“Where did you get all those jewels again you said?” asked a completely astonished Moondancer. Her mind drifted away, trying to process the amount of riches she just saw and what could be done with.

Sunset, Sunny Flare and Twilight felt the same level of surprise. Though the former Unicorn never questioned the quantity of resources in Equestria. After all she just had to dig at the right spot and it was possible to find as many gems as somepony desired.

But not on Earth!

Zecora gave the quartet a winning smile, “A Diamond Dog den. They were quite cooperative after I gave them something of value for their pack. In exchange they generously gave me what your eyes see right before you.”

This piece of information caught Sunset off guard, she didn’t expect that Diamond Dogs were a thing here, too.

“H-how did you know we needed these in the first place?” Twilight voiced her wonder.

The troll shaman waved her hand in front of the still frozen Moondancer before she replied, “Young Scootaloo told me about your concerns regarding the right materials for your experiments. You should thank the girl when you meet her the next time.”

Sunset switched her attention to her lavender friend, “What is she talking about?”

The Arcane Magic user didn’t have a clue at first, then she realized what was going on, “Oh! I met Scootaloo this morning, she asked me if she and her friends could help us somehow. I said that they could only do that if they knew where we might find gemstones of high quality. It was more meant as a half serious joke to be honest.” Twilight chuckled a little in embarrassment.

“I don’t get it. Why gems?” Sunny Flare inquired unsurely.

“That would be my doing. I told her about it yesterday after the group meeting,” informed the now awoken Moondancer before she added, “It’s the reason why I wanted to learn about magic theory first, my Constructor Magic seems to give me the possibility to enchant gems. Well, for now. But I never understood the basic mechanisms behind it, the how. If you would have asked me earlier how it works exactly my answer would have been: ‘It just does’.”

“And now?” Twilight asked in sincere interest.

A big smile formed on Moondancer’s lips, “My mana has special qualities. After I infused it into a gem it interacts with the molecules of said mineral, afterwards it can build special mana matrices, if I so desire, giving them the chance to interact with the outside world and-” she looked coyly at Sunset, “an enchanted gem has a perfect thaumatic balance. It won’t lose its effect as long as the item in question remains undamaged. Or so I think, your runes sounded similar.”

The amber magician smirked, patting herself on the metaphorical back, “Glad to know that my teachings rubbed off on you.”

Zecora cleared her throat, “It seems you know how to proceed. In this case I wish you the best of luck,” she said kindly.

The shaman left, her work was done.

Twilight clapped eagerly with her hands, “Ohhh! It will be great, I can feel it!”

“Well, someone is excited,” Sunny stated in mirth. She took a nearly plum sized sapphire out of the big bag Zecora had brought, “Can you imagine how rich we are now?”

Sunset took a ruby and an emerald for herself, comparing them, “Sorry, but I think they lost a lot of their former value. Their abundance reminds me of Equestria.”

“How come?” Moondancer queried in confusion, raising an eyebrow.

“Magic is not only the essence of all things, but it can function like a growth factor as well. Take for example Earth Ponies, they can literally grow many kinds of stone and even gems like others do it with crop. We call them ‘rock farms’,” the young woman elucidated.

“Wow, how creative,” Midnight added with rolling eyes.

Sunny crossed her arms in thoughts, “It certainly would explain how those ‘Diamond Dogs’, whatever they are, found so many, or in these sizes for that matter. Some of them are bigger than my fist.”

Moondancer looked uncomfortably at the Ice Magic user, “Uhm, I don’t know how to ask otherwise, but I was wondering… why are you even here?” Her eyes widened in panic, “Of course you are welcome here at any time! It’s just that I didn’t expect that somebody wants to watch. It will be very time consuming and probably boring for outsiders.”

The former student of Crystal Prep shrugged it off, “Don’t worry, I take no offense. Granny Smith asked me if I could stay here with you during the experiments, you know, in case something goes wrong. My magic may be able then to save the barn from ending up as a bonfire.” She glanced shortly at the fire magician under them, who noticed it.

“Seriously?” Sunset said dryly. She felt a tad insulted, but could understand the reasoning behind their decision.

Twilight put an end to further discussions, full in science mode now, “What are we waiting for? Let us begin, it’s already noon.”

All participants agreed.

# Experiment No. 1

Moondancer, under the guidance of Sunset, filled a ruby and a diamond with her mana and was proud of her work, “Alright, first things first. In order to create functioning communication devices our test objects need a nearly equal size and we have to make sure that the gems are as pure as possible. See these impurities?” She pointed at the fine remains of dust and earth compounds around the jewels. “They have to go.”

“Hmm… it’s not like we have a smith here or a good forge to generate enough heat for that matter,” Sunset gave to consider critically. The Unicorn-turned-human needed a few seconds of silence until she realized that all eyes rested on her. She gave her best deadpan expression, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Please, Sunset! I’m certain your flames can generate enough heat to accomplish what we need,” Moondancer begged with puppy dog eyes.

The amber woman sighed in defeat, “Fine. I’ll do it.”

Everybody changed into the from Twilight and Moondancer prepared lab coats and put welding safety goggles on before the Arcane Magic user levitated both gems in the air.

Sunset made good progress, engulfing diamond and ruby with her flames in a controlled manner, but was displeased on the inside, “I can already hear the princess reprimanding us for using magic every single step.”

Princess Celestia always tried to teach the students of her own school for gifted Unicorns that magic was indeed a gift and a blessing to be able to use magic so freely like Sunset’s tribe could, but at the same time it came with a great responsibility for every magic user.

It reminded her of her earliest studies when she was still taught in classes with other fillies and colts her age.

Or in the Alicorn’s words, “My little Ponies. Not every obstacle in life can simply be solved with magic. Sometimes our mind needs to find another solution. And I know, it would be the easiest option to use it for every problem we may encounter, but the easy way isn’t always the right one. Please remember, Pegasi and Earth Ponies don’t have such luxury either.”

Not that the nobles gave a flying pony feather about her teachings about respect for the power you wielded, or Sunset herself when she was still a bully for that matter.

Moondancer shrieked in shock, “Why are the gems cracking?!”

The redhead reacted first, “Twilight! Toss them away from us!”

So her friend did, screaming in panic herself.

Both objects exploded into pieces and the magic inside caused two mini explosions. It happened mid-air, lucky for them the shards were evaporated by the contained energy.

Sunset gave the Constructor Magic user a long stare until the shock abated, “H-how much magic did you put into them?”

Moondancer shook slowly her head, turning in equal speed around to face her fellow colleagues, “I-I… Oh my gosh! I’m so terribly sorry! I didn’t know that would happen! I just filled the gems with equal amounts of my mana, as you told me Sunset, I swear!”

Twilight gave a slightly forced smile, “I-it’s alright, nobody was hurt. We know you didn’t mean for that to happen. But I’m curious, too. How much magic did you use?”

“As much as possible, why? ”Moondancer asked in honest confusion, looking at Sunset for an answer.

