Somewhere deep within...

The gentle touch of the hand caressed the little belly of the lavender foal with blue mane and Tyler smiled ever so gently as the laughter of it filled the room. Tickling his second daughter, he prompted the little foal to laugh even more and as the door to his right opened, Twilight entered,
“Applejack says she's needed at the farm for Applebuck Season. She said that she will make up for it later.”

With a smile Tyler looked over to them and nodded,
“Of course, her family needs her now. How is Appleseed?”

As soon as Tyler had asked this, Twilight smirked and looked behind herself,
“Well... Why don't you ask her herself?”

Coming from behind Twilight, Appleseed stormed right at Tyler,
“Pa!”

When she jumped at him, the young filly tackled him over and hugged him tightly before nuzzling his chest furiously. Laughing a bit, Tyler brought her mane into disorder,
“Hey there, sports! How was the train ride?”

Looking up to her father, Appleseed beamed widely,
“That was wonderful! The conductor even let me sound the horn!”

Now standing up, Tyler smiled down to her as he went over to the small white cot,
“You keep growing fast like a zap apple tree. Ha, ha! Must be Granny's good food on the farm.” Lifting her up, he helped Appleseed to see yer younger sister. “Well then, Appleseed? Here's your little half-sister Nova...”

First looking down to her baby sister, Appleseed then frowned a bit, not understanding completely,
“Pa? What's a half-sister? Is that bad or somethin'?”

Resting a hand on her back, Tyler shook his head with a gentle smile,
“No, little one... It means you both have the same father, but different mothers.” Nodding, Appleseed leaned over and played a bit with Nova.

It was then when Celestia entered the room, the eyes full of enjoyment,
“The laughter of foals is such a sweet delight.” Twilight looked up to her with a proud smile. In the past years Celestia had learned to overcome her fears and welcomed the idea of alicorn foals. And once Twilight became pregnant, it was Celestia who took utmost care of the young mother. It appeared that Celestia, although calmed to the thought of alicorn foals, wanted to make sure that this foal had the best childhood possible so it could choose for the better if it ever had to choose like this.

Now, Appleseed turned around and galloped over to the Princess of the Sun, a wide smile on her face,
“Aunt Celestia!”

When the little filly approached her, Celestia bowed down and nuzzled her with care, just like a real daughter,
“Hello, Appleseed, my little pony. How are you?”

“Great! The train ride was fun. Can I get a big bed like last time?”

Giggling a bit, the white alicorn nodded,
“Why of course you can, dear... And if you want to make another royal pillow fortress, I will come and join you later.”

“I would join thine fortress fun as well, young Appleseed, yet since I'm afraid I'm not in the condition to play the invader this time...” When Luna entered the room, the sight of her swollen belly brought as always a smile on Tyler's face. Carrying his foal now was her wish come true and there was no day nowadays when she didn't cut her own sleep short in order to have a short stroll trough the royal garden, only to partake in conversations with ponies from nobility. Yes, Tyler saw she enjoyed presenting her 'foal tummy'.

Maybe it was pride to be a soon to be mother, maybe it was pride of being the first of the two sisters to conceive a foal... Whatever it was, Luna's beauty never ceased to grow for Tyler. Ever so often he'd spent countless of nights at her side, caressing her belly as he did it for Twilight when she carried Nova and Applejack when she was pregnant with Appleseed.

More and more Tyler and his mares weren't simply loving each other... Over the years, it was literally obsession, it became adoring one another. No matter who it was, staying away from the rest became unbearable. Every time the whole herd was together Tyler felt completely content like he was in heaven just being in their presence.

Now coming over to her, he smiled and raised her chin, welcoming her with one passionate kiss while caressing her long neck,
“How is my beautiful girl and soon to be Mommy of the Night? “

Blushing ever so gently, the dark alicorn closed her eyes before she leaned against him,
“Tis wonderful, Tyler... This little testimony of our love surely begins to make mine belly go big and round. And due to the kicks it's going to be one hay of a lively one...” Looking at him with a smile, she raised her head and pursed her lips, awaiting his kiss. A wish Tyler gladly obliged to...

* * * * *

His body lying on the ground of his office, Tyler's head was almost fully embraced as the small Changeling bug was wrapped around him. Slow and steady breaths escaped his mouth.

Meanwhile on the surface, a diplomatic Gala was held in Canterlot and both Griffins and Masar were present. Due to the long hostile relationships, Princess Celestia tried her best with Queen Sheeris and General Marek to find a solution for a non-aggression pact for the beginning. And while the three of them were in negotiations, Twilight and the other Elements tried their best to negotiate a bit among the two sides. A task not as easy as they thought since both sides were quite stubborn and distrustful against each other.

Even Shining Armor and Princess Cadance could not help much. For some reason Princess Celestia summoned them as well to Equestria. A reason she kept secret. Shaking her head, Cadance looked over to Shining and Twilight,
“Love-magic won't work. They would see it as manipulation. And if aunt Celestia taught me one thing, it is that manipulation and diplomacy don't go well with one another. We need to find another way, a common ground to work with.”

Shining nodded and looked around,
“I wonder where Tyler is. He could talk some sense into them. Or at least assist me with it.” Looking at the rest of the guests, Shining sighed in relief, “At least Grinko and that griffin prince are slowly coming together...” This prompted Cadance and Twilight to look at each other and while Cadance winked, Twilight began to smile. Now both girls knew what to do.

Standing near Fluttershy and Grinko, Prince Griffith conversed quite lively with them,
“I am curious, Lady Fluttershy... A Masar herd mate?”

Looking up to Grinko, Fluttershy nuzzled him a bit before turning to the prince again,
“Oh, Grinko is very gentle to me. He even wears an amulet for me so we can be together. And since we're together he had shown to be able to be very protective when it comes to me or the things I like.”

