Faith Renewed

The Shadow of a King
Faith Renewed
Author: Draconis187

“Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up!

Let’s finish our holiday cheer!”

All of Ponyville were singing joyously as they had begun with the customary Winter Wrap Up. It was a day where ponies manually changed the weather from Winter to Spring. All to be done in one day and without any form of magic.

Rainbow Dash was leading the Weather Team as she did every year. She was wearing a blue vest with white strips around the neck and forehoof openings as well as the bottom. The vest had a pale blue shield with a star symbol in the centre. She also wore a blue armband with the same symbol on it to emphasise her position as the team leader. She sent several ponies to fetch the southern birds while making sure Derpy stayed on cloud busting duty. No way in Equestria she was letting her out of Equestrian airspace, no matter how much she begged.

Applejack wore a green vest with pale green strips in the same places that Rainbow’s vest had white. She even had the same shield but in a dark green colour with the same yellow star, complete with armband. She was the team leader for the Plant Team. She did run the most successful farm in Equestria for a reason, even if she got help doing so.

Fluttershy was walking around with a small bell in her mouth. She wore a tan vest to indicate she was part of the Animal Team. They were responsible for waking up the hibernating creatures as well as helping to make the birds’ nests and anything else the critters required. She wasn’t wearing a team leader vest like her friends, nor was she wearing her red leather coat. In fact, the Pegasus was not even armed… at all.

Amethyst Star was coordinating the Animal Team’s efforts as Twilight – in a green and blue vest with tan edges made to represent all three teams – told her what was required and where the various teams were needed. Twilight was organising the entire Winter Wrap Up by herself, much to a particular little filly’s glee.

Nyx, a small black Alicorn filly was the subject in question. Part Nightmare Moon incarnate and Twilight Sparkle’s adopted daughter… at least in her universe. Nyx begged her Twilight to let her see how Winter Wrap Up is done in the other universe after they recovered from the Changelings’ attack as well as the demons. Her conclusion: surprisingly identical… if you could discount a few things.

1: Pinkie Pie was scoring the ice with Discord. The pair of them were having a competition whilst ensuring the ice was in manageable chunks so they could melt once the Pegasi cleared the clouds. Discord was cheating as he had a panel of biased judges: himself. Pinkie compensated for this by skating with Kalina Ann in her hooves, the bayonet slicing deeper into the ice than her skates could manage as she went.

2: Rebel and Legion – alongside a few other Changelings – were helping with the snowploughs and clearing the snow from the roofs. It was an interesting sight for the residents of Ponyville, watching Changeling Bulls pushing the ploughs across the landscape as if they weighed next to nothing. On more than one occasion they had to be told to slow down a little and despite the fact that they appeared to have a lower capacity for intelligent thought, they knew how to follow orders.

3: Nyx was playing with the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. This year Babs Seed – one of Applebloom’s cousins and the head of the Manehattan branch of the CMC – came around to visit. Whilst she and Nyx were slightly apprehensive of each other, once they saw the capes they both wore, it was instantly forgotten. Nyx had tended to forget she was not a convicted criminal in this universe and nopony had any bad connotations associated with her.

4: Joystick – the pistol-packing Unicorn from Canterlot and biggest troll this side of Equestria, third only to Celestia and Luna – was helping as well, mainly helping Rarity with the nest manufacturing line that Twilight had shown them to make a while back. His modified pistol was in a holster on his side as always, he apparently didn’t leave home without it ever since Fillydelphia.

On the whole, Winter Wrap Up was going to be finished with plenty of time to spare thanks to everypony not arguing for once and the fact that Equestria was no longer in crisis was also a plus. Everypony had been trying to fit back into their normal lives, normal for them at any rate. A pack of Timberwolves tried to raid Sweet Apple Acres some time back but were violently introduced to their ‘watchdog’ that weighed as much as a small mountain. Clunker the Kyklops got rid the wolves with little trouble as their fangs didn’t even leave as much as a scratch on his stone exoskeleton.

Rainbow Dash had been training with the Wonderbolts after joining their Academy for a week. She met a mare by the name of Lightning Dust but that is a different story for a different day. They are currently not on very good terms with one another due to certain events that transpired there.

The one who had the hardest time to adjust to normal life was Fluttershy. She had been gone for an entire year and not long after arriving back home she had been thrust into a war with Changelings only for it to become a war against demons with three worlds hanging in the balance. After the events in the Crystal Empire, Fluttershy tried to settle back into normal life but it has been a hard road to travel.

First was her ‘slight’ paranoia whilst sleeping. Angel Bunny nearly got shot twice when he tried to wake her up. The yellow Pegasus had been sleeping with her pistols under her pillow as a precautionary measure she picked up whilst trekking through Skyrim, that time it was a dagger. Next was the fact that she hardly ever took off the red leather coat that held her aforementioned weapons. She felt exposed and vulnerable without it but she managed to relent shortly after Nightmare Night.

Lastly were her Devil Arms. She always kept Beowulf on at all times and left the other weapons in a closet in her bedroom. And this was after she left the coat behind. After much coaxing and support from her friends, she eventually left the greaves and gauntlets there as well. Afterwards, Pinkie Pie threw a huge party for her to celebrate the achievement.

Right now the animal doctor was outside a little burrow, waking up a small family of hibernating rodents… specifically ground squirrels. She hovered from burrow to burrow, gently ringing the bell to rouse the sleeping animals from their slumber. The one thing that was easy for her to get back to was tending to her animals that missed her greatly.

“How is everything going, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked as she trotted up to her friend.

“The little dears will be up in no time but,” Fluttershy pointed her hoof to a small group of five young fillies running around in the snow, bells in their mouths. “It would go a bit smoother if the girls weren’t trying to be ‘Cutie Mark Crusader Animal Wakers’ as they put it.”

Twilight and Fluttershy shared a chortle as the five unwittingly woke up a flock of bats, causing a massive panic amongst their ranks. They all dug themselves into the snow in a bid to hide from their cranky assailants.

“Well, they are fillies Fluttershy.” Twilight defended as Nyx threatened the bats with Alastor as the bats flew off into the distance before walking off to check on her friends.

Ironically the Devil Arm of lightning was nowhere to be found. The blade had been sealed by one of the two Twilights and Nyx did not know which one it was. Given that her Twilight would have a lot of explaining to do – not to mention the fact she almost fainted as Nyx recounted her adventure in excruciating detail – logic dictated that the other Twilight would have it but she refused to inform her of its location.

Despite the distance between them, Nyx found out that the sword allowed the Twilights to confiscate him. The Alicorn was told that he would come to her aid as long as she required it. Both Twilights were both scared and intrigued by this news when Nyx told them after an incident which involved Alastor breaking a hole through the other Twilight’s wall when Diamond Tiara had cornered Sweetie and literally pushed her into the dirt.

In the aftermath of some events that transpired during the resulting ‘shotgun diplomacy’, Filthy Rich came by Golden Oaks Library to find the Alicorn assassin but Nyx had long since left for her universe with the blade and the other Twilight repaired the hole rather quickly. Filthy ended up treating it as her daughter’s wild imagination, much to the spoilt filly’s dismay.

Trixie Lulamoon – the azure coloured showmare and former rival of Twilight Sparkle – had also joined in the Winter Wrap Up, singing with the other ponies. Her signature hat and cape – as well as Cerberus – were nowhere to be found.

“Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Uuup!

Cause tomorrow Spring is here!”

“How are you doing, Trixie?” Twilight asked after joining in the musical.

“These trees tend to be rather troublesome in letting go of the snow but luckily Tr- I don’t need to worry that much since I’m pulling the wagon,” Trixie responded rather cheerfully as Thunderlane bucked the tree the two mares were standing under.

“Incoming!” He called out as the snow fell to the earth, landing in the cart hooked up to the showmare.

“Doesn’t it get heavy?” Twilight asked as she noticed Trixie straining slightly under the weight.

“Sparkle… my first stage-wagon weighed close to a ton. This is nothing compared to the backache that gave me over the years before I replaced it,” Trixie responded as she and Thunderlane moved on to the next tree.

“Well, everything seems to be in order,” Twilight mumbled under her breath as she looked at the checklist she had been carrying with her. “This is going to be the best Winter Wrap Up yet.”

“I should say so,” Twilight turned around and found Mayor Mare to be the source of the voice. “We have more volunteers this year than I have ever seen and such variety as well. After all, Changelings helping us with an Earth Pony tradition? It is quite the sight.”

Twilight nodded, “Especially since the Changelings broke off into different factions.”

She noted the older mare’s concern and began to explain, “After the whole ‘being tricked into a war they actually never wanted’, they broke off and began to govern themselves rather than bothering with a hierarchy. It’s kind of like communism now, each Changeling has an equal say in every life-changing affair.”

Mayor Mare looked stunned, “Changeling Communists? I hope they can pull it off.”

“Well, the Changelings came to the decision to integrate themselves into our society while some still remain in the Hives that dot the Equestrian Badlands just as the incident in the Crystal Empire ended. They also revealed where the locations to them all are to the Princesses as a gesture of goodwill between the two.”

Mayor Mare nodded and pointed at Rebel and Legion, who somehow got into an argument with Time Turner. Time Turner was the local clock manufacturer and a great friend of Derpy Hooves. Why, nopony knew.

“Oh, those two,” Twilight said, stifling a laugh as Rebel and Legion turned themselves into Time Turner and began mocking him by performing some rather embarrassing acts with ‘his’ body. “Let’s just say they're a special case.”

Mayor Mare nodded as Turner left in a huff, “As long as they don’t cause any trouble, I’m fine with them.”

Twilight nodded, “They know how to avoid trouble but it seems like they are busy making it this time around.”

“Twilight! Twilight!” Nyx’s voice called out, getting closer as the chant continued.

The purple unicorn turned around to find the five Crusaders… covered in tree sap. In her mind she kept wondering how they got tree sap into their coats and how in Equestria they were covered in sap at the turn of the season?! Getting the sap out Nyx’s coat won’t be too hard but her wings? That was going to be an utter Nightmare.

“I’m not going to ask,” Twilight deadpanned as she facehoofed.

“Sorry,” Nyx said, looking down at the still snow covered ground.

“Well, at least Fluttershy showed me how to take care of your wings. Find Spike and ask him to run you all a special Crusader Bath,” Twilight responded, trying not to sound harsh.

“Wow, yous got a bath named after ya?” Babs asked with a bewildered look on her face.

“This is kinda the reason why,” Sweetie Belle explained as she noticed a pinecone in her mane. “Rarity is so going to flip if she sees my mane like this.”

Twilight chuckled, “All the more reason to find Spike.”

As the Five Crusaders split up to search individually, Twilight checked off ‘Crusaders sent off to find Spike after another failed crusade?’ off her checklist. Good thing she was so organised. She noticed that Rebel and Legion hoofbumped each other as they ran to Applejack to help plant the seeds for the year’s harvest while Turner still grumbled. She shook her head and walked off to check on Rainbow Dash.

The prismatic mare was cloud busting with the others since she finds it therapeutic, a fact she would never admit aloud. Twilight noticed that Dash had a small bat hairclip in her mane which as Nevan’s dormant state as the Wonderbolt kicked the clouds with vigour. Twilight concentrated and fired off a translucent, magenta coloured blade into the air, making it shatter as it flew past Rainbow’s face.

“Hey Twilight!” Rainbow shouted with a small smirk adorning her face, “What did you do that for?”

“I just wanted your attention for a few seconds,” Twilight responded as the egotistic mare glided down to ground level.

“Ok, you got my attention. So what’s on your mind?” She asked.

“Is everything going according to schedule?” She asked with a frown. “I know how you are with following a schedule in any form.”

The Wonderbolt scoffed, “As if! You should now me by now Twi, I don’t leave my friends or Ponyville hanging.”

Twilight’s expression cheered up, “Great to hear! Thanks Dash!”

Rainbow rolled her eyes as she returned to the skies, “Anytime.”

Winter Wrap Up proceeded without the old or any hitches for once. As they all completed their assigned tasks, the population of Ponyville crowded around Town Hall. Standing on a podium by the entrance was Mayor Mare.

“Congratulations everypony on a successful and incident-free Winter Wrap Up!” She thanked as the crowd erupted with cheers.

