Northwest, Washington, D.C., J. Edgar Hoover Building

Rick Marshall frowned as he sat over the files,
"Hmm.... 1986, three missing children... last name of Williams... first names of Megan, Danny and Molly..." getting another file, he read through the lines, 'Later returned unharmed and well fed despite being gone for months...' his eyes then widened a bit as he read further, 'Claimed to have been in a world of intelligent, talking ponies. Authorities clueless, yet assuring no signs of abuse found.'

Looking back to the 'Jones'-file on his desk, he narrowed his eyes 'Kids these days This isn't the X-files, this is reality. A pony world... Yeah right...' a knock on his door alerted him to the presence of someone else and he looked up,
"Come in!"

One of his colleagues, Ben Miller, entered and waved a bunch of files as he closed the door,
"I don't know what you're up to, Marshall, but you really stabbed into a hornet's nest."

Frowning a bit, Rick looked up,
"What do you mean?"

Miller rolled his eyes with a smirk as he handed him the documents,
"What I mean is that this background check you ordered for this Jones guy rang several alarm bells. NSA, CIA and us are after him. They want to know what you have on him. And I'm curious as well. How did you find out about this guy?"

Taking the files, Rick began to look at them with a frown,
"The NSA and CIA are after him? What for?"

Giving it a shrug, Miller leaned against the wall,
"Hacking. That guy was a field operative in Blackwater during Iraq in 2002 and delivered frequent and reliable data about Iraqi targets and bases. However, he quit sometime around 2006. But not before handing some data packets to certain individuals, among them Manning. And you know the current policy about that whistle-blower. Deserving a medal, but getting 30 years of prison instead."

Rick's brow twitched a bit.This was dodgy material and the guys from the National Security Agency weren't very renowned for their patience in this manner,
"Mhm... how interesting... only the basic PMC training?" looking through the file he noticed the remarks about very poor performance with automatic weapons, "Not the shooting type, hm? I guess they won't label him as gun-crazy then."

Lighting a cigarette, his colleague took a short hit on it and nodded,
"The people remembering him said he learned enough about guns to identify, specify, assemble and disassemble them, yet his ratings at the range were horrible once it came down to rifles. The handgun ratings turned out OK, but with these ratings he was never cut to go to the battlefield. Not what you want in actual combat. But once it came down to opening doors with a key-card, magnetic lock in spec ops missions, he was your man. Hand that guy a laptop and point him at a firewall and he gets you into the system. More of an infiltrator than a soldier."

Giving the file a frown, Marshall pointed it out,
"Yeah, it says so here... Tyler "Magic" Jones, having a reputation of rewiring or unlocking electronic locks within seconds like magic. Hmmm... So what does a private field operator, wanted for cyber-terrorism do in a natural park in Nevada? And how the hell did he get into the country in the first place?"

"Well we did a bit of backtrack and found a motel in Laredo, directly at the Mexican border. Seems he was taking a stop in Lake Casa Blanca International State Park. We found a few passports, enough to get him through. From there it's not certain what route he took exactly, but we think he took the route Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and lastly Nevada. He seemingly maintained a low profile with hitchhiking."

Surprised, Rick Marshal blinked twice before looking over to his colleague,
"He went there by car or truck, huh? You want to tell me that this guy was able to cross the border and went through 4 states and several cities without getting noticed before he simply vanished from the face of the Earth? And all that while being on the wanted list? Are you guys out there even working?"

Miller wanted to say something, but Rick waved him away and rested his face in his hands before he looked up once more,
"Ben, I want that man found. As far as I care, he is still on American soil! I want you to get me someone from the NSA on the phone to get me some data about the guy. Voice pattern, fingerprints, whatever their crazy databanks have for us! If Tyler Jones makes a call, I want to know which state, which city, which street, which phone, what model, what he's wearing, and who he last fucked!"

* * * * *

Equestria, Ponyville

At the edge of city, Rainbow Dash approached the small cottage and after confirming that her friend wasn't at home, she flew around the building and checked the backyard. At the sight of the shed, she took a gulp. Fluttershy always told them to stay outside, but lacked to give reason why she wanted nopony inside of it.
"Fluttershy? Are you in there?"

When no response came, she checked the surrounding area to see if anypony was there. A short peek surely wouldn't hurt. It was dark inside the shed and many shadows shrouded Rainbow's clear vision of the things in the shed. There was something that looked like a very sharp knife, but turned out to be a feather with one half ripped away. Bumping into something that looked like a chair for torture made Rainbow yelp and take a step back from it, only to realize that it was only a chair with some pillows.

Sighing in relief, Rainbow shook her head. 'Come on Rainbow Dash, relax!' Looking up again, she then saw the basic outlines of the shed. As her eyes grew more accustomed to the darkness, she made out a bed at one side of the shed. 'A bed? Is this where Grinko sleeps? Well, I thought she would be more hospitable than that... But maybe Masar prefer dark and simple sleeping rooms...'

Hearing voices coming closer, her head darted to the door. Fluttershy and Grinko were approaching the shed and would find her here. Hiding under the bed in haste, Rainbow gulped. She could explain things to Fluttershy, but Grinko was another thing. That big feller had a temper Rainbow was not sure what to expect from. Maybe he would get furious. Maybe even violent! The best she could do right now was to hide and wait for them to leave.

When Fluttershy entered the shed, she inspected the door with a suspicious glance,
"That's odd... I thought I had it closed... Maybe one of my critter friends sneaked in while I was away... They can be so curious sometimes."

Closing the door behind them, Grinko then lit up an oil lamp and nodded,
"They sure want to know what we two are doing here..."

Taking a heavy gulp, Fluttershy closed her eyes and approached the bed. Placing her front hooves on it, she then looked back to Grinko,
"You know... um... I think for all your long patience and waiting time you should be rewarded. So if you want to, we could take this... um... to the next level..." Underlining her offer, her tail rose up and exposed her virgin marehood to him.

Rainbow's ears stood up as she heard her friend saying this. 'Wait a second... She's not going to...' But already Grinko's pants fell to the ground and the cerulean mare shook her head slightly. This could not end well. And when she peeked up, she saw that the Masar's paw-like feet took stance behind his lair mate.

As he positioned himself behind Fluttershy, Rainbow's jaw simply dropped as her face heated up. Her eyes wide in disbelief and she slowly shook her head. That thing was about twice the time longer and thicker as Flynn's penis and although similar in shape at the tip, the tip was pointy instead of flat or round. And Fluttershy wanted this to go... Her voice fortunately failed Rainbow as the paw of the Masar directed the tip right between Fluttershy's legs.

His voice murmured in the room,
"Are you sure that you will grant me this? Once It's done, there is no return..."

Now Fluttershy's voice sounded off once more, this time a bit pleading,
"Please... Whatever you do: Please be gentle."

"You know I would never harm you, my love..." he growled in reply.

With a sudden move the immense shaft slid into Fluttershy with a slick sound, causing her to gasp and arch beneath her Masar lover with a shiver as the penis was fully embraced by her sex. Leaning her head back, she let out a high pitched moan as she closed her eyes. Her whole body shivered as she embraced this new feeling with all of her heart. "I... I can feel it... Your tip is kissing my deepest spot." Grinko pressed his lips on hers, suppressing another moan of hers. As their lips parted, they looked into each others eyes. "Any deeper and you would reach..."

With a gentle nod, Grinko leaned down to her and nodded,
"Your uterus, yes..."

To say that Rainbow was shocked would have been an understatement. She was mind-blown! How Fluttershy was able to take that huge thing in without being reduced to tears was beyond her. She certainly knew she herself would be terrified. And as they began moving, the wet and slick sounds of Fluttershy's sex filled the shed, paired with the sounds of their bodies colliding with every thrust.

Deep moans escaped the yellow mare's throat and in this moment of intimacy she really let herself go. Inspired by her lair mate, the Element of Kindness rewarded each hard thrust of her Masar companion with a moan what truly fired up Grinko's lust for her. As he bit into her ear carefully, she shivered ever so slightly. She knew it was his way to calm a female down, but it only got her more excited. Closing her eyes and holding her ears, Rainbow tried to witness as little as possible.

Then, the pace of the thrusts sped up and with a final thrust Grinko rammed his member into the farthest reaches of Fluttershy's womb with a lustful growl as his paws seemed to go through a certain movement along her flank to pull her in, prompting his mare to neigh in utter delight as the orgasm distorted her reddened face to one of pure lust and bliss. Rainbow blushed heavily under the immense volume of the neighing. This was most unlike Fluttershy. Then again, Fluttershy never had someone to do this with. But this was when it happened. Gushing out of her womb came the Masar load he ejaculated into her.

The sheer amount of volume of this load was breathtaking. Glob after glob it splattered down to the ground, prompting Fluttershy to moan excitedly and Rainbow to wrinkle her nose as the puddle of ejaculation grew. The stench of sperm almost caused the cerulean mare to gag, but this would surely blow her hideout.

After the deed was done, Rainbow could hear the noises of what sounded like intimate kisses. Caressing his mare with utmost care, Grinko rested his forehead in her neck as he closed his eyes and slid out of her and made way for even more semen to gush out of her,
"You are one fascinating mare, Fluttershy..."

Fluttershy exhaled deeply as her head spun around a bit, causing some slight dizziness. It was then when she witnessed a short glimpse of a multicolored pony tail peeking up from the side of the bed at the wall just for a second,
"This was the most wonderful moment in my entire life... Such volume..."

Cleaning himself, Grinko gave it a grin and looked into the eyes of his lair mate,
"Yeah... About that... I think I saved up quite a lot. I hope I didn't hurt you in a way."