Arching both brows, Prince Griffith then looked at Grinko,
“Well, what do you know...? And I was taught that Masar are heartless creatures living only for the hunt.”

Shaking his head, Grinko gave it a faint smile,
“Quite the contrary. We Masar follow one basic principal in life. I think it's the same as the Griffins do.”

“And what principal is that?”

“The principal of honor.”

This prompted the griffin prince to smile,
“Hear, hear...”

But just as he wanted to begin the next topic, a detonation occurred and blasted a wooden door to pieces, when a dark figure entered the room. Bipedal like a human, but black as a Changeling, clothed in black leather and with several strange mechanical implants throughout the body, the figure looked around. While the ponies, griffins and Masar mostly gasped at the newcomer, Grinko and Lyra already knew of Mimesis. And even the Elements of Harmony recognized the Changeling touch in this creature, which now smirked with a terrifying manner,
“Good evening, ladies and gentlecolts… I am tonight's entertainment! I only have one question… Where is Twilight Sparkle?” Grabbing a chin of a mare, he sneered down to some of the ponies. “You know where that bitch is? You know where she is? No? Meh!”

One earth pony stallion stood up to it, despite some other mares trying to hold him back,
“Hoity, don’t!”

But Hoity Toity wasn't going to be bullied by a changeling,
“We’re not intimidated by you, Changeling thug!”

Turning his head at the stallion, Mimesis began to smile. It was no good smile,
“You know? You remind me of my father…” With that Hoity Toity was grabbed at the collar and Mimesis gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing up with a fierce green glow. “I HATE my father!”

Just when Mimesis was about to haul off and deliver a devastating blow to the stallion, a strict female voice sounded off,
“Enough of this!”

Halting in his movement, the humanoid Changeling stopped harassing the ponies and looked over to Twilight, who gave him a strict glare. Smirking a bit, he let go of Hoity and turned to Twilight,
“Why hello, beautiful... I wondered when his little bitches would show up.“

While Fluttershy hid behind a growling Grinko, the others never ceased to keep their eyes on the Changeling menace,
“So he's the feller that framed Tyler? Ah never thought a Changeling human would be possible...” Applejack stated.

Giving a nod, Rainbow Dash eyed the calm enemy with cautious looks,
“I thought they said they killed him...”

As he stood in front of Twilight, Mimesis looked down to her, giving her a smile that prompted several other ponies to step back,
“A pity you are an alicorn now... Guess that makes killing you that much more unpleasant for me... Oh well, there are enough unicorns in Equestria to...” He halted as he saw Lyra among the ponies. “You...” But unlike before, Lyra didn't back away. Instead she looked over to Twilight. When the young princess nodded, the fear in her eyes vanished completely and she lowered her horn in order to stab the Changeling if she had to.

With the lust for murder in his eyes, Mimesis looked at Lyra, barely holding himself back,
“I remember you being the biggest thorn in my eye right after Jones... The mare responsible for my first defeat...”

“We Harmony Rangers will always fight threats like you, bug brain!” the mint-coated mare spat in reply.

With a grin half in disgust, half in amusement, Mimesis stormed right at her and in a fast movement he tried to grab her horn. But instead of grabbing the horn and sucking all life out of Lyra, his hand was repelled by a powerful force field and the unicorn Ranger used his confusion to stab at his hand. Jumping back from Lyra, Mimesis looked at his bleeding hand as the wound slowly healed. And when he looked at Twilight, the Princess of Magic glared at him with her head held high,
“We are now prepared for your magic sucking attacks. And as the Element of Magic, I created and performed a spell on every unicorn in Equestria to make sure that you'll never be able again to suck a unicorn to death! You can starve to death now, you monster!”

Answering with a glare of his own, Mimesis then began to smirk as he took the form of Tyler,
“Well that’s too bad… That’s putting us into a very hard time now… You see, I have something that you want and for releasing him, you need something I want…”

Gritting her teeth, Twilight now supercharged her horn. That Changeling menace was exactly as malicious as Tyler described him,
“What did you do to Tyler? Answer me before I get a flyswatter for you!”

Arching a brow, Mimesis then began to smirk,
“Ooohh... You have such fighting spirit in you... I like that.”

Mimesis then heard a voice he didn't hear in a long time,
“Then you're going to love us!”

But just as Sam's fist was about to hit his son, Mimesis turned around and intercepted the fist with his hand, holding it in an iron grasp. The electricity was sizzling between the two of them as father and son glared into each others eyes,
“Nice to see you... Father...”

With a powerful magic blow, Sam was catapulted through the air in a wild spin and almost crash-landed on some ponies, but Rarity levitated a red velvet couch to dampen his fall before he could even crash into them. Coming back to his senses, Sam nodded at the mare,
“Thanks! I owe you one...”

All the commotion caused General Malek, Queen Sheeris and Princess Celestia to return earlier from their meeting, prompting the Masar in the room, already on their toes due to the intruder to form in front of the trio. Meanwhile the Griffins in the room formed in front of Grinko and Prince Griffith.

Now facing two fronts of enemies, the Changeling smirked. The monitors inside of the control room of the Darkness Sisters showed and cataloged each one of the races and Princess Lamira smirked,
“I told you this was a good idea, dear sister. Now we know about our enemies while they know little to nothing about our strengths...” Asira answered this with simply rolling her eyes.

Queen Sheeris now leaned her head to Princess Celestia,
“So this is one of these Changelings? One in human form I presume?”

The Princess of the Sun glared at the Changeling with strict and angered eyes,
“I don't know how you escaped the grasp of death and I don't know who saw fit in recreating you into this form... But you are not welcome in this realm and your actions will find an end here! If you release Tyler and leave in peace, then no one will harm you... But if you don't do so... If you continue on this way...”