“Let’s party!!” Pinkie Pie cried out, her hooves waving wildly in the air, a trait of her usual over-exuberant nature.

“I don’t see why not,” Mayor Mare replied cheerfully as she nearly got blasted backwards from the next volley of cheers.

Sugarcube Corner was incapable of hosting the party because it was too small… until Discord somehow expanded the inside of the bakery to fit everypony inside. There was cake, cupcakes, muffins, milkshakes, games and everything else one could imagine as well as a huge banner saying: ‘Successful Winter Wrap Up!’ Needless to say, Pinkie did not make that one.

At one point during the party, Discord, Pinkie, Twilight, Rarity, Joystick, Fluttershy, Legion, Rebel, Trixie, Nyx and Applejack left without a word, nor did anypony notice. They were having too good a time to do so.

The group’s destination was Fluttershy’s cottage on the outskirts of the Everfree forest. The reason: a small get-together of their own, as friends and Discord was opted to host it. The last time Discord was serving the group, it was the day he was released into Fluttershy’s care in order to reform the wayward Draconequus. The group sat around a white marble table, their names cleared marked in gold leaf so they knew where to sit.

Discord was wearing the suit he wore the last time he served them but this time there was nothing to interrupt it… nothing out of Discord’s normal anyway since the plates moved on their own accord as they plated themselves up with various little snacks Discord whipped up before their eyes.

“Where’s Clunker, AJ?” Rainbow asked as the demon was nowhere to be found all winter.

“He’s nappin’ in the barn. It seems he tends ta hibernate in winter,” The orange apple farmer replied as she dug into some hay fries that her plate decided to pick up for her.

“How unusual,” Twilight responded. “His species of demon hibernates? Dante never told us about that.”

“In his defence, he was busy trying to stay alive when he first met them so I doubt he had time to examine their habits,” Fluttershy interjected.

“Hm, I’d have to agree there. Clunker is the only demon he’s met that’s anywhere near domesticated,” Discord piped up as he poured himself a cup of tea. “Tea anypony?”

Various members gave an affirmative and their cups waddled over to the teapot and got in line. Some pushed others to get the line to go faster, just like anypony waiting in any line across Equestria. Discord’s antics continued from there as the candles decided to create a mini firework display for them all to enjoy.

“Ok then everypony, shall we?” Twilight said, getting a few glances which turned into nods as they all got up from the table and went outside.

The clearing that Fluttershy showed Pinkie Pie and Rainbow when she gave them their weapons was still scorched from previous ‘practise sessions’. The Elements of Harmony were powerful in their own right but their recent adventure proved that some things can not be reasoned with and required a harder hoof to deal with.

Fluttershy had donned her red leather coat, with Agni and Rudra on her back. Trixie had Cerberus with her. Lucifer’s red eyes glowed faintly on Rarity’s shoulder. Rainbow was plucking a few strings on Nevan as she observed the others. Discord had the colossal Hell Vanguard scythe which was now had a green handle with purple polka dots and the blade itself shifted colours every three seconds in a random pattern. Twilight cleared her mind and focused on the translucent blades she used while the two Changelings and Nyx observed from a safe vantage point.

Applejack looked around as she had the Daedric Warhammer, Volendrung on her shoulders. Joystick kept an eye on everypony, Blue Rose out of its holster and in the white unicorn’s magic grip. Pinkie bore a huge grin with Kalina Ann pointing at directly Dash as if she already found her target. Seven ponies - each with some form of weapon - were ready to begin.

Twilight cleared her throat and got everypony’s attention, “Alright everypony, we should set some ground rules before we begin since this will get intense. Rule 1: Do not use any move or attack that could greatly hurt the other. Rule 2: Keep it as fair as possible. I know we are an odd number so pairing up is not possible at the moment.”

“What about Nyx?” Dash asked, pointing to the black filly who looked up at her with those turquoise cat-like eyes. “She has a Devil Arm remember?”

Twilight shook her head vehemently, “No. I am not subjecting her to this if I can help it. Her Twilight will kill me if she found out that I let a filly use that sword.”

“But I won’t tell her, promise!” Nyx protested, her eyes wide as she tried to pull the ‘puppy dog eyes’.

“If your Twilight is anything like me, she’ll find out somehow. Please, I don’t want you in harm’s way,” Twilight replied guiltily. “Besides, you’re a filly now and not the grown mare you were when you first came here.”

Nyx folded her forehooves and pouted. Twilight began to feel sad that she had to make her stay out of this but their little training exercises tended to get out of hoof very quickly. The last session ended when Dash did a Devil Rainboom with her Nevan Devil Arm Trigger. It took a lot of explaining when some panicked ponies came to investigate.

“Ok then everypony,” Twilight said as she created eight blades that proceeded to circle around her. “Three… two… one!”

**** **** **** ****

The Frozen North didn’t get its name for nothing. Blizzards that threatened to tear a pony’s flesh straight from the bone where common place as there were as many as one every five days. The only thing that ever stood much chance against such a force was the Crystal Heart in the Crystal Empire.

Far in the frozen tundra, a figure trudged through the latest blizzard. He was so cold he should have gotten frostbitten hours ago. The figure was far from any form of civilisation and kept going, his hate – and a spell – keeping him warm.

He soon came across the cave he had made his home some time back, when he woke up in his current state. His wing was barley hanging onto his body, the sinew was clearly visible and yet the wing was still attached. He entered the cave and walked down into its depths. He illuminated the trip down with the red horn that was attached to his head.

He could hear the movements of some creatures as the caverns widened into a circular room that branched off into multiple passageways, “I’m back.”

Five figures appeared from the shadows of from the light he was emitting. They all had dark grey coats and their manes were darker than coal. Their eyes were covered by a pair of yellow tinted goggles. They all wore purple and black uniforms with yellow jagged lines to separate the colours, creating a lightning bolt design. The only way to differentiate them from one another was their body shape.

“What do you wish of us, Master?” A female sounding one asked.

“You are to go to Ponyville and keep tabs on our ‘friends’,” The Alicorn said deeply. “You are not to engage them in any way. Stay in the shadows and report back to me in three days. Those creatures are an affront to everything we stand for and yet those Changelings were forgiven just like that? We shall show them those bugs are not to be trusted.”

Author's Notes:

And here's the sequel! For those who did not heed my recommendation I implore you to check Dovahsy May Cry first as it will shed a lot more light on what is going on. From Discord to Fluttershy and why they are using weapons as well as why Nyx is there. Trust me if you don't, you will end up being left behind.

Machinations of Deceit

The Shadow of a King
Machinations of Deceit
Author: Draconis187

Rarity was leisurely walking down the pathway to Fluttershy’s cottage to collect her for their usual session at the spa with Aloe and Lotus. They had been maintaining their old habit ever since life seemed to normalise after the fight in the Crystal Empire. She was humming a small tune to herself as she saw her destination come into view.

Fluttershy’s cottage has always been a quaint place for Rarity to visit. Secluded from the rest of Ponyville and yet Sweet Apple Acres is not that far from it. The fact that it rested on a small hill with tiny cliff-face was always a question Twilight enjoyed asking. It wasn’t made from any kind of erosion and the group always joked that Fluttershy made it herself. Although now it seemed it would be a plausible idea.

“Fluttershy? Fluttershy darling?” Rarity called out as she knocked lightly, “Fluttershy?”

She wasn’t going to shout as it was unbecoming of a lady. She pouted slightly and knocked a tad harder on the cottage door. She waited patiently for a few minutes but Fluttershy still refused to make any sound. Rarity frowned slightly and went around to the animals that her friend took care of to try the back door.

“Where could she be?” Rarity muttered under her breath.

Rarity looked around and found the animals were where Fluttershy had always left them. As the fashionista walked past their food troughs, she found Fluttershy had fed them very recently. The chickens looked up to Rarity with inquisitive - yet confused - looks.

“Do any of you dears know where Fluttershy is?” Rarity asked. The chickens looked at each other and shrugged before returning their gaze towards Rarity and shaking their heads, “I thank you anyway. Look at yourself Rarity, asking animals if they know where a friend is. Of course they wouldn’t know.”

She felt a small tugging on her mane and turned around to see Angel Bunny, “Now see here! You do not get a lady’s attention in such fashion. It is rude and can mess up her mane.”

Angel rolled his eyes at Rarity’s scolding and pointed towards the cottage. Rarity looked and saw the back door was ajar. Rarity walked up to the door and gave it a gentle nudge with her hoof to open it.

“Hello?” Rarity asked nervously as the door widened, “Fluttershy are you there?”

Angel hopped past Rarity and began gesturing to the top of the staircase. The bottom floor was silent and empty. The bird houses were vacant and the mouse was already outside by the look of things. Other than that, the building was spotless. Rarity gingerly trotted up the stairs with Angel Bunny just in front of her, acting like a guide of sorts.

The landing was deserted and Rarity was starting to really worry about Fluttershy. As Angel hooped towards Fluttershy’s room, Rarity picked up a fern that sat atop a table nearby. She would have readied Lucifer but she left it at the boutique, locked in a secret compartment in her closet. Not even Sweetie Belle knew where it was.

Angel stopped just outside the door and gestured for Rarity to enter. She slowly pushed the door open with her magic. The door creaked as it widened, making Rarity shake a little as she entered the room. Rarity facehoofed as she saw the main occupant.

Fluttershy was fast asleep, sprawled on the bed and making the weirdest sound that couldn’t even be called snoring, it was too cute. Rarity rolled her eyes and placed the small potted plant on Fluttershy’s bedside table. Rarity’s face cracked a small smirk as she grabbed hold of Fluttershy’s covers and pulled.

The result was instantaneous: Fluttershy rolled to the right side of her bed and seemingly fell off. When she got up, she was holding Pity and Fool in her hooves. She had a deathly glare on her face that quickly softened when she saw Rarity’s smile. The pistols fell to the floor as the two mares embraced in a friendly hug.

“Good afternoon, Fluttershy. Did you forget our engagement for the day?” Rarity inquired as they broke the hug. Fluttershy’s eyes bulged slightly.

“S-sorry Rarity. The chickens got attacked by a pack of Timberwolves last night and I spent an hour just trying to track down my chickens,” Fluttershy replied apologetically as she tried to hide behind her own mane.

Going up against an army of Changelings on her own? No problem. Assaulting the lord the Demon World himself? Nothing worse than a walk in the park. A friend disappointed because she failed to remember an engagement? Worse than death.

Rarity chuckled as she noticed her friend still using her old tactics. She wondered if Fluttershy had actually come out of her shell since her adventures but it appeared to not be the case. She was still a shy pony amongst her friends but she was noticeably more confident when facing danger. If she could stare down a dragon before her adventures, she was already safe. Rarity did notice she was more confident whenever she wore the leather coat Dante gave her. Even the small necklace she wore made her feel a little more at ease.

“It’s quite alright darling. I was just worried when you didn’t come to the door,” Rarity smiled as she draped her one hoof over Fluttershy, “I think that day at the spa is just what you need. What do you think?”

Fluttershy gave her friend a grin and nodded her head as she grabbed the Amulet of Talos before leaving with Rarity.

**** **** **** ****

Twilight was stood on her own in the middle of her basement. Her eyes were closed as she tried to concentrate. Spike was out in Ponyville, on his weekly stationary shopping spree. As Twilight concentrated, eight magenta blades appeared around her.

She had gotten the gist of creating the blades but she quickly found out that she was not able to maintain more than four after conjuring the first eight. As the blades circled around their master, Twilight opened her eyes and picked up a piece of nearby parchment for her to take notes.

She stopped the blades’ spinning motion and rotated them to face the same direction she was while rearranging them into a four by four, box-like configuration by either side of her body. She gazed forward at a crudely drawn red ‘X’ on the wall in front of her an-

“Twilight!” A loud, yet shrill voice shouted from above, “Twilight!”

Twilight had lost her concentration and the blades shattered as they left the plane of existence. She looked up to the door and muttered angrily under her breath. The library was closed on a Sunday, why ponies didn’t seem to understand that Twilight was never able to tell. How they got in must have been a prank by Spike again.

The door to the basement opened with force and Twilight’s scowl instantly softened.