Fluttershy shook her head, prompting her mane to whirl a bit,
"Not at all... I'm happy that I was able to help you release all that tension... Come to think of it, I... um... you know... enjoyed that you were all that excited."

Giving it a chuckle, Grinko pulled up his pants before he gave her one final kiss,
"My love, you don't have to hide it from me... You-"

Raising a hoof to his lips, she shook her head,
"You know I do, but I won't ever talk like that..."

Exchanging another kiss with her, he then rose up and parted from her,
"I'll be in the cottage, taking a short bath, then I'm over to Sam and Flynn..." Fluttershy accompanied him outside and sat down two meters from the door to wave after him.

Just as Rainbow was about to sneak past Fluttershy, she could hear the Pegasus voice behind her,
“Hey, hey, hey...” In that moment, her blood started to freeze. 'Oh snap... Caught!' With a nervous grin she turned around to explain.

But what Rainbow saw was one enraged Fluttershy,
“What I've told you about coming into my shed?” It was then when a yellow flash pinned Rainbow down and dragged her back into the dark of the shed.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, in the depths of the Nagohod, one of the many operators looked up to Princess Lamira,
"Your highness, he is in the center of the equestrian nation."

Lamira gave this a nod and looked at the monitor walls in front of her,
"Excellent... Let him have his free will for now, but monitor him as he proceeds. I want to be informed if he starts any trouble whatsoever..."

Several operators mumbled some orders and technical data to each other and the red HUD on the monitor walls turned into a green one. The view halted and shook a bit, obviously as the changeling shook his head to get his mind clear.

Asira, however, shook her own head,
"Lamira, I'm telling you, this is a mistake... Nothing good will come from this."

"That is up for a debate..." Lamira returned flatly, "Right now I'm interested in other things anyway..." she then looked up to the operators, "Open me a link to the main control unit!

This visibly surprised Asira and she arched a brow while giving her sister a smirk,
"You activate her already?"

"No, I already activated her." Lamira answered, "I activated her before we even started with the citadels."

A display booted up in front of them both and showed a strange silhouette in the darkness. As the shadows began to move in the dark, a single yellow ring faced the display,
"Stage your request."

Asira never liked this cold and robotic voice, void of any emotion whatsoever. But it was another trump card she and her sister had that would be played at one point sooner or later. Lamira looked down at the display in a sober manner and nodded briefly,
"Request status information about observation project."

"Observation drone is in place and will begin collecting data once order is given. Do you wish to give the order?"

Asira rested a hoof on her sisters shoulder. Somehow, this felt like a mistake. But Lamira nodded,
"Confirmed. Begin observation." And when she looked up to her sister, Lamira only shook her head. "Don't worry... Everything will be alright."

* * * * *

Half an hour later it knocked on the door of the library. When Twilight opened the door, Fluttershy was standing in front of her,
"Um... Hello Twilight. I think I did something I shouldn't have done..." Turning around, the yellow Pegasus yelled at the cerulean mare that was tied up and gagged behind her. "SUCH AS YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT!!!" Looking back to Twilight, Fluttershy then calmed again. "But, um... Since you're a princess and all, I thought I tell you to talk some manners into her for sneaking into my shed. I'm not in the mood to talk to her anymore..."

With that the timid little Pegasus galloped away and Twilight arched a brow at the struggling Rainbow Dash on the ground,
"You really outdid yourself again, Rainbow... Tyler? Please drag Rainbow inside, so I can have a talk with her."

Peeking outside, Tyler arched a brow and nodded, before he carried Rainbow in on his shoulder,
"What did you do this time, Dash-girl?"

Mumbling something into her gag, Rainbow rolled her eyes.

Twilight, however, used her magic to let a hook appear from the ceiling and placed Rainbow up there before she removed the gag. Struggling even more now, Rainbow growled a bit,
"Lemme go!"

Arching a brow, Twilight shook her head,
"Not before you told me why Fluttershy dropped you here! Why isn't she scolding you herself?"

Sighing in defeat, Rainbow now let her head hang down,
"I bucked up..."

A few minutes later, the tranquility of Ponyville was interrupted by Twilight's voice,
"WHAT?!?" Now pacing around her friend, she frantically shook her head, "I can't believe you, Rainbow Dash! Fluttershy explicitly said she wanted no one in her shed." Resting a hoof on her muzzle, Twilight closed her eyes as she came to a halt, "It will take some time to fix this..."

Meanwhile Tyler had a little fun with teasing Rainbow Dash as he played with the still hanging mare's ears and nose,
"Do you want me to help? Ow!" His short absence of attention earned him a soft bite into his finger and Rainbow grinned for getting even.

But Twilight shook her head,
"Oh, that's nice of you, Tyler... But I think this is more of a... you know... thing among mares."

It was then when Spike stormed into the library. Gasping for air, the baby dragon held up a scroll in his claws,
"Twilight? I just came back from Sugarcube Corner when a letter from Princess Celestia arrived."

Reading the scroll prompted Twilight's eyes to widen.

My dearest Twilight,
In order to find allies for our fight against the Darkness Sisters, I have invited a group of Masar visitors to Equestria. Among them is one of great importance. Masar royalty will come to Equestria and will visit Las Pegasus, Ponyville and Canterlot. Please prepare for their arrival in three days. The Royal Guard is already informed and will aid you in your preparations. Tell Grinko to prepare meat for their catering, so they don’t have to hunger during their stay.
Sincerely yours,

Princess Celestia

Looking up, Twilight gave the situation at hand a nod,
"Spike, you go over to Fluttershy and tell Grinko that we need several times the meat he and the humans eat in a week!" After saluting, the baby dragon dashed off and Twilight turned to Tyler. "Tyler, I'd like you Rangers to prepare Ponyville for the impending visit. Plan a route through Ponyville and plan ahead with the Royal Guard. We want them to be prepared as well so the Masar visitors don't cause a panic while they pass Ponyville." Tyler nodded and headed out as well. With a sigh, Twilight then faced Rainbow Dash. "As for you..."

* * * * *

Three days later the Elements of Harmony sat together in the upper part of the library together with Tyler while Twilight went through her last checklist,
"Everypony in Ponyville was informed?"

Spike went through the checklist and gave it an approving nod,
"Check!"

Looking up to Tyler Twilight arched a brow,
"Grinko on his way to the Canterlot kitchen?"

Giving a nod, Tyler raised a thumb,
"I've accompanied him to the carriages myself. He and 600 kilogram of hydra meat are brought to Canterlot this instant. Check!"

Beaming, Twilight then looked over to Spike,
"Great! What's next?

Spike looked down the list and arched a brow,
"Triple check checklist to check the double check-"

Now Tyler patted the baby dragon's head,
"It's OK, Spike... That is checked as well." A stern look from Twilight then prompted him to shrug. "What? More than a double checklist is a waste of time.

The sound of fanfares interrupted Tyler and he blinked twice
"That music? That must be them."

As they approached the door to the balcony, Pinkie Pie bounced in with an excited and happy grin on her face,
"Twilight! Tyler! You have to come and see this!"

Even though the music was audible for a bit, it took some time before the procession became visible. A young female, maybe only half as old as Grinko and looking like a Masar teenager, lead the parade through the secured and almost empty streets of Ponyville. The Thirteen Masar, holding the banners of the thirteen clans of Moranji followed her,
“Make way for Queen Sheeris!”

25 further Masar, seemingly the queen’s personal guard, let their falchions dance in the air as they surrounded the queen’s personal carriage which was veiled to all sides, blocking every view inside,
“Say hey, it’s Queen Sheeris!”

While some of the Masar were coated in lion fur like Grinko, some were seemingly from completely different origin. It seemed that the thirteen clans were similar to several kinds of feline predators known to live in the wilder areas of Equestria. Black and agile panther ones, muscular and big tiger-striped ones, even some complete white ones.

What caught Fluttershy's immediate attention was the fact that there were also some female Masar among them and it worried her a bit. As the colorful parade passed through Ponyville, Pinkie Pie bouncing aside the Masar teen up in front, the ponies wondered in marvel about these new Masar. They learned from Grinko that all these Masar were predators at heart and could kill them with one swift attack. Thus they kept their distance, even if the Element of Laughter seemed to enjoy the parade.

Sam rubbed his neck a bit, also a bit in worry about Pinkie bouncing like bait in front of so many Masar,
"I must say I am a bit surprised. No doubt it is a parade, but all that stuff... Is that really necessary?"

Giving it a simple shrug, Tyler then made an explaining gesture with his left hand,
"Why? It's a showcase for the public. You know... To display the importance of... um... this queen..."

Looking over to him, Rachel shook her head,
"Jones, you sound sooo convinced..."

Tyler smirked, not denying that he wasn't very convinced of the display this queen was putting on. However, in order to please her and win her as an ally, he had to play along with Celestia's plan to befriend even the Masar nation. Turning over to the others, he nodded,
"Pack your stuff folks... The Elements of Harmony and Harmony Rangers go to Canterlot. Let's see how we can assist Princess Celestia."

* * * * *

One carriage ride to Canterlot later, the Harmony Rangers and Elements of Harmony were briefly instructed by the princess and only Tyler remained in the throne room due to him being a strategic adviser. In her wisdom, Celestia had send the remaining Griffin ambassadors to their chambers and informed them that for their own safety until further notice. It was not before the final meeting where she intended to inform each and every nation about the grave danger of the Darkness Sisters and to form a battle plan with them.

Finally, the doors to the throne room opened and one of the guards raised his voice,
"Her royal highness, Queen Sheeris of Moranji!"

Leaving her entourage at the entrance of the throne room, Queen Sheeris slowly walked down the carpet to the throne and Celestia. She was of height as a human and her body was slender, yet she was trained and healthy, her abdominal muscles gave insight to that. Her paws were bare and Tyler mused whether or not this was due to her bond to nature.

