Author's Notes:

Bold - Character Narrating (Either Perspective or Narrator)
Italics - Character's Thoughts
Color - Character Who's Narrating or Thinking: Commander Hurricane
Private Pansy
Luna
Princess Platinum
Commander Star Gleam
Eliya Kel
Arnold Ingine
Vallan

Commander Hurricane and the rest of his search party, continued deeper into the forest, searching for the crashed comet. Looking at the sky, Hurricane sees a pillar of smoke a few trots from their position. We’re close, either that’s the crashed comet… or somepony’s campfire. Hurricane turned to his soldiers that they’re near their destination. “We’re near, if it’s not the comet, I want two pairs of soldiers from the left and right. If anything goes wrong, jump in and flank whoever we’re dealing with. Everypony else is with me,” said Hurricane.

“Sir, yes, sir,” said every soldier, all nodding. Once everypony headed to their designated positions, Hurricane, Pansy, and the other remaining pegasi head out of the forest, finding themselves in an open patch of land the size of a small lake. In the center of the patch was a crater the size of a tree; a large pillar of smoke rose up.

Commander Hurricane signaled the two other soldiers who came with him and Pansy to check the crater, while he and Pansy check the surrounding area for anything. Both soldiers near the crater, but when they reach the edge… the ground beneath them began to shift. “What the?” said one soldier. Checking underneath him, the soldier found a rectangular box-like object; it had the drama mask symbol on it which was the color pink oddly. Before the soldier could report what he found, a boom rang from where he and the other soldier stood, sending both of them in a blazing ball of fire, landing with a big thud.

From the trees came both Lov and Eliya; Lov laughing giddily while Eliya pulled out two kunais, charging straight at Commander Hurricane and Private Pansy. “AMBUSH!” shouted Hurricane, signaling the others to attack.

The other four pegasi came out of their hiding spots, unsheathing their swords and pointing them toward the attackers. Eliya noticed the flanking maneuver and sent a barrage of shurikens at them; the shurikens flew by the first pegasus, flying up to avoid them… the second pegasus wasn’t so lucky as his fur was covered deep with shurikens. From Lov’s perspective, she pulled out a lengthy katana, blocking and parrying attacks from the other two pegasi that came from her left.

Commander Hurricane stared at the two mysterious attackers, not recognizing them of what race they hail from. “What are these things!?” shouted Hurricane, backing off a little. “They look like minotaurs but, their not covered in fur!”

“M-m-maybe th-th-their a-a-aliens,” said Pansy, nearly dropping her sword.

“Nonsense! The day that happens is the day I’ll cut my wings off!” shouted Hurricane. “Pansy, you said you felt something from those comets you saw… are these the ‘things’ that have the same feeling as the Windigos?”

Pansy focused her gaze on the two mysterious beings, but didn’t felt that same fear she sensed before. No… nothing… maybe it must of come from the other comets then. “No… It may have been one of the others,” said Pansy, frowning.

“Well that doesn’t matter; these things attacked us and may have to do with the thing you sensed before,” said Hurricane, at the same time a stray shuriken flies by him. Hurricane dodges the shuriken with ease, looking to see his fellow soldiers are having a hard time fighting the two beings. “Pansy, get back to camp, asap! We may need reinforcements; I’ll fight them off, until then fly as fast as you can! YOU HEAR ME SOLDIER!”

Pansy was spooked from the sudden command, but didn’t falter a second. Sheathing her sword, Pansy salutes back at Hurricane. “Sir, yes, sir!” shouted Pansy.

“Well don’t just stand there… FLY!” shouted Hurricane back at Pansy. Pansy immediately flew up, flying back where they came from. At that same time Eliya threw shurikens at Pansy, but Hurricane flew up and blocked them with his sword. “Oh no you don’t! If you’re asking for a fight, then fight me!”

Eliya sneered, pulling out a kunai with a piece of paper attached to it. “Oh, you wanna play the hero, huh...” said Eliya. “Then you go right ahead… because everyone knows, the hero dies… IN AN EXPLOSIVE FINALE!” Eliya threw the kunai, where Hurricane was going to block it like the rest… until the piece of paper began to fizz and burn away. Immediately out of instinct and reflex, Hurricane nearly dodged the explosion from the kunai; however in the process some of the embers from the explosion and the kunai itself, sliced a bit of his wing off, forcing him to land.

Once landing Hurricane saw the destruction that was before him; all his fellow soldiers were either unconscious or covered in cuts. Luckily all of them lived from the slow rise and fall of their stomachs. Both of the Kel sisters began to circle Hurricane, Eliya with her kunais and Lov with her katana.

“Now before you die sweet cheeks, I think you should know your killers,” said Lov, twirling her katana around. “My name’s Lov.”

“And I’m Eliya,” said Eliya, stopping on Hurricane’s right.

