Tony and Sundancer were trotting through Ponyville alongside Twilight, making their way to Sugarcube Corner for lunch. They were chattering and giggling all the time, except for one very distraught earth pony, who seemed phased out.

“…and then, Fluttershy entered the Ball Room and yelled at the animals who ran rampart! It was the scariest thing I have ever seen, I tell you!” Twilight was talking about the Grand Galloping Gala she and her friends attended to a few years ago, which ended in a total disaster.

“That sounds like it was a lot of fun! I wish I could attend a Gala myself, together with this fat boy next to me.” She turned with a smug on her face to meet his expressionless face, immediately dropping her grin and frown.

“Sweetie, is everything okay?”

Snapped out of his trance, he shook his head and sighed. “I’m fine. I just...“he took a deep breath. “I keep thinking about what Rainbow brought with her. Was it about me? Why would she hide it from me?”

Twilight smiled and reassured the stallion. “Don’t worry Tony, it was about an old friend of us who DJ’s in Manehattan, and came here in a 3 weeks vacation. He was a bit weird, with his crazy hairstyle and such.” Twilight chucled slightly and glanced the other way. She was a very bad liar, and she hopped they would not notice.

“Oh… well, I guess I got carried away, sorry ‘bout that girls.”

“It’s okay Tony.” Sundancer shared a soft kiss with Tony and followed Twilight into the bakery. At the counter sat Pinkie Pie, serving a couple. Upon noticing the newly arrived, she cried out loud in excitement and leaped at her friends, leaving the couple stunned.

“TWILIGHT! TONY! And *gasp* new pony?! HI my name’s Pinkie what’s yours—“ she was briefly interrupted by Twilight’s hoof hushing her mouth. Sundancer, in the meantime was struggling to catch her breath.

“Wow, you *pant* are a strong pony…” Taking a moment to relax, she answered the pink pony’s questions. “I’m Sundancer and I’m Tony’s marefriend.” At this, the pink earth pony gasped loudly and hugged the two lovers.

“OHMYGOSH do you know what that calls for!?”

“A party?”

“A PARTY! Wait, how did you know?”

Tony rolled his eyes and grinned. Sundancer stifled a laugh and leaned against him.

“Let’s eat something, Pinkie.”

"Okie dokie lokie!" With that, the pink pony blured in and out of the kitchen, carrying a tray with four plates of food on them. Sundancer blinked twice and sighed, smiling. 'What a strange pony...'

---

The four ponies were now sitting at a table, eating their meals and chatting about different subjects. Twilight was discussing medicine with Sundancer, while Pinkie Pie listened intently to Tony’s improvements to her chocolate cupcakes. Twilight turned to the stallion.

“Wow, Tony, you were very brave for standing up for Sundancer against that jerk! I’m genuinely impressed.”

“Thanks… I guess.” He rubbed the back of his head.

“I forgot to tell you, last night after you went home to get some sleep, I received a reply from the Doctor, along with piles of engineering schematics and plans. He also told me that he will not give you the equipment you asked for, simply because he wants you to build them following the plans he sent you.”

Tony sat thoughtfully, staring at the empty plate in front of him. “Yeah, I can do that. Do you have them at the Library?”

“I have them.” Sundancer replied, patting her saddlebags.

“And when did you wanted to let me know about them?”

“At your birthday, sweetie.”

Thinking for a bit, he facehoofed and gave a small giggle. Turning to face Sundancer, his lips met hers and shared a passionate kiss.

“Happy Birthday Tony…” she whispered in his ear and nuzzled him.

“I can’t believe I forgot! Hey, where did Pinkie go?”

“She went to grab her supplies and throw you a surprise party…” Upon realizing what she said, Twilight facehoofed hard and apologized for giving out the surprise.

“It’s okay, you don’t need to blame yourself, happens from time to time…” Looking at the clock hung on the wall, he nuzzled Sundancer and motioned towards the door. “Let’s go sweetie, we gotta call in the movers.”

“Are you two moving to Ponyville?!” Twilight asked, shock evident on her face.

“No, we are just moving out some equipment the Doctor gave him. We are sending it to Manehattan, to prepare for his project.”

“Oh. What project are you two working on?” Twilight asked, having piqued her interest.

“A suit capable of flight, something mechanical.” He replied, puffing out his chest.

Thinking for a while, Twilight made the connection between the items he requested and his plans.

“That’s amazing! It won’t be easy, though.”

“Yup, gonna take quite some time… Let’s go, honey. Catch you later Twi’.”

“Sure thing.”

Tony and Sundancer left the bakery, leaving Twilight with her own thoughts. She got up and headed for the exit, having one thing on her mind. ‘I can’t believe the Princess has done such things! But… what Rainbow Dash brought me… those poor ponies. They never knew what they were exposed to…’ Trotting slowly towards the Library, several lines from the report kept repeating in her head.

‘Test Subject no. 601449… Subject Name… Madeline… Redmane. Test type… Involuntary radiation exposure. Conclusion... massive cardiac and respiratory failure, resulting in the death of the subject.’ The last line made Twilight’s stomach turn. She knew exactly what that meant. She could only wonder… if this mare was somehow related to Tony. ‘No… they can’t be… she’s a Pegasus and Tony is an earth pony. A strange earth pony for that matter…’

---

The two lovers reached out the Doctor’s house, making final arrangements for the equipment to be carried to the train station. The lobby was crowded with object of varying sizes, going from mouse-like to a fully grown earth pony stature. Everything was wrapped up in plastic and cloth, to protect them for the journey. Especially the fragile computer.

