The sun was just starting to rise as Mark and Cecelia rose for the start of the new day. After doing their House checks, Mark and Cee-cee went out to check on the ponies. The stallions were stirring and stretching, the teenagers on the verandah walking out to get a drink from the troughs. Cecelia went to the bunkhouse to check on the foals and mares there, while Mark went to the stables and did the morning routine with the horses, fed the chickens and the pigs, then checked over the feedlots. By the time he got done with the normal routine for a morning, most of the ponies were out and about and munching on the regenerating grass, Cee-cee and the earth ponies helping it to grow properly. The foals and pregnant mares got bowls of pellets and oat cereals to help with their diet.

After breakfast, Mark loaded up the Landcruiser with the bags and a big trailer and got ready to head into Darwin. Azure jumped up into the passenger seat and made himself comfortable as well. "You coming too, Mate?" Mark asked.

"Sure." Azure said. "You might need a hand at the other end."

"I won't discourage you." Mark agreed, and after giving Cee-cee a big kiss good-bye, the pair headed off to the Northern Capital, as Darwin was sometimes known.

"So... been doing this long?" Azure asked as they headed down the long drive.

Mark chuckled. "Third generation stockman." He replied. "It's been in the family for decades now, but with the girls going away... not to mention being Ponies now, I'm not sure what's going to happen." Mark sighed.

"Ah. No son, so..." Azure stated.

"Yeah. Never got disappointed in the girls, though. They've proven they can be as tough as any boy could have been." Mark smiled to himself. "But somehow, I don't think this has changed things much, at least in regards to what's going to happen to our station. But if some of my new ideas pan out... we might have a business that ponies could take over and look after." Mark grinned. "Adapt and diversify. Isn't that the catchcry of the business world nowadays?" He asked Azure.

"I guess." Azure said back with slight uncertainty.

Mark chuckled. "Yeah. I wonder if Cee-cee got her abilities after carrying the Twins, or she's always had them?" He asked more to himself than to Azure. "I wonder if there's anyone who could tell?"

"Maybe Stellar could... her and her sister." Azure suggested. "If this Twilight is as powerful a mage as Stellar suggests she is, maybe together they can figure out how Earth is going to adapt to this... revelation of Magical talent."

"Yeah. I do know one thing: it's going to be something a lot of people are going to stay quiet about for a very long time." Mark told Azure. "There's going to be exploitation, jealousy, paranoia, government interference, outright attempts to control those with Magic or sequester them, and a lot of other things." He sighed. "I just hope that it doesn't end with us leaving this land for somewhere else."

"Yeah... say, maybe that's what happened to all the people in the world that could use magic, way back when and/or if it ever was prevalent." Azure suggested. "Maybe they all moved to Equestria, or opened portals to some other realities and left Earth for good."

"As good a theory as any." Mark agreed. "If it is the truth, hopefully History isn't going to repeat itself." He glanced at Azure. "As much as I would love to see Equestria once it's cleaned up, I don't know if I could live there permanently."

Azure sighed. "Yeah, I'm not sure I want to, either." He agreed with Mark. "But, if Peach wants to go back... I'll go with her. I just hope it's not because we're forced to, that's all."

"Yeah. Governments never seem to get that people never like being told what to do beyond a certain level of compliance. There's always a breaking point, and for a lot of people, it's all very different." Mark said as he did an end-run around a road train.

"Let's hope our government decides to be sensible..." Azure wished.

"Amen to that, Brother, amen to that."

Cecelia was walking along through the paddocks, heading for the pool area. Little Jumble was trotting right beside her, a big smile on his face. He watched as Cee-cee started measuring up the pool enclosure's opening for gates. "<What are you doing?>" He asked in Equish.

"<This opening needs a set of gates, so I'm measuring the space up to have some made.>" Cee-cee explained.

"<Oh. What is this body of water?>" Jumble asked as he walked to the side of the pool and looked in.

"<It's a swimming pool... and please come back here.>" Cee-cee told Jumble, who looked up at her and turned to walk over to her again. "<I don't want you falling in there without being supervised.>" She said to Jumble. "<Can you swim?>" She asked.

"<Swim?>" Jumble asked.

"<And that's the answer to that question.>" Cee-cee commented as she had Jumble move outside the enclosure. He even followed her around the feedlots, the cattle making way for Cee-cee as she moved through them, with Jumble staying very close to her. Cee-cee noticed the bullocks seemed to be better behaved than normal, not jostling her as she checked their tags and generally staying clear of bumping her, as Jumble stayed between her legs when Cee-cee was standing still.

Once they were outside the feedlots again, the checks on the cattle in just one of the four lots taking the best part of three hours, Cee-cee headed for the house again. She was feeling hungry, and she could guess that Jumble was feeling the same, as he'd been snacking on bits of grass here and there. "<Feeling hungry?>" Cee-cee asked Jumble.

"<Yes.>" Jumble answered.

