It was in the late evening when the two dark alicorn princesses came down to the dungeon to inspect their other prisoners. Obviously out to gloat, Lamira cast a spell to shed some more light. Both the Masar and Griffin were dirty and roughed up.
“Prince Griffith of the Griffin Kingdom and Prince Grinko Khass... whatever...”

Asira sneered down to Grinko.
“Let me kill him... I wish to see the misery in their faces when they see that they came too late for at least one of them.”

But Lamira held her sister back.
“No, Asira! I'm afraid you won’t lay a hoof on him.”

“What? Why not?”

Growling, Grinko bared his fangs.
“Because I would tear you to shreds first.”

Lamira arched a brow, an evil smile on her lips.
“No... I find it hard to believe since you won't have the mind for that. Because let me tell you what I will do to you, Masar… I will make you hunger. You might endure some days, but after two weeks the hunger will drive you insane. And when you can’t think of anything else but to feast… Then I will send HER into your cell…” Raising his chin with her hoof, the alicorn mare gave him a sneer. “First, clawing into her torso to make sure she can’t escape and streams of blood will run down the yellow coat… and as your teeth sink deep into her throat, I wonder what she will think of your love to her when you rob her of the last mean to plead for your sanity… I will allow you to come to your senses again. And when you realize that the nightmare has become reality and begin to scream, I WILL KILL YOU!!!” With that she slapped him and the blow forced him to turn his head away.

Spitting blood, Grinko looked up to her, cold hatred in his voice.
“You monster…”

Asira chuckled as they left the prisoners and shook her head.
“Lamira, you always inspire me with your devious plans... Bringing a Masar into a eating frenzy to kill his own beloved... Only you could come up with this.”

In the cell, Griffith looked over to Grinko.
“Don't tell me you're going to let them do that to you...”

But the Masar only grimaced as he shook his head.
“Don't be a fool... I would rather gnaw my own wrists to pieces before giving them this pleasure...”

Arching his brows, the griffin prince arched back, aghast.
“The cost would be your life...”

Grinko, however, nodded in pride
“But what will remain is my beloved and my honor!”

Replying with a nod of his own, Griffith smiled.
“Hear, hear...”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, in the ruins of the capital city, several shadow ponies tried to salvage whatever they could find. The kingdom was in disarray with the king gone and Descendant forces roaming the edges of the canyon, searching for survivors was a dangerous undertaking

Armies of Amasian slaves were already forced into hard compulsory labor near internment camps, always the ever watchful and unforgiving whip of the Descendants above them. The agenda was clear: The rubble of the capital had to be cleared and in its place a new palace was to be risen to resemble the power of the Darkness Sisters.

In the streets a lone shadow scampered through the rubble, careful not to be seen by anyone as it moved from ruin to ruin. As it met another shadow, the dark figure lowered her dark hood, revealing a young mare and her foal.
“Eternal damnation upon the enemies of freedom…”

Looking to the left and right, the other shadow now dropped her hood as well and an older mare nodded at her.
“Eternal damnation. Clover, it's not safe to be out here in the open.”

“I have to reach the coast. I have a basket float hidden there. Not big enough for me, but big enough for the little one.”

The old mare's eyes widened, aghast
“Clover Night! Are you out of your pony mind?!?”

“On the contrary! My son will live or die as a free Amasian! He won't be a slave. If the sea wants to take his life, then he shall die free. But the worst thing I could do to him is to let him get caught and raised by them!”

Resting a hoof on Clover's shoulder, the old mare shook her head.
“Don't lose hope! Ghora’Khar will come to our aid...”

But Clover swatted the hoof away.
“This is not the Enclave! And where is he? Where was he when they came and brought misery to our land?”

“Again: Don't give up hope yet. This is exactly what the Descendants want. The resistance is gaining momentum as we speak.”

“And until they are ready to fight them, I will take care of my son in the way I see fit.” A shouting made both mares listen up and with haste, they went into opposite directions. When Clover finally reached her desired destination, she placed her son into the basket float and carried it carefully to the water. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked down to her one and only son. “I hope that fate can provide you a better future than I can, my son. I hope and wish for you to grow up big and strong and above all: Free.” With a heavy heart, she let go of the basket. And while the float began its journey into open sea, Clover Night forced herself to turn around and galloped back to her hideout, tears of uncertainty accompanying her.

It was dawn when the float made its way down the coastline, passing riffs and screaming seagulls it made its way to another beach. On it several dark wax constructions were hauled back to the safety of the beach. The Changeling Queen and her swarm had finally reached the southwestern coast of Amasia and were tired after their long journey over the sea. A few Changelings were lost during the journey. None of them could be sensed by Shiria and for her this was the certainty that they were dead. Right now the rest of her drones were drinking the water from a waterfall, fetched in some wax constructions they created in this cave nearby the beach before the preparations for a new hive could be made to replenish some of the ranks until the journey would go on. Standing at the shore, she enjoyed the cool seawater in and around her hooves. Life in a hive was always a bit warmer and cooling off was always refreshing. Yet suddenly something bumped into her. Was it a spy? Who dared to spy on the best spies on the planet? But no, this wasn’t a spy… Upon looking down, she recognized that this was a basket with a little shadow pony foal. While growling a bit, she tipped the chest of this little creature. 'What a waste of time! This thing can’t even…' Before she could think her thoughts to an end, the little foal laughed and grabbed her perforated hoof, causing her to gasp once more. As the maternal instinct kicked in, she took hold of the little foal, what now seemed to fall asleep in her hooves. Fear grew in her as she more and more was irritated. What were these feelings she felt right now? It was different to the care she gave for her Changelings.

Looking at her find she didn't pay attention to the approaching drone.
“Forgive me, my queen! I wasn't aware of the intruder. I was on the lookout for bigger threats. Do you wish me to dispose of this little worm?”

Looking down to the pony infant, Shiria wondered for a moment. This was a most interesting chance and she was going to take it.
“No! I will try something new now… This pony shall learn the Changeling way…”

Cocking its head in confusion, the drone now came a little closer.
“But… My Queen!”

“You dare to oppose me?” With a glare from her queen, the drone ducked and retreated. Now levitating the foal up, Shiria gave it a smile. “Whatever mistake I made with the treacherous Mimesis, I will not repeat with you… And since you’re a colt, I shall name you Symbios… You will make a fine playfellow for my daughter Leilia…” Turning to her drones, she nodded before giving out further orders. “Collect as much fresh water as you can and scout the area for ponies! The stench of smoke doesn't come to my liking, but there should be some ponies somewhere here that the Descendants haven't taken. Take them and bring them into the hive. As soon as the preparations are complete, we will investigate further!” Now her eyes went to Symbios again and a gentle smile came to her face. As she carried the foal to the cave and after a while to the surface above the cave, a frail ray of sunlight broke through the darkness of the smoke clouds the Amasian Empire was under right now and shined down to the unfinished hive.

A ray of hope.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away in the north, the morning sun shined brightly over the port of Baltimare. The Alisia was undergoing minor repairs and the ponies on deck did their normal duties, when First Commander Will entered the Captain's cabin.
“C-Captain? Someone is asking for permission to come on board.”

But Captain Lily shook her head without looking up, waved her commander away.
“Not now, Will. We are still undergoing repairs. I'll see to potential customers later this evening. So as long as it isn't the harbor chief or a Canterlot inspector, permission denied.”

Will wanted to say something, but not a second later, the door was opened and Tyler entered the cabin.
“I know I'm provoking yet another series of stress and trauma to your ship, but I want the best crew I can get. And you and your crew are the most trustworthy.”

Lily's ears went backward like the ears of a cat being cornered and her eyes became thin slits as she glared at Tyler. With a quick gesture she ordered Will to leave the cabin and he obliged.
“You... Am I cursed by Princess Luna to constantly stumble over you and those around you, Mr. Jones?”

“Aw, Captain. Am I so terrible for you? The least you could do is hearing me out.”

Grumbling a bit, Lily looked to the side while she nodded.
“Alright, you have one minute...”
The tranquility of the harbor was suddenly disturbed as a certain “WHAT?!?” caused the seagulls to scatter. Pointing her hoof at Tyler, Lily slammed her other hoof several times on her desktop. “Are you out of your human mind?!? Nopony with a sane mind travels that route!”

Tyler remained calm and nodded.
“I'm aware that the current between the Amasian Enclave and the neighboring island is too strong for us to reach our destination in time. I am also aware of the risk of this route. But I've heard that you did this route once and here you are, alive to tell the tale...

