Neftus Island, south of Equestria, Island of Peace

Neftus Island was always a barren island, void of most the riches one would expect from an island such as this. The meager vegetation was barely held together and there was no mountain that could give fresh drinking water from a spring. The island was at the mercy of the natural weather occurring to it. At its coast in the north, a lone hut was standing there with a single figure.

The old Masar was sitting at the pier of wooden planks, some of them were already worn and rotten. Slowly the tide was rising and more and more fish started to bite. They weren't big at all. In fact, they were actually barely big enough to sate him. After an hour of fishing, the old feline brought the majority of the fish back to the hut.

As he stepped in front of his hut, he growled at the scent of meat in the air. It was prey and it was still alive and kicking. The scent of a pony filled his nostrils despite all the sand and dust in the air. With another growl he made haste to the backside of his hut, where he could see the little equine approaching his hut from a dune. Coming to a halt, the hooded pony shouted over to the Masar with a female voice.
"I thought they banished weapons for the sake of peace on this island?"

Revealing his razorsharp claws, the Masar growled aggressively.
"I don't need a weapon to rip you to shreds!"

Taking a look at the fishing rods at the pier and the small fishes around them, the pony shook its head.
"Oh, I'm quite sure that you won't harm a pony to protect such meager fish. Especially if I don't eat fish anyway." the mare retorted.

"It's everything I have. Now move it!"

Slowly, a tension grew inside the Masar's body. A force was running through the back of his head as the pupils of the mare gently began to glow up to him.
"There's a reason you are on this island."

Still defiant, the Masar growled louder now, willing to strike at her at any time. For now she kept her distance, which kept him calm.
"My reasons are none of your concerns, pony! "

As the magic force on the Masar grew, she could see his eyes moisten. In her mind, she saw the terrible things he saw. Him kneeling before the queen, begging to be spared. The punishment he had lived through in the torture chambers. His flood of emotions washed over and through her. The pain, the shame, the embarrassment, the isolation.
"Masar are a proud and fierce race. Let me see into you. Let us reveal what burdened you to flee here and free you of the shadow of your past. Let me free you of this burden." Falling to his knees, the Masar gave in and began to weep into the mare's shoulder, who now patted the mighty back of the large feline. "There, there... Don't let it poison you any longer."

Calming down, the giant feline wiped the tears from his eyes and looked into her face, which was still obscured by the hood she was wearing.
"What power do you possess to look so deep into me?"

A smile formed on her obscured face and she turned away from him to leave again.
"This power, my friend, was solely fueled by you. I only unlocked the gate. It was you who opened it for us to take a peek inside."

Rising up, the Masar made haste to follow the mare.
"Wait! I am honorbound! I was rude to you before, even more reason for me to repay you for lifting this burden from me, stranger! I am Gorex, former citizen of Moranji."

Looking back to him over her shoulder, the mare stopped. His sudden change in behavior was expected and brought a smirk to her face. He could be a useful, loyal ally to her.
"Then join me in my quest."

Coming to her side, he looked down to her, slightly puzzled.
"Well, what is your quest?"

Now turning to him again, she approached him a second time.
"The same as yours. The same as everyones. To choose my own destiny, despite what others dictate." Looking at the open sea, she sighed a bit. "But to reach it, we need a ship to leave this island."

Following her hoof pointing out to the open sea, the Masar cocked his head, not fully understanding.
"A ship? There are no ships on Neftus Island."

"Maybe I have a way to bring one here." the mare countered, a sly smirk slightly showing under her hood.

"But how?!?"

Lowering her hood, the red and yellow striped mane shined brightly in contrast to the surrounding brown of the dust around them. Giving a sassy smirk, the yellow unicorn mare looked up to the Masar.
"Have faith, my furry, big friend. I'm not the only one of my kind and you're not the only one banished from your homeland."

Now the surprise was all over the Masar's face as his eyes widened.
"You are a unicorn..." Nodding in confirmation, her grin only widened and while the Masar began to chuckle a bit, the mare laughed while looking to the north, where Equestria was headed.

* * * * *

In the evening hours, the groups of children of both ponies and humans wandered through the streets of Ponyville. Among the adults, Tyler Jones and Mike Thorne walked down the street conversing.
"Are you treated well, Mike? Or are there any complaints I have to look at?

"Well, most of the time the ponies behave the same as humans do, excluding their habit of breaking into a song at certain times..."

Rolling his eyes in good fun, Tyler began to grin.
"Yeah, they have a habit to do that. Life sure is like a musical in here at some times."

Taking a look at the streets of Ponyville, Mike enjoyed the late evening fair taking place.
"I must say, though: This Nightmare Night is a nice equivalent of Halloween on Earth. At least the children don't mind who they are getting sweets from." A group of children ran by them, including boys, colts, fillies and girls. The fact that they were all pursuing to collect sweets made them forget that they were different in shape and form. A fact that made Mike smile a bit. "The girls are all thrilled with all the young ponies around them. The fact that they can talk makes this that much more exciting for them."

Frowning a bit, Tyler looked over to Mike.
"Well, Equestria is not every girl's dream of a free pony coming true. They are beings like you and me and demand their dignity as well."

"You're right. Sometimes the kids are a little too carried away and the grownups have to reel them in again."

"Through me, and later the others, they already know a few things about Earth," Tyler began his explanation, "Among that is the domnestication of equines as animals useful for us to ride, but also to take care of. I think, or rather... I hope for the mares and stallions having sympathy with these innocent attempts to make them the child's best friend. It could be misunderstood, but they also know that children are children. Hopefully parental instincts kick in."

Tyler saw a human girl embracing a young red mare around the neck, obviously surprising the mare a bit. But once she saw the girl meaning her no harm and looking up to her with big, starry eyes, she smiled a bit. Not long after that, her parents came to her side and gently pulled the girl away, with the father apologizing. But the mare slowly shook her head and smiled over to the girl. A few words were exchanged, the girl nodded a few times and when the small family left again, the girl waved back to the mare, who replied with a beaming smile and a wave of her hooves as well. "Then again... Maybe we worry too much about it. Things might sort out themselves."

As they went along the streets, Tyler turned over to Mike Thorne once more.
"Mike, there's something I wanted to ask of you. How did you folks all end up in the same machine by the way? I mean several families from seemingly all kinds of social standing in one airbus crossing over to a foreign world... What devil rode you to make that trip?"

"They said they were in contact with the other side. That there would be someone to greet us. They told us that there was this selection program of pioneers who volunteered to build up infrastructure on the other side. That the selection program had to remain confidential for maintaining national security."

Tyler stopped dead in his tracks and held Mike back at the shoulder. Both men exchanged glances.
"Mike... Since Manhattan, you guys were the first humans to come over. There was no further contact."

Visibly surprised, Mike took a step backwards.
"What?!? But, the crew of the New Jersey! The media told us that..."

Tyler shook his head.
"We've send these people home, Mike. Because they wanted to go home. We have the ability to open a random portal back to Earth, which is one-way only. Beside the crossing over the Everfree, we know of no way back than these portals. The ship was damaged beyond repair and a portal for a battleship exceeds our capabilities. We've send these men home to their families, that's all."

Looking to the ground aghast, Mike Thorne tried to find an explanation for himself.
"But why? Why lie to us to get us here?" Looking up to Tyler, he briefly shook his head. "You said it yourself, there are conflicts on this world. Why would they send us here on false claims?"

Holding Mike's right shoulder in comraderie, Tyler shook his head as the glances of both men met.
"That I don't know. But I do know that you folks are here now and can see this world for what it truly is.No matter what was: You folks are safe now. And Celestia, Luna and I will hand you the tools to decide your own future here." He then lowered his voice a bit. "And for the safety of the others, it would be wise to keep that knowledge for yourself, if only for the moment. Once we know more, I will inform you and the others."