“And we’re...” said both Lov and Eliya, synchronously. “THE KEL SISTERS! ENJOY YOUR NEW LIFE AS OUR NEXT MEAL!” Both sisters rushed Hurricane, ready to slice him into pieces.

Hurricane, pulled out his sword preparing to counter the charge. Finally, a challenge. Whether I die today or the next… I’m going to go all out; no holding back. Hurricane rushed the two sisters, blocking, and swinging blow after blow. The battle continued to rage on, neither side holding back their onslaught of metal clashing with metal.

Within the Everfree Forest, the battle with Tim and the Timberwolves continues on; the muscular man punching, kicking, and throwing some of the smaller Timberwolves at their other brethren. The two Equestrian soldiers watch from the safety of the shrubbery, watching the madness unfold before them. Until a voice is heard from behind, both soldiers expect a Timberwolf and instinctively pull out their swords, only the blade of their tips meet an equine face.

“Whoa! Put-the-sword-down,” said a fellow soldier.

“Sorry; did you get reinforcements?” asked the first soldier, sheathing his sword.

The newcomer nodded, directing his snout behind him to reveal a good sizable force of the outer and inner perimeter soldiers; with them was Starswirl the Bearded, holding a staff and a tome of magic in case things have gotten this serious. “Starswirl, thank the heavens you’re here,” said the second soldier.

“Indeed I am… now...” said Starswirl, stepping closer to see the fight. “Where is this… alien, you speak of from your message? To see an otherworldly being is simply...” Starswirl stared a the large mass of wood, noticed a stick or two fly off to the sky; in the center of it all was a hairless, ape-like creature that held back the large force of wooden claws and teeth. “Well this is not what I expected to be doing this afternoon.”

One of the two soldiers that were watching the ordeal stepped forward. “Starswirl, sir! From what we could examine, the thing in the center is protecting something similar to it, but smaller. We believe the big one is the parent or guardian while the smaller one is possibly a foal,” said the first soldier, saluting.

“So a mother and it’s foal,” said Starswirl, intrigued.

“Actually, I believe it to be a male, sir,” said the second soldier, joining the conversation.

“Well, it doesn’t matter if it’s a he or a she; they’re both in trouble and if we don’t save them, we may not be able to make good peaceful connections in the future. Especially if one of them can withhold a mass of Timberwolves, whilst protecting one of their own kin,” said Starswirl, turning around to face the rest of the soldiers. “Captain Coin Flip!”

Stepping out of the large group of equine soldiers was one fellow soldier that wore armor separate from his other peers. His helm had the emblem of the unicorn tribe, showing which tribe he hails from; on his armor was a symbol of his rank. Captain Coin Flip of the Unicorn Division of Equestria’s current military was known to balance the tide of battles to his favor. Coin Flip salutes towards Starswirl, listening to his orders. “Yes sir, what is it you wish for me to do, sir?” said Coin.

“I need you and your platoon to surround the area; all unicorns need to use any fire-based magic on the Timberwolves, but try your best to avoid hitting our alien friend, please. All pegasi are to stay perched on the tree branches and fire enchanted bolts. As for the earth ponies, when I give the signal to you, all of you rush in and take out each Timberwolf with quick and efficient strikes,” said Starswirl, directing orders to Coin.

“Of course sir,” said Coin, facing his soldiers. “You heard him, get to position, stat!”

All soldiers, including the two soldiers who were watching the ordeal prepared their attack. The Timberwolves continued their assault, unaware of the attack that’s coming. From a good distance from the battle, Starswirl and the fellow soldiers were the two alicorn sisters; following Starswirl, they were able to skip their punishment and classes. Celestia lowered the binoculars and gives them to her sister, Luna.

“We need to help,” said Celestia, stomping her hoof on the ground.

“And how do you think we do that? We can barely teleport from an inch ahead of us, you think we can help fight off a group of Timberwolves,” said Luna, after finishing her turn with the binoculars.

Celestia began to think of a way to assist the soldiers and Starswirl, but without being noticed by them at the same time. Looking for something to help her, Celestia stared upon something metallic on the ground; the object gleamed with pristine glow. Picking it up with her magic, it was a knife… but the knife’s handle was made of something that reminded Celestia of… well… something… “leathery”, the blade itself had a reddish glow to it, as if it has been covered in a reddish liquid for decades of use.

“What you found Tia?” asked Luna, seeing the object in her sister’s magical grip.

“I’m not sure...” said Celestia, but grinned deviously. “But I think I got an idea.” Celestia began to place the knife into her saddlebag. Once placed, she began to fly up into the sky, Luna follows behind; after some moments of flying they reach cloud level of height where nopony other than other pegasi can see them. Now above both the Everfree Forest and the current battle below them, Celestia looked at her younger sister.

“Luna, do you remember that spell we found that can… well… blind creatures,” said Celestia, asking Luna.