“I was hunted by nopony less than the Flying Hoofmane at that time! That was pure desperation!” She retorted, “There are dangers on the sea that you couldn't possibly imagine, Tyler Jones! I know them, I faced a lot of them in my travels. And you didn't!”

Taking a seat on her table, Tyler took a look on his fingernails. Unseen by Lily, however, were his eyes at that moment, that began to glow slightly blue.
“I faced other stuff. But you know? The Princesses of the Sun and Night would most certainly compensate you and your crew generously for this mission and all your expenses...”

At the sound of that, Lily's ears rose up with a twitch.
“What...?”

But nonetheless Tyler continued.
“... and I even might get them interested in sponsoring a capable mare such as you for the next few years...”

Lily glared at Tyler, a certain tremble in her body. He was trying to make it more appealing to her and unfortunately for her he was successful with it. The Alisia could need a visit at the dry dock and with a sponsorship and several missions from the princesses, she and her crew could easily build up a fleet of their own. However, the risk to earn all this... This man had some nerves and whenever she stumbled over him, she and her crew were in for something. And now his talking skills were aiming for her approval once more.
“Why don't you offer me to smear strawberry sauce all over my body while you're at it, boy?”

Looking over his shoulder to her, Tyler gave her a grin.
“If you wish that, that could be arranged as well, Captain...”

A heavy blush formed over her nose now as she gritted her teeth. Already she could feel her bat wings to erect behind her. This was a dance of words now, but she wouldn't fall all over herself into the trouble of adultery with a male from a prominent herd. This always led to only one thing: Trouble! She had to turn the table, had to regain control again. Slamming her hooves onto the desktop, she then pointed her right hoof at Tyler. “You're not funny, Mr. Jones! I'm in charge of this ship and its crew, not you! Wait at the pier, the crew and I will discuss this.”Tyler obliged and left the ship, a fact that prompted her to sigh in relief.

Coming back to the others, Tyler shrugged before Twilight looked up to him.
“And? Did you get us the ship?”

Smiling down to her, he gave her a wink.
“Give it some time...”

A couple of minutes later, Lily came down to the pier, still a blush on her face. She took Tyler's hand and shook it.
“You got your ship... Don't let me regret this...”

Leaning over to Twilight, AJ arched a brow.
“He seems normal right now. No harsh emotions, no anger, no hate... Like any day Tyler.”

Twilight gave this a concerned nod.
“But he isn't. Something's not right with him, whether we admit it or not.”

They came on board and for a moment there was a murmur among the harbor ponies when the hover tank approached the Alisia. Looking over to Tyler, Lily shot him a glare.
“Let me guess... There's some cargo you want to take with you as well?”

Tyler shrugged with a smile.
“I'll leave the compensation later to the princesses, you don't have a problem with some safety precautions, do you?” Lily grumbled in displeasure and the tank was levitated into the cargo hold by Twilight, Tyler, Rarity and Lyra. What would have been an impossible task was made quite easier with the fact that Twilight was an alicorn and that the tank already hovered and had lesser weight, so the most part was setting it down appropriately. Once down, the tank was fixed in the cargo hold to be unable to move another inch. An hour later they left for the open sea.

* * * * *

Half a day later, they sat down in the cargo hold and while Vinyl and Lyra took turns with Twilight and Rarity to charge the batteries up, the others conversed. Right now, Twilight and Rarity were done and while Rarity was out to look for some refreshments, Twilight came to the others.
“That should almost do it. Vinyl says she and Lyra are now doing the last few checks inside of the tank.” Looking around she lowered her voice as she leaned in to Applejack. “Where is he?”

AJ pointed to the front, her voice lowered as well.
“Over there in the bow. Twilight, Ah think we should help him somehow. It doesn't need a lot to see that he's in need for our help. He's strugglin', seekin' isolation. And frankly it pains me to see mah Sugarcube like that.”

Letting out a sigh, Twilight looked over to the bow where Tyler was.
“To solve a problem one must first know the origin of it. Right now we only know that Tyler has moments when his anger knows no bounds, like there would be someone else in him, controlling him either from the inside or outside. But ever since we spoke up to him, these short outbursts of anger ceased completely.”

Coming to their side, Flynn looked over to Tyler as well as he handed Twilight a refreshment as well.
“A frightening thought considering him being the strongest human user of magic among us... I think the last time I ever saw him so pissed was when Mimesis attacked us in the HQ. Only that this time the reason for him to be angered is inferior than 30 years of fake happiness. Worrisome.”

Rachel, who sat one meter away, looked over to them and leaned back.
“Why worry? We are traveling with an unstable, 200 pounds heavy, mobile weapon of mass destruction, currently with the patience of a spider sitting in her web. One wiggle and bang! He could blow this ship out of the water.”

Twilight frowned. This sentence wasn't to her liking, yet Rachel had a point. Now approaching Tyler, she sat down at his side and looked up to him. He didn't look at her, but his face showed no emotion at all.
“Coming to the walking, talking weapon?”

Looking down again, Twilight lowered her ears.
“The others are simply worried, Tyler. Not as much about this crazy mission, but about you.”

Giving a short chuckle, he nodded.
“I know. I think I can't blame them for that. I would be worried as well if this would happen to any one of them. Sometimes it just...” Looking over to her, he gently shook his head. “It feels like I'm standing right beside me, losing control while another person takes over. It would be a lot easier if I knew what was wrong with me. I'm sure I could adapt. If it were a broken leg, I could walk less on it. A sickness? I would cure it out. But now I'm at a loss of what to do.”

Twilight nodded at this. The one suffering most under this unknown situation was Tyler.
“I only wish I could read your mind right now as easy as Celestia and Luna do... Maybe I could help you better if I could do that.”

This brought a smile on his face and he rested his palms on her cheeks.
“Don't blame yourself, Twilight. You, AJ and the others are the best support I could ever hope for at the moment. I am grateful for each and everyone of you. Don't think that you're not helping. The others reel me in if I'm going to far. As for AJ and you...your very presence soothes me. When you are with me, I think I can get these waves of anger under control.” Leaning forward, he placed a passionate kiss on her lips. Twilight didn't protest. If this was aiding him good right now, she was happy to oblige. And yet she saw the fear in his eyes. The fear of bringing them all closer to danger. The thing she wondered about most was what he was fearing more: Bringing them into danger or this new unknown force.

* * * * *

One hour later, in the captain's cabin, both Will and Lily looked out of the window, both silent for several minutes. The commander was the first to talk as he closed his eyes with a sigh.
“If I understood him correctly, there's a thousand things that could go wrong with this stunt alone.” Looking out of the window, Commander Will shook his head. “Advancing all defense forces to intercept the enemy armada on the open sea. He's abandoning the entire country...”

Standing next to him, Lily took a deep breath. Her first commander had reasonable concerns, but the Alisia was already chartered and on her way. Turning back now would mean to abandon the payment as well.
“He's in command; with both ruling princesses out of the game and Princess Cadance busy with preparing the Crystal Empire for battle, there's no one who can hold him back now to get us our princess back. And Princess Twilight is with him, so there's nothing we can do. He thinks that the best choice would be on the open sea, away from all collateral damage. Will, if I order the crew to do a maneuver awfully reckless, but with the chance of success, they would do it.”

Looking over to her, Will gave her a smirk.
“The crew has faith and trusts in the fact that you want us to succeed, Captain.”

“That's the point, Will. With all the troubles we've been through with this human, he always wanted to keep us away from harm, never aimed for our misery. That's the sole reason I agreed to this. He took precautions. Not only for their sake, but for ours as well... Maybe we should start to trust him a bit more as well.”

Outside Rachel wondered what was going on in the captain's cabin.
“What are they doing in there so long?”

Flynn gave it a shrug and grinned.
“Well, whatever a mare and a stallion do in their alone time, you know?”

In the next moment, Rainbow was slowly descending on Flynn, letting her weight on him as her front hooves rested on his shoulders and her head on his.
“Shut up, Flynn. Not even we two do it with so many people close by. And these ship walls are thin; we would so hear the action.” Flynn answered this with tickling her sides, what caused her to laugh.

Half an hour later, Lily came back with Will and continued their duties.
“I want a steady course correction towards the coast! Make sure we don't drift away too much southwards.”

Standing up, Rachel came to Lily's side.
“Excuse me, Captain. Are we in any kind of hazardous waters right now? The sea looks normal to me.”

Arching a brow, Lily looked into the south and nodded.
“That's because you only see some part of it. In higher altitude one can see the extent of it. This vortex is huge.”

