https://youtu.be/zRzq7UoPA9E

After the celebration, we told the populace about the real incident with Luna becoming Nightmare Moon. For those that still saw Luna as a monster, they didn't believe a word I said, that is until I showed them the memory of my potion induced trance. Once it was revealed, many historians had to redo their work and a few naturalists added the creatures the boys and I fought to their bestiaries.

As promised by my wives, I spent a week on the couch for lying to them about training the boys with their new weapons, though every morning I'd wake to have them both in my arms 'cause they snuck in with me during the night.

Anyway, ever since Faust gave us a foreboding warning about a threat to all, Twilight has been going over every book she can about what that threat might be. Which is where we head to now.

" So...Applejack is doing what again?" Luna asked me while we walked over to the library.

" She and Rainbow Dash are competing on who the most daring pony in all of Ponyville is. I swear those two are the most competitive beings in all the nine realms, aside from me and my old buddy." That last part piqued Luna's curiosity.

" And who is this friend you speak of that you'd compare yourselves to Rainbow Dash and our dear Jackie?" She asked me while bumping me with her flank.

" Bob Lee Swagger. He's an old friend from Parris Island, a bit older than I was, but he was still a good friend. We were bunkmates while we went through training. I went through regular infantry training while he went through Scout sniper training with his old friend Donnie. After we graduated, he went over to Africa for a mission, and I haven't seen the boy since. I might have to look him up after we're done here. He was the only one I ever told about my gift." I then remembered all the shit we did while on leave. " This one time, we went over to Jacksonville and stopped at this bar. All I gotta say about that night is that Swagger wound up in a penthouse with the hostess from the bar, while I spent the night in the history museum, sleeping among the neanderthal display. It was actually the last time I saw him. Over six years ago."

Luna suppressed a laugh with her wing. " Well, he sounds like a good friend." We made it to the library and went in. What we saw made us do a double-take, books were scattered across the floor and in one corner, there was a mountain of crumpled papers. " It would seem that Twilight is in the zone."

From the mountain of papers, Spike emerged. " You have no idea." Spike got out of the papers and led us up to the second floor. " Hey, Twilight, you got visitors." The moment we saw Twilight, we recoiled at the sight.

Twilight's mane was a fucking rats nest, her coat was splotched with food and coffee stains, and the less said about the smell the better. She had multiple books in front of her and multiple notebooks in her magical aura taking down notes. When she looked over to us, she had dark spots under her eyes and what I think might be mustard on her left cheek. " Oh, hi Joe, Luna, what are you two doing here?"

" I don't know anymore. I mean, at first, we came over to help with your research, but now I think we need to do something about your lack of hygiene." I emphasized my point by grabbing a discarded pizza box from off the ceiling.

Her cheeks flushed red when she finally took a look at herself. " I guess I got caught up in my studies again."

" Twilight, you spent four days doing nothing except study, eat, and go to the bathroom." Spike listed off Twilight's routine for the past few days while cleaning up some of the mess.

" I see, and were you able to find anything useful during your study binge?" I grabbed one of the discarded papers and saw that it was just a bunch of doodles.

" Uuuugggghhh! I've gone through every book in this library, hoping to find a small hint of what Faust meant about a great doom to all, but I've come up with nothing!" After she had her small freakout, she slammed her head onto the open book in frustration.

Luna went over and draped her wing over Twilight's back. " Twilight, we appreciate that you're looking into a threat against the nation, but you need not push yourself to this extent."

" I know, I just hate it when I can't find the answer to something."

Luna pondered away before coming up with something. " This might be a bit of a long shot, but we might be able to find something in the castle Tia and I shared. I believe the library might hold the answer you seek." At the mention of 'library', Twilight perked up and galloped toward her saddlebags.

" You had me at 'library', let's go." Twilight was halfway down the stairs before I grabbed her by the tail and dragged her back here. " Hey, what gives?"

" We ain't going nowhere till you have a shower," Twilight remembered the state she was in and headed for the shower with red cheeks. While she was cleaning up, I looked over at Spike. " Ready for another adventure, my draconic student?"

His response was to look at me with a smug smile. " Born ready."

Castle entrance.

After Twilight cleaned up, we made it to the castle. When we made it to the library, Twilight nearly came right then and there. " Okay, Spike and I are going to do some exploring. I'll let you Twilight-sit for a bit." I gave Luna a quick smack to her flank before Spike and I left her to deal with Twilight.

When we got out of the library, Spike told me this. " You know you're gonna pay for that later right?" I pushed his head to the side while he laughed.

" Better to deal with an angry Luna later, than having to deal with Twilight being around new books now." We both laughed at that while we continued roaming this old castle. As we made our way through the halls, I caught a whiff of something that always leaves my mouth watering. " I don't know about you Spike, but I smell a large amount of alcohol somewhere around here."

