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Nightmare at Hogwarts - Mother Moon, Daughter Shade	pre	Even in the night. Now I'm sad. Light pollution... just, why.
Nightmare at Hogwarts - Mother Moon, Daughter Shade	Letter	HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock) Dear Mx. Potter, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress "There's also one for you," Harry said, and I gave a snort. "Well, they're not even wrong. I know nothing of this world's magic." I looked over the letter again, blinking. "Wait. Oh, this is funny!" I exclaimed, laughing. Harry tilted his head, reread the letter, then blanched. "Mx?" "It seems like your magic now identifies you as neither male nor female. Considering this letter is probably addressed magically, that's not too big of a surprise, the amount of energy fused to you is fairly sizeable. Don't worry, you're still male. Most of the time." "You always say I'm supposed to spend time in both forms, and I noticed that my magic got a lot stronger while training alternatively in them. Do you know why?" I nodded. "Why would I tell you to do that, if I wouldn't? The two energies inside of you are completely different and were originally only bound thinly. But the more you train, the more your two auras become adapted to each other. It makes both halves stronger, and eventually, you probably can use abilities exclusive to one of your auras while in the form of the other." He blinked. "Like walking on clouds without a spell?" "For example. Hmm, how long do you guess they'll need to realize we don't have an owl to write back with?" "More than a week." "You're on," I shot back, grinning. In the end, it took about three days before another letter arrived, this time with a mailing address. "Well, that's one solution," I deadpanned, and Harry chuckled. Scribbling a short answer on the paper, I then decide to spend the rest of the day teaching him how to make wards and barriers, much to his amusement. Privately, I was not amused about the fact that some magic was able to break through the wards on our house, otherwise, the owl wouldn't have found us. I then made him repeat the exercises in his other form. I did not understand why he was so averse to doing it (I knew it wasn't the transformation - I asked), but he at least knew he needed to do it if he wanted any chance at getting as powerful as I. Power is almost always a - pardon the pun - powerful motivator. A few days, a third letter arrived. It detailed how to find the 'leaky cauldron' and that I, as guardian of the child, were supposed to bring him there, and from there to Gringotts. There was a 'Hogwarts scholarship' Harry would receive if he had no vaults to his name, but many had some connection to the families that had money. Considering his parents were wizards and had a quite not-humble abode when I was called upon, I knew there was little to no chance that we would need that money.
Nightmare at Hogwarts - Mother Moon, Daughter Shade	Diagon	Harry James Nebula Moon-Potter Heir to Houses Peverell, Potter and Black Son to Lily Potter (nee Evans) and James Potter Daughter to Nightmare Moon "Not a word," Harry hissed, both at me and the goblin, much to my amusement. I shrugged, taking both the papers and putting them away. The goblin meanwhile grumbled that 'Gringotts is discrete' in a tone of indignation. "Now that we're done with that, can we deal with one other thing? I'd like to re-issue all keys for my vaults, in case older keys are found by others than myself." The letter described that if Harry (in the general letter called '[my] charge') had rights to any vaults yet obviously hasn't had anyone to do it themselves, I or he should ask for all keys to be re-issued. "That'll be ten galleons per vault, taken from the respective one," the Goblin said, and I shrugged. About half an hour later, I had been given around a dozen keys, and a good number of golden coins, and I had left another connected book with the goblins; thankfully just taking money from our vaults did not require us to retrieve it from the vaults themselves. I left the book, because no matter the reason, I was not going to allow anyone to trace me with magic, and while the goblin asked us if we wanted to retrieve the money ourselves, neither I nor Harry saw reason to do so. For some reason, the goblin was quire stumped when he heard us respond as such. "So, what's first on the list?" I asked, ignoring the stare Harry was giving me. Mainly because I was now a bit shorter than he was, having shrunk myself down to the height of an eleven-year-old. "Uh... three sets of work robes." "I see," I said, and we entered the robe shop (once we actually found it). "Oh, hello!" the lone witch in the room greeted us, looking at us with a curious gaze. "Hogwarts?" We nodded, and I pulled out a slip with three sets of measurements. "We need three sets each with those measurements. They are accurate," I responded, and she took the paper, looked at us, seemingly decided that the measurements looked right, and nodded. "Well, this will make my work easier. Can you come back in about an hour? I doubt the robes will fit perfectly, but they should sit pretty good even if I'll not make sure they're in the right sizes." "We can do that. The hats and cloaks are included, I presume?" She nodded, and we shrugged, leaving. "There's a lot of stuff we can get in the apothecary, too," Harry said, and I shrugged. The shop was smaller than the robe shop, probably because most people only entered it for a few minutes. I looked around, then frowned. "Something isn't right," I said, before realizing that there was a feeling of inert magic coming from a corner of the shop. Walking over there, I realized the shop sold unicorn horns, but I did not allow myself to get angry, yet. Picking one up, I ran my magic through it, realizing it still conducted perfectly, and when I looked at the bottom, both the horn and the ley-lines had a smooth ending. The former could be archived with a file, but the latter? Virtually impossible. "Looks voluntarily shed. Why would they do that?" I wondered, making a note to come back later and buy the entire stock. They would be really useful; I never could get unicorn horns in Equestria. The only option would have been to attack a unicorn or to desecrate a grave, and I would never do either. (For the horns, that is.) "Mo- Nightshade, I got everything we need for Hogwarts. Do you want to buy some materials?" I shrugged. "I've always wanted to seriously try my hand in potions but most of the ingredients I usually work with are really volatile. Those, having much less energy in them, could be perfect for a magic-attracting solution." "So, grab everything, got it." "Not yet. We'll return here once we got the rest of our stuff; I don't want to overspend," I said, and Harry shrugged. "Fair enough." Entering the wand shop further down the street, I realized the wands were filigree, intricate foci for magic. I frowned. "Those aren't suited for me. I have to make foci for both myself and Nebula, but your magic is suited for them," I said to Harry, causing him to look at me in confusion. "Why?" "Pressure. Humans have, compared to other magical creatures, weak magic. And do you remember where my magic comes from? Or Nebulas?" Harry shuddered. "Fair point... it would just shatter, wouldn't it?" I nodded. "The only reasonable foci I saw today would be those unicorn horns. They can withstand a lot of magic pressure," I mused, and Harry nodded, before turning to the old man who had watched our conversation in interest. "Why are you saying that my wands would not work? Is your magic truly that powerful?" "Being a deities' descendant does that to you," I deadpanned, and the man's eyes widened. "Yes, that would do it. Though..." Running to the back of the shop, he then came back with a wand that felt... different. I realized a moment later why - it was shrunken down. A staff, not a wand. "This has been given to me by my father. He said that it was a reminder not to overestimate yourself, that not every 'wand' will find a suitable wielder. I am happy that you could prove him wrong," he said, and I picked the 'wand' up, seeing how resilient it actually was. "This thing can channel divine energy," I realized, more than a bit impressed. Usually only living foci had a chance to withstand that. I used my normal magic, to draw a few runes with it, and to my surprise, found that it was simpler to do so than before. Just a bit, but it was faster. It also did not clash with my aura, something that the old man also realized. "Yes... a perfect fit! Oh, wondrous day..." Then, he turned to Harry. "You are... the young Potter, right? I remember your parents when they bought their wands here... so cheerful people, it is sad to know they died. Wand arm?" Harry held out his right arm on reflex, and Ollivander measured the ley-lines flowing through it. After testing a few wands, we eventually arrived at a Holly-Phoenix wand. "I wonder... will this one be the right?" Harry waved the wand, and it seemed to connect to his core - just not fully. "There's something blocking your full potential... do you have a creature inheritance? Don't worry, I won't tell," he said, and Harry blinked. "Not exactly... but my magic has a second half." "Ah, I see!" the man replied in a happy tone, starting to look at Harry's magic again. "Hm... maybe?" Vanishing into the back of the shop, he came back with a grey hair of some kind, instructing Harry to wrap it around the wand and swing it again. This time, the wand shot out golden and grey sparks in a much larger volume. "Ah yes, that will be perfect. Please, give me a minute," he said, doing something to the wand, and the hair vanished inside of it. "I'm sorry to say this, but I think you should know. This wand is the brother wand to the one that took your parents' lives, and it is fairly powerful. I expect great things from you, mister Potter. Just remember - the dark lord did terrible things, yes, but great too. Power isn't about strength; it's how you use it. If you ever fight him - attempt not to channel through the phoenix feather. It will cause... problems," he explained in a fairly somber tone, before snapping back to 'normal'. "That'll be fourteen galleons." We nodded, paid up, and then picked up our robes before returning to the apothecary. Counting the coins in our pockets, we then started to pile up potion materials on the counter, getting more than just a few odd stares from the clerk and the man browsing the shop. "What in the world are you planning on brewing?" the man asked, causing me to shrug. "I want to make a magic conductor. Those materials are really tranquil compared to the volatile crap from the Everfree, or heaven forbid that mare's mane," I responded, picking up the unicorn horns and placing them on the counter. "Aren't you a bit too young for that?" "Depends on whom you ask... anyways, you're a potion enthusiast, too?" I asked, but he shook his head. I shrugged, and went back into the shop, grabbing the rest of the necessary supplies. While piling them up on the counter, I then remembered we still would need to grab a telescope. ...before realizing that they did not specify what kind. Which meant I could use the one I already had.
Nightmare at Hogwarts - Mother Moon, Daughter Shade	Train Time	"A barrier?" "Yes. It makes non-magical people ignore that general area. Interesting idea, and it helps hiding it," I said, looking around the train station. I could see a lot of parents with their children around, but they all were magical. Relaxing a bit, parts of my real form shimmered into existence, keeping my basic form human, but turning my hair and eyes into their natural forms. My skin changed not, still being a very dark brown. However, I could feel some disdainful stares upon my skin after doing so. Deciding to deal with it the fast/fun way, I whirled around, my gaze finding a blue-grey one. The man who had been staring at me barely managed not to flinch when I did so. He had shoulder-long blonde hair, wore black, high-quality robes, and was carrying a cane. Next to him, a carbon copy of himself stood, just looking about three decades younger. I scowled, deciding to forego pretence. Flaring my magic, it seemed for a moment as if black wings exploded from my back, and a silver sword manifested itself at my side, my symbol carved into it, but it was all an impression evoked by me flaring my power. This time, his eyes widened, and he took an involuntary step back, but before anyone but Harry could take notice of what had happened, the wings were gone, and the sword had vanished due to their nature as short-lived illusions. "What are you?" he asked in a whisper, and I shrugged. "I could call myself many things I believe to be true, but I could be wrong about all of them. However, one thing I know - I am acknowledged," I responded, holding out my hand. His gaze fell onto the ring I decided to display, and the symbol it bore. A triangle, in which both a circle and a line was drawn. He raised an eyebrow. "That's just Grindelwald's coat of arms. How is that supposed to mean that you're 'acknowledged'?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. I blinked. "Grindelwald? He stole his coat of arms from the Peverell family, which I am the matriarch of." Personally, I made a note to look into that name at some point in the future. "Peverell? I thought that family had died out centuries ago?" He questioned, then frowned, before continuing in a mocking tone. "Are the legends real, then? Is the 'family' of Peverell just those recognized by death?" I shrugged, and decided to answer as if he'd asked a serious question. "Probably? It told me to destroy the pieces it left behind. It says they are causing too much death. Which is funny coming from them." "'Them'? You claim you have spoken with death? And did 'they' as you call them, give you that sword and wings?" he questioned, his tone making it clear he did not believe me. At all. I shook my head. "No. My magic I received from my predecessor, and my sword I received from my teacher," I responded before realizing something rather important. "I am sorry for cutting this short, but I need to get on to the train. Maybe we can talk later?" I suggested, pulling out another linked book. He gave it a curious glance, and I quickly explained it was linked with another book in my possession, copying the text written in one to the other. Lucius stared after the train for a long while before he finally left. The other wizards and witches, both light and dark had left him alone, either not wishing to interrupt his thoughts, or just generally ignoring him. His head was rampant with many different thoughts, and his gaze flicked down onto the book from time to time. She was dangerous, and powerful, both undoubtedly so. His mind wandered to the Wizengamot and the new seat that had appeared ten years prior. There was a chance it was hers. But there was also the fact that he could somehow tell just how much darkness there had been concealed behind those blue eyes. If the ministry were to ever catch wind of that, it'd just throw her into Azkaban, or would try to seal her magic, though he doubted it would succeed with either of those. Then there was also the fact that she would probably be fairly affronted by the recent laws the Wizengamot was trying to make. With her definitively having a lot of creature blood, she would fight tooth and nail to not get treated as a second-class citizen. He shuddered, advocating for such laws further started to seem a very bad idea. He could definitively use this to his advantage, though. A second later, he shuddered again, discarding that thought. She claimed to be able to talk to death, and he could not tell if she was lying. If she had spoken the truth, however, 'it' tasked her with destroying the deathly hallows. It was frustrating to learn about their existence and in the same breath that they were not meant for this world much longer. He decided that he could only dare to 'manipulate' her by telling her the truth and hoping that she saw things the same way he did. Shaking his head, he apparated away to Malfoy Manor, the book clutched in his hand. Unbeknownst to both him and her, the magic of the book was slowly seeping into him. And once it encountered the magic of the dark mark, it started seeping into it, slowly beginning to dissolve it since that magic was neither Lucius' - nor was it benevolent. Walking next to Harry, we got more than a few adoring looks. It could help to mention that I was currently quadruped and came up to about his waist. I had taken on a younger form, much like Nebula looked, but with slightly darker colours. My mane was... normal... and my flank was showing my 'real' cutie mark. "How Equestria was created? I've been a bit curious about that myself, if I'm being honest. Creating space isn't that hard - but cutting through space to make it disconnected from other space, that's really difficult." "Maybe turn it so fast it rips off?" "No, that wouldn't work. That would twist and stretch space, but that space always stays connected. There's got to be another answer." "Maybe Faust really was transcendental." I snorted. "Doubtful. The universe Equestria lies in is closed." "Could you do it, then?" "Technically yes. I do have spells that could create magical stars and create matter from nothing, but there are issues with those too. For example, my creations wouldn't be stable, and requiring mana to stay intact." "How much would you need?" "You should be able to guess." Harry was silent for a moment, and I pushed open an empty compartment, looking inside and nodding. We walked in, and Harry sat down, his brow scrunched in concentration. Then he realized why I'd need so much energy. "The weight of space," he groaned, and I nodded. "Correct." For context, creating space took energy. Creating matter also took energy. And I would need to provide that energy as mana if I wanted to do what he had suggested. Not something feasible, but something that definitively was possible. Luckily it took a lot less energy to twist, enlarge and create space than it took to create matter. And you didn't have to deal with anti-space, that was also a plus. Usually. Unfortunately, anti-space was something that existed. "Wait a second. What if the sun is the force keeping that universe together?" I thought about it for a few moments, which were about to turn into hours, but Harry snapped me out of it. "Do that when you sleep. Did you already read through the course books?" I shook my head, but before we continued, Harry pointed to an empty compartment, and we entered it, taking seats. "I've only taken a look at potions, though I noticed something interesting," I then said, pulling out a silver knife from the potions kit. "The materials used may be much less volatile, but this knife has a charm on it that enhances the main effect of ingredients, while reducing the others. It simplifies." Grabbing an old feather of mine from hammerspace and ramming the knife into it, I could feel how it changed under the blade, losing its ability to channel lightning and to manipulate clouds, leaving behind the ability to generate lift from magic. The shift was so prominent that it was recognizable without even having to touch the material. Harry blinked. "That could be useful." I nodded. That opened a lot more ventures... many potions of Equesetrian and Zebrician origin were quite volatile. This would help. Massively. Having been looking out of the window onto the landscape, as the train had started moving a few minutes ago, I startled a bit upon feeling a wing settle on my back. "Nebula?" "Come, lay down. We haven't done this in a while," she said, and I nodded, giving her a nuzzle, before allowing myself to slowly drift away, pressed against her in a not unwelcome way. In the end, we got roused by hushed whispering. There were two girls standing in front of the door, looking at us. I blearily blinked, before gesturing to the seat opposite to us with a wing. Their eyes lit up, and they quickly shuffled inside, sitting down. The expected reaction took about ten seconds. "Oh my god! You're so cute!" We grinned at the two, and they blinked. "Fangs?" the other girl asked, causing me to shrug. I was an omnivore in all my forms. "Who're your owners?" she then added, leaning close and looking for a collar, I'd presume, but she couldn't find any. She looked oddly disappointed by that. I shrugged. "You... you two can understand us, right?" the other girl asked, and I nodded. "That's amazing! You got to be magical creatures - but what are you?" I raised a brow, baring my teeth, flaring my wings, and staring her into her eyes. "Hm... bat-wings, human-like teeth but with larger fangs, tufted ears, cat eyes... no, I don't know what you are, sorry." "Do you two have names?" the other girl then asked, and I nodded, turning and pulling out a book from my interspatial pocket. The girls looked a bit dumbfounded by that. "A notice-me-not charmed pouch? That's really clever..." she said, while I used my snout to flick through the biology book, eventually stopping once it showed a blue flower. "Nightshade? You're Nightshade?" I gave a nod, then put the book away, before pulling out another book - an astronomy book. Flipping through it as well, I stopped on the page with the horse-head nebula. She went through the words on the page that seemed promising, and guessed Nebula's name after a few moments, much to my delight. I put the book back and stretched a bit, looking her in her eyes. "Something on my face?" she asked, and I shook my head. "I think she wants us to introduce us... you're female, right?" I shrugged. Most of the time, yes. "Ah, right. It would be rude for us to ask your names and not give ours in return... Dacey Travis." "I'm Daphne Greengrass. Nice to meet you," the more inquisitive girl then said, and I held out my hoof, much to first their apparent confusion and then amusement. They both took it and shook it, Nebula nickering behind me, barely not laughing. She then decided to forego all pretences and jumped over to the bank with the girls, lying down. She then looked at the girls with a smouldering look, causing me to chuckle. The want for affection really didn't translate well into pony form from a human perspective. Trust me when I say that lust is obvious in a completely different way. Eventually, when she also pushed her head into Dacey's fingers, the girl froze for a second before starting to pet her. A low cooing sound came from Nebula, and I blinked. Did that really feel that good? Curious, I jumped onto the bank next to the other girl, also holding out my head. She quickly pulled me closer, to get better access to my head, and then started curling her fingers through my mane and scalp, and I melted into her touch. Of course, I was still aware of the happenings around us, and looked up with a content smile when the door opened again. "Hey Daphne, can we..." a black girl started to ask, but stopped upon seeing me and Nebula. "They're adorable!" the carbon copy of said girl standing next to her said, grinning widely. "Oh, Padma, Parvati. They were already here! They can understand you, too!" Tracey said and picked up Nebula much like one would a kitten. "Want to hold her?" Of course, the answer was a 'yes'. I also moved over to the other bench, allowing the other twin to have her own arm full of pony. She also liked holding and petting me, if her grin was any indication. "Does either of you know what they could be? I mean, clearly, they're magical, but... slitted eyes, tufted ears, bat wings, fangs?" Daphne then asked, getting headshakes from the girls. "Vampire ponies?" the girl holding me wondered, and I snorted, looking up at her, before playfully nipping at her hand. She blinked, then chuckled for a second. Pulling another book from my pocket, I opened Mythical Creatures and where to find them on the page with thestrals. Daphne and Tracey looked at it, before frowning. "You don't look like thestrals... is this the closest to the truth then?" I nodded, before pointing to the part where it said 'can only be seen by those who had witnessed death'. They quickly understood that this detail wasn't appliable to me and Nebula. "A different breed, maybe?" Daphne asked, causing me to nod. The girls kept petting us, but eventually someone else once again decided to intrude into the serene silence that had been built around us. This time, it was a woman pushing a cart with many sweets piled onto it, and most (speak all) of us present in the compartment couldn't help but drool at least a bit at the massive amounts of sugar stacked on it. Subsequently, we (they) bought a lot of sweets, but the most interesting of them by far were the sugar beans that were enchanted to take on random, and often ridiculous, flavours. I got a few normal flavours, but also had one that tasted like a blood berry to me (thestral-grown fruit in Equestria), tree bark and shrimp. "I have no idea what I got," the girl holding me said, tilting her head. "Something slightly citrus-y, but its fleeting..." "I'm pretty sure I got olive oil," Tracey deadpanned, causing the rest of us to chuckle. "What are the names of those two dears?" "Oh, they're Nebula and Nightshade." "That are interesting names... though, it wasn't you who choose them, I assume?" "No, the two were already here when we sat down." "Oh, does Hogwarts finally accept creature students?" I blinked, before shaking my head. "Wait, are you animagi?" Are we what? I tilted my head, and she quickly explained that they were humans capable of turning into animals. My eyes lit up, and I concentrated, compressing myself further into a black cat. They all blinked. "Uh... you can't be an animagus, then... they can only turn into one animal. Unless you're a shapeshifter?" That was a good question, but while I could manipulate my shape within some constraints (practically none), I wasn't a true shapeshifter. This required more than instinctual magic, and the greater discrepancy between my real form and this one meant a bigger strain on my magic. Alas, I shook my head again. "Bummer... I'd have asked you to turn into me," one twin said, and I blinked. That wasn't... impossible, per se. I flipped myself around, out of her grasp, and reared up, pressing my forehead to hers, and placing my forelegs on her shoulders. My shape twisted, became larger and larger, and after a moment, I was sitting there, looking exactly like her. "By Merlin! You can!" twin #2 exclaimed. I shrugged, then collapsed the illusion on myself. Since this was neither my real form for being shifted into this race, nor had any 'image' of her so to speak, it drained far more energy than just transforming into a human, cat or even dragon would drain. Still negligible either way, anyway. "Is that how you look like as a human?" twin #1 then questioned. Nodding, I then turned myself back into my foal-thestral form. I was quite comfortable like that and pressed my head against the girls' fingers again. And then, the serene scene was interrupted again - quite rudely this time, too. The door got opened by a blonde boy, flanked by what I could only describe as bodyguards. He clearly felt like he was 'better' than everyone else in the compartment, if the way he looked around with barely hidden disdain was any indication. "Heir Greengrass, Heir Davis." "Heir Malfoy," Tracey replied in the same I'm-better-than-you tone he had used. "Would you by chance know why Heir Potter refused to return my greeting?" he asked, pointedly ignoring the black twins, probably because he didn't know them. Nebula tensed for a split second but forced herself to relax. I don't think anyone but myself did notice. I meanwhile was cursing, for now that I focussed on it could sense a second presence with the same aura as Harry on the train. Damn bootstrap paradoxes to hell and beyond. "We have not had the luck to encounter Lord Potter, Heir Malfoy," Daphne bit back, and I couldn't help but grin at her. "I see," he responded, clearly annoyed by her response. Then, his eyes fell onto me and Nebula, and for some reason I couldn't help but feel nervous about that. "And who is the owner of those animals? You twins?" "Yes," one of the twins responded in a cut tone. "What even are they? They don't look like any of the respectable animals allowed at school," he then added, looking disdainfully at us. I snarled at him. "They're a special breed of thestrals, and they can understand you, Heir Malfoy. I doubt not they would cause you untold problems were you to antagonize them, and I also don't think you want me to raise my hand right now," she said, staring him into his eyes. He huffed - but left shortly afterwards, continuing his fruitless endeavour. Wanting Daphne's attention caused me to neigh, and once I had it, I shook my head. "Are you referring to Heir Malfoy?" I shook my head again. "Harry Potter, then?" I nodded, gesturing to her and shaking my head. "He isn't... Lord Potter?" I nodded. "Heir?" Another nod. "How?" Rummaging through my interspatial pocket again, I pulled out a Gringotts document. Esteemed Lady Gaunt, Lady Potter, Lady Peverell, Lady Moon, Enclosed you find the requested listings of the contents of your vaults. Additionally, we request of you to return once you have made a house ring for the house of Moon, such that it can be added to the records. Per your request, the Potter trust vault has been closed and the money has been transferred to the family vault. "What! Harry Potter is the last of the Potter line! How did this happen?!" Daphne all-but screamed, staring at the paper. "Um, Daphne?" Tracey interjected, staring at the other titles. "Have you ever heard of house Moon? The way Gringotts handles titles is that it lists them in the order of their status..." The other girls froze. "There are only a select few families older or more prestigious than Peverell. With this, they should be well-known for being so old! Why haven't we heard of them, then?" The full titles actually were, 'most ancient and most noble house Peverell'... and 'most ancient, most noble and divine house Moon'. I doubted any family on the planet could place itself above Moon in the eyes of magic. "How old are you really?" Daphne asked with wide eyes, staring at me. I raised an eyebrow at her, and she dropped the question. "We'll arrive shortly," one of the twins eventually said some more dozen minutes later, staring outside. I nodded, and stepped aside, pulling Nebula with me. They still needed to freshen up a bit, and Daphne then looked at me. "I really hope you're not human. It would be weird to know I treated someone like a pet..." Feeling cheeky, I turned into my human-child form, grinning at her. 'Oh, I would not mind, but I can assure you, I am definitively not human,' I 'said' without opening my mouth, making her shudder at the sound of my mental voice. "So, you can speak... why did you not?" one of the twins asked, causing me to shrug. 'I really liked the attention you were giving me. Besides, imagine the face Malfoy will make when he realizes that I'm attending the school.' Pause. Grumble. '...if he does.' "So, they are taking non-human students now!" Shrug. 'I doubt they're aware I'm not human. The way they send the letters makes me register in a way that makes them think I'm human, I believe. I would have to write to Nightmare, she can check.' "I assume she is your mother?" 'Not exactly. Though, I do not want to elaborate on that one right now, it's a bit complicated.' "Fair enough... does Nebula have a human form, too?" I shrugged. 'She has, though she prefers not to use it unless it is for training her magic.' Nebula, of course, bristled when I said that, but we both knew she couldn't refute me, not here. 'Well, I guess I will see you all at the sorting, then,' I added, and they nodded. We left the train, and Nebula turned back into Harry, glaring at me the whole time. I just chuckled. Once nobody looked at us any more, though, I grabbed Nebula and side-stepped reality, time slowing to a crawl. "It seems like you did socialize in both forms after all," I said, and she sighed, before nodding. I lit up my magic, space twisting around us, and I applied a masking spell so that it would not cause another paradox. I made this magic specifically so that I could jump through time without getting noticed by my earlier self, and it drained a significantly higher amount of magic than anything else I cast that year, but it still was but a fraction of my power. A white flash in the future, an infrared flash in the past, and he was sent back hundreds of minutes and millions of miles. Then the mana crashed back into me, and I barely managed to absorb it all. Why did it return? I sent him back to the past, it happened, so why was almost all the energy of the spell returned? Something to muse about later, I guess.
Nightmare at Hogwarts - Mother Moon, Daughter Shade	Hat Games	Brakes screeching, the train stopped, the surrounding darkness a balm on my soul. I strongly suspected that magic was involved, as I couldn't see more than light from some lanterns illuminating the station. Leaving the train, the students quickly pooled themselves into their age groups, and a bear of a man was walking towards the group of first-years, questioning if we were the first-years before telling us to follow him. As we did, he led us through a small path down a steep hill on which a forest was growing, and once we were past the trees, we were in front of a massive lake, beyond which there was a massive castle propped up on a cliff. It was white, stood against the black sky, and seemed impossibly bright. There was a glow about the castle that just looked magical, a beacon in the darkness, and I could not only see but also feel the magic of the castle on top of the cliff. "Beautiful... it has so much space!" "Hey, you can speak normally." I shrugged. "Am I required to?" "I guess not? Though, I am curious, why are you so surprised about the castle?" "It's... layered. There are a lot of spatial manipulation spells on it, and I can see them," I responded whilst climbing into a boat where Tracey Davis and a boy I didn't recognized were sitting. He had dark skin, but did not greet me when I did so. The boats started moving after a short command of the giant, and the boy turned to us when Daphne addressed him. "Heir Zabini, we meet again." "Heir Greengrass. A pleasant surprise meeting you here," he responded, causing me to sigh. "And whom might you be?" he asked, a bit pointedly, probably because of the sigh. "Nightshade Moon. Pardon me asking but - why does everyone here already knows everyone else, excluding myself, Malfoy and Potter?" I could guess the answer why nobody knew Harry, but it was annoying that everyone else already knew each other. "Oh, it's just that we purebloods don't have much opportunity to go out, and our parents mainly mingle with other purebloods," Tracey explained, shrugging. I see. "Are you muggleborn?" she then asked, and I shrugged, guessing she meant 'born to non-magicals'. "By pure technicality, depending on how you specify that question, I would either be muggleborn, a magicborn, or a being just with a human form. I have been born from someone who was born without magic, and had transformed in a magical being." "I thought it was just a myth that you can give or take magic?" "Well, it is purely voluntarily and basically killed m-others benefactor, so I wouldn't recommend it unless you're about to die," I responded, which made them freeze. And I froze as well - five minutes in, and I almost blew my disguise already. Things are going great! "That's... a steep price for just a bit of magic." I shrugged. "It was the price to pay. Both knew what would happen." Getting a thoughtful look, I stared at the ceiling. "I'm sure he's still out there, somewhere. Maybe he even regained what she had lost... though I haven't heard from him in a long time now." The sombre mood stayed like this, but eventually, the boats entered a tunnel, and an underground harbour below the castle from there, running onto the rough earth, and we jumped down, following the massive man to a big door. He rapped three times on it, and it opened, giving way to an older witch clad in green robes. "The firs' years, professor," the giant said, getting a small smile in response. "Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take them from here," she said, and continued to lead us into the castle proper. We were led through what I presumed an entrance hall, at whose end double doors led to the other students - we could hear them chatting. The professor led us into a room nearby, telling us to wait for the sorting, and telling us to freshen up a bit. Someone was reciting spells, someone was mentioning trolls, and then someone shrieked. I blinked, turned around, and stared at a ghost. I tilted my head right, and it followed. I tilted my head left, and it followed. "Aren't you supposed to be six feet under?" A snort barely muffled the laughter Daphne was trying her hardest not to release. "Why I never! Do you even know who I am?" "Should I?" "...you haven't met a ghost before, have you?" I shook my head. "No, I have. My family holds a few fairly powerful exorcists. Spectres should be allowed to pass on, and most I know of choose to do so." "That is an interesting view on us, at least. Maybe we should introduce ourselves? My name is Richard Anthea. Who are you?" "Nightshade Moon. It is nice to meet you," I responded, shaking his hand. He blinked. "You can touch me?" "I told you my family's got talent with exorcism," I responded chuckling, and he shrugged, accepting that explanation. "But in all seriousness, its just my magic. It twists a lot of things slightly, so for example ghosts become corporeal to me." "Move along now!" the voice of the professor resounded behind us, and I blinked, then turned around. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start. Form a line, then follow me," she said, and we quickly did as such. We were led back through the entrance hall, and then into the great hall with all the students sitting along four massive tables, and the teachers sitting at a head table. Looking around, my gaze eventually moved up, and I couldn't help but stare. The ceiling looked as if it wasn't there, showing the nights sky instead. There were hundreds of stars, and I could even tell that this wasn't just an image, but the actual sky as of that exact moment. "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read it in Hogwarts: A History," a girl with brown bushy hair behind me whispered, probably having noticed the stare I had shot upwards. Looking forwards again, I then watched the professor to place down a chair, and an old, pointed hat atop the same. For a moment, the entire hall fell silent, and then the hat began to move, a rim slowly opening atop the hat. "Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, But don't judge on what you see, I'll eat myself if you can find A smarter hat than me." The bloody thing started to sing about the virtues of the four houses of the school - the brave Gryffindors, the loyal Hufflepuffs, the wise Ravenclaw, and the ambitious Slytherins. "So, we've just got to try on the hat! I'm going to kill Fred, he's been going on about fighting a troll," a boy with red hair complained, causing me to shrug. Either would've been fine for me at any rate. "When I call your name, you will put on the Hat and sit on the stool to get sorted. Abbott, Hannah!" A young girl stepped forwards and sat down. The hat was placed on her head, and a moment later... "HUFFLEPUFF!" "Bones, Susan!" became a Hufflepuff, "Boot, Terry!" the first Ravenclaw, and the nervousness bled out of the first-years, only leaving behind excitement. Eventually, when the hat came to a nervous boy going by "Longbottom, Neville!", it took a few minutes to decide, and once the hat shouted Gryffindor as his house, he nearly took the hat with him, but stopped after walking a few steps, remembering it wasn't his hat on his head there. The next unusual thing was when the in my opinion quite unpleasant "Malfoy, Draco" tried on the hat. It took but a moment to sort him Slytherin. Then, however... "Moon, Lily!" "What?" came from Harry, and I shot him a look. She became a Ravenclaw. Then, it was time for me. Sitting on the stool, the hat was put onto my head, and... nothing happened. Trying to feel out the magic of the hat, I could find it trying to trace my magic back to my personality with an observation spell, interlaced with a secrecy spell. It could not recall or speak about what it found, so I decided to humour it. Closing my eyes I focussed, finding the small amount of energy prodding on the utterly massive wall that my mental defences were. They had to hold up against an entire world of nightmares come worst for worst after all, and I guided the energy coming from the hat, reinforcing it so it wouldn't break on it's path through the walls. A fraction of a second after I allowed the tickle of energy in, the hat screamed "SLYTHERIN!" in such volume, it caused everyone to jump, myself included. I shrugged, standing up and walking towards the green-silver table, noting my clothes shifting in colour whilst doing so. Now it would get interesting. The Gringotts goblins said Harry's surname was Moon-Potter. Would Hogwarts recognize that? "Nott, Theodore!" My jaw clenched. No, they would not. That wasn't what I wanted to see. (The twins from earlier got sorted into different houses, one Gryffindor and one Ravenclaw.) Though the professor came soon enough to Harry. "Potter, Har- wait a moment," she said, looking down at the parchment. "Potter-Moon, Harry!" I could see the shock on the faces of the teachers and most of the students. Myself I found it curious how the order of the names could be different - Gringotts listed Moon before Potter for him. Maybe because he wasn't of age? "Potter-Moon? Where did he get a second surname?" someone a few years above me asked, wide-eyed. "Some nine years and charge ago," I absent-mindedly said, causing him to look at me, remembering my name. "Oh, right, your surname was Moon, too, right? How are you three related?" "Lily Moon isn't part of our family, thought the name might suggest otherwise. As for Harry, Nightmare basically adopted him. I would presume his surname to come from that, though it might be for other reasons, too. It's entirely possible that changing his name in the non-magical world caused his name recognized by the magical world to change," I reasoned whilst shrugging, focusing on Harry. ...nothing. Ah. 'Harry, you need to let the hat through your shields, it takes a look at your mind and sorts you. Don't worry, it cannot talk about what it sees,' I sent, and he twitched slightly, having heard me. I could see Harry's face twist, different emotions showing up, and eventually the hat shouted out Gryffindor, much to my surprise. "I - he - whaat? That hat charmed to put him there?" I questioned, looking at the hat. I could tell that it was enchanted in a few interesting ways, but there wasn't any magic to influence the hats' decisions. That was also verified by the older student, saying that nobody would dare to mess with the hat. The last attempt ended with a goblin sword ramming itself through the malefactor and disappearing afterwards to who knows where. I decided not to ask but made a note to investigate the smiths of the goblins. If wizards used goblin swords, maybe they were of extremely high quality? No matter where, humans tend to develop superiority complexes. The sorting continued without any other surprises, though eventually, I was asked about why the hat took so long to sort me, and revealed about the protection on my mind. "It's because I and Harry both carry magic from Nightmare. Mind you, not much, but it is magic dealing with the mind. It's a protection against mental attacks, something the - scratch that, our family Moon is especially prone to. I believe it started some one thousand eight hundred years ago." "Nobody can trace their lineage back that far, though?" "It's an assumption we made on the strength of the family magic," I lied, shrugging. "Mainly, how it is still slowly growing stronger at a steady rate - and how nothing, even an attack by the strongest mind-mage we know could not get past our defences. Mother said that strong magic attracts things you really don't want in your head, so we both got a shield cast on us by mother, until we can learn ourselves." That part was true. Chrysalis could be a very scary individual, but her mind magic held no power over me. Unless I allowed her to. Fun week... I was snapped out of my thoughts when the headmaster tapped his goblet with a spoon, the hall quieting. He stood up, smiling at both new and old students. "Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words, and here they are! Horizon! Defenestration! Periapsis! Candela! Thank you!" ...all-right then. I decided to ignore the doubts about the old man (and his sanity), deciding to instead focus on the copious amounts of food that had now appeared in front of us. While we were eating, the ghosts also started mingling with the students, but much to my surprise, the house ghost of Slytherin came over to me, giving me a bow. He then vanished. Both I and the children around me stared at the ghost for a few moments, before returning to the food. "Why'd he do that?" "No idea." There was silence for a while longer, but then someone else finally spoke up. "I think I should ask the question we all want answered - where's your family from? We know almost everyone else in Slytherin." "Nobody believes us if we tell the truth, so we don't," I deadpanned in response, getting him to blink. Before he could respond, I felt something touch my magic, with the intent to break through it. I threw back my spirit against the intrusion, causing a rippling sensation to flow through my mind. Whoever cast the spell touching me had to feel much worse right now, though. Nobody was looking at me directly, so I just shrugged. They tried their best - but that wasn't enough. "What is the truth then?" "Would you believe me when I told you we were taught by ponies?" "Excuse me?" "Thought so," I deadpanned, before realizing two of the girls from the train were sitting near me, nodding. "Yea, we do," Daphne said, glancing at Tracey. I smirked at them, the rest of the Slytherins aware they were missing something but unaware what. Eventually, the feast came to a close. The food vanished, and Dumbledore stood up again, addressing the students. "Ahem - just a few more words, now that we have finished our dinner. I need to give you a few start-of-term notices. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that fact," he said, his gaze hardening a bit and staring at two third- or fourth-year Gryffindors. They were red-headed twins and grinned back. "I've also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week, those wishing to play for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch." His next words were when his eyes gained an almost steel-like quality. I could feel a suggestion mixed into his words, which I couldn't condone too much, considering what he was saying. "Finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side of the castle is out of bounds for all students not wishing to sustain life-threatening injuries. In other words, it's a restricted area, stay out of it." I'll check that out later. "And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" I'll spare you all the following events. Whatever it was had no right to call itself music.
A Reverie of Lost Twilight	pre	"We'll help ya. We always will." I looked up to meet her warm smile, the same one everypony else was displaying. "And don't ya fret none, we'll always think of ya as our friend. Even if ya don't seem t' be in the right place, sorta speak." "Yes, Sunset, even if your memories are different to ours, or even if you are a different Sunset, we'll always be with you," Rarity added. I couldn't help but have a weight lifted from my shoulders. "Thanks, girls. I'd have thought you'd be angry with me or something." "Of course not, silly! You've always be Sunny to us! And if you are a different Sunny, that means this is the first time we met, and I've still yet to throw you a "Welcome to Ponyville" party! Oh, we can also make it a party for our old friend Twilight, although I'm not even sure who she is, but I'm sure we're good friends like you said, so I'd still throw her a party in her honor!" Pinkie enthusiastically declared, while crushing me in her Pinkie-style bear hug. This time Fluttershy was the one to speak up. "Like Pinkie and Rarity said, even if you are a different Sunset Shimmer, I'm sure we would be good friends in no time." The other girls nodded to that, and we all came together in one big group hug; Celestia herself smiled at our warm display. I felt my body unwind at the immense affection given to me. It was kind of ironic, since they were the counterparts of my friends, I shouldn't have had anything to worry about in the first place. After we broke from the hug I threw out that question much to the bewilderment of my friends. A lot had happened, and it had already been a long day. "So, what now?" Luckily it was Celestia who suggested something. "Have you found out anything else?" I put some thought into Celestia's question. "Not much really--" "We found out a whole bunch of stuff! Like how Sunset asked us whether we knew of a pony named Twilight Sparkle, but we said no, except she's the only one who remembers her and probably took over her life as an alicorn princess, but was also worried that she might be an alien or time traveller from a completely different world or timeline, or that maybe a spell or magical creature was the cause of all this, and even Rainbow thinks this might be the work of Discord since he is a powerful magical creature and probably did this for fun, not like the time when he changed the clouds into cotton candy and made them rain chocolate which was really delicious, and I wish we can have cotton candy clouds and chocolate rain all the time, but he'd have to go back to being cheeky and evil and mean, although he's still pretty cheeky after being reformed, which is probably why Rainbow thinks that he did it, even though Fluttershy insists he's been really good and wouldn't do such a thing, but then Sunset suggested she'd have a talk with him later, and then said she wanted to investigate the Tree of Harmony, and now here we are!" The rest of us were stunned while Pinkie sported her trademark happy-go-lucky grin. Even Celestia seemed to be drawing a blank to what just transpired. Or maybe that was her stoic expression that Celestia was most famous for. "Pinkie, how are you able to say all that in one sentence?" I asked. "It takes practice." She nonchalantly waved her roof around, which rose a slight chuckle out of me. I was surprised as to how calm and collected Celestia was before Pinkie Pie's antics. I wouldn't put it past her though from the way she was deep in thought while Pinkie's words still hung out in the air. "I must say, I'm immensely impressed with the way you girls conducted yourselves already at the start of your investigation, especially with so little to go on. That includes what we have discovered here." "It's mostly just speculation at this point," I clarified. "That doesn't make it any less impressive. There is one thing that bothers me with your sense of reasoning however." "There is?" She nodded. "You mentioned in your letter that this Twilight Sparkle pony might have vanished from existence, correct?" I confirmed her with a nod, by which she continued. "Then tell me, why do you say you took over the life of this Twilight Sparkle?" "Well, that's because I was never an alicorn princess to begin with and I sorely remember Twilight Sparkle being the Princess of Friendship where I came from. Not to mention, the castle that I woke up in was supposedly Twilight's, yet everypony insists the castle belongs to me, plus other things." "That's true, but then while your deduction is highly justifiable, why do you insist this Twilight Sparkle has vanished from existence?" "...Isn't that because nopony seems to remember her except me?" But even when I said that, doubts began to linger in my mind that may not be the case at all. "It's not like that's the only explanation. It's merely a possibility, and may still be within probable cause." "Even if that was the case, Twilight Sparkle may have just been simply misplaced, and because of that nopony would have met her, therefore nopony would have remembered her." "What are you suggesting, Princess?" "I'm just trying to figure out your choice of wording. How did you come to that idea in the first place?" Strange. How did I come up with that ridiculous notion? In the realm of possibilities, as far as magic was concerned, it wasn't that farfetched, except I had no evidence to support it. Several times I had made that claim to these girls, to Princess Celestia, even to myself. So what gives? "...I felt something was wrong when I woke up this morning," I began. "When I spoke with Spike, I was getting confused as to what he was saying and asked him a bunch of questions. It was then that I thought she disappeared when I saw my cutie mark on Twilight's throne." "So you based your theory on intuition?" I nodded. It was the only explanation I could offer after all, although an illogical one. "In that case, I would like you to take that in stride as you conduct your investigation. Your instinctual feelings might just be an important clue." I was taken aback. Even I could sense the girls giving off quizzical looks. Still, I couldn't let this one go for rationality's sake. "Not to go against your judgement, but I doubt feelings and instincts are exactly evidence that we can use here." "Not necessarily," she countered. "While evidence is required to establish a logical connection, it is our instincts that drive us to achieve our ultimate goals." "I see. I'll take that to heart then." Celestia accepted that with a soft nod, then looked out towards the cave entrance. "I believe it is getting rather late. Please, allow me to escort you girls back to Ponyville."
Spare Him His Life	pre	And she had asked him why. There was no need to question what it pertained to. Many pathetic mortals had spent their dying breaths screaming variations of that question at him, though they would take no answer that transcended how narrow their minds were. Such was the way of ponies, to sink into the fog of ignorance and the blindfolds of the collective herd. Sombra had never been given a choice. He was used as a weapon to further another's greed. If he weren't in his own body, he wouldn't even recognize himself anymore -- even though he knew he never changed. Today was no exception. Sombra was not given a choice because this date might as well be the day of his funeral, if he were not a match for this mare. He didn't answer. Instead, Sombra fired up his own magic. Luna's cheek was marked with burns in an instant. "Perhaps it is so I can do that on a normal basis?" Sombra deadpanned. ... A wall of crystals sprouted up to block another bolt of lightning. Unlike the last few, this one had shattered when contact was made. The princess's eyes shone with focused determination, along with bits of her temper--and the ever-present melancholy that lurked in them more than ever as of late. Sombra fought back. While it was true that Sombra was a worthy opponent, Luna hoped she would never have to say that to his face. His magic was not only unusual, but his handling of it was superb, considering he could have been a barbarian who wielded more weapons than brains. Never before had she had the privilege of fighting any kind of creature so close to being her equal. There was a reason she was unable to train with the mortals she was required to whip into shape for Equestria's legions. As a goddess, she absolutely pulverized them while not even utilizing a quarter of her power. Neither Celestia, nor the 'best' mortal mages or pegasi, were adequate for sparring and spell-slinging together. Luna flew up from the ground, the floor now riddled with holes, and landed on a balcony. Her stance was balanced, ready to change at a moment's notice. It was not her sister's showy, ineffective poise. Perhaps if she were facing off against a more flattered opponent, they would undoubtedly confess her regality and how imposing she looked. Such things had happened in the past. Mortals were prone to fear and flattery in equal measure when fighting against a god. Luna was the fierce and bright bolt of a storm; she was nopony's radiant and sight-stealing light. Her horn glowed brightly with the latest spell she wished to ready. She scanned all that was below, looking for her sword. It would prove much more efficient in close combat, which she absolutely excelled at. She didn't have to worry about the burns on her cheek, since they were able to be healed with a faint flicker of light. Except, her sword was no longer at her side. When she was fighting... Well, it seemed that she had dropped it at some point. As a quick, cold strike of fear spread through Luna, she spared a downward glance. The harness was damaged. Already, a dozen curses cluttered her thoughts. Had been cut when she wasn't looking? Her personal blade was at his side now, having been retrieved from its brief rest on the dim floor. It floated in his magic, but not the strange kind he had used before. This particular aura that King Sombra was using was the same hue as his eyes when dark magic was not flooding them -- a simple crimson. Perhaps that was the color of his personal magic, as the hue seemed to suggest? "Does this sword have a name?" he suddenly asked. His tone was neutral, perhaps even close to grumpy. She didn't answer at first. How could she? "DOES IT?!" he snapped. She flinched slightly. How could he lose his temper so quickly? "Y-yes." From the balcony, she could see him sneer. "Well, I have to say that this sword deserves more of a name than you do. Your so-called sister must love you very much if she bothers to name her miserable brat of a shadow." Luna, he is just trying to make you angry... "Isn't that right?" It should not be working... "You're not very good at maintaining a straight face, are you?" "You have no idea how good my straight face is," she mumbled through gritted teeth. Every day of her life was becoming little more than keeping herself below the boiling point. Dealing with mortals and her sister was putting her in a slow, agonizing simmer. "It doesn't matter if you don't talk at all; your expression says everything I need to know." Despite the bitterness in King Sombra's expression, there was clearly something he found worth sneering at in her plight. Of course, this would be the one time a pony noticed her -- to berate her. And not just any pony, but a heartless tyrant with a voice like a cave's echo. That couldn't be natural, since it seemed to suit a foal's image of evil, rather than something that could truly stand before her. There was even a time when she heard his voice dip, becoming hoarse momentarily. She saw how he had to light his horn, and the way that his voice seemed to stabilize into the unnatural bass again. Just ignore him... The magic Luna still held on her horn was starting to cloak her form. A white glow made its way into her eyes and clouded her vision. "So, tell me one thing, Goddess-Who-I-Have-So-Excellently-Angered. Why did this happen? Why? I know that some of your kind had the ability to receive visions. Maybe you can tell me. Why did any of this have to happen to me? If you're worth anything, you'll answer me." Luna did not listen to a single word. She was bristling with energy, her entire body covered with a sheen of magic, her eyes fully aglow. She was too angry to hear. She wasn't listening. There was a blast of light and the sound of rumbling thunder. Luna dove from the balcony in a fierce plummet, the aura flowing behind her like a comet. Sombra held up the sword, as if to block the strike of a weak opponent's blade--not a divine being's wrath. He didn't move a muscle. Sombra's horn was not bearing the plain crimson aura. Nor were his eyes showing the crimson iris and black pupil of a typical equine's that they had been moments before. ... Sombra was mortal, and this was a death wish. Sombra was also very, very crazy, and he played by no rules but his own. Death was like a pony to him: it existed, and was obviously as real as he was, but not as important -- nor could it ever be. At the last moment, he swiftly dodged the Alicorn in a manner that was not befitting of the royal warrior he appeared to be. He side-stepped the charge quicker than anticipated. And that was just what he wanted. She was the emotional one--the real fighter of the two. All he had to do was make her feel any strong emotion, then wait for her to doubt herself and try to hold back. The next step -- where he triggered her hostile reaction -- would cause her judgment to blur and her feelings to get the better of her. Now, Sombra simply cast the spell he had been planning since he was out of her way. The dark aura flew from the caster. A pulsing mess of angry opaque colors bearing the likeness of smoke engulfed the moon goddess completely, just as Sombra skidded to a halt from his side-step. Luna shrieked. ... When the spell's aftermath -- a thin layer of mist -- cleared, both were able to see the extent of Luna's injuries. While Sombra knew exactly what was going to happen if his movement succeeded, Luna was barely holding back her expression of wide-eyed, frightened disbelief. Across her wings and withers were newly-sprouted clusters of the dark-colored crystal -- the exact same kind as the ones which had, no doubt, been forced into the castle walls by Sombra himself. Each cluster was embedded in her skin. She could barely even limp, which still would not have yielded any helpful results in aiding her escape. A thin sheen of blood made its way through the broken skin at points, the blasphemous crystalline parasites bearing the glistening drops with a grim silence. The brief, momentary silence was punctuated only with a pained gasp on Luna's part. Her wings had taken most of the damage, making flight impossible. At some points, entire areas of pierced flesh mingled with her broken, shredded, and crimson-soaked feathers, which were tangled due to having been caught so awkwardly in the enchanted snare. Magic was not a possibility. Her horn was not spared from the grip of the unnatural crystals. She was more of a caged bird than ever now. Her gaze -- which was panicked as well as feral -- met the straight-faced and unwavering expression of Sombra. She found no empathy in his gaze--nor did she expect to. Yet, Luna also noticed that he did not appear to take any satisfaction in his actions. Sombra shifted the grip of the sword still in the hold of his magic. He tilted it so that a small portion of the right side of his face was reflected in the clean surface. "What is your name?" "L-Luna," she stammered. How strange it was that he seemed to read her so well, yet didn't even know her name. Sombra's gaze did not leave his own reflection. "I have a question for you, Luna," he stated simply. Even though they were only a few strides away from each other, his voice held the distant, apathetic disdain of somepony lost in thought. Only her name was said with emotion, although Luna was unsure why his tone was so contemptuous with somepony he barely knew. "It seems that you and your precious, shining sister have come a long way -- and just to see me!" She scowled, but inclined her head in the slightest of nods. "Well, Luna tell me this--" She was tired of his mocking tone. What could possibly be so important? "Tell me what?" He still refused to tear his gaze away, but Luna could see his eyes narrow. That kept her quiet. Sombra was clearly not somepony who was used to being talked back to by any who posed any real challenge. "Well, Luna, I only wanted to inquire if you felt like a hero yet. Your sister certainly acts like one. After all, I'm simply the worst, aren't I?" His purposely light tone only added to the biting, cruel weight of his words. For Luna, that did it. She stared at the floor and wished that she was invisible, or that her wings were free. This was just too much. The way resentment dripped from beneath the mocking lightness in his voice only compounded her misery. Sombra could think. He knew what she thought--or, at least, what her sister so desperately wanted to think of him. Luna did not loathe this stallion -- but she did not think kindly of him either. This creature looked and sounded as miserable as she did. To work up hatred for him was too difficult. The pain in her wings flared up again. She despised this crippling magic; it was one more crushing grip upon her life to smash her into a place she did not belong. Luna whimpered faintly. For one brief moment, Sombra's gaze was not focused on the sword. ... Luna hadn't seen it before, but she saw the traces now. They weren't obvious enough unless you were close enough to him. Right now, Luna had the misfortune of being within a foot of Sombra. At least she was off to his side, which wasn't close enough for her to dread. They were both walking down the horribly extensive and crooked halls of the crystal palace. Thanks to Sombra's reign and magic, they were no longer recognizable. Sombra was the only one who was walking too. Of course, that was only if you could call storming through every corridor and muttering something indecipherable ordinary walking. Luna was lagging somewhat behind him, having no choice to limp along due to the nature of her injuries and the inability to use any means to escape. Sombra was too cunning -- and experienced, she gathered -- to let her lag behind where she could escape. It also did not help that he could use both magic and her own sword -- which he still happened to regularly threaten her with. Luna's immortality and divinity would not matter. If he slit her throat like he said he would, and she didn't have the magic to heal herself or somepony who could, the results would still be disastrous. Nopony would be there to save the crystal ponies. Suffice to say, things were not in Luna's favor. Or, at least, it had seemed like that would be the case--until Luna noticed the air around him. She saw how it was shimmering faintly. He didn't notice she had seen the indicator of an obvious enchantment. It was magic, of course. But what was it for? All Luna knew was that it was some kind of shield. Invisible, unless one were observant enough to notice light bend a certain way. Once that particular bend was spotted, a careful pair of eyes could see the way in which it would create a small flicker of light in the air around him, hardly brighter than a reflection in the glass. Each time, it rippled once and was gone. It was a spell, alright, and one she could probably break -- even in this state. So what exactly was this shield keeping out? He already had the fighting skill and armor to keep most wounds from being inflicted on him, on top of a power that exceeded any of his subjects. This mad king Sombra was also smart enough to think of things such as setting a trap far in advance. Did he anticipate even advanced magical attacks, like the ones any well-versed magician -- or a divine entity like herself -- could inflict? No matter what, she couldn't shake the feeling that he somehow knew her... This didn't feel like their first meeting. Creatures like herself were not prone to dejà vu, though mortals in their constant misconceptions about the divine likely thought otherwise. Of all the ponies she had really known in her life -- which was not many -- she swore she knew of somepony who sought what this Sombra figure had built for himself. Luna held back a sigh and looked at the ever-irritated Sombra out of the corner of her eyes. She could only see his right side. Where she stood was a few steps behind him, but it was nowhere close enough for any significant move to be made. Luna frowned slightly. She had to keep putting off the assumption -- or gut feeling, it didn't matter what she called it -- that she knew him from somewhere. It wasn't helping her solve the problem at hoof. He was Sombra, and she did not know him until it was proven otherwise. He was also glaring at her. "Don't think that anypony else hasn't tried. I know exactly what you're thinking, and it will fail. You aren't the first to spot the spell. Unfortunately, you'll be the only one of the few that have lived long enough to catch sight of it." She only blinked silently in response. "I suppose I'm just lucky you're not the talkative sort." Luna didn't respond. They kept walking. She had been wondering why he spoke in the Everfree language, closer to what she knew in her past. The kind the crystal ponies used, though he did not have the coat texture or eyes that marked him as one of their own. Even his magic control over crystals did not match what Luna had heard the crystal ponies describe their race's magic to be. When they had any magic, they could control the growth, conjuring, and other attributes of already-existing crystals. They also needed no winter coat because their kind was immune to the arctic cold. Sombra had a noticeably shaggier coat, along with features that were impossible for a unicorn to have. The crystals he had power over were unknown to her and beyond what the enslaved ponies described as their capabilities. During her time here, she had not heard anything close to a rumor that suggested where he might have come from. No domestic gossip suggested that he was some kind of wicked whoreson or other likely culprits. In fact, what Luna had heard was that the Crystal Empire had been a blessed place before Sombra. One overflowing with the love it revered. It had never had whores -- or anything like them -- within its borders. Such was the majesty of its civilized, just past. Luna was careful to stay on his right side, since he threatened her with the sword when she strayed from there. She was close enough to hear whatever he was muttering under his breath. It was about Celestia. Somepony, as he put it, already encountered her. The way he spoke about the event -- Sombra made it sound as though he were not the one who fought her. Luna's mind whirled. Celestia had fought somepony else? Who could it be? Did they have the same kind of magic as Sombra? She had to find her sister, and soon! First, she had to escape this and get her magic back. Her hoof found her horn and futility pawed at the crystals that were now attached to it. She bit her lip and tried to stop her eyes from watering. Magic for her wasn't just a mere skill. In the case of a proper god, magic was something that ran deep in every part of their being. The only one who could remove these crystals... "Oh, stop it, will you? Surely, you don't want to see me angry, which your obnoxious behavior will definitely result in if you keep this up," Sombra spat without looking at her. "I'm surprised you and your sister -- as ridiculous as you are -- have gotten anywhere with the lack of knowledge in regards to the magic that you display." Sombra stopped walking, whirling around faster than the confused princess could react. He made sure that the flat of her sword was jammed under her throat hard enough that it hurt Luna to gulp. The crimson glow encircling it illuminated the king's disgusted sneer, as if to highlight the ever-present traces of the temper he displayed. "I would have hoped that you, of all who walk upon this land, realize that emotion and focus can influence magic. It isn't some dead force you can order at whim, forcing it to do whatever the caster desires for the sake of their morbid curiosities. Magic is very alive, no matter the incarnation. You can weave it and order it to do something, and nothing you want will happen. To really excel at magic, you work with it, if you are going to use it properly at all." Luna stared straight at Sombra. Never before had she heard magic described so well, despite the heavy layers of loathing in his tone. "Magic wants to be free. If you don't treat it as such, it might even turn on you by waiting desperately for you to make one mistake. And when you do, it won't forgive. You won't break the spell, because you can't break me. Nopony has, although you bet that they have all tried before. Their failure was inevitable. I'm not a puppet that you can swap out. If you think a knife will end me, or any poison can go undetected, you are wrong. Do you think I won't notice a pony entering this castle? Well, guess what? Once again, you are wrong. I'm well aware of every attempt you will make against me, even if I still can barely find a single room in this damned place." He kept going on. Luna kept staring. Sombra had lost it. "I can and will anticipate every violent action you think up. I'm watching very carefully--" "You do not sleep," Luna interjected, her eyes widening momentarily in the dark. At last, she understood! The dark circles she could see under his eyes... Not knowing where to go... He seemed to be focused only on self-preservation and his own twisted welfare... Sombra was often lost in thought that manifested in the form of long comments and rambling speeches. Perhaps she could even chalk his abnormal anger and violence up to such a condition. She knew quite well what sleep deprivation could do to a creature in the long-term, but those qualities were admittedly harder to guess the origin of. If Sombra didn't sleep for eight years, he'd have to figure out a loophole to stay alive... Such as sustaining himself on his own magic, perhaps? He would also need to keep any negative effects on his mind at bay -- which was partly what the shield had to be for. She watched as anger shone in Sombra's eyes. After all, he was clearly not one who took kindly to be interrupted. Shining in them was the wellspring of confirmation and wrath she needed, all gushing forth as richly as a fountain spring. Everything seemed to be in slow motion to Luna. She could feel everything fit together in her mind. For that success, a small part of her somewhere deep inside was beaming with rare satisfaction. Luna could still use her hooves, even if it hurt to stretch them with the crystals still embedded in her skin. He looked as if he was about to ready his other foreleg to strike her savagely. Instead, Sombra tried to drive the sword's point into her throat. She pushed the blade away just in time, and stumbled to the side as swiftly as possible. Sombra himself said he could predict any attempt to wound him. That he anticipated every kind of cruelty. The paranoia in his eyes behind misery, anger, and insanity spoke clearly of this. So clearly, in fact, that Luna was sure she could have noticed -- perhaps at a later time -- this even if he had lied to her. His tongue could say anything, but the rest of him couldn't back up those words. In doing so, he revealed the perfect way for anypony observant and crazy enough to reverse the effects of his impressive spell. All of this gave Luna what was possibly the most insane plan she'd ever had to date--and would ever have. She grabbed Sombra in her forehooves. Before he could figure out what was going on, she kissed him. After a few seconds, she pushed the horribly confused Sombra away. He was definitely not focused on his spell. Luna reached up to her horn. It was free, as was the rest of her form. Her coat may have been marked with wounds, and her wings still needed healing, but it all paled in comparison to the fact that she was-- Gone. Luna ran down the halls so fast that she might as well have been healed already. She had to find Celestia. Even if her sister didn't have her magic right now, they could still come up with a new plan. Her sword was at her side once again instead of being aimed at her own neck. Luna's horn sparked to life. A thread of magic as faint and delicate as gossamer began floating through the halls, flickering as it went. Its path was fragmented as it tried to find the familiar magical signature of Celestia. Meanwhile, Sombra was exactly where Luna left him. He was sitting down with an expression of pure terror on his face and a stare too vivid to ever be considered glassy-eyed. Eight years of hallucinations and terrifying madness were ready to descend on his mind now that the bubble keeping them at bay was gone. Sombra screamed and screamed, the spell that made his voice sound so unnaturally sinister dispelled due to strain. ... Luna found Celestia near the ruins of some kind of furniture, many corridors down and far away from where she had been. Being in this castle felt smothering, especially in this room, pinpricks traveling throughout her body with each step. Why was Celestia just sitting there? Why did that door lead to nowhere? Luna walked toward Celestia, staring into her eyes. They were just like the king's, but with a distant look in them--as if Celestia had experienced years of torment just by sitting here. She placed a hoof on her sister's wither. Her white coat was streaked with a cold sweat. She had no discernable reaction to the gesture. "Celestia?" she called softly. Her sister remained silent. Luna sighed with relief; this behavior was not of her own accord. She was glad that she had at least checked that. So what could be causing this? Luna looked around, trying to scan for any clues. A door that went nowhere was certainly telling. It was as cold and barren as everything else in this castle... Except that it didn't look like any of the other doors in the castle. Why would somepony like Sombra attach a frame to a wall like this for no reason? He wouldn't--not after what she had seen of him. Celestia was staring at the empty doorframe and looking at the gray wall. There was something about the door that was doing this to her, and it involved the king's magic. But how did it work? Luna tapped her hoof on the floor for a moment, before she was jolted out of thought by the crystal at the top. That must be where the magic was coming from! Sombra could use the crystals to cast spells of their own, after all. Enchanting crystals wasn't an unknown concept, just one that wasn't nearly as advanced as Sombra's spells. Now that Luna knew how to disable the door, she channeled as much magic into her horn as possible, until the entire room could barely contain the glow as it was bathed in waves of blue. She then fired it at the crystal, covering her ears at the whistling and unearthly bloodcurdling howl that sounded throughout the room at its destruction. It was too much to bear. She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes. Why wouldn't it stop? Luna didn't see the curl of green and purple smoke escape from the shards, and how the miasma floated towards Celestia. That floating, foggy substance was drawn to everything it knew about her. Every vision, weakness, fear, and memory. It slipped into her heart--the only place where it could nurture the seeds of darkness that may sprout. There it would wait, completely undetected. Celestia blinked and clutched her head. "Luna, what was that awful noise?" ... If he can make it through everything he sees right now, he might still have a chance. The hallways are dark, and they move constantly, shifting around him like an enchanted maze of horror. Or maybe it's just an effect of his disoriented stumbling. The walls were crystal. Even when he arrived, that did not change, as everything else had. The walls were mirrors, each showing distorted portions of something around him, including Sombra himself. Sombra blinked and rubbed his eyes, his head spinning. There were two Alicorns... He remembered them... Sisters, right? Yes, they were two sisters -- the memories said as much. He needed to concentrate. They were the wards of Starswirl the Bearded. He knew that much from the secondhoof inheritance in his head. What were their names again? He never got the correct name of the older one, but the younger one... Ugh, what hall was he in again? Wait, she was the one that dispelled the shield! Sombra's jaw tensed with rage. That one. Part of his mind cleared as he recalled being near the throne room. He heard hoofsteps coming from that direction as well. "Celestia!" called a familiar voice. Sombra was still coherent enough to hear the echoing voice of the mare called Luna. Slowly, he could feel a bit more focus creeping back through the fever dream-like visions dancing in his eyes and clouding his mind. He needed to go there. Where the sisters were. This time, it's personal. ... Celestia turned to follow her sister, rubbing her head from the lingering headache. She saw something in that door... What had it been? Gray. She had seen evil, hadn't she? And what else would evil be but the creeping, tainted gray death that sought to corrupt all that made up the black and white reality? No, not what. She had seen no what, but there was a faint recollection of who. Celestia had seen Luna there... Celestia was promptly pulled from her wandering thoughts by Luna calling her name. They were back in the throne room now, which was where Luna had been trying to usher Celestia. Admittedly, the idea of Luna trying to lead Celestia anywhere was deeply disturbing. "Celestia, do you have any plan, or should I come up with one...?" Luna asked. Her voice trailed off and gradually became quieter with each word. She was still using the speech of a mortal. Celestia knew that would change once they got back to the Everfree Forest. After all, Luna wasn't one to give up her habits. Celestia's ears then pricked at a faint sound -- hoofsteps belonging to neither her nor her sister. As she gazed at the false throne before them, her face twisted in disgust. A real monarch sat there once, before the evil king had ever set hoof in this land... Her eyes found a hallway. Across the room, Luna's hoof pointed at King Sombra, whose gait was much like a drunken, fatigued stumble. He glowered at Luna, who stood stoically in Celestia's shadow. Or maybe it was just a shadow, since all were shadows in this castle. Sombra didn't know the exact spell these two would use, but, even in his delirium, he knew he couldn't fight. A shield like that was not cast in an instant, after all. But he wouldn't lose either. There were still many spells and enchantments he had wrought into this castle. He could barely stand as it was. Sombra saw Luna and the other mare--who must be Celestia--light their horns in unison. Through the blindfold of hallucinations, he stared at the blue mare with infinite loathing. She would be his greatest enemy. Sombra blinked. A nearly buried part of him wanted to smile at what they didn't know. But he was Sombra, and Sombra didn't smile. Their eyes were glowing now. ... The moon shone down on the vast expanses of northern land. Not a structure stood for miles. Only the glistening snow that shimmered in the dim starlight shone in the arctic night, since there were no clouds to obscure it. The red clouds had long since cleared. Luna had just lowered the moon only minutes before. It had still been hanging high in the sky; the lovely night needed to be prolonged to offer the two goddesses the cover to escape in. Despite her brief interaction with the sky, every second felt like an eternity as the world held its breath. Everything around them was too quiet. The silence, heavy as the cold wind, whipped up small flurries to travel up the rolling hills. Even the howling of the winds had abated for now. The tall forms of two Alicorn mares looked out onto this land. Celestia did not move. She didn't seem to breathe either. The elder sister chose to remain as petrified as a marble statue etched with all the weight of fear. In her eyes, the remains of tears were present. He really was more powerful than they had thought. To make an entire city and even a few nearby mountains disappear like that... It had to have been something that was laid out long before they arrived. She wasn't really sure. Even before the tribal times and the Old World had vanished, they both knew that mortals were not known for such feats. All of this was even more desolate than the castle had been. The wails of the wind were dull in her ear now that they had resumed. Ringing in her ears was the echo of the panicked screams from the castle that they had escaped. Celestia had tried with every bit of magic she had left, but it was all in vain. She was earnestly drained from having to fight the king and then--with the aid of Luna--tear apart his living form and bend it into a living shadow the sisters sealed into a pocket dimension. Their combined, divine might had ripped and anchored his immaterial form into the ice where they stood now, beyond the limits of tangibility. After that task, which only exhausted Celestia's magic further, the sisters stumbled about in varying degrees of dizziness. It felt like some force had tilted the castle -- something no exhaustion-induced vertigo could inflict upon them that severely. When it happened again, Celestia had almost panicked. Her entire world momentarily went black as she lost all sense not tied to her body. Luna's did too. It felt like they were both hurtled across the room with nothing around or under them. When they had opened their eyes, both of their hearts racing, Celestia and Luna had found themselves an entire level below the throne room, surrounded by blanket-covered furniture swept up in dust. Everything was utterly unrecognizable. The horrifying, plummeting sensation that had torn through them was not for nothing. Luna noticed that, when it happened again, they dropped another level down. Then, three floors vanished at once. The king was gone, having been successfully defeated by them both. So, what was happening? He hadn't placed a spell on either of the goddesses. Before it could occur again, Luna had rushed over to an exposed window and broken its glass and frame with a bolt of godly lightning. All around them, the two goddesses could see what was happening at last. The houses and other structures bordering the city were gone in the same dark blinks. As were the farmlands, and even the few crystal ponies who were savaging the ruins of the city. From that cracked window, everything else was fading before the eyes of the two sisters. Something had been cast that was long past the point of being undone -- and certainly not with the caster sealed beyond the reach of death and life. Celestia and Luna had watched as the castle flickered around them like it were hardly any different than the holo-gem's projection, instead of a solid and mighty structure. The stomachs of both sisters churned -- but at least they stayed on the same floor this time. The lingering, poisonous knowledge of how temporary that stability was gnawed at them. In the present moment, Celestia inhaled once, sharply taking in all the icy air. She thought of all the crystal ponies who had vanished with this place. It would be foolish to pretend that she hadn't heard at least one scream as the tortured residents were pulled into a dimension of their own--once more under the king's lock and the key, even if he wasn't with them. Celestia had tried to save them when she stood in that last hallway, using the only magic she had left to try to piece everything together, because she could fix this. She had to -- that was what heroes did! She could fix everything! Her ponies told her so every time she saw them! Tears had run down her face as her heart was wrenched. She overexerted herself, doing everything to save everypony. Her magic was thoroughly diminished, and even felt sealed -- probably from so much use. She yelled and screamed until her throat felt raw for Luna to stay when she heard her younger sister scrambling away. She still recalled that Luna had been on the verge of flying out of the remains of the window, her own hooves and pasterns bleeding from the remnants of glass shards she stood upon and had resorted to breaking manually. Luna, with terror in her tone, and an urgent look in her eyes, begged Celestia to leave, asserting that King Sombra had been powerful enough to do this. Maybe the spell was set up over the course of years--but he still managed to do so, and couldn't Celestia understand how much of a match he had been for them? They had lost, as awful it had been... But mortal spells do not last forever, and even their pure might had the potential to expire when cast forth so hastily. Yet, if they stayed for much longer, they would be gone as well. Celestia had refused to listen. Luna had taken advantage of her sister's desperation and exhaustion, both physical and magical. She had dragged Celestia from the ruined place kicking and screaming like a heartbroken child. She wouldn't forget what Luna had done--how vile and unkind it was. The sun princess took one last look at the empty plain before turning to fly away, the cold of the blizzard already at her back. Luna would join her soon enough. By this point, Celestia didn't care if she didn't. Celestia believed that Luna had sacrificed the opportunity to save so many... She refused to sacrifice herself when the lives of mortals had to be put first and foremost. Why... If things really came down to pure technicalities, only one princess was needed to return to the Triarchy with the promise of a Crystalline colony. Was it even possible to forgive an action that Celestia considered so selfish? ... Luna remained for quite a while after her sister left. Perhaps she would catch up when Celestia was thinking straight -- if Celestia would be another matter entirely. The princess of the night reached up and put a hoof to her throat. Celestia, along with all of Equestria, felt more like a heavy collar attached to worldly chains than anything else. The Triarchy was three chains, or perhaps only one. Mortals were a burden, certainly, but were they enough to be three whole weights in a life that was devolving into drowning? Celestia was definitely one, and Luna's own conflicts were another. Snow swirled around her, but she did not shiver. Everypony back in Equestria was colder and crueler than the snow and ice could ever be. The ponies here would haunt Celestia for a long time, that was true. It wasn't that Luna did not care for them; she just wasn't sure that was the greatest mystery of the Crystal Empire. Having an everlasting life only made her understand that what she had was a treasure, and that she needed to take care of herself. If that meant fleeing a losing battle to fight another day, so be it. The hope of another victory was infinitely more important than the certainty of loss that came from delusions of self-sacrifice. In the event that they were ever seen again, who would fight for the crystal ponies? Especially in the event that everypony who had a chance at saving them and knew where they were found themselves entombed beyond death with them? A long time ago, as a young filly, Luna had dreamed of the kind of fire that Sombra had power over. Although... the eyes were much different than Sombra's had been. She had a feeling she would be seeing a lot more of that magic--whatever it was--at some dusk yet to come. 'Do you feel like a hero yet?' Famous last words, Sombra, Luna thought, before she took to the skies as well. She only stopped to toss what was once her sword on the ground. All that was left behind were the broken shards of a silver sword, resting in the snow. Its pieces were the one thing that had not succumbed to the vanishing. Luna had found them glittering in the snow during the initial bewilderment she felt. In Celestia's desperate attempt to resist Luna's removal of her from the site of the castle, it had been cracked beyond repair, leaving it as a brittle stick of a once-proud weapon. Why bother taking it back to a forge? For over a thousand years, they would sit undisturbed.
My Little Pony: The Last Twonicorn	pre	~Pinkie Pie receives a set of retractable Numb-chucks, which are a pair of Hoof Gauntlets that each releases a chain with a single metal chuck attached to it, for Pinkie twirling a set of numb-chucks would be similar to using party favors you can twirl around, only these are for combat rather than a show, but for Pinkie it would be both at one time, and with her never ending talents she could also use them like helicopter propellers to float in mid air & a whole lot of other things, but during her training, she has one of her chucks accidentally hits herself on top of the head, giving her a big lump on her head, with the other chuck still spinning around, and then it hits her right in the face, knocking her down to the floor, Twilight then tells Pinkie to keep her chucks twirling away from her head & body to avoid hitting herself. ~Twilight decides to go with a pair of Hoof Gauntlets with simple retractable short swords, this is so she can try to mimic Claymore's "Energy Swipe" technique, where Twilight will channel her Alicorn Magic into her swords, and then unleash it as an energy swipe like Claymore's, she tests it out on a training dummy, naturally at first she doesn't get it correctly and the swipe poofs right in her face, but she keeps checking the technique on the holo-display and she improves with practice, she tries again & the swipe doesn't even go far enough to reach the dummy, she tries again & the swipe hits the dummy but doesn't damage it, and soon enough after a few more tries, she concentrates hard enough, and manages to pull off a small but effectively damaging swipe, and splits the dummy completely in half. Later on we see the Mane 6 & Spike pulling off all of their weapon handling techniques perfectly, and successfully pulling off basic close combat moves exquisitely, then we see each one of our seven heroes putting on their pieces of armor, and taking hold of their weapons, we then see them all wearing their fulls suits of Iron & Silver-infused armor, with them all geared up for war, our heroes head out to Dream Valley.
My Little Pony: The Last Twonicorn	Be on your gaurd, there's danger a foot, I mean Hoof!	When we get to Dream Valley(which is located in a huge U-shaped canyon somewhere with a dried up river, so it's surrounded by enormous cliffs), we see Claymore, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor, Discord, and the entire Royal Guard(consisting of all of Celestia's guards, and Luna's Bat-Pony Guards, as well as the Crystal Empire's Guards, including a cameo of Flash Sentry, and if you're wondering who's protecting Canterlot & the Crystal Empire, well if they don't stop the threat of Grogar there may not be a Canterlot or Crystal Empire left for them to protect at all, so Tambelon's return is currently priority number 1 for the Royal Guard) each armed with Spears laced with Iron & Silver, all of them are getting ready for Tambelon's return. Celestia relay's to everyone on what they are supposed to do, everyone else then starts doing as Celestia tells them and go get prepared to take their positions, but when Celestia addresses Claymore he just says "Stow it Celestia, I know what to do", then he leaps off the cliff, then takes a sword in hoof, then stabs the cliff & slides down it, then leaps off right before he gets to the bottom, and lands safely on the ground. "I seriously do not like his attitude" Luna says to Celestia. "Attitude or not, he his still our first line of defense" replies Celestia, "And we must be ready to be the second line of defense should he fail". Luna then complies by saying "Right", then Luna takes half of all the Royal Gaurd Forces into position on the opposite side of the valley. Suddenly in the style of Doctor Who's T.A.R.D.I.S., Tambelon begins to fade into the Pony's Dimension, once Tambelon has fully appeared Celestia then tells Cadence and Shining Armor "NOW!", then the 2 of them place their horns together, and cast their combined Protective Dome Shield spells on all of Tambelon(so that Grogar and his forces can't escape), and the Dark Goblins that have the 2 missing Dark Soul Bells burst out of the ground from the opposite side of where Claymore is, and enter the city right before the Dome completely conceals it all, then Celestia tells Discord "Eyes in the Sky", then Discord flies right above the dome covered city & morphs himself into a multi-headed satellite-like thing to keep watch over everything that's happening from above, and provide aid wherever needed. Shining Armor then says to Celestia in a stressed out manner "Wow, This is some Very Powerful Dark Magic". Cadence then adds in the same stressed out manner "I'm not sure how long we can keep this up". "Just keep going as long as you possibly can" Celestia tells them, then Celestia shouts to Claymore "Claymore, it's up to you now!". Claymore just says "Yeah Whatever", he then illuminates both his horns, then some transparent river-like streams of Magic appear all over the empty space around him, and flows right into Claymore's horns(this is the way he draws in and absorbs Magic from the Hidden Magics to help power himself up, a trait that can only be done by the Twonicorns due to their heightened awareness & link to the Hidden Magics), once he's stored up as much Magic as he can hold without overdoing it, he then walks right through the shield and into the city. "Be on your guard" Celestia tells everyone else, "Nothing gets out of that dome!", Celestia and many of the guards watch over the right side on one cliff, while Luna and the rest of the guards watch over the left side on the other cliff, and everyone gets ready as though they're going to attack the first thing that comes out of that dome. Then Twilight and the others arrive WAY behind the spot where Claymore entered the dome, and hiding out in a small cave so no one else can see them. Fluttershy has her doubts about this & says "I have a bad feeling that this isn't going to work". Twilight reassures Fluttershy by saying "Don't worry, it will be OK, and if nothing else, if we do encounter Grogar, we can just call upon our Rainbow Power to beat him" "And just how are we going to get in there without being seen?" asks Applejack. "I have just the spell for that" says Twilight, then she makes a big bubble come out of her horn that engulfs all 7 of them, then they all become nothing but white outlines within the bubble, then they begin floating around completely unseen by anyone, Twilight then says "Bubble of Invisibility Spell, so long as this invisible bubble remains in tact and we stay inside it, we can't be seen or heard by anyone outside the bubble", then they go through the dome at the same spot Claymore entered. Once they get in the city, the bubble then pops, making them all visible again, then they look around the city, and notice that things look so much different from inside the city than outside the city, Twilight then says "Incredible, it's like some kind of bridge between worlds, outside the city is Equestria, but inside is the Dark Dimension, if we weren't trying to save our world from a great evil, I would do a full-scale research project on this phenomenon". "Enough with the sight seeing" says Rainbow, "Let's just find Claymore & kick Grogar's rump so we can get out of here". Twilight says "Right", then they all get moving.
My Little Pony: The Last Twonicorn	Well those were some pretty Revealing actions	We then see Claymore walking closer & closer to the center of the city, he's surrounded by Dark Goblins, but they've made a clear path for him, because due to the fact that Cadence & Shining Armor's Dome has covered the whole city, all of the Goblins are trapped in there, and are awaiting their master's next orders, and as Claymore keeps walking the Goblins are just standing there growling & hissing at him, when Claymore gets close enough to the big structures in the center of the city, he then shouts "GROOO-GAAAR!!!". A few seconds later, a burst of black flames comes out of the top of the big structures, then we see glowing red eyes within those flames, then from out of the flames steps Grogar himself, he's about as big & buff as Big Macintosh, but still maintains a general resemblance to his G1 counterpart, but with a darker-shaded coat of blue fur, and has larger, pointier curved horns, and he's wearing a red collar containing all 13 of his Dark Soul Bells, with each step he leaves a shadow flame lit hoof-print, once he comes out of the burst of black flames they disappear right behind him, then Grogar looks down from the structures and says(in a deep & demonic sounding voice similar to that of Trigon, the one that was provided by Kevin Michael Richardson in Season 4 of the 2003 Teen Titans series) "Who dares to shout out my name in such a disrespectful manner". Claymore then replies "I am Claymore, the lost son of the Twonicorn Tribe, for 5000 years you have been nothing but a plague on both my world & the Dark Dimension, all my life I have trained for your eventual return, now I am here to permanently end your tyranny, for my Home, for my Sacrifices, for my Ponies(if he was a human he would have said People)". Grogar then laughs and says "You deluded twit, not even the entire Twonicorn Tribe could be rid of me forever, and you are foolish enough to believe that you can actually stop me, all by yourself?". We then hear Twilight say "Good thing he's not by himself", then we see the Mane 6 & Spike making heroic poses while Twilight says "He has friends". "What are you doing?" says Claymore "Get Out of Here!". "Not a chance Claymore" says Applejack "We're here to help you take down Grogar". "Whether you like it or not, we're staying right by your side" says Pinkie. Then Grogar starts to laugh and says "Is this really the level of desperation you have reached twonicorn? Allying yourself with a Hodge-podge of different types of pony children". "You won't be saying that once you see what these different types of ponies can do" Rainbow Dash tells Grogar. Then the Mane 6 get into formation and Twilight says "RAINBOW POWER!", but nothing happens, and they all look confused, then they try it again and Twilight says "Rainbow Power!", but nothing still happens. "Why isn't our Rainbow Power Working?!" asks Fluttershy. Claymore then explains "Because the source of your Rainbow Power is the Tree of Harmony, as long as you remain on our Earth you keep a connection to the Tree, but if you were to leave the Earth or travel to another world outside our own, you sever the connection you have to the Tree, the only way to use your Rainbow Power without remaining connected to the Tree is to bring the Elements of Harmony with you to where ever it is you're going to go, once you entered the Tambelon city limits you went from being in our world to being in the world of the Dark Dimension, and since you didn't bring the Elements of Harmony with you here, you are unable to access your Rainbow Power, but you would have all ready known about that if you had learned the Rules of Trans-Dimensional Travel!!!". Twilight then says(in an I Just Realized I Did Something Stupid type of manner) "Oohhhh". Grogar then laughs and says "Very amusing, now then", he then has his Dark Goblins surround our heroes, preparing to attack, and our heroes stand close together & get ready to fight. Claymore has his horns light up bright, but once they lite up, he then senses something all around them that was at first too well concealed by the massive amount of dark magic in the Dark Dimension for him to feel earlier, then he says "Wait, I sense something, it's faint, but it's all around us, I've never sensed this before, yet it feels so familiar to me somehow", then he GASPS while making a surprised expression in his face & his sun-glass slide down enough for us to see his eyes. Twilight notices this and asks "Claymore? What is it?". "Twonicorns" says Claymore. "Huh?" goes Twilight. Claymore then says "The Twonicorns, they're here, they're all here!". "Where?" asks Rainbow "I don't see any twonicorns". Claymore then charges up his horns and blasts out a massively powerful Revealment Spell, to reveal that all of the Twonicorns that disappeared along with Tambelon 500 years ago are all still alive, hundreds of them all over the city, each of them sealed inside of a dome-like magical energy pod that has kept them in stasis for centuries, and the Pods were both invisible & intangible so that they could not be seen or felt before Claymore sensed them and used his Revealment Spell to reveal them all, the Twonicorns are floating inside these Pods, surrounded by a strange transparent mist inside the Pods, it's as if the Twonicorns were somehow placed within a cryogenic state of suspended animation since Tambelon's previous disappearance so long ago, and some of these Pods even have a parent with it's child/children sharing the same Pod, after the Twonicorns are all revealed, Pinkie Pie says "Oh, Now I see them". Grogar then looks around and says "The Twonicorns? They all Live?!", then he roar & tries to blast them with a dark magic blast, but the Pods are all unharmed, some of the Dark Goblins try to attack the Pods, but one of them just has his hand shatter like glass upon contact with the Pod, and That one of those Goblins fells no pain but looks at it's missing hand in confusion. Spike takes off one of his armor-gauntlets & tries knocking on one of the Pods with his bare hand, he then says "These things seem pretty solid to me". Then Claymore's sword stabs the same Pod Spike knocked on, then the Pod dissipates, and the twonicorn within falls to the ground still breathing, but is in a sleep-like state because it's too weak to get up, due to the fact that it has exhausted itself staying inside that Pod for so long, Claymore then bucks another Pod close by with his horseshoe, then the same thing happens to the twonicorn from That Pod, then Claymore uses his Twonicorn Sense and says "I see, only contact with Silver can break those Pods". Then to keep safe from a bunch of attacking Dark Goblins, Claymore makes a protective dome-shield around himself, the Mane 6, Spike & the pair of twonicorns they already freed, Claymore then makes a determined expression and says to Twilight "Twilight, the situation has changed, these Twonicorns are in no condition to defend themselves, you and your friends must get all of the Twonicorns out of the city quickly, get Celestia & her forces to help you out". "But what are you going to do?" asks Twilight. "Grogar is mine!" says Claymore, then he blasts the dome away to get rid of the Goblins that surrounded them, and runs off to battle Grogar. "Claymore Wait!" says Twilight. Then Spike stops Twilight and says "No Twilight, don't you see, Claymore is trying to buy us some time, we need to get the Twonicorns to safety". Twilight then tells Spike "You're right", then they go to tend to the Twonicorns. Claymore heads over to where Grogar is, who is still unsuccessfully trying to destroy the Pods with the Twonicorns inside them, then Claymore gets on the roof of the same structure Grogar is standing on but from the opposite end, Claymore then says "Grogar! You want to be rid of the Twonicorns? Then start with Me". Grogar then starts laughing and says "You Pathetic Fool, you think You can take Me on? I am Grogar, The Ultimate Necromancer, Master of the Dark Goblins, Lord of-", then a magic bolt from Claymore hits Grogar right in the face, making him shout in pain & stop talking. Then Claymore makes a battle-ready pose and says "Shut Up And Bring It!". Claymore did that just to get Grogar so angry, that he would get sloppy & forget about the other Twonicorns and focus solely on Claymore himself, and that did indeed work, for Grogar with singe marks on his face then gets really ticked-off, his eyes glow really bright red and he shouts "YOU DARE!!!!!!!", then their big battle begins.
My Little Pony: The Last Twonicorn	Kicking butt while Rescuing, who says we can't multitask	Meanwhile as Claymore and Grogar are duking it out, the Mane 6 & Spike each free a Twonicorn using their armor & weapons that are made with silver, then they head to the outside of the dome covered city, carrying the few twonicorns they freed. Once they reach the dome, Twilight sticks her head outside & calls out "Princess Celestia!". "Twilight?!" says Celestia in a way that signifies that she is surprised that Twilight & her friends are there, so she comes over to them saying "What are you doing-?!", but stops in mid-sentence because she is even more surprised to see a bunch of Twonicorns with them, "Twonicorns?!" Celestia asks, "What is going on here?!". Twilight informs Celestia of the situation by saying "The Twonicorns that went into Tambelon 500 years ago, they're all still alive". "Hundreds of them" Pinkie Pie adds, "Scattered all over the city, they've all been sealed inside these weird Magic Bubble Thingies the whole time, and only contact with silver can open them". "What about Claymore?" asks Celestia. "He's keeping Grogar occupied" replies Twilight, "The other Twonicorns are too weak to defend themeselves, we have to get them all out of the city so that they can get medical attention while Claymore can still keep Grogar's attention". "I understand" says Celestia, she then gets almost everyone else to aid in getting the Twonicorns out of the city, so they go into the city and fight the Dark Goblins that are not currently aiding Grogar in his battle against Claymore, and every minute or so during Claymore's battle against Grogar, we take a moment to see how Twilight & the others are doing on their side, we even see their reactions to some of the incredible feats of magic that those 2 are doing during battle. For the majority of the time we see the royal guards breaking the twonicorns out of the pods & carrying them to safety, while the Mane 6 are mostly covering the guards by attacking the Dark Goblins using their fancy new weapons & moves. ~Applejack keeps lashing her whips at the Goblins, even going so far as to spin one whip around like a lasso while saying "This is how we do it Cow-Pony Style(if she was Human that would have been Cow-Girl Style)", then she wraps one Goblin up with her whip, and spins around like she's wielding a wrecking ball, bashing a whole bunch of Goblins with one of their own, then releases the wrapped up Goblin onto a bunch more Goblins like a rock in a sling-shot, reducing the Goblins down to smoke, then A.J. shouts "Yee-Haw" & goes on to do more fighting. ~Rainbow Dash is seen punching several Goblins one by one, then when a whole swarm of Goblins start coming after her, she then flies towards them & shouts "Rainbow Drill!" while spinning around like a drill, then when she makes contact with the swarm, she keeps punching at a rapid speed, boring through the swarm like a drill, leaving nothing but smoke in her path, then when she bursts out through the swarm, she flexes her frontal leg muscles and shouts "Yea-ha-ha-ha-HEAH!", then she keeps on battling. ~Spike goes around slashing through Goblins with his Gauntlet Claws, and says "Fear my Claws of Justice!", then he sets his claws on fire and shouts "Now my claws are on FI-RE!" while leaping up & spinning around like a flaming top, slashing Goblins with his flaming claws, then he slams his claws on the ground, unleashing a small stream of flames erupting out of the ground, burning any Goblins within a few yards in front of him, then he keeps on fighting. ~Rarity is seen using her special Diamond-shaped platelets like daggers to attack Goblins, combining them to form a shield shaped like a snowflake, hopping on some of them to fly on like they were flying discs, then at one point she leaps up in the air, spins around like a ball, and unleashes all of her platelets at once, destroying several Goblins surrounding her at a 41,252.96 square degree radius, then she recalls her platelets & says "Even in a Battle-Field I know how to Accessorize!", then she keeps fighting. ~Fluttershy is seen hitting many Goblins with her Bow-Staff, reducing them all to smoke, getting more & more stressed out by the pressure as this keeps going on, then when a swarm of them surround her, she gets frustrated & shouts "All of you Meanies Be GONE!" while holding out her staff & spinning around like a tornado, sucking up the whole swarm of Goblins in her wake, then she unleashes a single strike that destroys the tornado & all of the Goblins she sucked up, as they get destroyed she is seen making a long, angry war cry, then she calms down a bit, and in the true Fluttershy fashion, she lets out a very quiet "Yay!", then keeps going. ~Pinkie is seen jumping around bashing Goblins with her Numb-chucks, she also twirls her chucks around while she spins around in all kinds of ways, even going so far as to use her chucks like fans to suck up a Goblin, then throw it at another one, at one point she leaps up, spinning like a top, while twirling one of her chucks above her head like a helicopter propeller, and the other chuck twirling in front of her like a fan blade, while saying "Twirling Chucks of Fury!", and just keeps on fighting. ~Twilight is seen flying around in the sky with some Goblins coming up on her tail, then she says to herself "Time to try some of those new moves I learned", she then attacks the Goblins saying the names of the moves she uses as she does them, "Back-Buck!" and kicks a Goblin behind her with her hind leg, "Side-Chop!" and karate chops a Goblin to the side of her, "Spin-Kick" and spins around while hitting a couple of Goblins around her with her other hind leg sticking out, "Hammer-Stomp!" and bashes a Goblin below her on it's head using her front hoof, then as a few more Goblins are coming right in front of her, Twilight then brings out one of her retractable short swords, charges it up with her Alicorn Magic, then she says "En-Er-Gy(eeeeeee) Swipe!" and she successfully unleashes a full energy swipe, nowhere near as big or as powerful as Claymore's of course, but still strong enough to take down the Goblins in front of her, then Twilight goes "Yes!", then she frees another twonicorn from a pod with her sword, retracts the blade, and magically carries the twonicorn to safety, cause even the Mane 6 still need to keep getting twonicorns out of the city while battling Dark Goblins(and yes this scene with the Mane 6 & Spike here was mostly inspired by the final fight scene in the Disney's Big Hero 6 Movie). With Rainbow Dash being the fastest flyer, she goes all around the city making sure they got all of Twonicorns, and didn't miss even one of them, at one point she manages to find a twonicorn right next to a big brightly glowing bell(the Light Soul Bell), Dash wonders about that bell, but decides to worry about it later, because she has a twonicorn she needs to take care of first, later on after every last twonicorn has been successfully evacuated, Rainbow Dash informs the others by saying "That's all of them". Twilight then asks Celestia "So what do we do now?". "Find the Light Soul Bell and ring it" says Celestia, "It's the only way to send Tambelon back into the Dark Dimension for at least another 500 years". "Was it a great big bell that was glowing like a lightning bug?" asks Rainbow. "That's it" says Celestia. Twilight reassuringly says "Don't worry Celestia, we'll get to that bell", then Rainbow & Twilight fly back into the city, Twilight says "Rainbow, you know where the bell is, you go and ring it, then get out of the city as quick as you can". "But what are you going to do?" Rainbow asks Twilight. "I'm going to stick to my vow & be there for Claymore, as his Friend", says Twilight. "Gotcha'" says Rainbow "Just make sure to get out of here yourself, don't want to lose you for the next 500 years", then Rainbow goes off to get to the Light Soul Bell, then Twilight flies off to get to Claymore, who is still in the middle of his battle against Grogar.
My Little Pony: The Last Twonicorn	Meanwhile, in the battle of Claymore vs. Grogar	To help get more in the mood as I describe their battle, imagine all of this stuff happening while listening to the song Guren no Yumiya by Linked Horizon from the anime Attack on Titan, and just so you're aware, I'll be making lots of references to various other things that will be happening during this battle, so you may need to look up a ton of stuff. Rewinding time back to the battle of Claymore vs. Grogar, to see what happened from their angle, after the part where Grogar says "YOU DARE!!!!!!!", he shoots out Dark Magic Bolts from his Curved-Ram horns, and Claymore ninja-style leaps to dodge it, and starts shooting Magic Bolts back at Grogar, and Grogar manages to evade Claymore's bolts while still firing bolts of his own, after a bit of this dodge & fire game, we then see Claymore running off the edge of the structure they were both on, but instead of falling, he starts galloping upwards on thin air with some sort of magical pathway appearing underneath his hooves that dissipates after so many steps, like he was forming a disappearing sidewalk under his hooves as he was running in the air, similar to the purple translucent path of light that Sonic the Hedgehog ran on during the Starlight Carnival area in the game Sonic Colors(Wii version), only it's smaller and is in the color of his magic aura(Platinum Colored), and then Grogar does the same trick, only his pathway is black with a white outline(Hey just because they don't have wings, doesn't mean they still can't use gravity defying magical abilities), and the two of them climb up high above the city, where they start running around in a big circle as they keep on shooting magic bolts at each other, after a few seconds worth of that, they stop in mid-air and start unleashing attacks at each other. Grogar takes his front hoof & swipes it to fire an array of red energy spears(similar to Shadow the Hedgehog's Chaos Spear) at Claymore, then Claymore counters by taking his front hoof, and launches a crescent shaped energy boomerang that takes out all of the energy spears in one hit moving from side to side, then Claymore performs some Kung-fu-like movements, then uses both of his front hooves to form a circle(like a set of clock hands both moving in opposite directions), and within the circle are 6 glowing spheres, Claymore then unleashes those spheres as though they were fire-balls made of Kung-fu chi, Grogar then counters by swiping both his front hooves up to from a dark magic shield that is destroyed once hit with those fire-ball spheres, then Grogar claps both his front hooves together(like the Hulk's Thunder Clap) to unleash a dark magic sonic pulse, Claymore then counters by taking out one of his swords, and swipes it to unleash an energy wave that hits the sonic pulse, and they blow each other up, then Claymore charges up his horns and fires an energy sphere upwards, the sphere then bursts like a fireworks rocket, unleashing a shower of energy comets(similar to the Pokemon move Draco Meteor, only they can be controlled telekinetically), Claymore then unleashes the energy comets to home in on Grogar, but then Grogar summons a bunch of his Dark Goblins, to sacrifice themselves by taking the impact of the energy comets leaving Grogar unharmed. Grogar then summons a swarm of millions of Dark Goblins spouting out of the ground like a geyser, to attack Claymore all at once, Claymore then counters by taking both of his swords, spins them around like fan blades, and charges right into the Dark Goblin swarm as it just keeps coming, as Claymore dispatches the Goblins, they evaporate into smoke, and the swarm keeps waving & wobbling around like it was a pool noodle toy connected to a water sprinkler attachment, only the noodle has smoke coming out of it instead of water(trust me it looks pretty good in my head, just think about it hard enough), after about ten seconds Claymore has dispatched the entire swarm, then he looks to see Grogar levitating 3 entire large buildings(don't worry, even if those buildings have any twonicorns inside them, the Pods they're sealed in will keep them protected as long as they don't come into contact with silver) and throws them one by one at Claymore, then to avoid damage Claymore leaps onto the first building, galloping across it, then he leaps on to the second building, running across it on his hind legs like a ninja, and for the third building, Claymore takes out both his swords & unleashes a huge X-shaped energy wave at it, causing the building to be split into 4 pieces, and Claymore goes right through them, but then Claymore levitates the 4 building pieces and throws them right back at Grogar, Grogar then blocks the building pieces by crossing his front legs to form a barrier to protect himself, then Grogar raises his front legs up, and forms a humongous Dark Magic sphere about the size of a single story house, then he throws the giant sphere at Claymore, but then Claymore takes out his chain, then throws one end it at the giant sphere, then the chain magically latches onto the giant sphere, and Claymore then pulls on the chain to swing the giant sphere around, and then magically unlatches the chain to throw the giant sphere back at Grogar, then Claymore blasts the giant sphere with a magic beam to increase it's speed, then Grogar gets hit with his own giant sphere, and is knocked backwards so hard, that he hits the giant Dome covering the entire city & takes quite a bit of damage, then Claymore starts charging right at Grogar. But before Claymore can even get to Grogar he summons more Dark Goblins, the Goblins start taking the forms of giant fists to attack Claymore, who manages to dispatch them easily, but that was just a distraction, to allow Grogar to summon thousands more Goblins to all merge together to form one giant sized 6-Armed Dark Goblin about 100 feet tall or more, it then starts attacking Claymore, who manages to evade it but leaping from building to building around the city, then after at least 10 seconds worth of dodging the giant Goblin's attacks, Claymore then goes into the offensive by taking out both of his swords, leaping up, sticking his swords out in front of him, encasing himself & his swords in some levitation magic, then starts zooming around like a rocket with a blade mounted cone, then Claymore starts piercing right through the giant Goblin in one end & out the other side, then he soars around and does it again, then he does it several more times, then from a distance we see him zooming around turning the giant Goblin into Swiss Cheese(similar to what Nova did to Titus's ship in the episode of Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors entitled Return of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and believe me that was Awesome), then Claymore dives into the center of the giant Goblin, and unleashes an energy blast from inside the giant Goblin to destroy it, then Claymore lands on the rooftop of a building. And Grogar who is on another building's rooftop not too far from Claymore, then lifts up his front legs and stomps the ground to unleash a bed of huge stalagmite-like dark matter spikes heading straight for Claymore, then Claymore takes his swords, then flips himself upside down, extending his front legs as though he was standing on them, and with his swords sticking out like a double-bladed staff, he then spins around like a top while his swords are sticking out, Claymore then slices all of the spikes in front of him from the bottom, and while he slices them, he also uses levitation magic to carry them all with him, after slicing all of those spikes out, Claymore then flips back right-side up, then fires the spikes back at Grogar, who manages to evade the spikes by hovering a few inches above the ground & swifting around very quickly to avoid getting hit, Grogar then gets angry and breathes a huge stream of Shadow-Flames at Claymore, but Claymore counters it by swiping both of his front hooves away from each other, to unleash a tornado that swallows the Shadow-Flames & disperses them away, then Claymore starts running towards Grogar, but Grogar then forms a wall of red energy spears to attack Claymore, but Claymore manages to deflect them with one of his swords, then Grogar leaps above Claymore encasing him in a dome of red energy spears, then as the spears continuously shoot towards Claymore, he uses both of his swords to deflect them all, while also using swift choreography & blazing speed to evade each and everyone of them(similar to the Final Xemnas Battle from the game Kingdom Hearts 2), after about 15 or 20 seconds worth of that awesome display of swordsmanship(or in Claymore's case, Sword-Steed-ship), Claymore unleashes a magic blast to dispel the dome of energy spears, then Grogar lands back on the floor of the rooftops. Then Grogar summons more Dark Goblins, only these Goblins are all carrying chunks of metal, Grogar then uses his Dark Magic to fuse the Goblins and the metal together to forge a pair of Shadow-Scythes(because let's face it, a scythe is pretty bad-ass as a weapon), then Grogar and Claymore quickly stare each other down, then they both let out warrior battle screams and go charging at each other, then they basically have one of those generic sword fights, but because they both can levitate their weapons, this will allow for better choreography during their fight, as they fight we see them both swiftly moving around, and we also see white flashes on the screen as their blades clash with each other, after at least 10 or more seconds worth of that, Grogar then begins floating and fires a Magic Beam at Claymore, and Claymore floats while firing a Magic Beam at Grogar, while that's happening both the Swords & Scythes are still clashing with each other, because Claymore & Grogar are still controlling them while multitask-battling, as their Magic Beams make contact, they both bend upwards and they end up forming a swirling cloud of Dark Magic & Twonicorn Magic, and while still firing their Magic Beams, Grogar summons even more Dark Goblins to attack, and Claymore responds to this by levitating out all of his Shurikens, as well as take out his chain & detach all of it's links, and then uses them with his magic to hit all of the Dark Goblins Grogar keeps summoning, from a distance this looks like a swarm of glowing bugs are quickly buzzing around attacking a bunch of shadows that just keep coming and evaporating into smoke, and Claymore & Grogar just keep on firing their Magic Beams while still clashing their blades all at the same time(now that's what I call Magical Multitasking, Twilight could sure learn a lot from those guys), the two of them keep doing this for a few seconds. Then finally they drop everything, and they decide it's time to finish this(Dragon Ball franchise Super Sayian style), Grogar encases himself in a burst of Dark Magic to the point where all we see is his White outline surrounded by a flaming Black aura, and Claymore encases himself in a burst of Twonicorn Magic to the point where all we see is his Black outline surrounded by a flaming Platinum aura, then the two of them charge at each other, then they collide with each other, and so far it appears that they are evenly matched, like the Unstoppable Force meeting the Unmovable Object, then after about 10 seconds or something worth of that, we start to see that Claymore is starting to get exhausted, because he's been warring himself out keeping Grogar distracted for so long, and he doesn't want to go for broke and completely exert himself beyond his limit just yet, then finally Grogar overpowers Claymore, and Claymore is knocked backwards stumbling across the rooftops, until he comes to a stop and is shown to be badly injured with scuffs & bruises(now I just had to make it so that Claymore would lose this fight, because it would show everyone that not even the most powerful equine in the world could handle everything all by himself, since this is MLP: FiM and all something had to happen to teach a friendship lesson in all of this). When Twilight notices Claymore's whoopin' from a distance she shouts "CLAYMORE!" and flies towards his position, only to be swamped by an overwhelming number of Dark Goblins. WHEW, I got to tell ya, trying to describe their battle was pretty much the hardest part about typing this whole thing, it's very difficult to take the images of a fight THIS intense out of my head, and translate them into words, and describe certain scenes using references, but in the end I did it, and I hope all of you out there reading this will appreciate all of the effort I put into this, because it was not easy.
My Little Pony: The Last Twonicorn	This is the Redefining Moment of your Life	Then we see Claymore trying to get up, but Grogar pins Claymore down with his front hoof, Grogar deep breathing from exhaustion then says "I'll admit you have proven yourself to be a formidable adversary, but you were a fool to think that you could defeat me". "I didn't need to defeat you" says Claymore "I just had to distract you". "Distract Me?" asks Grogar. Then we see Rainbow Dash reaching the Light Soul Bell, and she rings it by hitting it like it was a cloud, then we see Grogar hearing the ringing, then he says "The Light Soul Bell!". Then while Grogar is not looking, Claymore levitates one of his shurikens to swipe across Grogar's neck, not harming Grogar, but more importantly cutting off his collar containing all of his Dark Soul Bells, Claymore then levitates the collar away from Grogar, Grogar then shouts "My Dark Soul Bells!". Then Claymore levitates his sword, lights it up, and slashes it through the collar, slicing all 13 of the Bells apart, then the pieces of the Bells fall to the floor of the rooftops, then all of the Dark Magic within the Bells spouts upwards like an oil gusher, and heads back deeper into the Dark Dimension where it all came from, Grogar then has his front legs positioned at a 90 degree angle and shouts "NNOOOOO!!", as he says that, we see the red glow in his eyes extinguish, leaving him with dim-red eyes(much like how his G1 counterparts eyes appear). Then we see Twilight still being swamped by Dark Goblins, when suddenly the Goblins eyes go from being a glowing red to a shiny purple(like a fish's eyes), then they stop attacking Twilight and start looking around confused, indicating that they are no longer under Grogar's control, then Twilight takes advantage of this opportunity and unleashes a Magic Blast to decimate the band of Goblins, then she starts flying to Claymore's position once again. Then we see Grogar mourning over the loss of his Dark Magic powers saying "NO-ho-ho, My Bells, My Power!", then Claymore takes advantange of this by using his front hoof to Sucker-Punch Grogar with an Uppercut right to the chin, Grogar gets hit so hard that he's knocked backwards and falls on his back unconscious. Then Claymore while breathing heavily from exhaustion, gets up & limps over to Grogar's position, he magically attracts one of his swords, and takes hold of it in his hock, then he stands up on his hind legs, taking his sword in both of his front hooves, then he pulls his sword back over his head, and prepares to stab Grogar right in his cold black heart and end him once & for all. But before he does it we hear Twilight's voice as she says "No Claymore!", then we see Twilight flying right behind Claymore as she says "Don't do it!". "Stay out of this!" says Claymore, "It's what this Monster rightfully deserves" . "Claymore, you don't have to do this" says Twilight, "The Twonicorns have all been successfully evacuated, they're all safe, the battle is over, we've won, Grogar lost, look at him Claymore, he's completely powerless now, there's nothing more he can do to harm anyone, he's no longer a threat, if you end him now, you'll only prove that you're no better than him, you'll just be showing everyone that you're no less of a monster than he ever was, I know that in your heart you're more than just a living weapon, you ARE a Hero Claymore, so do what a True Hero would do, take the highroad, be better than this, just leave him, and return home, to your friends, please", and close to the end of her speech Grogar regains consciousness and sees Claymore about to stab him, but after Twilight's speech Claymore makes a frustrated face, then he calms down & lowers his sword away from Grogar, Twilight finally managed to reason with Claymore & touch his heart. Claymore then levitates all of his weapons, and puts them all away in his pouches while saying "You will get what you deserve Grogar, but it won't be dealt by me", then he walks over to Twilight and says to Grogar "Enjoy your next 500 years, they won't be pleasant", then he teleports both himself & Twilight away. Then Grogar gets up, and then looks behind him to see all of the Dark Goblins staring at him while hissing & growling, it's clear that the Goblins are no longer under Grogar's control, Grogar then says "W-what are you doing? Wait, Stop, I'm your master, I command you", then the Dark Goblins all swoop in on Grogar, and Grogar shouts "NOOO!!!" as the Goblins overwhelm him, and all we see is the Goblins swamping him until the screen turns completely black(guess this is what Claymore meant when he told Grogar that he would get what he deserved, taken down by the very monsters he once controlled, what an ironic way to go). Meanwhile outside of Tambelon, we see the entire city is beginning to fade away the exact same way it faded back in, everyone else is on the edge of their seats hoping for Twilight & Claymore to come out(including Rainbow Dash who managed to get out of the city earlier), finally right before the city finally fades out for another 500 years, Twilight & Claymore teleport right out of the city with only about 2 seconds to spare, Spike & the rest of the Mane 6 are happy to see that they made it. "Cuttin' it a little close there weren't ya?" says Applejack to Twilight. "Hey you know me" replies Twilight, "Always with perfect timing". Celestia comes over to see Twilight & Claymore and says "I'm glad you made back safe & sound, but what became of Grogar?". "Don't worry" answers Claymore, "I destroyed all of his Dark Soul Bells, so even if he returns in 500 years, I doubt he'll be of any threat at all". "Wait a minute" asks Rainbow, "If the Dark Soul Bells could be destroyed that easily, why didn't you just destroy the Bells you already had before?". Then one of the Twonicorns who apparently is their leader says "Because if the Dark Soul Bells were destroyed in our world, then without a proper vessel, all of the Dark Magic contained within them would just roam around out of control, and just cause many cataclysmic disasters for our world, but if they were destroyed while in Tambelon, then their Dark Magic would just go back into the Dark Dimension where it all came from, of course our ancestors knew of this, but couldn't risk having Grogar recover the Bells & regain his true power, so they had to hide them where they had hoped Grogar would never reclaim them, and back when Tambelon was here the last time, we had to be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good, so after we rang the Light Soul Bell to send Tambelon back into the Dark Dimension along with all of us, we all used our magic to conjure & seal ourselves within stasis pods that would keep us all in a hibernative state of suspended animation for countless moons, we also made our pods both invisible & intangible so that we could not be seen nor felt, those pods protected us from the harsh environment of the Dark Dimension, and only a powerful enough revealment spell could make us visible & tangible again, and we made it so that only silver, a metal that no creature bond to the Dark Dimension's magic could touch, would be able to break our pods & awaken us, and now at long last, the threat of Grogar is no more, (then he walks over to Claymore and says)and we appear to have you to thank for that, what is your name anyways?". Claymore then says while feeling kind of awkward "Oh-uh, I forgot my true name long ago, but my-uh, Friends, call me Claymore". "Well, you have our eternal gratitude Claymore" says the Twonicorn Leader. "I-uh, just did what needed to be done, that's all" says Claymore. "So what happens now?" asks Fluttershy. "Since ancient times, we twonicorns have remained hidden from the rest of the world, I suppose we must now return to our isolated way of life" says the Twonicorn Leader. "Wait" says Twilight, "Listen, a lot has changed since ancient times(as she's saying this we see the screen panning to the side showing us Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, Cadence, Discord, The Canterlot Royal Guards, The Crystal Guards with Flash Sentry among them, then it pops back to Twilight), we've all had some awful tragedies and wonderful experiences, sure back then Ponies couldn't handle the truth, but we've all grown wiser & more mature, we've all learned to adapt to new roles, and become more accepting of others, so even if were all different, we always help each other through the good times & the bad, and no matter what obstacles come our way, we all stand together, united by the Magic of Friendship, the Twonicorns don't have to be separated from the rest of the world just because they think we'll be safer, you can join us all, live amongst us, and if something bad comes along, we can all work through it together as friends". "I'd listen to her if I were you" says Claymore, "She is very wise beyond her years". "Perhaps you're right" says the Twonicorn Leader, "A lot has changed, and we have missed out on a lot, especially over the last 500 years, maybe it is high time we Twonicorns stop being a secret tribe, and amalgamated ourselves with the rest of society, under the Magic of Friendship". "Well you are all more than welcomed to make your home throughout Equestria" says Celestia. Then Pinkie Pie butts in and says "And do you all know what this calls for.....".
My Little Pony: The Last Twonicorn	The Victory Celebration(End Credits)	(The scene then switches to Ponyville later that night, then we hear Pinkie and a bunch of other ponies shout) A PARTY!!!!!!!". Then we see all our heroes, the Ponies of Ponyville, and a bunch of Twonicorns all having a good time, interacting with each other, we even see the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the other young Ponyville foals, and some young twonicorn foals all running around playing together, everyone is just having a good time together, celebrating not only the defeat of Grogar, but also the return of the long lost Twonicorns, then Twilight looks around as though she's searching for something. Then she sees Claymore(with his sunglasses resting on his top horn via DJ PON-3 style) standing by a tree close to the outskirts of Ponyville, staring up at the moon & stars, Twilight then comes over to Claymore and asks "Hey Claymore, What are you doing over here?". "I, owe you an apology Princess Twilight Sparkle" says Claymore. Twilight asks in a confused manner "Oh?". "All my life, I've thought that since I was the last of the Twonicorns" explains Claymore, "I was all alone in the world, so I felt that meant I would always remain alone, and that it would be better if I fought against evil all by myself, especially so that no one else would get hurt, but, back in Tambelon, when I sensed that all the other Twonicorns were still alive, I had an epiphany, I realized that I was no longer the only twonicorn there was anymore, and that I was no longer alone in this world, but I knew I would not have been able to save all of them and take on Grogar all by myself, fortunately, I didn't have to, if you & your friends hadn't kept trying to help me, and persistently trying to make me your friend, all of these other twonicorns may not be here right now, I'm glad you never gave up on me, even when I gave up on myself a long time ago, I just hope you can forgive me for how I mistreated you earlier". "Hey" says Twilight, "That's what friends do, they forgive each other, and they never give up on one another". Claymore then lets out a short laugh & says "Spoken like a true Princess, one who I'm honored to call my friend". Twilight then smiles with joy and says "Now come on, let's join in the fun". "Thanks" says Claymore, (then he levitates his sunglasses over his eyes again and continues to say) "But I'm still not much for mingling". Then Claymore starts walking away on an open road, "Hey where are you going?" asks Twilight. "The threat of Grogar may be over with" says Claymore, "But there are still many more impossibly powerful forces out there that threaten the safety of our world, and so my fight against evil must continue on, only this time I'm no longer in this fight alone, I have friends I can turn to if I ever need their help, so until we meet again, keep up the good work Princess Twilight Sparkle". Twilight is so moved by his valor that she sheds a tear, and right behind her is Celestia, who says to Twilight "I'm very proud of you, though you did disobey my orders, you followed what was in your heart, you never gave up even in the face of doubt, helped to defeat a mighty foe, and did something even I've never been able to do, you got Claymore to open his heart to the Magic of Friendship". Then Twilight blushes and just says "Well, I just did what I had to do to get the job done(something she picked up from Claymore)". "All the more reason why you are worthy of your title as the Princess of Friendship" says Celestia. Then as the two of them are just standing there smiling at each other, we then hear Luna saying "Sister", then we see Luna coming over saying "Come on you two, you're missing out on all the fun", then the three of them return to the party. And then the party gets kicked into overdrive when Vinyl Scratch a.k.a. DJ PON-3 starts unleashing the wubs and says (in a voice similar to Tara Strong's deep, raspy, yet feminine voice that she used for Raven of the Teen Titans)"Alright Everypony, time to Crank this Party up WAY Past Eleven, let's give it up for our heroes, the Elements O' Harmony!", we then see the Mane 6 + Spike on stage, then Vinyl magically tosses them some headset microphones. Then the Mane 6 + Spike all start singing a song about the important things that they learned and taught in this movie(like never giving up, never stop trying, always keeping hope, believing in your friends, etc., etc.), and everypony is dancing around having a wonderful time, then from a far away shot of Ponyville, we see some magical-originated fireworks being launched into the sky, then we get an iris out directly on the Moon, and then the ending credits start to roll, we even hear the Mane 6's song continues on playing. During the credits we see some CGI imagery of Claymore's swords, shurikens, and pieces of Armor, in the reflections of the CGI objects we see images of the characters in the movie, and some text right next to the objects showing their voice actors, we see images of the Main Characters who had speaking lines, including Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Apple Jack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor, Claymore and Grogar, after which we then see Claymore's Chain stretch out from the bottom-right of the screen, and up to the top-right of the screen, where it goes off screen, then it drops down the top-left of the screen, and stretches down to the bottom-left of the screen, then from within the section of the screen that lies within the chain, we see a bright flash of light, then we see more ending credits rolling up within the chained section, and after every few end credit texts, we see a sheet of metal hooked onto the chain being pulled upwards, and in the reflection of the sheet of metal, we see an image of things that happened with our heroes & the twonicorns after the movie, after that image we see more texts from the credits, then we see another image in the reflection of a sheet of metal, then more texts, then another image, and so on, many of these images also include some of our favorite supporting characters & background ponies interacting with some twonicorns that they realize they have a lot in common with: such as Derpy having a conversation with a twonicorn mare who also loves muffins, and they're eating a platter full of muffins, and Dr. Hooves being shown a scientific/mathematics equation on a chalk board by a highly intelligent twonicorn stallion, and Golden Harvest, Rose, Lily & Daisy all receiving help with their gardens from a twonicorn mare who loves gardening, and she's levitating several gardening tools at once, and Lyra & Bonbon going out on a double date with a pair of handsome twonicorn stallions(naturally Lyra & Bonbon are sitting right next to each other in between their twonicorn dates, like any guys are going to come between those 2 mares), and Octavia enjoying a classical music session with a twonicorn mare who can use her magic to play an entire orchestra worth of musical instruments at one time, and Vinyl Scratch rockin' out with a twonicorn stallion who can really bust a move on the dance-floor, and the Ponyville Foals enjoying a giant slide being held up by the Magic of a bunch of twonicorn foals(with Spike having slided down to the bottom of the slide, Apple Bloom right behind him, Sweetie Belle right behind her, Scootaloo right behind her, Twist at the very top of the slide getting ready to go down, Diamond Tiara & Silver Spoon being raised up to the top of the slide by the magic of the twonicorn foals), and Raindow Dash in a sky race against a twonicorn mare who's using her magic to fly like a beam of light, and Applejack receiving help from a twonicorn stallion using his magic to levitate tons of apples for the harvest, and Fluttershy receiving help from a twonicorn mare using her magic to levitate a bunch of spheres filled with birdseed to feed Fluttershy's many birds, and Rarity & a twonicorn mare both working on a new line of armor gowns, making sure that they're functional in the heat of a battle, but still fashionable enough to be worn like a formal attire, and Pinkie Pie receiving help from a twonicorn stallion with setting up for a party, the twonicorn stallion is even levitating Pinkie Pie up, so she can hang some decorations in a pretty high spot, and Twilight being taught some powerful new magic spells by an elderly twonicorn mare, and Luna fighting a rampaging hydra, with a twonicorn mare by her side, and Celestia in a conversation with the Twonicorns' Leader over tea & cake, and Cadence walking along side a tall twonicorn mare who is showing her a complex magical spell that acts like a complicated brain teaser, and Shining Armor who is being trained by a twonicorn stallion to learn the Twonicorns' fighting styles, and Claymore who is seen fighting the tentacles of some giant monster, with a pair of twonicorns at his aid, and an image of the Mane 6 plus Spike wearing their customized armors, which reveals that they kept those armors around just in case something else comes up, and an image of the Mane 6 plus Spike battling some strange shadowy creature while wearing their armors, *and of course an image where the Mane 6, Spike, and a bunch of other characters throughout the MLP:FiM franchise, including some twonicorns, are all together enjoying another big party that Pinkie Pie decided to throw, and after the movie credits finish, that would basically be THE END.
Drama Kids	pre	"Excuse me, miss, but are you interested in buying this yak?" Jack asked the merchant (Smolder). "She'd do good around my yard. My grass has been growing very rapidly and my lawnmower's broken and it cost too much to fix it, so your yak will have to do. How much are you looking for it?" the merchant replied. "Enough for my wife and I to get through life" Jack replied. "Well, I'm short on bits, but I can give you these magic beans. Trust me, with these babies, your poverty problems are over! You'll be the talk of the town forever!" the merchant offered as she held up three magic beans. "Well, I suppose I'll take your word for it. Pleasure doing business with you" Jack accepted the beans and walked back to his house. "Mrs. My Wife, our problems are over!" Jack said as he held up the magic beans. "Green beans? Jack, we need real money, not three pathetic green beans!" Jack's wife retorted as she threw the beans out the window. "Promise me that you'll find a job tomorrow, okay?" Jack's wife asked. "Fine!" Jack retorted as he and his wife went to bed. Overnight, the beans grew into a big beanstalk that reached all the way into the sky. Early the next morning, Jack was eating breakfast and reading the newspaper, looking for any business in the village that is looking for new employees. Suddenly, he was interrupted by the sound of his wife shrieking in horror. He rushed outside to see what was going on. "Jack, what is this monstrosity doing in our yard?" Jack's wife asked. "Like I said, the end of our problems! I'll be right back, I'm gonna go climb it" Jack replied. "Wait, you're gonna climb this thing? Is that even a good idea?" his wife asked. "Sure, it is. Hang tight, I'll be back" Jack said as he went to climb the beanstalk. When he got to the top, he was amazed. He stumbled upon a big castle nestled in the clouds. "Wow, nice place!" Jack thought to himself as he went inside for a closer look. "Woah, everything looks so huge!" Jack thought to himself as he attempted to climb up the table. "Jackpot!" Jack cheered as he saw all the food on the table, among a few other things. He grabbed a nearby wagon and began to put all the food inside. Suddenly, he felt heavy footsteps. "Fee fi fo fum, I can feel the presence of someone!" the giant (Gallus) called. "Uh oh, gotta hide!" Jack thought to himself as he jumped inside his wagon. "Now, who's been trying to eat my food?" the giant asked angrily. "Hmm, maybe I'll have a piece of my delicious Bundt cake!" the giant said as he picked up the Bundt cake, but before he could take a bite, he saw the wagon shaking. Soon, he found Jack hiding inside the wagon. He picked him up by the horn and held him close to his face. "So, you think it'd be a good idea to trespass on private property, huh? Identify yourself at once!" the giant demanded. Before Jack could answer, he was distracted by the giant's foul breath. "Ugh, when was the last time you brushed your teeth?" "There was no last time. Now, identify yourself!" the giant retorted. "Okay, chill! My name is Jack, I live in a small cottage, and we're in serious poverty. I found that you had some food on your table, and I thought that would help my wife and I get through. You could see that I have good intentions, right?" Jack replied. "Not really. You've just admitted to stealing from me! And you know what I do with thieves, right?" the giant replied. Soon, Jack found himself in a tiny jail cell with a few other thieves. "You all got caught, too?" Jack asked the other thieves. "Yeah, I tried eating some of the giant's food, but he didn't take it too lightly" one thief (Sandbar) replied. "I tried to take some of the giant's talking stuff to sell it for fireworks, but I'm here instead! I've been stuck here for three years!" another thief added. "I beat the giant in a game of Fortneigh. He didn't take it too well" the last pony chimed in. "I'm here so I could take some food so that my wife and I could get through" Jack said. "Well, I thought of a plan to get outta here! He forgot to take my fireworks! If these babies could make a big enough explosion, we're home free!" the fireworks pony said as he stuck fireworks onto the cell door. A few seconds later, the door burst open and all four ponies escaped. They went back up to the table and began to put everything in the wagon. Once they put all the food items in the wagon, they heard the cry of a tree (Ocellus). "Hey, you can't forget about me! I can't handle another second living with the giant!" the tree said. Jack looked at the other ponies who all agreed to take the tree with them. "Well, I suppose we can take you with us. It seems that it's no fun living with the giant" Jack said as he put the tree into the wagon. "And me! I hate it here! The giant keeps blowing into me and his breath stinks so bad!" a tuba called out. "Okay, you too!" Jack said as he put the tuba into the wagon. Jack and the others gave the wagon a little push off the table and outside the castle. After they left, the giant went back into the kitchen to finally eat his Bundt cake. "Mmm, now to finally have my cake!" But then, he realized that his cake was gone! And then he saw Jack and the other prisoners leaving the castle with his stuff. "Oh no they don't!" the giant ran after them. "GET BACK HERE!!!" the giant screamed, chasing after them. "Uh oh! We gotta lose the giant! Let's go as fast as we can down the beanstalk!" Jack said as he and the other ponies gave a big push on the wagon, causing it to go very fast down the beanstalk and back to Jack's cottage. "Ahh! I'll exact my revenge on you one day! Just you wait!" the giant retorted as he went back into the castle. "Jack, I'm impressed! This food could feed our entire village for months!" Jack's wife cheered. "Told you those beans were helpful" Jack replied. "Sure were! Sorry I doubted you" Jack's wife replied. "And thank you, Jack, for getting us out of the giant's house!" the tuba added. "A giant and new friends? Sounds like you had quite the adventure!" Jack's wife replied. "Yeah, an adventure that I wouldn't want to go on again!" Jack replied. "Me neither!" Thief #1 replied. "Same here!" Thief #2 added. "Nuh-uh!" "Thief" #3 chimed in. "Well, suppose we should get rid of this beanstalk" Jack's wife suggested. "Leave it to me. I'm a lumberjack after all!" Thief #1 said as he cut down the beanstalk, prompting cheers from the crowd. Thanks to Jack, everyone's problems were over. The on-stage actors were met with applause as they all took a bow. After their meeting, Rarity gave Gallus his tuba. "I think you left your tuba in here before you left for spring break. I'm impressed that it's done such a good part in the play!" she said as she handed Gallus his tuba back. "Thanks, Miss Rarity. Didn't know it was such a good actor!" Gallus replied. "Wait, that was your tuba?" Corn asked. "Sure is. But it's not just any tuba! It's a magical, talking tuba! Allow me to demonstrate!" Gallus said before he blew into the tuba, causing it to giggle. "That tickles!" the tuba said. "Well, that's cool, I guess!" Peg said. "Sure is! He got me from a special shop a couple months ago and he's been playing me ever since!" the tuba replied. "Awesome! What else do you do?" Corn asked. "Sometimes, when Gallus plays a tune, I can sing along! Gallus, if you please!" the tuba replied. Gallus began playing Mary Had A Little Lamb with his tuba playing along. "Wow, that's so cool!" Peg added. "Sure is! Now if you excuse us, we gotta practice in my dorm. See you guys later!" Gallus said as he and his tuba left the drama room.
Drama Kids	S1E6: Hiccup Hijinx	The beginning of the last full month of the school year has arrived at the School of Friendship. This meant that they had one last in-club performance before the big show at the performing arts center. "Can't you believe that we're almost done with drama club for the year?" Silverstream asked. "I know, right? It seems only yesterday that we went to our first meeting" Gallus replied. "As they say, time sure flies when you're having fun with friends!" Corn added. "Ok guys! Since today is our last performance before our big performance in two weeks, we all have to do our very best to be the best ensemble anypony has ever seen!" Sandbar said. "I believe the proper term is anycreature, Sandbar" Ocellus replied. "Anycreature...right!" Sandbar replied, smiling sheepishly. The eight students got out of sixth period a bit early so that they could get to the drama room earlier to prepare to make sure that this is the best play yet. "Hey Peg, could you give me that thermos up there?" Gallus asked, pointing at his thermos. Peg flew up, picked up the thermos, and handed it to Gallus. "Thanks" Gallus said as he took a quick drink from the thermos. "Gallus, I don't think you should take such quick sips! You might get the-" Peg said. "Don't worry! I'm super careful! I won't get the-" Gallus let out a hiccup, interrupting his sentence. Peg facepalmed. "Oh no! Not now! I hic can't have a hic case of the hiccups hic now!" Gallus panicked. Soon, Rarity walked into the drama room. "Oh no! It's Miss hic Rarity! She can't hic know I hic have the hiccups!" Gallus whispered. "Well, you're just gonna have to try your best to hide them. Let's go to the bleacher area to have our pre-mortem" Peg replied as they made their way to the bleacher area. "Oh, there you two are! I'm glad that you're here! We can't do a final show without you two! Please sit down now!" Rarity said as Gallus and Peg took their seats. "Now, everyone! As you all know, this is the final performance as a group before our big performance coming up in a couple weeks. For today's play, all of you will perform! And, the play that we'll be doing is-" Rarity's announcement was suddenly interrupted by Gallus's hiccupping. "Oh dear! Hope those aren't hiccups I hear!" Rarity exclaimed. Everyone turned to look at Gallus, who was covering his beak as he continued hiccupping. "Oh dear, Gallus! Do you have the hiccups?" Rarity asked, showing concern for the griffon. "Yeah, I hic do! How can I hic get rid of them?" Gallus replied. "Well, I know a few cures that might work" Sandbar explained. "You do, hic Sandbar?" Gallus asked. "Yeah. Maybe if you try burping, it might cancel out your hiccups. That's my go-to technique and it cures my hiccups every time!" Sandbar explained. "Burping? But Rarity hic hates burping! It's hic uncouth!" Gallus replied. "I'll make an exception just this once. I think that just might work. There's a can of soda in the mini fridge" Rarity added. "No offense, Miss rarity, but wouldn't drinking fizzy drinks make hiccups worse?" Peg asked. "Worth a shot" Gallus sad as he guzzled down the soda. A few seconds later, he let out a thunderous belch. After a few more seconds of waiting, he hiccupped again. Sandbar's pupils shrunk. "What? Are you kidding me? That didn't work?" "I'm surprised, Sandbar. I'd think that would work! Does anyone else have a suggestion?" Rarity added. "Dragons usually get the hiccups when they eat too many gemstones. The only antidote: a cup full of lava" Smolder explained. Gallus's pupils shrunk. "Lava? I can't hic drink lava!" "You're right. We can't find lava in Equestria, but what we can do is have you guzzle down a bottle of hot sauce" Smolder replied. "I'm not hic drinking hot hic sauce! Forget it! I'll hic keep my hic hiccups!" Gallus retorted. "We can't do that, Gallus! We can't have you hiccupping throughout the performance! Smolder, you can find hot sauce in the mini fridge" Rarity said as Smolder took the hot sauce out of the mini fridge. "Ok, guess I'll hic do it!" Gallus said as he took the hot sauce from Smolder and began emptying the bottle's contents. Suddenly, his stomach churned, and he was belching out fire. A split second later, he belched out excess smoke. "'Scuse me!" Gallus said. "It only made him burp. Do you feel any better, Gallus?" Smolder asked. "Well, I do feel like my insides are on fire, but at least I'm no-" Gallus was interrupted by his own hiccups again. "Come on! That always works!" Smolder retorted. "Y'know, Gallus, you could always try holding your breath" Ocellus suggested. On cue, Gallus began to hold his breath. About 5 seconds later, he let out a loud hiccup. "...or not" Ocellus said. "Yona got best hiccup remedy! All Gallus have to do is roll around room" Yona suggested. "Roll around the hic room? Like a hic ball? I'd look so hic silly doing that!" Gallus replied. "Trust me, most of these hiccup cures seem silly. I suggest you try Yona's cure out, just so we could laugh at you...I mean, just so we could see if it really works" Sandbar replied. "Okay, here hic goes!" Gallus said as he began to roll all around the drama room, being careful not to knock anything over. "Okay, that was every single inch of the drama room! I don't think my hiccups are gone, but-" Of course, Gallus hiccupped again. "Yona didn't say that roll around always work" Yona replied. "No hic kidding!" Gallus retorted. "Calm down, Gallus. I'm sure we'll find a cure that works" Rarity chimed in. "Ooh! I got one! I got one!" Silverstream cheered. "What is it, Silverstream?" Rarity asked. "All Gallus has to do is do a handstand and he can't stop until he sings the entire United States national anthem" Silverstream explained. "But I don't hic know the United States hic national anthem!" Gallus complained. "Don't worry! I'll follow you through. I have the whole song memorized!" Silverstream replied. Halfway through the song, the technique was proven to not work. "Oh, wait! I meant to sing the United Kingdom national anthem! Silly me!" Silverstream said. "How do you hic know all these songs and hic countries anyway?" Gallus asked. "I was taught real world geography back in Mount Aris. I learned some cool stuff in that class! For example, did you know that New York City was originally the US capital before it was moved to Washington, DC during John Adams's presidency?" Silverstream replied. "Uh, Silverstream, can we focus on getting rid of Gallus's hiccups?" Sandbar asked. "Oh, sorry!" Silverstream smiled sheepishly. "Allow me to present a cure. When I was younger, I discovered a spell that makes people never have the hiccups ever again! But you might want to hold still for me, Gallus" Corn explained as he pointed his lit horn at Gallus. When the spell was completed, everyone waited a few moments to see if the cure worked. Miraculously, it did! "Gallus, your hiccups are gone!" Ocellus cheered. "Yes! No more hiccups! Oh, thank you, Corn!" Gallus cheered as he gave Corn a big hug. "Don't mention it, Gallus! Just be glad that we're finally able to perform!" Corn replied. "I'm afraid that we don't have time for our performance today. We were so committed to curing Gallus's hiccups that we ran out of time. So, I guess we'll do our play tomorrow" Rarity explained. "That's okay, Miss Rarity! We still had a lot of fun today! Plus, thanks to Silverstream, I learned about a country that I didn't know existed!" Gallus replied. "Hey, guys! If you want, we can go to the library and I can teach you all about how the United States was founded!" Silverstream offered as her friends cheered and followed her out of the drama room.
Drama Kids	S2E1: Getting to Know Y'all	The new year is in full swing at the School of Friendship. Two weeks have passed since the first day of classes for the new year and that is when all extracurricular activities start up again, including drama club. As Brony left his final class of the day to go back to his dorm room to complete his homework assignments, Gallus approached him. "Oh, hey Gallus! What's up?" Brony greeted. "Got anything going on the rest of the day?" Gallus asked. "Other than homework, no. Why do you ask?" "Great! I'm on my way to meet my friends at our weekly drama club meeting. Today's the first meeting of the month! You should totally join! It's a blast!" "Y'all have a drama club here? Well, why didn't y'all say so? I love acting! In fact, my mom's an actor!" "Really? That's so cool!" "I'd love to join the drama club! Where's it at?" "Professor Rarity's the advisor. Our meetings are in the drama room. Come on, I'll take you there!" As soon as Brony and Gallus went inside the drama room and took their seats, Professor Rarity started the meeting. "Welcome to drama club, everycreature! My name is Rarity and I'm the club advisor! I see many familiar faces, as well as one new face! Can you introduce yourself to the group, young man?" Rarity announced as she noticed the new member in the crowd. "Umm, my name's Brony" Brony said sheepishly. "Wonderful to have you here, Brony! Can you tell us a little about yourself? Maybe share an interesting fact about yourself and your favorite subject" Rarity replied. "Well, I'm here because Gallus told me about this club. I became interested because my mom's an actor as well" "That is interesting! Children, it sounds like we have a natural in our group! Have you done any performances before?" "Well, I have done a few plays in elementary and middle school. I was even in my community's choir in fifth grade!" "Wow! Impressive, Brony! Now, what's your favorite subject?" "Think I like magic best. I came from a not-so-nice environment and I believe that the stuff I learn in that class will make a difference in our communities" Brony's introduction drew applause from the crowd. "Wonderful, darling! I do agree that the material taught in your magic class is incredibly important in spreading friendship to your homelands. Thank you, Brony! Who would like to go next?" Rarity praised. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I'll go! I'll go!" Silverstream cheered. "Ok, Silverstream! Please introduce yourself by saying your name, telling an interesting fact about yourself, and your favorite subject" Rarity replied. "Ok! Hi, everyone! I'm Silverstream and I love plumbing!" "Wow! That's interesting, indeed!" Peg remarked. "Yeah, I never thought of Silverstream as a plumber" Corn added. "I know! We've never had indoor plumbing in Seaquestria, and that makes it even more exciting!" Silverstream added. "Well, it truly is amazing how new things can be so exciting" Brony remarked. "As for my favorite subject, I looooooooooooove Pinkie's class, but if there was a plumbing class or a class about stairs, that would be my favorite! gasp I should tell Headmare Starlight!" Silverstream continued. "Thank you, Silverstream. Who's next?" "Guess I'll go. Hey, I'm Smolder. I like rocks, I guess. I also like Dash's loyalty class. She's cool" Smolder said. "Short and sweet! Thank you, Smolder! Sandbar?" Rarity replied. "I'll go. My name's Sandbar and living on the ocean made me fascinated in oceanography and marine biology, which is what I want to go into as a career. My favorite subject is kindness with Professor Fluttershy, more specifically, her lessons on handling animals" Sandbar explained. "Thank you for that wonderful introduction, Sandbar." Rarity praised. "Um, Miss Rarity, I can go next...if that's okay with you" Ocellus requested. "Of course, Ocellus! Go ahead!" Rarity replied. "Hi, everybody! My name is Ocellus and I come from a big family! My favorite subject is your clothesmaking class, Miss Rarity!" "Thank you, Ocellus! I see a talon. Does that mean you want to go next, Gallus?" Rarity asked. "Sure does! Howdy, guys! Gallus here and my fun fact is that many people say that I have the biggest appetite of anyone they've ever met and let me confirm that that's true! I sure love to eat!" Gallus said as he rubbed his stomach. "Can I ask you what your favorite food is?" Rarity asked. "Wow! That's a toughie! I'd eat anything! Put anything on a plate and I'll devour it in seconds! And my favorite subject is...lunch!" Gallus's introduction drew laughter and applause from the crowds. "Thank you for sharing that with us, Gallus! Yona, you're next" Rarity praised. "Yona name Yona and yaks best. Yona love Applejack class" Yona said. "Short and sweet! Thanks, Yona! Last and certainly not least, Corn and Peg!" Rarity said. "Hi, everyone! I'm Corn" Corn began. "And I'm Peg!" Peg added. "And we're a couple of do-gooders who love to make our community a better place!" Corn added. "And our favorite subject is magic. Just like what Brony said, the stuff taught in that class is important to consider when we're out doing good" "Thank you, everybody! Now to talk about the format for our plays. I'm sure that everycreature knows about our play format, but I will repeat it again to give you a refresher. Brony, this is what you can expect from drama club, so listen carefully. I choose what production we put on and who plays what character. Not everyone will be able to perform in one show, but everyone will have had a chance to perform. During our in-club productions, we will be performing for Headmare Starlight and your teachers. We will also be doing an original production at the end of the semester at the performing arts center where all of you will get a chance to perform for your families and friends, as well as the general public. For this first performance of the semester, we will be holding a schoolwide talent show" Rarity announced. "Wow! A talent show? How cool!" Sandbar cheered. "It is cool, Sandbar. This is the first time we're doing something like this. If this performance is successful enough, we shall do something like this again in the future. Think about what you would like to do for the talent show and I will see you all tomorrow" Rarity continued. The students then left the drama room, all of them thinking about what they would like to do for the show.
Drama Kids	S2E2: Talent Show Time	While everyone was hard at work practicing their acts for the talent show, Brony was still thinking about what he wanted to do. As soon as Gallus came into their room, Brony snapped out of his thoughts. "Hey, Brony! Shouldn't you be practicing for the talent show?" Gallus asked. "Yeah, but here's the thing. I...don't exactly know what I want to do. There's just so many things I could do, but...what if it turns out I'm not good enough for y'all? I don't wanna make a fool out of myself!" Brony replied. Gallus sat beside Brony. "I totally get that, Brony, but a talent show's about showing everycreature what you like to do. Don't worry about being perfect, just do what you like to do and have fun!" "But I don't even know what I want to do!" "Well, you could make a list of the things you like to do and whatever you do the best, you can do that for the show" "Y'know, that doesn't sound too bad. Thanks, Gallus! Say, what are you doing for the talent show?" "Oh, nothing too special. Just a little magic trick" "Wow! Can I see?" "Sure, buddy! I'll be right back!" A few seconds later, Gallus returned with a sandwich. "Watch as I make this sandwich disappear!" he said before wolfing down the sandwich. "Ta-da!" Brony giggled. "You're funny, Gallus! Do you think I could try a trick?" "You can certainly try! What do you have in mind?" "Maybe a disappearing act...like yours!" Gallus didn't exactly know what to think. He felt that Brony wasn't listening to his advice, but he wouldn't want to disappoint him, so he decided to see Brony's disappearing act. "Ok, just take whatever you need from the fridge" A few minutes later, Brony walked over to his desk and placed a plate with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on it on his desk. "Ready to see my disappearing trick, Gallus?" "I sure am!" Brony then began eating his sandwich. He was taking slow, careful bites, which bored Gallus. "Can't you...eat a little faster?" Brony gulped. "Why?" "That's the point of a disappearing act. You gotta eat it as fast as you can so it gives the illusion that it disappeared" "But...the sandwich will have already disappeared, in my belly" "No! It's all about timing!" "Well, if you say so" Brony said as he rolled the rest of his sandwich up and threw it in his mouth. Suddenly, he began to choke. Gallus went over to Brony and pushed his chest firmly, causing the saliva-covered sandwich to fly out of Brony's mouth. "Whew! That was a close one!" Brony said upon feeling better. However, he became disappointed. "Guess I'm not made out to be a magician" "That's okay. There are many other things you could do for the talent show" The next day, Brony saw Corn and Peg in the hallway, practicing for their talent show act. He walked over to them to see what they were doing. "Oh, hi Brony! Corn and I were just practicing our do-good rap for the talent show. Wanna hear it?" Peg offered. "Okay!" "Give me a beat, Corn!" Corn began beatboxing as Peg prepared to sing. Corn and Peg are our names And doing good is our game We're the do-gooders around town Spreading kindness all around "That's great! I'm sure everycreature would love to hear your rap!" Brony praised. "Thanks! Say, what are you going to do for the talent show, Brony?" Corn asked. "I don't know yet, but maybe I could do a rap just like yours!" Brony replied. "Um, are you sure? It's better to do what you like to do" Peg questioned. "Well, I did like your rap, so maybe rapping is something I'd like to do. Ready?" "Ready!" Corn and Peg replied. Brony was already failing as he couldn't beatbox properly. Instead of beatboxing, he was blowing raspberries and was accidentally spitting on Corn and Peg. "Ugh! Can't you just say it, not spray it?" Corn said, feeling disgusted. Brony blushed in embarrassment. "Oops, sorry!" "That's okay! The words are more important in a rap than beatboxing. I'll beatbox while you rap" Corn replied as Brony began to rap. Yeah, my name's Brony and... Uhm...I'm a pony? "That's a great start so far" Peg praised. And...my insides are bony Because my name's Brony Corn and Peg didn't really like Brony's rap, but they didn't want to make him upset. "That was...good" Peg said nervously. "Uh, yeah...it's good. You did...good, I guess" Corn added. Brony became upset. "Oh, you don't have to lie. My rap was terrible! I'll never be as good as you!" he said before running off. "Brony, wait!" Peg called as she chased Brony, but she lost him. "Poor Brony! I think he's real upset over the talent show" Peg said. "Yeah, hope he finds something to do that he likes" Corn replied. On his way to the mess hall for dinner, Brony heard a strange thud coming from the gym. He went inside to investigate and saw Yona practicing for her talent show act. "Hey, Yona! Is this your talent show act?" Brony asked. "Yes. Yona do special yak smash. Yona run as fast as Yona can and smash walls" Yona replied. "Great! Let me see it!" Yona began to run as fast as she can, charging towards the walls and smashing them. "Cool! Can I try?" "Pony sure? Yona no want friend to be hurt" "I won't get hurt! You made it look easy!" "Because Yona yak and yaks have tough horns for smashing. If pony try to smash walls, pony get hurt very bad" "I'll be fine!" "Okay" Yona said, feeling concerned for her friend. Once Yona set up a line of new walls, Brony charged as fast he can towards the first wall. When he tried to smash the wall, he bumped his head very badly and fell onto the floor. "Ow! My head!" Brony cried. Yona rushed towards Brony. "Oh no, pony okay?" "No! I'm not okay! My head hurts very bad!" "Yona take pony to nurse so pony feel better" Later that night, Brony has lost all hope. He felt very sad because he was unable to find something to do for the talent show. "Any luck?" Gallus asked his friend. "No" Brony replied. Gallus sat beside Brony. "I'm sorry, Brony" "It isn't your fault, Gallus. I wanted to be in the show so badly, but whenever I try to do something, I look like an idiot. I choked on my PB&J when I tried your disappearing act, spat on Corn and Peg and reciting stupid rhymes, and injured myself while doing what Yona's doing. I'm a complete and total failure!" Brony said as he began to cry. "You're not a failure, Brony! Everyone's better at some things. You should keep looking for something you can do during the talent show. There's still time" "No, Gallus. I'm done. I'm not gonna do the talent show and I'm never going to drama club again! All I'm gonna do is let everyone down because I'm a failure!" "Brony, that's not true! You're an amazing guy and I'm sure there's something you're good at! You just gotta believe in yourself!" "Don't waste your breath, Gallus. I'm going to bed" The next day, after Rarity's generosity class, Rarity asked Brony to stay for a few minutes. "What is it, Rarity? I'm not exactly in the mood for anything regarding drama club" Brony started. "That's what I fear. Gallus told me you were down because you couldn't find an idea for the talent show, is that correct?" "Yeah" "And that you tried- and failed- to do what everycreature else was doing?" "Yeah" "Brony, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself just because you can't think of something to do for the talent show. And doing what everycreature else is doing won't help your cause. You have to think very hard about what you like to do and only focus on you. You told me in our first meeting that your mother was a famous actress and you have had prior acting experience. What kinds of activities have you done?" "Well, I was in my community's choir in fifth grade" "Was that something you enjoyed?" "Yes. I enjoyed it a lot" "Well, did that give you an idea of what you would like to do for our talent show?" Brony felt a lot better. "That's it! I think I know what I want to do for the talent show! Thanks, Miss Rarity! You're the best!" he cheered as he ran out the door. The day of the talent show finally came. Headmare Starlight Glimmer and the teachers were in the bleacher area, about to watch the talent show. Suddenly, Rarity appeared on stage. "Welcome, everycreature, to the 1st Annual School of Friendship Talent Show. Our school's drama club has had a blast planning this event and I'm sure they'll have lots of fun performing for you. Our first act is Gallus the Griffon, who will be performing a disappearing act" The curtains revealed Gallus, who was standing behind a table and a plate of meatballs. "Greetings, everybody. I'm Gallus and today, I will make these meatballs disappear" he said as he tilted the plate of meatballs up to his beak, causing all the meatballs to roll into his mouth. Once the plate was cleared, he gulped and let out a satisfied belch while the audience roared with laughter. Rarity came onstage again to thank Gallus for participating. "Our next act is Corn and Peg, who will be performing an original rap about doing good. After all the other performances, it was time for Rarity to present the final act. "And now, last but most certainly not least, Brony Pony will be performing an original song about friendship" When the curtains revealed Brony, he felt very nervous. He was shaking like a leaf. "Are you feeling alright, darling?" Rarity asked Brony. "Yeah, kinda nervous. What will everyone think of my song?" Brony replied. "Darling, don't worry. You'll do just fine! Just close your eyes when you sing and think about what you're singing about" Brony looked at the audience and introduced himself. "Um, hi...everyone. I'm Brony, and today, I'm...uh, gonna...sing...a song about...friendship. So, herewego" Brony closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and began to sing. When I was young I felt depressed Nobody to go to No way to help myself Had no energy Home life was rough Cried myself to sleep Every single night The School of Friendship Was my final hope Changed me for the better Cause now I got new friends I got new friends Who are by my side Every single day and night Until the very end At first, there was no applause, which made Brony upset. He let out a sad sigh and said "I was right. I'm not made out to be in drama club. I'm not made out to do anything. I think I should just go back home to my mom and- " Brony's thoughts were interrupted with a huge, loud roar of applause and standing ovations. This caused Brony to cry tears of joy. "They love me. They really love me" Suddenly, Brony's friends ran up to the stage to join their friend. "I knew you could do it, Brony! I'm so proud of you!" Gallus cheered. "We all are!" Peg added. "Well, I suppose we all know who the winner is. Congratulations, Brony!" Rarity chimed in as she gave Brony a first place medal. She also gave Corn and Peg second place medals while Gallus received a third place medal. "Wow! First prize! I can't believe it!" Brony cheered. "I can, seeing as how Gallus got third just for eating a plate of meatballs. They'd give these to anyone" Smolder added. "So, how about we all go to Sugarcube Corner to celebrate?" Sandbar offered. "Sounds good to me!" Brony replied as he and his friends left the drama room.
The New World \| Millennium	pre	As the events unfold at the White Iron house, the same man who'd train me to fight in the ground warfare was Captain Alex, he was looking over reports when a soldier came in and saluted. "Sir! I was here to inform you that our company is being shipped out to the eastern coast sir!" The Captain looked at the soldier and nodded. "Has the Major been informed?" He asked, lighting a cigarette with his lighter. "Uhh.. Sir, your the Major," The Soldier informed, in which Alex's eyes widened at the sudden news and took the cigar out of his mouth. "What..? What happened to Major Gordan?" The former Captain asked, puffing his cigarette intensely. "He was reassigned to fight against the Z.I.T.S. In the Kirin region of Zebrica sir... You've been primarily assigned to deploy the 105th division," Reported the Soldier, as Alex sat down frustrated with the news taking the cigar out of his mouth again... "But who's going to be Captain of the unit? It'll take two years to get a replacement considering we're using most of our manpower against the assholes in Zebrica!" Alex ranted, but the soldier shrugged as the smoke started to fill the air. "That's up to General MacArthur sir, I was told to relay this message from him," The Soldier responded, while Alex looked up in disbelief and grab the cigarette out. "Alright... Your dismissed," Alex ordered, as the Soldier ceremonially saluted and left the tent, leaving the worried new Major to think while aggravatedly extinguished his cigarette on his bed. "Shit." While that, lets talk about divisions, the 105th division is a unit of M1A2 Abrams and M109 Paladins, it's the only division with modern vehicles, as for the other armor companies and brigades serving the Federation, they continue to use the variant one models, and also M60 tanks, however, what makes the unit special other than it being known for it's modern technology, it's tactics of lightning war to take over a entire country in the matter of 10 to 14 days, and is also known to the world that they would destroy anything that comes near the division, whether if it's a bomb or a rifle, it would gun anyone down by a 1 km radius, or so would the Griffonian's would say considering they never fought such a thing before. Zebrica on the other hand would plain out run away from the sight of Paladins and the M1A2s, which sometimes due to the slight similarity between the M1A2 and the M1A1 the locals would mistaken the M1A1 as a M1A2 and would go town to town falsely alarming that the 105th division had arrived, so M1A1 is always accompanied by a M60 to disperse the fears of the 105th arriving to Zebrica.. The last action that was made with the 105th division, was a operation in 999 ALB, when the American congress authorized to help, what was to be the Storm King, in a military intervention to unite the yeti's under one banner, the fear of Tartarus was placed in the people of the Storm Kingdom when the 105th division destroyed the entire opposing forces in a 10 day campaign, the end result was that the Storm King had gain power over the entire nation, and when the Federation realized his true intentions and the fact they've been used, the American Government contemplated a naval blockade before it was deduced by Uncle Sam, stating that it would make things worse. The price of Uncle Sam's decision would later effect the Hyenian Kingdom the following year, as Storm King's armies crushes the desert dogs under the metal boot.. Back at the White house "Sir! You have another- uhhhhh..." Just as Bush came back with another phone call military staff, and civilian advisors looked at the amount of phone Jimmy was buried in from the other 45 phones from other nations wondering why the hell the sun wasn't back up finally when everyone at once on the phones yelled. "WHATS GOING ON!!!!" The president suspiciously Snaps... "YOU GET A LIFE!" He hanged up 23 phones "YOU GET A JOB!" Another 10 phones hanged up "AND YOU DEAL WITH YOUR FRICKING SONS FOR GODS SAKES!" He shouted at the kings of Olenia, and Griffonia (who actually has sons) As he hanged up the rest of the 12 phones, he turned towards Bush and said. "Who's on that phone!?" Carter asked.. "Sir... It's Mr. Sam.. He wishes to speak with you," Bush replied, which made Carter gulp. Meanwhile in Equestria SFN-Statcom The Sun was finally rising back to it's original spot, which made my Captain sigh in relief. And so did the crew, after holding their breaths thinking for a answer, when I didn't mind it and asked. "Do you want to proceed with recording sir?" He nodded. "Lieutenant, give the order to fire the Non-lethal rounds, order the frigate on the count of 3 to fire the prototype cruise missiles at designated target marked in green flare," He ordered, which the Lieutenant gave the order to crewmen on the guns and counted. "3.. 2.. 1.. Fire." immediately loud shouts of noise ringed out as cruise missiles were fired from the missile frigates with the battleship firing light missiles and fired it's cannon towards the small marked island, the missiles and the shells landed and massivly exploded into a mushroom like cloud followed by a powerful delayed sounding of explosions combined together into a sound power that even Canterlot could hear. After a whole exercise event spectated by local island ponies and V.I.P. civilians on board the Statcom the Captain looked towards me and asked. "Did you get that Sergeant?" "Yes sir, all on film," I replied. "Good, Helmsman Higgins, make port to Debraville, get us out of here please," he ordered. "Aye Aye Captain," acknowledged Higgins as he steers the ship to make a complete long U-turn back to the Federation coast when he got a message from all telecommunication lines. "Sir, we have confirmed messages for all the divisions in the Federation directly straight from the minister of defense and possibly unto the entire world sir," The radioman reported. "What is it?" The Captain asked. "Sir, we have confirm reports that That Princess Luna of the Night, has returned.." The captain took the news with surprise and immediately grabbed his pipe, shoved nicotine inside the hole, and lit a match in it and smoked it intensely before taking it out to say. "Well if I be dammed.." Abraham Monument Garden After the phone call airforce 1, makes landing near the Abraham monument in George town, two states from Washington capitol, secret service agents, marines, and high classed Military Generals exited from the helicopter when the Sun suddenly started to rise up, lighting the skies which made everyone relieved, but Carter didn't see or cared about it as he entered the Abraham Monument. Bush walked out and looked at Carter with slight suspicion. "Somethings up here," Bush said out loud. "I think so to, but that's probably because he probably didn't have his morning coffee," the general suggested. "Probably.... But my gut says otherwise... And for now it's tell me to watch, and see," replied Bush. As Carter entered a pin code on the lock, which granted access and opened the doors leading to a deep and dark hallway to a light. Carter enters the passage way inside the chair of Abraham's seat. As he walked by himself through the hallway, the light got brighter, and brighter until finally, he reached the room, the room is a garden with greenhouse particles, and has suitable plants and even crops that someone could eat. He was instructed to sit down on one of the lawn chairs and wait. After minutes of waiting, a person with the patriotic American hat stopped in front of him. "Greetings President Carter, welcome to my Garden," Uncle Sam greeted, he seemed happy lately no one in congress never knew why, nor did the other president before Carter knew either other than they assume he was having a joy period. "Uncle Sam, you've called me? Just by a year before the elections?" Carter wondered. "Indeed! I like to tell you that Princess Luna had returned!" Uncle Sam informed. "Wait... But that means we'll need to invoke Moon-322! I'll make sure to contact Eclipse brigade an-" "NONESENSE!" Shouted Uncle Sam, which made Carter coward behind the lawn chair. "That code was never used, and I intend to keep it that way, besides! Maybe it's time we become more open towards Equestria, rather then isolating it from foreign policies, after all, they were there first," Uncle Sam insisted. "So... What year do you intend to do this.. Political conference?" Jimmy asked. Uncle Sam started to think.. But suddenly, as he looked into a light bulb he gets a vision of what would be the future and to find... A tan stallion, something important with him intrigued Uncle Sam and another person of importance as well indicating the word... Luther... Finally after coming out of a trance and freaking Jimmy Carter out, and answered. "1003 we start negotiations on 1003 with Equestria."
The New World \| Millennium	Chapter 2: 1001 ALB, The Olenian Crisis	"Good morning from the CNN Headquarters, my name is Lynda Kinkade and we have a breaking news development in the country of Olenia, King Aldar the II has died, it was said that some of the local politicians and business leaders were just on a board meeting about the recent events regarding tensions between the political and military officials, it was after Aldar had died was when the kingdom commission council of Olenia, or what's called the KCCO, received a message from the palace of Hjortland, it was said that the king had died in a stroke just right outside behind Mathew as you can see now." A second camera shows Chance and the background surrounded by deer guards and police agents. "Some people are, however, coming outside in Olenia to inspect the scene themselves and start to call it a hostile takeover, Matthew tell us what you're seeing?" Camera Pans towards Matthew Chance "Just like you said, apparently the scene has been a bit quiet along with the officials, in fact if we pan the camera to where that scene with that Olenian is guarding, they seemed to have the area locked down tight, now of course as for speculations of a coup, it has not been confirmed as of yet, but whether it'll be a coup or not, the heir to the throne is, Velvet Jelzek, who recently returned to the kingdom for the meetings and..." "Is something wrong Matthew? I notice there's some equipment behind you?" Matthew, on camera, tells Louis the cameraman to turn towards his right where a convoy of T-64s and BTR-70s piloted by human pilots and two trucks boarded with armed human soldiers drives by them as the Olenian police clear the streets of civilians, the watchers look on with surprise when they see a faded white eagle symbol on one of the tanks not completely erased. "There is, in fact, a situation, it would seem that just by looking at those tanks these are T-64s, and the only nation who has these is Rodinia but they were, lended to a Private Military company called Serbija, a caucus legion of troops hired by Brezhnev to enforce international events, it seems that we are witnessing either a mercenary coup or someone had hired them to help them accomplish this, but it seems whoever has behind said coup, they've got a nation to run especially due to its current economic stance." As the armor convoy drives through producing disturbing sounds of treadmills that can be heard over the microphone the reporter is barely understandable by the sounds of armor Camera pans towards Elaine at the News studio "Matthew, our sound got cut off. We'll have to go back to you in a moment as we have other news to cover." Next on CNN News: Apple-Buffalo war breaks out In Equestria after a border dispute. Discord unleashed, and what would it do to the national economy? The Election of 1001 of the River Republic And finally President Carter and the new Whiskey tax bill proposal. Coming next, after these short messages. A certain burger place ad plays A day after the report, more and more media outlets would eventually cover what was now known as the Olenian coup de tat staged by Johan, it was believed he killed his father, and eventually he placed Velvet Jelzek under house arrest before she fled into a pro-Harmonist compound where she rallied support. During this, the F.I.U. informed President Carter and General MacArthur and the heads of Congress about the possibility of a rescue operation after being tipped on Velvets Location but was also alerted that Johan plans to attack and kill her in the Pro-harmonist compound which is a apartment complex, the resistance discovered Johan's plan as well and are preparing her evacuation on a ship to Equestria. A 5 day meeting was held by the head general of special operations, Bryan Fenton, with joint session of congress being hosted to discuss whether a special operation should be conducted or not, the 4 day meeting ended with a tie, but it was quickly concluded in a surprise visit by Uncle Sam, himself, who broke the tie and immediately authorized the deployment of the Eclipse Brigade 23rd unit, and the 10th air brigade. Vaverfront A squad of three Black Hawk Helicopters, from the 10th air Brigade, arrives at the city of Vaverfront where Velvet will be at, the men participating in the operation were briefed that they were to secure and evacuate Velvet, who will be code named 'present,' and take her away from Olenia due to communications being cut off from Olenia to the world the Eclipse Agents will have to make contact personally. "Alright! Listen up men! I want to make this operation clean and clear! There will be no sense of bitching out since you've lost the chance so let me go over the briefing one more time! Your target will be at the apartment complex, landing zones are tight so you're going skydiving out of the helicopters with your provided parachutes that you can thank your friendly tax payers for!" The entire passenger room chuckled with the last part of the sentence when the commander continued. "After you recover, Velvet Jelzek, make your way toward the exfil point immediately! Is that loud and clear!" "SIR YES SIR!" Shouted the men, as they prepared their M1A4 rifles and night vision goggles on, the lights on the Black Hawk turn death red. "Good! Now get the hell out of my ride!" The Apartment Complex While the Eclipse brigade was about to arrive, there was remains of Aldar's loyalist forces, who speculated that Johan was behind his death and saw Velvet Jelzek as the rightful heir, were tasked to guard the compound and await for transportation but they were only armed with black marketed armor and a rifle, while it was outdated it was enough to keep them by while they guarded the building to await for the carriage when they saw two deer's walking towards them. "HALT! YOUR TRESSPASSING ON A OFFICIAL MILITARY COMPOUND! YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO GO IN HERE!" Shouted one of Velvets guard. "Unfortunately for you soldier, this is a apartment complex and we are allowed.. Move aside before you end up like Aldar," threatened the Johan Loyalist, as the harmonic soldiers pointed their rifles at him. "The hard way it is then.." Behind him arrived a T-64 tank with human tank pilots sticking out and aiming the Light Machine gun right towards them as two Ural-4320 trucks arrived with a brigade of armed deer soldiers mixed with Serbija PMC's jumping off and pointing their guns towards the defending garrison, which forced them to drop their guns. "Shit..." "Shit is right, pelt's, take these traitors away... And then make them kneel, the rest of you, storm the apartment Johan wants Velvet alive.... For now," ordered the Johanist commander, while the loyalist that were guarding the complex were then arrested, Johan's soldiers, as ordered, stormed the apartment complex and started raiding rooms and houses, the T-64 tank smashes through the apartment gate and rolled into the street with the mercenary soldiers securing each building resulting in a brief but violent gun fight that ranged through the streets with arms fire causing a massive disturbance and created a crowd of spectators. Meanwhile, by the time they got to Velvet's room, the window was opened indicating that she escaped, and that was when the deer who met Velvet's men came in. "Field Marshal Gustaf! She escaped!" Alerted the deer, but not Gustaf, as he turned towards the closet and spoke. "Did you really think I would fall for your tricks Velvet Jelzek?" He said, as the deer soldiers opened the closet revealing a frightened Velvet Jelzek who they wouldn't expect that she was prepared to fight back the moment the soldiers pointed their rifles and would engage in a hoof-to-hoof fight. Back at the fleet of three Black Hawk Helicopters, the 23rd unit is now nearing it's drop zone when the light turned bright green on the door. "THATS THE SIGNAL! DROP! DROP! DROP!" Shouted the Special forces commander. The agents one by one, jumped out of the moving helicopters and released their parachutes strapped on them, all 20 Spec ops agents exited the helicopters. The Special forces commander sat down and ordered. "Pilot! Play my soundtrack!!" He ordered. "Which one sir?" The Pilot replied. "THE GOOD ONE! WITH EXTRA TUNE!" The Commander responded. "Ok sir..." The Pilot obliged. The tape was placed in the radio box and then after, the pilot then pressed the play button. The Parachuting soldiers were now landing at the target spots, with M1A4 rifles and suppressed pistols equipped with them, the black dark suits kept them camouflaged in the dark while the squad commander and his squad met up in the alley way. "Is this all of us?" The Commander asked. "No sir, we have 5 unaccounted for and they carry the majority of our explosives," replied one of the soldiers. "Dammit.. We'll need to improvise until they can relocate and find us, until then lets make contact with the harmonist" The Commander ordered, as the group ran through the alley way, passing trash can after trash can when the command raised his fist to halt his squad and signaled one of his men to move forward and scout, soon enough they see a T-64 pointing a cannon at the meeting spot. "Sir! There's a tank at that area!" "I see... I know Velvet Jelzek has loyal soldiers, but reports didn't specify a tank, atleast for this area," The Commander pondered. "Are we too late sir?" Asked one of the agents. "Yea.. I think we are, but that doesn't mean we won't make noise, ready and suppress your rifles and prepare to nub tube this son of a bitch," Ordered the commander, as the soldiers loaded their guns and prepared themselves for the rock and roll. The commander and his squad raided a abandon building on the right alley and took up gunner positions as the rest of the squad hid in the bushes and awaited the final order to shoot, after setting up the Light Machine gun the commander looked through his binoculars and saw Velvet being dragged with wounds on her chest, bruises on her face, and bleeding forelegs she was dropped in front of her loyalist. "There she is, now let's show her how we rescue targets," . . 45 minutes earlier after a brief off-story stand off Velvet lashed out at the men pointing the rifles and broke one of the human soldiers arm, and kicked another one in the gut, groin and then thrown him towards then wall, before Velvet could go for Gustaf one of the Olenian deer guards tased twice on her forelegs until they started bleeding and knocked her unconscious which they then kicked her in the gut and presented her towards Gustaf. "Foolish mistake, you fucking pelt," Gustaf cursed, before Velvet spat blood on his face. "Go to Tartarus!" Velvet responded, which Gustaf cleaned his face off from the blood spat on him and then sucker punched her in the nostril. "Take her outside! And.. Clean this up," he ordered with a calm voice, in which the deer soldiers acknowledged and took her away with the other two helping the Serbija soldiers get back on their feet. She was then dragged by the Johan loyalist and then dropped to the solid road infront of her men who was watching in dreadful silence, it was when Gustaf and the other two human mercenaries turned to one of the human soldiers who held a Makarov pistol and handed it to him, he then loaded the pistol with the sound of a load click, and then looked at Velvet. "I prefer to savior the moment, for the sake of exampling my dear," He smirked, staring at her face to face at each others souls. "You were always a sucker for glory, especially towards our people!" Velvet growled, while Gustaf pulled out a Makarov personally provided by a Serbija soldier, he examined the Makarov pistol with pride and chuckled. "Amazing how humans can come up with such amazing weapons of war, I might consider buying one given the chance for my own personal use, now as for the contacts with the black market," "They ratted us out?" Whispered one of the harmonic soldiers. "Ah in good thanks to the lands of Rodinia, how nice of them to provide this great weapon, and I get to use it, starting with this one, said Gustav as he presses the Makarov on the deer soldier's head, who the Velvet loyalist then shouted. "LONG LIVE KING ALDA-" BANG The Velvet loyalist lay bleeding on the solid ground, dead, the rest of Velvets men looked at their now dead comrade and looked at Velvet just as the Serbija T-64 tank aligned it's HMG and LMG on the lined Loyalist, they looked at Velvet Jelzek and singed the national anthem of the Kingdom of Olenia. Velvet listened to the anthem with saddening pride before the Serbija commander ordered a wall of men to line up. "MAKE READY!" The human soldiers prepared their rifles. "TAKE AIM!" "You know the best part about this dear ol' Velvet? It's that they promise to trade and stimulate our economy, along with suppressing rebels like these" Gustaf whispered, filling Velvet with rage only to be held down by the human soldiers keeping her in bondage as she is forced to see what would happen to her comrades. "FIRE!" The firing squad fired their AK-47s and soon the deer resistance was pelted to death they were gunned down by the deathly sounds of Machine guns from the tank and the sounds of Assualt rifle ammunition penetrating their bodies tearing their heads and flesh open, exposing their guts to Johan's soldiers, and the horrible sight that gave Velvet PTSD, as for the Serbija mercenaries, they didn't care about their deaths other than them being traitors. There was no remorse, no pity, just pure injustice... As for the Johan loyalist, they felt sorry for choosing the side they've chosen. At least in their eyes that was.. Velvet was next, and she knew that, she was about to be like her father... Dead.. Dead at the hands of a killer who now pressed his pistol on her head. "Nothing personal, just good business" Just as Gustav was about to kill Velvet, pressing the gun to her head. Loud machine gun fire was heard from the building as the 50 caliber round screamed through the air and pierced through Gustaf's hoof, cutting it off completely and detaching his right for hoof, while the troops scattered through the sudden chaotic war zone with bullets flying all over the place the Serbija mercenaries took cover behind the tank and fired discriminately at the abandon building now a machine gunner nest, in the midst of a war ground Velvet see's the opportunity and went for Gustaf's pistol, on his detached foreleg, and killed the soldiers that held her down and made a run for it. "SIR ARE YOU ALRI-" "GET HER! AND FIND THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR M- M- AHHHHH! MY LEG! MY LEG! SWEET THOR MY LEG! AHHHHH!!!!!" The soldiers forgot about Velvet and the deer soldiers went to Gustaf instead, but that was when a bright, red, flare was shot in the sky. "SUKA BLYAT! GET BACK UNDER THE TANK QUI-" The deer soldiers ran into the machine gun fire and got shot to death, lighten up by the bullets the Serbija commander rolled his eyes and crouched through the gun the fire and dragged Gustaf through the machine bullets while the Serbija mercenaries laid suppressive fire on the stronghold controlled by special forces soldiers. "What the.. What happen to my-" "They're dead you fucking jackass, stay here while me and my men kills these fuckers! And someone get this FUCKING TANK TO DO SOMETHING HERE!" "2-3-3-4 armor company we're under attack! Requesting immediate evac and gun support!" Yelled one of the Serbija soldiers. "Da, southern group enroute, hang tight Vaskia team" replied a tank pilot, as the tank they're taking cover behind started to turn it's turret towards the building. The 23rd unit had so far killed only 10/30 but they needed to secure Velvet when the squad leader saw her running. "Bravo-6, Echo-4, take the present and bring it here." He ordered, as the two nodded and ran right towards her. The Squad leader turned back to see the tank pointing at him. "OH SHIT!" Shouted one of his soldiers, as everyone got away from the walls before it exploded upon impact from the tank shell, knocking one of the men unconscious. "Get him out of here! Quick!" Meanwhile, Echo-4 and Bravo-6 tracked down and found Velvet but she attempted to slow them down as she kicked things that went domino effect and smashed through the ground, however she quickly starts to figure out something with her pursuers and quickly comes up with a plan. While this, Echo-4 and Bravo-6 were jumping hoops with air being limited before they get tired. "DAMN! THIS DEER IS HELLA FAST!" Complained Echo-4. "H-Q said she's worth it, we have to take her before her brother does," reminded Bravo-6. "I KNOW THAT! BUT AT THIS RATE I'M RUNNING OUT OF BREATH!" "Stop shouting, it'll make it worse, we have to keep up with her in silence or we'll never find her," Bravo-6 replied. As they were speaking however, they ran into a brick wall.. "Dammit Echo-4, I said keep your mouth shut." The two were then knocked down and pinned by Velvet, who was holding the Makarov, and disarmed them of their weapons, and pointed the pistol towards them. "Who are you! Why are you following me!" She interrogated, unknowing that the two had a knife and a side arm, but they can't do anything to her other than answering her questions. "Easy... Ma'am, we're apart of the 23rd unit of the.... Eclipse Brigade," answered Bravo-6. "THE ECLIPSE BRIGADE!!??" She quickly silenced herself and looked at the two dead eyed on their pupils. "And what buisness do you have doing in my home?" "So you've heard of us?" Echo-4 whispered, which after a self-hesitancy Velvet unpinned the two and lowered the weapon, but kept it handy. "I was told by... Celestia about you people, how much you were loyal to 'Nightmare moon' and that you'd even attacked civlia-" "Woah! Hold on there, we are not loyal to anyone other than our country, and who the fuck said we attack civilians?" Bravo-6 outraged. "That would be some of the locals in Vanhoover," she replied, which the two dully looked at each other. "The fucking communist province, every else and it's the commies," Echo-4 commented. "Should've known... Look, our team was sent to rescue you," Bravo-6 revealed. "By who's order." Velvet glared. "By the will of our head of state, Uncle Fucking Sam." Bravo-6 replied, which made Velvet's eyes widened. "Uncle Sam... Wha- What does he want with me!?" She asked. "I don't know, something to do with a eventually invasion of Olenia, he wanted to reinstate a harmonist government with your name," Bravo-6 answered, Velvet stood back and though for minute. --If Uncle Sam went through all of this trouble to rescue me.. There must be something behind this, Celestia did warn me not to trust those who would use others, but if he's right and Uncle Sam does launch a invasion on Olenia I have to be in the forefront!-- After a thought, she turned to the two men who were picking their rifles up and answered. "Lead the way." What was once a peaceful shoreline now turned into a chaotic warzone as Machine guns from one side to the other pelted the ground in attempt to kill the either side as the squad leader decided to screw it nub tube it into the tank that was almost about to kill his men in the bottom floor who're also firing at the enemy ground level when one of his men advised. "Sir! You're still bleeding from your eye and the tank is too far!" "One eye!? One eye!? I can shoot a pistol blindfolded and I could still kill someone!" He shouted back, as he took aim but due to the intensity of the gun fire one bullet went inside of the tube and blew the rifle and blew him back towards the wall, while he was unscathed from that he was shocked. "DAMN! THAT THING SHOT MY RIFLE!" "Damn! What are the odds! OF COURSE IT'S GOING TO HIT THE GUN DAMMIT!" Shouted the soldiers, "ENOUGH!" Shouted the commander, "DON'T YOU SEE WE'RE IN COMBAT HERE!" It was when in the midst of the gun the the tank turns it's turret towards the building and prepared to shoot it's second round on the second floor. "GET AWAY! GET AWAY! IT'S GOING TO SHOOT!" The commander shouted, as the soldiers ran for cover when they heard a missile hits the back of the T-64's engines and what followed was a massive geyser of flames shooting up from the copit killing everyone inside of the tank when the Serbija mercenary commander shouted. "Pull back! IT'S GONNA BLOW!" The mercenaries ran from the endangered tank and then in a instant the T-64 blew it's entire top off blowing and shattering it's entire chassis to the point of no repair leaving nothing but a statue of burning ashes, while at the same time confusing both sides of who fired the rocket. "Sir! What was that!" Asked one of the men, when they saw the 5 unaccounted men arriving with rocket and grenade launchers. "Captain Lian!" "Lieutenant, David... I see you got your men all over the place," Lian criticized, looking at the men cowarding in fear from the Tank machine gun. "Uhh.. B-b-bu-" "I don't want to even hear it Lieutenant, did you even get the princess or not!" Lian asked, without even using the code phrase for Velvet in which David gulped and was about to reply to say no when a familiar voice said. "Am I happened to be the 'present' you've been mentioning?" Velvet interjected, with Echo-6 and Bravo-6 wedging at her side. The Captain looked at his Lieutenant. "Looks like a yes to me then, Echo-2, Delta-5! Pop the flares and let's get out of here!" He ordered, as the two soldiers popped green flares to signal the helicopters to land on the exact position when three Black hawks landed on the ground. "Present first! Everyone else guard her rear! Echo-3 fire grenade launchers to cover our escape!" He ordered, as the two carefully helped her load on the helicopter while Echo-3 fired smoke grenades the smoked the area to cover their exfil area as the helicopters retreated back to Federation soil. As the Serbija mercenary leader and Gustaf and the surviving soldiers looked at the now destroyed tank, Gustaf looks through the smoke and sees a black hawk take off with their target, he looked in fear as it signaled his failure... By then the southern battalion arrived to the scene only to find remains of a chaotic siege as the two T-64s halted and unloaded the deer soldiers who quickly took positions around the compound along with medics who quickly started to treat the field marshal. (who will most likely face demotion) One of the deer soldiers came to him and asked. "Sir.. What do we do now?" There was no reply other than shocked and heavy breathing. "Sir?" He only replied with. "No one will believe what I have to say tonight..." Debraville, home of the Statcom, Federation of American States. The docks were busy as usual, with engineers conducting usual maintenance on the Statcom Battleship, and Cranes lowering the food supply from merchant ships from Continental Equestria. But what was I doing? Well... Work montage "WORKING ON THE BATHROOM!" "WORKING IN THE ROOM!" "WORKING IN THE CAFETERIA!" "WORKING ON THE SHIP ENGINE!" "HEY! YOUR NOT ALLOWED IN HERE!" "AH! NOT WORKING ON THE SHIP ENGINE! AHHH!" .... What I say, completely occupied, anyways, reports arrived for the recent updates about Luna's return, it's been a year since we've ported at Debraville, we aren't sure when our next departure is but when we know, we'll be ready... As soon as the President does this whole "negotiation" thing, to be honest though, Jimmy Carter might get voted out in this years election. I wonder who the Reagan guy is? Anyways, I always thought that Jimmy Carter was a bit strange considering that CBS literally just exposed him for shouting at the entire world, it also seems like the American generals are up to something to, I hope that doesn't result in a coup or I'm a goose. I walked inside Captain Douglas mess, and found the usual stacks of paper work only it was kinda... Well short for once I can say, but not to get into details, it was all but tidy for the least. "Here's the debrief for that whole 'Lunar weirdness' incident, is there anything else sir?" I asked. The Captain grabbed the dossier and flipped through pages, looking for errors that the radio operators did, which seemed to be all in order when he placed down the document. "Anything wrong?" "Nothing else, you can go Sergeant," he dismissed, which I followed through and saluted before exiting the room when he all of a sudden said. "On second thought... There's something I need to inform you about, take a seat Sergeant." So I came back infront of his desk and sat down on the chair. He looked stressed out just by the looks of his face. "Of all my years as Captain of the Statcom Battleship, I have never seen a more productive crewman than anyone else since my days as a custodian on the SNF-Republic, and since then.. You've been the most hard working one Sergeant." Surprised by this, I was just basically just... Breathless, man... I thought he was gonna give me another assignment, but nope what came next was this.. "After reviewing your recent work report, and conduct along with keeping our men fit, a decision was made to have you go on a mandatory vacation." "NOOOice?? I.... Thank you s-sir???" "Now, with that said, take a break, you haven't even used a R&R time since you've joined naval branch.. Which is kind of concerning with the officer command... Anyways dismissed." I got up and left the room, as fast as I can when I found my room filled with Military police packing my things.... It seems that the Captain was serious to bring the MP into this... But I guess I can see what I could do on my... 'Mandatory' R&R time.. Saddle Arabia, Trogiers front, city outskirts. Meanwhile, the Arabian Operations being conducted by the RSRS authorized by the workers council formed, by the Red Mother in 970 ALB, had authorized a military intervention in the area along with the new tank design called the T-90AM. The T-90M is a product of it's counter part of the under produced T-80U, but more advanced and armored. It competes the Federation's Abrams tank, easy and complicated to build, it's equipped with a autocannon, a internal machine gun built in, smoke launchers, semi-advanced radars, and a 125 mm cannon. And if the Rodinian's can secure a communist stronghold in Saddle Arabia, then it'll be able to have a immense advantage against their enemy the Americans since American dominion in Zebrica is severely strong thanks to the storm kingdom.. The only problem was that Arabia has now entered it's 2nd year of civilwar and even worst is that they are bidding aid and assistance from Equestria, with unconfirmed reports of American backing, while the bid wasn't announced to the general public, the NIB would say otherwise. NIB, or the Northern Intelligence bureau, is a agency of the NSRS that competes against the Federations Intelligence division, F.I.U. (Federal Intelligence unit), it unfortunately for the Federation, yet fortunate for the soviets, that the division has extreme skill in spy networks, sleeper agents, and even a ruthless sub-division with it called the SSB, Special Soviet Brigade, of course luckily for the Federation it had managed to rid itself of the agents, but it proved very worthy of being a adversary towards the American nation when it came to spy agencies. But with that out of the way, the 134th Armor-Infantry brigade were deployed to Arabia after other divisions had suffered losses, and to replenish they had to go about 5 miles away from the frontline while the frontline would be replaced by another division it shows how much the Northern Soviets went through to accomplish the goal. This story starts with another character, a friend of mine who's name is, Ogalivich Volklav, or in simple terms just call him Ogav. He told me the story of Trotgiers.. And I had to admit, it sounded like Tartarus on this world. He was walking through the sandy road, looking down at his tan boots. He was at camp Tuna, or atleast what's really left of it when the Arabian kingdom continued shelling the area with either canon balls or shells. Nonetheless the camp looks somewhat stable in it's condition, despite the part when the hot canon balls hit the vehicle engines and explode them, causing a fire on the tents once in a while. But that was least of his concerns. "Ah, Lieutenant Ogav, congratulations on your promotion." Congratulated Comrade Ivan, in which Ogav smiled and the two hugged and patted. Ogav and Ivan were friends since the day they conscripted, the first day they met Ivan was bullied by his colleagues who happened to be Ponies, stating that he wasn't fit to be in the military at all, but just when he was just about to quit, Ogav had came to him at the time of need and told him that they should remind the ponies who's really in charge of their glorious nation, and since then the two had been inseparable , with Ogav being the hero figure to Ivan, and most of the men in camp, but the two's friendship was truly a victory to Ogav. Oh and also the ponies that bullied Ivan were assigned to the SNS-Mother as custodians. (Soviet Naval Ship) "Ah yes! After my tactical brilliants I'm sure we can find some way to penetrate the enemy, just some how.. Of course we always have those T-90 tanks to come soon to finally replace the T-72 tanks we've been using ey?" Ogav smiled. But Ivan frowned at the statement. "Actually... I heard that they are having to recall T-90 deployment, because of the Victory parade over the Stalliongrad revolution.." Ivan informed, which destroyed Ogav's smile. "BLYAT! SON OF A SUKA!" Ogav cursed. "I guess you'll also be telling me that we'll be launching a attack on the enemy with the damn T-72S!" Ogav crossed his arms, which made Ivan shutter. "Actually... I'm here to tell you that your being summoned for that reason.. Your to lead the company to flank right.." Ivan informed again, which made Ogav sigh. "So.. I guess we're just launching yet another assualt huh.. They won't learn will they..." Ogav emotional, which Ivan nodded. "I mean, on the bright side, you are a Lieutenant!" Ivan smiled. "Yea.. Maybe I can make this work, all I need is to be positive." Trotgier city "BLYYAAAAAAATTT!!!!" Shouted Ogav, as he and Ivan ran for their lives along with other 10 soldiers dodging Rifle fire from the Arabian soldiers as they slid inside the dugouts. "IS THIS ALL OF US!?" Ogav shouted, in the midst of the gunfire while two of the 12 suppressed the enemies fire. "Da Comrade that's all of us! They destroyed our BMP-3!" Reported one Soldier. "BMP-3S?? WHERES THE TANKS THAT WE'RE SUPPOSE TO HAVE!" "Ogav! We were sent in as a squad, I thought you'd known that!" Shouted Ivan, which Ogav's stomach burned. "Uhh... I was sleeping the whole time." "WHAT! DAMN YOU OGAV YOU REALIZE THAT COULD'VE SAVE OURLIVES! SUKA BLYAT!" "DA DA DA! OK WE GET IT! I'D SCREWED UP! BUT IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO SALVAGE THIS! WE CLEARLY NEED TO CLEAR OUT THAT BUILDING RIGHT INFRONT OF US!" Planned Ogav, while they took cover from the raging gun fire from the sand stoned building. "Rocketeer! Blast that window! Machine gunners! Cover us! Rest of you are with us!" Ogav ordered. "Yes sir!" Shouted one of the soldiers. "Copy, time to crisp em, said a Flame trooper. The Rocketeer fired his RPG-7 at the Desert building hold out, blowing up it's wall while the PKM Machine gunners gunned down the Arabian horses attempting to investigate the missing wall. The rest of the 8 begin marching up towards the building that was big, but compacted with soldiers and only one floor that is yet to await their arrival. The capture of the Building would be a final beach head to take the city once and for all. The 8 men stormed the building killing everyone that tried to put up a defense but were quickly out matched by the Ak-74 rifles, after that there was the stairs to take care of. "Watch your feet! These horses can chop them off with swords!" Ogav alerted, which the troops looked around as if they were being swarmed by bees while climbing up the stairs when a Arabia was charging at the Human soldiers with a spear that was aiming for Ivan's chest before being shot 12 times by a Sub-machine gunner soldier. "MOVE UP!" Ogav ordered yet again, as the group has now entered the one and only floor which was populated with about 12 Arabia soldiers who happened to be distracted on the Russian Group that Ogav was suppose to flank with. "Lieutenant Ogav! Have you secured the building yet! We're being pinned down!" Shouted the radio, which drove the Arabian soldiers to their attention and shot their rifles, while two of the 8 in the group got shot nearly to death, the remaining six took cover while the medic of the group tended to the injured two who were shot in the knees and chest. "Bad time to be calling me on that!" Ogav yelled back. "Have those T-72's ready to blow those suka's sky high! I'll throw in the red smokes to mark the targets!" He ordered. "Affirmative, Armor company standing by." Replied the Armor captain, as Ogav attempted to grab a flare someone shouts. "GRENADE!" The Grenade landed besides Ogav who goes into a state of paralysis, he watched as the grenade was ticking when he saw his friend Ivan jumping on top of it. "IVA-" The grenade exploded, sending impacting blast waves to the group, while it's shrapnel pierced inside of Ivan's flesh. In horror and anger, Ogav grabbed his Ak-74 and killed the entire Arabian defense soldiers, while those who took cover remained behind the barriers loading their rifles, which Ogav took the opportunity and grabbed his knife and ran right for their barriers, before the Saddle Arabian soldiers could had the chance to even shoot, let alone load their outdated rifles, one by one, Arabians horse throats were slit open by Ogav's knife, covering him in blood as they fell onto the floor, with the last 4 being killed off when he threw the red smoke in the rooms in which the T-72 tanks that stood by unloaded their payloads and destroyed the gun nests. After revenge, Ogav dropped his knife, got up, and ran towards Ivan who was turned over by the medic. "SAVE HIM DAMMIT!" Ogav shouted, while the medic tried to stabilize Ivan, but the wounds was too severe... Ogav sat in desolation.... In the end, the battle would result in casualties in the hundreds, if not thousands. The Two Russian soldiers who were shot never made it out. Ivan was declared dead by entering Socialist soldiers. Ogav would be transferred to a military base where me and him would meet at in 1004... Camp Crimea, Wings of Yakyakistan incident.
The New World \| Millennium	The Vacation	Louisville state, Beastrop. Sheriff time clock was the old earth pony mare of the time, she was considered the states most oldest Sheriff, she was wise, attentive, and liked the apples. Of course that to say, I worked with her before. At the age 14 I found myself partnered with her to look for the ones who was stealing all the oranges, not that she liked them. But she still had to do her job of course, I found the crooks first though and while she did endorse me to join the police force... Yea policing is not really my thing rather military that is. There's also Cousin mark, he has the right idea of being southerner, well.. Maybe too southerner... Of course sometimes he'd be caught by Time Clock for drinking heavy alcohol and of course he would be behind the bars, but most of the time his parents would pay his bail... Anyways that to say, those two are of many people I knew in my hometown of Beastrop, not really much of a big town, but it's decent, in somewhat sort of way. And since it was my vacation, I might as well pay my cousins and friends a visit before the week was up. Washington Capitol "We're now coming up on the Landing sir!" Said one of the Black hawk pilots, awaking Captain Lian from his sleep. "Already??" He said, which David replied. "it's only been two hours?" "Well, I guess it's time to wake up 'present' you do it." Lian ordered, which David went to the sleeping deer princess and shook her up. "U-i-ugh... Is it morning already..." She drooped, looking up at the Lieutenant. "Time to wake up sleeping beauty, we're here." David joked. Velvet stretched her four legs and got on her hooves, she went to the window to see the magnificent structures that she'd never thought she'd seen, considering that she was told the humans were basic creatures, boy is she in the dark. But nothing compared with her sight seeing Since her trip to Equestria all she was told by both locals and even Celestia the cons of the Humans, while Celestia did spoke that some day humanity may look on their past and move forward, it seemed that humanity still looks upon their past but they certainly built huge structures such as buildings that towered even the helicopters that she was even riding. The helicopter lowered it's landing gear with the approach to land infront of the white house, she sees two humans, one who is wearing a suit and tie, and one wearing some blue coat and a red and white striped top hat. She's seen top hats but never one like that as the helicopter jolted which signaled that they had finally landed on the ground. She looked at the two nervously, considering that the suited person looked more guarded than the old beardy human wearing blue coat. Of course the old one looked wise if not powerful, while the other one was golden haired, and somewhat very important by the looks of his guards, she was told by Celestia herself when she was in Canterlot that Humanity was very advanced to the point that they didn't even needed armor to defend against enemy invaders. Of course that was just Celestia, now it seemed the human nation that she'll set hoof in wants her for a special purpose.. But in the name of her father, hopefully the purpose that they brought her their is not only to provide a in exile title, but potentially a tool to unite Olenia from it's ages of war and conflict under one banner, and maybe, a human intervention. Beastrop Driving up the hill, the road is as dusty as it had been since my childhood years, sure there was changes in my hometown like the new burger joint near the city highway, a chicken restaurant and a arcade shop in the inner town. But the only thing that I look forward to other than this dammed vacation that I'm forced to take, is my grandmother Meagan. Who lives at the dusty outskirts of said town, atleast three miles from it atleast, but of course my cousin Mark, who I mentioned, always cared for her needs and health. She's old, like super very duper Alicorn age old, she was diagnosed with something that made her keep muttering something with things and names she never met before. And she definitely didn't meet Celestia and Luna and... Six other ponies? Oh and a dragon. Fucking strange I know, but anyways even when she has some type of traumatic event that makes her go coo-coo she's still my grandmother and with her age like that of course she's going to be a bit disillusioned, of course while my parents are currently doing acting job in Hollywood, Angeles, Mark, like I said, would be there to watch over her. But while I was driving up on the dust road, it looks like.... Wait, is that? "JOHN GORDAN!! GET THE HELL OUT OF THAT TRASH CAN!" Shouted Sheriff Time Clock, while John was doing his usual.. "Ma'am you do realize this is my trash can and I'm picking something up from something I dropped!" Shouted back John. Time Clock sighed in annoyance and replied. "You could've atleast tilted the trash can atleast! So you don't make a mess here!" "Oh really? Mess? YOU MEAN THE DAMN CREATING FORSAKENED DUST ROAD!" Shouted John. "Mr. Gordan, I know your aggravated about the fact that you've been discharged due to spinal problems, but can you please atleast be smart about things..." She expressed, while John just sat down. "Well, I guess I cou- Holy shit.." John cursed. "What?" Asked Time Clock. "No fucking way, Sheriff look at there!" John pointed, as the red pick up truck was pulling into the country road. "Well if I be dammed.." She said to herself, while I stopped the truck and rolled down the windows. "Howdy miss Time Clock, how's policing?" I greeted in southern accent. "Mr. Yates, I see you've been busy with stuff, I heard you were on that there old battleship when that big moon orb was stuck in there big sky for a couple hours?." The old Sheriff articulated in a southern accent. "Well, atleast that's been settled of course that was, may I remind you, one year ago since then." I added, while I move my bag to the back of the seats, when I got a glimpse of John. "Well howdy ex-Major, I didn't see you there, how's post military life doin for you?" I asked. "Well, if it isn't Yates huh? The same one that was teached by my former Captain/replacement of the 105 division, teaching both ground and naval. So kid, what brought you back here exactly?" Expressed John Gordan, lifting a brow on my face. "Eh, let's just say it was forced break. I may have been overworking myself admittedly atleast." "Dear Celestia and grand lunar Luna, do you never learn when to quit do you? Like seriously! I wouldn't be surprised if you get spinal problems LIKE THE JOHN GORDAN STANDING BEFORE YOU AT THIS POINT!!" Time Clock concerned, but I wasn't really worried over her concerns anyways. "Well, that to say. Atleast I be working at my one dream civil duty job, hell, I'm practically married to my job!" I asserted, but Time Clock and John looked a bit annoyed over that opinion that I made about the life of my Military position, hell I haven't even told them that I was a Staff Sergeant for crying out loud! "Is that all you want to say about my job.." I asked waiting for a response, in which the two went silent now. "Anyways, how's Grandma Meagan by the way? Is she fine?" I asked, which after a moment John shook his head and replied. "She's doing fine from what I heard from Mark, doing her usual muttering on meeting "Celestia" and "Luna" or whatever the whole shit is about. Like seriously.. What even got her to bring up those two horned bird pones in the first place?" John vocalized, while Time Clock was looking at him as if he did something to offend her, in which he did actually. "What he means is, without further insulting my home country's rulers, is your grandmother is still fine and alive." She gleamed in joy. "Alright, hope you two have a nice time then.. Whatever you two do around this here town nowadays." I finished, while putting the joystick on drive and driving away towards my grandmothers home, while looking at the front view mirror to see those two grabbing each others necks. "Yep.. Just like it use to be." "Military log 124, it has now been a year since the 105th brigade had moved up to the eastern coast, we're currently stationed at the capitol for reasons unknown, they told me the brigade will be deactivated for one year of maintenance but something tells me there is something else at place.. Like seriously, one year for maintenance? That sounds fucked up, something is fishy going on here and I intend to figure it out... Maybe I might get a new captain perhaps? I don't now.. Either way, the war in Zebrica is everlasting by the looks of things, sure we have finally kicked out the damned Zebrican bastards from the Kirin realm, and Brodfield, but from what I can tell, unless we have someone who knows how these terrorist can fight the continent will be overrunned and we'll be prone to a eventually attack, to the person listening this mark my words, the Federation will once again be attacked on it's soil after centuries, heed my warning and pray it doesn't happen.." Debraville "Captain Douglas, Message from-" "Private why are you in my office.." Douglas asked. "Major Sergeant sir, I came here under orders from the president to deliver a message to a... Mr. Yates." "He's on vacation, he won't be back till the next week." The Captain informed. "Then Sir, when Mr. Yates comes back, you can give him this." The Major Sergeant handed Douglas a envelope and a O-1, Lieutenant rank patch. "Wait a minute, what's the rank patch for?" Douglas ask, leaning back from his chair while examining the patch. "Unfortunately sir, he'll have to take a vacation more later than what you gave him, a phone call will be made to bring him back to base sir, I'm afraid he's more important than you think he is." The Major Sergeant informed. "What!? I mean, he has been hard working, and he does deserve this promotion.. But calling him back from a R and R time? What the hell is going on, and who said so?" The Captain asked. "Uncle Sam. Sir. We believe he's more important within his traditional familial line sir." "What do you mean by that?" The Captain asked. "Sir... After a recent blood test during the blood drive a scientist discovered something in his blood, at first they thought is was a mixture of blood cells, so after Mr. Yates gave another blood sample, it seemed that something was uniquely wrong with the blood, it was then transferred to the Intelligence division and historic research center and found that it was indeed positive..." "Positive for what.." The Captain asked yet again. "Positive in relation to the now extinct king Edwards of the former Eastern Kingdom.." The Major revealed, which made the Captain's jaw dropped to the floor. "Are you saying that he's a.." "He is what Uncle Sam, science, and military intelligence has said, He's related to the savior of Humanity, the one who defeated the Wendigo's in the Human-Wendigo war of the tribal period... He's related with Luther.... " Luther the Wise.
The New World \| Millennium	Apple-Buffalo conflict	SFN-StarHawk Carrier The deck was active with military personal and crew men. Jets were being fueled, helicopters prepped for operations, and amphibious craft preparing to transport infantry and the M1A1 Abrams to it's destination, Appleloosa. "CREW MEN LISTEN UP!" Shouted a naval Sergeant, while the crew men and jet pilots gathered up around the Sergeant. "COMMAND HAS INFORMED US THAT THIS OPERATION IS TO CONTROL THE PEACE BETWEEN THE BUFALO'S AND SETTLER PONY POPULATIONS! WHATEVER YOU DO HOWEVER! DO NOT ENGAGE ANY SIDES! IS THERE ANY QUESTIONS!" The Sergeant shouted. "SIR NO SIR!" Shouted back the crew men in response. "ALRIGHT! LETS GET MOVING THEN! LAUNCH THE AMPHIBIOUS CRAFT! AND TAKE OUR TANKS TO THE DESERT! AND YOU! PLAY SOME MUSIC!" He shouted, while the radio man puts a VHS in the audio speakers. The tanks and infantry are loaded on the amphibious craft while the tomcat fighters are lined up on the carriers awaiting the final order from the Carrier captain. During this the naval Sergeant went inside the bridge and informed. "The Naval forces are ready to launch sir!" The Sergeant reported. The Captain grabbed the speaker Microphone and shouted. "Begin launch sequence! Amphibious craft make your way to the Equestrian coast!" As ordered, the Amphibious craft is deployed from the carrier and headed towards the designated ports in south Equestria, instructed by Celestia, while it was strange for the human military to solve a dispute, it was something Celestia wished to see as a test of how brutal Humanity would be in dispute situations. Of course, with her theory being that humanity were barbaric, the operation launched on disputes. Would prove less than that. "Tomcats! Make me proud, the mission is to scour the skies only! No engagements at all! Oh! And take some pictures, I always wanted to see Equestria in it's current state." The Captain ordered, as radio static replied. "Roger that sir, alright tigers, lets show Equestria a taste of superiority." The tomcat F-14s ignited their engines and begun one by one, launching from the carrier deck and flying into a formation, the crew men cheered at the jet launch and begin preparing the fuel lines for occasional refueling. "All birds are in the air sir!" Reported the head crewman. "Very good, Corporal! Keep me updated on Keeper brigade!" "Yes sir, on it sir!" "Now, we sit and watch." Beastrop, outskirts "Aaaand now, your local news station with your breaking news! Gerald?" "Thanks Jenny, we currently have the latest on the situation in Appleloosa, apparently Uncle Sam and Celestia had a sit down today on talks about the situation on the recently settled province, however, the area settled was occupied by a indigenous tribe called the Buffalo. They stampede in the area of concern for generations, but due to settlement, it was now occupied by settlers and their apple trees. Unfortunately however the Buffalo's and the local population had multiple clashes and incidents around the area, some are worried of a potential outbreak of war between the indigenous and the locals that there was case of mass protest calling for support for either side-" I turned off the radio for the sake of my sanity, the fact that at the biggest moment is missed because of one incident is just annoying on itself, like seriously, first Olenia, and now a border dispute that could potentially break out to a all out war! What's next.. A Dragonesque? But anyways, as I shake of my anger I pulled up to grandma Meagan, her full name was Meagan Williams, who happened to be my mothers side of the family, ironically though, my grandmother used to fight for Equestria and the Federation back in the.. Well not in a war of course, but more like a mass protest to unite the two countries diplomatically, which while there was some improvements, it would quickly spiral thanks to those dammed communist in the north.. The revolution of 995 would leave the American nation into a state of annoyance with Equestria resulting in cutting of ties, but that to say that didn't mean's my grandmother fought in vain. But with that out of my chest, I now arrived to her house, a beautiful farm house in the area, atleast somewhat beautiful since the area is desert like, as I entered the house, Mark and Meagan were sitting on the couch watching tv. While I knocked at the door. Keeper unit, the Equestria frontier "Keeper 1! What's our status." The Tank commander asked, as rows of tanks are in a spear head formation in the Equestrian desert. "Keeper 2 to Keeper 1, I say again, what's our status!" The Tank commander, again, asked. "This is Keeper 1, we are currently near the railroad, but we may have a situation.." Keeper 1 replied. "What is it!" The tank commander uttered. "Sir, we have skipped target town by a mile, we fortunately however found ourselves a railroad according to this here ol' map." Keeper 1 elaborated, while the tank commander is troubled. "Are you serious... THAT'S IT! STOP! THIS! CONVOY!" He shouted, as the tanks and the JTVLs stopped besides the railroad tracks. With the crew and convoy confused, the tank commander hopped out of the M1A1 tank and head towards the idiots in Keeper 1. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU! DON'T YOU HAVE A FUCKING GPS ON YOUR SHIT!" He shouted. "Sorry sir! I'm use to piloting pattons sir!" Keeper 1 replied sarcastically in a insult. "Dag fucking dammit, who the hell let you on a M1A1 then!" "That was fucking Sarcasm Luke! The fucking Naval Captain now who the fuck else!" "What in fucking hell of an answer is that private! If you won't lead the convoy correctly! Then I suggest letting someone with experience do it!" The Commander scolded. "Feel fucking free to sir!" After slamming the hatch down he then grabbed his radio and ordered. "Driver, take position INFRONT of Keeper 1, I want to do the convoy right." "Roger, moving in front now sir!" Replied the driver, as the back M1A1 tank rolled from behind Keeper 1's tank and goes infront of it when a alarm blared. "Sir! We're detecting something heading our way from the tracks!" The radar men reported, as the tank leaders stick their heads out to look down at the track, while the tank commander ordered. "It's probably the train, move our vehicles pointing STRAIGHT towards the south of those tracks and move away from them to, we'll make our way there." The Tanks, JTVL's, and Humvees turned around in a 180 degree move, it would take about 20 minutes before it was fully turned. When suddenly, a huge buffalo stampede and a train was spotted behind them. "Huh, a train and a stampede, you don't see that every day." Commented a tank gunner, sticking his head out as both the train and the stampede ran pass the convoy. "Yea well, lets get moving, raise the white flag and move forward." The tank commander ordered, which the gunner raised the white flag and the national flag. The tank now started moving forward along with the rest of the convoy to it's destination in a medium yet careful speed. "Sir, we're detecting 4 flying ob-" He was then cut off by the sound of 4 tomcat F-14 jets flying over the convoy, while they are only armed with heavy machine guns and not missiles, it certainly scared the shit out of everything that heard and saw it. Appleloosa Now, to explain about this town, I don't need to explain about the town, it's practically a human southerners paradise there, of course unless you live in the Texan state, which would very make sense but of course subtracting from gun duels, the town is very civilized but a bit disarmed considering that there way of weaponry is apple pies. But then again, it is linked to the apple family so not really a surprise that their weapon is literally pies. But yea, that to say it's a nice town from I was told from one of my friends who served in the Keeper unit during the Apple-Buffalo conflict. Of course his unit would not see combat, but the fact that the battle itself is started because of a... Pink pony in a speakeasies dress singing ear bleeding music... Yea that was weird from my friends experience, but hey. What did I say? Everything is weird nowadays... "This is eagle 1, we have eyes on armor train, over." Reported Eagle leader. "Starhawk to Eagle 1, we read you loud and clear, I was given reports from convoy that there was both a train and a stampede, can you take a good look at them?" Asked the Captain. "Roger, Eagle 4, get a closer look. Momma bird wants to see the earth worms." Ordered Eagle 1. "Roger Eagle 1, going in to see the earth worms." Eagle 4 acknowledged, breaking off formation from the squadron with the bottom camera on the jet turned towards the train and the buffalos stampede. A engagement seemed to be happening as it looked, buffalos started ramming against the stallion train pulley's and the locomotive itself. "This is Eagle 4, train is being attacked by Buffalo's over." "What!? Say that again!" "I repeat, train is under attack by Buffalo's sir, I could engage them at given order." Eagle 4 requested, as he flipped the seal from the HMG trigger. "Negative! Do not engage, this is a peace operation not a intervention!" The Captain reminded. Eagle 4 flicked the seal back on the trigger top. "Affirmative, pulling off back to formation." "Negative Eagle 4, show them of who's watching them, fly pass the train and stampede action." The Captain ordered. "Roger that, fly by time." Eagle 4 chuckled. It was then during the conversation, a chase like scene ensued on top of the fucking train when a buffalo child raced a cyan pegasus. For the sake of my works and smaller phrasing, I'm gonna name the buffalo child Strongheart. What you expect me to actually know that this was a female buffalo? I wasn't in the operation you know.. Strongheart jumped from a Buffalo ladder and onto the train cart, running down the carriage train when she was approached and intercepted by a cyan pegasus Rainbow Dash. Who seemed to somewhat notice something with the Buffalo's actions "Hey! Where are you headed in such a hurry!" She smirked, only for the young Buffalo to run right past her, cutting her off guard she was stubborn and followed Strongheart. "Wow! Your incredibly fast for somebody Bulky... No offense." Rainbow dash offended, which then insulted Strongheart. Rainbow Dash then planted her hooves infront of the running Buffalo and attempted to conversate with the young Buffalo. "I just want to know-" She then was cut off by the Buffalo, but that was the time when Eagle 4 was given the order by the Naval Captain for a fun fly by. But during this in one last attempt to talk to her, she was jumped over by Strongheart and was complete shocked and off-guard, but that was when the two paused when a loud roar was sounded. A Tomcat F-14 fly's above the train in a fierce roar in the point where everyone including the engineers pulling the train were stopped in their tracks, only to move again because of job wise, the F-14 makes a inclined turn and flew back to the opposite way and flew by the besieged train again, the buffalo kept stampeding but was losing ground because of the sonic boom the F-14 was making which made them cover their ears only to fall on the ground. Rainbow Dash meanwhile was in shock of the jet flying by the train when she realized that Strongheart managed to reach to the caboose of the train where she uncoupled the train grapples. By the time she tried to catch up to the caboose she ran into a railroad sign and the caboose flew right by her. "This is Eagle 4, I sent the message, but it seemed to have been taken the wrong way." Eagle 4 reported. "Wrong way as in?" "Sir a small Buffalo detached the caboose part of the train, I think they were raiding the train sir." Eagle 4 elaborated. "Are you saying that a war had already broken out??" The Captain puzzled. "Potentially sir, any orders sir?" The Pilot requested. "Yea, go back into Eagle formation and report back to Starhawk, Sergeant, get me contact with Captain Ingo in Keeper Battalion." The Captain urged, which without further words the Sergeant saluted and went to the radio comms ordering the radio men to contact Keeper Battalion. "This is Starhawk to Keeper 2, come in, this is Starhawk to Keeper 2, do you read over?" Williams residence, Louis State After a welcoming greeting, followed by a tea party, followed by everyone in the neighborhood coming into our house to see me as a Sergeant, I have happened to finally spend some quality time with my old stricken grandmother, oddly she would be the oldest person in the world just by her birth date of being 415 ALB, practically years before the Crystal-Human war But of course, while I was speaking with my old grandmother who kept muttering "Celestia" and "Luna" and "firefly" and all that when the news just came up on the TV it made my ears pop. CBS NEWS "Breaking news from the station, we interrupt your broadcast for immediate breaking news in developments evolving the situation in the Appleloosa region." "Just recently, a military expedition was launched by the order of General Macarthur that purpose to be peace operations only. Of course, after a short period of heated negotiations and a near-war incident, word was just received that the military operation was indeed a success, after confirmation from Princess Celestia of Equestria and President Carter of America, coming from Carter's mouth he said in a speech. "With the state of war that was prevented today thanks to our proud forces of the American army, we prevented what could've been a chaotic event, especially the actions of American negotiators that was with the brigade of men that convinced both Buffalo's and the southern Ponies that they can share the land, through a pathway. And with that, the said term "Apple war" will go down in history as more of a "Apple Dispute." that'll be all" "And with that, the recent success couldn't be done by America's favorite Captain, Ingo. Prized commander of the Keeper brigade, now we will go to-" I turned off the TV in frustration, there was a fucking near war incident and I'm missing out on it because of being on vacation! But that to say, it was best to spend time with my grandmother... But that was when it stopped when.. I picked up the phone and spoke. "Meagan Williams residence, Yates speaking." "Mr. Yates, your vacation is over." Said the speaker. "What? But I just started today?" I replied. "Sir, it's urgent that you pack your bags." The Speaker said. "Ok, but who exactly am I speaking to?" I interrogated in suspicion of a prank call. "Who or what doesn't concern you, all that matters is, you are to grab your bags and report back to duty." "Fine.. Atleast it's better stationed in Debravill-" "Your not going back to Debraville I'm afraid." The Speaker interrupted. "Then... Where am I going then?" I asked, which the conversation was paused for a moment. "Your going to Washington Capitol, the white house."
The New World \| Millennium	Chapter 3: 1002 ALB, Infiltration	CBS News "Welcome to CBS News, we have urgent breaking news coming from the continent of Zebrica where a progressing invasion has been launched by self-proclaimed yeti leader the 'Storm King' on the nation of Mazwi and joining us now is Jeffery who is currently on the scene, Jeffery what can you see for our viewers?" The camera pans towards Jeffery who is wearing a military grade flak jacket and helmet as the background is filled with bombing and combat. "Well.. The inevitable came today as you can see here we're at what's left of the capital city now being blown to bits as, woah, anyways we're in the middle of what is now suddenly a warzone that's being fought between Mazwian zebra's and Storm kingdom yetis, not yet confirm of what plans the Storm king has, but it would be apparently that not to long ago a similar invasion was authorized by the Storm King on the Hyenian kingdom, although while some resistance still holds, the nation itself ceases to exist, in fact.. If I can walk over, Justin point the camera right there." The camera then turns towards the remains of a palace that's been damaged and inflamed by the bombing airships. "As you can see, there's practically nothing left of the structure, and with warfare tactics being improved we may see a third player in the ongoing cold war." The media host then asks. "Our viewers are asking what happened before the Storm Kingdom invasion, or what caused the Storm king to declare war all of a sudden?" "Well, it's hard to tell but when we first came here there was already a conflict that wasn't verified independently, but there were claims that Mazwi was already at war within itself, speaking of internal crisis the Mazwi government had reported fled according to the Storm King in his recent announcement." Explosions intensify live on camera which Jeffery ducks down as a building behind him explodes into ashes. "Alright we better get out of here, let's go let's go!" Ordered the news man as the camera now cuts to the newsroom.. "... As you have seen there.. Our news reporter was caught in the middle of the crossfire between Mazwian forces and Yeti troops, hopefully he survives and continues to cover this dramatic event that is happening right before our eyes, along with the news crew, but as we speak. Unconfirmed reports had just started to come in that a peninsula in Riseonia is being raided as the war is progressing, general MacArthur on the remarks of the ongoing war did confirm potential military action with ongoing military briefings and planning to decide on the best course of action which would be kept confidential unfortunately, but he has confirmed that action will be taken in the remarks of the invasion" White House "I know I know! We the American peoples respect everyone's boundaries and borders! But we can't just call for open war against the Storm kingdom, yea I know, but it would be like fighting 1/3rds of a continent! Ugh.. Alright I'll see you later.." As Carter hung up the phone he was getting aggravated and disturbed in the events unfolding. "Already in the start of the new year and there's already a war... Hm.." Carter started to think, with the elections starting up this year he had to think on a resolution, a solution perhaps on the problem in Zebrica when a Equestrian messenger came inside his office escorted by secret service. "Good day sir, I'm here to hand you an invite sir." The messenger greeted. "Uhuh, thanks, for what exactly?" Carter asked. "Marriage sir, Equestria is hosting a wedding of Cadence Mi Amore and Shining Armor, Cadence herself sent this invitation for you sir!" The messenger handed him the invitation to the wedding, which intrigued Carter a bit. "And what interest do I have with Equestria?" Carter asks. "No Idea sir, I just deliver mail, have a good day," waved the messenger, as Carter rolled his eyes and opened the envelope to find the seal of Celestia on the print of the mail. It would seem that the person with the invite can apparently bring a plus one. Carter then stared at his phone with a devious plan in his mind, thinking that they could potentially reestablish intelligence networks in Equestria that was lost in 1000 ALB, which after that the espionage agents were handed over to the human military and potentially cripple Equestria's military. But then again, what are the chances of the intelligence being discovered because of Equestria's improvements in anti-espionage equipment? It would seem that the best people to do this happen best to make a call from Eclispe. Eclipse base "Sir, are you sure you want to reconsider? You do realize that you'd be using your best spy in this one mission, not to mention his... Kill count it'll be like sending all our army in one place sir!" The intelligence head protested. "It's the best option Colonel, plus with his inconceivable records on successful missions and the fact of our intelligence taken down from the EUP forces, we have no choice." Carter ordered. "Oh great creator.. Alright, but after this he'll need to go back on the Brodfield case sir." "I understand Colonel how important this is, now, go brief him will you?" Carter ordered, hanging up the phone. "Lieutenant! Get me agent 44!" Ordered the intelligence Colonel Secret Warehouse, Moskva operation region, NSRS Agent 44, ruthless and yet best of the best of the American F.I.B. He served in the underground Equestrian networks and participated in controversial operations such as. Kidnapping, brainwashing, assassinations, and the deadliest,torture methods. Oh look there he is conducting his interrogation now on a Rodinian pony. "Seems he's not talking.. Start another waterboarding session and then we'll see if this little communist bitch might talk." Reckoned 44, as his assistant rolled his eyes and grabbed the hose, setting the water pressure to high. "TALK!? YOU THINK I'LL TALK! I'LL NEVER TAL-" The pony officer was then interrupted by the massive pressurized water spray by the high pressure hose. Watching the captured Soviet getting washed up, he nodded to his assistant to stop hosing. "Ready to talk now little bitch? 44 repeated. "Okay! Okay! They are about to prepare an operation in Brodfield! That's all I know I swear! PLEASE DON'T SPRAY ME HAHAHAHAHA!!!" The Soviet pony officer bawled and cried, which 44 rolled his eyes in pity. The fact that ponies can be easily broken with the spray of water made him frown and bored.. But his frown didn't last long when he heard ringing from the phone. "It's about time, I was getting bored with the interrogation, sir," 44 scoffed. "What's the status of the operation agent?" The Colonel asked. "Just wrapping it up, apparently it's as we suspected, the Commies are supplying local militias in Brodfield with modern weapons capable of starting a government overthrow unfortunately we don't know the source of the supply other than a city called Whiteflower, but if you like, I have more toys in my disposal to do the job," The agent deviously laughed at the tormented pony. "Very good, unfortunately a new type of mission was just given by an anonymous person with information." "Anonymous?" "Yes you got that right, agent 44, anonymous, there was a tip for potential intelligence gathering in the city of Canterlot, something to do with espionage systems." The Colonel briefed. "Ah, one of those unscheduled sleep time operations for individuals to get in my way Colonel? I was meaning to kill someone, so, what espionage system am I working with here? I hope it's nothing to do with 'friendship power' bullshit," 44 snickered at that thought. "That's something for you to find out and for me to know 44, now as for this mission however, you will be accompanied by one of the government's recently promoted officers, Lieutenant Yates." "Lieutenant huh. Sounds like another kid, what's so special about him that earned him a right to participate in this operation, other than being cannon fodder," 44 criticized. "This 'kid' you refer to him as, is something else then what you'd think, unfortunately that's something for him to reveal, but until then, your objective is to slice into Equestria's and EUP's recently form intelligence division, "S.M.I.L.E." "Smile... Really?" "It's a strange name, but with a concerning background, but that is your priority so do not underestimate it," warned the Colonel. "Then what's this Lieutenants 'Priority' then?" Snake added, raising his right brow. "His priority is maintaining relations between the royals of Equestria, if I were you, I wouldn't get in his way or underestimate him either, your mission will be to go under official cover, once you arrived to the location in Canterlot you are to proceed in finding the Canterlot intelligence room and start probing documents of SMILE agents, networks, and any other information regarding their espionage operations world wide," "Understood Colonel, just one more thing... What did you mean by not underestimating him?" 44 questions. "Lets just say he knows his way around guns, tactics, and personal experience in both army and navy." "Hmph.. Not bad for the kid, but I would say to him to stay out of my way also, but if you insist and stay off his path then I will, but Colonel? Where do I exfil this dump?" 44 asked, when the garage door opened with a helicopter and the Eclipse brigade waiting outside for him. " immediately" replied the Colonel. . . . Kremlin palace There was currently a ballroom dance festival being held in the Kremlin palace, hosted by the mother of the Revolution herself, Red Mother. She was enjoying a cup of hot tea, watching from the seat on the balcony as the city was packed with tourists, dancers, and most of all, the workers who were just coming home from the industrial sites of her prestigious socialist plan. Indeed, it was a site of true soviet glory, with collectivism and agriculture working well. She had received word about Stalliongrad on the brink of yet another food crisis. While it annoyed General Secretary Brezhnev over the situation and how he kept bragging about just abandoning their allies, both Skynavia and Stalliongrad, the Red Mother would passionately scold him for rudeness, though it wasn't the first time. And by not the first time, I mean a lot of times. Like say, every time Brezhnev argued about the Red Mothers foreign policy that she can slap him about 587 times. She of course does take things into consideration with Brezhnev at times, considering the option of pulling out of Arabia for instance, since the war has now officially entered it's third year into the fighting, she realized that if there's no other tactics other than what they're doing then she'll have to consider a military withdraw, that was until a pony came into her stead. "madam, Is your name.. The Red Mother?" Asked the pony, who seemed to be beaten by the looks of the clothes he's wearing. "That depends, what's your purpose here?" She asked. "Ma'am, I brought a letter from the princess of love, Cadence Mi Amore." Replied the messenger, intriguing the Red Mother. "Recluse, get me the letter will you darling?" She requested. With her bear, armored with gold plating, approached the messenger and grabbed the letter and then sniffed it, for ensured security, and then walked back and handed the letter to his master. "Good boy, now I assume this is a wedding letter, yes? What's the interest in this Invite to some ponies marriage?" "Ma'am, it's not an ordinary marriage, it's a once in a lifetime event, an Alicorn marrying a stallion unicorn, doesn't that intrigue you?" The Mother froze in surprise... It seemed that whoever this Alicorn was, it certainly made her.. "Intrigued alot..." Airbase Yorker Welcome to Yorker city, the biggest city that somehow literally ties with Manehatten in first place in the world, nothing but huge skyscrapers and rare businesses like Toys r Us... Anyways with that existential dread being said, it's been a year since I was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and then uh... Go through a state of an existential crisis because I didn't even attend West point.. (Oh boy I'm about to get pounded by a lot of officers) AHEM, ANYWAYS! I was ordered by the President to personally attend an event/ceremony at Canterlot which happened to be at least 3 days away. Along with that, I am meeting someone to assist me in the journey as my 'plus one' I mean I guess someone could come with me. But of course when I met someone who I absolutely have no clue who or what he is but that would be my plus one, with that said, I was walking through the air base with my belongings with me when Bush joined me on the way to the helipad. "Mr. Yates, I hope you have good luck on your trip to Canterlot, because the place has good cuisine, nobility, high officials, and other types of decency." George Bush shared, but I was more into my assignment than the stuff he said. "I'm sure that I'll be fine sir, of course there's yet to be my plus- OOF" I bumped into a person who happened to be wearing... Body armor?? And a submachine gun attached to his belt aw well and some type of aesthetic or something? "I assume you're my assignment." Said agent 44, the person I bumped into. "Ye- Wait, did you say.. Assignment?" I uttered. "Mr. Yates, I would like to introduce to you, Mr. Ford, your partner in the journey to Canterlot." George Bush introduced me, which made me a bit jittery about this guy. "Splendid... Well I think that's all the introductions, let's go to Canterlot already, the whole 'Cuisines and nobility' crap ain't getting any younger now is it!" I rushed, running towards a Black Hawk helicopter that was waiting for me and... "Ford" on the airstrip. As I placed my stuff down and fastened myself, George Bush ran towards my ride with last minute wording. "REMEMBER YOUR ASSIGNMENT!" He shouted through the very loud Propeller blades. "Keep the princesses well and ensured, don't start a war, and applause when the two lovers kiss all good yes?" I repeated this morning's briefing. The doors shut on both sides and I already felt myself going off the ground on the helicopter and heading towards the Equestrian national borders on our way to Canterlot... Good thing the president messaged those two Alicorns about me being his representative or it'd look like an international incident.. Now as for this guy that looks like he can start one just by the way he's sitting besides me, sharpening his knife.... With murderous intent.. I knew I should've stayed in bed... Who the hell is he?
The New World \| Millennium	A Canterlot wedding part 1	Fox News Fox News is currently having a group talk about politics and stuff when the subject of Carter is brought up into the mix. "So, what do y'all think about Carter? Like how well is he doing?" the room immediately erupts in annoyance. "Oh please! Don't get me started with that guy! He hasn't even done a single thing for this country since his presidency for crying out loud!" "Yeah, with one exception being the viral video that resonated since 1001 that the president literally insulted everyone in the world. What, you don't think Equestria hates us now? Don't worry, just wait till you get the entire world to hate us all, thanks to Carter!" "Yeah if I was in his shoes right now, I'd worry about Uncle Sam raiding his house with the backing of the military right about now." "Now that you think about it Joe, have we heard of the old man lately?" "Hell if I know, he's probably just preparing as we speak! Just like he did with president- As the TV was turned off President Carter sat on his chair watching his downfall unfold before his very eyes, the fact that they kept mentioning his name and his inability to act on the invasion aggravated him, especially the fact that he still had control over the nation's army but doesn't want to use it because of the hot water he has now gotten himself into. When suddenly, his phone rings. He picks up the phone and puts it in his ear. "President Carter speaking." "Mr. Presidente, I see you've got yourself in a knot with the bastard, the Storm King, and your whole internal affairs." "President Fernández? How did you know about the events?" Carter questioned. "Have you looked at your Television Amigo, I can tell when something big like an invasion in Zebrica happens, or a full-blown economic situation erupts across a fellow Humarican country! But that's not what I'm calling you about, unfortunately," Fernández turned worried. "What do you mean," Carter was puzzled. "My intelligence agency reported that Thestria had openly decided to start a military build-up on my border! Along with their scum bag puppet Parsley! They got fucking new tanks on my border! Here I'll send you a picture on the computer," spoke Fernández, as the Personal Computer loaded up a picture of the new tanks that were piling up on the Thestrian-SF Border. "Is that a new tank? What's it called?" Carter asked. "According to intelligence, they call it the Type 80 tank, and by the looks of the design, I'm afraid your enemy may have designed weapons for them mi amigo," Fernández informed, concerning the president a lot. "Hmm, I mean... I know their tech is unknown, but can you describe what type of weapons the bat ponies are holding??" Carter asked. "That's the complicated part hombre, they're using some sort of new Rifle," Fernandez replied, showing the next picture of a captured rifle that the Argendinian infiltrators had captured. "Hm... So what are they named?" Carter was dumbfounded. "From what transponders picked up the Bat Ponies call them L85s, they even prepare to use it against us... I'm worried that they'll soon launch a war against our nation Mr. Carter," Fernandez dreadfully said.. "Shit. Never have I seen a war break out in the Humarican continent since the fucking Lunar Wars, or that damn civil war in the northern country, whatever their intentions are though. I will see to it that negotiations will be taking place if this is how advanced Thestria is... We may have a problem here... However, we can't support you further since we have a treaty from the same war.." "I know I know... But I do hope you support us in diplomatic negotiations amigo, but I'll need to go now, military briefing is starting now," Exiting Fernandez, while the phone lines were hanging up, Carter followed and hung the phone up and looked at the Computer with the feature pictures of Thestria's technology, he then picked the phone up again and dialed General Macarthur. The general line is picked up by Macarthur, who just started drinking his coffee and smoking his pipe. "What do you need Mr. President?" Asked the five-star general. "General MacArthur, set our military alert level to three. We have a problem..." "Yes, sir." Humarican-Celestial seas We were now over the trans-oceanic waters of the east-Humarican seas, and the Lunar Bay on the Blackhawk, we've already left the international borders of the Federation and went through an air traffic checkpoint with the celestial island pegasus coast guard and now I was starting to get bored here.. So to pass the time I decided to see if I can start a conversation. " So Mr. 'Ford', what brought you into the army? " "Kidnapped by agents," he simply replied. The room then went into an awkward silence. Probably because I didn't want to know that, and I doubt I was supposed to know that... "Right... Nic- Nice talk... I guess," I stuttered, opening the briefcase given to me by Carter to examine the briefing and details on the princesses, of course, it didn't provide pictures but rather inconvenient descriptions. As for Mr. Mysterious over across from me, I don't even know who the hell he is, but just by the looks of his fist he seemed to have either strangled or stabbed a man before, let alone kill one or more, now by the look of his utility belt, it seems he's prepared for something and I don't even know it. Either way if he fucking screws this up I'll kill him myself with my fist, down his fucking throat. Threatening or fucking not. "Lieutenant!" Yelled one of the Pilots, replying to their call by crawling into the co-pit. "Yea?" I asked. "Sir, we're detecting two pegasi readings heading right towards us," the Pilot reported, as I looked at the radar scanner. "Huh... How close are we to Equestria's airspace?" I asked. "Sir, we have just gone past Las Pegasus," He replied. "Las Pegasus! You were supposed to inform me when we arrived at the Equestrian Airspace! And now you tell me!" I yelled. "Sorry si-" The Pilot was interrupted when a pegasi royal guard flying beside the helicopter tapped on our glass, which I then ordered. "Slow down, and keep us at 10 mph and have hover mode on, and turn weapons systems off, in fact, why the hell did we even have them on..." "Right sir, though to answer the last one it is for security," acknowledged and explained the Pilot, as the Black Hawk slowed down to a near hover mode, the pilot then pressed the window down to where I could perfectly speak to the guard. "Good to know I guess," I whispered which then I said to the guard. "Greetings, we're from the American Federation," By now the pegasi and his other winged ponies seemed to have caught up. Both their breath and distance. "I see, my unit was just informed about your visit, but I didn't expect you humans to use a... Whatever you'd call this flying contraption," The Guard replied, as he signaled the other Pegasus guard to wedge on his side. "We usually call it by its design name, but you can just call it a helicopter," I replied, easing the pegasus guards' confusion a bit. "Right... A dome is currently shielding Canterlot, I suggest you land this craft in the designated spot off city boundaries where you will await proper transportation and escort to enter the dome," the Guard informed, which made me and the weird guy tilt in confusion. "Say that again? Canterlot is being shielded by a dome?? Who threatened Equestria?" I asked, which surprised the guards, which is VERY bad because they'll probably think we're some type of spies. "How did you know there was a threat ongoing?" "Uhh.. Just call it a hunch, anyways shall we continue forward?" I asked, which somehow my response seemed to make them shake off their suspicions, not that I was going to spy anyway... Maybe that's probably what this guy's objective is behind my job. Assholes don't tell me anything so I don't know... "Yes indeed, follow us," the guard ordered, as his unit was now making a spear formation with 3 other ponies in front of the helicopter they followed them while at the same time picking up speed. "Huh... Hey pilot, can I get a phone to George Bush? I might need to alert him that Canterlot is locked down," I asked. "We can't sir, Equestria has no phone towers available, we won't be able to reach contact with the White House," the Pilot responded. "Dammit! Can we get a radio to the nearest carrier?" I asked. "The nearest carrier near Equestria would be SFN-Starhawk, but all it's doing is naval patrol," the pilot asserted. "I don't give a hot damn about naval patrol! Get me that radio," I demanded, as I was handed the entire radio box console. "All yours sir, just hope you know what you're doing," The pilot replied, rolling his eyes. "Alright, once we land and establish a spot, I'll begin contacting, by the way, is this a SINCGARS system? Because this looks very futuristic?" I asked. "Yep, it can penetrate anything, from magic domes, walls, hell even damned dark crystals or hives for that matter," the pilot smirked, focusing on his piloting skills on the Equestrian pegasus guard formation. "Neat!" Canterlot Now while we were on our way to the landing site, there was one pony who I knew for the rest of my military career. His name is Gold Star, his current position at this time was a royal guard for Equestria, the Canterlot battalion, an elite guard that was best of the best and would strap bombs on themselves and explode for their majesty. And yes he was THAT type of guard once for Equestria before being conscripted into the army and then climbing through the ranks up to Sergeant for some reason. Of course I would meet him until 1003 and ironically it wouldn't be until that same year when he actually told me this, I didn't know much before then other than him just joining the American army under the protege of Major Alexander, who by now was a Colonel of the 105th armor battalion in that year. But who's to say, I'm not a part of that brigade? Yet... "Alright Stallions! Listen up! The Captain of the guard himself wants us to keep this place tight and secured, of course, we have been informed that foreign visitors from the continent of Humarica will be shortly joining the wedding event as representatives of the Humarican president! That's why when they come in, you are to keep an eye on them... We don't know who sent the threat message to Canterlot but if we find who's responsible he or she will pay the consequences! I will now be starting roll call!" The Canterlot Battalion commander hovered his clipboard with his unicorn magic and went from first to last of the line with two royal guard Military Police pegasus on his side. "Private Cliff!" "Here!" "Corporal, Colonel Sanders! (Disregard the Colonel part sirs, that's how he was named.)" "Here!" "Private Wiggles!" "Here!" "Sergeant Gold Star!" "Here Commander!" He and the others replied. "Here is all I need Sergeant. Keep that in mind next time," the Commander scolded, leaving Gold Star null-faced. After the royal guard Commander finished his row call and lowered his clipboard he saw the helicopter landing at the spot that the pegasus unit had escorted it towards. "Ah perfect, just as the messengers informed, Sergeant Gold Star, have two guys go with you to escort the visitors, remember to keep an eye on them," the commander ordered, which the young Stallion saluted and trailed off to the landing zone with the shield opening up to let him and the other two guards out, and then closed behind them. "Alright, now as you may know, with a shield like that covering Canterlot something wrong is going on here so I want you two pilots to be ready at a moment's notice, I'll be taking this radio with me just so I can be ready to contact the carrier at a moments notice, meanwhile you are to be ready to take off when this console starts beeping, so watch it at all times! If something happens I will press this beacon, understood?" I explained, which the pilots nodded in understanding. "Understood sir, we will keep our eyes on this radio at all times sir!" "Yeah!" Acknowledged the two pilots. "Lieutenant, it seems the welcoming committee has arrived," informed Ford. "Alright, must be the ground escorts then, keep your eyes on that console," I walked back a moment when the pilots relaxed. "I MEAN IT! WATCH!.... THAT!... CONSOLE!..." I shouted, taking two fingers from my eyes and then pointing them at the two pilots walking backward. The pilots looked at each other in frowned null faces. "He needs help, does he?" said pilot 1. "Yep... So anyways... Want to get wasted?" Asked Pilot 2, revealing a compartment of whiskey and hard liquor. "I thought you never asked!" While the two insubordinate assholes of pilots wasted themselves without me looking... Me and 'Ford' were confronted by three royal guards from what looked like the Canterlot elite unit by the looks of the Armor colors which would have a silver insignia on their helmets and it seemed I was not the only one to know that by the looks of Ford here. "Welcome to Canterlot sirs, we were sent to escort you two to the castle of Canterlot, however, you do have to listen to rules since you are practically the only secondary race that's overseeing the wedding let alone being the first humans since uhh. Uncle sack? Uncle Samuel?" I thought to myself -Who the hell doesn't know the name Uncle Sam... Then again though he did just say Samuel so...- "Em. Anyways without further introduction, follow me!" The tan-furred Equestrian guard ordered, which we acknowledged and followed him, but to tell you the truth I've been wondering who Ford really is... Is he a mechanic? A bodyguard? Secret Service? Or a spy?? I got no clue, but anyways, I got a mission to attend and finish so hopefully I don't screw it up and accidentally start a war between powers or that'll be bad. So, let's see what Canterlot looks like in a ceremonial period, shall we? Washington airport Today was a usual rainy Washington day. It was also the usual busy night, jet airliners taking off from runways to other destinations, airship landing and take-offs, and the usual military flight drills that would take place, of course like I said it was raining however but not that much dangerous but... There was an unexpected visit. "Sir." Asked one of the radar personnel. "What is it?" The head man asked. "We have a radar dotted with three planes in a formation sir." The Radar man reported. "That's probably just the tomcats doing their usual drills, nothing to worry about.." "But sir! It's identifying the three dots as mustangs sir!" The radar man cautioned. "What?" The head of the Radar department looked at the radar and sure enough there were three dots in a formation pattern that seemed to be heading towards the base when the radio went off. "This is Washington airbase, please identify." The radio man instructed. The two men looked and waited for a response when they heard static that seemed to be a distress call but seemed to have blurted out in static. "Damn this rain! Get a crew down on the runway and activate the air traffic lights!" He ordered, as the radio man started radioing the air control personnel. "Attention unidentified craft, you are instructed to land at this airport immediately!" "Attention all Air traffic control agents! We have three planes identified as Mustangs attempting to land on the airfield activate the traffic lights immediately!" The radio man ordered. The crew and personal immediately got on their vest, grab their landing sticks, and ran towards the air field, the group is split into three, some grab binoculars, and they looked into the cloudy raining dark skies and tried to find the three planes when they can hear hints of propeller engines diving towards the airport. "That's them, Get ready to land them!!" Shouted the Air controller, as the landing strip lightened up bright and the personnel started doing landing signals towards the landing planes. One by one the Mustang class propeller planes landed on the airstrip and disengaged their engines, but the crew noticed something with their symbols. After the Mustangs docked into the airport, the pilots jumped out and revealed to be ponies as they grabbed a ladder when one of the air traffic men confronted one of them. "Sir, how did your country build Mustangs when you only have medieval weaponry?" The pony pilot didn't respond but one the leading pilot did. "That's because we didn't build them, we were lended them," replied the orange bacon hair Alicorn who flew the leading Mustang. "0_0 Uhh... My mistake ma'am no questions then," the air traffic controller said, as he walked inside passing a military officer and two infantry soldiers. "Colonel Alex of the 105th armor company, welcome to the American Federation princess Shimmer." "Greeting is mutual Colonel, now let's talk about intelligence." Aires Norrington city, Southern Federation Capitol "Generals, captains, Majors, pony and griffon commanders, we are on the brink of war.. And it's not looking too much in our favor," Alberto Fernández introduced with worry, as he turned towards the board with the information and continued. "Recently we have discovered the enemy has been busy, while Parsley may be technologically non-superior with our armies. We have the bigger nation that owns it that just happened to have superior weaponry.." He informed them, making the generals concern themselves with the situation. "Apparently we have reports that modern never before seen tanks have been discovered along our borders with Thestria, as of current... Our military funding will be going directly towards scientific research into not only Gen 4 tanks.. But Gen 5 armor, along with weapons and howitzer technology, this however would mean that now the cold war is starting to heat up," Alberto sighed, and looked at his cabinet. "While we wait for breakthroughs however, I regret to inform you that the Federation will not be supporting us," he informed, which the entire officer cabinet broke out in a riot. "WHAT!?" "WHY COULD THIS BE!!?" "DAMN THEM BACKSTABBING AMERICANS! MAYBE WE SHOULD TEACH THEM A LESSON!" "FUCK THOSE ASSHOLES I'LL ORDER A AIRSTRIKE ON THEIR BASE!" "NO EVEN BETTER! ATTACK GRADENLAND AND MAKE THEM SUFFER!" "NO YOU IDIOT! YOU'LL DRAG EQUESTRIA INTO A WAR!" "THEN WE'LL BOMB THEM TO-" "ENOUGH DAMN YOU ALL!" Shouted the president, silencing the entire officer cabinet. "IF YOU WANT PROGRESS I'LL GIVE YOU PROGRESS IF YOU DON'T SHUT THE FUCK UP NOW!" He shouted again, instilling fear with the officers on the table. "We're supposed to be organized gentlemen here! Start acting like one or it'll be all of you sent to the frontlines!" Alberto scolded as he sat down on his chair and continued. "The reason the Federation is not helping us in the event of war is because they have a treaty that dates back in 70 ALB, however, the expiration date is 1005, if we can last that long before 1005 hits we might have a fighting chance." Alberto informed, which intrigued the officers. "So sir.. How do you intend to last that long before the wretched bat Ponies begin their invasion?" Asked a Pony officer. "False diplomacy will do the trick, but first we'll need to actually get in contact with their leader." Everyone in the room gulped at the suggestion, but they knew it was their only hope of saving their skins and everyone else. Unless they want to wake up in the frontlines they'll need to follow Alberto's footsteps to survive. Or the Creator knows what.. Canterlot After some thinking I have to clearly admit that the architecture is pretty neat with the actual structure potentially being worth millions by now, but the city itself though is just another thing... Like seriously! You got a huge tower that towers over the city that towers on top of the mountain and towers over the ground towers... Something because I'm running out of words to express the beauty of this city and also maybe the height, unfortunately it seems Ford is disgusted with it, puh.. A sad man for something to not like or love something like this, this is practically art within an old city for crying out loud! "Welcome to the throne room of Princesses Celestia and Luna, of course I sound like one of those tour ponies who takes ponies... Er.. Species on tours, anyways Celestia will be with you in a moment," the tan pony finished and then left with the two guards on his sides, while we waited it seemed either Ford is very religious or just wants to sit down. Eh, probably the two, I'm a religious type of guy anyways but that to say, it seems he's doing some type of meditation.. Suddenly a white Alicorn entered the throne room and boy.. She's big. This Alicorn must be the ruler I thought, the fact that she has a crown, rainbow mane and tail, horse shoes, a tall personality, ish, and the royal Regalia. Certainly royalty because the fucking government didn't even give me a damn picture of her during the briefing! "Welcome humans to Equestria, it's an honor for you as representatives from the continent of Humarica to join us and my little ponies in this wedding event." She greeted with a smile, her soul is practically pure and she's very polite... Why were we pissed at each other again? "The pleasure is ours, but we don't know your name, or rather your intentions with us. So tell us. Why exactly do you want the president.. Do you happen to assassinate him? Probe him? Sounds sketchy to me," asserted Ford. Ah, now I see now, we're the assholes. The assumption Ford made offended the Alicorn ruler, whose intention really was just to have America and Equestria in good ties. And my intention was to do the same, but with the additional interest of seeing Ford pick his teeth off the floor. "AHAHAHAHAHA!!! I think what he meant to say was! It's nice to be INVITED! On this ceremonial occasion on the behalf of the president!" I seemed to have both successfully spread the message positively and insanely because Celestia was back to her smiling face, but may have pissed Ford off, which I don't give a damn about. After this I should slap Bush for this bullshit for making me put up with this shit. "You may follow me to the guest room where you and your friend may sleep tonight, the wedding starts tomorrow and please respect the royal guard while you are here," she instructed. "What's the purpose for the last part?" I asked. "Well... For one, the royal guard are on edge just as they were ordered to so, you might not want to get in their way nor intimidate them, we are under lockdown because somepony sent a threat that warned of an attack on the wedding ceremony and all of Canterlot " She explained. "Do you have the threat letter? Maybe I can assist you, I am a military personal after all." "An off-duty one." Ford butted in, intending to insult me. "Shut up! At Least I'm not the one moody about insulting everyone once in a while! AND attempting to start a fucking war!" I fired back, while Ford just rolled his eyes. "Whatever.." "As I was saying though, do you still have the threat letter?" I asked, but Celestia cringed at my question. "I.. May have crumpled it out of anger and then torn it apart?" "Gravy.. Well if it's fine I like to ask that on the occasion that the said threat rears its ugly head let me know, I've been willing to see some combat for a year once in a while, now with that said, how's your day?" "Oh, it's very good.. Yours?" She asked. "Meh, considering that I'm having to fly in a helicopter it takes a good while to get used to being on the ground, but I guess you can say it's good." I expressed. We were now talking throughout the hallway, she would ask what my favorite drink and meal would be I would reply with the good ol' mash potatoes and some soda, she'd ask who the guy who insulted her was, I replied I have no fucking clue. It seems things are going to work out after all! Hehe... Right?
The New World \| Millennium	A Canterlot wedding part 2	Rio De Batanero, Thestrial Capitol As the Presidente de fiesta jetliner landed in the Thestrian airfield the leader of Thestria was there to meet them. "Hm, I thought Swift Thunder was the Leader?" Alberto asked, stepping off the plane. "Unfortunately she was called back by our allied nation Chiropterra to serve as a military air force instructor attache', I however, was elected by the Lunar council of Disciples (LCD) to become the new predecessor for Swift Thunder," explained Stefanos Blusterous. "Petty, so basically Thestria is just a puppet to Chiropterra then is it?" Alberto questioned, walking besides the new Bat-pony leader. "Not quite my human friend, you see Thestria while it is allied with Chiropterra, it's actually the other way around, only the citizens who wants to live their lives rather than serve as military prospects in the Chiropteran lands usual come over here," Stefanos explained. "So basically Chiropterra is a puppet to Thestria that builds a military and.. Fights for Thestria? And if Bat-ponies are not interested in military style they come here? So that means most of your army is volunteers?" Alberto summarized. "Almost correct human, it seems while you've no doubt have fast thinking, in reality we have a standing army bigger than Chiroptera's standard one, even more trained, Chiropterra itself however, it has its own agenda mainly with north Zebrica and Equestria, but you were almost right, but can it help you in diplomacy? We will have to see, men, escort Alberto and his human diplomats to the diplomacy room while I prepare my diplomats and documents for a presentation of potentially a truce," Stefano ordered, as the bat-pony soldiers saluted and escorted Alberto and the others to the building. Alberto thought to himself -No turning back now... May Celestia, Creator, and Harmony help us all...- Canterlot After unpacking my stuff before sundown I set up the radio and attempted to tap through the shield. "Testing.. Testing.. One, two, three testing." "The radio is off, you do realize that." Ford butted in. I looked at the switch and apparently someone switched it off when in operations you are supposed to keep it on, I should really scold those damn pilots for breaking so many military protocols like that. Anyways, I switched the radio on and said the testing again and.. "It works!" I said to myself, when I received an unexpected frequency... "This is Admiral Hughes of the carrier Starhawk, who is this and how did you bypass radio frequencies!?" The Admiral angrily responded. Obviously I can't leave him hanging with his question so I replied. "My name is Justin Yates, Lieutenant of the American armed forces." "Well 'Lieutenant' Yates.. Then answer me this, what's your 5 digit military number in phonetic form?" The admiral asked. "Terra, karte, bisso, una, karte, anything else?" I asked back. The radio went silent for a moment before the static sounds came and the Admiral responded. "Seems your number checks out, now what do you want, Lieutenant?" He asked. "Heh.. Nothing?" I replied. "Nothing? Really... Then why the hell did you even bother contacting the SFN-Starhawk then?" The Admiral groused. "Well, not really nothing but I was intending to ask if you can patch me through with President Carter or one of his representatives." "I don't think that's possible, but do tell me why?." The Admiral asked, getting tired of the call by now. "Because we have a code Ural in Canterlot," I responded. The radio went silent again, it seems either the Admiral hanged up or that he's very surprised at the news. "Say that again Lieutenant?" The Admiral asked. "Code Ural: Canterlot." I repeated. ".... I will see if I can get you contacted with President Carter as soon as possible, stand by," informed the Admiral, who left the radio with some voices being orders from the Admirals to keep the radio link open. But of course while I waited Ford disappeared from the room. And I looked at the disappearance with a smirking face. "Sigh Good riddance.. I thought he'd never leave.." While I was about to crack open a bottle of wine in celebration of Ford's sudden disappearance (Rhetorically) I would have never known of Ford's real plan... Or should I say Agent 44's real order... "I have successfully left the assignments eye range, going on phase II of the plan," informed 44. "Roger, make sure to grab what you can and if possible, sabotage Equestria's intelligence agency," the agency operator ordered. "All of it?" "All of it." "And what about the Lieutenant?" "The president will make sure to send the Eclipse brigade to pick him up from the Canterlot dungeon," the operator answered... Smirking behind the ear piece attached to Agent 44's ear.. "What?" Suddenly the connection went out which concerned 44, but knowing that something was up with the Colonel's orders he wasn't going to go through with the last order, but instead of stealing the files he would instead burn them. But that's when he noticed something... Or someone watching him.. "You really have no clue of who's really in charge? Kenneth," Said a feminine Rodinian voice "Impossible.." White House President Carter was sitting on his desk and doing paperwork he noticed that two M1 tanks and an armor vehicle fully loaded with troops had arrived at the White House. He got up from his seat and looked out with his gut burning with fear. That was when the doors to his office opened wide with military soldiers and a paramilitary officer guarded by two military police with General Reid being accompanied by Bush and Colonel Alex.. "What's the meaning of this!" Carter yelled. "Jimmy Carter you are hereby under arrest.. Or should I specifically say your real name Volkstrak!" Uncle Sam announced, as Jimmy Carter was turned into a Changeling. "About time you human trash! As we speak Equestria will soon have a new ruler thanks to the mighty Chrysalis! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Cackled the Changeling, hissing at the soldiers. "That's enough, ICE HIM!" Shouted Sam, as the soldiers ran towards the changeling. Volkstrak immediately pulled out a Makarov and shot one of the soldiers. "MEN DOWN MEN DOWN! HE'S GOT A GUN!" Shouted a soldier when the Changeling aimed the gun towards Uncle Sam, however the Makarov was grabbed by a blue aura of magic and was thrown towards the window and shattered. The bug and Sunset Shimmer fought physically as he pinned her to the ground and attempted to bite her face off with his fanged until the Soldiers ran towards the two and bashed the changeling off of Sunset and shot the changeling to death with their entire mags while Uncle Sam came towards Sunset Shimmers aid. "Are you alright?" He asked. "A bite wound in the leg, but I think I can manage," replied Sunset Shimmer. Colonel Alex's earpiece goes off from one of the operational groups. "Uncle Sam, they've successfully captured several targets who're impersonating F.I.U. officials and other higher ranking military commanders, it's as if they've planned to cuck us the whole time!" Alex informed, as General Reid asked. "Have we located the real commanders?" "Yes sir, it seems that they've been rescued and accounted for... Except for Jimmy," Alex informed. "What do you mean by that?" Bush asked. "He was never real sir, he was a made up person by the changelings, and it would seem he had accomplished a lot of shit here," Alex further informed. "Well if I be damned... What do we do now Samuel?" General Reid asked. "Well the Good thing is that Sunset Shimmer's intelligence went through just in time for now I want all of everything involving the bureaucracy to shut down IMMEDIATELY, no questions asked, everyone must be inspected or they will be fined or imprisoned, do what you must General," Uncle Sam ordered, in which the general acknowledged and exited the room with Colonel Alex and representative Bush while being escorted by the military police while Sunset Shimmer got up on her hooves and nodded. "There's still one more changeling, but she's not on this continent," She informed. "Do you know where she is or who she's posing as?" Uncle Sam asked. "I don't know who she's posing as, but I do know that she's in Canterlot, and we need to get in contact with the nearest people that should be near Canterlot as soon as possible! And I mean anyone!" "Sir, we could contact Starhawk sir bu-" The Military Policeman was interrupted by a phone ring, Uncle Sam came to what was left of the desk and grabbed the phone. "Who's this?" He asked. "This is Admiral Hughes of Starhawk. I came to call you because a Lieutenant had just invoked code Ural in military protocols," the Admiral informed, shocking Uncle Sam. "What's the Lieutenant's name, and what area!" "His name is Lieutenant Yates, and he's invoked Ural in Canterlot, I'm awaiting further orders to proceed with Code Ural and prepare fighters," the Admiral informed, while Uncle Sam sat down in worry and looked at Sunset Shimmer. "Give me a moment Admiral, Ah shit Sunset Shimmer, they know!" He yelled. "Know? Know about what! And what is Ural!" She questioned. "They know that Yates is related with Luther, and they purposely sent him to Equestria, and let's just say that it's a little defense protocol that Andrew Jackson and Celestia invoked in the occasion of threats, we would come as the defense while they'd shielded themselves, since then that protocol had never been used since the Human-Crystal war," Uncle Sam then turned towards the window with immense concern and said. "And with the fact that there was the mission towards Canterlot it's most likely they'll attempt to steal intelligence from the Equestria SMILE agency and then frame Yates for it, thus starting a global conflict.. Changeling Bastards!" Uncle Sam then turned to the phone and replied. "Get those birds in the air as soon as possible, and get me linked with the Lieutenant IMMEDIATELY!" He ordered. "Yes sir, Sergeant, get the old man patched through ASAP!" Shouted the Admiral on the other side of the phone line. Uncle Sam looked at Sunset Shimmer. "I better warn Yates about the third target and tell him to stay away from Equestrian guards, royalty, and Agent 44, he'll be the one to call the shots once Ural is active, but not while in the dungeon either, I will not risk all out war." "Why is that?" Asked Sunset Shimmer. "Because young Alicorn... Your home city Canterlot is potentially facing an invasion and we don't know who or what these bugs are up to.. But I got a feeling something massive is about to happen and we better be prepared." Canterlot After waiting for a good while the radio springs back to life and it wasn't good. "Lieutenant Yates, do you read?" Said a old voice, cutting me off guard. "Mr. Samuel? Is that you?" I replied. "Yes my dear boy, are you alright? Is everything fine?" Uncle Sam asked. "Well of course it is.. In fact I was about to contact President Cart-" "He's a Changeling.." "What.." "Lieutenant you were sent to a trap, the Changelings are attempting to stage a imprisonment to lock you up, to hunt you down, and they're doing it by staging an international incident, the Soviets had already sent someone to intercept Agent 44," Uncle Sam explained. "What the fuck!? WHY THE HELL ARE THEY AFTER ME FOR!" I shouted, when a door opened behind me and Celestia peeked through it silently with two guards behind her staring at me without me knowing. She heard the shouting and attempted to investigate it only to see and hear the radio and me conversating. "Because they know you are related to Luther!" Uncle Sam revealed. "Luther.. LUTHER? WHO THE FUCK IS LUTHER!" I shouted back, making Celestia's jaw drop. "Luther is-" Suddenly the radio was grabbed by Celestia's magic aura and hovered towards her. "It's fine Mr. Sam, I'll explain everything to Yates." She spoke through the radio. "Celestia! If you imprison him it'll be-!" She turned the radio off and gently placed it down with her magic and stared right into me, my chest burned, I don't know who the hell Luther is but may Creator and Harmony spare my soul with whatever her intent is.. "Follow me, I wish to speak with you." "What are you doing here!" Agent 44 yelled. "The same question I should be asking you." Said a feminine voice. The two now go into fighting poses, preparing to attack one another. "You should double check with who you're working for, you're clearly not the brightest tool in the shed," She suggested with insult. "YAGHH!" Shouted 44, charging the female with his fist only to get back dropped on by the female and then smashing his face on the concrete wall, which she then threw him to the ground, she kicks him in the side and throws him across the room. "I'd turn around and stop Kenneth, all of this, before I'll have to resort to being lethal," She threatened, as Kenneth got back up. "Easy for you to say Jessie, you.. ERRGH! Turned towards the enemy, and you still fight like a mother fucking bitch" Kenneth insulted back, getting back on his legs. He then went back to his fighting pose and then engaged Jessica in a one on one duel. Jessica landed a striking blow to Kenneth Leg while attempting to knock her out only to be countered and thrown on the ground, he then went dirty and grabbed his M9 from his utility belt. "Playing dirty now? Well that was fast." She sarcastically jokes, grabbing her Makarov, placing a silencer on the muzzle, and then firing multiple gun shots at Kenneth who he also shot back and made lots of dents in the walls. "That's too dirty, even for you Jessica," "Will you stop calling me by my name! I am no longer your bitch! Motherfucker!!" She replied to his insults. "Okay.. Jessica ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)" As the two continued to fight an entire battalion of guards followed by S.M.I.L.E. Agents arrived at the fight catching the two off guard in the middle of a now gun to gun stand off when the Battalion leader shouted. "DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND GET ON THE GROUND NOW!" Jessica decided to be polite and place her weapon down, unfortunately while Kenneth usually hesitates it would seem that it'll be impossible to fight everyone including the agents, so he placed his gun on the ground and immediately the Unicorn guards placed cuffs and detained both of them. It seemed in the end between Kenneth (Agent 44) and Jessica (Bear 1), it would basically be a draw by default. Dining room After being brought into the dining room with nothing happening other than being told by Celestia to come with her, obviously I was going to listen to her or probably get stabbed by her guards even if she didn't hint at that... I sat down across from the table which was only 1 chair size big and she sat down across from me and sighed. "You never knew who Luther was, did you?" She asked. "Ehh... No, no not really, though I've heard about him religion wise, but I don't actually know him exactly," I replied. Celestia looked at me and ignited her horn and formed a ball of energy in front of me that showed some sort of vision of Luther and a tribal army, she goes on to explain. "Luther was a human who saved humanity with the wielding of a staff from the wendigo's.. While he was a savior within the human race... He unintentionally sent the wendigo's to what would be me and my sister's home... Skyrose city," Celestia Emphasizes, giving me concerns she might have a grudge on me.. "Damn... But I mean, it wasn't his fault, he had to do what he had to do or humanity itself would've been extinct, in fact if it wasn't for him... The continent would've died and you would've suffered whatever happened back then.. But only worst.." Celestia nodded. "Indeed.. But I didn't resent humanity that day, or any day, but I did resent those who would harm the innocent ponies I've spent my years ruling and defending over, But there's another reason why I brought you here other than discussing family past... Have you wondered what your species is doing, Lieutenant?" She asked. "Not that I know of.." She ignited her horn again and expanded the energy bubble revealing something I never see.. Or was I not meant to see.. "Humanity day by day expands its science, both for good.. And both for evil.. It was foretold a thousand years ago by my instructor and friend Starswirl that humanity will no doubt continue to expand further, and further into scientific breakthroughs.. But so will lust for power... I'm afraid to tell you this, but it would make you the only human to know that someday, according to Starswirls prophecy.. Humanity will go off bounds to the point of destruction.. There may be some protocols that your leaders would be placing now, but in the distant end... Science would soon be the reason that not only Humanity goes extinct.. But everypony, every griffon, every zebra and Kirin.. Everything including changelings and minotaur, giraffe's and Arabic horses! Yeti's and all species.. All will perish with inventions that humanity would invent that should never be invented at all.. And the fearful part is, it's not hand held weapons that your kind use in wars.." I stood back, fearing her words.. What was she saying I thought... Is it true.. That we might end up destroying ourselves and everyone else... I need to know how or why she knows all this to begin with? "You see Mr. Yates... Luther only postponed the inevitable fate of humanity with the purpose of humanity helping everyone who is in need of help... But from what I fear, Starswirl and his prophecy says otherwise... " "What exactly do you mean by all this.. Are you saying that humanity could end everyone on this planet in a given time? If that's the case, why the mercy?" "Every species deserves a chance, but there's one thing that science would eventually invent that I would fear the most..." She then shows a flat field with nothingness and then in a blink of an eye it was as if heaven just opened up to show all of its glory... But it wasn't glorious... It was hellish... I watched while my eyes watered from the brightness of death... The destruction of this... This single explosion brought on.. As more and more views of this weapon's destruction continued to blast.. Both in cities such as... Manehattan, Yorker city, Washington Capitol, Moskva, Greiffonhelm, Sunset city, Rio, Angeles, Debraville, and Canterlot.... The bubble shrinked, and I looked at Celestia wiping my eyes that wasn't sadness... It was fear, fear of what's going to happen when science goes too off boundaries "Dear God... What the hell did I witnessed..." Celestia didn't answer but sat down and watched, she seemed emotional on what she saw would be humanity's fate... If not the entire world's downfall... The same bomb that would go on to be the deterrence of all wars... And the weapon that would end all wars... The weapon in question.... Was the Nuke.. And the project had already started... In January of 1002.. Two months from then.. Fox News "We have breaking news at the capitol today, the inevitable coup has been launched today by Uncle Sam after the president deliberately and horrendously destroyed our nation's economy and our stand in the national affairs, that's right you heard that right, apparently we elected a spy in this country.. AS PRESIDENT! Apparently while Good ol' Uncle Sam saved our skins before that bastard! Excuse my Aquila, but lord knows what the hell the changeling was giving to him, whatever slut he was serving with, John, what seems to be going on in the capitol?" The camera pans to John who is in front of a crowd of protesters holding up signs and slurs with the streets filled with American soldiers, armor vehicles, and M1 Abrams. "Thank you Emanuel, Apparently as you said there was confirmed reports that the democratic president Jimmy Carter was indeed a fake person, as you can see behind me of what looks like a military coup is in fact under control of Uncle Sam, never had the nation had this happen since the incident with President Bucannon which erupted in civil war, with the new fact that he never exist is now a matter of outraged protest as you can see on my right, John point the camera. John points the camera towards a crowd chanting "Fuck Changelings" "As you can now see, behind me is a VERY VERY angry crowd, in fact I have a fox contributor here with me on the scene who happened to also be protesting, sir what exactly is this group protesting about?" The person goes to the microphone and comments. "Well, not to sound speciest or anything but we're mainly protesting about the Changeling population in America!" "And sir why is that?" "Because those damn Changelings still has loyalty to their slut of Queens and who knows, they might abduct us and probe us like em fucking pony aliens or those moth ponies that keeps being attracted to our light!" "But sir.. What does moth ponies have to do with probing?" Asked the reporter. "I.. Uhh.. Nevermind, what does have to do with probing is those fucking spies! YOU HEAR THAT YOU BUG BASTARDS WE'LL COME FOR YOU! AND THEN YOUR QUEEN! WE'LL FIND YOUR FUCKING QUEENS AND EXECUTE THEM AL-" "That'll be enough, thank you sir.. Emanuel back to you." The camera pans back to the news studio where Emanuel continued. "Thank you John, as we cover this news broadcast, since the discovery that President Jimmy Carter was non-existent and was a changeling in disguised, the entire bureaucracy has been suspended of government operations and martial law has been declared all across the nation, the Democratic party has also been suspended personally by Uncle Sam from this years elections following the arrest of the Changeling spy who ran as one, however the Republican party was not spare either as it has been also been placed under investigation in terms of potential spy networks, however just recently Ronald Reagan had given his remarks and declared the Changelings. "An Evil Race, and had promised he will seek retribution if elected" meanwhile a new political party had been formed that sought to eradicate and 'purify' the nation of Changelings and even chose a runner named Huey Long, who claimed to have the 'solution' to America's problems, we will see how this will go this is Emanuel, signing off, Fox news." Throne Room It would seem that Ford and some other female were brought into the room guarded heavily by the EUP and SMILE agent, and it looks like both of them are very pissed at that display.. Though it seemed Uncle Sam had told me the Soviets are sending someone to intercept Ford, but I didn't expect them to send in a female to do it.. Though then again if Celestia could rule Equestria I guess it would make sense, but in all seriousness.. What was Ford about to do? "Kenneth Strongwill and Jessica Tovarich... Why have you two decided to fight in my own castle!" Celestia asked, walking in front of them. "Don't ask me, I'm not the one who did the first blow, unlike Kenneth here," Jessica replied, as Kenneth rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately you both are at fault for what you've stirred, especially for Kenneth, you were about to frame an innocent human while you got away with SMILE documents, and for this you will be both punished for your actions that you both committed here, you will be sentenced to be sent back to Humarica and to never set foot on Equestria ever again. As long as I reign, you do not have no right to be here! The guards will escort you both out as of now." Celestia declared, as the guards now escorted the two out while I was a bit worried that she may end up following up her punishment with me.. Welp there's always the book of Zebrican languages.. She turned towards me and sighed as Agent 44 and Bear 1 left the room.. I would never know what would happen to the two nor see them again. But now it was me, and she looked and... Smiled? "You know, since you've did behave better than the two I like you to be the-" "Woah! Woah! Woah! If you intend that I become the person to do the priest post I have to be a Captain to do that!" "I mean for you to be a groomsman." She finished. "Uhh.. I mean I really don't have any close relationship with either party. I'm just the representative witnessing for the preside- oh.. Yea... I almost forgot..." I reminded myself, knowing that Carter was non-existent.. "I mean... It'll be an honor then Mrs. Celestia." I replied, which she was in glee. "Great! I'll see you at the rehearsals, don't be late!" She happily informed, prancing away from the room, confusing the hell out of the guards who looked at me and we both shrugged it off. It seemed either I was spared from a punishment... Or that it might be me being paranoid the whole time.. Welp I might as well get back to my room and report back to Uncle Sam... Wonder what he'll think about this..