The Phoenix Magix user groaned, putting a hand on her face, “I should have told you not to do that. My fault, sorry. But the reason why I asked is fairly easy. Tell me, what happens if you fill a balloon to the brim with air? How much resistance does it have in this state to withstand outer forces?”

An eyebrow was raised at such a ridiculous question, “Absolutely none of course. Already the smallest bit of pressure is enough to let it ex...plode... oh.”

Midnight knew, like always, how to comment the situation after she calmed down from her laughing fit, “That was hilarious! You should have seen your face! Do it again!”

# Experiment No. 2

This time the girls hid behind a self-made wall of old wooden boards, just in case, with observation slits to see what they were doing.

Except Sunset who had to stay closer in order to accordingly use her phoenix flames. She didn’t like it one bit, “OK, it looks good this time. I think-”

“Achoo!” Twilight’s hands brightened immensely in the moment she sneezed.

The new test objects, an amethyst and a fire opal, flew against the blackboard, causing it to catch fire after the impact released the stored magic.

“I guess that’s my cue!” Sunny Flare shouted in high alarm. She sprinted to the burning remains and froze everything with her abilities before worse damage could be done. A huge smirk adorned her face when she looked at the science trio in satisfaction, “What would you just do without little ol’ me?”

# Experiment No. 7

“Oh, come on! Why won’t you work?! I’m sure I calibrated everything right, so why won’t you do anything?! Tell me!” Moondancer demanded frustratedly to know from the defying jewels in front of her.

The malachite and the morganite remained silent.

“I guess they are… unmoved by her accusations,” Midnight commented stoically.

“Seriously? Rock puns?” Twilight inquired with a twitch.

“What’s the matter Sparky? Are you mad that you have such a… rocky start?” her twin replied, now grinning widely.

“Stop it!” The bookworm wasn’t in the mood right now for Midnight’s antics.

“In fact I’m sure that all your test subjects are quite… stoned, if you ask me.” But the dark angel showed no mercy.

“Midnight! Please!” Twilight felt herself cringing.

“I have another one. It’s... hard to tell, but I think you are stuck.” Her cheeks would have started to hurt from all the smiling, if she had any.

“Why are you doing this to me?!” the glasses wearing nerd never liked puns.

Midnight decided to tell her unofficial sister a little secret, “What can I say? I have to occupy myself somehow. Do you know how boring it is to spend all my time inside your head? The only sources of amusement I get here are your thoughts and dreams, even the naughty ones.”

“W-what?!” Twilight was sure her body paled.

“I mean who would have thought that you are a fan of dirty science-talk?” the carefree teenager asked rhetorically. She had no problems with such topics in opposite to her prude twin, “Wait, stupid question. Still hilarious though.” Midnight’s voice took a very sensual tone, “Oh Timber~! Explore my dirty little receiver to your heart’s content! I want your-”

As expected by Midnight, her ‘better half’ acted quite juvenile about it, “La la la la la la! I can’t hear you! Nope! I don’t hear a thing!”

It was totally worth it for the dark angel, even though she knew that they would have a talk about ‘privacy’ at a later point.

Meanwhile the other three girls, who didn’t know about their friend’s mental breakdown, were talking about how to approach their current problem.

“Hmm… did you ever think about using two of the same kind? You know, diamond and diamond, ruby and ruby. Something like that?” Sunset suggested.

Sunny supported the theory with a nod, “She’s right. Maybe each kind of gem reacts differently to your magic, in its own way, and needs a fitting counterpart as a consequence.”

Moondancer’s face met the wall, painfully hard.

# Experiment No. 15

“All the static noises should be gone now. I’m certain I got the frequencies right this time,” Moondancer assured energetically.

Sunny Flare rubbed one of her ears, “I hope so.”

What came out of the gems was somtimes worse than a microphone with back coupling.

Twilight took one spinel, Sunset the other. Both stood five meters apart from each other, waiting for the moment of truth. They were holding their individual gems in front of themselves.

The Constructor Magic user had her clipboard, paper and pencil at the ready, “OK Twily, please turn around and whisper something into your spinal. Only Sunset should be able to hear it over her counterpart.”

Nervous, because she feared her ears could be tormented again, the scholar was extra quiet, “S-Sunset? Can you hear me?”

The amber magician couldn’t believe her ears, “S-Sunset? Can you hear me?”

“It worked! I could hear every word you said without interferences!” the redhead exclaimed joyfully.

The four girls jumped into each other's arms, celebrating.

# Experiment No. 38

It was already late, the end of the day announced itself in form of Sunset’s progressing namesake.

They wanted to make a last test before dinner, aiming for the 45 meter mark. But they were forced to do it at the eastern border to the Everfree Forest, because Applejack forbad them from experimenting on the farm where anything of value could be endangered.

Sunset volunteered and took one of the two sapphires into her hands. She walked a little into the woods until she was out of sight, while the rest was waiting patiently in Sweet Apple Acres.

When Moondancer thought the Phoenix Magic user was far away enough from them she gave the command to start.

Sunset Shimmer never trusted the Everfree Forest in her world. She had to admit, it was a beautiful and mysterious place, but at the same time it was dark, foreboding and promised an inglorious death to everypony who didn't keep his guard up.

The human version changed a lot since everything started and did its cousin all honor.

Her gem came to life, “Su-nset, do y-ou co-py?” Twilight’s voice.

Sunset looked down at her device and opened her mouth, trying to respond. But a low growl gave her a pause.

She turned her neck ever so slowly, until she came face to face with a hungry looking timberwolf. The magician chuckled nervously, “Hehe, good… doggie?”

The snarling intensified and the advancing predator showed its wooden chaps, a lot of sharp needle like looking teeth, too.

Sunset sighed heavily in annoyance and stared blankly at the timberwolf, “Buck me…”

“Do you think she can’t hear us? Maybe you reached the limit for today,” Sunny commented neutrally.

Twilight had a thoughtful expression on her face, “Moony, you said that you were able to enhance the signal strength through raising the magic’s density inside the gems, right?”

“Partly. It is not as easy as it sounds. Why?” The scientist wasn’t sure what her friend meant.

Her lavender assistant gave an encouraging smile, “Well, we never tested it out what happens when we mix your magic with something else. Perhaps I could improve the effect by adding my own mana. And you already had to lower the dose for each gem in the last experiments because of all the energy you used up. So I could fill out the little space you had to leave empty myself. What do you think girls?”

Sunny frowned, “I don’t know… are you sure that’s such a good idea?”

Moondancer shrugged cluelessly, “Honestly? I have no idea what happens if we try it. And when something indeed happens, then you can simply toss it away. Just please, levitate it away from us first.”

“I leave myself the option open to laugh at you as much as I want when that goes south. Just so that you know,” Midnight added helpfully.

“Where is your scientific spirit?! We will never know if we don’t try!” her twin reminded eagerly.

Midnight rolled her eyes, but remained quiet.

At first nothing happened when Twilight infused her own mana into the sapphire. Suddenly the two kinds of energy started to interact with each other, violently.

“Woah! What’s going on in there?!” Sunny shouted in great worry.