* * * * *

Escorting a few of the kids through the night, Sam and Flynn lead them to Fluttershy's cottage, when Flynn spoke up to the children.
"Kids? Kids! Now... The following pony is very easy to startle. She doesn't like to be spooked, but is very kind, especially to children. Now behave with the best of your little monster manners and don't scare her too much, OK?"

"Why? Isn't that the purpose of this holiday?" one of the girls asked.

Answering with a nod and a smirk, Sam raised a finger.
"Well, let me put it this way. She's also good with a lot of animals, so if any one of you plans to get a pet in the near future..." Standing in an orderly line side by side in almost an instant, the children nodded. Giving a chuckle, Sam knocked at the door. "Fluttershy! It's me, Sam. I'm bringing some little human monsters for you. Maybe you can tame them with some sugar."

But instead of the promised timid little mare slowly opening the door, the door opened suddenly and Grinko's growling and bloody face lurked outside. His fangs shined ever so brightly in the moonlight, causing some of the kids to shriek in fear and hide behind Flynn, who immediately reassured them.
"It's OK! It's OK... He's a friend. Looking good today, Grinko."

While the children backed away in fear, Sam leaned in with a strict tone.
"Now, now, Grinko... Don't scare the little ones..." Lowering his voice a bit, Sam nodded back to the kids. "Jeez, man! If I wouldn't know that it would be you, I would have pissed myself. And I bet some of these kids almost had an accident. Tone it down a bit."

Seeing that Grinko looked over to Sam and obeyed
"I thought that this was the whole idea? But as you wish..." Looking at the children once again, Grinko nodded and stepped into the light. "You have nothing to fear from me, little ones. My fangs and claws may be sharp, but they will not do you any harm." The girls among the children were still unsettled by Grinko's fierce appearance, but among the boys some seemed to warm up to him, becoming intrigued.

And as the braver ones among the kids were inspecting the Masar a little closer, some of them even daring enough to feel his fur, Flynn pointed at all the red on Grinko's face.
"Is that...?"

Looking directly at Flynn, the large feline smirked.
"It is fake, of course. Fluttershy made it out of tomato juice."

"Yeah, I doubt that she would ever allow you to spill real blood all over yourself. Where is she, by the way?"

Recognizing the grasp of young hands around his strong paws, Grinko lifted his left arm, and by doing so, one boy, who was laughing about this.
"She said she was going to have some 'fun' with the others tonight."

Flynn and Sam exchanged some concerned glances.
"Fluttershy and fun at Nightmare Night? Now that are two things not fitting together in one coherent sentence."

* * * * *

The low bass guitar was humming on the Ponyville marketplace as the Nightmare Night festival band was having a pause for the humans to play a bit. Electric guitars, drums and synthesizer were present, much to the surprise of the humans, who deemed the ponies unable to have technology like that. The familiar instruments were manned almost in an instant and after a few moments, a fitting song was found. Standing at the microphone, Rachel was the singer this evening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1X9y_urprQ

While strolling along the groups of ponies and humans, conversing among another, Tyler noticed a rather bored looking young teenage boy, leaning against a wall. Coming to the side of the boy, Tyler leaned against the same wall with a bit of distance, causing the teenager to inspect him briefly.
"So you're that prince guy, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm the prince guy." After taking glances left and right, he leaned in to the boy and lowered his voice. "I'm letting you in on a secret: I freaking hate it when they bow to me."

The boy frowned a bit and inspected Tyler a bit more thorough now.
"You don't behave like a prince."

"Oh really? How's that?"

"Well, you don't behave like you have a stick up your ass."

"Oh, the princesses don't have that either. What's your name?"

"Roger. Bane of my mom."

Taking Roger's hand for a shake, Tyler nodded.
"Tyler Jones. Wanted on Earth, beloved Prince in Equestria."

Both exchanged a chuckle.
"Now that's an introduction."

"You look rather bored here, Roger."

Taking a good look at their surroundings, the boy shrugged.
"It's the same stuff as Halloween... Only cuter with ponies. Lame..."

Placing a hand on Roger's shoulder, Tyler went a bit for a walk with him. A nice talk might be enough to lift the boy's spirit and warm up a bit to the ponies.
"Oh... is that so? But Nightmare Night is different than Halloween, for their reason to celebrate is still alive and kicking."

Looking up in disbelief, Roger arched a brow.
"What? Are you kidding me?"

"Hehehe... Roger, in a a world of magic, evil is vanquished with a lot more effort. And the evil of Nightmare Moon looms over this night."

Shaking off Tyler's hand from his shoulder, Roger rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, right... It's just another stupid story. Sorry! But maybe you can tell the others such crap. I'm not a baby anymore believing this bullshit!"

Looking after the boy, Tyler arched a brow.
"If you think that, you have a lot to learn about the absolute ruler and mistress of the night."

"And how do you know so much about her?"

Tyler began to smirk. Leaning in, he looked Roger into the eyes as his own eyes began to flash up in a bright blue tone for a brief second.
"How I know? I am her husband..." Roger took a step back. First in surprise, then another one due to an uncertain feeling Tyler's smirk now turned into a wide mischievous grin. "You look nervous. Having second thoughts? Don't worry... If you are right, you have nothing to fear. Then again, if you're not right..."

At this point the teenager recognized the fog quickly creeping through the dark woods. He wasn't a weather expert, but this was no ordinary fog. Not long after that a certain weight was lying on his left shoulder. A short glimpse to his left revealed an eye, a cat-like pupil staring at his face. A voice spoke up, like a thousand needles in his heart.
"Ah... A nonbeliever..." Roger gulped. Her coat was cold, almost freezing. Not daring to move a muscle, his eye looked at her through the corner of his eye. The cat-like pupil stared right at him and the teeth... those sharp, unnatural teeth. "I must say, I never have tasteth the flesh of a human boy."

With a suprised yell, Roger fell to the ground on his butt, crawling backwards in fear. Tyler harrumphed a bit as to get the boy's attention.
"May I introduce?" His arm rose and presented the mare at his side. "Nightmare Moon, Dark Warmaiden of the Night."

Standing right next to Tyler, the pitchblack mare looked down to the boy, the eyes glowing white and her hoof rose up to point at Roger.
"Charmed..."

Crawling away, Roger soon jumped up and made haste back to the center of town. Giving the situation a brief chuckle, Tyler now shook his head.
"I think you overdid it a bit, Luna. If you wanted to terrorize him, you could have simply put a knife at his throat."

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

Looking after Roger, the warmaiden leaned her neck a bit to the side, causing it to crack a bit.
"But I would never do that, beloved... This night is for being spooky, not endangering a young lad with something that could put him into a real danger. I think I have to approach the boy later in his dream to calm things a bit. Or maybe even in the waking world..." Taking her normal, harmonic form again, Luna looked up to Tyler. "Arest thou still mad at Celestia and me?"

His smile withered a bit and he glanced over to her.
"Yes, I am still a bit mad at you two...

Her ears dropped and she looked down upon hearing that.
"Oh... And here I was hoping I could ease thy anger...

Tyler sighed. Seeing her like that already calmed his anger, for seeing her sad wasn't easy, even when to punish her.
"You are making this hard for me on purpose, right?"

Looking up to him, he saw her eyes glittering a bit. Tiny diamonds, not yet full grown tears.
"Maybe? Thou are my dark companion. I don't wish thy anger to prolong for such a long duration. Thy suffering is also my suffering.Thou are so dear to me, I can no longer imagine being without thee again... Ever."

Slowly caressing her cheeks, he was tempted to give in. Her leaning in to his hand, enjoying this simple touch, the closeness, the bond between them.
"You two really dissapointed me with this. I think I'll need some more time to digest all this, Luna. The natural thing is to be angry, so please let me be angry for now to have the chance to let off some steam."

"And our nightly escapades in the dreamworld? I would make it worth thy time...