Luna gave a confused look, until she too understood what her sister was thinking too; but became confused once more when she stared below. “But how are we going to warn Starswirl and the soldiers? What if we accidentally blind them in the process?” said Luna, having second thoughts about her sister’s plan.

“That’s why were going to use this,” said Celestia, pulling out the knife. “I’ll use it to shine some light below, and since we’re so high, nopony can tell it’s us and think we’re some pegasi that were passing by.”

Luna frowned at her sister, forgetting one thing about her plan. “That… makes sense… but how in the heck do pegasi use magic? Unicorns can’t stand on clouds,” said Luna.

Celestia’s grin faltered, going back to her thinking; with one hoof on the blade she then has a new plan. “What if we don’t use our magic… What if...” said Celestia looking around for something. After searching her surroundings… she spots the one thing that can make her plan come true. “What about the sun!”

Luna raised a brow than stared at the sun… then her sister… then back at the sun… then back at her… The sun, her, the sun, her, the sun, her. Luna’s eyes widened realizing the craziness in what her sister is thinking. “ARE YOU NUTS! STARSWIRL TOLD US NOT TO MESS WITH THE CELESTIAL BODIES! ESPECIALLY THE SUN!” shouted Luna, but quickly closing it shut with her hooves in case somepony might of heard her.

“I know, but Starswirl said… well mentioned, that it’s possible for us to move something… well… as big as that. He did say we have three times the magical energy and strength than an average unicorn. Even the most skilled and strongest unicorns don’t have the correct energy to lift something that big,” said Celestia, boasting her own abilities.

“Yeah but, that was a theory. A THEORY, not some idea that you can just do without thinking of… sudden dangers,” said Luna. “And besides, what if somepony notices the sun moved! What then; we’ll be found out and probably worse!”

Celestia began to wave her hoof whilst making a ‘pshhhh’ noise from her lips. “Trust me Luna, this will work, besides I only need to move the sun until it faces directly at the Timberwolves eyes. Now, I need to focus, make sure nopony sees me… okay?” said Celestia, preparing to do the impossible.

Luna gulped, sweat covered her face and drenching her fur. She nodded slowly, going near the edge of the cloud, looking below of the upcoming madness to come. What have I gotten myself into… Starswirl is going to turn us into chickens.

Meanwhile at Canterlot; Princess Platinum waits patiently for Clover, her adviser and close friend to return from her small and assumed to be quick voyage to the mountains from the east of Canterlot. The news of nine colored comets seemed to caught the ears of all pony tribe leaders and each sent messages to each other… well… sort of. From the pegasi tribe, their leader, Commander Hurricane and his right-hoofed mare, Private Pansy went to investigate a nearby crash of one of the comets. The earth pony tribe has also sent news of seeing these comets, but so far there has been nothing else mentioned from the leader’s tribe or her secretary the previous morning. Finally… there’s Starswirl the Bearded, Clover’s master; apparently he too spotted the comets and is currently investigating one as well… immediately in fact, quicker than Clover even surprisingly. As to how he was able to gather a group and find the crashed comet is a mystery, but Platinum was too busy for the well being of her friend. While where she went wasn’t dangerous… it was what she would find within the comet, that made her shake in both anticipation… and worry.

The two massive doors that would lead to her court room, opened wide; expecting Clover, Platinum was ready to stand up… until she spotted it was one of the butlers. The butler made his way to his highness, bowing with all hooves knelt down until raising his head up. “Princess Platinum, Miss Clover the Clever your adviser has returned,” said the butler. Platinum was smiling knowing her friend was okay, slouching down on her seat, only to compose herself once more.

“These are grand news… Has she found anything near the crash?” asked Platinum, a tad curious. The butler, nodded having more news to report too… but Platinum noticed a certain look on him. His expression was a mixture of disgust… and… fear.

“Your highness… Miss Clover has found… what appears to be a hairless minotaur,” said the butler, seeming to almost puke from what he was saying.

Platinum blinked her eyes in quick succession, dumbfounded by the answer she was given. “Pardon… but did you say… ‘a hairless minotaur’?” asked Platinum.

“Indeed, Miss Clover said she found the… ‘creature’ near, nay… at the crash site,” said the butler. “She is currently outside those doors right now, she told me to tell you of her arrival… However, Princess Platinum...” The butler rose up, looking very skeptical at the two massive doors he came from. “I must warn you of the creature that came with Miss Clover… Something about it… is very unnatural… as if it shouldn’t exist; that it shouldn’t be walking here and now… That it doesn’t belong.”

Platinum wanted the old stallion to cease what he was saying… but Platinum saw the fear in his eyes… The same fear when the Windigos came and nearly froze their new home, and her and the other leaders of the other pony tribes. Luckily, with the help of Clover and those other ponies… she and the others were able to be where they are today. Platinum nodded and accepted the butler’s advice, making sure to keep a close eye on… Clover’s new “discovery”. “Of course… You may bring them inside,” said Platinum, giving the order.