“Fascinating! Is one source of mana trying to eliminate the other? Are they trying to fuse? Maybe even attempting to convert each other?” Moondancer took notes like a mad woman, or scientist.

The answer to all their questions came in the form of a bright explosion in the sky. It looked colorful if nothing else.

“Yep, guess that answers it. We should look for Sunset-” Sunny Flare couldn’t say more, because another explosion, it appeared just much more like a fireball than what happened with their own sapphire, shook the air and illuminated the Everfree Forest.

Right where their friend was.

“No… no, no. No! No! NO! NO! What have I done?!” Twilight screamed greatly horrified.

“I have to admit that I had revenge fantasies to get back on Shimmer for defeating me. And now look what you did! Sis, I love you!” Midnight exclaimed dramatically.

“Damnit!” Sunny cursed and ran right where the explosion took place.

“Twily-” Moondancer tried to bring in, but to no avail.

The lavender teenager broke down crying on her knees, “I-I am a m-monster! I-I learned nothing from the Friendship Games!”

“Hey! I take offense to that! I didn’t have dreams about world domination since, well, at least a very long time!” Midnight defended herself.

Twilight ignored her twin, “W-what will our friends think if they find out?!”

Moondancer tried again, “Twilight-”

“What will Cadence and my brother think of me?! Will I be a monster to them?!”

“Seriously, you have to-”

“And what will my parents think?! They will disown me! A monster like me doesn’t deserve any less!”

This time her unofficial conscience had a turn, “Yeah, yeah, sounds kinky Sparky. But your friend is com-”

“Sunset!” Twilight screamed into the heavens, “I’m so sorry! Please forgive me!”

“What in the name of Celestia’s floating tail are you talking about?” asked a very perplexed and very familiar voice.

The Arcane Magic user turned her head to face the source and gaped at the wonder in front of her. Sunset Shimmer was alive and well.

She could only stammer, “B-but you! A-and explosion and f-fire and magic and… and…” Her newly colored face brought even the most delicious apple to shame when realization hit her.

Midnight’s full-blown laughter resonated through Twilight’s mind until they reached the main house.

Never should it be said that science was boring.

“And this concludes our full report, Colonel Wind Rider, sir!” Soarin exclaimed dutifully.

Spitfire sent Misty Fly and him to Cloudsdale to bring their superior officer her report. But he wanted to hear in their own words what transpired since they left for Ponyville and what their thoughts were as well.

Wind Rider rested his chin on his hands, eyes closed to think about everything he just heard and read. After what felt like a minute for them he glanced briefly at the report of the Wonderbolt captain before his focus remained on his two subordinates in front of him.

“I can understand your reservations concerning Justice and its founder. And you are right, they truly sound like a group of fanatics who built their base of power upon the fear of the civilians. But I share the captain’s opinion that we can’t just put them in the deepest, darkest prison, only to satisfy our thirst for fairness,” the colonel started with a pained smile.

“B-but sir! Prismia certainly had no qualms to blackmail the mayor to get what she wanted! Even though Senior Airman Lightning Streak didn’t find any evidence that she was planning something sinister right now, that doesn’t mean that she didn’t plan anything at all,” Misty Fly gave to consider, hoping to convince their colonel.

Wind Rider sighed, “Your heart is at the right place, soldier, but the world isn’t as simple as you might want it to be. If a banker only sells something to gain as much provision as possible, instead of having the people’s needs in mind, then you can always judge such behaviour as morally wrong. But on the other side, do you really have the right to forbid others from earning more money to build themselves a better life, just so that you can feel better and your morale code is satisfied? Is your own will above the desires of everybody else? Communism dictates that all should be treated equal and we all know that such systems never endured for long in our history. Every single person is different and everybody has his own view on how a topic should be approached, or definitions of morals and virtues. You have to accept that, like you have to accept that Ms. Prismia behaves questionable at best, but in the end of the day we have to compromise with her in order to create a better future for all.” He looked with a fatherly expression into the eyes of the two younger Wonderbolts, “Do you understand what I am trying to say?”

Soarin lowered his head, feeling conflicted, but the colonel’s words had an unpleasant ring of truth, “We understand.” The duo saluted respectfully, “Thank you for your time, sir.”

Misty Fly waited until her colleague left the office and looked back at Wind Rider, “Sir? Permission to speak freely?”

He nodded shortly, “Granted, soldier.”

The young woman hoped that the major wouldn’t be angry at her, “Well, we are sending 500 Wonderbolts and 200 recruits of the newly created militia into the fray against the approaching invasion force of the Adepts of Khom, but I was wondering. You looked like you grimly accepted what would come.” He still didn’t like the idea of sending their forces, but the situation had changed drastically for the worse. An attack was about to happen. “However, you seemed to be much more disturbed after Soarin told you that these fire elementals were behind the destruction of Canterlot City. Why? Did you meet them before?”

“Oh, that?” Wind Rider chuckled in faked embarrassment, “I fear even old dogs like me aren’t immune to emotions. I had… family there. And being told that they most likely suffered a cruel death got to me. Excuse this old man’s weakness in front of his subordinates.” He gave her a calming smile, “But you should go now, we can’t let Sergeant Soarin do all the work, can we? Prepare the troops, Ponyville needs our support. And Ms. Fly? Your concerns are appreciated.”

Misty Fly blushed, feeling stupid for asking now, “N-no problem, Colonel! I’m sorry that my curiosity got the better of me. I will take my leave.”

The door closed and only silence remained.

Wind Rider stood up from his chair and gazed outside the window. His office was on the highest floor and he had a good view of Cloudsdale from his position. The citizens, members of the militia, his own soldiers, they all pursued their own task, a goal, a purpose.

His guilt never left the man, nor his feelings and his inner conflict. He lied, but it was necessary, or so he wanted to believe. For his granddaughter.

The mayor went back to his desk, opened a drawer and took a with metal framed picture out of it, the memento displayed signs of age. It showed an once happy family, whose members were putting their arms around each other’s shoulders. A big jet in the background with his signature symbol upon the side, a flight hat and goggles.

Wind Rider chuckled nostalgically at seeing his younger self in the center. Just instead of the present gray, his coiffure had its original deep lime green, he wore proudly his favorite Wonderbolt flight jacket in a deep marine blue. The same he was wearing now. He lost count how many missions they survived together. Dark blue cloth trousers and black shoes, parts of his officer service dress uniform, completed his outfit.

On his right stood a young woman. She had the same pale, light grayish cerulean skin color like him and a short, deep amber colored hair cut with a vivid dark gamboge streak in the middle, formed as a lightning bolt. Her eyes had a brilliant shade of gold. She wore the standard Wonderbolt uniform, orange tinted flight goggles on her head.

His daughter, Cloud Fire.

A single tear escaped the corner of his right eye, “I’m sorry that I wasn’t there to protect you.”

It happened seven years ago. The tension between the USA and Yakyakistan was at its zenith. Cloud Fire had nothing more to do than a normal scouting mission. But they didn’t have any intel to that time that the enemy secretly bought the most modern version of anti-aircraft guns.

At least it was painless. Cloud received a Medal of Honor and the newly elected President Fancy Pants held the speech personally.