“Hmph! Then nothing!” Mimesis barked back. “I don't feel threatened by a mare defeated by my grandmother!” He then looked around, “Or these clowns here... Ha! Feather-brains and fur-balls! These are your allied forces?” Looking over to Sam, Lyra and and Rachel, he simply shook his head with a sadistic grin “Run... Run, little Rangers... Your leader is in another castle... If he ever wakes up, that is...I left that little shithead to rot while I lay waste to all of Equestria in the meantime. If he ever manages to wake up, what I doubt, he's in for a nice surprise! And now... Let's start with your demise... Two Rangers missing and we're in the capitol of Equestria, there will be no overcharge this time!”

Closing them for a second, Luna's eyes then went wide before she looked over to Celestia,
“Sister! I can say that Tyler isn't in a waking state, but somehow I can't enter his dream!”

Glaring at the Changeling, Queen Sheeris now slowly began to growl, her eyes wide opened,
“I've had it with this insolent creature. My brethren... I say it's time to announce a change here! Changeling meat is on the menu now!” With that, seven of the dozens of Masar stormed at Mimesis and tackled him a few meters away, beginning a fierce and bloody brawl.

While they distracted Mimesis, Princess Celestia stepped towards Sam, Lyra and Rachel,
“Hurry! You must go and find Tyler! If that villain spoke the truth, something awful must have happened!”

All three of them nodded and hurried out the door while Celestia stepped at the Element Bearers,
“Girls! You come with me to fetch the Elements from Canterlot Tower!”

While several Masar stormed right at him, Mimesis had almost no problem with the majority of them. However, the shamans of the tournament were a challenge. A single strike of Maraffo's paw caused Mimesis to slide over the ground several feet. Looking up the Changeling knew that he had to act quickly. With one pirouette, Mimesis kicked away Maraffo's claws, followed by a second kick that swept away the feet of the Masar juggernaut. But before he even fell to the ground, Mimesis punched hard onto his wide chest, prompting the Masar to smash even harder to the ground.

Now looking at the approaching other shamans he knew he was slowly getting cornered. They were of no importance to him now and were not part of his revenge now,
“It seems I must leave now. I have other, more important things to do. But don't you worry: I will come for all of you as soon as every human ranger is dead.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile the three rangers hurried towards the entrance to the Ranger HQ, where they found the Ranger ponies on guard duty lying on the ground. Grimacing a bit, Lyra halted when she saw them,
“Are they...?”

Checking for pulse, Rachel shortly after sighed in relief,
“No, they're alive. He didn't waste time or effort on them. Tsk! No sports.”

Checking the main entrance doors, Sam shook his head,
“But he made sure that the entrance is blocked. He welded the door shut.”

“Great! Now what?”

Giving the situation a quick thought, Sam nodded and looked to the right,
“Hmmm... The cargo lift would be a solution. Lyra and myself found a weakness in the construction layout while going through the blueprints”

The mint-coated unicorn nodded while Sam tinkered with some cables of the wagon,
“We found out that although the way by foot is several miles long, the cargo lift is a direct route deep into the heart of the facility. We were going to bring this to Tyler after tonight's gala, but now the shortcut will help us to get down to Tyler faster.”

Nodding in confirmation, Sam smirked,
“We have 30 seconds to make it through the security gates. After that, the short circuit will be rerouted and the gates will close one after another.”

But Rachel shook her head with an uncertain look on her face,
“30 seconds for a route deep into the mountain? Sam! Don't you think that's a bit short? How fast does this thing go anyway?”

The mechanic quickly opened a small hatch near the rail wagon and began inspecting some wires,
“Safety systems, Rachel. It's laid out so that no army can march in here. So we will have to be quick about it no doubt. My guess would be just to slow down enough to keep up with the doors and once we're there, we'll make a hard full-.”

He was interrupted by a certain detonation in one of the higher towers of the castle where a body fell down and crash-landed in one of the Canterlot buildings. Lyra's eyes went wide when she saw what came out of the cloud of dust,
“Oh Celestia no... Hurry, Sam! He escaped the brawl with the Masar and Griffins!”

Approaching the Ranger HQ, Mimesis shook his head,
“This takes far longer than I expected. Their allies really got stronger in my absence...”

Seeing everything from the control room of the Nagohod, the Darkness Sisters witnessed the scenes. Turning over to Asira, Lamira raised her chin,
“And you were worrying...”

Arching a brow, Asira returned the smirk,
“I still am! For these Masar took him down to 78 percent efficiency. And he still hasn't managed to fight one of these humans...”

Electrifying his fist, Sam then slammed it right into the wires and the spark caused a short-circuit prompting the sealed doors to open wide, revealing a shaft with a rail wagon on which the Rangers jumped. Now Mimesis started to sprint towards them and they loosened the brakes, beginning their ride down. But little did they know that the spark went down the cables, ran down several miles along the connection before it finally reached deep into the facility and opened several sealed doors at once.

* * * * *

Down below in the prison block the lights began to flicker before falling out completely. A murmur went through the cells as the griffins began to complain,
“Oh great... Now it's bed-time already?”

“Hey! It's not even nine!”

Shortly after that, the cell doors clicked and unlocked on the majority of the doors when the emergency power went back online. Coming to the cell doors, one griffin after another found his cell door unlocked.

As the first stepped outside, more and more escaped their cells. Coming to his cell door, Flynn tried to open it as well, yet found it locked,
“Oh come on!”

At the same time the other rangers made their way down and the wagon more and more gained speed. Behind them, a few hundred meters above, Mimesis made his way down as well, hovering over the ground just a bit. When the 30 seconds were over, the doors slowly began to close and Rachel looked around in a little bit of panic,
“The doors are closing! We have to slow down or we'll derail!!!”