This caught the ranger's attention.
“A vortex?” Looking south, she concentrated on the horizon. “There's this short and thin dark line on the horizon... Barely visible. Is that it?”

Landing beside her, Lily looked at the horizon as well.
“That's rumored to be the other side of the vortex.” Lily eyed Rachel for a moment. “You have good eyes! For a human that is.” Taking flight again, she began her explanation. “There are theories if it really is the other side or just something in the vortex. Some believe the roundness of the planet is flattened there to some degree and they could see to the other side. But nothing is certain about this. Maelstrom... Devourer of ships and ponies, even sea serpents avoid these waters. And don't try anything. Nopony has ever crossed that vortex. The thing is that the area seems to be slowly draining magic from every living thing the closer you get to the center. Pegasi tried to cross it being airborne... They never returned either. So there's no magic and no flight as means to cross this monster. Only out here on the farthest outskirts of this phenomenon we can make it.”

Looking out to the ocean, Sam's expression grew grim.
“Rachel...

Giving it a nod, she turned over to him.
“Yeah, Sam... Just like Bermuda. A dreaded place where ships are lost in. But this might be a natural magical phenomenon on this world we don't understand yet.”

Flying to the bow of the Alisia, Lily looked down into the sea.
“We have yet to watch out! The sea here at the edge of Maelstrom is filled with rocks and riffs able to smash us to pieces. The current would then drag us directly into Maelstrom.”

The next few minutes were spent with bat ponies pulling the Alisia and steering her like this through the riffs and sharp rock formations. While the route was most uneventful, a certain tension was felt among the crew. It wasn't until long when one of the younger bat ponies spoke up.
“I don't like this...”

One of the more experienced mares, however, nodded over to her.
“You're new to our crew, Moonwing. Don't worry. You weren't with us on the day we made this route. The thing is: The Captain took exact log of that route. So and so many knots over so and so much distance.”

“So we're safe?”

“Sort of... This is another ship. This pot here is twice the size, she has to re-calculate the route in her head from scratch.”

It was then when one of the mares spotted it. A large rock formation directly in the ship's path 300 meter ahead.
“Captain! Rock formation ahead!”

Remaining calm, Lily nodded and flew with the others.
“I know, sailor...”

Worried glances were exchanged by the younger sailors. Frightened whispers let the worry spread like an airborne virus.
“We're too fast... Way too fast! We should have already began to turn.

Now closing in, the rock formation came close to 200 meters and one of the bat ponies spoke up.
“Captain, we're over our mark by a ship length! We need to turn!”

Lily's eyebrow simply twitched in anger.
“You're relieved.”

Turning over to Will, one of the bat ponies shook her head, her eyes pleading for help.
“C- Commander!”

Will looked over to the Captain, wondering if he had to intervene. Lily counted further in her mind before she opened her eyes wide all of a sudden and shouted her order.
“Right full rudder! All ponies pull reverse!”

In an instant, the ponies pulled the ship's bow back, trying to slow the ship for a sharp turn. The ropes bounced under the instant stress, yet withstood. The Alisia tilted to the side as she turned to the right, making it hard for everyone not airborne to keep standing. And all of a sudden, the tremors shook the hull as the shields flashed up brightly and a geyser of sea water gushed high up the air. Once the sea and ship had calmed again, Twilight dared to take a peek outside.
“Are we sinking?”

Landing next to her, Lily shook her head.
“Not even closely. It seems I miscounted for one or two seconds, but we had the shields, so the ship was only shaken, not shattered. Pretty tricky, this last part. Only a sharp turn is able to steer away from the large obstacle and not run into the riffs below that would rip the hull into pieces. Especially with a fat porker like the Alisia.”

After some monitoring of the sea water, Will turned back to Lily, as he flew in front of the ship.
“Captain! The riffs are ceasing, we are entering deeper waters again.”

“Good! Return to a course eastwards, then maintain speed and course for another two hours and report any unusual rock formations on sight.”

Holding her head, Rachel tried her best not to throw up below deck.
“I hate this... That's why I'm a Marine and not a Navy seaman. I can't handle all this shaking in the long run...”

Moving a barrel and a crate out of the way, Sam rolled his eyes.
“Shut up, Rachel. It could have ended worse. Vinyl! How's the tank?”

Climbing on top of the tank, the white unicorn nodded.
“They sure made good use of the props. That baby didn't even flinch when everything else tilted. We're good.”

* * * * *

At the end of the day, Captain Lily assembled her crew and looked at them. The evening sun was shining into their faces, letting their eyes glow golden, almost like topaz gemstones.
“We are back in safer waters. I once vowed to you never to make that trip again. I broke my promise and I can't blame you for being angry at me for putting you through this a second time.”

Giving a short glance to the side to the crew, Will then looked at Lily and nodded.
“We understand, Captain.”

This brought a smile on the captain's face. This, however, quickly withered and her face returned to being serious.
“Don't get me wrong: We are not out of the worst. We are going deep into the enemy lines and will deliver our passengers there. Sneaking through their lines and striking deep into their heart.”

The crew mumbled in wonder about this until one of the mares raised her hoof.
“Excuse me, Captain... But what chance can one ship have against their entire armada? Against enemies able to destroy an entire city?”

An obvious question Lily expected.
“Good question, sailor! Listen, everypony: We have on board a very important piece of Harmony Ranger technology. It already saved our lives today in the riffs. With the help of this piece of equipment, we are able to wield magic even without many unicorns on board. Princess Twilight has developed a cloaking spell and Ranger Scratch will maintain the shields and cloaking effect. The enemy will not see us and the shields should protect us for the one or another hazard.”

Shaking her head, one of the bat pony mares shook her head.
“This is suicide, cloaking spell or not! What if the cloaking spell loses effect while we're in the middle of their fleet?”

Giving her a glare, Will and Lily frowned at her.
“I suppose you do your duty, Moonwing! And leave the magic to the unicorn Ranger! Otherwise you are in deep trouble!” While the rest of the crew returned to their duties, Moonwing grimaced and went below deck with a reluctant “Yes, Ma'am!”.

Commander William was about to follow her, but Lily's wing blocked his way.
“No, Will... I'll handle her...” Now coming below deck, Lily then approached the crew member directly. “Moonwing? On a word, please.”

Upon noticing her captain, Moonwing stopped her work and stood attention.
“Aye, ma'am!”

Lily then slowly encircled her, inspected her here and there.
“You are new to my crew, Moonwing... You do good work and you grew some attitude. But all that doubting? If you think you are unfit to serve on my ship, then maybe you should serve on another once we reach the harbor? Or are you here for a specific purpose?

Arching a brow, Moonwing turned her head to Lily.
“Captain?”

“I tend to trust my crew members completely, but if there is doubt about something, specifically treachery... I begin to ask questions.”

Moonwing's eyes slowly widened.
“D-do you think I'm a Descendant?”

Both mares glanced at each other and for three seconds, Lily shot Moonwing a glare.
“Are you?”

Another couple of seconds of silence followed while Moonwing's ears lowered with each passing moment.
“Captain, you're scaring me for real now...

“Good! Because if one of my crew is a traitor, the entire ship is at stake. I won't allow that. Before I jeopardize the crew, I'll tie the traitor up and toss him or her into the sea. Here in open waters, no one would miss a young mare and spy.”

Tears now began to well in Moonwing's eyes. The young mare seemed rather intimidated, even began to snivel.
“C-Captain... I... I'm sorry I doubted you. I'll work harder than ever! Just... Please don't do anything to me...”

Giving a determined nod, Lily's harsh face warmed up a bit and pulled Moonwing in for a motherly hug. This mare wasn't a traitor, she was too timid for that. There was no hope she would ever make it through a serious interrogation.
“Trust is something you have to earn on this ship. We are one big family here. I need each of you to work together as a unit without questioning every move. Do you understand this, sailor?”Sniffing once, Moonwing now nodded and Lily patted her shoulder with a smile. “There you go. Now dry your tears and get back to work.”

Lily then returned to deck, where Will was waiting for her.
“And?”

Rolling her eyes, Lily gave it a wide grin.
“Well, she's new on the ship, but teared up quite fast. She's not a Descendant, but a typical ensign. Brash, full of herself and taking on the world...” Smiling, she looked over to her first commander. “You think we were the same at this age?”

Will smirked and gave it a shrug.
“Maybe? But right now we're probably worse than that.”

The comment caused Lily to laugh out loud.
“True! Maneuvering the ship against reckless odds is slowly becoming our reputation.” Her laugh, however, came to a sudden halt, when she spotted something on the evening horizon.

