---

Sunset was standing on the upper deck overlooking the pool where many more of her schoolmates were swimming to beat the summer heat or lounging around. Near her were Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy and a somewhat lethargic Applejack. The latter had been taking motion sickness pills which definitely seemed to be helping, but it also made her a bit less active than before. She was leaning against the railings while Fluttershy rubbed her back gently and reassuringly. Nearby at a table which was serving all manner of fruit smoothies, Pinkie Pie was getting everyone some of said smoothies.

Applejack looked up at the sky and sighed. “Ah wish God had given me sea legs,” she said after a while, “ah hate havin’ tah take pills…”

Sunset gave her farmer friend an empathetic look. “You sure you don’t want to lie down and rest for a while?” she asked.

Applejack straightened up. “Ah’ll be alright,” she said, “just gotta power through the lazies.”

“I’m sorry, Applejack,” Twilight said from where she stood next to Sunset, “but these were the best ones I could find. I know one of the rare side effects is feeling lethargic, but I didn’t know it’d happen to you.”

“Ain’t nothin’ tah worry about,” Applejack said reassuringly as Pinkie walked back over with her arms full of ice cold smoothies, “ah can handle it.”

“Mmm…smoothies, anyone?” Pinkie asked, looking down at her arms. “My arms are getting really cold here.”

“Thanks, Pinkie,” Sunset said as she took one from Pinkie, a dark purple one. As Pinkie handed them out to everyone, including Applejack who took an apple one, Sunset turned to Twilight. Noticing that her friend looked a little downcast, she smiled and said, “Thank you for organizing this trip, Twilight.”

Out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash appeared, looking at Twilight as well with a grin on her face. “I gotta hand it to you,” she began as she put one arm around the bespectacled girl, “you really have an eye for climatic battle settings!”

This got everyone’s attention, and the group of friends turned towards Rainbow with looks of shock and frown, the latter coming solely from Sunset. “Climactic battle settings? What the hell do you mean?” Sunset asked.

Rainbow grinned. “Imagine, going head to head with a sea monster by the pool!” she began. “Ka-chow! Evil Equestrian magic blows up the diving board! The boat sinking, everyone screaming, and then we save the day!”

Everyone, even Sunset, cringed at this. Sunset was about to say something, but Fluttershy beat her to it. “Oh! Is the sea monster okay in this story?”

“Better than okay! She’s our friend now!” Rainbow Dash finished her own smoothie before placing it nonchalantly on an empty tray which was being carried by a nearby cruise employee, who just sighed and headed away. “Best summer break ever!”

“Or…we could do…not…that…” Sunset said with a smirk after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. The others beside her agreed fervently.

Twilight walked up to Rainbow. “I was hoping we could do something without having to battle Equestrian magic for a change?” she said hopefully.

“Rainbow, ah know yer an adrenaline junkie,” Applejack began, “but we ain’t you. We just want tah enjoy this cruise. Ah, fer one, am gettin’ mighty tired of battlin’. We couldn't even spend the day at Equestria World without creatin' a calamity!”

“Which we then uncalaminated, like literal awesome superheroes!” Rainbow replied.

Sunset noticed that Twilight was looking more downcast at Rainbow’s words, but she didn’t know quite what to say at first. Finally, however, she realized that if she didn’t get to the bottom of this, their entire vacation could be ruined by Rainbow’s antics. She stepped forward and looked at Rainbow. “Dash, come with me for a bit,” she said, gesturing for the athletic girl to follow her.

While Rarity was thanking Twilight for the trip, Rainbow followed Sunset with confusion painted on her face. They reached the starboard side of the cruise ship. There was nothing but ocean as far as the eye could see, save for a nearby island with some spiked rocks just offshore. The sky was clear and the wind was blowing slightly in their faces. Sunset leaned on the deck and looked out at the ocean. Rainbow joined her and looked at the former unicorn with a confused look. Sunset composed herself, wanting to say the right thing to her friend but without hurting her feelings.

Finally, she turned to Rainbow after about ten to fifteen seconds. “Look, I know you like having adventures and things like that,” she began in as gentle a voice as she could, “but Twilight really worked hard on this trip. A lot of time and money went into it, and she’s very proud with it as she should be. But knowing you, you’ll start looking for a problem where there isn’t one. We’ve been on the ocean for a few days already and nothing’s happened.” She paused and tried to think of how best to say it. “I’m trying not to sound mean, but…”

“Sunset, just say it! I can take it!” Rainbow Dash said.

Before she could stop herself, Sunset said, “Please don’t ruin for everyone.”

Rainbow’s face fell. “Ouch…your words just…punched my feelings…”

Frustrated now, Sunset said, “You said you could take it!” She paused, seeing just how upset Rainbow was looking now. She took a few deep breaths before saying, “I could have phrased that better. I’m sorry. But why are you looking for problems anyway? Is there something wrong with just enjoying yourself and relaxing?”

“I don’t really do relaxing,” Rainbow said, “I don’t do lounging around and stuff.”

“I’m not saying you have to do that,” Sunset replied, “I mean, you can relax by doing other things. I know this place has a pool and a tennis court and video arcade and more. Hell, I’ll join you sometimes if you want, and I’m sure the others wouldn’t mind hanging out with you too. Why are you so hell bent on finding something to fight?”

Rainbow frowned and looked out at the ocean. Silence fell for a bit. “I…don’t know,” she finally said. “Maybe I’m just antsy and need to burn some steam.”

“Steam? What do you mean?” Sunset asked.

Rainbow shook her head. “I’ve been feeling frustrated and I don’t know why,” she finally said.

Sunset reached out and put a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “When did this start?” she asked with concern.

The young teen threw her hands up. “I don’t know! I guess…after we met up for lunch last week. I don’t know why!”

“You think it has to do with what I told you guys?” Sunset asked worriedly.

Rainbow put her elbows on the railing and put her head in her hands. “I don’t know…” she said, “I just…I know you told us that we have counterparts in Equestria, and it’s scary that I could become like the other me with just a little push. I guess…I guess I just wanted to prove to myself that I’m not like that other me.”

