most of it was dedicated to the male dominance over females or sex, but scattered throughout the city were dozens of statues, each one standing at 7 meters, depicting a king who was well endowed, both with muscles and a sizeable shaft. These statues were of King Diann, a buck who had lived for over 100 years on stolen time, and is also the one who led a worldwide conquest in the hopes of bringing females under the hoof of males as no more than obedient sex slaves.

However day had not yet come for the citizens of Roam, for it was still dark out, and little did they know what awaiting them. It began with something bright falling from the heavens. At first not many had noticed it, until the object crashed into the city, destroying one of the many statues of Diann, and causing a massive boom, which shook the city, both from the noise and the vibration of the impact. Many civilians had left their homes to investigate what had woken them from their slumber and at first were greeted by a smoking crater with heated stone scattered around. When the smoke cleared the civilians were greeted by a large cylindrical metal object that stood at around 10ft high and about 4ft in diameter. Soon enough a patrol of the city guards arrived on the scene and cautiously approached the cylinder. One guard decided to tap the cylinder a couple of times with the end of his weapon. The cylinder suddenly released a loud hiss, causing the spectators and the patrol to back away, just as the cylinder opened up. Instead of being greeted by an explosion, or the roar of some kind of alien, they were greeted by the sound of something clacking on the ground. Looking at the source of the sound they discovered a large pile of caribou antlers, both on the ground and inside the cylinder. Before anyone could begin to speculate on what was going on, the whole area lit up, and, when everyone on the ground looked to see what was making the area so bright, they saw several more streaks of light shooting across the heavens, all of which were heading for the city. This caused the spectators to panic and run for cover. One by one the objects hit the city, each one smashing into more of Diann's statues or near them, some of the objects even slammed into the palace, shattering many walls.

"What in Tartarus is going on!" roared King Diann, slamming open the doors to the throne room.

"My king, it appears that we are being bombarded by some kind of strange cylinders. Each of said cylinders is full of the antlers of our caribou brethren," one of the officers explained while kneeling before his ruler.

"The Harbingers," Diann seethed with fury as he made his way to a balcony that overlooked the city. "Maiming my sons wasn't enough for them, now they plan to maim my forces. How low can they sink!" Diann shouted as he slammed a fist onto the balcony's stone railing, crushing the area of impact, before turning to the officer. "Care to explain to me how they are hitting us and why we haven't launched a counterattack?"

"We are trying sire, but we have a problem. We don't know where they are," the officer said, cowering before his king.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance."

"Geralt," Diann said as he saw the cloaked being enter the throne room. "You have located them?"

"Indeed my king, they're up there," Geralt explained as he gestured to the skies.

"Is this a joke Geralt? I see nothing," Diann said.

"As is the point my lord. You see, it would appear that your enemies have a machine that has managed to get to an altitude so great that it is impossible to see with the naked eye and are using some form of long ranged weapons to bombard us. It's quite brilliant really, hitting us from where we would never guessed was possible," Geralt said with a smirk hidden beneath his hood.

"This is hardly the time be impressed you simpleton, do something to protect my palace!" Diann said.

"Unfortunately my king there is nothing I can do. Even if I started now it would take time to build a shield large and strong enough to protect us, but I wouldn't be worried sir, it seems that the harbingers only intend to send a message by sending down those cylinders full of antlers," Geralt said.

"A message?" the officer asked.

"Yes, simply put ‘We defeated your army and here's the proof’ it would seem General Sure Strike has failed, even after being endowed with Ash Blade's power," Geralt said.

"RRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH," Diann screamed, destroying a wall in his rage. "I want this rebellion crushed Geralt. Crushed! That means finding me a commander who won't fail me and a force strong enough to destroy theirs!" Diann roared.

"Of course," Geralt said when suddenly several buildings exploded, such as the training area for the military and their arsenal. "After the bombardment of course sire."

