Equestria, several years ago...

A loud commotion went on in the Canterlot throne room, when the news of a unicorn stallion lying in the hospital in a catatonic state was brought to the princess. The alicorn’s furious voice boomed through the throne room.
“Do you realize what you did? What you did to this stallion? That poor souls is in mental care. NOW!!!”

“I was so close to perfect the spell! If your guards haven’t interfered, I would have succeeded! Sunset countered, not showing any signs of fear for her mentor.

“You failed with one pony! You think you can succeed with the entire nation? I won’t let that happen!”

“I failed this time. The next time I won’t!”

“That’s pride and vanity talking, not friendship! You’ve forgotten everything I’ve taught you? About friendship not needing mind altering to begin with? This is not about harmony nor helping others.”

“My experiments could benefit the population in ridding them of vices like selfishness, hate and envy!”

“You really think I am not seeing the possible abuse in this? Others tried and failed before you in doing so! More powerful than you! More ambitious than you! If you would truly care about your fellow pony, you would listen to reason and see the history of failure in this! You are a vain, power hungry, cruel girl!”

"And you are an old hag and a fool!" Sunset snapped back at her.

What Sunset didn't expect, however, was the reaction Celestia now showed. Instead of continuing to argue with Sunset, she got very quiet all of a sudden, hurt even. This unprecedented event made Sunset worry to a larger degree than anything else that could have happened.
"Yes... I was a fool to think you were willing to listen to reason. To think that you would return to a healthy course of actions."

The Captain of the Royal Guard came to the princesses side.
"Your highness..."

"SILENCE!!!" Celestia snapped back at him, making him wince and take two steps back before she glanced back at Sunset, her glare now strict and unforgiving, her voice void of all her usual warmth and care. All what was left was strictness and disappointment. "Sunset Shimmer, student of mine... You have betrayed the explicit command of your princess to stop these dangerous arts. Through your arrogance and stupidity you have harmed the peaceful citizens of Equestria with your unstable experiments even though you were forbidden to continue them!" The princess’ left hoof slammed down to the ground with a thundering boom. Trotting over to her, Celestia’s magic slapped away Sunsets notes and scrolls and ripped her saddlebags apart, making her research books fall all over the place. For the very first time in all these years her mentor became physical. An unexpected fact that scared Sunset now. "You are unworthy of these friendship studies! You are unworthy of the title of being my student! YOU ARE UNWORTHY!!!" The student now looked up to her teacher in fear, backing away, tears in her eyes. Celestia's face showed anger and disappointment, but most of all pain and sadness. "...of the love, trust and faith bestowed upon you, which you so willingly tossed aside. My greatest student… How did I fail you…" Closing her eyes, Celestia turned away, trotted back to the throne, before turning around again, her horn glowing, her wings spread wide to posture as big as she could. But all that wasn’t able to mask the tears welling in Celestia’s eyes. "I will now do what I hoped never to be doing again. In the name of Friendship, Harmony and the peace loving ponies of my nation, I, Princess Celestia of Equestria, CAST YOU OUT!!!" And when the magic shot hit Sunset, she was forcefully teleported away from Equestria.

With a distressed yelp, Sunset woke up in her bed, sweating and panting. Coming to terms that was nothing more than a dream, she closed her eyes and her breath normalized again
“Unworthy… Yeah, right.”.

* * * * *

Neftus Island, in the morning hours.
Entering the bar of Patash, Sunset Shimmer levitated a glass and a bottle onto the worn counter and poured herself a drink into a glass. With a grumble, she emptied it with one go. Before her group took the city, this probably was a place of commotion and conflict, with drunken souls either attempting to drown their sorrows with alcohol or exchanging the one or another punch in a bloody beating. Now it was an empty and quiet place void of any commotion. The settlers, now no longer burdened with their sorrows, had no need to drown them with alcohol any longer. But the cool shadow and the ventilation were a welcomed change from the hot and dry air outside. Seconds after her drink was downed, Gorex entered the bar as well, a displeased look on his face. With a growl, the Masar approached her.
“You think this was wise? This distress signal may have been a mistake.What if they attempt to rescue the 'hostages'? What if they send armed forces?”

Rolling her eyes in a mixture of amusal and annoyance, Sunset shook her head while pouring in another drink and gulping it down.
“Please...We got these communication crystals from the equestrian colonists, did we not? They claim it was an invention from a ‘Crystal Empire’ brought to Equestria. So whosoever will hear that distress signal and our attached message, will come from Equestria or whatever place this Crystal Empire is. I sure do know of no such place as a Crystal Empire. And one thing I do know for sure: Princess Celestia is far too soft and timid as to risk the well-being of her subjects. She would never send armies to free them or representatives from other nations. And as far as I know, there is not a single decent infiltration unit in the Equestrian Royal Forces.” An amused chuckle erupted from her throat while she trotted behind some curtains to change her outfit. “Your worries are pointless, my dear Gorex…”

Yet it was a chuckle Gorex could not share so easily. Attempting to follow her, he then halted when he saw that she was undressing. Averting his eyes a few degrees, he then continued.
“Yes, maybe... But what about the other nations? You are aware that we have Griffins and Masar here as well? If the Griffin Empire of the Queendom of Moranji will find out, your guarantees are null and void!” Trotting back from the curtains towards the mirror, the mare smirked at her own reflection, what only infuriated him. “Sunset! Would you listen to me?!?”

An annoyed sigh escaped her throat while she rolled her eyes. Then, while correcting minor details of the black leather jacket she was wearing, she looked into the mirror to face his reflection. Her voice became slightly reverberant.
“Gorex... I understand your concerns. Really, I do. But after uniting these folks out there in the camp, a band of rogues who always refused to work together... Do you seriously think that I couldn't persuade others just as easy?”

Fighting against her spell, he growled a bit. She was showcasing her powers of dominating others to him although he was with her. He remembered how she utilized this reverberant voice to calm down and persuaded even the more strong willed among the colonists to see things her way. Within a few hours every colonist had been converted to her retinue, and she was deemed the leader of the group. In fact, leader of the entire island. All of this without any bloodshed. A feat one could have been proud of.
“Yes, you persuaded us. But as of right now I'm starting to have my doubts about you. I let it slide because I know that the only thing that will bring us away from here is sticking together. If that includes ignoring your means of persuasion, I can do that. Yet against someone not from this island? I’m concerned you won’t have it similarly easy as you had it with persuading us. Because you'll first have to trick them into coming close enough and fall into the range of your spells. Your spell worked fine on the rest of us. But the people here only want to leave here, we're desperate! How good will you fare against someone not so desperate? Someone your equal?”

Arching a brow, Sunset looked at his reflection in the mirror. An equal. If it came to mind magic, she was the only one making an effort in this field, since it was straight outlawed in all of Equestria and all these mindless puppets of Celestia would not, unlike her, do anything that could break the law decreed by the Princess of the Sun. Thus a chuckle arose from her throat. The very idea was ridiculous.
“If there is someone being my equal, I have yet to meet such a wonderboy. Or, well… girl. And from my experience in Equestria before my banishment a couple of years ago, there is no such thing there. I've perfected these spells. And what do you know? Once united under me, we are finally within reach of getting off this rock! Taking down the burdens of the poor souls outside is simply a bonus.”

Baring both his fangs and claws, Gorex now growled highly aggressive, readying himself for his impending attack.
“You dirty little-”

Turning around on the spot, her horn lit up and the command was uttered in a harsh and loud voice. Her voice, only mildly reverberant before, was now an almost distorted voice, each syllable repeated a dozen times.
“Stop right there!” In an instant, his legs obeyed her as the command echoed in his mind. 'Stop... right... there...' Gorex growled in rebellion, his fangs gritted in wild rage, and yet, his own muscles only shook as he tried to move them. Trotting over ever so nonchalantly, she shook her head. “You want to leave this island as well as I do, don't you, Gorex?” Kicking his leg from behind, she caused him to fall to his knees and looked him into the eyes face to face. “I took mental burden and pain from you, helped you out in your darkest hours and am organizing our way off this island... And this is how you repay me? I took you for a more honorable Masar...”

His growl now grew in volume as he yelled at her.
“I won't let you play with our lives so frivolously!”

Hearing this caused her to look at him in surprise, then a mischievous giggle escaped her throat.
“Playing? My dear Gorex, be assured: You guys here are not pawns for me, simply a last test run. No, the true game starts once I reach the mainland. The guys that come after this ordeal on this island, THOSE will be pawns.”

Looking at her in defiance, his growl didn’t lose any volume.
“What in the name of all prey are you plotting, Sunset Shimmer?”

Correcting her leather jacket, Sunset couldn’t but chuckle into the mirror.
“My mentor once told me that the only way she and her now banished sister would ever step down would be, if the ponies of Equestria demanded it with all their heart. If the wish for that would be so strong that they would have no choice but to give in.”

Now his rage made way for first surprise, then astonishment. His eyes grew as he shook his head.
“You want to overthrow the Royal Sisters by starting an insurrection... Are you out of your little pony mind?!?”

Looking into the mirror, she looked back to him over her shoulder.
“On the contrary. I am quite sure I can pull it off. Besides: Who in Tartarus could stop me?”

* * * * *

One hour later, in Equestria, Canterlot, the doors to the throne room swung open and Queen Sheeris approached the throne, where Princess Celestia sat and signed several papers, her royal secretary Raven at her side. One of the royal guards raised his voice.
“Her royal highness, Queen Sheeris!”

Looking up, Celestia’s quill rested down as she stood up with a welcoming smile on her face.
“Queen Sheeris! What a pleasant surprise to see you these days.” Coming over to greet her, both exchanged a hug before Celestia shook her head. “I must beg your pardon: I wasn't expecting you, so there is no prepared meal this time around.”

Waving the thought away, the Masar Queen shook her head with a smile.
“That is of no concern, Princess Celestia…I didn’t notify you of my visit after all.” Now her smile withered away and her face became more serious. “I come here today with a warning.”

Cocking her head slightly to the side, Celestia’s smile withered away as well. This wasn’t uttered in a threatening manner, yet her interest was piqued and she wanted to take every outside threat seriously.
“A warning? And what do you want me to warn about, Queen Sheeris? Wouldn’t a messenger or a diplomat suffice for this?”

The queen’s left brow twitched up and a rather annoyed expression came over her face.
“The matter is a bit more peculiar… Too peculiar for a messenger or diplomat.” Looking around, she eyed the guards with suspicion. “Are they reliable?”

Princess Celestia nodded in confirmation.
“The guards know better than to gossip about state affairs. They were told what I would do to them, in person, if they would dare to do so.”

Seeing the one or another guardspony wince at these remarks, the queen nodded in satisfaction.
“I’ll take your word onto it.” Looking back at Celestia, Queen Sheeris then gave it a knowing smirk. “It was brought to my attention that our joint project was attacked by a group of rogues that are currently running an incursion on Neftus Island.”

Celestia let out a longer sigh, but nodded in the end.
“This is correct. Prince Tyler and your son are already on their way to see things through.”

“And that the island was a poor choice to begin with...” Both the queen and Celestia exchanged glances and Sheeris' glance got a bit cold. “It is good that your husband is already on his way to correct the poor choices he made. It saves me the time to kick his behind into motion. He made a mistake and goes to right it at once. This honours him. I won't deny him that. He's a good influence on Grinko. But due to these new circumstances, I as well had decided to send someone to look into these things. However, things took a turn for the worse when the current leader of the Tartaric Raiders decided to heed my call.”

Celestia arched a brow in wonder while trotting back to the throne.
“This leader... Who is he?”

“Lord Commander Thrakkath... Thrakkath, the Bloodthirsty.” Upon hearing that name, Celestia showed the queen a concerned glance, which was replied by the queen with a nod. “Yes, exactly the kind of volunteer that's not known for his diplomatic attempts. Even among us Masar, he’s deemed extreme. His ship will no doubt bombard the island if the incursion is not done by then. Don't get me wrong: In times of war the Tartaric Raiders are the clan first on the battlefield, feared by our enemies, revered by my Masar clans for their thirst for blood and their utmost brutality. But now? In times of peace? They are the biggest threat to all efforts that do not include violence.”

Sitting down on the throne, Princess Celestia closed her eyes; partially in worry, partially in understanding. The situation was getting worse as it already was.
“I see... Well, I think the Harmony Rangers are a bit wary right now with my husband being the Head Ranger gone to this expedition. I think something’s being prepared behind the scenes as some sort of emergency contingency plan. Even if we would request to establish a communication link, it would need some time. We can’t know if he is currently sneaking through enemy lines.”

Giving this explanation a nod, Queen Sheeris looked to the ground.
“Understandable... What a shame. I was made aware that Lord Commander Thrakkath has some personal beef with him. I would have liked to give Prince Tyler a fair warning just in case...” Right in this moment, the queen looked up to Celestia, noticing something. “You look tired, princess. Is something the matter?”

“Oh, don’t be alarmed… Just a… a minor internal incident. Nothing to worry about.”

Cocking her head slightly to the side, Sheeris began to grin.
“And yet, this minor incident was important enough to rob you of some valuable sleep.”

Giving a sigh, Celestia shook her head.
“It must truly drain me if I can’t mask my worries, doesn’t it? A dangerous prisoner escaped and although I have sent out individuals to deal with the situation, I am still worried for the safety of my subjects.” Looking up, she glanced directly into the eyes of the queen. These golden-brown eyes of hers were slightly opening. That’s when Celestia’s face grew harder. “Do not attempt to glance at me with the full might of your stare, your highness! The sight might blind you.”

Surprised, Queen Sheeris, took a step backwards, only to look down again and closing her eyes completely for a moment.
“Still on your guard, I see. You caught me red-handed. You have my apologies for that attempt. However, if this incident troubles you so, then I shall not remain any longer in this realm of yours. If I were to come to harm in Equestria, surely my clans would deem this as an act of war and act accordingly. Mahaji Ghandu, Princess Celestia.”

Both then bowed to each other in a gesture of mutual respect and friendship.
“A good journey to you as well, Queen Sheeris.”

On their way out to the street, one of the queen’s advisors stepped closer to her.
“What are we to think of this, my queen?”

While continuing to walk, Sheeris looked straight forward while talking to her advisor.
“Until this ‘prison-incident’ of hers is isolated and resolved, we will check every strange naval movements coming from Equestria. I don’t like that it troubles her so much, whatever it is… Yet the fact that she still has her guard up shows me that she still has the strength and will to deal with it accordingly. Maybe things will solve themselves...” ’And I hope Thrakkath doesn’t mess things up too badly.’

* * * * *

Meanwhile, somewhere in the open sea

A lone black ship was sailing the seas, passing the south-west coast of Equestria. With its dual-bodied hull in the water, connected over a large bridge at the stern of the ship, one would have normally classified this ship as a trimaran. However, due to the sheer size of this ship, the five large artillery cannons pointing forward, the rows of cannons to the sides as well as the 32 rudders in constant motion, this ship seemed more of a mixture of galleon, galley and trimaran. It was the Blood Claw, one of the prototype ships the Masar navy had developed after the encounter with Nagohod to make up for their losses in battle. On its bridge, a Masar officer approached another Masar of pitch black fur, four scars were carved into the focused face looking down on a map.
“Lord Commander Thrakkath, the raiders are at a good pace and have great amounts of stamina. If there won’t be any interference, we will arrive at Neftus Island in about two days.”

Slamming his mighty paw onto the map, the black coated Masar drove out his claws and clawed right into the wooden table beneath it.
“Here! Exactly here we will take position at Neftus Island and send in a scout in order to clarify the situation. If the situation can't be resolved with a clear extraction, we will not dishonor our brethren with a fate as captives.”

His advisor, a Masar raider of dark brown fur, named Nefrath, looked at the map, growling in anticipation as his yellow eyes darted over the details. His hand gently stroke the fur on his own chin as he studied the details
“Our artillery will make short work out of this incursion.” His eyes now peeked up to Thrakkath. “But word has it that the Equestrian human prince arranged this project. He will no doubt attempt to resolve the situation before we do. If our informants are correct, he will arrive one day before we do.”

Hearing this, Thrakkath's claws carved through the map on the table, ripping it apart, while an unsatisfied growl erupted from his throat.
“That one prey that got away... The one ship we had to let escape for another ship of ponies was between us as this fog bank cleared. It seems I'll get another chance to meet whosoever escaped me in such an elusive way.”

Nefrath hummed in thought.
“Do you think this is wise? Prince Tyler saved Prince Grinko in the Brakal Desert days after he escaped us. The Queen was very grateful. He is not mere prey.”

“So these 'humans' can be honorable predators as we are as well.” Baring his teeth, Thrakkath chuckled. “Good. Quite good! Hunting down a predator like that to determine who is the apex predator...” Taking in a deep breath, he exhaled with closed eyes. “The threat only sweetens the anticipation.”

“That’s not the only problem, Lord Commander. Both princes have bond in friendship. If Prince Grinko is on Neftus Island as well, our artillery will be forbidden to fire on the island. If the queen is to learn that we fired on the position of her son, we are in dire need of explanation.”