There it was. A large fiery storm front with clouds of fire, several miles wide. In it the armada of the enemy slowly made its way to Equestria. Lily's facial expression grew grim. Exchanging glances with Will, she nodded, before the commander replied with a nod of his own.
“It begins! All ponies to battle stations! Turn the Alisia around and steer her to an intercept course right into the storm.”

One bat pony grinned widely.
“Every sailing ship avoids storms like that. We are the only maniacs daring enough to steer right in.” Hearing this brought grins on each bat pony face and with a united “AYE!” they cheered themselves up.

Giving the upcoming storm front a glance, Tyler turned over to the tank in the cargo hold.
“Vinyl! Power up the tank with the strategic shields, raise shields along the sails, ropes and bat ponies, make sure the masts don't break under the firestorm's pressure. That the ropes, masts and ponies don't take fire. We will need all the speed we can get.”

Taking a gulp, the white unicorn nodded and closed the hatch. Deep within the cargo hold, the tank's engines began to hum loudly. And as the first wave of flaming winds approached the ship from behind, the shields withstood the stress. In the tank Vinyl monitored and maintained the charges. What usually needed several unicorns at once was done with ease due to the immense storage of spells they had prepared. A storage that seemed to hold for quite some time before the shield would collapse. While first spooked by the flaming winds, the bat ponies quickly learned to have faith in the shields surrounding them. They were safe and the shields were holding the inferno back, which made the crew more confident for the task ahead.

After five minutes of constant fire around the shields, the wide eye of the storm reached them, the harsh winds of fire ceased and the armada of war citadels became visible above them as the mighty fleet caught up with them. Tyler gulped briefly as he looked up. Hundreds of war citadels, surely manned with tens of thousands of Descendants able to bomb the ground and shielded with a ring-like storm of flames. This was an armada for the sole purpose of waging war against the entire planet.
“We're in the heart of their armada...”

Looking up, Flynn shook his head in disbelief.
“Oh, we are so screwed.”

Tyler's facial expression darkened.
“No, we're not! Twilight's cloaking spell is working and our tank's generator is maintaining it and the shields for the entire ship. They can't see us. Otherwise they would attack right now.” Looking at the tank, he raised his voice. “Vinyl! Maintain the cloaking field spell and the shields for the Alisia just as Twilight instructed you. I want sphere upon sphere, layer upon layer, all magic stored in the tank. Do everything to make sure the magic keeps flowing.”

Vinyl cocked her head while arching a brow.
“With so many spells at once, the spells won't last days, but only a hoof full of hours...”

Nodding, Tyler smiled.
“That's all the ship will need to get back to safety. We don't know about their sensors, if they have any. So for the time being, it's all or nothing now.” Now facing back to Twilight, he arched a brow. “Twilight? It begins. Just like we both trained, honey. Are you ready?”

Taking a gulp, Twilight nodded.
“In a couple of seconds; I'll give it my very best. Where am I aiming the teleportation at?”

Looking up to Nagohod, Tyler's face grew more determined with each second.
“Their main citadel fortress.”

Staring surprised at her herd mate, Twilight's jaw dropped.
“What?”

Nodding up to the immense citadel, Tyler's face barely changed.
“If they hold the hostages anywhere, it has to be there. We get them out, it's game over for them once our armadas meet them. And for some reason I sense a strong magical force up there.” While Twilight was busy preparing the spell, Tyler turned to the front to the bat ponies. “Captain Lily, I want your ship to get on an intercept course with the main citadel fortress. Focus all your speed and maneuverability into that. We only have this one shot!”

Looking at each other for a second, the bat ponies then looked over to their captain.
“Captain, what are we going to do?”

Gazing straight front, Lily shook her head.
“Change course and speed as he said, you flying rats! If you slack off now, I'm going to drown you myself!”

This left the one or another bat pony stumped.
“B-but Captain!”

“With... With that course, we are steering right into Maelstrom!”

Angered, Captain Lily put her hoof down and raised her voice.
“In a couple of miles, you cowards! Now pull yourself together! We have this one and only chance to deliver this team to rescue Princess Celestia! So I expect you girls to fly as you have never flown in your entire life! Somewhere up there is our diarch, waiting for them to rescue her. We will not fail her!”

And while the Alisia went on an intercept course for the mighty Nagohod, Tyler and Twilight were floating over the planks as the magic formed to their will until both opened their eyes, Twilight's face showing worry.
“Tyler? I can't teleport so many individuals safely over such a distance with so many moving obstacles and unknown factors.”

A hologram appeared between Tyler and Twilight. Concentrating, Tyler plotted a trajectory up to Nagohod visible for Twilight.
“I understand and I think I see an opportunity... A low part of the fortress serving no apparent purpose. Can you do it?”

Concentrating, Twilight closed her eyes shut before she opened them wide. If not teleportation, she had to create a magic sphere and fly levitate them all up there.
“I can! I believe I can!” Now the other element bearers and Rangers began floating as well as the magic circle grew, their manes whirling around wildly. “This will be no teleportation,girls, but a force field with immense acceleration. I can't teleport us directly in, I don't know about the windows, walls or structure of the fortress. I'm sorry.”

Exchanging glances with each other, the girls then nodded at their friend.
“No problem, Twilight. We believe in you!”

But more and more the bat ponies tired and the fortress of Nagohod came closer, surely to bypass the ship very soon. Raising her voice and head, Rainbow Dash spoke up.
“We have to help them, T-man!”

Looking over to Rainbow, Tyler shook his head.
“We can't! We are all inside Twilight's force field already. The bat ponies are more than able to get this ship going, Rainbow. Have faith and let them do their part!” This order didn't came to Rainbow's liking. She wanted to help in this race against the enemy fleet, was able to do so. But she had to admit that staying with the others was more important now. Like several pegasi flying in formation, they were one unit now.

The sea became rougher as the citadels flew over the ship, sometimes closing in to only a few meters. A large majority of the armada already passed the sail ship by now, which was tiny in comparison to them. Looking over to Lily, Commander William shook his head while pulling as strong as he could.
“Captain! The crew is getting tired with all that weight to pull, they can't keep up this speed forever!”

Gritting her teeth, Lily pulled even stronger to make up for her tired crew, sweat running down her forehead.
“We don't need forever, Will!”

Tyler looked over to Captain Lily. The spell was almost ready and the crew of the ship was giving its best to deliver their package. A commendable crew, what brought a smile on his face as he spoke up.
“Once this is over, I shall grant you and your crew a cargo hold full of fruits, Captain!”

Lily grinned widely while still pulling, sweat running over her face.
“It never gets old with you, Tyler Jones! Come on, girls! A bit more!”

Coming together, the friends now grabbed each other and stood united for the impending spell. Looking around, Rachel shook her head.
“Another thing I never thought I'd do: Being catapulted high into the sky. Let us hope that we will make it.” Everyone nodded at this except for Twilight, who still concentrated. Upon opening her eyes, the alicorn unleashed her magic and the sphere of magic shot up into the sky and towards Nagohod.

Once the Elements and Rangers were off the ship, Captain Lily raised her voice once more.
“All! Hard to port! Turn her around! We get out of here!”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, up above, Princess Asira's ears rose up and she blinked in surprise two times.
“Did you feel that as well?”

Arching a brow, Lamira looked around.
“Yes... Magic of alicorn magnitude was used... Close by...”

Looking over to their priced hostage, Asira lowered her voice.
“You think Celestia...?”

“No... We have subdued her... I guess it's either her protege, niece or sister... One of them is close...”

Shaking her head once, Asira began to trot towards the command room.
“I will alarm the Descendants.”

But Lamira raised a wing in front of her and closed her eyes with a smirk.
“No, wait! This could be interesting as it could be useful. Let's set up a couple of traps. Gather a small group of Descendants, do not alarm the fleet. We will maintain speed and course for Equestria while looking for whoever is up here. She could even have a few Rangers with her, who knows? If so, it is an excellent opportunity to interrogate and execute some of them, maybe we could learn more about their whereabouts.” Yet as soon as Lamira was trotting away, Asira looked after her. 'Hrmpf! I won't let you risk our operation with being so careless. I will deal with these worms myself...'

In the meantime, far below in the lower regions of the fortress, Rachel had grabbed Twilight's Head and placed a big kiss on her nose. All of them made it inside a hatch that was now closed by Flynn.
“You did great, Twilight! For a moment, I thought we would crash into the fortress wall.”

Twilight, however, chuckled a bit.
“Rachel... magic force fields don't have to deal with inertia. I can slow them down or move them around far better than flying with these wings.”

