The Twilight Princess stood there, looking about to see if she could find the dark Alicorn she had just blasted to pieces. Once she had determined that he was no longer in the area, she began walking back into the direction she was previously heading. It wasn't long before another clone appeared, flying around a couple hundred yards above her. The clone smirked down toward her seeing that she was no longer paying attention to her surroundings, and kept walking on her path to the ocean.

"You guys ready for this?" He spoke out through the telepathic link.

"Hell yeah! We're taking bets!" One of the others chuckled, only to make the other groan.

"Hit her hard and fast, don't leave anything to chance. If we can end this before she makes it into Equestria, then that means everypony will remain safe." The third clone stated flatly.

"Suicide bomb it is then, but let’s beef it up shall we?" The flying clone stated as he nodded to one of the others who took flight next to him before quickly changing over into a set of armor on the other.

"Alright, now for the fireworks." He stated in duo tone voice as he dove from the sky, his entire body starting to glow brightly as he moved faster toward his target. "HEY BITCH!" He yelled out, causing her to snap her attention to him just before he impacted. A blinding white light erupting from all around her as the clones exploded. The fourth and final clone being blown up and away from the cloud he was still sitting on, into the sky high above the blast.

"SHIT! Now that was a serious explosion!" The clone gawked in disbelief. "Now I understand why the real me put up that shield around the other two from before." He stated as he watched the smoke clear from the blast area.

After several minutes to let the smoke clear, all that was left was a three hundred yard crater, and no sign of the Twilight Princess. He flew around for a moment before pulling up a telepathic link to the real Midnight in Canterlot.

"Looks like we managed to take her out GCK!!!!!!" He stopped as his airway was suddenly cut off by a powerful grip.

"Helloooooooo? Is this thing on?!" The human shouted into the dark Alicorns face. "If you can hear me, then I'll be there in maybe another day or so. I hope you're ready for some fun, because I am going to tear your heart out and crush it in front of you for mangling my beautiful dress!"

The line suddenly cut off as the clone was incinerated in a flash of fire erupting from her hands. She watched the clone vaporize into thin air in front of her as she floated silently in the sky.

"Bastard! I ended up using quite a bit of strength to keep that blast at bay. But I'll get back at him for it, soon enough." She giggled madly, thinking of what she was going to do to the dark Alicorn when she found him.

Midnight was taken aback by the sudden outburst that was sent through the telepathic link between him and his clone. Not so much as the volume and threat, but the fact that this being was quick enough to even capture the clone and destroy it so easily. This would not bode well when the fight would make its way to Equestria.

After taking a few minutes to mull over what needed to be done to prepare for this beings attack in the near future, Midnight felt positive that Canterlot and any nearby towns would be safe from attack. The only real problem would be that the eastern seaboard would be the place that this old being would attack first. Taking the time to have troops sent to the border, and train them to fight a magic user wasn't going to be easy. Especially since the wedding was less than a day away now.

As Midnight continued on through the castle, he would check up on quite a few of the areas that would be occupied during the events of the wedding. As he passed by many of them, he would stop to speak with the guard in charge of said areas to make sure everything was going according to plan. It had taken the better part of the day, but all of the areas were now secure and ready for the guests to attend. The only problem now, was anticipating when his newest enemy would show her face, and worse yet, what she would do.

“Finally, the ocean!” The Twilight Princess stated as she crested a hill to feel the breeze rolling over it. She took in a deep breath as she sat down atop the hill, looking toward the horizon as the setting sun began to turn the clouds in the sky a pleasant orange and purple hue.

“Such a pretty sight.” She smiled softly as she gazed over the magnificent painting in the sky. “Needs more red though, preferably the color of blood.” She snickered before flopping back onto the grass, stretching out and giving a yawn. “Ugh, going to sleep with the coming fight on my mind is not good for my complexion.” She sighed as she ran her hands slowly over her face, feeling the bags beneath her eyes.

“Oh well, at least I can sleep soundly tonight with the sound of the ocean to lull me to sleep.” She giggles softly as she closed her eyes and listened, sleep quickly finding her.

*Two hours later*

The crack of lightning and the sudden downpour of rain awoke the Twilight Princess from her slumber, causing her to scream out in a fury as she was soaked before she could pull up a magical barrier to shield herself.

“OF ALL THE BLASTED TIMES TO RAIN! IT HAD TO DO IT NOW, BEFORE I TAKE OVER THE FUCKING WORLD!” She continued screaming out.

“I can’t keep using up my magic to block this crap or I won’t have enough for tomorrow’s travel.” She grumbled as she quickly began to make her way back over the hill and toward some trees to try and find shelter.

She paused for a moment as she noticed a faint glow from within a small fairing of trees. Pulling up her main shield to protect herself, she slowly trekked into the brush to see a small campsite with several beings sitting around a decently sized fire pit. She was so preoccupied with seeing the various beings species that she failed to noticed the twig that she was about to step on.

*Snap*

The trio of beings whirled around at the sudden snap of a twig to see a being they had never seen before, all of them taking a defensive position before noticing how soaked she was and relaxing to a normal stance.