However, the beauty of her body was literally 'marked' as four deep scars ran over her firm bottom cheeks. And even though he was unable to see it on the other side, Tyler wondered if this had some deeper meaning. Was she attacked by a predator in the past and thus had these claw-marks? A dispute with another Masar maybe?

As she approached the throne, Queen Sheeris opened her arms and performed a brief bow to Celestia,
“Princess Celestia… Green is the land under your rule and soft was the grass under the paws of my subjects on the way here. It’s almost as soft as the warm sands of Moranji. I am grateful and honored to be your guest.”

Giving the queen a gentle smile, Celestia nodded,
“You are welcome here, Queen Sheeris. We’ve prepared meat for you and your entourage. I hope you find hydra meat to your liking as you rest in our dining hall.”

Bowing her head in gratitude, the queen placed another smile,
“Your hospitality puts me to shame, eternal princess. But I wonder who hunted for the meat, since ponies are herbivores and lack the natural means and will to hunt for flesh.”

Tyler now stepped in front and smiled,
"Not all citizens under the Princesses’ rule eat hay and flowers, your highness… Here we shelter one of your citizens who wants to stay at my side until his 'debt' is repaid...”

Arching a brow, Queen Sheeris inspected Tyler, who now slowly approached her,
"And who might this young keen lad be?"

Bowing before the queen, Tyler gave her a smile.
"My name is Tyler Jones, your highness. And the Masar in question already showed us the Masar way of honor since he lived here among us. His name is Grinko Khass’ra, Son of Tass'kra."

The queen’s ears stood up and her face brightened up as she looked down to Tyler,
“My son Grinko… is alive?"

* * * * *

In the Canterlot kitchen, Grinko meanwhile prepared the meat he had ripped out of the hydra neck while Sam helped him,
"For real, I wish Tyler and Twilight would have told me why Princess Celestia asked me to get so much meat. This is by far more meat than I and you humans could eat in the next weeks... This is more like food for a whole tribe of Ma-"

In the next moment, just as Sam wanted to answer, the door to the kitchen sprung open and the queen herself stood in it,
"Grinko!"

His ears standing up, Grinko turned around with wide eyes in an instant,
"M-Mother!"

Coming over to him in a fast pace, the queen's embrace took hold of the Masar like a long lost treasure found again,
"The one face I yearned for to see the most in all these months is the one I find in the midst of our hosts." Patting and rubbing his back, a purring became audible from both of them. "I knew you couldn't be vanquished from starvation or death, my son..."

Looking up, Grinko spotted Tyler in the door,
"Mother, let me introduce to you Tyler Jones, the man who got me out of a hive of insect beings called Changelings..."

Turning around, Sheeris looked at Tyler once more,
"I see... This is what you meant with debt. You were the one who saved my only heir and son..." As she inspected him from head to feet, Tyler couldn't help but to feel like being inspected for a possible one night stand. Coming over to him, she patted his shoulders. "Then come! You and my son shall feast with me and my clans to celebrate this most wonderful day!"

* * * * *

An hour later Tyler sat amidst the Masar leaders and was partaking in their celebration. While the queen was sitting at the head of the long table, Grinko sat to her right, while Tyler sat next to Grinko,
"You never told us you were royalty..." he whispered a bit as the Masar all around them were eating, drinking and cheering.

Smirking a bit at the company of fellow Masar, Grinko shook his head,
"Did I have to? I was the only Masar in Equestria, that's special enough."

Arching a brow, Tyler then raised his hand to explain,
"Yeah, but we might have contacted your folks earlier... I mean you might have been with your mother sooner."

Grinko shook his head,
"It is good the way it is now. See? These are my people."

The festivity went on for some hours and while the meat was served one piece after another, the wine and the alcohol were served plenty. Secretly, Tyler hoped the royal sisters wouldn't become mad at the amounts these Masar were drinking away.

After a while, Tyler leaned his head to Grinko again,
"I want to ask you something about your mother, Grinko... You see I noticed she never ever fully opens her eyes... and even when she spotted you her eyes were open for merely a few seconds."

Giving this a mere and brief nod, the Masar turned his head to Tyler,
"That is right... My mother only opens her eyes to full extent once the needs of our people demand it or to look into someone. It is said that her shaman powers grant her the ability to stare right into your soul to assess your heart. Thus my people never dare to disobey her."

Arching his eyebrows, Tyler looked at the queen,
"You mean that she would see dishonorable actions in someone's heart and point them out?"

"Something like that, yes. Normally someone doing that would be dishonorable himself for taking away someone's honor, but if you're taking away honor based on a facade..." Recognizing the grin on Tyler's face, Grinko then arched a brow. "What is it?"

"I think we both know someone or rather somepony who has a very similar power..."

But before Grinko could reply to that, the queen stood up and raised her glass,
"A toast! On the return of my son! And the human that made this possible!"

As the Masar around the table cheered with raised mugs, Grinko raised his mug to the queen, his mother, prompting her to lower her mug with a gentle, motherly smile and meet his in midair,
"Vovoy, mother!"

It was then when one of the Masar slammed down his mug. This caused the other Masar to arch their brows,
"Is there something the matter, Tranjo?"

"We are here to celebrate the reunion of the queen and her son! Don't spoil it for the rest of us!"

Yet Sheeris looked up to Tranjo,
"No... If he is bothered by something, I want to hear what it is. Let him speak."

Growling frustrated, Tranjo looked up from his mug.
"You know exactly what the matter is, my brethren!" looking at the others, he bared his fangs, "This land here is paradise! Tender meat is walking here under our very eyes and we only have to reach out for it!"

Tyler wanted to stand up, but Grinko held him back, underlining the importance of staying put by using his claws against Tyler's chest as his paw pressed against it. 'He sure seems to be worried about me if he uses his claws against me.'

Queen Sheeris, however, remained calm and collected.
"Tranjo, head of clan Tirgo... I am sure you are aware of the circumstance that we are guests here in this country and our honor dictates that we as guests were served and fed with good meat already. The dishes on these my tables here give proof to that. We are here to hear about the danger lurking deep in the southeast. A battle is rising on the horizon and glory and honor awai-"

Now his paw slammed down on the table,
"To Gariksh with that! We are Masar, not domesticated pets! We are not fed for being obedient, we hunt for our prey! And you as our queen should leave us this freedom! Yet there you are, OBEYING TO AN ALICORN LIKE A COWARD!!!"

In an instant, Sheeris jumped up and leaped at Tranjo within split seconds. With a slash, the queen sliced the throat of the surprised Tranjo with her razor-sharp claws and the Masar tumbled backwards and fell to the ground. As she slowly walked back over the table, back to her seat, her Masar tail gently swung back and forth and her hips swung in a feminine way while the other Masar growled in discomposure. A Masar had been executed and they demanded justification.

While Tyler sat there and observed in silence, he noticed that Grinko's paw was shaking. 'How strong is this queen that all of them simply accept-'

His train of thought was interrupted when Sheeris sighed and leaned back,
"As your queen I encourage you from time to time and always in a respectful manner to question my logic. If you're unconvinced a particular plan of action I've decided is the wisest tell me so, but allow me to convince you and I promise you right here and now: No subject will ever be taboo!" A wide sly grin formed on her lips. "Except of course the subject we were just 'discussing'." The sly grin now withered and transformed into a face of displeasure. "The price you pay for questioning my leadership and honor as your queen is: I collect your ugly head." Bearing her fangs, the queen now pointed her bloody claws at the dead Masar. "Just like this dishonorable meat bag there..."

It was then when her eyes sprung wide open and her voice was raised,
"Now if any of you sons of bitches GOT ANY MORE WILD IDEAS OF ATTACKING OUR HOSTS, NOW IS THE RIGHT TIME!!!" While looking directly into her eyes, Tyler took a gulp and looked down. It certainly reminded him of Fluttershy, yet it was different. And even if she didn't look at him directly, it was visible on the faces of the Masar that this stare of hers was of similar effect to Fluttershy's, even when its origin was different.

The remaining twelve tribe leader and and their advisers gulped and remained silent, prompting the queen to calm down again and her eyes closed again. Once more, her calm and gentle expression returned,
"I didn't think so..." Shortly after, a female Masar servant brought the queen a towel and a bowl of water and the queen cleaned her claws, rinsing the blood from her paws. Yet without turning around, she rose her voice once more. "Adviser Maruji!"

The young adviser stood attention in an instant,
"My queen!"

After using the towel on her soft paws, she looked over to the young Masar and nodded with a gentle smile,
"You served Tranjo long and good as adviser... He is without heir, so until we return to Moranji, you shall speak for the tribe of Tirgo! Do your tribe proud and don't repeat the same follies as your predecessor." With that the queen left the dining hall. Obviously her mood had been fouled by the execution she had to perform.

* * * * *

As the hours passed, mother and son spend their time to review the last months of his absence from the Masar nation. This, however, escalated rather quickly at the mention of Fluttershy, which prompted the queen's voice to raise in an outburst with a loud "WHAT?!?" recollecting herself once more rather quickly, she closed her eyes to contain the last remnants of her anger,
"I can understand that you wear this amulet in order to please the locals and live in their midst... An honorable choice of you. But... My son, a pony mare is not a proper lair mate for you!"

Looking at her with a determined face, Grinko cocked his head,
"And who are you to decide for my heart?"

Turning her head over to him, she arched a brow,
"I am your mother, queen of all thirteen clans. Do you know what effort was put into the unification of our people?"