His gaze focused on the last person in the picture, a little girl to his left. Cloud Fire’s daughter, his granddaughter, Lightning Dust.

Like her mother, she was the joy of his life. She had brilliant gamboge colored eyes, brilliant amber hair with brilliant gold stripes and light turquoise skin. Lightning wore a much too big flight jacket herself, it covered her entire body. His granddaughter’s silly grin made him smile.

But he just had to make a hard decision. Loyal service to his country for 40 years… or family.

Wind Rider promised himself and his daughter at Cloud Fire’s grave that he would protect Lightning Dust by all means. Always.

So he did. His mind told him otherwise at this time, but his heart won in the end.

Soon they would reach Cloudsdale. General Firefly gave orders to mobilize the troops for the moment she returned from her meeting with the president.

The units were ordered to leave the capitol in waves of three convois in a orderly fashion on the land way, since planes seemed to be dead. Wind Rider accompanied the third himself.

After moving out they encountered a lot of unique and unexpected sights. Goblins, Nagas, timberwolves, giant insects, rovers, plants that tried to kill, you named it. He was just happy that his granddaughter decided to visit him during the holidays. He heard what happened with Canterlot City and still had to inform Lightning Dust about it.

She visited the Cloudsdale Academy, far away from Canterlot, but close enough that this heinous act should be a concern for the city. Who would do such a thing? He never heard about the invasion of a major army. And what meaning had these rumours about beings made of fire?

Questions upon questions.

“Grandpa, did you listen to what I said?” Lightning Dust inquired worriedly.

Wind Rider looked at the girl. His granddaughter grew to a close image of her mother when she was younger. Now she had back gelled hair, but it still looked wild in its own way with the complementing bright colors. Her attire consisted out of red sneakers with black lightning bolts on the sides, white knee-long bermuda-shorts, a platinum colored shirt with her favourite symbol upon it, a white lightning bolt and three stars, two orange, one yellow, and a Wonderbolt jacket he gave her to her birthday last year.

How time flew by.

“Sorry Light, I must have dozed off a little. Can you repeat it please?” Wind Rider asked with a warm smile.

“I wanted to know how you are so sure that Cloudsdale is safer than the capitol. From what I heard there are problems everywhere,” she repeated herself in confusion.

He hummed thoughtfully, “We are not sure yet, but-”

The driver of their vehicle hit the brakes rather abruptly, before he jumped out and ripped the door open. It was a fresh recruit, a young man to be precise. He saluted, “Sir! A giant tree is blocking our path, we have to remove it first before we can catch up with General Firefly and Captain Spitfire!”

“Well? Let’s get to it soldier,” Wind Rider suggested with a dry chuckle.

“Sir!” he exclaimed loudly and vanished after giving his colonel another salut.

The two family members decided to stretch their legs, watching that everything was going smoothly from afar. Lightning wasn’t the only one in her age either. Some soldiers brought their loved ones with them in hope that Cloudsdale was a safe haven.

Suddenly something like sounds of battle echoed around them.

His second in command, in this case Sergeant Soarin, came running fastly, “Colonel! Our troops are securing the parameters in the moment we speak and keep an eye on our surroundings. I suggest that we are moving out. It could be an enemy or an ally, we are not sure.”

Wind Rider took immediate action and focused on his granddaughter, “Lightning Dust! Please go to the center of the convoi where it is safe,” and switched his attention to his subordinate, “Sergeant! Perhaps someone needs our help. You stay here and are in charge during my absence, am I understood?”

Soarin saluted, “Yes, sir!”

“B-but grandpa!” Lightning tried to say her own opinion, but he stayed firm.

“Don’t worry Light. It will need more than a few walking fairy tales to bring me down. Just wait for me,” Wind Rider assured soothingly.

He chose six Wonderbolts to follow him into the unknown. They got closer and closer until the small group was reaching a willow with a river in front of it. But what got their attention the most were the two combatants.

The humans were frozen in fear and awe.

One was a beast that looked like a, in his opinion, small, thickly built dragon with a long snout. Maybe three and a half meter tall. Its brilliant white scales covered the entire body, illuminating the surroundings with their shine, only the underside was protected by what seemed to be thick black leather, dark as the void. Its sharp black claws swung around, trying to get its prey and sky blue eyes were upon every movement the opponent made. Then there were nearly translucent looking white wings, Wind Rider nearly missed them, because they were tucked together on the reptile’s back. But most noticeable was the long tail with a deadly looking spiked club at the tip.

The second being appeared to be made of air itself, visible gray and white combinations of wind currents to be precise, a little like a living tornado. Though it wore with strangely glowing blue symbols coated golden colored armor around feet, upper legs, hands, chest and head, it reminded of the hoplites of Old Greek. He didn’t know at this time that the alloy was called Neuphalt. The figure looked very tall and human-like, nearly 2.20 meter, if not for being built out of wind.

It, whatever it was, attacked the dragon with bigger or smaller spheres made of air to keep the large animal at bay.

“S-sir? What are your orders?” one of the braver Wonderbolts asked in fear.

At first Wind Rider wanted to order a retreat. This conflict was nothing they should get themselves involved in… until the human like being jumped away from the beast and stared in their direction.

It waved with a hand as if nothing was wrong with the situation, “Hey! Mortals! Your help would be much appreciated!” the fighter exclaimed in what sounded like gale-force winds to an extent, but somehow the voice had a male touch.

The dragon saw them as well and took the decision away from the Wonderbolts. It had found easier prey and flew much faster than expected, landing directly in front of them. It roared in a challenging manner.

“Shoot that thing!” Wind Rider ordered harshly.

His subordinates didn’t need a second invitation and opened fire. But it tore through them like nothing, not caring for the bullets, as if they were trying to hurt it with pebbles instead, only a few managed to draw blood.

The usually proud colonel could only dodge and witness in horror how his fellow soldiers were slaughtered.

When he was the last man standing, and thought it was his turn to die, the wind soldier intervened, “Take that, you overgrown salamander!”

A giant sword made of black clouds pierced the animal’s skull in the moment it looked up. The earth shook when its heavy body made contact with the ground.

The now above Wind Rider floating warrior laughed victoriously before he reappeared besides the shocked man. It was like he became one with the wind around him and decided to appear somewhere else, “Don’t worry mortal. That was just a good old wind teleportation spell, nothing special. Oh! And thank you for your support, I will never forget what you did for me.”

Wind Rider could only stammer in response, “H-huh?” It was surreal.

“Didn’t you see the monster sword I used on the lizard? I couldn’t have concentrated enough energy to summon it, if not for you brave souls!” His… joyful tone took a much more subdued note, “I’m serious though, the sacrifice of your fellow brothers and sisters shall not be forgotten by me. If you have a wish and it is within my power, I shall grant it to you. By my honor.” Silence. “Sooo… who are you anyway?”

He found his voice again, but wasn’t sure if it was wise to tell this being anything. And the deaths of his subordinates burdened his conscience, still. But in the end the senior officer decided to answer truthfully. And who knew? Maybe he found a potential ally. “I am Colonel Wind Rider of the Wonderbolts. Who are you… sir? And why were you fighting this dragon?”