Immediately the butler stepped out of the court room and made his way to the hall, where Clover was. After the butler had left, Platinum heard the voice of the butler, Clover… and a third; Platinum wasn’t sure who was the third voice, but before she could guess, Clover came entering the room. At that moment Platinum stepped off her throne, but made sure to not rush and trotted in a proper manner toward Clover.

“Your highness,” said Clover, bowing.

“Clover...” said Platinum, at first keeping a straight face. “What have you found, my adviser?”

Clover slowly rose up, her face was as hard as the toughest marble… only to shatter immediately. “I-I-I can’t explain what I’ve witnessed… Who I witnessed!” shouted Clover, pacing back and forth. Clover’s original calm manner changed to her usual panicky one, whenever she has forgotten about a very important appointment, or dozing off in Starswirl’s classes. “He isn’t like anything I ever met!”

“He?” asked Platinum, leaning in to listen to her dear friend. “Who’s he?”

“That be me.”

All eyes stared at the source of the voice, what everypony saw made them freeze. Standing in the middle of the court room, and somehow not being noticed by the guards that were stationed to see from every possible point of entry… was a tall figure; the figure was tall as a minotaur… possibly taller considering that instead his legs being slanted it was straight. His hands instead of having three digits like how most minotaurs are suppose to have, instead had five. His body instead of covered in fur was fur-less, and instead was covered in clothes; only his head being bare and was the only spot that had something similar to a mane. The figure wore glasses that were a light gray but still made it impossible to see the figure’s pupils; his clothes was an interesting touch considering what he was wearing. He wore something resembling a wizard’s cloak, but was white and long, reaching until it’s thighs; he wore light-brownish pants, and on the very bottom was something that was unfamiliar to the princess, it were a pair of oval shaped… horse shoes? Except instead of resembling an actual horseshoe, it hid the figure’s hooves… or claws; nevertheless the strange horseshoes were black or a dark blue.

All the guards immediately surrounded the figure, pointing sword, spear, and crossbow directly at the figure. The figure in return simply blinked, moving his arm to his eyes, staring at an object on his wrist. “Wow, it’s been five seconds and you already surrounded me… you boys work fast,” said the figure. “Or in this case… stallions...” The figure spotted a few mares among their ranks and fixed his mistake. “And mares, I mustn’t forget that now. To imagine to forget a basic and common detail as that.”

Princess Platinum wanted to scream, faint, anything… sadly she was this nation’s… well one of this nation’s leaders. With an easy tactic to calm yourself, she counted to two, breathed in, counted to two again, and breathed out. She composed herself and stared right at the figure, trotting closer to seem more intimidating.

“May I ask… but who or what in the name of Equestria are you?” asked Platinum, sounding more of an order than a question. “Are you some kind of mutated minotaur.”

The figure tilted his head… until making an expression that showed he was insulted… and Platinum could tell considering she’s always surrounded by ponies who knew ways to show expressions that seemed more of a skill than a talent. “Me, a minotaur? Please, I’m a human… well, a subspecies of human but, there are so many different varieties of humans that it’s easier to simply call us human,” said the figure.

Human? What is a human? Must be some kingdom we never heard from; he must be from the west or south. We haven’t discovered much of those regions yet, so it’s understandable there are species that we haven’t been fully introduced too… still… He doesn’t seem to be an ambassador… unless that’s what their ambassadors look like, which means their probably highly skilled in magic, guessing by his clothing… maybe I can make a good impression and make good relations with his kingdom. Princess Platinum, coughed into her hoof, preparing to do the most important thing with handling other nation’s diplomats… first impressions.

Back at the military camp, Private Pansy rushed to a fellow general’s tent; the other general who was the same rank as Hurricane but who was recently promoted to her position only some months ago, was surprised by the sudden visit. The mare dropped a scroll she was reading, and focused all her attention on Pansy. “Pansy, what’s wrong!?” said the mare, noticing the pegasus’s state.

“Hurricane… crash site… ambush… everypony is… unconscious,” said Pansy, taking deep breaths after each word said. “Need… help… please. Re… in… force… ments… quick… ly...”

Pansy dropped to the ground, the mare quickly running to her side; the mare immediately carried Pansy to her bed. Once that was done, she exited her tent; searching her surroundings she spotted a fellow soldier trotting by until stopping to salute somepony higher rank than him. “Commander Star Gleam; is something wrong, sir!” shouted the stallion.

“Yes… there is...” said Star, still remembering Pansy’s words.

“Sir?” said the stallion, confused.

Star focused her stare at the stallion, immediately the stallion reacted by continuing his saluting. “Soldier… What’s your name and rank?” asked Star.

“Sir! Sergeant Quake, sir!” shouted Quake.