But just when Rachel was about to reach for the brakes, Sam held her wrist,
“No! Don't brake! Don't slow down! That's our only chance to be faster than he is!”

Shaking her head, Rachel simply stared at Sam,
“This is crazy! We will crash into the facility! If the doors don't cause us to derail first that is!”

Looking over to him, Lyra arched a brow,
“Sam! Where will the cargo lift land anyway? After the Cargo Checkpoint there is...”

Sam frowned deeply,
“I don't know what that rewiring did to the system. Actually this whole wiring of the base is like a mystery and flammable like a Christmas tree! But I never really looked that deep into the plans. I know there are some rooms down there, but there are also some inches of concrete.”

Down below, the Griffin prisoners one by one made their way out of the prison block. Rattling his cell door, Flynn tried to get their attention.
“Come on! Let me out! If something's happening you can't leave the rest of us behind!”

But running off, the Griffins mostly ignored him. One of them, Geoffrey, halted at his cell,
“I would free you, Ranger Marshall... And if it's only to make up for that missing finger... But I don't have the key card to the cells. I'm sorry.” He wanted to say something else, but a sudden rumbling caused the prison block to quake.

In the next moment the cargo lift Sam, Lyra and Rachel were on crashed down diagonally from the ceiling and slid across the cell block. Dust and debris filled the air, making it hard to breathe. When everything was quiet again, Flynn opened his eyes. The iron bars of his cell were dented and ripped away as were those of several other cells. The massive steel lift had smashed through the entire cell block. And due to the bloody stains on the ground, Geoffrey didn't make it away in time. 'Maybe he was a loyal asshole of a griffin, but he didn't deserve THIS fate...'

When Flynn stepped outside, he saw Sam and Rachel stemming themselves up from the cabin, shortly before Lyra stood up coughing,
“Nice landing, Sam...”

“Shut up, Rachel! Be happy that we're still alive!” Looking at the debris everywhere, Sam then gritted his teeth in pain. “Although I must say that we've had better landings with Flynn...”

Seeing the bloody pulp behind them, Rachel grimaced,
“As did that Griffin... or Griffins...”

Flynn shook his head in disbelief at all the destruction,
“What in the world is happening, folks? You take a ride in the cargo lift and crash it? Why the rush?”

Pointing behind him, Sam nodded towards the crash site,
“That's a question you can ask that chitinous son of a bitch that returned from the grave! And he did something to Tyler. What that is, we don't know yet.”

Not understanding, Flynn arched one brow,
“Chitinous... Changeling? But... We ripped him to pieces!”

It was in this moment that a loud banging sounded off in the distance above. The banging then was followed by the noise of bending steel and debris falling down. Rachel shook her head in terror as she stared at the crash site, where one could see into the remaining cargo lift track,
“No... He can't be that powerful... Not through solid steel.”

While the noises grew louder, the Rangers gained some distance from the crash site. Looking over to Lyra, Sam gave her a determined look,
“Lyra? You go and get some cover. He will go for the one with the least combat experience. And if he manages to find a way around that protective spell, he can and will deal lethal harm to you. I can't let that happen.”

Giving him a smirk, Lyra then winked and nodded,
“Alright... But I'll be close by to lead the reinforcements to you.”

Just as she made her escape through the door next to her, the last safety door went down in a screeching sound and the dark chitinous menace levitated itself down to the cell block, glaring at the Rangers, most of all Flynn,
“Ah... Ranger Marshall...”

Giving the Changeling before him a cold glare, Flynn lowered his voice,
“You two are going to get Tyler while I handle this feller here.”

Approaching Flynn, Mimesis gave a short look to the running Sam and Rachel, before he turned his full attention to Flynn,
“Do you really think that you can withstand me, human?”

Flynn gulped and clenched his fists, was preparing himself mentally for the imminent threat,
“No, I don't think so...” Just as Mimesis was about to strike, Flynn evaded almost quicker than the eye could see and delivered a hard and swift kick to the Changeling's face, causing the beast to stumble backwards. “I know so!”

Wiping the green blood from his chin, Mimesis gave Flynn a cold glare,
“I'm gonna enjoy watching you die... primate scum!"

With that Mimesis stormed right at Flynn and a fierce brawl between those two broke loose. Delivering a storm of punches every time the Changeling missed, Flynn made sure he only got Mimesis occupied. Every minute Mimesis was fighting him was a minute for the others to search and help Tyler,
“If you're back here and there's something wrong with Tyler, I wonder what sort of trickery you used this time...”

Halting in his movement, the humanoid Changeling began to smirk,
“Ah... Someone's curious... Alright, I won't let you die dumb. I created a new breed of Changelings called Mindling. It's a prototype, first of its kind. It analyzes your heart's desire and creates a perfect illusion to feed off your emotions.”

“So he's sleeping?”

Laughing out loud, Mimesis shook his head,
“Oh it goes far deeper than dream... Not even Princess Luna can hope to reach him. He is experiencing and witnessing everything as if he's there in person. Quite interesting, don't you think? I wonder what he will see... Maybe mounting every mare in Equestria as they bow to him as their respective master and emperor. More honest, don't you think? Not like the entire crap about being the selfless hero.”

This prompted Flynn's impression to darken, his eyes glaring at Mimesis,
“You bastard...”

Closing his eyes, Mimesis chuckled,
“Now, now, no reason to get personal...” But when he opened his eyes, they flashed up with a poisonous green glow. “Then again, the whole thing here is personal...”

With powerful blows Mimesis then smashed the concrete walls while missing Flynn. The hits were rare, yet powerful. Flynn on the other hand delivered quite many hits, yet only few of them powerful enough to do harm to the chitinous plates of the Changeling's hardened armor.