Gritting his teeth, Grinko nodded,
"Yes, I do know and your efforts and sacrifices earned our family honor and glory. It fills my heart with pride to be your son. But nonetheless... I love Fluttershy. No Masar will deter me from her."

Narrowing her eyes, the queen then looked at him,
"What about Kyra?" A cold shudder ran along Grinko's back at the mention of this name. "Yes... Your Masar fiance before you disappeared in the desert."

Grinko shook his head in disregard,
"Kyra is of no importance to me. You know I never loved her and that you alone tried to arrange this marriage."

"What about your 'lair mate'? Does she know about Kyra?"

Taking a deep breath, Grinko closed his eyes and dropped the bomb,
"No and it doesn't matter anymore. We've already performed the Giriksho."

In an instant, a hard and unforgiving glare came from his mother and stabbed right through him as her paw slapped him,
"You... royal Masar blood... violating our bloodline with the engagement with the filthy blood of prey. How could you... HOW COULD YOU?!? SHE IS PREY! EVEN IF THEY ARE OUR ALLIES RIGHT NOW!!!" Gritting her teeth in anger, the queen now tried her best to tame her rage. "I should kill her on the spot if it weren't for our honor and our relationship with our hosts... But that would only drive you into another desert..." Shaking her head, her voice now once more became gentle and calm. "My one and only son... My best protege... and yet my greatest disappointment. But don't worry... Whatever happened in that desert altered your mind. Once we return home, my shamans will cleanse your mind of all this nonsense and you will come to your senses."

While heading for the door, his eyes shot over to his mother,
"I will not! You cannot force me into this marriage just for political gain!"

But just as he opened the door, the queen then gave him an unforgiving glare,
"Grinko! You will come back home with me or you will lose your right to the throne. And you and all your abominations of children with this pony mare will never be welcomed in Moranji."

Coming to a halt, Grinko then closed his eyes, silent anger filled his mind,
"I will sleep this over."

Without looking back the queen answered,
"Of course, my son... Take your time and come to your senses..."

* * * * *

On the next day, the Harmony Rangers stood together with Twilight in the now empty Canterlot throne room as Grinko summoned them to tell them about his dire situation. At the end of the explanation, Twilight shook her head,
"She did what?"

Lowering his head, the Masar sighted,
"You know, she is correct in a way: I can't have Masar children with Fluttershy, only foals. Even you with Applejack were only able to beget a foal. The royal bloodline will end with me and the tribe of Mavros will wither away into insignificance."

"But what if we prove them otherwise?" All rangers now looked at Tyler. "Think of it, folks... What if we force them to accept this relationship? I mean Fluttershy's stare is similar to the queen's stare."

Grinko's eyes widened before he shook his head,
"Fluttershy being a Masar queen? Now you know I love and honor her, but there is no chance whatsoever for this to happen! And even if it were to happen, the constant assassination attempts... No, this is by far not the life I wish her to live."

Rubbing his chin, Sam nodded in thought,
"So... until we come up with something, we only need their approval of Fluttershy as your lair mate to buy us some time?"

The Masar nodded in thought,
"I guess so. But this will only go by force. I would have to challenge my mother openly to accept Fluttershy as my lair mate and back it up with enough power to-"

"A dream that will be crushed in the first place!" his mother rudely interrupted him as she entered the throne room with another Masar female. Her slender, yet well trained body showed that she, like the queen, was in peak condition of health and her soft and clean fur showed that she was of high status. The white mane of hers whirled ever so gently each time she turned her head.

Queen Sheeris then continued,
"No Masar is allowed to fight royalty if he doesn't wish to kill and take the place. Only vassals of royalty may decide whosoever is in the wrong..." the queen now continued as they stood before Grinko, Twilight and the Rangers, "...speaking of which... I'd like to introduce Kyra, daughter of Kajirra to you..."

Kyra bowed before Grinko and gave him a smile while resting at the queen's side. Grinko, however, only answered with a nod and didn't exchange any feelings with her. Twilight watched the both of them. While Kyra hasn't completely fallen for Grinko, it showed that she had sympathies for him, yet not for his situation. Her looks, movements and her behavior...

Well Twilight didn't know much about the differences between ponies and Masar, but this she knew from experience in Canterlot. That Masar female expected to be engaged and married to her proper mate, accepting it with ease. For Kyra this seemed nothing like a matter of love, but a matter of status, her chance to show her own worth. But maybe Twilight was wrong all along as well.

However, her train of thought was interrupted as Rachel spoke up,
"You mean if Grinko sends in fighters against you and wins, even you, the queen, would be proven wrong?"

Queen Sheeris gave this a brief nod,
"That is correct, Ranger Higgins. Maybe this whole idea of might makes right seems brutish to you, but the fittest will be the one who will lead the species. That is how our clan of Mavros came to power and united the clans under our banner."

When the queen ended, Kyra then began to talk. Like the queen, she had a very melodious voice, not as growling and deep as Grinko had,
"So that you know, the banner of Mavros stands for strength and integrity. Even more reason why this charade of a pony mare being the lair mate of a Masar prince will never work. However, it is correct that you are allowed to challenge your mother with your own fighters, Grinko. But I wished you would forget about this stupid idea and perform the Giriksho with me."

The queen now scoffed,
"Also: Who would fight for him? These ponies here in Equestria? Ha! They are prey to my warriors, no more."

It was then when Tyler looked determined at the queen,
"We will! We humans are of similar shape to Masars, so it fits that we fight against you."

Kyra's eyes now went wide before she narrowed them to bare her fangs at Tyler,
"You have no authority to decide that!"

But the queen's claws rose up to hold the Masar female back,
"I find a liking in this idea... Grinko? Do you agree on a tournament? Your human fighters against four of my shaman fighters?"

Gritting his teeth, Grinko nodded,
"I agree. A knockout tournament? The Masar way?"

With the fire of anticipation in her eyes, Queen Sheeris nodded with a grin,
"Yes... Single elimination, winner chooses next opponent. I say let's have the tournament tomorrow."

And while the queen and Kyra left the throne room again, Grinko shook his head,
"You better not underestimate the shamans of my mother... They have magic unlike your pony friends.

Rachel held her forehead as she shook her head as well,
"A few hours of preparation... Jones, isn't this a bit on short notice?"

"Maybe... But in war we have to adjust even faster. I will have a talk with Celestia. We need to get Flynn out of his arrest for this tournament..."

* * * * *

In the evening hours it knocked on Fluttershy's chamber door. Since every one of her friends would simply enter after this, Fluttershy was sure that this must have been somepony not familiar with her. Upon her opening the door, Kyra stood in front of her and for a short time, she glared down to the timid Pegasus. This glare, however, ceased within seconds and she gently bowed her head,
"May I enter?"

Nodding, Fluttershy stepped aside,
"Uh... sure..."

While looking around in the room, Kyra arched a brow at several things, seemingly in wonder about pony customs,
"You don't have to fear me... Not only would harming you hurt my intentions, it would cost me honor as well. I am here to ask you to talk some sense into Grinko."

Fluttershy's ears stood up in an instant,
"What do you mean?"

The Masar female looked over to the Pegasus mare, giving her an inspecting look,
"He has his duties in Moranji. As heir to the throne of Mavros, he must beget a Masar heir to continue the bloodline. Right now, his clan is the ruling one over the 13 clans of Moranji and it did well in the past by uniting our people into one kingdom. Something that hasn't been done in centuries. However, once his mother will grow old or die, Grinko will either have to take the throne himself or has to present an heir in his place, able to lead our clans. And if he decides to be with you here, far away from his people, neither will he be able to lead us nor will he have an heir suited to continue the bloodline."

"So you want me..."

"Yes, to persuade him to return home. I am his fiance to be in Moranji, Kyra, daughter of Kajirra, member of the clan of Torr'ka. With me, he will be able to beget a Masar child and continue the royal bloodline, what will keep our people strong as a kingdom. But if he will stay here on this course, the kingdom will break apart and the clans will return to their ways of everyone for himself."

Fluttershy looked down. That wasn't a result she wanted to be responsible for and Grinko would... That was when it occurred to her, Grinko already decided to stay here! Looking up to the Masar female, she took a gulp and went into stance,
"I am sorry, Kyra. But if Grinko made his decision, then I will accept this and support him! If he decides that he wants to stay with me, then that's how it is."

Kyra's eyes remained on Fluttershy and her facial expression became sober. The Pegasus read the wish to harm her for this decision. But the Masar female remained calm and collected,
"Is that so? Well then, In that case there is no reason to cancel the tournament. I am certain your friends will appreciate the bloodshed."

Looking up to her in a bit of anger, the timid Pegasus held her position,
"My friends fight for Grinko because he is not allowed to! This is a very kind thing to-"

With widened eyes Kyra now fought the urge to giggle away,
"Kind? Please... Everyone can see that you are bad company for Grinko. To think that he taints himself with playing with his own prey... You took what is rightfully mine and effeminate Grinko! To think that he performed the Giriksho with you... Look at it! Your rump is untouched by him, unmarked! You should have his claw-marks carved deep into your coat, THAT would have been proper testimony that you are his lair mate. You don't even know that, do you? You don't know a thing about our culture and yet yearn to be with him, how ridiculous!"

It was in this moment when Tyler entered the room. His eyes looked at Fluttershy before they darted to Kyra,
"I think you would do good to leave..."

Looking down to Fluttershy one more time, Kyra nodded,
"Yes, of course..." On the height of each other, both Kyra and Tyler glared into each others eyes.

After the Masar left the room, Tyler came over to the Pegasus mare,
"Did she try to harm you?"

Shaking her head, Fluttershy looked down,
"She said some ugly things though... Am I really bad influence for Grinko?"