“Well Quake… it seems Commander Hurricane and his group that went to check the crash near our camp… has met some complications. Prepare a squadron of twenty, nay… fifty, soldier… all races. This is a class five alert, I repeat a class five alert!” shouted Star, giving her orders.

Sergeant Quake nodded in response; if Star didn’t look carefully enough, she would of seen the grin from Quake. Since the Windigo incident, Equestria hasn’t met many dangers the past months to follow… but a sudden attack like this… well it would make anypony happy to know that they won’t be guarding instead but finally using their weapons for their intended purposes. “My pleasure, sir,” said Quake, running to spread his orders to other sergeants.

Star watched Quake leave; in the distance she could of swear she saw a pillar of smoke… and the sound of a certain pegasus fighting against who knows how many enemies. You better not die… you stupid pegasus.

During this time, Commander Hurricane fought back the Kel sisters, Lov and Eliya. By now Pansy has probably arrived at the camp and found one of the commanders… I just hope these are the only two attackers… because if so… I hate to imagine more of them. Commander Hurricane stared at the two sisters… who seemed to be fine; while Hurricane has seen better days. Hurricane who out of the three was covered in bruises and cuts, while Lov and Eliya are fine and aren’t breaking a sweat. It shows that the two sisters have more combat experience than the commander… maybe even more so.

Even though these… things don’t look like anything like an enemy soldier… they are somehow holding their own against me. Could it be possible… that they’ve seen worse than even I? Compared to the Windigo incident it wasn’t that bad… but… these two… Commander Hurricane looked at the sisters eyes… Their eyes showed the kind of looks of somepony… somebody, who seen things that would break both your mind and soul. “Who taught you to fight?” asked Hurricane.

“Now it ain’t smart to let your guard down,” said Lov, grinning. “But if you must know...”

“We learned from surviving in the wilds,” said Eliya, answering for her sister.

“The wilds?” said Hurricane. “What you mean the wilds?”

Both sisters looked at one another, and sighed; Eliya, the one who carried an arrangement of shurikens and kunais, placed them back into their respective pockets. She then proceeded to sit on a nearby rock the size of a tree trunk, she crossed both her legs while her sister grabbed a piece of stone from her pocket and began to sharpen her sword. “The world we come from… and yes, we come from another world whether you believe us or not… It’s nothing like your world,” said Eliya. “It’s a vicious and merciless world… while yes, there are good people… but… Where my sister and I come from… can’t be said the same.”

Death is a normal thing that can be seen in our world, it’s a part of our daily lives; especially for my sister and I. We lived in a harsh land… a small continent the size of a large island called… Xecarvl; also known as “The Island of the Sinned”. Those who live or are born on this island… are all considered prisoners, you see… the island had a large facility holding dangerous criminals across the world. Sadly one day, a grand war was waged on a nearby continent that caused many problems; because of this war, many of the guards and wardens from the island were forced to join the war… leaving all their prisoners behind. Now you may think this was a stupid idea… but the prisoners were smarter; if they left, either they were chased and killed later on… or forced to join the war. So instead, the prisoners decided to make a place… a place where they were free to do whatever they wanted without any government or law restricting them… that was when Xecarvl was made.

Once news of the independent nation was heard, the continent that originally owned rights for the land gave it up, deciding it wasn’t worth the hassle to retake the island considering out of the continents that existed that time, Xecarvl had the greatest defense out of them all. So… Xecarvl was named an independent land, and it’s own continent even… sadly, there were three rules they still had to follow of the people of Xecarvl. One, all citizens born or currently living on the island cannot leave… ever. Two, the only way anyone could leave was by living on the island at least for twenty years; once you’ve lived for that limit, you are allowed to exit and even return to the island if you wish to. Finally… the third rule… in order for Xecarvl to continue to exist… they must mine a specific ore that exists on the island… Aura Crystals. Xecarvl was known to have the greatest source of aura crystals out there; because of this, we had the second greatest economy in the world, number one source of weapons and defense, and number one for independent freedom… sadly, while this sounds like heaven… it isn’t.

The first two years sounded okay for Xecarvl… but that was because, the prisoners thought nothing could go wrong… oh how wrong they were. Many of the island was still… not under their control; you see, on the island was an A.I. system that help the prison guards and wardens make sure no prisoners escaped the island or their designated zones… seems someone forget to tell that A.I. that the original owners left and that the prisoners were in charge. For fifty years, a war was waged against the prisoners and the A.I. and it’s robotic defenses; many died in that war… even our parents. Funny… our parents weren’t prisoners nor prison guards… they were volunteers; scientists, doctors, they came to the island to research the mind of the criminally insane and the aura crystals… they were actually interested into one specific insane mind… He would later become our boss… and later… our stepfather.

