Chapter Text
Princess Luna twisted and turned in her sleep, dreams she had never had before flooding her mind. She saw dark shadows rising up from the darkest pits, seeking to engulf all of Equestria, before a collection of light shone brightly and scared away the darkness.
Leading the darkness was a tall figure shrouded in pitch, the only discernible color being his eyes, which glowed a hateful red. Leading the light were what appeared to be two individuals, one with arms of ancient metal and the other with a glowing red-and-black eye and a ringed purple eye.
An image of the Elements of Harmony was also shown, as well as their bearers, but what appeared to be other elements flashed as well, followed by a portal opening up to reveal various mighty warriors rising up to fight in Equestria’s defense as the shadows sent out everything they could to attack.
Just as the forces of light and darkness were about to clash, Luna shot awake with a gasp, breathing heavily as she put a hand to her chest. It was at that moment that Princess Celestia ran in, having been alerted to the noises her sister had been making in her sleep.
“Luna, what’s wrong?”
“Just another crazy dream, Tia.” Luna assured her sister.
She described the entire dream, something only possible due to her own ability to enter dreams at will.
“You’ve been having similar dreams for the past month now.” Celestia noted. “At this point, it can’t be a coincidence.”
“I know, sister. Ones of Nightmare Moon returning but now joined with others like her, a faceless creature in a black suit, a key that can open any lock, and so much more.”
“It feels like an omen of things to come.” Celestia said.
“This one wasn’t as bad but…Don’t think we could stay together tonight?”
The two sisters embraced.
“I’ll have to study this come the morning.” Celestia thought as she looked up at the stars and sighed. "Please... Let nothing bad happen... But if it does, let my sister be safe..."
A gray-furred, cross-eyed pegasus woman, enjoying her day off from work, was bouncing around a squeaky muffin plushie that had been made for her.
She blinked and looked over at the clock tower. Nodding, she decided to keep playing with the muffin.
"I still have time before I have to pick up my daughter from school. More time for old Derpy Hooves to have some fun."
She continued playing with her muffin-shaped toy for a few more minutes when she heard voices arguing. She listened in carefully, slowly making her way to the source of the voices. As she got closer, she began to notice details. For one, they all had odd accents. For another, one of their voices was muffled to the point of indiscernibility.
Finally, she got close enough to see them... and they were the strangest creatures she had ever laid her eyes on.
The first creature was HUGE, a stout man with a clean-shaven head and grey aftershave. He was clad in a red shirt, a vest, black pants, and a bandolier of bullets.
He stood protectively near a man with glasses, his dark-black mane in a slight curl on his forehead, and a white coat with a red cross on it, as well as red rubber gloves.
A frustrated-looking man wearing a yellow hard hat, red work vest, black overalls, a welding glove, and goggles stood nearby, looking like he had a headache. Standing nearby was a younger man in a red shirt and grey-green hat, with an odd-looking set of headphones around his ears.
He was chuckling at the two arguing ones, a man in a red shirt and helmet, and a man with a red mask of some kind that just revealed his eyes and mouth, a suit-coat and jacket over his chest, and clutched a knife of some kind in his hand and judging by the furious expression on his face as he yelled at the helmeted man, he looked to be on the verge of using it.
Looking bored with the whole ordeal, a man with dark brown skin, a goatee, an eyepatch over one eye, and a cotton cap over his head just sat and grumbled.
The strangest of them all was a man clad in a red rubber suit and a black gas mask, absent-mindedly playing with a lighter as if it were a stim toy.
The last of the nine, a man wearing a red shirt and vest, sunglasses, and a wide-brimmed hat with one end turned up. He sat on a rock near the group, slowly scanning the area around them.
Derpy frowned, trying to make sense of this. The only real commonality she could sense between them was their red clothes. Curious, she moved forward, hunkering down in the nearby tall grass, inching closer to try and get a better listen.
"...And YET AGAIN you refuse to acknowledge zat zis is YOUR FAULT. JUST like ze first time!" The masked man snarled, idly flicking his knife open and closed.
"You can't hold me responsible for this, maggot! There wasn't even a wizard around this time!" The helmeted man snarled right back at him.
"Here we go again," The man in the hard hat muttered.
"Vhat vill this bickering accomplish?" The man in the white coat asked, an irritated expression on his face.
"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS, DOC!" The helmeted man roared, a crazed look in his eyes. "I know what I'm doing, now everyone just shut up and follow orders! We are going to that settlement up ahead, and we will establish HQ there! We will not be caught off guard when the inevitable attack from BLU comes!"
"Oh for..." The hard-hatted man began. "Solly, if BLU WAS here, they'd have attacked already!"
"That's just what they want you to think! Those BLUs are sneaky, they are..."
"Yeah, and that's why we've been steamrollin' them the past few weeks," The young man in the cap snarked. "Thanks to Engie and Spy takin' command."
The man in sunglasses's eyes went wide for a moment, Derpy not noticing as he stared right at her.
"Mates..."
"BAH! Coincidence. We would have started winning against those maggots soon enough."
"Yeah, right."
'Solly' snarled at him, but shook his head, taking a deep breath and trying to calm down.
"All right, all right. Even if the BLUs aren't here, we can't just stay here. We need to have a base of some kind! We can't just bumble around in the woods the whole time! We are going to that town, and I AM LEADING THE CHARGE!"
"Mates..." The sunglasses-wearing man tried again, frowning.
The one-eyed man sighed, standing up and putting a hand on 'Solly's' shoulder.
"Solly... Ye do tend to make a bad first impression... Engie and Spy are best at dealin' with civilians... And since we aren't even in our world now, we need te be careful about this. Engie and Spy are the best planners, ye know that."
'Solly' sputtered for a moment, trying to protest, but eventually drooped his head in defeat, nodding.
"You're right... I don't like it, but you're right..."
The man in sunglasses gave a frustrated sigh loud enough to get everyone’s attention.
"That's great, mates. And now that you're done blabbing about, maybe you'll actually listen to me when I say there's someone here that's been watchin' us for the past few minutes."
Everyone turned to where the man pointed, Derpy yelping in fright. She wanted to run, but she felt paralyzed with fear and could only stare at the nine-odd creatures in fright. They had bodies like Equines, but none of them had horns or wings.
'Solly' looked like he wanted to charge, but the one-eyed man held a hand up, holding him back and shaking his head. Visibly forcing it, 'Solly' managed to calm down.
The hard-hatted man had to do the same with the man in the rubber suit, who had pulled out a large contraption with a lit flame held up to some kind of muzzle and a gas tank attached. Afterwards, the man in a suit and the hard-hatted man came up to her.
"Forgive our associate," The masked man said, his manner all charm and confidence. Derpy blushed despite herself and giggled as he continued. "He is overbearing at times, but he means well and is a loyal comrade."