Looking down to her in strictness, Tyler shook his head as well,
"Shut up, don't repeat that bullshit, Fluttershy! Grinko is with you because he loves you and because he decided to do so himself." Kneeling down to her, his palms rested on her cheeks and raised her face. "He cherishes you like his very own treasure, everyone of us can see it."

"But she's right. I didn't know that I have to have his claw-marks once we...we..." She stammered a bit, blushing as her eyes evaded Tyler.

Tyler nodded in thought before he smiled,
"Because he would never demand it from you. He would never make you cry. You are that important to him that he would even desert the customs of his people. What you two have is something wonderful and we Rangers won't let anyone simply destroy it. This is the reason why this tournament takes place. Now come... It will start in a few minutes..."

With that they left the room and went down the corridor. But after a short while Fluttershy went towards the corridor for spectators while Tyler went down the corridor for participants.

* * * * * *

On the way to her seat, Rainbow Dash intercepted Fluttershy and landed behind her,
"Fluttershy, wait!"

Closing her eyes shut, the yellow mare took a slight glimpse over her shoulder, the urge to avoid further contact visible in her eyes. In her voice was reluctance, not anger,
"What do you want?"

When Rainbow Dash caught up with her, the cerulean Pegasus looked down in shame,
"I... I just wanted to say sorry... I-I shouldn't have gone inside your shed. But once you and Grinko came over and entered, I kinda lost my nerve. I expected you two to be so mad at me that you would lose it, so I hid myself... I didn't mean to watch you two at it...

Shaking her head a bit, Fluttershy looked up to her friend,
"You overstepped a line you shouldn't have, Rainbow. You witnessed something that wasn't meant for your eyes!" Seeing the misery Rainbow now was in as the feeling of guilt dictated her to confront her friend prompted Fluttershy to close her eyes with a sigh. "You're really sorry?"

"Yeah, I don't want to lose you as a friend."

Folding her front hooves, the Element of Kindness then arched a brow,
"You promise never to come into my shed again?"

Looking up to her, Rainbow nodded frantically,
"Never! I promise! Pinkie Promise!"

Grinning a bit, the yellow Pegasus smiled a bit as she peeked over to Rainbow,
"Well... I don't know... You are lucky I didn't told Grinko about it... yet."

Waving her hooves in a panic, Rainbow shook her head,
"Don't do that! Not only does that guy have a short fuse, he also has claws and fangs! And a pecker that big is just frightening..."

Giving a deep sigh, Fluttershy looked at her cerulean friend,
"I guess it wouldn't have come to this if I satisfied your curiosity by telling you guys a bit more about the shed, hm?" giving a silent smile and a nod, Rainbow agreed before the Element of Kindness continued, "Good... I forgive you... But if I ever catch you in my shed again, I'm going to tell him that you watched. And that you are intimidated by his... size." These last two sentences made Rainbow gulp.

* * * * *

Meanwhile Tyler and Luna were conversing on their way to the arena as the alicorn arched a brow to the question of her herd mate,
"How I would name a foal? Oh... I... I would probably go for something classical. Crescent Moon or something like that. But I would nickname her Woona."

Chuckling a bit, Tyler shook his head,
"Why Woona?"

Beaming, the dark alicorn winked up to him,
"It sounds adorable, don't thou agree? She would be a little Mini-Luna."

Tickling the ear of the princess, he grinned,
"Aha... So you hope for a girl?"

Closing her eyes, Luna gave the thought a smile,
"A filly to hold in my hooves never to let go..." when they stopped at the arena area, the Princess of the Night rested a hoof while looking at Tyler's chest. "Now then... If thou get chosen as an opponent, I wish thee good luck and don't hold back thy prowess. Tia and I will cheer for all four of thou, yet I will cheer the loudest for the one I hold dear."

Leaving Luna behind, Tyler then joined with the others. On one side of the arena, the human Harmony Rangers stood side by side in a line, facing their opponents. While Queen Sheeris and the two regal sisters were watching from a grandstand, the Masar were watching from one side while most of the Elements of Harmony and several Ranger ponies as well as some Wonderbolts and herd mates sat on the other side.

Looking over to Flynn from the corner of her eye Rachel harrumphed a bit,
"So Flynn... How is the cell block?"

Giving a smirk, Flynn kept looking ahead,
"Nice and comfy, you should try it."

On the side of the queens fighters, however, the four Masar consisted of different looking types of Masar. Among them was a huge Masar brute, surely two and a half meter tall. It was obvious that his fighting style would base on his sheer overwhelming strength.

The two female Masar were faces the humans already knew. The smaller teenage Masar girl they knew from the parade and Kyra. Both seemed well trained and Tyler expected both of them to fight with high agility and speed.

As the fourth fighter, a black panther-like Masar had a necklace of tiny little skulls around his neck, maybe little critters of Moranji. What his fighting tactic was was beyond Tyler. Maybe a well balanced fighting style with both strength and speed.

Stepping into the arena, the referee looked around as he began his speech,
"Welcome Ladies and Gentlecolts, your royal highnesses and Masar warriors! Welcome to this one and only tournament Ranger vs. Shaman! The rules of this tournament are very simple.

Due to the differences between Queen Sheeris and her son Prince Grinko, these two teams will face each other. The first two opponents will be predetermined by their teams, every further opponent will be chosen by the victor. The first team that loses four times has lost. However, to make it short, here are some of the basic rules:

Rule Number 1: There will be no weapons in a fight.
Rule Number 2: Only two opponents at a time.
Rule Number 3: Victory is achieved either by Knockout, surrender or the opponent leaving the arena."

Looking up to the princesses, the referee nodded,
"One reminder to all fighters, though: On behalf on relations between our two nations, Princess Celestia insists that no fighter kills another one."

With that the stadium cheered, each side for its champions. Among the ponies, however, was one particular that was not as cheerful as the rest of them. Cloaked up to the muzzle, this particular pony had rather stiff movement and seemed to rather stand than to sit down. And even then, the steps it took sounded more metallic than usual. Staring silently at the arena, a blue glow came from one eye socket. A blue HUD flashed for a brief moment until the surrounding area was visible once again.

Initiating data collection...
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While the Masar now sent in the youngest one, the teenage girl into the arena, the Rangers decided for Flynn to make the start,
"You go and show us what you can do, Flynn." Tyler stated.

Climbing up the arena, Flynn shrugged,
"You know me... It will be over quickly..."

Just as the fight started, there was a distinct cloud of dust emanated from the ground Flynn was standing on while Nerys approached him with with fast steps. But when she punched to hit him, the punch went directly through him without doing him any harm. Confused that her punch had no effect whatsoever on him, she punched again, this time with her claws wide open. Yet once more her hands went directly through Flynn as if he wouldn't even be there,
“What are you? A ghost?!?”

With that her claws began to glow red hot and fire began to cover her arms. Unimpressed and with a determined face, he continued approaching her, prompting her to back away with each step he made. Trying to punch and kick him, she gritted her teeth more and more as she lost more and more ground.

And while the ponies simply looked at the scene not knowing how to react to it, the princesses already cheered. With their alicorn eyes they saw right through it. Flynn evaded the attacks and returned into walking position that quickly, that it wasn't even perceivable by mortal eyes. But their cheers prompted their subjects to realize that one of the Rangers actually was about to win.

On the blue HUD, however, the circles tried to get a lock on Flynn, but failed to do so.

Unable to lock on target
Downloading needed protocols
Processing...
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At the edge of the arena, Nerys gritted her teeth and stormed at Flynn, her claws glowing red hot now,
"Not with me, Firlak!" Ripping some of his clothing to shreds, she grew more confident again and kept on attacking. More and more she drove Flynn back until he stood at the edge of the arena, what brought a smile to her face. "This fight is over!"

But just as she was out to toss him out of the fighting zone, Flynn was suddenly beside her and looked at her with a calm voice as her eyes widened and turned to him,
"Indeed..."

After a strong pat on the back, the young Masar whirled around, tried to get a hold of Flynn to stay in the arena, but it was too late. With an audible sound she slumped to the ground with her bottom, prompting the referee to raise a hoof,
"Nerys has left the arena and thus has lost the fight! Flynn Marshall is the victor!"

Target victorious through excessive speed
Uploading data...
Processing...
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unable to determine exact value
Estimated magical potential: ~75.924 Marics

A Masar tried to help the young female up, but Nerys tossed him aside, growling in frustration. Coming to the side of her, she looked up to Kyra,
"Kyra... Sis, I-"

But her older sister cut her off,
"Shut up, little sister! You always are too impulsive, taking things lightly. As expected from a fire shaman... Now... Let me show you how an air shaman does things..." With this she went to the edge of the arena and yelled over to Flynn. "Not bad... Or was it just luck? Let's see how you do against a real fighter!"

While Flynn stood at the edge near his fellow Rangers, he and the rest of them looked over to Kyra before Grinko looked up to him,
"Don't take this lightly just because you defeated one of them. They will probably adjust to your speed right now. Nerys was Kyra's younger sibling. Out of courtesy it would be best if you choose Kyra as next opponent. That would grant her the chance to reclaim her sister's honor. But be careful. She's determined to win!"

"Adjust to my speed, huh? Yeah... not gonna happen." Flynn flatly stated as he pointed at Kyra.

Now the voice of the referee became audible in the stadium again,
"Flynn Marshall has chosen Kyra to be his next opponent. This might become a very interesting fight since Kyra has a personal gain from this tournament."

Facing Flynn, Kyra arched a brow,
"I didn't saw you before with the other Rangers... Who are you?"

Nodding a bit, Flynn smirked
"Just a friend helping out a friend. And more you don't need to know..."