The wind elemental chuckled a little, “My name is Aram, I am a simple Wind Healer of Lady Ano’yil’s forces. You know, the big boss. And that was a wyvern, not a Dragon. I was just here to look around a little. Sightseeing you might say. But then our friend here thought I was something edible and attacked me.”

It confused Wind Rider, sometimes this ‘Aram’ was polite, serious and respectful, the next second he was laid back and had no qualms to speak his mind freely.

A scream interrupted the further conversation, “HELP!!!”

Wind Rider paled like rarely before in his life, “Lightning Dust!” He ran and gave his own name tribute.

His blood ran cold when he saw the scene in front of him. His granddaughter was laying on the ground with the gun he gave her in the right hand. Besides a giant dead snake, it was at least eight meter long.

He took her into his arms, like a loving father. The fearful man felt for a pulse, it was weak, “Light! Are you alright!? Say something!” Tears built up in his eyes.

The tough girl opened her own orbs and smiled at the familiar face, “G-grandpa? Did you see that? I got it good.”

“Why didn’t you listen to me and stayed at the convoi?” he asked, more pleading as demanding.

“You didn’t come back after over two hours. I sneaked away to search for you. Sorry.” Lightning grinned sheepishly before she fainted.

“That looks like poisoning.” Aram commented dryly from the corpse of the snake, he was kneeling in front of it, analyzing the snake further, “Yep, these colors indicate that it was a toxin using subspecies.”

Wind Rider noticed the bite mark and the two big holes in Lightning Dusk’s left leg just now. He remembered what Aram said about his occupation, “Can you help her? Please! Save my granddaughter!”

The air elemental looked over Lightning, then at the praying Wonderbolt, “I can’t do anything from here. I am a healer, yes, but no miracle worker. I need a special plant to make her a potion she needs. But it only grows in my homeland, the Torn Heavens. I rarely handled one of you fleshlings before and I have to warn you about the consequences.” Aram’s voice was completely serious.

“Anything!” He was ready to do whatever it took to save her.

The tall entity surrounded Lightning’s body with white fog, holding her in the air and leaned closer to the older man, “She is stable for now. And I’m being honest, you deserve this much after helping me. We air elementals are free to roam this world, but were ordered to stay out of sight of the locals. I need your word to keep our meeting a secret from others. And then there is the problem that I have to irreversibly change this human female into a half elemental. I will have to make her my Scion of Air.”

Wind Rider didn’t understand the meaning of the warning, “W-why? What do you mean?”

“The Elemental Planes are no place for common mortals, you can’t survive there. You have to be at least a half elemental or need special items in order to enter our domain. I fear this is a life-changing decision you have to make for her,” Aram explained in sympathy, but his voice, if someone could call it that, had a clear edge.

The colonel was in a pickle.

Decades of service for his country were on his belt, keeping the presence of an unknown force a secret wasn’t something he should do. His oath demanded that he had to report General Firefly about everything that happened. It was one side of the coin and stood against saving his granddaughter’s life.

He stared fatefully at Aram, not that Wind Rider saw the elemental’s eyes behind the helmet anyway, “I swear to you to keep everything a secret. Just save her.”

The Wonderbolt could have sworn that Aram grinned, “As you wish.”

They shook hands.

Wind Rider glanced at the clock. It seemed he stared at the photo for nearly 25 minutes. He put it away and took a small silvern key out of his pocket, opening another drawer beneath.

It was another letter, in Lightning Dust’s hand writing. She wrote him that everything went smoothly and that Aram managed to heal her completely. It didn’t suit her at first that her life was saved in exchange for most of her humanity. Or in her words, it was, ‘so not cool’.

But she was very grateful nonetheless.

And most disturbing was for him the knowledge that Lightning had probably to collaborate with the ones who invaded Canterlot City. He knew about the five elemental tribes. Especially the fire elementals’ description in both, Lightning’s letter and Spitfire’s report, were too much of a coincidence

Well, at least his granddaughter managed to overcome the initial shock after her awakening. At first he thought that she hated him for what he did to save her life. Wind Rider was in a struggle with himself if he did the right thing, at first.

From what he gathered, Lightning Dust was taught about her new abilities and everything it included.

His heart won in the end, there was no denying it. Indeed, his family was more important to him than anything else. He would do what needed to be done as long as she was safe.

Wind Rider took a lighter and observed how the letter of his granddaughter burned away to nothing.

Luviel was foaming in pure fury and shame, ignoring all questioning looks aimed at the Emerald Elf. She opened the door of the Apples' household with force, the host family's matriarch was less than happy about it.

"Land's Sakes! Ah expect from y'all as our guests to handle our things respectfully, or ya will work with the pigs from now on!" Granny Smith admonished firmly from the kitchen.

Twilight Velvet, Marble and Cloudy Quartz, who helped the older woman with today's food preparations, came running to inspect the commotions' source.

"Ms. Dawnseeker?" the wife of Night Light and mother of two mages asked worriedly at the newcomers' facial expression, "Is something wrong?"

"Yes. Please help me to gather everybody at the entrance of the house as fast as possible, I have an important announcement to make. We are all in huge trouble," the Emerald Elf answered gravely.

They paled at the usually always very chipper woman's tone.

"W-why, certainly! We shall do as thee desire! Come, Marble!" Pinkie Pie's mother responded immediately. Her daughter followed with a whimper, Velvet not far behind.

She looked after the leaving trio, deep in thoughts, "Because of my carelessness we may have to leave this place." The elf crunched with her teeth in hatred, "May the Adepts of Khom all rot in Tartarus with their bastard of a master!" Luviel walked to the door and looked up at the clear sky in mixed emotions, but most prominent, sadness, "Sister, why did you betray me? I still don't understand your reasons."

It felt like yesterday when it happened. A small troop of Mana Weavers and Royal Infantry had nothing more to do than an easy recon mission nearby Kalandros Keep, a southern stronghold made to prevent the demons from invading Ashall any further as they already did, to confirm a newly spread rumor about a powerful artifact.

They found a demon infested cave and slaughtered every single of one them until the area was clear. In the end was a strange black crystal that seemed to lurk the demons to it. They worshipped the artifact.

It was like some kind of mind influencing magic inhabited their goal, but lucky for them it had only an effect on the feral beasts of Tartarus.

Half of the Emerald Elves wanted to destroy it, fearing its dark touch. The other half, the siblings were under them, wanted to take it back home to investigate its properties. On this way they had perhaps a chance to get an edge on their enemies.

In the end the supporters of the later option were in superior numbers after a long discussion.

Their leader called it a day near a beautiful meadow, Luviel believed to remember. Suddenly, they were attacked by Witchers and Black Knights in the middle of the night. This was the very first time she met the Adepts of Khom in her life. Everybody was killed during the unexpected encounter, a good share of their forces died before they could even start to organize a counterattack.

Except Anazynthia Dawnseeker and the Mana Weaver herself.