Tyler rolled his eyes with a smile. She really tried everything to convince him to forgive her sooner than later.
"No, that is cancelled until I say otherwise." Gently grasping her chin and jaw with the right hand, he tipped her nose with his left index finger. "It's supposed to be punishment, remember? Given, I'll have to pass on some quality dreams for now..."

"Dreams of debauchery... With things to do others would condemn in the waking world."

"Yes... There are few fantasies you deny me there as long as you are part of it. Sexual practices and scenarios otherwise forbidden. Our lucid adventures in the dreamworld are beyond measure and I'm sure you love to indulge yourself in it... As do I... I love sating your desires as well as you enjoy pleasing me, Luna... You may be the same age as Celestia, but I always had the feeling that despite seeing these kind of things countless times in so many wet dreams, you are yet to experience this for the first time. Your heart beats faster, your glance at me is one of innocence sometimes. A teenager caged into the body of an adult. Or rather... An adult with the experience of a teenager in some fields. But for now, I have to deny you these joys we otherwise exchange so willingly." Thinking for a bit, he then smirked and leaned down to her. "Tell Celestia, that I still love you two, but right now I'm mad. And here... You can give her that in my name as well." The gentle touch of his lips made her legs quake in joy and she whimpered into the kiss.

* * * * *

Back at the market place, Roger came back running towards the others, causing the children both human and pony to shriek in fear about another sighting of Nightmare Moon. Soon Luna returned in her harmonic form to set things straight with Roger and took care to ease his fear for her.

Meeting up with the other Harmony Rangers, Tyler spoke to a few other of the humans before he recognized Twilight and the others strolling across the street.
"Hey folks! How are you?"

Taking a look left and right, Twilight nodded up to him, when she and Applejack approached him.
"Great! We had some quality time so far."

Looking over to Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash smirked.
"Yeah! Fluttershy had something amazing prepared for tonight."

Looking over to Fluttershy, dressed as a vampony made the humans arch a brow or two.
"Oh? How peculiar..."

Looking down a bit embarassed, the timid Pegasus shyly kicked the ground.
"Well... Umm... It's not that I'm going to do that so quick again... I went overboard."

Looking over to Sam, Tyler shook his head with a chuckle.
"Always the silent ones... "

Flynn leaned in and smirked a bit at Pinkie Pie.
What's with you, Pinkie? A cheerleader or something? How is that scary?"

"So?" Rainbow intervened, "Most of our costumes aren't that spooky. This isn't a competition, you know... But come to think of it..."

Landing in front of Applejack in her lion costume, Rainbow smirked, what caused Applejack to arch a brow.
"Is that a challenge for next year, sugarcube?"

"Call it whatever you want, AJ! My costume will be way spookier than yours"

While both of them booped their noses at each other, Pinkie beamed in glee.
"Oh, I have an even spookier costume, but I decided that it would be a little over the top and I didn't want to outshine Fluttershy. But now that we're through with her stuff..." As to present it, Pinkie reached to her forehead and a zip fastener was undone over her face and torso, and her current outfit and body fell off as if just another Pinkie Pie costume peeled off from her. When seeing this, the eyes of the others widened in surprise. What stepped outside this Pinkie costume was another Pinkie Pie, dressed in a black leather outfit and a gasmask. The pink glass of the mask obscured the view at Pinkie's eyes.

While Rachel was at a loss for words and tried to find an explanation with Sam, Flynn leaned in and grinned.
"Oh really? I doubt that, Pinkie. The way you change your costumes is way spookier."

Looking up to Flynn, the gasmask Pinkie was wearing now slightly booped Flynn's nose.
"And who are you to doubt me? Are you my mommy?"

"I guess not..."

"Hehe, see? Don't think that I am a mere Earth Pony, Flynn. I have pinkiekinetic powers with this costume!"

This earned her some doubting smirks from the others.
"Leather outfit and gasmask? That gives you special powers? I don't think so." Rachel retorted.

"You doubt me, too? I will have to prove it to you then!" Standing up to her hind legs, Pinkie was instantly able to stand stable, not wobbling like any other pony would. This especially astounded Lyra, who had to undergo immense training to achieve this. But the friends jumped in surprise when Pinkie then began to float in midair and her hooves were inches above the ground. Pointing at them, the party pony now chuckled. "Ha! That's right! This is no trick. It's true power! Pinkiekinetic power!"

Rachel giggled silently, pointing at Pinkie's tail, which was somehow strong and stable enough to stem her up, making it look like she was floating in midair.
"No trick, huh?"

“You still don't believe me? It seems I will have to show you the full extent of my pinkiekinetic power! Lean yourself back into your chair, make yourself comfortable. Now I will move your right hand and fingers by the power of my will alone!”

The friends didn't know how to react on this while looking at each other. It wasn't before long before Flynn spoke up.
"Ummmm... Pinkie? Nothing is happening. And our fingers didn't move."

Looking over to him like only recognizing him now, Pinkie shook her head in confusion.
"Oh, you think I was talking to you?"

Glancing over to Rachel, Flynn shook his head, dumbfounded, puzzled what this was all about. Rachel on the other hand only rolled her eyes.
"You DO know who you're questioning, yes?"

Just when Flynn wanted to change the topic, a loud thunder became audible. No few seconds later another thunder roared through the skies, its direction clear for everyone as they looked towards the woods.
"The Everfree... Could it be, that...?"

Tyler's eyes narrowed down with determination. If there were to be another plane crash to happen, he would make haste to catch the plane in midair with levitation spells, slowing the crash down to a non-lethal speed.
"There are about fifty unicorn Rangers stationed around the Everfree as of this moment. Each one of them instructed to catch things in midair."

As he left everything behind, the others followed him. A feeling of alarm was growing among them.
"Fifty? Why so many? Do you expect a fight?"

"No, I expect another crash," Tyler responded. "Could happen anytime, you know? However, fifty is a relatively small number if you think about the space they have to cover. We don't know if direction or flight vector is of any relevance, which means we don't know if a plane would still fly eastwards after crossing flying eastwards or if there is a specific vector the plane is turned by the crossing. As of this moment, we can only soften the crash, not completely stop it from happening. But if it can save human and pony lives..."

Now the thunder and lightning strikes over the Everfree grew in number and Rachel pointed into the clouds.
"There! Somethings coming!"

A series of flashes and thunderstrikes occured over the Everfree before it materialized in a final flash. The object was flying over Ponyville, making the ponies look up in mild confusion. The noisy machine was different from anything they knew. However, the shape and form were somehow familiar to the humans. It had wings and a body as well as some engines. But the size was far too small for an airbus or passenger plane. The engines soon sputtered and came to a halt, prompting the object to glide down. Crashing down a few hundred yards east of Ponyville station, itplowed a bit through the soft soil.

Once arriving on the scene, the friends approached with some caution. While the ponies were clueless about the whereabouts, the humans eyed each other for a moment. Tyler briefly shook his head.
"Well, I'll be damned... Sam! Get on the radio! Tell HQ we need a salvage team here. I want this thing in HQ until noon."

Narrowing down her eyes, Rainbow tipped the wreckage of the drone with her hoof in distrust, only to take some distance from it after the clank.
"What is it? It certainly is not as big as the last plane you guys used to come here. Not even as big as the Betty. Is there a single human inside that?"

Inspecting the payload of the aircraft, Flynn shook his head.
"No weapons, no cameras or sensors for surveilance. Just the usual cameras to normally steer the thing. I don't get it, Tyler! Why are they sending a drone after they've send people over here?

Looking over to Flynn, Rainbow narrowed her eyes.
"Is that of any importance?"

"It sure is, RD." Tyler answered. "Normally, if we humans want to examine something we are uncertain of the surroundings or if it would be a journey without way back, we are sending remote controlled machines first. In our own solar system, we've send probes and rovers to the planet Mars to collect the first samples of scientific data, because no human can survive on Mars. Normally, the procedure making the most sense would be to send drones and probes that are remote-controlled, then once we are sure we have the technology to send people there that can make it back again, we start a mission and once all that is done, we would send colonists."