“By ruining things here?” Sunset asked bluntly. When she saw Rainbow wince, she sighed. “Sorry, bad wording.”

“No, I get it,” Rainbow said with a nod as she stood up and turned to Sunset. “I don’t want to be a party pooper. Pinkie’d never let me live that down. It’s just…for the past few years we’ve been caught up in so many magical stuff that I’m expecting something to happen and I don’t want to be caught with my panties down.”

Sunset chuckled. “Let’s try and relax here, huh? If something does happen, Maker forbid, then we’ll deal with it together.”

Rainbow took a deep breath and exhaled. “Okay, I’ll try,” she said.

At that moment, Pinkie came running up, carrying three plates in her hands. On said plates was a slice of a chocolate confection that looked to Sunset to be a Bundt cake with some dark red cherry frosting on top. “Girls! Girls! Look look look! Triple Choco-Berry Blasted Butter Biscuit Bundt Cake! And it’s freeesh from the oven!”

Sunset took the offered cake slice as did Rainbow. When Sunset took a bite, she experienced an explosion of dark cherry and chocolate the likes of which she’d never tasted before. It was sensational and she almost fell to her knees in bliss. Out of the corner of her awareness, she could see that Rainbow was faring no better than she was. “Holy shit…” Rainbow said after a while, “this is…okay, I’ll be honest, this is the best cake I’ve had before! No offense, Pinkie.”

“None taken!” the happy party girl said as she took a large bite before adding, “I’ve got a wot to wearn!”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Sunset chuckled.

The three girls giggled before Pinkie looked out at the horizon. “Oooh, that’s a pretty looking island over there,” she said, pointing.

Sunset and Rainbow looked out as well. “You know, I think I recognize that island,” Sunset said as she pulled out her phone and did a quick internet search. “Yep! That’s Primos Island. Nobody lives there. It’s one of the biggest of the Wizard Islands chain.”

“Think we could go exploring there sometime?” Rainbow asked, a look of excitement on her face. Sunset gave the young athletic teen a frown. “Hey, not because there’s magic there! It sounds like it’d be fun to go exploring there! Like Daring Do!”

“Well, I doubt they’ll let us go there,” Sunset said.

That blew the air out of Rainbow’s sails and she sighed, taking another bite of cake before saying, “Yeah, that sucks.” She quickly finished the plate and put it on a nearby table. “Well, I’m gonna go find the arcade you mentioned, Sunset. I know they have a Tirek’s Revenge game here, but I wonder if they have some Daring Do games here…?”

At that moment, the three heard some engines running just off the starboard bow. They looked over and saw that there were a few jet skis running up and down the ocean. There were a few Canterlot High students down there as well as a few adults. Sunset saw Rainbow’s eyes light up as she pointed. “Forget video games for now, that looks twenty percent cooler!” She turned and looked eagerly at Sunset. “Come on! Come join me!”

Sunset smirked. “Fine, fine. I’ll go get my bathing suit in a minute and meet you down there.”

“Sick!” And with that, the speedster rushed off, a grin on her face.

“I’m gonna go back to the snack room!” Pinkie said before turning and rushing off.

Sunset simply rolled her eyes and smirked before turning back to face the island briefly. It was a lovely island to be sure, but the article she’d found on it said that nobody really went to the island because of the sharp rocks on the ocean floor surrounding the island. Not only that, but there were instances of ships passing Primos and hearing strange sounds coming from the island, like animals that were otherworldly.

She slipped her phone into her pocket and was just about to walk away when she thought she saw a flash of light coming from the tip of the highest point of the island. She froze as she looked in the direction of the island, wondering if what she saw was real or was in her head. However, when she took out her phone and tried zooming in, she was frustrated to learn that her phone’s camera didn’t have quite the range she needed. Even so, she didn’t see anything on the blurry and shaky camera screen. She chalked it up to her imagination running wild, put her phone away, and headed in the same direction that Rainbow had gone, back down to their cabins.

A ride on a jet ski sounded fun.

---

---

Everyone was looking at the large cruise ship, some in wonder since none had seen a ship quite like that, others in confusion, with one in particular being more confused than before. Gregory knew that in the version of Gaia he’d ended up on the Storm King’s attack hadn’t yet taken place, so the storm that happened in Spring Breakdown wouldn’t happen here, or at least he thought that was the case. Judging from the heat surrounding them and the humidity that was quickly making him sweat they weren’t in the Spring season. It felt more like summer to him than anything.

As he began to take off some of his extra garments, he saw Jason doing the same, revealing a dark gray short sleeved tunic of Atlantean make underneath what he’d been wearing. “You’ve seen this before?” Jason asked his fellow human as he folded his extra clothes and placed them in his pack.

Gregory nodded. “I’ll explain later. For now, we’ve got to try and find a spot where we can set up a rudimentary camp. That ship over there is a human ship, so we have to be in the human world that’s connected to Gaia.”

“We should probably find a place where we can set up a camp and a defense perimeter against anything that could be lurking around.” Jason said, turning to the changeling stallion Nictis. “General, you and a few other changelings change into birds and go scouting for us. Look for any place that’s either naturally shielded or that can be made to be shielded easily. A flat plane or something. Preferably out of sight of that ship. Go in disguise as seagulls. We’ll remain here.”

“Understood, my Emperor,” the changeling said before he was enveloped in green flames only to be replaced with a seagull. The seagull flew up and hovered before turning to his group. “Okay, alpha squadron follow me. The rest of you, protect the Emperor and Duchess.”

After a number of changelings turned into seagulls and flew away, Gregory turned to the group with Jason. “Guess we just sit and wait for them to return,” he said.

“Why don’t we go looking too?” Gilda asked, spreading her wings and pointing at them. “We’ve got wings too.”

“We can’t risk being seen by the humans on those ships,” Gregory replied. “Griffons, dragons, changelings and unicorn ponies don’t exist here. If someone on that ship was looking this way and saw a griffon flying, that could get us some unwanted attention.”