"<Then it's time for morning break.>" Cee-cee told him with a smile.

"<Yay!>" Jumble replied as he pranced around Cee-cee, until they got to the verandah and headed inside. After the construction of several sandwiches and a salad, the pair headed out onto the verandah and sat, eating, as Cee-cee looked out over the back paddock. There were ponies settled around under the shade of the trees, some were out grazing, and many more were sitting in the big shed, just relaxing and coming to terms with their new/old lives, as Peach talked to them and helped them where she could.

Foals, fillies and colts also ran around in groups learning about themselves and their new/old bodies and learning what they were capable of, especially the pegasi. The younger ones saw Jumble sitting with Cee-cee, and they gathered around, looking at Cee-cee and wondering why Jumble was sitting with her all the time. Cee-cee hugged Jumble to her and told them. "<I'm adopting him. We don't know where his parents are, and he's really too young not to have someone to look after him.>" She explained in Equish.

"<Wow...>" They replied. "<Can we be adopted too?>" Asked one of the older ponies.

"<You've got your parents here, don't you?>" Cee-cee asked.

"<Well, yeah... but they're poopy-heads.>" The six-year-old filly replied, to lots of giggles from the others.

Cee-cee could barely stop herself from laughing out loud at what they'd said. "<Where did you hear that term?>" She asked

"<One of the others called her brother that.>" The filly told Cee-cee.

Cee-cee shook her head. "<You shouldn't call your parents names like that.>" Cee-cee admonished her. "<If my daughters had said a word like that when they were your age, I would have washed their mouths out with soap.>" That made the filly cringe away. "<Do you even know what that means?>" Cee-cee asked her.

The filly thought for a second. "<No...>" She answered. Cee-cee urged her forward, then whispered in her ear. The filly's reddish-pink coat faded to a light pink around her face and neck as her eyes widened with fear. "<I... I called them... that?>" She asked Cee-cee.

Cee-cee nodded. "<Yes. So do not go using words if you do not understand what they mean.>" Cee-cee told her, and she nodded.

"<I am sorry.>" The filly replied.

"<I will forgive you... but next time I hear anypony using that term, I will inform their parents and see that they get the punishment they deserve for being so disrespectful.>" Cee-cee told all of them.

"<But... what about my little brother?>" Another, even older filly asked.

"<Little brothers sometimes deserve to be called names... but don't do it where I can hear you.>" She told the twelve-year-old filly. The older foals nodded, then many of them sat down on the verandah in the shade and relaxed together, around Cee-cee and Jumble.

It was close on three hours after leaving their station that Mark and Azure got into Darwin. Mark went around to the branch of his bank and waited for it to open. As they sat there, waiting, they saw a commotion up ahead. It looked as if a number of people were blockading a shopfront in a small mall off the street. "What do you suppose that's about?" Azure asked Mark.

"Maybe you can tell me." Mark said. "Any Ponyfolk in there?" He asked.

Azure lit up his horn, then nodded. "I can sense... Four... No, five ponies in there. Three earth ponies, a pegasus and another unicorn." He answered Mark.

Mark sighed. "Okay, then. I'm going for a walk up there." He told Azure. "Stay cool and stay hidden. Your spells in place?"

Azure nodded. "I renewed them this morning before we left."

Mark slipped Azure's headset in place over his head, and got the UHF handset from its mount. "I'll call you if I need your help." Mark told him as he opened the driver's door.

"I'll be ready." Azure said back.

Mark nodded and moved off, casually strolling down the footpath. He reached the entrance to the small mall and looked in. There were about forty people all standing across the shopfront of a vet's office. He walked towards them and as soon as they saw him, they started getting in his face. "Hey! What gives?" He asked them all.

"Why are you going in there?" One lady asked him.

"I need some dog-wash for my girls, and they carry the brand I prefer." Mark answered. "The supermarket ones don't do a good job."

They looked at him suspiciously. "What sort-of dogs?" They asked.

"Border collies." Mark answered without hesitation. "Here." And he got out his phone and showed them some pics of the dogs he used to own, before they passed on. There were a number of smiles and pleasant noises. "So, what gives with this blockade?" Mark asked.

"They've got some of those weird little ponies in there." One of the ladies said.

"We heard over the radio that they used to be people, changed by some kind-of weird plague." One of the men added. "You're not supposed to have them out in public, because they could be contagious."

Mark snorted. "Sounds to me like you've been listening to the chat shows." He told them.

"And you've got better information?" One of the other men asked.

"Listen... I know someone in the Queensland Police. He's my nephew. And he got the word directly from the people in ASIO and the CSIRO." He told them.

"Yeah?" A number of them asked.

Mark nodded, then showed them a picture Curtis had given him from his graduation parade, with Jessie beside him. "Here, this is my nephew Curtis and his partner, Jessie."

The crowd grew a little less hostile as they realised Mark was on the up-and-up. "So, what did he tell you they told him?"