This prompted Rainbow to snicker.
“You can say that again. Next thing we both do when back in Equestria: I should start to give you flying lessons.”

Twilight nodded, but then looked down the corridor.
“Tyler? I take it you Rangers lead ahead while we Elements remain behind you in cover.”

Nodding, Tyler patted her shoulder as he peeked behind the next corner.
“Sure thing. Let's try to keep it safe and quiet.”

Looking back Flynn arched a brow.
“You folks think the bat ponies will make it?”

Tyler smiled at this question.
“Vinyl is with them, the tank and the shields will bring them home safely.”

Sneaking through the corridors, they made their way unhindered and unnoticed. After arriving in a smaller storage hall, they hid for a moment behind some crates. Tyler looked over the crates to see if there were guards of any kind. Once he saw no one around, he nodded and looked at the others.
“Alright. We are somewhere far below in the bow of this fortress. Somewhere has to be a way up. A stairwell or some ladders or something.”

“The elevator A on hall Epsilon.” Everyone looked at Pinkie, stumped.

“Excuse me Pinkie... Wh-”

Inhaling a bit, Pinkie closed her eyes with a smile.
“We go through the door over there, head to the right, take the second junction to the left and then walk through hall Epsilon.”

Shaking his head, Tyler arched a brow.
“Pinkie... How can you know that?”

Coming to his side, Pinkie turned his head to the side and pointed her hoof at the poster on the wall.
“Duh! It's on the map, silly!”

This prompted him to smile at her.
“Very observant. Thank you, Pinkie!”

“You're welcome!”

Rachel looked at the map and cocked her gun.
“An elevator? I don't like this... Too cramped space, too obvious as a trap.

Looking over to her, Tyler grinned.
“The alternative would be running upstairs... Maybe... 50 or 60 floors... Maybe even 100. That and free-climbing high over the sea.”

Grimacing a bit, Rachel then nodded.
“Oh, alright... Elevator it is...”

* * * * *

Meanwhile in the throne hall, Lamira was receiving a communication from the armada.
“Nagohod Command, this is Citadel Siberiod. Air space around the armada is clear; Operation Black Omen can be initiated.”

“Understood.” Trotting over to the panorama windows of her throne hall, Princess Lamira watched at the armada of citadels in front of Nagohod. The red evening sky was visible with a look above the clouds.'It's them... Of that I am certain. Celestia's little lap dogs are coming. Now then! Let us show them who they're up against...' The Armada came to a sudden halt right above the sea. “This is the right place… Here on Nagohod we will found Black Omen… Here the Harmony Rangers and the Elements of Harmony will die…” Just as Lamira had said this, her black mane and tail turned into something like red hot plasma and began to move without a breeze as if a sudden breeze had stirred them up. In an instant, streams of dark magic emanated from Nagohod and darkened the flaming clouds of the citadel armada, swallowed them and transformed them to a pitch black cloud And as her eyes began to glow, this eerie black cloud grew from the Descendant armada and spread far beyond the storm, thick enough to block the sunlight and an aura of evil engulfed the gigantic fortress as the cloud spread over the sea, growing relentlessly until it reached the coastline of Amasia, making the surviving shadow ponies cringe in fear.

This evil aura was so strong and powerful that it caused the Harmony Rangers and Elements of Harmony to look up in the elevator, grimacing with an uneasy feeling.
“Do you guys feel that, too?”

“I don’t know what it is… but this feeling…”

“Yeah… It feels like a sickness!”

In the throne hall, where Celestia was held, the skies darkened more and more. Seeing the last rays of sunlight obscured by Black Omen brought great grief to the Princess of the Sun. Shaking her head, she closed her eyes, unable to witness more of this. Its purpose was clear to see: A spell to veil the entire planet into eternal darkness.
“May there be mercy on us alicorns for our sins...”

Meanwhile the elevator came to a sudden halt, causing everyone to look up. Rachel gritted her teeth when she opened the ceiling hatch.
“Jones, I told you this was a bad idea.”

With a flaming mane and tail of her own, Princess Asira looked down the immense elevator shaft with an evil smirk,
“There I have you. Farewell, you mortal fools...”

When high above them the flames descended, Rachel turned to the others, aghast.
“They're going to fry us alive!!!”

Pushing everyone back, Tyler unleashed a large amount of his magic and drilled a large hole into the wall beside them.
“Rangers!!!” Not losing any time, the others nodded and while Sam and Flynn took a jump on the other side, Tyler and Rachel took the ponies and tossed them over, so Sam and Flynn could catch them.

As only Rainbow was left, she raised her hoof in protest.
“Nobody tosses me!”

But Rachel simply grabbed her and nodded.
“Fine! You can make the jump with me, stupid!” As they crossed over and looked at the others, Rachel looked back to the elevator. “Where is Jones?”

It was then when the ceiling hatch from the elevator fell down and hurried steps became audible. In the next moment, the cabin fell and Sam and Rachel jumped up. But mere seconds later, a fiery bolt of flame caused them to stand back until it passed the shaft as well. Once everything was over, they peeked down the shaft. Down below was an detonation and the cabin they were in was in ruins. A sharp whistle was getting their immediate attention and to their relief Tyler stood five floors over them.
“Now that was close. Had to make that stunt, we wouldn't have made it with that explosion right behind us.”

Turning to the others, Rachel gave them a reassuring nod.
“He cut the elevator down so the bolt would hit it several floors beneath us. Good thinking...” Looking up again, she spoke to him with a communication crystal. “Hey! Are there some stairs to meet up?”

Taking a short look down the corridor he was in, Tyler shook his head.
“I don't see any here right now... Make your way up, I'll do the same. We'll meet upstairs” Rachel nodded and turned to the others, surely to make their way up as safest as possible. For the time being, Tyler only had to take care of himself. Something that was actually pretty easy for him. As he made his way up, Tyler couldn't but recognize a certain resemblance in the way these corridors suddenly took. The floor wasn't made out of stone or steel plating anymore, but dark marble. Something that reminded him of Luna's wing in Canterlot Castle.

Finally there were two doors in the corridor he was in. Both of the finest wood he ever saw. As he opened one of them, he entered a chamber, that would turn Luna's chamber to shame in terms of luxury. A carpet of red velvet dampened his every step and the wooden ornaments on the walls and the ceiling were highly decorated with gold. However, the luxury wasn't going overboard and remained practical. Walking up a few stairs leading to the upper part of the chamber, Tyler passed two marble pillars and saw a big canopy bed with veils of transparent pink velvet. Whosoever was sleeping in there sure loved comfort. It sure looked like a bed a mare would lay on to lure a stallion in. But another thing sprang into his sight. It was a pedestal in front of the bed. On it rested a tome of black leather.

A sudden rush of adrenalin streamed through Tyler. 'This could be it...' he thought. 'This could be some written clues of their real whereabouts...' But as he opened the tome, a certain red glow emitted from its inside upon opening, which quickly ceased. It was in this moment when the ear of Princess Lamira twitched. And then she knew where to look for at least one of the intruders. With a heavy gulp, Tyler began to read.

'I damn all these traitors of the Light Tribe! They are the cause for all of this! The servants spoke of a spell that the Queen of Light cast in order to banish all other alicorns. At least that's what they overheard father saying. If that's right, I know who to blame for this genocide. But being a star herself, Queen Faust is out of reach... But the servants also state that she had daughters with father... I executed these servants on the spot for claiming such a preposterous thing. Some servants said that Asira and I should be disposed of and they should free themselves of the rest of us. That an alicorn filly couldn't be such a threat. I showed them how to dispose something properly. I don't think they will underestimate me or Asira ever again.'

Turning the page, Tyler wondered when these pages were written. It read as if a filly had written them down. The cover of the book looked old, really old, yet the paper was in top shape as if time hadn't harmed it at all. Maybe a spell to preserve it, maybe it was rewritten over and over again. He couldn't tell. Reading along he explored deeper into the diary.

'I don't sleep well. These claims of the executed servants make me think. To think that father ever managed to feel something for an Alicorn of Light... It's highly unlikely, but if it's true, then I found a way to get even with the Alicorns of Light after all these eons. If I can't punish the Queen herself, I will punish her daughters instead. They may have some noble blood of darkness in them, but the filth of light streams through their veins. My half sisters are corrupted. But I will not kill them. Death would be too easy for them. No, I will make them suffer by taking away everything they cherish. Their realm shall burn to the ground!'