" Well, what are we doing just standing here? Let's go." Spike followed me as I kept following the scent of thousand-year-old alcohol.

I followed the scent of whiskey, wine, and other aged alcohol further into the castle. We kept going down towards the unknown parts of the castle until we hit a large wooden door that was big enough to fit an elephant. When we opened the doors, our jaws dropped at the sight of a large room filled with hundreds of barrels of sweet ambrosia.

As Spike and I drank in our surroundings, only one thing came to mind. " Spike, I think we've died and gone to Valhalla!" We wasted no time in heading into the old cellar and went over the barrels for the drink of our choosing.

Undetermined amount of time later.

" And that's why you never push the head of a unicorn or in my case alicorn when she's giving you a blowjob." Spike and I were drunk as fuck, and we started swapping stories.

" We haven't gotten to that stage yet, but I'll be sure to remember that." Spike took another swig from his cup of mead before continuing. " Speaking of, I've learned that the base of a unicorn's horn, is very sensitive and acts as a second g-spot. But you can't grab it too hard or she'll get a migraine."

" Duly noted." I went for another drink before I heard a noise from the floors above us. " Hey, Spike, did you hear that?"

" Right now I'm trying to stop the ringing in my ears."

While Spike was fidgetting with his ears, I stumbled over to the doorway and listened for any sort of sound. When I peeked my head out the door, I was greeted by someone putting piano wire around my neck. " Grrrkkk!" I struggled with my attacker with mixed results. If I weren't drunk off my ass, I'd have taken care of this asshole, but whoever had me knew what they were doing.

While my struggle with my attacker continued, my attacker let out a cry of pain. The piano wire around my neck slacked and I was able to look at my attacker. The first thing I discovered, was that my attacker was a man. He was about 5'8, dark hair, buzz cut, and was armed with an M9 Beretta. When I examined his back, I saw one of Spike's arrows pierce his lung, explains the cry of pain.

When I removed the arrow from his back, Spike came by to see what he'd done. " Crap! Joe, are you alright?"

" Yeah, I'll be fine." I turned the guy over to check and see if there was anything that could tell me who this guy is, or rather was. After frisking his pockets I found no ID or wallet, only a note. Here's what it read.

Col. Johnson.

After reading the note, I realized we were dealing with a wetwork member. " Hey, who was that guy?" Spike asked me while checking the guys gun.

I grabbed the gun before he could hurt himself and pointed over to the guy. " He ain't got any ID on him, so I can't give you a name. But, given that he has no identification, a handgun, piano wire, and this note telling him to off someone, I'd say he's a mercenary. A hired gun."

" Wow. But, what's he doing here, and who's he trying to kill?"

" Well, this guy might've come over here when the Hel Bramble was surrounding the Tree of Harmony. As for who he's trying to kill, I don't know, the note didn't give the targets name, only that the target is male. His target may have come through the portal as well, and if the guy was in here, then his target might be in the castle as well."

" Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?" Spike looked a bit nervous as he knocked an arrow in his bow.

" If this guy had an Id or dog tags, then the other guy would definitely be a threat, but since he doesn't, I'd say just use caution." I grabbed the body and placed him in a closet. " We'll deal with this one later, but right now, let's see if we can't find this other guy." Spike nodded before following my lead.

While we started searching the halls, we heard random organ music playing through the castle. " What was that?"

" Organ music. Either Luna and Twilight are playing around, or Pinkie's around here." We continued on our search with the added music to add a bit of drama.

We turned a corner and found ourselves in a hall lined with suits of pony armor. As we inspected the armor, we saw one that was crumpled on the floor. " It seems like someone was here," I gave the helmet a quick sniff before putting it back. " and it would seem that Dash and Jackie are here as well."

" What makes you say that?"

" 'Cause this helmet has Jackie's apple shampoo smell on it and there's a multicolored hair on the pedestal there." I got up and quickened my pace. " If they're here, then they as well as Twilight and Luna are in possible danger." We both ran ahead and made our way towards the library to check on Luna and Twilight. When we got to the library, we found them both in a secret room, giggling over a book. " Well, it looks like you two are hard at work."

They both looked up from the book and recoiled at our smell. " I see you've found the cellar," Luna remarked while scrunching her nose.

" Not to mention, you've been playing the Organ to the outside while we've been trying to find something."

" First off, What? And second, we've been in the cellar for the last few hours. And finally, we have a problem." This grabbed their attention. " Someone from Midgardtried to kill me in the cellar and-" I didn't have time to finish as Luna brought me over with her magic.

" Who tried to kill you, where is he? I'll tear them to shreds!" I gave her a boop on the nose, causing her to calm down.