With that Kyra nodded and stormed at Flynn, delivering the first kick. Like before, the attack went directly through Flynn and he shook his head,
“Listen, Sweetie... As much as I love to do all that...”

But as she began to smirk, a cut appeared in Flynn's clothing and skin, prompting his smile to wither,
“What's the matter, human? Rethinking your strategy?”

Grinko shook his head, as Kyra continued with the attacks and Flynn now slowly backed away,
"Just like I thought. This isn't like the fight with Nerys. Flynn may be very fast, but Kyra isn't just using her claws and fangs... She bends the air around her attacks as well, sensing the air movement in the arena. Flynn is in trouble.”

While they exchanged more and more punches and kicks, both Kyra and Flynn began to take the fight personal, prompting both to give it their best. But even when Flynn blocked her attacks with success, the air surrounding her paws and legs delivered a cut each time. 'Alright... Simply tossing her out of the arena won't work this time. Better think of something...' With that he delivered a hard and especially fast kick into her ribs, causing her to slide away and holding her chest in pain while gasping for air.

Lowering his defenses, he gave Kyra a doubting look and expected her surrender, but the Masar female growled at this before she yelled over to him,
"No! We're not done yet! You haven't seen anything! Get ready!" Flynn gave her a confirming nod and went into stance once more while Kyra gritted her teeth. 'He's very fast. I can see why Nerys was confused. But you won't defeat me... You have one major weak-point and that will be your downfall.'

Taking in her breath, Kyra stormed at Flynn once more and let a storm of punches rain upon him. Blocking them all with a series of cuts on his arms, Flynn concentrated more on her arms and paws, what prompted Kyra to grin in the fistfight. It was time to let the trap spring.

Then, with a sudden boost of wind behind it, her next kick tossed him three meters high into the air, just before she jumped up as well. Looking up, Grinko gritted his teeth,
"Watch out!!!" But already the air shaman was on Flynn's height and delivered a kick into his torso, sending him straight out of the arena.

The referee's judgment was swift and decisive,
"Flynn Marshall is outside of the arena and thus has lost the fight! Kyra is the victor in this fight!"

Coming down to Flynn, Kyra helped him up,
"I must admit your speed is extraordinary, but in the air, your fast movement is worth nothing. All it needed was two strong kicks and you were out.”

Nodding, Flynn looked into her face,
“I see... thanks for pointing that out to me. I will have to work on that.”

And while Flynn returned to the others, Kyra looked at the remaining Rangers,
"Let's see... You there! The female! I choose you..."

Coming into the ring, Rachel then tossed her weapons out of the arena,
"I rest my usual weapons here beyond the arena. Since we're both female, I can hope on your fairness?"

Bowing her head slightly, Kyra agreed,
"Very well... I shall not use my claws and fangs to injure your body or face. I give you the word of a Masar air shaman."

Nodding, both opponents then approached each other, the stances wary and careful,
“So, since we both have only out arms and legs, you won't use these air powers of yours?” Rachel asked with a grin.

Arching a brow, Kyra smirked,
“Don't push your luck, sweetie... I already gave my word not to carve you up that much, but punches will come!”

With that she tried to deliver a punch, but Rachel evaded and countered with a throw, prompting Kyra to fly through the air. But the Masar female landed on her feet, glaring at Rachel. A few more attempts later, Kyra had enough about her attacks being countered and delivered a strong kick. But Rachel blocked the kick with her arm before she delivered a punch into Kyra's stomach.

Sliding back a few meters, the Masar female narrowed her eyes with an angered growl,
"Damn you!"

Smirking a bit, Rachel danced a bit on her feet,
"What's the matter, kitty? Thought I would be done so easily?"

While Twilight was casting some healing magic into Flynn, he shook his head with a smirk,
"Well, this comes to no surprise, since Rachel holds an MCMAP Black Belt 1st Degree. Plus, she's used to brawls."

Tyler nodded as he looked into the arena,
"It seems Kyra deemed her an easier fight..."

Grinko, however, shook his head,
"Only a short drawback... Rachel lacks her guns and doesn't have any magic on her own... Kyra chose her for an easy win and despite Rachel being tougher as on first glance, Kyra will stand out victorious. She was only going easy to feel the water."

Tyler wanted to say something, but Kyra rose up before he had the chance to do so,
"You fight good... But I've waited too long and traveled too far to go home empty handed! So even though I enjoyed seeing your techniques... This match is over now..."

Arching a brow, Rachel couldn't help but grin.
"Is that so in that case come at m-"

In the next moment, Kyra's body had moved over to Rachel faster as the Marine could have realized and buried her fist deep into her stomach. Looking her into the face from the side, Kyra's voice was calm and very quiet,
"If you were a shaman like me, I might have had no chance against your techniques. But you are the one outclassed here. Fret not, you fought good and with honor and for that I'll grant you the knockout..."

Slowly Rachel went down and was counted out, prompting the referee pony to raise his hoof,
"Rachel Higgins is K.O. and thus has lost the fight! Kyra is the victor in this fight!"

While Rachel was carried to the Rangers by some earth ponies,Sam and Tyler looked at each other and exchanged nods. Both knew that whoever was chosen next would probably go through a lot.

That's when Kyra pointed at Sam,
"You there! The walking mountain of muscle! I want to fight you next..."

Both Sam and Tyler looked at each other, both were actually well trained. And when they looked at Kyra again, both were pointing their fingers at themselves.

This prompted Kyra to shake her head,
"No! Not you! You! The dark one!"

Approaching the arena, Sam growled,
"I'll give you a dark one, you stupid bitch..."he then mumbled under his breath.

Once they were both in the arena, Kyra smirked and prepared her claws,
“This fight will be over rather quickly.”

Sam's right eye twitched a bit,
“Don't be so sure about that...”

But just when the fight started, the Masar female charged directly at him like a fury and ran her claws over his upper body. Screaming up in pain, Sam then delivered a powerful blow into her rips, prompting her to withdraw.

Gasping for air, he shook his head to become clear again, seconds before she leaped onto him from behind, clawing at his back before ramming her fangs deep into his shoulder.

“HiaaaAAARGH!!! GET THE HELL AWAY, YOU BITCH!!!" Slamming his fists into her face, Sam then tried to shake her off but to no avail. Her fangs only dug deeper into his shoulder. While the ponies booed at this, the Masar cheered wildly.

It was then when an idea sparked in Sam's head,
“So you want to do this the extra hard way, huh? I can oblige!" With that he took hold of her mane and tail and shoved her fangs deep into his flesh as his grip over her tail tightened. "Bitch, you're toast!"

Arching a brow in wonder was the only thing Kyra was able to do before Sam unleashed an attack of high voltage through her entire body, causing her to roar in pain as the electricity filled her mouth. She had to let go or this would kill her. Falling off limb, she tried to get up again, but was unable to do more than some slow and short movements. The stench of smoking fur filled the stadium.

Once more the referee announced the outcome of the match,
"Kyra is K.O. and thus has lost the fight! Sam O'Donnell is the victor in this fight!"

Clenching his teeth, Sam held still as Twilight performed healing magic on him to close his wounds several minutes later,
"She had one hell of a bite."

Coming to his side, Lyra and Pinkie looked worried at the sight of the deep wounds,
"Will he be OK, Twilight?"

Shaking her head, Twilight gave the unicorn a smile,
"Don't worry, Lyra... It would be worse if she had bitten him in the neck than in the shoulder. These Masar know what they are doing. Even without her winning you were weakened by her for the next round."

Grinko nodded and looked over to the two remaining opponents,
"Maraffo is from the clan of Tirgo... Stone. Defeating him will require lots of strength and wits. But you're already exhausted. I would go for Threythos, even though I know next to nothing about the Clan of Morhi. Great thinkers and strategists, but other than that, I can give you nothing..."

Nodding, Sam faced the two remaining Masar once Twilight gave her approval,
"I will face Threythos next."

Entering the arena once more, Sam looked at his opponent,
“So... I think you know by now that biting at me won't do you any good. But let's be make this worthwhile, shall we?”

The black Masar only arched a brow and smirked,
“Worthwhile... I like your approach to this, human. Making this worthwhile would mean to make the fight enjoyable. But believe me, I won't lay a claw upon you. You will surrender..." With that the Masar began floating in midair

Blinking twice, Sam arched a brow in wonder,
"What? Levitation without magic? Now that's something you don't see every day..."

Grinko, however, raised his voice in a hurry.
"So the rumors are true... the Clan of Mohi has psychics among them... Sam!!! Watch out!!!"

Sam heard the Masar's call, but it already was too late. Already he felt his muscles cramping and going heavy. Forcing himself to move, he took a step only to fall to his knees,
"What the hell?!?"

As the eyes of the psychic began to glow yellow, his muscles began to tense as if he was holding down Sam with his own body,
"You will surrender, there is no point in resisting! The more you resist to my will, the more I will subdue you!"

With adamant will did the psychic shaman glare down to the human and Sam felt his muscles grow heavier with each passing second. Gritting his teeth, he yelled over to Threythos,
"Hey! Give me a fighting chance, OK?"

Rachel shot a glare over to the referee pony,
"What the hell? Hey! Referee! This isn't a proper fight! There is no way to block such a fighting style!"

But the referee simply shrugged,
"No weapons are used, I'll allow it!"

Tyler gritted his teeth as Sam was subdued more and more by his own strength,
"That psychic bastard..." Lightning shot over his arms as anger filled his mind.

It was in this moment when Threythos blinked and his mental grip over Sam was released in an instant,
"A...a power... but where? Emanating from a... a male!!!"