Ember frowned at this. “I don’t just like sitting here and doing nothing,” she said testily. Spreading her wings, she said, “Dragons don’t do sitting around and doing nothing.”

“Yeah, I know,” Gregory said, “but we can’t just go out where there could be witnesses. Once that ship leaves, then we should be alright, but even so we shouldn’t just go announcing our presence in this world. Let’s just wait for the changeling squad to come back. We’re all in this together, people.”

With that, the group split apart. Ember and the dragons went to explore the cave, which Gregory saw was bigger than he’d initially thought. He sat down with his group of friends. Gabby took her rightful spot in his lap while Daenerys surrounded the rest, letting them lean against her as she curled up around them. Using his flame breath, Spike started a fire out of old leaves, bark and a few branches he managed to collect from outside. Soon they were all staring at the fire and letting its light illuminate them. Gregory even brought out some of the bread cakes the novans had given them, all of which were wrapped up in a light blue casing that looked like a closed flower about to bud.

Aurora had explained that the bread was called softtack, a variant of hardtack. She had found the recipe in an ancient book created by whoever had made Atlantis, and despite not yet being able to read the language of Atlantis, the book had many different depictions of it being made. It had the shape of a bread roll and had a somewhat sweet but also savory and salty taste to it, and one didn’t need to eat much to feel their strength returning. It had a fluffy interior as well, and Aurora said that one small roll she’d been testing had lasted a few years without going dry while inside the flower wrap.

As they ate, with Daenerys being the only exception as she didn’t enjoy the taste of softtack, a conversation began. It was started by Rarity, who looked down at her hooves, then over at Spike. “Spike, forgive me if I’m wrong,” she began, “but I thought that when you and Twilight went to the human world you changed shape.”

Spike, with a half-eaten softtack roll in his claws, took a small sip of water to wash the novan bread down before replying, “Yeah, that’s what happened. Twilight became human and I became a dog.”

“But we’re in the human world now and we haven’t changed,” she retorted.

Spike shook his head. “Yeah, I don’t know.”

Starlight spoke up. “I don’t know much about Star Swirl’s mirror, but from what I’ve heard about it, I think the mirror was meant to be a way for anyone going through from our side to be changed into a native so as to better blend in. We didn’t come through the mirror portal, so we stayed the same.”

“So why was I turned into a dog?” Spike asked.

Starlight gave the young dragon an apologetic look. “Sorry, I wish I knew the answer to that.”

“Don’t forget, there was at least one other natural portal between Gaia and the human world,” Gregory said.

“That could explain the magic I’ve been sensing,” Lady Serenity said, speaking up.

Gregory turned to her. “What do you mean?” he asked.

The unicorn mare pointed towards the entrance to the cave. “Ever since we came here, I’ve been detecting trace amounts of a strange magic.”

Starlight quickly stood and her horn brightened. She closed her eyes in concentration. Gregory almost asked what she was doing but stopped himself, not wanting to interrupt. Finally, after a full minute of this, she stopped and turned to Gregory. “She’s right,” Starlight said. “there’s something out there that’s not like the other magic in this world. It’s hard to describe, but there’s both familiar and kinda strange.”

Lady Serenity nodded as she too stood. “It’s coming from outside the cave.”

“A magic strange and true, you say?” Zecora asked as she too stood. “Perhaps it will lead us on our way.”

“If we’re on that same island,” Gregory said, “but it’s worth looking into once the changeling squad returns with their reports. Let’s just wait for them to come back.”

With that, the group returned to eating in silence. When Gregory felt refreshed, he stood and walked over to the edge of the cave, looking down at the ocean once more, more specifically at the Luxe Deluxe as it floated offshore. He leaned against the cave mouth and kept an eye on it. He could somewhat see what looked like jet skis on the water near the ship itself, but that was it. The ship was too far away to distinguish anything else.

After a while, he was joined by Jason. He glanced in the direction where Gregory was looking, then back at his fellow human. “Seeing anything interesting with those new eyes of yours?” he asked.

Gregory shook his head. “They’re too far away,” he said as he looked back at Jason. “It’s definitely the Luxe Deluxe though. Or at least another ship of the same model.”

“Did this show up in an Equestria Girls movie?” Jason asked.

Gregory nodded. “More like a special,” he explained. “There were four Equestria Girls movies in total, a bunch of shorts on YouTube and some specials. One special was called Spring Breakdown and it shows the Humane Seven-”

“Humane Seven? Really?” Jason snorted in derision. “Creative bunch of fans.”

“Anyway,” Gregory continued, “it shows them and the rest of Canterlot High on Spring Break on this cruise, only for some magic from the Storm King’s invasion to disrupt the entire trip and sink the cruise.”

“The Storm King, huh?” Jason took on a thoughtful look.

Gregory looked at him. “Wait, how do you know about the Storm King? He wasn’t mentioned until the My Little Pony movie.”

“Of course there was a movie,” he almost growled, but he restrained himself and shook his head. “I’ve kept an eye on him.”

“Good call,” Gregory said, “especially if he’s planning to attack Equestria. At least, he did in the movie. Now? Who the fuck knows?”

The two humans stood in the cave’s entrance for a few minutes in silence, watching the cruise ship floating there. Finally, Jason looked back at him. “So…is Supernatural still going?”

With that, the two engaged in a discussion that seemed odd considering the circumstances, but one that clearly Jason needed. It was also nice for Gregory, since even though Jason left Earth in 2014, they were both humans and understood much of the other’s culture, much more than anyone else on Gaia or even the human world counterpart would ever be able to. Gregory caught him up on some of the famous happenings back on Earth. He discussed media, world events, politics and more.

Jason seemed to digest everything and in return he helped bring some of Gregory’s limited knowledge of Gaia’s world events up to date. He even brought out a map that showed lands not even Gregory knew about. It turned out that a part of the world map he knew from the fandom which led to the Undiscovered West was actually a land bridge that led to a vastly uninhabited continent. A continent that had some ancient ruins throughout along with a large circular lake in it. Perfectly circular, with a few circular mountain ranges around it. That sparked Gregory’s interest, and he guessed that it could be the result of an ancient meteorite impact. Jason said he’d had the same conclusion.