“Twilight, why are you in the basement?” Nyx asked, looking up at Twilight with that curious look Twilight was all too familiar with, “I thought you were doing experiments in the evening?”

“Sorry, Nyx. I just couldn’t wait to start,” Twilight responded as she closed the door rather abruptly behind her but Nyx failed to notice, “Where are the other Crusaders?”

“Well, Scootaloo wanted to try bear wrestling and asked Fluttershy but she yelped and flew off before we knew what happened. The other Fluttershy would have probably told us about it though.”

Twilight shook her head, “Nyx, you know how I feel about you going to that world. It’s dangerous.”

Nyx raised an eyebrow, “More dangerous than Scorpios, Ursa Majors, Minors as well as the other creatures that attacked Ponyville a while back, hm?”

“That was different and you know it,” Twilight argued, “You were forced to fight demons! Demons, Nyx!”

Nyx rolled her eyes, “Yes, with a demon weapon. I did say I was at my full size at that time and I was perfectly safe. Besides all that stuff is over now.”

“Nyx, this is not a discussion!” Twilight glared at Nyx, making her take a few steps back, “I know those ponies can protect you but I’m not very comfortable with you being near so much violence. Please don’t tell the Crusaders about that world.”

“I already Pinkie Promised, how can I make a bigger one?” Nyx asked, shrugging her shoulders and adjusting her glasses on her nose.

“I know but still, I know how you can get when you’re excited. I just worry about you,” Twilight said, embracing Nyx in her forehooves.

“I know,” Nyx replied with a smile, “Mind if I go now?”

“As long as you’re safe and you don’t use that thing I’ll be happy,” Twilight responded, emphasising her disdain for the Devil Arm Alastor, “As much as I don’t like you going, I know you’ll just go anyway. At least I know now where you are.”

“It’s ok, I don’t even know where it is. See you later,” Nyx said as she trotted upstairs.

“I hope she makes the soup like I do!” Twilight shouted with a small grin on her face.

“She is you remember?” Nyx half laughed, half shouted back.

Nyx opened up the door to her room and dove under her bed. She emerged several seconds later in triumph. She kept her most prized possessions in a box save for Alastor. The emerald amulet that allowed her passage between the worlds glowed faintly as if in anticipation. Nyx placed her head through the silver chain, securing it around her neck and touched the emerald.

**** **** **** ****

Twilight was busy reading the ‘The Equestrian Encyclopaedia: The Ramblings of Time Turner and Why We Never Listened’ as the air around her room dropped drastically in temperature. She got under her covers and wrapped a scarf around her neck and continued reading. Beside her bed, a large green blob started to form.

“Spike!” Twilight shouted, keeping her eyes focused on her book, “Can you make some hot chocolate please?”

The blob was no bigger than Peewee but that slowly changed as five growths formed while it enlarged. Four of them angled towards the ground and extended until they touched the wooden floorboards. The fifth appendage reached upwards and began to enlarge at the tip. The body began to take on more pony-like features as the head formed and the legs thickened.

The green pony body began to turn black as purple hair sprouted from the creature’s head and backside, forming a mane and tail respectively. The body then sprouted more detailed features, mainly a pair of glasses, a purple coat similar to the ones Rarity made for the Winter Wrap Up teams and a headband.

Nyx opened her eyes and began to shiver uncontrollably. In a second, she found her field of vision obscured as a blanket was draped over her body in an attempt to keep her warm. Nyx managed to poke her head out and found Twilight’s smiling face greeting her, a steaming mug of hot chocolate just a short distance away in the claws of Spike the Dragon.

“Hey there Nyx,” Spike greeted as he handed the mug over to Nyx’s magic grip, “Still getting cold?”

Twilight looked agitated as that statement but it was not directed to any of them, “I’m sure it’s some kind of twisted joke on Discord’s part.”

“Well, at least I can visit. I don’t mind the cold so much anymore,” Nyx said, trying to not get the Lord of Chaos on Twilight’s bad side. This Twilight was very similar to her Twilight in attitude and that worried Nyx, especially when this Twilight wielded magic blades.

After a few minutes – and another mug of hot chocolate – Nyx felt warmer and was ready to go out into Equestria. She used Twilight’s mirror in her bathroom to make sure her attire was in top condition. As she trotted outside to find the other CMC who did know of her weapon and the fact she came from another world, Twilight went into the basement with Spike.

“Twilight, shouldn’t we tell Nyx that you found a better way of getting here?” Spike asked as Twilight removed a tarp that was covering a very old and broken looking piece of architecture.

Twilight gave Spike a ‘really?’ look and sighed, “Spike, the process to get this thing working is rather delicate. Not to mention I only managed to get an audio/visual working a week ago and that was after two months of near endless work! And I had to keep a secret from Nyx every time she came. It’s not ready to transport anything.”

Spike folded his arms, “’kay, I hear ya. What are we doing here now anyway? Shouldn’t you be watching Nyx?”

“I have been speaking to Nyx’s Twilight. And from what the both of them told me, she can take care of herself,” Twilight replied as she gazed at the machine, “It seems we were both working on a similar project but mine is less compact than her own.”

The machine in question resembled a metal archway. It was made from a rare metal that only the Princesses have access and permission to use. Not even Twilight could fully pronounce nor spell the name correctly off the top of her head. Whenever the Princesses mentioned it, it sounded like one of Pinkie Pie’s random nonsense words.

The archway itself was not smooth as it was pieced together in a fashion that made some sections look either too large or too small. Twilight would never have finished it if the instructions she had informed her to the contrary. In the end she finished it under the guise of a new form of scanner in case Nyx or anypony else found out.

The archway was sky blue with several lines of yellow running along it like exposed wiring. Twilight took a deep breath and walked up to the wall behind it. She removed a magic seal that kept the false wall from being seen and gazed at a small pedestal with a black gemstone in it.

“Uh, Twilight…” Spike said nervously as he ran his claws over each other, “Is that-?”

“The very same gem from Saddle Arabia that sent Discord to the Demon World and ultimately reuniting him with Fluttershy and causing us a number of problems?” Twilight finished for him. She was not smiling, “Yes it is.”

“But why is it here?” Spike asked as the gem glowed faintly, making him take a cautious step back.

“After Fluttershy told us about what happened to Discord, I thought that the gem must have the same or similar properties as the Hell Gate that appeared in the Crystal Empire since both allow passage to the Demon World,” Twilight explained, “It turned out that I was right. The gem appears to be made of the same material that the Hell Gate was comprised of and has identical properties, save one major one.

“It lacks direction, control. It seems that the gem radiates the same energy that the Hell Gate did but it can not fully determine the destination it sends somepony other than somewhere in the Demon World,” Twilight paused for a minute as the gem’s energy seeped down into the ground, snaking towards the archway, “The Celestial Archway channels the power of magic imbued gemstones to stabilize the portal that gets its energy from the metal in the archway itself.”

“But why didn’t use this to get Fluttershy back instead of waiting until now?” Spike asked.

Twilight hung her head as the archway crackled and a noxious blue-yellow gas seeped out and into the centre of the arch itself, “Starswirl the Bearded never finished the design. He died shortly after making the blueprint so never even managed a prototype. In truth I didn’t even know it existed until Princess Luna asked me to finish it as a form of backup plan.”

Spike let out a low whistle, “So this is a major breakthrough in science then?”

“For science!” Twilight’s smile returned in earnest as the gas stabilised and a picture of Twilight appeared in the portal. She looked around, fascinated by the portal’s design and finally turned her attention to the Twilight with Spike standing next to her.

“Hi, how are you? Or is that me?” Twilight asked, looking at the pair with a grin, “Nyx not giving you any trouble is she?”

Twilight and Spike shook their heads, “No, she’s been perfectly fine. Other than the usual antics the Crusaders get up to at any rate.”

Twilight giggled, “Well, she is just a filly.”

Twilight and Spike turned to each other, sharing a sceptical look before turning to Nyx’s mother, “Are you sure about that?”

The other Twilight understood what her counterpart meant and gave another giggle, “Well, she does seem to be a magnet for all kinds of trouble despite the measures I use or the warnings I give her. I just want to protect her.”

“Speaking of protection, how are you progressing?” Twilight inquired of her counterpart who suddenly found the ceiling of her basement highly intriguing.

**** **** **** ****

“Ugh, what hit me?” A voice came from a covered mass that lay on the red velvet couch Rarity possessed.

The covers were yanked off by Rarity who had returned to her shop to wake up her layabout assistant. Joystick reluctantly got up and rubbed his eyes before reaching for his fashionable – yet useless – glasses. His red eyes were bloodshot and his mane was dishevelled.

“Joystick darling, the shower is upstairs,” Rarity pointed out, giving Joystick one of her judging looks as the unicorn quietly obeyed. As he vanished from earshot, she muttered under her breath, “I really need to teach that stallion some etiquette. I never knew he would drink that much cider at a fashion show. If I had known he was going to sleep in this late, I would’ve woken him up before leaving.”

As Rarity set about making sure her displays were just perfect while she heard the water turning on upstairs. As Rarity went into the kitchen to make something to sober up Joystick, she found Joystick hid Blue Rose in her teapot. Chuckling lightly to herself, she placed the revolver into one of her drawers and made a note to inform the stallion of the location.

As the tea brewed, Joystick returned. He looked slightly better as the bags under his eyes were thoroughly covered by his glasses. He sat down at the table with a thud, still hungover.

“Try this Joystick,” Rarity said as she offered a cup of the tea she made, “I’m afraid you’d have to make your own breakfast. I have an order from Hoity that needs finishing and then there’s the dress Sapphire Shores wanted. I’ll need to go to the Diamond Fields again with Spikey.”

“No worries, Rarity,” Joystick replied as he took a sip.

Joystick’s body felt like it was on fire from the inside almost instantly, threatening to cook him to a crisp. He ran over to the sink and tried to drink straight from the tap. The cold water only aggravated the sensation, causing the stallion to run around the shop in a desperate bid to find a solution.

Rarity looked on, giggling up a storm as a lady doesn’t laugh like Pinkie Pie does and she is the only exception to the rule. She watched as Joystick finally came to a halt as the sensation ended as abruptly as it arrived. He looked at Rarity with wide eyes as if she had just stabbed him and was about to leave him for dead.

“What in Equestria was that?!” He shouted. His eyes were so wide Rarity saw her whole body reflected in them.

“It’s a special brew that Zecora taught me how to make,” Rarity giggled as Joystick slumped down onto his flank, “It works wonders for when one indulges a tad too much.”

“You could have warned me you know,” Joystick complained as he lowered his glasses to give her his best piercing glare.

“And waste the opportunity to see the expression on your face?” Rarity asked innocently.

Joystick finally smiled back at Rarity, “Rarity, you are a devious mare.”

“A lady is not devious. She just knows how to let on,” Rarity replied cheerfully, “I must ask though: do you feel any better?”

Joystick nodded, “I feel brilliant to be honest. No headache whatsoever.”

“I shall inform Zecora that her brew works then,” Rarity replied with a snide grin.

“I was a test subject?!” Joystick shouted in shock.

**** **** **** ****

Later on, as Rarity went out to the Diamond Fields with Lucifer atop her back, she failed to notice a lime green Pegasus watching her from the clouds. The stallion watched her from the edge of the cloud, making sure not to draw the white mare’s attention. His silver mane hung over his right eye but he paid his annoying obstruction no mind.

“Off to go gem gathering are we?” He muttered to himself, “Too bad you took the most valuable thing you possess but I’m sure I can make do with what you left behind.”

As Rarity walked off and out of sight, the Pegasus glided down and began to pick the lock on her window. Most of Ponyville was too busy going about their day, caught up in their own little worlds to notice the burglar gaining entry. As he flew in, he began to raid Rarity’s boudoir and assaulted her vanity for anything of value. He tossed the varying clothes around, tearing some that had gem insets before placing them into his saddlebags.

Joystick’s ears perked up as he heard the faint commotion from upstairs, “What in the hell is going on? I thought Rarity told Sweetie to stay out of her room?”

Joystick pulled out Blue Rose from its holster and pulled back the hammer with his magic. He carefully trotted upstairs, making sure to avoid stair four, eight and ten since they creaked. He followed the sounds until he heard somepony muttering.