But as I was saying; our parents were killed through a misunderstanding, apparently the A.I.’s goons thought they were escaped prisoners… and killed them where they stood. My mother lived long enough to get me and my sis to somewhere safe; we were both three that day. She was slowly bleeding and would have been killed by some prisoners… if “he” hadn’t come to save us; he was simply strolling by the asylum halls… minding his own business. One of the prisoners began to rush him and cut his arm off… what happened next… changed my life…

In another world, two years after the founding of Xecarvl…

“Oy! I said… GET YOUR BLOODY ASS OUTTA HERE!” shouted the prisoner, charging at the mysterious newcomer. Instantly the prisoner cut off the mysterious figure’s arm off… is what the prisoner thought. Instead, the prisoner’s blade turned into a pile of slag; melted by an unknown source. “Wha-what the hec-”

The prisoner was grabbed by the head by the mysterious figure, at first all the other prisoners thought he was going to crush his head… but instead, he melted his whole head and body in nothing but red puddle. He screamed… but it was quickly subdued; the other prisoners charged forward… they were finished with quick ease; their screams and death gurgles were silenced by the mysterious savior before her… but she knew this figure… or should she say, “test subject”.

“Y-y-y-y-ou,” said the female scientist, slowly crawling back. “No… no no no NO NO NO! Not you, please anything, but please NOT YOU! Please don’t hurt them… you can have me, but please don’t hurt my children!”

The female scientist was slowly crawling back, but was met with a wall; with no way out she tightly hugged two small figures in her arms, her tears slowly dripping off her face. Awaiting her death… she felt nothing; looking back up the mysterious figure knelt down meeting her eye to eye. The figure spoke, but what he said shocked her more than the actions he done around him. “Family… Family… is important,” said the mysterious figure, lowering an open hand towards her.

The scientist smiled; where this whole time that this… certain prisoner was just an insane psychopath… but her husband was right… he was special… that maybe… if something were to happen to them… he could be trusted to care for their children… It was a silly joke her husband said, but now… she started to believe it may be true. Slowly at first, she handed her two children toward the mysterious figure; in response the figure gladly excepted… no melting. The figure began to walk away with the two babies, the scientist watched bleeding on the floor; she smiled and after moving through her pocket found a photo of her, her husband, and her two children; two names were written at the back of the photo… the names of the two children.

“Live on my children… Live on the lives you deserve… My two angels… my little angels; Lilly and Ella,” said the scientist. At that moment… the scientist’s hand twitched and immediately… the photo fell, slowly drifting into the ground; beside it… a lifeless hand.

Some hours ago…

The mysterious figure with two infant children boarded a stolen boat… well he did not stole the boat… he killed those who did. The figure never was a prisoner… he infiltrated the prison and pretended to be a prisoner… why? Well… he sensed something… something that reminded him of himself… and that something… was coming from both these small infants. “You… Remind me of me… You have the same energy… the same… aura as I…” said the figure. “We may not be of same blood… but… when the time comes… blood will not connect us… Neither points of view of this… ‘dead’ world. No… our bond… like the many others I shall recruit… It will be a bond… made...”

Slowly the figure’s voice began to change… sounding more psychotic and insane… as if the person before was replaced by someone else… but the first infant giggled when she heard the voice while the other frowned but, held a hidden grin. “FROM INSANITY!” screamed the figure. “BLOOD SHALL FALL DOWN UPON OUR ENEMIES! WE’LL WARP THEIR MINDS TO THE DARKEST OF THOUGHTS AND THE DEMONIC OF ACTIONS! WHETHER YOU SHALL FOLLOW ME OR NOT IS YOUR OWN CHOICE… but I will tell you this… No matter what… no matter what happens to me… to you… even to your sister… We are all family… and family… is something you can never… replace.”

From that day on…

“I never doubted his words,” said Eliya. Eliya smiled but it quickly vanished and returned to her original frown. “Well… that’s all your going to know of mine or my sister’s past. So if you got anymore questions… well too bad, bucko!”

Commander Hurricane was so entranced by the story… he didn’t realize that Lov, Eliya’s sister had secretly tied him up, and thrown away all his weapons. Hurricane struggled to get free, but realized that the ropes surrounding him were five times as thick than the regular rope they use. “Nice work sis! Good on you to distract him while I tie him like a pig!” said Lov, giggling.

At that… Commander Hurricane snapped. “WHAT YOU JUST CALLED ME, YOU LITTLE BUCK!” shouted Hurricane, viciously attempting to break free.

Lov gave a confused raise of her brow, unaware that he used a swear on her; when she finally caught on, she began to laugh hysterically, rolling on the ground. “B-b-b-bu-buck! That’s his swear word? BUCK! Bwaahahahahahahahha!” shouted Lov, slamming her fist on the ground.

“Control yourself Lov… we got company,” said Eliya, pulling out her weapons. Coming from the trees was a massive force of possibly thirty or more ponies; earth ponies, unicorns, and even pegasi surrounded the sisters and Hurricane. Hurricane smiled, recognizing a familiar face… and frowned realizing the position he was in.

