A Broken Warrior

by Stonehearth

Lion's Den

It was almost noon. Alder the griffon held his head as he took in all that Skystrike said. Tethys, Zecora, and Elytra gave the two some space to talk. The human told him about all that he's gone through, from his life in the lab, the changelings, the ponies, his siblings, and why he disbanded the group. Lastly, he told Alder about his most recent discovery, the limited time he has left in this world. It took over an hour to explain everything.

Skystrike leaned back as he took in the beauty of the work he did. He just finished fixing Alder's steel door, welding the pieces back together with his magic. "And... there." Skystrike put the door back on its hinges. "Almost like new." He turned to Alder who just looked at him. "What?"

"Skystrike, kid, you cant just say all that and expect me to not be surprised! You're an alien! Other dimensions exist! You're so casual about this, I have a hard time believing it all, but said alien is in front of me! And to top it all off, you're dying!" Alder slammed a talon on the table as he ended each sentence.

Skystrike hummed. "...You know, when you say it like that..." He chuckled.

"How are you so calm?!"

"Look Alder, literally every being in this world was the equivalent of some caveman on mushrooms hallucinating. Stuff like this wont surprise me anymore. As for my death, I'm kinda over it. Knew I was gonna kick the bucket eventually. I'm more worried about how everyone is gonna take it." Skystrike shrugged as he pulled up a chair to sit down next to Alder.

It was early, but the griffon needed it. He pulled out a cigar and took a few puffs. "...Then let me get the chance to say this before I lose it. You're like a son to me... I see the naivety and recklessness that I had in you. Probably learned most of this by now, but even the tiniest actions you do now affects all of us." He sighed. "...There's so much I wish I could've said to my little brother before Talos passed. I'll never get that chance, but you still have that." He put a talon in Skystrike's shoulder. "Take risks. It's what makes life worth living. You said you live in Ponyville right? Any mares there you like?"

"I mean... maybe? I don't really know 'love' besides platonic." Skystrike sighed. "Wasn't really around anyone who had a positive relationship... Well, there was my foster family for about two years, but I wasn't really there to see it."

Alder took another puff. "Ah damn, how do I explain this... When you see a girl you like, your heart skips a beat, you smile more, your chest gets a weird feeling. Anything like that ring a bell?"

"I thought that was because I wasn't depressed anymore." Skystrike scratched the back of his head.

"Oh." Alder blinked. "...Yeah, that would do it too... Sky, you do not make this easy. Why don't you ask your sister, Candice or whatever's her name?"

"Because I'll never hear the end of it." Skystrike admitted. "Also, why are you telling me about girls?"

Alder chuckled. "I may not look it, but I had game back in my day... Ever fucked a minotaur?"

Skystrike contained his laugh. "Well, no, but good for you? I guess?" He watched the one of the griffons he knocked out yesterday walk by, giving him a dirty look. "Oh yeah, reminds me, you said something yesterday about telling me about the corruption here?"

Alder grumbled a bit as he tapped his cigar into the ash tray on the table in front of him. "That's... a long story." He looked at the still rising sun. About eleven he guessed. He put the cigar away it its case before standing up. "Thanks for the door. Let's go up to your ship. Figured I'd tell everyone so I don't have to explain this several times."

Skystrike nodded. "Alright. I parked it just on the outskirts."

Alder walked past Skystrike as he held the door open for the griffon. "You parked it in the sky?" He asked looking up at it. "Damn, what does that run off of?"

"An artificial magic generator. Essentially, it gains energy as it loses it, lest I run it over capacity."

The two kept talking as they walked. "Damn... and how long did it take you to get here? I know by train it's like, three or four days depending on how many stops it takes."

"Well, a bit over three. We made a couple stops to hunt, then in Trottingham. After spending a few days here, it's about a... five day flight plan to Diamondia?" Skystrike shrugged. "The map we have is off of a lot of shared memory... Actually, that reminds me of what I wanted to do here. Know where I can get a map?"

Alder sighed a bit. "Part of the issue I was gonna touch on. Information is very heavily regulated by the crown. You'd be surprised how few griffons know anything past grade school... then again, our schools aren't really funded... or existent. Anyway, getting ahead of myself. I'm saying you need to go through the government to get a map."

"Yeesh... I can tell where this goes." Skystrike sighed. Alder gave him a look, as if asking to elaborate. "Information is power, so to make sure your royalty stays in power, they control the amount of information that gets around. My race, humanity, has a long, long history of that. One of the more notable parts to mention is that there were mass book burnings because of religious reasons, saying that it was blasphemous. Eventually, it gets to the point where they control what you think through propaganda. 'It's this country's fault that we're in poverty' or 'We may have committed war crimes, but these people made us'. Then you can control the mass populous to disavow anyone who disagrees with the status quo."

"I... just... wow... You humans have... quite the history." Alder thought more about it. "Are you saying that... we griffons are going down your path?"

Skystrike thought about it. "Well, kind of. Its different enough where you have plenty of time to fix it though. Like, I don't know much about your history, but you aren't having genocides of certain races because of their race, nor do you have the technology yet to spread propaganda world wide, let alone have a war where literally every important country is fighting between each other. and that's only the 20th century. When I was born and taught all of this, I was in the 31st. Things got even worse when we were able to use magic, but that's a long, long story."

"Jeez kid... Everything seems so small now... And you were just groomed into invading this world?" Skystrike nodded at Alder's question. "Well, thanks for not taking us over."

Skystrike chuckled a bit. "No problem. Haven't really had a reason to anyway. Most of my experiences here have been positive." He stopped and looked up at the Wind Waker, then looked to Alder. "Can you make that flight?"

"I'm old, not senile, asshole." Alder laughed. With a few flaps of his wings, he began flying a few feet off the ground. "Can you? Or do you have to transform?"

Skystrike shook his head. "Back up a bit." Alder did so, going further up into the air. Skystrike took a deep breath before giving a slight hop and stomping both feet onto the ground. Then he did a full jump, simultaneously moving the earth under him to launch him upwards past Alder. After a few seconds, he landed on the deck of his ship, and after a few more, Alder did as well.

"Damn, could you always do that? Wish I could." Alder said before walking up to Skystrike.

"Yeah, the transforming magic is actually kinda painful, so if I do it, I plan to stay that way for a while. Plus, I can only keep the same mass, so I can't turn into like... Tethys's size for example." Then Skystrike thought on it some more. "Actually, maybe I can if I convert magic into mass..."

Alder was confused. "You lost me at mass."

"Mass is similar to size. Just talking to myself. I'll have to test it later." Skystrike waved the thought off. "Anyway, I gave very detailed instructions to Tethys on how to cook pancakes and bacon. With Zecora and Elytra helping, they should have breakfast ready-"

An explosion was heard from within the ship. The two stared at the door to the interior, then slowly to each other.

"Skystrike?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't wanna die, bro."

"Yeah..." Skystrike sighed. "Come on... I'll just... cook everything myself." Opening the door to the interior and walking down one of the hallways, the two entered the kitchen. Elytra was huddled in the corner, Zecora was on the ground, dying and barely being able to breathe from the laughter. Tethys was also on the ground, black soot covering her upper body, and the wall behind the stove. Skystrike held his face in his hands. "It's like, eight ingredients... How did this fucking happen?"

Tethys groaned as she wiped the soot off out of her eyes. "Shit... This sweater is ruined." She looked down at the green one she was wearing.

Elytra's ears stopped ringing. "Tethys left the flour too close to the fire... the bag exploded... I didn't even know that could happen"

Skystrike looked at the source of the explosion. Sure enough, there were scraps left of said bag of flour. "On the upside." Skystrike looked at the dragoness speaking. I made the pancakes and bacon!" She opened the oven to show her messy looking, but still appetizing pancakes. "Sorry they don't look that good."

Skystrike put a hand on her shoulder and looked up at her. "Hey, it's the effort that matters here. Besides, often the worst looking pancakes are the best. Get changed out of that sweater, I'll set up the plates." Tethys sighed with a nod before pulling off her sweater. "Damn..." Skystrike looked respectfully at her assets covered by her bra. Holup "Wait, why are you changing here!?"

Tethys frowned. "Wasn't one of your points at that bath house that you've seen all of this before? Also you said you wouldn't stare!"

"Well exCUSE me for looking at what's right in front of me! And yeah, I've seen it all before, but that's not the point here!" Skystrike pointed a finger.

"Then what is?" She narrowed her eyes.

Skystrike groaned. "God, I cant believe I have to explain this... It's the reveal that matters. With ponies, they're almost always naked, so there's nothing to reveal until they got clothes on! In fact, I'll give you an example!" Skystrike pulled up the bottom of his sweatshirt to reveal his abs and one of his pecs.

"Damn." Tethys said unconsciously. Then she blinked as she realized what she did. "...Fuckin'... I see your point." She put her sweater back on. "Wait, is that why you like girls that wear clothes."

"Yeah." Skystrike admitted shamelessly. "I feel like we already established this."

Alder cleared his throat loudly. "Can we eat?"

They all shared a laugh as Tethys went to change. Soon enough, the table was set, each having a couple pancakes, the meat eaters having some strips of bacon, and mixed fruit for all. Skystrike looked over the table to see if he missed anything. "Holup, there's a sixth plate." As if on queue, Tethys entered the room with the pony that the 6th plate was meant for. "Holy shit it's Casta!"

"Magic mare!" Alder put his claws up in cheer. "Been a while! How've you been?"

"Oh my gosh, Alder!" Casta put up her hooves in return as they hugged. "I've been doing great! How about you?"

"Been doing pretty good myself, kid. Took a page out of Skystrike's book here, started my own merc group. What about you?"

Casta puffed out her chest as she straightened her glasses. "Actually, I was able to become Equestria's court magician!"

Alder lifted her up into the air. "Haha! Moving up in the world I see! But let's eat. Tell me more about it as we do." He put her down as he took a seat at the table. "So Casta, what do you actually do? I know you work in the government, so probably can't tell me much."

Casta nodded. "Yeah, plus, I did technically cross borders so... don't tell the princesses." She gave a small laugh, then sighed. "Honestly, mostly I work on my mana research. When I'm not, meeting with some ponies who's research papers I have to read over. Nothing too ground breaking, just some grad students at Canterlot Magic Academy."

"Hey, at least you don't have to sit through dissertations.' Skystrike chuckled, taking a bite of his pancakes. "I know that the ponies that had to sit through mine was bored as hell. Didn't expect a 15 year old to know what they were talking about."

"Dissertation?" Tethys asked.

Casta nodded. "Basically someone does their research, three to five ponies in the respective field read over it, and the researcher has to defend how and why their process is correct. At the end of it, they get their-" Casta paused at what she realized what Skystrike said. "You have a masters? You got it at 15?! On what?!"

Skystrike nodded. "Yes, actually got it at 16, and it was on the models of atoms, as well as the quantum nature of atoms."

"...What the actual fuck does any of that mean?" Stardust asked. Skystrike opened up his mouth to begin his explanation. "Do not start, it is too early, and I am not smart enough to understand any of it anyway."

"...How in Eques did you do all of that at 16!? I spent half a decade on my own research, and I just got my Ph.D before you came back!" Casta groaned.