As he whirled around to make out the origin of this strange new power, he looked at Tyler, gasped and took a step back. There were two blurry entities right behind the human, lurking in the subconscious back of the mind, staring at him. Yet Tyler seemed unaware of it as he glared at Treythos. And yet the aura of willpower literally oozed from him. Gritting his teeth, the Masar psychic looked around. These humans, the ponies, griffins and the royals... Couldn't they see these two shadows? Couldn't they feel this immense urge to fight? They were right in front of everyone! This aura was bright as the sun.

It was this abnormal behavior that prompted the strange pony in the audience to look around. A scanning pattern went over the HUD as the crowd was monitored.

Anomaly reported by subject
Scanning for origin
Processing...
...
...
...
Negative

But while Threythos wondered in terror, Sam leaped at him from behind and nailed him down. Just as he was out to haul off to beat the crap out of Threythos, the Masar looked up and frantically shook his head,
"You win!"

Now Sam was surprised, but grabbed the throat of the Masar,
Huh? Hey! What is with you, you goddamn sack of fleas?!?"

"I can't fight right now, there's another spirit around blinding my concentration..."

Shaking his head in confusion, Sam arched a brow,
"Spirit? What are you babbling about?"

“I don't expect you to understand. The fight is over!”

With this the referee raised his hoof,
"Threythos has surrendered and thus lost the fight! Sam O'Donnell is the victor!”

Kneeling before his queen a couple of minutes later, the Masar psychic bowed his head in shame,
"I won't apologize for my defeat, but I had my reasons..."

Looking down to him with a strict glare, Queen Sheeris growled in slight disgust.
"Name them to me! And for your sake I hope they are good..."

Looking up to his queen, his eyes pleaded for understanding while pointing at Tyler,
"Have you ever felt the fighting spirit of another?"

The queen's eyes narrowed and she looked up to Tyler as she tried to understand. Then, after opening her eyes completely just for a second, the short glimpse of an aura was around Tyler. Whatever it was Threythos had seen, it had to be something that was situational. She then nodded and looked down to the psychic "I see... Your fine senses couldn't ignore this I guess. In that case, you are forgiven..."

As he returned to the other Masar, the queen once more took seat at the side of Celestia,
"I am most curious about this adviser of yours, Princess Celestia... IF someone so focused as Treythos can be brought out of concentration, then it must be more behind this 'human'. However, these fighters of yours won't overcome my last champion... Maraffo will make an impenetrable fortress for them."

Facing the last remaining Masar fighter, Sam gulped,
“Quite a big guy, huh? Impressive display...”

But the Masar simply growled,
“Flattering me won't help you in this fight, human! You look like a fighter of great strength among these other humans... Come on, I dare you! Give me your best shot!”

Looking a bit surprised at how Maraffo opened his defenses, Sam shook his head,
“Is this a joke?”

“No, this is not a joke. But it's also not a trap if you think that. I grant you the first hit, friend...”

Sam didn't like this, it was too easy, too convenient. But nonetheless the match had to continue. And since these Masar had a reputation of honor to maintain, there was the highly likely chance that this Masar meant, what he said. Hauling off, he delivered a punch, able to shatter several ribs. But Maraffo didn't even flinch.

Looking down to Sam the hefty Masar smirked,
"That's all? Try harder." Sam's eyes widened, but then he nodded and delivered several punches, even supporting them with the electric power he had in store. But still the Masar before him didn't even flinch. At the last punch Maraffo intercepted Sam's fist and took it into his grasp. "Let me show you how it's done..." Mere seconds after that, the Masar's paw punched deep into Sam's stomach, causing him to gasp with wide eyes.

Lyra rested her hooves at the edge of the arena,
"SAM!!!"

Approaching Sam, Maraffo nodded with a smile,
"You are strong, no doubt... but my body is able to withstand even the ramming body of a Rhokastadon. And these weight as much as ten Masar. Since you have pony females cheering for you..." He then grabbed Sam by the collar and raised him up. "...I promise you, I won't dishonor you by tossing you out of the arena... Besides... You are just what I need to get that last one of you humans really angry..."

Sam gritted his teeth and delivered several punches directly into Maraffo's face, but the stone-like giant simply smiled, before his forehead rammed into Sam's, knocking him out. Going down to the ground, the human simply lied there while Lyra's scream filled the stadium.

Looking over to the referee, Maraffo nodded,
"You can count, but don't count on him standing up so soon. I was gentle, he will make it."

Tyler's skin was sizzling with electric bolts and Rachel knew that he was more than just pissed. When Threythos looked at Tyler once more, one of the blurry entities became more concise. It was a dark figure and the eyes were glowing in dark blue tone. Fear forced the psychic to turn his eyes away and Kyra patted his shoulder,
"What do you see?"

Shaking his head, Threythos closed his eyes,
"Whatever this human is... The final fight will be something very powerful. I couldn't bear to fight this human. And you wouldn't know how to deal with him."

Looking over to Tyler, Kyra arched a brow, before her eyes went over to Maraffo,
"What about Maraffo?"

Looking up again, Threythos gulped,
"He is strong and does have a fighting chance. Maybe he can make it. Maybe it would be wiser to just call it a day. I know that it is our duty to fight for the queen... But I fear that this is an opponent we know too little about."

Kyra shook her head,
"Now you're crazy! He's just a human like the others."

But Threythos persisted,
"None of them was exactly like the others! They are individual fighters. They don't seem to follow the same teachings as we seem to do. If that woman wouldn't have refused to use her weapons against you, maybe things would have been different in that fight."

Looking over to Rachel, Kyra remained silent for a few moments before she replied,
"That's possible... Maybe they excel in other areas of fighting, but then they shouldn't partake in such a tournament." But after exchanging some glances with the Masar psychic, she rethought these last words. Come to think of it, her personal pride wouldn't have her miss such an opportunity either.

Threythos then nodded over to Tyler,
"Well you do love Grinko... And as the prince and son of the queen, he can fight some opponents before he is defeated. Now... Whatever took him in the desert... This man was able to overcome it and free the prince. Which makes this human a danger like any member of the royal bloodline."

But as Sam was carried to Lyra and Pinkie, who took care of him immediately and Tyler approached the arena, clouds began to gather in the skies. Elise and Spitfire looked over to Rainbow and Scootaloo,
“Rainbow? Didn’t the weather patrol clear the sky earlier today?”

Rainbow shook her head in wonder,
“These aren’t natural equestrian clouds. They are moving on their own...” She then looked down to Tyler. As soon as he jumped and landed in the arena, a lightning strike hit the center of the arena like punctuating Tyler’s arrival. That was when Rainbow was certain. “T-Man’s the reason for these storm clouds! Which means he must be rather pissed right now”

The voice of the referee then echoed through the stadium once more as the wind began to become stronger,
"Due to the large magic capability of Ranger Tyler he declared to use no permanent force field spells to keep his opponent at bay."

While facing each other, Maraffo inspected Tyler with doubtful looks,
"So you are the last of the human rangers, are you?"

"And you the last shaman of the queen... So?"

Maraffo then began to grin,
"I hope to see glory and honor in this battle. Do not disappoint me in this fight!"

Tyler's eyes narrowed in anger as small lightning surrounded his body,
"Believe me I will make sure you leave this arena flying... You haven't done this for nothing..."

“I wanted you to be properly motivated... It was nothing personal, he was just the last opponent before you. So if you hold a grudge, then let us fight!” And with that the Masar began running.

With great speed Maraffo ran around Tyler, who followed the hefty Masar with his eyes. 'Always near the edge of the arena... He won’t attack from behind…' Tyler thought. 'He will attack from the side or from the front.' Grinko had told him that under no circumstances an honorable Masar would attack from behind in a one on one duel. So a Masar fighting in the name of the royal family was bound to fight honorable. When Maraffo ran out of Tyler's view, Tyler held still and slowly turned his head from the right to the left. And indeed, the choice of attacking from behind didn't occur to the Masar.

But once directly to Tyler's left side, Maraffo approached with a giant leap from the side, prompting Tyler to evade and a fierce battle broke loose between the two opponents. While the powerful blows of the Masar were either evaded or blocked by Tyler, it was rather difficult for him as well to land a good hit. As they fought, the scanning proceeded and resulted in massive amounts of data. Several muscles of Tyler's body were highlighted and brought up in a small frame for further analyzing before they made way for the next part of his body to be analyzed.

Protocols register rising Maric values
Dermal layers: Maric values rising
Muscle density: Values rising
Processing...
...
...
...
Insufficient data
No conclusion possible

Once it came up to Maraffo, the data spat out rather different results, causing lesser confusion.

Protocols register inconsistent amounts of Maric values
Dermal layers: Maric values inconsistent
Muscle density: Values at peak
Processing...
...
...
...
Parts facing the opponent show vast amounts of Maric values and high density
Prognosis to recreate results: Not possible, insufficient data

Ramming his fist deep into the arena ground, Maraffo then created a stone pillar that catapulted Tyler high into the air before he jumped up to get to him. Flynn gritted his teeth,
“The technique that got me!”

But before Maraffo could deliver an attack on him, Tyler unleashed one of the flash spells he got from Trixie, blinding the Masar. And while Tyler floated a bit over the ground before he landed, Maraffo slammed into the ground on all fours, enraged and excited over this fight.

After all these attacks, both opponents halted for a short while, recollecting their breaths. It was then when Tyler recognized it. The Masar only needed his hands to alter the stone or earth around him. When Maraffo opened his eyes wide, Tyler jumped forward as two giant stone hands slammed together to clap together. Rolling forward, the human looked at the hands, who now crumbled apart.

In shock, he looked forward again, as Maraffo charged at him and hit him, resulting in a bloody wound on Tyler's chest. Gasping for air, Tyler held his chest in pain as he slithered over the arena ground. Holding at the edge lying sideways, he looked down to the ground mere inches away.