The New World \| Millennium	A Canterlot wedding Part 3	Diplomatic center, Batanero, Thestria "WHAT!" "You heard me, the only thing that we want is this piece of territory here on this map," Stefanos pointed. "B-but we won that land fair and tactically! Why else would we keep a fucking mass military presence there!?" A diplomat shouted. "That's enough, Luiz, but in retrospect we did fight and won the territory in the first war, remember the Lunar war when we kicked your asses off that same land that you pest used as a slave market!" Alberto reminded the bat pony. "So what if we used it as a 'slave market' we didn't mistreat anyone there," Stefanos defended. "Oh yeah you're right you didn't.. You fucking killed them," Alberto responded. Stefanos and his diplomats looked at Alberto with some of them sweating on that fact, but finally Stefanos snapped, snarled, and hissed at Alberto. "If you don't mind then there will be no further negotiations! I expect your forces to be ready by the end of this month! Because peace is now off the table! Now is the time for action!" Stefanos yelled. "Fight me then I don't care anymore! You might have superior technology but we have spirit, and somewhat advanced weaponry that we're not afraid to use. SO COME GET SOME YOU BAT BASTARD!" Alberto shouted, slamming his briefcase and dragging the Diplomats out of the room, while Stefanos rolled his eyes both in disgust and pity. "I wish I could say the same to those cocky humans... Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.. Get me Chiropteran leader Autumn Breeze, and the generals, it's time we finish preparations for operation Night Storm." . . "Mr. Presidente, are you sure we can take on the huge nation? Especially with it being huge and threatening we might find ourselves ending up like Parsley?" Questioned the diplomat. "Whether or not, war has always been inevitable at this point, we've only increased it even more, and there's no doubt that the Thestrials will strike at us when we least expect it that's why while the Americans may not help us I expect us to go into total jungle mode, the military will be authorized to use any means necessary to deter the enemy at all cost," declared the Presidente White House "So it's true... The Changelings that worked underground under our noses, exported technological blueprints to the Thestrals in Thestria and then reversed engineered the tech..." Uncle Sam summarized. "Well, that is at least so far what we've got, I did receive word that they were only given tanks and new weapon blueprints. But nothing else, by the way.. I was looking through the American Naval base records in Gradenland and found that you were working on a new vehicle that would support the M1 Abrams and decommission the M60? Is that right?" Sunset questioned. "Why of course young Alicorn, we've looked at some of recent defeats and saw that the majority of them was because the infantry and tanks lacked additional equipment support, sure they both would be combined in assault wise with the M60s supporting the Abrams but with the recently failures and budget cost we can't keep supplying our troops with airstrikes over and over again nor supply heavy tanks with heavy tanks. And then there's the new fighter craft..." "New Fighter craft? But you humans have already exceeded this world's technology! Even Celestia was impressed with what humanity came up with! Like the walk mare!" "You mean Walkman?" "Potato Potahto! Same thing, But the F-14s that you've made already made a shocking surprise in Appleloosa and you're making a new fighter craft? What are they even called?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "F-15 Eagle." "Interesting! But why the secrecy though?" "Erg... We don't talk about 15 as it's currently being field tested on the Starhawk carrier, I've sent the head of the Naval department to personally commission production of the jets so we won't know whether the baby will fly soon or not, but hopefully the increase in budget from the friendly neighborhood congress should convince them otherwise." "I see... So what's so special about this "F-15 " what's better than the Tomcat type?" Sunset asked. "Lets just say that those types of jets will practically detect anything around it, from ground to air, hell it can even outmatch the weather! Basically it's the killers of the sky for crying out loud! Along with improved flight controls and enhanced speed," Uncle Sam Chuckled. "But you could've asked Celestia to clear the weather, after all she does have a weather detachment for war time occasions." "Yea.. But we aren't gonna wait for pegasus to clear the sky clutter when we can use those babies to fight in the storm, after all it was the main struggle when it came to dogfighting against other crafts, but now as for the main struggle is the secondary vehicle armor support." "So... What do you call these new types of vehicles?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "Well, apart from the APCs that only have machine guns and can transport troops, I call the new vehicles, IFVs." "IFVs?" "Infantry Fighting Vehicles. It's basically like an APC, but with the exceptions of having a 55 mm Autocannon and two pairs of TOW missiles, along with space in the back for troops and the turret can spin faster than the Abrams." "Wow... That's.. I don't know what to say other than just wow... But what do you name this new type of weapon?" Sunset asked. "We call it, the Bradley Model 2." "Model 2? What happened to Model 1?" "... We don't talk about Model 1, because... Complications?" Pentagon, Washington city, 10 years earlier Canterlot "Shit! Shit! Shit! I'm late!" Running through the night I apparently overslept forgetting that I was the groomsman for the wedding and the witness of a non-existent president. Of course, oddly Uncle Sam did go through customs with Celestia before having me accept the status as an official groomsman, as long as I kept the radio with me at all times. But it seems I was too late when a crying bride ran by me, followed by what seemed to be her bridesmaids, a pissed stallion and an even more pissed Celestia... But out of everything I'd ever had done when someone is pissed, I asked. "Sorry I was late?" Her pissed attitude died off and then she sighed. "It would be your fault if it wasn't for my protege.." "Protege? Didn't know the Alicorns had one?" I wondered, despite her first response partially offending me. "I've always tried to find the perfect unicorn who could exceed an average unicorn to become even more than they are, but of course Sunset Shimmer was successful," Celestia paused. "Huh, well you've obviously done very well with Sunset Shimmer. I'm sure you can do well with your second protege, hell! Sunset Shimmer rules her own nation in my home continent!" I spoke cheerfully while Celestia dropped her head near the ground. "That's what I thought the day Sunset Shimmer had risen to the title of Alicorn, the day she set hoof on the troubled nation that housed so many defenseless ponies who're under the control of a evil and corrupted government, the day she exposed the actions of them and greed was the day she earned respect within a nation, but a friend she calls her own, so I thought perhaps a second would be greater, but maybe.. Maybe I was a bit too harsh back there.." "What do you mean?" "To explain what happened, it seemed that my Protege Twilight Sparkle had thought of something that Cadenza was not, she thought that.. Well, she was a-" "Jerk? Heh, I get that a lot from everyone from my experience, like seriously! I- Oh sorry I didn't mean to interrupt you or anything.." "It's fine Mr. Yates, but then at the height of the moment when we started rehearsals she barged in the room and made false accusations of Cadenza being evil! I mean I never thought of Cadenza being evil! I thought Twilight liked her when she was just a foal!" "Well.. Have you maybe thought of trying to get to the bottom of this regardless? After all, if she's your protege, maybe you should just figure it out, and not shut her off or anything? Basically it's your responsibility in a way since you are the teacher after all." Celestia seemed to take my suggestion very seriously, she started to think, walking around and finally she nodded to herself and looked towards me. "Maybe you're right.. I have to admit that never had a human suggestion something passionate like that." "But you did see us fight, have you not?" "I.. Have for all my years even after Luna's banishment.. Of course there was the Lunar wars when I truly saw what humanity could be capable of truly doing.." "But have you maybe not considered the phrase a man would do horrible things.. Not for his country but for his family?" "What do you mean by that?" "It was a old quote from my Grandfather, or at least from my Grandfather since he gotten it from someone else, but I understood why he said that since he fought and served for his country, but when he saw through the Lunar wars he fought for Abraham Lincoln's forces in the north in the three way civil war that followed, when the civil war end he hoped I wouldn't join the army in the sakes of his family and their sanity... Although, I did undermine him regardless of his dying request.. But now knowing that my ancestor was a savior of humanity it kinda made me think of some things, before I overslept the rehearsal," I and Celestia stared at each other for a moment as it seemed that maybe with a closer look with the average human she seemed to be more changed over her views in humanity but of course there's the other matter of problems. "So.. About your Protege?" I asked, which made Celestia shake her head out of a trance. "Oh my. I almost forgot, you can come with me and we can maybe make amends and figure out what's wrong with Twilight, or perhaps settle this once and for all," Celestia Suggested. "Now you're talking! I was meaning to figure out where the marriage will be hosted anyways." Me and Celestia headed towards the church where the wedding would be hosted, (Of course it's in a church, how stupid am I!) The front door was still open since that whole incident that Celestia told me about, but when we reached the second door it was.. Open? "Strange," She said. "What is it?" I asked. "These doors were closed when we left?" Celestia said. "Yea? Twilight probably saw herself out," I said to myself, when Celestia was confused and saw that Twilight was not in the church. "Not what Twilight would do, she wouldn't run from her mistakes, I wonder where Twilight Sparkle is?" She wondered. "I don't know, but it's kind of getting la-" it was then that I looked at the stairs and noticed that the carpet was singed as if something burnt it. "Hm... Hey Celestia, do your stairs always have burnt stains for dominance on guests?" I joked in a question. "I would never assert any dominance on a foreign visit, but why did you ask that?" She wondered. Taking my joke too seriously "Because it seems either A. Something happened here, or B. Your Protege was on to something.. Just not in the right place.." Celestia looked at the circular burnt carpet and noticed too, she looked at me with worry. "I see what you mean, somepony has kidnapped Twilight! I'll get the royal guard at once!" "No, don't! I know your worries, but something tells me to wait." "What!?" "I've seen these in a movie once, a teacher doesn't trust a student, maybe you should perhaps put trust into Twilight and she'll show up eventually!" "But... But what if she doesn't!" "Listen Princess, I'm not asking or ordering, but if your protege made it this far then I know she'll figure out a way. We just need to trust her!" After finishing that sentence, Celestia trotted around in worry, thinking and somewhat sweating, she breathed in and out and contemplated herself and even physically and mentally punched herself before she snapped out of it and looked down. "I hope... I hope your right..." "Hope is all we need... Now with that said, I gotta make some calls.." SFN-Starhawk, Las Pegasus coast The crew were watching through binoculars looking at their new fighter craft, the F-15, racing against the F-14 after being permitted by the Department of Navy William Halsey who is watching the race because he just landed on the carrier watching the two jets compete with each other as Admiral Hughes yelled in the speaker. "And there is Falcon 3 moving past Eagle 4 on the right cloud Holy moly! Falcon 4 is now moving past Eagle 4! Will Eagle 4 catch up before the final lap is up!?" The Eagle squadron leader, Eagle 1, A.k.a. Husk Tavern, spoke through the radio. "Johnson! Make mama proud and show these new folks how its done!" The squadron leader urged encouragingly as the F-14 suddenly went to its top speed and went side by side with the unknowing F-15 pilot who looked at the F-14 pilot in his eyes when he F-14 suddenly dropped below and disappeared in the clouds. The Tomcat was gone from the radar. "What the hell? Where'd he go?" Asked the Admiral. "Eagle 4 do you copy? Eagle 4 please respond!" The Corporal urged as there was only static in response, it was then the Admiral nodded and the Corporal then asked. "Falcon 3, do you have eyes on Eagle 4 over?" The radio replies. "Yea... He's above me." The Admiral and everyone else in the command deck sighed in relief when the Admiral briefly processed what Falcon 3 said. "Wait a second... How above you?" The Admiral asked suspiciously.. "Like upside down above me.." Replied the F-15 pilot. The entire deck erupted in cheer and surprise and excitement as some of the pilots and the crewmen yelled and shouted. "HOLY SHIT!" "YESSS!" "YEEHAW THAT BASTARD JOHNSON DID IT!" "WOOOOOHHH! "HOW THE FUCK IS HE DOING THAT LMAO!" The squadron leader for the first F-15 squadron clapped in respect. "Bravo Eagle 4, bravo." The F-15 pilot looked up at the upside down F-14 pilot and was given the thumbs up finger and then the finger which aggravated the F-15 pilot. "Show off.." "We have a winner!!" Shouted the intercom, as the runway was cleared for the two jets that landed on the carrier deck. The F-14 pilot was crowded with F-14 supporters (The Majority) And the F-15 pilot was crowded by well, the F-15 supporters (The Minority) the F-15 pilot looked at Johnson in a pissed attitude. "Just because you won doesn't mean the F-15 isn't better!" "Yea yea, why don't you go smoke a gar and attend to other shit, like the fact that you have no bitches!" Insulted Johnson as his friends behind him chuckled "Why you... GET OVER HERE!" Immediately the crowd attempted to keep the two from fighting when the Department head stepped in and blew his whistle, pausing everything and everyone. "If that is all you like to say to each other I want both Falcon and Eagle squadron members to report to briefing room 012 immediately!" Yelled the Naval head, as Husk, leader of Eagle squadron, and Jonathan, leader of Falcon Squadron. Grabbed their pilots and reported to the room as documents are given to every member entering in the room. "What's this all about Admiral?" Asked Husk. "Take a seat and listen, that's all I ask of you 12," Requested Hughes, as the MP shut the door and shut the lights off. "Falcon and Eagle Squadrons, you've all been summoned because we just been given word from Lieutenant Yates that the impending attack is imminent and has invoked Protocol Ural," Hughes informed, making the pilots weirded out from the information which Johnson bravely raised his hand. "Yes?" Asked Hughes. "Sir, I know it's weird to ask but what is protocol Ural and what does this have to do with us? And also, no one really explained what that is," Johnson asked. "Good question then, back in the Human-Crystal war the protocol was first created by the late president Andrew Jackson, who saw the inevitability of Equestria finding itself at war with a warmongering nation, of course protocol Ural was obviously no secret for the sake of safeguarding Equestria's way of life, but of course when the Lunar wars broke out Abraham Lincoln insisted that the protocol still stays active even unto this day, but in simpler terms, we would come to Equestria's aide incase a foreign invasion occurs," Hughes explained. "But, why come for their aid when we're clearly not that friendly towards each other?" Johnson asked. "Because we have received reports of espionage attacks in America, and Uncle Sam has granted the Ural Invoked valid, is that all pilot?" Hughes asked. "No sir.. Nothing else." "Good, now with that out of the way, we've just received reports that there is a huge swarm of these espionage-like creatures heading to Canterlot, command wants you to spare no mercy." "Wait, swarm sir?" "Yes Swarm, Changelings as we speak are making their way towards Canterlot, and they plan on striking at the moment of the wedding, explosives are permitted." "FINALLY! SOME BOOM BOOMS!" Shouted the pilot in the back, which Hughes stared at him down. "Sorry sir." "Next time it'll be a write up!" Threatened the Co-officer, which the Admiral then continues. "The weapons include Napalm ammunition, missiles, and the latest weaponry in the American arsenal, laser guided bombs," the admiral said, wowing the pilots. "How do we use that sir?" Asked one pilot. "A F-14 co-pilot can remotely guide the crosshair installed recently in the navigation computer to it's target, whatever the crosshair aims at is where the bomb will drop," the admiral presented, while the pilots murmured in the back about the new weapon "The military instructor will now give you your objectives now." The Admiral stepped out of the instructor's way and sat down in which the instructor stood on the podium. "Your objectives is to cut down as many Changelings as you can with what you have, you only have a limited amount of Machine gun ammo so make every shot count, you may use your explosives but only in large crowds of Changelings, and try to preserve Canterlot's Infrastructure we don't want a angry princess messaging us about being reckless, both Falcon and Eagle squadrons will be launched, you are also advised to aim carefully to prevent accidental civilian kills but do not recklessly waste your ammunition trying to strafe a swarm wall," the instructor urged, in which the instructor stepped off the podium and the admiral retook his place. "You may report to your fighters now and stand by for the launch sequence. Now, get your asses out of here now!" Ordered the Admiral as the pilots ran out of the room, grabbed their pilot equipment, and reported to their jets while Johnson looked at his greatest rival pilot of the F-15.. "Now we'll see what's the better jet!" Said his rival. "Game on." Replied Johnson, as he boarded his F-14 fighter jet and now waited for further orders awaiting for the AC-130 to arrive at the link up point Canterlot As I stepped out of my room I saw a group of Equestrian guards who turned out to be the commanders of the Canterlot brigade, so after being pointed by spears, and clearing my name, I've spoke with the commanders of the Equestrian royal guard and briefed them about the situation of who their threat and enemy was. "Alright, I have made contact and Protocol Ural is now in effect, so it's going to be weird for a foreign to tell you what you might be doing considering that we aren't that well with each other as we were once in the old times, but do listen to these instructions because it may save lives," I've urged towards the commanders, which they were reluctant to listen when one stepped forward and said. "What do we need to do?" Immediately I rejoiced and answered. "The enemy will most likely have airborne capabilities to pick on civilians on ground zero, what you must do is have the civilians taken inside of the buildings where they can shelter throughout the fight, after that the American airforce is on their way to reinforce and get these pest off the skies using F-14s or something new, it's your jobs to keep the civilians away from the outside because I have a feeling that we may have a grudge towards the damned pest," I explained, which the royal guard commanders nodded when one of them said, "We will do human, you've heard him ponies scatter, prepare defenses, and get the outside civilians inside!" Ordered the guard commander, as the guards grabbed their weapons and shovels and ran out into town to prepare defenses while some escorted the ponies not interested in the wedding inside. While this I was walking with the commander and also informed him of my role in the whole thing. "I will be attending the marriage as a secondary, hopefully I can force the culprit to surrender whatever he or she has, so you're on your own until air support arrives, got it?" "Got it sir," replied the Guard commander, walking away from me to help out in defenses. I Put on a suit, tie, belt, and... Yes you can never be truly safe without a Beretta. Hmmm.. Maybe one more gun should do the trick.. Of course just to wonder, which one? Ah, this will do the trick. After grabbing my things I headed towards the church and looked at the dome that overheaded me. Ever since Ford and that female left the city the Black Hawk was used to take them back to the mainland, which was fucking unfortunate because it was gonna serve as temporary air cover until the air support arrived, and since it left I'm stranded here without, no air support for a while, and no transport back home. So until they send another one, which I doubt it'll even make it here, I'm fucked. But also, it made me wonder how things might progress at this type of point now that the threat is serious with the ever-pressing threat occurring. I might be witnessing the start of either a cold war or a full-blown war, either way, both scenarios could end tragically in no one's favor. I entered the church just as when the wedding was starting and stood beside Celestia. I looked at Shining Armor who seems to be.. Oddly strange, not that I know him other than his name in the briefing but the fact that his eyes are... Green..? Aren't pony pupils usually bigger than usual? Even Celestia has suspicions about what's going on with him, but it is cut short when the church doors open to reveal the bride. And then the wedding music. Wait, that's not wedding music? Hold on a second, is she singing? I can't tell because of the background music... Wait what? "Mares and Gentle colts. We are gathered here today to witness the union of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and Shining Armor." Oh boy... Here we go, I don't know who Twilight is, but I hope she gets here fast and does whatever she does best.. Whatever the hell she does best anyway. Wait, did I say that twice? "Princess Cadence and Shining Armor! It is my great pleasure!" Oh shit. Here it comes, drama save me now! "To pronounce you-" "STOP!!" Shouted a purple unicorn that caught me off guard while everyone in the room seemed to cringe. I guess that's Celestia's protege, now let's see what she knows... Cadenza from name gets aggravated. "Why is she so possessive with her brother!" What followed was... Fake sobbing... Wait a second, is she? "Because it's not your special day! It's mine!" Shouted a second Cadenza. "What the hell is this??" I questioned myself quietly, which somehow attracted both sides' attention, it seemed they weren't introduced to me but the main one that was eyeing me was the one near Shining Armor.. And she looks pissed at my presence or existence. Anyways, the one that uhh. Stared at me concerningly turned towards the other Cadenza and yelled. "How did you escape my bridesmaids!" The two explained that they used a bouquet to distract the bridesmaids... Into shards of crystals... Ouchy. "Hm! Clever, but you're still too late!" The... Imma just assume she's the fake one. "I don't understand! How could there be two of them?" The Orange one spoke in facts. "She's a Changeling! She takes the form of somepony you love, and gains power by feeding off of your love for them!" Cadence Expounded. Angered by this, the changeling imposter transformed from the form of Cadence Mi Amore to- HOLY FUCKING SHIT! "AHAHAHA!! RIGHT YOU ARE! PRINCESS! and as queen of the Changelings! It is up to me to find food for my subjects! Equestria has more love than any place I have ever encountered, my fellow Changelings will be able to devour so much of it! That we will gain more power than we have ever DREAMED OF!" She explained her entire ploy very foolishly, but why the hell does that involve me in the first place? "They'll never get the chance! Shining Armor's protection spell will keep them from ever reaching us!" Replied Cadence, making the Queen chuckle as if she did something about said protection spell... "Oh I doubt that, isn't that right dear?" She then used some type of brainwashing spell on him that seemed to make his eyes glow greener, I wasn't going to tolerate that no longer and un-holstered my Barreta from my side. Just as Cadence was charging to Shining Armor Chrysalis she was stopped and threatened. "Ah ah ah! You don't want to go back to the caves now do you?" It was then that I decided it was now or never, so in response to her threat, I grabbed my Beretta and pointed it towards the ugliest head I've seen, so ugly that if I was to be in the world ugliest face competition I'd shit my pants knowing I was competing against her! "The only thing she'll go back to is her husband, drinking alcohol as I shove a canister filled with gasoline deep up your ass and light you up with a fucking match you won't tell a difference between stomach acid and a flame!!" My threat grabbed Chrysalis' attention and kept her horn lit ready to seem to attack me with her magic. Good thing I had been trained on occasions like these with some instructions from the AMSP (Anti-Magic shielding and prevention) courses. So to keep her deterred I pointed my pistol right at her head preparing to pull the trigger at a moment's notice, but that was when Celestia looked at me and nodded for me to stand down, so I stepped back but kept pointing the pistol towards Chrysalis' head at a distance behind Celestia. Chrysalis unlit her horn and went towards Shining Armor, and it seemed she foolishly explained what she'd been doing the whole time. But then she says. "Even now my minions are chipping away at it!" "Who's these minions you refer to bug?" I questioned, which made her chuckle. "My Changeling subjects, of course, I wouldn't expect less from a human unlike you." "Oh really? Considering you've domestically invaded my country with your pigs! No, I wouldn't expect less at least that was before you became the most wanted in American history you fucking bastard!! I hope you and your petty "subjects" sufferings are brutal after the damage you Have done!" I cursed, offending her to the brim just as I was about to take the shot Celestia now stepped in on the situation, but I wasn't going to let that slip by. Not yet though. As she continued rambling I pressed the button on the radio giving the signal to the SFN-Starhawk carrier, to send in the squadrons that were awaiting my order that was the plan for them, now until those jets arrive it's best to stall, and luckily I'm not the one to do just that. But at the same time, she'd seem to be more cocky and so she continued to say that she controls Shining Armor, breaking Cadence and her heart along with that Twilight Protege for some reason... "First we take Canterlot! And then! All of Equestria!!!" She proclaimed. "No!" Interrupted Celestia. "You won't! You may have made it impossible for Shining Armor to perform his spell! But now you have so foolishly revealed yourself!" The two then go head to head, horn to horn, and magic to magic against each other. Celestia flew up lit her horn and fired her magic on Chrysalis which the opponent then fired hers soon after and the two beams of magic collided, at first Celestia had the upper hand but then Chrysalis somehow outmatched Celestia's magic and knocked her off the air. "PRINCESS CELESTIA!" It shocked everyone in the room including me. The bridesmaids and the protege ran right to her side, while I just stared at Chrysalis. "It seems Shining Armor's love for you is stronger than I thought! Consuming it made more powerful THAN CELESTIA!" Cackled Chrysalis thinking that I wasn't pissed enough. That was the straw that broke a Zebrican Camel's back. "Keep telling yourself that you bastardly witch! It was worse when I heard that my home country the Federation was attacked! But posing as someone's bride to steal their love and attack the royalty! Not only you are disgusting pigs, but you! You are a vile wretched scum of the Earth! Creatures like you will be killed! Something I intend to do myself!" " And what are you going to do about it human!" She cackled. It was at that moment that I drew my pistol and fired on Chrysalis causing a panic in the crowded ponies as they all started to crowd. I used it to my advantage it get to a cover point in case Chrysalis starts retaliating with Lethal magic, something a human can not survive. It was after I got behind a pillar though when my pants were tugged and it was the real Cadence who was behind the pillar with me. "You can't defeat her! If it's how powerful my Shining Armor's love is you can never defeat her!" "Yeah? But I can still kick her ass regardless, get out of here when you still can!" I advised. "No! Not without my love! I won't leave him with that monster!" She refuted. I could facepalm myself if it wasn't in a situation like this, she could've followed Twilight and her friends who just ran out of the room like the rest of the civilians, but she's more stubborn. Foolish yet brave, but there are still some bystanders left in this room so to keep casualties at a minimum. In the meantime, until those jets arrive I'll need to pry at her. Temper. I turned towards Cadence and ordered. "Cover your ears, and get these ponies out of here!" She obeyed and covered them as I shot 3 rounds before reloading and then shouting. EVERYONE GET THE HELL OUT OF THIS ROOM NOW! AND TAKE COVER! FOLLOW THE PINK ALICORN PRINCESS" I shouted. The remaining crowd of ponies acknowledged my order followed Cadence to the door ran out of the church to take cover from a possible storm of war, I also used this opportunity to try and grab Celestia while I still could before Chrysalis caught on to my plan but it seemed she had been staring at me the whole time when she stopped right in front of me with her horn lit. "Get out of my way you whore!" I insulted, pointing my pistol at the now pissed bug. " NOBODY! NOT EVEN A HUMAN WILL ADDRESS ME AS SUCH OFFENSE! NOW DIE!" She shouted as she then unleashed her built-up anger and fired multiple lethal shots directed towards me. I then quickly ran towards the stairs and knocked down a podium, grabbed Cadence, who was behind me after directing the evacuation, and peeked out of the Podium. "STAY DOWN PRINCESS! WHATEVER YOU DO! STAY HERE! I'M GONNA SEE IF I CAN SLAP SOME SENSE OUT OF YOUR FIANCE!" I ordered, she nodded and slid deeper into the podium. "ALSO! COVER MY ASS!" Using what Cadence could with her might, she flew up mid-air and started fighting Chrysalis slicing the air and throwing the Changeling Queen to the ground, she looked at the princess with a growl and a smirk. "You think you can defeat me! YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT ME! FACE IT YOU WORTHLESS ALICORN! YOU WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE AS POWERFUL AS CELESTIA!" "I'll try with every bone of my strength, BUT YOU WILL NOT TOUCH MY LOVE!" "Then I'll pry it from your cold dead hooves!" Immediately the biggest fight I've ever seen started behind my ass, so much for staying down, but then again this gave me breathing room TO RUN LIKE HELL! Running through a fight scene with a pistol and gathering hope despite my ass nearly getting shot up in the crossfire the Changeling Queen wasn't letting up with her attacks on Cadence as she flew right past these attempts. After reaching him I looked at Cadence, who was mid-air charging at Chrysalis, I tried to wake her soon-to-be husband up, it was only a matter of time before Cadence's distraction wore off and Chrysalis saw what I was truly planning right here, hopefully, if I can get Shining Armor to wake up It could reduce the risk of civilian casualties to zero and for the Jets to peck them off one by one, so I shouted to the dead brain stallion. "HEY! WAKE UP! YOUR BEING CONTROLLED WAKE UP DAMMIT!" Shouting didn't work, so I then tried to do a physical approach. I slapped him 10 times. "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP IT'S 1002! WAKE UP!!" Unfortunately, my trick didn't work, Chrysalis's magic was more powerful than I thought it was and it wasn't too long for me to realize that. It was then that the dome shield shattered and the changeling bugs now swarmed into the city causing mass panic in the streets while the guards had been prepared thanks to me some were not prepared and got bondage and just when I realized that all of that was happening, which made my heart sink, the Changelings had now entered the church and surrounded me and Cadence putting me and her back to back with each other. It would seem that any plan of reducing civilian casualties was now a total bust and with Shining Armor lost, it wasn't too late to save Celestia and hopefully keep these bastards off of her. But now the question remains, where the hell is that air support?! "This is Eagle 1 to Starhawk carrier, we have now entered Canlot- HOLY SHIT!" The jet squadrons broke off formation as they approached a hell of a swarm. "EAGLE 1 TO STARHAWK! WE HAVE A SITUATION!" "What is Eagle 1? What's the situation!" "WE'VE OVERESTIMATED THE AMOUNT OF BUGS HERE! IT'S AN ENTIRE ARMY HERE!" "...Well holy hell, someone me to the nearest naval base now! I want a 130 in the air IMMEDIATELY! Falcon and Eagle are outmatched all fighters in the area the entire city is green! Danger close shows those bastards what we got! Get the skies cleared! All weapons are code hot! Repeat code hot!" "What about civilians sir!" Asked Falcon 1. "Creator knows what or who just does what you must, bomb the fucking place to ashes if you have to!" Ordered the Admiral. "Alright! Falcon 4, Eagle 2 you're with me to cover the west side! We've got to clear the clutter, Eagle 1 let's have a truce. We need to focus on the enemy before we can focus on each other." "Roger that Falcon 1, Falcon 2, Eagle 4, Eagle 5, You'll be covering the east side, Eagle 3 Falcon 3 cover our flanks just in case these bugs get brave!" "Roger Eagle 1. "Copy Eagle 1." "Roger, lets show em some action!" "KICK IT!" The jets went back into formation and then dispersed. -Warning, Warning, Warning, Altitude, Altitude,- "COME EAT SOME!" Shouted Eagle 4, as he unloaded his machine gun ammo on the crowd of insects that surrounded a certain 6 friended pony group that happened to be fighting against the Changeling invaders. +TARGET LOCK The missile launched from Eagle 1's fighter directly hits a group of flying Changelings. "WHOOO! GOT 6 ON MY KILL SCORE!" Shouted Falcon 3. "Oh yea? Let me show you how the Eagle's grab their meal in the morning!" Radioed Eagle 2, as he did a barrel roll and shot down ten changelings out of the air. "Show off.." Commented Falcon 3, as a group of Changelings now started a ramming attack on Falcon 4. "DAMMIT! I'M BEING CHASED THEY'RE TRYING TO RAM MY ENGINES! I CAN'T SHAKE THEM!" Shouted Falcon 4, as Eagle 4 broke off from East side coverage and shot down the brave Changelings to death. "Saved your life!" Said Eagle 4. "Yea... I guess I owe you one then hm?" "If we survive this. Maybe." "This is Admiral Hughes from the Starhawk carrier! We've just received word that civilians and innocents are being hunted down by these things, napalm is now permitted to use them wisely," the admiral informed. "Napalm?" Falcon 1. "Yea, what's the problem?" "Wouldn't that start a fire? After all, we are trying to preserve Canterlot infrastructure." "Not anymore, this is now an all or nothing operation, all fighters are permitted to use napalm at once!" Ordered Starhawk. "Roger, Falcon 2, Falcon 5, we got a huge line of bugs slowly creeping on civilians, lets show them the power of democracy shall we?" "Roger, Falcon 5 get on my ass and follow me." "Roger that Falcon 2. Prepping napalm." . . "This is Captain Westar, we're taking off from Airbase Alpha from fort mourn island, ETA 23 minutes until then," the pilot announced to Hughes which he nodded. "Understood, proceed to Canterlot as fast as you can!" The admiral spoke tensely. "Roger sir, we'll be there to bring in the rain soon enough." "Let's hope so, because the battle is now raging chaotically." The Changeling Queen cackled as the bugs surrounded me and Cadence, they glued her hooves to the ground. And Chrysalis smirked at my desperate situation. "Well, it looks like you're outmatched, I have to admit it didn't take long for your wretched mentor Sam to figure out someone else's plans on knocking your country out of their arena in politics. Unfortunately the same someone used my subjects in their game. It disgust me!" "Lying to me huh? The fact that you happen to not wear your responsibility and blaming someone else for it makes me even more pissed and makes you more incompetent. Face it you slut! I will make sure to break every once of your bones for attacking my home nation and this nation, starting with your fucktards!" "I'm afraid I won't allow that you wretched human, fortunately for me, your ancestors' legacies die here, kill him." The Changelings show their fangs and prepare to charge. I guess I should say what the last weapon was before being killed. "I guess you haven't anticipated... THIS!" I grabbed out an M249 Light Machine gun and surprised and attacked the enemy when I opened fire on the crowd of Changelings, one by one they fell and died from my wrath of the machine gun, the rest fell back to a wall while those who somehow survived the initial attack by me struggled to keep living as they either bled to death, or have already died. As for those who saw death before dishonor, they charged at me with their fangs and bit my arm, the problem was it didn't penetrate my skin but rather break their tooth off. (Forgive me for what I'm about to do) I tear my suit and tie! (R.I.P.) And revealed my gray body armor that I've been wearing the whole time with a M16 rifle. "How do you even walk?" Cadence asked. "Trust me when I say this is very uncomfortable but worth it!" I responded and then backhanded with the machine gun and shot the attacking changeling warriors who charged at me with spears in an attempt to stab me to death but with quick thinking I rolled towards the nearby pillar and the spearheading towards my skull sliced through the pillar making the Changeling warriors unable to pull out which enabled me to quickly switch to my now depleted Light Machine gun with my Barreta and shot multiple rounds into their armor before penetrating through it and killing them. When the other warriors charged towards me I charged right back at them without any second thoughts and CQCed them towards the ground, with backdropping, back kicking, and the kick to the groin, with the pain that the warrior changelings succumbed to it was then that I almost forgot about something very important when I noticed that the Changelings were wrapping Celestia into a cocoon. "Shit, I almost forgot, I need to save Celestia, not taunt these pests!" I said to myself. "Did you think those tactics will help you human? Let us kill him, brothers!" Said one of the Changelings, as they leaped towards me all at once and I moved aside and shot their wings off, and then threw the flightless out of the window and caused them to fall towards their deaths on the ground below. Chrysalis then lost her cool when I shot them and shouted. "NO! YOU BEAST! YOU SLIMY PEST! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SUBJECTS!" She was now enraged, and... That was good. "GOOD! BE ANGRY! THE MORE ANGER! THE LESS LOVE YOU HAVE YOU PEST!" This shocked Cadence, which kinda made me a bit surprised that she didn't know what type of logic I was planning but if anything humanity is so much good with exploring and studying their enemy that it was discovered that if a Changeling lost their cool the 'love' they collected will be faded into nothing then again she didn't attend a human military school so not surprised, what I'm surprised that slut Queen hasn't figured out what I'm doing here. "TAKE THIS YOU RODENT PEST!" Shouted Chrysalis, as she fired a bolt of magic that I happened to be prepared for and ducked from the shot, I then charged at her but then she fired another bolt and hit my chest. "FUCK! AGHH FUCK!" "DEAR FAUST! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!" Cadence shouted in worry. "No, f-f-fuck no it's not, but I can handle it. Bastard is gonna need to shoot more than that to kill me off!" In retaliation, I then charged at Chrysalis head-on and sucker punched her in the face, just as the Changelings were about to cocoon Celestia I shot them with my pistol and ripped bits of the incomplete cocoon off of Celestia and then helped her up. "Are you alright princess?" I asked, as she was disillusioned at one moment before shaking her head. "M-m-mr Yates? H-h-how did you-" "No time to explain, you need to gather a group of guards and-" Suddenly I was shot by Chrysalis again by her bolt only in the shoulder which wasn't covered by my vest and started to bleed. Celestia was shocked and quickly tried to attempt a healing spell but she was too weak to perform it after her fight with Chrysalis, building up her strength she knew if I was to die here Canterlot would possibly be doomed, while she had faith in her student and her friends she doesn't know whether they made it or not, and then there was the matter of what happens to her sister after all of it, she looked at Chrysalis with spite and anger, she couldn't forgive herself for not believing Twilight's warning, Twilight was right but not in the right place, just like I said, Celestia knows now to keep her trust with her student for now on no matter what happens, but when she looked at the monster responsible for it all, she attempted to stand up on her four hooves to fight her again in a rematch. "Don't waste your energy, you've done enough, I'll deal with her myself." I got up despite my flesh wound and sounds of explosions sounding all around us as the air support had now arrived to start pounding and killing the pests that were outside, I watched the changeling Queen even more angry as she watched through the broken window of her subjects being slaughtered outside. "How does it feel you bastard, to have something you love so much be taken away in an instant, now you know Cadence and her pain, my country's pain, and everyone else's," I said in a glowered hatred towards the evil Queen. "I will not be intimidated by your human quotes! In the end, you will all be destroyed!" The Queen condemned, but I was hoping she was going to say that. "That's a funny whore, because I was thinking about our fates and smiled, wanna know why?" I asked, but she growled deeper. :" Because you won't be there to witness it other than being incinerated." I and Chrysalis were now in a standoff ready to punch each other to the death. When my radio went off. "This is Captain Westar of the AC-130, does anyone copy it?" My radio was now statically on, so I grabbed it and answered. "This is Lieutenant Yates, I read you, Captain." I replied. "Roger that Lieutenant, I'll be ready to fire everything I have on your orders." Replied the Captain, as Celestia got up and used me to keep her balance. "What is an AC-130..." Celestia asked, as more jet noises could be heard outside followed by explosions, napalms, and Machine guns. Celestia saw a peek of the gunfire the Jets were shooting and was both terrified and somewhat dopamine-induced excited. It was when the jets brought in the napalm that shook Chrysalis off her feet and created a gust of wind. It was then in anger that she leaped charged towards me and pinned me towards the ground attempting to bite my face off which made me drop my radio which slid towards Celestia's hooves she looked down and saw the radio still in one piece, she used her magic to pick it up and then used her strength to shoot a magic round towards Chrysalis which after developing her shot, it hits the Queen in the right-sided torso knocking her off of me and onto the ground, before she got up I grabbed my LMG and the radio that Celestia handed me and pinned her to the ground. That was when the mane 6 were brought in by the pest but they seemed to be more surprised at what was going on outside than me rescuing Celestia. I then placed the radio near my mouth and spoke. "Stand by for orders Captain," I ordered. "Acknowledged," replied the captain, as I looked at the changeling queen with the spectating mane 6, Celestia, and Cadence. "Your plan is foiled, your fucking army is in desolation and on my word, destroyed and wiped off the face of this planet, so if you care about your subjects.... Leave, now." The Changelings were in shock and were loyal to the Queen enough to where they foolishly released the six ponies and tried to charge at me before being stunned by Twilight's magic and then getting tied by Applejack and the other friends, while the pink and white pony barricaded the door to drive the Changelings off away to the exit in which the orange and the cyan pony assisted in keeping the door closed. I turned to the now defeated and pinned Chrysalis who was now in fear not because of the huge weapon I was holding, but because of how down south her 'plan' now went, it's now more like trying not to die rather than a hostile takeover. "Your terror on this city is over, I say again, surrender now, and I'll let you collect the pieces of the remains of your army." I then pointed my gun at her bug face to assert that choice and she then received the message and answered. "What are your terms, you wretched scum!" "First I'll ignore that first part, second, release Shining Armor, take your army out of the city like I said, and never return to Equestria, and if you dare attack my home country again I will see to it personally that your home hives are flattened to the point beyond repair! Is that clear you bug whore!" I threatened the demand. At first she seemed to be refusing my courteous offer, but with the jets still cutting down her subjects and the AC-130 itching to shoot at her subjects she had no choice. "Fine..." She replied in a snarl. Shining Armor is released from her spell, Cadence is freed by Twilight's magic who she then embraces Shining Armor. By the time Shining Armor saw the view of me pointing a giant weapon at the slut queen he was with no doubt without words. Other than hugging the real love that was kidnapped from him. Chrysalis stood on her four hooves amongst the chaotic war zone as F-14 and F-15 jets continued to cut down on the assaulting insects, she looked back at me and I continued to point my weapon towards her and she sighed. "MY SUBJECTS! RETREAT! BACK TO THE CHANGELING LANDS! RETREAT!" She shouted, as all bugs including the ones outside retreated from the premises of the city. With some of the bugs retrieving the injured with stretchers. In a glee, I turned to my radio. . . "This is Lieutenant Yates, fighter squadrons stand down, the bugs are retreating." I ordered. "Can we get confirmation on Captain Westar?" Asked Admiral Hughes. "Confirmed sir, the Changelings are retreating and attempting to retrieve their injured, we won." The entire deck erupted in celebration and the admiral clapped for joy. "YEEHAW! CALL BACK THOSE FIGHTERS! RETURN THE GUNSHIP! SET PROTOCOL URALS TO INACTIVE LEVELS!" Shouted and ordered the Admiral, William eyed him a bit which the admiral gulped. "Eh. We won sir?" The Admiral rephrased, but Halsey shrugged and smirked with a nod. The jet squadrons of both Eagle and Falcon went into a joint formation and headed straight back to the carrier as ponies cursed the now retreating and defeated Changelings off their lands. . . As for Chrysalis, she got up with the help of her Changeling guards, who remained and stared at me with a snarl. "Don't think this isn't over! You've won today, but now you have made a permanent enemy with the Changeling Queendom! I'll see to it that everyone hunts you down for a bounty!" She Threatened, as Celestia, Twilight, Shining Armor, and Cadence lit their horns toward Chrysalis. And I replied... "Then make sure to tell them to be ready to die when they find me. And I'll make sure to send their heads to you afterward for my regards. And as for your little 'Queendom,' all you'll come back to is disloyal warlords and power-hungry politicians calling for succession. In fact... I think there's a crisis right now... As we speak." Chrysalis snarled, hissed, and flew away from the castle and left Canterlot, Shining Armor then reactivated his protection spell, with one slight confusion.. "So Twily.. What did I miss?" He asked, to which Twilight shrugged and looked at me. "I have no clue, but I think it has something to do with him." One day later It all proceeded as planned, or. Would that be a re-plan? I don't know, but what I do know is Cadence and Shining Armor couldn't think of a better day at their wedding than the day literally after the chaotic siege. I was charged by Celestia to be in charge of clean up and from what I counted some of Equestria's infrastructure was severely damaged but was restored by the Unicorns by the eventual hour, buildings were not much as destroyed as expected with a neighborhood, of course, being totaled by Napalm fires and laser-guided bombs, the surprise was that no civilian's were harmed by the jets, but there was reports of rape committed by Changelings. As for deaths, Changelings were killed by the thousands which because of that would bring massive calls in the Changeling lands of succession bringing it into a warlord era like lands. But with all that chaos the rebuild was complete just in time for the wedding, as it started I stood in the corner with my pure white formals on and sunglasses while I watched the beginning of a union begin. The moment of the kiss made me think about a lot of things.. Mainly post military life, and how I'm supposed to be the far descendent of well, by now my greater times a thousand grandfather Luther.. But it was best to live in the present and then move on to the future. I looked outside and saw a crowd of ponies cheering for Shining Armor and Cadence Mi Amore and their marriage, but what happened next scared the shit out of me when that same Cyan pegasus who blocked that door flew and broke through the sound barrier! Like damn.. Who knew she was a jet.. Wait, maybe she is a jet... Hmm... Thestrial-Argednina border "LOAD UP THOSE ARTILLERY SHELLS QUICKLY! WE NEED TO BE READY BY THE END OF THIS MONTH! OTHERWISE WE'LL BE CRUSHED BY THOSE BAT TANKS!" Shouted a commander, as the men scattered and loaded the shells on the Artillery when a scout soldier ran up to the commander. "COMMANDER SIR! WE HAVE A SITUATION!" "Easy private! What's going on?" "SIR! WE'VE SPOTTED MODEL MI-8S ON THE NORTH FACE!" "WHAT!?" The commander snatched the binoculars and was about to look when he saw three MI-8 helicopters loaded up with bat ponies heading straight for the base. "Oh shit the preparation was a trick! Get me in contact with the High command now!!! RED ALERT! THE INVASION IS HERE-" "INCOMING!" Suddenly a barrage of missiles were launched at the Artillery camp starting chains of explosions, the MI-8 helicopters began its attack on the base. Missiles strikes at the armor vehicles that are being used to shoot down the aviation they never expect the Thestrials to even obtain and troops also being gunned down by PKMs from the helicopter side doors as the Bat ponies fired their rifles from above and onto the backs of Human soldiers as some attempted to flee from the battle before either being shot by the Bat-ponies or the field officers who are trying to keep their men in line. The Commander shouts. "GRAB YOUR RPG-7S AND SHOOT THEM DOWN! AND SOMEONE GET ME CONTACT WITH THE ANTI-AIR BRIGADE IMMEDIATELY!" As the soldiers now grabbed their RPGs the MI-8 helicopter landed on the ground and unleashed a squad of Bat-ponies shooting their SA80s on the troops. "FOR THE NIGHT!" Shouted one of the Thestrial Bat-ponies, as they drive off the Human soldiers and capture the Artillery cannons. "WE CAN'T FIGHT THEM OFF! RETREAT!" Shouted a field officer. "IF YOU RETREAT YOU WILL BE CHARGED WITH TREASON!" Shouted the Human commander. "THEN THAT CASE FUCK YOU! I CHOOSE LIFE OVER COUNTRY! RETREAT!" Shouted again from the field officer as the majority of the camp men retreated into the woods as machine gun trails behind them in a fiery inferno as another MI-8 helicopter landed with heavily armored Bat-Pony soldiers with Atlyn helmets. Followed by a Blue K6-3 helmet commander stepping out of his helicopter overseeing the flaming inferno when a bat-pony soldier came to him with the radio. "What's the Status, did we get them?" Asked Stefanos. "Even better, they've retreated into the woods, and their equipment is ours.. It seems the Soviets stuck with their deal," the Bat-pony reported, as the flames continued to rage behind him. "The Red Mother was known to keep up with her deals, but I never expected her to actually stage evidence on the Changelings at the cost of her own Changeling agents, impressive for an immortal being when it came to deals.. But now we focus on our true enemy." "Yes, General. I will send you further reports, until then Hail the Night!" "Hail the Night." Canterlot castle After seeing the whole bouquet and a beautiful ending to it all, I unfortunately have to leave... Yea I know what you're thinking as I write this.. You just got here? Well that doesn't stop me from leaving.. The Black Hawk helicopter lands at Dawn and there's the whole nature trail I have to walk to get there and then there's my stuff... Ugh.. Of course, just like Uncle Sam says, "there's always the second time" perhaps another wedding might be a thing and I don't have to leave it. . . After traveling up the stairs I went into my guest room and.. Saw my case already packed up and sitting on the table? I don't really get it but that was probably a... Wait, what's that note? I asked myself as I picked it up and it read. "Dear Yates, for saving the wedding at the time's of surprise me and my sister, Luna, decided to pack your things for you since you are returning back to your homeland soon, I hope that in the future we can both be friends with each other." "Sincerely Princess Celestia. Hm... Well, nothing like a not so secret admirer in my case, I wonder what might happen next after all this.. Maybe Chrysalis might not heed my warning and send someone to actually die? I don't know, lets see about the news though before my phone battery dies." I grabbed my phone and scrolled down, it's the usual.. Weather.. Weather.. Thestria declares war on Argendina.. Weat- wait. Wait, wait, wait, what!? CBS "That's right you are hearing it, from those who just joined into the news Thestria has declared war on Argendina, after a failed conversation attempt to ease the tensions, Humarican nations ranging from America all the way to Gradenland urged the two nations to de escalate tensions and discuss, but now reports had confirmed that a surprise attack at the infamous Albterto's trench has occurred, and multiple tanks identified as the new Thestrian tanks had now crossed borders in cities and foreign territory, as we speak they are currently making gains in the disputed zone that both sides claim as theirs is the said dispute zone is named "Gilligan's land" mark I see your under immense pressure can you tell us what we're hearing right now?" The camera turns to mark who is in the capital city of Aires Norrington, as it is currently being bombed by close range bombers and fighters in the rain. "As you can hear behind me the gun fire and Anti-Aircraft weapons attempting to shoot down the bombers and planes, the city is active but not in a civilianized way as it was just hours ago. What we do know however is that so far the Thestrial armies has captured the main city of the Gilligan province or Bueno Eris, a city that was once the treaty stead that was signed between the nations of Eyre and Erie, but now, now the city is under Thestrial siege with records now at their mercy of the artillery strikes being fired, along with the locals there.. This is Mark signing off, in Aires Norrington." After my phone died from the worthless depleting battery I was now sitting on my ass on the bed thinking... What the hell happened? I thought we had secured peace over the region not too long ago? Was it a Changelings plan?? Or was it... No it can't be, the peace treaties! Even Celestia herself threatened to personally destroy both us and the NSRS with the sun! Though that kinda sounds a bit tyrannical probably because she didn't actually say that but still! Was Chrysalis telling the truth when she kinda stated that they weren't behind all of this? After all, it's impossible to undermine our intelligence division... Unless.. Moskva city The Red mother sat on her chair listening to her own style of patriotic music drinking tea when a N.I.B. Agent entered her realm with documented reports. "Madam, your plan went exactly according to plan, the Americans are considering intervention and pulling out from Zebrica! And reports from our new spy network indicate the Americans will be redirecting equipment supplies from Arabia to the Southern Federation!" "Great work and great news for the socialist ears of mine, now with that out of the way, I might want an intelligence post on the.. Target.." "You mean that Luther related guy? Why don't we spy on others? Like Uncle Sam? Or Princess Celestia? Or better yet! Grover the 5th?" The N.I.B. Agent questioned. "Because... Why spy on them, when we can spy on a key for a true ultimate weapon!" "And what weapon is that?" Asked the Agent, as she started to laugh. Making him a bit nervous. "The Staff Of Luther! oO course with the staff we can use it's full potential and power to the point that not even Celestia, Luna, or any other Alicorn princess or element bearers can never stop us, and if Uncle Sam will either choose to surrender to us or be destroyed, the world will be on its knees begging for mercy, capitalist imperialism will die at the blade of its power! Of course, before we can do any such thing thing, we need the staff and then the boy." The Red Mother then looked at her advisor who was watching her speech and ordered. "Get me in contact with Agent Yuri, I request his presence tomorrow for a operation, at 10:20 AM, my experts predict the return of the Crystal Empire and I believe the staff is still there, the wretched ruler elizabeth stolen what was rightfully ours and given it to princess Mi Amore, and that would be her last mistake as a human of herself, and if those mane 6 ponies bothers with our operation let them be killed." "It shall be done our Red Mother," replied the advisor, leaving the room. In Canterlot and Washington city Uncle Sam and Celestia simultaneously wake up with a small thought which they went to sleep, and then waking up again to realize that the Red Mother is now making her moves and even Celestia would wake to feel the same disturbance of dread, and... Something odd with me that I would never have seen myself as.. "Long Live the Northern Socialist Republics!☭"
The New World \| Millennium	The imperial incident..	Starhawk carrier, 5 hours earlier. And this is your classic hit list in America's favorite radio station sunny 33.8, now playing, "The Danger Zone" By Kenny Loggins. "ALRIGHT HERE THEY COME! CREW MEN HAVE THOSE CARRIER CABLES PREPPED AND READY!" "YES SIR!" "YOU! GET THE HOSE JUST IN CASE ONE OF THE JETS GOT CAUGHT ON FIRE!" Just about 2 hours since the battle of Canterlot the Jet squadrons, Falcon and Eagle, were now starting to land on the carrier deck with the crew moving and setting up the landing cables. One by one the F-14s and the F-16s were landing on the carrier deck with hulls scratched and burnt as the fire men and mechanics came in to assess the damage while the pilots were shaking it off. "Oh boy! We almost died there!" Said Eagle 2. "Tell me about it, and the fact that we had to work together was excruciating, then again I guess I'll admit that the F-14s are a bit better in interception. Of course if I was to say that! I'd say the F-16 did more of a better job!" Replied Falcon 3. The Falcon and Eagle squadrons grumbled at each other while they tried to argue who shot more bugs and what was what efficient when the Admiral came on deck. With MPs.. "ATTENTION! YOU BASTARD SON OF A GUNS!" Shouted the admiral, making the pilots line up in a shoulder to shoulder position. The admiral stared at them blankly before he chuckled. "YOU DID GREAT AHAHAHA!!! YOU SHOW THEM BUGS WHO WE'RE MADE OF! AHAHAHA!!" "Does that mean we get a raise?" The pilot joked, making the pilots chuckle. "YES!" The admiral replied, making them jerk their necks in confusion. "Sir that was a jo-" "Considering that you all did came back from a mission that could've blown your engines and kill yall I have to give you some credit to success.. But anyways, great job back there I like to see more of that action to where I get off my fat ass myself and figure out how to pilot the carrier on the soil! Hehe, any who, LETS DRINK TO IT!" As the Admiral is crowded by the crew man who were raising glasses of drinks the pilots shrugged and joined with the admiral. Nothing can go wrong now that they asserted themselves as the fearsome air pilots in the world.. Right?? Gilligan region, SF-Thestrial frontline "City in flames.. My light is a void.. Whats better.. The Void.. Or the Light.." As Ogav mumbled about the depressing reality losing his friend Ivan in the battle of Trogiers, now he leads a squad of special forces. Only thing was that his mission was to deliver the last box of payment to the Thestrial commander known as the Blue Knight. "Hey pilot? Are we at our meeting point?" Asked Ogav, shuffling his PKM on his seat arm. "Almost, we're just entering the city!" The pilot turned to the front before leaning forward in a surprised face. "Dear Mother! What the hell happened here?" Asked the Pilot as the entire passenger group looked out the window in shock. As the men gazed on the burning city, the landing gear is activated and the helicopter makes a landing on the ash filled road met with the K6-3 blue helmet wearing Bat-pony with other Bat-pony special forces. "Welcome to New Lunar city my friends." The Bat-pony greeted. "New Lunar city? I thought this place was called Bueno Eris?" Ogav questioned. "It was called that, but now that we've captured it, we started to.. "Un-Argendinize" the city." The Bat-pony explained. "Un-Argendinize?" "Yes, we call these putrid monsters that we're fighting "Argendinians" so we don't mix them up with the back stabbing Americans!" The Bat-pony hissed. "You too huh, no matter though the will of our mother will guide both our nations to prosperity against the traitorous nation, but of course before that it's the matter of payment that our mother had sent us to deliver." "Do you have it?" Asked the Bat-pony, as Ogav signaled the men to unload the box of blood off of the MI-24 and placed it infront of the Bat-pony. "Ah, good, this will certainly help our kind with the blood shortage running rampant in our nation." The commander happily said. As the Bat-pony commander was in glee Ogav looked around the smoldering city that was put out by the local human and Bat-pony fire fighters, while the city was somewhat recovering he noticed a mother and daughter in the streets collecting what should be their water supply. He walked towards them with a friendly intention and called out. "Good evening ma'am!" His call frightened the women a bit which stopped him in his tracks. "Woah, it's fine!" assured Ogav, as he threw down his PKM to the ash filled ground. "See? No threat!" The woman sighed and went back to picking up the remains of fresh water in the city river. "You know, if you could, I can carry more than what your getting." Ogav asked, which the woman nodded and handed him two buckets, he then rolled his sleeves up to his elbow and scooped the water from the river. "So, what brought you here in this town?" He asked, but the woman gave no response as she was pointing to her throat. "Oh.. Your muted.. That's fine, my grandfather was a mute but he know how to write, nice daughter you have there? Is she a mute?" He asked, which the muted woman shook her head indicating that her daughter can speak but too shy to. After filling the two buckets with fresh water he got on his feet, unrolled his sleeves, and put his gloves back on. The woman grabbed Ogav's hand and dragged him towards her home. "Lead the way ma'am!" Canterlot After packing my things I head down the empty hall way of Canterlot with guards having their usual conversation when I see one guard running through the highway and speedily went by me in a rush. "What in hell's name?" I wondered, getting on my feet and looking at the guard enter the throne room part of the castle, now if I haven't known that's usually when stuff goes down in a matter of shrouded mystery, or... Maybe a chance of action.. But then again I have to report to the Blackhawk so a little peek won't hurt no one after all.. (¬‿¬) By the time I peeked inside the throne room it seemed to be a conversation about a.. Empire? Wait a second are they referring to the Griffonian empire? Or... Nah maybe not but I mean.. I suppose I should inform Uncle Sam about this.. But you know it kinda sounded like that one Empire I learned that Equestria never even know about and if you told a pony about it they'll most likely dismiss it as a "silly human claims" although... It's not surprising they would say that considering that a well known human battalion was lost in the battle of the city. The Crystal city.. Moskva The Red Mother and two of her elite guards came up on the helipad watching the MI-24 class helicopter land on the platform. The side doors opened to reveal. "Ah, Agent Yuri, how was Phys school in the past years?" Mother asked. Yuri smirked. "As you intended, I've learned all but one thing." "And what would that be." The Mother asked. "The assignment of course." Yuri answered. "I see, come in and have yourself a drink, I will brief you now." She informed, as she, her guards, and Yuri left the snowy outside and inside the warm rooms, however, everywhere the group sees the elite soldiers guarding the entire floor of the building, and regular officers who don't have clearances are turned away and hand picked generals were allowed to enter. Yuri sees this as a wonder. So as they continued to walk down the hallway Yuri asks. "Assuming this assignment is this important, what does it involve?" Yuri asked. "You'll see." The group stops and the Red Mother initiates the unlocking protocol with the touch of her finger in the data analyzer followed by two N.I.B. Agents turning and twisting the keys simultaneously and conducting facial eye scanning, the door unlocks and the group enters. Yuri sits down on the chair while the guards stand at the sides of the now closed door with the Red Mother walking towards the projector. "After receiving intelligence reports in our spy networks in Equestria there is a rumor that the target you see on screen is in the desolate waste that was somehow cursed by a shadow pony named Sombra, it seems he wanted to keep all that power for himself.. But he was mistaken, now with us in the arena of things, it's time humanity reposes the weapon that was stolen from us." The Red Mother briefed. Which intrigue Yuri. "So tell me, what do you call that stick that you refer to as a weapon?" Yuri asked. "So glad you asked, the weapon is called 'the staff of Luther' a weapon that was used to save our skins, if Luther was alive today I'd personally thank him. And then send him to hell myself! Because his foolish will drove the former Queen of these lands Elizabeth to hand over the staff to the empress of the old Crystal empire 'Mi Amore' but of course considering that the current princess named 'Cadence' should be dealt with too." The Red Mother explained. "Why her? Sure she doesn't know that Mi Amore herself was her mother, but what exactly is the point to assasinate Cadence Mi Amore?" Asked Yuri. "To send them the message.. Equestria has for ages squandered over the fact that they focus on the Americans for peace while leaving us in the dark, Of course then again I can simply remind them by cutting off food lines and starve out the already dependent Equestrian west coast.. But then it would hurt us more than it'll hurt them when they can just redirect the food farm exports from their east to the west coast. But then again, a assasination could do, but then that would start a war... Hm..." As the Red Mother thinks of a plan she decides to shrug it off and turned towards Yuri. "I think we all know what the plan is by now though, grab the staff and bring it here." "And if I was stopped?" He asked. "Then I'll have my agents hand you Plan B and C files, that'll be all Yuri, dismissed." As Yuri got up and bow to her, he turned and left the room with the intent to make those who'd guard the objective suffer, but first he needed a ride so he went outside and saw a perfectly parked MI-8 with a pilot inside it. He walked towards the Helicopter and says. "Give me your keys, your helmet, and that gun, and get out of my ride." He requested, as the pilot snarled at him. "Oh really? I wasn't informed of you being in command, now beat it!" The Pilot replied, as Yuri stared at him and his forehead, at first the pilot was aggravated when his mind went completely dumb and blank. "Now.. Give me your gun, the keys, and your helmet, and get out of my ride." Yuri repeated. "I will Give you my gun... Give you my keys.... Give you my Helmet... And I will get out of your ride.." The pilot walked out in a mind controlled state and fell off the helicopter with his face planted into the cold icy ground. "Good boy." Yuri replied, as he switched the helicopter on and begin taking off by himself. As the helicopter flew up in the air left Brezhnev looked up at his ride that was now stolen pissed.. With only two words to describe his ride now stolen. "Well Shit..." The Snow Wastelands The snow was savage, the land was never set on, and no one. Not a single soul existed in these lands since Sombra banished the Crystal city, until now. As the Equestrian express arrived to the creator forsaken lands the mane 6 and Spike stepped off the train only to meet the harsh cold reality of the arctic wastelands, unknown to them that they were being watched... "I got eyes on the target. Any orders sir?" "Not yet, wait for white stallion to make contact." "Copy. Standing by" As the mysterious group waited they looked through the binoculars and awaited contact when the same White Stallion they were waiting for came out of the snowy blizzard shouting for his sisters name. "Confirmation made sir, White Stallion has made contact with echo group." "Hm, the fact that we were told that we were gonna be given Equestria's finest I thought we were getting soldiers not a woman mare gang!" "General Patton sir, we're detecting dark magic signatures rising on our scanners! The paper is getting scribbled to pieces!" "Alright, PACK IT UP! Let's get 'Equestria's Finest' and see what they can do." Ordered General George S. Patton. As the lost division started packing up and loading the equipment on the M35 truck when a private came to Patton. "Sir Self-propelled systems are online, do you know what happened sir?" Asked the Private. "I have no clue on what happened, other than what the nice Princess Cadence told me, we skipped a fucking thousand years!" "A thousand years sir? That would mean that our grandchildren still thinks we're dead!" The Private panicked. "Hey! Stop your panicking soldier, I'll try to do my damn best but if you panic during a operation I'll fill a sock full of horse shit, and beat it on your mouth! Is that clear!" Patton threatened, which the soldier nodded aggressively. "Stop your nodding and get back to packing the equipment we got 30 seconds, START THE TRUCK! AND LOAD UP THE BROWNINGS!" Ordered Patton, as the truck started and the Browning Machine gun is loaded and attached to the back. As the truck left the snowy hill a distant yet monstrous humming sound came from the distance which made the soldiers look at each other and then at Patton. "What the hell are you looking at me for? LOOK AT YOUR WEAPONS AND BE READY TO SHOOT! Hey you! How's the.. Oh dear god... Why the hell are you not replacing THAT PAPER!" Patton scolded. The soldier replaced the paper but was quickly scribbled by the machine completely making Patton smile. "Hehehe. Now there's gonna be fun." Patton chuckled, he then sees a group of ponies infront of the truck and ordered. "Driver, pull up from the front of them, they will not make it to there on foot." He ordered. "But sir! If we stop the thing is sure to catc-" "I. SAID. STOP." The truck goes infront of the group of ponies and stopped right in front of them, scaring the mane 6 ponies as Applejack and Rainbow Dash raced to the front to confront the strangers when Shining armor assured. "Guys don't worry! That is-" "General George S Patton of the American Federation infantry armor division, CAN WE GET A MOVE ON WITHOUT INTRODUCTIONS!" Patton Interjected, in which Shining Armor looked at Twilight with a nervous smile. "Well that was rude.." Rarity pointed. "Yea, he was like this the moment we found him, quick get on board and I could maybe explain." Shining Armor ordered, as the mane 6 was now boarding the truck with scouts when Twilight got on and noticed a lot with the troops armor. As the girls was now loaded up the truck was now on the move through the tundra. "What type of armor is that?" Twilight asked. "A 729 class vest of course, very advanced." The Soldier replied happily. "I wouldn't be sure about that, I heard your home country had been busy creating new types of vest that puts yours into a outdated state." Shining Armor informed. "Well until we can- WATCH OUT SOMETHING'S BEHIND US!" A mountain of shadow's rises behind the truck and gives them a massive push in the truck shaking it, Patton sticks his head out of the window while being grabbed by Shining Armor's magic and he smirked. "Aha! So your the bastard Sombra that made me and everyone disappear huh? I'LL GIVE YOU A MAGICAL CURSE WITH BULLETS SHOVED IN YOUR SHADOWY ASS CRACK!" Patton grabs his 9 mm pistol and shot one entire round of mags into the shadow beast which seemed to made him mad, and Patton wanted him to be enraged. "JOIN IN THE FUN BOYS! FIRE THAT MACHINE GUN AND PUMP THE AMMO IN THAT BITCHES ASS!" He ordered, as the soldier manning the machine gun shouted to the pony passengers. "COVER YOUR EARS!" The girls covered their ears as the soldiers fired the machine gun at the shadow monster making the beast even more pissed and started to snarl and attempted to grab the truck before Shining Armor shot a beam of magic at Sombra, Patton was looking at the magic beam and gets a wild idea. But by the time Patton was going to implement his wild idea the truck made it past the barrier that protected Crystal city, making Patton shrug and laugh. The men stepped off the trucks and sling their rifles as they placed down steps for their passengers onboard as the soldiers already at the back of the truck opened the truck back and carefully lend down their guest. "Watch your steps." "Why thank you good sir, I wish there is stallions that are like these polite human soldiers!" Rarity expressed, but Twilight was now curious and went to her brother who was stepping off the truck. "So about that explanation? How did you find these guys?" She asked. "Well.. It's hard to explain but apparently the same time that Celestia and Luna was fighting Sombra the general of this army at the time were ordered to stand down, but.." "But when I was given word from Andrew Jackson I decided that instead of waiting around or being jackasses and retreated we went to the god forsaken city and evacuated what we can with the civilians in the time bomb of a city." "How many made it out?" Twilight asked. "Unfortunately we only save but two tenths of the population, the rest vanished, and so were we. I should've known there was that type of magic, maybe I should find out about it so I can make a city vanish myself. Of course if I was a Unicorn and not a human that is.." After the explanation of it, one of Twilights friends looked at the city in it's beauty while Patton walked up to them and warned. "City may be beautiful, but you better watch your damn steps, before leaving I ordered my men to close the streets and place mines, if you want a proper entrance try west gate, for now I need to get back to my company and inform them that it's been thousands of years." "Thank you for helping us back there." Twilight smiled. "Yea well, your welcome, now if you excuse me, I got a meeting with my officers I must attend about a course of action." As Patton finished, a 4 star symbol jeep arrived up the hill honking for Patton, he saluted to Shining Armor and got inside the jeep and rolled away from the group of 6, but it got him wondering about something. "Why do I feel like something might happen with those 6.. Hm.." New Lunar City, Thestrial occupied Gilligan region After being dragged by the woman he arrived to what seems to be a stable yet damaged building. The windows had been shattered, outside looked like it's been shot up, and the door is entirely if not completely gone from the hinges. "Great mother of Rodinia... Did the Thestrials did this?" Ogav asked, but the woman shook her head which surprised the soldier. She then grabbed a piece of old charcoal and drew on the wall a symbol. "Fuck not those guys.. I hate those guys!" Exclaimed Ogav, looking at the wall with the hand engraving of the Bosniak symbol, a ethnic group of Jugoslavia. The image she drew was the symbol of the Preubic Corps, a legion of ferocious and deadly troops headed and lead by the Current governor of the Argendinian Province of Preubica' Adolf Hitler. "I'm sorry your having to be going through that.. May I maybe offer-" "Lt. Ogav sir!" Called a soldier, entering the damaged building only to see him with a human lady. "Oh.. Sorry to disturb sir.." The Private apologized. "It's fine, what's going on?" Ogav asked. "Sir, we just received word from the N.I.B. The Bosnian division of the Southern Federation had been deployed, we are ordered to evacuate at once!" The soldier informed, burning Ogav's gut as he looked at the mute woman, he couldn't leave her like this, but neither her daughter. He looked at the woman who held her daughter tight, and then looked at the soldier. "How much room we have left?" Ogav asked. "Sir.. You don't intend on bringing both of them with us.." "I said, how much room do we have left.. Answer private." Ogav repeated. "Sir.. There's only one spot left, and we can't do-" Suddenly loud canon shots from the mountain top was heard, followed by whistling. "Ohhh Shit.. TAKE COVER! GET DOWN GET DOWN!!" Shouted Ogav, as Artillary rounds landed all around them, collapsing the roof of the damaged building as Ogav and the Private shielded the Girl and the woman from the debris. Meanwhile the Artillary strikes that came from the mountain pounded the area's in the New Lunar city, destroying more than what was damaged or destroyed already, the civilians are left out to die to the shrapnel of the explosion or the shells itself, the city then started to boil up in flames once again just when the firefighters just put the fire out, the Bat-Ponies attempted to return fire but with the good position they can't do anything other than advance or watch their enemies tear or burn more of what's not even left of a war torn city. When Ogav lifted a huge piece of concrete that collapsed on him and the Private, woman, and the little girl got up, the woman looked around in a horrid expression at the sight of the destruction of her home city, she then looked at Ogav with a emotional expression, and looked at her daughter who seemed to been have shivering from the cold winds of death and ashes. She decides to make a life saving decision for her daughter and does sign language to her, her daughter was stiff and horrified, while she tugged on her mother to come with her, her mother refused and shoved her towards Ogav, she looked at Ogav and does a bit of sign language. Ogav nodded, and the Private wept. "Privet.. Why are you crying?" Ogav asked. The Private sniffed, and replied. "You better take care of this daughter." "You read sign language?" He asked. "Of course I do..." The Private replied. Ogav looked and so did the Private at the woman as she did her sign language that Ogav would see for the last time. "What did she say.." Ogav asked. "Natasha.. She said take care of Natasha." He replied, which Ogav nodded, and her daughter Natasha hugged her mother one last time before the MI-24 helicopter landed near Ogav and the Private with the Corporal shouting. "LIEUTENANT! WE BETTER SKIDADDLE! ENEMY SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLARY IS ALL ON ABOUT TO POUND OUR ASSES!" As Ogav grabbed Natasha and took her on board the Gunship, he looked at her mother and slowly waved. "Dasvidaniya.. Ella.." The MI-24 helicopter took off, leaving the mother behind daughterless, on a field of ash and debris.. Ella Willow was killed in October the 12th, 1002 by Bosnian Artillary forces, her remains wouldn't be recovered later until 1004 during the clean up of the conflict.. Maximum death total by the end of the conflict would total to estimate over hundred thousands dead, Becoming the deadliest conflict since the Lunar wars.. Arctic wastes "LOAD OFF! MOVE IT MOVE!" Shouted a VDV SF Soldier, as 3 humans and 2 soviet ponies wearing a Gorka uniform jumped off the Mi-8 helicopter as Yuri stepped out and stretched out his muscles, taking a deep breath of the chilly arctic wind. "Sir Are you sure you don't need something to warm you? We are in a middle of a tundra hell after all?" The Special Forces Corporal asked. "No need soldier, all you need to do is watch my ride and be ready to cover my escape." Yuri said, reminding the Special forces soldiers the plan. "Well, good luck then sir.." The Soldier replied, as Yuri walked into the mist of snow of the wastelands. "He's gonna die is he.." Said a Pony Soldier, acting non-surprisingly. "Yep..." Yuri made his way through the God forsaken wastelands, trekking snow after snow, ironically he could've just parked the Helicopter right besides Crystal city but decided that it would be more cinematic for him to make the journey than a simple shortcut. But who do I know, I'm not the guy who has some mind shit and stuff. Anyways, after another mile of trekking through the snow, his face smirked in joy. "There it is.. The Crystal City, and now I'll need to acquire the staff that rightfully belongs to us, and by us.. I mean, well I think I get the deal, I should probably get some friends perhaps." Yuri said to himself, as he trekked through the snow again in the winter hell land. Crystal city "Alright! Steady! Steady as she goes it! Ohh! Oh! Yea yea right there, ANNNND drop!" The crane drops a heavy concrete barrier with a planted Browning machine gun mounted on top to which the nearby infantry men swarmed and drilled the barrier to the ground. Since the return of the Crystal Empire the human soldiers carried out older orders from Patton and prepared defenses, they knew that once the pink Alicorn's magic was to fade the beast would go right past it and it'll be flames and bullets everywhere. General Patton went inside one of the installed tents in the middle of the defense zones as music was playing that was joy to his ears it was quickly blotted out by the sounds of bickering and arguing it made him think. -Lord am I not getting old from all this bullshit.- He sat down and listen in his subordinate officers bicker over strategy. "We need to establish more mine fields! We may have been freed from whatever we've been freed from but that tyrannical beast is going to reclaim his lands!" "Are you crazy! That things a literal shadow, a minefield wouldn't do shit! I suggest we have spot lights and blind the son of a bitch!" "It might work, only problem is.. WE DON'T HAVE LIGHT TRUCKS!" As the officers shouted and argued followed by one of them throwing a vase at one of the arguing officers who then ducked to avoid a brick, Patton shook his head in disbelief.. "A thousand years, and we still argue over magic bullshit. I refused to believe that nonsense before being slapped in the face of what I'm dealing with now..." Patton said too himself, as he walked out of the tent and looked around the crystal ponies who looked depressed. At this point he didn't blame them. "Poor bastards.. If only I was fast enough, now where the hell are those 6 ponies I just saved.." Suddenly a tribune shout came from the Crystal castle that went silent followed by a voice that was then interrupted by the same tribune and then continued. "Hear ye! Hear ye! Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor do cordially invite you to attend the Crystal fair!" The human military officers came out of the tent in curiosity while some looked like they've been hit with a brick.. (Which they did) "What'd she say General? I couldn't hear that, my ears are still ringing." A officer asked. "Good grief.. We've been invited to some type of pony fair or something." Patton replied. "Maybe we should attend it sir, after all maybe we can find some more information about this place." A officer suggested. "Whatever, just make sure that you don't cause a ruckus!" Patton ordered, which the officers saluted and went to their companies. Patton then walked around in the crowd of oncoming Crystal Ponies coming to fair, he smirked at the city and how he could've done more than what he can do, but that was all in the books of history. But as Patton walked through the crowd he noticed something missing in the middle of the castle. "Wasn't the heart pure?" He spoke to himself, when a cyan pegasus zipped by him with a flag and blatantly exposed and confirmed his question. "Why did yo-" "I think we may have a problem! Do you know anything about a Crystal heart?!" Spoke the Cyan pegasus. As the two pony mares conversated about the relic they've spoken of Patton realized that the Crystal heart was missing, but if he was to tell his men about it they'll surely expose the truth and start a mass panic. Regardless though, maybe he could inform the Marine group... "General, is there a problem?" A Marine commander asked, coincidently and conveniently, he wasn't busy slacking off like the other officers are. "Yea.. Have your men gathered, we have a code Pearl-4. And it's desperate!" Patton informed, shocking the soldier who went confident and saluted which he than ran off to his company to provide the code phrase from the General. "Now.. It's about time we make our moves finally." The entrance Yuri goes through the bubble shield and shivered. Not from the cold but from the weirdness of magic it does to his mind senses.. He grabbed his radio and hovered over his face when he noticed the shield was fading out which exposed the area he's in, in darkness, followed by growls of anger and hungry. "Oh mother.. That can't be good.." He said to himself, turning around to see a shadow beast leering for it's catch as Yuri screamed. "AHHH!!!" But the shield was quickly raised back up and a piece of the beast was sliced from the horn and landed infront of Yuri's boots. It made him chuckle.. Only lightly, his radio went off from one of his men. "Hey comrade, you alive?" Asked one of the Special soldiers. "Da, is Gorka squad ready?" Yuri asked, while overhearing the men drinking Hot chocolate and sipping Borsch while Yuri suffered the whole time. "Uhh.. Yes comrade Yuri, the men are prepared to kill ponies and Americans! And.. Drink coco?" The Soldier replied, making Yuri rolled his eyes. "Not surprised comrade.. Anyways, just be ready with the MI-8, if we have to, we'll need to blow whoever opposes us sky high! Understood!" Yuri shouted. "Yes comrade Yuri! We'll be preparing now!! As we speak!" The soldier yelled back, as clinging sounds can be heard at the Gorka squad men and pone packs their dishes and grabbed their rifles in readiness. "Good, over and out." Finished Yuri. He looked straight ahead at the city, it seemed to be lifted up with some party ceremony or something, perhaps he could blend in but there was no time the steps were simple. Enter the castle. Find some type of safe place. Retrieve the staff. Get the hell out of there. "Simple.. Welp time to walk now." He said to himself.. Again. All the while walking towards the city of Crystals. SFN-Uncle carrier, off the cost of Vanhoover The black hawk was on time when it landed on the deck of the American Pride carrier as Uncle Sam awaited for my arrival with a smile of a old man as he and his body guards came up to me. "Good news Lieutenant! Princess Celestia is considering a treaty of peace with America!" Uncle Same expressed. "Treaty of peace? But we aren't even at war with them?" I replied, wondering what he means by peace? "Not that type of peace my dear boy! A alliance type peace! And she personally wants you to attend this ceremony next year!" He was on glee so much he can blow up and kill everyone in the carrier while sinking it in the process. "I have to ask though? What exactly were you... Doing with her?" Sam asked. "You don't think that I'm.." I blushed before shaking myself off and gagged. "I was kidding Lieutenant! What you did in Canterlot was very brave, of course the troops would've strategize and.. Stuff.. But you went all in and showed that Queen bastard what for!" Uncle Sam was still in joy but there was one thing that made me think.. "That's something I think about everyday though.. Was she right?" I wondered. "Right about what?" Uncle Sam questioned. "Maybe the Changeling lands were not involved with the political crisis that ensued with the White house.. After all there are other changelings too." "I don't know what your getting with that? But if I was to ask that if it wasn't her or her minions, then who?" Uncle Sam questioned again. "Perhaps it was the Soviets??" "The soviets.. Really.." "No I mean! Think about it! Have you noticed how silent they've been since the start of the Arabian conflict? And then just when we decided to pull our resources out of Zebrica and focus on our own backyard the soviets may have perhaps taken a advantage of it?" I asked again, just as Uncle Sam was gonna reply to that his bodyguards interrupted. "Sir. It's from the Crystal City Committee.. They want to speak with you." "The Crystal City Committee!? Eh.. Hand it here." He asked, as the body guard handed him the phone. The conversation goes on for 12 minutes before Uncle Sam ended it with a nod and a Uhuh. He hanged the phone up and turned towards the Captain of the Carrier. "Captain Eris!" He yelled. "Yes Uncle?" Replied the Captain. "Prepare the Helicopter fleet! We're bringing our boys home from the god forsaken hell hole of Crystals!" Ordered the Uncle, as the Captain saluted and grabbed his portable speaker. "ALL CREW MAN YOUR STATIONS! ALL HELICOPTER PILOTS REPORT TO BRIEFING ROOM NOW! THIS IS NOW A CODE CRYSTAL DASH ONE FOUR KAY!" As the crew scrambled to their stations rows of Helicopter pilots came out from the locker rooms with full edge gear and boarded the Huey's, Blackhawks, little birds, and the Apache helicopters as the propellers started swinging into fully gear I wondered what the hell is Crystal-14k? "Uncle Sam! What is Crystal-14k!" Is shouted as the winds from the propellers blurted out my voice. "I'LL EXPLAIN LATER! GET ON BOARD NOW!" Shouted Uncle Sam, as I boarded the helicopter he's riding on and then he shouted. "SHOWTIME BOYS! LETS GET OUR MEN THE FUCK OUTTA THERE! AHAHA!!!" The Helicopters one by one took off from the carrier deck into a V formation of 14 helicopters as they head into Equestrian lands. As the helicopters flew by though, they didn't expect someone or something watching them from afar. On the top of a Submarine was the Captain of the Soviet navy who was disturbed by what he seen a flight of birds taking off from the nest as he pressed the radio to his lips. "This is Captain Raionov, patch through the red mother, operation red staff has now been endangered. Crystal City The door opened up and the marines entered the castle with rifles slanged while Patton entered last with the special forces men scouring over the dressers, shelfs, and even rooted out the library books for some special switch. At the moment in the Library Shining Armor and Cadence walked over to there, because Cadence was weak from using her magic 24/7 to defend the city, when they see the human general overseeing a massive uproot of the entire castle. "What are you doing here?" Asked Shining Armor, grabbing Patton's attention. "What do you think I'm doing? I'm looking for that Crystal Heart that's needed to defend the city. What are YOU doing?" Patton asked back, as Shining Armor looked concerningly towards his sickened wife. "I'm trying to stay with Cadence as much as possible.. But with the entire city in the hands of my sisters friends and your... Soldiers.. I feel useless here.." He replied, but Patton rolled his eyes in pity. "Bullshit! Your a fucking Stallion who happened to be the "Captain" of Equestria's ENTIRE ROYAL GUARD! And you call yourself useless? I swear the benevolence of these ponies putting themselves down like this. Do they even teach anything at the academy you attended!!" Patton yelled, which made Shining Armor frown a bit. "But what about Cadence? I'm trying to keep her on her legs while Twilight finds the Crystal Heart! I'm sorry to say General but your looking in the wrong place!" Shining Armor revealed. "How so?" Patton asked, when a Marine ran up towards him. "SIR! WE'VE FOUND A OPENING IN THE THRONE ROOM OF THE CASTLE!" "WHAT!?" Shouted Patton, who then quickly turned towards his men still tearing books from the shelves. "WE FOUND A PASSAGE WAY GET THE HELL OVER HERE!" Shouted Patton, causing most of the marines to fall from the ladders and landed on a stack on books, that was for the lucky ones.. Patton then gathered up the troops and then looked at the castle map and then pointed at the Left hallway in which the marines went towards the direction. He looked at Shining Armor. "You know, after this is over. I like to have a chat with you." Patton added, which he then followed his men. Shining Armor went back to his thoughts on what Patton said, perhaps he wasn't useless after all he has Cadence with him and to watch over her is more important, he sighed and looked at his weakened wife who then looked at him with a tired worry expression. "I hope they hurry.. We're running out of time.."
The New World \| Millennium	Stalliongrad Victory Day	As the crowd gathered to sit down the Red Mother is escorted to her seat by her special forces soldiers who then sat down in the middle of the four leaders who were opposing one another. Dark Wing seem charismatic she would think, perhaps he would have a better way to solve a food crisis without going towards a desperate solution. There is also party leader Vasiliy, seems sane enough, but it would seem that perhaps she's not very lenient with the army just by the look of her views on the Stalliongrad Armed Forces. Sinister Serov looks like she could severe all ties with us.. Perhaps not best to have her in office if Altidiya dies... "You must be Mrs. Marx?" Asked Altidiya, as she sat besides the immortal mother. "I've heard great stories of you being the first species to jumpstart the great revolution, every communist nations envy's you! How did you created a perfect utopia!" The socialist leader smiled, making the Mother laugh. "Well, it's not all that easy having to watch your entrusted enforcer to do things right.. Even if it's for the right thing for the nation, but that's to say though, you must be Altidiya, the leader of Stalliongrad, I have to give you credit that you still have your sanity when it comes to party divide." The Mother grabbed lipstick and applied it to her lip while Altidiya frowned on the credibility of keeping the party together. "Sometimes it makes me wonder about some things.. You knew Caramel Marks right?" She asked. "Well darling, of course I knew Caramel Marks, just like I knew Steel Stallion, bold, stubby, and a bit ignorant, but I see that his successes were all but in vain, of course to say that all that ended up on a party crisis and a looming famine.. If anything.." Before the Red Mother finished a NIB agent came towards her with a secretive report. "Ma'am you've been called by the Director of the NIB, it's urgent." The agent said. "Alright then, Altidiya I love to chat but it seems something else calls me elsewhere, for now enjoy the parade and let me know how my valuable army goes okay?" The Red Mother waved and smile as she grabbed her purse and left. The parade starts and Altidiya and other party members and leader present watched as the magnificent Human Socialist army marched on their own soil alongside with their own Stalliongrad Red Army. The union of Soviet Humans and Ponies. But without a doubt, the best part was when the tanks rolled in on the concrete roads as the ponies looked in amazement at the contraptions wondering when will they have a chance to use their own types of these weapons. And the researchers working for Stalliongrad would say soon.
The New World \| Millennium	The Imperial Incident Part 2	"MAN! WHO KNEW CORN ON A COB IS BETTER HERE!" Shouted Holt Martavias, as he chilled out with the Crystal ponies that were also enjoying the corn. But they were distracted from who went by them as Yuri tripped inside the crowd of soldiers who didn't noticed anything. Yuri looked back at the gullible troops and chuckled when he bumped on a orange pony who was guarding the "Crystal Heart" Yuri and the orange pony hit their faces on the ground making the crystal slide and fall towards the solid ground before it was catched by Rainbow Dash in time. "Phew! That was close, sorry if I was in the way mister?" "Yuri, my name is Yuri." He introduced in a Slavic language. "Interestin' accent you got there.. Yuri? Say, I never saw you types of humans before." Applejack observed Yuri a little bit before Yuri replied. "That's because I was... Uhh. A traveler! Yes yes! And I'm currently looking to sell uh... Hmm.." "Corn?" "Yea! Yea! That's right corn! I do love corn.. Hehe..." As Yuri cursed himself for saying that word since he never liked corn in the first place it seems the southern pony is even more gullible than the human soldiers. "I think that checks out, if you want to set up shop go over there where Fluttershy is at and she'll set you right up there Yuri." Applejack smiled, but it made Yuri gag. "Thanks...." "No problem, happy to help stranger!" As Yuri and Applejack parted ways Rainbow Dash noticed something suspicious with Yuri. "Are you sure he's a corn selling human traveler?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I think he is? I don't know what humans do for a living, other than sell or invent stuff." Applejack replied, which Yuri entered inside the Crystal castle right in front of the two. "He's not a corn seller is he.." Rainbow Dash realized. "Nope... Reckon you snatch him?" "Me!? Why do I have to?" "Because I have to!.. Guard the Crystal Heart hehehe.." "Oh... On it!" Rainbow Dash left Applejack's side and chased after Yuri who had been given a literal 10 minute head start. Tall Tale "This is Hawkeye 0-1, we have now went passed Vanhoover coast and enroute to the tundra over." "Copy that Hawkeye 0-1." As the huey helicopter stayed in formation I looked out of the window with a curious mind on what's been going on, I just came back from a mission so why am I dragged into this one? "So! You were gonna explain to me what's been going on have you?" I asked. Uncle Sam turned towards me with a frown followed by a sigh which he stared at me and said. "Glad you remind me.." 731 BLB In 731.. The Crystal-Human war was somewhat a victory for us humans but... The problem was the losses that occurred.. And I'm not talking about our losses.. When Sombra started the initial attack through his imperial colony we've slaughtered the initial attack forces before we can even discover that they were unarmed the entire time... In fact from what I remembered is.. Others called the initial assualt "A army without weapons" to this day it was more of a massecre than a fight since they had nothing other than their bare fist, and the fact they were mind controlled was even worse.. But what was worse is that when we conquered our northern now communist neighbor.. The 143th Ranger division discovered that there was a spell on the entire lands of all of the Crystal Empire, President Andrew Jackson tried to warn the sisters Celestia and Luna but... They didn't think it was possible until it happened.. And when it happened not only Head General George Patton disappeared but along with his entire division.. What followed was mass riots that broke out all over the country, calling for war against Equestria. We've managed to disperse the crowd but in the end they let that bastard Buccannon into office the following year and well.. I think you know what happened next by now.. "Interesting explanation Uncle.. But just one question?" "What is it?" "Who or what is the Crystal Committee?" I asked. Uncle Sam was a bit silent with the question, it was 3 and a half hundred years since the committees formation and the original members died off by now and replaced with a younger generation throughout the centuries he practically lost track of what their purpose was at all. "Well you see... The Crystal Committee in simple terms was well.. Okay so it was originally going to be a expedition council before they were rejected by Celestia and Luna." Uncle Sam Briefly explained. "Why were they rejected?" I asked again. "Because uh... Luna became Nightmare moon, Bucannon was in office, Celestia banished Nightmare moon, then the council asked and Celestia said no.... Because by now we were on their shores..." "Bombing them.." ".... Well that was VERY anti-climatic!" "Yea... It was, of course I was in my garden the whole time of course during all of it." "...." After a moment of awkward silence between each other with the exception of the Helicopter blades making sounds I looked out the window and looked down upon a Pony village that was below us, a place with agriculture and hearty spirits. "Hey pilot? Where are we?" I asked. "We're at Tall tale county, one of the Agriculture cities at the Equestrian continent. Heh, barely see these types of towns nowadays." The Pilot replied chuckling not knowing what that meant to me. "My home is those types of towns.." I said to myself, looking at the town before it would fade in the mist of the sky, wondering what everyone else was doing back home.. Nin-con-si-soa, Westcon State, Camp June, 105th main base. At camp June the now promoted Colonel Alexander was looking at his letter in a concerned state that made him drank himself to death. Well almost to death, he popped open the lid off of a whiskey cider bottle and drinked the entire bottle bottle up when a knock sounded on his office door. "Do not disturb!" Yelled Alexander, before the door opened which pissed him off. "CREATER DAMMIT! WHAT DID I MEAN WHEN I SA-" He looked at General Douglas MacArthur who happened to tower over him arms crossed staring the fear of Creator and harmony into his soul. "I... Uh... I can explain si-" "it's fine Colonel.. Sit down, and then after a little talk, clean this room... It smells like shit." Ordered the General. "Right.. Right!! I'll sit now.." The Colonel cleared a seat that was piled with Alcohol bottles towards the roof which made the General cringe and a bit distraught at the messy Colonel as he sat down on the now cleared chair which he can feel the singes of Alcohol staining his pants. He shook his head. "Colonel Alexander B. Kenia.. If it was up to me, i'd personally have you discharged from the army!" "I thought you'd say that... I'l- wait.. Did you say if?" Alex asked. "Yes... Unfortunately if, if it wasn't for Uncle Sam himself saving your ass right now I'd have you out of this office and spare this room from your recently gained Alcohol bullshit! But with compromises I didn't came here to demote you but rather give you a protege." Macarthur smirked when Alexander's eyes widen enough to were even the eye lids weren't big enough to contain them. "P-P-PROTEGE?? General! I know I served under Major Gordan once and he was my mentor but me?? Having a Protege? MacArthur I don't think I'd be ready for that type of responsibility I ain't ready for it!" "Says the same person who said "It'll take two years to get a replacement" face the facts Colonel, you already knew this day would come some way or another, you will be personally be training the American Armies first ever and handpicked pony army officer!" Macarthur announced to Alexander, which stunned the alcoholic even more as he sat down on his chair in total shock. "Pony... Why a pony!? Why couldn't be a griffon! Griffons are more cooler than a magic gloating pony!" "Relax Colonel, it's a Earth pony." "Puh.. Still worse, it's just a pony with no types of talents at all, and you expect me train him personally?" "Either you train him Colonel.. Or your done, you have no choice here unless you consider leaving as a choice then the door behind me may be your destination, just make sure to pack your damn shit filled bottles up first." Macarthur threatened, which Alexander got up from his chair and stared at the window. After a while he looked at the five star general and asked. "What's his name?" Macarthur replied. "Gold Star." Crystal City, the Throne Room "Open passage way private? THERE IS FUCKING NOTHING IN HERE! NOTHING BUT A FUCKING CHAIR!" Scolded Patton, as the soldier being scolded attempted to defend himself. "B-but sir! I saw the passage way it was right here where I'm standing! Honest!" "Honest? HONEST! HOW COULD YOU! BE HONEST, THE WHOLE FUCKING ONE THOUSAND YEARS IS HONEST, THE FUCKING FACT THAT THE DAMN GOTHIC DARK MAGIC PONY FUCKING CURSED A CITY TO GO POOF! AND THE FACT THAT I BELIEVED A TRUTH THAT MAGIC WAS A LIE WAS... Was..." "A.. Lie sir?" The soldier replied, as the troops made a straight clearing for the solider who replied. Patton looked at and stepped towards the soldier with a pissed face. "Whats your name soldier.." "Henry.. Sir.. Henry Wilkerson.." "Tell me Henry Wilkerson.. Do you have somebody to go back to after all this is done?" Patton asked. "I.. Do sir, my mom, my dad, and my fiance.." Replied Henry. "Alright.. Now about you soldiers.. What awaits you home hm?" Patton asked, the group went dead silent before one replied. "My wife and children sir.. It's all that matters to me." And then another. "Family sir." And another. "My.. Union. Sir." As Patton looked at their replies that sounded hopeful he sighed with the one realization. "You.. Have nothing back home then.. Now, does any of yall want to know why?" Patton questioned. The group was again, silent, no response, no mumbling, and no whisper, just silence. Patton then tooked his hat off, and slammed it on the crystal thrown making a huge bang sound. "BECAUSE EVERYONE WE KNEW A THOUSAND FUCKING YEARS AGO IS DEAD! NO MOMMY, NO DADDY, NO FIANCE, NO ONE ! Lives.. A for a thousand years.. Now tell me gentlemen... Soldiers.. Men.. What exactly does that mean to you? Are you simply going to come back to the graves of the loves ones? Or perhaps return to something that had been dead for the past couple years? Well there's one thing to face gentlemen.. And that one thing is that we're all presumed dead by now... But that doesn't mean we don't have a purpose, who are we?" The silence continued, Patton sat down on the throne leaned forward staring at his men who seemed to been either shocked or deeply empty. But one stepped up.. "We're soldiers." Replied the soldier, which the group looked at him. As another stepped forward. "We're men." More joined in. "We're humans." "We're Saviors." "We're Peacekeepers." "We, are Americans." Patton got up from the throne in a resounded face of approval and surprise, he stepped down with a smile. "You know... Perhaps we do have a calling, and it seems fate happened to called not just me.. But all of us to fight in this city or perhaps maybe this empire.. Heh, Uncle Sam will probably be pissed for this but I think we'll be staying where we should, what do you guys think of that?" Asked Patton. The soldiers cheered and whooped at the Generals decision when the radio on his pocket sputtered with a shout. "GENERAL!!! COME IN GENERAL PATTON WE HAVE A SITUATION!!!" Patton grabbed the radio from his side and replied. "What is it?" "CADENCE HAS FALLEN, AND THE SHIELD IS DOWN! AS WE SPEAK I'M DISPATCHING THE ARMOR BATTALLION AND SENDING THE TROOPS TO THE TRENCHES!" Shouted the officer as the background is filled with soldiers holding bolt-action rifles and Thompson machine guns getting inside buildings and preparing to defend the city with their lives. "FOR GOD SAKES KENNY! KEEP YOURSELF TOGETHER!" Replied Patton. He hoisted his radio and turned to his soldiers. "Load your guns men this is it, we'll need to-" Suddenly a loud roar shouted indicating Sombra is drawing close, he peeped out of the throne room window and snarl at the sight. "Disgusting shit, we need to get a move on! We'll find that Crystal organed shape later, or atleast till I can knock this bastard in the head with my own shit!" Patton and the marine troops ran out of the throne with a accelerated pace, so fast that they didn't even caught a glimpse of Yuri when they went by him. With Yuri meanwhile, after avoiding a wall of boots that narrowly trampled him to death, he walked inside of the throne room and grabbed out a high tech location device that tracks objectives set upon of his thoughts. He hovered the locator all over the place, from the walls, the throne seat and even a crystal, he then pointed it at the highway he came out from and it saw nothing before there was a arrow that pointed down on the crystal floor, indicating that something is underground, it intrigued Yuri with a thought. "Perhaps someone was smart to hide this objective under the ground cover by the crystalized properties of these lands... Smart for a pony but not smart enough to accommodate this." He then placed all of his focus on the hollow flooring, at the first it didn't budge until it shook like a earthquake and then he lifted the entire floor off revealing a set of stairs leading to a basement, he smiled as he tossed the cursed floor that blocked him from his object to the side and walked down to the dark abyss once was known to be Sombra's underground depths below. He grabbed a flashlight from his pocket and lit the stairwell he grabbed a penny and dropped it off the edge of the stairs listening for a plop when he heard it land to the absolute bottom telling him he has a long way to go. What was a peaceful period now turn into a chaotic shoot out scene as Crystal Ponies are directly evacuated by Human soldiers while the troops attempted to slow down or even kill Sombra using machine guns and M1 Garand rifles. "DAMMIT NOTHING CAN KILL THIS BASTARD!" Shouted a soldier, before he was trapped by the black crystals. "SIR WE'RE LOSING MORE MEN THAN WE CAN GET MORE OF! WE NEED MORE SUPPORT!" Shouted a Warrant. Patton ran outside with the marine soldiers as he looked at the chaos and saw that his men are disorganized from the fair. "Dumbasses, PRIVATE SLAP YOUR OFFICER AND THEN TELL HIM TO PULL BACK WHAT WE HAVE SO WE CAN FOCUS ON THAT SON OF BITCH!" "UNDERSTOOD! RIGHT AWAY!" "CORPORAL! YOU ALSO, SLAP YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER AND TELL HIM TO BRING THOSE DAMN TANKS BEFORE I PERSONALLY FEED HIM TO THAT!" Pointed Patton, as the Shadow beast screeched indicating that's who he'll feed the Corporals officer to. "SIR YES SIR!" "REST OF YALL! DO THE SAME, BUT SLAP YOUR OFFICERS HARDER IN THE FACE!" As the group dispersed Patton ran from the dwelling part of the castle and saw that the crystal was found by the looks of the Black Crystals, he also noticed that Shining Armor's magic seemed to be kicking Sombra's ass but he thought back in the previous chase from the beast and reminded himself of the great idea he had. He ran inside the dwelling while shoving the Crystal Ponies out of his way and ran back top of the Balcony where he sees Shining Armor fighting off Sombra while defending Cadence, Patton grabbed his Colt Model and shot some rounds at Sombra's face causing the face to back off. "General! What are you doing here it's not safe!" "Well! If I go down I'd rather go down fighting, but if you intend on trying to defend your wife I'd suggest MOVING HER INSIDE!" Patton suggested, firing more shots. "Is that really up for discussion!" "Hell no it's not! I came here for another reason! You still have that horn of yours active right!?" Patton asked. "Of course I do, but what do you have with my horn!?" Shining questioned. "Not your horn sonny, your magic. Shoot your laser beam thingy at my pistol!" Patton asked. "What? But if I do that you won't have a weapon at all!" "Don't worry, I double wield! NOW DO IT!" He ordered. "Your funeral general." Replied Shining armor, as he lit his horn and fired his magic at the pistol which transformed the openings in the hand pistol into bright purple color, Patton opened the revolver and sees the bullets glow in a magical aura. It surprised Shining Armor that it worked. "Oh boy, I'm about to have fun with this." Patton smirked. "Do not waste your shots general! That's all I can do!" "Gee and to think you know a guy." "JERRICK! HELP ME PUSH THIS M7!" Shouted Linan, as the two pushed on the M7 but fails to move it. One of the Marines ran by the two and stopped turning and asking. "What's going on!" "SIR THE M7 SP IS STUCK! WE CAN'T GET IT TO BUDGE!" Shouted a soldier. The radio comms are activated with orders from the Armor officer. "ALL ARMOR PERSONAL FROM SELF-PROPELLED TO SHERMAN ARMOR TANKS, WE NEED TO DEFEND THE LOCALS FROM SOMBRA, WE NEED THEM FOR A CASTLE ITTER FORMATION IMMEDIATELY! THAT GOES FOR MECHANIZED UNITS AS WELL!" The Marine quickly got behind the stuck M7 who was then joined by 7 other soldiers who heard the order as well. "TOGETHER! ONE! TWO! THREE! PUSH!!!" The 10 troops pushed the M7 off of the ditch it was stuck in giving the men air to breath. "Do we head to the castle now?" Asked the soldier. "Nah, I think I have a better Idea.." "Do tell.." "Sir! All but one armor assets had reported in for action!" Informed the officer. "Sir they explained that they have a "plan" in the radio! But haven't specified?" The warrant explained. "At this rate I don't have time to torch their asses for insubordination I'll let them implement it as long as it works! But we don't have time for this anyways, do we atleast have all the ponies in and accounted for!?" "I don't know si-" "WHERE'S MY CHILD!" Shouted a female Crystal pony. "HAS ANYPONY SEEN MY TRUTHY!" The officer looked around when the sky turned death Orange and white clouds replaced with black ash clouds before spotting a filly running from a wall of black crystals. "Ah hell no not on my watch!" Shouted the officer, as he got off the canopy of the Sherman and ran. "SIR ARE YOU CRAZY!" Shouted the warrant. The officer grabbed his Sub-machine gun and fired on the black crystals that was forming behind the filly. The crystals shattered at the contact of the low caliber bullets as the officer picked up the filly and ran from the rebounding crystals chasing after him. "Holy shit he is crazy.. GET READY TO FIRE!" Shouted the warrant, as the crew men got on the Browning Machine guns attached to the tanks and got ready to fire. The crystals catched the officer by the leg dragging him and the filly away from the castle, the officer tried to kick it and bash it but failed miserably before it was precisely shattered from a revolver round from General Patton. "GET MOVING DAMN YA, I GOT YOUR BACK!" Shouted the General from the balcony. The officer nodded and ran back towards the tank barricades and climbed on top and shouted. "OPEN FIRE!" The HMGs and Light Machines fired upon the Crystals that were now shattering as if they never came to life, it started to hurt the shadow beast as more and more Crystals shattered. The officer sat and lay on the tank treadmills and smiled, as the fillies eyes widened opened. "Mama!" Said the filly, as the Crystal pony mother embraced him in tears. "Thank you Mr.. Whats your name?" Asked the mother. "Canter, Canter Yates.." "Thank you Canter, for saving my child.. He's the only one I have left as family." The mother said, trotting away from Canter, he looked at a family photo and smirked. "I can't wait to see you... Meagan.." The Crystal-Equestrian border "Pilot! How far are we now!?" I asked. "15 miles from here, then we'll be there!" The pilot replied. I sat down on the chair and looked at the front, I looked at a photo of my Great Grandfather who was there with my Great grandmother Meagan. "What picture is that?" Asked Sam. "Well.. The picture your seeing was my Great grandmother and Grandfather, my Great grandmother has a disorder of some kind, probably traumatic, she'd always talk about how beautiful Celestia is, and keeps pushing me on complimenting her.. Like seriously I doubt she'd see Celestia or Luna at all." "Well, I guess you can say is she's a fan." Uncle Sam smiled and chuckled. "Heh, I guess you could say.." "By the way, I know your Great Grandfather.. He was sent on the mission with General Patton." "Really? What's his rank?" I asked. "Armor Captain, his name is Canter Yates, I can assume that he's your Great Grandfather?" Uncle Sam guessed. "Yea, how do you know?" I asked. "Heh, what if I was to say that me and him were partners just like you and I. Of course he never liked being cooped up in the old White House and run errands, in fact he preferred that he served in the Armor Corps. So I setted him up for a Lieutenant position and let me tell you, he ended the Crystal war quick since then. Heh, sometimes I missed the man.. But I guess if we found the Crystal city we can find him." Uncle Sam explained smiling at the Lieutenant. "Say.. I never catched your real name Lieutenant, I know that your middle name is Justin, and your last name is Yates, but what's your actual name?" Uncle Sam questioned, I wasn't really much the type of person to answer that question but... That's Uncle flipping Samuel Wilson so of course I should answer.. But how am I going to answer? Perhaps if I say it fast and don't say it again he won't bother asking. "vader" I said quickly, but it seemed that he catched on to it.. "Vader...? Vader? Like griffonian for father Vader? That Vader?" "That's all I'll tell.. I'm sorry but I don't like providing my name." "No no sonny, it's just that.. The name actually sounds what you young folks now say nowadays. 'Cool' why hide it?" Uncle Sam asked. I refused to answer it but that'll just be like lying to a powerful being, of course I'm gonna have to answer that.. "I-" "SIR! WE HAVE RADIO FREQUENCIES SPIKING UP!!" Shouted a pilot, which frightened the crew, Uncle Sam climbed towards the copit. "What're they saying sonny!" Uncle Sam asked. "Hold on sir! It's Morse code, lemme try to translate it." The pilot said, clicking switches on the top. After flicking the last switch the Morse code started printing into letters and sentences as the co-pilot tear the paper out of the side printer and read. "S.O.S. This is the 34th company requesting assistance, if anyone is out there we are in need of support, I repeat, we're under attack. Our location is the Crystal city at longitude 34, latitude 26." "That's Patton! Quick! We got to speed up as fast as we can before something else happens that fucks us over! NOW!" "This is Hawkeye 0-2 all copters diverge all power to engines, full speed and fast forward!" "Copy Hawkeye 0-2, engaging power diverge to speed modules and propellers." The helicopters sped up into a swift speed of wind which pissed me off all of a sudden. "WE'VE BEEN SLOW THIS ENTIRE TIME!" I shouted. "WHY YES! HOW CAN YOU TELL?" Uncle Sam replied, with a lenny like facial expression. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Crystal City After 26 revolver rounds shot at Sombra Patton was now down to his last two rounds. "THIS THING WON'T KNOW WHEN TO DIE DOES IT!" "It's not going to work, only the Crystal Heart can-" "OH YEA! CRYSTAL HEART THIS, CRYSTAL HEART THERE, CRYSTAL HEART MY ASS! WHERE THE FUCK IS THE CRYSTAL HEART THEN!" "Up here! I got the Crystal Heart!" Yelled Spike, as the 4 of the mane 6 (Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Applejack) and Cadence and Shining Armor looked up in shock. Patton looked up and was surprised but at the same time satisfied. "ABOUT TIME! HEY DRAGON! KEEP YOUR GRIPS ON IT! I'M SENDING SOMEONE TO GET YOU DOWN FROM THERE!" Shouted Patton, grabbing his radio and spoke. "Get the marines back up here now! Spike has the Crystal heart and we have to secure i-" Suddenly a black Crystal knocked Spike off his feet and started free falling to the ground shocking the hell out of everyone as Sombra formed a Black Crystal to reclaim his prize treasure. "I̵̙̫̓̊̋̎̿̇̎̕͠͝T̸͕͖̰͖̣͆̍̏̏͌̾̑͐'̸̧͉̤́̀̿Ș̷̓ ̶̥̩̰̳̟͍̗̘̙͛̚ͅM̶̢̺̞͕̤̝̓̋̾̂͌͂͜I̴̢̦̙̼͙̼̋̀́̏̓̏̽͆͌͘N̴̛̞̫̟̝͇̻̳͎̳̓͊̈́̈́̌̓͝E̶̳͔̒̀̄̋" Shouted the Shadow creature. "Do you see him yet!?" Asked a soldier as he looked through binoculars when he spotted a huge black crystal pillar reaching a purple dragon. "I SEE HIM! BE READY TO FIRE ON MY MARK!" Shouted the soldier. The cannon raised it's barrel and pointed towards the rising pillar heading towards spike when other black crystals started to surround the Self-Propelled Artillary. "SHIT! THESE CRYSTALS ARE GETTING ALL OVER THE PLACE! YOU GOT ONE SHOT AT THIS GERALD!" Shouted Linan, as Gerald looked through the aiming scope. "EAT THIS MOTHER FUCKER!" As the sound of the canon fired ranged out, the crystals that surrounded them shattered, and as for the shell, it zoomed right towards the pillar created by Sombra and as he motionlessly watch as the Shell breached he realized, he picked the wrong house. As the shell smashed through it exploded upon impact shattering Sombra's crystal pillar and straightway towards Spike came Cadence who swooped in and saved Spike in time. As for Sombra... He landed on the crystals and was severely injured which then Patton, who happened to have walk down the thousands of stair cases, came towards Sombra with a smirk. "Not so tough now huh? Boys? Show him what happens when you cursed innocent lives in a city for a thousand years." Sombra got up and saw a group of Human soldiers grinning and smirking. "With pleasure." One said, cracking his knuckles. "STAND BACK! I'LL- I'LL KILL YOU A-" WHACK! As the group of soldiers started a all out beat down on the former shadow king, Cadence flew down to the center of the castle and placed the Crystal Heart on the podium. "The Crystal Heart has returned! Use the love within you to power it to ensure Sombra does not rule you no more!" Cadence spoke, as the Crystal ponies bowed to the heart, charging it up which sent shockwaves across the known lands. Sombra is vaporized. "Awww... I was gonna use a flamethrower :(" Said one soldier. The fleet of helicopters was now at the tundra zone when the shockwave of love power swept over them. I was a bit weirded out from that though while it wasn't that important, but worth mentioning. As the defeat of Sombra occurred Yuri the whole time reached the bottom of the stairs only to find two doors. "Hmm.. Eeny meeny miny moe catch a capitolist by his giant nasty cash toe... Bingo.. The one without the Crystal, nice try you wretched ponies, you may have a crystal but I know when to not fall for a nightmare door." Yuri prided, as he opened the door that lead to a room with a desk, library, and a... A... "THERE IT IS! AHAHAHAHA! COME TO YURI!" He smashed the glass casing and grabbed the staff of Luther, he felt it's disabled power, but that's because only a Luther family member can wield such power.. A power to create continents and destroy them... "HEY!" Shouted a feminine voice, as Yuri turned towards a Cyan Pegasus who was following him the whole time. "Oh. You scared me, I thought you were one of those capitolist Americans, or it'd be really a scare." Yuri insulted. Put that back! Or I'll- "Or what? Hit yourself?" Yuri smirked. "What- OUCH! HEY! LEFT HOOF WHAT ARE YOU- OOF!-" After forcing Rainbow Dashes hoof to punch her off the ground Yuri ran past her in a fast pace with the Staff when Rainbow dash kept her hoof down and flew after Yuri. Yuri looked behind him and spoken. "If you like so much of yourself? Then how come your punching yourself!" "What!? I ain- oh no NOT AGAIN!" Both of Rainbow Dashes hooves started punching her in the face, making her lose her speed and flight giving Yuri time to escape from the Cyan pegasus. After reaching the top he looked down and chuckled at the Rainbow maned pegasus biting on her own hooves. "I'd like to play comrade pony, but I have a date to attend to, Dasvidaniya!" "HUH?! HEY UNCOOL! GET BACK HERE!" Shouted Rainbow dash as Yuri ran from the hole in the Throne room. Rainbow Dash flew up and bumped into Twilight who was speaking to her brother about the secret room. "Rainbow Dash? What's wrong?" Asked Twilight. "No time to explain! That guy stole something that doesn't belong to him!" Rainbow Dash briefly explained, when a vase shattered on the floor revealing Yuri's hiding spot which Shining Armor, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash cornered him. "Welp, I didn't really want to do this but it seems you left me in a tough spot and hey, since you have friends... I like to show you my friends." Chuckled Yuri, as the sounds of Helicopter blades can be heard. "Is that-" "GET DOWN!" Shouted Shining Armor, ducking on his sister and her friend as a hellfire missile blew a hole in the castle wall, revealing a MI-8 transport helicopter loaded with Pony and Human Airborne soldiers. Yuri got up and dusted himself and the staff, he looked at the pony pile which they started to get back up. Yuri turned his back to them and spoke in the radio. "Meet at point Alpha. Oh.. And deploy the men, I always wanted to see what a Unicorn can fare against rifles." He ordered, as the Soviet MI-8 Helicopter went to the outskirts and begun landing itself on the ground, while at the same time unloading the Airborne soldiers off the helicopter. "Feel free to chase me if you like, it'll make my day even more fun." Yuri chuckled, as he jumped out of the hole. Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked down and saw Yuri running from the castle. "C'mon Rainbow Dash, we've got to stop him!" Twilight said determined which Rainbow Dash nodded. "Count me in Twily!" Shining Armor smiled at his sister. Twilight and Rainbow dash looked at each other and the trio ran after Yuri. Yuri meanwhile was still running towards the Helicopter when a Orange Pony stopped in front of him with a lasso, followed by Rarity and Spike, and then Fluttershy with a pack of wild animals cornering him.. "Wait a second.. I've heard of you 6.. But where's pink one?" Asked Yuri when he heard a pony clear her throat. "SURPRISE ATTACK!" Shouted Pinkie as her party cannon fired confetti on Yuri's eyes causing him to drop the staff. "AHGGH! BLYAT! ENOUGH GAMES!" Shouted Yuri, while getting up and ran to grab the staff before it was snatched by Twilight's magic. Yuri looked at the staff hovering by Twilight who was staring at Yuri angerly in which the MP took positions and Patton grabbed a Microphone. "Attention bastard! Surrender now or eat... (My lord who wrote this?) Feathers..." Patton yelled. Yuri chuckled as gunshots ranged throughout the entire city with Airborne soldiers shooting at the sky to clear the crowds that ran in panic as they took positions behind the barriers and buildings pointing their weapons at the American soldiers, who also pointed theirs at the Green suited men who are behind Yuri. Following the Americans came a GMC tank destroyer that rolled in and pointed its turret at the Rodinian men. Both sides goes on a stand off before they can hear a song appear from the mountains... A fleet of Huey's arrived and landed on the city soil. "GO GO GO! MOVE IT YOU BASTARDS!" Shouted Uncle Sam, as I grabbed my M4A1 rifle and followed of the rest of the deploying soldiers. General Patton looked pale and shocked when he sees a fleet of green flying helicopters landed with troops towards his aid as the American troops reinforced Patton's soldiers and pointed at the green Airborne soldiers. Uncle Sam stepped off the Huey with a radio and shouted. "IF YOU WANT TO LIVE, GET THE HELL OUT OF EQUESTRIA!" Shouted Uncle Sam. "And if we don't? You know... If you kill us you've basically just started a continental war." Yuri spoke. "Maybe so! But what of your men hm?" Uncle Sam asked, as the Airborne soldiers behind Yuri started running towards the MI-8 helicopter that had it's propeller activated, angering Yuri as he turned towards the old man. "DAMN YOU SAMUEL WILSON! MARK MY WORDS YOU WILL PAY FOR HUMILIATING ME LIKE THIS! AND YOU! YOU SIX PONIES! JUST MADE A LONG TIME ENEMY! WITH THE GREAT AND POWERFUL YURI! AND I'LL SEE TO IT THAT YOUR SUFFERING IS IMMINENT!" Shouted Yuri, as he ran towards the MI-8 helicopter and climbed on board just as it tooked off from the grass. The men were relieved. "I wonder where I heard that before..." Twilight said, referencing to a certain blue unicorn wizard. Cadence landed beside her husband in which the two embraced each other. Patton meanwhile turned towards Uncle Sam in a neutral expression. "General Patton.." Uncle Sam spoke. "Uncle Samuel Wilson, it's been a long time ey? What's changed." Patton asked. "A lot..." "Well.. I guess a thousand years can do that to some people.." Patton replied. Uncle Sam frowned. "Unfortunately most of everyone had presumed you dead Patton.. But you can change that and come home to us." Uncle Sam offered, showing his hand. But Patton knew what would happen if he accepts this. "No.. I don't think I will accept that, if it's true that everyone around me is presumed dead other than the ponies here... Then I prefer that perhaps we're better off as defenders of this city." Patton smirked, which shocked the ponies but not the human soldiers as it was no surprise. "I'm not surprised at your stubbornness Patton, but I'd like to ask one thing.." As the two talked I was looking for Canter when I bumped into a person in the crowd of men. "Sorry" "Sorry" I dropped my picture and the man I bumped into picked it up. "I'm sorry about that sir." I apologized. "It's fine.. I." The person paused and looked at the picture with a shocked expression and then looked at me. "Where did you get this picture from..." Asked Canter. "Great Grandpa Canter? Is that you?" I asked, which Canter's eyes widened. "Great? Did you say Great Grandpa?" He asked. "I did.. I came with Uncle Sam.. To bring you home, I heard you were in this assualt. I came here to-" Suddenly Canter grabbed my should and smirked. "Listen.. Great Grandson.. It's weird but I just want to know.. Is Meagan ok?" He asked. "Of course, Great Grandma Meagan is healthy!" I replied, which he started to tear up. "Then tell her.. I love her with all my heart.. Tell her this.. And if you see your Grandparents... My children.. Tell them no matter what.. You did great... And I love you for that... Tell them this.. Great Grandchild." Canter smiled, and we both embraced each other in a familial hug. Camp June, post day. The Colonel Gulped as he stepped on the stage where Macarthur smirked. "Do I have to General?" "You love your job right Colonel?" Macarthur reminded. "Right.. No going back then." Replied the Colonel. He stepped up the Podium and looked at the tank men, engineers, and medics who're sitting on the chairs waiting for the special announcement that was called by the intercom as the Colonel cleared his throat. "Good day, Gentlemen, and Colts, today I like to announce the full fledge first time in American history that a pony had became the first officer since the American civilwar in 57, today I like to announce the first pony. Gold Star. Please step up, and you give him a applause." The Colonel said shortly, as the men clapped. A tan stallion pony walked up the podium, with a pure tan fur coating, Brown Unshorn fetlock hooves, brown mane, and had a decently brown formal uniform as he took up the podium and spoke. "Greetings." Vanhoover After being dropped off to a Hotel room in Vanhoover, home of the Equestria Socialist, he was reading a news paper regarding the incident of the Crystal city and how his name was butchered. And that a new Human-Pony Crystal city division was formed as the first mix species division. He snarled at the picture of the mane 6 when a pony stallion knocked at the door and slipped a envelope inside of Yuri's room. Yuri got up from the bed and picked up the letter, it had the Red Mother's hand writing. "Let's see what plan B is mother.." He said, as he opened the envelope and looked at the file within it. He looked at the picture and quickly grabbed the news paper to see the same face in the picture. "Hehehe.. AHAHAHAHAHA!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! So... Mr. Yates... Let's see what you got." Said Yuri, as he cleared his desk.. And started planning...
The New World \| Millennium	Chapter 4: 1003 ALB, Negotiations	Captain Douglas Petrie: 978-1003. cause of death: Cancer. After the funeral ceremony I went inside of the cafeteria and waited for everyone to enter for the meal that was provided but I wasn't hungry.. Those past two years off of the Statcom and into shit ton of missions and for what.. To find out that my Captain is now dead... Just when I was about to just up and leave when a decorated admiral came to my table and sat down. "You must be Mr. Yates?" The Admiral smiled, but I gave no reply... We were both silent for a moment before the Admiral picked up where he left off. "You know, I heard stories about one man strangling a Changeling Queen at the incident in Canterlot, I said to myself that this wasn't true but seeing you in person I see why they'd say that." The Admiral smirked. "Well, I guess stories are sometimes fact." I replied, looking outside of the window with the American Pride ship, the Statcom, settling along the docks waiting for a new commander to head it. "Magnificent isn't she? I dreamt of being the admiral of the ship and well.. I guess dreams do come true." The Admiral smiled. "Your the replacement?" I guessed. "Of course, I've been the commander of the FNS-Raymond, and well, it was boring trying to man a Battleship.." The Admiral smiled. "Heh. Well if that's where you came from admiral, it should surprise you that this is more advanced than what you've commanded. Sir." The man laughed and than continued. "No matter! We could be friends yes?" The admiral replied excitedly, before he turned to see a group of men calling him over. "I must go, do say keep in touch?" The Admiral asked. "Touche." I replied, making him chuckle. "Hasta Luego, amigo." He spoke in his Kubian accent. I looked at the Admiral and smiled, not because the man is very jolly, but the man might be the first of something.. "Mr. Yates." Yelled a man with a black suit and black sunglasses, as he walked towards me with a letter. "Yes?" I replied. "Uncle Sam, and President Ronald Reagan request your presence." The Secret Service man said, as I look at the envelope titled my name. "When?" "Immediately.." Zebrica, Colthage city, American Controlled Port Amber. "So... You must be the infamous brothers, the Wayne's.. Hm, it's rare to command two of the same family." The General chuckled. "I mean, atleast we can keep out eyes on each other... Right David!" "Hey don't look at me I wasn't the one who was late when we were-" "That's enough! Both of you!" Yelled the General, silencing the two brother as he sighed. "There's a.. Reason why I called you both here, the Eclipse Brigade is getting shutdown and rebranding." The General informed. "Rebrand? Rebrand to what exactly sir?" Asked David, before being smacked on the elbow. "We're now going from a espionage team to total absolute special forces. We'll be called the Special Air Unit (SAU), and while we can't continue on spying on what's soon to be our ally-" "Ally sir?" "Yes Lian.. Ally, we're going to be patching up relations with Equestria." The General replied. "So... Why are we involved then?" Asked Lian. "Yea what's our purpose?" Second David. "You'll be personally handing a apology letter to Celestia and the other 5 Equestrian staff members that I've written at the request of the President of the United States!" The General informed. "Wow... The fact that we became soldiers to postmen is a downturn." Lian expressed. "Here here.." "This is no joke you dumbasses! If you screw this up not only you'll be discharged from the army and this unit! But you'll fuck us over with Equestria accepting peace with humanity! SO DON'T FUCK THIS UP! GOT IT!?" Shouted the General, forcing the two to salute. "SIR YES SIR!" Shouted the two in unison. "Good, there's a helicopter with your names on it that'll be transporting you to capitol hill." The room went silent for a moment as the two waited for more what the General was going to say. "That means GET THE HELL OUT OF MY OFFICE!" And immediately the Wayne brothers bolted out of his office and towards the heli-bay. The next day, Ponyville It was the usual average day in Ponyville, despite of course the fact that the town is still cleaning up a mess that slapped them at their door step from the Everfree forest. Regardless though, the ponies there continued the usual lives. Oh look, the purple Alicorn is on a stroll through the town, surely this one has a average life. "Hahaha... Very funny Spike.." Twilight Sarcastically said, using her magic to look at her book. "What? Can't I find something productive with this Camera?" Spike asked. "If you want to find something productive with that Camera use it on flowers, or bees! Just let me get back to what I'm reading." Twilight said, going back into her book. "Is something wrong? For the past days since the elements you and the others gave up the elements to save Celestia and Luna you've been a bit busy.." Spike pointed out, making Twilight close her book. "I KNOW! OKAY! FIRST, I'M A ALICORN, SECOND, THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY IS POOF! GONE! AND NOW I HAVE TO FIND A WAY OF HOW TO BE A PRINCESS LET ALONE-" "Woah! Woah! Woah! Okay so a lot went by, but we're not at that point yet, take it easy! It's like Rarity say's I... Actually I don't know what Rarity says to be honest.. But I'm sure it's something better for you situati-" Spike was then quickly embraced by Twilight without warning. "I know.. And you're right, maybe I can move aside my studies and focus on the princess stuff later, now how about some ice cream?" Twilight smiled. "That's the spirit! But uhh. Can you let go of me you're kinda cutting off my oxygen hehe.." "Oh sorry, makes me forget how wittle your tiny body is." Twilight blurted. "Ok that took to a weird turn." After the conversation between the half-siblings (Because Twilight refers to Spike as her half-brother._.) the two had finished their desert made by their friendly neighborhood jokester that breaks the physics of everything. (And by physics I mean breaking every stories fourth walls like Styrofoam) Despite the outrage of Pinkie Pie breaking fourth walls, the two smiled when they came out of the bakery. "You know Spike? Maybe you're right! I should take a break from the princess stuff, after all I got my friends to hang with." "Heh, about time." Suddenly, sounds of blades could be heard throughout Ponyville as the locals stepped out to look up and see what was making those sounds. Twilight looked around at first before Spike tapped her on the side. "Umm, Twilight." He pointed, revealing Marine One flying by Ponyville causing a spectating crowd to come out and look at the flying wonder as it showed it's flags on it's side and the name "American Federation States" on both of it's side. "What in Celestia..." Canterlot "Are you sure your student is prepared for this Tia?" "It's been a long time since I've spoken to any human leaders since.." Celestia looked at her sister with a deepened emotional expression thinking about the time where she banished her sister to the moon because of the mistakes Celestia made in the past. With Luna returned since then, the human nations were willing to open negotiations but never gotten the time to do them. The only human nation that was about to do the negotiations and break the continental stand off between Humarica and Equis was the Southern Argendine Federation.. But due to sudden declaration of war from Thestria that resulted in the current bloodshed being waged between two sides followed by a bloody rebellion in Parsley by the 'Slavic Army' and with the same war now becoming a dead lock conflict of never ending Artillary exchanges the entire Humarican nations called for the Federation to deal with breaking the relation stand off but was declined by Carter, which was before he was discovered to be non-existent and was a changeling, but with Regan in office with the promise to break this continental cold war he has not provided how he'll do it. "Tia.. It was my fault for allowing something like it to happen, not yours.." "I still had a part with it regardless.." "Tia.." "Let us go, Lulu." Meanwhile at the between fields of Ponyville and Canterlot, Marine one nears it's destination. "Mr. President, we're now nearing our destination sir." Informed the Pilot. "Keep it smooth and steady, other than that keep up the good work." Replied Reagan. Vesalpolis Chrysalis looked upon her subjects that were with questions, since her defeat in Canterlot she now sits on her throne thinking on how to avenge such loss.. That was when a changeling guard came up to her. "What is it my subject?" Asked the Queen. "Your highness, we just captured a intruder, a human one." "A HUMAN!? Ahem what is this.. Humans.. Name exactly?" Asked the Queen. "It's not the human that humiliated you I can assure." Replied the Changeling guard, as Chrysalis grinded her teeth. "Than what is the human's buisness coming here then!?" Chrysalis asked. "I think it's becau-" "That's a rhetorical question.. Send the human to the pit." Chrysalis ordered. "My majesty, he requests that he sees you." The Changeling said, intriguing Chrysalis. "Oh? Does he beg for his life already?" The Queen asked. "I'd certainly like to here his plea." "Not that request, he wants to make a.. Partnership." "Partnership? And what benefits do I have with him in a partnership?" Chrysalis asked. "He has some type of briefcase with him, he claims that 'it might be our way of victory over the ponies'." The Guard repeated the prisoners words. Chrysalis stood on her four hoofs and thought for a moment. Before smiling at the quote. "Send him here then, he has 5 minutes to impress me or I will send him to the pit." Chrysalis reconfigured her order. "Yes your Majesty." Replied the guard, as he flew out of the room and whistled to the guards that was escorting the stranger who was not even in bondage or shackled. "YOU DIDN'T CUFF HIM!?" Chrysalis yelled. "He seemed cooperative and promising my majesty." Replied the guard. "I should send YOU TO THE PIT MYSELF! But it seems whatever this being wants I might consider sparing your life, now as for you human! What purpose do you have in my hive!" Snarled Chrysalis. The human cleared his throat and stretched his V necked vest and replied. "I may introduce myself as Erwin Rommel. And since the kind bugs brought me to your domain, I heard about the news of the Amerikan intervention in the international affairs of the Changelings and saw it as outrage. And when my country, which is currently at war with the Bat ponies, was invaded I soon realized that the major powers were not going to help.. So to get back for this betrayal! I decided to steal old and new types of technologies that may benefit you. Such as the STG-44, MP-40, and Gewehr rifles." Presented Rommel, as the Changelings that was watching the throne room and spectators watching from their hive holes whispered in amazed surprise, and Chrysalis lifted her right eye impressed. "Interesting.. What type of other weapons are you offering to my cause?" Chrysalis asked. "The type that would mop the floor with the Equestrians and even the Griphonians. Just one thing." Paused Rommel. "The Amerikans will most likely attempt to sabotage this type of build up, and from what I seen of them they could threaten our army." Chrysalis looked to her two Changeling advisors present and then turned towards Rommel and asked. "What would you like us to do? Field Marshal." Smiled Chrysalis. As the Changelings behind her chuckled and laughed at what the madman has brought them. Canterlot Celestia and Luna met with Cadence and Shining armor, who came for this opportune moment as representation for the Crystal empire. "It's great for you two to take time from helping the Crystal Ponies, but are you sure you can trust your advisors?" Asked Celestia. "I'm sure they can handle the city for a while, why to miss something this big?" Cadence replied. Celestia nodded but looked at Shining armor who was looking at the letters that his sister sent him about the helicopter that flew over head, he looked up and asked. "Can I speak with you for just a moment in private?" Asked Shining, making Celestia curious. "Luna, Cadence?" Celestia requested. "It's alright, come with me Cadence, I think I should provide you more history on our human friends." Luna acknowledged, as she and Cadence left the throne room and went outside Shining Armor looked at Celestia and Celestia stared right back at Shining Armor. "Is something wrong Shining?" Questioned Celestia. "I've been thinking lately... Ever since the everfree incident I thought my sister was going to crack, and to my expectations she did but her friends helped her, but now.." Shining paused for a moment, looking at the glass window of his sisters rise to alicornhood. "Now with new responsibilities.. I'm not so sure what to think what your idea is for this important meeting.." "What is it to be worried about? Your sister had came a long way, you should be proud to be called her brother. But in the matter of this meeting however, that is something you must see for yourself..." Replied Celestia, placing her hoof under Shining's chin with a smile. "You think she'll be keeping herself together after all these times? I have to know, she is going to flip when the humans ar-" Suddenly a purple Alicorn with her 2 friends spawned out of no where above the two and landed right beside them. The girls rubbed their heads in aggravation. "Next time... Learn where to land!" Complained Rainbow Dash, as the girls got up and Celestia tilted her head a bit and chuckled. "Bumpy landing as usual Twilight." Smiled Celestia, as Twilight got on her hoofs and stared at her former mentor. "Did you get the letter!?" Asked Twilight, while Spike was hopping off from her mane. "Of course I did, but I would've explained if it wasn't for the rapid arrival from the human leaders." Celestia replied. "H-h-HUMAN LEADERS!??!" Yelled Twilight. "Oh great... Here we go again.." Groaned Spike. "Yes Twilight, human leaders will be here for a momentous occasion, this is very important." Celestia stated, as Rarity slid Twilight to the side. "You mean the same race that made my inspiration of fashion!?" Rarity then passes out which who was then catched by Rainbow Dash. "C'mon Rarity! I get that this type of race is very admirable, especially with the... COOL HIGH FLYING JETS!" Excited Dash, dropping Rarity in the outburst. "If I would've known they're coming I would've started decorating right away!" "Twilight-" "Okay we need to start now, Rainbow could you perhaps-" "Twilight! There is no need for decorations, you already have a role in these negotiations." Celestia explained, snapping Twilight off of the decoration uhh.. Stuff. "I.. Do?" Twilight asked. "Of course you do, but that will be provided later for now we must." Celestia was interrupted by a Canterlot guard who entered the throne room to notify the princess of Equestria. "Your highness, they're here." Before taking off I was called by Uncle Sam to be in these proceedings as a military operative, meaning I was on guard duty.. Then again it's more fun being the guard rather than to sit around and wait, although that's practically what body guarding is typically... Anyways, when I heard we were going to Canterlot I was a bit surprised, but not as surprised was when I overheard one of the pilots flying the helicopter that we were going to break the great political stalemate that started in 70 ALB. The political stalemate, or the Humarican-Equis freeze, was included in the treaty of cloudsdale signed between President Abraham Lincoln and Princess Celestia that formally ended the Lunar wars altogether but unofficially it also meant no more political relations meaning we didn't no longer trust Equestria all the while trust it, yea I know that makes zero sense but I didn't draw up the treaty! Anyways, after centuries the Humarican continent didn't bother trying to break this deadlock and yet for some reason when they did try to break it, it would coincidently happened that Thestria would declare war on the nation trying to break the deadlock. However despite protest, threats, and warnings from the previous presidents that served the American Federation Thestria would continue to suppress anyone trying to make the peace with Equestria... I guess Uncle Sam and Reagan had enough of their bullshit and decided to do it themselves. Anyways, during the ride I was told to body guard a pony... Yea you heard that right a pony, I never knew why a particular pony is important but of course as I'm writing this I'm sitting right across him right now. "Hey." Greeted Gold Star. "Sup." I replied. I went back to writing this but he seems very calm and likes the scenes, makes me wonder if he's pragmatic, the Federation could use Generals like that nowadays even though he's a Captain just by the patch on his leg. "So, you must be the mighty Yates who beaten the hell out of Chrysalis, I have to say you had guts kicking her ass, word of advice though, I'd would've kicked her in the ass even more given my chance." Gold Star chuckled, and so did I. "Heh, funny much? I heard about you too, your Captain Gold Star of the 105th division, the same division I was trained in before shipping off to the navy, first pony hm?" "Yea, don't wear that down, I wouldn't know how I got myself in this, but I'm proud to be in the ranks here than in any other ranks." "That's what they all say, but you on the other hand though.. You seemed to be more different than the other species I've met, then again I've only met Griffons, ponies, and maybe recently Changelings. But who do I know I'm just the bodyguard." "Hey.. Don't put yourself like that, hell your a Lieutenant who happened to be in the type of position no one thought you'd be for crying out loud!" "Huh, from a pony like you, I have to say you have yourself some words. Thanks." "No mention." "Lieutenant Yates, and Captain Gold Star, we're nearing our destination please hold tight." Informed a marine, saluting to me and Gold Star. "Thank you Corporal, dismissed." Replied Gold Star, which the marine lowered his saluting arm and left our sights. "Well, I guess that's about the end of our joyride, want to conversate some more later?" Gold Star asked. "If you survive and I complete my job sure." "Hehe, alright then." The Nobles that lived near the Castle of Canterlot watched from the balconies of their near by mansions as the royal sisters, family, and Twilight and her friends stand in front of what would be the landing area for what the world knows as the 'helicopter.' Meanwhile Reagan looked out the window and fixed his collar. "Well Sammy, it's showtime." Said Reagan. As the helicopter landed on the empty spot that the Princesses anticipated to land at with the engines dying down and the propellers slowing down the door opens revealing a marine who slowly walks down the stairs of the helicopter, who then ceremonially turns 90 degrees left and then slowly salutes. The nobles continued to watch the whole thing infront of their eyes as the next person to come out was none other than President Ronald Reagan who exited the chopper and turned towards the saluting marine and saluted back at the soldier in which the marine slowly goes at ease as the president turned towards Princesses Celestia and Luna. He walks forwards with a grin and a chuckle, something Celestia doesn't expect especially when for years her kingdom and a human nation had been in a standoff for years and it made her tense if not skeptical with the president when he spoke. "Nice weather today Aint it princess?" The President said, which made Celestia raise her brow. "Indeed it is.. What relevant does it have Mr?" "You can call me 'Mr. President' or the 'ruler of the great lands' or 'king of country' but please, I prefer to be called Reagan your highness, after all I like to cool down the temper slowly and gently wouldn't you say?" Reagan added. "I mean, it's a surprise Mr. Reagan that you out of all presidents has a optimistic view in the situation that lasted for a thousand years! Especially since the-" Celestia's mouth was covered by Luna's hoof because of the word "Lunar war" which was a continental curse word that many humans believed that saying it would make them lose a war they're currently fighting, thing is however, the American Federation recently bombed the fucking hell out of the Z.I.T.S. Organization to the point were they just up and surrendered to the M1 Abrams that was parked outside of their final stronghold while also starving nearly to death. Though Celestia heard about the Operations conducted by the American human forces and made her saddened when she heard the suffering the Zebrican's went through, however she also thought back of what the ZITS did when they exploited and extorted her ponies with a illegal underground criminal network in Baltimare. The ponies that were rescued by American forces reported to be raped, tortured, and beaten. When they arrived to Equestria onboard American transport ship they came back as if nothing ever happened to them... Only thing different was their PTSD or the brutality with the round about of 234 ponies exploited or extorted. Regardless Celestia never thanked the American government for cleaning up the mess that the Equestrians didn't noticed up until December of 1002. And now, she stands infront of the same man responsible for those 234 ponies lives being rescued under his orders. "If you were trying to say Lunar Wars I don't think that phrase will linger that long when what I'm about to do will bring prospering peace between our continents, and you princess Celestia, will be the one to jumpstart it. If you wish of course?" Reagan smiled, causing a murmur in the crowds as the diplomats that are with him also murmured. "Welp, he spelt doom for his country." Said one Diplomat. "Eh, atleast he knows it's for the greater good for our nations to." Said another. "Touche." Said Diplomat one. As Celestia raised her hoof the crowd, including the Humarican diplomats, went silent and she then extended her hoof out in a gesture of friendship, which Reagan smiled in acceptance as he grabbed Celestia's hoof and shook it with Hoof to hand shake, making the spectators clap their hooves in cheer while the nobles and government official breath in a sigh of relief knowing it's almost over. "Would you like to come inside Mr. Reagan? I have prepared refreshments in your arrival." Celestia offered. "It'd be a honor Celestia, well come on boys, lets get the peace train on shall we?" Chuckled Reagan, as the other diplomats stepped out from the helicopter along with me and Gold Star and Uncle Sam. While we enter the glorious castle of Canterlot I might as well provide some info about the diplomatic colleagues with me. The human diplomats came from the nations of Kuba, Haitai, Dominica, Bolivi, and Argendina. Originally The Southern Federation of Argendina was going to break the continental stand off before the Thestrians launched the war in their territory in 1002, in fact, Argendina was not the only country that was going to break the stand off, the nation of Parsley was originally going to break the continental stand off before Thestria declared war and conquered the land that's now bat territory, which followed of course was Argendina being at war. With that said the American government must have been pissed when they discovered that just recently and threatened to sanction Thestria, even though they deny the accusation that they're preventing a peace process with Equestria, I wasn't really given a schedule other than just receive a letter and than get thrown inside of the Helicopter and fly away. But anyways, after entering the castle of Canterlot the Wayne brothers were busy handing out the apology letter that apparently disclosed every operation ever conducted on Equestrian soil. For three examples... When they handed letter one to Prince Blueblood he was furious when he read the part that the Eclipse brigade had infiltrated the military high command and sabotaged important blueprints that would've benefitted Equestria's military causing them to be postponed until 1006... Letter two was given to Neighsayer who read that the eclipse Brigade had actually planned to bomb the infrastructure and the EDU headquarters in the case of war between the nations however in the letter he was also somewhat satisfied that they planned to send a bomb squad division to defuse or control detonate the planted bombs. And finally Letter number 3, was Spitefire, yes I put Spite with Spitfire because that's how pissed she was when she saw in the letter that eclipse brigade had apparently made attempts to have the Wonderbolts be disbanded through breaking down command and even bribe members to start fights or ultimately break loyalty to the Wonderbolts entirely. "Which one of you is a high rank.." Asked Spitfire, as David Wayne pointed at his brother. "Oh you littl- SMACK!" Lian was slapped in the face by a hoof who was holding a glass of punch that he got from the table and the punch he was hold spilled on his uniform and the ice cubes scattered. "Ok.. I kinda deserved that since I was basically in charge of that operation.. Ow.." "Hey! Atleast we got only two letters left to give!" David assured. "Yea... Two, maybe I should tell them you're the head of the entire army and see how they'll react to that." Lian grumbled, as he grabbed a ice cube and placed it on his cheek to cool down the hoof printed slap mark. "I'm sure they'll let us bygones be bygones won't they?" David asked in which Lian looked at the three ponies he gave the letters to hold something either sharp or use their hooves as a threat message with murderous intent. "I..... Don't think so.." After giving the three letters to the three out of five ponies they would eventually give the other two letters to the non-important characters that has no role other than their existence, leaving them with the six and last letter. And that was Princess Celestia, and may Lord Creator and Harmony the great spare them mercy. The Meet up While the two were handing out letters, princess Twilight was amazed at humanities move to bring peace to Equestria instead of giving the Equines the silent treatment, however she also finds it skeptical of it's intentions because as her mentor, Celestia, teached her when she was a filly that the human race does not seek peace but neither war, it didn't make since at first before she reached her teen years was when she figured out Celestia's phrase on humanity that while the human people on one side call for war the other side of the conflict calls for peace. But now, it seems either humanity had a change of heart, or it's a trap, but it didn't matter to her as she was looking at the diplomat list containing names of the participating negotiators and government officials. Of course it didn't provide pictures but it was good to know which countries are in the negotiations, and with the fact that Chrysalis had recently attacked her and her friends and their families made her realize that she can't take on all of the Changelings and that Equestria needs allies rather than relying on it's overseas colonies. (Of course with the Celestial islands being a bit advanced over time they were the most industrialized colonies in the Equestrian colonial commonwealth.) Even then Equestria could use help once in a while. And Twilight views this as a clear sign that Faust is giving that chance through the humans, so she decided to go through the list of potential allies. "Lets see... I don't think the Bolivians will be helping us soon.." She said to herself, scratching them off from the list. "Poor Argendinians already have something on their plate.. (Thanks a lot Thestria...)" She sighed, scratching Argendina off. "And I doubt Haitai, Dominica, nor Kuba are willing to help us either.. Actually, nevermind they're INCAPABLE of helping us." Twilight stoically said, slashing their name off the list of potential allies. She looks down at her options and saw one nation on the list.. But it aggravates her when she realizes that it'll be impossible to have the American nation as a ally because of the past incidents, but all of a sudden, just when she was going to cross them out she didn't look and slipped on a slippery ice cube and flew right towards the ground face flat and would broke her face. Or atleast that's what she thought when someone catched her fall just by inches from the ground. "Are you alright?" Asked a pony. Twilight brushed herself off. "Yea.. Thanks..." She turned to the pony who saved/prevented her aneurism when she saw a tan furred stallion pony, with brown Unshorn fetlocks, brown mane and tail, brown pupils, and is in a formal military uniform. The two went into a awkward silence, with the exception of the chatty people, for a minute before Twilight broke the silence and asked. "What's your name?" "My name? Well, my name is-" "YO GOLD STAR! I FOUND THE LEMONADE!" I shouted from the back, even though it punctured the crowd's chatty attitude it was worth it for da lemôn. However as I came to him I was a bit jaw dropped. Ok nevermind I was very surprised. "No ducking way.... Dude do you know who she is!!?" I said in a pony race supporter accent. Making Gold Star realize. "Are you Princess Twilight Sparkle?" He asked, which Twilight was shrugged and replied. "Yes I am, and you must be the first American pony officer in a human nation." Twilight stated, which made Gold Star a bit silent before toughing up and replied. "I've heard of stories about you and the elements of harmony, when you defeated Nightmare moon, or when you defeated Discord, and even Chrysalis. Considering that we couldn't even fight against power beings like Discord, but when you recently gave up the elements and defeated a forest it's very insane, and sacrificial. But it's also great that a capable pony like yourself is the reason for Equestria's secured future." 'holy crap, he's going all in' I thought to myself, watching the conversation. "Well, while we did defeat the evil that you've spoken of with the elements of harmony we however remember it as a lesson that's taught through hardships and doubt, I have my friends and it seems you have yours to it seems." She smiled at me... Holy shit she's smiling at me what the fuck do I do. "Well, It was nice to meet you Twilight, and I hope cooperation between our nations prosper permanently." Gold Star spoke in a hinting voice as he called me. "Let's go Yates." "Alright." I replied. As me and him nearly disappeared from the crowd Twilight smiled at him, it was a while that she'd be smiling at a stallion other than her brother, but something about him sparked something in her. Before a second spark appeared in her head. "Wait.. Did he just said.. "Cooperation between our nations?" But that would mean..." Suddenly her thoughts faded when a glass cup was clanged by Ronald Reagans fork in getting everyone's attention towards him. "Ladies, Gentlemen, Gentlecolts, and Mares. It is a honor to appreciate the peace that we the humans and the pony civilization that are about to sign here in this castle today, but that is not what I am here to announce. As of today we will be doing something different in diplomacy between the Federation and Equestria. We will be doing the personal diplomacy with a selected couple that will interconnect mentally and maybe spiritually, it will be conducted tonight after this diplomatic negotiations. Now without chit chat lets start signing the treaty shall we?" Reagan announced. "A personal diplomacy? What is that?" Twilight wondered. "Glad you ask." Spoke Celestia, as she smiled. . "Huh." Wondered Gold Star. "I didn't know there was thing called.. Personal diplomacy? I.. Don't know what that is, do you?" "No clue mate, I'm just your assigned bodyguard, nothing else really." I replied. "Mr. Yates." Called someone, stepping out of the crowd. "Mr. President? Nice to see you, I was about to come and ask-" He raised his hand in affirmation that he's going to explain, which I quiet myself and paid attention to him. "Captain Gold Star." . "Twilight Sparkle" . "You have been" "chosen" "to be in the personal diplomacy" "it aims to unify a nation by selecting one" "pony to bond with another" "if it goes well the nations will be" "permanently allies." "WHAT!!?" "Sorry I was eating my sandwich what was that?" "To repeat myself, Gold Star and Twilight Sparkle have been chosen for the personal diplomacy, which is when one from another nation is to bond. Like your average 900s boyfriend and girlfriends hang outs." Reagan reexplained. "....What da fuck..." Looking from a high point near the castle a man who is tasked of hunting me down stares through his binoculars in a chuckle, lowering it down to the rock. "How interesting, but I don't give a damn on what the Americans or the Equestrians plan on doing, all I need is him.. and him only hehehehe. AHAHAHA! Okay laugh time over lets get this over with.." He said, grabbing a suit case and choosing his weaponry load out. "Hmm.. Sniper could do, for assasinations of course, but our red mother want's him alive of course, so not much for this rifle, hmm.. MP9 could do.. But should I go loud for this? Nah probably not, what's next." He said, putting the MP9 back in the case and pulling out a Tranquilizer-SMG. "Ehh.. Unconventional use for a tranq gun, but then again I can use this in case the Yates target refuses to make my day easy, thank mother for telekinesis.. Alright I found my winner, rest of yall though.. You'll be as useful as I'll need yall... Isn't that strange? I'm talking to a suit case full of guns.. Huh." He closes the case and slangs it on his back and heads to a rented motel in Canterlot where he'll stage his capture operations succeeding would be the great benefit for the Northern Soviet Republic of States... "They really need to change that name though.." Said Yuri. Which I couldn't agree more.. Moskva, Soviet grand council "And that is why comrade Mother, that we should rename the NSRS with the name the Rodinian Soviet Republic States! That way the nations will not push us aside as a "north nation" thank your for listening in, comrades." The council made of 45 members clapped as the Red Mother placed her finger on her chin intrigued. "So, what do you think Secretary General?" Red Mother asked toward Brezhnev as he wasn't that impressed with the name change. "First off, Mr. Commissioner, the name we have makes more since since we're in the north, and also we've had it since it's founding and you want to change it all of a sudden?" Brezhnev protested. "But, may I remind Mr. Secretary, it was commissioned by our Red Mother that we find a new name for our motherland, she even said it was vital to the ideology that we have a proper name, just like Stalliongrad has right now." "A country named after it's city? Oh please, as if that doesn't sound familiar with Starlight's nation 'our town' I know that our ideology is based on the equal socialism of Caramel Marks, but may I remind that we have our own socialist policy of the Eleanor biography! And to say that the 'Our town' is too restrictive I've visited that place once and has shown to be... Creepy.. But to get back to relevance I..." "Secretary General, if you're finished rambling random words from your mouth, I'd like host the final vote if you please." Red Mother said, silencing Brezhnev's mouth. "Fine.." "Now, with that said let's get started, all in favor of changing the name from the Norther republic of soviet states to the Rodinian Soviet Republic States say aye." Immediately the room was filled with ayes and no nays, the commissioner smiled and the Red Mother smiled. "Thank you for the commission Mr. Commissioner, you will be granted a award with additional food rations for your family, now run along please." "Thank you, our Red Mother!" The Commissioner said, leaving the stage. "Now with that out of the way, let's start on a urgent matter. General Orlovsky, you had a report from the Arabian frontlines?" She asked, as General Vladimir Orlovsky came up stage. "Our Red Mother, I have came in to report that the Capitalist Arabian frontlines has crumbled and we've successfully pushed them out towards the great lakes straits, with the Trotgier front now under our allied comrades, the Arabian socialist, control we can now easily ship out the weapons more easily to our comrades in Zebrica." Reported the General. "Thank you general for that report, but now I like to ask, I heard that the Arabian army is currently revolting against the capitalist Arabians, is that true general?" Asked the Mother. "Yes our Red Mother, their army is revolting against the capitalist but also it seems to be revolting against us. We have reason to believe they've also adopted some type of new ideology... And even rallying behind it." The General replied. "And what would this... 'New' ideology be general?" She asked. "They call this, fascism, our Red Mother." Replied the general, the room then immediately lights up with murmurs on the new ideology when the Red Mother slammed her gavel on the hard piece of her chair, silencing the council chambers. "It's clear that this.. Fascist ideology is concerning, but just like all autocratic ideologies this... Will not exist. Is there anything else to report General?" She asked. "Yes.. One more thing." East Humarican Sea After the funeral ceremony was held the Statcom went out to the seas to commemorate their previous admiral while also conducting a bestowing ceremony to the new admiral. The camera they're using only has a black and white frame but they'll just use it for the time being, so they had the new admiral sit on a bench and tooked the picture. "It'll be a honor serving beside you sir." Said one of the seamen. "Yes indeed, now since we're in sea lets-" "Sir, we just gotten orders from the naval command." Said a Corporal, making Frederick raise his brow. "Already? But we just finished the funeral and the ceremony, shouldn't we drop off the camera men?" The Admiral questioned. "It's fine sir, it's been a while since someone gets a recording of this magnificent battleship." The camera men excused, which Frederick shrugged. "Alright then, but be sure to not get in our way understood?" The Admiral asserted. "Yes, sir." The Camera men replied. The Admiral nodded and walked up two pairs of stairs before reaching the command and control center that steers the entire battleship itself as the Admiral grabbed the radio from the top that communicates with the engine room and says. "Ahead full." Ordered the Admiral, as the Statcom speeds up to it's destination area of the given orders. . . Meanwhile in the depths of the seas, there lays a trap. "Anything yet?" Asked a Germanic Submarine commander. "Nien commandant, wait, wait, ja ja!" Responds the scope man, spotting the Statcom Battleship on the periscope. "Good, get me the phone with Admiral Reinhard, immediately." "Aye commandant!" . . . "Admiral, we've arrived to the area where the order is but.." "But what?" Asked the Admiral. "Apparently naval command had just sent out a report that they haven't sent any orders in today!" The Seaman replied. The admiral jolted his head back for a moment when he had a sudden realization. "Oh shit it's a trap! TURN STARBOARD SIDE! ALL HANDS ON DECK!" Shouted the Admiral as the sirens blared red in a alert. The crew immediately scattered towards their positions as the intercom ranged out. "ALL HANDS MAN YOUR BATTLESTATIONS! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!" "We got to get in contact with a nearby fleet, which one is closest!" The Admiral asked. "Sir the Star-Hawk fleet is the only nearby fleet near, but that's 32 miles from us!" "It's do or die, get me contact with their admiral." "Yes sir-" "SIR! WE HAVE THREE DESTROYERS AND A SUBMARINE ON ALL SIDES!" Shouted a radar man, as the Admiral looked at the radar when he notices a sudden flash of a straight green line heading straight towards the battleship. "TORPEDO ON THE PORT BOW! STARBOARD TURN! STARBOARD TURN! GET US CLEAR FROM THOSE TORPEDOS!" Shouted the Admiral, as the Statcom abruptly turns to it's Starboard the narrowly dodges the two torpedo's that almost ram inside of the ships port bow. . . "COMMANDANT! WE MISSED!" Shouted the Periscope operator. "WAS!? NOTHING CAN DODGE THE TORPEDOES! FIRE TWO MORE!" Shouted the commandant, who grabbed a radio and shouted. "DESTROYERS! MAKE! IT! HARD!" . . "Sir! Two more torpedo's has been launched! And destroyers are turning their rear ugly guns towards ours!" The Radar man reported. "Do the same! AND GET US CLEAR WITH THOSE TWO TORPEDO'S AS WELL!" Shouted the Admiral. "AYE AYE ADMIRAL!" Said everyone in the room. The two torpedoes nearly hits the forward engine room of the battleship before the ship turned quickly but slowly, one torpedo completely missed but one torpedo scraped the bottom deck and nearly exploded before being turned towards another target. . . ".... Fuck this, CONTACT THE DESTROYER FLEET! AND DISMANTLE THAT DAMN BATTLESHIP! It'll be a pleasure to tell Rommel that we've sunk that burden of a battleship!" The Submarine commandant ordered. The three destroyers that surrounded the Statcom makes their move which one destroyer blocks the submarines view of the Statcom's Stern which in that moment the commandant knew, he fucked up. . . "Admiral! We got contact with the Star hawk fleet, they just deployed eagle squadron!" The radio man reported. "What's the ETA?" Asked the Admiral. "ETA is 20 minutes." "I'm sure we can last lon-" "INCOMING!!" Shouted a seaman as the Destroyers fired their cannons at the battleship followed by explosions that ringed through the captain's mind the crew on deck got on their feet. "DAMAGE REPORT!" "SIR! WE LOST THE MISSILE BAYS AND WE LOST ONE OF OUR SECONDARY GUNS! THE MAIN CANONS ARE STILL ACTIVE SIR!" "THEN SHOOT THOSE BASTARDS! AND GET US SOME BREATHING ROOM!" Shouted the admiral, as the ship steerer replied. "AYE AYE! STEERING TO-" "SIR THEY'RE CUTTING US OFF FROM ALL SIDES!" "All but one, begin the tactical backwards movement maneuver." The Admiral ordered, making the room dead silent. "WELL YOU HEARD ME DAMN YALL GET US MOVING BACKWARDS NOW!" "YES SIR! FULL ASTERN!" . . The Statcom goes backwards from the destroyers that attempts to squeeze it to death but the submarine commandant looked at the Statcom from the Submarine, which now made surfaced, watched in a ridiculed expression. "What are you up to Amerikans..." Wondered the Submarine commandant. "When I say the word, turn our ENTIRE port side to those damn naval bitches." Cursed the Admiral. The ship slowly backs up and then goes into a total Astern U turn on the destroyers confusing them to the point that the Destroyers are now scattered all over the place which made the Submarine commandant thought of something that would be his last mistake. "They're Trying to escape! DESTROYERS CUT THEM OFF BEFORE THEY DO!" He shouted, and the destroyers responded but was still trying to re-coordinate due to them being scattered. "Sir! Two of the three destroyers are on our bows!" Reported the pathfinder. "Good, turret commander! Turn turret 3 and 1 on our starboard! And have turrets 2 and 4 on the port!" Ordered the admiral. "Yes admiral! TURN THOSE TURRETS AND BE READY TO SHOOT THOSE BASTARDS TO DAVY JONES LOCKER!" Immediately all four three tube turrets turned towards the two destroyers that surrounded them and that was when the commandant saw what he has done. "FIRE!!!" Shouted the Admiral. The ship unleashed it's payload on the destroyers that surrounded the battleship, blowing up turrets after turrets to torpedo bays after torpedo bays the crew that was seen operating the enemy destroyers flew mid air as the explosions ranged. A canon shell lands in one of the destroyers munitions bay and sunk it into two pieces. The second destroyer that was in the path of the onslaught was also sunk as a battleship shell exploded the command deck killing a naval captain and causing the ship to tip side and sunk to the depths. The remaining destroyer turns it's guns at the Statcom but by the time it fired it's canon a missile strikes it's canons and blows the ship in a series of chain reactions resulting in the entire destroyer to be lighten up in flames as oil spilled out and went up in flames, the ship burns like hell and sinks, the Eagle squadron arrives as F-14 jet fighters arrived to the Statcom's rescue as the naval men onboard the Battleship cheered as the jets flew by while the Federation Naval fleet Star Hawk arrived to the Statcom's aid. While this, the submarine commandant looks in rage as the submarine goes underwater when one of the deck crew arrived with a phone. "It's for you sir." The commandant placed the phone on his ear. "Hello?" He asked. "If you were here right now... You wouldn't like the face you'd see." Said Karl Donitz, throwing something at a wall. "What now sir?" Asked the commandant. "Now... We go with plan B."
The New World \| Millennium	Stalliongrad Situation	Stalliongrad city, the Supreme Soviet council building... The supreme soviet members sat on their seats waiting for the important announcement that was called by the current head of state, Altidya, on a situation within the party. A situation that would jump start a political violence.. "Fellow comrades of the Stalliongrad Soviet Republic, I am ashamed today, not just because of the fact that you've allowed our fellow ponies to starve on the street, but also because of the recent reports of treason within the party!" Altidya announced, starting a unrest of murmuring before the head of council shouted. "OUTRAGEOUS! HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE US OF SUCH TREASON! WE SHOULD HAVE YOU REMOVED FOR THIS!" As the entire room lit up in protest the rest of the council members that supported the unitary party walked down and stood besides Altidya when the head of council saw the 45 members siding with her. Leaving only him and the other 30. "TRAITORS!" Shouted in protest by the council members that remained with the head of council. Before being silenced by sudden gun fire... 23 hours earlier, Moskva, Rodinian Soviet Republic of States. "After conducting an investigation we have believed that the N.I.B. And our comrade pony allies in Stalliongrad Unraveled pro-Equestrian supporters within the party secretly preparing to conduct an all-civilian coup on the Soviet Party of Stalliongrad." General Orlovsky reported. The Red Mother sat with her finger on her chin intrigued with a question in her mind. "How do they plan on doing this... 'Civilian coup' and how will they obtain this type of support for this uprising?" She directed the question to the general. "Our Red Mother, from what I've gathered it seems there has been recent reports as you can see up on the screen right here," he pointed towards the board with a projector projecting images of container ships exploding. "These ships were a part of our shipping services that shipped food from one place to another, of course within Equestrian and Soviet treaties and regulations, the ships were not to be harmed but also at the same time they're not to harbor anything that could advance Stalliongrad technology... BUT! As you see in the image the ship is in fact a food transport ship, and while reports suggest it was an accident, the N.I.B. says otherwise when they handed me the report on the investigation, you see my fellow comrades of the Rodina, it was staged by none other than the head of the Supreme Soviet Council of Stalliongrad, Nikola Treshivich. We're also believing that he's a Equestrian spy who works with the S.M.I.L.E. unit, and with destroying those ships he can have the people turn against our allies and call for reunification of Equestria.." The council members murmured in surprise and confusion while the Red Mother sat back disturbed with the news told before her until she leaned forward and asked. "Is that correct general Orlovsky?" "Yes our Red Mother, and we have photographic evidence sent in just now, as you see in the-" "That'll be enough general," she interrupted. "Excuse me, our Red Mother?" "That'll be all, this session is adjourned," she announced with the sound of the Gavel the meeting ended and she immediately got up from her seat and jogged outside the cold winter with Brezhnev following her. "Are you insane! Where's your coat!" Brezhnev asked. "I don't need one, now get the soviet military command online now." "Now?" "NOW!!" "Ok... Right away.." he replied without a protest. She turned to her bear and climbed on it and spoke. "To the palace, quick!" And immediately she rode on the soviet bear that ran through the snowy streets of Moskva as the people of the Rodina cleared the way for their leader who was now being escorted by police cars clearing the streets. After a long ride to the palace she jogged inside the door making a sudden entrance in the busy department that was either making phone calls or filing reports, she ran towards her personal elevator and ordered. "Foreign relations room, and fast." The elevator servant pressed the button and the elevator doors closed and the elevator went up toward 23 floors before opening up to a red carpeted room with a built-in fountain with the soviet sickle spewing the water out from the sickle tips. She walked towards the phone room where she makes her personal calls to every existing soviet leader/country in the current world. She rolled the telephone wheel two or three times before it made buzzing sounds to connect. . . Altidya was sitting in her office looking at the reports of a potential famine breakout, she looked at the reports in concern knowing that if these terrorist continued their attacks it might starve the population out to the point of social economic collapse, just as she placed her paper down in stress and anger the RSRS-Stalliongrad direct phone line ringed which she was eager to pick up the phone because it would mean that salvation has come. She picked the phone up and spoke. "Hello? This is Altidya of Stalliongrad what's the situation-" "Altidya." "Eleanor? It's been a while since I've spoken to you since-" "There's no time, is Nikola still the leader of the council?" The Red Mother asked "I mean of course he is. If anything he's starting to get a bit scary lately.." "Okay listen, I will be sending you evidence, but him and other 30 members in the councils are traitors, we've already Identified them so you don't have to execute the wrong members on accident, alright?" "Wait... Nikola? Are you saying he's a.." The line went silent for a moment before Altidya's eye's were enraged and she bashed her hoof on her desk in anger. "That traitor! I'll have the Stalliongrad army take care of him!" "Don't, if you do there will be an armed rebellion to take his place, tomorrow my men will deal with them and the potential rebels. But in the meantime do not say anything about our conversation, is that clear Alti?" Altidya looked left and right to see if somepony was eavesdropping on her conversation and then replied. "Understood.." "Good, form the council meeting tomorrow at 3:30 pm, and informed the non-traitors about the other traitors and my men will take care of the rest." "Alright, I'll see your men soon." Altidya hung up the phone when a knock was made on her door which came in was Nikola. "I have the papers from the council, they like to know what your solution is to the situation, politically and socially," Nikola asked, which Altidya within herself replied. "Call a meeting for the council at 3:30 pm, and I'll provide you.. My solution to this crisis.." Present time Altidya looks at the now deceased Nikola who has been shot by multiple PKM rounds to the back, along with the other 30 members who are now dead. The remaining 45 and Altidya were quickly evacuated from the building by Rodinian soldiers but when Altidya stepped outside she looked around and saw MI-8 helicopters landing to deploy the airborne and special forces soldiers wearing Atlyn helmets with black ski masks over their faces. She then notices that her city is now covered with what seems to be the entire RSRS army, only it was about 5% of it. Rodinian T-72 tanks and BTR-80s rolled into the streets as she looked to see ponies hiding their fillies in fear of what was going to happen when she looked at the person who was overseeing the entire operation in her home territory. "You must be General Orlovsky, I heard about your victories in Saddle Arabia." Altidya conversed with the human. "Give me a moment Romanov, for now rendezvous with Malashenko and we'll speak then." He spoke on the radio, before placing it on the table and turning towards Altidya. "And you must be Altidya, the head of state I presume, sorry to break the news to you but your rivals were not the traitors and they are currently rallying the troops against a potential uprising." Orlovsky reported. "I wasn't going to ask that, unfortunately they weren't the traitors though, but what uprising?" She asked solemnly, which Orlovsky was a bit reluctant to answer before he got a grip of himself and replied. "Apparently we were too late to quell him in time, there's reports that counter-revolutionaries has taken up arms in Petershoof, and they just captured the capitol building and the city." Reported Orlovsky, making Altidya concerned.. "But.. Will you deal with this? Should I send the Stalliongrad red army?" She asked. "No, it'll be best that the Stalliongrad army does not participate in this operation for the sake of friendly fire, the rebels are using their uniforms they've stolen from the armories, it's a matter of time before they acquire ranged weapons from black market dealers, but nonetheless, we'll deal with them for now try to keep your people calm on what's going on, is that understood?" Orlovsky instructed, which in response Altidya nodded affirming his instructions and moved back to her capital building where she resonates within. Orlovsky turned back to the radio and spoke. "Lieutenant Romanov, and captain Malashenko, execute planned order code 0." Canterlot I was lounging around the throne room waiting on whatever the hell a personal diplomacy is and why Gold Star and specifically Twilight Sparkle.. Her two friends, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity left Canterlot though for some personal things. But what about me? Well I don't know what or why but something fishy is going on here.. And I plan to figure it out one way or another... . . Meanwhile as I plan to figure it out Celestia, Luna, and Ronald Reagan were in another room that would be the dining area of the castle with Gold Star and Twilight Sparkle sitting by each other wondering why they've been chosen. Of course before anyone says it, Twilight breaks the silence barrier. "Why us! Is there something between me and him that happened to get you two interested?!" Celestia and Reagan shrugged, but Luna rolled her eyes and the two stared at her which made her a bit aggravated before she sighed and replied to Twilight's question. "it is not because of something between thou and Gold Star, mine sister and Reagan had already planned this since they first contacted us about the diplomatic mission that was going to be launch, 'tis naught to worry about other than befriend Gold Star and talk about thy feelings, naught else major." Explained Luna, which made Twilight twitch her ear a bit and then nodded her head down. "I understand... So what do we do in the meantime?" Twilight asked, while Luna rolled her eyes towards Celestia in a grunt. Which Celestia caved in on Luna's grunt and replies "You and Gold Star will be, like my sister said, speaking to each other, nothing else," said Celestia. "That's fine if he's fine with it?" Twilight questioned. "I'm fine with it," said Gold Star. "Then it is settled, you two may be free to go on your way." Celestia excused the two, but as Twilight was about to exit the door Celestia stopped her for a moment and whispered. "Be sure to know who you're supposed to know." Twilight raised her eyes a bit when Gold Star called out. "Are you coming?" He asked. "Coming!" Replied Twilight, catching up to Gold Star as the two now exitted the castle Reagan walked towards a window of the twin sisters reuniting after Luna's freedom from Nightmare moon. "It seems I've missed a lot here, if Uncle Sam knew about this he would've started negotiations ages ago," said Reagan, admiring the window art. "But that's where you're wrong Mr. Reagan, he already knew that my sister had returned from banishment." Celestia interjected. "Hm.. Then why did he wait this long to start the negotiations if Princess Luna had already returned from her banishment in the first place then?" Reagan questioned. "Perhaps... There's something that none of us really knows about, all I can say is trust him." Celestia grinned, while Reagan nodded. "I don't know who made these windows, but I'm about to see who the designer is and maybe talk about adding my own for the white house." Reagan chuckled, but was also serious about finding the designer who made the windows. "Should we tell him?" Luna asked. "About what?" Asked Reagan, as Celestia chuckled. "I don't think that's how these windows work." Celestia replied. "Are you meaning to say that they shift?" Gold Star and Twilight Sparkle walked through the populated city of Canterlot where the usual businesses have been made mainly per daily, Gold Star gazed at the city's ancient beauty, while Twilight pondered Celestia's words on what she meant of who she's supposed to know. Gold Star, being optimistic over everything, sees that Twilight is in her pondering face which how he knew was not really known but he let her ponder things out for a minute before he stopped at an apple stand and paid four bits for two apples. He took a bite and loved its delicate taste. "Heh, compliments to the farmers ey?" Gold Star said, trying to brighten Twilight's mood. "Isn't your friend an apple farmer?" He asked, referring to Applejack who is also the element of Honesty. "I mean, back from where I am there are loads of those, especially in the Tex State, of course that was also where the pear family ponies also live in and.. The whole conflict.. And so on," Gold Star dreaded, but again, Twilight was not replying to his compliments, his gratitude or anything.. So with one more thing in his mind that he liked as much as she loves, and something that he can relate with Twilight. He grabs a map from his military-provided saddle bag with his hoof and looks at the map of Canterlot and sees a library not too far from where he and Twilight are, so with Twilight still pondering he decides to pull a fast ball and turns right. Twilight started to break off from pondering when Gold Star made an unexpected turn and quickly catched up. He decides to make his move. "You know, I would be enjoying the view in Canterlot while I could, it's a once in a lifetime experience you know," said Gold Star, to which Twilight rolled her eyes and replied. "I've been through these streets a thousand times already, I mean it's nothing harsh or anything, but I don't think this will ever work out between us!" She yelled. "What?" "What? Is that the whole point!? It's clearly a stage just to have my hoof in marriage! It's nothing else than some attempt, nopony could even match up to me and even if they do they won't even stand with what I do daily!!" "I don't really know what you're talking about but all I can say is that I doubt that's what it is, besides we're just getting to know each other and not straight into the train hole!" "But what exactly do we have in common! Why did Celestia and your leader choose you to be a part of this 'personal diplomacy' and what is Celestia's goal here!" Aggravated Twilight. But before Gold Star answered she bumped into a wooden door and looked at the building that said the "Library of Canterlot knowledge" which made her a bit surprised and curious. She turned towards the Gold Star with an unamused expression on her face. "Very funny... As you've known by now everypony already knows that I like books, my favorite in particular is-" "Starswirls book of Spells." "Starswirls book of Spells." Said the two in perfect unison which made Twilight pop out of her own head. "Wait, you know Starswirl's book of Spells? Or are you just guessing?" She asked. "Guess? No. Knowing it? Yes! Like are you serious? I've read that book ever since I've joined the military, in fact I've read most of the books ranging from unicorn and pegasi magic, of course considering that I'm just a earth pony I still find that it's good for the Earth ponies to tend to the earth. For example, did you know that in the book "The Lost Magic of Equus" that the Earth Ponies use to have magic to grow vines and even instantly grow crops?" Gold Star stated. "I.... I didn't know there was any such book at all! But even if there was it would've most likely been in the most high secured place in all of Equestria that only the princesses could-" "Woah relax... I got the book from the National Library of Congress, Washington Capital has some interestingly good books nowadays." Twilight lowered her wings and scratched her mane in a sweaty grin. "Hehe... Right..." The two were quiet and then Twilight used her horn and opened the library door entering inside of the Library of mass knowledge as Gold Star looked in amazement of the knowledge he'll want to consume. Twilight looked backed towards Gold Star and asked. "Would you.. Join me?" She asked. "Heck yah!" Replied Gold Star as he and Twilight vanned out in search of books to read. Petershoof, Stalliongrad, Operation Zone "ОДИН! ДВА!" The commissar dropped his entire arm signaling the firing squad to execute the rebels they captured in Petershoof as the battle raged in the sky and the ground. BMP-1 armor vehicles arrived with troops to quell the pony rebels trying to get Stalliongrad to join Equestria, but the rebellion is nearly dismantled if it wasn't for the unicorns using lethal magic against the soldiers and the tanks the rebels would've been suppressed, but somehow the unicorns knew how to use magic lethally, as if someone had teached them how to.. Either way, the MIG jet fighters had been at work intercepting pegasus as part of the rebellion to prevent them from changing the weather. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Ogav was called into service and accepted the call, he sent his now daughter in law to his mother who still lives in the Tartar region of Rodinia. He was assigned to his old company the 134th armor-infantry brigade where he's supposed to be apart of the spearhead assault into Petershoof, the company recently had a new second name called the "Malashenko company" which is lead by none other than Nikolai Malashenko. Malashenko had a reputation of being optimistic and when push comes to shove, he would execute orders to the harshest extent, however he is also known to be reckless and brutal, the only person with the leash would be General Orlovsky but even then it wouldn't surprise the Red Mother when she'd gets request to have his rank suspended but at the moment she replied to Orlovsky to basically tell him to suck it up. Whether Ogav knew all of that was true or not, he was ordered to personally meet Malashenko in his tent about how they'll launch the spear head. At the moment they're waiting for the Soviet weather division to arrive and clear the rainy weather out because when they launched the initial assault the rebel pegasus were attempting to flood the place before being shot down. It's still raining but not heavily, but the area has been getting muddy to the point of no man's land forcing the division to go uphill, while it was still raining it wasn't muddy. With that said, Ogav swallowed his pride and went inside of the tent where he stumbled upon Malashenko in his conversation with other officers when it seemed that Malashenko noticed Ogav entered or that he finished planning but he concluded the planning and demanded. "Alright, everyone but Ogalivich Volklav, please get out of my tent." The officers left Malashenko's tent all except for Ogav who now stands in front of his new commanding officer who was examining all over the war stricken man. "We finally meet at last Mr. Volklav, take a seat. I prefer that we talk properly and not stand around and point at maps." Nikolai chuckled, as Ogav took up his offer and sat down silently. "Not much of a talker I assume?" Said Malashenko. "Not much... You requested my presence major?" Asked Ogav. "Indeed, I've heard of your victories you've made with this division's old commanding officer, it was shameful that he had passed on in the hot deserts instead of his warm house in Caucausia," grieved Malashenko. "Yes indeed.. But he would want us to win this battle if he was here," said Ogav. "Indeed he would, now I ask for your advice." Malashenko rose up from his seat and pointed at the city of Petershoof. "According to the now "Rodinian Intelligence Bureau," they noticed that the city has been captured by the rebels at the start of the cleansing operation just hours ago, it also appears that according to Orlovsky they've planned this rebellion from the start but as for the start date, it was a bit mildly concerning.`` "So, what are you saying exactly?" Ogav questioned. "I'm saying that they possibly planned to start their organized uprising in 1008, 5 years from now, if we hadn't replied sooner then this rebellion would've been even more of a struggle than it is right now." Malashenko simply explained. "That does explain some things, I also had a clutch that they blew those container ships with food just to rally up numbers, but what does that do for spearheading with this assault?" "There my friend is where the plan comes in, knowing these rebels, they're not even organized if not trained, but they will use the city to their advantage so to crush the rebellion we must destroy the city," Malashenko said. "What?? But what about the pony civilians?" Ogav asked. "What about them?" "Are we not going to evacuate them?" Ogav questioned. "Of course not, they'll most likely just conspire against the Stalliongrad government, everyone in the city is better off dead, than alive, including the children, who knows what types of bombs these terrorists might strap on them." Malashenko outrageously said. "What!? But think of the children! Lives! Are you sure you want to blatantly execute innocent lives!?" "LISTEN LIEUTENANT!" Shouted Malashenko, silencing Ogav's protest. "I have my orders, and you have your orders. You will be in charge of commanding the T-72s and the BTR-60s to scout the streets of Petershoof and during this you are to place remote detonated flare markers in these specific spots of the city," briefed Malashenko, before angrily looking at Ogav. "Those are not orders and you know it!" "My orders or not Lieutenant! If you deviate from this order, you will be court martialed and executed. Is that clear lieutenant?!?" Malashenko threatened which Ogav nodded in defying disobedience. "Good.. Now get out." Ordered Malashenko. Ogav exited from the tent in anger and looked at the city in flames looking through binoculars he can see families who're already suffering from a famine living in the streets gazing on their own homes that have been either destroyed or torn down to the ground level. Ogav doesn't want to be responsible for other people's misery because he has a daughter in law who lived through it.. And he wasn't going to let those people suffer the same. Map update as of 1003 Night time in Canterlot It's been a long day, looking after Gold Star or atleast I was looking after him. Earlier today I walked into the library like the president would say he would be and sure enough he was... Just buried in a pile of books.. Lots and lots of books... "HEY GOLD STAR! WHERE YOU AT!" I shouted, when he popped out from the piles of books above me. "I'm over here, sorry about that Lieutenant me and Twilight had been busy with... Negotiations," he sarcastically said, as Twilight popped out from the book pile and replied. "Yep! Nothing wrong in here." Usually I'd say something else but since it's 12:30 in the morning and since Gold Star is with Equestria's most tactical princess imma just say fuck it for this once.. "Alright, I'll leave you two to it then, happy reading.. (I guess..)" "Okay! Stay safe!" Replied Gold Star, grabbing a book stuck to his mane and reading it. I left the library for their sake.. And maybe mine, after all it's night time and the streets are almost getting empty so it's almost safe out, so I started walking through the empty streets of Canterlot when I heard footsteps behind me. I couldn't tell what that was but I ran as fast as I could before I bumped into someone on my way and landed on my palms and knees which were a bit scratched from the concrete. "Ffff- fuck that hurt, shit. I think I broke my hand, I deserved that whoever got in the way of my running though or maybe not, actually who was in my way?" I got up and saw a dark blue Alicorn with a black crown and neck regalia blue mane that's blowing from no wind or nothing meaning that's it a magic type mane, which that was the moment I realized those features I was immediately greeted by the guards that were escorting her with a complimentary spear point.. To my chin. "Well fuck me," I said, raising my hands a little up trying to not get jabbed by a barbaric weapon until the blue Alicorn acted. "Do not lay thy spears on him!" "But he just pushed you over!" "That's because he was frightened, now lower thy spears!" Luna ordered, as the royal guards lowered their spears away from my chin. "I apologize if my subjects were a bit reactive towards knocking me over." "No need, I'm sorry about that myself, I thought I heard something following me but of course that was a bit paranoid of me to run like that and not see." I replied, making Luna raise her brow a bit but shrugged. "I accept the apology, I was out on a nightly stroll trying to find Twilight Sparkle and thy friend Gold Star, yet I assume thou art out here for the same reason?" Luna questioned. "Yea... I'm sure those two are doing fine, I was sent by Reagan to fetch the two but I didn't want to bother them or anything they seemed to be having a blast... In a library..." Luna chuckled at my response. "What's so funny? Not that I mean no disrespect." "Oh nothing, it's just that it's nice that she finally found a capable pony who also takes her liking towards reading, my sister seems to have made the right choice" Luna replied, which made me think about that. "So Celestia chose him? That would've meant that Reagan must've chosen Twilight first then.. But why?" Luna pondered on my question for a while before she shrugged in a concerned neutral face. "Whatever it is, I'll need to think about it later, I need to sleep." "Very well," Luna replied. "I shall take thou to the guest room myself." The Royal guards jolted their necks as if they'd been insulted. "What about us your highness?" Asked the guards. "Carry on with the decrees you've been granted already, and retrieve Twilight and Gold." She reminded. While me and Luna split from her guards who went the other way to retrieve the two I was being stalked by someone the whole time who also watched the conversation. "So uhh, I shouldn't mention this, but do you really have an interest in old Equestrian?" . . "Yes my little target, go on with your oversized horse towards the bed.. It'll be the last sleep you will have and then.. Well, then you will serve under our Red Mother." While Luna was showing me to the guest rooms Gold Star and Twilight Sparkle had a blast in the library.. A very quiet blast actually since all they did was read books, talk about them, read more books, and repeat steps. Anyways, they were now being escorted by the royal guards back to the castle because of how late it was but on the way something that I never thought to hear happened. As Gold Star and Twilight were walking down the empty streets of Canterlot they started conversing. "You know, I never thought of you as a pony who'd actually read books, but how wrong I was when you took me inside and dug into a book," said Twilight, making Gold chuckle. "Well I've always been interested in reading books in my entire life actually, it started when I was a filly.. At first I saw books as a boring way to entertain the smart ponies and people, I thought of it as a scientist or a mage entertainment TV stuff and well.. One day I decided through temptation when a book was blown onto my face I decided to just say screw my logic and read." Gold explained his origin, which prompted Twilight to learn much more about him. "Did you actually say that? Or was that just exaggeration?" Gold looked at Twilight neutrally before letting out a lipped sigh and replied. "Yea, I had a lot of conflict deciding if I should read it or not, if anything I wouldn't have read it if it wasn't for my dad." Gold paused at that last word. Twilight raised her brow in suspicion wondering what made him pause a sentence. The two walked in silence with the only sound being made is the golden horseshoes on the royal guards' hooves making contact with the concrete ground, finally Twilight made her move. "What were your parents?" She asked, but Gold didn't respond, so she asked again. "What were your parents?" Gold was slow to reply but before he could they reached the castle entrance and then he spoke. "Another story, for another time." He followed one of the guards that were taking him to the guest room but he stopped and turned towards Twilight. "It's been a fun day, maybe we can do it again tomorrow or some other time, what do you say?" Gold asked. "I think Saturday will do, there's a lot to comprehend now that humanity decided to make its move (as if Equestria couldn't handle more than the other 5 humans that now resides in Ponyville)" "Then it's a date, good night princess Sparkle." He smiled, following the guard to his room leaving Twilight speechless and happy as if something more than friendship had just been lightened up. "Yea... Good night.." She looked around the castle's windows for a while when the guard that escorted her came to her and asked. "Do you like for me to show you to your room your highness?" Twilight looked at the window art and replied. "I think I can manage, thank you though." The guard saluted and left Twilight alone with the entire throne room all to hers, Twilight looked at the window and her reflection when a bigger reflection appeared behind her with a smile who was also looking at the same window in the throne room, but Twilight didn't mind Celestia's presence in the room she was looking at the window that presented Twilight's rise to alicornhood. Twilight looked at the window as a change, Celestia looked at it as an accomplishment. "I see you had a great time with Gold Star," Celestia grinned. "How did yo-" "He told me about it." Celestia interrupted, referring to Gold Star. "Ah.." As the room was silent other than the sounds of crickets and the fountain still spewing out water Celestia placed her hoof under her former student's chin and raised her to Celestia's eyes. "Now there's something I like to ask you, what do you see of yourself?" Celestia asked. "What do I see? Well.. I see myself?" "Good, now what else?" "Well, I have wings, a horn, and Equestria's best teacher I could ever have!" Twilight smiled. "Go on?" "And my friends, I know they'll stick with me no matter what!" Twilight spoke in pride, but Celestia frowned and sighed. "But what if in the future.. Something terrible happens to them, then what?" Celestia asked, which made Twilight's ears perk up. "Celestia, what makes you think about that possibility?" Twilight asked, which Celestia sighed and answered. "Remember about the time that I said that humans have only a short life span?" She asked. "Yea..?" "I've been talking with Mr. Reagan today about how humans live, build, and work, it made me realize throughout the years of my life that my ponies, are not that different when it comes to those three categories, what hurt me more was the realization that Starswirl never came back, I hope you understand when I chose Gold Star to be apart of this experience. In our reality, nothing lasts forever," Celestia explained in a saddened tone. The two then sat in front of each other wondering about the future. And the sweet release of death... With that depressing thought I was taking my boots off, they smelt like shit, I took my uniform off, kept my white under shirt and my shorts, after that I looked at the bed I'm about to lay on. -hello Mr. Bed, Vader is back- I then jumped and landed on the bed on my back and immediately without no thought I slept as if I passed out unconscious. Unknowing that the enemy is sneaking in my room... . Yuri looked up with binoculars where he can see my bed and my combat boots on the balcony, because of the shit smell I decided to leave it out on the balcony, he then opened his briefcase and grabbed a grappling and the hook, he attached the rope on the hook and then loading the grappler and aimed it at the balcony. He fires the grappling gun and the hook lands in one of the balconies wooden railing bars, he tugs on it once and twice and then retracts the rope climbing him towards my room and onto my balcony. Quietly, he stopped retracting the grappler and climbed over the balcony stealthily without attracting attention but that was before a door opened was when he quickly hid himself to a wall and went completely flat as the ground as he looks at a blue Alicorn without a crown or a regalia and stared at his target. "I never knew such a human as this one is an heir to something greater, if only he knows," said the blue pony before trotting away from his target and closing the door behind her. Yuri chuckled at her sentence. "Little does she know, he's more important than what she thinks, you wretched outdated English speaker!" He insulted. He went towards my bed and put on gloves. "And as for you, prepare for a new position in life!" As Twilight and Celestia were walking down the hall they heard me screaming. "AHHHHHHH!!!" "That sounded like Yates!" "Quick follow me!" The two Alicorns ran down the hall followed by other four guards who also heard my scream. When I woke up after feeling like something was touching me I saw a bald man with mechanical stuff on his head who quickly covered my mouth. I immediately fought back and punched him in the jaw off my bed and attempted to grab my pistol before he used some type of telekinesis on me and threw me on the dresser. And holy shit that was painful. "AHHHHH! FUCK! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?" The bald man replied by grabbing me by the neck and slammed me on the ground and then said. "Here's Yuri!!!" "AHHHHHHH!!!?!?!?!?!" He then pointed a tranq pistol at me but he wasn't able to use it when the door was slammed open and in came unicorn royal guards and two pissed Alicorns that were about to shoot someone with a lethal. However something cracked in that bald man when he got the glimpse of Twilight because he looked pissed. "YOU AGAIN!? I THOUGHT I'D SEE THE LAST OF YOU PURPLE PONY!" "I thought the same to Yuri!" "You know him?" We both asked. "He was the one who stole a staff from the Crystal empire, that's the one who I was talking about!" Twilight revealed. "Wait staff? WHAT THE FUCK IS HE AFTER ME FOR!" "Even as much rage I have towards you purple pony, I don't have time for this." Immediately my room becomes a fucking warzone when Yuri used telekinesis on the unicorn guards who attempted to seize and arrest him and were thrown from the balcony before being catched by Celestia who couldn't keep a grip on them. "I-I can't hold on much longer!!" Seeing the moment I can run towards the balcony in a attempt save the other four guards who were floating above from sudden dead, but it is behind Yuri so if I was going to save them I needed Twilight to distract him so I can get to them, so when I looked at her and she seemed to have a clear understanding at what I'm aiming for and she immediately fired her lethal spells on Yuri to keep him at bay while I make a run towards the balcony. "GRAB YOUR FELLOW GUARDS AND THEN GRAB MY HAND!" I shouted. "WE'RE TOO HEAVY!" "FUCK YOUR WEIGHT DAMMIT! DO YOU WANT TO LIVE OR NOT!?" The guard, who was still hovering from Celestia's magic and near certain death, instructed the other three unicorn guards to grab each others hooves and then the top guard of the four reached for my hand and I reached for his and after a brief struggle we successfully grabbed each other before Celestia collapsed on the ground from keeping the four pony guards from the 56 mile height of death, however I nearly fell with them if my feet weren't planted on the bars. But they were slipping.. Meanwhile Yuri looked at Twilight's attack pattern, knowing the room to be small and with the potential American marines probably on their way to gun him down by the sounds of army boots marching towards the area he needed to make his escape and fast, so as Twilight charged her magic he manipulated her horn and created a unstable magic that she can barely control and it was quickly released from her horn and blew a hold on the wall of my room, making the perfect escape route for him. She looked at the hole in fear of what Yuri just did. "How did you!??" "There's more than what I did, consider yourself lucky, and you might wanna help your comrade, I'd prefer him alive than dead right now." Twilight turned and yes I almost fell over the Balcony before being caught by Twilight's magic and was pulled by her, bringing the four unicorn guards to safety on the ground panting in fear and sweaty relief, as for me though I was tired as hell.. Twilight then turned and saw Yuri escaped, she ran to the hole and saw Yuri running outside of the castle and into the city of Canterlot with a briefcase, she then saw a note that was sitting on what was left of the dresser that said.. 'Better luck next time, purple pony.' In anger she crumpled the paper and looked at me with a question.. A question I will not be able to answer because I don't know how to answer it. 32nd Steelhooves street, Petershoof, Stalliongrad The next day arrived... And Petershoof is now besieged and bombed, Ogav was ordered to begin placing the remote detonated flare pods in the specific areas along with scouting the area for the post-artillery shelling which after that would come to the main offensive that would be launched, though he already knows with what Malashenko was really about to do with the populace and this city once the two specific events happen.. Something he never stood for in his time commanding the division that he returned to there was no public executions but there were private ones, but even then they didn't plan to bomb the shit out of the city and massacre an entire population like this. But now, he is in a T-72 tank leading a convoy of armor vehicles consisting of BMPs, a BTR-70, and 3 T-72s, not a decent amount but he looked behind him and saw the backs of the BTR empty without no one even sitting in them, all the while, the men piled on top of the BMPs. it made him think of something, perhaps he could save the ponies in this city but with Malashenko forbidding any types of evacuation Ogav knows the punishment for disobedience if not treason.. But while he thought of it the driver yelled. "HEY! WE'RE HERE!" "Oh, sorry! All stop!" Ogav ordered, as the entire convoy stopped and the troops on top of the troop carriers hopped off of them and lifted a heavy flare pod and set it down on what was left of a library. Ogav felt chills through his spine though.. He looked around a bit and found nothing but apocalyptic empty streets... At Least it was empty until... "RPG!!" Immediately a rocket was fired from the same library and slapped a T-72 tank out of commission breaking the convoy's straight line formation and soldiers running for cover and some shooting at nothing with the AKM's turning the area into a spray zone, while the sum of the men scattered in cowardice. Ogav seeing the chaos unfolding in front of his eyes, grabbed his AK-74U and jumped out of his tank and ran towards the now destroyed tank which the crew attempted to escape but the hatch got wielded shut so the crew resorted to yell. "HELP! SOMEONE HELP US WE'RE BURNING IN HERE HELP!!" "HOLD ON! STEP AWAY FROM THE HATCH AND WHATEVER YOU DO STAY AS FAR FROM THE HATCH AS YOU CAN!" Shouted Ogav, as the crew stepped back he banged on the hatch as hard as he can while also keeping his head low from the magic lethal spells being casted towards him along with enemy firearms being shot at him, finally in a moment of desperation as the smoke filled the air, he took aim with his AK-74U and shot the hatch with the entire cartridge rounds and kicked it straight down inside of the hull which he immediately instructed towards the trapped T-72 crew. "Grab my hand men! One at a time!" The crew of three of the tank got out of it and quickly took cover behind Ogav's T-72 tank when the machine guns started to spray the streets. Ogav got shot in the shoulder in the crossfire but he held his pain in a groan and ran towards the front of the tank. He then looked around to see what his men were shooting at only to notice that the earth ponies had somehow figured out how to use captured weapons and RPGs, he quickly jumped on his tank and tapped on the lid when the crew men that he was commanding and a bullet from one of his men narrowly missed his head as the hatch opened. "WOAH! FRIENDLY HERE HELLO!?" "Sorry captain! I thought you were those bastard ponies!" "No time for apology, get this turret and aim at that building behind us!" "Are you sure sir? I belie-" "DO IT NOW DAMMIT!!" Ogav shouted in command, but before the driver could fully get down into the tank a Anti-Tank gun was shot towards the tank and killed both the driver and the gunner Ogav seeing his men killed was filled with anger and rage as he sees the bastards in his view, grabbed his pistol shot the two anti-tank gunners, which then two more charged at him with bayonets but he shot them as well in the chest and legs. He looked at his now undermanned tank and climbed onboard it. He noticed that there was no intense damage with any systems other than the radar, and looking back at the men he just saved they were still under his tank taking cover, so he jumped from it and ordered. "I scratch your back now you scratch mine! I need assistance, we need to blow the building if we're going to live!" Ogav ordered, as the gunfire continued to rage on the streets. The crew was silent before the tank command of the crew shouted. "Well!? What are we waiting for? Let's finish this fucking fire fight!!" The crew got out from under his tank and manned the undamaged controls, after throwing the now dead bodies on the ground, Ogav grabbed his binoculars and scanned for the source of the gun fire when he noticed that the machine guns on the building primarily on the one on the south of them on the Library east wing was the source of the ambush. "Turn the turret 180 degrees south, lower it two clicks down, and you got the perfect shot." The crew got to work and turned the turret behind them where the BTR-60s were. However Ogav notices a tank was missing. "Cowardly bastards!" He said to himself as the tank canon aimed at the building he shouted. "FIRE! FIRE NOW!" The cannon fired. And the shell that the tank shot directly hits the enemy position and explodes the whole building into a fiery inferno, killing anyone near it and in it to a fiery grave. The gun fire stopped and troops that were shooting their AKs or PKMs got up, but none cheered; there were no shouts of Hurrah's that would be filling the air around Ogav. All there was aggravation and worry, and envy... But as for Ogav, he sat back in relief.. But then he notices the poor ponies who are unarmed and that was when he made his decision final. Malashenko was watching from his binoculars when he saw the convoy with the same amount of BTR-60s but with two T-72 tanks missing. The remaining convoy that just went through a firefight pulled up beside Malashenko and Ogav climbed off board when he was met with R.I.B. Agents pointing their pistols at him in which Ogav raised his hands up in annoyance. "Welcoming committee.. So you knew?" "I always knew someone as disobedient as you would betray the motherland." Malashenko spoke, as the other four R.I.B. They opened the back of the BTR-60s and saw the civilian ponies, with their fur blackened from fires or explosions of the rubble, but it was then it happened. The unit loyal to Ogav's command mutinied and pointed their rifles at the agents on the scene. Malashenko turned behind him and saw that the troops he's commanding turned on the R.I.B. Agents then when he turned he see's Ogav point his AK-74U at Malashenko and the other two agents pointed theirs at him but were quickly pointed right back by the crew that Ogav saved that will now be indebted to him forever. "What is this Volklav!" Malashenko yelled in confusing anger. "I knew you'd pull something like this Mr. Malashenko, but ages of experience, victories, and a shit load of encouraging speeches can make men like you even respect you, but of course camaraderie is true victory, but as for you though in this case.. You are neither of them other than a wretched war criminal!" "You got nothing on me! NOTHING!" Ogav smirked and looked at the R.I.B. agents. "Release the agents men, only the major will answer for his crimes in the tribunal." Ogav ordered the troops who then lowered or lifted their rifles from the R.I.B. Agents, confusing them before Ogav played a tape recorder that he happened to record the whole entire time. -Of course not, they'll most likely just conspire against the Stalliongrad government, everyone in the city is better off dead, than alive, including the children, who knows what types of bombs these terrorist might strap on them.- The R.I.B. Agents were quickly surprised and turned towards Malashenko. "N-no no don't believe him! HEY WHAT ARE YOU-" Immediately the R.I.B. Agents cuffed Malashenko, placing him under arrest for crimes against the Stalliongrad civilians and committing international crimes against the sentient species which Malashenko angrily looked at Ogav and shouted. "HEED MY WORDS TRAITOR! YOU WILL SUFFER FOR THIS! JUST YOU WAIT!" Malashenko was then tossed inside of a MI-8 helicopter and was airlifted towards Rodinia where he would be tried for his crimes in the international court, the R.I.B. Agents confiscates the tape recorder and Ogav sighed in relief, that was until a soldier came up to him and asked. "What now sir?" Ogav looked at the troops who had been fighting the war on Stalliongradian soil, brutally beaten, injured, bloodied, and war weary, and so he did what they should've done since the execution of the rebel leader decided. "I think it's time we try a better solution comrade." Canterlot The dining room was a bit quiet today. Reagan was sitting right in front of me in concern, Celestia and Luna also had the same concern, Shining Armor and Cadence looked as if they've just got out of bed.. Or perhaps maybe.. Eh they're married so of course they'll probably 'do it' but that's not important, what was important was who the hell was that guy named yuki? Or Uri? Uki? I don't know that guy's name other than he attacked me last night. But anyways the room's silence ended when Twilight entered the room with bagged up items being hovered by her magic or carried by Gold who was holding them from either his back or his mouth. The two placed what looked like bagged up evidence, the blood from a bald man, a tranq gun that he had left, and what seems to be the remaining residue from the manipulated magic that occurred when that guy did something to Twilight's horn that blew a hole in my wall. "Is that all the evidence?" Celestia asked. "This was all I could gather from last night's attack, that Yuri must've had a mind set when he infiltrated his room." Replied Twilight, when Reagan stood up and replied. "But what exactly does that have to do with all of it then? None of this doesn't explain why he was after one of my people. I have a feeling that he has orders from somewhere, and if what you said about him was true and that he failed to steal some staff from the Crystal empire and then went after him what exactly does this all line up with?" Twilight placed her hoof on her chin trying to answer the president's question and shrugged. "With all due respect Mr. President, but I'm not much of a detective with this stuff other than the interest of what type of magic he was using back there last night.." "Do you think it's dark magic?" Gold Star asked. "No.. If anything I didn't feel anything other than my horn being sparked and forced to fire that incendiary spell... Whatever it was it must be irregular or unrecognizable magic. What type of magic though is what bothers me..." "Whatever it is, Yates is endangered of being attacked again," "Celestia's right, I should probably move him to a secure location so Yuri will never find him." "I wouldn't say that Mr. President," I interrupted, making everyone look at me. "Why not? It's the best option for you so why not take it?" Reagan asked. "Because I've seen this guy literally up and personal, hell the lights were still on when I slept in the room and I clearly saw this on his forehead... Does anyone have paper and something to write with?" I asked. "I got paper here." Twilight replied. "I have a pen." Gold Star also replied. The two gave me the paper and the pen and I started to draw what I've seen. The entire group, both Crystal family, Royal sisters, President, and Gold Star and Twilight were looking at what I was drawing. When I finished and showed the picture Reagan's eyes widened as if he saw a ghost. "This is worse than I thought..." "What?" I asked. "You're right.. Taking you back to the main land is a suicide, a stupid move to suggest that in fact, clearly this is not a regular one.." Reagan denounced himself. "What's wrong Mr. Reagan?" Celestia asked. "Very wrong.. That's not just a Yuri, that's THE Yuri." "I thought we've already covered that?" "You said he manipulated your horn correct?" Reagan asked, which Twilight nodded. "Hmm.. That means the Red Mother has it out for Yates then.. But how the hell did she knew?" "Knew about what sir?" I asked, which Reagan, and Luna cringed a bit, Celestia however.. "They're after you because you are a relative with Luther." Celestia explained. "I mean.. I was told that when entering the White House for the first time and you did provided me with that type of logic, but what exactly does this have to do with me being chased?" I asked again. "Being relative with Luther, there is a weapon that can only be controlled by the relative, a weapon more powerful than the elements of harmony, or the staff of Orinithia, or even Discord himself.. If somehow Yuri was successful in capturing you and the staff that he nearly stole, you could've been used as a weapon.. A weapon that would've end all life as we know it." Celestia explained, scaring the shit out of me.. I processed her words but what's there to process? She said it plainly, I was a relative to a man who apparently saved mankind with a stick that happened to be more powerful than anything else in the world... Actually that sounds bad to think what I would've been used for. "But Celestia? I thought the element was more powerful?" Twilight Asked, but Celestia sighed. "The elements may be more powerful, yes, but if anything if the staff were to be used for the wrong reasons it could shatter the elements and completely destroy magic.." Celestia explained again, making Twilight gulp and then stared at me. She seemed to be thinking of some type of solution and wouldn't you know it... She had one.. Just not what I would intend on being... Stalliongrad Situation conclusion.. Ogav climbed on board the MI-17 helicopter that was taking him and the men back to Stalliongrad city. The conflict ended when Ogav went to the rebel strongholds with a white flag but with no intention of surrendering but rather negotiating, both sides heated up a bit in an argument before a compromise was reached into an acceptable deal, the only deal the people wanted was really just food. When he contacted the Red Mother and explained everything to her she nodded in agreement and called Altidya on the negotiation, it surprised the Soviet soldiers when Altidya agreed to suspend collectivism with the exchange that the Rodinian food shipments are split down to 65% towards the civilian population and the rest be given to the collective, and for the leader to sign the document of surrender and admittance. When the Rebels of Petershoof heard about this they pressured the leader in charge to sign the admittance however the leader that headed the rebellion, in place of the recently executed one, cowardly fled across the border of Equestria, abandoning the rebel forces but it was then that when Ogav was given the document he personally signed it and temporarily, and briefly, became the rebel leader and disbanded the Petershoof rebellion. And now that the conflict ended Petershoof is now being reconstructed by Rodinian and Stalliongrad troops along with workers who arrived to the city's aid. Ogav looked through the window and smiled just as the helicopter took off. He wondered.. How much of a story he's about to tell to his little Natasha... Petershoof rebellion of 1003 Rodinian deaths: 1200 Stalliongrad Rebel deaths: 140 Tanks and Armor vehicles lost: 84 Equipment captured: 2300. Duration: 2 days. City damage ratio (damaged: standing/undamaged): 45:55 While for me on the other hand unfortunately.. It was decided that to keep me safe and protected, Reagan and Celestia would agree to go for a full on military cooperation which resulted in a permanent military treaty. Yes, who knew that after thousands of years of hate and spite between the countries they would become such good friends.. I guess.. I was placed on surveillance by orders of Ronald Reagan, and when Uncle Sam was given reports on the situation he decided to conscript me fully back into the American military, meaning I'm not his errand boy anymore, I'm back to being a soldier. And what was better was I'm back to the division I was supposed to serve. And that was the 105th division. Trucks carried armored vehicles, Tanks, and Howitzers to the new area of operations for this division as a cover, and that particular new area of operations... Is Ponyville, code named; Base Alicorn... Welcome back to the army corp, I guess.
The New World \| Millennium	The Equestrian Games	The news spread like wild fire when the press got a hold of the clip of what happened in the East Humarican seas. Reports came in that the Statcom was challenged by three Argendinians destroyers while unconfirmed reports suggest there was also a submarine in the combat zone but the media weren't able to independently verify whether there was or not, but as the news spread throughout the Continent a emergency meeting was called when the American people called for blood and vengeance against Argendina, however, knowing Uncle Sam he arrived at the combat zone where the destroyers were sunked at and had a hunch that perhaps there's something else going on here.. "Those bastards, I knew they would back stab us I just knew it!" said one of Uncle Sam's agents. The intercom called for the crewmen to lift the ships out of the ocean which the men acknowledged and switched the levers retracting the cables that were hooked to the sunken ships. Once all three ships were lifted out of the water Uncle Sam personal inspected the wreckage by super jumping onboard to examine the damages and potential evidence, either for Argendina's involvement or a theory that he made. He grabbed a flashlight and flashed the interior of the ship, what he was looking at was mold, rotting metal, and what seems to be dust or flame residue from one of the Statcom's shells. He walked inside of the command deck of the destroyer and looked in the drawers only to find nothing but mud, and sand. He shuts the drawer and kept looking around when he stepped on something below his feet, he flashed down to the ground and noticed something particular with the command deck, it has a white carpet but there seems to be a symbol on it.. The examination crew entered the command deck after equipping themselves with safety equipment, they looked at the symbol that Uncle Sam is pointing at and ask. "What do you think it is sir?" Uncle Sam looked at the symbol peculiar. "No clue.. Rip this carpet out and take it to the naval research lab for further study," he ordered. "Right away sir," replied the worker. Ponyville The military base was established about a mile away from Ponyville and some miles away from Canterlot, Gold Star was placing his items in his room while also setting up two beds, one for him and one for me. I guess that's what happens when you're being watched by a military officer... Especially a pony military officer. Meanwhile on the outside the fencing was just finished being established which created the proper base foundation for American-Equestrian joint operations and missions, externally and internally, Gold Star was finished setting up his desk when a soldier came inside of our room and spoke. "Captain sir!" "Good evening soldier, did the armor company arrive?" Gold Star asked. "Yes sir! the variant two Abrams have started to arrive sir, along with the Paladins," replied the soldier. "Very good, then that case I should be able to have time for that date," "Date?" I asked. "Oh yea... I almost forgot to mention that me and Twilight agreed to go on that date today, it's been 2 days and I've forgot to report this to Reagan.." "Dude... Considering that you'll probably have to take me with you I don't think Reagan or your Colonel would allow that.." I spoke in a concern but polite voice, which he sighed. "I know... But then what else am I suppose to do?" Gold Star asked me, but I didn't gave no reply.. But thank the great Creator for his reply. "Captain Gold Star!" Entered Colonel Alex, as me and Gold Star got up and saluted in unison. "Colonel Alex! Good to see you." "Accommodations later Captain, General MacArthur ordered that you and Lieutenant Yates report to Crystal city." The Colonel ordered. "Umm.. Colonel with all due respect but I was told to stay here and keep a eye on Yates, those were orders." Gold Star protested. "MacArthur was told this too Captain, but Reagan allowed this as a exception as long you keep yourself or one of your men on watch duty, I have a feeling that Yuri already knows about the Equestrian games," said Alex making me curious and Gold Star surprised. "That's today!?" "Yea.. They decided to move it a bit closer since polls and some other government shit I don't know about, but with that said you will be heading to the Crystal city, a helicopter is waiting for you outside, oh and before you go, be presentable apparently it's not just Ponies and griffons, our species will be participating as well, and during these games a emergency meeting is being held at the courtesy of Celestia and Cadence, any questions?" Explained Alex, closing it with a question. "I do." "Hit me." "What're the Equestrian games?" Canterlot, 45th Dawnland road Yuri was sitting on the couch in a rented apartment at the courtesy of their Red Mother, looking at the sun directly with eyes to feel the pain of heat and trained the whole time in the room, shirtless. But that was what he'd usually do when he just sat on the couch doing absolutely nothing at the moment as it was Saturday, but the relaxation when his phone ringed the Rodinian Socialist Anthem followed by screaming men and gunshots. He picked the phone up and said. "Hello?" "Is this Yuri?" Asked a soviet officer. "Ah comrade Dounivich!" "Don't 'ah comrade' me Yuri, as you know being our Red Mother's personal assistant she has been waiting on that phone call she have yet to receive, so tell me? Have you captured the target or not!?!" Yelled the officer. "He's under heavy security comrade, if you want to be clean I suggest-" "DO YOU HAVE THE TARGET YURI!? YES OR NO!" The Dounivich shouted in aggravation, making Yuri growl under his breath. "No.." The phone was silent for a while for about 2 minutes just as Yuri was about to hang up Dounivich spoke again. "Hearing you have not captured the target, I think it's time I do our Red Mother's bidding my own, you are to proceed no further to continue to mission until further notice." The officer ordered. "Then what about the orders I have then?" Yuri asked. "The orders given to you will now be carried out by our special forces, they'll be working under incognito, as for you Yuri... Have a nice Saturday off." The phone was hanged up and Yuri felt rage and anger and threw his phone at the wall, shattering the phone in pieces while he sat and thought about some things, that was when he chuckled and said. "Oh no you don't comrade, because I THE GREAT YURI WILL CAPTURE THAT SON OF A BITCH! WHETHER IT'S THE LAST THING I DO! Now as for the matter of his incognito freaks..." Crystal City The helicopter landed on the area provided by Equestrian tax payer money to the newly established Humarican peace building, created personally by Celestia in a mission to resolve Human conflict in the continent of Humarica. Gold Star looked at the building in a surprised and glamorous expression. "Fine Equestria architecture, this country never disappoints wouldn't you say Lieutenant?" "It's nice in all but how did they build that with crystals alone?" "No idea, this is my first time visiting here though, so who knows maybe it might blow my socks off." "Ehh, considering ponies usually wear socks for some other thing... I think you're better off wearing boots." "I don't wear boots you know." "Eh, anyways lets see what this is all about shall we?" "Alright." As me and Gold Star entered the building I bumped into someone who was wearing a red dress and was not guarded by no one. "Excuse me, sorry about ma'am I didn't see you." I apologized, making Gold Star facepalm himself. "Apology accepted, who do you might be?" She asked in words I didn't understand so I answered it. "My name is Yates ma'am, nice hair do by the way? Is it always like that?" I asked, making her blush. "Oh please, it's just for diplomatic occasion, nothing else." "Niceee, so what's your name?" I asked. "I have three names young Yates, one is Luxembourg, other is Eleanor, and the other is." "Our Red Mother!" Called a soldier from the distance, blowing me away with that last name... "I'll come soon! It's a nice chat, Mr. Yates, I'd like to speak with you more over a cup of coffee later touche?" She dated. "Yea, I think that'll do, Ms. Eleanor." I replied, making her chuckle. "Please, refer to me as Eleanor only, it's a better way to befriend each other isn't it not? Anyways, Dasvidaniya, Yates." As she walked away from me I stood there in shock, and it seems I wasn't the only one when Gold Star's jaw dropped toward the floor as if he seen something dreadful or surprising. "Did I just talked with the Soviet leader..." I asked myself. "I think you just did..." He replied. "Brilliant.." Yuri on the case Yuri looked through his binoculars to see if his target was in the stadium, it seems he was not, but it seems he wasn't the only one to assume the same assumption as he can see that his incognito chums are also in the stadium, or atleast the entrance since they know they're weapons would be confiscated if they tried to enter. Yuri placed his fingers on his chin and leaned besides a trash can when a ground of human athletes went pass him in a happy attitude, Yuri however, killed it with his expressionless face when suddenly his favorite athlete was coming towards him. "No way? Are you Lev Yashin?" Yuri said, which the athlete nodded. "Da, and you must be Our Red Mothers right hand man, I'd like to personally ask for a endorsement but at the moment I'm about to head inside the stadium," said Lev Yashin. "Of course, but before you go... Can I have your autograph? I'm a huge fan!" "Of course comrade, lemme get my pocket book real quick, if only if I had a front pocket.." As Lev looked through his pockets Yuri noticed that a group of black uniformed troops walked by with ski mask and loaded rifles, Yuri looked closer when he noticed that symbol on their patches. "Suka blyat.. Rodinian special forces.. Of course Dounivich will use them, no matter, after I get my autograph, I'll get to work... Right after a drink of vodka.." Crystal Stadium Multiple representatives had came to watch the games, such as the prince of Saddle Arabia, a recent new soviet state, and the rulers of Asstyria and Anseruk, General Patton walked by the leaders and looked at the huge field thinking how much shit might happen he sat down on reserve seat. Patton sat and relaxed himself while the Equestrian games was about to start when he heard a familiar music that signified that the important man has arrived.. The Zebrican leaders eyes widened when the President of the Federation of American States came inside the stadium with a grinning expression while Patton quickly raise himself on his boots and saluted to the commander and chief as Reagan turned away from shaking the Arabian's hooves and spoke. "Good afternoon general, I see that you've been busy here for a good while I was starting to get curious of what you've been up to?" Reagan chuckled. "Mr. President it's a honor in your presence here, especially upon hearing that we'll be the first foreign nation off of the Equus continent to participate in these games," Patton spoke excitedly. "While I do like for us to be the only country there is unfortunately another that was granted a chance to play in the games.." Reagan frowned. "And who would that be?" "I think the other nation is referring to me." Spoke Brezhnev, looking at the two with dead like eyes. "Who the fuck is this guy?" Patton asked. "General Patton, this is Secretary General Brezhnev.. The head of Rodinia, the place I've talked to you about after the banishment." Reagan introduced. "I fucking hate him already, aren't you the bastard who sent troops against mine?!" Patton yelled aggravated. "If I would've known this old man was going to insult me I would've turned down Celestia's request of attending this event, said Brezhnev. "You forget tha-" "Enough both of you!" Yelled a feminine voice, as Reagan stepped back and allowed Celestia to get close to the two old men. "I invited the Rodinian's to participate in this event in hopes to potentially keeping both nations at peace but that cannot happen when you two argue 24/7!" Celestia scolded, but Patton rolled his eyes. "You're speaking to the same general who happened to dealt with a near war event in this same city with also the same fucking man that authorized it!" Patton argued. "Don't blame me for your shit, if anything I'd focus on the nations economy, unlike you American terrorist who keeps bombing innocent Zebra's to hell." Brezhnev pointed. "WHY YOU LITTLE-" "THAT IS ENOUGH! YOU BOTH ARE ON EQUESTRIAN SOIL AND YOU ARE TO ACT LIKE GENTLEMEN ON EQUESTRIAN SOIL OR SO HELP ME I WILL SWIFTLY PUNISH BOTH OF YOU! IS THAT CLEAR!!" Shouted Celestia, giving Brezhnev and Patton a scare of their lifetime while Reagan shrugged as if to say 'I told you so.' "Fine, then it'll be your problem, good day Mr. President.. And good luck.." Patton saluted and left the two leaders and Princess Celestia to themselves while Reagan looked at Brezhnev and said. "Perhaps it's best that me and Brezhnev be separated for now." "I agree with the American, for once we both have an agreement." Replied Brezhnev, as he went to the farthest corner from Reagan's seat which would place him beside the soviet prince that the Rodinian army recently installed in Arabia. "Mr. Reagan I apologize but I couldn't have the patience to see your people argue with another country." "Well, it's always been like this ever since the leak incident that occurred which revealed documents that the Rodinian's may have been behind the false identity crisis with Jimmy Carter, while the leaker had been arrested, it didn't fix the fact that everyone knows now about it, Creator knows how many Rodinian's are persecuted by now, Whats even worse was when Patton and his division was back from banishment they almost started a war between the Federation and the soviets for crying out loud!" Reagan over explained, making Celestia sigh. "There has to be some solution, and hopefully quick..." The Peace Conference Chambers The room was chatty today as members from the Humarican nations, mainly human, had came together to discuss on the situation with Argendina's actions on their attack on the Statcom and whether the Thestrial's invasion on Argendina was justified or not. Uncle Sam entered the room with secret service agents carrying concealed baggage who then placed it on the table reserved for evidence, the agent looking over the evidence stared at Uncle Sam and asked. "Are you sure the leaders will believe this?" "I'm certain, if it doesn't well.. May Creator have mercy on Argendina," Uncle Sam replied. As he climbed up the stairs towards his reserved seat he shook hands, hoofs, and even claws from Griffonian diplomats who're also spectating in the conference when he happened to see the head council of the Mexicona parliament. "Hola Arnold Scheer, how's it going?" Asked Uncle Sam. "It couldn't be better, although it was surprising that my home country, the griffonian empire, appointed me as head council bird of our proud colony that remained with us in these times," Arnold smirked. "Yep, by the way, how's your friend Cornelio? I heard he was recently reassigned to the colony as well?" Uncle Sam wondered, while Arnold was looking at a portrait of the Crystal Heart. "From what I heard he was assigned to guard the colonial borders, primarily yours," Scheer replied, giving Uncle Sam a little flame inside. "For what reason though? We keep our troops on Rodina's borders and elsewhere overseas, what reason could there be-" "ALL RISE, FOR THE PRINCESSES OF EQUESTRIA AND THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!" Announced the royal guard as the human, griffon, and pony diplomats raised from their seats, catching Uncle Sam off guard. "The first part of the Equestrian games ended already?" He asked. "No clue, better take our seats then we'll talk." Suggested Griffon. "Good idea," replied Uncle Sam. The two split and stood infront of their seats as the four Alicorn princesses came inside of the chambers and sat on the thrones with their perspective cutie marks and symbols above their seats, the royal guard stood besides the throne and Reagan and Brezhnev took their reserved seats on the top row of the chamber, a chair apart from each other. "Please be seated," she spoke, as the entire room sat down on their seats and watched the conference. "Mares and Gentlecolts, humans, and Griffons, welcome to the first national peace conference of this world with the objective, preserve peace no matter the cost, what started from a dull future turned into a hopeful future when the worlds most technologic and and advanced race stepped in to end what was once called the continental cold war, turned it into a first step towards perfect peace, now then, with introductions out of the way may the diplomatic leaders, Argendina, and America step towards the table?" Celestia requested, as three Argendinian diplomats and three American diplomats stepped out from their seats and sat down on the table at the ground level infront of the four Alicorn's seating. The Argentinian's privately spoke to each other before the head of the American diplomatic team said. "Alright, so can you explain what happened on the day of the attack?" The Argendinian human rose up and replied. "Five days ago, three of our destroyers were docked on the city of Aires loading up amunition's supplied by American trade associations, Bolivians, and the biggest supplier being anonymous, they were scheduled to ship out to conduct a naval patrol on what was left of our maritime borders with Thestria when at 3:40 in the morning, shots were fired and all that proves it were two recordings from radio frequencies, if my assistant may?" The Argendinian insisted, as his associate got up and grabbed two tape recorders from the evidence table that supported Argendina's claims. Pushing the button on tape one the tape revealed to be sounds of machine gun fire followed by shouting and screaming, tape two was then played after words when the ships were captured the officer in charge of defending the cruisers sounded disbelief and stating that they had to pull out because of the overwhelming manpower swarming him and other 10 guys who're guarding the port. Celestia looked and heard the recordings with intrigue, Luna and Cadence looked at each other that was indicating suspicion and Twilight Sparkle tilted her head and almost asked a question when the front entrance doors were opened with special forces soldiers coming inside with Atlyn helmets masking their face and then clearing a path for the Red Mother who was wearing a red dress. "Apologies if I was late Ms. Celestia, I ran into someone on the way here," Red Mother excused herself. "You are excused, take a seat," Celestia acknowledged, as the Red Mother walked by the negotiation table and walked up 12 stair cases and sat down besides Uncle Sam who was sitting on the blue chair, and she was sitting on the red chair. The negotiations continued as it was the Americans turn to either counter the Argendinian evidence or to support Argendina's innocents, in which something that surprised many, the American diplomat rise from his seat and spoke. "So if the Argendinians did happened to endure a port raid, what can you explain about the submarine?" "Submarine? I don't know what you're talking about? We have no submarines in the navy and from I can recall I don't think there was none during the battle," replied the Argendinian. "Hmm.. Why it's a question to ask you is because as we were gathering evidence we had found torpedo remains under water as we know when the Statcom was dodging the torpedoes that tried to sink it the F.I.B. has discovered that the destroyers had no torpedo bays at all, in fact after further study I might actually believe that your story checks out," the diplomat explained, which the Argendinians breath in relief. "BUT! Even if it wasn't the Argendinians, there is the matter of who.. Who did stole your destroyers? And who also try to sink the Statcom?" The Diplomat questioned, the Argendinians didn't answer because they didn't know the answer, but the question was mainly directed at everyone in the room. The diplomat smirked and looked at the princesses of Equestria. "Lets think about this real quick, how would you react if someone was to equip your enemy? The same enemy that you call a enemy through physical attacks or pure grudge towards to? I mean I'd be mad, wouldn't surprise me if yall were mad," the diplomat looked around and no gave no reply other than listen to his words, and so he reply. "Well then what if I was to say, and also thanks to Uncle Sam by the way, we have discovered the ones behind the attack and if my associate may if you please?" Added the diplomat, as his assistant went to the table and unzipped a black duffle bag and grabbed a furred roled up white rug which to everyone else it doesn't look like much until it was placed on the table and was unrolled by the associate, which then made everyone go on the edge of their seats, while the Princesses, especially Twilight, looked in shock and worry along with a tense expression on their faces at what they were looking at. Celestia stomped on her hoof and replied. "Who are these individuals!?" The diplomat was silent when a military general got on his foot and replied. "That is the flag of the Preussisch Korps, infamous in all of Humarica and deadly, the last time the American army had fought against them was during the Griffonian Republican revolution..." "It all started on that day, the American government got involved with the events occurring in Griffonia and decided to defend it's interest within the capital, Griffenheim, to create a peace zone. We only had M14 rifles, and a Patton M46 tank at the time and I only had about 50 in my command. Our mission was to secure 12th imperial street, after the peace zone was established was when Tartarus was unleashed.. Artillary booming everywhere, and Griffons against Griffons, brothers against brother, it reminded me back when the Federation was in that same civilwar back in the 70 tens that we had fought, but not like what we witnessed, but we noticed the difference between a stab wound and a gun wound and when we saw a flock of the Republican griffons suddenly dying I ordered my men to get one and bring it back to the peace zone, well after examining how a airborne griffon died it was from a precision shot bullet.. And that was when I met Erwin Rommel, after the chaotic battle me and him chatted there was no differences aside from beliefs, strategies, Ect. But now... To think he is supporting the same nation who happened to have attack Canterlot and harm innocents made me think that it wasn't him... Atleast until now..." After MacArthur's statement on the Preussisch Korps, the Equestrian princesses started thinking about the new foe that seems to now be supporting the Changelings, with Uncle Sam and Reagan looking intense with MacArthur's explanation, the Red Mother and Brezhnev whispered. "What is the chance that this ideology.. "Fascism" happened to already started it's spread?" Brezhnev theorized, while the Red Mother placed her hand on her chin in thought.. "It seems so... If that is the case then we must keep a eye on them, otherwise we'll be fighting this cold war in three separate fronts.. I suggest activating the Changeling R.I.B. At once," ordered Red Mother. "Right away," replied Brezhnev, getting up from his seat and tightening his tie and walked down the steps to exit the building. "It's been a pleasure Ms. Celestia, but knowing the situation I must attend with other affairs, dasvidaniya," excused Brezhnev, as he turned and walked out of the conference leaving Reagan and Uncle Sam mildly confused and Luna and Cadence looked at the Red Mother with a curious mind being what they're up to. Meanwhile where was I and Gold Star the whole time? Standing around doing nothing, when the conference started the royal guard escorted us out because of "secrecy" which if I recall is bullshit. But while we stood outside waiting for Uncle Sam the door infront of us opened with Brezhnev walking out of the conference which is a bit strange since the conference isn't suppose to be finished until the second stage of the Equestrian games started.. I turned towards Gold Star and even he's a bit suspicious with Brezhnev as I am. Soo.... "You know what I'm thinking what your thinking?" I asked. "That we shouldn't worry about him?" Gold Star replied. "Uhh.. No I was suggesting we see what he's up to," I replied. "But what about you?" He added. "What about me? You know damn well that I've already know that I'm being chased by communist but perhaps you won't have to keep staring at me like a camera," I pointed out. "But this here old camera was ordered by the same people who doesn't want you kidnapped! Especially with what's at stake here!" Gold Star argued. "Damn, you sound like Twilight Sparkle right about now," I insulted. "Listen here lieutenant! As long as I am a rank above you you're not to-" "To.." Gold Star paused and stared outside of the window as if he saw something... "Hey? Is something wrong-" "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Shouted Gold Star, pushing me back and taking a tranq dart to the neck before face flatten fell on the floor in a unconscious state. "OH SHIT! CAPTAIN GOL-" I was interrupted by a second dart that was shot from the distance that landed on my arm, when I pulled it out it had some type of symbol with a shield and a torch, and that was all I saw before I passed out. Meanwhile, Yuri was sitting on a chair getting a sun tan when he heard my voice, he was eating popcorn and cotton candy for when I stepped out alone and had no one with me so he can capture me, but he heard what sounded like dart gun shots from the roof above him. As he looked up there was a person with a creepy gas mask with a dart rifle and jumped on the ground to retrieve it's prey, Yuri grabbed his binoculars and sees that the two royal guards, that were guarding the conference door, inspected me and Gold Star when the same individual who darted me and Gold Star attached a silencer on his lethal pistol. "IDENTIFY YOURSELF! DID YOU DO THIS!?" Shouted the Royal Guard in the distance, when the individual pointed a pistol towards the two and the guards quickly charged. "Sag Hallo zu Tirek fur uns in Walhalla, ihr verdammten Pferde!" Cursed the unknown individual as he shot the two guards two bullets each with a suppressed M9 pistol. One guard was shot in the head and chest, the other in the leg and shoulder, the individual then picked me and Gold Star's body and then spoke through the radio. "Packages secured, meet up at rendezvous," spoke the strange individual. Now when it came with soviet incognito squads they would have a mask of some sort but the guy with the gas mask however... That's not soviet nor American.. "Who the blyat is he?" Wondered Yuri, as the individual walked away from him he throws his popcorn and cotton candy on the side and secretly follows the gas mask man. So he can steal the glory that was stolen from him. The meeting was over and Twilight Sparkle got up from her seat and was heading outside with the thought that her enemy has a new ally, a ally that is dangerous to her and Equestria and could possibly tip the balance of everything. As she was heading to the north exit she heard a panicked scream coming from the south exit and quickly ran towards the direction and opened the door when she sees two of Equestria's royal guards dead. Immediately dread swept over her as she has never seen death like it up and personally as she tries to keep herself together when Uncle Sam and Reagan ran towards the scene to see the two royal guards dead as a military medic ran and cleared the area to examine and check for a possible pulse, he placed his finger on one of the guards neck and quickly press the bleeding shoulder and leg. "This one is still alive! I need someone to suppress the bleeding in this one!" The medic ordered, which Shining Armor quickly came to the medic's aid and held the bleeding areas while the medic checked the other one for his pulse and shook his head in disbelief. "Deceased.." The doctor lay a towel on the deceased guard and focused on the one savable one, Celestia and Luna entered the scene the Uncle Sam orders his agents to clear the scene and search for me and Gold Star. "What the hell happened here.." Asked MacArthur, as he sees a bloody crime scene infront of him. "General, these two were shot with a 9mm!" The professional reported, giving Uncle Sam dread and looked behind him at the Red Mother who was also watching the situation. "You did this! Did you!?" Uncle Sam violently accused. "Oh please! If anything you damned Americans are probably the ones behind this murder! After all the M9 is typically a 'AmErIcAn InVeNtIoN,'" Red Mother mocked. "Reagan was right about you bastard!" "That is enough! It's clearly neither of you who committed this sort of act!" Twilight spoke out in aggravation. "Stay out of this, short Princess! This is human matters not a Equestrian one!" General MacArthur ordered. "This is certainly a Equestrian matter general!" Intervened Celestia, walking beside Twilight's view. "If anything the Red Mother is right to say that it wasn't her nor her people who killed my ponies, but it was also obviously not the American humans either!" "Oh? Then who the hell is responsible for this then!?" MacArthur scowled in anger. "If you be patient, me and my sister will see who did this crime, by tapping into the surviving guards mind," Celestia replied. "But Celestia! You know how dangerous that could be! What if you got trapped in a endless cycle!" "Trust me," Celestia replied, which Twilight gulped and backed up while Celestia and Luna lit their horns and concentrated on the only living guard who is still breathing slightly. In a minute Celestia and Luna's eyes were flashed with the guards memories and life before them. After fighting against the tranq dart for some hours, minutes, whatever how much time had passed since I was unconscious I woke up with my legs and hands tied up in bondage, it seems my mouth was taped as well as my vision since it would seem that I was blind folded so no chance of conversating or seeing anything.. However when I leaned to my right I heard a grunt recognizable to Gold Star.. Wait a second? Gold Star is here but he's also in bondage what gives? I thought I was a target why would they want him? "Has the packages woken up yet?" Said a feminine voice. "Yes general, we have captured them alive but complications arise when two pony guards tried to stop us from our operation, other than that we have cleared our trail," reported a soldier, who I can't see because of the blindfold when I hear foot steps and pistols loading. "One wrong move, and your brain gets blown out, understood!" Yelled the female, which I nodded just to not underestimate whoever I'm dealing with. And also not die like a rat here.. The blindfold was untied along with Gold Star, we can now see each other but also the legit threat of what the chick said when she did said she would blown our brains out just by the look of the gas masked soldier with the pistol to my face. The soldier then reached to my mouth and torn the tape off of me and Gold Stars lips leaving a sting to my lip, but a sweet feel of air on my lips for potentially the last time since I'll probably not make it. Suddenly I hear foot steps coming towards me with medals clinging on the uniform they're attached to.. A devilish smile across the face.. A Herzland designed military cap wearing physco.. And.. Lipstick? What maniac uses lipstick!! "You may not know who I am, but I know who you are, Vader Justin Yates." Smirked the female fascist, as I realize that the maniac not only sounds insane, but also it's a chick.. "Who the hell are you? And how the hell did you know my name!" "Well.. Lets just say I have people on the inside that knows this type of stuff, I'll give you a hint, it's not the old man, nor Reagan the foolish, or anyone in congress." She revealed, chuckling while she turned to look at the tan stallion. "And you must be the pony who no one or the damn changelings would shut up about," She insulted, causing Gold Star to grumble under his breath. "What exactly made you thought that me and him were valuable all of a sudden with those dammed horse roaches you call allies!" Gold Star glowered, making her laugh even more. "Because dearly, I'd originally wanted you for Chrysalis, not this useless human you call 'special' if anything I was just going to kill him right on the spot if it wasn't for the Rodinian's going after him." "Wait, so you're not even after me?" I asked. "Of course not, as much as chrysalis would like to tear your skull on a rock I was simply ordered to capture Gold Star, not you, or a Equestrian princess... Yet.." "Mhm.. And you say you're after him, SO WHAT THE FUCK! ARE YOU DOING WITH HIM THEN!" I was immediately butted by the end of one of her soldiers guns right in the gut, it felt like being shot only not a bullet but with a big force full of mass with the pain of being punched in sensitive parts, only it's on the guts but still it's fucking painful as fuck. "Silence, or it'll be more than just that," threatened the soldier, pointing his rifle towards me while the women grabbed my chin with her long and sharp finger nails. "First of all American, you are not the one in charge here, second of all you have no buisness what's in store for him other than what I know, and third..." She then paused and chuckled at number three as she released my chin from her grasp and then continued. "Have you considered that perhaps Gold Star was something more Vader? Something more than he's letting on?" "I don't really know what you're talking about here? I mean we're nearly buddies but.." "Yes?" I looked at Gold Star and he looked at me with a face that said 'I got nothing to hide' while at the same I feel a bit curious but there was also the fact that she had connections within the higher powers of the government so I looked at her with suspicion and decided to best play along or find out what is worse than being punched in the gut.. "What exactly are you talking about?" I asked, in which she was about to open her mouth when a pony figure came into the fray. "That's something she'll be answering later!" Everyone turned towards the voice which seems that the women looked at the pony with disgust. "Twilight Sparkle!" a hour earlier Twilight had been trotting around anxiously wondering when Celestia and Luna will snap back to themselves, MacArthur and Uncle Sam had been waiting for the agents to come back and the medic, with the help of Shining Armor, tended to the wounded guard when the agent ran towards Uncle Sam with a report. "Sir, we cannot find Gold Star or Yates." "What?!" Surprised Uncle Sam. "B-b-but where could they have been!" He raised, but that was when Celestia and Luna finished their spell and came back with frightened faces. "What did you fin-" "THERE'S NO TIME TO EXPLAIN! Shining Armor! Rally up the guards and prepare a kingdom wide search immediately!" Celestia ordered to Shining Armor, interrupting MacArthur. "On it," "Luna contact Patton, have the expeditionary forces on full alert!" Celestia ordered again, as Luna nodded and flew to the air when Celestia turned towards Uncle Sam and General MacArthur. "Is someone going to explain what's going on here!" MacArthur demanded. "Gold Star and Yates were kidnapped, I don't know who or why, but when we find them they will answer for whatever they plan to do to them and what they did to my ponies!" Celestia then flew up to the air leaving MacArthur, Uncle Sam, and Twilight in the area. Twilight for some reason felt something in her that told her to act at once, so she turned and spoke with her own Canterlot tone. "Whatever you do do it now!" She ordered. "We will, but what about you?" Uncle Sam asked. "I don't know, but what I do know is that I will find them myself!" She raised her wings and flew off to the distance leaving Uncle Sam and MacArthur by themselves which made Uncle Sam smirk. "Alright then, General!" Uncle Sam requests. "Yes?" Replied MacArthur. "Get me... The green berets, immediately," "Right away sir," replied MacArthur. Twilight Sparkle and the the woman with her 6 men were now at a stand off with each other as Twilight lit her horn in combat readiness. "Well.. This will probably be it for us," I whispered to Gold Star. "Don't think that way, atleast we're being rescued," Gold Star replied. "By a Alicorn?" I scoffed "Oh please.. I've seen enough cop shows to know where this is going," I whispered in reply. "And how exactly does this go?" Gold Star asked in a whisper. "Well basically-" "KILL THAT ALICORN!" Shouted the women in a order, as the troops under her command reacted and fired their MP-40s at the purple princess. Twilight Sparkle watched as the bullets skewed right past her mane giving her the sense of dread of being killed by the hand of advanced but dangerous humans that serve under whoever orders them around, Twilight thought of what tactic she'll need to use in order to defeat them. She activates her shield magic which deflected the hellfire of bullets from getting to her by the tens before the soldiers held their fire in confusion, this gives Twilight the window of opportunity to take advantage and quickly opened her shield and flew up towards the sky and dive bombed them with her own hell fire amount of lethal magic of the enemy, but to avoid death she aimed for their shoulders or legs. Two were infront of one another when she fired her first shot at the enemy which blasted right through their shoulders and pushed them violently towards the wall, but as they hit their backs on the wall they dropped their guns giving me the perfect idea of how to get out of this mess, but first I got the get me and the captain out of bondage. "Hey Gold Star!" I whispered. "Yea?" "Use your horse teeth and bite the ropes." "...." "What?" "Did you literally call me a horse.." "What else am I gonna call you? A pony? This is fucking life or death for crying out loud!" "Ehhh.. Good point, but we really got to talk about species naming here." As I pointed my tied hands towards his mouth he immediately got to buisness and started biting on the rope when one of Twilights missed shots narrowly blasted his head off. "Holy- HEY PURPLE! I KNOW YOU'RE TRYING TO SAVE US HERE BUT CAN YOU TRY NOT TO GET US KILLED!" I shouted. "It'd be nice if I get help!" Responded Twilight, dodging the bullets from the soldiers and firing off her spells at the enemy. "WHAT THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSE TO DO MISS PRINCESS! IT'S NOT LIKE WE'LL BE MIRACULOUSLY BE FREED FROM PURE LUCK!" I shouted back, before Suddenly a MP-40 bullet ripped through one of the ropes that tied my hands together, freeing me from my bondage. "Holy shit! That was luck!" Gold Star said, as bullets flew all over place when they impacted Twilights shield. "Damn... What were the odds of that?" I asked myself. "No clue but less talking more fighting, Twilight! We're coming!" Gold Star yelled, as I grabbed a knife from my belt and sliced the rope off of his hooves which now left me and Gold Star free, I then looked at the two guys still knocked out unconscious and grabbed their guns that they've dropped. "Do you know how to work these?" I asked. "I think you're suppose to pull this back when reloading, but it seemed to be loaded already and I doubt these guys expected a fight like this since I can't find a damn extra mag' so we'll need to make every shot count," Gold Star observed, as I passed the MP-40 rifle to him. "Good call," I replied. "Lets show this bitch what to!" As me and Gold Star got our wits together Twilight Sparkle made her charge at the last 2 soldiers when the woman officer grabbed a Lugar from her belt and shot a round on Twilight and pierced her right wing causing her to fall flat on the ground. She got up but was in pain and horror when she saw her wing had been penetrated by the bullet but she was quickly drawn towards the woman who pointed her pistol at Twilight face. "How unfortunate, you know a certain changeling spoke highly of you, and even offered to teach you herself if you haven't sided with Celestia," The woman smirked, which Twilight glared at her with the face of defiance as she got back on her four hooves "Chrysalis made a mistake that day when she released my friends! Her evilness will ultimately destroy her and the subjects that she leads, but if we both make it out then you may pass this to Rommel when I mean well by warning that he still has a chance to leave Chrysalis while he still can-" Immediately Twilight was grabbed and slammed against the harden brick wall with the woman's sharp fingernails cutting her skin as the woman growled in rage. "No one tells Rommel anything! And you will be the one to die here now and today!" But before she shot her pistol in Twilight's gut me and Gold Star killed and slaughtered all of her 6 men who now lay on the ground bleeding and torn, we then pointed our new guns towards her, it was however in that moment when I saw Gold Star in a strange face that I never see in a pony.. A face full of murder and anger, I didn't know what it was... But the day I'm in now would be the day that I understood something else... "Let.. Her.. Go.." He subtly ordered, pressing on the tight trigger. "No one orders me other than-" BANG screeched the MP-40 rifle as the bullet pierced right in the women's left leg as she screeched in pain so loud I almost dropped my gun and covered my ears. Talk about a drama queen. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" As she stopped screaming and attempted to scrawl away, Twilight got on her hooves and we both noticed Gold Star hasn't acknowledged that the rifle's magazine was out, but he kept on pressing on the trigger as if something traumatized him or worse.. "Gold Star it's empty," I said, but no reply, as the women was trying to lift herself up on her feet. "HEY! HELLO!? THE GUN IS EMPTY!" I shouted, but still.. No reply. After a struggle to stand up, women was now standing with one leg and glared at Twilight Sparkle who was still pressing in her flesh wound that the bullet pierced in through, the women then chuckled. "Fair game Twilight, next we meet! You will not survive, until then. SIEG HEIL!" The woman then limped to the dark part of the alley way where she disappeared from our sights, Twilight noticed that Gold Star still hasn't moved at all the whole time since he shot the women in the leg, Twilight slowly reached for Gold Star's foreleg and lowered it to the ground. "It's alright," she said. "She's been beat." Gold Star dropped the gun and sat on his rump in a sigh of breath as he looked at Twilight and smiled. "Is that date still on?" He chuckled. As me, Gold Star, and Twilight Sparkle got up massive amount of footsteps came right towards us and shouted while pointing their distinctive M4 Assualt rifles towards us. "GET ON THE GROUND! A.G.B!" Shouted a Green Beret officer, as Twilight lit her horn I quickly blocked her view with my hand and Gold Star got infront and shouted "EAGLE EAGLE! DON'T SHOOT! WE'RE FRIENDLY!" The Staff Sergeant lowered his gun and hand signaled one of his men to secure the three. "It's them Willy," reported the Corporal. "Copy, so if they're there, then where the hell is the threat?" He asked, as medics passed by the armed men to check for wounds, injuries, and bleedings that may have happened on me, Gold Star, and Twilight Sparkle. "You want to know the threat Sergeant? Look at the men behind us." I said, pointing at the now rotting carcasses of the dead men. The Sergeant nodded and immediately he and his men went passed us to examine the dead soldiers that me and Gold Star had brutally killed during the clash in the alley way. "Damn... Going to be a bloody story for me to tell my daughter about," Said the Corporal, looking at the dead men. "Eh, who knows maybe she'll be interested in it, Captain Gold Star, Lieutenant Yates, Uncle Sam has requested that you two stay in Ponyville until further notice, is that clear?" The Sergeant Willy relayed, while me and Gold Star were a bit drowsy after the whole shit show that occurred. "You know after today.. It'd be nice to take a RnR right about now," said I "You said it," replied Gold. Base Alicorn: Ponyville, 8 hours later "And with that ladies and Gentlecolts! The Equestrian games were a knockout! With Cloudsdale winning first place in the games, followed by second place the American Federation, and third place team Ponyville!-" I turned the radio off, it was nice that my home country won second place in the games, sad that Ponyville lost but I don't think the ponies or locals don't really care about the games other than their own just having fun. It has also been officially 8 hours 12 minutes and 30 seconds since the whole shit in the Crystal Empire, Gold Star seems to be enjoying the Air conditioner that's beside his bed, the whole shit was strange really, and I'm just waiting on Uncle Sam's word on whenever we can go off base or not. But on the bright side, atleast I Aint a target with these people. (Despite me necking and pinning the Changeling Queen on the floor with a fatass Machine Gun on her gut) But perhaps from it all I've learned one thing, and that is Twilight Sparkle is scary if she's after you, but that's if you do anything to piss her off. Knock, Knock, Knock "Huh, at this late? Dag damn can this not wait.." I grumbled, walking towards the door and opening it slightly, however there was no one? Unless if I looked down there's... "Oh.. I didn't expect you to be here?" "So I am in the right place then, is Gold Star here?" She asked. "Oh yea, lemme get him, YO GOLD STAR! SPARKLE PANTS WANTS TO SEE YOU!" I shouted, joking around with Twilight's name, though she flattened her ears back in offense. "What? I can't make a joke once in a while?" While Twilight took my jokes as offensive Gold Star came to the door and was surprised. "I'll take this one, you can go whatever you're doing," Gold insisted. "If you insist cap, I won't disturb yall two, gon go waste my life with the magazines on my bed," I replied, walking back to my bed to read magazines that I bought from the daily articles while the captain closed the door behind him. . . "It's just you and me now, what made you come here?" Gold Star asked. "Well, it's just that ever since we've met on the day of diplomacy I've thought of you as a.. Usual.." Twilight slowly admitted, which kinda made Gold a bit out of touch with himself. "A bit hurtful don't you think?" "I know, I know, and I'm sorry to ever think that with you," Twilight Apologized, but Gold quickly caught on with her last words of that sentence being 'to ever think that' he decided to press forward and know what Twilight knows about him.. "...How.. So?" "How so what?" Twilight questioned. "How so that you're sorry to ever think of me as a usual? What exactly makes you say that?" Gold interrogated, which Twilight sighed and replied. "Thinking back when we first met you've actually took interest with the things that I've loved, and what it was is books especially how you've perfectly described that one chapter in Starswirls book of spells! The only pony who actually cared about the knowledge I've read... But.." "But?" "But it also had me thinking, why do you? A earth pony, like to read books mainly for unicorns and pegasi so much?" "I mean, I've given you the answer before, I'm the captain of the 105th division! The division known to exterminate anything that interferes with foreign operations! From Z.I.T.S! To Yeti terrorist! And to other groups that dare harm others, but... It's also because I've took interest, not in what the spells or flight do how's, but the history of how and when they were made and comparative of what would've happened if we never had said spells, in fact if it wasn't for Starswirls light spells humanity would've never invented or thought of the light bulb in the first place! But... I wouldn't be surprised you would say something like that though.. I was told that my entire life, I guess.. No one appreciates what I like with these books in my own view... Maybe perhaps.. I'm different?" As Gold looked at Twilight he felt very emotional as he rested his head on the wooden barriers on the side of his quarters front door, Twilight sighed. "When I was only a little filly... I was told that given enough time and work I could become greater than I was back then, when I took this advice at heart and I've started to read my very first book, and that was a spell book that you've obviously read more than 10-" "11" "11 times, and it was what helped me start my journey to the point of what I would become to this day," Twilight paused, looking at the sky and the stars that lit the night. "But that wasn't really what jumpstarted isn't it?" Gold asked, which Twilight closed her eyes and smiled. "And you would be correct, if it wasn't for the rainbow boom we wouldn't have became close friends, if anything I would've failed the exam that day and... We would be mortal enemies instead of being friends.." Twilight gulped at the scenario she made up, but Gold rolled his eyes and smirked. "Maybe, maybe not, but anything could've happened and it seems the managers in the sky had deemed a destiny for you and your friends and perhaps there could be something between us that management might deemed as, but before we can do that though... I might need to know a little more with your friends," Gold Star suggested. "Good Idea!" Twilight cheered happily. "Maybe we can do that date still if you would like? What do you think?" "I think tomorrow would do, what time?" Gold asked. "Afternoon If that's fine with you? Right...." "I think afternoon would do great," Gold Star smiled. . . After the two said their goodbyes Gold came back inside of the room, by now I was asleep, buried with magazines on top of my face and a bottle of water that spilled on the floor. Gold looked through the door hole where he saw Twilight flying out of his sight, after she had fully left he slid on the door with his back and slowly sat on the floor, he looked up and smiled before his main thoughts came in as he let out a sigh both happy but worry.. "She can't know... Nor can anyone else..." Canterlot, Yuri's apartment After looking through the footage of the events he had seen and recorded in the alley way, he was intrigued with his new enemy that he now faces, he was packing his things up when the phone ringed, it was from Dounivich... He looked at the phone and noticed that Dounivich doesn't have his face on the profile picture, with curiosity Yuri answered the phone. "Hello Dounivich, what do you have to say now?" Yuri questioned. "What he has to say is that he is already dead," replied a female caller. "Red Mother! I didn't expect you to call me, but why through Dounivich's phone number may I ask?" He asked. "Because he has been removed from his position as my personal advisor for undermining orders, and also he was found dead in his apartment so now I have to find a new advisor, but that's not what I'm calling about, what I am calling about is that I've decided to put the operation of acquiring the staff and it's user to a end.." The Red Mother declared, shocking Yuri.. "Are you sure? Because I've already got a rivalry going on with the purple Alicorn," Yuri protested. "We do not need to disturb the Americans as of now, there's a new threat that has now risen, and as we speak our soviet navy has already intercepted 2 ships with Prueben agents from the Changeling Lands, that's why you'll be assigned to not work with the Americans, but rather work incognito against potential intelligence attack on Equestria until further notice, is that clear Yuri?" The Red Mother asserted. "Yes, our Red Mother, it shall be done..." Vesalpolis, Changeling lands A column of tanks, military cars, trucks, and other armored vehicles arrived to the central hive of Vesalpolis where the Queen watches down from her balcony with Rommel as they see what will soon be the Changeling's weaponry. "It is a great honor to provide you further, but it's all I can spare at the moment until the blueprint convoy arrives to the ports of Dytrisium, after that we will also need to discuss on working on "consolidation" with the rivaling Queens and other changelings who opposes your rule," Rommel boasted, while Chrysalis looked at the human with a unimpressed face. "My subjects would've been able to reunite the divided hives without your equipment, the equipment you brought us just quickened the progress," Chrysalis said in pride of her subjects. "It's good to support your subjects, but with the equipment I've provided and trained them with, your army would be unstoppable compared to Equestria's incompetent one, the problem is though is this," Rommel gave Chrysalis a rolled up Newspaper that had the heading "Human-Pony Alliance" Chrysalis hovered her eyes all over the article, she growled in anger and shred it to pieces with her bare hooves and threw the pieces over the balcony.. "I was still reading that..." "I don't give a Tartarus of what you were reading! THE NATION FILLED WITH THE WRETCHED PEST! THAT INTERFERED WITH MY PLANS IN CANTERLOT IS ALLYING WITH OUR GREATER ENEMY!" Chrysalis shouted lividly, while Rommel rolled his eyes. "And to think that the changelings would be capable of taking over the city without any notice, but I guess all that is said and done when I can say you now understand why I came to your aid when you need it most don't you not?" Rommel asked in a formal affirm expression, as Chrysalis calmed herself a little and looked at him with a glare and then a smile. "Very well, General Rommel." Chrysalis chuckled and then laughed at the air as Rommel rolled his eyes in his usual 'I don't give a fuck' mood while planning on what to do with the American army command itself, if he can't sink the flag ship of America, then he'll just go for the ranks in charge themselves. And there will be blood... Moskva City, Rodinia The Red Mother sat on her throne desk looking up at the air wondering about Yates, it would seem that she would thought of him as a spoiled American brat, but it would seem he has more discipline with himself when it came with first meetings and it would seem that it catched her attention. While she pondered the things the elevator door opens and stepping out was Ogav, who was summoned by the Red Mother for a personal meeting, walked towards her desk and straightened himself to a honorable military salute and moralizing her title. "Our Red Mother!" The Red Mother raised from her seat and spoke. "Please sit," Ogav obeyed and sat on the chair provided for visitors as the Red Mother grabbed a box at the end of her desk and then uncased a glass box that has a old SVT-40 rifle. "Now stand up, and kneel," she commanded, which Ogav obeyed and got up from his seat and kneeled infront of the red clothed woman who then lifted the box and placing the gun barrel on Ogav's shoulders and spoke. "In the might of the Republics of Soviet States, I declare thee, Ogalivich Volklav, Captain of the Red Army, you may rise," she says, as Ogav got up on his feet while the Red Mother opened the box and tooked out two medals and a rank patch, one medal was the order of Lenin, the other was the rarest of them all. "The Order of Victory? In what stances?" He questioned. "For ending a rebellion in Stalliongrad, and leading our men to victory in Arabia, while the Arabians continue to plot their counterattack on our allied government we wouldn't have the stronghold in Zebrica if it wasn't for your expertise, captain," The Red Mother smiled, putting the other medal on Ogav's chest as he saluted with pride. "Thank you! Our Red Mother!" "Dismissed comrade Captain, I'd like to see more victories like them," The Red Mother smiled and waved at the now promoted Captain of the Soviet army. Suddenly a phone rings on her desk, she walks up to her desk and picks up the phone. "I assume you know where he is?" She asked. "Yes Our Red Mother, we found him.." "Then I also assume that Tirek is on the move."
The New World \| Millennium	Secrets, and Foes (Tirek Arc Part 1)	Base Alicorn: Ponyville, 8:23 PM, ETZ As I was coming back from making a water run to pick up the two gallons of water that was ordered by Colonel Alex Twilight Sparkle was walking by me, of course I don't know what to do when a princess walks by as I would usually just wave and smile, which I did. "Sup," I said. "Hi," she replied, and then just walking by like nothing happened. Like I said, the smile and wave tactic never fails me, or was that shoot first questions later? I don't know I Aint no monarchist I'm a demarchist, and I just realized that's not even a word... Hm.. Oh well atleast I tried to rhyme that right, (Probably not..) but anyways tonight was Gold and Twilight's date tonight though I would assume by date as in to get each other known, but as much as I would like to third wheel these dates I have to make up Gold Star's military shift because of the date and the one part of Gold Star's shift was to carry the two gallons back to base without no type of transportation or nothing- "You do realize you could've used the jeep right," Colonel Alex elaborated, as I looked to see a JLTV at the literal gate waiting for a driver. "Oh.. I didn't see that," I replied. "Well the important thing is you did got the water, and maybe some strength muscles, I think that should be good for the night," Alex added. "So, is this rumor true about Gold Star in a secret relationship with Twilight?" I asked. "That's the most bullshit of a rumor I've ever heard, if anything Gold Star is anti-social, and last I heard so was Twilight Sparkle, if anything just give it tonight and I bet the rumor will collapse immediately," Alex proudly said looking up at the sky when I pointed. "Nice speech and all, but just as you said that the couples train left the station," I was informed. "What," Alex turned and saw Gold Star opening the Humvee door and allowed Twilight to sit on the passenger seat and then got in the Humvee himself and drove off into the town of Ponyville, he looked very blank. "Soooo... You were sayin-" "Not another word Lieutenant.. Not another word," Meanwhile, as the Colonel starts questioning his own life decisions, Gold Star pulls up to the place that he and Twilight were about to finally meet up at.. Wait, sugar cube corner? Am I typing this right? Huh, I guess Gold Star is about to have a hell of a time then... . . As Gold Star stepped down from the jeep and opened the passenger door to the right of the driver's seat for Twilight he gazed upon of what looks very colorful, maliciou- I mean delicious, and clownish, but atleast to Gold Star's eyes that it was more of a pleasant sight for him than it is to my eyes. "Watch your step," he said, as he assisted her down from the jeep all gentlemen. "Isn't that usually what my friends would call a flirt?" Twilight sarcastically asked. "Nah, I thought to be a bit of a gentlecolt once in a while," said Gold Star, not knowing what he was saying. The two were now awkwardly silent, nothing but the other ponies having their part-night stroll through the town, atleast was until SHE showed up. "HELLO!" Shouted a... Pink pony, as the two panicked like cats trying to run for cover. "OH! SORRY ABOUT THAT! I'M SUPPOSED TO MAKE IT! Smoooooth-just like Rarity asked me to do!" As Gold Star was grabbing his grip Twilight grabbed hers and introduced Pinkie Pie to Gold Star. "Gold Star, this is Pinkie Pie, Pinkie, this is Gold Star," "Nice to meet you?" Gold Star greeted, extending his hoof towards Pinkie who then violently shakes it up to the point of beating his body to the ground. Twilight lifted Gold Star off the ground and placed him back on the ground and then questioned. "What do you mean just like Rarity asked you to do?" "Oh yeaaaa! Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, aaaand Fluttershy are hiding in that bush right behind you!" Pinkie babbled, as Twilight turned towards the bush and lifted the bush revealing her four friends, oh and Spike. "What are you all doing?" Twilight asked, placing the five back on the ground. "Eh, I thought you said it was a date?" Spike questioned towards Rarity. "Well darling! That's what Twilight had told me it was!" Rarity said in confusion. "Well your plan awfully went 'according to plan' what exactly did you expect Pinkie pie to do? She can't keep secrets ya know?" Applejack pointed out. "And I do NOT! Feel guilty about it!" Pinkie Pie cheerfully said. "Yeaa, we can talk about Rarity and her 'fantastic' plan and actually know who exactly this guy is?!" Rainbow Dash interjected. "I think Rarity's plan could've worked," Whispered Fluttershy. Immediately the girls started arguing about Rarity's plan and Twilight's date; it went from gossip to pure frustration to total argument filled yelling. "Does this happen much often between you and your friends?" Gold Star speculated, in which Twilight sighed. "So much for first impression," she then turned towards her friends that were arguing, (except for Fluttershy and Spike) and yelled out. "ENOUGH!" The girls quickly got silent and Twilight cleared her throat. "Gold Star, these are my friends, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and the one that jumped out at us is Pinkie," Twilight introduced, as her friends waved their hooves at Gold Star, who he waved right back. "Greetings, I've heard about you all back in my home country about your accomplishments and teamwork, being up close and personal and it seems there is something more than meets the eye," Gold Star expressed himself. "Oooh, such poetics!" "Not to bother, but I reckon that we get to know more with each other?" Applejack suggested. "I think that's a fine idea darling, if Twilight approves?" Rarity added. "Well?" Twilight asks. "What do you think?" "I think it's always best to get to know others, but first, lets get inside before the mosquito's start swarming us," Gold Star insisted, and the group went inside of sugar cube corner. Red-Moskva The biggest submarine in all of Rodinia was at the coast of Stalliongrad on a patrol ordered by Admiral Korkovi of the Soviet fleet. The Soviet submarine is captained by Vasili Arkhipov, who was overseeing the patrols being very effective, with no oncoming naval vessel other than fishing ships from the ports of Petershoof, or Stalliongrad naval forces conducting their own patrol around the seas. The captain was drinking his morning Joe when his private phone rang at the command office of the Submarine. "Captain Vasili speaking," "Your patrol period has ended, you are now instructed to report back to the Petershoof ports for maintenance, and then start setting sail for Moskva for inspection," ordered admiral Korkovi. "Ponyal, dasvidaniya." Acknowledged the captain. "Dasvidaniya." As he hangs up the phone he goes towards the stern of the submarine and gives the order. "Admiral just called, head for port and start refueling, we head for Moskva at dawn." "Aye aye Captain," acknowledged his first mate, as she turned the submarine and made the turn back to port. . . . Ever since the short but costly conflict in Petershoof the Rodinian's army had kept their presence jointly with the Stalliongrad army, construction was a torture to the workers considering that they had to clean the ashes of Artillary shells that blew craters into the streets, and the tough part of all was the tank and vehicle wreckage remains. What was worse though was burying the dead, while the Harmonic resistance in Stalliongrad was crushed it left massive concern within the Soviet party and with the head of the council killed is created a power vacuum for the party, and while that they called for the deaths of the rebels to make a example of them, if it wasn't for the Rodinian guarantee that was created the R.I.B. and the military police enforced the deal that Ogav has miraculously struck with the rebel leaders. Despite this, the only parts that remained unscathed by the Artillery was the coastal site, there were ponies carrying their fillies to camps established by humanitarian aid companies sponsored and authorized by the Rodinian Soviet council who were sympathetic to getting the helpless back on their hooves. As the submarine finally docked the captain came out of the submarine and breathed in the great fresh air that he had longed for the moment he ducked his head inside the submarine and into the cramped space a.k.a. claustrophobic ridden hulls. And compared the outside to the insides of the submarine. "Yep, surface is more better.." he said, climbing off from the Submarine hatch and onto solid ground while his crew started conducting maintenance checks on the submarine he walked towards a group of officers who looked concerned as they were conversing with each other when he heard jet flybys in the sky, it weirded him out because usually exercises were only conducted in February and that was 2 months ago, so he went to the group and asked. "Did you see that too or am I imagining things?" Vasili asked, surprising the conversating officers. "Captain Vasili? Shouldn't you be back on patrol?" Asked an officer. "Well, I was ordered back here, is there something wrong?" He asked. "Captain, I don't think you've received anything yet, but we've been placed on red alert status?" The officer replied, catching the submarine captain off guard from his words. "What?? But we just got back from our patrol. How could we be in a red alert status?" He questioned. "You might wanna read this, Captain.." Washington city "Red Alert status? From Rodinia? Can we confirm this?" Asked Reagan. "Mr. President I've had it checked two times straight in a row, I didn't believe it myself at first but it would seem that confidence is high and that the Soviets may know something that we don't, sir," The F.I.U. Agent replied, which placed Reagan in a strange spot. "Alright, but how far extended is this Red Alert?" Reagan asked. "It seems sir, that the entire airspace around Stalliongrad and parts of it's border is currently being patrolled by Soviet aircraft, we also have radio chatter about a name called 'Tirek' possibly a code name sir," the agent reported. "Tirek? You mean the Tirek? Or just Tirek as in some sort of terrorist organization that martyrs that name?" "We have no further information on that sir, other than the name," The Agent shrugged. "Very well then, dismissed." As the F.I.U. Agent saluted and left the room. George Bush and Reagan looked directly at each other with concern. "Something's not right here, if the Soviets were to talk about Tirek and then panic over Stalliongrad you would take it as a fib if there weren't reports of Soviet jets violating Equestrian or Griffonian airspace," Bush questioned with concern, as Reagan nodded firmly. "Perhaps a phone call with Brezhnev is the best option for this sort of problem?" Bush added, but Reagan shook his head. "As long as he specifically is in office I will make no phone calls with him, instead I will contact Uncle Sam to see if he can clear this up," Reagan suggested, as he reached for his phone when a postal delivery guy arrived at his office with a document made from the pentagon military command. "Hm.. I wonder what general MacArthur wants this time? It better not be the AbramsX budget argument again, congress had already dismissed it for good reasons, plus he never even gave the variant two a chance, something I'm definitely going to increase after today along with the Bradley's," Reagan articulated, as he opened the document and looked through it when he sees the one sentence quoting. "In accordance with repeated violations of territorial airspace, we have set for Defcon 3, respond to this message immediately." The Post delivery man then left the room as Reagan read the document from the Pentagon. "Hmm... That may not be a good sign, how about this, while I get in contact with strategic military command to have them authorize the newest F-16 fighters to scramble around the Equestrian-Stalliongrad Air space, which I'm glad they got working now, have the media and congress informed about the situation but keep the defcon level confidential, we don't want the public to panic over a possibility of open war," Reagan ordered. "Very well Mr. President," Bush acknowledged, leaving Reagan with his phone that's dialing the Pentagon. "Department of defense, how may I help you?" Asked a feminine voice. "This is President Ronald Reagan, I'd like to speak with General MacArthur," Crystal city, a day later Patton was outside in the Crystal city with his regiment, awaiting for the arrival of the Maretonia diplomats that are scheduled to meet the princesses of Equestria in a top secret meeting regarding a potential military assault on soviet held territory. An operation America will never do considering the potential consequences of it. That's why when the royalty of Arabia seek refuge in the nation of Maretonia the Duke and Duchess of nation conversated and agreed to launch a counter assault against the Rodinian puppeted Arabia, and so they planned a diplomatic trip to Equestria to discuss the potential of a operation and perhaps some other classified political matters that'll need to be discussed. But what is Patton doing? Standing in front of the Crystal-American expedition brigade with rows of M60s that replaced the outdated Sherman's and as for the troops that dedicated the rest of their lives to protect the city even unto old age were equipped and refitted with the finest American weaponry that the arsenal could offer. While of course it took about a year for it to completely transfer let alone additional training with the soldiers and refitting, they're also still awaiting for newer Self-propelled Artillery weapons that are still being transferred along with additional radios and new supply equipment, this also meant that some of his men still has Semi-auto rifles. But it was all in the day's work for Patton, as he worked to have his expedition pint up as fast as possible, of course he has yet to catch up on the latest tactics that the modern day world has to offer. But as he waited on the dukes and the duchess and other Maretonian officials he started to get bored and looked at his watch which was quarter till, and the Arabian leaders and still the diplomats had not arrived yet. "Mi amore could've told me they were going to be late, oh well, my men could use some vitamin d for fucking off recently, now for the the matter with Holt Martavias, I swear to god, he has spirit, but too much," Patton told himself, when he caught a glimpse of ponies from the horizon, looking afar at the distance he sees 7 pastel colored ponies and a small dragon. "Damn, and I thought they were them," Patton said to himself, continuing to look at the distant horizon. And as he stood there he decided to listen in on the mares conversation to pass the time while pretending he didn't hear them though he started to catch on the conversation as the familiar southern pony started saying. "How exactly is that different than smiling' and waving' not like a princess?" "It isn't," the lavender princess replied, while Patton so far heard that apparently the purple Alicorn pony who miraculously became one and a princess is apparently self-doubting herself. -talk about pity- he thought. Last time someone self-doubted themselves he smacked them in the helmet with his hand and cursed at him and they would self-doubt no more, of course to killing Sombra's mind controlled army back in the Human-Crystal war, but with that year old war out of the way he found himself more of the chief of police than a general, even though he did conducted some military based operations in the mountains. The yellow pegasus noticed the worry and emotion and asked. "What's wrong Twilight?" "Why the Looooooooooong face!" the pink one bubbled, stretching the one named Twilight's face like taffy. "I've just been feeling a little unsure about things lately, it doesn't seem that my new role as a princess equates to all that much," the pony fretted, making Patton roll his eyes after hearing such ignorance. "That's just silly," Applejack viewed. "You've got a really important role in Equestria!" "Princess Celestia wouldn't have asked you to come if she didn't think so," Fluttershy contended, before Patton had enough of the bullshit he was hearing and stepped in front of the group, cleared his throat, and said. "You know, hearing the conversation makes me want to shit, but I can't shit because if I do shit then some fucker is going to interrupt my privacy to tell me that I am needed back to my men, and if I get interrupted someone is getting slapped, and if I slap someone then some other son of a bitch will court martial me and then he get's slapped." The Mane 6 stared at him with confusion when Patton then clarifies. "The point is, let's say this, I was hand picked to be a general of this army, I enjoyed it, I've embraced it, and I've done the duty as one for the honor of my country, now as for your situation however, you were rewarded to be the Alicorn of the nation, and so far you've loath it, you've kicked it, and yet instead of doing a duty as one you've completely complained about your responsibility," Patton voiced. Twilight sighed at Patton's words and response. "I've never complained about the responsibility handed to me, but.. I did started to have doubts for my role of being princess of Equestria other than smile and wave.." Twilight looked back at Rarity, who was nervously chuckling when Patton cleared him throat again and grabbed Twilight's attention with his scenario. "And being alive in case something serious happened, like say a crazy bastard running towards Celestia and slaps his shit across the backside of her head and kills her with a stick of shit, what happens now?" Patton riddled. "What type of scenario is that! Celestia would see hi-" "Answer the question, I don't have time for shitty opinions!" Patton interjected. "I- L-Luna would take Celestia's place as ruler of Equestria," Twilight answered, while her friends murmured in the background. "Mhm... Now lets say somehow lightning struck her during mid flight and she landed on the rocky ground below face first flat now who's in charge?" Patton riddled again. "What type of scenarios are they! Do you not think about other types of scenarios other than-!" "These are scenarios, don't take them seriously now answer the damn question!" "Okay, okay... Well... Cadence would take in charge of Equestria, but she already has a kingdom to rule, and I doubt Shining Armor would take her place which would leave..." Twilight suddenly realizes what Patton was basically telling her, the importance of her position as princess through heirness, she answers the old experience general with one simple word. "Me..." Patton smirked in exceeding pride. "About fucking time, now go on and scram before I have to hear any of this conversation even more," Patton chuckled, in which the mane 6 walked by him with ridiculed faces except for Twilight who seemed to have now been teached a valuable lesson. "Who does that guy think he is? Celestia and Luna could never die from something that stupid!" Rainbow Dash criticized. "Ehh, I think that's kind of the point of his useless scenarios. I think he just wanted us to shut up," Applejack insisted. "Eh, he's an old man so that's probably not his fault for his age," Spike retorted while looking at Twilight. "Do you even understand any of his human nonsense?" Spike questioned, which Twilight looked at him with an aggravated stare which means to just be quiet. Patton looked as the Mane 6 entered the Crystal tower with a slight smile to his face while one of his officers came to him while being guarded with Royal guard ponies with a report. "General, we've been given orders." "From who?" Patton asked. "The mainland defense sir, we've been ordered to.. Remain in Crystal City for further instructions?" The officer informed. Patton looked around 360 degrees looking at the crystallized buildings, structures, Crystal heart and the castle, and looked at the officer with the report with the face that says "Are you stupid." "We really have lazy ass drunks for messengers don't we... Have my reply be, oh we're definitely remaining in Crystal City alright, just ask when the hell are you going to figure that out!" Patton phrased with aggravation. "Umm.. Are you sure you want to send that sir?" "Yes, word for word, do not miss a single one," Patton ordered. "Understood, general" replied the officer with a shaky voice, walking back to the communications array. 26 minutes later After an excruciating wait the trumpets finally sounded from the distance and the crowd had formed for the arrival of the diplomatic leaders and heads of Maretonia. "About time," he said to himself, looking at his right for the oncoming diplomats as a royal guard announced. "The Duke and Duchess of Maretonia!" As the Duke and Duchess walked by Patton's 3rd army regiment one of the Maretonian generals who are attended in the trip looked at the well equipped soldiers and the M60s with other regimental officers wedging on Patton's side and Military Police personal standing silent as their own royal guard along with other diplomats from Humarica who are authorized to spectate and conversate with the leaders. The Maretonian extended his hoof towards Patton and the two shook hands and hoof together in then after, the Maretonian general walked back towards the center of the Crystal castle in the middle of the city where princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence met with the Duchess and Duke while Twilight unveiled the Equestrian banner which made Patton tilt his head a bit but shrugged as the diplomacy begins. approximately several hours later Petershoof A crowd of stalliongrad ponies gathered around the streets from the refugee camps as sounds of motor vehicles were heard throughout the city, they watched as Rodinian special forces onboard Ural transport trucks drove through the streets of the city with military officers, leading this convoy of vehicles through the city as the denizens gaze at the sudden arrival of their allied army specially trained to kill, the ponies of Petershoof meanwhile assumes that it's probably a surprise parade but in reality, they've yet to know what's really going on around Equestria or their homeland... Colonel Perov Volinsky lead his men to the camp which was garrisoned by a T-72 tank and standard infantry mixed with Rodinian and Stalliongrad pony species, as he passed by the garrison who paused and saluted to the Colonel left and right, he then ordered his men to pause and to unload the equipment which he then turned towards a trailer which is the forward operations base of the Petershoof construction and enforcement. . .General Cogwheel Ponyarchuk was filing the reports about the Rodinian deployment and the report that was fully confirmed that Tirek has reemerged after thousands of years, it was then that the door was knocked and the pony General called. "Come in." The door opened and the Colonel stepped inside and gazed around the trash filled trailer full of empty cups, vodka bottles, and files. "Well this certainly takes officers' mess to a newer meaning," the Colonel assessed. "Yea well, that's because the party had me work overtime last ni- well.. If it isn't Colonel Perov, what brings you to my camp?" The General greeted, shaking the Colonel's hand. "A place to sleep, rest, eat, and plan, sounds simple no?" The Colonel replied. "Well, you're welcomed here by many, comrade Ponies, Griffons, and Thestrials! Of course we'll give you a place to sleep, of course the thing was I wasn't informed about your deployment?" The General informed. "That's because I have the information here," the Colonel showed a movement order to the General who scanned every word inch by inch and nodded. "All seems good, now what I need to know is, what other information do I need to know?" The General questioned. "In the will of the Red Mother the one name Tirek is on his way to this city, as we speak he maybe sucking everyone of their magic like a vacuum cleaner, and the Red Mother has ordered, dead or alive, though if you want the bigger cash I'd go with dead," the Colonel explained. "A bounty? On Tirek? She must be very... Odd to put a bounty on someone who was banished for a thousand years, but I doubt we'll keep him alive, another question is why? Why is he attacking here?" Cogwheel asked. "I have no clue as to why he's coming here other than his motives, revenge, and power, and it would seem he's accomplishing one of the others just by hearing the news," Perov further explained. "But what does this have to do with us though! We aren't apart of the imperialist south of our border!" "That's because my fellow high ranking officer, the damn guy was banished before Stalliongrad existed at all, or the birth of my homelands, he considers Stalliongrad still a part of Equestria," Perov explained. "Colonel.. You're scaring the hell out of me right now, does your intelligence know where he is?" Cogwheel asked. "Do you have a map of Stalliongrad I can use?" Perov asked. "Yea, right there," pointed Cogwheel at the old map of Stalliongrad with the map key still intact it would seem as Perov grabs a yellow marker. "This is us here in Stalliongrad, at the south of here the R.I.B. had reported that Tirek is currently enroute to us right here, within let's say 2 to 6 hours he will be arriving to us and start sucking the hell out of everyone here except for us," Perov explained as Cogwheel looked closer. "You really need better handwriting Colonel," the General criticized. "Never my talent, but you can see how close he is from us General," the Colonel emphasizes.. "I see, surely your tanks could deal with him right?" Cogwheel asked. "Unfortunately we only have two tanks at our disposal as the other tanks had been recalled for operation missions in Griffonia, but nonetheless while they enjoy those damned birds and their beer and sausages we'll be fighting the one guy with infantry only, unless of course Ogav might lend us a hand but without additional heavy support I feel like we'll be blown to pieces by whatever magic power this beast has, " the Colonel explained, making Cogwheel go into plan mode. "Then how about this, if we can start building up trenches, machine guns, motor trenches, and guerilla defenses then perhaps given enough fire power he might leave knowing that he'll be torn the shreds." "I see what you're planning here General, but what if he doesn't turn back after the hellfire of bullets?" Colonel Perov asked. "If he doesn't turn back, then we will then go to phase 2, unleash all we got, he may sound tough, but I Ain't afraid of blowing his body apart piece by piece!" "Then we have a lot of work ahead of us." Ponyville, 1:20 PM ETZ,Base Alicorn Gold Star had been working intensely lately since the date, while I was chilling on the bed playing with a rubber ball the Colonel barges inside the room like a swat raid scaring the shit out of both of us, mainly with Gold Star having his back fur fluff up like a cat. "Do you HAVE! To barge in the room!" Gold Star complained. "Yea... What do you need, sir?" Colonel Alex straightened his tie and threw the military orders on Gold Star's desk and then signaled me over to come to the desk in which I did, me, Gold Star, and Alex looked at the order with concern.. "Huh.. Apparently some guy named Tirek is wreaking havoc on cities, hm, probably a tantrum," I said in my opinion, which the two looked at me with annoyed faces. "What?" "I don't think you know about Tirek," Gold Star assumed. "Welp, say that towards me too, because I have no idea who he is either," Alex said while crossing his arms, while Gold Star raised his hoof up and then realized he didn't know who he was either. "Man, neither do I.. Come to think of it? I have no clue who or what he is, other than just the name which sounds a bit intimidating, kinda sounds like Tyrannical, or something?" Gold Star scratched his mane thinking what Tirek could be. "Well it seems that command wants him gone, so I guess we'll follow orders then?" I suggested. "Nah, if they want him gone that would mean he knows tactics and I Ain't underestimating him," Gold Star pointed out. "Yea.. That is odd they want to take out one being, I guess we'll need to follow through with the orders and start planning, as soon as we actually know who he really is, Gold Star, I assume your girlfriend has any knowledge of him?" Alex asks. "Well I think she does- wait.. Did you just say girlfriend!?" Gold Star said insultingly. "Yea? Got a problem with that captain?" Alex replied, knowing that Gold Star won't gnash out of spite because of the phrase 'girlfriend' which Gold Star abruptly stopped his sudden aggravation to annoyance. "No... I'll see if Twilight knows, but don't think I'll forget that!" Gold Star warned, leaving the building with me and Alex. "Sure, we'll see," Alex smirked. "I think I'll go with him, just for something for me to do," I insisted. "Go on ahead Lieutenant," Alex authorized, turning to his own work and looking at the order and staring directly at the name Tirek. "Now just who the hell are you supposed to be??" . . . As Gold Star angrily walked towards the jeep I came running and called his name, he paused and looked behind him to see me running towards him and then stopping. "Decided to join me?" He reckoned. "Well, what am I gonna do? Collect dust and figure out who Tirek is? Or go with the captain and get fucking autographs from the legends themselves?" I exclaimed, which he smirked and threw his keys towards me. "You drive Lieutenant," he ordered. "Aye, aye captain," I replied, boarding the driver's seat of the Humvee and started the vehicle up waiting for Gold Star to board when I noticed he grabbed two side arms and a MP5 submachine gun from the armory and hoisted one of the side arms on his chest and slipped the submachine gun in one of his satchels. "I don't think we're in any danger going up there you know?" I was assured of myself. "Trust me, after some nights with Twilight you learn that it's best to keep a pistol with you at all times, you can never know what stuff could happen around her," Gold Star noted, while I cranked the car stick to drive. "Duly noted then," I said in a sigh, when Gold Star handed me a Colt 45' and signaled me to drive towards the road down to Ponyville and into potential autographs we went. While me and Gold Star were heading towards Ponyville I decided to start the conversation, mainly the relation between Gold Star and Twilight Sparkle, a bit wrong for a Colonel to tease like that, but I guess that's what happens when you choose presidential mission over military chores. "So, how are you and Twilight going anyways? With personal diplomacy still being in effect I can safely assume that you two are doing well?" I asked. "Yeah, but there's something I've never yet told her about that's been bothering me the whole time," Gold Star admitted. "Ahh, a secret! Please tell me I do love secrets and then forget them," I've personally admitted. "Well it would kinda stay a secret if you forget them, all though I suppose that's kinda the point of one, but this one is something you will never forget, so no, sorry," Gold Star denied. "Oh.. Sorry to hear that then, kinda sucks hope this trip better be worth it," "But you are getting autographs aren't you not?" Gold Star chuckled. "Heh, to be honest I was just gonna chill with them, a bit weird to be asking civilians for autographs to be honest," I said in my opinion. "Yea but, they are the mane 6 aren't they? After all they have the power of the elements, of course since the incident from the everfree, which by the way, loooong time ago." "Mhm," "They've just been hanging out like they do have them when really they don't have them at all! I mean I Aint trying to sound power hungry or jealous but I'm just saying," "Yea, yea, I can see where you're progressing at, but if you look through their view it's basically the average citizen, while they're friends with the daggum princess of Equestria they like to live with their lives to, it's basically like Celestia told me some time ago when we were at the negotiation meeting before Reagan announced the personal diplomacy." 2 weeks earlier, Canterlot Castle At the start I've watch the party goers go, and going, y'know, usual cider drinks and whatnot, well it was when I bumped into a blue pegasus that cursed me with every foul language in the book and attempted to ram me before being caught by this orange earth pony who called herself. "Woah there partner, sorry about that sir, Rainbow is a bit aggravated today," "What? No, I'm not Applejack! You're just saying that so I wouldn't-" "Punch my skull? Yea I've heard that before," I'd said which was kinda very awkward that day since we decided to negotiate and stuff and well it would seem that I've yet to befriend Twilight's friends, so hey I thought to myself why not befriend them! "You know I kinda think rainbow colored manes match well with a blue fur Pegasus don't you think?" I spoke to a wall.. "Uhh, partner that's a wall." "Yea I think I know that now.. But say I Aint bored here other than the cider, very tasty, compliments to the producers who made it, ;)" "Hold on! Hold on!" "..." "I can't tell if you're trying to seduce them or not, but if anything I don't think they'll be that easily fooled, especially when you're talking to the element of Honesty and Loyalty... Also, can we just get to the point!" Gold Star interrupted the perfectly good flashback sequence. "Fine!!" Well just for Mr. "I hate flashbacks" me and Celestia met up at the cider table where me and her conversed about some stuff.. "How important stu-" "Shut up and listen!" So me and Celestia chuckled at one funny part of the important discussion. "Oh dear Mr. Yates! I think I broken my voice box because that's the most funniest thing I've ever heard!!" "Hehe yea, especially how random people tried a milkshake and just fucking die!" As Celestia swiped her tears from extreme laughter she went into a more serious mode, but kept her smile. "You know, I don't think nopony knows, but whether or not they're all just average denizens." "Huh, really? I guess I'll just call you citizen Celestia then ey?" I've obviously joked and she nodded without laughter but rather a sigh. "Oh you're a bit serious about that..." "It's only been a thousand years and when you've lived this long you start to see more into the truth of life, all heroes, legends, and warriors had started out as denizens, whether they deny it or not they still live as one."Celestia expressed, which had left me deepened a bit. "They may have a purpose in their destiny, but deep down they still want to live their average lives to the fullest." "And then she received that letter from the Eclipse brigade guys about how they tried to ruin her kingdom, and then without no regard for the phrase "Don't shoot the messenger," she slapped the messenger, and I think he was a lieutenant? Because the guy pointed at him after she asked who was a higher rank was probably the captain," I've finished. "Hm, I guess there are some types that would like to live their lives other than being pure legends, was that before or after you first saw me and Twilight?" Gold Star asked. "Well it should be obvious that it was before since apparently I was watching Celestia breaking up a brawl that broke out with almost everyone from the cabinet after she slapped the Lieutenant guy, damn whatever those two doofuses did with Equestria must've had it coming, but also kinda feel sorry for the messengers, I guess it seems that Celestia and the other Equestrians never heard of the phrase, "shoot the sender, not the messenger," but yea hopefully that's been resolved," I reckoned. I decided to go to the radio to find some tunes when the radio started to play for what it's worth. "Ah here's a classic," I said to myself. I stared towards Gold Star who was peeking out of the window with pondering thoughts, it's almost as if I could read his mind, his face that looked like he was saying to himself. -Everything has been leading up unto this moment, now I wonder what else is in stored...- . . . Colonel Alex was looking through the book of Equestria's history that says nothing about Tirek's existence which annoyed him, so when he couldn't find Tirek he turned to news paper articles from the old days and it seems there has been none confirmed, so instead he decided to go on Gold Star's desktop and search up military archives where he found the date of the attack... "About time," he said to himself, scanning his eyes on the report of the incident when came across a name in the report about Tirek called "The Foundation" which intrigued the Colonel a bit so he tried to look it up online and all what he can come up with was just conspiracy theorize, placing his finger on his lip he looked at the phone and then slapped himself. -Not worth it! Not worth it!- he thought to himself, keeping his hand back before finally. "Ah fuck it, what's the worse that can happen?" . . . After a good amount of a 12 minute drive from the base to the entrance of Ponyville we've finally arrived at the usual meeting place of the 6 hero's/side character dragon, sugar cube corner, or atleast what seems to be empty other than the cake's residence. "Has Ponyville always been empty like this? Not gonna lie it's kinda bumming me out," I said to Gold Star, which he seemed a bit suspicious about the place being empty. "That is a bit strange," Gold Star then looked behind and see's Mrs. Cake sweeping the front of her shop and her husband cleaning the counter, Gold Star exited the Humvee, leaving me behind the drivers wheel, and approached with a wave. "Good morning Mrs. Cake, have you happened to see Twilight and her friends? I wanted to ask them regarding an individual?" Gold Star questioned. "You must be the Gold Star colt that everypony but Twilight has been talking about! Well certainly, the ponies are just down there at that forest," Mrs. Cake pointed, in which Gold stared towards the everfree forest that's filled with death traps, and creatures. ".... Thanks ma'am," Gold Star waved, in which she waved back. He then entered back inside of the Humvee with a bit of a stern face. "Sooo, guess what we're going?" Gold Star asked. "If it's the Ever fucking free I'm going slap you," I warned. "It's the everfree," He replied, as I proceeded to slap him in the face. "Ow... You do know I can pink slip you for that," Gold Star reminds. "But do you have witnesses?" I replied. "I don't need any, I'm the captain," He replied back. "So? The Colonel will probably not believe you," I said back, which made Gold Star a bit silent. "So it would seem..." He said to himself, turning towards me and continued. "Anyways, onto Everfree forest! Creator help us all.." And so I drove the Humvee to the Everfree forest. Let's hope that Gold Star knows what he is doing or we're Timberwolf food, not that we'd be worried about it but in some cases if we were to run out of ammo, then we're screwed. White House clay shooting ranch, Washington City Outside in the backyard of the White House, President Reagan had free time and decided to challenge his political buddies in a game of target shooting. After 5 pulls, 3 hits, 2 misses, Reagan was about to shout pull when his assistant ran up to him while also catching his breath. "Ah, Mrs. Johnson, nice for you to join us in target shooting," Reagan greeted, chuckling as he lifted his rifle. "Mr, Mr. President sir, you have a phone call in the oval office," said the assistant. "Is it urgent?" Reagan asked. "That's what the caller said sir," the assistant answered. "Alright then, lemme do one more shot and I'll be on my way," Reagan responded, aiming his gun in the air in preparation and then shouted. "PULL!" The clay was fired and then at the pull of the trigger Reagan's bullet directly impacts the clay and shatters it into tiny pieces, which he then turned to his assistant, and handed his rifle to the secret service, and then said. "Now, let's see about that phone call shall we?" 10 minutes later After a walk back inside of the White house Reagan fixed his suit collar and sat on his desk looking at his assistant. "Alright then, hand me the phone and let's see what we have that's so urgent," Reagan added, while the assistant handed him the phone that was still on the line. . . Back at the base Colonel Alex had waited about 15 minutes before the automated voice message had said. "The president may now speak with you, thank you for your patience!" "Yea.. Patience my ass," the Colonel said, placing the phone on his ear. "Please let this not be another robot behind the phone," Alex said in the phone line. "If you liked the newly installed voice message I can always let you speak to it again?" Reagan smirked, while behind the phone line the Colonel was shocked. "I.. Mr. President, I expected one of your representatives to answer the phone!" The Colonel surprisingly said. "Well, today is Bush's off day, and my Vice president is on a diplomatic envoy in Griffonia and won't be back until next Tuesday, but now for other matters," Reagan stated. "I see, Mr. President, I've been looking through the assignment that the defense department has sent us correct?" "Mhm?" "Well, so far all I gotten from him was his name, and since me, Gold Star, and Yates failed to interpret who this guy is I sent the two to ask hopefully the princess of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle, to get it cleared up on who Tirek was, while this though I've been looking through files and found myself stumped, until of course I stumbled upon the word or name, "Foundation," The Colonel at last explained to the president who went from a smirking man to a dead serious tone. "Did you just say? Foundation??" Reagan asked. "Yes Mr. President sir, apparently there was limited documentation about an incident involving this group and Tirek, and I was wondering if you knew what they were?" The Colonel asked, which Reagan was a little in disbelief, so he briefly lowered his phone and turned to his assistant. "Did you trace the call?" Reagan asked, just to see where the call was... "Yes Mr. President, the call is located 12 miles north of Ponyville, 5 miles south of Canterlot, or so what the F.I.U. has said sir," the assistant reported. Reagan looked at the phone and realizes that it was indeed from base Alicorn, he was a bit stubborn at first considering that he was given a secret oath to not reveal secrets that could confuse or panic the populace, but it was obvious that at this moment with Tirek on the lose it would've been a matter of time anyways that the secret will get out, so he placed the phone back to his ear and spoke. "Tonight at 3:30 AM ETZ, in Canterlot at the Griffonian cuisine shop, I will be activating a informant to relay information regarding the Foundation, she will explain who they are, but you will need to speak the code words, "Griffonian cuisine is very different here," her response will be "because ponies are usually herbivores," now as for the foundation, all I can say is don't get in their way or there will be consequences, is that understood Colonel?" Reagan explained. "I understood, thank you Mr. President," replied Alex. "It's no problem, just don't start something to trouble folks," Reagan advised, as the two hanged up the phones Alex shook his head and looked at the clock, and it was a good from until 3:30 in the morning so obviously he'll need some sleep to perform the meet up with Reagan's informants. But for now he wonders what Gold Star and Yates are up to right now? Everfree forest After a nature drive followed up by a nature hike, me and Gold Star had finally came across what was the infamous castle, the castle that started everything to this point, the castle that housed a certain incident that started a global war, the same castle that would've been a shrine for Luna's supporters if they weren't deported. "Ah, the castle of the two sisters, I never thought I'd see myself standing here on ancient stone," Gold Star expounded. "Yes, but remind me why we came here again?" I asked. "Well obviously to find Twilight and hopefully see if she knows who Tirek is," Gold Star replied. "Ah, simple and yet easy, but what if she doesn't?" I ask. "If she doesn't then I hope to the creator above that someone does," Gold Star sighed. "Hopefully.." Suddenly in the distance we noticed something bright was emitting from what seems to be a chasm of some sort below the castle, taking a peek to investigate we noticed these.. Keys were inserted inside of a chest or something, and when the yellow pegasus, or known as Fluttershy, placed the flower on top of it, it transformed into a key... "Woah, I didn't know you ponies can transform random crap into weird keys?" I asked. "I don't think we could've ever done that? But what bothers me is that I didn't read up on anything related to a magic chest in the reports?" Gold Star observed. "What did that report say then about the Everfree incident?" I asked. "All it said was that the mane 6 had to give up their elements to the magic tree, but it never fully explained why or what caused it to spiral out of control in the first place, and that chest right there? Something is a foot here like how did a magic tree somehow create an animate object out of thin air!? Or for that matter why?" "Well, sometimes you gotta ask yourself the big questions, like, is cereal a soup? Or is your school teacher a robot? Weird yet also existential questions, of course as for this case I already asked myself, but what is inside of the chest and what relation does it have with the tree and the mane 6? A gift? A weapon? Or some third option that will not be revealed until it's opening?" I pondered. "Well, whatever it is I won't disturb Twilight on her own research, not just yet at least," Gold Star said. "Ah, I see someone has been gaining some chivalry lately, I wonder why," I spoke in a crowed tone. "Well, when you spend some time with someone with importance it's kinda best that you don't get in their way, and obviously whoever Tirek is he's probably priority number 1 on her mind, unless of course he's instead priority number 2." "What do you mean by that?" I asked. "Well, remember about our date that I had with Twilight?" "Did you smooch." "What the hell? I'm not going into a relationship!" "But by the sound of it you're definitely denying it." "Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not!" "Fine.." "Anyways, as I was saying, back in that night me and Twilight were finally alone with the exception of Mr. and Mrs. Cake doing house work (yes surprisingly they live there) and the girls finally went back to their homes due to sleep deprivation, though for Twilight.... She was a bit keen on keeping her own secret-" "Gee sounds relatable... As if a certain pony who's talking right now doesn't have one," "Are you going to let me tell my story or not!" "I am, I'm just reminding you about the 'secret' you've yet to tell me." "It Ain't a secret if I tell you, you know that." "Fine, your loss." "... ANYWAYS! She told me it eventually when I was walking her home, no it's not what you think with romance movies lieutenant don't even say anything..." "Damn." "But then it was when she told that she felt a bit out of line with the other princesses, like Celestia raises the sun, Luna raises the moon, Cadence kept the up flow of love magic, and then she told me that comparing herself with them she feels like she doesn't have no fitting with the royal leaders, which I saw what she meant, while she may be strong she still have no capabilities of raising neither the moon or the sun, and I doubt she can control the endless vast amounts of Stars so that's obviously a no go, and when she got inside of her house as I was leaving I can hear faint sighs," Gold Star explained fully, after being interrupted multiple times by me. "Well damn, I guess I can see where Twilight kept her secret at, of course eventually she'll rule something like Sunset Shimmer is ruling Gradenland... Eventually?" "I doubt she'll abandon her friends for some foreign country overseas, and while she would've love Humarica, she won't like the hostilities there," "Yea.. I guess so," As me and Gold Star sat down and wait, Twilight received a message from Canterlot and that she was summoned and so without hesitation or knowledge of us knowing, she flew right past us and into the skies to Canterlot, that was when me and Gold star realized that the pony we were SUPPOSE TO ASK! LEFT THE VICINITY!!! I got pissed. "MOTHER FUCK-" Petershoof, the outskirts With preparations underway Colonel Perov was walking on the dirt road kicking rocks awaiting for the additional reinforcements he had sent a call for when General Cogwheel trotted to him with a smile as the Colonel looked through his binoculars and sees the 134th motor-rifle division arriving to their aid as BMP-1s, BTR-80s, and trucks filled to the brim with soldiers arrived past the Colonel and General with a jeep carrying the captain of the unit arriving in front of the two commanding officers. "Good day Captain Volklav, how's the new rank treating you?" Perov asked. "Couldn't be better comrade Colonel, of course being summoned and patrolled by the Rodinian central committee it's nice to know I've been watched a lot," Ogalivich chuckled. "Why so?" Perov asked. "So they can see what I can really do when it comes to busting these criminals," Ogav and Perov both laughed with Cogwheel waiting for the two to finish their usual human jokes. "Anyways captain, this is General Cogwheel Ponyarchuk, the commander for the Stalliongrad army part of the operation, and as you may know of me myself," "Colonel Perov and the infamous knife division, "Suffering before death" yes I've heard of you and your group, now I come to support Rodinia and the world's finest special forces group, by the way, have you heard just now?" Ogav asked. "Uhh. No?" Cogwheel asked. "I have but I think it's best you relay the news captain," Perov insisted. "Very well Colonel, General I believe that the one called Discord had apparently joined sides with Tirek," Ogav informed. "D-DISCORD!?" Cogwheel yelled in surprise. "Da, as we speak our Red Mother is sending in additional military equipment of MI-24 helicopters, General Secretary Brezhnev is also sending in his private militia to provide us further with the armor support needed to topple Tirek and Discord, however.. Looking at the map it seems Tirek had just recently raided Manehattan, Applelossa, and by the seems cloudsdale, weirdly it seems he decided to come here again after tormenting the two other towns, and apparently no American resistance or response as of yet," Ogav explained, which made the Colonel and the General suspicious. "Is it possible those damned Americans released him on purpose?" Perov asked. "That's what I got within the R.I.B. So far, but with Equestria now on edge and the Americans clearly confused on what's going on, I think it's about time that Rodinia steps further from operating in Stalliongrad and into Equestria," Ogav suggested, which the two officers laughed hysterically. "What's so funny?" Ogav asked sternly. "I'm sorry! I thought you said to operate in Equestria, as if we'd care for those sugar loving pests in the south, Stalliongrad is more respectable here than there," the Colonel laughed and chuckled continually. "But if Tirek ends up stronger than what he is now what're the chances that he might become immune to bullets or our explosives!" Ogav pointed out. "Nothing can outrun a bullet nor can they be immune from them, the bullet is what killed the enemy here and now, and it will be what kills Tirek," the Colonel moralized when a group of scouts arrived at the trenches with a report. "Colonel Perov sir!" "You got something?" Asked the Colonel. "Yes sir! We've spotted Tirek and discord at South forest!" "Holy shit he's here already!? I just got here!" Ogav shuddered in surprise. "Damn, alert our forces immediately! Order all guns to be pointed at the forest tree line and on my words show no fucking mercy! Ogav! Position the BMPs and BTRs on the road and get their turrets to take aim on the tree line!" Perov ordered. "Sir yes sir!" Ogav acknowledged, as he ran towards his second in command and relayed the orders given by Perov to aim all heavy weapons towards the tree line. After that the troops waited patiently for the enemy to reveal themselves to their guns. Meanwhile Discord and Tirek were traveling through the forest heading towards Petershoof, with Discord floating midair reading a magazine and Tirek being buff and strong looking at him with annoyance. "Do you realize you can teleport us to Petershoof city right?" Tirek pointed out. "Well yeah! But why do that when we can do a nice calming trail on the way, though thinking in terms why Petershoof?" Discord asked. "To answer your question I will need a little more than what I have to drain the Alicorn magic but with some additional pain, so they can feel absolute suffering!" Tirek brutally simplified. "Oh... I see.." After the conversation the two were now in the opened when Tirek sees a massive line of Rodinian humans pointing machine guns, assault rifles, armor vehicles, and bazooka's towards Discord and Tirek which completely caught them off guard, and that was when the Colonel patted a soldier. "Microphone me," he ordered. "Yes sir!" Replied a soldier, slapping the microphone on his palm. "This Colonel Perov of the R.S.A! (Rodinian Soviet Army) You are instructed to turn around immediately! Or face the consequences!" The Colonel yelled. "Oh dear.. I didn't expect this," Discord gulped. "Who says I can't enter Petershoof! Who commands you foul beast!" Tirek shouted. "In the name of our Red Mother! She forbids any movement towards the city! Any step closer and you will be dead!" The Colonel warned for the last time. Tirek was about to move a inch when Discord quickly stopped him. "Maybe we shouldn't underestimate him? After all, who knows what would happen if we move further," Discord said to discourage Tirek. "You? The mighty Discord? Afraid of bi-pedal beast with staffs?" Tirek bloated. "I've seen them in action, I wouldn't mind stepping as far away from them as we are now," "Chicken, I'll show you how it's done," Tirek smirked, shoving Discord aside and heading towards the group. "Don't say I warned you so," Discord said to himself. "I MEAN IT DAMMIT! ONE MORE STEP AND YOU'RE DEAD!" Shouted the Colonel, which Tirek continues to get closer. "Colonel Perov, I think he's done talking," Ogav advised. "I think so, fuck it then. DROP HIM!" Ordered the Colonel as immediately everything at their disposal open fired at Tirek as BMPs fired and BTR-80s rapidly shot their rounds towards Tirek pelting him with explosions and gunfire as Tirek was directly hit by a BMP round and blew him all the way back into the tree line which shocked him. However despite Tirek being back into the tree line the troops continued to keep shooting at Tirek as the bullets had now started to insert inside of his skin, and it was then that a MI-24 helicopter arrived and unloaded its incendiary missiles on the tree lines starting a forest fire and burning the trees. As the troops continued to shoot, the Serbija mercenaries arrived with T-64B tanks shooting immediately at Tirek's last known position before Tirek got back on his hooves and shouted. "GET US OUT OF HERE!" "Right oh!" Discord acknowledged taking himself and Tirek away from Petershoof and into an unknown location as the gunfire continued on until the Colonel shouted. "CEASE FIRE!" The guns, tanks, and helicopters ceased to fire, as Cogwheel signaled one of the Stalliongrad Pony soldiers to scan for Tirek and Discord but the flames raged as the entire tree line is now nothing but a forest fire so the pony soldiers returned to General Cogwheel and reported to have found nothing. With this knowledge the Rodinian's shouted and repeated their battle cry. "OORAH! OORAH! OORAH!!!" As the Rodinian's embraced each other victoriously Ogav looked at the flames with the amount of knowledge he now had gathered. "It's not over, Colonel, with all respect I would like to seek permission to go from Stalliongrad borders with my unit and head for Ponyville," Ogav requested, grabbing the Colonel and General off guard. "Are you absolutely insane! You'll get mutilated by those fucking pastel barbarians! And Ponyville!? That area is a fucking American base of operations! Those greedy bastards that enslaved my home country will apprehend you, and throw you in the dungeons!!" Cogwheel protested. "Not to mention the truth of them giving you diabetes the moment you enter Equestria," the Colonel stated. "I must! The fate of Rodinia lies with their deaths! And if I have to, I'll bring the Serbija mercenaries with me as well!" the Captain spoke. "Captain Ogav, if you do this it may end up having your unit exiled to a place far away from here, or potentially face demotion," the Colonel warned. "I'll take my chances sir," Ogav replied, which the Colonel sighed in disbelief. "I can't risk them captain, you will need a general to authorize this and even if they do it'll be a sanctioned mission." "Then in that case I think I'll authorize it myself thank you very much," Orlovsky said, stepping in with T-90 tanks rolling right past the officer group. "General Orlovsky!" The Colonel expounded as he and Ogav saluted. "At ease, I understand what Ogav feels, but considering that it would be risky I will have to inform the Red Mother of your mission, she may not approve it but I'll take the blame," Orlovsky stated. "But General sir! I- wait.. Did you say go?" Ogav asked. "You heard me Captain, go, and give him our peoples regards," Orlovsky smirked with a wink. Ogav was surprised with the general's reply and saluted. "I will not let my motherland down!" "Good luck comrade," Orlovsky granted, saluting to the captain as he climbed on board his BMP and immediately drove off to the south of Stalliongrad as BTR's, BMPs, and tanks attached with his division formed a straight line column and headed towards Equestria. The Colonel looked at the convoy with worry of an international incident. "Do you think he'll make it?" He asked, as the general turned towards him and replied. "Watch and see." Canterlot In the castle of Canterlot Holt Martavias was busy on guard duty as trucks from the expedition brigade arrived filled with machine guns, troops, and bazookas. Holt was referred personally as Patton's go-getter, when he was told to shoot but not specifically where to aim he'd shoot at whatever was the danger until he ran out of bullets which he then proceeds to charge the enemy with the butt of his rifle for miles just to give he/she a spanking. However after staring at flowers with the intention of eating them whole he notices a bright flash of light with the three Alicorns transferring their magic to a lavender colored pony. It was then his commanding officer broke off from the trance. "Hey Holt! Why are you looking in the throne room? When they say top secret that means keep your damn nose from the door!" "Yes, but-" "But what!" "Bright white color in there!" Holt pointed, which the commanding officer looked at and gazed at the three Alicorns transferring their powers to Twilight Sparkle. "Holy shit," he said to himself, turning towards Holt and said. "Umm... relay this message to Colonel Jerkins immediately," the commander officer ordered, as Holt saluted with his rifle bonking his helmet and running through the hall with the message that the commander didn't even say yet. "Very weird, but also, why are they transferring their magic to Twilight unless... Patton must know about this," my greater grandfather said as he jogged down the halls to alert Patton of his discovery. Crystal city Patton was looking at his map as the entire command ran around with their heads cut off wondering how they're going to kill Tirek, Patton had placed his unit on alert after receiving word that Manehatten, Appleloosa, cloudsdale, and even more recent the outskirts of Petershoof skirmish, it was then that the expeditionary messenger handed Patton a letter message straight from the department of defense. "About time, what do we have after waiting for hours?" Patton looked at the message which said. "S.A.U. Has been activated and is enroute to Equestria, F-14s and 15s are dispatched, and be on a look out for a rogue soviet brigade, wait a fucking minute, Soviet brigade? What are those bastards up to now!" Patton angrily questioned. "Sir no one knows but we believe they're heading to Canterlot," his messenger replied. "And nobody bothered to stop them? What type of army does Equestria have!" "We don't know sir, but-" Suddenly Patton's phone rings and his messenger picks up with scrambling words speaking through the messenger's ear he nods and says towards Patton. "It's from Colonel Canter Yates sir, he requested to speak with you," the Messenger informed. "Put him on the line, I want to speak with him about the defense in Canterlot," Patton ordered, after which the messenger handed the phone to him. "Alright Colonel, hand me the situation report." Ponyville After a massive disappointment on Gold Star's end for dragging me in for nothing I decided to drive back to base where we can figure out who Tirek is ourselves, however the trip became a sudden pull over when me and Gold Star sees a huge column of M2 Bradley's and HIMARS heading straight for Ponyville with soldiers loaded up onboard as I turned on the emergency lights and pulled over as me and Gold Star confusingly watched the convoy roll by us. As the Bradley's and the HIMARS had fully passed us the Abrams convoy came up and one of the Abrams pulled in front of the Humvee, opening the hatch was Colonel Alex with his full fledged military gear. "Good evening gents," he jokingly said. "Colonel Alex? What's going on?" Gold Star asked. "Well, shit has gone real, it turns out Tirek sucks up energy out of ponies and anything that possesses magic and had teamed up with Discord, Patton had sent a company to Canterlot and we've been dispatched to Ponyville as final line of defense," Alex explained, shocking me and Gold Star. "Holy shit." Said Gold Star. "Who gave the order to send our division to Ponyville?" He asked. "General Patton, Captain, he also wanted me to give you this by the way," Alex said, as a Abrams tank with Gold Star's cutiemark painted on the turret top pulls up behind Alex's tank as Gold Star opens the document and reads official orders from... Wait... "Princess.. Celestia?" Suddenly my Nokia phone rings and it was from my Greater Grandfather Canter, me and him usually kept each other up to date with our lives and showed him once personally how to use a standard M16 rifle, since then me and him just continually conversated with each other through the phone but something tells me it Aint a friendly conversation at this rate.. "Yes?" "Hey sonny, I was calling you up about what's been going on in Canterlot, thought you'd like to know since the whole thing is going down rapidly," Canter said. "I definitely want to know what the hell is going on in Canterlot!" I persisted in knowing. "Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence had just given up their magic," Canter informed. "Oh fuck. Wait but how the hell did Tirek get past yall!?" I questioned. "He didn't, and it wasn't him they gave their magic up to," Canter revealed. "Then who did they give their magic to?" I asked which the phone was silent for a moment when Canter then said. "Is Gold Star with you?" Canter asked. "Yea?" I replied. "Hand the phone to him, or just hover it in his ear," Canter demanded, which I placed it on Gold Star's ear and Canter said. "Did you get an order sent from Celestia?" "Yes of course, it's right here on my hoof," Gold Star replied. "Good, then follow through it, the princesses had given every inch of their magic to Twilight Sparkle, you must protect her at all cost! If Tirek get's to her, the world is fucked, you hear me captain!? Fucked!" Canter relayed the order. "I... I understand sir, but where do you possibly expect me to take Twilight and her friends to? And then there's the matter of their family-" Gold Star asked. "Where did I mention her friend's captain? "Well, if her friends can't come then Twilight won't go," Gold Star considered. "Well, whether she likes it or not orders are orders, you must take her somewhere safe than her current area, as we speak my men are raiding the throne room to start vandalizing anything that resembles of exposes Twilight Sparkle, of course with Discord being with Tirek it'll only be a matter of time before Discord starts yapping his trap, so no, her friends must not come with her, and if possible..." "Canter I know you are not speaking with that tone! I have my orders from Celestia! I will not follow an old man's orders and therefore I will follow whoever relayed them, but dammit I will not have you resort to killing anyone to erase Twilight's life from existence," Gold Star blatantly defied. "Oh really now? Then if Tirek figures out who Twilight is and comes towards Ponyville then what!" Canter yelled. "Then I'll fucking fight him myself, with fist if I have to, but dammit I will not go for a cowardly order or part take in deaths of Twilight's friends," "GOLD STAR THIS IS-" Out of annoyance I turned the Nokia off cutting Canter off from Gold Star and looked at Gold Star. "Well you got him pissed now," I said to the Captain. "Well.. Atleast for what it's worth I'm not going run from a fight, I'm going to run towards it," Gold Star smirked. "Heh, now that's my language, what about you Colonel Alex?" "W-well I can't right now, I have a meeting I must attend in Canterlot, I won't be long," the Colonel stuttered, speaking to his radio and ordered the pilot to drive him to Canterlot who acknowledged and started driving away from us. "Alright then, good luck Colonel," I said. After disappearing from our sights I climbed aboard Gold Star's tank and looked at the cockpit. "Damn, all these buttons, and how long were you in this brigade?" I asked. "2 years, but this baby has seen more shit before me," Gold Star chuckled. "Alright Captain, so what's our first move?" I asked, which Gold Star equipped his tanker helmet, raised his goggles up, and then looked at the distance with the armor column moving in towards Ponyville in the evening sky. "First, let's get Ponyville locked down, but first we'll need to find Twilight," Gold Star ordered. "Aye aye sir, pilot! Take us to Ponyville," I ordered. "Yes, sir," responded the pilot, as the tank now moves towards the front of the armor column as Himars rocket Artillery vehicles breaks away and established firing positions near the Everfree forest, as for the Bradley's which took the Pentagon 19 years to make finally sees combat action on the frontlines as it pairs with the variant 2 Abram tanks into combat. 3 hours earlier \| Equestrian-Stalliongrad border Royal guards were on a look out for Tirek after reports came in that he was in the area, however as one of the Royal guards were looking through binoculars they spotted something. "Sir! We can see movement up ahead! It might be Tirek sir!" Said one of the royal guards. "Let me see," Ordered the commander, looking through the binoculars and trembled... "That's not Tirek," He added. The royal guards peaked up and sees a convoy of armor vehicles, troop transports, and tanks all in one column as multiple flags raised in every single one of them to represent each company or nationality as the leading vehicle, which is a BMP-1, pulls up on the border in front of the entire soviet convoy, nearly alarmed the Royal guards as they pointed their spears when they were told to stand down. The commanding royal guard pony walked from the checkpoint with some of the guards pleading for their commander not to trust human soviets. Of course ignoring their pleas the commander of the checkpoint trotted towards the armored vehicle. The human with the rank patch of captain climbed out of the co-pit and walked towards the commander with trust as he extended his arm towards the Equestrian. The commander was surprised but didn't lowered his guard as he shook hoof-to-hand with the human captain, with the first contact of Soviet humans from Rodinia, the two started chatting about what's been going on around Equestria, what happened in Petershoof, and a call for a truce. The Royal guard commander nodded but concerningly he stated that he had orders to intercept any Rodinian or Stalliongrad convoys, or columns that tries to enter Equestria. However Ogav, knowing how stubborn he is and how he got a military officer in jail, he decides that the best play to do is the long game of negotiation as he is, he asserted himself that he is destined to take down Tirek with the Rodinian red army. Even if it means, launching a soviet operation. Canterlot, present time 6 hours later after Ogav authorized the convoy to smash through the checkpoint and made their destination towards Canterlot the whereabouts on the Royal guards that were defending the border was unknown, but with expeditionary soldiers taking up positions against Tirek or the Soviet convoy, Colonel Alex enters the scene, by now it is 2:32 AM ETZ, and he now waits for the informant at the cuisine shop to hand over details about the Foundation to him. But as he waited the area was nothing but noise and shouts of orders, of course while they were preparing defenses they've literally barricaded the streets with tank hedgehogs and barbed wire fencing so Tirek has a huge challenge to get to the castle. But as Alex climbed off the tank a creature was sitting at the Griffonian restaurant with full hat and uniform sitting looking through the menu, it was then that Alex spoke the code phrase. "Griffonian cuisine is very different here, wouldn't you say?" "That's because ponies are usually herbivores and would never set a claw in this restaurant even if it slapped them in the face," a feminine griffon said, taking a document from the cover of the menu and slid it to Alexander's hands. "You weren't followed here, correct?" She asked. "No ma'am, I came from the tank," he replied. "Of course, classic American's, of course they pay well for me to do their dirty work quietly unlike Agent 44 who guns blazing, obviously though I can never figure out the logic with you American's other than being payment," the agent expressed, as Alex looked at the document. "I'm sure the president will assure your payment, now with that said you may go," the Colonel dismissed. "Very well Colonel, au revoir." And then the agent spread her wings and flew out of Alexander's sight leaving him with a document and a nightly background with the sounds of continued preparations continuing to rang out throughout Canterlot. Moskva city, Kremlin palace The Kremlin was on active alert after pairs of F-15s were spotted at their coast, military vessels were dispatched to the coast and tanks had arrived on the American-Rodinian borders, and what was the Red Mother doing? Clearly when she heard that Ogav was authorized by Orlovsky to cross the border into Equestria and head for Canterlot she immediately ordered his arrest and placed Colonel Perov as commanding officer of the unit, as for other phone calls from military generals concerning the security compromise that occurred in Arabia, reports circulated that militia's had taken up arms again in soviet occupied Arabia and threaten the national security and potentially a civil war. All the while, Tirek is currently on his way to Canterlot and the Americans had sent their new Bradley Fighting Vehicles and the recently invented rocket Artillery vehicles the HIMARs, something that the soviet military command had feared would happen sooner or later and top it there is rumors circulating that the Americans had already begun testing a new weapon that could change the fabric of geopolitics and military warfare tactics. The project being called "Project Sunset" And now, The Red Mother sits on her desk with massive worry, with chain of command confused with what to do about Ogav's convoy and the fact that the Americans had sent their own tanks to their borders was of massive concern, something like this shouldn't have never happened at all, and yet with the all increasing chances of war increasing rapidly this may be it for the two nations, a all out war. It was then that the Washington hotline rang on her desk, the same ring she had never heard since the formation of Stalliongrad, she lifted the telephone and spoke. "Yes?" "Listen, I know I hate you and you hate me, but perhaps I believe there may be a misunderstanding with the convoy heading towards Canterlot," Uncle Sam spoke from the other line. "Explain, you got 30 minutes," she warned. "Well, considering that we have common hate perhaps your captain was on to something when he and a huge column of armor vehicles broke through the checkpoint and kidnapped the entire border guard before dropping them off to a military outpost, apparently the commanding officer of the border guards had said that Ogav is on his way to Ponyville because he believes that Tirek will soon chase down Princess Twilight Sparkle," Uncle Sam explained. "In simple terms he's after Tirek? What else, and why would he be after Twilight Sparkle?" She asked. "Supposedly I was told by Celestia to never say or tell anyone about this, but apparently she, Luna, and Cadence had handed their magic to Twilight Sparkle, and as we speak she has dispatched Gold Star and his team to find and protect Twilight with their lives, Tirek has no idea of a fourth Alicorn at this moment," Uncle Sam added, which the Red Mother placed her finger on her chin and then replied. "Have Reagan informed that if he pulls his army away from our borders I will guarantee that we can fix the problem and hopefully not find ourselves in a full blown war." "I... Can't promise that, Reagan, has control over the military and it would be bad to tell someone with popularity towards him to stand down the army like an owner to his mutt, but I could try... Hopefully.." "Then may Creator spare us and this continent some mercy," she phrased. "Aye... I would drink to that.." Canterlot "What do we have so far?" Asked Canter to a military scout looking through his binoculars. "Nothing yet sir, but I believe that we should evacuate some of the ponies here just in case," the scout advised. "Good idea, I'll have Holt relay the message to have the officers evacuate the citizens to some shelter, question is though, where do we put them.." "Sir, perhaps the old American-Equestrian embassy might do since the building had been kept maintained and is sturdy, also the walls are bullet proof so our weapons shouldn't be able to harm anyone inside," one of the engineers suggested. "Brilliant then, start getting the populace inside and we'll start using their houses as machine gun nests to ambush that bastard that tries to come into this city." Canter then sent the message to Holt to relay to other district commanders along with the Canterlot police force to begin sheltering pony civilians inside of the embassy where it is also built with a underground basement, the building was constructed the day George Washington set foot on Equestria soil that would signify the creation of the nation of America, the land that the embassy was built on was the pieces of soil that Washington first stepped in when arriving in Canterlot which is displayed in a glass container at the grand entrance of the embassy surrounded by fancy velvet ropes to preserve its historical importance with the label "Washington's dirt." (Don't ask me why that's pony culture) After the message was relayed the local equine police started evacuating the population inside of the embassy with the assistance of the Expeditionary forces and American MPs as families from adult to young, mares and fillies, Colts and foals, the population was evacuated to the embassy that is heavily guarded with tanks, jeeps, and machine gun nest. "I like to see this bastard get through this!" Canter boasted at how his troops had established forward defenses on the embassy when his radio went off and troops all around him scattered to take up positions, he grabbed his radio and spoke with the outskirt command and yelled in an aggressive tone. "What the hell is going on!" The receiver on the other side replied while gunshots can be heard in the background of his voice. "SIR! HE'S ATTACKING OUR POSITIONS! WE CAN'T STOP HIM~" After a sound of an explosion which killed the receiver, Canter looked to his right and saw a mushroom cloud indicating that Tirek had arrived or the Soviet convoy had arrived. And just when he wasn't worried enough the sky started having a seizure between night and day. "Will this shit get any worse..."