Gregory listened to some of the more interesting cultural norms in this world. He knew, of course, that griffon’s had prides, but he learned that ponies and dragons seemed to have a similar concept called herds and hoards respectively. He also learned that every culture was a monarchy in one form or another, and that despite even first world countries like Equestria having a technological equivalent to early twentieth century America, there were still some practices that were antiquated, such as political marriages, especially between noble families. Gregory wondered if that could be the reason that Filthy Rich, who was by all accounts a decent pony, stayed with Spoiled Rich.

At some point during the discussion, Jason pointed to the horn which was slung around Gregory’s shoulder. “What is that, anyway?” he asked.

Gregory looked down at it, picked it up and held it up for Jason to inspect more. “It’s called the Gjallarhorn,” he explained.

“What does it do?”

Gregory frowned. “I never got the rundown from the one griffon who might know,” he said. “I found it a few days ago.”

Jason raised an eyebrow. “Found it?” he asked.

Gregory nodded, remembering his promise to Gwendolyn about not revealing too much. “I don’t know why or how it got to where I found it, but there it was. I’m bringing it back with me.”

“You haven’t blown it, have you?”

Gregory immediately shook his head. “Fuck no! Who knows what this little horn can do? Especially with a name like Gjallarhorn.” He paused and took on a thoughtful expression. “Thing is, I’ve heard the name before not that I think about it…I just can’t remember where.”

“The only horn I have is the Hivehorn,” Jason said, “and it calls all changelings to whoever blows it.”

Just then, the sound of flapping wings could be heard from the entrance to the cave. Gregory and the others made their way over to where the changelings were giving their report to their Emperor. Jason stood and listened impassively, leaning against the wall with half his face in shadow and the other half illuminated by the outside light. As they approached, Gregory heard a hint of concern in Nictis’ voice. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he was saying, “it was a massive creature with vines that circumvent this entire island. We also found remains, including this.” With that, Nictis placed something on the ground.

Gregory looked at what the general had found, then looked directly at Jason. They were both looking at a skull inside a helmet. The skull had a human shape to it, but the helmet was what caught their attention the most. It was a deep green color with golden trees wrought into it. There was a deeper green comb running from the nose of the helmet to the back, and to Gregory’s confusion the helmet had two earholes. To top things off, the helmet looked like it was in perfect condition. Kneeling, he examined the helmet and the skull more closely. Jason quickly joined him and without touching either they looked over what Nictis had brought.

Finally, Jason spoke. “A novans, I’m guessing,” he said.

“That seems likely enough,” Chrysalis said.

Jason looked up at the changeling general. “Did you find any other remains?”

Nictis shook his head. “That’s all we found, my Emperor.”

Rarity looked sick to her stomach and had to look away. “How awful,” she said. “Shouldn’t this poor creature be buried?”

Ember looked at the skull. “This skull belonged to a warrior,” she said, “so the remains should be given a proper burial.”

“I’m guessing cremation?” Starlight asked.

Ember nodded, and without another word she took the skull and helmet, pulled the skull out, held it up in both her claws, closed her eyes, then after bowing her head, she said, “May your spirit find rest in the Fields of Valhalla where all warriors are given eternal rest.” She raised her head and breathed out a large burst of purple flame. The skull was instantly cremated and when she stopped, she held a pile of ash in her claws. She walked over to the entrance to the cave, where she flew up a bit and blew a mighty gust out over the island. She landed and walked back in silence, rejoining the group.

There was silence for a while, as if a spell had been cast on the entire group. Finally, however, Gregory stood and took the helmet in his hand. “May he or she rest in peace,” he said.

Jason nodded in agreement before turning to Nictis. “What were you saying about some kind of monster?” he asked.

And with that, the spell was broken. Nictis continued, describing how he and his squad had discovered that the island was more or less full of creatures that wouldn’t pose a threat for changelings except for some massive creature that was seemingly animated by magical means. It was a massive monster made of a mix of various plants which spread across the island. It held a lot of magic inside it from what they could tell and currently had the form of a mass of tendrils surrounding a large eyeless head. When they’d seen it, it had been sleeping.

After Nictis finished, Gregory spoke up. “Okay, I’ve heard of this monster before, at least I think so. If it’s the same monster as before, then there’s possibly a natural portal on this island that leads to Equestria somewhere near Ponyville.”

Jason stiffened at this. “Of course it is,” he growled.

“Right now, that’s our only option,” Gregory countered. “Our homes are back that way.”

“And how are we supposed to deal with the monster?” Rarity asked.

“Kill it,” Chrysalis said, as if it was the most obvious choice in the world. “After all, we have the numbers and the skill. At least, the changelings do.”

Ember seemed to take offense to that. “Hey! Dragons are warriors through and through! We can handle a plant! Dragonfyre is hotter than any magical fire you can create!”

“Chrysalis, don’t antagonize them,” Jason said with a warning tone to the former changeling queen.

“And Ember, don’t take the bait,” Gregory added. He turned to Jason. “If I’m right and we’re on the same island with the portal to Equestria, then our best bet is to find that portal and go through it. We need to work together to do that.”

Jason nodded, then turned to Nictis. “Did you make a map of the island?”

Nictis nodded and his horn began to glow. What could only be described as a holographic image of the island formed in the middle of the group. “We’re here,” he said, pointing to the highest peak, “and the monster, or the part with the head, was here.” He pointed to a large cleft near the bottom of the peak but still pretty much near the center of the island. “The only problem is this.” A bright green mass of tendrils appeared began to glow brightly. Gregory noted that they spread out from the cleft, only stopping near the shores. Fortunately, there weren’t any tendrils that seemed to scale the mountain where the cave was located. “The monster is asleep currently,” Nictis added, “but I don’t think it’s fully asleep.”