"Oh shit, congratulations! I wish I could've been there... Actually, I don't know how I didn't realize sooner, since you are the court magician." Skystrike took another bite. "To answer your question, let's just sum it up to my species' knack for physics."

"Elaborate. Now." The unicorn huffed.

"Alright, quick history lesson then." Skystrike cleared his throat. "My original universe wasn't gifted with mana until the later half of the 27th century. Because of that, my race, Humanity, had all of human history up until that point to study the sciences, with a few minor hiccups here and there. Anyway, the research I did were previously conducted in the 20th century by James Franck, Gustav Hertz, and Niels Bohr. By the time I was born in the 32nd century, humanity was a space faring race, so these experiments were taught to be common knowledge by the age of eight." Skystrike stopped to think on it for a bit. "If I were to compare this planets development to humanity's, I'd say you're somewhere between the 17th and 19th century. Which is why I didn't do any experiments that were too far ahead, as it would completely ruin the development of the sciences here. It'd be like if you went back to when the different ponies weren't all together and gave them the magic we have now. You ponies could barely raise the sun and moon, who knows what would happen."

Casta held her head. "That's... a lot to take in at once... so you... plagiarized?"

"Well, yes, but technically no. To this world's knowledge, I'm the one who designed the experiment. I'll only get caught if some other human who cared about some guy from a thousand years ago to expose me."

Tethys cleared her throat. "You lost me at 'universe'."

Zecora nodded. "Indeed, I too seek to discern, what exactly is this 'universe' to learn?"

Skystrike looked around at the dozen eyes waiting for him to explain. He blinked. "Oh, right, this world is much different. Alright, so we all know what a solar system is, right?" They nodded. "Alright, so in this world, since Celestia and Luna raise the sun and moon, the solar system is geocentric. Where I'm from, my home solar system is heliocentric. My homeworld, Earth, orbits the sun, and the moon orbits the Earth."

"...Huh?" They all went.

"Ok, where did I lose you guys?"

Casta looked up from her food. "You're telling me that your planet orbits the sun? That's insane! The size of it alone would be unthinkable!"

"And the moon orbits the planet? No one is controlling it? They both just... do that?" Alder asked.

"Yeah, imagine my surprise when I came here and found out you have beings that are near god-like, and the sun and moon are the same size. To help you better visualize it, the sun is 1.4 million kilometers in diameter, and 2 times ten to the 30 kilograms, or the number 2 with 30 zeroes behind it. It's 149 million kilometers from Earth, and the planet orbits around it because of the gravity of the sun. Same with how the moon orbits the Earth. I'd go further into it, but we'd be here for a while, so to simplify, think of when you spin a ball on a string, the ball spins around where you spin it because of the string making sure it doesn't fly off. The string is gravity."

Tethy scratched her horns. "I... think I get it? ...Yeah, I get the relation, not so much the scale. So, what's a universe?"

"So, think of the entire country of Equestria. It has different towns and cities, and those towns and cities have houses." Skystrike began making hand motions to explain. "The houses are the solar systems. The cities are the galaxies that have solar systems, Nebula's where stars are formed, and random stars that sit around in empty space. The country is the Supercluster, housing thousands, if not millions of galaxies thousands of lightyears apart. The entire world in this scenario is the universe, full of this millions upon millions of galaxies."

Alder's jaw dropped. "...Holy... everything feels so small after that."

"...I'm not smart enough to think of all the math behind all of that..." Elytra huffed.

Casta thought about it. "Wait, so if your species is a space faring race, how'd you get to other planets, let alone other dimensions? From my understanding, you can't go faster than the speed of light, and you said your galaxies were lightyears apart? Assuming that a 'lightyear' is the distance light travels in a year."

Skystrike leaned back as he finished his food. "Yeah, your right on both of those. We weren't a space faring race until mana came into the picture. Sure, we colonized other planets in our system, but we didn't get to other galaxies until we made magic spells. Turns out..." They waited with baited breath. "It's a lot easier to use magic to make a worm hole to other galaxies than try and travel faster than the speed of light."

"...What the actual buck..." Casta pulled on her hair with her hooves. "I have... SO MANY questions! The buck is a worm hole?"

Skystrike thought about a proper analogy. "Give me a minute." He stood up and quickly walked out the room, coming back a few seconds later with a pen and paper. He drew two circles on the opposite ends of the sheet. "So, everyone, can anyone answer how would I make these two circles touch without drawing on this paper?"

They all looked at it. Alder scratched his chin feathers. "I feel like this is a trick question..."

Zecora took the paper to look at it. Then folded the paper so the two circles would touch. She looked at Skystrike for confirmation, who smiled at her. "Nice job. Now, it hinges on the theorem that gravity makes a 'bend' in space that will take way too long to explain fully, but if you bend space enough where it touches another point in space, that's a worm hole."

Tethys face palmed. "Oh! Like how unicorns teleport!"

"Close, you're on the right track. With teleporting, your transferring between two points, like if I pick up this fork and place it on the other side of this table. Worm holes are more like portals, where you're actually making a whole pathway between two places, or I slide this fork across the table. I can also keep the pathway open. Now, if you asked me how to do that spell, I have no idea. I just know the theory behind it, and it's how I got here to your dimension."

Zecora had a thought. "How can we ascertain, with clear intention, If this isn't part of the same dimension?"

Skystrike chuckled. "Oh, that's easy. Remember how I said how small your sun is compared to ours? Yours is only so small because it has magic. If it had no magic, like my universe did, it would not be able to exist. The smallest stars to exist where I'm from are 6 percent the mass of the home system's star. But I'm about to start rambling. Moving on to another subject, Alder, said you had some stuff to share yesterday?" Skystrike began clearing the table and putting the dishes in the sink for later.

"Right." The griffon nodded, his silver talon reaching into his pocket and pulling out a cigar. "Oh, never asked, mind if I smoke in here?"

"Just do it by the window."

Alder slid his chair over to one of the windows and opened it. Snapping his talons, he made a spark to light his cigar. He took a deep inhale, then blew the smoke out the window. He stayed silent for a few moments before starting. "...The royals and nobility here, if you couldn't tell from the state of my country, corruption runs deep. Remember as a chick when I had a bad run in with one of them, broke my arm because I 'looked at one funny'. As I grew older, did some more digging on them- or as much as I could. Money laundering was obvious, as the taxes paid for the public workers just kept it to themselves for all I know. Then, there's the heavy taxes, most griffons barely able to make ends meet here. On top of that, most of the food imported either goes straight to their mansions or the castle, so we can barely eat unless we go hunting." He sighed and took another puff of smoke. "Obviously, I don't know the extent of it. Only those griffons in their fancy mansions do. But all I do know is that they are actively making the life of the griffons here worse... figured I'd find a way to help out as much as I can, no matter how little it does."

Skystrike sat back down. "...And from how you're talking, it sounds like you got a lead on how to make a big impact." Skystrike said, but was more like a leading question.

Alder chuckled. "Honestly, with all the stuff you told me you did during our time apart, I have half the mind to put a hit on the crown here..." He sighed. "But I don't know how much your morals have changed..."

Skystrike sighed too. "The past me would've done it, but for the me now, I'd decline. If what you're saying about them is true, and they're letting their griffons suffer, they don't deserve the power they have at the very least."

"But?" Tethys tilted her head.

"A sudden power vacuum will do no good. If the crown is gone, the next in line takes over, and will keep up the status quo. If the crown has multiple offspring, then there will be infighting for the position that's been vacated. The nobility would have to take sides, and that causes a civil war..." Skystrike sighed. "Similar things happened in my history, and I see the same signs. At the very least, with the current griffons in power, they keep up enough face in front of the other countries and do the bare minimum to keep their citizens alive. Starting a civil war will almost guarantee the cut off of help from the surrounding countries, else they wish to get involved." He sat in thought for a few moments. "However..." Alder turned to face him. "Keep at the rate you're going now, and you'd be able to start a form a rebellion. But that requires a lot of preparation as well, as you'd need the proper education and manpower to run the different parts of the government... Maybe get the griffons already involved on your side if you can."

Alder hummed. "An... idea for the future, thanks. But what I have planned will have a more... immediate affect. You all couldn't have come at a more perfect time. The party last night was to get the morale high." The griffon crossed one leg over the other. "One of my boys I sent to monitor a noble came back with a rather... interesting information..." He put out his cigar. "Said noble, Wattle, had a lot of rumors of liking his food... exotic. From the information I have, he's getting a live transport coming in tomorrow on the standard flight paths from Zebrafrica. Problem is, they have their own airship, and a heavily guarded one. There's no way to intercept it until it lands, and it lands at the manor of Wattle. There's no way we would get close... Thought I'd just have to sit by not being able to do anything-"

"Until I came along with your golden ticket." Skystrike crossed his arms as sat in thought for a minute.

While he did so, the rest had some questions of their own. Tethys started first. "What do you mean by exotic food?"

Alder's face turned into a frown. "Ponies, Zebras, Kelpies, Abada, he... eats them."

The room fell silent at that. Elytra looked over to Zecora and Casta, who had looks of disgust on their face. Skystrike's face turned to one of anger. "Elytra, Zecora, Casta, Tethys, I will not force you to follow me. But I will be dealing with this Wattle griffon."

Casta gagged. "Sorry... I only have today off, but I would help you out..."

Elytra stretched her neck. "I'm in."

Tethys nodded. "Same here."

Zecora nodded, albeit hesitantly.

"Alright, give us the details."

---

The day for the impromptu mission. Alder sat in the center of the table, surrounded by the four that were going to help him out, and two of his most trusted griffons. He decided to go over the plan one more time. "So, we have about an hour before we intercept their ship. Not sure of the make and model, but it's a carrier class for transporting resources. Because of that, it'll be much slower than the average airship." He pointed onto an area on the map. "Here, right above this set of mountains is where we'll hit them. We can use the mountains as cover, and they won't be able to make any emergency landing. The expected crew size is thirty griffons. There's two dozen of my griffons that are on here that'll even the tides, but the fight may be close. We have to be quick, because Wattle is expecting the shipment by sundown... And that's where your part of the plan comes in."

Skystrike nodded. "Yep. Admittedly, this whole operation was made on the spot, but just stopping the airship won't be enough. Thus, the plan is actually to take over the airship, and continue the flight like normal. They have to have their own way of discerning who's who, so we'll find that out from their captain, and give the clearance to land. All of Alder's griffons, Alder, myself, along with Elytra disguised as the captain, will be on the ship when it lands. At the meeting point, we will ambush everyone there and neutralize any threats." Skystrike then pointed to an 'X' north of the mountains Alder pointed out. "Once the trafficking's victims are secured, my ship lying in wait nearby will be housing the victims. I will figure out how to take them back to their homelands after. Zecora and Tethys will be here with the ship, and will make sure they're taken care of." Then he moved his finger south to a circle. "Here is where we will meet with Wattle, and whatever forces he has left. Elytra's mission is to get as close to Wattle to incapacitate him, while the rest of us handle the forces inside and outside the house. I will be the vanguard, while the griffons will give chase to any deserters." Skystrike leaned on the table and looked around. "Any questions, concerns?"

