Thiemo did not get a lot of sleep, three hours in fact, if the clock in the hallway was to be believed. Hardly had the bite of exhaustion left his body did he wake up, shaking. This time it was not only his right arm, but both. He had never thought about it until recently, but twice now had he almost died. Karst had almost blown him and a large chunk of Equestria into smithereens, and now an opponent had just beaten Amaryllis and him into a pulp with hardly a scratch inflicted in return.

Inevitably, his thoughts wandered back to the conversation with Ariel. If even one of those powerful beings had given a wet fart about the lives of others, he would have long since been dead. It was a thought that genuinely chilled him. In the wider scheme of things, he was merely a fly on the wall that was only alive because the guy on the sofa was too lazy to get up and kill him.

All this gave him a lot to think about. Apparently, he was not the only one in a similar predicament. When he went into the kitchen to get a glass of water, he was not alone. Megan already sat at the counter and slowly stirred her cup of coffee with a spoon. Their eyes met briefly before she looked back down into her cup.

Since Thiemo also had no idea as to what he might say, and as it was much too early for a simple "Morning", he simply walked past her and picked up a glass from the cupboard. He filled it with water from the tap and sat down on a free stool opposite Megan. She was still wearing the same cheap clothes that seemed either too large or too small for her. Not that he was dressed better since all he wore was a T-shirt and boxer shorts with a hole for his tail.

"I'm sure Danielle wouldn't mind if you borrowed a change of clothes from her."

As though Megan had completely forgotten what she was wearing, she looked down at herself. Her eyes glowed for a moment, and flame wrapped around her body similar to that of a changeling. When they subsided, she now wore a bright green top and blue jeans, and boots, which would be more befitting a punk, adorned her feet. She was well aware that her old clothes provided better protection from the chill of the cold night's air inside the empty house. She reached out a hand to a wreath of flame that hung in the middle of the air. From this, Megan pulled a leather jacket and threw it over her.

Now that he saw her in this outfit, Thiemo realized that she seemed vaguely familiar, almost as though he had seen her in a photo. "Of course!" He suddenly leaned forward. "You're Sunset Shimmer, from the spin-offs."

"There is no Sunset Shimmer,” the woman finally answered softly after a moment had passed. “Not any more. Mothma needed a design and used me as a model without asking me first. The blonde highlights I added for the convention, as a favour for her." Before she finished speaking, said highlights were burned out from her hair, leaving her natural colour.

"I still find that a television series is a bit too much effort to get emotions." He took another sip from his glass. "Doesn't she have a lover? They could have given her all the love she wanted and more.”

"She's married. Craig is also a cartoonist. It's what brought them together in the first place. Mothma loves cartoons. They're sort of a medium for her to express her brand of chaos onto the world. Plus, she loves children."

"I learned that the hard way." He rubbed his still slightly sore chest.

Megan snorted. "What did you expect? You go after the children and think Mom's not going to be angry?”

“Children who were built like charging wardrobes and treated me like raw putty.”

"They are all around five years old or so."

Thiemo blinked in surprise. "What?"

"You were beaten up by pre-teens. Congratulations."

"There were three!" he desperately tried to argue.

"You'd better learn to choose your battles."

For a moment there was silence. "What happened to them?" Thiemo finally asked cautiously.

"I made sure that Kevin and his brothers got out of there. They were probably all gone before we got to you. Changelings are good at hiding." Megan opened the refrigerator with her magic and levitated the milk over to her. "This bunch in particular. Mothma trained well."

"Man, hiding must be a changeling’s favourite sport," muttered Thiemo, which drew a chuckle from the woman.

"You could say that." And again there was silence. It was strange how he sat here, just hours after a fight with someone, and talking with one of his enemies.

"Does her husband know she's a changeling?” The question elicited an eye roll.

"Of course. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain why their children were hatched from eggs.” Yes, it was a stupid question.

“Shouldn't he be told what happened?”

She pulled a cell phone out from her jeans. "Long since done. I also told him that I would be bringing his wife home in a few hours.”

"You know where she is?" Megan hummed a yes since she was taking a sip from her coffee. “Where?”

"Area Fifty One."

Thiemo thought he had misheard. "I beg your pardon?"

"Area Fifty One. Military base in the middle of the Nevada desert. It's actually a testing ground for jet prototypes and the like. That makes it one of the best defended bases within the United States."

"Why would someone take an alien there, of all places? I mean, wouldn't the tin-foil hat crew be looking right there for something like that?" It was like trying to hide the last piece of cake in the refrigerator.

"No idea, but that's where they brought me in forty-seven after I crashed in Roswell." Thiemo could not help but stare at the woman as she continued to sip her coffee. "Collided with one of their test pilots during a flight." He calculated in his head. Echidna died around one hundred and thirty years ago. That was around the year 1883 here on Earth. It fit.

"I'm coming with you. Mothma owes me some answers, and I want them as soon as possible." Megan nodded and drank the rest of her coffee.

He had managed to get some sleep after all, once their discussion had concluded. This time, however, it was not the twitching of his limbs that brought him out of bed, but the rumbles and screams echoing through the large house.

