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Warning : the following dark fanfiction contains OBLIGOTARY SEX SCENE OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE... so, yeah. Reader discretion is advised.

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My Little Pony

The Aeons of Equestria

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Episode 8: Inherited Sins

"So she knew you had five friends?" Reno asked as the pony by his arm slowly pulled away his sleeve. Bloodied and still damp, the fleece hit the library floor with a thud.

"I don't see why she couldn't have known. She met them all shortly after we defeated Nightmare Moon." Twilight Sparkle said inspecting the claw-marks gouged into Reno's flesh. The wounds had clotted, but his skin had swollen around the wounds making them look enflamed and painful.

Reno winced at the sight of the wounds and looked away. "Yet Princess Celestia only sent two tickets to the gala?"

Across the library the other ponies nodded. "Tha's the gist of it." Applejack responded with a light chuckle.

It had taken Reno and Rarity most of the day to walk back to Ponyville. The Diamond dogs hadn't given chase. They had arrived back into the welcoming arms of the other ponies shortly before dark. There had been all sorts of treats waiting for them, from a banquet of pies and cakes to ponies fussing over Reno's injuries. Eventually, as the sun began to set he'd put off tending to his wounds long enough.

Twilight had wrapped some clean bandages over Reno's busted knuckles and was taking an intimate look at his arm. The other ponies had settled in the chairs laying around the library and watched a little too curiously as Reno had taken his sweater off.

Neither Rarity nor Reno had said a word about Spike. Both had agreed to hope for the best. Neither had seen a corpse to confirm Spike's death, so they had agreed to consider the dragon was still alive.

"And that's the part I can't get over!" Reno exclaimed looking between them. The ponies had been telling him about the time they attended an annual ball known as the Grand Galloping Gala, as well as the story behind how they all got invitations. "She knew all of you. She knew you'd want to go to the gala... but she gave Twilight two invitations? I dunno, guys. This princess sounds like a total bitch!"

Huffing, Twilight slapped her hand over the wounds on Reno's arm and squeezed. The human cringed and cried out in pain, his voice growing a little higher.

"Argh! Hey, watch..." he glanced up and saw the look on Twilight's face, before he remembered about the unicorn telling him how she was the princess' star pupil and how the two of them were thick as thieves. "I mean... Princess Celestia sounds lovely." He quickly added a grin, drawing a smile from Twilight.

"I'm sure that's what you think." She said a little pessimistically before her horn started to glow. Streams of light like the tracks of tears travelled down and slid over the side of her face, disappeared under the collar of her blouse, then re-appeared over her arm. The light crawled across lavender fur and grew more vibrant around her hand, before jabbing directly into Reno's arm. The human twitched, feeling a burning sensation scream up and down his arm before Twilight removed her hand.

The light began to fade. The swelling and inflammation subsided. The torn apart skin meshed together again and scabbed over. The scabs then cracked and grew brittle, breaking and crumbling away. Soon he was looking a plain blood smears over a surface of smooth and un-scaved skin. Over a month's natural healing happened before Reno's eyes in a matter of seconds.

"Cool." The human whispered, flexing his shoulder.

"Here, I'll do your hand too." Twilight said, taking Reno's bandaged hand. Tenderly she removed the wrappings and looked at the clotted tears on his knuckles.

Light danced over her fur again, travelling down from her horn and connected with Reno's skin. Once again, he watched his wounds mend themselves and scabs crumble away to reveal the healed skin.

But when she was finished, Twilight didn't let go of Reno's hand. Slowly Reno looked up to see her gorgeous brown eyes delve deep into his own, catching him a little off-guard. She had a little grin on her mouth, her eyes half shut almost as if she were looking at him through her long, black eyelashes. Recoiling slightly, Reno snatched back his hand and rubbed his knuckles. As he flexed his fingers, he felt mended joints crack lightly beneath the skin.

All across the room the ponies seemed to watch his every movement. Each one of them had that dreamy, eyes-half-closed-with-a-little-grin look on their face. What freaked him out was the fact they all seemed a little different than how he was used to seeing them.

Applejack's hat lay on a reading table and she had undone her blonde mane, letting it fall in loose waves down over her shoulders. Fluttershy had her pink hair pulled back into a French-braid so that everypony could actually see her face framed by a few loose strands of her mane. Rarity had disappeared with Rainbow Dash earlier when Reno was stuffing his face with pies, feeling like he hadn't eaten in weeks. She'd managed to get all cleaned up and had re-appeared in the library with her make-up fixed, mane curled and brushed wearing a violet regal looking corset of some sort with a mini-skirt. Rainbow Dash had almost drawn a scream from the human when she had re-appeared. She had a subtle blush her cheeks, with a touch of eyeliner forming a darker shade of cyan on her eye-lids. Her rainbow mane was plaited into a pair of pig-tails, and her usually ruffled tail was combed and neat. Against all odds, the rainbow-pegasus looked presentable. Obviously she had let Rarity clean her up and given her access to a wardrobe. Instead of looking like she was fresh out of the gym, Dash was wearing a pair of jeans strategically torn to seem stylish, along with a jacket that revealed her slim-mid-riff and seemed to plump up her comparatively flat chest.