"Okay. Yes, the ponies used to be humans." Mark confirmed. "But what they have is not contagious. If you live with someone and they start showing the symptoms, don't worry about isolating them, because this can't be 'caught' by just anyone. There's extenuating circumstances that means this can't effect anyone who hasn't had it for years already." He explained to them. "Think of it more as a genetic condition than a disease, and you're very close to the truth."

One man snorted. "So... what do we do with them, then?"

"Okay, this thing doesn't change the fact that there's still a person under the admittedly-vibrantly-colored fur. They're not fully animals, there's still a person inside them." Mark explained. "So listen to them. They're still fully-capable of thinking and talking like they did before this happened."

"What about eating only vegetables?" One woman asked.

"Well, that's only natural." Mark answered her. "Their bodies are Equine in nature, so they will eat mostly vegetables and fruits."

"What about the ones with wings? And the ones with horns?"

"The ones with wings are called Pegasi." Mark replied. "And yes, they can learn to fly with them." That got a lot of chatter. "The ones with horns are, as you might have guessed, are being termed 'unicorns'. And they can use them, too. If you do find one that's upset or angry, they might accidentally fire off a burst of their power, so it's best to keep them calm and content."

"So they're dangerous?" One woman asked.

"Well, so are you with a gun in your hands." Mark said, to nods and chuckles. "The most important thing is that most of them will have no idea what they're doing at first, especially if they're freaking out about changing. So just try to keep them calm and rational. Once they've been changed for a while, and they get used to being the way they are, then they'll start to sort things out."

The crowd looked a lot more thoughtful. "So, you know this how?" The man who'd asked him if he had better information asked again.

"I've lived through this." Mark said. "My brother turned into a unicorn." That got some real looks at him. "And as you can see, I am not growing a tail or wings either." He said with a grin.

The man frowned. "Prove it." He demanded.

Mark nodded and lifted the UHF handset to his face. "Hey, Allan Bro, you want to come over and meet the people here? A few words might help them see that you're nothing to be afraid of."

"Sure, Mark. Be there in a moment... uh, could you unlock the door? I can't grip the lock." Azure replied.

Mark face-palmed as the crowd chuckled. "Sure." He pulled the keys out and unlocked the doors, then locked up again once Azure was outside. "As you can see... there's still problems to be sorted out." Mark told them, as Azure walked along the footpath towards them, crossing the road at the crossing. He had a small bag around his neck, and inside was his wallet and other things. Cecelia had managed to put this together for him before they'd left, and he was most grateful that she had.

As Azure reached them, he waved with a hoof. "Hey everyone." He said, having relaxed the Wallflower spell for the moment.

"Everyone, this is my brother, Allan." Mark said. "I know it's him, because I was there with him throughout his change. My wife was also there." He stated.

"G'day." Azure said to them, smiling. The protesters gathered around the two of them, firing off questions at a fast pace, but Azure and Mark handled the questions easily.

It took the best part of an hour, but eventually a lot of the protesters left, and Mark and Azure were able to enter the vet's office. Inside, they found a number of very worried staff and other people, a trio of earth ponies and a pegasus sitting with those that were their parents or, in one case, a husband. "G'morning, everyone." Mark said as he closed the door behind them.

The ponies' faces lit up when they saw Azure. They walked over to him and started chatting, while Mark sat down with the people. "So... seems like everyone here has at least one thing in common." He said to them.

"Who's that?" One of them asked. "Your wife?"

"No, my brother." Mark answered. "But he wasn't the only family I had change on me. My daughters and my nephews all changed as well." He told them.

That got a lot of startled looks. "So, how many more of us are going to start changing?" One woman asked.

"Look, if you're over twenty-five, forget it. You won't change." Mark told them.

"And you know this, how?" One of the men asked.

"How old was your son when he started changing?" Mark asked. "Wasn't it exactly the day of his birthday he got the mark on his hips?"

"How did you...?" The man asked.

"I've had five of my family members and Allan's wife change almost exactly at the same time." Mark said. "And for each of them, it started exactly to the minute of the time they were born twenty-five years ago. Even Cathy, Allan's wife, was the same, and she started changing ten days after he did, the minute she turned twenty-five." Mark told them all. "So, if you're over twenty-five, you're safe."

That got a lot of relieved looks on the people's faces. "So... is there a way to change them back?" One woman asked hopefully.

"Sorry to dash your hopes, but no." Mark said. "I've been told by an expert in all things Pony that it's permanent. Once the change starts, there's no going back."

"And how do they know that?" The man asked.

"Because she changed as well." Mark answered. "She knows more about this than almost anyone else on the planet, and she told us that the change is permanent."

While Mark knew he was fudging the facts a little, it felt safer to claim Azure as his brother than as a random-but-good friend. And claiming Peach/Cathy was Azure's 'wife' wasn't that far from the truth. But the relevant and vital facts were being passed on without distortion, and that was the main thing.

Meanwhile, Azure was answering some very important questions...