Now another officer overheard the two and leaned in.
“Neftus Island? Weren’t there reports of long range fisherman ships gone missing in these waters?”

Looking down on the torn map, Thrakkath shook his head, raising his voice.
“Seemingly these waters hold predators of their own… Keep your eyes and ears open and watchful! If you spot something out to attack the ship, we will be ready to face it!” Thrakkath lowered his voice, murmuring to himself. “No mere sea-serpent will stop me from this second chance. I’ll blow it right out of the water, if need be…”

* * * * *

At the same time in Equestria, the Everfree Forest
A couple of parachutes were cut loose from the soldiers, causing them to drop down the last few feet to the forest floor. With readied weapons, they scouted the immediate area and made themselves aware of each other. Slowly, but surely, the soldiers regrouped and gathered around Lieutenant Pearce, who at one point raised his voice.
“Alright, Marines! Sound off!!!” A group of 15 marines each replied with a brief “Here!”. Pearce nodded and took a look on a vague map of the valley beneath Canterlot. Information about the area of operation was scarce and there had been no means of scouting ahead. But from the vague map and his orientation during the halo jump, Pearce was able to conclude the direction they needed to go.
“Seems to me we secured the landing zone on the spot.”

“Some of the equipment crates were dented during the landing and retrieval from the trees.”

Looking up, Pearce took a short glimpse at the many backpacks they were carrying and the two crates they were taking with them.
“ Is the equipment still intact?”

“Yes, sir! A short check seems that all systems inside are good.”

Mispowsky looked at the crates, shaking his head.
“Pity we had to land in this forest, though. Now we’ll have to drag that stupid, heavy shit to civilization…”

Wilde chuckled at this remark.
“It could be worse, Mispowsky.”

In the next moment a howl went through the forest and Mispowsky looked over to Wilde.
“It IS worse… You and your big mouth! You jinxed it!”

While the marines readied their assault rifles, Pearce undid the safety on his own. His voice remained calm and collected as he tried his best to spot something in the dark of the forest.
“Alright… No need to panic, marines… We came here to assess the situation, we came here prepared and we came here to take some. We know that those things out there are no mere wolves, so don’t take them lightly. But remember that there are other lifeforms out there. Ponies and at least four humans. So identify your target befo-”

All of a sudden, a certain yelling behind the troop broke out.
“CAREFUL, WILDE!!! BEHIND YOU!!!” Monroe’s call surprised the running wolf a bit, letting it hesitate for just a second, yet this was all it needed. Turning around, Wilde could already see the storming wolf jump at him. Instinct got the best of him and he let himself fall, rolled back and utilized the wolf’s momentum to shake the beast off, all while his rifle roared and unloaded several shots right into the belly of the beast. Crashing to the ground a few meters away from the marines, the wolf got back up as Wilde and Monroe shot right at it, snarling and barking at their weapon fire. “THAT FUCKING THING ISN’T SUCCUMBING TO BULLETS!!!”

“THIS IS BULLSHIT!!!” Monroe barked in outrage as he unleashed several bursts into the Timber Wolf, only holding it in place. “THESE ARE ASSAULT RIFLES!!!” At this rate, their magazines would run out of bullets before this creature would go down for good and there was no doubt that this wolf would not wait for them to reload.

“Fuck this shit…” Next, a fragmentation grenade was tossed by Wilde right into the wooden snout of the Timber Wolf. In an attempt to chew on it, the wolf shook its head violently, thinking the grenade prey, while the marines were already jumping to safety. However, that thought of prey was the last the beast was able to muster as its head detonated in a fierce explosion. Once the chunks of wood, splinters and leaves came to rest, Wilde stepped closer to the remains. “Sit, boy! Good doggy…”

While he chuckled to this, Monroe stepped out of the bushes behind him.
“ARE YOU CRAZY?!? USING NADES IN SUCH CLOSE PROXIMITY?!? YOU WANT TO KILL US?!?

Wilde looked up to him.
“Would you prefer to be wolf-chow?”

“FUCK, NO!”

Mispowsky looked down at the bullet hole ridden chunks of wood in disgust and spat on them.
“Son of a bitch! You know… I really thought we would fare better with caliber 5.56mm. Almost reduces our rifles to mere clubs against such enemies…”

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Pearce took out a compass and pointed into a direction.
“Enough already! We have a job to do here and we wasted enough time! The edge of the forest is about 2 klicks in that way to the east, I expect you guys to get your equipment ready and-”

He was interrupted by Mispowsky, who was pointing at the remains of the Timberwolf slowly reassembling themselves.
“You gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’...”

Taking a glance at the remains, Lieutenant Pearce gulped once as a bead of sweat ran down his temple. They were briefed on this kind of thing, yet the reports stated only usage of 9mm rounds used in handguns. He as well had hoped that 5.56mm assault rifle ammunition would cause more permanent harm to these kind of creatures. Obviously they had to adapt to a more explosive approach. And even that would give them only a small respite. Taking a gulp, he leaned his head slightly to the side.
“Sergeant! How many grenades do we have left?”

“Twelve 40mm fragmentation rounds for the grenade launcher, sir… That and the hand grenades.”

In the next moment, another howl became audible in the distance, followed by a whole wolf pack howling, causing Prowe to clench his teeth together. A short glance was exchanged between Prowe and Pearce and both men nodded.
“Shit… That won’t suffice. Alright, marines! We go! Now! On the double!”

* * * * *

At the same time on the edge of the Everfree, the Harmony Rangers were already storming right into the woods, where they could already hear the sounds of gunfire and explosions in the distance. Slamming himself against a tree, Jake Hunnigan gritted his teeth while hardening the grip on his rifle.
“Shit! Not only taking caution of not running into some Everfree predators or some blue fields of magic flower power, now we’re also forced to take care of not running into third party fire AND detonations. This assignment is getting worse by the minute!”

Another ranger, a unicorn mare named Wood Blossom, looked up to him while erecting a magic shield in front of her.
“Sorry we can’t erect shields large enough to cover two squad members yet. It would certainly help out winning precious ground in time.”

Yet, after a short glance down to her, Hunnigan shook his head. Wood Blossom was one of the many recruits over from Manehattan, assigned to be his partner today.
“It can’t be helped, Woody. Just promise me to keep your head low anyway. I don’t want to hold these shields to the test.”

Straightening up her ears, Wood Blossom looked over to him, a slight blush and a wide grin on her face.
“My… Jake, how bold of you… Shall I bend down as well and raise my rump into the air?”

Jake rolled his eyes at the playfulness of his partner in this kind of situation, before he looked into the woods again..
“That’s not the proper time for fooling around, Woody…”

Now he could finally spot humans and more so hear their targets in the dark shades of the woods. One human was struggling to get deeper into the woods while another held him back, pulling him away.
“Mispowsky! MISPOWSKY!!!”

“Forget it, Drake! He’s turned to stone!!!” the other one barked back at him, slamming him against a tree, possibly trying to save another life, being unable to save the former one. “Nothing you can do!!!”

Wood Blossom looked up to Jake and shook her head.
“They are in danger! We got to help them!”

Hearing her voice caused the soldiers to aim at her position and gunfire rose anew.
“Over there! Shoot it!” Wood Blossom cowered behind her shield, screaming in terror at the bullets hitting her one and only defense, before an arm was put around her and pulled her into the safety of the tree trunk.

Her back now resting to his chest, Jake pulled her in ever so closely to not reveal anything of her to the gunfire. Yet in doing so, he and Wood Blossom were pressed together quite tightly, her head resting against the tree trunk besides his, his hand holding her throat in place so she couldn’t jump up and leave the cover of the tree. Slowly calming down, the mare assessed the situation and position she was in.
“So much for not fooling around, huh?” she remarked with a sly grin.

Jake looked up to her, not understanding, but the mere act of her wiggling her ample haunches ever so gently, made him realize that her haunches were pressed into his lap.
“Stupid girl! Just don’t leave the cover of this tree, you hear?!?”

Bullets zipped through the air, prompting the remaining Rangers to jump from cover to cover. Running to a tree, Richard Henson slammed himself against the trunk, using it for cover as well, just before bullets hit some trees to his side. The impact holes of these hits showcased the effect of a larger caliber round being used. If not for these thick and heavy trees, the Harmony Rangers would have to crouch through miles of mud and wet earth in order to keep safe.
“This is madness!”

Jake Hunnigan looked over to him from a tree a few meters further, nodded and shouted into the direction of the shooting.
“He..Hey!!! Is anyone sane over there?”

Although the shooting in their direction seized, rifle aims were corrected at Jake’s precise location while somewhere behind this line other soldiers were still shooting at something into the Everfree.
“Who are you? Identify yourself!”

“We are the human response team of the Harmony Rangers send here to aid you getting to safety. Don’t shoot!”

Suddenly, the marines looked up to Pearce, who stepped next to the already aiming soldiers..
“Humans…?” Pearce laid his hands on two of the barrel runs of his marines and lowered them, causing them all to lower their weapons. “Well I’ll be damned… Seemingly this shitty day got a whole lot better. Marines! Grab our stuff and get a move on!” Upon hearing this, the Rangers stepped out of cover. Yet just when both parties relaxed, another Timber wolf jumped out of the woodwork to their side and readied itself to pounce at the marines, who spinned around to face the magical beast, but a burst of the Ranger weaponry was enough to rip it to pieces in a cloud of explosions. Spinning around once more, the marines faced the rangers again.
“Drop it!!!”

Sticking her head out of the bush she was hiding in, Wood Blossom shot the marines a glare.
“WHAT?!? We just made short work of that beast and saved your lives and you want us to drop it?”

The barrel runs suddenly all pointed at her, causing the soldiers to blink in disbelief for a moment. They saw it on the news, on the internet, were briefed on it, but seeing and hearing a talking pony in the flesh was something new to all of them. Being the first to regain composure, Prowe harrumphed and looked at Pearce.
“Sir, they took that thing down with a single burst. I don’t know what they were firing, but it turned out far more efficient than our conventional weapons. They could give us excellent cover from these things out there. There are still some of these wolves around.”

Nodding, Pearce eyes grew grim when eying the Harmony Rangers.
“Noted… But I don’t completely trust these guys yet. Drake, Wilde! Assist them and have an eye on them as well while we get the equipment out of this damn forest. Once we’re out, we can discuss things out. Now move it, people!”

Watching him and the marines carrying stuff past them, Wood Blossom’s right eye twitched in anger.
“Are these guys for real? If we had the intent to steal from them, we could have let the wolves take care of them and then dispose of the wolves afterward!”

Shaking his head, Richard Henson gave it a smile.
“They’re just cautious, Woody. Don’t take it against them. They don’t know who to trust here. We’re just armed strangers to them.”

Wood Blossom calmed down a bit and took a deep breath before shaking her head in disapproval.
“I can understand that, Richie. Yet… We came here to help, did we not?”

Richard sighed in frustration. He could understand her, but playing the blame game didn’t help out much.
“Give them time, Woody…”

Coming to Richard’s side as the marines and rangers spread out a bit into a larger group, Drake looked back into the woods and spoke into his walkie talkie.
“Sir, what about Mispowsky? We’re not going to leave him there, are we?”

Pearce’s voice blurred out of the speaker.
“Well, we can’t do anything for him as of right now. We’ll get the equipment out first. If there is a cure for this state of his, we’ll come back and get him to his treatment.” Pearce then approached Hunnigan, eyeing him briefly before offering his hand for a shake.
“I think we met on the wrong foot and that we should start this over. Lieutenant Ben Pearce, United States Marines. I take it you guys are the ones who will get us to civilisation?”

Jake glanced down to the offered hand, then up into Pearce’s face and nodded before he took his hand in his own in greeting.
“That’s correct. Lieutenant Jake Hunnigan, Equestria Harmony Ranger. We’re here to search and assist.”

Taking a glance at the ranger service rifle, Pearce arched a brow, pointing at it.
“Are those… paintball guns?”

Giving it a chuckle, Jake held the rifle a bit higher in order to demonstrate it
“Only in the gun mechanics. These rounds are live and able to do lethal harm. As you could see on that Timberwolf.”

Looking back into the deeper forest, Pearce grimaced a bit.
“Lieutenant, I got a corporal back in that forest that was turned to stone after an encounter with what can only be described as some sort of reptilian chicken. Is there a cure?”

Arching a brow, Jake nodded
“A cockatrice, yes… We were briefed on these creatures, yet I never saw one myself. There is a cure for that state. We will extract your man with a larger team later. Timberwolves do not attack statues. For now, let’s get you and your equipment to some place safer.”

* * * * *

Half an hour later, the marines got their crates all together on the edge of Sweet Apple Acres and were testing the equipment for damage. Drake approached Wood Blossom, who eyed him with suspicion.
“I’m sorry if this comes off rude, but are you male or female?”

Wood Blossom arched a brow, when a smirk grew on her lips.
“I’m a mare as one could conclude from my voice alone. Hello? The lights are on in the upper apartments yet nobody’s home? They’ve send the big guns, not someone with a big brain, huh? Also, speaking of big guns… Does it look like I have something dangling between my hind legs?”

Folding his arms together, Drake nodded down to her.
“There’s no reason to be rude here.”

“Yeah, says a member of the group who greeted us with a salvo of bullets...” Wood Blossom retorted, passing him while slapping her tail close to his face.

Coming to her side, Jake rested a hand on her shoulders.
“Cut it down, Woody! We asked you to be nice.”

Grumbling a bit, Wood Blossom trotted away. Frowning a bit, Drake looked at Jake in surprise.
“What? Don’t tell me, you and her...”

But Jake glared him in the face.
“No. She wants to, but for me she’s just a fellow Ranger. Now, if we could tone down the questions about culture or personal relationships among colleagues for a bit longer? If you got any questions, the princesses will answer them for you soon enough.”

Pearce came over to the crates where the radio equipment was set up and Prowe attempted to contact the other side.
“Papa Base! Papa Base! Come in, Papa Base! Do you copy?”

One of the other Marines shook his head at the speech coming from the speaker, underlined with minor static. “...don’t know if you get this: We receive your signal down in Antarctica, yet what reaches us is mostly unintelligible static. We recommend you look for a better position to boost your signal. I repeat: I don’t know if you get this: We-”

“Forget it, Prowe.” he said, patting Prowe’s shoulder. “We can hear them, but they can’t hear us.” The radio was then turned off and the voice inside went silent.

“This shit gets weirder all the time now…” Prowe uttered under his breath before reporting to Pearce “Sir! The radio still gets a strong signal from Earth. They can talk to us, but claim that, despite receiving a faint signal from the AEGIS outpost in Antarctica, the signal we are sending out is just too weak to understand our gibberish. As of now, they know they can’t hear us and believe we don’t hear them either.”

Pearce frowned at this. This message only meant more recon work.
“Seems to me this one crossing here is a one way street for both matter and signal. But there is another one out of our current reach. It only means that we are having to reposition our equipment to send a message to Earth. However, for better measure, place a transceiver beacon at the edge of the forest in order to boost Earth’s signal to our future camp! As of right now, we should get to visit this princess of theirs. Might be helpful.”

“Sir, shouldn’t we follow security protocols?” Drake asked.

But Pearce shook his head and pointed over to Wood Blossom.
“In any other situation I would agree, Marine. However… You think that is the face of someone who wants to kill you in your sleep?” Drake looked over to Wood Blossom, who gave her best smile and battered her eyelashes in innocence.

Looking back at Pearce, Drake arched a brow.
“Maybe…?”

“Well you’ll get along with her anyway while I have a talk with that princesses of theirs. I’ll take Prowe and two others of you with me on that trip. Might make this trip that much more easier and shorter, if the locals are happy to cooperate. Besides: There’s no reason not to be civilised as guests in their nation, is there?” Turning to Jake, Pearce nodded. “Let’s head out.”

* * * * *

At the same time, on the open sea, the Alisia was sailing with full sails. Time was of the essence and Tyler wanted to lose as little of it as possible. That was when Lyra approached Sam slightly hesitant. Jumping up to the railing, she then leaned on it with her front hooves. Shooting him an uncertain glance from the corner of her eye, Lyra then forced herself to look straight forward.
“Who was that human girl you were talking to before we left for the harbor?”

Leaning on the starboard railing, Sam looked out to the open see.
“Cadet Wilkinson? She’s having a management internship in our Engineering Department. From what I’m hearing, she’s doing a good job.”

Lyra looked down, seemingly glum as she rested her front hooves on the railing as well.
“Oh… I see…”

Sam looked down to her and by the look in her eyes to the waves near the ship hull, he saw that she was highly insecure about it.
"Uh-uh! Stop right there, babe!" Walking behind her, he grabbed her shoulders and turned her around, making her lean against the railing with her back.

Yet doing so earned him even more uncertain glances.
“Sam, what are you-”

Her sentence was disrupted has he pressed his lips onto hers. When their lips parted, his dark brown eyes met hers in a deep gaze.
"No woman could replace you or Pinkie, you hear?"