“Can’t we stay to Pinkie’s party? Please… I want to test out her creations…” Sundancer pleaded, wanting to spend another day in the village. Tony stopped from rummaging through some boxes and looked up to her, giving an uncaring glance. Seeing this, she ran a hoof from her back to her flank, and down her tail base. Tony wanted to pretend he wasn’t affected by this, but nothing could hide his ‘fifth leg’, now swinging in the air.

‘Damn it, she always gets to me with that…’. He blushed slightly and turned away from her, trying to hide his ‘deformity’. “Alright, alright, we’ll stay at the party, but tomorrow morning we are leaving for Manehattan, understand what I'm saying?”

She grinned widely and leaped at the earth pony, pushing him on his back and kissed him deeply. “Thanks! I can’t wait to taste her cupcakes… but for now, you will have to do…”

“Wha….” Was all he could stammer before locking again in a kiss, closing his eyes to take everything in. Ponies passing by the house could make out some strange noises, accompanied by barely audible moans, causing them to blush and trot away in a hurry.

Overlooking Ponyville from a hill far to the south of the Apple family orchard, stood seven shadowy figures, covered in black cloaks with red markings on the cowl. The leader of the group snorted silently and motioned for his companions to follow, taking the path towards the village.

---

The Sun made its way off the skies, to make way for the moon, signaling the beginning of the celebration party for Tony’s anniversary, at Applejack’s barn. Pinkie had outdone herself, the party turning out to be the best she ever made for an anniversary, preparing everything in less than a day, all thanks to her improved party cannon. Everypony was having fun. In the middle of the dancing ring, Sundancer and Rainbow were competing in a dance show off, the first clearly dominating, receiving loud cheering and hoof claps. Tony was the most impressed by this. He had never seen her dance before. She sure was good at it.

The song ended, prompting the two ponies to rest for a while, sipping on some apple cider. Tony approached his lover and kissed her deeply, before breaking it and staring into her emerald eyes.

“You are the most talented dancer I have ever seen, Sundancer. Your name fits all too well. It’s really weird that your cutie mark is a bow with three arrows…”

Sundancer giggled and pushed him a bit. “Thanks, as for my cutie mark, before I met you I was junior champion in the archery contest. Although I liked practicing archery, it’s dancing which I fell in love with. It’s sooo… refreshing, you feel so free, and your body follows the music flow.” She shuddered.

Tony smiled and hugged her, sniffing her mane. It bore the smell of her sweat, along with her perfume fragrance. Blissful.

“Tony, look! Pinkie brought the cake, I want some!” she whinnied when she saw the pink pony pulling a massive cake on a cart.

He could only smile and sigh happily. “Alright, don’t worry, it’s enough for everypony. Let’s have some.” Trotting closer to the huge cake, he could only stare in amazement at the design of it. It resembled the arc reactor in his chest, with rainbow frosting acting as the glow, while chocolate acted as the copper coils. In the middle of it, there was a large heart, in which something was written. 'Happy Birthday Tony! The most awesome genius ever!' It was magnificent.

“Thanks everypony, thanks for everything! You guys are the best friends a pony could ask for!”

All of the ponies in the room gathered for one big group hug, which lasted for more than two minutes. After that, Sundancer went straight at the DJ that sat at a table, sipping on her energy drink.

”Hey DJ P0N-3, can you play this? It’s the newest techno dubstep mix.”

“Sure thing, missy.” The DJ smiled through her purple shades and went straight for her plates. Using her magic, she started playing the song.

Satisfied with the choice, Sundancer began head bobbing to the strong bass, grinning from ear to ear. Everypony joined her in the ring. The music blared into the night, the fun having only started. The music reached out well into Ponyville, where the menacing shadowy figures took shelter in the house of the Doctor… waiting for their unsuspecting prey. The leader sat on his haunches, meditating… preparing. ‘Soon, Equestria will fall at the hooves of its own kin… That is, if that annoying pegasus’ words were true.’ His face contorted into a sly grin. ‘Not that it matters anyway… Zabrajin is supposed to receive his head in a few hours. Nopony should sell out other ponies out of their own greed.’

---

In the distant lands of the zebra homeland, Zandalari, in the capital city of Zul’Drak, a package was received by the leader of the nation. Zabrajin eyed the package carefully. There have been many attempts at his life, all of them in vain, as the packages exploded before reaching him. But this one was different. It bore the mark of Amani, the shadow hunter. Opening it, he found inside the head of a pony. A Pegasus stallion with his eyes wide open in horror. A note was attached to it. Opening it, Zabrajin read carefully the words written in the dead pegasus' blood. He scowled and ripped the note.

“So, Amani, you found a way to support our warfare. And I presume this is the traitor that sold him out… Amani, Amani… why do you still clung to that piece of shit you call ‘honor’… this war is anything but honorable.” With that, he kicked the box, sending the head rolling on the floor.

“Prepare a workshop, I want it to be ready by next week. We are going to be having a guest…”

Next Chapter: Chapter 13: Without a Good Bye Estimated time remaining: 21 Minutes