"Oh yes, hoof care is very important." Azure told Climbing Rose, one of the earth pony mares. "But any of the products they make for smaller horses do us just as well. Also, the rules for caring for your hoofs the humans have discovered are still true for us: make sure you keep checking them regularly for anything stuck inside between the frog of your hoof and the wall, and watch for cracks in the top of the hoof-wall. Keep them painted and you'll find the heat won't dry them out."

"But does the paint have to be black?" Jasmine Buds asked. "It clashes with my coat."

"There's clear paint you can get. A lot of produce stores carry it these days." Azure informed her. "Hey... I wonder if they'll start making coloured hoof paint soon? Imagine it, with all the colours of nail polish. I bet you mares would like that."

The mares giggled and nodded. "It would be nice." Climbing Rose agreed.

"What about horse shoes?" The male pegasus, Star Shadow, asked. "I don't know if I could stand getting them nailed into my hoofs. And wouldn't they be too heavy?"

"You can get aluminium shoes made. They use them for racehorses." Azure answered. "And as for nailing them in, you can get them stuck on these days. Adhesives are strong enough to allow such. Or, you could do what I'm getting made over the Internet: A set of slip-on-lock-on boots that fit over my hoofs with built-in shoes on them." He explained. "I'll give you the site if you're interested. They also make some with hard-rubber bottoms for indoor wear, if you're worried about your hoofs scratching wooden floors or damaging carpet."

"Almost like slippers." Jasmine Buds commented.

"Very much so." Azure agreed. "Oh, and keep your hoofs trimmed and neat, too. If they're trimmed at the wrong angle, it can lead to all sorts of nasty complaints for your legs, like walking in really high heels can really hurt your tendons and ankles as a human... but these you can't take off and give your legs a rest. So find a good farrier and establish a good rapport with them. If they're worth their salt, they won't care that you can talk, and it should make a pleasant difference to their day." Azure grinned.

"That's one of the reasons we came here." The earth pony stallion, Silent Stride, told Azure. "My... err... well, partner and I were hoping to find resources like that." He said, looking sad.

Azure put a hoof to his withers. "Don't tell me: You went from female human to stallion, right?" He asked.

Stride nodded. "Yeah. It's made things... really awkward."

Azure nodded. "I can understand that." He patted Stride gently. "If things get too bad, I know a place you can go where they will help you... I hope it doesn't come to that, but you're not alone. There are actually others who have had the same problem... although, most were guys turning into mares, which seems more common, but there are a few others like yourself."

Stride turned and looked at the man who had been giving Mark a bit of a hard time, then sighed. "I think it might come to that." He admitted, looking back to Azure. "Jacob's very 'old-school' in his opinions, and pretty religious, too. I don't think he's coping with having his wife turn into a male, let alone a male Pony." He looked sad, as the mares moved to comfort him. He smiled at them both. "Thanks." He told them as they pressed themselves against him and nuzzled him softly.

"No-one deserves to be treated badly, no matter the circumstances." Jasmine said.

Stride looked back at his... partner, then back to Azure. "Do you think you have room for one more on your trip home?" He asked.

"I think that can be arranged." Azure answered with a smile. "Do you have much in the way of belongings?"

"A bit... but nothing major. After all, furniture's made for Humans, not us."

"That'll change soon, too." Azure stated. "Okay. I'll talk to Mark, but consider it a done deal.

"Thanks." Silent Stride said, sounding relieved.

Then Azure's horn-tip lit up again, as he felt somepony was probing the waiting room. He replied with a gentle pulse of mana and was rewarded a few seconds later by the sound of hoofs on the sprayed-concrete floor. Azure smiled as another unicorn, a mare this time, came out of the back and, upon seeing him, walked slowly up to him. "Hello." He said with a calm voice and a warm smile.

"He... Hello." She replied.

"I'm Azure Tracks." Azure introduced himself, holding out a hoof, as he saw a male human coming down the corridor from the back.

"I'm Melody Lane." She replied, as she touched hoofs with Azure.

"Pleased to meet you, Melody." Azure said to her, as the male human stopped behind her.

"This is my husband, Roger." Melody introduced the male human.

"A pleasure." Azure looked up at Roger, holding out a hoof.

Roger had been frowning a little as Azure was talking to Melody, but when Azure addressed him and held out a hoof, he was a little relieved to crouch down and shake Azure's hoof. "Yes, a pleasure." He said.

"Good to see you're already a little experienced with us Ponies, Roger." Azure said to him.

"Well, I am fully-qualified in dealing with horses and normal ponies so, strictly physically-speaking, there's not that much difference between you Ponies and normal ones." Roger informed Azure. "Of course... well, unicorns and pegasi aren't exactly within my normal field, but the body is basically the same. The rest, we're still learning about."

Melody smiled. "I was studying to be a veterinarian myself, before this happened, and I have some of the weirdest memories about working with other ponies." She told Azure. "But the medical knowledge I've managed to remember seems to be very accurate so far."