Running with the assumption that it was the Yankee's special task force, Thiemo found himself bolting down the stairs while desperately trying to put on his pants. Just as he had closed the button on his tail and reached the ground floor, what looked like Megan was thrown through the doorway. The woman was violently slammed with a sickening thud against the wall. Before he could even ask what was going on, Amaryllis came into sight as she galloped past him, collected magic on the tip of her horn, and fired it at Megan.

It slammed into her stomach, and he not only saw her clothes burned at the attack, but also skin. For a moment, he thought he could recognize her intestines before it healed as quickly as it had been damaged. The sight did not seem to faze Amaryllis, whose horn lit up again in preparation of another attack. Thiemo sprinted over to her, put his hands around her neck, and tried to pull her away from Megan.

"Stop! We are on the same side! "

"She killed me!" Amaryllis roared back directly into Thiemo face, and the force behind it was almost enough to also send him into the wall. "She burned me alive!"

With wide eyes, Thiemo looked over to Megan, who got to her feet and dusted off the remnants of her clothing. "It's true," she said in her typically dry tone. Thiemo was, at that moment, not sure if he should just release Amy. "We were enemies. I don't know what you were trying to do, but I fought to win. In any case, you look pretty alive to me.”

"Guys!" Lyra's voice suddenly came from the living room. "You all should come see this..."

Megan and Amaryllis locked gazes for a moment more, then his girlfriend turned reluctantly and followed Lyra's call. For the first time, he noticed that she seemed to have shrunk. She had been tall enough that she could look directly into his eyes, but now she barely reached up to his neck.

He glanced at Megan again, but she made no effort to move, so he left her and followed Amaryllis into the living room. Lyra sat on her chair, and the television was on. "~ Attacks Rock New York~" was the news ticker while images of destruction were shown. Destruction that they had caused. "~ As you can see, the area around the hotel was particularly affected. Moreover, experts still do not agree on exactly how the terrorists could have caused this kind of destruction.~" The image changed and now showed the hotel where they had fought. Gaping large holes in the upper floors of the building were prominent, and the panels of glass that weren't cracked or broken were rare. It was a blessing in disguise that the security glass had prevented a rain of glass shards from showering the streets.

Again the picture changed. Where the previous camera must have been from a neighbouring building, the hotel was now seen from the air. The logo of another news station was also in the picture.

"~These photographs of the events also raises the question of whether this was actually a terrorist attack, as no group has come forward to claim responsibility as of now...~" It was hard to make out against the smoke and with the shaky camerawork, but he could see himself on the roof. On the edge of the image, something whizzed through the air. It was impossible to tell whether it was Mothma or Amy. Blue lightning flashed across the screen, and then he realized what was actually shown here. He watched himself on screen as he tried to follow Mothma with his eyes before the image went black.

"~These were the last shots that were taken from the helicopter. Whatever was detonated on the roof had an EMP-like effect, forcing the machine into an emergency landing. All occupants fortunately escaped with minor injuries." Thiemo reached across the table and pressed the mute button on the remote.

"You should get out of here." Megan startled all present in the living room. "They have you on tape. No matter how bad the quality is, it's only a matter of time until it's been processed. Take the chance and return back to Albion while you can. It's only a matter of hours until they get here." She looked around the room. "Eris sent you here, but how are you supposed to get back?" Thiemo's eyes widened and he began to sprint from the living room, into the hallway, and up to the third floor. He yanked the door open to his room and searched around frantically, but it was as he had feared.

"Fucking hell!" he shouted and grabbed a pillow off his bed, slamming it into the wall repeatedly in frustration.

When he came back into the living room, he found everything as he had left it. Lyra stared at the silent TV with a scowl etched on her face. Amy sat in a corner and was engaged in another staring competition with Megan, who still stood in the doorway.

"Eris had given us an artefact. It's still in our hotel room."

Megan shook her head. "Not any longer, I can tell you that. Seems like you still have to come with me to Area Fifty One.”

Amaryllis was immediately on her hooves. "I'm also going!”

"I don't think so, Princess. We want to rescue an alien, not bring them one." It did not take a woman-whisperer to see how pissed Amaryllis was at that—it was practically engraved on her face. "Get ready, Thiemo, we're leaving in an hour. The sooner we leave here, the better.”

Getting ready mostly constituted calming Amaryllis down and convincing her that Megan was not their enemy. In addition, his daughter eventually crawled out of bed and demanded breakfast. Auralia also brought news about Danielle's condition. Lyra had no idea as to what could have been the trigger, but Thiemo had an inkling of an idea. It had happened when Amaryllis and Danielle had had their little spat, and the changeling had levitated her off. It was like that time with Zarni and the magic runes. Magic had coursed through her body, which now desired something it had never before tasted and had no way of satisfying that hunger.

"Are you ready?" Megan asked as she stepped into Danielle's bedroom, her clothes whole again. Thiemo had spent the last ten minutes at her bedside, changing the cold compresses on her head. "Lyra will take care of Auralia, and Amaryllis is sure to take over for you here." She hinted with a loose wave that he should follow her.