The New World \| Millennium	Friends and Rivals (Tirek Arc Part 2)	Demare village, 2:00 PM PST, Zona province, New Mexicona state Log 034.. The research for Project Sunset begins upon word from congress to start the research for the new weapon that would change the fabric of everything in this world... I and other top scientists had already begun the final phase of research of the new weapon. Unknowing to the world... This weapon in particular could destroy this world if used... Canterlot "TAKE COVER!" A soldier shouted as a M60 tank was thrown towards the group of defending troops. A chaotic battle broke out after Tirek and Discord had breached the outer defenses and had pushed all the way inside of Canterlot, his goal and intention is to get to the castle and steal the Alicorn magic, but when he heard about the Americans preparing defenses he raided other towns and villages for pony magic. And now bullets are only darts to him as they bounced off of his chest, while tank shells continued to explode on impact he would come out unscathed, same with Rocket ammunition. "NOTHING IS BUDGING HIM SIR! WHAT DO WE DO!" A soldier shouted. "FUUUCK!!" Canter Shouted when Tirek fired a magic beam at their defenses and burnt the entire barricaded area into a crisp. And when Tirek moved forward three M60s arrived and repeatedly shot the large beast in the city shooting shells after shells as Tirek stomped towards them and catched one of the shells with his bare hands and then chewed on it. "Zesty," Tirek smiled. "Oh shit! He's got the taste of bullets sir!" Yelled the soldier. "DAMMIT! RETREAT! WE NEED NEED TO FALL BACK TO DISTRICT 12!" Canter ordered. "But sir! We'll be leaving castle Canterlot abandoned! The princesses-!" "THE PRINCESSES CAN DEFEND THEIR OWN SHIT! NOW CALL FOR THE RETREAT PRIVATE!" "Yes sir," acknowledged the soldier as he grabbed the radio and yelled. "All units in the area have sent out the call for tactical retreat! Tactical number 40!!" Yelled the soldier, as tanks, troops, and armor vehicles steadily retreated to district 12 as Tirek smiles at the cowering human army. "What's the matter humans? Scared?" He taunted, laughing at the retreating army as Discord hovered behind him and chuckled. "Don't you love it when you see a superior army get outmatched by the mighty duo?" Discord laughed. "Indeed Discord, but now for other matters," Tirek vaguely reminded. "Ah yes indeed," Discord chuckled, as he looked up and saw Shining Armor who is confused with the Sun and moon having seizures. Ponyville During the chaos in Canterlot, me and Gold Star were originally going towards Twilight's house if Twilight herself didn't blow up her door and flew in the sky. We just entered the town after a good while of traffic with missile Artillery encampments being established on the plain fields in preparation, however when I scrolled in channel 5 of my radio we could hear the sounds of gunfire, panic, and screaming. Everyone in the tank now has a worrying anticipation of their enemy but Gold Star sees it as a sign that time is running out.. "Well, it's been confirmed, the Canterlot unit had just been taken out, and the defending pony garrison had lost their magic," I informed him this as Gold Star placed his head on his hoof. "And with the entire populace in one place in the embassy they'll lose all their magic at once, and what's worse.. Our bullets can't penetrate Tirek's hardened skin and the creator knows what will happen if he gets what he wants from Twilight," I added, while Gold Star slammed his hoof on the metal bar. "That's IF he gets what he wants, I won't let him have what he wants, other than what he'll be receiving," Gold Star confidently spoke, as he turned towards the pilot driving the tank. "How close are we?" He asks. "Not far sir." The Castle After Tirek banished the princesses to Tartarus he was looking at Discord's art when he noticed a shattered window of a purple pony, he looked at Discord and asked. "I wonder what window is this?" "That? Huh.. Wonder why they shattered this one?" Discord murmured to himself when he suddenly had a thought of realization. "Oh.. Right," "What?" Tirek asks. "So... Funny story, it would seem that the three princesses had given Twilight their magic!" Discord admitted, which Tirek who knew only three princesses was surprised by this discovery. "Why didn't you tell me about a fourth Alicorn!" He questioned, grabbing Discord by the neck. "I just wanted to be sure that I can trust you after all," Discord replied, to which Tirek dropped him and handed Discord a medallion. "To ensure trust, I give you this as a symbol of our own friendship," Tirek assured, which he then looked down and noticed that the entire city was empty which raised massive suspicion. "Interesting... What did those humans say about District 12?" Tirek asked. "I think that's supposed to be some embassy or something, I think they placed the entire population in that building," Discord assumed. "Then it shall be their downfall," Tirek laughed maniacally with the intention of attacking the embassy. District 12, the Embassy As the final defense line was established Canter looked at what remained of the armor brigade with only 3 tanks left at his disposal, some armor vehicles, and demoralized soldiers who're now on the brink of running away now knowing that Tirek is immune to bullets, however just as they have catched their breaths Tirek stands in the midst of the final line of defense as Canter and his troops looks at the menacing Tirek with the intention of stealing more magic from the entire population of Canterlot as troops raised their rifles towards him. But Tirek wasn't afraid and they knew that.. Immediately the only thing Canter could do was surrender, but if he did that generations of ponies would lose their magic potentially permanently, and he wasn't going to surrender, but he did hope one thing... "I hope this works," He said, as he turned to his troops and yelled. "RETREAT INSIDE OF THE BUILDING!" He ordered, which everyone ran into the deeper side of the Embassy catching Tirek off guard as he looked at the last defending force in pity. He sees the three remaining defending vehicles point their weapons at him so in an instant the vehicles are destroyed and their drivers are killed, leaving nothing but flat deathly dust and flames. He then threw a still flaming M60 tank at the doors in front of him where he was met with no resistance other than the empty hallways. As he entered however, he realized that he wasn't alone in the room... North wing of the embassy, Bravo Unit After being secretly dropped down from the Black hawk the special forces troops quickly unpacked their shotguns, MP5s, and a new magic weapon, the MP-10. Equipped with magical ammunition attachments and laser guided sights. "Alpha-1 are you ready?" "Copy Bravo-1, we have eyes on Tirek, and Colonel Canter has begun the evac," replied Alpha-1. "Roger, we're moving in now, expect explosives soon, exfil when ordered," instructed Bravo-1. "Copy," replied Alpha-1. Bravo-1 and his squad begin moving up to secure and plant explosive charges as a way to cover the populace's escape. He can hear gunshots already erupting in the entrance as Assault rifles fired upon Tirek and the sounds of his agitation yelled as he fired Lethal shots at an agile enemy missing every shot he made. Entrance wing, Alpha unit Assault rifles continued to fire as Alpha-1 changed position after position every time he gets spotted, one of his soldiers then ran up behind him and aimed a RPG-7 towards Tirek's eyes and fired the missile at his head exploding on impact which he gave a loud. "AHHHHH! YOU BEAST! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" He cried in pain, which gave Alpha-1 something to note about. "Alpha-1 to Bravo-1 do you read!" "I copy Alpha-1. What is it?" Bravo-1 asked. "Brother, it seems his eyes are the weakness! While he can recover from it for a moment, his head is the weak part of his body!" Alpha-1 informed. "Interesting.... See what you can do I'm listing all possible weaknesses on this guy, it's time we study him through combat," Bravo-1 ordered. "Roger that, Alpha-7! Get me another RPG round for this guy's ass!" Ordered Alpha-1. "On it sir!" Replied Alpha-7, running to load the second missile round. "Alpha-4! Alpha-9! Lure this guy to the west wing! We need to keep him away from the East wing!" Ordered Alpha-1. "Sir, yes sir!" Acknowledged the two in unison as they ran to the West wing and shot their Drumbell Rifles towards Tirek's legs to test his skin strength. "AND WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!" He yelled, giving chase to the two soldiers whose Alpha unit relocated to the West wing with full fledged equipment and a bazooka. "Hope the Colonel is doing fine," Alpha-1 said to himself. East Wing, Expedition unit "COME ON! COME ON! MOVE IT MOVE IT!" Shouted Canter, as he and his troops started evacuating the sheltering population out of the underground bunker and into the escape passage that was conveniently, yet planned, built within the embassy. It was built in case the building caves into itself which then the people in question inside the bunker would go to the back edge of the wall, grab a emergency sledge hammer, and smash the hollow wall which leads to the bottom mountain of Canterlot City. So far giving the account the amount of ponies evacuating is currently almost about ten thousand and while the Bunker was supposedly supposed to store almost about 2,000 bodies it seemed to hold well with ten thousand ponies, although with the majority of Colt's that volunteered to fight Tirek are now weak and drained of their power, their sacrifice will not go unnoticed in Canter's eyes, but that will not happen if he and others are killed by the hands of Tirek the bastard. "If only Patton was here he would've say-" Crystal City "That bastard did it!?" Patton ranted. "Yes General, we apparently didn't believe it ourselves but it seems that Canter's forces had been dismantled by Tirek, and the ten tanks sir? They've all been destroyed," the messenger reported. "...." "Is there something you need sent out sir?" He asked. "No... Just keep me in contact with further word," Patton ordered, which the messenger saluted and left a concern Patton in his office. Embassy, South wing "Bravo-2, what's the status on those charges," Bravo-1 asks. "We've currently have the North and South wings ready to blow, we've yet to reach the East and West wing sir," Bravo-2 reports. "Copy, I like to see this building collapse on his giant ass head, have your mates move in on the East Wing and start planting charges," Bravo-1 ordered. "Rog' that boss," Bravo-2 acknowledged, bringing Bravo-3 and 6 with him to the East wing. "Bravo-1 to Echo-1, what's the status of the East wing," Bravo-1 asks. "Bravo-1, my team is rounding up the last of the populace, the Colonel has already evacuated most of them, we're currently evacuating the older ponies," Echo-1 replies. "Well hurry it up, I don't know how long Alpha unit has before they run out of bullets," worried Bravo-1 "Alpha unit is currently fighting Tirek in the West wing," informed Echo-1. "What the hell is he up to?" Bravo-1 queried, as he and his squad began to search for rooms that weren't ridden with charges. West wing As the gun fire continued to be sprayed some of the men started to run out of ammunition as Alpha-1 took cover with a rocketeer man taking aim at Tirek's head Alpha-4 ran to Alpha-1 with a new discovery. "Sir! We found a new weak spot within Tirek's skin!" Reported Alpha-4. "Well! Tell me quickly!" Alpha-1 yelled, as Tirek fired his lethal rounds at him and his men. "Apparently given enough explosives the skin can be pierced given enough explosive force but only given enough fire power, also if we target the horns it could remove his ability to use his magic! If we use enough explosive firepower it could breach his external skin and make him bleed, along with destroying his horns which will make him truly dead!" Alpha-4 explained as an explosion occurs in the background. "That's brilliant! Quick! Alpha-5 take your aim towards his head and DO NOT MISS!" Ordered Alpha-1, as Alpha-5 nodded and took aim with the bazooka towards Tirek's horns when Tirek fired a lethal at Alpha-5s position and destroys the entire balcony below him causing him to cascade down to the ground floor and injuring his leg, which before he can reach the bazooka Tirek crushes it and it explodes into a fiery burst of flames, giving Alpha team time to evacuate him away from Tirek. "Fuck!" Alpha-1 said, as he and his team evacuated to the East wing. "GET BACK HERE!" Tirek shouted, as he chased the team running from him all the way to the East Wing. East Wing "LETS GO! LET'S GO! Colonel! What's the status? Did we get them out!?" Echo-1 asked. "Affirmative, that's the last of them," Colonel Canter informed. "Good, now get your men out of here, once Bravo and Alpha squads get here we're blowing up the place," informed Echo. "Understood, good luck to you and your teams," Canter added, which Echo-1 saluted attentively as Canter and the remains of the defending forces escaped through the underground tunnels in the Embassy. Echo-1 sees the approaching Bravo team placing the last of the explosive charges holding their guns and pointing them towards the hallway entrance as Bravo-1 came towards Echo-1. "Have the locals been evacuated?" "Done Bravo-1, we now wait for Alpha-1 and then we'll be heading up stairs, speaking of which have you contacted them?" Echo-1 asked. "I thought you did?" Bravo-1 asked. "Wait.. Lemme see," Echo-1 raised his radio when he heard gunshots approaching towards the two teams, the two squad leaders grabbed their pistols and looked down the hallway where Alpha squad was running towards Echo and Bravo, with behind them none other than Tirek, Echo-1 and Bravo-1 were shocked. "WHAT THE HELL ALPHA-1!" Shouted Echo, as Bravo-1 grabbed a flashbang from his belt. "THROWING FLASH! COVER YOUR EYES!" He shouted, as he threw the banger and blinded Tirek causing him to crash inside of a wall giving time for Alpha squad to get to the squads. "WHAT THE HELL ALPHA! YOU HAD ONE JOB!" Bravo yelled. "HE WAS GOING TO FOLLOW US ANYWAYS! DIDN'T YOU LOOK AT THIS GUYS SIZE!?" Yelled Alpha, while Bravo rolled his eyes. "Stop Yelling! We'll discuss this later but right now we need to quickly get to the emergency exit down there! Our helicopter will be waiting for us there!" Echo-1 informed as he and his squad quickly made a run to the exit. "Come on!" Insisted Bravo, as he and the two squads ran towards exit with Echo-1 smashing the wooden door down and got on board the helicopter that was ready to take off at a moments notice. All three squads boarded the 4 helicopters that were landed and after that they recon the safe zone established by foreign defense forces and then Bravo activates the remote detonator in which he then said. "See you in Tartarus, bastard.." . . As Tirek finally regained his sight he looked all over what seems to be a library when see's flashing lights.. "Oh Tartaru-" The entire building explodes into a fiery mushroom cloud of flames as everyone who had evacuated from it sees it collapse in the distance. Canter looked at the now burning embassy with guilt as it stood and outlived everyone, and its legacy was destroyed with the press of a button as he looked up at the black hawk helicopters flying overhead leaving everyone's sights as Canter stood there in silence at the flames on the mountain. . . However Tirek wasn't dead as he stuck his arm out of the rubble and climbed out of it, he looked at the helicopters escaping and smirked. "Well played humans... Well played..." Ponyville "All units what's your status." Static noises "Sectors 3 and 2 had been secured, we're awaiting word from Captain Gold Star for sector 1, Over." Static noises "Roger that." . . After a drive back to Ponyville, we pulled in on Twilight's house, after arriving I grabbed my MP5, jumped off the tank, and knocked on Twilight's door. No response. I knocked again. Still no response. "Alright! I warned ya! (Sorry door)" I kicked down the door shattering its hinges and entered the house, nothing. Nothing other than boring bullshit AKA books. "Gold Star, I don't think she's here, unless being known as a bookworm I could say her people (the books) are just stiff" I comedically said on the radio. "Haha.. Funny, try going up stairs," Gold Star acknowledged with an offended tone. "10-4," I replied back, as I steadily raised my SMG and went up the stairs looking through every corridor, corner, and peek, nothing, it would seem though that Twilight has her bed perfectly made... And organized.. And... Wait? Is that an owl! "Hoot," cooed the owl, as I looked under the bed sheets and under the bed. "Yes, nice to meet you too, do you know where Twilight is?" I asked, looking at the chores. "Hoot?" "I- oh wait, hahaha! Very funny, you thought I was going to fall into that comedic joke ey? Well not today Irony! But uh, say that you do like to help me right?" I asked, which it nodded. "Excellent! You take the roof! I'll take the ground," I instructed as it flew towards the exit and sat there. "Or just sit there and do nothing.. Alright then suit yourself," I said to it. However it was now a dead end as I found absolutely nothing, no Twilight, no Spike, and the only living thing I found was an owl.. Why do I get the feeling that's a sign of a bad omen.. "Gold Star, she is nowhere in sight, she ain't taking a shit, she's not looking at her books, and she is not sleeping neither, same with Spike, I think she may have gone somewhere, over!" "I copy, that's why I'm currently out in the open and looking for hopefully one of Twilight's friends, maybe they'll tell us where she is," Gold Star informed. "You better hope so, also if it's the fucking Everfree I'm slapping you again." "Let's hope it's not. (Oh boy...)" . . With troops on the ground digging trenches and establishing barbwire fencing Gold Star had to walk on hoof to find Twilight's friends. With the solemn hope that they know where Twilight is, or perhaps in the best case that Twilight is with them, troops ran passed him in a single file line formation as he stared at the buildings that had been boarded up by the locals, as he was standing there thinking one of his soldiers ran up to him and asked. "Captain Star, I came from Sector 2 sir, both regiments are awaiting word whether sector 1 is secured sir!" "Go ahead and contact the regiment leaders that sector 1 has been secured, be sure to also relay the order to get the new artillery system instituted and online, I like to see how fun he could be with our rocket artillery weapons, one more thing, speaking that Tirek has defeated Canter's unit in Canterlot air support has been deployed to our location, as we speak we have two fighter squadrons loaded with high explosives on their way to bomb this son of a bitch to Tartarus, but I want him to receive a appetizer of what's to come first," Gold Star informed. "Yes sir!" Replied the soldier, speaking on his radio and running back to his sector regiment. As the soldiers ran towards crowds of troops burying themselves in the newly digged trench placing Machine guns on the dirt a familiar group of ponies were walking around to encourage the locals to stay inside, and so far with the dramatic deployment of troops entrenching themselves in the ground they had a easy time with keeping the locals in Ponyville locked down. "Hey!" Gold Star waved, approaching Twilight's friends. "Have you seen Twilight anywhere? I was assigned to search for her." "Well, you're asking the right pony for the question! Sort of.." Sort of?" "Well as you can see, she didn't provided a specific place that she was going to other than heading down towards the Everfree forest, though I do think she might be going to castle of the two sisters," Rarity explained for Applejack. "Well, I have to find her before it's too late, she's a target for Tirek, he knows that she has Celestia's Luna and Cadence's Alicorn magic and if I can-" "Hold on a minute! Did you say has?" Rainbow Dash interjected. "Uhhh... Yea? Weren't you told about this?" Gold Star asked, which the girls and even Spike shook their heads in a negative way. "What! Not even you Spike?" "Nope, though I should see why since she had powers that we didn't know she had?" "Yea... Now that you think about it, when she zoomed through the sky with a streak! That was not Twilight's magic ability!" Rainbow Dash pointed out. "Not yet," Murmured Applejack "But how did you know that Twilight has all three of the Alicorn's magic?" Rarity asked, while Gold Star sighed and grabbed a piece of note from his right Satchel, handing it to Applejack while the girls and Spike looked at it. "Just know that I didn't share this with you, but I think we now have a similar understanding now," Gold Star guessed. "Darling, if this is how threatening it is then we should be assisting you in finding Twilight," Rarity insisted. "Sorry to reject you five (and Spike), but Tirek will no doubt try to find Twilight's weaknesses and exploit them, being that you are alive means he'll most likely try to make you all a bargaining tool, I suggest sticking within high crowded areas while also being under military protection," Gold Star insisted. "I think we can take care of ourselves," Rainbow Dash confidently says. "Say that to the royal guards who're drained of their magic, besides I think it is what Twilight would want best for you all until this passes, I'll leave it up to the Colonel but for now, good luck and stay safe," Gold Star exited, leaving Twilight's friends in the midst of the crowd of troops. "Maybe we should trust Gold Star, he is pretty nice," Fluttershy suggested. "I don't know about that feller, he looks like he's on our side, but just wait until his human friends turn on us like a stubborn bull in a rodeo," Applejack skeptically said. "I don't know about that, they seemed more of our ally than an enemy as you've claimed them to be?" Rarity observed. "Yea.. Besides, Equestria barely has any enemies! Of course other than Tirek who seems interested in turning that phrase into the total opposite," Rainbow Dash phrased. "Besides, the humans here aren't that bad, right?" Rarity asked. Canterlot Ogav looked through his binoculars at the flames that had erupted in a part of Canterlot, with his troops entering Canterlot and checking the corridors they found nothing. The convoy of tanks, IFVs, and APCs had halted at Canterlot's gates as reconnaissance teams were sent out to see if Tirek was in the city or not. Ogav walked through a line of trucks that had emptied the troops who're looking around taking pictures of some architect while some kept their rifles on their sides. Ogav looked at the burning building which was supposed to be Humarica's embassy, but was now destroyed in a fiery inferno.. "We're too late," Ogav said to himself, as he looked at the empty streets of what was once very busy and crowded. "Sir, the Red Mother has just posted in order, now she wants us to proceed with what you've planned, sir?" A soviet soldier informed, intriguing Ogav. "Interesting.. I guess I've forced her hand into it, hmph. The Central Committee is going to be pissed with my actions unfortunate, but hopefully we can exterminate Tirek and get- what the?" He and his troops approached the destroyed M60s that were burnt to a crisp, immediately Ogav opened a hatch on one of the tanks and saw that the crew were still breathing. "Great Mother! Quick get medical staff here immediately! Get these men out of the tanks now!" He ordered. "But sir? They're American-" "American or not, they're still our species, species stick together," he phrased, which the men nodded and quickly got the medics on the scene while the men dragged out the crew men who were partially charcoaled and breathing or plain out dead, 2 dead bodies and the rest is injured, Ogav gazed on how the men in the tanks survived such chaotic flames as the medic's got to work on the injured men. However as the medics perform the operation on the injured a Crystal-American Jeep convoy is spotted by soviet scouts. "Sir, the recon team indicates that the Bald eagle is climbing up the mountain," reported the soldier. "Perhaps we can make a peace deal?" Ogav insisted. "Sir, considering that we're deep in territory we'll most likely be shot on the spot by Americans or jabbed in the brain by Equestrian royal guard, the best suggestion is getting out of here as fast as we can," suggested the soldier. "What about the injured?" "By the time we leave they'll reach their injured men," the soldier replied as Ogav sighed and looked at the injured with emotional passion. "Very well... Get the troops climbed on board and let's move on, we'll stand our ground in Ponyville," Ogav ordered. "Very good sir," the soldier acknowledges. As ordered, the medical team were recalled back into the trucks and the troops loaded on the Infantry fighting vehicles, with Ogav climbing back on board his BMP-1, he then grabs the red and gold flag, and raises it indicating to the convoy to begin movement. After Ogav and his forces left Canterlot, General Patton and his motorcade of jeeps arrived on the scene as troops took positions all around the general who took a look at his injured men still breathing. However his soldiers did nothing which aggravated him. "WELL DON'T JUST STAND THERE! GET THE MEDICS!" He shouted, which the soldiers quickly got the medics on scene, it was then he saw a note with two dog tags on one of his destroyed tanks that read. "Two had died, the tags attached are the names of the dead, we managed to grab out the pilots, it's all yours, " signed Captain Volklav... Well if I be damned, a commie does have a soul.." Everfree Forest After climbing back on board the Abrams I almost slapped Gold Star when he said the words Everfree Forest, I really hate those words, actually I loathe them and the place associated with those words. Like what the hell is so important with the Everfree forest to Twilight Sparkle! Is it natural beauty? Or that random magic tree that nearly consumed all of Equestria into a Zebrican like jungle. But if we have to in the duty of our country then I guess we'll do it, can't believe that Princess Celestia had Gold Star on guard duty over one of the strongest princesses in Equestria, if anything I think they just threw themselves under the bus because they could've took him on in a 3v1 combat fight, I guess their ages made them weak which sounds concerning... "I can't believe you're dragging me and this tank's crew into the most hated place out of all places!" I protested. "Well, I don't like it here either but we have a duty to fulfill and if it meant having to shoot at the trees then you may do so as pleased, but I prefer that we save our ammunition just in case..." "What do you mean by that?" I asked. "Because whether or not.. I have a feeling we are not getting out of this forest with Twilight without a fight with Tirek," Gold Star dreaded.. "Are you actually saying we might actually have to fight this asshole?" "Possibly.." As me and Gold Star were silent on the possible chance of fighting Tirek the bastard, the only noise present was the sounds of tank treads grinding on the dirt pathway and some chatting tank crew men about life back home along with the impending doom of death. We were now on our way to the Everfree forest, hopefully Twilight doesn't fly out from us, if I have to I'll fucking tackle her Gold Star can be chivalric all he wants but I am not going to waste the precious time that's against us because of something non-important, the first time was a exception, but this time I'm not going to let her off at this. Speaking of the devil, I wonder how her friends are doing? Ponyville Back in Ponyville the stationed soldiers, particularly just two, were having a smoke outside with cigarettes' in hand as they tried to calm their nerves with the confidence of slaughtering one red guy who is causing trouble in Equestria. One of them thought that the men that failed to defend against Tirek in Canterlot were just old and fragile with the non basic abilities of operating modern equipment. Even though the two were right they'll be finding themselves eating their words when they hear a cage bang and surprised chattering as the two grabbed their assault rifles that rested on the walls and peeked around the corner. What they saw was when Discord was on the ground weak in front of the cage that had 5 ponies and a dragon, the two soldiers scanned around the perimeter and then spotted Discord on the ground so they held their rifles and pointed at him with the shout as he attempted to get up. "STAY DOWN BASTARD!" Shouted the trooper kneeing him down on the ground as his partner looked at the cage. "Fucking bastard, you were gonna rape em were ya!??!" Before Discord could even defend himself he was kicked in the face and spat on by the soldier who asked the question. "Disgusting pigs! Get me Colonel Alex immediately, we'll make this one a example to the fucking rapist around the world!" "No need to contact me, I'm already here," entered Colonel Alex, staring at the scene with a pistol in his hand. He looked at the caged ponies who're scared and shocked by what they've just seen with their former friend as the trooper kept Discord down while the other soldier awaited orders from Colonel Alex. "Get the civilians out of the cage, and you soldier, stand him up and have him sit, I want a formal interrogation on him at once," the Colonel ordered. "Why not just shoot him to save the trouble!" The Soldier aggressively insisted on pressing his rifle deeper in Discords skull as Alex noticed that the yellow pegasus pony, drained of her magic, watched in horror as the trooper instigated an immediate execution, an execution that the Colonel doesn't see no purpose for. While Discord seemed to have betrayed them he possibly didn't think it would've led to this moment. "No, follow my orders Private!" Alex added. "But si-" "That's an order dammit! Follow it!" Alex barked towards the soldier, which made the trooper pause and nodded in a glare. "Yes sir.." Immediately as he raised Discord from the ground and led him to a seat a engineer arrived on scene with a A.M.M.T. to break through the magic induced metal casted by Tirek to capture the ponies and the dragon. "Stand back, we'll get you all out," Alex assured as the engineer lit the torch. "On an off context but, why are y'all helping us when you could've fought Tirek first?" Applejack asked, still skeptical with humans. "Because, we wouldn't be the foreign fighters that saved your kind from the Zebrican terrorist, we could've left you, but then again why do that when we could save generations that aren't our kind but perhaps inspire them more that perhaps inter-species could live peacefully," Alex inspiringly explained which made Applejack gulped a huge lump of her pride down her throat. "And to think you assumed they were still our enemy?" Rainbow Dash criticized. "Hold on there partner, you've doubted too don't forget that," Applejack replied in a reminder. "Yea, but- uhh.. Okay so maybe we had a part in that," Rainbow Dash admitted. "I wouldn't give a damn who was who, you didn't blow up tanks or jeeps, or killed anyone (yet) you all seem fine in my book," Alex replied with forgiveness as he took part in torching the cage. Applejack was about to say something when suddenly the entire cage and everyone in it disappeared catching the men off guard. "What the hell!?" Alex reacted in complete surprise. "SIR! DISCORD IS GONE!" "HE'S ESCAPED!" Shouted both the soldiers as Alex got up and replied. "Hell no he didn't, I have a feeling Tirek is using a trump card with them, quick! Get those Bradley's and tanks into positions now! You! Have the Himars ready to fire! Aim for the head!" "SIR YES SIR!" Shouted the men in unison as they scattered to the division squad leaders. "You better hurry up Captain, because I think we're too late.." Starhawk carrier "Code four, code four, all pilots man your stations. You've been redirected to Ponyville under code four, please report to your squadron leaders for mission briefing." "ALRIGHT LISTEN UP! STRATCOM HAS INTEL THAT TIREK IS IN THE PONYVILLE AREA! WEAKNESSES HAD BEEN UPDATED ON YOUR NAVIGATION SIGHTS, YOUR JETS WILL BE ARMED WITH HEAT SEEKING MISSILES AND OTHER EXPLOSIVES THAT CAN SHOOT THIS BASTARDS HEAD OFF! IF YOU RUN OUT RETREAT TO THE NEAREST OUTPOST FOR EQUIPMENT! THE OBJECTIVE IS TO KILL TIREK! SO NOW I ASK! WHO'S READY TO HUNT THIS FATASS DOWN!" Squadron leader Ingo shouted as everyone on the deck yelled back in a unison choir. "LET'S BAG THIS BASTARD SIR!" "GLAD TO HEAR IT! GET TO YOUR FIGHTERS NOW! MAY CREATOR AND HARMONY BE WITH Y'ALL!" As the pilots scrambled for their gear some fist bumped in good luck, some grabbed their copilots, and some grabbed a pistol for special occasions, Falcon and Eagle squadrons ready their jets as the deck crew men scattered restlessly for takeoffs as the jet's both F-14 and F-15s started to line up. The admiral meanwhile looked at the fighters which were waiting on his command to launch, the admiral had never seen the day that he had to send the literal air force on one specific creature that somehow disturbed the entirety of international politics, and now it was time to show everyone the American version of it's definition of 'freedom' with the use of it's airforce and everything at its disposal. "Launch the fighters," ordered Admiral Hughes. "Launch the fighters!" Repeated the deck sergeant. "Launching fighters!" Acknowledged the flight crew as they swung their HUD's to signal the fighters to launch off the carrier. In an instant the jets launched one by one as the F-15s and 14's regathered and regrouped in the skies in formation to their located target in Ponyville. 10:43 am, New Mexicona state Log 035... So far we've had formed the final design of the weapon that the government had hired us all to do and researched, now is the matter of creating the weapon's design into this world.. Albert Einstein has warned that the weapon will work.. But at a cost that I fear might happen when we start the first test of this weapon in question.. I wonder sometimes if the princesses of Equestria had found out about our research.. What is our punishment for the sins we will be committing to create this weapon that we've been tasked to make? Would we be spared? Or perhaps given no mercy for the great sin. I don't know what everyone's reaction will be once the existence of the bomb is revealed, but if project Sunset were to really exceed expectations from its original purpose... Then there will be no hope for no one on this team to be sanctified from this deed... Everfree Twilight was on the edge of a cliff trying to keep the magic that was given by the three Alicorns in check so it wouldn't spiral out of her control. Just as she was about to do a teleport spell she heard the sounds of trees falling over on the ground as if something had shoved it aside, she put aside her current spell she almost casted and had herself prepare for combat with her horn lit ready to fire her barrage of spells towards Tirek. However the trees stopped falling as a moving heavy armor weapon appeared from the tree line with its turret and machine gun pointed at nothing but Twilight kept her ground and kept her horn active, however a hatch opened with it coming out was Gold Star fully equipped with his tank gear with his hooves in the air. "Don't shoot It's us!" Gold Star verified, which Twilight sighed in relief and deactivated her horn she would be curious about the tank if not excited about the technological weapon made by humanity, but unfortunately the worry that she was consumed with kept her down. "Keep the engine running just in case," Gold Star ordered. "Understood," I replied, being left in command while Gold Star jumped off from the tank with a pistol only as he raised his goggles up on his helmet and trotted towards Twilight, he never thought that despite everything going around Twilight would still bring herself to the bottom levels, sure she was just given the task of Alicorn Hood but with the friends she has she hasn't even bother to consult with them properly about her role. And as I watch from the tank I can understand what Gold Star was thinking, apart with the event in the Everfree apparently the mane 6 were originally somewhat defenders of Equestria from the enemies that want to conquer it and the ponies, while the American government would act upon retaliation there was some things that were meant to be handled by stronger power groups. Such as Discord, he was a menace to both Equestria and the Humarican dollar economy, and then there was the nightmare moon.. The single piece of history that started everything between Humarica and Equestria altogether and now we're now defending what was once considered our enemy at the time... But with thoughts of what I had, Twilight lit her horn in concentration while Gold Star sat back and spoke. "I know what's been hurting you, I've been there once but a bit worse than what you're experiencing," captain Star expressed deeply which prompted Twilight to look at him with a unencouraged face, she never said anything so Gold Star continued. "Back when I became America's first pony officer of it's history I was given humanly tasks like carrying water gallons across the field or overseeing entrenchment drills, at first I thought they were a piece of cake, no trouble with the role so far at least until my first taste in war was when I realized that perhaps some rethinking was needed, in the summer heat of 1002 and the 105th was sent to the Argendinian-Thestria frontlines to peacekeep in the war, but it was then that me and-" "PRINCESS TWILIGHT!!" Shouted Tirek in the distance as he approached the area. "TIREK!" Yelped Twilight while Gold Star unholstered his pistol. "Dammit he must've followed us!" Reacted Gold Star. "I need to get back to my home! Meet me there!" "Twilight! WAIT~!" But before Gold Star could finish his sentence Twilight engulfed herself in a brief blink of purple light and disappeared. "DAMMIT!" He said to himself which he then ran towards the parked Abrams as I listened into the radio comms. "I don't know what you said to her but if you told her to go back to Ponyville you've doomed her," I warned. "I didn't, she teleported there herself and I didn't even get a chance to say shit! By the way? What makes you say that?" "Because Tirek has already arrived to Ponyville, her friends and Discord got captured by him, Colonel Alex is rallying up all units to point Alpha, and the soviet convoy is about 3 miles away from us, and he's near Twilight's home," I explained. "The Soviet convoy will have to be dealt with last, we need to take down Tirek and end this once and for all!" "But captain? We need to protect Twilight, our tank has been excluded from the rally orders but going up against Tirek is suicide!" I warned worryingly. "I'm following present order's I've been given to by Princess Celestia and I'll follow through with them whether you like it or not, I'm gunning for Tirek's throat," Gold Star vowed. "Sounds a bit reckless, but you know what? I think we can give it a try, but we may not make it out like I said this could be a suicide operation," I hypothesized. "I'll take whatever odds, but something must be done or by the time he's finished with the ponies of Equestria no one can stop him." "I think I know which soundtrack to play," I smirked, opening up the VHS tape player and inserting a music track in it. "Yates you really have the best taste of music!" Gold Star grinned. "Yes, sir I fucking do!" I replied. "Pilot! Get us to Ponyville! We got an asshole to kill! And get home like Johnny!" Gold Star ordered. "Yes sir!" With joysticks pulled and parking brake off the Abrams started moving out of the forest and into the plain fields that wasn't far from our west as the tank treaded the ground knocking down the trees to the ground as the navigator kept us on course with our objective, meanwhile I don't have tank gear or equipment but I can as easily man a machine gun better and load the shell. Meanwhile I turned up the volume making the entire field around us replaced with the sound of patriotic music and duty. "Alright listen Yates, when my gunner says HE load the Heavy explosive round that looks entirely round without a butt, if he says armor piercing it would look like a thin shell that looks like it lost some weight, get the picture?" Gold Star instructed. "Yep I think I can handle loading sir," I replied as I gripped the machine gun tight. "Good on you now, we can-" Suddenly a massive explosion erupted from the town of Ponyville as a mushroom cloud raised in the sky and Gold Star gazed in horror as to what could've created such an explosion. "FUCK! What the hell happened!?" I reacted. "That smoke, I think Tirek found her!" Gold Star said as the tank rolled out of the Everfree forest and entered Ponyville as the sky is nothing but red and when they've arrived to Twilight's home they find nothing but ash and flames. "Holy shit... How the hell?" Suddenly sounds of fighting erupted behind us and we turned towards the backside and see Twilight and Tirek fighting. It was now or never as me and the Captain nodded and rolled into the fight as our tank turned sideways and moved straight into a prepared formation. However as we approached Twilight fired a hyper sonic laser towards Tirek consuming him full of lethal magic as it burnt his skin and his horns leaving him with wounds but not enough to knock him down, followed this a massive mushroom cloud of unstable magic exploded behind him as Gold Star looked on with surprise and intrigue, considering Twilight's magic abilities Great grandfather Canter wasn't kidding when he said the Twilight possesses the powers of all three Alicorns, with that in mind it made Gold Star gulp with anxiety but also in a trance thinking of a strategy. Finally he moved and ducked inside of the tank, I followed suit considering the risk of being roasted by whatever magic Twilight has been using, and while the AMVs could withstand standard lethal it couldn't tank the lethal magic this size so large. "So what's the plan?" I asked. "As Twilight continues her fight with Tirek we move in flanking his tail, no mercy, but first I'll give him a special introduction for us!" Gold Star smirked in confidence, turning towards the pilot and ordering. "Full ahead! Take us to his front and prepare to fire!" Immediately we took up position behind a rock as Tirek and Twilight Sparkle are on a stand off with each other preparing to fire at the passing of each moment when rocks from small pebbles to regular sized rocks lifted up around Twilight marking her first move. Tirek vs Twilight Sparkle Twilight flew up in the skies with the intent to use a charging ram at Tirek as he took aim with his own magic to counter hers and fired his bigger lethal. However unexpectedly she uses a strong forcefield which blocks the lethal off of her and then magically teleports to his feet and fires her shot. Her move burns half of Tirek's face leaving him bleeding in the mouth with scolded heat that ate away of his skin, enraged from the pain he lifts her from the ground and swung her around like a yo-yo. It was then Gold Star shouted in the co-pit in a rushed and demanding voice. "FIRE!" As the shell landed right onto Tirek's chest he dropped Twilight who then rebounded herself in flight as she looked for the source of the gunning weapon when she spotted the Abrams with the familiar gold star. "LOAD HE!" Ordered the gunner as I slid in a HE inside of the tank cannon and clicked the loader. "LOADED!" "TAKE AIM AT HIS CHEST! PILOT GET US INTO A SECONDARY POSITION!" As the tank changed it's position and into a bush line Tirek sought to destroy whatever shot him in the chest as it burnt in pain, but first he has a princess to deal with as he made his next move to charge head first and ram her into a mountain which Twilight had gotten out of his way quickly with the given Alicorn magic. Tirek, who is filled with rage shot his laser at Twilight who she then shot hers towards Tirek which the two spells had collided into a chaotic bubble of magic being destabilized even more in minutes as the collision turns into a possible obliterating explosion. Meanwhile we managed to complete our position change as we took aim at Tirek's head and lifted the cannon as far as it can lift before hitting its max. Gold Star shouts. "TAKE AIM!" The gunner prepares to fire the cannon. "FIRE!!!" Immediately the tank blasted it's shell towards Tirek and misses which didn't go unnoticed at the last minute as the magic destabilized fully and destroys the entire area that surrounded the two rivals as the shockwave blasted on the tank melting everything in it's hull, the hatch, and fries the engine to the point of being burnt leaving us stranded in the combat zone. As everything cooled down Tirek turned towards the source and fired a beam of lethal magic towards the tank, in reaction Twilight tried to block his magic but was too late and the tank blew up into smaller pieces leaving only the turret and Chassis left as the flames erupted inside our alleged deaths left Twilight speechless and shocked as she kneeled on the ground ready to cry as she watched the tank burned to the ground. While enjoying her suffering, Tirek peered behind her with a smile. "Not bad, but of course it appears we're at an impasse.. How about a trade Princess Twilight?" Tirek offers her friends to Twilight as he teleports them in front of her which surprised her even more.. "Your friends for all the Alicorn magic in Equestria!" As she was presented with this choice her friends immediately tried talking her into not taking the deal but thinking back of what just happened to the tank that had two of her friends inside of it, she feared what would happen if she didn't take the deal, the fate of her other friends and how much they mattered to her, how much they've been through as friends despite the elements of harmony given up for the sake of Equestria's safety beyond doubt she and her 5 friends are her life. She also sees horrifyingly that her half-brother Spike was captured, and surprisingly so was was Discord. And so it was clear what her choice was. ===== Meanwhile though.. I was briefly knocked out.. Unconscious.. And yet still alive as I finally awoken myself and tried to get my bearings straight only to find nothing but open flames inside of the cockpit.. I should be dead but I Aint.. And I don't know how but I'm alive but damn, I knew that Owl was a sign of a bad omen! But enough with that owl, I am alive but as for the crew though.. They are not, however It would seem that I wasn't the only one alive, Gold Star had also survived while his uniform was burnt up and torn he was still breathing.. So I grabbed his collar and tried to drag him towards me but my left arm was in severe pain.. It seems that it is broken, I don't know, however I can barely use it without being seethed in pain unfortunately, but I'm alive and so is Gold Star at least so pain or no pain I need to get us both out of here somehow. So I looked around and examined myself, the flames inside of the tank are getting intense in the front as the smoke started to get more thicker and thicker, at this rate I lost my sense of smell and the best I can do is keep myself and Gold Star on the ground level, however I looked around the cockpit and.. The crew is dead.. The Pilot is torn to shreds to the point of showing skeletal parts, the gunner's entire skin on his face has been entirely blown off, and the radio man's head is decapitated... A cruel horrible fate worse than physical death, and yet me and Gold Star are still alive, while he's unconscious I'm alive to see it all myself.. But now the only thing that matters is getting the hell out of this tank before it completely burns through the hatch and incinerates both of us in an ironed grave! So after getting my bearings together I looked up and tried to open the hatch with my one arm but it wasn't budging, immediately I panicked and tried to get myself straight and attempted again by kicking the hatch off with both of my legs onto the roof. But it still wasn't budging... And that was when I thought to myself that I might not make it.. This is how I die, a slow and painful fiery death inside of a metal tomb with no escape and no chance of survival... I guess I could've said it would have also been my last until I heard a familiar voice from princess Twilight.. "HEY! HEYYY!" I shouted in hopes that they could hear... ===== Twilight gave up her magic the moment I woken up to the nightmare of the death of my fellow crew men, she got up and was scolded a bit by her friends in their confusion of why she gave up her magic, but as she discovered her true role for Equestria and scolded herself of how blinded she was Discord gave her the medallion that was formally Tirek's now given to Twilight. She had a realization but the moment was ruined then when I yelled out my vocal chords out to the point that everyone could clearly hear me say. "CAN ANYONE FUCKING HEAR ME!? HELLO!!?" "Is that??" "No bucking way! They survived!?" Applejack said in amazement. I heard their voices and I looked up in glee that they've heard it, but I wasn't out of this yet so I started banging on the metal parts of the tank and immediately she and her friends figured out who I was and ran towards the flaming tank, if it wasn't for Tirek Rainbow Dash would've been told to move a rain cloud on the tank to extinguish the flames but their hope now is to get me and Gold Star out before we both will die a horrible painful death. "HEYY! I'M IN HERE! ME AND GOLD STAR ARE STILL ALIVE BUT WE'RE TRAPPED IN HERE!" I coughed as the smoke started to fill the remaining cabin deeper with blacker smoke. "We can hear you!" Yelled out Fluttershy as the 6 ponies climbed up and examined what was blocking the hatch and what blocked it the whole time was a huge tree limb that was stuck on the hatch. "This here old tree is stuck on the Hatch!" Applejack pointed. "We need to push it out of the way! On three!" Twilight responded. Twilight counted to three and then immediately Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash pushed as hard as they can while I helped them as well and pressed on the hatch with my legs as the Smoke started to cover Gold Star's Nostrils and so immediately I grabbed his face and did a mouth to mouth session to keep him breathing all the while keeping my strength directly on getting the hatch opened. Discord and Spike joined in the fray and pushed the massive tree off until finally it rolled off to the back of the tank and the hatch was opened but the flames got even more chaotic as it consumes everything including the dead in the cockpit as I quickly grabbed Gold Star and lifted him and myself out of the tank and onto the ground weakened. The mane 6, Spike, and Discord smartly backed up from the tank as it fully exploded into an inferno as the flames screeched in a hellish squeal before fully dismantling the tank into ashes. I wasn't unscathed in the initial blast from Tirek, nor did Gold Star, but we were lucky to be alive in one piece though not to say towards the dead crew. "Are you two alright?" Twilight asked. "I'm fine, and so is he, he's unconscious but he's breathing and that's good enough for me," I replied as I got up and snapped some stems from it's roots to make a natural cast on my broken arm. "Although I am somewhat injured I don't know his problem." Their eyes flashed into a somewhat rainbow color, it made me wonder if I did something or that's usually pony pupil reflection but something tells me I'm in the middle of something important.. "We need to get to the tree of harmony, Yates do you need any assistance carrying Gold Star?" Twilight asked. "Eh, not to say I can carry him with one arm, but yea Discord is capable enough," I replied as me and Discord lifted Gold Star off the ground and followed Twilight and her friends into the forest. "By the way! I have a lot of words for you about the Everfree Forest after this!" Rally point Alpha After planning and strategizing the order was given by Alex for the tanks, Bradley's and the rocket Artillery and other weapon systems to take positions inside of Ponyville and the outskirt areas as Tirek went rampant in the Everfree Forest when he was suddenly intercepted by the Variant 2 Abrams unit. The troops hopped off of the tanks and took positions around the area as machine gun nests were built and rocketeers found themselves in the trees with their bazooka's aiming at Tirek's horns. The division Colonel leaped off of the tank with a microphone in his hand guarded by two soldiers as he patted at the speaker and lifted it up to his beard-covered mouth. "Attention Tyrannus Tirek! In the name of the American army of the Federation you are ordered to cede the magic you've stolen back to the locals in Equestria! Comply with our demands and you will be given amnesty and free will! Failure will result in painful consequences!" Alex negotiated on the microphone as troops stumbled through the ground to find a perfect stable conditioned area to fire from. "Scared that I might use the magic that rightfully belonged to me? Face it human, there is no earth pony, pegasus, and Unicorn that could stop me! Not even Twilight Sparkle!" Tirek laughed and snorted as the Colonel realized something when he said Twilight Sparkle, which means not only did he blatantly confirmed his fears that he knew Twilight Sparkle is a princess but it also meant that the divisional captain and Lieutenant may have gotten in his way. "How did you know Twilight Sparkle was the princess of Equestria?" He asked. "Let's say a certain draconequus provided that answer," Tirek smiled. "I knew it sir! We should've killed him when we got the chance!" Reacted the soldier in aggravation. "Not now private! Tirek it doesn't have to be this way! Return the magic now! You have one last chance! Comply with our demands or die!" Alex threatened as the troops loaded their rifles, and tank barrels raised and aimed at Tirek's head. "Then allow me to respond kindly then!" Tirek said as his horns formed a ball of dark matter magic energy that formed into a straight fire laser that shoots directly towards a tank and disables it into flames. "Holy shit! SHOOT THAT MOTHERFUCKER!" Shouted Alex as all the tanks, troops, and rocketeers fired towards the beast that killed one of their comrades into a fiery metal tomb as combined arms concentrated their fire on Tirek's head however the bullets started to bounce off of Tirek's chest but the troops were focused on taking him down with standard assault rifles to not realize this. But the Colonel, after being jerked back from his tank shooting a shell towards Tirek's crotch, realized this and that the only thing slowing Tirek down was the highly explosive tank shells impacting his chest, but even it isn't keeping him back. And as he approached the offensive army shooting his magic towards the scattered Abrams tanks, Alex grabbed his radio and ordered. "Pull back to Bravo point! IFV and Rocket Artillery! Fire at will!" Immediately the Abrams and the troops tactically retreated to the second defense line which Tirek gave chase, however he pauses after seeing a barrage of fire being launched from the hills and mountains followed by small light flashes which impacted his head in a explosive like seizure as the heavy missiles launched from the HIMAR rocket artillery landed on his face directly with some either missing or hitting somewhere on his body. He was in pain as the missiles landed on his body parts which made his skin partially melt from the explosive flames and open wounds from the missile impact. Alex's plan was working very well as his unit arrived at the second fall back line but suddenly he heard music from the distance which confused the soldiers as they looked around to find the source when a recon soldier pointed and there it was.. The Soviet division arrived and immediately they open fired on Tirek giving no notice to the American army that was literally a inch away from them as the T-64B tanks rolled into combat with a man on top of one of the tanks double wielding two katana type swords shouting "Заряжать!" in a Rodinian voice. (In English it's Charge) As the entire soviet army charged head first towards Tirek a BMP-1 arrived at Colonel Alex's fall back line which to the Americans couldn't even express what the hell was going on as the Rodinian captain of the convoy poked his head out with his hands slightly up to prevent alarm or distress. "Good evening comrade, need some assistance?" Ogav waved, shaking his arms to show that he was not harming the American's. "And what in Creator's name are you fucking doing here?" Alex interrogated. "Let's just say that we both have a score to settle, after all, the American phrase is the enemy of my enemy is my friend is it not?" Ogav Affirmed his purpose and presence while Alex was reluctant about letting their sworn enemy to help them fight against an individual enemy, however it could perhaps benefit to assert dominance technologically to the Soviets since some would possibly study or perhaps copy, but either way it would help to have additional support. "Alright fine.. But one fuck up! And you're toast, got it Rodine!?" Alex affirmed. "I swear to my daughter in law Natasha not to 'fuck up,'" Ogav reassured. "Alright, then I have an idea on what to do here with your unit." The Tree Jogging and running through the forest we've approached a chasm which houses the magical tree in Equestria which is called the tree of Harmony, only.. I don't really think of harmonious as more of a gun pointing at Equestria's head considering the incident that occurred weeks ago before the diplomatic mission was launched. If anything the tree is possibly called by many of us as the Anti-peacekeeper since really the elements are just weapons to banish anyone who opposes into a stone prison, there were even murmurs within the eclipse brigade (Now the SAU) about searching and destroying the tree entirely. Although while the plan was formed Reagan was elected into office when they've introduced it to him and it was basically what made the president nearly disbanded the unit if it wasn't General MacArthur's usual pizzazz and constructed argument so it was basically reduced to being a airborne company, or so I've heard. But the day the Everfree incident happened was what made me hope I didn't get near it at all, and it would seem that irony took a turn as we're now having to rely on it for the survival of Equestria.. Weird for me to say that, but then again it would've been very wrong of me to abandon my post, not that I was contemplating it. Although it was the day when I truly discovered something even more than an average tree... After arriving at the tree I managed to snatch a med kit at the last minute before the tank exploded, although I could've used the bandages to create a cast for my broken arm, but it was one use for one person and obviously I wasn't greedy since my friend is unconsciously injured. As we got inside of the cave where the Tree of Harmony glowed in I and Discord rested Gold Star on the cave wall as I place a blanket on the ground and then laid his body on top of it, I then examined his hooves both front and hind, unequipped his satchels and... There's wings?? I sat there confused in what the hell I just saw on his sides, but regardless I had to continue to examine his wounds but before I could check his head Twilight Sparkle raised the medallion and it turns into a key which inserted itself inside of the chest which in total all 6 keys had now entered the slots, however just as the happy moment came recon troops jumped out of the bush behind us with rifles with them as they pointed towards the sky, they seemed battle weary, distressed, and fatigued as they tried to keep themselves rested when they caught a glimpse of me and Gold Star they were surprised. "You're alive!?" Said the tired soldiers as some still kept their guard up. "Surprised?" I replied as a missile flew overhead passed us and exploded in the distance, possibly destroying some of the environment while I stood there like everyone else, confused. "What the HELL WAS THAT!" I yelled, grabbing one of the men by their collars. "High explosive missiles sir! The Himars are equipped with them, they're working sir! We're kicking Tireks ass! But by the minute he continues to resist us!" The soldier responded. "Damn, well Twilight! If you have an ace up your hoof sleeves you better use it, It's now or never!" I suggested. "He's right, we must turn the keys together!" Twilight added, as she and her 5 friends held the keys and simultaneously turned them together which made the chest brightened into a holy brightness, so bright it made my eyes watery though then again I could be crying and not know as to how bright is was. The six ponies referred as many back home as the hero's of Equestria and possibly the world, possibly? Nah, definitely the heroes of the world, and damn how Gold Star would've loved to have seen what was inside of that chest, if only if he wasn't unconscious though he could've said something like holy shit. But they have their role in taking care of that bastard, and I have my role as well, and that's to take care of Gold Star, and then after that's taken care of. He has a lot of explaining to do... Like seriously I thought he was an Earth Pony? But wings? There's something else he might not be showing me... And I have a feeling it'll haunt me for the rest of my life.. Heh.. Now I really wonder if that was his secret the whole time, if that's his secret then he was right on the money when he said I would never forget it.. Because I never will... The battlefield "ALLAHU AKBAR!" Shouted a Caucasian trooper firing a RPG round to Tirek's face as the battle transformed into a all out war zone as two unmarked white helicopters arrived to the scene in the skies shooting at Tirek with it's entire cartridge of missiles while the American troops were side by side with Soviet troops shooting at Tirek together while Captain Ogav and Colonel Alex participated firing their tanks at Tirek as well. However as the combat was ongoing channel 10 was active and spoke. "This is Eagle and Falcon squadron bringing you heavy support, how can we assist you sir?" Asked Eagle-1 as Alex snatched the radio from his left cheek pocket and placed it over his mouth. "Eagle Squadron target is marked in red flare! Be ready to shoot at the marked positioned target!" Urged Alex as he scampered to look for red flares. "Roger that, and what about the Soviet targets over?" Eagle-1 asked. "They're in the clear, they are with us, do you copy that Eagle-1!" Alex affirmed. "I read you loud and clear awaiting for green light," replied Eagle-1 as two formations of F-14 and F-15 jets flew across the skies circling Tirek like a pack of vultures ready to dive bomb for their next meal for the day as Alex grabbed a red Flare and turned towards Ogav who's BMP-1 was besides his Abrams shooting at the similar target. "Ready for a little retribution?" Alex smirked. "You bet your American dollars I am my friend," Ogav replied, as Alex threw the flare and Ogav slapped the top of his BMP-1 to order a head first charge towards Tirek in which the crew acknowledged and charged towards Tirek gun blazing. Even to some who stick their hands out of the Cockpits equipped with pistols taking a shot at Tirek. Meanwhile for Tirek he is completely overrunned and had not anticipated such intervention from the human race, he thought that the Pegasus, Unicorns, Earth Ponies, and the Alicorns were what he had to worry about, but something that he hasn't realized up until now seeing the writing on the wall that his doom draws near and it was only a matter of time before the final nail lands in his coffin of his defeat, he thought back on how he fought Twilight and destroyed one of the wretched human tanks that interfered with him earlier in Canterlot, but now he also wonders what he has done when entering the castle he remember the same pony he had fought with earlier with five other ponies in some type of union that taken down what was the Blue pony he had injured and fought once. "Fox! Fox! Fox!" Realizing this, he truly realized that the day of reckoning is near, but as he pondered in his mind as explosions from the missiles continued to blind his eyes and possibly blew his skin he felt something thrown at his foreleg, and it was when the explosions stopped ringing was when he saw true horror of Humanity as he sees metal birds charging at him with spits of fire shooting towards his eyes as if two hot pokers were being lodged inside of his eyes which gave him great pain, but not as worse as what was next when the metal bird pour liquid followed by the worst pain possible as he can hear the wretched humans chanting it's name that he will loath for all of eternity... Napalm... He cried in pain in great agony as the napalm burnt through his skin, Alex and Ogav watched emotionless as Tirek wreaked in pain. But it was then that a bright bubble of magic appeared from the Everfree forest and hovered above Tirek, however usually the villian wouldn't give up, but after the torture released upon him he was turned from a buff fearful creature to a total wimp at the might of the combined human armies of the Rodinian Soviet Army, and the American Armed Forces. Tirek didn't fight, he didn't monologues, he didn't even put up a proper defense, it was as if he was standing there embracing his total defeat and putting him out of his misery. And so his reckoning came as the Mane 6, empowered by the magic of friendship, fired one by one their magical power and shrinked Tirek to the smallest point that he was once... But before they could send him back to Tartarus he was quickly apprehended and detained by agents in black suits marked F.M.T.F. As the two white unmarked helicopters landed and surrounded the weakened and horrendously mutilated Tirek the black uniformed soldiers exited the helicopters with plasma rifles that aimed towards him while the men cuffed him. The commander in chief Ronald Reagan stepped out into the open, sunglasses on as he looked around the chaotic scene and gazed at the mane 6 as they landed on the ground meeting the president face to face. "Mr. Reagan!?" Remarked Rarity, as her friends gazed in surprise at his visit. "Greetings bearers of the elements of Harmony, you six all have my gratitude, you've fought well to defend and save your lands, and this world and so to not tire you any longer we'll take Tirek somewhere else, where he will never hurt anyone else ever again," Reagan assured. "But he should be back in Tartarus where he was?" Twilight said. "Rest assure princess, and friends, I already have a place more suitable than Tartarus for him," Reagan frowned as the men in heavy equipped black took Tirek into custody in the white helicopter. Reagan then stared towards Twilight and her friends and then said. "Best get to moving, there's ponies in need of their magic restored." Twilight and her friends smiled as they disappeared from Reagan's sight while he looked at Alex and Ogav who just hiked towards the caravan of black infantry troops which by now the White Chopper took off to deliver Tirek back to wherever the 'special' place was. "Captain Volklav I assumed? I talked with the Red Mother and she explained everything. I have to admit if it wasn't for you Patton would've lost 5 young men who were volunteers, they're in your debt Captain," Reagan smiled. "Well, it's my obligation Mr. President, despite what my co-officials say about the government here we're all in the same species in the same world," Ogav replied. "Indeed, you may get back to your post, I fear that once the Royal guard figures out that you're here it might stir an international incident, we don't want that happening do we?" Reagan added. "No sir, thank you sir, we'll depart immediately," Ogav waved. "Until we meet Captain," Reagan waved back while Ogav climbed aboard his BMP-1 as the soviet convoy started lining up and moving back towards the Equestrian-Stalliongrad border, Alex saluted towards Ogav and Ogav saluted right back towards Alex as the two men respectfully saluted each other until Ogav disappeared in the horizon. Reagan boarded the helicopter as Alex walked towards him with a question in mind. "What now sir?" He asked. "Now Colonel? Simply move on," Reagan responded as the door closed and the helicopter took off from the ash field battle field as troops started scrambling to rescue the men injured from the battle along with salvaging destroyed vehicles damaged or mutilated from Tirek's desperate laser attacks, however the Colonel turned to see bushes shuffling around as me, Gold Star, Discord, Spike, and other troops that found themselves lost in the battle appeared in front of him out of the bushes. "Lieutenant glad to see you alive~" "No time to explain Colonel! I need a medical team STAT!" I grunted in pain, as my left arm started to get worn out from the immense pain and stress of carrying the injured tan stallion on my back as Alex turned and yelled. "MEDIC! GET ME A MEDIC DAMMIT!" And with the response to the Colonel's panic the medics quickly swarmed over towards the injured captain as I setted him down, then for some odd reason they kept him concealed from Discord and Spike and carried him over to the medical Humvee which just pulled in with it's green camouflage coating with the white and red cross on the door as they slid him on the stretcher and put him in the back seat of the Humvee before driving off to base. The rest of the medics on the field tended to my arm as for Discord and Spike, they left us to meet Twilight and her friends as they've completely restored every pony's magic across Equestria, but with that it left me thinking a lot about Gold Star.. He hid something from me he didn't want to show, and I'm getting to the bottom of this. F̷̡̤̻̘̮̰̦̺̩̜̎̇͗̑̓̏͝ǒ̸̢̜̌̓͊̚͜u̷̡͖̗̤̝̖̹̱̐̏̈́̓̃͐̆̇ṉ̵͔͔͚̤͐̽̎̇̎̆̂͝d̵̺̣͛͠ä̶̫̥̺͕̣́̄̑͑̄̅̃͝ͅt̸̛̥̤̦̖͉̫͂̋̍̑͆͌̄i̸̳̇́͐́͒̓͌̃͝ô̸̧̡͙̺͕̲̇͐̍͋ň̵̬͆͌͌̂͆͝ ̸̛̖̫̯͆̃̅̄̉͝B̶̙̯̞̱̬̂̓̒́̃͠à̴͓͎͓̟̤̋̊̆͑́̂͠ͅş̵̢̖̣̼̭͚̥̊̌̃̂e̷̛̙̹̥̳͗̂̽͌̋̏̋͘ The helicopter landed inside of the hangar bay met with troops carrying the same plasma rifles as they awaited for their compensation to step out of the helicopter while Reagan's helicopter landed as well besides the other one. Reagan stepped inside of the metallic building as he looked around at the black uniformed troops aiming their plasma rifles towards Tirek as his neck had been pressed down towards the ground where all he could see was the floor and not what was in front of him for a brief moment until they bagged him. As he entered the prison hallways Reagan frowned upon what was going to be his fate in the prison as the head chief of the unit that imprisoned him came towards the president. "The Foundation will certainly benefit from this capture Mr. President," phrased the commander. "Indeed so.. What is his fate though?" Reagan asked. "Worse than Tartarus if I can describe Mr. President, but rest assured, despite the secret of our existence spoken out and exposed to the Colonel, the compensation you've provided will do well for us and this nation's military," the commander remarked. "Indeed, I must get back to my duties as president, Tirek is all yours to keep, I wish you the best of luck," Reagan granted. "You too, Mr. President.. You too.." It was then after Reagan had left, Equestria's princesses Celestia and Luna in 1006 would start requesting a visit to the prison that held Tirek in.. However their request would end up going unanswered despite Equestria's current state in world affairs.. But it would be only 1009 when Equestria's princesses realized the terrible fate of Tirek who died in captivity from head trauma in 1006... Base Alicorn Arriving at the base with a cast on my left arm after the Doctors had told me that the bones cracked when it was banged real hard on the metal walls of the tank. But as I entered the base established medical clinic asking where Gold Star is I was politely pointed towards his room where he is resting in, although the nurse warned me that the Military Police is stopping anyone who approaches and other information that Gold Star is currently having his medicine for his wounds, but despite their advice not go to his room I saw myself in to the hallway and the nurse blatantly ignored it. As I walked through the hallway I couldn't feel but sorry for the men who risked their lives to fight Tirek as they laid in their beds sleeping off from the pain the wounds gave them with some having bandages on their hands or cast on their entire bodies, it was sad to see them in their state. As I approached the room that the nurse pointed at two MPs who were listening to their radio's and walked towards me with ACU patrol caps spelling "Military Police" along with Black vest and everything, one raised his hand which stopped me in my tracks. "Sir you're not allowed past this point, turn around before we get dirty here," warned an officer. "Do you know what rank I am? I'm the divisional Lieutenant of this base!" I argued. "We have orders not to let no one in, especially you," he informed. "What the hell? Why the hell am I given this treatment when I clearly saved his life! If you two won't let me pass I will-" Immediately they upholstered their pistols and pointed them towards me in the form of a major threat to shoot me, it was clear they weren't playing around but I intend to find answers, but this may complicate things by a lot... "We didn't want to do this sir! Get back or we will shoot!" "Shoot me? Shoot me and you'll find yourselves working at a prison cafeteria!!!" I replied as they held their guns tight ready to shoot me, although I could've pulled mine out I've felt more pain than I've fucking had so in the end no one wins. At Least until the door to Gold Star room opened and a white unicorn nurse hovering a plate with empty cups exited out was immediately horrified at the breakdown and immediately yelled. "Dear Celestia! Don't you two have anything better to do than to point your humanly weapons at visitors!! ARE YOU TWO INSANE!" She yelled. "But ma'am we were told to stop anyone from passing, mainly hi-" "What in Celestia's name do you mean by that! The Captain requested his presence moments ago! And who was it that told you this order may I remind you!?" yelled the unicorn. "Umm.. The Captain? But ma'am he-" "Not another word! He changed his mind after some counseling and some second thoughts, so let him pass if you may please," she interjected, as the two officers lowered their weapons and rolled their eyes and let me pass through them. I looked at the nurse with gladness. "Thanks! Miss?" "You can call me Red heart, and It's not a problem mister, I'm just doing my job as all should do properly," she chortled as she walked away from my sight. But with that luck and nearly getting shot, I better be careful next time I see those two or creator knows what, so I entered inside of the room and Gold Star was laying on the bed reading a magazine as if he was legitimately expecting me as he lowered the magazine and sighed. "Hey, I hope you're feeling well, despite narrowly getting myself killed just to visit you," I said, which he breathed calmly and replied.. "I thank you with everything you've done, you didn't leave me to die in the tank when you could've saved yourself.. But I am not a paranoid pony or a conspiracist, but I am truly happy that you've risked your injury to save me.. But I should say sorry for what you had to go through just to.." "Save your strength friend, it's good to think but not good to stress.." "I know.. Sigh but something had been bothering me.. You've seen my secret have you?" He speculated, which caught me off guard.. "H-how did you?" "I saw it too.. For a brief moment I felt the magic of friendship, it was.. Unique, nothing like before, but when no one looked I noticed that my satchels were removed and I passed back right out with no reason to explain, other than anticipation and fear.. You want to see the truth do you?" He reckoned. "I.. Ugh.. Yes! I'm sorry to answer it that way but the whole time I've been stoked on trying to figure out your secret and I can never figure out or guess what it is! Other than knowing so far that you have wings which clearly reveals your a pegasus... Right? Hehe... Right?" I awkwardly asked, which Gold Star blankly stared at me with the 'are you serious' face, so perhaps there's something else I'm missing here this whole time. "Out of respect, consider it as a repayment for rescuing me.. Now, lift my head cast up," he requested. "Uhh.. I'm sorry what?" "You heard me, lift it," he repeated, which at first I was a bit hesitant as I stretched my arm out but then I noticed that when I touched his head it felt like a lump going upwards... "Dear Creator..." I lifted the cast up and it gave me the answer here on out this entire time.. Those ages he kept himself hidden from everyone, no one really knew who he was this entire time, and it was clear why he hid it from everyone... "Fucking hell.. You're a Alicorn!?" I panicked whispery cus I don't want no sneaking scumbags hearing in on our conversation. "....Yes..." "... But... Why did you hide it from us! From everyone else?" "Because that was the plan," Alex stepped in on our conversation with fingers on his chin. "And honestly I warned Uncle Sam that concealment wasn't a good idea in the first place." "Colonel? You knew?" "Yes indeed.. You see back when Gold Star was introduced to me he wasn't concealed back then but was accompanied by Uncle Sam and General MacArthur, but anyone who saw him personally during the visit had to swear never to tell a single soul about him, and so had I, in fact it was so much of a secret we had to place our hand on the holy books to swear solemnly not to tell, but even then I tried to argue that it was a inconspicuous plan that would fail eventually, but they never acknowledged it and just left me with him, and threw me clothes that he had to wear the whole time," the Colonel explained. "Damn.. Including the shower??" I asked. "Unfortunately.." Gold Star added. "Yes.." "Damn.. Sorry you had to go through that buddy, but I'm not going to fucking swear a oath that is fucking flawed, while it may be for the greater good Celestia sooner or later will know about this," I stated. "That's typically the thing though.. The F.I.U. May has figured out that she already knows, but clearly hasn't said anything about it, not yet at least," Alex interjected. "..." "In conclusion, I hope that you do understand how important this is at this time and period, but hey, I might tell you how this happened in the first place, but right now I need rest," Gold Star requested. "Indeed," replied the Colonel. "Yea... I think after today, I'm going to need some RnR, A LOT of RNR..." And so, after the Colonel left I hoof-hand shaked Gold Star and wished him best of luck on his recovery in which after I left to, this entire time I thought he just like to over extend his uniform wearing but this whole time he was forced to wear it this whole time, not because of uniform regulations but because of the fact that it may confuse or even ensue some chaotic conspiracy theories of some sort. Although really, I never knew why or what prompted the government or Uncle Sam to have him just hide his identity.. But as I exited the base clinic I watched towards the horizon, a new castle! A new installment to Ponyville as if they haven't gotten enough structures they now have a crystal type castle, it was a nice addition to be honest but Ponyville was formally just a village... Give a person, pony, or griffon a piece of land, and they'll figure out how to turn it into a community.. Give a farmer a seed, and he'll create food. Heh, phrases my grandfather use to tell me are ironic within themselves, what does it take for flat lands to become well known? And how big is the seed given to a farmer to create such amount of food? No answers, yet vague phrases, that's the purpose of them, but looking at our military might, my mind subconsciously created a new phrase... "Give mankind intelligence, and soon he will ultimately destroy he.." New Mexicona Log...47.. We did it, the task that was given to us by the American government, with funding directly from tax payer dollars and even donations from the higher nobility but finally we've done it.. The classified weapon is an atomic bomb that is built for the occasion of desperate measures against the enemies that would even attack the American Federation. With years of studying, hypothesizing, and theorizing we would eventually put together this new weapon to it's combinative structure that now awaits for detonation. With no time soon, the Griffonian army has continually built up their forces on our border with Mexicona, the government fears an all out war with the entire empire of Griffonia and to which the hope relies on the creation of this weapon successfully. After years of research looking for what resources needed we found that our continent alone has the resources needed.. Uranium, a lot of Uranium, no other continents but Humarica both North and South have Uranium resources located in America, Rodinia, Gradenland, and some parts of Parsley. Today was testing day, the day I fretted when I was informed that a representative named fancy pants and with his wife lady Fleur de Lis, Fancy pants is the head of the Equestrian constitutional council that runs the whole internal matters within Equestria. It seems that the government that I've worked with is not holding back anymore, they're letting everyone in on the secret, it's clear that the goal is to assert dominance when the button is pushed.. There can only be one world leader in the world.. And if that's the case, then if I push this button, I may either start a chain reaction that destroys this world and kill everyone in it, or Nothing happens and we become the world's laughingstock. I would lean to option 2 only if it didn't meant that America becomes the world's laughing stock and beyond all my colleagues that had worked on this project for far too long and even they consider it a gambit but if it goes well option 1 is more favorable to me subtracting the end of the world part. As my co-workers welcomed the representatives from all over the world including the communist leaders, one in particular had came in in representation for his state of New Luna, west coast state of the American Federation, we chatted about the bomb and how long the project took, along with other political matters and how recent events unfolded in Equestria. But after our chat he waved goodbye and took his seat in the viewing section of what will be the world changing feat. The General overseeing our test waited and asked us upon our readiness.. I said yes, and he ordered his men to bring me the control panel that would signify the beginning of an age... A age new to the world that it learns a new name, a name many will call it by. A title of the Superpower.. I steadily raised my finger over the button that'll trigger everything off, with my mind circulating of what was going to be, the countdown begun... "Beginning countdown... 3.. 2... 1.... FIRE!" The moment I pressed the button nothing happened until a bright flash engulfed the skies as the spectators who're safe behind the glass walls as the Griffons, ponies, and all creatures that represented their countries watched and gazed upon the weapon we've built as the explosion formed a mushroom like cloud above the ground level. I and General Leslie and other scientists who weren't spending time at their homes watched the detonation with exceeded expectation, and as the explosion dissipated some of the creatures chuckled silently as the ponies sat there on their seats concerned while the Griffons clapped at the general velocity of the invention. I said to the general, "Well, it works." And he and I laughed... But in the post test I looked at the person I spoke with a while ago, he was a Hoseanian but the sight of the explosion made him from a talking man to a silent one as he just left the room and the military site.. I can see his worry, as while I am happy the project has not gone to waste I've also felt the sudden dread of what I may have done... Albert Einstein's theory on a chain reaction may have not immediately gone into effect but rather started the countdown to this world's destruction. We knew the world would not be the same, as a few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. Now... I've become death... Destroyer of worlds.....
The New World \| Millennium	Bonus Chapter \| Zebrica File: Operation Centaury	Zebrica, September 4th, Kingdom of Senturya With the Storm king invasion launched against the Ancient pact President Ronald Reagan authorizes a military espionage operation in Senturya with the code name Centaury. As Storm king's forces advanced into the territories of the Gargoyles and Centaurs and with the FIU extended with missions across the foreign lands to prevent potential further communist uprising a ex-soviet officer code named 'Eskamoe' is sent to Zebrica unaware that Storm king's troops has advanced deep into the territories. Objective report After he landed in the capitol city the place was crowded with medieval weaponized centaurs while some may still have pre colonial age muskets it seems that the army compared to the Storm king's was under equipped.. A possible reason why the Yeti's had launched multiple invasions against their neighbors but Eskamoe was yet to be convinced of his own type of theory as he jogged past the crowds as they were hoarding the shops for food. According to Eskamoe's notes it would seem that the reports had suggested that when visiting the Yeti army side of the frontlines they seemed very nice host when it came for members of military officials which during the hospitality Eskamoe asked the Yeti General who was in charge of the operation of what technology was being used. Surprisingly he was given a whole military parade in which the Yeti's showed off their weapons and surprisingly he had not only found out how technologically superior the Yeti's were but he could've died from a heart attack when they presented a AK-47 rifle in front of him. That's right it was written, apparently the Yeti's were equipped with post Rodinian-Olenian war equipment of AK-47s, T-55 Main battle tanks, and Rocket Propelled grenade-7 missile launchers, however when asking about aircraft the Yeti's denied no acquiring of superiors aircraft weaponry other than the airships used in bombing runs however they did confirmed of Soviet activity that was resonated within the region of operations along with further proof through attempted assassinations made against Eskamoe by soviet agents that were operating there as well. Upon hearing this the Federation Intelligence Unit recalled Eskamoe from Zebrica ending the mission in success.. At Least from what we thought, sir... "Do you still believe that the soviets are behind the Storm king's attacks?" Reagan questioned. "We have no idea sir, however what we do know is that the Yeti's are in possession of Soviet made weapons and are still being exported to them sir, we have yet to find their shipping lanes." "Hmm, well until we can get more information on this I will have to contact Hippogriffia's leader about the possibility of an evacuation of him and his government," Reagan suggested. "Sir with all due respect, Queen Novo is known to be stubborn when it comes to incidents, Velvet Jelzek has also been asking some questions regarding Olenia sir." "Well, until the Soviet's can guarantee that they won't intervene in Olenia we can't launch the attack on the nation, and with everyone tired from the attack that Tirek had committed no one is going to fight... But as for Queen Novo, she may be stubborn but I hope for the best if she rejects our offer, otherwise there is nothing we can do for her other than hopefully supply what her species needs," Reagan spoke falteringly as he looked at his advisor sitting across from him on the couch with the documented report. "See to it that more information is collected regarding Rodinia's operations in Zebrica," Reagan ordered. "Understood sir," replied the agent, as he and the president stood up and saluted to the commander and chief before exiting the room with the door opened by a marine who stands guard in the oval office. Reagan sat on his desk, puzzled at the recent discovery made by the F.I.U. As he looked outside of the bullet proof glass window behind him as he gazed on the sunny horizon, it made him think a lot about how Celestia and Luna raise the sun and moon with the fate of everything that lives bound to their will. But his sudden thoughts were interrupted when his phone on his desk rang. He turned his seat back around and picked up the phone and then said. "You may now foreclose the deal, you got what you needed in compensation." "Indeed Mr. President, but now the question remains, how long." "Long enough... Just long enough."
The New World \| Millennium	Aftermath	It was nighttime the day when Tirek was defeated, Ogav and his convoy of men had now retreated back inside Stalliongrad where they were stationed. Despite the ruckus that this caused, the Americans recalled their forces and returned back to Defcon 5 which gave a breath of relief. However Yuri still has a task to do, despite his order not to interfere with anything between the Americans and the Equestrians he still has a grudge against Princess Twilight Sparkle, the witch whom he calls, despises her with every breath she takes, he even contemplated when She and Tirek were fighting to go beyond his orders and kill her himself when she wasn't looking. Obviously, he had to keep himself at bay or it would end everything in his career and mysterious reputation, Yates has gotten away from him yes, and that was all because of Twilight Sparkle when she foiled his plan, but he also studied her friends as well, when he saw that she is even more powerful with her friends it became clear that if either of them were to be let's say... Cut out of the picture, then shall he be able to rampage against the wretched lavender pony! And so... When he heard Yates was personally caring for his Captain and possibly friend he took this opportunity to study his enemy in plain sight... But he needs a disguise, possibly a wig, coat or jacket, maybe a new pair of boots or shoes, and some pants, or otherwise he'll be spotted by either Twilight or her friends. He knows how risky it is, but perhaps it is good to study from his enemy, their beliefs, what makes them tick, and most important of all. Their source. The source of what makes his enemy strong and powerful but first... He'll need some sleep, AND THEN! Carry out his revenge. . 12:45 PM . And so the sun was raised by the magical will of Celestia and with his plan and logic in mind he grabs a hat, his usual vest, and tears off his R.I.B. Patches that would've plainly given him away in the crowd. For the first time in an entire week, he stepped outside where it was packed with Ponies having their usual chat and shopping spree, speaking of shopping three buildings away from him was a banquet house known to be craze freaks when it came to style, perfect for his disguise although she is known to be friends with his enemy Twilight Sparkle but with some pizzazz and the ability to play dumb and naivety, and she will sway in which his persuasive attitude in a minutes notice, all in the downfall of her little dumb gullible pony brain of hers. Stepping out of his house and into the general public the royal guards who were patrolling the streets of Ponyville paid no mind or attention to Yuri whatsoever which to him was a gambit considering that while he has a cloak he is more suspicious of wearing it in public more than his original appearance which prompted Yuri to jog a bit to the banquet to both lose weight from the fat he gained and also to keep himself omnipresent from the crowds of possible spectators and suspicion lookers. Weirdly enough as he jogged towards the banquet he was surprised when he saw a new type of American tank in the street when in reality what he was really seeing was an M2 Bradley assigned with plex light infantry to check for undetonated artillery both shells and rockets so that they may close off the area for a controlled detonation of the ammunition, on Yuri's mind though he sees it as another weapon that is yet to be destroyed in the field of combat as he jogged on pass the American squad. The banquet was just ahead of him. All he needed to do now is to just get in, talk about artsy crap with the designer and then just get out of there with the new disguise, easy! Of course, dodging suspicions from the locals, the American scum bags, AND Twilight Sparkle herself, is the main problem, if she was to wander around the same time he is and spots him the whole thing is blown. However, as he walks he notices a big detail within the town that he's been staying at. Yuri looked up at the castle with an expression like no other, his reaction was simple when he spoke these words. "What the fuck is this piece of shit?" He asked himself out loud when a local who overheard him replied. "Well darling, you didn't need to use such profane language when you could've asked," said a white unicorn. The two stood silent for a couple of seconds before Yuri broke the short silence and asked. "Well? Are you not going to tell me what that is?" "Oh apologies, that castle you've profaned is my friend Twilight Sparkle's castle," responded the white unicorn. "Of course," Yuri sighed with aggravation when it was obvious the castle was purple. But wait? He thought to himself, why did she say "my friend Twilight Sparkle" wouldn't be "our" and not "my?" It was clear that to whoever this pony was, this local seemed to know Twilight Sparkle, and perhaps by the look of her unique mane he decided to ask another question. "And what would they call you miss?" "My name is Rarity, I usually keep my full name to myself, I've been a bit tempted by your ghastly uniform! Have you ever taken a shower? And dear Celestia! Is that a stain on your white shirt?" Rarity ranted, and Yuri was surprised in a way. One, he may have just found the fashion designer of Ponyville, and two, she's friends with Twilight, if he can get her to gossip away Twilight's abilities, powers, and weaknesses, indeed he can find a way to destroy Twilight in the long run, and perhaps spare Rarity given if she does well with his new disguising look. "Well today is your lucky day, I was wondering if you could help me with my... (Red Mother forgive me) Fashion crisis...." Immediately Rarity blew up with excitement and grabbed Yuri with her magic and dragged him towards her banquet house at a fast rapid pace which he then finds himself on a chair cushion surrounded by pony mannequins with some type of clothes of some kind. "Sorry for the lack of the usual Humarican fashion, I've been learning how to properly dress a human perfectly with the help of my mentor who is from Humarica," Rarity explained, as she opened the cabinet and searched for perfect threads that she'll be using to create her own style of Yuri's fashion. "Ah, and who's this mentor I wonder?" He asked when the door dramatically opened and it was a female Foxlander woman. A woman with a mixture of Gradenlander and human, which the humans in Humarica would call 'beastmen.' the woman is young yet old enough to be married, she tends to have a child-like emotion. Of course, being 98% Gradenlander it is no secret that she has the tail of a fox that sticks out of her skirt along with the ear of a fox, but she does have a black snout which enhances her smell, which in her view is pretty annoying, only thing human is her head. And she is experienced in fashion. Her breed is so rare that it has its name, and so she is referred to as a Foxlander. Her name is Olivia. (Keep her in mind) "Rarity? Where did you go in such a hurry!" the female asked. "Sorry about that Olivia, I was busy caring for this human who seems to be disastrously desperate in his fashion!" Rarity replied. "Disastrously desperate ey? Well, nothing like a good fix-up here and there should do it, but first! Let's see what we're dealing with shall we?" Olivia insisted. "Well certainly!" Rarity replied, as Olivia walked towards Yuri and lifted his hat, revealing his baldness. "Holy Celestia! You're bald! I didn't know humans can get bald?" Rarity questioned. "Yea... That usually happens when you have... Well, not a good type of virus to survive from, but hopefully we can make this guy happy, sir? Is it fine if I take off your vest?" Olivia asked. "Why certainly, this devilish vest seems to be bothering me the whole time I've traveled here!" Yuri granted, and Olivia proceeded to unbutton his vest and took it off which now left them with a white trunk undershirt that looked disgustingly stained around his stomach and released a vile stank in the room. So vile that it made both Olivia and Rarity cough uncontrollably. "DEAR CELESTIA!" Yelped Rarity when she tried to find a pair of nose clippings before the stank could kill her, but Olivia grabbed a bottle of air spray and sprayed it at the vile stench all the way back to Yuri's stained white trunks. The two breaths in relief. "Gracious sir... How long has it been since you've taken a shower!" Olivia asked. "Ehhh.. 1 or 2 months?" Replied Yuri, before being slapped by 5 towels thrown at his face. "Go to the bathroom and wash up! We'll prepare what we need and then we will start on getting your clothes ready!" Olivia demanded. "Fine... :( " As Yuri went upstairs Olivia and Rarity sat down for a moment all tired from the stank that just occurred. "Where in the world did you find this guy?" Olivia asked. "Well, quite odd to say, he was just insulting Twilight's castle a moment ago, and then he changed his attitude and wanted me to give him a makeover," Rarity explained. "Huh, so basically a hobo?" Olivia guessed. "It would seem so, just by the smell, I suppose we get what we'll need for his makeover?" Rarity reckoned. "Agreed.." Ponyville grocery mart As Yuri had apparently gone to get a new-fashioned disguise I was placed in charge of clearing out the remains of military shells and rockets that had not detonated yet. So far we only found 2 rockets that didn't go off, and so we placed them on the truck bed with the plan of conducting a controlled explosion in the field. I've sent out orders, with additional paperwork, and solved disputes regarding two locals who insanely tried to keep a freaking live explosive in their yard! And calling it 'property' when really it's just a time bomb. So after struggle after struggle, Twilight Sparkle luckily had come to my aid and forced the local in question to relinquish the bomb in our care which he did with a grunt, but now my men were looking around for explosives around the grocery mart, with successes being slim so far, I might as well shop for some stuff for the base and personally for Gold Star, so after the men finished scoping I lined them up in a forward facing line. "Alright, you all did a good job checking every corner, and crack in this town, but now it's time for a better objective, we will need food for the base as we're low on rations and so we will need to replenish, your instructions are on these grocery lists printed out by your neighborhood friendly government, Corporal Higgins, you're responsible in gathering soups," I ordered. "Yes, sir!" "Sergeant Lukas, you will be grabbing some canned meat, pasta, and anything in a can." "Understood, sir!" "And Corporal Maya, get some pillows and soap, for some reason, we just had to court-martial 12 men for shitting and fucking on their pillows and some dirt vandalism that'll need clean, and we're expecting 34 recruits next week and I don't want to give our men dirt filled pillows or to arrive to our base that would look like a shit filled ghetto!" "Sir yes sir!" "Alright, get to work," I dismissed, as the men I've assigned go to work on getting the things needed for the base while I for one have my own list of things I want to get for Gold Star. So far the case with him being an Alicorn was a bit spooky on how he kept this from me, I keep having panic attacks just thinking about it! Like how often does a male Alicorn come into form? Or a better question is how is he an Alicorn? I'm not a bookworm, although I know that Celestia and Luna were already born as Alicorns, but with the fact that Twilight Sparkle A ALICORN IS ASSIGNED TO GOLD STAR, WHO IS ALSO A ALICORN!?! Unless... Hold on a minute... Oh, I see. So perhaps this was planned the whole time, either by Reagan or Celestia considering that Celestia is known to be mischievous in her sort of way had given her a mysterious face when she privately whispered to Twilight on the day the two met. Very weird, but I guess I'll have to see as I would want to gather Gold Star's favorites. Let's see how good this grocery mart is shall we? Rarity's Banquet Home After three hours of forceful brushing and scraping on his skin he was finally finished using up the bath water and turned the shower off, he stepped off and started to dry himself when the door opened Rarity casually entered when she sees Yuri butt naked which she screamed and quickly wrapped a towel around his middle parts with her telekinetic magic and then breath. "Would you KNOCK FIRST!" Scolded Yuri. "Well sorry! That I can't enter my own bathroom without the knowledge of a guest!" Rarity replied back. "...Then learn when to knock next time! Got it? Haven't you done this with a Stallion once!" Yuri questioned. "Not much, if anything you're the first human to ever come to my banquet, other than the ponies, mostly female," Rarity answered, as she grabbed the additional thread from what is supposed to be her medicine cabinet... "How many threads do you have??" "Quite a lot, an artist is always prepared!" Rarity prided herself as Yuri scoffed at her quote. "Good Grief... How about Olivia? What is she doing?" Yuri asked. "Oh Olivia? She left to go to the market to grab some Humarican exported thread, a specialty from the Southern Continent," Rarity glamor with her response. "Great..." The Market So far I've gotten about 2 out of 10 on my list for Gold Star, which is a chocolate bar, and to get flowers, I was told by Twilight to stop by the Library- oh yeah. That's right... The library was savagely destroyed in the skirmish with Tirek, damn that bastard, I hope he suffers the consequences tenfold wherever he was taken to, now the only way for anyone here to get a book would be to go to Twilight's castle, the problem is though I doubt you can just walk through her doors and say "hey I need a book" I'll probably need an appointment or some bullshit. But anyway, as I grabbed his favorite food packet the same woman I described earlier came into the aisle where I was, she then turned and asked. "Do you know where I can find the thread?" She asked, with her tail wagging left and right. At that moment I thought- "Yeah it's down at aisle 12," I replied. "OK, thanks! Mister?" "Yates, I prefer to be called Yates really since my name is a bit embarrassing, what's yours?" I replied with a question. "Olivia, my first name is a bit embarrassing too, but hey? I guess we both have embarrassing names, thank you again, it's nice to meet you, Yates," she thanked, walking away from my sight which left me with one single word... Woah... Moskva Troops marched, and marched, filling the spectating crowds with the feeling of patriotic duty and patriotism as the soldiers of the Rodinian army marched on Red Square. The Red Mother watched as well with her people, her cabinet, the secretary general, and members of the Rodinian Supreme Soviet, as she gazed on her grown military might as the Rodinian pony brigade was now marching next to the soviet troops, followed by the invited divisions from Stalliongrad, and New Skynavia as both the griffon soviets and the pony red army marched in the square as spectators who traveled from Northern Griffonia to Stalliongrad watched in the crowd bleachers saluting to their fellow service manes and males as they marched passed them with the weapons they currently have in possession. The music of the international continued to play, followed by other Soviet patriotic songs. But it was then after the Rodinian naval men marched off that there was a sudden pause followed by the stomps of military boots on the concrete ground as the sudden sounds of rumbling came from behind the Kremlin palace when some of the pony and griffon children spectators pointed at what was believed to be the world's wonder weapons as jeeps followed by caravan vehicles followed by more but with howitzer artillery cannons which then followed by the new weapons featuring the SA-13 Gopher SAM launcher, and KAMZ tornado-Gs Multi Missile launcher built to combat against the new American Self-propelled missile launcher the HIMARs, an improvement in the arsenal. Following the new weapons came the newest Self-Propelled artillery which the Red Mother proclaimed. "After years of research the committee of Soviet science gladly presents the new self-propelled artillery, we like to present the 2S19 MSTA Self-propelled artillery!" And then as expected from the Red Mother cheering came as 10 of the new SP mobile artillery rolled through the red square in immense beauty with the soviet star on stripes on the sides as the pilots who stuck their heads out of the new weapons saluted to the higher-ups who watched down below. Indeed this was a very exciting revolution day for Rodinia.. As for America though... Things are a bit complicated. Demare city, New Mexicona, bar Tarō Asō watched the television in the bar which was broadcasting the Soviet parade, it was strange for an American bar to display Rodinian patriotism in the nighttime, but after watching what he calls the beginning of the apocalypses he might as well accept that everything is about to go down. He's due to return to his home state with a formal report followed by paperwork about the new nuclear bombs that the American nation will soon produce. The explosion made him numb despite what he had already told about the bomb. His reaction personally was different. To everyone, it was just an explosion, but to him it was... Something more... As he drank the entire glass shot filled with whiskey whole, he laid his dollar on the counter. "Keep the change," he said, as he grabbed his black hat and left the counter, he was practically the last one to leave despite that one guy who was so drunk that he fell asleep surrounded by his booze. But as he left the bar and headed back to his paid apartment he kind of wondered about the possibilities that this weapon might bring upon the world, hell he can remember Blue Blood's response when he asked about it. And that response was just silence, and ironically he would speak a lot.. He guessed that everyone has the same agreeable feeling that he has, and that was to say about Rodinia... Would they accept the fact that they can't outmatch America technologically? Or will they make life even worse with their next move... Banquet living room After drying himself privately without any further disruptions or awkward run-ins in the bathroom Yuri was given spare clothes and sat down on the couch. He and Rarity waited on the couch for Olivia to come back for the thread, but eventually, Rarity got bored and decided to make tea for the guest since the two were going to be there for a while until Olivia returned. But 23 minutes later Olivia comes back with the grocery bag with some food, essentials, and the Humarican thread they needed to create a custom fashion for Yuri. "Alright, did you get the thread Rarity?" Olivia asks, placing the bags down. "Why certainly, did you also get what we'll need?" Rarity asked back. "I did, two batches of Humarican threads, and a newspaper," Olivia replied. "Excellent! Let's get started shall we?" Rarity insisted on raising the measuring rope in front of her face, and then the two stared at Yuri who was sitting on the couch watching the conversation knowing that he was in for a makeover session. And he dreads what came next. Ponyville market After assisting the men with the supplies we'd hoarded and bought I was about to climb on board my Humvee which I was accompanied by a driver, it was then that after a 12-minute drive to the edge of Ponyville and onto the road that leads to our base was when I noticed Twilight Sparkle and two of her friends, being Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, were accompanying her as the trio seemed to be heading to the same destination. So out of curiosity, I ordered my driver to pull over to the side of the road allowing the two trucks to pass us the rest of the way to the base. The three seemed to have stopped in their tracks when the convoy, being two trucks and a literal light tank passed through it, made Princess Twilight excited with joy and curiosity much as she was when I first met her. "Good morning princess," I waved from the other side as the trio came beside my vehicle, with Twilight looking like she was going to burst, while Fluttershy seemed to be. Well, shy. "Good morning Mister Yates! I see you've been busy," Twilight replied back. "Yeah, I decided that we were going to need food and new pillows since we were going to be here for quite a while, so what brings you three in almost the middle of nowhere?" I asked. "Well actually we were heading to your base to deliver these to Gold Star," Twilight responded. "Huh? Really now, well I don't think he'd mind, I can offer you three a ride," I insisted. "That would be nice! Thanks," answered Twilight. "No problem, hop on I can take you to Gold Star he's currently in recovery so I'm sure they'll allow visitors, depending on if security hasn't heightened up..." "What?" "Nothing, anyways driver let's head back to base, chop chop!" I ordered, as the jeep now started moving again with three additional passengers. On our way to the base, I asked them about the adventures that I heard about back home, and well to be honest... I never actually believed in any of those things, I sounded like I did but really I didn't, like how did they survive an encounter with a dragon? Or how in the creator's name did they manage to get a fucking sprout of flies to infest Ponyville! But of course, I never believed the stuff about them, and since the base is about 23 minutes away from Ponyville, I might've as well passed the time listening to the lies that would turn out that it wasn't a lie... In fact, as I sat in the front the stories of how they stopped what could've been an international incident, ranging from the return of Nightmare Moon all the way to Discord and up until now, of course, Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie she summed it almost everything up in a sentence, but of course, I prefer to be specifically in full details rather than being a simple format of adventures, so I paid closely attentive at Twilight explaining about the things that I considered as a myth with backing from Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy despite the amount of things Twilight had said I still don't believe it, but I do have some little belief that it may have been true, but until then I would like to see it for myself. . . . After the half-hour drive back to base we've finally pulled in on the medical building extension of our base with the help of some of the construction ponies who volunteered or were hired to build it, and yes including our engineers and workers from overseas as well (thanks to the taxpayer money) so far they didn't do any amputations, or sent anyone home yet since the battle with Tirek, but according to what Alex had said to me after that particular battle that we've torn Tirek to shreds to the point of internal exposure of his skin. Or to simplify, Tirek looked more like an inner muscle than the skin, and the image of that frightens me to think about especially how his face would be covered in flesh and blood. "This is our stop, give Gold Star my regards since I have a lot of work ahead of me today," I requested. "I will, thank you Mr. Yates!" Twilight waved happily, as she and her friends trotted away from my sight in entered inside of the medical bay doors, I leaned on my car and grabbed a cigarette from my pocket and lit it with my lighter. I lied about what I said. I just didn't want to enter there and risk Gold Star's Identity. Because for all I know, I could end up slipping and exposing Gold Star which is something I could never do to my friend, but to say what my government did was foolish to cover his identity knowing that it would be very hard to get that in peoples throats to think that he is an Alicorn. But, all to say it doesn't surprise me that some things would turn up and rear their ugly head towards us, and to all that happened to this world but as I said. I am not surprised. "Lieutenant!" Yelled Colonel Alex walking towards me with a newspaper in the midst of troops making their daily marches across the yards and dirt-filled roads. "Colonel Alex, what else am I needed in?" I asked. "Well, nowhere at the moment but... Tell me what I'm reading here!" Alex demanded. "What? You can't read?" "Just read!" "Alright then, let's see what we ha-... No... My god no..." "Well, Lieutenant? Read it," Alex repeated. "..."With the successful test on September 3rd of 1003, the government today has announced to the world... Of a new weapon called the Atomic Nuclear Bomb.... And had sent a strong message to the world that if any attacked their soil they would face this powerful weapon and its destructible power..." Holy hell Colonel! What the hell did you make me read!" I yelled. "Apparently we're making some changes, to be honest, I'm all for this nuclear bomb," Alex said in his opinion. "But Colonel! Do you not realize what this BOMB can do!?" "It can save lives, primarily our men, and prevent wars," "All that did is start a new fucking arms race dammit! Those fucking Rodines will no doubt try to copy our bomb!" "Either way Lieutenant, I still think it's an improvement with our army, because there won't be any wars to break out as long as this bomb exists in our possession, and I very well doubt the Rodine commies will bother to steal our bomb, just watch and see!" Alex argued. "..." "Anyways Lieutenant, I expect the minesweeper report on my desk at 1600 hours, do not be late with it is that understood!" Colonel Alex ordered. "Yes sir," I said with a glaring salute as he left my sight I pondered on my thoughts with the worry of this new bomb and one of them being. What's Celestia going to say about this? Canterlot Castle, the Throne room "They... Did it. Did they?" Celestia dreaded. "Yes your Highness, apparently the Americans have certainly advanced in technology and they seem to now possess this new bomb, Fleur couldn't sleep that night because of the sleep terrors she suddenly had! And when I took her to the doctor she was diagnosed with PTSD! PTSD your Highness! And it was just from the explosion!" Fancy Pants reported. "Dear Faust... I never expected them to actually get this bomb this fast, I expected this in 10 years' time but now... Now I fear that I've been too blind in my judgment for all these years!" Luna looked at her sister and looked at Fancy Pants and motioned. "I will see about Fleur getting treatment, you may be excused." "Thank you, Your Majesty," Fancy Pants acknowledged as he left the room politely with the help and escort from the friendly royal guard present in the room Luna looked at Celestia. "How long have you doubted the human's Tia?" Luna asked, which sadness filled Celestia turned towards her sister and replied. "For too long Lulu... For too long... Too late..." Stalliongrad city square The day was as always, snow.. Lots of snow and Ogav didn't like it, but he loved it. As he leaned on his BMP-1 that sits parked in front of a cafe where his crewmen enjoyed their breakfast he rested and had his daily smoke in the knee-deep snow as he continued to hear the daily trots of Severyanian ponies heading for the jobs that pay them, but what made him think of home was the gradual sounds of BTR-90s driving and patrolling around the city square where his unit was stationed in, Ogav wasn't promoted for his action in Equestria but he wasn't demoted either which was good, but he did get a warning citation for his action and was basically given a slap in the back. At Least he wasn't badly punished though, but he knows that an action such as that in Equestria could've been much worse if he was to try that act again. A snowflake fell from the sky and landed on his nose which he looked at and swiped off his nose as it made him itch from the cold touch the snowflake gave him, it seemed the snowy weather had started to pick up and it was only a matter of time until a blizzard blows over. But he didn't mind such a thing, but it reminded him of his adopted daughter-in-law back in Tartarstan, how warm she must be in the comfort of her home being taken care of by his Babushka he thought of her every time he had to be in combat and worries that he wouldn't be able to fulfill his promise to the little girl's mother. However, a pony with a scarf all ran down, and dirt with light pink skin tread in the snow as if she were looking for someone. She looked at Ogav and trotted towards him with a letter. "Mister? Are you Mr. Volklav?" Asked a female Unicorn, shivering in the cold weather as the winter snow started picking up. "Yes?" Ogav replied suspiciously when he was brought a letter with his name... "From Argendina, it's from Ella Willow," the unicorn said which surprised Ogav but shook his head. "Ella Willow," Ogav said to himself, as he opened the letter and read it. "... Where did you get this... When did you get this!" Ogav begged. "I found it in the wreckage mister. And then I saw a woman crawling out weak and bloodied. I tried to offer help but she insisted that I give it to you. I looked for you in Zebrica and Rodinia, and when I heard your name I came here and found you. I'm sorry for your loss sir..." Ogav sat down on his light armor tank and looked at the note smoking his cigarette intensely as he now had to experience the letter of a dead woman... "She's dead isn't she..." "She died last year, 12th of October in her home... I'm so sorry..." Ogav looked and stared, his mind raced at the amount of hatred he became a part of, the consequences of his nation waging its cold war on a country and starting wars, the death of a woman that he had a crush on with hopes of being together again crushed by the swift force of reality and war. He looked up and found no one... The unicorn disappeared and after a moment he looked at the ground and saw no hoof prints, he got up and fiercely looked around his surroundings. Nothing, it was as if the unicorn never was... Until he heard a faint but familiar voice... A voice he thought he'd never hear in the midst of the snow that reassured him that.. "She is in a better place...." and he knew that he must've encountered the one ponies call. Harmony, goddess of peace... But as the snow started to finally pick up at a rapid pace the men finally finished their meal and got inside the BMP, however, one of them spotted Ogav who was staring at the distant nothing in front of him. "Are you alright sir?" Asked the pilot, who snapped Ogav off his trance and towards the pilot, he frowned but faked his smile while at the same time internally depressed with the news... "I believe so..." Replied Ogav. "I certainly believe so..." But clearly, as he climbed on board his vehicle as it moved... He cried in the cold winter abyss as he was saddened by how their daughter would react when he told her the news of her beloved mother's death...
The New World \| Millennium	Our town Crisis	Ponyville "I hope you enjoy your outfit courtesy of me and Olivia," Rarity said. "Yes... Thank you very much, until then let's keep in touch okay?" Yuri sarcastically grinned, and then frowned after turning his back. "Great! Until we meet ta ta!" Rarity waved to the severely annoyed Yuri as he had to go through the suffering of fashion measuring and polish. But on the bright side at least he got what he came for and that was to get a disguise... But dammit! He didn't even ask a single question on Twilight's powers and abilities, though then again that's what he gets for allowing her and a human hybrid fashion lover to do a makeup artist's work. But at least he isn't feeling exposed, and after all he can now attend restaurants and move around without the constant eyes watching his every step, even better! Now he can spy on Twilight Sparkle from a good close distance without being recognized. Ohhh boy was he happy with the thought that he can now look down upon that damned horn-winged pony! For causing him both missions, and because! However as he contemplated himself in his thoughts though Rarity left her banquet after waving to Olivia with some conversation and then that was when he spotted his greatest opponent Twilight Sparkle! He held his breath and kept himself restraint, although he could've just crushed her brain from where he is standing in a single snap, he wanted her to suffer his suffering and it wouldn't be much fun if he killed her off right off the bat so instead he kept his distance, but while also following the 6 pony friend group as he watch with devious eyes. Base Alicorn It was now Gold Star's release day, something I looked forward to after the combat incident with Tirek, and I, Colonel Alex, and the base have a surprise for him in the cafeteria, the first place that I'm bringing him to though is the officer quarters since he'll undoubtedly want to check his room. Anyways, I walked inside of the medical clinic, said hi to the friendly staff and then said. "I'm here for Gold Star." "Right this way sir," replied the nurse as she led me to his room as I looked at Gold Star fully clothed with his uniform but with a bandage on his left forehoof and a bandage on his head which he covered with his formal officer cap. "Ready to go Captain?" I asked, which he turned and grinned. "Yeah, about time too, I was starting to get a bit bored of watching everyone doing my work," Gold Star said, as I grabbed him a crutch provided by a nurse and he walked just fine with it. While humans have regular crutches, we have crutches specifically made for injured ponies in the forelegs to keep them up and not limp in pain on the ground. But with that said, he was happy to see me as I was and he waved our goodbyes to the nurse and left the clinic with hopes that we will never come back there ever again! "So, how was it there Captain?" I asked. "Well, like I said it was very boring, all there was is the television about game shows and the usual Hollywood stuff, but what was mostly aggravating was the time when I tried to reach the remote only to fall off my own bed!" Gold Star explained, shuttering at the experience since he was sleeping on the cold floor for the rest of the night "Damn.. Sorry to hear that," I replied. "Eh.. To be honest the bed was too hot to lay on, at this point I think I preferred the cold floor rather than the bed itself," Gold Star groused in a mumble. "Oh really? Then I guess you won't like the surprise that we did with your bed," I teased. "What the hell did you do to my bed!" Gold Star ranted. "Why won't you look for yourself?" I asked in which we were now at our private officer quarters which we opened the door and Gold Star's bed was filled with the gifts me and the men had gotten for Gold Star, such as get well soon baskets and other stuff, and we also gave him green bed sheets with a officer patch higher than Captain. Gold Star was dumbfounded by the surprise and looked at me with more dumbfoundment. "You did this for me?" He emotionally asked. "Hell yeah buddy, of course the base also helped out, and since the government were a bit total ass when it came with taxpayer money we decided to scrounge what we can spend, with some negotiations and peer pressure with the men we manage to got enough to get the stuff we needed Definitely didn't spend some of the Taxpayer money during our shopping spree. " "Wow... And what? I-I mean you guys didn't really have to do that for me... I am just a soldier like the rest of yall," Gold Star added, while looking at his bed with a surprise still on his face. "After the shit we've been through? Why the hell not? Meanwhile I'm being hunted by a commie, and you're being hunted by bugs... Wait a second..." "Hm? What is it?" Gold Star asked. "If... They're hunting you, that means they've known you were an Alicorn, but how I know or how they know is something up for interpretation," I hypothesized. "Hmm.. You could be right, but we can talk about this over lunch, I am starving! And the last time I had a good meal was the breakfast before the asshole Tirek ruined the evening," Gold Star chuckled. "Damn? Not even hospital food was good for you wasn't it?" "Well, there were the usual foods that I usually eat as a pony, but that's what we ponies have to eat to keep healthy and not slack, but after today I'm going to waste myself, orr at least until my leg heals." "Hey, that sounds fine to me," I added, and we were now headed to the cafeteria where the fun surprise awaited him inside of the cafeteria. And with a good conversation between man and stallion we were both glad for each others health, and it was once then that we had arrived to the cafeteria and the room was pitch black dark as if there was no lights other than the piercing sunlight that blared through the windows when suddenly the room lit itself into a bright light and the entire room inside yelled out. "SURPRISE MAJOR GOLD STAR!" Gold Star eyes widened at the even bigger surprise, what the hell was it? His birthday? Because if it was his birthday then they are 5 months early for this type of gift, and then he also thought about what they said. "Major? Me? What exactly is going on here?" He wondered, which Colonel Alex, chuckling at the sudden surprise that caught Gold Star off walked towards him with a new patch on his hand along with a letter which he read out loud. "With the exceeding expectations as commanding officer of the military unit 105th and brave heroics while also following orders along with great citations and going all above duty, in the name of President of the Federation of American States, Ronald Reagan, hereby promote you to Major, sincerely President Ronald Reagan! P DOT S CONGRATULATIONS!" The Colonel burst into a shout as the men shouted hurrah in the room with some clapping while some stood in silence watching the harmonic celebration of one of their commanding officers being promoted. As for me, I was happy to be the one to plan this celebration, and yes Colonel Alex orchestrated the set up and everything else. But after the cheering from the men Alex Stitched the Major O-4 patch on Gold Star's shoulder and the two simultaneously saluted in mutual respect for one another followed by more cheering from the men as they raised Gold Star to the roof while it was very unconventional when it came to promoting a officer at least it's good to know that the base morale is positive here. Unlike the Statcom battleship which was just pure sadness mixed with patriot wannabe's and dreamers whose dreams were crushed the moment they stepped onboard the literal Humarican Mothership of all ships. And who'd blame them considering the sea sickness that followed. But now in the moment the men were happy that the pony second in command, first pony to become the F.A.S. military officer, and assigned personal diplomat for Twilight Sparkle. Was now a Major of the division. A nice accomplishment for Gold Star, but it just left me to wonder about how he'll use this new power bestowed upon him since Major is basically higher than captain. . . An hour had gone by and the men and Colonel Alex had now exited the cafeteria leaving me and Gold Star in the now empty room he was sitting on the table still processing what he just went through with joy but worry. "Major... Major Gold Star... Major me? What exactly would this mean for me?" Gold Star asked me, which I gave no reply and he knew that as he got up from his seat and started ranting. "I don't know how to comprehend the fact the moment I fought just one jackass is when I just utterly got promoted out of the blue by Reagan!" "But there was other threats other than Tirek the Jackass, there was the Prueben General Cynthia that you shot, and then there was the incident with Yuri (even though you weren't there of course) but even then you have a perfect record and reason to be promoted, and plus you literally became the first male pony to befriend Twilight fucking Sparkle for creator's sake! (Not to desecrate her name or anything) but you've deserved this rank!" I Stated, but he shook his head in disbelief. "Despite all of that of what you had just said, I don't think I'm ready for this type of position, sure Twilight had been preparing herself for what was to come, but the country we're serving is different as you may remember.." "Yea..." "So what then? Does this mean more work for me? Or more upper hand in moving forward with diplomacy?" Gold Star questioned himself but all I can answer was this. "You know? All I can say is that I have no fucking clue, or what it's like to be a major, because I Aint one! In fact I would be as fucking confused as you are right now if I was somehow promoted to Captain or some type of shit, hell I got confused a lot when I was called back to service in the middle of vacation just because I'm related to a guy I don't even talk to because he's dead! And yea of course I may have just pissed off Chrysalis and could've became enemy and priority number one if she didn't had that bigger incident with Twilight and her friends involving kidnapping and whatnot, but sure the whole journey together had been nothing but laughs, chuckles, and a fucking witch hunt on who's trying to kill who, and you know what I think about it all? Just keep going with the punches! Because Creator dammit! That's the fucking best we can do here! So do you still understand what I'm trying to say here?" My assertion had prompted Gold Star to think for a moment, he thought about what I said with everything we've been through together, with Twilight Sparkle, Celestia, and whoever accompanied us in the journey but as he could remember in my statement, I was right and that we should keep moving on, it is what it is, but he also thought about how wrong I'm probably am or maybe something else.. "I guess you're right Yates." WHAT!? "I've thought about it, and well.. I guess you're right, I've seem to be over-reacting to something when I should have treated it like a reward and not a negative, although this may kind of affect the way I lead I will still be my old self," Gold Star added. "Mhm, speaking of old self (Now that I think about it) what did Twilight say or anything when she visited your room in the clinic?" I asked. "Well, considering how well we've kicked Tirek in the ass I was told to watch over her castle when I got out, look around and maybe keep it tidy," Gold Star shared. "Wait... How are you supposed to get in though?" I asked. "With this," Smirked Gold Star as he presented me with a crystal key that can open the castle doors at Twilight's castle. "What... H-HOW!? Or in a better question, why?" "Well that I don't really know other than to just visit once in a while and make sure nothing out of the ordinary is out of the place, you know the usual in housekeeping," Gold Star stated. "Yea I guess so, but why of all people? Or ponies? When she could've chosen her brother, or her pet dragon, or hell! The FUCKING EVERFREE FOREST!" "Are you still mad about that?" "Nah! I just love the live trees- OF COURSE I'M STILL MAD!" "Damn... Remind me not to take you there again," Gold Star reckoned. "Gladly, but uhh.. Yeah I guess I could say this when it came to this congrats Major, hope to see you lead me and everyone below you in whatever action is needed, sir." "Loyal to the very end... That's what I like with my troops," Gold Star smiled. "Permission to be dismissed major?" I asked in a salute in which he saluted back and replied. "Granted, goodnight Lieutenant." "Adios, bud." Northern Stalliongrad SLAP Banged the drawer as Ogav raised himself out of bed rubbing his eyes at a 7:30 AM wake up alarm, he grumbled and thought about the amount of sleep he was going to get. When he's dead. He got up out of bed and walked towards a bucket that sat on a wooden box, the camp provided wasn't really that equipped due to the operation that he is assigned in to be a 'counter negotiation' in Equus when really the original assignment was to crush a now defeated rebellion that doesn't even exist anymore in Petershoof. And as he looked at the mirror of his reflection he grumbled at the mirror which his reflection also grumbled at him as well since he was having to put up with the bullshit of a military command, his brigade could've continue their fight in Arabia if it wasn't for those damned rebels in Petershoof! And despite him temporarily removed from the 134th he feels sorry for his men that he now commands ever since Malashenko tried to massecre the innocent populace still residing in the city, of course he was given a fucking slap in the back and was only sentenced to 3 years in jail, no doubt Ogav will be chased by him afterwards. No matter what though, he wasn't going down without a fight, even if it meant bloodshed on the man who already killed thousands... "Captain Volklav! You've been summoned by Lieutenant General Volinsky sir!" Speaking of the goat.. "Alright, give me 10 minutes and I'll be ready," Ogav said, rubbing his wetted face with his cold freezing dry towel. "Unfortunately sir it's urgent, the Lieutenant General requests that all officers report for an emergency briefing sir!" The soldier further informed. "Emergency briefing? What's going on?" Ogav asked. "He requests that you find out for yourself sir," the soldier finished. "Was that straight from the lieutenant general private?" Ogav questioned. "Yes sir, word for word," replied the soldier. "Alright, inform him I'll get there in four, dismissed," Ogav responded. "Yes sir!" Replied the soldier as he marched off from his tent entrance as Ogav rubbed his face with his palm. "About time... But what should I wear for this occasion?" He asked himself looking at his formal uniform, and his tanker uniform. "Eh, formal would be fine, more decent anyways.." . . . . The Lieutenant General tapped his foot below the planning table as the other commissioned soviet officers watched patiently at their Stalliongradian counterparts with anticipation and nerve racking tiredness until Ogav entered the room with a formal uniform when the officers were wearing their military uniforms. "Damn! I was so close!" Ogav contemplated. "About time Captain, you're late," Perov scolded gently. "Sorry I was-" "No matter, sit down, let's start already," Perov stood up from his seat and walked towards the board with the nation of Stalliongrad, a railway line, and what seems to be a micronation resting on the border of Stalliongrad. Ogav leaned to one of his fellow officers and whispered. "A micronation? What's this all about?" "Now as some of you may not know." Lieutenant General Volinsky announced. "Apparently the R.I.B. has gotten intel of a potential conspiracy in this nation, currently a rebellion is brewing in this piece of land here, now some of you may not know what this land or micronation is called, so I'll just put it lightly and say it is, "Our Country." "Our Country? You mean, it's Rodinia?" Asked Ogav. "Incorrect Captain, it's literally named "Our Country," although to keep your brains from frying and to prevent mass confusion within ranks over the name, it's simply just described as "Starlight's land" and you may be wondering why a single small piece of Stalliongrad is controlled and wielded by a single pony," "Please tell..." And immediately the room except for the Stalliongrad officers erupted in protest and attempted to try to change Ogav's answer until Perov got aggravated and grabbed his Makarov shooting at the air through the tent roof scaring everyone shitless. "Is that enough!? Are we through now!?" Perov yelled as the entire commissioned officer row sat back down scared. "AHEM anyways, to not bore you with the details, the supreme soviet awarded the land to Starlight as a 'test' with her new supposed ideology more aligned with ours (but perfected) as "Equalism" now between that and our ideology the Social Union, we have intel that a secret railway has been established not too long ago by American F.I.U. our Red Mother wants it gone and so does Secretary General Altidiya, but there's a complication," explained Perov. "Complications? Lieutenant General, you can't be serious now? The Rodinian army denied the operation lands? Surely you must be pulling our legs comrade," Ogav chuckled. "Unfortunately Captain, apparently we cannot legally enter the land even with permission from Stalliongrad, that's why I've decided to send a informant to inform Starlight Glimmer about this infiltration and ask her for her permission," Perov replied. "Going to feel sorry for the idiot who has to do that job," Ogav smirked. "Congratulations "Idiot" you're that informant," Perov retorted, giving Ogav a smirk while the captain wasn't intimidated by this sudden assignment. "Whatever then sir, so what am I being transported with?" Ogav asked. "Oh you'll have a transport alright, just not a speedy one hehehe," chuckled Perov as Ogav looked at him with a ridiculed face. "....What.." Ponyville As the mane 6 walked out from the castle Yuri had overheard everything in their conversation, and as he relocated to a bush where he can watch them from a distance, he smiled and chuckled at the news he was about to tell to the R.I.B... . . Moskva, R.I.B. Headquarters (Lubyanka) The office of soviet intelligence is busy 24/7 with shifts rapidly changing time to time to keep up with the intel that pours in from soviet informants and/or defectors, it was filled with bureaucratic death, with dreams immediately crushed the moment a worker stepped in the building. A phone rings in the head of the department intelligence service officer as the chief head picks up the phone and hovers it near his ear."Service Officer Belikov, how can I help you with today," yawned the tired man. "Hello, my name is Yuri high class of the soviet espionage division, and I am calling regarding a possibility of an infiltration operation in Stalliongrad," Yuri said on the phone. "Ah.. Infiltration... Of course.. Please enter your digits in the phone," Instructed the officer. "Really.. Do I have to?!" Yuri protested. "Yes... Standard protocol, (please be quick I'm tired.)" "Alright, fine! I'll enter my digits," replied Yuri as he pressed the numbers on the phone annoyingly and then said. "Alright, did you get them?" "Yes good sir... yawn I will submit this to the committee to verify, and if they'll approve within 24 hours then you have good trust with us, blah blah blah.." "Hey hold on a minute? 24 HOURS? WHAT TYPE OF MANIAC WAITS 24 HOURS TO SUBMIT A INTELLIGENCE REPORT!? ARE YOU INSANE THEY'RE DEALING WITH INSANE CAPITALIST IMPERIALIST!??" "Bye bye sir.." "HOLD ON A MINUTE I AIN- beeeeeeep HELLO? HELLO?! HELLO!!!? fucking piece of shit!!" And immediately Yuri throws his phone and smashes it to pieces out of spite and pissed off anger as he continually stomps it on the ground, he then vented on how stupid the Lubyanka is and finally breathes in a calm sense of relief but aggravation as he stood there silent and said. "You know what? Fine, I'll let them suffer for the bullshit, see if I care at least I'll have a good explanation to the Red Mother or her advisors whenever they contact me about this, and then after this I'm sending a complaint to the manager! Hmm.. Now I wonder who else is suffering the same pain I'm going through.." Stalliongrad-Starlight trail Unfortunately the same pain happened to be with Ogav as he was on a T-72 armor tank, while it may be good since the place he's going at is filled with Terrain but the speed it agonizing torture that he has to impatiently endure in this journey. "I should've kept my big fat mouth shut," he grumbled as some of the dirt that blew out from the tank treads kept getting in his nose and mouth. But despite the fact that dust is getting in his mouth it is more better than being cramped up in a tank, although this tank saved lives back in Petershoof he wasn't really a fan of how old the model he's riding on of course it does make up the majority of Rodinian's tank divisions he preferred to pilot the decent type tank the T-90CM, but it would seem that fate has it that it takes him to pilot APCs and tanks. "And now with the next top music in Rodinia! The music band, Kino! Now playing Пачка сигарет on channel station 14.12." The radio attached on the tank played a piece of music that Ogav loved in his teenage years, the days when he wasn't this interested in the army as he was now, but everyday he would wonder when he could attend a band concert that hosted Kino, but of course being far from his homeland he can't do anything other than just shoot at things... So instead he listened to the music and thought to himself about a pack of cigarettes in the winter snow that froze in the night, but it was then that his tank hit a speed bump on the road and bumped his head a little on the Machine gun cartridge on his left side. "Hey driver! Watch where you're going, you're going to give me a concussion if you keep doing that!" Ogav scolded. "Sorry sir, it's that I was thinking about home, I miss my mothers cooking... Don't you have something to come back to sir?" The driver asked, focusing on the dirt trail road that leads to Starlight's village while Ogav sighed at his question. "I do.. But I can't come back to it if I get a hemorrhage Now can't I?" Ogav added. "No sir, my mistake it won't happen again sir," the driver said back as he focused deeply on the road ahead. "Let's hope so.." Ogav said to himself. "Or neither of us won't be going home.." The tank arrives at the mountain area 1 mile away from the town that he is supposed to negotiate with, but at the same time he hears a train horn in the distance. "Halt!" Ordered Ogav as he pulled out his binoculars making the tank pause in a full halt confusing the crew as he stepped off of his tank and ran towards a hill that perfectly aligned with the horn, what he saw next surprised him, as he sees 6 mares, and clearly a identification of ponies, and what's even more odd is that they're at the target his company was assigned to dispose of. "The Princess from Equestria? What's she doing here?" Ogav wondered, despite him being in an exposed location he is far away enough so they wouldn't see him, but it also sparked a lot of questions in his mind such as. One, why are they there for? Was Princess Twilight behind the construction of the railway and if so why? And two, Perov was actually right? Although considering that this did not surprise Ogav he'll need to take some pictures and document his findings so he took his camera out and snapped some pictures of the railroad that seemed to be established on Stalliongrad soil.. After taking pictures he then slid down from the hill and quickly got on board with his crew. "Did you find anything, sir?" Asked the cannon gunner. "Yes indeed I have, it seems the princess of Equestria is here on Stalliongrad soil," reported Ogav. "WHAT!?" Shouted the entire crew in unison. "But sir! We're going to have to let-" "I know I know, but first I want a better understanding of why they're here in the first place, if it's something entirely bad then I will contact Perov of my finding, until then keep me updated and lets get the hell out of nowhere," Ogav briefed as the tank continued moving to it's designated location that it is heading towards in which they only have a mile left before they arrive and so on they continued in their journey. At the town Starlight Glimmer was reading a book, nothing out of the ordinary until double diamond entered her house with the usual town trademark smile in which Starlight smiled as well. "Why hello Double Diamond, how can I help you?" Starlight asks. "Hello Starlight, I like to let you know that we have a message for you, also we have visitors!" Double Diamond informed her, giving her a scrolled letter with the official soviet sealed mark on the letter which grabbed her attention and broke her smile away. "Oh... Interesting... Bring them in while I look at this message," Starlight demanded, in which Double Diamond quickly gave her the letter and left her presence. She opened the letter in anticipation and immediately she read the letter out loud to herself. "In accordance with Stalliongrad law the Rodinian's have dispatched an informant on the situation regarding an illegally built railway? Hmmm..." Thought Starlight. "I might consider their informant, but perhaps this new railroad might be a new opening to a... New type of way to get more ponies to join my town." Immediately she heard muffling outside who spoke. "Be ready to fight! We don't know what's coming through that door!" Starlight out of curiosity recognizes the voice of new members, and so she opened it and walked out with the town smile. "Welcome! I'm so pleased to have you here!" Starlight spoke with glee. "Awhn..." Double diamond stepped up and introduced the 6 friends to their name. "This is Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle." After introducing their names Twilight shuffled her Alicorn wings which catched Starlight in an observing motion.. A motion which could truly get her town on the map. "Forgive my bloodness but I assume it's Princess Twilight Sparkle?" Smirked Starlight. "We don't get much Alicorns around here." "Yes, but Twilight is fine," Twilight insisted. "Sooo! How did you heard of our little village?" Starlight asks. "It's kinda of a long story, let's say we found it on a map," Twilight answered. "Technically it's a tree chest castle map!" Pinkie Pie interjected, slowly lowering her head back into the fourth wall creeping the hell out of everyone present.. "Well however you found us we're happy to have you! We're happy to have anypony who wants to experience true friendship for the first time!" Starlight added, confusing the main heroes with the last phrase. "Say what?" "Oh indeed that's so unique about our village you see, around here we don't flaunt our special talents because we don't have any special talent to flaunt!" Starlight bloated in front of the heroes. "Is that why you have all those cutie marks?" Twilight pointed, at the symbol of equalism and basically the extent of pony communism. "Perhaps it would be easier to understand if I gave you a tour of the village!" Starlight crowed. Which in her mind as everyone left she has an idea.. An idea which could force the world to be influenced with this type of friendship and what better way to do it then to have the princess of magic AND friendship herself be integrated as a civilian of this new bound order.. An order with no cutie marks, and an order in forced communal unity.. In the distance, Ogav can hear music being sounded from the town that he now approaches with his tank, despite the loud treads grinding the ground below him he can distinctly hear the town singing and.. Marching? "Why do I hear patriotic marching?" Ogav asked himself while murmurs from his crew emerged in wonder of what the town could be singing or celebrating. Finally they arrived at their destination and the tank pulled into the town which made the locals spectate their heads a bit at the marvel before waving at their fellow visitor. "Welcome!" Said one pony. "Welcome!" Said another pony. "Welcome!" Said yet a third pony which confused Ogav and the crew below him that can hear a muffle of the greeting. "Weird.... Just weird, anyways, who's in charge here!" He said out loud, when he suddenly spots the mane 6 who're as surprised as he as both locked their eyes in surprise and shock at Ogav while at the same time he is locking his eyes on them and the two stood off silently until Starlight broke the silence. "Welcome! You must be the pon- I mean human who came to visit our town!" Starlight smiled. "Да, действительно, но почему они здесь?" Ogav asked. "WHAT DID YOU SAY TO US!?" Rainbow Dash yelled. "I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S WHAT!" But before Rainbow Dash could charge from Ogav's gut she was grabbed by Twilight's magic. "Woah woah woah! We aren't trying to hurt anyone here! Whatever he's here for I'm sure he's as confused as we are, what's your name?" Twilight asked as Starlight rolled her eyes in annoyance. "My name? My name is Ogalivich Volklav, and inside of my tank is my crew which prefers to work in it than to deal with.. Whatever I'm looking at and I came here for one reason and one reason only, WHO built that railroad and why are you here!?" Ogav interrogated. "Woah there commie! If you think that attitude is gon' get you anywhere then you might as well turn ya hide back to where you commie's came from," Applejack advised in an insult. "For the record, orange pony, I don't take lightly to this type of insult, especially when a capitalist peasant such as yourself calls me a slur made specifically for my people! So for your consideration let me do my job or there will be trouble," Ogav warned, as the two clashed head to head in a taunting threat stare down. "What did you call me you bucking commie!?" Applejack snarled. "Oh I think you understood what I said you suka!" Cursed Ogav, before Starlight went between the two and separated them. "No need for any trouble you two! This town is a sanctuary for true friendship, although while the human here is a visitor and not a staying guest, you ponies on the other hand are welcome to stay," Starlight smiled while Twilight, still a bit startled with what Applejack just did, stepped up and spoke. "When we were sent to this village we assumed it was to help in some way but well it doesn't seem like you need any help," Twilight spoke, while Starlight nodded to Ogav in which he walked off back towards his tank and then she replied. "Have you considered perhaps that you might have been sent here so we can help you?" Twilight was caught off guard with her statement and so she stayed silent. "After all, nopony has ever come to our village and wanted to leave. Why should you be any different?" Starlight grinned. "But that is entirely your choice! So please, enjoy our little corner of Equestria we're all quite fond of it, no doubt you will be as well, Double Diamond, please help our guest with whatever they might need!" "Of course!" DD replied, creeping out the mane 6 as the T-72 rolled right past the group which gave Applejack and Rainbow Dash immense suspicion about the intention of a Rodinian tank pilot being in the town... But as they were suspicious Starlight walked off away from them. "Well, this will certainly provide a boost to our little community, when the rest of Equestria sees that a princess gave up her cutie mark to join us they'll finally understand what we're trying to accomplish!" Starlight smirked to herself, with a mischievous smile of her master plan with the mane 6. Ponyville While everything was going down at Starlight's town Gold Star was preparing his saddle bags in our room exposing his Alicorn wings as he repacked his things that we've recovered during the incursion with Tirek. While I stood there pondering, still processing what I was seeing. "I still can't accept the fact that you've literally hidden your Alicorn wings and your horn, like seriously! How often is it to have a pony friend who is somehow a fricking Alicorn!?" "Yea I know I know, but while you may know about, well all of this, I've yet to even tell you how I became an Alicorn in the first place, but I can tell you one thing also... Remember the helicopter ride? The day we first met?" "Yea?" "That wasn't the first place we've met," Gold Star revealed. "Hmm.. Now that I think about it, the royal guard who escorted me and John, who by the way was a spy under my nose, coincidently looked like you.. Hm, so you were born here were you?" I assumed. "That would be correct," Gold Star replied. "Right, what about your parents though? Wouldn't they be worried about you being missing or presumed de-" "They're dead Yates... They've been killed at the moment of my enlistment into the Canterlotian elite royal guard," he said in an emotional state that he hanged his head down to the floor to hide himself before turning to pack his things in his saddle bags. "Shit... Why didn't you tell me that before? And the better question is? Who killed them?" "That's the problem, I don't know, some assumed it was the dragon raiders that the town was bordered with, some say Zebra terrorist from Zebrica, but really no one has a clue of who murdered my parents, but I sworn myself to avenge their deaths but after everything that I had went through I don't think I could avenge anyone.. Not when I have a moral obligation and a duty to uphold," Gold Star divulged, as he finished packing and lifted his saddle bags which covered his Alicorn wings. But now I have more questions for him and I wasn't willing to let him go without an explanation of how he became a Alicorn, and so I tugged on his tail and it grabbed his attention towards me with no silence. Other than his expressive aggravation he understood my curious mind but he seemed reluctant at first before I finally asked. "Explain, everything..." Gold Star sighed and looked at me with a glare. "You want an explanation? Because if I have to I will, but you better be paying attention, because I will only explain ONCE! Understood?" Gold Star expounded. "Understood, now please tell me," I nodded. Immediately Gold Star cleared his throat and sighed. "It all started in the year 990, the day when something miraculous yet not interesting occurred when some huge rainbow blew across the entirety of the Equestrian continent, of course back then I was a filly back then I was in fact born in the year 987 so in human years I was 3 or 4 years old, anyways, at the year 992 was when I started getting interested in military studies particularly royal guard and I've loved the life of the military so much I wished I could become one. Only the problem was that the town I lived in all my years was not even known for anything despite of course being known to be a port city we were basically near the dragon lands and at the mercy of the dragons but surprisingly they never attacked us but they nearly attacked our neighboring city of Baltimare before the royal guard had isolated them and kicked them off back to the mountains, while we were spared from what could've been a early end I knew that even with the dragons subjugated they'll come back, and they'll come back with blood thirsty appetites for pony flesh... So when the year 1000 had turned I was three years younger than what I am today I joined the royal guard and was shipped out to Canterlot where I did a 1 year training session in the elite unit, but just after 132 days I received news that the village I lived in was... Gone, no one survived and with it was my home.. My parents... No one.. I was truly alone... The investigation that was launched personally lead by Princess Celestia it was concluded that apparently there were no traces of the ones responsible, in other words they've basically were saying the city just burned on it's own despite evidence that there was evidence of a battle and a struggle they've seem to can't find a trace.... After four days recovering from the grief It was then in the first 43 days into 1001 was when I heard about the recent victory against Discord with Twilight Sparkle and her friends, to think that something that small could be powerful I decided to take up this example and make friends of my own, unfortunately the slap of reality had came, and it came hard.. Despite some conversation with other ponies along with attempts on befriending them they've never been interested in the friendship values that Equestria was built on.. But one night a pony took notice of my move..." Canterlot, 2 years earlier, a year after the Nightmare moon incident I was given night guard duty in Canterlot, apparently this typical training is suppose to 'train' me in staying up all night but obviously they didn't had no one to cover the shift but I didn't complain, I was given a order and I followed through them and for camouflage in case of a intruder with knowledge of guards I was given a deep blue armor that actually camouflaged well in the night. But unlike the golden armor it wasn't as tight as the gold one is and I think the hoof shoes were a bit loose for me, but nonetheless I made use and tried to reduce my speed and took time taking my steps, but by 2:20 in the morning it was then I met a blue Alicorn who I didn't know was Luna. I was standing guard in the throne room silently, it was the day when I just received the letter and instead of giving a temporary break I insisted on my command officer that I would take a overnight shift yeah I know that I slightly complained about it but with no one to keep me on my hooves there's nothing that could help now other than the duties I was assigned with.. As I stood there in the throne room my thoughts were getting a bit intrusive and just as I was about to sleep I was awakened by the presence of Luna. "You must be tired having to guard this room tonight," she said. "Pardon me, but you seem to be new here?" She was a bit curious with me, and intrigued as to why I haven't heard of her, but of course I didn't blame her since if I were popular and somepony came from a town who had no clue that Celestia had a sister I would be even more confused than she is. "Don't you know me?" She asked, but I shook my head. "Not a word actually, but I assume you're a new royal correct?" I asked. Just by looking at her she seemed calm and patient, clearly I was a bit young at the time to be oblivious about the existence of princess Luna, she left after my question leaving me with even more questions, but three days later It was answered in the Gala which when it started was when I was given the fullest of all introductions and creator above was I embarrassed... "Cadets! This is Princess Luna of the night and sister of Celestia salute and bow in her presence!" My captain had informed which we all saluted and bowed our heads to her, but she gave me a eye that clearly said "now you know" type feeling and when peaked my head up I saw her and it was the same pony and I was completely dumbfounded. ===== "Ok ok, so why are you going into deep depth with Luna exactly? What did she get for having this much detail and what does this have to do with your life story to becoming an Alicorn?" I asked. "Because Yates, she was the reason." "Wait what." "You'll see in a moment, but continuing on.." ===== "WE JUST LOST COMMAND! WE'RE BEING OVERRUNNED!" My fellow infantry shouted and we were all scattered. With the high command and captain of the royal guard all captured and displaced ranks within the defense groups that were supposed to defend Canterlot were scattered or fighting. Undoubtedly I felt guilty that day for being the one who scattered from the fight but with the chaos on the day of the Canterlot attack was the day I knew I should've played in some part of preparing for something like this, but I was only a sergeant in the ranks at the time and they didn't allow no ranks as that to properly plan in the affairs as officers other than maintain the groups wellness in drills and training but that was really all the perks I could have. No way was I going to participate in a course that could lead to the possibility of death. But as I scattered from my group I came across a family that was trapped by the changelings and being in the elite royal guard I shook my cowardice and pulled my sword out with my bare hooves and charged at their throats and... That was when the sensation of murder flowed in my body, the two remaining changelings attempted to pounce on me but when I got out of the way I stabbed one in the neck and jabbed the sword down the changelings chest. The family hid their filly, and with good reason, immediately I realized the main priority was getting the civilians safe so I signaled them to keep their heads low while I looked for a safe and subtle place where I can take civilians into refuge and better enough I found the place. The coffee shop in 12th street in Canterlot was already prepared for an invasion, and from what I heard despite the money that went to the royal guard they've stocked up on weapons, enough to repel a Changeling raid and perhaps equipped able bodied stallions to fight. So running ahead I signaled the family and we all ran towards the coffee shop right before they pointed their spear at my throat. "Who in great Celestia's name are you changeling!" Yelled an old elder who was ready to slaughter anyone who intruded in her shop. "Not a changeling ma'am! My name is Gold Star, my rank is Sergeant and I'm with the elite Royal Guard, I'm trying to evacuate civilians here and I was wondering if I can use your shop to give the civilians cover and refuge!" I explained with reasonableness and everything else but the granny wasn't trusting, not since the changelings continued the fly overhead but considering that I am elite she had no choice and so she let us in but... "If you switch into a bucking Changeling so help me mister you will wish you were never born understand!?" "Yes ma'am.." And so I started running in and out grabbing civilian to civilians, killing changeling after changeling with the sword, and behind my back the granny was providing soups for the mothers and fillies, and weapons were handed to stallions who can fight which helped me as for every family with a stallion within it I return to the fray with a bigger group in the form of a militia that assisted me in helping with the civilians within this chaotic mess, however at one moment we were ambushed and outnumbered I only had 12 they had hundreds but we weren't going down without a fight. But we never fought those hundreds of changelings.. Because everypony there heard jet engines approaching and for some reason my gut acted without my knowledge and I forcibly shouted.. "TAKE!!!! COVER!!!!" And without question the stallions hit the dirt and the jet squadrons fired an entire load of missiles at the group of Changelings and slaughtered them all, and when we peaked up from the dirt we were unscathed, but the changelings on the other hand however... Well, let's say there wasn't anyone left to even fight us and for the stragglers that survived, we took them in as prisoners and placed them under civilian arrest. But during this capture I saw the missiles exposed a hole in a building that was filled with civilians that were cowering inside, and so me and the group offered our hooves to help and they took it. And with that the battle ended when the changelings were now in full retreat with jets continuing to peck off the stragglers that disobeyed their queens order as I heard machine guns blaring in the distance. But at the same time we arrived to the coffee shop that was used to house the civilians and after counting the amount about 213 were rescued by me or the group I had formed, I earned a title in that street as the assailant hero of 12th street, a rare title for a pony to be named as a hero considering the amount of work. But I rejected the title.. Not because of the fear of paparazzi, but the fear that pride as a whole may consume me. While some continued to call me by that title I still refused to be called such one. Ironically when I came back to my unit and was assigned to guard the ball between Shining Armor and Cadence Mi Amore my commanding officer approached me with an award... A rank I never thought I'd have as a Sergeant... "First class Lieutenant! But sir? Shouldn't I be ranked as a second class? This is a rank fit for a royal guard with extensive knowledge on leadership?" "Rarely this happens but you were given high recommendation from one of the princesses of Equestria," the commander informed. "Recommendation? From a princess? T-that can't be?" "Well Sergeant? You can't reject this rank you'll be given a new responsibility in life, and everything else that comes with it, you should be proud to be wearing this type of patch, not everypony is lucky to get this far you know?" Despite my commander's pleas.. I rejected it once more, with the amount of things that went down that day I could've been dead or worse.. But no, I wasn't going to be a free ranked high class officer and sit on a chair when I could be fighting with my fellow stallions, and even though I did want to have a involvement with planning strategy I wasn't going that far in just going ahead with first class, but instead due to the commander continually pleading for me to accept a rank I made a compromise and went with second class Lieutenant. I preferred fairness then a recommendation, In fact I would prefer to build experience rather than going all in. And after a brief argument followed by reconsideration we both made the agreement that I would become second class. And that night I grabbed a higher power's attention.. ===== "Interesting, no wonder I kept hearing about the whole "hero assailant" stuff, I was heading down through 12th street on my way to the helicopter that was waiting for me, but now I wonder, what changed? What made you decide that our army was better than Equestria's?" I asked. "Well... You have to understand that for one, I never had a choice, either go somewhere other than here, or rot in jail here for the rest of you life.." "What? But your in the fucking elite royal guard how do you nearly end up in jail?" "Well... That's where the main point comes into play of how I became what I am right now.." ===== I was asleep that night after a few talks on the possibility of a building search for any changelings that may have infiltrated their ranks, during this meeting between Shining Armor and his officers my friends were on collecting duty, and by collecting I mean the clean up of dead changelings and salvaging what we can take from the warrior ones. But as I was asleep, minding my own business I was suddenly dragged into a dream.. A dream like no other.. It was the fucking land of the middle and this shook me to my core when I thought that I just died in my sleep considering that waves of pictures with my life before my eyes were literally displaying my memories. The ground below me? Well, between me and the endless void below were just orbs and nothing but an orb path and just when I tried to process myself thinking of where I am princess Luna came out from the mist and I can already feel my stomach acid burning through my gut, but I think I'm dead though... But just to be sure I told myself to just ask her, and so I did. "Umm.. Just wondering but am I dead?" Informal I know, but just roll with it. "You aren't, you are being rewarded for what you've done for the ponies of Canterlot, what other royal guards had failed to do," Luna smiled towards me.. A reward I thought I was getting was possibly going to be a forced promotion, only... This promotion wasn't like any other, because from that day I was no longer the Earth Pony that I used to be.. But rather a burden that was bestowed upon me. But I didn't realize this yet when I woke up, I never noticed any wings or horn, all I felt was my old self but a bit heavy, and when I walked inside of the cafeteria that morning I was knocked unconscious. The world before me had transformed into a complete darkness until I woke up tied to what seemed to be the changeling chair, and when I looked at what they tied me with I knew... At that moment I realized then, that I was in trouble... ==== "HOLD UP! You got accused of being a fucking changeling!?" "I know, ridiculous so much for a reward. It felt very staged on that day as if everyone there wanted to suddenly get rid of me, they certainly did, and when I woke up I was literally confronted by Shining Armor and now I REALLY was in trouble!" ==== "I think he's still unconscious sir," a royal guard said while I heard their conversation despite me being unconscious. "Well soldier, you know the protocol, wake him," Shining Armor ordered when I was splashed with cold freezing waters that nearly made me freeze to death and when I woke up I was met with the cold harsh reality of intimidation. Luckily I was only tied with changeling vine, while changelings can't break out of it due to the toxicity it specifically has if they bit into it, but to a pony we're immune to the vines toxicity even when we bite our way out of it, so I plotted my escape but not before a interrogation with the mixed of a angered husband, too be honest I don't blame him to be this mad at a changeling considering they all had a part in the incident that stolen his now wife but dammit how the hell was I accused again? Oh that's right, BECAUSE OF A FUCKING ALICORN!!! "What the!? Where am I! Where's here? Don't you even know me!" "I wish I did changeling," Shining Armor replied in sarcasm. "Changeling? CHANGELING? YOU CALLING ME WHAT!" "Don't play dumb bug! You've clearly exposed yourself, just look at your head and your sides," a royal guard pointed his spear where my head indeed has a horn of a unicorn, and my sides, wings of a pegasus I didn't fuss but rather I sat there silent while also pissed at what Luna had done to me, all because I never knew her fucking name and her fucking legacy, and even if I did escaped I'll most certainly be tracked down by Luna personally and chased, and so I remembered back when the aircraft strafed the changeling forces and the symbol attached on it.. I remembered the symbol on the aircraft which it served in. A continent in the West called Humarica, and that was it, if I can't be accepted here any longer, then Humarica is my new home. "Captain Armor sir, Twilight Sparkle has arrived as requested," the guard informed. "Watch him, I'll be back in a moment." And once he left I looked at the guard just when his back was turned I quickly bit my way out of the changeling vine and strangled the guard relentlessly until I knocked him cold by slamming his face on the chair they tied me down in. And just so he would say anything about how I escaped I taped his mouth and used regular rope and tied him around the chair. And then activated the torture devices they were planning on using for me. After that I made my escape through the ventilation shafts, no one expected this as no pony would ever go up into the vents since they consider themselves fat, but given enough effort I'm sure you can still crawl through them as long as you know where you're going. And so as I climbed up and crawled through the dust filled ventilation shafts that covered my movements and camouflaged my body in the exhaust vents just in case they flashed their light up there. By this time when I looked down in one I was in total disbelief that Shining Armor had brought the same pony who had inspired me in the first place to fight for something I believed in.. Twilight Sparkle and him entered the room and the two went into panic mode, despite my sudden disbelief I wish it didn't had to be this way but the way Twilight and her friends treat their enemies I wasn't going to be statured over this, and so as I continued on they raised the alarms and scattered everyone but by this point I was now outside in the deep of the night. A stormy rainy night.. Which was good because I can use the darkness to my advantage and as I jumped out of the ventilation I already have a plan on how to escape in the night along with keeping my movements hidden in the fierce rain in the darkness while sneaking through patrols who relentlessly tried to look for me which would be proven futile. So applying to this I ran across two patrols, knocked out 1 or 2 guards who were in my way, bashed one on the wall, the other with the spear I got from the other one, and finally when I got the fence I used the same spear and cut through the gate escaping into the forest and leaving the notorious prison, then after I went to the highest point I could find to get a better view of my surroundings, once I did I was shocked to see where I've been taken to.. Vanhoover city.. Being the coastal city known for its prisons and the historical battle during the Lunar Wars which was a print to Equestria as the day the American army couldn't withstand the power of friendship and what not. Ignoring that topic during this whole endeavor I was lucky, although despite the persecutions that were being made on the changeling residences who are now having to flee their home I wasn't given the intention as I had a cloak and hood that hid my Alicorn body, and last I've heard since then that they've started registering for permanent stay passports to sail to America, and that was the destination for me, Equestria was no longer my home and if I don't leave I thought back at what I thought of what Twilight and her friends may do to me physically if I was ever caught, and like I said, I wasn't going to be statued over this mess.. Not when I have a life full ahead of me.. ==== "And now.. Here we are, sitting together as if we're having a tea party.." After minutes of his explanation he sighed in a manner of sadness and emotion to leave his life to live in this one.. A terrible way to happen to a pony who wanted to live his life only to suffer in the wrath of paranoia. "Dear lord.. So what was your view about Luna since she did that to you?" I asked. "Honestly, she wasn't the problem in my story, clearly she wanted me as her apprentice, weird choice to choose an earth pony as an apprentice, but this did left me with a little anger with what she did, and considering that she chose me specifically left me more questions than the answers I assume they were. But thinking back on it now.. I don't really know why. Other than what I could say is Paranoia and Hysteria but that's all I could've thought of?" Gold Star answered. "... So what happened after you've arrived in America?" I asked, which by now Gold Star was getting a bit restless but explained anyway. "After arriving I was processed with the rest of the changelings who came to seek refuge, obviously this was two weeks after the Jimmy Carter incident, and when they saw my Alicorn wings and horn they used some sort of scanner and scanned my body, and when the scanner came out negative, (meaning I am a actual pony and not a changeling) the entire room freaked out in shock that I was a Alicorn, they've even mistaken me as some hidden prince in the room so they decided to bring Uncle Sam into the mix and all he did was stare at me in shock as everyone else did, only after 8 minutes something slapped him in the face and he immediately ordered them to "Dress and enlist him immediately!" Word for word, and next thing I know I was in training learning how to drive cars and drive and command tanks, and when they heard my story of my previous life they were intrigued about it but as for the wings and horn however.. Uncle Sam saw how the room reacted when I was a Alicorn and so he ordered executive code 4521-9 and had me cover my wings and horn, he gave me a helping hand and grew my mane enough to cover my horn, and well as you may know by now I use the saddle bags to cover my wings, and well... Here I am, sitting here on base waiting for the next action," Gold Star finished finally. But not so finally with me, what he had was hell, and I sat on my bed thinking about how I wasn't able to express how much he had gone through.. He lost his parents, his home, he is basically an outcast if not a wanted criminal not to mention a escapee, and he's partially under witness protection all in a sorrowful combination of what he had gone through although he did come to the land of the free, he's gone through more hell here than he had there. He sighed and got off the seat that he had been sitting on and went back to what he was intending to do, and that was to watch over the castle, authorized by the Colonel of course, but before he left I got up and said... "I'm sorry... For everything you've gone through... But I know this sounds insane and probably not the best suggestion I have, but perhaps you should tell your inspiration about your story and maybe take it slow with revealing yourself." Gold Star chuckled slightly and replied. "Don't be, nothing can change the past, it's best to learn from it and move on, after all, what's done is done. But.. I don't think she'll respond kindly with that, sure it's been a year since then but.. I don't think she'll understand my pain.. Anyways, I better get going I'll see you when I get back okay?" And so after his response he walked outside and paused himself before continuing on with what he was doing, as he was heading to his Humvee, sat back on my bed, pondering his past as I saw his Humvee going through the base gate... Not everyone is lucky, he had gone through hell while I was reeling from the chaos in Canterlot, and if I would've known perhaps... Something might've changed, but by then I never even knew him so I guess.. I guess you would think you knew a guy, or in this case.. Pony. Vesalpolis, Changeling lands As Rommel yet endured another rambling speech from "the queen of the Changelings" while still wallowing in her pride about how changelings can dominate against the selfish ponies and how they "exterminate, and attack" their race Rommel had been in contact with his top commanders who had spent time and resources on putting down and negotiating the rebelling queens who left Chrysalis and her authority. So far resistance was stiff but day by day the arrival of the tank unit arrived in numbers enough to suppress the rebelling warlords who proclaimed themselves as "queens," but obviously when it came to human tech there's nothing to gloat about other than being alive. But being in the briefing room waiting for the Queen to finish venting herself out in the throne room he looked at the current state of the war map, while the rebels had been successfully been almost put down in the north, the southern front looked a bit treacherous with the possibility of a coordinated counter offensive, the nation is more civil war than the warlord period that it had just been. Of course with the remaining pockets at the west he's sure to put them down quick now that the main battle tank brigade would be arriving soon, being that it consist of Leopard 1 tanks it should do the quick job of executing these rebelling warlords and show the nation that Chrysalis had bought herself a new pair of ba- "General Rommel!" Chrysalis barged inside. "After a conversation regarding your forces I think it is best that you... Keep up the gr-gr-great! Work on suppressing these rebels!" "Thank you?? But obviously, I am doing my job for the sake of the nation, with our partnership still interconnecting. I can assure that we could start strategizing on Equestria, as soon as we've suppressed the rebels, speaking of which I have a.. Intriguing report I'd like to share if that's fine," Rommel requested. "Oh?? Please show," Chrysalis accepted. "After a couple of days apparently the spy network had reported that Tirek recently attacked Equestria, unfortunately he was taken into custody, but it seems that the weapons the enemy is using is more precise and deadlier than I thought, we're currently researching but I think given enough time we'll have our own weapon systems," Rommel reported, as Chrysalis smudged devilishly. "Also... It seems you had the right idea of having me send General Cynthia to hunt down Gold Star, apparently my spy had overheard a conversation between the two officers, he was hearing their conversation outside from the window, and would seem according to what the tan pony explained was that he was accused of being a changeling, odd thing to be accused of don't you say? But indeed this does confirm that your suspicions were right that he is indeed a Alicorn," Rommel revealed, making two of Chrysalis guards jolt back in surprise with the queen herself surprised as her guards were. "He is?! I mean... Of course he is that's why I sent one of your generals to seek him out, unfortunately it failed because your general was incompetent!" "General Cynthia is the deadliest commander of this unit, unfortunately the unexpected fight with Twilight Sparkle and the bleed injury followed by the capture of my now dead 6 men, costly, but at least they wouldn't spill in the information that they could've forced from," Rommel reminded. "Should I remind you that despite the destroyers, the Statcom battleship had sunk them all, and they've captured a flag rug carpet, it seems they've already unraveled who you and your group's identity," Chrysalis said. "Maybe so, that doesn't mean we'll come out in broad daylight and surrender, my men will not go down without a fight, even at odds, with that said though after we crush the warlords, we can begin our operations and start assassinating targets, starting with America." Starlight's town After unpacking the luggage Ogav took off his helmet and shook his head in relief, he hate wearing the damn heavy tank helmets because it felt heavy on his head, and secondly he prefers to pilot a BMP-1 or 2, hell! Even a BMP-3 for all he cared! But the last time he piloted a tank was in Petershoof and even then it was aggravating as hell! But the bright side is he's got until two days and this he has to ask the big question "Will you let us fuck up the railroad please?" All he needs to say in nine words or eight depending if he wants to profane the question or not, but then all she needs to say is yes or no, if she chooses yes then he and his men can take out their rage in this bullshit of a journey on the railroad conveniently a mile away, if she chooses no.. Well who's to say Perov won't respond so kindly. Perov is Rodinia's loose cannon, a propaganda and popularity tool, with the title "hero of Rodinia'' he's nice with the public but when you speak with people like Ogav especially since he had personally worked with him. He does lead Humarica's infamous Knife division, he'll gladly violate international laws and invade a country who he doesn't like for the sake of the "motherland," and hell all he'll get is a scolding from the RSS and a slap in the wrist because of his heroism back in Rodinia, and considering the amount of funding his unit has both independently and dependently, he has the military capacity, all you just have to do is just look at the amount of helicopters, tanks, and the manpower he has just lying around, they'll be more than happy to shoot at something rather than sleeping in mud filled lands, in fact since this is basically a urban village they'll no doubt try to 'accidentally' shoot at someone just for a spot in a residents house. But really if he got his way Ogav and everyone else would be fighting in America because of his ambition. So as much as Ogav would like to ask the question, he's more concerned with the answer she may reply with, because what she answers would be the entire town's fate. So he looked at the pilot crew who were resting on the beds made specifically for human guest and thought to himself.. He could ask the question, and then wait two days, he doesn't have to tell Starlight why he's here considering it seems that Perov expects him to tell her, his men needed the RnR, and because of the restless Stalliongrad incident in Petershoof his men has never catched a break not even in drills and he's still surprised that the unit is still standing. So after building up courage he got up and went out the door to ask the question to her just to get this assignment out of the way, but when exited his quarters the town was.. Empty?? "What in the name of great motherland's name? Where the hell is everyone?" He asked himself, when he noticed a bright blue flash from the east mountain sides, so he grabbed his Binoculars, his Makarov pistol, and headed up to a trail perfectly paved to the area where he saw the flashing light. "Hm.. Something tells me there's something more to this than meets the eye," Ogav said to himself, but obviously without further thinking he also grabbed his good old "772" numbered tank pilot hat (just in case) and went off to the open trail in a dash. After a small moment of climbing up the slope he noticed that the entire town was gathering up inside of the cave and as he snuck inside and went to the deep left side of the cave he hid behind a rock and started viewing what seemed to be a. Argument? Or perhaps a forced initiation... "Aww, I don't blame you for what you tried to do here today, you've spent your whole lives thinking those marks are a good thing," Starlight evilly smiled at Equestria's heroes. "Give them back!" Twilight demanded, which Starlight walked away from her blatantly and indirectly denying her demand. "Well now you can spend the rest of your lives with us! And we'll teach you just how much better life can be without your cutie marks!" Ogav looked at one of the ponies' flanks and saw what would seem to be an equal sign, just like the ones the ponies have.. But these ponies in particular had their cutie marks! He thought, when he saw a huge blue yet bright box within it stored cutie marks within, and then that was when he saw their cutie marks.. Aimlessly in the air and stiff as if they've been forcibly imprisoned. And that was when it hit him, these ponies are being forced to live like this, sure the town has great aspects with socialism, but not like this! It's clear that this pony was not a friend, but rather a creep and a lunatic! A tyrannical dictator! With the ambition of conquering the entire world! And he fears what she might do if she ruled over humans, clearly she might imprison or even extinguish their race. While she only has a small town, it won't matter when the world sees a popular princess "adopting" equalism, this was a line that not even the Red Mother was willing to cross, and if he and she were to have a tea party and discuss this she would say screw equalism. Of course he'll still need to ask the question, but what if perhaps he didn't ask her the question and instead put words into her mouth, and lie to his general, then if something happens to her and his forces arrive then it may be the end of this wretched ideology! But first... He'll need to reach a deal with the Equestrian heroes, and put aside their differences. For now... The Pentagon "Hmmm, you know I like this, this new design you've brought to me, now tell me Phil, what am I looking at here?" Asked the desk General. "General, I like to introduce to you the Stryker, a new combat carrier armed with slanted armor plating and maneuverability, and a machine gun mount on top," introduced major Phil. "Mhm... So Phil, one question I have to ask?" The general raised himself from his seat and walked towards the blueprint. "Why the hell does this look like a extended rolling trapezoid with a slide? Why the hell should we even use this sorry excuse for a tank when we have a better armor transport like the Bradley! Damn those things sold out fast, Ronald sure loves to modernize our army, not as if we're already superior enough to those savage horse and griffon shits to the east! Eh, no offense to you Phil." "None taken sir, but well uh.. I've recently checked the battle reports and while it seems the victory against the Zebra terrorist had improved it would seem that they're sending complaints about.. More mechanized tanks then men in the field?" Phil the griffon pointed out. "What's so bad about it? We've won the damn war, haven't we?" The general questioned, eating an apple. "Well sir that's the thing.. If you can read this on the results you can tell-" "Dag damn! All those tanks, well there goes the taxpayer money down the drain, oh and condolences to families, but what does this exactly have to do with this.. This shape you're trying to reteach me," the general interjected. "Well sir that's the point of my introduction, you see with this Stryker we can definitely eliminate the expired and old M113's, and even use it to combat terrorist groups, also so our men for transportation, now these things will need to be further enhanced for full capabilities, but given enough work we can start on crafting this combat transport to a level that at least match expectations of the Bradley, but maybe perhaps more focused on the space that we'll need," the major said, as the the general placed his knuckles on his cheek and sighed. "Alright.. Let's see how this goes.. (I guess..)" And with the bam from the stamp of approval the blueprint is taken in for examination. Starlight's town It was now night time in the town and the ponies had all gone to sleep in whatever way they all slept, this then gave Ogav the high advantage as he put on his camouflage uniform and grabbed his AK-74U and loaded a magazine inside of it. And just as he was about to leave one of his crew men, who was enjoying a bottle of vodka he had packed for the trip like his fellow crew men did, noticed his captain leaving the room. "Sir? Where are you heading?" He asked. "Running errands, I might also ask the question given if I feel like it," Ogav replied. "Yes, sir," replied the soldier as he poured himself a vodka shot into the cup. Ogav meanwhile now made his way to the house, it seems the two ponies guarding it left to sleep so this gave him a advantage, but knowing the town he'll be spotted by everyone resident there so his best option was simple, sneak behind and knock on a window, if they can't open it, then he'll simply shatter i- oh right.. That'll also make noise, he thought to himself. Well he wasn't about to let that stop him anyways, surely the village won't hear him slice a hole in the window... As it all went down Gold Star finally arrived to the castle, the sun was setting and he was suppose to get here before night or otherwise Twilight's owl will start preying on intruders, at least that's what he was told by the men back at the camp with their crazy theories about the castle and it's existence. Like this one theory where it was all staged and that Celestia had purposely released Tirek, another suggests an earthquake, some suggest destiny, and another that is so conspicuous that it makes the alien theory a serious thing. But these things never bothered Gold Star, he believed that it was Harmony and Creator's divine right and reward for Twilight for defending the lands specifically made for the ponies, and the world of course. After turning off his Humvee he stepped outside in the usual happy town where ponies socialize and take pictures of the monumental things that spawned in the middle of their town, but as Gold Star stepped out from the Humvee and knocked on the door of the castle, he gazed upon the beauty of the town and was happy to be where he is rather than the polluted smog filled cities that people called 'safe' sure it protected the people within from the creatures that roamed free but in the case of the beauty he was looking at, it might be worth it despite them being near what humans called "the forest of death" but really it's just like any other forest that their nation has, sure magic is involved within the weather and the land but humanity did most of the work in the continent of Humarica, he sure missed being in American soil that everyone calls sanctuary and solitude, but he continued to think back on the wretched days when he had no choice but to migrate to the lands.. And as fate had it.. He's back to where he started, only in Ponyville and not in Canterlot or his home village that was destroyed... But after a while of gazing and priding the crystal doors opened up and spike looked up and waved happily. "Why hi there! Glad you can make it, I was wondering if you were going to come around!" "Yeah, been a while isn't it? I assume the castle is fine?" Gold Star asked. "Sure is! Well, of course me and Big Mac had been quite messy with the hoofball cards," Spike rolled his eyes, unsticking one of the cards off his tail. "I see, well while I'm here I might as well have a look around so I don't get lost on my next visit," Gold Star considered. "Awesome! I've mapped out the place before I went to sleep, it should be in the map room, follow me," Spike insisted, as Gold Star walked inside of the castle with Spike, and to his amazement he was astounded with the interior he had just stumbled upon, and to think that Twilight lived in a library, this was even more insane! In fact Gold Star briefly snapped a photo and then hid his camera in his satchel while following Spike inside of the map room. "Wow.. I didn't know you had a digital live map??" Gold Stat pondered. "Digital? This was just added today, apparently something to do with cutie marks so and so," he shrugged. "Huh, I could never understand magic stuff," Gold Star said to himself out loud. "Well that's probably because you've lived your entire life in Humarica?" Spike added. "Look, just because I'm a soldier within the Federation doesn't mean I live there, (kinda) for all we know I could've lived here once!" Ranted the tanned pony. "Just saying," Spike denoted. But continuing to look around the room he notices the 6 cutie marks hovering over the mountains in the north between the Crystal empire, Yakyakistan, and... Stalliongrad... He grabbed a detailed terrain map with political borders from his left satchel and placed it on the magic map table and started comparing the two maps, after squinting he turned to spike. "Get me a ladder," Gold Star requested, which without hesitation Spike ran to the storage and grabbed a big ladder which he set up and the tanned pony climbed up and hovered the medium sized map over the bright map. He hovered the northern mountain part over the mountains that the cutie marks are floating at and finally once the map finally aligned with the magic map, his face turned terrified, he now feels dread and fear, and his body boiled... "So why did you need a ladder?" Spike asked. "Twilight and all of her friends are in danger.. Oh shit, Spike! You're coming with me this instant!" Yelled Gold as he snatched Spike against his will and ran towards the Humvee where he fastened Spike's seat belt but before he could step on the gas Spike quickly interrupted. "What in Celestia's name are you doing!" "Your half-sister, and all of her friends, they're not only on a journey they're practically heading to their doom! The land that their cutie marks have marked is the soviet lands of Stalliongrad! If they find out that they're there they'll relentlessly capture them! Experiment with them! Or worse! Enslave them!" "WHAT?! THAT MEANS RARITY IS IN DANGER TO! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR STEP ON THE PEDA-" Before Spike finished his sentence Gold Star started the car and hit the gas speeding off back from where he came from knocking Spike back on the seat. As the two head back to the base with haste Ogav was initiating his own type of plan. Heading towards the back the town is subtly quiet, it made him a bit paranoid of the possibility that he may be walking into a trap, of course considering that it would be a act of war when he has to report back to base after 2 days it's something that even these equalist ponies would understand. But what Ogav is technically doing is going up against everything he stood against and just staging a coup at this point against a communist ally, but he could pin the blame on mane 6 and say that they manipulated him. Just like the books that he had read, such as "Once upon a six" it's a children's book, supposedly, and it provided the absolute opposite of what the Mane 6 does which describes how loyal they are to capitalism and extortion and how that the defeats of the villains like Discord and Nightmare moon were all a hoax and that it was all a trick to make the world fall under imperialist debauchery. And for some reason there's an adult version of the book that makes it even worse, with a different title "Grogars Warriors" and it got worse from there.. When he had heard of the victory of the Mane 6 he wasn't really that crazy about it other than just saying alright, but as went on after he fought Tirek he started to understand that perhaps the Mane 6 may have not been all that bad, although with the magical power of the elements of harmony his government may end up searching for a plan to combat this type of raw power. But while he pondered he finally made it to the house that has the infamous Mane 6, he peeled through the window and saw that all but one was asleep so he knocked on the window and it got Twilight's attention but she cautiously approached the window. "Are you princess Twilight Sparkle?" He asked, but Twilight couldn't hear him from the other side, indicating the window was too thick. "Alright get back," he ordered, waving his hand to indicate that she needed to back up which she took notice of and got back. Ogav grabbed his hammer and squinted as he shattered open the window, waking up the sleeping ponies who were resting for the night. "What the- uhm, is that guy back?" Applejack asked. "You couldn't let us sleep for one minute!" Rainbow Dash scolded. "There goes my beauty sleep... As if this nightmare wasn't enough!" Rarity groaned, while Fluttershy and pinkie shrugged and went back to sleep. "It's been two hours you can live, I'm here for other reasons, and one of them is plotting," Ogav elaborated. "Plotting? Plotting what exactly?" Rarity asked. "Starlight's overthrow, clearly what I just saw is something I didn't expect here, I expected the place to be somewhat communist but taking cutie marks and forcing others to live equally is not something my ruler would approve of, especially when you have maniacs with a twisted mind of ideology," Ogav explained. Twilight looked at her friends who were still waking up, but also were untrustworthy of their Rodinian friend considering that they tried to kidnap and steal from Equestria not to mention one nearly killed Twilight, but Twilight looked to Ogav and replied. "Let me speak with my friends real quick." "Hurry, once the sun is up I doubt these types of ponies oversleep," Ogav warned, turning towards the opposite direction. The awakened girls huddled up about Ogav offering his help. "Are you crazy! Do you realize how nuts this is to let this guy specifically help us!" Rainbow Dash voiced. "I have to agree with her, sure the American humans are nice but the Rodinian ones is something I and ma' entire family draw the line at, especially how they sported the Severyanian commies," Applejack added. "And the uniforms are just nasty-" "HEY! I HEARD THAT!" Ogav yelled out. "Sorry I said.." "Look, I the Rodinian's are not really kindred or friendly, but if it means getting out of here and getting our cutie marks then that's a chance I'm willing the take." Twilight said in determination as she walked up to the shattered window. "What rank are you within your army?" "Captain, if you have a plan, say it, I best be on my way back to my room before my men gets suspicious," Ogav rushed. Twilight nodded to her friends who were disbelieving at the fact that their friend is willing to ally with America's sworn enemy, but they gave in and listened in on her plan. And the plan was full proof, so all they needed was a Fluttershy.. Base Alicorn It was just me and the Colonel, doing our own thing and nothing else, he's been doing the base revenue and taxes while I slacked off and made some art on a piece of paper and posted it on the fridge. One of them being me wielding a Machine Gun riding on a flying Celestia shooting aimlessly at nothing but the uncolored blank. "Do you think me and Celestia would ever get together?" "Heh! In your dreams Lieutenant, in your dreams.. Yeesh..." BANG Slammed the door with Gold Star and Spike looking at us with insanity. "TWILIGHT'S IN DANGER!" The two shouted in unison, annoying the Colonel but grabbed my attention. "What.. The.. FUCK MAJOR! DON'T YOU SEE I'M BUSY WITH THE FUCKING PAPER WORK!" Alex shouted back. "Sorry Colonel! But we have an emergency, Twilight Sparkle and her friends are heading to a death trap in the north!" "Nahhhh, really? I thought they went to candy land, besides they've defeated Tirek. I'm sure whatever they're up against they can deal with their magic friendship power or some bullshit," Alex replied. "But Mister! That's one occurring thing! Twilight told me-" "Who authorized him here?" Alex stared. "I did?" Gold Star replied. "Well then I delay your authorization, he's not even supposed to be this deep in the camp!" "But Colonel! You have to understand that most of the stronger magic is inherited inside of the map in her castle, and the map sent her to Stalliongrad! If they find her you know very well what they'll do to her! We should organize a rescue operation an-" "Is that my problem major? She should've done her research like the bookworm she is instead of blindly following a false goddess into their death! Now if that's all you have Major then take this dragon and GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!" Alex shouted in rage, which Gold Star fiercely tilted his hat and left along with Spike and left the office. With that aggressive conversation it left me with the benefit of the doubt that Twilight didn't even know what she was going into, sure she was smart, but when he brought up a single aspect in politics she would deny them, how much she'll most likely regret that. Alex is a jackass, and I've kept that in mind, but holy shit that was a bit harsh especially towards a minor, of course while Spike wasn't allowed on base grounds that is seriously uncalled for.. Meanwhile the two were now sitting outside stumped on what they should do, clearly they can't just grab and plus they'll need a crew, of course since Gold Star is a major he has more serious authority, but what he's plotting here may cost him his rank or worse.. A court martial... "So what now," Spike asked hopelessly. "Now? I don't really know, either A I could go off base unauthorized with a Humvee in an attempt to rescue your half-sister and I'll probably be court marshalled or demoted, or B we could do nothing and your half-sister suffers a terrible fate," The pony major said. "Or option C, you get a group willing to fight, and we can use a Helicopter instead," I added, with two men by my side, one being Private Quag, and the other Private Griffith, Gold Star was surprised, but also it made him question my earlier addition to his options. "Who's going to pilot the helicopter?" Gold Star asked. "Well.... Since I tried to ask one of the pilots and since they said no very aggressively..." "Oh... Oh no..." "I think it's for the best," I affirmed. "Oh no.." . . "ONBOARD MEN! WE'RE GOING TO THE SKY!" Shouted I as the soldiers assisting us climbed aboard the Machine gun attachments and Gold Star and Spike climbing inside. "I have a bad feeling about this..." "I didn't expect to be here?" Spike said, which no one heard due to the noise and so Gold Star slid a pair of headphones on Spike's dragon ears. "Repeat that dragon?" I asked, turning towards the window and flicking switches. "I said, I didn't expect to be here!" Spike repeats. "I know, kid, but I suggest you hold on to your dear life!" Gold Star suggested. "Why?" He asks. Immediately I took the helicopter off from its helipad into the sky, and shook around a bit trying to get my grip with the controls, as this is my first time officially flying a helicopter, although I only passed the first phase of the class I'm sure I can manage with the knowledge I have, but on the ground level however, it grabbed someone's attention from the ground. The Colonel was just stepping out of the officers quarters readying to pour in water for the plants in his private harmonious garden when he noticed the Huey taking off and flew right above him drifting and blowing the wind filled dust into the flowers that he was watering. After uncovering his eyes from the draft he sees what was once his personal garden now a desert wasteland as he stared at the sky and shouted in rage. "DAMN YOU GOLD STARRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The New World \| Millennium	Operation Go-2	Pentagon electric boogaloo The time is currently 200 hours and Phil the Griffin had been drinking his coffee outside of the meeting room, the men were currently designing how big the space should the vehicle be, and the armor, however, it was then that a Sergeant Major approached him. "Colonel Phil sir, the general council requests your presence," the Sergeant informed. "Alright, show me the way then," Phil ordered, as the two went inside and walked through a busy hallway and then turned left at the room which in it was four occupied seats of generals, with one being unoccupied and reserved for the High General MacArthur. Phil took a seat on a hard metal chair which didn't comfort him. "Colonel Phil correct?" "Yes sir," replied the griffon, as the general held a piece of paper. "After reviewing the blueprints you've drawn up there is currently an issue with the design," said General Galvin. "Such as?" "Currently the designer had specifically said in his memo, and I quote, "60 Miles per hour, with... Heavy armor is surprising because it is usually the heaviest on a vehicle type, and of course, within capacity, it is in range of expectation." Now Mr. Phil, if I'm reading this correctly your design, has great potential of being deployed and produce only but already there are some questions regarding safety concerns such as the capability of withstanding mines as demonstrated not long ago today, and with plans of shooting a Rodinian crafted RPG-7 at it it is sure to pass I can assure, of course, I can tell you that it does have a capability of withstanding IED's and ambush type attacks, I and the rest of the cabinet have somewhat agreed to allow it to be in service... But..." "But sir?" "Once it does pass it can only be used for medical evacuations and/or scouting operations, along with replenishing frontline troops and evacuating them due to the M113 already in use, so of course by the looks of the design module we can easily mass produce these no doubt because of the shape but with the Bradley on the other hand it would surprisingly seem that the Stryker is more faster, so this would be about a year until the Stryker may be in official combat service. So it will only have to serve as a support vehicle for one year, unless..." "Unless what sir?" "Unless you could modify the design, or at least make alternate versions, make it customizable, Ect. of course from what I can tell the M113 is pretty outdated, so keeping the Stryker as it is would not be long, however suggesting alternate version could upheave if not enhance the chances of it seeing early combat. "And what about the old M113?" Asked Phil. "Well, as for the M113 it would most likely be either decommissioned or given to Equestria as a gift now with that said Colonel, you are dismissed, now anyways onto another agenda-" SLAM "OPEN UP THE VINE GLASS BOB IT'S GETTING APPROVED!" Ranted Phil. "Well congrats sir, though it would be a year until that thing gets to see any combat action," the designer said. "Of... Course... It's alright, It's alright, clearly, we need to make other sort of alternative models, something that can give a bigger bang while also maintaining speed, and maybe be used as a command post but also directly in combat," Phil blurted his suggestion turning to his designer and had a brilliant idea. "How big should the space be?" Phil riddled. "However big it should be, sir," replied Bob the designer. Moskva The Red Mother was busy with her work as she reviewed applications for the opening position of "advisory of the Mother" All the applications so far are nothing close to what she expects. She is awaiting one more application if she doesn't get the perfect person then she'll have to initiate the selection, which is basically handpicked and immediate inauguration for the person selected. As you may not know, while Rodinia has a Supreme Soviet council unlike the powers Stalliongrad has, the party is ruled by three. Obviously, the most powerful one is the Red Mother which is a spot permanent to her and to her only, with the power of controlling everything that goes on in Rodinia, but she prefers to focus on economic and social status within her country, which brings us to General Secretary levels. Below is the General Secretary, currently held by Leonid Brezhnev, the holder of this can control the economy, foreign relations, and anything related to military business. Finally, there's the mother advisor, whose purpose is to advise, but also stand as the Vice President for both positions whether one is on vacation or on a diplomatic trip in which the advisor is given temporary powers. In the event that something happens to the General Secretary, like being killed in a fiery inferno, the Advisor would be inaugurated into the position. But with no advisor. Due to the imprisonment of the previous one, the Red Mother worked day and night to get the position filled as fast as possible, but at that time a military General, General Khabarov, arrived with a folder marked "Classified" as he approached the Red Mother's desk and saluted her. "Ah general, is that the last application?" The Red Mother asks. "No, our Red Mother, the Rodinian Intelligence Bureau has a report they wish to provide," replied the general. " Of course, set it on my table I'll read it later," she said. "Ma'am, I've been told to come back with your signature, they say it's urgent," he expressed. "Urgent you say? Very well, let's see what we have that's urgent then," she reckoned, as she opened the folder that the general handed her and looked at it with distraught tension. "How long has this been under our noses!" She asked. "Ma'am this was 24 hours ago, we believe they're still in the town," the general replied. "24 hours!?? Damn, this ineffective mess! First chance I get once I finish with the final stages of economic reforms, I'll be getting this reformed next! But first, get me General Perov, I am authorizing Operation "Go To," I will not have these Equestrian imperialists invade our allied territory not again! Not ever! If I ever grabbed my hands on that SMILE director I'll ring his throat!" The Red Mother protested. "Understood Our Red Mother, it shall be done." Camp Vorganov, Stalliongrad, 10 miles away from Starlight's town General Perov was conversing with his officers at this time before the messenger came in with a distressing report... "General Volinsky, orders from the Red Palace sir," the soldier informed, handing him the red letter, a rare type of envelope only given on the occasion of emergencies, when Perov saw the letter he snatched it off the messenger and opened it with great anticipation. Of course, his excitement died off when he read its regards to Starlight's town until he sees the information that the SMILE agent is considered dangerous, and possibly an Alicorn, it was when his excitement was revived, finally, he has an actual challenge besides suppression in Petershoof, he can now fight a fucking powerful Alicorn in the field of battle, his dream was to claim one's head for the prize in the name of the motherland. Of course, being there are only four he wondered which one had challenged the motherland might. But with that, he turned to his officers who were peeking from his shoulders and ordered. "Order the men to pack up! We depart immediately!" He then turned to one of his Lieutenants and added. "Deploy the 43rd airborne unit at once, and.. Use the MI-24 gunships, they're good hunting tools for an Alicorn, be sure to shoot it on sight," he ordered. "Yes, general!" Replied his officer, as he ran towards the helipads to prepare the takeoff procedures. Meanwhile, the troops gathered and packed their things with some using helmets, some tying bandanas on their heads, and others putting on caps and loading their AKMs for combat. The armor brigades are also activated with Heavy armor, Anti-Aircraft vehicles, multi-infantry armor personal, IFVs, and motor vehicles revving up their engines while a squad battalion consisting of UAZs rolls up ahead to lead the armored convoy spearheading right towards Starlight's town while General Perov stepped on board an MI-17 helicopter armed with rocket pods and dual machine guns before taking off and heading to the target area. And so... Operation Go-To was about to begin... Base Alicorn "They did what!" General MacArthur said in a surprised tone. "Yes sir, you've heard that correctly, they've stolen a Huey and they're heading into enemy territory," Alex repeated. "How the hell could you have let this happen? Those two idiots realize that if they attack a single Rodine trooper it'll be war with every communist state in this world. Do you realize that Colonel!" "Yes sir I have, I currently have Patton on the case but.." "But what?" "Apparently his men reported that they've been ordered to stand down and let the... "Patriotic heroes fight the commie bastards..." That's what the report said by the way," Alex read. "Damn that guy! If he weren't out of our jurisdiction I would've had him court martialed!" MacArthur ranted. "But it is in Equestria's hands is it not?" Replied the Colonel. "What about the case with the princesses," the general asked. "Oh they've been briefed alright, in fact just as I was about to call you 40 minutes ago they sent me a message regarding Twilight Sparkle, they've basically officialized the whole thing as a sanctioned mission," the Colonel added. "Of course... But you do realize Gold Star will be answering for stealing property!" MacArthur said. "And if Equestria calls for an acquaintance?" The Colonel asks. "Even if he is acquainted he is not getting out of this without a scratch, Mark my words Colonel I gave better expectations than this and I've offered to allow you to make him your protege and now he's about to be a symbol of bad influence amongst our men!" The General scolded. "I did my best, but I wasn't given much more experience since my former commanding officer was forced to retire to the countryside, he told me this, "I wish I knew the country that I was fighting for, now it's nothing than what it was," and clearly I'm starting to see a little bit more than the meaning general, good day to you, sir.." As the Colonel hung up the phone, he felt like he was backed into a corner, but this was Gold Star's problem, not his. "Right?" But without knowing, things just got complicated. Especially when the media is involved. White House "And that's why I think we should all just sit down and talk about our problems after all, no one gave it a try, so why not start now?" "Thank you sir for the interview." "No no thank you." "Now unfortunately we have to finish here as we have breaking news in the Equestrian region regarding a rogue military operation being conducted. More on that on NBC news." As the outro music played and displayed the commercials, Reagan turned the television off and turned towards Uncle Sam, who was also watching it. "So it seems Gold Star had gone rogue, so the media says," Reagan summarized. "Hm. You think the Rodinians would further respond to this," Uncle Sam added. "Oh, they responded alright, from what the unit told me, was that the Knife Brigade and two pairs of motor units are being dispatched towards Starlight's town, and worryingly I doubt Gold Star and his team won't make it in time," Reagan speculated. "I can see two things occurring, one being that Yates and Gold Star don't make it in time and Twilight and her friends are captured, or two Yates and Gold Star don't make it but Twilight and her friends fought off the mess called the Rodinians, and met up and escaped with Gold Star and Yates, any of them can occur, but I'm willing to bet on the second option." "I'm not much of a gambler, so the best case is to sit back and watch, of course, if they're successful I have no doubt the princesses both Celestia and Luna would pardon Gold Star, and I guess I would too, but in the matter of international court however is the question.." "You know. That's the one thing I wish I never made, while it serves as a judicial system for world affairs since the... War with Equestria, I never saw anything done about the Rodinian atrocities being committed," Uncle Sam grunted. "Nor our atrocities in Zebrica for that matter, although it is what the Z.I.T.S deserve for the basement bombing of the World Trade Center in 998, and the other things they've committed towards the Equestrian ponies, despite their neutral stance in our war against them, they were evil yes but are we no better when it comes to the capture of one of them?" Reagan inquired while Uncle Sam tilted his head down and shook. "The war with Z.I.T.S, while it may have been righteous, we've opened ourselves to our real enemy, the communists, and just given away our security, and it seems they'll use the international court against us, and they will no doubt dismantle the personal diplomacy in exchange for Gold Star not rotting in jail." "Or Yates for that matter, he's your protege may I remind you?" Reagan added, and Uncle Sam looked at the president with deep content and puzzled facial expression. "Indeed he is..." Starlight's Town, 27 hours before Perov's arrival The sun was rising and Ogav and his crew were asleep. It was only 20 minutes outside and Ogav felt tired for a long while from the travel and the unpacking. As he slept soundly, however, his Nokia ringed which woke the crew men making them complain while Ogav quickly declined the phone. "Whoever the hell is calling me at this time has a lot of nerve," Ogav said, closing his Nokia and going back to sleep. For the rest of the 34 minutes of sleep a crowd of ponies gathered outside of what is to be the "Equal Chamber" and with such disturbance the men were about to get up and throw something towards the pony before Ogav blocked them and got his camouflage suit on and went outside to investigate the noise. It turns out that it was some type of initiation, in their typical way at least, and so Ogav listened in the ongoing conversation in the village. "The whole village joins together to build you your own cottage-" "NOT INTERESTED!" Yelled Rainbow Dash in anger. ":(" "You may have them now! But we are going to get our cutie marks back!" Rainbow Dash added. "Yall don't understand do ya! You can't force no pony to be friends! I don't work like that!" Applejack stated. "Please join us!" One pony happily begged. "We love new friends!" Yelled another. "It's all right everypony this is a perfectly normal part of the equalization process for those who haven't..." Starlight paused and then continued. "Quite seen the light yet... But we'll try again tomorrow once you've had a bit more time to consider our philosophy!" She then nodded her head multiple times to signal her fellow ponies to place the mane 6 back inside of the building/town prison, at the last minute Twilight stomped her hind hoof and Fluttershy spoke out. "I like to join~!" She shyly said, before covering her mouth which shocked the crowd before they cheered in happiness. Following this Twilight speaks the signal that the group had planned and Ogav nods his head, but before he executes the next phase, he wants to make a phone call to his Babushka, so he goes back inside the building with the room filled with sleepy men still resting, while the only awake was curious with his captain as he sits down on the bed and grabs his phone. "Something wrong sir?" Asked one of the crewmen. "Nothing is wrong, just making a phone call," Ogav replied, dialing the number to his babushka. Tartarstan Region Babushka, or Galina Volklav, was making supper for his grandson's daughter in law who was in the living room watching the usual Rodinian cartoon shows like Hedgehogs in the Fog, or Kitten named Woof, it was Natasha's favorite shows so far and Babushka was happy for it, but it was then that the built-in telephone ringed in the kitchen where she was cooking in and she turned the stove off and grabbed the phone. "Volklav residence?" "Hey Babushka," Ogav greeted. "OHH! Grandson! How are you, how's Stalliongrad, did you pick me those Equine flowers? Actually, I should be asking are you okay??" She asked. "Yes Babushka I'm fine, how's Natasha doing?" He asked. "Oh her? That little angel had been doing fine, she even one time dreamed of being like you! And she said it over dinner just last night in fact," Babushka chuckled and Ogav behind the phone line smiled at the news but then frowned in silence. Babushka recognized such silence as before as she grew worried about her grandson being silent in a phone conversation. "Is everything alright?" She asked, which broke Ogav out of his trance and reassured her. "Yes everything is fine Babushka, just thinking that's all, just tell Natasha I love her, and keep her safe that's all," Ogav requested before he hung up the phone, which Babushka did the same. Babushka turned towards the oven and continued cooking the supper that she'd been preparing, while doing so she thought about her grandson and the day he brought a little to her home. Gregory Blvd. 1 year earlier It was on that day that Ogav was off duty carrying the girl he had legally adopted after his commanding officer almost placed her in an orphanage, when he gave his promise to his daughter-in-law's mother he intended to keep it but with the military in the other hand he needed someone to take care of her, and so it was that day after his letter was approved to get two days off from military service, he and Natasha walked through the snow-filled streets with cars plowing through the snow 24/7 he and Natasha with winter boots covered in 4-inch snow arrived to Babushka's front door and knocked. . . Knock Knock Knock "Coming! Oh blasted curtain! Coming! Coming!" Babushka repeated until opening the door seeing her grandson waving slowly and in a burst of happiness. "OGALI!!!" The two embraced in a hug as the two swung left and right until she got a glimpse of Natasha and kneeled down to the little girl's level and said. "Well hi there miss! I've seemed to have missed something, did I miss a marriage invitation or something?" Babushka asked, chuckling and petting the little girl Natasha finally broke her silence and chuckled. "Hehe, that tickles!" As the two continued to play a bit with each other Ogav was standing there watching how much of a childhood he had once... Finally, Babushka got on her feet and cheekily smiled at her grandson. "So Ogali, what brought you back home?" She asked. "Maybe it's best to wait until dinner wouldn't you say?" Ogav smiled. "Ah right right! I got something warm brewing up in the good old pot, well don't just sit there like a pack of rocks come in! Come in! Take a seat and get warm in the fire, better yet go watch some television and relax while I get the food ready!" As the two went on it's best to mention Galina being in her 70s and a healthy woman she was once a part of the old soviet committee that was established during the civil war that resulted in the victory of the Soviet army, since then after her retirement from the committee after it was disbanded in favor for the Supreme Soviet in 998 she had been one of the oldest serving members of the old committee, nowadays she sits in her house getting daily visits with her neighbors and drinking coffee with her old friends who retired before the committee's disbandments, she would also have famous people come up to her house and chat with her once in a while before giving them a farewell goodbye. And while that she continued to live her life in wealth and prosperity while donating money to those who couldn't help themselves. It was then after she was making the food, she and Ogav went to the upstairs living room leaving Natasha to her own device and the two spoke about the event between Thestria and Argendina, how he was placed in charge of sending equipment into Thestria along with passing Blueprints from the Abrams to them and modifying it to some sort of new armor tank, along with additional guns, Ogav felt sick to his stomach when he realized he became the architect of a war that ruined Natasha and her mother's lives... Something Ogav could never shake off from that day... But to Babushka's response, she just handed him a cup of Hot Chocolate and simply said, "Warm up son, it's the past, live with it." Obviously, it was harsh and strict, but the woman had a point he was following orders, and disobeying them was grounds for execution or imprisonment, as she offered the hot chocolate Ogav looked up and smiled at her as it reminded him of the remaining family he had left. After that Babushka and Ogav along with Natasha, went to bed on that night. Team America The sounds of propellers and I are what is between us from the below and yonder, yes I knew how to pilot a helicopter the problem is that I usually have the helicopter pilots, pilot the helicopter because I have the tendency of.. Well, let's just say it wasn't a smooth landing, nor a nice one either. But so far we're still flying in the air whether it's dumb luck or me actually learning very fast how to pilot the thing but to my knowledge, I should be ready at the moment to bail out, although I think this thing only has four Parachutes enough for all of us, well except for Spike I'm sure I can grip him tight as we bail, though I feel we should've packed more than four. Hm. But anyway, the ride was steady and Gold Star and Spike were sitting beside each other on the helicopter seat with the other two guys who went with us holding the machine guns, ready to shoot at a moment's notice. "Do you think Twilight could handle herself?" Spike asked. "Well when you come to terms she can take down let's say Chrysalis by herself as she did once when she was only a unicorn and Chrysalis kidnapped three fillies, but when it comes to the Soviet army on the other hand though... She can fight a single powerful foe, but she can't fight tanks or helicopters, especially the types that are very dangerous," Gold Star answered leaving Spike in a strange calm feeling. " So, is it possible that she could fight them?" Spike speculated. "I mean, she has all of her friends and I'm sure with them they can take out an army, right?" The pony major sighed at Spike's naive question or speculation, but he didn't blame him as he was only a kid, a kid that can do a lot and no one would ever think that a kid such as him would do spectacular things, but Spike is young and doesn't understand the basic meaning behind war or arms race, other than the simple life of a quiet town that is somehow attacked from time to time. But of course, as a matter of answer, he doesn't have one, of course, it may be possible for Twilight Sparkle to fight off pieces of an army but when she's up against a lot there's an amount of doubt within the Major's mind considering that he has seen a glimpse of Twilight's true potential, it made him shudder about how he and Twilight had become friends and yet somehow even closer than friends, (kinda), but he was willing to keep her and her friends safe even if it meant breaking a few international laws that will probably land him in jail. "I don't really know, all I can know is that the sooner we get there, the sooner we can extract them out and fast," Gold Star answered. "Hey, Major," I spoke. "We're now reaching the Stalliongrad border, and get this, it seems that the area those 6 went to apparently has its own country borders." "That country being?" "Our Country, sir, it seems the map may have a mind of its own to send them there." "Why's that?" He asked. "Because apparently it's known to take away pony's cutie marks and forces their residents to live "equally" according to the regional handbook," I informed. "Lemme see that?" Gold Star requested as I handed him the book that had details on every country and how they run, weird enough this country I mentioned seemed to be entirely new if not recent, I have no idea why but this will probably draw up some controversy obviously but that's on the Stalliongradian's not us. What we're trying to do is prevent an international incident by crossing a line. To be sure to find the line in the morning. Canterlot, 2:30 AM ETZ The envoy from America arrives inside the castle heavily guarded by the Royal guards and security agents who kept a tight perimeter at the height of the event ongoing. Inside the meeting room sits Princess Luna, and a Rodinian envoy who also is present in the room. The two shook hands and then sat down to begin opening business upon the open eyes of the Blue Alicorn princess who watched this conversation between the major powers. "It's clear that the Equestrian government prefers that we negotiate despite our arms race against each other, however, I would like to point out the current situation regarding your men going rogue, do you have an explanation, sir?" Asked the Rodinian diplomat. "Actually I have some sort of explanation of what going on, while it may not be confirmed we have reason to believe that Princess Twilight Sparkle along with her other 5 compatriots had traveled to a town that is inside of Stalliongrad, while as I said, is not confirmed as of yet, we have a reason to believe that it may be this fact," the American diplomat responded, giving Luna both intrigue and slight worry over this claim... "What makes you believe all that exactly?" The Rodinian asked. "Because studying so far from the documentation that Gold Star had done with the personal diplomacy, it says here, and I quote, "very pleasant and nice, and both share common hobbies in which in the case of this assignment I feel happy being close to somepony I know" end quote, so tell me if this lines up or not, you got Gold Star leading an unauthorized operation he calls by a "Rescue" and then you have ponies reportedly wondering where the princess of Friendship is at? Now you tell me good sir do you think this doesn't line up or not?" The American diplomat questioned, making the Rodinian look dumbfounded but then shook his head. "We will figure that out once the army that Our Red Mother had dispatched arrived, otherwise I doubt this would be the case," the Rodinian said. "Sure, but I may ask exactly who's in charge of this army? Last I saw it was General Perov, and from what I can understand he's considered a worldwide threat to sovereign peace, let alone an ambitious go-getter and national hero of Rodinia, I'm not blind Mr. Heliski, I know this guy because I once fought him back in Arabia, I'm a veteran of the Arabia wars (999-1002) and look at me now, a damn lawyer to my country which by the way I proudly serve! And if anything, if this country's fourth and important princess is detained, captured, or oh I don't know, injured! Then your country will reap the consequences, good sir! And Equestria will figure out with their dammed right minds that they will-!" "That's enough Mr. James, you said your plenty," Luna intervened, rising from her seat and motioning the American diplomat to sit down which he acknowledged by sitting down on his seat. She then turned towards the Rodinian diplomat and said. "If you have the slightest soul Heliski, now is the time to make a call and inform her," Luna advised. "Understood Mrs. Luna," replied the Rodinian diplomat, getting from his seat and leaving the room with Luna and the American diplomat. Moskva, Kremlin center Being escorted by her men from paparazzi who were trying to interview her about the recent economic reform or a simple tourist picture for the photo album her phone rang and she then motioned to enter one of her private restaurants where she made the connection. "Eleanor here, make your peace," she said. "Our Red Mother, it is me Heliski," greeted the diplomat. "Ah, Vladimir Heliski, report on the diplomatic talks?" She asked, taking a sip of her tea complimentary of the restaurant personnel. "So far it's intense, and we might have a slight issue." The Red Mother looked at her phone with a ridiculed face and then continued. "What type of issue?" She asked. "We have reason to believe the Alicorn agent is Twilight Sparkle, they also believe she may have not been spying at all rather than-" Immediately the Red Mother spat out her tea in a surprised manner. "Twilight Sparkle!?" "Yes Our Red Mother, is there a problem?" He asked. "Damn them whoever made that report! I'm calling back my men!" She yelled out loud when Brezhnev entered the cafe with a documented report. "Too late, I have just gotten a report from Perov, he's already enroute to the town as we speak, by the time we send the callback order he will already have arrived ma'am," reported the Secretary-General, which the Red Mother looked in shocked at her earlier decision. "Gracious. What have I done!" Night time in Starlight's town, approx. 9 hours before arrival The time had come, it was nighttime, his men were asleep, the tank still parked, and he left his pistol in the cottage. Well, nothing like leaving behind a weapon It's not like they even have an army here in the first place he would think. He leaned on the cottage that holds the mane si- five until he and Fluttershy could get their cutie marks and then plan how to deal with Starlight's totalitarian debauchery, but finally just as planned Fluttershy peaked herself up from the chimney, shaking herself from the musk of dust on her, and then repeat the mantra that Twilight had told her to repeat. "Get the cutie marks back, that's all you have to do Fluttershy," she said to herself when Ogav flickered a laser on the chimney multiple times, which Fluttershy noticed and waved towards the Rodinian which he waved right back, but before she got off the roof Starlight and Double Diamond approached Ogav hid behind a barrel staring at Starlight's flank with a glaring stare. "Excellent work Double Diamond," Starlight congratulated. "Of course, but I don't understand why you wanted me to bring them here. Fluttershy is one of us now, surely she can be trusted?" Double Diamond affirmed. "This one belongs to a princess! This could be very important to our cause," Starlight defined, raising the glass bottle that contains Twilight's cutie mark while Fluttershy looked through the window with worry. "But if Twilight Sparkle becomes our friend then what do we care about this old cutie mark?" Double Diamond questioned. "I just want to keep them close until everything is... Settled, you may go, Double Diamond," she dismissed as Double Diamond walked out the door unknowing that behind the opened door was Ogav who snuck through in the heat of the night listening in on the convo with suspicion written all over his face before being bumped by Fluttershy. "Oof!" "Oh, sorry," She apologized, to which Ogav nodded in understanding, what came next was a sudden crashing sound followed by water and growling from Starlight, Fluttershy and Ogav nodded, and one flew and the other climbed up the house. "Military training... Don't let me down!" He muttered, as he lifted himself on the window and peaked through with Fluttershy at his left. "Ah, Starlight you clumsy fool!" She scolded. She then placed the glass jars down on the counter chore and grabbed a towel that sat perfectly folded on top rubbing herself with it before Ogav and Fluttershy's eyes widened in surprise Fluttershy gave out a gasp before being dragged down by Ogav with his hands covering Fluttershy's mussel while shushing her quiet. After peering at her window Starlight shrugged and went to bed and then after the lights were off Ogav released Fluttershy's mouth which she breathed deeply. "Has.. Anypony tell you how bad your gloves smell??" She heaved. "Eh, sorry been a while since I washed them," he whispered, but then he looked up from a glare to full-on anger. "Damn, bastard! I should've known she was a phony this whole time! And to think this town was equal!" "We need to tell Twilight, she might know what to do," Fluttershy suggested. "Lead the way then." Eagle Base: Crystal City Patton had been hard at work at keeping the base tidy and preparing refueling stations when the heroes arrived because unlike his country and its aging general, he sees the whole event as a righteous rescue, of course being an old age general himself he still has the capacity to shoot some bastards in the head once in a while. Upon inspecting fuel depot one. Prince Shining entered the base with troops saluting briefly as he trotted past the base Military security who allowed him access. Patton was personally looking inside the fuel barrel and then scolding his men for not filling it before he noticed Shining Armor, who was watching Patton scold his men, staring at the general. "Now dammit! It's been thousands of years and you should know by now that we are not running a circus! Now get back to fuel depot 5 AND BRING ME A BARREL FULL OF FUEL!" The troops in question having the fear of creation placed inside them aggressively saluted and rolled the barrel to depot 5. "HEY HEY! AND BE CAREFUL ROLLING THAT! YOU HEAR ME! Now then.." Patton turned towards the patient Captain/Prince spoke. "Captain Armor, glad to see you set foot, or hoof, (or whatever you call footsteps here) on base grounds, what brings you here?" Patton asked. "I'm not here for anything else other than to help you, in fact so does everypony with me." About eight to nine of the Imperial Royal Guard had come with Shining Armor to help out as well. "What made you decide this Captain?" He asked. "Because that's my sister they're trying to rescue!" "Grab a M1 and get to rolling with those barrels." Base Alicorn The Colonel slammed the newspaper on the table in shock. "Those commie bastards! Gold Star was on to something after all!" Alex said to himself in front of a military messenger who delivered the newspaper. "Are you recommending we intervene sir?" The messenger asked. "No, now get out, dismissed!" Alex demanded, which the messenger saluted and left the room leaving the Colonel and his phone as he grabbed a cigarette and lit it with a lighter giving a puff or two before he grabbed the phone and made the connection with his commanding officer. The Pentagon The telephone rings twice on the desk before being picked up by the Colonel's Commanding officer who was reading the newspaper. "Carville speaking." "General." "Ah Colonel Alex, I assume you're calling me about the whole mess in Equestria," Carville assumed, looking at the newspaper and listening in on the phone. "H-how did you know sir?" Alex asked. "Because I'm reading about it right now, I don't know what the Major did but-" "Sir I will be dealing with him for stealing property!" Alex interrupted. "No, I was going to say that he'll be getting the Medal of Bravery after this is all sorted out," Carville smirked. "Medal sir?" "You heard that right Colonel, although he did steal a piece of government property a single Huey isn't nothing is nothing compared to the good old black hawks, makes me want to buy those instead, of course considering budget Huey's are the only thing we can afford right now since I've used much of the budget on the Bradley's and HIMARs, which reminds me I hear rumors of a possible new troop carrier that's coming out soon, and I heard our division will be the first to use it, now Colonel I should probably advise you on two things, number one don't piss off good Uncle Sam, and two don't piss off Twilight Sparkle or Celestia if you do that you've done more harm than good you get the context?" "I.. Believe sir, but what about General MacArthur?" The Colonel asked. "Well that fella is another story, but let's just say he and the president are currently having a discussion over this incident let's hope the president says otherwise, but until then is that all you wish to talk to me about Colonel?" The General asked. "Actually there is, regarding Yates." "Ah yes, that excellent fellow, lives an American life but also gets things done around the base, yet a bit childish at times but he has good spirit no doubt, I never had my doubts with the blood of Luther and I'm sure Luther himself would be happy to see his descendent live out his legacy, minus the staff of course creator forbid, but yeah what about him?" "Well I did some research on him and his rank is a bit overdue, but the problem isn't just that he has participated in Gold Star's unauthorized operation as the pilot of the operation!" Alex exclaimed giving Carville a thought in his mind. "Hmm, now that does sound like a problem, doesn't it? Then that case consider this operation authorized by me and me only under my sanction," Carville replied. "B-b-S-sir!?" "Did I stutter Colonel? Or do I have to remind you that you've been drinking the usual high-volume alcohol on duty on base? You should be glad you have those two, otherwise, you would've found yourself in the streets, working at a seven-eleven! Now if you have any more complaints on this line I don't want to hear it now is that understood Colonel!" The General scolded. "Yes, sir..." "Good then have a nice day then." As both phones are hung up leaving Colonel Speechless, General Carville at the Pentagon office looks back to his Newspaper putting his feet on the desk. "Now where were we, ah yeah, my crossword puzzle." Starlight's town "This is Cheka 1, what's the status of the convoy." "Delayed as of current sir, there's currently a sheep trail going by the" "Shoot them." "What?" "Shoot them, crush them, do something, no one not even animals delays our convoy." "Understood... Sir..." . . . Day two, and Ogav and his crewmen started packing their things with two placing their duffle bags filled with clothes on top of the turret with the other guy being helped by his captain who helped pack his extra clothes, smoke grenades, and toothbrush. One of the three men was curious about Ogav as it seemed that their captain was a bit sleepier than usual. "So cap? I notice you're a bit sleepy, can you explain why?" Asked the pilot crewmen. "Watch." Ogav chuckled, leaning on the front of his tank as a crowd of ponies gathered around the cottage containing the mane 5 out of the 6. "I've got a good feeling about today!" Starlight smiled at the miserable-faced ponies. "So! Do any of you have anything you'd like to say?" Obviously, the girls were silent even at times ignoring her which Starlight pitied. "A pity, well let's try this again tomorrow, shall we?" As the girls were being escorted Starlight announced. "No new friends today I'm afraid!" However Fluttershy as expected spoke. "Wait! I like to lock them in!" Fluttershy requested. "Marvelous Fluttershy! That's the spirit! Party favor will you join us please?" Starlight asked, as the blue-grayed pony ran out from the town prison and kissed her hooves in plea. "I'M SORRY STARLIGHT I'M SORRY EVERYPONY! I'VE SEEN THE ERROR OF MY WAYS!" Party favor begged. "I never want to look at my cutie mark again!" This satisfied the Unicorn which she smiled and replied. "It seems there's calls for celebration after all!" The ponies cheered, and Ogav grunted interrupting the cheering and focusing eyes on him which Starlight then walked up towards him. "I wish we could offer you a further stay, but I believe there was something you wanted to ask me?" Starlight mentions. "Of course, I wish to ask if we can blow up that railway in the mountains illegally built by the Equestrians." Starlight raised her brow a bit and then answered. "Why no, why do that when we're about to be a change in the land of Equestria!" "That's what I'm afraid of..." Ogav whispered to himself when Fluttershy trotted from the door. "Um... Starlight? I think we might have one more friend joining us today," Fluttershy informed as Twilight Sparkle walked from the door which shocked everyone including the spectating tank crew who were in disbelief to see a princess of Equestria committing to such a choice. But no Ogav, although he was surprised on the outside, but on the inside, he knew what her plan was next, and he turned his dumbfounding into an evil-like smirk. Starlight turned around from Ogav and questioned. "Is this true?" "I-I think so, but I just want to be sure if I agree to leave my Cutie mark in the vault I'll really be happier?" "Just look around! Equality has given much more happiness than you ever known!" "And you wouldn't let me live here in the village with my old cutie mark?" "Out of the question! A pony with a different cutie mark in our midst would destroy our entire philosophy! We are all equal here!" Ogav chuckled inside of himself with the one word that came to his mind. "Gotcha." "Then how can you explain this!" Fluttershy bellowed throwing a bucket of water on Starlight but missing her entirely, but one droplet from the water splash revealed her cutie mark from a false polish. Everyone is shocked, the locals are shocked, and no one else, like seriously everyone but the locals is somehow surprised how come they didn't see that when she had magic and they didn't? Obviously, she tried to win back the ponies but failed miserably as she went from sane to total insanity Ogav wasn't laughing at that point but rather staring at the pathetic nature it had become at this point. However, the moment she started activating her horn was when Ogav almost drew out his pistol before pausing when Twilight spoke. "Everypony has unique talent and gifts, and when we share them with each other that's how we-" "QUIET!" She shouted in a deep pitch voice. "You can't have that Cutie mark Starlight! Either we're all equal or none of us are!" Immediately the entire town went into open revolt, and as Ogav smiled at this sight his Nokia buzzed indicating that he had a message, so he flipped his phone, and to his shock, he was given an order to... Secure the town by force... "Sir is something wrong-" The men caught a glimpse of the text and the crewmen all stared at him in worry while in the distance the entire town ran to the vault area where their cutie marks were stored, obviously, Ogav looked at them and the text repeated in a decision, the girls attempted to bust down the door with their weakness until finally Ogav finally took action. "You! Get those ponies clear of that door! You! Get this tank running! And Loader! Unload 4/5ths of the gunpowder in one of the shells and shoot down that door!" Ogav ordered. "Uhh.. Yes sir?" They wondered as they went to their post and Ogav went inside of the tank where the shell nearly emptied of it's gunpowder he yelled. "CLEAR THE WAY!" Immediately Twilight and her friends ran from the door and with the push of the pedal the cannon burst a shell where it flew through the air and destroyed the door into nothing but chips, with minimum damage done to the front the mane 6 ran inside to find their cutie marks followed by the other locals who now repossess their cutie marks went to give chase after Starlight Glimmer, the tank crew asks as they see the pony group running afar. "What now sir?" They asked, to which Ogav looked and replied. "Let them go, for now, keep the town steady and... Let's befriend the locals so that when Perov arrives the men may be cheered by the crowd as heroes rather than invaders if you get my point," Ogav ordered, which the men nodded in understanding. "Understood sir, you've saved us all from Petershoof, and we'll save them from the tyrant." "Good to hear comrades... Good to hear..." Ogav looked in the distance with the mane 6 on foot before he could see a glimpse of Twilight Sparkle who paused midway and waved towards the Captain who he happily waved back. "Dasvidaniya Pony." The clock ticks at the moment and the GPS indicates we're getting close. "Hey Major, we only have about 2 miles until we arrive, sir," I informed but paused when I saw a fleet of 6 green dots detected on my radar which Gold Star quickly peeked at the pilot seat and I could feel what he was feeling... My gut was also burning like fire. "They're here... Ah shit! Can this thing go any faster!" Gold Star yelled. "It's as fast as it goes, you better hope they don't get caught by these things, and Creator forbids it better not be a Hind Mil-24 or they're toast," I said in the hope that I would never face these things in battle. "...Let's not think that Lieutenant I heard the stories to you know, but just in case though, hey Spike here's what you can do! You see those green boxes right there at the back!" "Yeah?" Spike replied. "They're filled with high explosive rocket pod munitions, all you need to do is shove them in the rocket pod outside when we engage the enemy is that understood?" Gold Star instructed, but Spike peeked his head out the window to locate the pod, and when he did he gulped in the fear of heights. "Hello?" "A-what?" "I said do you understand what I told you, Spike?" The Major repeated. "Uhh.. Yes yes sure, but uh.. About how high are we again!?" Spike panicked "Listen! Grab a hold of yourself and listen! Your sister is at stake here! If you don't do this right she, her friends, and everyone else in this helicopter is roasted steak! Do you understand that!" Gold Star added on with this fear in logic which Spike, being raised by her half-sister, is now in the same vessel trying to save her, and with this in mind, he now feels the burden of the responsibility he has in the helicopter which feeling this burden he shook his head to clear his mind of the fear and saluted to the Major. "I won't let you down, sir!" "Good to hear! Griffith! Quag! Be ready to agitate our enemy, and no we're not trying to kill anyone, be sure to shoot but miss the enemy ground forces if they shoot at us, as for the possibilities of helicopters though.." "We could aim at the back rudders, the helicopter will spin out of control and the pilots could potentially survive, but in the end, someone is going to die here, and it's not going to be me," I stated. "Let's hope it doesn't have to be this way," Gold Star replied. He then turned towards the window and sighed. "I hope.." With Starlight kicked off of her town the Mane 6, with the help of Ogav blowing down the door with a literal tank, breached Starlight's house to find the Cutie Marks that were stolen from them before they found a secret passageway that leads to the outside, they gathered with the locals who now retained their cutie marks and were willing to help track down Starlight which both groups did. However strangely it seemed that Starlight had enhanced her "Equality" spell because for some reason it would seem that the mane 6 unlike the locals lost the ability to run as they could previously, the princess gave the locals trust and they raced to stop Starlight from reaching the caves. During this struggle, Perov and his transport helicopter surprised everyone when his Mil-8 Helicopter zoomed by above the group giving time for the locals to pounce on Starlight and smash the jars which they successfully did, however, this angered Starlight in a fit of rage upon her own people that she had ruled with an iron hoof on, and in an attempt of revenge, and possibly burning them to a crisp, she fires a lethal spell powerful enough to turn the quadruple into ash, however at the last minute Twilight Sparkle swoops into their aid and blocks Starlight's lethal spell with a all-powerful yet low-level impossible barrier disintegrating the laser-like beam that failed to reach it's target. Starlight gawked at the pony who not only ruined the life she made for herself but now ruined her revenge while also confused about how... "I studied that spell for years! How could you-" "I studied magic for years too but what I didn't know then was that studying could only take me so far, each of my friends has taught me something different about myself! It was their unique gifts, passions, and personalities that helped bring the magic inside of me, I would have never learned that I represented the element of magic without these five, and I certainly wouldn't be here to stop you now!" "Spare me with your sentimental nonsense I-I," Starlight Glimmer was interrupted when she started hearing propeller sounds blowing in the air, soon Twilight Sparkle and everyone else noticed the sounds of propellers echoing from the maintain sides, the locals who assisted earlier worry, Fluttershy coward in fear behind Rainbow Dash, who she and Applejack were both in a tense stance, Twilight and Starlight tried to find the source of the sound, and Pinkie Pie and Rarity were grabbing onto each other bracing for what was to come. And what came was a nightmare with propellers, missile pods on both sides, heat-seeking missiles armed and ready, and a creepy intimidating black-tainted window with below it a Gatling gun capable of turning anyone in the line of fire into kebabs the moment they're hit by the gun. "We've spotted the targets." said a Mil-24 Hind pilot. "Have you found the Alicorn?" Perov asked behind the radio. "Yes, General. But... it's-it's..." "Well? It's what? Spit it out, Pilot!" "It's one of Euqestria's princesses sir..." "Princesses you say..? What color is it?" Perov asked. "...Lavender sir," With silence at first behind the radio, Perov makes his decision. "Exterminate." "Sir?" "Follow your orders pilot, exterminate her and her friends immediately!" Perov aggressively orders. The Pilot looked at the helpless ponies and slowly flicked the safety off with pleasurable guilt. "Forgive me.." Immediately he pressed the button and the Gatling gun sprung to life shooting at the rocks and collapsing the mountainsides as pebbles crumble from the might of the 50 cal machine gun lighting everything into a smoke-filled canyon. Twilight, her friends, and the locals took cover behind the rocks as the helicopter reduced hard solid rock into nothing but powder while Starlight Glimmer smirked at the mane 6 and laughed. With rage built up in her with satisfaction that someone else would finish off the ponies, she laughed continually maniacally. "WHERE'S YOUR FRIENDSHIP NOW!" She shouted, teleporting away from the group and into the cave system where Twilight looked at Double Diamond and the locals, hiding desperately behind a boulder cowardly in fear as the strafe of bullets narrowly missed them by a hair of their manes, and so for their safety she forcibly teleported them back to their hometown of what was once Starlight's town. However, as the locals tried to scramble to figure out what happened they were met by Soviet troops taking up positions in the town with Soviet tanks, cars, jeeps, and mobile infantry as they sat there dumbfounded and horrified at what their town had now become. Ogav looked at the group from a distance and emotionally shook his head in silent despair. . . The mane 6 is all that's left, Rainbow Dash notices the sounds of Starlight running away from their sights but with the Soviet copter continually blasting away at their cover Twilight looked at the cave and gulped. "IN THE CAVE HURRY!" She motioned, as all 6 made a dash to get inside the cave, however, the co-pilot noticed this and fired a rocket pod worth of explosives into the top of the mountain causing an avalanche and burying the cave entrance blocking the six mares from entering inside. "We're trapped!" Fluttershy yelped, as the 6 were now trapped by a helicopter which was like a beast preparing to pounce on its prey on the evening swan. Twilight Sparkle, with no other choice, used her forcefield spell as a last-ditch tactic to block the bullets that were to come with the knowledge of human advancement in anti-magic weaponry she made her last thoughts. "When they start shooting at me run! I'll hold them off!" Twilight instructed. "We're not leaving you! We're friends and friends stick together!" "Yeah! You hear that Meany! We aren't afraid of you!" Pinkie Pie lightly insulted to an emotionless flying craft as the mares stood side by side to brace their fates. The pilot edges his hand on the trigger when he suddenly gets a lock on alert on his radar. "Что за?" Suddenly two missiles are fired from the right side impacting the Hind's back propeller and one other missile hits the Co-pit turning it into a fiery inferno leaving the mares shocked and awed with a mix of horror as the burning helicopter crashes down to the bottom of the mountain chasm and explodes upon the impact of the ground. Appearing from the right is a Huey bell helicopter with American symbols on the side, the six mares stood there confused about a lot of questions until the helicopter landed in front of them and the door opened to find Gold Star in the passenger seat equipped with a helmet and standard uniform holding an M4 assault rifle as he jumped out from the active helicopter. "Are you alright!" He said with a shout. "Gold Star!? How did you find us!" Rainbow Dash asked in a surprise. "Long story, I can explain on the way-" "MAJOR! WE GOT TWO BANDITS HEADING ON OUR RIGHT! TWO GUNSHIPS!" I shouted. "Crap! STORY TIME LATER EVERYONE GET IN!" He ordered as the mares quickly ran onboard the helicopter with Gold Star closing the door behind him, in that moment I quickly got us the hell out of dodge, but we weren't out of this, not yet. Twilight Sparkle breathed in relief before being surprised by Spike embracing her. "Spike! Where did you? Why did you?" "I wanted to be sure that you were okay! Mr. Star brought me with him." "You brought Spike!" Twilight Scolded. "There was no one to take care of him I couldn't leave him on the base!" "Unauthorized at least." I slipped. "What does he mean by that?" Rarity asked when a missile blew up on our left side scaring her to pieces as the helicopters had reached our position. "SHIT! I KNEW I SHOULD'VE USED A BLACK HAWK!" I said to myself, dodging every missile possible and praying the next missile is not one of those heat-seeking air-to-air obliteration tools. "But you can barely pilot this damn thing let alone keep us steady!" Gold Star replied. "Yeah! But at least it has more guns and armor than this sorry piece of shit that I'm piloting!" I replied back. "We need to take those bandits down! Twilight can you use some sort of magic shield spell or something to block the bullet hellfire while I reload?" Gold Star asked, to which Twilight replied. "Consider it done." She then started lighting her horn and shielded our copter deflecting the missiles off of our range. "Griff, quag! Get your asses into shape and start shooting at those communist bastards before they shoot us down!" Gold Star scolded, while the two got to work, opening the doors that Gold Star just closed and returning fire on the shooting gunships, Twilight set her shield to the rate that it allows our bullets to price through while keeping the enemies out. "Yates keep us steady, and just in case we have to do an emergency landing, don't crash us!" "Roger that Major," I replied giving a sudden jolt to the mares behind me. "Major!?" yelled the mares in unison. "Yeah!- Wait you didn't tell them?" I asked. "I... Didn't get the chance?" Gold Star replied with a weak reason which I didn't even care about at this point considering the sounds of explosions surrounding us. "...You know what, forget it, we'll talk about this when we get back to base, just more shooting, less talking." "Hey don't forget who're talking to Lieutenant!" "We're fighting for our lives here Major! Can this discussion wait!" "...Good point." And so without further fuss or argument, Twilight Sparkle continued to shield the helicopter while the men fired the miniguns at the MI-24s that chased us down mercilessly, however to the Rodinian pilot's dismay they prepared their Heat seeking missiles to fire at us, looked intensively at the targeting systems that were aligning the missile to it's marked target and could've fired at us. Which they did as they fired a multi barrage of unguided missiles towards us. But because I am not willing to die here in this god-forsaken land I made a suicide move and jerked around into a zig-zag pattern followed up with an up-and-down move, and let me tell you the mares in the back are having to vomit in our own helmets... This worked actually as the Rodine pilots weren't able to get a target on us but instead, they resorted to using their Gatling guns on us which tore through every rock it had touched, but somehow, just somehow we made it out and Twilight didn't even use her shield, probably because she is vomiting as well or that she almost fell off from the Huey multiple times and had to be caught by Gold Star some of the times followed by the two scolding me all because I was trying to keep us alive. "Can you not shake us!" Rainbow Dash complained. "I think I threw out my dinner..." Pinkie Pie sickly said, before vomiting in my helmet. "Nope... I think that was desert.." "Are you crazy! Are you seriously trying to get us killed!" "Can you keep it steady once in a while too!" "I-I- think I'm gonna-" and then Fluttershy threw up outside of the helicopter her vomit landed on one of the Mi-24 helicopter windows and with that, he crashed into the canyons killing the pilot and obliterating the helicopter. That's it! Even though it's disgusting it just might save our skins. "THROW IT UP OUTSIDE OF THE HELICOPTER!" I shouted. "What did the human say?" Applejack sluggishly asked. "He said... Wait, ah I see, trust him this is a very funny yet disgusting skin-saving idea I'd do it," Gold Star confidently suggested. "Our... Funeral?" Rarity asked, she quickly covered her mouth and barfed out of the helicopter, it missed but Rarity understood what I was aiming at. "Ah, I get it! I knew this disgusting abscess could be of some use, give me his helmet!" Rarity demanded from Pinkie. "Okay... But I'm not sure where this is going," Pinkie said, handing Rarity my helmet now filled with... Lord above I'm gonna need a new helmet after this. She threw my helmet but missed in the midst of a rocket pod flying right toward her face before Twilight's shield ignited and detonated the missile but this threw Rarity off the helicopter and she dropped my helmet below hanging on with her dear life. "RARITY!" "GET BACK!" The next wave of 50 cal strafing was attempted by the last Mil-24 missing Rarity by a tail, Gold Star quickly got to action and grabbed his M4 in an attempt to shoot down the helicopter with small arms fire, obviously, that didn't work, but it did keep the helicopter distracted while Twilight tried to reach for Rarity while also keeping the shield maintained. "GRAB MY HOOF!" Twilight yelled out, as the two mares reached for each other in the midst of the chaotic mid-air firefight. Perov arrived at the town in question, he assigned men to collect information from the locals and so far it intrigued him that the original leader fled because of the Mares known as the mane 6, as his vehicle entered what was once the "Vault" Ogav and his men were searching around the place while the convoy arrived. Perov and Ogav saluted to each other. "Status report captain." "General, it seems from what we can collect from the locals and my experience in being here, it seems Starlight had tempered with our Red Mother's ideology and twisted it for her own self-gain. She used this vault to store what would be the special markings the ponies call 'cutie marks' It seemed her goal was to transform the world with this ideology," Ogav explained, intriguing the general with this thought in mind. "Interesting, although we weren't able to prosecute her there may be another time," Perov stated, turning his back towards Ogav and walking out of the cave. "General? Shouldn't we try to hunt her down instead? What if she gained some sort of discipleship and tried to over throw our country or everyone's countries? She's a threat as long as she lives!" Ogav suggested, which paused Perov in his tracks and kept his back turned with a reply. "Unfortunately I can't take your request with heavy regard any longer," Perov replied, giving Ogav a... Serious burn in his gut. "And.. Why not, sir?" Ogav asked. "One, you've blatantly disobeyed a direct order to ask her and instead you've led a coup de tat against her! The town will most likely be back under Stalliongrad occupation if unless they're lucky, a joint occupation, the pony residence will have to undergo a brainwashing reeducation campaign, and now I'm having to document what just happened upon our arrival!" Perov explained before giving out the simple words. "You, are being reassigned Captain, you're going to Yakyakistan." Ogav was jolted back from what he heard but before he can even reply Perov further adds. "Your crew will be discharged from the army as well." "What!? You can't just do that!" Ogav protest. "These are my orders from the R.I.B. and unless you want to be locked up in the Gulag I would suggest cooperating with them, your crew got it lucky Captain, they'll be provided homes and hopefully they can live with their family, but..." "But?" "In exchange, you must be cut from the picture, that's why I ask of you to go to Yakyakistan, and stay there, consider a promotion Volklav, you become the base chief of a Soviet established base permitted by the Yaks, and the best part is you'll be given more than your average crewmen, you'll be given a thousand of men just like you," Perov smiled, but not the type you would think as inside, the man knew that getting rid of Ogav would be a benefit and Ogav, who sat there and looked at his men being escorted by the Military Police, knew now that he had gambled his luck away. And that luck had landed him into the god-forsaken lands of Yakyakistan... Rarity grabbed Twilight's hoof but slipped, and without further choice, Twilight lowered the shield and used her magic to catch Rarity from free falling to the ground, this greatly leaves us exposed to the last Gunship as it took this moment of window to fire everything it has on us, but I wasn't willing to go down like this. I quickly pulled up confusing the gunship pilot who had been chasing us this whole time and before you knew it he was pulling up too, this was perfect, all I needed now was to align the remaining missile cartridge I had left before I ran out of missile to shoot and then get shot down ourselves. So executing perfectly the entire helicopter was filled with nerve, and since Twilight was weak after pulling Rarity from death itself it was all on me to keep us alive, Gold star closed the door and held on to the bars inside and so did everyone else, although they were weak they held onto the bars as tight as they can. Without expectation, I twisted the pilot stick aggressively and unloaded everything on that son of a bitch who was following us from machine guns to the missiles I had left the pilot who had been chasing us this entire time dies with his Helicopter, but there was no cheer rather than an eerie silence which was understandable. So once I got the helicopter balanced and steady I made a turn back toward Equestria, and with fuel though it was enough to be able to make it to Crystal City. So after the whole excitement, the six mares sat down in relief while Gold Star looked at them with relief but confusion. "Why the heck did you follow the map?" Gold Star questioned. "Map? You mean the castle map?" Twilight replied. "Yes that map, what made you decide that the map wants you specifically in Stalliongrad?" Gold Star exclaimed. "Because of the ponies," AJ interjected. "They've been suppressed and stripped their Cute marks, and I don't know what brought them commies here but it seems they clearly didn't give enough care for Starlight." "Starlight?" "Yeah?" "Oh right, he wasn't with us remember?" Fluttershy pointed out. "Of course, he didn't go with us, because obviously, he'd already known the trap we were walking into when we were at that vault that Twilight led us to," Rainbow Dash bleated. "I didn't know about the trap either, if anything I didn't know at all about what we were walking into, I assumed it was friendly but the way they tried to force ponies to live with them... That wasn't a friendship that was-" "Communism, and it seems this "Starlight" pony had made a new bi-product version of it, Great! Just what we needed," grumbled the tan stallion. "But in the end, we are grateful for what you did back there," Twilight gracefully thanked. "Yeah, even though it was tight you did save our hides back there, and I think everypony can agree on that," Applejack freely motioned which the mares nodded in approval. "Well... I-I don't know what to say other than thank you all for the gratitude, I may not be here soon after this," Gold Star sighed. "Why?" "Because this helicopter you're in, we had to steal this after Alex had denied us the clearance, and with government laws, I may be subjected to court marshal" "As in?" "He means he'll be sent to court..." Twilight simplified, which made the mares concerned over this subject Gold Star turned and climbed onto the co-pit into the co-pilot seat of the helicopter. While the mane 6 discussed the word court marshal, I slowly spoke to Gold Star quietly. "You didn't tell her." "...I don't need to, what's best for her is best for me, I'm not going into the trouble I'm about to find myself in," Gold Star frets. "I'm sure Patton can take you in with open arms," I suggested. "Maybe so, but I'm within American jurisdiction of the law and if join him it would be a cowardly move, and they'll most likely persecute you and the two men inside of this helicopter in place of me, and I am not willing to let that happen to neither of my men, so the best case is for me to stand up to my punishment, and let you deal with what lies before you in your journey," Gold Star pledged, which in response I extended my arm towards him. "Then it's been an honor serving you... Sir." Gold didn't give a response for a moment as the mares were still talking and gossiping alongside with worry for my friend and the possibility that they may never see those locals who helped them get their cutie marks back again, and with the Rodinians now becoming more of a threat they may fear this possibility, but without my knowledge, Twilight Sparkle had been staring at Gold Star with worry ever since he minds kept conflicting itself but she knows what it must be. As for the Major, he replied finally after a moment of silence and said. "Yeah... You too, friend." Moskva "Confirmation has been made, the princess and her friends had escaped on an American Huey, casualties are currently 6 total accounted for, I have to ask though? Why are you happy about this?" The messenger asked, giving a chuckle as a reply from the Red Mother as she leaned forward on her cushioned chair. "It's simple really, although we lost six men in the process I'm sure we can send envelopes to their families and compensation as well for their troubles, but of course, knowing that the princess is alive is a good indicator that we will not be suffering a nuclear bomb attack from the American Federation," the Red Mother explained. "I don't understand our Red Mother, why would the Americans use this typical weapon against us?" The messenger asked, and the Red Mother leaned back on her chair and responded with a dire warning that would stick to the messenger's head. "While we have a technological advantage in a style of competing, the Americans currently tally us with the numbers above, we've overestimated them when they created this bomb. With this bomb, they could now force the world to do whatever they wanted, they may have promised not to use this weapon only in emergencies it's clear that sooner or later a president who doesn't believe in Reagan's policies will absolutely undermine this promise and soon he or she will most definitely use this weapon as the gun to the worlds head," warned the Red Mother. "I.. See..." "Now as for the unfortunate death of the men, I think it's time I give a blow once in a while in America's diplomatic progression, but before I do that, I have something to give, I looked over the final document and so far it seems that it indeed has a good list of accomplishments, along with promising future type ideals that are beneficial for Rodinia, you may send this to the CPC and have this document finalize and official," the Red Mother ordered. "Very good our Red Mother, by the way, what do you plan to do to destroy the diplomatic progression between America and Equestria?" The messenger asked. "Just watch and see," the Red Mother dismissed, which the messenger saluted and left her office, she grabbed the Moskva-Washington hotline and dialed the number. " Mr. Sam, I have a proposition for you in exchange for our silence on the occuring incident." Crystal City Patton had kept a post on the skies for three straight hours, it was starting to get dark and he kept being called and called, and called even more about why he hadn't apprehended the helicopter, however, it seemed that they'd stopped calling him which left him with two things on his thought, one they got sick and tired of being ignored that they've just given up, or two they may take matters into their own hands. If it's option one, good for them because he was almost about to march into the damn pentagon and yell at the head for wasting his time and patience for senseless phone calls. If it was option 2 however, then that's a different story, as much as he would like to shield them for the bravery they've displayed but he really couldn't do anything considering the fact that no one is above the law, and unless pardoned, or proven not-guilty it is out of his hands unfortunately. What matters now is a soft place in the land of the crystals for the heroes who are yet to arrive. It is nearly night and with some others having faith that the helicopter will make it, Patton takes it to his hands and turns towards his radio staff. "Corporal Holt! Get the men to turn on these damn lights! Our friends won't see shit if they're off!" "Aye aye, good sir!" Replied the funny man, as he instead of tuning the radio to the crew men ran towards the watchtower, climbed 23 floors worth of stairs, and then saluted to the air traffic controller. "If you want me to turn the lights on, I'm already getting someone to do that, but before you go can you fetch me a light bulb? Our room light bulb died," the controller requested, which Holt saluted and went down the 23 floors worth of stairs again, picked out a perfectly good clear light bulb from the storage room, played the mirror and mirror game with Derpy, and then climbed yet more 23 steps worth of floors, and finally, he delivered it to the air traffic controller. "Thank you Holt this will go well in our room, say how about- '' before he could say anything Holt had left to report back to Patton who had been waiting for him on the tarmac. Holt returns to Patton in a salute and Patton nods and stares at his men. "You see there! This man is willing to do his exercise, Everyone run 10 laps around this runway! Including you drill Sergeant COME ON HUP TO IT! HUP ONE TWO THREE FOUR COME ON COME ON, ON THE DOUBLE!" As the men, including the drill sergeant, marched in a line formation Holt was back to his own devices, and by his own devices as in observing the night flowers under the supervision of Colonel Canter, who had been worried about me the whole time of this endeavor, he was the one who organized the refueling team, of course, most of his time as the expeditionary he had been patrolling the crystal streets of the Crystal city like a police force, but with heavier weapons and heavy supervision with a width of a hawk eye view. Ever since Canterlot, he was reassigned by Patton as the infantry commander with the job of patrolling the Castle center of the city, and while it may sound nice for civilians who would like to see the Princess and the Prince of the Crystal empire, it wasn't pleasant for the Colonel, no matter the number of pictures his men would pose in front of Cadence and Shining Armor, if anything this happened 3 times before Patton switched them out for janitor duties. Though this proved ineffective as they would take a peak with the booty of images and be looking up to the sky and saying worth it. "Colonel sir! Our radar has picked up a singular aircraft heading for us!" "Very good, have the landing crew on the tarmac immediately and stat, Corporal Holt! Inform general Patton, and Captain armor," the Colonel called. "Roger good sir!" Replied Holt as he marched casually to Patton while the Colonel turned towards the helicopter that was approaching from the distance. "Welcome home." After the long ride with five of the mares and spike, along with the two troops now asleep after the adventurous long day the only ones up were me, Gold Star, and Twilight Sparkle. I've been piloting the whole time so nothing to note about me there, but Gold Star on the other hand is pondering whether at the last moments should he reveal his true self if they were to force him out of what was once called his home country, while Twilight Sparkle on the other hand is... Much much much and even more much different. "Gold Star, I've been wanting to tell you this since, well, since the day we visited you in the hospital." "About the books like say clover the clever's journal? Yeah I can see that part with the whole mind erasing things happening as a terrorist item, or the part of incendiary spells, yeesh I do not not WANT to face up against that type of spell." "Well, yeah but-" "Hey you two, wake them up, we're here," I said. We started making our our landing towards base Eagle, a officialized name that Patton had personally came up with with the symbol of pride of confidents especially since they've been banished along with the Crystal empire for thousands of years, in detail they've been sitting in the trenches besieging the city during the Human-Crystal war which Celestia and Luna had spearheaded. But upon discovering that the place was ridden with a curse but also the possibility of crystal ponies who had been enslaved to fight their army, Patton chose the opposite and made a daring move to have the entire city evacuated regardless of who was mind controlled or not, 1/3 of the city was evacuated that day before the two princesses banished Sombra into the eternal world of Limbo, cursing the city and everyone inside it for thousands of years. When the then president Andrew Jackson heard of this, he demanded compensation for the lost of the armor brigade, the general, and the lives that are now banished, there was even a talk for a war committee against Equestria but was vetoed by the president when he was satisfied with the compensation he was given. With that said though, we're here once again and this time it was princess Cadence, Prince Armor, and General Patton who awaited us on the tarmac. Upon landing we were quickly met with troops who cheered upon our heroism with some silent, and the MP, well they weren't really going to arrest us it would seem but as for the six mares and spike they walked out of the huey and were embraced by Cadence who was worried exceedingly for them. "Are you all alright?" Cadence asked, as she released them from her hug. "We're fine Cadence, if it wasn't for them we wouldn't be standing here, but..." Twilight Paused and looked at Gold Star who was stepping out of the helicopter shaking hoof and hands to the soldiers who had bravefully fought against the helicopters. "We may have a problem." Castle of Canterlot The diplomats had been sitting in the same room for a good while now, it's night time, Princess Luna had left for a moment to settler a nightmare a pony was having, music made by Kino is playing on the radio, but instead of having the negotiation with talking the two were basically locked in a silent treatment until the Rodinian diplomat's phone rings. "You better answer that," suggested the American. "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! I'll answer it..." He answered the phone and placed it on his ear. "Hello?" "Mr Heliski, I have wonderful news to provide, for now Mikhali Gorbachev will be heading these proceedings for peace, and also, Twilight Sparkle and her friends had escaped Perov," the Red Mother informed. "That's... Good, well then should I continue the proceedings?" The soviet diplomat asked while Luna had come back inside of the room and noticed him on the phone. "You may, I have made only one demand, in fact... Is Princess Luna in the room?" The Red Mother asked. "Yes?" Heliski replied. "Good... Then put the phone on speaker I wish to personally speak with her." "Of... Course ma'am." The diplomat then put the phone call on speaker and faced his nokia infront, pointing the screen towards the night princess. "Princess Luna, you do understand the meaning of these proceedings very instructed by your sister." "Of course, but may I remind you that the incident could've stir quite a trouble within our population," Luna pointed out. "Correct as you are, but the men involved has killed six of my men during the extraction, and clearly this is no black ops operation, like the one the American's have... Conducted in Olenia." "That was years ago, and yet you've still grudge against them that day?" "Ah simple Luna, the younger sister of the regal sisterhood, and yet somehow you got yourself banished to the moon for a thousand years, ain't that just sad," the Red Mother stated, which made Luna puff. "Do you intend to anger me with the ray of insults what exactly does this have to proof!" "I'm not insisting,but it's really like the saying I have personally, it's the individual's decision, not the maker." Luna's nose puffed in aggravation and an insult to her dignity. "But without further reminders, I have a simple demand, and that is to simply sever anything related with the personal diplomacy, along with documents, I will want those null and void as well." "You can't do that Red Mother, it is my sister's work and I will not let you dismantle the peace we've made with the Human American's I will not allow you to ruin this peace that I've violently destroyed when I turned into Nightmare moon!" "Ah you know about the Lunar wars then? Did your sister tell you that or... No... You already knew that, did you? The moment you were banished to the moon you've seen the fire that the men were experiencing, you wanted to turn back and yet you didn't, you didn't and the war lasted 70 years, funny and yet pitiful, nonetheless it was your individual decision to let the war carry on for the next 70 years!" "I HEARD ENOUGH FROM YOU! TURN IT OFF!" Luna demanded. "Not yet Heliski, I have one more thing to add, if my demands are not met in the next 100 hours, then I will be releasing documentation regarding the hostilities in front of the international council in the Crystal City, so I hope you are willing to send your ponies to court, because we princess, have gathered enough evidence." "Then it shall be trial then! Turn it off!" Luna demanded, which the Rodinian diplomat flipped his phone off and tilted his hat. "I best be leaving then I guess..." "Best you should sir, good night, and good riddance." "Right back at you," Replied the Rodine, as he packed his things in his briefcase and left the room, leaving Luna and the American diplomat with concern on their faces. Base Alicorn Alex is informed by general Carville that the authorization had been denied by General MacArthur, and the arrest warrants had been sent out to arrest Gold Star, a jeep is spotted being driven by Yates and Gold Star on the passenger seat along with then other two men as the Colonel brought the MP with him at the gate. Once the jeep pulled up at the gate the Colonel looked at the two. "Missed us?" Gold Star asked. "No." "Sir please step out of the vehicle and place your hooves on the gate," ordered the MP, while Gold Star steadily opened the door and placed his hooves on the gate, I wasn't having it any more. "I did it! I fucking gather these two with us, I orchestrated this fucking operation, and I was the one who planned it! It was all me! And if he goes I go to!" "Sir?" Asked the MP, which Alex glared at me with rage. "Aye, detain him as well!" He ordered, which I quietly raised my hands up and stepped out of the vehicle before being halted by the MP. "Your gun Lieutenant, hand it here," the Colonel ordered, which I obliged and handed my revolver to him. But it was until a yell sounded from a distance. "Cease this unrightful arrest!" Princess Celestia ordered, surprising the men including I and Gold Star along with the Colonel who wasn't expecting this arrival. "I suspect you had something to do with this Gold Star!" Alex scolded. "It wasn't him," said a very recognizable voice from a sky far distance who she landed in front of Celestia "It was me!" Twilight Sparkle and Celestia were accompanied by two Royal guard pegasus who came with them to protect them however it also meant that by bringing them here they've basically showed that they mean business, and this comes as a silent shock especially for Gold Star who sort of suspected something like this was going to happen, but to bring Celestia and royal guards was a bit... Too much, though from this surprise visit Alex had not anticipated this arrival either, and he quickly realized he wasn't going to arrest them as he figured out their purpose, and because of his next decision he may have prevented something else worse. So he signaled the MP who had us cuffed to release us and shoved us out of the base. "If you come to free them or place them under your protection here they are, but I will no longer have them on my base unless these two are proven innocent or guilty! So I hope you have a place for them to sleep because they're not sleeping here! And you better be sure they arrive to the Crystal City as well!" "And why is that?" Celestia asks. "Because I've been informed that the international court is being in session soon, and they demand that Gold Star be tried," Alex informs. "On what charges? Clearly he has the obligation to rescue those who couldn't save themselves; this is an act of international self being, something we can counter against any other claims," Celestia pointed out. "That's something you'll have to see in the international court, but until then princess, they're not allowed on base camp! Men! Shut this gate!" Colonel Alex ordered, which the men then shuts the gate right in front of us, clearly we've just been, evicted, suspended, and possibly exiled from the entire military. Upon this Celestia and Twilight looked at each other wondering what to do next, clearly they weren't going to let us freeze. "So uh... Not to interrupt ya, but uh... Where do we sleep?" Castle of Princess Twilight, Ponyville "It's not much, but I hope it's enough to help you keep you and Gold Star rested," Twilight glimmered. "I think this will do, even though we've been exiled from our base it'll be fine," I replied. "Great! I'll see you tomorrow then," Twilight waved, leaving the guest room to me and soon Gold Star, since space is almost limited we're bunking in the same room until you know, we get innocent or something along those lines, how is Uncle Sam taking this? Washington city, Abraham monument garden. "HE DID WHAT!?" "Sir, it seems General MacArthur had issued arrest warrants on Gold Star and it would seem that both him and Yates had been arrested, of course they're now under international protection," reported Vice President Bush. "Thank the Creator for that last news, BUT WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON THE GENERAL I'M GOING TO RING HIS THROAT AND MAKE HIM WISH HE WAS NEVER BORN!!" Uncle Sam angrily shouted, enraged at the top of his lungs. "Sir, what about the phrase "No one in the land above the law?" Is it the standard phrase?" "You do not understand Bush, and I understand this logic, but the goal I have is beyond you comprehension, and I won't let this... Set back hinder the progress I've made." "So what are you suggesting sir?" Asked Bush, to which Sam sighed and replied. "I'm going to choke the hell out of MacArthur, but before that I'll be informing the Red Mother that I will accept her demand and dismantle personal diplomacy," Uncle Sam stated. "But sir? If we do that everything we've worked for will be in vain!"Bush said. "Don't worry about it Bush, it will prevent the international courts from intervening, and charges will be dropped, as for MacArthur," Uncle Sam puffed. "He will keep his position as general, but someone will be fired after this, but in the diplomacy terms, what the Red Mother doesn't know is that the personal diplomacy had been finished ages ago haha!" "What?" "Obviously the purpose of this diplomacy specifically was indeed intended to get Twilight and Gold Star hooked up together with each other, Celestia even had this intention because she knows rather than later that she and her sister will be too tired to rule the kingdom, and what better way to rule it than a prince and princess and the 5 friend consorts, that's the 20 year plan at least of course she wants me to dismantle the files, but no matter it aint like I'm going to, considering that I can just make copies." "But sir? He's an Earth pony is he not?" Questioned Bush. "I cannot provide that George, all I can provide is that sentence and the sentence only everything else is confidential and top secret by my standards, that may be all you may go," Sam dismissed. "Understood Mr. Sam," George Bush finished, which he then left the garden room with his secret service men present in the conversation. Map room, 12:31 AM After I fell deep asleep Gold Star was in the map room staring deeply into the bright magical map, he didn't budge an inch nor a blink but just felt a sense of peace and yet conflict, strange feelings, and never before. Meanwhile Twilight was walking around the hallway still saddened about her previous home that had been destroyed and torn down by Tirek's dark magic when she noticed that Star was in the map room, (or throne room which either one) she noticed Star's fascination in the map and almost in a trance like state until she shook him a bit after a tap on his neck. "You scared me." "Sorry, I was a bit worried that you've been consciously decapitated or something, what brought you here?" Twilight asked, sitting down besides Star coincidently aligned with her throne seat that has her cutie mark above. "Well, I got curious about this, we know this map is magic but... Something within it is just different with the magic that I've come across but this, this is just different." "Different? You mean to say that you had come across some components of magic before?" "Ehh, not quite, only in the books i've read that mentioned such magic, light and dark, bad and good, depressing and join ridden, but this, I got no clue how to describe the map, it looks like light magic of course, but I feel a hint of just specks of darkness as if it serves as a balance." "Hm? Interesting... But how can you feel that?" "What do you mean? Can't anypony feel or detect magic?" "No, in fact only a unicorn with a higher class power or a regular Alicorn even to it's lowest point can be able to detect and feel the properties of magic, and your a earth pony?" "I guess I'm just a special earth pony then," Star smuggly said. "Heh, and what's that supposed to mean?" Twilight chuckled. "I guess you can say I'm just as bookworm as you," Star teased, making Twilight laugh at the joke, and it was something that popped in Twilight that made her think more differently as if Harmony had just ordered cupid to head shot her with a love arrow. "Well mister? How can you possibly be much more of a bookworm than me?" Twilight snickered. "Hehe, the secret to this bookworm is firing magical death lasers." Star then imitated some laser sounds and Twilight being dramatic in the room. "Oh Gold Star! But you're an earth pony! How could you possibly fire magic lasers!" "It doesn't have to be magic, dear princess." After a little bit of fun with each other, following never before Twilight Sparkle showing her childhood side and Gold Star doing the same but keeping his identity secret as much as possible, but while the two spent the next 10 minutes disturbing my sleep with random... Flirting and whatever the hell you call romance I was getting pissed, so pissed that I stormed out of bed and yelled. "HEY! KEEP IT DOWN OVER THERE! I'M TRYING TO SLEEP FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" "Sorry!" Said the two in perfect unison before laying down on the ground laughing and looking up at the crystal roof. "Gees..." After shutting the door and going back to sleep Twilight Sparkle layed on her hooves under her head and pondered about the things that occurred. "You know, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here right now," Twilight pondered. "Thanking me again princess?" Star informally said. "I'm kinda serious this time Star," Twilight affirmed. "Oh... I see, well it wasn't really easy, if anything it just happened so fast.. So fast that I didn't expect myself having to be sheltered here, I never thought to be in your life at all in fact, It just feels like things are moving too fast that's all," Gold Star inquired. "And yet, so much happened before, well this, I just feel a bit small you know, small and not up to your level or for the matter of your friends, I'm just-" Twilight placed her hoof on Star's tanned furred chest and looked at him with sparkling eyes filled with hope and friendliness seeping into his heart as if she injected some type of invisible liquid just with her widened eyes. "You may have missed a lot of our adventures with my friends, but that wasn't important because of the day when I felt the same when I first became Celestia's protege, I felt small compared to her as well, but the words she told me once was what helped me become who I am, and what I should say shouldn't make you feel small, you must grow, live and learn, those were what my teacher had showed me, it had gotten me far, and even though you're a Earth pony I hope it may help you as well," Twilight smiled bright towards Star who he smiled back. "Thanks, for giving me that encouragement, but now that I think about it, you wanted to tell me something early back at Crystal City, what were you going to tell me?" Gold Star asked. "Nothing, I thought of something but I completely forgot," Twilight lied, giving no hint Gold Star shrugged and suddenly the clock dinged one o' clock. "Well, I guess I should be heading to bed," insisted Star, as the two got back up and trotted towards the guest room quietly while I was still asleep giving no notice to those two whatsoever. Gold Star got into his bed and laid back while Twilight politely used her magic to place the cover up to Star's neck. "If it's fine perhaps, a second date might not hurt-" But before Twilight could finish Gold Star was already asleep, she smiled at the sleeping stallion she then blew out the candle and kissed his forehead and on the way out, she closed the door behind her. Leaving us two asleep.
The New World \| Millennium	Rewolucja	Two years at war, and everyone has forgotten about the war continually being waged between Thestria and Argendina, the primary goal of the war was to gain what was once called Gilligan City, to the appraisal of the one called Nightmare Moon, to the point of naming it Vancok. Rodinia supported Thestria in its initial assault providing intel, and blueprints, but once the Thestrials were as modernized as America, but with the limited time given the Rodinian soviets left the Thestrials to their new toys. America, and Private military corps. had continually supported Argendina in its war to the point of sending modernized weaponry such as the M4 rifles, handy vehicles, and artillery that was used to create what is now the Vancok trench line. Both sides continually shell the hell out of each other, helicopters shooting helicopters, fighters shooting fighters, and trench men shooting at trench Bat Ponies. And Bat Ponies shooting at trench men. But as both sides continued to fight for supremacy on the battlefield with desperate gains and losses mounting, a leader stood at the helm that could end the war, not specifically in the trenches of the Gilligan region, but in the lands everyone including Celestia had forgotten. And those lands were Parsley. Kracu city, boat town, Parsley The plane landed as expected around 2:20 PM CDT, Eskamoe and his partner William (Code named Icebreaker) were sent on a special mission regarding a secret decoded message that requested support, the city was huge and decent, but going into the east you would have towns on boats. The city is surrounded by rivers, with legends circulating that the town was believed to be the birthplace of the Human Parslians. Now more detail with these people is basically a simple description. The Parslian humans are born with wings, although they cannot fly, they have their own set of language, tradition, and religion, some Parslians believe that the reason that they have wings as they were destined to become a warrior tribe, while some would discredit that and left it as it is, these believers would create what are known as the "Hussar Legion." Then you have regular humans born in the lands who have no wings, although they speak the same language as the Parslians they are considered the second majority. The minority on the other hand consisted of Bat Ponies and ponies, with the bigger minority out of the two being Bat Ponies, were partially the reason for the year 34 ALB invasion of the Thestria, which they quickly moved to secure the countryside and executed anyone who opposed them. Sure the winged humans are given rights in Thestria just not the same freedoms that the Bat Ponies were given, but in some instances when they elect mayors a bat pony is always put into office, but if it were either a pony or a Parslian human elected they would end up "committing suicide" the next day of their victory, and then replace the victor with a Bat Pony district manager. Some of these managers are either passionate, kind, harsh, or just plain evil. But with that out of the way, Eskamoe and Icebreaker stepped off the plane and headed inside the airport where they were met by security for inspection. After that and smuggling their side-arm weapons, the two went outside to see almost paradise-like. I almost forgot what type of country this is. "Just like home," said Icebreaker, gazing at the city skyline. "Yeah, makes you forget that there was once a whole war with this country, weirdly enough I always wonder why you Americans kept that old expired treaty in the first place?" Eskamoe pointed out. "Well, as much as we could help them, breaking it now would be very dishonorable," replied Icebreaker, as Eskamoe gave him the cold shoulder on the word "dishonorable" "What?" "Nothing, we should start searching for the detected signal, The faster we find it the bet-" Eskamoe bumps into a Parslian human who was running from someone. "Who are you-" Without an answer the Parslian slid a card inside of Eskamoe's pocket and ran for her life when the Thestrial police arrived in the area. "Where did she go!" Questioned the bat pony officer. "Umm, she went down that alleyway! If you catch her now you might be able to" "Enough rambling human a simple answer would do, Colts! In that alleyway, we cannot let her discover our secret!" Ordered the officer as the bat ponies ran towards the alleyway. "Uh say Eskamoe? I thought she went behind us?" Icebreaker ask. "Hm? Well, I have a feeling that she may have gotten something, why else would you steal this card specifically," Eskamoe showed, which intrigued Icebreaker. "A transaction card? Looks more like one of those back at home," said Icebreaker. Eskamoe looked at the back of the card and saw an address written in the back. "I guess we're heading to boat town," Eskamoe reckoned. "...What." Ponyville, Twilight's Castle It was now what I believed to be. 6:50 am? I'm not used to regular civilian time since the day I joined the military I was just told to follow their basic version of their time, although I guess I can't now (haha) because I've been suspended from my rank and perhaps discharged from the army (great..) You know I think our general had gotten a little bit in himself on the head a bit, but you know what fine, I can relax here, (at least until my trial is here.) So I got up, stretched myself half to death, and then blankly got up from the bed. Looking around I noticed that even this room is crystals, and so are the beds, yeesh thank Creator for mattresses. Still, of course, at least Gold Star was enjoying his sleep which I wouldn't since he and Twilight had been up the whole last night or at least until one o'clock, hm and suspiciously I heard sounds of a... Light kiss... Probably a dream, although I never had a love interest. However now that I think about it I'm starting to think that they may be getting closer... I can see the signs in front of me, it may be a matter of time before I come back to this room and see the two smooch on each other because if that's the case I'm sure Spike won't mind showing me the nearest bucket in this solid castle of hers. But enough with my contemplation over Gold Star, a knock was heard and I came and opened the door, of course being used to Alex knocking on the door I didn't notice the orange pony and her good ol' fashioned brown hat below me. "Well howdy there, you must be Applejack?" I greeted. "Last I saw you was at the diplomatic stuff thingy." "Nice to see ya again, I was just ah-bout to wake up Golder Star over yonder but it seems he's asleep," Applejack pointed. "Oh, yeah he would usually wake up to the sounds of morning trumpets, lemme see, HEY GOLDILOCKS! MOMMA BEAR WANT'S YA UP!" Gold Star shook up out of his bed and looked at me with aggravation mixed with a glare in his eyes disturbed by his slumber. "What was that for!" He complained. "Apple farmer here wants you for some reason," I answered. "Hm? If this has something to do with agriculture I really can't right now." "Actually it's about Twilight, we're doing a redecoration of her castle to make it fit with her sort of living," Applejack explained. "Redecoration? Care to explain that?" "Well you see, while we were having pancakes me and the gals had been discussing a bit on Twilight lately, it seemed that she was overworking herself to stay out of this here new castle you stand on," AJ patted on the crystal flooring. "Funny, reminds me of the time when he did the same, only except he wants to do everything rather than sit around." "Hey at least I got the job done!" I complained. "You were a bit over-edged over that one toilet seat, one toilet seat man!" "So, will you two accompany her to the spa?" She asked. "I mean sure, but not like I'm going there for anything other to occupy," Gold Star shrugged, and by that moment my phone buzzed in my pocket, I picked it up and looked at the text. (Huh, look at that I was close) "Something wrong?" Gold Star asked. "Nope! Nothing at all, hey let's go to that spa shall we?" I insisted, bolting towards the front of the castle like a speedy freight train in a Saturday morning rush. "Great Celestia, are humans that active?" Applejack asked. "Ehh, sort of." Meanwhile, in Canterlot, Celestia had woken up to raise the sun as usual, with Luna having her post-night shift meal before heading off to bed for the day. Coffee was brewed and the human diplomat from America was on the phone with the Offices of the Foreign Affairs Committee over last night's discussion regarding the incident with Starlight's town. "So to sum up, Rodinia currently demands that we disband the personal diplomacy in exchange for silence," summarized the American diplomat surprising Celestia as she spat out her coffee on her tired sister's mane. "Correct, of course regarding this, it's been accomplished ages ago, and Uncle Sam had agreed to cede to the Red Mother's terms," said the person on the phone. "I see, so personal diplomacy as of now ends, but what about the division stationed here?" "That will have to be up to President Reagan whether he wants to ship it out or not, of course, that's currently going to be difficult at the moment..." "And why is that?" The diplomat asked. "Because the head general in charge is currently having his neck ringed over the arrest warrant, of course knowing the people's views over military I doubt no one will notice," replied the other side caller. "Alright, is that all?" "No, in fact in the light of the war in South Humarica the President has just torn the treaty with Thestria, and is now pressuring Thestria to end the war," informed the person calling, which grabbed Celestia and Luna's attention. "What's their choices?" Asked the diplomat. "A, end the war by 6 days with the concession of releasing Parsley, or B, face the brutal punishment of war firsthand in the form of laser-guided missiles, and the Statcom's wrath." With this statement said out loud enough for the two princesses to hear Luna looked at Celestia and she looked at her sister, while it may be joyous to know that the war may be ending Luna is discern at the last part of their choices, she fears that the country established on her birthday would choose option B, while this Celestia feels what Luna felt when it came to Thestria, the former colony was meant to be harmony for the bat pony locals, but with the wars it waged on Equestria after her sister's banishment, Celestia felt responsible for the banishment on that day and the war that followed. Now with Luna unbanished, she hoped to reestablish communication and a good relationship with Thestria with the hopes of restoring peace in the region, however, it would seem that fate said otherwise with the nation waging war with Argendina without even given the chance to reintroduce Luna into the lands. But hearing the news that it was up to the nation to choose its fate was disturbing of all kinds with the possibility of all-out war in the continent if not a second Lunar war, only instead of the weapons of old, it would be bloody and chaotic and possibly the deadliest in all of the worlds ancient battles combined in history. Luna, given no warning, got up from her seat despite her tiredness she spoke. "When do you depart!" "Um? Excuse me?" Asked the diplomat, hanging up his phone. "I said, when do you leave!" Repeated Luna. "Um... My helicopter arrives at 7:30, an hour from now, I'll be heading to Rio on these proceedings, why do you ask?" The diplomat questioned. "I am coming with you!" Luna exclaimed, making the room silent Celestia rolled her eyes and spoke. "I may come with you as well." "...What?" Spa, Ponyville Well, the walk was fine, Gold Star and Twilight chatted, something I don't care about, while I am a lone wolf when it comes to girls or women I would give advice, although looking at the case I think it's best that this particular situation between the two develops. Thinking back on that, he was an Earth pony no doubt before Princess Luna had rewarded him and attempted to take him in for an apprenticeship, I mean if Alicorns are strong enough to grant alicornship then shouldn't she just subtract the wings and have him be a unicorn instead? I don't really get the whole ordeal with magic, other than the simple things that Great Grandma Meagan explained in her own version of the "magical adventures" and whatnot. Also what the hell is a France? Is that supposed to be a human version of Aquilea? "Oh, look at that, seems the Federation is hosting an army mascot poll," I said to literally no one out loud, which the couple didn't notice and I submitted my vote for the dog mascot Liberty. (More better than Brigadier Baboon.) However, when we arrived at the Spa I could see that Alex was waiting for me inside of the Humvee. "I'll... Catch up with y'all, I need to have a chat out here," I excused myself but they've up and left me outside and didn't even notice I wasn't with them inside (how typical...) More the better I guess. So I walked up to the Humvee with Alex inside smoking his cigarette and looking at me from the other side of the window. I went inside the Humvee and sat beside Alex, who just extinguished his cigarette, thrown it out, and slouched on his seat. "Anyone followed you?" He asked. "I don't see anyone here, other than ponies, though I doubt they'll give a damn about us," I replied. "Good," replied Alex, as he grabbed the radio right across from me and spoke. "Alright, make it rain," he ordered, which American pegasi grabbed a cloud and cast rain above us. "Is that really necessary?" I asked. "Not what I will be explaining here, about last night Lieutenant." "You had a grudge on Gold Star?" I asked. "... No, I was given orders by MacArthur to have you and Gold Star detained, of course, I was hesitant and our division general protested against it to the point of even authorizing your operation until," Alex paused in concern. "Until what?" I asked. "He was forced to publish the order fully or face dismissal, he really had no choice unless he preferred to be dismissed that is," Alex revealed. "Hm, so has Uncle Sam responded to this?" "Oh he replied, he replied with grabbing MacArthur's neck collar and yelling (imitating) 'What the hell have you done!' Very dramatic according to General Carville, yet he laughed uncontrollably the whole time, yet.." "Hm?" "Well, I'm afraid to say it, but the personal diplomacy between Gold Star and Twilight Sparkle is being put down, we may be pulling out soon," Alex informed. "What!? Why!" "Because of the stunt you two pulled, in exchange for the bastard's silence the whole damn thing is to stop, heh, those assholes back home haven't realized that they're too late," Alex smirked deviously. "In fact if you haven't noticed I think the two are starting to connect into a real relationship haha!" "Yeah... I've- wait, how did you know?" "Wasn't it obviously? A foreign leader would never step up over another military jurisdiction up until last night, Twilight Sparkle pulled a big one with Celestia last night, of course, this stirred a slight mutiny in the base in support of Gold Star..." "Holy shit, how bad was it?" "Not bad, but not great, of course, they calmed down when they heard about MacArthur having his ass chewed out I thought I never sleep over the chant of their support for him," Alex added. "Gee's must've been a great guy- err- pony commander," I rephrased. "Yes sir, he was very great with the things with his men, yet he somehow created a tank version of an airsoft battle," Alex chuckled. "Well, that sounded nice, hm... What else are you going to say?" Obviously, this put Alex into silence, I can tell with what seemed to be shadows cast on his eyes as if he was afraid of his own words. "Remember... General Reid?" He asked, catching me off guard. "You mean the mastermind behind the defeat of those dammed Zebra terrorists? Of course, but... Why??" "...General Reid is dead." "..." "..." "General Reid is dead! B-BUT HOW!?" "According to investigation reports it would seem that he was murdered by a changeling, this is currently classified information available only to ranks at your level and above, I was planning to do a base sweep last night before you two ran off, unfortunately, though you had two changelings with you this whole time," Alex revealed. "The fucking fuck what?" "The two men with you, Peter and Quag, were found dead in the closet, and replaced by two changelings we detained last night during the apprehension of you two, if it weren't for Celestia they would've killed you and kidnapped Gold Star while in holding," Alex explained. "Holy shit, are we under attack again?" "I don't know, while the president has sent ultimatum after ultimatum to Chrysalis there's a possibility that infiltrators from the Preuben korps had infiltrated the congressional stage," "In English?" "Everything has been fucking compromised, and we can't do shit about it unless we uproot these damn pests off our government and everything else," Alex simplified. Being silent in the car I was about to ask a question but he raised his radio and ordered. "Alright remove the rain cloud we're finished." The rain cloud was once again moved by American pegasi and pointed at the door at my side in silence, I got out and he started the Humvee and drove off back to base without a single word. "Typical... Well I might as well check if the Salon can accept 3 for free, I say to my fucking self..." Boat town, Kracu city The boat town is a literal boat town, spanning as far as the other side of the riverside of the city while the river may be tiny in map size, being up close and personal with any, you'll truly see how big it is. But these two agents weren't there for the view as they were on a mission instructed by the F.I.B. Upon entering this boat town, the boardwalk wasn't crowded, if anything it was wide enough to fit a whole crowd of people so that was a good thing, everyone they saw was either Parslian wing humans, mercenaries, armed men, ponies who've been exiled from their homes, bat-ponies that the Thestrian government considered traitors, and pirates, who arrived here for the rum. After passing 3 or 17 boat houses the two arrived at the specific address, the house designated looked rusty, if not up to code, but of course, if someone was living there then they'd survived this long, so the two shrugged and went inside. Unknowing that they've been followed... . . The two entered inside of the boat house floating on the water, with what sounded like Parslians in some sort of planning session. "Grupa Alfa rozpocznie taktyczny atak na miasto Paraguai, tymczasem rozkazy dla grupy Husarskie to atak na tereny Warzughny oraz okolice. Czy mnie rozumiecie?" Said a unknown planner, pointing at the map of Thestria occupied Parsley on the table, decorated with figures of ponies, and bipedal figures. "Jasne jak słońce, dowódco, pytanie brzmi, jakie są cele tych ataków? I dlaczego wysyłacie te wszystkie wojska?" Ask one of the resistance captains. "Ponieważ Stefanos będzie potrzebował nowej pary skarpetek," phrased Commander Night Sky, shocking the men present in the room. "...Ja... Widzisz, szeregowy! Daj mi teraz kontakt z moją jednostką-" suddenly the two agents sent from the Federation Intelligence Bureau were noticed by the men in the room. "Kim oni są!?" Said an officer "Myślę, że to agenci Testrian!" Said another. "Uhhh... Hola mi amigo's!" Spoke Icebreaker, causing Eskamoe to turn his neck 180 degrees slowly towards his partner's face. "What?" Asked Icebreaker. "Are you stupid or something, THOSE ARE NOT HISPANICS!" "They aren't?" "..." "Powstrzymajcie ich!" Ordered Night Sky, as the two were quickly captured by the Parslian men. "Wait wait wait! WAIT DAMMIT! НЕУЖЕЛИ ТЫ НЕ ПОНИМАЕШЬ ГРЕБАНЫЙ АНГЛИЙСКИЙ!" Eskamoe shouted in Rodinian which surprised the Parslians a bit as a prompted Night Sky got up from his chair, ordered his men to back off, and looked at the two men. "Wallets, teraz!" Night Sky ordered, as the troopers forcibly snatched the two's wallets and opened them in front of Night Sky who scanned and looked at the badges with great surprise. "You're... Americans... What purpose do you have coming here in the first place?" Night Sky asked. "Well, we came to deliver this for one," reasoned Eskamoe, as he handed the card to the blue unicorn pony. "Also, submarines had detected a signal here in Kracu city." "That was me, I was given a suggestion from my men to request support, despite my protest and warning," Night Sky explained. "Well, we've received it alright, the thing is we couldn't find a proper decoder so they've sent me and my partner over here," Eskamoe added. "Well you shouldn't have, the Americans-" "If you're worried about the treaty don't worry, our president has taken care of that a good time ago, and if your message requested aid, we're at the ready." "Wait! Really?" The room was filled with sudden surprise and internal joy at the news as some whispered and some were silent and anxious. "What exactly did they say?" Asked one of the Parslians. "This is a direct quote from the President of the Federation, release Parsley, and leave Vancok, or face ultimate destruction," he quoted, sparking a cheer within the men and females before being silenced by Night Sky. "We can't wait any longer for the discussions and negotiations at the moment, if you wish, however, may you accompany us?" The unicorn asked. "Why of course," answered Eskamoe, before a person was butted with a rifle and passed out on the floor. "Zabierz go na bryg, sprawdzimy to!" Informed a Parslian soldier, as he lifted an unconscious bat-pony from the ground and inspected his clothing. "Zabierz go na bryg, sprawdzimy to! For now, Mr?" "Eskamoe, my code name is the preferred callout," he answered, ignoring what just happened behind him. "Alright then, come with me, you and I have a lot to discuss, as for you Mr. Icebreaker, make yourself at home here, but whatever you do, do NOT! Enter my room!" Night warned. "Ok?" Replied Icebreaker. "Great! Then follow me and we can discuss the signal," Night acknowledged as the two left Icebreakers, sight leaving him with the other men who were dragging the spy's body to the brig. Argedninian-Thestrial frontlines The troops of Argendina relentlessly launched assault after assault on Thestrian positions that had been brutally reinforced with Challenger armored tanks, and advanced machine guns gunning down the troops in the field. The commander at the Vancok front sits at his desk quietly expecting the expected results of the battle with concern. The messenger finally arrived with the battle report he handed it to the commander of the brigade and as expected, another hundred were dead. "Hm... I assume it's been confirmed." "Yes sir," replied the soldier. "Anything from foreign affairs?" "Well I heard rumors that the Americans might be involved," replied the soldier. "..." "Anything else sir?" "No, leave me," he demanded, as the soldier stomped in a salute and left the commander's face. The commander, depressed, turned towards his desk drawer where lays a pistol with a silencer attached to it. He puts the gun deep in his throat and with the press of the trigger followed by a huge bang, his suffering was over. Buenos Aires As the war continued to be waged the President of Argendina peers outside looking at nothing but empty streets for miles, it was as if the city had become a ghost town, although in reality people were taking shelter as missile barrages came and went over and towards the city, he looks at the fires that the war had brought on his land. And yet when he fires his own barrage they all keep being intercepted by high-tech missile interception weaponry, if it wasn't for the Rodinians the salvo his men launched towards Thestria would be a definitive message. But so far the only message he and his people can give is to stay off their capitol, during the war TThestria managed to capture the entire Archipelago east of the capital city and attempted to land before being intercepted brutally in machine gun fire, while it was a great victory it also resulted into a bloody campaign in recapturing the islands from the Bat-ponies who were conducting guerrilla tactics mixed with convention types. But once again the sirens blared again and the sounds of missiles struck yet another residential building at 45th yelpman street, most likely another 10 dead he thought. It was then that one of his cabinets arrived with a phone. "Presidente, the president of the Federation of American States wishes to speak with you," informed the advisor. "...Bring me the phone," replied the president, as he held the phone up to his ear while eyeing the gun that sits on top of his desk. "Hola," he greeted. "Mr. Fernández," greeted Reagan. "I noticed the recent increase in suicide rates with your men, I'm starting to get worried about this, you know we're sending what we have." "Mr... Reagan, everything we've done was in vain, the people are dead, the nation is in a state of chaos, cities are reduced to ashes, and commanders once known to be invincible! I am now in the gutter wondering whether to just end it all right here and right now! Conditions are deteriorating to despicable levels no country had comprehended such before!" Reported the president, as a new suicide report had just laid on his desk regarding the death of a commander. "If only you were here, you would never imagine such chaotic catastrophe unfolding in front of my eyes, and- ah dammit! Not commander Hose!" Reagan slouched on his chair upon hearing the distress that the president was going through, Reagan realized now that he had left the continent too far edge for too long, and the treaty that was signed was a foolish choice, a choice Reagan was going to end. "I see that things have deteriorated my friend, expect military aircraft tomorrow morning to intercept every single missile that flies overhead, this war will either be ended peacefully, or by force, and I'm not afraid to launch an invasion, and if it has to then so be it, or our nation is not America," Reagan stated. "Let's hope you keep your word," replied the Argendinian president as he hung up the phone and looked at the gun resting on the desk. "Not today old friend, but not yet..." Kracu, meeting "And with that, my American friend is what we will do in this attack," finished Night Sky. "Hm, very agreeable yes, but are you sure that this revolution that you are preparing would be executed swiftly and smoothly? I have to admit, it is planned out but when you're up against an enemy with modern tech you are technically outgunned and possibly outnumbered," Eskamoe pointed out. "Numbers is something they have, but for outgunned on the other hand, we've captured the predatorial beasts and their weapons cache not long ago in this city, and comparing the weapons these hostile bats are using and your American ones, we reconfigured it and created our own modern weapon which we proudly call the FB Assualt Rifle," Night Sky introduced, showing Eskamoe the rifle design and magazine. "Interesting design, kind of reminds me of the Fal," replied Eskamoe. "Yeah, but now that we have a weapon we can call useful we're preparing to put this to the test tonight at midnight." "What happens at midnight?" Eskamoe asks. "My friend, at midnight we launch rewolucja!"