“Sort of like how certain animals can be half asleep in case of danger,” Starlight said.

“So, what should we do?” Spike asked worriedly.

“Did you see anything that looks like quicksand?” Gregory asked.

Nictis shook his head. “We didn’t take a detailed enough magical scan of the island.”

“We’ll need to do that soon,” Jason said, “but for now I suggest we stay here.” He pointed to the mountain. “That monster or whatever it is doesn’t seem interested in the mountain.”

“Probably because of the tree line,” Starlight said, illuminating a small magical light green circle around the projected mountain where the vegetation ended. “If it is made of plants, then it won’t be able to stand being this high up.”

“But this mountain isn’t that high up,” Rarity replied. “I’ve seen hills near Ponyville that are taller than this one.”

“This is a tropical locale,” Gregory replied, “so perhaps the plants have a lower tolerance for cold than your town. Ponyville’s more north, right?”

Rarity nodded. “I see your point.”

“We can’t stay here forever,” Chrysalis said, “we don’t have much food left, and us changelings less so. We can’t get the nutrients from food in the same way anycreature else can.”

Gregory almost brought up the changeling ability to evolve, but thought better of it since he didn’t want to open that can of worms at the moment. There were more pressing concerns. Instead, he said, “We have enough food for a week, maybe more if we send out hunting parties to find fruit and game. Still, we shouldn’t just wait it out.”

“We should go on the attack,” Ember declared, standing up straight and facing the cave. “Plants have nothing on dragonfyre!”

“Nothing’s sharper than a griffon’s claws,” Gilda said, displaying hers for emphasis.

“We could suck that creature dry of all its emotions,” Chrysalis added, “even if it’s got nasty tasting hatred and anger.”

“We can’t go out there without a plan,” Jason said with a glare at Chrysalis.

“We need to gather some more intel on the creature first,” Gregory said, “information is key here.”

At that moment, the ground rumbled slightly, causing some dust and debris to fall from the ceiling. There was a slight noise like that of a growling animal which echoed from the island below. Everyone looked out towards the cavern’s entrance simultaneously, but the rumbling and growl slowly stopped. Slowly, everyone walked out and looked down at the tropical island, wondering just what had happened. They stared, but nothing happened. Not until there was another rumbling noise. A few birds flew out of the trees which were shaking thanks to the rumbling. “What in Equestria is going on?” Rarity asked in a trembling whisper.

It was then that Gregory noticed some slight movement in the distance near the Luxe Deluxe. He turned and saw that two of the jet skis had grown closer to the shore than before . He stared at it, narrowing his eyes so he could get a better look. As had happened a few times before, his vision became more clearer and the scene seemed to zoom in. He saw, for the first time, the inhabitants of this world or dimension. They were perfectly human in appearance, all except for the different colored hair, skin and even eyes. They were all indeed riding on jet skis near the starboard side of the boat. And two particular jet ski riders jumped out at him.

One was a rainbow haired and blue skinned girl wearing a pair of dark pink and black shorts and a tank top with a multicolored lightning bolt on it. He could even see a blue necklace around her neck with a gem on the end. The other was a flame haired and orange skinned girl wearing a black bikini and a yellow and white ying-yang styled sun on the top. She, too, had a necklace around her neck but this one was orange. Both were laughing and splashing each other as they passed. Both had life jackets on as well as a helmet. Both were slowly getting closer to the rocks that surrounded the beach.

Gregory blinked, and the scene returned to normal. He shook his head and turned back to the others. “Or…we could have two teenagers basically alerting the monster to their presence and waking it up by getting too close to the island with two loud jet skis,” he grumbled. “I’m seeing Sunset Shimmer and this world’s version of Rainbow Dash getting way too-”

The rumbling returned, followed by a louder growl this time. This made the ground shake even more, sending everyone tumbling to the ground. Even Daenerys was caught off guard. She faced the door and emitted a low growl. Everyone quickly stood back up and made their way to the entrance of the cave. Peering out, they saw a large bright green vine stretching out from a grove of trees, heading towards the shore. “Or we could have no time whatsoever and need to act now to kill that thing before it hurts someone,” Gregory said. He looked down at the helmet he was still holding. If this were any other situation, he’d have placed it down out of respect for the fallen, but he was about to go out there and fight some magical plant monster. He needed all the protection he could get. He turned to Daenerys. “I hope you’re ready for a fight.”

Daenerys had a nervous but determined look on her face as she lowered herself so that Gregory could climb onto her back. “So do I,” she said as Gregory began climbing into the saddle, which the novans had helped to improve and fix up.

Jason, meanwhile, was looking over his own weaponry, as were the other changelings. The dragons were also being prepared by Ember while Gregory’s friends and the griffons who’d come with them were also preparing. Gabby flew up to where Gregory was strapping in and getting his flying gear ready. She landed in front of him and nuzzled his face worriedly. “Please be careful,” she said.

“We will,” Gregory said, putting a hand on Daenerys’ side and rubbing her scales.

“We should try and come up with a plan, you know,” Jason said as he, Chrysalis and Nictis approached.

Gregory nodded. “Better make it quick. We’re gonna need to protect those humans on the cruise ship. I don’t know if even their version of the Elements of Harmony will do much against that monster, so it’s better safe than sorry.”

“What can we do to help?” Rarity asked, coming up closer to the group.

Gregory and Jason looked at each other. “Any ideas?” Gregory asked, “you’re the one who briefly conquered Equestria and became the changeling emperor, after all.”

Jason glared at that, but took on a thoughtful look moments later. He looked around at all of the gathered races in the massive cave. Looking at Chrysalis, he opened his mouth to say something, but just then there was a loud howling noise from outside followed by a roar. He turned back to Gregory. “They definitely heard that,” he said. “We need to form a protective wall between the island and the ship. Anyone who can fly should do that.”

“And for those of us who can’t fly?” Starlight asked.

“You should head to the ship and warn the humans about what’s going on,” Gregory said. “Look for human versions of the Elements of Harmony, specifically Twilight Sparkle. They have magic and they can help.”