" No need to worry about that, Spike got him with his bow." Spike did a little pose while holding up his bow. " What we need to worry about now, is the guy he was after." I showed them the note and continued looking around the place.

" Why do we need to be worried about the guy he was after, how do you know he's here, and how would he have come here?" Twilight asked while floating the note back to me.

" I believe they came over when the tree was being overtaken by the Hel Bramble. I doubt the guy who tried to kill me would still linger around here if the other guy wasn't here. As for worrying, his target might be deadly and know how to kill. Also, Dash and Jackie are around here so we need to find them and get out." Both their eyes widened before they followed me out of the library.

Before we could get very far, Spike was attacked by a white furry face-hugger. " Aaaahhh! It's trying to eat my brains! Get it off of me!" I went over and plucked the ball of white fluff off of him.

While Spike was recovering from his attack, I brought the fluffball to me. " Angel, what are you doing here?" The rabbit started squeaking and making gestures with his paws. " Fluttershy and Rarity are here too? Perfect, just perfect." I put him down while continuing our search. " Great, now we have to worry about two more of our friends being in danger." We made our way towards the main hall to start our search but were stopped when we heard four familiar voices screaming at the top of their lungs. " What the hell?"

We made our way just above the main hall to find our friends and loved ones, though they were acting like complete idiots. Dash was flying around the place, bumping into pillars, walls, pretty much anything. Jackie was doing pretty much the same thing but on the ground. Rarity was under an old tapestry, crying her eyes out for some reason. Finally, Fluttershy was trying to lift a pillar from a pile of rocks, crying out how she needs to save Angel. " Enough!" Twilight had enough of this bullshit and froze everyone in their place.

Jackie was the first to notice us. " Huh? What in the world are you four doing here?"

Fluttershy was still struggling with the pillar. " Must...save...Angel." She looked our way hoping to get some help, only to see her pet rabbit safe and sound. " Oh." Her cheeks started turning red after that discovery.

" Fluttershy? What are you doing here?" Rainbow asked while engaging in cartoon physics by not falling while she was in midair.

" She's with me." Rarity answered while still under the tapestry.

We descended the stairs while Twilight canceled her spell on the others. When they could move again, Twilight went ahead and asked, " Have you four running around here all night scaring each other?"

They all looked a little embarrassed before Dash addressed us. " That depends, were you four posing as the pony of shadows?"

" .....The what?" I asked, having no idea what she was talking about.

" It's nothing to worry about Joe, it's just an old ponies tale to scare little foals around a campfire." All of a sudden, the organ music starts up again.

https://youtu.be/9UfT0jVzNkw

The girls huddled together once the music started again and Shy looked like she was about to piss herself. " If there's no pony of shadows, then who is that?"

" Don't be alarmed, but there may be a potential threat from Midgard." This got the girls to start shaking again. " Spike already took care of one threat, but it would seem he was hunting someone down. We're not sure if this other person is a threat or even here, but that organ might lead us to him."

" Follow me, I remember where we had the organ placed." Luna took the lead and led us to where the organ is. As we continued on our path, the music became more intense. Luna was about to show us the room where the organ is, but then the music came to a screeching halt. " Quickly, they might be on to us."

I entered the room where the organ is and got ready for a fight. When I entered, I was met with Pinkie Pie being attacked by a man covered in a makeshift ghillie suit. " Hey!" The man brought his attention over to me. " Why not pick on someone your own size?" The man looked stunned to see another member of his realm here, he let Pinkie go and stood with his arms up and slowly took off his camo. What I saw when he revealed himself was the biggest shock I've had in my life. " Swagger?"

" TEX?"

" By the gods, I haven't seen you since..."

" Jacksonville." Swagger let down his guard and he came over. " Holy shit, how the hell did you end up here, and with wings?"

" It's a bit of a long story. What about you, how have you been?" At this point, my wives and friends decided to make themselves known, this caused Swagger to be on edge.

" Who the hell are you?" Swagger brought out a combat knife and got in a stance, ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

I got between them and Swagger. " Stand down man, they're not your enemy!" Swagger looked between me and the group before relaxing his stance. I motioned Spike and the girls forward to make proper introductions. " Swagger, these are my friends, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, and Pinkie Pie." I then brought Luna and Jackie into my arms. " And these are my two beautiful wives, Applejack and Luna." My wives had red cheeks and gave me a peck on the cheek.

When Swagger saw my wives show me affection, he was a little shocked. " So, should I ask the obvious question or do you want to start from the beginning?"

" I suppose I should start from the beginning." We all made our way back to the secret room in the library and I told my story to my old friend. As I told my story, Swagger's expression kept changing, ranging from shocked, surprised, amused, then back to shocked. The girls would pitch in whenever I missed a detail or just felt like adding their commentary.