Tethys put up a claw. "Why are me and Zecora staying? Sure, you taught us how to fly the ship, but wouldn't wouldn't it be better for us to come along?"

"Because Zecora would have some relation with her brethren, and there will be some temporary prisoners. Zecora also would be able to deal with any wounds they have. We also can't assume they'd be okay with griffons around. Trauma is a hell of a thing. Tethys, you have enough power to protect this ship single handedly, so you'll be the last line of defense."

One of Alder's griffons with purple fur and sea green feathers put up a talon. She looked at him with her owl-like eyes. "The name's Astraea. Don't tale is personally, but while your build is a bit impressive, I'm having a hard time believing you can be the vanguard."

Skystrike was about to speak, but was interrupted by a bang on the table. "Astraea!" Alder growled. "Remember when I told you that tale about how one guy killed over a dozen ponies by himself? That was this guy! He's the strongest mother fucker I know, show some respect!"

Astraea huffed. "Yes sir." Gave Skystrike a look. She'll believe it when she sees it.

The other griffon under Alder, also with purple fur and sea green feathers, but a bit bulkier, sighed. "The name's Astraeus. Sorry about her, she's always the skeptic." He elbowed his sister. "Though I do have a question of my own. You never said kill, just something along the lines of neutralize."

Skystrike sighed. "That's because, save for Wattle, we won't be killing anyone unless absolutely necessary. From what I can tell about your country and the shit going on here, I would not be surprised that there would be griffons who simply need the money. Plus, considering this Wattle mother fucker literally eats sentient beings, I would also not be surprised if he's blackmailing some of the griffons under him. Put simply, we do not know enough about the situation to know if they deserve death."

Astraeus grew a bit annoyed at that. "I get what you're saying, but... I don't agree with it. Maybe they were, but all you have is hypotheticals! It's either them or us at this point!."

Skystrike was the one that was annoyed now. While he couldn't blame the thinking, it was devoid of any sympathy. Alder was about to say something, but Skystrike put a hand on his back to stop him. "I don't know your story, so I cant disavow your line of thinking, but I had that same thought process at some point. Thus, I also know I can't change your mind with just words. So, here's what we're going to do." Skystrike leaned forward. "Any griffons you and the others get to before me, I'll allow you to kill. But if they are on the ground unconscious, unable to fight, and or surrender, then no killing."

"And why should I agree to that?" Astraeus asked.

"It wasn't an offer." Alder stood up straight. "I asked for his help, we're using his ship, the plan was modified and is being led by him. We're going by his rules! You think you'd learn about senseless killing after what was going to happen before I found you." Astraeus and Astraea winced. "Never told you the full story, but figure now is a better time than ever, aint it!? The griffon after you two wanted your heads because your parents took bits from the wrong ponies! It was them or you, and I chose you!" Alder huffed a bit after his small rant, and caught his breath before continuing. "I was gonna kill the cunt that was after you, but turns out, he had a kid he had to care for. These nobles turn us against each other, and you're playing into their talons. I hate seeing what they did to our country... Which is why I was hoping you wouldn't be so keen on murdering others." Skystrike shook Alder a bit. The griffon sighed. "Sorry, shouldn't have said all of that... I won't deny you what ever form of 'justice' you seek, but you will listen to Skystrike."

"Yes sir..." Astraeus saluted.

"Any other questions?" Skystrike asked.

Alder had a question of his own. "Not really a question about the plan but... Something feels off... I feel like I'm missing something."

Elytra nodded. "Yeah... Sad to say, my kind knows quite a bit about trafficing... The amount of rations and fuel it'd take to man their airship would cost too much..." She rubbed her chin.

Skystrike nodded. "You're right. Plus, it'd be best to have three per captive. Given their how many there are, there's no way they have ten victims. Six is already stretching it. They may be transporting something else alongside, or just could be overprepared. Anything come to mind, Alder?"

Alder shook his head. "Not of the top of my head, but we'll know when we get there."

"Oh, one more thing." Elytra put up a hoof. "Why did you want me and Zecora to get binoculars?"

Skystrike smirked. "Simple, everyone else here has good enough eye sight to see from far away." She gave a confused look. "You'll see what I mean in..." He check the clock in the room. "Thirty minutes. Elytra, with me. Tethys, Zecora, stay safe. Give some sort of signal if any trouble happens. Alder, Elytra and I will be waiting at the peak of the mountain adjacent to us. Meet us there when all your guys are ready."

Skystrike and Elytra left the room to get prepared. It only took a few minutes for the two to get prepared. They met as they exited their rooms. Elytra shuffled in her armor, getting it on right. "Hey, so, are you actually gonna let those griffons... y'know?"

Skystrike shook his head. "Of course not. I'm giving them the illusion that they'll get what they want."

"And... how are you gonna do that?"

"You'll see..." Skystrike chuckled.

The two opened the door to the deck of the ship, meeting the two dozen griffons there wearing a mix of armor pieces, all marked with a three pointed star on their sides. Makes it easier when in the fray. Skystrike couched down to the floor and stretched a bit, leaning from side to side, turning his waist, making sure all his muscles were ready. Elytra followed in his steps. Soon, the two finished and Skystrike began speaking. "Alright, so you already know who I am, so I won't take long on introductions. Next to me is Elytra. Let's get the pecking order in place, you griffons, Astraea and Astraeus, Elytra, Alder, then me. Alder and the twins should've already given a run down on the plan, so I won't take time to explain that." Then Skystrike pointed to the peak of the mountain next to them. "We're going to be flying right to the peak of that mountain and wait. The enemy airship should be in view. Once Alder gives the signal, you guys are going in and taking down as many as you can. Our target first and foremost is the captain so we can stop the ship."

Alder waved his talon, motioning for his griffons to move out. "Don't fly too recklessly! I don't want to pick the gravel off of you if one of you gets stuck under a landslide!"

Skystrike and Elytra began to move as well, taking the lead in the platoon. Elytra buzzed her wings to take off, while Skystrike got a running start and jumped off the railing of his ship, igniting fire under his feet to keep himself in the air. Alder began flying alongside the two. "That's actually pretty cool. Didn't know magic could be used like that."

Skystrike crossed his arms as he flew in an attempt to keep his body heat in. "Yeah, it's real useful. Especially in this weather."

Elytra nodded. "Yeah, we changelings aren't that good in the heat. Thanks for this suit, Sky." She smiled at him. A comfortable silence was shared between the three before Elytra broke it. "Hey Sky?"

"Yeah?"

"I know this isn't the best time, but... can I call you brother? And can you call me sister?" She said with a hint of sheepishness.

Skystrike turned to look at her. "Sure, but what brings this up?"

"Well... I've been thinking back to the hive... As Stardust, we haven't really spent time as siblings."

Skystrike landed on the peak of the mountain with Elytra. "Alright, but that means I get to fuck with you more." He patted her on the back. "But let's talk more later, for now, I need eyes on that ship."

Elytra looked forward to the flying contraption. It was about as large as the Wind Waker, but more in line with the standard, unmodified airship. The large fins moved as it began to steer around the mountain range. What they noticed was that it was an unmarked ship, the balloon holding it up still being a factory white.

Skystrike steeled himself as he flipped on his helmet. Alder whistled at the sight. "Been a while since I've seen you with that on."

The human nodded. "I try to keep it off as much as I can." He crouched down to the ground, ignoring the cold touch of the snow on his body. "Elytra, use the scope on your railgun and tell me what you see."

Elytra nodded and shifted her weight to the side opposite of her weapon. On activation, the railgun linked with her suit and let out a scope over her right eye. "Distance is twenty kilometers, my best estimate is them moving... north west at fifty meters per second... They're going really slow... They will be within range of boarding in seven minutes."

Skystrike nodded. "Thank you. That means I have about... five minutes to take out that ship." He stood up and got into a stance like he was preparing to sprint. "Elytra, back up a bit. Alder, keep your griffons in line while I'm gone."

Elytra gave a confused look, but still backed up a bit. Alder was equally as confused. "What do you mean, five minutes?"

Skystrike pushed his hands into the earth below while also focusing wind into his feet. "Like I said earlier, any I get to first stay alive." And with that, he got a running start, each step he took molding the earth under him to launch him forward. At the edge of the cliff, he jumped, an explosion of wind pushing him forward into the air. The sheer force causing the ground beneath his allies to rumble. The sound waves from it echoing through the mountains and starting a few rock slides. As he flew through the air, he did his best to keep himself upright, pushing fire out of his limbs to keep at the same speed.

An unnamed griffon yawned. It was an uneventful couple of days, transporting whatever Wattle wanted, but it payed well enough to get by. He twirled the spear he had in his talons out of boredom. He just wished something would happen... He heard a loud BOOM! Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw the avalanches and rock slides going gown the mountain, and a red dot rapidly approaching the ship. He squinted to see what it was, but by the time he could, it landed, rocking the whole ship. "I was FUCKING KIDDING!"

Skystrike stood up to see about eight griffons pointing their weapons at him. Looking at them, they were... well enough armored, but nothing he couldn't handle. He stretched his neck while he cracked his knuckles. "Since this is just business, I'll give you a choice. Lay down your weapons and I won't hurt you, or fight a battle you can't win and die." The griffons looked between each other before laughing. He sighed. Skystrike dashed up to one of the griffons faster than they could react, giving a right hook making a satisfying crack. The griffon folded like a sheet of paper. Another griffon tried to surprise him from behind with a spear. As he dodged, the spear went into the floor boards and Skystrike grabbed the griffon out of the air, slamming him into the floor, winding him. Then he picked back up the same griffon and threw him into a third. Both fell unconscious as their momentum made them run a wall.

The last five decided to be smarter and rush him at the same time from different directions. Ducking, side stepping, and jumping, Skystrike dodged each of their attacks before jumping up above them and charging electricity within his hands. Releasing all the electricity, it arched between the five attackers. It was just enough to render them unconscious. Landing back on the deck of the ship, he knew that they made a lot of sound. Luckily, that only took thirty seconds.

Skystrike walked to the entrance to the interior of the airship. Of course, he was met by a hastily armored griffon. They stared at each other for a few moments, studying each other. The griffon yelled "ENEMY ATTA-" Before the human grabbed her by the throat. Her talons clawed at his metal arm before her grip loosened from the lack of oxygen. As soon as he dropped her, more griffons met him in the narrow hallway. A few even had muskets, firing as soon as they saw the human.

He expected this though, and ducked down to let the steel balls fly over his head. Skystrike followed up with a forming a large sphere of water to surround the griffons. Five, with three having muskets. He shot more electricity into the water, conducting the lightning between the five griffons. Dropping the water, it spread out along the floor, along with the incapacitated griffons. There was a splash with each step Skystrike took, but the final ten should know he's here by now.

It'd be smart on his end to round corners defensively as to not get blasted. With his left arm, he began forming layers of ice around it, each getting bigger and thicker with each stack, making a tower shield that he could hide behind and vaguely see through. He turned a corner towards where it would make most sense where the captain would be, and sure enough, crossbows bolts and musket balls hit the outer layer of his shield of ice. Barely seeing the griffons in front of him, Skystrike turned his right arm into a rifle and fired a flurry of shots from the side of the shield. They were non-lethal, but could still bruise and hurt like hell. The shots weren't accurate, but the sheer amount meant that some of them hit.