You could of came earlier and assisted me… but no… you were too busy watching me fall for that trick and get myself captured… Bloody horse-feathers, Star, your going to pay for this.

Back at Canterlot, Princess Platinum, Clover, some of her guards, and the tall figure called a human went to a secluded part of the castle, to talk about… negotiations; as of what sort of negotiations… that was unknown. While Platinum has spoken to some previous unsavory figures, like the griffon’s and minotaur’s ambassadors… this was entirely different. The human sat calmly while surrounded by five guards, equipped with swords and spears… yet the only one in the room that showed any sign of fear was Clover, who decided to stand on the far wall of the small room. The room used to be a storage room, but was converted for interrogating intruders or traitors… now being used the first time as a negotiation room; Princess Platinum didn’t wish to use this room especially for this sort of reason, but the human respectfully wished to speak in an isolated part of the castle… this was the closest thing to isolation they could get.

What should I do? I know I done this many a time… but… this… human character… His nothing like the griffons or the minotaurs… his more clever than he looks; but he gives off an aura of sorts… my instincts are telling me to run, but in order to get more answers from him I must do this… even if I am following his requirements for him to speak. Platinum inhaled quietly, not wanting anypony to notice her stressed mind. “So… Mr?” asked Platinum.

“You may call me, A.I,” said A.I. “I won’t reveal my true name… I am the sort… that keeps secrets.”

This didn’t help Platinum mindset at the slightest; not only did she faced a creature she hasn’t seen nor heard of, but one that was secretive too. Why do I get the difficult ones? With a sigh, she continued her next question. “Mr. A.I-”

“Sir… Sir A.I,” said A.I, correcting Platinum.

Platinum’s eye twitched; she didn’t like his personality nor how he treated royalty. If he were actually an ambassador, he was doing a horrible job at it… or maybe… it was she who was doing a horrible job. “Sir… A.I,” said Platinum, forcefully smiling. “I must ask… Where and why have you come to our land?”

A.I. stared at one of the guards; a mare, she saw him staring at her and tried her best to seem intimidating… instead, A.I. responded but not to Platinum but to the mare. “Is there something wrong?” asked A.I.

The mare was shocked that he ignored their princess but, spoke back at the human. “What you mean? You were looking at me, and don’t ignore her highness,” said the female guard, pointing her sword at him. “Or I’ll cut off your ear!”

A.I. grinned, but the grin wasn’t sadistic but gave the chills to everypony in the room. “Oh? Am I being rude… sorry, but I started off my day by getting invaded in my own home; teleported to another world, fell from the sky… and now, I’m currently being interrogated, not because I invaded someone’s land but… because I-look-different,” said A.I, sounding angrier after each syllable.

The mare froze, she wasn’t able to think or speak of a good retort and lowered her sword to the ground. “I… I’m sorry I didn’t kne-”

“Oh hush, I been through worse; heck this is probably normal for me… so calm yourself...” said A.I, giving a toothy grin. “I don’t bite.”

“That will be enough, sir A.I! Now… please answer my question,” said Platinum.

“Why of course… it all started one simple… day...” said A.I, recalling the events that led him here.

I was researching something one of my fellow comrades brought back… sadly he was followed and it led to the downfall of our base of operations to be nearly destroyed. The last thing I saw was the reactor core that gave power to everything in our “home”, explode and create a portal that sucked myself and everyone else into… this world. Whilst falling, only some of us were conscious and made the idea to fall in pairs; I crashed with our more feminine member of our group on what appeared to be some mountains… that was when I met her.

A.I. moved his gaze to Clover, who didn’t want all the attention directed to her. “The second she saw me she nearly fainted; the other ponies who were with her almost killed me… Well, they tried to kill me, but after seeing my comrade injured from the crash, they gave us passage to their citadel. Now all I know is my ally is safe and currently being healed by your own knowledge on medicine or the like… You assumed originally that I was some sort of ambassador, correct… well, to answer all your questions… the answer is, no I am not an ambassador, and if your going to ask what I am or what I do for a living… You’ll probably won’t understand and if you even did, I wish not to speak about it,” said A.I.

Platinum and everypony else in the room, other than Clover who heard the story were shocked that nearly one of the guards almost dropped their weapons. A.I. pulled out something from his pocket; it was a bag of sorts, inside were tiny pieces of candy. Grabbing one piece he placed in his mouth, chewing the delicious taste it spilled out. “With that done… I have three requests I ask of you,” said A.I.

Platinum shook her head and regained her focus. “And what exactly would you want from us?” asked Platinum, suspicious of A.I’s past.

“Firstly… I like a map of this world; not just of Equestria… but all maps you have available. Secondly; my injured friend must be cared with the best of your nurses and doctors; and if she has awakened, tell me immediately. Finally… I would like a room of my own, and somepony to help me guide around the castle if I am to stay here for now,” said A.I, finishing his requests.