“Is this all she has?” The voice said, “I would have thought an Element bearer like her had more than this. Oh, we-”

At this point Joystick had heard enough and bucked the door open with force, “Freeze criminal scum!”

The stallion in front of him dropped his saddlebags in shock and in a second, Joystick was looking at himself. The other Joystick had a pistol identical to the original one Joystick carried. The pair looked at each other in silence as they waited for the other to make the first move. The air blew through the bedroom, making what dresses that still remained partially intact rustle slightly as the two stared each other down.

“A Changeling huh?” Joystick commented as the replica of himself took a nervous step back.

It all happened very quickly as the copypony casted a spell and filled the room with darkness. Blue Rose’s shots echoed through the room, ricocheting off surfaces before stopping against a hard surface. Joystick heard the assailant’s hoofsteps and then the sound vanished.

As the spell dispelled itself after a short period of time, Joystick looked around to find the criminal had cleaned Rarity out of all her valuable possessions. He looked around and noticed the varying bullet holes littering the room and he muttered a small curse under his breath.

“Rarity is so not going to be happy about this,” Joystick muttered worriedly.

**** **** **** ****

Applejack was busy running into the orchard, Clunker by her side and Volendrung on her back. She looked absolutely livid as she reached her destination.

“Now ya’ll can go get yer apples from the market like every other pony!” She shouted as the orchard was attacked by a pair of ravenous Changelings, “The trees are not yer tables!”

They just looked at her and the demon for a second before returning to their feast. Applejack straightened her hat and took Volendrung off her back.

“Alright then Clunker, let ‘em have it!” She said as she spun herself around like a hammer throwing champion before letting the Daedric hammer fly off towards one of the Changelings.

The hammer missed as the Changeling easily dodged it and blew a raspberry at her to add insult to injury. Its compatriot cackled with glee as Clunker missed his target as well when he spat a rock at it. The Changelings looked to each other before casting a spell, causing the area to be filled with dark clouds. The two farm workers coughed and hacked as the cloud entered their lungs. Once it dissipated, the troublemakers were already long gone.

“Dagnabit!” Applejack threw her hat onto the floor in a rage as Clunker went off to retrieve Volendrung. As she dusted her hat off, she looked up to the tree the Changelings were eating from, “I could’a sworn only Rebel and Legion ate pony food.”

**** **** **** ****

As night fell upon Ponyville, a group of seemingly normal ponies met in an apartment near Town Hall. Three ponies were gathered around a table waiting for their two compatriots to return from the bathroom.

“Ugh, remind me to never eat again. I hate this,” One of the returning ponies said with disgust as he took his seat.

“Oh, stop complaining Silver. At least you didn’t get shot at,” A lime green Pegasus spat back, “I swear I have enough holes to advertise myself as swiss cheese.”

“At least you didn’t have to tail that filly,” A grey Pegasus said callously, “She always seems to know when somepony is following her. It’s like a bucking sixth sense. I had to observe her from over a bucking mile away!”

“Whatever Blaze, Streak. Now then, how did the operation go?” A yellow Pegasus asked as she surveyed the assembled group.

“Well, we’ve aroused suspicion so it’s a start. Our little ‘buffet’ at Sweet Apple Acres will be the talk of the town by tomorrow and I’m sure that Carousel Boutique’s break-in will be too,” A brown Pegasus replied, “My mission was thoroughly successful, Town Hall had some rather interesting info on the Element bearer’s background except for Twilight. She is a Canterlot mare after all.”

“We will get to that when the time comes. We’ve accomplished the first step,” The mare said with a snide grin, “Onward to Phase Two.”

Author's Notes:

Well, here is Chapter Two! I wonder how many of you can guess the state and identities of the five ponies?

All That Glitters Is Not Friendship

The Shadow of a King
All That Glitters Is Not Friendship
Author: Draconis187

The sun poked through the blinds of a small, meagre apartment. The room’s only occupant left the closet wide open, too tired after a short day spent with those closest to her and the night dragged itself along so slowly the mare would’ve slit her fetlocks.

The closet proudly displayed the occupant’s purple and star patterned attire while the mare’s pillow easily concealed the freezing cold Cerberus. Not that she felt the Devil Arm’s chill since it only obeyed her. As much as her lifestyle made her work her hooves to the bone for a little recognition, Trixie would never exchange her lifestyle for any other.

Trixie’s sleep was interrupted as the sun tried to wake her up as it beamed through the blinds and into her face. Trixie responded to this intrusion by throwing Cerberus and catching it on the blinds’ string and yanking on it with half opened eyes. The blinds fully closed and the mare attempted to return to her slumber.

A small knock rang through the bedroom in an attempt to rouse Trixie from her reluctant desire to get up. She chose to ignore it and treat it as a figment of her imagination but the small knock persisted.

Trixie let out a long groan as she rose from the covers, “Trixie wants a few more minutes.”

A small laugh came from the door as it opened up, revealing a smiling Thunderlane, “We both know that ‘Trixie’ has a long day ahead of her. I made breakfast.”

Trixie got out of bed and placed Cerberus on a hook behind her magician’s cape in the closet before closing it. She passed the mirror of her small oak vanity and saw her mane’s dishevelled state. She gave herself a sheepish grin at the sight and exited her room.

Thunderlane was stood next to a small table, all set for one. Trixie took her seat and dug into her cheese omelette. As she ate, she noticed that Thunderlane was watching her intently. She stopped for a second and picked up a napkin with her magic and cleared some of the food from her muzzle before speaking.

“You can stop that,” Trixie said flatly, “You don’t have to be him all the time.”

At that moment Thunderlane was consumed by a green fire, leaving behind a Changeling with teal eyes. His chitin was charcoal black and covered a portion of the back of his neck while he was bald like most of his kind. There were a few exceptions but they were as rare as Rebel and Legion.

“My apologies, Miss Lulamoon,” The Changeling replied as it bowed its head, “I learned that ponies are more susceptible to awaken when they hear the voice of somepony close to them.”

Trixie took a sip of her tea before responding, “Be that as it may Trixie does not wish to entertain somepony impersonating another. You may go.”

“As you wish Miss Lulamoon. I have placed your mail on the table in the foyer,” The Changeling bowed his head once more before leaving the apartment.

“One would think I lived in a five star hotel with this kind of dedicated service,” Trixie smirked as she finished off her breakfast.

After she placed the dishes in the kitchen, Trixie went into her room to make herself look more presentable to the masses. A warm shower in the morning was all she needed to feel at peace. The warm water had a way of washing away her worries… until she saw her cape and hat which reminded her of her job.

“Maybe another tour is in order,” She said to herself as she began to place her cape around her neck, “A change of scenery always puts me in a good mood.”

A series of knocks from the foyer made Trixie’s ears perk up and poke her head out of the door of her bedroom to look at the foyer as the knocking continued. As she donned her hat and hid Cerberus under her cape, she opened the door to find the real Thunderlane standing in front of her with a massive grin on his face.

“Well? Is the Great and Powerful Trixie going to greet her guest or what?” Thunderlane asked.

Trixie gave a small giggle as she looked over to the mail nearby, “Trixie believe her manager deserves some courtesy but she has mail that needs tending to.”

Thunderlane chuckled and entered the apartment as Trixie picked up her mail. Trixie sat down at the table and began sifting through the various bills, fan mail and the odd approval for a restraining order. Thunderlane stood by the window looking into Las Pegasus, lost in thought as he saw the scars that still marred the city.

The city was still being rebuilt while several sections were being demolished as they were beyond repair. A few buildings still bore scratch and burn marks from the original fighting from both Changeling and pony alike. This city was home to many families that are now not able to return due to the nightmares they endured or the loved ones they lost.

Because of this, a large number of Changelings moved in to help rebuild and improve the city. They were given citizenship in return for their services. Even The Strip was being revamped: the single long straight road running through the city was lined with casinos, convention centres, restaurants of the highest standard and second to only the Royal Cooks themselves looked like the aftermath of the Apocalypse itself.

After Trixie threw another stack of letters into the trash, one in particular caught her eye. It was addressed to her… from Twilight. With a raised eyebrow, she carefully opened it and began to read. As she neared the end, a grin spread across her face.

This did not go unnoticed by Thunderlane, “I know that look Trixie. What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking it’s about time we went on the road again,” She replied.

**** **** **** ****

As Trixie and Thunderlane boarded the train the next day, a black Unicorn was observing them from a distance. He kept his body covered with a tan trenchcoat with the collar turned up. He maintained a large distance between himself and the pair as the train began to depart. As Trixie began to get bored, she decided to have some fun by annoying Thunderlane.

After a long and embarrassing train ride, Thunderlane thanked Luna’s stars as he bolted outside. Trixie soon followed, cackling loudly. The black Unicorn exited the train and looked around to find his five compatriots waiting just beyond the platform.

“Report,” He said gruffly.

“Sir, we have been doing as you asked. We are ready to enact Phase Two of your plan,” The yellow Pegasus replied with a devilish grin, “May I suggest we take our conversation elsewhere? We don’t need any unwanted attention.”

**** **** **** ****

Trixie knocked on the door of Golden Oaks, still smiling at Thunderlane’s reaction to her antics. As the door opened, Trixie looked down to see Nyx smiling at her.

“Hi Trixie!” She smiled happily, “You looking for Twilight?”

Trixie returned the smile, “Yes I am. Is she home?”

Nyx shook her head, “Sorry you just missed her. She went to Sugarcube Corner with everypony else. I was just about to go out myself so I guess it’s a good thing you came when you did.”

“Thank you very much Nyx. Don’t get into too much trouble,” Trixie warned.

“It’s me, what trouble can I get into?” She replied as she decided to run before hearing Trixie’s reply. Trixie only shook her head and walked over to the self-proclaimed best bakery in Equestria.

**** **** **** ****

In Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were putting up a banner that was so large it touched either side of the room and still sagged in the middle. Pinkie was keeping an eye out by the window until she saw Trixie walking up to the bakery.

“Quick! She’s here!” She gasped, trying to hold in her excitement. In Pinkie’s case this was hard to do and a feat when achieved.

As Trixie opened the door, she found the ground floor of the bakery to be unnaturally dark as the sun was shining brightly just beyond the doorframe. As she fumbled around to find any semblance of a light switch, the lights came on in a flash as everypony yelled.

“Surprise!”

Trixie looked around to find the room decorated with posters from her varying shows all across Equestria. Some were even from when she was just starting out! She looked onto the crudely drawn, self-made poster of herself when she first went to Seaddle and wondered how in Equestria one still survived for this many years.

On the table were a variety of blue, white and purple treats along with a grape juice punch bowl. How Pinkie made blue biscuits that were an identical shade to her coat astounded Trixie to no end but they tasted brilliant anyway.

Pinkie tackled Trixie in a huge hug, “So whatcha think?”

“It’s lovely Pinkie,” Trixie replied as she looked up at the banner. ‘Happy Birthday Trixie Lula-’

The ‘moon’ part of her name was missing, a small oversight to Trixie but she paid it no mind. She barely ever celebrated her own birthday since she had nopony to celebrate with and ended up not even acknowledging the day. She never told Thunderlane her birthday and now she wondered if she should’ve been more open instead of always hiding behind the bravado of her talent.

“Who told you it was my birthday Pinkie?” Trixie asked Pinkie as the others danced to Vinyl Scratch’s beats.

“Silly filly, I know everypony’s birthdays!” Pinkie replied cheerfully, “That and I read your diary.”

“Pinkie… I don’t have a diary,” Trixie said, confused.

**** **** **** ****

As the six ponies returned to the apartment, they began to sit around the table as one of their number placed a map on it and unrolled it. They all kept expressionless faces as they looked the map over. It was a detailed map of Ponyville with Golden Oaks, Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy’s cottage, Rainbow’s cloud home, Sweet Apple Acres and Carousel Boutique circled in red marker.

“Are you certain of this?” The yellow Pegasus asked the Unicorn.

“Do not doubt me, Surprise. We are making our move tonight. I am not leaving everything to chance on the small hope they don’t catch onto us,” The Unicorn said flatly, “These ponies will know our pain. We shall have our revenge on them and then we shall take Equestria as a consolation prize.”