And then there was Pinkie Pie...

Pinkie Pie was a complete recluse. Her cotton candy mane was completely deflated into a long straight style and a daisy pinned behind her right ear. Instead of being energetic and bouncy, she just seemed to sit there in one of the loungers with the back turned towards Reno. Pinkie Pie was sitting up on her knees, elbows resting on the backrest and her head resting in her hands as her mouth seemed to pull a squiggly, cartoony grin.

Reno slowly stood from where he sat and shuffled away from them. He was about to ask what they were looking at when Applejack rose from her seat.

"Y'know, we've been talkin' amongst ahr'selves." She began, followed by Dash who quickly stretched out her wings, then folded them back down along her back.

"We were talking about how much we've come to like you, Reno." The cyan Pegasus said with a small shrug as she moved closer to the human. As she walked, she seemed to sway her hips a little.

Rarity and Fluttershy did the same as they rose together, moving closer around Reno. Pinkie Pie seemed to close her eyes and smile broadly as she clambered over the backrest of her chair and landed with a clumsy stumble. Giggling it off, she moved past Twilight who leaned forward and rose from her seat and moved around Reno's side. Before he knew it he was surrounded by the ponies, all giving him bedroom-eyes.

"Uh... li... like me?" Reno asked a little obliviously. "Well, I suppose you've grown on me too?" he didn't seem to state it, more like ask it as if he wasn't even sure if he liked the ponies.

"No-no!" Pinkie Pie giggled. "We 'like you' like you, Reenie-Pie."

Reno frowned, still not quite seeing the bigger picture.

"Um... we all wanted to be with you." Came Fluttershy's soft voice. "Because... you know... you were brave... and... um... nice... and..."

Wrapping an arm warmly around her struggling friend, Rarity quickly took over. "You've been the closest thing we've had to a prince enter our lives, darling."

"Ya'll could have, but you didn't lie to us, or cheat." Applejack said.

"You were nice enough to protect us when the situation exploded." Fluttershy whispered.

"You were generous and brave enough to come rescue me." Rarity added.

"You've been nothing but fun!" Pinkie exclaimed typically.

"And if you were any cooler, you'd probably explode." Rainbow Dash joked with a chuckle.

Twilight smiled as Reno's eyes rested on hers. Twilight Sparkle didn't have to say anything. Her reasons were a little vague to the human, but he didn't doubt there was a reason she liked him too. Raising his hands to form a makeshift barrier between them and him, Reno took half a step back. He was finally seeing where this was going.

"Whoa, okay all of you realise I'm a human, right?" Reno paused as the ponies slowly approached him. "And you all realise that means I'm not a pony."

"What difference does that make?" Rainbow Dash asked with a shrug.

"What difference does that make." Reno repeated in a defeated tone. "C'mon, girls. We're not even the same species! Wouldn't coming on to me, all of you at once especially, be seen as a little freaky to other ponies?"

"Ah think that brings back the same question, sugahcube." Applejack said coming up behind Reno and throwing her arms around him. He felt her nuzzle his neck while her soft breasts pressed against the human's shoulder blades. Her hands slipped down over Reno's abdomen and pulled loose the buckle of his utility belt. "What diff'rence does it make?"

Reno stepped away in a panic as the belt came loose, but he tripped over his own feet. With a small cry he twisted and fell heavily on his side, rolling onto his back before propping himself up on his elbows. The ponies already shrank to his side. Fluttershy and Rarity were sitting on their knees by Reno's, their hands gently holding down his legs. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were gathered around Reno's mid-section, with Pinkie and Twilight knelt by his shoulders. All of them seemed to lean over him, gently pressing their hands down to hold him in place while they raped him with their lust filled gazes.

"O...kay... this situation is very quickly spiralling out of control." Reno muttered under his breath, before raising his voice. "This really is borderline rape. What am I saying? Borderline? This is rape, full-stop."

"So why haven't you done anything to stop us, silly-filly!?" Pinkie Pie giggled before she leaned in and pecked her lips against Reno's cheek in a sweet kiss.

Reno's eyes nearly exploded out of their sockets. Good question. The human's following thoughts were along the lines of 'Fuck it' before he handed himself over to the will of those six horny mares. He watched helplessly as Fluttershy and Rarity undid the belt holding up his KSK trousers, then undid the button and zipper. While they worked, two pairs of mare-hands grabbed Reno's t-shirt and pulled it up and over his head.

When his head came free he saw Fluttershy pull off her dress to reveal she was only wearing a pair of panties underneath while Rarity pulled Reno's boxer's down with a wide grin. A shadow slid over Reno's vision and he saw Pinkie Pie was standing over him. In the matter of a millisecond, Pinkie Pie was naked. He hadn't seen her begin to take her clothes off. She just appeared out of nowhere... naked.

Reno felt a pair of lips clamp around his privates and gasped looking down. Rarity had her fingers wrapped around Reno's flaccid member and her lips tight around the head. She started bobbing her head up and down as Fluttershy eagerly cuddled up beside the white unicorn. Fluttershy's tongue started lapping over the part of the shaft as her friend pulled her fingers away.