“But weren’t we trying to avoid revealing ourselves?” Lady Serenity asked.

“No time to hide now,” Gregory said as he snapped his goggles on and made sure the sword he was given and his pistol was secure. “Humans have no wings or magic, so they’ll be defenseless against this thing.” He turned to Gabby. “You, Gilda, Gia and Gallus carry Starlight, Rarity, Lady and Spike to the ship.” She and the aforementioned griffons nodded. He turned to Spike. “You know what the girls look like, so you should look for them.” Spike gave a salute. He turned to the other griffons who’d come along as well. “As for the rest of you, form a defensive perimeter around the cruise ship.”

“My dragons and I can use our fire against it,” Ember said, grinning and cracking her knuckles.

“And the changelings can use their magic for defense, along with their guns,” Gregory said.

“We can do a lot more than that,” Chrysalis snarked, only to be silenced by a look from Jason.

“And we will,” Jason said before turning to Gregory. “Half of the changelings is more than sufficient to create a magic shield around the ship. The rest of them can change into something to combat the creature.” He turned to Nictis. “Take half of our soldiers and reinforce the defense with the griffons. The rest of us will join the attacking force.”

“Emperor, might I suggest you take charge of the defense instead?” Nictis suggested. “No offense, but you’re physically in no condition to do any attacking.”

Jason whirled on Nictis. “I’ve still got the same amount of fight in me as when we fought against Chrysalis,” he said testily.

“Back then I could feel how strong you were,” Nictis said, “but you’re not that strong now. I don’t want you harmed, my emperor.”

“He’s right,” Chrysalis said quickly before Jason could say anything more. “Don’t think I’m an idiot, my emperor. I can feel that you’re not doing alright.”

Jason looked like he wanted to argue, but then seemed to look closer at Chrysalis. She was still in her human-like form, giving him a glare. Gregory watched this interaction warily. Finally, Jason simply nodded. “I know when I’m beat. Fine, I’ll be on defense.”

“I’ll carry you,” Chrysalis said, switching to her normal changeling form.

Gregory then turned to Spike. The young dragon looked anxious, but also had a determined look on his face. He looked at the others of his group, who all looked nervous as well. He last looked at Gabby, who had a more determined look in her eyes. His instinct was to ask her to be on defense so she would be safe, but he knew her well enough to know that even if she was atypical for a griffon, she still had pride and would never willingly leave him abandoned. He turned to Ember. “Hey, Dragon Lord, can one of your dragons carry Spike to the ship?” he asked.

“I can help here!” Spike insisted.

“You can help more by using your fire to protect the people on that ship,” he said.

“I can carry him,” a female voice said, flying up. He saw that she was an aquamarine colored dragoness, the same color as Lyra Heartstrings. She was about as tall as Ember was as well. She looked down at the young dragon. “You and I can protect the humans on that ship together. I’ve seen your dragonfyre. It’s impressive for somedragon who hasn’t molted yet.”

Spike looked about ready to protest, then thought about it. He nodded. “Alright, I guess that makes sense,” he said.

“Climb on my back then,” the dragoness said as she lowered herself.

“Thanks, Silica,” Spike said as he did so.

“Shouldn’t I go too?” Rarity asked, raising her hoof. “I wouldn’t be that useful to anypony. I’m not much of a fighter.”

“That didn’t stop you when I invaded Canterlot,” Chrysalis snarked.

“I was protecting my friends!” Rarity shot back.

“Was it really that, or did you do it because they were monsters to you?” Jason retorted darkly.

“Hey! This is neither the time nor the place for this!” Gregory shouted. He turned to Rarity. “You can go with Spike if you want.” The unicorn nodded, ears flattened in response to what Jason had said.

“I can take her,” Silica said.

There was another louder roar just then. Gregory strapped the final straps and grabbed the reins. “Alright, no time to talk! Let’s go!” With that, he lowered the helmet onto his head, made sure it was secure, then urged Daenerys forward and they took flight.

---

---

“Yaahooooo!” Rainbow was shouting as she passed Sunset while splashing her fellow Rainboom with seawater from the jet ski. “Take that, Sunset!”

Sunset laughed and revved her engine, grinning as she moved away to get some distance from her friend while at the same time looking for a way to get her back. They’d been on the water for a little while now, luckily having arrived when a group of people were coming back on. They got on and immediately Rainbow had splashed her friend before zooming off, laughing. They’d been warned a few times not to be so reckless, but Sunset knew that Rainbow wouldn’t listen too much. Soon, even she was getting into it and she was splashing her friend back and forth a little ways away from the cruise ship just on the edge of what they were told was the safe area.

“I’m gonna get you!” Sunset shouted as she chased after her friend, laughing as she chased the retreating girl.

“Missed me, missed me! Now you gotta kiss me!” Rainbow taunted with a grin.

Sunset snorted as she revved her engine, speeding up once more. “What are you, twelve?” she shouted with amusement.

Rainbow playfully flipped her off before taking a sharp turn. Sunset did the same. “Gotta go faster than that if you’re gonna catch me, Sunshim!” she shouted.

Sunset gritted her teeth and gunned her engine, causing the front of her jet ski to come out of the water unexpectedly. “Oh shit!” she shouted as she lost her grip on the jet ski, falling back into the water with a splash. Thankfully, since she was wearing a life vest she came quickly back up out of the water. The jet ski was a few feet away from her now, just idling.

“Sunset!” Rainbow came back over to her, her smile replaced with a worried expression, “are you alright?!”

Sunset gave Rainbow a rueful look. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she said as she began to swim back towards her jet ski.

“Hehe, sorry,” Rainbow said nervously, “I guess I went a bit overboard. Although not like you did,” she added with a smirk.

“Har har, very funny,” Sunset snarked as she got back to her jet ski. Slowly, she climbed back onto it and regained her seat. “God, that was scary.”

“I’ll say,” Rainbow said, “lucky for us the lifeguard didn’t see it.” She then looked at Sunset more closely. “Did you just say ‘God’ instead of ‘Celestia’?”