'Solly' just snorted, sulking next to the one-eyed man.
"Anyway, as y'all may have guessed, we ain't from around here..." The hard-hatted man said, smiling in a warm, friendly fashion that made Derpy feel much better around the nine of them. "And as y'all can probably guess, we're a little anxious t'get home. We was wonderin' if y'all knew of any magical authority around here that mahght know of a way to send us back?"
Derpy frowned, thinking for a moment. Did she really want to expose these strangers to Princess Celestia? These two seemed nice enough, but something about the man in the rubber suit and mask bothered her.
After a moment, though, she decided that Celestia could probably easily handle them. And if not her, then Twilight Sparkle and her friends could. After all, she had heard they defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord.
"Well... There's Equestria's ruler, Princess Celestia."
The masked man blinked, and smiled, pleased to have learned something.
"Equestria? This world's name is Equestria? How...appropriate."
"Wow, you really ARE from another world..." Derpy blinked.
The hard-hatted man chuckled, an amiable chuckle that made Derpy feel good.
"I guess it is kinda obvious..." He admitted.
"Anyway, I don't know how to contact the Princess directly. But I do know someone who does.” Derpy said. “She was actually a student of the princess herself."
"We'd like t'meet her then, miss..."
"OH! I'm sorry. I'm Derpy Hooves. I'm one of the mail carriers for the town, but today's my day off. I was just playin' with my muffin toy and..."
"Izzat what dat t'ing is?" The younger man said, pointing off to where Derpy had dropped her toy. "Next to the pack?"
"Yeah, that's it!"
"Eh, no problem. Lemme go get that for ya, save ya goin' outta yer way."
Before Derpy could protest, the younger man zipped off with surprising speed towards the toy. He picked it up and put it in the pack.
"Here ya go, lady."
"Thank you," Derpy giggled, grabbing her pack and slinging it over her shoulder.
"Wonderful. And to be polite, we shall introduce ourselves. I am Spy," The masked man said, bowing grandly, his charming manner making Derpy blush again.
"I'm Scout," The young man said, "Pleased ta meetcha."
"Name's Engineer, ma'am," The hard-hatted man said.
The sunglasses-wearing man nodded, his hat tipping slightly.
"I'm Sniper. Pleasure's all mine, Miss."
"In name and profession, I am Medic," The man in the white coat said, nodding slightly.
"I am Heavy Weapons Guy!" The big man said, grinning amicably, "You can call me Heavy, though! Is good to meet you, little silly-eyes pony!"
The one-eyed man shook his head.
"I'm Demoman, lass. Me grumpy associate here is Soldier."
Soldier, still looking sullen, just snorted.
“And this here is Pyro.” Engineer said, gesturing to the man in the rubber suit and mask.
"Together, we are a zecurity force zat works for a corporation called Reliable Excavation Demolition. Or RED, for short." Spy said.
Derpy nodded, smiling. She felt a little better about the group, as they seemed friendly enough. And security force... that must mean they were a sort of royal guard. That was good, right?
"C'mon, I'll show you around Ponyville, take you to the person you need to see."
Later, after Celestia had finished raising the sun for the day, Luna had gone into more detail of her current dream.
“A man with arms of metal and one with eyes of crimson and purple…” Celestia noted. “And they weren’t Equines?”
Equines were one of the key natives of Equestria. Long ago, there had been magical ponies and humans living together in harmony millions of years ago, but then one day, the humans vanished and through magical evolution, the ponies took on forms similar to their old companions, becoming known as Equines.
“We hadn’t even been born when humanity vanished, only knowing of them in stories.” Luna said. “But my dream…if it truly is a prophecy, could it be that humans will return?”
Suddenly, one of the royal guards came in, taking a moment to catch his breath.
“Your Majesties! There is something in the catacombs!”
The Royal Princesses were confused. The catacombs beneath Canterlot had been full of secrets even they had yet to fully uncover. If the guards found something lurking there…
“What could you have possibly found there?”
“It’s best if I show you.”
Curious, Celestia and Luna followed the guard to the catacombs, which hadn’t been explored in millennium.
When they finally arrived and what had been found, they were shocked at what they saw.
“Is that…” Luna whispered.
Slumbering in a recently opened casket was a humanoid individual who was decidedly not Equestrian, as he did not have the ears or tail. Instead, he had mocha-brown skin, dark brown hair in a ponytail, and wore a white-robed cap over a sleeveless brown shirt, black pants, and boots.
“A HUMAN.” Celestia nodded. “And after so many eons…”
Suddenly, the human’s eyes shot open, revealing a left eye that was blood red with a black sun-like pattern surrounded by black tomoes, and a right eye that was purple with several rings around the pupil.
Celestia protectively got in front of Luna as the human gasped and shot up, looking around in confusion, almost full-on alert.
“Calm yourself.” The Princess of the Sun said. “We mean you no harm.”
“Those eyes…” Luna whispered.
“Where am I?” The human asked. “What am I doing here? Last thing I remember was…”
He clutched his forehead, trying to remember before shaking his head.
“Dammit, I can’t remember what happened. All I know is that I needed to be out here because something really bad would happen…”
He then fully noticed the Royal Sisters and looked confused. As Equines, they had key differences from humans, such as their unique colorful coats, pony ears, and tails.
“Uh… What’s going on?”
“Are you…a human?” Luna asked. “A REAL human?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” The human asked. “And I take it you must be aliens or something?”
“Heavens no.” Celestia giggled. “We are the Royal Sisters of Equestria. I am Celestia; this is my sister, Luna.”
“Equestria…?” The human’s eyes widened before a realization came to him, and he buried his face in his hands. “Great. So I’m the last human alive.”
Luna looked Martin up and down.
“For now, at least. But I’m certain some mares in Equestria wouldn’t be opposed to helping you… Repopulate.”
“Woof,” Celestia said in agreement.
“Thanks, but this is all happening so fast.” The human said as he stood up. “Do you know where we are currently?”
“You are in the catacombs beneath the city of Canterlot,” Luna explained. “Our guards found you while investigating the area and must have inadvertently awoken you.”
“But please forgive us; we haven’t even yet asked your name,” Celestia said.
“It’s Martin. Martin Thomas.”
“Hmmm…” Luna hummed. “Humans have such unique names compared to us Equines.”
“Well, back where I came from, I doubt anyone would name their kid Celestia.” Martin cheekily retorted. “Luna, I could get.”
Suddenly, a massive explosion alerted everyone. The royal guards quickly readied their weapons and magic as they headed back up to the city.
“An attack here on Canterlot?” Celestia wondered.
“The invaders must be either very bold or very foolish,” Luna noted.