Two of them eagerly worked, sucking and licking to bring Reno to a full erection within seconds. Sighing deeply, Reno let his head drop back, hitting heavily against the wooden floor beneath him. He knew this was wrong... but he just didn't care anymore. Every guy in the world he'd come from strived to have something like this happen to him. He wasn't about to nit-pick at the fact he was living the grand wet-dream with ponies.

He'd died and gone to heaven. That was it...

Rarity bobbed deeper a few times, her tongue grating over the bottom of the shaft as her wet, warm lips glode up and down his member. She then popped her lips over the head and confined herself to one side of his erection. Fluttershy quickly moved in and started tending to the other half before he was left in the cold. Together the two ponies licked and rubbed their lips along his member, smiling and even giggling cutely as they saw Reno's stunned expression.

Pinkie Pie suddenly stepped over Reno and squatted, dropping to her knees.

"Don't be so lazy, Reenie." The pink mare snickered behind a hand as she pressed her nether regions against Reno's mouth.

Her lips immediately parted and Reno was overwhelmed by a sweet odour. It smelled almost like... no... that wasn't biologically possible.

Reno poked his tongue out, drawing a pleasured shudder from Pinkie. His tongue met the soft flesh between her lips and slowly slithered upward to a particularly sensitive part. Pinkie Pie let out a long sigh before Reno moved his tongue back down to her opening again. Her juices were flowing as she grew more aroused with every passing second. While Fluttershy and Rarity slurped somewhere unseen below, he let the circus smells fill his human senses.

Pinkie Pie was as sweet as she looked, actually smelling and tasting like fresh cotton-candy. Finding himself surprisingly eager, he probed his tongue into her, feeling the mare squirm as she moaned.

Feeling his tongue going numb after several uncounted minutes of licking, Reno wasn't sure if it was a good idea that sprang into his head, or just a desperate move out of laziness. With her sweet scent filling his nostrils and the feeling of fluids drooling down Reno's cheek, the human reached up and pressed his hands against Pinkie Pie's flanks. The moment his fingers touched the balloons imprinted in her fur, Pinkie lost all control.

Instantly the bubble-gum pony doubled over, her eyes clenched shut. Her hands slapped against the ground to catch herself as her muscles clamped against Reno's tongue. Her twitched, bucking her slit against the human's mouth, letting out a loud moan that sounded like something between a cry of joy and a giggle while she came.

Sweet, cotton-candy flavoured juices flowed for a moment across Reno's tongue before Pinkie slowly lifted herself up. Flopping to one side she giggled feverishly, curling up on the ground somewhere beside Reno and clutching her tummy while she squirmed.

"Oh, t-that... wa... was-s g-go-oo-ood." She managed to get out through her laughter and pants for breath.

Glancing down Reno saw what he'd been feeling all throughout Pinkie's orgasm.

Rarity and Fluttershy had changed over. While the white unicorn's fingers continued to pump in and out of Fluttershy's pussy, drawing soft and muffled moans from the yellow Pegasus, Rarity worked her tongue up and down the human's shaft while her friend had her lips wrapped over the head. The winged mare's head bobbed a little as she suckled gently for a while, drawing a few pleasured shudders from Reno.

"Ahl'right, girls." Applejack leaned over, brushing the duo away. "Leave a little 'fer the rest o' us."

With a wet pop, Fluttershy lifted her head and let Reno's pop from her lips. She glanced up and the shy pony gave a little smile before moving over with Rarity to give Applejack some room.

All he saw when he looked down was Applejack close her hand around his shaft and hold it steady as her other hand parted her wet nether-lips. As they spread, he saw a glint of her excitement matting the fur on her inner thigh. She started rubbing her slippery slit across the head, lubing it gently, then let go of his erection causing it to slap against his belly. Sitting back, Applejack pressed her wet, slick lips against the bottom of his shaft and started rubbing slowly up and down. Her warm fluids coated his skin, drawing an excited tremble from the human.

Feeling she'd tortured him enough, AJ gave a playful look over her shoulder and leaned forward, balancing on her knees to reveal her own excitement. Her pussy lips were swollen and parted on their own, glistening in the lamplights. She scooped up his shaft and pressed the head against her opening again. She parted as she pressed down. He felt his erection bend in her wet, velvety walls squeezing him from all around. Reno's heart skipped several beats once again as he felt himself hilted within the earth-pony.

"Ah, yeah, darlin'. Tha's good." The cowgirl-pony reached back and pulled loose her white-blonde hair, letting it fall down in loose waves to her waist.

Reno's chest heaved as he caught his breath before Applejack rode him reverse cowgirl, her wet pussy grinding up and down his shaft tightly. Looking over he saw Rainbow Dash had leapt to her hooves and undid her jeans. She rocked her hips from side to side, peeling the tight pants along with her panties down along her long, athletic legs. Kicking off the jeans, she stepped over Reno then crouched over his face, pressing her swollen lips against Reno's mouth.