Skystrike kept moving forward, stepping over the bodies of the ships crew and making sure they were down. He counted three, meaning he took out seventeen. Seven left. As he walked down the hall, he checked the side rooms for anyone else. The bathrooms, kitchen, crew quarters, and dining area were all clear. There was one in the engine room though. Skystrike balled his fist in preparation to knock out him out, but the griffon put up his talons. "I SURRENDER!"

Skystrike blinked, but kept his guard up. "What?"

"I surrender!" He repeated. "I don't even work with them willingly! This is my ship that they blackmailed me into giving up! I do cargo transport from Griffonstone to the surrounding territories!"

Skystrike eyed him for a moment. No weapons on him, covered in soot, and cowering before him. The griffon seemed to be middle aged, and wore a worn black coverall. He nodded at the deep red griffon. "Then listen to what I'm about to say carefully." The griffon nodded. In three minutes, my allies are coming in with a lust for blood. Stay with me, and I will promise you safety. In exchange, you will tell me where the bridge is, and the cargo hold. I know what you're transporting."

Though that last sentence was a statement, the griffon could tell it loosely laced with a threat. "Believe me, I hate that this girl is being used like this. Quicker you get these griffs off, the better."

Skystrike motioned his head toward the door for the red griffon to follow. "Six feet behind me. Can't fully trust you just yet."

The griffon waited some time before following. As they exited the engine room, he gawked at the bodies of the crew. "This was all you!?"

Skystrike grunted in affirmation. "Where is the bridge?"

"Right... first hall on the left." He picked up a musket and began reloading it. Skystrike quickly turned around and got into a defensive stance. The griffon jumped. "Hey! I'm using it on those bastards, not you!"

Skystrike slapped the musket out of his hands. "I'm not deciding who dies here just yet. My rules, red." Skystrike turned back around to finish his walk towards the bridge. Eventually, he found the door too it. Skystrike looked back at the red griffon, who took a few steps back. The human raised his left leg before kicking the door off its hinges and across the room. Four griffons, three more armed and armored than the previous griffons waited for him. They clenched their weapons as they made eye contact.

Skystrike looked at the three of differing statures. He sighed. "Alright, give me a quick run down, what are you three?"

"...what?" The pink, skinny griffon asked confused.

"Every one of you trios have gimmicks." Skystrike stated. "Let me guess. Pink, you're the pretty one?"

The pink griffon smirked as she cupped her head in a talon. "Well, I don't like to toot my own horn, but I appreciate the compliment. A shame I'll have to kill you."

Skystrike ignored that last comment and turned to the brown one that was missing some feathers. "That means you're the one with weird powers."

"I can shoot out my sharp feathers!" The brown one puffed out his chest and spread his wings to show the pointed feathers.

"Greeeeeeeeat..." He said with all the mock enthusiasm he could. Then he turned to the grey griffon. "That means you're the big, tough, stupid one."

The bulky and brawny griffon glared at him and pounded a talon into the floor. "You take that back or I'll kill you!"

"Alright, alright, you're not tough." Skystrike smirked.

"That's better!"

The red griffon behind the human blinked. "Didn't you just-"

"Give him a minute."

They all stood in awkward silence before the grey griffon realized what Skystrike said. "HEY! YOU BITCH!" Bulky rushed at Skystrike with his spiked gauntlets. Skystrike easily dodged the wide swing coming at him by side stepping, spinning on his right leg before landing a devastating kick into Bulky's face. Blood began running out of the nose of the griffon as he flew across the room, landing on the kicked in door. He hit his head on landing, falling unconscious.

Pretty and Weird decided to not be stupid and rush him at the same time. Pretty was using a short sword, and was lightly armored, focusing on speed. Weird had medium armor and used two blunderbusses. Pretty flew into the air and went for a horizontal slash at Skystrike's neck. He ducked under and hopped back to dodge the oncoming over head slash. Skystrike was expecting more from her, but Weird switched places with her and aimed to fire a point blank blast from his blunderbuss.

Skystrike quickly put up a shield of ice once more to block the shrapnel, then threw the ice itself at Weird. Weird ducked under and flapped his wings, shooting the sharp feathers at Skystrike. The human caught each of the feathers with his metal arm before charging a ball of fire in his left hand and throwing it at Weird. It was too close to dodge, so he had to take the full blast. It wasn't enough to take him out just yet. Weird began to aim his second blunderbuss, but was interrupted by Skystrike pushing his head into the floorboards and sending electricity through his body.

Pretty looked in a mixture of fear and shock. Her voice shook as Skystrike approached her. The griffoness pointed her short sword at him. "St-... Stay back!"

"Hmm... no." Skystrike kept walking towards her. She gave one last battle cry before running blade first into Skystrike, who simply parried the blade with his right hand and grabbing her by the neck, doing the same motion of sending electricity through her body to keep her stunned for a long while.

Skystrike turned to the last griffon in the room, the self proclaimed captain of the cargo ship. He put up his talons to show his surrender. Skystrike was about to say something before the red griffon he found walked by him and slugged him. Even Skystrike was impressed. "This ship is MINE!" The griffon roared as huffed as he began beating the cowering griffon. Red took a break, looking down at the incapacitated griffon below him. "Hah... I needed that... Cargo bay is just down the hall, stairway at the end... Let's go. Glad you came to help them out."

Skystrike nodded. "It's what I do." He began towards the stairway. Walking down the stairway, he eyed the last three griffons on the way down to the cargo area. The three stood there, frozen in fear at the beast before them. Skystrike ignored them for now, and looked at the beings that were being held captive. There were five, one Pony, one Zebra, Two Kelpies, and one Abada. Skystrike made quick work of the griffons, shooting magical bullets from his right arm, knocking them out quickly.

The five captives watched with confusion and fear as he approached the metal bars of their cell. Skystrike took of his helmet and looked at them. The pony had a sea green coat and long blue mane and tail. From her eye shape, she was from Saddle Arabia. The zebra had an off-white coat with greyish blue stripes, and her mane and tail was black, white and pink. The two Kelpies were similar enough to ponies, even having cutie marks, but their bodies and manes flowed like water, leaving wet spots where they went. One kelpie had a deep blue coat and white hair like a tidal wave, while the other had a coral blue coat with sea green hair. Maybe they were siblings. The last captive, the Abada, was similar to a unicorn, but had two curved horns, with one being shorter than the other, and was much taller and thinner. He had a bright yellow coat, with brown and purple striped legs, the mane and tail following the same color scheme.

Skystrike sighed. "I'm not your enemy, in fact, I'm getting you all out of here." All of their ears perked up as he said that. "In a few minutes, my allies will be boarding. I will be escorting you back to my ship. There, my crew, a Zebra and a Dragon, will make sure you all are taken care of. We will be escorting you back to your homelands once our business here is finished. Food and lodging will be given for the duration of our travels. Questions?"

They all looked at him with a vast amount of confusion. The yellow Abada stood up, his legs still shaking. Getting a closer look, he was covered in bruises and claw marks, same as the others. "Wh-... where are we? Me and the Zebra, Marini, have been in here the longest. I think it's been five days... all of us except for the pony, Costal Shore, are from Farasai. Costal was picked up a few days later on her way back to Saddle Arabia."

"Hmm, that makes things easier." Skystrike crouched down to be at their eye level. "As of right now, we are two hours northeast of Griffonstone, the griffon capital. If the majority of you are from Farasai, then that makes transportation easier. It was a potential stop."

The Zebra, Marini, cleared her throat, though her voice was coarse from the lack of water she's had. "From your accent, I can tell you're from Equestria. Is you Zebra friend named Zecora?"

Skystrike was about to nod, but then remembered how quiet that Zecora was about her homeland. Quick yes or no questions, not even bothering to rhyme. She probably keeps it secret for a reason... Skystrike shook his head. "Lets continue this small talk later." He looted the bodies of the unconscious guards and found the key to the cell, unlocking it. "Are the rest of you able to walk?" Marini shook her head, moving herself to show her broken leg being held in place with a makeshift splint. Skystrike walked inside and picked her up, trying to make it as painless as possible. With some grunts, Marini got into a comfortable position in his arms. "Everyone, stick with me. Red, as soon as we're topside, you're talking to Alder. He's a griffon that looks like a secretary bird. For the time being, you're working with us."

They all began following him back to the deck of the ship. As he opened the door to the exterior, Elytra, Alder, and all oh his griffons landed. Astraea and Astraeus all looked around for any of would be attackers. "Not what you two expected, huh?"
Skystrike chuckled a bit. "Alder, have your men round up all the griffons and put them in the holding cell in the cargo bay." Then he pointed to the red griffon next to him. "This griffon is the owner, and captain of this vessel. Work with him to get us to our destination."

Alder nodded. "You heard him! Get to work! And if I find even a single one dead, I'll mount your asses on a plaque!"

Skystrike ignored the glare from Astraeus, and tried to ignore the impressed look from Astraea as Elytra spoke to him. "You know, I was not expecting that, but nice job. Wasn't expecting everything to go down so quick, or so easily... Anyway, as soon as I saw you go, I teleported back onto the Wind Waker and told Tethys to start driving it towards us." She pointed to his ship right next to them, Tethys waving as she pushed out the boarding plank. "I'm guessing this one one of the captives?" She motioned towards Marini. Elytra was about to continue speaking before Skystrike waved his hand perpendicular to his neck, motioning her to stop talking before Zecora's name was bought up.

Skystrike nodded. "Yeah." Then he turned to Tethys in the distance. "Tethys! I need you over here! These Kelpies are looking dry, give them some water!"

Tethys quickly jumped from one ship to the other, taking the Zebra in Skystrike's arms. "Take her for now. I need to check on something." He made sure to whisper the last part. "Don't bring up Zecora."

Tethys nodded before letting Skystrike go back to his ship. He quickly ran to find Zecora. After a few minutes of searching, he found her setting up one of the empty rooms as a makeshift sick bay. She nearly jumped out of her armor when Skystrike opened the door with a bang. "Skystrike my friend! What has you barging in like you're on wit's end?"

Skystrike huffed. "I know you don't talk about your homeland, but I bring either good or bad news..." Zecora's ears perked up. "A Zebra I found pointed out my accent when I let slip that a Zebra would be taking care of their wounds. The Zebra, named Marini, called you out by name. Ring any bells?"

Her eyes shrunk to pin pricks as her breathing picked up. "How much did you tell her?"

"Not even your name. Figured you kept your past silent for a reason." Skystrike walked over to her and sat down next to her. "...I won't force you to talk about it, but it's come to a tipping point. It'll take us two days to get to Farasai to drop her off, along with the Kelpies and Abada. I won't force you to interact with her either, I'll even take over treating her wounds if it makes you more comfortable." He sighed. "I know it's hard to talk about the past, bringing up all the past feelings that comes with the memories, but we'll have to discuss it so we can help you the best we can."