Getting smashed into a wall, Flynn went to the ground. After jumping up, he delivered a kick to Mimesis' chest, causing the Changeling to sway back long enough to get back on his feet again. In the next attack, he barely evaded the powerful blow that landed deep into the wall. Having his fist and arm stuck in the wall, the Changeling was open to attacks. And with great speed did Flynn deliver a hailstorm of punches and kicks even heavier than he delivered them to Ice Hammer. The storm heated up the armor due to all the friction and impact, but this got Mimesis the chance to strike hard and deliver a fierce blow.

The blow was so powerful and strong that Flynn slid back a few meters over the ground before coughing some blood. Monitoring all of this in their command center, Princess Lamira cheered when Flynn went to the ground,
“Oh, how wonderful... He's killing this Ranger...”

Asira on the other hand only arched a brow when she gave her a smile and a shake with her head,
“You cheer too easily, big sister... The Masar brought him down to 78 percent and he's down to 60 percent already due to this one Ranger... These human rangers are far more capable fighters than the ponies they train... Fitting for their predator eyes...”

Mimesis, standing far away from Flynn, looked down smirking. But that smirk withered away, when Flynn got up again, wiped his chin clean and went into combat stance once more, his wounds healing away within seconds. He was not done for yet. And this human will infuriated Mimesis enough to go for another attack run.

* * * * *

Meanwhile Sam and Rachel stormed towards the command center, where some ponies were lying on the ground. Checking their lifesigns, Rachel nodded over to Sam,
“Again, only knocked out. Seems he got in, set the trap and came to us after it snapped.”

Nodding in agreement, Sam looked around,
“And we humans always ask 'what can one man do?' Well, a man with a plan can do quite something.” Pointing at Tyler's office he then went on. “His office, come on!”

Upon entering Tyler's office, they saw him lying on the ground. Kneeling down besides Tyler, Rachel carefully inspected the Changeling creature. Sam on the other hand arched both brows,
“It's attached to his face! Is this thing a facehugger or something?”

Shaking her head , Rachel leaned wide over Tyler and pointed an index finger to his mouth and then neck,
“No, it's not connected with his mouth, but his neck. It leaves him alone except for this bite. Not to kill him, but to connect in some way Like it's... biting him there to reach his nervous system. Like a tick or something... A parasite to feed off the host...”

“Well we can't let it sit on him! It has to come off!”

Looking up to Sam, Rachel gave him an angered glare,
“You think I don't know that? But this thing here is connected to his spine at the neck. I could rip it off, but it could damage his nervous system, maybe even paralyze him. Well if you can't guarantee me that won't happen, I won't do it.”

Gritting his teeth, Sam looked around. Rachel was right. If this thing was connected to Tyler's spine, the injuries caused by ripping it apart could be disastrous. And the sound of thundering battle in the distance made him realize that Flynn needed help against Mimesis. Looking at Rachel again, he gave her a determined look,
“Rachel! I'm going to help Flynn. Two against one is better than a one on one. You stay here and try to do something about that thing. Maybe find a way to get to Tyler. If we can't get it off from the outside, maybe he can do something from the inside...”

With that he went off to help Flynn. Shaking her head in irritation and confusion, Rachel then looked at Tyler while trying look better at his neck,
"Now he leaves me here with Sleeping Beauty... God damn it all to hell... Jones! JONES!!! Come on, ponyfucker! I know you can hear me!“

* * * * *

Meanwhile, deep in Tyler's mind, years had passed already. The one or another gray hair showed, but his eyes never ceased their fire despite his age of 78. A lot of ponies had passed since and each one of them peacefully, what calmed his mind. It was only last year when Big Mac passed away, what took the remaining Apple Family hard. Apple Bloom, by now a grown old mare herself was now living in Canterlot with her own shop of potions and perfumes while Appleseed and the rest of the family worked the farm. That is, she herself had children with a stallion, helping Apple Bloom. Applejack was long gone as well. Tyler remembered the times when the time was closing that she as well had to go, but the old mare always gave him a brave smile when he mentioned this topic,
“Do me a favor and put an apple in my coffin, Sugarcube... If I leave this world, I want to leave it in the knowledge that the family goes on with the best apples. Apples that come from the heart.”

It was this greatness that always made him wonder how he could have been without her and the others before he was in Equestria. Now in Canterlot, the seasoned man stood at a railing and watched over Equestria, his daughters all visitors behind him to celebrate yet another anniversary. While the alicorn daughters all remained young, it became obvious that Appleseed was aging almost twice as fast as he was. Maybe, so he hoped, he would at least not carry her to the grave. And yet. In her eyes was the same greatness her mother possessed as well and with a life so fulfilled as hers, who could have blamed her for being that? A content smile formed on his lips as he closed his eyes. Yet suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind. A familiar voice he hadn't heard in decades now.

“Jones!”

Blinking twice, he looked around, trying to pinpoint the origin of the voice. Yet it simply escaped his grasp. Too close to be far away, yet too far away to be seen.

“Come on, ponyfucker! I know you can hear me!”

Rachel... That wasn't right. In all these years he never met her again although making sure that nothing evil crossing over to Earth was the most important thing for her. And yet... Nothing evil was in this world. But this felt... weird, misplaced. There always was evil in the world, always a problem to solve. The more he thought about it, the more all of this seemed unreal to him. But could all this, this beautiful paradise all be nothing more than a... ?

He closed his eyes. This was horrible. All these years were for nothing? And his beautiful daughters were non-existent? A cold shiver ran down his spine as his hands clamped down at the railing.

It was then when Appleseed leaned her head to the side,
“Pa? What's the matter?”