“Need any help?” Martin asked.
“That would be appreciated,” Celestia said. “We won’t ask you to do much. Luna and I can handle things here.”
Martin nodded as he followed the Royal Sisters back up to Canterlot. The denizens were running away in a panic as the royal guards struggled to stop the attacker.
The attacker was actually a human like Martin, except his skin was pale Caucasian and he had wild, curly black hair. His eyes seemed to be made of red crystal, and his arms were artificial, forged from some kind of ancient metal. He wore a sleeveless white hoodie, black pants, and boots.
“Another human?!” Celestia gasped.
“Those arms…” Luna muttered, her eyes wide. “It’s just like in my dream!”
“Your Majesties!” One of the guards cried as he came over. “We don’t know what happened! This individual had crashed in the center of the city and when we went to investigate, it immediately started to wreak havoc!”
“Get the citizens to safety,” Celestia ordered. “Luna and I will handle this.”
“Let me help too,” Martin said as he stepped forward. “If he’s also human, maybe I can try talking to him.”
Seeing the princesses and their new ally moving in to help, the rest of the guards moved to get civilians out of the line of fire as Martin approached the other human.
“Hey! Calm down!”
The young man turned to Martin…and then suddenly appeared in front of him with his arm pulled back.
“So fast…!”
Luckily, Martin’s red and black eye had slowed down his perception, allowing him to weave around the punch being thrown at him before making a hand sign.
“Flames of Kagutsuchi!”
Taking a deep breath, Martin breathed out a gout of concentrated flames that knocked the other human down, only for him to get back up and turn around with a furious glare as claws formed out of the knuckles of his metal fists.
“KILL YOU!”
He lunged at Martin, only to be hit with a solar magic blast from Celestia.
“That is far enough!”
However, the other human looked barely singed as he turned to the Princess of the Sun and then thrust out his hand, trapping her in a transparent bubble. Luna and Martin’s eyes widened when they saw her movements were slowed down.
“He’s trapped her in some kind of time sphere!”
Martin’s red and black eye flashed, and Celestia was warped out of the time sphere and back into normal time as she took a moment to regain her bearings.
“I can feel the raw magical power he has…just what on earth is he?!”
The other human suddenly roared as hellish flames burst around him, punching his fists into the ground to send geysers of pure hellfire at the trio, but Martin simply held out his hands as his purple eye glowed.
“Preta Path!”
The flames were simply absorbed into Martin’s hand, which he then clenched tightly into a fist before making another hand sign.
“Storm of Susanoo!”
Lightning formed over his hands as he pulled them back to form a sword of solid lightning, which he then used as he charged at the other human, who ripped a nearby light post off its moorings and somehow changed it into a large lance as he lunged.
The two began clashing as the Royal Sisters watched in awe. In their eons of existence, they had borne witness to many battles, but this was truly something to behold. However, as they looked closer, they could tell something was wrong with the other human.
“Tia…do you see how…unfocused the other human is?”
“Yes…” Celestia frowned. “Almost… Fearful…”
Martin had come to a similar conclusion as he and his opponent were locked in a stalemate.
“He’s angry…but he’s also scared. I can sense his energy…it’s erratic, unfocused; he’s not thinking clearly.”
Knowing what needed to be done, Martin’s red and black eye flashed brightly as he made direct eye contact with his foe.
“Tsukuyomi.”
The other human suddenly began to go slack, his eyes seeming to become more focused as his body relaxed, falling to his knees as he seemed to wobble.
“Seize him!”
The royal guards, having finished evacuating the civilians, all swarmed the fallen young man, one of them forcefully picking him up and holding him in place as his compatriot clapped him in irons. Celestia and Luna looked worried as another royal guard put a magic-dampening muzzle on the individual.
“Forgive us, Your Highness.” One of the guards bowed. “It is fortunate that neither you nor Princess Luna are hurt.”
“You can thank Martin Thomas for winning this day,” Luna said.
“What should we do with this cretin?” The royal guard restraining the attacker asked.
“Take him to one of the guest rooms to rest and recuperate.” Celestia gently said. “Martin says he was merely acting in fear. And looking closer at him, I can tell he was lost, confused, blinded by some unknown nightmare that only ended once Martin routed him.”
As Derpy led the nine men of RED to Ponyville, Medic moved up carefully next to her.
"Miss... Hooves, vas it? I vas vondering... Have you talked to a doctor about your eyes?"
Derpy frowned. She wasn't really comfortable with the topic, but she could tell from Medic's tone that he didn't mean anything insulting by it.
"A couple. Treatment's too expensive, though. It doesn't affect my vision that much, and barring a couple jerks who use my name as an insult, everyone's been nice to me, so I don't really care."
Medic frowned. It had become reflex to ask about medical conditions when he saw them, and he had guessed that she might be fine with it. Still, he felt a professional need to ask about it.
"Maybe y'all can tell us about this person yer takin' us to see?" Engineer suggested.
"Oh! Okay," Derpy said. "Her name is Twilight Sparkle. She used to live in Canterlot, the capital city, and was an apprentice to Princess Celestia herself! She's really good at magic, and keeping things organized. She's got a baby dragon assistant named Spike, who's a really nice guy, and this really neat pet owl that helps her at night."
At the mention of 'dragon,' Demoman began smirking.
"Shaddup," Soldier muttered. "It doesn't count, this isn't our world."
"She sounds like a razzer interesting lady," Spy said.
"Heheh. She's cool. She can be a bit overly bookish at times, but she and her friends are always there for each other," Derpy said, smiling widely.
As the ten continued to walk, Derpy told them about what she knew of Twilight Sparkle and the adventures she and her friends had. Medic and Engineer, in particular, seemed fascinated by the stories.
Eventually, they got into town, making their way to a large house near the town square.
"Is that house... made outta gingerbread?" Scout asked as he got a good look at it.
"Nope. Just a very convincing aesthetic facsimile. That's Sugarcube Corner.” Derpy giggled. “The best pastry shop in all of Equestria and the home of the premier party planner of Ponyville."
"Cupcakes! Getcha cupcakes here! Special discount today, only one bit!"
Folks were coming up and purchasing the cupcakes, which had a sweet, apple-like smell to them, white frosting, and an apple slice topping them. The cyan-skinned equine girl with rainbow hair smiled, nudging the paper plates that held the cupcakes towards people, who would take them and walk off with them. Derpy led the nine dimensionally displaced men up to the table.
"Heya, Rainbow Dash," Derpy said, "Helping out today?"
"Hey, what's up, Derpy?" Rainbow Dash said, "Yeah, Pinkie's not feeling so hot. She had a really, really bad nightmare last night that sorta... put her off cupcakes for a while... She came to my place and was in a bad way, so I agreed to help out while she got some more sleep. The Cakes are gonna stick to using those pans for muffins for a while."