Knowing the drill, just like he'd done for Pinkie Pie, he ate Rainbow Dash out. But unlike tasting like cotton candy, Dash was spicy. He imagined it was how a rainbow tasted, her juices left a hot tingling sensation on his tongue, burning through the muscle as the tip found a particular nub of flesh just above her opening and lapped up and down. Dash began to squirm, crying out and panting for breath as she felt pleasure race through her groin with every wet lap of the human's tongue.

Somewhere in the background, over AJ and Dash's combined breaths Reno could hear a sweet moan. Beside them Fluttershy was held tight in Rarity's arms. The pegasus' head was resting back on her friend's shoulder while her legs were spread wide. One of Rarity's hands was massaging Fluttershy's perky breasts while her other hand disappeared into the yellow mare's panties. Through the moans the squelch Rarity's fingers made while they played with fluttershy's nether-lips was just about audible. A wet patch had formed along the front of her panties as Fluttershy's mouth fell open and let out a moan louder than her usual voice was.

Time seemed to fly past. He wasn't aware of the minutes ticking by since they began, but before he knew it half an hour had passed. He wasn't sure how he could tell, but his body could only take so much. He could feel the ache for more within his loins reach a climax. He was close...

One of Reno's hands moved down and found Applejack's hip as she continued to bounce up and down in his lap. His other hand moved upward and touched Rainbow Dash's flank. He raked his fingers down along the emblem of a rainbow-lightening bolt striking from a white cloud, hearing and feeling Dash cum against his lips.

The cyan Pegasus cried out at the ceiling, eyes clenched shut. Her hips bucked against Reno's lips as her juices ran down the human's cheek. At the same time he raked his fingers across AJ's cutie-mark. Almost at the same time as Dash, Applejack came when his skin made contact with her flank. Those flank-markings were Reno's saving grace, turning what could be hours of lovemaking into a more comfortable timeframe.

He felt Applejack clench as she cried out. Warmth spread across his shaft, buried deep in her tight, soft folds as she came while he penetrated her as deep as he could go. Reno managed to avert his mind long enough to prevent himself from cumming inside her.

"Aaaawh, yee-haw!" AJ cried with a smile, looking over her shoulder while Dash tried to recover from her own orgasm. "Darlin, ah'm seein' stars."

"Thtsh nnths." Came Reno's muffled response before Rainbow Dash shifted to her side and collapsed without words to describe how she was feeling beside Pinkie Pie. The cyan Pegasus curled up and squirmed with delight, wrapping her own wings around her body. AJ wasn't the only one seeing stars. Reno felt like he'd run a marathon without even doing anything.

He felt Applejacks tight wet tunnel slide up over his shaft, leaving his wet skin hanging in the cool air.

Droplets of sweat had formed on Reno's forehead as he panted to catch his breath while the last of Twilight's friends crawled aside to bask in the afterglow. Stripping the last of her own clothing, a lavender unicorn straddled Reno while he sat up and leaned back on the palms of his hands. He felt her delicate hands cup his face and push his gaze up to her glistening eyes. Twilight Sparkle was smiling now that she would finally have her turn with the one her body desired. She would have to tank Applejack later.

"Oh..." shamefully, Reno had almost forgotten about Twilight. Having never even been in a threesome before, his brain was still struggling to catch up on the logistics behind a seven-some. Honestly, he wasn't even that good at normal sex. Suddenly attempting to please six mares was a bit of an overload. "Hi, Twilight. You want to go too?" he gave a playful grin, still panting for breath while she nodded. "Well... gimme a sec would you?" he added with a chuckle.

The unicorn chuckled back, gently pushing down on his shoulders until the human fell flat on his back. Sitting on her knees and leaning over the human with her face only millimetres from his, Twilight Sparkle fluttered her eyelashes. He could smell books and leather binders in her fur and hair as the single lock of pink mane fell across Reno's cheek.

"Don't worry, Reno." She whispered softly. "You don't have to prove anything to me. Consider this a thank you for last night."

He saw Twilight reach down and closed his eyes, feeling her warm fingers wrap around his shaft. Slowly the unicorn leaned back and pressed herself against the head of his length. Her wet lips parted and slowly, millimetre by millimetre slid his length into her wet opening. Twilight gasped, feeling her inner walls part to the point of breaking.

And then there was a sharp pain. It lanced through twilight's insides and caused her to twitch with a light: "Ow!"

Caught in the pleasurable, soft tingling racing through his loins as he entered her, Reno didn't realise something broke inside the mare, and only heard her cry out. Instantly he opened his eyes and went to sit up. "Oh, God. I'm sorry, are you okay?" he asked breathlessly with a worried expression.

Twilight quickly nodded. "Yes, of course." She smiled, pushing him back down again. "I'm better than okay." Leaned over him, the lavender unicorn pressed her lips against Reno's. She pressed her forearms flush against the ground, hands holding his head in place while she probed her tongue into Reno's mouth.

As they kissed, Twilight started shifting back and forth. Reno felt her wet walls drag over his shaft, up and down as she moved. The unicorn moaned into their kiss, breathing heavier with every passing moment. Looking up he saw her horn begin to glow. Veins of white light spiralled down along the grooves of the alicorn that twisted and arched around to its base hidden under Twilight's mane.