The New World \| Millennium	Nightmare Night (Halloween special)	Ponyville, 12:30 PM, ETZ, and somehow I, and Gold Star have already made ourselves at home, for now, while some slouching was involved It kind of makes me miss the time I was in the army, but since we've been both suspended from the military we were confused on what to do next. And as much as I would miss serving, it had actually turned out to be a benefit since we get to see a good eye amount of Equestria's technology and their lifestyle and how these ponies lived far this is what I have gotten. Equestria's civilian technology is very decent compared to ours and is steadily growing, just one thing about it is that they are very outdated with weapons, especially when you look at what type of weapons they are using, sure the royal guard may pride themselves in using "the most modernized weapon in the world" when in reality they can't fare against a single firearm. Of course, being allies I'm sure we can help them adapt with their arsenal, though after asking some locals including the four human locals (I think there are four) they all disagree with the ideals of war and conflict, except for the fourth one who is an old man who lives in an old run-down house at the near end of Ponyville. Everyone else is against war and would riot if Equestria suddenly waged war on an innocent country so that's good to know that they wouldn't start wars without starting an internal one of their own. But keeping that logic in mind in case we did have a war with Equestria. (Hope to creator not) I've been writing down my studies on the table where Gold Star and I were having coffee time in the castle, it's still nice that Twilight is letting us stay here until our suspension is up, but I kind of feel like a freeloader. And of course, they've also suspended me and my friend's payment (great...) So hopefully this suspension doesn't take long or- "Do you always have to write everything in that journal of yours?" Gold Star asks, sipping his coffee. "It's not a journal it's a memoir, big difference!" I replied. "Yeah well your writing is kinda disturbing me, and my coffee, I would prefer complete silence rather than scribbling," Gold Star retorted. "Heh, at least I wasn't the only one pulverized by the sight of that bright Chandelier, lord above I can feel my eyes melt inside of my eyes," I reminded. "Oh I remember, and I can take us back right now." "Nah nah nah... No thank you, I swear it's as if they put anti-human repellent in there because every time I enter my eyes just fucking burn! Hell, they even burn when I think about it!" I ranted. (Before) (After) "Hmph. And I thought my eyes were sensitive, seems that you have it worse when it comes to something simply bright to a... Chandelier?" "This one in particular man, out of all Chandeliers I never thought this one would be my match," I further ranted. "Well, until we're unsuspended I guess you'll just have to avoid the map room," Gold Star suggests. "Yeah I guess your right," I answered. It was then that Twilight entered the dining room where I and Gold Star had been relaxing, and it seemed that she was wearing some sort of... Costume of some royal guard? Hold on a minute what? "Hey, I hope I ain't disturbing you two," she apologized. "It's fine as if we have anything better to do." "Did I do something wrong?" She asked. "Eh, that's just Yates being Yates, you would usually see us out there doing usual patrols and... Working around the base, but recently we've both kinda questioned our very existence sitting here bored out of our minds, I know that you must've had cases like these once, what did you do?" Gold Star asked. "Well, when it came to my friends we would do something fun together, although in your case you only have each other," Twilight pointed out. "Hey, you know we ain't mares or stallions, (except for Gold Star) you can't possibly have me try to find other people to befriend with and expect them to have the same common interest you'd want." "And that common interest would be?" Twilight asked, and I replied by pointing at the military rank patch attached to my jacket. "Oh... I see that, but don't you have friends back at your base?" She asked. "Heh, to Gold Star he's might popular with some of the guys, but me on the other hand I'm considered an outsider outcast to these men, which it's fine, did the same to a military soldier who transferred to the Statcom before I was transferred here," I added. "And... What happened to the soldier you mentioned?" She asked. "Well, I don't know, either A he cracked up under the pressure of being watched so much that he quit the army, or option B, requested a transfer from his transfer." "Or..?" " Or he went with C being adapted into the division and became friends with the commander, HA! As if that can ever happen without being picked on one or two times," I chuckled. "And how many times have you been picked on?" Twilight asked. "None, because I am a high rank in the base with the ability to court martial those below me, for the right reasons obviously," I answered. "Then wouldn't that mean you would be heading to perhaps like you say with option A?" She smirked. "I- Hey! Don't try to turn my words on me just because I ain't that relatable on base, besides most of the time I've been sweating my ass off trying to lead and work with the men we didn't have time to mess around on base, in the middle of a foreign territory, several miles from said territories capitol in the middle of nowhere, you think you know military here princess!" I paused, trying to catch my breath over my continued rant, and continued. "But trust me when I say that when you are ordered to do it you are expected to do it... If you don't then everyone knows that the HRs will. Fuck. You. Good!" As I turned back to my book writing all of that Twilight was jerking herself back surprised at my anger-filled speech, no I wasn't angry, I was livid. As she looked at Gokd Star who was even surprised as well in my response he silently shrugged, no sound was heard and that was good for me, until 30 seconds later when Gold Star cleared his throat. "Ahem anyways, now that we're off that sensitive topic, why are you wearing a star swirl the bearded costume in the middle of October? Halloween is like 2 days away isn't it?" Gold questioned. "Well, not really, unlike your home nation which celebrates Halloween we celebrate Nightmare Night," introduced Twilight. "Excuse me, Nightmare wah?" "OH! That's right, every year two days before Humarica's Halloween celebration, Equestria celebrates Nightmare Night to remind them of what Luna was, basically the same thing as Halloween, only the purpose of Jack o' Lanterns here is to keep Luna from transforming into Nightmare Moon," Gold Star explained. "And what is it keeping what exactly from making Luna turn into a destructible being?" I asked. "Well, simple, I don't know." "It's kind of to fend off the spirits that seek to transform Princess Luna into Nightmare Moon, although it's only a filly's bedtime story tale everypony had kept up with the traditional ways," Twilight added. "That is literally what Halloween is, and how it originated from, and I'm not interested," I grunted. "It's not like that at all, I bet I can show you that it's not Humarican Halloween, you'll be impressed!" Twilight babbled, intimidating me with those puppy eyes, I can't believe I'm about to say this... "Alright... Probably going to be a mistake." "Trust me, it won't at all!" Twilight replied, lighting her horn and teleporting us out of the room. (I hope Gold Statr didn't spill his coffee on my Memoir). Meanwhile in the Pentagon General MacArthur after having to bathe himself for days after the arrest warrants were sent out, had been forced by Uncle Sam to recall them. With the sudden death of Reid General MacArthur took the reigns of the military branch, and after the incident of what he did, he was convinced that there were some limits that he would need to be careful about. So after tearing the arrest warrants and throwing them into the fire, he got to work on creating military strategies to hopefully enhance victory chances for the American army, however, upon making a copy of Patton's old tactics that the man himself used in the Human-Crystal war, his secretary arrived with documents. "Mr. Salveron, I assume you have what I need?" MacArthur queried. "Yes sir I did sir, along the way though I was given this document here," Salveron said, placing the specific document on MacArthur's desk. "According to written FIU reports, they detected a signal from Parsley so they sent in two agents to investigate the area," Salveron briefed. "Uhuh... Sounds like a long-range signal, who transmitted it, the Thestrians?" The General asked, sipping his coffee. "Umm... Surprisingly it's actually the Resistance in Parsley," replied the secretary which nearly caused MacArthur to spit out his coffee before he swallowed it and shook his head. "Resistance? In Parsley? Thestria is actually weakening?" MacArthur spoke amazed at the discovery. "Yes sir, also President Reagan and Congress had jointly agreed to tear the treaty with Thestria," informed Salveron. "Proof?" MacArthur asked. "All in the document, page 5," replied Salveron, as the general flipped through the pages and read. "After further examination of the war situation in South Humarica, President Reagan, and members of Congress unanimously voted to tear the treated, at 4:30 PM as of today, the act will go into effect, enabling us to intervene against Thestria," Huh, how about it, but what about Thestria's modernized equipment?" The General asked. "Well, that's something you've got to investigate yourself, sir," Salveron replied. "Right, then here's what we'll do, invite members from the Institute Study of War, and some military officers, I think it's about time we start probing these bat bastards and their technological supremacy," MacArthur ordered. "Yes sir." Meanwhile back in Ponyville. Twilight's friends were assisting the other ponies in setting up a festival for Nightmare Night. "That should be enough apples to cover for a town-size party, nothin' like a good ol' snack for the fellers'" Applejack stoked. "Well as much as you are with your apples, I'm here to make this place a fashion paradise! Olivia darling, can you fetch me the decorations sitting on the table please," Rarity requested. "Sure can Rarity," replied Olivia, as she grabbed the decoration and held it over to Rarity which she then hovered it above her face. "Okay, so far from the number of apples here I believe there are hundreds here, quite enough for the town don't you think?" The person counted is named Dean Kenneth, a black-colored skin human who is a resident of Ponyville. His family were supporters of the Apple family during the Pear-Apple tussle which spanned almost half of Ponyville's land, they supported the Apple family economically and physically, although they did try to mediate once by starting a cotton farm before they received a lot of letters from blacks all over Humarica's being offended. So they disbanded the cotton farm and instead used the land for apples which inevitably kicked the Pears out of Ponyville and into Vanhoover, or that's what Dean's family believed anyway. But Dean continued his family legacy by supporting the apple family, tending to Granny, and even helping Applejack and Big Macintosh in farming, although he kind of struggled at times the siblings would help Dean out a bit on how to tend the farm. But most of the time he only hauled apples and at times helped pick the apples from the trees. Here at the festival, he is currently keeping the apples sorted out while also preventing Big Mac from forgetting the arrangements and preventing the deliveries from mixing up. (Something that may be useful for future reasons) "Phew, glad to hear that Dean, and the cider?" Applejack asked. "Currently being brewed, but surely it'll be quick, (hopefully)" "Ah' think it'll be made in time, speaking of which, where's Rainbow Dash?" "Last I heard she was on 'weather duty' though I think it's a lousy excuse don't you think?" Dean wondered. "Lazy isn't really something to describe entirely for the gall, but it is somewhat a description for her," Applejack shrugged. It was then that Twilight, Gold Star, and I teleported in the middle of the festival setup which was being made and decorated in the town square, interestingly I didn't think Ponyville had such a festival, other than Canterlot though last I heard Luna and Celestia were heading to a secret meeting in South Humarica, (wonder who they're meeting I wonder?) Gold Star looked around and smelled in the autumn wind like the "earth pony" he is, while I stood there blankly not expecting any difference with Nightmare Night. Like seriously! Why not just adopt the name we give to Halloween and not call it something else, I mean holy hell! Griffons have the blue moon celebration, Equestria here has hearts warming eve, the hippogriffs in Zebrica have some sort of traditional thing, AND WE HAVE FUCKING CHRISTMAS ON OUR CONTINENT! Of course, the only exception that is the tradition of the December 25th is the same tradition, but different meaning, Equestria celebrates it in commemoration of the Hearts warming eve war which united the three tribes (plus one) against the Windigo's, Blue moon, on the other hand, is well, just the day when the griffon species were created, as for Christmas on our continent, it celebrates the birth of the chosen one who isn't my great grandfather, but the son of the creator who died for our sins, but in the lines with meanings I can understand, BUT NIGHTMARE NIGHT AND HALLOWEEN ARE THE FUCKING SAME THING FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Of course with dates being separate. I am seriously losing my mind over this. "Welcome back Twilight, did you get the carrots?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight answered by using her magic to levitate the carrots to Fluttershy. "All here," Twilight smiled, looking around astonished at what her friends had made. "This is going to be a great festival! I hope Luna can be able to see this!" Unfortunately, the mares cringed at that statement, which grabbed Twilight's attention. "Ummm... Twilight... Luna..." "Luna isn't coming to the festival, she's heading to Thestria!" Pinkie Pie interjected, bringing out the cake as Twilight slowly took off her Starswirl hat shakingly and said. "Everypony leave except for AJ, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy..." Upon her request, everyone, (including me and Gold Star) in the vicinity entered inside of the town hall where we patiently waited for what was to come as the last pony slammed the door closed. "WHAT IN GREAT CELESTIA'S NAME DO YOU MEAN! LUNA IS NOT COMING!!?" Twilight shouted in rage. "ARE YOU MEANING TO TELL ME THAT AFTER ALL THAT PLANNING FOR LUNA SHE ISN'T EVEN ATTENDING! AND WHAT IN GREAT TARTARUS IS THESTRIA!" "Thestria is a nation in humarica-" "BUT WHY COULDN'T IT WAIT!!" "It's probably because of that bad old baddy war over there?" "WELL WHAT IS THE POINT OF THE FESTIVAL IF LUNA ISN'T GOING TO SEE IT!" Twilight out of anger threw her hat on the ground. "WHAT IN TARTARUS IS THE POINT!" - Sobbing sounds "It's okay, at least you aren't there," said some random pony, as I rolled my eyes and tried to look for a pack of gum, of course, I didn't find gum other than my phone. "Huh, I thought I left this at base?" I said to myself, before also reminding myself that I did because how else did Alex text me, or bring me to him? And before I was going drift my mind to blank land I suddenly had a lightbulb of an idea. "Excuse me, pardon me, excuse me, pardon, pardon," I repeated, as I reached the door I opened it, and the 5 mares were walking around figuring out whether they should cancel the party or postpone it. "Excuse me, princess, if I'm being a butt (as if I was this morning) but didn't you want to show Princess Luna the festival?" I abbreviated. "Well of course I did! Me and Luna planned this festival all year!" Twilight answered. "Perhaps I can help you by taking a picture with my phone," I insisted. "Why? It's just a modified thing-of-a-jig made to call and take pictures," Applejack said. "Not to mention, what would be different about taking photos with this new age camera and this here old camera?" "Well, since Luna and Celestia are with our diplomat heading to Thestria I can text the pictures to him, and have him show them to Luna," I pointed out. "But what about the security that this man has?" Rarity questioned. "Don't worry, we were training buddies back on the first day of training, we go way back, and we've also helped each other, plus he owes me a favor so win-win for everyone here of course unless you want to wait a week princess? Which I doubt this setup would last a single storm," I further insisted. "Hmm..." "Hey guys I'm back!" Rainbow Dash entered, landing on the ground, cracking her neck left and right while being met by an annoyed Applejack who looked at RD dead in her eye. "So... What did I miss?" White house party As the celebration was in process Ronald Reagan with the help of the white house servants hosted a party for the congressmen and the civilians both high and low class to raise a fundraise for the needy in Argendina. The purpose of this party is to raise awareness and grab the public attention on what is going on in Argendina and the war crimes being committed by Thestria, ranging from civilian executions to kidnapping. (Although one fact overlooked on Argendina is that they have been using PMCs in the frontline). The refreshments served are beverages such as Lemonade, wine, and some burger, which is personally made by the President. Governor Huey Long meanwhile, was sitting with the reserved Democrat row which was surprising to be more supportive of the president recently, despite the Jimmy Carter incident just last year, of course when his party failed to potentially become the first independent party since George Washington he hoped for the best of Reagan. In the end, it would seem that Hope is doing exceedingly well since Reagan abolished and overruled Uncle Sam's martial law order, and even pressured him to reopen the Democratic party. And now, the Governor of the State of Louis sits on a lawn chair eating a burger made directly by the president of the United States whom he had rivaled. While refreshments were being placed the House Speaker of Congress got up stage and said. "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, this year was quite eventful today as the president had been busy at work when I first met the President I thought to myself "Man, he has a lot of work ahead of him" but you know, who to say he hasn't accomplished a lot of things within one year, so I won't bore you much with details but I would like to point out the said accomplishments he has made the past two years of his term. First, he has blown us away with establishing military ties with Equestria ending the thousand-year feud that every president had tried to reverse for ages." In a moment of pause interrupting sounds of clapping are heard all over the White House gardens with some whistling and some cheering, the speaker continues. "Second, he has successfully enforced many military operations within Zebrica, with reports stating that the Z.I.T.S. had been crushed, and more ponies captured in this horrendous war had now returned safe home to their families here and the Equestria!" Again, more people clapped for the achievement and the speaker caught a glimpse of the president nodding his head giving him a signal to go ahead and announce the more significant news. "You may or may have not heard on the news today, but I'll give you an explanation, yesterday at 12:30 in the morning in a secret session hosted by Congress, the Republican, independent, and Democratic parties had all agreed to unanimously call for the tearing of the Batanero treaty, this treaty was signed illegally between ex-president Bucannon and the Thestrial ruler which called for the US to restraint military operation in South Humarica and to reduce contact with Equestria, this treaty since had somehow been overlooked by the congressmen of the past with some even hiding the existence of the treaty to the presidents, well today, I hold here this treaty," the speaker appears to show what looked like a perfectly preserved piece of paper with the old signature handwriting of Bucannon and the Thestrian rule as he stepped off the stage and hovered the treaty over open flames. "And now, as of today, this treaty no longer validates towards us, because WE AMERICAN'S! ARE PROTECTORS OF THIS CONTINENT! NOT THE COMMUNIST! AND NOT THE THESTRIALS! US ONLY, AND ONLY US!" As the crowd cheered the speaker dropped the treaty into the fire burning thousands of years of history into a bowel of fire Reagan sighed at the achievement as he could now retake control of South Humarica under his influence again. "Thank you! And Creator bless America!" "That's nice John," said Reagan. "Now who wants hot dogs before they get cold in this weather." Yakyakistan In the land of Yakyakistan laid the town named, well Yakistown the home of the Yaks where their species are very... Communicative... Anyways, on the barren land with the town being the source of civilization, lies on the left is a Rodinian military base. The base stands as Prince Rutherford's objective to end Yakyakistan's century-long isolation from the outside world with the objective to bring attention to the major powers of the world in a peaceful approach, rather than being the violent selves when it came to something like this the Yaks had been visited once by Pinkie Pie during the Soviet construction of the base. Commander of this base is Captain Ogav, after being dismissed from the 134th motor-rifle division and transferred to the base he hasn't really been himself since with military officials continuing to turn down his RNR request. That is because the base he is overseeing is a test rig for new military equipment not announced by the Red Mother, and with the signed agreement between Prince Rutherford and the Red Mother to joint testing assistance. The treaty states that Yakyakistan and its people may abide to keep the Rodinian weapon experiments secret until the announcement of said weapons, but without hindrance in Rutherford's advancement he has gained contact with Equestria despite the incidences where the mane 6 keeps offending him, and his diplomatic team he however, is yet to negotiate with the biggest powerhouse in the world. The Federation of American States. But turning away from this topic, the base Ogav commands are equipped with AKMs, RPG-30s, PKMs, and any other arms that the Rodinian troops use. As for the vehicles, the only vehicle that guards the base is the BTR-4s from the Omarian 10th Light Armor company which was formally based in North Stalliongrad before being transferred to the base. The experimental vehicles are... The BMP-3: The BTR-90: T-80U: And a vehicle to combat against America's Humvee and to replace the outdated jeep, The Tigr. The base in question is codenamed "Crimea" which apparently has no significance as it has no meaning, (I guess I could say the same for putting a base in the nearest nowhere possible). It was not an eventful day, as Halloween to Rodinia was nothing but a capitalist excuse for children to become fat in candy. But of course, since the men at the base all pulled out cases of Vodka and started a party, among them were their superior officers who did the same as they sang songs that would usually be used for December or November months, while most of them sung the unofficial anthem of Rodinia. Rodina Moya: Ogav meanwhile as everyone sang, was sitting on his desk looking at the images of his adopted daughter and his dead parents wondering... When will he go home..? Vesalpolis Rommel stood over the balcony that watched over the city of the changelings, wondering how the insects had created such a city using only barbaric hives. And yet survived this long in the barren wasteland with no farms, and no desire to eat other than the love they feast from their neighbors. And yet as he stood towering over those below him he could hear the sounds of gunfire below him as his men carried out executions on mass scales to put an end to the espionage tree that aimed at overthrowing his client, Queen Chrysalis, with her written authority the orders are given to the men to dismantle the espionage trees through whatever methods are necessary, and so far over 20 had died in suspicion of being spies of a now crushed rebellion. When Rommel received reports that Changeling rebels attempted to cross the Equestrian border before being stabbed and executed on the spot by Equestrian officials, a funny irony in Rommel's mind since Equestria is supposed to be based on "Friendship and harmony" but it seems that this does truly confirmed Chrysalis's theory that Equestria is out to commit ethnic cleansing on the Changeling race. Behind him a door opened and one of his men entered the balcony room, stomping his feet in a salute. "Hochst Allgemein! Message from the North and Southern armies," purported the soldier, as he handed Rommel the letter from the frontline commanders. "Well..." Rommel Read. "It would seem that the rebels have surrendered. "What should their term be sir?" Asked the soldier, as Rommel turned the page back and wrote his response and then tore it off from his notebook. "Send this to the commanders, in exchange for the leadership we will allow Changeling resistance fighters to roam free under military supervision, and inform Chrysalis that at 13:00 hours we must speak on an immediate plan of action," Rommel ordered, as another soldier entered the room. "Yes, commandant!" Replied the messenger soldier, leaving the room and switching with the trooper who stood in front of the Supreme General. "Hochst Allgemein, you have a visitor who wishes to see you and our client, sir," informed the soldier. "Inform the visitor that he'll need to wait for the meeting that is in 2 hours-" "Sir, it's a female pony," replied the soldier, catching Rommel off guard by the statement. "Female pony you say? Is it an informant?" He asked. "No sir, we have no idea of her presence, she claims she could topple the Crystal Empire with her plan," informed further the soldier. "Hmm... She has intrigued me indeed, what is her name?" Rommel asked. "Radiant Hope." Crystal City Nothing like the Crystals in a city, a miraculous place especially for Equestria's version of trick or treating, oh look Holt is giving out some candy to the foals, hey look I think that's Patton saying- "HOLT WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" Patton scolded, as Cadence was walking by the base gate when she noticed the general cussing his man out while Holt stood there smiling as if he loved being scolded. Which he weirdly does for some reason. But to Cadence on the other hand didn't think so, so she intervened and entered the base despite the MPs guarding it. "Excuse me general, what exactly are you mad at him for to warrant so much yelling?" She asked, which Patton could go 360 degrees with his neck. "Excuse me? You dare try to question my authority! Drop and do 50 push ups COME ON GET ON WITH IT DAMMIT I DON'T GOT ALL NIGHT!" Immediately out of confusion Cadence dropped to the ground and did a amount of push ups up and down before hearing crystal foals chuckling at the princesses foolishness which she realizes that she's been tricked, bamboozled. And got up on her four hooves and shook her head. "General, I'm not your soldier I'm your regional head, I have authority to have your division ship and pack up back to the continent where you and your men belong, but I do not wish to do that, so please explained why your were yelling at your man?" "Hi," said Holt. Patton sighed in aggravation and placed his fingers rubbing against his eyes. "First of all, MRE's is not candy, it's meals that are specifically prepared for when we have to fight, and Corporal here had been passing them down thinking it was candy... (Again) So if you have a solution please provide one, otherwise get out of my base," Patton pressured. "You know, I could just give Holt some candy to pass out?" Cadence said as a solution, which Patton, who was tired as hell because of the night, shook his head and replied. "Whatever, just don't make a mess in my base, it's kitchen duty for you two!" Patton warned. "Umm... Okay?" Patton then saluted, yawned, and went about his buisness onto bed, while Cadence cordially invited Holt with her to pass some candy to the Crystal foals. The ride to Batanero The helicopter transporting the diplomat, and the princesses are nearing their destination towards Rio Batanero for the negotiation. Of course with the princesses onboard unannounced to the bat ponies, Luna sat down looking out of the window at the open sunset as the sun slowly descended down as Celestia appeared behind her with her horn lit with the yellow glow surrounding it adjusting the sun's solar position halfway in the horizon and then letting it drop down on it's own. "It's a shame that you had to miss this year's Nightmare Night celebration, you didn't have to go," Celestia spoke in a soft voice. "It's... It's been so long Tia, Ever since the day of my banishment I left my own subjects to miserable punishments they've never deserved and yet they were left unchecked, because of my action I'm sitting here wondering what in great Faust should I do! My return had shown no symbolism to my subjects, and now the biggest nation of the southern continent is now waging war on its neighbors!" Luna expressed, as Celestia inhaled and placed her hoof under Luna's chin. "It wasn't your fault for leaving the subjects defenseless for all these years... I should've taken on your responsibilities for the last thousands of years, even if the subjects had revolted against my will I should've done what needed to be done, it was entirely my fault Lulu... For everything, for the years, and for being the source of the abuse committed towards your subjects, your subjects shouldn't have gone through these things, and yet even in peacetime I've forgotten your ponies, and I've allowed my subjects to forget your name in the past years... All I am trying to say Lulu is... I am sorry," Celestia then retracted her hoof from Luna's chin as the two locked eyes on each other in silence. "Tia... I..." In the moment diplomat James came inside of the room with a mayonnaise sandwich in his mouth when he stumbled upon the two that were having an emotional moment. "Uhhh... Sh-should I go?" He asked. "It's alright, it is your ride after all," Luna said. "I mean, if it's fine I-" BUZZBUZZ* "Gimme a moment," he said, in which he grabbed out his phone and looked at the messages. "Ah Yates, 'been a while old friend' and sent!" He sent a response to my message which I then posted about the Festival. "Huh, hey Princess Luna, do you still care about Nightmare Night?" He asked. "Of course, I do, why do you ask?" She wondered. "Well, a good old friend named Yates just sent me a picture which I think you may like," the diplomat said, as he showed the widened version of the picture Luna felt her heart tugged and warm as she looked at the image. "You know Tia... I think I might have an idea of how we can get my subjects to accept our way of harmony," Luna smiled. "How so?" Celestia asked with a smile. "It may be a bit harsh, but given enough authority I'm sure we can get them to realize the mistakes made, even if it means rooting out this corruption," Luna spoke determined as she looked back at the image she saw with Twilight and her friends and the festival set up.
The New World \| Millennium	Uprising!	Warzhingha/Warsawa The military council of Parsley was in session at this time as generals assigned to their own respective cities discussed the incidents they had to stage. "Say that again?" Said one bat pony. "These Parslians and our own people had turned against us somehow, I don't know why, but according to our unit the people in Kracu had been attempting to vote me out in the election, and according to the statistic reports the people have attempted to vote us out of our own ruling city!" Reported the Bat Colonel. "But you did deal with the scoundrel elected correct?" "...That is not the point, I think we should leave the area to its own devices, and NO I did not deal with him, I had enough of killing innocent people who were democratically elected!" Protested the Colonel. "...You have orders Colonel, deal with him or we'll-" "You'll what? Court martial me and line me up on a wall? Don't forget General I have loyalties within the ranks, killing me would stage a revolt like nothing before!" The Colonel threatened which made the guards tense up a bit and the generals and colonels a bit fluffed. "..." "My city, my jurisdiction, you have your city, be glad there isn't a resistance cell within it unlike me, who's having to quell such resistance!" " And? I believe you are just incompetent, but I can send you my unit to quell the rebels since you can't by yourself." "I believe that's not ne-" KABOOOOOOOOOM The sound of explosions ranged in every bat pony's ears as some screeched in pain from the loud bang while the Colonel and the General ought against the urge to screech and looked at the flames erupting from an oil depot. "You were saying, General?" Chuckled the Colonel, ignoring the pain in his ears, while also avoiding the shattered glass below his hooves. "...You better quell this fucking rebellion, do whatever it takes, appease them, kill them, whatever! But do NOT! LET THEM SPREAD HERE! Or it's your head! Hm! I think the council will be adjourned and preferably evacuated, guardsman! Get this mess cleaned up!" The general ordered. "Yes commandant," replied the guard. "Hm...." The hillside of Warzhinga The air raid sirens blared warning nearby residents to evacuate the oil depot site as Night Sky watched through his binoculars happy that the plan was executed perfectly as the bat pony saboteur group arrived at his side. "Misja zakończona sukcesem. Miną lata zanim oni zdołają się odbudować," Said Private Willow night. "Rozumiem. Wracajcie do bazy w Kracu," replied Ordered Night Sky. As the men headed back to base in silent stealth Agent Eskamoe looked at the flames below and chuckled profusely. "What's so funny?" Night Sky asked. "Funnily enough, I never expected a resistance like this to be well armed, if not equipped, how long did you say your resistance lasted?" Eskamoe asked. "Thousands of years," replied Night Sky. "Huh... Thousands of years..." He muttered, turning towards the blue-furred pony and taking a glimpse at the coat. "Say... Why do you always wear that cloak?" Asked Eskamoe, which Night Sky looked at him and got up on his hooves. "Star gazing is over now, it's best we get back to base," Night Sky said, blatantly ignoring Eskamoe's question. Which in turn gave Eskamo mild suspicion of the cloak that Night Sky was wearing, he could just assume that Night Sky was one of those ponies who aren't in the nude, but then, on the other hand, he could be something else, although Eskamoe hoped it's not what his suspicions are telling him because if that's the case it would cause trouble within the world as everyone knows it. And he rather not think about the Gold Star incident that he personally witnessed... The Depot in flames... The clean-up crew consisting of firefighters, police, and paramedics arrived at the scene and managed to get control of the situation that erupted in the oil depot, while the police investigated armor personal carriers arrived with Thestrial troops sent to secure the perimeter and search nearby areas. They failed to find the culprits that were in the area. However, one of the soldiers found a flag raised above the now-destroyed depot and took it down where he and his comrades approached the general with it. "General Flight, we've secured the area and its perimeter," reported the soldier. "And for the culprits?" The Thestrial General asked. "So far we cannot find the culprits, but they've raised this flag sir," The soldier and his comrades presented, and the general smirked at it. "Finally... A worthy opponent, the fight shall be legendary!" Kracu/Kraków, resistance base The room formerly the olden wood map room turns into a war room being nothing but maps, and crowded generals wearing helmets with white and red stripes circling the middle. The Parslians, Bat Ponies, and some of the minority oppressed such as ponies and humans, worked together as a team to bring down their enemy, Night Sky entered and everyone in the room saluted. Meanwhile, Icebreaker had been speaking with the general staff about the possibility of intervention when a messenger walked by them. "Mr. Willak, good morning," Night Sky greeted. "Good day to you commander, apparently you might like what I have to give you," the messenger said, handing him the election results which surprised the unicorn pony. "Ignacy Mościcki won!?" Night Sky said in surprise. "Yes sir, he also sent this with me, hoping it might grab your attention," the messenger said, handing Night Sky a red envelope that said "OPEN WITH SECRECY" on it, which Night Sky turned to the staff In the room in which everyone understood and left it, all but Eskamoe who being an American agent, preferred to listen in on what it says. Night Sky didn't mind him since he was the only communication he had with the Federation. He opened the red envelope, inside it was a tape recorder which seemed to be a bit banged up with some of the buttons on it missing all except for the play and pause buttons which were intact. Using his unicorn magic he played the tape. "Good morning Commander Night Sky, by the time of this recording you may have already blown something up, but now that the people have spoken at this time I might end up dead soon because of the Thestrian's policy on "fair elections" But nonetheless I sent the messenger the tape recorder with secrecy, first of all, it's been a pleasure fighting on your side my Alicorn friend, and second, at 7:25 A.M. I will be doing an announcement stating a denouncement of this government and I will personally charge the government with the crimes listed, after my speech, you've been ordered to serve the country bread, no doubt that I will be dead, but in the name of Parsley and it's people, it was an honor, goodbye." After the tape recorder was finished, Eskamoe sat in surprise at the word "Alicorn" but before he got up to say something Night Sky turned towards him rashly. "Now you know," he said, as he used his horn and unveiled his cloak, beneath it a dagger and a pistol. The sight burns Eskamoe's stomach, he was fucking right, and sometimes he hated it, and it was one of those moments, but instead he loathed this. "Well, shit! How the hell did you become an Alicorn?" Eskamoe queried, which Night Sky sighed. "Well, I assume something like this wasn't going to be concealed for long, but I do not wish to argue, so I will tell you." 21 BLB I never knew who my parents were, or where I was born, but I know that they were a unicorn themselves before they left, I wasn't born with wings either, I was however born with a Unicorn horn. After being adopted by two Bat-pony couples who never had a child until I came into their lives, they and their community taught me the life of being a bat-pony like them, from stealth to even covering movements through sound, of course, they tried to teach me echolocation but I think we all know where that went. But when it came to magic I've been able to ace the magical abilities to the point of being invited to the school of Gifted Unicorns, but this was 20 years later when I made my decision to leave my old life to find my real parents, along the way I've been to cities in Equestria such as Manehatten, Las Pegasus, and heck! Even Canterlot for that matter. Nonetheless, I couldn't find my parents so I set up home at Ponyville, and then there it was, the castle of the two sisters was where I had my quiet place, or at least was quiet once before a fight broke out between the two sisters which resulted in Nightmare moon being banished, but I and every other pony never thought it was going to cause something major... Only except it did when the next day when my neighbors heard the disturbing sounds of propellers in the skies, and when we looked up all we felt was horror beyond comprehension as if we saw a giant dragon or bird flying above, though I would later find out it was the feared B-17 bomber that your people used to carpet bomb the cities I visited, although Canterlot was spared due to the shield, Las Pegasus on the hand.. Of course, I would try to ignore this war that had been raged throughout the land by reading books from the same castle that was now abandoned by the princess, but one day it changed when I discovered a secret room that was built by Luna as some sort of staging ground, one thing leads to another, and I've woke up with wings, and a letter. That letter was Celestia inviting me to Canterlot, though I did not want to be some royal lineage on the throne, especially when there was a war being waged, and I wasn't that good with strategy back then so I burned the letter and grabbed a cape, or what you would call a cloak, and covered my wings with it. Three years passed, and I continued to get pounded by everypony saying "Hey did you see what the Americans did!" Or some saying "Hey the Americans are bombing Canterlot again!" So forth and so forth, I was getting annoyed with the newspapers, all they talk about was the damn war still being waged, like come on! I know Luna was important but It's nothing to start a war over! And of course, I've started an argument once before I was talked down and was straight-up called a traitor to the country, nothing happened since but I vowed not to let arguments get the best of me, which was a problem, because I could seem to never get friends and even if I did they would be either be drafted into the war, killed in a bomb rush operation by America, or detained under suspicion of espionage... And as if life wasn't terrible enough, things got worse when I received the draft notice... This was something I never expect to receive when everyone else was drafted, it seemed that the war came back to bite me in the ass, immediately though I packed every provision I needed and headed to the recruitment camp in Ponyville which was gaining more non-draftees than the drafted themselves, but I wasn't going to abandon the country despite the amount of stress and depression I've had in it. Of course, on examination, I used an invisibility spell that I learned in the book to keep my wings invisible from the military examiners, because if I was caught with them they may send me to Canterlot and I still wasn't willing to become a royal. It worked, and I was allowed in without getting shipped to Canterlot, and just by telling the war was desperate to the point that I ended up here, where I was found by the locals both Parslian and Bat ponies. After nearly stabbing someone in the neck with the knife I've held for so long I was discovered to be an alicorn by the first resistance members, who coursed me to become their leader, despite my rejection and request to get back to Equestria, but when I saw how horrendous the city was in the war-torn state, I changed my way and mind, and became leader of the resistance that's been waging guerilla war since then. "And now, here we are, standing here on this boat, awaiting the final word." "Attack," Eskamoe added. "Correct, and upon those words, the winged hussar knights will conduct a calvary charge riding on Unicorn stallions with a combined attack on the Eastern checkpoint, taking it out, we will then sweep through the town hall, capture the Colonel, and maybe and possibly rescue our friend," Night Sky explained. "Hm... It may work, but we're going to need a bigger picture and plan than just the simple 1, 2, 3, action," Eskamoe spoke with reason. "And what would that be agent?" Night Sky asked as he buttoned his cloak back on. "Being an ex-soviet Colone-" "Wait you were a Colonel for Rodinia?" Night Sky interjected. "..." "Oh sorry, continue," apologized Night. "As I was saying, being an ex-colonel of the Rodinian Red Army, I was told that a mass assault doctrine mixed with guerilla tactics was the best maneuver to use when dealing with an operation such as this, you have partially this tactic, but if you want to swiftly strike quick and efficient, the best thing to do is to strike fast and swiftly. Starting with signal, instead of waiting for him to speak his code phrase, wait for him to read the charges Thestria committed, and then you can attack, and do it fast," Eskamoe explained. "So how do we execute this doctrine like that with the plan we already have?" Night Sky asked. "Let me show you." Rio De Batanero As the motorcade arrived with Thestrian police cars securing the area, the helicopter landed at the designated pad assigned to them to land on. Thestrial generals were on the scene as the helicopter was landing and brought a roofless car to the airport to bring the American diplomat to the meeting between Argendina and Thestria. As the helicopter landed the the stairs placed before the diplomat, he stepped down from the helicopter while also giving greetings from the reporters and the generals. "Good day Mr. James, we can hope that your presence gives us luck in our conference with Argendina," said a Thestrian. "Indeed it may, but... I'm more of a sideshow than your average main show," replied James. "Huh? Why so..." It was then that behind James was Princess Luna of the Night, and of Dreams, which shocked everyone as Bat-ponies stood in a place frozen, with a small amount being skeptical of her, the majority outnumbered the rest with some bowing to the princess. Luna looked at the city and gazed with wonder at how advanced her subjects were, with even the statue which the Bat-ponies called "Princess Luna the Redeemer." With the status being Princess Luna with her forehooves raised in a galloping pose. However, out of the bat-ponies bowing one of the generals spoke from the crowd. "And just who in Tartarus are you!" "I am Princess Luna, the ruler of the night, and dreams, you may not know me, but my subjects are familiar with me, and from what I heard you are allied with a cult that prefers my dreaded old self, something I'd rather forget and learn, then to be... Her," Luna replied, which the Bat-ponies murmured and whispered to each other with some interested in meeting their royal ruler until Celestia came into appearance in which everyone hissed like cats towards the multi-colored mane alicorn which everyone disliked in Thestria. Soon they started throwing fruit towards Celestia with some landing and pelting her skin before Luna shielded her and privately said. "Tia, these ponies are not like your subjects like home, they are not willing to like you, I have to-" "It's alright Lulu, just... Just be safe," Celestia said, as the two sisters hugged each other and James again went into yet another moment. "Uhh... AHEM anyways, we should probably head towards to meeting?" He insisted. "Indeed, lead the way, Mr. James." And so the two went down to the bottom of the stairs and departed towards the capitol building where the meeting was taking place, however, the general who asked earlier didn't like the monarchy, nor was he willing to let it ruin his own private paradise. "This is General tar tar, we have a code 0-12." The East Kracu city checkpoint It was now sunny with clear skies, Bat-pony troops continued to hold the checkpoint and inspect and arrest those who were affiliated with resistance cells. Some chattered, some smoked, and some straight-up drank themselves to death. However, it was then that they heard heavy trotting from the distance, some thought it was some sort of nearby stampede, however, the commanding officer looked through his binoculars and saw with horror what was approaching. "Wait why is it-" SLIT Before he can answer he was quickly slit in half by the sword of the warriors as pony stallions dueled and fought against the checkpoint, the area once quickly turned to a violent struggle as guns are fired and exchanged, and armed troops opened fire on the enemy positions with small and big arms fire. As the guard's posts are scattered in disarray the commander attempts to hold a part of the checkpoint. "SIR WHAT'S GOING ON!" Shouted a private, as he shot at the enemy with his gun, while also trying not to catch a bullet. "I DON'T KNO- AGH" Yelled the commander, being killed in the crossfire of a gun battle as the Winged Hussars circled around stabbing the Bat-pony soldiers who tried their best to host the post. "LONG LIVE PARSLEY!" Shouted some of the subordinates, catching their former comrades off guards and gunning them down with their own weapons as the leader of the infiltration ground quickly grabbed the resistance flag and raised it on the checkpoint which signaled to the Winged Hussars to halt further progression. "That's one out of three to liberate," said the captain of the Hussars, as his men got off of the Stallions which they moved to secure the post. "Now we'll need to wait for the barracks at the north to be raided," replied the infiltration leader. Barrack 0-43 Upon word that the main checkpoint had been raiding bat-pony troops quickly got to their tanks and APCs until... The commander of the barracks is killed in his tank which drove confusion in the base, it was then that a truck filled to the brim with resistance troops smashed through the base gates and fired on the Bat-pony troops in masses with some of the resistance fighters holding AK-47s, the main rifles, captured Thestrial weapons, and one resistance fighter with a M143 minigun. As they disembarked the base personnel rallied to take positions but with their commander dead the NCOs rallied with whatever troops they could find to mount a counterattack, with some of the officers locked themselves in a bunker armed with a Light machine gun that gunned down some of the resistance rebels creating casualties. It was then that Agent Icebreaker, who is the only one armed with American weapons approached the bunker by crawling on the ground, and then within his reach, he grabbed a little present from his belt. "THROWING FRAG!" He shouted, as he ripped the safety off and threw the grenade inside of the bunker which exploded into fragments of shrapnel and debris, Icebreaker then raided the bunker and killed everyone else who was alive despite them being unarmed and in pain. RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT After killing everyone in the room he quickly radioed in that the bunker in the west sector of the barracks was secured. In the north corridor of the Barracks, the resistance troops rushed the enemy through a series of heavy gunfire as the bat ponies attempted to escape in fear of being killed in a brutal death. Upon reaching the second floor it was filled with barbed wire and machine gun foxholes as the whole hallway turned into a trench zone, a resistance soldier climbed up the stairs and got his head blown clean off from his body which now lays stabbed and poked by barbed wire. "Dammit! They got the damn second hallway packed with those machine gun nests!" Said a Corporal, as his commanding officer who is a Bat-pony ringed in Incebreaker. "We need assistance here, we can't move an inch up on that second floor without getting our heads blown off like the guy before us!" Said the commander, as a bullet ricocheted right in front of her. -- "Roger, HEY YOU TRUCK DRIVER!" "Yeah?" Asked the driver. "CAN YOU PILOT A TANK!?" "Yeah! Let me just get in one without getting my ass shot off!" Said the driver as he kept his head ducked from the oncoming enemy fire coming in from the top of the Barrack building. Icebreaker then followed suit and the two jumped inside the T-80 tank what met them were a series of complicated lights that looked like buttons but in reality, the controls were simpler, so immediately the driver got to work and turned the tank on and cranked some things and then moving the tank. "Nice, I always wanted to man this thing," Icebreaker chuckled. "Here's your opportunity now, you see the turret controller?" The pilot asked. "Yeah!" "Grab them and turn the turret towards the target, when you're ready push on the pedal below." "What does that do?" "It fires the damn cannon mate what else does it do!" The two burst into laughter and carried on with the task at hand as the Driver positioned the tank into position Icebreaker peeked his head out a rocket landed right beside the tank in a fiery explosion. "HOLY SHIT! THAT WAS FUCKING CLOSE!" "Yeah, too close," said the driver, as they arrived at the central part of the battle for Kracu. The tank cannon turned towards the second floor and in an instant just as the enemy Thestrians peeped their heads out the window he shouted. "EAT IT!" BANG The tank fires its shell and zooms all the way to the building where it destroys and burns everything inside of the floor killing anyone inside of the floor in particular while also creating a hole in the wall. And when the survivors peaked out of the hole in the building they were quickly gunned down by either the resistance troops or Icebreaker and the driver with both the tank's light and heavy machine guns cutting down the surrounding area. -- "Now's our chance everypony! Charge!" Ordered the commander as the Bat-pony and Parslian troops continued their building rush and killed the survivors inside while taking a few prisoners who went down the stairs with a white flag as a sign of surrender, the Parslians now awaited word for the final place to be liberated. The city. Kracu, City Centre district In the city, people gathered to listen to their new district manager's words of reason despite what had been going on in the distance, although people had noticed that there was no internet in their city and some people noticed that. While people weren't concerned about the internet blackout they all stood in front of the town hall balcony where stands the democratically elected leader of Kracu, Ignacy mościcki. As they looked up at the leader he spoke. "Hello my children of Parsley, today would be a historical moment in the nation's history as we've all gathered together about the essence of the Thestrial and their intentions, but nonetheless I would like to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to lead you all." -- "Colonel Gallif!" "What is it corporal I'm trying to watch the speech," the Colonel said, smoking his pipe. "Sir! The Eastern Checkpoint has been raided! And the Barracks had been overrun!" This news made the Colonel spit out his pipe and cough. "WHAT! HOW! OR BETTER, WHO!?" "Resistance sir! Our entire garrison had been overrun, the checkpoint is now opened and the city is under-manned!" "Corporal! What the HELL ARE YOU SAYING!" "I'M SAYING IT'S JUST US SIR! THE CITY GARRISON, AND THE ARMOR CARS! EVERYONE IS EITHER DEAD OR CAPTURED! WE'RE GOING TO DIE-" SMACK "GET IT TOGETHER CORPORAL! Hmmm..." The Colonel looked at the blue phone provided by Stefanos on the occasion that something like this occurs, calling the number though could end up having him be demoted or discharged from the army because of such incompetency, of course, the resistance would be taken care of but not in his way... But if he doesn't call Thestria will not know for a while, but then considering that the general he just threatened is sending an armor column to his city it could be his head! Unless... The bakery Night Sky and Eskamoe waited for the leader to announce the charges when suddenly the door opened and it was Colonel Galliff and his soldiers, Night and his men along with Eskamoe pointed their rifles towards him before Galiff's bat-pony soldiers did the same before Galiff raised his hoof ordering them to stand down, and then grabbing a white handkerchief. "A surrender?" Night Sky asked. "And why should I believe you?" "Let's just say unless you like barren wastelands I'd rather you listen to me, I am not for or against the Thestrial government but for years I tried to undermine them on their doctrine of occupation, why do you think he is still alive Mr?" "Sky, just Sky, and why should we even trust you when you killed people with your orders!" "Trust me when I say I do not enjoy the crimes committed and I'm sorry for that, luckily though you killed most of the loyalists towards Thestria instead of the ones loyal to me. So thank you." "Thank... You?" "In other words, I'd kiss you right now If I wasn't a stallion, of course, that to say, your forces and my men can take out the convoy heading right straight for us," the Colonel informed. "So what counts for little tanks?" "Those tanks you destroyed in the Barrack are nothing compared to what Rodinia supplied." "What are you talking about..." "This column has tanks all right, but give it helicopters and everything goes to Tartarus, but these are not just any helicopters either, I'm talking..." "Mi-8s, shit that means they have special forces!" "Correct, and no one could survive them, and if this column reaches us." "It's over..." "Correct, but knowing what they'll do to me I'd rather hurt them for every misery they cause me than surrender cowardly to the same ones who'll execute me, I dreamed of glory, just not in the way I thought," the colonel said, as he grabbed his hat with the Thestria symbol and tossed it into the fireplace. "Where can I and my men start sir," he saluted. "I think I know what you can do." Highway-67 Columns of trucks carrying tanks with some of the armor vehicles rolling on the grassland plains. General Night Flight and his vehicle lead the convoy heading straight for Kracu when his radio suddenly scrambled into white noise. "What's going on!" He demanded. "Sir, someone is scrambling all radio frequencies! We can't get a signal!" Informed the bat-pony soldiers. "Alright, stop this column, I want a technician on the ground now!" He ordered, as his passenger climbed out of the jeep and raised flag signals to the column, ordering them to stop. Some had stopped while some smashed into one another from the back damaging some of the equipment and breaking one out of the three helicopters that rested on the flatbeds. The general stepped out and looked at his column. "Great Creator Dammit!" He cursed to himself as he and his men moved in to inspect the damage. Suddenly a tank shell zoomed passed them and destroyed a second MI-8 helicopter blowing it to pieces as it now sits in flames the drivers tried to get out of the truck but were consumed in the flames of Tartarus. Then it happened, the winged Hussars, the Colonel's troops, Night Sky's liberation forces, and some of the troops that raided Barrack 043 had all charged and attacked the column in a fierce ambush as the once peaceful plain lands turned into a scorched hell land. In the midst of the battle General Flight Grabbed his pistol and fired at the rebels that raided him. Eskamoe was nearly shot before Night Sky tackled the General which turned into a full-on brawl. Night Flight pounced on Night Sky and tore his cloak off revealing his true self before being kicked in the head. After the general grabbed his bearings he spat out a blood-covered tooth and stared at the rebel leader. "So you're the one they call the immortal leader," he chuckled. "Surprised?" Night Sky replied as they circled around in the chaotic fight between freedom and tyranny. "You and your people should've never set hoof on these lands!" Night Sky exclaimed as he pulled out a sword. "Hehehe. Same for you, Equestrian rat." The General then drew his sword out and the two charged at each other in the style of sword-to-sword combat. Warsawa The city was now in flames, rebel uprisings had now begun, Parsley was now rebelling against their occupiers, and the only one left was the General who had tried his best to consolidate power, but now the civilians of Parsley were now attempting to breach the capitol palace. And once it happens thousands of years of military occupation will be undone and they can't do anything about it no matter what they throw. The General no doubt attempted to escape before being slapped by a Parslian with an M14 rifle pointing it at him. BANG, BANG BANG And so, the members of the General Council of Parsley, all except for the Colonel who fights for Parsley. Are dead. Rio Batanero, capitol building Argendinian representatives sat quietly in the room and so did the bat Ponies. Except the Argendinian representatives smiled at what Stefanos was hearing on the phone, and President Alberto could laugh his ass off when Stefanos got off the phone and sighed. "What did you do President," Stefanos demanded. "What happened bat? Lost control of your little enclave that you've held for thousands of years?" Alberto insulted while keeping his laughter inside of him. "This will not be tolerated! Just you wait! I will make sure to burn your frontlines to the point of Tartarus!" "You will do no such thing!" Entered Luna and James, as they stood towering over the Bat-ponies who looked in shock at Luna's presence. " And who are you, faker!?" Stefanos questioned, as Luna explained who she was, what she was called by him and every other bat pony, and her purpose here. Stefanos wasn't going to give an inch to her, no matter what, even if she was Nightmare Moon he wasn't willing to give up his power. "Soldier! Detain her and put her away! I do not want this faker anymore than-" But before he finished Luna moved the moon in the sky blackening the sky into a total solar eclipse causing the men, the soldiers, and the Bat-ponies to truly fear like never before an alicorn. The Bat-pony soldiers dropped their guns and dropped to the ground in a bow at her hooves Luna, with her eyes bright white, moved the moon back to where it was which revealed a scared Stefanos who was now shocked at what she did. And he should be when his own men turned against him with guns pointing at him. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" "You are a traitor to our goddess! It's clear that this one is better than Nightmare Moon!" "WHAT!?" They then launched an all-out coup de tat and detained Stefanos, banging him on the wall with rifles pointing at him, Luna held her hoof up and spoke harshly in demand. "Recalled ALL troops from the lands occupied, from Parsley to the Gilligan region! And I promise I will make a better treaty that can solve this conflict!" "Oh yeah! How so-" "QUIET PRISONER!" Yelled the Bat-pony Sergeant who banged Stefanos in the gut. "Now now Sergeant, that won't be necessary, Mr. Alberto?" Luna asked, in which he pridefully placed down a map that is actually internationally fair for all parties even for the Parslians who aren't present. "..." "If you agree, we'll let you live and let you go back to Chiropterra, otherwise if you disagree, then you will have to deal with your army," Luna threatened, which the leader of the nation he ruled for a year had never been forced to this rate. "Fine..." "Good, a helicopter will be sent to send you back to Chiropterra, just know however, if you dare come back and try to take back what isn't your's I will fly over here myself, and deal with you in the harshest punishment known to ponykind! As long as I live you are to never come back to these lands, EVER AGAIN!" "Very well... But know this, if you ever become Nightmare Moon, just know that the land I came from will accept you with open arms..." "But not me!" Stefanos stated, as he signed the treaty and was escorted outside to the helicopter that awaited him to transport him out of Rio Batanero. And with that, years of tyranny were brought to an end by Luna as F-16 Jets sent from America arrived followed by military helicopters filled with Marines as fireworks were shot up from the building to alert the army that they'd just overthrown their leader with the help of their goddess they formerly called Empress. But they aren't heading to Thestria, they're going through Thestria. The plains. As the battle continued to rage the Thestrial troops were being pounded with the helicopter pilots attempting to fly the Mi-8 helicopter but were killed by a strafe of machine gun fire. Special forces meanwhile showed their strength as they gunned down hundreds of Resistance fighters before they were calvaried charged by the Hussars whose swords sliced through the Special Forces soldiers necks. Eskamoe and Icebreaker side by side fired their guns toward the enemy when suddenly, they heard helicopters and jets flying towards them, and everyone paused the fighting. Except for Night Sky and Night Flight who continued to duel with their swords forming an X shape every time they clinged onto each other. Night Sky attempted to go for a stab before being cut by Night Flight in the chest who he then chuckled. "You fight like a brat, shamefully, your fur reminds me of something," the general thought as Night Sky got up on his hoof. "You never show me your face, you continue to hide behind that blue helmet of yours!" Night Sky insulted. "This helmet serves as my protection, also it's called an Atlyn, very USEFUL!" He then went to attempt to cut Night Sky's throat off before being caught off guard and getting shot by the unicorn horn in the tail. "You know! If I wasn't a damn pony I'd bite your skin off just for that!" He raged. "Oh really? Should've been obvious considering how wingless you are!" "I will KILL YOU!" Shouted the Pony as he charged towards Night Sky with the sword in an attempt to slice his eye out but he was foiled and fatally, Night Sky sliced Night Flight's helmet off and stabbed him in the chest. "ERK- AU.. ACK-" Plop Laying on the ground bleeding Night Sky turned towards the pony whom he fought and was shocked.. "No... I-it can't be!" "W-what!" "You're... You're my father!" Night Sky revealed, that Night Flight at first was about to insult him but realized now that finally recognized the fur coat. He remembers the day of his son's birth, the day he and his wife left him. "..." "..." The two didn't talk, but Night Flight was bleeding ferociously, and Night Sky attempted to save his father but he turned his face toward him. "Don't... Y-you Won, there is no need to heal me." "I can still save you, father!" "No- cough you... Need to find my wife, she's still alive." "But... How... How are you two still-" "She... Knows, I... Don't..." "Father... FATHER! FATHER DON'T LEAVE ME, FATHER, PLEASE!" Night Flight closed his eyes and died, something Night Sky never thought to think was how his parents were somehow alive, it confused him a lot but nonetheless, he noticed White helicopters and Jets zooming over him in aid with the fighters. But these weren't just Americans, it was the League of Nations Peacekeepers, with blue helmet troops mixed with Griffons, Ponies, Humans, and even Rodinians arriving to secure the area and treating both sides that were wounded when a White Helicopter with the letters "United Nations." Landed behind him. The Blue Helmet men took away his now-dead father who he had vanquished and with that, he was gone with the sky. As for the blue-capped men, they started discussing what they should do about the establishment of a Parsley country. And whoever should lead it. 3 days later After days of packing provisions again, the war in Argendina was over, after an entire year of struggle the death toll reached hundreds upon thousand hundreds of dead. The war was devastating and bloody, and now with Thestria losing its grip in Parsley after thousands of years of occupation, it was finally over. And so, with Parsley liberated and with the knowledge that his mother was alive, he sat out to leave once again to find his only parent left. Upon the day of the establishment of the Republic of Parsley and the renaming of cities, Night Sky left the resistance and was later presumed missing. Nonetheless, a statue was constructed in his name, and Ignacy Mościcki became the leader of the newly established republic, a Parsley land for the Parslian people. In honor of those who died, extra red is added to their flag to commemorate the sacrifices made in the war of liberation. As for Night Sky, wherever he was, he could rest peacefully now knowing that he could safely chant to himself. "Long live, Parsley, Long live the republic."
The New World \| Millennium	Intermission	Territorial land as of 1004 Summary: The League of Nations creates a Peacekeeper unit with the task of conducting international aid operations worldwide to those in need. America is in the process of a resolution to restore continental power to South Humarica, while also disbanding bases in the Republic of Colthage. Rodinia reaffirms military support with Stalliongrad after it has successfully established ties with Yakyakistan. Princesses Luna and Celestia return to Equestria after settling things in Thestria, the nation becomes a republic and is invited into the Legion of Southern Humarican Nations by Princess Sunset Shimmer, following this the newly democratic government sends a letter of apologies to the Parsley leadership for ages of occupation and to Argendina for the war, paying 300 million dollars in compensation. Chiropterra denounces Thestria for Heresy, and cuts off all ties, and recalls all military attaches from the nation. The Soviet leadership announced the introduction of the Tigr Vehicle, created against America's Humvee, following this announcement, the Soviet Nuclear Program has been created, starting a new type of arms race. Celestia called on America and Rodinia to cease hostilities and stop nuclear research, but both countries rejected Celestia's demand. Yates and Gold Star are eventually given a Presidential pardon and return back to base Alicorn where they are welcomed back in open arms by the troops present. Meanwhile, I've been busy making friends with the base men. Brodfield goes into a state of Ideological war, while also being raided by Griffonian raiders, but it is not in a civil war. (Yet) The Tarrin Resistance is born Grover the 5th declassified documents regarding military build-up in Mexicona that there were plans of an invasion before being shown the power of Humanity through the bomb Fidel Castro hosted a Soviet-only conference in Kuba with nations that were communist, the list is concerning listing for. Rodinia, Stalliongrad, Skynavia, Saddle Arabia, and Llambet. Ghaddafi launches a coup de tat' in Toebuck and declares regional powerhouse, despite resistance. Saddam Hussein becomes head of Saddle Arabia after years of Council rule. The Communist Party of Sen Kinh was established by Ho Chi Mane. Peacekeepers Established a buffer zone between Gryphian Host and Brodfield with hopes of preventing the ideological wars from escalating into a regional conflict. Skyfall establishes an international trade Organization in Griffonia. The Storm King prepares his armies for a potential invasion of a weakened Arabia along with Asstyria and Anseruk. However, the Soviets in Rodinia along with Secretary General Brezhnev threatened a Military response and to "raise like hell." Frontlines in Senturya are stabilized thanks to Peacekeeping operations, a ceasefire was hosted and maintained between the two parties. Hippogriffia begins evacuation of its residents into Seaquestria despite American affirmation of defending to the death. President Reagan authorized the deployment of Navy vessels, blockading and starving the Storm King's war efforts while also inspecting ships for smuggled weaponry. Agent Eskamoe and Icebreaker are recalled back to American soil after stabilizing the country (Parsley) and capturing MIA troops from a long-gone regime. Rebels once known as warlords in the Changeling lands have been defeated by Preuben and Changeling loyalist forces, the Queens captured had all chosen to stay loyal and obedience to Queen Chrysalis and her rule in exchange for their subject's lives. After months of a successful Jewish Revolution that had broken out a year prior the Palestinian state is reduced to encampments with the signing of the peace treaty of Jerusalem. The Western Anarchy Zone is declared habitable as tribal states forges into independent states, however talks of border discussions are ongoing. America on the First of January, 1004, establishes the Zebrican Iron Belt, which spans countries such as Mareegypt, Colthage Republic, Hippogriffia, and Zumidia, this angers the Storm King and threatens retribution on American soil.
The New World \| Millennium	Episode 5: 1004, The Siege of Crystal City Part 1	Brookian Broadcasting Channel "Breaking news today, as we bring you the latest developing story occurring in the world as of now, the Zebrican region according to sources from the League of Nations peacekeepers, coupled with other sources, it had been confirmed that Muammar Gaddafi has declared a "Total demolition of a corrupted government" as reports stated, military tanks and militias took to the streets in the capital and all over the region referred to as "Toebuck" however the region was known to be unstable, this could bring a rise to some sort of authoritarian leadership, but other than that of unconfirmed reports of armed resistances ongoing, Rodinian Leader Brezhnev had quote Congratulated the "Takedown of American facilities, and ended capitalist ideology." Here we have Lyse Doucet, can you describe what President Reagan might be doing in response?" The reporter looked at the camera and replied. "Well as it could seem the white house itself has been a bit inactive on its decision whether how to respond or-" The Colonel turned off the room television and shook his head. "Amateurs, of course, we ain't going to announce our plans, that's like telling the enemy we'd be invading tomorrow or something!" Alex said to himself, looking around the room and noticing it was just him. "Oh that's right..." Then, I opened the door and Gold Star and I saluted the Colonel. "We're back for duty Colonel," said Gold Star. "It's about fucking time! I can now tell that oversized white horse to stop sending me letters scolding my ass!" "I can always count on a welcome back speech... Didn't you say you have an assignment for us when we got back from collecting the potato order?" I asked. "Yeah, well it's more like someone else's assignment, which in my opinion, I think Gold Star should look at first." "Why me?" He asked. "You'll see," answered the Colonel. Gold Star then opened the envelope and it had Twilight Sparkle's seal on it, the message read. Dear Lieutenant Yates, and Major Gold Star- "You've been cordially invited to the Crystal Faire! Although it was kind of Cadence's idea to invite you, I kind of think that anypony is welcome, except those who'd harm others for their self-interest, but we can always use a helping hand! Plus I think Rainbow Dash alone isn't really enough to handle security all by herself, so will you come? -Signed Twilight Sparkle." "P.S.... Patton and his forces are currently conducting some sort of drills, well do you think we should bring some vehicles and men with us?" Gold Star asked. "Huh, I thought you'd be happy to see Twilight Sparkle write to you?" Alex questioned. "Yes, but I ain't gonna go all cutie over it, it's called duty," replied the major. "Hm, alright then in that case, it will take a matter of time to load up the train, although until then... You might have company..." "Company?" I asked. "What company?" Suddenly the phone rang. I walked over and picked up the phone line. "Lieutenant here." "Lieutenant? I asked for Colonel Alex?" Spoke a Rodinian voice. "Alright listen here, I don't know who the hell you are sir! But if you are calling us over relations I WILL-" "Lieutenant! Phone, now!" Ordered the Colonel, which I became suspicious of but handed him the phone anyway, Gold Star on the other hand... "Who the hell is that Colonel!" Scolded Gold Star. "Good grief... Give me a moment Colonel Dvornikov," Alex excused, placing his hand on the speaker and explaining. "General Carville under presidential sanction has ordered a joint-military task unit to guard the Crystal City." "WHAT!??" Yelled the both of us in unison. "Yeah, yeah, I know! The communists are bad and whatnot, but take it up with the Carville, not me, just doing 'my duty' as usual," Alex phrased, giving Gold Star the stink eye. "It'd be nice if you let us know ahead of time!" I scolded. "As much as I would agree I can't, considering that this was supposed to be informed by Princess Cadence!" Alex informed me. "W-what!? But why would she keep that type of information from us in the first place?" "How should I know? She had Twilight do the writing!" Alex slipped. "What the fuck is everyone's deal here!" "To be honest I got no clue, now why the hell are you two still in my office get your fucking men, and go to the fucking city! Oh and, expect your military vehicles to arrive in 10:00 hours," informed the Colonel. "Yessir..." So me and Gold Star left the building after packing some things in it. We also gathered the men that were already prepared to go into the city, of course since the vehicles were being prepared we were given train tickets to Crystal City. Never gotten the chance to look at that city, so why is everyone so secretive lately when it comes to this? What's going on? Vesalpolis "And so now I come to you now in your support, for you and the changelings to restore your honor, and you... Humans?" As the room was filled with the sounds of Changeling drones chuckling deviously at the plan Radiant Hope made, Rommel looked and processed Radiant Hope's long yet structured speech at a conference that was hosted to discuss particularly stability. Chrysalis looked intrigued by Radiant Hope's words of hope, desire, and ambition, an ambition that can only be achieved through violent conquest, it would also seem that Hope indeed has a structured plan to avenge the ones that had been wronged, such as the ones present. Lightning Dusk, Iron Will and his goatfriend, and the Flim and Flam brothers, and how much of a crushing defeat that this plan can bring to the mane 6 and princesses to their knees, but primarily when she brought up the deal of having Twilight Sparkle especially to be a captive for the changelings. Chrysalis and her subjects could die and go to evil heaven. Although for Rommel... All he heard was consensual rambling, excuses, and risk, he didn't like the single piece of tactics Radiant Hope was referring to, and he wanted to imprint that in her mind. "Anyone have any questions?" Hope asked. Giving Rommel the opportunity to raise his hand, which she wisely answered. "So Hope," Rommel said, as he rose from his seat and slid it under the table. "What do you know about Might?" He asked. "Umm... It's when um... It's when you could do it but not right now??" Hope answered wrongly to Rommel's eyes. "...Clearly you have no idea of it, and that's fine for you since you are not a military general of expertise, however, I have a lot of questions about your planning and the flaws with it, for instance, why do you insist on using a bigger army as a chaotic decoy while you go inside of the castle and invoke resurrection of what you consider a friend?" "Well... That's because-" "Face it pony, even if Chrysalis decided that she wanted to attack I'd respect that, but the men however will not, my men have been fighting furiously against the damned unloyal drones that are referred to as subjects, and to think that Chrysalis and her original plan was already dangerous, what you are risking here is a bigger threat!" "What could be threatening?" She asked. "Oh well let's see. The American nation on our west, their armies stationed in Crystal City, and their expeditionary regiment according to my contact has moved out to the south to conduct drills, but I'm also getting word that the 105th Armor division is directly heading straight for Crystal City, following the entire Rodinian 87th motor-rifle brigade!" Rommel announced, causing a murmur within Chrysalis's high command and even concerning Chrysalis herself. "So there I tell you, you've mentioned the princesses, you've mentioned the royal guards, mane 6, and even stooped up to their naiveness but one thing you've forgotten to consider is the matter of how long before you and everything else falls apart in the fiery flames of Napalm! So trust me when I say, your plan in mind is severely flawed, and you! Have no idea what you are bringing everyone into!" Rommel finished, finishing a single cycle around the table sitting back down on his chair and looking at the pony. "Hmm... You're right, so why not let you command it?" She suggested. "Rash choice, but I could develop a well-thought-out plan that can keep up with your current in a matter of moments, but in order to have a decently sizable plan I'll need to send a request to the fuhrer about the possibility of aircraft." "How long will that take?" Hope Asked, as Rommel stared at her with cold chill filled eyes with only two words as a reply. "Long enough." Sunset City, Gradenland International Embassy Sunset Shimmer wasn't always this interactive towards Equestria nor the Major powers of the world as she felt that it may lead to influence that shouldn't be allowed in the lands she ruled. Her subjects were harmonized with each other, and she wanted to keep it that way without striving, but when it comes to wars such as the recent one the Thestrial-Argendinian war, and the Parsley uprising, she always had her feathers ruffled and combed from the worry she had to endure. Although she has military experience albeit from the Royal Equestrian Academy, she never found herself ruling both the country and a fricken army at the same time! All the while maintaining an alliance that pursues to unify the entire continent into a united front, and possibly a stronghold for harmony, something that a lot of her subjects prefer, rather than the ones she had dealt with upon her fight with Stargei. She can remember how that corrupted pony tried to mangle and use his subjects for his own self-gain, and the day he was overthrown she could've just said my job is done and gone back, if she wasn't double coronated, from being a Unicorn Princess of Gradenlend, to an Alicorn Princess of Gradenland AND Equestria. Though at some times she would try to revisit Canterlot, given if she hasn't been given stacks of paperwork to deal with, not to mention with shenanigans with parliament, and the going ons with other government districts, she wonders sometimes if she even has a purpose here in Humarica in the long run... But in that sort of phrase, she was personally attending a conference that would admit Thestria to the alliance abbreviated as the L.S.H.N., if ratified Thestria would be the first major country since 999 ALB, which in that year was when Doglumbia membership, with the nations of Bolivi and Doglumbia being the only members other than Gradenland. Entering inside of the embassy the entire building was busy with Bat Pony representatives from Thestria heading inside of the auditorium, and Rodinian and American Diplomats that had arrived as observers of the alliance initiation and ratification. Entering in the stadium her friend, who helped her establish the status quo of the country, waved at her and saved her a seat. That same friend also knew agriculture and was the one to figure out that Stargei was the one behind Gradenland's misery and the two overthrew him together. And his name was White Feather. "Hey Sunset! About time you showed up, things were just getting juicy with the Bat Ponies and the Diamond Dogs." "What?" "Look," pointed White Feather, as the two peered down to see the argument. "Listen, Mr. Bargar! We have been endorsed by Princess Luna, the President of the American Federation, and even Princess Celestia for moon's sake! And you're telling us that you won't even ratify or come to consider anything!!?" "Obviously Bat-pony, I and the Bolivian gentle humans behind us are sick and tired of the shenanigans your kind pulled here!" "But we've given the Parslians their independent freedoms, and we've compensated Argendina for the losses, what more can there be asked!" "Nothing! That's the point! Because of the fact that you winged bats destroyed, raided, and even pillaged our lands is something neither my kind could ever forgive!" "Not to mention!" Interjected the Bolivian representative. "You've launched multiple coups against our government! Which was luckily a failure, but still! You tried to undermine our government!" "That's because you are a Junta! I see a lot of reasons for you to be overthrown!" Immediately a whole argument broke out in the chambers with Bolivians shouting racial slurs and slang towards the Bat-pony representatives, and Diamond dogs throwing random items at the Thestrian representation. Sick of the chaos that broke out in her own embassy, Sunset Shimmer stood on all fours and fired a sound bomb inside of the building which deafened everyone's ears including the observers as she flew down from the top and landed between the delegations, which quickly sat down out of fear of her power and wrath. She cleared her throat and exclaimed. "Clearly you have no idea what this alliance stands for! You should all be ashamed for trashing the purpose of this alliance! Have you all forgotten that I was the one who invited them into the alliance in the first place and that I would prefer that the motion be ratified as quickly as possible!" "With all due respect Princess Shimmer," interjected a member of the Doglumbian delegation. "But in the statement of the king of Doglumbia, and in accordance with the treaty, the alliance was originally made against the aggression of Thestria, and not to simply let them in, that was the agreement, wasn't it not Princess?" "Of course, but things have changed since then! Just look at the Federation and Equestria for example, the two countries were at a standoff before they ended it just last year, so why stop the change there?" The Bolivians and the Doglumbians rolled their eyes as the Thestrians were about to speak Sunset Shimmer added. "I think a recess is in order..." Crystal City Gold Star and I arrived at the station with a group of 40 men packed and ready when the Soviets that we're jointly guarding arrived with their versions of Humvees, the Tigr, with their commander in the lead vehicle, he stepped out with his arm extended. "Greetings comrades, glad to meet acquaintances," entered the Colonel, as I and Gold Star pleasurably shook his hand in an Apol. "Glad to meet you too sir, so... What is that you were just riding?" Gold Star asked. "Never seen or heard of them before." "What? The vehicles behind me? These are our own style of Humvees, or what we call the Tigr's, very good, very decent, and very multi-tasky," replied the Soviet Colonel. "Right, well we got our own equipment on its way so, I guess we better make the most of it, Yates?" "PLATOON, LETS BOARD!" I ordered, as the men towed their stuff and items and placed them inside the Tigr's, while some boarded the BTR-70 to carry more of the men with us. Me and Gold Star, on the other hand, were to ride with the Colonel and discuss why the hell is with the secrecy... The Colonel grabbed the radio and ordered. "Нападающие!" Immediately the Tigr's and other armored vehicles began making a straight line convoy formation and headed towards the city, with a BTR-82 leading the way Gold Star and I waited for the explanation, but the Colonel looked at us. "If you are wondering for an explanation about this secrecy or why no one is telling us about anything, you're looking at the one named Twilight Sparkle, not me." "It's Cadence, not Twilight," Gold Star spoke. "Yeah? Well, have you ever wondered how we knew you were coming?" The Colonel Queried. "...What exactly are you applying here?" Gold Star asked. "Obviously if you have noticed Twilight Sparkle and her little friendship crusade, it's obvious that she wants us and your division friendly, just so our countries can be friendly!" This response made me jerk, is he actually serious? Was the fucking youngest Princess trying to get our countries to befriend each other!? Because if she is she has a sloppy way of doing it! "Oh great... Just as if the fight with Tirek wasn't enough, now we're having "Friendship" lessons... Good grief she can never drop the fact that we'll be enemies forever and ever!!" "Da that I can agree with America, I know the purple pony has an imagination, but I think she may be imagining too much in her head." "Her imagination is what got Equestria out of the chaos that it could've entered in, but I think you might be right, although to be reasonable she may have a reason, right?'' The type of reasons that I may figure out eventually went something like this. Apparently, Twilight was told by Celestia that the Rodinian and American Governments had agreed to end the personal diplomacy, meaning that whatever Gold Star and Twilight had progressed together politically now would be considered void, and Gold Star didn't even know. So that he doesn't know about this she decided to have Rodinia and America jointly guard the Crystal City while Patton and his men went to conduct Drills on the Canterlot outskirts. Then if it goes well according to the plan, Rodinia may change their ways and might recall their demand. Full proof right? Well... Not exactly... And you'll see why. As it was, Twilight and Spike were walking in the yard setting up the Crystal fair, and since she is the control freak of this whole organized event she's given a microphone! (Creator help us all) "Attention Everypony! All food vendors are directed to take the east road to the Crystal Commons! Also Flugelhorn vendors please follow the balloon vendors to the Crystal Courtyard!" "Man... Do they have to call everything crystal here? I mean we get it! It's Crystal," Spike expressed. "They're proud of their home Spike? I thought you loved the Crystal Empire, you're a hero here!" "I do, but I think the preparations for the Crystal Fair are starting to wear on me..." "Well, the fair is tomorrow so after that, no fair talk, just good relaxation!" "About time, last week felt like a year or forever-" "Hold on a minute?" Twilight interjected, spotting the Flim and Flam brothers at their cart with the sign saying "Try Flim and Flam's lemonade!" Twilight and Spike looked at each other in faces of disapproval (and slight bitterness) and confronted the two Business ponies. "What are you two doing here!" "Just selling our legitimate wares that's all, remember the super speedy cider squeezy 3000?" Queried one of the brothers. "Do I!? That was the worst Cider I've ever tasted!" Twilight aggressively replied. "Well we've made some adjustments, it makes lemonade now," smirked one of the brothers. "Do you have a permit for that!" Twilight questioned before being presented with a huge list filled with government bureaucracy that I would sleep through because of the size and words involved. "Yes ma'am, we're legitimate business ponies, we wouldn't do less." "Huh..." Twilight spoke in sudden surprise. "Everything seems to be in order." "Of course, Princess, life gave us lemons, and so we made the world an efficient Lemonade maker!" Replied the brothers, as Twilight and Spike turned their backs on them and walked on while the two waved. But the wave wasn't for them, however. In the vendor section, the tourists were looking around gazing at the Crystal City and it's structure, while the castle was the main source of attraction to the tourists, it was a hub of curiosity. For instance, why does the Crystal Heart uncoincidentally float between two spiky crystals that point from top to bottom? And why was the city banished? Or what was the city for that matter? Something tour guides can't answer. But some who are dressed as tourists are not tourists. Within the city is nothing but a web of groups, preparing for the signal, the leader, is a preubic. "What's the status of Flim and Flam, did they make it? Did they fool the naïve Princess?" Asked some Preubic General, as a Preubic soldier, on top of the roof, looked through the binoculars and saw the brothers waving towards them and Twilight and Spike. The Preubic Rifleman replied. "Affirmative General Ferguein, the princess and her pet had just left their sights," "Roger that... Mr. Wills, it's time." "Go make some friends." On the other side of the city, sleeper units from the Preubic Korps disguised as tourists hid in the crowd in plain sight, with some wearing black masks, and some wearing head scarfs with sunglasses on their faces. Shining Armor, looking down from the balcony, noticed a big influx of human tourists lately, it didn't bother him, but it did make him suspicious. "Is something wrong Shiny?" Cadence entered, breaking Shining Armor's train of thought. "Eh... Nothing, I can't help but feel that something bad is going to happen," the stallion dreaded. "I'm sure it's just the pre-Faire feelings, you should relax after all it's not like this isn't the only time we've ever hosted one before," Cadence smiled in reassurance. "Yeah... Maybe you're right," Shining Armor Smiled back, as the two royal couples went inside of the castle. Guantanamo Air base, FAS base in Kuba "Congratulations on the promotion of Captain, Johnson, I'm sure you will do well when you and your crew are needed," Said General Goldfein. "Let's hope that wouldn't be the case sir, but I am grateful," replied the former fighter Pilot, saluting simultaneously with his new commanding officer and then heading off to his new post. It had been about five days fresh out of the academy that he was assigned to for a year, training to fly a bomber that is 10 times the size of his fighter, and as he walked across the towards the barracks he can see the thing he was going to fly tower him as if to show dominance on those who would pilot the magnificent B-52 Nuclear Bomber. "So, Mr. Pilotman, I heard about you in the battle in Canterlot, is it true that the pests called Changelings actually tried to ram into your jet fighter?" Asked one of the pilots sitting besides Johnson in the Cafeteria. "Of course, though it wasn't my fight, it was one of my squadron's rivals that were getting hit and banged on by those beings, odd attempt, but in the end it proved their own genocide." "Yeesh, was it really bad for those beings?" "Of course, they have no type of modern weaponry, not even a flak gun for that matter, thinking on that now, makes you feel bad for the bastards, but then again apart from the stories, not so much," Johnson expressed, eating his meal when his commanding officer came to the table with a tray and sat down. "Alright men, just gotten word that we're about to conduct our usual patrols, so when we get airborne, show a little hospitality to our new pilot mate Johnson, and uh, show him around the cockpit for a while before then," the commander boasted, drinking his wine in a chuckle. "Who's he? My commanding officer?" Asked Johnson. "Of course I am! Now, eat, because you won't be able to in 2 hours!" "Oh.... Kay....." Canterlot "Mr. President! Can you comment on the current situation in Toebuck! Is it true that this could up stage the balance in Zebrica?" "Sir! Mr. President! Do you have any regards with the Storm king?" "What about the recent appointment of Saddam Hussein!?" "Or Governor Hafez!" "CLEAR THE HALLS. GIVE THE PRESIDENT SOME SPACE!" Yelled the body guards, as the Royal guards assisted with the escort and cleared the media up to the meeting room where the security quickly closed the doors . Reagan sighed and turned towards princesses Celestia and Luna who looked at him with some sort of worry. "Do not regard what you saw back there, it's the usual freedom of speech of my country," Reagan teased, as he took a seat. "I do wonder, I thought the Rodinian's were sending someone to oversee the conference?" Celestia questioned, when the door opened with Rodinian Secret service armed with AKMs cleared the hallway filled with reporters to allow the Rodinian person in a gray suit, bald head with red markings, and a simple face. "Это будет все, спасибо," said the Rodinian, as the guards left him in the room with Reagan and the two sisters. "Greetings, I assume this is the conference," Greeted the Rodinians. "Of course, but we were expecting Mr. Brezhnev?" Luna queried. "He is busy with his own objectives and goals regarding security in Socialist interest, however, I am the Red Mother's assistant, and she personally sent me to oversee these Leader-to-leader negotiations for now on," informed the Soviet. "Well it's pleasant to meet you, but it would be better if we knew your name Mr.?" "Oh, of course, my name is Михаил Горбачев, or in English, Mikhail Gorbachev." "Well it's a pleasure to meet you, now let us begin shall we-" But before the conference started a royal guard raced down the hallway and barged into the conference despite the security guards, being humans, tried to stop him. "PRINCESS CELESTIA PRINCESS LUNA I REQUEST THAT I SPEAK WITH YOU AT ONCE!" "A crystal pony? Mr. Reagan, Mr. Gorbachev please tell your men to stand down at once!" "Stand down!" "Остановитесь, товарищи!" The two ordered, as the security men released the guard from the headlock and the guard quickly resumed his speed. "Princesses, it's the Crystal City! We're under attack!" "WHAT!!?" Yelled the princesses in unison, disturbing the two leaders with their shock. Crystal City, 15 minutes earlier Rainbow Dash was guarding the fair entrance, not allowing anyone who could pose a threat, even though it was open to the public there were some exceptions. And one of those exceptions happened to be a minotaur, and his goatfriend. "Woah woah woah there buddy! Just what do you think you're doing!?" "Well Iron Will obviously wishes to see Fluttershy and tell how much Iron Will has changed," Iron Wills said in his usual third person language, which Rainbow didn't buy. "I don't buy it! Beat it!" Rainbow ordered. "Iron Will says no! Not until Iron Will sees Fluttershy!" Demanded the minotaur. "Rainbow? What's all the commotion?" Entered Fluttershy, who was helping with one of the vendors. "Good you're here!" Rainbow answered. "Tell this goon he isn't getting in the Crystal fair!" "Thank goodness Fluttershy! Iron Will was hoping to see you, please tell Ms. Dash that Iron and you are friends!" Iron Will requested. "Well are you here for the Crystal Fair?" Fluttershy asked joyfully. "We've heard it's very beautiful, and Iron Will has been taking some meditation classes and working to become more kind!" The Minotaur stated, as Rainbow Dash gave him a scruffy look to his face. "Will! That's great! Fluttershy is- I mean- I am proud of you!" She stuttered to correct herself. "That warms Iron Will's heart," said again, the minotaur. "I think you can let them in Rainbow! Will really is working hard to be a new Minotaur!" Fluttershy requested, embracing the giant being. "...Ah fine! But I'm watching you! I got both of my hooves, eyes, and ears on you!" Warned Rainbow Dash. "Iron WIll is Understandable! Come let's see the Crystal Heart!" On the other side of the Crystal Fair Rarity and Pinkie Pie were doing inspections with the vendors, Pinkie was doing an inspection with the clowns and Rarity was doing an inspection with the arts and craft stands. But... SPLASH "AHHHH! WHO IN CELESTIA'S NAME DARES!" Enraged Rarity. "Wow! How did this clown do that!?" Surprised Pinkie. "Ahahahahaha!! You dumb ponies should look at your faces! You all look ridiculous!" Entered Lightning Dusk, with a handful of Water balloons aimed directly at the vendors. "And before I'm done all your stupid arts and craft stands will get soaked!" Exclaimed the foolish Pegasus. "There may not be a dungeon deep enough for this travesty that you've committed! And by Celestia I know no fear that I keep looking! SECURITY!!!" Shouted Rarity, as a entire brigade of Pegasus started to arrive to the area, followed by a Rodinian Tigr Vehicle with a Mounted Machine Gun arriving to the scene with a squad of Gorka Rodinians, armed with smoke launchers, and AKMs. One of the Rodinians aimed the Light machine gun armed with Rubber Bullets, and aimed for the wings as Lightning Dusk attempted to fly off. "Да, я получил ее," said one of the Rodines, as the Machine gun crackled light a firecracker. KOW-KOW-KOW-KRACK-KRACK "GAWK-" Yelped the bright cyan pony, as Lightning Dusk fell to the ground out of the pain from the rubber bullets that pelted her hide, before being pinned by Pegasi security, with Rodinian security forces joining suite. "We got her thanks," Rainbow affirmed. "Da, alright," "Question? When are the rest of your guys supposed to be here again?" Rainbow Dash questioned, as Lightning Dusk is placed in cuffs by the Rodinian infantry. "Don't know nyet, but mostly going to come later in a hour, comrades should by now picked up American's da," "Okay first of all I am not your dad, and second what's with the English?" Rainbow Dash critiqued, as the infantry raised Lightning Dusk to her hooves. "That's how we speak, also little pony, Da is yes American English," the Rodinian corrected. "Ohh... My bad :/" "Sir, Lightning Dusk has been taken down," reported the Preubic Rifleman. "As expected, the communist scum has taken the bait, now awaiting the final signal, have the charges been set?" Asked the General. "Yes commandant, the enemy tank depots will blow up upon signal sir," answered the Preubic rifleman on the rooftop, viewing the Flim and Flam brothers and Applejack. "I don't know what you two are up to! But I know you're up to something!" Applejack spoke suspiciously. "Applejack! You've got the wrong idea, we knew you were here so we didn't bring any apples for this occasion." "We're in the Lemonade game now doll face!" Immediately the Preubic riflemen flashed a light on one of the brother's eyes giving them the signal. "In fact brother... Let's allow her to look inside," insisted the brother subliminally. "Hm? Ah yes yes! Yes indeed, feel free to look inside!" Said the other brother, giving Applejack the benefit of a doubt. As Applejack flipped the lid open regardless she looked and noticed blue eyes. "Hold on a darn second... There's something in here-" Immediately the lid bursted open and a swarm of changelings attacked the surrounding locals other than those that had conspired with them, the Rodinians that were stationed quickly yelled in their radio. "WE HAVE A CODE 34-00, DEPLOY THE TANKS! I REPEAT DEPLOY THE TANKS!" - - "Da we're on our way, we are currentl-" Beep-beep-beep-beep BEEP-BEEP-BEEP "Suka blyat-" - - KABOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!!!!!!! "Suka... WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! HELLO!?" Yelled the Rodinian, only to found radio scatter. Following this was a gun fight between Preubic troops who revealed themselves and opened fire on the Rodinians and the Security unit, pinning Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Royal guard, and Rodinian security forces, with the only support being from a rubber bullet loaded Machine Gun. "SWITCH THE AMMUNITION TO LETHAL! WE NEED TO CONTAIN THE SITUATION WE'RE SURROUNDED!" "SIR WE ONLY HAVE ONE USE-" "ONE USE IS ENOUGH, NOW USE IT DAMMIT!" Yelling the Rodinian, as they retaliated fire at the enemy with AKMs as the Preubics shoot at anything that moves, one of the Pegasus noticed Iron Wills stealing the Crystal Heart. "NO GET BACK!" Yelled Rainbow Dash before the Pegasus got hit in the left shoulder by an oncoming bullet round and crash landed right at Lightning Dust's hooves. "Not so strong now huh?" She teased, looking at the Pegasi struggling with his life before dying right in front of her giving her a shock, as she didn't expect anypony to die like that, and as Preubic Airborne infantry forces started parachuting down from the sky. "Just in time," said Queen Chrysalis, stepping into the light in front of a horrified Twilight Sparkle. During this time we reached the city base, but the only thing we found was flames, and destruction, as the Tank depot used usually by Patton to shelter his tanks, were being used by the Rodinians for their tanks. But it seems someone must've known that, and detonated the shit out of this place... But as distraught as me and Gold Star was, the Colonel looked at the destruction beforehand in sorrow, and anger... "Who the fuck did this, WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!" He shouted, before a 50 caliber ran across his face and killed a Rodinian man beside me dead on the spot. "SNIPER! EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Gold Star shouted, as the men took cover from the Raging hell fire of Sniper rounds followed by intensive machine gun shots firing right at us. "Shit! We just had to leave our fucking rifles with us!" I scolded. "Well I didn't know we needed them until now!" "Well you're lucky I have a rifle, HEY RODINIK! HELP ME COVER MY MEN'S ASSES, SO THEY CAN GET OUR EQUIPMENT!" I shouted. "Good Idea... COVER FIRE MEN! SUPPORT THE AMERICANS AND HELP THEM GET THEIR AMMO! BTR-82S! WIPE THAT FUCKING BUILDING OFF THE FACE OF THE PLANET!" The Colonel shouted in rage, as the BTR-82s lit the building with heavy autocannon shells blowing up windows and rooms of the building. The Preubics shooting at the men are constantly being blown or shrapnel lead by the BTR-82s autocannons. "Sir! We're getting blown to bits by enemy APCS! Permission to blow them out of the water sir!" "Granted! Fire the Rocket Launcher!" Ordered the Preubic squad commander, as one of the Rocket men took aim, I aimed right at him. "Fuck you asshole!" I cursed, shooting my Assualt Rifle round to the enemies chest. Along with that asshole in the roof that was no doubt the officer of the entire squad. "GAAAAH!!!" Yelled the Preubic officer, bleeding to death. "GOLD STAR IT'D BE NICE TO HAVE A BAZOOKA RIGHT ABOUT NOW!" "YEAH YEAH YEAH! I HEAR YOU AND I'M ON IT!" Gold Star yelled back, due to the intensity of the combat we had to both yell to get a single voice through this chaotic mess. And it worked, as I was thrown a Rocket Launcher, and was given two rounds. "Use them wisely!" Gold Star said, now close enough where I can hear him without shouting. I then took aim with it and noticed a common bright spot, it was as if the enemy either couldn't switch positions, or that they'd been trapped. Well either way these bastards are going to Tartarus. "Send Grogar my regards, BASTARDS!" KABOOOM!* And with that, the firing stopped, the men were startled but fine, well except for the five other guys who were completely dead, 4 Rodinian, and one of our own, although it's tragic that one of the men that I was leading was killed, this was clearly a coordinated attack, no one expects this, but what's worse apart from that. Was that an entire airborne battalion parachuting from the sky, and that was it, me and Gold Star are about to have a torturous time of our lives...
The New World \| Millennium	Siege of the Crystal City Part 2	Crystal Empire train station The train pulled into the station with passenger cars filled with tank crews, and military infantry assigned to their positions and jobs. It also freighted armor vehicles such as three M1A2 Abrams, four Bradleys, and the new AMPV vehicle. (From Washington, with love). "Strange for you to come here, sir? I thought you had other things to do at the base?" Asked a Sergeant, directing the troops as they unloaded the last Abrams tank off the flatbed. "Well I changed my mind, I got more things to do here, than over in an office cubical rotting away in paper cuts while every fucking else gets to shoot someone," Alex replied, grabbing his lighter and lighting his handheld cigarette for relief. Suddenly they can hear rumbling noises that sound like a beast that was gargling water but loud. So they looked up in the sky and the noise came into their sights as they gathered the armor vehicles a jet zoomed by the squad in the sky at loud speeds, catching everyone off guard and making everyone drop to the ground like flies as Colonel Alex grabbed his binoculars and sees something he never knew existed... "Sir??? What in Creator's name is that!" Yelled a private, as the men got on their feet the unknown jet circled the Crystal City like a hungry Vulture as it unleashed its payload on parts of the city. "I don't fucking know, but whoever these assholes are, they had a gull to launch a fucking airstrike on an unarmed city! I knew I should've brought the M163s! Dammit Sergeant now they and we are going to get blown to bits by those pussy's and their jets!" "Sir, I don't think- INCOMING!" HOOOOOOOOOOOO- BOOOOOOM!! As the men ducked cover the oncoming shell came from the mountains, it destroyed one of the cars that contained their ammunition, and as it was inflamed men scattered for Anti-tank missiles that were in the inflamed car the other personnel focused on getting the tank ammo out of the car, as for the train... "ENGINEER! GET THAT FUCKING CAR DISCONNECTED FROM YOUR LOCOMOTIVE IMMEDIATELY!" "BUT SIR I-I CAN'T JUST-" Immediately Alex grabbed the pony engineer by the collar and shouted. "DO YOU WANT TO DIE OR DO YOU WANT TO LIVE DAMMIT! GET THAT CAR DISCONNECTED NOW OR WE'LL ALL GO UNDERGROUND!" "YES SIR!" Acknowledged the engineer, as his partner ran to the cart on fire and disconnected the wiring, airbrakes, and everything, signaling the train engineer to get the hell out of dodge, which he obliged and got the train to move away from the burning cart on the verge of erupting into a second explosion. But while 65% of the ammo was salvaged before the cart blew up, which destroyed the station in the wake of it, the train was intact, it was also trapped between the dead end and the smoldering cart. But that was the least of their problems as tanks with the symbols of the Iron Cross approached the group. Crystal City With the earlier gunfight that had just ended, the Soviets rounded up the wounded Preubics who fought against us and took them prisoner, but the thing is though, unlike the kidnapping a year back with the creepy dudes in gas masks, these guys were wearing gator masks to conceal their identity, along with a helmet that had a tri-color symbol of Red Black and White, not in order of course from what I said, but these guys in my hunch, were Preubics. But I wasn't focused on that... "We need to get to Twilight, her friends and relatives, and everyone out of this city now!" Gold Star motioned. "I disagree with that comrade Major, if we try to reach them we'll all be gunned down," the Colonel protested, as I helped myself with some explosives and some ammunition. And maybe an M249. "If I have to I will go alone!"Gold Star argued as the Colonel shook his head. "You have a LOT of nerve thinking this is some sort of fairy tale! LOOK AROUND YOU! This is a blyating warzone! going by yourself is just as bad, you're going to get shot out there if you go alone!" The Colonel argued back. "Well then I'll have my men with me-" "Sir, with all due respect, we dispatched drones to the area we're trying to infiltrate and..." "And?" "And the enemy has an entire convoy of armor vehicles en route to the castle, and with the vehicles we have and the unknown technological superiority of the enemy, we're at a disadvantage." "And what's your name and rank!" "Corporal Gavin Wetlock sir, I came from Brooks." "Well then Wetlock, you can be the first to-" However, before Gold Star can say or order anything we spot an unidentified jet flying overhead and heading directly towards us. It was going into an attack formation "Oh shit, oh shit! EVERYONE DUCK, THEY'RE GOING TO STRAFE US!" I yelled as the men ducked for cover while the unidentified aircraft unleashed its 30 mm duel Gatling gun at our position, firing its Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, it destroyed and damaged all remaining Tigr's at our disposal and two BTR-70s, luckily the pilots got out but at the last moment one or two lost an arm or a leg while trying to get out of the APCs, now we only have a single armor vehicle left, and the enemy has hundreds of armor vehicles on the way to the castle. "Fuck this! Sergeant Kell!" I exclaimed. "You are in charge of this group, me and Gold Star are securing the VIPs, and then the civilians! Salvage whatever is left on the base armory and in the vehicles! Colonel, you will be in command, but know that if any of them dies in vain you will answer to me understood!?" "I understood, I will cover from here, good luck." the Colonel acknowledged, as I packed the explosives I grabbed, the Javelin model Bazooka, and the M249. Now because of how fucking heavy carrying both the "Light" Machine Gun, and a fucking rocket Launcher was, I decided to slouch the AT launcher on my back, and hand held carry the Light Machine Gun, while this did put stress on my back and no doubt slows me down, but at least I can say I'm prepared, with hopes of no snipers in the way of course. Gold Star grabbed an M4 Assualt Rifle, a m9 model pistol, and a pack of grenades. As we got ready to depart Gold Star turned towards the Colonel with distrust, being that the Soviets did chase us back in the Our Town incident I wasn't surprised, but we had a job to do, so I nudged him and nodded him, he nodded back and so we went into the chaos zone in a dash. "I was being rhetoric with going alone you know, could've had men with us." "Yeah, but at least you can say you weren't alone, plus it's less risky with a handful than an entire army." "Agreed." Chaos broke out at the initial start of the fight, as Rodinian security guards armed with only two rounds of lethal magazines resorted to aiming steadily to hit their target. While efficient at preserving the amount of ammo they have, they keep getting shot and pelted by enemy bullets, and with the small numbers compared to Preubic troops paradropping from above and shooting at the besieged area from the air, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack remained pinned down. However as this was going on Twilight and Spike were as completely surprised as everyone else, never had such a large coordinated invasion like this ever happened to Equestria, or any country before since the Lunar Wars, but even then Equestria managed to repel the large invasion then, but with modern times, this was different. Twilight did not have time to think though, the only plan in her mind was to gather her friends, her sister-in-law, and her brother, and hopefully reach the nearest allied military forces in time while also evacuating the citizens. As she ran into the chaos, shooting her spells at anyone who wore a gray helmet and was not an ally, she reached Pinkie Pie and Rarity who were defending a group of ponies in the arts and crafts sector. "TAKE THIS YA MEANY!" Quipped Pinkie, firing her canon loaded with a live gun powdered cover cannon ball at hordes of invading infantry. "THOSE RAT SCALLIONS!" Exclaimed Rarity. "Who are these people anyways!?" It was then that Twilight, with Spike holding on to her mane tight, jumped over the barricade fence and blasted the changelings and enemy infantry off her back. "Twilight! Thank goodness you're here! Help us get these citizens out!" "Do you know where Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Applejack are?!" "What do you mean! I thought they were with you!" "Yeah?" Pinkie added. "Dear Celestia! And even I'm as confused, how did this all happen!?" "I don't know darling, but we should really get these civilians out of here As soon as possible!" "Wha-OH! Sorry! We need to find a path for them to" But before she finished, a barrier shield was activated, and when Twilight noticed the Crystal Heart was gone and the color of the barrier was white and not Cadence's Blue magic aurora she was severely confused but frightened as to why the shield was up when Cadence wasn't on the balcony. Then it was when she saw a group of Preubics setting up some sort of generator with three satellite dishes attached on top. "Call it in," ordered the Preubic soldier. "General Ferguein, we have successfully established the barrier, I repeat, the barrier has been established," informed the Radioman. "Guten, be sure that no one goes near it or at least long enough to unleash phase 3." "Understood sir," replied the soldier. "Also sir, Twilight Sparkle has barricaded herself, we can see her from here and she can see us as well." "How so?" Asked the General. "Because she's looking at us, commandant." "Understood, Chrysalis will be en route to dispatch her, and in case she has friends with her, expect Death Troopers on the scene." "Yes, commandant." The moment the group placed down the phones they looked back at Twilight which she then ducked behind the fence. "Darling, what's wrong?" Rarity asked, throwing stuff at the enemy with her telekinetic magic. "I think they saw me..." "How can you tell?" Pinkie asked. "Because I am right here," chuckled Chrysalis, landing in front of the besieged trio. "Your Majesties! The empire is under attack!" "Under attack!? From where!" "Everywhere sir! From the sky and ground! Changelings have allied themselves with humans!" "Rodinians?" "No, not even Americans! They're pinning down our allies, and our buildings are being struck by some sort of aircraft in the sky!" The Guard answered, shocking the two couples. "I'll get the forcefield active and-" Before she finished a Rodinian soldier battling off enemy troops entered the castle and was breathless, and then he saw the two royals. "Your Majesties! American forces are still trying to enter the city, I suggest you keep it open for allied aircraft." The Rodinian then passed out, and Cadence lifted him inside the castle and rested him somewhere on the crystal floor, and then she reiterated her move. "Change of plan, Shining Armor go and help them out, I suggest you grab your armor!" Cadence inferred. "And if you find any wounded out there get them inside!" "I'm on it!" He replied, as he quickly got his purple armor on and ran out where he was met with air-filled bullet spray and firey chaos from jet fighters as Preubic troops raided buildings and shot at positions secured by either Royal Guards or straggling Rodinian security forces who were not at the base. "HEY WHITE PONY! GET THE BLYAT OVER HERE!" Yelled out a Rodinian, as he and three other Royal guards ran across the strafe of bullet hellfire. "GAH-" Yelped one of the guards being shot in the wing. "Ah, crap-" "GET DOWN BLYAT!" Yelled the Rodinian as he tackled Shining Armor down as more bullets were shot at the injured royal guard which killed him. "What the Tartarus is wrong with you! That was one of mine!" Shining Armor yelled, as an artillery blast exploded inside splattering thousands of Crystal shards into the air. "What's your name soldier!" "Lieutenant Yevgeny Prigozhin! I'm with the security group before getting my ass blown off by these Blyating fascists!" He exclaimed, shooting at one of the Preubic soldiers dead. "Well listen here Lieutenant you just got one of my ponies killed!" "That was just one! He died for a cause, if you ran out there you would've died too and we need you alive not martyred!" Yelled Prigo, shooting at two more bodies that attempted to charge them dead. "So what's the plan!" Shining Armor yelled amid the gun battle. "Well first we- SUKA BLYAT! ENEMY TANK!" Yelled the Rodinian as a Boxer APC arrived and opened its guns at the forward positions relentlessly pinning both the Rodinians and the Royal guards. "I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Shouted a Rodinian, as he jumped out of the sandbag fence. "GET BACK HERE YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" Yelled Prigo, before the Insubordinate Rodinian was shot and hacked to pieces by the APC 50 caliber ammunition. "Dumbass!" "So what's the plan!" "Pray that Creator exists! And hope we get out of this alive!" "What was your original plan!" "Guarding the castle entrance to the death! And then retrieve the Crystal Heart!" "I like that plan and the other one!" "You better hope they both work, because that's all I have!" Twilight Sparkle and Chrysalis stood off for the second time since the last encounter with her two years ago, while not much with the Canterlot Wedding, the two did have a quarrel with each other at the high hivelands. And that was before Rommel appeared with his army. And this time, Chrysalis has allies, and her guard who stands right and left of her sides. "Like my new bodyguards little Twilight? They were specifically trained just for your friends, and they've been so anxious to play with them." Smiled the Changeling Queen. "OOH! DID YOU SAY PLAY? I LOVE PLAY TIME- I mean... AHEM oh yeah punk? I--" "Save your breath Chrysalis! I should've known you were behind all this!" Twilight scowled. "Oh not me, of course, while the original plan was to just simply fight you, but thanks to my new general I now see that this is more fun," Chrysalis admitted, as she looked around at the chaotic destruction from jet fighters bombing civilian targets to the Boxers entering the city unopposed. She looked at the meek Alicorn with a smiling glare as the young princess saw everything unravel, while she may have tensed her body, and her wings flapped open, she knew what chaos was going on, but she intended on fighting one of those responsible for it. As for Rarity though, she was pissed. "YOU DASTERLY SCOUNDREL! DON'T YOU PEST KNOW ANYTHING OF DECENCY! LOOK AT THIS MESS! YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING FROM ARTS AND CRAFTS TO EVEN THAT CRYSTAL PIECE OVER THERE!" Enter Dramatic Explosion here However, Chrysalis quickly made her move and fired her spell which Twilight, who lit her horn in anticipation, catcher Chrysalis's spell and pushed her back into the wall. Retaliating Chrysalis flew in the air and fired multiple round bursts aimed at Twilight with each of them pelting Twilight's Magic shield. Meanwhile, the Bodyguards aimed with their guns and attempted to shoot Rarity and Pinkie, but they failed because being the most notorious among story authors she broke the usual fourth wall and- "WILL YOU BE QUIET AND GET ON WITH IT!" Sorry... Ahem She surprise attacked one of the soldiers with her party cannon and blew them off the ground, distracting the other one who immediately released his entire load on Pinkie in an attempt to nab her through a bullet, but Rarity, who was gathering up Crystal shards. Threw a book, a chair, a couch, another chair, and then a huge shipping container on the soldier who was completely crushed to death, the other soldier resorted to CQC and waved his fingers to challenge Rarity, and Pinke, the two shrugged and charged at the soldier in which quickly overpowered the two pony friends, knocking Rarity out unconsciously, and pinning Pinkie Pie to the nearest wall and pointed his pistol. "Sag gute Nacht, Pony" "PINKIE!" Shouted Twilight before getting shot by one of Chrysalis's spells and then getting pinned to the ground by her subjects. The next thing she heard was a gunshot that followed. Running was now more of a chore when I have a fucking missile on my back, unlike Gold Star who seems to love this sport, though then again he was an elite royal guard, but damn I have no capacity of a pony whatsoever. But that was over when we reached the fork in the area, two areas of the castle were besieged, and Gold Star could see Twilight fighting Chrysalis, while I saw Shining Armor, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Applejack pinned down by enemy APCs. "Alright, who's taking who," I asked. "I'll take the area with Twilight, hopefully, I can reach her in time before the enemy gets impatient," Gold Star motioned. "Alright then, since I have this missile on my fucking back I will have the pleasure of blowing up the enemy's toy tanks they brought for me to destroy." "Very well, then that case." "Happy Hunting!" We both said in unison. So we parted ways and moved to the areas of interest, Gold Star Lifted his bandana scarf to his nose and made his way toward the fairgrounds and I moved my way to the castle. As I approached the area it seemed the enemy had no idea that I was in their vicinity, so I took the opportunity to unpack the Javelin that I'd been Painfully carrying and opened the tracker on it. However, things turned downward for me at this point when I was kicked in the face by someone I didn't see at all anywhere. "Well well well, if it isn't Yates, missed me?" Entered General Cynthia. "Bitch, I should've suspected you were behind something like this, say how was your arm by the way? Rot off and die? No?? Well, that's too bad." Immediately she slapped me in the face and grabbed me by my neck collar with an enraged expression on her face. "Listen here you fucking bitch! Your bastard of a friend caused my fucking arm to come off, NOW LOOK AT IT!" She then showed me her robotic arm that she was grabbing me with, as surprised as I am she was not kidding, I know Gold Star shot her in the arm but holy shit I didn't think he'd be the architect of having it amputated! "MY BODY IS IMPERFECT AND BECAUSE OF THIS I WAS DEMOTED TO COLONEL!" Ranted Colonel Cynthia. "Congrats, you got promoted to Colonel, I'm so proud of you," I smirked, before being slammed into the ground and kicked over by Colonel bitch. "YOU WILL DIE HERE!" "Sorry, but I have a policy, the only time I die is on my BED!" I then punched her in the face, and this broke a whole shit ton of codes for men like me, such as "Never hit a lady" Well, she will be an exception, but I think I might've made her angry because she went for the gun and started shooting at me, and when there's no cover in my area except for the buildings I'm technically dog meat. So my best option was to disarm her, so I dropped the M249 and gutted her in the stomach, kicked her in the ground, and then we both struggled for the gun and both of us rolled all over the crystal ground trying to gain possession of the firearm but she quickly kicked me down on the ground and attempt to aim the gun in my head. "YOU. WILL. DIE." She kept repeating those words two or five times as I struggled to keep the gun off my skin but no matter what her robotic arm is trying to get the gun shoved in my forehead and not even pulling the trigger, yet, but using legs I make several tries to get her to dislodge off me before she pulled the trigger, and after 2 and 3 tries I kicked her in the back, punched her in the fucking face, and broke her jaw from the following kick, and then when she tried to bite me I punched her even harder 3 times in the single spot of her eye. Then in a last-ditch effort to kill me, she grabbed me with her Robotic arm and attempted to strangle every single breath out of my lungs. It felt like death was creeping closer as I gasped for air, she didn't care anymore, it was either I or her that dies. And while I could've ended all and given up there, I didn't, I had a job to do. So out of rage that I never felt before I grabbed her robotic arm and pulled at it with every strength possible, and even when she released my neck I continued to pull and pull and pull until I stored it all which made a bloody mess from the base of her body as some of her blood got on my arms. But I didn't care. As I got on my feet, grabbed the gun, and pointed it at her... She looked hideous. She lost an eyeball, her entire jawline barely hanging from the base mouth, her face was covered in blood, and her robotic arm she had, was entirely cut and cleaned off. And so to get that disgusting image out of my eyes before she charged like a zombie in one of those Zombie apocalypse movies, I shot Two rounds into her forehead in which thenseafter, she was on the ground. Dead. After that, I took a breath and looked around and then at the now-dead Colonel Cynthia. "I'll take up that offer thank you very much," I heaved. "But first..." I grabbed the Javelin, took aim at the Boxer, and fired at the ergonomic storage doors at the APC lighting it in flames following an explosive burst that destroyed the entire vehicle, and cheering. I then ran up to Shining Armor who was looking around somewhere and when he saw me he couldn't be happier. "Yates you came! What took you so long and is that blood?" "Long story short, I came by myself, had a fight with, get this, "Colonel Cynthia," killed her, used the world's biggest missile, and saved your hides, and you're welcome." "That... Sums it up, but now we need to find the Crystal Heart," "Oh yeah... Where is that thing anyways?" I asked when Iron Wills showed up in the background with the satchel. "THERE HE IS! GET HIM" Shining Armor yelled, as he and the Royal guards chased after him. "Of course... Whoever is in charge of defending the castle should be secured now, so we need to focus on securing the fairgrounds!" "Understood, LET'S ROLL COMRADES!" Yelled the Rodinian squad leader, as the Rodinians grabbed their PKMS and AK-74Ms and matched towards the fairgrounds. But during my fight with Cynthia. Gold Star reached the crystal fair, after shooting and assassinating the enemy as stealthily and quietly as possible he saw the fighting between Chrysalis and Twilight turn against Twilight when she noticed Pinkie Pie pinned to the wall with a gun pointed at her jaw. "PINKIE!" She yelled when Gold Star turned towards his M4 rifle's scope and aimed at the Preubic soldier in the neck. As Twilight was pinned down by multiple Changelings Gold Star quickly took the shot and fired at the Preubic Soldier and shot him in the neck, saving Pinkie Pie, and killing him on the spot, he then turned towards the Changeling horde that buried Twilight and quickly shot some but not all of the changelings to reduce the risk of accidentally shooting Twilight. However, after firing his 2nd shot Twilight unburied herself from the Changeling horde and Dispelled her entire surroundings which angered the Changeling Queen. With that, the fight continued between the princess and the Changeling Queen which bought Gold Star time to read Pinkie Pie, who was waking up Rarity. " Mr. Star! Thank Celestia you've come! I'm trying to wake Rarity up BUT SHE'S BEING TOO STUBBORN!" "Hold on, maybe I have something for this." Gold Star then looked through his Satchel and found the salt. "Here take this, snap it in half, and put it up in Rarity's nose, that'll wake her." "You sure? Oookay!" Pinkie Pie assured herself, shoving the salt in Rarity's nose and surprisingly waking her up out of her unconscious state. "GREAT CELESTIA I'M LATE FOR THE GALLERIA- oh... Is this fashion heaven?" Rarity asked. "Hey! It worked!" Pinkie Pie smiled, as a strike from Chrysalis struck between her and Rarity. "YOU WRETCHED BEING! PREPARE TO FEEL MY TRUE WRATH!" Shouted Chrysalis, as she fired a hellfire of magic spell blasts from her horn so big that it penetrated Twilight's shield and blew her on the ground, and then after recollecting her thoughts she flew back in the air once more. Gold Star was about to help but was stopped by Rarity. "She can help herself, we need to get our friends, and the civilians out of here." "How! They got a damn forcefield barrier surrounding the city!" Gold Star questioned. "From what Twilight told me it came from over there, but we can't reach it without additional help!" "Well? Where's Rainbow Dash and your other two friends?" "That's for us to find." "Lead the way then." As the trio went about Pinkie looked at the one Gold Star shot and shook her head. "So much for "well trained" what else did she expect?" Pinkie asked herself, walking and dusting her hoof off from the dead man's vest. Amid the chaos, if I were to know this was all a distraction I would stood by and wait at the castle that day. But I never knew, and that was my mistake... Radiant Hope, being the former informant and was officially presumed dead by the Equestrian Records Association, had entered the castle cloaked in brown and avoiding detection from the injured humans and pony civilians taking refuge in the castle during the fighting. With most of the battle now dying down and shifting towards the fairgrounds, Iron Wills served well as a lengthy distraction while she took the Crystal Heart into her satchel, and to admit, Rommel's plan went as perfectly as expected, it was only a matter of time when Phase 3 of the operation would begin, which would start whenever the shield is gone, and the king was revived. She arrived at the throne room which was empty and devoided of anything moving, so taking this window, she opened the secret basement below, and walked down the treacherous steps to what would be referred to as "Sombra's Library of Hidden Knowledge." Or in my words, the old dust bookshop and to be fair Gold Star would knock me down those steps getting there if he knew. Of course, that's because we've never truly explored or experienced the city itself. Gold Star and I were walking into each other's path as I was leading a group of our allies heading toward the security team's position. We bumped into each other and pointed guns at each other before realizing one of the other. "Dag damn Goldie! Are you trying to kill me!?" "Are you?" "Well apart from that, I see you did well with what you're doing, but where's Twilight and the rest of her friends? And everyone else we're supposed to rescue." "Rarity and Pinkie are trying to search for them too, but with the fucking enemy around the corner 24/7 and with the barrier up I can't get no contact with no one! Colonel Alex nor the Airforce!" "Well, then I suggest finding them, and then focusing our attention on whatever generated this!" "SIR!" Yelled a Rodinian. "WE FOUND THEM! BUT THEIR BEING GUNNED DOWN!" "Well let's hurry then!" I motioned, as me and Gold Star ran and followed the Rodinian soldier which we saw the group being pinned down by Preubic soldiers which they foolishly ceased fire and an officer approached. "Attention Security taskforces! This is Lieutenant Garferd of the Preubic Military forces, we have you surrounded, surrender now and you will be spared! Otherwise, you will feel the wrath of our army!" Given the signal, the men quickly ambushed and disarmed the Preubic soldiers swiftly and silently, and Gold Star and I took the liberty to be the ones to tell the officer. "W-who are you!" The officer demanded. "We're the messengers, and to break the message to you, your men gave up." "What!?" "Yeah, look around," I pointed, as the officer looked around and saw his men kneeling in front of Allied riflemen. "..." "Now, if you'd be so kind, hand me your gun, and we'll go our separate ways," I insisted, as he gave up his fire, and Rarity and Pinkie Pie embraced their friends who had been besieged for a while. "Where have y'all been? We've been fighting and bucking for hours!" Applejack exclaimed. "It's only been minutes, though close to an hour, so maybe you're right," I corrected (kinda.) "Well, it took you all long enough! Fluttershy was about to get PTSD from all this gunfire!" RD scolded. "Yeah yeah sorry, but the enemy reached the castle, we had to disperse resources, all vehicles had been destroyed," Gold Star informed. "Not all comrade," interjected a Rodinian." We have this Tiger intact, but it barely has any Light Machine gun ammo." "There's a group that's gathering ammo, if you head there you can resupply." "Thanks, Dasvidanye," said the Rodinian, entering the Tigr and driving it off to the resupply zone. "Where's Twilight?" Fluttershy asked when Twilight suddenly smashed the ground in front of them and entered Queen Bitchalis. "Well isn't this a nice display, I- wait..." "Oh hi Queen Bitch, miss me? Maybe not, but this same gun I'm holding does!" I taunted. "YOU!" "Yeah me! Ready for round two biatch!" "GRRRR! AS MUCH AS I WOULD WANT! I have an area to go to, for now, so long to the rest of you all!" Chrysalis then flew off, pissing me off. "PUSSY ASSHOLE!" I shouted, but she paid no attention to it. "Damn, that usually works." As much as I would like to do round two, Twilight was injured in the fight, though not severely, she still held her strength, and attempted to fly after Chrysalis but was stopped by Gold Star. "Don't it's best that we start restructuring what we need to do next?" Although she didn't like being stopped, he had a point, what they should do is strategize what they should do next, and that plan came in the form of blowing up that dammed generator. Twilight sighed and replied. "You're right, so what should we do?" "Well first off, we need to reestablish signal with the military, starting with that damn generator!" "I know where the generator is, I can lead us to it." "We'll follow." And so we departed from the fairgrounds with security forces gathering up the civilians and taking them to the exit road of the city, the generator was found but it was unguarded, but we destroyed it anyways, and surprisingly it wasn't a trap. However, the only ones guarding it were Iron Wills and his Goatfriend, Lightning Dusk, and Flim and Flam brothers, whoever assigned this job to them are idiots out of all things we could've been shooting something and instead, we had something as easy as that? So we've arrested them and took them in. But I did have a feeling that this was no doubt what the enemy would want us to do and that we played right into a bigger trap... The fighting died off in the Crystal City after a while, and it was also then that in the field Alex and his forces scored a victory against the enemy as they saw the enemy retreating from them. "Sir! They're on the run," reported the Sergeant. "Good to see," replied Alex, looking through his binoculars. "Now it's our turn to retreat as well." "Sir?" "We just an Abrams and most of our Bradleys, luckily the new AMPV vehicle is still intact, but still our only option is to retreat and resupply back to base," Alex insisted. "But sir! What about our other men!?" "By the time we get back all I can hope is for their safety, but for now, we can't help them when we're under-equipped and under-manned," Alex argued. "Understood sir, call it now?" "Granted." "...All troops withdraw is a go, I repeat... Withdraw is a go, retreat and load the tanks back onboard, what about the dead sir?" "Bring them with us as well Sergeant." "Bring back the fallen as well..." Radiant Hope entered the desk room of Sombra's basement, after observing and getting nostalgic that shivered her fur she shook herself out of it and spoke. "You can come out now, I know you're here, there's no need to hide from me... Sombra." After waiting for a while she rolled her eyes annoyed. "Fine you may not recognize my voice, but you won't have forgotten my face." She then unraveled her hood and revealed her identity to the one named Sombra. "Look at me Sombra! Do you recognize me? What's my name?" "H̴̻͎̝̲͉̻̲̺̟͔̲̲̋͜o̵͍̦̖̝̠͛͆̎̅̑͛̓͑̆̄p̷̛̛͉̜͉̝͖̀̑̇̈́̂́̌̌̈́͜͠ͅe̸̫͐̄͗̐̾͜͠.̸̢̧̛̛̥͔̩̻̦̰͙̲̦̌̄̀̀̐̽͊̈͗̾͋̇̿͜" Canterlot Mountain Side Reagan and Gorbachev were watching the Artillary barraging the mountainsides that were cleared by Equestria's environmental regulation, not in willful terms since they've been teleported to the military drills by Celestia or Luna. But despite this sudden teleportation they decided to make the most in comparing their military's and even sharing some military projects that their military's were going to do. For instance. "We currently have reached a level of having 5th generation fighters." "5th Generation Fighters? We're about to have a 5th generation bomber by the end of this month." "Well, in respect I suggest funding your military, after all the world is a big place." "Well well well!" Entered Patton, wearing his Sunglasses and a tropical pineapple fruit that he was drinking from. "About time a leader recognized our existence here, but I didn't expect a Rodine to be here too. "Celestia and Luna are looking for you," Reagan informed. "Yeah I know, but I don't know what it's about," Patton replied, drinking from his fruit cup when Luna and Celestia finally found him. "Hello Mr. Patton, it's been a while since we've met." "Well I will be dammed, I heard you had a rainbow main, I didn't think people were serious! I keep telling them you had a pink one! Same with you Luna, although I don't see the difference, other than that black mark on your butt." The two sisters looked at each other and shrugged, and then turned towards the two leaders. "Did you already tell him?" Celestia asked. "Told me? About what? The hell is going on!" "So, Mr. Patton, remember that you entrusted that the 105th division would guard the Crystal City?" Luna queried. "Yeah?" "It's under attack, human enemies have dropped down from the sky and they've deployed tanks, changelings, and the enemies of Twilight and her Friends," Celestia informed, which Holt came with the additional Pineapple fruit cups that he was delivering for Celestia and Luna before... "THOSE BASTARDS! SERGEANT HOLT GET ME MY COAT!" Shouted Patton, whom Holt saluted and quickly dropped the pineapple cups and dashed from one place to Patton's private coat hangers grabbing a coat and a microphone and back to Patton, which the General obliged and put on his coat and lifted the Microphone to his mouth. "ALRIGHT MEN PARTY DRILLS ARE OVER, GET YOUR ASSES ON THE DOUBLE! COME ONE COME ONE DOUBLE MOVE IT MOVE IT!" Patton yelled, as the men quickly packed up and loaded up the artillery, tanks, and vehicles while Patton shook his head toward the princesses. "It'll be a while before we arrive, feel free to soften those jackasses and their pansy toys!" Patton said, as he walked off from the scene, Celestia and Luna then took flight at a fast speed leaving only Reagan and Gorbachev in the field. "I think they forgot us," Gorbachev pointed out. "Yeah, so they did... Wanna try out the Aquilian restaurant in Canterlot? Heard they make excellent cuisine," insisted Reagan. "touche," replied Gorbachev, Crystal City After putting these bastards in seats and tying them with old rope me and Gold Star had a little chat with each other. "So, that is that we've got them tied up and everything, what now?" Asked Gold Star. "Well I would recommend interrogating them, I heard one of these guys mention Phase 3 of this operation." "Phase 3? I wonder what the two previous phases were?" Gold Star wondered. "One was... Well I don't know, but I know that Phase 2 was something and-" But before I was finished the tied officer chuckled and laughed out loud which stirred some concern with our pony friends. "What's so funny!" Rainbow Dash Interrogated. "Hehehe, you have no idea what you've just fallen for," said the Preubic officer. "Oh yeah? How so!" Rainbow Dash pressed, who was held back by Applejack and Fluttershy. "To reiterate, who are you, and what did we just fall for?" I asked. "Let's just say that phase 2 was all a distraction, but I won't tell you what phase 3 is!" With that sudden response, a Tigr arrived only instead of its gun mount being the usual light machine gun, it was now a literal minigun manned by a chunky Soviet and the passengers, well it was a pissed Colonel and two Special forces posing as bodyguards. As it pulled up to the fair the Colonel stepped out as an old transport truck filled with the prisoners we've captured arrived and were lined up with the other prisoners. "Welcome back Colonel Aleksander," I greeted. "Hello, I assume these are all the prisoners, is that their officer?" Asked the Commie. "Sure is. Say, how do you guys get your information again?" "Stubborn I assume?" He guessed. "Correct." "Well, this should be fun then, Lieutenant Romanov! Bring me, the gas can!" Ordered the Colonel, which the Rodinik happily obliged and grabbed the can, and had the men present to fill it up with with fuel and gasoline, while also bringing out the other torture devices. "HA! What are you going to do with a can hmph!? Waterboard me!?" The officer scoffed. "Oh it's worst," replied the Colonel, before being presented the gas can. "Now, you're going to tell me what the enemy is planning, or you will feel the flames of hell upon you," threatened the Colonel. "Wait! You aren't going to pour gasoline on him aren't you?" Twilight questioned, to which the Colonel looked at the distressed alicorn with her eyes fearfully dilating, so with a neutral face he replied with a lie. "Of course not, I'm not a monster, now answer my question scum! What is phase 3!" "Never you Rodinik pig! You won't get a word out of me! NEVER!" After hearing the response from the Preubic officer the Colonel rolled his eyes and grabbed himself a cigarette, and a lighter. In which he smoked he ordered. "Board him." Immediately the soviets poured not water from the gas can, but pure full Gasoline onto the Preubic officer which immediately Twilight and her friends caught onto what he planned to do. The preubic officer kept his mouth closed but also tried to not drown in the gasoline as it kept pouring on his face, and when some of the fuel got into his mouth he would try to spit it out, but when the Rodinian soldiers saw this, they stopped pouring gasoline and applied tape to his mouth which thereafter they continued to pour, and pour, and pour until finally, it stopped pouring. "Now, untape him," ordered the Colonel, which the Rodinians grabbed the tape from one end and painfully and slowly took it off the officer's mouth. "AHHHH! FFF- What did you pour on me? Why do I smell like g-g-gaaass...." Immediately the officer realized what he was covered him and looked at the Colonel who was still smoking his cigar. "You're mad!" "Am I? Then what's with the chaos you've brought into this city, and the death of my men? Answer my question and you may live!" The Colonel threatened one more time, and at that one point me and Gold Star, Twilight, her brother, and her friends were all waiting for a response which the officer started speaking. Phase 3 is a part of the enemy's operation that's to be launched when Sombra is revived, the plan was to overthrow the Alicorns by the use of the chaos minutes ago to draw Celestia and Luna out of Canterlot, of course, given if international powers such as Rodinia or America got involved the Preubics and changelings would pull out. But with Phase 3, if Sombra was revived, the generator destroyed, and the Preubics and the Changelings retreated to one side of the city, then there's no doubt that a major battle is brewing, and it brings more death and destruction. "And there's your answer you scum! Now release me and my men from bondage!" The Preubic officer demanded, which Twilight was about to do before she was suddenly held back by Rodinian soldiers. "Hey! What are you?" "Oh, I'll release you and your men from bondage. That is, the bondage of life!" The Soviet Colonel flicked his Cigarette still smoking onto the Officer's face and proceeded to light the gasoline still on the Officer's cloth's on fire, as we heard the fire burning his flesh alive, and the scream of agony as the officer attempted to break himself loose from the chair that was now on fire I tried to shoot him out of misery but I was also stopped. "Let him burn, he'll learn for his crimes here, and in hell!" The Colonel stated. "You merciless bitch! Do you realize what you're doing here!" "What did you expect was going to happen when we took the helm Lieutenant? We're just doing what you've asked of us, and now that we got what we needed we have no further use of them. MAKE READY!" He ordered, which the Rodinian firing squad aimed at the Preubics that were lined up side by side. As I watched I learned something about these communists and from the knowledge I just learned is... "AIM!" Never trust a commie. And as I learned that the hard way just from watching it right in front of me Rainbow Dash covered Fluttershy's eyes right before the Colonel said. "FIRE!" And with that, the 6 mares, Spike, and Shining Armor covered their ears when the Rodinians publicly executed all of our prisoners through gunfire from their AK-74s fully automatic. Now the remaining prisoners... Lightning Dusk, Iron Wills, and the Flim and Flam brothers, they were next, and they shivered at the sight of the dead bodies and dreaded that fact as they were grabbed by their cuffs and sat in front, Shining Armor attempted to protest but was held back by the Rodinian guards. As they brought them in front of the firing squad something I did not expect to happen, Twilight actually gathered strength against a major power by first blowing the guards out of her way from her and flew right in front of the group and With quick speed she raised a shield up the moment bullets were fired. They were all deflecting. Dumbfounded by this bold move the Colonel quickly reacted. "Suka Blyet! CEASE FIRE!" The Colonel ordered, which the Soldiers ceased their firing, and awaited further orders from the Colonel who ran right in front of them. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING PRINCESS! THESE ARE CRIMINALS TO THE WORLD!" The Colonel argued. "No they are not! That's just what your people think! And I can tell you they are not, you've all been so brainwashed in propaganda that all of you only think about is murder and death!" "You damn undersized Alicorn! They collaborated with the death of my men! They deserve to die they sided with these criminals! they should all be dead!" The Colonel further stated arguementally. "They didn't know better! They may have done deeds that weren't good! Such as Flim and Flam when they tried to pull a stunt with Applejack and her family, or Lightning Dusk who broke the rules of the Wonderbolts by not helping those in danger, or Iron Wills for being harsh! What they all did before was one thing, but killing them is where I draw the line!" At that point the Colonel could've just said proceed with the execution, but of course not only would he get either shot or punched by Gold Star, but would no doubt jeopardize the whole point of the Rodinian operation which was simple to prove that they were better than America in every way, and so he turned towards his men and signaled them to stand down and lower their rifles. Once they did he looked at the princess and said. "We will help you evacuate the citizens, but after that, we won't be of any service after this." "We'll take our chances," Gold Star replied for the princess. It was then that Twilight upheld her argument and in a surprise move she released the four which surprised her friends. "Iron Will asks? Why did Twilight Sparkle free us?" "You all have a second chance, whether to stay with them or get out of here and make a better choice." Even though they could've gone rampant, after having to see the consequences of their actions firsthand, the four without a word left, although they did help some of the citizens evacuate as some started leaving en masse now that the barrier was down, the Soviets had however were kind enough to lend us their last BTR-82, but one tank wasn't enough for this, but we had to make use with what we have because once the citizens got out, the Rodinians departed as well. However, we were being watched the whole time by one of Chrysalis's drones who watched from the roof spying on them. Chrysalis watched through the eyes of her drone and wasn't surprised. "I'm not surprised, although the execution is violent it shouldn't surprise me how much cowardice these types displayed." "Well Queen Chrysalis, I never did either, nor did Rommel, on the bright side the plan will still work even without them." "So your commander knew already?" "Always had, shouldn't be surprising." "I see... After we do overthrow the Alicorn rule what then?" "Well, after we overthrow them, we will then take our focus primarily toward the American Hegemony, the architects of your failure in the first place." Chrysalis hissed a bit at the word "American" It made her sick of how despicable they were when they attempted to take over Equestria, if they hadn't been involved it would've worked perfectly, and the fact of how they gloated over superiority makes it worst, and she hopes to gloat how she overcame these insulate beings. But first, although she rejected Yates and his offer for round two in fighting, she regretted that moment, because she wanted that second chance to slam Yates and his head into the dirt, and the fact that she insulted her honor was the moment she should've just accepted this challenge. But she knows she would have her chance against him, it's only a matter of time until Radiant Hope brings Sombra into the ring. Canterlot, Le Aquila restaurant, 2 hours later After being picked up by choppers Reagan and Gorbachev sat together for lunch discussing political solutions between each other to perhaps and hopefully decrease Cold War tensions. However, as Gorbachev was about to try the pizza the Equestria Royal Guard Captain guarded by two other guards arrived at the restaurant. "Mr. President," presented the captain. "Good evening Captain, why not help yourself with a cheesecake? Griffons tend to love this dessert," the president offered to the pony, but he shook his head. "No, but thank you sir, but we have a greater situation," the guard tensed. "Of course, something to do with the Crystal City?" Reagan assumed. "Yes sir, but things have gotten worse..." "How so?" Reagan asked, as Gorbachev peaked in the conversation while eating his pizza. "Sir Celestia and Luna have been turned to statues by Sombra, and as we speak he is about to release the Umbrum." The captain informed, which shocked both leaders, the bodyguards, and some of the onlookers who overheard the conversation while spectating what could be a life changing decision between two major countries. "Has it been confirmed?" Gorbachev questioned. "Yes Mr. Gorbachev, Celestia and Luna have been turned to Statues, and at the mercy of Sombra," the captain repeated, which Reagan further replied. "What about the security forces?" "We've lost contact with the commanders." "..." Reagan sat stumped sitting on his chair, and while so the ponies in the background started murmuring about their invincible leaders defeated to a evil shadow king who many thought was long gone. But the princesses wasn't Reagan's only concern, if Sombra released the Umbrum, and if correct, they might launch a globalized invasion to which everyone would not be spared. But... In case Sombra successfully does this, and the Umbrum roamed free then... There is no option left, and ith decisions like these, it's either the Crystal City and it's beauty, or the world and it's widen view of lives at stake. "Get me General MacArthur on the phone, I wish to speak to him about..." The president paused and thought out his decision, but it was either that, or the end of the world. "Pineapples... I wish to speak to him about pineapples." The men quickly called up a man with a brief case titled "The football" and opened the case in front of the president, inside is a phone and codes. He lifted the phone and spoke in front of Gorbachev who was watching the whole process quietly and attentitvely, along with is bodyguards. "General," spoke Reagan. "Execute following codes, and prepare launch sequence." He then reached in the suit case and broke the seal that read. 'EMERGENCY ONLY, SINGLE USE STRIKE CODE' Reagan then snapped the seal in half, and grabbed the special card which he read out. "Alpha, Alpha, Dodge, Blanket, Wisconsin, Pony, Cyan, Shine." Reagan then awaited response. "Code verified sir... But are you sure?" "Do it," Reagan ordered. Gorbachev, now sick to his stomach turned towards his men in a signal that he should head out at once, so he stood and spoke. "I better be heading out, the Red Mother will want to hear about this." "She better, because I don't even know if I'm making the right decision, and if somehow the city is liberated, your men may have the gesture of shooting down the bomber, but be sure that the men onboard survives." "We'll do what we must if it comes to that, but for now, we will be neutral on this stance, and... Good luck." Gorbachev wished. The two leaders shook hands concerningly with each other, and then waved goodbye. But as Gorbachev left, Reagan felt a big urge in his throat that he made a mistake. Because now... The mother of all bombs is on it's way to the Crystal City. And it brings Nuclear winter.
The New World \| Millennium	Siege of the Crystal City Part 3	Kremlin Square, Moskva city The Supreme Soviet Council of Rodinia convened today in what was to be a resolution to the possibility of opening relations with Equestria and the Crystal Empire, this being said there had been rumors of a Pro-American diplomacy party that had been willing to adapt to a more peaceful approach rather than the approach Secretary Brezhnev had issued upon entering into the party affairs. The source of these rumors is Boris Yeltsin, who among the council is representing the entire Soviet council within the Red Mother's power boundary she had set up. Whether you may call it hierarchical or not, it has so far worked within politics, except for the lower classes divided between the Oligarchs and the civilian working class. Boris had been a crusader for change in the flawed system, but they all stalled out. Now why may you ask? Well, that's because it's either been tossed out in the voting process, or simply because even if it does get voted in Brezhnev would veto it. (If not put the damn bill itself into the paper shredder.) No matter what the policy Mr. Yeltsin tried to implement had been nothing but excuses and fails, and his solution was simple for the matter which was the deposition of Brezhnev entirely. Of course, the last time that ever happened was when Stalin attempted to overthrow the Supreme Soviets, which the Red Mother had disposed of him, but calling for a deposition of said leader would be a written death warrant. Despite him joining the party in the first place for advancement in his career, he had been a bit risky with its ideals, sure he had been contemptuous of the Secretary General's actions, but when he heard that Gorbachev was sent for the meeting in Canterlot instead of Brezhnev, two things were learned in Boris's head. A Vanity and a sloth. But as he finished his usual drive, he stopped at the front where it was crowded by either delegates from the regions of Rodinian territory, or civilian and Oligarchic spectators who came to see the procession ongoing. Meeting him at the front is a RIB captain who is the current head of security. "Good morning Mr. Putin," greeted Yeltsin, as he and the captain shook hands. "Good morning to you comrade Yeltsin, I assume you didn't bring anything sharp, or any firearms?" "None of that Captain," Yeltsin replied. "Very well, just step through the metal detector and you may be on your way," the captain insisted. Obeying, Yeltsin stepped through and the checkpoint lit up green which showed he was cleared. "I hope you have a pleasant say Mr. Yeltsin," the Captain thanked, as the two shook hands and the Captain was back to his shift. As Yeltsin walked inside he noticed something on his hand and was afraid to look at it at first before he saw a blank card on his hand. "Strange." Crystal Empire, Sombra's basement After reviving Sombra and restoring his original body that he lost to the Crystal Heart in the first apparent contact with the Mane 6 and Patton's men, the last he remembered was that he had some bruising before being disintegrated by the Crystal Heart, but thanks to Radiant Hope and her gifted healing magic (Rare by the way.) His body was back to the way it was-ish, after words she explained that she had met the "Fairy Pixie Umbrum" that they weren't monsters, and that Sombra was created to be their champion defender. But in Sombra's eyes...? "That doesn't make any sense! If they look like Pixie's then why am I like this!?" "You were meant to be their champion to defeat the ponies who feared them because they don't understand what they are, to protect them from the ponies like the ones outside." "Outside!? Who is-" KABOOOM The noises from outside had broken through the basement floor as gunfire was now heard outside, Sombra is alarmed but Hope is surprised. "Good Faust, it looks like the battle is more intense than I thought?" "Than you thought? Hope, did you do this?" Sombra questioned, as the sounds of Preubic APCs could be heard from the underground. "I had some help, but one of the princesses and her-" "PRINCESSES!? THEY'VE COME TO DESTROY ME AGAIN!" He shouted. "Sombra wait! There's still a war going on outside!" Sombra was about to speak but realized a factor in it all, he thought about some things given the time. A war going on inside of his former dominion, Radiant Hope here leading and liberating him, and the Crystal Heart. "Where is the Crystal Heart!" He exclaimed. "It's right here around my neck, why?" Hope questioned, and in a burst of Laughter Sombra ran up the stairs. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Above the ground, wounded in the round of tens or above had been placed inside for medical attention, as peacekeepers from the League of Nations HQ, which is one of the remaining free areas not affected by the attack, had arrived to treat the injured soldiers. Cadence was helping one of them dragging an injured Heavy Rodinian Soldier still covered in armor vest, and Atlyn Helmet. "I can still kill them, lemme kill them blyats~" he said weakly, muttering random nonsensual words until he was placed on the ground beside injured Rodinians and Ponies. "Are you sure you don't need any help treating the injured?" Cadence asked towards the L.O.N. Blue Helmet, to which he replied. "No need Your Highness, we've seen deadlier stuff like this, such as Parsley and Brodfield, and whatever is going on in Senturya." "I WANT MY VODKA!" "I wish for your health then," Cadence hoped, when she heard faint laughter she went to investigate it and found Sombra running through the hallway. "Time for my revenge!" He exclaimed, running right past Cadence who was hiding beside the wall. "Sombra wait!" Yelled Hope. "Sombra!? It can't be!" Cadence whispered to herself, as the two left her sights. "I have to alert Celestia and Luna!" Cadence said, heading down to the nearest communication officer. As for me and Gold Star, we've been busy, hard at work, and doing everything in our power to evacuate the civilians, however for some odd reason the enemy is gathering up their forces on the other side, and I don't like what they're planning here. But on the bright side, the last civilian family had just left the city, they'll be escorted by Rodinian forces to Hedgeward and then... Well, I guess we'll be on our own... And I realized we're fucked. "Well that's the last of them," Gold Star said, as he slung his rifle around his neck. "Yeah, but now we're reduced to smaller numbers, and while only a handful of Rodinians stayed behind to help us we're outgunned here." "I guess you're right, but that never stopped us before." "Guess you're right, so what plan do we have here?" I asked. "Well, first we should probably get in contact with our division, rally what we have, and reinforce what we cannot afford to lose," Gold Star plotted. "Like the sound of that." As we both walked from the evacuation route Twilight Sparkle was standing in front of the dead men who were violently executed by Rodinians, this had no doubt changed perspectives with her crusade for "Humarican peace", of course, this was after she saved the ones that she and her friends had dealt with from the same fate the unlucky enemy face before she realized that perhaps some things are in consideration of who are enemies, and who are trying to have a life. In some boundaries. But she's been quite a bit stiff on what she just saw in front of her own eyes, so Gold Star looked at me and signaled that I should probably not be in the way of what he may say. So after I left his sight he walked towards the stunned princess and sat beside her. From that point, he understands what Twilight must be feeling when seeing lives pointlessly taken by war and chaos. He placed his hoof on Twilight's shoulder and broke her out of the trance that her mind was having. "Gold Star, I didn't see you there before." "Really? I'm sure your eyes did, but then again I was busy with the populace." After a moment of silence, Gold Star then continued. "Your brother is gathering up the reserves, hopefully, we can try to repel this attack, given if the counterattack goes well." "And what about your gua- I mean, men?" "Well, from what I heard they did put up a good amount of a fight and a proper shop, so we know where we can go in case it gets worse from this point." Speaking of worse, the sky got darker and the sky was consumed by the darkness that spiraled out of the castle which stirred alarm between the two, they quickly bolted towards Shining Armor and the others who were aimlessly wandering around and thinking about what was going on. "Did the sky just get darker?" Twilight Asked, when Shining Armor realized. "The Palace! Cadence is still in there!" But before he could move Twilight stopped him. "Wait! We have to stick together!" "Twilight I have to get to her! She could be in danger!" After relating himself from his sister's grip Gold Star tried to stop him but then he was paused by the sound of propellers. At first, he thought it was American Blackhawks, but something he had never seen before instead peered in slicing through what appeared to be a wall of Darkness and showing a heavy machine gun, and duel rocket pods. Before Gold Star can move to stop Shining Armor a missile was fired in his path blowing him into the bush, which Shining Armor stopped in his tracks before being punched unconsciously into the ground by the dark wall that moved and circled them. "NO!" Twilight Yelled overwhelmingly as she tended to her brother while Fluttershy and Rarity quickly went to search for Gold Star but were quickly cut off by the chopper. During this Rainbow Dash and Applejack ran after the wall, but that was before the black wall revealed the 'presents' that just arrived as it revealed an entire army of tanks, armored vehicles, and Prueben troops armed to the teeth taking positions on top of the tanks, and the vehicles with Changelings reinforcing the horde of Preubic soldiers. Sombra then looked at the princess with a look of evil on his face. "So little pony, you're a princess now," Sombra said, as a transport helicopter arrived with a VIP, guarded by Preubic Death soldiers armed with high-tech weapons. "Now this was worth waiting for," Smirked the Queen, as the VIP arrived in a surprise visit. "Even better," the Queen chuckled. "Ah little Twilight, I'd like to introduce to you my great General, the one truly behind it all, Field Marshal Rommel." As Rommel looked around at the scene, he noticed the mane 6 all shocked in fear, which he chuckled to himself. The changelings then begin the attack on them, as Rommel's left-hand general arrives in a salute during the fighting. "What're the orders sir," he asked. "You may start the attack, send the helicopters to destroy any weapons, ranging from firearms to even the old-style cannons," he ordered. "It will be done, sir." As I was on my way to the base I did notice the dark clouds forming above, I didn't know what that meant before I heard a massive explosion in the background, in to my horror when I realized what I'd done... "Oh shit!" I ran back to the place I left behind while keeping in the cover of the destruction that was now enraged in the firey flames of war, but I wasn't focused on the battle, I was focusing on finding Gold Star, and I did, but he was injured in the hoof and the... Left-wing... Before anyone found him I quickly ran and lifted him off the ground, while keeping his wings concealed, I know I should've allowed them to find out who he was but I wasn't taking chances, plus he was unconscious so I had no choice but to take him out of here. "Good Luck... Friends." "Target acquired, we've located the cannon, the user is destroying our tanks," reported the Preubic Helicopter pilot. "Proceed in its destruction pilot." "Yes sir," replied the pilot, as he grabbed the joystick and fired the machine gun on the cannon. "Uh oh..." Pinkie said as the Helicopter unloaded its machine gun carbon onto the cannon which she was forced to abandon as it was violently destroyed by an oncoming missile fired from the helicopter. "My cannon :(!" Pinkie sorrowfully spoke before being blown away by the same missile that knocked her and Rarity into the cage. "A cage! How undignified!!" She said as she and Pinkie hit the wall of the cage. "That's it you creepy bugs! Just let me get a little speed!" Rainbow Dash foolishly announced that a Preubic ATGM-equipped Mowag Eagle armored vehicle took notice. "She's going for speed commandant!" "Then let's show her speed, FIRE!!" The missile is fired from the rocket port and races right straight towards Rainbow Dash who quickly notices and tries to evade the missile chasing her to the ends of the earth, gathering her speed she manages to outpace the missile. "Commandant, she's evading the missile." "Contact Vehicle 4-9 to fire multiple rounds, if that doesn't work contact Indigo-3," the Preubic squad commander ordered. "Yes, commandant!" A second Anti-Tank Guided Missile is launched from another car and now two follow Rainbow Dash, giving her a bigger situation. "Ehhehe, guys I was just joking!" She nervously chuckled, as an incoming Jet going by the designated number 3, Rainbow Dash went into a collision course toward the jet. "Stupid pony." The Pilot then unleashed his machine gun ammo at the single moving pegasus that was now increasing speed, and she zoomed right above the pilot. "What was that?" He chuckled, and when two missiles raced right toward his cockpit he screamed. "SCHIESE--" The jet fighter was shot down by the missiles launched from the ground which Rommel looked at that with surprise and neutrality. "Hmph. Well played." Of course, it wasn't long before two more jet fighters arrived and shot down Rainbow Dash with a volley of missiles, which brought her down from the shock waves the missiles generated and blew her into the cage. After Applejack bucked another changeling she was quickly surrounded by the Preubic Death Soldiers who pointed their guns at her, forcing her to submit to them. Rommel looked at her and the other mares and said. "You all fought well today, but unfortunately not enough." "Twilight is still fighting! She'll save us!" Pinkie Pie yelled, followed by an outcry of support for Twilight's willpower to fight. "STAY AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!" She shouted, shooting the Changelings off when Chrysalis dived right towards her and threw her to the ground like a dogs chew toy. Twilight got back up and fired several shots toward the Changeling Queen before Sombra came from behind with no remorse and sapped her horn covering it with black shards disabling Twilight's ability to use her magic. She resorted to charging head first to the shadow king before being gutted by the Preubic men who beat and pinned her down on the ground giving Both Sombra and Chrysalis a nice sight. "Pitiful, I was told you were the strongest out of them all... I guess I was wrong to assume." With her last piece of strength, she broke through the Preubic men's grip and attempted to pin Sombra down herself before she was blasted back and beaten twice by the Preubic men before getting lifted by them on her hind legs weak. Her friends watched in horror as Chrysalis menacingly cackled at the Alicorn's defeat. " I DID IT! I FINALLY BEAT HER! Minions! Take these two to the cage and make sure their magic is contained!" Chrysalis ordered as Shining Armor and Twilight were dragged by both Changelings and Preubic soldiers Rommel looked at the mass grave before him as General Ferguein arrived at the scene. "12 of our men died in the initial fighting, and the bullets are not even American." "What are they, sir?" Asked Rommel's left-hand general. "Rodinian crafted 39mm bullets, General, now tell me, what's the death toll in total?" "We didn't get the chance to count, but most likely hundreds of our men, also sir, General Cynthia is dead." "Do you have the body?" Rommel asked as Ferguein signaled the Coroners to bring the dead Cynthia to him. They unwrapped her and showed Rommel. "Hm. Mutilated, and dead, unfortunate, what's the autopsy?" He asked. "She lost her mechanical arm, her entire jaw line has been disconnected and her brain has trauma, the cause of her death is the bullet wound that penetrated her brain." "Do we know what bullet it is?" He asked. "21mm, a luger bullet. But we believe she was killed by none other than Lieutenant Vader J. Yates sir," Ferguein recalled. "Hm, I did not doubt that she was going to break formation in an attempt to grab her revenge, no doubt what so, hopefully, her replacement will learn from this mistake, and won't follow her footsteps further, but..." "But sir?" "But the name itself is peculiar, and even the American political government has an interest in him." "What are you suggesting sir?" Ferguein asked. "I'm saying after we're done we'll-" "SIR! PRINCESSES CELESTIA AND LUNA ARE IN THE VICINITY!" The Soldier yelled as Celestia and Luna landed right in front of the trio. "So they are..." Ponyville, base Alicorn. After Alex and his men arrived at the base they quickly got to business and grabbed anything heavy, ranging from miniguns, Light Machine guns, more tanks, and ammunition. "Here grab this," he insisted, as the soldier grabbed the M249. "What do you think is about to happen if we fail?" "Something bad, and I don't want it to happen, do we have contact with the Air Force?" Alex asks. "Yes sir, they're on the line." "Good patch me through." The soldier lended him the phone and he spoke with the captain of the nearest aircraft carrier group. "Who's the captain!" Demanded Alex. "Sir the captain is currently-" "I'll take it from here Sergeant," the naval Captain insisted. The Sergeant gave the Captain the phone and he spoke. "Colonel Alex, glad to hear from you again," he said. "Captain Weaver, glad to hear you're back from the academy," Alex greeted. "Thanks, now what can I do for you?" "Captain Weaver Crystal City is under attack and it seems we have a new enemy in the scope." "So I've heard, but I'm sorry to say but we're doing air exercises, and MacArthur says we're disabled until the evening exercises have been concluded." "FUCKING WHAT!? DO YOU REALIZE THERE'S A FUCKING WAR BEING WAGED IN THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE AND ALL THAT DAMN GENERAL WORRIES ABOUT IS FUCKING EXERCISES!?" "Sir please calm down." "CALM DOWN!? CALM DOWN!? I'LL CALM DOWN WHEN I SLAP THE HELL OUT OF THAT GENERAL!!" "I uh..." "Captain Weaver, is there a problem here," Asked the Admiral. "Sir, Colonel Alex from the 105th Armor Division is requesting air support for the Crystal City," the Captain informed. "For what??" The Admiral asked. "Crystal City, apparently there's a battle ongoing there." "Lemme see the phone," the Admiral requests, which he was given the phone. "This is Admiral Jerry, how can I assist?" "Admiral Jerry? Do you mean Wilburg Jerry? Is that you?" Alex queried. "Yes, I'm that Jerry, now what in tarnation do you want with my planes," the Admiral asked. "Well, first off how'd you know I needed air support?" Alex asked. "Because I can hear your goddamn yell all the way from Timbucktu!" "Apologies admiral, but we're in a more dire period than you may think we are," Alex excused himself. "No need to tell me about it, we've just gotten a report that the Princess of Friendship, and Prince Armor had been captured, along with other 5 ponies, what the hell do you think I was doing this whole time!" The Admiral scolded. "Well not helping us in the sky for one thing," Alex replied. "We do not have information with the enemy's sudden air-to-air capabilities, and their unknown jet fighter technology, I cannot send the men in not as long the bastards have birds in the air, and even if they decided to pull out where the hell are we even going to strike Colonel, besides the best we could do is sit and watch." "But those are my men Admiral!" "And if you care about them, then I suggest you keep your forces where they are and wait for further orders to arrive until then, do not further interfere," the Admiral then hangs up the phone, giving Alex a fit of rage as he tosses the phone at the wall and shattered it into pieces. "MOTHER FUCKING SON OF A BITCH!" "Sir-" "WHAT!" Shouted Alex. "We've gotten the tanks repaired and prepped, they're waiting on your word sir," informed the private. "...Give me a moment." "Yes sir." As the private left the room Alex was left with conflicting thoughts, sure he could wait for orders but then this would increase the death rate for his men and eventually be responsible for sending everyone there into a slaughter he wasn't prepared for. With the high advantage the enemy has he doesn't really have a clue what to do here. He tried to think of a plan in his head but every time that does there would be casualties involved that he could not afford to have, he was a leader, but not a strategist and usually it was Yates who came up with these plans in the background, not him, of course, given that his Lieutenant is overdue for a promotion he kinda felt off about this whole thing. What happened next was that a Staff Sergeant knocked at the door. "Come in," insisted Alex, as the Sergeant entered and saluted. "Colonel, we have volunteers who are willing to come with us, sir." "Civilian ponies?" "Yes sir, most likely family members of the six mares." This gives Alex... A potentially risky but perfect idea... Maybe. Crystal City "Hello Sombra," Celestia glared lividly. "You two!? How did you get here so quickly!?" "We got a message from cad-" "ENOUGH!" Shouted Sombra, as he attempted to shoot Celestia before colliding with Celestia's counter spell. As the fight was ongoing with both sides distracted Spike approached the cage quickly and quietly intending to free them only to find that the lock was magically sealed. "Drats! They really like the color of their horns!" Spike spoke. "Spike! Where have you been!?" Rarity asked quietly. "I was told to hide somewhere, I didn't think you'd get captured." "Spike we can handle ourselves, but the best for ya to do is get help, Yates and Gold Star are still out there, if you can find them you could find help for us!" Applejack said in encouragement. "But what about you guys? What about Twilight!" "I'll be fine Spike," Twilight assured, waking up from being beaten up by Sombra and Chrysalis. "You must find Gold Star, and then find Yates, it's now up to you and them to save Equestria before it's too late!" Twilight ordered, which at first Spike was hesitant but when he saw that Celestia's horn was disabled by Radiant Hope he quickly ran from the cage and to the streets. However, he slipped on the debris and fell, creating noise that drew some of the Changeling's attention. "Hey! It's that pipsqueak called a dragon!" "Let's get him!" "Oh, Celestia!" Spike quickly got up and ran for his life as the Changelings gave chase to the little dragon through flight. Spike looked around for any opportunities to find and dodge the pursuing changelings when he saw an unstable sewer pipe that had been ripped from its foundations, taking advantage of its unstable structure he slid under it and burnt the wood support beams that held the pipe in its place. With the flames burning away for the wood plank the pipe gave weigh and clattered the two changelings in the head, buying Spike time to run further before the bugs got free. "Push! Push like you mean it!" "Ah shut up Revok!" "No, you!" After running a good distance Spike can notice a lone man walking with a pony. "Thank Celestia! HEY! HEY!" Spike Shouted, which grabbed my attention to the little dragon. "Huh? You must be Spike correct? Where have you been?" I asked. "I've been with Twilight the whole time, but I should be asking where have you been!" "I was originally going to get in contact with my men and some of the Rodinians, but as you can see Gold Star has been injured, and from the looks of you being by yourself Twilight and the others had been captured." "That's right! And they sent me to ask you and Gold Star to help," Spike informed. "Well, in this condition we cannot, Gold Star is injured as I said, and we need to organize for a counterattack, and hopefully with a plan to or no one is getting rescued, I'd suggest riding with me," I insisted. "Ride? But you don't have a-" "On my shoulder, if I can carry this hunk of weight (no offense to you Gold Star) then I can easily carry you." "Fair enough," Spike agreed, climbing up to my shoulder and holding onto me as we both headed back to the base. Both Celestia and Sombra started exchanging their flares of magic as Celestia fired her barrages towards Sombra and went into a ramming position, at the same time Luna and Chrysalis were dueling, not with magic but... Rather with swords. The two were in the air dueling and fighting while Rommel and his men stood by and watched, they would want to help but it would be dishonorable, of course in case Chrysalis lost he would have the pleasure of shooting Luna himself when she wasn't looking. But as the fight was ongoing the caged ponies cheered them on at the fight, Rommel, who has been quite eager to study this property of friendship magic, decided this was the best call to start studying. As Chrysalis landed beside him aiming her catacomb sword towards Luna's throat she noticed them cheering too, but before she could say anything Rommel simply whispered. "Let them." She didn't understand it at first because of Luna going for the first strike charge on her, but after getting breathing room in the sky she now understood why. Rommel took notice of how the cheering may have a connection with magic, this was because the mane 6 are friends with the princesses, including the brother of one of them Shining Armor. During observation in the fight as Sombra continued to struggle a little bit against Celestia and her onslaught of magic spells, it was that moment when Celestia's spells intensified significantly, and comparing with that with the spell thickness she had been using only a short moment ago he was scared shitless. He nor his army was powerful enough against this magic, and even if he were to kill the source it would just be more hell for him and his army. The magic was imposed by the goddess Harmony, titled the overseer of Magic, and the right-hand mare of the Creator who is the overseer of humanity. As for the fight with Luna vs Chrysalis, the two continued to swing at each other either for the legs or the head, however, every swing equaled a parried attack as both swords clang and banged generating sounds of forged metal as they locked in face to face with each other both with hatred towards each other. Luna occasionally used her own style of barrages of magical spells against Chrysalis that were intended to neutralize her. To death. But even with spells Chrysalis used her shield spell against Luna and sometimes when she could, she would use the green sticky fluid plasma that stuck her opponent to the ground for a moment as Chrysalis charged for Luna's forehead but because it was Luna's hooves that were sticking to the ground and not her horn, Luna would easily unstuck herself with a clear spell and would go for Chrysalis and her torso. Meanwhile, Celestia had nearly blown Sombra off of the face of the planet before Radiant Hope appeared and cut her magic off. As this was all happening he had the observation written down for his men, now it was time for math cracking, as the fight died down when Radiant Hope closed off Celestia's magic, Celestia without giving time to react was turned into stone. Out of anger and vengeance, Luna attempted to pierce her sword into Sombra's throat but in the process, she was turned into stone as well and landed near her sister. The Mane 6 now looked at this in horror as the sisters were now defeated. As for Rommel, he has no doubt that they would use this as a reminder to keep fighting, and with that knowledge, the magic of friendship would boost their strength, although he could have them all executed right away, this would start a war with an already powerful enemy he and his forces cannot match. Deployment It had been two hours by now, and President Ronald Reagan had authorized the deployment of the weapon many in the world had recently feared. They call it, the Nuke. After reading the deployment codes to the Pentagon command Rodinian forces were placed on high-level alert and soviet jets had been spotted above American soil as fears started increasing across the world. Unknowingly America is using it for something else... East Humarican Ocean It was nighttime at the airbase when the codes were used, Johnson and his fellow cabin mates were above the skies inside of the B-52 on the failsafe path to where they were assigned in, the flight took so long that everyone but the pilots and the radio men were asleep. It was then that they received the attack order code on their radio "W-what the!?" Exclaimed one of the sleeping pilots, as the radio captain looked at the code with a blank but neutral face. "Relax, it's just the code alarm, nothing to be... Well, alarmed," the captain awkwardly gawked, and the men looked at him with unimpressed faces. "Alright, lemme see real quick," he said, as the men were eager for the code to be recalled back to base, but to the Radio captain's fear when he opened the code book and looked at the code, comparing it from the radio to the book, he placed the radio over his mouth. "I... Uhh, Johnson, we've just been given attack plan K." "Repeat that?" Worried Johnson. "I just said we've been given attack plan K." "That can't be possible, send out a signal of confirmation," requested Johnson. "Roger," the radio captain replied, as he sent out the signal for confirmation, and when they responded they responded quickly. "Confirmed Johnson, we have the togo order, attack plan K has been confirmed." Johnson laid his head back with the sounds of turbine engines blaring in the background. "My God, it's really happening isn't it, what's our target?" Johnson asked. "Take the wheel will you Johnson?" Requested the bomber commander (the pilot). "Sure," he replied, as he switched controls over to him his commander got up and opened the safe that contained an emergency kit, playpony magazines, files, laser pointer, flares, and finally 6 top secret document files all handed to everybody inside of the bomber. And every single one of them had two words. Crystal. City. "I think I'm going to be sick sir," said one of the crewmen. "Well... That's an order from the president, we do not think, we act," said the pilot, flicking switches and turning towards Johnson. "Well, you wanted action, here it is," the commander said. "Yeah... But why the Crystal City? They don't have nukes?" Johnson replied. "Son, there are a lot of things and goings on with that city, hell if I know, for all we know we might be nuking the bastards just to be safe!" "Yeah... I guess..." As the bomber changed course from going in circles to heading to their two-hour target they didn't notice that the moment they left American waters they were followed under the radar. "This is Fencer-1, we have eyes on the Hawk over," Reported a Soviet pilot, flying below the radar to prevent detection. "Roger Fencer-1, proceed with pursuit." Ponyville The Red Mother hadn't called Yuri back for ages now, and due to this tardiness and lack of calls he had been bored out of his mind, first off, why was no one calling him? Has Rodinia all forgotten about him or is he destined to just rot in the damn apartment, cheated out of the revenge that he so desperately craved on Twilight Sparkle. Every day something happens and he is left out, and every time this happens it infuriates him even more and more. And as he drifted off to the point of insanity his phone rang, and without a single hint of hesitation he grabbed it and cleared his throat. "Yuri here." "Ah Yuri, it's been a while, how was your break?" The Red Mother asked. "Break!? I wasn't informed of such!" "Oh... I assume the memo was lost, unfortunate, but I'm here to tell you that it's over and that you have a new mission." "About time, so tell me Our Red Mother, what is my mission?" "You are instructed to secure a landing zone for special forces, they will be given civilian uniforms and are instructed to scatter, the weapons will be airdropped separately so secure a second landing zone as well." "I see, so that's the purpose of that?" Yuri asks. "American president Reagan had foolishly decided to deploy his death toy on the Crystal City, and Celestia and Luna are knocked out of the Arena." "As for... Twilight Sparkle Our Red Mother?" "She has been captured." DAMMIT! He thought a chance of revenge had been cheated out and off of him! What a damn waste, how he just got cheated, damn all these villains to hell! "I... See... I will work on getting those zones prepared, when are they dropping?" Yuri asks. "Tonight, somewhere beyond midnight," informed the Red Mother. "Thanks, dasvidanya." "Dasvidanya." As he hung the phone up, he grabbed his tactical formal uniform and looked at the news that displayed Chrysalis and Sombra's faces. As he was finished dressing, he raised both of his fists and gave them both the usual middle fingers. "Assholes." And then he left for the forest. The battle between two villains and two princesses resulted in the victory for the villains, Sombra had turned the two Princesses into stone, and the sight horrified Princess Sparkle and everyone else in the cage. "NOOOO! What have you done?!" "We did it, we beat the two sisters," Sombra declared, as Chrysalis rolled around the floor laughing her ass off as if to hear a funny joke. "Now there is nothing left to do but to-" "Wait!" "There's another princess here that needs to be dealt with permanently, She'll try to stop me," Sombra warned, with the intent of turning her into what her mentor is, a stone statue. "Sombra she's trapped, tell him, Princess, you won't get in his way will you?" Radiant Hope begged a question to which Twilight Replied. "No, I won't" "See? She said she-" "I wasn't finished!" Twilight interjected. "I won't stay out of his way as long as I still have the strength to stand, I will see to it that you are punished for what you did to Celestia and Luna!" "You're a brave fool, Twilight Sparkle." "And you're a vicious coward! I read your journal!" "And now you'll be an entry in it, goodbye princess." Before he could turn Twilight into stone his legs gave weigh as a result of overexerting his recovery when he was fighting the Alicorn sisters, although it was less action as to the last time they fought they had weapons, of course with Luna having a weapon in this one except for Celestia, but this fight was awfully quick and swift, yet... Combative. But it didn't bother him, what did was that his body gave weight. Radiant Hope took Sombra in, but he refused. "You need to rest, remember our goal," Hope reminded. "Leave me alone! I can do it myself!" Sombra snarled, like a child refusing his morning medicine in the evening. The two turned away from the cage and walked from it, with Rommel ordering a guard post, it was this sentence however that drove him and Chrysalis into a Ridiculed face. "But you're right, I do not need to defeat this powerless princess now. Soon I will set the Umbrum free and I want her to see what they will do to her world," Sombra mumbled. "Wait! Did you just say Umbrum!?" "..." "Farewell, Princess," Sombra said. "When I return I will have my own army, and you will call me, Emperor Sombra." "Sombra! Get back here!" Chrysalis demanded, running after him giving Twilight time to figure out a plan hopefully. "We have to do something, we cannot let them release the Umbrum!" "It's no use! These bars won't even budge! Even Applejack tried to buck our way out!" "Sure can't do," Applejack sat expressionless at the dented wall. "Even if we get out how in Celestia's name are we going by these guys! They don't even look like the humans we know about!" Rainbow Dash ranted, pointing at the Preubic soldier. "Hey! I am a human! >:C" Said some background soldier. "Good to hear but I don't care!" "sigh I hope Spike is alright, he's all alone!" "Don't you DARE! Ignore me Sombra!" "I already grow tired of you, remove yourself from my path!" Demanded Sombra. "I aided in your rescue! It is my army that defeated your foes! I am a Queen and you will show me the respect befitting a queen!" "This seems like the perfect amount of respect for a Queen of insects, a Queen of vermin," insulted Sombra. "HOW DARE YOU!" Shouted Chrysalis. "Sombra, she's our ally, you should hear her out," Radiant Hope suggested, which stirred Sombra to sigh. "Very well, say your piece," he answered. "Thank you." History of the Umbrum Because I hate Chrysalis, and that she is a bitch whore who I keep beating the shit out of, I'll tell you it in my style. So apparently these Umbrum creatures are beasts, they are pure shadows and are known to have burnt down the homes and crushed the hopes of the Crystal Ponies. Technically moving shadows, however like all shadows they do not like anything light material, such as the sun, and the climate in Crystal City is perfect for the conditions, and in order to live and inhabit areas they have their style of cloud that can blot out the sun just so it can habitable to these beasts. But there are other ways to take the sun to them, and this was proven by Patton, that to kill them without the sun is to either shoot magic towards them or shoot them. Given that you have an Assualt rifle or any gun for that matter, which I do, then it'll work, if you don't well you are in deep shit, though my men are already armed to the teeth, so that left us with one problem, what to do when Sombra actually does release those things into the world. Of course, all this is just a long explanation from my Greater Grandfather Canter so to sum it up. Bad shadows, death-bringing creatures, can be killed by a light source, can blot out the sun, Et Cetera, Et Cetera. During the conversation between the King and Queen, Rommel was starting to get nervous about what Sombra said earlier. The Umbrum are dangerous beasts, releasing them is a suicide, Chrysalis then walked towards the disturbed, yet, unsurprised Rommel who said. "I would say that I told you so, but it seems you are already taking this hard." "How was I supposed to know they were going to free those beasts!" "Well neither did I, but I can safely say that we are squared." Rommel looked around at the destroyed city and shook his head. "I've already informed my officers that we were pulling out immediately, as soon as you give the word your highness." As much as Chrysalis would like to make the city her dominion, it wasn't worth fighting an army of shadows that you cannot even touch. "Linux!" She called. "Yes your highness," answered one of the Changelings. Chrysalis looked at Rommel who was waiting for her command he nodded and so the Queen ordered. "We are pulling out, we did what we would do, order our forces to retreat!" At that moment Rommel repeated the order. "Contact air-marshal Goering, and inform him that we have completed our mission here and that we are pulling out, also have him inform the fuhrer that I'm going to need a new officer more smart than Cynthia," Rommel added. "Yes, commandant! It shall be done!" The soldier said, when Twilight took wind of what was going on and yelled. "Cowards! You're just going to run away just like that!" This gave Chrysalis a snarl. "Unfortunately princess, I already did what I came here to do and that was to beat you to the ground, and now as a parting..." She then lifted the roof of the cage open fast and plucked Twilight out of the cage and threw her into the crystally ground face first. "Enjoy the sight, Princess! Because it'll be the last you see of your kingdom!" As Chrysalis cackled she and her army left Rommel's troops who were later airlifted by never-before-seen transport helicopters. We arrived at the camp zone, and we dropped Gold Star off at the makeshift medical sector made by the Peacekeeper group that was stationed here before being allocated to the castle, south of us, to commence an evacuation of "mass proportions" we were all suspicious but we didn't take note of it while I dropped off the major to have his wounds patched up, meanwhile! Spike was given a cool new Jacket just so we don't accidentally hit him I think? (I don't know why the men gave him one but that's fine, looks cool on him too be honest) Credit to: edy janurary But with that Gold Star woke up from the small concussion and immediately he was aching to get back into the fight but I had to keep him down. "But Twilight Sparkle! Her friends! O-our friends, they need me!" "They would want you alive Star, I'll try to rescue them myself, but I can't have you going out with a sprung leg wielding a gun in the middle of a warzone, especially your..." I paused and looked both ways making sure that Spike wasn't hearing in our conversation, all he was doing though was just fascinating himself with his new jacket. "Sigh... Lemme give it to you straight man, if you go out there you will be exposed, you cannot be seen with your Alicorn body or Creator knows what!" "I understand you want to protect me, so answer me this," he swung his hooves towards me, so I leaned close and then he said. "Why the hell are you still here!" Gold Star scolded. "Uh..." "Well if you do not want me to leave go! Save our friends! That's a order, go!" He urged, I nodded and grabbed my M249 Machine Gun, my side arm, some additional ammo, shades, and a Spike. "Wait, what about Gold Star?" He asked, which was a simple question with a simple answer, But... With a complicated backstory attached to it. "He needs time to rest and heal, he'll be back and running in a couple of half an hour minutes, but right now we need to get to your friends," I answered. "I know where they are! Quick follow me!" Insisted Spike as he climbed over the fallen debris I followed suit, though, in this chaotic mess, I would be surprised if we both stepped on a land mine. "So what's your story?" Spike asked as we continued to trek across the war-torn city. "My... Story? I don't get the picture of what you mean by that?" "Your story! Like how did you get here, or what made you get here, or why did you come here? I mean you couldn't have been here purposely, I've never seen you before, or even at all, in fact, the first time that I saw that human was during that time with the wedding," Spike Childishly articulated, walking over a shelled-out hole, surrounded by what remains to be a tank and a Armor vehicle. "Oh? And tell me, did he happen to use the same gun I'm using?" I questioned. "Yeah! Or... No, well I don't know what weapon he used, but he had those cool moves! And how he punched Chrysalis in the face! Though kind of odd, I could've sworn she said your name a while ago?" Spike wondered, as I rolled my eyes and smiled with a slight smug. "And the fact that the event then and now hasn't dawned on you that perhaps the guy you're referring to had been with us this whole time?" Spike paused and so have I, he placed his claw and thought about the hint I gave him, waited for his response to the question. But. "Wait! Is he a spirit? Or is he actually with us in person!" Spike glamorized in his voice, while I could face pal myself I know that he is just a kid who has yet to learn about his own environment, but though he seemed to be unable to figure out that by now that the guy is me, so much for hints as much as I like for him to figure it out, eh maybe next time. "In person, and yes I know him, he's me!" Spike was dumbfounded, he felt the urge to bombard me with questions and request for an autograph, but... We started to approach the castle and before he could say anything I ducked us into the bush to avoid the oncoming Changeling patrol. "Do you think we'll find that little purple dragon?" Asked some changeling. "We have to! That pipsqueak might end up doing something heroic! Tartarus! Look at that statue! If that pipsqueak is worshipped by these wretched love-filled ponies who knows what power he has for us!" Exaggerated the other changeling when his fellow comrade walked beside him with discontent and a bilateral sense of looking at the Changeling with a stupid mood. "What?" Then he just walked off. "Hey! Hey! Wait what did I say! What did I say!" As the two walked out we both peeked our heads and looked at each other, I was confused with questions, but Spike was confused as to why I was looking at him with confusion. "What?" He asked. "Well, I understand you're a fan of mine, but I guess you have your own story to tell, such as the question as to why you have a gigantic statue of yourself in the middle of the city square in your honor?" "A story for another time?" Spike replied, although my curiosity is as normal as an average human, I have to know why. But first, starting with the imprisoned Mares and a prince. Supreme Soviets of Rodinia Boris Yeltsin was sitting on the front row seat amidst the arguments ongoing on the council floor. Apparently, the American president authorized the new weapon on the Crystal City. One side called for total investigation the other to just sit and watch, while the majority, however, started calling for all immediate intervention operations to be on the table, including a full-blown war. However, as the arguments reached an impasse General Secretary Brezhnev entered inside, with his presence freezing everyone in the chambers as if a cold unforgiving breeze had just entered the building, and it wasn't natural either as Brezhnev usually walked through the seats from the back as he would've usually been greeted by the council members but instead he entered from the front doors of the podium stage with Rodinian Guards entering with death written on their masks adding the even more creepified tension in the room as Brezhnev stepped towards his "throne." But of course, with the chaos ongoing with America's deployment of the superweapon no one had heard a thing from the secretary General and now the response that they've waited for unfortunately does in a form of mystery and... Surprise.... Once he sat on his chair he finally spoke. "My dearest comrades, do not fret over the situation," he said, stirring some murmurs in the background before being silenced by the sound of Brezhnev clearing his throat. "At 8:30 PM Eastern Humarican Time, I have dispatched our finest fighter squadrons en route to intercept the bomber that is heading to the Crystal City, with no time to spare." It was then that one of the councilmen rose and asked. "How is this certain they'll catch up to a fast American bomber? You'd have to go high speeds to catch up to the damn thing!" "Good question, but classified answer, unfortunately, but without a certain doubt, it will be intercepted by tomorrow, mark my words." The word "classified" created more questions than answers in the chambers as some were confused discerned, or even skeptical about their leadership and its position in the military situation, specifically when the crisis unfolding is given to the higher powers. It had also been a while since they'd heard about the Red Mother, it made them nervous. They know what is about to happen. Canterlot Patton's forces had finished packing their things and had started rolling their tanks in the streets of Canterlot en route to the Crystal City. As the group passed by ponies who had been distressed over the defeat of Celestia and Luna, Colonel Canter couldn't help to wonder what they were going through and how they felt seeing tanks thinking it was some sort of invasion but more of a liberation mission. However the moment died when the convoy stopped, and Patton hopped out of the tank with a letter and headed right straight for Canter's jeep. Patton knocked on the window and Canter's driver rolled it down. "Colonel, read this, and tell me what the hell I am looking at here!" he insisted, with Holt and some of the other men standing beside Patton. Canter looked at the General confused but then shrugged as he cleared his throat and read. "Good Day General Patton, in the light of the events ongoing in the Crystal City you are ordered to be incorporated back into the mainstream military for reasons... Unknown? I hope you have a blessed day Creator bless America... Sir? Why is this saying we are to be incorporated?" Canter asked. "I don't like it, whatever it is those government bastards and their backstabbing scheming lead me to believe that they're up to something, and I will not let them achieve their backdoor scheme, Everyone get back on board we're continuing forwards!" He ordered to the men standing silently before letting his outrage out and shouting. "WELL DON'T JUST STAND THERE! GET YOUR ASSES BACK ONBOARD NOW!! WE NEED TO DOUBLE TIME IT!" Immediately the troops got back on board and the convoy was restarted, only this time at a quicker pace In hopes of reaching Crystal City on time. Crystal City, East wing centre With Gold Star being the only commanding he resorted to using a cane to be able to walk on his foreleg, but on the bright note, after examining the makeshift depot it has some good expectations of a forward base, but now there was another concern, and that was getting in contact with the world outside. And to his luck when he saw the enemy withdrawing from the city by helicopter as they flew over the city skylines he looked at the radio operator who kneeled blazingly at the sky-filled airborne vehicles. "What the hell are you doing!" He scolded. "Get that damn radio uplink online now!" "But sir! What if they-" "I don't care what they've got on just check!" Gold Star ordered as the radio man got the equipment on. At first, there was only static on the radio. "Set for Channel four." "Aye aye sir," replied the radio man, as he set the radio uplink channel to four and thus, thought Gold Star, came life on the radio. "YES! IT WORKS! THANK THE CREATOR AND HARMONY! Now quick! Give it to me now!" "Yes sir!" The radio man said happily as the men cheered at the reestablished contact. Delta Base-whinnypolis The base was one of many other established areas and regions in Equestria, it was created by the Brookish military as a gesture of goodwill and defense on Equestrian soil due to some ethnic language similarity, this base in particular houses the Special Air Service (Not to be confused with the SAU), one of the tactical and lethal companies within the Federation. Alongside is the Green Berets which was currently stationed at the base and only hosted a small amount. "Captain, I'm detecting a small low-range frequency," said a communications official, going by the radio code name 'Phoenix'. "Can you trace it?" The Captain asked. "Yes sire." Phoenix traced the signal and when he finished his eyes widened as if he saw a ghost. "Good gracious, Creator save the Queen! Sir! The signal is coming from the-" "Well!" "Blimey! It's the Crystal City," replied the officer, as his captain sat down in surprise. "Sir it's the Crystal Cit-" "I know..." The Captain paused and looked at the screen that was now displaying the radio waves emitting from the Crystal City. The reason for this shock was that all military personnel in Equestria were to not proceed with any combat operation in the Crystal City, doing so would result in death from the incoming nuclear bomb code-named "Titanus" However, they have direct contact with the Prime Minister and their monarchy. "Patch the communication through mate, and get me, Major General Wingate now!" "Yes, sire!" As the other officials got get the general, the Captain overhears the radio being patched through to him on the communications computer. "This is Captain Orellus of the Special Forces base in Whinnypolis, we hear you, but we request identification." Gold Star is given the radio piece of the uplink and replies. "This is Major Gold Star of the one hundred and fifth armor divisions, we're currently being held up in the Crystal City and we're trying to have the city liberated but we cannot do that when we have insecure skies from an unknown enemy!" "Crystal City you say, Major?" The captain asked. "Yes, and we need support if you can get me in contact with the airforce that would be great!" Gold Star requested. On the other side of the phone, General Wingate arrived at the scene and looked at the room. "Bloody hell, what did I miss here?" The Brookish man asked, taking a sip of his tea. "Sir we picked up a low range frequency, and we traced it back to the Crystal City," reported the soldier. "What? I didn't quite hear you there. Did you say we have mates still alive in that city?" The General asked. "Yes sire, it would seem they survived the attacks that our agency had earlier predicted months ago!" "Did those fucking arses show at last?" The General asked. "Yes sire, it was the Jerry's, and we currently have some of the Yankee's in the city breathing." "And the city? Are those damn Yankees outside it sending anything to help?" He asked. "I uh... You might need to read this," the soldier insisted, handing the general a message written. "All Personnel is to stay 10 km away from Crystal City, Code K is now in effect." "..." "Sire! All divisions had also been given this order," the soldier replied further. "Those damn fookin bastards! Of course, they'll kill their own, I ought to skin their bloody arses for this, get me General Montgomery immediately!" "Yes, sire!" London City, Brook Province of America Now the history of the Brooks was a long period and age ranging from the time of the tribal period to King Arthur, to the Griffonian takeover all the way to its incorporation within the Federation. The land of the Brooks was once independent just like Texa and Hosea, of course after joining the American Federation it and Hosea was given their special autonomy, basically semi-independent but also at the same time being a part of the mainland Federation. Unlike other states, Brook and Hosea had their own type of government, a military, and their agencies, with Brooks being a constitutional monarchy. The states of the Brook Province were Scotlandia, Brittania, Eiarish, and Sodor. Their leader is Prime Minister Margret Thatcher who is the current head of the land, followed up by Queen Elizabeth the second, dutchess of Tidmouth. General Montgomery at this time was at an annual royal party being hosted by the Queen in celebration of the military deeds in establishing "bases" in Zebrica when the Queen's servant approached him. "Jolly good day to you sire, but you have a call from the tele." "Really? Please show," Montgomery requested. "Certainly, right this way good sire." The servant led Montgomery to the phone that he left off at the base and handed it to the General in the private lounge. "Good day? Who's this may I add?" "General Montgomery, my name is Lt. General Wingate for the Whinnypolis base." "Ah, hello there Mr. Wingate, say how are the Equestrians treating you on this fine night?" Montgomery queried. "Very good good sir, but we're quite a bit in a pickle here..." "How so Mr. Wingate?" Montgomery asked as he took a sip of his hot brewed cup of tea. "Remember the reports stating condolences to the unit trapped in Crystal City was considered KIA, and that it devastated Uncle Sam when he got the news about it?" Wingate asked. "M-m-m... Poor fellow, he's currently in the royal lounge being treated by the Queen over it, what about it?" "They're alive" "PFFFFFFFHHH BLOODY WHAT!?" The general yelped in surprised after spitting out his tea. Crystal City Centre As Sombra entered the palace he noticed the wounded men injured in the hallway at his mercy. "Pitiful, to think that these wretched weaklings everyone called the mighty race had become Celestia's puppets for her gain," he said. "Sombra you didn't even leave them no choice back then, the day you invaded a neighboring country just because of your ambition was-" "I know what I did Hope! Do not remind me..." As he and Hope walked by the injured who were being tended by Peacekeepers who had initially feared Sombra's presence before being told off by Hope to keep doing what they'd been doing originally. Hope had just finished her remedy for Sombra's body reconstruction and applied it to him, he and Hope were now heading into the basement. "Good god was that fucking Sombra!?" Said an injured man, being tended to by a peacekeeper who was as shocked. "Eagle-4-5, what's your status over?" Said a person on the radio. "Go two, how's the recovery vehicle going?" The peacekeeper asked. "We've managed to salvage an M113 and a UAZ jeep, but I don't know if that is enough for a standardized evacuation for injured over." "Copy Eagle-3, but we need to try anyways, unmount any space we can use and fast, if Sombra is here then I know in great hell we are in big trouble." It was then that Cadence was walking past and noticed the same peacekeeper with a stress. "Being a leader is tough, I know." "Princess with all due respect, when you're having to tend with 12 people in a time frame of just getting them out of the city it can break you sometimes," the peacekeeper phrased. "I see, if you don't mind did you happen to see Sombra?" Cadence asked. "Ummm... I cannot help you with that, no I'm sorry but I can't risk a full-fledged fight, not when there are injured men inside midst the fighting, I won't do it not to them!" The Peacekeeper protested. "I understand," Cadence added, and she walked right by her continuing her search for Sombra, when tread noises were heard and a bearded Abrahamic man came inside with two other men besides him, they all wear blue Helmets and vests. "We're back Emily, and we have good news but bad news..." "What's the good news, Jason?" Emily the peacekeeper asked. The good news is we managed to clear it out, at this rate we might make it with the amount of space but..." "But what?" Emily asked. "One person will have to be left behind due to space." "...Take everyone here and load them up, I'll make sure to keep a haven point here," Emily volunteered, which made both the injured and the men concerned about her quick and rash choice. "I... Don't know what to say to that, by the time we come back for the second pick the city would be fighting again and no one will be helping at all!" "If it means saving all 12 of the people here then I will stay here, now stop your talking and help me load them up onboard the APC!" She started picking up the stretcher and got to work on getting the injured inside of the armored vehicle, the three men who hesitated at first followed suit and started loading the injured inside of the APC as well. As for me and Spike. We arrived at the cage and checked our surroundings, so far it would seem the enemy had just pulled out though I was willing to bet that there was a trap I'd probably spring, but in a move so foolish Spike got out of the hiding spot, I kept my distance though, for all I know Twilight may have been a changeling and is waiting for me so it can pounce on me. But when I saw the two hug each other followed by additional chatting before my hiding spot was exposed by Spike pointing at me being creepy with the binoculars I got up and waved awkwardly. And then I ran right towards Twilight. "Damn, you've taken a beating," I said. "I guess that's the perk of being important." Twilight shrugged. "Not my style of a perk, hmph... Well, it would seem that these dammed black shards are covering your horn." "Gee what did you think Einstein!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. "...Shut. Up. Don't you see that I'm trying to fucking think, it'd be nice to just LET. ME. THINK!!?" "Gees! Alright didn't need to blow your temper off at me!" "Well when you are to happen to be in the most deadly of death zones here in Creator knows fucking where! I get fucking pissy! Now let me concentrate while I get her horn freed, in the meantime, Spike here use this MBR, should free them from that dammed magic reinforced cage." "MBR?" "Magic barrier Remover come on get your head in the game we're fricking humans for crying out loud!!" "O-okay, but how do I use it?" Spike asked. "Oh simple, there's a switch below your claw, right where I'm pointing at." Spike then flipped the switch and a tiny blade came out of it. The MBR was designed and invented in 789 when an incident occurred when an Eclipse brigade operative was captured by the Equestrian guard garrison. They used a magic barrier instead of iron bars when he was imprisoned due to high escape rates. So when the Operative was sent back to America and revealed to his commanding officer of his cell they started the project "Magidom" It was a series of technically enchanting a knife so that a single pierce would shatter the whole thing. Or to dumb it down, think of it like popping a balloon with a thumbtack. Anyway as I plucked the black crystals off of Twilight''s horn using the same tool Spike popped and shattered the barrier and the cage, who says children can't use knives! Anyways Twilight's marefriends and Shining Armor were freed from the magic enchanted cage, and as for Twilight, after plucking off 34 to 40 Black crystals she can now use her magic again. And she asserted this as she lit her horn up. "Alright! Now we're talking! Let's go get that jerk and show him what happens when you mess with Equestria!" "YEAAAH!" The girls shouted. But I was concerned, the sky may have been cleared and the mane 6 had been freed and ready to liberate their friend's kingdom. But when my gut is burning that's when I know. That I have a bad feeling about this... Everfree Forest, Ponyville It is in the heat of the evening, the 105th brigade at this time had left for the Crystal City and the towns ponies of Ponyville were continually flourishing. Unbenounced to them the sky was lit with clouds as the three most known aircraft to the American military were flying over Equestrian airspace dropping some cargo. These illusive planes are the Ilyushin Il-76s, and it seems the Soviets are setting up shop in the Everfree Forest. As Yuri looked through his binoculars he popped the red flare and threw it onto the ground in front of him where a special forces soldier landed right in front of him. The man had a Blue Beret, indicating that he was a part of the infamous Rodinian death squad the Knife Brigade. As for the others, this unit that the Red Mother had told Yuri about is armed to the brim with light vehicles, yet heavy weaponry. The said weapons are BTR-60s, UAZ jeeps, PKM ammo and weapons, and ammunition for the standard-issued AK-74M rifles. Finally, the vehicles that are are dropped in the next pass are the light auto-cannon equipped BPM-97s, fresh from Yakyakistan, and a single BMD-3 armor IFV. "Are you comrade Yuri?" The Lieutenant Colonel of the unit asked. "Yes comrade I am, I assume you were sent by the Red Mother," Yuri replied. "Of course, but in a matter," the Colonel paused and looked up at the sky when he saw a platform containing construction equipment for the base floating down from the air like a light feather. "I would also assume my job here is done... Correct?" Yuri asked unenthusiastically... "Indeed, you may be free to do what you please, for now on we will send someone from our established makeshift FOB to inform you of our next mission, in the meantime the Red Mother has already given you a secondary assignment, take a read." The Colonel gave Yuri a big piece of paper, still whole and not wrinkled, and the note read. You will be sent to Sector B in the Whinnypolis region of Equestria, I expect this to go well as this area contains... Some knowledge that our scientist can dissect, you may freely do this at your own expense but I will send someone if Equestrian officials take notice of this place. - I bid you luck. Now burn this paper. Without warning the Lieutenant Colonel burnt the paper and it turned into a map. "Ah, soviet magic, never fails to disappoint me, odd, so this is the place yes?" Yuri asked. "Indeed comrade, according to one of our spy planes they had recently started detecting structures rising from the ground, there is a possibility of an ancient city, potentially rich in advanced literacy or even science." "Where there's science, comes great knowledge of weapons that we can use, I will depart but first... I need to do some other things." "Understandable comrade, have a nice day." "Dasvidaniya," Exited Yuri. Crystal City, the Castle Me and the others had entered the belly of the beast, the castle, where the whole thing started in the first place. On our way through I met a woman named Emily, a League of Nations Peacekeeper who was recently shipped out back from Brodfield and was supposed to be on leave before Sombra attacked. As Twilight was getting the basement opened she told me the time in Brodfield and when she was talking I wrote everything down in the Journal I am writing right now. Brodfield had been under a state of chaotic ethnic cleansing for quite some time now, and she was assigned to the unit that was sent originally to investigate the species rights violations starting with the factories that the American Government had leased to the monarchial allies as a gesture of "friendship" between the leadership. However when Reagan came into office and forced the factories to close down the businessmen instead left the companies owned by Humarica and aligned themselves with Skyfall's business currents which prompted Reagan to pressure Skyfall into allowing investigations in Brodfield. Despite Skyfall's rejection, they were threatened with being sanctioned under suspicion of slavery so they allowed the factories to be investigated in Brodfield. The factory owners to their horror quickly ran away with the money and went into exile in the neighboring State the Lushi Government, when the Factory workers saw that their bosses had left hell broke loose and Brodfield fell into a state of war following this was an all-out ethnic conflict. Things got worse from there when Gryphian Cossacks along with the Omarian Militia from the Northern Territory of Gryphian Host, launched a cross-border raid using according to reports "AK-47s and Jeeps" which prompted a countryside cleansing, currently, there are rumors that a communist front was formed and is currently being funded by guess who, the Rodinians. Despite buffer zones, their neighbors took advantage and invaded from all sides, from the criminals of Blackrock to the Capitalist forces of Lushi, to Cyannolisa in the south. Brodfield is truly in hell. After the conversation a jeep arrived and she waved to me to bid farewell and she left. By then Twilight had now opened the Basement, I'm not sure if I'd make it out alive so hopefully, I may, if I don't I wish the person to pick up this journal to continue my story. Luna sea "What's the current location?" Asked Johnson, as the mapper pinned the projection of their location. "About a couple of two thousand miles away from our target, we're currently nearing Equestria's coast," the mapper informed. "Copy, maintain course," replied the bomber commander. The radar man was eating his burger when he saw two green dots catching up to them at hypersonic speeds. "Uhh, guys I think we have company!" "What do you mean by that?" The commander asked when two jets zoomed by with the markings of the Soviet Red Star. "WOAH! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" Johnson shouted when the SU-57s started firing at the bomber with their machine guns passing along and shooting the hull as some of the bullets penetrated and killed the radio man. "KENNETH! NO!!" Shouted Roger. "HE DIED FOR HIS COUNTRY! WE NEED TO GET US NEAR THE GROUND FOR A POTENTIAL CRASH LANDING! HOLD ON TO YOUR ASSES WE'RE GOING EVASIVE MANEUVERS!" The commander shouted back as he pushed the joystick down to the ocean as the SU-57s persuaded with harsh might. "The Americans are diving, proceed to use Heat seeking missiles," Said Fencer-1 "Dasdonye." Fencer-2 obliged. The SU-57s fired Heat seeking missiles at the B-52 following and generating a trail of smoke, the bomber's early warning systems went off with the speakers shouting. "Warning! Warning! Warning! Warning!" "JOHNSON! LAUNCH COUNTERMEASURES!" Johnson pressed the button and the B-52 activated and spewed out a volley of flares which managed to draw both Missiles off of their backs however it wasn't enough as the SU-57 jet fighters were too resilient to back down as they continued to fire their next hellfire of machine guns at the bomber's hull. "We need to land before it's too late!" Johnson yelled. "WITH WHAT RUNWAY!!? THE OCEAN!?" "IF THAT MEANS SURVIVING THEN YES!" "NO IT'S NOT DAMMIT! IF THIS PLANE CRASHES WE'LL ALL GO DOWN WITH IT! IT'S ALL ARCTIC WATERS DOWN THERE, DO YOU WANT US ALL TO DIE JOHNSON!!" "..." "Warning, engine terminated, proceed to crash positions, altitude, altitude." "... On second thought, EVERYONE PREPARE YOUR CHUTES, BECAUSE SHIT IS GOING TARTARUS HERE!" The commander shouted, however amid the shouting the SU-57s fired and destroyed another engine on the left. "WE JUST LOST ENGINE 5!" Reported Mechanic one, as a missile landed on the right engine blowing up another engine on the Right. "ENGINE 2 IS GONE!" "Warning! Warning! Altitude! Altitude!" "Ah fuck it then!! ALRIGHT IT'S TIME! EVERYONE BAIL BAIL BAIL!" The commander yelled as Johnson grabbed his parachute. But it was then that a SU-57 fired it's hail load of machine gun bullets which were equipped with AP tipped ammunition which penetrated the plane's hull killing everyone but him and his CO inside. The bomber was now in total freefall as the rest of the engines now sputtered from the black smoke residue from the engines which were on fire. On the inside It was painted Red. "COME ON JOHNSON WE NEED TO GO NOW!" As Johnson shook his head out of the trauma he now has he ran towards the door and saw an SU-57 aiming its guns before he jumped the Commander pushed Johnson and covered him as the stray of bullets pelted the commander, saving Johnsons life. "SHIT! SHIT! COMMANDER! COMMANDER!" The Commander was dead, if he were alive though he would've said go, and Johnson would follow those words To live with the memories of his now dead crew he jumped out of the plane and unleashed his parachute however due to the altitude he was too close and he smacked head-first into the cold shallow arctic water below knocking him out unconsciously, the B-52 now covered in bullet holes crashed and imploded in a explosion, however the only valuable material on board, was the nuke which was released from the installed failsafe and landed into the water sinking before the Rodinian pilots eyes, the victors of the encounter, the Rodinian Fencer Squadron circled the dropped nuclear bomb like vultures. "This is Fencer-1, Target splashed, inform the Secretary-General that his package has been dropped and to send in the "thieves" "Understood Fencer-1, and as for survivors?" The operations commander asked. "Only one managed to jump, the rest were most likely dead on impact or shot up, though due to the water being cold I doubt the one survivor will last long in the arctic waters." "Roger, but just to be sure I will send a PT boat to scan for the bodies, for now, you are ordered to return to base." "Dasdonye." iytlc rcasty??? "STAY CLOSE THEY CAN'T STAND MY MAGIC!" Cadence yelled in panic as she and Radiant Hope ran from a wall of death. "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!? WE CAN'T LET SOMBRA RELEASE THEM!" The two ran after a severe failure in what would seem to be the obvious case of naive hope. Radiant Hope thought the Umbrum was something along the lines of "pixies" and how wrong she was when they showed their true form, even more embarrassingly in front of the princess that she was trying to show. Even though Hope's mind is still in a childish stage she will no doubt be traumatized from this experience. But in a way, when Cadence found Hope after reading what was a journal that was locked in Sombra's basement (heh, that is a bit funny) it explained Sombra's Life and primarily talked about Hope the entire time. Talk about a love interest. But now the two ran and dashed from the wall of fury and grudge and out from the forsaken world that I will call "Umbrum World" too obvious? Yeah probably, who knows I might trademark it, (or not) But anyway after escaping that world Hope used her teleportation spell and landed literally behind Sombra who was thinking a lot. But now he is just plain confused. "What is the meaning of this!?" Sombra exclaimed. "Sombra! You can't do it! You can't uncover the door and let them out" Hope begged. "Ouch my leg." "I uncovered it before I was ever imprisoned I just couldn't bring myself to open it." "You couldn't unleash monsters on your own home... Oh, Sombra!" "No, Hope, It's much worse than that," Sombra added. "What if I opened the door and they were good after? What if I was the only real monster?" "Sombra, you can't open the door I was wrong about-" Her sentence was interrupted by Twilight when she fired her lethal at Sombra in a surprise attack they didn't expect. "You are a monster! And I told you you'd be punished!" Twilight entered. "You harmed my friends! My Family! And made me doubt myself! Now it's time you learn a lesson!" Now... I know that Sombra is the bad guy, but I'm kinda bit nervous with the tension here... I mean he was here for what hours? Half? He didn't even open a smidge or a crack of that door. Unfortunately, I wished I had known that faster enough in the first place when I realized also that Cadence wasn't even harmed, well other than her leg but it's merely a bruise. "TWILIGHT NO!" But something I should've buried Twilight for was something I wouldn't forget when she fired her lethal, and I mean LETHAL on Sombra, it hit something, just not Sombra, instead it hit Radiant Hope knocking her unconscious on the ground. "SHIT! TWILIGHT WHAT THE FUCK!" Before she could reply Sombra in a style of rage when seeing Hope injured and possibly bleeding opened the door and that was when all hell broke loose, and Twilight if you are reading this, fuck you. As for us, may the Creator spare us. There was a massive struggle when these creatures pounced on us, I would never think of meeting these dammed things but it so fucking happens that I'm fighting off one of them that's got me pinned on the ground! "RUN! RUN DAMMIT RUN!" "What about you!" Applejack asked. "WE'LL HOLD THEM, GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE AND FIND GOLD STAR NOW!" I ordered, which the 5 mares got away except for Spike who was pinned down alongside me, Twilight, Shining Armor, and Cadence fought well against these guys, but I didn't because I left my fucking gun in the fucking lobby! (I'm such a fucking idiot!) I did try to use my pistol but they bit onto that and dragged it along the floor like a dog bone. All that me and Spike did was watch as the three were quickly consumed and teleported into the dungeons that were on top leaving me and Spike alone with the self-proclaimed "King of the Monsters" and his new shadow goons one of these things spoke to me. "What is your name creature?" Asked what would seem to be the female second in command of these creatures, if not the chief of them. "Yours first," I replied calmly, even though I was being pinned against my will. "Answer him," Sombra insisted. "As you wish then, my name is Rabia, now answer the question I asked before, what is your name?" Rabia asked once more with the sounds of impatience. "My name is Yates," I replied. "Yates?" Asked Rabia, expecting more than just one name. "Yes, just Yates, nothing else!" I exclaimed. "Odd, but very well... Yates, what do you wish to do with him, my emperor?" Rabia asked towards Sombra who was looking at his injured friend so he turned and asked. "Unless you have something of interest say your piece, otherwise it's the dungeons for you!" Sombra threatened, meaning what he said I could help Radiant Hope to get myself out of this mess, I know medical fields I was teached by one professional once primarily on magic-created injuries. "If you could get me a room I can help Radiant Hope and hopefully examine and heal her injuries," I bartered. " And what makes you worthy of treating Empress Hope and her wounds?" Asked Rabia. "Empre-? I mean, I have experience with this stuff, hell I'm having to treat these types of wounds so much that people almost think that I'm the fucking medic!" Of course, this was an exaggerated lie, but like I said I know how to treat wounds, especially magic-induced types. "Very well then, we-" "Wait, I assume there is a catch to this deal," Sombra suspected. "None at all! Although except Spike, he's my assistant!" I am-?" I slapped him on the head. "I mean yes I am!" "Very well then... But if you deviate and try to run away I will have you executed violently!" Sombra warned, giving me a hard gulp to swallow. "Understandable!" I said sarcastically in fear. Sombra turned to Rabia. "Show them their quarters," he said, and she obliged, nodding her head. "Show these two to their room, and bring Empress Hope with them so that she may be healed!" Rabia ordered, . . . As we now began moving back to the surface level we were taken above sea level heights and into a room where we were then all locked up. "Great! So what now?" Spike asked. "Now? We keep up with our deal," I placed down my bag and grabbed the medkit and some morphine just in case she woke up in the middle of her treatment. "Alright my friend, we have work to do!" Gold Star was happy, because they just got in contact with the outside world, but at the same time he wasn't because of what he was told. A nuclear bomber was dispatched from Guantanamo to drop its payload, although Gold Star at first panicked and nearly shouted for everyone to get the fuck out of the city, but to his surprise, the bomber was shot down by unknown sky pirates, they've yet to send out a search and rescue unit but the fact that they sent a nuclear bomber in his way indicated that this was much more than what he was facing eventually. Luckily the Brookian monarchy is sending aid to their fellow neighboring monarchy, with some tanks, APCs, Special Forces, and some of the Green Beret Special Forces volunteering to support and rescue their American brothers. It was going well in Gold Star's ears before he noticed the sky was covered in pitch black, blotting out the sun he noticed that a wall of shadows was heading directly towards them. "GET INSIDE QUICK!" Gold Star commanded, as the men dropped what they had and got inside the LON Headquarters building that they'd been using as the base for an eventual counterattack. As the shadow wave passed there was blackness initially before some sort of manmade light was lit throughout the street, came after was the Umbrum who scanned the area looking for their slaves only for them to get angry and smash a building out of bitter rage. "There's nothing here! Let's go somewhere else!" Said one of the Umbrum. "I'm hungry :(" As the pests got out of the clearing Gold Star and his men peaked out to check if the coast was cleared and there was the opposite in the south corridor as the Umbrum sniffed out for any Crystal Ponies to feast on their fear before they left leaving Gold Star and his handful of men to think of a strategy. "I propose we stay here! Who knows what these demons are here for!" "Yeah but what if they find us here!" "We have guns we can shoot them!" "They're made of oxygen you idiot!" "What did you just call me bastard!" "An idiot!" "COME HERE! I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S AN IDIOT!" Immediately two of the men started fist-fighting each other before it was broken up by the crowd. "Enough! ENOUGH! WE'RE IN A FUCKING LIFE AND DEATH SITUATION! ANYONE FIGHTING HERE AND I WILL SHIP THEM TO FUCKING ZEBRICA!" The was broken by Gold Star's threat to send them to Zebrica, he then placed his hoof on his head and sighed. "Alright, clearly we will need to hold out until reinforcements arrive, what we should do is get that BTR-82 to work, Corporal Garrick! What can you tell me on the controls of the thing?" Gold Star asked. "So far major it would seem that it is as simple as its previous counterpart, but the turret is very... surprising..." "Oh? How so?" Gold Star asked. "The turret part of the BTR-82 unlike the BTR-70, it's unmanned, meaning you can stay inside and shoot at the enemy without getting out to man the turret!" "So in other words the Rodinians weren't that low-tech after all, well this will put a dent in American intelligence so uh... How do we man this unmanned turret exactly?" Gold Star asked. "Easy, the secondary that sits besides the driver can simply use a Bluetooth iPad that's digitally connected to the Turret abd it's interface!" "Wait, that's how the Rodinians shoot those things?" Gold Star asked. "What? No no, the original screen that was in the BTR was damaged by the shrapnel, Creator knows how they still hit anything with the thing, but I can perhaps still upload the interface on my tablet and fire it from inside," Garrick explained further. "Why not from a remote location?" Gold Star asked. "Because the amount of range it has is so tight that if I stepped out of the vehicle itself then I would lose signal, the Rodinians may be advanced enough for unmanned turrets, but they are not advanced enough for superior technology as ours." "Right, alright then I have an idea, first I will send a scouting regiment to the castle just to see why these things started rampaging the streets and why Yates had not come back I'll-" "RUNNN!!!" Said a familiar pony. "What were you saying sir?" Asked a soldier. "I... I said I'll be-" "IT'S GETTING CLOSE!" Said another familiar pony. "Ok that time that voice was familiar, what's-" It was then that the 5 mares who ran for their lives barged right through the doors that were bordered up, closed them and quickly boarded them up again in a fast pace wearing them out, not knowing that they were infront of the entire American army, the soldiers screamed and so did Twilight's friends, except for Rainbow Dash and Gold Star who had a unbearable sound experience. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!" As the screaming became unbearable to the point were everyone started throwing random objects Gold Star unholstered his pistol and shot up in the air scaring both sides into submission. "Thank you both for shutting up! NOW WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" He demanded for a answer. Applejack stepped up and replied. "Yates told us to find ya, he and Twilight were captured, along with the Royal family and Spike!" Gold Star was shocked by this answer. "What! Where are they!?" "The castle in the Crystal city!" Replied Applejack, as Gold Star immediately grabbed his gun and was gunning to make a rash move to the doors. "Sir you can't go out there, we have no plan, our resources are dwindling, and if anything we'll probably be nuked! And yet your happy about it!" The human soldier added. "The human is right, we have nothing against those things! we're practically out numbered!" Rainbow Dash said. Although Gold Star was confident in the weaponry of humanity both his men and his friends are right, being the rash decision maker he is and at times doubter of himself he had yet to create a well thought out plan on how he can manage this whole situation. Taking back in his time at the royal guard back in Canterlot numbers were almost infact anything, but it depends on how the other side uses it, it's like playing a game of chess, despite numbers he can still inflict massive casulties and perhaps dwindle the other sides population. But these creatures are different, but they can still be killed by light according to Canter. So this all left him with two choices. One being he could organize a plan to overthrow the Umbrum and restore the Crystal Heart, depending if they can find that sucker, and then after try to get in contact with someone who is a higher if not the highest rank in the military to stop the nuke. Or... He could stay in the shelter and await the green berets potentially dwindling chances of victory, and would probably risk a capture or even being killed by the oncoming nuke. Both sides of the choices has both a positive and a negative... But considering that he and everyone else inside the building (except for the mares) are all armed with guns then perhaps there is a chance, plus they have a tank so this will make it even better. "Alright here's the plan, it involves you 5 grabbing contact from Alex, we need him over here to reinforce us," Gold Star said. "Meaning?" Pinkie asked. "Meaning you need to get and find potential contacts that will benefit us and hurry." "OH THAT'S EASY!" Pinkie yelled, but was shushed by everyone in the room. "Oh sorry! I mean, oh! That's easy!" "Not to disturb this plan but what we'll you all do?" Rarity asked. "We'll prepare for when the main assualt begins via scouting, or break in, through depending if Alex is on his way he may be bringing relatives or something." "...Why do I think that what you said is some sort of foreshadow?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Because that's literally what Alex would do in his free time." "Oh... Wait... What else does he do in his free tim-" "NOT A QUESTION!" Gold Star interjected. Back to the room, me and Spike had been working on Radiant Hope and her injuries, I was the one who did most of the work due to experience, Spike was using his experience by giving me stuff when I need it the most. "Damn, Twilight really did a mark on her, what kind of spells has she been studying?" I asked. "Usually it would be studying on teleportation, offensive spells, or even the type that would penetrate pelt skin," Spike replied. "What exactly is her motive in all that exactly? To research every possible known lethals possible?" "I don't really know, she never told me the importance of it all, although I did read something familiar with that spell that she used that was suppose to cast out shadows." "But Radiant Hope is not a shadow though!" I ranted. "Yeah... By the way have you been needing anything yet other than towels?" Spike asked. "Yeah, see if you got any bandages I'm almost finishing up here, thank Creator, if it wasn't for her cloak we would both be dead right now because this could've pierced her liver!" I praised, but then I detected something... Odd about some particles... "What about her rib cage?" Spike asked, when I rolled my eyes, and showed him a piece of it that was lose in Radiant Hope's body. "0_0 Wait! Twilight did that!?" "So it would seem, y'know if you ever get the opportunity perhaps have her not be trigger-happy! This shot is enough to penetrate the hardest vest in Humarica, actually... Let me write that down real quick." Note to self, do not piss off Twilight Sparkle, invest in the Vest industry someday. "Well while you do that, I suppose we sow it up now?" Spike asked when that... The image of purple particles inside of her was familiar, however, I couldn't deal with it now as I did not have the advanced tools I needed, I will however tell her about this but... This wasn't something I liked to be familiar with... "Yeah... Best we should..." I was Startled in reply, Spike then handed me the bandage I then sowed her open wound and halted the Morphine that had done its magic. After the hard work of focusing on sowing her wound I took a breather and lay back on the pillar that had stood behind us the whole time, but those things however, they were still on my mind, but the best thing I can do for now is let her rest. "I reckon we let her sleep for now, poor thing, what made her decide that this was all worth it." I pondered, though I would discover the reason being that she was fooled by her own childish imagination. "So all she had was a bad cut right?" Spike asked, it was then I figured out something, this wasn't just a spell, this spell is exclusive Alicorn spells! "Ehh... Not quite so, although while it would dissipate in the long while without a trace her case is special, for some odd reason something was keeping her well... Alive, magically, whatever Twilight shot at her with may have triggered something within her body." "I kind of don't get that, could you dumb that down?" Spike asked. "In other words Twilight shot her spell, and the residue that remained is draining Radiant Hope's life," I simplified. "B-b-but Twilight would never use a spell like that!" "Yeah but the thing is, only an Alicorn would have that sort of power, so at one point Celestia may have trained her to use this spell..." "How do you know this much with magic? You're as smart as Gold Star!" "As much as I would I was only teached by Major Gordan, back when Alex was a Captain himself, Gordan would teach me a whole shit ton of magic, magic in the grass, clouds, and even us human beings, however, the one thing he taught me mostly was the Lethal and Non-Lethal Magic, of course, this was all before I was shipped out to the navy to fill in on that year's conscription gap." "So, why did you seem frightened by this magic specifically?" Spike asked. "That magic, is called by these ponies as a tool to remove shadows." I replied. "What do you call it?" "I call it the Slow Death Spell..." Spike was confused on that title, but since he's a child I understand, but considering that he is typically a close assistant to Twilight and Half-Sibling I hope what I would tell him would he remember to remind Twilight never to use that dreaded spell. "It wounds its opponents alright, creates a lasting scar, but not just that, it leaves behind a residue that kills its host by draining most of their magic until there isn't nothing left." "But after their magic is gone they'll be better!... Right?" "...Spike, when it drains all the magic, it will start to feed on its hosts life, although the magic part takes a good while but I'm afraid to say is that Radiant Hope will lose all her magic within 12 years from now, and then after she would have a year left." After getting slapped with that reality check that I've given to Spike I can tell his gut was burning from the immense guilt for what Twilight had done, after that Radiant Hope came about and woke up from her slumber. "W-where am I?" She asked, placing her hoof on her head as her head was seething in pain I got up and kept her down. "Easy easy! Don't move ma'am, I just did surgery on you, you shouldn't be up yet, not at all." "Sorry," she replied. "It's just that I... Oh, what am I kidding... I've doomed everypony!" "Ehh... I mean you sort of did, but not directly," I replied, trying to cheer her up, but Spike was giving me that face of disappointment. "Alright so maybe you did play a hand with the potential end of the world, but hell I'm sure my race could kill these things... Violently." "But you don't understand! These things are so powerful! No pony can defeat them now that they've been freed! Not unless they have the Crystal Heart," Radiant Hope spoke in dreary. "Do you have it?" Spike asked. "Oh does she have it? What type of question is that Spike? Of course, she doesn't have it!" "Actually I do!" She answered, as I stood there dumbfounded. "...Nevermind..." She then levitated the satchel and showed us the Crystal Heart, it was still in one perfect piece, it was then that a knock at the door was made and some Umbrum creature appeared. "This strange contraption was bothering the Emperor and so Rabia requested that I bring this to you, is this a medical device?" Said an Umbrum servant. As he stupidly hasn't realized that he is holding my M249 Light Machine Gun, making me smirk. (What an idiot) "Of... Course >:D" "Are you sure? Don't lie to me," the Umbrum checked. "Why would I lie to y'all? If I ever did it'd be my head remember?" "...Eh fair enough, by the way, the Emperor requests the status report on Empress Hope." "Empress?? Never heard that title since Grover got hitched. Although I only heard that in the news, but yeah you can bet your Empress is doing fine, but she needs recovery." "Great, I'll let Emperor Sombra know, by the way, he hopes to see you at the execution ceremony of the Princesses!" He spoke happily, while Spike was in terror and shock while I looked nervously concerned... "Hehe... Great..." The Umbrum slammed the door and Spike broke down in panic. " EXECUTION!!? YATESTHISISTERRIBLEWHATAREWEGOINGTODO!" "I know... Calm down Spike you're going to blow your brain up just by panicking." "BLOWMYBRAINOFF!??!" "Is he always this panicky?" Hope asked. "Not like this, Twilight was his caretaker, the end of her is the end of him," I answered, petting Spike's spine in an assurance of comfort. "So what do you plan to do?" Hope asked. "If I tell you that would be cheating," I chuckled slightly, picking up my Machine gun off the floor. "But what's your actual plan here?" "Obviously Sombra knows that we'll still be sworn in allegiance to his will which gives us the upper hand, I'll still serve him, but then I intend to give him a surprise." Luna sea, the Arctic Ocean Rodinian Patrol boats scoured through the waters looking for the single survivor but couldn't avail, as Rodinian Warships arrived from the allied ports from Olenia to pick up the Atom Bomb the Naval Captain of the Search Group got impatient. "Our military command is too paranoid, there's practically no one here. No one could've survived that fall! And even if they did they'd be dead in this God forsaken water!" "Should we keep searching sir?" Asked a Seaman. "No, there's no point, we got what we need from the American Scoundrels anyways, Full head, follow our fellow naval men back to Port." The Rodinian Captain ordered. "Dasdonye," acknowledged the seaman. As the ships and patrol boats turned around and headed straight for Olenia, Johnson was beneath their boats the whole time, although after being deep in the cold arctic water for quite some time he swam for his life to find a suitable place to rest, luckily a floating ice chunk was streaming through the ocean so he sat his armed and his entire body on it, and finally he rest. "I'm going to die..." He said to himself, as he slept into a coma-like state. Marine 1, Presidential Helicopter President Reagan sat on the presidential chair on a phone call with his high-ranking generals continually informing him of the situation with the Crystal Empire. "How do we not have contact with anyone yet!" He exclaimed. "Sir multiple communications have not been able to reach the group it's as if-" It was then that a door was opened with Vice President Bush entering Reagan's Quarters. "Ah Vice President Bush, how can I help you?" Reagan asked. "President Reagan, It's Mrs. Thatcher." "...Say no more, gentlemen we will have to speak about this some other time, but for now if you may excuse me I need to attend a very important call." Reagan excused, hanging up the phone and picking up the other one. "Prime Minister Thatcher, this is a surprise what brings you to call me?" He asked. "Good day to you Mr. President, I was just informed by my good General Montgomery, that they've found your men contacting my men!" "I see, I will see to it that they-" "Ah! Ah! Ah! One moment Mr. Reagan I wasn't done!" "..." "You tried to fire a bomb at your own men!" She scolded. "Well you see I-" "And not just that! What you've done was more damaging! My team of experts told me to tell you that those dammed Jerries' were going to come out of nowhere and that is what they did! And then you tried to nuke the problem without consideration! Do you realize what the Rodinians did just right now!" Thatcher continued in her rant. "I... Assume that they're pretty angry about our deployment?" "Correct! But not just that they're at our doorsteps right now!" "They've always been though I thought?" He queried. "I'm sure of it, just ask the polite gentlemen who call themselves the Rodinian Navy! They are parked in my naval base! All the dukes even including Sir Topham Hatt! Is spamming me with demands on forcefully removing them!" "I... See, I will try to solve this immediatel-" "You want to solve it, Mr. Reagan? SEND IN THE TANKS! DEAL WITH EQUESTRIA! AND DO YOUR JOB! Thatcher then hung up the phone giving an odd awkward silence as Reagan turned towards Bush. "... Vice President Bush?" Reagan asked. "Yes, Mr. President?" Bush asked. "...Get me, General Carville, now!" Crystal City Gold Star looked through his binoculars spying at the Umbrum who were guarding the entrance of castle entrance, he also noticed Celestia and Luna's lifeless stoned bodies which gave him a stutter of fear. "Damn... So that's why the sun is out at 1:00 in the morning... Do we have anything to release them from the ungodly spell?" Gold Star asked. "Not with us sir no," replied a soldier. "Damn, then it's up to us to liberate this place first, Save Twilight and Yates and everyone else, and then free those two from the stone prison, but for now... There is the matter of a very important question,." Gold Star then grabbed his radio. "This is Charlie-1, what's the status on that set up Echo-6." On the rooftop, a sniper team was established with the most skilled sniper warrior on top guarded by one man with a minigun. "This is Echo-6 Carlie-1, we're in position, mark the target," replied the sniper warrior. "Roger, shoot at marked targets pinpointed on your scope," replied Gold Star. Gold Star grabbed his electronic marker and clicked on a button, lighting the rifleman's scope. "Hehe, I see him." The two Umbrum guards were standing when they saw a red dot on one of their chests. "Ooh, Red dot!" The sniper Warrior fired his suppressed M82 and penetrated and killed the other. "WHYYYYYY~~ WHAT A WOR LD WHAT A WORLD~~~" "BOB!" The other Umbrum got shot and he too was disintegrated into the air. "AHHHHHHHnn~~" "Charlie-1, entrance secured, good luck Major." "Roger that Echo-6 much obliged, alright kids, time to play," Gold Star chuckled, as he placed his goggles down on his eyes and led a group of 3 soldiers to the castle. Their mission was to conduct an early scout and potentially if they haven't been caught, rescue everyone inside, this is an in-and-out mission, and while the men have no experience with stealth they know the rule of being silent as the grave. Meanwhile, in the sky, a single AC-130 was dispatched from Delta-Base, under orders of General Wingate authorized by both Prime Minister Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth. Inside are multiple Special Forces groups trained for this moment in their lives as they loaded their rifles and prepped their night vision goggles as they have been advised that the depths below them have been darkened. These groups consist of the Green Beret Group led by its appointed Squad Commander, as for the SAS it is being led by Macmillan, who was recently been transferred from Thestria as a Special Operations Task Force officer, he looked at the map with no utmost surprise. "Welp, this doesn't surprise me at all," he said, as the light flashed Green. "Well boys, that's our cue, best of luck to ya." As the men got up from their seats the ramp opened revealing a cloudy sky below, as the men straightened their Parachutes and grabbed their weapons, some said their religious verses and prayers. After the Ramp fully opened down the men ran out to the sky being patted forward by the men at the entrance. After everyone left the rest jumped as well. Inside the castle Gold Star and his selected few men had just finished scouting the lower floor, terminated anyone in their way, and made their way back to the ground level. "This is Charlie-1, no confirmation on where they're keeping Twilight and Cadence, over." Echo-6 responds. "Copy sir, but I advise you evacuate the castle, I've received word from the post that the SAS and the Green Berets are now in our vicinity airborne, and are landing at exfil point at my location." "Copy, we're moving now, Charlie-1 out." As Gold Star and the others made their way out Sombra appeared in the hallway not noticing their presence at all, walking up the stairs and heading for what seemed to be the upper levels of the castle, Gold Star looked at him with fury over his evil, he doesn't recognize Sombra anything, not even as a thing, or he, but rather a it. As Sombra was gone from his sights Gold Star and his fellow men ran to the outside avoiding patrols and reaching towards Echo-6 who was looking up in the sky, and to Gold Star's happiness, Special Forces had arrived. As much of the men landed their commanding officer landed and viewed his surroundings. "Well, this place looks shitty," said the Green Beret squad commander. "Am I glad to see you guys," Gold Star greeted. "You must be Major Star, glad to meet you," Macmillan greeted back, shaking his pony counterpart's hand in the hoof. "So what's the situation," asked the Special Forces commander. "The Umbrum have been freed, all of the civilians here have been evacuated and the good thing is that our guns seem to kill them on point but only if we use tracers, which luckily that's all we've been supplied with on our way here, as for the positive targets, Twilight, Cadence, and then you have Lieutenant Yates, Spike, and Shining Armor, they are being held," the major briefed. "And for everyone else?" Asked the soldier. "Kill on sight, but Sombra is to be left alive." "Why so?" "So I can have the liberty of killing that bastard myself." Sombra knocked on the door after climbing a good amount of steps up to her room. It had been a while since the attempt on his life. "Hope are you awake?" He knocked, which I then opened the door. "Hello there." (General Kenobi) "Oh, I see, is Hope in there?" He asked. "Yep, she's laying in front of the window, but uh, I may need to tell you something about her-" "That will be all human, you two earned your freedom, now leave us," Sombra ordered, which I and Spike shrugged and left the room. "Well that was easy," Yates whispered. "Yeah... So what now?" Spike asked. "Now... We have an execution to crash." "There you are I was worried that I would wake you, should I have somepony bring you dinner?" Sombra asked, but Hope gave no budge or a reaction or a response to the king as she stared at the lands that she had a part in destroying. Sombra was slightly concerned with her lack of emotion. "Why do you look out there, Hope? It only seems to upset you. Why don't you come with me?" He asked again, but again, no reply, just an emotionless head turn. "We've just turned the prince to stone, and we're about to do the same to the princesses out on the dais." "On the Dais?" She emotionlessly replied. "Yes, where the heart used to be. We put an end to them where everypony can see them." He replied. "That will be good... Then you'll have won... Right? Then we can live happily together?" She sarcastically replied. "Well, not quite yet. If we take Cloudsdale by surprise we'll have the high ground to assault Canterlot," Sombra shared in his plans for conquest. "Oh... So then you'll be done..?" Hope bleakly said. "Hope that would only be the beginning! After that, there's the Griffons, the Yaks, and then after we take our revenge on the humans!" "Our? Revenge! And yet I am to stand as your empress in all of this! I would stand by your side and watch bu-" In a sudden wave of sharp pain, she struggled a bit with her strength, Sombra tried to help her but like he did to her she batted him away. "Get back! I'll do it myself! If I'm going to be an empress I ought to at least be able to stand on my own!" she aggravatingly replied. "...Hope, I'm sorry..." In a burst of aggressive aggravation, she turned in frustration and began to scold. "Are you Sombra? They told me this was who I would become, but I didn't and never believed it in all my childhood! I knew there was something better in you!" "...But Hope, I-" "NO!" She yelled. "I was a fool, you told me yourself that you were a monster! I should have listened but I had! Hope! The foolish foolish Hope!" "You... Don't understand!" "When we looked in the Crystal Heart that day, I saw this! I saw what I am now! I saw my destiny," he added, turning towards Hope. " And Rabia confirmed it, she told me I was a weapon, they made me this way I am so I could release the other monsters! I was born to be a monster." Hope then remembered that day, her destiny was to be a princess someday but since she dropped out from Celestia and Luna's teachings she never became one, and she told this to Sombra who was now in immense guilt. He still remembered how tyrannical his rule was, where those who fell out of line were executed on sight, he had many put to death under his rule so much that he had lost count, but yet when he was the sole reason that his best and only friend cheated her destiny for him he felt something in him he never thought he had long before everything. When he apologized this only confirmed that Hope was truly a friend to him no matter what... And this truly made him sick of himself, because he had thrown away something that was most to him and all for what? A rulership of a kingdom in a world mainly controlled and plagued with capitalist control. When he stood there in silence Hope ended the conversation shorthand. "No more talk about destiny Sombra I've never believed in it," she continued saying further. " You're the only thing I've ever believed in. Now let's go forge our Destiny together." At the highest point of the castle, the second wave of paratroopers arrived armed with Sniper rifles, as planned they landed at the Crystal Heart's old dais that it had once floated on since Sombra's takeover. And now being the old place that hid the Crystal Heart, it was now being used as a sniper tower for the airborne marksmen who had landed through the openings. "What's our ETA?" Asked the marksmen commander. "109 seconds before the main forces arrive, sir, they're almost here," replied the grunt. "Understood, begin establishing forward positions, you know the orders, shoot anything that gets near Beta unit." "Yes sir!" On our way down we managed to avoid a group of Umbrum who were transporting something. No... Someone, in fact, two someone's! Me and Spike overheard their conversation as they went by us and to my dismay my fear just came true that when they mentioned Shining Armor my gut burned. Apparently, he had been turned into a statue like Celestia and Luna, damn those bastards! But I had to wait my chance though acting rashly would be my downfall especially when we're in the middle of the castle potentially being aimed at by everyone potentially one of ours, though I do not think they even know whether I'm with Sombra or not. After they chained the two imprisoned Princesses to the ground by the neck and hooves me and Spike made ourselves scram to the nearest statues, of course, Spike being a child himself caught a glimpse of Celestia's frozen horror. "AH!" Spike yelped digging his dragon claws into my uniform. "What was that?" Asked an Umbrum, as we both ducked behind the frozen Celestia. "..." "That's nothing, get back to work!" Said Rabia. "Yes sir," replied one of the Umbrum, which annoyed Rabia. "I mean ma'am!, sir?" Said the same Umbrum as he just gave up and went back to securing the princess's chains. I then looked at Spike with an ignorant look, he was still in a state of shivering fear. "Did you really have to yell like that!" I scolded. "I-I-I wasn't scared!" He stuttered. "... You can get your claws off my clothes now..." I insisted. "Sorry," he replied, as he climbed down back to the ground and looked at the statue of the frozen princesses. "Huh, just like Space Wars the Revenge of the Empire, Welp, these statues aren't going to move anytime soon," I said out loud. "So how do we free them?" Spike asks. "Well, first off I don't know magic, especially dark ones like this, but instead we could try pushing them for one, or two we could... Politely ask Sombra to free them. That or three and sit this one out," I planned. "One sounds... A lot of work, two is a not ah, but why three?" Spike asked. "I don't know," I shrugged. Our conversation ended shortly though when we heard the door opening and came out of them were Sombra and Hope, as expected, they'll be starting an execution which would quote "quell the rebellion" type of shit is this, I swear they based most of their words on fucking Space Wars. Or... Did Space Wars based their phrases on Umbrum language? Hm... Gold Star looked through his binoculars with concern for Twilight, although he had long known about the Personal diplomacy being expired long ago he didn't expect Twilight to know about this since the whole thing is Humarican business. But to think that a whole incident with a dead in the water town that happens to be a Soviet playground would end a delicate relation like it kind of disappoints him, especially when the communists interfere with peace objectives between America and his former home country Equestria. He could recall the time when he was a filly, he can remember all those rants his dad would make at the table, calling the Rodinians jackasses, and cussing them out from every curse word in the book, of course, most of that time his mother would just cover his ears and attempt to ease the father. While stuff like that was a bit chaotic at times, Gold Star would've done anything to have the old times back. Before the whole Alicorn incident and beyond it. No one knows who Gold Star truly is, except for Yates, Alex, and the entire FIU and the Federation government, but even then they've been sworn to secrecy. The only one who had not taken that oath was Yates... A friend that he had always counted on, though the FIU and even Alex told and warned him not to tell me anything about his Alicornhood Alex's perspective changed after Tirek's attack and the moment that I saw wings and not the usual Earth Pony body and didn't tell no one about it was when I proved that I was worthy to know. The F.I.U. on the other hand... Was a different story. But ignoring this fact Gold Star managed to get a positive ID on Sombra, and then he tried looking for me but proved none avail, eventually he gave up and turned towards Macmillan. "There's Sombra, has the sniper teams been established?" Gold Star asked. "Lemme see, Shadow-1 come in, how's the setup?" "All is dandy we have two snipes on top and a vanguard, no one has noticed yet." "Rog' you know the orders then," "Copy sir." As the Brookish Special Forces Commander hung up he added. "Green Berets are on top, everything is set," reported Macmillan. "Good then on my orders we-" Suddenly Gold Star was interrupted by cannon sounds in the distance followed by a loud explosion. "The hell?" He then looked through his binoculars and saw Sombra, Radiant Hope, and two other Umbrum, it was then that a second cannon burst was heard and the ball impacted and slammed the Umbrum onto the wall. "CANNON!" Shouted an Umbrum, which Sombra and Hope were caught off guard for a moment until Sombra got his sights straight off the artillery group. "IT'S THE REBELS! GET THE UMBRUM AND STOP THEM! THEY CAN NOT MAKE IT TO THE PRINCESS AT ALL COSTS!" "Yes Emperor Sombra!" replied Rabia. As the Umbrum attempted to attack Pinkie's group Rarity appeared with her own. "All right ponies! That's our cue! Hit them with the fabulousness!" Spoke Rarity as the sun glared for a moment and disintegrated two Umbrum to death from the brightness. "Eat fashion villians!" She phrase quipped. "I CAN'T SEE! THEY'RE TOO FABULOUUUS~~~~" "YEEHAW! Alright, apples! Let's tie these monsteers up and tie 'em down!" Soon the Apple family arrived or dubbed to Gold Star in his mind, the Apple Group. Of course, in the midst, a DIY tank came out of nowhere and started firing at the Umbrum. This DIY tank is typically a red wagon with a cannon and a lot of apples. "Sir, not to rush you in your amazement but our men are ready to move in?" Macmillan said. "...Y'know what fuck my signals, GO GO GO! MOVE IT MOVE IT!" Immediately the sounds of human war cries were heard by the Umbrum Special forces started shooting everything they saw subtracting from their allies. "COUNTER ATTACK! WE CANNOT LET THEM BREACH OUR DEFENSES!" Rabia shouted when one of her bodyguards was killed by a sniper. "WHAT THE!" She looked up and saw the tower lit with light as sniper men started shooting from the roof of the castle picking off groups one by one, as a rocketeer soldier fired his missile on a group that was approaching Gold Star. KABOOM The missile killed everything in the vicinity. However, amid the fight they focused on getting rid of the DIY tank. "They created some sort of tube. It looks like a "U" Apple Bloom noted "What the heck did they do that for?" Sweetie Bell questioned. "Doesn't matter! Take them down" Scootaloo ordered, shooting a machine gun load of apples when suddenly the apples deflected through the U-tube and pied the three foals off the cart taking down the DIY tank. "Good the tank is down," "MA'AM WE HAVE INCOMING!" "What is it now!" "THEY HAVE A BIGGER TANK!" "They WHAT!?" Suddenly out of nowhere a HE shell zoomed through the air and exploded on the ground spreading shrapnel all around everyone except for Sombra and Hope as he had his barrier up. "WHO DID THAT!" Rabia demanded. . . . Patton looked through his binoculars on top of the tank as he chuckled and smirked. "HI BASTARD! MISSED ME?!" Patton shouted from a distance, giving Sombra that memory of being beaten up by Patton's troops. "Get him, NOW!" He ordered as the Umbrum charged towards a whole convoy of M60 tanks. "Load another shell! Give him another canon shell up his ass!" Patton ordered, as his tank fired an HE round at the Umbrum horde, followed by tracer rounds of heavy machine gun ammo. "AHHHHHHH~~" "OOF~~" "EEEHHG~~" Patton then grabbed his radio and said. "Colonel, deploy the death squad!" "Yes sir!" Replied Canter." MEN! FIX BAYONETS! BUT DRIVER! DON'T STOP THE MACHINE GUNS!" "SIR YES SIR OORAH OORAH!" Shouted the men. As they jumped off without hesitation and charged at the horde with bayonets fixed the bayonets tore through the Umbrum's shadowy flesh and thenafter shot to death. "Sir! Why are my bullets not killing them!" One of them asked. "Private did you use the regular bullets!" A Sergeant asked. "Yes?" "UNLOAD YOUR RIFLE AND USE THE TRACERS!" The Sergeant Ordered. "YES SIR SORRY SIR!" The soldier replied. . . . As the Crystal City turned into a full fledge warzone, (again), me and Spike was very stunned at how this all developed, and as we even saw Fluttershy and her army of gigantic beasts attack the Umbrum relentlessly we were also relieved that Alex had arrived as well. However, the gunfire was a concern, a great concern because the explosions going on around us were getting too close for comfort, if a single rocket or tank shell hit Celestia and Luna they'll be shattered and they will be killed. "Alright Spike, ONE IT IS! NOW HELP ME PUSH!" I said. "Are you sure? Looks heavy," Spike replied. "Well, we either push this or they die a terrible death! Take your pick!" I scolded. "Yep! On it!" Spike said as we both pushed the statue off of its dais and inside of the castle, surprisingly the statue was not heavy but what stopped us was when I and Spike were suddenly surrounded by our own guys. "DROP YOUR GUN! HANDS UP!" Said a Brookish soldier, pointing a gun towards my chest as I lowered my Light Machine Gun to the group and then raised my hands. "Congratulations dumbass you've captured us, so what now," I exclaimed when Gold Star amongst the men that pointed their guns towards me and Spike rushed through. "Lower your weapons! He's one of ours!" Gold Star ordered as the soldiers lowered their guns. "About time you showed up! The hell have you been!" I asked. "Talking with Alex, he just informed me that the Air Force is being dispatched to our location!" Gold Star enthusiastically said. "Well, that's good, but not for these three! We've been trying to move them inside, yall are starting to get reckless with the explosives!" "Apologies, COME ON MEN! GET THESE STATUES INSIDE! By the way meet Captain Macmillan," Gold Star introduced. "Greetings Lieutenant," said the Captain. "Hello captain, now let's get the statues inside now!" All of us started pushing the statues inside of the castle but when they were pushing Shining Armor I saw the Crystal Heart and overheard them planning to shatter it, I grabbed my gun and started shooting at Rabia. "YATES GET BACK HERE!" Gold Star ordered when the piece of the Crystal Castle roof smashed on top of the door trapping the group inside and leaving me with Sombra and Rabia. Immediately Rabia charged at me with a huge volley of dark shadow magic lethal that pelted the rocks where I took cover, I then took my gun and aimed it at her and fired everything I had inside of the magazine, the bullets were not tracers but this did annoy her giving me room to charge at her and punched her in the gut with the gun. Feeling the brute pain she limped for a moment before pouncing back on me using her teeth and biting on my sleeve. "AAH FUCK-" I yelped, as I threw her on the wall a couple of times before finally she released her teeth from my skin and landed on the ground. I grabbed my Machine Gun and tried to shoot her, but it ran out of bullets so I tossed it to her and punched her in the face. With the help of Sombra, she pinned me to the wall. "YOU WILL BE THE FIRST TO DIE!" Rabia spoke. Well if I die I might as well do something worthwhile. "Sombra! Listen to me and very carefully, it is not worth throwing everything away, if you destroy the Crystal Heart it'd be the end of the world and this kingdom!" Sombra looked at profusely and then mirrored at the Crystal Heart. "Speak..." This is my biggest gamble yet as Rabia tried to bite my head off I continued to speak. "Hope told me about her destiny, she told me she was destined originally to be an Alicorn, you know this too because she told you didn't you?" I said. "She did... So what bothers me now!" "SHE FUCKING LOVES YOU!" I shouted in a quick tone manner because again, Rabia was trying to fucking bite my head off. Sombra on the other hand was stiffed on what I shouted, and Radiant Hope looked at me with surprise but also frustration because,... Well... Let's just say that I may or may not have broken a secret. "Is this true?" Sombra asked, to which Hope was embarrassed, blushed a bit, and answered. "Yes... He is right." Sombra felt something there, I actually couldn't believe that he had a heart, but of course, he did, otherwise he wouldn't be the way he became. "DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS PUTRID HUMAN! REMEMBER WHAT I SAID!" Rabia shouted, and Sombra looked around seeing a chaotic scene with ponies fighting shadows, and Humans shooting everything and helping others. He saw in his mind that he had created a brutal warzone. And to think that all this time he was going to rule and conquer the world. And that shattering the Crystal Heart would seal this destiny. But then he thought of something else. What if he did smash this and the humans happened to bring something truly more horrifying than the Umbrum itself, he had studied the old princess and her Journal on humanity and thinking on it now, the technology being used against him and his army, and with the ponies will fight no matter the case proves that even if he executed Cadence and Twilight the Ponies will still fight. Although the ponies would fight to the death for their freedom he doubt that the ponies even cared as much for their monarchy as their old counterparts. And even if he succeeded in conquering the world then Rabia will most likely dispose of him and gain the crown for herself. And so that was when he made his mind up. "Target spotted, load HE shell," Alex ordered, as the autoloader loaded the HE in the Abrams cannon. "Fire!" The Abrams fired at a Umbrum cloud that was generating Umbrum to fight them, however the Umbrum had now started using their magic against them, Patton's forces were recently struck by a huge magic bomb which luckily the 501st brigade, equipped with defense modules, quickly dealt with the magic bombs that were just being thrown from the wazoo. However Twilight's friends were being buried in numbers as they ran for the BTR-82 that was providing support and covering fire, however the gun ammo ran out so they resorted to using it as a evacuation vehicle for injured personnel. His tank pulled in at a Checkpoint which is littered with Barbed wires and sandbags and a Abrams tank that is currently holding position, overseeing it was Patton and Canter. As Alex's tank halted infront of one of the Sandbag walls he popped out his head from the tank hatch on top. "General, where the hell is the Rodinian allies?" Alex asked. "Most of them ran off, figures never trusted those commie bastards, but we're kicking those demonic assholes all the way to Timbucktu!" Patton replied. "And the Castle?" "The castle is fortified like hell, I'm current consolidating available troops to cover our flanks and build up for a mass push, hopefully we can hurry before they do something funny with that Crystal Heart!" "That reminds me? How come it's not smashed yet?" Alex questioned. "I don't know, either that bastard Sombra had a change of heart, or that same bastard is toying with us! Either way I hate any odds that will come from that bastard!" Patton ranted. "Even if he turned good?" "Creator forbids that happens! Otherwise I'm going to train my men to death!" Patton added. As Sombra was thinking on his choice Rabia threw me on the ground and then after I was quickly swarmed with a whole horde group of Umbrum to which they pinned me down. As they held me up against my will Rabia turned towards Sombra in a confused tone. "What are you doing Sombra?" Asked Rabia. "...Just Remembered the first time I looked into this thing, it was the first time I ever saw myself as a monster." "But it seems it's just me and my reflection." "Maybe it doesn't work if it's not powered up, all the more reason to destroy it!" Rabia exclaimed, which Sombra chuckled loudly. "No I think it's working just fine, Hope?" "Yes Sombra?" "Thank you," he said, as he tossed the Crystal Heart back to it's dais and flashing into a bright light illuminating it's sorroundings, this move shocked both Cadence and Twilight as they stood right there stunned and dumbfounded. Meanwhile with me... "YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS! I WON THE BET! WHOOO!" Of course everyone looked at me in a ridculed face. "I mean, yay," I rephrased, as the Umbrum started to disentegrate all around me. "HOLT THROW THAT GRENADE!" Said a soldier. "Why?" Holt asked. "THEY'RE DESTROYING FLOWERS!" Replied the soldier. "TO THE DEATH!" Shouted Holt, as he duel wielded two sub machine guns and chucking grenades at the Umbrum. Before the Umbum completed faded the men were using everything at their disposal to kill the Umbrum, expecially one guy who was equipped with a flame thrower and burning the shadow beasts into a crisp. "YOU INSOLATE BEING! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" Rabia shouted towards Sombra. "Making my own destiny! UNLIKE YOU!" Sombra yelled, as he fired a spell that mutilated Rabia's face before she was dragged into the castle. By this time Gold Star and the Special Forces blew up the wall to pieces, but to his surprise Sombra... Saved everyone? "...Well hell, what do you know," he said to himself out loud, as he moved to free Twilight and Cadence, as Macmillian and his men moved to secure me. "You alright sonny?" The Captain asked. "Yep, very fine, and also happy," I smirked towards Gold Star. "...You know that it's just one bet right?" Gold Star said, as he cut the neck chain off of Twilight. "( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)" "Alright fine! But after we're done cleaning this mess! It's going to be a while!" "Deal," I said, as I turned towards Sombra and Hope who're watching the Crystal Heart in it's bright but deadly beauty. During this Alex and Patton arrived on the Abrams as the soldiers entered the Crystal City central escorting medics and professionals, followed this our airsupport as F-14s zoomed through the skies following by additional reinforcements being dropped via Blackhawks. As the remaining Umbrum were dragged to what I would assume to be the deepest pits of tartarus the black Crystals on Twilight's and Cadences horn popped out, Shining Armor, Celestia, and Luna were freed and were quickly attended to by Military medical personnel which examined every inch of Celestia. And finally a single helicopter escorted by two Huey helicopters arrived. Exitting out of it was General Ben Carville, who looked around the scene. "Dear God, this looks like some Soviet shit if I ever seen it," He ranted, as Alex approached and saluted. "At ease Colonel, give me a update," he requested. "So it would seem that most of the Umbrums and all Black Crystals have been successfully eradicated, also sir it would seem that Sombra has changed." "Sombra?" Ben queried. "Changed?" He continued. "AHAHA! Really? This I have to see!" As he and Alex arrived to the castle area and sure enough to Ben's eyes, Sombra was speaking emotionally. "Well if I be dammed. You were right." "Have I always?" "What? Most of the time it's just ranting," Ben added. "..." "Too much?" Ben asked "Too much..." Replied Alex. "SOMBRA!" Hope shouted, catching the two officers off. "NO! I"M NOT LETTING YOU GO!" "Hope? What's happening!" Sombra asked, as he now turned into a shadow ball. "You said I could do good! Now I'm doing it!" Hope Naively said. "Hope you can't fight the Crystal Heart alone you'll hurt yourself!" "She's not alone!" Twilight said, as Ben and Alex moved aside. At this point this turned into from a wartorn group to now a spectate segment of soldiers watching their former target now be allied and pardoned by the princesses of Equestria and Crystal Empire. As a bright bang followed by the combined efforts of all four Alicorns Sombra was... VERY different, a whole new body and a fucking new voice! He shook his head and stood. "Am... I really here?" "SOMBRA!" She yelled in happiness as the two embraced eachother in a hug of love, as for me, I just smiled and waved. Well not really. Sombra and Celestia had a conversation though for the first time, and it didn't even involve violence this time! Amazing! But as those two yapped Twilight and Gold Star spoke to each other. (about time) . . . "Well, you've got to admit that even you haven't expected something like this to occur," he chuckled to himself. "You're right, but while friendship is powerful this is a lot more different." "Such as?" "This is something more than friendship, Hope was in love with him," Twilight pointed out. "Yeah... Well, I have something to tell you since I got here, and not dead." "What is it?" She asked. "Twilight, remember the personal diplomacy?" Gold Star asked, which flushed Twilight's face in fear. "How did you know!?" "Wait, know what?" "I... Uhh..." Twilight tried to hide her knowledge about the Personal diplomacy being jacked off by communists in exchange for silence but she gave up and sighed. "I was told to, the personal diplomacy from what I was told was disbanded, so what now?" Twilight asked, drooping her head down. "Well..." Gold Star paused when a messenger came to him. "Are you Major Star sir?" Asked the messenger. "Yes?" Gold Star asked. "Sir, you've been reassigned." The sentence shocked Twilight and Gold Star, but he just gave up. "...Well, that didn't take long, so where are we being shipped to..." "Shipped sir? No no, it's only you personally," the messenger emphasized, which changed Twilight's face into a surprise, and so is Gold Star's. "Pardon... Me?" He asked as the messenger handed the official order form to the Major. "Have a good day sir," the messenger exited, walking off to General Ben Carville as Gold Star looked at his new "Reassignment". And to his surprise and pleasure, he smiled. "Well Twilight, looks like we're not going anywhere anytime soon," he smirked, handing Twilight the orders that he was assigned to be her security which bypasses the Rodinian demand, this made her smile, and then they hugged each other in a tight embrace. Patton stood watching Sombra and Celestia talking to each other when Cadence appeared beside him. "I never knew he had the heart to change," she said, as the general rolled his eyes. "I swear, you Equestrians always somehow come up with metaphors, now tell me, if this is how you solve problems then what is the point of us being here in the first place!" Patton ranted. "We've never asked you to stay you know? You've insisted that you become a part of the army of the Crystal Empire and that's what you've been doing, you did your job well at saving the city, but sometimes not everypony thinks the same way that you think." As Patton took a second to ponder the words spoken by Cadence he looked up at the skies where Jets continually zoomed by giving him that inch of dread of him and his army being irrelevant through the eyes of the world. "Either way princess, I will be happy when he leaves this city and stays out of it," he ranted. "And after he is, I'll be glad!" As Patton turned around and left Cadence by herself. Her husband Shining Armor came to accompany her she added. "Whatever makes you feel happy, General..." Once upon a time, there was a young pony who wasn't like the other ponies, all he wanted was a friend. And then, he found one. She was the most amazing friend that anyone could have asked for. He loved her and she loved him. But he didn't love himself, he was worried he was a monster and how could anyone ever care about a monster? That is the thing about friendship though, your friends are friends because they can see the great things you have inside, they can see past looks and family and even your worries, and they can see the goodness inside of you, even if you don't see it yourself. ... If only that were true, writing from the distant future Sombra and Hope and their friendship would eventually die. How you may ask? Let's just say that I was the one... Who ruined it all... Aftermath After the events in the Crystal Empire Johnson was found by Equestrian Coast guards and was sent back to America, he was now considered disabled, yet miraculously he survived, the Soviets had managed to dissect the bomb. And now the Soviets are on the verge of becoming the second world power to possess a Nuclear bomb... Johnson meanwhile, can no longer talk. The Rodinians were quickly evicted by American troops after an ultimatum was sent which damaged relations between the Federation and Rodinia. Despite pushes by Sunset Shimmer Thestria was eventually denied from joining the South Humarican Alliance leading to a massive strain of relations. Chrysalis and General Rommel received news of the incident with the Umbrum and Sombra's reformation, Sombra has been declared an outlaw in the Changeling lands with charges of Magical Terrorism. Moskva Boris walked through the doors of the empty chamber, after a shocked with Brezhnev's visit and the surprising result with the Crystal Empire he was now the only one in the chamber. At least for a couple of minutes when someone walked through the door. "Oh, Mr. Putin, I lost the card of where we were meeting but hopefully this could accommodate the lost time," Boris apologized. "That's fine Mr. Yeltsin, at least now we can get to business," Putin said, sitting down beside Boris on the council seat. "So tell me Mr. Putin, what's with the secrecy?" Boris asked, which Putin silently thought for a moment before finally saying. "I am preparing to overthrow the Secretary-General and his Proletariate, I wish to ask if you would like to have the opportunity of ridding our nation of him," Putin explained, giving Boris a thought of interest. "I'm listening... Intently..."
The New World \| Millennium	The life of a Foxlander	With the events in the Crystal City now subsiding and tensions increased between Rodinia and America there is one person I should start fully introducing, remember Olivia? Well to present her history, I can tell you she is not a Fashionista or some mentor from Humarica, no instead she is just a civilian who is living her life, now here is why. She was born in 985 ALB, and her family was friends with Rarity's family because of the age-old war that happened to have shaped their friendship. Technically dating back to the Lunar Wars, Rarity's fashion skills technically came from her greater ancestors who had befriended the Foxyarn Family back in 80 ALB, it was a hit for fashion up after the Lunar Wars until the Rarity's ancestors bailed, and later then the Foxyarns ran out of budget and had to close the locations in 854 ALB. Then it all went well downhill in 992 when Olivia's parents were murdered in the streets of Mareami when she was seven, the criminals behind the murder have not been found to this day but it was believed that it was a Racially motivated crime committed by either Gangs or Cartels from the colony of Mexicona with Anti-Gradenlander resentment, From there the Foxyarn family and Rarity's family came together again, this time Olivia was given to Rarity's family for protection by her grandparents. From there up to 1003 Olivia's residency had been masked mainly by Rarity, at times Rarity would say that Olivia is some sort of Fashionista, some random fisher human, or a farmer. The reason behind this is because of the Lunar Wars, when the war ended minor groups of Ponies had immense hate for the Humans and considered Gradenlanders as one of those groups that attacked the Equestrian homeland, and so they formed the Solar Cult, a Pony Supremacy group that roots out and ethnically cleanse human populations and residences from out of towns, villages, and cities. Of course, only when Rarity told Twilight Sparkle about Olivia in 1003 was it safer for Olivia to live her life in peace in Ponyville, and surprisingly before the decree made by Celestia which resulted in the imprisonment and crack down of the Solar Cult Ponies, the towns ponies already fondly friendly with the fox girl. But it is now 1004, and Olivia has turned 19 and found herself a job in the Equestrian Postal Service, but before we focus on her, I should probably show how we met fully face to face. Base Alicorn, Ponyville. It had been 4 days since the attack on the Crystal Empire, the LoN and the UN Peacekeeper brigades arrived with additional workers, infantry, and tanks, relieving the 105th division of the temporary military occupation that we had been conducting with the consent of Princess Cadence. As we withdrew towards the outskirts the group we were traveling back to base with saw the Crystal Ponies trotting back in masses to their homes, or at least what was left of it if I haven't told you, this was perhaps the first time I'd ever fought in Urban combat, sure there was the attack on Canterlot in 1002, but I was fighting inside of a church the whole time against Chrysalis, and as for Tirek, we were in the plains and later the forests. And from what I can recall from Urban Combat training, you are playing a card of risk, every building destroyed is another livelihood lost. But with that short but problematic food for thought, after we've arrived back to our barracks in Ponyville the Mane 6 had been trying to get a grip on what had happened, such as the part where Sombra had reformed, in all honesty, though it's fine, nothing to bicker about other than nearly getting my head torn off from my neck by a shadow demon from Tartarus. After we arrived back to base two days ago Gold Star had been doing the usual paperwork as assigned by Alex due to his typical knowledge of taxes and other bookwormish things. Alex has just returned after "Conversing" with General Carville over a nice wine-drinking session back at Crystal City, and the possibility of giving Patton M1 Abrams than the useless outdated M60s that other divisions usually use for quotas or support. As for me, I've been busy myself, overseeing the training of recruits, and I've also managed to get the kinks in on how to pilot a tank through piloting the M4 Sherman that is nowadays used for rookie pilots. Of course, there's also the sync of a team so after the usual and basic training the Drill Sergeants would at times have the men play All-American Football just for the men to learn the two words combined into one "Teamwork" It's like friendship, actually I think it is Friendship just under a different term, either way I've long before learned how to work with others, how else did I work on the worlds biggest battleship! Anyway, after that day everyone was back in base (finally) and we were silently doing business as usual. "So, I told this asshole that he needed to relinquish the fucking bomb off his property! You know what he said?" I asked. "No do say?" Gold Star queried. "This is my property! What the fuck are you going to do with a bomb I asked! And he replied, none of your damn American concern! And then after that we had Twilight come and help us out, and after a "peaceful" transfer of getting that bomb off his property it went well." "By "peaceful" you mean he caned you and the men half to death," Gold Star added. "Yep... That type of peaceful, though Twilight did place her shield around us but that only made things worse because we dropped the fucking bomb!" "Jesus, how are you alive then?" Gold Star asked. "Well luckily Twilight manage to catch the son of a bitch from impacting the ground, if it weren't for her I and a bunch of guys would be dead! Anyways, shouldn't you be given that R n' R by now?" I asked, to Gold Star's dismay he shook his head. "No, I'm still waiting on that response," he replied when Alex entered inside of the Officer mess. "Major Star, I have good news for you," Alex informed. "Colonel Alex, what is it sir?" Gold Star replied. "Ben Carville has accepted your request, with an extra note saying "have the week off you magnificent bastard, you have earned it," Alex read from the letter. "Sounds very positive, I guess," I commented, as Gold Star jumped in the air in happiness. "Finally! I hope to see you guys in a week, I better get packing!" As Gold Star got his essentials together Alex flipped through the letters and found an envelope that had a stamp of approval, he then unwrapped it and read it. "Good luck Star, I assume you're staying over at Twilight's place," I implied. "That would be correct, maybe something mystical might happen, or something," Gold Star added, but before he left the door Alex halted him with a pistol laying its body on his neck. "Not so fast Major, in case Twilight and her friends, gather up together, there's bound to be some sort of shit show that tends to go down around these parts, here take this pistol, you two seem safer with it than without it," Alex insisted, as Gold Star grabbed the pistol and placed it inside of his saddle bag. "I assume you've set it on safety?" Gold Star asked. "Of course, why else has the damn thing didn't go off, you think I'm out of my mind?" Alex Queried, which Gold Star shrugged, and trotted off to his Humvee. As the Colonel watched Gold Star drive off base, he then turned towards me. "Alright, now with Gold Star gone out to do his "peacetime" I have an assignment for you." "About time, it's boring to watch Drill Sergeants train inexperienced pain-in-the-ass recruits, and expect them to slip up once in a while, so what's the task?" I asked, and Alex handed me a blueprint of a... Barn... "This has to be a joke right, please tell me this is a joke!" I begged. "No Yates it is not a joke, Princess Luna herself decided that we should build a big barn to support the apple family in their harvest this year." "And what exactly is the exchange for that?" I asked. "Politically speaking, good relations, economically, keeps the export of apples flowing and trade for more unobtainable resources, and militarily, a good strategic point in case some invader enters here and wreaks havoc." "You always had an open mind about everything," I said. "Why thanks, that's what my hypothetical wife tells me, now you will be given an engineering unit of around 50 men, they expect this to be done in at least a day or two, they've already got supplies there," Alex briefed. "Anything else I should ask about?" I asked. "No, now get the hell out of here it was a blessing here with Gold Star on RNR, now I want you out of here, now go on and scram!" I then walked out of the Officer mess and saw that a convoy of bulldozers, construction cars, cranes, and anything that a construction worker can dream of were already waiting for me on flatbeds. "Welp... What to start a day with dusty construction... Hurray..." The Carousal boutique Now that we had made that clear where I was the whole time we now in the other direction, the Carousal Boutique, practically a house and a workplace for Rarity, her job is, as her cutie mark suggests, fashioning clothes and other sorts of fashion items... What? Did you expect that she was something of a mercenary? Hell no, if anything she's just trying to live her peaceful life without the dramatic experience. But of course not to get ahead of myself she isn't the main character in this chapter. Inside one of the bedrooms is where the main part of the story focuses on, the clock would turn from 7:59 to 8:00 and the alarm clock goes off beeping like it's the end of the world before being silenced by a paw. Olivia sat up on the bed and stretched before getting up to put on her clothes. She wore a pink long skirt, a brown jacket, leggings, purple shorts, and boots, while she did struggle a bit mainly with her leggings because of how hard it is to put a sock on top of it, it was her usual routine in her life whether a person may like it or not. As she puts on her E.P.S. vest and hat on she can immediately smell breakfast, and the sound of Sweetie Bell trotting down the hallway. "Morning Olivia!" Said Sweetie Bell. "Morning Sweet B!" Olivia replied joyfully. "How was your play date with your friends yesterday?" "Oh it was very fun, but we weren't able to get our Cutiemarks! No matter what it's like fate is keeping us from what is rightfully ours!" Sweetie Bell frustratingly replied. "Or... Maybe you haven't found the right talent yet? After all it took Rarity almost half of her foal hood before she got hers, atleast that's what Ms. Rarity told me atleast," Olivia said. "Maybe you're right, maybe we should try harder next time!" Sweetie Bell replied in confidence. "That's the spirit!" Olivia encouraged when they both heard Rarity calling for the two down stairs alerting them that their morning feast has been served. "You know though? This talking isn't putting food in my stomach." "Agreed." While Olivia and Sweetie had their morning meal the construction crew and I arrived to Sweet Apple Acres, home of the famous apples and it's family, and the cider. "Creatordamn, did we really have to use the dirt road sir?" Complained the driver. "Regardless Corporal, if the apple family want's to have us on the fucking mud then by Creator above we will drive on the fucking mud, just be glad you're driving on solid ground." As we pulled into the spot with the industrial equipment needed for the construction of the new secondary barn, Applejack and Macintosh had been very assertive with a lot of ground rules when using the equipment we're using. Basically like this: Rule #1: Don't drive on the grass Rule #2: Don't hit, steal, or cut down any trees Rule #3: Don't piss us off with excuses Rule #4: at anytime we will whip your asses as we pleased. Okay so I did made up rule 4 right there but you can kinda see where this was going, though I don't really blame them considering of a incident between them and the Flim and Flam brothers trying to capitalize on their hard work with just cutting down trees that are typically the apple's family. My family members are farmers too infact, though we get our seeds from our good neighbors the Corn family, which happened to have been situated between the whole Pear Vs Apple conflict. They were very kind, and honest on their work too, hell if I reversed some of their color it kinda resembles the colors that the Apple family has. Although at times when I was little I would catch them crying in the fields, and I wouldn't know why, and I still don't now why to this day. But with that said. "This... This is it, stop stop stop!" I ordered as the flat bed truck came to a complete stop and I hopped off of it, and looked at the map, then came Dean. "You must be Yates?" He asked. "Lieutenant Yates, but you can call me Mr. because lets be for real I have experience in farming myself back home of course," I replied. "Well that's mighty kind of you Mr. Yates, as you know of Applejack I hope we could do well together in this project." "Indeed, so where is the land plot?" I asked. "Just right there over yonder, now not to sound as bossy as my friends, the Apples, but I do advise that you be careful with the trees over there, all you need to do is just stay within those plot lines and you good to go," Dean warned. "Alright, I think that sounds good enough, you mind if we?" "Not at all Mr. Yates, but again, stay within the lines, and we are swell and dandy." After Dean walked off after exchanging goodbyes I began to direct the construction crews off the truck beds, and into the plot line they went. "And make sure to not follow or listen to strangers!" "Yes Ms. Rarity..." "And always remember to just give the package to the strangers you are delivering to!" "Yes Ms. Rarity..." "And another thing!" "Yes Ms. Rarity?" "Stay safe! :)" After Rarity handed Olivia her EPS cap, lunch bag, and bicycle helmet. The fox girl got on her bike and tread away to the building on Neighmeister street, there her boss was waiting on her. "Reporting for duty Mr. Post!" Olivia greeted. "Ah Good morning Mrs. Foxyarn, I assume you're ready for the first roll out of mail?" "Of course sir! I've been waiting for this moment all night! It's exciting!" "Hehe, well then if that's the case you will be given packages, guard these with your life!" Parcel ordered. "But I'm only delivering within Ponyville?" Olivia questioned. "Oh maybe so, but even the nicest of people can be deceiving!" Parcel intensely stared, creeping Olivia out before he snapped out of it and said. "Well what are you waiting for! Get moving fox human you got boxes to deliver!" "O-oh! Sorry sir! Goodbye!" Olivia then tread away with the boxes placed in her side baskets. "Good luck! And stay safe young one!" He waved. "Heh, what a nice gal." . . . As she strolled throughout town she started delivering the packages to the ponyville residences, first was Lyra's as she stopped infront of her door and knocked. "I'm coming I'm coming!" Lyra said, as she trotted and opened the door when she noticed the fox girl infront of her. "Package delivery for Lyra Heartstrings?" Olivia asked, which Lyra stood shocked, nodding her head. "Ok... If you please sign this for me," Olivia said, giving Lyra the pen as it hovered over the clipboard and wrote in scribbles all over the clipboard. "...I was referring your name?" Olivia complicated on her request that went the other way, and then it was when Bon Bon showed up. "What in Celestia's name is wrong with you Lyra!" She scolded, as Lyra shook her head. "Sorry hum- ma'am! It's just this is the most proudest moment in my life! To see a human!" "Uhh yay?" Olivia spoke softly, when Bon Bon backed up. "Oh dear Celestia..." "WHAT'SYOURFAVORITECOLORWHAT'SHUMARICALIKEAREYOUREALLYABIPEDALMONKEYOHPLEASEPLEASEPLEASETELLMEISTHISADREAMCOMETRUE!" "WOAH WOAH WOAH! Alright Lyra easy please don't overwhelm the nice human here she's not the only human in this world you know!" "Right! Sorry! I should introduce myself then! Hi! My name is Lyra! What's yours?" As Bon Bon shook her head in annoyance Olivia replied. "Well nice for you to ask, my name is Olivia, and I lived here for my entire life, so I never really know what Humarica is or what's life over there, but someday I hope to return there for a better life." It was then that Lyra's hope of Humarican knowledge was crushed. "Oh I see..." "Well this was very odd for everyone here, but uh... Don't you have other mail to deliver?" Bon Bon asked. "Oh right! Sorry, it was a pleasure meeting you two!" "No worries Mrs. Olivia, good luck and have a good day!" Bon Bon waved as Olivia strolled away from their property. "Well Lyra? What do you have to say for yourself!" "I feel so cold..." "...What?" . . . "Morning Mr. and Mrs. Boxford!" Olivia greeted, as she handed the package to the other human residence. "Ah Mrs. Foxyarn how's the life under a element treating ya?" Asked Mr. Boxford. "I mean I don't really ask much under Rarity other than her treating me as her own," Olivia replied. "Rarity is good when it comes to parenting, sometimes when we have have our tea parties she would typically wish to become one, of course she isn't wanting to rush things as supposed, who wouldn't really, she already has a dream to fulfill," Mrs. Boxford said. "Well it was nice visiting you two, but I have other packages to deliver," Olivia said, as she started treading off. "Alright Mrs. Foxyarn, good luck!" While Olivia treads off and delivers other packages I will tell you that was human residences number 3 and 4, they're one of the 1% minority population in Equestria that lives here since 1003, now considering that they've just moved here the are a nice couple that live in the quiet town. They are good friends with Rarity well, atleast Mrs. Boxford is anyways, the two would sit down for a chat, tea, and then they would just be on their way, though that's usually on Fridays. On the other note Mr. Boxford moved here with his wife because of the construction company that needed someone that can operate a crane properly because of a incident where the last operator moved the crane into the building and endangering the lives of construction crews, of course they were saved by some vigilante pony they call Mare Do Well, oh and Rainbow Dash. And let's just say he has bro's in the company, and enjoys his coffee time with them while moving dangerous equipment with the push of a switch. Anyways, after delivering a good size amount of 120 packages it was now evening, and she only now had finished her lunch at this hour, and she only has one more package left to deliver. So when Olivia looked at her clipboard she notices a familiar address, one she does not like... The house dubbed by the local residences as "The Grey House" was notorious as it's name suggests, claims of ponies going in and never coming out, and animals well, lets just say that the ponies also claimed that they don't come back in one piece. Now when the inspector arrived he approved of the property though some suspect that he was bribed. Either way it shivered Olivia down to her spine, the worse thing she feared was if the floor boards would even support her weight considering of how unstable and old it looks. But that didn't stopped her as she shook her head. "It's alright," she said to herself. "It's only another person, waiting for his, or her, package... And for some reason... Have a taste for abandon houses! Nothing to... Get worried about, hopefully." As she slowly tread to the property rolling off from the green grass to the dirt pad that surrounded the house, she noticed that the stairs that leads to the house looked crooked, regardless she sucked it up, got off her bike, and searched in her satchel for the package. To her surprise it wasn't a package, it was a letter! And not only a letter, but it's from Humarica! Out of the packages and mail she delivered it was usually either from Griffonia or Zebrica, or this continent, but from Humarica? It would seem someone must've miss this person dearly. "Well," she said to herself again. "It's not going to deliver itself girl!" Considering that she was stalling herself, she finally got off her bike with the mail and started walking stairs when suddenly she heard cracking..? -Ah crap! That can't be good.- With all fiber in her body she reduced herself to using big steps rather than small ones, as she walked up the unstable stairs she wondered. -How- or who! In Celestia's name lives here?- But after making up the stairs she breathed in a sigh of relief. And then she fell through the wood boards. "AHH~!" She managed to grab on to the edge but with nothing to support her legs with apart from a wall of mud that her boots kept slipping on. She herself was slipping until she heard large footsteps and then, the door opened and came a but old man with a grey beard, he's a bit miniature in size, but also skinny, which would explain how he himself hasn't fell through, but as he looked down and swiped the letter off of Olivia's glove he looked down and shook his head. "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. I should've expect less from a bipedal canine human! Ahh and the bitch kind too! So what's your buisness here other than dangling above my mud trap below!" "I-woah! I-" "Well come on! Spit it out!" "I was delivering the letter to you sir! Now you may please! C-can you atleast help me up!" Snorting and puffing at the request of a young teenage Fox girl, all he could feel is pity, although she did brought him his letter, which has the detail name of his daughter back home, he looked at the struggling Fox girl losing her grip, and finally after a self debate he rolled his eyes, all the while she lost her grip from the edge but before she landed into the mud trap both of her gloves were caught by the Midget man who then flies her up from the hole with incredible strength. "Thank you si- OOF-" But then he shoved her down the stairs and she landed on her butt on top the hard crusty dirt pad. "The next time I see you it'd better be for ONLY mail! Understand!" "Y-yessir?" "Good, then we understand each other Fox Girl, NOW GET THE HELL OFF MY PROPERTY!" The miniature man slammed the door, ignoring the human sized gaping hole in his front porch. As for Olivia, she shook her head and dusted herself off, she could've felt angry about his rudeness, and aside the fact that he saved her trouble from giving Rarity a heart attack and later, the worlds biggest scrubbing, but Olivia was just full on curious, and confused. Regardless, after dusting off her fox tail, which looked a bit messy, she got on her bike and noticed that there was no more mail or packages for today, she could go home, but then she wouldn't visit her friend Dean. She heard of a construction going over there, and so without a thought of braiding her tail she got back on her bike and tread away. Undenounced to her that the old man was watching her through the window screen with curiosity as well... Back at Sweet Apple Acre's I have good news. So far most of barn is complete, and by most I mean the only thing left is the roof, now as we're almost finishing with this the Apple family showed up to oversee the new barn's completion, of course for me I have the hard part. Measuring the damn roof height and length! So as I was on one of those high rise thingamajig Olivia showed up near Dean, who also was watching the barn being completed. "Heya Dean! How's it going?" "Hey Olivia, well currently I'm just watching the literal history channel in real life in front of my face! This is the fastest construction!" "Huh, hey? Who's that one with the dark hair? He looks familiar?" "Oh him on the scaffolding? That's Lieutenant Yates of the 105th division," Dean answered, giving Olivia a shock. "W-wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! You're meaning to tell me that he's?!" "Yeah why?" Immediately Olivia dragged him out of plain sight and inside of the Apple Family house. "Uhh hehe... What's going on here?" Dean asked, before being violently pressed to the wall. "Okay listen! I've met him before, I and him addressed each other okay?" "Okay?" "And a little story! Me and him have actually met before at the market!" "Jesus Christ, really? Because last I seen him was right now! You know I'm in charge of overseeing the thing right?" Dean replied sarcastically. "Yes yes I know! But still he's... I..." "Look, Olivia, lemme give it to you straight, I don't really know what comes over you and this guy, but all I know is that he's just some other human officer that happened to be shipped out from some dead water country to be stationed here and live off the land like the rest of us! There isn't nothing else to say other than him being a average human!" "But Dean! I-" ... It was then at that moment that as I was finished with measuring a crane was heading right towards my head, of course at the last minute I dodged it but then before I could grab on to the side bars I slipped and fell off the Scaffolding and it went black dark from there. But typically this is what happened. ... Applejack after seeing me fall quickly ran inside the house. "DEAN! DEAN! COME QUICK YATES FELL!" "WHAT!" And so Dean, Olivia, and Applejack ran inside of the barn which the military construction crew halted the construction and got to ground level to examine me. "Stand back people! I need room to examine him!" Advised the agent, who took a listen at my chest and mouth, I was only fainted, and luckily I didn't suffer no bone injury thanks to the special gift from my Grandfather Luther. But I was still fainted, and that was when it happened which brought me the attention of the Foxlander. "He's only unconscious, does anyone have any smelling salt!" The Agent yelled, but the men and the Apples shook their heads. "Sir, I do!" Olivia spoke. "Who said that?" Asked the Agent, as Dean and Applejack stepped away. "I did sir, I have smelling salt here in my bag, Rarity always packs them for special occasions." "Thank Celestia for Rarity's over preparedness I say!" Applejack Commented. "Well? What are you waiting for! Use it ma'am!" As the men watched the Fox applied the smelling salt by pressing it to my nose I was reawaken and my body went jumping in the air. "GOOD GOD! THE FUC- WHAT THE- THE FUCK HAPPENED!" As the men shrugged and back off a bit that was when finally me and Olivia's eyes were locked on for the first time. "Sir it was I that gave you the smelling salt, you fell off the scaffolding so I guess you can say it's my gratitude for the thread search from last year, don't you remember?" She asked, and I nodded. She waved and walked off, and the men looked back at me in silence. "Have a good rest of the day Dean," she said, as he nodded silently. And finally one broke silence and said. "Well! Go get after her will ya!!" Immediately I spoke. "Alright break time, do whatever the hell you want until I get back!" I ordered, as the men groaned in relief, and I went pacing after her. "Well... This is new," Applejack said. "What?" Dean asked. "I usually thought of Yates of being the lonely one, since y'know Gold Star has Twilight." "Yeah, say about that bet with Rainbow Dash, how much did you bet that those two would be, well you know." "That's a question for another time Dean, a question for another time, for now we watch a creation of a new couple, and a new potential gambit, for me of course," the farmer pony chuckle, as she smiled under her bush hat. Olivia was about to tread off back home for the day before I stopped her. "Wait! I never caught your full name, or who you really are!" Olivia chuckled, and thought back to our first meeting. "Well, I can tell you, Olivia isn't really my last name, in fact it's my first name," Olivia revealed. "It's actually my last name that's a bit embarrassing." "Oh... So what's your last name? You know the last one?" I asked. "Oh, well no one has ever asked that before." "Sorry, I didn't know that was sensitiv-" "Foxyarn," she replied. "What was that?" I asked. "Foxyarn," Olivia replied. "Heh, Foxyarn, that's actually a sweet name, explains the symbol on your boot," I complimented, when my insides screamed scolding my idiocy. "Thanks, and what a peculiar signature you have on your boot, what is it suppose to be?" She asked. "Oh this? That's... Well It'd be hard to explain ofc it'll be-" Immediately she kissed me in the cheek, causing a great influx of heat in my face to spiral up. Which is called by you intellectuals as blushing. After she released her kiss from my cheek she gives me a paper. "I have to get home before dinner, maybe someday we could talk it over on a date?" Olivia asked, gloved paws behind her back. "O-of course..." "Great!" She joyfully replied, wagging her tail left and right. "I hope to see you later!" And so she treaded her bike into the town leaving only me in the middle of a setting sun. As I processed the moment I now figured out what that sensation was back at the market. Creator's greatest gift, and something Gold Star and Twilight have yet to figure out. And it's fucking love baby, FUCK YEAH I GOT A BITCH! FUCK YOU ALEX WHOOOOO! Ahem but anyways, I should obviously not have that in my journal, instead I should be glad that I was lucky to have one. Because not everyone has a opportunity that I have right now, and the greatest challenge for a man to be a man is to man up and earn the keep of a mate that would tend and care for you until death. Of course as I continually pondered all these in my thoughts I heard buzzing from my phone. Ring Ring, Ring Ring It was ringing, and out of the blue to, so I picked it up and it was Gold Star, of course I chuckled deviously and raised the phone. "Oooooh Goldie! Guess who just got hooked!" "Not now Yates! This is important that you get to Alex right now!" "What? Gold Star what's going on!" "Yates! It's a emergency, they've set a trap for Twilight!" "Trap!? And who's they!?" "No time to explain I have to go!" "WAIT!" And immediately Gold Star hanged up, and now it seems whatever the hell is going on, I have a bad feeling I'm not the only one who is having a day... To be Continued...