She remembered clearly how her twin stood above her kneeling form, captured by the cultists of the Damnation Seeker. Luviel would never forget the pitying look Anazynthia gave her, the black crystal in her hand like a prize.

But worst of all was their last conversation with each other.

"What have you done?! They were our friends, our brothers and sisters in arms! And you betrayed them! You betrayed me!" Luviel Dawnseeker exclaimed in sheer fury, hot tears were streaming down her cheeks.

They had a nearly identical appearance, except that Anazynthia's hair was styled in a ponytail. The still standing Emerald Elf shook her head in resignation, "Luvi," she started in a slightly rougher, but bell-like voice as her sister, in a pained tone, "I feared that you wouldn't understand. Why couldn't you listen to me? I begged you to stay at the palace, to let me handle the rumor alone."

"Understand?!" The prisoner said the word like it was poison, "I think I understand well enough what happened! I'm confident that the corpses of our friends are proof enough of your treason!"

The other elf snorted in annoyance, having enough, "You know nothing, Luviel! My new master, Damnation Seeker Khom, appeared in my dreams and showed me visions of the future, visions where our home was nothing more than a wasteland! Thanks to a threat that will let the demons who invade our country in this very moment look like a mere nuisance in comparison! We, the Adepts of Khom, are this world's only hope!"

The Mana Weaver gasped in shock and disbelief, "You can't truly think that following one of the six Royal Demons of Tartarus is a good idea! And why didn't you say anything?! If there is an unknown threat to all of us you should have told me immediately! Our people would have listened to your plea!"

She couldn't believe her sibling.

Anazynthia scoffed at the last sentiment, "Oh, please! We both know that the elders, those senile old fools, would have declared me insane. Or that I let 'nightmares' get to my head. My plan was perfect, everything would have looked like a normal raid, nothing special these days. I could have spared you the knowledge of what I had to do in order to save this world, if you wouldn't have insisted on coming with me! Don't you see? I sacrifice myself for your well-being, sis!""

Luviel's voice broke a little, "Do you honestly think I would have been happy with living a lie where I believed that my twin sister died in a demon attack and not even a body to bury remained? That our friends, Alana, Jentha and Frey, all died and how I did nothing to prevent it? That I possibly could have saved you all if I didn't stay at home instead? Did it never occur to you what great grief your actions would cause their families, and me?!"

For the first time regret made itself noticeable in the older sibling's face, her voice softened, "Of course I am aware of the consequences. And I will always hate myself for what I had to do, but that is my sin to bear, not yours. I needed a skilled team that helped me with the demons who guarded the crystal without being suspicious about it." She held the mysterious object in question in her palm like it was her most precious item, "Such a peculiar little thing. But I know it was worth it in the end, a few lives have no value if it means creating an entire world worth living in."

The now sitting Mana Weaver shook her head in denial and remained quiet.

One of the Black Knights approached the twins, saluted and asked in a female, muffled voice, "Milady, I know it isn't my position to question you, but isn't it much too dangerous to let this woman live? She will tell the other elves about us and they may seek revenge for what we did."

Anazynthia glared holes in the speaking woman for even suggesting such a thing, "Your concerns are duly noted, soldier, but no. She is my sister and I will see to it that she will live. We are no immediate threat to Ashall and they have enough to do with the demons in the south and the trolls in the north. Did I make myself clear?"

The knight sounded a few shades paler, even without any visible skin thanks to her armor, "A-as you wish, Lady Anazynthia."

Luviel could only laugh, this all had to be a bad dream, "So you are sparing my life? How did I earn such honor?" Her sarcasm was tangible.

The older sibling illuminated a hand with green colored magic, casting a spell known as ‘Embrace of Nature’. This ability gave every Emerald Elf the opportunity of putting their opponents to sleep with a calming touch.

Anazynthia’s body language didn't show anything else than indifference from the outside, "I don't expect any gratitude from you, but I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me one day. Sleep now. May Elandrial protect you, always."

Luviel couldn't even respond before her consciousness faded away.

She snapped back to reality after hearing a cursing Granny Smith, a plate had shattered on the ground.

The elf frowned at her own state of ignorance concerning her sibling's plans and left the house to find the others, it annoyed her to no end that she never asked Anazynthia the most important question at that time, "About what kind of threat were you talking about, sister?"

And did her twin even know that she was involved in the matters concerning Ponyville? Maybe Vyndrak didn't have to answer to her and obeyed solely to someone else? Or was she already informed and Zynthi simply didn't care any longer for her?

Luviel didn't know which option was worse.

It was a productive day for the science trio. Twilight, Moondancer and Sunset managed to build a few more sets of gems. Of course that was only the first step, the Constructor Magic user had already plans for future projects, with the help of the her hard-working assistants of course.

"I guess after many 'try & error' situations we finally have the hang out of it. Do you think we should work with the range next? Maybe we could increase their efficiency?" Twilight suggested thoughtfully.

It was a bummer for their pride, but the magical link between two enchanted gems lost its intensity with higher distances between them. After merely 100 meter the connection went silent. At least the signal's strength increased again when they got closer to each other once more.

They had still a long road to go, but that was science for you. Baby steps.

Sunset looked satisfied at the finished pairs in front of them, "Good idea, Twilight. I think we have enough sets for now. I mean we only had two days of research. And honestly? I feared that we would have a lot of more trouble with creating them."

"Bacon Hair has a point. We used our time well," Midnight agreed neutrally.

"You didn't do anything. The only thing you did was laughing like someone on nitrous oxide whenever something went wrong!" Twilight replied in annoyance.

The dark angel groaned at her metaphorical and literal twin, "Do you really have to convert every manner of speech into something highly intelligent? 'Nitrous oxide'? Seriously?"

"Why should I use terms which don't describe its properties? You know exactly about what I am talking about, you are me, sort of," the bookworm defended herself with a pouting tone.

"Because it isn't funny, only awkward! You are maybe fine with being seen as the dork of the group, but I have higher standards," came the immediate reply.

In the meantime, outside of Twilight Sparkle's mindscape, were Sunset and Moondancer occupied with their own conversation.

"So, do you already know how you want to name these gems? Calling them simply 'communication crystals' sounds so... boring," Sunset said with a playful smile.

Moondancer thought about the amber girl's words and her eyes widened, "I got it! If you are fine with it I would like to call them MEVT."

The Unicorn-turned-human raised an eyebrow, "MEVT?"

The Constructor Magic user sounded way too enthusiastic, "Magic Enhanced Voice Transmitter, I think it suits them well, doesn't it?"

Sunset could have sworn her sweat dropped from hearing the name, she didn't expect it to be this academical. In the end the fiery teenager decided to spare Moondancer's feelings, "I'm fine with it. And I'm sure Twilight will be, too."

The duo looked in expectations at their friend, only to see that Twilight Sparkle was in the middle of a very hard fight, her eyes were crossed, the cheeks inflated and her teeth worked like she had to do the private business. All that together gave Moondancer the impression that something was very wrong with their third member.

But Sunset Shimmer knew what to do, "Don't worry." She glanced suspiciously at the lavender teenager and had a good guess who was the reason of this... interesting facial expression, "Oh no! All our notes caught fire!"