Rainbow nodded in thought. She never really fully understood how things worked in the human world, but from what she grasped was that the universe they came from had the planet going around the sun instead of the opposite. At the first time she heard it, it confused her big time, but Flynn explained it with some forces of falling and moving at the same time, calling it orbit. It made sense enough. Now, resting a hoof on the drone, she shook her head.
"So you're telling me that this thing here should have actually been here before there would be more humans? Then why the hay were there so many humans in the plane that crashed recently?"

Flynn looked up to her and Tyler and nodded with a grim expression.
"That, Rainbow... That's actually a very good question."

* * * * *

Several hours and a trip back to Canterlot later, the Harmony Rangers as well as the princesses were present when the blackbox of the drone was extracted and brought for analysis into the HQ Command Center. There, the Crystal Ponies attempted to read the information out that was stored on the Blackbox. Hours passed, only showing useless data masses flashing over the screens, before Rachel groaned in frustration.
"What's taking them so long?"

Sitting beside her and filling out some crossword puzzles while Celestia and Luna were served some tea in the meantime, Tyler replied without looking up.
"Well, these ponies lack the information how to interpret the data. I gave them some info of our binary code, but as of right now, they can't decipher larger quantities of data."

"Well, maybe it's good these crystal ponies don't run on Windows 10... But we've been sitting here for the last four hours waiting for them to make anything out of this mess!" When the screens shut down completely, Rachel threw her arms into the air. "Great! Now that as well!"

But to their surprise, Sage appeared as reflection on the black screen and nodded over to Tyler.
"Tyler? I might give them a boost, if you would connect to them for a while."

Cocking his head slightly to the side, Tyler narrowed his eyes in distrust.
"Only if they agree with that. I am having difficulties with you two in my brain, I don't know if they would want that."

"We understand, Headranger. We are OK with the risk."

Tyler came over to them and Luna took the chance to lean over to Celestia.
"Sage is different than before, my sister... Did you see his clothes being different?"

The white mare beamed happily in reply.
"Yes! The therapy is a success. Sage more and more comes back into the light and begins to use his powers for aiding instead of harming others

A flood of data rushed into Tyler's mind and a sharp sting caused him to grimace, before the pain went down pulse after pulse. Sage made him arch a brow and gently shook his head before he closed his eyes.
"A lot of data indeed... I never saw it like that before... I think I can restructure this and bring it to order."

Moments passed. Both crystal ponies frowned a bit at first, then nodded and began to smile.
"I see. Yes, I think we could interpret it like that. Then this comes here and this here, here and here."

The connection with Tyler ceased and Sage gave the command of the body back to Tyler, who held his forehead. Rachel looked at him, while keeping an eye on the main monitor, which was slowly forming a picture.
"What did you two do?"

"I can't say for sure, but I think he taught the ponies some programming skills, which in turn helped them decipher the data we got."

Sam arched both brows before looking over to Lyra.
"Crystal Pony OS! Could be something."

They exchanged a chuckle as one of the Crystal Ponies arched a brow.
"Headranger? We think we are on to something. Several packages that seem to belong together."

While Tyler headed over to them, Luna looked around.
"I must say that I are finding an interest in these Ranger procedures... I would likest to learn more about these facilities."

Leaning over to her younger sister, Celestia smirked a bit.
"I can give you their full report about activities, procedures, safety regulations in detail..." When Luna looked over to her, she then began to grin. "...that is, if you want to read through the entire report with its 400 pages. Or you could ask your big sister about it."

Stretching her tongue out in good fun, Luna then turned to the front again.
"Or I will ask him about it..."

Coming over to the trio of one unicorn and two Crytal Ponies, Tyler leaned in and narrowed his eyes as the twisted and distorted symbols and fragments flashed over the screen in front of them.
"These must be the data files of the hard drive. Can you try to depict them?"

"We will try. The first one is a rather large one and... From the looks of it, we can make out moving pictures and sound."

Tyler looked over to Celestia.
"A video. Someone made all this effort to send a message here."

Celestia looked at him in surprise, then over to the monitor.
"A message this urgent must be vital for us."

The video feed began to build up slowly. The feed was totally distorted in the beginning, but more and more the fragments came to order and the picture became clear. Once the video started, a black screen was shown, filled with a bright light in the upper center, several computer screens in the background and a human with a darkened face sitting in front of them. The face darkened, the human figure was impossible to be identified. The light in the background was too bright for that, the shadows too dark.
"Hello, Mr. Jones."

Recognizing the spokesman, Tyler's eyes widened.
"You..."

Celestia looked over to him.
"Do you know him?

Tyler shook his head.
"No one knows him in person, but I recognize that voice from my time in the deep web. He goes by the name of Bain..."

But regardless of them speaking, Bain continued with his introduction.
"The Earth you once knew is no more. Its nations, their leaders and spokesmen are all uniting behind a so called AEGIS organization..."Spreading his arms, a number of screens with members of Crime.net and other organizations Tyler recognized from the deep web showed up behind Bain's darkened silhouette. "...with just a few exceptions. It was good to see you again, though. In the days since your departure from our group, I have done all I can to have an everwatchful eye on Washington, formerly to find you again, but after Manhattan to find more about your current whereabouts. It had been these investigations that provided us the informations I hope we can now hand over to you. This message is to be understood as a warning. As of now, Crime.net is delivering you with some sparse, yet troubling information gathered from around the world. If our network of organizations is to succeed to unveil the truth about AEGIS, some of our members might need to use your world as a safe haven. I hope our operatives will behave on your side once we are able to send them over to you. Research teams from all over the world are pressing the issue to send an expedition team over to your world. But sadly this is not all that is going on."

A number of files were projected into the video. Walls of text and diagrams
"What you are seeing are classified reports from AEGIS contractor corporations from across the world. Their stockmarket values are skyrocketing. We suspect that vast amounts of funding is pumped into AEGIS and thus into these corporations, though their respective projects remain unknown."

The humans exchanged some glances; these were indeed troubling news no matter what. But Bain was not finished yet.
"Furthermore we were informed by inside sources, that an airbus was funded and already deployed to cross over into your current position, with at least one AEGIS agent and at least two other secret agents on board. Yet the media had a complete blackout over the missing machine. Time seems short, Mr. Jones. I'm afraid you'll need to show Earth that on the other side of Bermuda lies a world that is not as hostile as AEGIS depicts it. Establish diplomatic measures and silence every voice calling for conflict. I will try to deliver you with whatever intelligence I can gather with my fellow organization members as often as we can. If you can aid us in these matters, I am sure that we could come to an agreement of mutual advantage. We suspect you have your own fights on your world, but rest assured that whatever brought your conflict over to Earth startled humanity and there is only so much we can do without your help. The clock is ticking against us. Good luck, Mr. Jones."

When the video ended, Tyler was being very silent and thoughtful. With the elbows on the table and his hands put together, he rested his nose and upper lip on his hands as he closed his eyes.
"At this point, it is absolutely imperative that I return to Earth."

The others gasped at the statement, Celestia and Luna exchanged concerned looks, while Rachel stood up from her chair.
"You want us to side with criminals? Thieves, bank robbers, murderers and smugglers? Crime.net is a criminal cancer in Washington!"

Tyler was surprisingly calm and collected about this, even began to smirk.
"Odd... I always thought that corrupt lobbying politicians were the criminal cancer of Washington..."

Now Sam and Flynn entered the discussion. Both shook their heads at Tyler.
"Tyler... Rachel does have a point."

"Yeah! We can't simply allow these people in here. They would cause trouble!"

"And yet, as of right now, they are the only ones reaching out for us," Tyler retorted. "That's the way things seem to roll now on Earth. If Bain is right, every step we take on Earth will be highly monitored, each country on Earth will have the authorities working with AEGIS, an organization that seems to deem the planet Equis as a possible threat. That means that I will have to make a few calls on Earth before I can gather some individuals together I know. People I know I can trust. In America, in Japan, maybe even one from Russia."