His eyes shot open wide and he gulped heavily before turning around to his three daughters. Appleseed had become a fair beauty of an earth pony and like her mother before managed the Apple Family business nicely. Nova and Crescent were, like their mothers, alicorn beauties and their slender figures would surely place them among pony models. When he looked at them, their eyes were filled with worry.

Giving them a loving smile, he rested a hand on Appleseed's shoulder,
“Appleseed… Nova… Woona... When each of you was born, each time it was one of the happiest moments of my life. When I first saw your tiny faces, you stretched your tiny little hooves up to me with so much strength. I never wanted to let go of you. But now... I... I don't think you're real. I don't think any of this here... is real.”

Approaching her father, Crescent, nicknamed Woona by many of her friends, looked up to him with a worried face,
“Don't say such things, daddy... You're scaring me.”

Embracing her with a smile, he shook his head,
“No... No, no. I don't want to scare you, Sweetie. You three are the best daughters I could ever hope for.” Looking around, he took a glimpse at this perfect world around him. “This here is everything I ever wanted for my family and herd. But it isn't real. There is no such thing as a perfect world for me. I have responsibilities elsewhere… I… have to go now… I can't stay here with you in this dream.”

A tremor went through Canterlot and the ground shook a bit. One after another, they embraced him until the three daughters surrounded their father. Crescent shook her head, tears in her eyes,
“Daddy…”

Embracing them with all his love, Tyler closed his eyes shut as the tears ran down his cheeks,
“I promise you three: I’ll make all of this reality!”

He then let go of all three of them and stood up. It felt both wrong and right, but hurt anyway. He wanted to stay, but deep within he knew that none of this was actually here. Forcing a smile, he wiped his tears away and nodded,
“Alright! We play one last game! Nova? Crescent? I want you to fire as much magic into daddy as you possibly can!

Leaning her head to the side, Nova arched a brow,
“But... You always told us that this would cause you pain. I've paid close attention to your stories from back then, Dad.”

Crescent shook her head once more and stomped her hoof to the ground to underline her statement,
“I don't want to hurt you, daddy...”

Nodding, he caressed their cheeks while looking into their faces,
“I know you are confused that I ask you to hurt me, Crescent... I know you are a good girl. But now I need you to do that no matter what.”

Reluctantly, the alicorn daughters obeyed and began charging him. What would have needed hours or days with unicorn magic, took minutes with alicorn magic. Within seconds, his veins began to shine as the blood in his body was charged completely. More and more the magic saturation in his body began to climb up and the pain in his mind became staggering, unbearable. But his theory was true , whatever held him inside this limbo was connected to him and had to feed his mind with all this information. If he wanted to break free, he had to do something out of the ordinary...

* * * * *

Outside of his dreamland, the other Rangers fought on with Mimesis as Rachel had to let go of the dark insect on Tyler's head,
“Fuck! What now? You little shit become hot all of a sudden?”

Chirping in pain, the insect tried its best to clamp down on Tyler, but more and more the illusion began crumbling down as the creature couldn't cope with the effort needed to maintain the illusion.

In Tyler's mind, Equis was shaking in massive earthquakes, breaking open the planet's crust. Volcanoes broke open in every part of Equis as this fake world began boiling. Now, of that Tyler was certain, there should have been some partial necrosis or overload, something he knew about, but not the one causing this illusion. Or the cause of this illusion knew of this effect, yet was unable to show this effect on him. With tears in his eyes he took a last glimpse at the girls in front of him.

His daughters, precious like nothing else and with tears in their eyes as well. They as well knew that this was a goodbye forever and that they would cease to exist in this form. Gulping down a heavy lump, he let the tears stream down his cheeks as he made his final announcement,
“I promise you… I’ll make all of this real one day…”

It was then when the planet in his mind detonated.

The Changeling bug, once clamped down tightly to his face, now let go and Rachel could rip it off from Tyler. But now the insect menace tried to attack her. Snapping at her and waving its legs in a frenzy, it tried to get to Rachel's neck in order to attach itself to her.

Tossing it away a few meters, Rachel then pulled out her gun as she stood guard over Tyler,
“Come on, you little fucker... Just show yourself one more time...” Kicking Tyler gently at the ribs, she never let down her guard. “Jones! Damn it, wake up! No more excuse to lay low!”

Opening his eyes slowly, Tyler's eyes then suddenly sprung open. There was a mild pain in his neck, like someone had slapped him there. It wasn’t long before he realized the situation he was in. The Command Center was half in ruins, he was young again and distant fighting noises sounded off across the rooms. He was right. Something had been attacking him to put him under the illusion of a completely happy life. One part of him felt relieved, not to have blown up the planet for real. The other part, however...

With this Tyler stormed into the next room before he went magically airborne and headed to the fighting noises. Flynn and Sam lied on the ground as Mimesis stood above them as the victor of the clash. Just as he raised one sharp piece of debris to finish them off, Tyler slammed against him and rammed him against the wall, causing the both of them to break through. Debris flew through the air as the Ranger returned from the trap laid out for him. And Tyler was far from pleased.

Years of happiness, harmony and love with his most beloved ones, daughters with all of them… Nothing but a fucking lie, forced upon him only to be ripped apart from him again. And this illusion enraged Tyler beyond any capacity he ever thought possible,
“Do you have any idea what you did to me?” More hitting and punching followed as Tyler’s eyes grew harder and colder. For the first time in his life, he had the certain wish to end an existence for messing up with him and he pummeled Mimesis mercilessly. Healing magic was working in an enormous rate as Tyler’s fists soon were bloody and blue from all the punches.