A dark idea spawned in Tyler's mind. Like Celestia and Luna, Asira and Lamira were survivors of the conflict Celestia called the Alicorn War. But unlike Celestia and Luna, the Darkness Sisters were not found by ponies who meant well. They were growing up among ponies who wanted to get free from the oppression of the Alicorns of Darkness, who seemed to be quite terrible at that time. But these two fillies were innocent at a certain point and cornered to defend themselves. Growing up in a harsh environment, their hearts hardened at an early age. Now, unknown centuries, maybe unknown millennium later, their hearts seemed to have become black as tar. Wondering what could have caused this, Tyler wasn't aware that he was about to find out right now.

'I managed to do it! Mother always urged me to master this spell, but I never succeeded in performing it until today. I wish she would be here to share this with me. The 'Heart of Darkness' spell to bring forth the darkest powers in an individual. With the king, the creator of this spell as my father, I never had a doubt to master it one day. I wonder if he would be pleased with me seeing me succeeding where so many others failed.'

Looking over to the next page, Tyler gulped. This was a game-changer. They were alone all the time and had little to no compassion for their servants, who were nothing more than servants to them, not friends. An understandable position if they already tried to kill the two of them. Harshness and barren discipline dictated their doings, driven by a mad drive for revenge. As he continued to read the entries, Tyler explored just how deep this madness had gone.

'The spell made me so much stronger. I can sense it! Our divine king's power runs through my veins as I do his bidding. I am but the extension of his will to return to this place and rule over these peasants.'

'Asira was a bit hesitant to undergo the same procedure, but after talking to her, I managed to persuade her to try it as well. She's not as powerful as I am. Fitting, her being the younger sister. But it fills me with pride to call her my sister. Since the disaster of the Abarasion spell she has been a friend and companion. The bond between us got even closer after she stepped into the Heart of Darkness. The taste of her marehood still lingers in my mouth and my nether parts are still tingling with satisfaction as I write these lines...'

Tyler halted for a moment. This was a revelation to digest. It seemed that, like Celestia and Luna the Darkness Sisters had to deal with the lack of alicorn stallions on this world. While Tyler never thought that Celestia and Luna would be able to perform an act such as this, he remembered that he never asked them for certain. Knowing that the Darkness Sisters were willing to perform such an act revealed a lot about their mental state. Both sisters were close as lovers as well, meaning they were able to feel something. And it meant that both of them were each others potential weak-point.

'I managed to do it. With the perspective of accumulating riches some agents of mine have begun to infiltrate certain key positions in Amasia. Guiding these agents little by little into the direction I desire, I can make sure to gain indirect influence in Amasia. If this works, I will do this where ever there are ponies. There won't be a place where I won't have my agents and they will begin to undermine agencies, organizations and governments in my name until the time is right. Asira doesn't know of the plan yet, but I will inaugurate her in these final stages. With her at my side, I am sure we can achieve this long awaited goal.'

This last entry was more than interesting in Tyler's eyes. So the two of them had started their infiltration tactics centuries ago and had started their military development. To have enough patience to wait centuries, only to take total revenge showed the determination these two mares had. But to what horrible extent?

* * * * *

In the meantime, the others were not as fortunate as Tyler and had to knock out several Descendants on their way. Rachel shook her head as she peeked around yet another corner. The corridors they went through right now were all plated in metal and every few meter there was a screen. It wasn't sure what purpose these screens served, but Rachel couldn't care less now. “Five guys... Five possible reasons they might notice we are still down here. I'm not sure if knocking them out was a wise thing to do, Sam.”

But Sam simply shrugged.
“Either that or alarming the entire citadel.”

Looking around, Lyra arched a brow.
“Is it just me or does this part of the fortress have a resemblance to a dungeon?”

“Oh no!” Fluttershy began her thoughts. “This must mean Grinko is around here!”

Patting her shoulder, Flynn held the yellow mare back.
“Relax, Fluttershy... Calling out for him now might draw unwanted attention.”

With a nod, the timid Pegasus agreed.
“Oh... I understand. But... How would you react in my place?”

Shaking his head once, Flynn went on.
“I think I would go crazy...” Fluttershy gave it a short smile until she looked over to Rainbow, who gave her a bragging smirk. It was like her friend was almost saying 'That's my stud and he's as awesome as me.' A thought that made Fluttershy giggle a bit. For a moment, she almost forgot her worries for Grinko.

This, however, changed when Rachel pointed at one metal door.
“This one's locked unlike the others.” Looking into the cell, she saw two silhouettes hanging in chains at the wall on the other side of the cell. “Prince Griffith?” As the griffin looked up, she nodded over to Twilight. “Twilight, can you lock-pick the door?”

With a brief now, Twilight stepped forward.
“I will give it my best.”

Upon entering the cell, Rachel inspected both princes and gave the others a nod.
“They're alive. But in worse shape than expected.”

While Twilight took care of the heavier bruises, Prince Griffith spoke up.
“Don't mind me, they seem to concentrate more on him. They threatened him to let him hunger until he's driven mad. And then they threatened they would send Lady Fluttershy to him to... let him feast on her in a frenzy.”

Shoving the others out of the way, Fluttershy came to the front and raised Grinko's head to her.
“Oh, how awful... No one should ever drive one that mad. I know my Grinko would never lay a claw on me to harm me.” She then lowered her voice so only Grinko could understand her, as she whispered into his ear, a heavy blush on her face. “Only to mark me as his...”

Rachel and Twilight exchanged nods and Rachel turned to the two prisoners again.
“We'll get you two out of here now...”

But now Grinko shook his head as he opened his eyes.
“No, I'm staying.”

“What?!?”

Giving a nod himself, Prince Griffith came back into a standing position.
“Me too... I'm afraid you'll have to get us out later on.”

Sam shook his head and raised his arms to shook the griffin's shoulders.
“This is not negotiable! The joint strike force of both your kingdoms and Equestria is out to destroy this armada here!”

“And what if we are gone?” Grinko countered, “Then the enemy will know that he is without hostages and will be more careful. Once the battle goes on, we will be able to help from the inside.

“Grinko, you are a Harmony-”

Standing up now, Grinko stood up tall.
“I'm currently not acting as Harmony Ranger! I am Grinko Khass’ra, Son of Tass'kra, Prince of the noble clan of K’tithrak Mang. It is my will to remain here and fight honorable, not to run like a coward. Me and these Descendants still have a score to settle.”

Griffith came to his side.
“I'm with him on this.”

“Prince Griffith!” Shaking her head in frustration, Rachel gritted her teeth.
“Not you too...”

But the griffin prince shook his head in determination.
“My father would be ashamed of me if I let others fight for me without taking arms as well. I will accompany Grinko, we will watch each others back.”

Giving a nod and a smile to Griffith, Grinko turned to the others again.
“Just undo these chains and we will play the waiting game.”

Rachel stabbed the Masar's chest, looking into his feline eyes.
“If Jones would be here, you would listen to him!”

“No! Not even he could deter me from this decision.”

This left the others stumped.
“I thought you were in his debt?”

“There are things not even debt can toss aside. One of them is honor.”

Now hovering in front of Grinko, Fluttershy raised a hoof.
“Ummm... and what about me? What if I wish you to come with us?”

Grinko halted for a moment, looking at her, then sighed.
“I can deny the others my obedience. You, my love, I have to ask for permission. Please... Let me face this fight.”

Recognizing that she was in control over him and had the chance to call him back, Fluttershy felt the heat rising in her cheeks. She meant more to him than anything or anypony else right now. A fact that made her heart race.
“Well... I don't like the fact of knowing you in such danger... Swear to me that you won't do anything reckless!”

A united aghast “Fluttershy!!!” came from the humans, but Grinko nodded and pulled her in.
“I swear! I shall return to you, my love.”

Unlike the human rangers who didn't seem to find a liking in leaving empty handed, the ponies smiled at their friends. Rarity shook her head with a touched smile.
“Now, you two... I hate to interrupt this bond between you, but we should get going, before somepony notices we're in here.”

It was in this moment when Tyler's voice sounded off in the communication crystal Rachel was wearing.
“Come in, please!”

While Twilight undid the chains and Flynn went outside the cell to watch the corridor for possible threats, Rachel answered the crystal.
“Jones! Good to hear from you. We've found the princes, but also ran into some complications.”

“Something serious?”

Looking over to Fluttershy and Grinko, who now both looked at her, Rachel give a sigh and shook her head with a smile.
“No, I don't think so. So what about you? Have you found something?”

“I know some gruesome details about the Darkness Sisters now... We have to stop this armada at all costs.”