As her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the fire, she could now tell what species each of the beings were. A large minotaur roughly eight feet tall with many different battle scars along his body. One of his horns had been broken off on the left side along with a terribly gashed ear.

The second being was a small female griffon with a mangled wing and looked to be molting profusely, while the third member was a species that the young woman never thought she would see again. A human male. In all the years she had spent traveling this world, she never thought she would see another human in her lifetime.

“OI! Who goes there?!” The griffon shouted as she raised a taloned paw to her side and pulled out a short sword from its sheath, brandishing it threateningly. Her accent however, seemed a little off, as if she was from the back alleys of a British nation.

The princess raised her hands in front of her for a moment, ready to fight but paused as the human stood up and moved a hand in front of the griffon.

“Take’er easy love, I don’t think she means us any harm. By the looks of’er ah bet she was just wanting teh warm up a bit from that rainfall.” The human male chuckled seeing the princess’ sheepish grin.

“Sorry, but...........” She trailed off as the male raised a hand toward her and waved her over.

“Come on over’ere love, we don’t bite.” He chuckled seeing her hesitancy.

After looking to the other two beings for a moment, she walked over and took a seat next to the fire away from the others, her eyes never leaving the male sitting across from her at the fire pit.

“Been’a while since ah set eyes on another human.” The male piped up, giving a smile toward the young woman sitting across from him.

“It’s been................ a long time since I’ve seen another human as well.” She stated as she looked up to see the man’s dirty face smiling softly toward her.

“Name’s Mitchell. This old bull is Baron, and this hatchling is........” He was cut off by a slug in the arm from the griffon.

“Ah ain’t no hatchlin’ ya daft idgit!” She squawked toward him only to make the rest of them laugh.

“Easy there love, don’t need teh be intimidatin’ our guest now.” Mitchell chuckled seeing the griffon puff out the best she could due to the molting.

The small griffon huffed once before turning her gaze to the human female. “Name’s Charlotte, an this big dolt is mah pa.” She motioned to Mitchell with her head.

“Pa? As in father?” The princess stated in surprise.

“No ya daft............ thing! Mah mother! OF COURSE MAH FATHER YA MMMPH!” She was cut off as Mitchell wrapped his hand around her beak only to cause her to brush it away and flare her good wing toward him, giving a loud squawk of disapproval as she freed herself.

“Shut yer trap love! This is our guest.” He spoke coldly toward his so-called daughter. “An afore ya ask, ah found her as an egg in ah village that had been attacked by a band of pirates along the shore. She ain’t but twelve years old.” He smirked as he rubbed her head feathers roughly causing her to puff out again and glare at him.

“Twelve years? So............ how long have you been here?” The human female asked from the other side of the fire.

“Been about........... twenty years ah do believe.” Mitchell stated as he rubbed his chin in thought.

“I’m guessing you’re from earth as well, am I correct?” She asked, seeing him nod.

“Ai, ah was originally from the United Kingdom, was a fisherman working the docks when a lightnin’ storm rolled inteh the bay. Got hit by some wind and a wave when ah got swept inteh the surf. Ah woke up here. Thought ah was going mad when ah saw a dragon flying over’ead. That an the fact that ah didn’t see no other humans, nor a city in four days’o walkin.” He smirked slightly. “But, that’s a story for another time, ya still have yet teh introduce yerself my dear.” He smiled toward the princess who realized her mistake.

“I’m........... sorry, it’s been so long since anyone has asked that I almost forgot my name.” She smiled sheepishly before clearing her throat.

“My name is Mona, and I’m not quite sure I remember how I got here. It has been ages ago.” She sighed as she rubbed her forehead slightly.

“No need teh strain yerself love. It’s been a hard trip for all of us.” Mitchell smiled softly toward her, she smiling softly in return. “Do ya remember what year it was when ya ended up’ere? That might give me a better idea of yer history.”

“It was the year 1508 if I remember correctly.” She sighed while still rubbing her forehead. “It was.......... a few years after..........” She groaned trying to remember but stopped as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s alright love, ain’t no need teh force yerself teh remember. It’ll come in time, it always does.” Mitchell smiled warmly toward her as he took a seat next to her, he pulled his hand back to his other as he felt of how damp her clothing actually was.

“Yer gonna catch the death if ya keep wearing those soaked clothes. Come’ere, we got a few spare sets in mah tent.” He stated but paused as he noticed the glare he was receiving from not only his adopted daughter, but Mona as well.

“Ahem!” Mona smirked while crossing her arms and cocking a brow toward Mitchell.

Mitchell gave a sigh as he went into the tent and reappeared after several minutes of shuffling.

“Ah set out several outfits for ya, feel free teh choose and redress yerself at yer leisure.” He chuckled.

Mona gave a soft smile as she got up from her seat and headed over to the tent, taking several minutes to redress herself after washing away some of the dirt and grime with her magic. After several minutes she reappeared from the tent with a bigger smile as she went back toward her seat with a little spring in her step. Pausing for a moment as she turned about once in front of Mitchell.

“What do you think?” She asked, only to see him blush slightly.