Derpy frowned. From Rainbow Dash's expression, she could tell that she was holding back some details, but she decided not to press it. Pinkie Pie was their friend, while she was just an acquaintance, so she'd let them handle making her feel better.
"Hnh... Hope she's okay..."
"Me too," Rainbow Dash said. She then blinked, noticing the nine members of RED behind Derpy for the first time. "Whoa! Who're your new pals?"
Derpy started to explain, then giggled.
"Y'know what? I'm gonna let them tell. It'd take too long, I'm not even sure I believe half of it, and I need to go pick up my daughter from school. Y'mind taking over as hostess for me?"
Rainbow Dash looked them over and shrugged.
"Sure, why not? Wanna buy some cupcakes before you go?"
“Yeah, sure, why not?"
Derpy put down eleven bits.
"Nine for my friends, one for Dinky, and one for me," She said, taking two of the plates and flying off. "See you around, Rainbow Dash!"
"Say hi to Dinky for me!" Rainbow Dash said before turning to the nine RED members, nudging some cupcake plates towards them, the last ones on the table.
"Anyway… Eat up. It's a double promo today. Another buddy of mine runs this apple farm just outside of town. Best. Apples. Ever. Makes the cupcakes even tastier."
The others looked at each other. Medic stepped forward first.
"Danke, Fräulein Dash," He said, taking a bite of one. "Mmm, these are quite good."
The others stepped forward after that, eating their own cupcakes. Rainbow Dash giggled as Heavy picked his up and ate it in one bite.
"Moist and delicious!"
"Much obliged for the hospitality," Engineer said, "If'n y'all see Derpy Hooves again before us, would'ja let'er know we appreciate her buyin' the snacks?"
Rainbow Dash nodded. They seemed pleasant enough.
"I'm Rainbow Dash. The fastest pegasus in all of Equestria."
"Izzat so?" Scout said, grinning widely.
Rainbow Dash twitched and put her face right in Scout's.
"Yeah, that's so," She said, grinning a little, sensing a challenge from the young man. "Wanna make something of it?"
"Not... at the moment, no... You'll have to forgive Scout; he's rather impulsive, and that can sometimes override his better judgment. And etiquette," Spy said, glaring at Scout, who just giggled but said nothing. "We are actually here on business. We find ourselves at... something of a loss, and..."
"Just tell her," Soldier muttered.
"We might as well, pardner.” Engineer sighed. “Ain't gonna accomplish nothing by joshin' around before gettin' to the point."
Spy stared at Engineer for a moment, then at the others, who seemed to agree with him.
"Very well then.” He sighed in defeat. “A few days ago, we found ourselves transported to Equestria from another world via unknown means. We are seeking a powerful magical authority to try and return to our world."
Rainbow Dash stared at them, frowning, fluttering in the air a little with her arms crossed.
"Whatever you say," She said, shrugging. "What kinda creatures are you supposed to be anyway? You’re not Equines, that’s for sure."
“Well, mon cheri, we are humans,” Spy said. “I take it that they do not exist here.”
“Humans?” Rainbow noted, putting a finger to her chin. “I think I remember one of Twilight’s books having something about them, but they were supposed to have disappeared a million or something years ago.”
A lavender pegasus girl then flew down to Rainbow Dash, startling her.
"Rainbow Dash? We lost the schedule for today... When and where was that rain supposed to be?"
"Put the storm over the botanical gardens, the ones about five miles from Sweet Apple Acres, at five o'clock. They've been a little dry lately ever since their irrigation system broke down." She shook her head. "That's the third time this month. Who's been handling the schedules?"
"I don't know. It's some new supervisor I've never seen before..."
"Look, just make sure that there are at least three copies of the weather schedule available at all times from now on, okay?"
The lavender pegasus nodded, flying off and pushing a cloud away. RED watching in amazement.
"The weather is managed here?" Medic asked, his scientific curiosity piqued.
"Yeah. Pegasi keep the weather going.” Rainbow Dash explained. "Listen, I gotta bolt for a sec. If Pinkie Pie wakes up and is looking for me, tell her I'm still fine and just went to get Twilight Sparkle."
Before the others could say anything, Rainbow Dash zipped off in a streak of color, creating a burst of wind that left the hat-wearing members of RED holding their headgear in place.
"Nice speed Dashy has got there…” Scout whistled, impressed. “Wouldn't mind racing her once before going home..."
"So much for infiltration..." Spy cursed to himself.
"It may be better this way, t'just get things out in the open.” Engineer shrugged. “This looks like a peaceful place. Even if we were natives, we wouldn't exactly belong."
As the others talked, Pyro was looking at the paper plates their cupcakes were on. He then placed them on the ground in a little stack and lit them on fire with his lighter. Heavy yelped and stomped out the flames, giving Pyro a disapproving look.
"Little Pyro must not set fires in public places. Is bad for businesses.”
"Son, we're trying to make a good impression here so's we can try and get an audience with the magical authority and get home..." Engineer said.
Pyro just gave mumbles of disappointment but nodded in understanding. After Heavy cleaned up the burnt plates, a bright pink equine girl came out, with poofy hair that drooped a little, becoming straight at the ends. She looked at them curiously, yawning.
From the abundance of pink, they immediately guessed her to be the Pinkie Pie mentioned earlier in the conversation between Derpy Hooves and Rainbow Dash.
"Ah'm sorry there, ma'am? Did we wake you?" Engineer asked with a kind smile.
"No," Pinkie said with a shake of her head before beginning to look around, her expression frantic. "Was... Was Rainbow Dash just here?"
"Indeed she was, my dear," Spy said, giving his most charming smile. “She went to fetch your ozzer associates, and promised to return shortly."
Pinkie Pie gave him a desperate, frightened look, one that startled him.
"Was she... was she all there? Was any part of her missing?"
“What sort of bad dream did she have?” The nine RED Mercs thought.
"I saw no injuries, Fräulein. She was in good health," Medic said, stepping forward.
Pinkie Pie turned to him, saw that he looked like a doctor, and relaxed a little.
"Okay... I guess... Yeah, she's okay. Thank y..."
Pinkie blinked, as if noticing the nine RED members for the first time. She looked at all of them individually, her eyes going wide. Bizarrely, her hair became completely poofy like cotton candy, her pink coloring getting brighter.
"Are you all right, lassie?" Demoman said.
Pinkie Pie leaped into the air, letting out a long gasp, and zipped back inside, the door slamming shut behind her. The RED team members just stared, unable to figure out what to make of what just happened.
Rainbow Dash, with four other equines and a young purple and green dragon boy in tow, arrived back a few moments later. The pale-yellow pegasus girl squeaked in fright at the sight of them and hid behind the white unicorn girl with the curly, elegant purple mane.