Looking over to Tyler, Celestia arched a brow while uttering her question.
"And these individuals, are they criminals as well?"

Facing her, Tyler grimaced a bit.
"Well... Ex-criminals, to be precise. At least the ones I want to recruit. They are trying to live normal lives now. I wish to have them on board as security personnel. In their daily life, they might be like the usual human being, eat, drink and sleep as much as every normal guy. But if they get into combat, one is best advised to pray. I want them to be of help in case the senior ranger staff is not present to help Equestria out, should need be. They desire to turn their backs on all the criminal activity."

This visibly pleased the Princess of the Sun and she closed her eyes with a content smile.
"That is good to hear. If they truly wish to live a normal life, I am sure this can be arranged. They might be interesting personalities as well."

Flynn frowned in thought.
"Wait a freaking second! Do I get this Bain right? AEGIS had send an entire airbus here to actually send three agents to this planet? Couldn't they, I don't know, just send another Cessna like the Betty? Wouldn't that be better?

"No... Actually it wouldn't be," Tyler countered, "They are or were hiding between all these people. If it would have been just three guys, we would have searched them, found out their secrets and would have send them home. But with entire families? With children and women? We were too caught up by the tragedy unfolding at the plane to even waste a thought about possible infiltrators." Tyler began to grin in a dark manner. "Clever. Very clever... But not clever enough. Luna!" Looking over to the dark alicorn, Tyler smirked. "My love, I think I want you to feel the one or another tooth for me. They can lie to each one of us in the waking world, but the dream world is where you reign surpreme. See for yourself who is dishonest and who is who he or she claims to be. And once you are finished, report back to us. We will take over then."

Making some notes, Rachel shook her head.
"However... What if I'm right? What if these people from Crime.net come here to cause trouble?

"Oh, I am counting on that..."

Looking up to Tyler from her notes, Rachel's jaw simply dropped
"What?!?"

"If they misbehave, I'll have every reason to have them by the balls. I once hacked within the speed of my fingers. Now, with magic, I hack within the speed of my thoughts. I may not be able to unmask Bain, but I could harm his lifework big time."

There was a certain silence in the conference room as the humans and ponies stared at Tyler, their jaws dropped. Taking a nice warm gulp of her tea, Celestia took a deep breath and looked over to her husband.
"You are agreeing to this, hoping for them to misbehave so you could squeeze some extra demands out of them. That's sly of you, honey..."

A smile forced itself on Tyler's face as he looked at the members in the conference room.
"It sure is, Sugarlips. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. And until we know these folks better, they are people with a common enemy. Time will tell if they are an enemy as well. AEGIS seems to be up to no good. Taking out their spies will reveal their intentions bit by bit. We will make some friends for now. Time will tell if they are true friends or just using us for their own benefit."

* * * * *

After the meeting, Celestia, Luna and Cadance left the Ranger HQ and met up again with Twilight. At this point, the princesses did what they did anytime a crisis was slowly forming on the horizon. Counseling while being together in the throne room. Within a short moment of information exchange with Cadance via the touch of the horns, Twilight was brought up to speed and Luna looked over to her older sister.
"What do thou think, Celestia?"

When Celestia looked high up to the ceiling while pacing back and forth, her face showed determination, worry, but also something Luna didn't often see: Anger. She was thinking of many things at this point.
"I think he begins to make decisions on his own. It can be deemed good. Do what he asked of you and feel several teeth in the dreamworld. I am angry at this! They sacrifized their own citizens in order to deceive us. But, in fairness, these criminals seem to see in us an ally. Given, they're doing it to survive with their shady business, but unlike the rulers of their world, they have approached us in conversation, not with agents of infiltration. I am for tolerating them as far as they behave. If they don't I will let Tyler do with them as he sees fit."

Twilight looked to the ground, seemingly troubled.
"I feel a bit excluded. Why wasn't I down there with you? I'm a princess as well and we three are part of one herd."

Coming to a halt, Celestia nodded and gave Twilight her full attention by turning to her.
"Twilight, you are the Princess of Friendship. As such, I want to keep you away from this mean and ugly business right now. It includes secrecy, fighting and plotting. Due to his past and skills, Tyler is fit for dealing with this. You, due to your past and skills, are not... yet. A fact that I am very happy about."

"I fought for the friendship with my friends once." Twilight countered, "We fought the Changeling hordes here in Canterlot. Don't tell me I can't stand up for what I believe in! I mean it was I who got Cadance out of that trouble."

Cadance nodded in confirmation.
"I can tell. She was so out to beat up Chrysalis that she almost attacked me while thinking that I was the imposter."

"Yes. You had a hard fight and all of you girls showed time and time again that you are capable of taking care of yourself, but the fights Tyler is facing are far more brutal and deceiving. One day you will be at that point, Twilight. You will fight others for the sake of the many. But for the moment, I want to keep you away from that ugly business. Fighting is not what you should take lightly. Too many came and went again that were corrupted by the urge to fight. Ponies are not meant to fight like this for a prolonged time. It causes Windigoes to be born into existence. Which also makes it so important that we have Tyler and the humans in our midst. The human species is a young species, but it also is one that battle-hardened itself since its beginnings. Since their first generations they tried to best each other, kill one another over the sparse ressources on their world. And now... Now humankind is capabale to withstand the trials of fighting for the fate of Equestria we ponies may be unfit for on our own."

When Celestia returned to trotting around thinking, Twilight followed her.
"But shouldn't we show them the way towards harmony so they don't have to fight anymore?"

Her former mentor's reply was brief and precise.
"No."

Shaking her head once in confusion, Twilight dug deeper.
"Why not?"

"Because their world belongs to them, Twilight. And who are we to lead them?"

This confused Twilight to some degree. She couldn't make perfect sense out of it.
"I don't fully understand. We are not supposed to lead them, but Tyler and the Harmony Rangers are leading ponies, teaching them how to fight. Isn't that the same thing?"

Now coming to a halt once again, Celestia looked down to Twilight.
"What Tyler is doing with the Harmony Rangers is unifying several nations into one united force. Cooperation instead of competition. By doing so, the thought for peace and cooperation is spread through the whole of Equis. For centuries Equestria was without war. And with good reason. Ponies of this generation have yet to re-learn how to fight. A thing I thought we would never need again, since the threat of Windigoes is still present. Now with Asira and Lamira, I can see how foolish I was to let this knowledge die among my little ponies. Yes, the Harmony Rangers do stand up in arms against common threats and fight them, but they are not fighting one another over ressources. There is no infighting. There is protection of the weak, those who can not or do not want to fight. But we can only do so on our world, not on the human world. It belongs solely to them. Likewise, they have no right to tell us what to do here."

"Ah... Now I see. A joint Royal Guard for Eqis, if one will. Well that certainly ish..." All of a sudden, Twilight began to sway on her hooves, causing alarmed glances from the others. "That shertainlee... Ooohh I, don' feel so..." And when she collapsed, the other princesses hurried over to her, yelling her name.

* * * * *

The tranquil and silence of Canterlot hospital was harshly interrupted when the two regal sisters teleported into the main lobby and Celestia's Royal Canterlot Voice boomed through the hallways.
"I AM IN NEED OF MEDICAL ASSISTANCE!!!" Within seconds, a medical bed was brought and Twilight placed on to it, as to stabilize her. Hurried commands were shouted while the bed was rolled towards the operation room and Twilight received several injections Always at Twilight's side the two sisters. The glow from inside the inside of her body became obvious to the both of them.

"What is happening to her, Celestia?" Luna asked.

Taking a short glance at the slightly glowing, swollen belly of the young mother, Celestia quickly came to a conclusion.
"The foal inside her is posing a magic health hazard."