All attention was suddenly taken as another lightning bolt burst across the sky, and then Mitchell hitting the ground as a fur and feather creature tackled him, shaking violently.

“It’s ok love, just a bolt’o lightning. Ain’t nothing teh fear.” He cooed to his adopted daughter.

It was at this point that Mona felt a pang of nervousness in her gut. Something she hadn’t felt in years.

“Storm’s picking up.” Baron stated, finally speaking up for the first time only to cause Charlotte to hold onto her father tighter.

“I guess that means we should turn in. Still have a long trek ahead of use tomorrow.” Mitchell sighed as he slowly got to his feet while still holding his daughter closely to his chest. One of her wings laying limply down while the other was pulled tightly to her side.

The young man quietly opened his tent and went inside. After a minute he reappeared outside, picking a few feathers from his shirt and tossing them to the side before sitting back down next to Mona.

“Poor thing is terrified of storms. Don’t know why since the youngin can walk on clouds’n’all.” He chuckled. “Guess it’s cause’o the storm that I told her about that brought me here.”

“You think that she thinks you might disappear during one of these storms?” Mona asked, causing his eyes to go wide for a moment in realization.

“Ah never thought’o that before.” He stated quietly before getting smacked upside the head by a pinecone. He turned his vision toward Baron who only smirked at him and snorted, nodding his head back to the tent to see the young griffon’s head poking out, only to pull back in with a soft gasp upon being seen.

“I think she is looking forward to her daddy sleeping next to her.” Mona giggled softly seeing him blush a little.

“Yea, ah been trying teh break her from that habit. Dang kid can’t seem teh sleep without’er ol’man right next to’er.” He laughed before getting up and heading back to the tent, stopping just before going in and looking back over his shoulder. “Since my daughter is going to be sleeping in my napsack, hers won’t be occupied. You’re welcome to occupy it if you want.” He stated before stepping inside the tent, a soft groan escaping Charlotte as she heard this.

Mona rose from her seat and began to head over to the tent, stopping next to Baron and placing a hand on his shoulder, making him flinch slightly. “Aren’t you going to rest?”

“Nah, gotta keep watch. Lots of beasties out there that’er’ungry. Don’t want’em pouncin onteh us in our sleep eh.” He smirked as his eyes remained on the fire.

“Alright then.....” She trailed off feeling another pang this time. This one being that of being thankful. She brushed it off however as she went over to the tent, listening to some giggles of the young griffon coming from within.

Mona slowly peeked into the tent to see the sleeping bag moving all around, but no human or griffon in sight. She entered into the tent quietly as she continued watching. Every so often a tail or other limb would breach the sides as one of them would chuckle or giggle out.

“HA! Gotcha!” Mitchell laughed as he pinned his daughter into a reverse hug, holding her wings to her sides and her talons to her chest.

“UGH! Can’t you ever let me win?!” She groaned out as she nipped at his arm causing him to release her and laugh.

“Ay now! No nipping meh, ah done told ya them lil’pinches leave ah mark ya nut.” He laughed as he tossed back the sleeping bag only to elicit a gasp from the griffon as she stared beyond him. He turning his vision backwards to see Mona with a soft smile across her face and a giggle escaping her. “Looks like we been spied on.” He laughed only to get a groan out of his daughter.

“Yea, and it was cute.” Mona giggled again seeing Charlotte roll her eyes.

“Whatever.” She groaned as she pulled the sleeping bag onto her, Mitchell slowly climbing into it as well, only to make her flinch as he brushed against her bad wing. “Ouch.......” She grumbled for a moment as she used one of taloned paws to slowly pulled the wing open and out of the sleeping bag, letting it rest onto the ground.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your wing.” Mona asked as she looked into the young griffons eyes.

“Ah do mind.” She huffed and covered her head.

“Don’t mind her love, it was a while back during ah raid on our camp. We managed to survive it, but that’s when she was attacked as a cub. One of the bastards broke her wing an it never healed right. Baron and I killed’em all off, but he an I both got pretty banged up. Was just lucky a passing Zebra saw the smoke and came teh help us. She had quite a few potions on’er, none that could fix broken bones though. It’s when Baron lost his horn and got scarred up purty bad. Same for me, minus the horn.” Mitchell stated softly as he nuzzled the top of his daughter’s head. She giving out a soft coo and smile as she kneaded into the affection, her head slowly pulling out of the sleeping bag.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Mona said with a slight frown. She looked back over to them and couldn’t help but smile at the affection between the two. They seemed so happy to be together, even though they were entirely different species. It made the scene before her even better as she watched the griffon slowly fall asleep in her father’s arms. A soft ‘Daddy’ escaping her as sleep finally took hold.

Mona gave a sigh as sleep began to take hold of her. She was conflicted. She wanted to take over the world, but seeing these beings so close to one another. So determined to remain happy even amongst their strife seemed to make her waiver from her previous thoughts. It would cause this night to pass by slowly, the previous days events finally catching up to her worn and tired body as sleep finally came to her.

Author's Notes:

Big thanks to ReFro for the edits!