Rainbow Dash and the lavender unicorn girl with the dragon boy by her side stepped forward, Rainbow Dash zipping around and glaring at the RED team members suspiciously.
"What happened, what went wrong?"
"I..." Scout said, "I don't know. She came out, looking for you. Then... she acted like she didn't realize we were there at first, but when she did... Her hair got really poofy, and her coat got brighter... she just leaped into the air and let out a big gasp, and then zipped right back inside! We didn't do anything other than say hi and tell her where you was!"
To RED’s surprise, the other five equines let out a sigh of relief.
"Good, she's feeling better," The white unicorn girl said. "Poor dear seemed so sad after that horrible dream she had..."
"I do not understand," Medic said.
The lavender unicorn girl giggled, adjusting the saddlebag she had strapped to her waist, which was filled with scrolls and books.
"Pinkie Pie did the same 'gasp and run off thing' when I first came to Ponyville. She's planning on throwing you a party to welcome you here!"
"Party?” Heavy brightened. “I love parties!"
"Yeah, me too!" Scout said excitedly. "That is so awesome, to get a party just fer showin' up!"
The other team members traded confused looks, except for Engineer, who smiled.
"That's right neighborly of y'all, but she really don't have to do this."
"Aw shucks," The orange equine girl in the cowboy hat said, Engineer sensing a kinship with her just from the accent, "That don't matter. She likes doin' nice things for people. And… She's kinda been in kind of a bad way lately... Ah know it's a bit much t'ask since we just met, but would y'all mind just goin' with it? It'd really cheer her up."
“Yeah, she’s been having the same nightmare ever since our surprise party for her.” The yellow pegasus girl said.
“Explain, please,” Spy said.
“Well, it kinda started not too long ago.” Rainbow Dash said. “See, Pinkie Pie was celebrating the birthday of her pet baby alligator, Gummy. Then the next day after, she wanted to throw an after-party, but it was actually the day of her birthday, and we wanted it to be a surprise.”
“Hoo-wee, was it a hassle trying to keep her from finding out.” The orange equine girl said.
“Yeah, she kinda got the wrong idea and thought we didn’t like her anymore and were throwing a ‘Farewell to Pinkie Pie’ party.” The yellow pegasus girl said. “Her mane and tail got all flat, and her color got all dark, too.”
“After we cleared up the misunderstanding, she cheered back up and everything seemed like it had gone back to normal.” The lavender unicorn girl said. “And then…the nightmares started happening.”
“Yeah, I’m not gonna go into details; she was pretty vivid about them already.” Rainbow Dash said. “And considering I was the subject in it, it almost gave ME nightmares too.”
“Y’mean like that one nightmare you had of the rainbow factory?” The orange equine girl asked.
“Don’t remind me…”
“I think setting up a good old-fashioned welcoming party for you all might help keep her mind off it.” The white unicorn girl said.
"Don't we have something we need to do here?" Soldier snarled, ignoring Demoman's scathing look.
"We're gonna be asking a big favor of them," Engineer said, "Ah don't see what the harm would be in repayin' them for it?"
"Besides," Spy added, agreeing with the idea, "Zere are worse zings we could do. I do not mind indulging in a celebration."
"A favor? What do you mean?" The lavender unicorn girl asked.
"OH! That's right," Rainbow Dash said in realization. "Guys, this is Engineer, Spy, Scout, Heavy, Pyro, Demoman, Soldier, Sniper, and Medic. They're a security team for a group called Reliable Excavation Demolition."
"Or just RED, for short," Spy added.
"They're from a whole other world entirely!"
"Another world? Like space aliens?" Pinkie asked, poking her head out the window before disappearing and reappearing on top of Heavy's head, startling the large man. "SO COOL!"
She cheered, bouncing up and down, before pausing mid-bounce, blinking.
"I gotta change the theme of the party," She said, zipping back inside.
"We aren't that kinda aliens," Engineer said. "I don't think, anyway. I think we got sent over here from an alternate reality."
The lavender unicorn girl seemed doubtful. In an instant, Pinkie Pie was back out there, grabbing Engineer's face in her hands.
"Visitors from another dimension? Like in the fantasy books? THAT'S EVEN COOLER!" She shrieked joyfully, then paused again, looking confused. "Wait, what kind of theme can I use for that? Eh. I'll go with the standard, then. With lots of red. You guys like red?"
Everyone just stared at her incredulously. Demoman looked over the red garb they all wore, and chuckled.
"Aye, lass, we do."
"Great!" Pinkie said, zipping back inside.
"Is she always that energetic?" Sniper asked.
The equines, again seeming relieved at their friend's exuberance, nodded.
“Okay, Heavy is not as dumb as accent would make it seem, but… How in the heck did she wind up on Heavy’s head like nothing?”
“It’s Pinkie Pie, don’t question it.” The lavender unicorn girl sighed. “Trust me, I learned that the hard way.”
“She’s still got some bruises,” the yellow pegasus noted.
Rainbow Dash, still fluttering above the others, continued her introductions.
"Anyway, RED, I'd like you to meet my friends. First, this is Applejack," She said, gesturing to the orange pony girl with the cowboy hat.
"Pleasure t'meet y'all!" She said, smiling brightly. "Stop by Sweet Apple Acres later, and I'll hook y'up with some of the finest apple treats in town!"
"Ah'd like that a lot, ma'am." Engineer grinned.
Rainbow Dash giggled and gestured to the white unicorn girl.
"Miss Curly here is Rarity. She runs the dress shop here in town.”
"It is always a pleasure to greet newcomers to our humble little town," Rarity said, bowing grandly.
Spy, sensing an opportunity, turned on the charm again, gently lifting her hand with his own and kissing it.
"Enchanté, mon cher.”
"My my, such a gentleman," Rarity giggled with a blush.
Scout pulled his cap over his face, burying his head in his hands to try to stifle his laughter. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the two of them, landing near the pale-yellow pegasus girl, nudging her forward a little.
"This here's my best bud from school, Fluttershy."
"H-Hello... It's very nice to meet you."
Heavy leaned down a little to greet her, Fluttershy yelping nervously and hiding behind Rarity again.
"Little shy pony girl, do not be afraid! RED is friend to all!" He boomed, smiling brightly.
Fluttershy was still nervous, but the sincere smile on Heavy's face made her relax enough to smile back.
Rainbow Dash landed near the lavender unicorn girl and her dragon friend.
"And this is Twilight Sparkle and her dragon partner, Spike."
Demoman blinked and grinned at Spike. He had REALLY been wanting to see a dragon up close.
"It's a pleasure t'meet y'both, lassie and lad.”