Zecora stared at the wall, thinking of what her next move would be. She didn't think she'd see her so soon, or ever again if she could've helped it. She wasn't sure she would be ready to talk about it, let alone see her old 'friends' again. The Zebra wasn't even in the right space to rhyme right now. "...Can you get me my mask?"

Skystrike nodded, leaving to go to her room, grabbing the green mask off her nightstand, and giving it to her. She took the mask out of his hands, but before she could, he put his other hand over her hoof. "No matter your choice, we'll support you."

He released his hoof to let Zecora put on her mask. "I... I'll tell you... all of you later tonight."

---

It didn't take too long to treat the wounds of the captives, the worst wounds being Marini's broken leg and the Abada's cracked ribs. The Abada, who he found out was named Dune Strider, was a lot tougher than he looked. Costal Shore, and the two Kelpies, Tsunami and Frosty, were malnourished due to the lack of water needed to keep themselves healthy, but Tethys was quickly able to fix that by breathing her frost breath on them. Zecora ignored the countless questions from Marini as she put her let in a proper cast, not even bothering to rhyme in the hopes that it wouldn't give her away. Skystrike wondered why the beings in this world were so clueless when it came to their own wearing masks, but that was neither here nor there.

As of now, Skystrike was on the cargo ship with Elytra, disguised as the captain the red griffon knocked out earlier, Alder, and the rest of his griffons, who were currently wearing the armor of the now former crew. The red griffon, who Skystrike found out was named Garrry, with three r's, and pronounced 'G-arrr-ry' was currently landing them at their destination: Wattle's mansion.

Solid stone walls, a wooden roof, a decorative fountain in the courtyard, and even a garden that was well tended to. There were at least a dozen bedrooms, though he couldn't tell how well furnished they were. Wattle truly was living in luxury... How many of these riches were built from the suffering of others. Skystrike grimaced.

Skystrike, Elytra, Alder, and a few griffons waited in the Bridge, watching through the tinted windows as a griffon approached. "That's him..." Alder pointed at a certain griffon surrounded by two heavily armored ones. He had the head of a rooster, with purple feathers and brown fur. He had some weight to him, seeming to be mostly fat from his gluttonous behaviors, and decorated himself with jewelry from rings to necklaces, and everything in between. "Elytra, that's your queue."

Elytra nodded, taking a deep breath as Garrry lowered the ship, landing it in the large field that was their meeting spot. Her goal was to get as close as she could to Wattle to incapacitate him, then help with the ensuing battle. As she and a few of Alder's griffons met the ship, she was surprised with how few there were, only half a dozen, including Wattle's personal guards.

"Xerxes..." Wattle said, referring to the disguised Elytra. "I see everything went well." The griffon spoke in a guttural and gravely voice. "I hope my... 'items' are in good enough condition."

Elytra hid her disgust. "Of course, sir. We've caught five for you, they're just in the cargo bay."

Wattle gave a grim smile. "Perfect... You know how I like my Zebras." He hummed. "You're talking weird, though, you know we're close enough for you to call me Wattle."

Elytra flinched at that. "Sorry, just... been a long trip. Not thinking straight. The heat from Farasai is still affecting me."

Wattle laughed, walking up and putting a talon on Elytra's shoulder. "Hah! I understand. Maybe a nice meal will get your mind off of it. Still got some left from the last group I had my men slaughter."

Elytra was done with the conversation, and visibly showed her disgust before grabbing Wattle's talon and moving into an arm bar, quickly and efficiently pinning him to the ground before breaking his arm as he screamed in pain.

That was their que. Skystrike, Alder, and the rest ran out onto the deck and opened fire with their muskets. The griffons fell easily from the surprise attack, being pelted by the iron balls. Skystrike was a bit surprised at how none of them were dead. Alder saw the look on the human's face. "Oh, we replaced the rounds with rubber."

"Neat." Skystrike went to look at the griffons writhing on the ground in pain. He focused electricity into his fingers and shot a small jolt within each of them, knocking them out. He got closer to Wattle, letting Elytra releaser her hold on him.

He crouched down to stare a Wattle, who was huffing with rage and pain. "What the hell are-"

Skystrike punched him, Wattle's blood spilling on his fist. His eyes burned white in rage. "Shut your mouth. I will speak, and you will listen." Skystrike motioned for Alder to come to him. "For your crimes, you will be judged. Considering your taste for other sentient beings, I would have you slaughtered right here. But due to a stroke of bad luck on your end, I'm not your judge today. Alder is, and he isn't as merciful as I am."

"Damn right I'm not." Alter sharpened his talons, jabbing one into the leg of Wattle. He screamed from the pain. "You fucking worthless excuse of a griffon, taking everything we have to line your own pockets... Do you know how much we suffered because of griffons like you!?" Alder dragged his talons down his leg, making Wattle scream more. "Families, friends, torn apart, having to fight each other just for the scraps we're left! No more!" He flipped over the rooster and took one of his daggers, jabbing the blade into the wing of Wattle, pinning him to the ground. "Astraeus, Astraea!"

"Yes sir!" The two saluted.

"Take the griffs and clear out the house. Don't kill any of the ones inside, at least not just yet. Any non-combatants are to be bought outside."

"Sir!" The two griffons began ordering those under them to do so, leaving Wattle with Alder, Skystrike, and Elytra. Alder went in on Wattle, punching, kicking, and scratching him until his tiredness overcame his will to keep going.

Elytra couldn't help but look away from the beating Wattle was getting. Sure, she was used to it, being a Changeling operative during her time in the hive, and when she worked with Skystrike and her friends, but she never got to view this part. Very few times this happened, normally leaving this part of the work to either Skystrike, or those who were wronged. She looked up at her brother, who kept looking with indifference. "Skystrike... don't you think this is a bit much?"

"Maybe." He shrugged. "But that isn't up for is to decide. We haven't had to deal with him in any way besides this."

"So... Alder decides when they're done?"

"Close. Alder decides when he's done." Skystrike clarified. "You already know I have a... history with trafficing. I don't have the right to stop him, even if I wanted to." He crouched down to pat Elytra's head. "But I'm with you on not wanting to watch this." He turned to Alder. "Hey, Alder, once you're done, meet us on the Wind Waker."

"Will do, Sky, but we're going to be a while..." Alder said as he lit his cigar.

Skystrike nodded as he looked at the setting sun. Around six in the afternoon. He looked down at Elytra. "Wanna help me make dinner? I was thinking of burgers. Gonna need some extra hooves now that we have five more mouths to feed. So glad I bought plant based food."

"Sure, I've been wanting to spend some time with you anyway."

---

It was nearly midnight. Dinner went well enough, but the now former captives were still shaken up from their imprisonment and their beatings they apparently got. It was very awkward. Skystrike made the mistake of inviting the five to eat with him and his companions. He realized immediately after he said it when Zecora side eyed him. She gave half answers, tried to move the conversation along, and even lie at points, just to get Marini off her back. Marini could not take a hint at all. It was also the first time the five saw a dragon and changeling, so at least the conversation shifted back to them from time to time.

As of now, Zecora was sitting in Skystrike's room, along with Tethys, Elytra, and Alder. Even Casta showed up when Zecora sent a letter, asking her to be there. She was glaring daggers at Skystrike with her hooves crossed. "I'm not mad at you exactly, I know you were trying to be kind. Just do not spring something like that upon me, and warn me next time."

"Yeah, I fucked up, I completely admit that. I'm sorry."

"It's... fine. But I suppose it's time to talk about this past of mine." She shuffled in her chair a bit before starting. "Long ago, in Farasian Shores, I stayed mostly indoors. I didn't have any friends, not a buddy at all, until I was hit in the head, and a voice said 'Can you get my ball?'" She laughed a bit, remembering the way they met. "I was happy to help, and gave back the ball. The owner said 'Thank you, I'm Marini-- would you like to play?' And I did, and decided to stay. Soon Marini's good friends were mine too. Even though we were different, we were friends through and through. Two Kelpies, two Abada, two Zebras together. Despite all of our differences, we were birds of a feather... I remember loving legends, myths, and old stories. Always reading tales of fortunes and glories. I made us new games, to where challenges we rose, I wrote them new tales, where we were all heroes. We grew up together, friends of three races, getting our cutie marks, finding our places. We were happy, games happier still. Everything was perfect, until in school, a sudden chill." Zecora sighed at the memory. "In class, it dawned, much to my surprise, that Zebras can use magic, no matter how hard we tried. I swore there to myself that I would be the first Zebra to use magic, but this tale only gets... more tragic. While all of my classmates laughed and played, deep within the library is where I decided to stay. I studied old tomes from near and far, reading books from Casabronco and Zebrazebar. While others saw my obsession as tragic, I devoted my whole life to magic. I felt that a life of mundanity would be the worst, so of Zebras with magic, I would be the first. I studied the legends of unicorns, the magic they channeled through their magical horns. Of spells dating back to magical times, of hoof-written scrolls and enchanted rhymes." She began to reminisce. "Of bearded wizards with special charms, of evil sirens and their wicked harms. I even read of a warrior that carried a shovel, and a magical healer that lived in a hovel. But the healer gave me a reason to pause, an old illustration that was the cause. The one I speak of who used magic was an earth pony. Mage Meadowbrook was no phony. I finally had conformation, that my goal was possible! I had something to work towards, no matter how improbable. I showed my excitement to my friends but their support they did not show, and the relationships came to an end... I did not take kindly to my passion being a target of ridicule. 'Cute', 'a bad idea', my friends treated me as a fool. They laughed and talked behind my back. Teases and Taunts at every turn, how it makes my stomach churn. But my parents were the worst aggressors, thinking that we Zebras are inherently others lesseres. My mother is a librarian, and my father, a scholar. They did not like the dreams of their daughter. It was seen as infantile, they thought it was just a phase. So I prepared myself for a journey, hoping for better days." She sighed as she shook her head in an attempt to get rid of the bad memories. "A month's voyage across the sea, to reach Equestria, a journey to be. It was a stroke of luck that I met you there, Skystrike, bringing me on adventures and making friends. I thought I had gotten used to the loneliness, but you all made that dreadful feeling come to an end. I... want to thank you all."

A contemplating silence entered the room as her friends all thought of what to say. It was quite a bit to take in. Of course, they want to support her, but none really knew the right words to say it. To Skystrike, it felt like a punch in the gut, knowing she went through all of that, then he just up and left... He wanted to apologize again, but didn't want to make it about himself. Despite that, he knew what to say.

Though the others didn't know yet, Tethys related somewhat. Being an outcast because of her own genetics, but the difference is that she didn't have to deal with anyone outside of her family. She was pretty sheltered... She didn't know what to say.

Elytra understood why she left. Zecora realized that there was no place for her anymore in her home. Same as her. But Zecora had no one on her side that supported her back then. She hoped to be there now. She knew what to say.

Casta completely related and understood exactly what Zecora was going through. They both left home, wanting their own lives, having their own goals, not wanting to live up to the expectations others set for them. It seemed as if it was fate that the two met each other. But she didn't know what to say to Zecora. She didn't even know what to say to herself all those years ago.

Alder could barely relate. He barely had friends in the first place, the only ones worth keeping around currently in the room. He didn't know what to say at all.