“What about the princesses and Discord?” Blaze asked nervously.

“They are of no concern to me. We take their precious Elements away and they lose everything,” The Unicorn replied, “As for the Draconequus… I have a special something for him.”

“As you wish, Soarin,” Surprise said, “Blaze, Silver. You two will be tying up the loose ends in Canterlot. Remember: we don’t want them to know it’s us.”

Streak laughed, “So I guess it’s up to the rest of us to deal with the Bearers and their friends?”

Soarin looked at Streak with a demonic grin, “Yes. When the sun sets tomorrow… they will be gone and the real campaign can begin.”

**** **** **** ****

The group played Pin the Tail on the Pony as it was one of Pinkie’s favourites. Twilight dressed up like Trixie did for her act and did small show with her blades. Twilight even went as far as styling her mane into two curls with the bangs covering one of her eyes and donning a cape of blue with light purple crescent moons with a hat to match. Trixie wasn’t sure whether to feel honoured or insulted.

Pinkie’s treats were no less than divine on Trixie’s taste buds. Pinkie’s baking skills never failed to impress anypony who consumed them. Pinkie had a way of constantly improving on her baking that seemed unnatural. Trixie’s little party ended once the Cakes needed to put the twins to bed and close up shop. As the group were about to disperse, Trixie remembered one small detail that needed to be attended to.

“It appears you forgot about Trixie’s accommodations,” She said sarcastically. She broke into a laugh when she saw Rainbow’s face contort with slight disgust, “You make this too easy Rainbow Dash!”

The others joined in the laughter as well as Rainbow, “Well, Thunderlane can crash with his folks but as for you… I dunno. You’re not a Pegasus so my place is out.”

Rarity gave Trixie a sad smile, “Sorry dear but my boutique is out of the question. Sweetie Belle is still staying with me and Joystick has a lot of damage he needs to pay for.”

Pinkie looked at Rarity, “Is that the reason I saw him walking around town in a pink dress? I almost didn’t recognise him.”

Rarity brought a forehoof to muffle a small chuckle, “I was rather livid over the fact that a lot of my things were taken. Although those were easy to replace, it was the bullet holes in my bedroom that got on my nerves. The poor dear was rather worried about what I was going to do so I thought I’d just embarrass him.”

Twilight turned to Trixie, “Sorry Trixie. I have Nyx staying over for a few days so I'm afraid you can’t use the spare room.”

Pinkie’s smile died a little as Trixie looked to her, “I’m sorry Trixie, there isn’t any space upstairs either since Pound and Pumpkin Cake were born. That and my last roommate broke the ceiling when he met me and my Party Cannons. The Cakes won’t let me have another roommate.”

“We always got space fer ya at the farm,” Applejack offered as Trixie’s options were running out, “Unless ya think it’s beneath ya?”

Trixie laughed, “Of course not. I shall accept your invitation, Applejack.”

**** **** **** ****

The halls of Canterlot Castle were almost deathly silent at night except for Princess Luna’s Night Court and the patrolling guards. Petitioners that didn’t manage to talk to Princess Celestia got a second attempt by talking with her sister while Celestia slept. Every so often one of the guards would be seen patrolling the hallways while the rest barely shifted from their spots.

Two guards though were acting very peculiar and quickly started to bicker amongst themselves.

“Quit shoving me, Silver!” Blaze hissed under his breath.

“I will when you stop being so Celestia damned close to me!” Silver spat back.

The two of them were walking through the darkened hallways, clad in Solar Guard Armour which gave them the appearance of normal Pegasi Guards.

The halls were as quiet as Pinkie telling a bad joke, with the exception of an outburst or two from Luna as a few heated arguments arose amongst herself and the nobility. If she had her way, the nobility would have had all their bits taken and given to the less fortunate. That or banished to the sun but Celestia found that to be a tad too extreme despite they used to do that a thousand years ago.

As another shout rang through the castle, Silver turned to his annoying companion, “Sounds like Luna is in a foul mood.”

“I’d hate to be that pony. She sounds ready to start sending ponies to the sun… without magical protection,” Blaze replied, “Which we will be if you don’t pick up your flank!”

As the two wandered around, they finally came across another hallway that ended by the Element Vault. In front of the magic door, two Unicorn Guards stood proudly with unmoving dedication and loyalty. They never saw the smoke bomb Silver threw coming. The pair charged as the guards as they coughed and hacked.

“I got one!”

“That’s me you idiot!”

“Sou-” A dull thud interrupted as a hoof collided with the guard’s face.

“Now I know I got one!”

“Good, now let go of my wing!”

“I don’t have your wing!”

As the smoke cleared, the two stationed guards were unconscious as they lay on the ground. Silver turned to Blaze, seething with rage.

“Next time, do your job properly!” He near shouted.

“Whatever. I can’t believe we used to be friends,” Blaze replied, “I’d rather be dead.”

“Shut up and use the thing Soarin gave you to override the seal,” Silver spat.

Blaze took out a small dark grey gemstone had a fine, sharp tip at the end. Blaze wedged the tip in the central hole that Celestia uses to unseal the door and pushed hard. The door began to glow a faint yellow which steadily turned to the same dark grey as the crystal and the door began to open. All of a sudden the doors flew open, slamming against the inside walls and making Blaze fall down onto his face.

Silver laughed at him as he grabbed the chest containing the Elements of Harmony, “You’ll always be an idiot Blaze. Come on, we got what we came for.”

**** **** **** ****

Celestia awoke abruptly, falling out of her large, soft bed before rushing out of her chambers without her regalia. She felt something terrible had happened to the Elements, she could feel the ward she placed over the door had failed. The guards stationed by her bedchamber were shocked for a minute before dutifully following behind her. If she was as worried as they thought she was, all Tartarus must have broken loose.

“Go get my sister at once!” Celestia shouted before she teleported away in a burst of light. The guards looked to each other for a mere second before changing course to the Throne Room.

As Celestia arrived at the Hallway of the Elements, she began to tread slowly as she looked ahead, her heart racing as if she just ran The Running of the Leaves… twice. She passed one of the stained glass windows depicting the most recent victory the group attained over the forces of Mundus and the Demon World.

Celestia looked at the open door and to her fallen guards with fear written on her face. She lowered her head and could hear the stallions still breathing. She gave a small sigh of relief. She didn’t have to deal with death this late in the night.

“Sister!” Celestia turned around to so Luna’s concerned face meeting hers, “What has occurred here?”

“I do not truly know Luna,” Celestia replied as she looked at the empty pedestal, “Whoever they are, they were professionals and they have taken the Elements. Not one solitary alarm, I was only alerted to this when the ward fell. By then the thieves had already left.”

“Guards!” Luna shouted, making the guards behind her stand to attention, “Search the palace top to bottom for these miscreants. We must find them!”

Celestia hung her head, “I failed my subjects yet again. What would they think when they hear the Elements have been stolen?”

Luna nuzzled her older sibling with a small smile on her face, “You are still their Princess, Tia. They know you will always look out for them and you always try your hardest to maintain the peace you worked centuries to achieve.”

“Thank you Lulu,” Celestia responded, feeling somewhat better but she was still worried.

A four hour search of the castle’s interior and exterior concluded with the chest being found near the labyrinth but the Elements themselves were long gone.

**** **** **** ****

Soarin was waiting on the outskirts of Ponyville in the dead of night. Surprise stood next to him before she felt the need to speak up.

“Master, why are we waiting out in the open?” She asked, “I know our disguises will keep the ponies off our scent but are you sure we want to risk exposure?”

“Most of Ponyville is already asleep by now and my patience with those two is running thin. They had better not have failed me,” He replied callously, “Your reports on the group’s movements over the past three days have shown me they have become too relaxed, believing they are safe. They will pay for believing that lie.”

“Understood,” Surprise replied, turning her attention to the sky, “Here they come now.”

Silver and Blaze came flying down through the small amount of overcast the weather team finished with moving in from the west some time ago.

“Do you have them?” Soarin asked as the duo wore stupid grins.

Silver pulled out the Elements of Honesty, Generosity and Kindness from the pockets in his armour. Blaze took out the remaining three: Magic, Loyalty and Laughter. Even in the overcast sky, the Elements sparkled slightly.

“Good,” Soarin commented as he began to cast a spell, “Now to get rid of our troublemakers.”

“How? They have some really powerful weapons,” Surprise asked, “I doubt we can simply ask them to surrender.”

“Whether they know it or not, they are linked to the Elements,” Soarin explained as the Elements slowly rose into the air, “Wherever they go, the Bearers will go as well. This does not work in reverse though and new Bearers could be found to replace the originals should something happen. If I send the Elements away, the Bearers will go as a result. So I am effectively killing two birds with one stone.”

The Elements began to shake slightly as six small, black orbs appeared just above them. In an instant the Elements flew into the orbs, disappearing as the orbs faded away.

“So, what happens now?” Blaze asked with a confused look on his face.

Soarin chuckled, “Now we simply wait. It won’t take long for the Elements to seek their Bearers. When they do, they will take them and anypony within a short distance of themselves. As much as I would love to see the look on their faces, I have one last thing to deal with before we deal with the Changelings and Equestria.”

Author's Notes:

I did this since I was still in the mood for this story. Well now it is comment time! We are separating the group into pairs or trios depending.
Rainbow Dash
Joystick
Rarity
Nyx
Twilight Sparkle
Clunker
Applejack
Fluttershy
Pinkie Pie
Trixie
Gilda
Rebel
Legion
You can choose the pairs and yes they will have their weapons... for the most part. I might add one of the lesser pairs: Vinyl and Tavi, Lyra and Bon Bon. I'll have to see about that one. Without further ado... Vote!

Life's Twisting Fate

The Shadow of a King
Life’s Twisting Fate
Author: Draconis187

The next morning, Fluttershy awoke to find Angel had run off already as he was not asleep on his bed nearby. She let out a small contented sigh as she rolled out of bed and onto her hooves. The sun was only just getting up as the top was just visible in the horizon.

“Angel?” Fluttershy called softly as she trotted down the stairway, “Where are you my little bunny?”

The house was dead quiet as Fluttershy reached the bottom of the staircase. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked around. The cottage she called home was completely devoid of life, no mice, birds or even Angel Bunny. Fluttershy walked up to the front door and opened it.

What greeted her could only be described as the maelstrom of cross-dimensional travel. A myriad of colours moving in directions never conceived possible greeted her face as the house seemed to be spinning on its axis.

Fluttershy’s reaction was two-fold: fear, which quickly gave way to her old battle instincts as she raced upstairs. She opened the cupboard and gave a sigh of relief as the wooden repository was untouched since the last time Fluttershy used it to put the weapons away.

She donned her coat and picked up every weapon she had: Pandora, Pity and Fool, Agni and Rudra and lastly Beowulf before placing the Amulet of Talos around her neck. She walked downstairs calmly as her confidence in her weapons made her feel ready for whatever was about to happen.

“Not this again,” She said softly as she looked out into the maelstrom of colour before her home literally tore itself apart and Fluttershy was pulled into the eye of the storm, vanishing from sight.

**** **** **** ****

Twilight got up from bed and gently woke up Nyx for breakfast. The little filly protested a little until the smell of Spike’s pancakes greeted her senses and fully overloaded them.

Twilight felt uneasy as she ate the fruit of her number one assistant’s labour. It wasn’t directed at Nyx and it never would as far as she was concerned but she had a chill running up her spine that she couldn’t quite place.

‘Maybe this is like Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense,’ Twilight thought with a small frown as she remembered all the hassle she had to go through trying to explain it.

“What’s wrong?” Nyx asked, noticing Twilight’s discomfort.

“Nothing, Nyx. Just finish your pancakes,” Twilight responded, forcing a smile.

“Uh-huh, what’s wrong?” Nyx asked again, leaning forward.

Twilight was taken slightly aback by Nyx’s reaction. In truth she should have expected it since Nyx is not her daughter but the Twilight from another universe. Still, it was disconcerting for Twilight to get a hard stare from a filly.

“Just a bad feeling, Nyx. Nothing more,” Twilight replied as she remembered Applejack always insisting on them being honest with one another.

“Okay,” Nyx said as she returned to her breakfast.