Azure nodded. "There's a reason for that." He told her, then gathered everypony there around him. With them hanging on every word, Azure explained to them their Equestrian origins and about Discord.

"So... The reason I can remember about Pony-specific stuff is that..." Melody looked around at the others there, "We were all Ponies before we were born as Humans."

Azure nodded. "Yes. I cannot express how important this fact is to us all, once we've Changed." He looked at the others. "You have to come to terms with your inner selves: the Pony you were, the Human you were and the Pony you are now. As I found out, you have to reconcile your previous lives with one another and accept that they are both a part of you, as you are now. Once you can do that, you'll find you'll be a lot more comfortable with who and what you are now, and you can fully begin living your lives again." He looked at Climbing Rose and Jasmine Buds. "Some of us here have already done so, I can tell." He grinned at them, and they grinned back. "The rest of you... Take some time out to think it over, and search your inner feelings."

"Is it hard?" Star Shadow asked.

"It's as hard or as easy as you make it, Shadow." Azure told the sky-grey pegasus stallion. "But it's a wondrous feeling when we finally come to terms with ourselves and realise that we are who we are, now. We don't have to leave what we were behind, the experiences and memories of us as Humans are not just to be discarded like they're no longer relevant. They're always going to be a part of us... and we have to become whole again, to be ready to either face this world we are on as equal with Humanity, or to return to Equestria again and face what's there."

Mark looked at the man who was looking at Silent Stride with a scowl on his face. He was the one who'd asked if Azure had been his wife. "I take it this change has made things... complicated for you and yours?" He asked in a soft, sympathetic tone.

The man swung his head to glare at Mark, but then his face softened and he sighed sadly. "Yeah, you got that right." He replied.

"Mark." Mark introduced himself, holding out a hand.

"Jacob." Jacob replied, taking Mark's hand and pumping it three times, before letting go.

"Want to talk about it?" Mark asked. "I take it that the dark-grey stallion was your wife, by what you asked about Azure?"

Jacob glared again at Mark, but nodded. "You said you had Family change as well?" He asked.

Mark nodded. "My daughters, my nephews, and my brother Allan." He gestured to Azure.

Jacob nodded again, then asked "How do you cope?"

"They're still the person they were, inside their new/old bodies." Mark explained to Jacob. "Admittedly, Stride's a stallion now, but he was before as well, and spending twenty-five years as a human female probably won't have changed her that much." He sat back. "From what my wife and I have learned from watching our daughters is that their core personalities aren't that much different from the human they were to the ponies they are now." He told Jacob. "They both show the same personality traits they did before, in most ways. Sarah's still the organised and more mature one, while Sharrah's still a little more scatterbrained and wants to be snuggled more. That didn't change. Admittedly, they haven't changed gender, either, but if you look closely at Stride, you'll probably find out his personality and that of him as a human female are pretty much the same still... with maybe a little bit of adjustment for the gender switch.”

"Will they ever return to who they were?" Jacob asked Mark.

Mark sighed. "That's just it: They were Ponies long before they were re-born as Humans. As I said, what we're seeing here isn't the start of a curse, it's the end of one that's run its course, and they're now reverting to the ponies they were originally." He told Jacob, as the others listened. Mark shook his head. "l know it makes things extremely difficult... but it's not their fault. It's not your fault, either. Only one of those changed so far has had any idea that this was going to happen before it did, or any real memories of who they were before they were sent here. The memories of their lives as humans are still there, with them; but nothing any of them could ever do can change time back again. They're as stuck with this as we are."

Jacob listened to Mark, then looked at Silent Stride. Closing his eyes one more time, he thought for a minute or two, then rose and approached Stride. Leaning down, Jacob softly said something in his ear, then turned and walked out of the waiting room.

Stride shuddered as he watched Jacob leave, then hung his head and big tears starting to flow from his eyes as Rose and Jasmine hugged him, trying to comfort the big stallion. Azure and Shadow put hoofs on Stride's shoulders as well, and eventually Stride stopped crying. "Thanks." He said to all of them there, then he looked at Azure. "I'll be taking that ride with you." Stride told Azure, who nodded in reply.

Mark rose and moved to Roger. "Hey... interested in a really big job that we'll pay you well for?" He asked.

Roger chuckled. "Thanks, we could use it." He said. "We haven't had many customers since... Melody changed, to be honest."

Mark smiled. "I have over a thousand Ponies staying on my property. Some of them have been badly abused and neglected, and I'd like you to check them over, if that's not too hard."

"Whoa! You weren't kidding when you said it was going to be a big job." Roger said.

Mark nodded. "They're all refugees from Middle-east countries. Some of them... well, you can imagine as to what was being done to them." He said to Roger.

Roger frowned. "Yeah, I can imagine." He replied in an angry tone.

Mark smiled. "They're doing okay, but we also have five pregnant mares, one possibly due any day. It would probably be a good idea of you could come down soon." He suggested.