The New World \| Millennium	Bales Adventure	Previously in The New World Chapter: Yadda yadda yadda, yeah I'm just going to be simple with this category. Basically, I was assigned to build a farm, Gold Star had his RNR, met a girl whom I am now in love with. What else? Oh yeah, the fact that Gold Star barely told me shit about who "they" are. But you know I'll be polite and rewind of what happened on the same day. Earlier the Day First, we go back to that first part in the last chapter, the part where Gold Star is told the news that his RnR was approved. "Major Star, I have good news for you," Alex informed. "Colonel Alex, what is it sir?" Gold Star replied. "Ben Carville has accepted your request, with an extra note saying "have the week off you magnificent bastard, you have earned it," Alex read from the letter. "Sounds very positive, I guess," I commented, as Gold Star jumped in the air in happiness. "Finally! I hope to see you guys in a week, I better get packing!" As Gold Star got his essentials together Alex flipped through the letters and found an envelope that had a stamp of approval, he then unwrapped it and read it. "Good luck Star, I assume you're staying over at Twilight's place," I implied. "That would be correct, maybe something mystical might happen, or something," Gold Star added, but before he left the door Alex halted him with a pistol laying its body on his neck. "Not so fast Major, in case Twilight and her friends, gather up together, there's bound to be some sort of shit show that tends to go down around these parts, here take this pistol, you two seem safer with it than without it," Alex insisted, as Gold Star grabbed the pistol and placed it inside of his saddle bag. "I assume you've set it on safety?" Gold Star asked. "Of course, why else has the damn thing didn't go off, you think I'm out of my mind?" Alex Queried, which Gold Star shrugged, and trotted off to his Humvee. . . . Gold Star watched the road mindlessly, it had been a while since he had a proper day off, although considering that he was suspended from his rank, only to be unsuspended by Uncle Sam's demand, at the same time though, he thought, he realized just now that he has an entire week off! And he didn't even get his Informal's on either! So immediately he pulled over to the side of the road and got his formals off and the moment he did his wings were freed from his sides as if they were gasping for air, he looked at them with pity and grudge, although the wings were apart of his whole expenditure out of Equestria, he felt sick to his gut thinking about the many that he had lied to and for what, the security to not frighten a world already under the thumb of several rivaling nations? At times when he first met Twilight he considered a lot if he should tell Twilight everything, from his wings to his horn. From what happened on that fateful day to the next, all he was given in his mind was the benefit of the doubt and a fear that he may still be called something he despised that same day. A Changeling... Yet, one thing was for sure, he blames Luna for his misery, whether she meant it in other ways or not. He wonders what the Blue Alicorn Menace is up to right now as he gets his boots on. Canterlot Well, to answer my friend's question. Princess Luna at this time had been trotting and wandering around and down the hallways looking at the old tapestries that had hung from the walls since before, dawn, and after her return. It doesn't surprise her that she had seen the moments when tapestries magically change in a lot of ways, but it is how Celestia kept track of Twilight Sparkle's Accomplishments in missions or tests of course along with other ponies that had accomplished a lot as well. Regardless, it makes Luna jealous of her sister though, unlike the last time, she was jealous before transforming Nightmare Moon, only to witness war like never before, this time however her jealousy was Celestia and Twilight Sparkle, ever since Twilight's foal hood she had been Celestia's protege which to Luna it made her as confused back when she was dark and evil even though Celestia assured her that Cadence wasn't a replacement, Twilight on the other hand, was a different story towards Nightmare Moon, and when she first saw her sister adopting yet another pony into royalty was when she seethed with rage thinking that Celestia, her sister, was using all methods of replacing her. The Princess of the Night. Of course only when Luna did return and forsake the evil that she was consumed by as she was told that Twilight and her friends were the destined chosen ones to reactivate the use of the element of harmony. Of course, considering the potential future that Luna and Celestia would be outdated for their royal duty, Luna tried to find ways of looking for a protege, and she did. But the day when she read reports that the pony that was supposed to be her own protege was imprisoned, Luna didn't even want Celestia finding out, and so with no choice she burnt the report and forsook Gold Star in the style of throwing one under the bus. Only now she feels that Harmony is about to trigger a Karma on Luna once the moment is right, and Luna wouldn't care less at this point. Even she understood that she had made a bitter choice when she found that same familiar pony, decorated in the uniform of an American, at a scheduled surprised peace summit. But before continuing those thoughts, it was short-lived by a pony guard running by the princess and heading to the throne room with the sounds of Golden Metal clanking on the marble floors. Insisting that it's probably urgent Luna teleported to the room and at the same time, it happened to be that Celestia was on her usual cake-eating diet. "Having your evening frosting I assume sister?" Of course, Celestia looked at Luna with the usual "you have offended me good sir! (or ma'am)" expression. "It's better for the energy, why else do I always eat as many sweets as possible!" "Whatever you may say sister, but a royal guard is heading for us here," Luna informed. "Must be the report I requested," Celestia replied. "Report Sister?" "Yes, and I'll explain in a moment, the guard should be here in 3... 2... 1..." And on cue, the doors opened, and came the royal guard. "Princess Celestia, the report as you requested," presented the guard, giving the scroll to the princess. "Many thanks, you may be dismissed." The guard bowed and left the room, as for Celestia, she unraveled the scroll and read the report, although Luna looked at it and all it was to her was a map. "As suspected," she showed. "What is it?" Luna asked, looking at a map. "The ancient city of Bales is now visible enough to send at least one or two ponies through the barrier, I suppose you recognize this city?" Celestia assumed, which Luna gave a confused incomprehensible horse tone. "Would it surprise you to know that I never did?" Luna replied. "Oh... That's right you weren't there at the time since most of your days were spent inside of the castle," Celestia recalled, though this gave Luna a deadpan expression of ignorance, because of the mood Luna was displaying Celestia changed her tone. "But since I also spent most of my time in the castle as well it wouldn't hurt to explain what this city is, but first." Celestia grabbed an empty piece of paper with her magic, and also the quill to write on. Sitting there watching from her throne, Luna could only painstakingly watch as her sister further gave her anxiety through the sounds of unbearable chalk-like noise. Ponyville After changing from his standard uniform and into his Informal's, he had finally got back on the trail and reached Ponyville proper, at the moment ponies had been trotting around minding their businesses and whatnot, but before he continued further he decided to pay a visit to the old tree library. This would be his first time visiting the tree home unless you count the time when he walked Twilight back last year, and two nights, before Tirek's rampage in Equestria and the incident of Yates, me, discovering a truth that he continues to hold. As he pulled to the side of the tree house it was, as usual, closed and sealed off by the local authorities in Ponyville under Twilight's request though barely anyone patrols the land, he ducked under the police tape and set hoof on the charred ground of what was left of old memories. Looking at the treehouse itself was another nostalgic blow to him, or at least what was left of it considering that it had been uprooted by Twilight's friends to put in display as a root chandelier on the roof of the castle, what was left was a crater and smashed bookshelf's that had been in the way. It was then, however, that one book caught his attention. It was by a long shot, but it was covered by char burnt ground yet somehow it was in one piece, and not a single flame on the cover either. However, there was nothing for his hooves to grab on so he resorted to picking the book up with his mouth and then spat it out. "BLEUGH! Damn, that tastes horrid! Though typically that happens when dummies like me pick up a damn book from a charred-up pile! ... And now I'm just talking to myself... Great!" He said to himself. So instead of his mouth, he used his hooves, the problem though was that the cover was flat, so flat that only a Unicorn can levitate the damn thing, whoever made it surely didn't think an Earth Pony like him would bother to read it! Of course then again he was an Alicorn in disguise, problem is that he has no shit of an idea how to properly use his horn or his wings, and even if Twilight discovered him and she happened to be forgiving, even then it may be months before he can master any single basic abilities. (If not a year or two) Regardless he grabbed the book using both of his hooves though he had to walk back to his Humvee bipedally, which wasn't a problem since he was trained how to anyway just to fire his firearm. After getting in the car with the book, he swiped the dust off and read the cover. "How to spot an Alicorn, 5 signs that indicate that somepony is a being of high power? What nutcase covers an entire book cover with only words! The hell is the imagery in all of this!" He ranted, somewhat ignoring the fact that Twilight may or may not have started digging into Gold Star's personality. So he flipped to the book. "Page 1, secrets, if the pony in question happened to cover or hasn't told you anything that a friend would usually provide, that means that they may be hiding something... Okay? So what does that have to do with figuring out your not-so-secret admirer is an Alicorn I wonder?" He asked himself, continuing to read. "There may be signs from this whether it'd be denial, family problems, or incidents regarding strange attitudes, consider questions such as. "What were your parents, and what are they like, or-" Immediately Gold Star shook his head in disbelief. "I can't fucking believe this! Twilight is trying to dig in and figure out that I'm some sort of Alicorn! But of course, she does have a habit of coming up with every contingency so this shouldn't surprise me at all... But who in the hell made this!" He looked at the author and to his dismay. "Comet Tail the Starry-Eyed... More like Comet Ass the crazy, who the hell is he? Some random guy off the streets? Well I mean, I guess he put some effort into this I'll give credit for, but what made him decide everyone would want to read this?" Gold Star then looked around and forgot that he was with no one. "Talking to myself... Great! Never a good sign, anyways, still yet to reach Twilight, should probably shut up now and get my ass over there." And so he sped off to the castle without a word. Other than his continual talking. In the apartment complex, Yuri had been preparing for the mission at hand, and by preparing, I mean eating chips and complaining about the news depicting "Mare 6 rule and the villains drool" and all that typical BS. It was then that his ground-level window was knocked on by the Rodinian air soldiers who seemed to have brought a BPM-97. Yuri opened the window and listened in. "Da, what is it?" He asked. "Comrade Yuri, the commander has ordered that the mission is to be launched immediately," informed the soldier. "Why so?" Replied Yuri. "Our spy planes had done another run, and they've spotted Golden armored ponies led by what is assumed to be Captain Armor, sir, they've authorized the use of the BPM-97 Autocannon type," added the soldier. "Alright then, let me get suited up, and then we'll be on our way." "Dasdonye comrade Yuri." After a minute's drive Gold Star arrived at the castle, and so after parking his vehicle and hopping out of it. He went to the door and knocked. . . . Twilight Sparkle perked her ears up at the sounds of knocking. "I'll go answer it," insisted Spike, as he walked to the doors and opened them. "Oh, well high Mr. Star! It's been a while," Spike waved. "Good to see you too Spike, is Twilight-" "Don't say further," Spike interrupted, as Twilight walked to the door. "Gold Star, you came in an odd time?" "What do you mean? Something going on?" He asked. "Well, I- well y-" "Uhh Twilight," Spike interrupted, pointing at a fake watch. "Alright alright fine! I'll just take you with me then!" Twilight rushed. "Take me? Take me whe-" Without finishing his sentence Gold Star and Twilight disappeared from Spike's face, leaving him alone with an owl who happened to fly right beside him. "Finally, alone again!" Said Spike, as the room went silent with no voice other than wind, and a random tumbleweed that floated by majestically. "Want to play board games," Spike asked. "Hoot." Canterlot Castle throne room In a blink of Celestia's eyes Twilight appeared with her wings opened and eyes closed upon teleporting to the castle, you know; presentation, as she folded her wings and walked towards Celestia. Gold Star dropped from mid-air and fell face-first into the marble floor. "AH! Gold Star are you alright!" Twilight pipped, turning around as he got up from the ground. "Damn it to hell! I think I broke my nose!" "Then I may be of assistance then," Celestia entered, using her magic and healing his nose in an instant twilight. Gold Star was very dumbfounded. "Woah... I mean, WOW! Where the he- I mean, (good Faust this is going to take a lot out of me) uh, h-how did you do that?" Gold Star asked in a more surprised attitude towards the princess in front of Twilight as she knees him in the hind legs. "Well, this spell had been produced since before I was born, the Alicorns of my time were great at coming up with ways with healing magic, although the one I placed on your injured tissue is nothing compared with the types of magic that my relatives had made, of course, I assume you are here because of your new security assignment, correct?" Celestia asked. "Well, Twilight just spelled me here, so I'm right here. Hehe..." The Stallion chuckled, and Twilight cringed at the interaction even though Celestia was having a fine time getting to know the Stallion. "Well Twilight, I also know that you've come upon my request, if you do not mind Gold Star, this is a private conversation," Celestia informed. "Oh alright then, I'll sit here, in this... Empty room." "It won't be long, Twilight, please come with me." As Twilight and Celestia trotted out of the throne room, the only ones in there were just Gold Star and Princess Luna... And oh boy does this turn into an awkward situation. At the window room itself, you know the one with the whole images on windows that shapeshift for every accomplishment, the former protege and the former teacher, Twilight and Celestia, were trotting down the halls in a brief quiet silence until Celestia spoke. "So Twilight, I see you and Gold Star have been getting closer lately," she pointed out. "Have you also been keeping up with my mission?" Twilight Sparkle was a bit stoked about the last sentence Celestia spoke. "Wait, that was a mission!?" Twilight exclaimed, making Celestia chuckle. "Don't be silly! I was only joking, of course, there are other issues at hand that I must speak with you about in private." "Such as?" Twilight asked. "I do not suppose you remember the city of Bales?" "You mean the book city that disappeared! Of co- WAIT I MEAN!" "It's alright, you were right anyways with the book title," chuckled the princess. "But in serious terms, the scouts I've sent led by your brother, had found an almost distorted city in the distance, yet when they got close to it, it disappeared from their view, your brother tried to use his magic but it wasn't enough to counter whatever was blanketing the city." "My... BROTHER! Found it?!" Twilight exclaimed again, Celestia's response was a simple nod. "That's why I have summoned you, your brother wasn't able to lift whatever was covering the city, if anypony I know now can figure a way inside of the city, get in contact with the locals trapped, and unveil the city from its thousand-year disappearance, it is you." Celestia encouraged, but this left Twilight with one question. "Can I bring my friends?" She asked. To the Alicorn Princess's dismay she was going to eventually break the news that Twilight was not allowed to bring her friends on this adventure, though by the looks of things it would seem that they (the mare friends) had been busy themselves, Applejack for one overseeing the joint project that Luna had proposed, Fluttershy is doing her usual animal feeding, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are in Griffonstone regarding a friendship mission, and as for Rarity, well she's just taking a Spa day. All the amount that the only one that she would be fine with however is Gold Star, sure, he isn't much of a stranger when it comes to typical styles of adventure considering he's an army of himself, but Celestia also felt that this was an even better opportunity for a proper bond between the two, plus at least this would assure Celestia that Twilight has at least somepony accompanying her than nopony. And also as mentioned, since he's army he can keep a secret. Unknowingly he's already keeping one in his mind. "No." Celestia firmly replied. "What?" Twilight queried in both shock and confusion. "This mission requires secrecy, nopony not even your friends could know about this, but... I have thought of only one exception." "What is it!?" Twilight begged. "Well, assumedly since you did bring Gold Star here when I only requested you," Celestia pointed out, giving Twilight a bit of a cringed feeling. "I-I'm sorry about that! I didn't have time and I-" "Oh don't be so worried about it my faithful student I have concluded that now or then he and you will be in a paired adventure. It was only a matter of time until now, this is an opportunity for you and him to bond!" Celestia finished with an exciting wing burst. "Oh... I see, so when do we depart?" "As soon as you leave of course." "Right, hehe... Alright then." Back in the throne room, it was just only Luna and Gold Star, just them, no guards, no secretaries, and no dwellers. Just the two. "It was going to be a matter of time before we meet again," Luna said, breaking the silence as Gold Star stood in the castle mesmerized by the castle's interior and the changes it had undergone. " And for what exactly?" Gold Star replied, turning towards Luna with glaring eyes. "To Apologize? To repent, to expose me and say who I really am?" Luna is steadfast in his reply. "If anything I should probably be thanking you for ruining my life in my own home, otherwise I wouldn't have the opportunity to learn what hell is truly, or the matter of being hunted down because of a secret identity, THAT YOU BESOUGHT!" Gold yelled in spite, looking at the princess of the night as she stood tense. "Princess of peace... Hmph! All I see is a wolf in sheep's clothing." Taking in the last sentence with dignity Luna asks him a question. "And to what gain do you have arguing over who has seen much more Tartarus evil than what we have seen! We've kept peace between nations, the one that houses you and its proclaimed enemy in the north, we have tried our dearest to keep peace and to help other nations when we can, but in the times when we have to be in the midst of what would be considered the countdown to what would be the end of peace!" Luna paused and looked at the Stallion who stood unamused at the statement that she spat out of her mouth. "I sense a great grudge in you Star, I understand what you had gone through but this wasn't my sister's doing, nor Twilight's, or any pony's it was-." "You, and don't worry, I never had a single hate for them, because I was once a guard, I was once an Elite Guard for that matter, they were doing their job, I understood what Shining Armor was doing when I met Twilight face to face on the day peace was restored between my new home and my old home. But the whole time I've been there Luna, you knew me because of the stare of surprise you've given me the whole entire time!" Gold Star exclaimed as Luna felt her gut on fire. "You and I know that you have a massive chip on your shoulder and you and I also know that eventually these!" He briefly exposes his wings and horn. "These will eventually have to be revealed to everyone Princess!" "Not if you show them in this place of public," Luna replied, as Gold Star tucked his wings back in his uniform, and buried his horn with his mane. "I understand your hatred, but only there is no way to reverse the transformation, it is permanent." "I am not asking to transform me back," Gold Star interjected, which Luna was stoic on his reply. "Then what is it?" Just as Gold Star was about to speak Celestia and Twilight exited the hallway corridor and back into the Throne room. "Now that we have everything settled I bid you good luck Twilight, and remember to keep this mission a secret," whispered Celestia. "I will not let you down," Twilight smiled determinedly, as the two hugged in the background both Gold Star and Luna looked on with envy and jealousy as they watched the irony right in front of them, of course for Gold Star it was brief as he turned his head back at Luna with his still-faced glare and added. "We will speak again, do not think this conversation is over." "I intend to." As the two parted ways Twilight performed her teleportation spell and the two left from the sister's sights. "I do wish the two the best of luck," Celestia said, looking up at the ceiling at nothing. "So... Do I." Back to Ponyville The two teleported inside of the castle, and this time Gold Star landed on his hooves without falling mid-air, however, Twilight noticed something off with Gold Star's character. "Hey? Are you okay?" Twilight asked, which broke Gold Star's tensive face. "Hm? Oh sorry, I was just thinking, we should probably pack some provisions," suggested Gold Star. "Great idea! I'll start packing and we'll be on our way, oh! But before I do that." Twilight then used her telepathic spell to lift a map that she had in her saddle bag that she had with her the entire time and gave the map to Gold Star. After she handed Gold Star the map she trotted off to Spike, who was playing Monopoly with Owlicious, to grab supplies for the journey, meanwhile Gold Star examined the map seeing the gigantic red circle that seemed to be at the south of Whinnypolis, luckily though since the Humvee is an off-road vehicle and as long as they don't encounter traffic it would take about some hours to arrive. But he wasn't the only one looking at the map though... Behind Gold Star is a window that happened to be where Yuri spies on the mane 6 with, only this time he is now accompanied by a group of 6 men who are specialized in tactics both Blue Berets and the Rodinian Special Forces: Spetsnaz, the Gorka Division. After finishing his self-examination of the map that Gold Star was looking in, he nodded to himself. "So it's true, and it seems they've also decided to bring an American to this... This... Purple Pony's adventure, well then it shall be her last, prepare to move out! We leave when they leave." After turning on the Humvee, and grabbing everything valuable and shoving them in the glove compartment, Gold Star was waiting for Twilight to make her way to him as she was gathering materials for the spell she will perform once the duo got there. However without noticing he forgot to put the book in the compartment as well and had left it in the back of the Humvee, sure he and she wouldn't notice it, but if she did that would probably be obviously suspicious. BUT NAH! I'm sure she won't even notice it at all! (Maybe) Anyways after waiting for what seemed to be a good while Twilight Sparkle came out of the castle and entered the Humvee as she sunk into the chair cushioning of the seat. "Never felt comfortable riding vehicles like these, but they surely like to comfort their army," Twilight commented. "The magic of Taxpayer money does wonders," chuckled Gold Star. "But of course it's not just the cushioning of the seat though you know?" Gold Star then started driving down the road going past a military convoy, that happened to be heading for Apple Acres for the construction project that I was placed charge of, past the base, and finally onto the main trail that leads to the ancient city of Bales, that happened to be in the desert... . . . Behind them was the BPM-97 that went the other direction to avoid detection, and due to the driver's expertise, the men knows exactly where to go, as for Yuri, he has been busy keeping up to date with reports coming from Rodinian intelligence services. "So to say this again, there are growing rumors of a rebellion erupting from the Serbijan Military Company and we aren't doing nothing about it?" Yuri questioned. "The Red Mother would rather see the problem rear it's ugly head rather than try to repress it, these are her orders after all Yuri," the directorate replied. "I get her plans because I worked with her closely and personally, but what gets me is why? Why betray us for independence?" "That is unknown at this time, unfortunately, but there are other things for you to do back home after this mission," the directorate informed. "What do you mean?" Asked Yuri, as the BPM hit a speed bump. "This will be your last mission on Equestria for a while as we have other targets we would wish for you to hunt down," the directorate stated. "Hmph... So it seems, then that explains why you've sent Spetsnaz isn't not?" Yuri queried. "That would be correct, for now on Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Khabarov will be overseeing all operations within Equestria unless otherwise, until then you may proceed with this mission, but the Red Mother has warned that if you fail this, you will be sent to work off your failures by suppressing this rebellion I've told you about," the Directorate then left the call leaving Yuri in a state of anger as he punched the metallic wall infront of him. He now has one last chance to deal with Twilight Sparkle and complete his mission once and for all, or it would be the end of his career. . . . Back in the Humvee Twilight Sparkle had been reading her books on force entry spells that could permit her to enter the invisible field dome that covered the ancient city, meanwhile Gold Star had been appreciating the view but also keeping his eyes on the road ahead of him. The Humvee he is driving is a tan colored vehicle, though for military reasons it was turretless so obviously he can't use a machine gun unless he's on duty, though he was granted this Humvee because Equestria had yet to make their own vehicles, the problem however is everyone had been busy with their own money they didn't bother using said money in investing industry's that would benefit the Equestrian people. (Talk about Oligarchy's) Although there is a car company named The Renault Group, which is a automobile company that is currently making cars used only by pony's, to Gold Star's relief it sounds like a nice way to not stretch his back all the time while also envy the way Twilight sits on all fours reading her book in the passenger seat while Gold Star sits bipedally. But with that in mind, Gold Star now decided now was a time to perhaps now soothe her into the surroundings for once. "So Twilight, how's the view from there?" He asked. "Hm-what? Oh I think it's pretty nice," replied Twilight, as she buried her head in the book while Gold Star shook his head. He remembered the time when he used to be like Twilight when it came to books, and it intensified from there when he was in the library of congress in the New World, only once he did read half of the Library he kinda felt a big fixated on life, although to Twilight's perspective it may have seen that she is more of a... Well typically he couldn't call her a bookworm because he's one himself, so obviously the only type he could call her are either apathetic, or a Aloof, or something along the lines of Webster's dictionary. But still she could do this stuff when they do get there. "Twilight I think you should really appreciate the view you know-" "I said I did! And it's pretty nice!" Twilight violently interjected, looking at Gold Star aggravatingly. "You're looking at a book, that is not a view that is a book!" Gold Star argued, trying not to insult the very thing that he loved considering that it built up his mind. But to no avail Twilight just ignored him and just kept on reading, unfortunately what was odd is that a memory popped up in his head, it reminded him of the time when he and his Dad would literally have a fight over something like this, his dad would call it "words on paper" his mother would argue it is knowledge on flatten scroll, or something like that it was his grandmother. But the thing was about his father, was that he knew that one of those days he wasn't going to be alive for long, and Gold Star took it for granted when he left that same home and ever since he learned about books and their knowledge he stayed attached, but at times he sometimes wondered if he read too much. Either way it didn't stop the news of his parents being killed in a Village fire, all they found was burnt bodies turned to ashes, devastatingly scarring Gold Star mentally. While he doesn't wish it for anyone else, Twilight might as well be a brick wall. "Fine, keep reading, hope you find whatever you're looking at," Gold Star said, giving up on even breaking her mind off of the book, although that may have done it because Twilight curiously looked at him with wonder, and even though Gold Star was focusing deeply on the road ahead he even knows that she is looking at him weirdly. "What's the matter with books? I thought you like reading them?" Twilight asked, to which Gold Star grunted. "Of course I like reading them! But not as a source of life habit, I read when I have time, and the time I had in the army, well let me tell you they do not just hand out break time at random you have to earn these break times!" "But isn't your assignment to guard me personally?" Twilight asked, giving Gold Star a sigh. "Yes while that may true, I have looked over that message a lot and come to terms that it is not really what you think it is, basically I'm not suppose to talk to you at all, not like this! The letter clarified that I can't speak, I cannot interact, I'm just suppose to be some blur in the background ready to pounce on anyone with a dagger or some black market handgun, but even then it's more restriction than freedom," Gold Star spoke, depressingly sighing again at the noted restrictions that the memo has described for him to do. Twilight also listened and worried over this restriction, to think that you couldn't do anything but to sit and watch as everything around you moves or unless your client moves. Personal diplomacy was one thing in a suspicious set up, but a restriction such as, "shut up, be quiet, and do what they do and don't say nothing about" sounds more like 984ish than anything. She sometimes feels that perhaps she may have put more weight on somepony rather than herself. She now feels the need to apologize for this, but in a way she doesn't even know how to, she feels like she indirectly enslaved a pony into servitude even though that pony accepted it for the benefit of others. And Twilight knows that if he were to turn this down it would've compromise the substantial relations between the two common superpowers, and especially when there's one on a quick rise in silence. (Also noting a subsequent rise in the Hive lands.) "But on some good points, you won't notice me get in the way of things, and I won't be bothering you like I just did just right about now," Gold Star said, staying quiet when he looked back at the road infront of him. "...Gold Star, I-" "We can talk later, we're here," Gold Star interrupted, as the two made it to the desert wasteland part once known once as the ancient city of Bales. Because by now readers are probably getting sick and tired of seeing "Ancient city" all the time so I'm just calling it book city. After rolling up the hill, Gold Star pulled in at what looks like a checkpoint, and of course Shining Armor waves at him to stop the vehicle and so he obeys and halts the vessel, although really it's just Shining Armor in a happy attitude wanting to see his sister, but with a mix of concern and distress on his face. As Gold Star stopped, he noticed that one of Equestria's well known General was on the scene. "Twily!" Shining Armor yelled out in joy as Gold Star rolled down the window and both Shining Armor and his sister embraced each other in a bear hug. Something that Gold Star usually looks away from for some reason. "Brother! Why did you go and search for something when that something is special for my best trait!" Twilight scolded as her brother let out a laugh. "Can't stay in that castle all the time, plus Cadence told me to explore things around here so I took her advice and went out in the middle of the desert and then wouldn't you know it? Apparently this city that happened to have thought to been a myth came out of no where!" Shining Armor pointed at the visible city that looks like a mirage rather than a actual thing. "That huge thing?" Gold Star interjected. "Good grief even if we get in that huge thing how do you suppose that we go in and figure out what made it disappear in the first place!" "I don't know," replied Shining Armor, looking at the left of the group. "But whoever did this must be a powerful Unicorn, maybe a Alicorn who knows! But if I know anything, it's that my sister is great at this type of stuff." "...Right... Here how about I park this thing and then we can discuss on how we're going to get this case solved." "Great idea, here Twily let me help you off," Shining Armor insisted. "No no, it's fine! I can get down myself," Twilight interjected, as she gathered her books and placed them in her saddle bags and then stepping down from the Humvee, closing the door behind her as Shining Armor trotted to the other side. "Follow Blueblood and his two body guards, he'll show you where you park this thing," Shining Armor exclaimed. "Understood." As Gold Star followed Blueblood and his two bodyguards Gold Star actually remember the time back in his equestrian years. Those unbearable years where Blueblood would occasionally call him up 24/7 just to give him a damn hoof bath, and yet when he argued back Blueblood would at times threatened to call him up to the princesses themselves, a snobbing idiot is what Gold Star called him. And it would seem that once again the Elite Royal Guards are now kissing his ass once more just by the looks of the familiar deep orange armor, even though the last commander, which to Gold Star's thoughts he chuckled, socked it to Blueblood when he figured out that he had been using the Elite regiment as his personal maid staff. Gold Star chuckled a lot from this inside of the car, only to also realize that either that same commander had been either threatened into submission, fired, or worse... And by the tell of the day of how everyone back in 1002 was, Gold Star was afraid of that third fate. Worse. After finally pulling into was looks like a artificial natural parking space, Gold Star stepped out, but came something unexpected. As Gold Star was grabbing his rifle two Elite royal guards quickly snatched him and knocked him onto the car door. The Tan stallion struggled before he was gutted by a AK-47 by the Elite Guards, and then after he was forced on his knee and was forced to look at Blueblood. "Great work boys, the Queen will be very happy." It was not understood yet by Gold Star but this was not Blueblood or pony's. They were actually Changelings. And in Gold Star's mind, and he knows that Blueblood would never betray Equestria because then he would've lost his royal privelege. Meaning that the original must've been bagged or otherwise they would've have taken the shape or form that they're taking now. "Who the HELL-" Gold Star's yelled was suppressed by another gut throb from the Elite guards, who by now transformed into Blue Armored Changelings. "I was assuming you were going for, who the hell? Are we? Glad you ask, though by now I think these two are should be the formal introduction, I'll see myself out." Immediately the fake Blueblood transformed into a bigger changeling, possibly half as big as Chrysalis, and a bit more... Knowledgeable. "The name is Trimmel, the newly appointee of the the Queen's new Armored division, and the new replacement for that foolish Cynthia, I assume you knew her yes?"Trimmel walked around, monologuing as Gold Star continued to struggle. "Bring him up on his hind legs, I like to speak to him, stallion to stallion, or atleast to the human perspective man to man." "What the hell do you want with me, what the hell does your kind in total want with me!" "Well in simple style, we know that your a Alicorn," Trimmel revealed plainly and simple, as Gold Star was shocked at this news. "Ah, and you didn't tell no one did you? This makes it even more fun than expected, although unlike the rest of my colleague's I'm a patient bug." "So what." "So what?" "So what if you are, you're the same as all of you damn pests! You have no soul, you have no mercy, and you have no patience!" Gold Star rebutted, spitting on Trimmel's face. "Hold him," Trimmel ordered, as the changeling bugs held him on the wall of the car. "You will learn, RESPECT!" Trimmel then punched Gold Star in the underbelly so aggressively he could feel his rib cage cracked, piercing his organs and causing him to bleed from his mouth, but taking the pain without a grunt, to Trimmel's dismay he doubted the blow did any significance, so instead he pulled out his luger and pointed it at Gold Star's head. "The Queen rather needs your head, rather than alive, it's not personal, at least that was of course, but it's all just business, personal, or not." "Go to Hell!" "The only hell I know is Tartarus." Before he could even pull the trigger Changeling One gets shot by a bright purple laser, and Changeling Two gets shot by a deeper purple laser pulling Gold Star down into the dirt, struggling to get up from the pain. "What in!" Immediately Twilight and Shining Armor with their teeth grinding pointed their horns directly at Trimmel. But before the two could say anything Trimmel spoke first. "I have to admit, you found the body's much faster, don't worry they're only hibernating, and they'll be awake beyond the hour." "And what says you!" Twilight aggressively replied. "All I can say is, well played." Immediately Trimmel and the two changelings teleported out of thin air, followed was a group of Royal guards arriving at the scene while Twilight and Shining Armor lifted Gold Star from the ground. "Oh no, oh no no no, Gold Star are you alright!" "Dear Celestia, he's bleeding from the mouth, I should probably get you to a nur-" "NO!" Gold Star coughed. "I AM FINE!" After ferociously coughing and cacking he shoved his hooves off of their necks and limped to an empty field. "I... I just need time to breathe, that's all, just... Just go on without me!" Gold Star stuttered as Twilight walked towards him. "I said no Twilight! Go and deal with the city!" "But I-I Y-" "Twily, I think it's best to leave some room for him, I'll have a guard pony keep watch, and I mean a real Guard pony this time, in the meantime, we have a city to rescue." As Twilight and Shining Armor, with determination on their faces, walked towards the Mirage-like city Gold Star was sitting on a sandy dune concerned while also grasping in pain, although it wouldn't take a while until his Alicorn immorality ability kicked in and quickly healed the internal bleeding as well as the excess blood that had escaped. But even when he was just healed he hated himself, he hated himself and wondered why. Why was it fucking him, why couldn't it just be Twilight and Twilight only, why the fuck is he going through this fucking trauma, and what was the purpose for him. As the group approached the entrance of the miraged book city, Twilight opened her spell book one last time and performed a spell that would open a passageway, and so she did, using her horn in the correct way and pattern, she fired the spell at the Mirage city and opened a passageway inside. However, as she tapped her hoof inside of it, it seemed that it could only support her weight due to whatever spell was using a mirage to cover an entire city decompressing the 'magical' passageway bridge. "It's all up to you Twily, good luck," Shining Armor smiled to which Twilight smiled back and stepped inside of the passageway before being closed up from his sight. "ALRIGHT EVERYPONY LISTEN UP! I WANT THIS PERIMETER SECURED AND PRONTO! NO PONY GETS IN, BUT MAKE SURE TO ASSIST THOSE THAT MAY WANT TO GET OUT! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!" "SIR YES SIR!" The Ancient City of- I mean, Book city! As Twilight enters into the passageway she sees a city filled with brown hooded ponies with no idea that they're even trapped inside of the city. Still, from Twilight's point of view, however, it almost turned into a song. Still, because I have no idea how she sings her songs other than tape recordings of confusing lyrics I won't even try to decrypt whatever the hell she sang in there so I'll get to the part where she actually meets the asshole responsible for the mess. Or should I just say an accident I guess? Anyways, as Twilight trotted around the city she bumped into a pony who didn't have a hood at all, but rather a young yellow mid-adult-like stallion unicorn with a blue mane, a beard with some Egyptian like clothing, and a constellation for a cutie-mark. (Oh Creator above) But in some context his eyes seemed to literally have pupils as of a Star. "Sorry ma'am-" he turned around saying that only to pause at the sight of Twilight Sparkle, not just because she's without a hood but- "GOOD CELESTIA! IT'S A ALICORN!" Said some random stranger. "AN ALICORN!!?!" Said a entire choir sound of hooded pony's as they gathered around packed near Twilight. "Umm... Yeah?" "Princess of Equestria what's your name!" Said a pony. "My name? My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I came to rescue your city and get it back on the map!" "Thank you, princess, then we know EXACTLY WHO TO BLAME!" Everyone cleared the spot and pointed at one unicorn pony who happened to be the one who cast the spell, next came anger and rioting from a crowd-turned-actionless mob. "OH COME ON IT WAS A ACCIDENT! I DIDN'T MEAN IT TO TURN IT INTO SOME SORT OF CURSE!" "YEAH RIGHT MOTHER BUCKER!" "WHO SAID THAT!? COME ON FIGHT ME LIKE A COLT!" "WOAH WOAH WOAH! Easy everypony! It's alright! I'm here to fix whatever problem he may have caused, I am not here to start fights with whoever said that!" "Sorry!" "What's important is getting to the bottom of this once and for all before it progresses into something worse!" Twilight lectured, as some murmurings erupted until finally that same Unicorn asked. "Sorry to intrude on the silence, but how did you find us, Princess Sparkle?" The unicorn asked. "It's Princess Twilight, I'd rather use my first name." "Ah, apologize Princess Twilight, well let me reiterate, how did you find us Princess Twilight?" "Well, it didn't take long, but your city at some point showed itself in the form of a mirage and now it seems to have attracted not just us but the changelings as well." The crowd confusingly murmured the word "Changeling" as for the Unicorn. "Fascinating, lemme write this down real quick." As he wrote down notes in his journal Twilight took note of his handwriting in horn form, and the fact that there is no hoof suction piece for the book... "What's your name?" Twilight asked. "Oh me? My name is Comet Tail, The Starry Eyed! Or just Comet since that's really what everypony calls me." The reveal of his name surprised Twilight, he was the author of that book that she was reading before Gold Star came to Equestria, whether it may be nonsensual or not she typically wonders if Gold Star himself may have read one of his pieces before but Comet was sure one of those types that would come prepare to recognize something out of the ordinary and also to call it out as it is. Although this was an exciting moment to the point that Twilight was hopping around in circles in front of everypony and even Comet like Pinkie Pie on a Saturday Weekend. She had to pause herself and focus on the task at hand. "Right! Show me the spell you used and I might be able to come up with something to reverse this effect," Twilight requested. "Certainly, quick somepony! Get me my spell book!" The crowd dispersed and started searching violently, tearing apart their own homes and other pony's homes looking for the spell book as Twilight stood there in both dumbfounded shock, and a ridiculed face. "This is the inhabitants of a city filled knowledge!?" Twilight asked. "Welcome to Bales Princess." Gold Star continued to pondered, and he pondered, his mind raced wondering however the hell he had gotten to this point, and his life choices. But surprisingly another pony was there. Yes it's Blueblood, and yes the real one. "Do you really have to sit there all the time Sergeant Star?" Blueblood called out, catching Gold Star off guard as he stared behind him. "...Are you the real one?" He questioned. "What do you think I am? I would ever be with one of those low life rotten creature we call living? Please! I'd rather be back at the castle rather than dealing with this mess I've got myself into!" Blueblood complained. "Yep... You're definitely Blueblood, the hell do you want another hoof scrub? Fuck me." "No no, I'm just curious that is all, you could've stayed in the land of "freedom" and "Prosperity" but no, you up and gave those two benefits up for their army, why?" "I didn't have no choice, it was that or I'd be back in Equestrian authority, probably be rotting in your damn dungeons over the belief that I was a changeling." "And you still came back here, predictable humans, they always force something down some pony's throats don't they not mate?" "...Yeah..." "But, I guess I'm a survivor to, although my auntie's back home would scold me for this, but I don't really think royalty is typically my thing." Blueblood sat beside Gold Star looking at the empty fields while Gold Star turned his neck with a surprised and dumbfoundment. "You? The great prince Blueblood? Rather abdicate than being in the high class structure of the Hierarchical class?" "That was merely what I think, but this is not about me it's about you, sure the structure itself is wrong doesn't mean I'll leave it's benefits." "Yeah because you like to have your pretty hooves scrubbed!" Gold Star exclaimed, as Blueblood chuckled rather than offended at the phrase. "You said it, not me," Blueblood replied. "...Okay, so what's this all have to do with me in the first place!" Gold Star asked in aggravation as Blueblood got up on his hooves and shook off the sand that was getting into his armor. "That's something beyond the lines of you figuring it out, but just know that Twilight Sparkle, a pony I've always seen in the castle, she is interested into you whether you do not know it or not, and she cares for you, I've always seen random Stallions trying to date her but every time they were either rejected or just teleported out of her sight." "Gees, that's harsh." "Well that's the truth, but looking at her with you nowadays, I see that she's found a match, because of some point whether it'd be some other universe or perhaps this is the only universe where she may have found her one and only!" "And what makes you care about that all of a sudden?" Gold Star questioned. "Well I don't know perhaps I may be a little harsh with the cider or the fact that I got my brain knocked in by those pests called bugs, I don't know either way I'll just leave it at that." "That's it? And also, how the hell do you know about my Alicorn form!" "Because you just told me that right now..." Insulted Blueblood which Gold Star was deeply regretting saying that in the first place out loud. "But don't worry," Blueblood winked. "Your secret is safe with me." "..." "What? Just because I'm known to be a little bossy, doesn't mean I'd break my word, I may not be respectable because of my personal beliefs, but I am respected for keeping secrets." "I suppose I guess, (also more like a total tyrant) I'll take your word on it though, but if you ever tell a single living soul I will!" "Relax! I can assure you, I won't." As Blueblood trotted away from Gold Star, leaving him alone with his thoughts once more, it made the tan stallion bitter, however it was then that he heard a distinctive vehicle noise from a distance. It was getting closer, and closer. "Oh... Shit..." The Juggernauts marched off from the BPM-97 and secured and area as Yuri looked around at the desert wasteland. "Dry, useless, and... Desolate, Hmph. Just like my grandmother, of course minus the sandy texture," Yuri judged. "Commander Yuri, we have eyes on a Equestrian squad," reported a Spetsnaz soldier, pointing at the group of gold armor guards unaware of Yuri and his men's presence. "Allow me to make some new friends for our little cause," insisted Yuri as he walked off from the BPM-97 with the juggernauts. . . . "Captain look!" Said a pony guard, as Yuri approached the group. "What's your buisness here human," Shining Armor interrogated, as the Guards stood stern at Yuri's presence. "Hm, I think that mirage behind you speaks all to itself, I've simply come here to aid in the efforts to bring the city to light." "Are you American?" Asked Shining Armor, tilting his head. "Much more better, Rodinian," Yuri answered. "...Sorry, but this is a operation between us an-" Without warning Yuri used telekinesis and threw the guards into a ball and shoved the body's into the sand below them, drowning them into the sand, reacting to this Shining Armor pointed his sword at Yuri but was met by Rodinian Juggernauts pointing their AK-12s towards the Stallion ready to shoot at a moment's notice. "Now you have two choices Captain Armor, surrender me yourself and these pony's who are grasping for that sweet delicate oxygen will survive, refuse and well, I think the sounds of agony speaks for itself," Yuri demanded, as the sounds of guards pony's choking from sand become louder and louder along with cries of help. Shining Armor knows what would happen if he gave in to this demand and it would be devastating, but while he and them would survive they would no doubt be tied down by the Rodinians and this stranger no doubt would do something terrible with Twilight inside, but he also fears that if he rejects he and his men would be killed, and the thought of Cadence and his family was what really made his mind up. "ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! JUST PULL THEM OUT!" "Wise choice stallion." As per deal, the guard pony's were taken out of the sand and were quickly restrained by the Rodinian Juggernauts, with Shining Armor being butted in the head by another Juggernaut before waking up to himself tied in rope, and a anti-magic ring tightly braided on his horn. "It's really unfortunate that our first meeting had to be like this, but I have a mission to full fill, oh and if anything happens to me and I do not return within an hour, well..." A Juggernaut pulls up and down the handle, loading a bullet into the AK-12s chamber emphasizing consequences. "But do not fret my little pony, if I do come back I'll make sure you mourn your beloved Princess at her funeral, and then arrange for a prisoner swap." "NO!" Struggled Shining Armor, as he and the rest are given tape applied to their mouths, silencing them. "Have the BPM-97 clear out, and have the air division on standby for pick up, I will be enjoying this final mission here on this wretched continent," Yuri then walks to the Passageway previously opened by Twilight Sparkle, as he turned particular to Shining Armor and waved. "Dasvidaniya." In the distance Gold Star was terrified at what he had just seen, a brutal take over and a forced surrender, whoever this guy was is a threat, and what was worse was when he heard him mention Princess, it was at that moment Gold Star knew that he was after Twilight Sparkle. So he looked to his right and miraculously it seems Blueblood caught attention to this. "Back so soon?" Gold Star commented. "I-I heard the ruckus out there and wondered if I should go check!" "As hell you did," Gold Star scolded, looking into his binoculars and seeing basically everyone taken captive by the Rodinian Juggernauts. "I'll have to call this up, wait here Blueblood." "Ok..." So immediately Gold Star dialed my number and waited for me to pick up, which thanks to me being happy I did. "Oooooh Goldie! Guess who just got hooked!" "Not now Yates! This is important that you get to Alex right now!" "What? Gold Star what's going on!" "Yates! It's a emergency, they've set a trap for Twilight!" "Trap!? And who's they!?" In the midst a Rodinian soldier noticed him and Blueblood and shouted. "HEY WHO'S UP THERE!" "Dammit! No time to explain I have to go!" "WAIT!" And immediately Gold Star hanged up, and this is where we now left off at. So immediately Gold Star and Blueblood ran from the hill they were just at and reached the Humvee which sat in the empty spaced parking, which Gold Star opened the Truck, grabbed his revolver that Alex gave him, however he also noticed that there was two guns with a note that said. "Since Alex has a knack for conservation I decided to put both a M16A2 and a scoped AR-18, you know in case some heavy asshole happened to be in the streets or you want to duel wield, or not, you can give the other one to Twilight, or someone else, up to you, -Signed Yates" "Yates you done damn son of a gun thank you! Hey snob head think fast!" Gold Star then threw the M16 towards Blueblood which bonked him on his nostril, ignoring the pain though he picked it up with his magic. "Such a barbaric weapon, and you're giving me it? No thanks, I'd rather-" "Would you rather try to stab a pole into the worlds most deadliest special forces species or shoot the bastard with high chance of success," Gold Star queried. "Well I-" "Of course, I doubt that whatever armor they're using wouldn't be pierced by the likes of a sword or a spear, and I doubt that interestingly bright blue armor is much more easier to keep your fur clean with when bloody you know becau-" "Alright I get it! Fine! I'll use your country's pesky gun! But I'm not going to like it!" Blueblood ranted. "Hehehe, we'll see," Gold Star chuckled when he heard a voice. "FREEZE!" And without further question Gold Star unloaded a semi-auto worth of 10 bullets worth of ammunition aimed onto the Juggernauts head, legs, and stomach. Although the bullets didn't penetrate both the Head and the Stomach due to armor and vest material protecting the inside, the legs however were completely covered in blood as the Gorka soldier collapse on the ground crippled, quickly Gold Star shot the soldier's hand off of the AK-12 he was holding and due to the Gorka soldier grabbing a knife Gold Star forcefully took off the Gorka's helmet off, and shot him through the chin with his revolver. All the while Blueblood watched in immense horror, but also shook his head off because of the greater good. "That's one down, some guys to go, now stop standing there and help me with his armor." "Wait wait wait! This isn't what Celestia would do!" "Celestia my ass... It's call army for a FUCKING REASON BLUEBLOOD!" Gold Star shouted into his face. "I thought you learned this fucking stuff when they promoted you as a General!" "Oh... Uh... Sure, but why take his armor it's unethical! It's dishonorable!" Gold Star who by now is getting sick and tired with his own people talking down on what he was told turned towards the General and slapped him in the face and then grabbed him in the collar. "I. Don't. Fucking. CARE! ABOUT HONOR! OKAY!? HONOR IS DEAD, CHIVARY IS DEAD, AND PEACE!? LOOK AT THAT BODY! LOOK AT THEM HOLDING YOUR PEOPLE HOSTAGE AND YOU'RE COMPLAINING ABOUT HONOR?!? GET A FUCKING GRIP ON YOURSELF AND DO YOUR FUCKING DUTY, GENERAL!" After shouting and spitting on Blueblood's face during the whole speech on ridiculous honor inquiry's the snobbish general shook his head and growled. "Fine, I'll help then!" And so Gold Star snatched the dead mans Atlyn Helmet, cleaned the blood splatter that got inside of the helmet and then placed it on his head, then he grabbed the vest. Despite it having dents and holes on it due to the bullets from earlier, it as still useful. Finally after equipping himself of essential materials for a surprise attack Gold Star grabbed his rifle and signaled Blueblood to follow him. The Rodinian's were standing around secretly betting to see who would get shot or stabbed first and who would get the person's rubles. However without knowing in their backgrounds, Gold Star and Blueblood had infiltrated their area. Shining Armor layed back still tied as he worried immensely over the safety of his sister. However it was then that his mind was interrupted when Gold Star surprised him by grabbing the tape that was covering his mouth and tore it off in a blink leaving a red mark of pain on his mouth. Although it was painful Shining Armor kept his inner scream of pain inside long enough for the pain to stop. "Celestia and Luna above! Where were you!" Shining Armor scolded. "Came to my senses when I saw what went down after being given a pep talk from Blueblood," Gold Star replied, which Blueblood looked at him confusingly. "I did?" Blueblood said. "Yeah? Weren't you talking to me about going for Twilight and, and..." Silently staring at Shining Armor who was jerked back a bit when he mentions the fact that he was literally given a advice about his own sister, this leads him to suspect something of a brewing relationship between him and his sister Twilight. Nonetheless he'll have to discuss it later as they have others to free. "Can we do this later, we need to free the others and help Twilight!" Shining Armor suggested, as Gold Star untied him from the ropes. "Alright then, who do we start with." Back inside of the city Yuri rolled inside and stuck the landing on his feet, looking around he moved his lip around at the view of the city, he also notices that the majority of the populace wears hoods rather than the usual nude. "Have you heard of that princess Sparkle?" Said some hooded pony. "Of course why didn't I! We might be able to be freed from this nightmare!" "I think this city had kept our age young, how long has it been?" "I... Don't know?" After hearing the word 'Sparkle' it lead Yuri to believe that these pony's know where he can find her, so he approached the two couple. "Excuse me, ponies, but do you happen to know where Princess Sparkle is?" Yuri devilishly asked. "Oh uh... You seemed new? What type of species are you..?" The Stallion local asked, giving Yuri a confused tilt. "Do you not know what type of species I am?" Yuri asked, which the two pony couples turned to each other and then looked at Yuri which a shake. Yuri may not know this, but the reason why the citizens of Bales do not even know about the human existence was because before Humarica was even ever discovered by the Pillars the city disappeared, and because of this they haven't gotten a chance to actually knew that there was a fourth continent, or third continent for that matter other than their own and Griffonia's. And now as Yuri stood there aggravatingly and impatient, he drew out his knife and pinned the mare to the wall and knocked out the Stallion beside her. "Now listen here! I have no time for your damn games!" Yuri threatened, as he pressed the knife to the Mare's neck as her eyes were now filling up with tears of fear. "WHERE. IS. TWILIGHT. SPARKLE!" So it was by then that Twilight had been working on a spell, during which Comet explained to her that the reason why the city itself had been taken out of the image of existence was because of a spell gone wrong, he was applying Gusty's spell of invisibility and tried to enhance it, the reason for this was because during the time of Grogar's reign he wanted to destroy the city with his army of demons. Of course while the spell successful at first it soon came apart, and when Gusty had died in the final fight with Grogar he lost all opportunity for her support and so when he came back into the city the spell turned into a uncontrollable curse which would last up to 2000 years. "And if you waited a little while it would've been freed in two hundred centuries!?" Twilight exclaimed, after having to quickly write everything down on her journal. "Yeah, of course this did spare us destruction, but I never thought that after Grogar's reign that there would be anything left after it!" "What do you mean?" Twilight asked, curious about the being name Grogar. But to her dismay Comet was a bit silent to the subject, but considering that it was all over eons, and for what seemed to them like a eternal hell hole, he came clean. Grogar During the time before your teacher you called Celestia and her sister Luna became the rulers you said they are now of this land. Grogar had ruled the same lands, only instead of the title 'princess' he called himself a emperor. "A... Emperor?" Twilight paused. "In Equestria?" Yes, and during his reign Tartarus was where he would at times rally those who had been damnated and integrate them into his army, both undead and demonic. "And what about the living?" ...They were used in slave labor, and I can tell you it did not end well for them when they lost the strength, in fact if any pony that were enslaved either grew old, weak, tired, or even try to reproduce they would be thrown into a volcano as a way of maintaining order and make a example to those who threatens "peace" in his image, this city, the old city that stood against the testament of time was a forward base that lead for the movement for true peace and true freedom, and the last I saw it, it was as if Tartarus invaded the world, now of course what I told you was all I knew, other than this book that Gusty made. Comet then handed Twilight the book that described the entire history of Grogar, and how he was ultimately casted into the Lake of fire (humanity's version of Tartarus) by will of the all mighty God of Creation. The Creator. And after Grogar was banished into the Lake of fire was when Gusty was given his bell and was tasked by the Creator to hide it, while also prophesied that one day, Grogar will be arisen once again to reclaim his bell, and attempt to rule the world once more through agents of evil, and that some day a greater hero would rise and vanquish him to death once and for all. And that Grogar shall be brought down into the deeper depths of hell. And yes Twilight read that entire 340 page book and was deeply awoken and shocked by the outcome. "Whatever he may be, I'm sure it couldn't happen in our lifetime, right?" Twilight conversed. "Perhaps maybe not, but if that book that you just read infront of me in a speed of light said so, it is bound to happen, now there is just one thing I wonder." "What's that?" Twilight asked. "Who's the Creator?" Twilight stood there deadpanned and shuttered. "This might take a while... So you might want to sit down for this." The Rodinian Juggernauts turned around and found that all the pony Royal Guard escaped. "AH BLYET!" Panicked the guard. "WHERE DID THEY GO!" Without looking Gold Star stood above them with behind them a entire legion of Royal Guards ready to pay them back. "Right here communist assholes!" Gold Star quipped, as the Rodinian Juggernauts slowly turned around to see angry pony's, with swords, spears, and the two of them. Guns. "BLYET! BLYET! RUN AWAY!" Cried out the Rodinian soldier, as he dropped his gun and ran for his life only to be stunned by Shining Armor's spell. As for the Juggernauts they started shooting their AK-12s at the pony's who started fighting back, and because of this most of them were pinned down. Gold Star, who is happened to be pinned down from the fire, grabbed his AR-18 and turned towards Shining Armor, who he and his fellow guards pony's are firing beams of magic which seems to be deflected by the Juggernauts Kevlar vests. So seeing that magic will not budge on a heavy Rodinian he lowers his Atlyn and gripped his Assualt rifle tight. "Blueblood!" Shouted Gold Star. "When I give the signal haul your ass towards Captain Armor and have the Pegasus fly around to draw their fire!" "BUT WHAT ABOU-" In a inch close a bullet smeared infront of the rock Gold Star and Blueblood were covering behind, Gold Star then grabbed Blueblood by the neck and... SMACK "YOU WORRY ABOUT GETTING TO THEM AND NOT GETTING YOUR ASS WHIPPED BY ME DAMMIT, AND I'LL WORRY ABOUT THESE COMMIE ASSHOLES! Oh and give me my fucking gun back!" Gold Star demanded, which Blueblood gladly obliged and handed Star his gun. "Thank you, NOW GO SHIT HEAD! RUN LIKE YOUR FUCKING LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!" As Blueblood made a mad dash to Shining Armor's rock Gold Star suppressed the Juggernauts fire by using the AR-18 to shoot at the vest directly in hopes of penetrating the vest inside of the soldier, and when he runs out of bullets for the AR-18 he switches to his M16A2 which to his dismay it was a burst shot rifle, but considering that he had to use what he could make due he used it anyways. Meanwhile Blueblood made it to the other side of the hell hole. "General Blue Blood are you mad! You could've gotten yourself killed!" Shining Armor scolded, leaving some of his fellow subordinates disgruntled. "Look I know this is far stretch but you need to get the pegasus in the air to draw their fire!" "WHAT!?" Shouted Shining Armor. "You really are crazy! That's a death sentence!" "SO IS DISOBEDIANCE CAPTAIN! BY FAUST I HAD ENOUGH WITH THIS JUST DO WHAT I TOLD YOU AND SUCK IT UP!" That one speech could make Gold Star's old superior officer happy, to the pegasi though, they were concerned but the plan is simply to draw fire from the ground to the air long enough to tackle the Juggernauts to the ground. So without further argument, the Pegasus took to the sky and disturbed the Juggernauts off of their iron sights and onto the sky. "They're trying to attack us from the air!" "NO SHIT SHERLOCK! SHOOT THEM DEAD!" The two Juggernauts lit up the sky unknowingly falling for a trick which Gold Star had planned out, he and Shining armor crawled slowly to the distracted soldiers and then without further hesitation they quickly grabbed their Atlyn helmets off, though in the process Shining Armor was thrown down into the sand and was pinned by the Hindlegs as the Rodinian Juggernaut crushed them down into the down. "AAAGGH BUCK!" Screeched Shining Armor, trying to struggle himself off of the Rodinian's grip. As for Gold Star he strangled the Juggernaut by the throat until finally he had enough and shot the Juggernaut dead in the throat, as for the other Juggernaut, he slowly got up and pointed his Makarov Pistol towards the White Stallion who was trying to get up. But before the Juggernaut manage to take the shot Gold Star blasted him in the brain, killing the other Juggernaut, which then after he ran to aid Shining Armor. "Are you alright?" Gold Star asked, lifting Shining Armor back on his hooves. "Yeah, I've had a lot more pain than this, (dammit)" he answered, groaning from the pain, endured from getting his hind legs crushed by a Human boot. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, but my sister! She-" "Just rest, I will not let that bastard touch her," Gold Star pledged. "And if he does?" "It'll be the last thing he'll ever do! And you can count on that!" Gold Star noticed though that his AR-18 and M16 rifles only had one mag, so they were obviously left useless, and so were the AK rifles which was apparent that they to had been used up, leaving Gold Star with a pistol which hasn't been used for the entire time. "Well, I guess it's the M9 then," he said to himself again. "I should really stop talking to myself..." And so he ran into the passageway disappearing from the world, and into the mira- book city! I meant book city! Final showdown After taking hours, Twilight and Comet were just about to apply the newly created spell that could free the city from the mirage prison, however... Just as Twilight and Comet got off the makeshift elevator and into the place where the spell was casted in a unexpected guest arrived, and he brings two hostages. "Well, well, well," Yuri entered, surprising Twilight and Comet off guard as they turned around towards the Rodinian man. "So this is the place where this whole adventure, this... Brutal awful adventure, had left to... Is it not?" Immediately Twilight shot first at Yuri but it froze in place mid air, making Yuri chuckle. "Oh really now? You the princess of Friendship? Decide to shoot first now did you?" Yuri sarcastically scolded. "You had your chance when you decided to attack the most peaceful place in all of Equestria!" "What? Canterlot? Oh please, don't lecture me on the self-proclaimed titled city, I've heard enough false pity for one day, like that White Stallion pony, what was his name I wonder?" Yuri smirked. "No... WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BROTHER!?" Twilight shouted. "I'm not the one to judge but-" "Ah, I see you've made a new friend, say didn't you already have a stallion pet?" "You mean the one right here!" Entered Gold Star, holding a gun with one hoof, bipedalled towards Yuri. "Ah there he is, so we've met at last yes?" Yuri greeted, in his sort of way at least. "I don't even know who the hell you are! But the shit I've seen, not in my entire life have I seen you cruel enough to drown an entire legion in the sand!" Gold Star exclaimed while Yuri looked at him emotionless, and left Twilight horrified at this account. "So you've seen it huh? Well then, let me introduce something else then," Yuri then presents his hostages bondaged up with chains shocking Comet. "Blue Wave!? Pink Berry!? WHAT DID YOU DO!" "Oh you'll see, Blue, Pink is it..? DESTROY THEM!" He ordered, as the mind controlled Unicorns charged towards Comet and Twilight firing their spells mindlessly as Twilight formed a protective barrier around herself and Comet. This leaves Yuri and Gold Star alone face to face. "You know it's ironic, the changelings seemed to have a crutch against you for your actions in Canterlot, pretty impressive don't you say?" Yuri foretells, as Gold Star fired his pistol aimed directly at Yuri's forehead but misses. "You missed," Yuri pointed out. "What the f-!? How did you!?" "I can slow the bullets down and move out of their way, now enough talking, now lemme show you what I can really do!" Yuri then uses his telepathy to his fullest extent lifting rocks from the ground in massive boulders and throwing them at Gold Star who ran towards the flying rocks and jumps on them speedily to avoid being crushed while also sucker punching Yuri in the face, Yuri spat out his blood covered gum. "Well, impressive, now, you've officially pissed me off." In the other side of the temple Twilight and Comet made a bolted dash to the top where the spell had to be cast while also dodging multiple spell blasts that particularly penetrated and smeared on an object. "I wasn't expecting myself to run! Not like this at least!" Comet commented, dodging a unicorn laser penetrating below him. "Welcome to my world!" Twilight responded, deflecting a laser with her shield. As the two ran a laser flew above them and directly hit a pillar which came crumbling down and blocked the two from the only stairway available to the top, leaving them cornered with mind-controlled Unicorns who cornered them like a pack of wolves ready to pounce any given moment. Without question, Twilight lit her horn and aimed at the two unicorns before Comet stood between her and the mind-controlled unicorns. "DON'T DO IT! THEY'RE NOT THEMSELVES!" "Then what can we do!?" Twilight replied, keeping her stance on her horn activated as Comet turned around. "LISTEN! I KNOW YOU TWO ARE IN THERE SOMEWHERE! YOU HAVE TO FIGHT IT! FIGHT IT!" He urged, giving no budge as if to... Oh for fucking sake... It looks like he's about to go into song form. Fuck this I really should figure out shit like this, so we're just going back to the part where Gold Star is fighting Yuri. Ah much better, anyway- SMASH As Gold Star broke through the wall with a blunt impact to his back blood leaked out from his nose and mouth as he stared at Yuri defiantly who looked at the Pony with surprise and disgust. "You clearly are persistent, I'll give you that," Yuri commented, slashing and throwing rocks at Gold Star continually. "Thanks, that makes both of us!" Gold Star replied, shooting his pistol at Yuri. "Whether or not, it's not enough to postpone my wrath, TAKE THIS!" As Yuri summon more rocks and random debris from all over the surroundings, Gold Star quickly made a dash for Yuri's stomach pushing his entire weight on Yuri and forcing the two to fall deep into the cavern walls of the Temple collapsing the roof on top of them. Miraculously Gold Star was still breathing, but he also knows that Yuri will reciprocated from the pile of temple debris he made mess of. So after Gold Star got free from the pile of debris Yuri lifted everything off of himself and turned swiftly and violently to find Gold Star, however to make sure Yuri stayed occupied and to not wander off to find Twilight Gold Star hid himself in the roof and made use of Yuri's paranoia through noises and shifting's. "So what if I want to kill Twilight Sparkle, sure she may be a tragic loss for a entire nation as big as the country you currently serve as, but you should be happy, atleast she wouldn't find out who you really are," Yuri boasted, walking around trying to search for the tan stallion. "And besides, you merely if not at all a chance to acquire her as someone that would stay with you forever!" "Does that make you any better?" Gold Star echoed, attracting Yuri to his present location. "That is... Beside the point I am trying to relay, even if she knows who you truly are and accepts this knowledge of you, it would change nothing. She will abandon you or even forget you entirely, you are no match to gain her friendship fully anyways, if anything, such as a stallion yourself, you understand her personality that she would rather die alone without a couple relationship, than to be with anybody for the likes of you." Gold Star felt like he had been punched in the gut there, what he speaks of is true, but he wasn't going to allow him to kill someone because of a vendetta. "I wouldn't give a shit what you say! I would rather die alone anyways!" "...Maybe so, and perhaps she might want you to- DIE!" Immediately Yuri threw every rock, material, stone, pipe, pillar, and everything at one spot leaving nothing but a massive crater, once littered with boxes and crates, now laid to waste. To Yuri's dismay he didn't see guts, but instead he sees a Stallion gripping for his life on the roof above the crater. "Impressive, most impressive, but it's not enough to spare you from more of my wrath!" With a quick whiplash of rocks they smashed against the roof collapsing what remains of the support structure down onto the ground burying Gold Star. Despite the victory Yuri notices that Gold Star is still breathing, yet supported and weighed down by the rocks on the top of his hind legs. But this gave Yuri a funny yet satisfying sight to see. "Unfortunate that our time had to end like this, but I do hope that you come to understanding that this may prove more beneficial than problem." As Yuri turned and head down the hallway he notices the M9 that Gold Star dropped in the first bout with each other and so he picked it up as a gesture. "And... Don't worry, I'll make sure this pistol that you've politely brought to me be used in a proper manner." As he finally left the site where Gold Star was buried in, the pony leaned his head back in momentary silence. Meanwhile, after that pointless song form which involved Twilight lowering her guard and singing along, the unicorns were no longer mind-controlled and was back to their subconsciousness. "W-what happened! W-where are we-" "It's okay, I can explain everything, but me and her need help with this pillar," Comet interjected, the Unicorn couple looked at the large pillar with a crazed confused look on their faces. "D-did we do that!?" "I know it wasn't in your conscious to do this, but we need your help to lift this and allow us to free your city!" Twilight inquired, to which the two unicorn couples nodded and answered. "Where do we start!" Back to the other side of the temple Gold Star was laying in the rubble not even thinking about crawling out, atleast not for this moment when both of his legs are under heavy rock. But rather examining himself, was... Yuri right? Was he perhaps onto something when he mentioned the fact that no matter what Gold Star presented himself he would be merely a background nothing? That was typically what Gold Star received, and of course he really just accepted the fact just through what he said. But that was a case of his own arrogance, which Yuri had saw through him. He can't defeat him, not as a Alicorn in disguise, but he clearly couldn't blow his cover and obviously he has no knowledge or capability of using or even performing magic spells or for that matter to fly, sure he read books, but most of them were base on facts and details of these spells and rather not entailed how to perform these. (Due to American continental law) But now he lays in the ruble, and with at odds with himself, and the damn rocks. Was this how he dies? Kind of a stupid way to die, he rather be shot then decay on the planet, wouldn't mean he would idiotically run into machine gun fire, but what hope did he have? Well, that dimished hope came, just not in a way he expected. Out of the shadow's he sees... Blueblood? He seemed different, he was smiling and peaceful? What was he Gold Star would think, as the Blueblood turned into someone else... A bright light being with a body, this wasn't a average being it was a ghost like holy, a holy ghost, and the inidividual lifted the rocks off of Gold Star and healed the wounds that covered his body. "Wh- who are you? Why did you help me? What do you need for me?" Gold Star asked, gaining the attention of the holy being. "All the answers you seek for this time, will be answered, but only when the time comes, by Creator's will," replied the Creator's Angel. It was then that noise can be heard on the roof top turning Gold Star's attention away from the individual for a split second before turning back to find him gone, and what was left of his presence is a voice. "Thou shall be done." Gold Star gave a momentary silent respect, especially when processing the fact that he just met a serv- no, not a servant, a Angel from the Creator, and that is something, however after the silence, he looked down the hallway and his face was filled with determination. "I'm coming Twilight, and I'm coming for you Yuri! Mark my words!" Twilight and Comet, after getting help lifting the pillar out of the way and getting the two locals out, had now arrived on top of the roof where the wind is strong blowing both of their manes. "There!" Comet pointed, trotting to the spell circle and examining it. "Watch my back, I need to redraw it, and I cannot lose focus either, one mistake and we'll both suffer for it!" Comet warned, lighting his horn and carving the ground with it. "Don't worry, I got your back, but please hurry, I have a bad feeling that-" "That I'm here?" Yuri interjected, pointing a gun at Twilight. "..." "What a surprise isn't it? As you can tell Sparkle, just from your face and expressions, I've bested that weakling stallion." "What have you done to him!" Twilight furiously asked, lighting her horn. "Oh don't worry, he's safe and sound buried under the ruble, and even more, unable to stop what is inevitable," Yuri smirked, nearly pressing the trigger, as he looked at Comet, who is mainly busy with trying not to mess up the spell. "After this is through, I'll be sure to make use of him as well!" Yuri stated, implying to Comet. However Twilight took to the air, horn lit and poised to strike. "Ah yes, this again," Yuri said, as Twilight charged war crying all the way down towards Yuri with the intent of finishing him off once and for all. Yuri with the latest knowledge on her spearhead charge ability, air punched her out of the sky and pinning her down onto the ground, this was proven to be a temporary victory however as Twilight air bursted Yuri off of her and fired a hellfire of spells which Yuri was not successful of deflecting all of them and is overwhelmed by her streak of energy penetrating his head and body. Despite his weakness, he grabbed her telepathically and threw her 30 times onto the wall repreatedly before he threw her up into and through the roof shed window, leaving her injured on the ground. Twilight had to come up with something before he arrived, and fast, so the options she has would be a whiplash strike, or a stealth option to fool him. So once Yuri entered into the shed and started looking around Twilight resorted to using whiplash as it is her only supposed chance of getting him off his legs and decapitate him. To her dismay... It failed, Yuri had came up with every possibility in his head due to he telepathy, and the device attached to his head that calculates his moves for him, the finest of top secret Rodinian technology of course, but only minds, like his, are capable of using it without getting the head to detache from the body. (Trust me this happened before apparently) And so, he throws her out of the shed and blows her back onto the chimney where she looks at a gun barrel pointed at her chest. Filling her with dread, defeat, and emotional fear as her eyes dialated. "Hehehe, AHAHAHAHA! ENOUGH OF THIS VENDETTA, AND NIGHTMARISH THOUGHTS OF YOU IN MY SLEEP, NOW I CAN REST EASILY! DIE YOU WRETCHED SCUM!" "FUCK YOU!!!!" Gold Star shouted from the top of his lungs jumping off above Twilight and tackling Yuri down to the ground and shooting all but one pistol rounds into the air. With Twilight weakened from her fear she tries her best to speed up so she can join Gold Star in the fight for the gun, but she was going to be too late. As the two tackled hard Yuri decided how to use his last bullet in the American gun that Gold Star used. Gold Star in the tackle punched Yuri in the face many times he lost count, and when he would be knocked off he would pounce again, over and over and over again, after being pinned for the tenth time Yuri made his move to a end of the fight. "NO MORE!" Yuri then pinned Gold Star to the ground, as the Stallion struggled to get up Yuri shoved the gun deep into the Stallion chest and shot him, following the shot was a croak, Gold Star had been shot. He tried to resist the pain, placing his hoof on the chest and trying to get up, but he was then kicked by Yuri in full force, throwing Gold Star's body infront of the horrified Alicorn. "GOLD STAR!" Twilight shrieked, seeing Gold Star laying lifelessly infront of her. She got up and ran towards him while Yuri mercilessly summoned more rocks and debris to crush her down only to be deflected by her shield which wrapped above her and the bleeding Gold Star. Twilight rolled him over to her hindlegs were she sits despite the raining rocks all around her area in Yuri's brute wrath, she mourned for someone she had never thought she would ever met in her life, and for the first time ever, she felt misery. It was then that images of her and the Stallion popped into her mind, she remembered him, her magic remembers him, and now both of her strength and spirt remembers him, he had stucked up for her, she felt love from him, even if he wasn't trying to show it because of his duty, and while he may be a bit reckless, if not at times crazy or nuts, he at times saved her, the first time was when she nearly was killed by the Nazi lady, or when Tirek attacked, when it looked like she was in a losing battle but with him Gold Star went all hell high on him, although arrogant, he showed hope courage, and bravery, and he still kept those ideal spirits with the village, when he orchestrated the plan to rescue her and her friends at the risk of his rank and career, and the time of the Crystal Fair when it was just not too long ago attacked by Sombra and the forces of evil, and even when he was fighting a enemy that is as superior as Humarican technology could bring he came to rescue her at the deep hour, or atleast did tried, but he saved Pinkie's life so that did count in a somewhat big way. In times like those she wondered what went through his head when he had made those choices, she couldn't tell if it was self gain or just plain duty, or... Perhaps there was something more than meets to eye. Something... Was tinting- no it was growing, it was forming within her body, at first... She thought that this power that she was experiancing was Friendship, but then she remembers back on that day when Shining Armor and Cadence were suppose to be married, she had been studying the power that Chyrsalis had possessed from her brother but it was quickly denounced by her own well being, but then there was that moment when Cadence and Shining Armor did came together, after I had forcefully had Chrysalis release Shining Armor off of her spell, the shield dome was reactivated faster than Shining Armor's recovery rate. But after the years flew by, she understood what it was, it wasn't friendship, courage, or anything... It was love. And Cadence was teaching this the whole time and she never understood it up until now! (Talk about irony) friendship is one thing, but love is it's own, and if that was what Gold Star was towards her then... That would mean he has a crush on her she could now remember that same day a year later when she visited him in the field hospital at base after Tirek's attack, it was as if he saw her form as a super elemental, a harmonic being in a shape of a pony, andas he said this he rested his hoof on her wing glazing at her eyes with the view of her friends who were with her cheerily happy at the sight. And that, hope, trust, faith, and love, was what made her feel power once more since the day of Tirek's attack. And with this bolt of love, out of no where a lightning bolt struck at the spell circle that Comet was recreating, destroying the entire mount that the spell was suppose to take place at, luckily Comet hopped off before he was brought down with it. However it was then that he noticed a great beam of light was blasting into the forcefield curse that held the city hostage for thousands of years, and many pony's saw this light and were astounded. And force once in their lifetimes, they see the glory of Celestia's sun light as the light fully dispersed the entire forcefield into nothing but a distant memory. The pony's witnessed the great unveiling of the city by the will of God the Creator, and as he tore the forcefield into pieces of ashes the desert landscape that sorrounded the city turned into a green plain field. During this transformation Yuri looked around and at the sky in full on terror. It was then that when he looked to see Twilight not on the ground, but in the air holding on her wing Gold Star, who she healed and placed down on the ground. Her mane was striped with Yellow, Purple, Pink, and her hooves representing her Cutiemark, and her wings and horn patterned with the same color pallete as as her mane, and fur, purple, pink, and Dark Purple. As she floated above him with fury in her eyes. This was the moment Yuri knew... He was fucked up. Big time. As she hovered above the ground Gold Star woke up as if he just got out of bed, when he noticed his gun wound was... Healed, but not by his own flesh but by Twilight, which he stood stiff in total surprise, as for the first time in his life, he sees Twilight in her greatest form, Princess Elemental of Friendship. And he can feel himself getting personally touched by Harmony as Comet stood beside him shocked as well. "Well if I be..." Comet commented, confusing Gold Star. "I'm sorry who are you?" "Oh my name is Comet the Starry-" "Nevermind! Forget I asked!" Gold Star interjects, turning back to Twilight staring down at Yuri. "...How the hell is this? Has the Creator himself turned against me!?! Or is this Harmony in disguise!" "Neither are the ones you should be worried about! After these times you have went after my friends, and those that had aided, you have went as far into your evil to take another life of a pony through dark and extreme ways from mind control to bending dark magic in the ways that go along unspeakable! your vendetta ends here Yuri!" Twilight Condemmed to Yuri as he attempts to- "HEY!" He device is removed from his brain stem and is crushed, leaving him vulnerable to a hell wave of attacks, strikes, and beatings of his life as every rage that he has stirred in his life time is returned in greater mass, as Twilight's magic beats him down into the ground, the air, the ground again, air of course, and East and West, North and South, until finally what was left of him was his humiliation of his body that sunk into the grass outside of the city, which he got up and found himself sorrounded by Shining Armor and his unhappy guards who stared at him with grudged faces, growing like dogs. "Hehe... So about that dea-" In a quick turn the EUP guards quickly restrained him and applied metal chains on him to make sure he can never move again, placing him under custody of Equestrian forces, shortly after me and the troops that Alex had assigned with me arrived in a M1126 Stryker, supplied with troops and heavy soldiers as they ran out from the tarmac behind the Stryker and securing the area as I looked around my sorroundings at the dawn of day. Now upon arriving I noticed some sort of vehicle was driving away so the Stryker opened fired at the armor vehicle, however it seemed to have returned fire, however to the surprise the autocannon that was firing at our ride had indirect hits and ricochets, so we returned fire and shot a Javelin at the bastards and upon impacting directly at the Autocannon top of the BPM-97, it blew up into tiny pieces killing everyone inside, and leaving a burning metal tomb in the grass range as some of the men cheered at the excitement. However as I turned I think by now I figured out who 'they' was, and why Gold Star was concerned... It was Yuri, and... Heh, bastard got chained up inch by inch by Shining Armor and the Equestrian guard pony's, now considering that by now I've kinda forgotten about him this whole time up until this point so I really don't know what to say about him then. But of course I wasn't passing this oppurtunity up to confront my former attacker, so the only thing that I did say to him, was a wave. "Hi :D 👋" "..." Back at the city, the pony's cheered as they tore off their cloaks and threw them in the air in celebration, as for Gold Star, he watched as Twilight breathed heavily and her form that she had the entire time finishing the fight with Yuri dissappated, Gold Star wouldn't care less as he ran and hugged her. "THAT WAS FUCKING AMAZING TWILIGHT! HOLY FUCKING SHIT! YOU WERE NERERR- AND I WAS LIKE HOLY FUCK! AND THAT GUY, THAT- THAT COMET DUDE WAS LIKE WHAT DA FUCK! AND YOU WERE-" Twilight rolled her eyes in a pleasant happy mood as Gold Star cut himself off from his foal hood invading his brain and eating up the excitement that happened infront of him, he never saw this before and he was so excited he thought he was watching a scene from a movie, only he was living in something of a movie himself, but basically lost his formality there. Still it was exciting as hell to Gold Star, but he was in the presence of Twilight so... "Hehe, uhhh... AHEM I mean, you did great out there!" Gold Star reiterated, as Twilight placed her wing on his back. "It doesn't matter how formal you have to be Gold Star, I know deep in your heart that you have something for me, I should've understood this the moment we met, and... I think we should properly do this over, without the military, Celestia, or anyone or anypony interfering with us," Twilight smiled with her pupils widened. "Does... That mean we have to go over all that stuff again?" Gold Star teased, as both chuckled. "No, but perhaps we should have a proper date, outside where the everfree flower fields are, how long do you have until you have to return?" Twilight asked, which Gold Star chuckled to that question. "A week, and I was called a magnificient bastard!" Gold Star proceeded to laugh his ass off before he stopped himself and turned to Twilight, clearing his throat. "Eh, yeah a week, I think we have plenty of time," Gold Star said. "Sounds like a date," Twilight replied with a smile, kissing Gold Star on the cheek hugging after which while they made it all out I looked through my binoculars with retort. "Damn! He got himself fucking kissed to!" I said to myself. "You know sir, you could always ask him if he ever got Twilight to kiss him and he could deny it," suggested some soldier. "Don't you have a damn prisoner to transport!" "Yes sir, but I'm also paid by the hour," the soldier replied. "So are we, but that doesn't slacking off! Get back to work!" "Yes sir." As the soldiers placed Yuri inside of the Stryker Shining Armor approached me, and looked up at the city skylines. "Beautiful isn't it?" He said. "Heh, the city? Yeah, it really does bring the Equestrian old age in ya soul doesn't it?" I commented. "I wasn't really talking about the city," replied Shining Armor, staring at his sister from the distance as she and Gold Star stepped down from the roof of the temple. "Oh, I see, must be a happy moment eh?" "The more you could imagine, and I thought the random stallions were just obnoxious, and I even thought of him as one of them." "Gees... Right infront of my face." "Well you know how it is, the bigger brother has to watch out for his sister, I'm... Just happy she found somepony who appreciates her talent," Shining Armor rejoiced, shedding a tear. "Sooner or later she'l-" "Hey, lets not go that far yet, they met like a year ago, and obviously stuff like this is not written in stone, atleast not yet." "Yeah... Maybe you're right, but you know what? If it does happen, you can bet that I'll be strong," Shining Armor smiled. "Alright then tough guy, we'll see," I replied. After finishing our conversation, Shining Armor left me alone to assist with the men and pony's loading up to Yuri, I guess I have two stops today, one for Canterlot to unload this bastard to the Equestrian dungeons, and back to base to file reports regarding this situation. (Great) On the bright side of things, I think this might be a renewed start of a greater relationship between Twilight and Gold Star. Just as long of course that nothing bad happens... Hehe... What could go wrong? Post adventure Within hours of Bales city being unveiled once more, Gold Star, Twilight, Shining Armor, the EUP guards, Blueblood, and my men were given a hero's welcome as they lifted them from the air. For me I was just sitting on the nwrecked BPM-97 documenting this in my journal as the cheering went on, I found it interesting that yesterday was a start of something for me. Eventually after a entire day everyone left the city, me, the men, and the prisoner Yuri left to Canterlot to drop him off. Shining Armor and his group started clean up with the populace before returning back to Crystal City. As everyone left the city was quickly booming with archeologist from accross the world arriving to explore the city that had been invisible and hidden from the world for centuries like none before, even General Patton and MacArthur for the first time came upon each other in that city, which was tense at first before they shook hands for the first time with each other in a matter of respect. Meanwhile in Canterlot, Yuri is taken to the dugeons where he is personally locked up by Celestia who had him sealed up in a barrier, and was left chained in the cell, his trial comes in two days on charges of Espionage, attempted assasination, attempted kidnapping, and violations of international law making him a official war criminal. Which the penalty would be life in prison. (Due to death penalty to the pony's being to unethical, which he would've faced execution in American standard) Rodinia has not reacted or responded since... And as for Twilight Sparkle and Gold Star. The humvee pulled into the front of the castle, it had been a long day and it had turned night, and Gold Star looked to his right where Twilight gently slept on the window. Without trying to wake her up, he gently opened the door and lifted Twilight on his back, resting her chin on his mane unknowing that she was resting at the edge of his hidden horn, luckily she was deep asleep so this wasn't something to worry about, quietly he closed the door of his car and head to the castle entrance. After entering quietly into her room, she place her down on the bed all tired like and deep asleep. Seeing Spike sleeping in his spot blanketless yet shivering, he places the blanket on top of his body and patted him on his spikey head. He then turned around and tucked Twilight in her bed, and in a returning gesture, he kissed her on her forehead and then without leaving a sound, a peep, or a creak, he closed the door behind him and left Twilight and Spike to sleep. Looming around the castle as the sounds of his hooves clacked on the crystal ground he could feel a sense of peace everytime he was here. It was then that it came to mind that this castle has a library in which he entered in and found a entire stock of unlimited books. And to his thought... If he were to be exposed he should be somewhat prepared, because if Twilight does forgive him she would want to take a hit on training him to use his magic, and most likely Rainbow Dash who would also have the knack of training him to use his wings. He wouldn't mind though, he looked up the M category and found books riddled with spells. "Let's see what I got," he whispered to himself, grabbing the first book from the bottom shelf and sitting down with it. The book is titled. "Are you serious... This damn thing again!" Yeah it's how to spot an alicorn again, made by Comet, of course Gold Star didn't gotten the chance to read it, and since it's night he shrugged and opened the first page. And wouldn't you know it, it has a "technique" section in the book, something he really needed, and with no doubt throughout the night. He spent the night, reading, and reading. Until even he to went to sleep.
The New World \| Millennium	(Bonus Chapter) Dictator Vs Dictator	Stormland Palace The Storm king sat on his throne glorifying himself dramatically in his head, with continual exports ongoing in secret due to the blockade imposed by the American Navy. "The Americans can have the sea," he said to himself. "I'll keep the land." However, something big occurred when a Yeti messenger walked silently and handed the Storm King a letter. "Ah, I was wondering if I was going to get a reply, well then let's se-" What was written wasn't the negotiation reports with the Soviets but rather something bigger as he read in the message that it was a report from his bases in Tobuck, reporting that a military General named "Muammar Gaddafi" had just ceased all military assets and proclaimed himself the leader of the Tobuck, and succeeds from the Storm Kingdom. This report angered the king and he tore the paper into shreds. "THAT DAMMED TRAITOR! I'LL HAVE HIS HEAD! I'M GOING TO RIP HIM APART!" In a fit of rage, he smashed everything in his sight ranging from the pillars that stood to his throne, finally after he stopped he took a breather and calmed himself. "...Almost... Lost my cool there... YOU! GUARD!" He requested as the guard approached and saluted. "Get me, Commander Tempest, AT ONCE!" He ordered, as the guard saluted and left his presence. "I think it's about time I start putting her skills to the test." Tobuck City (Soon to be renamed Libya City) The media had been bombarding Gaddafi with questions regarding 'how he achieved this impossible takeover' and 'what is your response if Storm King counter attacks.' He had planned for these possibilities it was only a matter time of when. It had been two weeks after the incident in the Crystal City when Sombra was reformed Rodinian officials called for a special council meeting on the situation aftermath, with thousands that had been displaced from the Crystal City. And with the death toll being significant in the fight, the LON considered declaring the Changeling army terrorist and recognizing Celestia's Arrest Warrant that had been placed for Chrysalis since 1002, though due to the Griffonian Empire, Thestria, and even Rodinia Veto, nothing was done over this. However Gaddafi sat through it all as a proud representative of the now-created nation of Tobuck, and soon he'll rename the cities in the nation to erase the harsh painful memory of it being conquered by everyone. From Maregypt to Warzena, to Zarantia, and then the Storm King, and now he holds the ultimate authority over a country broken by its neighbors. And of course, due to his neighbors recently building up troops on his borders, he made a contract with both the Federation and Soviet arm dealers to lend him weapons which quickly boosted him as the more modernized nation in all of Zebrica and even topping the Storm kingdom and Saddle Arabia He couldn't wait to try out his new toys of mass destruction, and he stood in front of his window, waiting for that moment when he could just grab his Gold AK-47 and start shooting at the enemy aimlessly. It was then that a knock at the door was heard. "Enter," he answered, as the door opened and it was an envoy sent from Hippogriffia. "Good day to you Mr. Gaddafi, I congratulate you on your liberation of this country from the Storm King's grasps," the Hippogriff said. "I assume you're the special diplomat I was informed of," Gaddafi stared. "Of course, I came here to keep the peace between our nations that is all, this is without special notice from Queen Novo, being that you have become the most strong country in this region," the Hippogriff continued on. "Without a doubt my nation is, but what is it for you to say? What is your name?" He asked. "My name is Seaspray, the Queen's diplomat and caretaker of the second daughter of Hippogriffia, the reason for my presence is a more urgent one than you may think," Seaspray introduced. "Ah yes, the part where your kind is evacuating to Seaquestria, a cowardice move on your part, why not ask the Americans since they've practically barricaded your mountain with bunkers for miles?" "Our Queen doesn't take them seriously, although they have a great army and grand superior technology we had never thought of them as a maternal ally." "And the reason is?" "The Americans can say big things about their power and how they use it to extend their grip on the world, but from a distance you could really see that they would just abandon their allies for the largest bidder, take the Great Lakes kingdom for example when the American designated terrorist group ZITS arose and attacked a few infrastructure within the human mainland the Americans, and I don't know how, convinced the king of that nation to open the door for their troops, as now as you may see up to this point where you could start to see," the envoy explained, sitting down on a chair. "You don't have to tell me that twice, I was there when the Storm king invaded that region, that was also where we launched our attack here in Tobuck and liberated ourselves. I know the Americans too, they are all high talk with themselves and will call anyone a terrorist whenever they feel pleased or threatened, now it's only a matter of time before an enemy arises and becomes someone that everyone will hate so the Americans can also call people by their name but with a Neo." "And that's why the Queen had sent me here, she wishes to offer a secret alliance between us distinctively secret from the Americans and the Rodinians, she has offered to provide intel on the enemy movements and perhaps lend you some of the American weapons that they gave us," Seaspray offered. "Sorry, but we already have plenty of those from the Americans already, and so as the Rodinians, although I would ask but do you happen to have some Abrams?" Gaddafi asked. "Unfortunately not," replied Seaspray. "That's fine then, besides it's better where the enemy is anyways, and I know exactly where they are." "Really? Where?" It was then that a bomb exploded in the city followed by sounds of machine guns and Anti-Aircraft flak guns started shooting at the airships that floated above the city. "Here." This surprised Seaspray as he rabidly ducked under a table in the midst of the fighting, while for Gaddafi he moved to the other side of the room calmly without being surprised by this attack. "Scared?" Gaddafi chuckled. "I don't know aren't you!" Seaspray replied. "A little, but excited at the same time," he replied, looking outside his window as the human soldiers ran to the streets and started shooting at the airships in the sky. "But! When you're me! I'm prepared for the fight of my time!" Gaddafi exclaimed, uncovering his bed sheets and revealing two Golden Kalashnikovs, and a golden M344 (M1911) pistol. "What's the other weapon for?" Seaspray asked, when suddenly a hellfire of bullets started firing into the room through the window forcing Seaspray to coward more under the table as Gaddafi stood unfazed from the bullet hell inches away from his face. "You." He replied. "...Oh dear..." Upon the assault of the city Tempest was already briefed on the enemies' military capabilities, however she doesn't know the entirety of their capabilities in the post-succession of the Tobuck outpost. And due to the American Iron Belt that stretched from Colthage all the way to Maregypt. Tobuck was the only port city that had the freedom to export and sail from, without it they would have to go an extra long journey for the eventually. Tempest wasn't going to let Gaddafi spoil her plans, she decided who is worthy of being freed and who wasn't. As her airship entered Tobuck they were quickly met by a flurry of AA flak and machine guns being shot at them from below as the Yeti's and other foreign mercenaries from the nations occupied by the Storm King, loaded their guns and prepared for battle. "Alright! The enemy has a fortress in front of us, they will shoot us down within a inch close distance from there if we get too close to it so we're going to have to land!" Tempest briefed. "Inside the building is our target, dead or alive, the Storm king wants him either stoned or beheaded for his treason against the king! Now let us move!" The airship landed on the ground and as the doors lowered down the Yeti's were quickly cut down by the machine gun bunkers that had been tearing into them and anyone else that stood in the way of the hungry beasts. As for Tempest she examined her situation and quickly ran behind a ruined yet stable concrete barrier, after three or five dodges avoiding to be shot the machine gunners were forced to reload as they used up their machine gun ammo giving her and the troops time to advance and charge at the bunkers. "CHARGE! DO NOT LET THE WOUNDED SLOW YOU DOWN!" She shouted in fury, as the yeti's charged combined with the front row shooting at the bunkers. "SIR! THEY'RE CHARGING US!" Yelled a Human Tobuckian. "THEN LOAD FASTER!" The commander shouted. As the Yeti's approached and walked over the last trench and barbed wire fencing the Bunkers were revived with gun fire once again as the heaviest of all casualties had been induced on the entire charging crowd of Yeti's, however what they didn't knew was that one of them already made it. Tempest was infront of one of the bunkers that were continually shooting, and shooting until finally she grabbed a grenade and chucked it inside of the Bunker through the hole before ducking on the ground. And with the sound she was pleased to hear the most was the sounds of agony after a explosion that blew up and killed or wounded the entire machine gunner nest. With the main bunker down the surrounding bunker men quickly ran to investigate the explosion before they were kicked in the skulls by Tempest starting a ensuing gun battle. Tempest used her pistol and started shooting at the enemy while at the same time conserving the ammo she has. She had a plan, and so far it was working with the plan being to reach to one of the bunkers, and forced the surrounding bunker men to dispose of her while also locking them into a grand fight, something of Tempest's skill she executed this plan and waited for the men as they ran with their weapons. "Great Allah, they're dead!" one of the soldiers said before being kicked to the concrete wall by Tempest and then the group being ambushed by the Yeti's were captured. "Bring me their officer! I have a few questions for him," she demanded, as the Yeti's forced the officer infront of her as she pressed her dagger on the officer's throat. "Now tell me, before I get violent! Where is your leader!" Unlike other times when officers would just say no and she would have them killed, it was a different type of situation, because most of the time it's either zebras, pony's, or other species, this was the first time she was fighting a human controlled nation, and now she was about to see blood from a human throat. But that was her biggest mistake, because the one thing she never put account was that we humans, are unpredictable. And It was then at that moment, officer that she has pinned to the wall by Yeti's pulls out what looks like a detonator. "ALLAH AKBAR!" Before clicking the detonator Tempest hind leg kicked him into the wall where he detonated himself. Destroying the entire structure shoving Tempest outside of the Bunker by force leaving a bloody wound on her right eye, although she didn't get her answer for the palace, she can still find it just by recon. However to her dismay, the Yeti's that were inside with her are dead. It begged her to question though... What type of man would allow someone to strap bombs on their chest and martyr themselves for their country in such a way like never before? Well I can tell you people, this was the beginning of Jihad warfare, and it gets down low from here. Baghdad City, Saddle Arabia In the city palace sat a man named Saddam Hussein, a Rodinian appointed dictator for the Saddle Arabian Socialist Republic, renamed to the Saddle Arabian Republic, he had a bloody reputation of being the most deadliest of the deadly in all of North Zebrica, topping to even the most violent of Colthage leaders that had ever existed. And as he sat in his room writing down letters to Rodinia regarding the secret trade agreement a Horse messenger entered his office in a fearful face. "H-h-hello Mr. Hussein." Said the Arabian horse. "What purpose do you have in my office?" Hussein Asked. "A letter sir... From Mr. Muammar!" The Horse handed Saddam the letter and he opened it. "The Storm King has launched his attack on my new ally... Messenger, leave my office or it's the gallows for you!" He demanded. "SIR YES SIR!" He cracked, trotting away out of Hussein's office. Then after the dictator picked up his phone and dialed it. The North District RING RING RING the phone yelped as the person answered it. "This is General Assad, how may I help you," he asked. "General Hafez Al-Assad, prepare the Syrian Company, you're going to Tobuck." "Understood." Stormland Palace The Storm King sat on his throne watching the chaos live on television as he chuckled, laughed, and cackled at his troops dominating the opposing force so much that he nearly choked on a piece of lemonade. However this joy died off when a messenger by the name of Grubber arrived with a message rolled up. The king was surely unimpressed. "...Excuse me is this a joke, who are you?" The Storm King asked. "My name is Grubber, your new servan-th, my math-esthy!" He bowed in respect, while the king laughed like crazy. "BAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! AHAHAH!! AHa ahaha!! GASSP so tell me what brings you into my domain?" He asked. "Oh thaths funny you shoulth sayth that, I have a letter from someone." He then handed it to the Storm King, but before the King opened it Grubber ran for his life. Inconspicuous he opened the letter and found that it was from the Rodinians, he was happy to see that soviet seal as it meant that he finally got that reply, however when he read it he was angry but also in fear. "OF COURSE THOSE RODINIANS WOULD WANT THAT LAND! Although then again... My army couldn't survive this long especially not when the Americans are present, oh who am I kidding, SOMEONE GET ME COMMANDER TEMPEST NOW!" Tobuck Upon approaching the palace Tempest and her army is met with troops pointing guns at her and the brigade, the Yeti's responds in kinda by pointing their AK-47s towards the opposing army, while some of them fixed bayonets for melee kills and glory. What looks like the start of the bloodiest battle of Zebrica, was narrowly avoided when a Yeti messenger presented Tempest with a message. Curious, she unwraps it and felt great anger, however before she considered ignoring his order Bis MIG-21's flew above her army screeching the sky as Rodinian A-50 is spotted as well, looking down at the ants of the earth checking to see if combat has broken out at the palace entrance. The yeti's caught off guard, looked at their commander for orders, which even she now feels over runned, they anticipated tanks, a militia, and a standalone unprofessional army, just outside intervention was where they were outgunned. So out of rage and anger, she kicked a yeti in the torso, breaking his entire rib cage, and turned violently towards the Yeti's and spitefully ordered. "Return to the airships! This is going on everyone's resumes!" As the Yeti's sad fully walked back, Tempest looked at the balcony where Gaddaffi sight sees the retreating Yeti's and then stares directly at Tempest, waving at her as a mock to her assualt. "Just you wait," she warned, turning her tail towards the victor and leaving with the rest of her army. As Gaddafi pridefully puffed his chest up in victory General Seaspray peaked from the door way. "Is she gone?" He asked. "Yes my friend, the wretched whore had left, and with that new friends to assist us!" Gaddafi graced, simultaneously aligning with the Jets zooming by through the sky as Seaspray relaxed himself in relief. "Well that is good then, now I guess we should get to buisness shall we?" Seaspray insisted. "Of course, follow me and we shall begin the talks." The result The battle of Tobuck goes inconclusive, the battle was one of the shortest in the history of Zebrica lasting for 3 hours in the initial assualt. Despite the loss Tempest was given a promotion in compensation for being withdraw, and Storm King was rewarded by the Rodinian's with Mig-29 fighters by the hundreds, giving the Storm King's arsenal the upper hand in the sky. As for Gaddafi, the secret Unholy alliance is signed between him and his Generals, and Seaspray and the Hippogriff diplomats. Afterwards, Tobuck, the country itself, is renamed to the 'General Government Council of Libya' after a decision was made to keep the city name and rename the nation itself, it is quickly denounced by Equestria and Maregypt as a "violent take over" and threatens to pose sanctions. The civil conflict ends in military victory, normalization begins starting with Saddam Hussain's Saddle Arabian State, the date is set for next week.
The New World \| Millennium	The Re-mark	Moskva, the Kremlin, Rodinia All high-ranking Rodinian military Generals gathered from all parts of the world had taken a seat in the room waiting for the host, the Red Mother, to appear with Secretary General Brezhnev, as some of them conversated within this inner circle is Perov, who sits at the end of the table right beside the seat of Secretary General Brezhnev. Right beside him was recently promoted General Dvornikov, who currently oversees the projects in Yakyakistan where Ogav is stationed. "Comrade Perov," greeted the General. "Greetings Dvornikov, do you know what this is all about?" Perov asked. "Don't know Perov, I kind of thought that you would know since you are in fortunate favor with those in the higher seats?" "Well I can safely tell you that I do not, nor do I believe these other generals as well." The two are then stared at by the General right across from them, it wasn't just a general though, it was Field Marshal Vasily Petrov. And not to get him confused with Perov, Petrov gained his rank through his strategic successes within international operations. Ranging from the victory in Saddle Arabia which resulted in the establishment of the Soviet government there, but also the anti-American operations within Zebrica itself and was placed in charge of supply shipments that were sent to the Storm Kingdom. But it wasn't just at home though, he had also been cited for his actions in the Griffonian Empire where he was assigned to support Skynavia in a separate revolution, even though Rodinia had been recovering after its revolution they had separate divisions to support the workers worldwide. As he sat down watching the two with a reserved seat beside the Red Mother, the door opened and every General in the room rose from their seats and stood attentively as Secret Guards entered and beside the chair which Petrov and Perov sat near. Entering the room were Red Mother and Secretary General Brezhnev. "You may be seated," she ordered, as the Generals sat back down on their seats. "Gentlemen, Marshals, Generals, I have gathered you all here to congratulate you all for the operations worldwide against the Capitalist and imperialist threats, but now we have a new threat to deal with." She then signals Brezhnev to present a slideshow of images, the first displaying Erwin Rommel and Queen Chrysalis. "We have noticed that there has been an uptick of a new ideology, and we believe this new ideology to be... Fascism, this trend uptick had been started back to Argendina when we had discovered that the man who had started this ideology had won the elections in the Preubican region in South Argendina," the Red Mother presented. "Now, would anyone wish to ask who this man is?" She asked, as the Generals murmured within themselves wondering what type of Ideology fascism is. "Well?" She asked, leaving the room silent. "His name is Adolf Hitler," she answered, switching the slide to the image of the vile evil-looking man. "Currently resides in Preubica we have reason to believe according to the R.I.B. that he had been the one who greenlighted the militarization campaign in the Changeling Lands, there is a no doubt possibility that he may be inciting a continental war to distract everyone so that he may succeed the island away from the country proper," the Red Mother stated, ending the presentation and turning towards her generals. "But in other words, he may not be a threat now but keep it in mind in case he does rear his ugly head in politics, now, General Aleksandr," she requested, as he stood up attentively. "When can we expect our first nuclear test to begin?" She asked, as the General replied. "Within the hour, Our Red Mother, possibly after this meeting," he answered. "Very good, I will be inviting delegations from Zebrica, Griffonia, and some from Equis, until then you may be dismissed to prepare for this event," the Red Mother excused. "Yes, Our Red Mother!" He saluted and left the room leaving some generals surprised. " And that Generals, is the second agenda, where to aim our new Nuclear Arsenal." Hours later After the meeting was over, Perov was packing his suitcase in his Motel room as he prepared to return to Stalliongrad when he received a phone call. Ring Ring Ring Ring He walked over and picked up the phone. "Da," answered the General. "General Perov, I have a special assignment for you that couldn't be discussed in the room," Brezhnev requested. "General Secretary Brezhnev? Why of course, what is the assignment?" Perov asked. "You may remember Yuri da?" "...You mean that no good-ridden piece of shit!" "Yes, that is who I am talking about," Brezhnev answered, implying that he doesn't give a damn about Yuri either. "What happened, did the bastard finally die?" Perov asked, hoping for the obvious. "Unfortunately, the Red Mother informed me that Equestria has imprisoned him and is currently awaiting trial. If found guilty, he could face execution." "Fine by me, I'd rather lose my rank than help that bastard," Perov stated. "Yes, but you know what will happen to your family and yourself if you don't," Brezhnev indirectly threatened, giving Perov that reminder. "Of course... I'll do what she wishes, but just she knows that if he gets captured again, have her send another bitch to do it, oh and just note that if he does die I'll be having a party like never before, with Vodka and smoke!" "Agreed Comrade, I agree." Ponyville Gold Star had been oversleeping, again, of course, it had been a good while of sleep, however, his sleep was interrupted when he heard a violent knocking at the door, implying that it was Twilight probably forgetting her keys or something. However, when he woke up he noticed that a violet-colored blanket was wrapped around him and the books had been situated back to their places as they were before he raided the Library. That was because Twilight found him this morning asleep on the chair surrounded, if not buried, by books, and since he was sleeping she placed a blanket around him and placed the books he had taken out back on the shelves. Ironically the only book she didn't was, you guessed it, Comet's book on Alicorns. (Or how to spot an Alicorn) After stretching himself Gold Star got on his hooves and walked to the door, however when he opened it, there was no Twilight Sparkle and Spike, it was another purple pastel pony, but with a lighter purple mane and a bright teal (or Cyan) stripes. He was a bit confused... But so did it seem with the mare pony as well, she was surprised that there was someone in the castle. (Of course, there's Pinkie but she's busy with baking.) "Can I help you?" Gold Star questioned, which the pony answered. "(I didn't expect this) AHEM I am here to get some... Books?" The Pony asked. "...Right, and I'm a native pony, the library is down this hall, go straight, take a right, and so on, so on," Gold Star then stepped back and allowed the pony to enter. Now he may not be doing something bad, but lemme tell you, he doesn't even fucking know that the pony he just let in was Starlight Fucking Glimmer, Rodinia's most wanted for socialist abuse. But off to that point end, Gold Star shrugged and went back inside of the castle where Starlight Glimmer was gazing upon, and despising it. "So, are you some sort of hallkeeper?" She asked, definitely nothing suspicious as she eyed everywhere at her surroundings. "Funny joke, but no. This is where I stay during my break, you know off-duty stuff and whatnot," Gold Star answered. Starlight nodded her head slightly up and down. "So what is your relationship with Princess Twilight?" Starlight asked, which Gold Star tensed his neck. "That's classified!" He answered, surprising Starlight. "Classified..?" She curiously thought, when she took notice of the throne room right beside them. "Oh? Is that the throne room?" She asked in an off-tone voice. "Uh... No more like the map room, you know the place where they plan their whole adventuring and wait for Harmony herself to give them something to, yeah that place, but I wouldn't go in there, my friend almost got blinded by that chandelier that's in there, though it had improved in not blinding us to death, I still wouldn't go in there," Gold Star answered. "Why so?" Starlight replied, giving him somewhat of a deceitful facial expression. "Well obviously they have a map that you obviously can't tamper, (or fuck with for that matter) it's kinda suggested you stay out of there for now, or at least ask Twilight-" Without finishing his sentence Starlight dashed off unwrapped her saddle bags and rubbed her hooves together. "Uh... You should not be doing that." She then grabbed a piece of paper that contained a spell and placed it on the map grinning evilly as she ignored Gold Star. "You should not be touching that right about now!" She then activated her horn and activated the spell, preparing it for her surprise. "People should NOT be ignoring me right about now!" Gold Star frustratedly scolded, when Starlight turned towards him in aggravation. "Do you even know who I am!" "Yeah, an ignorant little bitch who isn't listening to what I am saying, get the fuck off that map before I backdrop you like a fucking doll!" "Oh, so you haven't?" Starlight guessed, implying the fact that Gold Star doesn't even know who she is. "...What?" "Oh get a grip! Have you not guessed by now of who I am? Has Twilight Sparkle never told you my name!" "Wait a fucking minute... Aren't you that dead ass who try to enslave that entire village?" Gold Star second-handedly guessed when Starlight violently stomped at the map scaring Gold Star off of his thoughts. "THAT VILLAGE! WAS MY SANCTUARY! YOUR FRIEND, HAD ONE DAY SHOW UP! AND RUINED EVERYTHING!" It was then that the damn tan stallion finally got it through his thick skull. "Holy shit you are the dead ass who enslaved the village... YOU'RE FUCKING-" "STARLIGHT GLIMMER!" Shouted Twilight and Spike, entering the map room, scaring Gold Star shitless. "FUCK!" Gold Star yelped, jumping like a surprised cat. Starlight seeing the familiar Dragon and Pony in the room smirked. "FINALLY! I HAD ENOUGH OF HIS STUPIDITY!" ">:(" She then levitated the spell activating it through her spell as it burst a bolt of electrical lightning onto the map where it shown the usual world map right before the three, Twilight then ran towards it with Spike while Gold Star stayed back a bit processing what the fuck he had done. "What are you doing Starlight!" Twilight demanded, which Starlight laughed in evilness. "I would tell you but it would ruin the surprise!" She then balled the spell and threw it at Gold Star to which she then levitated herself off the ground and into the portal above leaving the three stoic at to what just happened, after a brief moment Spike and Twilight approached the map looking up confusingly not even questioning how Starlight managed to enter inside of the castle. However when Spike grabbed the spell the portal reactivated and pulled the two off the ground and into the portal whilst Gold Star hanged on to a nearby pillar. After the two were sucked into the portal all he could think was "holy shit." And then came Pinkie Pie with the cake. "Oh hi, Gold Star! Want a slice!" "..." Gold Star replied silently still locking his eyes on the roof. "Yay more for me! :D" Pinkie then takes a huge chunk bite into the cake as if nothing was going on. F.I.U C.I.A. Headquarters After failing to predict anything within a telescopic range of Soviet intelligence, to a Pruebic assault, Reagan disbanded the F.I.U. and organized a new and highly funded Intelligence unit. The C.I.A. They've recently been commissioned days after the Crystal Empire was attacked, and now they are the unified sector of all special forces brigades and Operations. They ranged from: Delta Force Green Berets Special Air Service Hosean Special Forces Marines and (Recently renamed again) Eclipse Brigade The C.I.A. also now carries out black operations across the world within the stealth of its operators, and due to the purging of its entire staff, the agency now has actual skilled members with knowledge and experience of Rodinian intelligence warfare. Ex-Rodinian Colonal Eskamoe was also transferred to this group as an American information officer after his success in Parsley, serving under him is the Wayne brothers, remember them? Well, recently the Eclipse Brigade was back after Margret Thatcher filed a lawsuit that SAU had typically the same name as SAS, so Reagan decided to rename it back to its original name or it would face a lot of monthly fines. Practically everyone within the Eclipse Brigade rejoiced meaning their purpose was practically back, but this also stirred some fear within Equestrian high ranks as some speculated a reemergence of the Lunarist Ideology, however, Luna endorsed the name, for private reasons unknown at the time. (Servitium ad mortem) (Service Unto Death) Captain Lian Wayne was promoted to the rank of Colonel and while his brother serves on the ground-level forces as the new Captain, Lian is now experiencing that every soldier had fretted other than dying in combat. Beauracuracy. Lian had been appointed to the more experienced Eskamoe though, so that was the luck for the two, and while filing paperwork for combat deaths was boring enough, they also had to come up with ways to cover up a mission and which group to blame in case a country tries to pin it on them for the operations. Fun. "Mr. Eskamoe," requested the information officer. "Yes sir, what is it?" Eskamoe asked. "Documents regarding locations, and encryption codes from enemy communications, strike force Delta is preparing to carry out a covert operation in Brodfield," informed the officer. "Target of class?" Eskamoe asked. "Military institutions of the Prywhen Communist Movement." "Classified or Declassified?" "Classified." "Alright, hand them over to me, I'll see what I can decipher," Eskamoe insisted, as he was given the dossier documents and started looking into the codes. "Hmph. Quite interesting, I believe they're trying to use some sort of new language to disguise their encryption, Lian why don't you get on that computer and get that translator site online will ya?" "Yes sir," replied Lian, as he turned towards the computer and pulled up the website. As Lian was doing that a secretary of Eskamoe's approached his desk with a phone. "Who do we have?" He asked. "Phone call from Equestria sir, he says it's urgent sir," the secretary explained. "He you say? I assume you mean like an individual calling our building?" Eskamoe questioned, to which she nodded. "Hm, alright let's get this over with then, I'll make sure to have a squad on standby in case this is a damn prank call, (as if we haven't arrested 43 of those already)" Eskamoe is given the phone and called back. "This is Central Intelligence Agency Inspector General Eskamoe, how may I help you." "Central Intelligence Agency? I thought this was the Federal Intelligence Unit?" "...Sir, that was recently disbanded, it's the C.I.A. now sir, it's no longer the F.I.U., and just who exactly are you sir? You know that calling federal departments without a given reason is a federal offense all to itself," Eskamoe threatened. "To introduce myself, my rank and name is Major Gold Star, PI Digits is, forty-four-three, eleven forty, and four twenty-one, and I like to report that Starlight Glimmer had just raided the current location that I am in." The name Starlight Glimmer froze everyone in the room as they turned towards Eskamoe in a 1000-yard stare, even Eskamoe was surprised with the report. "I'm sorry to say, but did you just say that you had a run-in with Starlight Glimmer?" Eskamoe asked. "Affirmative sir," "...Let me search you up real quick," Eskamoe said, as he turned towards his computer and typed out the given digits that were given through the phone line. "Sir we do not have time for this! Everything is at stake here if we wait any more longer than it has to be!" It was then after he typed up the digits Eskamoe was a bit more surprised... However, there was a discrepancy within the document of Gold Star. "Mr. Star? All of your credentials do check out but there's a discrepancy in your file," Eskamoe informed. "What? What do you mean by that?" "Sir, did you say you're a Major correct?" "Correct." "So explain to me why the online files are telling me that the rank you currently possess is Colonel." "...What..." "There's more, effective next week you would have control over the base Alicorn, your base name correct?' "Uhuh..." "Well, your commanding officer Alex will be promoted General upon your return, so this would mean you will have the command of the entire base at your disposal when you get back from your break." "For what reason?" Gold Star asked. "Let's see, for service within the Equestrian continent, and uh, oh I see a combat victory citation, good for you, and leadership success, blah blah blah, typically you're being promoted just for being the victor in a battle," Eskamoe explained. "Well I guess I can see that but- ... Wait how did you know I'm on break?" "We're the C.I.A. Genious, it says here on the document, but this goes without saying however, we have a squad en route to your present location in Ponyville, we will give them the heads up that you will be in command of the group, their objective will be given to arrest Starlight Glimmer," Eskamoe explained in detail. "And with all that without further detail, we will be informing Alex on this subject, is that fine?" "That's fine, I'll be right outside." "Alright, take care." Eskamoe then hung up the phone and breathed in relief. "Well, that was unexpected, who could've imagined an officer who doesn't even know his own rank?" Lian asked. "Unfortunately, I forgot to tell him that this promotion was just posted 30 minutes ago, I probably ruined a surprise," Eskamoe regretted. "Well sir, I'm sure he's surprised enough, hell I was completely shocked when I was ranked Colonel, now that I think about it, what was it like for you to get ranked to what you used to be now?" Lian asked. "Cold and pity," replied Eskamoe. "Now get back to work, now I know we're going to be busy today after that call, with that said, did you get the dossier printed and translated?" "Coming up sir," Lian replied. "Good to hear... Good to hear." Star City, Gradenland, Susnet Palace The streets had been always populated with mixed species and ponies walking and trotting trying to either get home or get to work. Sunset Shimmer, on the other hand, was busy with a secret war that she had been waging on the Changelings, back in 1002 ALB when the Changelings were on the edge of attacking Canterlot her group that she had assigned to America had independently discovered that Carter was a Changeling, through samples and behavior towards leaders along with tapped in phone lines the group was able to verify Carter as a changeling. However within the year after it had been discovered that the Changelings had blackmailed Carter to give them his identity or be familyless, of course, he chose his family but at the cost of destroyed relations with nations, only to be quickly fixed through the Reagan Presidency. Carter since lives with his family in a mansion surrounded by troops and witness protection agents. While It was uncertain if the democratic party had been truly infiltrated or not, this did bring to light the possibility that Changelings might go into extreme ways of infiltrating. An example was the Reid incident, what happened during the suspension of Yates and Gold Star was that General Reid, officers from the 1st Armor battalion, and even infantry soldiers were murdered by changelings, and then after they would hide the bodies the Changelings transformed into them. Reid and dozens of others were killed, which brought America on High alert, this also triggered mass persecution of Changeling groups, ranging from Neo-Lunarist, Saddist groups, racists, cartels, Mafia, crime families, and every other specist groups had now turned their fury at the Changeling groups causing a massive ethnic cleansing event and eventually a massive skepticism. What became apparent was that the masses that were evicted from their homes migrated to the Soviet North. The CIA was created in response to the increase of Soviet influence in the world, but also to combat the Changeling espionage groups from obtaining information on government secrets, the CIA headquarters also has a dome around it that prevents the Changelings from infiltrating through disguise. (Meaning if they touch the dome they become the bug creature they are) Sunset Shimmer may be a bit violent she still believes there's a chance that at least one of the species of Changelings might be a harmonic type, rather than some sort of violent killer. "Princess Shimmer," entered one of her subjects. "Yes?" "Thestria has sent us a message, it's in regards to the rejection," the subject reported, handing her the message that reads. "In terms of rejection from the alliance, we hereby embargo all countries within the South Humarican Alliance from accessing our resources, effective immediately no one or no pony shall have our resources. -Prime Minister Batan Night." "...Good Fuast, I want all leaders from the countries of Doglumbia, and Bolivar, now!" "Yes princess, this may take a day thou-" "Do you think I care? Just do it!" "Yes, your Highness." Yakyakistan It's been a year, two, probably a decade, at this point Ogav lost count of time due to the atmosphere of Yakyakistan, it's dark all the time, yet like home, the exception is that he has a damn calender not some fucking pocket watch that was just given to him for good luck. He despises Perov for the shit he had done, for the shit that he had taken advantage of, and the solid fact that when he did do good by the right of others his kind called villains he started questioning whether the Red Mother was a great being... Or... Not. The irony with the base is that while it is big and heavily funded they are supposed to use technology that dates back before Luna was ever banished, but while also creating new extensive technology such as of recent the Tigr, and the BPM-97, however to his interest when he had received a new blueprint for a new helicopter he was a bit stunned at the ambitious design, they call it a Quadcopter. Or, the Kamov K-50 To his pleasure Ogav kept on laughing at this blueprint, it was practically a circus to him to see two propellers stacked up on top of each other and no back propeller and to think that this thing was supposed to fly. But while he kept on looking at that blueprint he was just told what he was supposed to do, so far Scientists are still trying to decrypt how to make something as ambitious as this fly, of course, the MI-28 helicopter on the other hand just looked like the American Apache helicopter used in Zebrica, armored, more equipped, and yet more advanced... It's code-named: Havoc The success of the MI-28 had proven formidable in Zebrica but hadn't seen combat action for a while up until it was shipped to Brodfield where it wreaked havoc on Loyalist forces. It was then at that moment an officer entered Ogav's office. "Captain Ogav, pleasant to meet you." "Good day..." "The blueprints here as ordered by the Red Mother, she wants to be ready hehe," the officer chuckled, presenting missile designs to Ogav who sat depressingly at the sight of weapons of mass destruction, which the officer took notice of. "What's with the long face comrade? Aren't you happy that we have the power to obliterate those capitalist imperial dogs back to the stone age where they belong?" "...Comrade... Comrade, COM-RADE is that all I hear? What is it with us and the word? Is it to describe us as being fellow soviet army soldiers who march through the plains of war? Or is it just a term of greeting, or better question, why do we use it, and what is its purpose!" "...Comrade I don't get what you are trying to say?" The officer questioned before he was grabbed by the neck collar and slammed to the wall. "DAMMIT ALL THE HELL OFFICER! WHAT I AM SAYING IS THAT WE'RE ALL FUCKING TOYS!" Ogav seethed at the officer, who was terrified by Ogav's facial expression, however, Ogav released him and shook his head. "Do you not fucking see, just like the word comrade, which describes soldierly friendship, it's just identified now as a Soviet homeland term, just like with us both..." "Well? What did you use to be?" Asked the officer, as Ogav sighed. "A home dweller turned army officer, to father-in-law, to now just a fucking project director," answered Ogav, in which the officer looked at the titles with surprise. "I see... Any children?" "Da, Natasha, she was recently adopted from Argendina when we started that damn war between the two countries, I feel horrible to this day, and I will always feel horrible to beyond," Ogav replied, as tears started swelling up in his eyes. "And the mother?" "..." "Oh, apologies, if it is fine comrade, I'll see if I can arrange for some sort of way to get you the hell out of here," the officer said, grabbing Ogav's mind off of the horrors he had ensued. "And what can you do about it?" Ogav asked. "Anything," replied the officer. "...What's your name?" "Silly me, my name is Aleksei Myagkov, I'm a part of the R.I.B." Aleksei answered terrifying Ogav deeply. "Do not worry comrade, your secret is safe with me, just let me worry about your problems, and we are square, for now work on this project, and I'll come back and tell you what to do okay?" Aleksei ordered. "...Understood sir," acknowledged Ogav. "See? Now we are swell, dasvidanye Ogav," waved the R.I.B. officer. "Yeah, dasvidanye..." Alternate Universe era, what would happen if the Mane 6 never came to be? The events that occurred after Starlight used the portal were very terrifying. What had spawned first was the Crystal Empire, or the Imperial Incident. Mane 6 was never formed, and Twilight never became a protege which in turn Shining Armor and Cadence were never married if not at all met, the Federation was also reluctant to send anyone due to Celestia banishing Luna (again) to the moon leaving relationships destroyed, and Carter keeping his presidency without no opposition, leading to a Crystal War. In other words, no Twilight Sparkle or her friends = Humarica stayed isolated, no hope. The second that came was (Creator above help me) Chrysalis victory... Same thing as before, only except Chrysalis and her forces attacked Canterlot instead of waiting, the Changeling President Carter also ordered the attack on Canterlot using our military equipment against them, and well as you know it Equestria fell under Changeling rule, Zecora did staged a resistance but was quickly crushed. And at the same time, Twilight and Spike narrowly escaped due to F4 Harriers bombing the shit out of the forest indiscriminately, also Humarica was practically no longer a freedom land, but rather an authoritarian paradise. Finally, there's the third thing. Nightmare moon. Or Mare in the moon. When Nightmare Moon captured Celestia America launched an invasion of Equestria and allied themselves with her ideological crusade which resulted in the lands being captured, unfortunately, it didn't take long before America realized they'd fucked themselves over and had become puppets. Now for the past three scenarios, nothing happened with Humarica, except for the last two which Rodinia surprisingly managed to keep with their neutrality typically painting the world Red with their ideology. But when Twilight and Spike were spammed multiple times the fourth scenario would be worse than all combined... (Yes including the whole wasteland cameo with Starlight) Present... Day? Twilight and Spike after having to be in multiple scenarios once again called right on the table as regularly as before the other sudden six times, and at this point, Twilight is partially going insane. "WHERE IN CELESTIA ARE WE IN NOW!" Twilight shouted. "Twilight, look!" Spike pointed, as the two noticed something... Odd, about this timeline. The other six times were either apocalyptic or just plain terrible, but for this instance the sky is blue and Ponyville doesn't look like it has been destroyed. One difference is that the castle is not where they're at. "I... I don't get it. The other six times there was nothing but chaos and ruin, but here it's... Nothing?" "Yeah... Something is not right, we should probably investigate this one, just to be sure it isn't like the others," Spike suggested, walking off the map before being stopped by Twilight. "Wait! What if this is just like the others!" "I mean, are we sure about that?" Spike asked, giving Twilight the benefit of the doubt. "Alright fine, but the moment something is off is the moment we leave this instant!" Twilight declared as the two stepped off the map. Upon entering the town the place seemed to be a bit more crowded than usual, some ponies had migrated in droves while everyone in the town had some sort of fashion some were out without clothing. It was then that the two-spotted, well, me, directing traffic and making sure that no one got into an accident. "Lieutenant Yates!" Twilight called by my name. "Hm? What do you want civilian, and how the hell did you know my name?" My alternate me asked. "Do I even know you?" "I-oh, yeah you're right we don't know you, and you don't know us," Twilight conversed. "That's what I thought, now get off the damn road before I-" It was then that alternate me turned to see Twilight and noticed her wings and horn. "...If I am to be dammed, you're an Alicorn?" I asked, which Twilight turned towards her wings and presented them to me in a light flap. "Well holy shit, a live Alicorn, the hell are you doing all the way here? Shouldn't you be at Canterlot or something?" "That's what you would think in this universe," Spike interjected. "Oh cool, a dragon, hey wait a minute, why do you even own a dragon?" Myself interrogated. "Here we go again... -_-" "Look maybe we could ask for help, we're trying to figure out something here, why are there cars from your continent here on Equestria? And why is it so smokey here?" Twilight asked. "...Don't you see the flag sister? It's hanging right above town hall!" Myself pointed, which Twilight and Spike stared at in surprise and then they jerked their necks around seeing that the stores, shops, and everywhere had flags of the American Federation, it was then that they turned towards me. "What happened!" Twilight demanded. "Get off of me before I have you arrested-" It was then that without further hesitation she teleported my alternate self and Spike to the place where they spawned. However, at first, they didn't notice my presence before I kicked them both downhill and pinned them on the ground pressing the gun barrel up her cheek. "That was a fucking mistake, prince-ss. NOW WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE!" "Relax, we're only at the edge of the town," Spike pointed, as myself turned and saw that we were only at the outskirts. "Oh..." However before I could even release them I was blasted off by Twilight's barrier magic and was pinned on the ground while being held at Horn Point. "Because you're my friend I will not hurt you but you have to listen when I say that this period does not exist and should not exist! All that I am asking for is an explanation of what's going on! That is all, but if you try to hurt me or Spike again you will not see a pleasant end!" Twilight Threatened, keeping her horn on my face which I nodded. "Message received then, alright then I'll tell you if you get off of my chest," I asked, which the two looked at each other and then turned back at me with unemotional faces. "I'm an honest man of my word, not a damn evil war criminal!" Twilight then got off of me, and so I placed my rifle down on the ground and sat down near the table, to my alternate self's belief he quickly figured out that Twilight was telling the truth. "Alright, so it's true then, but before I explain, what am I in this universe of yours?" "You were our friend for one, you helped others when they couldn't help themselves." "And like Twilight, minus the fighting part, you're one of those who can recognize those with a second chance, or just shoot them when you see them unfit for one," Spike added. "Heh, hell yeah, definitely sounds like me, or at least my old me at this fucking time, damn where did the time go..." Twilight looked at me with emotionalness in her face. "What happened?" I breathed as this who damn thing was complicated but my alternate self told it. "So... Typically what happened was first off, a fight for resources, but it started from a religious ideological standpoint, to start, the Eclipse Brigade was sent to Ponyville to await the arrival of Nightmare Moon, upon her return the men moved into what seems to be a brutal fight between Celestia and Nightmare Moon, well chaotic ensued when one of the men from the group shot and killed Nightmare Moon, fearing what would happen, they also killed Celestia, this started a range of chain reaction, as you two may or may not notice, but the sun and the moon are sitting still in one place." I then pointed at the sky showing both the moon and the sun sitting still which terrified the two. "But why? Why would they do this!" "Orders and men have gotta eat, what happened after that was what you saw, Equestria fell into civil war, which we just then decided an Equestria under our thumb was the pilot for the day, so we invaded Equestria, and when Chrysalis attacked Canterlot we kicked her ass and took over the Changeling lands, and when this Sombra apparition came into play in the North to which we call the Crystal Empire, we invaded it to." "So who was ruling these lands?" Twilight asked. "Well it was obvious that Princess Cadence was supposed to rule Equestria but when she saw the landmass she opted to rule the Crystal Empire rather than the land we occupied, so we instead just appointed some high-ranking politicians to rule the lands, currently Prince Blueblood rules Equestria, and some Changeling who seemed to have some sort of harmonic values, Thorax I think." The two were a bit restless with what they were hearing, from Celestia and Luna's death to a full-on war, to utter chaos within the lands, nothing couldn't be worse than this. "But anyways, shit hit the fan from there when we attacked Stalliongrad, this typically triggered a full-blown continental world war." "WHAT!?" "Yeah, and without any indication of them joining to defend Stalliongrad they launched a full-blown invasion onto American soil, what was worse is that the Griffons from Mexicona also invaded along with Kuban Militia's, and Thestrial armed forces." "What about Sunset Shimmer? "Princess Sunset Shimmer? Egh... Last I heard she was imprisoned after the South Humarican Alliance collapse from the overwhelming forces from Thestria, shame that happened she was what helped us oust Carter, though Huey Long won and started this damn war in the first place, anywho, what remains of freedom and peace is here, or at least until-" Suddenly sirens were triggered and blared all around, followed by screams of panicking ponies, while myself looked at the town, and grabbed a blindfold and a cigarette. "What's that!" Twilight questioned. "...A nuclear bomb," myself answered. "A... What bomb?" Spike asked. "I don't know if they've been invented yet, but the end is here for us three if it impacts this town, you need to fucking leave now." "What about you!" Spike then quickly grabbed the spell from his backpack and unrolled it when he started hearing the missile screeching towards the town. "You said this is an alternate universe yes? Go, and make sure this shit doesn't ever happen, EVER, oh, and uh, give my true present timeline this when you see him." Myself then handed the book to Twilight, it surprised her that the title of the book is called "The Lost Magic of Equus" the very same book Gold Star read back in America... "Before we go, whatever happened to Gold Star?" Twilight asked, confusing myself as I wrapped the blindfold and lit the cigarette. "Gold who?" "...Nevermind-" It was then that a bright flash was lit, Twilight and Spike only saw a glimpse of the destructive beauty which had horrified them to know what they were fighting for at this point, as they were caught up by the portal my alternate universe self watched the mushroom cloud and smiled with a cigarette in hand. "TAKE ME CREATOR! TAKE ME SWEET DEATH! BRING IT ON!!!!" The actual present day, Alicorn Base "Echo actual to Base Alicorn, we're approaching landing zone over." "Roger that, prepare for Alicorn alpha, over." "Roger that, Echo out." _ Base Alicorn map _ _ . . . An AC-130 landed on the runway, east wing of the base, Alex met with the special forces agents sent from the nearby airbase at Whinnypolis. After being briefed that Starlight Glimmer was in the vicinity of the castle a convoy of vehicles arrived consisting of light armor vehicles, some trucks, and Humvees. I was sent to command the group once we arrived at the castle. Upon exiting the base and entering Ponyville proper the ponies were a bit confused about our presence, with some of the local law enforcement and Royal guards catching on to our operations and clearing the roads out for our convoy. We eventually made it to the castle, this was practically the second time we've used the Stryker, and so far, I'm loving this better than the shitty M113 that we've been using this whole time. Only the squad truck was unloaded as the rest were ordered by me to stand by in case Starlight attacked us with her magic which we would resort to using darts that would wound her ability to use her magic. Gold Star was waiting for us outside. "Welcome to the castle," Gold Star greeted me, as we both did a fist bump. "Glad to see you, so where is this bastard?" I asked. "She's still in the portal with Twilight and Spike, I already marked areas to make an ambush, might need to drill it a bit so we do not pounce on Twilight on accident," Gold Star inferred. "Right then, alright men! Follow me!" I ordered, as the squad entered the castle, however, I almost forgot to tell them to bring sunglasses but they seemed to have sorted themselves out, leaving me without no protection for my eyes and so nearly burning them to that damn chandelier tree. "AH DAMMIT! MY EYES!" I quickly placed the sunglasses on my eyes and breathed in relief. "Ah much better, alright take positions, do not make a sound and when the signal is dropped be quick to put that ring on her horn and tie her hooves." "Yes sir," replied the Staff Sergeant, as he and the rest of the squad hid behind the furniture. "The rest of Twilight's friends?" I asked. "I've already sent Pinkie to grab them, they should be on their way now as we speak," Gold Star informed. "Right lemme call it in-" However, before I could call anything the table lit up followed by swirling sounds and cranking engine gears clinging onto each other. [color=#e6c5a4 ]"She's back, quick hide!" Gold Star and I then dashed to find a hiding spot, it was then that the portal opened up and spat out Twilight, Spike, and... Starlight Glimmer, out of its mouth and then sucked in what looked like a piece of and then exploded into tiny pixie specks of dust. Now I know they just got back but... "NOW!" Immediately the men dog piled on top of Starlight without any given warning, tied her hooves together with plastic wrap, and placed a ring on her horn disabling any ability of her using her magic... There was a problem that I quickly noticed, she hadn't even fought back and resisted our arrest. It was basically as if she wanted to be arrested, I've kinda thought this was some sort of cruel trick. Although then again how could she trick us when we have her detained on the spot? "Why was that easy?" Gold Star stared confusingly, pointing out the same thoughts I was thinking while looking at Starlight. "Wait Gold Star! It's not what you think!" Twilight interjected, getting everyone's attention as her friends entered noticing how soldiers were pinning down Starlight mercilessly. "Let her go and I can explain!" The men burst into laughter, it sounded like insanity, but then I did notice how Starlight was... Sadden? Then I kinda wondered, what the hell did Twilight do? "Alright stop laughing all of you! You two raise her off the ground, I want to hear Twilight's explanation, her side of the story," I ordered, which the men raised Starlight on her hind legs and stared at the princess. All the while Gold Star was confused himself, what went through his mind was he saw Starlight as an evil who hadn't shown any mercy to those under her rule in the town and was wanted by the CIA, RIB, and even SMILE. Yet looking at her now she seems more meek than everyone had told her she was. So Princess Twilight explained that she was trying to prevent the rainbow boom and preventing the scope of everything that would've maintained worldwide peace, multiple scenarios she mentioned were horrible, especially the part when I heard about myself being a fool on nutcase, kinda wish I would apologize but then at the same time, it would be weird since you know, universes and shit. She eventually decided to try and convince Starlight that she could make new friends, however, what got me more attentive was when she mentioned that Starlight actually had a Colt Friend named Sunburst, and immediately my mission was practically set. As for Gold Star, who was surprised at how Twilight changed a mare, turned towards the men. "Release her!" He ordered towards me, which I nodded to the men and they sliced the plastic wrap off her hooves and removed the ring from her horn, surprise surprise, she didn't attack which was a relief that Twilight was telling us the truth. Just like 1002. "Sorry for the mishap," Gold Star apologized. "It's alright, I had what was coming, why release me?" She asked. "If Twilight says that you've reformed, that is good and solid plenty enough for me!" Twilight smiled at this, she then turned to me but noticed that the book alternate me gave was not there! Although funnily enough I never cared for magic and would've given that old book away to someone. There was one problem though. "Sir, DC wants a status update on the capture sir," said an entering soldier, who noticed Starlight was not detained. "Uhh... S-si-" "Yeah, I know, Princess?" Twilight smirked pridefully and replied. "Tell them they can keep their troops, she is staying here!" "...I don't know sir, I doubt DC will like that," said the soldier, and then I rolled my eyes and leaned beside him. "Tell DC, fuck off before I have Uncle Sam himself to go and fuck them off for me! There's your answer from me! Now is that all soldier!" I ordered. "No sir nothing at all..." With the last of the soldiers leaving back to base I had one vehicle stay behind, and that was the Stryker, while it waited outside the castle Starlight was waiting in front of the door nervous like as she heard mumbling, although she was spared from basically the most harshest punishment, which was being deported to the arctic wastes of Rodinia's coal mines, she still was nervous of what the ones she typically tried to wrong will do with her. I mean typically I knew her feelings, not really, but still by the sounds of things with her own life story she's been in more shit than she had ever had, and like that Tantabas incident where the damn thing escaped from Luna just because she's been damming herself (which I mean, that's very bad but I wasn't there) I hope this wouldn't have Starlight do that same fucking self-pity crap where she blames herself. On that note aside, I did do something that would start a great relationship. "Nervous?" I asked, leaning on the wall and looking around as I took my helmet off. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at your base?" Starlight asked. "Meh, the base can handle their own thing, what I just can't stand is the fact of the worst part about being an officer." "And what's that?" "Dread." I shivered. "But isn't that normal for someone like you?" "Starlight the only time I've seen such dread before is not from inside of me, it's watching others being dreadful of themselves, you should never give yourself dread for something that you should be proud of," I explained. "But... I've done terrible things! I've destroyed the lives of others for myself! And I tried to kill your friends!" "But did you succeed in doing that last part?" I asked. "...No?" "What's that I couldn't hear you?" I teased. "No." "I still can't fucking hear I think I'm going deaf!" "No!" "Right on! So let me give you the laydown, instead of dreading yourself like you just did why not instead be your best self, these people, these ponies, they will help you set your path straight, but that's only if you allow them in your life, and not close out of it, for what it's worth, be happy that it's all in the past, be glad that you now have a second opportunity, and be great that you can learn more about yourself!" Starlight took in everything from my encouragement to the point where she hugged my legs in an inspired joy. "Thank you." It was then that Spike opened the door and waved towards Starlight to enter which she released my leg and swiped her tears off. "Now go and show them tiger!" I encouraged, as the door closed in front of me and left me alone once again. I was happy for what I had done, but the moment my accomplishment had left me I felt emotionally torn, but still proud of my achievement, and hell who knows! Maybe she might do great after all. Because hell, who wouldn't.
The New World \| Millennium	(Bonus) The test	Red Point, Rodinia, the desert Once again for the second time in history, a country has created a nuclear bomb of its own, and this time it's Rodinia. Hundreds of delegates gathered from across the world, provided with eye protection, to see and witness the detonation of the Nuclear bomb, Taro Aso, an American delegate who was sent here by the order of President Reagan, sat on the chair still skeptical on the Rodinians truths. Taro wasn't happy at the fact that he was sitting on the very chair viewing something he wasn't believing, however to his astonishment someone of high importance attended this meeting. "Emperor Grover the 5th, pleasant to meet you," Taro said, shaking hand to claw with the emperor. "Ah, you must be from America, tell me human is it true that the Americans had finally met their match with this land?" Grover asked as the two sat down while his guards intimidated Taro Aso a bit just by their stare alone. "Don't mind the guards, I hope they are intimidating they're just for the protection you know?" "I can understand that very clearly sir, not as if I have some of my own," Taro said, looking at the mixed crowd of ponies, griffons, and other species. One of them stood out from the others, that one being a hippogriff named Posada who sat watching with the anticipation of seeing the creation of a new era of a Superpower created to fight against America in its Cold War with capitalism. "A Hippogriff? Well if that doesn't look like an omen if I ever saw one myself," Grover snickered. "Something I should know about?" Taro asked. "Yes, and no. You see Hippogriffs are not fairly seen that much nowadays, even at times we almost consider them myths if it wasn't for their admittance to the League of Nations," Grover explained. "Ironic. They join just to be represented and yet they are just as nonexistent in meetings as they are with the legends, although I do have to give credit your country is trying its best to defend a civilization against a growing threat that soon may be a common enemy within everyone. Hmph... Shamefully the outcome may just not be expected." "And what do you expect to happen if everyone were to wage war on this growing threat?" "Well for one there will be peace as others would work together to fight this threat, at least that is my expectation, but two is typically gaining colonies but within regulations of this peace movement group, that will not happen." "So what do you think will happen?" It was then that the speaker, General Aleksandr, spoke on the podium and announced. "The testing is about to commence, please take your seats and please put on your goggles for the sake of your eyes!" Grover placed his goggles on along with Taro Aso, and then Grover answered. "A provided reason to stay and exploit." Then what sounded like a noiseless sound, the test commenced and a huge mushroom cloud rose to the atmosphere followed by a shockwave of energy that swept over everyone's spine. Some clapped, some dreaded, some sat leaning in interest, some rejoiced and cheered. And some had extreme fear and pain, of what was to come...
The New World \| Millennium	Rise of Evil	Arkanistan S.S.R., Rodinian Telegram News "Breaking news from the Soviet Republic of Arkanistan, Private Military Group Serbija had released a video declaring war on the government of Rodinia, take a look." ________ "I, General Ratko Mladić! Hereby declare that the Soviet Government of Rodisnia had failed to uphold the terms of our contract and effective immediately, I am pulling out all forces from Zebrican nations and the kingdom of Olenia! Along with this, I hereby announce the succession of Arkanistan and as we speak, the army of Serbija is now rebranded to the Arkanistani Liberation Army and is in control of city provinces! We will free our nation against the clutches of this Soviet menace! We shall be free! LONG LIVE FREE ARKANISTAN!" ________ "Hours after the video's release reports had come in that military bases and cities had come under fire by Serbijan militants. Currently- -" . The television is turned off suddenly by the Red Mother, who watched everything unfold from the comfort of her seat, she then turned to her phone and dialed the numbers. "I am ready, patch me, Secretary Brezhnev, immediately." As the phone ranged in Brezhnev's office, the Secretary was standing on the balcony of the window in the night, staring dead at Luna's moon as he smoked his Kuban Cigar. Being aware of this phone call firsthand, he walked out from the balcony top to his desk where he picked up the red phone from its base. "Mr. Brezhnev here," he said. "Secretary Brezhnev, you may proceed to inform Perov to launch the operation and rescue Yuri from the Equestrian clutches." "But why Red Mother, he's failed many times I am even surprised that you still want him back?" "He may have failed me multiple times, yes, but that is something for him to explain, and punished for, but even then we still have use for him, now without question Mr. Secretary, proceed with the operation." "Da, Our Red Mother, it shall be done." The Gardens of Canterlot Soviet Spetsnaz are deployed in the dead of night through trekking and sneaking for miles on the ground, at hours end they finally arrived. Their mission was to rescue Yuri from Equestrian clutches, which at the moment they have him locked up and chained everywhere, the men also have a spare head brace for Yuri so that he could use his telepathic powers once more. However according to the briefing they received as they continued deeper into the city and to the dungeons below the castle, a private trial is supposed to be hosted by the Oversight of Princess Luna. And due to her notoriety within the group knowing that she could typically blast them to the legs with her magic, the mission had to be swift. . . . Inside the Castle, Princess Luna had been assisting the jurors with getting to their place, while her sister Celestia couldn't attend due to a Diplomatic mission to Griffonia, Luna had been busy keeping the kingdom and solving the usual internal disputes, whether it'd be capitalistic or farmer land disputes, she had at most kept the peace in the kingdom as her sister Celestia had. But after getting the jurors in place, it was now time for the criminal himself. "Your Highness, the prisoner is now prepared for transfer," the guard informed. "Lead the way guard," Luna ordered, as the guards and the princess descended deep into the Castle depths of the dungeon. . . . Upon word that Princess Luna was approaching down the steps, the high-ranking Royal Guards that had been guarding Yuri's cell unlocked the magic barrier and prepared to set him down on the Drum Truck. The reason is that Yuri's body has been imprisoned in a body-sized square-shaped containment that restricts body movement and disables its host's will to struggle, the only place not applied is the head to allow the host to breathe and eat to survive. Never had Equestria used it before, the only time they did was when they captured a dragon ravaging a village, of course, the dragon lands protested the use of it and even threatened war, but they never did act upon it, even when the dragon that was imprison was executed post-trial and they still didn't react. This was however the first time they used it on a human, to their surprise Rodinia did not react, respond or anything, this led the Equestrians to believe that the Rodinians were trying to distance themselves from staying out of international trouble and not start a incident, or that they abandoned him, the Equestrians however thought of this, but personally, I knew he wasn't going to be locked up just like that. They were just bidding their time. As they placed the containment on the Drum Truck Yuri looked at the two with a smile, however, they couldn't see his mouth because it had a mussle, but they knew what expression he was making. "What's so funny?" The Guard asked. "Eh, don't let this man fool ya, he thinks he's so special that his friends in the other continent will save him, well I will tell you this stranger! Just like the dragons before you, they were never rescued by their dragon lord! Just as the way as you will never be rescued by your leader!" It was then that the two were suddenly stabbed to death by Spetsnaz soldiers in the throat, killing them without a sound. Then the soldiers released the mussle from Yuri's mouth. "It's about time they brought you to rescue me," Yuri complemented, as they grabbed the key from the dead guards. "No Rodinian get left behind comrade Yuri, give me the key Zulu-3!" The Rodinian Spetsnaz is given the key and he unlocks the containment. "What is going on here? Who dares intrude in the castle!" Luna entered when she horrifyingly noticed two murdered subjects lying on the ground near dead and then turned her head towards the free Yuri and Special Forces soldiers who stared back at her with emotionless expressions. "A trial I assume princess?" Yuri chuckled. "I heard about these, you did it with dragons, petty, your species always got it wrong with humans, you fail to predict their nature and they've existed for how long?" "Even if we didn't predict this! We learn from our mistakes!" "Oh like the time when you summoned that Tantabus? Petty, even with your existence here in this world you've somehow endangered it indirectly!" Immediately Luna stomped her hoof so hard that it created a crater. "I WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED!" She then dashed towards Yuri's chest and knocked him and his men out of the cell and outside of the castle, however, it was then an MI-17 Helicopter armed with missiles and Machine Guns lit the entire room up, the Bat Pony guards shielded their heads bracing for the attack only for them to be protected by Luna's shield spell as the Helicopter unloaded everything it had on the single room. After destroying everything around them, Luna and her Bat Pony guards were still alive, and only the room was destroyed. "While I may not be intimidated by you the truth can intimidate you more, than a lie, thanks for the escape by the way but I must be going, my leader calls me." The helicopter leaves Luna's sight, but before she is purely blinded by rage the Bat Pony's yelped. "Your Highness! They're still alive! If we can hurry we can still save them!" Although Luna could've blown the communists out of the sky right about now, saving the ones that can be saved is more important than a grudge. "Next time, but alas." Stalliongrad "Da, mhm... Da, Da, Dasvidanya," Perov hangs up the phone and turns towards the electronic screen presenting Secretary General Brezhnev and other Rodinian Generals. "It has been confirmed that Yuri has been freed and will be taken back here for a medical check-up, at the meantime comrades, what will be our plan against these terrorist cells?" Perov informed. "We could blow them off the face of the earth! We have a Nuclear arsenal we should put it to the test!" Said some General. "And what exactly do we have to gain General? If we nuke Arkanistan we lose its Gold Resources and our edge in this god-forsaken cold war with the Amerika," Perov rejected. "Perhaps a monthly siege would do, following with artillery barrage of the sector," suggested another General. "That's one idea, how about another? Secretary Brezhnev since you're our leader what do you suggest?" Perov asked. "Well thank you General Perov, I do have a proposition, as we speak we are getting assistance from the Yakutian tribal Ponies of Alania." Immediately everyone but Perov laughed at Brezhnev's statement, however, when Both Brezhnev and Perov looked at them dead in the eyes they stopped laughing. "What do we have to gain with those ponies? They barely have anything other than a single T-54 tank!" "Da, not to mention that they still our troop's boots the moment they get the opportunity, (creator help us,) we had to sleep barefoot!" "Well here is my reason why, the Serbijan terrorists have a reputation for Anti-Yakutian Pony groups, basically they hunt and kill Snow Ponys for a fucking living, and since Alania's tribal government had waged their war on said groups it's about time we allow them to release their rage on the terrorist hideouts," Brezhnev presented. "HA! With what? Fish?" "Klashkinovs, and tanks." The room went silent hearing those two words. "We will be supplying them weapons, along with some training and some-" Suddenly the door opens in Perov's office, and Yuri enters in a new Black uniform, and a new head brace. "Ah, Comrade Yuri..." Greeted Perov grudgingly. "Comrade Perov, I was wondering about the last time we met, how's that family of yours?" said Yuri, in a threatening tone. "You keep your fucking mouth to yourself bitch!" "AHEM Yuri, I assume you've been briefed on the situation yes?" "What's this about training a group of soldiers?" "That is the second part, is what to do after the war, we've decided to form a group to replace Serbija to maintain our international stage, the group is called Wagner." "Wagner?" Yuri queried. "Like the name Richard Wagner? The one who created that overused music for the Huey riders? That Wagner?" Perov rolled his eyes in displeasure as Brezhnev added. "Yes, and I've made that clear that this group is as important as the Rodinian army, without the ability to wage wars indirectly we cannot influence nations and we obviously cannot be traced back to us, your contact will be in Klugetown." "And what about the revolt in Arkanistan? Surely you need me to quell it?" "Arkanistan will be dealt with joint forces between us and the Alanian snow ponies, the job I've assigned to you is greater than you think and with this new job comes a great reward, the Red Mother has decided, that if you do this correctly, we will allow you to continue operations in Equestria, with twice the supplies we've originally provided," Brezhnev informed, but before Yuri spoke Brezhnev continued. "And you will have a mission that even as someone as you would like." "Now this sounds interesting." Canterlot, day time morning The aftermath of the Soviet raid on the dungeon took its toll, the trial was canceled, and the ever-lasting knowledge of Rodinia's operation in and out of Equestria from Stalliongrad, again, took its toll mentally, physically, and... Economically. The two guards that had been brutally taken down did survive barely. But their families demanded compensation anyway and so being the tireless overworked princess Luna was, she had been working on signature after signature after signature. Most of these signatures happened to be from the Jury complaint about not being paid, which unfortunately they were, but the worst of the complaints were from military officials, with Celestia gone to Griffonia on a diplomatic mission they took advantage of pressuring Luna into accepting the American Modernization Program (AMP) as it had recently stretched all over the global scale. Ranging to Zebrica, the Arabian countries of the Arabian Region have been given a great supply of standardized M14 rifles, repurposed and refitted M4 Stuart tanks, and some Spitfire aircraft, the other countries also include the signature states of Colthage, Zumidia, and Maregypt. Are given much more advanced weapons. As for Griffonia, they have also been given advanced technology as well, the Griffons had been provided assault Rifles, armored vehicles, more notably the TPZ Fuchs, near modern armor and artillery, and even then, nations range from the Griffonian Empire, the Kingdom of Aquilea, and even the Equestrian colony of New Mareland. And when news came from Jet Set that the weapons provided to the Pony nation were a bit more advanced than the Griffoinians and some Zebrican countries combined, some in the Equestrian cabinet were a bit skeptical that America may try to use this as a way to subjugate the world to curve into some sort of worldwide hegemony. But when introduced with the logic that their neighbor, the Changelings, has been growing bigger and bigger in army size and proportions, the latter agreed. The problem is that only a princess has the final say, sure they could go to Twilight Sparkle, but she doesn't count herself as a legitimate royal official, and Cadence is more of a foreigner Pony to them than a princess all to itself. This left them only with Luna and Celestia, and so far the only one who had rejected was Celestia, but when she had left the Military officials took the opportunity to pressure Luna into submission. Luna expected someone from the military, as she was told by an advisor. As the pony left Luna's presence she looked in front above the throne and found me standing in front of her instead of a military advisor. "Yates!? How in Fasusts name did you get in here past security!" Luna fussed confusingly. "Oh, the two guards allowed me through cause, I have the permit that typically allows me inside of the castle wherever I want, I guess you could say this would be the 3rd time?" Luna looked behind Yates and saw the Guards looking at the princess and turned around to avoid what looked like a face filled with wrath, of course, Luna sighed in some sort of relief, at least it wasn't the military officials who had decided to come and bother her. "I apologize for my paranoia Mr. Yates, I've been a bit stressed in recent times." "Yeah, so I've heard just by reading the reports, can't believe you tried to torture yourself through countless and pointless nightmares from the past, I mean damn I get the incident started a global scale war but hell! That does mean-" And so the regret of me saying those words came to light as Luna slammed her hooves through the table in front of her throne and banged her head on impact in misery. "I don't know why! Everything I have done has led to terrible things! Every attempt at being independent had led to chaos and ruin! Every decision I make that contradicts my sister's choice has led to destruction in everlasting proportions! Yates, I don't know what to do-" Without any hesitation, with a great internal protest within my frontal lobe, I lifted Luna and slapped her in the face so hard that it prompted the guards nearby to surround me with spears pointing at my chin although this was only brief as Luna swiftly yelled. "DO NOT TOUCH THIS HUMAN OR YOU WILL BE SWIFTLY PUNISHED BY MY OWN HOOVES!" The guards frightened by the sudden outburst backed off leaving me and Luna alone in the throne room. "Thank you, I needed that, but you didn't have to do it that hard?" "Well if it means getting you're damn senses straight then yes it was necessary, besides you will come to thank me later, now listen I am not here just to lecture you but you have to stop with your fucking pity on yourself because remember if it wasn't for that damn Tantabas feeding off of you're pity or yourself you would have eventually resorted to... Something more extreme than whatever you call torture." "And what is something more extreme than suffering from the Nightmares I used to torture myself with?" "...I'd rather not say," I answered, sitting down on the chair that sat in front of whatever was left of the table. "Look I'll be quick with you, recently I've been witnessing these nightmares myself," I explained. "Recently I've had one of these dreams of some sort of event, what looked like Twilight, her friends, fighting you?" "That's... Interesting... But you were never there?" "I know, I was at sea when I heard about you being freed." "At sea?" Queried Luna. "I thought you were a soldier?" "I was in the navy portion of my military career, or at least that was the case before I got dragged down here." It was then that something fell out of my pocket suddenly and rolled on its edge up between Luna's Hind legs. Noticing the sounds of iron skimming the ground below her, she looked down and saw a medallion of a familiar symbol never had she seen for years, not since that war with the Crystal Empire. Of course, while she stared at it with a surprised deadpanned expression I stood there wondering how the hell my medallion fell out of my pocket. "Oh, how funny! Must've gotten torn from the bottom, fuck, well Alex is going to have my ass for this," I contemplated when Luna hovered the Medallion onto the table in front. "You're Marines," she said, without question, not a single emotion, or anger, just those two words which eh... Ok, I should probably explain it all of my career. The day I turned 18 in 997 I left for the army and found myself at odds with the recruitment options, At that time there was a manpower crisis that had occurred, which lasted up from 996 to 1001, and the navy needed conscripts to fill its ranks, so I've volunteered to fulfill the ranks for the Navy, the problem was that I still craved for the life of being in the army, fighting overseas, so you would tell that I was desperate and so when they handed me the option of becoming a Marine... I was a bit picky with that choice, not because of the rumors, though rumors be true I am having to be placed inside of an Ice pond for fucking sake, but they said that it was the only way to be able to deploy on the ground as a navy man so, eventually I caved in with the idea of becoming a Marine. Of course, I would come to learn during the deadliest training of my life, that the Marines at one point during the Human-Crystal war saved Princess Luna at the battle of Whinnypolis so that would explain now why she's kind of looking at me funny this way. But off that topic for a little, I had to go through literal flaming hoops to get to the position I am in right now, and I can tell you it had actually paid off. The Muscle, the weapons, and the ability to be on the ground and ocean, whether I am deployed to these areas of the course, but while the courses are dangerous the Marines are dangerous to the enemy, although everyone in the world fears Delta Force more, I can tell you we get the job done, and by we, I mean just they because most of the time I'm just sitting around on my fucking chair filing paperwork while Gold Star is off on his break! "That... Is a large sum explanation you made there," Luna said, comprehending of what I just wrote. "Yeah, I've gone through a LOT of hell just to get to this point." Luna got up from her seat and trotted towards me. "Look about what happened, with the Tantabas." "I'd rather forget that ever happened, it's for the best, but going off that topic." "Of course, you said you had these nightmares lately? When did they start?" Luna asked. "Well for one I was asleep and tired on those days so I couldn't count, but if I can remember correctly I'd say about the day Gold Star went on his break which is about... 2 days ago?" "Hm... I'm sure it's just a coincidence then, nothing but a rare case of repeated Nightmares." "That's the thing though, it spoke my name." Luna rolled her eyes as her mind chuckled at the solid fact that something nonexistent said my name. "I'm sure everypony had that happen before to them." "Also this shadow kept appearing in my dream, like the same shadow from night one, and then night two same shadow," I explained, which made Luna give me a side-eye. "A shadow?" Asked Luna. "Black, just purified borderless black, that's all it is, and it has red eyes," I answered, and Luna tilted her head with an expression suspicious inside of me. "Guard, show him to his quarters, I wish to conduct a test," Luna ordered. "Yes your Highness," the guardsmare acknowledged as I said to myself. "Oh boy..." Klugetown, Soviet Air Base: Eritrea, 6:00 hours The Hind model Helicopter landed on the airfield pad of what looks like a rugged shack built with wood only, this is because the Rodinian government wanted to avoid "attention" and insisted on using what was available on land. Although the exception is that the run-down wooden base does have Computer systems and Air defenses so that's somewhat of a reassurance for Yuri. As he got off the helicopter, kicking dusty sand in the air, already he saw that he was in for a wild ride, nothing but drunken Rodinians off duty strangling themselves, and the sound of Russian Roulette going off in the background as Gunshots ranged out from the upper floor as to tell that someone lost a bet. Then a Rodinian officer approached Yuri, he had somewhat of a formality except for the fact that he had no shirt, and... No pants, but rather a military cap and boots. "Mr. Yuri, welcome to Klugetown," greeted the officer, sweating from his pores from the beating sun. "..." "So I was informed that you're here for the meet up yes?" The officer assumed that someone behind him passed out not from the heat but rather from alcohol poisoning. "Oh, that guy? Don't worry he's just sleeping." "...Right, show me the contact (and let's get this shit fest over with...)" "Right this way sir!" Entering inside was a hell hole, with music blasting through the radio, Rodinians fist fighting, thumb waring, and even arm wrestling. Or in some cases just a plain-out gun duel to see who gets the last drip of alcohol or piles of cash that's probably worthless in the God-forsaken lands. It was like the Siberian Bar room all over again but in the desert. "How the hell does anyone in this hell hole live like this?" Yuri asked. "Well, when you're in the deepest parts of the Zebhara you tend to just live out in any way possible just to stay cool you know?" "But these men are obsessed with alcohol and there is no command or control here! It's practically anarchy here!" Yuri ranted. "Who is your commanding officer!" "Well, Comrade, that would be me," the officer replied. "No fucking way are you the commanding officer here! Where's the real commanding officer?" "Well, I guess again Comrade it is me, but! I can tell you there was a commanding officer before! Yes yes, his name was... General Vernakov I believe?" The officer said. "Vernakov? As in Vernakov Vistka!? The General that led the Arabian offensive! Where the hell is he!" "Well comrade haha, funny story... He's dead." "...Dead as in, HOW!!?" "Dead as in, he was shot to death by a pedestrian, oh but don't worry sir! We killed the pedestrian, and the gang that came to avenge that one pedestrian, it took a while because well, we were drunk! But you can be sure as hell that we sent their asses to Tartarus!" Immediately Yuri found the nearest wooden pillar and repeatedly banged his bald head onto it 17 times until he found himself not unconscious but rather having a headache. Not from the pain itself though, although it was soring, but more from the ridiculousness of the structure he had found himself in. "You know what... Just-just take me to the fucking contact already!" "Right sir, come he's been expecting you." "Let's fucking hope so." As the two went downstairs to the ground level which would be the cafe grounds part of the base, there sat one man looking at the photo and chuckling, surrounding him is what is assumably contraband Preubic weapons that his men had captured in the battle of Crystal City. The officer left Yuri leaving the bald psy with another bald man. "Magnificent how a single bullet pierces the human skin, it's one of those wonders when you think that something as small as a single cockroach, could kill a man." "Quite poetic there if I may add so," Yuri complemented, pulling a chair in front of his contact. "And you must be my contact yes?" "Yevgeni Prigozhin," he introduced, extending his hand to Yuri as the two shook on it. "So Mr. Yuri, how can I be of service to you and my homeland?" "I have assumed you did have combat experience before in Zebrica, if not big with contacts to every mercenary group ever known that is against America aren't you not?" Yuri queried. "Guilty as charge my friend, say can I get a coffee with this fellow? I like him already, especially those who do their homework properly. And on time." Prigozhin paused to grab a cigarette from his front pocket and light it "Before I can disclose any further answer to any questions, however! You've yet to answer mine, how can I be of service to you?" Yuri smirked and nodded at the question. "I have just only one thing in request," Yuri said turning left and right and behind him and then leaning in close to Prigozhin. "The reward, is obtaining a head of an Alicorn." "Let's talk Payment, comrade Yuri," Prigozhin chuckled as the Coffee arrived and the two clinked them in a cheer for their cooperation. Canterlot Nights The day had turned to night, with Luna raising the moon she had been for most of the time preparing for the night when I have to sleep, although I hope I don't waste her time if this damn demon thing doesn't show up tonight in my dream. If it does though, then we could particularly be in trouble. "That should be the last of things, hopefully, I don't resort to using this," Luna added, pulling out a millennial-old sword from her sheath. "Good damn, do you always carry that around with you?" "It's not meant to take lives, it's more of in a case of dispelling any creature that intends on invading one's mind, this sword was forged and bestowed to me from those who the reminiscent of the Wendigoes had attacked, many of those creatures and their bi-spirits died to my hooves." "Uhuh... Duly Noted lemme just write that down then." Note to self: Do not piss off Luna and again, Twilight. "RIGHT! So how do we do this, how do I get to sleep in a minimum time?" "Like this." Luna then lit her horn and used her spell on me, knocking me out to sleep, and then she teleported herself into the dream world. The Southern hives The changeling Commanders from all parts of the Changeling lands were gathered in the room today for what is assumably to be the important meeting of their lives, within the room are some of the Preubic Officers who gave the 1000-yard stare at the Changelings without a particular reason as if they were nervous. "It seems our Queen is running late today," Said General Azure Lore. "Well, perhaps it's maybe because she's having to be busy! For all we know Rommel Human could be lecturing her again," assumed General Elvir Roland "Ridiculous! No one is as important as our Queen is! Even if someone is as important as they think they are!" "Maybe so, but again these humans never tell us anything, makes me wonder what these dammed creatures are planning for in the first place!" " I don't know but I just love the smell of their love terminating from their bodies!" Interfered Actia, which the human Preubic officers started sweating and blushing. "But as much as I love the smell, I haven't heard any single news on when we can launch our renewed assault on those damn ponies!" "There won't be," entered Pharynx, walking through the doorway as he sat on the opposite end of Azure where he and everyone else looked at Pharynx. "WHAT ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT!?" Pharaynx shouted, suppressing eyes as they shifted elsewhere away from Pharaynx's direction. "What's eating him all of a sudden?" Asked Lore. "You have no idea, but I'll tell you know since I'm nearly as experienced in this group, and so to catch you up on things since have been promoted recently, so not your fault, you see, apparently not long ago, his brother Thorax had been getting ideas of peace and harmony, and all that disgusting nonsense. That's why he dragged him in to be in the battle of Canterlot, although many of us were killed in that damn fight reducing our general Staff to only a handful of us, Thorax however did survive," General Roland explained. "So where is he?" Pharaynx looked at the two officers in a tense stare at the two silencing them for a moment, then when Pharaynx turned to one of the Preubic officers in disgust Azure and Elvir continued in a whisper. "Oh, now that's a nice question, not to be sarcastic, but we don't know where he is, he wasn't accounted for after the offensive army returned, and so as of recently he's considered a traitor, or a coward who ran from battle." "Ah..." It was then that a Preubic entered the room and shouted. "DER FÜHRER KOMMT AUF ALLE AUFMERKSAMKEIT!!" Immediately the entire Preubic side raised from their seats and stood attentive side by side as Rommel entered through the door along with other advisers. Two of them were war Minister Albert Speer and Government official Joseph Goebbels, they stood with the other officers, and then came Chrysalis. Chrysalis's face had been stoic, surprised, and even a mix of confusion, it was as if she had seen God just now and that this being had all the answers, to her own General's surprise even though they seemed to start noticing something different about this meeting, all high detailed, enhanced security, and even government officials they've never seen before had arrived. And then he arrived... "HEIL HITLER!" The men, generals, field Marshals, and everyone in the room who is human Preubics raise their right arm in a cultist-like salute to one man in a small black stache. The tension in the room this produced gave the Changeling Generals the jitters like never before. Even Chrysalis, who at times consider herself as a necessary evil, also wondered what she and her subjects had gotten themselves into. As the Fuhrer entered the room filled with Generals and officers from both sides and a Changeling Queen who stared at the group with tension in her eyes, he finally spoke. "Sie konnen sitzen," he demanded, as the Preubic side sat. "Ich bitte um einen Übersetzer," he requested, which the translator walked from the Preubic side and cleared his throat. "What language is he speaking?" Chrysalis asked, and the translator translated it to Hitler who jerked his head. "Was fur eine Sprache!?" He shouted. "Meine Fuhrer, ich versichere Ihnen, dass sie Respekt vor unserem Volk und seiner Armee hat, es ist so, dass sie die Grundlagen unserer Sprache nicht kennt," Rommel explained, defending her question. "Ah, ich verstehe, ich verstehe," replied Hitler, which turned to the translator and spoke, at the same time the translator repeated his words. "The Fuhrer would like to thank you for hosting this meeting between our parties, he does want you the know that he is speaking Preubic, as he would rather speak in his native tone than English to non-allies. But as a first sacred alliance between our races, he would like to offer you the title, of honorary Aryan." "Honorary Aryan you speak? What exactly is an Aryan?" Chrysalis questioned, and the translator relayed the question to Hitler and Hitler relayed his response to the translator. "The Fuhrer explained, that this title would ensure that your race is not completely wiped out in the great purge that he plans to unleash on those who are not White or those who are not superior in a way not envisioned by god. Including, deformities, disability, anyone not a human, or a non-White." " And what fashion does this place us in if I were to reject." The translator looked nervous and relayed it back to Hitler, who sternly replied without hesitation. "Are you... Sure, Mein Fuhrer?" Asked the translator, to which he nodded. "Um... Der Fuhrer has replied that if you don't respect the title and not accept it you will be... Erm... Exterminated." Immediately the Changeling Generals stared at their human counterparts in anger as they almost went buck wild to bite into their flesh like vampires, although that didn't happen because Chrysalis replied with. "Very well then I accept your title offer." The Generals looked at her silently, feeling like they just sold their souls to the devil, but in retrospect, it was more about killing those damn ponies, just not quick and painless but rather slow, torturing, pain, and agony. All in one. "So tell me," Chrysalis added. "What happens now?" Hitler attempts to speak English. "Now- - we have work- - to do." Dream World What feels like an oddity when you have literal consciousness inside your brain, is the skin-crawling feeling that I'm being watched, of course, that didn't last long when Luna appeared in the form of a white cylinder ball of magic that floated down and landed beside me. "Woah... Where are we?" I asked. "We're in the dream realm, the guardians of the night and dreams can clear the entire dream to this void we also have the power to lock anyone in their brain, though rest assured that's in case I'm happening to question them or scour inside for information," Luna explained. "So uhh... This is where most of your interrogations happen huh?" "You are correct Yates, but I can even influence this plain of existence with a question." "Well, what question should you ask?" I wondered within my literal brain. "I suggest we start with the dream this being appeared in," she said. "Great idea! Hm... I believe we should start with that one particular scene where... Well... You know." "...I know." Luna then used the magic of her two forms to turn what looked like a retro-like plain field into a forest, that same forest that I despised is the Everfree Forest, however when we did transform I found myself wearing an Eclipse Brigade uniform. "..." "What?" I asked when I looked down and saw myself wearing. "The hell..?" "I know I shouldn't be asking of you, but why Eclipse Brigade?" "I don't know. I was told to avoid it at all costs, but then again this is just my brain so anything can fucking happen around here., damn though, this is exactly the forest I've imagined Everfree to be?" "The Everfree Forest, while it may be a bit scrawny and reckless with its rapid growth, it used to be our home." "Huh, your taste of home, kind of surprised, so what killed that taste in the first place?" I asked. "You don't want to know." It was then that we heard a bush shuffling, Luna lit her horn to investigate the bush as she shoved it to the side and only found rabbits hopping around. "Scared of rabbits?" I laughed humoriously. "Oh shush! It's not my fear that I am afraid of." "I know I know! But I like to have a few laughs! Especially when we have to find the damn- HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" Immediately a ghoul flew down from the tree in a spearhead arrow blowing me and Luna away from each other, it was the shadow demon that I've talked about, the pure black darkness with red eyes. Luna rebounded and saw it running away as she shook me up from the ground. "COME ON YATES IT'S GETTING AWAY!" I quickly got up and we both gave chase to the demon as it flew and curved around the trees like water, as for me and Luna we were falling, tripping, slapped by limbs, and even the trees gained life from this demon creature and started chasing us down before we found an under toe of the cave. However, the spirit floated up to the sky and so out of anger, Luna accidentally swept the entire dream in a fit of rage, destroying the forest scenery and restoring me back to my old army uniform, though I don't really mind never liking Eclipse Brigade anyways. But what we thought was a part of the dream, the Shadow creature remained, chuckling at our foolishness as it floated down on the dream realm floor. "ATTENTION FOUL BEAST! WE ARE THE GUARDIANS OF THE DREAM WORLD AND THE NIGHT NAME YOURSELF!" Yelled and demanded the guardians of the Night, and dreams. "Uh... Yeah! Name yourself, (please)." Demanded the me and me. Even more the shadow laughed at us in a demonic chuckle and finally, it spoke. "Ṿ̸̨̝͕͉̪̺̍͂̔̈̄͗͘ẻ̶̺̕͝r̴̦͎̈́͗̌̕̕͜ͅÿ̴̜͇̫̮̱͙̖́̑̌̿̊͋̃̍͘ͅ ̵̣̟̲͕̂̅̏̏̋Ẇ̷̨̱̝̻͈̺̼̹̥̺͆̍͋̓̔̈́ẽ̶̘̩̟͓̦̣̪͛̍̚̚l̶̦͚̗̼̟̋̇̕̕l̸̡̧̬̠̱̖͇̥̳̮̿͝" The red-eyed black shadow transformed into a Blue Goat, with what seemed to be a red-neck collar, long horns, and red eyes. While to me I don't see what's so threatening about a goat. Luna on the other hand however... "N-no! That can't be! You were defeated! It was told you've been defeated! How are you alive!" Grogar chuckled at the rapid questioning princess, who looked at me dead in the eyes for a small moment before Luna caught on and formed a protective shield around me and kept a defensive posture around me. "Well, this seems like a nice introduction isn't it? This reminds me just as Megan had felt when she figured out that she was chosen to be a vessel for me." "Megan?" I asked, which Luna looked at me with widened eyes as if she knew that name. "Why yes, I assume you must be her descendent aren't you not?" "What the fuck are you talking about, WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!" I yelled. "Easy Yates," Luna calmed, staring at Grogar. "Well I guess I should provide you a context, Megan is dead, and I now live in your brain." Immediately I tried to fiercely destroy the fucking barrier that Luna had shielded around me, going all from trying to pry it open with my bare hands to banging my head on it trying to kill that fucking beast. "YOU SON OF A BITCH I WILL KILL YOU I WILL KILL YOU! LET ME THE FUCK GO LUNA! NOW!" "YATES I DEMAND YOU TO CEASE NOW OR I WILL BE FORCED TO KICK YOU OUT OF THIS REALM!" Luna threatened, which I did not fare with that threat, the fact of my mind spiraling with my Greater Grandmother being dead my rage turned to despair as I leaned inside of this fucking orb in sorrow. Luna then stared at Grogar with immense hate. "Without further interruption, I should probably give him the low down, no I did not kill Megan, she died on her own accord because her age had perceived her, the reason for my existence in his mind starts long ago." In the beginning years of this wretched planet, I ruled Equestria with an iron hoof! A proper ruler with a proper title! Emperor of Equestria! My army was monsters and the subjects were ponies! But when your elder defeated me after thinking she had destroyed my bell! She took into acceptance of being a permanent prison for me. Now you may ask, why? That's because your Wretched God wanted me to be tortured and keep an eye on, so when it was discovered that the bell was not destroyed entirely but rather recuperated back altogether, your pony warrior Gusty and her friends took my bell into Mt Everhoof! And after they parted ways with your elder Megan, it was then that your God had me chained in Megan's mind and sought to rot me in there up until her death, of course since they feared the worst once she died he granted her immortality. "And it wouldn't be long until Celestia and Luna appeared in this same realm inspecting my chains as I stared at Megan as the pony beside you and Celestia kept me in check! Hehehe WELL, NO MORE AM I CHAINED HERE! IN HERE I CAN NOW ROAM FREE TO DO WHATEVER I PLEASED!" "You son of a bitch, now I remember who you are, you're a motherfucking monster!" Grogar chuckled. "Yes yes, but now that your elder is dead, you will now have to deal with me for the rest of your life!" "That's when you are wrong Grogar!" I yelled. " Megan may have been a regular human in her time before she met my Greater Grandfather Canter, who by the way fought a fucking war just so we don't have to fear people like you! And even when he was banished like the rest of the soldiers who tried desperately to save as many lives as possible Megan carried out her mission of raising the family I have today! She may have been a Williams yes, but Canter was a Luther, and while the name is traditionally no longer existent and had been reborn into Yates you will never taunt me with your fucking magic!" Grogar sneered at what seemed to be a speech, Luna's eyes were dilated, shortly she lowered the shield and we both looked at Grogar in a glare. "Interesting speech, unfortunately, we cannot touch each other at all." "Why so," I asked. "Because Yates... If you or he touches you both will die in your brain," Luna explained. "I wouldn't mind sacrificing my life!" "I wouldn't, Yates you have a life ahead of you! Even my sister knows you can't throw it away! Not like this." As much as I like it or hate it, she was right, killing myself to kill Grogar is a gamble, for now I guess I'll stay as the secret weapon, however by what it seems the light appears in the distance of the dream realm indicating that it's almost day time. "Until we meet again, Yates," chuckled Grogar, as both me and Luna disappeared in front of him. Battle at Karnkov University "WE CAN'T HOLD OUT ANY LONGER SIR! THEY'RE BOMBARDING US!" Shouted an Arkanistan soldier, as he fired an RPG at a T-72 detaching its entire turret off its chassis in an explosion. Hours after the uprising military forces from Alania marched into combat with the newly provided guns supported by Rodinian T-72s that treaded the streets of a ruined city. Within that same hour, the rebellion was quickly dismantled by the roars of the Soviet army. "Commander Frostbite!" Said a snow pony artillery gunner, as artillery dusted the snowed-in streets. "Colonel Water Fish! What's the status on the war front!" Asked Commander Frostbite. "We've got them all held up at this school sir! Most of their supposed captures had been taken by our Soviet allies! But they have civilians inside and they may hold them hostage!" "We can't risk civilian lives, but we could try to send a force-" "Commander Frostbite." The radio spoke. "Commander Frostbite do you hear!" The Snow Pony commander grabbed the radio and replied. "Frostbite here." "Your unit has been ordered to withdraw at once!" Ordered the Snowpony general. "W-what? Why?" Asked Frostbite. "I cannot provide, but you and your forces must get out of there now!" "...Acknowledged." Replied Frostbite as she placed the radio in her saddlebags and started packing. "Relay the order, we're leaving now!" Moskva After departing from Klugetown Yuri and Prigozhin entered the Kremlin where he is presented to the Red Mother as the new architecture of the new Paramilitary corps. "Congratulations Yuri, you've accomplished the mission and made it up for the previous failures," the Red Mother praised. "It is my pleasure Our Red Mother," Yuri replied. "As for you Yevgeni Prigozhin, we've noted your skills in the battle of the Crystal City and I like to congratulate you as well for your actions." "A great honor Our Red Mother," replied Prigozhin. "Now without any more stalling, you will be taken by our gentlemen Captain Putin to help you with your recruitment drive, you may leave," insisted the Red Mother, as Prigozhin left with Vladimir Putin out of the room. "I assume you've been waiting for your reward yes?" She asked. "As I've been Red Mother, I've waited for this moment ever since I was introduced to it." "...I will need to note to you Yuri, you do have the chance to leave this life and start a new one, you do have that choice, but I cannot guarantee that you will return to my lands if you agree to the mission I will grant, because once you do, you have free range to do whatever you desire and anything you do will not be traced back to us." "In other words Red Mother?" "You and whoever you hired to help you, will be on your own. And officially you would no longer be a Rodinian army intelligence, now you may be welcomed back to my land, but once you accept this mission, you cannot go near government buildings or any association with any officer of military personnel." "I accept this proposal, Red Mother." "...Very well... Your mission in Equestria is to soften its infrastructure, sabotage any operation that goes against us, and if you need to, you are given free rein to take a life. And most importantly as your last target, destroy Twilight Sparkle and her Friends, if they exist when an eventual revolution breaks out, they will be a threat. Take Starlight's town for example." "It shall be done, My Red Mother, but what about the revolt?" "Don't worry... It'll all be over soon." Canterlot After waking up from that dramatic experience I sat down on the chair in the dining hall sitting on it depressed as I laid my head between my folded arms on top of the table as Luna prepared coffee for the both of us. She didn't know what to say about this at all, the sheer fact that a being now lived in my head caused her alarm and worry, things got worse when a royal guard entered the dining hall. "Your Highness, a letter from the Crystal Empire." Luna received the letter and opened it, she was surprised as the letter was not from Cadence or Shining Armor, it was from Patton. She was saddened and turned towards me. "...Yates... You're Greater Grandfather Canter... He's... Dead." I gave no response, at this point, I merely had nothing in my mind other than desolation of dread. Luna said nothing, instead, she trotted over to me and kept me comforted. Megan was gone, Canter was gone, my innocence, and my spirit... Was gone... There was nowhere left for me to do... All is desolate... But at least I have someone with me right now, that can mourn with me. Divica village 10 miles away from war site After successfully withdrawing from the ruined city all units had been evacuated, Commander Frostbite however stares at the distance in confusion, wondering why they had to leave the city in a hurry. "This is Commander Frostbite, we've left the city entirely," reported the commander. "How many miles have you went?" Asked the General. "About 8 miles away I think, why's that?" "Because-" Immediately the radios from a radius were cut off and short-circuited followed by a bright flash of light some looked away for a mere moment until the light died off and in its place, a mushroom cloud that sent shock through everyopnes spines. If they had stayed in that university they would've certainly been dead... But to their horror when they realized that there were civilians still in the city. Everyone is horrified... Horrified that the Rodinians had just Dropped a Nuclear bomb on their own nation... This nuclear bomb has destroyed everything in its path, obliterating the entire town just miles away from them. Within minutes the Mushroom cloud died down, and everyone was quickly given Anti-Radiation pills, suits, and gas masks as orders had just come back after the radios were back online to return to the epicenter and start searching for survivors. Unfortunately... By the time the main Rodinian army itself arrived the entire population in that nuked-out town... Were dead... By the thousands... What seemed to be an average uprising turned nuclear, and the world would soon realize that the age of medevial fighting has now run its course, with the waves of modernization sweeping the world into the new age. A Carbined Age...
The New World \| Millennium	Heaven	Canter woke up in what seemed to be on a pearl path road surrounded by clouds and golden light, surrounded by what seemed to be a choir of angels singing beautifully. It was then that he saw Megan, given a white dress and a young look like she used to have. They didn't speak, instead, they ran towards each other and hugged each other in a reunion. The years that they've missed they can now spend for the rest of eternity together. No words were given out the entire time at least until an angel appeared had came to escort the two to the gates of Heaven. The two didn't turn back, because they've got each other. All these two can wish for now is best of luck for their family as they entered the pearly gates of eternal rest. > Operation Valiko: Gauntlet of Fire I wouldn't tell what was worst up to this point. But what I would hear the next day would be worst. Torch Seas, 0353 hours In the nighttime hours a secret export was ongoing at a military exchange very high level, so high level that talking about it would be, according to Rodinia, 'a federal offense' (sentence is death by the way) the warden of this top secret export is named Major Kurzakhev Yurtazv, he's often refer to the men as: "The Hawk? You can't be serious!" Chuckled a drunken Rodinian Sailor. "So what is it, some sort of Hosean bird title given to him? And for what?" "I believe it's happened to do with the amount of ground to air shots he made when using a stinger, some say he once shot down an F-14 before!" Said some other sailor. "That is absurd!" Rebutted the sailor. "How could he possibly shoot down high-flying objects with rockets that are at this rate useless!" "Perhaps you're right," entered the Major, wielding a machete around like a baton. "Heaven knows who has been telling these stories haven't they not?" The two sailors astounded and solidified in their spots stood stiff in fear as their commanding officer stared both of them dead in the eyes and their souls as the sober sailor whispered to his drunk friend. "Do you think he heard us?" "I. Can. Still. Hear you sailor!" The Major growled, leaning in closer to the sober sailor's face with intent of murder on his face, his breath can be felt and smelt by the sailor as his eyes widened in fear for his life. "I apologize sir, but am I intruding on something?" Asked a Rodinian Sergeant. "No, no you aren't, I was just about to show them a little 7 letter word." He fiddled a bit with his machete before slicing in a blink of an eye, the beard off of the drunk sailor and the other's trousers off which revealed his boxers, turning them sober immediately. "Respect your damn officers, and stop gossiping over me and get back to work and get the fuck out of my sight!" "YES MAJOR SIR!" They both shouted as they dashed away to their posts as one of them tripped over their loosened pants leaving the Major with the Sergeant. "Now," reiterated the Major. "What is it you want Sergeant?" "Major sir, command deck wishes to recall you back from your off-duties," the Sergeant relayed. "Oh?" Queried the Major, once again fiddling with his Machete. "What's so urgent?" "Well-" Immediately without warning alarms blared like crazy flashing red in a loud alarm as the men got out of their beds, sleep benches, and the deck to scrambled off the and head for their stations, the Sergeant looked around in surprise, while the Major looked around in confusion. "MAJOR WHAT'S GOING ON!" Shouted a sailor. "I don't know sailor, that's something I should be asking him!" the Major turned towards the Sergeant and he explained. "We've detected life signatures headed right for our fleet! It's an unidentified life form but we believe it-" Immediately a dragon dived bombed the ship shooting its flames onto the hull as the wood became melted hot and inflamed, after burning its hot manga on the deck it charged at the Sergeant who stood frozen in fear before being grabbed in the nose mid-air and struggled with the Major, who quickly put an end to the fight by jabbing his Machete into the dragon's guts, killing it almost instantly. The Major stood up, covered in blood and some guts hanging on his arms as he turned towards the Sergeant and threw it's intenstinialorgans at him causing both the Sergeant and the sailor to vomit. "Dragons..." He snared, as he looked up at the night sky to see it filled to the brim with body outlines with dragons, not much of an army of them no doubt a squad size, all because he could only count to around 10 or 8 bodies, he then grabbed the Sergeant grabbed the neck collar, slapped him in the gave and yelled. "Get your fucking senses together and have the men go on high alert, NOW!" The Major ordered, as the Sergeant ran to the bottom decks only to be shortly killed by a massive explosion that seemed to have been caused due to a gas leakage in which case the fire breath from the attacking dragons lit the fuse. "Son of a bitch,0I'M TAKING FIRM AND ABSOLUTE COMMAND! SHOOT THOSE MOTHERFUCKING BASTARDS OUT OF THE SKY!" The Major shouted, as within minutes the Anti-Air flak guns had now started to lit the skies with explosive shells and machine gun ammo, the destroyer escort ships followed suit firing heavy mm canons and their own flak cannons at the sky in a desperate defense. Back at the other side of the transport ship the Soviet men who are cut off from any flak weapon went desperate on the surrounding side and so they resorted to using firearms one of them used the flag of Rodinia as a spear poking it at the dragon's underbelly while in some way giving moral to the living men as the flag waved. It wasn't much though because of the scales that the dragons had on them the bullets bounced off of their bodies, although exceptionally the AA guns can blow those scales open it's that an additional follow-up round would be needed to kill the dragon instantly. Eventually, though he would feel some blood rain from the sky, but that wasn't dragon blood, but rather the blood of the dead crew officers who limped over outside the command deck windows. "God almighty," he said to himself when suddenly the dragons dived and attacked the ship again this time not sparing no mercy as they roasted the men alive in flames, and destroyed the command deck further. It was then that when the Major noticed the fires had now enraged and almost consumed half of the ship he quickly ran inside the ship, down the deck, however, all he was met was the cold icy waters as the water filled the internal hull of the ship. It would seem that not even metal was spared from the inferno of flames, though this didn't surprise him because dragons are magically capable of melting anything in their paths, which includes even the hardest of stones like diamonds. But when he found himself dragged into the water by the increasing current he pushed forward pushing away the bodies of the dead men that now floated inside of this odd water world inside of the ship. It wasn't far and distant when he reached the storage room where he would enter the restricted room that contained the secret package. Nuclear Missiles. After the events of Arkanistan the nation of Stalliongrad had given Rodinia 'permission' to ship the missiles on their soil in case of war with Equestria in which the targets, ranging from Canterlot, Crystal City, Manehatten, and Ect. In a war to deter and possibly extinguish Equestria's superpower status entirely. This shipment was not the only one heading to Stalliongrad as separate shipments have also gone the other directions, each shipment contained about 5 missiles all loaded with a Uranium Nuclear Warhead. It is armed the moment the shipment is attacked, however, even though the Major wasn't supposed to survive he manages to pry the sealed door open using the machete he still has with him. After entering he quickly entered the jettison code and the bottom bay doors opened dropping the armed missiles down through from the metal weight they carry. Kurzakhev swammed under below the bay doors and swam up to the surface within a quick and close call timing as he neared his breath being taken, but finally, after bursting the surface he quickly swam from the burning transport and grabbed on tight the floating debris. The Destroyer escorts had been damaged but not too badly but unfortunately they failed to defend the transport as it sunk into the depths of the ocean. As Kurzakhev was assisted by the crew of the Rodinian Naval Ship (RNS)-Sickle he looked at the oil smeared into the ocean like chalk as it continued to burn. But the Major's eyes, were twice as in flamed as they seek to have their revenge for this attack. Canterlot, 1340 hours I was at this point miserable, but I couldn't stay in the castle without the presence of either Alicorn princess who had decided that traveling to Ponyville was the best for their usual agenda, so when Celestia came back from Griffonia she gave no expression about my loss and just left with Luna to there. Talk about the nerve of the two, they said no peep about my fucking hardship at all and the fucking fact that I'm having to stay on duty without going off base just so my friend, Gold Star, didn't have to be disturbed. I sighed at this writing, but it is true, I feel like I'm alone, for years in my time of service I've been with others who knew me, but that was the navy, even if I had come used to the men back at base grounds even then they still looked at me like I'm some sort of stranger to them. I don't know, I guess relevance has gone from me, then again I expected less from my ancestors, one of these days my one thousand times greater grandfather Luther was eventually going to be no longer any knowledge in anyone's eyes. Then again it's all for the better... I guess... But, as I sat on the steps of the castle writing this I decided that since it's merely deserted, more likely because it's the weekends of course, I helped myself out and headed to my Humvee that I drove here with. But on another note, I guess it's ironic that the moment Grandma Megan died is when her husband whom she had loved these years died as well, I guess you could say that was the end of the Crystal-Human war generation for us it would seem. And then there's Grogar... After all this time, I was told a story when I was young, ironically it was from Megan, about her adventures of helping ponies in this same land that I stand on, it would all seem so tangled in mystery, but when I put it this way I would take an understanding. Basically within Centuries when America gained independence and before she ever met Canter, Grogar ruled southern parts of Equestria, enslaving those under his iron hooves and using his army of monsters to enslave them, Princesses Luna and Celestia, along with Firefly, Misty, and the others had fought alongside Megan in the battle of Canterlot when Grogar tried to cease it for his "empire." Of course, his defeat wasn't until his bell was crumpled and he was banished to the dark realm, however after his banishment, the Bewitching bell placed itself back together into one piece as it was before it was supposedly shattered, so Misty sacrificed her life to travel up to mount Everhoof to hid it where no one can find it. And it would only be days later when Grogar was sentenced by the Creator to be imprisoned in Megan's mind in chains. And of course, she was given eternal life. But good God... Why me? Out of everyone in this fucking world why did it have to be me? I mean, I guess I won't know... Unless I ask... No! I will not ask that bastard, not after the shit he's done. But then again, it wouldn't hurt to ask only, one question... Ponyville, 1348 Gold Star was outside of the castle, funnily enough, he had found a bar although unlike me who is currently in a state of existential crisis, he was just there to see what the whole commotion was about, so when he entered the bartender was... ... Was he serious... "Why hello there sir! How may we help you with today!" Said Flim, wiping the inside of a glass beer bottle. "Huh, should've known you guys were still around here, say wait a minute? Did I not just see you aid the enemy when we were fighting the fucking mercenary army in Crystal City?" He interrogated, which Flim sweated a bit before his brother Flam came and interjected. "Of course we did good sir! But look it was a misunderstanding because you see we kept being chased around by Ms. Applejack, you know her?" "Yeah I know Applejack, in fact, she told me a lot about you two, I'm kind of surprised you're even running this bar under her scope?" Gold Star looked around curiously, as while it was packed to the brim with tough stallions who came to gamble, play, and drink their lives away Gold Star then noticed something he hadn't seen in a while. "How the hell did you get a working TV on Equestrian soil?" "We have our ways!" Chuckled Flim. "Might as well be a speakeasies, but you know what, this is practically not my problem I should probably just leave it up to whoever the element shows up here, might as well just get a shot." "Right oh sir! And what shall it be!" "Alcohol." "Alch- Alcho- wait... Did he just say?" Questioned Flam. "Yeah?" "Did you say Alcohol?" Questioned Flim. "...Yeah?" The two stared at each other immensely and yelled. "FINALLY SOMEPONY TO SELL ALCOHOL TO!" "...Heh?" Flim grabbed the shot and poured in the booze while Flam tended to the other customers who wanted the usual non-alcoholic cider. After receiving his drink Gold Star noticed something peculiar with the news. As it had been reported, a dragon attack has prompted Rodinian denunciation and unconfirmed reports of military build-up in Saddle Arabia and naval forces dispatched to the Dragon Isles. Gold Star shook his head at this petty media shit. [color=#e6c5a4 ]"I guess they ran out of content to report on ey?" He chuckled, sipping his entire shot, and then leaving a bit on the counter. "Keep the change," he said, but the Flim and Flam brothers were too busy to notice so Gold Star left the money on the counter and left out of the bar room. * * * After leaving the bar room he noticed that it wasn't that far from its original grand opening date, on his way from the bar room and back to strolling around town mapping it out in his mind as he continued further Rarity, carrying a glowing small dragon name Spike, dashed right passed him towards the castle. Of course, as it looked like one of those adventures he would most likely not be involved in, he carried on his trot when he received a phone call. "Gold Star here," he answered. "Gold Star," Alex repeated. "Ah, Alex how's it going?" "Not pleasant... I can't seem to get ahold of Yates lately," Alex said. "What do you mean? Where has he been?" "He went to Canterlot and stayed there for a while, he's supposed to be coming back and-" Immediately Alex noticed my Humvee pulling through the gate as I conversed with the MP and explained where I'd been for a while. "Nevermind he's back I'll see you within 3 days." The phone was hung up and Gold Star rolled his eyes in an unsurprised expression. The town used to be a place he could hang around at, but after Tirek he had been seen as more of an occupier by some folks than as a fellow pony denizen, though this wasn't their fault or his, they are concerned that after showing the brutality of their [the American] strength they've feared of having that same strength turned against them. What didn't help was the fact of the evening patrols. Gold Star heard the treadmills every 12, 3, 6, and even 9 o clock times of soldiers patrolling the town to keep things in order, the goal that Alex had in mind was to remind them that they were in "good hands by their American friends" but instead the absolute opposite happened to be that every time Gold Star sees a Bradley he would see a Mare shield two foals in distress when they pass. If Eskamoe was right, if Gold Star was to be in command of the base in place of Alex, the first thing to do is get rid of these fucking patrol schedules and revamp the extensive use of heavy vehicles with something less noisy, less intimidating, smaller, and less armed. (Except for having at least a TOW missile attachment on the back.) However what's really going on in his mind is the sheer fact that he has been merely a backup guy rather than a caretaker, he hasn't started his assignment but what would the point be if he is just going to be the base commander, but you know, he's more of a type that feels that his style of action is rare. At least that is what he was thinking before... "Hey partner!" Applejack said, walking towards him. "Twilight asked if you may like to assist her somewhere." "Assist her as in?" "I guess you could mighty say an adventure of a sort if you're up to it of course?" "About fucking time!" Gold Star yelled. "Also have you been noticing something odd around here-" Before Gold Star can answer he already run off back to the castle, leaving Applejack with annoyed obvious eyes. "Just like RD..." The Kremlin, Moskva, Rodinia, 1400 hours The Rodinian media broadcasters across the country gathered up in the press room of the Kremlin waiting attentively for the response on the incident that occurred on the coast of the Dragon lands. What seemed to be secret had now become a public hotspot as waves of media migrated from all over the Rodinian sectors to hear what would be the fate of those who had attacked the transport. The reason for such attention is because of the fact that the Red Mother and her General advisory have hinted at intense repercussions for the attack which stirred the media to theorize what the response could be while also debunking each other's theory like a rocket race to see who is right. Their answer would be answered within minutes, as the palace guards ceremoniously marched over to the entrance doors in the back as an opening was made by the crowd of media people, the doors opened and the Red Mother and her Generals walked through them. Now of course, since it's a pseudo dictatorship the media people clapped their hands upon the entrance of their supreme leader of the Soviets worldwide. Following her entrance was the anthem of Rodinia as the music played in the background while she walked through the red carpet greeting her fellow people and shaking hands with them, finally she walked to the podium going up the steps leading to it, the podium was detailed quite nicely, with a usual brown texture wood with the star of Soviet pride enticed on the top. Finally, there was silence with the music, and then after the media stood attentively with the knowledge of the Elephant in the room they watched as the Red Mother got her papers together and her glasses on, and after folding them she finally spoke. "Greetings to all the workers of the Soviet Republic of Rodinia, to give an analogy and an update of what has happened, hours ago our ships were on their way to deliver food for the Stalliongradian ponies that had still been affected severely by the recently imposed sanctions on their country as we have seen a sudden uptick in food shortages In danger levels leading what could be a famine, our men did their best to defend the ship but unfortunately they have been sunk leaving only a dozen survivors who managed to swim into one of the nearby destroyers present in the escort." The media murmured while some looked at the speech emotionful while some were angered by what the dragons did to their people delivering the food for helpless ponies. But the problem was that they didn't realize at all that this was all satire, as you may remember that the shipment had nukes, not grain. "Now as the prime leader of the established government, me and my Generals had found some... Alternatives to avoid war," the Red Mother said, this was followed by heckling from the crowd as she embraced the grand sounds of anger towards the species that attacked the Rodinian ships. "But after examining we have come to find that there will be no peace with the Dragons, and as we speak, we have already begun drilling for a full-blown military operation on the Dragon lands." Immediately the crowd blew up with questions along with some cheering and war chanting from the citizens of Rodinia as each reporter rushed to get answers, eventually, the Red Mother pointed at the Rodinian Telegraph News person. "Mrs. Mother, what would the goal be for the operation?" Asked the reporter. "We have yet to discuss this, but I will assure you that we will target those responsible for the attack, we've yet to discuss their fates in this regard." The Oval Office, the White House, Washington City As Reagan watched this unfold in front of his television the advisors looked sweaty, the president leaned forward on his reclining chair with a disturbed impressive expression. "Hmph... Do you think she'll go through with this?" Reagan asked. "Well, sir I-" "Yes or No," Reagan demanded. "...Yes sir," answered the advisor, as Reagan leaned back at the response and sighed. "Alright, I want an immediate military briefing, and order Admiral Hughes to withdraw all naval assets away from those waters, and have all shipping lanes that go through there to recalculate travel distance," Reagan orders. "Is that necessary sir?" Asked another advisor. "Do you want to sit back and watch our own people in ships sink?" Reagan questioned. The advisors gave no response as Reagan raised his chin up. "That's what I thought you would say, for now in the midst of this I want my generals to organize battle battalions on standby and transfer our Special Forces from Whinnypolis to our Zebrican bases in Maregypt." "And what about the 105th sir? It's still based in Equestria," asked one of the advisors. "They'll be on standby as well, just they won't ship out, not unless we actually need them, do know that we are still in the process of our diplomatic mission in Ponyville and I do not want that especially interrupted," Reagan replied. "Of course sir." Ponyville So to explain the situation, Spike and Rarity had been digging for gems and jewels when Spike caught what seems to be glowing recall syndrome or GRS, basically dragons occasionally would have this happen to them when a major event occurs and of course, while Equestria may be a bit familiar with this and sees it as incurable unless the dragon goes to the lands, in America the dragons are given a pill upon entering the country which wavers if not exterminate communication waves entirely from there to the Dragon Lord. Of course, Torch being known to be a pissy bitch, tried to demand to America to stop serving these pills to newcomers, obviously because of the reminder of the Human-Dragon war in 324 BLB, they would just be silenced or dismissed entirely. Of course, the problem is that it's only within American territory, and in Equestria, they have no such remedies. So what happened next was well, a balloon ride. Gold Star, Rarity, Twilight, and Spike are inside the balloon floating from Ponyville and heading toward the Dragonlands, before their departure Gold Star did pack some things. A pistol, survival kits, flare gun, and radio pack. And uh... Oh and a fucking M82 Barret Sniper rifle that he happened to stop by our base for because for some fucking reason he left the assault Rifles in the dirt of Bales city so the Colonel wasn't all too happy about this, as for me I didn't fucking care because while he was picking his shit up I've been drinking away of my life. But that's a time for its own chapter. But after packing his things which surprisingly didn't weigh the hot air balloon all too much, the four were on their way to the dragon lands. But to one dismay, Spike was not enjoying himself as he continually scratched himself all over. "Damn," Gold Star said. "I know dragons are a bit annoyed with the glowing but isn't this a bit too much?" "Apparently it has something to do with the chemistry of the dragon scales, you see while he's younger he could experience things with an unanswered dragon call, like rash, scabbing, scraping, oh and in some cases permanent skin damage!" "Not helping!" Spike scolded. "Sorry, I was interested in the notes about dragon anatomy, you know how they mope, brood, oh and in some cases get very-" "Woah woah woah!" Gold Star interrupted. "He's too young to know all that stuff, save the rest when he's older, besides I'm trying to get a good signal here." "Signal? In the middle of nowhere!?" Rarity scoffed. "Now is not a good time to be playing music when we're heading to the land devoid of any decency!" "Relax, this isn't for music, it's for communication," Gold Star assured. "More like a petty waste of time!" "Waste of time? Would you rather be stranded on a fucking island in case this thing falls from the sky or would you rather have a contingency in case it does happen?" Rarity raised her hoof in a disagreeing tone before dropping it and rethinking her words. "Good, now lemme see about this damn thing." "How old is that radio system?" Twilight asked. "Ehh... I could say very old, the 70s or 80s, take it or leave, though not as good as the SINCGARS radio system, now that thing can reach distances like none before." " So why didn't you take that instead!" Rairty complained, which Gold Star raised his hoof but then realized the probability of her question. "Okay so I was not pretty smart there I'll give you that, but! There's some slight chance it can still work... Maybe..." It was suddenly then that the radio sprung into life with static followed by blotted-out voices. "Hah! It worked!" Gold Star squandered. "Barely," Rarity rolled her eyes, as she tended to Spike scratching himself. "Hey just because this piece of history is old doesn't mean it's unusable! Just... Need patience that's all," Gold Star reasoned. "Patience is one thing, but how do you even know that we'll even have anypony here that can listen to this noise machine!" Rarity pointed. "There should be an American fleet below us, although not one of those with a carrier, it does have helicopters to pick us up in case-" Immediately the static turns into pure Rodinian voices as their language is heard. "Внимание, неопознанный корабль, развернитесь сейчас или вас перехватят!" Warned the Rodinian Pilot. "Uh..." "What in Celestia's name is that sound?" Rarity asked when suddenly a SU-35 zoomed right passed the balloon followed up came two more SU-35s forming a squadron. "Я СКАЗАЛ ОБЕРНИСЬ, ЧЕРТ ВОЗЬМИ, ПОСЛЕДНЕЕ ПРЕДУПРЕЖДЕНИЕ!" Yelled the Rodinian pilot, as one of the SU-35s positioned itself behind the balloon in a harrier position, which in a quick motion Gold Star tried to signal the pilots with the radio. "This is Major Gold Star of the American armed forces, disengage now! You are in violation of Article 105, paragraph 1 of the League of Nations charter! Stand down or you could face consequences!" Gold Star warned, to which the pilot replied. "Или что?" Questioned the Rodinian pilot, which Gold Star was a bit deadpanned. "От Сокола до базы хорьков, у нас есть воздушный шар, который не подчиняется, запрашивая разрешения на полет." Gold Star could overhear the chatter, and from what he could understand they might end up shooting them down, so immediately he quickly gathered the materials and stuffed them in his backpack, he also grabbed and turned off the radio and then turned towards the two ponies. "This is where we fucking stop!" He said. "What? Why?" Twilight asked when she saw that one of the jets was about to target their balloon. "Понял, разрешение дано, сбивайте их." Replied Ferret base "Nevermind! SPIKE RARITY JUMP!" She yelled. "ABANDON BALLOON!" "Wha-what-" Immediately Twilight grabbed Rarity and Spike and jumped off the Balloon, Gold Star followed suit as the SU-35s opened fire at the air balloon popping it and destroying the carriage, all the while the four were all in full free fall when Twilight got her wings to balance out with the wind, and Gold Star pulling the pin on his parachute. They both dived down Twilight grabbed Spike, and Rairty grabbed onto Gold Star's leg for her dear life and she held it tight as the two went down. "Feel glad I brought something more useful than that radio huh?" Gold Star chuckled. "Y-yep... C-c-couldn't a-agree m-m-m-more!" Stuttered Rarity, as the four landed on the ground which happened to be their destination, Gold Star unhoisted his parachute. "You can let go of me now..." "Oh right of course!" Rarity acknowledged, releasing her grip from Gold Star's neck. "Well, so much for a peaceful travel," Twilight said as she and Spike looked up at the sky where the SU-35s flew around like vultures looking for their kill. "Where did those guys come from?" Spike asked as the sight of jets seemed to have made him forget about his glow and itch. "I don't know, I haven't seen the Rodinian people as this aggressive before, never have I seen them do that?" Twilight questioned. "I mean we did before remember?" Spike reminded. "Right, but that was when they used helicopters, this time is different, I have a feeling they're preparing for something I just can't my hoof on just why," she questioned to herself. "Not to interrupt your guessing game, but I think we better move before they find out that we're not dead, and will try to swoop up on us like hawks to the rat." " Agreed, as much as I love the scenery of what is left of good in this terrible rocky place, I'd rather live to see more beauty than let it this be my last," Rarity expressed, which Spike nodded to that motion. "Well then, let's keep going, for the best anyways," Twilight said, as the group now started moving into the volcano region of what would be the meeting point of the dragon clans. The four made their way out of the hostile territory and away from the watchful view of the SU-35s which had by now flown away from the crash site and back to their earlier patrols. Of course, it wouldn't be long until they subsequently found the meeting place of the dragons from all edges of the volcanic lands, of course, there was one thing, they are considered to be very hostile towards ponies, and at any sight of them by a dragon, they would not hesitate to murder. Twilight had taken this to account in her own mind, so she quickly grabbed a sizable rock from a cliff, blew the insides of it out with her magic, and she had made a rock disguise. "Nice, I guess you and Rarity will have no trouble at all hiding from the dragons," Gold Star said, as he opened his travel pack and started rummaging into it. "What about you? I could always make another one that can fit you?" Twilight asked. "No need, out here I like to be stealthy, don't worry I can hide myself just fine out here," Gold Star reassured, as he pulled out a Ghullie blanket which instead of it being leaves and moss, it's pure rocks and pebbles. "Well good luck with that," Rarity expressed. As the three split off from Gold Star, he took the time to go to a high vantage point, it was a hard climb though, but it did have a lot of edges where he could grip on so he slid his rifle onto his back and hoisted his pistol and then he started climbing up the mountain, it was tall yes, but also a treacherous climb with the ground looking like it shrunk from his view. After about half an hour later he got to the top and covered himself right after grabbing his binoculars from his kit and looking down at Twilight, Rarity, and Spike's position, and it wasn't long before more and more dragons landed. However, a group of these dragons took notice of Spike and approached him, causing a surge of panic in Gold Star, but was quickly suppressed by a sudden wave of calm and assurance. Instead, he overhears the conversation developing between the Red Dragon and Spike. "Well well well! If it isn't our old friend Sparkle Warkle!" The Red dragon mocked. "It's Spike..." Replied, well you know, Spike. The three broke out in a peal of laughter in a sway of further mock. "Are you sure your pony friends didn't give you a pony name!" "It's nice to see you too, Garble." "Damn what a bitch." "I DIDN'T SAY IT WAS NICE TO SEE YOU!" Garble aggravatingly responds. "It is not! I DON'T. LIKE YOU!" He then pushed Spike onto the ground and then proceeded to jump on the disguise which quickly alarmed Gold Star as he nearly pulled out the M82 before realizing that if he loses it, everyone dies, so he instead stood down but unbearably watched the bitch continue. "Was I not clear about that?" In a short burst of panic, Spike quickly yelled out. "Hey! That's my rock!" "Oooh? If you want it then come try to-" But before he could answer dragon Lord Torch arrived in the area, presenting his terrifying presence to the entire crowd of dragons as they watched in awe even to Twilight and Rartiy's view they were in shock at his size. However, he wasn't there just to show off how big he is, instead, it's- "It is time for me to step down, sad I know." ...Yeah a retirement, that type of announcement. Of course, no one gave any reaction until. "BE SAD!" Immediately everyone was sad with crocodile tears while Spike stood amidst the confusion while everyone was just following what the soon-to-be retired dragon lord was doing. So yeah, he was one of those types of dragon lords. Which then he continued. "THIS IS WHY I HAVE SUMMONED YOU ALL! TO COMPETE FOR THE THRONE! FOR THE GAUNTLET OF FIRE!" And surprisingly without command, the entire crowd broke out in a cheer and excitement as they murmured their agenda's on what they'd do if they became dragon lord. "WHOMEVER HAS THE STRENGTH AND FORTITUDE TO RETRIEVE THIS BLOODSTONE SCEPTOR FROM THE HEART OF THE FLAME CANO! WILL BE CROWNED!" "LORD OF THE DRAGONS!" He then flicked the scepter into the volcano like a piece of a toothpick and continue to ramble on, but to spare you his useless chit-chat, be tough, strong, all that shitty muscle talk nonsense. (Gees just like my gym teacher...) Eventually, every dragon left the rocky mountains and went to the edge of the cliff near the coast of Torch Mountain, Gold Star breached his cover and approached the three by sliding down the mountain. "Are you two alright? Looked a bit claustrophobic in there," Gold Star asked, setting aside his rifle and helping the two out of the ruined disguise. "I never thought he never got off us! I almost blew our cover!" Rarity ranted to herself. "Gee, I wish I knew why," Gold Star sarcastically replied, which earned him a bit of a stink eye from Rarity, while the two were at it with their throats like two pit bulls in the alleyway Spike was concerned and Twilight as well. "I don't like it Twilight, did you see how aggressive they are?" Spiked asked. "I have a bad feeling about what they're planning, but if I have to assume then..." The two fell silent for a minute, (minus the argument in the background between the army Grunt and the Dress Fashionista) they knew what would happen if one of these new generational dragons were to wield that gauntlet, for instance, one of these said winners could spark a total ethnic war on Equestria jumpstarting ages of war and undone centuries of peace. The last time Ponies and Dragons were at each other's throat was in 567 ALB when former Dragon Lord, Spartacus, was nearly assassinated by an unaffiliated pony member of the EUP, the said assassin was actually working for the Eclipse Brigade, you know, during the time when this group waged an entire economical war against Equestria, well this triggers a one to two-year war before Celestia managed to acquire evidence, with the help of the civilian class, and convinced the Dragon Lord that it was America who staged the war, of course when the Dragons offered a coalition treaty against America Celestia rejected, and so when the Dragons attacked American shipments. It didn't end well, they were slaughtered, and the Dragon Lord was killed later on in a retaliatory strike by F-4 Harriers in 571 which gave weight to Dragon Lord Torch. Eventually thinking about what could happened fried both of their brains and made them shutter at another mass casualty event, but there was all but one solution... "I have to be the one to win the challenge, I have to win the gauntlet!" Spike declared, which caught both Rarity and Gold Star out of their argument. "WHAT!?" "Um... Are you really sure you wanna do that?" "What other choice do we have? If any of those dragons were to possess the gauntlet it could spell doom for the pony race!" "Actually it'd be more like dragon extinction, but I see your point here." "Right!" "There has to be another way it's too dangerous, and if you do win you would have to stay here!" Twilight made a point which so happened to gut Gold Star in the organs, by now he and Spike had actually gotten some sort of bond, almost familial in some way, but if he has to stay here so that a fucking extermination war doesn't start this could have downsides and good sides, the downside being he's a child and he's got the tendency of not knowing what to do, on the bright side America and Equestria could have a new ally and repair broken bonds damaged 500 years ago, especially at a time when Soviet armed forces are operating in and out off and on the continental boundaries, and the expanding influence as to add on. "I know, but there is no other way to keep my friends safe," Spike added, while Twilight and Rarity saw no other option, Gold Star could somewhat see another, he remembered that during the meeting he had a peek at Princess Ember, who seems more simple-minded than the other dragons. Although it would seem Torch had forbade her from racing because of her royal title, which sounds a bit sexist, she seems to have the guts to do it anyway, regardless of what her father says and if she did race he would not be surprised. "Well if you're staying to compete then we're staying to cheer you on!" Spike took that to heart, Gold Star the other hand could see a disaster unfolding from this. Speaking of disaster... Northern Arabia, Soviet Airbase Latakia With the increasing bolster of Soviet forces, equipment by the thousands had begun approaching, however, sitting in the command room as the meeting was ongoing was the Major. After having to scuttle the transport ship he was reassigned from top secret operations to a full-blown military operation that aimed to destroy and flatten the mountains and to reduce the lands into chaotic rubble, why he was promoted to this rank is unknown, but it most likely since he and the other men survived the attack to tell the tale and was probably offered vengeance. Stabbing his machete into the wooden table the military leaders of this operation had been planning and pinpointing areas. "In the north here in the Dragon lands according to our patrol ships, is the most exposed part of the lands, no dragons are present and we have an absolute advantage with the terrain, for this the 30th and 63th motor armor brigades will take the beach head there, and here, using the finest of Rodinian technology these forces will be using the Ekranoplans for the landing," the General Boris Gromov paused to allow the officers and commanders to take brief notes before continuing. "With the North secured the 10th and 42nd Airborne divisions, along with additional air support from Badger squadron, will land in the center, and the South to disrupt communications and silent kill anyone within the operational radius to keep silent on our movement, both the North and Southern Armies may then proceed to move along the dragons and then." "General Gromov, may I like to add something?" Asked Major Yurtazv. "Of course, ask away Major," replied the General. "What equipment are we using for this operation just come to wonder?" "Didn't you receive the memo, Major?" Questioned the General. "Unfortunately sir, I prefer going off the grid than looking at screens, it's not that healthy comrade," the Major reasoned. "Hm... Very well then I guess that's somewhat excusable, sort of, but due to the scales of the dragons the Red Mother has authorized the deployment of her personal army division, the 136th Guards motor rifle division, equipped with the finest armor, from the regular fashion T-90s to the champion of tanks it's sister the Proryv-3 model Variant." The Major jerked back at this information being amazed that the sole champion tanks of Rodinia were to be used against the savages in the mountains, more than ever this could make this war last three days or hours just with the deployment of these tanks. Of course, that's just his mind and the reality of it all will come to slap him in the face, but for the time being. "Well I look forward to fighting alongside all of you, you're all dismissed!" The general saluted dismissing the entire staff as they got up from their seats, one of them remaining in their seats was Commissar Aleksei Myagkov, yes same guy from Yakyakistan, after being called to Zebrica to monitor the situation and the meeting, you know usual R.I.B. stuff he waited for everyone but the general to leave so he could get a progress report on the planning proceedings. After the officers left the tent the RIB agent got up, dusted himself, and then shook hands with the General. "How did I do comrade?" The General asked "Well in the technicality of my works, you haven't said anything anti-party worthy so that's good, and as for planning handling I would say a 9.5/10, the .5 being because the major didn't receive the memo," replied the Major. "I can live with that, now about that talk you wanted?" "Of course, I have received an unofficial pending request to transfer stations, a man by the name of Captain Volklav wants to transfer to your division groups," the Commissar informed. "Captain Volklav, lemme pull his files up real fast-" The Commissar dramatically slammed the files on the meeting table. "No need for that General, they're all right here." The General was taken off guard but he grabbed the files, opened the fold, and read the background information, taken from account that Ogav had military honors for Petershoof, a master's degree at the University of Moskva, and a personal citation from his former commanding officer General Vernakov Vistka, recently killed by Klugetown gang member, for his actions in salvaging the operation in Trotgiers during the first Saddle Arabian civil war. "Yes, I remember him quite well, I was in command of the T-72 unit back then, at that time I was a colonel before being transferred to the 3rd guard's rifle division, of course, that was before I became the man I am now, commanding the 40th armor corp, the crown jewel of Zebrica's army combine!" "Yes yes, but about Volklav?" "Ah of course, well as the folder states he seems to be serving in the military base in Yakyakistan, egh... I do not like the look of it though, I knew someone there before told me conditions were just terrible," the General expositioned. "Whatever happened to him?" Asked the Commissar. "Well one of you people probably silenced him because that was the last I heard of him," the General accused. "I assure you General Gromov the RIB had nothing to do with his death, though he might have died from frostbite, of course, that seems to have been reduced because I've started noticing that the living conditions have been a bit more, let us just say comforting, like a Finnlander Sauna facility sort to say of course." "I'll believe that when I see it, but of course as for Ogav, I don't know if I want to tangle with General Perov, last I heard he wasn't pretty nifty especially the operation in Equestria as of recently." "How do you know about it?" "Word spreads fast, of course, that's beyond me of who knew it firsthand but by now it's no secret that Spetsnaz freed Yuri from his confinement." "Maybe so, well then don't worry, all I need to know is if you're willing to hire Volklav or not." "Perhaps, but this will be paperwork for me you know, and you will need to personally go to Perov about it." "Leave it to me, General. And also, good luck on your war," the Commissar waved. "You too." The competition for the Gauntlet So the race starts after Spike ad to tell old Torch that he changed his mind about racing. So he and the three ponies with him swam towards the Volcano because one Spike didn't get his wings yet at this point. Also, Rarity and Twilight maintained themselves in disguises, as for Gold Star, well, he rather go for action than hide even though even though a dragon has tough skin instead of using fake disguises that could put him in danger and restrict his body movement, he uses the environment as his camouflage. But who was I to judge I wasn't there. On their way through the four had to dodge the water beasts that prowled the waters, although they only dodged one, and from straight forth they kept on trekking in the seas until suddenly the dammed eels blew one of the dragons out of the air and made that single particular one fall into the ocean. "He's going to drown!" Spike said as he dived into the water. "SPIKE!" Gold Star followed suit, diving into the dark waters and swimming deeper helping Spike grab the masked dragon by the legs and then they both swam back up to the surface breathing in air. "Let's get this one to land, quick!" Gold Star suggested as the duo swam to shore making landfall on the volcanic beaches of Torch Mountain. "Take his helmet off, I need to check if he's still breathing," Gold Star ordered, in which Spike took off the helmet, and to their surprise, it wasn't a he, it was a she, and she was still breathing it was none other than princess Ember and it would seem that she tried to sneak into the race disguised in full body armor to hide her identity. Of course, being a male himself, Gold Star criticized in his mind a female dragon in a male dragon race for power. But when she was about to open her eyes Gold Star hid himself behind one of the red crystals that stuck out of the ground and watched on as Ember awakened. "Princess Ember!" Spike is called by her title. " And what do you think you're doing!" Ember scolded, when... "Only saving your ungrateful scales!" Rarity scolded, and Gold Star faced hooved himself. "Did that seaweed just talk..." Ember walked over and revealed Twilight's and Rarity's disguises and it revealed. "Ponies!?" Yeah, and I think where this went after revealing the disguise Gold Star leaped and tackled her to the ground without question although Ember tried to break herself free from his tackle but is succumbed to his strength using his training motto "Shoot first questions later." Of course in this instance, tackle first questions later, but you got the jest. "Gold Star stand down! She hasn't done anything to us at all!" Spike demanded, and Gold Star looked at Ember without words other than the face that said "You tell any living being and you're dead." And she took it in very well being too afraid to fight or tangle with this particular pony and so she nodded, after which Gold Star got off of her and leaped back into his hiding spot without further question. "...So what are they doing here!" Ember asked. "They're my friends," replied Spike, catching Ember off guard. "Friends? Dragons don't make friends, instead, they tangle, they fight, and they rival but never friends!" Ember rebutted. "Well this dragon does, and I don't like to tangle," Spike answered. "Uh-huh... Well, I don't care what you are and who is with you but all you need to know is to stay out of my way, I would like to win that gauntlet." "But what about your dad-" "I DON'T CARE WHAT MY DAD SAID!" Ember yelled, implying a family issue between Daughter and father, gees talk about daddy issues. "I'll show him and every single dragon that thinks of me as some sort of princess!" "I mean, technically the title princess is the top rank in monarchy in Equestrian-" "No one asked!" "..." It was then that Garble was knocked out of the sky by a boulder-wielding Ankylosaurus-like creature that guarded the top of the mountain. Immediately everyone got their disguises on except for Gold Star who was already in a hiding spot ahead of them. "Don't leave me here Spike!" Garble begged with fake puppy eyes, while Gold Star shook his head for Spike not to lift the boulder, which unfortunately Spike came to Garble's aid anyway, and lifted the boulder. And without surprise, Garble kicked up a mound of dirt that buried Spike up to his head and laughed. "Haha, I knew you would do it, your pity little pony friends made you inny bitty soft!" Garble said poking at Spike's forehead like he was poking at some sort of jello dish. "Uh-huh, you're welcome..." Spike replied, regretting himself for not taking Gold Star's warning in just not helping him. "For what? I didn't say thank you." Then out of nowhere, Garble smelt pony from Spike and then he realized that the particular smell came from the seaweed disguise which he got closer to before Ember stepped in and said. "Sorry I was robbing a pony of his riches yesterday, he had a lot of perfume." Speaking of perfume Gold Star could also smell that smell, and it would turn out that it was fucking Rarity and her fucking perfume smell, and as you know this aggravated Gold Star in his frustration towards the white unicorn. Of course, when Garble asks who this "individual" is Spike answers the question using random landscapes surrounding them, and then he further insults the two and leaves the premises. "You vouched for me? Why?" Ember asked. "Well you didn't rat out my friends, and well you've also prevented what could've been a brutal hoof-to-claw fistfight," Spike said implying to Gold Star who was prepared to ensue one given the circumstances. "I could understand the first one, but I've already figured out the last part," Ember replied. Then Gold Star came out of hiding and said once more. "I said this once and I will say it again, that guy is a bitch, how the hell did he know you anyways?" Gold Star asked. "Long story short, he was a jerk and then-" "No need to explain it further, so... Ember? I know you probably have the instincts of a primal savage but you are not going past that blockade of oversized armadillos without a little bit of teamwork, after all, it is one big race and he's small, no one is going to judge you on doing a little bit of teamwork." Ember listened to Gold Star's face and she nodded. "I have to give it to you, for a pony you do know how to plan." "Well given time even a "cute" pony could be violent if not deadly, but as everyone here on this dammed rock comes to see it, Equestria is soft, maybe a bit too soft," Gold Star turned glaring at Rarity. "I have an idea of how we could work together too! Perhaps I can be your second eye!" "You would cover for me?" "Of course!" It was then that Spike was called by Twilight and Rarity who moved to the tree, as the three conversated Gold Star checked his weapons to be sure it's steadiness were still steadied, all the while Ember took into curiosity about him. "You know I've heard of these two, and I know there were six of them, and that pipsqueak, but where did you come from?" Ember asked as Gold Star patted his rifle ammo into the M82, loading one bullet into the chamber. "Can't disclose that information, unfortunately," he replied. "Why bother asking." Ember was about to answer before he added. "That wasn't a question Ember." "But it sounded like a question?" "Well in all technical terms, you should be glad you're talking to someone who isn't as naive as the ones in Equestria." "But you're a pony?" "And does that make me Equestrian immediately? Get a load off princess, in Humarica we see things differently." "Oh really, with your whole 'dream' stance and how your dreams come true!" "Nope, but sure there's the thing called "the American dream" but that's in America, in reality, it is war and conquest that's in the lifeblood, although humanity lost its way through the spoils of its technological status but, even in peace Humanity will always be at war, just not against a foreign entity or one another but rather... Itself. At least that's what I've come to learn about it, but nothing can compare with how capable humanity is, it's just that even they are underestimated," Gold Star contended within himself, as he wrapped the rifle strap around his back. "Dragons see Strength, Zebras see science, ponies see peace, Griffon sees tradition, but a Human, well... They see nothing but war and the profits that follow." "Who are you?" It was then that Spike came to Ember after speaking with Rarity and Twilight. "So are you ready?" Spike asked, and Ember looked at Gold Star who was tending to his mind. "Yeah... Yeah, I think I am." "Is... Something wrong?" Spike asked. "No no, it's all fine, let's go." Spike climbed on Ember and then the two scoured the skies leaving the three on the ground. "Reckon we better get up there," Gold Star said. "Agreed," Twilight replied using her magic to teleport them onto the mountaintop. Within hours As the five traveled within the mountain going through the mischievous traps, twists, and turns, and the flaming deaths of booby-trapped volcanic geysers the five made it to the tipping point of the adventure at the lava pits, or the internal part of the volcano, it is said that this would be the level of challenge before reaching the gauntlet. But the most satisfying part of it all was Garble getting the taste of his own medicine ten times fold, for example being stabbed by the red crystals, kicked in the balls by a random rock, torched by some fire eel, and getting singed by the volcanic geysers. But for now, it was the two, Spike and Ember. Or at least there were two until as you know it Twilight and Rarity came in the form of some rocks, as for Gold Star he was nowhere to be found though really he's just being stealthy behind more crystals before stepping out into the open checking his flank left and right. "Oh, we just knew you would make it! And we were so worried!" Rarity rejoiced, making Gold Star roll his eyes over to the side. "Pah! It was nothing you didn't have to worry about us! It wasn't like we were dodging everything that death threw at us... Or those arrows! Or the flames!" Spike passed out from trauma for a brief moment before being awakened by Gold Star light slapping him in the face multiple times. "Hey hey come on stay in the game, it ain't over until it is over!" Gold Star encouraged, waking Spike back from his brief dirt nap. "I'm alright!" "Wait how did you three get over here?" Ember asked. "Short story shorter, Alicorn magic, thought you caught onto that by now," Gold Star smirked when a sudden earthquake occurred followed by what sounded like brief but small sounds of explosives erupted on the roof, but that was the least of their concerns when Rarity nearly tipped off into the lava. "RARITY!" Spike yelped, as he and Gold Star. Subsequently, ran to her aid and pushed her away from the edge however a piece of rock fell from the roof and smashed onto the ledge creating cracks below Gold Star's hooves splitting the ground below him as he and the ground collapsed downward towards the lava pit. "GOLD STAR!" "AH, SHIT!" He shouted as he free fell from the ledge before he was caught mid-air by an inch from the lava pit by Twilight and Rarity's magic, the unicorn and Alicorn mares groaned and struggled as they lifted him with all their strength until finally he was back on the ground, and without a word, he passed out in exhaustion. "Gold Star, Rarity are you two alright!" Spike asked. "I'm fine darling, but if anything we almost lost him for a moment!" Rarity said, as Twilight came to his aid trying to get him back to his legs. "I'm fine I'm fine," Gold Star said, getting his bearings back together. "Are you sure?" Twilight asked when Gold Star reaffirmed that he was all alright when Ember spoke. "You know it's too risky without a disguise here? So why insist on not using one?" "I'm not a civilian, I'm a soldier, I know what it is to be in a violent environment, but I'm not the important one here," "Right, but? Why did you all risk everything just to save each other?" Ember asked, which Gold Star rolled his eyes in an unsurprised tone. "Because that's what friends are for! They support each other and help one another at times of need, not abandon them! Even the ones when they're near a life or death situation," Spike explained looking at the three ponies who all leaned their heads back in a glimmer, which Spike continued. "Don't you have anyone you can count on?" "Well... No, well not unless I count you though..." Ember paused and immediately the expected happened. "Which I don't! Because we were only helping each other go through the death tunnel and now that we are this is where we part ways." "After the fucking shit you both went through you decide you want to run off?" "Look ponyland four legger!" "It's American four legger princess!" Gold Star insulted in Ember's face, making her a bit frustrated with him, and then turning towards Spike. "There is only one gauntlet which can only be used by one dragon which therefore can be only one winner! So really it's every dragon for themselves!" "Oh... So we aren't friends," Spike whimpered. "Maybe in Ponyland! But face reality, Spike! Dragons don't do friends!" Immediately without a second thought, she flew away from the group making now a party of four again, Gold Star looked at her flying off, and shook his head. "Predictable, not to offend you but some dragons are just selfish, they don't know anything about working together," Gold Star asserted on the fact. Gold Star and three without a further word continued down into the volcano while Spike felt a bit down from being abandoned though Gold Star stuck with him for the entire time, at least until he had to go into hiding because of dragons. But as they traveled in the mountainous caves, they had no idea that something big was happening just outside... Celestial sea Fishercolts made their expedition outside of the ports of Baltimare having their usual catch for the day, so far they've managed to haul a lot of good bountiful fish for sale and exports. "ALRIGHT LIFT ER' UP LAD!" Shouted a pony, as the fishing ship lifted the nest and hauled in an entire net. "BLUEFIN TUNA!?! WE'VE HIT THE JACKPOT CAP!" "So it is hehe! Looks like payday is today boys, cider is on me!" The captain chuckled, smoking his pipe as the fishercolts unhulled the load onto the holders. "Cover 'em up lads, we can'nt pass up this oppurtunitey!" "Aye cap!" Said a Fisher colt, hoisting the cover over the crate when they suddenly heard a distant roar in the fog in which they all stopped in their tracks to listen. "What do ya think it is cap!!" Asked a Fishercolt, when the Captain smoked his pipe intensely when suddenly it was revealed. "Dear Celestia almight-" Immediately it zoomed in a quick loud jet engine noise blowing the ship nearly off the water as all the fishercolts and the captain all flung into the air and all over the place like ragdolls as they screamed. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Long nose front, metal body, and 6 pairs of jet engines with a buoy attached wing and an internal loading bay code-named by the Federation as Duck 5 a marine's most dreadful nightmare zoomed through the Equestrian seas terrifying everypony and fishercolts in the distance as they zoomed through the water armed with 3 2X2 cruise missile launchers. "This is Kazakov, execute turn on my mark," ordered the head Ekranoplan pilot as it turned towards the beaches of the Dragon lands. Following suit were the other 9 Ekranoplans who executed the 90-degree turn until General Gromov gave the order. "This is Oblast-01. All weapons are free, fire at will." "Kazakov acknowledges Oblast-01, all battery's fire at will." Immediately one after one the missiles flew from the launchers and blew up the beaches destroying and flattening the ground and targeting the mountain placements where the Dragons could be hiding. The explosions caused a stir, and within moments, flocks of dragons flew out of their caves to run from the threat while some attempted to avenge their homes by attacking the Ekranoplans but were quickly shot down by the SU-35s that continually patrolled the skies given orders to shoot anything and anyone airborne down. Upon landing on the beach, the front of the Ekranoplan opened up, and soon the T-80 and T-72 tanks guarded and supported by infantry and BTR-70s, and the new 2S19 Self-propelled Artillery, along with some BMP-1AMs as the landing unit rolled onto the beach and spread out to establish a beach head rolling and shooting the canons at the mountains. *** On the south side of the Dragon lands, hordes of MI-28, 24, and MI-17 helicopters swarmed the skies deploying and loading off troops, tanks, and armored vehicles onto the ground as mobile supply docks were established off the coast disguised as oil rigs. Soon after the airborne units established the beachheads of the island and essentially surrounded it and starving it of its coast, the Rodinian forces landed by transport ships and deployed their new BTR model, the BTR-90 followed by the deployment of some trucks loaded with infantry, the TOS-1 rocket artillery, along with other artillery models like the 2S3 Akatsita and the BM-21 Grads, unloading as well as the infamous Proryv-3 T-90 model as they blasted the mountains with heavy ammunition while the Proryv-3 armed its autocannon with High explosive rounds. Operation Valiko has now begun... Back at Torch Mountain Back inside the mountain, the five continued traveling through the caverns. "Can't believe Ember ditched me, we had something together!" "Oh you're better off without her, she's like the other dragons." Gold Star stopped and looked at Rarity. "Really..." "What?" "Come on now, that's just racist on a new scale!" Gold Star scolded. "It's the truth though!" "Oh yeah? Then how about you keep that mouth and "truth" of yours silent!" "Why you little! You had done nothing but argue with me and torture me over my decisions!" "Oh yeah maybe that's a good thing! It ain't like you sneezed or spoke out the entire time!" "WHY YOU LITTLE GRUNT!!" And immediately the two broke out into a full-blown brawl with each other before being broken up by Twilight. "ENOUGH BOTH OF YOU!" She yelled, separating the two away from each other to opposite ends. "I had enough of your fighting! it's all you two have ever done this whole time! We're trying to cheer on Spike but we can't do that if you keep bickering over how we live! I'm even surprised that we haven't been caught so far because of you two bickering!" "She's the one who kept exposing us! I wouldn't be surprised if we all get caught!" " Says the one not wearing a disguise!" "At least I know how to not get caught without one thank you very much!" While the two continually argued Spike just sat down looking around the caverns wondering what made Ember decide that she wanted to ditch him, it made him saddened, no matter what though she is still considered his friend, whether she liked it or not, and then it dawned on him. He stood up and looked around the caverns, it's all a pattern, bright orange, dark orange, and just blue dark, the only cavern that stood out was the room lit with red from the shining red Gauntlet. "Guys!" Spike yelled, while still being covered by the arguing. "Guys!" Again they ignored him and continued to yell at each other, but he did grab Twilight's attention. "SHUT UP!" She shouted in a loud Alicorn voice, silencing the two as they looked at Spike. "I know where it is! Follow me!" And so the trio followed the little dragon to the red-lit cavern, and sure enough the Gauntlet rested on a pile of Crystals, Rarity got back inside of her disguise and Gold Star hid once more in the background but the two were glad that they had found the item of interest. "Wow! I can't believe I'm the only dragon to make it this far!" Spike babbled in joy but it was short-lived when. "You're not!" Yelled Garble, entering the cave menacingly. "And I will be dammed if I lose to a puny pony-loving dragon like you! Oh-h-h-ho this will be good!" He smirks evilly at Spike indicating that he is basically about to throw him off the ledge, because of this Gold Star unhoisted his M82 rifle and is about to take his shot when Ember comes and punches Garble in the face blowing him into the wall knocking Rarity and Twilight back in the opposite directions. However, this also causes Spike to go into a free fall before being catched by Ember who lands back on the hard ground. "Ember you've come back! I thought it was every dragon for themselves why did you save me!" Spike joyfully asked. "That's what friends do! And, well I mean! I shouldn't have never left you back there! AGHHH! Don't make me talk to you about my feelings!" As Twilight and Rarity get up from being knocked back by Garble they are spotted by him. "Ponies!" Garble yelled when he smirked at the two and was about to slowly encroach on them before a 50 caliber was shot right between the three and then came Gold Star down from the top standing in front of Twilight and Rarity in a defensive stance. "You want them, you will have to get by me first!" Garble chuckled. "Aw, what's the pony gonna do? Love me to death?" "Oh mister, you have no clue." Outside a Finnlander Mirachi band got lost in the chaotic sporadic fighting walking their way out and deserting their unit due to the occupation of their homeland of Finnlander. "Dammit Johak! You got us fuckin lost!" "Nonsense Captain Josiva! I am brilliant at finding our way out!" "Then why the hell are we in a cave!" Asked Gohan. "I-... Yeah ok, so we're lost." "Hey, sir what's that fighting sound in the background?" Asked Private Oden, the six band players peeked from the cave walls and sees a bruised Stallion kicking the ass of a Red Dragon. "Ooooh! A fight! Shall we play?" Asked Gohan asked when Johak thought about it and replied. "Eh, sure why not." And so they got their music equipment together. "A one, a two, a one two three four!" Gold Star dashed around attempting to confuse the dragon out of his sight before being kicked in the chest by Garble, then he piled on the tan fur stallion and attempted to cut his skin with his claw. Garble did a light scratch on Gold before being pushed off and then slammed into the wall right in front of the Finnish mariachi that played nonstop. As the two continued to brawl Ember turned towards Spike. "Get the Gauntlet! I'll help your friend!" The two parted ways, Ember charged at Garble and Spike ran to grab the Gauntlet. At the fight, Gold Star and Garble were at a standstill with Twilight and Rarity behind Gold Star. "You fight huff not like a pony I admit!" "You know, I've been waiting for this exact moment Bitch!" "WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!" " I said... BITCH!" And Gold Star charged and socker punched Garble in the lower jaw heating it with pain and unaligning it. Of course in pain, Garble snapped his bottom jaw back in place but it seared in pain. "GRRRR! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" "Oh that reminds me," smirked Gold Star, as he flipped a bit towards the band and requested, "play louder ;)." "Gotcha sire!" And so the band got louder on queue when Ember charged Garble against the wall mid-air, it was then that Garble saw Spike going for the Gauntlet. "IT. IS. MINE!" He yelled, breaking Ember's grip and charging at Spike before being grabbed by the tail by Ember and swung towards Gold Star who bucked him in the face with his back legs and then flew back behind Spike before getting up and trying again to get the Gauntlet. But he was pinned by Ember who then turned the tide and pinned her back down on the ground. Seeing that Ember was struggling Spike ran and pulled on Garble's ears before being flung on the side of the ledge, Gold Star ran to Spike and Ember's aid punching Garble down in the back, and then lifted Spike on his back using his mouth. "Why are you helping ponies!?! Dragons don't do friends!" Garble spitefully said. "These dragons DO!" Ember shouted back, grinding her teeth as she backdropped him on the dirt. Hearing other dragons approach Gold Star placed Spike down from his back and ran back to hiding, and that was when the Mariachi band also noticed the dragons approaching so they stopped playing music and skedaddled. Spike and Ember then hugged each other and then Spike ran towards the Gauntlet and acquired it, raising like King Arthur's Excaliber as energy filled in him along with a vision of his future leadership. A leadership that's to be fulfilled not in our generation but in its own story for a distant time. As Gold Star watched above the dragons he was impressed with Ember mainly with how she came back despite abandoning them in the first place, but his admiration ended when he saw Garble approach Ember with the intent of murder on his face then Spike shouted in a new type of voice. "LEAVE HER ALONE!" Commanded Spike. "What! You got the septor!? But that means you're-" "Dragon Lord Spike," Ember finished, as the dragons kneeled to not only their current Dragon Lord but certainly their future dragon lord, yes including Garble. "Yes! Now go home and give every dragon you see a hug! And uh, don't answer why." "But that's embarrassing!" Garble protested. "I command you to," asserted Spike. "Awwhg!" As Garble made his way back home (or you could say whatever left of it) "Dragon lord Spike, hm, Has a nice ring to it," Ember said. "Dragon Lord Ember has a better ring to it," Spike rephrased, handing her the sceptor. "What!? No no, I can't accept this, you're the Dragonlord, not me!" "Dragonlord is whoever can bring the sceptor back to your father, besides I think you would be a better leader than me, I was just doing this to protect my friends in Equestria, and so far you would do a much better job at that than me!" "Are you sure about this?" "Of course! My friends are at home in Equestria!" "Well you'll have one friend here in the Dragon lands," Ember smiled, as Spike hugged her. As the two were hugging while Rarity and Twilight watched Gold Star climbed down slowly after the rest of the dragons left and had a sudden realization about the Miriachi band... Then it hit him, he remembered watching the television about the Rodinian incident off the coast of the Dragon lands and... "Oh no..." He said to himself, which he saw a big cave that lead to a beach, and to his horror. "...Hey uhh, guys?" He said, drawing their attention. "So good news, you won't be needing the disguises anymore heh..." "Oh? Why's that?" Twilight asked. "Well... That's the bad news..." He pointed outside and soon the entire group was horrified with the sight of Soviet army forces landing on the beach as tanks swerved around and troops marching into position while some prepared tow-cables to climb up the cliff. The four stood in fear at what to come, but to Gold Star, his objective has now changed that of protecting them, but now he is in a midst of a war and he sees that. Now he will need to count on his training and skill to keep everyone alive because if not, who knows how many will die... And thus started the darker days in Humarican politics, the age of war. 𝐓𝐨 𝐁𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝... > Interlude Map of Humarica 1004 (TBA) Republic La François By the time of the end of America's Revolution in 376 BLB, the country of François was given independence with the initial support from George Washington, back then it was merely a military autocracy. The land they initially had was the region of Louis, Beastrop, and Haitia. In 290 BLB the colony of New France was established in what was to be known as Bolivar, it was a useful colony and it would still be useful when in 270 BLB, when King Louis proclaimed power in a chaotic coup. During this time the Haitian's declared independence in a bloody Black Slave Revolt in the same year. Finally, after evidence presented to congress in America of horrendous brutality of the Black Slaves, along with large strings of kidnappings of the black communities, President Thomas Jefferson, after coming back from Doglumbia to settle a issue, declared war and successfully invaded and conquered the region, forcing the remains into exile of the New François Colony. Nowadays, with the monarchy gone, America and François maintained relations, their leader being Philippe Petain, had prospered within the Millennia. Flag: Technology: Modern weaponry Ideology: Harmonic Socialism. (Harmonist) Leaders: Phillipe Petain Enemies: None Current wars: None Allies/Treaties: Houston Accords, Trade Pact with Griffonia Islamic Caliphate of Equatoria Established in 271 BLB after the collapse of the Doglumbian Kingdom, the Caliphate and it's people suffered harsh mistreatment within the colony of Doglumbia from the Griffons and the Diamond Dog slaves, with people being torched, tortured, and even hanged from their beliefs in Allah. It's position within the political ring had been more of a mere neutrality than a active role, rather then being a place of sanctuary for persecuted Muslims. Flag: Technology: Modern weaponry Ideology: Theocracy. (Non-Aligned) Leaders: Amanullah Khan Enemies: None Current wars: None Allies/Treaties: None Yuragray After fighting a bloody revolt for their independence in 234 BLB their entire nation was littered with mass graves of those they massecre giving them the reputation as the "State of Blood" giving them a harsh reputation of war crimes. Their government despite being known for a violent response in regards of territory incidents with Thestria, have been a idealistic non-align group of people with Libertarian Idealism. They prefer to be neutral, and... Well let's just say it's for best, for God knows what they have in stored for those who dare invade their homeland... Flag: Technology: Unknown weaponry Ideology: Libertarianism. (Non-Aligned) Leaders: Unknown Enemies: None Current wars: None Allies/Treaties: None Preubican Reich The kingdom of Preubica was once a autonomous state to the Argendina Federation before being released in 855 ALB, however they were left without a government until in the next year, 856 ALB, Wilhelm the First became Kaiser of the Kingdom of Preubic peoples. Latter after his death and decades long of transitional Government rule, Wilhelm Von Bismarck becomes the new Kaiser in 910 ALB. Years would pass before his death would occur in 978 ALB, finally abolishing the monarchy Preubica would essentially focus more on modern politics. They would end up assisting Grover the 5th in quelling a rebellion, which would later form the Griffonian Republic in the North, a military insurrection in Arabia, and utmost cease herzland from Argendina with the backing of America in 981 after evidence were found suggesting foul play and ethnic cleansing. In 1003 the General of the army Interior, Erwin Rommel, goes rogue and allies with Chrysalis. Following this Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists launches the Beer Putsch, which is successful as he ceases power in Neu Berlin, proclaiming the title Fuher, and the thousand year empire of the Preubician Reich. Flag: Technology: Modern weaponry Ideology: Ultranationalism. (Supremacy) Leaders: Adolf Hitler Enemies: Equestria, America, Harmonic entities. Current wars: None Allies/Treaties: Changeling Hegemony City State of Lansinga Oddly, and somehow, through the test of time it was often refer to as the Humarican Klugetown. Except instead, it's merely filled with Gargoyle's with their leader being a warlock human who curses anyone who dares invades his property, in 100 ALB he decided to buy the entire land and constructed a border surrounding it before proclaiming his city state. Of course when the Bolivar military caught wind of this they besieged a house, firing tanks at the property before they were magically destroyed by the black magic some say to be the will of Grogar all itself... Since then the Property turned into a city of Dark magic users, corrupted Necromantic's, and even a refugee state that stood even against Celestia and Luna when hunting down a spirit known as the red dust. Although the city is nothing but a dark sorcerers paradise, Warlock Lansinga still.... Has to pay the bills on the property. Technology: Unknown weaponry Ideology: Maar Worship. (Supremacy) Leaders: Halleuva Lansinga Enemies: Light Magic, Harmonic sorcerers. Current wars: None Allies/Treaties: Land ownership Syndicalist Republic of Diamondzuela Despite the settlement of 268 BLB the Anarchists of Doglumbia continued fighting in a sporadic and periodical war up until 120 ALB when rebels declared independence and separated from Doglumbia, essentially forming the Republic of Diamondzuela, although they would later fall into a chaotic civilwar with Revolutionaries in 998 ALB, in which was a short and brief series of fighting before the first ever Syndicate government was established. Flag: Technology: Pre-war weaponry Ideology: Syndicalism. (Communism) Leaders: Peoples Congress of Diamondzuela Enemies: None Current wars: None Allies/Treaties: Caramel-Marx alliance United States of Central Humarica During the Doglumbia civil war in 270 BLB the nation that was recently conquered from Mexicona quickly moved to succeed from it's owner, proclaiming the Central Humarican States, humans who were caught between in the Doglumbian civil war flocked to the new country. It was then that when it invited Thomas Jefferson to a meeting, this would shortly be a result of the entire of the Doglumbian Civil war altogether. Nowadays it serves as the bridge between Humarican shipping lanes from the east to the Griffonian Continent to the west, a strategic spot for the Riverland economy. And of course, where there is sums of money, there is a group of rich men willing to invest and profit off of opportunity. Flag: Technology: Modern weaponry Ideology: Oligarchy. (Non-Aligned) Leaders: Donald J. Trump Enemies: None Current wars: None Allies/Treaties: Houston Accords, league of corporations, Trump Corporation. Republic of Chile As one out of the two nations that were once apart of the Argendinian Autonomy, the nation of Chile had the reputation of being a unified state between the Griffons and Deers, although primarily deer they had their idealism based on Conservativism. They serve as a strategical naval base for America, and severely hates the Rodinians and anything communist, so much that they would offer the famous Chilean helicopter rides. Yes... Helicopter rides... Definitely nothing wrong here... Hehe... Flag: Technology: Modern weaponry Ideology: Harmonic Republicanism. (Harmonic) Leaders: Sebastian Pinera Enemies: Anyone red. Current wars: None Allies/Treaties: Naval base treaties with America. > Operation Valiko: The War Skyrose wastelands, Nova Griffonia In the north ice lands of the Arctic is a base established by the American Science Institute, the purpose of it is to discover the ruins of the old Alicorn tribe that had once ruled the entirety of old Equestria before being obliterated by the wrath of the Wendigo's that were banished off of Humarica by Luther the Wise. Some believe they used the Alicorn race as an example of the new lands they encroached on and the consequences of standing up to them. And of course, the tribal ponies didn't know such a tribe existed and carried on waging war on one another in the great pony race war of the century claiming millions of estimated lives before Celestia and Luna came into the scene, to which Celestia attacked the Wendigo's but also revealing her body to all the tribes fighting the devastating short but brief battle of snow hills, although not bloody, it had a grand impact which united the tribes into what essentially created Equestria, not the Equestrian Empire one which had been ruled by Grogar back then, but the good Equestria that would be lead by the princesses of the solar lights. As for the unfortunate fate of Skyrose, it wouldn't be found until some tourists from Rodinian in 989 were hiking on the mountain when they saw an ancient ruin. Given the permission and blessing of Emperor Grover, extraction teams heavily funded by Congress and the tax dollars begin excavating the ruins of the Alicorn civilization. The goal was not just searching for artifacts that could either be put on display in museums or used to advance technologies, but also hopes of finding any survivors, as science puts it Alicorns are immortal and the only way they could cease their life span is if they adapt themselves into the stars or in other circumstances that can't be named. So far with seven years of searching gone by, they haven't been lucky, and the search and rescue division of the excavation group is nearing the end of its budget, when news occurred that the funding was cut from this group this led to fears that perhaps Twilight Sparkle, Princess Cadence, Sunset Shimmer, Celestia, and Luna. (Unofficially along with Gold Star and Night Sky) maybe the only living existing alicorns left on the planet which puts their species in near extinction levels. But on that fateful day, perhaps something one out of a million chances occurred. The Mountain sector "Captain, we've searched and covered the ground, but we haven't found anything yet over," Said Lieutenant Lisa. "Me neither Cap, no signs of life here." "Ten-four, well it's past our time here anyways, head on down there and get your soups in." "What about you Captain?" Asked Lisa. "I'll make a final check, it should be quick," he said. "Ten-four cap." As the radio went silent, the Captain climbed all over the mountainside, attempting to find someone that he could save, although the sounds of the snow, cranes, and excavators made it hard to hear any signs of life he kept on pushing hoping for the best. He had been a part of this group since its creation, he was no military man, but he was experienced in climbing mountain tops and an expert in the medical field, so when he was offered to find and rescue potential survivors of the Alicorn race thought to be long gone he took the chance and joined the group. Due to seniority in his 40s with a fully grown beard and a Jewish Heritage, he was captain within 3 years of the expedition which started back in 997. So far though, he had found nothing in his seven-year career, and with the budget date approaching quickly, it wouldn't be long until his unit was disbanded. But as he took one more climb down, a cave appeared out of the windy snow, intrigued, he swung his equipment over to this cave, and to his surprise, it had remains of structural integrity, a pillar, and a room. Looking left and right to see if anyone else was there he proceeded inside the room and found it very millennium-age old, the room was dusty no doubt, but very insulated, so insulating that he could take off his winter gear and somehow still be warm, however, the sound of smashed glassware broke the silence drawing his attention to a bed. "Hello?" He called. "Is anyone- well, anypony here? I'm a part of the rescue service, I'm here to rescue you!" Sounds of hooves are heard approaching him closer, he looked down and was surprised, shocked, baffled, confused, but excited altogether. "My God," he said to himself, it was a Purple Alicorn filly with a bright white mixed blue mane, although a strange appearance with her hooves as it has some sort of Stallion characteristics, the man looked both left and right trying to figure out where this fillies parent is but could find no one else in the room. So he got to her level and stretched out his hands. "It's alright, you're safe no need to worry." The filly couldn't talk as she was young, but she trusted him and walked over to him and permitted him to carry her in a warm fluffy satchel, he then took a look and saw that the filly accidentally shattered an Opalinic vase. "Until we can find out who your name is, would Opaline be a fitting name?" He asked, which the filly already fell asleep which warmed his heart. He slowly grabbed his radio and spoke with haste as he walked out of the room. "All personal listen up we have a Code X-2, I want the blankets prepared and a medical team immediately on the scene everything now!" After climbing down the mountain he was quickly swarmed by medical teams as he presented the filly, everyone was shocked at the discovery of a surviving Alicorn. ... The Alicorn that being... Named Opaline... Little thing that anyone knew, she would be the embodiment of war. And the first domino of the chain. Dragon lands Torch waited patiently on the rock, waiting for whoever presented him the scepter, and who may be the next dragon lord after him when out of nowhere Garble hugged Torch by the nose. "What the? WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!" The Giant dragon shouted. "I can't tell you, sir! I've been forbidden to tell you!" This meant a lot of things, but for certain, someone had gotten the scepter and won the competition, this brought a smile to Torch but also a mix of confusion as to why someone would order Garble to hug people and not tell why. Of course then again this is probably a victory lap against his competitors he thought. He looked around in confusion and then turned towards Garble. "Well? Who's the winner!" "I-i" But before Garble can answer a trio squadron of SU-25s skewed the sky with the engine fuel splitting the sky clouds confusing the two dragons. But their confusion turned to alarm when the jets dropped napalm onto the mountains followed by panic and chaos as the dragons were covered in this slimely substance before being torched to death. Horrified and angered by this he turned to Garble. "GARBLE! YOU ARE NOW AN OFFICIAL ARMY COURIER!" "S-sir?" "YOU HEARD ME! DO YOU KNOW WHERE WARLORD GRIMA AND CAPTAIN KAHAMIT ARE!?" "Yes?" Garble answered. "THEN GET YOUR SORRY SCALE BOTTOM MOVING! THAT IS A ORDER!" "But we all thought retired from Dragon Lord! You said it yourself!" "Perhaps so BUT I CAN STILL LEAD AN ARMY! NOW GET MOVING!" Garble without further question flew off to find Warlord Grima and Captain Kahamit, Torch on the other hand looked at the mountain and was even terrified seeing Rodinian troops landing on the island with troops and tanks surrounded by battleships that shot anything trying to escape the island. Torch now knows that whoever won the Scepter it is in their claws to lead this land at a time of war against their enemy. And so Torch took to the skies and was ready to kill anything in his sight. South Corridor Hours after the landing the Soviet soldiers seemed to be more demoralized than they were, sure SOME dragons put up a giant fight but the moment they quickly came to realize that the dragons were not even technologically a threat they either played cards and gambled or sat brain dead near the radio. In the light of this invasion, many band musicians voiced their objections against the war through the music, some calling the dragonlands the graveyard of empires, and one band called KIA, went on to invent some new name for the land calling it "Afghan" whatever the hell that means. However, the one who despised this slacking was the major. Who out of nowhere, snatched the radio, threw it mid-air, and sliced it into two halves, terrified the Rodinian soldiers didn't bother protesting or saying a thing but rather listened to what the Major said next. "Huh, huh? HUH!? Comrades have you all lost your minds? Or did this land make you go daft?" The Major queried, but no one still made a single peep. He said no further for a moment, other than watching the new generational soldiers who all sat in a foreign land near their enemy, and no doubt the Major felt what they felt, wordless and shy, but the only difference was that he had a goal to reach and he needs everyone on his side, so he grabbed a chair and sat down resting his chin at the back of the chair. "Look at yourself comrades, is this what we've become? Scrounged up cry babies fresh from training and immediately demoralized after finding that this typical enemy has no guns?" The men said nothing, again and so he got up from the chair and aggressively threw the chair at the wall smashing it into chunks. "DID I NOT SAY THAT YOU ARE ALL SCROUNGED UP CRY BABIES!" "YES SIR!" The men responded, satisfying the Major somewhat as he continued. "But did you all also happen to be trained to follow orders as it makes a soldier good? Weren't you taught that?" The major asked, and then he shouted. "WEREN'T YOU NOT!" "SIR YES SIR!" The major then continued. "WELL FORGET ABOUT IT! THE GRAND AND GREAT SOVIET REPUBLIC! THE SAME REPUBLIC THAT WAS VICTORIOUS IN OUR WAR AGAINST OUR ENEMY IN THE BATTLE OF STALLIONGRAD! NEVER TOOK SUCH ORDERS WHEN THEY LAUNCHED THE REVOLUTION!" The men were felt back by this and nodded. "WERE WE NOT THE ONES WHO JUMPSTARTED THE GREATEST OF IDEOLOGY NEVER THOUGHT TO BE ACHIEVABLE BEFORE BEING REALIZED IN THE GRAND FIGHT OF THE REVOLUTION! WERE WE NOT THE ONES WHO CREATED A PARADISE FOR THE WORKERS OF THIS WORLD!" The men clapped and shouted. "FUCK YEAH!" "AND AREN'T WE HERE TODAY TO AVENGE OUR MEN THAT WERE SO BRUTALLY MURDERED BY THESE BARBARIANS! RESOLVED IN OUR ANGER AS THESE DRAGONS HORIFICALLY MURDERED OUR OWN PEOPLE!!!" "YEAH!" "WELL WAKE THE FUCK UP SOLDIERS! I AM NOT HERE TO PLAY CARDS, LISTEN TO RADIO, OR PLAY RUSSIAN ROULETTE! I AM HERE TO MURDER THOSE WHO MURDERED OUR PEOPLE! EVERY SINGLE LAST OF THEM UNTIL THERE IS NONE LEFT! NOTHING WILL STOP US! AND AS FOR THE OFFICERS THAT CLAIM CONTROL OVER US! WE ARE OUR OWN ARMY, WE HAVE OUR OWN DEFINITE CHOICE!" The men cheered, clapped, and shouted "LONG LIVE MOTHER RODINIA! LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION!" Immediately the men went haywire, dropping their cards and raiding the armory grabbing their AK rifles and the officer lounge as they roped the unsuspecting Colonel in the hell match and he was presented towards the Major, as it would seem, the Major had not only rallied the army, but now he could advance his own personal vendetta, the commanders can't stop him now, this was a mutiny, a mutiny that intends to do the job right. Even if it means executing his commanding officers, and take control, and which as he drew out his Makarov pistol he whispered. "Now I will do what should've been done in the first place." The Major killed the Colonel with a single bullet into the brain and felt the relief that now, he has a army at his disposal. The mountain Of course in the other side of this desolate place is where most of the war is ongoing, within hours after landing troops on the beaches infantry supported armored vehicles in the staging beach heads creating a temporary dock base while also being underfire by dragons or creatures. Some of the Ekranoplans were lost in the landing as well as they were attacked and destroyed by the water eels though most of the landing aquatic planes landed, it had been estimated that about 50 were killed along with some equipment in the initial landing assault. The area also happened to be where my friends were... "Issac! Where the hell is that detonator!" Asked a Soviet squad leader. "We're about to set the charges!" "Sorry sir, I was grabbing them from Tigr-05," replied Issac. "Well it took your ass long enough," said another soldier, as the charges are displaced and set on the rock, unknowing that there are other species on top of it. * "Crap, they've already started climbing up here," Gold Star commented, peaking down at the soviet troops placing charges on the rock. "I can't believe it! I didn't want to, but I can't believe it! They've actually went in and started a war and under Celestia's nose! HOW COULD THAT BE POSSIBLE!" "As if we somehow knew that answer," Spike said, rolling his eyes. "Those machines, those weapons! The boats! How the Tartarus did they get past the sea eels!" Ember pondered out loud, as everyone looked down at the Soviet troops at their door steps this had the attention of the other dragons. But their attention span quickly turned towards the pony's who didn't had their disguises on. "There's... PONIES!?" Shouted a dragon, starting a uproar in the cave so loud that the soldier below heard it. "SHUT THE FUCK UP! ARE YOU ALL TRYING TO GET US KILLED!" Gold Star cursed, silencing the dragons when he overheard a conversation below. * "...Sir?" "Yeah... I heard, unit 74! Aim at that cave and blow it to ashes!" The soviet squad commander ordered as a T-80U tank aimed with its barrel and fired upon the top of the cave causing a cascading rock slide. * As the rocks tumbled down the hill everyone ran away from the cave, Spike rode on top of Twilight as the ponies ran quicker than as the dragons had flown. But it was a short burst as the rocks had now covered the cave, but with demolition crews outside it would soon not be the case, but foolishly for the Rodinians this bought them time to organize a escape plan, but first... "Lord Ember, why in hellscape name did you bring ponies with you! Do you realize that they are the enemies of the dragons!" Said the same dragon, as the group behind him covered in armor nodded In agreement. "I know it's a long story, but could this explanation wait-" "And you have disobeyed your father's demand! Shame on you, this is severely disappointing even for you in this damn vendetta! But just so you know, seemingly for now we're all in the same boat, however, I don't mind having ponies for breakfast." And immediately a red dot is pointed at this dragon's muzzle, leading towards Gold Star who has a M82 pointed at his face. "I don't mind having fucking dragons as dinner either! But if you insist on having an early breakfast with species lowly to you then here's a newsflash, you go for them you go for me! AND I WOULDN'T GIVE A DAMN IF I FUCKING START ANOTHER RACE WAR and all I have to do is blow your motherfucking brain out of your head socket!" The dragon was very steadfast and shocked, raising his arms up in a move to clear up the heat. "That's a hypothetical statement, no intent now considering the obvious," the dragon said, as Gold Star lowered his weapon, but kept his guard up and kept a tense stance on thinking of a plan. But as for that same dragon that was threatened, he though back at how sophisticated the Equestrian Elite Guards were the only types of ponies that were ever feared to the dragons, considering the amount of brutality they would display, and the voice of this one and his language is crystal clear. He then saw a familiar patch that made him jerk his neck. " Explains... Everything," the dragon mumbled to himself, turning towards Ember. "Now Ember I know you were just given the leadership title but in the sense of war we need to gather what we can as reinforcements, and does anyone know where we came from!" "I actually do!" Answered Twilight. "When we were entering I had this whole mapped out the entire time we've come here, quite interesting place, I didn't know such complicated tunnel system could-" "Enough with the words funny pony!" The same dragon interjected. "Sorry, I get deep in these things. Well, I guess you will all have to follow me," Twilight insisted, as her leadership instincts kicked in leading the group at the front. "I'll guard the rear, just hope you know where you're going." As Gold Star followed the group at the tail end Spike followed him. "Spike where are you going?" Twilight asked. "I'll go with Gold Star, he looks like he needs some company." "Be careful Spike! He may be doing his reckless sacrifice for a reason!" Ignoring the last part of Rarity's insult towards Gold Star Spike stood beside him the whole time as the group moved to the exit, In the meantime, the two started their own conversation. "What's with you and Rarity today? I thought you both were friends?" Gold Star walked silent for a moment, looking all over the place other than Spike as if to have some sort of guilty thought only to eventually see to himself that he really kept the truth for long, especially to Spike. No not that other truth, the one about him and Rarity, (Not yet anyway) He kept his face straight and replied. "It started yesterday, I was making friendly amends with Twilight's friends, Applejack was first, I helped her with the farm for quite a while because a certain demigod creature happened to come around and start another piece of shenanigans, then came Rarity who happened to decided to drop by, at first, of course, she seemed pleasant, at first, though she seemed to have been covered a bit with a foul stench smell," Gold Star explained. "Foul stench? Usually, she always be clean! And with perfume, she would never live without her perfume!" "Perfume, God I hate that word." "What? Perfume?" "That's the thing that drove me crazy, every time I ever smelt perfume I would always question myself as to why I am in the army in the first place, especially in every whiff..." "Oh. Well maybe if you asked Rarity she'd understand," Spike suggested. "Oh, I did so, long story short though that's how we fought yesterday." "Is that why Applejack brought you to Twilight tied in rope yesterday?" "... Lets... Not talk about that, please." The air was tighter than, well rope itself really, another conversation was also going on between Twilight and Rarity, as Twilight was reading the map she made with only a good amount of a short distance away Rarity abruptly interrupted her attention. "How do you stand that Stallion! Just look at him, poisoning the mind of Spike's precious little imaginative mind! With his little evil lies and his devious plot!" "Uhuh..." Replied Twilight, rolling her eyes at Rarty's exaggeration. "I mean it Twilight! That stallion is good for nothing, soon it will be Rainbow Dash he fights! Applejack! And somehow Flutershy and Pinkie!" "Why because he insulted your perfume? Rarity you have to realize he's a soldier, from his standpoint I could agree considering that they've had to put up with the mess that kings, Queens, and leaders of all titles have entered themselves into, and shoving perfume in his nose is not something of any honor!" "Hmph! Exactly why are you defending him from me!" "I mean I could agree somewhat, but he did ask you politely to not blow it around him, heck! Applejack was there the whole time! And don't forget, we've both seen Firsthoof where he's been through, have you not forgotten the Crystal Empire attack or the siege on Canterlot? Or the time when we were chased by helicopters!? And clearly, you haven't forgotten the time when the humans intervened to prevent a domestic war from happening on Equestria's doorstep in Applelossa!" "...Okay, so I can remember your points here I would agree, but what does this have to do with my perfume!" "A friend should know what they might do to their friends, that means not to gloat." "PAH! G-GLOAT! THE AUDACITY!" Before Rarity could continue the two squinted their eyes as the light from the other side of the mountain blared. Both Twilight and Rarity smiled. "Is that the light at the end of the tunnel!!" "It sure is! Everyone this is it!" Immediately the dragons rejoiced and ran rudely out of the mountain cave, and well except for Ember and Spike and the one dragon, who looked at the two in disgust, flew with the group. "Well, that's all of them," Gold Star said, holding the M82 on his hooves. "We can't just leave the dragons to fight alone here, can't you ask for help from our American allies?" "Easier said than done Twilight, if America intervenes it'll be all-out war with Rodinia, and with the sole fact that they have the nuclear capabilities to wipe us out, I don't think Armageddon is on anyone's list of priorities." "But Gold Star! You're talking about a total eradication of an entire species that's lived for millennia! Wiping them out would change the balance of everything here on this planet!" "Perhaps true, but the radio I have right now is useless, and now that I know that the Rodinian navy is here, the American fleet is no doubt to be anywhere on sight, no boat, no comms. Plus even with a ship nearby, Rodinia more likely scrambled all outside communications, practically habiting us dead in the sea!" "Maybe... Or..." Immediately an idea rushed through her head, as she and the rest ran outside of the mountain, and then she brought out her book and flipped through the pages harshly and rapidly until finally she found a blank page. "Yes, I knew it! Sorry for doing this you magnificent book," Twilight then tore the blank page out of the book and turned to Spike. "Pen!" "Pen." Spike handed her the pen, which was in his spine, as usual, and she proceeded to write, however, a battleship sailed in front of the beach and turned its guns towards the group. "GET DOWN!" Gold Star shouted as he pushed Twilight, Rarity, and Spike onto the ground while the battleship fired its primary canons at the mountainside covering their only way of taking cover as they resorted to running towards a rock barricade. Ember and the other dragons had other ideas as they charged at the lone battleship with fury in their eyes, attacking the gigantic flotilla with fire and dives. Ember was blown back down to the beach by the flak cannons, scepter in claw as to slightly look back at the ponies behind her. "You get whatever message you can get princess! But do it quickly before it's too late!" Ember yelled, as she growled and charged back into the fight. Gold Star unhoisted his M82 and sat it down on the rock. "Finally, some proper action!" As Twilight wrote on the paper with the pen in mid-air several machine gun bullets narrowly split the paper in half while Spike and Rarity saw the battle overhead. Ember backed by two other dragons who earlier disagreed with her for a moment charged at the anti-air defenses that kept repelling the rest, using their strength combined with flames the men were kicked back into the sea. One of the dragons that were with her decided to wield the weapon against the human invaders. So the dragon tore the gun off its foundation and started shooting at the deck discriminately without knowing where to aim at. But to the adrenaline that rushed through him of just how fun it is to be the one to use a deadly automatic weapon against those that attacked his homeland and the explosions that the gun stirred when hitting a smoke stack. Back to Twilight who has now finished writing a distress call to Celestia, she snatched Spike. "Do it!" Twilight said, which Spike blew the message with his fire and was sent through what seemed to be a wormhole. Canterlot Celestia was in the throne room managing the usual paperwork, she came back to Canterlot after she visited Ponyville along with Luna, she was already informed firsthand by her sister of what had happened last night in my mind, she was deeply saddened about Megan's sudden death followed Canters. But the fact that Grogar was now roaming around inside someone's mind freely was a significant threat to the world altogether. Now Celestia had personally ordered the guards not to allow me to leave the premises, which I kinda found comforting to know later on but also discomforting to know the other facts as well, but upon hearing that he left the castle was when fear took hold of her as now a threat was loose in her realm. Oh, what? Do you think I'm the threat? No ya dummy, it's fucking Grogar who happens to be inside of my fucking brain! That's the threat! But moving on from this, the message Twilight wrote teleported in front of Celestia, who was just about to take a bite out of a cake, the letter was messy and dirty and was singed. But luckily the words were understandable as the princess read them. "Tia, I've been thinking," Luna entered to the room. "If we were to search for Yates we could be finding ourselves at odds and our American allies would be thinking that something is up." "You're right, but right now we have a bigger issue." "What is it?" Luna asked. "...Summon Mr. Gorbachev immediately," Celestia demanded. "Why? What's happened?" "A war has broken out, and it's worse than we ever expected." Dragonlands Hit after hit, Gold Star managed to smoke about 12 guys in his shots before running out of his cartridge, the wind was either against or for him in his favor against the enemy, but it was mainly against him, and he had to align his next shots carefully when he figured the strength. But when he was out of .50 cal bullets, he resorted to his sidearm but of course, he didn't shoot at the battleship because let's be real, that would be idiotic, and even he knows this. Instead, he looked for an escape way to get the hell out of dodge until he showed up. Former dragon lord Torch arrived and obliterated the entire Battleship in one fell swoop of his powerful flame breath killing everyone and everything on board and essentially leaving it dead in the water. The dragons cheered, but um... The ponies even including Gold Star were a bit anxious at his presence. However, although he knows of their presence the thing that surprised him was his daughter Ember holding the Scepter of leadership. "Ember? Out of every dragon it was you!?" "I know you didn't think I could, but I did!" "But I have explicitly told you and forbade you NOT TO DO IT! Because-" " I am not big and strong, and I know that, but maybe there is something more to it than strength! And that's how I won!" Damn, preach it, girl. " And maybe so it takes more than to be big and strong to be not just a good dragon lord! But a wise and great one!" Torch tensely stared at her for a moment before he ungripped his frustration. "Perhaps I was wrong, you aren't big I can tell you, but you are just like your mother hehe, smart and strong at best! Perhaps I have underestimated your abilities too much. I am glad to call you my daughter." And with that, the dragons looked at each other, and finally that one dragon gave in. "Surprisingly Indeed, my lord" said the dragon, as the dragons bowed in front of Ember. "Captain Kahamit, I didn't know you were competing," Torch said, revealing the dragon's name. "As much as I do like to have a chance, I had a feeling that sooner or later that she would be the new heir, worthy at best to her abilities as well, despite some flaws. Just having to give her a little test." "I see, and what about those ponies over there?" Torch pointed, to which the captain replied. "As much as I would like to pillage and rob them they are the least of our concerns, it seems the human army had turned up once more to destroy us all." "Finishing off what they started, a typical human behavior, Ponies," Torch called out as he landed his head down. "Get on me, with haste before more arrives," he urged, Ember was as shocked about this as the dragons were, and of course, while Twilight and Rarity were skeptical at first Gold Star stepped on board and the two followed suit despite their skepticism. After they and Spike boarded on top of Torch, he and the dragons took off to the skies but also maintained a neutral air length to avoid the SU-35s that had been busy pecking off the stragglers. "Never the one to criticize, but why are you helping us?" Twilight asked. "This wasn't the first time the humans attacked us, long ago the previous dragon lord, Spartacus, was almost assassinated by a false Equestrian pony who posed as one of your leader's guards to kill him and start a war, unfortunately, while it failed the war broke out anyways, but when we did figure out it was the humans doing, we did sign a treaty that would defend one another if another war with the humans broke out, but only if attacked, because of foolish Spartacus he was killed by the flying contraptions and was scorched alive, inevitably I took the Scepter from his dying claws," Torch explained as the fleet of dragons kept watching out for incoming soviet fighters or battleships. "I'm sorry that happened!" Spike apologized. "There is no need, I hated Spartacus and really I pried the scepter from his cold death claws hehe, he was dead weight anyways!" Torch chuckled, giving an unease off on Ember. "Don't fret, he was as big as me, you on the other hand are the least the humans expect." "As much as I don't like arguing there are other human nations you know right?" "What!? Is that true!" "Yes, it's true," replied Ember. "So which human land is attacking us this time!" "That would be another's arch enemy, the Rodinians, they're violent as you can tell just by how they're indiscriminately bombing everyone and everything on sight," Gold Star explained. "And the humans previously that killed Spartacus were the Americans, he was killed by F-4s when he was assaulting civilian passenger ships." "Hmph... And how do you know this outside knowledge." "He's an American soldier, sir," informed Kahamit, which gave Torch a sense of superstition towards Gold Star. "I have no grudge or intent against your kind, my orders are to personally protect her and anyone with her," Gold Star defended himself. "Hm... I guess for the time being though someone should watch you." "But-" "NO BUTS!" Torch shouted as the other dragons looked at him in fear except for Ember who instead was annoyed. "Sorry force of habit." The pentagon The generals gathered from the parts of the government offices, and departments, and they conversed on the situation drastically conversing over the sudden event that had occurred in front of their eyes. Finally, the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, came inside of the room along with President Reagan, and other high-class officials of the Presidential cabinet, the generals stood up in a ceremonial salute before being told to sit. Reagan sat down on his chair and leaned towards the cabinet. "Gentlemen, as of this evening of today, Rodinian craft were spotted by Equestrian locals carrying pounds of materials capable of an invasion, as we speak the Rodinian armed forces had launched an armed land and air operation on the dragon peninsula, now begs the question, what do we do about this situation," Reagan stated, looking at the generals in the room as they started to make suggestions such as. "I propose, sir, that we issue a diplomatic protest," General Wilkins of the Brookish Armored division suggested. "A military response is more better sir! Diplomatic protests won't do anything to deter a recently additional nuclear power!" General Pyle of the army reserve also suggested, mixed with a rebuttal to Wilkin's suggestion. "But that'll start a war with the Rodinians! We can't afford a nuclear war!" Admiral Frederick Riefkhol, of the Statcom seventh fleet, argued. "Admiral Riefkhol is right, if we attack the Rodinians we could be seeing a mass genocide here for crying out loud!" Admiral William Leahy supported this. "Isn't that obvious considering that you're both Navy officers!" Henry Arnold argued. "Admirals!" The two naval commanders said in unison. With tension in the room now seemingly present and the officer cabinet seemingly to be at each other's throats, the only one that had yet to give any suggestion was General MacArthur who sat back and watched the show of anger and tension unweave in front of him. Looking at Uncle Sam across from him, the old man had confronted MacArthur over the incident with me and Gold Star in an operation that Reagan officialized as a sanction operation not to be spoken about, although MacArthur was not all that happy with the news he did appreciated one thing about the incident of Operation Go-2 being that it exposed that Mi-24 helicopter weren't as powerful as they may seem. Yes my group may have been chased by three all while in a huey but after being chased by three Mil's, and surviving the encounter, MacArthur was mixed with impressions even he was reluctant to issue that arrest warrant on Gold Star, and later me, it was merely a relief that the princesses got involved to stop his arrest warrant and later the two. (I and Gold Star) were pardoned officially. And now once again he sits at the boundaries as the president now stares at him for advice. "General MacArthur, what is your solution?" Reagan asked, which the room went silent, and turned all eyes towards the experienced General, which he stood and spoke. "The solution for this is simple, obviously we cannot afford a war with the Rodinians, but we cannot sit back and watch as they commit mass genocide on a race we've been at previously warring with for centuries, specifically the dragons, so I am proposing protocol Polo Step," MacArthur introduced to the cabinet, which the generals seemed nodded their heads while the admirals on the other hand seemed to be in disapproval of the protocol. "General," Frederick spoke. "What you are proposing is sending resources, materials, and guns to a backwater country that has based itself based on pride and boasting, how exactly do you expect the dragons to have any clue as to use a rifle when obviously the weapons we've made are designed by human-sized uses only!" The generals quickly noted this and were now curious. "The specifications of the guns may be a bit small for a giant dragon yes, but the specifications we've made for the weaponry has also the other designs that were advanced and enhanced for the usage of Pony and Griffon infantry, take the M16A2P for example, standard M16 rifle but with pony specific specifications so that a pony can grip it, although the said pony may have to be still trained to go bipedal in order to shoot the rifle it still is a working success even to the pony communities who has no horns." "In other words General?" General Pyle asked. "I am proposing that we should send the Dragons pony designed modeled weaponry in a form of air supply drops and perhaps if the president may allow to..." The men looked at President Reagan combined his fists into one on the table and nodded in a 'proceed' head, to which the General finished. "I am proposing the deployment of Delta Force in this operation to advance the dragons in furthering their knowledge of firearms, and to conduct sabotage behind soviet lines." The Generals sat stunned and stared at Reagan, the Admirals also sat stunned as well and stared at Reagan, the Chief cabinets were stunned and stared at Reagan, and Uncle Sam shrugged and leaned on the wall. The known fact about Delta Force is... Well, what was there to say back then? At this time of year, no one didn't know such a force existed other than Reagan and the CIA, of course, but the decision of the president was so big, that this would be Delta Force's first-ever deployment. And it came down to the simple words. "You have my authorization." Alicorn base "Alright alright! Back her up gently! WOAH WOAH WOAH! HEY! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING THERE CORPORAL!" Captain Bannon yelled as the M1 Abrams stopped on demand. "You almost ran over that guy's ass! Watch where you're driving!" "Yes sir!" It had been about I believe two hours since the invasion began, we received the news firsthand via Alex giving a massive unexpected announcement, along with the notification that our division would no longer be standalone as we would be given the 23rd medical division, the 5th armor division, and the most surprise that I've received was that the Eclipse Brigade will also be stationed on our base. What's more, the news is that the government is also sending a single prototype F-18, if you're wondering about F-17 don't worry it currently exists as a Naval fighter. Just not on the field as of yet. Speaking of which, remember literally everyone I've mentioned in this story? Airman Johnson and the Wayne Brothers? Well, the command at the Pentagon noticed a little discrepancy when they promoted Alex to General and Gold Star to Colonel. When Gold Star returns from his break Alex is scheduled to leave the same day to allow Gold Star to control the 105th division, effectively this makes Gold Star the first Equine division commander in American military history. But after they saw that the division was staffed primarily by sergeants and not enough officers they decided to start pooling resources and begin the formation of the 15th Army Corps, of course, four divisions (including the 105th by the way) would practically make us the smallest of the batch, other than the 10th army which is practically a volunteer detachment to be quite honest. Okay onto the point, sorry, Captain Wayne, of the 10th Air Star Brigade of the Eclipse Brigade, is sent to our base, and Airman Johnson, well, he was recently promoted as an ace pilot as of recent for his 5-score tally kill of 2 Mig-29s and 3 Mig-21 Bis, over Mareegypt after the Storm Kingdom violated airspace. Their perspectives were what gave the image of what I have come to conclude, but I never got their stories up until 1006, which as you may suspect we barely knew either of each other before then, well at least for David that is, as for Johnson. "Well well well," said a helicopter pilot walking by the runway. "If it isn't bird man." Johnson and the other 4 pilots had just arrived at this time with the 5th Armor Division which they and the division were airlifted straight from Manehatten as the cabinet's way of 'reinforcement' of the south Equestrian quadrant. Which makes Ponyville became the primary headquarters of the quadrant officially But as Johnson rolled his eyes and carried on through, the helicopter was quick to aggravation and ganged up towards him. "Hey, pal! I ain't done talking to you!" Johnson made no reply, he couldn't, but if he could he would ought to cuss him out. "I heard you're that motherfucker that botched that nuclear bombing, A COWARD!" Johnson still couldn't talk, even if he wanted to, then again that was his best trait. "No response huh? Alright then, how about this you fucking coward!" The helicopter punched Johnson into the ground and kicked him sideways, at the 5th kick though Johnson was filled with rage and grabbed his knee cap and slammed the helicopter pilot's head onto the solid concrete, resulting in a brutal fistfight that got intensely bloodied and attracted a crowd of men. And that's where I came in with the Military police on my side. "Fucking hell, BREAK IT UP! BREAK IT UP DAMMIT!" I shouted in command, instilling fear into them as MP restricted the two, which at first Johnson struggled before he complied with the MP, and so did the helicopter pilot, of course I was mad as hell for this. "Take Specialist Turner, to the medical bay and then have him report to Colonel Alexander immediately, AND YOU! I want you in my office now!" I ordered. "Yes, sir," the MP said, as Turner was escorted to the medical bay. Johnson said nothing, which I never took attention to, other than the thought of disrespect within the ranks, but I assumed that what I planned to do would straighten him out. * Meanwhile, a C4 Starlifter arrives carrying the 23rd medical group, and lands on the airfield with General Alex overseeing the arrival of the divisions and units. After the plane docked into one of the overhead sheds the medical staff exited and were shown to the medical, all except one who was behind them. "Well, that was quite a odd pleasant trip would you say?" A Medical Pony said, as she stepped off the plane. "Huh, and you must be Lieutenant White," Alex guessed. "Konichiwa, it's nice to be the second pony in the army to become a military official, oh! That reminds me, isn't there supposed to be a pony that's going to be the first division commander of this unit?" "Of course, but can- I mean may I ask? Where's your commanding officer?" Alex asked. "He's in Zebrica with the rest of the group, I was tasked with leading the small portion that's to be permanently based here, so I guess you can say you're talking her," lieutenant White chuckled nervously, to Alex's surprise whoever was the commander of this group must be very faithful into her, if not entirely. But to give context on who she is, her name is Rosemary White, born in 979 ALB in the state of Hosea, she was born in a family that was well known in the Hosean community, they had no trouble with their lives until the death of her mother which her father conscripted into the Hosean army, which Rosemary also conscripted as well but instead of Hosean's armed forces, she joined the main American army with the thought that her talent would be spent on helping others and even hopefully prevent death like experiences as her mother did. Rosemary is a rosy red color pastel unicorn, her cutie mark being a white rose, her tail colored with a striped red and tannish, and her mane entirely tan, wearing with her right now is a single med pack that she wears as a backpack, equipped with surgical items like a scalpel and stitching equipment. (And drugs such as Morphine) Hosean Puttee's, mandatory to distinguish ethnicity, woodland camouflage, a tail wrap (Since she's a mare) oh, and her grandfather's watch that she would at times fiddle and maintain its uses with, mainly to check the time. "I see, well since you out of the other 5 new officers are here, I might as well show you around the base, and let you get to know everyone here before I leave this beloved division of a mine," Alex suggested. "That sounds great, I don't mind-" "Sir," interrupted an MP who came in between the two. "Lieutenant Yates had caught Specialist Turner in an altercation with a man named Johnson." "Oh boy, what else is new," Alex sternly complained. "Johnson is in the Lieutenant's office, and the Specialist and awaiting you in your office sir," the MP further informed. "Is that all?" Alex asked. "Yes sir," replied the MP. "Right, I will be there then, dismiss." The MP saluted restrictively and honorably before heading back to his station. "Well, looks like the first incident between two divisions occurred already, I will have to talk with you later, for the time being, Corporal Wells will lead you to your quarters." "Yes sir, I wish you very good health," Rosemary wished. "From a newly ranked General to a medic, you too." As Alex headed to his room to confront Turner Rosemary followed the Corporal to her room in the officer lounge, on the way she had a little fine time getting to know the other men as her presence in the base would be permanent. And oh boy, she had no clue just how important it was for her and her group to be with us. Mainland Dragonlands The group landed back on the mainland, Gold Star got off first while being supervised by Kahamit who was assigned by Torch to watch Gold Star closely, and he sat down on what equipment he had left. Firstly is the radio, which was useless at this rate in the case of war, he has a loaded pistol in his possession although it's more of a last solution. Aside from the emptied and now useless M82, he had MREs which he packed enough for himself and everyone else, and although it was supposed to be a one-day venture he did pack sufficient to last for weeks, or a month depending on if rationed. He also has medical supplies, though it's only a tier 2 type with Morphine and bandages, just not enough for surgical uses. Oh, and he still has that flare gun, but it's practically more dangerous to use considering the on-and-off patrolling SU-25s still striking and bombing coordinated areas. Not to mention the new jets, the SU-35s, were very new to him in fact the jets reminded him of the Preubic technology that was used above the Crystal City. And he was right to assume, that after the first phase of the fighting had ended, and the Rodinian forces withdrew, they captured some of the Preubic equipment and started advancing their technological superiority, for instance, the jet fighter that Alex described to me that had smaller wings at the mere sides of the pilot seat and some advanced thrusters. Not only that, but even some Preubics helicopters were captured and quickly designated to MI-28's as Havoc. As for the SU-35's they've been also designated as Flanker E class. If Gold Star was right, then I and the rest of the men and even the government were heavily concerned that we've just bitten the dust and are losing the arms race. "What do you got Gold Star?" Twilight asked. "Well, other than a decent amount of a food supply that we could 'hopefully' ration, I've got nothing other than a pistol, some medical kits, and a flare that would no doubt be a suicide to use." "What about that little box thing you have in your hooves?" Ember asked, pointing at the useless radio. "Useless, this is a radio that practically can't do shit, other than attracting whoever is near our area," Gold Star replied. "Well if that is the case, then here is what we will do, Captain Kahamit you are in charge of gathering reinforcements in the far west side of the lands, Lord Ember, I do not like giving orders to you now that you are Dragon Lord, but I hope you can keep your eyes towards the American Pony," Torch commanded. "Don't worry, he won't be getting out of my sight anytime soon," Ember replied. "Rest of you dragons, I need your help as well, we'll all rally at the top of Saphire mountain! And we shall condone our counterattack!" "What about us!" Spike said. "Get help, if you say is true, and that the American humans could help us reach them," Torch answered before he and everyone else flew to the air leaving the ponies with Ember. "Ugh..." "Isn't it odd that you're supposed to be the dragon lord, and your father is still acting like he is?" Rarity pointed out. "My father ruled for hundreds of years and up until now, I wouldn't be surprised if it takes another for him to get used to my rule," Ember replied. "I don't think so, after all he'll eventually get along that he isn't ruling no more, In the meantime though we are in a very tight middle of the war," Twilight reasoned. "Well, Tartarus knows when this war could end!" "I mean... From what I read from the Humarican standpoint, wars usually last about four or five years, three years at the best, or perhaps one of the shorter wars, who knows." "Look I appreciate your support in this mess, but how can I count on ponies to actually fight off a superior enemy," Ember asked. "Simple, we could just ask-" " Without, the American's help, what would Equestria do hypothetically, by. Them. Selves." Ember struck Twilight in the head like a hammer to a nail, she started scrambling to think of an answer for herself inside her mind, luckily she wasn't the only bookworm in the ring, as Gold Star was rummaging in his rucksack, hopefully, to find something else, he overheard the entire conversation and noticed Twilight's inability to answer, so he answered. "If Equestria was on their own they could still win, all they need to do is move the sun and/or the moon, although that's the fear everyone has, in the book "How to Win Wars without Murder" the Equestrian-Olenian War was ongoing and Celestia and Luna at one point decided that for the Vikings to stop killing innocent lives, they've removed both the Sun and the Moon, and turned it into a winter wasteland." Ember tilted her head and was about to reply before... "And before you can say anything, no Olenia never recovered, in fact to this day they have to rely on Equestrian trade due to crop failures from the frozen cold, not to mention that the ecosystem itself in the land was murdered and all that roamed in it were either wolves or other winter creatures," Gold Star added, looking at a stoked Ember, and a surprised but relieved Twilight. "But did those deers surrender?" Ember asked. "Of course they did, they had no choice, it was either face an even more destructive ice age or give up on pillaging," Gold Star answered, finding so far nothing in his rucksack. "The last time the solar system was used against anyone was the Lunar wars, of course for some reason she only targetted Thestria, but when that bastard president, William Murray, came in and challenged Celestia to a fight, he in what is called a Mech, and her in armor, flesh, and sword. Now, guess who won the fight." Twilight was almost about to answer before Gold Star interjected her. "That's for Ember to guess." Unsurprised with the pop quiz that she had no idea about, she complained. "Are you seriously giving me a test..." "At least guess, right or wrong," Gold Star said. "...Fine, then I guess I'd assume it was Celestia," Ember guessed. "And you'd be correct." "Hurray..." "The battle was recorded to be about 20 minutes, but he didn't last well long, Celestia had kept shooting, stabbing, even ramming the damn thing before she figured out that the weakness was the exhaust pipe of where that Tripod's steam mechanics were, so in turn, she shoved which I guess you could say that killed off the Steam age." "Wait, but why didn't your country continue using the mechs? They seemed to be powerful!" Spike commented. "Yeah, now that I think about that, what did happen to the mechs?" "They were scrapped for tank metal, with only a few surviving to be displayed in museums, five for that matter, either way, we learned to just stick with tanks and stop obsessing with bipedal robots, or some fantasy shit like that," Gold Star answered. "Sounds like a Geekish dream if you ask me," Ember murmured. "A fantasy shit dream if you ask me," Gold Star agreed. "Hey, at least I appreciate the types of inventions that humans have made throughout the century! And I see it as a wasted opportunity," Twilight retorted to the two. "Well, I'm not all about using steam as an engine source, nowadays you have diesel, or electric engines to drive the vehicles, and this is coming from me as a tank commander myself," Gold Star prided himself. "Ugh... Are we going to be here forever? Or are we just stuck here!" Rarity complained. "Relax Rarity, I'm sure we could find a way to communicate with the humans." As soon as Twilight said that, engine roaring could be heard behind the mountains which stirred panic within Twilight, Rarity, and Spike who had gotten closer to each other, for Gold Star and Ember, they listened to the engine noises as well. Gold Star packed his things back inside his rucksack and raised his pistol off his hoist while excessively looking around for a hiding place he happened to find, a burrow that seemed to be wide and spacious enough to fit them all, so he hastely shoved everyone in it and stood his guard at the entrance of it inside it as he peaked through the hole. As it would seem, a modified T-64 with road-making equipment accompanied by a BMP-1 AM and a BTR-80 drove by with troops carried on the sides were creating a road through where they've just stood, following them were trucks loaded with troops, followed by some Tigr's and finally at the end, a single Proryv-3 T-90M Battle Tank, which stopped to refuel itself which the men disembarked from the tank, leaving it alone. And so Gold Star came up with an idea in one word, hijacking. "What's going on?" Rarity whispered to Twilight. "I don't know, but it looks like he's planning something," Twilight answered, looking at the odd parked tank. "That's a new tank, other than the Abrams, but never have I seen a similar design from the Rodinians." Gold Star overheard the conversation. "We and the Rodinians classify the tank that you're looking at as the Proryv, and all I can tell you is that you do not want to go up against it." Gold Star then peaked from the hiding spot and saw the men deciding to have their MRE time, during their feeding period Gold Star created a fast-paced plan luckily though, it doesn't need to be that complicated to sneak in, when the right tool is right behind him. "Twilight, mind you teleport all of us over there on top of the tank?" Gold Star requested, which Twilight looked behind Gold Star and noticed the guys sitting on the side of the tank. "That seems risky wouldn't they notice?" Twilight asked. "Not if we're silent," Gold Star replied, which Spike gulped in fear and tension, while Rarity was in one thousand-yard stare pose. "Alright... I hope you know what you're doing," Twilight said, as she lit her horn before being stopped by Ember. "Not so fast! What exactly is your plan here!" Ember badgered towards Gold Star. "Simple version or complicated version?" "...Simple version I guess, look whatever it is, it better not involve us getting killed out here!" "Don't worry, it's more of the opposite if we did get caught, the hatches are unlocked and the tank is most likely still operating, just by the fond fact that they kept it on (morons), so simply, Twilight teleports all of us on top, I grab onto the weapon systems and hopefully a rifle, Twilight will be piloting the tank." "Um... I'm not so sure I should be doing that?" "Of course, you aren't sure, because we're ponies! Only a bipedal like a human can pilot such complicated material!" "The tank is on already, (thankfully that's the main hard part) the only thing you have to do you steer it with the control panel, think of it as piloting a balloon! Just... More complicated..." "Oh boy... Here we go." Twilight teleported everyone within her distance on top of the tank, quickly, Gold Star lifted the hatch, only to find the tank commander inside still. "Что такое-" before the commander could say anything Gold Star knocked him out, robbed the commander of his pistol, magazines, and a AK-74 Sub machinegun. "Not a rifle," Gold Star said to himself. "But it'll have to do." As for the rest, Ember was a bit fascinated with the computers and technology inside of the tank hull, Spike and Rarity were squeezed as the interrior Hull of the Proryv-3 was designed for three people, although Gold Star usually likes to be the outside combatant of the crew, it still didn't help with the space. Twilight was hella confused as to where the pilot controls were. "Where's the controls I don't see them!" Twilight complained. "I think it's that joystick," Spike pointed. "You mean the one that looks like a steering wheel?" Twilight asked. "I don't know, hey Gold Star is it-" "Yes it's the steering wheel! Now hurry up before they figure-" "ЭЙ! ОНИ КРАДУТ НАШУ МАШИНУ!" Shouted a Rodinian tank pilot, pointing a pocket knife towards Gold Star which they figured out the uniform really quickly... "Это пони!" Said another tank pilot. "Нет, это американский пони!" Said the Rodinian soldier, as the Commander woke up and yelled. "ПОЛУЧИТЕ ИХ!" "Fuck me!" Before they could even try to approach the tank Gold Star shot at the group of Rodinians with the smg, one is mortally injured and the commander was hacked to pieces before he dropped to the ground. The rest who are ground infantry grabbed their AK-103s along with the one pilot, who grabbed his AK-47 rifle and the group ducked inside of the same burrow and started firing ensuing a gun battle. Twilight, after hearing a literal war break out, panicked and accidently stepped on the forwards pedal when trying to duck causing the tank jerk forwards and knocking Gold Star back a bit. "Fucking hell, TWILIGHT GET US THE FUCKING HELL OUT OF HERE ALREADY DAMMIT!!" "DON'T YOU SEE SHE'S STRESSED OUT! CLEARLY SHE NEEDS TO BREATH!" "OH YEA? I LIKE TO SEE YOU FIGHT OFF A ENTIRE GROUP OF GUNMEN BEHIND THE VERY ROCK THAT WE HID BEHIND!" Rarity gave no reply, staying silent as the bullets zoomed by his head. "That's what I-" BAM "Fucking, thought! Ember there should be a mechanism, a button, something to unlock the damn machine gun!" "Lemme see..." Ember looked around at the computer system's complicated keyboards, so she pressed a key, but all that did was trigger the automatic reload system which loaded in an Armor-Piercing round. Then Spike leaned and flipped a switch, unlocking the safety mechanism of the side weapon. "Thanks Ember!" Gold Star said, as he leaped down and took control of the seat that was a computerized camera screen of the secondary. "ОЙ ЧЁРТ! ПРИДУМАЛИ, КАК ПОЛЬЗОВАТЬСЯ АВТОПУШКОЙ!" "БЕГИ, ЧЕРТ ВОЗЬМИ! БЕЖАТЬ!" Without consideration of pushing forward, the Rodinian soldiers and the lone pilot ran away, Ember smiled at the retreating men, with Rarity and Spike sighing in relief that they were retreating, and Twilight not knowing absolutely what to do. For Gold Star though... Something snapped in his brain, a trigger sort to say, the soldierly instinct, he turned the turret towards the retreating men, and before any gave out a single word Gold Star fired the Autocannon spraying the ground with machine gun bullets disintegrating the men to pieces, horrifying everyone inside the tank as Rarity covered Spikes eyes, and Ember utterly shocked at the violent mutilation before her very eyes. Twilight also heard and felt their shock and surprise as she peeked her head out of the driver hatch and found a speck of blood mist land on her mane, looking back toward Gold Star in shock as he felt no remorse, but a victorious pride. Twilight's wings, fluttered and shivered in feared. What type of pony did she befriend... The skies In the skies, Starlifter planes zoomed through the hostile skies carrying supplies and military equipment. Onboard are also Delta Force, which were equipped decently with heavy vests, top secret weaponry, M16 assault rifles with a grenade tubing below it, and some with a mew generational Javelin anti-tank launcher. "ETA 2 minutes" The pilots announced, as some of the men read brochures of women images waiting to be released out of the plan. The squad commander read the briefing twice, triple, and quadruple times, eventually to the point of memorizing the plan that the Pentagon and the CIA laid out. So far the plan was this. As soon as the plane arrives at the drop-off point, where it drops the cargo to whoever can receive the supplies from below, four groups of Delta Force would also drop in a sporadic set of paradrop. Group 1 will be in charge of securing the package upon landing, guarding the area and if essentially possible with cooperation, training the dragons on how to use the weapons. Group 2 will be landing at the northern boundary where it is believed to be the tempo port of the Rodinian logistics, set up charges, rig the explosives, and cut the neck off the Rodinian war operation in the north. Group 3 will be on the center ground, to find and destroy every high classed T-90 tank, leaving no survivors alive. Group 4 will be landing in the south boundary, with the same mission but a different object of objective, the goal being the air bases in the south that continually supply army forces with food, water, guns, and other C&C equipment essential for the war effort. Finally, the call was made by the pilots. "We are approaching the drop-off area, ETA 60 seconds." "Alright, grab your bags, we're loading out!" The squad leader ordered out, as the men got up to grab their rucksacks, weapons, and supplies for the on foot venture into a warzone that had been uncovered by the atmospheric satellites above which has left them assigned to their landing points. The bay doors opened blowing the outside air into the men's faces as group 1 pushed the package. "See you on the flip side, sir," said a Delta Force Specialist. "We'll see about that," A Gradenlander Sergeant replied, as the Specialist Saluted and bailed with the package along with the other 5, following them in separately timed bailouts were groups two, three, and finally four. The convoy As the tanks patrolled the rocky mountains, and the men merely controlled by the Major, or "the Hawk" for that matter, had so far found a lot more action then staying in one spot, they've caved in into the brutal slaughter of dragons with some even wearing the scales as trophies especially the tank pilots with the teeth hanging from the edges of the side bars covering the treadmills like tank skirts. And one of these kills would occur as the Hawk was presented with prisoners. Being lead by two soldiers inside the hutt, found three dragons masked in stitched bags, wings and arms tied, and legs chained down onto the ground. The Hawk looked at them emotionlessly. "Unveil that one will you please," he ordered, as the bag is taken off of the one dragon to where he can finally see, although his eyes burnt a bit due to the adjustment of light, but what he saw is a man with sunglasses covering his hatred. "So... You must be the one named Grima," the Major assumed through his hunch just by the recognition of this dragon. "Yeah, and what's it to you damn bitch," Grima replied, growling towards the Major as the chained continually clung and lacked at his struggle. "You are, to admit, a hefty to catch, and not to mention a grand prize to the Proletariet, you've been on their minds the moment you've organized that attack on my convoy," the Major chuckled, pouring himself a tiny cup of Vodka as the Warlord glared at the Major's back. "So tell me, how many of my men were killed, and how many did they kill?" The warlord hesistated, and it was not really a good look for him then on when he refused to answer. "I think a demonstration of the consequences is in order," the Major said, as he was given a fully polished Makarov pistol and then added. "Giving you a chance Grima, answer my question or, hehe, well I believe I will have to resort a more drastic yet mistakable measure." "Go to Tartarus." "Fine." The Major aimed the pistol at Grima, but then instead, switched his aim and killed the dragon beside Grima in the head she fell limped and stunned Grima of his breath, confused for a minute until the soldiers unveiled the dead dragon... It was his beloved one that the Major killed. Pregnated with a hatchling The Major turned to Grima again only to be met with rage filled eyes and flames bursting from his mouth before he was stun sticked by the guards in the room, but it didn't held him back as he lit the two guards on fire with his magma breath. "YOU BASTARD! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Disregarding the screaming agony of the soldiers, the Major used a single Tranquilizer dart directly on Grima's heart. Given the strength of the dart Grima eventually succumbed to the despair of the tranq and collapsed to the ground unconscious, the Major shook his head in disappointment, he could've killed him there, but he had more in store for the warlord responsible for the murder of his men as he whispered to the sleeping beast's ear. "Look what you made me do." Soon later, the troops arrived to find one dead dragon, a unconscious one, and one that is still bagged and chained to the ground, while also finding two charred corpse of their comrades before turning to the Major. "Are you hurt Comrade Major?" Asked the soldier. "Nyet, bury the dead, and transfer the rest to their chambers at once," the Major ordered. "Taktochnof." Alicorn Base, one hour later An hour flew by, and by now news of the war had reached the base, at that time I was just finishing up the incident report with Johnson, only to find out during that he was in the nuclear deployment to the Crystal City, the revelation was a bit surprising. That and his records, clearly he was at the battle of Canterlot lending the air support and was a fighter pilot on the Starhawk, before he was transferred to the nuclear bomber unit. As for the meeting between me and Johnson, well it went sort of like this. "...So, files say here that you are registered as a legal mute, and yet you can still fly a F-14 into combat," I read out loud, without any simple reply from Johnson. "Alright, so here's how we can do this, due to the severity of the fight, not being too severe, I could just reprimand you and let you go, like that," I explained to Johnson, which he nodded his head to my punishment, but I wasn't through with him just yet. "But... Considering the circumstances according to your file it contained a specific request from your previous commanding officer back home, that you must be provided with a translator at all times." Johnson looked annoyed at that statement, staring at me with a grump, I didn't take notice of this though as I continued. "So as we speak the translator will be arriving tomorrow, so for the time being you are not to persume your duties until then." Johnson sighed and stared. "Anyways, you are dismissed," I said, as he saluted to me and left, and then came the bad news in the form of a blond man in sunglasses. "Bad news," Alex said. "What, the coffee machine broke again?" "Huh? Wha- no! It's a fucking war!" "...Wha?" Alex then threw a copy of a newspaper on the desk, and on the front page it clearly said everything right there. Looking at this, I was in deep, deep, fear. As I realized that Gold Star was in this tangle of a mess and for my reaction, well... "Shit..." "Shit is right, dammit I should've seen this shit coming when he told us that damn princess bitch decides she wants to have a motherfucking adventure! ADVENTURE MY ASS!" Alex ranted, leaning on the wall aggravated. "Should we tell?" I asked. "Hell fucking no! If we do that we'll be here for the rest of our lives!" "...Well what the hell are we supposed to do?" "I don't know, at this rate all we can do is sit and pray!" Alex ranted continually. "..." "Honest to God! Whoever the fuck thought up this fucking idea to risk his fucking identity for a bonding experience has really gotten their head fried like a fucking omelet!" It was then that Rosemary White entered the office amidst the blundering ranting between us. In her thoughts she was told that this division was more unique then any other division by her commanding officer and so far she sees that it has came to her attention that it really is unique, not in a good way though... What she sees is a loony drunkard who goes ape mode on his troops from time to time, and a lieutenant, me, who is over due on rank, and is wasting time and abilities doing military chores usually for a Drill Sergeant and the base Captain. From what she could tell, the government seemed to have not dedicated any rank and funding to this division and that's a big sign on her part. "I see you two are distressed?" She spoke, interrupting the rambling. "Is there something I can help with?" ...So... Yeah, out of the blue Rosemary came into view, and yet also to see another lieutenant who is a pony... Another pony officer, and she's a mare. "Oh yeah... Lieutenant Yates, meet our new head of medical staff, she will be permanently based with us," Alex introduced. "...Oh, cool, glad to meet you, um..." Yeah... We were stiff still for about that while. Dragonlands After the... Brutal kill, everyone never said a word for the entire time that they were moving, the last time they talked was when Gold Star was giving a brief but simple lesson to Twilight about piloting a tank because she kept ramming it in the mountainside. Though not to blame her I also had that trouble, except instead of the mountains I would instead demolish tents... Those dudes were not cool with that. But it was then that the tank suddenly stopped dead in its tracks, it was raining out there too so that was a bit inconvenient for the gang. Gold Star moved from his gunner seat and saw the red flashing indicating that the damn thing ran out of fuel. Though from his recall it was full when they hijacked the thing. "Alright..." Gold Star muttered. "Looks like she's out of gas, you know with such a "highly advanced" tank that the Rodinians claimed to make it sure doesn't have a fuel decency at all." "Well..." Twilight peeped, but couldn't process the words as to how ridiculous the Rodinians are with their technological wits. "Well, I better head out then," Gold Star said. "Ember, mind handing me the jacket and helmet over there?" "And why exactly do you need it?" She asked when a thunder bolt blasted the sound barrier. "Does that answer the question?" Rarity replied. "You don't have to rub it on me! Here take these." Ember handed Gold Star the jacket, and the helmet, although it seems to be a bit out of fashion, the SSh-68 is still usable, useful against snipers at best. So after he had gotten them, he then grabbed a repair box from the back and a gasoline canister that sat beside the pilot seat. After then he climbed out through the pilot hatch while being assisted by Twilight in being shoved out of the tank. Although he planned on not being out for long, Twilight was conflicted within herself with the witness of death occurring in front of her eyes, the recording she saw on the computer screen that showed her the view of the gun in the thermal scan. Seeing bodies being blown to bits... "Twilight I was thinking, after we leave this terrible place, no offense to you dear." "None takened, but I will remember that." "Perhaps with the dragons more an likely to be a bit more friendlier towards us ponies, maybe we should-" Rarity then noticed that Twilight was gone from the pilot seat, and up in the air as the opened hatch implied. "And... Poof. Gone," Rarity sighed, shaking her head. "Maybe she'll break the, well. Elephant in the room," Spike assumed. "You really think that hulk of a stallion will listen to her?" Rarity poised in question, which to Spike all he can do was shrug while Ember, being Ember with the scepter, watched on in a attentive and intrigued pose. She had knew the emotional anatomy of ponies, particularly taught by her father, that they tend to act upon a more squeamish and meek attitude towards others, at times she was even taught that ponies would try to hug their enemy and she would believe that, of course, she did believe that before meeting this group of ponies. Particularly Gold Star. Ever since they met, the tendency he gave was more strict, tight, if not utmost threatening, human like yet four legged. Still, Ember was surprised that she survived their first encounter, even more surprising with how even with leash off of that stallion's neck Garble still lived to tell the tale. (To her dismay she really didn't mind him being dead.) Although it was a revelation to find that he was not some sort of Equestrian Royal Guard on some mission to be a stuck up for the princess, or to what the dragons call a simp, rather instead he's a American one, not a guard but a stuck up American soldier for the princess instead. Funny, Ember would think, she was taught, again by her father, that the American's were heavily specist and wouldn't had ever thought to let any ponies or Griffons into their ranks at all. Seems though that he was wrong, and she gotten the full blunt by witness of body parts flying all over the place... *** Outside of the tank, Gold Star was examining the fuselage after finding bullet holes in the tanks while being beaten down by the heavy rain that poured out from the atmosphere with only a coat keeping him dry. Just as he found the problem, he hears the familiar unicorn magic sound, that sound that is heard when a unicorn has the horn lit, he turned to find Twilight holding a transparent, but effective, umbrella over her head. Though it would seem that she wasn't here to be pleasant as she gave him the: "what the fuck have you done" stare. "Alright, look I-" "What in Tartarus hell have you done! Do you not have any sort of knowledge as to what you have committed right there!" Twilight cursed, potentially for the the first time. "The absolute horror show you displayed was horrendous! Have you realized that when you killed those people they were RUNNING!? And what's worse was Spike was watching the whole time, and Ember had been silent the entire time!" "...Is, that the... A sorry can't save you now tone, or the... I'm going to kick your ass tone?" Gold Star asked, before being answered by a punched in the mouth senselessly by the princess for the smartassery. "Yep... It's both..." He mumbled. "You ask a question, and I gave you a answer! And I hope that imprints in you!" "Alright, alright! You got the point across... Damn, did you really had to-" Twilight looked at him with frustration, a sign that Gold Star should shut the hell up, and just concentrate on the other task as hand. "Alright nevermind... Instead... Instead I'll let you listen around your surroundings! I mean hello! Wake the fuck up princess, we're in the middle of a fucking war that mostly concentrates on meaningless genocide, and you rant over some fucking people that may I remind you, shot at us!" "They were running away the moment we took that hunk of junk you and everyone calls a tank! So far this is nothing what the Rodinian's said to be "the greatest futuristic tank" and do I have to mention how complicated their driving systems are!" "Yeah... But that doesn't mean I'm going off topic on the fact that you still can't accept the fucking fact THAT WE ARE IN A FUCKING WAR!" "SO WHAT IF WE'RE IN A BUCKING WAR, IT DOESN'T MEAN WE HAVE TO-" "YES IT DOES!" The two breathed heavily pausing to catch their breaths and cope with their thoughts, Twilight stared at him although she has processed some things. The known fact that this war broke out to begin with was a surprise to her, she'd never had been in a war, and she didn't wanted to be caught up into this mess. Second, she knew what wars are, she knew the basis of it with murder, she didn't never wanted to see a life being takened, but after the merciless kill displayed by what she called her stallion compatriot she was just stunned, and had felt the need to address this fact to him... Though it would seem to digress. As for Gold Star, processing some things, he was taught that although shooting anyone who surrenders or is non-combative is a war crime, he did shot first though, but when they shot back it did gave him the right to shoot back even to take a life, but he does have to agree with one thing with Twilight... That tank was a piece of fucking junk, for instance when shooting that "autocannon" it was actually just a Heavy Machine Gun modified to look like a Autocannon connected to some computer systems, not to mention the chassis itself, the Rodinians exaggerated too much on that as well, as it would seem to be a upgraded and repurposed T-80 chassis from probably the storage. The only things true though was the autoloading system, but even then that looked like it could explode given the circumstances. And soon when Twilight also thought on this, they both started chuckling before finally letting out a laughter of humiliation. "Oh boy! They better not reveal this to anypony!" Twilight Sneered and giggled as Gold Star took his turn. "Surrrre be ashamed if this worlds futuristic tank fell into the hands of some strangers hoofs!" He mocked. "Especially one being a soldier of a not so secret rival or anything!" "Hahaha!! You are so right, WHOO! Damn, laughter aside though, I think I should probably apologize for... Taking lives infront of your eyes..." "No, I'm sorry, it's just that I've never been in this situation before, you had your duty to protect me because well... Your a soldier, and that's no less to ask from you!" "Sigh look, I think we can both agree that this war shouldn't have happened in the first place, but we need to-" "Getting out is no longer a option, I want to help them no matter what comes our way!" Twilight declared. "Are you sure? It's just us, and a army of communist scumbags, who else would-" It was then that he froze as he sees a green laser aiming at Twilight's head, he turned to his side and noticed the mountain flashed green. "Gold Star?" Twilight asked, noticing his frozen pose when she then too noticed that a green laser was on his head. "Listen... To me... Carefully. When the rain stops... Hit the dirt," Gold Star whispered to which Twilight nodded, And so the rain stopped and Twilight was shoved behind a rock followed by loud echo's of gun fire from the mountains as the snipers missed their mark, followed was a hell fire of bullets that were shooting on the tank. "SPIKE! RARITY!" Twilight shouted as bullets continued to fly above them. "Fuck, I knew those commie bastards were going to find our asses! Princess stay down and-" It was then that instead of green dot, it was instead a red laser aiming at the exhaust part of the tank. "Fuck, TWILIGHT, RPG! SHIELD THE DAMN FUCKING TANK NOW BEFORE THREY GET BLOWN TO THE FUCKING SKY!!" Gold Star yelled in which at the last moment the RPG was fired at the tank but before being parried by Twilight's shield, Gold Star took the advancement and crawled to the bottom of the tank and opening the bottom trap door, sticking his head out from the floor. "Gold Star? How did you get down there?" Spike asked. "There's no time! All three of you need to get the fuck out of this tank NOW!" "Why!" Rarity asked when she hears a bullet pierced through Twilight's shield and impacting one of the screens sparking into flames. "On second thought I see your point! Please lead the way!" And so Spike was first to be evacuated from the tank, and then Rarity, and finally Ember, as they crawled below Gold Star stayed behind to keep everyone moving, one by one they got out, which left Gold Star left, as he crawled back inside of the tank to get a weapon. "Are you alright!" Spike asked. "Are you!? I thought that bullet hit you I heard a explosion from the inside!" "That computer met it's day, about time really, it looked overwhelmed just by the tabs," Spike scorned. "Funn- WAIT! WHERE'S GOLD STAR!" Twilight asked. "I don't know he was just-" "INCOMING!" Spike shouted as the four ducked below as the rocket zoomed above and impacted on the side of the tank and lighting it in flames, with the entire tank top being consumed in the inferno and then next, the top of the tank disconnected and flew into the air, while the chassis exploded into shards. "Gold Star... NOO!" Twilight screamed, as Rarity, Spike, and Ember watched the destruction of the tank before their eyes. And possibly the death of their friend. ... 𝐓𝐨 𝐁𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝... > Operation Valiko: The Exit St. Louis Institute study for health and body Watching behind bullet proof glass as the doctors preform physical tests, professor Hank took notes on these procedures both inconclusive, and intriguing results. It was then after the series of tests when the head doctor stepped out, clipboard in hand, as he turned his body toward the professor and looked at the clipboard with results. Same recorded as Hank had tracked. "So what are the result Dr. Vance?" Asked the professor. "Well, it isn't as surprising for the physical, she knows how to fly and she could use her horn, it's basically it for that," reported Vance. "Uhuh... So what about that whole... You know, nearly burning down the building act?" Vance looked up from the clipboard and answered. "You, I, and we, have no idea what her capabilities are, but from what I could tell you that it's extraordinary in nature, a Alicorn that has the ability to wield flames into her own will, a ability that even makes the fire master in Ghostbusters look like a dweeb in Gold Plating." "Okay... So what you're telling me is that she's a elemental Alicorn?" Asked Hank. "Yes..." "Hm... Perhaps... We could put this finding to our advantage, say what's this Alicorn's name again?" "They call her Opaline, though it seemed to taken lightly that she had that name previously," Vance informed. "Isn't that a stroke of luck?" "More like coincidence, but who knows..." "Maybe she is luck..?" "Or, something else..." Dragon Lands "GOLD STAR NO!" Twilight shouted, as gunfire continued to streamed through the air with relentless barrages of machine gun fire being unleashed at the group. With no other option considering that their friend was (probably) killed they used their horns and fired at the mountains blindly shooting at anything in a spray and pray fashion. * As everything exploded around the special forces soldiers, they noticed that something is wrong when the lasers were purple, and they noticed unicorn ponies without a single Soviet uniform... "Sir! I can't get a fucking shot! They keep blowing my cover space!" Shouted the Delta Force soldier, as a laser blew the top of the bush on top of him, forcing him to group up with the others who were also senselessly exposed. "Are you sure that fucking tank is the enemy dammit!" Questioned the Staff Sergeant, when one the men noticed a pony crawling out from under the tank. "Sir, I think-" Immediately a single sniper bullet from a Dragonov SVD rifle is fired at the group, hitting the Sergeant in the shoulder and then free fall from a decent height and onto the ground. "MAN DOWN! MAN DOWN!" Shouted a Private, as the men took cover from oncoming sniper bullets. * <- Switch this In the wreckage, Gold Star survived, miraculously before the Javelin rocket impacted the hull he was on the dirt, of course when he climbed inside he was met with flames. But in that moment before the tank top effect came he managed to scavenge additional supplies such as: A tent kit, extra MRE's, ammo for the AK-74u, more flares, medical kits, and a backpack to carry this stuff with. On the way back down in a rapid scavenging he found a Dragonov SVD, capable Soviet rifle that although not as good as a M82, but it can still blow someone's head clean off. As he got down from the inside of the tank, he can hear the shout of Twilight's voice muffled outside, hearing instance of his name and a no... He quickly crawled quickly outside of the metal death trap, there he was met with the streaming sounds of bullets. And so it was then that he had enough. He quickly grabbed his SVD rifle and traced the streaming bullets concentrated at the rock where Twilight and the others were, and then breathing deep and concentrated his focus, he spots a white furred being armed with what Gold Star detailed in his mind, a M4 Carbine, modified with a silencer, scoping, Ect. Without any further thought he took the shot, pulling the clip back, and aiming again as he saw the furred soldier fell from the mountain, as for the other men beside him he couldn't tell whether they were retreating or changing their positions, any scenario wise this bought time for Gold Star as he slanged his rifle around his neck and moved to check on his friends. When he showed himself Rarity at first pointed her glowing horn at him only to be genuine shocked. "Thank Celestia! He's alive!" "Yeah! Unless.. UNLESS HE'S A ZOMBI-" "Oh knock it off! But yeah, I thought you were a goner?" Ember concerningly said. "Don't worry, it takes more then a rocket to take this stallion out, where's Twilight?" He asked. "Oh dear, I don't quite know?" Rarity replied. "Oh Twilight? She's checking that guy who got shot-" Immediately Gold Star ran away from the group and towards Twilight which when she turned she was shocked. "Gold Star you're alive!" Twilight praised, hugging him tight, disregarding the fact that she was pressing on the rifle scope. "Glad to see you too, don't worry, I'm fine, really!" Gold Star assured towards her, before being un-consensually scanned by Twilight's magical healing spell, although refreshing, but not necessary for his liking. "Para-" "Paranoid much? Yeah, but I'm just glad that you're alive! I- sigh I shouldn't had started that fight, I really shouldn't have, I didn-" "Not now! We can talk about it later, but we're severely exposed out here! Good news is that I have enough supplies to last us two days." It was then that Gold Star looked at his shot, and saw that the soldier was unconscious from the shoulder shot, but then he noticed something on his arm... Something that took him by complete surprise. "Did I- shit, quick! We need a cave A S A P!" Gold Star rushed in his tone, looking around rapidly for the nearby cave. "What! What is it!" "It's a American! I shot a fucking friendly!" "Gold Star calm down! You're over reacting! There's literally a cave over there," Twilight pointed, as it seemed that it was perfectly convenient and spacious, plus it's under the mountain so this should protect them from further ambushes like the one they just got out of. And so after grabbing his senses, Gold Star shook himself out of his frenzy, and called on the rest of the group to head inside of the cave, of course Rarity got sick and tired of it by now, and Spike was quite enjoying the experience as if it were some sort of camping trip, but with guns, death, and a hint of treachery. Ember, Gold Star, and Twilight lifted the unconsciously injured American Gradenlander off the ground and into the cave, there Gold Star and Twilight would patch up the shoulder wound in his shoulder. Little did they know, that a relative of that same Gradenlander would end up saving my life... Northern Ridge General Gromov sat on his desk listening to the computerized zoom meeting on the status of the war, so far the results have been... Troubling. Reports had came in from all officers of military sabotage from all over the quadrants, military mutiny's leading to separation of army's, and mass desertion from ethnic groups has occurred, primarily ranging from Arkanistanese, Omarians, and Finns. Troubling of all was the reports of sighting American Special Forces within the mission region, and dragons wielding machine guns developed particularly for them. And so, it was then that he hears his door knocking. "Come in," Gromov spoke, which the door opened and coming in was General Perov Volinsky, it had been ages since anyone outside of Equus had seen him appear other than the average Stalliongradian civilians, and occasionally even Ogav when inspecting the base for military progresses. It took Perov a year to fully subjugate the ponies of Starlight's town back into submission, of course when he wasn't busy overseeing that he would inspect Ogav in Yakyakistan to see how experiments had been doing, his purpose here however was different. But for the officers it was a general shock to everyone in the meeting when the General himself had arrived inside of another Generals office quarters. But the punches kept coming when after he stepped inside, Yuri, with his hands behind his back in a symbol of dominance, stepped in with Perov as well. "General Volinsky... It's a pleasant surprise for you to be here!" Gromov greeted. "What brings you here?" "What brings me here? Hmph... Perhaps I should tell you a little story Gromov," Perov spoke, rubbing on a Rodinian office chest. "I'm here to take control." The officers stood aghast at those words, confused, and stiff. Perov looked at Gromov locked in fear as the eyes of intimidation lasered at him, Perov waited for a excuse, a reason, a proposition to account for his failures. "General, you can't be serious," Gromov protested. "I was appointed General for this war! I had everything-" "Everything what? Controlled? What you've merely proved was nonsense to the Red Mother!" Perov Rebuked, looking at the window that peered towards the medical tents. "Report, after report, after report! All I have seen was nothing but excuses and reports of dead men! Every letter I have received was nothing but the smell of death an hour after this damn war started! The reports on manpower losses so great, that I was contacted by the Red Mother, personally, to have you replaced. Promptly and swiftly!" Gromov was in no fit to defend his position at all, and it was only then that Major Yurtazv, and Yevgeny Prigozhin, entered the room. "Recognized him General?" Perov spoke. "That traitor! He killed my men!" "Incorrect Gromov, he executed incompetent men that you have appointed to this damn war, you and these men that are watching helplessly are all dead men for the madness you've made with the maneuver you're pulling right now as we speak, that's why when Spetsnaz arrived to the frontline to get in contact with the Major we've organized a deal. Your removal for their restoration of loyalty. Your command is inappropriately shit, and that is why I hereby relieve you of your command and order you to get the hell off my chair General!" "..." "Did I stuttered General? Or should I start calling you citizen, pack your things, and get out of my office!" ordered Perov, which Gromov sighed in acknowledgement, and started packing his things and then leaving the room away from his command. Perov then after turned towards the officers and spoke. "Lieutenant's you may be excused from resignation as it is your beginnings, however, for the following on this very list you are hereby sacked, I suggest you pack your things and return to Arabia. As for those competent that had followed orders brilliantly and not stupidly executed plans drawn by the fool Gromov. It's time we start talking about ending this forsaken war once and for all, report to base camp Shilka at once, I will be proposing Operation Firefighter. Dismissed." As the officers tuned off from the virtual meeting, Perov then turned towards the trio of highly sophisticated officers for special assignments. Perov turned to Prigozhin and Yurtazv. "Deploy the Wagner Group, and proceed to hunt down that fool Torch, if you have to force him out of hiding." "Yes sir," Prigozhin acknowledged. "Colonel, have the main forces cease operations, search and destroy the American Special Forces, and withdraw the 136th division from this region, I want them all shipped back to the homeland pronto." "Taktochnof, it shall be done," acknowledged the newly promoted Colonel, as he stormed out of the room to proceed with the operation. Then came Yuri. "Yuri, it has been reported that Princess Ember is the new leader of the dragon lands, she is also with your arch enemy Twilight Sparkle, now's your chance for redemption. Bring them alive." Yuri chuckled. "And so, it shall be done, General." Alicorn Base Well, in a way when you have new officers within the staff, I'd say it's a relief considering the hell it had been between me and Gold Star, and at times Alex. And! I now could practically hear myself think without having to be constantly outside to assist with a training, because barely anyone can do shit right around here. Well lemme just introduce the new officers. Captain William Bannon, a XO in the 5th armor division who has experience in the usage of the standard use M1 Abrams but utmost he is a Californian from the, well, California region, although liberal at times, atleast he stands at the line of duty with experience. Another one that you know of, Lieutenant David O'Neil, he and his group is stationed on this base after the American Government changed plans with redeploying the Green Berets from Whinnypolis for reasons unknown. But atleast we have the Eclipse Brigade, I... Guess... Then you have Johnson, ace pilot, and a F-14 naval pilot, although he may not talk, he could still fly. Just minus the communique, a mute you can add. What were you expecting? I've told you as much as I written about a lot of people I've essentially spoke with, just yet to talk to- knock knock "Hm?" "Sir, you have a visitor who wishes to speak with you," the soldier from the other side of the door informed. "I mean, I don't mind company, allow him in," I answered. "her sir," replied the soldier. "Oh... Then uh, let 'her' in then." I reiterated. The door opened, and to my surprise Starlight Glimmer walked inside. "Well, isn't this surprising, although it'd be rash to scold the dude who allowed you in the first place... By the way nice mane do, suits you very well considering, well... Circumstances from... Five days ago?" "Well that's a nice hello that I first heard of in a long time..." Starlight replied sarcastically, staring at my soul. "Well, don't just stand there, take a seat, I want to know what brings you here," I pleasantly offered. "Oh- well, thanks then." She walked to the lounge chair and sat on it, now being closer, I want to know why she's here in my office in the first place. But first I want to socialize a bit, I know that me and her just spoken for 10 seconds or more when we first met in a oddly over exaggerated operation. While she was being judged by the Mane 6. (Or atleast I think she was) I just gave her advice on the other hand, just being sure she doesn't stir some sort of spirit that places the world in jeopardy. (Yes I am referring to you Luna if you're reading this, don't you ever pull that Tantabus bullshit out of your ass again I lost sleep from it! >:() "Soooo! I was reading up on the recent news paper, and from what I can understand you've somehow resurrected some sort of spell thought to have been abandoned by Starswirl himself and-, oh by the way do you need coffee by the way?" "No thanks, just had some," Starlight answered. "Alright then, more for me that's what I always say!" I replied, starting the coffee machine for myself. "So continuing. You then you tried to remove the Mane 6's cutie marks and essentially that destroyed every possible universe..." "Well... My intention wasn't as much as to destroy the universe, I just wanted to get even, how would've you feel if a entire town turned against you after so many years of mayor ship?" She riddled. "Pissed, but at the same time if it were me in your shoes I wouldn't use a spell that could blow up the world or something, I'd probably pull oh I don't know, a tank," I jokingly said. "Of course... Human sarcasm." "It's a joke, though I could always do that, but then I'd get my ass apprehended, but still a funny thought." She sighed and looked at what is Gold Star's desk. "That's a interesting desk." "That's Gold Star's, he was recently promoted... Again. You know I'm a bit bummed out that they're taking focus on everyone, I think they forgot that I'm in this group." "Forgotten. Yeah that's, what I feel right now..." Starlight drooped her head down sad, it was that thing I hated. Self-pity. Oh how I hated saying that word. Self-pity, in my country, America obviously, we call that cringe. Of course that's what the newgens call it anyways, too me though it's more of a virus, a guilt virus that slowly kills you whenever you the person with self-pity loathes he/herself. It's a virus that essentially fuel's evil, and then it's that same virus that would essentially force you into a drastic measure called Suicide. So instead of focusing too deep into this topic I moved on to a more... Off topic branch of a socializing conversation. "Hey, you know, it's probably a dumb thing to ask but uh... What did I look like in one of those universes?" I asked cheerly as Starlight gave me a looking face of ridiculousness, probably processing a answer for me. "I don't know how to answer that since I wasn't with Twilight you know, but I can assume that you were... Handsome?" She answered reluctantly, but I didn't believe it. "Yeah, better note that. Score 2 for science," I said to myself, scratching off the whole article of the incident. "In all honesty though, I wanted to ask you for help..." I paused from scratching a point on the chalk board for a moment and looked at the pony with the status of a princesses protege blankly. Did she finally said she needed my help? Usually I'd be flying the fucking desk like a helicopter right about now if it weren't for the absence of Gold Star. But... Whatever else am I going to do? Sitting on my ass doing paperwork as everyone but me has their adventure? Fucking hell no. She has my intrigue so now I'm going to hear her out. "I'm listening very intently," I answered. Starlight looked around, nervous as she is, and for that she breathed and answered. "There is a pony named Sunburst," she said. "I'm not going to be rude to hold you up with your duties since you know, you're happened to honorably served-" "Serving" "Serving, sorry, what I'm trying to say is, can you help me find Sunburst and restore our friendship?" I nodded my head and sipped my coffee, in the external you can say I was just listening. Inside I was, indescribably celebrating or something, it was as if it were saying. YIPPEE!! In that note Sunburst is a male unicorn, yellow fur, red mane, and white socked and Unshorn hoofed Stallion, that's what Starlight had been describing atleast. "And do you exactly know where he is?" I asked, with the reply being a shrug and a mumbled 'I don't know', and then the answer came with Alex entering into our conversation with a case full of alcohol and a case full of himself drunken then ever. "General Alex, I like you to meet-" "Starlit grammar, eyeah eyeah e-yea, as if a- give two shati's, where da fack is da couch." "Oh of fucking course he's drunk... It's right over there..." "Thanks ya, ah Iya averhard ya talkin Fackbarst, ask Roostermary, shea's trated ham before," the drunk Alex said, limping off with the alcohol case. "Well uh... Thanks?" Starlight gratefully acknowledged. "Sure fackin thin, oh and if ya see dat facking Twatlit Sporkle pone, please kick her plis, thanks ya aslots." Alex requested before slamming the door behind him, and either drank more or simply blacked out unconsciously. "Well... That went well, who's Rosemary?" Starlight asked. "She's the new Medical officer, a medical pony, the last one retired and so it sorta prompted our friendly government to simple create a new big army group. Some call her Med Pone as her nickname." "And... What do they call the other pony? You know Gold Star?" "Just by his name for fear sakes, the word Pone is considered more of a racial slur than a compliment..." "...Oh..." "Yeah... Better stay with me with all times," I advised, looking at the white building sitting at the East wing of the base. "That is where we'll find Rosemary." "You'll help?" "Well yeah, if Gold Star is going to be a asshole and venture off without me, best I can do is to do the same, plus I need to collect things from Patton's base anyways, so now come, lets go find your friend's medical records!" So me and Starlight went out from the office and made our way to the medical wing where we can find the documentation of Sunburst. (Depending on legality and useless stuff). Cave After setting up a fire in the cave, the tent, and the materials needed to cook the food, Gold Star and Twilight stressed on getting the wound patched up after a couple minutes of finding the bullet lodged inside of the veins. Luckily the vest strap stopped the bullet from piercing deeper into the Artery's giving them a easy time locating the bullet, despite the difficulties of finding it though. But after getting the bullet out of the soldier's body, they patched up the vein, the other areas, and then stitched the wound up which should last a while until they can get the soldier out of dodge. "Well, that settles that then, now about this precarious situation, how the hell do we intend on facing down a army over here? I mean, with our friends not here-" "Excuse me!" Protested Rarity. "But I am not your friend and neither are they!" "Rarity-" "Twilight enough with the excuses, you know as much as I do! Every time we brought him with us in something as easy as a simple task like getting rid of Spike's glow for instance! It ends in total chaos!" Rarity argued. "Rarity it's just a coincidence he couldn't possibly-" "AND!" Interjected Rarity. "Oh boy..." Sighed Spike. "It wasn't just this very moment either! Just not too long ago we had to fight against Sombra, Chrysalis, and that one human!" "Don't forget Flim and Flam." "And Iron Will." "And Lightning Dust and Radiant ho-" "No asked for your opinion MISTER!" Rarity pointed. "..." "The Crystal Fair is just the tip of the iceberg too!" "Okay, so I may see a little bit if your point, but he isn't some sort of embodiment of negativity," Spike pointed out. Watching from the distance as the trio argued over Gold Star, he and Ember were just sitting in the side lines watching the whole ordeal unfold infront of them. "What's got her coo coo over you?" Ember asked. "Long story short we sorta had a fight over at the mainland that almost involved the MP, if it weren't for Applejack tying me down the legs and tossing me at the doorsteps." "By that description, I can pretty much tell it's a long story," Ember snorted in a chuckle. "You have no idea..." It wouldn't be long in the spark of the argument when the injured soldier woke up, however he wasn't noticed and he knew that, he peeped around at this group of campers to find that he was outnumbered, foolishly they didn't think to take his hidden knife away though it was hidden so how can they. So when Rarity backed into him, she was quickly snagged and and was held hostage by the soldier pressing the knife to her neck as she muffled in terror. Gold Star quickly bolted with his rifle and aimed at the soldier. "DROP THE KNIFE!" He shouted in a demand, but was ignored when the soldier pressed the knife deeper into Rarity's throat. "Who the fuck are you! Where the fuck am I! How the fuck did you shot me!" The Soldier interrogated them, using the unicorn mare as a leverage and a body shield in case Gold Star fired. Noticing the possibility of bloodshed Twilight cried out. "Gold Star wait! STAND DOWN!" Gold jerked his necked and looked at Twilight puzzled at her command, he and she knew that they have no real authority over each other, but they also know when either knew how to disarm the situation without a bullet, or in that Gradenlander's instance, a knife to the neck. He lowered his rifle, trusting Twilight. She raised her hooves up, going bipedal, and said. "Don't do anything to harm my friend! I am not armed!" "Oh yeah! How about the horn!" The soldier said, which to Twilight she eyed Gold Star to hand her a horn ring, however Gold Star felt unsure of himself whether or not to actually do this. "I can wait all night, but I doubt she can!" The soldier threatened vaguely, continually taunting them with the constant reminder of a life on the line. "Hold your ass fucking shithead!" Gold Star cursed, only to receive a middle finger as a 'right back at ya' sign. So Gold Star placed the ring around Twilight's horn, disabling her magic and instilling trust onto the soldier, essentially everyone is held hostage at this point. Except for Gold Star, and the two dragons who just watched, as they have no choice but to watch. "Are we squared?" "...Whatever, now tell me, where the fuck am I!" "I-" "Wrong answer and this creature gets it!" As Rarity muffled in fear, Twilight kept her eye on the soldier. "Okay okay! Look, I know the tense heat of the situation! But you've got be-" "ANSWER MY MOTHERFUCKING QUESTION NOW!" "It- we're in a cave! Not far from where you were shot!" "By WHO!" "By him!" Twilight snitched, which the soldier turned towards the tanned Stallion, with growing rage emanating from his face. "B-bu-but wait! We patched your wounds!" Twilight added, giving the soldier a pause as he checked on his shoulder to find that he was in fact bandaged. Although his anger was kindled a bit, he still was in grudge. Satisfied almost with his answers, the knife was lightened on Rarity's throat. "Now, give it to me straight, who is your commanding officer!" "Commanding officer!? We don't hav-" And once again he deeply pressed Rarity's throat once more only to finally slit it before Gold Star shouted. "Oh for fuck's sakes! It's Alexander!" Gold Star answered, postponing a execution, and instead turning to the stallion in confused recognition. "Say that again?" "Did I fucking stutter! I fucking said General K.B. Alexander, 105th armored brigade." "..." "So you know him," Gold Star said. "...Yes I did, he was on the document, I was suppose to... No I do not believe your story!" "How so!" "Well- I." "Because clearly you're at the brink of murdering a citizen infront of what is essentially a Princess of a country that kicked our asses in the Lunar wars, and a soon to be Colonel who can have you pink slipped for war crimes!" "And how do you intend on pink slipping a ghost." "I know you're fucking special forces deadass, black ops or not you can still be charged for war crimes, and you have witnesses that outnumbers more than one!" The soldier rolled his eyes, his rage was gone, it was clear that everyone was at a impasse, he merely gotten his main answer and it wouldn't be worth to kill everyone as they've seemed to have managed to live this long, so he released Rarity, on the accord that they do not do anything funny or stupid. Rarity, Twilight, and Spike tearfully hugged each other, while Gold Star kept his rifle close, and his eye closer toward him. "If you were to kill her, what was your next plan dumb fuck?" Gold Star scolded, with the Gradenlander shrugging and leaning back on the cave walls, knife in hand, as he kept his distance from the group. "To be frank, I have no clue what I was going to do, then again that really wasn't the plan." he answered, which Gold Star rolled his eyes. "A bit low don't you think!" Spike infuriatedly voiced. "You could've killed her!" "And yet she's alive, be glad that it was only a bluff, if it were the communist she'd would've been very dead right now." Of course everyone gave him the look of disproval aside from Ember who was sitting near the fire brooding about her father leading the dragon warriors against a technologically superior enemy doing what he can do best to save the lands for her to rule. And then the next bickering started. "You know lets say I were to kill her, how good is your aim and reflexes?" "Uhuh, well if it were that case you'd be dead before you hit the group." Gold Star replied. "Sure..." "Sure?! Sure? You know what, throw that rock towards the exit." "Gold Star..." Twilight called out. "No! Do not bother us, in fact leave me be I like to show this asshole off real quick," Gold Star Interjected. "Fine by me," the Gradenlander said, throwing a pebble without warning. "...I didn't say go," Gold Star complained. "Okay?" Replied the Gradenlander, which he tossed up the pebble and then threw it at the exit, of course Gold Star fired off one burst, and missed embarrassing Gold Star infront of his friends who then gave a silent stare at the exit. "Nice aim," the Gradenlander chuckled. "Just... Warming up." "Mhm, here I'll let the Pastel Alicorn throw it this time," the Gradenlander said, handing the pebble to Twilight as she threw it with her magic. And once again Gold Star missed, how humiliating. "Warming up huh?" "Ok so what if I can't aim with a iron sight, doesn't mean-" He cut himself off when he noticed the impressions everyone gave off towards him on his inability to aim from a far distance with a Iron sight, sure most of the weapons he used were scoped, but he was merely trained how to shoot a tank not close quarters combat, or a standard ground fight, never in his life did he ever fought against someone with a rifle or a pistol, just a tank or a fist fight. And that was a problem. Canterlot The private jet landed on the airstrip with the awaited security forces being first head. Princess Luna had arrived on the airstrip to assist with the joint security as Mikhail Gorbachev stepped off from the ramp with the RIB agents scanning the surroundings, the first thing on Gorbachev's mind though was to assert that he had no absolute idea as to why and how this war ended up came to be. In fact he was in his office doing paper work when he stumbled across the news directly from his boss, the Red Mother, that they were at war, the word war made his heart sank, but it was only when she specify they were at war with the Dragon lands... But it didn't help the fact that the area of the war is in Equestria's backyard and sphere of influence, a unsteady water of potential conflict and worst of yall the edge of destruction altogether. So when he gotten the notification from a messenger sent from Celestia of a summons, he was eager to accept and he quickly made way to depart to Canterlot. However he had to get approval from the Red Mother, however he knew that if he were to ask he worried she may have said otherwise. Despite that thought though, he asked her anyways, and she solemnly accepted... And so she sent with him what seemed more of a ultimatum then a compromise. A demand of some sort. And he wasn't quite fond at the face she made when she looked at him from a distance just as he went down the elevator. Stepping off the jet though, he was met with the pleasant face of Princess Luna, and that was it... Anywhere else was either the solid cold stare from the Equestrian Guard, or the tense death stare from the RIB guards who stared from behind their blackened masks... "Mr. Gorbachev, it is pleasant that you've come in such a short notice," Luna greeted. "Princess, pleasant to meet once again at this time, I apologize for the mess that this had stirred, I assure you though, I still have any idea about this... At all." "Well all that we know is that your country is at war, and we're going to solve it," Luna spoke. "Lets hope so," Gorbachev commented. "May I offer you a ride to the castle?" Luna asked. "Nyet, I have a ride," Gorbachev rejected, as a MI-8 helicopter arrived on the airstrip to transport him to the castle. "Perhaps maybe I could offer you a ride?" Gorbachev chuckled. "Well played." The helicopter ride to Canterlot city was short, not only because of speed but because of distance. The reason for separate transportation was a security concern that those who seemed apathetic toward the dragons situation had been distrusting in the eyes of the Soviet Politburo, so in the light of their concerns he was given security. How much security may you ask? Probably to the point where even the Rodinian Royal Guard is assigned to stand beside him at all times. The helicopter he had been riding for about 10 minutes finally landed on a prepared space on the Equestrian-Humarican embassy, reserved for Humarican leadership and other envoys, waiting for him at the pad was Princess Celestia, at the same time Luna arrived as well. Once the door flattened down open Gorbachev stepped out, hand to hoof shaked towards Celestia, and then they both entered the castle for negotiations. Paris, Republic La François, South Humarica Petain was at the Palace of the Republic, reading the news paper of recent events when a envoy from the Griffonian Empire presented herself infront of the President. "Bonjour Madam Eagleclaw, seems that you've came to renew our trade agreements with your grand empire?" Petain assumed. "Correct to assume Sir Petain, the trade treaties between our nations had greatly benefitted us since the Peripherie's succeeded from our domination," Eagleclaw answered. "Oui, my friend." Petain said, standing up from his desk and staring at the globe, sighing. "You know, were once a empire, once, the empire in which we've controlled merely the south of Northern Humarica, before that bastard king decided to ruin it all... But I'm not the one to pity, though in your current circumstances, you are quickly and rapidly losing territory." "I wish there was a way to prevent the inevitable, but from what I heard, the Empire had became less than what our neighbors call-" "The sick bird of Griffonia, yep. It spreads quick amongst my people and this continent, and yet... Just in one year you have a grand empire, great fear, great reputation, and such great unity, and then the next you are at the brink of... Nothing." Petain turned to Eagleclaw, with the thoughts racing through his mind as he looks at the feminine Griffon, thinking of how desperate those damn birds were on their knees for Humarican products all the while rotting from the inside out within their own nation. By his own calculation the empire won't last another decade, when the collapse itself happens remains to be seen. But he knew though, sooner or later, in the middle of the collapse, François would profit. "Well, I believe that is enough talk with politics, let us renew that treaty, shall we?" "Of course!" Replied Eagleclaw, as the two sat down and begun discussing on improvement. The cave. It was now night 1 for their time in the dragon lands, and from they've overcome was pretty substantial. In basic terms they've went from Equestria to the mountains, they've managed to procure the Scepter before Garble, Gold Star kicked his ass, and then just when it was over a military operation of the size of the bay of pigs invasion showed up and blocked the skies and the seas. From what Gold Star told me, even Twilight knew that they were all trapped. But how else did Gold Star manage to tell me what to write in this incident? So let me just say what happened next without rambling on. It was night time, and everyone was in the cave resting from journey after they all nearly got shot by not only the Rodinian's but their allies, witnessing Gold Star's war side, and Rarity nearly getting slit in the throat by a mad humanoid dog. They've been through a lot. So why else wouldn't they all sleep deeply tonight in the middle of a warzone? Well, atleast they all did except for Twilight, who got up in the middle of the night restless, being traumatized by today she couldn't shake herself back to sanity. Something was building up inside of her. As she stood at the edge of the cave entrance, looking at the night sky in a joyful look at the stars before the flares of war rained down followed by tracer fire and explosions lighting the skies to the point where the stars shied away in fright from a war torn misery land. Twilight was disgusted by this violence, she remembered as a foal that the world was as peaceful and grateful as it was than this period of time of the Millennia. She was internally betrayed by her own views, how could this specific group of species decide to justify the means of destroying another? Why is it that all wars are in relation with hate and greed? Why hasn't she, Twilight Sparkle, the princess of Friendship and Element of magic, done something about this!? And as her thoughts, added with rage, continued to swell the voice of her friend came in a good nick of time to keep her out from dark thoughts. "Dear Celestia Twilight... Why are you up at this time of night, do you realize what time is it!?" Twilight turned towards her friend and her mind was cleared just from a single chuckle. "Not really Rarity, I don't think he packed a watch either," Twilight answered, as Rarity puffed from her muzzle. "I wonder who you're referring to by "he" Twilight, I assume you're still referring to the stallion in the cave," Rarity bleated, while Twilight looked at her in a sort of neutral expression. "Rarity do I have to remind you that he's kept us alive for this long, and you still complain!" "I'm just voicing my own opinion after all, It's just that I can't stand to be around that stallion, how else am I awake!" "To tell me what time it is..." "I- well okay maybe that wise, but I was awakened because of his snoring! He snores like a horse!" Twilight stared at Rarity in a grunt, making Rarity rephrase her insult. "A Arabian Horse!" "Why can't you two make it up? You know what Fluttershy would say?" "Hm?" "She would try her best for you and Gold to reconnect and befriend each other, even if she had to reconcile both of you privately and then personally," Twilight sorta assumed. "Yes, but may I mind you that Applejack would also step in and say "be honest! Honest! Honest! Honest!" Oooh! I sure made a great display of my honesty towards him!" "Oh... Colt..." Outside the cave, Spetsnaz troops looked through their binoculars overhearing the conversation as a whole, although to them it was random rambling as they merely spoke and understood Rodinian, not English. "Do you have any idea what they're saying comrade?" Asked a Spetsnaz soldier. "No clue... No clue at all," replied the other. It was then that static from their radio's came online. "This is Ivan-01, what's the status on the scouting operation on the dragon outpost," the radio sparked. "Ivan, this is Reaper-05, we have confirmed there is no dragon outpost, but we have a visual on a Alicorn and a Unicorn, over," reported the Spetsnaz soldier. "Can you confirm visual?" Requested Ivan-01, as the second hand Spetsnaz soldier looked again, and again they find the same two ponies, horned and wing conversating with a horned. They took a slight invisible snapshot through the electronic binoculars. "We have confirmed sir, transmitting imagery now," the Spetsnaz soldier transferred. "And for the record Twilight! It was him who started this whole ordeal between us!" Twilight faced palm herself at the ridiculousness spouted by Rarity, but she made her last effort into conforming Rarity into just dropping the whole personal conflict with Gold Star. "Look, Rarity, you have got to realize that while we all have our own personal talents, style, and pride, but somepony may not... You could-" "Could?" Rarity interjected. "sigh* May..." Twilight reiterated. "Be right about Gold Star being impolite about your own style, but have you thought that maybe there's a reason for his outburst?" Rarity rolled her eyes... And thought back on that day. It was like any normal day, she was at the boutique weaving clothing for customers of course before that she was sending Sweetie Bell off to school, then after weaving two or three she ran out of fabric material so she sat out to the farm to see whether Applejack had prepared the fabric package. Upon arriving though she noticed Gold Star was helping with the clean up, thanks to Discord's squirrel rampage, although he was standing oddly bipedal as he used a broom to sweep about the debris but she paid no attention to him. Atleast until he asked about her perfume, or in his words "that smell of self delight" to which she was insulted by those five words themselves and then a fight broke out between the two both in attempts of mentally wounding one another before it turned physical in which RD and Applejack had to break it up. Now how they did it you may ask? Well to put it simply, think of Applejack and a Bull Rodeo with Gold Star, and Rainbow Dash Frisby tossing with Rarity. Was it a mess? Yes. How did I react to this personally? Well... This is exactly why I hate perfume. Operation Room Alpha By now Yuri had been informed by Ivan-01 that his target, Twilight Sparkle, and potentially his second target, Ember, was located, and so he arrived at the camp and entered inside the officer tent hastily. "Agent Yuri," Ivan-01 greeted, as they both shook hands. "Commander Perseus, I assume you have something of interest?" Yuri asked. "Yes comrade Yuri," the Commander said, handing him paper printed photographs that confirmed the presence of Twilight Sparkle in the area. "Shall I begin mobilizing and proceed with capture?" Perseus asked. "Immediately." "I'm sorry Twilight, but there is nothing that can change my mind! You may have your little interment relationship with him but I do not want anything to do with him!" Rarity declared, as Twilight grimly frowned. "Ugh... Well then, if that's how it's going to be then atleast-" Suddenly she heard bushes shuffling and snapping sticks, even Rarity has started to taken notice of the unnatural shuffling. "Hm, must be... Those mountain rodents hehe... R-right Twilight?" And then suddenly, they heard Rodinian... Two soldiers then dropped down from the top of the cave surprising the two ponies off guard. "Удивите наездников!" And immediately they fired a shotgun rounds of smoke grenades that hit Twilight in the chest and filled the entire cave with smoke waking everyone else who was asleep. The entire group woke up coughing violently as they limped, crawled, and ran to get out of the cave, Twilight attempts to use her clearing spell but it fails immediately, essentially losing her magical ability. "W-what's going on!" Spike yelped! "I-I-" After everyone was outside the soldiers fled, but before Gold Star could give chase and shoot the bastards the spot lights from helicopters that scoured the skies in pairs followed by the arrival of Armored vehicles, soldiers, tanks, and Anti-Magic satellite enhanced anti-air Shilka's. The cave is surrounded, there was no fighting a army... And then Yuri, who is with the forces, stepped out in the midst of the post-capture deployment with a smug on his face. He pulled out a microphone. "Princess Sparkle of Equestria," announced Yuri. "Your charade in our operation ends here and now." "And I would've thought they kept you locked up in Canterlot!" Twilight glowered. "Wait a minute! You're the guy!" Rarity pointed out, as Yuri lowered his microphone at that reminded moment. "Ah yes, and I remember you too, the foolishness of you to give me the very material's to blend in within your own population," Yuri chuckled. "I gave you fine clothing! Fine Fabric! A shower!" "Yes well that was a weird moment, but I'm afraid my little insignificant fool, that you've been duped. You and you're foxling fiend." Rarity was takened back in total insult, as Yuri smiled at her trauma, and proceeded to add. "Wake up to reality! I should know considering most of my missions failed when the enemy such as yourselves appears in mass droves! And well... Hehe... You will all be experiencing what I've experienced in my own way." Gold Star aimed his rifle towards Yuri only to be met with hundreds of guns aimed and fixated right on him. "Nuh uh uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Yuri warned. "Benefit for me that I kill you here and now!" Gold Star Swore. "Admirable, but these men will also kill everyone with you, so in words put together, you kill me they all die," Yuri threatened, no not threatened. Promised... And being pressured by everyone around him was a bit pressing, his friends expressions told him to lower his weapons, while the injured Special Forces Soldier who looked at Gold Star as if to tell him "do it in the name of our country" but was Gold Star willing to kill this man at the expense of his friend's lives? No he wouldn't. As much as he would kill Yuri for the sake of crippling the R.I.B, it would also be at the expense of his own friends who aren't as ready as he was to die for the country. And so knowing full well the consequences as well as the pro's, he ultimately surrendered, and dropped everything, weapons, armor, and helmet. But not his Saddle bags, which reminded Yuri of that discovery he had made when he first followed that Nazi General Cynthia to an alleyway. "Princess, has it occurred to you that this Stallion had more then what he let on?" Yuri asked. "You mean he's a spy!" Rarity accused. "...What? No, he i- grrr! LOOK AT HIS DAMN SIDES!" Yuri yelled. "Have you even considered that he is more then meet's the eye! That the whole time as you stood there with him that he has hid something!" Twilight didn't understand, but took a look at his sides which Gold Star tried to avoid only to bump into a soldier, wearing heavy gear and a Atlyn Helmet, who grabbed a hold of him. Twilight and Spike charged but were held back by the soldier. "Leave him alone!" Spike demanded. "And now Twilight Sparkle, others, dragoness lord Torch, lemme show you, DO IT!" He ordered, as the Gorka stripped the saddle bags off of Gold Star by force tearing the belt and then threw him onto the ground, revealing his wings. Twilight couldn't be even more than surprised as the rest of the group. "I don't understand... This has to be a trick! Did you not know he was a pegasi?" Ember asked, but gets no reply other then Yuri looking at her directly. "Don't worry dear dragoness, lemme reveal the last thing," he assured looking at Gold Star. "Show them, NOW!" Yuri demanded, but only to be replied with defiance, something Gold Star was good at when the person who isn't in charge of him gives him orders. Something that ticks Yuri the most. "I said, show them dammit," Yuri ordered. Again met with defiance and embarrassment until finally the same Gorka fist guts into Gold Star's torso and tore only the thick part of his mane, revealing a horn. "No... That-that's impossible! Y-you were!" As Gold Star stared at Twilight in a almost defeated notion, he was thrown into the dirt once more before his head was lifted off the ground by Yuri. "You see what I had to do? Hm? To show them what it means to anger a greater power? Now... This is merely the beginning of what you will suffer what I have, only then you will learn." He released his head and gave the order. "I've wasted enough time now! Take them away! And take this and that one to base 04 for organ sorting!" "Yes sir," replied the soldiers as they cuffed the ponies, faced a bit of resistance from Ember before stunning her into the ground, she dropped the scepter when she was stunned. Yuri grabbed it and admired. Prison camp Roskva Night turned to dawn, and everyone but Ember was thrown into some sort of cell, while Gold Star and the Gradenlander was sent to a separate camp. It was just Ember, untied, not restrained, and in a suitable yet luxuries environment? The only downside was she was all alone in this room, something she'd never thought to be imprisoned in considering the circumstances... But wait, how did they found her out? How exactly did they knew that she was the new dragon lord? Well... It would sort to turn out that the answer entered inside of the room, arms crossed leaning on the pillar pedestal as he chuckled at her predicament. "Garble... I should've known," Ember scoffed. "Like this room? Because it's you new home!" Garble replied. "That makes two of us, what have you done, do you realize the amount of treason you've committed!?" "For a 'princess' you are very smart to realize that I am definitely in fact working with these cool guys," Garble snorted in laughter. "Garble, that will be all," intervened General Perov, appearing with two heavily armored men armed with PKMs. "Come." On the other side of the camp Twilight, Spike, and Rarity had been place in electric chains with both of their horns ringed, and wings tightened. What's more fun is the fact that Yuri is the overseer of their rusty prison as he joyfully sat on his wooden chair, and relaxing his feet on the wooden table, polishing his Makarov pistol. "It's such a wonderful thing Princess, the fact that one thing leads to another to make the perfect circle of irony, for instance, one day I was in prison as it's prisoner, the next I'm it's warden," Yuri gloated at the helpless Alicorn. "But I hope you get comfortable until the next prisoner swap, heh. Whenever that may be." He then stood up from his makeshift wooden table and gave the order to the guard. "If they try anything, shoot them." "Taktochnof." Acknowledged the guard, as he stood diligently at the entrance of the door. "See you in hell, rat." As he shuts the door behind him, Rarity looked around at the cell in horror. "This. Is. Bar-BARIC!! Who puts criminals in these cells!" Rarity ranted. "Everyone I suppose," Spike sarcastically assumed, turning to Twilight. "Twilight what-" He nearly forgot the guard who was staring at him deeply, so Spike whistled to get his attention off of him until he did. Which he whispered and repeated. "What's our plan of escape?" He asked, only to be met by absolute silence by the bookworm Alicorn as she processed everything... All this time she thought, that this stallion was a Earth Pony, every funny speculation about him being different was just her own inside joke that she shared only by herself. But now it had seemed to turned from a joke to the realization that it was a hunch that turned into reality... How is it possible she thought. How is he a Alicorn? Where in Tartarus was that detail! She just sat there thinking, and thinking, and thinking, ignoring Spike's attempt at convoluting a plan to get out of this Soviet Dungeon. The better question was as of that though, how do they escape? Rocky hills, 85th prison transport convoy Gold Star and the Special Forces soldier were in transportation to the prison camp, undoubtedly though it was a awkward ride to there as Gold Star's spirit was destroyed. The soldier who sat across from him though had a different mood then that of surprise or depression, but curiosity. "Hm, so you were a Alicorn this whole entire time huh, what made you hide it in the first place?" The Special Forces soldier ask, only to be utterly rejected by Gold Star's silence. He gets that he was humiliated infront of everyone, but at the moment of time they are both in they haven't realized that they're being sent to a death camp that could end their very lives the moment they reach it. So it was time for him to start over. "I... Believe we got off the wrong foot, back in the cave, I'm Sergeant Lancaster, I think we've met before back in the Crystal City, when we were in the alley ways," he solemnly introduced, but was given no response. Gold Star sat there with his thoughts racing on what to do or what to say, he was stoked at what had happened, it was never meant to happen... Not at all. "If only I never went with them..." He lowly said. "What was that?" Sergeant Lancaster asked. "I. Should've had never went with them, this whole motherfucking charade had been nothing but a chaotic twist and turn! From there I thought it was going to be the average guarding duty with Twilight, and then the next we're on this fucking BTR shit wagon heading to a Soviet Prison camp, in the middle of a fucking war that somehow authorized you and you're guys to come and meddle in! Fuck, I shouldn't had even agreed to this fucking pledge!" "I understand your frustration, but it is not helping for the fact that we are about to-" "I DON'T FUCKING CARE ANYMORE!" He shouted in a loud burst, tears inches away from leaking out from his eyes, teeth grinding, and his pent up anger and frustration, worsened. "I SHOULDN'T HAD EVER BECAME A FUCKING GUARD, I SHOULDN'T HAD LEFT MY FAMILY, I SHOULDN'T HA-HAD FUCKING ABANDONED MY EQUESTRIA, AND I SURE AS FUCKING HELL WISH I JUST ACCEPTED MY FATE BACK AT CANTERLOT!" The BTR was silent, the pilots understood the atmosphere as they drove and stayed silent, even the guards sitting beside them were also silent as they scooted distance apart from Gold Star. "I-I shouldn't had..." He said. "I should've never had... Come back." Officer hall, Perov's office Ember was sat down by the soldiers on the chair infront of Perov's desk since all she could do was look at the General while he looked out the window with his arms behind his back. "That will be all, leave us," he ordered, as the soldiers obeyed and left the room. "Odd, as much well as you do in skirmish strikes against your own neighbor you do as well in defense, essentially fooling the entire world of our superiority," Perov philosophically stated, turning towards the tied down soon to be dragon lord. "And yet you've barely had any clue as to why we're here in the first place, do you not?" Ember gave no response other then a cold stare which had no affect on Perov's mentality, let alone his resolve into ending this conflict in any means possible as long as it involved a Soviet Victory. But even for Ember as she knew his ego, he didn't needed to tell her since his body language says it off, the calm under pressure feeling, it was as scary as it is frightening. "I believe that this is your first time being in the stadium of politics is it not?" Perov asked. "I've been in the dark too long to know anything, all I know is that you're the one responsible for this war, and what exactly is your game play here anyways!" Ember asked. "Hm, smart, a bit too smart," Perov self recorded. Ember was confused by his self determinate recording of her, what does he mean by too smart, and if there is some sort of limit maybe she can exploit this. But he relinquished and held back his tongue before he said anything else, but instead he added. "You, are the reason this war has prolonged too long as it's should've, and now that you've been captured I can finally slap sense into you of reality." Reality, what type of reality is he slapping when he's the one in charge of a whole operation to invade and wipe out the dragon race. Atleast... That's what she thinks of reality, actually that's what every dragon on this pile of rock thought of, the thought that everyone in the world was out to get them, to genocide a entire race, reduce them to nothing, to ashes, to absolute nothingness. And so in a growl she protested in her own reality. "What reality is there to speak of! You're the ones who started this war not us! You had the guts to come here on our land, destroy our homes, capture sacred land that had been trekked by ancestors from long ago! And you capture me just to brain wash me!" With that said, Perov rolled his eyes in amusement, the pity of this dragon trying to convince him of something that merely was untrue, Perov has no intention of genocide, atleast for now that is the intention unless the Red Mother deemed so. "That is where you're wrong Dragoness," he informed. "If we wanted to wipe you out of the face of this earth we would've done so right now without sending boots on the ground in this very instant," he pointed out. "And how so!" "...Just by using a single weapon," Perov answered. "...?" "But there's a perfectly good reason why we've chose to go pacifist." "More like Sadistic..." Ember Interjected, annoying Perov in interruption. "It is in terms of subjugation, ever since we've went into Arabia all of our convoy's had suffered one or two instances of being raided by your kind, even through the North and South routes and we still couldn't avoid, and so what you're kind did was attack a nuclear shipment..." Perov explained. "Uhuh, and what importance does that have to do in starting the war?" Ember asked. "The very means of obliterating this very island, and the mass destruction of anything," he answered, making Ember jerking her neck back. "So what do I have anything to do about this, I'm not even swarmed in as the Dragon Lord!" "Maybe not Dragoness, but that will be changed soon enough," Perov added. "What do you mean 'soon enough' what is your plan!" Ember demanded. "Have you ever consider that Camp 04 is not real, and your American Friends are merely the bait." "...What did you do." The trap Gold Star and Lancaster sat silently on the seat, no thought from Lancaster just from Gold Star who thought about the consequences of what he hasn't done. But this was quickly blown out of mind when a huge explosion rocked the convoy into a complete halt as the guards, being alerted, quickly grabbed their rifles and jumped out of the armored vehicle before being torched to death, the soldiers proceeded to abandon the convoy and left both Gold Star and Lancaster behind while suppressive fire shot at the mountains in a attempt to cover the running men. The dragon raiders swooped down onto the convoy and destroyed the armor vehicle behind them, and then proceeded to tearing off the entire roof of the BTR. It was Kahamit. "Fancy meeting you again," Kahamit greeted, only to get no response from Gold Star but from Lancaster with the clinging of the hand cuffs which was quickly sliced off of him. "You must be the American soldier that our allies had been looking for," Kahamit noted. "Well atleast we've been busy with giving hell to the commie's!" "WE DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THE CONVERSATION! WHERE IS MY EMBER!" Torch yelled. "She was captured and sent to a separate camp, we can find her but-" It was then that Gold Star snapped out from his emotional rollercoaster and saw a Rodinian soldier in the bushes with a rocket launcher. "RPG GET DOWN!" Gold Star shouted, as he shoved Lancaster down into the dirt dodging the missile as it destroyed the armor vehicle behind them. * "The signal has been revealed and marked, permission to move in," requested the mountaineer in the radio after Prigozhin saw the massive explosive cloud rise. "Spring the trap, proceed with Operation Firefighter." "Yes sir, proceeding with operation," acknowledged the soldier. * As the dust cleared out sounds of helicopters and jets arrived into the sector. "Shit, Gold Star?" Lancaster asked. "Yes..." He replied. "I think... I think it's a trap," Lancaster assumed. "Yeah... I think it is..." Soon missiles are fired at the group of dragons who quickly took to the air to intercept as many helicopters as possible, however the helicopters unlike the Hinds were more formidable and even looks very comparable to the Apache designed helicopter! And even so Torch, being massive as he is, took to the air and decimated some of the jets in the air about 5 or 4, it was then that the helicopters fired missiles all simultaneously which they all combined into one gigantic net and they all dragged Torch and the rest of the band of dragons down onto the surface trapping them into a metallic electrified netting that quickly electrocuted them into submission. After Torch, Kahamit, and the dragons were all captured by one coordinated net, Tigr's arrived in tens surrounding Gold Star and Lancaster as never seen before soldiers with tannish uniform instead of the original green EMR, and a patch that resembled a symbol of a skull smiling surrounded by a red circle with the words within the outer layer of the patch spelt. "PMC Wagner Group, that's... New," Lancaster whispered towards Gold Star. "Paramilitary groups? Heard of them, but not this close, and it just had to be Rodinian..." "And from that I assume you are referring to Blackwater," approached Prigozhin, as he approached the duo. "I would suggest getting on the ground before someone gets hurt." He taunts them with a squeeze taser. "Well, it was a nice freedom while it lasted," Lancaster submitted, as once again they were cuffed and this time sent to the Roskva prisoner of war camp. Prison camp Roskva again Twilight, Spike, and Rarity were surprised when the door was opened and then came flying Gold Star and Lancaster tossed inside the prison cell as it shut tight locked. "Aint that one for a sight, two Alicorns in one day," said one teenage guard. "Sure is, a bad day for damnquestria!" The teenage guards were silently briefing thinking on that slur, before snorting and laughing their asses off and walking away from the prison cell. "Gracious! I thought they were sending you two to a different camp!" Rarity pointed out. "Well apparently we were the bait, they used us to-" Twilight looked at Gold Star getting up off the ground. "To-" Twilight approached him. "To?" And then, Twilight SLAPPED Gold Star in the face out of no where in a pain blowing bruise. "Actually I'll explain later..." Lancaster ended. "Why, in all of Equestria's beauty have you not share this with me!" Gold Star was reeling from that painful hoof to the face blow as he rubbed the pain while psychologically faced the inevitable as she scolded. "How could you lie to me!" He didn't wanted to, he wanted to tell her, but he didn't have the right words to reveal. "Lie to us!" He wished to include them, but Rarity stood as a obstacle. "Lie to Yates!" Fortunately, I already knew, but he didn't tell the full extent, atleast in term of identity. "Lie to everyone including your own country!" Country, HA! His mind was laughing, he about had enough with hearing that word, country, at this rate the country can go to hell as well with Rodinia, he had been stuck being this form, it was country this, country that, country over, country everything. That country, is not his real country, he was Equestria. And he had enough! Holding it in no long. Before Twilight could say another lie phrase he yelled. "AMERICA. IS. NOT. MY. FUCKING. COUNTRY!" He yelled out loud at the top of his lungs, disturbingly shocking Twilight and everyone else in the cell and so they were silence as Gold Star panted for air in frustration and anger and then he sighed. "My name... Isn't even Gold Star either..." Everyone voiced their gestures of shock, with a "WHAT!" There and a "HAEH?" Here, in fact as I am writing this even I became skeptical with Gold Star, or, atleast that was his name he went by... "My real name is Aurelius Nova, and... sigh what is there to say!" "You can start with, WHAT IN TARTARUS IS GOING ON! First I thought you were just some tacky war genera-" "Colonel." "Whatever! And then out of no where you've befriended Twilight, the most specialized princess of Equestria! And then out of no where AGAIN! You're a Alicorn with a even more different name! Though in all honesty it has a better sounding taste to my mouth, BUT STILL!" "Alright Rarity we get it!" Twilight Interjected, turning to the not named Gold Star with a glare in her eyes. "And you! What do you have to say for yourself!" Gold Star stood silent, he wasn't thinking, he was remembering of how it all went downhill up to this point, staring at the eyes of those he lied to. Met with disappointment and anger. And so he spoke it all. To sum up the early parts, he was born in Equestria in 987, lived in a new frontier port village that bordered the badlands controlled by the Dragonland's which was mysteriously decimated by a unknown force still be identified, he explained his love for the military live and strived to become a royal guard, so he started his studies and joined in the 1000's. He then went on to explain that he was hoof picked to become apart of the growing unit called the Elites, he spent a entire year training before being sworn in as it's newest member, it was one hundred and thirty two days later exactly after when he noticed his letters were not be responded to, however, it was then that he and his unit was dispatched to his home village that they found horrors beyond comprehension, the village was still smoldering with smoke, pony residences had disappeared, some dead lifeless on the ground with shock still on their face of a gruesome fate, and finally when he saw his home on the brink of collapse he broke rank to find his family only to find the same gruesome fate, with lifeless bodies stabbed mercilessly as they still had horror implanted in their eyes. Of course he was reprimanded for breaking rank but after, Celestia personally had it dismissed as it was a familial case, but for his sakes Aurelius was sent to Canterlot with only a empty promise that was still unfulfilled, all he had was theories of who killed his family, and not entirely direct answers or evidence of who really murdered them and burned the entire town to the ground. "But even in the darkest time with my grief, four days later I've almost lost it, had it not been for you," he said to Twilight, who by now had been glued in with his memory with curiosity, wonder, and worry. "When you and your friends defeated Discord, it gave me hope for me to make the death of my family not in vain, so I did what you've taught, that was to make friends. But I guess you can say it was sorta different when you're in a group not known to be friendly." "But you did try didn't you?" Spike asked. "My best, but it all ended with "no thanks" or "are you serious?" or get this, "you are out of your mind" those were all the common things that ended when I asked." "Friendship is not gained just by asking," Twilight interjected, going into one of those friendship speeches. "Friendship is a bond! No matter what opinion you have, or what the other thinks about, friendship is something that you can have with anypony, not even... Secrets... sigh but not by just begging or asking, even if they say yes do you really think that they'd feel comfortable?" "...So I did it wrong is what you're saying?" Twilight cringed a bit at his question, but relaxed herself. "It doesn't matter whether you've done it wrong, or right, what matters is what your friend feels." Aurelius sighed at those words. "Yeah... I've already assume that I've fucked up this time..." Twilight and Rarity frowned and looked at each other, although he had Twilight had also sighed as well with her words, because even she is guilty. "No, Gold- Aurelius, sorry still trying to get use to that, but you shouldn't even be angry with yourself, I've shouldn't had gotten mad at you at all... If I were had known I-" "I've haven't finished, my life. Yet." "Please, continue," Twilight asked, comforting Aurelius with her hoof. And so he continued, primarily to the time when Luna had some sort of thing for him, a flirt no less, he was assigned as her night guard the day he enlisted before he was reassigned to regular day time guard duty, what surprised Twilight the most was that he didn't saw anything about Luna being freed from her Nightmare prison when she was first freed. And he had the same reaction when they said that was Princess Luna in his face. "You didn't even know it was the lost Princess Luna! Hmph! And you called yourself a night guard!" Rarity criticized. "As much as I'd would sorta agree with you, but I was on the dark about this as much as well, just me." "So about that name?" Twilight asked. "Well that's the point I'll get to, after being ranked as Sergeant in the Elite Corps of the Equestrian Royal Guard. they saw that my name was too royal like, and their tradition was basically making anyone within their ranks as lowly as possible they wanted to essentially simplify my name, so they essentially used the Americanified version of my name from Aurelius Nova, to Gold Star, Aurelius to Gold, and Nova to Star. Aurelius Nova to Gold Star." "Huh, wouldn't ya know, I guess we have influence in your land after all," chuckled the Staff Sergeant, leaning on the jail walls. "You'd think after the Lunar Wars they'd flat out erase all traces of America off their soil," Rarity commented. "Well Equestria isn't like that Rarity, there may be enemies but there are people on that side," Twilight said. "Even if they believe otherwise into the indoctrination." "Yeah, but then came the life changing event you may know as the attack on Canterlot, orchestrated by Chrysalis if I assume you remember," Aurelius opened. "The memories..." He went on to explain that he lead a short to gigantic militia of ponies, with the assistance of that one old granny who own a coffee shop that secretly stores a huge basement's worth of weapons, they managed to rally up most of the lower area's of Equestria to fight off the Changelings, it came to benefit him more as the naval fighters from the Starhawk carriers followed by the support of a AC-130 strafed the Changelings that stood in his way to rescuing civilians into ashes, which of course when they started bombing the fighting on the ground ceased as civilians were directed to shelters trying to hide from the onslaught of the Federation Air forces. Two hundred, and thirteen were saved by him and those who assisted him, Mares and Stallions, he gained attention from those surrounding as a hero of the lower Canterlot area to where they pushed to have it titled 'Hero of twelfth street" but he turned it down out of fear for pride sakes. "And it was then at that night of the marriage between your brother and Cadence, I was given the recommendation not specified, which I dare not say yes to, I rejected it, and then came the time when I fell fast asleep, in my dream Luna had entered my dream, and had bestowed Alicornhood upon me." "Well, that explains all of this," Twilight said. "That's the part where you came in, mainly your brother." "...What do you mean..." "The morning I woke up I didn't even notice anything change with me, I simply just went straight to the cafeteria, and then I was knocked out by the butt of a sword and then woke up on a chair strapped by changeling vine which was used to decloak them, but somehow they were not convinced that I was just. Well... Me. With damn wings and a horn stuck to my body, of course they decided to bring you in to scan me," Aurelius shared. "...Was that why I was- ..." Aurelius sighed, she remembered it all too well, so the next part would turn to a shock when he next said. "Yes, of course they haven't realized that I've had enough training to know how to escape these types of situations, and knowing changeling vine it only tightens on the skin of changelings, not on ponies, but the only obstacle was the guard that stood infront of me pointing the spear at my neck, so when I tracked his blinking I then loosen myself from the vine and knocked him down to the ground without a single chance of giving him a chance, which I then taped his mouth and used regular rope to tie him down, of course to cover my movements I used the torture devices. And let me tell you, they were very deafening." "So how did you escape after that?" Spike asked. "I used the ventilation shafts, and as I was crawling, I saw you Twilight," he said. "You were very determined, you've thought I was a threat to the land I wanted to protect, and I don't know what your brother told you, but here I am." He presented himself to Twilight, expecting her to view him and measure him, but the only thing Twilight could do was feel guilty about herself. "...I kicked you from Equestria, without any intention of doing so..." Aurelius stood back, allowing her to speak. "How could my brother done this! Why! Why did he-" Aurelius knew that this would've torn up her relationship with her brother, the only responsible thing for him to do was tell her that he had a right to do it, and Aurelius knew it quite right, her brother, Shining Armor, was essentially taking vengeance for his wife's kidnapping, he had every reason to do so. And Aurelius can only relate. Cynthia being one of those reasons, when she scratched Twilight after slamming her into a brick wall, Gold Star shot her with the MP-40, wounding her in the leg. Or when he rescued her at Starlight's town, or when Starlight attempted to have her revenge. He had been through enough to realize that Shining Armor felt when he thought he had avenged his wife. "It wasn't his fault, he was doing what he thought was right, I know this because I've went through it all before, and for the matter of that, I understood why, you are typically the Cadence to me, but of course you're Twilight Sparkle," Aurelius paused a bit and drooped down. "Look, what I am saying is that I-" "Oh for the love of Scintilla! Can you shut it with the emotional pony talk!" Garble rudely interrupted, surprising the ponies in the cell. "Oh, I see you've been working with them..." Spike shook his head. "You know as much as I would love to knowing you're here, I'm on a mission," Garble explained. "And that is?" Spike asked. "Well pony dragon! Have you thought that these goodie too shoes of a race had decided they want to kill our entire lordship for our... Uhh... (What's it called again when you try to control every dragon?)" "Subjugation..." Both Twilight and Aurelius answered. "Right." "Wait! They're going to kill Ember and Torch!" "Apparently so." "And how do you know!" Rarity interrogated. "Umm Erm. Well." Room 0990 Torch was chained to the ground after being captured, and any signs of struggling would be met with the pain of electrocution. Of course Torch didn't mind it much for the couple five or six times before it had became noticed that the electrocution intensity had increased, and so by that amount of intense pain being inflicted he stopped struggling. And on cue the soon to be dragoness lord, Ember, had entered the room with with chains as well. Father and Daughter looked at each other in the eyes in horror as they both saw. "You've been captured!?" They said in unison, when Perov entered the room, unintimidated by the size. "If I were to answer, yes you both have, but this is not a interrogation," he inferred. "Now, it's a demand." "If you dare ask me to surrender, I will rather die on my claws then to-" "It is not what I am demanding, but it is kept in mind, but I wouldn't waste your breath. I simply ask of you to make Ember the Dragon Lord at once," Perov demanded, of course Torch looked ridiculed, and so is Ember. "And what exactly will that do for you?" Ember asked, before two armed men appeared beside her with a chair, and sat her down in it. Forcing their grips on her shoulders as all she could do was struggle a bit before Perov went close to her face and replied. "Because. Dragoness. I would rather speak to the new generation, rather then the old, and weak." Perov then leaned his face back from Ember's muzzle and then turned towards the restrained Torch. "Now for you, I say again, declare her the new Dragon Lord, or-" "OR WHAT!" Torch shouted, triggering the electricity. "GAAAAAAAAAAAHHH~~~!!!" As he screamed in pain, the electrocution went past it's time as privately requested of Perov, as Ember tried to free herself, so she can punch the General in his mustache face and free her father, Perov stood motionless only with a slight grin as he watches his enemy of this entire war suffer as those that he inflicted on his own men. Finally after what seemed to be two minutes, Perov spoke into the radio. "That's enough, cease." The electrocution ceased as commanded, and Torch, with his strength gone, was tired and weak. "If you haven't figured it out as you're shouts ringed throughout this entire camp, if you do not make the dear dragoness the Dragon Lord, I will be forced to execute her on the spot!" Perov violently declared, as the men quickly covered her mouth with a rag and placed a pistol to her head. Torch was caught off guard, but before he can say anything, the soldiers air shot the pistol, it wasn't loaded but it was clearly a signal towards him that these men were dead serious in killing Ember. But these men were not the ones taking the shot, as Perov pulled out his revolver, and aimed it right between Embers eyes. "Now, what do we say? Her life, or your lordship." Ember expected her father to hesitate, and she knew that if he did it may be the end of her own life. She never thought that she'd be killed by a Human, let alone a smart maniac, in fact she believes he may be smarter then before, in which case the entire land was doomed. But when she embraced the inevitable, Torch replied. "I, Torch, hereby revoke my title." Ember looked at him with fear. "Dad! What are you doing!" "...What a responsible dragon parent has to," he said, before continuing. "I bestow the title of Dragon Lordship to Ember, the winner of the competition, and the legitimate heir to the throne of all the dragons. May Lord Ember, prosper in her leadership." Ember cried on her chair, and of course Perov, who now lowered his revolver, was satisfied. "I think a recess is needed, I will allow both of you to talk things out, for now, you two, guard the room, no one gets in or out without my authorization." "Ÿ̵̢́͝é̷̞͉s̷̼̃ ̴̠̰̓̀S̸̭̀͒i̴̭̮͛̊r̵̡̃̔.̷̖͚̍" replied the soldiers. Back in the cell "And that was when as I was walking I overheard that crazy mustache dude say that he was going to kill Ember and Torch after they accept a deal!" Garble finished. "...Threatening someone's daughter for their own personal gain... That's cold." Spike said. "That's more then cold! That's pure evil! Who is this guy anyways!" Twilight asked. "I don't really know to tell you the truth," shrugged Garbled. "Well we're more dead meat here then what they are experiencing," Aurelius said. "And didn't you say you were actually on our side!" "Uhh.. Yeah! That's what I said you dork!" "Then how about you free us then!" Aurelius said. "If you were on our side we'd be free right about now!" "... Oh right, well other than the fact that you punch me in the face, I will let you out on one condition!" Garble asks. "Really..." Spike stared in annoyance. "Yes! Really! If you want me to let you out! You have to uh... Uh... I.. ... Okay so I have nothing to ask from you! Probably because of the pony smell. (Ugh.)" "CAN YOU JUST LET US OUT ALREADY!" Rarity shouted, paralyzing Garble for a brief second before recuperating. "Fine..." However before he could, the soldier took notice at the conversation. "ЭЙ! ЧТО ТЫ ДУМАЕШЬ, ЧТО ДЕЛАЕШЬ?" "Uhh... Sorry funny language guy." Garble out of no where soccer punched the soldier in face, dropping his AK as he fell hard on the hard cold floor in which the soldier's ushanka dropped the ground softly like a feather. Garble was amazed at his fists. "I am never judging you again!" He praised, giving his claw fists a kiss. "Ahem!" Rarity interrupted. "Oh right..." Garble then grabbed the key from the downed guard, and opened the jail cell. Then he was slapped by Rarity. "That's for nearly killing us!" She scolded, which she then petted. "And that's for freeing us." Aurelius then grabbed the AK, but noticed that the magazine had only 5 rounds, it was most likely that this soldier either A. Has accurate aiming skills to have less rounds in his mags. Or by the looks of the pile of empty magazines he's been busy joy killing prisoners... "Well that's lucky..." He said to himself. "Now what!" Rarity asked, which Twilight, being filled with... Determination! (At the sight of the unconscious soldier) she noticed the Rodinian soldier's Sergeant patch and checked his pockets. "What are you doing?" Aurelius asked. "Trying something," she answered. "Like what?" Aurelius asked, when she pulled out a map from the Rodinian's coat. "Oh, a map, I... Didn't think he?" "I've read up page 60 of Humarican tradition, in Rodinia, anyone who's a Sergeant and up has to carry a map in case a soldier asks them where they're suppose to report at, making it easier to reduce confusion on base camps like these!" Twilight explained. "Huh. I'm currently on page 49, so I didn't read that part necessarily," Aurelius said. "UGH NERD ALERT!" Garble complained, only to be given the cold shoulder and a cold stare, so he shut his trap and crossed his arms. "Don't worry, you'll get there eventually," Twilight encouraged, which she unfolded the map and saw that the camp was not that big, but big enough to store a army's worth of dragons, even a underground system of them. "There," Garble pointed at the enhanced holding cell region. "That's where they are keeping them." "Looks a lot hefty, and less roomy, and claustrophobic. How are we suppose to free them!" "Don't worry, this is how we will do it." Base Hospital wing "Well, I scrounged up, and found only one document that was last filed was for AIS vaccine, the stallion really does like to keep himself healthy I will say," Rosemary commented. "So his location is??" Starlight asked. "He's in the Crystal City, residence at Crystal Cube Avenue 12, it's a bit miss able unless you can notice the wizard hat on top of it, other than that it's tightly packed in a alley way," Rosemary explained. "Wizard hat huh, so he thinks he's some sort of wizard pony or something?" I asked. "Eh, don't get your hopes up, you know wizard's tend to go for politics, just look at Australis they have a whole grudge against the Emu's there. Well that and the Brookland dominion over there." "Well anyways, thanks for the assist, cya!" "Bye!" "Happy to help, just be sure to return those." As Rosemary waved silently we've exited the hospital intended to board the Humvee. When I noticed it's gone. "..." "Say, isn't that where you're ride is?" Starlight asked. "...Yes..." "So... Uhh... Where is-" "Yates!" Warrant officer Cameron approached. "Holy fucking shit! Cameron!?" "YOO! WHAT'S UP MOTHERFUCKA!" We both dabbed each other up combining our fists infront of Starlight, who stood there confused, as we both hugged each other. "Holy shit! Cameron where the hell have you been! I haven't see ya since! Well since!" "The transfer? Yeah I've been a bit stoked on that, everyone back in the Statcom was pretty pissed that you were gone," Cameron explained. "Oh yea?" "Yeah, but... Not in the good way since now they were stuck doing the stuff that you'd usually do." "Oh... Eh... Sorry." "Sorry!? Good fucking thing actually! I ended up finally graduating from the College! But uh, hey they did gave me the choice of discharging, but I said fuck nah I want to be paired up with my good buddy Vader!" "So how did you wound up here?" "Well, as you know the 15th army was created and I guess we're now fellow divisionary! Of course they did transferred me here instead of the Statcom after giving the finger to honorable discharge, so now I'm just here repairing vehicles and shit, the good stuff." "So, can you explain where my Humvee is?" I asked which Cameron turned and saw nothing. "Oh yeah... So apparently your Humvee had to be switched out," Cameron answered. "..." "No no! That's good actually, in fact I think your new ride should be here right about now." "Officer Cameron!" Asked Captain Bannon. "Yes sir!" "The new vehicles have arrived!" "Yes sir! Thank you for notifying me sir!" "Captain Bannon, pleasant to meet you," I said, extended a salute to the Captain. "You must be the Lieutenant! Pleasant to meet you too," Bannon saluted back, before we both simultaneously eased. "Who's this? And why do you need a ride?" The Captain asked. "Sir, I have buisness in Crystal City, not only with her, but possessions I need to collect from base Eagle," I answered. "Ah, from Colonel Canter right? Poor guy, bastard lived too long past his death date," Bannon commented. "Yeah..." "Anyways, unfortunately all Humvee's had been confiscated for repurpose, however for this reason we've just gotten new fresh equipment, I.E. the new JTLV," Bannon said. "The... What?" I asked, which Starlight tilted her head. "JTLV, or what's called the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle," Bannon said on cue, as the JTLV arrived, although weaponless, this thing looks like it can withstand a fucking rocket barrage and still come out unscathed. And all of a sudden, I'm now in love! (Sorry Olivia still love ya <3) "You can use it to drive to the Crystal City, on one condition though," Bannon said. "?" "Take this camera and install it on a car side mirror, experts wants to know how long of a distance it can go before it dies." "I thought they'd figure that out in the test phases?" I asked. "They like to keep their numbers unconfirmed, but that's all I can add, now, here's the car keys, and in case something major happens there's two attachments on the radio piece, one is regular call, one is single push emergency, you press that without a reason and you're sure going down town, unless you're in actual danger, then that case you'll be supported by Apache's in no time." "Apaches?" "Yep! Now, get your ass going already!" "Yes sir," I replied, as I walked to the JTLV with Starlight and installed the Camera, then after turning it on we departed. "Engine purrs like a kitten, I love it," I said to myself. "I thought the Humvee was better, what changed?" Starlight asked. "No clue, but hey, if this is where my taxpayer money is going to, let them take it all! (Not literally)" Armory room "So, have you heard about the uprising in Palestine?" Asked the Rodinian. "Yeah I thought that they-" Suddenly the armored door exploded backwards slapping the two armed guards in the nostrils living one to attempt to call for back up before being hit by a paralyzing spell from Twilight. Twilight blows her horn from smoking. "Still got it." Aurelius then entered the room, of course noticing that all the gun and ammunition lockers were locked, he used the bullets that remained in the near empty rifle, and shot at the master lock of the ammo locker and then came pouring out the pile of magazines. "Ammo secured, now we need the-" Lancaster then tore the lock clean off of the Rifle locker, busting the metal gage and exposing the beautiful armada of AK-47. "Bon Appetit," smirked Lancaster. Aurelius noticed the variation of guns, but the one rifle that stood out the most was the AK-12, a very modified version too, with a electronic scope and additional laser sighting. "You've got to give credit where credit is due, atleast the Rodinian's know how to make a gun," Aurelius said. "I've seen better guns," Lancaster said. "But I can see where you're coming from." "Alright, now that we're equipped, remember what the plan is?" Twilight asked. "Cause much chaos as possible, fire the flare when chaos is made." "And don't forget to lock us in when we get in," Twilight added. "Right." As Lancaster, Rarity, and Spike moved to be ready, Aurelius tugged on Twilight's tail, grabbing her attention. "Listen, about... Well, all of this, I wasn't quite finished explaining," Aurelius revealed. "Listen, I'm sorry for slapping you, again... And..." Twilight stood silent, thinking about what had happened, but now wasn't the time, the time was for action, but... She had the burden to settle with him. "Look, I get that you don't want to be friends and rather not forgive me after all that, I get it-" "No, it is not that, but... What you've did was more then a truth, you've held your secret for so long, and to be honest I'm relieved that you're as confused with being a Alicorn then I am!" Twilight paused, looking down at the ground. "...But you're a princess?" "Gol- sorry, still trying to get use to your name," Twilight apologize. "It's fine, look, I should've used it instead of the elite guard given name." "You know, Aurelius Nova, it's a beautiful name... But you've went through everything, torment, loss, grief, and torture, and then when you came back... You came back to me, when I first became a Alicorn I was quickly sworn in as the princess of Equestria, but I struggled, even on the night of my coronation, and when the everfree went out of control I was just forced out of my hooves too..." Twilight, paused. "sigh after everything that I've been through since the day you had arrived. Somehow my feelings to you had been hinged by your unknown struggle... And I've ignored it, until now." Twilight turned around, thinking on and on, but what was there to think? His hell had been thoroughly thought of, he lost everything, the grief he's experienced was utter, if it were she that had to go through it she wouldn't had survived the grief, and she learned that when she stopped thinking about his pain and decided it was time to stop thinking. And instead it was time to act. And learning from Aurelius with the hint of the element of honesty interconnected with hers, she saw his truth, his emotional pain, the lack of tears, the lack of face, it was all just pain and trauma. And so now it was time for the third responsibility after Starlight. "Now, I step into a new section of my responsibility as a princess..." ... Those were the words Aurelius Nova told me, before she made that fateful move that essentially set things in motion. She kissed him there and then, and this time it wasn't in the cheek, directly in the mouth. Now, if I were there I'd be the third wheel and say. "WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" But I wasn't there, so that's the sucky part, on the bright side I think that triggered something in Aurelius when she particularly did that, though considering the circumstances that they are both Alicorns, ok so I should shut up and just continue on that fateful day. So as she was kissing him he was uncontrollable with his thoughts. "What was she doing?" "How!?" "Why...?" "How could she forgive me, why why why!" He didn't had the words to say, he was just utterly shocked, so his brain lost control to his heart, and his heart forces him to embrace her in a hug and kiss her deeper. Spike and Rarity peaked from the door wondering what was taking long when they found the two couple kissing mouth to mouth, Rarity's jaw dropped, but Spike with his smirk grinning wide, he shut Rarity's jaw, but then his eyes were covered by Rarity's hoof. Finally the two released each other, and when they both saw that they've been seen they blushed extensively. "Uh.. Eh... Uh..." "Well? We're waiting?" Rarity asked, ignoring the fact that they've been making out as if that was a normal thing. "You're not mad?" Twilight asked. "Mad? Well sorta surprised, but I can admittedly say that a certain honest somepony had just won the bet," Rarity claimed, mentioning Applejack. Acutely I should probably mention this, though this is the wrong time to do that. (Sorry) but Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Behind Twilight's back actually placed a bet. Guess who betted which. "Right, well let's do this!" Twilight confidently spoke. "Right behind you princess," Aurelius eagerly expressed, boosted in his morale. "...This fucking sucks," says the Rodinian, as snow started dropping from the sky. "How do they expect us to guard these beasts!" "Nyet clue," said one Rodinian, sipping a bottle of Vodka. "Hey, you two bored?" Lancaster asked in the corner. "Yeah very much America," the Rodinian soldier said, before turning back rapidly. "W-w WHAT!? AMERICAN!?" The vodka drinker spat out his liquids and turned toward the White Fennec, which he then ran from the two guards. "HEY! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Shouted the guard as they ran paste after the Special forces soldier, unknowingly, Aurelius snuck behind them with Rarity not far behind as he reached Kahamit's cell. "Commander is that you?" Aurelius asked. "Gold Star?" Kahamit asked. "Not anymore, real name's Aurelius Nova, but that's not the point, are you and the others alright?" Aurelius asked. "Other then Grima, everyone is fine, he's severely hurt though, but we're treating him well, but we need access to medical supplies if he's going to make it," Kahamit said. "Even better, freedom, I want you to rally the dragons up, and have them be ready to tear this place to shreds!" Aurelius ordered. "And what of the guards?" "Oh don't worry, my Fennec friend has it covered," Aurelius smiled. "So how do I get you out?" "The soldiers used some sort of simultaneous key switch, if you can do the opposite the entire base will be unlocked," Kahamit explained. "Then that's the place." As the Guards huffed and puffed, more and more guards pursued from their posts to find the wild fox man that's going around crowding the place with wonder. "W-what did he look like?" Asked the exhausted and out of breath base officer. "h-g-g-he went, thata way?" The men all looked around confused when they heard. "Hey jackasses!" Lancaster yelled. "Up here!" "..." The men looked at each other in confusion, somehow this American Fennec had climbed the roof and now he's insulting them, so one from the crowd states. "WELL! SOMEONE'S GOT TO DO IT! OPEN FIRE ON THAT FUCKING FOX!" Shouted the commanding officer, as the soldiers loaded and started spraying all over the roof causing ear piercing noises across the camp. In the midst of their gun fire though, Lancaster had long dodged and moved away like the sly fox he was born to be. "Sounds like you're friend is in trouble?" Kahamit pointed out, as Gold Star slapped on the metal box multiple times with his rifle in a attempt to open it for the two keys. "Fucking box isn't opening," Aurelius said, when a rifle clicked behind him. "Don't move!" Said a Rodinian soldier, pointing his gun at the stallion. "You ponies think you're smart huh? That fox hasn't fooled me one bit! Say good bye two tail rat!" "In your dreams!" Rarity Thundered in her tone as she shot the soldier down into the ground in multiple volleys of spells before the soldier was placed in a coma. "Always wanted to do that to these rude fiends! That's what they get for calling poor Olivia one!" "Uh, hey Rarity... Um... Thanks for the save?" Rarity looked at him with a jerked neck of superiority but lifted her head high. "Hmph! So now you've decided to become grateful," Rarity said. "Yeah, look, sorry for insulting your perfume and stuff, maybe the whole thing isn't worth fighting over," Aurelius apologized. "Well, in that case, lemme forgive you then," Rarity then fires at the metal boxes, opening up, and lifting the keys towards the Stallion. "Great! Ok, so now we need to simultaneously open these in a simultaneous switch. On my mark, turn your key to the right, alright?" Aurelius prepped. "Right, ready." "3. 2. 1. Switch!" The two switched their keys together simultaneously, and immediately the cages were all opened, every door, cell, and cage were all opened. "YES! WE DID IT!" Suddenly the alarms were triggered and troops were quickly dispatched from the barracks to check what was going on. It was then that Yuri showed up and pointed his gun at Aurelius. "Funny plan," Yuri said, when troops arrived to zero in Rarity and Aurelius. "What now." Suddenly the cages were destroyed by it's very occupants and all the dragons in the entire facility was free. "NOW! WE TEAR THIS PIECE OF SHIT APART! DRAGONS ATTACK! KILL EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING THAT MOVES! SPARE THOSE THAT HAS FREED US!" Kahamit shouted in a warrior like tone. And immediately the dragons attacked the entire camp setting the buildings and the soldiers a blazed, in the feirce fighting Yuri is knocked out by one of the Dragon's tails. "Now you get knocked out, and I fire the signal to Twilight," Aurelius said as he fires the flare. "Do you see it?" Spike asked, when Twilight swapped to the binoculars. "Can't really... Wait, there it is!" "It's pulled through! Ember and Torch here we come!" Spike shouted before his mouth was covered by the oncoming battalion of armored vehicles driving by in a attempt to put down what is now considered a prison riot. "Lets move," whispered Twilight. "Right!" As the two crawled through in the midst of the chaos they finally entered into the center command base, which has Torch and Ember locked in it, entering through the white pearly gates they were met with the brightened white aura of the hallway. Sticking through the brightness the sounds of hooves hitting the shiny concrete was very loud enough to alert a patrol. "Maybe... Resort to walking?" Spike suggested. "We don't have time to walk! They might-" Suddenly a soldier walked infront of them causing Twilight to fly into cover with Spike wrapped in her wings as they waited for the soldier to walk on by, but then Spike suddenly had the urge to sneeze. "A-ah-" "No no no no! Not now!" Twilight Whispered, attempting to cover Spike's nose with her wing. "ACHOOO!" The noise filled the hallway, but nothing happened. Or so they thought. "Huh, I don't think no one-" Suddenly bullets shredded through the wood nearly skimming Twilight's mane into a ashy smudge. "COME OUT!" "What do we do!" Spike asked. "What I have to!" Twilight said, when she stepped out into the open leaving Spike from the corner confronting the soldier. "SHOW ME YOU HOOVES NOW!" Demanded the solder, but Twilight only got closer. "TWILIGHT!" "DAMMIT STOP!" She didn't complied, she was full of rage, her eyes turned white. "I WARNED YOU!" The soldier fired at Twilight with a hell load of bullets but they were stopped by her magic and then they were turned towards the soldier, and in her raged, the bullets pelted the soldier killing him in a bloody instant. Unbearably, Spike turned around fearing Twilight Sparke's unfathomable rage as the men was killed. Twilight's eyes returned to normal and saw what she had done, the man was dead in a pool of blood, filtrating from his mouth, horrified with her own doing she turned in disgust and tried to find Spike. "...Spike, Spike! Spike where ar-" Twilight saw Spike terrified in the corner, she approached him. "Spike, what wrong!" Spike couldn't give a response, other than seeing his own half sister murder a human without mercy. "Y-you killed him!" "I- ... Spike listen, sometimes you have to make a choice between protecting those you love, and..." She looked at the man one more time before she looked straight forwards. "Lets keep moving, don't look back." Spike got on top of Twilight and they both moved towards the internal parts of the building. "General! The camp has gotten out of control! Military personnel had essentially deserted from their positions in a move to save their skins! The camp is lost!" The officer immensely informed, as Perov gotten his clothes on, his Beret, and his disappointment. "Maybe I was a bit too harsh on Gromov, perhaps I and the Red Mother were looking at the wrong root of the problem," Perov said, looking through the mirror of the officer. "Sir?" "Maybe... A lesson is learned from this." "What do you- sir! SIR! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT-" Perov then shot the officer in the chest, killing him immediately. "Consider this, your resignation, and your final lesson, as for you two, it's clear the base is lost, therefore you have been ordered to kill Ember and Torch immediately." "I̸̢͙̙͊̓ṫ̸̫͘ ̵̖̆s̵̡̊h̵̫͋̿a̵̗͓͕̲͆l̷̳͋̓̋l̵͕̻̊͊͑͊ ̸̢̤̼̗͆̇̊b̷̡͖͆̿é̷͍̽͊ ̸̻͚̗̼̉͑d̴̰͋o̴̥̮̻͊ǹ̵̛͕̱̫̈́̄é̷̗̳͚.̷̘͓̭͂͛̈́" "Pilot, prepare my chopper, it's clear that this entire operation is a bust, and I intend on informing the Red Mother, that this damn operation was a waste of time," Perov said. "But sir? What of the other officers here?" "That will be up to the high command, but most certainly they will all die," Perov ordered. "And what about you sir?" The Pilot asked. "They know what happens if they try," Perov violently warns, as the two would essentially pack up their things, and depart from the camp in the chopper, leaving operation Valiko General less, meaning it is now officially every man for himself. "Congratulations America, you've won this round of chess. But I will be back for round 3, sooner then you expect." Aurelius noticed the chopper flying away as he was clearing out the remaining dig outs of soldiers, however was he was searching he found a Hind Mi-24 helicopter perfectly in condition to fly, of course he noticed that the entire officer staff were trying to escape. So he boarded the helicopter and pointed his rifle at the pilot. "Don't move a muscle," he ordered. turning towards the gunner. "You. Fire your missile." "You don't tell me what to do-" Aurelius kills the gunner and points the gun at the pilot. "Your turn, fire the fucking missile, or I blow your brain off!" The Pilot did as expected, as the officers were just about to exit the pilot fired the machine gun and the missile at the cabin and destroyed it. Killing everyone inside, now the war had became unwinnable for the Rodinian's as most of the military command for Valiko and essentially Zebrica were all dead. However, Aurelius noticed one ran off, so he shoos the pilot out of the copit and aimed his AK-12 at the running individual only to be interrupted by this particular individual's gun fire towards him as he ducked into the copter's copit, he sticked his head out and saw he was running towards the building where Twilight and Spike are at. Before he moved a inch he saw a friend follow that man. Inside the holding, the door opened, and the two armed men aimed their guns at Torch and Ember, they both braced for death when suddenly one soldier was utterly obliterated. The other soldier turned and was jumped by Twilight who used a extensive flight magic to slice his helmet in half. Ember looked and saw the amazing use of magic with the wing, when she noticed the soldier was still alive. "WATCH OUT!" She shouted, when Twilight turned and was pinned down by the... Sold... Dier? "Y̶o̵u̸ ̷f̸o̴o̸l̷.̵ ̸Y̴o̷u̸ ̴r̵u̴i̸n̸e̷d̶ ̸e̷v̵e̷r̶y̸t̸h̴i̶n̸g̷,̷ ̶a̴n̸d̵ ̸n̶o̴w̸ ̴I̸ ̷w̶i̴l̶l̸ ̶s̵u̶c̶k̶ ̴y̴o̶u̴r̵ ̵b̴r̶a̷i̸n̴s̸!̴" The not soldier said, as it turned out it was a undead human, that was genetically resurrected by Rodinian science to server as a zombified super soldier, the face that was expose was all rotted, it wreaked of a horrible stench, and it's glove was so thin it was cutting into Twilight skin. However as it was almost crushing Twilight's neck, Spike came in and blew his flames on the zombie's back burning it alive. "Ǎ̵̧̪͔̯̈̐́A̴̦̟̥͍̻̎̃̏͊ͅA̶͍̗͕̠͇̓̓̓A̶̗͔̍͆͛͛͜A̶͓͈̞̯̚͝Ȃ̸͇͙͔̼͆͝A̵̡͙̱̮̰͌̔͋̀̚͠A̶̢͍͙̼̣̲̿̓̑͊̎͛Ả̸̢͍̓́̃Å̷̺͖͈̀Ä̵͍̠̝͈̲̗̋̑À̴̟̄̿̈̓A̸̼̞͈̩͈͐͝͝Ḩ̶̛̛̳̦͑̔͂͠H̷̄͜͜H̸͉̻̅̌͝H̴̙̤͇̺͔͂̎͌ͅḢ̴̤͖̻͋H̶̢̰̟͈̿̄̇H̴̞̻͉̟̽͌̈̾͑H̵̩̬̞͑̓͜Ȟ̶̛͔̪̰̩̅Ḩ̶̜͕̰̙̺̄̚!̸̪̻͚͈̜͇͂͊̃ ̸̦̬̋̂I̷̡̟̘͚̜̋͝T̸̩̂̊ ̶̥̫̲̤̮͒̅̔͋́B̴̀͜U̴̹͉̦̞̥̐R̸͕̺̿N̶̤̬̖͉̎͗S̸̖͈͗̍͘!̵̨̞͔̗̯̫̈̀ ̸̨̧̪̜͈̞͛̈́̂̔͝I̶̘͌͑̔̌̽ͅṮ̴̻̪̰̼̎̚ ̷̧̝̺̙̥͋̌ͅB̷͈̩̘̠͎̾̃͂Ū̴̡͉͙̼̰̗R̷̩͑̇͝͠͠Ṉ̴̟͑̾̒S̵̲̤̬̐͋̐̐̍̓!̵̺̙̻͎͈̞̒̌ ̶̲̪̓̋̊̊͒A̶̜͚̐A̷̻͕̠͍̻̩͗A̸̛̺͕̰͇͆͛̀͛ͅÀ̴̬̩̭̜͚̉̊͂ͅẢ̶̡͙̈́̄͝͠À̶͉̦̯̪̮͊̋͑͜͠Ḧ̶̰̎̌͗̓H̶͇̞͕͚̼͓̓Ĥ̷͓̯̻́̍Ḥ̶͓͍̖̃H̴͓͖͚̯̞́́H̴̨̛̗͖̞̿͑͐͐͝ͅ!̸̧̢̙͉͙̺̓̃̒̕ ̷̲̰͙̓̅̅̕Ȧ̸̞̯̪̇̑͌̚̚H̵͐̿͋̈́̌ͅḨ̵̹̘̩͔͇̉͗̔͝Ĥ̷̰̞͇̘̝̼̍H̴̢͎̼͚̘̜̍̀Ḧ̸̗̞̳̮͔̉H̶͓̥̻͒͊̕H̵̠̠͍̼̼̍͗͊̄͋!̴̗̫̹́̎́" As the zombie burned, it released her neck restoring her breath as she breathed deeply, she then fired her max spell ability and obliterated the zombie soldier, putting it out of it's misery as Twilight breathed heavily... After catching her breath she turned to Ember and ran to free her from her bondage, then they freed Torch. Ember hugged her father and Twilight recovered the Scepter. "Wow, even with a pony it's very powerful!" "And that is why you should hand it to me!" Entered Colonel Yurtazv, who holds Spike at gunpoint. Twilight gasped. "SPIKE!" "You get close or use any instances of magic and his brains will spill!" He threatened, using Spike as a flesh shield on Torch and Ember as well. "Hand me the Scepter! NOW!" "Twilight! Don't do it! Don't give it to him!" Spike urges, before his mouth was covered violently by his hand. As Twilight looked at the Scepter and her Spike, she slowly approached to hand it over to him before Spike bit Yurtazv in the fingers and kicked off away from him. "FUCK! YOU LITTLE BRAT! DIE!" A gun shot ranged out, blaring the room in a loud shout, Twilight quickly dropped the Scepter and ran to Spike. "SPIKE! SPIKE!" "I-I'm... Fine?" He said, as the two checked for wounds. But found none, then they turned and found that Yurtazv bled from the shattered Shoulder blade as he collapsed on the floor lifelessly, standing behind him was Lancaster who slang his pistol around revolver like and then slide in the holster. "That! Is how we did things in America!" Lancaster cried out, as everyone sighed in relief. "Wh-what now?" Ember asked, when Lancaster turned towards Twilight and Spike. "Now it is time that these two go home." "What? But we want to help!" Spike begged. "It pains me to say it, but you're better off helping at home then here, I'm sorry. But you have to get back home it's not safe." "Twilight?" "He's right Spike... We've been away from our friends too long, but... The only question remains, how do we get home?" Twilight asked. "That question has been answered, Aurelius found a MI-24, all fueled up and ready to go, he and Rarity as we speak are awaiting for you," Lancaster explained, he then pulled out a radio chip and gave it to Twilight. "Take this, off the coast of the Dragon land is FNS Texas, you can't miss it considering the size of a dreadnought, just be sure to insert it in the radio slot and it should transmit the identification." "But, what about you?" "Don't worry, by the looks of these flames, my guys are not far behind, but I suggest you get on moving before they figure out that you've been getting involved with this war too much." "Thank you, for... Everything, how do I?" "If you see my daughter, just let her know I'm still alive, aight?" "I will! So long!" "So long princess, stay safe." Lancaster smiled, as Ember walked beside Spike. "Stay safe will you?" "If I can survive this? I can ultimately survive anything, but thanks," Ember smiled, hugging Spike briefly and then releasing him. As Spike and Twilight ran together to the helicopter, ready to take off from the hellscape war, Ember, Torch, and Lancaster waved so long to their friends. But now as for the matter of this damn war... Canterlot Celestia and Luna sat on their thrones waiting for Gorbachev to come back from his private phone call from the Red Mother, as he and she conversated so did the two sisters. "Do you think those two will ever agree on anything?" Luna asked. "I would rather assume they would, otherwise we'll be here for a entire week!" Celestia replied. "From the rumors I am hearing from our subjects, the Dragon lands don't have a week," Luna said. "I assume you mean the fisher ponies who witnessed the jet crafts zooming over their heads? I can see where they are coming from, never had there such been a thing." "A jet, and a water craft, a quite odd design... But doesn't strike me as much as the human war machines are," Luna added. "Well, all I can hope that within those doors, a compromise is made," Celestia hoped, and hope came. Gorbachev opened the door, with the Red Mother still on the line, and announced. "The Red Mother has spoken, she has agreed to your request on ending this war but on her own condition." Celestia and Luna were curious, looking at each other before turning their faces back at the man with a nod. "Okay, the Red Mother demands that Nuclear weapons are to be removed, your border with Stalliongrad, demilitarized, and in request for compensation for the lost of Nuclear Weapons to the recent Dragon attack, we demand that Stalliongrad is given the Northern Village Province as compensation." Celestia couldn't be more surprised at this demand, and what came next was the outrage of her sister in a small reminiscent of Nightmare Moon's outcry. "WHAT!?" "It's as it's been demanded-" "NO! I WILL NOT ACCEPT THAT TERM OR ANY OTHER TERMS!" "I didn't make it up princess... I'm just the messenger..." "Luna..." "BUT! YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT SELLING PONIES TO THESE- THESE!" "I know, let me speak-" "TIA!" "..." Luna wasn't given a response from her sister, nor Gorbachev when she tried to argue with a superpower's demand. However, little did she knew, Celestia had a trick up her sleeve... Sure they might lose a measly province but in the end that should atleast be somewhat of a ease towards the overseas spending that's been racketing Equestria's bit treasury, but... She was not about to say yes to these terms either. Not without her own counter condition. "Mr. Gorbachev, is Red Mother still on that phone of yours?" Celestia asked. "Yes ma'am," Gorbachev answered. "May I see it?" "Of course," Gorbachev acknowledged. "Red Mother, the princess wishes to discuss with you." "Very well," the Red Mother spoke, as the phone was handed towards Celestia. "Well, Princess Celestia, it's been a while ain't it?" Red Mother greeted. "Really has, but now I like to reply to your demands," Celestia enunciated clearly, gaining the Red Mother's attention. "I will agree to your terms," Celestia said. "W-wha-" "BUT!" Interjected Celestia. "In exchange I also demand the following, and I personally request that you follow accordingly." The Red Mother was a bit nervous on the other side of the phone, although Celestia can't see it, but she knows it. "I'm listening..." "In exchange I request that the Stalliongrad border must be overseen by the League of Nations Peacekeepers, I've already sent a delegate to inform the Secretary General that I will be endorsing the Filipinas Republic to oversee the operation," Celestia said. "...And hehe... What purpose is that suppose to do?" "Well simple, making sure you uphold your side of the agreement of course, after all it's like you said, it's the mutual benefit of our nations now isn't it not?" Celestia smirked, with Gorbachev standing there silently chuckling, while Luna sat there dumbfounded. "I-" "I'm not finished, although you may withdraw everything from the Dragon lands I also demand that you leave Equestria too," Celestia added, catching everyone off guard in the room and on the phone. Gorbachev especially nervous, and Luna staring at Gorbachev with a glare. "...How did you-" "Isn't it obvious? Maybe next time when you bring your paratroopers in my land that I rule so dearly in my heart! Maybe not to use a loud oversized blimp with wings as their source of transportation!" "...Damn you General Polyakov... Fine! I will recall all espionage forces off your land," the Red Mother profusely answered. "I also want you to take your hit off from Twilight as well! I know about the bounty you've placed on her and I will not allow it! You know what will happen to if anything happens to her!" Celestia demanded. "Wait what." "Heh?" Both Gorbachev and Luna were confused. "What hit?" Red Mother asked. "Every time Twilight had been placed she's been followed by your assets! They've even shot at her in multiple occasions and you dare become ignorant over this!?" "I have no record of no hits being made on Princess Sparkle, Gorbachev can even clear it off as he is my assistant." "Da, it's true, there has been no recorded hits on her, I am after all charged with putting things into record but that on the other hand is a political hazard," Gorbachev stated. "...Then why is Yuri chasing my Twilight then!" "Princess Celestia, while I agree to these terms I may provide a explanation as to why Yuri is the way he is... But first, allow me to make the announcement, and the total recall order. And then, I will explain..." Torch Sea Captain Baker, full name Charles, surname "Charlie A.," had been captain of the FNS Texas, the capitol ship and dreadnought of the Federation Dragon patrol fleet, since the day he had been appointed. On other occasions he had been commanding other ships such as FNS Kidd and the FNS Huntsman, but both were simply Frigate Destroyers. This ship was model class BB-35, a dreadnought armed with 10 by 14 in. armaments, followed up by it's 5 by 6 support weaponry and has sophisticated radar and was constructed in 199 BLB after Texas revolted against the Griffons and had been integrated within the Federation naval forces in 202 ALB since the state's annexation. It had been through hell and toil, with it sinking merely many ships that belonged to Sombra's naval forces, while it may have sunk sail ships armed with magical weaponry it was considered to be the old Statcom battleship of it's time. Of course it was shortly decommissioned after the Human-Crystal War but recommissioned when the Lunar wars broke out. Even after coming out of retirement it continued to wreak havoc on the Equestrian navy while sustaining significant damages only to be repaired within the month and then sent back into combat. The last combat action it saw was when the Federation fell into Civil War between Syndicalists in the North, New England in the Northeast, the unstable Lunarist south, and the neutral West Coast of the Monarchist provinces that simply watched expecting the Federal forces to fall. Of course the role of this Dreadnought was significant as it was the main stable to crippling the entire naval forces of the Lunarist forces. Even going out in redeeming itself infront of the Equestrian Fleet by obliterating the mighty Thestrian fleet accompanied by submarines and destroyers. Unfortunately even after the civil war it was kept in service, beneficially it was continued to be the strive of naval pride before being overshadowed by the FNS Statcom Super-Battleship later on. However it's need was no more needed ever since the peace conference of 1002 and so on it was repurposed to serve as a command ship for the patrol cruisers that monitored Soviet convoys and in rare occasions scientific research on Dragon flight patterns. Although it never seen actual military action since that year there were occasions that it had been called to defend a convoy whether it is theirs, their allies, or foreign trade partners with essential necessities. It would come to the aid to shoot off any dragon hordes that occasionally raided these convoys every one to two day span. However this pattern of protocol was disrupted when Rodinia launched operation Valiko a day later when the FNS Texas failed to receive the distress call and now the Dreadnought had been sanctioned by high command to remain in the sea for classified reasons. Atleast that would be the case. * On board the stolen Mi-24 gunship, Spike and Rarity were readily sleeping on the transport seats of the helicopter. Twilight stayed up the entire night since the take off and when she saw them asleep she used a blanket to cover the two for warmth. They had been through enough two days instead of a hour long adventure was just enough to keep them satisfied for a while, atleast until Goddess Harmony decides to call them up for the task needed in friendship missions but even Harmony can understand circumstances. And would be disgusted by the actions that the Rodinian's had committed... Atrocities and all. But for now Harmony would be glad that her greatest champion survived, and now knowing the truth with Aurelius. She continues to watch over them in the travel across the seas. Twilight looked around the internal parts of this machine, how spacey it was that they've added to what used to be a one man pilot machine to a transport air vehicle and started to wonder, humanity had truly progressed if not advanced. When Twilight was a foal she was always fascinated with human history and the continent itself. Magic rare as all magic combined makes even the most solid objects speak, like the Sodor Archipelago with the fascinating talking steam and diesel engines, or the talking sea creatures at Lanmarea. But that aside there were other species that exclusively lived in Humarica, the Beastmen of Hosea, humans of course, Anthromorphic animals of Gradenland, humans with bird like features in Parsley, and Warlocks and Wizards of Australis. But the most fascinating topic was how their civilization compared to Humarica's was merely a stray compared to the civilian technologies, sure Humarican warfare was advanced to the outside world, but to them even they feel outdated. When the Lunar Wars ended in Equestria's favor, and America finished their decade long civil war America all to itself decided to cut all funding to military research and focused on improving civilian life, and so they did with major cities sprouting all over the place. Hell even the most backwater country there would be atleast one skyscraper within the cities of America. Cars of course still used fuel, but on the plus side the cars are more efficient throughout the decades. Then you have the indestructible roads applied to major cities only, and advanced computers and internet programs, robots that would even act as humans are created to tend to the elderly and to work as servants. Of course due to some fears of a AI uprising. (Thanks Terminator...) AI and robots would never be incorporated within the military, no matter how desperate it is. But AI aside there is also the medicines. Cancer was merely invincible to defeat for a good while until 956 when the Cancer medication was rolled out by the Federation government. Cancer rates plummeted, therefore Cancer was merely a common cold, which even the common cold there was a cure for it. While some sicknesses still loom unknowingly around the Federation had basically solved 98% of the entire world's diseases so it didn't came as a surprise when the fourth most income from exports happened to be related with medication and drugs. Now although civilian technology is advanced to lets say 1025 levels of progress, since Rodinia's rise into it's own industrial superpower civilian technological advances came to a halt and funding returned to the military budget once more. (Atleast now you know how big the military budget is.) Twilight remembered those times of pondering, and then her mind popped out of nowhere with the thought of Aurelius, she turned and found the pair of headsets. She would need them to communicate with Aurelius as the helicopter designed to where the pilot seat was isolated from the passenger area. "How are you holding up?" She communicated, breaking Aurelius's field of concentration. "Well, it isn't like piloting a Huey if that's what you're asking," Aurelius chuckled. "But I guess you can say I'm doing fine." Twilight was grateful to hear that, but then came another query. "It wasn't the end of your story, you know how you've became. Well... You," Twilight reminded, which Aurelius was silent a bit before Twilight further asked. "How did you end up becoming a soldier? Atleast for America?" Aurelius looked back at his thoughts and memories and then he answered. "When I left that prison I took the nearest immigration ship, I didn't know where it was going since I felt my life was still at large by the Royal Guard, and well, when I arrived on American shores I thought I was home free until border patrol caught and apprehended me at the port when they found out that I boarded illegally, I had my wings covered, but not my horn so they've essentially captured me on gun point thinking I had experience in magic," Aurelius stopped when he can feel Twilight's silent pause over the headsets, she then uttered. "So what lead you to become a soldier?" "Well, it so happened that after I was booked into a prison cell Uncle Sam was visiting the station campaigning his endorsement of Ronald Reagan, meeting federal officials, congratulating them, all that. It was then when he entered the cell hall to inspect the prisoners he just stopped at mine... And looked at me. And well, the next thing you know, he asked the officers about how I was captured, and they explained to him, exaggeratingly, of how I fought against them and all that. Of course it seemed he didn't buy into that and instead he ordered me to take off the cloak that I wore to hid my wings and well... I just obeyed him and surprised everyone in the room." Twilight sat down listening continually, processing the fact that the human officers were a bit cruel with the capture and them exaggerating their victory when it was a peaceful surrender. She then smirk a bit at the thought of how they must've felt when they saw that they've captured a Alicorn in their own city. "So, after revealing my wings the reaction was... Almost the same, if not mixed. Some just shrugged, some were outraged, and others were... Well just in a generic way of being shocked. Uncle Sam offered to pardon me in exchange for military service duty personnel. I accepted since I did served once before even explaining to him later after I was released. He seemed to felt with me. So he did offer to cover up everything just so I wouldn't end up being arrested or hunted down in Equestria when they planned to do the summit, I was suppose to be that very being that represented human and pony unity at the summit. But I guess now we both saw that we were merely something different in this whole plan..." Aurelius and Twilight were now silent once more, beside helicopter blades, the two decided to ponder what they were going to do when they got back... Twilight now knowing everything was afraid that Shining Armor may discovered who he is and take him away, Aurelius on the other hand is more afraid of what others will say, and how high command is going to react they find out that a Alicorn is running about in the army. But their ponderance ended when a pair of fighters approached and zoom through fast beside the helicopter knocking balance for a moment before Aurelius regained control. "OOF-" groaned Rarity after she and Spike were ruthlessly knocked off of the seat. "What was that!" "Gol- I mean, agh! Aurelius what was that! Rodinians?" Twilight asked, when Aurelius peaked at the sides and saw the Federation Eagle symbols on the wings of the Jets, the most recognizable feature was the Black and Yellow coating on the jets. "Even better, American F-14's, we're here," he confirmed. "Attention soviet aircraft, this is the American Federation Navy, you are entering a restricted zone comply or be shot down," the pilot warned, as Aurelius inserted the transponder into the radio. "This is Major Gold Star of the 105th armored division, I'm transmitting identification on your radio right now," Aurelius identified, which the pilots saw the frequency and clearly identified it as American. "This is Thunderman," introduced the back seat pilot. "Keep on course, we will respond shortly." * "Captain," said the radio operator. "Yes Corporal is there a problem?" Asked Captain Charles Baker. "Sir, F-14 pilots had just intercepted a MI-24, they are sending American codes to our pilots." "Intriguing, has the pilot identified himself?" Asked the Captain. "Yes sir, a Gold Star who says he's a Major," the radio operator said. "Hm, you sir," the Captain asked. "Sir?" The IT acknowledged. "Run up Gold Star will you?" The Captain requests. "Yes sir," the IT said, running the name through the system which luckily found one result on the computer. "Sir there is a Gold Star, but the only discrepancy is his rank and division," the IT guide said. "Then what is his rank and division?" The Captain asked as his took a sip of his coffee. "He's the commanding officer of the 15th army, and Colonel." The Captain almost spat out his coffee hearing that. "Wha- huh? HEH?" He ran up to the computer and looked. "That can't be right... If that's the case and why the hell is he there!" "No clue sir, but his RNR is set to expire today." "...Bureaucracy these fucking days... I aint even going to argue with this damn machine, Sergeant! Have the helipad be cleared for landing, Corporal and allow clearance." "Yes sir," the two said, as the Sergeant rushed to clear the back side while the operator gave the confirmation. * "Texas to Hawkeye-01 actual, the Hind is cleared to land, I repeat, the Hind is cleared to land, proceed to instruction." "Roger Texas actual, Thunderman to Mr. Star, you are clear to land, any deviation will be a shoot down," instructed the back seat pilot. "Copy," Aurelius understood, as he makes the approach to the FNS-Texas helipad, recently added on as a upgrade for helicopters that need refuel within the region. And so after the the Dreadnought was spotted in Aurelius's view he activated the land gear and landed on the helipad. As for the F-14's escorting him, they were on their first patrol schedule which was due to expire now, and so they pulled away. Captain Baker walked down from deck to greet Aurelius, or atleast they continue to know him as. "Colonel Star, pleasant to meet you," the Captain greeted, extending his hand in good will as he and Aurelius shook, the side doors opened and Twilight, Spike, and Rarity stepped out surprising the captain. "Well, if I were to know the princess was on board I would've made it my royal!" Baker exclaimed. "There's no need for that Captain, I don't quite see myself as a princess as some would see me as," Twilight replied. "Well princess, from the grand ol' state of Texas, welcome aboard," the Captain saluted and then easing himself. "Now, may I offer a tou-" Suddenly sirens blared out of the blue, and the sailors and the navy men ran to their stations, some being caught off guard quickly ran to grab weapons from the armory. The Captain profusely searched around confused as to what the hell was going on when the Corporal approached him. "CORPORAL! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" "Sir! Radar's have detected- WATCH OUT!" Everyone ducked as when a missile was fired at the ship impacting at the gunship's copit and completely engulfing it inflames as fire balls flew mid air into the water in a cloud of smoke, flying right past this thick ash cloud of flames was the MI-28. Piloting it was the Colonel... As Aurelius and the others groaned to get up speakers blared from the helicopter. "AHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Now you'll think TWICE! BEFORE REJECTING MY OFFER!" It was Kurzakhev Yurtazv and although he is still bleeding from the shattered shoulder blade, he somehow mustered up the strength to pilot a fucking Havoc helicopter. "I thought you were dead!" Twilight motioned, but was quickly interrupted when Yurtazv used the mounted autocannon to destroy any nearby Anti-Air canons and setting the ship on fire, using missiles as his disposal the ship was set a blazed. The Captain watched in horror as his ship is torn to shreds from a helicopter that had came out of no where as he pulled out his pistol and started shooting aimlessly at the helicopter. "DAMN YOU BASTARD!" He shouted as he fired off his pistol. "DAMN YOU TO HELL!" "SIR WE NEED TO GO NOW!" Aurelius urged, as he started ordering the men around. "WHAT'S YOUR RANK SAILOR!" "Sergeant sir!" "ALRIGHT SERGEANT, GET YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER OUT OF HERE!" "What about the helicopter!" "If you can get the Stingers!" "We have none on board! The only asset we have against the damn thing are the machine guns!" "Where's the nearest one!" Aurelius demanded, as explosions continued to sound off as the helicopter was circling the ship around firing a missile at one of the canons. Machine gun fire can also be heard as men retaliated with small arms fire and anti Air canons sprayed at the helicopter before being silenced brutally by missiles. "It's not far from here, just right behind that tower!" "I'll get to it then! Get them out of here as well!" He ordered. "Yes sir!" The Sergeant said, not questioning the chain of command due to the heat of the situation. As Aurelius turned to get to the gun Spike ultimately got on his back. "I want to help!" "...No!" "Gold St- Aurelis! Aureliu- AHH! Look! I have went through everything for past days!" "I don't care I can't let you! You're only a child and THIS IS MY WAR!" "No Aurelius!" Intervened Twilight. "This is our war! We've been through it enough! You've fought hard to keep us alive despite us knowing who you really are! Despite putting up with us nagging or arguments! You knew the right call, and frequent I blame myself for getting us captured in the first place, but that's in the past, what's now important is to return that favor!" Aurelius felt a bit warm hearing that, but he couldn't bare the thought of getting people or innocent lives getting killed of a soldier's duty, but as he pondered this Twilight placed her hoof on his shoulder in reassurance. "We'll be fine, do what you have to, we all have your back!" Twilight said, with determination on her face. Aurelius's Cutie Mark glowed and he got to work. "Spike, still up to the challenge?" He asked, being given a response in a form of a nod Spike hopped on his back and grabbed his mane as Aurelius ran to the the machine gun emplacement. * After destroying the last piece of inches of threats to his vengeance Kurzakhev Yurtazv realizes his new and final goal as his shoulder continued to soak his uniform in red oozing blood, it was now to start World War 2, and bring the means of spreading Socialist ideology in the form of warfare. That will mean sinking this ship, and killing everyone on board. But first he has a revenge to exact. And so when he flew back to the start of his airborne assualt he noticed that the group that he was targeting moved somewhere, assuming they moved to the bottom of the deck, he moved to achieve his final goal by shooting all of his missile salvo's directly at the stern where the ship will sink. However his plan was put on notice when somepony threw a rock at his helicopter. "What the-" He looked down and saw Rarity taunting him, throwing more rocks, and... Insulting his intelligence! "HEY RATSCALION! COME AND FIGHT ME! FIGHT ME! YOUR TOY AINT WORTH ANYTHING!" Rarity insulted, which the Colonel happily replied through the loudspeakers. "Gladly!" He took aim but was interrupted when Twilight through a pebble at his window, making him once again turn his attention at the other pony. "Bet you can't catch me!" Twilight taunted. "...You're right, I guess I'll have to chase BOTH OF YOUR HORSE ASSES!" He shouted through the loudspeakers more ferociously as he fired his autocannon at the two ponies who ran around the desk dodging and applying protective shields on themselves in case one of the bullets actually hit them. As the two mares kept the Colonel's focus away from damaging the rest of the ship Aurelius dashed through the holes, the cracks, and the structure fires on the deck to reach the machine gun emplacement. "We're almost there!" Aurelius said when suddenly a piece of scaffolding collapsed right infront of their path blocking them off. "Shit!" He said. "What now." "Well..." Spike suggested. "We could try a option, but I don't think it'll end well." Aurelius processed what he said, which Spike clued him in with his fire breath, then he realized. "Oh..." "It's that or-" "Yes, yes, I know! Just... Be swift with it... Please..." And so Spike ignited his fire breath and teleported both him and Aurelius past the wreckage. With barely any flames on Aurelius except for some ash smears on his face and clothing, and that one flame on his tail which Spike quickly extinguished. "Odd, I thought that'd set me on- ah forget it!" He rushed, getting to the gun and smiling. "Alright dipshit, where are you." *** As Twilight and Rarity ran about on deck they've consequently lost the helicopter and found each other. "Wait! Where's the helicopter!?" Twilight asked towards Rarity when they quickly screeched to a halt at the edge of the ship. A choppy end into the depths... And it so happened that they've felled for the Colonel's trap as they themselves are trapped at the edge of the ships bow and the helicopter floating down right infront of them, guns primed aimed directly at their faces. "Thank you for giving me a fun last chase, NOW DIE!" Shouted the Colonel before bullets impacted the propeller blades at the back of his helicopter, despite the damage he managed to maintain control and steer his helicopter to the front of the gun. Where he was met with a full on barrage of machine gun bullets firing at his copit as one by one with Aurelius's fury he fired every single round at the copit so much and big that the bullets started to crack the bullet proof windows. Desperate as he knew that the bullets are going to penetrate the helicopter he spotted Spike once more, and since that princess failed to give him the Scepter it was time for her to pay her debt, and kill the damn infant. So he took aim at the little dragon, ignoring the barrage of bullets flying into the copit window. Aurelius noticed he was about to shoot Spike, and so he fired at the mounted gun more and more times to the point where Aurelius pulled out his side arm and started shooting at the mounted gun with the machine gun fire. With the bullets penetrating it, at a instant the gun exploded shoving shrapnel up into the Colonel's abdomen and filling the Copit with smoke. However he wasn't going to die off like that, he fired his missile at the machine gun, although missing his mark the explosion knocked Aurelius and Spike onto the wall and made the machine gun unusable. Seeing that this asshole was not going down yet and that the machine gun was gone... His only option now was saving Spike, and so he shielded his body infront of him. "Aurelius! What are you doing!" Spike said. "Keeping you alive!" He answered, bracing for what's the to come as the Colonel fired the missile. "NOO!" Twilight and Rarity both shouted in unison as the missile flew straight directly at Aurelius and then... Stopped? The missile had stopped? Aurelius didn't noticed it at first though until he saw something blue and bright on his head. He undid his mane and saw that his horn went off on it's own and shielded both of them on it's own!? "What...?" Spike shockingly said, with Aurelius not even believing it himself, before almost bumping into the missile which floats motionless in the out wall of the shield. "WHAT!?" The coughing Colonel said, coughing blood and firing what's left of the salvo directly towards the two. But even the entire salvo couldn't break this shield as they all been caught, and it was then that the shield absorbed itself into the missiles, and turned them into laser like spells and then zoomed directly at the helicopter, one by one, the missile pods exploded, the propellers were destroyed, the engine was hit, and the entire control module exploded into the Colonel's face. Without a single inch of strength, he lost control of the dead helicopter and crashed into the ocean, with him in the copit the captain and his sailors, with some having bruises, scabs, and cuts, even some injured walking about watching as his helicopter was sinking. "Throw him a buoy, I want this man in the brig!" The Captain furiously ordered, when he saw the Colonel pull out a gun and shout. "FUCK YOU AMERICA!" At the same instant, he turned his gun and blew his brains out through the chin. As his lifeless body succumbed and floated onto the water, bleeding, Twilight and Rarity ran towards Aurelius and Spike who they both embraced. "SPIKEY THANK CELESTIA YOU'RE ALIVE! THAT WRETCHED WHELP ALMOST KILLED YOU!" "I know! Thanks!" Spike said gratefully, as he embraced the hug into Rarity's hooves. As for Twilight and Aurelius they both hugged, though she has a lot of questions... For instance, what type of spell was that! Because after reading all about Starswirls spells she had never seen such a spell before! Buuut, she'll save that for later, and it was probably for the best when the captain looked forward and sagged. "Shit." He said, when he see's the Battleship RSS Moskva, and the two other Frigate class Soviet Ships approach the Texas. "Comrade Captain," the messenger approached. "Da, what is it?" The Captain asked. "Comrade, orders from General Gromov," the messenger reported. "General Gromov? I thought he was fired," the Captain said. "The Red Mother has placed him in charge of withdrawal operations just now, we've been given authorization to escort ships to Arabia," the messenger informed. "What of that piece of junk right over there?" The Captain pointed towards the Texas. "Here, you may need to read it," the Messenger handed the captain the letter. It really was the Red Mother's handwriting that officialized it. "Very well... Get me Lieutenant Vikola, continue straight and ignore the dreadnought," the Captain ordered. "Yes sir." Without any hint of raising guns or engagement, the Rodinian warships just floated on pass the damaged Dreadnought giving everyone on board the sweeping sigh of relief, followed this was the zooming loud noises of F-14's arriving to the scene and finding that the Texas was damaged. However they were told that it was a helicopter and not the warships that were just now floating pass them. The four watched on as the crew men were picking up the pieces of the wrecked ship, some even considering a break after this attack. Thankfully no one was killed, just injured though, and the Colonel was the only who died and since he has died not as a soldier following orders, but a rogue madman who tried to start a war and will most likely be dishonored by the Red Mother for despicable actions. Captain Baker, although a bit bitter about his ship being killed, gave him his first combat in a while, atleast now he has something to say to future generations that he has seen a battle before. The Rodinians are going to be really reeling from this invasion unfortunately, although they lost only a single digit worth of soldiers in the invasion in the Dragonlands, the equipment would take years to recover, although the bright side is that they may have some experienced men after the routed endeavor. As for the four, the main focal point of this whole arc... They were finally going home. But... What about Yuri? Eh I guess we will never know. Ponyville News on the peace deal between Equestria and Rodinia spread quick like wild fire, with ponies praising Celestia's good charmed will of being the eternal princess that she is, Twilight's friends watch the news while sitting impatiently wondering what they need to do to save Twilight. It had been 2 days since their friends went missing, and they were going to come up with a plan on how they were going to rescue them when suddenly the doors opened, the mare friends got up and dashed, with Rainbow Dash beating them in the dash, and saw Twilight and Rarity. "TWILIGHT! RARITY! YOUR ALIVE!" Pinkie cheered as she and they hugged each other, except for Aurelius, who walked past them, wings and horn exposed to their view as Applejack and Rainbow Dash noticed and were in complete shock. But before they said anything, the hug ended, and everyone looked at Aurelius who quietly entered the guest room to pack his things for the return trip back to base. Twilight interrupted them. "It's a long story, but also... A lesson to be learned." "Good grief Twi, what happened?" Applejack asked. "And... Why is he-" Rarity paused Applejack's sentence. "Maybe we should take it to the map room, it's going to be a long one." "How long?" Rainbow asked. "Long enough," frowned Spike. "Oh..." "Oooh! Oooh! Is it a nice story!" Pinkie cheerfully asked. Only to be met with Twilight shaking no. "..." "Sorry Pinkie, I don't think it's that kind of story, his is... Well," Twilight was paused by Spike who shook his head. "Well, just go to the map room, and I will explain it there." Nothing much was said, as they saw the glimpse of Aurelius entering his room, they silently trotted to the map room, there they would hear who and what Aurelius really was... A wronged soldier...
Onii-Chan's Interesting Life	pre	"Scatter!" 'pony'Sunset called out, every equine bolting under or behind a piece of furniture as he head to the door. "Heeyyyyyyammama!" Celestia grinned when she spied him, getting an elbow from Luna in return. "Sorry about the wait, wanted to be sure we made a good first impression." Luna chuckled, biting her lip slightly when she gave him the once-over. "Heh, well...um..." He faltered a bit as he tried to think of something to say. Thankfully, Luna came to the rescue. "Ok, well, we should probably get going. Hey, girls!" She smiled to the bunch, adjusting her coat as she did. "Some of you probably already know Celestia, so intros aren't fully necessary. Have fun, Sis!" "Remember, it's a weekend, so you can stay up till eleven, but tha'ts it!" Spike called out as he got dragged off to Luna's car. Celestia watched as they got in and started pulling out of the driveway before closing the door. Soon as it shut, she pulled her phone out. "You girls up for takeout? I have a craving for some spring rolls and wonton soup." "Hope they'll be ok." Spike said as the house vanished around the turn and Luna pulled out onto the main road. "Ah, don't worry. If it's one thing Tia's good at, it's handling kids." Luna waved his fear off. "Besides, you should see her when there's frosted donuts at the break room." "Actually I was referring to Celestia." Spike replied. "The girls kind of had mixed feeling about me going on a date. heh, Rarinbow's sort of convinced you're some bug-eyed monster pretending to be Luna." Luna fought hard, but invariably lost to the the gigglefit from that . "A 'Morphman Monster' fan, I take? I have the whole series." The giggles increased at the look he gave her. "Whaat? gigglesnort I love corny sci-fi stories." Spike just rolled his eyes a little. "Gimmie a good horror comic any day. Used to get 'Spiral Town Stories' before it got canceled." Luna blew a raspberry in response. "Spiral Town? Please! Get some 'Tomie's Tales', sleep'll be the last thing on your mind after a couple of those!" "Hey, don't knock the Town! The Jiggers the Juggler issue is why I'll have a bat in my hand before I EVER get near a clown." The pair continued their literature discussion as they made their way into town, finally pulling into the parking lot of a restaurant Spike recognized. "The 'Delfino Cascade'? Didn't this place just open up a couple weeks ago?" "Yeah. Granted, the name sound's pretty snobby, but I heard they have awesome lobster ravioli." She said as they got out. "Really? Never had lobster myself." "Then we're both in for a treat." They both headed inside. The restaurant itself was slightly empty, but the people that were there seemed to be enjoying things. "Looks nice." "And no reservations, too." Spike added. "My kind of-" The rest of his sentence was lost when she took her coat off, revealing the small, cross-strapped black dress she had on. The material hugged her curves, and showed off a considerable amount of leg as well. "Hm?" She grinned and playfully stuck her tongue out at the look he had. "Wanted to make a good first impression." She said. "Looks like I succeeded." "I-I'll say!" Spike said to himself, forcing himself to not stare while he followed her to a table. As he did, he noticed a few guys looking his way with envy. He just gave them a 'i'm surprised, too' shrug. 'Wonder if the girls are in for a surprise like me.' "...so I tell her, 'Madam...and I use that term oh SO very loosely, that petrified muskrat on your cabasa shows you wouldn't know class if it danced up in a flamenco outfit and stuffed a twinkie up your nose!'" Celestia finished her tale as the delivery guy left their order on the kitchen table, to numerous laughing girls. "Unfortunately, her reaction is kind of the reason I'm not allowed in that waffle house anymore. But! In my defense, no one ever told me a fountain drink machine could geyser like that." "Part of me wants to ask how...but I'm really afraid to ask." Scootaloo piped up. "Was kinda majestic in a way." Celestia pulled out containers. "Ok...Fluttershy: veggie egg rolls. Applejack and Bloom: hot and sour soup. Pinkie: shrimp fried rice...." After a few minutes, all the food had been parsed out, and they were all chowing down. "Eep! Hot! Hot! Thour, too!" "It said it right in the name, Sis!" Apple Bloom said, watching the blonde chug her apple juice to try and clear the heat. "URP!" "REALLY, Rainbow!" Rarity reeled from the belch, "Show some man-BRAAAP!" "Wow, you hit the high note with that, Rarity!" Pinkie giggled, patting the furiously blushing girl on the shoulder. "UURRRAAAHHHHAA..!" Celestia patted her chest. "Whew, those rolls got some kick to them!" When the others looked in surprise at the sheer volume, Sunset and Rainbow responded with golf claps. "Say, you would happen to have any soy sauce, would you?" She sifted through the seasoning packs, "Looks out we're out here." "In the fridge I...I think." Fluttershy said. "Onii-chan likes to put it on his burgers." "Cool. Hope it's the strong stuff." Celestia headed over and started examining the contents. "Block of chedder, pesto, irish cream...cool, black garlic! Here it is!" She pulled out the small bottle and was about to head back to the table when something small, and pink, appeared out of the corner of her eye. "That's weird." She said, checking out the little toy pony sitting on the counter. "Where'd that come from? Hey, girls? Any of you leave a stuffed horse on the counter?" "What do you mean?" Twilight responded. "Ah got all my stuff upstairs." Applejack replied. "Well, unless it's Spike's, there's a pink toy horse here." She turned back to give it a look, not really hearing when one asked 'she say pink horse??'. "Hm, must've been expensive. Actually looks life..." Did it....did it just....blink? "Hi!" "WAAHAHA! IT MOVED!" Celestia screamed, falling over in shock. "Wahaha! It moved!" 'pony'Pinkie Pie topped over in laughter. Celestia just stared up in a mix of alarm, surprise, and bowel-loosening terror while the pint-sized equine looked over the edge at her and waved a tiny hoof. "Hi!" "Pinkie! Are you out of your mind!" A voice that sounded strangely like Rainbow, but older, yelled out, followed by an equally small, blue pony flying down. "What in Celestia - not you -" She pointed at the still gobsmacked woman, "...possessed you to do that!?" "Huy...hee...hooa..." Celestia replied as best she could. "I vote Sunset and Twilight explaining this!" Sweetie spoke up.
Onii-Chan's Interesting Life	First Date, First En-canter.	Luna raised an eye when she noticed Spike trying to be subtle in taking a deep calming breath. "Nervous?" "Kinda...more like really, really rusty at dating." He admitted, ordering some crab scampi while Lune when for the six-cheese manicotti, "Haven't been on one since seventh grade." "Oh? How that go?" He fiddled with one of the breadsticks. "Not quite how I had hoped. Let's just say it started lukewarm and ended with her leaving me with a $50 restaurant bill while she left with the baseball team's center fielder. Had to call my parents because of it." Luna winced. "Ouch...that had to be embarrassing." "Yeah. Karma caught up with them, though. HIS girlfriend...or his ex-girlfriend, as she then called herself, found out. And proceeded to beat the crap out of both, in front of half the school." He chuckled a bit. "Then offered to buy me some nachos to try and make up a little for the douchbaggery." "Oh my." Luna snickered...before pausing. "Wait a sec...um, Spike...just out of curiosity, the baseball player, his name wouldn't happen to have been 'Tirek', would it?" "Yeah, but how did..." He trailed off when he stared a little closer at her, especially her eyes. The breadstick slipped out of his hand when he made the connection. "N-Nightmare Moon??" Luna chuckled, putting a slight purr in her voice. "Heh, long time no see...'Specs'." Spike turned bright red at that. Tirek always bragged about how he'd 'bagged' the girl everyone knew as 'The Nightmare Moon', yet he was a sobbing, pummled heap on the ground after she was done. Nightmare Moon and her sister, Daybreaker, where considered the scariest pair at school. And since he used to wear glasses - thank god for prescription contacts - she'd taken to calling him 'Specs' as a pet name when they bonded over the soured date. And now, the same girl who he was admittedly terrified of at first, was his date that night. "Then...Celestia...holy crap." "You know Tia's gonna be all over you when it clicks for her, Speccy." Luna said. "Though...guess I can't really call you that now since you don't have those big glasses anymore. What happened to them?" "Oh, um, I got contacts a few years ago. I mean, I still have glasses for when I don't feel like sleeping, but don't wanna put them back in just to read or watch tv." "Aw, but you were cute in those things." Luna pouted a bit. He turned even redder. "C-cute...?" "May not've been the kinda gal to actually say it, but didn't mean I wasn't thinking it." She twirled one of her own breadsticks around. "Speaking of thinking; honestly, Specs, what made you think a girl with that name was worth it?" She gave him a slightly exasperated look. "Spoiled asked me out...and my grandpa told me never judge a book by the title...aand that's not quite helping my defense, is it?" "Well, if it helps, Tirek admitted he thought it would be a good 'prank' to play on you. That and the slimebag agreed to make Spoiled his so-called main gal, with me as a 'side girl'." Spike groaned. "I should be surprised, but it was Tirek, so I'm not. Though that does explain why you almost shoulder-charged her through old Mrs. Medowbrook's fence." He took a bite out of the sticks. "Whatever happened to that brat?" "Goes by Spoiled Rich now, and she's a mom. Though not a very good one." Luna replied, ducking the wad of bread when Spike half-choked. "Wha?? Ack! KAFF! She's a m-mother!? For real!?" He wheezed. "Yep. Diamond Tiara's mom, to be exact." "Oh...wow...that poor kid...should I offer my condolences?" Luna snorted as she tried to stifle her laughter. "And it's stuff like that that makes me glad I recommended you for that foster parent program." Spike froze. "Way whu wha-now?" Celestia shakily climbed to her feet, her gaze never leaving the two tiny horses- "Ponies!" The pink one corrected. Right, ponies..."Wait, what?" Celestia double-taked, before shaking it off. "Ponies...there are two tiny ponies here...and why do you look like Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash??" By then, the girls, having heard the shriek, had already gathered around the scene. "Oh, heh...um...'cause those are pony version of us?" Rainbow said. "Well, that kind of makes sense-ack! There are two tiny talking ponies sitting RIGHT. THERE." She pointed. "They are barely six inches tall! And one is bright pink, and the other is blue! And flying!" "It's kind of a long story." Applejack said. "I know this may kind of a shock, but we can explain everything." A voice that sounded like Twilight spoke up behind Celestia. "Was that who I think it might be?" Celestia asked. "Yep! The others are right behind ya!" 'pony'Pinkie pointed to the other counter. Celestia turned, and sure enough, there were other equally diminutive, and brightly colored equines. And they all bore a striking resemblance to the girls. Celestia's knees shook slightly. "Oh my god..." "Wait, Miss Solaris, before you freak out-!" Sunset started. "They are freaking ADORABLE!" Celestia squealed, scooping as many of the ten ponies into her arms as she could. "They're like talking puppies!" "Is that a good thing?" 'pony'Sweetie Belle squeaked, currently upside down in the woman's arms.
Onii-Chan's Interesting Life	Pony's Out Of the Bag	"All right. Just let me get this right; when Spike brought you all home from your first day at school, you all thought someone had broken in." Celesta said, once she let the ponies go and the girls gave her an explanation. "Yeah." Sunset nodded. "Onii-chan thought they might've still been inside and told us to get outside and call the cops. But we couldn't get the phone working, and we started getting worried, so I went in to tell him. And that's when I saw him holding pony Pinkie and Applejack." "Right." Celestia picked up pony Rarity and started scratching her belly. "And after a talk, that's when the rest of you fluffballs came outta hiding." "Well, while I do like keeping my coat soft...um, could you please...mm...little more to the left." the little marshmallow laid back, idly twitching her hooves in the air. "Yeah, but it's been over two months since you started there. how in the world were you able to keep these gals from being found?" "Well, we've gotten pretty good at staying outta sight." Pony Scootaloo spoke up. "Also, this place is kind of outta the way from things. Besides, you and the other teachers all saw us once." "Saw you? What..." Celestia paused for a second as her memory rebooted. "Wait a sec... The Halloween party! I could've sworn I saw Twilight's little cat doll look my way!" She stared blankly for a moment before bursting out into laughter. "You were all right there and I didn't even notice!" "That means our costumes were awesome, right?" Pony Rainbow spoke up. "Well, they definitely let you blend in." She chuckled again. "Oh man, I'm wondering if Luna's having as much of a time as I am." Spike stared at her incredulously. "That was you??" He gestured helplessly in an attempted to find the proper response. "Why?? What in the world made you think, out of anyone, that I was responsible enough for that? I mean, you know I was a slacker back in school!" "True." Luna's smirk widened. "But you really should've covered your tracks better. I managed to follow you a couple of times when you slinked off during lunch. Managed to tail you to the soup kitchen. Was kind of interesting how the workers knew you by name, even handing you an apron." Spike's expression quickly shifted to a 'caught red handed' look. "I...ah..." "Or when you'd stop and spend your lunch money to buy sandwich stuff for that group of homeless who set up house in that old shop behind the parking garage." He sighed. "Ok, ok. You got me...it was just something I did when I managed to find the time." "I do have one question, though. Why hide it?" "Are you kidding? You remember how some of those teacher were, Luna! They'd look for any excuse to 'volunteer' a student into charity work or a crummy fundraiser stunt." "Oh yeah.." Luna grimaced at the thought. They'd tried to rope her into gong door to asking for donations to a 'supply maintenance fund' which was just to pay for new junk in the teacher's lounge. She'd rolled in some poison ivy to make herself look sick so she could get out of it. "I did that stuff because I wanted to. If they'd found out, they would have turned it into a job for me, and not a fun one! That's why I did what I could to keep them off my track. You, on the other hand..." "What can I say? It was a talent. As for why I did what I did, when I heard about the girls, I remembered what you'd done back then, besides the homeless work...like when you tutored the new girl. What was her name, Zia...Zesa...? "Zecora." Spike replied, as their orders arrived. "All I did was help her get up to snuff with her geometry and math." "Well, it helped her, considering the kiss she gave you." 'Lucky little...' She muttered under her breath. "Anyway, I remembered that and just threw your name out mostly." She blushed sheepishly. "Wasn't even expecting you to be granted custody of all ten." "In all honesty, it scared the tar out me at first." He replied. "I mean, I was living in a one bedroom apartment when I found out. If it wasn't for the fact I was lucky as hell and found this place..." He didn't really need to say what the results could have been. "If it helps, you've done a pretty good job. Being one guy looking at ten girls is no mean feat." 'You ain't just whistling dixie, sister.' Spike thought. "Well, thankfully they get along. At least the ponies have similar personalities." He froze when he realized he'd said that bit out loud. "What ponies?" Luna asked. "I didn't see or hear any horses around the place." "Uh-oh." "I think we've been around this corner before. That's the third time we've passed that lamp." "But we took a left this time!" "You tell me! I don't know hide nor hair of this place." "Let's just go, maybe we'll run into whoever lives here." "Provided they don't step on us first, if that huge-plot chair is any indication." "Oh, don't be such a worrywort, Lulu."
Onii-Chan's Interesting Life	Intermission: I got my own mini!	Spike gulped. The look Luna was giving him didn't help. 'Oh crap...think, man!' "Uh, heh....I-It's a show the girls like. They-" "Specs." Luna's expression slowly turned into the one she used as Nightmare Moon when she wanted a straight answer. "I heard you. You said 'similar personalities...like the girls'. Ten different girls, and one's a nine-year old vegetarian." It was at this point that he mentally let loose with a panicky stream of terms that would possibly get him slapped by half the people in the restaurant, dishwasher included. He tried to think of a way to talk his way out of it, but between her stare and his panic, he was coming up with just jack and squat. "Well?" His shoulders slumped, along with a sigh of defeat. "Ok...but odds are you aren't gonna believe a word of it." Luna propped her elbows on the table. "Try me." "Ok..." As she stared at the small (no pun intended) group of girls and pint-sized equines, Celestia inadvertently let out a sputtering laugh before she managed to catch herself. "Heh, sorry. Just an old habit when I'm still wrapping my head around something. I mean, I just had a conversation with horses..." "Ponies!" Girls and ponies all said in unison. "Yeah, ponies...that I can hold in my hand. Last time I had and encounter like this, I mead the mistake of eating some mushrooms my roommate had...thought she was using them for pizzas... Can never look at a feather boa and bowl of macaroni the same way again...a-anyway!" She quickly composed herself. "Part of me is kinda wishing your guardian had something I could use to settle myself with...maybe a glass or two." "Glasses!?" 'pony' Twilight yelped, her wings flapping in surprise. "Oh no! He didn't forget, did he??" Before any of them could respond, she took off down the hall. "I say something wrong?" Celestia asked, doing a quick breath check. "Nah, while we were exploring, Twilight found out he has a pair of glasses he wears sometimes after taking his contacts out." 'pony' Sunset answered her. "I didn't know he wore contacts!" Rarity and Twilight blurted out together. "Glasses?" Celestia asked. "Yes, a lovely pair of wireframes." 'pony' Rarity added. "Personally I think they look fantastic on him." "Hmm.." Celestia mused, picturing the result...and a goofy little smile slowly began forming on her face. "Ehehehe...'Tia likey..." "HUZZAH!" A voice that sounded alarmingly like Celestia's, though a tad squeakier, yelled from nearby, followed by 'pony' Twlight shrieking in surprise. "The vision has been DOUBLED!" "Tia, that's not funny!" A squeaky Luna voice responded. "And I don't sound like that!" "P-Princess Celestia!? Princess Luna!" "Twilight, you're a sight for sore eyes!" The other Celestia replied. "How'd you get here? And why are you wearing glasses??" The others watched as 'pony' Twilight reemerged from around the corner, joined by two more tiny ponies. Ones that looked suspiciously like Celestia and Luna. The Celestia one was currently wearing a pair of glasses several sizes too big for her. Both stopped in their tracks, however, when they saw the others. "YOU LOOK LIKE ME!" Both Celestias yelled. "And they've just been doubled..." The pony Luna groaned and facehoofed. "Horseapples..." "...so I have ten little girls and their small, sapient, technicolor pony counterparts living with me." Spike finished his tale, smiling sheepishly. Luna just stared at him blankly. "Uh, L-Luna?" She glanced at her glass of cola. "I'm trying to decide if i should believe that before or after I ask for some whisky to put in this."
Onii-Chan's Interesting Life	Still need that drink.	"Ok, let's say, outside of how insane that does sound..." Luna added a second shot of whiskey to her cola just in case. "I do believe you, how in the name of not-crazy are you AND the girls able to miss a herd of bizarrely colored horses..." "Ponies, technically." Spike said. "...ponies, inside your house??" "Actually they're about puppy-size, and they said they were pretty good at hiding." Luna contemplated if she should keep a third shot on hand...maybe fireball this time. "Puppy-sized ponies..." "Yeah, I kinda had the same reaction." He sighed. "I know I can't really explain this in a way that doesn't sound out there..." Can I get a Woop Woop! Woop Woop! He paused. "Is...is that your..." "Dang it, Tia!" Luna took her phone out. "She messed with my ringtones again! ....and speak of the demented older sister..." "Something happen back at the house?" Spike asked, visibly concerned. "No, she's sending me a photo...a selfie? Really, sis? I..." Spike could only watch as Luna's expression morphed from 'annoyed younger sibling' to confused, then loose-jaw disbelief. "Ho-lee..." "What is it?" "Well, you don't have to worry about me believing you." Luna showed him her phone. On it was a picture of Celestia...and a pony version of her in her arms. Both were making 'duck faces' to the camera. In the back, a pony version of Luna was facehoofing at them. "Oh." He stared at the photo for a second. "I should be, at the bare minimum surprised, but I'm not. Should I be worried about that?" "Ooh, fabulous!" Both Celestias continued to pose and make goofy faces for photos while 'pony' Luna decided to talk to the others. "So, none of you recall how you ended up in this house?" She asked, before looking at the girls. "And one with human versions of all of you." "I'm afraid not, Princess Luna." Twilight replied. "All any of us know is waking up in a trunk in the basement." "Sadly, all the two of us can recall is the sound of some cracking, like a window. Then a blinding light." "Yeah, we both woke up in a run-down shed out in the woods." 'pony' Celestia added. Took us a week to get here. Not sure why, but coming this way seemed like the right idea." "Well, one thing's for sure. Onii-chans's gonna be needing an explanation." Sunset said, counting up how many ponies were there now. "Who?" "Spike, he's the gentleman taking care of these girls." 'pony'Rarity clarified. "Yeah, he's out on a date with your human self." 'pony'Pinkie said, bouncing beside her counterpart. "A...a date..." 'pony' Luna stared. "I..I'm on a-a date??" Her wings flapped a couple of times before she whirled around, pointing a triumphant hoof at both Celestias. "HA! In your face, Sunbutt!"
Onii-Chan's Interesting Life	Intermission: Who Needs Turn Signals!?	"Isn't the speed limit for-WHOA!" Spike yelled as Luna's car drifted around a corner, nearly taking a trash can along for the ride. They'd opted for takeaway and head back to the house. "That was a one-way street! What's got you in Mario Andretti mode to start with!?" "Considering the fact that there are literal. Talking. Mini pony versions of us; the urge to see this for myself is, well, making my geek side giddy." She replied, leaning out of the window to yell something rude at her new tailgater. "Ok....and the insane-" "Also, just thinking about what TWO Celestias might get themselves into scares the crap outta me!" "Well, both of them are easily entertained." 'pony' Luna said, watching the two versions of her sister taking selfies with various filters. "Aside from that, tell me about this Spike fellow, the one my other self is out with!" She quickly turn to the other ponies. HOOONK! "DANG IT, CELESTIA!" An irate voice yelled from outside. Everyone turned to said woman, who just shrugged. "What? Slipped the mechanic a twenty to change her horn." "You know this means war, sister!" Luna muttered, getting out of the car as soon as it skidded to a halt. Spike just tumbled out in a heap, a raccoon holding onto him for dear life. "That wasn't a detour!" He squawked. Once it got its bearings, the raccoon shook a paw at Luna and angrily chittered something uncomplimentary before running like mad into the wood.
Onii-Chan's Interesting Life	Reuniiincoming!	"Are they still alive...?" Rainbow asked, taking another step back from the two Lunas. Both had been staring at each other for the last few minutes the moment human Luna came back inside. "They're still breathing...Ah think." Pony AJ replied. "I don't know-quit it!" Spike said, confiscating sharpies from both Celestias. ...yet again. Twilight gave an uneasy look. "Should we call someone..." "Tiltawhirl!" Both Lunas suddenly blurted out, making them jump. "Peanut Brittle!" "What are they doing?" Both Pinkies asked. "Can we join in?" "Pad kid poured curd pulled cod!" Human and pony stared at each other. "...yep, she's me." "This is so unreal..." Human Luna said in awe. Right before she scooped her pony self. "I'm so freaking CUTE as a PONY!" She squealed, spinning around. "Getting dizzy!" Pony Luna yelped. "Huh, never expected Nightmare Moon so giddy over cute." Spike murmured to himself. However, he was unaware that Celestia was right behind him. Her eyes narrowed. "Nightmare...she hasn't..." She abruptly spun him around so they were face to face. "Wait a sec..." Confusion morphed to realization. "S-Specs??" 'Busted.' He thought, and chuckled slightly. "Heh, hi...Daybreaker." Silence reigned before... "SPECCCY!!!" "Is that what they call a 'glomp'?' Apple Bloom asked, watching the two adults sail across the room. "Question." Pony Sunset glanced up at Luna; and her unnervingly calm expression. "Anyone else suddenly feeling like we should run like cowards?"
Thweet Geniuth	pre	# . Apple Bloom had converted an empty barn into a workshop. She stood in the middle of the huge room, surrounded by low, narrow ramps. "Oh, thethe are wonderfully!" cried Twist, galloping up and down one of the ramps. "I thought you'd like these better than lugging a step ladder around like you do now," said Apple Bloom. "This was a good week's work. But the design is, whatdoyoucallit, modular, ah think. I figure I can fit them into most any kitchen, in about 10 minutes. Course, it would help if I knew the layout of your kitchen in the Coliseum." That stopped Twist dead in her tracks. "Yeah, I think I'm thupothed to have that," she said, unhappily. "But it never came." None of the fillies meet Twist's eyes. Quiz had not shared her concerns with Twist, who had enough to worry about just preparing for the contest. But Quiz had told all her other friends. They were all slowly coming to believe her. "Well, if I don't have the proper measurements Ah'll just eyeball it," said Apple Bloom. "It shouldn't slow set up time too much." "Thank you, Apple Bloom, thank you, thank you, thank you!" said Twist, giving her friend a big hug. The ramps were the first good news Twist had gotten since winning the contest. They hung out for about another half hour, playing with the ramps and marveling how light they were and how easy to assemble. Then Twist announced that she had to hurry home. "Bon Bon will be done with today's orderth, and I'll have the kitchen to mythelf to practith. And I need the practith!" Sweetie Belle started to get up, meaning to offer to walk home with Twist, but Scootaloo began waving wildly at her, signaling that they should wait. When Twist had left alone, Sweetie Belle turned to Scootaloo and demanded, "What?" "Just how bad do you guys want to help Twist?" asked Scootaloo. "I want this very badly indeed," said Quiz, and the others murmured assent. "That's what I was hoping you would say," said Scootaloo, grinning from ear to ear. "I think that if the contest people won't send Twist those measurements she needs then maybe we should go and get them ourselves." "What are you talking about, Girl?" asked Apple Bloom. "I think we should stage a ninja raid on Confectionery Coliseum!"
Thweet Geniuth	"Come On, Quiz, It Will Be Fun!"	Thweet Geniuth Chapter 5 "Come On, Quiz, It Will Be Fun!" "Five tick..." The pony at the train station's ticket window had begun speaking in falsetto, then cleared their throat, and continued in a hoarse, effected baritone. "Five tickets to Manehattan, please. Round trip, tonight." The old stallion in the ticket booth just muttered something about how he had "been on the night shift way too long," and with no further comment or reaction he handed Scootaloo her tickets and the change. If he heard the muffled cry, "Oww! You have your hoof in mah eye!" he ignored it. When the ticket clerk turned back to his newspaper the five fillies ran for the passenger car and boarded the train. The last aboard was Apple Bloom, who waited for Scootaloo to jump off her back. "I told you that would work," said Scootaloo, struggling out of Big Macintosh's raincoat. "Man, this thing is warm. And heavy." "At least you were in the part where you could breath," grumbled Apple Bloom. "And speaking of heavy, Girl, you need to lose weight!" "Oh, shut up, Apple Bloom! You're just mad because my plan worked and your plan was stupid." "Was not! Mah plan would have worked just fine." "We'd have been stuck in a crate all the way to Manehattan," said Sweetie Belle. "And there's a law against sending yourself through the mail," said Dinky. "Well, there's also rules against unaccompanied minors," said Apple Bloom, pouting. Quiz did not join in the bickering. "Scootaloo, please come here so I may dispel your disguise," she said. "Oh, let her keep it, Quiz!" laughed Sweetie Belle. "I think it looks cute on her!" "That's all I need to hear," said Scootaloo. "Quiz, please get this thing off of me." With a pop the mustache and goatee disappeared from Scootaloo's face. "Thanks Quiz. And here's your change. We really need to work out a way for us to pay you back the rest." "Think nothing of it," said Quiz, slipping the coins into her bag. "My parents will be delighted that I spent some of my allowance for once, I so rarely withdraw more than the cost of a notebook from the bank. I hope mother will imagine I bought myself a gown, or some other pretty thing. With luck they will never discover how I actually spent the bits." "Quiz, what's the matter?" asked Sweetie Belle. "We're all excited, and you just sound sad." "I fear I am leading you all into trouble," said Quiz. "I never wanted to do that." "Come, on, Quiz, this was my idea, remember?" said Scootaloo. "Cheer up. This could be the adventure of a lifetime!" "Perhaps," said Quiz. The late night trains between Ponyville and Manehattan primarily carry mail and cargo; passengers are rare. The fillies had the one small passenger car to themselves. They chattered excitedly, plotting how they would break into Confectionery Coliseum, until they were interrupted by an outburst from Quiz. "Darn," muttered Quiz, peering into her saddle bag. "I have forgotten the map of Manehattan." This stopped everypony cold. "Quiz..." gasped Apple Bloom. "You forgot something?!" "Wasn't it on your check list?" asked Dinky. "I... may have been lax in my preparations," said Quiz. "I only went over my check list once." "Oh, Quiz, you really are troubled!" cried Sweetie Belle. She moved to Quiz's side, and put a leg across her friend's shoulders. "Tell me what's really bothering you." Quiz stiffened, but did not flinch at being touched as she once would have. She spoke softly, "I just do not understand why you are all here with me. Admit it, none of you truly believe my allegations against the Grand Chef and his producers." This was met with silence. Finally, Apple Bloom answered for them. "It ain't like that, Quiz. Sure, what you say sounds crazy. Anypony would have their doubts. But if there's one thing I don't doubt, it's you, Quiz. If you say there's something fishy going on then I know there's something fishy going on. So I'm in. We all are." The other fillies just nodded. "Thank you, my friends," said Quiz. Sensing that the mood was getting hopelessly sappy, Scootaloo interrupted. "Quiz, it's okay if you forgot the map, you can just summon it." "Of course," said Quiz. A moment later there was a 'pop', and the map appear floating in front of her. Quiz could not teleport herself, but she could teleport objects better than anypony. Whatever it was, if Quiz had a reasonably good idea of what it looked like and where it was, and if it was light enough for her to lift, Quiz could summon it to her side. Spike and Owloicious had taken to playing tricks on her; deliberately miss-shelving the books Twilight asked for most often just to see what it would take to trip Quiz up. So far they had failed to fool her. If Quiz noticed what they were doing she kept it to herself. However, one trick got Quiz every time. "Quiz," said Scootaloo, speaking very quickly, "Summon for me volume one of the Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were." "Certainly," said Quiz, reacting without thinking. The requested book popped into the train car. Every pony laughed but Quiz. Quiz, stood blinking, puzzled, but only for a moment. "Oh," she said. "You did not actually want this book, did you, Scootaloo?" "No, Quiz." The laughter grew louder. "You have 'Got Me' once again, then, Scootaloo?" "Yes, Quiz." Scootaloo could barely answer. "I believe I will credit you with 'A good one' this time, Scootaloo," said Quiz. You had to really know Quiz well to tell that she was smiling. "Oh, dear," said Quiz, as she sent the book back to its shelf. "I fear that, someday, Diamond Tiara will learn this trick, and I will find myself teleporting something embarrassing into the middle of Miss Cheerilee's classroom." They laughed for miles. # Once they had all settled down Sweetie Belle began pulling black bundles out of her bag and passing them around. "I made these for us. I think I'm getting pretty good at sewing, now that somepony finally explained to me how to do it." "Wow!" exclaimed Scootaloo, holding her's up. It was a black ninja suit, complete with hood. "This is so cool!" "We're going to be ninjas?" asked Dinky, slightly disappointed. "When you all kept calling this a 'raid' it sounded more like we'd be pirates. Pirates are more fun than ninjas." "Yeah, but ninjas are cooler!" answered Scootaloo. The fillies wasted no time trying their suits on. All, but Quiz, who regarded her's dubiously. "What is the purpose of this garment?" she asked. "It will make you stealthy," said Sweetie Belle. "So you can sneak around and hide in shadows..." She trailed off, suddenly realizing that this was Quiz she was talking too. Quiz just stared at her. "Oh," said Sweetie Belle, obviously disappointed. "Never mind Quiz. Maybe you can wear it next Nightmare Night..." "No, if you all are going to wear them, then I shall wear mine as well," said Quiz. "We shall all have the same uniform tonight." Apparently, this called for a cheer. "Cutiemark Crusaders Ninja Raid On Confectionery Coliseum Is A Go!" Quiz did not let Sweetie Belle hear her mutter to herself, "If this fabric rustles and gives me away I shall be very cross." . # Anypony who peered into the darkest alleys between Dolly Square Station and Confectionery Coliseum might just make out four little ponies moving carefully through the night. They would certainly have heard them, as the girls stumbled into trash cans and bickered about which pony was making the most noise. Now and then, a soft voice would call to them when they made a wrong turn. This, and the occasional rustle of fabric, was all that gave Quiz away. Eventually, the mouth of an alley ended on a wide street. Though this was the City that Never Sleeps, at this hour the street was empty, as were the sidewalks in every direction. Across this quiet street towered Confectionery Coliseum. "Now what do we do?" asked Sweetie Belle. "We case the joint!" declared Scootaloo. "We must circle the building, to see what doors may be unlocked, and to determine where the guards will be," said Quiz. "Like I said, we case the joint!" repeated Scootaloo. The actual amphitheater of the Coliseum fronted on the office complex of "Food Equestria," producers of cooking shows and contests across the nation. All of the doors they tried were locked. They noticed several guards patrolling around the building, and they thought they saw flashlights inside, passing by the windows. But only at one entrance were guards stationed. While the fillies were watching several ponies arrived and were allowed inside by the guards. They all recognized Smarty Brickoven, host and judge of many Food Equestria productions, including the Grand Chef's Candy Challenge. Sweetie Belle thought she recognized some other Food Equestria judges and presenters, but she wasn't sure. "See that, the guards just opened the door and let 'em in," said Apple Bloom. "That door ain't locked." "So?" said Scootaloo. "It's guarded, it doesn't need to be locked." "A distraction might lead them away, but it would have to be something considerable to get the guards to leave their posts," said Quiz. "Naw, just a little thing would do it. Scoot's fast, she could zip in while their backs are turned, then head down a corridor and unlock one of the other doors for the rest of us," said Apple Bloom. "This plan has merit," said Quiz, nodding her head thoughtfully. "Assuming Scootaloo doesn't get lost inside the building," said Sweetie Belle. "Shut up!" was Scootaloo's clever rebutal. "I will cast an illusion to distract the guards..." began Quiz. "Um... Quiz?" interrupted Sweetie Belle. "You can't draw. All your illusions look like stick figures." "What of that?" asked Quiz, almost sounding indignant. "They will be distracting stick figures." "I don't think we want the guards to know they're being distracted by a beginning magician," said Scootaloo. "Now, I bet one of these buildings has a fire alarm..." "That might be a bit more attention than we want," warned Apple Bloom. "We should keep it simple. Maybe toss a trash can in the street." "If we merely wish them to turn their heads I fail to see why you will not allow me to cast a simple light effect..." began Quiz. "Hay! What's Dinky doing?!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle. While they were arguing nopony had noticed Dinky wriggle out of her ninja suit. She had tied her mane into two big, fluffy tails with long pink ribbons. The effect was disarming. A pony would have to be completely hard hearted to perceive Dinky as anything but innocent. "Hay, Misters!" called Dinky, as she skipped across the street, right up to the guards. "Can you please do me a big favor?" "Little Filly, you should not be out alone," said a guard. "It's okay, my Mom's just up the block. But I had to make this side trip real quick," said Dinky. "Could you please take my picture in front of the Coliseum?" "Picture?" asked the puzzled guard. "Look, it's way past your bedtime..." "Oh, we've been living in Canterberra for Dad's work, and we only just came home," lied Dinky. "It's the middle of the day down there. We have all been keeping funny hours, and we're still sleeping on Canterberra time." "Where's 'Canterberra'?" asked Scootaloo. "It is far to the south and west," answered Quiz. "I have been tutoring Dinky in geography. I am so very proud... of her." "Anyway," Dinky continued, "My best friend down there was runner up at the Canterberra Fair candy contest. I promised her that I'd visit Confectionery Coliseum. But we leave for Fillydelphia tonight." Dinky nattered on, completely disarming the guards. They only needed to go to the corner, just 10 or 15 steps from their post, to get the picture. What harm could there be? They took several pictures; first one of Dinky, then Dinky with one guard, then Dinky with the other guard, then a close up of the three of them, then more shots just in case some didn't come out right, then a guard on patrol happened by and got into the act... There was time to get all the fillies inside. They found another side door, and unlocked it to let Dinky in, but it seemed as if they had to wait forever for Dinky to finish playing with the guards. "Seriously, you brought your camera?" asked Sweetie Belle. Dinky shrugged. "I thought we would want something to remember tonight." "I don't care, that was just awesome!" said Scootaloo, giving Dinky a high-hoof. "It is now official. Anypony who calls you 'Just a Little Tag-along' can shut up!" "It was you who said that, Scoot," pointed out Apple Bloom. "Whatever!" grumbled Scootaloo. "Let's just find the kitchen and measure it, already."
Thweet Geniuth	Caught In The Act	Thweet Geniuth Chapter 6 Caught In The Act What happened next was the last thing any of them expected. They were able to walk almost directly to the stage doors that opened on the Confectionery Coliseum kitchens. "The layout of this building is very efficient," noted Quiz. They found their only obstacle just before they reached the central stage doors. The last side corridor before the doors was blocked by heavy iron gates, held by thick chains and huge padlocks. Though the fillies didn't have to get through the gate, there was something about them that would have made the gates intimidating just to walk by. The gates were not as intimidating as the guards. These two towering stallions looked as if catching a few trespassing fillies would just make their whole day. A sign identified the corridor as "Executive Production Offices - Grand Chef's Private Suite." Also, in golden lettering over the gates, was "Recipe Vault." Further signage warned "Authorized Personnel Only!!! No Recording Devices Beyond This Point!!!" Somehow, the extra exclamation marks did not seem excessive. Luckily, a side corridor going the other direct allowed the fillies to avoid the guards. Two turns down two short hallways and they were in front of a side door to the Coliseum. "Is it just me, or did anyone else get a nasty vibe from those gates?" asked Scootaloo. "The only time I've seen gates like they were guarding a cemetery!" "Those guards looked like they hadn't eaten," said Dinky, shuddering. "They could finish me off in two bites!" "Beyond those gates are all of the Grand Chef's secrets," said Quiz, gravely. "Forget the gates, we got a job to do," declared Apple Bloom. "If we are going to catch our train home then we best get on with it." And she pushed the door open. Confectionery Coliseum was truly an awesome sight. It was bigger than any theater, as big as all but the largest of sporting stadiums. Even Apple Bloom took a moment to admire it before she set to work. Once in the 'Challenger's Kitchen' she unpacked her saddle bag, and began to get the other fillies organized. "Sweetie Belle, put a hoof on the end of this tape measure," said Apple Bloom. "Dinky, get some pictures. Stand in the middle of the room and shoot all the way 'round." "OK," said Dinky. "But there should be something for scale. I know, Quiz stand over there. No, more to the right, Quiz. Now a step to the left. Now just a smidgen to..." "Just take the pictures, Dinky," interrupted Apple Bloom. "Sweetie Belle, move your end of the tape into that corner there. That's right." She produced a pencil she had tucked into her hair bow and began making notes. "We should post a guard by the box office," said Sweetie Belle. "I heard that's how most of the crazed Grand Chef fans try to break in, so the guards check it pretty often." "The Grand Chef has crazed fans?" asked Dinky. "He sure does," said Sweetie Belle, nodding emphatically. "They try to sneak in, just to touch something that the Grand Chef touched." "I'm on it," said Scootaloo, moving towards the main entrance. "If I see a flashlight I'll go like this, 'Ca-Caw, Ca-Caw!'" "What the hay was that?" demanded Apple Bloom. "That was a bird call," said Scootaloo, sounding miffed. "It'll be our secret signal." "Um..." began Dinky, trying to think of something tactful to say. "Maybe you should try this one." Dinky trilled like a song bird. "Oh, that's really good!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle. "Can you do this one, Dinky?" Sweetie Belle cooed, giving a respectable imitation of a dove. Dinky cooed back. Her imitation was even better than Sweetie Belle's. "Enough!" exclaimed Apple Bloom. She continued in a hoarse whisper, "The guards are going to hear you and come in with brooms to chase all you 'birds' out of here. That is, unless they hear Scootaloo. In that case they'll know we ain't birds." "Hay!" Scootaloo began to protest, but she was interrupted by the loud gangling of chains, followed by a harsh, metallic groan. "What was that?" asked Dinky. "It was the 'scary gates,'" said Quiz. "They have been opened." Quiz crept to the main stage doors, and put an ear to the crack between them. She heard a female voice. "Thanks, boys. Now take a break. Come back in about half an hour." It was the same mare Quiz had heard arguing with the Grand Chef at the Fair. There was the sound of heavy hoofs, receding in the distance. A set of much more delicate hooves also moved off; possibly heading down the forbidden corridor. Sweetie Belle whispered in Quiz's ear, "Go, Quiz. We can take care of things here. You go and get your evidence." Quiz nodded. She pushed one door open a crack. The gates were indeed open and unguarded. There was a faint light, probably from a room far down the corridor. Quiz moved silently through the stage doors and up to the top of the gated corridor. There she cast Twitcher's Useful Amplifier. Bzzzt! "Merry, what are we doing here at this hour?" Quiz recognized the plaintive voice of Smarty Brickoven. "Clandestine meetings take place in the middle of the night." It was the familiar mare's voice. "We all work here! It would look less suspicious if we met during business hours instead of having us sneak back here now." "The Grand Chef is paranoid," said another stallion. "No, the Grand Chef is just addicted to ridiculous displays of melodrama." This was yet another stallion. "That's probably why he won't let anyone oil the hinges on those stupid gates." "The Grand Chef enjoys ordering us out of our beds," This was another mare. A very irritated mare. "And it amuses him that we are actually willing to do it." "Be that as it may be, Almond, we are here, so let's go over the Grand Chef's orders," said Merry, wearily. "The Grand Chef knows that he looks better the worse his challenger looks. So, it's our job to make this kid look very bad, indeed. Commentators, I have some bullet points I want you to stress during the show..." "Are you serious?!" interrupted Smarty. This was followed by a flurry of protests from the other ponies in the room. "Oh, shut up, all of you!" yelled Merry. This silenced them. "Yes, I am serious. We are going to do this, so get used to it. And take notes. Commentators - firstly, I want you to go on and on about what a shame it is that she's so unprepared. This will lose her lots of sympathy; the crowed will think 'To show up unready for the contest of a lifetime, that's just a disgrace.'" "How are we going to do that?" objected Smarty. "I saw her work at the Fair. The kid is more organized than most chefs five times her age." It's been arranged," said Merry. There was silence as the ponies let the implications of that sink in. Merry continued, "Secondly, we want to portray her as a lonesome loser. Stress how it's a shame that no pony cared enough to take the short train ride from Ponyville to root for her. Production staff - we'll want lots of shots of the filly's empty gallery." "Is that being arranged as well?" asked Almond. "Yup." Again, this was met with silence. "To sum up, you are not to have anything nice to say about the challenger." "Are we allowed to judge her candy fairly?" "Oh, you won't have to compromise your integrity as judges," said Merry. "The Grand Chef will trounce this poor child fair and square. We just want it to look as if she deserves it." "Is Happy in on this?" "Oh, good grief, no!" Merry laughed. "Happy would never understand. Not that there's much Happy does understand. We may have to turn her mic off if she starts gushing about how cute the challenger is. Other than that, I'm not worried about her. No pony takes Happy seriously." None of the other ponies laughed. "Oates, I have a special job for you," said Merry. "This filly has a terrible speech impediment, so we want to get her saying as many 'S' words as possible. Start thinking up leading questions with that in mind." "Please, Merry, do I have to..." "Just do it, Oates!" snapped Merry. "Now, camera crew, I want this filly to look ridiculous. That shouldn't be too hard. Give me bad camera angles and worse lighting. I'll give you a 50 bit bonus if you can catch her scratching. And 100 bits if she picks her nose on camera..." "Come on, Merry, this is absurd," said Smarty. "Why are you going along with this? You sound even more miserable than us." There was a long silence. Finally, Merry spoke. "Fine, I'll admit it. I'm miserable. Trashing some perfectly nice filly is not my idea of fun. I'd call this a waste of my talent, but unfortunately, I happen to have a talent for this. Here's the bottom line - giving the Grand Chef what he wants is a condition of our continued employment. And I, for one, want to keep my job. Celestia as my witness, I will never go back to producing classified ads for the town criers in Baltimare again!" Merry paused. When no pony spoke up she continued, "So, unless any of you has a former career you are eager to get back to, I suggest you get over your qualms about this unpleasant task, and you do your jobs." There was a murmur of unhappy agreement from all the ponies. "Good," said Merry. "Moving on, the Grand Chef doesn't like the challenger's name. Instead, she is to always be referred to as..." Bzzt! Quiz could control her spell no longer. This turned out to be timely, as Sweetie Belle was trying to get her attention. "...we have to go, Quiz!" "Where are the others?" asked Quiz. "Being chased by guards," Sweetie Belle answered. "Apparently, they weren't impressed by Scootaloo's bird calls. If they get away they'll meet us at the train station. We have to run before we're noticed too." "Then let us run," said Quiz. They ran. # Nopony was chased further than the building's perimeter, and they all made their train with time to spare. The fillies were all excited about the success of their adventure, and they made a party of the ride home. Dinky's camera was passed around, and they used the last of the film taking group pictures. Quiz was even in a few of the shots, and she might possibly have been smiling faintly. As they neared Ponyville, however, Apple Bloom noticed that Dinky had grown quiet. "There's something on you mind, Dinky," she said. Dinky bit her lip, worriedly. "Well, it's just that the overnight trains are mostly mail service," she said. "I think most of the ponies working on the trains and at the stations probably know my mom." The implications of this slowly sunk in. Just before arriving home was probably not the best time to make this observation. The train rolled into the station at Ponyville, and waiting impatiently on the platform were Derpy, Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight.
Thweet Geniuth	Busted	Thweet Geniuth Chapter 7 Busted It could have been worse. Some of the fillies might have considered claiming they had just gone for a late night joy ride, but that possibility flew out the window as soon as the adults confiscated Dinky's camera. They all agreed that some of the shots were beautiful, and that Dinky had a surprising sense of composition for one so young. They also all agreed that trespassing at a Manehattan landmark called for something special. They would deal with the girls quietly themselves. Nothing was stolen or vandalized, so contacting the law in Manehattan would just get the girls a slap on the pastern. The fillies' guardians could do that much themselves. So, it was decided to just keep their punishment "within the family." None of the girls considered this a stroke of good luck. Ponies tend not to believe in corporal punishment (though the fillies, who were all led home by their painfully twisted ears might have disputed this). Ponies are very firm believers in grounding, and the girls were grounded indefinitely. The older ponies defined "indefinitely" as "until we think you've learned your lesson." The fillies interpretation was "for as long as they feel like punishing us." Either way, the girls would be on lockdown for a very long time. They could go nowhere unescorted. This wasn't actually that much of a burden on the older ponies, as the number of places the girls could go was reduced to nearly zero. What to do with the girls besides locking them in their rooms became a problem, but this was easily solved. Cheerilee was happy to have the girls all attend summer school. Scootaloo bragged about how the raid was all her own idea; but, despite Scootaloo's strident protests, it was clear in everypony's mind which filly really inspired the adventure, and who was really at fault. They thought Quiz was just too smart for her own good, and they didn't like her giving the other fillies ideas. They did not like that at all. # "Class, I have to step out for a moment," said Cheerilee. "Please continue working quietly, and no talking while I'm gone." "Psst, Quiz," hissed Sweetie Belle, once Cheerilee was out of the room, "Quiz, are you okay?" "Sweetie Belle, you will be punished for speaking during quiet time," Quiz answered. "You will be doubly in trouble for speaking to me." "Forget that, Quiz," stated Apple Bloom. "You're our friend, and they can't make us cut you out." "Please, Quiz," said Dinky, putting a hoof on Quiz's shoulder. Since it was Dinky, Quiz did not flinch. "We haven't spoken since we were caught, and we want to know how you are. How do you feel?" "I will be fine," said Quiz. "That's not an answer," said Sweetie Belle, sharply. Sweetie Belle was certain that she could catch Quiz on the worst day of her life, and Quiz would still just say 'I will be fine.' "Just tell me, Quiz. Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me! How do you really feel?" Quiz sighed. "Your elders have all concluded that I am a bad influence on you, and that it would be best if you did not associate with me. I will admit that this hurts my feelings." This was a startling confession for a pony as closed about her feelings as Quiz. She had to be absolutely heartbroken. "Oh, Quiz, this is so unfair!" cried Sweetie Belle. "How can they blame you, you thought the raid was a bad idea. We had to talk you into it." Scootaloo would no doubt have something to add here, but she had begun snoring softly the moment Cheerilee left the room. Scootaloo still hadn't caught up on her sleep since their all-nighter in Manehattan. "And talk about unfair punishment," said Dinky. "I know you're too smart for the same assignments we get, but did Miss Cheerilee really have to make you tutor Snips and Snails?" Quiz looked over at her two students. Their snores were drowning out Scootaloo's. "They are not apt pupils, that is true. But I am learning to deal with them. Snails will actually remember my lessons, if I work pudding into the examples I give him. I have yet to discover the secret to reaching Snips." "Have you tried kicking him in the head?" suggested Apple Bloom. "I do not believe that would work," said Quiz. "At any rate, I do not find my punishment unfair. And I cannot blame the older ponies. If I were one of them, I do not believe I would trust the welfare of a loved one to me." "I hate it when you say things like that, Quiz," said Sweetie Belle. "We're better for having you around, not worse!" "You're just being silly, Quiz," said Dinky. "There's plenty of blame to go around, you could share some with us. You should stop thinking this is all your fault." "That's true," said the just roused Scootaloo. At least, that's what it sounded like she said, through a huge yawn. "They can't separate us and they can't make us abandon you, Quiz," stated Apple Bloom. "That's not going to happen. You're our friend and we're sticking with you." "That is... quite extraordinary," stammered Quiz, clearly touched. "I must make..." Quiz trailed off, perhaps sensing that this was not the moment for notebooks. "Thank you, all of you." They heard Cheerilee approaching, so Sweetie Belle spoke swiftly, "We'll talk again tonight." # . The only activity the fillies still were allowed was helping Twist prepare for the contest. This seemed fair, as Twist hadn't done anything wrong. The fillies had done everything possible to keep Twist out of trouble. A mock up of the challenger's kitchen from Confectionery Coliseum had been set up in the barn Apple Bloom used as a workshop. Tonight was Twist's first run through. Twilight walked Quiz out to Sweet Apple Acres. They walked in silence; Quiz unwilling to speak, and Twilight unable to think of anything to say. At the barn door their way was blocked by a furious Bon Bon. "I'm not happy with you, Quizzical Greystone!" spat Bon Bon. "All your scary talk about plots and such has Twist terribly upset!" "Bon Bon, please," began Twilight, stepping between the prickly mare and her assistant, "Quiz already feels very badly ..." "Well she should! She's scared Twist half to death with her nonsense. This is the worst of all times for that, now, when Twist needs to concentrate on the contest." Bon Bon looked past Twilight to glare at Quiz. "You shouldn't be here. The only reason I'm allowing you anywhere near Twist is she asked for you specifically. That doesn't mean I like it, and it doesn't mean I won't change my mind and have you banned. So you best behave yourself, Quizzical!" With that, Bon Bon turned and entered the barn. She did not hold the door for Quiz and Twilight. "I'm sorry, Quiz," said Twilight. "You need to think about what you've done, but... you shouldn't have to... no pony needs to... there's no point in... Oh, Quiz, that was just mean! Are you alright?" "I will be fine," said Quiz. They entered the barn, and Twist spotted them immediately. "Quiz!" cried Twist, bounding over to them. She stopped herself just short of giving her shy friend a huge hug. "Quiz, I've mithed you. They're practically keeping you guyths locked up." "Our punishment has been strict, but I cannot call it unfair," said Quiz. "I have missed you as well, Twist. But I know that things I have said have gotten back to you, and I regret this. I wanted very badly not to worry you with my concerns." "Ith it true, Quiz?" asked Twist. "Did you overhear all those things?" "No, Twist, it isn't true," stated Twilight. "Quiz heard something and filled in the details in her own head. She's let her imagination run wild. This whole controversy is just made up. You have nothing to worry about." Quiz and Twist exchanged a look, but they kept quiet. "Anyway, Quiz, come and thee what Apple Bloom haths thet up for me!" They had blown up Dinky's photos of the kitchen to life sized posters and mounted them on apple crates. It was as close to the real thing as technically possible. Bon Bon stood in the middle of the faux kitchen and spun around, her mood improved exponentially. "This is absolutely marvelous! I can't approve of the lengths you girls went to for this, but the result is just amazing. Mind you, none of this would be necessary if those idiots at Food Equestria had just done their jobs and sent Twist her contestant's package." "And the rampths let me get around without a thtep thtool, but you won't trip over them," said Twist. "Yes, that's important, if I'm going to assist you in the kitchen," said Bon Bon. "Yeah, I've been meaning to bring that up," said Twist. "Apple Bloom, I'm allowed two athisthanths in the contest. Bon Bon will be one. Would you pleath be the other?" "What? Me?!" exclaimed Apple Bloom. "Ah can't make candy." "Iths not that different from making zap apple jam, or brewing potions with Zecora," said Twist. "You jutht follow the directionths and stay exthtra picky about it." "Oh, well, ah guess I can do that," said Apple Bloom. "Sure, sign me up." "Hrmmm!" Big Macintosh pointedly cleared his throat. "That is, if I can get permission," said Apple Bloom. "Please, Big Brother." "Might as well," said Apple Jack. "We're lettin' 'em go to the contest anyway." After a moment Big Mac nodded and said, "Eeyup." "Goody!" cried Twist, clapping her hooves. "I'll put you down ath my thecond athisthant. That iths, if I ever get the paperwork..." She trailed off, sadly. "I had hoped I could help with that, Twist," said Quiz. "But I could find none of the forms you need in our library. I have asked the other assistants to look, perhaps they will succeed where I have failed." Twist was not encouraged. If Quiz couldn't find something in a library, it wasn't there. Most of the older ponies left, with Bon Bon and Big Mac remaining to watch over the girls. Twist spent the next 10 minutes running about the mock up; juggling pots and pans over imaginary burners. In the end, she declared. "Well, it ithn't much bigger than our kitchen. There'ths a counter in the middle that I'm going to keep bumping into, and the pantry is to the right not the left, that'ths going to get me all turned around. But I can get uthed to thith." "Good, because you have to practice here," said Bon Bon. "You are not going to remodel our kitchen." Twist began to suggest ways the kitchen could be modified, all of which Bon Bon was against. Sweetie Belle took advantage of this to whisper, "We need to talk. I think we need a distraction." "Okay," said Scootaloo, immediately thinking of the Crusader's standard distraction method, "What would you like to get into a fight over?" "You guys are hopeless," said Dinky. "A fight won't work and it'll get us in more trouble." "Oh, yeah?" hissed Scootaloo. "So what's your clever plan?" Dinky sighed, "I'll do this for you, but remember, I'll only be naughty for a good cause." She had skinned her knee earlier that day, and Dinky carefully peeled the bandage off. Then she 'stumbled' into one of the crates with a great crash. "Owwww!" wailed Dinky, holding her leg. Bon Bon and Big Mac immediately ran to Dinky's side. "Honey, you have to be more careful," said Bon Bon. "It hurts, it really really hurts!" Dinky was actually crying. "Let's get you up to the house," said Big Mac. He gently lifted Dinky onto his back. "Don't cry. We'll have you fixed up in no time." He and Bon Bon left, fussing over Dinky, and suddenly the fillies were alone. "That girl is quickly becoming our secret weapon," said Apple Bloom, quite in awe of Dinky. "Where does she get that, anyway?" "Apparently, a friend of her Mom's is very glib," said Sweetie Belle. "Quickly, everypony," said Quiz. She summoned her magic black board and began writing. "These are the bullet points of our enemies plan. These areas are where we must protect Twist, and where we should fight back." "Then it'ths true, Quiz?" asked Twist. "You didn't jutht make all thith up?" "Sadly, it is true, Twist," said Quiz. "I had hoped to keep this from you. But know this, we will do everything in our power to defend you." Apple Bloom peered at the magic blackboard. "Point one is 'Make Twist Appear Unprepared.' It seems like we've made a good start on that." "What we need is the missing contestant's documents," said Quiz. "I shall continue to work on that." "Point two is 'Make Twist Appear Alone and Friendless.' How are they going to do that?" asked Sweetie Belle. "I wish I knew," said Quiz. "Maybe they are going to derail the train to Manehattan!" gasped Scootaloo. "I believe their methods are not so drastic," said Quiz. "Twist, as you are the only one of us not grounded, this is up to you. You must canvass your friends and get them to promise to attend the contest." "Thsure," said Twist. "I'll do that tomorrow." "Point three is 'Make Twist Look Ridiculous On Camera.'" continued Quiz. " Sweetie Belle, this should be your assignment. I believe you should coach Twist on her stage presence." "Me? Do you really think I can do that?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Sweetie Belle, you have made progress with me," said Quiz. "Twist should be comparatively easy." The adults returned with a smiling Dinky. Her 'owie' was cleaned and freshly bandaged, and she had been given an apple fritter to cheer her up. This ended the fillies' planning session. They continued to run practice drills in the mock up until it was time to go home. Twist thought she could get around the kitchen with her eyes closed. # The next day was gloomy, so the tall mare in the overcoat and the broad brimmed hat did not stand out. Somepony really should have noticed her sunglasses, however. No pony noticed the strange mare following Twist. No pony notice the mare making notes every time Twist stopped to speak to a pony. And no pony noticed the strange mare listening outside the school. The fillies were chatting over lunch. It was the only time Cheerilee would let them speak freely among themselves. "Now, the first part of the contest Twist gets to make what she wants, and for the last part Twist has to build a sugar show piece. What was part two, again?" asked Scootaloo. "Part two is the secret ingredient," answered Sweetie Belle. "That should be no trouble. Flavors do what Twist wants them to do. Twist never met a flavor she couldn't bend to her will." "There was one," Scootaloo pointed out. "Oh, don't worry," said Sweetie Belle. "The secret ingredient is always something weird or exotic. Vanilla is just too ordinary." "I hope you're right. Vanilla is Twist's secret weakness." "Vanilla," muttered the strange mare. And she made a note.
Thweet Geniuth	Disaster!	Thweet Geniuth Chapter 8 Disaster! "Twist, aren't you gonna eat?" asked Scootaloo. The girls had been under punishment for some time now, with no sign of "indefinitely" ever having a definite end. Cheerilee had taken some mercy on them, and allowed them to sit together at lunch and talk. She'd even allowed Twist to bring a bag lunch from home and join them. Twist pushed her sandwich towards Scootaloo. "No, you take it, Scoot. I don't have any appetite." "Hmmm, Bon Bon's special flower petal relish!" cried Scootaloo, leaping on the sandwich. "Your loss, Twist." "You have been a nervous wreck ever since you learned of my suspicions," said Quiz. "More than anything else, I regret that I have upset you so, Twist. Would it help if I pointed out that I never heard the show producers mention you by name?" "Yeah, right," said Scootaloo, wiping her mouth. "They might have been talking about some other filly with a speech impediment who's competing against the Grand Chef." Everypony glared at Scootaloo, who cried "What?" through a mouthful of Twist's lunch. "Everypony who might have conthidered going to Manehattan to thee me cook is now buthy that night," said Twist, sadly. "Pinky Pie has been athked to judge a pathstry contetst. Mith Cheerilee hath an education theminar. The Cake family has a big catering contract. Bon Bon wath invited to a food thshow. Lyra is going to cover that for her, even though it may cotht Bon Bon buthiness to mith it. Doethn't anypony elth think thith ith thuthpithious?" "My mom does," said Dinky, "She delivered all those notices. I think she's starting to feel a little used." "I can't believe Twilight hathn't come around, Quiz," said Twist. "How can thshe think you made it all thith up? That would require you...um..." "'To have an imagination'?" Scootaloo finished for her. "What?" "I have a perfectly good imagination," protested Quiz. "However, it is much like my sense of humor. It is... what is the word I want?" "Different?" suggested Apple Bloom. "Unique?" offered Sweetie Belle. "Imperceptible," said Scootaloo. "What?" "Despite the slight against my imagination, I must say I am pleased to hear you use a word from our vocabulary list correctly, Scootaloo," said Quiz. "What can I say? As a tutor, you're the best, Quiz," said Scootaloo. "Just don't ask me to spell it." "At any rate, I feel you are being unfair to Miss Twilight, her doubts are reasonable," said Quiz. "No pony besides myself, including all of you, has heard anything. Aside from practice, I have only cast the Useful Amplifier spell twice; I can understand why Miss Twilight believes I have misunderstood what I have heard. Also, Miss Twilight is bothered to distraction by our spell experiments. She fears that if she is not firm enough with me then in a moment of poor judgment I will cause Sweetie Belle to disappear in a puff of smoke. Or grow tentacles. Or even..." "Enough, we get it!" cried Sweetie Belle. "Let's just hope Twilight never finds out what we really did out on the barrens. That would lead to a freak out of epic proportions." "I gotta get home," said Twist, leaving her untouched meal on the table. Scootaloo snatched up a banana and began to eat it. "Will I see you tonight?" "Wouldn't miss it, Chef," said Apple Bloom. The other fillies heartily agreed. "Great," said Twist, cheering up slightly. "You guyths are almost all the thuport I have left." # While they weren't allowed to remodel Bon Bon's kitchen, the fillies did make a few modifications. Commonly used supplies were stacked on a shelf in the back right corner, to simulate the location of pantry in the Coliseum's kitchen. A card table stood in for the missing center counter. Bon Bon had objected strongly to this, as the rickety table was dangerous in a busy kitchen. It was so light weight the slightest jar would move it. Twist had insisted; the center counter was where she had to assemble her sugar showpiece. In the end they compromised, the card table was weighted down with two sacks of sugar in the hope that this would keep it still. "Ok, tonight we will be working on my thugar thowpieth," began Twist. "I've practithed on all of the partths, but thith will be the firtht time I'm putting them all together." "What do you need from us, Chef?" asked Apple Bloom. "Chef! I'll never get over hearing that," laughed Twist. "Anyway, Apple Bloom, you and Bon Bon thstart melting thugar. I'm going to need a lot of it! I'll thupervith the temperature, and the coloring." "Right, Chef!" "Quiz, Scootaloo, you are my thstokers. Keep the ovens loaded with wood, and good and hot." "Right, Chef!" said Scootaloo, without hesitation. Quiz was more cautious; first she hefted a stick of fire wood, and when it proved lighter than a miner's pick axe she agreed that she could do the task. Then she opened the oven door, and recoiled. "Quiz, are you okay?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Oh, yes, I was merely startled by the heat," said Quiz. "Yes, I am ready, Chef." "Good, now Thweetie Belle..." "I know, stay out of the kitchen," grumbled Sweetie Belle. "Set fire to one refrigerator and it gets held against you forever," "It wathn't the fridge, it wath the freezer," said Twist. "And we thtill don't know how you got the ice cream to ignite." "Fine," said Sweetie Belle, pouting. "But I also have to keep shouting questions at you from the door way. Try to imagine I'm sticking a microphone in your face." "Ith that really nethethary, Sweetie Belle?" "Mr. Oates is going to do that to you during the contest," said Sweetie Belle. "You have to show poise under pressure." "Oh, alright," said Twist, indignantly. "But it itn't ath if anyone will catch me picking my nose! I don't do that. Not in my kitchen." # Everything went well. Twist even discovered that she enjoyed explaining her work to faux floor reporter Sweetie Belle. In fact the whole exercise was therapeutic for Twist. While worrying about the contest she was a miserable, nervous mess. Once she began cooking all that disappeared. Once in her kitchen, Twist was in the zone. In fact, the only one not having fun was Quiz. "Quiz, you look awful!" cried an alarmed Sweetie Belle. Quiz was drenched in sweat, and even through her grey coat you could see that she was flushed scarlet. "I seem to be feeling the heat to a surprising degree," said Quiz. "But I will be fine." "Girls, get those windows open!" ordered Bon Bon. "We're on it," called Scootaloo. But though they tried with all their might, neither she nor Apple Bloom could get the windows to budge. "Those stupid painters!" grumbled Bon Bon. "I told them not to paint inside the sills! They went and glued the windows shut!" "I'm tho thorry I didn't notice, Quiz," said Twist. "The heat never botherth me, anymore. You go and take a break, Quiz, and cool down." "Yes, Chef," said Quiz, levitating another piece of fire wood. "I will take a break... in a moment." They were interrupted by a delivery of supplies, which led to a confrontation between Bon Bon and the delivery stallion. "You can't just leave this here!" demanded Bon Bon, indicating the overladen pallet. "You're blocking my back door!" "Look, Lady, we just drop the stuff off. Putting it away is your problem." "You Are Blocking My Back Door!" yelled Bon Bon. "This is not a safe situation!" "Boss, we aren't that far behind schedule," said Derpy. "We could take a little time and help them..." "Oh, yeah?" said the delivery stallion. "And who is the crew foreman, whose word goes?" "Um, that would be you, Boss," said Derpy. "And who is the temp worker, who ought to keep the helpful suggestions to herself?" "Um, that would be me, Boss?" "Right! So, Lady, we are runnin' late, so if you'll excuse us..." They were interrupted by a rhythmic clanging. Quiz was trying to load another piece of fire wood, but she kept missing and hitting the side of the stove. "I... seem... to be having... difficulty," gasped Quiz. "The stove... keeps... moving..." "Quizzical Greystone, you are dizzy from the heat! Out of this kitchen this instant! Out! OUT!" Bon Bon shrieked, "Lyra, we have a casualty!" "I hear you, Bon Bon," said Lyra, coming to guide Quiz gently away. She sat Quiz near an open window in the front room, and went to get a damp cloth to put over Quiz's brow. "I do not understand," muttered Quiz. "I was worked as a slave by the diamond dogs, and did not suffer so." "Down, in the warrens, where it's cool," said Lyra. "And you grew up in the mountains above Canterlot, where even the summers are cool. Quiz, you are heat sensitive, you just never knew it." The back door slammed shut. The delivery crew had taken advantage of the distraction to escape Bon Bon's wrath. "Oh, no you don't!" yelled Bon Bon. "You come back here!" "I'll get them," said Scootaloo. Unfortunately, the quickest way was right over the pallet of supplies, which Scootaloo tried the clear in one bound. She failed, and discovered just how poorly balanced the stack was. Fifty pound sacks of sugar, huge cases of chocolate and other supplies tumbled and wedged up hard against the doorway. "I'll help," said Twist. She then promptly turned and slammed hard into the card table, which slid into a wall then collapsed. The heavily laden table caught on a light switch box, and sheared it off, tearing it loose from its wires. There was a spark, then a pop, and the circuit breakers tripped. The whole building was plunged into darkness. "Darn it," said Bon Bon. "We were going to have the electricians in next week." "I got this!" cried Sweetie Belle, who was delighted to be able to contribute. The sweet shop's front room had three small tables with decorative candles. Sweetie Belle went to one of them and sang to the candle. "Ah ah ah ah," An ember formed on the end of the wick, sputtered, and went out. "Dumb candle," said Sweetie Belle. She tried the spell again, this time singing with more volume. A lot more volume. Every candle in the room erupted. This included the spares, stored in a cardboard box on a shelf by a window. The curtains were swiftly blazing. Pools of tallow on the tables caught fire, and soon so did the table cloths. The fire divided the room in half. On one side, Lyra and Sweetie Belle escaped out the front door. Caught on the other side, Quiz retreated back into the kitchen. At the kitchen door Quiz erected a protective barrier. This is perhaps Quiz's best spell, and it was more than a match for any fire. So long as she held it the flames and the heat could not reach the kitchen. That did not mean it wasn't getting hot. Fumbling around in the dark, the ponies could not bank the roaring fires in the ovens. With the power out the exhaust fans were all off. The temperature in the kitchen rose dramatically. "Quiz, are you okay?" called Twist. "I will be fine," said Quiz. Scootaloo and Bon Bon tried to clear a way to the door, but in the cramped space there really wasn't enough room to just shove things to the side, and there wasn't enough time to haul it all further into the kitchen and out of the way. Bon Bon tried anyway, dragging fifty pound sacks with her teeth. Scootaloo began just tossing cartons aside, which didn't really help. The pale light of Quiz's magic cast strange shadows around the room. This added to the confusion more than provided any light. Twist had found an oven mitt, and was moving pans of molten sugar off the burners, but she couldn't find them all in the dark, and the room filled with caramel scented smoke as the sugar burned. Apple Bloom braced herself for a try at bucking out a window. The kitchen windows looked out on an unlit alley and no light came from outside. Apple Bloom could barely make them out in the dark. She made a leap for it anyway. She landed on the shelf, which promptly broke off the wall. There was a pounding at the back door. "Hello? I think the lock's broken," It was Derpy. "The fire brigade is coming; will you be Ok a little longer?" "Mom!" yelled Dinky. "We're alright as long as Quiz holds on! But we gotta get Quiz out of here!" "I will hold on as long as necessary," said Quiz. "I will be fine." The pounding became frantic. Derpy was trying to smash the door at the hinges. The wood wasn't giving. Outside, Sweetie Belle was standing against the side wall of the kitchen, trembling. This was so scary the first time I did it, she thought, I didn't want to ever do this again. Well, here goes. Sweetie Belle began to sing with everything she was worth. "I Want To Walk Through This Wall! I WANT TO WALK THROUGH THIS WALL...!!!" The wall glowed bright blue. "Follow the sound of my voice!" sang Sweetie Belle. "Come with me if you want to escape!" Bon Bon didn't have to be told twice. "Come on, Girls, we are leaving!" She began herding the fillies through the glowing wall. Bon Bon didn't question how it was possible that they were being saved, she just realized that they had a way out and she wasn't going to waste this chance. But once outside Bon Bon realized she had missed one, a filly whose dark coat faded into the shadows cast by her own spell. Bon Bon turned back and screamed, "Quizzical Greystone, you come here right now!" There was a tremendous splash. Twilight Sparkle had arrived with other ponies who were organizing a bucket brigade. Twilight had been levitating two dozen pails of water, and she was so shocked to see the fillies pass through the kitchen wall that she dropped everything. Sweetie Belle couldn't hold the spell any longer and the wall became solid again. Bon Bon leapt aside almost in time. She squealed in pain as she lost the tip of her tail. "Sweetie Belle, how did you... what did you... who taught you...?" stammered Twilight. Then a much more important question occurred to her. "Where's Quiz?!" "Still holding back the fire at the kitchen door," said Sweetie Belle. She was sitting on the ground, trying to catch her breath, but Sweetie Belle stood and declared, "I'll go get her." "No!" ordered Twilight. "You stay here. I'll get Quiz." Twilight disappeared in a flash. # With a pop Twilight reappeared, standing next to her young assistant. "Quiz, we have to go. Now." "I can hold on," said Quiz. "I will hold on as long as necessary." "Quiz, drop your protection spell, it's interfering with my teleport." "I must hold the spell," said Quiz. "I cannot let my friends down." She'd delirious, thought Twilight. "Quiz everypony is safe. Drop you spell so we can go." "I must hold the spell, for my friends," said Quiz. "I will be fine." Twilight thought she was going to have slap sense into Quiz. Then she thought of a better idea. "Quickly, Quiz, I need a copy of volume 6 of the Encyclopedia of Beasts." Quiz reacted reflexively. "Certainly, Miss Twilight," said Quiz, who dropped the protection spell in order to summon the requested book. Twilight grabbed Quiz, and they disappeared. # The cool night air struck Quiz like a blow, and she stood in the street blinking, trying to discern where she was and what had just been happening. Finally, she noticed Twilight standing beside her. "Miss Twilight, you came for me," said Quiz. "Yes, Quiz," said Twilight. "Of course," said Quiz. "I should have expected nothing else." Quiz's legs slowly folded under her, and she slipped quietly to the ground, unconscious.
Thweet Geniuth	The Trial Of Quizzical Greystone	Thweet Geniuth Chapter 9 The Trial Of Quizzical Greystone Quiz was bedridden for 5 days. It went against the bedside manners of the staff of the Ponyville Hospital to discuss just how close a call a patient had experienced. So nopony talked about it. Quiz awoke late on the second day and declared that, while she was very tired, she wanted to go home. To prove that all her faculties were still intact, Quiz summoned three of her magic blackboards and did a different quadratic equation on each of them, simultaneously. When she got one of the three problems incorrect Quiz agreed that perhaps she had better stay and rest a bit longer. She then fell fast asleep for another day. Bon Bon's kitchen was almost undamaged, but the customer service area in the front of the shop was completely destroyed. The Cakes offered her a little counter space at Sugar Cube Corner so Bon Bon was able to stay in business. The repairs would be financed by a modest settlement with the painters and shipping company who had trapped everypony in the kitchen. Also, the painter's and shipper's liability coverage, as well as Bon Bon's insurance, were all held by companies wholly owned by the Greystone family. A quiet word from Quiz to her parents expedited the whole process. While Quiz did not have many friends, she did have many well-wishers. Ponyville was filled with parents of foals who Quiz had tutored to their first straight A report cards. Quiz's hospital room was soon filled with bouquets, all in the muted pastel shades Quiz preferred. In fact, the Ponyville florists were soon cleaned out of such flowers. Roseluck was heard to complain, "I don't have any beige flowers, and I'm going to hurt the next pony who asks for that! I'll eviscerate anypony who asks for gray!" The exception was Snips and Snails, who went in halves for a garish red and purple display (which just happened to be marked down that day). The Ponyville Fire Brigade awarded Quiz a honorary firefighter's badge. After some debate, they gave one to Sweetie Belle as well (even though she'd actually started the fire). Twilight and Rarity made it very, very, very clear that the badges were honorary, and no filly was going to be responding to any fire bells. Unfortunately, at the same time she had inspire many well-wishers, Quiz was also responsible for sending the local rumor mill into overdrive. Everypony had soon heard the "Sweetie Belle walks through walls" story. Twilight had made the mistake of mentioning in public that she worried that this was "just the tip of the iceberg." The fillies were all keeping the rest secret; this freed the rumor mongers to make things up. A spell failure while walking through walls could get a pony cut in half. What could be worse than that? What wouldn't the girls admit? The stories became darker with each retelling. A clever pony, who did not wish Quiz and her friends well, could certainly use this rumor mill to her advantage. # "Excuse me, I couldn't help but notice how smartly dressed you are," said Rarity to the mare browsing in her shop. "Is that the newest thing from Manehattan?" "Why, yes, it is. Thank you for noticing," said the mare. She was unusually tall, and very pretty. "You must be Rarity." "I am." "Is it true you have a little sister who has been influenced by that Quizzical Greystone filly?" asked the mare, gravely. "It must be very distressing for you." "Yes, well, it is troubling," said Rarity. "'Influenced' may be a bit strong a word, mind you. On the other hoof, perhaps it isn't." "It's hard to imagine how a unicorn, supposedly a properly trained and educated unicorn at that, could behave so irresponsibly," said the mare. "To have family involved with her must weigh heavily on your mind." "Oh, you do understand! It is a heavy burden!" cried Rarity, striking a dramatic pose to show how she suffered. "I can hardly think of anything else! So, are you interested in purchasing that jacket?" # "Here you go," said Applejack, handing the pretty stranger the apple she'd just bought. "And here's your change." "Thank you. Say, are you Applejack? Isn't your little sister one of the girls that Quizzical Greystone filly got into trouble?" "Well, that's mostly true," said Applejack. "Though, I can't say as Quiz is all to blame, all by herself..." "Oh, some young unicorns think they know everything," the mare continued. "But you would think a good earth pony would have the sense not to get involved. Do you think your sister really knows how dangerous playing with magic is?" "That is something I have been pondering on," admitted Applejack. # "There, everything's in order," said Derpy, stamping the envelope she had just been handed. "I'll get this straight off to Manehattan." "Thank you so much," said the tall mare. "Say, don't you have a daughter who's been listening to that Quizzical Greystone filly?" # Chisel Greystone VII sat as his daughter's bedside; stroking her mane with one hoof, while in the other hoof he held his latest dispatch from the home office. He read to Quiz about a promising new marble deposit they had discovered, much as the father of another foal would read a bedtime story. Beryl Greystone took this occasion to suggest to Twilight Sparkle the idea of stepping outside for a bit of air. "My little heroine," said Beryl, taking a seat on a bench in the hospital's front lawn. "Of course she doesn't see it that way. 'My actions can hardly be called heroic, as I was delirious.'" Her imitation of Quiz was spot on. "How do you handle her, Mrs. Greystone?" asked Twilight, taking a seat beside her. "First, please do call me Beryl, Twilight. But to answer your question, I suppose I do as little as possible. Quizzical has always wanted very badly to be no trouble at all. This isn't as comforting as it sounds, for it is a symptom of how my daughter is not like other little ponies. But it has meant that I have rarely had to be firm with her." Twilight sighed. "I've been very firm with her lately. Quiz must hate that." "Funny you should say that," said Beryl, smiling gently. "In her last letter Quizzical mentioned how 'Miss Twilight has been very stern, and I know she dislikes this. I hate that I have troubled her so, and I must try harder to behave for her.' I think you and my daughter might need to have a long talk." While Twilight pondered this Beryl continued. "Now, as you have no doubt noticed, my Quizzical has an aptitude for accident. So, those rare times when Quiz was a bother tended to be catastrophic. Tell me, how many near drownings do you think it would take to teach an intelligent filly a healthy respect for water? Four, apparently." "Four!?" gasped Twilight. "And to this day I cannot promise you that Quiz will not spy a rock sample she finds interesting in the bed of a swiftly moving stream and be swept away yet again. Oh, and swimming lessons did not prove to be an answer. Perhaps I should call it five near drownings." Twilight made a mental note to watch Quiz in the Spring when the streams were running fast. "What do you do with her?" "Even in such cases I was not overly firm," confessed Beryl. "I feared to. I know I could keep my daughter safe if I ranted and lectured until I'd drilled the curiosity out of her; but wouldn't that be a terrible thing to do? But these new misadventures are different. For the first time she's involved other fillies. That is not acceptable. I have heard that young Sweetie Belle protests that walking through walls was her idea and not Quizzical's, and that she was just goofing off. Well, if a magic experiment involves one filly who has studied theory at the Academy in Canterlot and another filly who has never cast a spell in her life which girl do you hold most to blame?" "But she's still so young!" protested Twilight. "It isn't fair to hold Quiz responsible." "Again, I quote my daughter, 'Some mares have been holding Miss Twilight responsible for my behavior. This is terribly unfair. If I cannot be held responsible for myself I should not have been allowed to leave Canterlot.' Really, you and Quizzical need to have a long talk, Twilight. At any rate, Quiz's error comes of a fundamental misunderstanding of her fellow fillies. They aren't given to careful experimentation, as she is. A filly exposed to magic for the first time will see it as a toy, and will want to play. Quiz should have predicted Sweetie Belle's 'goofing off.' Quiz must learn - because a filly cannot walk halfway through a wall, such a mistake does not leave you a second chance. And there must be some punishment to drive this lesson home." "What do you want to do?" "Well, I find myself agreeing with my daughter. This is not your responsibility, Twilight. I will be punishing her. Since we only have one thing left to take from her, Quiz will not be allowed to go to Manehattan for the candy making contest. I will explain this to her, I believe Quiz will understand." "Is that really necessary?" asked Twilight; even though this was exactly the action she was planning to take herself. "I think so. You may reverse my ruling if you think it's best, just don't do so lightly," said Beryl. "But I do ask one thing of you, Twilight." "Certainly. Just name it." "We must return to Canterlot soon after Quiz is released this afternoon. Business demands it. I will leave Quiz with you at a time when many of your friends and neighbors are angry with her for influencing their young ones. Will you speak to them on my daughter's behalf?" "Of course, Beryl," said Twilight. "I want to be fair about this. No pony is going to be cruel to Quiz." # No sooner had Quiz been declared fit enough to leave the hospital than Rarity called for a meeting. That evening Twilight found the front room at her library filled with upset mares and embarrassed fillies. "Do we really have to do this?" wailed Twilight. "Quiz has already been disciplined..." "Yes, but perhaps not enough for our satisfaction," said Rarity. "And we have the other fillies' involvement to discuss." "Can't this wait? Quiz still needs to rest..." "Oh, we won't be interfering with her recuperation, I'm quite sure," said Rarity. "And no, this cannot wait. I, for one, will not be able to rest easily until this matter is settled." "We'll try to make this quick, Twi," said Applejack. "But we got some questions need answerin'." "We insist,Twilight, Dear," said Rarity, with a smile that looked like the prelude to somepony getting bitten. Well, at least you left your torches and pitchforks at home, thought Twilight. "You don't actually have a say in Quiz's punishment, Rarity." "I. Do Not. AGREE!" shrieked Rarity. "She took things such as musical magic focusing and using gems as power amplifiers; things you and I do not understand; things the finest minds in Equestria do not fully understand; and she played with them in my parlor as if they were just a board game! With. My. SISTER!" "Now, calm down, Dearie," said Applejack. "Twi, what's got us most riled up is what came after the walkin' through walls. That's a big mystery, and none of us like that. We'd feel a whole passel better if we had a little truth about that." "I strongly doubt that," muttered Rarity. "And just how are we going to get at the truth?" exclaimed Twilight. "That secret is protected by a Pinkie Promise." As upset as they were, the adults would never force the fillies to break their word. Twilight continued to be amazed by how seriously Ponyvillians took a Pinkie Promise. "That's why I'm here," said Pinkie Pie. "You can't break a Promise, but you can tweak it a bit. I'm going to adjudicate just how much the girls can say." "Tweak the Promise?" asked Twilight, sensing a headache coming on. "Oh, yeah," said Pinkie, nodding enthusiastically. "For instance, the girls can't admit if there was an experiment out on the barrens, but they can mention an 'alleged' experiment and maybe something that 'hypothetically' could have happened. But not too many details." Pinkie waved a warning hoof in the air. "We take a Pinkie Promise seriously here in Ponyville." "I've noticed," grumbled Twilight, holding her head in her hooves. "Celestia help me, please let this be the craziest thing I hear tonight." "We should start with you, Twi," said Applejack. "We know you've been studyin' on this." "I've investigated a bit, yes," said Twilight. In fact she had been obsessively looking into the 'alleged experiment' but she'd made no real headway. "I don't have enough findings to present my research..." "Nonsense, Darling," said Rarity. "Please, do share." "Fine," said Twilight. She didn't have any results, but she'd gathered a lot of data. Maybe, if I throw enough numbers at them they'll get bored and leave. Twilight summoned a magic blackboard. She wasn't as good with the spell as Quiz yet, but she achieved the effect she was looking for - a bewildering mass of equations. "As you can all obviously see, there are still too many unknowns to draw any conclusions." This was actually obvious to nopony, save one. "Oh, my," gasped Quiz, "I do wish you had shared this with me before, Miss Twilight. This is truly fascinating." Twilight had been admiring her young assistant's restraint; Quiz had stood her ground when her every instinct must have been to slip away and hide. Unfortunately, now that she was given mathematics to distract her, Quiz completely forgot her predicament. "I can help with the unknowns in this thrust equation. Let the 'hypothetical projectile' be 28 pounds... distance is less certain... between 50 and 75 pony-lengths I would guess..." "Quiz you are not helping..." Twilight stopped dead. "Fifty to 75 pony-lengths?!!" "I can only estimate," said Quiz, sheepishly. "Assume the hypothetical projectile's flight was interrupted by a bush." "That's too much information, Quizzical," said Pinkie. On several levels, thought Twilight. "So, Quiz, how much do you weigh?" asked Applejack. "Um... well... 28 pounds, actually..." "Hypothetical projectile, huh?" said Applejack. "Ah think I've heard enough." "Wait, wait, there's more," said Twilight, hoping to change the subject. The display shifted, and became a map. "I paced the area with a thaumometer. This shows that even a month later there was still residual arcane radiation..." Oh, darn! That was definitely not the best thing to show them. "Is that a lot?" asked Derpy. "Yes, it is." "No, that is actually surprisingly low." Twilight and Quiz answered simultaneously. "Quizzical, you aren't very good at this," said Pinkie. "I don't often say this to ponies, but I have to tell you - you should stop talking." Yes, please! thought Twilight. How can I defend you if you get me as upset as everponey else? "Now see, this proves what I was trying to tell you all the way over here, Big Sis," said Apple Bloom, stepping up to the map. "All this stuff about how Quiz is reckless and irresponsible is just silly! Quiz is the carefullest, most fussiest pony in the whole world; she thinks about the little details that the little details have! And there's the proof." "What are you talkin' about, Girl?" demanded Applejack. "Right there!" cried Apple Bloom, stabbing at the map with a hoof. "Where Twilight's drawn all those zeros. She didn't find anything there with her thawmy-thingy. There's just tons and tons of rock between that spot and... any alleged bad stuff. That's where Quiz would have put us... if we actually ever did anything." "And where was Quiz?" asked Applejack. "Pardon?" "While y'all were down in your safe place, where was Quiz?" Applejack asked again. The fillies fell silent. Applejack noticed that the question made one of the girls much more uncomfortable than the others. "Sweetie Belle, where was Quiz?" "Too close," whispered Sweetie Belle. She began to tear up. "Way too close." "We should stop now," said Derpy. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. We all know what we want to do, don't we?" "Yeah, there's no call to be makin' anymore fillies cry," said Applejack. "Ah think this is settled." "Just one moment," said Bon Bon. She had been standing off to the side, fuming, through the entire proceeding. Her bandaged tail no doubt did nothing to improve her mood. "Before we pass judgment there is still one thing that's been left unsaid, and I think it's important that I say it now." She then went to Quiz, and enveloped the little filly in a huge hug. "Thank you, Quiz. Thank you so much for everything you've done for us." Quiz went stiff as a board. "Well... um... oh, dear me... you are... welcome... Miss Bon Bon." "Yes, I know, you hate to be touched. I'll let you go, now," said Bon Bon. She turned and gave Sweetie Belle a big hug as well. When she was finished Bon Bon addressed the room. "There. Now go on and punish them, since I can't say anything to stop you." "Alright," said Applejack. "You girls know this ain't a court of law. We don't need a confession, we don't actually need any evidence. And sometimes, in foal rearing, it's more important to keep you safe than to be fair. You girls are separated from Quiz for the time being. You are not to speak to her. We are also extending your grounding to include Twist's contest. None of you are takin' that trip to Manehattan." "I do not feel this is sufficient," snapped Rarity. "Well, it isn't as if you can do any more," Bon Bon snapped back. "We can't, but Princess Luna could." "What?!" Twilight stamped her hooves. "I will protest that as strongly as I am able." "I didn't agree to that," said Derpy. "That's just mean." "Ah, won't sign off on that either," said Applejack. "She did just about the most dangerous thing I have ever heard of any pony doing!" screamed Rarity. "For fun! How can you all tolerate that?" "Maybe it's because we look Quiz in the eyes when we talk about her, Rarity," said Derpy. "Quiz isn't evil. She isn't even bad." "Well, yes," muttered Rarity. Then she rallied, and was off again. "I can't have it. I just. Can't. Have it!" "What are they talking about, Quiz?" whispered Sweetie Belle. "Rarity must be planning to contact Princess Luna, objecting to my behavior. This would likely get me recalled to Canterlot." Quiz couldn't stand it any longer. As the mares continued to argue, Quiz quietly slipped away and snuck back to her bedroom. There she did something she could never do in front of witnesses. Quiz had a good cry.
Thweet Geniuth	Take The Last Train To Manehattan	Thweet Geniuth Chapter 10 Take The Last Train To Manehattan "Now, Quiz, I don't want you to stay up in your room moping all the time I'm gone." "Yes, Miss Twilight." "I've ordered Spike to not take you any meals in your room, so you'll have to come out and be sociable. I think Spike and Owloicious would appreciate the company, really." "Yes, Miss Twilight." "The larder is fully stocked, I've even gotten some of those cookies you like, you know, the really dry ones. And if I've forgotten anything I've left Spike several bits in petty cash." "Thank you, Miss Twilight." Twilight reached out and straightened Quiz's hair bow, which wasn't crooked. "I wish I could think of a way to cheer you up, Quiz..." "Please, do stop fussing over me, Miss Twilight," said Quiz. "This is your moment, and you should be enjoying every second of anticipation. Would you like to rehearse your speech once more, until your carriage comes? I have enjoyed hearing it each of the eight times you have read it thus far..." "No, Quiz, I am as ready for my trip, and my presentation, as I am going to get with no time left. I don't have the extra week or two I'd like to work on it, I just have the five minutes it will take for the taxi to get here. So I'd like to concentrate on one last item... well... look." Twilight turned her clipboard so Quiz could read her check list. Almost all the items, from "Remember your keys" to "Check the weather reports for Ponyville and Canterlot" had at least three checks next to them. Quiz could no longer count the checks next to "Edit your speech" and "Re-edit your speech." Only one item was left undone. Item number one - "Make sure Quiz will be okay." Quiz sighed. "I take it you will not simply take my word for it, if I say that I will be fine?" "No, Quiz," said Twilight. "You have been so depressed lately, I couldn't just leave you." "It is true, I have been quite sad," admitted Quiz. "I would say that, given my current circumstances, sadness is the only sane reaction." "I'm so sorry, Quiz..." "I have found that this has been a tremendous advantage to my research," noted Quiz. "In terms of friendship, having your friends denied to you provides a perspective that is just extraordinary. I believe I shall be sending the Princess some of my most important dispatches soon." "Well, I'm pleased you found a silver lining, I guess..." "Given what it took to achieve my results, I hope that neither you nor any other future researcher ever has to replicate my findings." "Oh, Quiz," Twilight put a leg over Quiz's shoulders and drew her in for a hug. Quiz did nothing to fight this. "This won't last forever, Quiz," said Twilight. "You are already allowed to see Twist, and Derpy and Applejack should let you see Dinky and Apple Bloom soon. And you'll get to go to Twist's welcome home party tomorrow night. Not even Rarity would dare tell Bon Bon that you shouldn't be there." "Do you think Miss Rarity sent the Princess the letter of protest against me?" "No, I think she gave up on that when nopony would sign it with her," said Twilight. "And even if she did send it, they are not taking you from Ponyville until they pry you from my grasp." "Thank you, Miss Twilight," said Quiz. She leaned on Twilight, letting the older pony comfort her a bit. "But, Miss Twilight, you were so happy and excited when you received your letter. And I was happy and excited for you - to speak before your peers is a well-deserved and long overdue honor for you. I should not intrude on your thoughts now. You should enjoy every moment of this." Twilight thought she detected something in Quiz's tone, which was amazing since this was Quiz. "What aren't you telling me?" "It will not make you happy if I say, Miss Twilight." "Tell me anyway, Quiz." The filly sighed. "It is just that this conference seems so hastily put together. And they have answered none of your personal inquiries, they have only sent you form letters. They have not even sent you a conference schedule." "Yes, and I really wanted to pick out the presentations I wanted to hear," said Twilight. "Oh, well, all the speakers I'm interested in will be scheduled opposite each other, they always are... Oh. You think this is a hoax, don't you?" "Yes, Miss Twilight," said Quiz, sadly. "It is all very suspicious. I do not wish you to be disappointed." "I have already said everything I can possibly say about your conspiracy theory, Quiz," said Twilight. "Tomorrow, when the candy contest is over and nothing nefarious happened you are going to feel very silly. This is not a plot to keep me from going to Manehattan; I really am going to make a presentation at the Magic Academy, and I am going to have a wonderful time. So, stop worrying about me!" There was a pounding at the front door, and Spike called, "Twilight, your ride is here." "I have to go now, Quiz. Is there anything I can say that will make you feel better?" "If you could, I would appreciate one favor, Miss Twilight," answered Quiz. "Promise me you will not use the magic blackboard spell during your presentation." "But, Quiz, I want to show off your spell...!" "Your bright purple lettering is difficult to read, and you always set the brightness much too high," said Quiz. "Please, do not use the spell, Miss Twilight." # "Oh... deeeeeeeeeear!" Crash! Quiz had climbed halfway down from her bedroom window when she lost her grip on the knotted bed sheet rope she had made. Now she was stuck in a shrubbery. "Bother!" grumbled Quiz, as she struggled to free herself. "Here, let me help you," a pair of scaly purple hands reached in and gave Quiz a good tug. She was soon able to tumble out onto the lawn. "Thank you, Spike. I was quite trapped without you," "Who?" "It's just Quiz, Owly," said Spike. "Who?" "Right, who else would be falling into our bushes? She's lucky she landed in the privet. She almost hit the holly; now that would have hurt," said Spike. "You know, Quiz, the front door's unlocked, and we weren't actually watching it very carefully." "I thought you would appreciate it if I took great effort to escape from you, Spike," said Quiz. "Yeah, that was kinda thoughtful of you, Quiz. Thanks," said Spike. "But we caught you fair and square, so back inside now." "Who?" "Quiz. We caught her... oh, I get it. We didn't catch her, the privet did. Good one, Owly." "Yes, well," began Quiz. "Which would you prefer, Spike. Do you want to report me to Miss Twilight, or should I confess to her myself?" "I would prefer to forget the whole thing and just go back inside," said Spike. "I am afraid I cannot do that, Spike," said Quiz. "Though I do wish to minimize my disobedience. When I defy her orders I fear Miss Twilight will think I do not respect her authority, and her feelings will be hurt. I would hate to do that the her." "Who?" "Twilight," answered Spike, "Yeah, she's talking about Twilight, Owly. It doesn't sound like her to me, either." "I do not understand." "The other night, Twilight was marveling about how you still respect her, Quiz," said Spike. "What with how she let you down when the other ponies wanted to lynch you." "What?" said Quiz. "That is ridiculous. Miss Twilight defended me despite the ire I had drawn from her friends. Her conduct towards me is beyond reproach." "Who?" "She's still talking about Twilight, Owly," said Spike. "He's confused, because he slept through that meeting, and he's only heard Twilight's story. The way Twi tells it, she threw you to the wolves, then stood back and watched them tear into you." "That is not what happened," whispered Quiz, sounding very sad. "Yeah, well, maybe you and Twilight should have a long talk, Kiddo," said Spike. "So, you ready to go inside?" "I have a promise to keep," said Quiz, shaking her head. "When I have done my duty I shall return. You may then lock me in my room if you wish." Quiz turned to leave. "I can't just let you go," said Spike. "What would I say to Twilight?" "You may tell Miss Twilight that you were trapped in a shrubbery." "What? Hey... stop... come on... that tickles!" Spike was at the upper limit of Quiz's levitation spell, but with effort she managed to stuff him through the hole she had made in the privet bush. It helped that Spike did not struggle very much. After Quiz had left, Spike crawled out of the shrub, and said, "Good luck, Quiz." "Who?" "Quiz! Seriously, Owly, sometimes I think you just keep saying that to irritate me." "Who?" "Yeah, like that!" # All the way to Sweet Apple Acres Quiz tried to work out exactly what she was going to say to Applejack. She knew she had to come quickly to the point, and her argument had better be immediately compelling. Applejack was not the sort of pony who would listen to her rhetoric for long. Unfortunately, Quiz arrived at the farm with still no idea of what to say. She found the Apple family working in the orchard nearest to town. Applejack looked up as Quiz approached. "Well, looky here," called Applejack. "If it isn't Miss Hypothetical Projectile herself. Quiz, Darlin', you ain't allowed to be here." "I shall trespass as briefly as possible," said Quiz. "But I must make one last appeal for Apple Bloom. Will you please reconsider allowing her to go to the candy making contest?" "Nope," said Big Macintosh, just joining them. "This is doubly unfair to Twist," Quiz pointed out. "Not only does she have no pony to root for her, but she will also be short one assistant." "Twist was part of your little gang out on the barrens," countered Applejack. "She had to know that was gonna lead to trouble." "Perhaps, but Twist is the only pony being punished on the most important night of her life. That is not fair." "There's a lot that ain't fair about this whole mess," said Applejack. "Fer instance, it probably ain't fair to punish your friends to get your attention, Quiz. But you have a whole lot of concern for them, and not a whole lot of concern for yourself. If it's the only way to teach you a lesson then, fair or not, I may be doing you a favor by saying no to Apple Bloom." "Fiddlesticks!" cried Granny Smith, trundling up to them, showing a surprisingly good turn of speed. She began to shake her walker at her grandchildren. "You youngins haven't thought this through, and you haven't applied any of the good horse sense I thought you got from me!" "Now, Granny..." began Applejack. She didn't expect to get to finish the sentence, and she was right. "First off, you all done flown off the handle, treatin' this like it was almost the end of the world," Granny was off and ranting now. "I'd have said as much if I'd been invited to that little 'inquest' y'all held at poor Quiz's expense. And don't you think I believe it was an accident that nopony told me about that..." "Um... Granny?" prompted Big Mac. "What? Oh, right, Quiz. Like I said, what she got into wasn't the end of the world. This was just fillies getting into trouble. All fillies get into trouble, it's what they do. I could tell you stories about the nonsense you two got up to..." "Granny!" said Big Mac. If he thought his warning tone was going to get him anywhere he was sadly mistaken. "Do you remember that hot summer, when you thought you'd make a swimming hole closer to the house?" mused Granny. "That creek you dammed up flooded our root cellar!" "Granny!" This time Applejack and Big Mac spoke in unison. Again, it did no good. "Good thing, too," Granny continued. "If you had succeeded in making a pond you two would have been diving off the roof into shallow water..." "Granny, you have strayed a might off topic, don't you think?!" cried Applejack. "Topic?" asked Granny, startled out of her reverie. "Oh, right, fillies getting into trouble... see, this is just the same thing. You all should just calm down about it." "I don't know, Granny," said Applejack. "If you ask Twilight what the worst thing that could have happened was, she just shudders and changes the subject." "I think I heard her whisper something about 'rending the fabric of reality,'" said Big Mac. "And I reiterate, fiddlesticks!" stated Granny. "Twilight's a tad skittish; and you'd think that mare would know what the end of the world looks like, what with her helping to save it twice and all. No, this was just typical fillies being naughty. Little Quiz there just thought up a brainier way to go about it." "Don't you worry that Quiz's big brain might make things a little more dangerous than usual?" asked Applejack. "See, now there's another thing that's got me all cross!" Granny went back to waving her walker with added vehemence. "I don't hold with all this 'Quiz is the root of all evil' talk! I got a whole different view of that!" "What do you mean, Granny?" asked Big Mac. "Apple Bloom, you and your friends heard about Sweetie Belle doin' magic, and you got jealous, right?" asked Granny. "And y'all wanted in on the fun?" Apple Bloom had been standing off to the side, maintaining a respectful silence and hoping the adults would sort things out without her. She wasn't at all surprised to be drawn into this. "That's about right, Granny." "So you asked Quiz if you could do something, too? Something 'cool?'" "Yes, Granny," said Apple Bloom, warily. She didn't know where this was going. You rarely did with Granny Smith. "While 'cool' was used, I believe 'awesome' was my friends' descriptive word of choice," said Quiz. "Cool, Awesome, you girls and your words of the day! Anyhow, Quiz, had anypony ever asked you to do something 'awesome' for them?" "What? Oh, dear, me, no. Not at all," answered Quiz. "My classmates back in Canterlot would have laughed at the very idea." "So, Quiz's friends found out she could make fireworks, and they turned her head with praise and pretty words and talked her into giving them fireworks, too. And Quiz got into a whole passel of trouble for those fireworks," said Granny Smith. "That sounds to me like a pretty mean trick to play on a poor little pony who no pony ever called awesome before." "What?!" cried Apple Bloom. "We never did that! At least... we didn't mean to. Oh, Quiz, it wasn't like that, was it?" "No, Apple Bloom, it was not like that," said Quiz, firmly. "I mean no disrespect, Mrs. Smith, but I must correct you. I am an unusual pony, that is true, but that is not how my friends see me. When I behave oddly my friends merely accept it, and say 'Quiz is just being Quiz.' It is an extraordinary thing, but that is my friends' view of me. They could not manipulate me in the way you describe. It would simply not occur to them." "I had a feeling you would say that," said Granny, grinning. "Actually, this brings to mind a compelling argument in favor of reducing Apple Bloom's punishment," said Quiz. "As you suggest, Mrs. Smith, I allowed excitement, and perhaps pride, to cloud my judgement. But this was my own mistake. Neither Apple Bloom, nor any of my friends, can be held responsible..." "You just stop right there, Quiz," demanded Apple Bloom. She turned to her family. "She's going to try and say it's all her fault. That ain't true, so don't you listen to her!" "Apple Bloom, this is not helpful..." began Quiz. "We talked about this, Quiz," said Apple Bloom. "No more takin' all the blame yourself. You don't have to stand alone anymore, and we won't let you if we can help it." "I understand you insisted on this, but surely an exception could be made in this case..." "No exceptions!" "But this completely eliminates the last argument I can make on your behalf, Apple Bloom..." "Don't care," said Apple Bloom, forcefully shaking her head. "If throwing you under a cart is the only answer then we don't have an answer." "I only wish to help my friend," said Quiz, sadly. "Twist is your friend, too, Quiz. She'll understand." "Would you listen to these fillies, defendin' each other," said Granny Smith. "Special relationship y'all got there. Does anypony else get the idea that we may be making a mistake separating these girls?" "Eeyup," said Big Mac. "We've kept them apart long enough." Applejack was thoughtful for a long time. Finally, she said, "Little Sis, you had better get a move on, if you're going to catch that train to Manehattan." "Thank you, Applejack, thank you, thankyouthankyouthankyou..." Apple Bloom hit her sister with a full on flying hug that sent Applejack's hat spinning into the air. "Just don't let me find out you haven't learned your lesson after all," said Applejack. "No launching Quiz into any bushes without adult supervision." # "Well, that was quite extraordinary," said Quiz, as she and Apple Bloom walked back to town. "Yes, it was," said Apple Bloom. "Quiz, if you want to make a note or two it's okay, I don't mind." "Thank you so much, Apple Bloom," said Quiz. She immediately summoned her notebook and quill and began scribbling madly. As they walked Scootaloo fell in alongside them. "Hi, guys," she said. "Scoot, aren't you grounded, too?" asked Apple Bloom. "Yeah, but I'm not very well supervised," said Scootaloo. This was true, and, as usual, the girls decided just not to talk about it. On the edge of town they found Derpy and Dinky waiting for them by the roadside. "Hi, girls," said Derpy. "I have to get to work, so I was hoping I could trust you to see Dinky safely to the train, and to Manehattan and back." "Certainly, Miss Derpy," said Quiz, and there was a chorus of assent from the other two. "But, I must ask, why have you changed your mind?" "Well, funny things have been happening," said Derpy. "If even a little of what you have been saying, Quiz, is true, then it's really important to get Dinky and you girls to that candy making contest. Cheer real loud for Twist, for me, will you please?" "Of course, Miss Derpy." "But, one more thing, Quiz," said Derpy. " A lot of things have been said to you, and a lot of them were hurtful and unfair, but some of them weren't. Dinky is a unicorn, too, and soon, when she gets older and grows into her horn, she's going to be all magical like you. I need you to promise me that you will never teach her to walk through walls or break the rules of causality or any stuff like that, 'kay?" "I promise, Miss Derpy," said Quiz, solemnly. "Dinky will grow to be an extraordinary unicorn without any interference from me." "I think I trust you, Quiz," said Derpy. "Okay, Muffin you have fun, but you be good." "I will, Mom," said Dinky. Then she turned to the others. "Isn't this just soooo cool! We're going to Manehattan!" "Yes," said Quiz. "And thus far it has all gone much more easily than I had expected. But I have reached the hard part." "What's the hard part?" asked Scootaloo. "I must now have a word with Miss Rarity," said Quiz.
Thweet Geniuth	The Hard Part	Thweet Geniuth Chapter 11 The Hard Part "Quiz, are you going to knock on the door?" asked Apple Bloom. "That is my plan, yes," said Quiz. "In time." Quiz did not move. "It's just that you can't talk to Rarity until you knock on the door." "Yes," agreed Quiz. "And knowledge of this is precisely what is preventing me from knocking on the door." Quiz did not move. "Come on, Quiz, it's just Rarity," said Dinky. "There's no reason to be so scared." "I agree, it is unreasonable," said Quiz. "I am willing to accept that I am unreasonable, as I continue to be terrified." Quiz still didn't move. "Forget this," grumbled Scootaloo. "We're going to miss the train!" She darted forward and pounded furiously on the door. "Scootaloo, she wasn't ready!" cried Dinky. Scootaloo pounded again. Then, at the sound of approaching hoof steps she ran and hid behind Quiz. "Don't worry, Quiz, we'll be right here." "Oh, good, I may need you back there," said Quiz. "Though I do not believe you will need to prevent me from fleeing. I seem to be unable to move." "Really, the door is open, there is no call to... oh," Rarity had stuck her head out the door. She continued, the sharp tone gone from her voice. "Girls, Quizzical, you may not see Sweetie Belle." "Y-y-yes, Miss Rarity," stammered Quiz. "It is actually y-y-you we wish to speak to." It had been a trying week for Rarity. She was taking care of Sweetie Belle as their parents were once again on vacation, and Sweetie Belle had been miserable the entire time. Seeing her little sister so very sad had dampened Rarity's righteous indignation. She had very little anger left to summon upon seeing Quiz. "What is it you wish to say, Quizzical?" "I... had hoped... perhaps... you might... r-r-reconsider allowing Sweetie Belle to go to Manehattan." "And just why would I want to do that?" "I... I... I..." Quiz gave up and hung her head. "I have no idea, Miss Rarity." It was easy to demonize Quiz when she wasn't there, much harder when Quiz was standing right in front of you, trembling. Derpy had told Rarity to look Quiz in the eyes. Rarity tried it, and when she looked at Quiz she just could not see a demon. All she could see was Quiz. The poor dear's absolutely petrified! thought Rarity, Have I really been that beastly to her? Yet here she stands, despite how very frightened she is, trying to help a friend. Rarity looked at Quiz and couldn't even remember how angry she had been. Rarity remembered something else, instead. Rarity remembered that she had actually quite liked Quiz. Quizzical really is a good girl, Rarity thought, and she has been a good friend to Sweetie Bell, at least when she wasn't tempting the elemental forces of the universe... still, that would have to be addressed. "I am sorry, Girls," said Rarity, "But I fear you won't have learned your lesson if I simply change my mind." Quiz needs back up, thought Dinky, time to bring the cute! Dinky stepped forward, cocked her head and fluttered her eye lashes. "Please, Rarity!" Applebloom and Scootaloo knew this trick, and they were quite good at it. They fell in line next to Dinky and repeated her performance. "Please, Rarity!" Then Quiz glimpsed out of the corner of her eye what the other fillies were doing. She decided to give it a try herself. "Yes... well... um... please, Miss Rarity." What happened next might partially be explained by the sudden release of the tremendous tension of the moment. But really, it was because of Quiz's attempt at an eyelash flutter. Rarity fought bravely. But eventually a little snort of laughter escaped, and once that was out she was lost. Soon Rarity was on the ground at her door step, laughing uncontrollably. It was some time before Rarity could gasp enough air between guffaws to speak. "Sweetie Belle... hee, hee, hee, hee... your friends are here... hee, hee, hee, hee... do hurry... hee, hee, hee... or you will miss your train... hee, hee, hee, hee, hee... oh, and Quizzical? Hee, hee, hee... please... hee, hee... never... hee, hee, hee... ever... hee, hee, hee... do that again... hee, Hee, Hee, HEE!!!" # All the girls might have soon been lost to the infectious laughter (except Quiz, who was just puzzled) had not Sweetie Belle come galloping up to them. She stopped, and regarded Quiz gravely. "Quiz, you do know that you are about to get glomped but good, right?" Quiz nodded. "I accept that you cannot resist, Sweetie Belle. Thank you for allowing me a moment to brace myself." The others had been waiting until Sweetie Belle joined them for this. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Group Hug!!!" Under the fillies delighted squeals you could just hear Quiz's muted muttering, "Oh, dear... oh, dear me...." # "...dear, oh, dear, me," muttered Quiz. "Everything had gone so very well. It never occurred to me that the hard part of getting you all to your train would be the actual getting to the train." "The train left early! The trains never leave early!" This was the tenth time in the last hour that Dinky had made this observation. "Apparently, someone in a big hurry to get back to Manehattan gave the conductor a bunch of bits to jump ahead of schedule," said Scootaloo. "But look on the bright side. We only missed it by fifteen minutes." "How is that a bright side?" demanded Apple Bloom. "I don't know," cried Scootaloo. "I can't do all the thinking!" "You could do some!" "Stop it, you two! We've been apart forever, and you are already bickering again." Sweetie Belle turned to Quiz. "You tried, Quiz, you really, really tried." "But I have failed," said Quiz, miserably. The fillies sat in silence, staring at the empty train platform. "I still can't believe the train left early," whined Dinky. "Wait a minute!" cried Scootaloo, suddenly. "One of us knows somepony who could get us to Manehattan in time." The others were all looking at her before Quiz understood. "Oh, I do not think that would be appropriate." "She owes you a favor, Quiz," Scootaloo pointed out. "She thinks she owes me a favor," corrected Quiz. "She does not. She feels guilty that it took three days to free me from the diamond dogs. She can hardly be blamed for that, and I will not take advantage of her feelings." "But it wouldn't hurt to ask her nicely," said Sweetie Belle. Quiz considered this. "We shall need Spike to take a letter." # "Spike, you have to send a letter to Princess Luna for us!" cried Dinky. Spike shrieked, and ducked low in the tub, trying to hide under a layer of bath bubbles. "Come on, Girls, give a guy some privacy!" "You have to help us, Spike!" demanded Scootaloo, handing him a towel. "It's an emergency!" "Fine!" grumbled Spike. He hopped out of the tub and went to fetch a quill and parchment. He began to write, "Dear Princess Luna, It's an emergency..." "Please, do not tell the Princess that it is an emergency," said Quiz. "But it is an emergency," said Scootaloo. "Yes, but we cannot tell the Princess that," said Quiz. "If it's an emergency we can say it's an emergency," insisted Apple Bloom. "Will one of you please tell me what to write?" yelled Spike. "So I can get back to my bath." "We need a ride to Manehattan, because we missed our train," said Sweetie Belle. "The train left early, even though they never leave early," said Dinky. "And it's an emergency," said Scootaloo. "We must not tell the Princess it is an emergency." "But you just agreed that it's an emergency, Quiz," said Apple Bloom "Yes, and it is," said Quiz, "But it is not the sort of emergency that you bring to the Princesses' attention..." "Quiz, is this, or is this not, an emergency?" demanded Spike. "Well, it is... though really, it is not... but in a way it is..." "Just send the letter, Spike," said Scootaloo. "Arrgh!" cried Spike. The parchment disappeared in a gout of green flame. "Do you think it will take her long to get back to us?" asked Sweetie Belle. She was answered almost immediately by a tremendous 'BOOM' from the airspace just outside the library. "Spike?" asked Quiz. "Did you tell the Princess we had an emergency?" "Maybe, I don't know," said Spike, his head in his hands. "You had me so confused!"
Thweet Geniuth	Emergency?	Thweet Geniuth Chapter 12 Emergency? "Do your parents and guardians know how you behave?!" shouted Princess Luna. "Because We shall be telling on you! We are telling!" "Yes, Princess Luna. We're very sorry, Princess Luna." The girls were lined up, heads low, with the Princess pacing in front of them. "We mean to have a word with your teacher!" The fillies all cringed. Even when she was using her normal 'trying not to deafen the citizenry' voice, when she was angry Princess Luna was loud. "We will suggest to Miss Cheerilee that you all be assigned a composition on the proper use of the word 'emergency'! You seem to suffer from some confusion in this!" "Yes, Princess Luna. We're very sorry, Princess Luna." "It is lucky the moon had already set when We received your notice! Had We been interrupted while We were still working We would be very cross!" "She's not very cross?" whispered Scootaloo. "What's she like when she's very cross?" "We heard that, Scootaloo!" shouted the Princess. "Hope that you never learn the answer!" "Yes, Princess. I'm sorry, Princess." Off to the side, the royal guards who towed the Princess' chariot remained stoic and grim faced. It was only years of training that kept them from laughing. "Um... Princess Luna?" began Dinky, her lower lip quivering. "Does this mean you won't give us a ride to the candy challenge?" Luna stopped her pacing and turned to stare at Dinky. "Ah, yes, the ride you desire. The 'emergency' you spoke of. Do you feel you deserve a ride in the royal chariot?" "Er... maybe?" # Merry Fairweather sat in in her train car, trying to concentrate on tonight's show notes. Her time in Ponyville had been successful beyond her wildest dreams; what she had managed to achieve was truly amazing. Merry was completely miserable. She could now add "character assassin" to her resume. She couldn't remember when that had happened. Merry had set out to limit the size of the fans in Twist's gallery at the Grand Chef's Candy Challenge. She had cut it all the way to zero. Not a single pony would be there to cheer young Twist on. It was a job well done. Mission accomplished. "Twist is just a kid, and kids are resilient," Merry muttered aloud. "She'll get over it." Merry hoped so. Otherwise, she had just destroyed a promising career before it had really begun. She'd found herself in the station, waiting for the same train as Bon Bon and Twist, and it had been unbearable. They didn't know who Merry was or what she had done. But Merry knew. Nopony had come to see them off, because of Merry. Twist looked so sad. Merry couldn't stand it, and had to bribe the conductor 100 bits to leave the station early. Getting underway, and putting several train cars between herself and poor little Twist, had helped. Merry was still grateful that they were almost to Manehattan. Not everything Merry had done would hurt anypony. The Cakes really did have a big contract, arranged by Food Equestria. And Pinkie Pie was really judging a Food Equestria event. In fact, Merry made a note to try and get Pinkie under contract - she was entertaining and would be good for ratings. Other ponies Merry had to 'inconvenience." She hoped Cheerilee enjoyed her day in Baltimare. The education conference the teacher was expecting was just vapor and lies on a forged letterhead. The magic conference in Canterlot was a similar fabrication. Merry told herself that she was probably doing Twilight Sparkle a favor. When the unicorn got to the magic academy and began asking about speaking at a conference somepony was bound to wonder why they hadn't thought of that. Twilight would get invited to the next real conference. Probably. One thing Merry couldn't rationalize away was the whispering campaign she'd launched to ruin Twist's friend Quiz. That was just ugly, and Merry couldn't spin it any way that made it pretty. But it had to be done. From eavesdropping Merry found that Quiz was on to her; she had no idea how Quiz had done it, but the kid had figured it out. Quiz was clearly too smart for her own good; or, at least too smart for Merry's good. She had to be neutralized. "She's a kid, and kids are resilient," Merry said aloud, again. "She'll get over it." Merry admitted, she might have gone a little overboard when she called Bon Bon's venders and increased the Sweet Shop's order fivefold. The sudden arrival of an oversized pallet of supplies was meant to be just a hassle. It was not supposed to trap anyone in a burning building. Merry had only just learned how the supplies had contributed to the near disaster, and she was still in shock about that. She was scared of herself. When you nearly kill somepony does that mean you might be pushing too hard? Well, she could back it off a few notches, right after this show. Merry turned back to her show notes and tried to concentrate. But she couldn't take her mind off her guilty feelings by burying herself in her work. Her work was where her demons lived. # "Oh, yes, the candy challenge. Hmmm." Princess Luna mused aloud. She was still pacing, but no longer in anger. She ignored the girls as she pondered. Finally, having reached a conclusion, Princess Luna turned and began walking away from the girls, back to her chariot. "It sounds entertaining. Very entertaining. We believe We might enjoy attending this event." Wide eyed, the fillies watched Princess Luna walk away. When the Princess reached her chariot, she turned back, and said. "As We are going that way, We see no reason why you all cannot ride along." That did not need to be repeated. The fillies squealed and shouted excitedly as they ran to board the royal chariot. One filly did not join them. "Quizzical? Are you not coming?" asked Princess Luna. "Quiz?" called Sweetie Belle. "Please?" "Let her be, Sweetie Belle. It's her way," said Apple Bloom, softly. She turned to the Princess to explain. "Quiz doesn't have permission, Princess. She won't come with us without it." "I am still grounded. I have neither my mother nor Miss Twilight here to release me," said Quiz. "But I have been able to send Twist's best friends to be with her. I am satisfied." "We see," said the Princess. She dismounted and strode towards Quiz. "Girls, there is some time before we must leave, please wait a bit. We desire a private word with Our student. Quizzical, please walk with us." # "Scooter, go stop them!" Merry shouted through his headphones. "On it, Boss," replied Scooter, as he flew into action. He was Merry Fairweather's First Production Assistant, and her right hoof and wing. Normally, his job would have been to greet today's contestant and aid in settling them into the Challenger's Kitchen, but today his instructions were to be as unhelpful as possible. Scooter didn't like that, but his was not to reason why. "Hold it right there," he said as he landed next to Bon Bon. She and Twist were unpacking the supplies and pots and pans they had brought from Ponyville. "You didn't file the proper forms for bringing anything from outside. You may only use the equipment we provide in the kitchen, and the supplies we have in our pantry." Nothing discombobulates a chef more than forbidding them the use their own tools. And the Challenger's pantry supplied only the most basic of ingredients. Scooter had personally removed all the more interesting flavorings that very morning, on Merry's orders. Twist had, of course, never been sent any of the necessary paperwork. "By the way, we don't have an application for anypony to assist Twist. I'm going to have to ask you to find a seat in the stands... er... what's this?" Bon Bon was practically poking Scooter in the muzzle with a sheaf of papers. "Our copies of the appropriate forms," said Bon Bon. "You'll find they're all in order." Where the Hay did you get those? Scooter almost exclaimed this out loud, but stopped himself just in time. "Well, those may be your copies, but we have nothing on file... er... what's this?" Bon Bon was waving another hoofful of papers under his nose. "Receipts from the Royal Equestrian Mail Service, for when all the forms were sent from Ponyville," said Bon Bon. "Signed and dated, well ahead of the filing deadline, by our Mail Mare. These are also all in order." "Fine, you may have sent the forms. But we have no record of receiving... oww! What's this?" This time Bon Bon had actually poked Scooter on the nose. "An itemized receipt for each item of paperwork, signed on delivery here at the Food Equestria offices," said Bon Bon. "Certainly the signature of the employee who took delivery is in order, isn't it?" Scooter recognized his own signature. He vaguely remembered signing for something, then 'filing" it in the nearest waste can and forgetting about it. "Um... yeah... everything's in order. Carry on." Scooter cautiously backed away from Bon Bon, then turned and spoke into his headset. "Merry, we have an emergency." # Bon Bon had enjoyed that immensely. The best part was when Twist broke down and laughed. It was the first thing that had made Twist even smile in days. Quiz hadn't been able to find anything in the library, but Spike had located everything they needed in under ten minutes. "I figured, the Grand Chef's Challenge is like a big cultural icon in Equestria," Spike had said, "So I looked in the Popular Culture section. It's one of three, maybe four shelves in the library Quiz has never looked at. And there it was; between the biographies of romance novelists and a history of tabloid journalism. The Grand Chef's Challenge Rule Book, complete with copies of all the paperwork. Like I keep telling Quiz, it pays to show an interest in stuff most ponies care about." The rest was no mystery. Bon Bon knew just what had gone right. To be on the safe side, Derpy had flown all the way to Manehattan and hand delivered everything to Food Equestria. It felt good to have something go their way for a change. Bon Bon hoped she could get a little momentum going, and keep things going their way. # "Well, you have certainly had an eventful summer, haven't you, Quizzical?" "Yes, Princess Luna. But that was not intentional. Excitement is not something I tend to seek." Luna chuckled. "I haven't found the time to give you the personal attention I would like, Quizzical. Please don't take that to mean I am not interested in you. Twilight Sparkle sends me regular reports on your progress, and I read them, hanging on every word. Is it true you have acquired a new nickname? You are now the 'Hypothetical Projectile'?" "Sadly, yes, Princess," said Quiz, miserably. "Should I call you that now? Or, perhaps 'H.P.' for short?" "You may, if you truly wish to, my Princess." "But you would prefer that I didn't?" "Yes, oh, yes, Princess. For that I would be very grateful." Princess Luna laughed. She extended a wing, and awkwardly rested it across Quiz's shoulders. Luna was almost as uncomfortable reaching out to other ponies as Quiz was being touched, but they made the gesture work. "Quizzical, you are my first and so far only student, and you are very important to me." Quiz didn't know how to respond, and settled for, "Thank you, Princess." "That said, know that I would never overrule Twilight Sparkle's authority so long as you are her assistant. Should she complain about you I will not hesitate to find you other work, elsewhere." "That is as it should be, Princess." "Then you should know that she doesn't ever complain about you, Quizzical. The closest she comes to complaining is worrying. She does quite a bit of that, actually." "That is my fault, Princess," said Quiz, sadly. "I have convinced Miss Twilight that, unless I am closely supervised, I am likely to vaporize myself and all of my friends." "Well, yes, quite a lot was said about that silly little experiment of yours," admitted Luna. She shook her head. "That was blown quite out of proportion. All little ponies your age get into such mischief. There are stories I could tell you about Celestia and myself... no, I really had better not tell you that. Suffice it to say, we grew out of our foalhood without destroying Equestria. You also should turn out alright. Not that I wouldn't ask you to please be more careful. Many ponies would be sad if you vaporized yourself, Quizzical." "Um... thank you, Princess." "You're welcome. Anyway, that isn't what Twilight worries about most. Quizzical, Twilight's greatest concern is that she will make a mistake guiding you." "I do not understand, Princess." "Of course you don't. But Twilight believes, as I do, that you are a filly of tremendous potential. She's terrified that she will do something wrong; by being too strict, or being too lenient, or not being encouraging enough, or encouraging you in the wrong things, or something else unforeseeable. Whatever she does, Twilight fears it will be something that ruins your brightest future." "That is very confusing," said Quiz. "And that cannot possibly be correct. If I achieve anything at all in my future, surely it will be because of Miss Twilight and my other friends." Princess Luna stopped and rolled her eyes. "Well, maybe you and Twilight should have a long talk." They had been walking slowly around the block and had just turned the last corner to return to the library. There was a bright green flash from an upstairs window, and a moment later Spike burst through the front door. With one hand he was holding a towel around his waist, with the other he was waving a roll of parchment. "Quiz? Oh, good, you guys haven't left yet! It's from Twilight!" "Please read it, Spike," said Luna. Spike cleared his throat. "'Quiz, you were right! The conference was a hoax. You were probably right about everything. I am so sorry I doubted you. Get yourself to Manehattan if you still can. Twilight.' Took her long enough, if you ask me, but better late than never..." "Thank you, Spike," Luna interrupted. "Well, Quizzical, will you now be joining Us?" "Under the circumstances, I cannot imagine missing this." The fillies cheered as they all mounted the Royal Chariot. Luna's guards stretched their wings, pulled the harness taught, and with a lurch the chariot was airborne. "Oh, and Quizzical?" asked Princess Luna. "Yes, Princess?" "Hang on."