With that Geralt left the throne room and began to walk the corridors in silence until he suddenly came across something peculiar, a large metal device that had crashed through a window and into the hallway, most likely one of the projectiles fired from above. However this one was different, it was larger, had no antlers in it, and had what looked like a seat inside it. There was also some kind of control system inside as well.

"How interesting," Geralt noted before he noticed many dead caribou down the hall. "Very interesting,"

Following the trail Geralt soon came to a door, a door he knew led to the room of one of Dainn's sons. He opened the door and was greeted by a figure suddenly turning around, it seemed like the figure had someone in their grasp. The room itself was lavishly decorated, strewn around were items of exquisite beauty, with a bed dressed in the finest of silks from Saddle Arabia. Near the bed, huddled in fear, are several mares all of who had once lived in Saddle Arabia, there were even a couple of cats from Abyssinia and a dragoness from the Dragon Lands, each one was wearing a harem dancer outfit, no doubt the supposed sex slaves of the son who owns this room. After the brief analysis of the room Geralt turned his gaze back to the two figures in front of him, one was dressed in crimson armour and was holding a caribou buck with an arm around his neck and an axe held just below his chin, grazing the underside of it. Geralt knew this buck to be Diann's third child Clodius.

"Geralt, it's about time. Rid me of this heathen!" Clodius demanded, only for the blade against his neck to get closer.

"Quiet," the armour clad figure said.

"I don't believe we have met stranger, but judging by your armour you are Burning Rage, brother of Ash Blade, right?" Geralt asked.

"Aye and you are Geralt the Dragon, former leader of the Apex Predators, am I right?" Rage said, still maintaining a strong grip on the squirming Clodius.

"Ah, so he has mentioned me. I'm glad to see your brother still cares. How is he by the way? It's been a long time since we spoke," Geralt said.

"...Is this some sort of philosophical debate or something?" Rage asked.

"No, no, mere curiosity. After all, over twenty thousand years is a long time, wouldn't you say?" Geralt said.

"Well, you know what they say about how curiosity killing the cat, right," Rage said, causing Geralt to chuckle good naturedly.

"One of the plusses of not being a cat, then," Geralt said.

"Geralt, get me out of her-," Clodius started but was stopped thanks to Rage tightening his grip on his neck.

"Stop talking already, would ya," Rage growled.

"So tell me, was your plan to use the bombardment to sneak in, eliminate the royal family, and then sneak back out?" Geralt asked.

"Something like that, I was planning on taking out as many as I could before I got caught, also taking them with me once I was done," Rage said, motioning to the females behind him. "Just forgot to include you in this."

"If I may be so bold, why not slaughter all in your way until you have killed every one of the royal family?" Geralt asked.

"Hmpf, I will admit I had thought about it and there is something I've been meaning to test out, but even I will have trouble with an entire army ganging up on me and adding you and the rest of the Predators into the mix, I'd say my chances become extraordinarily slim," Rage said.

"Am I really that much of a threat?" Geralt asked, placing a hand on his chest. The hand in question looked to be covered in scales, with claws on the tips of each finger.

"I may be an idiot, but I'd have to be braindead to not realize just how outclassed I really am here, I mean seriously, I shudder wondering what you have to do to keep feeding that monstrous aura around you," Rage said, eliciting a hearty laugh from Geralt.

"Amazing...simply amazing...I have to say, you've done well for making it this far Burning Rage, and as a reward for both your humbleness and foresight I'll let you go, you may even take Clodius and the females with you," Geralt said after recovering from his laughter, much to everyone's shock.

"What!" Clodius shouted.

"Seriously, just like that?" Rage asked.

"Just like that, I will make no move to stop you. No catch, no strings attached, you have my word. I only ask that you pass on a message for me, or rather a letter, to you know who," Geralt said, reaching into his cloak and pulling out an envelope, which he floated over to Rage, using his magic, and slid it into the belt of his armour.

"Damn you Geralt, I swear my farther will hear abo-," Clodius said, but was abruptly cut off when he, along with Rage and all the chained up females, vanished.