As they walked down the stairs, Thiemo spotted Amaryllis as she came out of the bathroom. A towel wound atop her mane and another on her back, her woebegone look said more than a thousand words. He heard Aura and Lyra chattering in the living room as they passed through the hallway and went to the front door.

"The sooner we get this behind us, the sooner you can get out of here." Megan was right, he knew. Still, as she had said, it was only a matter of time before some government agency would descend upon the house, and he didn't want to leave his friends alone when it happened. Not even Lyra, because as much as she sometimes irritated him, she was a good soul and a friend.

Megan opened the door, and they stepped out onto the ramp. "So, how do we do this?" Instead of answering, Megan merely grabbed his shoulder, and the next second they were standing in the scorching heat of Nevada. Luckily, he had washed Mothma's blood out of his coat, which had in the past proven to be a good sunscreen.

"Where’s the base?" Thiemo asked and looked around. The desert was nothing special. Dry soil as far as the eye could see, it was interspersed by small shrubs and large stones. If he didn't know better, he would suspect Appleloosa was around the corner.

His companion looked around a bit. "About two kilometres away. Come on.” And so they began to move. Since Megan gave the impression that she wasn't keen on small talk, it gave him time to think.

If Thiemo had to name one word to describe his last few hours, it would be 'unreal'. His hands wandered to the sea breeze crystal around his neck. Had Megan left it behind, or had Mothma been shot only a moment later, he'd be dead. It was as though this was the first time he realized how dangerous the world around him was, as if someone wanted to show each individual hazard and to rub his nose in them. His still trembling hands were a clear indication.

"From here on, follow my footsteps." Megan brought him out of the downward spiral that were his thoughts. "There are mines." Thiemo halted immediately. Of course there were mines here. It was a high-security military base. He wondered why his legs now started to tremble.

He looked up and noticed that Megan had simply gone on. Swallowing, he did what she instructed, cautiously stepping from one of her footsteps to the next. After a few minutes, a barbed wire fence came in sight, behind which were arched hangars and what he assumed were administration buildings.

"Shouldn't they have already seen us?" Thiemo asked, his eyes constantly wandering the ground.

"Believe me, they have. They just don't know what to make of us. We suddenly appeared in the midst of a restricted area without triggering the alarm and are actively avoiding each mine. Once we are out of the minefield, they'll come out to welcome us." She shielded her eyes with one hand from the sun. "In fact, they’re already arming themselves."

She was right, again. No sooner had they left the minefield did the gates open in the fence, and two jeeps with light machine guns on the roofs barrelled out, announcing themselves by large trail of smoke behind them.

"You have a plan, right?"

Megan raised her hands in surrender.

"Figures." Despite that, he followed her example. Stones flew in his face as the jeep came within reach, and soldiers jumped out of the vehicles, guns at the ready. In a wink, he was on the ground, his face making intimate contact with a small sharp stone, while commands were shouted in his ear.

"~Get down! Head on the ground and hands behind your back!~" five different soldiers screamed at him. Other popular phrases were that they were being held by the US Air Force and that they had the right to keep their mouths shut. Their hands were secured with handcuffs, they were searched for weapons, and soon they were roughly shoved into the jeeps, Thiemo in one, Megan in the other. There were three soldiers around him, along with the two who rode in front, and of course the manned gun on the roof.

"~Name, date and place of birth,~" asked the soldier who sat immediately opposite him and had exchanged his weapon for a clipboard. The others held their weapons more readily. No doubt they wouldn't hesitate to turn him into proverbial Swiss cheese if he so much as thought of retaliating.

"~Merlin Geoffrey of Monmouth, born in the hundredth thousandth year of the Lord on PX1-767.~" He got the tip of the gun of the soldier at his right pushed gently into his ribs. Still, even though he was sure that she saw through his lie, simply because these names here, unlike in Albion, had a meaning, the soldier wrote everything he said.

“~Why are you here?~”

“~My mission is to search for the Holy Grail.~” Considering it was as a symbol of enlightenment, the answer wasn't inaccurate. Thiemo wanted answers, as well as the watch Eris had given him, of course.

Apparently he was the only one who grinned at his joke. The soldiers were unmoved, watching him with unflinching scrutiny, their fingers caressing the trigger. It had to be boring out here. If they had wanted to, they could have disposed of someone like him without even raising an alarm.

"~Can I get to ask a question?~" Since no one shook their head, he took that as tacit consent. “~You guys all know about Stargate, right? So, I am sure that the series was only made to disguise the fact that there really is a Stargate program. Plus, to confuse the population even more, you guys even had a series about Stargate within the Stargate series. So, is there actually a Stargate?~"

Pain was the answer he got. The elbow from the soldier to his left was the culprit this time.

"~Oops, probably slipped.~"

Perhaps it was better if he made use of his right to be silent.

Author's Notes:

When raiding a military base, then I pick the best one. Why? Because she probably doesn't exist.
So I'm totally not microwaving my DVD's and SIM-Cards and delete my hard drives with magnets because I fear a SWAT-Team will come a few minutes after posting this to get me. Nope. Also I think it would be of bad taste after destroying a part of New York and then attack a military base as well. One that exist that is. It doesn't, so please don't come to get me man in black.

Thanks to JBL for translating and editing.