"Likewise, I'm sure," Twilight said. "What was it you wanted to ask?"
"Well," Engineer began. "We..."
"We want to go home," Sniper interjected bluntly. "We have nothing against any of you, but this isn't our world. We'll stay for the party, but after that we really want to go home and to our families. Those of us that still have them, at any rate."
Engineer sighed and nodded in agreement.
"If y'all could help us with that, or know someone who could, we'd be grateful. We don't wanna be any trouble..."
"I'm powerful, but I'm just an apprentice..." Twilight frowned, thinking for a moment, "But Princess Celestia might be able to help!"
"If you would be so kind as to write to her?" Spy asked with a smile.
Twilight thought for a moment and nodded.
"Spike, if you would?"
"You sure, Twilight?” Spike asked. “They got a weird smell on them all. Like ash and... something else, I can't tell what..."
"No... But, I guess it's best to help them find their way home, right?"
Spike frowned and shook his head, reaching into Twilight’s saddlebag, pulling out a blank scroll and quill. He nodded to Twilight, who began dictating.
"Dear Princess Celestia. I hope this letter finds you and your sister in good health. We are all doing well here, but I have a very important request to make. Recently, my friends and I encountered nine strange new creatures that claim to be from another world entirely. They seek to and are eager to return to their home, and I was wondering if you knew of any magic that could help them. Signed, your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."
"I cannot believe some of these names," Scout muttered.
"Hush," Spy admonished.
Spike rolled up the scroll and blew a gout of green flame that burned it up. Pyro seemed pleased by it, but he, like the others, was surprised when the ash floated off into the distance, towards a mountainside city.
The buzzing of nobles filled the room. All were clad in black robes, muting their normal colorful coats as they gathered around the one who had wreaked havoc on their capital city.
He was shackled in irons that kept his wrists together, a heavy-duty muzzle covered the lower half of his mouth like a rabid dog, and for added measures, several more chains were locked onto his shoulders, neck, and waist.
“This meeting of the Noble Court of Canterlot is now in session!” The judge, Tough Choice, called out. “We meet today to launch an investigation into the appearance of this new individual who arrived in our fair city and immediately began wreaking havoc, nearly costing the lives of countless innocents before the Royal Sisters stepped in, along with a mysterious new ally whom we will also address. Guards, please allow Their Highnesses to enter.”
The guards nodded and opened the doors for Celestia and Luna to come in, accompanied by Martin. For some reason, they were accompanied by a song in an unknown language (Missing Piece from Kamen Rider Wizard). Celestia carried herself with her usual regal grace, but her eyes were what caught everyone’s attention.
Instead of the benevolent, kind gaze those magenta orbs usually held, her eyes were instead narrowed in utter irritation with everyone in the room. And for some reason, she was holding a large plush kangaroo in her arms.
“Erm... Your Highness, the kangaroo?” Tough Choice asked.
“I figured it was appropriate for this court,” Celestia said, the more loyal among the nobles flinching again. “And besides, the staff in the royal gardens wouldn't let me take the real one.”
Martin briefly snorted while Luna playfully rolled her eyes.
“And the, uh… Heartsong playing?” Tough Choice asked.
Martin held up what appeared to be a recording device that was playing the music.
“Sorry. Felt the courtroom was too quiet. Quiet places make me nervous.”
The prosecutor residing the case, Frilled Shirt, coughed into his fist.
“Well... insult aside, I assure you that every charge in this case is legitimate. A fair and balanced judgment will be provided in this case.”
“Fair and balanced?” Celestia scoffed in contempt. “There hasn’t been a fair and balanced judgment in this court since before I banished Luna to the moon due to her transformation into Nightmare Moon.”
“Having looked through the last thousand years of this court, I can attest to that.” Luna concurred.
“You would defend this savage?” Frilled Shirt asked, bristling. “He assaulted esteemed members of your own royal guard, caused massive property damage, and made an attempt on your life! While I question your judgment on certain matters, I cannot abide anything that would threaten the princesses!”
“This ‘savage’ was merely a scared young man who just woke up from whatever put him to sleep in the first place.” Martin pointed out. “Not to mention I just awakened in this world myself, and yet I’m not being put on trial, am I? Is it because the Royal Sisters found me first that you’re giving me leniency?”
“No, it’s because when you woke up you didn’t immediately start attacking everything in sight.” Frilled Shirt stated. “We are not so foolish as to slap charges on every minor offense.”
“Good to know there’s at least some semblance of justice in this place,” Martin said.
He looked over to the defense attorney, Objection, a blue equine man with a very familiar hairstyle.
“What?” Objection asked.
“Nothing, just… That hairstyle looks familiar.”
Suddenly, the chained young man began muttering. Celestia frowned as, against the protest of some of the nobles, used her magic to remove the muzzle covering his mouth. However, what he said shocked them all.
“Please… Just kill me…”
“Are you pleading guilty?” Minister Tough Choice asked, raising a brow.
“I’m a monster… That’s all I am… It’s better for everyone if I’m gone.”
“You can’t just say that,” Celestia said. “What would even make you say that?”
“I fuck up everything… I make everyone’s lives worse…” The young man said. “So many people are dead because of me… I don’t deserve to exist…”
“Don’t worry. We’ll help you through this.” Luna said gently.
Martin frowned before standing up.
“If the court would allow me, I have a special ability that allows me to see into people’s memories. If permitted, I could look into his mind and figure out exactly where he came from.”
The court murmured to each other before turning to Celestia and Luna, hoping they could give their word on it.
“We vouch for this. Please, do what you must.”
“Then Mr. Thomas may proceed.” Tough Choice said.
Martin nodded as he approached his fellow human, who just looked at him with expectant eyes, as if anticipating he would kill him. However, Martin simply put his hand to his head gently and made a pulling motion.
“Human Path: Memory Projection!”
He then projected the memories for the entire court to see…and what they saw horrified them.
It began with the young man on trial as a child, with fully flesh and blood arms and hazelnut eyes, being yelled at and berated by an older man, most likely his father.
“You worthless piece of shit! You’re fucking NOTHING!”
It then showed the child, a little older, crying over an older woman, who appeared to be on her deathbed as she gently held his hand. The man who was likely his father also looked grief-stricken, as well as two other children who looked like they were related to the boy.
It then showed the boy in school, keeping to himself and avoiding making any friends. However, five youths approached him, all with kind smiles on their faces.
It then showed more happy memories, the boy slowly opening up to his new friends as they hung out, went to the movies, played at the arcade, and more.
However, that was when the good memories ended, and it then showed several men in black and red robes with skull-like masks dragging him away, his father looking away with cold contempt.
“He’s been dead to me for years. If you can make something out of that disappointment, knock yourselves out.”