But after a while, Mimesis blocked the punches and kicked Tyler away, only to deliver a heavy hay-maker, prompting Tyler to sway back. A heavy kick then send Tyler a few meters flying before he slid over the ground. Wiping the green blood from his chin, the humanoid Changeling grinned,
“I created the perfect mind prison you couldn’t escape without sacrificing your heart’s desire…It must have been like tearing out your own heart…” His hand grabbed Tyler's throat and lifted the human up, letting him choke and suffer while he grinned. "Maybe I had to sell my soul to the Darkness Sisters for returning from the brink of death… But if I get another chance to destroy you and your precious little girlfriends, this is a price I’ll gladly accept anytime!”

Hearing this enraged Tyler even further. He would certainly make sure that Mimesis would never ever lay his chitinous fingers on the girls,
“DIE!!!” With this Tyler broke apart two heavy and solid concrete pillars and slammed them right at Mimesis from both sides. The grip suddenly ceased and Tyler gasped for air as he fell down. But as he looked up again, the Changeling again shoved the pillars away. What had the Darkness Sisters done to his body to endure so much pain and injury?

* * * * *

In the darkness, Rachel tried her best to listen for the silent moves of the changeling bug. A sudden noise prompted her to quickly turn to the right, only to look into more darkness,
“Come out, come out... wherever you are...” The adrenalin was pumping through her veins, any second now the attack could come from every side.

When the door to her left suddenly opened, Rachel turned around and pointed her gun, only to raise it again as she identified her target as Lyra. A sight of relief escaped both of them, before Lyra's eyes popped open again,
“LOOK OUT!”

Turning around, Rachel could fire several blasts in wild frenzy just in time to get one hit at the changeling bug. Levitated, the bug chirped and hissed angrily as it floated into the darkness again while Rachel stood up from the ground,
“Fuck! I fired non-lethal spells as well. Was the panic... Watch out for it, Lyra. It will attach to your neck and send you to some sort of dreamland. Jones seemed to escaped it barely and whatever it was he saw there, it pissed him off for good.”

Lyra nodded with a determined look upon her face and charged up her horn,
“I'll do my best. The princesses are on the way down here by the- THERE IT IS!!!” Firing a spell at the Changeling bug, Lyra gritted her teeth while firing more, assisted by Rachel. The insect hurried over the chests and tables before it leaped at Rachel, its fangs and legs stretched out wide. Falling backwards over a chest, Rachel only saw the opening jaws descending upon her, before they suddenly stopped and glowed in a mild mint coloration. Huffing out loudly, Lyra gasped for air. “Gotcha!”

Struggling with its fangs and legs, the chitinous hazard still tried to reach Rachel, causing a scratch on her left cheek. Retaliating with a punch of her own, Rachel prompted the Mindling to stop for a moment before the little beast struggled to get free,
“That little fucker... almost got me. Time to end this!

“No, wait!”

When Rachel looked at her unicorn friend, Lyra began to smirk and shortly looked into the direction the thundering noises of fighting echoed through the HQ. A smirk Rachel repaid with one of her own,
“I like that idea...”

* * * * *

Down below, the two magical titans battled each other with both not giving up an inch. Thundering punches were thrown, each enhanced by magic and deflected by protective magic from the opponent. It was only a contest of endurance where the one losing endurance first being the one losing the fight. But both opponents had massive reserves and wrecked entire halls in their fight. Gritting his teeth, Mimesis bared his fangs,
“You should have stayed in whatever happy illusion my Mindling had granted you!” With that he pummeled Tyler in the same way he was pummeled before and smashed Tyler through the ground, so it gave in under both of them.

Down below, the clouds of dust and smoke obscured the vision, yet Tyler got up fast and got hold of the Changeling from behind,
“HAPPY?!? LIVING A LIE HAPPY??? I WILL NEVER LIVE A LIE!” With that Tyler slammed Mimesis into a wall and his thundering punches hit him mercilessly once again. Finally, when his arms had grown heavy and he couldn't beat the Changeling anymore, he huffed and recollected his breath. “And I could never love a lie...” Yet his oath still lingered in his mind and the three girls he made the promise to were not a lie. He swore to himself that he would see to it that they would become a reality one way or another for they would be his three little girls. Like Appleseed already, Nova and Crescent would come to be.

This, however, made Tyler halt for a few seconds, what was enough time for the Changeling to recover and deliver a heavy kick into the chest, followed by a heavy blow to the jaw, sending Tyler's vision flashing white for a split second.

The attack was hard enough to stun Tyler for good while Mimesis approached him,
“For a moment… I really thought you would kill me… How foolish of you to hesitate…”
Taking Tyler's form, Mimesis grinned as he hovered a large boulder to his side, attempting to smash his opponent with it. “Not a mistake I will make, I can assure you that. As soon as I'm done with you, I will go on a rampage through Equestria.”

It was then when Mimesis heard Lyra's voice from above,
“Excuse me? I think this shit here is yours, bug-brain!” Just as he looked up to her, the unicorn levitated the Mindling down to him with great speed before she let go of it. With wide eyes Mimesis turned around, only to see the opening fangs of his own creation.

* * * * *

Several minutes later the Rangers arrived downstairs and saw the Changeling lying on the ground, the Mindling attached to his face. Like before, the bug was clamped down tightly around the head.

Resting a hand on the wall to support himself, Tyler closed his eyes as a tear escaped them. His voice became merely a whisper now,
“I promise you… I’ll make all of this real one day…”

Kicking the side of the Changeling, Flynn looked to the ground where Mimesis was lying,
“What do you think he’s seeing with this damn bug of his?”

With an unforgiving glare Tyler then looked down at the humanoid Changeling,
“Whatever it is… It’s still too good for him!” With that Tyler levitated a sharp piece of debris to his side and approached Mimesis.

Following him with her eyes, Rachel arched a brow,
“Jones, what are you doing?”

Taking the debris into his hand, Tyler shook his head with a determined face,
“What I should have done in the first place! Making sure that shithead never returns!”