Already, as Twilight started twitching after just a minute of their lovemaking, Reno could feel something build up within him. He felt the pressure build and his muscles seize up.

Twilight gently broke the kiss and sat straight up on her knees, sitting back and burying his shaft deeper inside her. In the dim light Reno's eyes couldn't help follow the sleek curves of the unicorn's body. Her nipples were erect as her pert breasts bounced with every thrust. She would lift off for a moment, then drop sharply back down, each thrust causing Reno's head to crash against the opening of her womb. Each crash drew a fresh moan from Twilight as her face began to literally glow with joy. The corners of her mouth were turned up, her eyes gently shut with her head angled back a bit.

Her hands raked down over Reno's chest as she felt him swell inside her.

"God... Twilight... I..." Reno panted. "I don't think I can..."

He didn't finish his sentence as Twilight nodded. "It's - ah - okay... let... oh, moon and stars... aaah... let it... ah... let it go inside..."

Once again, he pressed his hands against the mare's flanks, but not because he thought it would make her orgasm like the other ponies before. It was a reflex action. He needed to grab hold of something, feeling like he might slip off the face of Equestria if he didn't. He saw the markings on her hips begin to glow white light like that surrounding her horn. Twilight's back arched and she came.

At the same time Reno felt like he exploded, wave after wave of hot, sticky semen bursting up into the unicorn. He lost count after one twitch. He seemed to twitch inside her forever, squirt after squirt of cum filling her up, drawing warm moans of joy from the mare riding him. She had stopped thrusting and ground her hips tight against the human's.

Stars exploded around the room as Twilight came at the exact time. He felt her juices swirl around his shaft as her wet insides squeezed against him. Her whole body seemed to tremble as well as flashes of light shot this way and that from her horn.

And as quickly as it had come, the magic faded. The light gave way to the long shadows filling the dim library as Twilight collapsed on top of the human. He grew soft inside her and seemed to naturally slip out. Feeling quite empty without him inside her, Twilight rolled onto her side, falling on the library floor. Her eyes were shut, her mouth hung open as they both caught their breath. The other ponies had settled down and had fallen asleep in the warm and musty library.

The lavender unicorn's mouth moved a little. "I love you, Reno." Twilight Sparkle whispered before she drifted away into sleep...

The human lay there for a long time, staring at her closed eyes, his mind very slowly processing everything that had happened. After a while he managed to sit up and climb to his feet.

Reno sighed as he did up his trousers again and pulled on his t-shirt, watching the ponies sleeping peacefully on the library floor. It was becoming all too apparent to him that he might not be going home... and now one of them clearly stated she was in love with him? That thought caused him to choke. It seemed like the walls of the library were closing in to suffocate him. Shaking himself down, the human briskly moved to the door and wrenched it open, stepping out into the cool air. He needed to clear his head.

Standing on the porch, Reno took a deep breath, feeling goose bumps follow comfortable chills running up his body. Closing the door behind him, the human took a few steps outside, looking around. A tiny crescent of the sun still peeked around a tall mountain to the east, causing an explosion of reds and oranges to smear across the streaky clouds in the sky. Reno's shadow was about three times his size, laying flat over the paved Ponyville street.

Reno was staring at it when he noted black movement to his side. Another shadow swiftly slid into sight. It closed right up to his own, before the two meshed together. Reno whipped around, but didn't get a good look.

All he saw was a blur of gold and white before something hard and cold slammed into the side of his face. Reno whirled around and fell to his knees, clutching a freshly busted lip, tasting copper on his tongue. As he opened his mouth to cry out, something hard struck the back of his head. His teeth chattered shut, sending pain shooting through the corner of his tongue where he bit it.

The world tilted forward and the ground rushed closer to meet him as he landed face down on the pavement.

There was a metallic 'clunk' as a golden boot slammed into the ground beside Reno's face... and everything went black.

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After being dead, being unconscious was easy. Although the headache was no less painful.

What made it worse was the fact Reno felt his fingertips dig against a smooth marble floor. Already he knew he wasn't even in Ponyville anymore which made his predicament, and headache, worse. He'd been kidnapped.

With a groan, the human opened his eyes and pressed his palms against the cold floor. Slowly he managed to sit up on his knees and lift his head, sitting back on the heels of his hiking boots. Letting his pupils adjust to the change of light, Reno looked around to find himself in some sort of palace.

Above his head were vaulted ceilings like the roof of a church almost. To his left and right were tall wooden podiums where Reno saw ponies of every shape, size and description sit like a sea of multi-colours. They watched in silence as a murmur of discomfort rippled through the royal courts.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" came a woman's voice, her commanding tone drawing instant silence from the crowds watching Reno push himself to his feet.

He was only half standing when he froze, looking like he was about to pounce on something. His eyes slowly crawled up through the courts until he saw the podium directly ahead of him. There was a massive stained window clad in a multitude of jagged shapes and colours depicting two anthropomorphic ponies looming down over a kneeling figure. The figure on his knees didn't have a face, but it looked oddly... human?