Now frowning, Rachel looked over to the others.
“Why? What is it?”

“They are planning to-”

In the next moment, Flynn stormed back into the cell and took the communication crystal out of Rachel's hand.
“Tyler, watch out!!!”

“What? Why?”

“You are on every monitor of the citadel!”

As the friends came back to the corridor, each screen showed Tyler in the chamber he was in. Seeing himself on a big screen over the door he came in, Tyler gritted his teeth and leaned at the stone pillars at the stairs, the only cover he had so far. A few meters away, on the other side of the room he spotted a ventilation shaft. He could smash through and escape, he only needed a short distraction. Then, he heard the female voice of the princesses.
“So this is Tyler Jones... At last.”

Lamira arched a brow once she recognized the opened book in front of her bed.
“Reading my journal? Was it an interesting read? I should have known someone like you would not have the manners to respect the privacy of a diary...”

With an evil smirk Asira took a step towards his hiding place.
“Tell me, Tyler Jones, if you can: Our war citadels, our descendants... You have destroyed and killed so much. What is it exactly that you have created? Can you name even one thing?” As Tyler remained silent, the alicorn mare smirked. “I thought not. We have given ponies under our reign purpose to strive for. Something far greater than the equestrian ponies could ever hope to imagine! A common goal to achieve! If only you would have harnessed all that boundless energy for a useful purpose. Then maybe you could understand this. But let's face the truth: There's nothing good to expect from you vile monkeys.”

Raising a wing in front of her sister, Lamira smiled victorious, but shook her head.
“If you can't do the right thing for the good of all ponies... Maybe you can do it for one of them?”

Gritting his teeth, Tyler peeked over to the ventilation shaft. They were playing the cards rigged to their own advantage as if he would be the villain.
“Like the one you took from me?”

Gasping aghast, Lamira shook her head.
“Do you really think we would harm our own sister?”

Asira gritted her teeth.
“How preposterous! Princess Celestia is alive and well.”

Hearing this was good, but it could also be a trick to make him obey their demands. Stepping aside of the pillar, he had raised his hands in surrender, yet his hands were clenched down to fist. Lamira grinned.
“See that, Asira? He's not so dumb after all...” But a grin formed on Tyler's face and when he opened his fists, a blinding white light flashed up. Within mere seconds he shot a bolt of magic into the ventilation shaft hatch, breaking it open. But just as he jumped to dive in, alicorn levitation magic got hold of him. As he was levitated towards the two alicorn mares, Lamira sneered at him. “I got you now...”

Looking backwards, Asira saw that the screens had returned to black and after some nod from their Descendants, she turned to her sister again.
“The feed has ended, dear sister... We can speak freely again.”

Levitating Tyler close to her, Lamira inspected him like a science specimen.
“You were privileged by Celestia and Luna... What do they see in this monkey face of yours that they let you, a mere mortal, mount them? What a disgrace...”

Spitting into her face, Tyler struggled in their levitation magic.
“There's your disgrace, bitch!”

But his spit only hit a magical force field in front of her.
“Interesting... You are able to move muscles in my levitation field; you should be completely unable to do that... So you have found out our dirty little secrets...”

Repulsed, Asira shook her head.
“It's a wonder he hasn't jacked off to these parts of the diary, dear sister...”

Lamira sneered at these words.
“Asira, watch your tongue! He is the primitive one here, there is no reason for us to step that low.”

“You are right, I'm sorry.”

Leaning in to Tyler, Lamira looked deep into his eyes.
“I am eager to see what lies in that mind of yours, monkey. That is the very reason why we won't kill you on the spot. Instead, there shall be an interrogation first. I want to know what made you so strong.”

For Tyler, it was a real pity to see something so beautiful on the outside being so ugly on the inside.
“If you think that I'll talk than you are sadly mistaken.”

“Talk?” A dark giggle escaped Lamira as she raised her hoof, fighting the urge to burst out in laughter. “There is no need for you to talk.”

They teleported and appeared in a larger hall with round circles on the ground.
“I will give you to the Gazad, Tyler Jones... Altered ponies unable to live by themselves anymore. They have given up much for their ultimate special talent, which is reading the minds of others. Nothing is secure from them.”

Tyler was then tossed into the center of the hall and the levitation magic ceased. But before he could come up on his feet again, the princesses' horns flashed up and his body suddenly felt extremely heavy. 'Gravitation magic' There were sudden streams of steam coming from the circles in the floor and when Tyler looked up, his eyes widened in terror. For the content of the cylinders ascending from the floor were not whole ponies, not normal or mutated ones... These were brains! Encapsulated within red crystal, six brains ascended around him until the crystals gently began to vibrate, resulting in what seemed to be their way of communicating. It began as a whisper, audible, but silent for him. And yet each word was clear to hear.
“Another one...” Tyler could feel something trying to probe his mind. Concentrating, he gave his best to repel them. “This is taking a bit longer than expected...”

Above, the Darkness Sisters watched silently, smirks on their faces.
“Subdue him!”

A certain wave of mental prowess forced through his body, loosening Tyler's defenses.
“We have entered his deeper mind.” Tyler fought the intrusion as best as he could, but the Gazad had way more mental might than he had. Within seconds, they entered his mind despite his best efforts to resist them. “Ahhh… The so called 'Tilerions'…” Flashbacks from Tyler's memories appeared before his mental eye as well as they appeared as a hologram above him. Flashbacks of the void dragon and staring right into his roaring snout, memories of the Grand Galloping Gala, where magic caused Tyler's vile reaction and earned him his cutie marks.

Asira arched a brow.
“It seems he wasn't used to magic before he came in contact with it. To make such a rapid progress...”

“Now we found thoughts of his origin…” the Gazad continued. Memories from Earth flashed through his mind. The splendid richness of its flora and fauna as well as man's many technological achievements. Finally, his argument with Shimmerwind below Canterlot surfaced again.

'”And who are you to talk, Tyler Jones? Your world is FILLED with technology! All the progress you humans make should be for us ponies as well!”'

'”Technology is a double edged sword.”'

In unison, the Gazad spoke out their latest finding in Tyler's mind.
“The technology of Earth…”

Earth. Hearing this word caused Princess Lamira to listen up.
“Where does he come from? Earth, where is it? How is it that we never found a way to his world but he found a way to us?”

The mental violation went deeper and deeper and became painful for Tyler, who still resisted. Knowing about Earth was one thing for them. But there was no way he could ever allow them to find a way there. But as much as he tried, he was no match for the Gazad.
“Wait… There is more…” Slowly, the pain in his head began to reach critical extent. It wouldn't take long now until he had to give in. “We find potential in him… We find alicorn potential in him!” In this moment the Gazad found an image in the deepest corners of Tyler. An image of two pairs of eyes that now looked back like it was awakened by the Gazad. Disturbed like a wild animal, they growled at them in a dual voiced tone and in fear the Gazad escaped Tyler’s mind, their voices now more and more panicking while Tyler gasped for air as the pain suddenly ceased. Descending back into the floor, the Gazad seemed to try fleeing from Tyler physically as well. “Tilerions… He’s partly alicorn! Alicorn! He’s a human fighter transcending to alicorn power! Kill that human! Kill the transcendant!! Kill the transcendant!!! KILL THE TRANSCENDANT!!!”

With a cold glance, Princess Lamira looked down to Tyler,
“Kill the human…

The gravity returned to normal and Tyler could breath normally again, when the Descendants already stormed in. Not losing any time, he jumped up and directly at the first unicorn. In reflex, the spooked Descendant tried to get loose by shooting magic, but Tyler absorbed the magic and shot it at the other Descendants, catapulting them away before he blasted open another ventilation shaft. Tossing the unicorn stallion away, Tyler jumped down the ventilation shaft, where he slid down several floors. As the Descendants stormed down the corridors to pursuit after Tyler, the Princesses looked after them with gritted teeth.
“Find him!!! Whatever it takes! FIND HIM!!!”

Coming out of the shaft in some sort of maintenance section, Tyler made haste down the corridor until he ran into the barrel of a gun after turning around a corner. Quickly recognizing it as Rachel's gun, he made a step back while Rachel lowered her gun.
“Idiot! I almost shot you for real this time.”

Twilight came to the front and looked up to him.
“What happened, Tyler?”

Now catching some breath, Tyler shrugged.
“I, uh... ran into some complications myself. They caught me and wanted to read my mind for information... Until they were spooked by something.”

Rolling her eyes, Rachel shook her head.
“If I would read your mind, I'm sure I'd be spooked too, Jones! Now what do we do? Grinko and the Griffin Prince said they want to remain here in order to fight them from inside here once it all starts.