Stepping in front of Tyler, Sam shook his head and raised his hands,
“He's helpless, you can't do that! That's not like you!”

Tyler's glare at Mimesis grew harder before he looked at his fellow Ranger as he shoved him out of the way,
“If I gave you an illusion of a happy family as a prison for your mind, Sam... Something so beautiful that breaking free itself is an ordeal, then you would want to make sure I would never be able to do that to you again as well! This time he won't return to make one of us suffer! Not me, not you, not anybody!”

But just as Tyler rammed down the sharp piece of debris to smash Mimesis' head, something or somepony teleported the Changeling away, leaving only the ground to hit. Realizing that his vengeance was taken from him, Tyler's hands clamped down on the debris until his hands began bleeding. Gritting his teeth in sheer rage, he fell to his knees,
"NO!!!!!"

The realization filled his mind with anger, damning the cause for this misery, whoever revived the Changeling in the first place, damning himself not to kill him as he had the chance. In an outbreak of hatred and rage, he reared up from the ground, his fists clenched together as his roaring voice echoed through the mountain,

For a moment, his eyes flashed up in a dark blue glow. When his hands went through his hair, they smeared his blood through it,
"Our enemies stab deep into the hearts of those who oppose them. I will kill them... The next time around, there will be no hesitation..."

Looking at him, Rachel slowly shook her head. Worry was in her eyes,
“Jones... Maybe this reaction of yours right now was intended all along...

“Yeah, maybe... Our enemies are assholes.” With that, Tyler lost no further word as he went towards the shower rooms.

While Tyler went down the corridor, Rachel stood up and lowered her voice while Sam and Flynn came to her side,
“I begin to worry about Jones...”

Nodding in agreement, Flynn looked after him as well,
“Yeah, it wouldn't be wrong to have an eye on him...”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, in the flying citadel fortress of Nagohod, Mimesis reappeared on the floor, the Mindling still attached to his face. While the Descendants carried him into yet another tube with blue gel, the two princesses Asira and Lamira glared down to him as they supervised everything. Asira gave a sigh while shaking her head,
“So he failed again... I must say I'm not that surprised.”

Lamira, however, began to smirk in a sly way,
“Oh he didn't fail... Not entirely. Now we know the layout of their military headquarter... And what he did to one of them was most delicate... A trap one can only escape by abandoning paradise... Yes, I like that.”

Giggling a bit, Asira shook her head, causing her dark mane to whirl,
“Lamira, dear sister... You are so malicious.”

This prompted Lamira to laugh heartily,
“Princess of Malice... Yes, I like that! However, this Tyler Jones has willpower beyond anything we know. He escaped this trap all too easy. We will have to find out more about him and why he is so powerful... He who understands a thing can destroy a thing..”

* * * * *

In the evening hours, Tyler sat at Appleseed's cot, caressing her little mane as a gentle smile formed on his lips. By now the diplomatic problems of Equestria were looking better, now with a common enemy and some friendship forming between the two princes of the two realms. It was a concern for another day. Now, Tyler concentrated on his little foal. Only time could tell if she would go the same way he imagined. His lullaby slowly made her sleepy.

“I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream
I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam
And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem
But if I know you, I know what you'll do
You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream”

When Applejack trotted into the room, she looked into the cot at their sleeping foal,
“Yer oddly fond of her since yer back from this incident, Sugarcube... What did ya see due to that Changeling trickery?”

Turning his head to her, Tyler's smile didn't wither this time,
“I saw paradise. Most of it was an utter lie. But three things? I've decided that they should be a glimpse into the future. Because after all, it's my decision what of it I want to make real, right?”

Looking at Tyler for a long time, Applejack then took a deep breath and looked at Appleseed,
“Ah'm worried about ya, Sugarcube...” She stated with fear in her voice, nuzzling him a bit. “Promise me that yer not changing to the worse!”

Resting a hand on her cheek, Tyler nodded,
“The others spoke with you already I see... You all don't have to worry... There was good reason to be enraged.”

Looking up to her herd mate, Applejack slightly shook her head,
“Ah worry about ya, Tyler... No one should see paradise to lose it... Even Ah mahself would lose it then. Ah want ya to talk about it with Luna.”

Nodding in agreement, Tyler gave her a smile. Having her back to a young and healthy condition was something this dream couldn't give him,
“Alright... If it means so much to you, I will have a talk with her.” Then, to her surprise, he pulled her in and kissed her with all the love he had for her in these last few years in this illusion. Maybe, so he thought, this deep love within the herd could become true as well, if he would just work hard enough for it. And although it surprised her, Applejack let it happen, partly enjoying it, partly because she knew how he suffered because of this Mindling.

* * * * *

Meanwhile in the time vortex, thousands of years ahead...

Waking up with a gasp, the Doctor's face was sweaty and pale. As soon as he heard the silent humming of the TARDIS, the ambient noise of timepony technology, he closed his eyes with a sigh of relief and shook his head. It was happening again, but why? These were short dreamless periods of slumber, just enough to refill a bit of fatigue, not enough for decent rest. Looking over to a silently sleeping Derpy, he sighed. She was trying her best as his companion and special somepony to ease his concerns, even when ‘getting him distracted’ meant to demand some ‘conjugal duties’ from him. A tired smile grew on his face. Of course she tried, but he would never do this to her. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like a mistake. If this continued, she would cause a new little problem on her own.

In the bathroom, he looked into the mirror, into his face, one of the many he already had. 'I’m the Doctor. Have lots of neat gadgets, a great companion to call my own… And occasionally… save a world or two… So why can’t I sleep?' Every time something like this happened, his mind was working to surface something from the memory from one of his earlier regenerations. All he could do about it was to hope that it was meaningful to his current search for answers and would return to him in time.