Standing before the stained glass were two grand mares, the full moon outside casting a pale glow through the windows and illuminating them with a sparkling backlight. Dust sifting through the moon's beams seemed to glint and flash like stars around the two winged unicorns

They stood before him, two rows of Pegasus ponies in heavy looking gold-plated armour holding on to swords forming a path to where the human stood. Slowly the two majestic ponies moved closer.

The shorter of the two, obviously the younger one seemed like a typical rebel seventeen-year old. Her fur was an evening sort of dark greyish-purple colour, and she wore a midnight black top with short sleeves that ended just above her hips, showing a little of her mid-riff. She had a similarly black skirt with a design of a crescent moon over her hip, and black slippers affixed to her hooves. Her teal eyes were heavily laden with eye-liner, and as if she were royalty, she wore a black tiara just behind her horn. Her mane and tail were deep violet, and seemed to shimmer and flow like a thick fog, unaffected by her movements, or even the draft blowing through the courts.

Like her younger sister seemed to be the ruler of night, the taller, older regal figure was ruler of the day. And she seemed the more intimidating. Quite obviously Princess Celestia, just going by Twilight's earlier descriptions. Taller than the sister that seemed to follow in her shadow, Celestia was similarly slim with a pinkish-white coat and a magical mane and tail that shimmered multiple colours and flowed from her scalp like mercury caught in the wind. Bands of cyan, turquoise, azure and purple wavered and weaved all around. With golden slippers affixed to her hooves, the princess was clad in a long white sleeveless dress that seemed to follow the slender shape of her tall body. Around her neck was a broad golden collar that formed a low V-shape down her chest, along with a golden belt forming a similar shape at the buckle. Planted on her right hip was a golden emblem depicting a stylized sun with jagged rays arching outwards. On her head was a grand golden tiara, grander than that of her sister, and adorned with a turquoise emerald.

She halted a few metres away from Reno and glared at him, her magenta eyes feeling like they were piercing into his very soul. One hand was resting on a slender hip as she waited for a response from the human.

"Well?" came her voice, the same as before that had caused him to hesitate while climbing to his feet.

"W..." Reno squinted and shook his head. "I... uh..." he wasn't even sure what the question was about, so he merely came out with; "You must be Princess Celestia." Reno said. He recognised the golden boots on the regal sisters' guards and sighed. Honestly, from royalty the young man had expected better manners than ambushing and kidnapping.

"Don't act coy, general." Princess Celestia snapped like an impatient teacher scolding a naughty student. "Now answer the question."

General? Wasn't that what Cutter had called Reno? "Alright, that's the second time today someone has called me 'general.' What the fuck his going on here?" Reno shouted angrily now, drawing a twitch from the guards. That mere twitch caused Reno to recoil with a glance to the swords held at the ready. "Look," he continued in a calmer, more reasonable tone. "I don't know what is going on here, but you've obviously got the wrong guy. My name is Reno Strife, I'm eighteen years old and I spend most of my time studying behind a computer screen! I'm no general, I'm not even from Equestria. I'm not supposed to be here! I don't want trouble; I just want to go home." He finished with a defeated slouch, realising Princess Celestia wasn't listening to anything he had to say.

None of the crowd seemed to care either. Many of the on-looking ponies had jumped to their hooves and were voicing their complaints. Cries and shouts echoed through the courts, snippets of insults or accusations of the human being a liar ringing in Reno's ears.

Celestia had simply heard his name and her eyes seemed to light up in a fiery blaze. Her voice boomed over the dozens of others, drowning them out and forcing everybody into silence. "So you admit to your recent reign of terror, General Reno Strife?"

Reno rolled his eyes, and his head at the same time. "Jesus, c'mon lady! What did I just say? I'm not a fucking general!"

Celestia went to take a step closer, her horn glowing viciously when her sister reached out and grabbed her by the wrist. Instantly cooling off, Celestia looked down at her younger sister who took a step forward.

"He does seem younger than when we last saw him, sister." The younger princess stated. "Perhaps he is telling the truth." She then looked at Reno and introduced herself in a suddenly loud and formal tone. "I am Princess Luna. I am sorry about the confusion, but where are you from, exactly?"

"Earth!" Reno cried desperately. "I'm from Earth! Land of the free, home of the miserable? Monday Morning Coffee, Thank God it's Friday and Lazy Sundays! Birthplace of the Hubble-Telescope. Super-Colliders, The Eiffel Tower, fridge magnets and celebrity marriages! A place where the corrupt sit on top and nice guys finish last. A place where there is no magic, no talking ponies and no almighty princesses. I randomly woke up in Equestria two days ago, and since then I've been shot at, beaten and forced to do things I normally wouldn't, all thanks to the Shadow Legion." He finally blurted out.

Celestia and Luna looked at each other as silence was once again interrupted by the complaints in the stands.

"The wheels of fate, perhaps?" Luna whispered within Reno's range of hearing.

He glanced between the princesses before he heard Celestia say: "But they haven't turned in aeons." The winged unicorn looked back to Reno and raised a hand for silence. It came without hesitation. "Reno Strife. You said the Shadow Legion was after you?"

The human nodded silently.

"And you simply awoke in Equestria?" Luna added.

Again, Reno nodded.

"Why was the Shadow Legion after you?" Celestia asked.