**** **** **** ****

Joystick walked across the second floor of Carousel Boutique after seeing Sweetie Belle off as the little filly ran off to find the rest of the Crusaders. As he walked past Rarity’s work room, he spotted her looking up at the ceiling whilst various fabrics lay strewn across the floor.

“Rarity?” He asked as he walked past the doorway and into the room, “Are you alright?”

Rarity shook her head vigorously and turned to Joystick, “Sorry there darling. I was a little ‘out of it’ as Twilight may put it.”

“Wha-” Joystick started but before he could say more, the room began to darken, “Uh, Rarity? Is this supposed to happen?”

Rarity looked around, scared as she saw the room around them darken as well, “No, it shouldn’t. Run!”

The two white unicorns ran out of the room and found the hallway was just fine but they continued to put distance between the room and themselves. The darkness began to spread at an increasing rate, covering the hallway in seconds.

The pair ran past Joystick’s room that Rarity set up for him during his stay and pulled out Blue Rose from under the pillow with his magic. The revolver opened fire on the encroaching darkness but to no avail. The darkness kept spreading faster with each second as Rarity found Lucifer.

The two unicorns kept attacking the darkness, not caring for the damage they may be doing to the shop. The pair made it to the stairs and ran down with the darkness hot on their hooves.

As they reached the ground floor the pair found the darkness was coming in from the door and windows as well, surrounding them. As it got closer, Rarity clung on to Joystick as they closed their eyes and prayed for their deaths to be swift.

**** **** **** ****

Applejack was in the west orchard applebucking with Volendrung not far away, just in case. Clunker was helping Big Macintosh by pulling the wagon to town to sell some apple based products. Trixie had small bags under her eyes as the Apple Family decided to wake her up when they did so she wouldn’t miss breakfast… Trixie complained.

“Ya mind lending a hoof?” Applejack asked with a snide grin, “Or are ya gonna just sit there gawking?”

Trixie smiled and adjusted her hat, “Fine.”

Trixie looked up at a nearby tree and picked the apples off with her magic, all the while looking at Applejack with a smug look on her face, “Show off.”

Trixie gave a small burst of laughter, “That is what I do for a living Applejack.”

“Ah hear ya,” Applejack replied as she walked over to the next tree.

After a large number of apples were liberated from the trees, Applejack heard something off in the distance. She grabbed Volendrung and hefted it over her shoulder.

“If it’s them Changelings, Ah’ll give ‘em a good ol’ fashioned flank kicking,” She muttered to herself.

Trixie cocked her head and looked off into the distance, “I know my hearing isn’t that good but I don’t think that sounds like any Changeling I’ve heard.”

“Whatever i-” Applejack was cut off as the source revealed itself as a swarm of fruit bats flying towards them.

The two mares readied themselves as the swarm engulfed them. Small brightly coloured bodies flew out of the cloud of bats as the mares attacked them with no mercy. Several became engulfed in ice as Trixie used Ice Age to protect herself but the bats were still coming as if there were an inexhaustible number of them.

The mares were shouting incoherently as they felt their bodies being torn apart. The ripping sensations yielded no true pain nor any blood as their shouts quickly died out.

**** **** **** ****

Pinkie Pie was happily baking in Sugarcube Corner’s kitchen, bouncing along with her usual cheerful attitude. She was happily humming a small tune to herself as the fourth batch of chocolate chip muffins left the stove. She was multitasking between the five stoves and entertaining the Cake Twins while Mr. Cake went out to get more baking supplies and Mrs. Cake stood behind the counter.

“My name is hm hm hm and I am here to say,” She sang softly as the twins giggled at her antics, “Oh!”

Pinkie Pie shot out of the kitchen, past Mrs. Cake and somehow placed the twins on the counter, the muffins and other baked goods found their way to the display window and the counter and Pinkie was in her room in less than five seconds. What the regular pony saw was a pink blur.

Pinkie was itching all over her body and her ears were drooped, refusing to straighten up. The pink mare dove under her bed and pulled out a piece of paper and some coloured pencils. She began to write at a furious pace, the paper literally teetered on combusting as smoke came from the tip Pinkie’s pencil.

When the note was done, she beamed and folded it into a paper aeroplane before throwing it down the stairs to the counter. Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled Kalina Ann. She looked at it and smiled as she hopped onto her bed and placed the rocket launcher back into her mane.

“I’m ready!” She exclaimed happily as she comically burst into a cloud of confetti, streamers and a few small balloons, leaving no trace of her.

**** **** **** ****

Twilight and Nyx were busy reading in the library. The day was rather slow so Spike went off to Carousel Boutique to see if Rarity needed any help. Twilight’s chilling feeling hadn’t dissipated, in fact she felt colder all over even resorting to draping a thick blanket over herself in the attempt to stave off the cold.

Nyx was huddled next to Twilight, reading a book on advanced physics. She wanted to impress her Twilight when she returned by reading a book decades ahead of her. There were some parts she felt she could not grasp for the life of her but Twilight was more than happy to explain it better.

Soon Twilight began to resort to a small heating spell to keep her body warm. This worried Nyx, “Are you sure you’re alright? Should I get you another blanket?”

Twilight smiled, “That would be nice thank you.”

Nyx ran up the staircase and pulled off the thick duvet that lay on Twilight’s bed. As the cover flew off, Nyx noticed a glint in the corner of her eye. She looked over to the wall and say a small opening it, barely noticeable unless you are an inquisitive and sharp filly. Nyx opened the hole further and found Alastor laying there, glinting in the light.

“Hello there,” Nyx said cheerfully.

Do you not sense it? The voice of Alastor asked as the Devil Arm spoke in Nyx’s mind.

“Sense what?” Nyx asked, tilting her head to the side.

There is a foul magic about and it seems to have the ones you care about in it’s grasp. Alastor replied flatly, You need me.

“Is this some trick to get me to take you out of there?” Nyx asked.

You dare accuse me of an action so far beneath me it would be in the deepest pits of the Demon World?! Alastor’s voice bellowed in Nyx’s head worse than an Iron Will seminar.

“S-sorry!” Nyx cried out, “Please don’t shout. I didn’t mean to accuse you.”

Alastor remained silent, the odd arc of lightning firing from the dragon mouth guard to a random spot on the blade. Nyx gingerly lifted the Devil Arm out and placed it on her back. The blade stopped arcing lightning and settled down as Nyx picked up the duvet and went downstairs.

“Twilight, please don’t be mad but I acci-” Nyx dropped the duvet as she saw the scene before her.

The room was slowly covering in snow that seemed to come from Twilight’s body. Twilight’s body had become transparent, similar to an ice sculpture wrapped under the blanket she had. Nyx ran up to Twilight’s body and prodded it with her hoof.

“T-Twilight?” Nyx asked, trying to get the sculpture to respond but no such luck, “Hey! What the?!”

Nyx found her hoof was stuck to Twilight’s cold form. As she struggled to remove her hoof, it began to turn as blue and transparent as Twilight’s body. The filly’s eyes widened in shock horror as she witnessed this and tried to double her efforts in an effort to escape. The ice was crawling across her body, spreading to her tail, head and other body parts. It even encased Alastor.

For a few short seconds the two pony sculptures stood silent and still but in an instant they spontaneously shattered into thousands of pieces into a cloud of cold dust. The particles faded from existence as Spike returned home.

“Rar-. Why does she always leave such a mess?” He complained as he saw the mess the ground floor was in.

**** **** **** ****

In the skies above Ponyville, the resident weather mare Rainbow Dash was busy clearing clouds for the mid-morning. She flew from cloud to cloud, either using her hooves to break them or tearing through them with pure speed.

As she worked, Gilda the Griffon landed on a nearby cloud. She crossed her arms and gazed at her friend’s speedy work ethic.

“Yo, Dash,” Gilda called out to her friend.

Rainbow turned her head and noticed her friend sitting on the cloud.

“Sup, G,” Rainbow replied with a smirk, “What’s up?”

“Nothing much. Left politics and decided to come here for a break,” Gilda replied with a smile, “Unc’s been retro-fitting the Arbiter before heading out again.”

“Okay,” Rainbow replied, “I just have some more clouds to get rid of and we can go grab a bite to eat.”

Gilda spread her wins and gave Dash one of her signature cocky grins, “How about we race to see who can do it the fastest?”

Rainbow returned Gilda’s grin with her own, “You’re on!”

The two raced from cloud to cloud, punching them, kicking them or just colliding with them. They were neck and neck for the most part until they spotted a single lonely cloud in the distance: a category one storm cloud. Storm cloud categorisation is ranked from one to eight with eight being a borderline disaster.

The two competitive friends looked to each other for a second before charging at the cloud for all they were worth. The second they collided with it, the cloud was set off but it did not send a bolt of lightning. The cloud emitted a bright white light that engulfed the two before they and the cloud vanished from sight.

**** **** **** ****

The human colony of Eden Prime was a symbol of humanity’s ability to establish functional self-sustaining colonies in the galactic community. Its close proximity to the Terminus Systems worried many but others were willing to take the chance for a new life, a clean slate. The planet was a near utopia of life.

Sadly that novelty had worn off as it was currently under attack by a large number of networked AI robots known as the Geth. Commander John Sheppard, a spacer who had grown up around the Earth Alliance and its military all his life and the sole survivor of the thresher maw attack on Akuze had touched down a few clicks from the site where a Prothean Beacon was uncovered.

Sheppard was a typical human of average build and height. He had very little hair to speak of on his head. He wore the signature armour of the N7 training program, the harshest training program the Earth Alliance had. He - alongside Lt. Kaiden Alenko - was investigating the attack on Eden Prime and his main missions was to retrieve the beacon before the Geth could take it or destroy it. They lost Jenkins a short while ago to a few Geth drones and were making their way to the dig site.

Along the way they met Ashley Williams, the sole survivor of her unit as they were ambushed by Geth. As they made their way through the greenery they heard the sounds of heavy fighting. Signalling them to stop and circle around, the trio soon discovered the source and just could not believe it.

In front of them, destroying several Geth with Kalina Ann was Pinkie Pie. The Geth were attacking in waves but the small pink mare stayed behind a large boulder, waiting for the chance to strike back.

“Uh, sir,” Alenko asked, “Should we help or…?”

Sheppard nodded his head and opened fire with his sniper rifle. Alenko attacked the Geth using his biotics while Ashley Williams fired her assault rifle to provide cover as they made their way to Pinkie.

Noticing the diversion, Pinkie stretched her arms beyond their normal limits as she reached behind a nearby tree and pulled out her signature Party Cannon.

With a smile Pinkie fired the Cannon, sending confetti and streamers across the battlefield. Somehow Pinkie also managed to put in cake batter into the cannon. The batter got into the Geth’s circuitry, shorting them out while the shockwave was enough to knock then back, breaking their motors and other mechanised parts. The three humans walked over to Pinkie, utterly bewildered at the sight they just witnessed.

“How did you do that?” Williams asked.

Pinkie turned to them and smirked, “I make physics my bitch.”

**** **** **** ****

The building known as Sarif Industries was under attack. Head of security Adam Jenson was running through the hallways with a combat rifle in his trained hands. He took down anyone that threatened the safety of the building. Meanwhile two creatures were just waking up in a room.

“Uh, G. I don’t think we’re in Equestria anymore,” Dash commented as she came to.

“Yeah, I gathered that ten seconds ago when I woke up,” Gilda snapped, “Let’s just find a way out of here before somet-”

Gilda was cut off as Jenson flew through the thick window behind them, smashing into the wall.

“Horseapples!” Dash shrieked as she dove for cover.

“Shards!” Gilda shouted as she followed Dash.

In the hole Jenson made, a man comprised mostly of augmentations walked in and was about to finish Jenson off. Whether through a sense of stupidity or honour, Dash flew up to him with incredible speed to stop him.

“That’s far enough!” She shouted as she readied her Devil Arm, Nevan.

The scythe missed the assailant and he brought his arm down on Dash’s neck. Her bones were shattered in an instant and as she fell, the assailant picked up the Devil Arm and impaled her in the side, cutting off her right wing. The attacker then broke the Devil Arm on his knee, causing Rainbow’s ears to flatten as Nevan screamed in her mind.