Behind Tyler, Maraffo jumped up for a high leap to kick his human opponent out of the arena. From that angle, however, the exposed spine of Tyler might end broken. But just as he was about to reach Tyler and deliver the hit, the human turned around and a magical attack prompted the Masar to fly backwards with a furious roar. Landing on his back near the other edge of the arena, his chest now was bloody as well.

Taking the shirt into his grasp with one hand, Tyler now ripped the clothing of his upper body to shreds, showing the bare skin. And while the audience cheered, each race for its own reasons, the hefty Masar stood up again.

Tyler only shook his head as to warn Maraffo while tiny little lightning bolts began dancing around his body. There even was a lightning jumping from his ear to his shoulder and between some of his hairs. The smell of static filled the air in the stadium.

But Maraffo was blinded with rage and pride. He wouldn't lose a fight that easily. First taking a few steps, the Masar then charged directly at Tyler with an enraged roar. With a fierce roar of his own, Tyler then supercharged, causing his body to shine bright.

When Threythos gazed into the bright light, he could see the two blurry shadows next to Tyler almost clearly. Somehow, in this moment of fighting spirit against an enemy much stronger, these beings almost crossed over into existence. The willpower emanating from Tyler was breathtaking, choking.

The video feed witnessed through the monitors scanned Tyler’s entire body. Several rows of numbers and calculations flooded the screen as the lens showed the shining white body before the HUD spat out a result:

ESTIMATED MAGICAL POTENTIAL: 453,965 MARICS
01000011 01111001 01100010
01100101 01110010 00100000
01110101 01101110 01101001
01110100 00100000 01010011
01100011 01101111 01110101
01110100 00100000 01000101
01101101 01100101 01110010
01100111 01100101 01101110
01100011 01111001 00100000
01010010 01100101 01110000
01101111 01110010 01110100

01010010 01100101 01100011 01101111 01101101 01101101 01100101 01101110 01100100 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01000101 01101110 01100001 01100010 01101100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01000101 01101101 01100101 01110010 01100111 01100101 01101110 01100011 01111001 00100000 01010000 01101111 01110111 01100101 01110010 01110101 01110000 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01110100 01101111 01100011 01101111 01101100 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110101 01110000 01100100 01100001 01110100 01100101 00100000 01000011 01111001 01100010 01100101 01110010 01110000 01101111 01101110 01111001 00100000 01001101 01100001 01101001 01101110 00100000 01000011 01101111 01101110 01110100 01110010 01101111 01101100 00100000 01110101 01101110 01101001 01110100

Just as the Masar leaped at Tyler, the human unleashed his magic and bathed the stadium in bright light. When the light ceased, the audience saw that Maraffo was slammed outside the arena and thus had lost the fight.

After blinking a bit, the referee raised his hoof,
“And this marks the final victory for the Harmony rangers!!!”

While Tyler now tended his wounds with some healing magic, Grinko and his mother approached the arena. The queen arched a brow at the sight of Tyler and inspected him,
“I see what it is what fascinates my son about you, Tyler Jones... Alright, by my honor I accept defeat and you and your... 'lair mate' can do whatever you want...” When Fluttershy approached the trio, the queen glared down to her. “I'm sure you will make my son happy, but for our people begin hard times as I have to get yet another heir and raise him or her before I die. Maybe all of this could have been avoided if I killed you in the first place...”

Grinko and Tyler wanted to interfere, but now the yellow Pegasus seemed really enraged,
“You were considering killing me just to get your will? And what sort of mother are you for even thinking that? He's an adult Masar and has the right to decide who he's in love with! And I don't care if you are a queen! FOR ME, YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A BAD MOTHER AND MEANIE!!!"

Now, as Sheeris' eyes opened wide to stare at Fluttershy, the mare answered with a stare of her own. Tyler and Grinko held the other Rangers and Masar back while the other Elements of Harmony gazed in disbelief at Fluttershy. Shaking his head in slight fear, Tyler grinned,
"Unbelievable! Two massive stares colliding with one another! I never thought I would see the day!"

Nerys then stormed at the queen to help her out, but as soon as she was in Fluttershy's field of vision, the stare of the mare made her halt in position as it paralyzed her at once. In an outburst, Kyra tried to get into the arena as well, but was held back by Maraffo,
"NERYS!!! Let go of me, you stupid goon! My little sister needs me!"

"You can't help her by going there! You'll only get caught in this stare!" Maraffo then looked over to Threythos, "Hey, Threythos! You have some insight into the spiritual world, what do you see there in their fight?"

But Threythos shook his head in terror,
"Believe me, Maraffo... You don't want to know..." The spectacle taking place in the eyes of the Masar psychic was frightening him once more. Both the queen and the yellow Pegasus mare were surrounded by furious auras of sheer massive oppression, trying to top each other. Slowly, these auras grew bigger and bigger.

Grinko slowly backed away,
"We... we should probably get some cover... If they charge up their stares even more, no one can say what the backlash will do to the surroundings!"

Nodding in agreement, everyone went into cover behind some rocks as the Pegasus mare and Masar Queen simply stood there and had their mental fight.

Kyra then grabbed Grinko by the neck and pointed at Fluttershy,
"Okay, since when does prey have such a highly advanced shamanic ability? She is taking on the mentally strongest of us!"

Slapping her paw away, Grinko looked at her in mild anger,
"Well if any of you would have listened to me in the first place, you would have known that she is far more than mere prey! Her ability to make a full grown Masar cringe in fear if she has to shows that she is far more suited as a lair mate than any other Masar female!"

Scoffing into his face, Kyra shook her head,
"Ha! Yeah, but you can't have children with her!"

Tyler then looked over to Kyra while nodding to Applejack,
"I was able to beget a child with my mare here. It's a healthy foal.

Growling, Kyra shot Tyler a disapproving glare,
"Yeah, so what? The queen demands a Masar child to continue the royal bloodline! And that is something this mare is incapable of doing. Even if you can manage to beget a child with her, the child will be a pony!"

Now Luna approached the two groups and landed between them,
"That is all what all the fuss is about? A Masar child instead of a pony? Tis that easy to solve all this? If thou would have come to me with that in the first place, I could have worked something out. It will take some time though..."

Grinko then gave Princess Luna a surprised look,
"Is that... even possible?"

Luna, arching a brow, gave Grinko a sober and stern look in reply,
"Pray tell, fierce Grinko... Are thou doubting mine skill in researching new forms of transformation? I might be able to craft something for the two of thee that might help the situation."

Threythos shook his head as he pointed towards the arena,
"No need to worry anymore... They are both knocked out." Both Fluttershy and the queen had passed out from the sheer extent of exhaustion. Tyler and Grinko looked at each other and smirked. Seemingly both stares were equally strong.

* * * * *

Half an hour later the two female opponents came back to their senses and Sheeris held her head,
"A tie... A tie with prey..." the queen spoke as she shook it in disappointment, "I must be getting old..."

Looking over to the still unconscious Nerys, Princess Celestia shook her head,
"Nothing to be worried about. Your subjects were mind-blown that a pony mare was so strong willed that she had something shamanic able not only to withstand you, but to knock you out as well." Leaning in to the queen, Celestia lowered her voice. "If one could manage to let her bear a Masar child, such an ability would surely be of use for your bloodline, hm?"

Looking up to the Princess of the Sun, Queen Sheeris nodded,
"You do have a point there... Such a child, should it inherit her ability for these stares, could even become the next queen... that could even surpass me!" Standing up and coming over to Fluttershy, Queen Sheeris looked down to her. "I see my son chose with a wisdom beyond his years when he chose you as his lair mate. But if you want my blessing to this I want this one condition forced upon you two: I demand a Masar child from you two, preferably female."

Fluttershy and Grinko nodded at her before they looked at each other. Kyra gave the two of them a last glance before she bowed to them and followed the queen. Fluttershy then looked after her,
"She hoped to have your children as well. Maybe..."

But Grinko shook his head,
"No... She would only accept you in the pack if she would be the Alpha. She would never ever follow a pony mare, even if she is equal to my mother."

* * * * *

Later that day, Tyler escorted Flynn back to his cell,
"That sure was a nice brawl, hm?"

Nodding, Flynn laid down on the bed in his cell and looked at the ceiling,
"Yeah. It certainly was nice to get some movement once in a while."

Nodding a bit, Tyler then let out a sigh,
"I'll try to talk with Celestia once more. You could have escaped today, but didn't. Maybe, considering this, we could get you out of here a week earlier as sentenced."

"Sounds good. I have herd and daughter to care of."

Giving it a smile, Tyler then closed the cell door and left. He then went outside the cold and blank atmosphere of the cell block, went along the corridor until he returned to his office near the command center. At this hour, most of the Ranger ponies were not present since the majority of them were stationed near the border or busy elsewhere.

The command center was rather quiet now with only a single operating crew present while the others were performing research some levels closer to the surface. Every step he took echoed a bit through the corridors. Looking down to the trio of ponies, Tyler smiled. Yet this smile withered a bit as he looked ahead again. These halls were quite eerie once they were empty. And the history of this place as well as the silence all around weren't helping either.

A cold shiver went up his spine before he turned around to open the door to his office. Much to his surprise a box of moderate size was placed on his desk. Approaching it with an arched brow, he cocked his head,
"Well, well, well... what do we have there? A package? I wonder what that could be..."

Arching a brow, Tyler smiled.
"Zebrica... I wonder if the old Zalaaargh-"

But just as he opened the package, something black jumped out of it and embraced his face as he fell backwards. Lying on his back, Tyler's body became limp as the black chitinous body surrounded his head. An evil chuckle went through the room as a dark figure towered over him.