Gently pushing against his strong chest with her left hoof, she tried in vain to shove him away.
"It's just... You're spending a lot of time with them. I…” Looking down, she let out a depressed sigh. “...I just don't know if I can compete."

Taking her chin into a soft grasp between index finger and thumb, he raised her chin up, so she had to look him into the eyes again.
"Lyra, honey... You don't have to 'compete' here for anything. You're my girl as is Pinkie Pie..." Noticing her eyes avoiding him, he followed her eyes, tried to maintain eye contact. "You're truly afraid I would choose a human woman over you girls?"

Closing her eyes, Lyra shook her head
"Well, their breasts are quite bigger than our teats and they have an appeal you’re used to, being of the same species and all..."

"So could yours if you would ask Princess Luna. Which I already did by the way."

All of a sudden her eyes shot open wide and she glanced up to him
"You spoke with her? Why?"

"Therapy session about the thing with Queen Shiria. She said that no matter what, I should face you in human form again to slowly process the matter." Gently shaking the unicorn by the shoulders, he shook his head. "Hey, babe... No woman could ever compete with your golden shiny eyes..." Hearing this prompted her ears to stand up and to look up to him, gasping audibly. "Yeah, I mean it, you little dummy. With you and Pinkie at my side, I'm actually quite happy. And I would surely not risk it for any human booty, if my girls could transform into even hotter booty for the night.”

“You mean…?”

Gently pulling her in, his hands slid over her belly.
“I might try that spell with you once this crap is all over…”

A grin grew on her face.
“You mean… I’ll finally get some real hands of my own?”

A chuckle escaped Sam and he shook his head gently.
“Not just that, baby… You know what Tyler said about that spell and what it means for the fertility of mares.” The caring strokes over her belly made her gasp ever so slightly and she looked up to him. Him replying with a nod, made her close her eyes to half, recognizing his intent. And all of a sudden, Cadet Wilkinson was all forgotten.

A few meters further, Captain Black Lily approached the railing, where Tyler leaned against and glanced out to the horizon. Taking note of her, he gave her a welcoming nod.
“The night is clear and calm, Captain. That’s good for our journey.”

“In nights like these, one should see it clearly.” Lily replied, searching for something on the firmament.

Dumbfounded, Tyler looked at her again with a frown.
“Captain? What are you-”

“There!” she proclaimed, pointing her hoof at a very bright star. “The Star of Deriabah.”

Looking into the direction she was pointing, Tyler now took note of the star and looked at it in wonder. “Deriabah... What’s this?”

Landing between the both of them, Commander Will looked at the star and shook his head.
“Nothing. Just a new bat ponytale. Mares tell it to their fillies so they sleep better.”

Lily rewarded that comment with a chuckle.
“Will does not believe in it. But it is said that there is an island that you can find following this one particular star. A star rumored to be blessed by Princess Luna herself. Deriabah… The legendary treasure island under the star. Rumor also has it that this island leads to the greatest treasure the alicorns of old held.”

“Oh, I thought that the alicorns of old vanished a damn long time ago?” Tyler replied, his face lightening up to a smile.

“True… Only shows that they hid their treasures so good no mere idiot of a treasure hunter could find them. It would need the very best and even then it would need the very best crew and ship to find this island. Which is only the first stepping stone in that journey. One day I want to travel that route…”

Tyler’s smile grew in size at this goal of hers. Treasure hunting would truly be a nice change of pace… That was when he started to hear something. It was silent first, but as the ship sailed on, it came closer and became louder. Like a subliminal singsong that somehow gained his immediate attention. All of a sudden, he became very calm about the journey.
“Hey… You folks hear that...?”

Sam listened up as did Grinko.
“Yes… There is something in the air… Like… a lullaby…”

Noticing the strange calm sing-song in the air, Lily listened up before the call came from the lookout.
“Captain! Sirens! Three of them!”

Whirling around, Lily took off and gained height to get a better look
“Just what made this trip that much more unpleasant!”

Will, visibly calming down by the second, glanced down to the three objects under the waves.
“Such beautiful creatures... if not for their murderous… sweet intent…”

Lily looked over to her first commander down below, only to read the intent in his eyes. His wings were flapping and his hooves were climbing over the railing.
“Hold him back! He is under their spell!” Three crew members jumped at Will, pulling him back, just in time as the golden siren leaped up from the waves, powerful jaws attempting to snap at the stallion’s throat, no doubt to pull him down to his bloody demise.

As the commotion arose on one side of the ship, Lyra suddenly was shoved aside and Sam approached the railing
“Hey, Lyra... I bet you I can swim way faster than them... Wanna try?”

“Sam? What are you up to?” Noticing him making an effort to climb on top of the railing, Lyra held him back, terror in her eyes. “Have you lost your mind?!? Stop!!!”

In the very next moment, a lasso was wrapped around Sam’s upper body and arms with a fierce yank, he was pulled off balance and away from the railing. Flying over the crew, Lily shouted her commands at the mares of her crew.
“Hold the male crewmembers back! Don’t let the sirens lure them into the sea!”

Five mares attempted to hold Grinko back, but he plucked them off from himself like a mere nuisance. “How are we supposed to get this big guy down?”

“He’s too strong for us!”

Landing in front of Grinko, Lily aimed and gritted her teeth.
“You gotta aim for the right parts to cut this tree!” One decisive kick later Grinko howled in pain and fell to his knees, giving the mares the upper hand to subdue him.

Seeing Tyler standing still on deck, Lyra galloped over to him in a panic. If he was able to withstand these sirens, surely he could fight them as well.
“Tyler!”

Not moving a muscle, Tyler didn’t look down to her, but raised his voice in response.
“Yes, he wants to jump at them as well…”

Him speaking of himself in the third person made Lyra realize who she was really talking to at once.
“Sage! You seem fine, give us a hand here!”

Briefly shaking his head, Tyler closed his eyes.
“I’m afraid we can't help you out with this, Lyra. It takes all of our will just to withstand them and stand still in place. That’s the best level of defence I got for this kind of magic yet. You're on your own! Chains! Chain us guys together at the mast! It only affects the male members of the crew!”

Lily looked up to her bat pony crew and gave the mares a nod.
“You heard the prince! Tie them up and take the heaviest chains and ropes we got!” Brief nods were given and within mere minutes the command was executed.

Holding Sam’s head with her hooves as he struggled against the bat ponies binding him to the mast, Lyra didn’t notice how the hot tears ran down her cheeks. Once more a magic force attempted to steal her special someone from her.
“Sam! You have to fight this! Focus on my voice!”

That’s when one of the crewmembers pointed into the water and began to yell towards the others.
“Captain! They’re wounded! They’re wounded!!!”

Turning around, Lily arched both brows. This stood out of the ordinary.
“They have wounds, you say?”

“Yes! Each one of them has a wound like something took a bite out of their chests.”

Hearing this, Sage looked up.
“That must be it! That must be why they are doing all of this!

Looking over to him, Lyra still held Sam’s head in her hooves as he still struggled against the chains holding him in place.
“You think that these wounds might be the reason they attack us, Sage?”

Sage’s face was still emotionless, yet his eyes had begun to glow blue with a ferocious intensity.
“They're desperate, Lyra! If I'm correct, Nova traveled into the past and took their normal means to nourish themselves through these gems and the magic within them by force. These gemstones have song magic within them. And Nova ripped them out of their chests. So now, robbed of their usual way to nourish themselves, they'll do anything just to stay alive. If that means the consumption of meat from drowned sailors…”

Shaking her head, Lyra came over to him, confusion all over her face.
“I don’t understand… So the future version of little Nova came into the past and took their usual source of power? Then what can we do?”

Looking over to the stairs leading down below deck, Sage nodded in that direction, the blue glow in his eyes intensifying.
“Tyler took the gemstones with him for further study in more calm evening times on my request. To see what magic hides inside. They are in my cabin. My backpack. Show them that we carry them with us… It might cause them to halt. They can’t risk losing the gems a second time.”

Turning on the spot, Lyra galloped towards the stairs to the lower decks, jumped down a few of them and hurried towards the door that lead to Tyler’s cabin. Kicking it open with a determined kick, she entered and lit up her horn to bring illumination to the moody lit cabin. There it was. His backpack. opening it with her magic, she hurried to search it, only to pull out a slim wooden case. Upon opening it, her levitation spell took a piece of cloth outside with three glittering, crimson gemstones, each glowing on its own in a dim shine. ‘To think that these three stones are the cause for so much trouble...’ Not wasting any time, she put the gemstones back into the piece of cloth and case and galloped back upstairs, only to head towards the railing. Her levitation spell got the three gems out once more, putting them on full display.
“We brought what is yours! Seize your song and we will hand them over to you!”

Overhearing this, Lily turned her head towards Lyra.
“What?!? Are you crazy???”

Yet just as she tried to trot over to Lyra, Sage raised his voice again.
“Captain! Let this happen. It is the only way to appease them for now.” Lily gritted her teeth, not believing this theory for a second. But despite that, once the sirens spotted the red glow of their gems, their song came to a sudden stop and the moment the song ended, it was like a veil was lifted from Sam, Grinko, Will and Tyler. While standing up, Tyler briefly shook his head. “Phew… That’s actually some magic that can’t be absorbed that easily…Sage, work on that.” In his head, there was a brief response from Sage himself. ‘On it...’

Grinko growled in pain and held his groin.
“Somepony kicked me in my… well you know where…” When he looked over to the bat pony mares, they avoided his glare, some whistling in innocence, others seemingly doing their usual chores.

A longboat was lowered down into the water and Tyler slowly approached the three sirens until he stopped a mere meter away from them. Holding up his hands, he tried to move as slow and careful as possible in order to gain their trust. "I'm not going to hurt you..." Distrustful snarls were given and powerful bites snapped at his hands to keep them at bay. It didn't took long for Tyler to see the actual reason for this. On their chests were deep, bloody wounds, which, despite not bleeding right now, looked rather painful. Looking up into the eyes of the golden siren, Tyler's eyes revealed that he emphasized with these creatures. When his hand started to reach into his pocket, the other two sirens bared their teeth in fierce growls. But Tyler maintained eye contact with the golden one. "I know who did this to you and I brought back what is rightfully yours. If you promise me to stop ambushing ships in these waters, I will try my best to undo the damage." The siren looked at the gemstones in his hand, then up to him, before jumping into the longboat. There, she presented her entire body and made herself big, a gesture Tyler took as a matter of personal pride. She deemed herself beautiful and he would better be thankful to even see her in her full glory. Putting out her chest to present her wound, she then glanced over to Tyler, arching a single brow, like being impatient already. Tyler nodded in reply, gulped and tried the gemstones to fit, careful not to poke around in the wound.

Once the right gem was embedded into the wound, it fit perfectly and Tyler began to cast healing magic onto it. Looking up from the wound, the golden siren still growled a bit when Tyler looked up, but was surprised when he spoke up. “Sssshhh… I know it hurts. But it should be OK any second now.” Once he lifted his hand, the wound was closed and cleaned and he nodded in approval. “That looks better to me, precious.”

Still watching him while he did the same to the other two sirens who now filled the longboat to full extent, the golden one then nodded. Tyler didn’t know if it was out of approval or gratitude, but her suddenly speaking up brought clarification.
“The removal of the gems had diminished our ability to utilize our vocal cords to utter proper words. But now that they are back, our voices have regained a large portion of their former strength." Taking a sniff at Tyler, she growled a bit. "Your scent truly is similar to that of the one who did this to us. You speak the truth. We sirens do not forget. We will not forget her deed and we will not forget your deed today."

He glanced to the side, remembering the adult Nova returning to her own time to face her punishment for attempting to alter the timeline..
“Her deed was already punished harshly. As for us: I take it you'll let us be?”

But already the purple siren grew visibly impatient behind Tyler.
“Come on, Adiago! Hurry this up! We finally got these back. I want a meal that doesn’t twitch with each bite!”

Adiago nodded at her, obviously also eager to sate her hunger as well. Turning to Tyler once again, she continued.
“You returned what was forcefully taken and with this gave us the means to nourish ourselves normally again. These years of barbarism are finally over. As a sign of our gratitude, we swear never to lay harm upon all of you. We will remember your face and the faces of your companions. Thanks to you, we have regained the means to fight threats with sonic magic. But when there will be others, we will not include them into this oath and nourish us with them, if we so see fit. Now excuse us, we wish to move on.” Her eyes wandered off into the distance. “These waters are treacherous these days.”

Not losing any time, the three jumped back into the water, causing the longboat to shake violently before calming down again, their shimmering bodies glittering in the daylight as they swam towards the horizon. Once Tyler was back on the ship, Lily confronted him immediately.
“That was unwise! Now they're even stronger and able to do more harm!”

“They gave their word not to harm us now and won’t do so in the future..” Tyler retorted, dismissing her disapproval.”You should be thankful, Captain. At least your crew won’t be bothered by them any more.”

But Lily wouldn’t hear any of it.
“It means nothing but trouble every time a siren opens her mouth! Maybe they'll go right for the next ship or harbor!”

Tyler looked out to the horizon, where he could see the three sirens swimming.
”Maybe... Maybe each time they open their mouth, they spill gloom and doom at others, but if they cause more trouble, I will come for them again. And then as a hunter, not a good-willed samaritan. As for now, they will no longer hinder us and will never again pester this ship or its crew ever again. Good enough for me. And for today? It should be good enough for you as well, Captain...”

Lily grumbled at this. The situation was resolved, yet not to her liking. While she trotted away, Lyra looked up to Sam.
What kind of threat could a magical apex predator like a siren fear?

Thinking for a moment, Sam hummed while rubbing his chin.
"That's actually a very good question. Sea serpents maybe?"

But his thought was immediately dismissed by Will, who had recovered from the song magic now as well.
"Don't be ridiculous! Sea serpents in these warm waters? They prefer colder temperatures. Much more like sharks do."

Tyler looked back at the direction the sirens were swimming to, his eyes narrowing down. ‘What are you three beauties avoiding that you didn’t told us about...?’

* * * * *

In the meantime, Lieutenant Pearce, Jake Hunnigan as well as Prowe and two of the other marines all stepped outside the Canterlot train station. For Pearce, the pleasant nature of the Equestrians only meant faster assessment of the threats on this side of the crossing. Once they left the train station, however, they stopped in their tracks at the sight of dozens of ponies lying in the streets, powerless. Readying their weapons, the humans looked around, trying to make out targets. Pearce grit his teeth as he cocked his head talking over to Jake.
“Lieutenant? Is this normal in this part of town?”

Jake slowly shook his head.
“That’s a clear negative. That’s new even to me.”

As the four men formed a circle to secure a perimeter in each direction, suddenly Flynn stood in the middle of said circle, resulting in a harsh breeze.
“Hunnigan, we have trouble!”

“What the…?!?” Whirling around, the marines took aim at Flynn, only for him to evade out of it in an instant, what further perplexed them. The way he moved was faster than any human could ever hope to move. Prowe shook his head in confusion “Wha- Wasn’t he just… right between us?”

Ignoring the weapons once more pointed at him, Flynn nodded down the street.
“Get ready!”

The sound of stomping hooves sounded off behind the marines now, prompting them to turn around once more. A large centaur with black and red fur, stepped around the corner. Already this brutish appearance towered over the humans with a size of 20 feet. In its hands, two ponies struggled to get free. A pegasus mare and a unicorn stallion. Taking a deep inhale at the mare, some sort of energy was seemingly ripped out of her body, causing her to lose all color and she was tossed aside to the ground. The same happened to the stallion, before that monstrous centaur looked up and took notice of the four humans in front of him.
“And what is this? Some creatures walking upright?” The humans exchanged wary glances. This thing was a clear threat to the ponies. However, Jake noticed that Flynn was nowhere to be seen again. Looking around, the Senior Ranger had vanished again. Tipping the chest of a marine, the centaur eyed him like thinking of something. “Pretty skinny for your size, eh? You sure are no minotaurs...” After a deep inhale, what almost prompted the marines to draw their weapons, the centaur frowned and took another deep inhale, seemingly with the same fruitless result. All of a sudden, the amused look on that creatures face turned into a bored one. “And no magic whatsoever? What a waste of my time…”

Deeming them not any longer worthy of his time, the large centaur turned away and stomped down the street, causing one of the marines to take offense to that. That thing was dismissing them like lesser beings.
“So… You’re going to leave just like that?”

But immediately Prowe glanced over to him.
“Shut your pie-hole, man! Don’t challenge that thing!”

Turning around, the centaur now glared at them.
“What? Are you complaining about lack of manners? Take it as a courtesy that I won’t do anything to you. It doesn’t happen every day that Lord Tirek is merciful. If you would have magic, things would be different. But right now I have a bigger fish to fry…”

As he continued to stomp away, the marine took aim, truly enraged.
“That son of a…”

At once Pearce took a hold of his gun and pushed the barrel down.
“Hold your fire, moron! Right! Now!” As soon as the centaur teleported away, Pearce let out a sigh of relief before turning to his men. “No need to provoke that thing, is there? Seemingly it deems only those with magic prey. Fortunately humans have no magic whatsoever…”

This caused Flynn to shake his head and he stepped forth out of his hiding a second time.
“Not entirely true. Some of us have superhuman capabilities due to contact with magic. I for one am able to move at tremendous speed as you could clearly see a few moments ago.”