Now Luna's eyes slowly widened.
"Thou meanest...?"

"Yes! If we don't make haste, we might lose them both!" In the operation room, everything was prepared to allow an immediate treatment. But what would follow would be too much for any mortal pony. Turning over to the doctor, Celestia's face was sober and determined. "Doctor Ninkleton! If we don't extract the child right this instant, both the mother and foal will not survive this day. But extracting it will pose a problem none of you can face. All of you: Leave the room and evacuate the building! Everypony here is in grave danger until this foal is contained!"

Doctor Ninkleton's eyes widened in surprise before he shook his head.
"Your Highness! As a doctor I can not advise you to perform an untrained medical procedure on a pregnant mare!"

"Your protest is firmly noted, Doctor. But as a princess I can tell you that if you will face the hazard we are unleashing into this room within a few moments, you will definetly perish within seconds." This was enough to shut the doctor up and made him yield.

While the medical staff made haste to leave the room, Celestia and Luna put on some medical attire when Luna looked over to her older sister. The operation room provided all the instruments they could require, but to her knowledge none of them were trained in these kind of procedures.
"What are thou trying to do?"

"The foal poisons her womb with magic and the dosage has already reached harmful amounts. We will get it out with an abdominal delivery. If the foal is out and contained, they can treat her properly without any danger. Quick! Get us something to contain vast amounts of magic energies." Taking a few hasty glances around, Luna then went out of the operation room and into another, where she stopped and levitated the entire inventory of that room. Metal, plastic and glass was fused together, resulting in a small container able to contain a foal. A few magic enhancement were made before she trotted back into the other operation room, where she put the container down and continued her enchantments. From the looks of it, she was confident the container would suffice as a containment unit.

But Celestia was slightly nervous. Although she was familiar with the concept of the procedure, it was one she never did before. Normally she would have given this to unicorn doctors, but this foal was anything but normal. Levitating the scalpel to Twilight's belly, She took a gulp and a deep breath with closed eyes before she opened her eyes and let the scalpel glide through the skin and flesh. The cut was swift and careful and once the womb was opened, a constant amount of bright magic streamed outside and right into Celestia's face, prompting her to narrow her eyes. This sure was something she never witnessed. Her magic mane lost its usual soft movement and seemed to flow in a strong, gushing wind. Spinning around, Luna gasped in shock at the sight of the spectacle.
"Celestia!"

The ground began to quake and little by little, the wall behind Celestia began to crumble apart. Looking up to Luna just for a brief second, Celestia smirked.
"I'm alright. For now at least. Alicorn skin and all that... How is the container?"

Looking at her black container, Luna strengthened its enchantments to withstand magic even more, fearing the former ones wouldn't suffice.
"Only one way to be sure."

Within a few moments, the almost blinding glow between the two sisters was encapsuled and contained within the golden glass of the incubator and several tubes provided oxygen and warmth to the precious, yet dangerous content inside. The room was slightly singed and the fire alarm had began to ring, but both sisters looked into the incubator, where the little foal was resting in, still emanating a mild glow, which was, as they both knew, only dimmed so very much by the dark toned incubator. Not losing any time, Celestia cleared the content of Twilight's womb of any harmful magic residue and closed what was cut open. Utilizing the spell to see somepony's life deep within, Celestia could see that Twilight's flame was weak, but grew in strength already. A sight that brought relief to Celestia. The young mother would not perish over this. Looking over to the foal, however, was impossible. The light was just too bright. Just like herself and Luna, the foal was already fully immortal, a state Twilight and Tyler had only achieved half-way. The neverending flame had so much strength in it, it could have illuminated the night similar to the sun. Both sisters looked at each other with worried glances. This foal was a small powerhouse and was able to cause a lot of trouble.

* * * * *

Darkness. Warm, cozy darkness and an all too familiar voice made Twilight forget about her nightmare of Tyler wandering through icy cold wastelands towards a crystal fortress.
"...ight. Twilight! Concentrate on my voice..."

Her eyes hurt. Opening them for just a bit, Twilight made out Princess Celestia standing right next to her. Slowly her vision took shape, the dancing colors and figures took form and mass.
"What happened...? Am I dead?"

Leaning over to her with the warm, gentle smile of a mother, Celestia shook her head.
"Far from it. But Nova surely brought you close to that event."

Hearing her daughter's name prompted Twilight to come to her senses even faster and her ears peaked up.
"Nova! Is she born? Where is she?"

Taking a seat, Celestia levitated some fresh flowers into a vase and placed it alongside some cards, obviously from her friends, who already visited, but only met her while she was unconscious. The cake and the balloons were testiment that at least Pinkie was present. Another short glance showed several wet tissues in a bin. How worried had everypony been?
"She is alive and well..." Celestia continued, "...for the moment. As of now, she is lying in an incubator Luna and I constructed on the fly. Due to the grave circumstances, we had to perform an abdominal delivery. Twilight, listen very carefully now. Your daughter almost caused necrosis in your womb by flooding it with lethal amounts of magic. Normally that's a very rare complication in pregnancies among alicorn mares and I only heard about it in my early youth. You were lucky we were around. That little horn of hers might have killed you from the inside without even stabbing you.

"Why do I smell smoke?"

"That must be something your clothes caught up. Once extracted, Nova's magical outburst caused some fires in several parts of the hospital. But don't worry! Nopony came to harm."

Carefully touching the stitches on her belly, Twilight gulped.
"Will I... still be able to have further children?"

With a gasp, Celestia hesitated a bit to answer.
"I don't know yet, Twilight. We are lucky to have you both alive for now and we still have to keep an eye on Nova. She was still due a few months, so it will need a few days or weeks, depending on her strength. Her magic prowess on the other hoof... Twilight, that little foal is already stronger than you are."

Twilight's eyes widened.
"She's WHAT?!? But how...?"

When Twilight attempted to stand up, Celestia intervened and stopped her herd mate by resting a hoof at her chest, gently pushing her back down.
"Easy there, young princess... You still need some rest and observation. The operation got you a scar that first needs to heal up. A healing spell was already placed on it, but only so much to boost the natural healing process, not completely heal it. You got enough magic today other's don't get in two lifetimes. Which means we will let you heal up the old fashioned way."

"I didn't know that alicorns could have such hazardous pregnancies...

"I almost forgot it." Celestia replied, "Good thing I didn't or we might have lost somepony very precious. It might have something to do with the father as well..."

"Tyler? How so?"

"Well he is the one human with the largest magic capabilities. Mixing this together with your capabilities procreates a child which has inherently large capabilities. I think the name was chosen accordingly already. Nova Sparkle. Your daughter has vast amounts of magic at her disposal, Twilight. The incubator we created had to be hardened and enhanced to withstand her powers. Until we are able to limit her a bit and she calms down, this incubator is our best way to contain her powers. It seems she can utilize and channel more magic than any other magical being. But like a wall of fire she lacks control of it. One day she will become an alicorn that might even surpass Luna and myself, but for now her immense power must be contained until she learned to control it properly."

Looking to her side, Twilight looked at the wall, glum.
"I don't know if that's something I want for my daughter..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the whole power overload and all. I'm happy that she will be well again, but I wonder if it wouldn't be better if she would be just a normal pony."

Now giving Twilight a motherly smile, Celestia shook her head.
"Being an alicorn has nothing to do with the way you behave around others."

"What? What makes you think that?"

A kiss was placed on Twilight's forehead.
"You do, Twilight. Despite being an alicorn, you still love being around your books or any other books for that matter. When I saw you being reduced to tears of relief after finding a book you deemed destroyed for a week after that small incident with Spike's hiccup, it was hard not to giggle. I find it most pleasing to see that despite being grown so much in both body and mind, there is still the little filly in you that was overjoyed of becoming my personal student and earning her cutie mark." Placing another kiss on Twilight's head, Celestia then looked down to her. "Have faith, Twilight. As a herd, we will take care of Nova and make sure she will grow up a healthy, well behaved young mare. Rest now, you are going to need it. Leave everything to us." Twilight visibly calmed down. The thought of her daughter being on the constant watch of other alicorns brought peace to her mind. Nova was cared for.