What followed was horrific acts of torture, the men in robes tying him up and beating him, cutting into him with various blades, locking him in a freezing cold tub of water, spraying him with a hose, and even branding him.
“With your suffering, we will finally release the Great Dark One.”
Despite it all, the young man didn’t do much to resist, simply accepting the pain as if he felt like he deserved it. However, his friends soon arrived, clearly trying to save him.
“No! Get out of here! They’ll be back!”
“We’re not leaving you behind, Benji. Friends don’t abandon friends.”
Sadly, that would be their tragic undoing, as the men in robes arrived and chloroformed the other teens. What followed were acts so vile that they made even the most pompous nobles tear up and vomit.
All the while, Benji was screaming, begging the robed men to leave his friends alone, only for his pleas to go unheeded…and then it ended with him surrounded by the mutilated, violated bodies of his friends, all of them with looks of broken despair on their faces.
Finally, it came to Benji being tied to a slab, screaming and yelling as the robed men carved out his eyes with surgical equipment. In that moment, he snapped and broke free, being guided by his pure rage as he ripped the murderers apart.
“Our god…will avenge us…!”
“DAMN YOUR GOD!”
The last of the robed men, the apparent leader, watched as his allies were torn apart, feeling the exact same pain Benji felt, before having his head slowly ripped off, with him feeling every second of it. However, the damage Benji had caused to the area triggered a chain reaction that ended in an explosion.
The rest of the memories were a blur after that, but it showed several old wise men looking over Benji in concern before healing him, grafting new metal arms to replace the ones he lost in the explosion as well as new eyes made from ancient crystal.
After that, Benji went across the world, kneeling before twelve dragons, undergoing twelve grueling trials as the dragons bestowed upon him their powers with each successful trial before setting out and destroying more of the same robed men who had tortured him and killed his friends.
Eventually, it ended with him standing over a mountain of dead bodies, the last head of the cult who had taken everything from him begging for mercy and forgiveness, all of his beliefs broken.
“Please… Spare me… You have your revenge…” He whimpered. “You’ve taken everything from me… My family, my closest friends… My beliefs… You have made your point…”
“Did your followers spare the ones I loved when they begged? No. See you in Hell.”
With that, Benji formed his arm into a blade and carved out the man’s throat, blood splattering his face as he made it as slow and painful as possible before yanking it out, the cult leader choking and drowning in his own blood all the while.
With his vengeance complete, Benji fell to his knees, but there was no satisfaction and no relief…just pure, utter shame and regret.
“Butchers…” Luna whispered. “No…ANIMALS.”
“Worse than animals,” Martin said. “We have a saying in my time. Even a mother tiger won’t eat her own cubs.”
“And…what does that mean?” Frilled Shirt asked, swallowing hard.
“It means any creature that would commit such barbarism is considered a monster worse than an animal.”
Celestia calmly approached Benji, who looked like he was accepting whatever divine judgment she would pass onto him…only to be shocked when she knelt down and pulled him into a warm embrace.
“You won’t have to fear yourself anymore.” The Princess of the Sun softly said. “We’ll take you in for healing. However long it takes.”
“Your Majesty, are you sure it’s a good idea?!” Frilled Shirt asked almost in a plea. “You saw what he has done! Sure, those horrible people deserved it, but what will stop him from doing the same here?!”
“Objection!” Objection called out. “What he did to those people was purely retaliatory. If we try him just for what he might do instead of what he has done, of which it’s been made clear he’s purely been lashing out, then the scenario my colleague is fearing doesn’t become a hypothetical. It becomes a certainty.”
“And you were all so willing to forgive me, despite my time as Nightmare Moon,” Luna said. “If I had been allowed to succeed, if the night would last forever, then Equestria would have been doomed without the sun to balance it.”
“Forgiveness, friendship... those are much better ways of helping someone,” Celestia said. “All I ask is your trust. Trust in me, if you cannot trust him.”
Suddenly, a scroll appeared before the Princess of the Sun in a burst of green flame she recognized.
"Oh! A letter from Twilight Sparkle.”
“Who?” Martin asked.
“My most faithful and trusted student,” Celestia explained as he opened the scroll and read it. “Hmmmm…”
"Sister? What is it?"
"Luna, get ready. We're going to Ponyville."
“Can we come?” Martin asked, putting a hand on Benji’s shoulder.
“We?”
“Yes, WE.”
Celestia smiled and nodded.
“Certainly. Though I hope you brought your appetites, because I get the feeling a certain somepony is prepping a party before we get there.”
Back in Ponyville, Spike belched, literally coughing up the letter. Twilight caught it with her telekinesis, brought it to her hands, and opened it.
"She's coming here... With Luna, for some reason..." Twilight read.
"An audience with royalty?" Spy said, smiling, "Oh, zis will be fun."
"Why Princess?" Engineer asked. "If she's in charge, wouldn't that mean she's a queen?"
"Technically yes, but she told me she refuses to do so out of reverence for her mother, Fausticorn, who alongside her and Luna's father gave their lives to save them,” Twilight explained. “I don't really understand it myself, but she tells me she feels unworthy of the title of queen."
At Twilight's suggestion, the nine members of RED and the six equines (Pinkie had to be convinced to temporarily abandon her party plans) gathered at Twilight Sparkle's home at the Golden Oaks Library. About an hour later, the royal carriage arrived as Twilight and her friends bowed as Luna and Celestia disembarked, RED Team bowing as well.
"Princess Celestia," Twilight said, "It's so good to see you again."
"As it is good to see you, Twilight Sparkle, and all your wonderful friends," Celestia said, radiating such benevolence that Spy, ever the ladies' man no matter what his form, found himself blushing.
Sniper noticed and would have teased him about it, but he was a professional and would wait until their business was concluded.
Twilight turned to Luna and bowed as well.
"And Princess Luna, it is good to see you again.”
“It is good to be seeing you again after Nightmare Night.” Luna smiled back.
"And I'm assuming these gentlemen behind you are the 'visitors' you mentioned?"
"This is Scout, Soldier, Pyro, Demoman, Heavy, Engineer, Medic, Sniper, and Spy,” Twilight said. “Derpy Hooves apparently found them about a mile away from Ponyville."
"It is an honor to be in the presence of such beauty, my ladies," Spy said, practically oozing his trademark charm.
Celestia and Luna smiled at the nine of them, but it was an uneasy one. It was then the group noticed Martin and Benji.
“Oh, hey! Fellow humans!” Scout said in relief. “Did you guys end up here too?”
“More or less…” Martin shrugged.
Benji said nothing, simply looking away with a solemn expression.
“You’re humans…” Celestia noted to the RED Team. “How, perchance, did you get here?”