“Oh yeah? Then why didn’t you use it on the big guy?” Pearce countered.

“Because big guy is obviously too much for me alone. That would need another league of-”

Flynn was all of a sudden interrupted by a loud yelling nearby the city of Canterlot

“...of royal magnitude…” Flynn now ended, “We better get into cover. With alicorn magic around there is no say in what kind of destruction they could yield.” The sound of a detonation took place in the distance and Flynn looked up, heavily alarmed. “That came from the direction of Ponyville…” Making haste, he ran to a better viewing spot before he noticed it. The place the Golden Oak Library once stood was reduced to a charred tree stump. Smoke rose into the sky while several small fires littered the streets of Ponyville. “Oh fuck…” But already a large multicolored beam of bright light was aimed at a place outside of Ponyville, causing Flynn to run back to the others. “The princess is fighting the thing from before.”

Jake arched a brow in wonder.
“Shouldn’t we… I don’t know… help her as best as we can?”

“We already do...”, Flynn retorted, wincing at the sounds of further detonations in the distance. “...by staying out of this. The powers at work here are way out of our league. Golden Oak Library was obliterated.”

That statement caused Jake to gulp nervously.
“If the head ranger learns of this…”

Flynn replied with a brief nod.
“He won’t be glad that someone took out the very place he used to live in since his arrival here in Equestria. That’s a given…”

* * * * *

It was dawn when the Harmony Rangers made landfall with three longboats. Tyler, Sam, Lyra, and Grinko as well as a dozen ponies made haste to secure and conceal the boats to prevent them to be spotted from curious eyes. Tyler took a glance to the ship, where Captain Black Lily was set to encircle the island in a radius wide enough to evade incoming incursion forces with ease. However, once Tyler’s glance was turned towards the island itself, he shook his head. Barren hills and mountains were the picture in front of him.
“I was told this was a lush paradise of an island…” Turning to the others, his face showed a grim determination. “This is not just a mission to pacify an incursion! This is also a mission to prepare for an all out evacuation. I hope this is understood by everyone. We are not here to crush down the people here. We are here to make them come to their senses. I fucked up, now I need them to calm down so we can organize their departure.”

Sam nodded in agreement.
“So I take it the ringleader of this incursion and her followers are all to be arrested?”

“For the time being.” Tyler replied, “They are to be detained and brought to Equestria to stand in trial. We won’t just toss with cotton swabs, we will reply to force with force. Anyone having a gun or hostile intent is to be pacified.” Looking over to Grinko, he smirked. “That won’t pose a problem, will it?”

Grinko simply shrugged casually.
“My take is there will be the one or another incursion member being a Masar. Allow me to use my claws on these traitors and I’m fine. I won’t kill them, but hand out a beating they won’t forget that fast.”

Tyler grumbled a bit, not liking this completely.
“Well I trust you not to overdo it.”

After half an hour of barren wasteland, the Rangers crouched up a hill, lying down on top and monitored the settlement in front of them. “There we have it…” Sam said, “Patash…”

Tyler looked through his binoculars
“Doesn’t look like much of a settlement… A couple of shacks, a few bigger buildings, a wall around the settlement made from makeshift metal plates...” Rolling to his back, he looked up and nodded at his Rangers. “Listen up, people! We will go at this with a straight non-lethal approach! No one gets killed, for we don’t know who is an insurgent or not. It’s cloudy enough to shed some shade on our current position.”

Lyra arched a brow, looking over to Tyler
“Pretty sure they won’t open the door for us if we politely knock.”

“Actually, they will. If someone from the right species will ask for entrance.” Looking over to Grinko, Tyler nodded. “It will come to our advantage that this is an island with Masar, Griffins and ponies living together. So we have one Masar with a pretty strong and commanding voice demanding the doors to be opened, what could go wrong?”

This earned him a grin from Sam.
“The trojan approach, eh? Nice plan, if not for this tiny detail they don’t know humans and there are none living on this island either. Tyler, you and me stand out like polka dotted dogs!”

“A fair point.” Pulling something fluffy out of his backpack, Tyler threw it over to Sam. “Here! Two for you as well, Sam.”

Giving the fluffy sleeves a short glance, Sam arched a brow.
“Fur sleeves? You want to use that as a Masar disguise?”

“Crude, but should be enough for the fleeting eye. I got Rarity working on it the night before we left. It was the best she could come up with on such short notice. And you have no idea how long I had to persuade her not to beautify it up.”

Ten minutes later, the Rangers were approaching the main gate of Pakash, wrapped in torn and dirty rags to cover their equipment and the two human forms. Under his hood, Sam looked nervously around, the hood pulled deep into his face so it was concealed from prying eyes.
“I have a bad feeling about this, Tyler…”

But Tyler grumbled in reply.
“Our window of opportunity is now. No chance but to see it through now.”

A Griffin stood guard at the main gate. The sight of ponies, Griffins and Masar wearing clothes to shield themselves from the dust storms on the island had become the norm by now. But as of now the island was expecting intruders. It was reason enough to be extra cautious, even with normal things. And when he recognized that these settlers paid a little much attention no one saw their faces, it was time to take a step forward to confront them.
“Hey! You there! Why are you hiding your face?!?” His talon reached out to Sam, surely to rip the hood from his head, revealing him to everyone.

But just as he wanted to take hold of Sam’s hood, Grinko’s mighty paw had taken his talon into its grasp. He lowered his hood, facing the Griffin now face to face.
“Hold it! These two are banished outcasts for a reason. They are sick, losing their fur, shedding their skin, their flesh rotting… You want to transmit that over to yourself? Feel free to touch them.”

With an expression of disgust, the Griffin then took two steps back and waved them through.
“Alright! Alright! You can pass! But the tavern and the shops are off limits to them! Can’t have that stuff spreading! Make your trades and leave already!”

Briefly nodding his head, Grinko shoved the two ‘outcasts’ further through the gate.
“You are most kind, sir!” Inside, they went for the next shady place and Grinko lowered his voice. “We are in luck.”

“Why?” Sam asked.

“Because that Griffin was so gullible. Now, Tyler… What is your next idea?”

Looking up from under his hood, Tyler nodded and glanced over to his fellow Rangers.
“Alright, people… Full force forward!”

In the next moment the folks in the bar heard a loud detonation outside. Storming outside, the settlers found the Griffin guard unconscious on the ground and the front gate blasted wide open. Another griffin was attacked by magic as a unicorn Ranger held her in place with a non-lethal attack spell, pinning the Griffin down.
“For Equestria! Attack!”

Struggling within the magic grasp, the Griffin turned over to a Masar fighter.
“Kathra! Argh! Help me!”

The Masar fighter turned over to the Ranger with a low growl, before storming at him with a fierce roar, spooking the unicorn.
“Oh, Celestia! No!” Teleporting out of the Masar’s way, the feline warrior failed to get hold of the Ranger, what caused him to get a bit cocky. “Ha! Missed me!”

But the Griffin from before was now behind him and swept his hooves away, causing the Ranger to smash hard onto the floor. His throat was taken into her tight grasp and her talons dug deep enough to shed a few drops of blood. She had him in place and was hauling off with her other talon to knock him out.
“You're finished now, Imperial!!"

Seeing his Harmony Rangers outnumbered several times, Tyler turned over to Grinko, Sam and Lyra. The situation got out of hand pretty quick and they had to adapt their methods in order to keep the upper hand.
“Alright, playtime’s over. There are more of them as I initially thought. Time we get serious with our punches.”

Grinko nodded with a impatient growl.
“Finally! You just leave these Masar to me… This is going to be very entertaining!”

Coming out onto a balcony, lured out by the sudden commotion Sunset was standing over the defeated ponies of the Harmony Rangers and sneered at her latest victory. She expected the equestrian Forces, yet didn’t think her own forces could handle them that easily.
“Well! That takes care of the equestrian attackers.”

But her sneer turned into a surprised look once they heard Tyler’s voice.
“Not all of us, I can assure you. This party is about to get crushed right now.”

This announcement got the insurgent’s immediate attention, spotting the remaining Rangers coming out of a side alley. Not recognizing the human species, mild confusion was on their faces.
"Who… what are these guys?"

"Another set of Celestia's lapdogs no doubt,” Sunset retorted,“but my attack spells will deal with them!" Firing a magic bolt at Tyler, Sunset gasped in shock when he swatted it away, bouncing it off the back of his hand. At once her head turned to her followers. “Kathra! Avra!” At Sunset’s command the Masar and Griffin from before nodded and began to attack.

The Masar attempted to jump at Tyler, yet Grinko countered her attack, tackled the female attacker against a wall before she even reached Tyler. Her eyes went wide in terror when she recognized who opposed her now.
“Prince Grinko!”

Now standing face to face with the Masar female, Grinko didn’t hide his contempt for her and drew his claws and fangs out.
“You would side with these traitors? Then you’re a traitor to my mother’s crown yourself!” And with that, his fists started to go down at her.

In the meantime, the Griffin faced Sam.
“I’ll stop you, muscle guy!”

Trying to swipe at him with her talons, Sam grabbed them and pulled the female Griffin in closer.
“That’s not very ladylike.” Wrestling with the female Griffin who was now screeching at him, Sam grimaced. “Then again, you’re not much of a lady anyway…” When she tried to snap at him with her beak, Sam began to whirl around with her, using centrifugal forces to keep her away. Throwing her away, he smashed her into a nearby cart, which came down crashing, causing her to hold her head in pain.

Tyler went for a bunch of ponies coming out of a warehouse, when a Masar stepped into his way with a coat as black as a leopard, getting into fighting stance. Recognizing this, Tyler faced the opponent and went into fighting stance as well. What he didn’t expect was the Masar to all of a sudden levitate and float over the ground. A sight he had seen before and realization kicked in. In front of him stood a shaman. That’s when he felt it. His muscles stopped obeying his thoughts and cramped down, causing him to stand still and struggle for balance, before he fell to the ground as if his legs were robbed of all strength. Trying to stem himself up cramped up his arms. The pain was only growing the more he resisted, causing Tyler to growl in anger.
“Anytime now, you two...”

“We’re working! We’re working!” was the only hasty reply he heard inside his mind.

Coming out of an alley, Lyra witnessed Tyler being in distress. Somehow that Masar was doing to Tyler, what the shaman Threythos was doing to Sam during the tournament. A wide grin grew as he bared his fangs.
“If this is the best Equestria has to offer, we will have a feast with these defeated ponies for sure…”

Aiming her horn at the Masar, Lyra charged up her horn to the fullest degree possible. This was no tournament and she would intervene for her fellow Ranger.
“Eat magic, kitty cat!” The shot, hit the shoulder and distracted the Masar, who then looked over to Lyra holding his singed fur in a fierce howl. But while doing so, his concentration on Tyler ceased to exist for a moment, giving Tyler the second he needed to attack. A strong pressure wave blasted away from him and swept the Masar off his feet, smashing him hard enough against the next wall to slump down unconscious..

Coming to the full extent of his senses, Tyler looked up to Lyra with a smirk.
“Thank you, Lyra. Seems like this expedition teaches me a whole new set of magic for which I need to find new ways to deal with.”

“Always happy to be of service.” Lyra replied with a wink and a smile“You take care of their ringleader, Tyler! Grinko, Sam and I will help our ranger friends.”

Nodding in approval of her plan, Tyler gave her a smile.
"That's a deal!"

The very next moment, Tyler was hit by another magic bolt, this time in the back. Seeing her shot hit this time, Sunset grew new confidence. These strange creatures were obviously only able to bounce magic with their paws it seemed. If she teleported to a blind spot and got a shot, she would have a fighting chance.
"Stand where you are, imperial scum!" What she didn't expect was Tyler actually standing up instead of writhing in pain. Even when his clothes were scorched at the spot she hit him! Turning around, he pointed his fingers at her and fired the same magic bolt back at her, missing her in a warning shot. An unexpected shot that obviously spooked her. "Oh, you got to be bucking kidding me!" Turning on the spot, she gallopped back into the inn, Tyler in pursuit of her. Recognizing her voice, he knew her to be the leader of this entire incident. Levitating a sword from a nearby weapon rack, Sunset now turned to him and went into fighting stance as he tossed a table out of his way. "Stay away from me, you brute!"

Drawing the sword he got from Celestia, Tyler went into fighting stance as well and faced Sunset. Striking out at Tyler, her blade missed as he barely evaded her attack, which cut his clothing. But when he struck at her blade in return, her mere metal blade was no match for the enchanted sword he was wielding and shattered to pieces. With her blade being broken, Tyler pointed his sword at Sunset, claiming victory for himself.
"This incursion is over, young lady!" But when his sword came close to the mare, it began to emanate a shining light. In confusion, Tyler looked down at the shimmering blade, wondering about the reason of the sudden shine. "What...?" Deep from the jewel on the blade, a picture of Sunset appeared. Looking up to her once again, Tyler's eyes narrowed while he lowered the sword, understanding the true goal of this mission, yet not noticing the tall shadow growing behind him. "Why you... You're the one I came to find!"

Taking a step back, Sunset Shimmer began to smirk victoriously.
"Is that so...?" In the next moment Tyler was knocked out from behind and Gorex towered over him. Coming over to her now unconscious prisoner, Sunset looked down at him and this strange sword that stopped him from doing her harm. Magic had no effect on his kind, but brute force was still a way to overcome him. If won to her cause, he could make the perfect ally against Celestia. Levitating the sword up, she looked at the prismatic blade. "You are mine now, stranger... You and this curious sword."

* * * * *

Meanwhile in Equestria, after a certain light show in the sky, a Harmony Ranger Pegasus landed in front of Flynn, Jake, Lieutenant Pearce and the marines. Saluting in front of Flynn, the mare stood attention in military manner, what brought visible reactions to the marines. Jake wasn’t sure if it was bemusement, amusement or plain confusion, but they remained silent to this.
“Scout Whisper Hoof reporting from scouting mission, sir!”

Pearce looked over to Flynn, who nodded down at Whisperhoof.
“Report!”

“Sir, after the battle of Princess Twilight with Lord Tirek it seems the Element Bearers unleashed a powerful magic attack, restoring every bit of magic in this nation formerly stolen from Lord Tirek, including Pegasus flight and Earth pony magic. A new castle had been summoned at the edge of Ponyville as a byproduct.”

“That’s an interesting turn of events for sure. Are there any traces of this centaur, I mean from Lord Tirek, left behind?” Flynn then asked.

Shaking her head, Whisper Hoof continued.
“We already got confirmation from the castle: Lord Tirek is banished in Tartarus once again. We also informed the princesses of the presence of these new visitors and they made clear that they wish to speak with them as soon as possible.”

Giving the report a nod, Flynn then smirked.
“That would be all, Whisper Hoof. Good work. Dismissed!” While she took off, he headed straight to the castle, the others following him.

Coming to his side, Pearce arched a brow.
“Um…. Where are we going?”

Pointing ahead, Flynn began to grin.
“Why, Canterlot Castle, of course.”

“You mean we can simply walk right in? No appointment or something?”

Flynn was now fighting not to chuckle.
“Yeah…? The princesses enjoy a little chat with humans once in a while. Especially with personal friends.”

“Just like that? Like nothing happened? There was a huge centaur out there out to get everyone with magic and the next minute it’s business as usual?”

The smile on Flynn’s face grew wider.
“Yeah! These ponies forget hard times quite fast and live mostly from day to day since the princesses take care of the country. Which basically means that alicorns… Uh, that’s what their pony sub species is called… ponies with horn and wings... That alicorns are closest to human thinking in terms of conversation. They have a memory that is almost frighteningly good.”

“How good?” Pearce asked, arching a brow.

“Well, you see… I had a conversation with Princess Luna once and she told me about a blind filly that lived about a thousand years ago. She told the story like it happened a few years back. So what I’m saying: Be careful not to step on their wrong side. They will not forget this anytime soon.” As they entered the castle’s inner halls, an all too familiar face approached them as a white unicorn stallion trotted over to them. “Prince Shining Armor? It is good to see you.”

Shining greeted the group with a smile.
“You as well, Flynn. I see you brought some guests?”

“Yeah… A new situation had occurred, complicating things a bit. Seemingly Earth had sent some soldiers assessing the situation here. They wish to speak with the princesses as they wish to see them as well.”

Frowning in mild confusion Prowe
“Only a horn, no wings. Isn’t royalty reserved for alicorns?”

A short glance over to Flynn with an arched brow was enough for Shining to see that these people were new to Equestria. A smirk grew on his face.
“No, but I am married to one of them. I was on a visit here when things took a turn south with Lord Tirek. As former Captain of the Royal Guard, I took it as my duty to see things through.”

Prowe then nodded.
“I see. There is seemingly much to learn here. I was just confused for a moment.”

Nodding over to the main gate to the throne room, Shining then looked over to Flynn.
“If you gentlemen will go in? I take it you are expected.”