When I was done with my story, Swagger only had this to say. " Fuck, a lot has changed in six years." He then brought his attention to my friends. " I'm sorry for thinking you were a threat, I especially want to say I'm sorry to you, Miss Pie." Everyone smiled and gave him an approving nod. Just then, Swagger remembered something important. " Listen, I don't mean to break up the mood here, but there's..."

" A hitman who was ordered by a Col. Johnson to kill you." He looked at me thinking I could read minds or something. " Don't worry about it, my little student here took care of him." I then fixed him with a serious glare. " So tell me. How is it that a gunnery Sgt. is now a target for some hitman."

" I guess you didn't hear about what happened? Well, it all started in Ethiopia." ( Spoiler for the movie Shooter.) He started telling us his story from three years ago back in Africa. How he and Donnie covered the retreat of a mercenary group, though he didn't know it at the time. The girls shed a tear when they heard that Donnie was killed by an enemy chopper. He then cuts to how Johnson came to his place in Wyoming to talk about stopping someone from killing the president. He took the job. When he told them to take out the shooter in the steeple, that's when they betrayed him.

The girls cringed when Swagger told them about the impromptu field dressing he had to do on himself before he made it to Sarah's. When he got better, he made it so the FBI agent he encountered would be on his side. They both went on a search on who the shooter was and narrowed his hide down in Virginia. He found that it was the man in the wheelchair he met earlier and he told him everything. Rarity and Fluttershy fainted when they heard how there was a mass grave of four hundred bodies and how he unwittingly recovered the retreat of the mercs who did the job.

Dash then got excited when he got to the shoot out between the mercs and him with Memphis giving him a hand. I wanted to spill blood when Swagger mentioned them taking Sarah hostage, but then I smiled when he told me how she killed her capture. I couldn't help but laugh at how Swagger explained how the frame-up was total crap since he had all the firing pins switched at his place.

" After they dropped the charges on me for killing the Archbishop, I took out Johnson and the Senator, ending those bastards network for good, or so I thought. Last week I went back home to bury Sam, give him a proper funeral and all. After I put him to rest in the garden, I was attacked by that guy you two ran into. Seems Johnson was able to get a message out before I got to him. We struggled for a bit and we found ourselves falling off a cliff. I thought for sure I was going to die, but then this bright light came from below and sucked us both in. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in a cavern covered in vines."

" I went up top to see where I landed, only to find a large forest with more of those vines, and of course this castle. I've been here ever since, surviving on whatever I could scrounge up and avoiding and hunting the guy who came with me. Everything else, you already know."

We all took a moment to process the story that we were just told and tried to come to terms with it. Finally, Twilight stood from her spot, walked over to Swagger, and wrapped her wings around him. " I'm sorry that those awful people did this to you. I'm especially sorry to hear about your friend Donnie." It took Swagger a moment to register that he was being hugged by someone who he thought a week ago was just an animal, but once he did, he returned the hug.

When they separated, Swagger saw the grin I gave him. " What are you smiling at TEX?"

" Nothing, nothing." I stood up from my seat and walked over to my friend. " So, you ready to go home?"

Swagger gave me a confused look. " What?"

" What do you mean what? I can take you home, you can live your life." I then went and noticed his somber expression. " Or...maybe you have something else in mind?"

" Not that I don't appreciate the offer or even mind going back, but I just don't think it's in the cards for me."

" I beg your pardon, Robert, but shouldn't you be happy that you get to go home? I mean, I know if I was taken from my home by odd circumstances, I'd want to return immediately."

" I should be happy, but after everything that's happened, I planned on going to a different country to start over. I guess a different world will be just as good. If you'll have me that is?"

I clapped my hand on his shoulder and let out a hardy laugh. " As if you even have to ask. You're more than welcome to stay here, though I'm not sure what to do about your living arrangements?"

Twilight was the first to respond. " I have a spare room he can borrow!" Maybe a little too quick but I'm not one to judge. " I mean if you don't mind staying in a library," Twilight added with a blush.

" That's fine by me, as long as we can get out of this place." We all got up and started heading for home, though not before Luna grabbed that book I saw her earlier with. I can't wait to see how everyone's going to react to Swagger.

Author's Notes:

Okay, so Joe is reunited with his old friend Swagger and I expect some grand adventures to be had between the two. Now we head on to a ' Daring' adventure.

Bob Lee Swagger is a character created by American Novelist Stephen Hunter. The image and story you saw of Swagger, was from the movie Shooter.

https://youtu.be/w8_jpjQXUyA

Now for the fun clip.

https://youtu.be/zNvbrRvQgmE