---

1:00pm - 2 Months Later - Aephoceria - Rage's P.O.V.

---

I sat in the room of both myself and Eris, the last 2 months have been exhausting. After returning from Roam, we had finally managed to clean up the bodies that were littering the field. Next we moved onto construction, many buildings were destroyed because of the vicious attack that had hit us, but now we were working on a way to keep unwanted intrudurs out, thanks to the vigilant research of Twilight Sparkle and our barrier expert Shining Armor. There was a bit more joy to be had though, throughout months Nightmare Moon, along with Fluttershy, Applejack and Twilight, had all given birth to perfectly healthy children. We have also begun the reconstruction of the ruined city, there were even some improvements that we plan to make while we work, but that’s where the good news stopped. As we worked we were still finding bodies buried under the rubble and that's not even the worst of this fucking mess, Ash was still nowhere to be found, despite the numerous attempts to locate and contact him.

"Give me a clue here Ash," I said as I gazed down at both the note from Ash and the envelope from Geralt.

I suddenly felt a breeze and looked to the windows, seeing they were all closed caused me to reach for Blood Ruin and look around, when suddenly the area in the centre of the room began to spark with lightning. A sudden bright flash forced me to look away and after 2 seconds I heard a ding, the sound similar to the one you'd hear when the timer on a microwave ran out. Looking forward again I saw the strangest thing to ever appear in front of me. A large blue telephone booth with the words ‘Police Box’ inscribed at the top. After walking all the way around the booth, I began to approach the strange box, before I could tap it with the tip of Blood Ruin a door suddenly opened and out stepped a being I hadn't expected.

"Well, seems we're here everypony," a stallion said as he stepped out of the booth, soon followed by a filly, a mare and another stallion.

The first one to exit was a brown earth pony stallion, with a chocolate brown mane and tail and blue eyes. He was wearing a coat and pants, which matched his mane and tail, and he had a white dress shirt with a light tan yellow vest. The mare was a Pegasus, her fur was a dull grey and she had a blonde mane and tail. She was wearing a Ponyville mailmare outfit and her eyes were a golden colour, however the oddity here was that one of her eyes was a bit askew, while the other seemed fine. Next was the filly, she looked almost exactly like the mare, if the mare was back to being a filly, she was a unicorn, with both of her eyes seeming to work properly. The little filly was also wearing a dress that seemed to have a bubble print on it, she was about the same age as the crusaders. Last was the stallion, a dark blue Pegasus with a dark blue mohawk. He wore similar clothing to the stallion, minus the coat.

"Doc?" I asked as I recognized the individuals. This caused them to turn to face me. "Doctor Whooves, is that you?"

"Rage, good chap," Doctor Whooves greeted.

"Rage!"

Looking down I spotted the little filly, known as Dinky Whooves, running towards me, arms wide open for a hug, a hug I didn't hesitate to return.

"Rage, it is you!" the mare, named Derpy Whooves, shouted as she began to fly over to me, albeit a bit clumsily because of her eyes.

"Derpy!" I shouted, extending an arm and embracing the bubbly pegasus.

"Rage!" the last stallion shouted as he went to embrace me, but was stopped as I levitated Blood Ruin before him, with the tip aimed at him.

"Not you!" I growled out.

"Sheesh, so much for a warm welcome," the stallion said.

Jack Harkness was not my most favourite individual to interact with, the guy was honestly a bit of a creep. Since he's a total sex freak he will try to get with anyone, no matter who it is. There have seriously been many attempts where this guy has tried to get both me and Ash, along with our lovers, in the sack, both individually or at the same time. One time I tried to incinerate the bastard for trying to put the moves on Eris, but as if the universe was taunting me, I found out the son of a bitch has some kind of weird immortality thing, doesn't stop him from feeling pain though, so I guess that's good enough.

"Rage, what are you doing here?" Doctor Whooves asked.