As they passed him and went through another gate, one of the guards approached him.
“Sire, aren’t we a bit too trustful? I mean have you seen their weapons? These could tear a pony to shreds.

Shining smirked as he glanced through the gate the soldiers went through.
“Yes, but that’s not the only thing I noticed. Look up!” When the guard did so, he took note of several Pegasi flying silently at the ceiling unnoticed by everyone, heavily armored and armed with rifles of their own. When he glanced back at Shining, the Prince nodded. “Prince Tyler’s Tellyhawks are watching them ever so closely, now that they are that close to the Princesses. They may have failed like the rest of us against Tirek, but they will make short work out of these soldiers should they have hostile intent.” Now the gate to the throne room opened.

When Celestia scanned the soldier’s appearance from head to toe, a sudden smirk came onto her lips. Their weapons looked even more intimidating than the ranger weapons Tyler had once demonstrated to her and Luna.
“How ironic. That a peaceful nation such as our modest Equestria with no ambition to wage war shall out of the clear sky find itself suddenly besieged by a small team of human soldiers. All grimly determined to see if there are threats endangering their own home world.”

Luna glanced down to the soldiers, her brow twitching once.
“And what formidable weapons they wield for coming into our peaceful nation...

Taking a deep breath, Pearce folded his arms together.
“I am sorry, your highness if we aren’t welcome here, but we have our orders.”

Closing her eyes, Celestia shook her head with a smile before looking at them again.
“No, good sir. You are welcome here. Your weapons, however, are not. Please…” Pointing over to the table at the side of the throne room with her left hoof, Celestia then continued. “There is no reason for weapons in these halls as of right now while having a conversation. You are safe and among allies, if your intentions are peaceful in nature. Rest your weapons on that table, so we can converse like civilized beings.”

Giving the table a short glance, Pearce nodded and turned over to the table, laying down his pistol and assault rifle as well as his battle knife. Prowe, however, hesitated a second, lowering his voice.
“Sir, do you think this is wise?”

“It’s a bit late for that, now that we are inside their castle filled with their guards, isn’t it? Lay down your weapons. Let’s see what we can learn here without using weapons.” Pearce countered. Grumbling a bit, Prowe and the others complied.

When they returned to the front of the throne, Celestia’s face relaxed a bit and she nodded in kind.
“Thank you for that simple gesture of cooperation.”

Pearce replied with a nod of his own.
“There is no reason we can’t be civilized, is there? I am Lieutenant Ben Pearce, United States Marines, leading the group of marines currently in your country. I take it you’re the two ladies in charge here?”

Celestia nodded, yet also raised her hoof in order to present Luna at her side.
“That we are. I am Princess Celestia of Equestria and I rule this realm together with my sister Luna… However, we must apologize for the inconvenience during your arrival…Recently there was this incident with Lord Tirek...

“That big centaur dude? Not a nice feller. We saw what he did to the ponies.” Prowe interrupted.

Pearce then shook his head as he continued.
“My men wanted to start a fight with him, but I held them back. We didn’t know anything about the lifeforms on this world and if our weapons would have had any effect on him at that time.”

Celestia closed her eyes, and nodded as if she understood the situation they had been in.
“Maybe that course of action was the wisest choice of yours until now.”

Luna nodded before she continued.
“Do not be alarmed by him. Without bodily contact with equestrian magic, humans have no magic to speak of, so he is no threat to thy kind. And now since he is back in Tartarus in his containment, he poses no more threat to thee.”

Pearce relaxed a bit hearing that such a big creature was already captured and contained.
“Yeah, we already figured out so much. He tried and failed to rob us of our ‘magic’, as he claimed, yet only sucked void.”

“That was most fortunate for you.” Celestia intervened, “Tirek didn’t know that humans can store equestrian magic within their bodies. If he would, certainly he would have pursuited you and the humans in Horizon Valley as well to see if anyone of you would have any magic for him to steal.”

This caused Pearce to cock his head.
“So there are more humans living here? More than these two rangers? How many exactly?”

That’s when Jake spoke up again.
“What do you mean? I mean the government types told us that they knew about this place.”

“Well, from what we know you must have been misinformed” Prowe interfered. Jake’s facial expression darkened. Either these soldiers were lying or the passengers of the airbus were lied to in the first place. Both options didn’t came to his liking.

Raising a hoof, Celestia shook her head briefly
“Gentlemen, please… There will be time to discuss these matters thoroughly. But right now I am interested in aiding these soldiers here.” Giving a sigh, Celestia closed her eyes and shook her head.”I am sorry for what our half-sisters have done on your planet… Again, I can only assure you that not everypony on this world wishes to do your world harm. I hope that cooperation with you will persuade you of our intentions.”

“Well, we are here for threat assessment and to report back to Earth.” Pearce replied. “We can get a clear signal from here coming from Earth, but can’t get a message to Earth. They can get a signal, but it’s so ripped apart and full of static that they can’t hear us.

“We know of the Crossing over the Everfree Forest and we know it already to be a one way street. However we do not know where a second or further crossing could be placed.” Pearce nodded and thought for a moment. Recognizing this, Celestia arched a brow. “What is on your mind?”

That’s when Luna chimed in.
“He knows something. Something he hasn’t told us yet and is considering the pros and cons of telling us.” When Pearce looked at her in shock, she closed her eyes and forced a smile. “Oh don’t worry thy pretty little head. I wasn’t reading thy mind, only thy facial expressions. I didn’t know I was this well spot on.”

Pearce cleared his throat and nodded.
“Your highness is indeed right. I can not tell you everything I was briefed on, but I can tell you this: Earth has found a second crossing coming from your world. it goes way south from the first crossing in Bermuda. I can’t disclose the very position of this crossing though due to my orders…”

“Very well…” If your crossing is more to the south, then the best course of action would be to establish a relay station here in Equestria to aid you in receiving your homeworld’s signal while also going south in order to get a better signal. I will see to it that the Royal Guard will aid you in this. We will have you at the southern border of Equestria within the hour, if you so wish.”

Prowe now leaned in to pearce and whispered something into his ear, causing him to arch both brows as if he remembered something very important.
“Oh yes! At our arrival, one of our comrades was… turned to stone by some sort of weird chicken thing. We heard there was a cure for that state. So if we could have your assistance to help out with that…”

Both princesses glanced at each other, before Celestia replied with a nod and a smile.
“A simple case of cockatrice petrification? We will see to it. A squad of the Royal Guard and the Harmony Rangers will retrieve the statue and bring it to us. Your comrade will soon be OK again.”

This brought genuine smiles on the soldiers’ faces.
“Thank you, your highness.” But when Celestia and Luna stood up to leave the throne room, the marines grew pale at the sight of the cutie mark of Princess Celestia.

Prowe leaned over to Pearce, lowering his voice.
“Sir, isn’t this...?”

Pearce simply nodded.
“Don’t get too close to the sun.”

* * * * *

Blurry darkness slowly formed into the world for Lyra Heartstrings, who slowly regained consciousness. She and the others were bound with rope and either sitting or kneeling on the ground. Looking over her body, Sam smirked a bit as he leaned in to her.
“Lyra, babe… Pretty kinky, but shouldn’t be just one of us be tied up?”

“Saaammm?”

Growling in annoyance, Grinko rolled his eyes.
“Would you two cut it out? Tyler! Wake up, damn it!

Regaining consciousness himself, Tyler looked around in an attempt to orientate himself
“Wha…? What happened?”

Sam looked over to Tyler, arching a brow.
“Finally awake? Once they knocked you out, they encircled and overwhelmed us. There were too many of them.”

A deep growl emitted from Grinko’s throat as he looked around, aiming to find a weak spot in the room.
“Someone misinformed us. These people here, they are not just a few rogue elements. Seems to me that the entire island is gathered in this city.”

Tyler looked up to the wall in front of him and shook his head.
“She had send me to bring the incursion leader back, not to be arrested, but to be reformed. I should have known something was fishy when she told me to deliver the sword to a pony who couldn't find her destiny under her guidance, when she just told me about a banished student!" He closed his eyes in silent anger. "God, I must have been so blind!"

The door swung open and Sunset as well as several of her followers came in. Shortly after, Captain Lily was brought inside the room and was tossed to the ground. Her being captured made the Rangers fear for the worst.
“We found the bat pony mare outside the city limits. How many of you are on this island?”

Sam glanced over to Lily and tried to spot a sign of life.
“You OK?”

Lily turned her head and nodded.
“Don’t worry! I was alone at the time they got me. The ship is secure. Guess I’m better at naval duties than infiltration...”

This caused Tyler to stand up. If Lily’s ship was still safe out there and the crew still in control, things weren’t so dire as they first seemed. Now standing in front of Sunset and her followers, he showed no sign of intimidation.
“I am Head Ranger Tyler Jones, Prince of Willpower in Equestria! And you, whoever you are... You are under arrest for several violations of equestrian diplomatic treaties! As of now, there are several fleets moving towards this island. Surrender now and you will get a fair trial.”

The claim caused the crowd in front of him to break into laughter. A reaction Tyler expected for his bluff. Sam now stood up as well and leaned in.
“I don't think they understood you correctly, Tyler.”

Sunset Shimmer shook her head and stepped in front of Tyler, a wide smirk on her face. While she talked, her followers nodded and looked at Tyler, assured of themselves. The one or another smile was visible.
“I'm sorry, we can't surrender now, your ‘highness’. We’re not done violating Equestrian treaties... In fact we’re just getting started. And as for the next violation, I'm intending to commit a theft. A grand theft, if you please. I must have your ship.”

Upon hearing this, Lily's ears twitched and her eyes got wide.
"You staged all this to get your hooves on my ship?"

Looking over to her, Sunset arched a brow.
"And who might you be?"

"Captain Black Lily!" the bat pony barked back.

“Uh-huh…” Turning away von Lily, Sunset showed that she didn’t had any interest in lily itself, what prompted the bat pony mare to lay her ears back like a cat in combat mode. Sunset turned back to Tyler. “That sword you got here got me fascinated, brute. It feels like this fine blade was made just for me.”

This caused Tyler to scoff.
“Yeah, you wish! I was supposed to hand it over to someone serving harmony, not a rogue terrorist!”

“Terrorist? Me? I was the one being banished for attempting to help others! Did Celestia spread those lies?”

"You can't call that helping! These folks out there are brainwashed! Griffins and Masar are natural rivals. They would rather segregate and keep to their own. They may have made peace, but change that fast is not possible without some manipulation."

Now it was Sunset’s turn to scoff.
“Pah! They are not brainwashed. In fact they all have their own free will. I only took them to their darkest hour in their life and gave them mental support in overcoming that what is burdening them the most. It's no witchcraft or mental conditioning that they showcase a great deal of gratitude for being freed of said burden…”

By that time, Grinko rolled his eyes in major annoyance, his voice growling aggressive.
“Tyler, you are strong enough to blast every single one of them to smithereens. Why are they still standing?”

Tyler still maintaining a calm and collected voice glanced over to his Masar friend.
“No, Grinko. Because I would also hit innocent bystanders. If I would really cut loose, Rage might not stop that easily. I could kill half their male incursion members or rape half their females. Not something I want to explain to Celestia back home…”

Sunset then turned to Grinko herself.
“So… You are Prince Grinko. A royal Masar, who would have thought that I would face royals again? A certain Griffin prince on this island told me about you. He should arrive in about half an hour.”

Hearing this truly enraged the Masar and his growl became a fierce roar as he fought against the chains holding him.
“What have you done to Griffith, you little-”

But just as he wanted to jump at her, her voice became reverberant and took control over his body like she already did so often with the others.
“Stop right there!!!”

Like the others before him, Grinko was unable to move and his legs shook violently. But what Sunset didn’t expected was him inhaling sharp and roaring so loud and fierce at her that it broke her concentration, completely undoing her spell. When she shook her head in order to become clear again, she noticed that her followers had all stepped away from Grinko by a large portion. Not only was his roar loud and scary by itself, its intimidating effect was multiplied by his heritage in the royal family. However, the mind control attempt had taken its toll on him and he held his head as if he had a headache.
“Mind games and other mumbo-jumbo won't help you with me, you perverted witch!”

Arching a brow with a victorious smirk, Sunset’s voice once again became reverberant while her horn began to glow.
“Mindgames? Oh we’re not playing any games in this important time here…”

All of a sudden, the other Rangers and Captain Lily noticed that their bonds around their wrists or hooves had been undone. Looking at each other, they noticed that they were alone in the darkness with Grinko and Sunset. Coming to Grinko’s side, Tyler just wanted to ask, when the screams of pain of a Masar female sounded off in another corner of the room. But this wasn’t the room they were before. These were the highly decorated room of a palace in another country. Recognizing the Masar as a much younger version of Queen Sheeris, surrounded by her royal midwives, Tyler turned over to his Masar friend.
“Grinko? What are we...”

Cocking his head, the Masar analyzed the situation.
“I'm guessing we are witnessing some of my oldest memories... Birth…”

Holding up the crying newborn, the midwife presented it to the queen.
"Queen Sheeris? Your son!" A certain expression of pride and fondness now grew on Grinko’s face as he witnessed the young baby being held up to his mother.

But upon laying her eyes on the newborn, the queen’s expression of relief turned into one of disappointment.
“I had hoped for a daughter…”

Tyler looked over to Grinko. These six words seemed to have the same effect as the devastating blow of a sledgehammer to his face.
"Grinko?" He tried to step closer to his Masar friend, yet Grinko stepped away with a shake of his head and a hurt expression on his face. Seemingly the memory being unearthed caused him emotional pain; pain he did not want to show to the outside. A silent rage built up in Tyler and he turned over to Sunset Shimmer once again, his voice, although calm and quiet, was shaking with anger. Breaking through her mind control, he was remembering that his wrists were bound together. “What have you done to my friend?”

Sunset arched a brow, remaining calm, not showing any signs of fear.
"Me? Nothing! This is his true self. Weren't you aware of that?"

A feeling of guilt crept up Tyler's mind as he came to a realization. He never asked Grinko much about his former life in Moranji. About his feelings, about his origins. Seemingly there was a deep pain where he feared of not being sufficient due to being a male heir in a matriarchy.
"No... I wasn't aware of that..."

Sunset’s left front hoof now stomped to the ground as she came over to Tyler a wide grin on her face. He was the biggest threat of them all, winning him over to her side would force the others to comply automatically.
“Now... Let's have a look into you as well.”

Taking one step away from Sunset, Tyler’s tone got more aggressive.
"If you know what’s good for you, you stay the fuck away from me, bitch!"

Considering his threat, Sunset closed her eyes with a chuckle.
“Hold him in place!”

Strong Masar arms and paws held Tyler down, his head on the height of Sunset’s face. Tyler tried his best to fight against that hold, but the strong grasp held his head in place was enforced by the claws drawn out to make sure that any attempt to struggle would result in discomfort, pain and injury.
“The more you struggle, the greater the pain,” one of the Masar warned him.

Gritting his teeth, Tyler still tried to avoid her horn as best as possible.
“Hnnngg… You’re going to regret that…”

“Now, now… It will all be done in just a second...” At the touch of her horn to his forehead, the world went dark for both Sunset Shimmer and Tyler.

* * * * *

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt39UKBjYhc

Finding himself again at the foot of the ruins of the gothic cathedral, Tyler gasped, knowing his very own mind limbo well. It had been quite long since he last got here. Ever since he learned to stand up to Sage with the help of the girls he had forsaken this place in hopes never to come back here again. His heart skipped a beat when the cathedral bell rang as to alarm the other two inhabitants of his mind-limbo. There was an intruder in this mind.
"Oh no..." Spinning around, he spotted Sunset Shimmer at the lower steps to the Cathedral. "You! You shouldn't have done this! You shouldn't be in this place!" The sound of rattling chains echoed in the distance. A sound that let Tyler's blood freeze in his veins. Loose, rattling chains could mean only one thing: The mindless bloodhound was set free of them to hunt down the intruder. Making haste down the stairs, he hurried to Sunset. "I thought I destroyed this place for good. You have to leave! Now! Before they find you!"

Turning around, her eyes became wide at the sight of the gargantuan cathedral, her face showed total confusion.
"What is the meaning of this? Why don’t you have memories in your mind like all the others?"

Stepping into existence behind Tyler, Sage and Rage came forth into sight. While Rage had nothing but a low growl for the unicorn, Sage on the other hand had a smug grin on his face.
"Because we are not like all the others, sweetie." Tyler froze in motion as they appeared behind him, their presence leaving him barely able to draw a breath. "Tyler...? There is an intruder in our limbo."

Trotting backwards, Sunset now began to shake her head in confusion, not understanding what she was witnessing.
"What is this? Why are there three of you?"

Following her slowly but steadily with his eyes, Sage's pupils began to glow in a fierce blue coloration as Rage’s did in a similar red glow.
"Why are you backing away? A keymaster to the minds of others is surely rare. But if one ever is found by the gatekeepers, things tend to go for the worse..."