This made Gilda incredibly furious and in a blind rage, she charged Dash’s attacker as well. Gilda felt a tug on her tail as she was thrown into the ground and her claws were crushed by a larger, burlier man. The last thing any of them saw was three assailants leaving with a woman and the leaner man shooting Jenson and them in the head.

**** **** **** ****

Fluttershy awoke on the top of a high rise building in the middle of Jersey. She looked from left to right, looking for anything that may help her know where she was. As she looked behind her, a large blue metal beast came crashing down on the building. She barely escaped as the building was reduced to rubble.

The behemoth got up and Fluttershy got a better look at it. It was vaguely bipedal in design. It had a pair of arms with a flaming black eight ball on each of them while a red convertible was perched on the monster’s head.

“Alright you evil, backwards, planet-destroying tyrant!” A voice cried out from the monster, “You break my city, try to ruin the water supply and threaten my planet! And you made me miss a monster truck demolition derby! Now, it’s go time!”

The voice cried out a battlecry as it charged a creature Fluttershy thought could only exist in the Demon World. The red multi armed beast and the blue monster clashed in a bout that spread across the city, destroying it block by block.

“Why here?” Fluttershy wailed as she facehoofed as the pair tore the city apart anyway.

**** **** **** ****

Rarity and Joystick awoke in the middle of a dense, dark forest. The sound of water nearby rang through their ears but also a different more metallic sound was heard. The sound moved in rhythm as if it were footsteps.

“I think we should hide,” Joystick said. Rarity nodded her head and the pair hid behind a bush.

The source made itself known as it passed by. It was a being clad in silver armour with an intricate golden design on it. The figure’s pauldrons had a single row of feathers on them. Underneath the armour, the pair could make out black clothing. His hair was blonde and shoulder length. They could also make out a scar over the right side of his face. The figure carried a blade almost as long as he was tall.

The blade was silver as well and had a long black strip from the hilt and nearly reached the tip and the blade was almost as wide as his body. He also had a large object wrapped in bandages on his back as well, resting under his sword.

The figure passed the pair and came to a sudden halt. He swung around and in one movement he effortlessly drew his giant blade.

“Reveal yourself!” Siegfried shouted, Requiem in hand and ready.

The two unicorns looked to each other and left their hiding spot.

“Uh… hi?” Joystick said as Rarity’s eyes sparkled at the man’s armour.

**** **** **** ****

A man in a white suit and a young girl had come to a stop at a gas station to refuel the man’s old blue car.

The man wore a black eye patch over his right eye and kept a white hat over his green spiked hair. He carried a metal briefcase with him and held onto it rather tightly. His left eye was orange but the eye under the eye patch was yellow.

The young girl with him wore a black skirt, black shoes and a black formal shirt with a red tie. Her eyes were magenta while her blonde hair was insanely long, reaching the bottom of her shirt.

“Eve, keep an eye on the car for me while I get us something to eat for the trip,” Sven Vollfied asked the young girl.

Eve merely nodded once and Sven walked into the gas station’s 24/7 shop. As Eve waited, she heard something in the nearby bushes. As Eve went to investigate, she spotted two creatures, one she only knew from books while the other was a combination of two.

Eve picked up an unconscious Twilight and Nyx, placing them on the back seat of Sven’s car. She gazed at them with an expressionless face, wondering how creatures like them could exist.

Sven came out of the shop with a few small items meant for long road trips and spotted the three sat in the back of his car.

“Uh, Eve. Where did these things come from?” Sven asked, trying hard not to freak out.

“Over there,” Eve replied flatly, pointing in the direction of the bushes she found them in.

“Well, we can’t keep them. We can’t pick up every stray we find, Eve,” Sven stated, trying not to upset her.

“We let Train stay whenever he shows up,” Eve retorted flatly.

“That’s totally different!” Sven shot back, “He at least pulls his weight when there’s a job to do.”

“We’re keeping them,” Eve said forcibly. Sven knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere with the conversation.

Sven gave a small sigh, “Fine. But you are looking after them, understood?”

Eve nodded her head once as Sven started the car up.

**** **** **** ****

Applejack and Trixie came to in the middle of a campsite, surrounded by humans. Many of them carried weapons of various size and description. Bows, swords, axes were among the most common but the designs differed greatly.

An old man walked up to the pair, “Ah, I see you have awakened. Time to load you two up for Lut Gholein.”

“Trixie is not some beast of burden!” Trixie spat at the old man, making him reel backwards from shock.

“By what pit of Hell did you two come from?!” He shouted.

Trixie and Applejack looked to each other and replied, “Equestria.”

Author's Notes:

New chapter YAY! Now let's play: Guess That Crossover! There are six of them and most of them are pretty well known. Sorry for Pinkie's swearing, I couldn't resist it.

The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend

The Shadow of a King
The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend
Author: Draconis187

Dash couldn’t move any part of her body. She tried to open her eyes but the only image she could see was a massive blur made up of various shades of white, green and grey. Her pain was excruciating, both physically and mentally. Nevan’s dying cry still echoed in her mind, scarring her as she felt the Devil Arm die in her attacker’s hands.

Dash’s pain was similar to the pain Gilda and Adam Jensen were in as the three of them lay on different operating tables in the same room. Gilda’s wounds were just as severe: her wing bones were shattered to the point where they would never completely heal. The bullet the leaner attacker shot at her pierced her right eye while her beak was also fractured and bordered on breaking apart at a moment’s notice. Her tail was hanging on by the sinew and would have to be amputated.

Three teams of doctors, surgeons, veterinarians and augmentation scientists stood at the ready, awaiting the order from the head of Sarif Industries, David Sarif. The mid 50 year old man gave the trio one last look and nodded his head for the teams to begin the biggest augmentation attempt in Sarif Industries history.

Three hours earlier…

David Sarif was shocked as he found Adam Jensen’s destroyed body lying in a pile of shattered glass. Adam was still bleeding, indicating he still lived but he was teetering on the edge.

“Adam! Adam! Say something God dammit!” He shouted as he attempted to get a response from the broken man.

“Mr. Sarif, I don-” One of the surviving security guards was cut off as Sarif gave him a look that would kill a man at twenty paces.

“Get him prepped for surgery right now! I am not losing him like this!” He ordered.

The guard nodded his head as paramedics arrived on the scene, “Of course sir,” The guard turned his attention to Gilda and Dash, “What about them, sir?”

“We take them into surgery as well,” Sarif replied, “They could be valuable assets.”

**** **** **** ****

Commander Sheppard along with the two humans and Pinkie Pie were chasing after Saren Arterius, a Turian Spectre. He killed another Spectre by the name of Nihlus Kryik who was supposed to be evaluating Sheppard’s performance so that he may be accepted into joining the most elite unit in the galaxy.

Along the way they encountered a vast assortment of hostile Geth but the group’s firepower – coupled with Pinkie’s Party Cannon that seemed to always appear from the strangest locations – sent the Geth packing.

“To the tram platform!” Sheppard called out, firing at the Geth with his Mantis sniper rifle.

The group fired and cleaved a path through the Geth, arriving at the tram platform with hardly any scratches to speak of. Pinkie’s mane took a few scorches but all she did to fix it was shove her head in her Party Cannon and fire it. After that, it looked good as new. The humans stopped asking questions the moment she first pulled out the Party Cannon.

As the group arrived at the other end of the tramline the Geth had finished setting up explosive charges to cover their tracks and were waiting for the group to arrive. This was all per Saren’s orders.

“Everyone, disarm those bombs!” Sheppard ordered as the group got off the tram and stepped into a hail of laser fire.

The group hid behind various containers and boxes as the Geth walked closer, firing as they went. Sheppard placed his rifle on his back and took out his pistol. A blue energy surrounded his body as he used Shockwave to clear a path to the first bomb.

**** **** **** ****

Rainbow could feel movement in her legs again. She opened her eyes and found she was in a bed in a hospital ward. Memories of the last time she visited the hospital as a patient flooded back, causing her cheeks to heat up with embarrassment. In hindsight, that trip was better than her current situation.

She looked around and found the curtains around her bed were fully drawn. Dash could hear and feel that something was not right with her body but she couldn’t place it. Her breathing was normal and she could feel every part of her body, even her wings.

Dash groaned as she tried to get up, “Ugh, my head.”

As she placed her hoof on her head, she felt cold. Normally her fetlock was warm, not cold like steel. She brought her hoof around into her peripheral vision and shrieked like a little filly.

Instead of her normal cyan hoof, a metallic grey one was in its place, reaching all the way to her shoulder. The alien appendage was the source of the earlier, strange sound as it whirred and moaned due to the motors inside it. She turned around and saw both of her wings were missing.

In their place was some strange, metal contraption that opened up and closed like her old wings. It somewhat resembled her old wings. In the middle – where the independently variable blade-like ‘feathers’ met – was an enclosed rotor, creating a form of fantail design to her wings.

“W-wha-what?!” She finally managed to exclaim, using the single word to sum up her situation rather perfectly.

“Dash, that you?” Gilda’s voice asked. Dash heard it coming from her right.

“Yeah, G. What happened?” Dash asked, turning her head but still saw nothing except for the curtain.

“I dunno. I can’t see,” Gilda replied.

“What!?” Dash shouted loud enough to wake the dead.

“Keep your voice down,” A new, annoyed voice said, “Your shouting doesn’t help.”

“Who are you?” Dash asked.

“I’m the guy you tried to save. A lot of good it did you since we all wound up here regardless,” The voice replied, “Name’s Adam Jensen.”

**** **** **** ****

“Cover me!” Alenko shouted as the Geth kept firing on his position as he tried to diffuse the last bomb. The timer had only a few precious seconds left before it erased everything within several miles.

“Oki Doki Loki!” Pinkie replied cheerfully as she used Kalina Ann’s Hysteric attack. The small mini-missiles attacked the Geth hiding behind cover, sending metal shards all over the floor.

As a Geth Trooper turned came out of cover to fire, it met a pink, talkative blob attached to its upper body, staring into its visual sensors.

“Are you having a party? Why wasn’t I invited?!” Pinkie shouted, violently shaking the Geth with her hooves, “Tellmetellmetellmetellmetellme!”

“Error, error,” The Geth replied as its head exploded.

“And… got it!” Alenko shouted triumphantly as he cut a yellow wire, “People always think it’s the red wire. I blame holovid movies.”

“That’s nice… now get your ass in gear!” Williams shouted as she moved up with Sheppard, clearing the last two Geth, “We still have to find that bastard Saren.”

As they came around a corner, they found their primary target: the Prothean beacon. The obsidian monolith emanated a green glow around it which Pinkie found as fascinating as a bug would find a bug zapper’s light fascinating.

“Ooh, pretty,” She said as she seemed hypnotised by the beacon as she walked closer towards it.

“Pinkie! Get away from that thing!” Sheppard shouted as he grabbed Pinkie and threw her to Alenko who caught her with his biotics.

“Sheppard!” Williams shouted as Sheppard was picked up by the beacon.

Sheppard saw flashes of blurred images as they were burned into his mind, overloading it. He felt pain, suffering, hopelessness and death as he soon lost consciousness and the beacon exploded.

**** **** **** ****

“I’m sorry, Adam but they managed to take Megan,” David said apologetically as he fidgeted with his right, prosthetic arm, “I found a loophole in your employment contract that allowed us to perform the surgery necessary to save you.”

“What about us?!” Dash exclaimed, lifting her augmented hooves in the air for emphasis.

“You tried to save Adam and that was enough for me,” Sarif replied, “That and I believe you may be very valuable to the company and may get us on the press’ good side after the fiasco that started all this.”

“So, what now?” Adam asked.

“For now, Adam I suggest you all rest up and get used to the augs,” Sarif replied matter-of-factly, “We need the three of you to stay as close as possible so I suggest the two of you stay at Adam’s apartment until further notice.”

“Who gave you the authority to order us around?!” Gilda snapped, her metal wings flaring upwards in a reaction to her anger and nerve signals.

Gilda’s wings were similar to Dash’s but they were more jet propelled than fantail in design. The jets were state-of-the-art, cool, quiet and fast but her ‘feathers’ were not able to change orientation independently to one another. Gilda’s tail was replaced with an augmented one as well, the tip ending in three metal spikes.