"Uh, this is mine and Eris's room. I should be asking you why you're here, especially since you dropped off the radar for 5 years," Rage said.

"Oooo, so this is your room, huh. What say we celebrate our reunion with a trip under the covers," Jack said causing me to simply raise my left fist and sent the sleaze ball into a wall with a punch, breaking the stone, before he collapsed to the floor.

"I will so hit you!" I roared while keeping my fist clenched.

"You say that afterwards," Jack groaned, rubbing his face.

"I'm sorry about him Rage, but back to the matter at hand. Tell me, do you remember when the caribou first showed up?" Doctor Whooves asked.

"How can I forget...You knew didn't you?" I asked.

"I did and I'm sorry I fled, as I did so without telling you, but I had to protect my family," Doctor Whooves admitted.

"Dude, I don't even know the rules you're bound by, so don't have to apologize. I'm just glad the three of you are safe," I said, embracing the family of three while keeping Jack at bay with Blood Ruin. "Aw man, Ash is so going to flip when he hears this."

"Huh?" come the collective response from the four.

"Rage, if what you say is true, Ash has been dead for five years of your time," the doctor said.

"Three actually, well technically four, but anyway, your wrong, Ash has been revived thanks to his own power and he's now a freaking god. We've been pushing the caribou back ever since," Rage explained.

"So Ash is back...huh, y'know I've never actually banged a god before, I wonder what that would be like," Jack said, causing me to level punisher at his face.

"How would you like pulling buckshot pellets out of your face," I growled.

"Ash is back! Can we see him? Can we see him? Please, please, please, please?" Dinky begged.

It was then that my face fell, when Derpy asked what was wrong I began to explain everything, from when we returned from heaven to everything from the past ten days.

"Well then, it seems we have a mission ahead of us. Everyone back aboard the TARDIS, we have a god to find. Allons-y!" Doctor Whooves said before he, Derpy, Dinky and Jack returned to the blue booth, with me not too far behind.

"Jeez, I forgot how spacious it was in here," I said as I stepped inside the TARDIS.

"Now then, if you'll make yourselves comfortable, we'll be off," Doctor Whooves said, while Dinky took my hand and led me over to a seat, before sitting down next to me. Jack was also about to sit next to me, but a glare was all that was needed to send him away. "Alright, here we go!"

With a push of a button a wild ride began. It felt like I had been turned into Jell-O, then deconstructed and reassembled cell by cell within the span of a second, and before I knew it, the sensation stopped. We made our way outside, looking around I saw we were in a lush green valley with a few small groups of trees scattered about, with a few snow-capped mountains not too far away. A river came down from the mountains and wound its way through the valley. In the distance I spotted a ledge overlooking the whole valley.

"Wait, I know this place. We're just a few miles north of Aephoceria," I said.

"Indeed we are, this is the last place Ash was in this dimension," Doctor Whooves said.

"Wait, in this dimension?" I asked.

"Yes, one moment Ash was here, the next he was not. Its as if he had stepped out of this dimension," Doctor Whooves said.

"So, how do I find him then?" I asked.

Suddenly there was a sound like thunder coming from the ledge overlooking the valley, followed by a flash of light, before vanishing as quickly as it had appeard.

"My guess is that this can provide some answers," Doctor Whooves said.

I didn't waste time and made a dash for the overlook. When I reached the top I found a large flat circular stone, with seven standing stones forming a half circle around it, that was against the edge of the overlook, making what I entered look like some kind of ancient, primitive, sacred site. Sitting before me on a piece of rock was Ash, Dust perched on his shoulder, surrounding him were three wolves. The biggest one was dark grey and came up to my waist, while the other two were smaller by a few feet, one was gold and the other was silver. They all seemed to be getting head pats from Ash. It was then Ash's eyes turned to look at me before he smiled.

"Hey Rage," Ash said.

Next Chapter: Chapter 50 The Rift Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 50 Minutes