Sunset gritted her teeth. 'Of course. Celestia wouldn't send just any average guy on the street. There HAD to be something special about him.' Of all beings in Equestria, she had to find the one person least affected by mind spells, for whosoever wished to interact with this mind had to face these two guardians. One of them an animal in appearance, raw muscular might and savage behavior... The other, a strange entity hard to assess. His powers were enormous, one could feel the magic ooze and emit from him. Facing his two alter egos, Tyler gave them a stern look, taking stance against them.
"Hands off of her! Whatever nasty thing it is you two are plotting, it won't happen! Not even to the likes of her!" This, once more, surprised Sunset. He was protecting her from what exactly? And what for? Surely she was somepony he would gladly get rid of. Why protecting her from himself?

Sage, however, continued to smirk at Tyler.
"Oh? Whatever do you mean, boy?"

Pointing over to Rage, Tyler eyed Sage with a grim expression
"He is eying her a bit too much, Sage."

"You tell me... He wants to rape her into submission, wants to make her squeal until she finds her place beneath him." At that remark, Sunset's mane and coat at the neck began to stand up. She was in trouble, exposed to a threat she couldn't figure out, yet. Recognizing her uncertain glances, Sage arched a brow and he tipped his temples while looking back to Tyler. "Fortunately for her, I'm not thrilled to see that disgusting scene, so I'm holding him back. Normally I would let him have his way with an intruder, but it is not greed that brought her here."

Tyler frowned at this and his glance jumped back and forth between Sage and Sunset.
"It isn't?"

“No... It is desire. Curiosity beyond imagination. An unquenchable thirst for knowledge and meaning to her own decisions. I can see why Celestia thought that this mare wasn’t a total loss, yet. Such an unstable path she’s walking...” A shiver crept over Sunset's spine, making her shake ever so slightly. That glance Sage was giving her with these blue shining eyes. He was now entering her mind, she could clearly feel him slowly overcoming her mental defenses one by one. "It is like this, isn't it? The one species determining its own destiny and still being able to do the things ponies can do. Wielding magic among other things.”

Sunset backed away more and more. As of now, even her voice shivered. It wasn't exactly fear that shook her like this. It was a mixture of uncertainty, fear of the unknown and pure excitement. She had been in so many minds, yet not one of them came close to this one.
"P-please don't harm me..."

Seeing her eyes slowly welling up, Sage looked down at her in minor disgust.
"Oh, please! No tears... It is a waste of good suffering!" Drawing her head closer to him, Sage glanced deep into her eyes, his blue eyes shining brightly into her face. "Total freedom, paired with unstoppable might... Yes, we could show you that. But you're barely worthy of the effort. I mean a single unicorn mare? A wanna-be mistress of the minds? Hardly worthy of the powers we could unleash..." Tyler rose a brow at these words. What was Sage hiding in this limbo?

In the real world, Sunset was breathing rapidly while the connection between her and Tyler was maintained. With her shivering and sweating body, she got Lyra to think that this connection with Tyler either took the most out of Sunset Shimmer, or that what she found scared her beyond measure. Then, the glow on Tyler changed coloration and caused a magical feedback into Sunset's horn.

Inside the limbo, this caused Sunset to gasp in surprise, looking around in haste and confusion. But just as on cue, Sage’s smug grin begin to widen.
“Trying to get out of this mind now, girl? Not going to happen that easily.”

“Stop! Just cease the connection, Sage! We don't need to hurt her.” Tyler interfered.

“Why not? If she's curious, let her lay witness to some of our power.”

“It could harm her! Even in here. I don't want to be responsible for her real brain to fry in the process!”

Shaking his head, Sage shrugged Tyler’s concerns away. Getting a hold on Sunset’s neck, magic his grip on her throat became firm in an instant
“What do I care? She's not permitted in here. And you know what they say about those who play with fire... So you want a taste of the vastness of this mind? Here! Maybe this will help! This cathedral, this 'Monastery of Sanity' is only the beginning." The dark and heavy mist around the cathedral was casted aside and revealed a bridge leaving away from the cathedral. Choking Sunset within his grasp, Sage lifted her body up and began floating. Slamming her hooves against the arm threatening to suffocate her, her defiant face seized when they began moving and she was lifted over the edge of the bridge, revealing a terrifying view down below. Terror grew in her eyes at was beneath them. This entire cathedral was surrounded by a stone trench cut down into the depths several miles down to a seemingly endless pit, was standing on a gargantuan plateau like someone cut down a cylinder shaped hole into the stone, placed a massive stone pillar into it and built the cathedral on top of it all. Clouds of mist were still lingering down there, lightning strikes cracked in the depths. Looking into Sage’s face again, the icy cold blue of his eyes shined into her face as these eyes began glowing with a fierce light as if this light wanted to stab into her like two sapphire daggers. "This cathedral already frightens you? And you deem yourself worthy? The real knowledge of this mind begins where you left off. Wonders and terrors defying any attempt of description, secrets that are mine alone..."

Sage's eyes darted to Tyler, narrowing down as the two men looked at each other. In this moment, Tyler knew that Sage was proclaiming his right to exist. And the thought that Sage deemed him dangerous enough for this to be required troubled him. More and more a wavering energy of magic built up on Sage’s body. This was not supercharging, this was actual magic energy fluctuating around him as it was focused just barely enough to be visible.
"A knowledge so vast that it could endanger those dearest to me; a power which still solely mine! Enough secrets of might and magic to lift pony- and humankind from the depths of Tartarus and into heaven... or destroy them." Levitating Sunset back into the middle of the bridge, Sage sneered down at her shivering body while she was coughing for air. "Look at you, girl. Shivering at the mere thought about a mind so vast and deep. Unable to cope with the reality of it. If you would have known that entities like me exist, you would run back from whence you came and would hide under a rock instead of leading an incursion with mentally enslaved individuals!"

Coming to her side, Tyler glimpsed down to Sunset before he looked up to Sage.
“You never told me about this. I mean... How far down does this shaft go? How many basement floors does this cathedral have? One can not see the ground.”

Giving Tyler a sober glare, Sage inhaled deep before he closed his eyes and shook his head.
“Do you think I simply play with my thumbs while you woo the girls or mess around in the real world? No! I devote my precious time to theoretical research. That's why you're the one loved by the ladies and I am the brain you should actually listen to!”

Arching a brow, Tyler knelt down besides Sunset and rested a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. In this place, he would protect her, even when he was her prisoner right now in the real world.
"You have a point there... But still: Would you think the girls would approve of such methods? I will not let that happen! Neither with Rage nor you! We didn’t come here to break a mind! To rescue? Yes. To punish? Perhaps. But not to mentally mutilate.” This caused Sunset to look up at Tyler in amazement. ‘Is he actually standing up for me against himself? Why?!?’

“Now you have a point there as well, Tyler..." Looking down to Sunset, Sage's facial expression darkened. "Be grateful! He might have just saved your pretty little mind from me. The barrier holding you in here is lifted from this limbo. Now… leave..."

Once Sunset had vanished from the mind limbo, Tyler stepped closer to Sage.
“I don’t want you to believe that you’re not appreciated. You’re making yourself useful. I-”

Sage’s reply came on the spot with a harsh, cold tone.
“I know that you actually thought of the both of us to be parasites or a mental sickness, Tyler. Don’t pretend that it wasn’t so.”

“I’m not. Whatever the fuck happened to me, it caused both of you to appear. If you’re willing to work with me, make yourselves useful? I’m happy to make use of your talents along the ride. I’m surprised about this, however. I thought you would only re-utilize magic. I mean, just studying what is possible and then applying it with the spells taken in. Now I learn that you do actual research.”

“Some of this stuff could be deemed miraculous, if it works, other things are more of a nightmarish concept. If you want to, we could talk about it after we’re done here.”

Tyler was looking into Sage’s eyes for a moment, not sure what to make of that glance. Was it hope? Was it indifference? He couldn’t clearly say, but he put on a smile while nodding.
“Sure thing. If you want to, we could also invite one or several of the girls. I take it one particular mare of our herd would just love to participate.”

This put a smile on Sage’s face that felt genuine.
“That sounds good to me…” However, the limbo became dark as Tyler returned to the waking world.

* * * * *

While coming to his senses,Tyler heard Lyra’s frantic yelling.
“Tyler! Tyler, wake up! You have to wake up!!!”

Shaking his head in order to become clear, Tyler blinked several times.
“What is going on?” Outside was a commotion and the guards that surrounded them before had at least halved.

“A few minutes ago the ground began shaking” Sam replied.

“An earthquake?”

“Shit if I know! There was a horn like from a War Citadel in the distance We shouldn’t be inside a building if something like that goes down on the island.”

At once every single alarm bell in Tyler’s mind began ringing and he teleported out of the building, much to the guards’ surprise.
“What the...?!?

“Where did he go?!?”

High up in the sky, Tyler materialized and the magic sphere held him on that altitude. There it was, cracking out of the island’s surface, certain drills on its sides as if needed to dig through massive stone. The war citadel wasn’t even remotely as huge as Nagohod, yet it looked as if three citadels were fused together, resulting in several towers and and spires. Water shot out of the hole it rose up like it dug a tunnel into the island. Once the citadel began floating, Tyler noticed a certain familiarity of the appearance to this particular citadel. This one wasn’t cut out of stone, but was pure metal. Large chunks of technology like sensor arrays and beam weapons were visible upon a closer look. Something he saw a few months ago while being way ahead in the future. Giving the sight a gulp, he took a deep breath and teleported again. Reappearing in the room the others were held, he glanced over to Sam.
“Alright… This has gone far enough. Sam!” Giving a nod Sam broke free of his bonds with a short flex of his muscle while Tyler undid his with magic.

The eyes of one Griffin went wide in surprise.
“Wait! These two could have done so the entire time?”

A Masar growled low at the realization.
“Which means they could had caused quite a ruckus, if there was a true hostile intent… We were lied to!”

Suspicious glances met Sunset, who now stomped her hoof down while the Rangers left the building.
“You can not go!”

But Tyler didn’t look over to her as he undid Grinko’s and Captain Lily’s bonds while Sam undid the bonds of Lyra and the other Rangers.
“You remember the two of them in the back of my head? They were able to get quite nasty in there, things could get really ugly, if you force me to let them out in the real world. And then I might not be so willingly to call them back, since you stabbed into my back… But enough of this! Captain Lily! I need you to prepare your ship at once! There is a war citadel out there possibly holding cyber ponies... We-”

“You have no authority here, brute!” Sunset interrupted him. “This was not a request! She will go nowhere-” Tyler rolled his eyes in annoyance and waved his fingers, teleporting Lily away from the city, prompting Sunset to take a step back, aghast before her expression grew hostile. “...until we had our say… You damn dirty brute!”

Seeing her back away, the crowd looked back and forth between her and Tyler before stepping into the rangers path out of town, blocking it. Slowly the crowd began a chant of its own.
“We want freedom promised to us! We want freedom promised to us! We want freedom promised to us! We want freedom promised to us! We want freedom promised to us!”

Looking around, Sunset gritted her teeth as the chant grew in volume. The situation threatened to slip out of her hooves. She was losing control over these people, who stopped seeing her as their leader. Facing the crowd, she began to yell at them.
“What's this? What is this?!? WHAT IS THIS?!? Do you think that I don't remember my promise to each one of you?!? Wasn't it me who united each and every one of you?!? And I say that this crowd is united like a family in our goal to leave this place. And this brute is the only thing that stands between us and our freedom! Either all of us go or no one goes!”

Lyra shook her head in disapproval. Other matters were more pressing right now.
“What is freedom to all of you, when there is nowhere else to go anymore?!? That citadel needs to be stopped or there won't be any place left to go! As we speak, they get closer to their own goal. They want to attack Equestria!”

“What does the fate of Celestia's little playground matter to us?”

The shout was enough for Tyler to raise his own voice with a holographic image cyber ponies.
“Because these cyber ponies won't stop there. They will turn the population of Equestria into more cyber ponies, then the Crystal Empire, Zebrica, Amasia... Until all equine life is consumed and bolstering their ranks. And then... they will come for the other species of Equis...." Looking around, Tyler saw faces of several species, some of them troubled, others worried and still others determined to come free. "I am the Prince of Willpower. What I see before me is a crowd others would deem as criminals. Outcasts banished for several reasons... But that's not all I see. I see a crowd of folks that want to get out of this misery. I was betrayed, I am guilty of misleading you here. I can't promise you much right now, but know this: You will get my help to get off this island and into greener realms. A place you can and will call your own, a place you'll call home. I will make use of all of my power and influence to get you folks away from here. But first I'll have to make sure this citadel goes down. If you don't stand for these ponies in Equestria, there soon won't be anyone left to stand for you once it's your turn."

“And who would vouch for you, a species only a few of us know?” One in the crowd asked.

"I would!" Much to the surprise of the others around, Grinko stepped in, eying them with a stern glance. "I stand with this human prince, for several times in the past he stood with me! You have beef with him? Then you have beef with me as well!"

Upon recognizing him, the others stepped back.
"It's Prince Grinko!"

"He stands with this creature?"

"And he is not the only one!" More uproar emitted from the crowd when a young griffin stepped out of the crowd.

“Prince Griffith!”

Coming from the settlement’s main gate, the griffin prince came closer. Bowing down to both Grinko and Tyler, Griffith shook his head in guilt.
“I must ask the both of you for forgiveness… I should have warned you about all this. But...”

Looking over to Sunset, Tyler’s face hardened.
"We have seen what she's capable of, Griffith."

Patting Griffith’s shoulder, Grinko shook his head.
"There is nothing to forgive, my dear friend."

Pointing over to the three princes with his thumb, Sam looked over to the crowd.
"And this is what we in Equestria are calling friendship for life!"

The settlers looked at each other, seemingly lost with the situation.
“Then... What are we to do now?”

Taking a look at them, Griffith nodded.
“Well… We’ve waited for so long to get off this rock… What’s a day more to harm? We two here can vouch for this man here. If he says he will get us off this rock, he will do so. You have our word for-”

Right in this moment, the horn of the war citadel was sounding of and the mechanical colossus flew right over the settlement in a slow pace. While the settlers gave concerned murmurs, Tyler’s face darkened. He had to do something.
"Shit! We’re running out of time. Seems like I need to stall these fuckers up there. I need some magic for this. Every unicorn: Charge me with what you are willing to or can give!" While the unicorn rangers stepped in at once and charged Tyler, the unicorn settlers hesitated and came only one by one, unsure of their reputation among the other settlers. "You!" Once Sunset's and Tyler's eyes met, he gave her a stern glare. "You are going to accompany me into that citadel!"

This earned him a few questioning glances from his fellow Rangers and Sam spoke up.
“You think that's wise, Tyler? She might stab you in the back.”

Tyler’s glare at Sunset hardened.
“No, she won't. It's wiser than leaving her here, where she could incite more trouble. Besides... Up there she and I will either learn to stick together or perish both." Pulling her in, Tyler gave her a wide, sadistic grin. "Fun times ahead, Sunset Shimmer! You and me against a legion of Cyber Ponies. Sounds like a great saturday night!"

One of the other rangers now approached Tyler, a communication crystal levitated in midair.
“Head Ranger! We got a line to Ranger Scratch over at HQ!”

Grabbing the crystal, Tyler spoke right into it.
“Yes, Vinyl?”

“Head ranger, this is a request for a status update. The princesses want to know what’s the situation over there at Neftus Island.”

Tyler looked over to the settlers.
“Well the situation in the settlement itself is about to be resolved. However, the situation got a whole lot more complicated. Just when things took a turn for the worse, a war citadel showed up. Now I think we made it clear to the settlers that we have to deal with that threat first before we can evacuate the island.”

“Excuse me, head ranger… Did you say war citadel?”

“Yes, Vinyl… I said a war citadel! It’s a new type, bigger and bulkier than the ones before and is heading towards Equestria as we speak. It’s a slow pace as of now, but once its engines have turned on to full speed, I’m sure it will be over there in a matter of hours as it will accelerate.”

While Vinyl was continuing her dialogue with Tyler, the silent red alarm was triggered in the Ranger Headquarter and a messenger was sent to the princesses.
“Head Ranger? I want to inform you that we have a joint fleet of Royal Guard and Harmony Rangers Sir, it is my pleasure to inform you that 129 airships have been altered by the Harmony Rangers. As we speak, they are being deployed and with our latest weapon technology, 2964 rangers will throw everything we have at whatever is coming from the south. The Wonderbolts and Tellyhawks are aiding us as well.”

Tyler looked up to the mechanical menace that flew into the north. If truly manned with cyber ponies, the threat would even exceed the current capabilities of this joint fleet. At least with this technological disadvantage.
“I'm not sure if this will be enough.”

“Prince Tyler! We are your Harmony Rangers. Order us to hold the southern line of Equestria's borders and Celestia be my witness: Our forces will hold it until we draw our last breath.”

Tyler looked over to the others, his eyes pleading for advice. But from all of them, Sam came next to him, rested a hand on his shoulders and nodded silently. Closing his eyes, Tyler then raised the crystal to his mouth once more.
"Then proceed… But also tell Ranger Flynn and Higgins to prepare accordingly."