"Pfffff." Reno huffed with a shrug. "Fucked if I know. Maybe because I witnessed them lay waste to a village. Maybe because I overheard them looking for something known as the throne of the moon."

The princesses looked at each other again. This time Celestia's eyes were no longer angry. They were filled with fear, impossible to mistake. She quickly looked back to Reno. "The Shadow Legion are searching for the throne of the moon?"

"Isn't that what I just said, okay look!" Reno held up his hands so not to draw more noise from the angry mob up in the stands. "Would someone please tell me what the fuck the throne of the moon is, why is everyone calling me a general and please!" he stressed the 'please' part. "Please, someone explain it all slowly, in plain English... pony... whatever the hell it is you people speak. Okay, ready?" he paused for dramatic effect, somewhat surprised at how much he sounded like an over-dramatizing douche, then finished with: "Go!"

With a deep sigh, Celestia patted her sister on the shoulder. Giving a short nod, Princess Luna turned and briskly marched away, disappearing from sight in an explosion of stars. As she teleported away, the older princess turned back to Reno. "Reno Strife," she began. "Please accept my humble apologies." Patiently, Reno forced himself to nod and kept his mouth shut. "It all began aeons ago, during a long peace that bathed the lands of Equestria. Luna and I were fillies, under the rule of our parents and protected by the first iteration of the royal guard. They were responsible for the protection of my sister and I. They were like our shadows, vigilant, ever present, yet always discreet. They became to be known as the Shadow Legion.

"One particular general in the Shadow Legion was ambitious. His mind was overflowing with ideas. He brought agriculture to the farms in Equestria. Developed technology. Practical mechanical ideas that oftentimes blew magic out of the water. But soon my parents sensed the darkness in his heart. He began work on weapons, war-machines. Contraptions that threatened to bring darkness across Equestria. He wanted to expand Equestria, wage war with our neighbours. My parents refused his demands to expand our domain, so he rebelled and assassinated them. With the shadow legion loyal to his cause, he began sweeping Equestria, killing and destroying everything in his path. He wanted to re-make the world in his own image. To do so, he was in search of the throne of the moon, a powerful artefact upon which my sister Luna currently sits to bring out the moon and stars. But when another sits on it, a creature with a dark heart such as the general's... the consequences could bathe Equestria in a darkness even I cannot reverse.

"It took every ounce of magic within us, but Luna and I mustered everything to give the ponies of Equestria the courage to rise up against the general and his armies. I cursed the Shadow Legion with everlasting life and exiled them to the farthest corners of Equestria, and locked him away in a prison known as the vault, where he would have eternity to think about his crimes."

"The general." Reno said softly. "Who was he?"

"A human. A species that brought such terrible memories all ponykind agreed to have them wiped from history so not to terrify our foals." Celestia sighed. "His name was... General Reno Strife. You, as you are now were the spitting image of him when we first met all those aeons ago. He is you, and you are him."

Reno blinked, muttering to himself after a few moments of awkward silence; "Someone get the reg-number of those tons of bricks that just hit me." WHAT!? How could he be General Strife? Reno was Reno. Just Reno Strife. An odd name, sure, he got plenty of shit for it in highschool, but he was just a regular guy. He worked nine to five. Walked on the sidewalk. Obeyed the law. Saved for his future... all the normal shit normal people did.

But he wasn't normal, was he? The assertiveness in do or die situations. The ability to aim and shoot. The way he could suddenly fight like an unstoppable badass. It wasn't coming from 'normal' old Reno, was it? It was coming from General Strife. Reno was a Reno Strife from another existence, another world, dimension, plain of existence... hell, after fighting for survival in a magical world of ponies for two days, Reno was open to believe anything at this stage. And while he was in this dimension...

"I'm turning into him, aren't I?" the human asked blankly, staring at the floor between Celestia's hooves.

The princess nodded. "The longer you stay in Equestria, the more you become like him. You'll begin to think like him. You'll begin to act like him. You'll begin to move like him... and then you will become him... unless you..." the princess sighed.

"Unless I kill him." Reno said. The answer came out of nowhere, plucked by his mind which struggled to grasp everything thrown at him at once. "That's my purpose in Equestria. I was brought here by..." he couldn't even bring himself to say it. He hated the word 'fate.' It made him feel helpless, like he wasn't in control of his own actions. "I was brought here to find and kill General Strife."

Celestia shook her head. "No!" her tone grew commanding, almost angry again. "I will not have it. I will not allow murder to take place in Equestria again. There hasn't been a murder in Equestria since Strife was imprisoned. I will not have another in my reign."

Reno frowned and jumped back from the princess. "Open your fucking eyes, lady!" Reno snapped angrily. "You do know what has been going on out there, right? The Shadow Legion have been raping and killing their way across Equestria in search of that fucking throne! They attacked Ponyville and killed some of your citizens in cold blood! That's in your god-damn back-yard from what I hear! Obviously your cursing them and banishing them didn't work. What? You're going to do the same thing again? Even if you do, they'll just be back in a few centuries! You know damn well the only way to break the cycle is to kill 'em all!" not exactly the proper way to address royalty, but Reno didn't care anymore.