Thweet Geniuth	"Quiz, Hang On!"	Thweet Geniuth Chapter 13 Quiz, Hang On! The fillies flew through the night sky, screaming and hanging on for dear life. "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" cried the girls. "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" cried Princess Luna. The stallions pulling the chariot would have liked to have cried "Weee!" but they were on duty, and it would not have looked right. "wwww," groaned Quiz. She was curled in a tight fetal ball on the chariot floor, clinging to the hoof rail so fiercely her dark hooves turned white. "Quiz, are you going to be alright?" called Sweetie Belle. Quiz's response was largely unintelligible. "What'd she say, now?" asked Apple Bloom. "I didn't quite catch it," answered Scootaloo. "Something about being a leaf on the wind." Princess Luna had never learned to teleport without any accompanying sound effects (mainly due to lack of trying). Noise abatement regulations in Manehattan forced them to arrive outside city limits and fly the rest of the way to mid-town. Cheered on by their appreciative passengers, Luna's charioteers put on quite a show; charging though the sky at top speed. "Wow, this is great!" cried Scootaloo, fluttering her wings with excitement. "Can they do a barrel roll?" She was almost drooling with anticipation. "They can, but they won't," stated Princess Luna. "We are sorry, but this chariot has no safety restraints." "Aww," groused Scootaloo, her wings drooping in disappointment. "Perhaps some other time, when Quizzical is not riding with us," said the Princess. "Remind us next Nightmare Night." Quiz moaned something inarticulate. "You are welcome, Quizzical," the Princess answered. Eventually, the chariot spiraled in and landed gently in the Confectionary Coliseum cart park. "Thank you, gentlecolts," Princess Luna spoke to her guards. "We shall be returning to Canterlot by other means. The rest of the day is your own. Please enjoy your time in Manehattan." "Thank you, Princess," said one of the stallions, as they both bowed. "We're going to walk ourselves around the block a time or two. You know, to walk down some? But then we were thinking; we overheard you talking about this contest and all and, well, we think we'd like to see it, too, if that's alright, your Highness." "Certainly. We shall leave word at the front gate that you are to be admitted." Princess Luna turned to speak to the fillies. "Go ahead and find us seats. We shall wait with Quizzical until she is ready to venture forth." The girls all jumped out and trotted off to find the ticket booth. Quiz groaned a question only Luna could hear. "Yes, Quizzical, Dear. I am sure that this will make you stronger." # "That ith not my not my name," said Twist, morosely. She had finished prepping her kitchen and had a few idle moments before the contest began, and Twist found herself staring at the banner mounted over her side of the stadium. It proclaimed, in huge red letters, that tonight's challenger would be "Peppermint Twist." Twist didn't know if there was anything that could be done about it, and even if there was it didn't matter. It was just impossible to get any help from the Food Equestria staff. She would have to live with it. "Twist! Hay, Twist!" a familiar voice called. Twist turned and saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon standing at the rail in front of the first row of seats. Twist trotted over to them. "Hay, girls, what brings you here?" "Our parents have season tickets for the Grand Chef's Challenge," answered Silver Spoon. "And we just couldn't miss this." "That'ths cool," said Twist. She looked over at the Challenger's gallery, which was still completely empty. "Where are your folks, then?" "Um, yeah, they're over here," explained Silver, indicating the opposite side of the stadium. "We're sitting in the Grand Chef's Gallery," said Diamond Tiara. There was nothing friendly about her grin. "Dad says it's were everypony who's anypony sits." "Oh," muttered Twist, who then stood there trying to think of something else to say. Silver finally broke the uncomfortable silence. "Well, we better go. We need to be in our seats when the contest starts or we won't be on the Tron when they show the audience. Good luck, Twist, okay?" "Thsure. Thanks, Silver." "Yeah, good luck, Peppermint!" Diamond called over her shoulder. She giggled wickedly. "Thaths not my name," Twist whined. # "Princess, they've locked us out!" Luna was leading the still unsteady Quiz to the box office when Sweetie Belle ran up to them. The other girls were still arguing with the ticket clerk. "Come on, Mister, let us in!" begged Scootaloo. "No ponies seated after final set up, just like it says" sneered the clerk, tapping a sign. "Too many folks milling around in the stands disturbs the Grand Chef's mental preparations. You'll have to wait until the first intermission." "We apologize most sincerely for being tardy, Good Sir. Is there no way an exception could be made for us?" "No ponies seated..." The ticket clerk looked up to see who he was speaking with, and stopped breathing for a moment. "Are you well, Sir?" "Cough, cough! Um, yes, Princess Luna. Please give us a few moments and we'll prepare the Royal Box for you." "That will not be necessary. We will be sitting in the Challenger's Gallery." "The... Challenger's Gallery?" The clerk blanched. "Is that a problem?" Princess Luna cocked an eyebrow. "No, no, not at all! I'll see to it now." The clerk waved frantically for an usher to come and attend to the Princess, then ran to an intercom and spoke in a stage whisper, "Merry? We have an emergency! Do you have something to hang on to?" "Princess, if you would follow me, I'll show you to your seats," said the usher. "Um... should I call the orchestra? Will you be wanting a fanfare?" "Oh, yes, please, would you do that for us?" Princess Luna gave the usher a broad smile. "We desire the works!" # "Fillies and Gentlecoats!" declared the Colosseum loudspeakers. "Please rise for Princess Luna of Equestria!" Merry Fairweather listened to the trumpets roar as the Princess regally made her way to the front of the Challenger's Gallery. Merry held her clipboard so tightly her dark hooves turned white. The clipboard creaked and groaned, but did not break. Yet. It wasn't the Princess that held Merry's attention. She focused on a small, nondescript gray filly quietly following the Princess. It was like seeing a ghost. Quizzical Greystone! thought Merry, grinding her teeth. I gave this kid my best shot, and she still made it here! With a Princess!! The filly was destined to haunt Merry. "You know, Merry, maybe this is a sign." It was Curtains, the Director, speaking through her headset. "Don't you think we should re-think the whole idea of trying to make Twist look bad? We could just play it straight instead. There are more important things than the Grand Chef's ego." "Forget that!" Merry cried back. "Everypony, listen up. If there is something more important than the Grand Chef's ego around here I want it caught and killed! So long as he is the principal stockholder and the CEO, all of Food Equestria and all its assets, including all of you, are just an extension of the Grand Chef's ego. We proceed with the show as planned." She was going to have to find the Grand Chef and try to calm him down. He was undoubtedly throwing a fit. "Just clarify one thing, Merry," called Show Host, Smarty Brickoven. "All that material you had us working on, about how nopony is here to see Twist? That's off now, right?" "Shut up, Smarty." # "You're here! You made it!" squealed Twist, galloping into the stands. An observer who did not know them would have described the contact between Twist and her friends as a 'collision' rather than a 'hug.' It was some time before she disentangled herself enough from the happy, giggling cluster of fillies to catch the eye of the one pony standing off to the side. "Quiz? Could you too, you know... um...?" Quiz sighed, but Twist could just make out her faint smile. "Go ahead, Twist. Everypony else has." The invitation was meant for Twist, but the others took it as a cue. "Cutie Mark Crusaders - Group Hug!!!" "What, again? But we already just... oh... dear...." # "So, Chef, you have a hat and coat for your assistant?" asked Apple Bloom. "It'ths thstill waiting for you, in the dressing room. We didn't think you would be here. That remindths me, I need to find Bon Bon..." It wasn't actually difficult for Twist to find her other assistant. Bon Bon had gone back to the judge's table to argue some more. "It'ths probably about those wonderful rampths you built us." "They won't let us use the ramps? Aww, I put a lot of work into those." "Well, you can try talking to them. Bon Bon ithn't getting anywhere." Head Judge Smarty Brickoven was doing his best to sound patient and reasonable, not an easy thing to do in the face of an angry Bon Bon. "Ma'am, you need to return to your kitchen. The rules do not allow you to remodel the cooking area." "Actually, that happens not to be the case." Smarty had could not see where the soft voice had come from, and had to stand and lean all the way over the judge's table before he found Quiz. "You have something to say, young filly?" Quiz looked up to find all four judges staring down at her. With a squeak she retreated behind Bon Bon's flank to escape all the attention. "Um... I... I...I can demonstrate." She threw up a magic blackboard in front of herself as a shield. On it was a page from the Grand Chef's Challenge Rule Book. "There are no rules expressly forbidding reasonable modifications, and there are several precedents from the contest's history allowing this." Quiz was much more comfortable hiding behind a visual aid, and went on confidently. "Shelving was once readjusted to accommodate an arthritic chef." The page changed. "Additional lighting was brought in for a chef with failing vision. I can cite other examples if you would like." "That won't be necessary," said Smarty. He had the complete attention of everypony within earshot - including all his fellow judges, producer Merry Fairweather, and Princess Luna. He did not like where this was going. "Mind you, the Ponyville library had a copy of last year's rule book. If there has been an addendum forbidding such modifications you need only cite it, and we will withdraw our protest." How Smarty answered depended on which he was more worried about - his reputation or his career. He decided on the answer that didn't involve lying through his teeth in front of one of the Royal Alicorns of Equestria. "No, there hasn't been a rules change." If looks could kill Merry's glare would have incinerated Smarty where he stood. Gamely, Smarty made one last try. "There are, however, strict rules about delaying the contest..." "Not a problem," exclaimed Apple Bloom. "I can have 'em in place in ten minutes. Five if you loan me a couple of those big fellows of yours," she added, indicating the stage workers who had been lounging around the studio since final preparations were complete. What the Hay, thought Smarty. The Grand Chef has already asked for a ten minute delay, since the Princess's arrival 'disrupted his concentration.' "That will be fine. We will allow it." There was the sharp crack of splintering wood. Merry threw down the two halves of her clipboard, and stalked off. # "That was an excellent application of your magic blackboard spell, Quizzical," said Princess Luna when they had all taken their seats. "Thank you, Princess. I have discovered that I can display a printed page if I have it memorized..." Quiz stopped dead. She went on, sheepishly, "I mean... um... what magic blackboard spell?" "It's a bit late for that, Quizzical." "What's the matter?" whispered Dinky. "Quiz never told the Princess she'd invented a spell," said Sweetie Belle. "I think she was kinda supposed to." "We will speak of this later, Quizzical. For now, Girls, all of you settle down. The contest is about to begin.
Thweet Geniuth	Thow Time	Thweet Geniuth Chapter 14 Thow Time! While they had called "first places" and had given her a 3 minute warning, Twist still stood by the rail near her friends. She made no move to return to her kitchen. "Twist, Dear, is there anything we can say to calm your nerves?" asked Princess Luna. "I'll be okay, I think," Twist answered, sadly. "I'm uthually fine once I get cooking. But when the Grand Chef comes out and workths the crowd... they love him and they don't care about anything elth. I know, I uthed to be a big fan, too. When they thstart chanting his name they get tho loud..." Twist's voice became very quiet. "It'th thscary. It'th really thscary." "Perhaps it would help if you thought of how ridiculous it really is," said Quiz. "Consider - 'Blitzen' is Paarderdamen for 'lightning.' 'Éclair' is Fancy for 'lightning.'" "And his nickname's 'Lightning'?" exclaimed Scootaloo. "So the Grand Chef wants to be called 'Lightning, air-quotes Lightning, Lightning'? What a doofus!" They were still laughing when a production assistant told Twist she had thirty second to get to her kitchen, and she scurried away. # Merry Fairweather was having more trouble than usual composing herself. Scooter had gotten her a fresh clipboard, and she clung to it as if it were a toy bear. The Grand Chef had retired to his dressing room to indulge himself with a great screaming fit; and since that was no fun unless there was somepony there to scream at, it had been Merry's duty to stand there and take it. It was always horrible, but this one had been a particularly bad screaming fit. At least Merry had been the focus of the Grand Chef's ire rather than any of her staff. Merry was used to it. She could handle it. A Princess! Why didn't I see that coming?! thought Merry. But she hadn't thought of it, and she couldn't fix it now. She could only hang on, and wait for the Grand Chef to do his thing. He would soon soundly trounce Twist, and that would restore order to the universe. If everypony just did their jobs then nothing else would go wrong, and in a few hour this would all be over and Merry could forget all about it and get on with her life. Until the next show. "Cue orchestra," said Curtains, the director, though Merry's ear piece. "Stand by Smarty." "Show time," whispered Merry. # "Thow time," whispered Twist. She regarded her reflection in the shiny bottom of a sauce pan. She tucked an unruly red curl under her hat, squared her shoulders, and put on what she hoped passed as her 'game face.' Then she was startled when the orchestra struck up the Grand Chef's Challenge theme, and she jumped. The curl escaped from her hat again. # Smarty took the microphone and stood. The music lowered so he could speak over it; except for the tympani's, which when into overdrive; and he began. "Fillies, gentlecolts, and our special visitor - Princess Luna of Equestria, welcome to Confectionery Coliseum. Once again, it is time for candy combat. It is time for the Grand Chef's Challenge!" Smarty paused, to give the crowd a moment to cheer. "I'm Smarty Brickoven, and I'll be your Master of Ceremonies. I will also lead this illustrious panel of judges. To my right, we have restaurateur and food critic, from East Marelin, Mrs. Bitter Almond." The prim, stout little mare offered the crowd a curt nod and a tight smile. They loved it. Fans of the Challenge were very fond of Mrs. Almond. She was their Queen of Mean. "Next we have Pastry and Dessert instructor emeritus of the Culinary Institute of Equestria, though we just know him as 'Doc,' Doctor Souffle Pan." Doc half rose and gave a little bow. "Finally, we have actress and food enthusiast, Miss Happy Cherry Blossom." Happy bounced up and down in her seat and clapped her hooves together as if this was the most exciting thing she had ever done. It didn't seem to matter that this was something she had been doing every month for years. "Tonight, folks, we have the youngest challenger ever invited to Confectionery Coliseum. She is the filly who won the All-Equestria Candy Making Contest at the Manehattan Fair this summer. All of you please put your hooves together for Peppermint Twist!" Twist appeared on all of the stadium's huge monitors,waving and smiling broadly. No microphone anywhere in the stadium picked up her protest, "Thaths not my name." "And now, everypony," called Smarty, "Where does lightning strike?" "Anywhere it wants to!" roared the crowd. "When does lightning strike?" "When you least expect it!" If anything, the crowd was louder this time. If you were unfamiliar with the show you might have thought that the crowd had already gone wild. Not quite. "Put your hooves together for Grand Chef Blitzen 'Lightning' Éclair!" That was when the crowd went wild. # "Light-Ning!!! Light-Ning!!! Light-Ning!!! Light-Ning!!!" To Twist, the chanting of the crowd felt like series of shock waves. She began to tremble. She tried leaning against a counter to steady herself. That actually made things worse, as the counter itself was shaking. Then she looked up at her friends. Every pony in her gallery had their hooves up, making air quotes in time with the chanting. Twist had to turn her back to the audience. She didn't want any of the cameras to catch her laughing. # Eventually, the Grand Chef began to speak, and the crowd settled down. The production staff all thought he let them carry on longer than ever before, but that was understandable. There was a Princess in the audience, and the Grand Chef had to let her know who owned this stadium. "Thank you all, and welcome to Confectionery Coliseum. Your eyes do not deceive you, the filly in the kitchen next to mine really is tonight's challenger, and she means to defeat me in candy combat!" The Grand Chef paused for the audience's laughter. "There is some speculation that young Peppermint is only here because of a fluke, that her triumph at the Manehattan Fair was because she had stumbled upon an old family recipe that simply wowed everypony." In fact, there had been no such speculation; but now that the Grand Chef said it everypony in the audience was thinking it. "For whatever reason, young Peppermint is this this year's All Equestria Candy Making Champion, and as such has won a place here this evening. But she had best beware. This is not middle school, and I know of only one way to give a chef a lesson. And a lesson from me can have only one result." "She'll be thunderstruck!" screamed the crowd. # Princess Luna shook her head and spoke softly, "That sounds sillier every time We hear it." "Wow, snark much?" exclaimed Scootaloo. "Is he always that sarcastic?" "Oh, that was nothing," said Sweetie Belle. "The Grand Chef is just getting warmed up." "Hmmmm," mused Luna. "We know a very effective mute spell that might deal with him quite delightfully. Would any of you like to see it?" "Ooooh, yes, please, Princess!" cried Dinky. "That would be so cool!" declared Scootaloo. "Unfortunately, enchanting competitors is against the contest rules," Quiz pointed out. "Though we could consider it for after the contest." "We were merely jesting, Quizzical." "Oh." # "Challenger," called Smarty. "Are you ready?" "Yeth, Mithter Brickoven." "Grand Chef Éclair, are you ready?" "Indeed I am." "You may begin! You have thirty minutes for this segment of the competition, the clock starts now!" # The Grand Chef immediately began barking orders at his assistant. He flew around his kitchen flamboyantly, buzzing about like a great, manic scarlet and white bird. He seemed to be everywhere at once. His assistants hustled to obey, and to keep their heads out of his way. # Twist grabbed a basket, and calmly trotted back to the pantry to load it with flavorings. "Ladies, pleath melt some thugar for me. Let me know when it'ths molten." "Yes, Chef!" Twist giggled and she added ingredients to mixing bowls. "I love it when you guyths say that." # "Fans of the show know that the chefs have thirty minutes to prepare the candy of their choice," said Smarty. His image was repeated on every monitor in the Coliseum. "They will simultaneously be working on elements of their sugar showcase, or they won't be able to complete it in the final segment. Judges, what are your impressions? Almond?" "Realistically? Young Peppermint is not here to compete with the Grand Chef," answered Bitter Almond. "It is absurd to suggest that this child is his competition. No, she will be competing with herself. Peppermint has an uphill battle just to be taken seriously. She's fighting to not embarrass herself." "Doc?" "I agree completely with Almond," said Doc. "In fact I'm glad she said it so I didn't have to." "You may always count on me for unpleasant truths, Doc." "Thank you, Almond. At any rate, Peppermint seems to be off to a poor start. She's moving so slowly! She was informed that she only has half an hour, was she not?" "Oh, you two are such cynics!" cried Happy. "You should be ashamed of yourselves. Miss Twist is going to surprise you all, I'm sure. And she is so cute!" "I'm going to have to interrupt here," said Smarty. "Oates is with the Grand Chef. Go ahead, Oates." "Thank you, Smarty," said the floor reporter. "Grand Chef, do you have a moment to tell us what you have there?" "Certainly. I shall have for the judges a selection of truffles, in dark, milk, and white chocolate. I'm confident the judges will find the flavors new and surprising." "And what do you think of your challenger, Grand Chef?" "Oh, I would guess that Peppermint is a perfectly nice little girl," answered Grand Chef Éclair, waving dismissively. "However, looking across at her kitchen, she appears to be preparing hard candies. Firstly, I have to question the wisdom of presenting our judges with candies that sell for 100 to the bit. Secondly, these simplistic candies cannot possibly set in time to be plated. She has been informed that she only has half an hour, hasn't she?" "Thank you, Grand Chef." # "You are certain, Quizzical, that a mute spell would be against the rules?" asked Luna. "Yes, Princess." "Pity." # "Peppermint, tell us about your candy." Oates' microphone muted her reply, "That'th not my name." But he caught the rest of what Twist had to say. "Thsure, Misther Oates. I'm preparing a selection of faux hard candies. Thome look down on hard candies as simplistic, but that'th a matter of preparation and prethentation. It'th my thspeciality." Sweetie Belle had taught her, 'Don't worry about your lisp, it gets worse the more self-conscious you are. Just talk about your candy. I know how you love to talk about your candy, Twist. Your enthusiasm will be infectious." Twist could see Sweetie Belle in the stands, giving her two hooves up. "Anyway, I don't have time for hard candies to set; I'm only making hard shells. These will have soft centers. They'll be mojito, chai tea, and mint julep flavored." "Thank you, Peppermint." Again, Oates' mic did not catch Twist's parting comment, "That'th not my name." # "Oates, what they Hay was that?" demanded Merry. "The Kid looked great! What happened to 'Make the Kid look ridiculous'?" "Every other shot we tried made it look as if I was interviewing a sauce pan," Oates whined in Merry's ear piece. "Do I have to look ridiculous, too?" "You could take one for the team, Oates." "Hay, Merry, did you notice how her lisp makes her sound cute and endearing?" "Shut up, Smarty." # "So, Judges," began Smarty, "What do you think of Peppermint's choice of assistants?" "I don't like it," stated Almond. "She's invited one of her little friends to come play with her. It shows a distressing lack of seriousness, and it is disrespectful of this arena." "Oh, you dismiss young Apple Bloom unfairly, Almond," chided Happy. "She's very clever; she invented those ramps Twist is using. And the two girls work very well together. Oh, I just love watching them work together, they are just so cute!" "It's the adult mare, Bon Bon, that bears watching," said Doc. "She mustn't get away with doing any of Peppermint's more technical work for her." "I was thinking the same thing," said Smarty. "Apparently, she's been responsible for much of Peppermint's training. She employs Peppermint at a penny candy stand in Ponyville." Despite Curtain's best efforts to cut her out, several of the stadium monitors picked up Bon Bon's shriek, "What did he just call my business?!" "Anyway, that was a short half hour," said Smarty, trying to ignore Bon Bon's withering glare. "The Chefs are both plating their sweets. Does Peppermint have five plates out?" Indeed, Twist had prepared five plates for sampling. She motioned to an usher to come over, and after a brief word the usher took the fifth plate and carried it towards the stands. "Oates, did you hear what she's doing?" "Yes, Smarty. Peppermint is sending the fifth plate to Princess Luna, with her compliments." "Well, what do you think of that?" laughed Smarty. "Judges, is that a courtesy extended to our sovereign, or is that an attempt at showmanship?" "Oh, I doubt any competitor, including this filly, would dare challenge to Grand Chef at showmanship," said Almond. "At any rate, we have more immediate matters to worry about. Here are our plates." # The judges began with the Grand Chef. "Well, Grand Chef," said Smarty. "You promised not to go easy on your challenger, and you are a stallion of your word. These sweets are outstanding." "These are examples of your best work, Grand Chef," said Almond. "Well done." "Ooooh! This is the hardest part of judging," whined Happy. Then she began to giggle. "I have to taste these slowly and critically, when I really just want to pop them in my mouth and gobble them down! I love these, Grand Chef! Love, love, love them!" Then it was Twist's turn. The expressions on the judges' faces as they began tasting were priceless. "Well, we can stop worrying about whether Peppermint being here is a fluke or not," exclaimed Doc. "Indeed," agreed Almond. "There's something that induces nostalgia about these pretty little candies; they call to mind the treats I would save my pennies to buy as a child. But that is in contrast with their taste. The flavors are very mature, very sophisticated, and simply wonderful." Happy was bouncing about in her chair again, waving her hooves about like little fluttering birds. "These make my mouth so Happy! I told you all Twist would surprise you. I told you so!" # "What was that all about?" demanded Merry. "Were all those compliments for the challenger necessary?" "Merry, don't disturb the judges while they are deliberating," said Curtains. "You can scold them all you want after they announce this round's winner." "And why is that taking so long? Seriously, they just have to give the Grand Chef the round, so we can move on. What do they have to deliberate about?" "Oh, let them build up the drama, and try to enjoy it, Merry. The crowd certainly does." # While waiting for the judges' ruling the Grand Chef began to work the crowd, and they were chanting again. "Light-Ning! Light-Ning!" Above the Challenger's Gallery a small display, glowing beige, appeared and began to flash on and off. "Twist. Twist. Twist." # Finally, Smarty stood and raised a foreleg to indicate that they had a decision. The Coliseum grew quiet, as he began to speak. "Well, this has already become a very surprising competition. We, the judges, were surprised by the high quality of the candy presented. We were surprised by how close the competition is, and by how difficult it was to select a winner. But most of all, we astonished ourselves with our own decision." Smarty drew a deep breath, and took a long pause before continuing. "We unanimously award this round to the challenger, Peppermint Twist."
Thweet Geniuth	What The Hay Was That?!	Thweet Geniuth Chapter 15 What The Hay Was That?! "Well, it appears that I am doing battle with a candy prodigy," said Grand Chef Éclair. "Young Peppermint has joined the exclusive club of Chefs who have beaten me at a segment of the Challenge. I believe she is the eighth. None of them have defeated me at the Challenge, of course, and I have no worries that will change." To the audience, it appeared that the Grand Chef was taking defeat well, and was even being almost gracious. Oates knew better. It took all his self-control not to flinch as he interviewed the Grand Chef. Oates half expected to have his microphone bitten in half, perhaps losing a hoof in the process. "Grand Chef, does this change your plans for the rest of the Challenge?" "Not at all. My plans remain unaltered. Of course, my plans are very simple. I plan to soundly trounce the child." # "Chef Peppermint, you've won the first round, how do you feel?" asked Oates. Twist was so happy she didn't bother correcting him. "I feel really good, Mithter Oates. I'm proud and excited and... and... and wordths fail! But I have thsugar thsticks to temper, if you'll excuse me..." "Thank you, Peppermint. Good luck, Chef." # Quiz's magic blackboard continued to flash, "Twist. Twist. Twist." "Gee, Quiz, you're even soft spoken in print," groused Scootaloo. "For Twist you'd think you could make it a little cooler! All caps, bold face, you know, stuff like that. Where are the exclamation marks?" "Oh," said Quiz. She began to edit her display. "I fear I am not very good at expressing excitement." This got an eye roll from Sweetie Belle. "Oh, I know!" cried Dinky. "Quiz, can you do glitter?" "What? Oh, dear... I might be able to modify the spell design... it would require a shiny display rather than matte finish..." "Girls, We think adding exclamation marks are already asking quite enough of Quizzical," said Princess Luna. # "What the Hay was that?!" yelled Merry. "Seriously, guys, what the Hay just happened!" "Twist made tastier candies than the Grand Chef." "Shut up, Smarty! You know that wasn't what I meant." "You told us we could judge her candy fairly," said Almond. "I did, but when I said that it was with the reasonable assumption that the Grand Chef would win!" "We can still change focus, Merry," said Curtains. "We have the makings of quite an underdog story here. Everypony loves a good underdog story." "Yeah," muttered Merry. Curtains was right, and it went against her every instinct as a producer not to run with this. But she had her orders. "But no. We are going to stick with the plan, guys, and I really need you to cooperate with me." "Just relax, Merry, no pony has ever beat the Grand Chef at two segments of the Challenge." "That's right; we'll get her in the next round." "We won't cheat for you, Merry." "You won't have to, Almond. But Twist won't win the next round." "Is that something else you've arranged, Merry?" asked Doc. Merry didn't want to answer that. "Um... Merry?" interrupted Scooter. He sounded like a pony with bad news he did not want to deliver. "The Grand Chef wants to see you in his dressing room." "Oh." Head and tail low, Merry began the long walk back to the Grand Chef's inner sanctum. # The fillies were so excited they could not sit still, so Princess Luna suggested that they go to the concession stand. She told her guards, "Escort the children and see they get whatever they desire, it shall be Our treat. We will need you to take at least ten minutes." Quiz got up to join them, but then Luna said, "Stay, Quizzical." This soft phrase drew Quiz back and all but pinned her to her seat. "Quizzical, Dear," began Luna, "You are aware, are you not, that my sister and I have the final review of all new spell work?" "Yes, Princess." "Then please imagine, at some distant date, my own dear student's work arrives on my desk out of the blue, and I had never heard a word about it before? How do you think that would make me feel?" "Um... you would commend your student's good manners for courteously not bothering you?" "Nice try, Quizzical. No, I would be mortified that I had failed to be diligent on behalf of my dear student." "You are very busy, Princess," said Quiz. "You have many responsibilities. You tend to the Moon, the night sky, the dreams of all Equestria, the day to day governing of the nation..." "You," added Luna. "Me?" "You. You are also one of my responsibilities. You are the first and only student I have chosen to mentor. I am new to this, but I believe I made a good choice. At any rate, my minimum responsibilities include observing your work." "My spell was not created as part of my work, Princess, but as a personal project..." "That is picking nits, Quizzical. Do not do that with me." "Yes, Princess." "Not only did you not bring your spell to my attention, you swore Twilight Sparkle to silence. That is not helpful, Quizzical. I want you to help me to help you." "Yes Princess." "Luckily, I received a letter from the mother of our dear friend, young Pip Squeak. She was very touched by the kindness you showed her little colt. She also mentioned a wonderful spell you used to entertain him; she spoke of it as if she took it for granted that I knew what she was talking about." "I see. I apologize if you feel I have been hiding my work from you. I did not wish to bother you." Luna sighed. "Of course you didn't. Well, now that I know about it, I have expedited the review process for the magic blackboard spell." "That hardly seems necessary, and does not seem fair to other unicorns with spells in the queue..." "Are you arguing with me, Quizzical?" "No, Princess." "Good. You do not want to do that. Now, can you, as you told Dinky, make the image all sparkly?" "I suppose, if anypony really wanted that," said Quiz. "It would involve changing the background... here, let me show you." Quiz called up a small version of the spell. The two of them discussed it until intermission was over. # Moonrise Ray had been sitting with her parents in the Grand Chef's gallery. She'd wanted to sit on Twist's side, but her parents wouldn't hear of it. "All the important ponies sit in front of the Grand Chef's kitchen, to see and be seen by other important ponies," Ray's mother had told her. But Twist had won the first round, and Ray couldn't contain herself any longer. She begged and pleaded until her parents gave in and let her move to the Challenger's Gallery. Ray would get to sit near Princess Luna, so it seemed like a pretty good place to be noticed. Also, sitting next to the Princess was probably as safe a place as you could find anywhere in Manehattan. "Hi, I'm Ray," she said to the fillies. "I like your friend Twist. Can I sit with you?" "Sure," said Dinky, and the others agreed. "Twist can always use another fan." Princess Luna wasn't sure if she recognized Ray, but she recognized the toy ursa the filly carried immediately. "We remember you. We met at the fair. Welcome, please join us, little one." "You remember me?" Ray looked like she'd been sent to heaven. "We do our best to remember all our citizens." # Cooking shows weren't normally Sporky's thing, but he'd won a free ticket to the Grand Chef's Challenge by being 'employee of the week' more times than any other pony on staff at the Manehattan Fair, so here he was. Five minutes into the show Sporky was so blown away by how awesome it was that he wondered why he'd never done this before. During the first intermission he noticed a little filly move from the Grand Chef's side to the Challenger's Gallery and he thought, Yeah, that's a pretty good idea. That's just what would make this whole night perfect! And he got up and moved. If anypony wanted him to stay in the assigned seat on his ticket stub they could come and get him. Sporky took the seat directly behind Scotaloo's. "Hey, Scoot, are you a friend of this Peppermint filly's? Because she really kicks some serious tail!" "That's not her name, Spork, and you better not get us started on that!" exclaimed Scootaloo. She gave her friend a 'bro-wing.' "But, yeah, Twist and I hang out sometimes, she's a good egg. Hay, if I had known you were over there with the Grand Chef snobs I would have gone and gotten you. Glad to see you found your way to the cool side of the stadium." "Well, I'm here now. So this side just got," Sporky paused to consider his words, "a little bit cooler." It was just a small shift; only two ponies. But it was a beginning. # "The Second Segment of the Challenge, worth another twenty-five percent of the total score, is about to begin," came the announcement over the Coliseum loud speakers. "All ponies please return to their seats." Veterans of the Challenge knew that this was not just a guideline. The Grand Chef hated to have ponies milling about when he was ready to cook. If they spied anypony not immediately moving to their seat they would tap the offender on the shoulder and say, "Hay, Newbie, you need to get seated!" The Coliseum was soon filled with relatively quiet ponies. # Merry took her place in the corner of the Coliseum, where she could observe everything. She was still a little unsteady, but she felt she had composed herself enough to appear in public. This was not the first time she had been called on the carpet by the Grand Chef twice in one show. In fact, the record was four times. The Grand Chef insisted on booking the finest competition, and when these high caliber chefs did well against him he was always upset and needed to vent. But this had been the worst. For one thing, no chef who had ever beaten him had been a little filly. But that wasn't the worst of it. What made this particularly bad was that Merry had made promises and she hadn't kept them. Twist was supposed to look like a lonely loser who didn't deserve to even be in Confectionery Coliseum. Instead, Twist had won round one, Twist had deserved to win round one, and worst of all, and Twist had appeared to deserve to win round one. Merry's best efforts had been for naught. She would have liked to blame her undoing all on Quizzical Greystone, but Merry was enough of a realist not to do that. The truth was Twist was good. If the Grand Chef wanted to beat her he would have to actually beat her. Now, the Grand Chef was losing the crowd's support, and this was the life's blood of the Grand Chef's ego. It was Merry's job to stop this before it became a hemorrhage. Round two should do it. Merry wasn't proud of this, because it was cheating, but she had arranged it. Scooter hovered near by, pacing uncomfortably. He was too worried about Merry to stray far, but too mindful of her pride to actually ask her how she felt. Scooter was a good kid, and Merry wished she had a way to really reward him for his loyalty. She summoned up a smile, to let him know that she was fine. # "Okay, we are ready to begin round two," said Smarty. "Chefs, are you ready?" When he had a nod from both Twist and Grand Chef Éclair, Smarty continued. "As you know, in this round, you each have half an hour to prepare candies highlighting the secret ingredient." Smarty waved an envelope. "When I open and read the secret ingredient that will be your signal to begin. So, without further ado..." Smarty broke the seal, and opened the envelope. "The secret ingredient is... vanilla!"
Thweet Geniuth	Kryptonite	Thweet Geniuth Chapter 16 Kryptonite When the secret ingredient was announced all the fillies in the Challenger's gallery groaned as one. This was echoed by a groan at the back of Twist's kitchen, from Apple Bloom and Bon Bon. There was even a muted groan from the Grand Chef's side of the Stadium, in the area where the two families from Ponyville were sitting. "Is something the matter?" asked Princess Luna. "It's vanilla!" cried Sweetie Belle. "Why did it have to be vanilla?" "Vanilla is Twist's weakness, Princess," explained Quiz. "She has an instinctive talent with flavors that is almost indistinguishable from magic. But not with vanilla." "Oh, Twist can make magic with vanilla," exclaimed Scootaloo. "She can turn it into cement." "I do not know how," said Quiz, "But I cannot rid myself of the feeling that somehow this is my fault." # Gotcha!, thought Merry. You gave yourself away, and I got you. This victory didn't make her proud or happy, but at least it was a relief. Merry hadn't had any victories all day. # "I must admit, Oates, I'm disappointed with tonight's secret ingredient," said Grand Chef Éclair. "I mastered vanilla when I was little Peppermint's age. I do not find this interesting." "Do you think this might be a break for your young challenger, Grand Chef?" "Oh, I hope she thinks so," sneered the Grand Chef. "With such a simple common ingredient such as vanilla you cannot hope to win by merely being great. You must be transcendent! Can the child transform vanilla as if she had been working with it for decades? I do not think so!" "Thank you, Grand Chef." # Merry's relief evaporated when she looked at Twist's kitchen. All of your friends are wringing their hooves in despair, she thought, Why are you grinning from ear to ear, Girl? Her reverie was broken by Scooter. "Curtains wants you in the control booth, Merry." "I'll be right up." Merry had no idea why Curtains would send Scooter with the message instead of just calling her through her headset. # "Chef Peppermint, you don't seem bothered by the secret ingredient." "That'th not my name, Mithter Oates," answered Twist, knowing full well that it would be blipped out. She didn't care. "Oh, yeth, I'm looking forward to thith! Vanilla uthed to give me fitths, I jutht didn't get it. It wath my... what do you call it, that thstuff that makes Thuper Thtallion weak in the comic books?" "Kryptonite?" "That'th it. But I have a very dear friend who'th favorite flavor is vanilla, and it broke my heart that I couldn't make anything for her." Twist stopped and gave a little wave to the camera. "Hi, Quiz! Hi, guyths!" That went out over all the stadium monitors, and Oates cringed. Competitors were not supposed to do 'shout outs' and Merry would not be happy. "So, Chef, you are saying vanilla doesn't worry you?" "I think I've figured it out," said Twist, nodding enthusiastically. "There'ths a thecret to vanilla, and I think I finally know it." # "Good grief, Oates, we're letting the kid do shout outs now!" Merry yelled into her headset. "As if the crowd didn't already think she was adorable?!" Before Oates could respond she arrived at the Coliseum's control booth, and she took her headset off. "What's going on, Curtains?" The director pointed to the monitors that displayed the outside of the Coliseum. "I wanted you to know about this before anyone else." Confectionery Coliseum's "Mighty Percher-tron" is the largest video display in all of Equestria. Ponies often gather on the street to watch the cooking contests on the "Tron." The crowd gathering outside at that moment was the biggest Merry had ever seen. "Word is getting around," said Curtains. "Ponies have heard that a kid actually took round one from the Grand Chef, and they want to see 'the little filly who could.'" "Celestia, take me," gasped Merry. "They're lining up at the box office, too. And they aren't happy about having to wait until the next intermission. It doesn't matter that we're sold out except for the Challenger's Gallery. That's where they all want to sit, anyway." "Curtains, we have to hush this up! Don't you dare send any of this to the monitors inside!" "Come on, Merry, this could be the best show we ever do. Where's your sense of drama? Can't you just feel the story calling to you?" Curtains was right. Merry was a producer at heart, and she lived for a good story. Twist's story was wonderful, and it broke Merry's heart not to tell it. But that didn't make any difference. Merry had a feeling that no matter what she did tonight she was going to end up with her heart broken. "We hide it, Curtains. No pony sees any outside shots. And close the box office, we can't have all of Manehattan in here cheering Twist on." Curtains glared at her, thoroughly disgusted. "We might end up with that, anyway, Merry." He pointed to the monitor that showed the crowd inside. After Twist's interview at least two dozen ponies had moved to the Challenger's Gallery, and more were on their hooves and crossing the stadium. "Curtains?" Merry hesitated and drew a deep breath before giving her next order. "Turn on the 'Heat Hammer.'" "Isn't that a little drastic, Merry?" "That's drastic!" cried Merry, pointing to a monitor. The crowd outside had grown during their short conversation. "The Heat Hammer is just an appropriate response. Do it, Curtains." # "So, Judges, what are your thoughts?" asked Smarty. "I agree with the Grand Chef," said Almond. "It does not seem likely that young Peppermint can do anything with vanilla that will impress us." "How can you say that, when her first candy was so fabulous?" cried Happy. "I believe out delightful little Chef Twist is capable of just anything! The only way she could surprise me now is if she stopped surprising me!" "That doesn't actually make sense, Happy." "Are your sure, Smarty? It made perfect sense in my head." "Anyway," said Doc. "I find myself in disagreement with Almond. There is a secret to vanilla, and from watching her work I get the impression that Peppermint knows what it is." "Oh, goody, I love secrets!" cried Happy. "What's the secret, Doc? Tell me, tell me!" "Very well, Happy. The secret to vanilla is that it goes with almost everything, and makes almost everything better." "I don't know, Doc. Peppermint's only experience is working after school in a penny candy stand. How many secrets could she have..." Smarty was interrupted by a huge 'thud' and a loud 'clang.' A frying pan had struck the judge's table right in front of him. In Twist's kitchen, Bon Bon held up her fore legs and mouthed the words, "Oops, butter hooves." "Gee, now I want to visit Ponyville," said Happy. "I want to go to Bon Bon's sweet shop." # "Oates, can you tell what Peppermint is doing over there?" asked the Grand Chef. "She has a pot on every one of her burners! With that many ingredients I can't imagine her producing anything but a grey mess." "I think she means to add a different ingredient to each sweet, Grand Chef." "Really? She'll struggle to plate on time. I, on the other hoof, am very nearly done." He turned and screamed at his assistants, "We would already be plated if you two would hurry!" The assistants, already moving fast, hustled to obey their master. The Grand Chef fluttered his wings in irritation. Oates retreated a step to avoid getting a nose full of scarlet feathers. "I wonder if she knows the judges award points for proper time management?" the Grand Chef continued without any prompting from Oates. "All little Peppermint has ready are her empty plates. I note that she has five of them again. I feel that is just showing off. I do not need to resort to any such thing. After all, I hold a Royal commission as pastry chef to the Court of Equestria. The Royal Siblings may taste my wares any time they so desire." # "Excuse me, Miss Quizzical?" asked Moonrise Ray. "Are you the friend of Twist's who likes vanilla?" "I am." "You must be very proud." Quiz stared at the foal, quite puzzled. "Proud? For liking vanilla?" Ray giggled. "No, Ma'am. For inspiring Chef Twist." "Oh, I see. Oh, dear me, I would hardly call myself an inspiration." "Yeah, you wouldn't, Quiz," laughed Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle gave herself a double face hoof. Quiz continued, as if unaware of her friends. "I am, however, very proud to be Twist's friend. I am very proud of all my friends, and I try very hard to be worthy of their friendship." "That doesn't sound right," said Ray. "You shouldn't have to work that hard for your friends. They should just like you." Quiz pondered this. "That is an interesting observation. I must make a... no, wait, there is something about your point that sounds familiar..." "Gee, Quiz, you think?" snapped Sweetie Belle. She sat back in her seat with a huff. "Have I said something wrong? I did not...oh, dear. Is Mr. Oates approaching us with his microphone? And his camerapony?" Quiz blanched. "Yes, Quizzical," said Princess Luna. "He sent an usher over earlier to ask permission for an interview, and We agreed. You don't mind...Quizzical? Quizzical?" # "Oates, don't interview the Princess," whined Merry. "She'll just say something nice about Twist." "Merry, she's a Princess, we can't just ignore her," said Oates. "Especially since this is only Princess Luna's third public appearance since her return." "We would look like idiots if we didn't talk to her, Merry," said Curtains. Merry sighed. "Just keep it short, Oates." # "Thank you, Princess Luna, for giving me a moment of your time." "Not at all, Mr. Oates. It is the least we could do. We are enjoying this delightful contest very much. Oh, gracious, is that Us?" Luna had discovered the monitors, and was staring into the nearest one with fascination. "Oh, this is much fun! But it is the side of Our face..." "We can move the camera, Princess Luna." "Oh, good. There We are now. That was not Our best side," Luna continued to mug for the camera. She cocked her head and gave a world class eyelash flutter. "Oh, yes, this is good fun!" Oates though that he had better get on with it before Luna began doing duck lips. "Princess, do you think Peppermint including you in the tasting was a matter of courtesy, or was that mere showmanship on her part?" "What? Oh, yes, you have questions," Luna was uncertain whether to look at the camera or the microphone, and decided on staring at the mic. The camera operator moved again to accommodate her. "No, Twist is too sincere for showmanship. That was just Twist being nice. She is very generous. If she had enough time Twist would make samples for everyone in the Coliseum." "Which one of these girls is Chef Peppermint's friend who likes vanilla?" "Um... well... she is..." Each filly answered at the same time. "In the restroom." "Getting a drink." "Home sick." "Hiding under my seat." This last was Ray, who luckily spoke too softly to be heard over the others. "...not here," finished Luna. She gave Oates the most obviously forced smile anypony in the stadium had ever seen. "Thank you, Princess Luna. That's all the time we have now. May I come back with more questions during the final segment?" "Yes, certainly. But first, please allow Us to take care of one thing. That," Luna pointed to the banner over the Challenger's Kitchen, "That is not her name." The banner glowed with a bright midnight blue aura, then the word "Peppermint" flared, and the letters disappeared. "Oh, that is so very much better!" exclaimed Luna. "That had been really bothering Us all evening. Her name is 'Twist.' Just 'Twist.'" # "She can't do that!" shrieked Merry. "I mean, she can't, can she?" "Well, yeah, unless you know somepony willing to tell the Princess not to," said Curtains. "I'd have to say that, yes, she can do that." "That banner is Food Equestria property!" "You could send her a bill, Merry. I'm pretty sure we know her address." "Shut up, Smarty." # "Mr. Oates and the camera have gone, Quizzical, it is safe to come out now." "Are you certain?" "Yes, We are certain," said Luna. "We are also certain that We are not comfortable speaking to disembodied voices emanating from beneath the seating. We are further certain that it makes young Miss Ray uneasy having you hiding under her seat. Come out now, Quizzical." "Yes, Princess." # Twist was just dropping the last candy onto a plate when Smarty called, "Time's up, Chefs!" "Wow, that wath clothe!" Twist could not remember ever working so hard. "I think that might have been a little ambitiouth. I don't uthually have trouble with time management." Bon Bon wiped Twist's brow with a damp cloth. "All these burners made it too hot in here, everything set more slowly than you expected, and it threw your timing off. You did good, Twist. I can't tell you how proud of you I am." "Wath I thweating?" This took Twist by surprise, she hadn't notice. "But I never feel the heat." Bon Bon smiled at her. "I think it's understandable, Dearie." Twist watched the stewards take her plates away for tasting. She'd used covered plates this time. She thought she had all her colors fixed, but there had been fading issues in the past. Twist had seen her prettiest candies transformed into something unappetizing in the time it took to walk to the judge's table. She used the covered plates because she was afraid to watch. # A steward set a tray of Twist's candies on a stand next to Princess Luna. It sat there, untouched, as the Princess and the fillies stared at it. "Princess, are you going to remove the lid?" asked Sweetie Belle. "That is Our plan, yes," said Luna. "In time." "It's just that we can't see Twist's candy until you lift the lid." "She knows, Sweetie Belle," said Quiz. "That knowledge is precisely what is keeping the Princess from lifting the lid." "Come on, just do it," complained Scootaloo. "Let's have a look the latest atrocity Twist has committed against vanilla. What? Stop glaring at me!" Luna sighed. "Scootaloo is correct. We should not wait any longer." The plate cover glowed and rose into the air. There was a collective gasp from the ponies in the Challenger's gallery. "Oh, my!" # "Oh, my!" exclaimed Happy. She had just removed the cover from her sample of Twist's candies. "These are the prettiest candies I have ever seen!"
Thweet Geniuth	"...Then Get Out Of The Kitchen."	Thweet Geniuth Chapter 16 "...Then Get Out Of The Kitchen." Creak! Merry was pushing the breaking strain of yet another clipboard. "Would you call this 'golden'?" asked Doc, holding up one of Twist's candies. "Or is this more of an 'amber'?" I give the kid the secret ingredient everypony says she can't handle, thought Merry, and she responds by inventing a new shade of yellow. "These are so much fun!" exclaimed Happy. She was holding a candy up to the studio lights. "When the light strikes them just right they glow green!" "Stop playing with your food, Happy." "But Chef Twist has made a game of her candy, Almond! She's color coded them all with a dot of dyed white chocolate on the bottom. You can look up what the colors mean, or just try to guess. Or if you prefer surprises you can just not turn it over and look. I love surprises!" Happy popped a candy in her mouth whole. "Ooooh, blueberry! I really like blueberry!" "You have to commend Chef Twist for her industry," said Doc. "We only expect two or three flavors, and she gave us eight. And, I must add, all eight are flavors that are made better when paired with vanilla. Mmmmm, I just got a cinnamon one." "But is this truly honoring the secret ingredient?" asked Almond. "Or is the vanilla secondary to the flavor centers? If you nibble about the edges all you get is vanilla. I find it bland." "That might just be your personal taste as far as vanilla, Almond," said Smarty. "Do you think, maybe Chef Twist's friend who likes vanilla just has bland taste in candy?" "You would have to ask her, Smarty." # "Oh, dear," muttered Quiz. "Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are both in the audience and no doubt heard that. At school I may soon be known as 'She who likes her candy bland.'" "It's okay, Quiz," said Dinky. "Maybe they'll just call you 'She who likes vanilla.' That's better than 'the Hypothetical Projectile.'" "No it isn't!" exclaimed Scootaloo. "'Hypothetical Projectile' is way cool." "Bother," grumbled Quiz. "Most of my classmates no longer tease me, yet I am still acquiring new nicknames. This did not use to matter to me." "Then do not let it bother you now, Quizzical," said Princess Luna. "All the ponies worth listening to will simply call you Quiz." "Amen!" declared Sweetie Belle. "I shall have to make a note of that." # Get on with it! thought Merry. Her clipboard groaned. "The Grand Chef has wonderfully deconstructed a vanilla, almond latte and reconstructed it as a bon bon. The root beer float is equally wonderful. But the star of the plate is the banana cream pie, without the pie." Get on with it! Normally, Merry loved to listen to the judges talk about the sweets; but tonight she just couldn't stand to wait. She needed them to just award the round to the Grand Chef, and she needed them to do it right now! Creeeeeeak! # "Light-ning! Light-ning! Light-ning!" While the judges deliberated the Grand Chef worked the crowd. Over the Challenger's Gallery, a huge midnight blue display flashed off and on. "TWIST!!! TWIST!!! TWIST!!!" It was very sparkly. "We like this spell of yours, Quizzical. We can imagine having much fun with this!" "Thank you, Princess. I had never imagined it could be made so very ... er ... very ... vivid." "Can we make it move, Quizzical? Will the words crawl about, for instance? Oh, We know! Can we get the letters to spin?!" "I shall have to think about that, Princess." # "It was once again a very difficult decision," announced Smarty, once the judges had finally finished their deliberation. "Very difficult." I don't like the sound of that, thought Merry. Oh, no! Oh, guys, don't do what I think you're going to do! Creeak! "It was one of the closest rounds we have ever had," continued Smarty. "And we ended with a split decision." Don't do it! Don't do it! Creeeak!! "Under the rules, in the event of a tie we make our final decision based on the points for presentation." Don'tdoitdon'tdoitdon'tdoitdon'tdoitdon'tdoitdon'tdoit...! Creeeeeeak!!! "We award this round to the Challenger, Chef Twist." Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeak!!!! Crack!!! Thud. Thud. # The ponies in the crowd didn't know whether to sit in stunned silence or to cheer like maniacs, so they did a little of both. Many ponies took this occasion to move to seats in the Challenger's Gallery. They wanted to get a better look at this incredible little filly that had beaten the Grand Chef twice. The trickle of ponies moving to Twist's side of the Coliseum became a stream. Before the second intermission was over the stream would become a flood. # "Oh, my gothsh, Mithter Oates! I don't know how to dethcribe thith!" enthused Twist. "I mean, I juth came here to make my betht candy, I never dreamed I'd win anything! No pony ever beat the Grand Chef twice! No pony! Exthept, well, me. I gueth I juth did. Wow! Ith it warm, or am I juth exthited?" "Perhaps a little of both, Chef Twist." "Thath's not my... wait! Thath's my name!" "Yes, Chef Twist." "Oh, thank you, Mithter Oates! Thank you, thank you!" Twist leapt at the floor reporter and gave him a huge hug. # Oates was not able to get a comment from the other side of the Coliseum. Grand Chef Éclair had already locked himself in his dressing room. # "Merry?" "Shut up, Smarty! Just don't talk to me." "Merry, you have to understand..." "No. So just shut up." In her imagination, Merry could hear something go 'Whoosh!' It was her career. "I don't know what to do next. Guys, you're the food experts, you tell me. Does cyanide go better with apple sauce or vanilla pudding?" "Don't take it so hard, Merry," said Almond. "It's just 40 per cent of the total score. There's still the Sugar Show Piece, and that's all technique." "Twist has had months to learn what the Grand Chef has spent decades perfecting," said Doc. "Relax, Merry, Twist can't go any further." "Just winning isn't enough, and the Grand Chef is not forgiving," whined Merry. "And you guys aren't even trying to help me anymore. I feel so alone." "Merry?" "Scooter? Oh, good, I need you to get me a new clip board." "Merry, I have a message from the Grand Chef." "Oh." There was a long silence. "Tell him I'll be right there." "Um, no, Merry. The Grand Chef doesn't want to see you." Merry gulped hard. "What did he say, Scooter?" "I'll paraphrase..." "No, Scooter. What did he say?" "He said he doesn't care if you just leave the Coliseum, or if you leave Equestria, or if you get on a rocket and leave the planet, just so long as you get out of his sight." Scooter paused before adding, miserably, "You have five minutes before I'm supposed to call Security. I'm sorry, Merry." It was Almond who finally broke the uncomfortable silence. She spoke gently to Merry. "This has happened before. And each time the Grand Chef has forgotten all about it by the mid-segment break. Everything will be fine, Merry." It occurred to Merry that when you have Bitter Almond's sympathy you must truly be pathetic. "In an hour he'll be bellowing your name, and wondering where you are because he needs you. Again," said Smarty. "Seriously, what is this, the seventh time he's thrown you out of the Coliseum?" "The eighth," said Merry. "But I think it's different this time. I think I'm really fired." "Come to the Control Room, Merry," said Curtains. "You can hide up here with me until the Grand Chef wants you back." # While everypony else celebrated, Quiz stared at Twist's kitchen. Finally, she declared, "It is growing warmer." "Oh, no! Quiz, are you alright?" cried Sweetie Belle. "Oh, yes, I am not bothered, but I can sense it. I am very sensitive, but if even I can feel it from this distance then Twist's kitchen must be terribly hot." "What's the matter, Quiz?" laughed Scootaloo. "Are you afraid they are going to make you stoke the fires?" "Shut up, Scoot, that's not funny!" cried Sweetie Belle. As far as Quiz's many close calls, it would always be too soon for Sweetie Belle. "They have stallions under the stage for that task," said Quiz, matter of factly. Sporky squinted at the vents over the kitchen. "The fans are off. You can tell from the dust motes in the air. There's no air flow." Quiz's ears twitched. "But I can hear the fans." Sporky shook his head. "That's canned sound, a recording of the fan motors. Some of the fun houses at the Fair use special effects like that. Your ears tell you there should be air movement; your other senses say there isn't. You'd be surprised how disorienting that is." "That's cheating!" exclaimed Dinky. "Try and prove it," grumbled Sweetie Belle. "I've got an idea," said Scootaloo. "Spork, do you have your multi-tool?" Sporky slapped the holster on his hip with a wing. "You know me, Scoot. I'm always prepared." "How are you with wiring?" Sporky shrugged. "I can figure it out. I'm versatile." "Then follow me." The two friends soon disappear into the crowd. # Outside the Coliseum the crowd was spilling into the street. The Manehattan police sent extra officers to help with crowd control, and traffic cops just to keep things moving without any pony being squashed by a cart. The vice squad also sent detectives, but they arrived well behind the city's bookmakers. The betting was running wild. Dolly Square Garden called and asked if they could rebroadcast the contest on their own Tron. Inside the Coliseum the migration to the Challenger's Gallery continued. Ponies wanted to be seated in front of Twist's side before the intermission was over. "Silvey, where are you going?" Diamond Tiara called to her friend. "I'm sorry, Diamond," answered Silver Spoon. "But I'm going to go sit on Twist's side." # "Well, judges, what are your observations?" asked Smarty. "Chef Twist has been little less than miraculous thus far," said Doc. "But I don't believe in miracles. The reality is she now faces the Sugar Showplace. This technical portion of the contest separates talented naturals such as Twist from seasoned professionals such as the Grand Chef." "I agree," said Almond. "The experience gap between them is insurmountable. With 60 percent of the score still to win or lose I can see only one possible outcome. It pleases me no end that Chef Twist is so happy with what she has already achieved. I fear it will have to be enough." "You guys are just awful!" exclaimed Happy. "It's just wrong to declare Twist the loser before she's even begun to assemble her first candy tower. And Chef Twist is so cute! I want to take her home with me. Since I can't take her home I want a fuzzy Twist toy. Say, that's a good idea. If we made fuzzy Twist toys we could sell millions!" "Well, I worry that the stress of the first two rounds may have caught up with Chef Twist," said Doc. "She seems to be feeling the heat." "Yet according to my notes, Twist says the heat never bothers her," said Smarty. "Mind you, that's in her own kitchen. She's a long way from the penny... from Bon Bon's Gourmet Candies." Listening down in the Challenger's Kitchen, Bon Bon offered Smarty a polite nod. "My notes also say that Twist recently set her kitchen on fire?" "No, Almond, that was one of Twist's young friend's fault, not Chef Twist's." "Oh, dear. I hope it wasn't the filly who is assisting her." "Guys, please stop talking about the fire. Please." It was Merry. Smarty switched to a private channel, "Merry, are you alright?" "No, no I'm not. So please just stop talking about that stupid fire." In the control booth, Curtains offered Merry his handkerchief so she could dry her eyes. # Everything was interrupted by a loud pop, followed by all the lights going out. The blackout only lasted a few seconds. No pony heard the harsh whisper from far beneath the seats, under the control booth where the fuse boxes were. "Scoot! I said cut the green wire!" # "You know, Merry," said Curtains. He had been stewing for the entire contest and he couldn't take it any longer. "I could always go back to my job at the Royal Equestrian Opera House. It was about a fifth the money, but I really loved that job." "I was having similar thoughts," said Oates. "I have friends who have been after me to go back to sports casting. I don't have to do this." "Stop it, Guys," said Merry. "Don't even think it." "Why not?" demanded Curtains. "I have a chance to do the best show of my life, and I don't want to miss it. Even if it's the last show I ever do." "Seriously, Guys, please stop. It's not just about my job; you all have careers to lose." "The Grand Chef may be able to replace any of us," called Smarty, "But he can't replace all of us at once. Not in the middle of a show." "We could do the right thing," said Doc. "That would feel good." "Don't fight us, Merry," pleaded Almond. "Please join us." "They're right, Merry," said Scooter. "You gave me the skills. After assisting you to assist the Grand Chef I could go anywhere and be anypony's assistant, and it would be easier. I don't have to do this. None of us do." Once Scooter joined the revolt it was all over. He would be the last pony to quit on Merry. The next voice they heard came as a surprise to everypony. "I can't tell you how long I've waited to hear you all say that." "Happy? Curtains, Happy's headset is live!" "Of course it is, Silly! That switch you use to cut me out? I came into the studio after hours and disabled it with a pair of wire cutters several seasons ago."
Thweet Geniuth	A Revolting Development	Thweet Geniuth Chapter 18 A Revolting Development "I've been listening to Grand Chef Éclair bully you for what feels like forever," said Happy. "I managed to escape the worst of it, because for some strange reason he thinks I'm a simpleton. But I've hated the way he's treated the rest of you. Maybe I should have said something, but I thought you all had to make up your own minds. Besides, I don't think you guys take my advice very seriously." "I guess that makes us unanimous, Merry," said Smarty. "Except for you." Merry struggled to regain some control. "Okay, we need some changes. We can sit down with the Grand Chef and talk, right after the show..." "No, Merry," said Smarty. "Things change now. Not for the next show. For this show." "We can still turn this around," cried Merry. "All it would take is a few snarky comments about Twist's showpiece..." "That's not going to happen." "Why not? She's going to lose anyway!" "It's over, Merry," said Doc. "All anyone will remember is what Twist has already done. The Grand Chef will win, but Twist will look like the winner." Happy giggled. "Twist will get the most celebrated second place in the whole history of coming in second!" "It doesn't have to be that way," cried Merry. "With a few snide remarks you could spin it that Twist was just lucky. You could compare her showpiece to a child's drawing on a refrigerator. We can still salvage this for the Grand Chef!" "Are you listening to yourself, Merry?" "How can you carry on when you know you want to join us?" "What are you still fighting for?" "He doesn't love you, Merry." "What?" sputtered Merry. "Happy, what are you talking about?" "Éclair doesn't love you, Merry," said Happy. "No matter what you do for him he will never feel for you what you feel for him." "I don't... I never... he's just a..." Merry trailed off. "How did you know, Happy?" "A better question would be 'How did everypony else miss it?' Really, where did you all get this silly idea that I don't notice stuff? But Merry, you have to know that there is room in the Grand Chef's heart for only one pony, and that is himself." "That might not be true. We've had moments... I think. When we're alone he's sometimes nice to me..." Merry gave up. "I've just led myself straight down the path to Tartarus, haven't I?" "I'm sorry, Merry," said Scooter. "How do we help you?" Merry did not answer right away. "Merry?" "Merry?!" "Give me a moment," said Merry. "I've got a few years of denial to work through here." "You aren't thinking of doing something stupid, are you?" "No, I've already done that. I'm thinking of doing something smart." "Oh, good," said Happy. "Because I think that's my job. I think it's even in my contract, for some reason I don't understand." Merry took off her headset and got up to leave the control booth. "So, what are you going to do, Merry?" asked Curtains. "I'll try to run interference for you with the Grand Chef. But first I need to take a meeting." # Princess Luna read the note an usher had just handed her thoughtfully, then rose to leave. "Excuse Us, children, We have some pressing business to conduct." Shortly after Luna left Scootaloo and Sporky returned. To reach their seats they had to slip passed Silver Spoon. "Ewwww! You guys are gross!" cried Silver. "What have you been rolling in?" They were covered with dust, cobwebs and grease. "We had to hide from a maintenance pony," said Scootaloo. This was all the explanation she offered. "Which was only necessary because he came to reset the circuit breakers," grumbled Sporky. "We'd have been fine if somepony hadn't tripped the breakers in the first place." "Fine!" snapped Scootaloo. "Next time I'll hold the flashlight and you use the wire clippers." "That wouldn't work, I had to read the schematic while you made the cut, because you can't read schematics." "I'm not so sure you can, either!" "What did you two do?" Sweetie Belle demanded to know. "Oh, we've been inspecting the Coliseum's wiring." The innocent tone Scootaloo affected was not convincing. "Their security down there is pretty lax, especially given how worried they are about the rest of the building," noted Sporky. "The door was ajar." "I think some pony was working down there this morning and just left it." "Well, whatever they were doing is definitely wasn't cleaning." Sporky brushed a bit of spider web off his ear. "What did you do?" Sweetie Belle demanded again, more forcefully this time. "Oh, we found an extra feature wired into the Challenger's Kitchen fans," said Sporky. "And we thought that was really not fair to the Grand Chef," continued Scootaloo, smugly. "So we spliced it onto his kitchen's exhaust system," concluded Sporky. # "Smarty, stand by to intro the final round," called Curtains. "Okay, everypony, we get to do the rest of the show right." A good start, he thought, would be to turn this awful thing off. He flipped the switch that disengaged the Heat Hammer. Curtains had no way of knowing that the off switch had been burnt out. He looked at the temperature gauge for the Challenger's Kitchen, and was pleased to see that the temperature was already returning to normal. He did not look at the gauge for the Grand Chef's kitchen. Curtains had no reason to think he should. # "Alright, everypony, we have seen the opening acts, now it's time for the main event," declared Smarty. "The Sugar Showpiece. I know everypony else in the Coliseum is ready for this, how about you, Chefs? Challenger, are you ready?" "Yeth, Mithter Brickoven." "Grand Chef Éclair, are you ready?" "Ready and eager." "You may begin." # The Grand Chef became a scarlet blur, seemingly trying to fly to everywhere in his kitchen at once. His assistants rushed to obey his every bellow; given his current mood, it would take very little to trigger the Grand Chef's rage and no pony wanted to get their head bitten off. No pony was completely sure that it would only be figurative. # "Guyths, I know you want to thelebrate, but we have work to do." They had been celebrating since the winner of round two was announced, and Twist really didn't want to make them stop, but she had a tower of sugar to assemble. Apple Bloom stopped dancing with Bon Bon. "Yes, Chef. Sorry, Chef." "I'm going to need a pot of isomalt ready to add color... I mean it, Apple Bloom, thtop dancing." "Ah'm sorry, Chef." Twist just grinned. She was feeling better than she had in days. # "What do you have for us tonight, Grand Chef?" "The Cloudiseum of Cloudsdale." "You plan to take us to the races, Grand Chef?" "Certainly, Oates," answered the Grand Chef. "The pegasi will actually race on my Sugar Showpiece. The whole thing will move. And aside from the spring and winding mechanism, and a music box drum for the orchestra, all of the moving parts will be edible. I can even adjust the weighting on each competitor so each race may end differently. Do you wish to place a bet, Oates?" "I always bet on Fleetfoot, Grand Chef," said Oates. "It sounds magnificent. What do you think of your competitor's efforts?" The Grand Chef shook his head. "I am deeply disappointed in the Challenger, Oates. It appears she has decided to rest on her laurels and is no longer even trying." "She seems to be working quite industriously, Grand Chef..." "Oates, please, she is doing one of the Great Stained Glass Windows from the palace at Canterlot." The Grand Chef waved dismissively. "They are so magnificent sugar artists find them irresistible. And that is the trap young Peppermint has fallen into. Every sugar artist in Equestria has done the Windows. I find the notion that my little challenger can do anything original laughable. But it is not actually funny, so I shall not laugh." "I believe the Challenger's real name is..." The Grand Chef was quick to interrupt. "Looking into her kitchen I see that Peppermint is already reproducing her Window all wrong. And she is using candy canes for support structures? Really? I suppose her candy canes are very nice. Peppermint has applied herself to mastering them. Most of us go on to better things earlier in our careers." "Peppermint is not her..." "One final thing, Oates. I think her choice of 'Nightmare Night's Defeat By The Elements of Harmony' for a Window is an insult to our Princess. No, little Peppermint has gotten lucky and deceived us into believing she is a winner. Her showpiece will remind us that she is just a little girl playing at adult games. Now excuse me, Oates, I have a real showpiece to assemble." Oates knew better than to say another word when the Grand Chef dismissed him. But he did note that the Grand Chef seemed to be perspiring. Oates had never seen him sweat. # "Well, Grand Chef Éclair is certainly in fine form," grumped Happy. "He can be such a meanie!" "Be that as it may be," said Smarty. "The Grand Chef makes several points. Judges, your opinions?" "I differ with him as far as Twist's candy canes," said Almond. "They are spectacular! Rather than making stripes, Twist blends the colors; they fade into one another seamlessly." "They're so pretty!" exclaimed Happy. "Also, I want to say, the Grand Chef totally missed the point when he said Twist is getting the Window all wrong. I can see what she's doing; can any of you?" "I can," said Doc. "The real Window is highly stylized. Twist has re-envisioned it. The sugar figures she is making are realistic instead. Very realistic. Twist's work is almost photographic. It's quite stunning." "That makes sense," said Almond. "Coming from Ponyville, Twist very likely knows the bearers of the Elements of Harmony personally." "The Grand Chef did say he wanted something original," laughed Happy. "Can I also say, I want to apologize for my earlier statement about Chef Twist being slow?" asked Doc. "She's not slow, she's methodical. Deliberate. Twist doesn't waste a single move. Look how much work she's done in such a short time." "That's as opposed to the Grand Chef, who flies around his kitchen flamboyantly, playing for the crowd." Happy began to giggle. "He always reminds me of some big tropical bird, showing off for a potential mate!" "So, you we all seem to like the Challenger's Showpiece so far," said Smarty. "In light of that, do any of you like Twist's chances in the final round?" They all answered together. "No." "Yeah, me neither." # "Princess Luna, what do you think of the contest so far?" The break in the middle of the third round had begun and the Chefs weren't doing anything interesting. Oates was grateful when Princess Luna signaled that she wanted another interview. It gave him something to entertain the crowd with, and most of the crowd had remained in their seats during the break. "We are enjoying it very much, Mr. Oates," Luna answered. "But We do wish to address one of the Grand Chef's comments, if We may." "Certainly, Princess." "He suggested that We should be insulted by Twist's selection of Our Window. This is far from the truth. We do not consider the event portrayed as 'Our Defeat.' We, with Our sister, celebrate this as Our liberation from the Nightmare. Twist understands Us much better than the Grand Chef does." "Then you are looking forward to seeing the finished piece?" "Oh, yes, very much. We also recall the Grand Chef made mention of how he holds a Royal Commission. This is true. However, I am planning to speak with the Master of the Household about adding Twist to the catering staff, perhaps for the next Grand Galloping Gala." "Princess, did you just say "I am planning,'?" "Yes. I'm considering dropping the Royal We from my speech. Do you think it will go over well?" "It might." # "I'm very proud of you for staying rather than fleeing from Mr. Oates, Quizzical. Quizzical? Quizzical?" Quiz was staring towards the back of the Grand Chef's kitchen, her eyes half shut and unfocused. She did not respond to the Princess. "Ssssh! Don't interrupt her, Princess Luna," said Sweetie Belle. "I think Quiz is listening to something." # Quiz had been watching the mare who Sweetie Belle told her was producer Merry Fairweather. Quiz marveled that she recognized Merry. She now recalled seeing her in Ponyville on several occasions. Quiz simply hadn't noticed Merry at the time. It was obvious that it was Merry who had been carrying out all the Grand Chef's nefarious orders, and this puzzled Quiz. Why would any pony do such things? Quiz had kept track of Merry, hoping for some clue that would help her to understand. Merry had disappeared after the second round, but Quiz finally spied her heading for the back of the Grand Chef's kitchen. Quiz really did not like to eaves drop. It was very rude. But Quiz could not resist. Bbbzzzt! "Grand Chef, we need to talk." "Oh, good, Fairweather. I need you to do something for me." "The entire staff is in open revolt! You have to do something to settle..." "Yes, yes, we'll need to begin a great purge right after tonight's contest. Begin with Happy. She's saying unkind things about me and I just can't have that." "Grand Chef... Blitzen, please! It's time to do the right thing..." "I need you to start a fire in the Challenger's Kitchen." "What?!" "Nothing large. But it must destroy the girl's showpiece, and it must look as if the little clod did it herself. Get right on that, Fairweather." "What makes you think I even know how to do that?" "You've done it before. In Ponyville. I've seen your expense accounts." "Yes, I changed the Sweet Shop's order. I arranged for several months of supplies to show up, but that's all. The fire was an accident." "Really?" "Really. Those extra supplies were just supposed to disrupt their kitchen. Twist would have just lost a night or two of practice while they sorted it out and put it all away, but that was supposed to be all. No pony was supposed to be trapped by that pallet of supplies. No pony was meant to spend a week in the hospital." "So you don't actually know anything about arson? That is disappointing. I was looking forward to seeing Peppermint present the judges with a pile of molten slag and smoking ruin." "I can't believe you asked me to do that! Quiz Greystone almost died in that fire! And it would have been my fault!" "Eggs and omelets, Fairweather. Think of some other calamity we can arrange for the brat if you can't do a fire." "How about you grow a conscience and act like a responsible adult?" "How dare you speak to me that way? Are you also revolting against me?" "I'm the last friend you have, and I'm trying to save you from yourself. You have to stop bullying the staff and you have to show the Challenger a little common courtesy. You have to get over this unhealthy disregard for the feelings of your fellow ponies. And you are running out of time. If you don't stop acting like a cartoon super villain you are going to lose everything!" "You dare! No pony speaks to me that way! No pony!" "Blitzen, no! Please don't! STOP!" Crash!!! The noise hurt Quiz's ear and she had to break the spell. She sat stunned, shaking her head in an attempt to clear it. Finally, she gasped, "He has hurt her." "Who has been hurt, Quizzical?" asked a very concerned Princess Luna. "My... arch-enemy... I think. It is very hard to explain." # Merry lay across the wreckage of a toppled rack of pots and pans. The Grand Chef stood over her. "Security! Drag this traitorous mare out of here by her mane!" "No, I'll walk myself out," said Merry. She tried painfully to rise, but only managed to send a few pots rolling across the kitchen. "Um, could you help me up, please?" Two huge guard stallions got Merry standing, then escorted her, limping, to the nearest exit. At the door she stopped and asked, "Could one of you please get me my hat?" That was all she said when she left.
Thweet Geniuth	"And The Winner Is..." Reprise	Thweet Geniuth Chapter 19 "And The Winner Is..." Reprise "Ok, everypony, we are about to begin the final hour of tonight's Challenge," said Smarty. "Do any of you wish to make any observations?" "Doesn't anypony want to talk about what happened to Merry?" whined Happy. Their answer was resounding. "No!" "I have to say, considering tabling, I find the Challenger's proposed Showpiece frightening," said Doc. "The Grand Chef hurt her! It was assault!" Happy cried into their headsets. "Doc, please explain 'tabling' for any audience members who don't know," said Smarty. "Scooter, you are the closest to Merry, could you explain it to her?" "Tabling is the final test, Smarty," said Doc. "A sugar sculpture must be structurally sound, and to test this we set up a table before each kitchen. A Chef must move their piece the ten feet from their kitchen to the table, and it must be able to survive the move." "Happy, the Grand Chef will say Merry fell," said Scooter. "When moving their Showpiece, a Chef must bear its' weight and must be in control of guiding the piece to the table," continued Doc. "As many as four ponies can move a piece, and we allow a Chef the aid of our stage stallions, but that's problematic given Chef Twist's height. Three burly stallions crouching way over to aide her won't be much help." "Merry didn't fall, she didn't trip, she wasn't even pushed!" insisted Happy. "The Grand Chef threw her at that rack!" "Chef Twist has added a new top feature to her plan; this will make her Showpiece the Grand Chef's Challenge's new record holder for tallest sugar sculpture. That is, if she can get it to the table." "Happy, we didn't get it on camera, and it was in the back of the kitchen where none of the audience could see it clearly. Merry must have seen this day coming because she once told me 'If it ever goes into the fan for me, I don't want to fight it. I just want to slip quietly out a back door without a word.' That's what she did. Leave it." "So you are worried about Twist's Sugar Showpiece collapsing?" asked Smarty. "Merry was hurt; shouldn't somepony go after her to make sure she's alright?" "Merry will take care of herself, she's like that. Come on, Happy, I don't want to start crying, so could you please just shut up?" "I fear she will leave a lot of herself behind here," said Almond. "We may still be cleaning debris from her Showpiece out of the carpet years from now." # At the beginning of the last hour of this Challenge, the Grand Chef did not return directly to his kitchen. He first went to visit Twist in her's. This was a tradition in the Grand Chef's Challenge. He always took time to inspect the Challenger's work. This was played up as a courtesy call, though really it was a last effort to rattle the Challenger. "You are assembling a mighty Showpiece," said the Grand Chef. "Thank you, Grand Chef," said Twist. "Your colors are very vibrant. They remind me of a child's coloring book." "My colorths reflect reality. At least, as nearly as I can." "Don't you fear the great heights to which you are building, Chef?" "Of courthse I do," answered Twist. "But I have no choice. Not if I want any points for an extreme element. I can't make it move, not like your Thowpiece. And I won't add pyrotechnicths. I don't light fires in my kitchen on purpose." This got a dry chuckle from the Grand Chef. "No, my extreme element will be my piethe'th height. And I have to include the new top pieth I'm making. It'th very important. But thethse will help." Twist indicated the candy sticks she had already prepared. "Candy canes?" "I know, candy canes are for children and beginners. But it was candy canes that got me into candy making and they have always served me well. They bring me luck. They will frame and thupport my thowpiece tonight." "Doesn't the weight concern you?" "Thsure. That'th the trick, ithn't it? Make it too thsturdy and it ith too heavy. Make it too light and it ith too fragile. You have to have balance." "You know that you cannot just pour sugar into molds and glue it together and hope to beat me." "No Grand Chef. But I'm jutht not thinking about that. I really jutht want to put it together and move it to the table. I can already thsee it in my head. I want to thsee it in real life, if only for a moment." "Oh, I hope the image lasts longer than that. In fact, I hope you remember this night for a very long time." "Thank you, Grand Chef, I think. Good luck to you altho." At that the Grand Chef left. Apple Bloom stepped up to Twist and said, "Well, was that creepy or what?" "It didn't scare me," said Twist. "I'm not afraid. Don't you dare thsay, 'You will be.'" "Ah wouldn't dream of it, Chef." No pony noticed that on his way out the Grand Chef scuffed his hoof. And no pony noticed the bulge this raised in the carpet, right where Twist was likely to step. # In the Grand Chef's kitchen his showpiece grew and grew. As each portion was assembled he tested the movement. Everything moved. The racers raced. The crowd waved, and rose to cheer. The orchestra played. Grounds keepers in the infield tended to stray clouds. Birds circled. Cotton candy clouds slowly drifted by. Though it all the Grand Chef complained at the top of his lungs about the trouble he was having getting his sugar to set. He blamed his assistants. He blamed Oates (who never went near a kitchen during the final hour rush). He blamed the audience, whose movements were obviously disturbing the Coliseum's air flow. He blamed his assistant's mothers. It never occurred to the Grand Chef to blame his kitchen's exhaust fans. # Twist populated the base of her showpiece with models of the residents of Ponyville, looking adoringly up at the window. She included everyone from the Mayor to Fluttershy's bunny friend Angel. Miss Cheerilee was there with all of Twist's classmates, except for Diamond Tiara. Twist crafted her figures out of every edible material she could think of. She molded them in marzipan and sculpted them with molding chocolate. She carved Rice-crispie treats and covered them with pastiage. She carved layer cake and covered it with fondant. All of Twist's figures seemed ready to come to life. Anchoring the piece were four Royal Guards. The two in the livery of the Sun Princess were generic grim faced warriors, the two wearing Princess Luna's uniforms were more familiar. One of Princess Luna's charioteers nudged the other and pointed. "Look, Cruiser, it's us!" "I'm so proud!" gushed the other guard, sounding not at all like a grim faced warrior. Unfortunately, while she executed all the things she was good at perfectly, every time Twist tried a new skill she failed completely. Twist wanted to add the party balloons from Pinkie Pie's cutie mark to the window's border. But every time she tried to inflate her pulled sugar the sugar globe would crack. After shattering her third balloon in a row Twist realized she couldn't waste any more time on it and gave up. She just cut the balloons out of a flat piece of sugar instead, even though she knew this would cost her points. Twist's every attempt to show more advanced skills ended much this way. It was the shortest hour of Twist's life. As they assembled the panels of the Window Twist was soon spending more time on a step ladder than on the floor. Soon they needed a second ladder; Apple Bloom held sections steady while Twist fixed them into place, and Bon Bon handed materials up to the girls. By the final minute both girls were standing on the top of their ladders, their rear hooves covering the warning "Do Not Use As A Step." "Last piece!" cried Apple Bloom. "Hand it up!" Bon Bon had to climb halfway up to reach her, and she was terrified that she would knock Apple Bloom off. "There's no time! Forget it, Twist, the showpiece is tall enough." "It goeths out with the topper on or it doethn't go out," said Twist, laying down a line of hot sugar to glue the top on. "It'th for Printheth Luna, it'th important." She settled the last piece in place. "Hold it right there, Apple Bloom. It'th thtraight and level, don't let it move." "Ah got it, Chef!" "Hand me the chiller, Bon Bon." Bon Bon had to reach from one ladder to the other, for a second she thought she was going to knock them all over, and take the showpiece down as well. "It won't set, there isn't time!" "It will thet!" declared Twist. She sprayed the molten sugar with chilled compressed air to freeze it. "It won't set!" "It will thet!" "Time, Chefs!" called Smarty. "Step back from your work." Apple Bloom took her hooves off the top piece. It didn't move. It had set. # Now that it was mounted, Princess Luna could see the top piece clearly for the first time. It was herself, newly released from the Nightmare, held tightly by Princess Celestia. This was the moment the sisters had been reunited for the first time in a thousand years. "Princess, why are you sad?" asked Ray. "Please don't cry." "These are tears of Joy, little Ray," answered the Princess. "I am reminded of how very happy I am to be here." # The Grand Chef tabled first. His showpiece was so stable there was hardly any drama involved. He was worked up into a lather, but that had more to do with the heat of his kitchen than the effort of carrying the showpiece. "Um, Grand Chef?" called Happy, trying not to laugh out loud. "Your cutie mark is running!" The crossed whisk and spatula at the Grand Chef's flank were revealed to have normal wooden handles. The lightning bolt handles the Grand Chef was famous for now dribbled down his legs. "He painted his cutie mark?" exclaimed Scootaloo. "That's disgusting!" The Grand Chef ran back to his kitchen, to find a larger apron to hide his shame. # "For her tabling, the Challenger has made a special request," announced Smarty. "Instead of recruiting assistance from our staff she has asked that some of her friends aide her in moving her showpiece. Out of deference to her short stature we have agreed." "Since they are all about the same height this might make it easier to balance the showpiece," noted Doc. "But can four little fillies actually carry it?" "Nothing is going to make balancing it possible," declared Almond, shaking her head. "The showpiece is four times as tall as them." "I can't look," squealed Happy, covering her eyes with her hooves. "Tell me when it's over!" # Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle took the showpiece onto their backs, and Twist stood at the front with it resting on her collar bone. Twist would guide them, walking backwards on her rear legs. "Ok, girls, all together, on my call. Thstep. Thmaller thstepth, Scootaloo. Thstep..." Watching from the stands, it was Quiz who saw the problem first. "There is a wrinkle in the carpet. Twist will trip on it!" "I think not," declared Luna. The spot on the carpet glowed, and became smooth just as Twist set her hoof down. As slowly as they were moving it still only took a few seconds to reach the table. Twist slid the showpiece into place, and they all stepped back. The showpiece sat unmoving, as steady as if it had never been moved. The crowd stood and cheered. "Cutie Mark Crusaders, Sugar Showpiece Movers! Yay!" They jumped and did a three way high hoof. "Girls! Thtand back from my thowpiece when you do that!" "Sorry, Twist." # "I must protest!" cried the Grand Chef, charging to the judge's table. "The Challenger had magical assistance!" Princess Luna calmly flew to stand next to the Grand Chef. "Are you referring to my adjusting the carpet?" "I am." "I see," said Luna. She smiled sweetly at the Grand Chef. "We apologize for misunderstanding. It sounded as if the Grand Chef had just accused Us of cheating. Certainly that could not be the case, now could it?" "What? Um, no, not at all. I meant no such thing." The Grand Chef bowed, and backed away. "At any rate, there are no grounds for protest," said Smarty. "Magic was not used to guide or lift the showpiece, only to remove an obstacle. That is allowed." With a huff the Grand Chef stomped back to his kitchen. Luna flew back to her seat. "Princess, the way you told him off... that was so cool!" exclaimed Ray. "You're my hero!" # It was a very short deliberation. When the judges announced they were ready none of them looked pleased. Happy was actually crying. "It has been an amazing Challenge," said Smarty. "I have never seen a Sugar Showpiece contest the like of what we witnessed tonight. The Grand Chef built and assembled a sugar glockenspiel. Chef Twist set a new record for our tallest showpiece. Both chefs' work was nearly perfect; with no spills, drips, or crooked lines, and not a thing out of place. I can say without fear of contradiction that both chefs put a lifetime of experience into their work tonight. However, for Chef Twist, that lifetime of experience is a small fraction of the Grand Chef's. We award this round to..." Smarty was interrupted by a loud 'Sproing!' from deep within the Grand Chef's showpiece. The sugar gears that made it work required perfect tempering, and perfect tempering requires exact temperature control. The temperature in the Grand Chef's kitchen had been wildly out of control for over two hours. It was a testament to the Grand Chef's skill that the thing started at all, let along that it had run for so long. But the sugar showpiece couldn't last a moment longer. Some gears seized, others tried to keep spinning and shattered under the pressure. Then everything went at once, and half of the Grand Chef's showpiece disintegrated, showering the judges with sugar shrapnel. The entire Coliseum looked on in stunned silence. Then Smarty signaled to the camerapony that he wanted a close-up. He calmly brushed shards of candy off his shoulders and began. "Under the rules, a sugar showpiece must last, at the very least, until the judges have pronounced a winner. We had not yet finished pronouncing a winner. With only one surviving sugar showpiece, we must by default award this round, and therefore this episode of the Challenge, to Chef Twist." The crowd went wild. # "No!" roared the Grand Chef. He could be heard about the crowd. "No pony does this to me! I am the Grand Chef! You cannot get away with this!" He grabbed what was left of his showpiece off the table and hurled it at the judges. This left him holding the heavy metal base the whole thing had been mounted on. He held it high over his head and screamed. "I will fix you all for this! I will fix you! And I will start with you!" The Grand Chef turned to Twist. "Say your prayers, you spitting little four eyed freak!" The base piece glowed beige and disappeared with a soft 'pop.' It reappeared in the stands, where it fell with a huge 'Clang!' The Grand Chef screamed again, and advanced on Twist. He clearly meant to deal with her with his bare hooves. Security ponies, stage workers, and good Samaritans from the crowd all ran to stop him, but it was clear that none of them would get to the Grand Chef before he got to Twist. But one pony was close enough, and the Grand Chef never noticed her step behind him. He didn't feel it when she layed him flat with one blow. He would feel it later. Bon Bon turned to the nearest camerapony, held up her frying pan, and smiled. "The secret is to turn it on edge. You don't want to hit them with the flat; you want to chop like it's a cleaver. Puts 'em down every time." Poor Bon Bon didn't get a close-up. The shot got wider and wider as the frightened camerpony backed away from her. # A midnight blue cloud hovered over the Grand Chef. It formed into a rod, and poked him repeatedly. He twitched, but did not rise. "Get up, you big meanie!" demanded Princess Luna. "I have a spell with your name on it, get up! Darn it, Bon Bon was too quick for me!" The Princess began to pout. "Princess Luna!" cried Dinky. "Quiz has been hurt!" The two guard stallions lifted the base piece to reveal a stunned Quiz. Blood ran down her face. "I... underestimated the weight..."gasped Quiz. "I believe that is a personal best. Does the record still count if I do not stick the landing? Owwww!" "Hush, Quizzical," said Luna, gently resting her horn against Quiz's brow. "Be still and let your Princess heal your owie." # Once it was clear that the Grand Chef was dealt with, the crowd resumed the celebration. It would last all night.
Thweet Geniuth	Epilogue We Should Have A Long Talk	Thweet Geniuth Epilogue - We Should Have A Long Talk Twist's victory spawned a raucous celebration that shook the walls of Confectionery Coliseum. The joyous party atmosphere was infectious enough to draw almost anypony into the fun. Quiz, of course, got out of there as quickly as she could. Quiz slipped out a side door. The party outside was even more boisterous than inside the Coliseum, but only at the front of the building where ponies could watch the Mighty Percher-Tron. Off to the side, where the view was not so good, it was quite peaceful. Across the street a mare in a broad brimmed hat beckoned for Quiz to come over. Merry Fairweather was sitting on the curb, next to an elderly mule in a tattered overcoat. She and the mule were passing something in a brown paper bag back and forth. When Quiz approached Merry stood and offered Quiz a hoof. "Quizzcal Greystone, it's nice to finally meet you face to face." "Miss Merry Fairweather." Quiz tentatively took the offered hoof and shook it. "Please help me to understand something, Ma'am. Are you my arch-enemy?" Merry laughed. "Yeah, I'm afraid so. At least I was. I hope you won't think of me that way anymore." "That should not be difficult. I found it nearly impossible to imagine having an arch-enemy in the first place." "I can't tell you how happy I am you beat me, Quiz. Being a failure as your enemy is the best thing that ever happened to me. Of course I should have expected it. All I had going for me was my wits and all the resources of one of the largest corporations in Equestria. You had magic on your side." "Magic?" "Or friendship. They're the same thing, right? Fred, pass me the bottle. This is Fred, by the way. He's my new friend." "Hello, Sir." "Pleased to meetcha," said the mule. "Miss Fairweather, you have been injured. You should have that seen to." "Yeah, I tripped. But I'll be fine. It looks like you hurt yourself, too. Fred, hand me your handkerchief." Merry cleaned a little dried blood from Quiz's bangs. "Yes, I dropped something," said Quiz. "I will be fine." While they couldn't see the Percher-Tron, they could hear it. They were running a replay of the Grand Chef's freak out again. Merry had already lost track of how many times she'd heard it. "The Grand Chef will go in for 48 hour's psychiatric observation, just as soon as he comes to. If they decide to let him out he goes straight to jail. If they decided not to let him out they'll probably keep him for a long, long time. Either way, he's ruined." Merry took another swig from the bag and handed it back to Fred. The clang of a frying pan rang from the Tron's speakers. "I love that part," laughed Merry. "Anyway, I had a word with Princess Luna. There are more than enough shares of Food Equestria available out there to take control of the company, and when the market opens tomorrow morning the Royal Treasury begins a big buy up. Even if he can weasel out of his legal problems, unlikely as that is, Blitzen Éclair is finished. But my friends will get to keep their jobs if they still want them." "What will happen to you?" Merry shook her head. "Oh, I move on. I can't stay here, not after what I've done. But I'll find something. I hear Queen Chrysalis is looking for a PR hack, some pony who can spin it that the changelings aren't evil, just misunderstood. I think that fits my skill set." "I suspect that would be a sad waste of talent." "Oh? Then forget it. I've already done quite enough of that." Merry took the bag back and had a swig. "I hope when they rebuild the show Happy tries out to be the new chef." "Miss Happy?" "Oh, yeah. She's an amateur, but Happy is a real gourmet. And it's fun to watch her galloping around a kitchen." Merry look thoughtful for a moment. "There's a catch phrase in there somewhere. Anyway, did you know that Happy has family in Ponyville? Very distant, but her fourth cousin sixteen times removed sends her killer cupcake recipes sometimes." Fred took a drink and passed Merry the bag. "You know, Fred, this is the weakest hard cider I have ever had." "Hard cider?" exclaimed Fred. "That cider ain't hard. Hard cider isn't good for you, Missy." "Oh. Well, in that case it's pretty good." Merry took a sip, then wiped off the top of the bottle, and offered it to Quiz. "Care to join me, Miss Greystone?" "I... yes, I do believe I would like to share a drink with you, Miss Fairweather." Quiz took a sip, and passed the bag to Fred. "That is quite good." "Do you have any idea what you have done, Quiz?" "I merely helped a friend." Merry laughed. "You are the most extraordinary pony I have even met, Quiz. And you are completely unaware of how extraordinary you are." Quiz had no comment. "I would love to chat with you a while longer," said Merry, looking across the street. "But I see a purple unicorn over there, and I think she's looking for you." "Miss Twilight? Good bye, Miss Fairweather, Mr. Fred." Quiz dashed off without waiting for a response. When Quiz was gone Merry turned to her new companion. "Fred, tell me again about this brother-in-law of yours." "That worthless jerk? He cheated me, stole my company, and then poisoned my wife's thoughts about me until she took the kids and left me!" "Hmmmm," mused Merry. "You know, if you had the right pony on your side, somepony ruthless, somepony willing to do anything to get things done, you could ruin him and get your life back. We should talk." # "Miss Twilight!" Quiz ran to Twilight, and when she reached her she leapt up and hugged her around the neck, and Twilight hugged Quiz back. "I am so sorry!" they both said at once. "What do you have to be sorry about?" they both asked at once. "Me first," insisted Twilight. "I'm sorry that I did not take the word of the most careful observer in all of Equestria. From now on, no matter what it is, even if you say you've seen little green ponies from outer space, I swear I will believe you. Now what are you sorry about?" "I... am sure there must be something." "Never mind, Quiz." Quiz no longer hugged her, but Twilight still held Quiz tightly by the shoulders. Twilight didn't want to let Quiz go, and Quiz did no try to get away. "I wish I had gotten here sooner. But there was arcane interference in the ionosphere. It took me eight jumps to teleport here from Canterlot." "It is a shame your conference was a sham, Miss Twilight." "Oh, that turned out alright. When I went to the public communications office to ask about a conference they were very interested in talking to me. There's a real conference soon, and they were still trying to recruit a keynote speaker. I think they were a little embarrassed that none of them thought of me. I get to give my speech in a couple of months! Oh, that means I only have two months to prepare!" "Your speech is already outstanding, Miss Twilight. In two months it will be magnificent." "It will give me time to practice with your magic blackboard spell. I think I've almost worked out my contrast problems so the words are more legible." "If you insist, Miss Twilight." Quiz sighed. "May I suggest that you not use a sparkly background?" "What? No, tell me some other time. Right now I could really use a mug of hot cocoa. Want to join me?" "Will our friends worry about where we have gotten to, Miss Twilight?" "Actually, it was sort of Princess Luna's idea. When I asked her where I could find you, she sent me out here. She also said, 'I do not think I have ever known two ponies who cared so much about each other and yet misunderstood each other so badly. You should have a long talk.'" "I seem to recall getting similar advice, Miss Twilight." "Okay, then. I have heard of a place near here that serves an amazing cocoa. And while we enjoy our cocoa we could have that long talk." "I would like that very much." THE END
Nightmare on Stirrup Street	pre	"Well, then we gotta go find the others before it's too late. Once Big Mac gets me stitched up, we can be on our way." Applejack said. "Not in yer condition ye won't be! You're gonna stay here and stay immobile, but not too comfy. I don't quite get what's goin' on, but if it happens in yer sleep, then ye ain't goin' back to sleep on my watch!" Granny said. "No buts! I'll keep ye company. Big Mac, tie that off and get movin' with these fillies, Wake up as many ponies as ye can!" Granny ordered. With a nod, Mac tied off the stitches and followed the crusaders downstairs, they stepped out the door and straight into Fluttershy, who was just landing in front of the farm. "Rarity told me I had to check on you immediately, and she said you'd be here, um, is everything okay? She was limping and bleeding, and she said something really bad was happening. I could tell she was serious because her makeup was smeared. Is everything okay here?" Fluttershy said. "Well, to make a long story short, Nightmare Moon is attacking ponies in their dreams." Scootaloo said. "We're trying to figure out how to stop her, but I guess if you're here, that's one less pony we have to wake up." "Rarity told me she would go wake up Pinkie, but the walk out to the farm was a bit much for her to make. Is Applejack okay?" Fluttershy asked. "She's hurt, but she'll live for now." Applebloom said. "We still need to actually stop Nightmare Moon, though, or we're never gonna be able to sleep again! We can't touch her in the dream, though. Applejack said she fought back, but nothin' worked!" "If there were a way to get her out of the dream?" Sweetie Belle said hopefully. "Dreams aren't real for most of us, though. They're only real places for Nightmare Moon." Scootaloo said. "Wait! Come with me!" Applebloom shouted. She trotted quickly back upstairs and burst into Applejack's room, scanning around for the stick. She lifted it triumphantly as the rest of the ponies filed inside. "It's... a stick." Scootaloo said flatly. "It's a dream stick! Applejack brought it out of the dream when she woke up holding it!" Applebloom shouted excitedly. "Hey yeah! Rarity had a bunch of sewing tools sticking out of her flank when I woke her up!" Sweetie Belle blurted. "I still don't get it." Scootaloo said. "So all we gotta do is get somepony to go to sleep, then wake them up once they grab hold of Nightmare Moon!" Applebloom said. "That... that's the plan?" Scootaloo said in disbelief. "GRAB Nightmare Moon!?" Applebloom nodded. "That's the dumbest plan I ever heard! She's been killing us when we get close, and you want somepony to get the closest they possibly can?" Scootaloo said, waving her hooves in the air. "And then how will we know when to wake them up? We could wake them up to soon, or too late, and what if Nightmare Moon doesn't even attack them?" "Well, we could watch for REM to see if they're dreaming, and if they are, we can watch for injuries, then give them a minute or so to grab her, and wake them up then." Sweetie Belle offered. "REM?" Applejack asked. "Rapid eye movement! It's when a pony's eyes move under their eyelids indicating they are dreaming! I read about it in the library yesterday while we were learning about dreams." Sweetie Belle said proudly. "Well, ah don't have any other plans, and ah think this sounds incredibly dangerous and foolish, but ah'm willin' to try it. Ah didn't have that stick in my room before ah went to sleep, so it just may work." Applejack said. "Applejack no! You're already injured!" Applebloom protested. "Well somepony's got to do it, and we don't know that she'll actually attack anypony but me and my friends." Applejack said. "She attacked me!" Applebloom insisted. "And ah ain't lettin' her do it again." Applejack said, staring her sister in the eyes. Applebloom wilted under her stare and relented, looking away.
Nightmare on Stirrup Street	Chapter 7	"I'll go." A quiet voice said. Everypony turned to the small yellow Pegasus who had been silent up until now. "Fluttershy?" Applejack said in disbelief. "If... if Nightmare Moon is hurting ponies, it would be wrong of me to try to hide and wait it out. Applejack is hurt, and so is Rarity, and Pinkie will be too hard to find since she's waking ponies up right now." Fluttershy said. She took a deep breath. "I'm willing to try to stop Nightmare Moon." "Well... if'n you think you can do it, we'll let you. All you gotta do is grab hold of her and not let go until we wake you up. We'll give you five minutes or until heavy injury to wake you up. We don't want you dyin' on us, but we gotta make sure you got a hold of Nightmare Moon. Think you can handle that?" Applejack asked. Fluttershy's breathing was fast and panicked, but she nodded. Applejack patted the bed in front of her. "Then c'mon up here, we gotta keep close watch on you, and I'll be here for you while you're in there." On shaky legs, Fluttershy crawled into the bed and curled up in Applejack's lap. The orange mare wrapped her hooves around Fluttershy and turned to the rest of the ponies in the room. "Now, we gotta help Fluttershy get to sleep, so everypony needs to stay real quiet, and Big Mac, could you go get a glass of warm milk?" Applejack asked. Her brother walked slowly away downstairs while Fluttershy shivered in her grip. "You gotta calm down some there, Fluttershy." "I'm sorry, I'm really trying." Fluttershy apologized. "S'alright, we'll help you get to sleep." Applejack said. Big Mac eventually returned with the glass of milk, which Fluttershy sipped at slowly. She passed it off to Big Mac when it was half gone, and closed her eyes, resting calmly. She eventually stopped shivering and her breathing evened out. They all waited as patiently as they could for a few more minutes, until Applebloom broke the silence. "Is she asleep?" She said quietly. "Ah think so." Applejack said. "If she weren't, she'da woken up by now. Sweetie Belle, come closer and tell me when she enters RAN or whatever." "REM. It's when her eyes move under the eyelids." Sweetie Belle said. She walked over and propped her hooves up on the edge of the bed. Granny moved closer with her lantern so they could better see Fluttershy's eyes. "N'whaddya plan on doin' if she never does dream, hmmm?" Granny asked. "Then we let poor Fluttershy sleep, and we try again with somepony else." Applejack said. "She's in it!" Sweetie Belle squealed. "That was fast." Applejack said, looking down at the yellow Pegasus in her hooves. "Prob'ly magic." Granny muttered. "Alright. We give her five minutes, or until she gets injured, then we wake her up. No buts." Applejack said. The rest of the room nodded, and they watched and waited. Fluttershy found herself in her cottage. The lights were on, giving it a warm, homey feeling. Outside it was the dead of night, the darkness being held at bay by the lights in her cottage, and the wind rattled at her windows. She looked around, trying to collect herself. She was... here to stop Nightmare Moon, and they had said she had five minutes once she started dreaming to grab hold of her. She had no idea if time would run the same speed in her dream, but she looked at her cuckoo clock: 3:00 in the morning. She took a deep breath, then slowly let it out, trying to calm down. She swallowed, went to the kitchen to grab a knife, then returned to the living room. "Come out. I know you're here." Fluttershy said sternly. "Come into my parlor, said the fly to the spider." Luna said, coalescing in a cloud of deep blue smoke. "Brave words from the coward." "I-I won't l-let you hurt my friends anymore." Fluttershy said, visibly trembling. "Oh? I'm not sure there's very much you could do about it. Your friend Applejack already tried, and look what that accomplished." Luna said. She pulled on her head with a hoof and it detached from her neck. Blood spurted out of the opening, and Fluttershy could see her open esophagus. Fluttershy retched onto the carpet, though nothing but saliva and bile came up. "Awwww, can't handle a little blood? You know what your animals have to eat, right?" Luna mocked. "I'm well aware that hurk my animals have to eat meat. But that doesn't mean I enjoy seeing a severed pony's head." Fluttershy choked out. "I simply can't believe you could sleep so soundly after the death of your friends. You're quite the uncaring little thing aren't you? Element of 'kindness', my hoof." Luna chided, putting her head back in place. "I care a lot! That's why I'm here. To stop you!" Fluttershy quietly shouted. She brandished her kitchen knife, pointing it at Luna. "Oh please Fluttershy, I'm not going to fight you with weapons. What do you take me for? An 'animal'?" Luna said. At the word 'animal', a rustling sound began. It came from all directions, and Fluttershy looked about, trying to find the source. First, a few mice came out of the holes in her cottage walls. They made their way toward Fluttershy, moving with a steady, but determined, pace. Next, cats and ferrets came out of the various perches, shelters, and habitrail tunnels around her home. They, too, made their way toward Fluttershy. Fluttershy was starting to get nervous. These animals had no eyes. They weren't normal, but she was fairly certain if what Applejack and the rest had said was true, that they could certainly hurt her. "Please get back. I don't want to hurt you." Fluttershy pleaded. Fluttershy looked up at the clock on the wall, hoping that she was nearly past the allotted time. The clock said 3:01, much to her dismay. Only a minute had passed? It felt like so much more. Maybe time passed slower here or something? But she still moved at the same speed. It didn't make much sense. But then, sometimes she would have dreams that seemed to take days, and in reality, only a few minutes had passed. So maybe she'd only been sleeping for a few seconds! She felt panic settling in, and started to hyperventilate. She was pulled out of her reverie by a pain on her foreleg. "Ow!" She looked down to see one of the mice on her leg, with his teeth sunk into her leg just above the hoof. She pulled him off of her and put him down gently on the ground, then started flapping to stay above the floor. "Please don't do this! I don't want to hurt any of you!" She pleaded again. Luna stood silently at the other end of the living room, watching her silently with those cat-like green eyes, a smug grin on her face. "Why are you even doing any of this?!" Fluttershy cried. Luna rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. "You know, I've already explained it three times. I couldn't possibly 'bear' to explain myself again." At her words, a thundering series of steps made its way up to the door of the cottage. There was a thump at the door, then a second one, accompanied by the sound of splintering wood, then a crash as the third thump breaks the door down. Behind it stood Fluttershy's dear tea-time friend, Harry the bear. He didn't look like he'd stopped by for tea, though. He rampaged past Luna, stepped on several smaller creatures, and took a swipe at Fluttershy with his massive paw. She floated backward toward the stairs leading up to her room, staying out of his reach, while her eyes were still filling with tears over her angry friends killing each other in front of her. 'They're not real. They're not real. They're not real.' Fluttershy kept repeating to herself in her mind. She sniffled and blinked the wetness back. She had to stay strong and help her friends, but what could she possibly do? Now Harry was between her and Luna, and there was no way she was going to beat him in a fight. Fluttershy was pushed back upstairs, Harry swiping at her in a rage. His swings were directionless, and they were easy to dodge, but getting hit by just one would probably be enough to put her out. She flitted up the stairs, and looked around for something that might help. She saw nothing useful to her except maybe the blanket, so she grabbed that and tossed it at Harry as he lumbered up the steps. He tore it to pieces and she growled in frustration. She looked down at the knife in her hoof, then over at Harry. She could try to fight him, but the moment she took a single big injury her friends would wake her up, and then she wouldn't be able to get Luna... Fluttershy's eyes went wide. Could she do it? Could she really do that? Harry roared and she was awakened from her brief reverie. She ducked away from his paw, and raced over to the window. She quickly unlatched it, swung it open, and flew outside, going around the house. She zipped around and peeked in the front door Harry had knocked down. There was a continuous stream of animals pouring out of the various holes in her home. They covered the floor, milling about Luna's hooves and crawling up the stairs. Fluttershy swallowed hard. She turned away from the door and felt herself starting to hyperventilate. She held the knife in both hooves and looked at the blade. She'd had it custom made specifically for chopping through bone in the meat she sometimes had to feed her animals. They would eat the bones too, but one time, one of the hyena's she'd been taking care of at the time almost choked to death on a large piece of bone. Since then, she'd had this knife made and she always kept it clean and polished. It was sturdy, and would definitely do the job. She gulped, took a deep breath, then struck. Fluttershy flew in the door, her wings almost silent, and latched onto Luna's back. "What in the world? You didn't run?" Luna exclaimed in surprise. "Not when my friends need me!" Fluttershy shouted back. Fluttershy closed her eyes and lifted the knife in one hoof. Her other three hooves held tightly onto Luna's barrel, making sure the alicorn wasn't going to run away. Fluttershy squeezed her eyes shut tight... and stabbed herself in the side. She felt the blade sink easily into her flesh, and she nearly fainted at the pain. She focused her thoughts entirely on her hooves, all four now clinging as tightly as she could onto Luna. "What in Tartarus was that!?" Luna barked in laughter. "What was that supposed to accomplish? What was-" Luna stopped as she found herself standing on Applejack's bed, Fluttershy bleeding beneath her, held tightly in Applejack's hooves, the knife stuck deeply into her side. "What in Tar-" Once again Luna didn't get to finish as Big Mac's hind hooves impacted her face, blowing teeth out and shattering her jaw. She crashed through the window, shattering the glass and frame, and tumbled two stories to the ground below. Big Mac thundered down the steps of the Apple family home, and charged out the door to where Luna was pulling herself up. He almost made it before Luna's telekinesis froze him in mid-stride. She mumbled something, but the blood and broken jaw prevented her from being understood. Her actions were easy to figure out, as she started pulling Big Mac's limbs away from his body. Her cat-like eyes taking a sick pleasure in his pain. "Stop it! You're killing him!" Applebloom yelled, and threw Applejack's stick at Luna. It didn't do anything, but it distracted her for a moment. Luna tried to speak again, but all that came out was more incoherent yelling, and her horn blazed with light. Big Mac cried out in pain... then fell to the ground, released. Luna was grasping with her hooves at something stuck in her throat. Blood was pouring out of the wound and coating some shape in front of her. Slowly, with a shaky white light, Celestia coalesced into being. Her horn was embedded in Luna's throat, sticking stark red out the far side. Luna's eyes focused on the princess of the sun, and she uttered a single coherent word: "S-sister..." Then her body went limp. Celestia carefully lifted her sister's corpse off her horn, and laid it gently on the ground. She then went to help Big Mac up off the ground and made her way up to Applejack's bedroom. Granny had already pulled the knife out of Fluttershy's side and started trying to stem the bleeding. "Fergive me fer not bowin' yer majesty. Not only will these bones not do it right, but somepony's dyin', and I consider that more important." Granny said matter-of-factly. "Do not worry, Granny Smith. I won't be offended. Here, allow me to help." Celestia said. As the ponies all watched, Fluttershy's pierced side stitched itself up, and Big Mac's rough job on Applejack was also done much more finely. "My talents don't lie in healing, but I have studied pony biology extensively. There will be minor internal bleeding, and she should still get to a doctor, but she will live." Celestia said. She had cleaned the blood off herself while she did it, and everypony looked up at her in awe and amazement. "I know it will not bring your friends, nor my faithful student back, but I am sorry for the actions of my sister. I wanted to believe the power of friendship could bring her back to me, but time, it seemed, had merely allowed her rancor to fester. I only hope that this time, she can find peace in death." "It's alright Princess. We know it's not your fault." Applebloom said. "Maybe not directly, but as I had a hoof in creating her, so too does partial blame for her actions lay on my shoulders. May you all have a peaceful rest." Celestia flew gently down to where Luna's body lay, lifted it up with her magic, and was gone in a flash of yellow light, leaving the rest of the ponies by themselves in the broken Apple Family home. "Well..." Applejack started. "Well..." Applebloom began. The two sisters looked at each other and laughed. "Ah reckon ah can sleep well enough with just a blanket draped over that hole in the wall, if'n y'could Big Mac?" Applejack asked. The burly pony nodded and went to fetch a blanket to drape in front of the hole he'd kicked Luna through. "You three wanna stay with Applebloom, that'd be perfectly fine. Ah'll send Big Mac out to let Rarity and Pinkie know what's happened." Applejack said. Big Mac grunted as he came back in with the blanket. The crusaders nodded happily. "After a night like that, I am absolutely beat. My wings are sore from all that racing about." Scootaloo said as she stretched her wings. "I think Rarity will probably chew me out for yelling at her, but Applejack and Fluttershy's word should be good enough to convince her I was right! I could sleep though." Sweetie Belle agreed. "C'mon crusaders. We've earned ourselves some much needed rest. Fluttershy, are you gonna be okay here with AJ?" Applebloom asked. The yellow Pegasus nodded from her spot in Applejack's hooves. Her eyes were red and looked exhausted, like she'd been dragged through the wringer. She didn't say anything or move much, but she gave the three a tiny smile. With that, the crusaders, followed by Granny Smith, moved to Applebloom's room and crawled into her bed. "Thanks t'you three, Ponyville is safe. You should feel mighty proud!" Granny said, ruffling each of their manes. "Thanks Granny. You have a good rest of your night." Applebloom said. Granny Smith tottered out of the room, turned off the light, and shut the door behind herself. The crusaders closed their eyes and tried to sleep. After a few minutes of tossing and turning, Applebloom looked over at her friends, who were similarly having difficulty sleeping. "Ah can't sleep. Too much excitement ah guess." "Yeah, me neither. My wings ache." "I'm worried about Rarity." "Can you shut the curtains, Applebloom? The moon is shining right into my eyes." Scootaloo asked. "Yeh, sure." But as she moved to get out of bed, bars slammed down, surrounding the bed on all sides. The moon, meanwhile, opened like an eyelid, revealing a single, cat-like eye, staring right into the bedroom window. "Sleep tight, little ones." Luna's voice said, as the bed began sinking into the floor. The three crusaders clung to each other and screamed in terror, Luna's cackling laugh accompanying them into darkness. THE END.
Five Should Be Enough	pre	"Well, it's been a busy season." ~~~~/~~~~~ Everything went black. /~~~~~ "Applejack? I thought you were working today. Wait, are you okay? You look hur--" "Five wasn't enough." "What are you talking about, AJ? Five what?" "...Nothing's happened yet, has it? That dang spell reset you too... I got some explaining to do." ~~~/~~~~~ "So you're saying you've already been through these loops? And nothing changed?" "Happened just like you said it would. Five times I saw my brother die. After the first, I knew it was coming, but no matter what I tried I couldn't stop it. Fifth time round, I remembered you casting the spell but... it didn't help. I couldn't draw the lines. I thought I had." ~/~~~~~ "There's a little more. You said I was rushed the first time? Well, I missed something. It's not much, but... -- 'To my eternal shame, I am unable to perform that which destiny demands of me, and I am sorry. To those who would follow in my hoofsteps, know this. Destiny will have its way. It simply does not care with whom.' -- ... AJ? Are you okay?" "I'm just dandy, Twilight. I'm gonna need you to cast that spell again." ~~/~~~~~ "Applejack... don't you think you've had enough?" "I'll have had enough when I can go to sleep knowing my brother's alive." Everything went black. ~~~~~/~ Applejack woke up, a single revelation gripping her above all else. That's it. It ain't enough just to keep him safe. Blinking away the pain that even the faint rays of the sunrise poking through her curtains caused her, she rubbed at her eyes in a vain effort to rouse herself further. No time for sleeping, AJ. You've got a job to do. She rolled out of bed, shaking her head free of the cloud that persisted in fugging her mind, and staggered over to the window, yanking the curtains aside. The sudden burst of light made her recoil, but the spots in her eyes soon died and she looked out, a smile creeping onto her face as she took in the sight. Sweet Apple Acres lay before her, drenched in morning warmth. The well-cut grass waved in the lazy breeze, matching the slow dance of the leaves adorning the apple trees that stretched as far as the eye could see. Shadows stubbornly clung beneath the eaves of the larger buildings as the sun continued its relentless march skywards. The sky itself was cloudless, bar an errant cumulus already being shunted clear by a team of Weather Patrol pegasi. Applejack nodded to herself, all tiredness forgotten. It's a beautiful day in Ponyville. Won't be the last. She grabbed her hat, flipped it onto her head, and headed downstairs. Granny Smith was, as usual, already up; the sound of her eccentric methods of cooking clattering and sizzling from the kitchen. A cantankerous voice joined the racket. "If you're gonna stand outside my kitchen, you can help me out in my kitchen!" Applejack laughed and trotted in, joining her elderly relative at the stove. "Sorry, Granny, but I just couldn't help but be stunned by them delicious smells you're creating." "None of your lip, young'un! Come and give your Granny a helping hoof!" Despite Granny's insistence that the making of toast and eggs required multiple pans, both stoves, a broken ladle and, at one point, a large hedgehog, breakfast was prepared in good time. Applejack savoured every moment of the calamitous concoction, laughing joyfully at every mishap. As they sat down to eat, Apple Bloom entered, preceded by an enormous yawn. "M... M... Morning." "Hey there, Lil' Sis! You're up bright and early. You ain't helping out today, remember? Apple Bloom plonked herself into a chair and began nibbling at a slice of toast. "Sweetie Belle's with her sister in the afternoon, so we're crusading early." Applejack smiled at her sister's dedication to her friends. She was glad that Apple Bloom had such good friends as Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. "Mac's in the fields, right?" Granny rolled her eyes. "Already out working! I say to him, 'Listen here, Little Mac--you keep working so hard, you're gonna get yourself in trouble one day!' 'Course, you can guess what he told me." "Eeeyup." Apple Bloom's giggle seemed to break Granny's momentary irritation and the three ponies laughed together. Applejack gulped down the last of her meal, as much as she wished to linger, and stood up, tipping her hat to her family. "Welp... I'm off. Goodbye, Granny. Thanks for everything. And... Apple Bloom?" Her sister glanced up at her apprehensively, fearing the usual lecture on safety. "I'm proud of you. Ain't never seen a pony so devoted to a cause as you. You enjoy your time with your friends." As Apple Bloom stared at her in a mixture of surprise and pride, Applejack left. ~~~~~/~ Applejack wiped the sweat from her forehead, breathing heavily in the bright midday sun. "Phew! We're all done." Big Macintosh nodded and nudged the large bushel of apples at his hooves. "Eeeyup." He then turned and wryly nodded at the hundreds of trees yet to to be bucked. "Aaand nope." "Alright, let's get to it." Big Mac hoisted the bushel onto his back and together they strolled purposefully to the nearest tree, an enormous specimen that towered over its brethren. It was one of the first normal apple trees the Apples had planted after settling in the area, and was still producing a fine crop year after year. Applejack looked it up and down. There was barely any sign of the rot that lay within, and she marvelled at how her brother had been able to detect it, even on close examination. She swallowed. This was the moment. Big Mac began to move, and Applejack stood aside to let him take position. He eyed the tree, calculating. He turned away from the tree, squaring himself for the kick. He bunched his thick muscles, readying the blow. He glanced in her direction. She nodded, smiling warmly. "Do it, Mac." Destiny'll have its way. It just don't care with who. Big Mac kicked. Under his powerful hooves, the rotten trunk shattered into sodden splinters, and the great tree toppled toward him. He stared up at the incoming doom, unable to move in his surprise. Applejack galloped forward on cue and threw herself into his side. She felt his ribs crack, and he stumbled out of the path of the falling tree. The trunk hit her, slamming her to the ground. She cried out in pain as she was crushed beneath the immense weight. Her brother pulled himself to his hooves and ran to her side, wincing at his broken bones. "You okay, AJ?!" Applejack struggled to look into his eyes, vision blurring as her life ebbed away. "Can't have you hurting yourself now." Her head slumped back to the ground, and the world began to fade away. She could still hear Big Mac crying her name, feel him trying to pull her free. She smiled into the cool grass, content. A life ended, a life defended. I ain't gonna live in a world where my brother died to save my life... But I reckon I can die in one where I saved his. Everything went black.
In the Background	pre	My vision turned to Vinyl who broke her gaze from me, her mouth and complexion had almost dropped to a serene state at the words, but she could have been thinking that the subject was being pressed too far. I leaned on the latter as I heard her the tone to her voice. "Now, now, Lyra. You know us. Best of friends all the way." My heart felt strange hearing it, feeling almost uplifted and drug down at the same time. I figured it was just the moment and knowing that Vinyl and me had formed a strong friendship over the years. There was never a dull moment with her, and apparently I did the same for her, which surprised me the first time she said that line to me. I remember the frequent occasions that we had 'camped out' in the living room just to try something different, something I would have never done if she didn't drag my mattress and sheets down the stairs. I was mad at her for only a heartbeat. Afterward, I was laying with a smile spread across my face, telling stories about my life to Vinyl around our makeshift fire, which consisted of a flashlight turned up at the ceiling. They were pleasant until, with the saved up money I acquired over the few jobs, I added a fireplace into the living room. That night, I found my bed completely undressed and checked the living room to see an actual fire. It was in that night that a bond between Vinyl and me was formed. We had both looked each other, her sitting in front of the fire, her fiery eyes looking at me, as I stood in the doorway enjoying the heat coming from the fire and her eyes. I believe that both of us knew what formed from us sitting around that fire, but neither of us would admit it to the other, unless it was only I. The years only brought us closer together, but a limit remained between us and we both upheld it to a tee. The stairs had helped my memories return to me over the past few days as I walked out to onto the ground floor. "So are you going to open it for me?" I looked at the lock and at Vinyl. "I'll open it. Only after we return from the Everfree Forest with the inspiration that you need to finish that masterpiece of yours." "You really think he is real?" "As much as I believed that Nightmare Moon was real, and look how that turned out." The white unicorn winked at me. "But this is different. There aren't even any historical records of this pony in existence. " "You did research about Eyn? I am glad to see you are onboard." "Yargh!" Ditsy acted like a pirate. "Yargh!" Lyra added happily, slightly dancing on her front hooves. The three different books, the only three books about the existence of such a pony, were sitting in my room, read from cover to cover. I had read each the night before and, as much as they fascinated me, and allowed me to write another piece of my song, they seemed far-fetched. "The Everfree is dangerous. I need don't think we need to risk it just for the sake of my music writing." I challenged. "Listen girl..." Vinyl pulled me aside. "From the point I've known you, you have never been stumped when writing new music. It always came naturally to you and now you can barely get two notes out of yourself. Something is up and it isn't just your career. Something inside of you has broken and there is no medicine for fixing it. This is your life and this will save it." She grinned as if it was no big deal. "Now come on, grab your bag and get ready." The tone of her voice shocked me, but not as much as the truth that hit me from behind. I had always had my fair share of writer's block, but it would quickly fade away in a few minutes and I'd have a finished piece committed to memory in front of me. The time I had spent already was unnatural given my skill before, and maybe there was something to be concerned about. There had to be another way instead of going into the Everfree Forest. "I don't even want to hear it. We will be safe. We won't be going in that far, just take a look around and see if we can figure anything out." The white unicorn gave me her usual disarming smile before walking back up the stairs to grab her bag. There wasn't a moment when I wanted to somehow convince her not to go inside of the Forest, but I knew that once Vinyl had made up her mind about something that she would go alone if she had to, and there was no way that I could let her do that without me coming along to keep her in check. "You two aren't worried?" I turned to Ditsy and Lyra. "Not really. This won't be the first time I've been in the Everfree." Ditsy answered. "I'm just excited to finally be able to at least see a small portion of it." Lyra proclaimed. I began to wonder what Ditsy meant that it wouldn't be her first time inside of the Everfree Forest. "How many times have you been in the Everfree before Ditsy?" I had to ask. "I go about twice a day usually. Zecora places quite a few orders and I get bored with taking the same path so I take different paths." And it doesn't scare you?" I felt my pride failing as I was shown that Ditsy knew the Everfree more than me. "Not if you know what to expect. Don't look at the cockatrices, disturb the hydras, startle the Ursas, or insult the dragons." "That can't be all that is out there..." I zoned off trying to think of something that Ditsy had forgotten. "Well the manticores are in hibernation. There are trees in the forest. I almost forgot about those sneaky creatures, always jumping out of nowhere and hurting my head." She rubbed her head as if remembering every time she had collided with one of the many trees in the forest. "Tavi! I grabbed your stuff." Vinyl startled me as she tossed my pack, which felt heavier onto my back. "And added a few extra supplies." "Hopefully no more gifts. I still need to get you something." "I can't wait to see what you got me." I didn't want to tell her that I had forgotten about it and that at some point I would have to pick something up, maybe that new techno vinyl at the record store. I promised myself that I'd pick it up after we were finished with this little escapade. "I think you will like it." I figured she'd enjoy it and that I just hadn't bought it yet though I knew I was going to get it for her. "Can we get going soon? I can't wait to see how it's like in there." Lyra almost sounded too happy to go into such a dangerous place as the Everfree. It grinded my teeth slightly just at the thought of how I must sound like a broken record constantly repeating my fears about the Everfree Forest every few seconds. I decided to just stifle my concerns and just hold myself more alert than usual. "Are you ready Tavi?" Vinyl wondered. I could only sigh at what she was asking me and as much as my head told me no, my heart wanted to give her a chance. I decided to follow my heart for once, but I could only nod seeing as if my mouth opened I would have groaned about how this wasn't a good idea at all, especially with Nightmare Night being only a few weeks away. If any of us even became sick it might prevent us from having some safe fun. My thoughts were halted as I realized that I hadn't nodded like I had planned on doing. "Of course." I was surprised my words didn't say no. Maybe deep down I was just as excited to go inside of the Everfree Forest like everyone else, but I just didn't want to show it. We walked to the front door, Lyra and Ditsy trotted out first followed by Vinyl. I was the last to exit, looking back at the house that sat in darkness. I hoped everything would go well and I could come back to these warm and comforting halls. The sense of security would be overwhelming when I returned and I'd just have to hug the floor and my pillow in my room seeing as I'd be spending the night on the ground that night. I guess it fit that after so long that Vinyl's and I 'campouts' would eventually lead to a real campout in the woods. I tried to keep all of the happier prospects in my head and keeping enough belief inside of me to even imagine what Eyn could look like and how an actual campfire with the dark woods and smell of fungus affect how Vinyl would look. I wondered if she would still look the same and give me an identical look the first time we had shared our first fire together. I grinned slightly at the thought. "Come on Tavi! Get your butt out of the door and lock it up. You are burning up daylight!" I heard Vinyl yell behind me. I agreed with her subconsciously. I had stalled for far too long and we were going if I liked it or not. "Goodbye house. Goodbye cello." I felt pathetic giving my cello a farewell, but it felt appropriate. I softly shut the door and turned the lock letting it click the lock into place. Vinyl's horn lit up as all of the windows closed together and locked on her command. Another click was heard as another lock slid into place in the door. I turned around only to see the path to the Everfree Forest stretching out in front of me, climbing over the hills and exiting the town and disappearing into the thicket of old and bent trees that reached out from the wood line in an attempt to snag any clumsy or foolhardy pony that decided to walk within their grasp. My body breathed in hard before I let in and, before long, I was trotting next to my friends, talking to Lyra about her lyre concert and different elements of music. It helped put my mind at ease. I needed all of the comfort I could get.
In the Background	Chapter 4: Fighting Fear	The sun glimmered brilliantly off the roofs of the town. The heat quickly warmed my skin, softly massaging out the stress I was feeling from tagging along with an expedition into the Everfree Forest. I attempted to enjoy the scenery and the smell before I was cast into the dark, dank woods. Lyra still hopped beside me grinning ear to ear like her face was stuck that way. I took a deep breath in and smelled the nearby lilacs and tulips of the flower stall and the sweet scent of freshly cut grass being served to the small chattering group of ponies sitting at the tables. The pacing was much slower than I imagined Vinyl would have set it, but she seemed to be taking her time for some reason, but I didn't pay much attention to overly notice or question why. The birds chirped overhead as a three butterflies fluttered past my face. I had never taken note of the little idiosyncrasies that thrived within Ponyville until now. I figured it was mainly a drive of my body to enjoy what I could, forcing me to find any and everything that I enjoy in my life. "Wait here." Vinyl's voice broke the silence and brought my focus back to her. We had arrived at Sugarcube Corner where I guessed Ditsy was going to get another order of muffins, but I saw that she was sitting in the dust smiling, her bags already crammed with varying flavors and styles of muffins made solely for her insatiable consumption. There wasn't a day where I questioned how that pony managed to keep her lean figure given the sheer amount of muffins that she consumes in a single day. Picturing an x-ray of her stomach only caused me to shake my head as I saw the lining burst only to be replaced by a three more stomachs. I questioned what Vinyl was doing inside of Sugarcube Corner, but was answered quickly as she re-emerged from the store being followed by a familiar face. "Doctor? You're coming too?" The words slipped through my lips. "What? Oh yes. Adventures and danger are my middle name. Well not really, but I have already forgotten it." He shrugged. "Vinyl mentioned your little venture to me and I simply cannot turn down an adventure." He thought for a few and shrugged as he added, "Plus someone needs to keep you girls safe." He winked and chuckled. "Always the same, eh Doctor?" I smiled at my childhood friend. "Who is that slice of stallion?" Ditsy leaned in and whispered. "That's the Doctor." I answered quietly back. "Doctor who?" "Close. Doctor Whooves." I corrected her. "Whooves? That is a strange name." "Ahem. Ladies. Can we all be engaged in your conversation about me or should I just wait until you finish?" The Doctor joked. "You're fine." Ditsy sighed out. "This adventure just keeps getting better isn't it?" Her grin widened to what I could only imagine as being the precipice of any pony smile even beating Lyra's perpetual grin. "At least we won't have to worry about anything being broken." I winked at the brown stallion. "Nothing is broken when The Doctor is around." He struck a strong pose, caught in his own world of carefree jokes and enjoyment of his own wit. Doctor was a strange fellow with many interesting quirks, some that I still didn't understand. The main one being his innate ability to be able to fix everything brought to him and his origins, which still remained a mystery. I had met him when I was a filly. He was much older than me then. Surprisingly enough he had managed to look young through the years bringing me to believe that he was able to both fix any object, as he was able to fix himself and maintain a youthful appearance. I never put much thought behind it and when I had asked him he brushed it off as that he was always viewed younger than he truly was, which led me to ask about his age. He only chuckled at my question and gave his most common answer. "I forget to be honest." I never thought he was honest, but it wasn't a driving question. Ditsy flapped her wings and lightly lifted from the ground and floated above The Doctor. I saw her nostrils flair before she visually relaxed and glided over to me. "He smells like muffins... I'm in heaven. I wonder if he tastes-" I bit her tail before she could eat The Doctor, holding her in place before she gave up. "Even brown like a fresh made muffin." "Sounds like you're in love." I chuckled. "In love with a muffin stallion." She plopped back onto her rear and took another big whiff of the air. "He is going to drive me insane..." She quickly dug into her bag and procured a muffin. "We need a Doctor flavored or at least scented muffin." "Having a muffin smell as witty as me would be quite an irritation though an enjoyable chew nonetheless. Is your friend going to be alright?" The Doctor asked. "She'll be fine. You just smell like muffins and Ditsy here loves muffins." I explained. "Muuuuuuffins..." Ditsy droned. The Doctor looked at her in an awkward silence and I didn't blame him seeing as Ditsy was still staring at him hungrily and licking her lips. "Ditsy? He isn't a muffin. Snap out of it." I walked in front of her to break her view. "What? Oh... I'm sorry." The shock at what she was doing sent her gliding up slightly, levitating just slightly above the ground. Her face turned a deep red as she shook her head. "Is everything going to be alright?" Vinyl questioned, trying to stifle a laugh. "Yes." Ditsy fluttered over to Vinyl with her regular smile. It was one of those few moments when I questioned how real her smile was and how many things she was hiding behind it, but I felt it wasn't my place to question it nor search for it without her permission and I kept it as a mystery. "Now that we have all the formalities out of the way, can we proceed to the Everfree Forest?" The brown pony questioned, nodding to us and turning to the dark expanse of trees in the distance. I could only nod as a means to hide my reluctance, but the unison of voices from the other three answered his question better and we began our trot toward the forest. Vinyl took point with Ditsy, followed by Lyra, then The Doctor and me. I tossed him a few glances, a question burning at the tip of my tongue, but unsure if I should ask. He never broke his gaze from the forest and I wondered if he saw my failed attempts at starting a conversation. "What do you have on your mind Octavia?" My curiosity was sated. "Why exactly are you coming along and when did Vinyl ask you?" The words were hesitant as they passed from my lips. "Why? Well I don't rightfully know how to answer that question, maybe just the desire for something new, some thrill of adventure and the adrenaline of danger has been on my mind. As for Vinyl, she came to me early this morning and asked if I would be willing participant for an adventure into the Everfree Forest to find the fairy tale pony, Eyn Spyyr." He smirked at the name. "Do you believe he is real?" I had to ask. "I believe that there is a chance of it like there is a chance for everything to exist." A nod of self-satisfaction from his answer broke his composure. "So you think he does exist?" Again, I felt compelled to ask. "I would hope to find out." He finally turned to me and gave me a glance that I had only seen him give the most challenging of tasks. His answers made sense to me and made the journey seem more reasonable and maybe not completely fruitless, but I still had my doubts as to the desired outcome of this journey. If something went wrong- if something happened to- I had to slam my eyes shut and shake the thoughts from my head. Everything will be fine. You need to stop worrying and do your best to keep everypony safe. I nodded at my added resolve and looked at the long road still ahead of me to the entrance to the forest and back at The Doctor. "We don't talk much." I stated. "We don't though it would seem that we would both have plenty to discuss." He answered with his usual hint of slyness. "When did you first come to Ponyville and Canterlot?" "Those were quite a few years ago and I forget how many had passed, but I met you on my second day living there. I was taking a stroll, trying to find my bearings in your quaint little town when I stumbled through your rock farm. I had heard a trumpet and music coming from the silo. I decided to check it out and stumbled across a party amid the dismal setting that the rock farm had generated, but seeing you and Pinkie dancing together, fighting the sadness of the environment, I had to make an entrance." The Doctor explained. "You did just walk in our celebration." I had to laugh at the memory. "It scared my father a great deal." "Send him my apologies. I did not mean to frighten." He tossed a disarming smile and looked back at the forest. "This forest it something isn't it." At first I didn't know what he was getting at, but when I turned my attention to the forest again, I saw that within the trees, wisps of fog had begun to rise out and reach to the sky as if to escape it, but being held within it. The broken and twisting branches that reached out from the edges became increasingly more intimidating and cracked as if with each step I took toward them, they grew with evil. The trunks slowly became distorted faces in my eyes, screaming up in agony as if the ground they stood on was burning them. Only the screams were in my head, but I would guess that they had to be screaming. "Yeah... it's something." I practically groaned. "You're not looking forward to this?" He asked, finally showing some concern as to how I was taking the journey. "No, not overly." I admitted. "Then why did you come?" He questioned. I wanted to say a better excuse than my initial thought. I felt the wooden box hit my side within my bag and turned to him quickly. "Because Vinyl gave me an anniversary gift, but it is under lock and key unless I go with her." "Huh... I didn't know you two were dating. How many years has this been going on?" He asked. "What? No. We aren't dating. It's just something that we started as being roommates for so long. It has always been a wonderful moment for us to reconnect and not fight that day." I joked. "That sounds like a sweet thing. What did you get her, if I may ask?" "I haven't really got her the gift yet. I just need to pick it up from the record store." I kept my voice down. "Ah... well I think she will enjoy whatever gift you get her." The Doctor whispered back. I just hoped I would have some alone time when I got back to manage to get to the record store before she would notice and get it to her. I questioned the gift inside of the small box in my bag and even why I had wished to bring it along with me. I figured the best answer was that it was one of the few reasons why I was going along with my agreement to Vinyl so it would be best to keep it next to me for moral support. The longer I walked the more I needed to think about everything. The weight of the world never seemed to vanish completely and only increased in magnitude. I slowly began to feel more aware of another weight inside of myself. My heart seemed to be dragging more than usual and it almost felt like it had formed a link to whatever was inside of the box. It gave me hope as much as it drove my curiosity to try and figure out what it was and why she would go through so much trouble to give me something that even needed an ornate box to house it. I had to look up at white unicorn walking in front of me, her blue hair jutting everywhere and softly moving in the breeze, her glasses popped on her eyes to block the glare of the sun, but her teeth reflected it brilliantly as she laughed at one of Ditsy's jokes. Ditsy flapped her wings and laughed, kicking up dust around her feet and almost dancing. Vinyl must have been discussing when her next rave would be and Ditsy had always been excited to participate in them. The sight of those two always caused feelings inside of me to grow, and a happiness to fill me. Even in the short amount of time I had met Lyra, we had connected in a way that I don't normally associate myself with. As for The Doctor, he always had some sort of fatherly presence about him. The town sat behind us as we crossed the halfway mark. I hoped everything would go well inside of the forest, but deep down I knew that the unfortunate would occur in some form or another and it came down to me wondering which event I would have to adapt for and if it would be at all possible for me to save them if it came down to it. I could only sigh and stare at the ground as if defeated by my own thoughts, and finally was just going with it. I would still prefer to be realistic about this journey. Instead of worrying about the journey I decided to try and imagine what such an old alicorn like Eyn would even look like, or even more questionable, what would a male alicorn look like? Everything became a question as I tried to paint a picture inside of my head on how he would look. I started with Princess Celestia and tried to make her more manly. It was hard work, but I eventually made something that looked decently male. I wondered about the mane and could only give up and make up some random pattern. I assumed he had to be some color different from white or black, but which was still only guesswork. What would he even tell me if he existed and if I found him? Moments passed where I all I did was walk and think. I created glorified acquaintances and settings. I questioned what wonders I would be able to create given a blessing of Eyn. All of the thoughts began to excite me as much as they had excited everyone else. Vinyl glanced back at me and must have seen my smile and excitement because she nodded and smiled back at me. She had won my support over by instilling this thought in me and sending me on an adventure to please the thought. Inside, I wanted to forget about Eyn and focus on the dangers that awaited us, but I felt just as lost as the rest of the group. It felt that he was sitting just behind the first tree, waiting for us and congratulating us before guiding us to his swamp home and instill his methods of inspiration onto us. "You seem to be a bit chipper." The Doctor pointed out, breaking my trance. "My head is a safe place to stay." "It would be best to keep your eyes open now." Doctor Whooves motioned forward. I snapped myself out from the daydreams and found the dark and dismal trees of the forest staring down at me. I had never been in the Everfree and from all of the stories I had heard, my superstitions were pretty high. I imagined that at any second the trees were going to bend down and snatch me up and eat my friends or me. It was mere seconds before I realized that I had stopped in my tracks and simply stood in a frightened trance. My knees locked as my mouth slowly dropped. I was never to be afraid of anything, but the forest had an effect on me, which I had no words to explain. The group halted just at the edge of the trees, shrouded by the evil shadow, looking back at me. "Aren't you coming, Octavia?" Their demon voices hissed, their bodies turning black and eyes burning with a crimson red. Wisps of fright fell from them crept along the ground, infecting the land. They were lost. Lost. Lost. "Octavia?" I opened my eyes to find myself paralyzed in front of the trees. Shame filled my body as I blushed at how I was acting, but the fear still held me firmly in place. "Octavia?" It was Vinyl's voice, growing with concern as she galloped out to me. "Octavia?" I snapped out of the phobia that coursed through my veins and turned to her. Her red eyes were calming and soothing like soft campfire embers that put us to sleep in the living room. The muscles loosened around my heart and I began to feel at ease. I felt the wooden edge of the box poke my side, edging me forward. I stepped forward in response, each step sending a wave of fear through me, waiting for the trees to grab me. Stories of my past filled my mind and every unimaginable thing echoed through me. I had promised to protect my friends when I was acting like this? I was pitiful and weak. How could I protect my friends when I was this weak? "Octavia?" Vinyl spoke again, softly and lovingly. My voice still shook from the fear I was overcoming. "What is it Vinyl?" I asked, trying to set my next foot in front of the other. "Are you sure you want to do this? You seem a bit, traumatized." She smiled to try to ease what she was saying onto me, but I knew what she was getting at and I didn't want to hear it. I was here to protect my friends and I was going to do that. The resolve that was building inside of me pushed me ahead. I had to prove myself, not to my friends, but for myself. I drove the fear quickly out of my head as music rose up in my head. I would not let this fear beat me. I visualized the edge of the forest as the edge of the curtain, a stage leading out into a crowd of onlookers waiting to hear the skill they paid for. Taking poise and aligning my lungs I walked through the curtain and into the darkness of the theater, taking my seat, feeling the glare of a hundred onlookers. I was nervous as with every show, but my confidence outmatched the force to withdraw. Raising my bow, I set it upon the strings and let it fill the air. The notes played brilliantly inside of my head, starting from where I had left the song last, marching me into the darkness. My friends stared at me with smiles and grins as the excitement that I had quickly broken my fear of the forest. I didn't want to admit that the fear wasn't broken, but that I had raised my confidence far above it. Vinyl walked from behind me, sliding her head close to mine. "You are doing wonderfully. Thank you for coming." She whispered to me, retaking point. "What was that song you were humming?" Lyra asked. "I was humming?" I didn't know my music had been verbalized. "It was beautiful..." Lyra reared up her legs happily. "It made me feel braver inside of these woods." I finally had the opportunity to look at my surroundings. My eyes had adjusted to the lower lighting, but my body had not yet taken in all of the sensations inside of here. The ground squished beneath my feet. The rocks even felt soft while others felt sharp and painfully jagged, no middle ground existed. The smell quickly caught up to me as I caught the smell of wet rotting wood and decaying plant matter. The scent of the few flowers was bitter and biting, and it would be best to avoid smelling one directly. Crickets chirped as frogs croaked and dragonflies buzzed. Everything about it reminded me of Ponyville, and at the same time it felt foreign. "Where to first?"
In the Background	Chapter 5: Chaos Rising	The woods surrounded me completely. The bright light and the safety of Ponyville could still be seen through the thicket, but with each step forward the light dimmed. I could feel my heart dropping as well, causing me to question if I had made the courage for nothing when I would just freeze somewhere in the middle and not be able to move. The thoughts wiped my brain clean of anything constructive and I was barely aware that Lyra was trying to talk to me. "Hey Octavia. How are you feeling?" She asked, still worried from seeing me freeze at the edge of the woods. I felt embarrassed for having done so. It hurt to even answer considering that I wanted to freeze again and just forget this whole journey. "I'm feeling much better. Thanks." "Good!" Her mood perked up quickly in what I felt to be a fake show of happiness. "Now I was wondering about you since I never get the chance to ever talk to you." I rolled my eyes as I waited to have to repeat my life story again. Instead, I heard another question that I wasn't expecting as much. "How long have you and Vinyl been together?" She looked at me and saw my glare. "I mean as roommates." She added hastily. I shouldn't have given her such a hard time about it, considering I knew what she meant. The game of Vinyl and I living together never became old. Sometimes we would joke with people and make it seem like we were more. Most of the time, it was her pulling the prank while I just took it, taking in and enjoying her amusement. Letting her do something like that was difficult at first, but she would always tell ponies afterward of our standing. Roommates. Innocent. I could never tell if any of Vinyl's feelings were real or some form of shroud to hide something. I never questioned them, as I believed that I did not have to, nor did I try to question mine for her. We were friendly, and there was no denying it. Everything else was proper joke material to work with. "We've been together for a few years now. She lived there first, and when the last ponies left because of the noise, I stumbled into her domain. It wasn't the best of transitions, but our love for music brought us together." I answered quickly. "Sounds like it would be given your soft serenity and her power partying. I remember the first time that Bon-Bon and me moved into the same house. We had already known each other before that and have been together for quite some time. Moving in together only drew us closer. I wished that she could have came with us." Lyra nodded. Vinyl hushed us and looked around the canopy. Ditsy peered around the woods as well though I doubt she could properly see anything in time. I stood on the padded down dirt road that stretched aimlessly through the woods, breaking and branching in what seemed constantly changing sections. Out of curiosity and fear, I had to share in their observing and looked around the forest. The only sound was of crickets and deep-voiced frogs croaking in the nearby bog. Vinyl sniffed at the air and looked at me. "Feeling okay Tavi?" I felt irritated at her questioning if I was okay as if I had to constantly be checked. I rolled my eyes before I answered. "Of course I am. Why did we stop?" The white unicorn had caught on to my irritation and nodded and beamed at me. I had figured some sort of anger or hurt feelings would be created from my biting irritation. "Why are you smiling?" The question came off as more of a demand than a question. She flipped her glasses up and stared me straight in my eyes. "You are back to your stubborn self." She chuckled. It had only been a slight realization that my fear had completely vanished in those few seconds that I was irritated. I wanted to join in her merriment, but knowing that she had tricked me into believing it made me just stay quiet and remain irritated; I didn't take being manipulated too easily. "Ooo. She got you." Lyra laughed. "Glad to see you broke your fear." My eyelids drooped as I stared at the group in front of me; irritation growing for all of them as the all of the fear quickly vanished. I had ceased caring about my fear and focused more on keeping everyone safe. This was no place to be so smug about something so trivial as getting on my nerves. There was no reason to make another enemy in the forest. I gave an evil grin at the thought of me being the ones to torment them. The irony would be simply sublime. "Whatcha smiling at?" Ditsy asked, flying over to my side. "Just thinking about giving someone their just desserts." "Like muffins?" Ditsy smiled. "You could say that." I winked and chuckled. "How is Dinky doing?" I changed my tone. "Dinky? She stays out of trouble. We went to the beach a few days ago. I got sand in my feathers." She groaned, unconsciously flapping her wings like sand was in them. "And her being a unicorn is okay with you?" "It is difficult, but that is where Lyra comes in. She has been giving her magic lessons while I deliver the mail." She appeared humble and content with where her life had taken her. "And you don't regret anything?" I questioned, hesitantly. "Not a single thing. Sometimes hard to explain to her where her father went, but some things are best left as a muffintastic story." She grinned. I remembered the day that Ditsy lost her husband. No one in Ponyville could ever truly forget that day. Given her visual limitations and spontaneous attitude and financial draw on muffins, it was surprising that someone had fallen in love with it. They lived happily for many years and one day she gave birth to a unicorn girl. Sadly, the father wasn't quick enough, and she had already named her child Dinky. I had been there to see his reaction. I had never seen a group of ponies smile and laugh so much. He had been a unicorn and that was the only trait of his that passed to Dinky. Four days later, I had a knock at my door. I opened it to see a devastated Ditsy covered in tears and quivering from the cold and the tears. It had been storming heavily that night as the Pegasus ponies had been trying to control a wild storm. It was much larger than they had expected, some didn't fair to well. Ditsy's husband went missing that night and was never heard from again, marked as one that had been swept away with the storm and deemed dead. Ditsy had to take comfort in Dinky and she managed to recover quickly, though I knew it was still a touchy subject, one that she normally diffused with eating muffins or making a joke out of it. I couldn't blame her. Now she appeared to have her eyes set on The Doctor, which I felt was a good sign that she had completely recovered from what had happened. I hoped she recovered. "Fillies make the world such a happier place. I've never laughed as much as I do now with her. I wonder if Mr. Whooves likes children." She said it just loud enough so that he could hear her. "Talking about me again I see. I must question what you are talking about." He chuckled. Ditsy flew forward and took her place by his side, leaning in close to him. I knew what she was doing and almost had to laugh when I saw it unfold. She took a big whiff of the air around him and giggled, dancing circles around him, singing a song. The only point in her life that I could consider on par with how happy she is was when Dinky was born. It warmed my heart to know that Ditsy managed to let go so easily. "So do you like muffins?" Ditsy questioned the doctor, still walking in circles around him. "Muffins you say? I love muffins more than the world itself." Surprisingly enough, I knew he was telling the truth given his always-existent muffin bowl in his house. Ditsy squealed and tapped her hooves on the ground happily, stepping closer to him. Simply the look on his face told me enough of his enjoyment at how Ditsy acted around him. I wondered if The Doctor had heard of Ditsy's story, and what had happened to her. I figured it would be best to tell him later when we were out of earshot of her. Vinyl had dropped back from taking the point causing Lyra to bounce to the front, keeping her eyes open, and glancing around the trees and the canopy. "Isn't this nice Tavi?" Vinyl asked when she arrived at my side. I didn't want to say anything to her, not out of distaste for having to go, but because I didn't want to admit that my preconceived notions had been thwarted though still present. Nothing seemed to be too dreadful about this place, and judging by the almost lack of animals around them, I had to wonder what the big fuss was all about. The answer to that question was what I worried about the most. "Ditsy seems to be quite fond of your friend." Vinyl nodded toward her and The Doctor. "I wonder what he thinks of it?" "I don't know Tavi." Vinyl bumped into me. "You know him best." She winked at me, and smiled. "I think they'd be cute together." I had to chuckle at the thought. Vinyl gave me a strange look and had to add. "Unless you've claimed him as yours." "We are just friends, and that is all there is to it." I nodded. "I think you two would be a cute couple as well." Vinyl winked. "He isn't my type romantically, but he is a good friend." I chuckled. "I'm not quite sure who I am interested in quite yet." I half-lied. "It appears that I am in the same boat as you Tavi." "We always seem to be in the same boat." I chortled. "Tavynil Cruise. Only room for two." She winked and sniggered. "A cruise would be a wonderful vacation." I felt an inner excitement compel me to continue with the thought. "We can try to go this summer, just you and me. Enjoy some sun and relaxation then we can go have some fun elsewhere." I felt ecstatic. "You make it sound wonderful!" She giggled. "On a cruise with my favorite cello player. " She stepped closer to me and cuddled against my side, I guessed jokingly. "Then I can work on my tan." "Vinyl. You never get tan. You've always been white." I stuck my tongue at her playfully. "Hey, a girl can try. Maybe get your color, and be as sexy as you." "Please Vinyl. You flatter me." I teased. "I'd love to have your pure white color and maybe some blue hair." "I could arrange the blue hair for you! You would look more amazing with green hair." She winked. "The color is more earthy." "Ha, ha. Sure. Make fun of me being only an earth pony." "Tavi. I enjoy you the way you are. You don't need to be a pegasus or a unicorn to be special. Take Ditsy and The Doctor for instance. She obviously finds something fascinating about him to pursue." Vinyl reasoned. I had guessed she would reference the quickly blossoming relationship between the two ponies ahead of us, but the reference stuck pretty thick onto my interpretation of the meaning. I looked at her confused. "We are like them. I didn't know we were dating." I chuckled at my joke, Vinyl joined. I took another breath in to steady my senses. I peered around the forest to find that the warming light had vanished, and had done so a long time ago as the forest had completely consumed us. I was thankful that there was still a road in which to walk though up ahead I saw where it forked into at least three different directions. I moaned at the eventual choices that we would face and which possible direction Vinyl would have us go. Gladly, the sun was still out and would be many more hours before setting, which warranted a heavy sigh of relief. "I just had to set you up for that didn't I?" Vinyl inquired. I shrugged and smiled at her. Sometimes it was nice to remind her that I had a sense of humor, one that could quite possibly rival her own. "Of course you had to. We wouldn't work together so well if we didn't set each other up for something." The strange way that I was able to open up to Vinyl sometimes caught me surprise, and this moment was no different. Jokes always swam around in my head, some causing me to grin quietly in the corner. The internal commentary began to grind at me. I had been hoping for a bit more adventure or something to get my mind off of everything. Almost as a mixed blessing, the sun suddenly flickered out of existence, quickly being replaced by a crescent moon. An ear-shattering squeal came from Lyra as she scampered back to our group. She hid within our group as our proximity grew. Something wasn't right with the sun. I looked around quickly trying to question if it was the result of the woods or if something else, something worse had transpired back in Ponyville since we had left. A shockwave filled the sky, originating in the direction of Ponyville. My fear was affirmed, something had happened to the princess. "Come on girls, we need to get back to-" I tried to run forward, but quickly felt my feet begin to slip from underneath of me. My face quickly met the ground as I slid to stop and took in the scent of the road. "Soap?" A million questions began to fill my head, but my phobia had kicked back into gear. This forest wasn't going to let us leave. It's the forest! The forest! My knees were the first to lock as I shakily rose to my feet. The other girls had remained within the group, slipping on the roads. Ditsy rose from the road and tried to help The Doctor keep steady, and Vinyl- My eyes darted around the forest setting, looking for Vinyl. Where did she go? Did the forest take her? "Get off the road! Everything except the road is normal, now get over here." She waved her hoof over to her side of the bank. Fear moved my legs more than my head causing me to slip and fall again, but still arriving at the same destination. What was going on? The question echoed perpetually inside of my fear burned head. My eyes never received a break as the danger of the forest began to hit extreme paranoia. Every tree, bush, and leaf became a potential assailant to my friends and me. "Octavia? Octavia? Snap out of it." The Doctor hit my face with his hoof. I didn't realize that I was lying on my back in the mud. I hopped up to my feet and pressed myself between Ditsy and Vinyl as Whooves led the group forward. "My... my... what do we have here?" A voice echoed from seemingly everywhere yet nowhere at the same time. My heart quickened as I dipped low to the ground, trying to hide my eyes with my hooves, making a total fool of myself. It's the trees! The trees are talking! I must hide! Hide! My senses skirted along the border of a nervous breakdown. I hoped it was some sort of elaborate joke created by Vinyl to make me loosen up, but when I saw her backing slowly up, I knew it wasn't planned. Her jaw had dropped slightly as she looked around her for the voice. Ditsy had flew into one of the trees and looked around the clearing and the edges for the source of the voice while The Doctor simply stood his ground, peering angrily in a single direction. "Another group of friends on a magical adventure? Oh how I love being back to enjoy a double feature." A large spark of light cracked the air in front of Whooves revealing... something. I had no idea what I was seeing through the crack between the ground and my hoof. The face looked like a pony, but everything about him seemed off. His body was long like a snake. Every appendage on his body seemed to have been stolen from a multitude of animals. The tone of his voice spoke of an ancient intelligence causing me to question if we were in the presence of Eyn Spyyr. I rose slightly, using the idea as a boost of courage. "How have you returned?" The Doctor asked, still glaring at the ancient pony. "How? Oh that was quite easy if you have enough chaos in the world, and I can assure you that there is plenty of chaos to even make me chuckle with excitement! Ha. Ha." I edged myself toward Doctor Whooves. "Is this Eyn?" I whispered. "Eyn? My old buddy, Eyn? Is he still around? Last time I checked he had banished himself into the Everfree for, how long did he say now? Oh yes, for an eternity." He laughed at the prospect. "So he is real?" I spoke more to myself. "No... I am not Eyn. I am Discord, agent and ruler of chaos." He struck a pose and strutted around the edge of the clearing. "Now I will need all of you to get into a nice little group so I can tell you the game that we are going to play..." He lifted his hand, which sent a vortex of wind howling through the leaves. Ditsy fell from her tree, ripped awkwardly through the air until she was tossed in front of Discord with the rest of us. "You won't get away with this." Whooves growled. "Get away with what? Ponyville is already mine. All I have to do now is have some fun." He chuckled to himself. "And what better way to have fun than with some lost and forgotten ponies?"
In the Background	Chapter 6: The Switch	The large being stood in front of us, hidden by the darkness of the night, but his smile flickered in the darkness. A sense of evil permeated from his beings and filled the woods. An instinctual fear ground into me as I backed slowly away from him, my eyes sealed shut. These woods weren't getting me. I had ceased caring about holding my phobia back and how my image was being ruined. "And where do you think you are going, dear?" I heard a crack where he was standing and then one behind me. I felt myself collide with something soft causing my heart to jump a few beats as I cringed and froze. "I just want to go home." I stammered. "Ah... afraid of the forest? Here, let me show you that there is nothing to be afraid about." The tone in his voice sent shivers down my spine. In an attempt to escape, I crawled forward, but felt Discord's large hands wrap around my waist and lift me from the ground. He held me out toward the forest. "Just look at it. It isn't scary at all." I wanted to believe him. I cracked my eye open and looked around and saw only darkness. It wasn't so bad, but it couldn't cure my heart, which beat furiously inside my chest. I pried the other open feeling a strange support from the strong being holding me. "See. Nice and safe." I trusted his words and opened myself up to the forest. Just as I opened my eyes and turned toward the forest completely, the sun instantly came up revealing a wall of clawing and growling trees. My body instantly tensed up as I curled up inside of the hands holding me, hoping to gain security from them. Instead, I felt them loosen causing me to fall to the ground awkwardly. The grass around my legs reached up and tried to pin me to the ground. I rose and tried to escape causing the roots of the trees to extend and snag me. "Octavia!" My friends yelled as I squirmed inside of the powerful ensnarement. Tears were falling from my eyes as I tried desperately to escape them; my breaths were broken and heavy. I didn't know what was going on and I didn't care. I just wanted to go home, to my house and be safe, to lay in front of the fireplace with Vinyl, anything but here. I could feel the cool ground begin to encase my body, as I was pulled deeper inside of the ground. "Vinyl! I-" I couldn't finish my sentence as another root came down onto my back. The roots ceased and trapped me halfway underground. A root stuck between my teeth. Discord walked around me, laughing aloud. "You should see the look on your faces!" He chuckled again. I tried to move, but the roots held me fast. Claustrophobia began to set into me as I tried to breath, but couldn't. The sensation of not being able to breathe caused me to panic and squirm desperately. "Let her go!" The Doctor yelled at him. "Oh, you're no fun." He snapped his fingers. The roots loosened quickly around me, but one root that was still around my leg ripped me out of the ground, holding me upside down. I shivered at the freedom of the roots from around me, but I was still his leading show. I still tried to escape. I felt his hand slid through my mane as he lifted my head up. "You are just a bundle of fun aren't you?" He chuckled and vanished, the root snapping its hold from around my leg sending me toppling to the ground. Feeling the grass made me cringe and crawl quickly toward my friends. They weren't going to capture me again. I felt them surround me as I hid behind them pitifully. Was there anyway to convince myself that I was still here to protect them when they've been the ones protecting me? "Such good friends." He hummed. "And what about you my dear?" I heard a crack beside me. I turned quickly to see that he had Ditsy floating in front of him, trapped in a magical field. She squirmed and flapped against the magic, but it was too great. "I see that you've certainly packed for the occasion." Her bag opened, and the remaining muffins floated from it, circling her head. "Do you know the muffin mare?" "The muffin mare?" She asked. "The muffin mare." He grinned at her. "Do you know the muffin mare? The muffins became faces and laughed around her. Ditsy began to laugh at the song they were singing. "I didn't know muffins could laugh." "Discord. Don't..." The words came heavily from The Doctor. "I was only going to help her." He tapped her forehead with his finger sending a light around her. She stared blankly at him, her face becoming emotionless. I didn't want to think what was happening. Then a blinding light erupted from her eyes as they slowly closed. She gently glided to the ground, lying peaceful in a sleeping position. When she awakes, you shall see my handiwork." He chuckled. "Now if you don't mind I have other matters to attend to." He snapped from existence. Doctor Whooves ran over to Ditsy as Vinyl and Lyra tried to settle me down. I disliked that I had to be settled down while Ditsy was lying on the ground in front of me. "How's Ditsy? What's wrong with her?" I continually asked. The Doctor nuzzled his nose up against Ditsy causing her to stir. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around wide-eyed. All of the attention to me ceased as everyone noticed what Discord had done to her. Ditsy was even aware of the change. Her eyes darted around the forest as her wings began to stretch out happily. "I can see!" She turned to me again; her eyes were completely straight and fixed. "Woohoo!" She leaped into the air, flapping and gliding down onto her hooves. The Doctor stared at her, surprised as everyone else. From what I went through, I knew there had to be some sort of catch to this 'gift'. I waited for something to happen, but the happiness remained. "Where are my muffins?" She trotted to her bag and stuck her nose inside of it. She dug around and put her head in completely. She flinched from the bag. "He took all of my muffins and my bubble blanket!" It wasn't what I had expected, but it was something. "Ditsy you're..." The Doctor spoke. He didn't seem quite the same as he stared at Ditsy. I thought I caught onto a slight sliver of light above him and looked up to see the strange being holding a puppeteer's rack. He was not only controlling his limbs, but also his mind and voice. "You are the most beautiful mare I have ever seen..." Ditsy's cheeks blushed at the compliment. "I... you do?" She bashfully kicked at the dirt, unaware that Discord had him under control. I stood up and tried to yell to her, hoping not to witness her heart be broken. "Dit-" My voice cut out instantly. I tried to speak, but no noise was produced. Vinyl turned toward me, noticing my trouble. I pointed up into the canopy and rubbed my throat. She looked up. "Ditsy, it's a trap!" She snapped from her romantic trance and looked past the brown stallion in front of her. She still reached out and touched hooves with Doctor Whooves sending a power down the puppet strings and around the two. Laughing echoed over the din of the swirling vortex that encapsulated the two ponies. Ditsy attempted to escape, but found her hooves stuck against The Doctors. He too had snapped out of his trance and looked around hastily. "What happened?" He yelled at Ditsy. "You were nice to me." She yelled back. The light exploded into a torrent of light and wind. Lyra stood staring at all of the events that were unfolding, confused as to what was happening. The light died down, leaving the two ponies lying on the ground. They appeared perfectly fine. It took them a bit, but they rose and looked at each other. Both of their eyes widened as they spoke simultaneously. "How are you-? But I- you?" Something was clearly off by what I was hearing. I looked back up into the canopy to see that Discord had vanished, and I hoped for good. Ditsy turned to Lyra, Vinyl, me, her face bent in a way that was largely unlike her. "I believe that Discord has switched our bodies." Ditsy spoke. We cringed slightly and looked at The Doctor's body seeing him, or her, burying her head inside of her fur. She took big whiffs and sat down, a satisfied look encapsulating her face. "I smell like muffins." She grinned heavily. "I don't even know how to use these things..." The Ditsy Doctor complained as he flapped Ditsy's wings. "It feels so weird being a man." Doctor Ditsy answer as she stared at her hooves. "What's going on?" Lyra asked after a long run of silence. "Well it would seem that Discord has tricked us into coming into contact after preparing a body switch magic onto me. Being under control caused him to sway Ditsy with some loving words and cause us to touch therefore completing the magic." Ditsy's body spoke intelligently. Vinyl looked over her glasses. "It's hard to see Ditsy talk this intelligently..." "Hey!" Ditsy stopped examining her hooves and looked up. "I respect that!" "Resent. You resent that." The Ditsy Doctor corrected. "Yeah, that!" She grumped. "I'm sorry, but he talks more sophisticated than you." Vinyl apologized. "I can't argue with that." She smelled her mane again, grinning ear to ear. "This isn't good, and isn't meant to be." The Ditsy Doctor spoke, pacing back and forth. "I'm sure it can't be that bad. I know you are now a female pegasus, but that doesn't seem life changing." Lyra responded. "No you don't understand. She doesn't feel weird because she is male. She feels weird because she isn't a one hundred percent pony." He answered, almost shamefully. "Excuse me?" Vinyl asked. "I'm not, well, that body is not a regular pony's body. Only Octavia would have seen that I have not aged since I've been here." The group fell into silence as their eyes widened. "So you're immortal?" I questioned, feeling the thickness of the air from the secrets being revealed. "No, not immortal. I've simply lived a long time, and I have not changed. I don't quite fully understand all of the details to it, but it has given me a great deal amount of skill in repairing anything given to me. I've read a great deal about cases like this and they have all led back to one source. Eyn." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "I-" It rolled out my thoughts as I looked away. The Doctor controlled Ditsy stared at me thoughtfully. "You knew something was up, yet you never questioned it. Why is that?" He asked. "Some things are best left a mystery. I didn't know if there was a sad story to it or not." I nodded. "There is no sense dwelling over the past. It is known now, and we must work to amend it." "I'll say. It is strange seeing you two act different, yet be exactly the same." Vinyl chuckled slightly about it. "How does it feel to be a stallion, Ditsy?" Lyra asked. "I feel fresh." She brandished a smile and pose, which managed to create an easier atmosphere. I still sat in the dirt, covered in grime from what Discord had done to me. I felt scarred and mentally broken from it. I demanded to go home, but knowing that thing was back in Ponyville, I had to question which would be safer, the woods or Ponyville. Moving my head away from my friends in shame, I felt the burden of being more of a liability than someone who could help protect the party. It hurt for me to admit it, but I knew it was true. My phobias were going to come back and haunt me. Vinyl noticed my mood and trotted over. "Octavia, are you going to be okay?" I was sick of hearing the question though I knew it was a question I had lied about countless times. I couldn't lie to my friends or myself again. "No..." I averted my gaze, feeling the shame wash over me. "It's going to be alright, Tavi. Just you see. We'll just turn right around and get back to Ponyville." Her voice was obviously uneasy as she tried to coddle me. "Not trying to be a downer, but if I heard him right, he came from Ponyville and has just returned there. I'm sorry, girls, but I believe Ponyville has already met this evil. We are better off trying to find Eyn and gain his protection." The Ditsy Doctor answered solemnly. A tense silence broke out among the group as hope began to wane. What are we going to do? I thought to myself. It almost appeared that everyone was on the verge of crying. "My Celestia." We all turned to Doctor Ditsy. "I have quite the bubble butt." She laughed and managed to lighten the mood of the situation. I still sat in the dirt. I managed to crack a smile and chuckle at the joke. It helped me concentrate and hide my fears. The trees had returned mostly to normal except for the occasional one that flickered purple. Doctor Ditsy walked forward and jumped up slightly before falling her face. She grunted and moaned as she cracked her eyes open. She looked back to her back and sighed. "No wings..." She frowned. Ditsy's shenanigans continued to help me focus and take the forest in parts. I had to convince myself permanently that there was nothing wrong with these woods. I found that such a feet was better said than done. Looking to sky for some sort of hope, I noticed the skies were pink and fluffy like cotton candy. It reminded me of my sister and I hoped that she was okay. I wondered if the house was still there, and my cello... My thoughts ceased as I listened to myself. Thinking about my cello made me sick in this time of tension. What about my family? I made myself forget about the cello and the music I had to write. Everything about my life boiled down to my family and my friends. That was when I started hearing the music that had echoed through my head at various points of the past few days. It was much louder and held a stronger tone to it. It wasn't the same as all the other times and it didn't feel like it was in my head, but all around me. I had to look around and see the reaction from the other ponies to make sure that there truly wasn't music playing. I turned back to myself before turning to look at Vinyl. She had her glasses off and had been staring at Ditsy and The Doctor messing around. She smiled slightly, but turned back to me, just to make sure I was fine. Lyra too had come to my side to help ease my fear. She had also seen the scrapes that the roots had made along my midriff and was actively wrapping bandages around it. Those eyes... I couldn't shake a feeling that there was something about them that I had missed in everyone else's eyes. The music inside of my head gained flair to it, like a large pad increasing in volume and distortion just at the mood change. It flowed perfectly and brought the song together in a way that I didn't expect. It held my tongue and kept me silent. It showed my appreciation for her help and her concern for me. Each of my friends, along with Lyra in the short amount of time that I knew her, gave their own special element to the song inside of my heart. It didn't give me courage like it did before I entered, but gave me sadness and happiness in a single package. It was beyond beautiful. I tapped the ground slowly, feeling the pace of the song before I started writing notes in the dirt. Everything became clear to me and everything except the finish to my song came into view. I wished there was paper that I could take advantage of and scribble it all down on their surface, but instead I had ceased to care to write it down. This was my song and not anyone else's. I had to smile at the realization. It felt good to finally call a song my own instead of something to be given to other people. It warmed the recesses of my mind. Lyra finished wrapping the bandage around my waist and nodded at the handiwork. "That should give your wounds a bit more time to heal. Plus, I drew a heart on the side." She grinned. I looked at the heart and saw that she had put initials inside of it. "OP and VS" I said aloud. "Ha. Ha. Very funny." "Is everyone set? We need to find the only normal portion of the forest. That will tell us if we are close to Eyn or not." The Ditsy Doctor rallied. "That is if you are able to move Octavia." I knew the urgency of the situation and shakily rose to my feet. "I'm fine. Where do we need to go to next?" I questioned. The Ditsy Doctor looked at the group. "None of you are going to like this, but this is going to be dangerous. We first need to get through these woods and get to the base of Molten Mountain. From there, we need to walk the Curvaceous Cliffs, to get to the Concussed Crater. If my studies serve me right, then Eyn should be living within it." "Why didn't you tell us all of this before our journey even started?" Lyra asked. "I wasn't completely sure if this pony even existed until Discord referenced him from memory. He existed and I would have mentioned it, though I doubted that any of us would have wished to traverse such a dangerous path." A whisper broke between Lyra and Vinyl while Ditsy wiggled her new bottom wishing she had her wings back, but keeping the same smell. I turned my attention to The Ditsy Doctor. "Let's get going, shall we? The quicker we get this over with, the faster I can get home." I struggled through the burning sensation within my waist.
In the Background	Chapter 7: Nightmares and Wishes	The pain began to subside in my waist as the many cuts began healing. It still caused the group to move slower, which I guessed was Discord's plan along with the soap roads. We moved as a group to stay safer as the Everfree evolved into a plethora of balloons, bubble gum, and milkshakes. We couldn't expect anything from how reality seemed to just be ignored and tossed aside as if it was a boring towel. I couldn't stop retracing my mind back to the last incident, and how I had acted. The way I cuddled up in Discord's hands thinking he was protecting me. I felt wronged and violated, which only caused my hatred for him to increase. Vinyl must have seen my disgust as she looked at me from behind her glasses. She believed that no one could see where she was looking from behind her glasses, but after living with her for so long, I learned to watch her eyebrows as she had watched mine. She was concerned, and I couldn't blame her. If Vinyl had been in my position, I would be doing the same. It came with our bond that we had created over the years, one that only filled my mind, but never igniting. When I had felt that my life was in danger, the spark ignited and I had called out to her. I question my thoughts again, but they have been lit now. I couldn't deny my feelings that had grown between us, and I wanted something more with her. I had to look away, hiding my blushed cheeks and dreamy eyes, but it managed a smile, even if it was only a small one. I tried to snap out of it and focus at the task at hand, not trusting completely to the feelings that had grown, but I found myself glancing over to the white unicorn. I questioned what I saw in her that made my hooves tingle. I always had my eyes on stallions be them pegasus, earth, or unicorn, and none ever interested me. The closest anypony came to catching my eye was Albion Grand. Turns out the only thing I loved the sound of his piano and how he could make it sing just as I could massage my cello. It felt like a duty to be together with him, our interests so similar, but seeing the pony for which he truly was ruined my appetite. I again fell into a dismal depression of never finding a proper pony to please my picky preferences. I had already lived with Vinyl beyond the time that she had dumped her lover and saved my cello from tampering at this time when things began to turn inside me. We enjoyed each other more than we had ever enjoyed our ex's, and on plenty of occasions, we discussed such a fact. Our friendship blossomed quickly after that, until it evolved into a sisterhood, or so I thought. Instead now I feel a stronger pull, a pull that was familiar, but the meaning became much renewed and revised. I wanted, no, I needed to tell her how I felt, but it stayed as a lump in my throat. I couldn't bring myself to tell her. Thoughts of rejection and being "weirded" out came up. I could see her in disbelief, seeing as her joke was more truth than whimsical. One side of me pointed to how she had acted to me. How she was obviously showing some feelings that I knew I shared with her. Another side pointed to Vinyl's carefree attitude being a cause for her flirts. I had to agree with the observation. The joke of us being together had made us laugh plenty of times, but the idea of us actually being together made it feel cliche and more of an anti-joke. How would she even view me? I knew Lyra and Bon-Bon were one of the few couples that had thrived. I knew a few ponies began to talk about the "unnaturalness" of their union, but nothing was ever too major. Then again, I don't fully know the full story behind them. She was a mare just as I was, and I couldn't bring myself to fully accepting my feelings. Something had to have happened with Discord. Maybe it was some sort of love spell so he could watch me cringe and look away. Maybe it was there just to torment my heart and not let my thoughts remain clear. It felt far too sudden to be real, yet my feelings insisted that they've existed much longer than that. I tried to not believe my emotions. I tried to flush my mind out of the future and the past. I tried to flush my mind of her, yet she remained. "What's on your mind, Tavi?" Vinyl questioned. "Just how absurd all of this is becoming." I answered. "I'm sorry about dragging you along. I didn't know any of this would happen or for Eyn to actually be true." "You didn't believe he was true either?" I felt a tug of anger pull me away from my absorbing thoughts. "Then why did you-?" "I wanted you to loosen up and come along, I would be bored if I could talk to you on our little journey. It was more meant as an evening stroll through the woods, almost like a romantic date, except as sisters." She tossed a grin in hopes that it would cheer me up, it didn't. Instead, I brooded over her words. She still saw us as sisters and nothing more. She isn't interested in me as I am interested in her. All the times I had walked in on her bathing or dancing would be chalked up under me just looking at her. We are only sisters. The words hurt more than I should have let them, but the bad thoughts cascaded inside of my head. I smiled at her to say I was fine. She took it for once, which I was grateful for. "It isn't so bad. I mean Ditsy and Doctor Whooves are hysterical now." We both looked up at the two leading the pack. "How do you even use these things?" The Ditsy Doctor inquired, aimlessly flapping Ditsy's wings. "I don't think I am the best teacher for that, but my father told me to just feel it inside of yourself." Doctor Ditsy explained. "I feel a lot of nothing inside me." He proclaimed. "Oh yeah... Discord stole my muffins..." She grunted. "Why do you like muffins so much?" The Ditsy Doctor asked. "Because they make me happy. A happy Ditsy is a flying Ditsy, and flying Ditsy is a faster Ditsy. You have to be quick to be a messenger you know." She tossed him a wink. The pegasus's eyes raised in contemplation. "That would make sense, yes." Ditsy took a big whiff of her new body and giggled. "And how do you smell so wonderful?" She tried to stifle her giggles. "I believe I have always smelled like that, came with the body." "I could just carry you around all day and be the fastest pegasus around." She giggled. "Are you sure?" He teased. She bumped into him and kept walking, chuckling from being ornery. The Ditsy Doctor shared in the laughter and bumped her back, losing his balance with his new body and falling onto the ground as Doctor Ditsy lost hers and found herself inside of a bush made of cotton candy. I disliked that we had to stop because of their shenanigans, but I found myself smiling again. Just seeing Ditsy wiggle The Doctor's body's legs, brought this atmosphere of security given the events that had just occurred. I questioned how Ditsy could do it. She has lost so much, a body, voice, flight, and her life, yet she still made jokes. I guess such a circumstance was just how she coped when her husband vanished. She had to have a strong character and a much stronger metabolism to burn all of her muffins. I enjoyed her how she was, and I wouldn't ask for any other pony to be one of my friends. By the time we had her free, we were all giggling, finally enjoying ourselves. The journey almost began to feel as if it was quickening, and not just because the roads were made of soap. The mountains were quickly coming into view through the small cracks within the tree canopy. It made me feel good and hopeful of our journey. The sun vanished again and was quickly replaced by the moon, casting the woods in a shroud. I could just barely see the brighter hair of Vinyl before her horn erupted in a magical light. "Shall we pitch camp?" She asked, looking around at the rest of the group for confirmation. The Doctor agreed. "It isn't any use of us trying to travel in this darkness and the erratic changing of day and night may not favor us. We've made a sizeable dent in the journey and we need our rest. Everyone needs to bunk with someone else, just in case Discord tries any of his tricks." Everypony nodded in approval. I needed to rest as it was as I began to feel my flanks starting to burn from the walking. Vinyl trotted past me, magically setting up our tent as Lyra and The Doctor combined their tents so that the three could all sleep together. "Come on, Octavia. You need your rest." She crawled inside the tent and turned to me. I disliked having this sort of treatment. It was only a few scratches, nothing to be concerned about. I crawled in next to Vinyl and found that she had laid down a soft padding of moss and leaves. Was this how real camping was like? I turned and groaned at the slight discomfort of my minor injuries before I finally sat down. The fatigue in my legs caught up to me as a flood of relief and comfort took me. I had absorbed myself in my thoughts longer than I had expected, and even now, I found myself lost in thought. It took me a second to realize how small the shelter was. It was nothing like the living room setup where most of the room had been converted into a tent allowing Vinyl and me to sleep at decent distances. In this tent, however, she was laying right up against me. Her heat felt welcoming and warm. I had a short fantasy of her turning around and for us to embrace each other before going to sleep, but she stayed where she was. I took to my bedding next to her, smelling her scent as it permeated the tent and my nostrils. I had never known her to harbor such a natural smell to her. I wondered if this was similar to the scent that Ditsy smelled on The Doctor. "You are weird sometimes." Vinyl spoke. I hadn't realized that I had been staring at her, or that she was equally staring at me. I shook myself from my feelings. Why were they growing now? I stifled my heart and shut it out with my head. I quickly created a lie and tried my best to make it sound convincing. "You look nice." I didn't say my lie. My tongue slipped and my heart had obviously drenched the words. I turned away from her and laid down my head, hoping to let my words vanish. Vinyl bumped my shoulder playfully. "Still managing to keep the joke." She projected her voice more so that the other tent could hear her. "Goodnight, Tavi. I love you." "Can it you two." Lyra giggled in the other tent. I could feel the box resting on my side, still hidden in my bag, still locked by Vinyl's key. I wondered what could possibly be within its space. Vinyl had never been the patient type when it came to gifts, but for some reason this present was different. It was much too small to be anything of great value, though I wouldn't put it past her to find some way of cramming something into it. Much more thought had gone into this present, and I couldn't decide if it was her way of making me come, or if something else was afoot. It was no use trying to guess, not now. I repositioned my head a tried to fall asleep. It wasn't long before I drifted off. I woke up groggy, but feeling a degree of refreshed. I breathed in, not yet wishing to open my eyes to the brightness of the sun. I cracked them slowly as not to blind myself. All I could see was white at first, which frightened me slightly. I opened my eyes the rest of the way and let the details be absorbed until I saw that I was looking at Vinyl whose face was mere inches from mine. As I pulled away from her, I found that our noses had been touching and that our hooves had intertwined. My movement woke her from her slumber. She cracked her eyes open similar to mine, grunting at the light. She flipped her sunglasses down and grunted, as she stood, unknowing of the position we had been for who knows how long that night. "I slept like ambient trance, so serene." She stretched her back and scratched her messy mane. "I slept like a soft cello score." I complimented her observation. She sniffed and rubbed her nose. "Is your nose wet?" She asked, digging inside of her bag for a rag. "What?" I felt my nose and found it to be wet and why her nose had a wet spot. My mind flew into a panic. "Yeah, a little." "We must have slept soundly then." She chuckled to herself as she ran the comb through her mane. "There!" She finished combing and cracked her neck before turning to me. "You're a mess. Let me help you." The comb magically moved over to my mane and began to softly comb through my hair. Vinyl hummed a tune as she focused her magic to sort through my messy mane. I found there to be twigs and burs. I moaned at the disgrace my mane was sitting. Maybe I could take a shower in the waterfall. I hadn't noticed it the first time we had arrived at the site, but hearing it now, put my mind at ease. "I think I'm going to take a shower." I spoke, poking my head out of tent and looking around the lighted woods. "Room for two?" Vinyl giggled from behind me. "You'll have to beat me there!" I felt a strange flood of excitement. The creek and the waterfall were just a few trots from where the other pony's tents were. The water seemed untainted by Discord's corruption. I stuck my hoof in the water and found it to be soothing and relaxing. Remembering the burs and sticks, I could only guess how much dirt and bugs had gotten in there. I extended my hoof again, but felt a strong push from behind. "How's the water, Tavi?" I heard Vinyl ask as I flailed in the air and hit the pool of water, completely submerging. I poked my head up to see a white and blue mass eclipse the sun. "Watch out below!" She bellowed. My heart stopped as I tried to swim away, but it was to no prevail. She broke the water and set me to the side of the pool. She arose from the depths, whipping her hair and looking at me smiling. "I'm glad to see your feeling better." Vinyl chimed, swimming toward me, her eyes locked on mine. Those wonderful red eyes- no, I shook the thoughts from my head. "Tavi, have I ever told you how you have wonderful eyes?" She asked playfully, arriving close to me. I felt my cheeks begin to burn as I looked into her eyes. I wanted to admit the same thing, but instead I averted my gaze down to the water. "And what brought this up, Vi?" "Vi?" She sounded amused. "I kinda like that name." She stopped approaching me, and thought about the name. "Ta-Vi. I think we have a winner." She laughed shook her head of water. "That was what you were saying in your sleep. 'Have I ever told you how you have wonderful eyes?' I'm glad you think so. I just wanted to tell you that I am envious of your purple eyes. They would glow brilliantly under a black light even under my shades. Awesome." I couldn't determine if what she was saying was playful or romantic. It irritated me, but the water felt too nice to let my mind ruin it. Our noise had drawn the attention of the other tent sending Lyra out quickly, a smile plastered on her face as she bolted to the pool. Ditsy and The Doctor rose out of the tent together, both looking groggy and not themselves, though that was a given. "Hey Dits! How are you feeling?" Vinyl yelled from the pool. Ditsy looked up and shook her head. "I need muffins." She groaned. I looked at The Doctor who equally seemed rough. "Why is she always hungry?" I could have sworn I could hear his stomach growl from the pool. The entire group eventually found themselves inside of the pool, smiles back on their faces. This slice of normalcy inside of the forest felt off, but good. I wondered how long this pool would last, or more so, how long we would stay at this pool. I leaned back against the rocks and relaxed, feeling the water soothe my injuries. Another splash rippled through the water sending our vision over to the source. The happiness quickly faded as we saw an elongated body emerge from the water. The dissimilar horns and random appendages clashed heavily with the black sunglasses, but the mere existence of him now, sickened me. "Hello ponies! I see that you are enjoying a nice little swim." He jumped up from the water and stepped on the water as if it was solid. "How are the bodies? Enjoying them?" He asked Ditsy and Doctor He chuckled at their annoyed faces. "I've found that there isn't enough chaos in Ponyville and feel that a more rigorous expansion is needed. Now I could just do, but what is the fun in that? I like an audience and I happen to have one. Yes!" He pumped his arm and teleported to the top of the waterfall, his feet corrupting the water into chocolate milk. I watched as the rocks transformed into rock candy, and the trees became giant lollipops. I inched away from Discord, feeling less afraid of him, but still enough to not let him have a chance to do anything to me. "I am just warming up. Chaos is such a wonderful thing, and with those other friends out of the way, I can finally spend some more quality time with you!" He teleported behind us, group hugging us. "We are going to have so much fun!" He squealed before teleporting into nothingness, his laughter still filling the forest as everything began to change into chaos.
In the Background	Chapter 8: The Color of Chaos	Vinyl climbed out of the water and chocolate milk slurry and stared at the surrounding landscape contorts and descend into chaos. The look in her eyes spoke of anger and fear as she turned slowly, watching the forest crumble. "Why can't you leave us alone?" She spoke out into the air in case Discord could hear her. "Leave you alone? My dear Ol' Mother always told me that it was dangerous to go into the woods. So I am going to stick around and make sure that nothing happens to my new favorite ponies." He snapped back into existence in front of Vinyl, pinching her cheek. She angrily shook away from his grip. "All you've done is make this journey more dangerous." She bellowed. "What? Me? Dangerous? I don't see any harm that I've caused." He sounded hurt. I couldn't just sit around with that remark. My anger overwhelmed my fear as I rose from the chocolate milk, showing off the bandages around my waist. "I'm sorry, but I believe you are quite mistaken." I spoke gruffly. "Oh... that. Psh. That is just some minor scrapes. What would be real harm is if I took a pony that had wings, but didn't know how to fly and dropped her... or him." He pointed to The Doctor who was still in Ditsy's body, teleporting him away from the group and up into the air. We could only look in horror as an earth pony pegasus flapped uselessly in the in the as he fell toward the ground. Discord fell onto his back laughing at the awkward scene. He had tears on the edge of his eyes at how hard he was laughing. "I need to see that one more time!" He teleported The Doctor back up to the same spot of the sky and watched him fall again. The laughter only made my heart sink more as I watched the flailing dot fall toward the dirt. I just managed to see a brown streak fly past me toward the laughing God of Chaos. I turned just in time to see Ditsy leaping in the air, trying to trample Discord's face, but he saw her before she landed. He popped back beside her. Even with having an unfamiliar body, Ditsy still made an incredibly agile turn. It was the first time that any of us had seen so much anger and tears in Ditsy's eyes. Something had snapped in her. "Stop it!" She screamed, as she charged him again. He laughed teleported behind her and tripped her, watching her get a mouthful of dirt only making him laugh harder. "You ponies are just the greatest! Again!" He pointed back at The Doctor and pulled him back into the sky, laughing at the useless flapping. "Oh my sides hurt." He continued to laugh as he leaned over, catching Ditsy by the head and holding her in her charge to him without any effort at all. I could only stare in shock at Ditsy before I caught on the bursts of light erupting from behind me. I turned to see sparks of lightning and brightly colored lights erupt from Vinyl's horn. Discord caught it with his other hand and looked at the ball of party lights as they vanished within his hand. He turned back to Ditsy and turned the ground under her feet into chocolate pudding. "I never had a party before! How exciting!" He snapped his fingers and I found myself lost in a bright light before we reappeared sitting at a table, strapped to the chairs. The creeping claustrophobia began to prickle up my back as I found that I couldn't move anything. In my panic, I found that everyone else was safely sitting at the table, Ditsy trying to gnaw the restraints off, still lost in a rage I never could have expected her to have. "Hush my darling. Have a muffin." Discord spoke, spawning a muffin in front of her. Ditsy's gnawing of her restraints moved to the muffin. She ripped the poor thing apart, inhaling the crumbs and licking her lips. She breathed out and stared at The Doctor, seeing that he was safe with her body. The Doctor didn't look too well. His hair sat, windblown on his head, his eyes still plastered open from drying out. His muscles were still tensed from the sheer panic of falling to his death. "Are you okay?" Ditsy asked Whooves. "I was worried about you, but seeing you safe, here, and with me, has me happy again." Her tail wiggled. "Girls, we are upside down." Lyra stated. Right as we noticed our manes fell towards the ground. My fear had ceased. I was more annoyed now than anything else. I folded my hooves and stared angrily at the being at the other end of the table. "Oh... what's wrong? Are you not enjoying my party?" He blew on a party favor, before popping over to my side, throwing confetti at me. "Oh come now. I turned you all upside down seeing as you were frowning. Let's see some change in character!" "Wouldn't it help if you remained the right way up?" I groaned. He scratched his head and turned right side up and clapped his hands. "How foolish of me to miss that. It is so great to see such smiling faces on all of my friends! You. I dislike blue, let's try green." He snapped his fingers turning Vinyl's mane and tail into a green shade. She stared at it, shocked at what he had done. "Oh no you didn't!" She squirmed in her restraints. "Change it back!" She snapped. Her sunglasses floated off from her head and landed on Discord's nose. "So these are the eyes of a raver." Party lights descended from the sky as a random techno beat pulsed from nowhere. He started to shuffle, teleporting to random areas around us. Lyra's horn began to slowly light up as she closed her eyes in concentration. Vinyl's restraints slowly came undone, sending her tumbling to the tree below. Lyra focused on my next. I felt the constricting straps loosen before weightlessness took over, sending my heart leaping. Discord had become so distracted by his dance that he didn't notice Lyra and Vinyl finish untying the rest of our restraints. We slowly climbed down the tree, trying to be as quiet as possible. "He took my shades..." Vinyl grunted to herself as she climbed slowly the branches. "Why do you want them back?" Vinyl appeared upside down, descending just as we were. He extended his hand, giving her the sunglasses. Vinyl snagged them with her teeth and tossed them up into the air and caught them on her head. "Never touch the shades." She glared at Discord. "I'm so sorry for touching your wonderful sunglasses. Let me give you a hoof." The tree trunks transformed into long wooden hooves. We were bucked from the tree, sending us through the hoof branches. I managed to snag a branch just below where Vinyl had bit into the tree. I could hear the now all too familiar cackle of the floating source of chaos. I loathed him more than I feared him now, seeing that nothing was going to truly hurt us, but just to irritate us. I began to see it as a game of wits, a game that I have never lost. I slid down the rest of the trunk and stared at him, exaggerating my annoyance. "Is that really all you have?" I questioning, looking back at the tree disappointingly. He seemed knocked off balance by my sudden change. "So... we have a critic eh?" He snapped his fingers and appeared behind me, running his fingers through my mane. I sighed disapprovingly. "You've become such a bore." Part of me couldn't believe the bite and lack of fear that were in my words. The way his fingers slowly clenched into a fist made me smile inside. I didn't believe that I could have gotten under his skin, but I must have been doing something right. I barely noticed the other ponies staring at me in shock at my sudden change. I'd have been right next to them, but I had a show to perform. It wasn't long before I was dragged back to the show. The rocks and pebbles around me turned into small bouncing balls with horns strapped to them. They annoyingly jumped around me. I sighed my distaste out. I watched him transform the mountain into a giant chunk of chocolate topped in whipped cream. He even added a cherry with a pig snout on it. I don't think he enjoyed seeing my dull and listless eyes barely blink at the spectacle in front of me. I promptly sat down and tightened my bow, digging myself in for the game of wits. "Please... a snout on a cherry? I would have made the mountain perform a ballet in a pink tutu while whistling Winter Wrap Up." I chimed. I could hear the low-set groan burn from his throat as he trudged around me, looking at me sit, letting my presence pester him and fester within his mind. Maintaining the poise I had started with, it was simple to keep my eyes locked forward, and my face plastered with a lack of amusement. Another sigh triggered the anger to overflow within Discord. The dirt was transformed into chocolate as he shot a wall of whipped cream out which hit Ditsy, leaving only a smear mark where she had been hit. It was hard to watch, but seeing her poke The Doctor's head out from the pile and smile eased my strain. "Sweets are bad for you, and apparently they are also bad for jokes as well. You are quite the one act jokester aren't you?" He had enough of my biting criticisms. I found his short temper to be counter his normal cheerful and joking attitude. I felt a wave of victory flood over me as I stared at him smugly. He stood with his back to me, rubbing the hair on his chin thoughtfully as he turned around and grinned menacingly. His eagle claw rose, filling with magic. I looked down at my body and found nothing to be happening to me, but the voices behind me told me what he was doing. I turned to see Lyra being lifted off of the ground. She fought against his magic, but floated toward the beast of chaos. He stared into her eyes and slowly began to talk to her. "Bon-Bon has told me a great deal about you. She misses you and she only had me to keep her company." He looked away guiltily. "You... You didn't." Lyra lost her usual cool about her as she stopped fighting and stared at Discord. "She was so down about not being able to come with you on your little journey... so I tried to cheer her up. I think she enjoyed it." His voice was beginning to get me worried, but I quickly saw what he was doing to her. I watched as the color began to drain out of her as she stared at him, her eyes seeing something that we couldn't see. "What are you doing to her?" Vinyl yelled, charging toward him. Discord threw a chunk of chewed bubble gum at her feet. The gum instantly grew and ensnared her. I stood up; the worry inside had begun to shatter. My game of wits was now getting my friends in danger. My mind raced to find a way to keep the advantage to help my friends so that they didn't have to suffer. I knew what I had to do would make my image drop, and seeing the hurt expression across Vinyl's face as she struggled to stop Discord from draining the hope out of Lyra, only made matters worse. I took a steadying breath in and steadied myself to make the sacrifice. "Is that the only way you can get to me? By messing with them?" The words hurt, but I hoped the bluff would work. His attention began to fall from Lyra and Vinyl as he stared at me, groaning. "You are just full of bite. Cupcake?" A hail of cupcakes fell around me. He left my friends alone, though now a new expression grew across their faces. They were looking at me as if I was just as equally offensive as Discord. My sacrifice would have to work to at least make it possible for me to come back to a group of friends. "I would ask you to go off and think of some better chaos because, frankly, this is a disgrace." I threw at him. I hit every key that I had before me to get the reaction that I had desired of him. He forgot my friends and chaos. I made the fight personal which sealed the deal. He walked toward me, angrily. His finger pressed onto my forehead. I felt a strong surge jolt through my body as if my heart was being ripped out. It felt as if the color drained my body as I stood in the clearing with my friends. Discord had left. I had succeeded in saving my friends, but I knew my sacrifice had me lose the love of my life. She had seen how cruel and dark I was. She would never take me into her hooves. She would never talk to me again. I felt the heartache fill my body as the reality of the matter began to set. I would never have her as my own, a forbidden love that only Lyra and Bon-Bon had mastered and succeeded. My logical side quickly wiped my thoughts. I tightened my emotions and closed off my ties. I almost felt compelled to think the way, but I couldn't blame some outside force. I knew it was true. It has always been true. "What happened? What did he do to you?" Vinyl asked, slowly approaching me. I turned to her, seeing her eyes, feeling nothing from seeing her. I knew I had destroyed those feelings, but I questioned what reasons I had to do such a thing to them. I still felt that I had lost something dear, but I felt relieved and glad that she would never have to deal with the awkwardness of knowing that her roommate had loved her for song. I had barely noticed the last of my color vanishing on the tip of my nose when I had fully accepted what had to be done. Discord had finally left us alone, sending his usual cackle into the air. The area around us had descended into an almost indistinguishable chaos. I peered around to see the color quickly returning to Lyra and Ditsy being helped out of her encasement by The Doctor. A heavy sigh of relief escaped my lips as I relaxed and sat down. "What the hay was all that?" Vinyl asked, a hint of anger could be heard in her voice. "A game of wits. He won't be bothering us for some time. We should press onwards." I felt how detached I was. I didn't fear it. I didn't hate it. Instead, I found myself enjoying it. It felt good. I turned before I could see the pained expression flood over her face. "Tavi. Tavi!" She galloped in front of me. I only just realized that my hair mane had lost its shape. It sat flat on my head, half covering my face. I remembered the style I had when I worked on the family rock farm. "Tavi! Something is wrong with you." She knew something that I did not. "There was something wrong with me, but I've been cured of that." A deep sensation within my heart softly tugged, but I knew it was nothing. My mind had been made up, and I only desired to get to Eyn and get this over with. I trotted past her in the direction to get to Eyn. Lyra, Doctor, and Ditsy Doo slowly made their way up to Vinyl, watching me proceed. Lyra was first to speak. "Is it me or is she gray?" "Discord touched her." The Doctor shook his head. "He succeeded in corrupting her, which he didn't have time to do against you. She distracted him away from us and took the hit for us, and she doesn't even know what she gave up." "What did she give up?" Vinyl asked, her voice dropping lower. "Whatever she held the most dear to her heart." The Doctor explained. "So she can't play the cello anymore?" Vinyl stared at me longingly. I turned to see the group staring at me. I wondered what was holding them up. "Let's try not to taint our good fortune by sitting about. We have to find Eyn." "She sounds like a completely different person. Is there a way to get her back to her original self?" Vinyl turned to the earth pony trapped in a pegasus. "Only if Discord is defeated and we would need to use Elements of Harmony, but..." "You think that other group of friends is the group that stopped Luna?" "That would seem to be the case. If they can't beat him then I don't think she can ever be cured." The tone began to drop quickly. "And Discord said he had already dealt with them..." Her voice trailed. "Then we can only hope for a miracle." I tapped my hoof as I turned back and saw them still standing like sticks in the mud. I didn't want to deal with this now. "Any time now!" I groaned. They all peered at each other and nodded. It didn't take them too long to catch up to me, but they never passed me. I led the group out of the woods and onto the rocky base of the mountains that surrounded Equestria. Most had been turned into hard rock candy by Discord, but I had my eyes set on the prize at the end of the road. I felt confident and happy, but the cello in my head played a requiem I had written when I was a filly. It almost felt as if a bow was using my heartstrings to play it on. I found it beautiful, but I tossed it aside as I had tossed everyone else aside.
In the Background	Chapter 9: Through the Eyes of Another	I was surprised at how well I was dealing with this strange emptiness that had filled me. Was it bravery, or was it the freedom from fear? Was there a difference? My body didn't care as much as I began to enjoy my surroundings. The warm sunlight was a pleasant on my mane and coat. It filled my heart with selfish happiness at my own well-being. I knew my friends must have hated me for my disregard of them. The truth continually struck at my logic, and I accepted it coldly. It set me free, which only made it that much easier to accept as the right thing to do. I had to peer back as my friends climbed the side of the mountain, helping the still shaky Lyra climb over the rock to get into the mountain passes. A pressure behind my eyes told volumes of my regret of what had happened, but just as easily as that pressure arose, it vanished behind my previous life of posh class and dignity. I didn't need them, and didn't pursue my regret any further. I looked at the mountain ranges and could see through the peaks to where the destination should be located. It felt closer than it was, and the idea of salvation and home made me smile. Desires and plans of moving out and going back to Canterlot excited me. To finally regain position and rank in the higher-ups satisfied my selfish wishes. A voice in the back of my head asked the question that I had hoped to avoid, but the voice was persistent, so I listened. What about Vinyl? I had to sigh at the thought. Of my friends, she had to hate me the most out of them. I tried to logically follow my conclusions of such as a means of checking, but it was always muddled in the middle. Every time I tried to focus on the logic lost inside my head, it would veer off. I stopped and closed my eyes, determined to get that logic straight. The fog in my head began to clear as I began to connect more dots. If I had opened my eyes I could have seen something that would have explained everything as my gray hair began to regain its color, but the focus warranted keeping my eyes closed. "Why did you stop, Tavi?" Vinyl questioned from behind me, snapping my concentration to the side. My eyes snapped open just as my hair lost its color again and turned to see Vinyl staring at me from behind her glasses. I forgot why I had stopped or why my eyes felt like they were pressed together tighter than they have ever been. "Just thinking." I guessed as much. "Feeling okay?" The concern in her voice disarmed me completely and set my own worry as to why she had such a tone. "I feel great, better than usual." I admitted. Seeing the look on Vinyl's face didn't help. She had always been cheerful or angry or brave, but this almost looked like fear. The source of this fear eluded me and I looked back at Lyra to try and see if something was up with her, but she seemed perfectly fine, apart of shaking. "What's up? What's wrong?" I demanded more than asked. I saw the magic aura lift the glasses from Vinyl's eyes as she held them closer to my face. I backed away from it, unsure as to what she was trying to accomplish by invading my personal space, but the look in her worried eyes told me what she had been trying to plan. I looked in the lenses of her iconic glasses and saw my purple reflection in them. Nothing seemed wrong with it at first glance. She magically turned the purple into a more reflective surface without the purple. I looked at the gray pony in front of me, staring at me with posh eyes and a high regard for civility. "Why am I gray?" I asked staring closer at the glasses to make sure that she or anything wasn't fooling me, but it was true. "Discord-" Vinyl started to explain. "You've been corrupted, my dear. Your game of wits worked, but he took something from you as well." The Doctor explained. "You ponies are crazy. I think he just turned me gray to get to you." Logic and possibility began to throw all doubt at other ideas. I abandoned the idea of being corrupted. "Tavi, you are acting different. He must have done something to you. Taken something that you held closest to your heart and it's making you into this... annoying mule." Her voice bit at me. "Mule? My dear mare... that is an atrocious accusation." I retorted. She responded immediately. "Really, 'my dear mare'? You have never acted like that before. I'm worried about you, Tavi." "You shouldn't be. I'm fine." I tossed her to the side like the rest of my emotions, raised my head and trotted away from them. "You can never play the cello again..." Vinyl tossed at my back. I had to turn back at the wild conclusion. "Oh really? And how, might I be as so bold as to inquire, did you formulate that ghastly conclusion?" She winced at my superior intellect. Simpleton. "I want you to hum something. Something new. I want to hear you improvise a song and hum it to me like you did back at the house when you questioned the rhythm and flow." She demanded. I stuttered a retort, but it was quickly hidden under the blankness of my brain. I couldn't think of any musical chords or patterns. I cleared my throat as my ears darted inside of my head. The only thing that I could remember was the earliest of my music. A large portion of my inspiration sources, at least a faint memory as to what I look toward for inspiration, were as blurred as the connections to why I assumed Vinyl and my friends hated me. It felt off. It felt peculiar. Something was off and I couldn't seem to focus on it. Instead, I felt a wall of selfishness force me to turn away from her and say she was below me. I listened carefully, and I obeyed. I let my mind accept the case and closed it off from any outside influences. - I could only stare at my closest friend as she walked way with her nose help up high. I couldn't even begin to tell anypony the amount of distaste and contempt I had for her at this moment. I knew something was up with her rhythm especially her beat. Octavia... how could you change so much and just become such a posh jerk? She was acting just as she had acted when she had first moved into our duplex. First impressions were hard to shake with her, and this only reminded her of the Old Octavia, lost in her self and putting others below her to fill the void. I put my shades back onto my eyes and tried to recollect my beat as well. I knew I couldn't let anything else terrible happen to her, even if she can't even acknowledge my presence. My dear mare... the words still irritated me, but calmed my other dislikes of her new self. She wasn't herself and I would have to accept that and make her relax. I wished I had my music. I would just play some trance for her and hopefully that would jog her memory and snap her out of the corruption. "Are you going to keep slowing me down, or are you ponies going to get your flanks into gear and join me?" Octavia spoke down to us. "Or I would put on some terrorcore and paralyze the hay out of you, and just drag you the entire way..." I gritted through my teeth. My anger quickly waned as I remembered that she wasn't herself. Instead, my rage began to turn toward the one that was truly responsible for taking Tavi away from me. Given the chance to, I would kick his teeth. I started to trot slowly toward Tavi as the rest of the party trotted past me to close the gap between Octavia and us. I didn't blame them. I understood the pony speaking more than they could imagine though I would think Lyra's preconceived notion as to what Tavi was truly like would be the most accurate guess. I had seen her change more than any other pony in the group. Her reactions, her uptightness, almost none existent inside of the house though should on occasion complain about the music being too loud or 'just noise'. I had understood her objections given her background is soft melodies and melancholy tones, but I hoped to inject a bit of bumping bass to loosen her classiness out of her. It worked quite well as she evolved into a mare that knew delicate music of sadness and fears and more robust themes of happiness and love. Love would be an understatement as to how my feelings began to change. I saw her as a sister, saying the sweetest insults to me. I never could rightfully explain why I felt so strongly toward this posh pony, but the more she opened up, the more my music flourished. It wasn't just me getting better, I had always been the best DJ there was around, but she gave me something that my music lacked. It gave me a larger purpose than just making music. I knew beats and patterns, the right moment to drop the bass, and the correct amount of time to generate the best tension after a big build up. She gave my music a tone as I gave her music a beat with the most radical time changes ever. At night I would simply lay on my back in bed, headphones around my neck and listen inside of her room at the sad melodies in her room grow happier. My night spying eventually caved in to me entering her room to simply listen to her play. The smile on her face when she saw me entered made me smile instinctually as my heart warmed and melted. I don't think anyone could see the beauty behind the class that she always tried to maintain in her lifestyle. My love for her was hidden as a joke. I enjoyed seeing her take the joke and roll with it, even in public. It was fun to see people's reactions to it, and their reaction when Tavi and me revealed the truth. I would say more like a half-truth. I meant every word that I've ever told her. I still tested the waters, but that pony was nigh impossible to read. I didn't mind too much, sometimes caught myself staring too long at as she exited the tub. Sometimes when she would put her mud mask and cucumbers on I would quietly sit in the room and watch her, question how the mud felt, or for that matter why waste good cucumbers on sitting them on therapeutic mumbo jumbo. My curiosity remained. Instead of pursing it, I had walked up to my room, jumped unto my sofa, crossed my back legs, and slipped on my headphones, enjoying the pulsing heartbeat of drum and bass. Slowly, but surely, I began to see that tan pony walking into my room, listening to my music, watching me dance, complimenting my mad skills. I would think that she was jealous of them, but I lacked the care to flaunt it. I knew I was good, but with Tavi around, I only felt like half of the equation. I had caught myself on occasion, listening to her play her cello and I would try to mimic the sound with a bit more bump. It never felt right or didn't hold the emotion that she Tavi could always manage. At one point, I listened through the wall and turned on my music quietly. She continued to play as I changed the beat patterns and bass until suddenly a harmony of the two hit me almost causing my glasses to slide off of my face. I wanted to hug her, kiss her, and do something romantic to her. The trance that she created was more awe-inspiring and catchy than I could imagine. I could only smile as I turned the volume up so that the noises through the walls matched. "Aww, yeah!" I yelled over my tunes. Tavi too had increased how loud she was playing to match what I was playing. I stared at the wall with dreamy eyes trying to imagine that classy mare with a smirk plastered on her face, filling in the gaps of my music. I had barely noticed my horn was glowing and moving various items around my room. I didn't realize that I was subconsciously creating something for her until I saw a strip of fabric float past my eyes. Just as I was about to question the reason for my magic being on, I heard the crash of the rest of the stuff I had lifted. The sound caused me to jump and knock the needle from the record and ceasing the music from continuing. I fell backward into my unkempt wires and stumbled into them, getting tangled and caught in them until Octavia began to question why I had stopped bringing life to her emotional slides. I had hoped to escape before she saw me wrapped up in those wires and making a fool of myself. "Hey Tavi, I'm just hanging around." It sounded much funnier in my head. I expected her to just do her usual smirk and let me hang in my own wires, but this time she came in to my aid. "Let me help you with that." She said, smoothly. It had to be the tone of her voice. Just how she said it made my awesome crimson eyes swell with bass build that would scare any prim, proper pony out of her palace. I didn't even try to escape from the wire clutches of my mega-amp system. That was when I had gotten my first big whiff of her mane. It was one of the sweetest smelling manes that I had ever smelled. I was almost shocked at the sheer volume and potency of it. It was something that I felt like I could never live without, yet something I wanted to desperately run away from. I knew Tavi's plans didn't match up with mine. If I chose to act on those instincts, sacrifices would have had to been made, and at that stage in time, I said, "To hay with that!" In the end, she helped me organize my wires and my basses to get more of a harmony instead of the shockwave that I was trying to go for when I had first set them up. She left with a smirk, and I returned it only to quickly turn back to the closed box and look inside to see what I had been creating. The patterns in it, and the symbolism told me more than I had been consciously aware of. It wasn't finished, not by a long shot. I toiled over that project in my free time and every chance I had. Sometimes I made excuses like when she had gone to Gala. I never much cared for it either way, but to make sure she would not bother me and possibly make me feel guilty, I hid in my room as if I were mad at her. It worked wonderfully and I had an entire Gala event to work on it. The finished product felt beyond my skills, but it sat before me, a completed art project made with delicacy and love. Magically, I placed it within the box and locked it with a key. The symbolism in it would be enough to tell her... I grunted it off. Now that all this time has passed, I am placed in the position to remember those old and radical moments of our evolution, and to see the current pony I am looking at, my heart hurting for her at the same time that it wants to strangle her with that pink bow. I was never one for pompous and Tavi had turned into the pompous of pompous ponies. I wouldn't even think such would be possible by removing her ability to play the cello. "You seem to have quite the fury of thoughts on your mind." Came the familiar voice of Lyra. "Of course I do. Even though Tavi is now walking us there, we still need a plan." I mumbled. Lyra stared at me quizzically and followed my eyes. I wasn't even aware that she had noticed me staring at her, I'm glad that the glasses at least manage to hide my emotions though she would only see some sadness toward her while the fire demon within me demanded to get a shot at Discord. "A plan to get her back?" Lyra asked me after a long pause. I had to think about answering it, but I couldn't go around the question. "Yes." I preferred to say less than more on the subject. Lyra looked at the ground and thought for only a second before raising her head up to stare at me. "How long?" I stared at her, confused as to the question that she was asking me. It only took eye contact to get the connotation she was trying to imply. "Tavi and me? You don't think..." I wasn't going to bluff her. "I've seen how you've been staring at her since Discord injected his corruption into her head. Friends would be concerned, afraid, and angry with the one responsible. You on the other hand reminded me so much of Bonbon. The look in her face when she first found me in front of the Everfree, cut, bruised, and confused. It was the same expression. You let your heart speak." She explained. "It's just that we are roommates. You may have crossed signals or something." I rejected. She smirked at my response; I knew she was aware that I was lying. She continued to walk beside me, staring at Ditsy standing closer to The Doctor. Both of them accepting the other pony's presence and holding each other's weight. "It feels great, you know? It feels wonderful to embrace the one you truly love. It could be in any condition, life, death, wind, rain, or a perfect day. It's stronger than you can imagine." She passed me a soft grin and continued by my side. My thoughts quickly clouded with the situation where I would be able to share such a moment with Tavi. I imagined trance gracing the background harmonizing with a live orchestra. It could be after one of her concerts or something. I hadn't worked out the setting, or how it would have gotten to that point, but it was pleasant enough. Amid our differences, there was still plenty where we were similar. Sometimes is surprised me, but that harmony that was between us was almost unnatural. I could have stayed with the ruse of sharing only sisterly love with her, but I figured that I should stop lying to Tavi. Lying had already put her in this horrid forest. It was lying that had taken her away from me. I figured it would be truth to bring her back. I increased my pace to catch up with Tavi to say a few words.
In the Background	Chapter 10: A Brush of Inspiration	I had my eyes locked on her, her pace was strong and set with conviction, and I wouldn't blame her. I pretended to make myself believe that Tavi had her mind set on regaining what she had lost, but I knew that she had grown unaware as to the disharmony within her. My quick trot wasn't enough, and, at times, I found myself taking a double step gallop to catch up to her. The Doctor and Ditsy stared at me as I walked. I silenced Ditsy with a stare before I continued forward. "Tavi! Octavia, I need to chat." My informality had even seeped into my concern. She continued her quick pace, but gave me a glance back. "What is it Victoria?" "Excuse me? Victoria?" My committed speech ran into the recess of my mind. "I thought we agreed that you would never call me that in front of other ponies." My defensive anger began to grow. "One shouldn't hide from their true name." She still hadn't slowed. I considered that a smart move on her part as my desire to clop her in the mouth began to grow. "Stop acting like your some sort of ritzy, ditsy pony, Tavi." I looked back at Ditsy. "No offense." She hadn't even heard me and raised her ears at me. I knew she was going to ask 'what?' but I didn't let her and turned back to Octavia. "It is Octavia. Not this pet name of Tavi." She gritted at me. I stared at her both in shock and in sadness. This wasn't the same mare that I wanted to give my heart to. This wasn't the mare that I had made that present for. I saw myself, as being delusional into thinking that this 'graying' was some sort of minor change and not a complete change in character. I wished that I could have my old, classy pony back, one that would still play in harmony with me. "Octavia. Listen to yourself. When have you ever talked to Vinyl that way?" I turned around to see Lyra galloping up to the front. "You are letting the corruption win." She bellowed. Her words even caused my heart to stand still, even more so when I saw that Octavia had stopped. She chuckled at the ground before turning to Lyra, her face cracked in irritation and another emotion that I couldn't distinguish. She had lost almost who she was completely, at an accelerated rate. I didn't even know who I was looking at anymore. Her movements were stiff and shaky as her ears flapped on her head. The more I stared at her the more I found her appearance to be frighteningly broken and struggling. I wanted to reach inside of her and somehow save her, but I knew it was beyond me. "Listen to myself? I would love to listen to myself. I would love to hear music again and not the same old sad songs I scribbled when I was sobbing in my room. I've lost everything, and I am as big as a failure as I had started." Her voice was cracked and strained. She meant every word, but it wasn't the Octavia I had just talked to, but the one that I knew. My heart fluttered in an almost sappy and romantic way, but now I understand why those mares fell so hard for those handsome stallions in those movies she made me sit through. The feeling was unrivaled and simply unlike anything that I had ever experienced. I had felt something with each of the stallions I was with, but she had a far different sensation that resonated through me like... well a lethal decibel bass drop. "Octavia?" I found myself only able to say to her. She turned to me with tears in her eyes. They had regained their color. It was then that I realized how much I enjoyed her eyes. Even after the short amount of time since her transformation and the time she has had her flanks in my face, I had began to miss the purple. People always comments on my eyes, but I felt I had nothing against Octavia's. The more I thought, the more my mind wanted to be a cliche suck up and fall to her feet sobbing and wishing for her to come back. The more I thought about it the more I realized how that wouldn't even work right, and amid the truth that I had fallen for my classical roommate, I wasn't going to humiliate myself in front of her to make my confession. The gray quickly began to return to her eyes as the tears dried up. She stared at me, almost in anger. "Just leave me alone... miscreants." With that insult she stormed off to the front of the pack again. I returned to Lyra's side. "You tried your best. We need to get rid of Discord." I whispered to her, trying to hold back my desire to run up to Tavi and tell her everything including what was contained within the locked box on her back. "I don't know how we are going to manage that. There is no putting a dent in that guy." She admitted to me. "Still... do you have any ideas as to what we can try?" "None..." Lyra grunted. I don't even see how we can think when everything is collapsing around us into a fridge of fudge-tastic follies." "Sounds like Pinkie Pie." I affirmed, trying to take my mind off of the events around me, from the pony walking in front of me. "I haven't a single party that she has thrown. Bonbon and I always try to catch them. Bonbon bobs around while I normally bust out some shuffles." I watched as she began to kick her legs and slide them across the ground. She had some moves to her, but I she had nothing on mine. I could only smile at that fact, but I avoided the thought. "I've always enjoyed her parties as well, though the fun and overall happy tone is sometimes difficult to get used to. I prefer more serious, upbeat raves. The ones that cast in the dark of the clubs with the lasers lighting up the room of my adoring fans." My mind began to wander back to the time that I had my first successful gig. It wasn't the most crowded of rooms, but it was still a sizeable group of ponies that expected to have their manes vibrate off of their heads. I had full intention of bringing a shiver down their spines and a new rhythm to their heartbeats. I stretched behind the curtain as I listened to the warm-up music beat into my head and pump me up. I jumped and cracked my neck, catching sight of the messenger colt, but I kept my back to him for dramatic effect. "Ms. Scratch. You are on in thirty seconds." I had always grown to think that they would warn you when you had five minutes left, but instead I was caught off guard and almost tripped over my leg as I tried to turn to question the quickness of the message. Before my mind even had time to process the urgency of the time I had left to prepare, I was being pushed out into the lights and the cheer. No pony had even heard of me, and yet they cheered my stage name: DJ Pon-3. It felt good. It felt right. It felt too soon, but I didn't care. I climbed to the top of the disc jockey table and I threw my hoof into air and heard the roar from the ponies in the crowd. I commanded an army of thralls, and I wished of them to dance. My horn lit up and placed my records onto the turntables, putting the needle down and let the music slowly begin to set in and grow in volume. The sound was deafening and the roar of the crowd quickly vanished from my ears as my music exploded into life. The faces, the sweat, the collective movement of bodies, hitting, grinding, and rubbing moved in front of my eyes. I saw ponies dance while kissing, while others should have found a room. The followers were as dirty as the music, my group of people, yet one pony didn't belong. I didn't know her then, but I knew her now. Pinkie Pie and her far more uptight and classier sister was hidden in the crowd. Pinkie had a nice smile plastered on her face as her perpetual sugar rush bumped to the bass. Her sister, on the other hand, had a look of distaste. I wanted to jump into the crowd and smack some sense into her. I wondered how Pinkie even managed to get her sister to come to this rave. I have never asked either of the time. I doubt Tavi even remembered that she had been to one of my raves way before we had even met. I doubt she even heard me arguing with the guards outside of one of her concerts. My regular occurrences outside of her concerts getting into a bit of a ruff with the guards weren't my attempt at actually trying to listen to her play. I wasn't even interested in the little classical prodigy that she was. I saw her as a boring mare with a twenty-foot pole hidden up her rear. I remember trying to throw a pie at her just for the kicks of it. I can say that I have never seen a pony react as fast as her and not only duck it, but grab it out of the air and set it on the table next to her. That was when I learned her name was Octavia Pie, which only made it harder for me to consider that she had any of the sugar soaked blood inside of Pinkie. I figured that is why Pinkie had so much color versus her grayer sister. It wasn't long before the immature crashing of other parties began to bore me. I still enjoyed the occasional crash, but Octavia's were by far the least successful. I couldn't land any prank or joke on her, which only laid a foundation of admiration in the back of my mind. I enjoyed it greatly, so great that I wrote plenty of musical masterpieces from it. The beats became unpredictable and swift to symbolize her reaction times along with intense build-ups. It wasn't long before I realized that I had created ten songs using her as my inspiration. I threw out the eleventh as I paced my empty house. There was no way that I was falling for that black and white mare. Given she was... well a she, she simply had no color to her and a lack of personality. I grunted at the idea. A knock at the door helped me escape my mind. I opened the door to find one of the other DJ's that played around Equestria. The shock of being visited by someone as famous as Bass Drop was something that no DJ mare could take lightly to. I could have sworn my desires flipped instantly to him. I wanted him. I wanted him so that I could escape the thoughts of Octavia. Sadly, that was not meant to be as she moved into my house a few days later. I avoided her as much as I could, and found that she avoided me just as much. It helped me keep my senses and not listen to the ever-increasing voice inside of my heart that wanted to see if there was a character behind that dull exterior. Conversation became inevitable, as I would sit at the dinner table eating my cereal. She would enter slowly, locking eyes with me before rolling them and opening the cupboards. Instead of the simple, she cooked up delicate foods. It looked and smelled wonderful. Nights of the temptation led to me stealing some of her food, which should have been all of her food, but I couldn't bring myself to take all of it. Dirty looks still grew, but she never complained. It wasn't long before I forced myself to ask her how she did it. I even apologized for taking her food before, which felt so unlike me that I was sure that I was lying to not only her, but also myself. Talking became more common in the household and eventually I began to connect with her on many more levels. She had a personality that was biting and bitter as mine. We talked about politics of other lands, different cults, dragon castes, butterfly religions, and eventually music. I had always seen our music as incapable of being together, but they were similar, scarily similar. I still kept my distance and considered her as an acquaintance and that was all, not even a friend. Then there was a night that changed everything and opened my eyes to what I had blinded myself to. I had my usual weekly house party with Bass Drop. We had the guests bumping and moving in the living room. I had kept the study closed off at the request of Octavia who had kept her things inside. I punched my hoof into the air to the beat as I grinned at the control that I had over my techno thralls. It felt good to feel the love coming from my guests. That was when I saw the study door open, and Bass Drop and two of his friends enter the room. He should have known more than any other pony not to enter that room so I went to investigate. "Bass Drop?" I poked my head in the room. There he sat with his two goons messing with Octavia's things. It bothered me immensely that it was Bass who had broken the rules of the party. "Oh, Scratch darling. We were just checking out your posh roommate's stuff. I don't know how you can manage to live with such a stiff mule." He laughed. "We agreed that no one was allowed to be in here that includes you." It irritated me that I had to tell him the rules that we had made together. "Oh shush... we aren't hurting anything." I listened as they began to detune Tavi's cello. The line had been crossed. I hurriedly stepped forward as to stop the shenanigans when goon two decided that I was trespassing, taking his place right in front of me. "Bass... Stop messing with her stuff. That isn't cool." I had to plead through my gritted and annoyed teeth. "No. You know what isn't cool and just so unlike you? Her. That Octavia. Do you see what she stands for? She is part of the elite that thinks of us as dirt. I mean, look how picky they are Scratch, I turn this knob a quarter turn and their world has ended. I would think you would support this kind of fun more because you get to see her pitiful reaction to when she touched it the next morning." He laughed as my heart began to boil. "How can you even judge her like that when you don't even know her?" The question rang truer in my head than anything I had ever said before to him. It was a question that even I was guilty of breaking. It was a question that told me more answers about myself than any drop-guru had ever told me. She had been a kinder friend to me than any of my followers who I tried to pass as friends. I stared at Captain Large who blocked my path to Bass Drop. There was no question that I was going to break up with him this night, but I wanted to break him first. I picked up I book with my magic just as I stared at Large-a-lot, the gluttonous pig and mental vacant. The other goon I knew was agile, but was fragile. I threw all of the books off of the bookshelf as if it were a shotgun sending the small one across the room just as I socked the larger one in the face with my hoof. The looks on their faces were priceless. Dropping a bookcase on the quicker one helped hold him back as I easily dodged the lumbering attacks from the more difficult to deal with stallion. I used my magic to toss furniture at him before he lunged at me just as I bucked him with both my back hooves. I felt his jaw dislocate and a dull thud follow confirming that it was only I and Bass left. The adrenaline had me at such a loss, I didn't even realize that the music had stopped and the guests had been watching the fight through the door that I never closed. Earth pony versus a unicorn turned out to be a tougher fight than I thought. He managed to crack my back as he smashed my threw me into the coffee table and pinned me against the ground. I broke my glasses and my nose into his face and wailed him into the broken pieces of wood. My glasses were shattered and blood trickled from my face and my sore and out of place back. I yelled at everyone to leave. Everyone including the two goons were scraped up and dragged out as I stood over the hurting and bleeding Bass Drop. "We are over... and if you ever..." I had to take a breath to steady my rage and to not continue grinding him into the floor, but Octavia had made a more civil, a more mature pony rise out of me. "...Find you in Ponyville again... I will... end you..." I meant every word. I watched as that sorry excuse for a DJ left and a large single sign re-emerge onto my name though at that moment I had already known where my heart was leading me. A creak from the stairs had me staring at the Octavia, staring at me with worry and shock. I had to admit that my adrenaline had not worn off yet, and I could only chuckle at the mess in the house. I forget what I said to her. I didn't really care. I retreated to the bathroom to clean up my wounds and wash the blood out of my fur. It had to have been quite the surprise to her to finally see my bizarre eye color. She reacted like most ponies and just stared. Most ponies did. Most would then ask why my hair was blue when I had crimson red eyes. Octavia never asked. She responded to my blur of words and I heard the same blur of incoherence. My ears were ringing like I just exited a club when I had my head inside of the subwoofer. I grew up that day. I was the same old party pony and I rocked harder than anyone in all of Equestria, but my home life changed. Octavia evolved into more than just an acquaintance and eventually into more than just a friend though I couldn't rightfully say what exactly this new level of respect and admiration was. I think the best explanation I could come up with was when our music combined in perfect harmony. Harmony. My gift for her would have told her everything, but now I see someone that was just like Bass. I thought she was someone different and stuck on him or her like they would realize the love I had for them and it would just work for us. I even tried to get drunk and spill the beans to her, but the "inside joke" had gone to far. She never reacted to me. She always seen it as a joke and always pushed me back to just a harmonic sister. I wanted to tell her that I loved her and mean every word of it, but she wasn't the pony that defended in that house. She wasn't the Octavia that had brought a new beat into my life. She was a drop, and a bad one at that. I decided to reserve my confession to when she was cured of her corruption... if she could be cured of it. I hoped that she could. I hoped more than any pony could ever hope. My lapse into thought had let time pass me by. We had exited the mountains surprisingly. I looked back at them with a longing look. I had preferred memories of Tavi and me to an adventure. I looked back at my self and began to question who I was anymore. I barely even saw the black shadow the folded inside of my shadow. The whisper was even harder to actually pinpoint the source. "Why didn't you save her? You could snap her out of it, yet you didn't. Why blame her when it is solely you to blame. She tried to help everyone as you stood there and selfishly protected your own well-being." "I know..." "Know what?" Lyra asked. "It is your fault..." It continued. "I know..." I felt my senses began to dull. I believed it. It made so much sense. "Whom are you talking to?" Lyra stared at me. "It's all my fault..." I continued to speak. "Who..." She saw my blue tail beginning to turn gray. "Don't listen to Vinyl! Snap out of it!" "But you can help her." The voice added. "What?" The advancing gray stopped as I listened to the unfamiliar voice. "There is always a way." It died to a distant whisper. The sound of the real world began to climb around me as I heard Lyra yelling at me, the rest of the ponies staring at me. The color returned to me quickly as I looked around at the group, the shadow peeling off of my shadow and into the swamps.
In the Background	Chapter 11: Shared Thoughts and Understanding	The swamp. I had never imagined that it looked this bad even if I was given pictures. The land stretched out, flat and barren as sulking trees hung over the green pools of slime as if in a depression. Bubbles bubbled and gas pockets hissed, as I grew increasingly bored with what I was seeing. The danger was enough to keep me on the tips of my hooves along with the confusion of the voice that had so softly whispered in my ear. At first, it had sounded familiar. I quickly associated it with Discord and tried to fight it off, but doubt had set in to my thoughts. The doubt quickly festered into believing the prying logic given to me, but just as quickly as I believed him, he finished his thought. Could I possibly save her? I stared at the ground in my usual thought process of "moping about", as Tavi put it. I called it Attentive Thinking Stance Omega Series A while Tavi called me 'special'. I hadn't given much thought about her 'special' comment, but it felt there was much more strain than there should have been when she said it. Was it the twinkle in her eyes? No. I flushed the thoughts from my head. I was sick of looking into the past; I had to focus on the present. I always knew Octavia had some sense, no matter how polite she tried to be about it, of me having a lower intellect. In more recent times, I believe that she stopped believing that about me. It was always a joy to see ponies realize that there was a powerful working brain behind my crimson eyes. It was just a bit lazy and enjoyed its fair share of indulgences. Octavia drank wine and soft beverages as I typically became hammered, but I saw it as exploration. Strange enough, I could make the comparison of the smell of rum to the smell of the swamp. I poked my nose over the side of the embankment to see the greenish, shadowy outline looking back at me. It popped with swamp gas right in my face causing a commotion that I would have found funny. The thought of seeing my own misfortune still managed to get my funny bone working. Through coughs and chortles, I managed to make out through my tears that everyone was staring at me. I stubbornly tried to explain what I found so funny, but trying to talk while doing everything else, left a jumbled mass of words vomiting from my mouth. "Geez, Vinyl. You shouldn't be trying to breath in the swamp fumes." Lyra stared at me. I chuckled and patted her on the back. "Please, a little swamp gas won't stop me from helping Tavi get to the end of this journey." The false bravado worked to ease my anxiety. I could only stare at the gray pony taking the front of the pack. All of her tiny details of her mood were still present in her gait, details I wished I hadn't seen. Each step moved with slow deliberation with a drag on the back of her hooves. She wasn't her classy self, but was hiding behind it so that her depression wouldn't break through. She had been happy, even when she was afraid at the beginning of the journey. I would think she found an almost enjoyable excitement of facing her fears. She had lost whatever was driving her through the forest before. Maybe she had made some song of courage. I looked out at the trees that hung low into the water. They appeared as depressed as Tavi. The atmosphere slowly descended into one that I loathed. How dare they be depressed? I had to let out a grumble as I stepped into the ground that gave a soft squish. "It could always be worse. I mean you could have to live here." I heard a voice from behind. "Yeah that would suck... wait." I turned around startled and wide-eyed. I came face to face with a chest of an alicorn. I fell backward in shock and looked up into the large shroud of the robes that were worn by him. Beneath the darkness that obscured his face, I could see the soft glow of white where his eyes should be. The stare was cold and overlapping on many levels as if he was seeing into my very soul. "Victoria Clarabell Scratches," He tilted his head with a slight look of intrigue filling his eyes. "Vinyl Scratch, I'm sorry for the mistake. Such a change from your heritage and family." "Who are you?" I could only stare at him. "How do you know my full name?" "I know a great deal about you. It was surprising by how much you try to hide from yourself and how much you try to hide from her." He nodded toward the gray pony in the front. I stared longingly at her. My stubborn bravado began to return to me as I turned my attention back to the large alicorn. "You never answered me. Who are you?" "Me? Why would you want to anything about me...?" He phased from existence as he stepped forward, but his voice never faded. "I'm just an outcast, a forgotten being of truth..." He phased just inches from ear, circling me slowly. "Why would residences of the kingdom even dare to come into my forest and then ask me who I am?" "You can't be..." Bravado faltered quickly as the realization that he was real. "Your thoughts are correct. I am the one you were expecting, though I can say I wasn't expecting you. I could feel your intentions and inspired you to cure your lover, but I have no control of which direction you took, and what do you know... the universe is a funny place isn't it?" His voice was calm and filled with charm. He appeared again, mere inches from Lyra who didn't flinch or even notice him. I could only watch as he reared his head back revealing the jagged broken horn that had been snapped from his head and the hiss of his right foreleg, which consisted of a sophisticated array of machinery. What happened and what was he doing? I could only watch as he brought his head down, stabbing the jagged edge into Lyra's side, tearing her open and sending her off to the side in a bloody heap. "It would have been daft of me to actually do that..." He spoke looking back at me. I locked eyes in disbelief in those softly lit white eyes. "But you just..." I turned back to see Lyra completely unhurt and continuing on her way without even a flinch. She turned back to me, her eyes still playful and holding a happiness to it. Our adventure was going right inside her head, yet in mine I had a large shadow standing over her, one that she looked right at, but never looked at, instead she looked through him at me. "Talking to yourself? That is a new one Vinyl." She chuckled in hope of breaking the dreary mood of the swamp. "Do you know why I like the swamp?" the mysterious alicorn asked. "Why?" I asked. "Why? I've never seen yourself talk to you before that is why." Lyra responded. "It's as dreary as the hole I've been living. The hole that your fair and loving princess put me in all those years ago, but that is beyond me, all now has been forgotten of my existence. The mind is a quite the busy office and some things get misplaced as I brought out the misplacement of the memory of me." He chuckled to himself. "How?" I felt paralyzed by that stare of his. It burned inside of my head, aching and grinding at my thoughts and my motivation to pursue knowledge, yet his eyes were completely unchanged, unblinking. "With my eyes? What is wrong with you? You are acting really weird." Now the whole group had stopped and stared at Lyra and then to me. I wasn't even aware of neither the sweat that covered my body nor the fear in my eyes. It felt too real, too unlike me. "They already think you are crazy... just sitting in the mud... talking to yourself. I'm sure you have noticed that I don't exist as much as I can make you see anything I wish for you to see." He walked forward, walking up Lyra and walking in front of her, her nose still sticking out of his chest as he matched her pace. "And the kicker..." "Is there something wrong, Vinyl?" Lyra and the alicorn asked in unison. "I'm fine..." I spoke, listening to the same tone of the alicorn. I felt my heart skip a beat as I slowly backed away from the Lyra and alicorn combo standing in front of me. "What is this?" I asked as the hooded pony spoke. "Stop it!" Again, my voice was joined in perfect harmony with his voice. "What's wrong, Vinyl? Stop what?" Lyra's and the other pony's voice were filled with concern. "I can even control your emotions, your fear... who you are? How does it feel to be her? How does it feel to be Octavia?" He ground into me. I never felt such a stark, irrational fear course through my blood. I shouldn't have felt that way, I forgot who I was and stumbled over a rock, knocking the glasses off of my face. The ground quickly fell away from my feet as I fell backward, Lyra and the rest of the group's face, broken in shock as I watched them fall under the sky and the sun. Gravity pulled on me, trying to return my thoughts and body, back to Equestria, but instead a pool of realization filled me that had never allowed my stubbornness to see. I saw how Octavia acted around me; the look in her eyes when mine met hers, and how she mumbled to herself after leaving my rooms on occasions. She had the same feelings for me as I did her, and suddenly I knew exactly what was taken away from her. It stung my lungs as the air was pushed out of it by the cold water of the pool I fell into. I was surprised by how deep it was, and strangely how clear it was. I knew I had to swim up and out, but quickly realized that I couldn't move. Looking down in the darkness of the water, I could make out only a slight movement. My horn filled with light and revealed an entanglement of evil eels ensnaring me. I almost coughed out what little air I had in a scream, but found that my stubborn bravado had returned as if the pool had cleansed me of that walking nightmare. The water above me was suddenly disturbed as I kicked and squirmed against the eels. My heart began to race as drowning quickly showed it to be quite the anticlimactic end to me. Another, larger shadow swam around me. A sharp pain filled my back as something hit the eels hard causing their grip to loosen giving me enough time to electrify the water with my only-meant-for-visual-effect lightning. It worked as I watched the eels disappear into the void. I turned quickly to see the piercing eyes of Octavia staring into mine. She grabbed my mane in her teeth and dragged me to the surface. I never knew she was that strong. I broke the water as my lungs were about to collapse to see the others standing on the shore, concerned and in shock at the events. He was also standing there, a smirk spread across his face, invisible to everyone around him. I tried to talk, but found that I couldn't. The smirk widened on the alicorn. Rage filled me at how he was controlling my body. I shot another bolt of lightning where he was standing and watched him disappear. "You son of a mule!" I yelled. I couldn't even describe the pleasure of being able to hear my own voice again or the sensation of my body and hooves. He was gone. Swimming to the shore, I caught sight of Octavia climbing out of the water. Her wet mane blocked her face, but she seemed miserable though something about her was different. She turned to me and gave me a smile, her eyes glittering with her striking purple eyes. "You had me worried, Vi." My nickname rolled around in my head like an orbital rave ball. I couldn't help, but smile at the mention of it. "In my domain... my brother's tricks shall not reside." The alicorn's disembodied voice spoke. "Come to me at once, the future awaits." I looked back at Octavia. Her pain and fears were still fresh in my mind, though something had been lost, and I could feel it. Before I had hit the water, I had realized something, but it always seemed to be behind party fog. I wondered if it was this masked alicorn's doing. I wondered if I had stumbled into the legendary Eyn Spyyr. There were too many questions and too little amount of time to enjoy any of them. Turns out my previous actions and 'talking to myself' hadn't been forgotten. "What's wrong with you?" The Doctor asked. I opened my mouth to tell them of what I saw and heard, but a soft voice behind me spoke first. "She's just tired, and the swamp fumes are getting to her. Let's go back to the mountains and make camp there. We can try and get our bearings there." Octavia spoke. "I don't know if you realize this, but Discord destroyed our tents and camping gear. We have to press forward and get to the bottom of this. We have to save Ponyville and Canterlot." The Doctor mustered in a nice speech. "Dinky needs me." Ditsy added. She stood next to her own body and looked down at herself. "Plus, I want my wings back." "We won't get anywhere if these fumes get to us and we go insane. We need to guarantee that everyone is fit to continue. We have already seen the effects that it had on Vinyl." She continued. I watched as the Doctor began to realize what I had seen. "You... your color. How did you break Discord's curse?" The question seemed unlike him. "Curse? What curse?" The look on Octavia's face was both cute and concerning. She had no clue as to what he was talking about. "The one that Discord put on you? Does that ring a bell? It was an overwhelming sadness or depression that took you over? Nothing?" He seemed shocked at the lack of memory. "I don't know what you are talking about." She shook her head and that was when another difference revealed itself. In her slight movements, I saw that her color moved slightly faster than her body. At first, I believed her about the swamp fumes, but this was real. She turned back to me, the sun catching her eyes just right and revealing a soft glowing white undertone to them. My heart sank as I stared at her in disbelief. She smiled, at me, the grin implying more than just being friendly, but of a devious manner. "I will guide you to me. When I have released your Octavia... you must tell her and let go. This is the only way to cure her curse. The timing shall be perfect." Eyn spoke directly into my mind before turning Octavia's body around and walking her back toward the mountains. Everyone followed as I stared at Octavia. How could so much go wrong with her on this journey? Was she just a magnet for danger and disruption? I knew her sister normally ruined every party that she was hired. Yet, she continued. She had forced herself to go into the Everfree with me. She had forced herself to continue even when Discord made the journey bleak. I knew she wasn't the one to give up, but this surprised me. Everything about her character only began to glimmer more, I only wished she was herself again. We did what we could with what we had in the mountains. Octavia managed to scrounge up some soft moss for us to lie down and try to get some sleep. I had to admit that I wasn't tired nor did the swamp gases that exploded from those nasty bubbles intoxicate me. Instead, I found myself resting on my moss, looking at everyone else try to sleep. Thankfully the random moonrise and sunrise granted us with a night in which the others to rest their eyes. I saw Ditsy shiver as a cold breeze blew over the mountainside. Taking my moss, I moved over to put it on her, but found The Doctor was doing the same. Surprisingly, he didn't see that I was up as well. I watched him cover her and more surprisingly, I watched him join her, sharing their body heat. Something in those two had clicked and it had clicked quickly. I didn't know if it was The Doctor feeling bad for her, or if in this short amount of time, he had grown feelings for the clumsy pegasus. It could have also been the fact that they were stuck in each other's bodies. Meanwhile, Lyra was lying on her back, legs spread out and mouth hung open, snoring and scratching her stomach from time to time. I don't think I could ever understand how a pony could act as strange as her. In minutes, I heard the soft breathing of the sleeping ponies around me, except for Tavi's. I poked my head up from my soft moss and looked around for her. I was thankful that the moon was full out glittering brightly in the sky casting the ground in a transient twilight. It gave everything a strange color, which would be quite the conversation piece if I could replicate it at my next rave. My thoughts ceased as I saw the dark outline of Octavia sitting on a large rock, staring up at the moon. I rose quietly and approached the shadow. I felt playful as I snuck up the rocky hill, silent like those fabled eastern ninja ponies. I managed to get behind a rock right next to her without arousing any suspicion from her. "Beautiful isn't it?" Eyn asked in his voice, but through Octavia's body. "Join me. I wish to discuss something with you." I cursed under my breath, but walked around the rock and sat next to her, staring at her, as she never broke her gaze from the moon. "Why are you holding Octavia captive?" I demanded. "I'm not... She needed guidance. She was lost... This was the only way to prevent her death." His words bit into me as the last words echoed in my mind. '...to prevent her death.' "Have you ever simply stared at the beauty of the moon?" Eyn asked. "On occasion... why?" I wondered, trying to make heads or tails of why he would change the subject so quickly. "I have my reasons. There isn't a night where I don't look up at it and know..." He trailed off, hiding his next words. "Well that is for another time." He spoke instead. "I normally have such clear thoughts about what to say, but the moon has always made my mind go blank. It is such a relieving experience from my daily chores and magic." His voice sounded softer, less harsh, and not as bitter. It almost felt as if the alicorn that gave me quite the stark reality shock was faded from a full rave to a trance lounge. His thoughts were collected and his mood seemed carefree. Slowly I began to hear Octavia's voice harmonizing with Eyn's. It tickled my heart and made me smile as the words expelled from her lips. "I wouldn't have had this journey any other way, just as long as I had you." It made me blush harder than I had ever had before. The tone sounded friendly, but the meaning came off as romantic and beautiful. I couldn't even bring myself to care if Eyn had controlled her to do it, but I still had to ask. "Did you make her say that?" I asked, the suspense of the answer almost stopped the question before I could finish asking it. "She can still hear you. She has a strong will." He turned his attention to me, locking me in place with those purple eyes. I couldn't tell if it was the color of her eyes or how her eyelids had fallen or simply the shimmer of the moon in them, but there wasn't a stronger time that I wanted to let my heart bleed for once in its life and spill all of the beans to my cell loving roommate. "Octavia, I-" Eyn placed Octavia's hoof on my lips to silence me. "Not yet..." Sighing softly, I decided to just enjoy the sight and remember it. Eyn turned back toward the moon and gave his own sigh. "I've been reading through all of your friend's thoughts and memories. You have quite the herd with you. There is much love between all of you including the Ancient and the muffin lover. Lyra Heartstrings misses her Bonbon more than you can believe, though she puts on a nice face to hide her worry. You and Octavia are quite a different story." He chuckled to himself. "Best to play your cards right on this one..." "What do you mean?" I asked. "You'll know." "Come on! Why are you holding back?" He hushed me. "You don't want to wake the others now do you? I am holding back because destiny needs to find itself. Yours and Octavia's fate is on the bar and either outcome could exist. This all relies on what Octavia decides and also when you decide. You will have to know and feel when it is right." "So you are Eyn Spyyr?" I wanted to hear it from his... Octavia's mouth. "It has been a long time since I've heard that name..." He paused in careful reflection of it. "Yes, I do believe I was called that a long time ago." "Are you one of the good ponies or are you like Discord?" I had to ask again in reference to how our first meeting had played out. "I am no way like my brother..." He simply stated. "Brother?" He never stopped staring at the moon. "That would be another story, Vinyl Scratch." "So you are good then?" I felt a bit better about him not being on Discord's side. He broke his view from the moon and stared at me again, his eyes bore a harsher hole this time. It scared me slightly for the answer that lay just beyond them. "I am good to some, though some have some explaining to do. Now let me be..." He looked back at the moon, never blinking and looking around as if to see something that wasn't there. "Goodnight, Octavia." I ended. "Goodnight, Vinyl." Only Octavia's voice spoke without the harmonizing Eyn. It warmed my heart to hear that she was still inside of her body. Too many questions filled my head, but with my warmed heart, it was easier to let them go so that I could properly rest. When I arrived back at the makeshift camp, Ditsy had cuddled under the Doctor's chin. Thinking about the situation between the two, I found them cuddling with their own bodies to crack a smile. I searched the ground for the dark spot to mark my moss clump. I found it just as I heard a muffled snore. I turned my attention back to Lyra to see her still sleeping. Drool had made its way down the side of her mouth as she continued to sleep and murmur to herself. "Bonbon... quit tickling me... twit." I could just make out the slight crack of a grin spread across her face. I think we all wanted to think of better times. I just wanted to wake up from this nightmare of a trip. I missed listening to my music heavily. Slowly, I made a beat in my head and bobbed my head silently to it as I curled up on my moss and closed my eyes to the world around me. I sat in the darkness and waited for the spotlight. The final song was right around the corner.
In the Background	Chapter 12: Competitive Inspirations	Images of the world surrounded me. It terrified and shocked me as everything was cast in what seemed like the slow motion effects generated by strobe lights. I focused through the heartbeat like bass and through the crowd of faceless and colorless ponies. Where was I? How did I get here? A spotlight broke the darkness around me and illuminated a single pony, the only mare that had been on my mind this entire journey. My gift was still bulging at the pack tied around her waist, waiting to be opened. "Tavi!" I yelled over the music that had blared up to a more distinct volume of bumping beats and booming bass. She didn't hear me, but instead turned away from me and began to head toward the door. A sudden panic filled me as I tried my hardest to break the wall of ponies blocking her and me, but for each step I managed, Octavia managed three strides. It only made me try harder which seemed to only slow me down as Octavia pulled away, exiting the light from the spotlight and becoming hidden in the darkness. I jumped the last bit of the way and landed in the light where she was standing and took a good three steps in the empty light when the music completely died and another spotlight turned on across the room. Octavia was standing in the light with Frederic Opus Horseshoepin, the greatest classical pony composer that Equestria has to offer that pales the abilities of Octavia and myself. My heart dropped and skipped a few, each sending a red floodlight burning in the room with each beat. The bass also echoed with the heartache. I didn't like what I was seeing as she slowly approached him, the bag falling from her back, my gift collapsing to the ground, easily forgotten. Frederic stared at her, enticing her, teasing her with his dignified eyes that I could never offer. I wanted to lunge and attack him, but every time I looked back at Octavia, I found that doing such would only further her separation from me. I wanted to do something, make my presence known, and make sure that she wouldn't forget me. I didn't want to be forgotten. Please don't forget me... They neared closer, the bass going faster as if a build up, the red lights creating their own strobe as I watched them nearing. Octavia seeing her dream getting closer as I saw her shrink away from me as if the floor they were standing on was moving away. Everything grew fuzzy as my eyes filled with tears and heartache. I couldn't watch as their eyes began to close with the seduction of each other's closeness, their lips opening just enough to meet with the other's lips. "Octavia!" I cried out. It felt completely unlike me. It felt girly and pathetic as if I was defeated. Tears were openly streaming from my face as I stared at her. My shout held no bounds and was just as easily forgotten as I watched their lips meet. My world began to crumble around me my saw cracks climb up through my vision. It was only after a short while that I found that it wasn't my world, but my glasses cracking. They broke from my face revealing a different scene. Octavia stood in the same location, except now she wasn't graced in the presence of the white haired musical snob. She stared at me with a soft contemplation as I saw that white tint in her eyes. It was only in that sudden realization that I looked down and saw the shadow of the broken horned alicorn stretching from her legs. She wasn't herself in either regard. I missed her more than I missed her music. I just wanted that silent smirk, to see her quietly ignore me or to tolerate my jokes and openness. The shadowy form of Eyn rose from her, still cast in darkness under his hood, but those white glittering eyes still managing to shine through them. Octavia fainted as he exited her and took a few steps toward me. An unnatural breeze and lightning filled the air revealing the dead trees around us as his horn lit up, casting light on his hood, pulling it way from his face. "I can also invade the dreams of those that need it..." He spoke as the final torn pieces of fabric fell off of his head revealing a once beautiful face. Instead, it sat pale and torn with darkness and light. His fur was gray and mane flowed clear as a disturbance in the world around him. The effect was strange and mystifying as he stared through me with his eyes. It was only then that I saw how cloudy they were. He was blind along with the large scar slicing down his right eye. He didn't seem the least bit hurt or disturbed, and strangely neither did I once I found that I had been dreaming. I tried to wake myself up, but found myself stuck, probably from the magic of Eyn trying to have a private conversation with me. "My eyes weren't as they once were and neither is most of me." He stretched out the metal blades that had replaced his wings. They creaked as they stretched out, but they moved back silently, completely integrated into his body and completely functional. He sighed as he limped forward with his metallic leg, giving him more strain than he let on before. "I know what it is like to be tormented by the one you love. I can only try to imagine your circumstances in trying to cope with it being with her. Being on the same plan and being a bit more... traditional does make it easy, but you can see where love can get you. Sometimes you have to sacrifice more than your heart to get it, or better yet, to make sure they aren't hurt by it." The originally strong willed and cruel Eyn sounded weak and frail. He even sounded different from the time he had been talking through Octavia while looking at the moon. I had to question if he was able to see through Octavia's working eyes. "Happily, yes. It has been forever since I've been able to look upon its glory and my creations." "Creations?" The final word sounded wrong and mysterious. "The power of the Cutie Marks. Lovely aren't they. Did you know they weren't always around? Everyone used to be a blank flank until I found the power of innovation, inspiration, and individualism. I worked with the ideas of the mind and the concepts of motivation, emotion, and devotion. The first two to gain their illusive marks were the two princesses, Celestia and Luna, after I told them of my discoveries." He nodded in amusement. I found myself engrossed in the story. Was this Equestria's true history, or was it some elaborate lie? "If you were so great, why are you out here and so weak now?" I asked. He simply smirked at me and shook his head slowly. "That story is for another time and one that has yet to be finished... yet to be finished." Those words appeared to procure amusement as they left his lips. "But this does not concern you or your friends, only those responsible." His voice grew harsh again. "Who's responsible?" I needed to ask. Again, he only stared at me with his blind eyes as if he could see out of them. "Such matters do not concern you." I had to be grumpy about not getting any answers, but more were easily formulated. "Why have you invaded my dreams?" I snapped, feeling dumb as to not asking that first. "I was curious as to why you were having such a negative dream. Octavia is safe with me, and she is still the pony you love. I know it is hard to see her being passed between so many different entities and not feel responsible, but she is in good hands now. Better me than him..." He groaned. "How can such a... monster, be your brother?" I, again, felt inclined to ask. "He isn't a monster. He is in the same boat as me except he enjoys his fair share of mischief and royal attention from Celestia. He enjoyed getting a plethora of attention from his peers at the expense of others." His knowledge of Discord and the shear fact that he was Discord's brother just wanted me to run a full background check on him, but such would never be so with Eyn who seems to hide every important fact about his life, except a few juicy facts about his family. I decided to stay ignorant in the matter. I observed my surroundings and wished we were in a better location to have this little conversation about how my dreams mean nothing and that my worry is misplaced or whichever. In just a blink of an eye, I found myself sitting on the barstool of my favorite bar, with two cold ones sitting in front of me. Eyn sat next to me, the look of his face unchanging as he drank whatever he had. I sipped at the alcoholic beverage and remembered the times that Tavi would sit next to me and pester me about my 'drinking problem'. I didn't have a drinking problem, I just wanted to let my mind wander for a bit and not be restrained by the stresses of the day or simply bad dates with intolerable stallions. "It has been a long time since I've tasted the poison of alcoholic beverages." Eyn chimed, sitting his glass on the bar to be refilled. "I needed a place to think. There just seems too much about you." I sipped on my drink, feeling it warm my cheeks and clear my thoughts. "I thought you came here to clear your thoughts, not to organize them into a coherent sentence." "I do that too." "Peculiar. Fascinating." He spoke. "How has that worked out for you?" "Not that well... but I can't complain." I picked up the second glass and downed it quickly, feeling the world begin to wobble slowly. I felt better considering I had just intoxicated myself inside of my dreams. "So why are you here?" "I thought I explained this, you are beating yourself about nothing, and because you fascinate me." "Couldn't you invade any of the other's dreams?" I asked. "I looked over the dreams of the others. Ditsy Doo is eating muffins with The Doctor and they are about to meet at the center. Doctor Whooves mind is clouded in an intelligence that I have not seen in a long time. Lyra is... well she misses Bonbon. That left you." "I know before you referred The Doctor as an Ancient. What does that mean?" I decided to start with some clearing up questions before I moved onto why he didn't go to his dreams instead of mine. "I don't even think he remembers what he is now, but he used to be a guardian race of earth ponies that were to keep me locked in this prison of a forest. Most of them have died out and Doctor Whooves... he got to know me more than anyone and managed to have his life spared. I think it was some fluke of nature, but he managed to get his youth back, almost seemed to convert into somepony completely different. I watched him stumble away from his ancient post. I had already read the minds of those that had put him on that duty and knew he had been forgotten. I never understood as to why they had to suffer by guarding me, her shields already had me locked. I feel that it was their fear as to what I could do that made her do it." Eyn nodded in agreement. "Those poor souls." "Why didn't you join his dreams then?" "...An ancient promise I had made." His voice was low and solemn as he spoke. "Your wings, horn, and leg?" curiosity began to take over. "Clipped, broken, and lost. I can't even describe the pain and the torment, but such was deemed necessary back in those times. As you see, I don't need them anymore." He smirked as the metal blades stretched out again, his posture straight and proud. I still saw enough from his face to know that he wasn't being sincere. An inner pain still burned in his eyes, or was it a fiery anger. I could only look at the once proud alicorn, knowing that his life had been much better in his youth. Twilight filled my head and I peered upwards to spot the moon. It glittered brilliantly and was much larger than that of if I wasn't dreaming. Eyn stared at it thoughtfully, almost hurt in a way. "I will always love the moon." He cooed to himself before breaking his glance and looking down at me again. "I sometimes miss my sight for such pleasures, but having the honor of having a body with healthy eyes and seeing that the moon hasn't changed has brought me a renewed happiness." I didn't want to ask any more seeing him in that state. He wasn't how I had expected such a mysterious alicorn to look. His appearance was wise and strong, but his physical form seemed weak and frail, though the defiance in his eyes argued against any such weakness. There was no glow in his presence and not a godly voice. Instead he sounded simple, soft spoken, and reserved. All of his actions seemed carefully planned and executed meticulously. He turned his attention from me and focused on the darkness that surrounded us. In the short time that I had just watched his expressions and mannerisms, I had forgotten that I my dream still fluttered around me. "Do you invade other's dreams often?" The words slipped from my lips before my mind could stop them. I've grown used to just letting things slip by with Octavia and every other pony around me. "I have to enact inspiration to those of Equestria through indirect means. I can't ever exist like I am to you in their dreams, and just from natural desire to find answers for the strange powers that I use to inspire them, fairy tales were born. I never take a single form because I am viewed in the dream as the dreamer sees me. They've never met me so their minds create little bunnies, talking clouds, psychic flowers, and friendly ponies." He explained in his regular long-winded fashion. "So if I think hard enough can I change your appearance?" I teased. He smirked. "If you desire such, this is still your dream." The smirk became playful. "Dreams are the source of the greatest inspiration. I want you to think of a club and I want to hear an original song by you. If I like it, I will give you a gift, I am unmoved by it, then I shall make you forget this dream, make it cloudy and such." His voice became casual and playful, a spark of competiveness flashing into his cloudy white eyes. I had to admit, the thought had me apprehensive. I was still asleep and I had no idea as to how long I've been sleeping or if time worked differently here. Five minutes could have passed or maybe hours had already transpired. I closed my eyes and heard a faint chuckled from Eyn. I reopened them to see him staring at me. "You do know you don't exist right? I find your actions amusing that you closed your eyes inside of your mind." He chimed playfully. "I'm sorry for disturbing you. I haven't had any fun for a long time." It was almost like his personality had completely shifted again. His eyes glittered with a childish anticipation as to how I approached the challenge. The confidence in his eyes unnerved me. A short breath and my focus grew. The light we were standing in dissipated from view as I sat in darkness, imagining my best venue I had been a part of. Lights shattered the darkness and revealed the DJ equipment in front of me, a blank music list with a small sticky that read "Improv Techno". I looked out at the faceless dark heads of the crowd and gave them my regular smile. I felt at home more than I had been for the past few days. I quickly forgot that I was still dreaming. I turned on a solid beat and watched an intricate laser and light show begin to build as I heard the notes playing just as I thought of them. Everything began to come together as the endless mass of raving ponies jumped and moved around like a torrential sea, blown by the ocean of my bass. I had to close my eyes and feel the heat of the crowd beginning to rise. I listened to the music play, not even realizing that I wasn't touching the controls anymore. Instead, it was as if it was playing directly from my skull and into the hearts of those enjoying it. The more I listened to the song the more I realized that the song did lack something that I was still unable to add without a little help. My confidence began to falter as I thought about the pony that could help me. "Octavia..." I sighed from my heart. The quality of the music began to collapse around me. I caught onto it and struggled to get back to work, but my concentration was ruined. I could only see those purple eyes staring at me as if she was standing at the corner of my eye. I continuously looked toward that area thinking to see her standing there, but every time I looked there was nothing standing there except an amp or two. I hoped the wall of the crowd help me focus and peered out at the ponies again, but the lights had illuminated a single blind alicorn. He stared at me with both satisfaction and amusement. I quickly remembered I was in a dream, but it was too late. The whole world began to descend into an uncontrolled nightmare. I stopped caring for the music. I didn't want it. I only wanted her. Everything became short. Everything began to repeat. Everything began to repeat. I couldn't stand listening to my thoughts. They echoed in my mind over and over again. I wanted Octavia. I needed Octavia. I needed her. I had never said I needed her before, but I knew it was true now. I had failed Eyn's challenge, and I wouldn't be able to remember this dream, but I held onto the dream for one final minute. I drove everything from my mind leaving only darkness. I could feel the warm tears beginning to fall from my eyes as I focused on what I wanted from this final minute. Octavia walked from the darkness. The setting switched back to our house, her entering my room. I felt more at home than before. My heart wanted to beat through my chest as I stared at her, locking eyes as she acted just as how I remembered her. She turned, I stared, she took a step forward, and I turned my music off. It was only twenty seconds, but I knew what was approaching and steered my dream to it, I had to know if I was correct about my feelings. I just had to feel it at least once, even if it was only in my dreams. "Tavi..." Even in a dream the words weighed heavily in my nonexistent throat. "Vi..." My nickname held so much of a stronger meaning this time, as if the same weight was in her throat. I blinked and found us standing so close I could feel her breath. It felt comforting and soothing and at the same time it made me stiff and nervous. "I wanted to tell you something that has been on my mind." I spoke, feeling the heat rise from cheeks. I questioned if she could feel it. I heard her gulp. "And?" Her voice was shaky and natural sounding. "I..." I was barely conscious of why I could never finish my sentence. A warm and wet embrace of her lips on mine was enough to wipe my mind clean. The venue around me dissolved as a solitary alicorn took a step forward looking down us. Emotions that I believed I never had began to unlock as tears began to mist my eyes and eventually fall down my cheeks again. I cracked my eyes slightly to see Octavia still there, tears in her eyes as well. I closed them again trying to keep everything together, knowing of the alicorn looming over us. I wanted to hold some memories of this dream whenever I awoke and I wasn't going to let Eyn take them from me. The next time I cracked my eyes opened, I found myself lying on my moss pile. I blinked my bleary eyes at the blue sky. It seemed more peaceful than I had remembered it from the time that I had gone to sleep. I rose and looked around to see that I was no longer resting at the base of the mountain. Everyone was nowhere to be found. I looked around in a panic before; from around one of the nearby trees, Octavia stepped out, the white glint in her otherwise deep and meaningful purple. "Where am I?" I demanded. "Well... I couldn't have you waking up the others with your mumbling and crying, plus I have a gift for you." Octavia spoke with the dialect that only Eyn possessed. "But I lost. My music sucked." He didn't seem to notice my words as the broken horn appeared out from Octavia's head. It glittered with energy that I have not seen any alicorn including Princess Celestia possess. I turned away from the bright light that blinded me. I looked back to find a small familiar box sitting in front of me. "But my music wasn't moving at all." I shot at Eyn. "And is that the gift I gave Octavia?" I looked at the nice wood finish of the small box, a tail of light crawling inside of it before it slammed shut, killing off the glittering light. "When Octavia is not pay attention, I want you to slip this inside of her bag where she has stored it the entire journey. I'll keep her attention focused on something else while you do it." He smiled in her body. "What about now?" Seeing as this discussion would counter what Eyn had planned, but he smiled thoughtfully. "She is still sleeping. To get back to the camp, just walk that direction for five minutes. I'll clear the way." The shattered horn sparked again as Octavia vanished in a teleport and the trees parted in the direction I needed to travel. I questioned why he wouldn't just give us a safe path to him, but I found that he always seemed to know something that I did not. I began to suspect him of something. My trust to him shook and dwindled as I looked in the direction to return. "He's up to something." I knew an alicorn with that much power even given his disabilities could rival that of Princess Celestia from the times I've seen her raise the sun. I wouldn't want them to ever clash if that was even a probable event. I couldn't quite place my hoof on it, but the meticulous and carefully execution by Eyn seemed more and more sinister every day that he was around. I picked the box up by the string around it and walked through the bent trees and raised ground. Now, I wondered what was in it...
In the Background	Chapter 13: Octavia's Outro	The walk back to the camp was just as Eyn had said it would be, five minutes. I was still unaware of how much time had passed since I had fallen asleep until now, but everyone was still asleep. I searched over the camp to take count of my friends. Lyra, Ditsy, Doctor, and Octavia were all lying on their moss pads. I stared at Octavia, seeing the bag sitting beside her, open and waiting for the box that I held in my teeth. From my time sneaking around the house or even down the hall, I knew that it was impossible to get past Octavia without making a sound. How was I going to do it? Stupidity flashed across my eyes as I crossed my eyes and looked up at the horn coming off of my head. It almost made me laugh that I had forgotten that I had magic. The box floated soundlessly over the bag, sliding perfectly into place, the flap of the bag closing and tying itself off. Just as the magic left my horn, Octavia stirred only slightly, cracking her eye and staring at me sleepily before turning away. I still had no way of knowing how long I was missing or where Eyn had taken me. The sensations of annoyance permeated my being as the thoughts began to irritate me. There was no way that I could know with the sun raising and falling in its sporadic way. All of this only grew on my nerves. Why couldn't I just have picked a spot in Ponyville, maybe take her out to a bar, get her hammered, and have a giggling night at the house. I didn't just hate myself, not in the relation to how much I hated Discord. He took Octavia away from me, and now I have this half-zombie version of Octavia who is being controlled by contestant number two of ponies that have been growing on my nerves, but for completely other reasons. That bucking blind alicorn... who does he think he is? Telling me that I just have to tell Octavia my true feelings when suddenly, he takes over her body. I get some bull story about how I have to 'wait till the right time'. What time is that? 'You will know when' he told me. Of course I would get some cryptic message. I had to release a pent up sigh of frustration as I rubbed my hooves on my temples to ease the pain in my head. This adventure was far too much for me to handle, and I managed to drag my friends into it. I turned to the sleeping group of ponies, just as the sun fell again revealing the bright moon. Lyra had fallen over onto her stomach, back legs outstretched with the moss on her head. She snored softly with a slight leg kick as she grumbled. Her sleeping had apparently grown to be rougher because of the sun coming out. Ditsy and the Doctor were still cuddled up close to each other, but Ditsy had burrowed her head under one of his hooves, their noses touching with smiles on their faces. Even though they were locked in each other's bodies, they managed to find love. I tried to cool my frustrations by trying to imagine myself like that with Octavia. The thought managed to make me smile as much as the memory of my dream on how it felt to finally kiss her. I was surprised to feel it quicken my heartbeat and fill me with an overwhelmingly warm sensation. I tried to let my mind wander and realign my mood to a more positive one. The daydream didn't play out long as the light kiss only lasted a few more seconds and we broke apart in embarrassment at what we had done. I tried to play it out better, get us further along, but it ended, leaving me wallowing in a half finished daydream that wouldn't reset. I found myself lying on my moss, annoyed at everything. I wanted to be alone, but now that I have it, I find myself missing company. I haven't talked too much of anyone while I've been on this trip. I had planned it to be a camping trip among friends with plenty to talk about, but here I've been, locked in my own mind, replaying old memories of Octavia and me. It made me feel sad that I had to resort to such. It made me feel worse that I haven't done much help anywhere. I've played messenger pony and that was only recently that that job was accomplished, but I felt that I haven't been that much of a friend. I tossed myself to the side, trying to find that sweet spot that all beds have which would allow me to get needed relaxation I needed without exhausting dreams being invaded by Eyn. I eventually found myself lying on my back with the moss clumped into a tiny moss mountain, bending my body in half. It wasn't quite the spot that I had imagined, but I was beyond comfortable. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, glad to see blackness follow. I didn't dream, then again, I didn't sleep long. It only felt like a five minutes that I was out when I felt somepony kick my hoof to wake me up. I coughed on my drool as I lifted my sunglasses up to see which pony had done such an act. Octavia glared down at me with an unfamiliar glare that I quickly associated to Eyn after seeing the white glare flash over them. "Oh... it's you." I grumbled, waking up even grouchier than I had gone to sleep. "We must move, now." She ushered me along, pushing up on my hindquarters as I rose. I grumbled with annoyance at being rushed when it was his fault that I didn't sleep well. "My little ponies... playing in the moss are we? Isn't that just adorable?" came a voice that I dreaded to hear. "Discord..." I grumbled. "I said now..." Eyn whispered to me. "You remembered my name? Oh, how I am simply flattered that you could have remembered." He gave off on of his signature laughs. "Hey, buddy. Why don't you just turn your weird tail alone and leave before I show you how bad you can really look?" I was beyond annoyed and pissed. Discord gave off a surprised look as he looked down at me. "Someone seems to not have slept the greatest..." He feigned like he cared about my sleep health. "If you say one more thing, or touch one of my friends, I will make you regret everything you've done to my friends and Ponyville." I gritted. "Ooo, I am just trembling in my hooves at your anger, dear Vinyl." He tossed out coyly. I saw that the others had already been awakened before me, and had already made their way behind me. "You probably shouldn't say such things to Disturb." Ditsy warned behind me. Discord laugh stopped mid chuckle as he heard Ditsy's final word. "Discord." He corrected. "Where?" She looked around. "Where what?" Discord seemed off balance at Ditsy's question. "The cord, silly goose." Ditsy laughed. Discord stared at her, bemused and annoyed. "Does anything work inside of your heard or do you just say things sometimes?" It was the only moment where he had struck a serious tone. "Yes." Ditsy answered, looking exceptionally serious inside of The Doctor's body. The Doctor tried to cover Ditsy's mouth seeing that it wasn't helping the situation at all, but the damage had been done. I watched as his hand filled with energy, picking Ditsy off of the ground and dragging her up to eye level with him. Something snapped inside of me as I jumped forward, sending what I could against him. It came out as a nice electric shock. He shook slightly from the pulsing current, dropping Ditsy to the ground where she retreated back with the rest of the group. I sent another volley of lightning strikes against him. He yawned out of boredom as they barely made a mark on him. "Brother..." I heard the deep voice of Eyn speak. I tried to turn and look at why he would reveal who he was when he had spent all that time trying to conceal what was happening to Octavia and me, but I was locked in except my eyes, which sat safely behind my sunglasses. "Eyn? Is that really you?" Discord's menacing tone died and a more playful surprised tone took its place. "In the flesh." Eyn even sounded happy and excited. I watched as Eyn's true self limped into my eyesight. I was glad to have the sun up at this point to see Eyn's true self in the light. His prosthetic was a golden metal that was crafted elegantly and had a few scribbles in the sides. His metal wings also had similar markings on them, but I had no idea as to if they meant anything. They creaked as they opened up, and flapped, sending him easily off the ground. Eyn was smaller than Discord, but in terms of presence, Eyn seemed to hold the crown. Even more so, Discord almost seemed afraid of his brother. I looked between the two to see why he would feel that way, but instead, questions arose. How could Eyn and Discord be even remotely related? I stared at what seemed to be a joke doodle made by a young colt or filly, while Eyn showed promise of having once been a beautiful stallion. It didn't make any sense along with almost every instance of this journey. I felt a wave of annoyance creep up on me again, but I had enough of my senses together to question where these waves of annoyance were coming from. What inspired this hatred of everything? I don't know if it was the way that Eyn half turned to me as that question slid through my mind or the realization that the thoughts I was having weren't my own. I felt my true annoyed attitude begin to peak through. What is he up to? Why did I trust him? "Calm yourself, Victoria." Came the voice of Eyn. I stared at him angrily, or as angrily as I could since I couldn't blink or move my eyelids. As I stared, he kept his one eye locked on me, as if he could see my anger through his blind eyes. Discord would have to know that something was up between the two of us, if he stared like this for much longer. That was when my perceptions caught onto something that was astray. I turned my attention back to Discord and saw him frozen just like everyone else. Did Eyn truly have the power to stop Discord with such ease? "Family connections have their bonuses. It is always said that twins seemed to share an almost mental link with each other. They wouldn't be wrong in saying that for I've completely halted my brother's body and synapses. Time has just stopped for him in this blink of time. Then again, to him it will be less than a blink. I remember how they had wanted me to use this power so that they could kill him with ease." He took a breath and turned back to Discord. "How could anyone ask of them to kill their own brother...?" He voice sounded sad and solemn. I could only stare, a forced audience to Eyn's explanations into a past and history that no pony had ever heard. What happened with Eyn? A strange curiosity began to creep into my mind, and I knew it was my own. My heart skipped a few beats as I felt and saw my eyes moving on their own, locking onto Discord, and freezing into place. I couldn't move a single muscle on my body. I was never claustrophobic, but this took the whole apple pie. The beating in my chest gave me a strong reassurance that I was still alive, and I wasn't dreaming. Discord began to move again, unknowing of how he had just been frozen by his brother. "I thought Celestia had you killed for what you did, I wouldn't have expected any different coming from her. I paid her a visit before I came and she doesn't seem to remember you. I didn't ask by name because I know how picky you are about people saying it casually..." Discord's voice trailed off. "She only seems to remember me. What did you do?" He laughed as if Eyn had played some sort of ancient joke on my princess. "I gave her the gift of forgetfulness. My crimes weren't going to be remembered by anyone including her." Eyn nodded with an unnatural smirk on his face as if he knew something more about it. "Ooo, I like that one. Freezing these lesser ponies was also a nice touch. What should we do to them?" He jumped with excitement. "We aren't doing anything to them. I want you to return to Ponyville." "What? Why would I miss the ability to play with these defenseless ponies?" He chuckled devilishly. "You have to defeat the Elements of Harmony of course." Eyn smiled. My heart leaped inside of my chest. Eyn did know something that he wasn't telling us. "I've already defeated those peppy 'friends'. They are wallowing too much in their own self loathing, hate, and lies to even be able to use them." Discord chuckled. Each laugh made my heart sink more. "From what I can tell, Twilight Sparkle has just broken your curse and knows how to reverse your curse. She is actually changing her friends back as we speak." Eyn seemed to enjoy the pained expression that wiped across Discord's face. "That's impossible. No pony can break that curse." Discord retorted. "That is until you met Twilight Sparkle. You should have seen how much she has done with her friends. She has plenty of memories with them to break anything you throw at her." Eyn's amusement only lightened my mood more. Maybe he was on our side... "Those blasted ponies..." Discord grumbled. "I'll have to spread as much chaos as I can..." He began to trudge off toward Ponyville for dramatic effect. "Brother... The next time you see them, they will try to use the Elements of Harmony on you. Do not fear it because you've grown far too powerful for them to effect you." My heart plummeted again. Discord's mood instantly improved as he jumped up and clicked his heels together. "I knew those ponies couldn't stop me. Thank you brother." He spoke with his usual, sinister chime. With a flash of light, he teleported back to Ponyville. Suddenly, my body loosened and I almost fell forward. I looked to where Eyn was standing and found that he was gone. I turned back to Octavia and saw the side of her mouth raise, in a sly half smile. "Where did he go?" The Doctor asked, looking around him quickly as if Discord moved at speeds exceeding light. "I don't know..." Lyra spoke, jumping in circles so that Discord couldn't sneak up on them. I never broke my stare with Octavia, or should I say Eyn. Octavia seemed to have been completely wiped out of her body by Eyn, leaving him in a hollow shell to use as he pleased. I knew Eyn could read my mind and probably had his mind comm on or whatever he used or did. What are you up to? "Overconfidence is the greatest downfall of anyone great. The Elements will not destroy him, but it is going to seal him away again. I just didn't want him to defend himself when it happens." A sparkle glittered across Octavia's eyes as he transported his voice directly into my head. "I-" I spoke out loud out of naturally tendencies, but I caught myself before the others noticed. 'How is Octavia?' "She is safe and will be returned to you by the end of the day, but we must hurry to the site." "Come on guys, let's just get to the end of this swamp before he comes back." I commanded. "Yes, let us get this over with." Eyn spoke with Octavia's voice. I saw that Octavia had turned her cursed gray color again. "The faster we get this curse off of us, the faster we can find a way to save Ponyville." The Doctor joined in the almost pep talk like feel. Everyone nodded in agreement just as Octavia began to gallop into the swamp. Without hesitation, we joined her final push through the swamp. Seeing how Octavia moved, I could have sworn that she was just her cursed self again, and not just Eyn controlling her. I figured that Eyn could play such a powerful poker face that he could also make anyone look like someone they are not, including themselves. "For you, Octavia..." I hid under my breath as I followed her. The swamp wasn't the most friendly of places. Vines moved on their own, trying to ensnare us in their tendrils, while different rocks opened up revealing large spiders that tried to grab at us. I had to run in the back with Lyra and use magic to throw rocks and shoot lightening at them as we continued are push. Octavia moved without flinching, jumping and dodging with an agility that would have been impossible for her to accomplish if she was herself. The water around us shook as something large began running toward us. I turned to see the many heads of hydra barreling down on us. I threw a rock at it in hopes to see a change in its speed and direction, but it only seemed to irritate it more. "We need to gallop faster!" Lyra screamed. I could see the tears falling off of her eyes as she screamed. Had we grown so desperate? The trees around us began to thicken again, which thankfully slowed the hydra down, but sadly didn't stop it. He continued to break through the fragile limbs of the dead tress to get to us. We had to leap over more and more logs as the dead forest around us became denser. Then suddenly, it broke out into a clearing. I stared at it and just wanted to leap for it, as if hitting the clearing would somehow stop the hydra behind us. My heart only slammed harder against my chest as my lungs began to burn from the fumes of the swamp and the decay of the trees. I jumped over a log to see a branch stood in my path. I didn't have enough time to stop and find a different path and found myself hitting it as hard as I could, knocking the wind out of me, but it broke allowing me to slide into the clearing. I stood up and tried to run, but I had lost my wind and stumbled, sending one of my hooves into a hole. I could only throw my thanks into the air that it didn't break, but I knew it was twisted. I limped with no breath toward the lip of the crater where everyone had gathered around. The expressions on their faces told me that there was no hope in the crater, but I limped toward them anyway. I had just arrived next to them as the hydra broke through the last of the trees, sending a wall of air past me, knocking me over. My lungs burned, leg hurt, and my wind still hadn't returned to my gasping lungs. "Well... I guess he wasn't here..." The Doctor painfully admitted to himself. He stepped closer to Ditsy. The hydra took pleasure at having us cornered, and slowly walked toward us. A strange cracking filled my ears. I looked down at the ground and saw that the weight of the hydra broke the fragile ground around us. Either we were going to be eaten by many different heads or we were going to fall to our deaths when the ground gave way. "Ready?" I turned back to see The Doctor standing next to Ditsy. They both turned toward the hydra with a look of defiance. "Ready." Ditsy spoke assuredly. I watched as they both ran forward, yelling at the hydra. The hydra stopped at the strange act of bravery that the two had shown. Lyra bumped into me as she followed suit with them. I wanted to scream out to them, tell them to stop. There had to be another way around this instead of throwing their lives away. I looked around the crater, but so no such escape plan. Instead I found the same wave of bravery filling me. I managed to climb up to my feet and pick up as many rocks as I could, shooting them at the hydra's eyes in hopes that I could somehow blind it. Nothing seemed to work against the hulking beast, yet I rinsed and repeated my actions, grabbing another group of sharp rocks and shooting them out in rapid succession toward the eyes of the beast. The Doctor, managed to learn how to fly and tried his best to hit the top of the heads with his hooves, but they didn't affect it at all like everything else we were doing. At best, we were only delaying our own deaths. I barely noticed the tears that had burned down my dirty cheeks. The desperation of my attacks began to grow, though deep down, I knew they weren't doing anything. I managed to see that the same tears had begun to fall from the other's eyes. "Five..." Octavia spoke behind me. I wanted to turn and ask her what she was saying and why she wasn't helping. "Four..." She continued. "What are you...?" I couldn't finish as jumped out of the way of the ground crumbling into the crater. "Three..." My breath was taken away as I saw a giant rainbow shoot into the air where Ponyville would have been about. Everyone had seen the same thing as I did, letting his or her guard down. The hydra took advantage of it and hit all three of the attacking ponies in a single flourish. I watched Lyra and Doctor Hooves' body slide to a stop near me, as Ditsy's body was tossed against a tree. Even from this distance I could hear the bone in her wing crack as she let out a painful scream. My heart, already weak from this final push had nearly broken as I heard that scream. Ditsy stood in the Doctor's body and looked at her broken body that slowly rose. The wing was bent awkwardly as she stood, twitching as the body instinctually wanted to pull the wing closed. Tears of pain fell from his eyes as he tried to limp toward the true Ditsy. "Not you too!" She screamed, running toward him, tears pouring off of her face. "One. Catch me..." I heard behind me. I managed to just turn toward her to question why she was counting down, when the ground began to shake as if a massive explosion had hit Equestria. The ground all around the crater began to collapse. I turned toward Ponyville to see a double rainbow clear across the sky. It fell toward the ground and suddenly, everything exploded around me. I quickly turned back to Octavia to see the ground giving out from under her. "No!" I grabbed under both of her armpits, resting my head against hers as I struggled to keep her up. I felt myself begin to slip along with ground, and accepted a fate of dying with Octavia. I was never going to let her go... Suddenly, my sprained hoof slid into a hole. Pain shot through my body, but I managed to hold on. Thankfully, the hole stopped me and allowed me to keep my footing, but I didn't have enough energy to pull her up. Octavia kicked at the side of the sheer cliff, tears falling off of her face as she struggled, my glasses falling off of my head and into the abyss below. "Vinyl! Don't let go! Don't let go!" I knew it was she. She was back! I only held onto her harder. "Don't worry, Tavi. I have you... I have you..." I could only speak in a whisper to her, feeling my lungs breaking from the strain. I didn't want to admit that I could feel my hooves sliding and that there was no way I could hold onto her much longer. "I'm not going to make it am I...?" Octavia admitted. Tears began to pour out of my eyes and dripping down Octavia's back. I took a deep breath in, trying to compose myself and give her my best face. "Are you kidding?" I sniffed. "We can never be separated." My body began to shake as my hooves slid slightly on her smooth fur. "No..." I couldn't hold back the sadness any longer. "Octavia... I just wanted to tell you..." I pulled my head back so that I could look into her eyes. They were how I always remembered them. Tears had soaked the hair around her eyes as she stared up at me, could see that she knew she was going to die and no one could do anything to change that. She waited for my words as I tried to say them, tears falling onto her cheek. "Vinyl..." Octavia almost sounded like she didn't want me to talk with such finality, but I had already started what I wanted to say. "I love you." The words came off almost as a whisper, but with more truth than what has ever escaped my mouth. Before I could even react, Octavia used what strength she had and pulled herself up to me. I could never forget that warm and wet sensation of her lips on mine. She kissed me with more love than any other pony had kissed me, which only brought a heavier rush of tears. I slipped some more. "I love you too..." She spoke just as the last of my grip slipped. My heart reached out to try and grab her, but it was too late. "Octavia!" I screamed after her as she fell into darkness below. My tears fell with her, trying to catch her, save her. Is this what Eyn wanted? Everything moved in slow motion as she kept those purple eyes locked onto me, the color returning to her before she fell from view. I reached my hooves out to the void. She didn't even make a noise. I stayed where I was, lost in shock, and sadness. I turned to see if I would soon be following her to the grave, but saw the other's huddled around Ditsy's body, the hydra nowhere to be found. I couldn't bring myself to walk away from where I let Octavia go. It hurt too much to admit that I had let her down, I had killed her, and the only pony I loved... The more my thoughts worked the more sadness filled my eyes. I began to feel myself go numb as I stared at my friends. I walked to them, barely able to feel the ground under my hooves as I trotted. Staring at the ground, no, staring into myself, I could only see the blackness of the hole staring back at me. I walked to the broken pegasus's side, finding her smiling through the pain, her eyes crooked again. "I'm back in my body! Ow!" Ditsy chimed excitedly. I gave her a half smile, wishing I had my glasses to hide behind. I couldn't bring myself to care, everything felt numb and distant from me. It hurt to stand there, it hurt to be alive. Images of her flashed before my eyes, sending another wave of tears down my face, softly patting and soaking the cracked ground underneath of me. "The curse is broken. They beat Discord!" Ditsy laughed, back to her usual self. "Where's Octavia, I have to hug that pony." She turned toward me expectantly. I watched as all of their faces dropped low. I had realized what they were looking at, but I looked down and saw her pink bow wrapped around my neck. It wasn't tied, but it had managed to stick to me from the wetness of my tears. It was almost too much for me to handle. I broke down in another fit of tears, my legs collapsing under the weight of the sadness. Lyra stared at me, devastated, her mouth hung open as tears filled her eyes. They looked over my head at where Octavia had been standing to see it gone, eaten by the sides of the crater. I could feel them trying to comfort me. She can't be gone... I stared at the ground where my tears had fallen. Why now? She had loved me too... I hit my hoof against the ground angrily. "Why? Why? Why? Why?" I smashed my hoof, harder at each word. The tears poured from my eyes as my lungs heaved. I hid my face from the others. "Vinyl..." Lyra tried to comfort me, but her words were broken with her own sobs. "Maybe she... I mean..." Her usually cheerful self had vanished, broken by all of the events. Everything felt too sudden, rushed. I could barely remember what happened up to that point. Everything felt like a half remembered blur. Paralyzed by my sadness, I secured myself to the ground. "It's all my fault..." I repeated as I let myself pass out. I woke up feeling weightlessness in my legs. I looked around quickly to find myself dangling over a hole. I barely had enough of my senses about me to see that Vinyl was holding me up. "Vinyl! Don't let go! Don't let go!" She must hate me for having to save me all of the time, but fear outweighed my guilt. It was the first time that I could actually see my hooves. They were gray and instantly, my mind began to backtrack as what I would believe most minds to do when they are on the verge of death. I could easily feel the grip that Vinyl had on me slipping, and I knew it wasn't going to be long before her grip would vanish. I could feel her tears starting to wet my back as she struggled to hold on. "Don't worry, Tavi. I have you... I have you..." her voice sounded so soft. I didn't think her voice could fall that far and become so comforting. It was almost like another mare was talking to me. I could myself begin to cry as old feelings that I had trapped inside of myself had begun to boil again. I wanted to tell her more than anything of how much she meant to me and that I did and still loved her, but something tried to hold me back, but it was far weaker. I felt her grip slip more and I felt the words slip through my lips, as warm tears were squeezed from my eyes. "I'm not going to make it am I?" I asked, though I knew the answer. I didn't want to admit that I just wanted to hear her speak. "Are you kidding?" She tried to put a happy tone into her voice. She managed something close, but her sobs didn't help. "We can never be separated." I could feel her muscles strain to keep me up, knowing she was giving everything she had plus more to keep me from falling even though we both knew that there was no escaping this. Warmth began to fill my chest as my memories began to replay all of the times we had been together. She managed to change the position of my head so that our eyes locked. She had lost her glasses. "No..." I heard her regretfully admit to me. Even though I knew it was coming, I found the words to strike my heartstrings. I had to tell her the words that had been on the tip of my tongue this entire escapade and I knew I didn't have much time to say it. "Octavia... I just wanted to tell you..." I missed her last words as I started. "Vinyl..." "I love you." She stole the words out of my mouth. The warmth grew into a searing heat that filled my body and made me realize what my feelings meant. Color returned to my hooves, as I couldn't hold myself back any longer. I used what strength I had to pull myself closer to her, connecting our lips and feeling my love for her flourish into a wonderful crescendo. "I love you too..." I managed to speak after our lips separated. Her hooves slipped out as the same time. I could feel the sensation of complete weightlessness fill my body as I fell, the rush of the wind past my ears. It felt like flying. I slowly closed my eyes as the darkness enveloped me. I could hear Vinyl scream my name, but I knew that I was already dead. I only managed to let the air out of me in a comforting sigh. I felt like I was flying for once in my life. I spread out my hooves and kept my eyes closed, imagining the sensation of flying to be similar. I managed to smile amid my tears right before everything stopped, letting the air escape my lungs. It was cold and dark. I could still feel the warmth on my lips from kissing Vinyl. I kept that memory as the final tears fell from eyes. It's so cold.