Skystrike spoke first. "Well, thanks for opening up, Zecora. I'm sorry you had to go through that... And I'm glad to have met you. You made your dream, though, don't deny yourself that. You're able to use magic, and you got here through your own effort. Those better days that you hoped for came."

Tethys nodded. "I can understand why you left, we all left our homes for our own reasons. And it's for those same reasons why we support each other. We have your back, no matter what."

Elytra nodded as well. "I wish met you sooner, I'd have helped you out some more. But we'll all continue to help you out now, and in the future... The pain of those memories never truly go away, but having a support group around you helps a lot. We'll be here."

Casta cleared her throat. "I'm glad that you were able to get out of there. I hope it wasn't too bad before you were able to leave."

Alder shrugged. "I don't really know what to say here, kid, but we'll help you get through this.

Zecora had tears welling up in her eyes. "Gratitude to you, my cherished friends. Meeting you all, joy never ends."

Tethys picked her up and hugged the Zebra. "Same to you, girl. You're one of the best beings I've met in this lifetime."

Alder cleared his throat. "I don't want to bring down the mood, but there's something more that I feel like Zecora wanted to bring up?"

Zecora nodded. "Indeed, your views I seek, my dear friends. What course with Marini should I tend?"

They all hummed in thought. Skystrike groaned slightly. "Look, hear me out... I know I don't really have much of a place to say what you should do, but... It's complicated. When you first came to Ponyville, I didn't expect you to even talk to me, yet you, all of you, welcomed me back with open arms... I still don't think I deserve any of you. I say this because... I regret what I did to you all. Maybe Marini does too."

Casta clicked her tongue. "I'd have to disagree. Her situation is almost exactly the same as mine. If I was given the chance to see my former 'friends and family' again-" She made quotations with her hooves. "I would not give them the time of day. Zecora healing her already makes her a better being than me."

Alder shook his head. "Don't want to pull the age card here, but I've had a bit more experience in life. Casta, Zecora, you two have to realize that your aggressors were kids I assume. Casta, you were eighteen when you met Skystrike, Zecora, how old were you when you left Zebrafrica?"

"At twenty, I departed from my homeland's gate, sixteen when from my hometown's embrace I did vacate."

"Ok, so then it's been twelve years since you've seen them." Alder stated to put into perspective. "I won't pretend to know the pain you went through, or the pain this Marini Zebra did to you, but twelve years is a lot of time to change. She's definitely a different Zebra than she was from your childhood."

Tethys hummed. "Right, but whether Zecora should give her a chance is a different story." She began counting on her fingers. "You're assuming that one, she's over the pain, and two, Marini did indeed change. And even if she did, only Zecora knows if she's ready to confront her." Tethys put back down Zecora, but held onto one of her hooves. "But, I will say this. Because of my races long lifespan, I've been putting off confronting my own past because I know I have plenty of time to do it. You don't have that much time, Zecora. If you don't do it now, you might never get the chance again. That's why we're on this whole journey with Skystrike."

Elytra added to Tethys' point. "Plus, you have the chance to do it. That's more than some of us in here can say. You may regret talking to her, but you also may regret not doing so. But at this point, it's seems like this is more about proving her wrong. You are able to use magic through potions, despite the odds, your effort came out on top. Essentially, you have three options, let her be, gloat, or reconnect. Who knows, she may even be sorry. Regret eats away at the soul."

"In the end, Zecora, it's your choice. We'll support you either way. But like Tethys said, you may never get the chance again." Skystrike rolled his neck. "We'll be in Zebrafrica in three days. Wish there was more time for you to make your choice, but it is what it is. If you wish, we could even take some time to close up some loose ends on your side."

Zecora wrapped her hooves around his neck and hugged him. "Thank you, Skystrike, everyone... I'll need some time to think."

Tethys chuckled. "You know, now that I have the chance to say it, I don't think I've ever heard you talk that long and damn you are dedicated to the rhyming."

Skystrike nodded. "My take away was that Zebras do have cutie marks, so it is convergent evolution. I'll have more questions later." He let go of the hug he was returning to Zecora. "Alder, we have some things to speak about before we leave tomorrow morning." He got up and motioned to the door of his room.

Casta stood up before the two left. "Oh, before you do, I remember you asking me to make one of those teleportation runes on a rug for Alder. This way, we can see each other more often." She teleported the rolled up rug into Alders arms.

"Thanks, magic mare. I'll make sure we meet up again soon." Alder fist bumped the unicorn.

Skystrike and Alder left the room, the latter following the former onto the deck of the ship. Skystrike leaned on the railing, letting the wind blow through his hair and onto his body. "So... did everything turn out well, old bird?"

"Wattle's dead, if that's what you're asking." Alder pulled out a cigar. Skystrike snapped his fingers, a small flame coming from his finger, lighting the griffon's cigar. "Thanks..." He took a puff. "I won't go into specifics, but every griffon had their way with him before he kicked the bucket... after that, there were some personal vendettas that some of my griffons had with Wattle's. Murderers, thieves, and everything in between. In the end ten griffons including Wattle died. But all the ones who did were his closest griffs. The rest, who were just in it for the paycheck, began working under me, with heavy supervision. Garrry decided to stick it out with us for now, too. Can't really say I feel good about it all though..." Skystrike nodded. Alder put an elbow on the railing and leaned over the edge. "I don't know how you do it..."

"What do you mean?" Skystrike asked.

"The weight of others lives on our shoulders, their deaths on our talons... It wasn't until I joined you that I was actually involved in the death of another... and it doesn't get easier... deciding who lives and who dies."

Skystrike sighed, looking out to the full moon with Alder. "I try not to think of it like that... I try not to get my personal feelings involved in matters like these unless it affects me personally... I'll tell you what I do. No matter the situation, in the end, it boils down to them or us. If Wattle wasn't stopped, you wouldn't know how many more would be harmed. Whether he could change, whether it was necessary, whether it was justified, we'll never really know. But we do know that no more will be hurt by him. We just have to keep going, hoping we made the right choice."

"...Wise beyond your years, you are." Alder chuckled. "Kinda wish I had a chick of my own like you... may be weird, but I kinda saw you as a nephew or something."

"Well... I'm flattered." He fist bumped the griffon. "But... well, I already gave you the run down of who, and what I am. I still don't feel like I'm the person you think I am... It's like... my past won't leave me alone, it keeps defining who I am... what I am. I feel like I have to make up for the sins of my kind."

"Well, time for ol' uncle Alder to give you some advice." Alder took in another puff of smoke. "Good people think they're bad people. Bad people think they're good people. The good people, being good all their lives, see it as normal, then focus too much on the bad they did. Vice versa for bad people. We all make mistakes, but you reflect on yours. That's more than some can say."

Skystrike smiled. "Thanks, Alder. Means a lot."

"Think nothing of it." The griffon grinned. "Just wished you could stay around a bit longer. Astraea was giving you the look."

Skystrike chuckled a bit at that. "Sure, old man... Wish I could stay longer too, but it's best if I leave quickly."

"How come?"

"Well, I'm already not welcome in Equestria, and I won't be surprised if word gets around that I was a major player in your plan. The sooner I'm gone, the safer it is for all of us." Skystrike turned to look at Alder with a serious face. "Make sure you and your griffons don't tell anyone I was involved with you. The human me I mean. Celestia has been hunting me my whole life here. I don't want you getting caught up in my problem. Celestia doesn't know that Skystrike and I are one in the same."

Alder sighed, but nodded. "You have your reasons. I wish I could help you out more... But there is some good news." Skystrike raised an eyebrow. "With Wattle gone, I plan on filling in before a power vacuum starts. It may take some time, figuring out how to do a Noble's duties, but I want to make this country better, bring it back to its prime... And I want to make it one that you can live in too... even if you may not live to see it."

Skystrike smiled, and hugged Alder. "Thank you, my friend."

Alder returned the hug. "You know... I can spin a story to your princesses. I may be able to hide your involvement with me, but you're probably already being talked about by the crown. The corruption here isn't a secret. I can say you helped out, at the very least."

Skystrike crouched down to Alder. "I'll leave that up to you, but if you do, realize that you will be a target for whoever is after me."

Alder laughed before putting a talon over his silver chest. "I've already danced with death a couple times. What's another tango? Besides, it's what friends are for. Know that me and my griffons, will always be on your side."

---

Each of the friends gave heartfelt goodbyes to Alder the following morning. But they all promised to see each other again. Astraea was rubbing all over Skystrike's let before he left for some reason, but that was neither here nor there. For now, Skystrike was driving the Wind Waker with Tethys, Elytra, and Zecora sitting on chairs next to him. Having to go off route to get the former captives home, their first stop was Saddle Arabia, about eight hours from Griffonstone with Skystrike's calculations, and they currently only had one hour left. It would take another 15 from there to get to-... wait.

"Hey Zecora." Skystrike got the mares attention. "Is Farasi a country in Zebrafrica?"

Zecora nodded her head. "Farasi, my homeland, with pride I acclaim, Zebrat, its capital, where I earned my name."

"Ooooh, I thought Farasi was a city." He went back to steering.

"Hey, Sky." Elytra got the humans attention.

"Yeah?"

"I know you're dense, but... did you know what that griffon Astraea was doing to you?"

"What, her rubbing on me?" Skystrike asked. "Well, she is part cat. I just figured that means she warmed up to me."

Elytra chuckled. "By the pantheon, Cadence was right. Skystrike, she was rubbing all up your leg."

"Yeah, that's the cat half." Skystrike put the ship in autopilot and looked at her.

Tethys laughed. "This never gets old. How bluntly do we have to say if for you to get it?"

Skystrike thought about it. "...Get what?"

"Skystrike she was shooting her shot!" Elytra slammed her hooves on the ground. "I could taste it!"

"Taste wha-...." He realized. "Ooooh she wanted me!"

Tethys laughed a bit, then had a realization of her own. "Hold on... you related her to a cat... have you been relating everything to animals?"

"Alright, hear me out-" They all began laughing at him. "There's just a lot of actions that are similar from the animals in my world." They all looked at him expectantly. "Oh you want examples, uh... well first, let me preface that dragons, griffons, unicorns, pegasi... actually most sentient beings in this world were legends. The few things that did, like Earth ponies, Zebras, and Deer, weren't sentient."

Zecora's ears perked up at that. "So, Zebras lack thoughts, a concept quite rare. No minds of their own, just a curious stare?"

"Yeah, but the intelligent level doesn't really matter right now, but the mannerisms. You'd be in awe of how many carried over. Like earlier, with griffons being part cat, they rub against your leg because they like you. Or for example, Tethys, when you do that bellow thing, alligators do that when they're territorial, or for social reasons, like I see you do."

She giggled. "Well, we do it for one other reason." She made a circle with her left hand and fingered it with her right.

"Ayo." Elytra laughed. "But that does bring up the question, were there changeling equivalents where you're from?"

"Not really... like I said, most of the beings in this world were stuff of legends. But that wasn't the weirdest part about adapting to this world." Skystrike chuckled.

"Yeah, I figured the hive wasn't really the best place, but no place really was." Elytra admitted.