In the headquarters, Vinyl gulped as she understood the situation now.
“That bad, huh? Understood, Head Ranger. I volunteered to be in that project as well, so I know what you’re up to. It will be done. Good luck to us all.”

The hand with the crystal in it dropped and Tyler looked to the ground, but Sam shook his head.
"There are civilians on the line this time, Tyler. Innocent bystanders. You think you've signed their death sentence... Yes, you have. But their sacrifice might save Equestria.”

Lyra stomped her hoof to the ground in protest.
"Sam!"

Looking back at Lyra, Sam shook his head with an determined glance.
“They knew what they signed up for. Everyone of us did. Defending Equestria and possibly dying a gruesome death while doing so.”

A bolt of magic energy was shot into the ground between them. causing both Sam and Lyra to look over to Tyler
“Shut it! And that goes for the both of you! Sam is right… It may not come to my liking, but this is their part in this battle. While I’m taking on the Cyber Ponies inside, the other equestrian forces will stall their citadel in the meantime. This means the Royal Guard, the Harmony Rangers, my Tellyhawks and the little surprise Flynn and Rachel are delivering.”

Both Rangers glanced at each other in surprise before Lyra spoke up first.
“You mean...? The black project we were to remain silent about?”

Sam’s face grew grim.
“Project Concordia… You think things will go so bad, Tyler?”

Tyler took a deep breath and nodded.
“I don’t know for certain, but it sure looks that way.”

* * * * *

At the same time, Flynn was entering the Wonderbolt barracks in Canterlot. A pony officer tried to stop him as he was heading towards the Captain’s quarters.
“Excuse me, sir? Sir! You can’t enter here! The captain is busy at the mom-”

Flynn glared down to her as he continued to come right at the door.
“She will make time for me. Now stand aside!”

But the mare stood her ground. Taking stance, she opposed the human in front of her.
“The Captain is changing right now! You cannot enter!”

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Flynn shoved her aside.
“She’s courting me to get into my herd, so she can bear me seeing her without clothing.”

And when he entered. Spitfire was looking at him, halfway dressed in her Wonderbolt uniform. Eyeing him with bedroom eyes, a smirk grew on her face. “Here for some sugar, Ranger?”

The mare behind him peeked over to her, shaking her head.
“Sorry, Captain! He just persisted to see you.”

“I can take it from here, girl. Dismissed.” Spitfire replied. The mare nodded and closed the door behind her. Spitfire leaned onto her desk, wiggling her flanks ever so gently, raising her tail for Flynn. “Well? Here to say properly goodbye before I go on my next mission?”

But Flynn wasn’t in the mood for any of this.
“No. I am actually here to tell you that I don’t want you to go on this joint fleet mission. And I don’t want to see Rainbow involved in this either”

“Flynn, I am the Wonderbolt Captain! I am expected to go. And Rainbow is one of the best flyers we have. It would be foolish not to take her with me.”

Flynn came to her side and crouched down to be on the same height with her.
“Spitty… Babe, I don’t have a very good feeling about this mission. I don’t want you two to be involved in this.”

Spitfire sighed and she raised a hoof to his cheek.
“Flynn… Look… Dash and I are probably among the best of the Wonderbolt crew. We have to be there. There will be 129 airships against a single war citadel. We will make short work out of this thing. We Wonderbolts are only there to take care that nopony or other creature falls to their death. That’s all. And of course, we are trained to face environmental hazards.”

Flynn shook his head.
“Flak fire is not an environmental hazard. Promise me not to play heroes! Do not take unnecessary risks!”

Spitfire glanced into his eyes, unsure of what to make of his demand.
“Flynn… You sound like you know what is waiting for us will be too much for us anyway. Do you know anything we don’t?”

“Enough to ask you to stay away. We’re not dealing with a regular citadel this time.”

But this only emboldened the mare in her belief.
“In that case, this is even more reason to send the best onto the field to counter the threat. What Wonderbolt Captain would I be if I were to shy away from danger?”

“Spitfire! Please! I-”

But she continued to get dressed and finally stood in front of him in her uniform.
“You wear that star, I wear this uniform. I don’t know all you know, but my take is you have a backup plan to counter this threat. I will make sure we will buy you enough time. And I will watch for Rainbow Dash as well.” When he looked to the side, she gave him a smile and caressed his cheek with her hoof. “And after that? Who knows? I might take a longer vacation… A year or two should be enough to take care of a foal, don’t you think?” He looked back to her in a mixture of shock and surprise, yet she pressed her lips onto his before whispering into his ear. “If I’m risking my life, I want to have something to look forward to. So just agree and accept your duty to knock me up once I bring Dash and the others home safely.”

Flynn chuckled and stroke over her flank, only to give it a playful spank.
“Hmph… You’re not the herd’s alpha, Spitty… And Elise surely will object to this. But I guess Dashie will not object to you being the first to have a foal, since she wants to focus on her career. It might teach her how to handle things once it’s her turn…” However, he got serious for a moment. “Be it as it may… Spitfire!” Both now glanced into each other’s eyes. “Be careful, Babe! Come back to me with the rest of the Bolts in one piece, you hear?”

Her bedroom eyes intensified and a knowing smirk grew on her lips.
“Deal! I’m motivated now…”

* * * * *

In the meantime Tyler and Sunset Shimmer stood face to face, her being visibly uncomfortable.
“Is it too late to point out that I don’t like the idea?”

“You don’t like to rely on others, do you?”

Sunset grumbled a bit.
“Not in this case, no. I mean you want to fly up there. I have no wings. Any mistake of yours and I’ll fall, possibly to my death.”

Tyler gave the thought a chuckle.
“Come on, Sunnybun! Where is your faith in others? Have a little trust in me. After all…” Levitating her to himself, he took her into his arms carrying her while levitating her body. “...I’m holding you dear.”

Hearing the one or another snicker behind her caused Sunset to blush a little.
“Sunnybun?”

Tyler turned around to face Sam, Lyra and Grinko. “I’m leaving the situation here on the island in your capable hands, paws and hooves. Prepare the evacuation!” The others gave him a nod and after a sudden surge of magic, the sphere was cast around him and Sunset. All of a sudden, the levitation was stable and Sunset was surprised about the sudden gush of magic wind being exchanged to this low hum of force field around the two of them.

But she was truly startled by the sudden acceleration of the sphere as it blasted into the air. Holding on to Tyler for dear life, she gritted her teeth while looking down. The island and the ocean around it were gaining distance.
“I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all!”

Tyler’s eyes were fixed on the war citadel before him. Quickly catching up, the sphere was able to hold position at the outer hull. Checking for structural weaknesses, Tyler scanned the surface. Once he found a spot, he nodded and tightened his grasp on Sunset.
“Hold on! This is going to get a bumpy entrance!”

Sunset closed her eyes and clenched her teeth and muscles. There was the sound of magic beams, force, groaning metal being dented and metal bubbling. The stench of molten metal was in the air. But after a minute of these awful sounds and the sound of gushing winds, the sound a bulkhead opening was audible and once this bulkhead was shut, the silence around her was a blessing, causing her to open her eyes again.
“Is it over? Are we inside?”

They were not on the outer hull anymore and Tyler lowered her to the ground so she could stand on her own hooves again.
“We’re inside the citadel now. Seems like a maintenance corridor of low importance.”

Sunset looked around. The lighting was moody, the corridors metal and unpleasant. It didn’t look inviting or comfortable to her at all.
“And what do you want us to do in here? In this… war citadel?”

“More about that in a moment. First things first: Now that we’re alone, tell me one thing, Sunnybun…”

Looking over to him in surprise, Sunset arched a brow.
“Hm?”

“How can a face so pretty wear so many burdens?”

This statement took Sunset by surprise. He was a non-equine brute, messed up more than any creature she ever encountered. What would he understand from equine beauty standards? And what would this mere beast know about her burdens? Rolling her eyes, she avoided his glance.
“I should have known that she would send a sweet talker…”

Knowing what she meant by that, Tyler gave it a grin and took a step closer.
“Yes, but I can also listen. Some say that the path from inner turmoil begins with a friendly ear. My ear is open, if you care to tell me your side of the story.”

Whirling around, Sunset glared up to him, anger in her eyes.
“Is that some idiocy Celestia spat out?”

“No… That’s what a wise old rat taught me a long time ago…”

Still eying him with suspicion, Sunset grimaced at his statement, which didn’t make sense to her in the slightest.
“Hmph! If you say so…”

“What is your problem with Princess Celestia?”

Giving it a sigh, Sunset rolled her eyes. This question again. She doubted that any living being would ever fully understand her point of view.
“Well, if you have to know… ‘Princess’ Celestia doesn’t understand that I could truly master something with what I did! I tried to present my findings to her, but she wasn’t going to hear any of it. She wants to keep me down! Wants to keep me small!”

Leaning in, Tyler tried to catch a better glimpse at Sunset.
“Have you ever tried to understand her point of view? Maybe she didn’t listen because she wanted to stop you from hurting others? Mental altering and mind control are not to be taken lightly. That she refuses to let you go on down this path because she cared about your inner peace?

Closing her eyes, Sunset violently shook her head and turned away, pain in her voice.
“Celestia couldn't care less about me!”

First glancing at her in slight shock, Tyler then looked down, shaking his head.
“I doubt that is true…”

Sunset returned her eyes to him to glare at him again. “Why?” she spat out in defiance.

“Because of her reaction to your voice back home… She was shocked to find out you were behind all this. She send me here to help you out. She gave me that sword in order to hand it over to a pony with a very special destiny. One who was not on her right way yet. Something in her still cares about and believes in you. She just does not believe in the path you are currently going…

“And what path would that be? My own?”

Folding his arms, Tyler leaned against the wall behind him.
“Oh, I’m not sure… You were the one taking hostages and attempted to take from others… Why don’t YOU tell me? I do believe now that she send me as she wants to meet you on another path. A path on which you can be happy.”

“And what do you know about the relationship between teacher and student, you stupid brute?” Yet just as she wanted to laugh in mockery about him, her laughter died in her throat before even coming out when he touched the silver star on his uniform. It was the crest of his organisation, these harmony rangers as he called them.

Now looking down in thought, his fingertips gently slid over the metal of his ranger star.
“All good teachers care for their students…” Sunset remembered how upset he was to send his rangers into battle. He sent them to face an enemy far stronger than they are and possibly signed their death warrant. Somewhere, deep within, a bad feeling crept up her stomach. A feeling she pushed away for a long time. It was doubt. Could she be mistaken all that time? Failed to see the obvious? This guy was able to withstand her. Was he right? Wasn’t mental conditioning the true way to inner strength? But that couldn’t be the end of it! Her followers were all miserable until she came along. There had to be some merit to her theories! Or was his own mental conditioning just better than hers?

Her thoughts were interrupted as Tyler looked up at the sudden sound of metal steps in the distance. Signalling Sunset to be silent, he took hold of her and activated a gravitation spell, letting him remain on the ceiling, holding Sunset. An invisibility spell took care of the rest. As the metal steps came closer, he braced himself for the worst. And then, they entered the corridor they were in. Shiny, metal pony forms of cyber ponies.
“Units 10-6-6 and 10-8-7 reporting: Breach found. Access door to breached corridor welded shut.”

Both cyber ponies approached a monitor and activated it, prompting it to depict a mechanical eye. An eye Tyler knew too well from the future.
“Yes?”

“Units 10-6-6 and 10-8-7 will investigate the surrounding areas. Intruders will be found, upgraded or deleted.”

The eye looked around as if to search the corridor for the intruder, when the corridor speakers activated.
“Given to the spells used to breach the outer and inner plating of this citadel, only one individual is capable of doing so with such ease. Isn’t that right, Head Ranger? Now… You insignificant insects won’t stop me from accomplishing my objective. If you would kindly wait where you are? My cyber ponies will come and find you and bring you to the next upgrade station.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile in Equestria, Vinyl Scratch, Flynn Marshall and Rachel Higgins stood on a platform elevator sliding down diagonally Rachel was studying a set of notes while Vinyl looked up to Flynn.
“Remember the New Jersey?”

“Yeah, after the fight with Nagohod, we were forced to evacuate the former crew. Those brave old guys saluted one last time to that beached wreckage we left on the southern coast of Equestria.”

Rachel looked up from the notes.
“Vinyl, every senior staff Ranger was informed that the wreckage was salvaged. However, we were informed to variant degrees of what was done with it. I know the wreckage was brought here and that a black project was started to have a trump card up our sleeve.”

The elevator came to a halt at a balcony in a large hall. It was as if they were surrounded by blackness as only the balcony was lit. Vinyl stepped to the center of the balcony and nodded.
“Well, Sam and Lyra were informed to a larger degree as they were working on it. We didn’t just scrap the wreckage. No, we rebuild this thing into something entirely new.” Levitating a remote control, she pressed a button and in the distance spotlights activated audibly. More and more the refitted Battleship came into sight

Upon seeing this, Flynn’s jaw dropped.
“Hoooooly shit! They’ve build that out of all this junk? That’s not the old battleship turned into a museum like we remember...”

Rachel gave a smile to this as she folded her arms.
I heard Tyler had his inner phantoms work the design. This Sage guy sure has a thing for blueprints. Look at the size of that beauty. These cannons! So that’s where all the funding went into. All these deliveries of steel from the Griffin Empire and the crystal compounds of the Crystal Empire…” Clenching her fists, Rachel gave the ship an angered glare. “Once we’re having our next Ranger meeting, I mean if we all survive this and all… Remind me to kick Jones in the ass for keeping this a secret from all of us…”

“Sam and Lyra knew about it.” Flynn retorted flatly without looking over to her.

Brushing through her hair with her right hand, Rachel shook her head and took a deep breath.
“Yeah, I should kick their asses as well.”

Now looking at her, Flynn first gave her a frown, before he took her by the shoulder and gently shook said shoulder.
“Come on, Rachel! We got a chance now. With this thing here, we can make short work of that citadel!”

Replying with a glare, Rachel looked him in the eyes and pointed at the ship with her thumb.
“If we ever get that thing in motion and onto the battlefield that is…”

This got Flynn by surprise and a nervous chuckle escaped his throat.
“Oh, uh… Ahehe...yeah... We got to take her out, first…”

Vinyl nodded and turned to the others, giving a smile.
“Most Harmony Rangers are out up there with the joint fleet. It’s a good thing the Prince got us a skeleton crew of unicorns and Pegasi to man this thing, right?”

* * * * *

At the same time, Princess Celestia was monitoring the departure of the joint fleet of both the Harmony Rangers and her Royal Guard. When the warning about another war citadel had been brought to her attention, her approval came in a mixture of worries for her brave Guards and Rangers and assurance that the Rangers would stop at nothing to stop this menace to reach Equestria. In the last few months, she was shown blueprints of shield generators which could be charged with shield magic and could endure for quite longer than a unicorn caster. Tyler had made sure that his blood was made good use to with crystal pony procedures. Now, the Harmony Rangers were once more brought to the test, yet far more advanced.

She had reservations first, but Tyler assured her that she would decide which one of these technical advancements would make it to pony society, for the last thing he wanted was to disturb ponykind’s natural development. At that point in time, she agreed, although she had secretly hoped that it would never come to this. But now, the time she dreaded was here and the Rangers had to unleash all these new weapons and technology in order to protect Equestria. When the shadows of the airships ascended into the sky and blocked the sun several times while passing her, she gave the sight a sigh.

That’s when she finally noticed the approaching hoofsteps behind her
“Celestia…” Luna came to her side and glanced at the fleet in the same worry as Celestia. Her serious face made clear that she was aware of the impact of the situation, but somehow, deep within, Celestia could see a twinkle of envy in these eyes of her sister. She wanted to step onto the field of battle once more. “Quite a commendable fleet that they put together. But pray tell: Do thou think this will suffice? If the report is true, they will face an enemy far worse than the Descendants. An enemy getting stronger with every prisoner they take. I already took measures into my own hooves and ordered my Night Guard to have five airships ready for the unfortunate event that the Guard and Rangers utterly fail to defeat the enemy. It won’t be enough to save everypony, but it will be enough for our realm to continue.”

Celestia looked down, now showing the full extent of her worries. Continuation of the nation was this sort of plan she thought she would never have to make.
“I know Luna. It's been a long time since we faced them with the good Doctor. And this time he won't be able to come and save us.” Yet when looking up to the fleet, her face showed determination and courage. “I think this is fate. Without the Doctor, who would be far more suited to face cyber ponies than an infiltrator able to hack?”

“Thou meanest...?”

In her mind, Celestia already depicted Tyler as the infiltrator hacking code panels and doors and guiding Sunset through the dark corridors with the help of Sage and disposing careless cyber ponies with swift blows, empowered by Rage.
“I believe that deep within the depths of this monstrosity Tyler is already searching for a way to bring them down. If she really was on that island and is now with Tyler, then maybe she will be there for him in our place. And still Sunset Shimmer will have no clue that the man married to her former mentor would be the mentor she so desperately desired all these years under my wing.”