Roger looked at Melody, who nodded, then he smiled back at Mark. "Tomorrow be okay?"

"Sure." Mark grinned. "See you in the morning, then? We'll spring for lunch and dinner, if you like."

"That would be perfect." Roger said back. "We'll see you bright and early, then."

Mark nodded, then noticed the time. "Can I leave Azure here for a little while? I have to take care of some business across the road." He asked Roger.

Roger frowned. "Is your brother... you know, a gentlemale? He seems to be getting a little close to Melody." He expressed his concerns, but was surprised when Mark just chuckled.

"Don't worry about my brother, Roger. He's already got himself somepony special." Mark told Roger.

Roger blinked, then breathed a sigh of relief "So, he's not on the hunt for a... What would you call it?" He asked Mark.

"If they're young enough, it's a filly-friend, or at their age, a mare-friend." Mark explained. "Males are colt-friends. But Azure has a mare-friend called Peach Delight, back on my station. And while it's not forbidden for a stallion to have more than one mare, I don't think my brother's in the market for another mare while he's pursuing the one he loves most." Mark reassured Roger, who nodded.

Roger sighed with relief. "Then we'll see you tomorrow."

Mark nodded, then got up and walked to Azure. "Hey, Azure, I'm heading over to the bank. If you want to stay here and enjoy the company, I'll pick you up later."

"Sure, Mark." Azure replied. "Everypony here could use some more conversation and information."

"Then I'll be back in a while, Bro. Stay safe and call me if there's any trouble."

Azure nodded to Mark, and after Mark said farewell, to everyone there, he went out and headed back to the Landcruiser. He had a date with his bank manager...

Stellar slowly came awake on the cloudbank they'd rested on as dawn breached the horizon behind them. Her dreams had started troubled, but a comforting presence seemed to help her sleep better and she was most grateful for it, whatever... or whomever it was. It felt familiar to her, although she couldn't say for sure if it was Luna she'd felt. However, it had helped her sleep, and she felt that all of her mana capacity had regenerated as well, so she was ready to face the day.

The first thing Stellar did as she sat up was check their position. She frowned at what she saw on the GPS screen: They'd drifted almost half-way back to India overnight. "Ah well, it's not like I expected the clouds to stay still, not without Pegasus control, at least." She looked around at the sleeping ponies about her, a soft, loving smile coming out on her face as her gaze fell on them all, but especially Thunderlane and Rumble.

Rumble yawned, stretched, then his pretty eyes popped open, to see Stellar almost nose-to-nose with him. Squeeing, he moved his head forward and they nuzzled lovingly. "Good morning, Little Bro." Stellar said softly to Rumble.

"G'Morning, Big Sis." Rumble replied, as Stellar kissed the top of his muzzle, getting another squee from Rumble. "What are we doing today?" He asked.

"Hopefully getting to the States today." Stellar replied, as she opened her bags and started laying out breakfast. Rumble grabbed a granola bar and started munching on it, as Thunderlane yawned widely and scratched at his flank. "Good morning, Beloved." Stellar said to Thunderlane as he lifted his head to hers.

" G'Morning, Love." Thunderlane replied, a good bit of sleep still in his voice as he nuzzled Stellar tenderly. "So, we still where we were?"

"Not even close, Love." Stellar answered. "We're back near India again." She informed Thunderlane.

"Yeesh... yeah, pretty much what I thought would happen when I felt the weather last night." Thunderlane said as he rose and shook himself out. He settled his wings and moved to nuzzle Stellar again, as Flitter groaned and Cloudchaser let go a foot-wide yawn as she shivered. The twins moved slowly, their bodies still waking up, as they headed for what Stellar had provided for their morning meal.

"So, you think we can make the States today?" Flitter asked.

"That's the plan." Stellar replied. "I'm hoping to get there around dusk. We can rest near New York, then head inland tomorrow to where Twilight is, and meet up with the others there." Then she shivered all over, a feeling of wrongness coming from somewhere...

"Something wrong, Stellar?" Thunderlane asked.

"I'm not sure." Stellar replied. "I've got a... a nagging feeling something is very wrong, somewhere along our path." She looked to the West, then sighed. "Hopefully, it's something we can avoid by just going around it... but I have a nasty suspicion that it's something I'm going to have to deal with, before we reach where we're going."

Thunderlane nodded. "Then get some breakfast into you, Love. We need you at full-strength if we're going to be dealing with problems as well as travelling." He counselled Stellar.

Stellar gave Thunderlane a warm smile. "Good advice, as always, Beloved." She replied to Thunderlane, before nuzzling him. They settled down with the others to eat, as the Sun fully emerged behind them. Good conversation and some funny moments ameliorated Stellar's feelings of worry, but the feelings that something was wrong never completely left her. However, she did not let it ruin the morning for everypony else. Breakfast was not the time to be concerned with anything more than making sure everypony was fed and happy.