"Oh no, not that. It was like, a lot of little things. Like, Diamond Dogs and normal dogs exist at the same time. That has to be so weird for them, especially since other races still domesticate the dogs. Same with the cats... And dragons. Kinda why I chose to get Naga. Like, sure, she's a lizard, but it's far enough away from dragons where I won't think in the back of my mind 'they look alike."

Zecora tilted her head. "I think I get what you mean. I thought of a dog at some point, but what if Jeshan had seen."

"What else was weird about adapting?" Tethys leaned on the table in front of her.

"Well, before I turned like, 12 and my growth spurt started, I was eye height with everyone my age as a human. Getting used to the average being in this world being up to my thigh wasn't bad, per say, but it gets annoying having to look down all the time. Hell, even if I sit on the floor, they come up to my chest. Even Celestia is a head shorter than me."

"Well, I'm quite a bit taller than you." Tethys laughed.

Elytra's ears perked up. "You know, I never asked. How tall are you both?"

"Six foot four." Skystrike stood up straight.

Tethys did the same. "Eight foot three."

"Damn!" Skystrike, Elytra, and Zecora all went.

"Well, if that's surprising, dragons grow bigger the older we get. It's also more dependent on how much magic we have. Some of us are even able to change between forms if we have enough magic to do so."

"Change forms? Like changelings?" Elytra asked.

"Well, yes, but also kinda no." Tethys shook her her head. "It's like how I look slimmer, but a larger scale. Think of like, an eighty foot tall dragon turning into my size. Don't ask me how it works, we barely had schools in the dragon seas."

""Damn, I was gonna ask if they convert their mass to magic." Skystrike sighed.

The conversation ended as they all went back to doing whatever they were doing before, Tethys Elytra and Zecora playing cards as Skystrike wove around clouds. It went of for about half an hour before Skystrike had an idea. No reason why it came to mind, but he just decided to do it, hoping his friends would join in. Skystrike began making a sound, going up and down in pitch as he continued to repeat the noise. "Do do do do do do do do do do do-"

Elytra's ears perked up, realizing what he wanted to start, adding in her part as a smile creeped on her face. "Boom boom, Uh... boom, Uh, boom boom boom, Uh... boom boom, boom, Uh..."

"Day and night..." Zecora began singing.

"Wha wha wha wha wha wha?" Tethys smiled as she made her voice fade out as Zecora sang, doing her part between each of her scectences.

"I toss and turn, I keep stress in my mind, mind... I look for peace, but see I don't attain... What I need for keeps this silly game we play. Play..." Zecora chuckled a bit. "Now look at this... Madness to magnet, keeps attracting me, me... I try to run but see I'm not that fast... I'm thinking first but surely finish last... last."

Skystrike changed his part to: "Weow weow weow weow weow~..." Over and over again as Tethys began singing with Zecora. "'Cus day and night! The lonely stoner seems to free his mind at night... He's all alone through the day and night... He's all alone through the day and night... The lonely loner seems to free his mind at night, at, at, at night."

They continued through the whole song, just having fun, as their destination approached. Skystrike slowed the ship to a stop just above their first destination, Saddle Arabia. He lowered the ship, landing the Wind Waker on the ground. The landing gear stopped most of the impact, but there was a noticeable bump, causing everyone to come a few inches off the ground.

Skystrike stood up and stretched. "Welp, it's time. I'd prefer you all stay on the ship, don't want to come off as more threatening than we already are with this ship."

"Fine by me." Elytra said. "This heat is killing me."

Skystrike left the bridge and went to the once empty room that Zecora repurposed for a sick bay. He gave a polite knock on the door before opening it. He skimmed the room, seeing the eyes staring back at him. Tsunami, Frosty, Dune Strider, Marini, there she is. "Costal Shore. We're here."

The pony scratched at her bandages. "Here? W-where's here?" She said with a hint a fear. Costal still didn't trust the human just yet. He didn't blame her, going from one ship to another with no choice of her own like this.

Skystrike clarified. "Saddle Arabia. Your home right?"

"We're here already!?" She stood up from her bed. "It hasn't even been a day!" She looked out the window to see the familiar deserts of her land. Her eyes lit up with relief.

He nodded. "I promised I'd get you all home. We're 15 hours away from Farasi, so the rest of you will be getting some tomorrow around noon." Skystrike took a satchel off his waist and put it in Costal's hooves. "I don't know where you live, but that should be enough bits and food to last you a week or so, as well as transportation if you need it. Ready to go?"

She looked back at the others in the room, all of them waving goodbye to her. She did the same. "Yes, I am."

Skytrike opened the door for her, letting the mare walk out first. As they walked down the hallway to the landing ramp, Skystrike continued to talk. "If I remember right, Saddle Arabia is a territory beginning to build ties with Equestria. You will be asked questions by whatever government authority will meet you out there, and they will send word to the princesses of Equestria. You've been through a lot, so I won't let you sit through hours of interrogation and bring up trauma. I'd recommend getting a therapist."

Costal chuckled. "I'm... surprised you care so much. But I'll go through the interrogations. Worry about getting the others home first."

"Lets just say I went through something similar..." Skystrike sighed as the two stepped off the ship. They were immediately met with a platoon of ponies of all types, their magic and spears aimed at him. "In hind sight, I should've taken off my armor."

"Who are you!?" One of the Saddle Arabians shouted at him.

Skystrike stood up straight and began to speak. "My name is not important, but know that I mean no harm to you! As soon as my business here is done, I will be leaving!"

"What business do you have here!?"

"How long ago would you say you were foalnapped?" Skystrike leaned down to whisper to Costal Shore.

"Uh... more than two weeks, less than three... I don't even know what day it is." She answered.

Skystrike winced at that, but straightened his face to speak to the guards once more. "About two weeks ago, one of your residents went missing, her name is Costal Shore! I've rescued her, and came to return her to you! Once her safety is secured, I will be leaving! Once again, I do not wish to be your enemy!"

The guard in charge quickly spoke to one of his privates, assumedly telling the stallion to go check. Costal sighed. "Looks like this may be a while..." She sat down on the ramp.

Skystrike did so too. He looked out over the city they landed in front of, seeing the expertly carved houses made of sandstone, a large central market full of ponies, decorated with wonderful colors, and on the furthest end of the city, a large palace. Mostly white in color, with golden domed roofs and towers of varying sizes. It was almost like it was out of a story book. "You have a beautiful city, Costal."

"Thank you. It's actually our capital, Agrabahrn. You should visit some time if you have the chance... It would be nice to see you again, and give a proper thank you."

"Living the best life you can is thanks enough." Then he had a thought. "Actually, you can help me out right now." Her ears perked up. "This may sound like a stupid question, but as you can see, I'm not from around here." Skystrike twirled his thumbs around each other, somewhat nervous. "Do... do genies exist?"

"Yeah, but assuming you want a wish, good luck finding one." Costal giggled. "The tales say that you can find a lamp in the sand dunes, but from you can already see around us, there's a lot of those. Last one that was found was when my grandma was a filly."

"Well, it's a start, thanks."

She giggled some more. "I'm a bit surprised you don't ask about our flying carpets. Everypony asks about that."

The human's jaw dropped. "Flying carpets??? Actually..." Skystrike closed his mouth. "Not the craziest thing I've seen in this world."

"You say 'this world' like you aren't from it." Costal looked at him. Skystrike smirked back. "...These last three weeks have been insane."

Skystrike looked at five of the Arabian guards approaching him. "Well, here's hoping you get to relax soon." Skystrike stood up at the aproach of the guards, each of them gripping their weapons tightly.

The most decorated guard, wearing silver armor with silk cloths, spoke first. "Your earlier statement aligns with reports we got from a sea life team that was attacked on their way back from Farasi. We thank you for bringing back one of our own. Despite that, and it pains me to say it, because of the sudden entrance, as well as lack of identification, you will not be allowed to enter our capital. However, if you are able to tell us what nation you're affiliated with, we can send a proper thank you to you in the near future."

"Understandable. As for my affiliation, I am from Equestria. And honestly, if you want to send me a gift, I'd like a map and a booklet of landmarks and geological information, as I will be traveling through this part of the world for the next few weeks. I've been flying near blind on this side of the Celestial sea. I'd also like a board game of some sort to pass the time."

The guard nodded. "That can be arranged. If you are able to give us about an hour, I can get you one of Zebrafrica and our immediate neighbors."

"That'd be great. I'll wait here then." Skystrike got on one knee to speak with the mare. "Take care of yourself, Costal. I'm hoping the rest of your days treat you better than the last few weeks."

To his surprise. Costal hugged him, wrapping her forehooves around his neck. "Thank you so much. I hope to see you again." She pulled back from the hug before walking towards the guards. Skystrike stood back up and put a hand over his chest, giving a small bow. The silver cladded guard did the same before transporting Costal Shore back to her home.

Skystrike sat back down and waited. Hopefully the guard wont take that long with the map. While he waited, he decided to make some conversation. "Nightmare." He spoke in his head.

It took a few moments, but Nightmare Moon answered his call. He never got used to another mind within his own. "Hey, it's been a while. Sorry we haven't spoken in so long, the talks between Luna and I have been giving us much to think about."

"All good. Won't read your memories, that's between the two of you. I hope that everything turned out well?" Skystrike asked.

"It's... getting better. We're able to greet each other with some semblance of familiarity, rather than passive aggression. I think it's helping her a lot... confronting her mistake." She said that last part with a hint of sadness.

"Don't speak about yourself like that. I won't let you hit yourself while you're down when you're trying to be better."

"Thank you, Skystrike." He could feel a warmth from her words. "Hope you're doing well. What did you call for?"

"More an update on things. I'm in Saddle Arabia, just learned that genies do exist. So getting you a body may not be a pipe dream. Also related, Tethys spoke about how her race is able to change forms by converting magic into mass. With the same technique, I may be able to make you a body, even if this genie thing is a bust, which it probably will be. There's no way I'd find it in this desert..."

"Oh... I'm quite surprised you're so serious about giving me a new form. I'm thankful, don't get me wrong, but I thought on it more, and maaaaaybe it isn't a good idea." She poked her hooves together.

Skystrike sighed. "Nightmare, if I know you well enough from sharing my mind space, you're probably thinking you haven't gotten along enough with Luna to do it, or you think Celestia will think you're controlling me, or both." Skystrike heard a hum of acknowledgement. "I don't care much about their worries on this. All we need to do is show that their worries wont happen. In the end, it's up to you. Just tell me when you think you're ready."

"I will... Also, would you mind if I go through your memories? It's nice to feel like I'm there with you and your friends."

"Go for it, but I will warn you the last couple of days weren't exactly pleasant ones."

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." Nightmare said. Skystrike could feel their connection breaking. Good to know the two alicorns of the night are getting better.

Skystrike saw the silver guard approach him again, with a map and a box held in his hooves. Skystrike stood up and met the pony half way. "Here you are." The pony put the box and map on the floor ground in front of Skystrike. "Three board games, one map, with note of the geology. I was able to get the best one I could. And thanks for saving my cousin, I was worried sick." The pony put out a hoof.