“Is that so? Then I’ll send somepony to guide you around and-”

“No… I think I know who to pick…” said A.I, looking at one particular pony. The mare who originally talked back toward A.I. blinked a few times, then looked around to see if he was looking at somepony else… sadly he picked her.

“Wait… ME!? Why me!?” shouted the female guard.

“Because I like you...” said A.I. The mare was about to speak, but A.I. stopped her in mid-response. “Not in that way… you intrigue me; and I want to see… How you ponies… tick...”

A.I. grinned maliciously; his sadistic scientist part of him being revealed. The mare gulped already regretting coming to volunteer for this negotiation already. She looked at her other fellow guards, but they stepped back, rather wanting to guard nothing for days on end, dealing with boredom… than who knows what he’ll do with her. “Oh… horse-apples,” said the mare, whispering to herself.

Lov and Eliya, stared at their surroundings; they were surrounded, in a bad position, and were currently running low on ammunition. Most of the traps they placed are gone, only leaving a few minor traps meant to daze than knock someone out. All possible escape paths were blocked for them, and their hostage was now free in mere moments… they were in deep trouble now.

“Surrender and put down your weapons, now!” shouted a random guard.

Both the Kel sisters looked at one another and grinned; they returned their gazes at the big squadron of ponies before them, outnumbered by fifty trained soldiers… it was going to a fun battle for them today. “THEN BRING IT ON!” shouted both Kel Sisters.

Eliya threw some smoke bombs whilst Lov charged with her katana poised to kill… However, what the two sisters didn’t knew was the small group of pegasi hiding up in the clouds… awaiting the right time to strike. As Lov was nearing the blockade of ponies who had their shields raised, the hidden group of pegasi flew downward to attack. Lov didn’t see it coming, in the next few seconds… she found herself crashing against a tree from the sudden charge of pegasi; her sister Eliya reacted angrily and threw a barrage of shurikens, kunais, and more at the sudden attackers of her sister.

“LEAVE-HER-ALONE!” shouted Eliya.

Eliya was able to clip some of the pegasi, but they all surrounded her and took her down in seconds. While the two sisters had fought in many battles before; the only reason they stood where they were was because of their leader and their fellow companions. Alone, the two were a force to be feared… sadly they couldn’t hold against the planned and strategical might of a military force, especially a force they never heard of.

Now subdued and unconscious, the twin sisters were led away in two separate cages; possible to be convicted of attacking a military scouting group and more accusations. Commander Hurricane was untied by the ropes that held him and met face to face with the young and newly promoted commander; Commander Star Gleam. “Commander Star,” said Hurricane.

“Commander Hurricane,” said Star, grinning a little. “It seems that you were bested by… what I assume are two little fillies. How low the mighty fall.”

“Don’t give me that sass! Even though we’re the same rank, you are still a newbie at this work. The only reason you’re a commander this early in life, is because of the skills that was seen by the other commanders; but you’re too young… Whatever these… things are, there are more of them, and the only reason you were able to capture them was because they weren’t prepared for a full military force to overwhelm them,” said Hurricane. “I want soldiers to check the perimeter around this crash site and the camp… If I’m right… we may have made ourselves a new enemy.”

Star raised a brow but let Hurricane orders to fly by her ears; she stared at the two figures in the cages. While both looked young, maybe younger than her… they had that look in their eyes… the sort of look of somepony… somebody who’ve seen horrors far worse than any living being can witness.

Star turned to face one of her fellow subordinates, and directed her orders to them. “I want these two ready to ship off to Canterlot; the wizards there need to find out what these things are. Where they came from. What they want; and most importantly… if there are more of them. For now they’ll stay in the camp so I want ten guards on the clock guarding each cage. Is that understood soldier!” said Star, swiftly giving her orders.

“SIR YES SIR!” shouted the stallion, saluting and leaving with the two cages.

“Good; we’re heading back to the camp! Pack everything we can get and let’s move out; it’s not safe to be here at dark,” shouted Star.

All fifty soldiers and their two new captured prisoners head off to their camp… Unbeknownst to them all, a figure from within the tree’s branches watched the whole ordeal happen before him. Vallan gritted his teeth, staring at the commander who led the attack and capture of his comrades… of his “nieces”.

Death to all who cross us… for may their bodies turn to ash, their hearts into empty husks, and their souls to nothing. Bring me vengeance upon my foes and those who harm my allies… For death is what I wish and death is what I’ll be; I am not innocent nor are my actions, but none shall have the right to harm another. Deity of insanity… guide me to my destination and bring before all who block my way…

“A death they wished they wanted,” said Vallan. The clicks of two guns can be heard in the forest… for tonight… the sky will rain down blood; and the cries and screams will echo across the winds of this land. None are safe… for Vallan the Relentless has begun his hunt… his target… all those within that camp.

Not even Tartarus’s residents can compare to the actions he has done… and the things he has witnessed.