Taking off had been easy for the practical... but filing a new flight plan from India through to Spain had been a pain, even with a laptop and sat-phone connection to the World-wide Traffic-control system. But it took them less than an hour to fly from India to the Arabian Peninsula once again. Stellar's uneasiness grew, however, the closer they got to Europe, for a reason that hadn't made itself clear as yet. She was trying her best to keep this from the others as they flew along, the bright day making sightseeing perfect for the four pegasi and one alicorn... if Stellar could just shake the feelings of dread that creeped at the edge of her prescient vision.

Stellar led the group north-north-west up over the Red Sea, towards the coast of Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. She was getting very disturbing feelings from her prescient vision as they headed along... as well as a part of her she rarely felt and was definitely not comfortable with. But if it was acting up, she knew what that meant all too well...

Stellar looked back at the others. "We might be taking a couple of diverts in the next few hours. There's some things I'm going to have to look over... for various reasons."

The four looked back at Stellar, their faces showing concern, especially Thunderlane's. "Whatever you feel is necessary, Stellar. We're here to support you." He told her, and the others nodded.

Stellar smiled back at them. "Thanks, my friends." She sighed as she turned to look forward again as they crossed the mouth of the Suez Canal below them. "I'm not sure what we're going to find... some of it could be good, some of it could be very bad... but I am not going to put you in any danger, not if I can keep you out of it." She reassured them. "But there are things I have to do here... and some of them are nowhere near as pleasant as what we've done up until now. So, if I tell you to stay back and stay safe... please understand: it's because I don't want to see you harmed in any way."

Thunderlane and the others nodded in response. "We understand, Stellar. Just realise... we all want to help you, too."

Stellar smiled to herself. "I know. If I need you, or even if I just want you close to me, you'll be the first to know." She assured them.

They approached the island of Cyprus after an hour of travel, and Stellar led them down to a deserted town on the coast. It looked as if no-one had been here in decades, as the buildings slowly aged and crumbled. Thunderlane was feeling grim as their hoofs touched down, and the Twins shivered as Rumble moved to under Stellar, as she looked about. "I smell Death..." Thunderlane said in a soft, cautious voice.

"Yes, you do." Stellar confirmed. She looked down at Rumble and moved him to her back as she started moving forward, towards a pile that sat out in an open courtyard. Only the slightest sigh of a breeze floated across the five Ponies as they walked together.

Then Thunderlane saw something in the pile of what he realised were ashes. "Oh no..." He said, choking up, as the Twins squeaked, eyes wide in horror.

Rumble buried his face in Stellar's mane as she shivered slightly. "Yes, you see correctly, Beloved." Stellar told him and the others. "And these were not dead when this was done, either.

"Celestia preserve them..." Flitter said as she, too, realised what they saw. Cloudchaser moved back and tried to hide behind her sister, as Stellar lifted Rumble from her back.

"Stay with your brother, Little Bro." Stellar told Rumble. "This is no place for you while I have to do this."

"Uh-huh." Rumble nodded, moving beside Thunderlane, who covered him comfortingly with a wing.

Stellar moved forward to the edge of the pyre and opened her huge wings. She started chanting softly as a crystal vessel emerged from a H-S pocket. The cold pyre started to glow with many different colors, as Stellar invoked ancient magic in a language much older than even Equussese. Her purple fur and dark-blue mane took on the grey-and-black color of ash as small motes of multi-colored light emerged from the ashes and moved up before her. Her eyes glowed darkly, and her horn's glow was nearly black as the motes moved to the crystal decanter and slid down into it, the decanter glowing with a dim, grey essence.

The other four Ponies saw there were intact bones in the pile of ashes, including several skulls, that showed that all the tribes were present; even the Crystal Ponies were there, by the look of one skull. A curved horn showed the presence of a Thestral Sabrehorn, while there were several unicorns as well, their horns cut off obviously by saws. There were even two Griffon skulls amongst the Ponies, their beaks making them very obvious. Thunderlane was grim-faced and held Rumble close, as Flitter quietly muttered prayers to the Celestial Deities for the dead.

Once the motes were captured, Stellar corked the decanter and put it away; her fur, mane and tail returning to the usual lustre as the enchantment died away. Then the pyre started to move, swirling under her influence as her horn lit up brilliantly with Light magic. The ashes and bones separated themselves out into groups: separating the bones and ashes out by sub-species. As the Four watched, Stellar started one lot grinding down much finer, the bones being crushed into powder. One lot began solidifying, changing into stone; another one eventually changed into what looked like a crystal horn-like spire, with fluting running around it in a spiral pattern.

Now that the remains were ready, Stellar took out a small, black-covered book and opened it. She started reading out-loud as she disposed of the objects, reading from the service that all Ponies' remains were buried to...

The finely-ground remains curled up into a disc that shot high into the air, until it reached a hundred-thousand feet up; there it halted and blew apart, the remains of the Pegasi, Night-Wings and the Griffons dispersing into the air.