That got the knowledge lover's attention faster than Apple Cider Rainbow Dash's, "WHAT?!" Twilight, and to Sunset's confusion, Moondancer shouted at the same time and looked at the undamaged results upon the table in great despair.

"Sunset! That was-" The door was forcefully opened and the magician's mother, Twilight Velvet, made an entrance, "Girls, come quick! Ms. Dawnseeker has something very important to say. She asked for a meeting at the Apple Family's main house!"

The former student of Princess Celestia had a bad feeling in her gut and voiced her opinion accordingly, "Can't we have a break for once!?"

Everybody was assembled, the Emerald Elf stood on a stony socket, made by Maud, so that her whole audience could see the woman.

"Do y'all know why we're here?" Applejack quietly asked her friends. Twilight and Sunset shook their heads.

"I don't know Darling, but Lemon Zest came to get us after she was informed by Big Mac, and here we are," Rarity admitted in uncertainty.

"Oh! Oh! Maybe she found a secret cupcake fountain!" Her friends stared at her in bewilderment and decided to move on.

"I don't have a good feeling about this, it sounded urgent," Fluttershy added fearfully.

After Luviel was sure that everybody was gathered she started, "I want to thank you all for appearing on such a short notice, but I have dire news to share." To the confusion of the ones who listened well to her voice, the elf sounded ashamed.

"W-what happened?" Lyra asked nervously.

"Did you see more of those fire elementals?!" BonBon voiced her own worries.

Panicked whispers were exchanged, but before fear could take its roots too deep the former dean of Crystal Prep spoke up, "People, calm down! It won't bring us any good if we are falling into despair before we even know what is wrong!"

Sunset saw it in the eyes of many that the trauma, caused by the elementals, left its scars. She couldn't fault them, Canterlot City was a beautiful place, but the former Unicorn didn't feel such a strong connection to it as it was the case with Equestria's capital. The transformed mare knew she would react the same way if she would have been in their place.

Images of a burning Equestria entered her head, she felt terrible, "Hopefully Princess Twilight closed the portal..." Her eyes widened and she had to stop herself from facepalming, "Sweet Celestia, I'm so stupid! I totally forgot to tell her about everything that happened here!"

Luviel looked uncomfortably, "Two hours ago, I found two spies at the borders of Sweet Apple Acres. They could escape because of a Frost Hound they had with them. I was careless."

The Shadowbolts and Zecora gasped in recognition, then Sunny Flare exclaimed loudly, "Aren't Frost Hounds these demon dogs of the Adepts of Khom?!"

That earned Luviel fearful stares and angry frowns.

She chuckled awkwardly with reddened cheeks, "Yeah, sorry. That one goes on me. I thought that I could handle them easily enough and didn't expect that their pet would attack me from behind. So... we should prepare ourselves, you know, just in case."

"Are you serious!?" Trixie shouted in fury, "Because of your carelessness those murderers know where we are!"

"I can't fault Trixie's logic. You should have eliminated them immediately in the moment you saw them, now we have to leave this place," Sugarcoat added coldly without any restraint. Limestone, Indigo Zap, Sunny Flare, Mrs. Pie, Flash and BonBon nodded in support.

Luviel forsake her fake-cheerfulness and crumbled under the accusing glares.

"That's enough!" Granny Smith shouted firmly, "Ah won't let y'all treat that poor girl like a criminal because of an honest mistake! Did Ah make ma'self clear?!"

"But Mrs. Smith! We can't hold Sweet Apple Acres against an entire army!" Flash Sentry gave to consider.

The matriarch glanced over the entire group, "Ah'm not the youngest woman anymore, but Ah'll be cursed if Ah let ma' grandchildren and others suffer for ma' stubbornness. We should take what we need and prepare to leave the farm," she said in a saddened tone.

A nearly collective wave of gasps made the round, only her grandchildren didn't react as much as it was expected, their faces made of grim acceptance.

Granny Smith gave a dry laugh as a response, "What did y'all expect me to do? A house and a barn can be rebuild, but yer kin only exists one time. And Ah won't endanger them for a few apples."

"I would call that a little more than just a few-eep!" A warning glare of the matriarch silenced Lyra immediately, she was hiding now behind an eye-rolling BonBon.

Sunset put her focus on the quiet cowgirl besides her, mistaking her friend’s lack of reaction for sadness and shock, "I think she is right, we may have a better chance defending us against the occasional animal with the newly built walls and our magic, but we can't keep an army of demons and warlocks at bay. Sorry Applejack."

Much to her and others' surprise the farmer in question smiled somberly, "Thanks Sugarcube, but everybody in our family already knows about Granny's plans and even if Ah don't agree with her or like the idea..." Applejack sighed, "Ah had a lot of time to think about it... and she's right. Staying stubborn and deciding to hold Sweet Apple Acres at all costs won't do us no good."

"Eeyup!" Big Mac agreed in determination.

"It will be like a great adventure!" Apple Bloom exclaimed with a big grin, despite her inner sorrow. She was sure their parents would approve.

"We could be like Daring Do! Hunting for treasures and secrets in undiscovered lands!" Scootaloo aided her fellow crusader in eagerness.

Sweetie Belle squeaked in excitement, "You are right! On this we may discover our m-!"

Scootaloo hugged her friend, hard. Her smile much too forced to look natural, but she faced solely her friend, "Don't worry, we'll be fine."

Only Zecora and Rarity stood close enough to hear the trio, the former chuckled knowingly and the later focused too much on the fact that her sister agreed to such dangerous plans. Her eye twitched, she had hoped her sibling wouldn't want to take a part in such activities as adventuring, especially now.

Sweetie Belle was normally so well-behaved!

"T-thank you, Mrs. Smith," Luviel said gratefully.

The grandmother waved her off, "Don't mention it dearie. No harm was done and ya told us all as soon as ya could."

Cadence approved. If not for the elder woman she would have said something herself. Fighting and blaming each other wouldn't do them any good, "Mrs. Smith is right Luviel, we-"

*HONK* *HONK*

"There!" Lemon Zest pointed out.

A vehicle approached them in high speed, a military pick-up truck to be exact.

"HEYYYYYYYYY!" Rainbow Dash shouted from above, she used her wings to fly besides the madly driving Celestia.

"What-"

"the-"

"buck?!" Indigo Zap, Pinkie Pie and Sunset Shimmer shouted at the same time, the latest earned herself confused glances at saying the Pony equivalent of a common human cursing phrase.

The former principal hit the breaks and came to a stop in front of the crowd, a fearful looking and sweating Captain Spitfire at her side.

"Pff! My entrance was much more awesome!" the Heavens Magic user boasted as she landed with force, blowing up dust.

She couldn't even blink before Pinkie Pie glomped her.

"Auntie! Did something happen? Where are the others?!" Cadence interrogated in great worry. What was with her Shiny?!

The former principal jumped out of the car and shortly hugged her emotional niece, "Everything is alright. We are all fine." She saw that everybody was already here, "Did we miss something?"