Leaving the room and closing the door behind them, Celestia sighed deeply.
"This leaves only one talk left to have."

Coming to her side, Luna nodded
"Captain Dusk Aegis is already on his way to inform him. He should hear the news anytime now."

And truly, mere seconds after Luna had said that, Dusk Aegis had reported the incident about Twilight to Tyler.
"Twilight is WHAT?!?" Right the next second, a strong teleportation spell was cast and a stench lingered in the air.

Turning away in disgust, Rachel took exception to this.
"I wish he would stop performing high grade spells in close proximity to us. The static smells odd and I always get a small discharge that spooks me upon touching something metallic."

Sam waved a bit through the air, disliking the smell as well.
"Well, he just learned that his girl and his daughter barely made it through childbirth. I wouldn't be caring about anything else either."

Re-appearing in front of Celestia and Luna in the throne room, Tyler approached them at once, his voice hectic and alerted.
"I came as soon as I heard it! Where is she? Is she alright? Is Nova alright??"

Raising a hoof in order to calm him down, Celestia nodded.
"Both of them are on their way to get better. Tyler, listen. There is something about Nova you should know..."

For the next hour, Celestia explained to Tyler in detail the whereabouts of Nova's birth and the complications it brought with it. Upon hearing it, Tyler prepared a drink and drank it in one go shortly before sitting down.
"I can't believe it... So you're saying that our daughter is so powerful that she almost killed Twilight from inside just from unleashing her power?"

"I'm afraid that this is the case. The tremors shook the hospital, the heat emitted from her caused several fires. Twilight's alicorn body saved her and probably all of Canterlot from literally exploding. Nova's state is extraordinary. And I think you and Twilight are to blame for that genetically..."

"Our strong magic capabilities you mean... But how is that possible? I thought that was trained ability, not genetically embedded. I mean, yeah, my blood and all that, but I didn't think this would be such a potent mixture." His quick deducing of the situation surprised Celestia a bit, but she was sure that Sage was also having a say in the matter and that Tyler's fast understanding was based on that as well. But before she was able to answer, he jumped up and headed for the door. "Alright. I know what to do."

When he passed her, Celestia looked after him.
"You do?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, until we have a way to contain the immense powers deep within Nova, I will see to it that she is transferred into the Ranger HQ."

Standing up, Celestia gave him a stern glance.
"You can't determine that just by yourself!"

Looking down to her, Tyler bowed a bit, so their noses booped one another.
"I can't? I am her father! You just try to stop me, Celestia. I would deliver the spanking of your life to your flanks! I won't allow my daughter to be exiled into a petri dish. We will build a larger version of this containment unit. Something far more suitable for a foal!"

Celestia grumbled a bit when he took his distance once again. They both had good points, but she also had to consider the well-being of a newborn alicorn foal. Nova's childhood should be a better one, if she could help it.
"The ruler in me wants to protest to that procedure. She IS a magical hazard nonetheless... but the mare and herd mate in me can only agree. She deserves a bigger playground and a soft warm bed. But these things will have to be made specifically to withstand her immense powers." Coming to his side, she looked into his eyes. "Just promise me to take the neccessary precautions..."

"That I will. For Nova's sake and for Equestria."

* * * * *

A week later the Harmony Ranger were monitoring the last moments of the transfer of the young foal into a containment room. The purple crystal was spanning throughout the entire room like some sort of cage and had only a black screen window and a large vault door. Two earth pony stallions conversed a bit, glancing distrustful at the containment room While Tyler and Rachel conversed a bit over the specifics.
"There are so many things that could go wrong with this..."

"Why is the screen so dark?"

"Because apparently the light that the foal emits is blindingly bright. Only the princesses and Prince Tyler are able to look at it and not lose their eyesight."

"We are also the only ones able to stand in this light and live."

Recognizing the voice than no other than that of Princess Cadance, both of them whirled around and stood attention.
"Your Highness!"

Cadance simply dismissed the worries of the two of them with a wink and a smile.
"At ease... Tyler? My team just informed me: The containment room is ready and so is little Nova here."

Levitating the containment unit to the front, she handed it over to Tyler, who took it with a nod and a smile.
"Thank you, Cadance. Was it hard to look after her?"

"Only at night. Aunt Luna helped me to look after her. Changing diapers in the upper stratosphere at three in the morning is nothing that's easily done. But it's the only way to do it without putting somepony or some place at risk. Come to think of it... Nova is a little miracle. Her body is too weak to sustain itself in our enviroment, yet she is so strong to withstand all this magic stress and power..."

"Once this room is set up, her diapers can be changed inside of that. She will have so much more space in there. Hey... Listen, Cadance... I really appreciate your help in all this. I know it is asked much from-"

But Cadance simply shook her head.
"Nonsense! It is not asked too much. I learned to love the little one already. And she enjoys being with others."

Then, without further ado, Tyler took Nova into the containment room and put the containment unit to the floor. The sound of the vault door made the others take notice that Tyler was up to get serious with testing the device they had created.
"Wait! What's he doing now? Don't take her out of there! The room doesn't seem to be working yet!" But as soon as she had said that, The screen brightened up and a warm golden glow was shining out of the small containment unit, filling the entire containment room. Almost at once the stress caused the room to quake and the walls of the containment room began to moan.

Looking at the screen and thus outside, Tyler attempted to yell into his transmitter, but almost only static reahed the outside.
"****o NOT ente****is room****art ******e or Cadance,****ne of you ******d survive her prese****!" Putting the small incubation chamber lid aside, Tyler lifted Nova out of there. But upon doing this, the magic energies streamed against him and all walls of the room. In an instant, the whole base was quaking and trembling.

Taking her own communicator, Rachel stood in front of the screen and looked at Tyler.
"The containment chamber is ripping itself apart! Teleport her out of here, before she destroys the whole HQ and tears the mountain into pieces!!! TYLER!!!"

Seemingly unable or unwilling to hear her, Rachel then headed for the control terminals. Now the Princess of Love stood up in protest, looking over to Rachel.
"No! Give it a moment!"

Looking at Cadance aghast, Rachel pointed at the quaking chamber.
"But-"

Stomping her hoof down, Cadance shook her head, determination in her eyes.
"Ranger Rachel! Trust me!"

Rachel was at a loss for words until the chamber started to hum in a steady tone. Growing in volume, the humming caused the tremors to calm.
"What's it doing now?!?"

Coming to Rachel's side, Cadance sighed in relief.
"Finally... The Containment Chamber... it's taking in her energy surge." More and more the quake ceased to be and the energy stored inside the chamber seemed to flow down below in energy pulses. Looking up to Rachel, Cadance began to explain. "The room needed a few moments to get accustomed to her. Her powers prompted it to vibrate, but the immense amount of magic is now flushed away.

Like on cue, several red alarm lights were turned off and switched over to yellow, green and finally blue. The Crystal Ponies in the room seemed relieved about that.
"Your Highness! The blood crystals are transferring the magic energy to our reservoir. The system is fully operational."

Leaving a sigh of relief, Rachel shook her head, while a smile worked itself onto her face.
"Tyler! The tremors have seized throughout the base."

Hearing the message over the speaker inside of the room, Tyler was bathed in light. Caressing his little baby girl, he made her giggle and grab his index finger with her tiny hooves.
"See, sweety? Daddy won't let you live in a jar."

A few moments later, the sounds coming from the containment room already announced Tyler's return from it. Stepping outside, his steps and stance were stiff and his body was slightly glowing. His face showcased that he was in pain.
"Don't. Touch. Me."