Sunset snickered. “Got a problem with that?” she asked.

Rainbow shook her head. “Hey, no problem from me,” she said, “I was just curious. You really don’t talk much about Equestria.”

Sunset shrugged. “You never really asked,” she replied.

Rainbow looked sheepish. “Okay, you got me,” she said, “but come on! Stories where magic and dragons exist is pretty nerdy, dontcha think?”

“This coming from the biggest Daring Do fan I know?” Sunset retorted, “and don’t forget you have magic now, too. Tons of humans would kill to have what you have.”

“Okay, you’re right,” Rainbow said again, before looking more curiously at Sunset. “So…what is Equestria like exactly?”

“It’s…pretty different,” Sunset said, “and not so different at the same time. It’s kinda hard to explain.”

“Well, start with what’s similar,” Rainbow insisted.

“Sure,” Sunset said. “For one, the days are the same length, there’s a sun and moon, we breath the same air, and a lot of the plant and animal life are similar. But where I’m from, humans are relegated to myth. There’s magic that permeates everything, too. There are a lot of different creatures there who can talk, not just ponies and dragons. Some animals that are mythical here exists there and-” she paused when she saw Rainbow looking a bit stunned. “Rainbow?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry,” Rainbow said, shaking her head. “That’s just a lot to take in. It’s a shame we can’t go visit.”

“Well, you’d be a pony if you went through the portal,” Sunset said.

“What kind of pony?” Rainbow asked.

“A pegasus.”

Rainbow grinned. “I could fly there too!? Awesome!” She looked excited, but then paused and looked back at her friend. “I’d look like my pony self, wouldn’t I?” When Sunset nodded, Rainbow sighed. “Yeah…never mind.”

Sunset looked at her friend. “You’re really bothered by what I told you, aren’t you?”

“If this other Rainbow Dash is like me, then what does that make me?” Rainbow asked.

“Not her,” Sunset said reassuringly.

“How can you know that?” Rainbow looked pleadingly at her. “How can you know that for sure?”

Sunset gave her a warm smile. “Because of how you’re reacting now. Because I can tell this is eating you up inside so much that you’d risk everything to try and prove that you’re not the monster that the other you became.”

“But you had to stop me from doing something stupid,” Rainbow said, looking down angrily at the water. “I’m the same…I’m just a fucking moron.”

“No, you’re not,” Sunset insisted. She revved her engine and moved closer. Reaching out, she put her hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “You actually listened to me when I talked to you. You’re also not a fucking moron. You’re smart.”

“Not like you and Twilight…I’m just a dumb impulsive jock…”

“You might not be smart like Twilight or me, but you’re smarter in other ways,” Sunset reassured her. “I get that school stuff is hard for you, but you’re smarter than me when it comes to sports and such. You have a sharp mind, too. I’ve seen how you play video games and how fast your reflexes are. That doesn’t just happen if you’re dumb. And yes, you’re impulsive, but you can work on that by just remembering this one simple thing: there are always two sides to every story. If you don’t want to be like the other pony you, just remember to get both sides of the story if you can.”

“But what if they’re attacking my friends?” Rainbow asked.

“Then you defend them,” Sunset replied. “You’re the Element of Loyalty. It’s in the name. But defense doesn’t excuse cruelty. Just work to disarm whoever is attacking.”

Rainbow looked thoughtful for a few moments. Sunset waited for her to respond, but just then they heard a rumbling noise coming from the island. The water around them seemed to shiver. Both of them turned and looked at the island. “What the hell was that?” Rainbow asked.

Sunset was about to answer when she saw something on the beach. There were large green tendrils that seemed to be moving out from the treeline onto the beach. More and more slithered out, moving towards the water. A loud rumbling sound followed, and Sunset thought she heard a roar. “Um…I think it’s time to go,” Sunset said.

Rainbow was already revving the engine on her jet ski. “Gotta go fast, Sunset!” she shouted as she gave her friend an expectant look.

As one, the two turned and retreated back towards the Luxe Deluxe. The others had already begun their own retreat to the side of the boat where they launched the jet skis from. The people were scrambling to get back on board with help from the staff. Sunset could see the fear in the eyes of the people who were running back towards the main deck. She and Rainbow were two of the last to get there. The staff helped them on the boat. They quickly changed, grabbed their towels and sandals and rushed back upstairs. By the time they got there, everyone was in a panic. The island seemed to be writhing with moving vines and there were strange roaring sounds coming from the island. Sunset saw her friends standing near the starboard side and she rushed up to them, followed quickly by Rainbow.

When Pinkie saw them, her eyes widened and she glomped onto the two. “You two made it out of the water!” she said happily.

“Pinkie…not the time…” Sunset said, tapping her friend’s shoulder.

As Pinkie released them, Twilight came up, looking scared. “Did you see it?” she asked. When Sunset nodded, she further asked, “Do you know what it is?”

Sunset looked over at the island, frowning. When she was Princess Celestia’s student, she sometimes would study books about dangerous animals, especially ones from the Everfree and other forests in Equestria that were remnants of the Old Forests. She tried to identify the type of creature that might be able to do something like this, but nothing she remembered from her studies rang a bell. “No, I don’t,” she said.

“I’ve never seen or heard of anything like it either,” Fluttershy said in a terrified whisper.

“It’s positively dreadful looking!” Rarity added.

Just then, something appeared to fly from the top of the mountain. It looked like a dragon that someone was actually riding. Then, flying creatures began pouring out of the mountain behind the dragon and its rider. Sunset narrowed her eyes and focused on the large swarm of creatures flying out. Some were beginning to fly around the island itself while others were beginning to approach the ship. As the latter came closer, Sunset’s eyes widened. Again. “That’s impossible…” Sunset said in complete disbelief.

“What’s impossible?” Applejack asked, completely on alert.

“What are those things?” Rarity asked in alarm.

“Changelings!” Sunset shouted.