Cries of protest were thrown this way. Cries of agreement were fired the other way. Now even the spectators were turned against each other. The cursed and yelled at each other as the general's doppelganger and the princess glared at each other.

"I will not add to the hardship tearing at Equestria..." Celestia began...

But Reno filled his lungs with air and let out a booming roar that shook the stained-glass window and drew silence from everybody, Celestia included. It took even Reno by surprise as he didn't even realise he could be so loud. "HARDSHIP IS AN ILLUSION!"

Dead silence filled the courts as all eyes shifted to where Reno stood with his fists clenched, shoulders heaving as he breathed heavily.

"Hardship is an illusion." Reno repeated using an indoor-voice, finally understanding the words Cutter had blessed him with. "A very wise man... pony... donkey... he told me that if you persevere, face your fears and push through the pain and strife, you can pass any test a man... or a pony can pass. He told me every good thing is a thing worth fighting for. And that if you have the choice to run or fight, you have to fight. Because it's your self-sacrifice... it is your ability to pass the tests life puts in your path that makes the difference. I know what I have to do now." the answer just hung in space before him, clear as day. "This will not end until General Strife dies... so I'm going to kill him."

Celestia narrowed her eyes for a moment, before her features softened. She realised she had no choice. This was the purpose for Reno's being in Equestria. Fate was a complicated character who often spoke in riddles and hidden meanings... but her intentions were always for the best.

Regardless the princess shook her head, denying fate coldly. "I cannot allow it, Reno. Such is Equestria law. Guards!" she looked over her shoulder at the guards who stomped to attention in unison. "You will arrest Reno Strife on conspiracy to commit murder."

The golden armoured ponies turned sharply and move to apprehend Reno who jumped back again. His first instinct was to reach for his utility belt and sidearm, but they weren't there. Instead, all he could feel were his torch and his Leatherman in his pocket. Great, a two-inch knife against six guys with swords.

"You're making a mistake!" Reno warned loudly as the guards closed in on him, the human still stepping back. Soon he'd run out of room and crash into the wall.

And that was where fate intervened. She truly was a fickle character, not to be messed with. If you derailed her plans, lady fate came back again, twofold, hitting harder than before to get you back into the path of your destiny.

The air itself seemed to explode. The ground shook and swayed so violently, areas of marble cracked and buckled, kicking up chips of polished stone. The ground Reno was standing on buckled, launching him sideways and sending the young man crashing against one of the wooden stands. The opposite stand splintered, collapsing in on itself, filling the air with noises of snapping wood and bones, followed by screams of pain and terror. The guard were scattered as tears formed across the floor and parted into deep chasms. Several armoured ponies fell into the depths, crying out as they disappeared completely.

One of the guard, a mare with an athletic figure, a brown bandana wrapped around her neck and an eye-patch over her left eye grabbed Celestia by the arm and pulled her to one side, away from the danger. Laying stunned, Reno slowly sat up and saw the vaulted ceiling crack and collapse. A massive slab of concrete slammed into the ground behind him, crushing the last set of bleachers like they were nothing. There was just a heavy 'bang' and a sickening 'crunch.'

The stained glass shattered. The glass just cracked and parted, falling to the ground like a rain of glittering multi-coloured daggers. As the glass fell away like the canvas at an unveiling, Reno saw the night air around Canterlot was on fire. Fluorescent tracers sliced up into the air. Explosions rocked the earth. Buildings leaned this way and that, crumbling and melting down the mountainside Canterlot was built against.

Through the smoke that drifted into the courts through the gaping window, Reno saw movement. Squinting, the human made out a trio of figures. Two large, heavy looking shadows only growing as they advanced, the third much smaller and leaner walking between them. Wisps of smoke and dust parted, then recoiled as two clockwork-warriors rumbled into the courts and stood to attention, massive fists clenched at their sides. Reno instinctively crawled away from the two massive, armoured warriors and felt his back crash into a pair of shins. Looking up he found himself sitting at the hooves of the one-eyed pony placing herself between the Shadow Legion war-machines and the princess. Standing by their side were two more guards, the last of Celestia's protection.

Looking back, Reno felt his eyes widen at the sight of the third figure breezing in. The soles of his boots crunched on the glass as he marched out of the smoke before them. The wind whipped in through the shattered window, causing the smoke to recede and swirl around him, revealing his midnight black fatigues, with some sort of a dark grey chain-mail vest over his torso. There was a scarf wrapped tight around his throat, and a utility belt around his waist, the buckle adorned with a four fingered claw reaching for the sky.

Reno felt his lip tremble as he watched himself come to a halt. Everything was the same, from the shorn hair, the brown eyes, even the stature. The way he stood was identical. He even had that little barely noticeable scar on his chin from where he'd fallen off his bike as a child... no! No, Reno had been the one who had fallen off his bike as a child. Reno was the only Reno here!

Was he?

General Strife stared back at his doppelganger, but seemed to take the sight a lot easier. His lips parted into a smile to reveal Reno's white teeth.

"Well, well, well!" Reno heard his own voice boom from the general's mouth. "This is certainly different..."