Coming to his side, Cadance and the rangers gasped in shock upon seeing him.
"He's almost at the level of overcharge. If not for Sage and Rage and this coat manifesting magic power and influence into woven fabric... He would have blown up." Cadance realized.

Grimacing at this, Rachel inspected him.
"He still can! Tyler!" Nodding briefly, Tyler teleported away. The stench of static in the air was staggering, causing the others to turn away. "Ugh... Again! That smell... He does that on purpose!" High up in the air above Canterlot, Tyler saw Equestria far below. The air was growing thin in this altitude. He wouldn't have much time, so he made haste. A bright and quick sequence of pulses of sheer magic emanated from him, dissipating quickly. Just weak enough not to cause too much wind for the Pegasi to handle.

* * * * *

Later that day, Tyler had invited Cadance over to a cup of tea and some cake in order to thank her for her work with the containment room and taking care of Nova. Taking a sip from the tea, the Princess of Love had her eyes closed, savouring the aroma.
"That was risky."

Resting the fork down for a bit after shoving a bite of cake into his mouth, Tyler nodded.
"It sure was, Cadance. But it would have never worked without that blood crystal you brought us from the Crystal Empire. Was it hard to crystallize my blood?"

Levitating the cup back to its right place on the table, Cadance opened her eyes with a smirk.
"No comment on that. This is a well guarded secret of our empire and I must say that I find it calming to know that you are dependent on me to get more blood crystal. Besides: Blood magic has some ugly incidents in the past."

"So you won't tell me about it so that I don't misuse it, you mean."

"Not only you, Tyler... But anypony or anybody knowing about your blood. In the past there were incidents about blood alchemy. Unicorns killing one another to refine magic out of the blood, concentrating it in potions and performing dark arts. Not to mention the entire thing with the vamponies and their own blood magic, which goes a few levels further. I'm sure von Hoofington could literally detonate a pony with his vampony magic. Nothing Equestria is proud of... However: As of right now, these blood crystal lines lead directly into several bags of holding Discord handed over to us. They transfer all that magic into the space in there and it can leak back over time. I dare not to think of the horrors we would face if we would store all this energy in containers full of your blood. It could end in Equestria being turned into one giant crater, since we would sit on a time bomb."

Tyler nodded.
"It sure is good to have this alternative. However, this blood crystal is a godsend to our plans for Sam's tank and Skyranger transferring magic energies like electricity is really helping us in creating the systems we need." Looking forward for a while, Tyler crossed his arms before he nodded and looked back to Cadance. "Damn! The crystal pony computers, the blood conserved in crystal form... I'm afraid I'll soon begin to owe you big time, Cadance."

"Oh, don't worry. You'll soon have enough opportunity to repay me."

Looking over to her in confusion, Tyler's eyebrows narrowed down.
"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, with Shining and me having some fun in human form at night, it was simply a matter of few attempts for me to catch up with Twilight... And I'd like to have you as... What do you humans call it? A Godfather...?"

A low chuckle escaped his throat.
"So he finally chased you through the bed long enough, huh?

"Chasing?" Cadance mused with an arched brow. "Rather I rode him so long and hard he was unable to stand up the next day." While Tyler looked over to her, jaw dropping in slight concern, Cadance bit her bottom lip with a grin and nodded. "I think I've never let Shiny cum that hard before." Hurrying over to him, she rested a hoof on Tyler's leg, pleadingly."B-but don't tell Twilight about this! We want to surprise her with the good news."

Patting her hoof, he simpy shook his head with a smile.
"I shall remain silent like a grave with this. Well... For Shining's sake I hope that you have enough for now."

"Well, I'm the Princess of Love. As such, I can have quite the unquenchable libido. I admit that. But this foal? That will let it calm down. Maybe 500 to 1000 years before I want another child. Until then? It's just sex for fun and love." While Tyler chuckled, Cadance giggled a bit, before harrumphing and getting serious once again. "Listen, Tyler... Speaking of which... I talked with aunt Celestia and Luna... And..."

Tyler rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Save it, Cadance! Let me stop you right there! I am mad at them for taking this choice away from me. It was mine to make and they took that."

"I'm not saying you weren't wronged, but Tyler, please! Consider: My aunts never were so lively and playful than being around you. For thousands of years I have searched for a way to find a proper stallion to match their desires. And each attempt made it worse. Each time they wither away and either one of them has to let it go, this romance not meant to endure. Now, with you being immortal, they could finally find the romance they yearn for. And believe me, they will make it worth your while."

Tyler reply came with a dead panned face.
"We can continue this conversation, once we have Shining with us. I think he would love to hear that as well."

Sighing in frustration, Cadance shook her head.
"You're right. Maybe it is a bit selfish of us to force you into this. But it is a guilt we are willing to take. I'd rather spent the rest of eternity with Shining holding a mild grudge for immortality that I will repay him for the rest of time than to lose him. I cannot imagine living without him.

Tyler glanced over to Cadance, nodded in thought.
"Well for your sake I hope that Shining agrees, then. Seems to me that if he declines that offer, you are in for the pain of your immortal life if something happens to him."

She looked at Tyler, this time rather serious.
"He's dear to you as well, so don't talk like you wouldn't care."

A brief shake of his head underlined Tyler's reply.
"I'm not. Not only is he my brother-in-law, he is also a brother in arms and my best friend. We've been through shit together. This binds us together in comraderie. I would give an arm for him as he would give a hoof for me. That's what pisses me off as well. I will remain young now, while Shining will grow old and grey, if you can't persuade him. That's the unnatural thing."

Cadance looked down. He was right about that. If Shining wouldn't choose immortality with her, they would have some happy years together. Then, more and more, age would separate them as the old stallion would have difficulties mounting her or playing with the children. Her eyes grew wide in terror at the mere thought of a bed-ridden Shining Armor, too old to leave the bed, being fed by her, until the day finally came, when the last breath was exhaled and he would have withered away from her with only dust to remain. Cadance closed her eyes and shook her head fiercly in an attempt to ban these thoughts away.
"Shining Armor is the love of my life. I would fight to preserve our love."

Tyler nodded and rested a hand on her shoulder.
"I expected nothing less of you, Cadance. But with all that love of yours, don't forget that he has a will of his own. If he says no, he says no. You above all should know that love can not be forced. And that you can't demand him to be used to immortality as you were until now. It would only bring him misery." It was in this moment, that Cadance slowly began to understood the dilemma alicorn mares face over the ages. With no alicorn stallion around they were forced to endure this misery each time they allowed themselves to fall in love. They could live out debaucheries of all kinds with willing servants, but true love was hard to find, especially the immortal kind. She had to persuade Shining at all costs. There were still enough of years ahead of them, but right now Shining Armor was in his prime. Or, maybe, she was overthinking this.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, on Neftus Island, the late evening hours were about to come. Walking up a dune, the old Masar came to the side of the young mare, who looked down the dune and towards a city near the coast. The nearby harbor was void of sail ships and only a few caravans were on their way to make it into the city before nightfall.
"Gorex! My friend, look! Down there is the city of Patash..."

Looking at the city, Gorex nodded in thought, growling a bit.
"They say the ambassadors of Equestria, Moranji and the Griffin Empire reside in that city. I suspect several guards around them."

The face of the mare grew in determination, her already fiery mane glittering in the last rays of the sun, the celestial object her former mentor so proudly moved in the skies.
"Good. Patash may be a cesspool, but on the whole of Neftus Island it has one advantage: Nowhere else on Equis do we have the three of them closer together than here. I pray for them to see the light. Perform your given orders and remember: Don't kill anyone! This is important! Take prisoners whereever you go; we will win them for our cause." Once her order was given, her band of rogues stormed up the dune and down towards the city. Ponies, Masar and Griffins headed to the small town of Patash in an assault of a few dozens. And as the last rays of light of the sunset shimmered on the open sea near the city, the sounds of combat became audible.

Author's Notes:

Not yet proofread, every note about typos is welcomed.