“You mean those bug horse things that eat emotion you told us about?” Rainbow asked. When Sunset nodded, the prismatic young woman turned back, cracking her knuckles. “It’s hero time,” she snarled.

“Hey, now hold on, sugarcube,” Applejack said in a cautioning tone, “remember what Sunset told us about ‘em. They took that human feller in when nobody else would.”

Rainbow flinched, then looked uncertainly at Sunset, who nodded. She sighed and relaxed. “So what do we do then?”

Twilight looked at her and grinned. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

Rainbow grinned back. “Oh, yeah!”

Both of them spoke at the same time, but said something completely different. Rainbow said “Rainbow lasers!” while Twilight said, “Pony up!” That caught the two off guard and they looked at each other.

Sunset couldn’t help herself. She too spoke up. “I thought we were going with-”

“Light ‘em up, ladies!” Pinkie shouted, her hairpin beginning to light up.

The seven girls looked at each other, nodded, and took each other’s’ hands. The felt the magic of friendship coursing through them and their bodies undergoing the metamorphosis that they went through whenever they channeled the magic through them. Their ears vanished and became pony ears, their hair extended, some interesting tattoos appeared on their cheeks and three of them grew wings. They floated up in the air, glowing as they did so.

When the metamorphosis was complete, Sunset looked around. She saw, among all of the quadrupedal forms approaching, one who had a bipedal human shape. She turned back to her friends. “Girls, keep an eye on things here. I’m gonna go see what’s going on!”

“Not without me!” Rainbow said, zooming up to Sunset’s side.

“We’ll get everyone else inside then come back out,” Twilight said, “so come on, girls!”

As the other five moved around, urging everyone else inside the ship for shelter, Sunset and Rainbow both flew up towards the approaching changeling who was carrying the human. As they approached, Sunset noticed that this particular changeling seemed taller than most of the others. She knew a bit about what normal changelings looked like from when she would sneak into certain forbidden sections of the Canterlot Library back in Equestria. This one didn’t look familiar to her. It was taller, with a strangely shaped horn, a crown on its head, and wide buzzing wings. Its eyes were more like those of a pony instead of the faceted eyes drawn in the ancient depictions of changelings. The carapace on its back was green. The changeling even had a dark blue mane and tail.

However, it was the being that this changeling was carrying that stood out more to Sunset. He was human, that much was clear. He was wearing a black overcoat over some gray pants and a dark brown tunic. He had some sort of sword strapped to his back, and Sunset could see that he was blind in one eye, with a lightning scar running down the side of his face where the blind eye was. She couldn’t help himself. She blurted out, “Jason Wright?!”

The human looked at her with a look of surprise. “How do you know my name?” he asked, and Sunset winced. He sounded weary, but there was also determination in his voice.

“Sunset?!” a familiar voice called out from nearby.

Sunset turned and saw a large aquamarine dragon flying towards them. On the dragon’s back was a smaller dragon, one with purple scales and green eyes. In the dragon’s hand was a marshmallow white unicorn with a dark purple mane and tail. Sunset’s eyes widened even further. “Spike?! And Rarity?!”

He smiled and waved sheepishly. “Hey…”

“Are you all done reuniting?” the changeling, a female, asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice, “because there’s a lot we need to do and no time to explain.”

Sunset was about to protest, but a roaring sound interrupted her thoughts. Jason looked directly at her. “Sunset Shimmer, you and everyone else on the ship are in danger. Get back down there and let us handle things up here.” He then turned to a nearby changeling. “Tell the other ‘lings to start preparing a magic shield immediately!”

“Yes, my Emperor!” the changeling said.

The changeling female turned as well. “And make it fast!”

“Yes, Duchess!”

As the changelings and Jason flew away, the dragon with Spike on her back approached Sunset and said, “So this is what a human female looks like…you’re all…bumpy.”

“Not the time, Silica,” Spike warned.

The aforementioned Silica caught herself. “Right, right.” She looked sheepishly at Sunset as she added, “It sounds like you know Spike and Miss Rarity here. Could you take them with you? I need to go back there and help my Dragon Lord.”

Sunset was unable to process everything that was happening, but she did nod silently as she reached out and lifted the young dragon off of Silica’s back while Rainbow flew and took the unicorn Rarity in her arms, hoisting the pony onto her back. Sunset noted that Spike was heavier than the dog version of Spike, who was still on the ship, and a bit bigger too, but she wrapped her arms around him and held him close. “I’m so glad you’re safe,” she whispered.

Meanwhile, Rainbow was looking with some curiosity at Silica. “So you’re a real dragon, huh?” Silica grinned and nodded. “Awesome!”

“Not the time, Rainbow,” Sunset warned, “we should get back down and help the others.”

“Ah, yeah, right,” she said, scratching the back of her neck nervously, “Sorry…”

Sunset chuckled and turned to Silica. “Thanks for keeping Spike safe.”

“No problem!” Silica then did something unusual. She put her fingers in front of her head and tipped it like she was wearing some sort of invisible hat. “Ma’am,” she finished in a southern drawl before turning and zooming back towards the island.

“O…kay…that was weird,” Rainbow said, looking at Sunset with confusion. “What’s going on? Why is that Jason Wright guy here?”

“I’ll tell you all later,” Spike said, “but we need to get back down there.”

“That voice…you sound like Rainbow Dash,” the unicorn said, looking up at Rainbow and removing all doubt. Her voice was identical to her fashionista friend.

Rainbow glared at the unicorn. “And you must be one of the bitches who tortured Jason,” she growled. “Well, looks like the tables have turned, haven’t they?”

“Rainbow! Not the fucking time!” Sunset snapped.

Rainbow’s ears drooped. “Sorry…I guess I need more work than I thought.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Sunset said, “but for now, let’s get back down to the ship and fast!”

As the two humans carried the pony and dragon down towards the ship, Sunset took one last look back at the island. She saw the strange dragon breathing fire at a few of the tendrils reaching up towards it. She couldn’t help wondering what was going on, and who was riding on the back of this dragon.

Next Chapter: 40: The Battle Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 39 Minutes