"Honestly no idea, yer Majesty," Engineer said, shaking his head, "About four days ago, we was mindin' our own business, and suddenly we got pulled into the sky. Next thing we know, we're crashin' down from high up!"
"Your names... They sound like job titles rather than actual names. What is it you do?"
"In our homeworld, we are a private security team hired by a company called Reliable Excavation Demolition. RED for short. We mainly protect RED-held buildings from infiltration and demolition by our rival company, Builders League United. Or, simply, BLU. Our employer is... somewhat eccentric and has asked us not to use our real names when referring to each other. Something about preventing information on our families from reaching our rivals, so as to prevent bribes."
"Do not lie to me," Luna said.
The other equines, save for Celestia, who had the same suspicions, seemed surprised. The RED members just cringed, trading worried looks, realizing they had been caught.
"Princess Luna," Spy tried, "I assure you that..."
"My power is based in darkness," Luna said, "It grants me the ability to see through all shrouds. Including shrouds on the truth. I can accept that you may have been pulled here against your will. But I will not accept being lied to… I cannot allow any harm to come to this world because of a lie, ever again..."
Celestia smiled warmly at the declaration before turning her gaze on the gathered RED team members.
Spy frowned and began idly playing with his knife, his expression going icy. Soldier growled angrily. Pyro nervously hid behind Engineer, who grumbled inwardly and began doing calculations in his head. Heavy's eyes narrowed, and Medic sighed wearily, as if expecting this. Scout began shifting nervously on his feet, as if restraining himself from taking off, as Sniper just returned Celestia's cold gaze.
Demoman, however, didn't get up from where he was sitting. A tired expression on his face.
“Just tell her everything, lad. There's no point in trying to come up with cute stories."
"...If I must." Spy frowned.
"No reason to lie when someone already suspects the truth."
Spy sighed, his expression turning cold.
"Very well... The nine of us are mercenaries and assassins. Each one of us a killer, even the doctor," He said, the equines and one dragon boy gasping. "BLU and RED are direct rivals to each other, because two, for lack of better terms, mentally retarded twin brothers named Blutarch and Redmond Mann refuse to cooperate and share ze land their father left them. We fight in constant war games against our lookalike counterparts in BLU. Either zey are clones, we are, or both sides are clones. Despite the best efforts of both myself and my BLU counterpart, we have been unable to discover ze truth of ze matter. It's made things... awkward in matters of our families. I was not lying about our employer wanting us to use job titles as names, although he never gave us a reason. We simply use zem out of habit now, having grown used to doing so."
Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy stared at RED in shock. Spike, shivering, suddenly realized what the second smell was.
"Blood... That was the second smell... They all smell of ash and blood..."
"We got no beef with this world, and don't wanna cause no trouble.” Engineer sighed. “If'n you can help us get along home, we'll gladly be on our way."
Celestia and Luna traded looks.
"I... I appreciate your honesty," Celestia said hesitantly. "And can respect your desire to leave without causing problems."
The nine of them looked up at her hopefully, their expressions almost pleading. Celestia felt her heart breaking as she spoke again.
"But... I don't know if I can help you at all.”
The faces of the nine members of RED fell at that.
"I truly wish I could help, but I don't know the first thing about dimensional transportation magic at all. And even if I did, even Luna and I working together wouldn't have enough power to open a gate. It requires more power than even the two of us and most of the unicorns on Equestria together have."
"Ma..." Scout said softly, his head drooping.
Sniper lightly kicked the ground, a look of intense frustration on his face. Heavy and Pyro just stared at her, their expressions a mix of disappointment and fear. Soldier began growling, Demoman taking him aside and whispering to him harshly, trying to get him to calm down. Spy looked down, a contemplative look on his face, as Medic looked away, frowning.
"I am truly sorry," Celestia said, frowning. "I can look into other means of getting you home, but it will take some time for the research to be done..."
“Well, guess we’re the sole humans in this world,” Martin noted.
"I promise that research will be done into dimensional magic to create a gateway for you to return to your world,” Celestia vowed.
“Well, this is technically my world.” Martin shrugged. “So I’m staying here regardless.”
“And I don’t have a home to go back to anymore…” Benji muttered. “I don’t have a place anywhere.”
“In the meantime, we can offer you asylum here in Ponyville,” Luna said.
The RED team members hesitated, uncertain of what to do. After a brief bout of discussion, Demoman spoke up.
"It's not like we have any better options, lads..."
No one else spoke. No one else knew what to say. After a moment, Engineer stepped forward.
"Much obliged, yer worship. But we kinda need a place to stay..."
"I will have the royal carpenters come build a home for you as soon as they are available," Celestia promised.
“Y'all mind if ah help with the work? Ah tend not to trust a building that ah didn't have a hand in buildin' or modifyin’."
“I can help with that,” Martin said. “Back in my old home, I was quite the builder.”
"Then that is settled, at least.” Celestia nodded. “Once again, I thank you, and hope that you can enjoy your stay here, however long it may last..."
Returning to the palace in Canterlot, Celestia and Luna began discussing the events that transpired.
“Rather strange turn of events, wouldn’t you agree, Tia?”
“Oh, just another Sunday for Equestria. Unless events cause things to go to ‘movie-length’ as Pinkie would put it.”
Suddenly, Luna’s eyes flashed as she put a hand to her temple as if massaging a migraine. Suddenly, she saw the visions from her dream again, this time with more clarity. Benji and Martin, the heroes of light, led the forces of good, accompanied by several others. However, she then gasped when a shadowy figure, the same one leading the forces of darkness in her dreams, walked up through all of that, red eyes glaring.
“You believed Equestria so strong, you stopped fearing what lurked in the shadows. It was ME. I lurked… In the deepest and darkest corners of the universe, I LURKED. But now I step into your precious light…so you shall look upon your DOWNFALL.”
The figure then reached out a clawed, bony hand as Luna cried out in distress, the vision fading as Celestia quickly caught her.
“Lulu, what happened? What did you see in the dream this time?”
“I…I do not know, sister…but that voice…it’s so familiar.”
Meanwhile, Martin was meditating and saw the same vision. He scoffed.
“You’re a fool, Beo. I’m starting to remember. You destroyed the old world, true. But you made one fatal mistake.”
He opened his eyes.
“You announced yourself.”
It was then he noticed Benji hugging himself and rocking back and forth, his eyes wide with fear as if reliving all of his memories at once.
“No… No… It’s him… The one they worship… THE DARK ONE…”
Martin frowned as he moved to comfort his fellow human. While it was clear that Benji may be from a different world, perhaps the one humanity disappeared to after they left Equestria, he knew he was affected by the dark force that now haunted them all the same.
“Looks like your revenge isn’t complete after all. Not so long as he exists, at any rate.”