"I found two spies on one of my patrols. Now the Adepts of Khom know where we are, because of my stupidity," Luviel admitted ruefully.

Celestia rubbed her chin in thoughts, "That will make it easier, I guess."

"What do you mean, Princi-Ms. Celestia?" Rarity asked in wonder at her calmness.

The until now quiet and third newcomer cleared her throat loudly, "The reason why we are here in the first place."

"SPITFIRE!" echoed a chorus of former CHS students after recognizing their former Wondercolt captain.

Mentioned young woman groaned internally, trapped between two courses of action. Insisting on being treated worthy of her new position as a leader of the military, or trying to act casually with them.

"You are alive!"

"What happened to you? Where were you?!"

"Where are Soarin and the others? Did you see them?"

"Girl, you are wearing a Wonderbolt suit! You did it!"

Rainbow Dash interrupted the moment, before more could express their feelings, "Guys! Let her get a word out. It's important!"

The Wonderbolt was flustered, she wasn't greeted in such an informal manner since the last time she and her friends met for celebrating Fleetfoot’s birthday, "Thanks Crash-"

"Hey!" the crimson colored teenager shouted in embarrassment. Her fellow Rainbooms chuckled.

"I think it would be best to introduce myself first. I am Captain Spitfire, commanding officer of the Wonderbolts and a part of the US Air Force. Well, if you find a still working vehicle to fly that is," she joked darkly.

"Oh great. I guess that confirms it that even the planes are gone," Lyra said sulkingly.

Spitfire nodded in grim agreement, "Sorry, it is sadly the truth. But now to the matter at hand. We came here to tell you that Ponyville is facing a giant threat. An invasion is coming up and we need every help available to save the town and its citizens."

"WHAT?!"

Rainbow stepped forward and looked smugly at the others, "You can thank me for that. I flew to Camp Everfree and saw everything." Her cheerful attitude was replaced by anger, "Those dirty little-" She took a breath after receiving warning glares of the adults around her, "The Adepts of Khom have an entire army down there and built a freaking fortress! I didn't see the details, because... uhm, well..."

The athlete was still not certain why these things stopped chasing her.

Spitfire continued when she saw the chromatic girl's unsure expression of how to proceed. Most likely trying to come up with something that didn't scream that she had to turn tail, "Our daredevil here had to retreat, because the enemy has, so it was explained to me, thse giant hippogriffs at their disposal. Not that I would blame her when facing such a foe. Those demons are nasty business from what I heard."

Celestia took the short moment of shock induced silence as her cue, "We informed the ones in charge about everything we knew concerning the warlocks. And the Wonderbolts and Mayor Mare now know that most of us can use magic. They are supportive, but the mayor wants that we keep a low profile and not to use any magic, only when there is no other way. We have... political enemies you might say."

"I think we are lacking some context, my friend," Zecora gave to consider.

"Whoa! You are really a troll!" Spitfire switched her focus to Luviel, "And a real elf!"

"And? Did you notice us just now, Captain?" the Emerald Elf inquired with a raised eyebrow, slightly amused.

Spitfire blushed, "Excuse my forwardness. I just never saw your people with my own eyes before."

The newly arrived trio brought everybody up to date. They told them about the political situation in Ponyville, the fractions, their leaders and shared their opinions how the town's population stood when it came to the topic of magic. Then they explained, of course with permission beforehand, what Iron Will was and his position as the leader of Ponyville's militia.

News about Fillydelphia's fate and the refugees hit the group hard, but hope blossomed after hearing about Cloudsdale and that the Wonderbolts made it their headquarter.

Fluttershy ran into the house in tears after hearing about her family’s situation, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Twilight Velvet followed her.

Cadence didn’t know how to handle the new situation either. To think that Prismia was now the leader of an on hatred and fear based faction was more than concerning. What was she thinking?

Sunset was frustrated and angry about their situation and voiced her opinion accordingly, “But we can’t use any regular weapons without any training, nor will we be able to hold the Adepts of Khom at bay without magic. Ponyville wouln’t stand a chance. We have to do something!”

Spitfire grinned wolfishly, “This was exactly what we discussed on our way here and we may have a plan to show the citizens of Ponyville that magic isn’t necessarily something to be feared, but can be very helpful as well. We just have to make sure that our actions won’t be connected to Mayor Mare in the case our plan backfires.”

“But won’t the others attack us in the moment we use magic?” Indigo asked nervously.

It was Celestia who answered, “This is exactly the reason why our timing has to be perfect. Let me explain…”

His army was ready to march. Punisher Vyndrak was proud on himself, too. His speech was surely a motivator.

He aligned their forces for the upcoming conquest and was positive that every soldier knew what had to be done. Vyndrak hoped that the demons would listen to his order that the citizens were to be captured. Dead humans were useless to them without their souls.

Now he stood with Acolyte Rich and Beast Tamer Makara in front of a gigantic summoning circle. 20 Adepts were positioned in and around the outer layer, while the poison green colored spell was nearly ready.

Makara yawned in boredom, “How many souls are you planning to use anyway? I gave you at least 12 humans.”

Filthy Rich looked grimly at the big silvern, with blue veins covered cubes in the northern and southern part of the circle. They were made of Kobarid, some alloy out of Tartarus. He was told that these were the objects used to contain the souls they needed to summon stronger beings beyond the rank of a High Demon.

Life Vessels.

Vyndrak cackled insanely, “45 Souls. I can’t wait to see what we may lure into this world with the help of such a tribute.”

This got her attention, “What will you do if you summon a demon beyond your control?”

The punisher scoffed, “Don’t ruin my fun. It will be something stronger than a Terrorbeast, but we should be fine.”

Makara shook her head in annoyance and ignored the man.

“Commander! We are ready!” one of the female adepts announced.

“Excellent! Begin the summoning!” Vyndrak shouted gleefully.

Unholy magic poisoned the air when the adepts started. The entire circle illuminated brightly and the soul vessels started to throb like hearts. Every beat was accompanied by a muffled death scream.

It gave Filthy the creeps of his life.

Something happened after the last cry passed. The inner layer, serving as the anchor point for the summoned demon, shot a pillar of energy into the sky. Everybody had to cover their eyes from its brightness, Vyndrak and Makara seemed to be unfazed though.

When the light started to disappear, it was more and more replaced by a slowly growing shadow of the figure that stood now in the center. In the end half of Jormun was covered by its dark glory.

All witnesses in Jormun, mortals, demons and half demons alike, stared up at what had entered the plane of Terra.

“By Khom…” It was the only thing that came to Filthy’s mind.

Makara’s reaction was only visible if someone looked at her face, her mouth stood open. She honestly didn’t expect that Vyndrak could pull it off.

The Punisher himself wore his mask like always, otherwise his colleagues would see a face splitting grin. All the suffering and destruction he could cause!

He voiced his ecstatic feelings only audible to himself, “I think I just came!”

Author's Notes:

Greetings my avid readers!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

So here is already the first update since I finished my editing. Faster than expected. Oh, and big battle ahead!

Thank you very much for reading and stay tuned!