Tyler's brows rose up.
“And you let them do that?”

Fluttershy nodded as she flew in front of Tyler.
“I have faith in Grinko to do the right thing.”

Grumbling a bit with a smile, he patted Fluttershy's back.
“We'll talk about this later... For now, there's a third hostage we need to get out of here. This maintenance area is almost not under surveillance. I think I passed a sign for some maintenance shaft on the way here, but passed by since they went after me. Come on, let's investigate together.” As they went on, not one of them recognized their shadow, a pair of green glowing eyes following them in the dark, just close enough to follow them.

* * * * *

Half an hour later, a hatch opened and the Elements of Harmony and Harmony Rangers silently made their way out of the shaft into a great hall. Bouncing ahead, Pinkie Pie came to Tyler's side.
“Tyler, we made it! This looks like a throne hall room!”

With a swift move, Sam grabbed Pinkie and held her mouth shut.
“Hush, Pinkie... I know they're here somewhere...”

Tyler replied to this with a concerned nod.
“You're probably right, Sam... It's way too quiet here...”

But before anyone could muse about why it was so quiet, Rainbow pointed at the glowing force field at the left side of the throne.
“Over there! It's the princess!”

As they approached her, Tyler spoke up first with a calm and kind voice.
“Celestia?”

When she looked up at the others, Celestia's eyes widened.
“Tyler? Girls, what are you doing here? It is dangerous for you to be here!”

Looking up to her former teacher and herd mate, Twilight pointed at the others.
“We came to rescue you, we have brought the elements, maybe they can defeat the Darkness Sisters like they defeated Nightmare Moon.”

Closing her eyes, the Princess of the Sun shook her head.
“I'm afraid this is far worse than Nightmare Moon, Twilight. You are all in grave danger, you must leave!”

But Tyler shook his head.
“I won't leave without you, Celestia. It's worse enough that we weren't there to stop them from taking you in the first place.”

Turning over to Twilight, Flynn pointed at the force field.
“Twilight! Can you dispel the magic imprisoning the princess?”

Giving a brief nod, Twilight looked up to him.
“Of course!”

“Then do it!”

“This takes time...”

Looking over to the lavender alicorn, Rachel frowned.
“Even more reason to start right now!”

Glancing at Celestia, Tyler's hand rested on the force field. Unfortunately, this was magic he couldn't absorb. What would he do to take her into his arms right now.
“They plan to destroy Equestria. I don't know how exactly, but they destroyed the Amasian capital as well. Tens of thousands are dead. It is possible that they are after every pony not willing to serve them.”

Looking up to the ring on her horn, Celestia then glanced at Tyler.
“I managed to loosen the grip of the ring suppressing my magic. Once free, I might be able to do something to stall them or maybe even to stop their armada for good. But I don't know how long my powers can endure a world without my precious sun.”

Tyler nodded in worry, seeing her like this brought back the inner rage inside of him, but his feelings and mostly his worry for her determined his mind right now.
“Hang in there, we're going to set you free any minute now...” But in this moment, the doors to the throne hall sprung open and several dozen Descendants marched in, pointing their guns at Tyler and the other human rangers hiding behind their only cover, a large black equivalent to the throne in Canterlot. Gritting his teeth, Tyler turned his head slightly to the others, his eyes always watchful on the Descendants coming in. They didn't attack, but from their point of view, the rangers and Elements were all cornered in here. “Twilight! Hurry up!”

And when Princess Lamira and Princess Asira entered their throne hall, the Descendants made way and the others were able to get their first short glimpse on the Darkness Sisters. Once standing in front of their throne, both sisters smirked in an evil manner while holding their chins high.
“Everything comes to he who waits... But even faster to he who takes... And we've waited so long to take this chance...” With a sneer Princess Lamira looked down at Tyler. “You monkeys don’t deserve to live here and constantly meddle with our plans. It is our divine right to rule this world.” An evil and sadistic grin formed on her lips. “We are your celestial princesses now, mortals…”

With a grim face Tyler looked up to the two alicorn mares,
“You two shall not stand in my way to free her!”

Losing her patience, Princess Asira raised her voice,
“You dare to challenge US?!?” A lightning cracked through the black skies as she said this.

Charging her horn, Princess Lamira gritted her teeth, going into fighting stance as her grin died and her eyes began to glow red,
“Mark me well: I will wipe the name of ‘Tilerions’ from this world…” Now the anger exploded from her as she shook her head in rage, underlining her final announcement. “FOREVER!!!”

While Tyler and Lamira conversed aggressively, Asira slowly went to the side of the hall, trying to peek behind the cover. Something was going on there.
“If you have a grudge against me, come face me! But let the people of Equis out of this! These dark clouds out there are not necessary!”

“SILENCE!!!”

Now seeing behind the pillars and cover, the dark alicorn saw the ponies with their distinctive trinkets around their necks. Her eyes opened wide.
“These are the Elements of Harmony…” Turning to her sister, Asira clenched her teeth together, her face showing wild rage. “THESE LITTLE WORMS HAVE BROUGHT THE DREADED WAR DEVICES TO DESTROY US!!!”

“They dare to do that?” It was then when Lamira spotted Twilight with her Element of Magic on her forehead. “No….” Her face turned from angered to hostile and murderous in an instant. “KILL THEM!!!” Within a split second, Tyler teleported back into cover and a fierce shooting began between the Descendants and humans.

Taking cover while taking aim for her next few shots, Rachel spoke to Twilight.
“Twilight! Can you do something to get us out of here?”

“Teleporting all of us at once? I've never done it with so many and with an uncertain amount of distance...I already had problems with teleportation from the sea to up here. Now you want me to teleport us even further?”

Ducking down, Flynn covered both Rainbow and Fluttershy in order to protect them.
“Or maybe a portal! Can you make a portal to get us out of here?”

This made Twilight's ears twitch.
“Yes! I could! Oh, Flynn, this is genius! But I need some help with it. Rarity, Lyra! I need you two to assist me with triangulating the magic for the coordinates.”

Both unicorns nodded and came to her side as the preparations were made.
“Just tell us what to do.”

“Concentrate on Equestria! Think about it! The more you think about it, the more I can concentrate on building the actual portal.”

The magic accumulated in their three horns until a spark connected the magic and a disc was growing from it. Erecting tall, the portal emitted a bright lavender light as it towered behind the group of friends. Standing in front of it, Twilight's jaw dropped. First in awe, then in wild marvel. She really did it despite the odds.
“It works... IT WORKS!!! TYLER! GIRLS!!! THE PORTAL STANDS!!!"

One by one, the Element bearers and Harmony Rangers made their escape through the portal. Seeing this, Lamira pointed her hoof at the portal.
“STOP THEM!!!”

Looking over to the slowly closing portal, Twilight then turned over to Tyler.
“TYLER!!! WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!!! WE HAVE TO GO!!!

Firing at the Descendants in front of him, Tyler gritted his teeth.
“NO! THAT'S THE SOLE PURPOSE WE CAME HERE! I WON'T LEAVE HER AND THE OTHER TWO BEHIND!!!”

Shaking her head, Celestia looked over to him.
“You have to! Equis needs all of you alive, Tyler! You still have some days time. GO!”

Exchanging glances with Celestia, Tyler then reluctantly nodded before he grabbed Twilight and jumped through the portal with her as well. However, unnoticed by the both of them was a humanoid shadow that followed them through the portal also.

But just as Princess Lamira wanted to order the pursuit, the portal closed in front of her eyes, causing her to shiver in uprising rage.
“Find them…” Tossing a Descendant away, her rage began to boil up with each passing second. “SEARCH FOR THEM!!! I WANT YOU TO BRING THEM BACK TO ME!!!”

Coming to her sisters side, Asira arched a brow looking at the place the portal stood.
“I saw that they used portal magic, but we do not know how far they traveled or in what direction. And I saw something that looked like Mimesis making it through the portal with them, obviously in pursuit. Seemingly they didn't escape your little bloodhound.”

Lamira, however, shook her head in anger and gritted her teeth, her eyes glowing fierce.
“Asira! Monitor the entire planet! Call the Draconequii at our disposal if you have to! Wherever they are, they will use this magic again to return! If they do or Mimesis makes a call, we will track them down! These Rangers and Elements are the direst threat known to us! As long as they are free to do as they please, our reign is at stake! We must control everything or we will lose everything… Find them at all cost!”

Author's Notes:

Not proofread yet, any notice of errors major or minor is welcome.