The stone containing the ashes of the Unicorns and Sabrehorns moved to where Stellar's magic lifted a tall column of earth and concrete from the ground and it slid reverently into the hole, the column lowering down over it again. The earth was rammed down into the hole, levelling out and receiving the concrete cap, which sealed back into place.

The crystal spire with the remains of the Crystal Ponies turned upside down, moving to a section of stone that went very deep. It started spinning fast, making a noise like an ethereal drill, until it flashed down and drilled right down into the stone, a cloud of dust rising as it moved down faster than any earthly drill could manage. The stone-dust was captured and returned to the hole once the drill's noise had ceased, and solidified into stone again.

Finally, the only group of unmodified remains was reverently buried in the soft earth, a concrete marker sitting up behind the plot of ground as Stellar sprinkled some of the earth into the grave. The Four also moved then, copying Stellar as they said a traditional phrase of final goodbye to those Earth Ponies and Nightwalkers lost and far from home soil. Then Stellar shifted the rest of the soil into the hole and tamped it down well.

Stellar slid the book away again, then turned and looked to the south, towards the buildings in the near distance. Thunderlane could see the tears streaming from her eyes, but it was the look of sheer rage she had in her eyes that made him back the others away. Stellar snapped her wings open once they were a good distance behind her, the Solar Disc on her cutie mark blazing with fire. Her mane and tail ignited with flames as she roared out her rage, her horn blazing like the Sun as she reared up, then she fired a massive ball of brilliant red light at the tallest building there as her hoofs hit the ground again.

The ball crashed into the building... and it vaporised. The red plasma fire blasted out sideways, melting two adjoining buildings into puddles of liquid concrete and steel, as other buildings also caught alight almost instantly. Only after thirteen buildings were destroyed, did Stellar shoot into the sky and move over them. With a shout, all the flames, heat and light raced into the air and back to her. Then she fired them off into the sky above, where they exploded out harmlessly. She then returned to the others, who were cringing behind Thunderlane.

Thunderlane was as steady as a rock, though. He knew Stellar would never hurt them... and better she take out her anger on empty buildings, than on inhabited ones. "Feeling better?" He asked as Stellar reached them.

Stellar took in a very deep breath, then slowly released it. "Enough to continue." She said, as the sound of sirens came from far off. "Come. Let's fly on. There's still a lot of the day left, and a great deal of ground and sea to cover."

The pegasi nodded, Rumble even coming up to Stellar and receiving a feathered hug and a soft kiss on the head, as Stellar smiled at him lovingly. They them all headed skyward again and turned to the west, Stellar's ramjet wrapping around them and propelling them on. In seconds, they were out of sight of the humans who turned up, hearing the explosion and fearing the worst, only to find missing and destroyed buildings, as cold as if they'd burned years before.

"What was the decanter for?" Thunderlane asked Stellar on their private channel.

"To hold their souls, until we can return them to Equestria." Stellar replied.

Thunderlane's eyes widened. "Can... you DO that?" He asked, incredulous.

Stellar snorted with a smile. "Obviously." She answered smugly, then her face fell again. "Both Twilight and I received training from the Royal Morticians in conducting funerals, to help Celestia and Luna by taking their place at smaller, individual ceremonies and remembrance days. We both also received training in dealing with the souls and remains of Ponies lost far from Equestria. Since we don't know if there is truly a portal here back to Home, it is one of my duties to find and keep safe all the Pony souls I find, until they can be returned Home for delivery to those who will take them to their final rest." Stellar explained. "There is no connection to the Afterlife here that I can sense, so the souls of those who die will dwell near their remains until they are found and transported Home. I will not leave them to whatever fate awaits them on this world; they have as much right to go Home as the living have, and so they will return with us to their final rest."

Thunderlane nodded. "I never realised how complex and diverse your duties can be, Stellar Love."

Stellar nodded. "The duties of a Princess can encompass every aspect of a Pony's life, from birth to death, if it has to. Otherwise, we interfere as little or as much as is needed, and only to the least degree as is necessary. A Pony's life can be complicated enough without us interfering more than is truly needed."

Thunderlane looked at Stellar. "I don't envy you..." He remarked.

Stellar smiled. "I would be worried if you did." She simply replied. "But if I don't do this... who would? I will not let the souls of those who are my charges be left to wither and fade on this sorry world. No-one deserves to die far from their final reward... or punishment. Not even the most evil of Ponies deserves to be lost forever. I would not wish that on even Sombra. For all he was evil, for all the evil he did... he was still a Pony."

Thunderlane could only nod and think as they soared across the ocean towards Crete and Greece...

Author's Notes:

Yay! I finally got a new chapter done.

This was the first part of a much bigger chapter, but when it passed 15,000 words, i decided it needed to be broken up into two. So you get this part delivered whole and ready to be read.

I hope everypony who's been waiting enjoys some more interaction with Mark and Cee-cee, as well as our regular five-some. Hopefully the next half won't take so long this time...