Skystrike laughed at the small world and shook his hoof. "No problem. Take care of yourselves." Skystrike did a quick check of the items before picking them up and going back onto his ship. The map was quite detailed, showing the desert they were in, as well as all of Griffonstone, Zebrafrica, part of the Dragon Lands, and Part of the Dragon Seas. The other two places he was going to stop at, Diamondia and Hippogriffia, were further south than the map showed. Still seems like they'll still have to go off their notes.

He raised the ramp and began to power the ship engine, making them take into the sky once more. He continued south, but at a slower speed to think. Zecora noticed the look on his face. "What are you thinking about, to make you have that look of doubt?"

"Uh... Genies exist, and-"

"Genies exist!?" The three girls went.

Skystrike nodded. "Yeah, the hard part is figuring out how to find one in this big ass desert."

"Well..." Elytra began. "This may be related, but I could smell a large amount of sadness and loneliness when we entered this desert."

"Interesting..." Skystrike leaned forward in his chair. "Wanna play a game of hot or cold?"

Elytra let the Wind Waker keep moving forward. "It's getting stronger... go south- no, south-east." Skystrike turned his ship south east and flew for a few moments. "Now south, directly south." He turned the ship once more. "We're directly above it."

Skystrike stood up and rolled his metal shoulder. "I'd invite you three with me, but this should be quick." He opened the door outside and jumped down off the Wind Waker. He slowed his fall with wind, landing elegantly on the sand. Damn, it was hot. The human did a quick skim of his surroundings. "Yep, nothing but sand as far as I can see." He thought of the quickest way to find the source of the sadness and loneliness. Well, anything that isn't sand would probably suffice.

He clenched his hands as he formed his mana into magic through his hands. Skystrike clenched his hands as he felt power surge through his body, then to the sand dunes below him. The ground glowed a cerulean blue as Skystrike put in more and more magic within it. With a strained face, he moved his arms down before lifting them above his head, all the sand in large twenty meter radius moving above his head as well. He looked all around him, seeing no sign of anything worth while. Well, there was some bones of creatures he's never seen before, it was quite cool, but it wasn't what he was looking for.

He slowly spun his arms around in a circular motion, making the the sand fall, layer by layer, watching as each item fell back to the ground. Bones, bugs, there were some lost items that he checked just in case, but there weren't many things to note. Any items of value he did find, from the dates, there were no beings alive left to have sentimental value. He'd leave the stuff for the history nerds. He continued the motions for a few minutes only for Elytra to teleport next to him. "You were taking a while. Any problems?"

"Just taking a while to sift through the sand."

Elytra looked around at the sand still above them. "By the pantheon, could you always do this!?"

"Yeah, but any way, now that you're here, you can focus in on what we're looking for... Anything speaking to you?"

The changeling looked around at the sand above her. It took her a few moments to triangulate where the source of the emotions were coming from. She buzzed her wings, flying up to the sand and beginning to dig. In a few moments, she pulled down a platinum lamp, decorated with various gems and engravings. She could feel a faint magic from it, almost like a lock. Elytra flew down to Skystrike, who released all the sand from his grasp. He shook his hands to get rid of the tenseness.

He made a small barrier around him and his sister to avoid the sand getting in their eyes and clothes. Skystrike crouched down and looked at the lamp in Elytra's hooves. "Well that's... convenient... I feel like we're being set up for a plot point."

"What?"

"Nothing." Skystrike shook his head. "Get the others. I'll meet you back on the ship." Elytra nodded, teleporting away with the lamp while Skystrike jumped back onto the ship. He reached into his bag for a sheet of paper and a pen and began to write, making a detailed list just in case it was a monkey's paw type of thing. After a few minutes, Elytra, Tethys, and Zecora all came to the deck of the ship with him. Elytra handed him the lamp, giving him the honors. He rubbed it.

The lamp began to rattle, floating our of his hands and into the air. He took a warry step back as the rattling turned into violent shaking. In moments, a pony like wisp escaped from the mouth of the lamp. It took on an alicorn form, with a blue coat and long pink mane. On her forehooves, it, assuming a she from the shape of the body, was wearing engraved cold bracelets. She also wore a golden necklace and circlet, each with an opal on them. She donned a transparent veil, covering her muzzle as she opened her golden eyes. "Ahahaha, it's been so long!" She laughed as she stretched, spinning around as she did so. "You wouldn't believe how lonely it gets in there..." The genie looked to the ever reaching sky, wondering where she was. She turned to see the group. "...This is the weirdest flying carpet I've ever seen, and even a weirder group of beings before me!"

She was quite animated. Not so much as Pinkie, but it's noticeable. Skystrike chuckled. "Guess you're one for small talk."

"You have no idea." The genie said with a bit of excitement, but a noticeable amount of dread. "Where did you find me, anyway?"

"Under about ten feet of sand." Skystrike admitted. "Thank Elytra here. She was the one who was able to find you."

"Oh, where are my manners? Let me introduce myself. I'm Djilisa! Coolest and prettiest Djinn on this plane of existence of yours..." Her smile fell a bit. "I guess this is the part where I say 'you get three wishes'... No monkey's paw, I'll know exactly what you mean when you say it, but the long term consequences are on all of you. There are just four rules. No wishing for death, no falling in love, no bringing back dead beings, and no wishing for extra wishes."

Skystrike smiled. "I wish for seven more genies."

Djilisa narrowed her eyes. "...There are five rules." She said before laughing. "But I will say, that was clever! I haven't thought of that loop hole!" Then she got in his face with a stern look. "But on a more serious note, that falls under asking for more wishes."

"Meh, fair enough." Skystrike gave her the list he wrote earlier. "I wish everything on that list comes true."

Djilisa looked at the list with an annoyed look, but it soon turned to an amused one. "You know, I was originally gonna say no, but there are all pretty good... Normally you creatures are selfish, but these are heart warming." She began to read some off. "Everyone should be able to fall asleep as soon as they try to fall asleep and wake up well rested, everyone taking a test that they aren't confident on but studied for keeps all of the information they studied for for the duration of the test, overall better mental health... sure, I'll grant those. Those ones specifically are on me. You all still got three wishes." She clapped her hooves together.

Skystrike pumped a fist. "Hell yeah, truly the coolest genie! But there were two more on that list?"

"Ah, yes..." Djilisa winced. "Normally, if some idiot wishes for immortality, I grant it in the most gruesome way. And while you didn't wish for immortality, just a longer life span is pushing it. Even if I wanted to extend your life span, because your from another dimension, the wishes I can grant to you specifically are few... As for the fifth wish about making a new body, that counts as bringing back the dead, as I am giving life to something."

Skystrike sighed. "Well, that was a bust... Alright, Tethys, Elytra, Zecora, you guys can have the three wishes."

Tethys smirked. "I haven't had much time to think about it, but I know exactly what I want! An indestructible camera with infinite, indestructible, film!"

Djilisa's eyes lit up. "Oh my, that is quite a good one! Holding on to memories is tough for those of us with long lifespans." Then the genie looked to Elytra. "Yours?"

"Uh... When I meet my soulmate, I'd like something in my mind that tells me I've met my soulmate."

"Aw~! A changeling wanting to fall in love!" Djilisa cooed. "It doesn't count as falling in love, so I can do that... All that leaves is you." She looked at Zecora.

Zecora thought about it for a few moments. "I wish for a book on potions, every recipe past and present, as brewing is my devotion."

"I see, I see. I can do that. Just use it responsibly." She smiled. With a clap of her hooves, everything they asked for were given. A blue energy came from her hooves and surrounded Tethys and Elytra, while a thick book materialized in front of Zecora. "I must admit, you're all an interesting group. It's a bit sad I have to go so soon... I'd like to see how much this world has changed in the past couple centuries." She sighed.

Skystrike had a thought. "Well... this counts as a loop hole, but I gave my three wishes to my friends. If they rub the lamp, you can come back out, right? Assuming that one person only gets three wishes."

Djilisa rubbed her chin, thinking. "Well... maybe? I don't truly know how the seal on the lamp works..."

"Well, then I have an idea, if you can give me a fourth wish?"

She hesitated, but she didn't have much to lose. "...Very well, you may have one wish."

Skystrike nodded. "I wish for you to have the ability to grant your own wishes."

Djilisa blinked. "I... I can do that? I can do that!" She clapped her hooves. In a bright blue light erupted from her lamp, as well as the sound of shattering glass. "I did it! I broke my seal! This is amazing!" She pulled the rest of her body out of the lamp and stepped on the deck of the ship. "I can-... I can walk! I can feel this!"

The four watched as the genie laughed, running around the deck of the ship. Tethys turned her sight to Skystrike. "Well, that was nice and all, but are you sure that was a good idea? You kinda let a wish maker free."

"She's still a genie. I assume there's her own set of rules she has to follow." Skystrike shrugged.

"You know, I like Pinkie and all, but I was somewhat looking forward to not having to deal with her... what's the word for it? Antics? For a while... and now it seems like we have one that can warp reality..." Elytra sighed.

Djilisa teleported between the four with a bright smile. "Oh, don't worry, no offense, but I don't plan on sticking around for long." She spun around several times on her back hooves, before spreading out her arms towards the setting sun. "There's so much out there for me! To see! To explore! To experience! Actually..." She turned to face the four. "Where should I go first? Surely you all know good places to visit!"

Tethys thought. "Well, the ponies in Equestria have a lot of good stuff. They have dozens of places to see."

"But before you go..." Skystrike pointed to his forehead. "Don't be an alicorn while you do it. Disguise yourself."

Djilisa nodded, using her magic to make her wings invisible. "Okthanksseeyouallsoonthankyoubye!" She spoke quickly enough to give Pinkie a run for her money before disappearing with a flash.

Skystrike blinked. "I feel like this may come back to bite me."

Author's Note:

I tried to show Skystrike's moral compass more in this chapter. Hope it went well.
Alder will show up in later chapters for anyone who likes that old griffon, don't worry.

Also, finally finished College. I'll be able to write these more often while I look for a job that I can use my major for. For now, more pony content.

I'm not gonna lie, I added the genie because I want to do some funny stuff with her later, more as a gag character if I remember. Probably will appear again, but more for a plot point so people for people who would've thought "Why didn't he wish for a longer life?" It'd be too simple a fix for the story I planned out.

I know I said last time that the four would be in Diamondia, but next chapter for sure. I don't realize how much I have to write until I write it. I try not to have things too short to feel like it's a passing thought, but not to long where it's boring.

Hope to get the next chapter out soon. Until then, thanks for reading as always.

Comments

[Bruuuuuuuuh]

Welp, there's a wishmaker on the loose
If they ever start granting Pinkie's wishes then the universe is doomed
Also great chapter, Skystrike is as oblivious as always with romance only concerning himself

[DarkStorm365]

I thought Elytra could fix the magic poisoning problem?

[mustangdrew4]

Super cool wishes on that piece of paper Sky wrote on. Probably some from personal experience?

Was super cool to see Sky pulling an Ironman moment by flying onto the ship to take out the guards before the ship got to the ambush point. Also it was cathartic seeing Garrry getting some therapeutic hits in on the blackmailing captain.