Luna’s brow now twitched as her interest was piqued.
“Tyler? A mentor? Isn't he still learning himself?”

“True... His power as the Prince of Willpower has yet to come to full bloom. And yet I can't imagine a better mentor for someone looking for self-determination.”

“What about Twilight Sparkle and her friends?”

“Twilight would be another helpful addition, but Sunset is out to find her own place, not just the magic of friendship. What she wants most right now is to determine her own stand in life. The magic of friendship will come after that. Sort of like advanced studies.”

Looking over to Celestia, Luna now smirked knowingly.
“Thou're doing it again, Tia.”

“Hm?”

Giving her older sister a challenging grin, Luna leaned in to her.
“Oh, thou knowest what I mean, thou old hag. Don't deny it! Thou are scheming for the both of them!”

Celestia replied the notion with a stretched out tongue in good fun. Luna wasn’t even remotely aware of the entirety of her scheme for this. Tyler had found her former student and, knowing him, he wouldn’t let her be alone to cause further trouble. However, the situation was dire with cyber ponies now involved. The stakes went higher than she first anticipated. Everything now depended on Sunset and Tyler.
“I don’t know what you mean…”

Her mood, however suddenly changed, when they noticed a certain squadron of Pegasi passing by. Luna arched a brow, noticing the emblems on their uniforms.
“The Tellyhawks? I wasn’t aware that Tyler gave out orders to his elite guard other than to watch over us.”

Celestia’s eyes went wide at the sight of what remotely looked like launcher systems for missiles, carried by two Pegasi at once.
“That little scoundrel is developing weapon systems! I was agreeing to rifles, I was agreeing to shields! But this?” Her eyes grew grim, when four Tellyhawks carried a launching system twice the size of the others, no doubt a payload significantly larger than the blood beads she was used to. “Oh, let him come home… He is in for a spanking!”

* * * * *

While Tyler and Sunset sneaked through the many corridors, they avoided a myriad of cameras, shot them down, if necessary and lockpicked dozens of doors. The one or another patrolling cyber pony was quickly dispatched with a brief, hard-hitting blow to the head, crushing the brain and thus destroying the vyber pony at once. But each time Tyler did that, they had to evade further cyber pony search parties minutes later. All while the certain mechanical voice of MADOS spoke to them over the speakers in the corridor.
“Where are you, you insignificant insects? I can sense your vague movements as you stumble through my citadel and open the doors through my corridors. A disgusting feeling. I have reshaped these ponies into efficient tools. I will find you! My eyes are everywhere. Submit to me and you will become one of my many cybernetic subjects. Resist me and you will be destroyed by them!”

Tyler was huffing and sweating as he looked up to the ceiling, where the speakers seemed to be. He was currently in control of several spells, dampening their steps and warning him of biological entities. Even though this spell had less efficiency with cyber ponies. Their brains were biological, but the signal they gave was so weak Tyler had to focus in order to sense them.
“Man, that thing is full of it…”

A drop of sweat ran down Sunset’s forehead. All of this was a living nightmare. If she knew that coming to this cursed island would have led to this, she would have went into another direction. Once they passed through yet another door, the sounds of heavy machines and the screams of ponies were audible in the distance. As Tyler and Sunset lied down on the ground to watch over the edge of the walkway they were standing on, they could spot the source of these terrible sounds. Sunset looked over to Tyler as she couldn’t identify what she was seeing.
“What are those things?”

Tyler looked down into the rows of machines, where cyber ponies guided normal ponies into chambers. His eyes showed utter disgust and hatred as he saw it for the first time in person. Flynn’s report on it was terrifying enough, but seeing it for himself was a whole different level.
“These are cyber ponies.”

“What are they doing to all these ponies? What is this?!?”

Tyler pointed to the chambers the ponies were led into.
“Cyber-pony conversion chambers. With industrialized efficiency ponies are processed and ‘upgraded’...”

“Upgraded?!? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“These Cyber ponies? They disembody a pony brain and put it in a suit of armor as processing unit. Implants are embedded into the brain, inhibiting any emotion, pain or feeling. All that’s left is barren logic. A mechanical nightmare… So basically, they are robbing ponies of their bodies and free will and make them their slaves…”

Hearing this and the agonizing screams below caused Sunset to shake her head in terror.
“How terrible…”

Tyler gave it a chuckle.
“And that from someone who wanted to force her will onto others…”

Sunset looked over to Tyler, aghast.
“But not like this! This is wrong! I would never take over the control of…” It was in this moment that Sunset remembered Gorex and how she controlled him to stand still. “Oh…”

Looking over to her, Tyler now began to smirk.
“Ah… Seems you are having your Aha moment right about now… Having a change of heart?”

Sunset gave him a furious look.
“Well, but I wouldn’t disembody anypony! Now what are we going to do?!? This citadel will reach Equestria soon! We can’t let that happen!”

Now Tyler’s face sobered down a bit.
“I am well aware of that. We've prepared a few hundred airships, but I can't say that this will suffice. Hopefully they will buy enough time…”

“Enough time for what?!?”

“To blow its engines out of the hull. If it comes crashing down into the ocean, even the cyber ponies have a problem. This metal hulk will sink faster than a stone. and the resulting water pressure will hopefully crush them. We need to get to a place that has a map or something alike. Come on, let’s go!”

* * * * *

Half an hour later Tyler peeked over into a large hall with several cyber ponies standing on different terminals several dozen meters across. He spotted one, two, three cameras a the corners of the room in the reflection of his blade. Making eye contact with Sunset, he gestured her to get ready. She looked at him and nodded with a gulp, before he showed her five fingers, then four, three… Her body went into fighting stance. Two, one… Both stormed into the room and while Tyler shot the heads of the cyber ponies clean off their shoulders, Sunset took immediate care of the cameras.

But one of the cyber pony heads was only cut off, not destroyed at once and
“Alert! Intruder alerrrgh-” Tyler recognized the mechanical voice at once and another magic blow detonated the head, destroying the brain. But it was already too late as the alert was set off with the voice command.

Looking up to the red flashing lights and the speakers, Tyler gritted his teeth.
“Shit! Not fast enough. Sunset! See if you can persuade them that all is fine. Stall them while I try to get something useful out of these.”

Standing in front of the terminal, Sunset felt a bit overwhelmed at the sight of all these buttons. But one of them blinked ferociously, so she decided to press it. and spoke into a microphone on the terminal.
“Uhhh… Everything’s under control! Situation normal again.”

“Unit seven-nine-ten, give your status report.”

Looking at the smoking cameras and destroyed cyber ponies on the ground, Sunset took a gulp and a breath and went for half the truth.
“There was a weapon malfunction. But everything's perfectly alright now. We're fine.”

“There was an irregularity in your energy usage, but too large for a weapon malfunction. the security cameras are malfunctioning as well. There will be a squad aiding you as reinforcement.”

Grimacing a bit, Sunset thought of a reason to stop them from coming.
“Uh... uh... Negative! Negative, we have uh, a reactor leak here. Give us a few minutes to lock it down. Large and very dangerous.”

“You are not unit seven-nine-ten. State your identification!” the voice in the speaker barked at her.

Losing her patience, she aimed her horn at the terminal and blasted it to bits.
"Boring conversation anyway..." Whirling around, she yelled at Tyler, who was still busy at the terminal down the hall. "BRUTE!!! WE'RE GETTING CYBER PONY COMPANY!!!"

Tyler looked up to her, gritting his teeth as he heard her.
“What? Already? You’re not very good at stalling, aren’t you!” Once she was beside him, he found something of use. “Aha! A map of the citadel. Not a very detailed one, mind you, but it should be enough. At least now I can tell where we are and where we need to be. Come on, let’s move out!” Grabbing her by the torso, he teleported the both of them out of the room. Shortly after, they appeared in another room, seemingly far closer to the outer hull of the citadel as the winds outside were gently humming against the hull. One large and two smaller bulkheads were the access points to this room, only one of them connected to the corridors, the others meant for the air ducts. Not wasting time, he welded the bulkhead to the corridors shut, blocking any instant surprises. Tyler looked at the outer hull as he pulled out his communication crystal out of his pocket. A long range communication was possible, but this was a very strong signal. If he would broadcast this inside the citadel right now, it would be very easy to pinpoint its location. But the Rangers deserved to know what they were up against, what would await them. He had to risk it to prepare them for the worst.

With a heavy heart he lifted the crystal to his mouth. “This is Tyler Jones and if you hear me, then you are part of the last hope of all equine life. For months I tried to prepare us for this very day. In haste I prepared you, bolstered your ranks, giving you weapons and defenses. I don’t know if it will be enough. I know things might look bleak out there as the enemy we will now face seems all-powerful. An enemy that wants to strengthen his own ranks with the defeated comrades of ours. All emotions and feelings eliminated, the mind enslaved. A fate worse than death. Look at your comrades.” Tyler looked down for a moment, trying to picture all the 3000 Harmony Rangers on these 129 airships. “Without being among you, I know I'd see ponies, Masar and Griffins alike.” His voice continued to sound from every speaker, as hundreds of airships ascended into the heavens and filled the skies of Equestria as the Harmony Rangers headed south. All hopes and dreams of all of Equestria went with them. Standing in the Ranger HQ control room the royal sisters stood and monitored the valiant heroes flying into the battle, their husband leading them through the oncoming storm, becoming a greater leader than he himself ever thought to be.

“Today we will once again be fighting for our freedom. Not from tyranny, oppression or persecution, but from total annihilation. This enemy wants to end us. All of us. But should we win the day, the nation of Equestria will no longer be known as a nation of only fearful ponies…” Ponies, Griffins and Masar glanced at each other, standing united on the decks of the airships heading south.“...but as the nation uniting the people of Equis into one unified force of heroes declaring under one determined banner: 'We will not go quietly into the night! Our friendships across this world will not be destroyed without a fierce fight! Our sacrifices are going to be remembered! If there's one breath left in us, we will spit it into the face of our enemies! Today we stand united as Harmony Rangers!”

When Tyler lowered his communication crystal, Sunset gazed at him, her jaw dropped down, before she shook her head and found her focus again.
“Wow… That was something. Do you give speeches often?”

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Tyler shook his head.
“Shut up! They will soon face this citadel from the outside, but we don’t have any knowledge of the capabilities of this citadel in combat. The citadels from the Descendants of Tacitus were manned with unicorns, this one here is automated for the most part.”

That was the moment they were hearing cyber pony voices from the other side of the larger bulkhead. Sparks were flying as the cyber ponies welded the blocked bulkhead open.
“They must be in that next section.”

Tyler took a swift glance to the two bulkheads next to him, before he opened one of it.
“Well, only one thing left to do…”

Being shoved inside, Sunset protested to this treatment.
“Wait! What are you doing?”

Tyler only shook his head. If he ever was to take this fight to the cyber ponies, he had to make sure Sunset was alright and safe and had some distance to him.
“I can’t fight to full extend and in good conscience with around. I might hurt you while doing so. If they catch you, you’ll be transformed into a cyber pony. I can’t let all that attitude go to waste. You’re too sassy for that.” Giving her a wink and a smile, he forcefully closed the bulkhead and welded it shut. Sunset lifted her hoof in order to protest, but only brought out a gulp once she heard cyberpony voices on the other side. That’s when she took the sword and crawled further into the tunnel as the bulkhead was quickly welded shut behind her.

But trying as she might, there was one word that she couldn’t forget. Sassy… That and his wink towards her. He preserved her by stalling them.
“Good luck to you as well…”

Not wasting any time, Tyler also welded down the other two bulkheads, if only to get Sunset these extra seconds. Standing and protecting in front of the wrong bulkhead might lead the cyber ponies onto a false track. And just when he was done, the bulkhead to the room was then pried open. Now facing the incoming cyber ponies, Tyler clapped his hands together and went into fighting stance.
“Gentlemen! Welcome to Fight Club! Shall I end you now?”

The cyber ponies were seemingly not impressed by that threat as they raised their hooves with their weapon systems.
“You will not.”

Arching a brow, Tyler leaned in a bit
“Oh really? Why is that? What should hinder me to blow this citadel out of the skies right now?”

“The mare behind that bulk door. And the ponies left inside this citadel.” Tyler halted in his movements. They were calling his bluff. One of the cyber ponies cocked its head. “You are proof.”

“Of what?”

“That emotions are a weakness.”

Tyler scoffed at this.
“Is that so? Well by the end of the day, I will prove you wrong!”

“You will not. You are now our prisoner. And the mare is fleeing. Fear for her own life will keep her away. But rest assured: She will be found and upgraded.” And with that, Tyler was taken away by force. For the sake of the remaining ponies he couldn’t go all nuclear on this citadel, even though it would have been so very easy right now to cut this thing in half piece by piece. They were in the open sea and they were Earth ponies and unicorns. Surely there were also pegasi as well, but not enough to carry every pony back to an island or the main land. As much as he hated it, the cyber ponies had the advantage now. If he did something, all ponies would die, if he did nothing, the ponies would die as well. The situation was desperate.

He was escorted to a prison block with several glass chambers. There were unicorn corpses in the other chambers, looking mummified. As if all water had been extracted by them. He was placed in the last remaining chamber and a blue shimmer was erected over his skin before the door was slammed shut and locked. This small chamber was seemingly supposed to be his prison cell. Unfortunately the chamber was not even remotely large enough to haul out and break the glass, if this was glass.

“Sage? What’s your take on this thing here?”

“Since only unicorns are in the other chambers? They were experimenting on these poor ponies. Experimenting how to rip magic out of them by force.” A hatchet opened above Tyler and strange crystals were revealed. It hurt the eyes just to look at them.

Sage suddenly disappeared as a monitor was lifted to the chamber. Once activated, the yellow colored ring of MADOS shined at Tyler, only to be doubled and creating the image of a pony head, connected with dozens, maybe even hundreds of wires and green glowing circuit connections.
“Head Ranger, I warned you that I would find you. An inefficient life form such as organic life can not possibly hope to overcome my cyber ponies in the long run.”

Tyler arched a brow in amazement.
“What’s with the pony head? I remember you being that robot thing with only one eye. There must be some liking you must find in the pony form if you depict yourself in that image.”

“The body given to me is… limited. I currently lack the means to alter it. Once I will have access to your engineering capabilities of the Ranger HQ, I will be able to make the changes to my body as I see fit.”

“Yeah, not gonna happen, asshole. my Rangers will stop you before this citadel reaches Equestrian soil.”

“Do not underestimate me, Head Ranger. I know that there are large quantities of technology down there. Technology that will elevate me out of the control of the alicorns. I know of your feeble attempts to stall this citadel with a small fleet of yours. They were packing some machinery. I assume shields and weaponry. Good. Quite good. My own weapon systems need field tests and fine tuning. We will see how much firepower will be needed to toss them aside. Rest assured that this citadel here came with far more equipment, weapon platforms and features than the average war citadel. Not to mention that I am constantly evolving and advancing myself. The chamber you are in is a nice example to this.”

Tyler forced a smile.
“Let me guess! Drowning me? Or overcharging me just to toss me at Equestria once I am ready?”

Still, the face on the monitor was unphased.
“Your choice to go for humor in a time like that is most curious… No. Charging you would mean feeding you the means to escape and fight. That blue shimmer you see is just a force field disrupting any magical use above magic level three. You can’t use any harmful magic as of now, not even teleportation.”

The smile on Tyler’s face became a massive grin.
“I just love a challenge.”

The face in front of him cocked its head.
“Let’s see how funny you will find it that I have studied the blueprints of the Machina Infernum.” Tyler’s grin withered almost in an instant. “I see you are familiar with the term.The alicorns of old used special crystals to extract the magic out of their blood samples. Energy then used to transform their own kind into weapons. But I will not use it on blood alone, Head Ranger. I will use it on your entire body. The resulting energy will power this citadel for the battle ahead. And you will cease to function as an organism.”

The monitor deactivated and was lowered again, seemingly MADOS wasn’t going to monitor the procedure. Sage’s reflection reappeared on the glass again.
“Clever! That thing knows that magic is our one strength to play in battle. If this extracted magic is really utilized somehow, I do not know how it’s converted. This situation is most troubling. Well, I have erected a level three shield around us that can withstand this effect for some time. An hour. Maybe even just a few minutes. I don’t know. Level three is so limited... But after that? We’re done for. Then we’re becoming human jerky.”

Tyler looked at the other chambers, where the unicorn corpses rested in positions as if they had desperately attempted to flee their chambers.
“She’ll help us. She has to.”

“I wish I would have your optimism in her character. Face it, Tyler! She’s only out there to care for herself. She was banished for breaking the rules and now she only sees us as a means to an end. And Celestia bargains with our life in order to get that mare back to alignment!”

Tyler folded his arms and arched a brow at Sage.
“I have faith in Celestia. If she thinks that girl will come for us, she will come for us.”

“Hmph! Be it as it may… Sunset is on a timer now with this machine around us. And if she doesn’t come in time, the strength of the Prince of Willpower will be used against the Harmony Rangers.”

Author's Notes:

Not proofread yet. Any notes of typos are welcome.