In the Background	Chapter 14: Past, Present, Future	I didn't know how long I had my head buried in my hooves crying. I didn't know if the others were staring at me or crying themselves. I didn't care. I could watch as my memory played back her last moments in my arms. The way her eyes twinkled, that soft understanding smile, and blush on her cheeks as she pulled away from the kiss and let herself fall into the dark void below. Everything I felt only intensified, as it repeated making me feel weaker and feebler. I tried to beat the grief out of myself by smashing the ground, but my arms felt heavier each time. "Why...?" I sobbed again. "Vinyl?" Lyra's voice was broken with her own disbelief and sadness. She had collected herself as she tried to comfort me. "Vinyl, we need to go..." The way she said 'needed' held no confidence or truth. She wanted to stay and grieve as much as me, but she knew what all of had to accept. "No..." I wasn't one to let go and accept that it was over. "Maybe she caught unto a ledge, or maybe she survived the fall. We just need to go down into the crater and find her." Denial began to form. "We just need to find a way down there." I managed to stand on my shaky legs and turn toward the crater. The darkness was tempting. I could just jump where she fell and be with her, maybe survive the fall like her and be there for her. Help her get out. I walked slowly toward the side of the crater and sat down at the edge of it. I didn't think I would have managed to stop myself. Everything felt so unreal. A calm breeze blew through my hair as the tears dried on my face while new tears made fresh paths. I listened to the darkness below me, but I didn't hear anything. I knew I would be able to create a ball of light with my magic to see if she was all right, but a fear hit of what I would see. I took a deep breath and generated the ball of light. I could hear slight noises behind me in opposition, but they were hushed. I stared into the soft light I created, watched it pulse and waver as my heart did the same. Did I want to see...? I began to lower the light into the hole, watching as the jagged edges of the cliff stretched what seemed like forever. I already knew that Octavia couldn't have lived, but a nagging tug on my heart needed to know, had to know, at least for sure. I knew that my heart wouldn't able to handle seeing her broken and lifeless body, but I had to know her body existed so that she could have a funeral. The tears began to fall heavier. Stop thinking like that, Vinyl! The light began to show the crater floor, casting long shadows around bottom. I moved the light carefully, trying to make out her body through the blur of the tears in my eyes. It rounded a sharp rock sticking out of the ground and my heart instantly pulled together and froze. I could just see the shadow of her body laying on the ground, completely lifeless, no she had to be just unconscious, something! I moved the light closer, and saw that my fears were true. I stared at her chest to see if she was breathing, but I couldn't tell. I pushed her side with one of the rocks down below, but she didn't move at all. I moved the light over to get a better view of her chest to see if it was moving, but instead I fears were answered. A pool of blood had formed around her mouth. I could just make out the dull twinkle of her eye along with the dark lines that ran down her face. My concentration broke, disintegrating my light. I fell down to my knees again; feeling the pain in my heart, as I knew the fact of her death was real. My denial eventually transformed into a rage at the pony that had caused all of this. "Eyn! You bastard!" I cried and listened to the echo. "You said you would save her, but you killed her, left her to die in my arms!" The rage filled me quickly. "It's all my fault!" The truth hit me harder than Octavia's death. "It's all my fault..." My voice dropped to a whisper in the wind. "I'm sorry, Octavia..." The familiar numbness of the loss struck me again as I stared into the dirt at my hooves. Octavia would have loved it out here. I managed to turn my head up and out toward the setting sun in the distance. It was the first normal sunset in the time that Discord had taken over. It only told me that the other group of friends had managed to stop Discord with the Elements of Harmony. I turned away from the beautiful scene in front of me. I didn't want to enjoy something this beautiful without Octavia by my side. Nothing mattered anymore as I walked to my friends to help them carry Ditsy back to Ponyville. I wouldn't let this forest take any other of my friends. "I will forever love you, Octavia..." I said in the breeze, letting another tear fall for her as we hoisted Ditsy onto our backs. With the use of the road, the numb walk back took dramatically less time. We arrived back in Ponyville just as night had arrived. Happily, normalcy had also been restored enough for the nurses of the hospital to fix up Ditsy. I waited with the rest of my friends inside of the waiting room; the chair next to me was empty. I wouldn't let any other pony sit in there. In my head, Octavia was sitting where she should be rightfully sitting. I had lost so much sleep and the despair only caused slight hallucinations and paranoia. I would turn and see the back of a pony with a treble cleft, only to blink and see her disappear. I managed to turn a few heads of those ponies that had been to my show and them for once in their lives seeing my eyes. It was hard to talk to them. Hours passed before we were allowed into the room, though all of us knew she would live, we wondered more about if she could fly again. They wouldn't answer our question every time we asked. Instead, we received some ambiguous answer that 'only time could tell'. It didn't sit well with me after all I had lost. I eventually walked up to one of the nurses and demanded that we would be allowed to see her or at least know if she would be able to fly again given the complex breaks at the base of the wings. Instead of answering, they allowed us to go in, which didn't sit well with me, but it was enough. Walking down the hall, my pace dropped to the slowest it had ever been. The others passed me, Doctor Whooves taking the lead, the most concerned of us all. I let everyone else enter the room first, I held the door, and I stood and thought about everything, my eyes trying to avoid the rest of their eyes. I couldn't deal with seeing any of their worry to me, or their condolences for my loss, it was as much as a loss to them as it was to me, or so they thought. None of them knew what Octavia's last words were too me, or mine to her. No pony would know how we were in love, how the taboo that was first broken by Lyra and Bonbon had spread to Octavia and me. I questioned when we would break it to somepony about Octavia's demise. It still didn't feel real it couldn't feel real. I entered the room, but kept my distance from the bed. She was forced to lie on her stomach, a contraption holding her wings completely extended and stiff while they were wrapped up in white bandages like a mummy. I could see wet, red lines where they had to make incisions in the skin to set the bones and screw in the pin. All of what seemed like a horrifyingly painful experience, yet Ditsy smiled with her eyes crooked. I saw The Doctor put his nose up against hers, close his eyes, and lovingly rub it. "I was worried about you." He spoke. Was love really that easy? I stared at The Doctor, knowing that I would be the only pony to truly know who or what he was just as I would be the only one to know of Eyn. I knew how he had left Octavia to stand at the edge of the crater on purpose so that she would fall to her death. Then he never came back to speak to me, to reassure me that everything would be fine. He just vanished without a trace. "Are you going to be able to fly again?" Lyra asked, smiling like her normal self except for the dried tears on her face. "I think so." She smiled. "But I could really go for some delicious muffins from Sugarcube Corner." She laughed her usual laugh. It was strange how contagious the small burst of happiness was for everyone except me. I managed a half smile, but my loss outweighed any happiness that I could ever draw out from seeing that Ditsy would be fine. It was easy to back out of the room and make sure that no pony saw me leave. I figured it would be best if I took my leave and not make a scene about it. They were happy and I didn't want to ruin it. They needed their happiness more than ever. I walked back to my, no, Octavia's house. I stopped and observed how it stood in darkness over the other buildings that had their lights on for the night. The house seemed to mourning her death just as I was. The workload began to stack inside my mind numbly. Tomorrow I would tell the coroner of Octavia's death and take them out to where she had died so that I could hold a proper funeral for her. I'd have it in the study with her cello, music, and window. It seemed the most fitting. I nodded at the checklist in my head as I stepped through the door and into the darkness of the entrance hallway. Everything seemed dead and stagnant of activity. The silence was deafening, I wanted to escape it, but I felt the strong desire to just wallow in it. My grieving hit another peak as my eyes became misty again. I limped toward the far door that led into the study. My magic had already stopped working from my lack of concentration forcing me to stare at the door for a few seconds. I had to see the room again, where the adventure, where the tragedy had began. Everything back then felt so carefree and fun, if I had known... I opened the door with my head, walking into the quiet room that was only illuminated by the street light across the street. It was only enough light to make everything in the room appear black and white. In the far corner of the room, I saw her cello sitting on its stand, now devoid of a player. It shattered my heart as I saw it, causing my legs to drop out from under me as I cried again. The tears pooled under my body as I tried to speak to the dead house. "Octavia... I miss you..." The words hurt. "Why did you... did you... have to..." I didn't want to admit another truth to myself. "Why did you have to die?" I broke down once again and limped my way over to her cello, the wonderful wood finish reflecting my face off of it. The instrument was almost as beautiful as her. I stood onto my back hooves and hugged the cello softly, letting my face feel the strings slide under it. My tears fell from my face and slid down the strings to the base of it. Being in this house only made my heart hurt more. Releasing the cello, I knew I would have to move out from the house, there were just too many memories of her, but for now... I had to do one last thing in the house, something that Octavia always enjoyed when she was still... I pulled the pillows and the blankets in front of the fire place and made our ramshackle tents, but instead of two, I only made one. "Together tonight... we will camp together tonight... in our house... in your arms..." I smiled as the tears began to fall again. I buried my head inside of the pillow beside the fire and let my emotions completely let go. Crying wouldn't even begin to describe what I was doing as the pillow silenced my screams and dried my tears. It was our roommate anniversary today, and she didn't get me anything. Suddenly, I heard the door click open and then closed as hooves connected with the hard wood surface. My heart stood at a stand still as I stared at the corner of the wall where, whoever it was would reveal them. - I never knew death would hurt so much. I hit the floor of the crater, feeling my ribs break from the collision and the wind being completely blown from chest along with a spray of blood. I couldn't see anything in the darkness of the crater, but I had enough feeling in my body to feel that death was on me. I had hoped the fall would have killed me immediately, but instead I survived just long enough to feel everything. The pain was almost unbearable as I tried to move, but found my body completely paralyzed from the fall. My eyes had grown completely lifeless as I fought back falling unconscious. I wanted to laugh at my luck, but my damaged lungs and blood in my throat only made me gurgle. Warm tears fell from my eyes as the pain grew in me along with a fear of death. I tried to breath faster, but I could feel that the air wasn't making it. My heart burned to keep me alive, but just by tasting the amount of blood in my mouth and feel a tickle lower on my body, I knew that I was bleeding to death. Always a bleeding heart wasn't I? I could feel myself slipping under, feeling colder by the second when a strange illumination filled the area around me. I looked at the light and felt serenity about it. Was this what happened when a pony died? The light was soft, beautiful and stopped in front of me just as I took my last breath, embracing the cold and succumbing to the pain. My last sensations were something touching my body. I hope they were taking me to paradise. Everything went black. Everything. I woke up in a dark area, a single light shone on me with an everlasting darkness stretching in each direction. Was this death? Was this it? "Octavia... It is an honor to finally meet you as yourself with a clear mind." I knew that voice. It was the voice that had helped me get over my sadness, a voice that had filled my mind and my dreams the past few days. It almost felt like my life was running in reverse where I had control over my dreams, while the voice had lived my life. "Who are you?" I yelled out into the darkness. "Vinyl wanted you to find me." He spoke almost nonchalantly. "You... you exist? Eyn Spyyr?" He emerged from the shadows of the darkness around me. His stance was powerful and engaging as his dark purple eyes stared at me with wisdom and understanding like nothing I had ever seen before. He continued to leave the darkness revealing his majestic alicorn body, not one like Princess Celestia, but one that held far more male qualities to him. He flapped open his gray wings, letting his feathers stretch out, like he had been trapped inside of a cage for far too long. Even his horn seemed longer than Princess Celestia or Luna. "Yes... Vinyl got you to me." He smiled at me, almost lovingly. Not in the sense of being in love with me, but almost as a parent figure. "But... I died at the bottom of the crater. Are you saying that I am still alive?" I almost jumped with excitement at what my brain pulled forward. His appearance took a more solemn tone to it as he stared at me. "Octavia... you are dead. You made your final breath after you saw Vinyl's light when she searched for you, hoping that you were somehow alive even though she knew that no pony could live, she felt that you could somehow have pulled out of it, but this is not the case." The happiness left me. "Vinyl..." I let her down. I now knew how she felt about me, that our love was mutual and powerful between us, but... I died. "Death is difficult to comprehend, Octavia Pie." He nodded as he circled me. "Follow me..." I turned to see him walking into the darkness, lights filling where he walked. Everything about him felt powerful and planned, thoughtful and careful. I followed him, knowing that I had no reason to trust him, yet he had a strange comforting aura about him. I felt that I could trust him. "I want you to imagine one of your dreams and focus on it." He spoke as I walked next to him. I could barely think straight, like my mind was slipping quickly like death wasn't over. "What's wrong with me?" I asked him, feeling a wave of weakness come over my mind. "Your brain is still alive. I am using it to get this gift to you before you go." He spoke as if the circumstances were better. "Before I go?" The words disgusted me. "How can you speak so calmly about my death?" "Everypony dies. I've seen more ponies pass than you can even imagine. These friends that hold and can use the Elements of Harmony now, they will die of old age, just like every other pony. Vinyl Scratch will die of old age eventually. That is the fact of the world around us, and you best be comfortable with it." He continued walking in what felt like a random direction, though I didn't even know where we started. "But..." "Now imagine something you wanted before your time is up." He had no urgency in his voice, but I still felt rushed. I closed my eyes and imagined not just one thing. My focus quickly flipped between my many dreams until I only felt one that mattered. I opened my eyes and saw Vinyl standing in front of me. Her glasses were missing, and upon looking down at myself, found my bow missing. I raised my head back up to Vinyl and saw that she had reappeared much further away. The darkness quickly erupted into light as I found myself standing at the top of the crater where I had died, looking down into the hole, and seeing Vinyl looking up at me, glowing with an unreal light. "How can I get down there?" I asked aloud. "Think of another dream..." Eyn whispered into my ear with an air of excitement. I closed my eyes and imagined a dream of mine to get down to her. I felt myself become heavier, yet lighter at the same time, like my weight had been redistributed. I cracked my eyes open and looked at my back. My heart fluttered as I stared at not just pegasus wings, but that of an alicorn. A mirror appeared next to me, showing me how I looked. I didn't just have alicorn wings, but I had transformed into an alicorn. Eyn walked behind me in my reflection, smiling as he stared at me. "Like it? Now you can fly down and greet your Vinyl, save her from the hole in which she is trapped." I turned give him a smile, but he wasn't where his reflection was. I turned back to the mirror to see him step out from it, still smiling and moving as carefully as he had done, but with a minor limp, his eyes now gray instead of their bold colors. "What's happening to you...?" I asked, my voice trailing as I asked. "Look inside your heart and follow your true love." He dodged the question. Taking flight, my wings worked with just a thought of flying. I couldn't see how one like Doctor Whooves wouldn't be able to master such a simple task. My body, or was it my soul, descended into the hole, landing next to Vinyl who stared happily at me. I smiled back, loving her grin and her glittering eyes. I took a step forward causing her to frown. She turned from me and cried. "Octavia..." I heard her cry my name. "What is it?" I walked hurriedly to her side to see why she was crying, but I saw her looking at something else. I looked where she had focused, spying my own broken body lying in a pool of blood. I couldn't even describe what I was seeing. I tried to comfort her, but found that I wisped through her like I was just a breeze. "You can make... any dream... come true." I looked back at the voice as he limped from the shadows. His eyes were completely white and his horn had been snapped from his head. He shook with pain, as he leaned against the wall of the crater. I saw that he only had three legs, while drops of blood fell from what was left of his other leg. "What..." I wanted to ask him, but he shook his head. "You need to dream... you need to desire your dreams and follow it without doubt." He took a deep breath as he coughed blood onto the ground. "You need to see that, or you will regret ever living." His breathing was broken and weak, his eyes dragging to stay up. "I just wanted to be with Vinyl... I didn't even have to close my eyes as that desire outweighed the rest of my dreams. A white light exploded out from a broken box, Vinyl's box, which sat right next to my dead body. It crept out of it and began to envelope my body, causing to glow as if it was cast in iron and burned with an amber hue. It blinded me as I stared into it, but it felt right to not look away. Everything became colder and tighter as everything went black. I would sacrifice anything to be back with her. I woke up at the bottom of the crater, cast in the moonlight that illuminated the ground around me. My breaths were broken and weak as I rose and leaned against the same spot that the broken Eyn had leaned against. My ribs were still broken, but the wounds on my body had stopped bleeding. I coughed blood against the wall, trying to walk forward, but collapsing as I felt a sharp pain shoot through the bone. I knew it was broken. Every step felt like I was walking on fire and breathing brimstone or dragon's breath. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Octavia..." It was Eyn's voice, but it sounded much colder, and filled with a hint of anger. "How am I... still alive?" I breathed heavily, feeling my ribs strain. "Vinyl gave you the gift of life for one that would sacrifice her own heaven to be with her loved one. You desired it and you have a love that no one can break. I gave the magic to succeed in such, but I had to make sure that this desire existed. You passed without question." He walked from the shadows, a metal click echoing in the cave at each fourth hoof clop. I squinted into the darkness to see softly glowing white eyes and the metallic shimmer of a mechanized leg. Eyn's breathing wasn't strained and he wasn't breathing as hard as I was or how I had just seen him on the verge of death. His stare was colder, though his eyes never locked onto me, but instead looked out into the darkness. "I could only wish I could see what you look like. Judging by your breathing and strained syllables, I can guess that you aren't in the shape you would hope to be in right now. I stared at the alicorn that loomed over me. Something had changed about the aura around him. The feelings of relaxation and happiness had left and were replaced with coldness. "What... happened to you?" Everything hurt to move. "I was thrown down in here after they had clipped my wings and broke my horn. They thought they could keep me down here, barely alive so that I could continue bestowing the power of the Cutie Marks onto the fair ponies of Equestria. After a few years, they forgot about me, or more appropriately, I made them forget I existed. I made myself a fairy tale for children's books, so those that still remembered me, would think that they only remembered me through a childhood story." "That's awful... Why would they... do that?" I could feel my breathing improve slightly. "That is for another time, right now, you need to get to a hospital. Come. Grab your gift from Vinyl." His voice held urgency this time causing me to react quickly. I painfully bent down and picked up the cracked wooden box, turning my vision away from the contents so that I could save the moment to when I could see her again. Before I could even mutter another word, metal wings creaked from his bag. He picked me up with his magic, using a magical horn that shimmered out of the broken stump. His flying was much more strained as he rose, but it didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. In the air, high above the forest, I could see the scope of the distance that my friends and I had travelled. The crater, the swamp, mountains, and forest, all flew past me, as Eyn picked up speed. I could see the lights of Ponyville, tears welling up in my eyes at seeing that I was home and that I was granted a second chance at life. Eyn stopped at the edge of the forest, staying within the boundaries of the trees and stopped, lowering me to the ground. His mane flowed over the nearby tree, making the leaves vanish so that only the sticks could be seen, but as the mane left from over them, the leaves returned. Everything that it flowed over would show what was hidden underneath, including the cloak that Eyn wore. "This is as far as I can take you. I'm sorry that I can't progress any further. The hospital is on the other side of the town from here. Find someone to help you get to the hospital; you are not out of the woods yet." He nodded and smiled briefly. "It is an honor to finally meet a generation in person." Before I could even return my own thanks, he shrank into a small dark hole and vanished in a pop. I struggled to take a step forward, feeling the pain resurface and rack my body. I wheezed through my teeth, still holding onto the wooden box. I continued my slow advance toward the town, watching it grow in size with each step. My smile only widened with each step, knowing that I'd be with Vinyl soon enough, but I still felt worried about my health. Eyn warned me that I would not be able to make it to the hospital. I continued to limp down the dirt road where I had started my first pleasant conversation with Lyra. It was the first place where I had tried to conquer my fears, but failed. I still enjoyed the memory of it. I continued to limp, picking up speed only to slow and cough with pain. Entering town never felt better, but as I looked around I saw one shop still open. I limped toward the record shop, looking through the window to see the owner packing up his things and closing the store. Equally, the record that I had wanted to buy Vinyl for our anniversary was still there. "Sir..." I tried to act calm like there was nothing wrong with me. "Oh, what can I do for you, Miss Octavia?" I had to smile at the politeness of the stallion. "I was hoping to make an IOU purchase on that record in the window. I currently don't have my money pouch with me, and I have to get this tonight." I hoped he would understand. "Hmm..." He looked at the record and smiled. "For you? I shall make an exception to the no IOU's. I know you are a mare of your word. I will have to ask that you pay for it by the end of the week." He nodded and entered the store, pulling the record down and putting it inside of a bag. He carried it out to me, where I picked up Vinyl's box and placed it too inside of the bag. "Have a good night, Miss Octavia." He smiled and went on his way, unknowing of the condition that I was in. I let out a pained breath as tears fell. I didn't have much strength left in my body to make it anywhere that I wanted other than one place. I walked toward it, trying to conserve my strength and trying to stay awake. I didn't notice the small drips of blood landing on the ground below me from one of my wounds opening back up. My pace quickened as I saw the house, smoke coming out of the chimney, meaning only one thing. The door was the hardest to open, but I managed to step inside, hearing someone move and listen inside of the living room. I wanted to call out to her and say who I was, but my lungs had already almost burned themselves dry. I slowly limped myself forward and rounded the corner, to see Vinyl staring at me. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face was wet from the tears that she had been releasing into the pillow. I looked around the living room to see that our usual set up had been created except that the double bed was much smaller, though still made for two. I stared at her before my jaw finally stopped holding the bag, sending it falling to the floor. "Hospital..." I collapsed in the doorway, watching her almost leap out of bed and run to my side. - "Octavia? Octavia!" I screamed out as I saw her lying in front of me. I wanted to cry with happiness at what I was seeing; even doubting myself that this couldn't be real. The more I looked at her the more I knew it was real, yet still impossible. "Come on, Octavia..." I lifted her limp body onto my back, feeling her breathing work slowly, but still enough to know that she was still alive. My sprained ankle held no hindering power over me as I ran her to the hospital. The others were still there, just exiting Ditsy's room to go home when they saw me barge into the room with a broken and bloody Octavia on my back. "She needs a Doctor, now!" I screamed when I burst through the door. The look of panic and surprise hit the rest of the group as they stood in shock at what they saw. Octavia managed to crack her eye open at the group, smiling and sending a single tear down her face. The doctor's vanished with her into the Intensive Care wing of the hospital. "You're covered in blood..." Lyra spoke in amazement, still dumbstruck by seeing Octavia alive, but barely. I hadn't even noticed the blood dripping from Octavia as I ran to the hospital. I didn't know a pony could hold that much blood, or that a pony had a heart strong enough to keep beating after losing so much, yet Octavia remained. I knew she was dead, I could see that she was lifeless and not knocked out. Something happened whenever I left, but the only chance that she ever had was through Eyn Spyyr. The thought alone made me immediately know it was correct. He didn't leave her. He didn't leave her to die. I wanted to cry again, but instead of sadness, I wanted to let the tears of happiness roll off my face. I wanted to dance, hear music, and just scream at the top of my lungs, because Octavia was alive. The stark reality of her still being in danger never crossed my mind as I walked to a chair and sat down. Morning came before I was even allowed to enter Octavia's room. Everything on her seemed to be wrapped in the white bandages that had covered Ditsy along with bags of blood and fluids being pumped into her. A group of doctors still stood outside her door, talking of her condition. "May I pass?" I questioned. "Yes, but we warn you, she is sleeping and under a heavy amount of painkillers. I don't know how she managed to live, but she will make a full recovery in a few months. The words danced around my head, making me smile and grin wider, happiness almost wanting to leap from my throat. Entering the room, Octavia didn't move. She had the different devices connected to her as well as just the tubes feeding her fluids. I pulled the bag that Octavia had drug with her into the room with me, taking the chair next to her bedside. "I'm glad to see you are alive Octavia..." My words took on a more serious tone, knowing that she had to still be in pain even with the painkillers after they had told me how much damage had been done by the fall. She breathed calmly with no reaction to my words, but I didn't care. "I opened the gift you got me... I didn't know you knew what I wanted." Tears of happiness began to form in my eyes. "I would have just been content with having you again." My voice began to grow heavy as the crying increased. "I love you, Octavia..." I put my head against her cheek and pulled away before my tears could moisten her pillow. Setting the box next to her, I smiled through the tears. "I unlocked it for you. I hope you like it." I turned to leave. "Aren't you going to open it for me?" came almost a whisper from behind me. I jumped around to see Octavia just barely awake, staring at me with her gorgeous purple eyes, a weak smile on her face. "Of course..." Tears of happiness were my only response to her. I opened the box to reveal my gift to her. A silver treble cleft with notes attached to the end in black obsidian stone, mimicking our Cutie Marks, all wrapped into a pink bow, similar to her old bow, but of a newer fabric. I had spent countless hours trying to bend the metal smoothly and attaching the carved obsidian, which was a project as well. I could only stare at her as her smile grew to her ears, her eyes dripping with tears of happiness as well. "I love you, Vinyl..."She spoke her last words before slumping back to a deep sleep. I tied the bow around her neck and kissed her forehead before taking my place back in the chair by her side. I wasn't going to leave her. I wasn't going to let anyone harm her again. I promised myself of that.
In the Background	Epilogue	Across Ponyville, the night laid a soft blanket of night over the town. The lights from the houses appeared to be but glitter from the distance of the Everfree Forest where a lone shadow stood just inside of the tree line. Eyn Spyyr stared out at the town, but his vision sharpened onto the castle in the mountains above it even though he only saw darkness. "Canterlot..." He continued to walk across the boundary of his domain and the one he had been locked from. He knew of the ancient magical barriers that had been tailored just for him. He reached out to the end of the nearest tree and saw the sparks of the magic push him back into the forest, leaving a black scuff on his metal hoof. It didn't seem to bother him at all as he turned away from the barrier, a hair like flicker caught his eye, a flicker so easily out of place in his blindness that he had to look back. He turned back toward the barrier, looking through his clear mane. Through it, he had seen the intents and secrets of everything, from magical to the natural. He smiled to himself, seeing that he wasn't quite in the right position before walking to the past the few trees that stood in his way. His mane flowed past him again revealing a clear hole, crackling and fizzing from the rest of the field, which gave everything a fuzzy distortion. A smile cracked on his face as he neared the hole in the field, making sure that the Elements of Harmony cleansing blast had weakened the field as he had planned. One foot, two feet, head, he smiled as he walked out of the woods and into the outskirts of Ponyville. "Free at last..." He chuckled and shook his head. "Free!" His laugh increased in volume has his wings opened fully and he kicked into the air. He took a deep breath of the air as if it were new. "Now... let's see what is first...." - I rose from the bench that the doctors has placed beside Octavia's bed for me to rest and stay beside her. They protested against it, but they were quick to fulfill my demands. I stretched my back and listened to the soft beeping from the machines that made sure that Octavia's heart was still beating. My eyes were being dragged down by the desire to sleep, but it wasn't something new to me. Galloping, I made my way back to the house and opened the fridge to grab one of my energy drinks that had saved me countless times before. The trip back was just as quick, if not quicker as the drink began to kick in. I stepped back into the room and smiled at the sleeping mare. Rounding the corner, a purple glint caught my eye, and I looked down to see my shades sitting on the bench, a small piece of paper resting underneath of it, addressed to me. Vinyl, The gifts I've given you does not compare to the never-ending gifts that you and Octavia will share. I know I put you through a gauntlet so this is my way of saying thanks for all that you have done for me. I found your glasses at the bottom of my crater and decided to fix them for you. I also had to have a small chat with Octavia about her future. Everything is the way it should be and everything is going to get better in time. Let your love flourish and keep your ears open, you never know if you will see me again. Thanks, Bunny. "Bunny?" I had to ask out loud as I stifled a laugh. "He doesn't want us to reveal his existence... didn't want you to show that letter to anyone." Octavia spoke in almost a whisper. I transfixed my vision to her and saw her cracking her eyes sleepily at me, as she turned in the bed to sit up. "You shouldn't be moving that much." I objected as I galloped over to her side. This was the first time I saw her body without it being covered up by the blankets and saw the rest of the bandages and gauze pads extending down her body blending into the cast on her leg. "I'm fine, Vinyl..." The grimace as she grabbed at her ribs told me otherwise. "Lay back down, Tavi. A few hours won't stitch those shattered ribs any faster." I tried to chuckle, but found the sight of how tore up she truly was began to set in. Her being alive still made no sense, nor was the empty box that only held my gift. Where was Eyn's gift for her? Everything began to sink in as I pieced the puzzle together. He gave her life... I could only appreciate him more. He didn't always work for us, but in the end, he saved everything dear to me. "What did Ey- Bunny need to talk to you about?" I giggled at the code name that we had given him. "Was it through your dreams like before?" "He was here, Vi. Standing right over me." Her tone grew more serious just as quickly as mine had when I heard those words. "Didn't he say he couldn't leave the forest?" Did he lie to us? "He's out, Vi. He found a way out." She started to lie back down, looking like she was feeling dizzy. "I guess we should be happy for him. He's been locked inside of the Everfree for so long, away from everyone... it might be a good change for him." I chimed happily. "Did you ever wonder why they locked him inside of the Everfree Forest with such a powerful barrier just for him? Doesn't it seem like something about him is a bit off?" Octavia argued. "He is strange, but he isn't a bad alicorn. He saved both of us and even helped Twilight and her friends take out Discord with that Rainbow explosion. Boom!" I didn't share as much fear toward the pony that had saved Octavia's life. "He saved your life Octavia, he can't be evil." I reasoned, though my voice sounded off. "I don't know, Vi... When he was controlling me, I could feel his emotions. He's hurting about something, angry about something us, and equally as cold and logical. He's planning something. He's always planning something." Octavia sounded frightened by the thoughts. "Tavi. Tavi... you need to calm down. We will see how things pan out, but I doubt he is going to be doing anything. I don't see him doing anything extreme." I tossed a disarming grin to her as I trotted to her side. "Now get some sleep for me." I kissed her softly on her forehead before taking my place back on my bench. - Weeks passed before Tavi was allowed to leave the hospital. Some of her bandages had been removed revealing scar tissue of deep wounds which they said magic could clear up, but a large gash the side of her leg still had stitches in it along with the cast, though unicorn magic had sped up the healing of her bones dramatically and she would have it off by the end of the week. Her limp was much weaker than it had been when I saw her stumbling into the house. I turned my head slightly to her and saw the pink bow with the jewelry hanging in the center. It warmed my heart to see her wearing it so often. We arrived back at the house where she could only smile at for what seemed like forever. Her smile eventually began to crimp at the edges as she held back tears. "Home..." She managed to say happily as tears of happiness fell from her face. "Finally..." She managed to start moving again as I opened the door for her. Everything gave her problems as she moved which only made me wonder how she managed to get into the house before when her wounds were fresh. The smell of strong cleaner hit my nose as I entered causing my eyes to water. "Ditsy! What are doing?" I coughed. I mop came around the corner, wiping the floor down. I followed the wooden shaft up to the pony holding it and found Doctor Whooves staring back at me, irritation across his face. He spat the mop out and smiled at the site of Octavia entering the house. "Ditsy decided to take her muffin break. She's in the kitchen." He moved his head to show where as if we didn't know where our own kitchen was. We made our way past him as he continued to clean the spots around the house where Octavia's blood had dried and stained. I had hoped to have all of this finished before she could come home, but having completely forgotten about the blood three days before her arrival, things were a bit rushed, but Octavia seemed happy enough with being home at last. The kitchen smelled strongly of muffins as we entered and upon looking at the countless muffins laying around on the counters and dinner table, we were sure that Ditsy had gotten herself carried away with the baking. The oven door was open and a gray flank with bubbles and a blond tail poked out from it as she rose out, her eyes crooked as she tried to speak with the pan in her mouth. "Mommy's glad to see you!" Dinky popped out of one of the baskets that had been filled with muffins, eating her own as she finished speaking. "Dinky!" Octavia chimed, she had always loved to see Ditsy's daughter. I was surprised to see that she had managed to halt her tears and dry her face almost immediately, though knowing her, everything feels amazing to see given her romp with death. Ditsy finally managed to get the pan out of her mouth as she gingerly flew over and nuzzled her head under Octavia's. "I'm so happy to see you!" Ditsy giggled and began to jog in place with happiness. She pulled away from Octavia's head and smiled the largest smile that Ditsy had ever smiled in her life. Dinky popped out on top of her head, dropping a muffin down into Ditsy's awaiting hoof before inhaling it with a smile. "Try one! They are made with my special ingredients of Love and Bunnies." She fluttered off with Dinky standing on her back with the same grin. "Bunnies?" I had to ask. "What about them?" "You put bunnies in the muffins?" I shrank from the muffins on the floor. "Why would I do that? Do they taste like bunnies?" She took another muffin and ate it just as quickly as she had eaten the first. "Bunnies taste good." She laughed. "So you didn't put bunnies in the muffins?" Octavia had already started giving a restrained and dignified chuckled over the whole exchange. "No... Fluttershy would stare me to death..." Ditsy turned and tried to mimic her stare, but with her crooked eye, it only made me choke on my muffin as I laughed. "Anyone home?" Yelled a familiar voice from the hallway. We returned to the entrance hallway to see Lyra and Bonbon. Lyra had her usual plastered smile as Bonbon held her calm smile. "Lyra and Bonbon, good to see you." I smiled. "Likewise." Octavia added, giving her best attempt at a dignified bow, but flinched at the last second from a sharp pain. "Don't strain yourself Octavia. We are glad to see you." Bonbon spoke calmly and softly to us. She seemed quite different from how Lyra acted. I could only try to guess how they acted alone at their house together. "We tried to bring some candies to the party, but because Pinkie wasn't here, we figured they would go to waste." Lyra chimed. "I don't want her to see me like this, if you don't mind keeping that secret for me." Octavia smiled with her usual degree of prim and proper about her. "Of course. Hey, what's that wonderful smell?" I managed to catch the scent as well, noticing that the alluring smell of a muffin avalanche had permeated from the kitchen and into the living room and entranceway. "Muffins!" Ditsy fell through the doors of the kitchen followed by Dinky riding a batch of muffins out the door. How does she bake them that fast? "Five hundred muffins!" Her laugh was infectious as it filled the room and brightened the atmosphere even more. Lyra turned to Bonbon as if she needed permission, which she only nodded. Lyra galloped past us and leaped through the double doors and into the kitchen. We could hear her loud voice yelling. "How did you make so many?" "Bunnies are quick!" Ditsy and Dinky jumped back into the muffins that now filled out kitchen. "That makes no sense!" Lyra's laughter now filled the house, causing Bonbon to chuckle and blush herself. "I love it!" Doctor Whooves finished the last of the cleaning and finally walked to see the kitchen. The pained expression spreading across his face told us that he hadn't known what Ditsy was up to. "When I say take a break, I don't mean cause another mess!" He laughed as he shook his head. Even more muffins slid out as the grey pegasus slid out and touched noses with the brown earth pony smiling. Dinky jumped onto his back. "Yay!" The scene was cute and manage to make us all smile before Ditsy's eyes popped back open and she glided around him, hoisting him into the air and carrying him into the kitchen, Dinky humming and swaying her head back and forth, standing on her mother's back. "Come look at my muffins... muffin." She giggled again. I was glad to see Ditsy like her old self, and seeing how much the Doctor and Dinky hit it off romantically, only made her happier. It was nice to see them meshing so well. Eventually, a green unicorn walked out of the muffins and back toward Bonbon, covered in crumbs. "Too many... Save me Bonbon." She hugged on Bonbon. Octavia had stepped closer to me as well, but feeling her kiss the side of my cheek made me freeze and my glasses almost fall from my face. "Thank you for all of this, Vinyl. I appreciate it greatly." She smiled. Her eyes lit up quickly. "This makes the perfect song!" She limped to her study and quickly began to scribble in notes after having promptly torn out the work she had already finished. She stared at me, and smiled, her eyes soft and happy. "Don't be too long, Octavia, all work and no play makes Octavia a grouchy pony." I laughed as I walked toward the kitchen. "Here's Vinyl!" I jumped through the doors, making a slashing motion with my hoof as I broke through the door. - "I stared at the musical notes appearing on the paper as they played in my head. It was finished without even breaking half an hour. I stared at the paper, content as I searched the right words to call it. "Love's Caption: Never in the Background." I felt content with the title. I gave it a kiss as I moved from my stand and to the kitchen where Bonbon stood staring into the mess inside. Through the ruckus of them playing inside of the kitchen, I barely noticed that it had started to rain outside. I could only smile. I wondered if this was how Bonbon felt everyday amid being so different from Lyra. Loving her for her amazing personality, that's how it should always be. - Eyn walked along the path that had quickly melted into mud from the rain, but he walked without care. His mane had stopped moving unnatural and hung at his sides, drenched from the rain. His blank, clouded stare never moved from the road in front of him as he walked as if he was trying his best to see the road. He stumbled a few times, and ran off from the road a few times, but his progress was steady. He raised his ragged robe over his head and hid himself from everything as he neared the front gate of Canterlot, feeling its presence. A guardpony walked up to him, eyeing him up. "Can I help you?" Eyn smiled at the pony and turned and locked his blind eyes directly onto the guard's. "If you don't mind... I would prefer to help myself!" A crack of lightning filled the area around them in light, and the guard was gone. Eyn continued his limping march into Canterlot, hidden by the shroud of the storm, chuckling to himself. The End. Thanks to those that have read my story. I'm sure the ending speaks for itself. I'm not finished with this story. Link to sequel for ease: Everything Ends...
The Avatar of Albion: When We Needed Him Most	pre	"If it was just one conflict, that would be easy," Hoof said quietly. "But we're fighting five wars at once, and that's without maintaining the wall!" "I hear that," Freedom Heart said heavily. He sighed again. "Get to work, Hoof. We'll talk later." "Sir," Hoof said quietly. He saluted and headed off, leaving the Commander to his thoughts... *** Portal Guard Outpost, Portal Island. March 7th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar). Guardspony Restive Blade was always an itchy sort. His dark yellow fur and brown mane were damp in the deep fog that surrounded the fort, but that wasn't really the reason he felt so... restless. He hated just waiting around for something: his cutie mark was a blade, and his destiny - so he understood it - was to fight the enemies of Equestria wherever they were, a destiny he was eager to begin fulfilling. So you can imagine his assignment to the Portal Island Garrison really excited him. It wasn't that he didn't understand how important all this was, how important holding this island against various hostile elements was. It was just... he didn't like the job. It was dull. There was nothing to guard here - if there had been, Restive was sure that there would have been more than a token garrison of twelve ponies. If that wasn't bad enough, the garrison sergeant, one Willing Steel (a bucking Convie, as if being on this island wasn't bad enough without being commanded by one of that notoriously unstable breed) was a plot-hole, always making the ponies do drills. At this moment, Restive was watching the courtyard Guards march around the courtyard, at the centre of which lay the Portal itself. He was, at least, grateful he wasn't one of those ponies. His job - standing on the wall - was dull, but at least he got to rest his feet for the moment. "Hey Sarge," one pony, a particularly cynical and combative mare by the name of Under Over, asked as they marched around the courtyard. "The fog's thick tonight. Maybe we should call it a night." "I know the fog is thick," the gruff voiced Sergeant replied. "Just stay alert. It's perfect weather for an ambush." Standing atop the garrison wall, Restive Blade sighed. "Ambush by what, sir?" he called down sarcastically. "There's nothing on this bucking island to ambush us for!" "There's the Portal, Guardspony Blade," Willing Steel replied irritably, indicating the glowing purple... thing, housed within rock. "None of Equestria's enemies must get into the country, is that understood?!" "What enemy?" Restive asked rhetorically. "The only enemy out here is the pneumonia we're all gonna get if we keep standing here." Before Willing Steel could admonish him further, there were several turquoise flashes. There was an explosion somewhere, yells of pain, and suddenly ponies were screaming. Restive ducked as flaming debris started impacting near the wall, and - panicking slightly - he covered his eyes with his hooves. What was going on? An attack? But that was impossible! Who would attack them? Who was left?! For a moment, he heard shouting: Willing Steel was screaming... something, and he could hear other Guards yelling. Then there were more noises, something that sounded like spells and the clash of steel, and then... silence. Risking the chance to open his eyes, Restive Blade looked down into the courtyard. What he saw boggled his mind. The other Guards had been slaughtered. Under Over was missing, as were a couple of others, but Willing Steel's body was ripped in two, his entrails spilling out onto the courtyard floor, and the rest of the bodies that were visible were in little better condition. There was no sign of any of the attacking force having been felled, and for a brief, foolish moment, Restive Blade thought that maybe the wraiths and other ghosts ponies kept saying were on the old Human Isles were real. "Pull yourself together," he admonished himself. He was a trained Solaminan Grenadier. He grabbed his launcher, a bulky weapon powered by magical charges that could be reloaded into it, and looked around. That's when he saw her. Under Over was being held up by a tall metallic-green figure - a human figure! Restive had never seen a real human (he had been born during the war) but he knew the shape from history lessons. The figure was bipedal, had hands and feet, and appeared similar to a human mare. She had her hand clamped on Under Over's mouth, the struggling mare going slowly limp under the humanoid's tender mercies. Before Restive's very eyes, a sort of grey-silver fog emerged from Under Over, who stiffened slowly, the light leaving her wide, staring eyes. At the same time, a metallic figure began emerging from nowhere, almost as if it was being assembled from the air itself: legs, waist, torso, arms... all of them were being added by metal pieces that seemed to be forming from nothing. As Restive watched, the smoke that had emerged from Under Over entered this figure, just as a head with a cold, expressionless human face clamped onto the body. Suddenly, the eyes of this face began glowing, a harsh green light staring out, filled - though Restive could never have told you how he could sense this - with a cold, cruel intellect. The turquoise figure dropped the limp body of Under Over, her eyes wide and sightless, and turned to this new metal creature. "Can you hear me?" the turquoise figure asked, it's voice feminine, cold and resonating with something the terrified Restive Blade couldn't quite identify. "Yes," came a tinny voice from inside the iron body... a voice not unlike that of Under Over, except horribly changed, all the former sarcasm purged in favour of... docility? "And you know me?" the figure asked quietly. "You are Lady Lyrium: mistress of the Iron Men, my mistress" the Under Over figure said at once, as though this were knowledge it had been born with. "And you understand what we are trying to do," this Lady Lyrium said. "Yes," the Under Over figure said. "You seek revenge for humanity. Revenge on the pony race." "And you will help me," Lyrium added, the words less a question and more a statement of what categorically would be. "Yes," the Under Over figure said at once. "I will." "Good," Lyrium said, a metallic smile appearing on her features. She turned to the rest of her troops, and began barking orders. "Begin the advance into the portal. Kill everything you find on the other side, or take it for our own!" As Restive Blade watched, first dozens, and then hundreds of metallic figures began a steady advance through the shattered gate of the Guard outpost, marching straight into the Portal. The last two to go through were the figure that had apparently once been Under Over and the figure of Lady Lyrium. Alone now, Restive Blade shivered. He had wanted action. He shivered in fear, but couldn't help but laugh, a slightly unnerving, terrified sound. He had certainly gotten what he wanted.
The Avatar of Albion: When We Needed Him Most	Chapter Two: Assault on Castle Midnight.	Chapter Two - Assault on Castle Midnight. By RoyalPsycho and Jed R. * Black Eye wished that her shift would end soon. She hated the evening shift more than anything else. Her time off duty, dinner, booze, maybe a chance to have a fling with one of the stallions stationed at the castle, they were all just within her grasp. Just a couple more hours and she could let herself unwind. In the meantime she stood to attention, her ornate Night Guard armour chafing slightly from where it rubbed her stomach and under her forelegs. That was another reason she looked forward to her off duty time: she hated this uniform. It was horrid. With no officers about, she decided to let herself relax a little. Leaning on her spear she let out a sigh and then reached behind to tug at her tabard, giving up when she realised it was wedged between two of her armour' plates and steadied herself, sighing once again. There was nothing more boring than the evening shift, except for the morning shift where you were usually still waking up, or the afternoon shift where you were still digesting lunch. The night shift was unbearable since all you could ever do was stare into the darkness and listen to other ponies living it up in the city below. The fact that Castle Midnight was also the residence of the Prince and all the other higher ups of the Midnight Guard meant that the sergeants and other tight arsed officers also kept a close eye on her. Leaning on her spear Black Eye yawned, ignoring the unbearable itch that her armour and tabard were now causing and did her best not to think about how many more hours it would be before her shift ended. A moment later, there was a slight whoosh sound and Black Eye felt a sharp stinging sensation on her neck. She blinked, frowning. She looked down at her armour, and noticed the deep red liquid gushing onto it. A moment after that, she realised that was her blood, spilling from the ruptured artery in her throat. She looked around, uncertain as to what had hit her, then frowned as she saw somepony on the inner walls cutting another Guard's throat. She had little time to wonder exactly what was going on before she collapsed to the ground. Her last thoughts as her vision dimmed were wondering exactly how important this was that it interrupted her booze time... * Captain Callow Shield looked around. All around him, his loyal Guards dispatched those among the Midnight Guard who were not part of their glorious coup. "Grave Note," he said to one of his troops. "Inform Lady Ever Essence that the outer and inner walls are secured!" "Sir," Note, a surly stallion, replied, before heading off. Callow Shield grinned. For once, he felt like he was doing something right - for the first time in years, the Midnight Guard felt like they might do something proactive against the Solaminan Empire. It was why he had joined the coup after all - it was time to make a difference. It was time to take back Equestria. * Royal Duty's lungs burned as he ran for all he was worth. He had abandoned the safety and anonymity of the woodland paths in favour of the more easily negotiable roads. He didn't care who he ran into so long as he could make it to the castle in time to do... something, anything. Traitors were in their midst. Royal Duty had always known it. There were far too many cadres and factions within the Midnight Guard that had been disobeying the prince and far too many that waged indiscriminate war on everypony around them. This treachery had been coming for a long time but the actual knowledge that a coup was about to take place had almost been too much to bear. The Midnight Castle, his home, was threatened and he was stuck beyond the outskirts, trying his best not to get lost in the woods. The trees began to thin as he belted down the road, panting and struggling not to trip. The forest finally cleared and the familiar gothic towers of the castle came into sight. his home now right in front of him he redoubled his efforts and made his way to the main gate. The city that was attached to the Midnight Castle was by no means a rude affair. It had originally grown around the castle at the same time that the Midnight Castle was being built, as one expanded so did the other and so the castle had come to rely on the Midnight City just as much as it relied on the castle. Here lived the soldiers that guarded the castle, the artisans who built and maintained it, the servants who cleaned it and countless other civilians who were intrinsic to the castle's survival. Therefore the city had been built into the castle. A formidable curtain wall surrounded the entire settlement and was also staffed with Guards from the castle itself to protect the dutiful citizens within. Royal Duty finally began to slow as he approached the gate. Only now, as he made his way to the guardhouses in front of the main gate did he begin to doubt what he was about to do. Could he trust them? Had they already been bought out by Red Ribbon, Ever Essence or any of the other possible traitors? Swallowing audibly he walked towards the guardhouses, his legs shaking from both fear and exertion. His breath was ragged as he finally felt the toll his sprinting had taken on his body. "Who goes there?" one of the Guards, a thickset Earth Pony mare, asked in a low and somewhat masculine voice. Taking both a deep breath and a moment to collect himself, Royal Duty spoke in a clear voice. "I am Royal Duty of his Highness' Midnight Guard," he said, "Midnight Castle battalion, necromancer acolyte 1st class, service number 2GEA-42266. I was sent to scout the surrounding forest and have urgent news for his Highness and the Guard commanders." He hoped that they weren't traitors and held his breath as the Earth Pony checked a registry list. She slowly scanned the names, checking for his name and service number. "Alright," the mare replied, "you're clear." Royal Duty thanked the Guard and trotted through the gate, taking a second to check the murder holes and portcullises, hoping they weren't compromised in any way. After seeing no sign of any suspicious activity, or any activity for that matter - the city never had enough Guards to properly station every defensive point - he picked up speed once again. He ignored the buildings of the cityscape around him and only kept his eyes forward, only ever looking for the signs that would lead him to the local barracks and the city' commandery. All around him the bustle of a city in transit between the regular activities of daytime and the ever active nightlife could be heard. It was an omnipresent cacophony that Royal Duty recognised and felt comfortable within. Ponies everywhere gave him a wide berth, recognising both his uniform and the various paraphernalia of a necromancer. Running around another street corner, Royal Duty finally found a guard post. He galloped even faster, noticing several ponies in the Midnight Guard uniform of the city watch. They in turn noticed him running at them and grew worried, several of them pulled their weapons close to their bodies, ready to lower them. "Halt," said one of the Guardsponies, his elaborate helmet crest indicating he was an officer. Royal Duty skid to a halt in front of the officer and stood gasping for breath as he collected his thoughts. "I... I am Roy... Royal Duty, necromancer first class of Midnight Castle," he struggled to speak as he still tried to recover his breath. " My service number is 2GEA-42266. I have something important to say. The castle is under threat. We're about to be betrayed." The Guardsponies in front of him shared a look of incredulity though a few also looked worried. "What do you mean were about to be betrayed?" the officer asked. "The Guard contingent that just arrived are traitors. They've come here to depose the Prince and take control of the Midnight Guard. They're already in the castle and could strike at any minute now." Royal Duty stammered out, hoping that he sounded believable to them. The officer shared a look with the Guards around him that showed they weren't taking him that seriously. "Listen son I don't think you should just be saying this out loud in the streets you..." "Are you going to question a necromancer of his highnesses' Guard?" Royal Duty interrupted, straightening himself out and putting his most authoritative look on his face. "You are members of his highnesses' personal battalion and you are supposed to take any possible threat to the Prince as seriously as if Solamina herself were bearing down on us," he shouted at them. The Guardsponies once again glanced at one another, the same sour look on their faces as they digested what Royal Duty had said to them. "You're right" the officer admitted. "Alright lads," he said, turning to the Guards behind him, "spread out and alert the rest of the garrison. Get the civvies indoors and out of the fights, call up the militia as well while you're at it." Royal Duty sighed in relief as the Guard detachment dispersed to follow their commander's orders. "Alright you," the officer then said as he turned back to face Royal Duty, "Since you know what to expect I'm sticking you at the main gate into the castle. See if the Guards stationed there are safe and try to get them to secure the area." "Sir," Royal Duty replied before rushing off towards the castle. No sooner had he rounded a corner onto the main street leading to the castle than a great flash of light went off in the sky. A flare spell had been launched into the sky. Barely a second later Midnight Guardsponies burst out from the castle, carrying bloody weapons and with murderous expressions on their faces. They all wore a horse skull on their tabards revealing their allegiance. "To arms," Royal Duty shouted, amplifying his voice with a quick spell. "To arms Midnight Guard. We've been betrayed. The castle is under attack. The Prince is in danger. the city is in danger. Kill the traitors." Finishing his declaration and hoping it didn't sound as ridiculous to everypony else as it did to him now that he had said it, he pulled a short blade, a weapon he had never used before, out of his cloak, projected a shield in front of himself and clenched his teeth as he ran at the enemy. * Magnus frowned as he heard a commotion outside his room. His trained ears picked up the sound of clanging metal and the strangled cries of dying ponies, and he smiled cruelly. He had expected the coup to be soon, but he hadn't expected it to come now. Naturally, they intended to kill him, hence why he could hear the fighting and the death of his personal Guards. He knew he was not the most important target in the castle - that was reserved for Prince Blueblood himself - but he flattered himself that he was somewhat important. He was, after all, the pony behind the raid that had reclaimed Princess Luna's revered corpse. Taking a minute to compose himself, he stood up from his studying chair and set it aside. He took several deep breathes, preparing for whatever would come through his door and went over in his head what possible responses he should give to his would-be assailants and what he should expect from them in turn. A moment later, the door to his private chambers burst open, and two Unicorns moved in, scowling at him. "In the name of Lady Ever Essence," one of them said, "surrender immediately or be killed!" Magnus' lips curled into an even crueler smile at this fool's impudence. "You have made two mistakes," he said softly, speaking slowly so they understood. "Firstly, you have given me the name of your leader - now, she has no chance to escape the justice of his highness Prince Blueblood." The two of them made low growls at that name. "Secondly..." He turned quickly, his horn flashing as he sent spells of absolute agony at the two Unicorns, faster than they could react. "... you assumed I would simply lie down and die when you came for me," he finished. "You should have killed me when you entered." The two writhed in pain as he trotted toward them. "Get away..." one of them murmured, sounding as though he could barely talk. "Get away from me..." "Poor deluded fool," Magnus said. He stamped on the pony's throat, and the Unicorn gurgled in horror as his windpipe filled with blood. He repeated this on the other, and, with the sound of dying Unicorns in his ears like the sweetest of music, he left the room, seeking his Prince. * Fighting engulfed the interior of the Midnight Castle. Chaos reigned as groups of Midnight Guard grappled with one another in the corridors and halls of the immense fortress. For the local guards and regiments it was confusion as former allies turned on them. For the traitors it was sport. Agents they had planted into loyalist groups misinformed officers, assassinated commanders and turned on their comrades. In the central audience chamber, the great hall where Prince Blueblood received his subjects and vassals, stood the largest group of traitors, an ivory coloured horse skull emblem etched into their armour. The corpses of Guardsponies that wore the compass rose of Prince Blueblood were all piled on the sides of the room in haphazard heaps. Sitting on the large silver throne at the centre of the room that was Blueblood's seat of office was an elegant white coated Earth Pony mare. Lady Ever Essence, arch-hierophant of the Ivory Shell cadre of the Midnight Guard sat with a poise she had practiced for years. She enjoyed this seat and found it fitting for a mare like her. Pathetic weaklings like the contemptible false prince did not deserve such luxuries like this and it was high time someone more deserving received them instead. She had always known that she was a much more appropriate occupant. She was stirred from her thoughts by an approaching Pegasus. He bowed as he came near her, lowering his body to his stomach and extending his left foreleg. "My Lady," he respectfully intoned, "we have secured the outer and inner walls and the external courts. However the outer city and the inner sanctums remain in the Prince's hooves." Ever Essence's brow creased at the news. She had thought that they had already secured the sanctums and the city should have been easy to capture, there were only a few guards stationed in that slum. "What do you mean we haven't taken the sanctums?" she said, struggling to keep her voice calm at the news of her followers failure. "The enemy have rallied at every single corridor, our forces are currently bogged down and we can't break through their barricades," the Pegasus replied, looking rather nervous as he stared at the floor, remaining in his position of supplication. "Then redouble your efforts," Ever Essence replied, menace lacing her voice as she stared down from the throne. "I want those towers cleared, I want that dungheap of a city leveled and I want this castle in my hooves right this instant. If you can't accomplish that simple task then I can assure you... I will find somepony else who can." With that final note the Pegasus and every other Midnight Guard in the audience chamber stood up, turned on their heels and rushed out of the door, leaving Lady Ever Essence alone. Taking no chances she took some oddly coloured powder from her lavish mage coat and blew it from her hoof. A shimmering wall grew around the dais the throne was set upon until a bubble surrounded it and her as well. Safe within her shield, which was as strong as any Unicorn's defensive enchantments, she returned her thoughts to victory, the great cause and the glamour of seizing the Solaminan Empire and with it... the world. * Blueblood was disturbed from the paperwork he had been staring at, in the vain hope it would somehow disappear, by several loud noises coming from beyond his study. A few tense seconds later a dozen thestrals piled into his room, slamming open his doors, before immediately locking and barricading them. His two guards were shaken slightly by the disturbance but immediately joined in when they recognised the looks on the Thestrals' faces. Something was terribly wrong. "Your highness," one the Thestrals, a commander if the insignia on his armour was anything to go, respectfully greeted Blueblood. "Enemies have penetrated our defences." Blueblood's eyes widened and his stomach churned at those five words. "Who? How?" he asked. "We don't know, sir," the Thestral commander said. "Right now, our primary priority is to see to your safety." "What of Commander Magnus?" he asked, frowning. He didn't think Magnus would turn on him, but if he somehow had... "We don't know sir," the Thestral said, sounding disturbed. "We were cut off from reaching his quarters." Blueblood cursed. If Magnus was somehow in on this treachery then that would be the end of it. That was the end. If Magnus were not, but had somehow been caught flat-hoofed and killed - well, again, that would be the end. He was distracted from these thoughts by sudden series of yells, spell sounds then screams from outside his doorway. "What is that?" one of the Thestrals asked. A moment later, there was a polite knocking at the door. "Who's there?" Blueblood called out. "It is I, Magnus," a familiar voice called out. One of the Thestrals looked to Blueblood questioningly. Blueblood gave him a sharp nod, and he opened the door. A moment later, Magnus entered - apart from the splatters of blood on him, he looked utterly unruffled. "We appear to have a traitor in our midst," he said conversationally. "Lady Ever Essence has betrayed us, my liege." Blueblood scowled. Ever Essence had always been one of the more ambitious of his followers - clearly, her ambition had gotten the best of her. "What now, Magnus?" he asked. "Simple, my liege," Magnus replied. "They have revealed their hoof to us. I wholeheartedly suggest that we sever it with extreme prejudice." * The loyalist counter attack was as devastating as it was unexpected. Led by Magnus and Prince Blueblood the castle garrison found a second wind and threw themselves at the ponies of the Ivory Shell cadre with wild abandon, matching the traitor's bloodthirsty fanaticism with their own determination. Magnus led the charge to the main audience chamber, a group of Midnight Guard and thestrals at his back. He wielded an immense blade he had grabbed from the wall with his magic and now swung in massive arcs that cleaved through steel, flesh and bone. A manic grin of sadistic glee and fervour was spread across his face and he seemed to laugh as he cut his way through his opponents. "Come traitors." He shouted at the Ivory Shell Guardsponies that remained in his way. "Come and face my wrath." He punctuated every sentence with another mighty swing that severed limbs and cut ponies apart. "You first dare to turn against his highness, and now you have the temerity to stand against me as well. You fools deserve the fate that shall be brought down upon you all." Finishing off the last of the Ivory Shell ponies in front of him he looked around the corner of the corridor, the same expression still on his face, and spotted another group of traitors. They had probably been trying to rally at the audience chamber but they instead had the misfortune of running into him first. "Hello there traitors," he said. Without wasting a second the unicorns in the Ivory Shell group all fired spells at him. Magnus shook his head and lit up his horn in reply and a thick shield sprung up in front of him, absorbing the spellfire. Beads of sweat began to trickle down Magnus' forehead as he finally began to feel the exertion of projecting such a strong shield whilst wielding a massive weapon. however he barely slowed down as, without a single word, he lowered his shield and fired waves of agonising energy at the ponies in front of him. The entire group of Midnight Guard were struck down in debilitating pain as the energy washed over their bodies. They tried to scream but the excruciation was too much for them to do more than struggle to breath. "Deal with them. Continue on down the hall and sweep the Midnight Castle clean of these scum," Magnus told the loyalist Guardsponies that had finally caught up to him. Not bothering with replying the infuriated Guards ran over the group of ponies that convulsed on the floor of the corridor and proceeded to butcher them where they lay. Once they were finished they ran down the corridor and turned the corner, spreading out in search of any other remaining Ivory Shell contingents. Turning away from his subordinates Magnus walked towards the massive double doors that led directly into the main audience chamber. His horn lit up. * Ever Essence rubbed her temple with a dainty hoof as she tried to ignore the migraine that was developing. her followers were idiots and obviously weren't capable of doing anything without her there to make sure they did it right. Suddenly the doors to her new audience chamber burst open and slammed against the walls with very audible bangs, causing her to wince as the sudden noise exacerbated the splitting headache she was developing. "Oh what now?" She said, annoyance very obvious on her face and in her voice. Almost automatically she also took another pinch of magical powder from her coat and threw it at her invisible shield. The bubble of esoteric substances shimmered and seemed to visibly thicken as the powders layered over one another. She didn't care to take chances after all. * Royal Duty screamed as he thrust his blade at another one of the treacherous Midnight Guard. The short sword immediately glanced off of the pony's armour and Royal Duty tried to step back only for the ponies behind him to press him forward. Desperate he threw up a new shield spell, the old one having been broken a long time ago, and tried to weather the blows that the infuriated Earth Pony was now trying to rain down on him. The traitor in front of him pounded at the shield until a stray shot from a unicorn's spellwork hit him in the face, imploding his muzzle and forehead. Dropping the short sword from his telekinetic grip, Royal Duty grabbed the heavier sword his opponent had been wielding. Struggling to right himself whilst he held it, he began to lay into the enemies that remained in front of him. Around him were dozens of Guardsponies that had been rallied by the officer he had warned and countless townsponies that had noticed the threat, heard his cries and grabbed whatever could qualify as a weapon. The fight had been fairly one sided with the loyalists barely managing to maintain any cohesion before the Guards had finally arrived to reinforce them. After that the Ivory Shell ponies had started to fall back as the weight of numbers and sheer savagery of the townsponies began to work against them. Royal Duty raised his sword in a clumsy swing that managed to crush the armour of a Guardspony that had stood in front of him but been distracted by another combatant. The sword crumpled the plate steel and proceeded to snap his spine, dropping the pony in an instant. Royal Duty staggered slightly, feeling the strain of carrying such a heavy blade for so long in such a strenuous situation. The press behind him pushed him forward again and he tried to raise the blade, bringing it up quickly enough to ram it into the Guardspony in front of him. The ponies around him were starting to pass him by as they laid into the traitors. Pulling his sword out of the front of the Guardspony he had felled he raised it once again. Turning back into the fray, following the ponies around him in search of a new opponent. However there weren't any. It was at that point that he realised that the fighting had stopped. The last of the traitors had been killed, the streets were cleared and many exhausted townsponies were starting to drop from the fatigue of combat. "The gates are clear!" a Guard shouted. "Secure the castle! Secure the Prince!" The Midnight Guard picked themselves up and rushed for the main gate into Castle Midnight. The battlements were empty of traitors, the towers all flew the compass rose and loyalist ponies could be seen putting down the remnants of the Ivory Shell Guardsponies on the walls. Catching his breath, Royal Duty strengthened his magical grip on the sword he was now carrying and then paused. He went back a few steps and found his service issue blade, knowing the trouble he would get into if he left it and then turned around. The loyalist Midnight Guard were already moving into formation and several groups were rushing towards the castle. Sheathing his blade and steadying his new sword, Royal Duty charged off towards Castle Midnight, ready to help crush the coup and save the prince. * Magnus stepped through the doorway into the main audience chamber. The massive sword he had appropriated was still wet with the blood of the traitors and he knew that it would take at least one more pony's life before the battle ended. The room was dark, the compass rose and crescent moon banners had been torn down and piles of bodies filled the aisles to the side. The only thing that had been untouched by the blasphemous touch of the traitors' hooves was the beatific rug leading up to the silver throne that presided over the entire chamber. "Who are you?" a voice cut through the shadowy darkness of the chamber. "How dare you enter my chamber?" The voice was imperious and had an affected hint of aristocratic bearing, not unlike his highnesses' own speech patterns. Glancing across the room in the direction the voice had come from Magnus saw a pony sitting on the throne his highness was supposed to occupy. She was a tall and thin Earth Pony mare. Her pristine white coat and shining ebony mane were well groomed. Her mane was braided with silver clasps that had been crafted into the shape of miniature rearing ponies and her body was covered by an elegantly designed mage coat. Her face was locked into an arrogant expression of contempt and she regarded him as if he were an unpleasant insect or a stain on the upholstery. "I," he said in reply, his voice dropping to a controlled growl, "am the right hoof of his highness. I am the sharp blade of the Midnight Guard. I am a true and loyal servant of Equestria." He drew himself up. "I am a pony that is proud of his place in life and, unlike you, traitor, I am a pony that will live through this night." He raised his heavy blade in preparation for whatever she would send his way. Ever Essence smirked in response. "A pony proud of his place in life? I wish there were more of them. You and your ilk have caused me nothing but trouble tonight. So many of you seem to have forgotten your place, and you, sir, are the worst offender. I will suffer your presence no longer!" She reached into the coat and pulled out a leathery brown bag. Magnus, realising what was in the bag, immediately fired a spell directly at her. The magical energy rocketed towards Ever Essence and then suddenly arced around her. Flowing energy rolled over the bubble of enchanted powders that floated around her. Magnus cut off the flow of magic to his horn, realising that the attempt was pointless. Nonchalantly, Ever Essence emptied the bag onto a dainty hoof and blew it out into the room around her. The powder spread fast - much more quickly than it naturally should have. Magnus raised his guard as the motes of powder settled on the corpses. Lady Ever Essence threw her head back and bared her throat. Closing her eyes she began to speak. A series of terrible and blasphemous words escaped her lips, tearing their way from her throat and harshy spitting themselves out into the reality around them. Magnus immediately jumped into action and charged an immolation spell. A ball of fiery energy collected on his horn and grew in size as he built up the strength of the spell. As Ever Essence continued her incantation the corpses that littered the room began to twitch. Low moans were emitted from ruined throats and collapsed chests and tangled limbs clawed at the stone floor of the chamber. Magnus released the spell at the nearest pile of bodies, incinerating them with the arcane fire he had been generating. Flesh burnt and peeled off of bone that began to crumble from the heat. The bodies he had struck ceased their feeble movements but it was already too late. The other corpses around the room had pulled themselves to their feet, blank expressions frozen on their face as their lifeless eyes stared at him. Magnus turned his head, sustaining the spell with his remaining strength. The fire turned with him, strafing the resurrected Guardsponies in a ragged stream of flame. Many of the corpses the stream hit were set alight as their manes, tails, uniforms and coats were set alight by the flames and the ambient heat. Others weathered the flame with their coats smouldering in a few places or minor burns that failed to incapacitate them. Magnus' assault was cut off when the corpse of a large Pegasus mare, whose limbs jerked unsteadily like a marionette, swiped at his head. Magnus took the blow hard and was sent reeling by the blow to his horn. His head was spinning and he struggled to repress a scream of pain as the nerves in his horn felt like they were on fire. Shaking his head he recovered his grip on the immense sword that had almost slipped from his control. The blade was swung around in a wide heavy arc that connected with the mare's face. Her muzzle crumpled before the blade and the rest of her head was caved in the sheer weight of the weapon that had plowed into her. The corpse dropped instantly as the damage rendered it immobile. Wheeling around Magnus brought his sword close to him. Stabbing would not achieve anything as he recalled the inherent weaknesses of the moving dead. His blade lashed out, catching a Unicorn that had opened its mouth to let out a loud groan. The blade connected with its open mouth and cut the top half of its head off, causing the Unicorn to collapse. The blade continued its arc and crashed into an Earth Pony, cutting through the thick metal gorget of the former Guardspony and almost cutting its head off completely. Magnus began to sweat as he continued to swing the sword around him. He effortlessly cut through the dozens of corpses that were slowly shambling towards him thanks to the weight of his massive blade. Limbs and dismembered body parts began to accumulate around him in a grotesque ring, several of the parts still twitching with unnatural life. the strain of fighting with such a weapon was beginning to tell on him and drops of sweat appeared on his brow. Still he fought on, never once pausing as he destroyed every single foe that approached him. The moving dead were simple and the spell that had animated them was rudimentary at best, depriving them of any greater combat skills other than slow, shambling movement and crushing bites. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the last of the corpses lay still. A few of them continued to twitch or shuffle on destroyed limbs but most had been returned to true death. "So, witch," he sneered, enjoying the look of incredulity that had marred Ever Essence's features, his words punctuated by laboured breathing. "What do you say to this? Does my defiance still frustrate you?" "Unimaginably so," she replied, venom dripping from every syllable. "However I don't believe you will be a problem for much longer. Your castle is already mine. It won't take much longer for my loyal followers to finish purging it of the idiotic mules who were dumb enough to follow the fool prince. Once they arrive I doubt you'll be able to put up much more of a fight." Magnus wearily raised his blade into a guard position as he studied the shield that surrounded Ever Essence. He warily eyed the shadows in case of any more tricks or assailants. As he did this he let a smirk crawl up his face. "Is that so?" he said in the most condescending manner he could possibly muster. "When I came to these chambers I found many of your subordinates dead. Quite a few of them at my own hooves. His Highness has rallied and has already begun the counterattack that will sweep this castle clean of your traitors." Ever Essence's eyes narrowed in hatred and disbelief. "You're wrong," she shouted, "my forces already had the castle under our control. Your prince's dogs only held a few towers. How could he possibly have launched a counterattack?" She finished her tirade with a finality that revealed her disbelief. She could not even comprehend the possibility that her attack was failing. "I'm sorry to say this, but he's right," another voice came from just outside the door. A squad of Thestrals, their blades and armour coated with blood, stalked into the room, their heads lowered, eyes narrowed in anger and their weapons clenched in their teeth. In the centre of the group was Prince Blueblood, most of his armour was strapped to his body but he was obviously missing several components that had been left behind in the rush to get him out of his office. Magnus smirked and straightened at the sight of so many loyalists as well as his prince. If they were here that meant that the castle, or at least most of it, was now clear. Ever Essence's eyes widened at the sight. "Y-you're supposed to be dead," she stuttered. Her face was now stuck in a manic expression of fear. "You're all supposed to be dead. How are you here? You're not meant to be here. This is my chamber. You're not allowed in my chamber." "Sire," Magnus said, turning to Prince Blueblood and bowing his head slightly in acknowledgment. "She has locked herself within a shield enchantment. It is quite sturdy but she cannot move outside of it now and I have dealt with her defenders." He punctuated his statement by sweeping his hoof across the room, indicating the piles of limbs and bodies that now surrounded him. "Is that so," Prince Blueblood replied, his expression turning dark as he turned to look at the mare in front of him who was beginning to shrink in her seat. "Well we'd better get her out of there then. Guards!" The Thestrals around him all moved to stand around the throne, surrounding Ever Essence. Once they had all taken position they held their weapons ready and waited. A team of weary Midnight Guard Unicorns walked into the chamber, ragged expressions on their faces. Prince Blueblood turned to them. "This is their leader. She appears to have locked herself inside this shield here." He waved his hoof in the general direction of the shimmering bubble. "Do you think you could get her out of there? "Yes your highness," one of the Unicorns, who was dressed in a uniform that revealed his status as an officer, answered. "It shouldn't be too hard. Company," he shouted, "take position." The unicorns moved to stand in line. "Shield breaker spell lads. Ready," the line of Unicorns lit up their horns. "Nexal point, take aim on my mark." The Unicorn at the centre of the line stepped forward. The energy that the unit was building up streamed towards his horn, concentrating into a large ball of swirling pinkish energy. "Take aim." The Unicorn lowered his head at the shield. Ever Essence was frantically trying to search for more powder. "Fire." At the officer's command the energy was unleashed in a massive beam of light that impacted on the shield like a battering ram. The bubble of powder and light held for several seconds as the spell continued to hammer at it. Sweat began to appear on the brows of the entire Unicorn team as they struggled to feed the spell. The nexal Unicorn's legs began to shake from the strain of containing and concentrating so much energy. Then suddenly the bubble shattered. The energy beam dispersed as the substances it was counteracting spread outwards. "Cease fire," the officer shouted and the beam was cut off. The Unicorn team all gasped as they released the breath they had been collectively holding in. The Nexal point struggled to stand and the Unicorns next to him quickly moved to support him. "Restrain her," Magnus shouted as Ever Essence, having recovered from the shock of seeing her barrier shattered, moved to grab some other kind of powder. The Thestrals moved quickly and struck her, throwing her from the chair. They grabbed her, restraining all of her limbs and holding her to the ground. Magnus stepped forward. Looking down at her with a look of utter contempt. "Your highness," he suddenly said, never once looking away from Ever Essence. "What should we do with her?" Prince Blueblood walked up beside him. He glanced at Magnus and then looked down at Ever Essence. "I would love to see her head on a spike right now," he whispered, just loudly enough for Magnus to hear. "However," he continued, his voice becoming loud enough for the rest of the room to hear. "We are currently a nation of laws. We are not the Solaminan Empire and we will uphold the laws that I have inherited. Take her away, confiscate her belongings and put her in the dungeons." Ever Essence began to say something before one of the Thestrals jammed his hoof in her mouth. They hauled her to her hooves and dragged her out of the chamber, several other Midnight Guard following them to ensure she made it to her cells. "Ponies of the Midnight Guard," Prince Blueblood suddenly shouted, turning to face the ponies in front of him. "We may have been betrayed. The ponies we thought were our allies may have turned on us but we have survived, we have persevered and we have come out victorious. We have defended our home and proven that nothing will defeat us. The Midnight Castle is ours." A loud cheer erupted from every pony in the room that spread throughout the castle. Blueblood glanced at Magnus. "This isn't over." He said. Magnus nodded slightly, his eyes narrowing as he too pondered how widespread the treachery within the Midnight Guard now was. "Indeed, my prince," he replied after a moment of thought. "Ever Essence would not have been smart enough to orchestrate an infiltration of the castle. It is obvious she had assistance." Magnus shot a quick look at the figure of the prisoner as the Guardsponies dragged her down the corridor. "We must find who is still loyal. The plan must be begun now." "Now?" Blueblood asked, concern evident in his voice, for what exactly, was unclear. "Yes your highness," Magnus confirmed with another small nod. He leaned in a little closer, hoping that the ponies around them hadn't noticed the slight change in their mood and demeanour. "I will seek out the traitors as promised. It would be best if you sought out assistance from our allies. We must come together now or we will fall." "Very well," Blueblood agreed. "You should start with the Dead Men, your highness," Magnus suggested. "Their dedication and determination are invaluable. It would be best to..." "No," Blueblood interrupted him. "The Dead Men are in dangerous territory right now. We don't have the numbers right now to find their strongholds." His eyes wandered to the ceiling for a moment as he quickly thought of an alternative. "We already have contacts with the New Resistance. I will head for Horssia instead," Blueblood finished, with a finality in his tone that brokered no argument. "Very well your highness." Magnus bowed his head and moved for the chamber doors. Blueblood took one look at the Unicorn and shook his head. Walking up the dais he sat down on the silver throne and looked over his ruined audience chamber and the cheering ponies that were clearing out body parts and organising parties to finish clearing the castle. He raised a hoof to his temple and began to rub it. Everything was about to get difficult from here. * Deep in the darkest woods... She screamed. She was in pain. No, that wasn't adequate - she was in absolute agony: every nerve ending felt like it was on fire, her very being felt like it was tearing itself apart as she desperately tried not to slip into unconsciousness, as she desperately to push, harder and harder... Pain was good. Pain meant she was alive, and while she was alive she could bring death upon those who had harmed her kin, harmed her... but that didn't mean it wasn't pain. She screamed again. "You're doing well," a voice spoke, and she gritted her teeth and pushed harder. She had to do this. She had to. She had not come this far just to fail now. "Just keep pushing and it will be over soon!" She had done this so many times before and yet this was so difficult. She had understood that this time it would be different (for how could it not be?), but she now felt completely unprepared as she convulsed and writhed as much as her body would allow her to. With a sonorous groan of pain she pushed and felt it moving, felt it forcing its way out of her body. She screamed and pushed with it, fighting the intrinsic panic as the thing that she had gestated separated off from her and became a life all its own. She pushed once more, gave a final scream of effort... And her companion grinned at her, holding a small, squiggling lump of purplish fur in its clawed appendage. Several other Anthroponies, each one of them a grotesque amalgam of human and equine body parts, stared at her in concern and anticipation. "Congratulations," he said with a slight chuckle. "It's here." She sat up, smiling with relief as endorphins flooded her body. "Can I..." she gasped. "Can I hold it?" Her companion smiled at her, a warm grin spreading up his lopsided face. "Of course, Penny dearest. This is your child. Who could deny you the right to hold your child?" He handed her the squiggling lump, and she cradled it to her chest. She frowned slightly as she looked at it. There were no distinguishing features - it looked for all the world as though it were merely a squirming lump of fur. No face. No mouth. No limbs. No anything. Were it not for the fact that it felt solid underneath her hands, she would have thought it a soft toy or a shaped skin. "I don't understand, my lord," she said softly, her breath catching in her throat as she held her child. "Didn't it work?" She suddenly felt so vulnerable. So weak. Tears began to well up in her eyes. "Did I fail you? Did I fail the child?" "Oh, on the contrary my darling Penelope," her companion said, stepping into the light. The pony head, griffon claw and dragon tail were somehow ominous in the half-light of her sanctum. He smiled, revealing a snaggle tooth, and yellow eyes gleamed, catlike. "You have succeeded." Penelope frowned in confusion, before looking down at the ball of fur as it suddenly began to squirm. There was a momentary shaking, as though it were convulsing, and then it seemed almost to unfold... revealing her child. Eyes that seemed to hold hidden depths and yet contained such... innocence. Pink fur and a bouncy purple mane greeted her, and the new life smiled with such pure childlike joy at seeing her, its mother, that she could not help but beam with joy in return. Finally she noted the cutie mark, an oddity on one so young and yet oh-so appropriate. A screw next to a baseball. Soon, she knew, this would be the very banner of chaos incarnate. "You have given birth," her Lord, Discord the God of Chaos, continued, "to the child of chaos. To the mother of our future. To the cloven hoof, the malformed hand, the bountiful spirit of vengeance. You have birthed an army, Penelope." He grinned, a thing full of malice and fury and the promise of retribution. "And with it, we shall crush Astra Solamina Maxima, once and for all!" *
The Avatar of Albion: When We Needed Him Most	Chapter Three: Going Separate Ways	Chapter Three - Going Separate Ways. By RoyalPsycho and Jed R. * Castle Midnight, Germareny. March 4th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar). The aftermath of the attempted coup and the short but brutal battle it had caused was a grim and dirty affair. Up to this point the Midnight Castle had never been assaulted by anything larger than a small band of Anthroponies. The attack by the Ivory Shell cadre had shaken everypony within the castle's walls and the implications of their treachery had only made things worse. Civilians had been drafted for the cleanup. Ponies everywhere were clearing up the remains of dead Midnight Guards, burning the bodies and repairing any damages that had been incurred during the attack. Royal Duty sat on the walls of the Midnight Castle and rubbed his head with his hooves. He had never been in battle before and what he had just gone through had been harrowing. Dead bodies were not unfamiliar to him, but the fact that he had actually ended a pony's life was still a new, and unpleasant, experience for him. Taking several deep breaths he stared over the battlements and looked out over the forests that surrounded the castle. He looked down into the city at the base of the castle and watched as ponies hustled back and forth, performing whatever duties had been assigned to them. He knew he should have been doing something as well, but he had avoided the draft teams and his privileges as a necromancer allowed him to stay away from such duties. He didn't particularly enjoy dodging work but he felt overwhelmed by what he had gone through. "Who are you?" a sharp voice cut through the near silence of the battlements, causing Royal Duty to jump in surprise. He turned to face the direction the voice had come from. He saw a large dark Unicorn with a dark brown mane walking towards him. The Unicorn wore a jet black cloak on his back and an odd, dark expression was on his face as he regarded Royal Duty. "L...Lord Magnus," Royal Duty stammered out as he bowed deeply, extending one foreleg forward and lowering his head in respect. "I...I...I was simply...well I can...explain." He struggled to speak as he tried to find an excuse to explain why he was on the walls and staring into space at such an integral time. "That wasn't what I asked," Magnus said as he stood in front of the genuflecting Unicorn and looked down at him. Royal Duty could feel his superior's gaze boring into him. "I said," he continued, "who are you?" "I am Royal Duty," he replied quickly, "a...a necromancer assigned to the garrison." "Is that so?" Magnus paused as he regarded the young Unicorn in front of him. "I heard you were the pony that warned the city's garrison when the traitor launched their attack. Is that true?" "Um, yes sir. I was." Royal Duty almost felt like he was being crushed under the intense gaze of the dark Unicorn. Magnus smirked slightly at the young Unicorn that was prostrating before him. It was rather amusing how so many ponies reacted to him like this. However as much as he wanted to drag out his little game with the youth he decided it was best he finally get to the point. "That's good to hear. I was looking for you." Royal Duty's head unintentionally shot up from the shock of what he had just heard. Lord Magnus, one of the most important ponies in the Midnight Castle, had not only asked for him but had personally gone to find him. His voice still unsteady he stammered his words as he asked, "Y...you were?" "Yes I was," Magnus replied, the smirk growing slightly wider. "I had heard of the part you played in the battle against the traitors of the Ivory Shell. What you did was invaluable." "Thank you sir," Royal Duty rapidly said as he lowered his head once again. "Now don't thank me just yet," Magnus said, raising a single hoof to interrupt the Unicorn. "I have been looking for ponies of great skill, fortitude and wit for an especially important mission of unfathomable importance." Royal Duty felt a cold sweat break out over his body as he waited for Magnus to continue. "I want you, Royal Duty," he punctuated his point by pointing his hoof at Royal Duty, "to accompany his highness as my replacement as his adjutant. He is preparing, at this very moment, to embark on a mission to the deepest parts of Horssia to recruit the New Equestrian Resistance in a new offensive." He finished by stamping his hoof on the ground as if to emphasise the importance of his decree. Royal Duty was stunned by what he had just been told. His heart hammered in his chest, his ears twitched in agitation and his eyes twitched. "But why me?" he asked as he wondered just why he would be chosen. He was an adequate necromancer of routine ability who had only seen battle once if you included the events of the current day. He couldn't possibly be deliberately chosen for something so important. A genuine half-smile appeared on Magnus face as he regarded the shocked pony in front of him. "You used your initiative, followed a lead, and saved the city," he said, calming Royal Duty with his words. Once he saw the young Unicorn had finally begun to calm down and listen to him again he continued. "These traits will serve you well, and have allowed you to succeed in doing a rare thing." "What?" Royal Duty asked, a mixture of concern and expectation evident on his face. "Impressing me." Magnus said in a matter of fact fashion. "If you continue to do that - and if you survive - your promotion to his highness' temporary adjutant may well prove more permanent than you realise." * Prince Blueblood cantered through the central courtyard of Castle Midnight. Around him ponies rushed back and forth, piling up equipment and other items in what he could only call 'organised chaos'. The courtyard was a mess, but everypony seemed to understand where everything was supposed to be and what each pile was meant to contain. Wagons were being pulled in from the city and loaded for the long trip to the eastern regions of Horssia. It would be a tough journey, and many ponies were coming along for the trip. Prince Blueblood himself was already dressed for travel. His bulky ornate battle armour had been wrapped in oiled cloth and stored inside one of the wagons but he did wear a much more comfortable and functional breastplate that afforded him much more mobility. A large coat had been thrown over it and whilst it was uncomfortably warm now he knew it would be invaluable once they really got going. "Your highness, should you really be here?" asked a voice. Blueblood turned to regard a group of Thestrals standing behind him in full armour. They were his guard detail and the recent attack had made them rather paranoid for his safety. "What do you mean?" Blueblood asked, slightly perplexed by the pony's question. "Well sir," the pony replied, feeling somewhat awkward for letting himself be singled out, "the equipment here isn't safe sir and this area is so open. Who knows what could happen?" As if to emphasise his point a wagon pulled by a team of Earth Ponies shot past the procession, barely missing the prince. Prince Blueblood jumped away from the where the wagon had just passed him, his face noticeably pale despite his pristine white coat. "I see what you mean," he said to the Guardspony, as another Thestral took off after the wagon to shout at them for their negligence and disregard for other's safety. * Royal Duty hurriedly packed his belongings. He needed to make sure everything was prepared for his new mission. His heart hammered in his chest as Magnus' declaration repeated itself in his mind. He had never shouldered so much responsibility before, and the pressure weighed down on his shoulders and back like a block of stone. "Resurrection powder, four full bags, focusing crystal, needs polishing - I can do that later - arcane spectrum analyser," he checked off as he placed esoteric items into various carefully assorted sacks and bags. "Right now the grimoires." He span around as he rounded on a stack of books that he had let pile up. Yanking at the ones he needed he let the stack collapse onto the floor as several worn and bound books floated towards him. manipulating them with his magic he flipped them around until they were in order, the first volume of the Necronomicon on top, and then laid them in a box that was quickly closed and wrapped in wire. Turning to the mess he had made on the floor he frowned and lifted the books back up with his magic before depositing them on the shelves in his chambers. "Alright," he said, sweat running down his brow from the exertion, "that's about everything." He turned on the small pile of boxes of bags that contained most of his possessions and equipment. He probably didn't need most of it but it was always better safe than sorry, even if being safe meant carrying enough miscellaneous items to fill a wagon. He went to the door of his room and opened it. Outside were a pair of Earth Ponies dressed in light armoured barding. They had shown up about twenty minutes ago and had told him that Lord Magnus had ordered them to collect both him and whatever belongings he was bringing with him. "I'm ready gentlecolts," Royal Duty said as he stepped out of his room, two full saddlebags on his back. Both ponies looked into his room. Their faces immediately fell at the sight of all of the boxes they would be carrying out of the castle. "Um... I can help if you like," Royal Duty said as he noticed the looks on both stallion's faces. "No, no sir. This is what we're here for," one of the Earth Ponies replied. "Yeah, we're used to it," the other chipped in, as they both trotted into the room and hefted boxes onto their backs. "Alright then," Royal Duty said, "Um... thanks." With that he trotted down the hallway and headed for the main gate. he needed to find the prince and take up whatever position he was supposed to be in charge of. As he walked through the castle he noticed the damage that had been done to the castle. Walls were chipped in places where blades had struck them, tapestries and displays were knocked down or broken and blood was rather liberally splattered about the corridors. At the same time the castle staff were running around hectically as they tried to prepare for the prince's departure. As he walked through the main gate and out into the courtyard Royal Duty realised that the chaos inside the castle was nothing compared to the chaos outside it. Ponies were scurrying everywhere. Most carried boxes and bags full of weapons, food, clothing and other supplies of indeterminate purpose that would be needed for the expedition. Everypony seemed to be converging on a wagon of sorts where they quickly deposited their burdens before running off to grab another. The only island of calm in the endless sea of activity was a cluster of Thestrals surrounding the unmistakable shape of Prince Blueblood himself who seemed to be observing the preparations with a simultaneously confused and amused expression. Royal Duty picked his way through the crowd, dodging ponies and working his way around wagons and stacks of supplies as he headed in the direction of the prince. After what felt like an eternity he finally reached the group of ponies that seemed strangely detached from the hustle and bustle around them. Looking at the prince for the first time in his life Royal Duty felt awed by the stallion before him. He was unusually large for a Unicorn and seemed to tower over most of his guards. His coat, his horn, his bearing, everything about him seemed perfectly regal, every inch the pony he had expected to meet and serve. Standing to attention, Royal Duty snapped off a salute and then immediately began to worry whether he should have bowed instead. Prince Blueblood immediately turned to look at him, the expression of amusement replaced by a calm professionalism. "Hello there," Blueblood said as he eyed the colt in front of him, "who might you be." "I am Royal Duty, your highness," Royal Duty replied firmly, forcibly keeping a stutter from emerging, "I was assigned by Lord Magnus as your temporary personal adjutant." The professionalism remained but Blueblood's voice became noticeably more open and friendly. "Oh yes, I remember Magnus mentioning he had found someone to take care of his duties. I suppose you're the pony he was talking about?" "Yes I am, your highness," Royal Duty also replied, hoping the concern he felt wasn't noticeable. "I intend to conduct myself with dignity and honour worthy of your highness. I will not disappoint you or Lord Magnus sir." He stood even straighter as he resisted the urge to salute again. "And it is well that you should not," another voice said, interrupting him. "Disappointing the Prince is unwise. Disappointing me? Unhealthy." Royal Duty spun around as he realised who the voice was. A familiar dark Unicorn was walking towards them, ponies stepping aside as he did so. "Ah, Magnus," Blueblood said as he greeted his friend and adjutant. "I see that you're ready to go." "Yes, my prince," the Unicorn said matter of factly, "I was merely seeing whether the young stallion here had availed himself to you at the appropriate time. It is good to see that he is punctual." Magnus eyed Royal Duty as he said this, seemingly pressing down on him with his glare. "Well if you have high hopes for him then I guess I can expect good and devoted service," Blueblood said in return, also turning to regard Royal Duty, who was doing his best not to faint. "Indeed. Unfortunately, I cannot stay for a moment longer," the dark Unicorn said gravely. "I must join my own forces now. Farewell your highness, I wish you the best of luck." With that Magnus bowed before turning and walking away to whatever ponies had been assigned under him. "Well," Blueblood said with a slight sigh. "We have a force of probably quite antsy soldiers out there waiting for us, and a long march ahead. I suggest we go join them." "Yes, your highness," Royal Duty said. "And do me a favour," Blueblood added as they began walking out of the gate. "Try to relax a tad. I might be the Prince but I'd rather you didn't strain yourself with all the standing to attention you seem to be doing. It wouldn't help me if you passed out every time I asked you question" "I... will try, your highness," Royal Duty said, uncertainly. "Good," Blueblood said as they reached the procession waiting outside. "Remind me to tell you about my last adjutant before Magnus, Captain Doo. Wonderful mare. Absolutely insane, but she made excellent tea..." "COMPANY ADVANCE," a voice shouted over the procession. Outside the castle walls was a column of ponies in heavy armour. Beside them were other ponies, each of them in some form of ornate battle dress. This was the small army that Blueblood would be travelling with. In certain ways he was required to travel with them. Another army of clerks, bureaucrats and advisors was milling beside them, waiting for the sight of the wagons that would be carrying all of their possessions. Royal Duty couldn't help but stare at the sight of it. He was now a part of an army on the march: an army on a mission of extreme importance. Beside him, Prince Blueblood smirked. Now was the time for him to make his move. At the command of the officer that had shouted the order to mobilise, the procession set off, marching into the forest for what would be a very long and harrowing journey. * Canterlot, March 4th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050). She paced within her chamber, eyes closed, concentrating. The room was filled with broken furniture, and the walls were scarred and pitted as though a thousand spells had been thrown within these walls. The only thing preventing more damage was the presence of two hundred arcane runes etched into the walls, each one glowing, repelling the worst damage and maintaining the structural integrity of the building. She didn't care about the damage she had caused. All that mattered was the battle within her mind. Silence, she thought to herself. Within my mind let there be silence. I am one. I am in control. There was a brief, blissful moment where she could feel the silence within her own mind, the sweet abyss of empty thought, free of conflict, free of her. ...monstermurdresstraitortoselfthingofevilslaughtereroftheinnocentraperofthemindsandsoulsofabillionsoulshowdareyousitthereand... "Damn you!" she screamed, her horn glowing. At once, the furniture in the room, already shattered from a thousand such moments, was raised into the air, flying everywhere. Shrapnel and shards of glass smashed into her, cutting her open in a thousand places, but she didn't care. Pain of the flesh is better than pain of the mind, she thought angrily. Let there be pain of the flesh. Let pain be my salvation, my freedom! Let my freedom release me from this accursed voice! ...youwillneverbefreeofmeIwillhauntyouforever... "Silence!" she yelled. "Silence! I am Astra Solamina Maxima! I will allow no intrusion! I will allow no contention! I will allow no insult! The only thing I will allow is the crushing of my enemies beneath my hoof!" There was a moment of dead silence as Solamina stood in the room, her eyes scanning the battered space as though the room were filled with enemies. And then there was a soft knock at the door. "Your majesty?" the familiar voice of Commander Twilight Sparkle asked. "Your majesty, are you in? May we speak?" Solamina closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm herself. Her horn glowed and the soundproofing spell on her chamber disappeared. "One moment, my dearest Twilight," she called out. Her horn glowed, and suddenly the entire room was swept clean of broken and tarnished furniture, replaced instead by intact, ornate tables, chairs and ornaments. Solamina closed her eyes, and her body glowed with light, the wounds healing as though they had never been there. "Enter," she said quietly. A moment later, Commander Sparkle entered. She bowed her head before Solamina. "My lady," she said. "The Solaminan Church refuses to acquiesce to my request for the authority to command their troops." "Do they now?" Solamina said, raising an eyebrow. Once upon a time, loyalty to her was loyalty to Twilight - that was when the control of the Converted was absolute. Now, though, there was a plague of doubt in the Converted, and even the most faithful distrusted any who were not Solamina herself. "One moment." She quickly drew up a letter, signed it and placed her seal upon it. The letter demanded that the Solaminan Church treat Twilight as if she acted with the authority of the Empress. Technically, such an edict had never been needed, for it had always been assumed. Now though, nothing was certain. "Here," she said. "This gives you carte blanche to do as you will with the Church. They will follow any command you give - or they will answer to me." "Thank you, your majesty," Sparkle said, bowing. "How are you, Twilight?" Solamina asked, eager to get onto happier conversation topics. "I am fine, my lady," Sparkle replied, a touch of frustration in her voice. "Eager, in fact." "These last few years have been especially hard on you, my student," Solamina said quietly. "After everything that's happened..." "After everything that's happened, my lady, I am only more eager," Sparkle cut her off with a slightly vicious edge. "Your enemies will die at my hoof. I swear it." Solamina's eyes narrowed a tad. "Be careful in your eagerness, my faithful student, that it doesn't lead you into insubordination." The dangerous tone in Solamina's voice had Sparkle abasing herself immediately. "My apologies, your most beneficent majesty," she said humbly. "In my eagerness to effect your will, I have erred." "It is forgiven," Solamina said airily. "While you are in Canterlot, I suggest you visit your... friends. It may make you feel better." There was a stiff pause for a long moment. "As you suggest, my lady. May I be excused?" "Of course, Twilight," Solamina said quietly. "Take care." "Majesty," Sparkle said with a bow, before turning and leaving the room. Solamina breathed out. Her horn glowed with energy as she once more put the silencing spell back up... and once more, she went into battle against her personal demons. * In the depths of Canterlot dungeon, there was a chamber where Twilight Sparkle and the Empress' most important project was being kept. The High Commander passed them: rows of the silent, the armoured ranks and ranks and ranks of ponies, humans, Griffon travellers who had 'volunteered'... any who could be found... all of them in the same, blue-silver metal armour, armed with swords, spears... all of them still as stone. Some of them were still hung on meat-hooks, awaiting the moment where the magic would be used that would make them whole. Others had already reached that final stage, and stood silent by their own power, awaiting commands that - as of yet - had not come. Twilight did not know when her Empress would authorise the use of the Eternal Guard. The project had created an army of eternally loyal, preserved, undying warriors, each of them imbued with magic that made them stronger and faster than their rotted forms would suggest. The project had been begun twenty two years ago, during the height of the war, whenever bodies could be retrieved for its use. She sighed as she reached the special chamber. There was a momentary hesitation before she pushed open the door. Four figures stood in a perfect line. Three of them were ponies, and one of them was the small figure of a dragon. The ponies, despite magic preventing such things on the Eternal Guard, were all in various states of decomposition, a side effect of the amount of time between their deaths and being found by Twilight's forces. The one with the least damage was the cyan Pegasus, who stood at the far right end, wings neatly folded by her sides, disguising the damage done to them that would forever prevent her from flying. Her throat had a bandage around it, disguising the hole where she had been brutally stabbed and terminated. Her cold and empty eyes were staring forward at nothing. Twilight moved to stand right in front of her, almost making it seem like the body of Rainbow Dash was staring at her. She looked to the left of Rainbow at the other two pony bodies. The corpse of Applejack had needed significant work to make it usable, thanks to the decomposed state it was in when they found it: they had retrieved it from the insane pile of pony bodies found on one of the islands surrounding Britain. Though they had searched for as long as they could (and that was not as long as they would have liked), they could not find any trace of Rarity's corpse. She was lost to them forever. Fluttershy's body, meanwhile, was an even harder thing to find - she had fled from Equestria after Rarity's demise, and no one save the thrice-damned Avatar of Albion that had slain her could have told them where she lay. All they knew was that she was somewhere in Britain, and that was a place no pony went to if they wanted to live. And so she was not here either, and Twilight felt her and Rarity's absence keenly. The final pony body was that of Pinkie Pie, a large metal plate, barely disguised by her hair, over one side of her face and her missing left eye. She had been found by advancing Equestrian Guardsponies during the battle of London and sent home, as had Shining Armour. Shining Armour, though, was sent home to Cadence in a closed casket. Twilight would never have used him for the Guard - she loved Cadence too much to deny her Shining's burial - and in any case, his entire head had been smashed apart. The final body in the line was the dragon. Spike had, for the longest time, been held prisoner in the dungeons. It was only with the greatest of extolling that Solamina had allowed him to be equipped and... repurposed for the Eternal Guard. It was, in some respects, better. "Hey guys," she said quietly to the bodies. There was no response. She turned to Rainbow's corpse, the cold eyes still staring forward. She sighed. She hated having to do this - it broke the illusion even more than the armour and the injuries. "Rainbow Dash," she spoke clearly. "This is Commander Sparkle." Rainbow's mouth opened, and a croaking voice emerged. "Commander." "Friendship is magic," Twilight said softly. The cold eyes blinked, and looked at Twilight. A smile, which might have been reassuring on anything other than this mockery, appeared on the face of the corpse. "Hey Twi," she said, her voice suddenly normal, apart from a slight echoing quality. It wasn't really her vocal cords making this noise of course - Twilight had created intricate spells, a half-decade in the making, that made it possible for this illusion to happen. She could almost believe it, some days. "Hey Rainbow," she said, smiling slightly. "How are you?" "I'm cool," the corpse of Rainbow said with a grin. "Literally - no body heat. I'm like, one hundred percent cooler than I used to be." Twilight chuckled. The personality matrices she had created could imitate Rainbow - and when she activated them, the others - to the best of her memories. They would never be the real things - they were at best, impressions of her friends, how she remembered them - but they were... almost enough. "Aren't you going to wake the others up?" 'Rainbow' asked, looking at the other bodies. There was a slight cracking sound in her neck, and her dead eyes glanced downward. "Oops, sorry. Something popped." "I'll have the morticians come in and check on you later," Twilight promised, smiling sadly. "At least it doesn't hurt." "You're right there," 'Rainbow' grinned. "You gonna wake them up?" Twilight looked at the others. She sighed. "Applejack and Pinkie," she said quietly. "Not... not Spike. Not today." "You never wake Spike up," 'Rainbow' pointed out. "No," Twilight said, and her voice cracked slightly. "I... I like letting him sleep." "'Kay," 'Rainbow' said, shrugging. There was another crack. "Damn joints." Twilight turned to the others. "Applejack. Pinkie Pie. This is Commander Sparkle." The two seemed to stiffen slightly, but neither replied. "Friendship is magic," she said quietly. Suddenly, Applejack blinked and rolled her decomposed shoulders. There was the slightly creaky sound of exposed bones rubbing together. Pinkie tapped her metal plate, as though it were irritating her. "You alright, Pinkie?" 'Rainbow' asked. "Itchy," 'Pinkie' said, her voice echoing in the same way Rainbow's did. "This plate itches." Twilight chuckled. "I told you before, Pinkie, you don't have nervous responses to feel itchy." "You might as well tell a dog not to bark, Twi," 'Applejack' said, her voice echoing as well. "Ya'll know there's more to Pinkie than meets the eye, even now." "I guess she wouldn't be Pinkie otherwise," Twilight said with a smile. "Well, I'm not," 'Pinkie' said, "not really - I'm just..." "Pinkie," 'Rainbow' said in a warning tone. "We had this talk." "Oh, yeah," 'Pinkie' said. "Sorry Twi." Twilight didn't say anything. Though she had never hid what they were from them, most of them seemed content to think themselves the same ponies as they were before. They tended to ignore - pointedly - any discussion of what they really were. Only the matrix that impersonated Pinkie was any different, seemingly both perfectly content to act like Pinkie and perfectly content with the knowledge that she was a copy. "Hey," 'Rainbow' said, "any joy on getting something for Flutters and Rarity?" Twilight sighed. "No scouting parties have returned from trying to find Fluttershy. She didn't tell me where she was going, and none of the Converted we have left from Britain were ever told where she died, only that she was dead." She sighed. "She didn't happen to tell any of you..." "Twi," 'Applejack' said gently, looking upset even with her decomposed face. "Ya'll know that even if she did, we wouldn't know." Twilight closed her eyes, grimacing. Occasionally, even she caught herself thinking these were really her friends instead of matrices that she had created. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "Heck, it's ok Twi," 'Applejack' said. "We all understand. This is -" "Friendship is dead!" Twilight snapped suddenly, her voice full of distress. At once, all three ponies snapped back to attention, all warmth gone from their faces. Twilight, tears escaping from her eyes, turned away from them and left the room. The Empress had encouraged her research - she thought it might prove helpful to the Unicorn who had lost everything... but despite the fact that it made her burdens easier, giving her ponies to talk to, they were not her friends, and those dead visages only served to remind her of how much she had failed. How much she had failed to save them. The Resistance - Blueblood and the other traitors. All this was their doing. She scowled, her misery turning to rage, a fire blooming in her chest. "Friendship is dead," she whispered, "but vengeance... vengeance is sweet." * Redbookville (formerly New Darwin), Horsetrailia. March 4th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar). Red Book smiled at the pony before her, she had always had a good feeling about the young mare in front of her, she had been a loyal subordinate and student and she had worked hard over the years to impart her knowledge of the revolution into the youth's mind. A few metres away from her was a lime green Pegasus with a magenta-and-blue striped mane. She stood stock still, her eyes level with her own as she stood at attention. True Path had not been there when the revolution liberated Horsetrailia, but Red Book preferred that. The revolution had changed since those early days of the fledgling Ponies State and younger minds proved more susceptible to change. "My dear True Path," she said to the Pegasus. "Do you know what a traitor is?" "A traitor?" the Pegasus replied stiffly. "Yes, ma'am. A traitor is one who betrays the whole." "And how do you betray the whole?" Red Book asked. "You betray the whole by turning against the common good of the collective and only serving your own interests," True Path replied at once. "I'm not asking how as in what treason constitutes," Red Book corrected, a slight condescending tone entering her voice. "I'm asking how one might achieve such betrayal." "I... I don't know," True Path said, frowning. "I don't know how one might do so. I've never thought about it." "It's good that you haven't," Red Book said, "that's the first betrayal." She motioned with her hoof, and suddenly an Earth Pony in a labourer's uniform was dragged in by two armoured guards. "To think of betrayal is a betrayal itself. It is to invite the question of betrayal into your heart, to invite the idea of betrayal into your mind, and that is the first step on the slippery slope toward being an Enemy of the Ponies State." She walked up to the Earth Pony. The mare had a gag in her mouth and looked like she had been beaten. Red Book regarded her coldly. "This one," she said quietly, "was responsible for hoarding essential supplies she did not require. She believed this was appropriate. In this, she was a traitor." The mare began shaking her head frantically, her eyes full of fear. "What happens to traitors, True Path?" Red Book asked softly. "Death," True Path said at once. "Exactly," Red Book said with a grin. "True Path - the traitor is here. As my latest Enforcer, I want you to be personally responsible for dealing with traitors and enemies of the state, both external... and internal." True Path nodded, before turning to the traitor. She walked right up to her, took a spear from one of the guards, and without hesitation rammed it into the mare's chest. There was a strangled, muffled cry from the pony... and then silence. "Traitor dead," she said quietly. "Where am I needed next?" "Ah, Comrade," Red Book said, smiling widely, "next I shall send you to deal with our greatest enemies. For too long, we have allowed the Solaminan Empire and their imperialist oppression to keep us trapped on this continent. No more. Now, Comrade True Path, with you at the head of my armies, we shall begin to destroy them utterly."
The Avatar of Albion: When We Needed Him Most	Chapter Four: First Engagement	Chapter Four - First Engagement. By RoyalPsycho and Jed R. Germaren border, Germareny. March 7th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar). It had barely been a few days since they had left Castle Midnight when the massive procession managed to reach the poorly defined border that separated the colonies of Germareny and Ponland. Though secrecy was virtually impossible for such a large and noisome group, the Midnight Guard had managed to avoid detection. The fact that the former European continent was poorly settled compared to the rest of the Empire had been a massive boon for them. Royal Duty had been especially surprised at how quickly the procession had moved from Southern Germareny. In a mere three days, they had actually managed to reach the border of the next province. It had of course been thanks to the gruelling pace set by the Guard Captains, which many of the administrators and court officials attached to the prince had complained endlessly about. Royal Duty felt just as exhausted as the ponies around him, but didn't complain. He was somewhat used to this thanks to the basic training he had gone through, but most of his admittedly short career since then had been spent indoors surrounded by magical theory and alchemical projects. "ALRIGHT PONIES!" the voice of the commanding officer belted out above the comparatively quiet crowd. "COMPANY HALT!" The Midnight Guard all stopped in perfect unison, whilst the civilians, aids and attached civilians all let out a sigh of relief and groans of exertion. Sergeants began to shout out additional orders as tents were set up, duty shifts were assigned and fires were started. The baggage train was pulled forward by the teams of Earth Ponies that had been manning them until they were at the centre of a large circle of ponies. Tents began to rise into the air, some of them were very simple affairs whilst others, like the prince's, were cloth and silk palaces that almost seemed to be several storeys tall and had windows in the walls. Almost immediately Prince Blueblood peeled off from the rapidly dispersing column and went in the direction of his tent. Several other prominent officers and officials went after him. For the next few hours his tent was likely to be where they would strategize the next few steps of their plans. "Set up your tent and then join me inside. I'll need you to take notes for tonight's meeting," Prince Blueblood ordered, turning his head to look at Royal Duty for a moment before returning his attention to the large and luxurious pavilion in front of him. Royal Duty stammered out a quick affirmative, and then went over to one of the wagons that had been manoeuvred into a circle at the centre of the encampment. He found the one that housed his belongings and grabbed a folded tent with his magic. Carefully lifting it from the carefully placed pile of other items, Royal Duty pulled the tent out of the wagon and trotted off to find a space close to the prince where he could pitch his tent. For a moment he eyed the forests beyond the clearing they had chosen to make camp in. The first of the camp fires had already cast long, threatening shadows onto the tall trees. The darkness of the evening was now more heavily contrasted against the golden light of the fire, which made the forests that surrounded them all the more frightening. Despite the large number of Guardponies that were now stationed around the edge of the camp and dutifully staring out into the darkness he couldn't help but feel worried.The Midnight Guard were supposed to be in their element at night but Royal Duty had never felt comfortable in the darkness. More often than not the shadows weren't his friends. * Horsaw, Ponland. March 8th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar). An unseasonably cold wind hit Freedom Heart as he disembarked from the Interdiction, the zeppelin that had spent the past two and a half days ferrying him from Canterlot to the provincial capital of Ponland. His new appointment as Field Marshal of the colonial forces in what was now officially called Mareope had been a sudden one and the significance still hadn't quite sunk in yet. Two columns of Royal Guard flanked a red carpet that led from the zeppelin' boarding ramp to an elegant golden carriage pulled by more Guardponies. Several stallions and mares, all of them dressed in some form of aristocratic finery, were waiting by the carriage. Upon noticing him they all began to carefully walk towards him, every step a deliberate and elegant action. Their leader was a chocolate brown Pegasus mare with an elegantly coiffed cream, yellow mane. She wore an enormous dress that bulged out around her rump, covered her wings in heavy lace ruffs and was coloured in alternating stripes of grey brown and maroon. However the enormous fashion abomination that covered her body still managed to somehow not encumber her movements. Freedom Heart also walked out to meet them, descending the ramp until his hooves brushed against the rich velvet of the carpet. The ponies all bowed respectfully as they approached, each of them inclining their heads though they did not lower their bodies to the ground like they would were they in Solamina's presence. They stayed that way for a couple of heartbeats, never once saying a word, before straightening once again. The Pegasus mare in the huge dress was the first to rise. "Welcome to Horsaw, Commander," the Pegasus said in an affected upper class accent. "My name is Just Deserts. I am the duly-appointed viceroy of the Mareopean continent. If there is anything you need then I am the pony to come to." She smiled as she spoke and her head tilted upwards slightly in a manner similar to the nobleponies of Canterlot. Freedom Heart guessed that she was very much used to getting what she saw as due deference from anypony around her. The other ponies assembled in front of him also offered their greetings and announced who they were but Freedom Heart struggled to remember the details of their names, lineages and positions of power. Now that he had actually arrived at his destination he was finally beginning to tire from the long trip from Canterlot. "Thank you noblemares and gentlestallions," Freedom Heart said in a calm and measured voice, carefully considering his words as he addressed them. "I am of course honoured that you've placed your confidence in me, and I assure you I will deal with the threats to your colonies." With that said he walked towards the carriage, watching as the collection of politicians and aristocrats gave one another somewhat inscrutable looks before turning and heading to the carriage with him. * Freedom Heart settled into the office he had been given. The Horsaw Viceregal Palace was a large and opulent building built in the same style as Canterlot's elegant spires and domed buildings of white marble and shining gold. Of course it still paled in comparison to the now enormous city that dug into the sides of the Canterhorn and jutted out over the landscape below but it was luxurious nonetheless. The office itself was well furnished but appeared to be rather spartan compared to the much more well decorated rooms and corridors of the rest of the palace. Whoever Freedom Heart's predecessor had been appeared to have been relatively utilitarian, and Freedom Heart could appreciate that. There was of course a large and sturdy desk with what looked like a large and comfortable chair. A cursory glance still managed to reveal that it was a swivel chair of sorts though much more extravagant than the cheap store-bought model he had back at home. The desk already had several papers placed on it that had been arranged in preparation for him. However the reports that were on his desk could wait another day as Freedom Heart was immediately drawn to the door in the side of his office that led to the attached personal quarters. Opening the door that was already ajar, he entered the room. It was much more opulent than the office, with a large four poster bed, a carven wardrobe with scenes from Equestria's history on the panels and several more desks that suggested much better craftsmanship than the one he was expected to use for work. Despite his admiration for practicality over extravagance Freedom Heart was incredibly grateful for the massive, soft bed. Trotting wearily over to it he flopped down on the cloud-grade mattress, not bothering to pull the covers over his body, and shut his eyes. Sleep came very quickly for the tired stallion. * Unknown area, Ponland. March 8th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar). The column had been making increasingly remarkable progress as they made their way through the ruins of Europe. They had broken camp in good time and marched several more miles (he lost count a while back), before stopping for another break for lunch. Despite how quick it had been the entire column had returned to marching filled with a wary vigour that had seen them trundle down the woodland path they were currently in. Royal Duty didn't exactly know where they were by this point but it was now the early evening, the sun was starting to dip in the sky and the column had managed to devour mile after mile with their grueling pace and it showed in many ways. The forests of course remained very thick since settlement was thin. During, and after, the war with humanity so many years ago, the natural world had largely recovered thanks to the complete obliteration of human civilization and the relatively slow pace of colonisation by the ponies of Equestria. Still, though he couldn't really tell the difference between them, the Midnight Guard had marched past countless trees. At the same time their pace was also reflected in the haggard looks of the ponies that made up the column. Fatigued expressions were on everypony's faces and no small amount of groaning emanated from the camp followers and adjutants. Everything had been going smoothly enough. Of course the column's movements had to be very steady despite the pace they had set. Scouts had been sent out into the woods to check for any possible threats and report back. It was an unwanted job that nearly everypony tried to avoid. The woods were deadly enough as it was and the increased sighting of Anthroponies had made straying off the roads and beaten paths all the more dangerous. At the thought of the scouts Royal Duty realised he hadn't seen any for a while. They were supposed to report in on an hourly basis and it had been far too long since anypony had emerged from the woods. despite not wanting to worry anypony with his speculations he glanced at the other officers and adjutants around him. They too had controlled expressions that failed to entirely cover the concern and anxiety that they felt as well. Something was wrong. As the column tramped through the forest Royal Duty stole glances at the trees and undergrowth around them. The trees pressed in closely around the dirt path they were marching down and the canopy hung over them like a shroud. It was late in the day but the branches, leaves and needles of the treetops made it seem like it was already evening. "Your highness," a voice to Royal Duty's right whispered to Prince Blueblood. "We should prepare the troops for attack. The scouts have been gone far too long now." The prince nodded slightly in response. "Be discrete though. We can't afford to spook the attachments." He paused for a second. "And set a guard over the rear of the column," he added. "There's something... not right." "Sir," the pony replied. The Guard saluted before briskly trotting off into the centre of the column to give out orders. The Thestrals, already on guard, moved even closer around Blueblood and the rest of the command group. Royal Duty could hear whispered orders being passed throughout the column and noticed the sounds of Guardsponies readying weapons. The intense atmosphere that had already surrounded the column thickened as ponies eyed their surroundings for any suspicious signs. The column continued down the path in silence. the only sounds that weren't created by the forest was the trampling of hooves, the sounds of armoured plates knocking against one another, the rumbling of wagon wheels turning and the heavy breathing of the nervous ponies. Royal Duty's heart hammered in his chest. Every desperate or concerned look he saw from the ponies around him served to fuel his paranoia. He stole glances at every shadow expecting some kind of monster to emerge from it. The fact that he could still hear bird calls and that the sun was still in the sky did nothing to alleviate him of his fear. He knew what could be out there, and despite the fact that he knew better, he expected Anthroponies and Solaminan soldiers hiding behind every tree. More time passed and the scouts still hadn't shown up. The Guardsponies in the column were on high alert and were now spread out along the column to ensure that the civilian entourage and the baggage train were safe and secure. Runners galloped up and down the column, passing messages to ensure that everypony was present and accounted for and relay and possible suspicious sightings to the officers. Royal Duty's ears perked at the sound of a grunt behind him. He turned his head to look behind him, his heart still racing from the surprise of the sound. One of the runners moving to the head of the column had just stumbled. the sound had simply been his hooves scraping over the dirt path as he tripped. However the runner failed to correct his balance, in fact he fell over, his body cartwheeling as his momentum carried him forward. It was only when the runner's body slid to a halt that Royal Duty and the ponies around him noticed the blood that was liberally spilling from a wound in the Guards forehead. A large stone was lodged into his skull, one of his eyes had been ruined by the impact whilst the other had rolled back. Before anypony could make a move a hail of similar stones burst out from the surrounding foliage on both sides of the column. "Take cover!" a pony shouted and the entire column descended into confusion and chaos. Unicorns levelled shields around as many of their comrades as they possibly could whilst civilians scrambled for the dubious safety of the wagons. The barrage of stones then suddenly stopped. However barely a second later a horde of monstrosities charged out of the same dense woods. Every abomination was uniquely disgusting. Many walked upright but there were still many that galloped forwards on all fours and even a few that loped or scrambled along the ground, switching between the two separate gaits at random. They all had some kind of recognisably equine feature but there was barely any resemblance between these foul creatures and the ponies they were now attacking. Some walked upright on equine hooves and had pony heads and faces but possessed long muscular arms tipped with broken hooves or cruel claws. Others looked like ponies but their legs were mismatched, some being longer than others, with grotesque faces that were stretched or squashed like some sadistic child had smeared a portrait. Others were massive hulking abominations with flattened faces and massive hairy forearms. Some had horns, others had wings but all of them had the same hate filled looks marring their warped faces. "Anthroponies!" somepony yelled over the roars and cries of the disgusting horde. "Defend the prince!" another shortly followed. The Midnight Guard scrambled into some kind of formation but the narrow path had left them vulnerable. Guardsponies closed ranks, their spears pointed outwards on either side of the column. Unfortunately the column was barely five ranks deep and their attention was divided. Unicorns hurriedly charged and let off magic shots that connected but did little more than slow down their targets. The horde met the column in a crashing wave of noise. The Guardsponies' line buckled slightly but held. It was then that the killing started. Anthroponies were pierced by spears or shot point-blank by magic shots. In turn ponies had their heads caved in by heavy bludgeons and axes. The Guards did their best to push the foe back but the Anthroponies' greater size and strength kept forcing the ponies back. Slowly the line was compressed in on itself. Royal Duty hid behind the prince's bodyguards, letting them hold the enemy at bay while he fired magic shots into the rearmost portion of the attacking host. Unlike his colleagues he sacrificed speed for power, letting the energy build before unleashing his magic. This way he was sure that every shot was a sure kill. Prince Blueblood and the rest of his personal entourage were beside him, firing their own spells into the Anthropony horde. However he couldn't help but notice that the battle was turning against them. It was a miracle that they had even been able to muster some kind of defence and hadn't immediately descended into chaos. It was then that everything went wrong. An enormous Anthropony charged out of the woods on the column's left flank. It was a giant standing far above all of its kin. Like the rest of the horde it was a grotesque beast. It's shoulders bulged with muscle, its arms nearly as thick as the tree trunks around it and its fists as large as shields. It's head was like that of a human, if only barely. It was elongated slightly like a pony's muzzle which served to make it's beady eyes all the more misplaced and disturbing. Those same eyes were filled with bloodlust and hate that it pointed at the ponies it was barrelling towards. "Hefter!" a pony shouted in alarm as the massive abomination closed in on the fight, crushing and throwing aside its smaller kin in its urge to reach the column. When it reached the column it swung its fists in a wide arc. Ponies and Anthroponies alike were thrown into the air by the Hefter's powerful strikes. With a single blow the entire battle descended into anarchy. The line was broken apart, discipline breaking down as the attacking Antroponies tore into the fragmented formation. Royal Duty was swept up in the chaos. Panicking slightly, he drew the blade he had kept since he took it from the traitor Guardspony he had fought back at the Midnight Castle. Prince Blueblood's guards tried to rally around their leader but several were torn from the loose circle they had formed by their attackers. The only thing that saved them from being overrun was the fact that the chaotic melee was just as detrimental to the Anthroponies as it was for the Midnight Guard. In an instant Royal Duty went from the centre of the defensive circle to the edge when the guardspony in front of him had half of her face sheared off by a horse-headed beastman. Panicking Royal Duty lowered his head and thrust forward. He felt the Anthropony's blade just miss his head, clipping the tip of his left ear instead of cutting into his skull. Without pausing to think about his near miss with death he rammed his horn into the monster's crotch. With a squeal of pain the creature bent over double and in that instant Royal Duty span on his forehooves and bucked as hard as he possibly could. His best simply caused the monster to fall to the ground but that allowed Royal Duty to turn back to face the beast, rear up and bring his steel shod forehooves down on the creature's head. It took several tries before he had killed his attacker and several more before he realised it. When he finally realised he had slain his opponent he found that the defensive circle was around him once again and that the prince was shouting orders to everypony around him. "Bring our formations back together," Prince Blueblood yelled. "Make sure they don't get a chance to break us up again. Make sure you don't present an opening to the enemy, and for Pony God's sake make sure they don't get into the baggage train. If they take our supplies we are all dead!" He span around to two Thestrals beside him that were not currently engaged in fighting. "You two distract that abomination in the centre," he said pointing at the Hefter whose fists were coated in blood but continued to swing at everything around it. "Try to get it away from us and we can rejoin with the larger group." The two Thestrals nodded and jumped into the air. They immediately made their way to the Hefter, dodging its clumsy swings as they moved to circle around its small, apeish head. With barely a glance at one another the two trained Guards swept in simultaneously. Thin, flexible and razor sharp blades that had been attached to the front of their wings cut into the Hefter's shoulders as they flew by. The beast roared and tried to reach for them but they quickly moved out of its range before swinging around and slashing at its head. The Hefter's attention now firmly set on them, the Thestrals moved away from the centre of the path, the Hefter following after them in a blind rage. "Now!" Prince Blueblood shouted. "We have to regroup with the centre. Everypony must stick together. We can't afford to be broken up like that again. Stay close and keep you blades pointing out at all times." With the enormous Anthropony abomination now occupied the Prince's entourage scrambled over the relatively clear area that had now been made. They galloped for the largest group of Guardsponies left on the path, who had formed a rough circle around the baggage train and were now surrounded by a baying mass of twisted monsters. In front of them lay dozens of pony bodies, the remains of those who had bore the brunt of the Hefter's charge and suffered the most in the ensuing anarchy. Royal Duty felt the impact of flesh and metal as his group smashed into the rear of a knot of Anthropony warriors. The first Anthroponies to receive the full brunt of the charge were skewered on the blades of the Guardsponies. They were quickly pushed aside and trampled but the group was large and every remaining attacker was a strong and savage warrior. The charge's momentum faltered quickly in the face of so many larger and stronger opponents and quickly descended into another melee. Enraged at being assaulted from behind the rearmost of the surviving monsters spun around and brought their weapons to bear against the Midnight Guard. Royal Duty flinched as the Thestral that had stood in front of him was cut down by a gigantic abomination that pulped the pony's skull, helmet and all, with a misshapen club. Its immediate foe now dispatched the vile Anthropony turned its attention to Royal Duty. Now able to look at it more closely, Royal Duty was both repulsed and terrified by the creature that stood in front of him. The creature stood upright on hair covered legs that bent in a similar fashion to pony hindlegs. However its feet were very broad, not unlike a humans, and ended in a single broad unbroken sheath of bone that looked like a pony's hoof that had been pushed to the front of the alien appendage and then overgrown by flesh. It's body was a thick slab of muscle that somehow appeared both powerful and emaciated at the same time. One arm ended in a pony's hoof whilst the other held the Anthropony's weapon. It took barely an instant for Royal Duty to suddenly realise that the monster's other arm was it's weapon. What had probably been a hoof had been broken and twisted into a new form. It split at the start, as if trying to branch off into the fingers that it had once possessed years ago. However now it was a mangled lump of bone that jutted out in various directions from a thick knot of that was attached to the wrist. It waved its gruesome appendage around in wild arcs, the blood and gore of its previous victims flying everywhere with every swing. However it was the foul beast's face that drew Royal Duty's eyes. The right side of it's face had a pony's muzzle but this ended in the middle. The left side was stretched back, like something had tried to pull it halfway around its head. It's lips were pulled back and up by the strain of whatever had misshapen them, leaving a half-rictus grin permanently plastered on. It's left eye was also pulled across it's face until it almost reached its ear. Despite being so horribly misshapen the creature could still blink the oversized orb. The moment it's horrible eyes fell on Royal Duty, an expression of unrelenting hate grew on the nightmarish beast's face. Royal Duty lifted his heavy blade as the Anthropony swung his club-arm at him, barely catching it in time. The thick bone of the warped appendage was too dense for the sword to cut through but the beast recoiled in pain as the sword dug into the club. Royal Duty tried to swing his sword around again to finish his opponent off before he could recover but a Guardspony that had been fighting a little bit to his left knocked into him, distracting him and allowing the Anthropony to recover. All Royal Duty saw when he turned back away from the pony and towards his momentarily forgotten foe was the club-arm swinging towards him. It impacted in his side, breaking several ribs, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him several feet, out of the melee and into one of the open parts of the clearing. Royal Duty's vision swam as he struggled to orient himself. His sides screamed with pain and his breath was laboured. The pain was almost too much for him but he pulled himself to his hooves, slowly and torturously righting himself. Luckily his sword was close by, having not fallen out of his faltering telekinetic grip until he had hit the forest floor. He regained control of the blade just in time to meet the furious charge of the Anthropony that had sent him flying. The blade impacted with the club-arm just in time to prevent it caving in his skull. This time, however, it lodged in the bony appendage and, with a wild scream of pain and fury, the Anthropony ripped it out of Royal Duty's grip. The sword was immediately dislodged from the Anthropony's arm and sent flying across the clearing towards the fight where the Midnight Guard were finishing off the last of their Anthropony assailants. Emboldened by the fact that it had just disarmed it's opponent, the enraged abomination raised it's club-arm to strike at Royal Duty once again. Suddenly it realed forward when a spear was rammed into it's side by a Pegasus Guard dressed in the Prince's colours. Unfortunately this did little more than cause the monster to stagger and he immediately rounded on the Pegasus who failed to fly out of reach. The Anthropony's arm clipped the Pegasus' head and sent it crashing down into the groud. The Anthropony quickly lumbered over to the downed Pegasus. A cruel grin on it's swollen and deformed face, the beast raised one of it's grotesque feet and brought it down on the Pegasus' skull, pulping it with several mighty stomps. In that time Royal Duty took the opportunity to prepare a spell he knew would destroy the Anthropony. Building up the necessary power he quickly recited the incantation both in his head and under his breath, constantly keeping his eye on the Anthropony as he watched it finish off the unfortunate Pegasus that had come to his aid. A small pale blue sphere built up on the tip of his horn. By the time the Pegasus Guardpony had been killed the sphere was the size of an apple. Royal Duty decided the spell was sufficiently developed just in time for the Anthropony to round on him again and lift it's club-arm for another strike. With a shout of exertion Royal Duty released the spell and watched as it impacted with the Anthropony's chest. The ball burst, splattering pale blue liquid over the beast's broad muscles. At first it did little more than cause the mighty beast to pause in confusion but barely a second later the spell's effects began to take hold. The Anthropony's chest immediately began to decay, the skin withering and muscles atrophying in a fraction of a second. The liquid then began to spread, crawling over the Anthropony's body, coating it's stomach, arms and groin before moving up his neck and legs. The Anthropony tried to roar and scream but only a withering gasp escaped as his lungs and throat shrivelled and his chest collapsed in on itself. Soon the paper dry skin began to flake away, revealing desiccated flesh and black, dust dry blood. The Anthropony's deformed eyes dried up and his grotesque lips fell off as the liquid entropy finally finished covering the beast's entire body. Finally the monster's legs gave out and the dried up husk of the Anthropony fell to the floor, shattering into dusty fragments upon impact. When the Anthropony finally fell to the floor Royal Duty let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Taking several deep gulps of air, he tried to ignore the burning pain of his broken ribs. A roar of anger and pain finally alerted Royal Duty to the battle that was still going on around him. Looking to his right, in the direction of the roar, he saw the enormous Hefter finally collapse, bleeding from a dozen cuts and gushing blood from several massive gashes on his throat and wrists. One of the Thestrals that had been fighting it was clutched in the Hefter's left hand, her middle crushed by the beast's death grip. Royal Duty quickly snapped his gaze back towards the column. What he saw made his heart leap with relief. The column was reunited and was finishing off the remaining Anthroponies, the few surviving monsters turning and running further up the road. The Prince was at the centre of it all, a sword in his magical grip and blood on his blade, armour and horn. Royal Duty followed the fleeing mutants as they ran up the road they had been following and what he saw made him pause. A new group of Anthroponies, each as grotesque and deformed as the monsters they had just fought, was gathered in a cluster a few metres along the road. whilst the band of heavily armed and disgusting beasts would have been enough to worry Royal Duty it was the bizarre entity that floated above them that both grabbed his attention and made a ripple of fear run up his spine. A purple Earth Pony lazily hovered above the group, her tongue hanging out, a silly grin plastered on her face and a cutie mark in the shape of a large screw and a baseball bat on her flank. She looked right at him, her corkscrew eyes burying deep into his soul, and let out a giggle. * Screwball was so excited. Whilst she was upset to leave her sisters behind, her mummy and daddy had told her that she had her own special parties to attend, games to play and new friends to meet, and if there was anything Screwball loved it was parties, games and new friends. Apparently her sisters were being given their own parties as well, but daddy had assured her that they would all meet up again and have the time of their lives. Daddy was so much fun, he played games with her, introduced her to all of his friends and told her about the world and all the fun things that awaited her. Mummy, on the other hand, was rather silly. She kept numbering them because, unlike daddy, she always seemed to mix her and her sisters up. Silly mummy. However, Screwball never held it against her mummy and was just as happy to play with her and listen to her stories. Her Anthropony friends had been leading her on the longest game of follow the leader ever. Of course her friends had to walk like most people did but Screwball had the advantage of her magic beanie. It's great power, which was to be used for games and mischief, or so daddy had told her excitedly when he gave it to her, allowed her to fly through the air like a butterfly. They had been going for days, stopping only when they felt too hungry or sleepy to keep playing. Now she probably would have been bored had she alone played it - as she sometimes had when there was nothing else to do - but her friends just never stopped. Unfortunately the game had been the same for days now and she had started to get a bit bored by this point. It was only a few minutes ago, when she and her friends had first heard loud noises, that she had started to to grow excited. It sounded there were new people, new friends to meet and they must be playing some kind of fun game or having a party because why else would so many people be so loud? Her friends had begun to run by that point, still following the leader as they went and Screwball had followed them, flying as fast as her beanie let her. What she saw when she left the confines of the trees made her heart leap. There were dozens of her friends and hundreds of new people - or ponies she realised when she took a closer look - running around playing tag. They chased after one another, sometimes in groups, desperate to tag the other person and when the loser was tagged they fell to the floor only for another tagger to show up and chase the first group of taggers away. The moment they saw her appear in the clearing her friends ran towards. Screwball let out a happy cry of joy as they all clustered around her to give her a big group hug. She was more than happy to oblige them and soon the purple flying Earth Pony was flitting back and forth, hugging every friendly Anthropony she could reach. It was then that she noticed one of the ponies running towards her. The pony was a blue coated mare in funny metal clothing that was spiky, like a party costume. Screwballs face lit up in a giddy grin as she realised the mare must have wanted her to join in the game of tag. Screwball hovered out of the group hug with her Anthropony friends as fast as she could float and headed in the direction of the mare. The mare unfolded a pair of leathery bat wings and jumped at her, her hooves outstretched. Ready for the mare Screwball pulled to the side, avoiding the tackle. Screwball had always been good at these games and wouldn't lose that easily. Spinning around she lunged at the pony, her own hooves stretched outwards. She collided with the mare, wrapping her in a strong bear-hug. "Tag! You're it," Screwball said, and then she burst. * Royal Duty was thrown onto his back, the breath knocked out of his body. His broken ribs screamed with pain as the force caused them to grind together and press against his fragile organs. He would have panicked at the prospect of fatal internal damage but he was too distracted by the explosion that had just engulfed a good portion of the clearing. He had forgotten about the battle the moment he saw the bizarre floating mare, especially when she started enthusiastically hugging the grotesque monstrosities that clustered around her. He remembered seeing one of the prince's own Thestral guards break off to engage the group, other ponies following her as they rushed to finish off the Anthropony force. The flying Earth Pony had then rushed towards her, dodged the Thestral's spear and wrapped her in a hug. He had managed to hear the words "tag, you're it," and then the clearing had exploded. An immense purple fireball had immediately burst out from inside the bizarre Earth Pony, engulfing herself, the Thestral, all of the ponies that followed her, and every one of the surviving Anthroponies in a fiery conflagration of off-colour pink and purple flames, confetti and cake icing. The explosion had blossomed out across much of the clearing, throwing everypony it hadn't consumed down onto the ground, upturning wagons, knocking Pegasi and Thestrals out of the air and flinging those who had been too close high into the air. The fireball eventually dissipated with a whizzing pop and a final rush of hot air. The centre of the blast was a smoking crater rimmed by molten syrup whilst the edges of the were covered in more familiar burn marks as well as the remnants of whoever had been unfortunate enough to be caught by the flames. Royal Duty looked around as he propped himself up. His entire body ached, except for the parts where his injuries were worse. The feeling of his wounds, both internal and external, sent lances of excruciating pain throughout the rest of his body. His vision swam and his breath became laboured even as he looked around to what had become of his comrades. He saw that most of the column had fortunately been far enough from the blast to not be caught in it. The last of the Anthroponies had not been so lucky as they had clustered around the explosive pony before her detonation. For a moment he felt confused. He'd heard of the Resistance rigging suicidal or fanatical ponie with their explosives and then sending them to the enemy as living bombs but he had never heard of Anthroponies hiring them. What's more the purple Earth Pony had worn no visible bombs or means of detonating them and the blast had been unexpectedly weird. Groans and mutters broke out throughout the column as the other ponies pulled themselves back upright. Officers that weren't injured were issuing orders to reorganise the column. The injured were being gathered and seen to by whatever ponies knew any form of medical procedure. The cargo of supply wagons were also relocated to free up space for those amongst the wounded who could not walk. Royal Duty even let out a breath when he saw the prince walk forward, his mane and coat dirty and dishevelled and his armour a little dusty, but otherwise, fine. "Oi! We got another one!" a voice boomed right over Royal Duty's head. A team of ponies were rushing over to him with a stretcher. They scooped him into it a little roughly and carried him over to the area of the clearing that the wounded were being prepared on. It would take another half-hour before the column started moving again and Royal Duty realised in that time that he would probably be spending quite a while on the wagon. * Unknown area, remains of Great Britain. March 12th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar). He ducked and ran, dodging through the trees as he was chased by the shadowy figures. Though he was shorter than them, he was also leaner and stronger. His clothes - battered and hard wearing trousers and boots, a thin but warm jumper and a warm woolen coat - sufficed, but even they could barely keep the unnatural cold from reaching him. He didn't know what the things chasing him were, but he knew they killed. Five years ago, his mother had died to one. Two years before that, so had his father. Now he was alone - and he had survived through speed and skill... and not a small amount of luck. He dodged behind a tree, eyes wide and trying to master the fear that threatened to clog his breathing. "Alright," he murmured to himself, trying to calm himself. Fear was natural, but it was detrimental to one's ability to think rationally, and thinking rationally was what he needed to do. He could no longer feel the icy cold that always followed the creatures and a quick glance revealed that his surroundings were not beginning to coat with frost and ice. He couldn't hear anything - not the soft whispering of the ghostly figures, not the cracking of the ground beneath their feet. That was something at least. He began moving off slowly, hoping that he would be fortunate enough not to encounter any more of those things. A quick examination of his surroundings revealed that the forest had no particular defining features - nothing to separate it from anywhere else. No... that was a lie. There was something... an odd light, further in the trees. Warily, he began moving towards it: odd lights usually meant old technology that was still running, which might mean a brief stint of heat and light. Or it might mean more of the ponies - they were usually easy to kill if you surprised them, and the meat, though it tasted vile, was still meat. He dodged through the trees quickly, his movements swift and deft. Many years he had been at this, and many more were likely to come. Then he saw it. It was a stone, not like any stone he had ever seen. It was shining with some kind of an inner light, the likes of which he had never seen. It looked almost as though it had grown instead of merely being there, as though it had forced its way through the ground like a tree. Impossibly, he felt an almost irresistible pull from the stone - looking around to make sure there were no dangers, no monsters, no ponies, and none of the impossible... things that had been chasing him around. He pulled off the thin, threadbare glove that covered his right hand, and then slowly reached out to the stone... There was a flash of light, brighter than the sun, and he moved the hand to cover his eyes. When the light receded, he was no longer in the forest. Instead, he was in a cave of some sort, and his eyes widened as he realised that the entire cave seemed to be composed of the same strange stone. "Oh..." he said, eyes widening. And then a man stepped forward from the shadows. The man wore a long brown hooded robe. His head was shaven, and he had a twinkle in his bright blue eyes. A grin found it's way onto a strange, not-old but not-young face, and a skeletal hand reached out in a gesture the boy's father had taught him was one of greeting - a "hand shake". "You must be Christopher," the man said in a strange, reedy voice, full of mirth. It felt strange hearing the name again. "My name is Merlin. I'm glad you're here." "W... why am I here?" Christopher asked. "That," this 'Merlin' said, not lowering his hand, "is a long story. Come with me, and I'll explain." Looking at the hand for a moment, full of uncertainty, Christopher considered the offer, but then he realised that - whether this being was a threat or not - he didn't have any alternative: there was no exit to this place that he could see, and he didn't even know by what means he had come here. Slowly, he reached out hand and grasped Merlin's. ***
The Avatar of Albion: When We Needed Him Most	Chapter Five: Wheels In Motion	Chapter Five - Wheels In Motion By RoyalPsycho and Jed R. Unknown area, Burmare. March 12th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar). True Path stood on a rocky promontory that lay over the jungle paths her armies were marching through. Her scouts had discovered the trail that led up to it and reported it to her due to the possibility it may have allowed an enemy force to stage an ambush. After they found it simply led up to the rock that she now stood upon they had disregarded it. She, however, had wanted to visit it. She knew she wasn't supposed to act in this manner but she couldn't deny herself the minor pleasure of standing over her troops and watching as they filed by. Standing over her army True Path swelled with pride. Here was the might of the proletariat, the Ponies Liberation Army, righteous iron fist of the workers and the oppressed, marching forth to topple the tyranny and anarchy around them. She continued to stand over her forces, watching as the serried ranks of Ponies Guard marched past her. The thin path had forced the massive army to thin its ranks and spread itself out which meant the column now snaked back through the mountain path for many miles. A few of the marching ponies stole glances in her direction but immediately averted their gaze when they noticed she was watching them. True Path stood on her impromptu plinth for another minute before turning around. She looked back at her guard detail. Most of them had the same unthinking expression but there were a few who had dropped the mask of stoicism and showed mild concern, whether for her safety or her ideological integrity, she didn't know. "We're heading back to the column," True Path declared with authority. She pushed past her guards and headed back to the path they had taken to the rock. The trip back to the main column was as uneventful as the journey to the impromptu plinth she had just left. Her guards did as they were supposed to and remained silent, stoic and vigilant. True Path knew she shouldn't be concerned but she often felt their eyes boring into her and the weight of their constant glares terrified her in a way she couldn't really describe. It didn't take that long for her to make it back to the long line of marching ponies. Citizen's Guard, the mainstay of the glorious Ponies Liberation Army steadily tramped past her, their dull grey uniforms hidden under the sparse leather padding and scale mail armour that protected them. Sturdy spears were strapped to their sides, angled upwards in parade position in order to prevent injury. Others carried banners depicting the plain red flag adorned with a black hammer and lightning bolt that was the Ponies State flag. True Path watched the waving spearheads that bobbed and swayed like grass in the wind. She had grown up around such sights, and even to this day she found the sight of the Ponies State's war-machine eerily fascinating. The stoicism, the discipline and the zeal that everypony in uniform possessed was something she thought should be both admired and emulated. A few steps behind the ranked ponies came an enormous contraption. It was vaguely shaped like a pony but made largely out of metal. Gears and gyros whirred and clicked as they ground together with every movement the immense beast made. At the centre of the mechanical monstrosity was a series of iron pads and bands, overlapping the machinery that held the iron beast together. Inside the sphere of metal, visible through the slits purposefully left between the metal sheets, was part of a pony. It's limbs had been removed, its hair had been shaved off all over its body and various pipes and tubes fed into every orifice but the poor soul's eyes. What's more great ports had been carved into its body, ports that, whilst covered by metal and thick glass, revealed the pony's heavily altered internal organs to the world. This was a Workhorse, one of the miraculous creations of the Ponies State and a fitting punishment for minor dissidents. True Path stared into the glassy, unresponsive eyes of the Helping Horse as it slowly thundered down the jungle path. She knew and supported the measures that went into creating such a wretched beast but, all the same, she couldn't help but feel a bit of revulsion at the sight of the abomination at the heart of the mighty working engine. Barely a few paces behind the Workhorse came the various forms of Enhanced Enforcers, a veritable parade of freaks and monsters, ponies who had given their bodies to the state in a way that no ordinary pony could. The alchemical concoctions that had given the formerly simple ponies mastery over immense powers were barely being contained by their heavily altered bodies. The Firestarters, proud symbols of the revolution, those who bathed the icons of oppression in righteous flame, seemed to be on the verge of exploding. The massive, fully-enclosing iron boilers suits they wore were constantly venting steam and flame and no few times they had been forced to stop to set a part of the jungle alight in order to burn off excess heat. A unit of such ponies clanked past her, their footfalls loud even amongst the cacophony of the moving army. "Comrade," a voice began behind her. True Path turned around to see one of her guards was addressing her. "Yes," she absently replied, still eyeing the procession of Enhanced Enforcers climbing the rise behind them. "Not that I would presume to give you orders over your own self Comrade but we really must rejoin the column. The officers would surely be expecting new orders soon." The guard finished his suggestion with a slightly sheepish expression as he awkwardly phrased his request to her. True Path mulled over his words before nodding slightly. "Very well Comrade. Come we should be able to reach the head of the column with ease." With that she turned and marched along the edge of the marching army, skirting their formations as she made her way to the front, her guards warily following behind her. * Colton, Ponland. March 13th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar) Royal Duty winced as his long set but only recently healed bones ground together on his side. As a member of the prince's entourage he had been declared a priority recipient of medical attention. By this point his bones merely ached slightly and his head no longer felt light and dizzy. The column had sustained serious losses, not only due to the Anthropony ambush but also the aftermath where several ponies had been triaged due to untreatable wounds. Whatsmore the loss of their scouts, presumably to the Anthroponies, had left what remained of the column especially vulnerable. This meant any available ponies that had military experience and were not immediately needed to service the column had been drafted for scouting duty. Royal Duty had soon found himself on that very list of available ponies. Of course he hadn't been posted to any sensitive reconnaissance missions as he had absolutely no experience in serious scouting or stealth. However he and his small unit of Midnight Guard had found themselves passing by an Imperial settlement whilst doing their rounds. Now he was on the ground, belly scraping the forest floor as he and his comrades peered over the edge of a rise and into the clearing where the settlement was nestled. He didn't know its name but it was a sizable town, surrounded by a sturdy wooden palisade with several towers. The houses were all built in the usual rural Equestrian style but whoever had organised the town's construction had the foresight to build it so that all of the town's buildings rose in height as they approached the town centre. This was a perfect layout to provide safe firing positions for Unicorns and other ranged defenders. Of course the town was less interesting than what was marching into it. Royal Duty and his scouting party had spotted the Royal Guard force approaching the town about ten minutes after they had reached their current position. They had stayed to ascertain the enemy's numbers and whether they would be a threat to the column. It was a little difficult to guess the number of ponies from so far away but Twirlie, a young Earth Pony mare with surprisingly good eyesight had reported close to three hundred Guardsponies so far. What's more they had a couple of Magecannon crews and even a battery of Arcguns. Royal Duty had swallowed audibly at the thought of the immense magic cannon batteries that had become infamous for their varieties of alchemically charged shots and ability to devastate nearly any foe with a single volley. If the Royal Guard were deploying those kinds of weapons here then that meant they were planning something serious. "We've got something else coming," Twirlie whispered from Royal Duty's left. "What?" Royal Duty hissed back. "Y'see the back of that column there?" Twirlie pointed to where another regiment of Guardsponies were exiting the thick woods. "Yeah," Royal Duty replied. "Something's disturbing the trees behind them," Twirlie whispered. Sure enough the trees the column was marching out of were shaking, dislodging birds and setting them to flight. "Whatever it is," she continued, "it's big." The group continued to watch in silence, seeing several hundred more Guardsponies march out of the trees and into the town, the disturbance behind them creeping closer as they arrived. Finally the trees parted, forced outwards as the massive object that had been following the Guards was revealed. "Well buck me," Twirlie whispered to herself. It was an immense tower. It hovered just above the ground, propelled by glowing runes carved into the base of the structure. the tower was covered in alcoves, small shrines and galleries, balconies ran along the sides, spiralling up to the crown of the tower. Engravings of Solamina were everywhere as were facial busts, and small statues, all of them depicting her as a regal figure of judgment and power. At the top was a much larger statue of her seating in repose, a cold expression on the statue's face. The wings were folded but the magical aura surrounding it made it imposing and intimidating enough, being attached to the massive hovering edifice enhanced that. Several ponies were climbing up and down it whilst an armoured Unicorn dressed in the red and gold livery of the Solaminan Church sat in a central balcony at the 'front' of the tower directed it with his magic. A great cheer broke out in the town as the local ponies witnessed the arrival of the tower. "A Solar Altar," Royal Duty said to himself, running his hoof over his forehead in distress. The mere mention of such a weapon usually gave members of the Rebellion pause, seeing it was enough to almost make him give up. The power of the Altars affected those who saw it. The devout found their wounds healed and their resolve strengthened whilst its enemies were struck with fear and doubt. "If the Church is sending those things out then we're really in for it," another pony in the group said. "Come on," Royal Duty said, "we've seen enough. We need to report this. This town is off limits no matter what happens. I don't care if we have to trek south for miles to get around it we're not getting an inch closer than we already are." "Yes sir," the rest of the group replied and they all picked themselves up and turned their backs on the settlement. * Unknown area, Germareny. March 13th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar). Magnus took several deep, practiced breaths as he sat in the clearing he had arranged to meet the rest of his cohorts in. It had taken several days for the messages to be sent out and received and every second wasted had made him restless. Of course there was little he could do about it. Every one of his agents and close confidants had been spread throughout the prince's domain and gathering them together again was a chore that had to be done. "You're early," he suddenly said. A light chuckle entered the clearing from behind him. "You know," a voice followed shortly afterwards, "you really have to tell me how you do that." A charcoal black Pegasus with a dark green mane and tail stepped from behind Magnus. He was wearing black filigreed armour decorated with the purple trimming and batwing motifs of the Midnight Guard. His helmet was strapped to the left side of his barding and there was a sword strapped to the right. "I don't think you would be capable of figuring it out even if I told you," Magnus replied with a straight face. "Ouch," the Pegasus said in response, a smirk on his face. "You're the first," Magnus stated. "Nice of you to join me so soon Hot Shot." Hot Shot's smirk grew and he pulled his head back, striking a mocking version of a regal pose. "Oh I merely aim to please," he said, placing a hoof on his barrel. "And I am pleased with your punctuality," Magnus replied before returning to a look of contemplation. Hot Shot deflated slightly as he realised he wasn't going to get much of a conversation out of his comrade this time. Seating himself on a rock a few metres away from Magnus he prepared for a session of contemplative self-reflection and boredom. It was a shame really, once Magnus got going he could be a delight to be with, morbid, but a delight for those who shared his predilections. The two sat in silence, Magnus staring into the distance whilst Hot Shot played with his hooves to entertain himself. "Someone else is approaching," Magnus suddenly stated, stirring from his silent state. Hot Shot wasn't surprised by what Magnus said, having known his uncanny ability to know when people were coming to him, at least when he wanted them to. He was much more surprised at the fact that Magnus had actually spoken. What also surprised him was the black-clad Earth Pony mare that had suddenly materialised in the clearing with them. Hot Shot gave a cry of shock and dismay at the figure who had just materialised - right next to him no less - and fell off of the rock he had just been seated on. "Nice of you to join us Black Shroud," Magnus greeted the mare, blinking in surprise despite himself. Even when he knew she would be arriving she had managed to sneak up on him. Black Shroud, an Earth Pony with a grey coat and ashen mane, all wrapped in several tight fitting layers of dark cloth and specially made fibre, nodded in return. "A pleasure," she said in a deceptively demure tone before gracefully sitting down on the rock Hot Shot had just vacated and taking out a hidden knife to inspect. The group once again returned to silence, Magnus staring into the opposite end of the clearing, Black Shroud contemplating one of her secreted weapons and Hot Shot glancing back and forth for any possibility of a conversation. "Ah, for Luna's sake I'm gonna go crazy if I have to sit here any longer!" Hot Shot shouted, flinging his forelegs into the air in frustration. "It's only been five minutes since Black Shroud joined us," Magnus said, taking his eyes off of the tree mould he had been trying to bore a hole into with his stare. "Besides, Commander Doo has yet to arrive." "Dinky's coming?" Hot Shot asked, mildly surprised, "I didn't think she'd ever want to leave the front." "She didn't,"Magnus stated, "but the prince authorised me to requisition whatever and whomever I needed and she was first on my list of required personnel." "I can't imagine she'd be happy with that," Black Shroud quietly said, almost startling Hot Shot. She had remained quiet since she had arrived and the sound of her voice still unsettled the Pegasus somewhat. "No she wouldn't," Magnus agreed, a barely noticeable smile on his face. The group returned to their silence once again, none of the ponies in the clearing really looking at one another anymore. Once again Magnus raised his head and took his eyes away from the opposite end of the clearing. Looking at the other ponies with him he stated, "She's here." A second later a Unicorn mare entered the clearing. She had a dim purple coat and a blonde mane and tail. She wore Midnight Guard armour, decorated with the insignia of the officer elite. What was most striking about her, however, was the massive jagged scar that ran down the left half of her face. Her left eye was gone, ruptured by whatever strike had given her the scar, and was covered by a ragged eyepatch. She nodded at the ponies in the clearing when she realised they had noticed her. "Commander Dinky," Hot Shot exclaimed excitedly, "you've finally made it. How'ya doing?" The glum Unicorn mare gave a small smile in response. "I'm fine, thanks." "Ah, Commander," Magnus said, turning to face Dinky, "I'm so glad you could join us. It appears you are the last of us to arrive. With you here we can finally begin our work." He stood up and waved his hoof in the direction of another path that lay on the other end of the clearing. "Now I have gathered all of you here for a special mission, ordered by his highness himself," Magnus addressed the other ponies, speaking with a dour seriousness. "Understood, sir," every other pony in the clearing responded. An air of professionalism descended on the group, stern expressions growing on their faces. "Very good," Magnus replied to them, looking them in their faces, "I will inform you of the details of our mission when we return to Castle Midnight." With that he set off down the other path. "Yes sir," the others said. They in turn followed after the dark Unicorn, ready to engage in whatever activities the Rebellion would now require of them. * Canterlot. March 13th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar) The Canterlot Basilica was one of the most imposing and glorious sights in the Empire. Unlike the city proper which was primarily based on the Canterhorn Plateau, the Basilica clung to the mountain's side, the foundation built deep into the rock. Like Canterlot itself the Basilica was built of pure white marble and capped by beautifully crafted golden and purple roofs and domes. The massive structure was connected to the capital by a mile long road that curved around the mountain and attached itself to the equally massive city. Even though she had seen the complex before and even had a hoof in building it, Twilight couldn't deny that she found the sight of the Basilica's huge domed chambers and high towers impressive. Walking along the ramp she admired the many statues of sanctified ponies who had performed some great task for Solamina and had thus been immortalised in stone. They were all placed at regular intervals, often to help serve as a decorative support for the lamps that lined the road. She had almost paused at the beginning of the ramp when she saw the massive stone form of Shining Armor standing proudly over the gate. The simple sight of a carved image of his face brought back memories and reminded her of how much she had lost in the last few years. Behind him were other heroes of the Empire, some living, but mostly dead. Trying to maintain a passive expression, Twilight studied each one of them as she passed by, wondering if she would become one of these statues when she finally died. There were hundreds of other ponies walking beside her. Aside from her own Archmagi detail there were also Church agents and countless pilgrims walking back and forth, some going into the Basilica, some coming out of it. Finally she reached the end of the several mile long ramp and turned her attention back to the building in front of her. A brigade of False Alicorns stood at the central gate. The regal ponies were dressed in filigreed golden armour decorated with the sun symbol of the Empire and litanies of the faith. They all bore the kind of stoic expressionless look that the Royal Guard were trained to wear and regarded Twilight and her entourage with practised indifference. Twilight walked past them, never once looking their way. In the early days of the False God Project she had personally overseen every single conversion that had transformed brave pony volunteers into the resplendent beings that now served as the shock troops of the Empire. Now, however, the process was conducted by more specialised personnel, allowing her to return to her studies. Of course many of the other visitors were not so indifferent. Countless ponies stood to ogle the beatific creatures that stood before them, marvelling at their poise and stoicism. They were Solamina's adopted children and to be in their presence was to be that little bit closer to Her. The inside of the Basilica was no less impressive or extravagant than it's opulent exterior. Deep red painted walls rose to the beautifully carved vaulted ceilings. frescos and murals depicting Solamina and her countless great and historic acts as Empress were everywhere as were statues of the Empress and her sanctified followers. Twilight forced her way through the crowds of pilgrims, the other ponies moving out of her way the moment they recognised her. This made the harrowing journey through the maze-like complex much quicker and easier. Through it all Twilight kept a look of quiet professionalism, politely acknowledging the other ponies but not truly engaging or recognizing them. Her journey through the Basilica was a long and trying one as she wandered through countless passages, every square inch of the structure idolizing Solamina in some fashion. Red and gold was everywhere as if the Church were trying to monopolise the two colours for their own purposes. It almost appeared tasteless and the ostentatiousness of the Church put off the somewhat more practical mare. Finally she came to a great chamber. The room was a quarter of a mile in diameter and dominated by a golden statue of Solamina that wouldn't have looked out of place on an Imperial Super-Zeppelin. Around it were circular rows of pews that rose up from the center of the room in tiers until they reached the elevated wings. At each seat was a robed pony, official supplicants sending pure prayers to their goddess. Twilight's eyes swept the room as she sought out one specific pony from amongst the crowd. Not that far in front of her, standing in the lowest row of pews, right in front of the statue of Solamina, was a brown Pegasus with a dirty green mane and tail. He was large for his kind, forgoing the lean muscular builds that were more common amongst Pegasi for a bulkier muscle mass that was more likely to be found in the Earth Pony population. His body was covered by an ornate saddle of red and gold that had a red caparison attached under it. Since blessed Sol Invictus' death this pony had been the Supreme Patriarch of the Solaminan Church, a position of supreme importance that only the most pious and responsible of ponies were permitted to fill. Twilight walked down the avenue between the pews until she was right behind the pony. " "Father Eagle Eye," she said in amiable tone, "I'd like to have a word with you. If it's not too much trouble right now?" Twilight might have had mixed feelings about the Church, but she knew she needed to be polite if she wanted to keep the conversation civil. "Ah, Commander Sparkle," the Pegasus, Eagle Eye, said as he turned to look at her, "what can I do for you on this blessed day our Empress has provided for us?" "It is, admittedly, a rather difficult issue," Twilight said as she pulled the proclamation Solamina had given her out of her own robes. "Due to the escalation of conflict in the colonies, Her majesty has expanded the Empire's military mobilisation. In order to support our war effort she has commanded that the Church deploy the entirety of its own armed forces in cooperation with the Royal Guard." Finishing her own practiced proclamation, she handed the scroll to the priest. Eagle Eye took the scroll in his hoof and opened it, spending several awkward minutes reading the words intently. "Well everything does appear to be in order," he replied, looking Twilight in the eye. "Thank you, my child. We shall begin preparing our warriors immediately. The enemies of Her majesty and blessed ponykind shall feel the wrath of the faithful." He turned away from her and looked over the rest of the chamber. Twilight was, admittedly, surprised that it had been so simple. "BROTHERS AND SISTERS!" He shouted, his voice echoing throughout the entire room. "HER MAJESTY HAS GIVEN US A MISSION! WE ARE TO MUSTER THE FAITHFUL, TAKE UP OUR WEAPONS AND BRING HER HOLY FIRE TO THE HERETIC AND THE MUTANT!" In an instant concerned mutterings and shouted proclamations replaced the prayers as ponies scrambled back and forth to carry the news throughout the Basilica. "Thank you Father," Twilight said as Eagle Eye turned to regard her once again. "I will be your liaison with the Guard. I will expect regular reports from you and your forces so that I can coordinate them with the Guard's forces." "Very well Commander," Eagle Eye said, his stance now much straighter, mimicking the Guards stoic poise. "Excellent," Twilight replied, happy that everything had gone so smoothly, "thank you again." With that she turned around, signaling her Archmagi to follow her as she left the chamber. The Church's armies would definitely provide the Empire with an edge, she could only hope that they had learned to be more organised and effective than their predecessors, the Equestrian Militia. Now all she had to do was wait for their logistic reports and she could really start organising the war effort. * Filleapolis. New Equestria. March 14th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar) Penelope Hatfield scowled as she looked down at the pony city of Filleapolis. Ever since her lord Discord had announced that they were going to war properly she had been teleported back and forth around the world so that she could observe the war effort. Of course, while the prospect of leading her Anthroponies in battle and actually making a difference was exhilarating, the reality had been a far more harrowing experience. She hadn't needed to fight in every engagement she witnessed but that wasn't the problem. It was that fact that she hadn't been able to stay in one place for anything more than a few hours. Was settling down to sleep for a day or two too much to ask? Of course none of that mattered now. She was in New Equestria, the former United States of America and one of the more populous Solaminan colonies. Apparently the North American continent, or Amareica as the ponies now insisted on calling it, reminded them of their home country. A mile in front of her was the vast city of Filleapolis, a thriving and successful settlement, and it was surrounded by thousands of Anthroponies. A horde of thousands of malformed monsters crowded around the city walls, swinging weapons and limbs, baying for pony blood and screaming in a dozen different languages from around the old, human, world. Dozens of drums were being beaten by insanely enthusiastic Anthroponies who set an energetic beat that riled every creature around them into a frenzy. Ladders had been set up against the walls and those Anthroponies with working limbs were clambering up them. Unicorn spellfire and wall-mounted artillery were shot into the horde, downing Anthroponies with every shot, so massive was the host. Foul, shrieking Harpies and Terra Devils, foul winged monsters, composed of a variety of humanoid and equine body parts, flocked the skies above the city, battling with the Pegasi of the Solaminan Empire. A swarm of horrifically malformed Twisted, creatures that had been horrible broken and warped by the spells that had changed them into what they were, clustered around a charging Hefter. The massive abomination held a tree trunk in its disproportionately large and ape-like arms, swinging it like a club. The Hefter came up to the reinforced gate and swung the club at it. The wood creaked but failed to buckle. Enraged by the structure's defiance, the Hefter roared and hammered its club on the door again, this time earning a few cracks in the enchanted wood. Ponies manning the gate rained magical shots down on the huge beast. The Hefter's hair and fur ignited as magical flames lit its body on fire. The huge monster roared in pain, dropping its club and ran from the gate in a panic. The Twisted tried to scatter but the press of the rest of the army and their own malformed and vestigial limbs slowed them down. Dozens were crushed or mauled by the Hefter as it rampaged through its former comrades until it finally collapsed from shock and slowly expired. "Well," Discord said as he hovered just behind her, his voice somewhat flippant in tone, "looks like that didn't go so well." Penelope shot him another glare, her bat-like wings extending in rage. Discord raised an eyebrow at her display. "You gonna have a crack it?" he asked, obviously goading her into battle. "I don't see why you wouldn't help." "Do you think so?" Penelope replied with a sneer, her tone forcibly level. "Yeah." Discord said, nudging her pinions with his tail. "Go ahead. Show them what you've got." Penelope stepped forward, revealing herself to the army. To the twisted, degraded monstrosities that made up her army she was the closest to human. Her body had barely any equine features, with the exception of her elongated, horse-like ears and every one of her limbs was not only identical but properly proportioned. However her features were still off. Her limbs and fingers were too slender and long and her eyes were too large. What's more her skin still possessed the pinkish tint that she had possessed as a pony. Whatever spell she had chosen to reverse the ponification had done further changes to her as well. While she had returned to a human form her Unicorn horn had remained jutting from her forehead whilst massive, bat wings had burst out of her back. The entire change had filled her with unfathomable power, making her stronger than any of her kind. However none of this had been able to fix the eternally painful gnawing sensation inside of her very being. To any other creature who saw her, she would have looked like some terrifying demonic monster. However when the Anthropony horde turned to look at her they cheered and roared in celebration. A grimace of anger and disgust spread over Penelope's face as she locked eyes on the gateway. Opening her mouth impossibly wide she let out an inhuman screech and leapt into the air, beating her wings so that she shot high over the rear lines of the army. Leaping high over the Anthroponies she landed directly in the middle of the host and took off running at the gate. Terrified beasts ducked out of her way as she unrelentingly sprinted for the offending obstacle before her. The ponies manning the gateway panicked when they finally saw her coming and redirected their fire at her. Magical shots were sent in her direction in hail of magical missiles. Most of them missed but several struck her body. However instead of doing damage they simply slid off of her body, the magical energy steaming into nothing as if the heat of her anger was evaporating it. Screeching again, Penelope channeled energy into her arms. Her horn lit up as magical power was funneled out of it and down over her arms until it pooled into her hands. By the time she was barely a few metres from the door her hands were glowing with red hot flames. The fire then spread from her hands and back up her arms and onto her body until she was appeared like a living bolt of fire. "Shoot her!" Penelope heard as she closed in on the gate, sprinting as fast as she could. She struck the gate with a cataclysmic bang and burst right through it, the overtaxed enchantments on the wood and metal detonating violently. With her magic strengthening her body, she ran through the splintered wood, through the reinforcing barricades and into a large group of panicked Guardsponies, crushing their armour and pulping the flesh underneath with the sheer force of her entrance. Roars of triumph followed behind her as dozens of angry Anthroponies followed her. Not wasting a second Penelope leapt back into the air, spreading her wings to maintain altitude, and unleashed the final remnants of the fiery energy in her hands. Several Guardsponies exploded from the volatile energy she had struck them with, tearing several more holes in their ruined formation. Anthroponies flooded into the courtyard beyond the gate and overwhelmed the Solaminan forces sent to stop them. Some ran up the stairways leading to the walls, crashing into the ponies trying to stop the Anthroponies manning ladders and slaughtering them. Penelope wheeled around and shot back down into the courtyard, crushing another pony beneath her feet as she landed and then laid into the Guardsponies that surrounded her with her powerful fists, crushing bone and clawing through flesh with every strike. When there were no more opponents running towards her and all she could find were Anthroponies she finally stopped moving and stood still, her back bent as she placed her hands on her thighs and her chest heaving from the previous exertion. "So?" a familiar flippant voice cackled in her ear. "Feeling better?" "Fuck you, Lord Discord," Penelope said wearily as she straightened back up and turned to find the grinning Draconequus floating next to her. He turned to give a more serious appraisal of the carnage around him before turning back to her. "Now, now dearie," he said, a frilly bonnet appearing on his head in a flash, "you should really watch your language. What would the children think?" At his words a group of purple Earth Pony mares lazily floated through the gate, every one of them giggling as they spun and pirhoueted in the air. Penelope sighed as the Screwballs hovered over to her and gave her a hug, every one of them wrapping their forearms around a different part of her body. She nuzzled the one that had clasped itself onto her chest and cooed at it. "Well then," Discord suddenly said enthusiastically, clapping his claws together, "come on kiddies we've got a lot of work to do." He flew off leisurely. The Screwballs detached themselves from their mother and took off after him, squealing in joy at the possibilities of more fun. Soon enough Penelope was alone with only a few of the more insane Twisted left in the courtyard with her. She took a moment to regard the pitiful creatures as they gnawed on the bodies of the dead. Penelope sighed yet again and took off, beating her wings so that she could see the section of wall immediately by the shattered gate. Her people were overrunning the closest portions but the Solaminan Guardsponies were rallying. If they lost the gate her forces would be trapped but if she took the walls then her warriors could sack the city that much faster. Penelope shot towards where the thickest of Guardsponies were clustered, eager to tear them apart. After all, this was merely the start of her new war. A war that would end with Solamina's head in her claws and her blood decorating her body.
The Avatar of Albion: When We Needed Him Most	Chapter Six: Getting Information	Chapter Six - Getting Information By RoyalPsycho and Jed R New Krakhoof, Ponland. March 18th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar) Prince Blueblood tried to make sure his eye didn't visibly twitch as he looked over the reports he had been sent. The sudden increase in Solaminan military presence had set him back by several days and the detour had taken them through a particularly wild patch of forest. It had been days since he had been able take a decent bath and despite his better judgment he felt ready to scream at somepony to let out his frustrations. His own personal hygiene aside, the Empire's activities alone were almost enough to drive him to pull his mane out. In front of him were all of his attendants, adjutants, officers and anypony else responsible for the column's organisation. They filled his tent both with their bodies and their endless bickering. Few of them were able to agree on any decisions by themselves. "If we don't find a replacement wheel for the aft wagon we'll have to abandon it," one of his various camp followers stated. Breakdowns had become much more common since they had been forced to detour around the increasingly prevalent Imperial presence. "We don't have any more replacements with us," another pony said, "we either abandon it..." Various ponies exploded in anger and indignation at the statement, but the pony continued regardless. "Or we nail the spoke with a simple brace." "Yeah that'll work," one of the weary adjutants said in a sarcastic tone. "For a few miles - then it'll break again and be that much weaker the next time we take your advice and patch it up." "Well maybe we could try and find some new replacements in Krakhoof," another pony cautiously suggested, which led to even louder exclamations from several other ponies in the room. Finally tired of the endless arguments, Blueblood rapped his hoof on the foldable table that lay in front of him. It took nearly a minute of endless tapping before every pony in the tent settled down to regard their prince. Sighing heavily, Blueblood lifted his head to look everypony in the eye. "I've made a decision," he said simply. "I have been listening to as many of your concerns as possible, and I've finally decided what we'll do about all of... this." He waved his hand over the various papers that gave a depressive report of their situation. "Our liaison is in the city of Krakhoof," he began, several ponies giving satisfied smiles at his words whilst others grimaced slightly. "Therefore we will seek our supplies there. However we will be discreet, and our top priority will remain meeting with our contact." * Royal Duty took several deep breaths as the tent erupted into noise once again. None of them were questioning the prince's decision now. Instead they were discussing the best way to go about obtaining supplies from Krakhoof, how to defend their current encampment and make the most of their existing resources. He himself had been taking notes, his quill rapidly scratching a rough, shorthand scrawl as he kept track of as many details as possible. He was trying to gather as much information as he possibly could about his peers and superiors, trying to gauge their moods, their motivations, their general dispositions. "Royal Duty!" The young Unicorn's head shot up as he heard the prince's voice cut through the general bustle of the tent. He immediately made his way through the huddling ponies, taking care not to bump or upset any of them until he stood before Prince Blueblood. "Your highness," he said with a slightly bow of his head. "Glad to see you're attentive," Prince Blueblood replied as he regarded the young adjutant. He had found the Unicorn to be useful and diligent enough, a decent addition to his entourage and somepony who hadn't let down Magnus' recommendation yet. "Thank you, your highness," Royal Duty replied nervously, waiting for his prince to finally tell him what he wanted of him. "To put things simply," Blueblood began, "I want you to liaise with our contact with the Resistance." Royal Duty's eyes widened in surprise. "Your highness?" he said questioningly. "Apologies, but what do you mean?" Blueblood smirked, bemused by his new adjutant's reaction. "I mean," he said, "that I want you to meet with the agent the Resistance has planted in Krakhoof and recruit her." He gazed deeply down onto Royal Duty, gauging his reaction. Aware that he was being evaluated, Royal Duty straightened up and fixed a determined look on his face. "As you command, your highness," he said with as much confidence as he could muster. "Excellent," Blueblood said with a smile, "According to our sources she is based at the Tipping Wagon, a small inn somewhere on Sunshine Street in the eastern residential quarter. You will be looking for a light pink Unicorn with a magenta and teal mane, most likely working as one of the serving mares. She will know who you are by the code phrase 'It looks like it will be a dark night tonight'. If she replies with 'Yes. There are likely to be long shadows' then you will know it is her." Royal Duty ran the two phrases over and over in his head, memorising them. "Understood, your highness. I will just go and prepare and then leave with the supply runners." * New Krakhoof. Ponland. March 18th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar) Krakhoof wasn't exactly a vibrant metropolis when compared to the major cities of the Empire but in Mareope, it was one of the grander settlements. Like most cities on the continent it was surrounded by a sturdy wall that kept out the various threats that had also populated the Mareopean Continent and had several fortified citadels for the ponies to retreat to should an attack take place. Of course the city inside of the walls was a bit more typical of the Empire. It had the homely form of architecture that many Equestrians were fond of with an imperial touch to it. The slender Canterlotian towers couldn't be found here and instead were replaced by more practical highrises reminiscent of Manehatten skyscrapers. Royal Duty tried to keep a low profile. He had shed his uniform and replaced it with a more generic brown cloak and saddlebags requisitioned from some of the camp followers. He had separated from the supply runners just before they had left the shelter of the woods, hanging back whilst the teams of ponies and their small wagons went on ahead. Having been raised under the gothic shadow of the Midnight Castle and lived within the somewhat morbid city that sheltered at it's feet, Royal Duty found the brighter aesthetic of Krakhoof to be mildly alien. As he passed through the gate he tried to maintain a look of innocence, only idly gazing at the guards and defences that watched over the main gate into the city. That wall was nearly four metres thick and the gateway showed they had spared no expense in reinforcing it. Royal Duty noted there were two separate portcullises and a number of murder holes all of which protected the massive enchanted doors that would have barred entrance into Krakhoof itself. Making his way through the gateway he finally entered the city proper. Whoever had built Krakhoof had planned it accordingly as a wide avenue immediately led from the gate into the heart of the city. Orienting himself so that he was facing east, Royal Duty tried to find a sign that would help lead him to the eastern sector. * Sunshine Street wasn't exactly that extravagant an avenue. It was only a few metres wide and the poorer quality of the houses and other buildings revealed the class of ponies it was built to cater towards. Royal Duty casually trotted down the street, trying to remain aware of his surroundings without appearing suspicious. He had seen plenty of guards on patrol but thankfully his disguise was working. It appeared Krakhoof got enough travellers for them to develop a rather loose attitude towards traffic from the countryside. Whilst the architecture was still rather unfamiliar he easily recognised the sounds and smells of the city. The entire experience was comforting to him, especially after so many days camping in the wilderness. Turning his attention back to his mission he tried to find the Tipping Wagon. The street seemed to be some kind of visitors sector, with cheap hotels, pubs and travelers inns dotting the area. There were ponies in travelling gear wandering back and forth, checking prices and taking account of their expenses. The entire thing helped him blend in and avoid suspicion. Eventually he found an inn with a sign that showed a wagon on its side, The Tipping Wagon written underneath in a large yellow font. Smiling slightly at his discovery, Royal Duty walked up to the inn. He was careful to make sure that he didn't appear too anxious to get inside. Whilst there were plenty of travellers walking in and out of the building his actions would look very suspicious if he wasn't careful. The Tipping Wagon was a rather simple inn. There were plenty of tables and chairs spread around the room with a bar at the other end and a flight of stairs on the right end wall. wanting to blend in, Royal Duty set off to one of the corner tables, taking an empty seat and sitting down to plan his next move. A young Pegasus mare, little more than a filly, trotted up to him, a tray with several empty pewter cups balanced between her wings. "D'you want anything?" she asked cheerily. "Uh, water, thank you," Royal Duty said carefully, "I'm parched." He smiled in what he hoped was a nonchalant and disarming fashion. "Right y'are," the mare responded and set off for the bar. Settling into his seat, he then went through his saddle bag. He had packed some basic supplies, a blanket, a rollable sleeping mat, a few water skins and a large dagger, all traveller's gear. However sequestered away was a book, 'Virtues of the Kingdom'. The book had been a gift from his father when he was a colt and detailed the history behind Equestria's moral principles and ethics. It wasn't illegal but the book wasn't exactly popular either in the modern empire. To most, if they knew it even existed, the book was considered a niche philosophical text, made even more unpopular by the fact that it was also very dense. Royal Duty had been forced to read and reread it until he understood the jumble of words that were printed on each page. However his father had insisted he become a learned stallion and Royal Duty had later discovered that if he wanted to be a Necromancer he had to be well read. Therefore he had persevered and whilst the actual philosophy still escaped him at times he found the history behind the virtues and their embodiments fascinating. "You like reading?" a voice suddenly said. Royal Duty looked up from the book and saw a light pink Unicorn mare with a magenta and teal mane standing in front of him. She had a tray similar to the previous serving mare's in her magical grip and she wore a fairly flippant expression. "Uh...yes," Royal Duty said, unsure of what to make of the mare. Was this his contact? How was he supposed to recite the code-phrase without it sounding weird and suspicious? "That looks like a thick read," the mare continued, "we don't normally get ponies that interested in reading. Are you some kind of teacher or something?" "Oh no, no," Royal Duty replied, waving his free hoof and smiling slightly, "I'm a student of sorts. just looking for a place to stay while I go south." "We don't get many students," the mare said with an inquisitive smirk, "you new in Krakhoof? You don't sound like a local." "Oh no, I'm from Trottingham, originally anyways" Royal Duty replied as he cobbled together a story, "I've been spending most of my time in Marelin in Germareny. I'm just going down to Hoothens to see some relatives." The mare puffed her cheeks as she let out a long sigh in surprise. "Whooah, that's a long way to go. A bit dangerous too these days. I've heard there's all kinds of stuff roaming the forests now. You can't be too careful." "Yeah," Royal Duty then said, spotting an opportunity to test her, "It looks like it will be dark tonight. Can't be too careful." To his disappointment the mare didn't show any sign of recognising the phrase. Then a second later she spoke. "Yes. There are likely to be long shadows. Best to find somewhere safe." She winked at him. "My room's the third one on the left. Meet me there in an hour." Royal Duty blinked slightly and then nodded to her. Winking again she set off into the crowd to return the tray to the bar. He took a quick glance at her flank, finding she had a cutie mark depicting a cup wrapped in a blanket. The first serving mare returned with a full tray. "Yer water," she said. Royal Duty looked into his bag and took out a bag of bits the prince had given him for the mission and pulled out two. "Keep the change," he said to her and took one of the pewter cups she had offered him. Relaxing slightly, he returned to his book, occasionally sipping his water whilst he perused the chapter on Loyalty. The hour went by fairly slowly. After finishing Loyalty he moved onto Integrity, the subsection of the chapter. Occasionally he would glance up to see what his contact was doing. He tried to make his observations look nonchalant, or at least mundanely unsuspicious. Finally he noticed the mare heading for the stairs. He guessed that it must have been long enough for the appointed time and so he marked the page he was currently reading, gathered his belongings and moved up from his seat. After spending a few seconds jostling his way through the, now very full, seats he made it to the stairs and climbed up. The second floor of the Tipping Wagon was about as unassuming as its first floor. A wooden hallway dotted by doors that doubtlessly led to rooms lay in front of him. He could see another flight of stairs in the left-hoof side of the hall that led to another floor. "Okay," Royal Duty muttered to himself as he collected his thoughts, "she said third on the left." Finding the door he walked over to it. Taking a deep breath he knocked on the door. "Come in," a familiar voice replied in a cheeky, sing-song fashion. Royal Duty wrapped the doorknob in his magic and twisted. He opened the door casually and walked in, not wanting to attract the attention of anypony who might walk into the hall and find him suspicious. Walking into the room, he saw the room was a generically decorated and furnished. There was a drab double bed, colourless white curtains, a wardrobe and a chest of drawers. A desk and chair were set up by the opposite wall and sitting in the chair, half-turned towards the door was the mare. "You mind shutting the door?" she asked. Slowly closing the door, Royal Duty turned to face his contact, keeping his magic ready to grab his short, service blade in case anything went wrong. "So to business," the mare said, "I assume you're my contact, a little young but I'm not one to talk." Royal Duty wasn't sure what to make of the mare, she was talking to him in a casual, jokey manner. "Yes," he replied, mustering up as much of his professionalism as possible yet keeping his voice quiet in order to avoid other ponies from overhearing. "I am Royal Duty, corporal and necromancer acolyte 1st class and personal adjutant to his royal highness Prince Blueblood." The mare suddenly became much more serious. She straightened in her seat visibly, a more professional expression appearing on her face. "A pleasure," she said, the playfulness now much more subdued. "I am Young Nan, private and infiltrator 1st class of the New Equestrian Resistance. I was stationed here a week ago to receive you." "Young Nan?" Royal Duty asked incredulously before he could rein in his thoughts. A smirk grew over her face as she rolled her eyes. "Yeah I got it from my mum. It's a weird one." "Oh sorry," Royal Duty tried to backpedal, "I didn't mean to..." "Nah, nah," Young Nan cut back in, waving her hoof in a dismissive fashion, "I get it all the time. It's not a problem. Anyway let's actually get to business." Setting her hoof back down she turned to look at Royal Duty intently. "Right," Royal Duty replied in return, walking over to the bed and sitting himself down on it. "I've been sent to guide you to where the prince's entourage is camped. It's better we wait until we're outside of the city before we continue. We'll be ready to depart as soon as you've got whatever you need." "Great," Young Nan said, an upbeat smile spreading over her face. "I just need to pack my stuff and tell my boss I quit." Still smiling, the Unicorn trotted over to the wardrobe and threw it open enthusiastically. Several large saddle bags levitated out and were quickly filled with clothes that Young Nan simply threw in without a care. A couple of books followed afterwards and various other miscellaneous items that were pressed in over the clothes. Royal Duty blushed and averted his eyes when a pair of silken socks flew out of the back of the wardrobe and were hurriedly stuffed into a saddle bag. He did catch Young Nan suddenly, and rapidly, check to see if he had seen that, a heavy blush on her own face. It took only a few more seconds for her to finish packing. She lit up her horn again when the last clasp of the saddle bags had been fastened and a heavy travelling cloak fluttered off of a hook on the door and wrapped itself around her. Taking a deep, finishing breath, she then looked at Royal Duty. "Alright," she said, "I'm going to go and quit. You go and wait at the end of Sunshine Street. I don't want it to look like were obviously leaving together so you go ahead. I'll catch up to you in about ten minutes." "Right," Royal Duty said, nodding. He then trotted out of the door and back down the stairs. He walked through the, still crowded, common room and out of the Tipping Wagon's door. Even after so long Sunshine Street was still full of ponies walking back and forth. The press helped keep him hidden as he, once again, blended into the crowd. He casually made his way to the corner and laid his saddle bags on the cobbles of the road. leaning on the wall he began to wait. Ponies continued to rush past him, every one of them attending to their own business as they ignored him. Royal Duty tried his best to appear nonchalant and innocent. Most ponies simply walked past him without sparing him even a single glance, let alone a second. Thankfully there were no guards on patrol at the time which made it much easier for him to keep his cool. * Young Nan trotted out of the Tipping Wagon with a spring in her step. She had politely submitted her verbal resignation, her rapidly packed bags making it clear to her employer that she was leaving immediately and left the building. She wasn't sad to see the place go. It had been nice enough but being a serving mare just wasn't for her and the customers could get really annoying. Quite a few stallions and mares had decided that making inappropriate remarks about her and not keeping their hooves to themselves had been good ideas. Walking out into the streets she found the familiar crowds were still out in force. Though the owner had been kind enough to allow her to rent a room at a discount she had taken plenty of opportunities to wander the streets of Krakhoof. This wasn't her first mission of course but she had never been stationed in such a large settlement before. She had used every opportunity to scout out the city, enjoying the sensations and sights as much as she could. It hadn't been that hard to keep her cover as she could easily just claim she was shopping, or visiting a park, or simply exploring her new home. Now however she was done. She kept her cheery smile on her face as she trotted down the street but inside she was jumping for joy. Whilst the city had been nice she just hadn't been able to just relax. Like all of her previous missions she had to keep her persona going. It was fun, of course, playing her cover character but sometimes it just got tiring and the flirting did bring the obvious problem of attracting the wrong kind of attention. It didn't take long for her to find her contact. Royal Duty, the stallion sent to collect her, seemed rather normal, she would have said average but obviously he had to have distinguished himself if he was trusted with taking charge of recovering her. She saw him sitting by the side of the street. He was trying to appear unconcerned but she knew he was concerned. He did a decent job hiding his nervousness but the way he quickly ducked his head every time he checked to see if his company was coming seemed less like the actions of a bored pony and more like those of a suspicious one. "Sorry I took so long," she said amiably as she trotted over to Royal Duty. To his credit the stallion didn't jump in surprise though he did give her a look of exasperation. "It takes a while to politely tell someone you're quitting immediately," she continued. "I also had to wait for him to give me my last pay...it'd look weird if I didn't." "Right," Royal Duty said in response, a little unsure of what exactly to say but still keeping his casual tone. "Better get going then." And with that he placed his saddlebags back on and waited for her to make her own move. Smiling in a friendly manner to the stallion, Young Nan stepped forward and began walking. She knew the way to the main gates better than he did, having spent enough time in Krakhoof to memorise the common exits as well as the most feasible means of escaping in a hurry. The journey through the streets was rather easy. By this point the crowds were starting to thin as the early evening wound on and ponies began to go indoors. There were still plenty of ponies out on the street and a number of shops remained open but it was obvious that part of the city was preparing to go to sleep. Both Young Nan and Royal Duty kept silent throughout the entire journey, an unspoken agreement passing between them that it would be best to save any discussions for when they were outside the city's walls. However they did stick close together and keep friendly expressions on their faces, keeping up the image that they were familiar travellers going on a journey together. By the time they had got to the gates Young Nan was fairly relaxed. They were on the edge of the city and the afternoon guard were starting to be rotated out for the evening shifts. Both ponies still kept up their friendly, innocent smiles as they passed through the gateway and left the city's boundaries. Young Nan refused to drop her facade, knowing that they still weren't safe until they were, at least, under the forest canopy. A quick glance at her new companion showed that he was at least smart enough to intuit the same thing. As they approached the tree line Young Nan glanced back at Royal Duty. Turning her head she saw him studying her flank intently with a look of inquisitiveness. Internally she frowned and turned towards him. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked, her friendly expression still on her face but her tone now turning cold and irritable. The last thing she needed was to be paired with another pony that thought of nothing but getting put up to stud. "Oh... uh, no...nothing, nothing like that," he said quickly, a shocked and worried expression on his face. "It's just... I, uh, I just wanted to see if you were a Converted, or a Convie-born like me." He then wrapped the end of his travelling cloak in his magic and lifted it, revealing a cutie mark in the shape of the planet Earth. "See." Raising an eyebrow she did the same, showing off her identical cutie mark. "Yeah," she said in a nonchalant fashion, "what about it?" She never really thought that much about her cutie mark and when another pony did it was usually more of an excuse to check somepony out. "Nothing much really," Royal Duty admitted in an apologetic tone, "just curious." Then suddenly he blinked a look of equal parts surprise and curiosity. "Wait a minute," he said, turning back to her, "I swear you had a different cutie mark when I first saw you." Young Nan smirked in response. "Oh, so you were taking a look. That was a fake, a concealment spell with a projected image placed on top. It's a pain to maintain but I've had a lot of practice." "I see," Royal Duty said in an accepting fashion, as his mind turned to contemplating what she had just told him. An awkward silence descended on the pair as they approached the forest. Once the first few branches had passed over them they visibly relaxed. They had maintained a rather casual stance as they walked and had managed to keep their placid and friendly expressions, the previous faux pas notwithstanding. However now they both shifted into a straighter stance, old training taking over as they returned to the positions they were most used to. The friendly smiles also disappeared and were instead replaced by wary frowns. "So?" Royal Duty began in a questioning tone, "how much do you know about this mission?" Young Nan smirked. She hadn't exactly pegged him as the type to try to get the first word in on an interrogation with a non-hostile. "I'm to escort you, the prince and whoever he's brought with him to high command," she said. "I'll lead you to friendly territory first and then we can take it from there." "Right," Royal Duty replied, satisfied with the answer. They both returned to their silence as they walked down the path. After another half hour of silent walking and contemplation Royal Duty then stopped and pointed down one path. "We take a right here," he said. Young Nan looked up and saw no indicators or markers to tell him where any path was. "You trekked through the wildlands to get here didn't you?" she then asked, turning to him. "Yeah," Royal Duty replied. "Good job," she said in return, "though I'm not sure how you could possibly tell where your path is. Did you set something as marker for yourself?" Royal Duty let a small smile emerge on his face at the praise. "Yes," he said, "that tree over there, the one with the three brown toadstools and yellow mould on it." He pointed out a large, innocuous oak tree that had the fungus he had mentioned growing at its base. Young Nan nodded approvingly. He had picked a marker that was useful to him but not patently obvious to anypony else and therefore dangerous. "Good job," she said again and then turned right at the tree, leaving the path and stepping onto the leaf litter of the forest proper. They trudged through the undergrowth for several metres, the sound of their hooves brushing aside mulch and rotten leaves the only thing they could now hear. Bored of the monotony and now fairly confident in their safety and secrecy Young Nan turned to her companion. "So," she began in an amiable fashion, "what's the news in the Midnight Guard?" For a split second she saw Royal Duty give her an inscrutable glance. It almost seemed like he was weighing his options on whether or not he should tell her anything. Internally she smirked. She certainly approved of a healthy dose of paranoia. "We're at war," Royal Duty then said, "I mean properly at war. Things have escalated and we have to weed out a few traitorous elements." Young Nan winced inside, not letting her nervousness show in her facial expressions or body language. She knew as well as anypony privy to certain information that the New Resistance was having trouble with traitors and zealots. If the Midnight Guard, the group they were supposed to swear allegiance to, were talking about traitors then that meant things were really starting to go wrong. "Traitors?" she asked, letting the word speak volumes for her. "Yeah," Royal Duty replied noncommittally, as if it didn't matter. "A few ponies here and there have got it in their heads that they can take on the Solaminan Empire by themselves and don't like the approach we've been taking so far. We're having a... survey, you might say, in order to deal with it." Young Nan almost rolled her eyes at the obviously vague terms the stallion was throwing around. It was obvious he was trying to obfuscate her and hide the problem. "So your prince is trekking all the way over to HQ for help in this 'survey'?" she asked. "More or less," Royal Duty replied. To his credit he had managed to keep his voice level and casual throughout the conversation. "So what about the Resistance?" He then said, taking the initiative. "What kind of reception can we expect?" "I'm not really sure," Young Nan replied, slipping into her element, "There's a lot of us who think we'd be better off without you lot butting in. There's also the anti-monarchists, the anti-Blueblood lot and a bunch of weirdos with their own ideas of what Equestria should be when we take it back." She looked to Royal Duty who was digesting her words. "How about you?" he said after a moment. "What do you think?" "I just do my job," Young Nan replied, "I'm a professional and a damn good one I might add. I get given orders, I complete them and then I move on to my next assignment. I don't really think about politics or what his highness thinks all the way back in Germareny." "So you spend a lot of time in enemy territory?" Royal Duty then asked, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. "Yeah," Young Nan replied in a manner that implied it was obvious knowledge, "I'm a field agent. I'm supposed to be out here." "First time for me," Royal Duty admitted, returning his attention to the unmarked path they were taking. "You've never been in the field before?" Young Nan asked, her incredulity slipping through. "No," Royal Duty replied, trying not to sound embarrassed. "I got assigned to his highnesses' retinue shortly before we left. It's been a bit difficult I'll admit. I hadn't ever killed a pony until the night before we left for this mission." "Really?" Young Nan asked unsure how to react to what her current partner was saying. "Yeah. I've had plenty of opportunities since to be sure but I'd never really gone out into the field until a little over a week ago." Royal Duty now felt incredibly nervous as he bit down on his bottom lip slightly. "Brilliant," Young Nan said, a hint of disdain in her voice. "So I've been put with a rookie that was pretty much a civvie until a few days ago. Probably shows what I'm in for with this mission." "Actually," Royal Duty butted in, "I've only been sent here because the other guys that were supposed to collect you died on the way here. We haven't exactly had the best of luck what with the Anthroponies, the wounded and having to take detours past every single Solaminan settlement we come across. I probably wouldn't have had to be sent for you if we had anypony else to spare." "Y'know that's not exactly encouraging either right?" Young Nan said. "No," Royal Duty replied, "but it's the truth. Shows you just how important your guidance will be." He then rounded on her giving, her a falsely reassuring smile and bowed his head slightly. "I hope we can put our trust in your hooves. I mean it's only the fate of the Rebellion that's now riding on your back." Young Nan snorted and gave him a sneer in response. "Smartass," she muttered under her breath as she watched the stallion right himself again and turn to lead her down the path. "It won't be much longer now," Royal Duty said after they passed a large rock standing upright in the woods. Despite its bizarre shape and stance the stone was surrounded by so many weeds and bushes and draped in so much moss that it seemed as innocuous as anything else in the woods. However, true to his word, the sounds of a large encampment began to drift through the woods after only another ten minutes of walking. "Ah looks like were here," Royal Duty said, a smile growing over his face. Young Nan didn't reply, simply continuing to follow the stallion. After a few more seconds the trees began to thin a little and both ponies walked out of the trees and into a clearing. There was a perimeter marked by stacks of spears surrounding a closely packed circle of tents surrounded by wagons. The tents were mostly the small, easily pitched squares of fabric that were issued to most soldiers. However the centre was dominated by a monstrous pavilion that might as well have been a noble's suite made of cloth, mostly. "Halt," a pony said. Young Nan turned from regarding the actual encampment to see a grey coated Earth Pony stallion dressed in the familiar dark blue batwing barding of the Midnight Guard. "Corporal Royal Duty, necromancer 1st class and personal adjutant to his highness Prince Blueblood of Equestria." Royal Duty said in response, "Service number 2GEA-42266. I was sent to retrieve the liaison with the New Equestrian Resistance." Young Nan saw the unicorn briefly incline his head in her direction which led to the Earth Pony looking directly at her for the first time. She kept a stoic expression as the Guardspony seemed to study her for a few seconds before nodding. "Alright," the guard said, "go on in." * Prince Blueblood set his quill down for a moment, letting the writing implement rest back in it's ink pot as he sighed. It had been several hours since he had sent out Royal Duty and he was concerned for the young adjutant. He knew very little about the newest addition to his personal retinue and hadn't really made much of an effort to know him. Now however, with so much riding on the colt's back, he couldn't help but worry, both for Royal Duty and the mission he was responsible for. Of course he had recently received some good news. The last of the wounded had finally recovered and thus the wagons that had been repurposed for them could finally be made to carry goods. This would certainly make transporting their new batches of supplies much easier. As an afterthought he did also remind himself that his subordinates being healthy was a good thing but that was at the back of his mind by this point. His thoughts were interrupted when his tent flaps rustled. Raising his head from the reports, he saw one of his Thestrals walking in. The pony saluted. "Your adjutant has returned with the contact." "Excellent," Blueblood replied, his mood lightening, "show them in immediately." "Yes, your highness," the Thestral replied, saluting again before turning around, lifting the tent flap and waving. Two young ponies, one of them the latest addition to his retinue and the other a mare he had never seen before, walked in. "Royal Duty reporting back from Krakhoof, sir," the young stallion said, bowing as he spoke. "I successfully retrieved our contact with the New Equestrian Resistance." "I am Young Nan, private and infiltrator 1st class of the New Equestrian Resistance," the mare said in turn, bowing beside Royal Duty. "I was stationed at the city a week ago and am under orders to guide you to Resistance Headquarters in Eastern Horssia." "Excellent," Blueblood said in response. "I am looking forward to observing your performance." He smiled in a much friendlier fashion as both ponies stood to attention. "Royal Duty," Blueblood then said, turning to his new adjutant who now looked somewhat nervous about being addressed directly, "you are to be commended for your performance; you completed your mission successfully and promptly. You have, so far, vindicated Magnus' trust in you." Royal Duty's face lit up at the praise whilst Young Nan remained impassive. "Resistance Operative Young Nan," Prince Blueblood then said, turning back to the mare, "we will be waiting until the next morning, when our new supplies arrive, and then we will move out." He saw both soldiers nod in understanding. "Well then. You're both dismissed," Blueblood waved them away and watched as they bowed again and walked out of his tent. Alone again, he turned his attention back to the reports, sighing as he reviewed their current supply situation. The numbers did not favour them at the moment and anything the reconnaissance groups brought with them would be invaluable. * Hoofington, Equestria. March 18th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar) Memory was the worst enemy. Memory gave her flashes of a smile, of dark hair and eyes and a kind heart. Memory gave her flashes of a man - the kindest man, the bravest man - saying goodbye in her dreams. And dreams... they gave her flashes of what might have been. Impossible happiness that could never be and would never have been, but still made her heart pang in ways she didn't think the metal could anymore. Then when she woke up, it made her rage all the more palpable. She decided, on reflection, that she hated memory, and hated dreams more. The damn things were there to taunt her and nothing else. "Don't worry" a voice - was it a memory or a wisp of daydream? - spoke in her mind. "Keep going. Everything will be alright." Lyrium took a breath, forcing air down her metallic throat where it filled her chest cavity. She sometimes liked to fancy it whistled as it passed between the complex mechanisms that now made up her body. Still the brief pretence at regular life worked. Her churning thoughts calmed and the memories faded from her mind's eye. "Lady Lyrium," a deep sonorous voice with a metallic edge said, "it is almost time. We await your command." Smiling at the sound of her new companion, Lyrium turned to regard the figure that had joined her. By the shape of its meticulously crafted body it was male. The figure stood taller than even her, towering over most other Iron Men. Its body was shaped like a human knight, enchanted steel plates, moulded into the gothic appearance of the old armour designs. Litanies and scripture were engraved all over the figure's body lending an even more eerie quality to its appearance. It had no visible face, as its head was shaped into a closed helm, within which was contained a burning golden light that shone through the seams. He Who Remembered, a physical memorial, an avatar, to the fallen and a memory of a bygone age. "Hello Eric," Lyrium said, the metallic joints of her mouth forming into a playful smirk. He Who Remembered seemed taken aback by the name for a second but regained his composure in the blink of an eye. To anyone but Lyrium, who knew him better than any other, it was as if he hadn't responded at all. "We await your orders," he replied slowly and coldly. Lyrium's smirk disappeared as her thoughts returned to the town a mile away. "It's a choice," a familiar sounding voice spoke in her mind, "between the overt and the covert." She could almost imagine the owner of that voice smirking at her, and she dearly wished - if only for a moment - that he really was here, and he really could. "Just this once, I'd go with the overt. It's not like they can stop you. Hell - I'd like to see them try." "Form up for battle," Lyrium said as the mechanisms of her mouth formed into a grin. "Let's forgo subtlety for tonight." "By your command," He Who Remembers responded. The knightly figure then turned and walked away to assemble the army, leaving Lyrium alone with her thoughts again. "Oh wonderful diligent Eric," Lyrium said to herself, raising her head but not looking at anything in particular, "you'd have been proud of him." "The lad certainly had potential," the voice spoke again, "You couldn't have picked a better person to remember us." Lyrium cackled to herself as the voice finally began to fade away, bringing her back to reality. Turning around she appraised her army, her Iron Men. Hundreds of figures stood before her, each one of them similar but still individualised in subtle ways. They were not perfect representations of old humans. they had been adapted into forms more fitting for the war Lyrium tended to propagate against Equestria. Their faces were steel masks sculpted into the vague shape of a human face whilst their bodies were much more intricate and advanced. In their arms were a variety of weapons, swords, spears and heavy mauls that were held in tight grips. These were her Iron Warriors, her foot soldiers, ready to tear through the Guard and shatter the Church. Behind them were the Iron Marksmen, former Unicorns that still possessed their powers. They too were built like the Iron Warriors but had prominent horns fused to the foreheads of their face plates. Through these they could channel their magic, making them invaluable in battle. Countless packs of Forlorn Souls, recent converts to humankind that still had functional but somewhat unfinished metal bodies. Patches of armoured plating were missing from them and many of their intricate innards were exposed to the world where they ticked and whirred visibly. They held themselves lower than the Iron Warriors, their arms clutched closely to their bodies as their heads bobbed in disbelief and dismay. They were still unused to their new lives and had to be directed closely by her guiding hand. In the centre of the front lines was a block of large, armoured figures, decorated in silver and gold. They were the Iron Retributors, the elite of the Iron Men and Lyrium's finest warriors. They stood at seven feet tall and carried enormous polearms that crackled with magical energy. The powder of stolen Unicorn horns had been ground down and mixed into the alloys that had made their bodies and so their magic had become a part of them. Through them she would avenge humanity against the ponies of Equestria. Behind that were other, less identifiable things. Warriors and war machines, every one of them made of metal and polished to a shining gleam. Though they all bore the same expression there was a palpable aura of anger, rage that was barely being held back by military discipline. This was an army thirsty for vengeance against those that had violated them and robbed them of their humanity. At the head of the metallic host was He Who Remembered, standing tall and proud amongst his warriors. Walking up to him, she smirked, indicating the town ahead. "It's time." Nodding, He Who Remembers turned his head to his forces. "DEVASTATORS! MOVE INTO RANGE!" Lyrium took another deep breath as she watched four large machines wheel their way up to the front of the army. They were massive metallic catapults, built from steel boxes and placed on massive wheels. They were weighty but the supernatural strength of the Iron Man crew that manned it meant it was pushed into position with swift efficiency. The crews began to man the cranks that pulled the machine's arms into position. Barrels of pitch, which were stored in the body of the machines, were rolled out and placed in the sling at the end of the arm. An Iron Man stood nearby with a hot brand, ready to light the wick that stuck out of each barrel. Lyrium raised her arm to signal the crews to fire. Go ahead, the voice said, do it. She threw her arm down and the first Devastator fired. Due to the low light it took time for her order to be relayed but soon the catapults were firing in quick succession. Six barrels, the lit tapers looking like small shooting stars shot through the air. Not far in front of the army was the fortified town of Hoofington. After the rise of the Empire and the industrialisation of Ponyville, Hoofington had become a trade hub that accommodated the convoys of ponies and equipment travelling to Twilight Sparkle's research facilities. Six lit barrels fell over the wooden walls and exploded. Fire rained down on the front of the city and ignited the palisades. Lyrium heard the scream emanate from the town as the ponies inside noticed the fires now burning the edges of their home. She smirked as she even saw a few silhouettes scramble back and forth along the intact portions of the wall. "Companies advance." He Who Remembered bellowed. "Retributors at front. Charge your weapons." The sound of lightning building in strength began to fill the air as the massive iron Men warriors fed power into their polearms. The instant He Who Remembered spoke, the entire army began to march forward, leaving the Devastators and a single guarding company behind. The Iron Men's pace built up as they approached the town. Soon they were sprinting at the wall, the Retributors in front, their weapons crackling and shining as the energy continued to build up. Lyrium charged to the front of the army, catching up to He Who Remembered, his own fists shining with the same inner light under his helmet. Her own hands did the same as she felt her magic, a feature of her days as a pony, build up within her beautifully crafted hands. Soon both she and the knight by her side were shining beacons at the front of the charge. As they approached the gates, Lyrium raised her fists above her head and brought them down, slamming into the wood of the gate. The gateway shifted but held. He Who Remembered's fists crashed against the gate a moment later and the gate splintered. Several lightning wreathed polearms from the Retributors stabbed at the gate, their power shooting outwards and the wooden structure exploded inwards. Lyrium sprinted through the flaming portal that had just been opened. In front of her were scattering ponies, few of them in armour. Several held spears and wore portions of Guard armour, proving that the town had been particularly unaware of their approach and were struggling to respond. Lyrium gave them a feral grin and charged forward. Raising her right fist, the energy in her hands formed into a long blade of magical energy - the thing's ethereal shape might have been familiar to those who had fought in the old war, a long time ago. Holding it over her head, she swung it round and the weapon extended, reaching out and slicing through the pony closest to her. Behind her, the Retributors charged through and ran into the panicking ponies. Their polearms rose and fell as they mercilessly cut into the routing Guardsponies. Lyrium cut through another before the panicking Guard could even try to attack, and laughed, the metallic noise echoing into the night. "This isn't a good fight," He Who Remembered said as she stepped up to her side, a similar magical blade in his hand. "It isn't even good sport. Why bother?" "Why bother?" Lyrium repeated back to him, incredulous. "They deserve it, Eric! This is vengeance!" She walked off to the side of the gate as the Iron Warriors followed after the Retributors. She could see the fires a little further away spread larger and higher as the flames spread unchecked. A large figure suddenly stalked through the gate as the last of the Iron Warriors filed in. It was vaguely humanoid, standing on two legs and with a stooped posture but it seemed to be stretched. It's head was more avian than human, jutting forward with an almost pronounced muzzle. A series of long metallic probosci were attached to its shoulders and ran down its back almost like a cloak. "Penitent Engine," He Who Remembered shouted at the creature. It turned to look at him, boring into the knight with an inhuman gaze. "I want you to seek out as many townsponies as possible. Don't kill them. Incapacitate them." The Penitent Engine nodded once and then stalked off into the chaos of the streets. "Do you think we should join him?" He Who Remembered asked. "Keep an eye on him maybe?" "No, I trust him," Lyrium said with a smile, "It's about time we see what he can really do." She looked down the street the Penitent Engine had walked down. "Come on," she said quietly, "they should be done shortly. We might as well help with the cleanup." "As you say," He Who Remembered replied, and the two of them set off into the town. Hoofington wasn't that different to how Lyrium remembered Ponyville, though it was a little bit bigger. From outside the town had appeared huge but that was because the wall was enclosing a settlement that liked to have wide spaces between all of its buildings and plenty of spaces for gardens and other green areas. To Lyrium it actually appeared rather pleasant. Now however there were plenty of signs of intense combat and butchery having taken place. Dismembered Guardsponies were littered around the main street along with other ponies that Lyrium presumed had put up a fight. She could still hear screams and whimpers further into the town and the crackling of a distant fire was very audible. It wasn't as pleasant but it had to be done. "Please," a voice called out, "somepony help! Anypony!" Lyrium saw a stallion crawl out of a ruined house. He was missing one hind leg and he had a red slash over that ran horizontally over his face. Lyrium looked closer and saw that both of his eyes had been destroyed by the blow to his face and that he was now blindly scrambling around for help. "I'm here," she said, walking up to him and firmly grasping his body in her hands, "but I'm not a pony." "Please," the stallion cried out, "don't... don't hurt me anymore." He then broke down and began to cry. "Why are you doing this?" "Why?" Lyrium said, "I'm doing this because your kind did worse to people who didn't deserve it. I think it's high time that the ponies of Equestria felt what it was like to be a human not that long ago. Now come on. I have so much more to show you." With that she tucked the sobbing pony under her left arm and carried him down the street, ignoring his cries and his futile squirming. She walked up to the body of a dead Guardsponies and appraised the corpse. "Do you think this one'll do?" she asked He Who Remembered. "It should be fine," he said indifferently as he stared at the pony in her arms. "Alright then," Lyrium replied cheerfully before she returned her attention back to the stallion. "Now when they first offered the Ponification Potion to humans all those years ago they said it could cure ailments and diseases and they were right. The unfortunate thing is they counted being human as one of those diseases as well. Now I haven't missed the fact you've been horribly hurt so I'm about to give you a helpful little solution that will fix you right up. Call it... a taste of Equestria's own medicine." "Wh... what?" the stallion asked uneasily, too terrified to do anything else. "Quiet now," Lyrium said in response as she began to concentrate. A silvery mist began to form beneath the stallion. It curled and grew around his body as well as the corpse of the stallion. Slowly a metal figure began to form from the mist. Inch by inch it took shape, forming legs and then hips, building itself from the ground up. As the construct formed, the body of the stallion and the corpse of the Guardspony began to unravel and disappear. At the same time another, darker grey fog emerged from the stallion's body, which went deathly still as it disintegrated. The grey fog began to sink into the metal body as the construct reached completion. As the faceplate of the new Iron Man finished forming, the last of the grey smoke sank into it. "Can you hear me?" Lyrium asked the newly born Iron Man, performing the ritual greeting she had performed on every soldier she had created. "Yes," the stallion's voice nervously answered from the construct. "And you know me?" she asked as well. "You are Lady Lyrium: mistress of the Iron Men, my mistress," he continued. "Excellent," she said, stopping her personal ritual since she knew there was still the rest of the cleanup to see to. "Come on Eric," Lyrium said to He Who Remembered, "we still have a lot of work to do." She walked down the street, leaving the new and bewildered Iron Man to acclimatise himself. It didn't take them long to find a large town square at the centre of the settlement. Dozens of Iron Men filled the open space and more were arriving, dragging crippled or frightened ponies into the area. Already several of the more powerful Retributors had begun converting the ponies into new soldiers. Corpses had already been piled up to provide more raw materials for the shining new bodies that were being built for the prisoners to inhabit. Ponies everywhere were screaming as they saw their friends, neighbours and family members were being torn apart to create more of the monsters that were attacking them, knowing that soon, very soon, they would be next. One particular conversion drew Lyrium's attention. Not that far away, the Penitent Engine had corralled several foals. As they screamed and squealed in fear, his metallic tentacles shot out and impaled their small bodies. The same smoky mists began to form around them and from their bodies. However it was obvious that there weren't enough raw materials to form bodies for all of them. Instead only one tendril of grey smoke sank into the Iron Man body that began to build itself from the flesh of the foals. The other grey tendrils instead were funnelled into the Penitent Engine who shuddered in grotesque ecstasy for a moment before his tentacles retracted, allowing the final scraps that were left of the foals to collapse to the floor. "We're going to have to take an account of how many new people we've created," He Who Remembered said to her. "Oh indeed," Lyrium agreed with a nod. "A lot to take account of. Many new names, new forces. Be sure to see to it that any spare material is used to upgrade the Forlorn. I don't like leaving work half finished." "It'll be difficult keeping track," He Who Remembered noted. "True," Lyrium said. "Still it's not like we can make too many. We need every man that we can get." "In this, we are agreed," He Who Remembered said. "Will it be enough to break through the wall?" Lyrium looked around, a metallic grin on her face. "Not yet," she said simply. "We'll need to take more." *** Castle Midnight, Germareny. March 19th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar) "It feels like forever since I last visited Castle Midnight," Hot Shot said as they passed through the gate into the citadel. "It hasn't changed that much." "I have to say he's right," Dinky added as she looked through the clean and orderly, if dark, hallways, "I honestly thought there'd be more damage, y'know from the battle." "It was troublesome," Magnus said in response, "but it appears I was right to entrust the garrison with helping repair the citadel. We couldn't allow it to be left in such a terrible condition so I ordered the staff and local work crews to oversee the repairs." "So what's our next move?" Dinky asked. Magnus smirked, turning to look at his companions, making sure all three of them were assembled alongside him. "I currently have a prisoner, Lady Ever Essence, who should be able to provide us with the details of her co-conspirators. She has spent the time since her ill conceived assault languishing in the dungeons. I ordered she be moved to the interrogation rooms before our arrival." "The torture chambers?" Black Shroud asked from behind the room, her voice now cold and professional. "Yes," Magnus replied, "I do, however, prefer to use their official name." As he spoke he opened a door that revealed a stairwell leading down deeper into the castle. "Now I would like all of you to help organise our forces. I will interrogate the prisoner myself." "You brought us all here just to send us off?" Hot Shot asked incredulously, a sentiment the other ponies seemed to share. "I brought you here," Magnus replied, "to assist in my response to these traitors. Expedience is a virtue and I need everything prepared as quickly as possible. Hot Shot I would like you to commandeer whatever forces are available to us, make sure they know that you have my authority to do so. Black Shroud I want a complete list of our arcane and alchemical inventory as soon as possible and Commander Doo," he turned to address Dinky, "I want the logistics divisions ready with whatever you deem necessary for our expedition. I will review all of your progress once I am done dealing with the prisoner. Now go." Magnus punctuated his orders with a wave of dismissal. With that he turned and walked down the stairwell. The spiral stairs led deep into the bowels of the castle, with only a few small hanging lamps to illuminate the path. Magnus felt his mood shift as he continued to descend, darkening as he contemplated the interrogation and just what he would do to his prisoner. Finally he came down to the bottom of the stairs. He stepped down into a large circular chamber with a single door in the wall opposite the stairs. He smirked as he took a deep breath. As he reached the door, his horn lit up, grasping the door handle in his magic. Finally on the threshold of the interrogation room, he ran his thoughts through his head once again and decided just how he was going to deal with Ever Essence. Opening the door, he stepped into a cold, shadowy room. Inside were various intricate devices, torture racks, endless rows of hanging chains, an assortment of exaggeratedly spiky machines and stacks of weapons and tools, some of which looked more similar to sharpened cooking implements. Tied down to one of the racks was Ever Essense, her mane now bedraggled and messy and her coat stained by dirt and dried blood. The look in her eyes was both terrified and withdrawn, as if she had resigned herself to whatever horrible fate awaited her. "Well that won't do," Magnus thought, "She was supposed to be left long enough to stew in her own fear but not so long she would stop caring. I'll have to have talks with whoever was foolish enough to put her in here too early." Making a note of having a future discussion with the chief interrogator, Magnus stepped forward so that Ever Essence could see him clearly. "Good evening," he said politely. "Is it?" Ever Essence asked, "It's been so long since they put me down here I lost track of time a while ago. What do you want with me?" Magnus grinned ferally, showing off his teeth. They weren't sharpened but when combined with the insane look in his eyes, the expression appeared predatory. "You know what I want," he said, still maintaining his ferocious look, "Information on your co-conspirators. Their identities, their locations, the strength of their forces and their objectives. You're going to tell me all of that as soon as possible." "And you honestly believe I will talk to someone like you," Ever Essence replied imperiously. "Your disgusting lackies have left me to rot in this dungeon for a day now. I've spent hours surrounded by these devices and I can tell you they no longer have the kind of terror you were hoping they would." "You say that, but I haven't used any of them on you yet," Magnus replied with a dark chuckle that was devoid of any mirth. "Tell me Lady Ever Essence," he then began, his tone shifting to a more conversational one, "you're a learned mare. How much do you know of Equestrian history?" Ever Essence didn't reply for a long moment. "Just the usual stuff," she replied after a moment, confused but cautious. "I've looked into it a little bit more," Magnus said with some enthusiasm. "Particularly the history of torture concerning the pony races. Did you know, for example," Magnus then began, his horn lighting up, "that the Adamantine Empire of the Unicorns liked to encase portions of their prisoners of war in molten iron. Not only was this unbearably painful but it slowly built an excruciating cage around their bodies. It's the half-remembered stories of these practises that the rumours of Princess Celestia petrifying her enemies originated from. Unicorns were in fact masters amongst ponies at experimenting in ways to torment their opponents." Magnus then walked to the other end of the room and pulled a long implement out of one of the tool racks. It was a knife with an incredibly thin but visibly sharp blade. "The Pegasi, however," he began again, keeping the same casual tone, "were a little more blunt. After their ancient Legions began to fight opponents that didn't possess wings, they adapted their dewinging traditions to cutting away at limbs. Where they would usually pulled feathers off of prisoner's wings, they instead began to cut away small squares of flesh, flensing the unfortunate soul's limbs slowly." He placed the knife on the end of one of the racks and went and pulled out a large hammer that was studded with small blunt spikes. "Earth Ponies were even more direct and to the point," he continued. "They prefered to hear the results of their torture so they perfected a method of breaking their opponents bones in precise manners. Now this hammer may look large and unwieldy but there's a quirk in its design that allows the wielder to swing it with far more precision than most ponies would think. The personal torture technicians of the Earth Pony magnates were experts in smashing bones so that their subjects were rendered completely immobile but alive." Magnus finally rounded on Ever Essence and looked right at her. The Earth Pony mare was completely pale and whilst she was trying to maintain her composure the expression on her face betrayed her fear. The more Magnus told her about his knowledge, the more worried she became. This was how she had wanted her to be when he first entered the room but he found he was now glad she had been calm when he talked to her. Breaking her personally was proving to be much more fun. "Now," Magnus said, placing his hooves on the rack and bringing his face right up to Ever Essence's, "I could go on about the details but I'm just here to inform you of what is in store for you. I can flay you slowly, force feed you until you choke and your bowels void themselves. I can slowly debone you like a Griffon chef would do to a fish or maybe slit your stomach open and remove your internal organs in a way that would leave them visible to you but unharmed so that you might stay alive. I even have a few handy little Pegasus tools that are just perfect for tearing your hooves off without cutting your flesh. If I bring the clamps in I can dismember you whilst reducing the blood loss, all to keep your ruined body going. Finally, I am an expert in reviving you in the event of the shock paralysing you or rendering you unconscious. It just wouldn't do for you to pass out in the middle of my ministrations after all." As he spoke, keeping his eyes on Ever Essence's he saw the mare start to shake. Once he was finished Ever Essence was quaking, tears in her eyes and a croak of fear struggling to escape her throat. "Now," Magnus then said, "I'll give you one more chance. Are you going to tell me what I want to know?" Ever Essence shook but a minute but finally nodded, moaning an affirmative. "Excellent," Magnus said cheerily, "I'll bring in a cartographer and several scribes and we'll get everything you say down in writing. Of course we can't let you leave this room. I hope you don't mind?" "Wait, what," Ever Essence said shakily, "you won't let me down?" "Oh no," Magnus replied with a dark smile, "you may have won the chance to keep your life, so long as you tell us the truth, but your freedom is still a way away from you. Prove yourself to me now and I will see if you can be vindicated." His look then turned terrifyingly cold and dark. "Lie to me, or withhold any information and I assure you I will show you just how well versed I am in the long history of torture and its practical application." With that he turned out of the room and left to gather the personnel he needed. This was the second step in his plan to dismantle the traitors and he had sworn that he would make sure every one of the traitors suffered everything he had just threatened Ever Essence with. "Ah, soon," he said aloud to himself, contemplating that momentous day with a soft smile. "Soon."
The Avatar of Albion: When We Needed Him Most	Chapter Seven: Bad News	Chapter Seven - Bad News By RoyalPsycho and Jed R Horsaw, Ponland. March 22nd. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar) Freedom Heart rubbed his forehead with his hooves as he went over the paperwork. He wasn't a stranger to administration, but he was now having to handle it by himself. Prior to his new appointment he had, at the very least, had colleagues to take part of the burden with him. Now he faced a large stack of reports, bills, announcements and other bureaucratic paraphernalia alone. He had been rifling through them for hours, skimming the basic details and then rejecting them, or sending them further down the line for his approval. He wasn't technically the viceroy, but with the turbulence that was wracking the Mareopean continent, his authority had been expanded exponentially. Barely a week ago he had picked up an abandoned report informing him that Solamina had ordered a contingent of three hundred Guardsponies to go to the British Isles for classified reasons. Apparently they were still there and he had to stamp their logistical requisitions, not that they really needed his approval. Lighting his horn, he levitated another stack of papers into his immediate view. Maintaining the spell, he fluttered them in front of his face, scanning the titles of each sheet of paper and seeking something, anything amongst them that could grab his attention. Countless proposals flew past him, asking for small changes that only really affected the immediate departments and communities that each member of the government was in charge of managing. Finally he glanced at something that seemed more interesting than the others. Slowing his stream of paper and ink, he settled the report on the desk in front of his eyes. "Sightings of Midnight Guard personnel increasing," he mumbled to himself, "bodies recovered in Midnight Guard armour." As he read the report he became even more agitated. He had already received numerous reports concerning the military situation of Mareope. Anthroponies were the most common threat, infesting the woods and forests across the continent, but the region was also rife with traitors. Ponies associated with the New Equestrian Resistance had been sighted in the east, and now there were Midnight Guard running around as well. Sighing heavily, Freedom Heart realised the situation in Mareope was far worse than his initial estimates. Now that there was confirmation of Midnight Guard activity on top of everything else, he knew he needed more support. He immediately pulled out a spare segment of parchment and wrapped a quill in his magic. Dipping the quill in ink, he brought it to the paper and began to write, mumbling his message to himself as he worked. "To the office of High Commander Twilight Sparkle," he muttered. "I am reporting from the viceregal palace of Horsaw in Mareope. The situation is far more dire than initial reports and estimates suggested. At present the continent suffers from infestations far beyond what previous forces could handle." He paused for a moment, wondering whether it was wise to admit he was out of his depth. "I request immediate reinforcements in order to suppress the major concentrations of enemy forces present in the continent. Commander Freedom Heart." Putting the quill down and giving the ink a moment to dry, he pondered whether it was worth using the magical link directly to the High Commander's office. Sitting up in his chair, he reached over and wrapped his hoof around a pull-cord. Tugging on the rope, he rang a bell to summon one of his aids. A minute later, a pony cautiously opened his office door and entered the room. He was a young Pegasus stallion with a grey-ish blue coat and light lilac mane with a cutie mark depicting a quill wrapped in parchment. "Sir," the stallion said bowing his head. "What do you need?" "I need," Freedom Heart began before pausing, struggling to remember the name of the pony he wanted. "I need the Archmage, the one that can send this notice directly to Canterlot." "Yes sir," the stallion replied, already knowing who the Grand Marshal was talking about, "right away, sir." With that the pony turned and trotted out into the hall. Freedom Heart sat back down again and contemplated the situation. He was unsure whether or not the High Commander would listen to him or not. In his experience, unless it was the Empress herself, she didn't particularly like magic messaging, whether it was sending or receiving them. Soon enough the doors to his office opened again and a Unicorn dressed in elaborate arcane robes walked in imperiously. It was a rust red mare with a purple mane, her cutie mark obscured by her clothing. "You sent for me," the Archmage said, her exasperated and irritated tone making it obvious it was a statement rather than a question. "Yes I did," Freedom Heart replied, equally annoyed at having to deal with the mare. "I need this message sent to Canterlot immediately. Directly to the High Commander's office if possible." He held up the roll of paper tied with a red ribbon and held together by a wax seal with his new office's seal placed upon it. "Is that it?" the Archmage asked, a hint of incredulity now added to her irritation. "Yes," Freedom Heart replied bluntly. "I need it sent right to her immediately." "Understood sir," the Archmage said. The message was quickly wrapped in the mare's magical aura. It then suddenly burst into flames and disappeared into wisps of magical energy and flew out of the room, passing through the walls and into the distance. "The spell has already been anchored to your office," the Archmage said. "It will materialise in front of your desk without my assistance." "Thank you," Freedom Heart said. "You are dismissed." "Thank you, sir," the Archmage said gruffly before walking out of the room, shutting the door with her own magic. Freedom Heart settled back into his seat and turned his attention back to the paperwork. He was anxious about whatever reply he might get from the High Commander and wanted to at least occupy his mind for some time before he received any word from Twilight Sparkle. After a few minutes of waiting and filing through more reports, a tendril of magical flame appeared in his office. The flame moved in front of his face and curled in on itself, materialising into a roll of paper tied together with a ribbon with Twilight Sparkle's insignia of office attached to it. Freedom Heart immediately grabbed it in his magic and broke the seal, slipping the ribbon off and unfurling the long sheet of paper. From the office of Twilight Sparkle, High Commander of the Solaminan Royal Guard, Archmage of the Solaminan Empire and Personal Adjutant to her supreme majesty Empress Astra Solamina Maxima, the letter read, the handwriting indicating that Twilight herself had written the reply. Due to unprecedented hostilities against the Empire's borders, the imperial military has expanded its recruitment and mobilisation. Unfortunately the threat presented by various entities has forced high command to prioritise certain war efforts. The situation in Mareope has been reviewed but has been deemed of lesser importance. Our government has accepted the assistance of the armed forces of the Solaminan Church and has called upon our military reserves. Should the situation change we will allocate the nearest available forces to your command. Until then we expect you to maintain the imperial presence on the continent and conduct yourself with the professionalism expected of your rank. Regards. High Commander Twilight Sparkle. Freedom Heart paled as he read the High Commander's response. His entire body shook with barely suppressed rage as he scanned Twilight Sparkle's words over and over again. He was being left to secure an underdeveloped, understaffed and undermanned viceroyalty and the reason why he was being refused reinforcements was because there were other problems elsewhere. Taking several deep breaths, Freedom Heart calmed himself. He then tugged on the bellpull again, summoning the stallion that was now stationed at his reception desk. The stallion entered the room a few seconds later, a wary expression on his face. "Sir?" the pony said, "what can I help you with?" "Get me every report we have on our current military situation," he commanded. "Also, I need you to find as many projections on the viceroyalties' productivity, recruitment rate and expenses as possible." "Right away, sir," the stallion replied, shutting the door as he went to collect the requested information. Freedom Heart settled down and cleared his desk. If he was expected to make do with his available resources, he had to see what exact resources he had at his disposal. He'd do more than hold Mareope, he'd scour it of enemies and make sure it never bothered the Empire again. * Canterlot. March 24th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar) Papers, notations and magically projected graphs swirled around the office of the Solaminan High Commander's office in a whirlwind of information and data. At the centre of it was Twilight Sparkle, who organised the flow of paper and magic with practised ease, occasionally paying attention to one particular paper, making notes, applying signatures and returning it to the maelstrom. Twilight read in silence, her eyes scanning over a paper and assessing its contents before sending it back to the whirlwind. Checking an exchequer report assessing the cost of mobilising and transporting the Church's armies, she lifted her quill in her telekinesis and placed the paper down on her desk in front of her. "To Minister Bank Note," she mumbled, old habits forcing her to dictate her message even as she wrote it. "I have reviewed your report on the estimated costs of the war effort and have found your evaluations to have merit. I have approved your request to increase a transportation tax on rock farming exports within the New Equestrian Midland regions. Enclosed is a decree providing legitimacy to any and all actions you take in the implementation of the new reforms. Sincerely, etc." Her words trailed off as she wrote out her title of office like she had a million times before. Sighing, she enclosed the message in her magic and then transported it to the Royal Ministry, the paper disappearing in a cloud of magical fire. She was about to pull another sheet of paper out of her office's maelstrom of data when she heard a knock at her door. Immediately, the whirlwind of paper crashed to the ground as Twilight's concentration was interrupted. Groaning in frustration, Twilight lit her horn again and quickly resorted the papers, sending them to their appropriate filing cabinets. "What is it?" she asked irritably, her voice carrying through the door. A nervous Pegasus mare poked her head through the door. "A Lady Warm Embrace to see you High Commander," she said. Twilight groaned in exasperation. She had been dreading the appearance of the overbearing zealot and had actually thought, considering how long she had gone without hearing from her, that the Converted mare wasn't actually going to show up. "Send her in," Twilight said, waving her hoof dismissively as she tried to get her thoughts into order. A few seconds later the doors to her swung open, crashing loudly into the adjoining walls as an Earth Pony mare stormed in. She was slender and tall, dressed in the red and gold livery of the Solaminan Church and with a modest gold tiara atop her head. Underneath her robes, her coat was a greyish green and her mane a green tinted blonde. Her face, a rest would have actually been incredibly beautiful but at the moment it was stuck into a rictus of rage and indignation. "How dare you?" she hissed at Twilight, her normally soft and calming voice now venomous and hate filled. "How dare you think that you can take command of our holy church's sanctified forces?" Twilight sighed as she felt the mare's glare hit her. "Those forces," she said, emphasising her point, "are servants of the Empire and as soldiers are expected to answer to me." "They are a tool of peace!" Warm Embrace shrieked back. "They are only to be unleashed on the unholy. They are not to be squandered on regular conflicts and are not supposed to answer to mares like you." "Well," Twilight said, trying hard to not let condescension show in her tone, "a mare like me was appointed by the Empress to oversee the cooperation between the Guard and the Church's armies. I have her majesty's full permission and authority where her armies are concerned." "If I remember High Commander," Warm Embrace spoke with an indignantly condescending tone, "you are merely granted authority over the Royal Guard. I do not remember your position giving you the right to command the armies of the Church." "And I believe," Twilight shot back, "that Father Eagle Eye granted me permission to command them, and that is if we don't mention the fact that the Empress ordered me to take command." "Father Eagle Eye does not have the authority to grant you control of the holy forces unilaterally," Warm Embrace said venomously. "He cannot mobilise without my approval as well. Also, I will not accept that her holy majesty has given you the right to abuse your power in such a manner. Until I hear the commands from Her mouth directly I will not approve of you ordering my forces to mobilise." "Is that so?" Twilight replied with a smirk. "So only She herself can command you to finally leave me alone?" She looked Warm Embrace in the eye and lit up her horn. "Alright then. I can get her now if you like." She knew she couldn't really demand Solamina appear before her but the mere threat of the Empress' disapproval was likely more than enough to scare off the Converted priestess. "Go ahead," Warm Embrace replied, calling Twilight's bluff, "bring Her before us now." Twilight kept her face fixed as she brightened the light at the tip of her horn. "I see her majesty likes to keep her oh so important protegee waiting," Warm Embrace sneered. By this point Twilight was fuming with rage. She and the High Priestess had never liked one another; it was a dislike that stemmed from their respective views regarding Solamina. Twilight respected and admired her Empress but still remembered the days when she was her princess, her personal tutor and essentially a second mother. Warm Embrace however had swallowed the ideas of their Empress' divinity completely and happily regurgitated it to the masses with religious fervour. The similar yet opposing views both mares - who enjoyed positions of prominence in Solamina's presence - had quickly set the two against one another and the more they clashed the more their hatred entrenched itself. "I may call her but I wouldn't presume to order her around," Twilight said, continuing her charade. "I merely asking that she come in to help me. Even I will admit a student needs help from her teacher." Warm Embrace sneered again at Twilight's confidence. Suddenly a knock came from the door. "What is it?" Twilight snapped. The pegasus mare from before cautiously opened the door. "Um..." the mare said worriedly, licking her lips, "her majesty is approaching my lady. I thought I would inform you." A tense atmosphere descended over the room. Warm Embrace quickly spun to face Twilight, her eyes on the Unicorn's horn and an incredulous look in her eyes. Twilight suddenly remembered her horn was still lit. She quickly winked the light out and nervously returned Warm Embrace's look. A moment later the door to the office opened. Both mares bowed as a golden light filled the room. In walked Solamina, Empress of Equestria and all its conquered territories. She was a regal figure, surrounded by a halo of fiery golden light and dressed in her regalia of office. Atop her head was a tiara, barely changed from the one she wore when she was merely a princess, except now a large fireruby had been set in the centre. Her face was locked in an expression of serene confidence and divine grace. "Your majesty," both mares said as they bowed low, one hoof placed in front of their bodies as they lowered their heads. "My little ponies," Solamina said, her voice as measured and graceful as her stance. "Twilight Sparkle," she then said, her tone becoming warmer and more inviting, "I was looking for you. However, I did not expect Lady Warm Embrace to also be here." Solamina turned to face the Earth Pony mare who still kept her head lowered. "What are you doing that requires my precious student?" Her tone was even, but there was now a cooler hint to it. "Your most glorious majesty," Warm Embrace said in a reverent tone, "it is an honour to see you before me on this most beatific day you have deemed to gift us with." Twilight sneered slightly at the zealous mare's words. The worst part was the fact that the Converted believed everything she said with the utmost conviction. Solamina's day was not a gift given by a god, it was the proud duty of a mare, an act worthy of respect and devotion but not blind, unthinking worship. "Why thank you," Solamina replied, "but I must ask again, why are you here?" Her voice cooled substantially as she eyed Warm Embrace. "Your majesty," the Converted mare continued as if she had not noticed the change, "I was merely protesting the mobilisation of your holy church's armed forces. I have stressed over and over that your flock's militant arm is a force of peace to be used only in the face of truly unholy conflict," she then threw a look at Twilight, "not another bludgeon to be used for political gain." "Lady Warm Embrace," Solamina began, her smile shrinking into an indifferent line on her face, "I do believe I permitted my student to mobilise my forces as I see fit. Your wishes have repeatedly been accommodated but in these times I did see fit for her to take command." The temperature in the room reduced noticeably, as if the heat were being sucked into Solamina's radiant body. "O... of course your majesty," Warm Embrace stuttered, "I perfectly understand." "Then why," Solamina said, "are you still protesting my decision?" "Y... your most divine majesty," Warm Embrace said, "I was expecting your personal missive. Your most blessed shepherds are prone to arguing amongst one another, and I did not trust the words of Father Eagle Eye and the High Commander here. I came to protest the news I had received and intended to respectfully seek audience with you once I was done in order to present my case." "Well that is unnecessary," Solamina replied steadily, the temperature of the room increasing once again. "I did in fact order the Church to mobilise their armed forces. Now that it has been made clear, I expect you to contribute as fully and enthusiastically as your brethren." Solamina then turned to regard Twilight Sparkle. "I also expect you to send full reports of your contributions to Twilight here." "Of course, your majesty," Warm Embrace said, bowing low. "Very good, my little pony," Solamina replied demurely, "you are dismissed now. I have urgent business with my protegee now." "Your most divine majesty," Warm Embrace said, her head still lowered as she hurried out of the room. Solamina then turned to Twilight, smiling politely. "Well now that she's been dealt with, I have some news for you." "News?" Twilight asked, now somewhat confused. "Yes," Solamina replied with an indulgent smile, "Do you remember the expedition I sent into the remains of the British Isles?" "Yes," Twilight replied, perking up. "Well I just received news from them," Solamina continued, "and they have found Fluttershy and Rarity." "Really?" Twilight shouted, leaping onto her desk in excitement, an unhealthily wide smile on her face. "Indeed they have Twilight. I ordered them to return the bodies immediately, and they are already kept within the lower dungeons," Solamina's expression then became grave. "However, the bodies have already suffered severe decomposition." Twilight's face fell at the news. "How severe?" she stammered out, "I... I mean I know it's been over twenty years now but I was kind of hoping for some kind of preservation to take place, you know like the peat bog mummies in New Eagleland and I..." "Twilight," Solamina chided the young mare, "I'm afraid it was too late to preserve much of them. However the remains are waiting for you down there." Solamina inclined her head to the door. "I'm sure with a bit of clever application you could come up with something." Twilight's thoughts were already racing. Several plans were formulated and dismissed in a matter of seconds as she sorted through every technique she could devise. Finally she came up with something, it was not only feasible but could improve upon her other friends if it worked and it was going to work. "Thank you, your majesty," she said in a grateful tone, bowing low. "It was no problem at all Twilight," Solamina replied. "Go ahead and visit them. I'm sure you want to get to work as soon as possible." "Thank you, thank you so much!" Twilight almost shouted, her head shooting up. She bowed one more time and then galloped out of her room, racing through the corridors of the Royal Palace until she reached the doors that led down to the dungeons. Barely hesitating, she pushed open the doors and made her way down the steps, slowing just enough to prevent her from tripping over her robes of office. Twilight ignored everything else as she trotted through the halls of the Canterlot dungeons. She had remembered when she had first seen them, barely full and laxly guarded by disinterested Guardsponies that didn't particularly care for the assignment. Now the cells were full with dissidents, heretics and criminals who had flourished in numbers not seen since the days of Nightmare Moon. At the back of the maze of cells and corridors was another door. This led into the lower dungeons, a deeper level of secret rooms and laboratories. Here Twilight had conducted secret experiments unseen by everypony but the Empress and the few attendants she allowed to assist her. Even her Archmagi were not permitted to see what she had done in these rooms. Opening the door, the arcane wards and locks undoing themselves in her presence, she entered the room. Right in front of her was a large operating table designed to appear more like an altar. Lying on top of it were two collections of bones. They had been prearranged into the semblance of a pony skeletal display, clearing indicating that one was a Unicorn and the other was a Pegasus. Twilight felt weak kneed and struggled not to vomit. These were her friends, faces she hadn't seen for over two decades. The more she looked at their vacant skeletal faces, the more her mind and heart were filled with rage. The Avatar of Albion had murdered them and then left them to rot. He had turned his beloved British Isles into a haunted wasteland so inhospitable that it had taken all these long, harsh years to finally recover her friend's bodies. Twilight trotted over to the table. She reached a hoof out and tenderly rubbed the skull of Rarity. She then did the same to the wing bones of Fluttershy. "You don't deserve this," Twilight soothed to the bones, a hint of bitterness in her voice. Still staring at her friends' remains, a new idea formulated in her mind. Her previous plans were insufficient, much more work would be needed if she wanted to repair her friends. "Attendant!" Twilight shouted, shaking the dungeons with the Royal Canterlot voice. The sound of rapid galloping heralded the arrival of a very nervous Earth Pony stallion who bolted through the door, the wards permitting him to enter. He was dressed in a simple grey smock that had Twilight's cutie mark emblazoned on it. "Y... yes High Commander," he stammered. "Bring me bodies. Immediately," Twilight said, never once taking her eyes off of the table. "I have a new project." "Understood," the stallion said, a horrified expression on his face. He clearly wanted to be as far from her as he could manage whilst still attending to her demands, knowing full well what could happen to him if he failed. He quickly turned and ran back out of the room to find whatever his mistress sought. As the sound of the attendant leaving echoed through the chamber, Twilight peered down at the bones, tears in her eyes. A manic grin split her face as she silently cried and she moved to stroke the remains once again. "Don't worry," she said in a disturbingly calm tone that didn't match the insane look in her eyes, "I'll make both of you whole again." * Unknown Area, Horssia. March 25th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar) Surprisingly, moving out of the more heavily forested regions of Eastern Mareope hadn't soothed the nerves of the Midnight Guard royal entourage. In fact entering the more open wetlands and meadows of Western Horssia had made them even more nervous. Now Thestral and Pegasus patrols were required to scout the area from the air before and after the column made camp. Royal Duty, however, was happy to leave the oppressive canopy of the trees. Ever since he had fought the Anthroponies he had been nervous of the forest and what lay within its dense foliage. At present the column was on the move again. According to Young Nan, who was walking by his side, stepping forward on occasion to help direct the Prince and his advisors in directing the column to friendly territory, they were already in lands claimed by the Resistance. Shortly after hearing this, Prince Blueblood had increased the pace of their march. He had said that he wanted to be deep in their ally's lands as soon as possible. "So," Royal Duty said, hoping to strike up a conversation, "how can you tell where we're going?" Young Nan gave him an aside glance in response, her eyebrow raised. "We're on the tracks that we usually send larger armies through," she said in response. "Normally I travel through the concealed back channels but this area was cleared to allow slower forces through." "Really?" Royal Duty said in a disbelieving tone. He looked down at the dirt track they were currently walking on, wondering how the smaller forces of the Resistance normally travelled if these were the tracks set aside for their actual armies. "Well it's officially a trade route but we make use of them," Young Nan replied. "Most of the ponies that live here work for us and the frequent use means it's more difficult to notice whether the wheel ruts and hoofprints are from soldiers or merchants." "Doesn't that mean you can't tell if Solaminan's are coming your way?" Royal Duty then asked, giving her a similar aside glance. "They're a lot slower than us," Young Nan said, smirking, "We catch them every time they try to move in here." "Well," Royal Duty sighed, "I hope they find us soon as well. We could really use the help now." He glanced behind him to scan the long line of bedraggled ponies. The Guardsponies armour, which had once shone silver, was now dusty and splattered with mud. Despite daily maintenance and cleaning, the exertions of the day quickly soiled the silver veneer and deep blue tabardry. He knew the wagons that carried their supplies were in even worse shape. Despite frequent repairs, they were becoming increasingly flimsy and prone to breakdowns. "Oh trust me," Young Nan said, distracting him, "they'll notice us." Royal Duty realised she had been appraising the column with him and she now wore a knowing smirk as she made similar assessments of the situation. The column continued on down the track. By now the burden of their travels was weighing down on them, morale was flagging, and conversation, which had at least existed as a quiet background noise amongst the camp followers, had quieted to nothing. "Movement!" a voice suddenly shouted over the column. Everypony looked up abruptly to see one of the Pegasus scouts pointing to the north. "We've got movement!" the scout shouted again. "It's another column!" Everypony tensed, the camp followers inching closer to the Guardsponies that were now standing to attention. "How many?" Blueblood shouted back up. The pegasus scout, now joined by several more that had been scouring the skies, peered closely in the direction he had been pointing. "I see a horseshoe flag!" the Pegasus shouted again. "It's the Resistance!" The column relaxed again. Royal Duty felt relieved, glancing at his prince and then Young Nan, both of whom had intense looks of contemplation. He assumed they were considering how to greet the forces that were likely bearing down on them now. "We got Pegasi incoming," another scout said, pointing back to the north. Royal Duty watched as several Skyrangers, Resistance flyers, came up to the Midnight Guard Pegasi in formation. They seemed to be addressing one another, likely giving their ranks and credentials. One of the Skyrangers then angled itself downwards and flew to meet the column. The Pegasus, clad in a dark grey uniform and cloth face mask and armed with wing-blades that shone in the weak sunlight, landed right in front of the prince's entourage and saluted. "Your highness," the Skyranger said, "I am lieutenant Cloudy Skies of the New Equestrian Resistance. I have been sent to inform you that Captain Once Over is moving his own forces to meet you. We were dispatched from Headquarters to escort you and your retinue to meet with High Command." "Very good," Blueblood said curtly. "The captain has requested that you stay here. My comrades are already reporting your position back to him and he is already diverting his troops in your direction." Cloudy Skies then blanched slightly. "With all due respect of course your highness." "Very well, Lieutenant," Blueblood said. Royal Duty didn't miss the slight downturn of his prince's lips. He was clearly annoyed with the presumptive Resistance officer that had made such an arrangement. Cloudy Skies saluted once again and then shot back into the air, angling towards the direction he had arrived from. He was returning to his own column to give his report. "Well it looks like we wait now." Blueblood turned to his own officers. "Give the order to halt. I want us to form a defensive formation but remain ready to move out as soon as possible." The Midnight Guard ponies saluted and set off to execute their own orders. Royal Duty turned away from his prince and back towards Young Nan. "This Once Over anypony you know?" he asked her. "Nopony I served under," Young Nan replied, "and I haven't heard about him either." "Thanks anyway," Royal Duty said, "I just wanted to see if you could tell us anything about the pony who's supposed to be helping us." "Yeah I can't you anything. Sorry." Both ponies returned to silence as they watched the column reform itself. Guardsponies moved the wagons and camp followers to the centre of the formation as the Midnight Guard encircled them. Everypony remained ready to move at a moment's notice but it was clear the arrangement was far more relaxed and sedentary. * Prince Blueblood was, in a word, annoyed. He had been tramping through the muddy tracks of Western Horssia for days, accumulating dirt and sweat and ruining his coat, mane, tail and armour. Now, when he was finally going to make contact with the New Resistance, they had presumed to boss him around and delay him further. He didn't care if it was only going to be a few minutes, he wanted to be on the move. The sooner he made it to a proper base of operations, the sooner he could begin orchestrating the new war effort. "They're here," one of the Pegasi scouts shouted from above. The entire camp tensed as they prepared for the arrival of the Resistance contingent. The Resistance ponies appeared more ragtag when compared to the silvery Guardsponies of the Midnight Guard. Freedom Fighters, the mainstay of the Resistance's armies, marched over the hill, the horseshoe flag flying over them. They were dressed in light leather barding that lay over them like a padded jerkin. Most of them were Earthponies armed with lances but behind them came Skyrangers that were marching on the ground, presumably to save energy. On the side were the infamous Wranglers, ponies dressed in dulled chainmail armour that roamed along the formation's flanks in loose groups. They were armed with ropes, bolas and stabbing blades that they hung from their sides and brought out to harass the foe and strike down the vulnerable and the unwary. Blueblood could see workers bringing up the rear of the larger column. They were carrying large bundles, presumably the column's supplies. It was a more strenuous method of transporting provisions but also less conspicuous. The moment the Resistance forces were spotted the Midnight Guard returned to attention, reforming into their regular formation. When the Resistance column finally made it to the Midnight guard contingent, they halted as one and stood at attention. Both forces eyed one another, likely analysing the ponies in front of them. A large Earth Pony dressed in heavy chainmail armour covered by a set of leather barding over the top trotted forward. He approached the prince and then, first, bowed low before saluting. "Your highness," he said smartly, "I am Captain -" "Once Over," Blueblood suddenly interrupted, wanting to get in one jab at the rudely presumptive officer. "I'm glad that you were close by to receive us. My troops and I are grateful for your assistance." Once Over stalled, unsure how to respond to the praise. "Thank you your highness," he said hesitantly. Blueblood fixed a smile to his face. "Well my forces are rested and ready to move out. The sooner we can make it to your headquarters the better. We have been on the road for a long time and many of us our anticipating a proper billeting." "Of course your highness," Once Over said with a bow. He then turned away from the prince and back to his own forces. "Company! About turn! We're going back to HQ." With practised ease, the Resistance column turned around and began to march in an eastward direction. "Midnight Guard!" an officer in Blueblood's entourage shouted in turn, "Advance!" His column lurched forward, the weary ponies returning to the gruelling pace they had become accustomed to. Blueblood scanned his personal entourage, seeing the various looks his officers and advisors were wearing. Most of them seemed to be anticipating the arrival at Resistance Headquarters, probably for different reasons. Blueblood kept a straight face but was grinning internally. Finally he could meet up with his old allies and coordinate his war effort. Finally he could take action against his many enemies and bring his rebellion back under control. Finally being able to have a good bath once he got there wouldn't hurt either. * Horsaw Ponland. March 26th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar) "So the missives from New Prance tell us that the chaos in Germareny is beginning to spill over into their province's territories. Rumours of Midnight Guard are starting to be confirmed by actual reported sightings." Freedom Heart sighed as Just Deserts continued to read off the summaries of the countless reports that had passed over his desk. He already knew this but the aristocratic mare had insisted that protocol be followed during their staff meeting. The highest authorities in Mareope had gathered in the lavish stately room that now served as their meeting hall. The room was circular, beautifully painted walls depicting regal ponies striking down enemies or prostrating themselves before images of the sun, led up to the vaulted dome ceiling. At the centre of the room was a round table that had been varnished to an almost glassy shine. Several ponies now sat around the table, more ponies standing behind them and attending to them whenever the seated officials demanded anything. "Thank you very much, viceroy," Freedom Heart said wearily. "I think the situation is very clear now." He turned to the ponies in the room, Just Deserts looking mildly annoyed at having been interrupted. "Fillies and gentlecolts," Freedom Heart began, addressing the entire assembly, "the threats to Mareope are obviously far more severe than anypony could have predicted. The continent is rife with traitors, heretics and monstrosities that cannot be tolerated. It is quite clear that the current methods we are using are no longer adequate to contain or counter them." "Just what are you suggesting Marshal?" a well dressed Earth Pony mare asked in an indignant tone. "Are you implying that what we have done is inadequate?" "Indeed sir," an overdressed and overweight Pegasus stallion piped in. "I will have you know that we are poorly equipped and staffed here and have done the best we can." "I suggest nothing," Freedom Heart calmly replied, "at least in regards to you noble ponies and I acknowledge your hard work. However, it is clear that we cannot continue to simply ignore the conflict and try to continue with business as usual whilst our enemies proliferate under our very noses." Freedom Heart then stood up from his seat, his hooves pressing on the table so he could raise himself higher. "Good ponies," he began, pausing as he carefully chose his next words. "I would suggest we place the Viceroyalty under martial law." The entire room immediately exploded into chaos. Ponies everywhere shouted out their objections, bombarding Freedom Heart with their reasons and justifications for opposing his decision. Just Deserts sat back in her seats with a heavy sigh, watching as her government verbally tore one another apart. Finally tired of the commotion, she rapped on the table with her hoof, growing progressively louder until the room had eventually quieted back down. "Everypony please compose yourselves," she said with practised calm. "I am sure we can come to some kind of agreement. Field Marshal," she turned to regard Freedom Heart, "could you please provide some outline for your intentions should we place ourselves under martial law. We can then debate the merits of taking such an action." Freedom Heart sighed internally. He didn't relish the idea of a lengthy debate with politicians over the necessities of taking action against the Empire's threats. "Thank you viceroy," she said, "I would like to begin with..." He was suddenly interrupted by raucous laughter from outside that filled the room with an unsettling presence. "Good morning everypony," a jovial yet sinister voice announced, "I hope you don't mind me popping in." Freedom Heart stood up from his seat and went over to the window. Peering down onto the square in front of the viceregal palace, he saw a very bizarre sight. A strange patchwork creature was stood in the middle of the square. He had a vaguely equine head attached to a serpentine body, mismatched limbs were attached to it along with a pair of wings. It's face bore an excited expression and it was striking a dramatic pose with its avian claw held high in the air whilst it hovered over the ground. "I'm just here to drop my kids off," he continued in his speech, barely missing a beat. "I hope you don't mind." He then snapped his fingers. There was a flash of light and then the air above him imploded into a white void. Shapes moved behind the milky skin of the spherical white anomaly, disturbing the liquid sheen of the shape. Countless hundreds of grotesque monsters suddenly spilled out of the sphere in all directions. Horrific monsters that appeared similar to deformed humans that had been twisted and warped with pony features charged into the square, roaring and yelling as they went. Overhead, the bizarre chimera flew in loops, laughing like a maniac as his minions began to ravage and destroy everything they could reach. "Summon the guards!" Freedom Heart screamed to the ministers and officials. "Somepony, anypony get as many guards as possible and barricade the palace!" Several of the servants and adjutants that had been standing in the room rushed out of the doors. Freedom Heart turned to the other viceroyalty officials. "Get to centre of the citadel," he said to them. "This is an emergency situation and your safety is our top priority. Head for the fortified safe-room in the foundations." The various governmental officials all nodded their affirmatives and hurried out of the room with their guards. He saw Just Deserts throw him a glance of concern as she was shuttled to the safe-room and then they were gone. "Right," Freedom Heart said, primarily to himself. He turned to one of the remaining Guardsponies in the room. "Send out the signal." The Unicorn Guard ran to the window, charged up his horn and fired a ball of green light into the air. The ball of green magic shot high into the sky over the city and exploded in a nimbus of green and yellow colour. Freedom Heart ran down to the main entrance into the palace. The Grand Hall, a massive structure that, like the conference room, reached high up to a vaulted ceiling and was covered in red and gold painted frescos, was filled with Guardsponies. "Ponies of the Solaminan Empire," Freedom Heart shouted as he trotted into the hallway, his magic drawing his sword from its sheath, "the enemy is at our gates. We all knew it would happen eventually, that our foes would attempt to strike us in our homes. I say we show them why that is a bad idea." The crowd of ponies cheered at his words as he ran to the front, his sword pulled from its sheath by his magic. "Open the doors," he commanded. "It's time we took the fight to them." Everypony's face was set with a look of grim determination. They all knew what was awaiting them outside the palace's doors. The moment the great doors opened, they heard the screams of ponies and the bloodcurdling cries of the abominations that were attacking them. They could not yet see the chaos as the outer compound of the viceregal palace still separated them from the city proper but there was no longer a great distance between them and the monsters they were about to face. The ponies hurriedly marched through the compound, every one of them quiet except for the sound of their hooves stomping on the stone courtyard. "Get the gates!" Freedom Heart shouted to the ponies manning the compound walls. The Guards immediately went to work, grabbing the wooden bar that kept the doors shut and pulled the reinforced doors open. Atop the walls, Unicorns took position, their horns lighting up in preparation for bombardment. Freedom Heart and his troops quickly filed through the passage, filling it with their armoured bodies before any enemies could exploit the opening. The moment he stepped beyond the boundaries of the viceregal palace, Freedom Heart found he had descended into chaos. Foul abominations were running rampant throughout the city centre. Disgusting mutants, combinations of pony and human features, were butchering everything in sight, defacing buildings, toppling statues of Solamina and screaming obscene curses at everything around them. Freedom Heart could see the raw, palpable hatred in their eyes and it almost made him pause for fear of drawing their gaze. "Marksmages!" Freedom Heart shouted, his voice carrying over the ungodly din. "Now!" "Loose!" another voice atop the wall screamed in response. The familiar hissing noise announced the firing of dozens of bolts of magic. Points of light shot over the heads of Freedom Heart and his Guardsponies and impacted the roiling horde beyond. Anthroponies were sent flying by the powerful shots that impacted them. Many fell to the ground with burning wounds in their bodies whilst others were simply stunned. The horde had been sent reeling by the fire against them but now every one of them had noticed the pony force assembled before them. "Ponies of the Empire!" Freedom Heart shouted. "Charge! For the Empress!" A great roar of rage erupted from the pony column and, as one, they ran forward. Their spears were lowered and grim or enraged expressions were fixed to their faces. The Anthroponies, responding to the roaring commands of one of their horde, also formed a rude battleline and charged forward in response. Freedom Heart pulled his sword closer to his body and braced for impact. It felt like an eternity as he watched the wall of misshapen flesh and bone rush towards him and his ponies. He tried to think of the things he fought for, order, the Empire, the safety of his fellow ponies. In an instant, the two lines clashed. There was an audible crash as armoured ponies collided with creatures larger than themselves. Anthroponies fell as spears were lodged deep into their bodies. At the same time, ponies were pushed back or smashed to the ground by heavy blows from their enemy's weapons and fists. Overhead magical shot continued to fire into the rear of the Anthropony horde. Freedom Heart thrust his blade forward, skewering a deformed beast in front of him in the chest. The creature doubled over and collapsed as he pulled his sword out of its chest. He turned the blade just in time to catch an axe swung at him by a monster with a human face stretched over a pony's muzzle and one leg that ended in a broken hoof. Freedom Heart pulled his sword back and twisted it in his magical grip. The sword spun, letting the axe fall for a moment. However, the sword changed direction again, slicing down on the Anthropony's fingers and severing them. The beast howled in pain, dropping its weapon. In that time a nearby Guardspony rammed his spear into the monstrosity's throat, silencing it. The pony line was holding, the Anthropony's dashing themselves on the golden plated wall that had formed up immediately after the momentum of the charge had bled out. "Hold!" Freedom Heart shouted, pulling back and taking his place in the formation. A loud shout then echoed over the square. The Anthropony horde split as a loud horn sounded. Freedom Heart's heart slowed for a moment as he saw what approached them. Huge beasts with the bodies of ponies, swollen to the size of a horse, the heads and torsos of human and with a pair of twisted Unicorn horns atop the crowns of their ugly semi-equine heads were charging at them. Male and female, some armoured, others baring their naked chests to the foe, the disgusting Anthroponies ran at them, baying for blood and swinging cruel mauls and blades. "Brace," Freedom Heart was able to shout just before the beasts crashed into his formation. For Freedom Heart it was like being struck by a train. He was bowled over, a hoof striking him in the chest and denting his barding, breaking several of his ribs as well. A huge flail clipped his helmet, just missing his head but sending him reeling. Despite his scrambled thoughts, he saw several of the beasts use magic, their horns lighting up and feeding energy into the blades which now spat fire and magical energy at any unfortunate ponies in front of them. The Anthroponies charged on, overrunning the Solaminan forces and scattering them. Several portions of the relief force routed, fleeing into the other streets whilst others withdrew into tight defensive circles. The line was broken and now everypony could only look after those in their immediate presence. Freedom Heart stumbled to his hooves, his brain still too jarred for him to think properly. "Hello murderer," a young, smooth voice said above him. Freedom Heart looked up, his vision finally clearing and beheld a nightmare. It was one of the demi-horse beasts but it was far larger, towering a full head over its foul kin. Its face was the closest to resembling a human's Freedom Heart had yet seen on any Anthropony and it bore an expression of smug superiority. It's warped Unicorn horns had grown as if they were woven to form a bizarre branching crown and were tipped by a ball of magical flame that followed the movements of his head, bobbing and weaving as the crown shifted. "Wha..." Freedom Heart tried to say, his addled mind still struggling to respond. "What are you?" "Me?" the creature said. "I'm a young man here to do my bit for a righteous cause." He grinned revealing human teeth with prominent canines. "I'm an avenger." He reached down, bending his forelegs and reached a hand out to grab Freedom Heart. The stallion struggled but the beast was far larger and much stronger than the wounded and disoriented Unicorn. Freedom Heart could feel the beast wrap his fingers around his throat and lift him up from the ground. His vision swam once more and dark blotches appeared before his eyes. "I'm Isaac," the Anthropony said as if he were greeting somepony over tea. "But most people call me the Stonewall." He paused, looking up at the wall of the palatial compound which was still manned by Unicorns. Freedom Heart was glad to see the Guardspones atop the walls were still raining fire down on the Anthropony horde. "And," the beast, Isaac, continued in the same friendly tone, "I'm here to get back at your kind for creating this hell." Freedom Heart could see the demi-horse beasts were now directing magic at the ponies on the wall. "I really wish this would go quicker," Isaac said, his tone becoming irritated. "I guess things can only ever be done right when you do it yourself." Freedom Heart felt the grip around his throat tighten as a light lit up in Isaac's other hand. He could see the beast charging magic and directing his hand at the gate. The massed Anthroponies, realising what their leader intended to do, moved out of the way, eagerly waiting for the spell to shatter the doors that separated them from their prey. "Strike from the sky brothers! For the empress!" a voice suddenly shouted. Freedom Heart was able to glance up just in time for a golden blur to crash into his captor. The Anthropony horde looked up to see the sky filled with formations of Solaminan Pegasi. The golden cohorts of flying warriors whirled overhead. Then, almost as one, they tucked in their wings, held down their spears and dove down, crashing into the foe beneath them. Anthroponies everywhere dropped as spears and armoured bodies slammed into them, piercing them with sharpened steel or crushing them with armoured hooves. Then, as if they had never touched the ground, the Pegasi were airborne once again, returning to formation and wheeling around to make another strike. Freedom Heart shook his head again as his vision cleared. He saw that the beast, Isaac had managed to grab the Pegasi that had struck him before the unfortunate pony had been able to escape. Still weak, he was only able to watch as he saw the Anthropony sorcerer conjure fire in his free hand and force-feed it to the mare. The Pegasi above had reformed and began diving down into the fray again. isaac, raised his hand, a grimace of hatred on his face and built up magical energy again. The Pegasi crashed back down onto the Anthroponies, scattering them and slaying dozens with spears and trampler clad hooves. Isaac, however, avoided their assault. The magic in his hand formed into a wall of energy. Pegasi that had aimed for him collided with the shield, violently bouncing away and crashing into the ground. He effortlessly held up the magical shield as several more Pegasi were thrown away by it. "For the Empress!" the familiar cry of the Empire sounded once again as a battalion of Guardsponies appeared from the south street. Freedom Heart was relieved to see the several dozen strong unit plough through the square. The Anthroponies, who had now been scattered and stunned by the Pegasi, were trampled by the armoured ponies baring down on them. The demi-horse creatures put up the biggest struggle but were either toppled by the more numerous ponies or skewered by their lances. "Discord!" Isaac shouted into the air with a roar. His face had transformed into a foul mask of primal rage and any pretense of friendliness or joviality was gone from his voice. Freedom Heart staggered upright, the sight of his comrades heading his way giving him renewed strength. He lifted a sword from a nearby corpse of a Guardspony and held it in his magical grip. The sword swayed as he struggled slightly to keep a hold of it but he fixed Isaac with a challenging glare. Isaac looked back at the stallion in front of him and sneered. "Oh don't think this is the end of it," he said with contempt and hatred in his tone. "I'll be back." In an instant a flash of light engulfed Isaac and the Anthropony was gone. So too were the other living abominations. In that single moment the entire square and the city beyond had emptied of living Anthroponies, leaving only bodies behind. Freedom Heart stood still, stunned and dumbfounded by how abruptly the battle had just ended. He looked around for any sign of an enemy but all he saw were ponies and the corpses of the beasts he had been fighting. He listened out for any sign of trouble but only heard the cries of the wounded and the panicked. He dropped the borrowed sword from his magical grip and wobbled on his hooves. His mind was still addled and the adrenaline that had kept him going through the fight was beginning to run out. He wanted to collapse, to just give in to unconsciousness but he couldn't the ponies around him needed to see he could stand up to something like this. He ambled about the battlefield and finally found his own sword. He picked it up in his magic and sheathed it, ignoring the gore he was now wiping all over the inside by doing so. Finally he turned around and saw ponies coming out from the palatial complex. They were carrying stretchers and bore the red cross that indicated they were medicare personnel. Smiling slightly, he tottered over to them and didn't struggle when a pair of stallions grabbed him and lifted him up. As they placed him down on a stretcher he let the fuzziness on the edge of his vision finally become darkness and he slipped into unconsciousness. * Unknown area, former Britain. March 25th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar). "Are you afraid?" Merlin asked him. Christopher shook his head, feeling confused. He was sat on a stone, though it felt soft and comfortable. Merlin's cavern home was always this way - you expected one thing and yet received something else. Merlin had told him many things - had told him the story of the war, in a way that made it far more thorough than Christopher's parents had (and those stories were at best half-remembered). He had spoken of the Avatar of Albion, the warrior chosen to fight for humanity... and of his failure. Most tellingly, Merlin had told him that he was, quite possibly, the last human. He had told him that he had a destiny to fulfil: with no other humans left, the Light would only choose him to be it's Avatar. "Why?" Christopher asked. Merlin had paused at that. "Now, I don't claim to speak for the Light - older and wiser fools than I have tried. But even it operates with a certain level of... well, shall we say 'pettiness', for want of a better word." "'Pettiness'?" Christopher had repeated. "Oh yes," Merlin said, nodding slowly. "Light and Dark are strange things. The greatest of the Dark's champions may act with more honour and loyalty than a servant of the Light, depending on the person chosen. And Light itself is not beyond vengeance - its last Avatar, after all, was a symbol of precisely that." "So... it doesn't like the ponies?" Christopher had said slowly. "If you like," Merlin had said, nodding once. "So... I have to be like the Avatar you talked about?" Christopher had asked, frowning. "To... to be a hero?" "It sounds more impressive when you say that," the old wizard had said, looking morose. "But make no mistake - your destiny is full of trials and challenges, and then there's the final battle to consider. I dare say you've got a harder time ahead of you than the last fellow. It's quite likely you won't survive it." Christopher had listened intently, taking all this in. At that final pronouncement, he had nodded once, saying nothing. Merlin had seemed confused by that, and then he had asked his question. Christopher didn't know why his answer was so confusing. He wasn't afraid - was he supposed to be? "Why aren't you?" Merlin asked, narrowing his eyes at him appraisingly. Christopher frowned. "Should I be?" Merlin's mouth twitch slightly, almost into a smile, and then he brought himself to his full, rather impressive height. "Some men, when told they're likely not to survive a task, would rather not do the task," he pointed out. "But... if I don't, who will?" Christopher asked. "Don't you think that's rather a simplistic way of looking at it?" Merlin asked, raising an eyebrow. Christopher thought for a moment, trying to voice his thoughts as best he could. "My parents are dead," he said after a moment. "And so is everyone else. Right?" "So it would seem," Merlin said, nodding slowly. "If they are not, they are hidden from my sight." "And if I become the Avatar, I can... make it right?" Christopher asked. "Make it better?" "You can't save those already lost," Merlin replied. "But I can save anyone else, right?" Christopher asked more insistently. Merlin nodded, frowning slightly himself. "Then... I need to, don't I?" Christopher said, nodding to himself. "I need to save people, even the good ponies if there are any. Maybe... if I die doing it, that's not so bad. People die a lot. If I do something good first..." He trailed off, shrugging. Merlin was frowning, and Christopher had the horrible feeling he had said the wrong thing. Suddenly, the old wizard grinned. "Alright then. We had best get started." Christopher blinked, then nodded. "Ok." * Canterlot. March 26th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar) The dreams were always the same - she dreamt of other worlds, other lives. Some were peaceful... happy. Others were hard, filled with toil and strife. All, though, were somehow, impossibly, her. This dream, though, was different. She was... somewhere. Towers of steel reached towards a sky that was scarred and black, turbulent clouds rolling across the expanse into the horizon. Everything you have built I will bring down around you. Ponies and humans walking through the streets, their faces bland. Some seemed almost to be walking with their twins, save for slight changes. Posters were on the walls, showing images of a dark figure with a soft purple glow where its eyes should have been. Everything your demon-Empress has created, I will lay low. And there were the warriors: armoured soldiers marched hither and thither, their sleek rifles looking deadly. And every so often, a large figure, clad in bulky armour that looked like an unholy combination of technology and magic, would appear, the crowds seeming almost to part around them out of respect - or fear. I have strode the dark space between the worlds until that infinite nothing was part of me and I part of it. I have laid low Tyrant upon Tyrant, and I will do the same to your demon-Empress. She seemed almost to be floating towards a tower - the highest, most gothic tower of them all. Turrets covered the massive structure, sitting on a thousand smaller towers that jutted from the main structure. Hangars were visible, containing flying machines of types she didn't recognise. She kept floating higher and higher, before reaching the top - and suddenly, she was inside, zipping through corridor after corridor after corridor... It is only a matter of time. And then she was in a large, open room, a single throne set at the far end of the room. She floated slowly towards it. You cannot hide from what is to come. A shadowy figure seemed to form as she approached the throne. Little could be made of the figure, save for its human shape. You cannot hide from me. And suddenly she was right in front of the dark figure, purple glowing orbs glaring at her from the shadows. Twilight froze in shock as an overwhelming presence pressed down on her. She felt like every part of her was being crushed, body mind and soul. The gaze pierced right through and made her shrink away in fear but she couldn't move, couldn't turn away and couldn't try to shut out the cold purple eyes that bored into her very being. I see you, Twilight Sparkle. *** Twilight shot awake, gasping for breath. It took her a moment to remember that she was in her bedchamber in Canterlot, her body soaked in a cold sweat. Sitting up, she waited for her frantic heartbeat to slow down once again and tried to control her thoughts. She slumped back into her bed, before closing her eyes again. The dreams were always strange - but that had been new. Unheard of. It was just a dream, she thought to herself. Just a dream. She went back to sleep, and forgot the nightmare.
A Wraith in Winter	pre	"Your punishment for treason against the crown is talking?" Luna said sourly. The stars floating in her mane dimmed. "It's better than the punishment a thousand years ago," Celestia replied. Luna closed her eyes and breathed in. Celestia's sticky hoof found hers on the table and patted it reassuringly. "I didn't mean it like that, I'm sorry." "I am not some thing made of glass," Luna said sharply, but did not retract her hoof. Celestia returned to her diminished pancake stack, and Luna chomped on another apple. "Forgiveness," Celestia said, "is the most effective weapon we have. I suspect Berry will travel to Canterlot and skip to the front of the line with her bribery, all to scream and beg that your decree be undone." She giggled to herself. "It will be a most amusing show, and I will extract her tearful confession before the Royal Court, then send her on her way to give back the money." Celestia gave a rare full smile. "I'll make sure Raven follows up on it." "You will undo my decree?" Luna said in a pained whisper. "May I?" Celestia requested, but Luna knew the answer regardless. "Do as thou wilt." Luna stood up and away from the table, having a rare moment of staring down at her sister, seeing the sticky syrup rubbed into her fur around the muzzle, and her sticky hooves resting on the silken tablecloth. You have always been a glutton, sister mine. You have not changed as much as I believed. "You always hated attending court," Luna remarked conversationally. "What changed after I was gone?" "Somepony had to do it," Celestia answered slowly. "I still don't like it, but Twilight loves lists. I'm certain she'll find a way to make it tolerable. Before you go to bed, there is one other thing." Luna waited. "Another town disappeared in the north," Celestia admitted with a heavy sigh. "The guards found it last night. Several buildings burned down, but no bodies, thankfully. Cadance is at her wit's end trying to calm down the Crystal Empire." Luna frowned. "How many has that been? Seven?" "Too many," Celestia agreed. "I'll ask Twilight to investigate today, and to bring the Elements." "Do you truly believe that Sombra survived?" Luna and Celestia had fought the tyrant unicorn a thousand years in the past. He was cunning, wicked, and a master of illusion magic, enough to rival Luna herself, but Celestia was the better fighter. Sombra had killed the Princess Amore and seized control with pure fear, ruling as a slaving despot for nearly a year before the sisters faced him. On the cusp of victory, he enacted a spell that stole the Crystal City, displacing it from time. Luna knew a spell of that caliber took far too much magic, and suspected that Sombra turned to blood sacrifices in the end. She never told her sister about her suspicions. Celestia had cried for a day as it was, over Amore and the Ponies she failed to save. "It's not like Sombra to be subtle," Luna reflected. She had known him briefly, before his fall to corrupt powers. He was a talented mage, but not quite a friend. There had always been a darkness in him. The unicorn with a crooked horn that returned with the Crystal Empire was entirely consumed by hatred and foul magic, a snarling beast more animal than Pony. His death by young Spike was a mercy. "I don't know," Celestia shrugged and nibbled a syrup-coated lower lip. "Chrysalis is still out there as well." The changelings were their other old enemy. Chrysalis and her brood stalked the shadows from even before Discord's reign. Celestia had faced them more than Luna, but neither knew much about them. The attack on Shining and Cadance's wedding was their first emergence in centuries, and only defeated by the pure love between the couple. "I don't like this." "I mislike this as well," Luna concurred. "The Dreamscape may hold answers." "Dreams?" Celestia slightly snorted. Luna ignored it. "Night Court is hereby cancelled." "No," Celestia replied immediately. "Just because one petitioner went poorly--" "My only petitioner," Luna interrupted. "I have sat in an empty throne room quite enough. I will search the Dreamscape to see if I can locate our subjects, night and day. We will bring them back. Together." "Together," Celestia echoed.

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