Her face had been almost completely reconstructed with technology. The parts of her beak that were shattered or cracked had been covered by metal. Her right eye had been replaced by a completely cybernetic one. While her original eye was amber, her new right eye tried to mimic the colouration but was a few shades darker. The surgeons even replaced Gilda’s claws with augmented versions but they sadly retained her old arms’ original strength.

“G, we wound up in a world we don’t know. I doubt we can go home at the drop of a hat,” Rainbow Dash reasoned.

Gilda sighed, “Yeah I know. I just didn’t expect to turn into an egghead’s experiment.”

“That ‘egghead experiment’ as you call it cost billions of dollars in tech and medicine,” David replied, annoyed at Gilda’s lack of appreciation, “I was lucky to get the best veterinarians in the country on such short notice and I was even luckier when they agreed to help after seeing what you were.

They were in uncharted waters with you two. Griffons and Pegasi are the stuff of stories and myths for Christ’s sake! I was surprised when they actually agreed to help. So I suggest you stop your complaining unless you would have preferred us leaving you broken and bleeding on company property.”

Gilda growled and muttered something incoherently but seemed to be appeased enough to not snap back.

**** **** **** ****

Sheppard awoke to find himself in the medical bay of the SR-1 Normandy. His head felt hurt badly as if a cruiser collided with it. As he got up, he saw Dr. Chakwas staring at him intently. She was an elderly woman with expertise in the medical field that was unmatched by most humans. She looked at him as he gave a short groan.

“Glad to see you awake, Commander,” She said, “How do you feel?”

“Like the day after shore leave,” Sheppard replied flatly, “How long was I out?”

“Fifteen hours and I noticed some increased rapid eye movement indicative of physiological trauma,” Chakwas replied, “Can you recall anything?”

“Just images, blurs really. What’s important is that we know who’s behind the attack,” Sheppard said.

“Who may that be?” Captain Anderson asked as he entered the medical bay.

Captain David Edward Anderson was a decorated veteran of the Earth Alliance. A dark skinned man who was not afraid to voice his thoughts, even to superiors but he knew the importance of keeping certain comments under the table.

“It was Saren Arterius. He killed Nihlus and was the mastermind behind the Geth attack,” Sheppard replied as he got to his feet.

“Saren? Oh, boy that put us in a tight spot,” Anderson replied, placing his hand on his forehead as he shook his head, “He’s the Council’s top Spectre. I doubt they’ll listen to us waltz in and slander his reputation.”

“What can we do?” Sheppard asked.

“Well, we’ll need proof for starters. I hope we got enough from you to make a case against him but first I want your field reprt to be done ASAP,” Anderson replied.

The med bay doors opened as Pinkie Pie and Ashley Williams entered. Pinkie’s mane had fallen flat but the moment she saw Sheppard was alright, it literally inflated like a balloon and she hugged Sheppard tightly.

“I’m sososososososo sorry!” Pinkie cried as she refused to let go of Sheppard’s torso.

“Uh, it’s alright Pinkie. I’m still alive,” Sheppard said as he tried to comfort the sobbing mare, “But I might not be if you grip any tighter.”

Pinkie immediately let go of Sheppard and forced a smile, “S-sorry. I’ll try to keep my curiosity to a minimum.”

“Thank you,” Sheppard replied with a sigh, “What about you Williams?”

“I’ve reassigned Ms. Williams to your unit,” Anderson said.

“We could always use another experienced soldier. Welcome aboard then Ms. Williams,” Sheppard said, saluting her.

Williams saluted back, “It’s an honour sir.”

“Can I stay too?” Pinkie asked. Her large eyes were even bigger as she asked.

“Yes, you may stay,” Sheppard replied, not wanting to make the mare cry any more than she has.

“Yay! You know what this calls for right?” No one responded to Pinkie’s outburst. Pinkie rolled her eyes, “A party!”

Pinkie burst out of the med bay and ran upstairs, screaming for joy as she went.

**** **** **** ****

Jensen’s apartment still had several unpacked boxes strewn around the floor. A large flat screen TV hid his personal safe, containing a weapon or two as well as some credits and the odd item.

A resounding crash echoed through Jensen’s apartment, the source of which came from the bathroom. Gilda and Dash rushed over and fell over each other as Gilda’s jets misfired and caused her to fly into Dash. Thankfully due to the same augmentations, they weren’t injured.

“You alright?” Dash asked.

“I’m fine,” Jensen replied coldly.

The mirror in front of Jensen had been broken. His right arm was still balled in a fist with small glass shards sticking out of it and lying on the floor. He looked at his reflection in the broken mirror and sighed heavily. Adam Jensen was anything but fine as his augmentations reminded him of why he had them in the first place.

**** **** **** ****

Spike was getting worried as night fell on Equestria. Twilight had been gone for several hours and the studious mare had always left a note if she was going to be late, even in a hurry she always found time to write something down for Spike.

“Where is she?” He said softly as he paced the ground floor of the library, “That’s it, I’m looking for her.”

After getting himself a scarf to keep warm in the chilly night air, Spike locked the library and went off in search of Twilight. Spike’s first port of call was Sugarcube Corner. If Twilight wasn’t there, Pinkie should know where she went.

“Sorry dear but I haven’t seen Twilight,” Mrs. Cake said, looking rather worried, “I haven’t seen Pinkie after she vanished into her room earlier today. Nothing but party supplies all over the floor and some odd message written on a piece of paper and folded into a plane but it made no sense.”

“Alright. Thanks anyway, Mrs. Cake,” Spike said. He was starting to get very worried as he made his way to Sweet Apple Acres.

The chilly night air was not helping soothe his nerves. He clung onto his scarf tightly as Sweet Apple Acres rolled into view. The farmhouse still had a few lights on as the Apple family were worried as Applejack had not returned from the orchards. Clunker was still in the same orchards she vanished from, searching frantically for Applejack.

Spike knocked on the door and was taken aback by the sheer force the door was opened with. He was first greeted by happy expressions that soon fell into sorrowful ones.

“Hey there Spike,” Applebloom said, as she wiped away a few tears from her face, “Whatcha need?”

“I’m looking for Twilight. Have any of you seen her or Pinkie Pie?” Spike asked.

“’Fraid not Spike,” Applebloom replied, “We’ve been looking fer Applejack all day. We can’t seem ta find her.”

“This is bad,” Spike said as his worry gave way to fear.

**** **** **** ****

“I still don’t see why we should be going to some Lut Gholein with this old man,” Trixie complained as she walked behind a man named Warriv while the ‘old man’ Deckard Cain walked behind them.

“Quit yer yappin’,” Applejack replied, “We was lucky that those folks didn’t try ta skewer us. Pardon us Mister but can ya tell us where exactly we’re heading off to?”

Deckard Cain smiled lightly as he looked at the two mares, “We are heading to the port city Lut Gholein. It is within a vast desert miles from here. It is a very long journey I’m afraid.”

Trixie rolled her eyes, “Well, at least I’m no stranger to long trips while carrying heavy objects. I’m surprised you didn’t freak out like all the others did when we appeared in that Rogue Encampment.”

“There have been stranger monster sightings around the Rogue Pass than you two. The dead walk amongst the living once more, grotesque creatures roam the lands and even the demons of Hell are threatening our very existence,” Cain replied.

“Demons?” Trixie repeated, slightly worried as she turned to Applejack who mouthed the same word at her.

“Correct. Demons most foul and in league with the Three,” Cain said. The old man didn’t hide his disdain and worry as he spoke.

“Well ya’ll can stop yer worryin’,” Applejack said proudly, “We got a knack fer gettin’ rid of demons and monsters.”

Deckard Cain raised his eyebrows in surprise and disbelief. Trixie cleared her throat, “Yes quite. We both have such experience with dispatching a variety of monsters.”

“I am certain then that your arrival was not mere coincidence,” Cain said as he began to feel more at ease, “Maybe Heaven sent you to deliver us from these dark times.”

Trixie laughed, “Don’t confuse your assumptions old man. We are not from your ‘Heaven’. We come from a land known as E-”

Trixie was cut off as a large number of noises came from a small distance away and getting closer with each passing second. Their attackers comprised of several little red men with yellow horns sticking out of their heads. They brandished swords and shields while some carried a flag with a skull on top.

“This is what scares you so?” Trixie scoffed as she pulled Cerberus out from under her cape, “We won’t be long.”

Applejack took Volendrung out of Warriv’s caravan and joined at Trixie’s side. Trixie slammed the Devil Arm into the ground, creating a path of ice spikes to blast out of the ground and impale the Fallen through various spots on their bodies.

Volendrung came down to the ground with bone-crushing force and rending the ground in front of her asunder. The Fallen were blown off their feet as Trixie twirled around in the air, firing off a barrage of ice shards and impaling the Fallen.

As the mares looked upon the battlefield, the Shaman raised his staff into the air and the Fallen that had not been frozen were resurrected. The two mares looked at each other for a second before smiling at their opponents and charging again.

**** **** **** ****

Fluttershy looked on as the blue metal monster and the red monster collided once again. Their fighting broke apart buildings, destroyed roads and a school bus found its way into the bay nearby. The city was slowly being turned into a graveyard of concrete and steel.

“If this keeps up, they’ll destroy the entire city,” Fluttershy muttered to herself, “Somepony has got to stop them.”

Fluttershy sifted through her coat and pulled out Pandora, “I hope I still remember how this thing works. I barely used it.”

Taking a deep breath, Fluttershy brought the briefcase over her right shoulder. The case glowed briefly before expanding outward, turning into a large tri-barrelled bazooka with the word ‘Hatred’ etched into the side.

Fluttershy took aim at the red beast and pulled Hatred’s trigger. Three large missiles flew from the barrels and collided with the side of the beast’s face, causing it to stumble and search for the source.

Inside the robot, a rotund man sitting in the muscle car cockpit gazed at the sight of the unexpected explosion with wide eyes. The man wore a red flannel shirt with the sleeves torn with a white t-shirt with a number 12 inside a shield outline underneath it. He had his blonde hair styled as a short, blown back crew-cut and his chin was a carefully shorn chin strap.

He turned to his friends to his right, a woman with red/orange hair and clad mostly in white with long, blue sleeves and pale blue shoulder pads and leg-guards. The other passenger in the car was a far skinnier guy with black hair and a blue beanie on his head. He wore a pair of tight, blue jeans, a black leather jacket and a green hoodie underneath it.

“Uh, that wasn’t me was it?” The rotund man asked, rather confused.

“No, Coop. Whatever it was, it just stopped the beast from damaging one of MEGAS’ critical systems,” The woman replied.

“Ah come on, Kiva. Coop had that thing on the ropes!” The skinnier man retorted.

“I don’t see how being thrown around the city like a plaything constitutes having it ‘on the ropes’, Jamie,” Kiva replied back coolly.

As the two were about to break into another argument, Fluttershy made her presence known as she assaulted the larger red monster with Agni and Rudra in her hooves, slicing into the air in a flurry of fire and wind with an airborne Tempest attack. As she collided with the beast, the force was enough to make it stumble once more.

“Is it me or are we getting up staged by a brightly coloured horse?” Jamie asked incredulously.

“Strange,” Kiva said, “It appears to have some combat experience and it doesn’t seem to fear that monster despite its greater size.”

Coop smiled and leaned back in his seat, “I say we kick back and watch where this is going.”

Fluttershy dodged the monster’s attacks by barrel-rolling in the air and using Whirlwind Sprint when it was getting too close for comfort. Fluttershy landed on the bridge of the creature’s nose and pulled out Pandora once more. As the Devil Arm almost touched the creature’s nose, it changed form. Fluttershy stood behind the large, round laser cannon with the word ‘Revenge’ glowing faintly on the side.

As the creature’s arms came towards Fluttershy to crush her, Revenge fired off a searing energy blast. The beast screamed loudly as Fluttershy jumped off and flew out of the way as the creature’s hands collided with its face. This aggravated Revenge’s attack, causing the creature even more pain. Fluttershy flew up to the creature’s face once more and hovered. She twirled her Amulet of Talos in her hoof and took a deep breath.

“FUS RO DAH!!” She Shouted.

The beast was blown backwards by the unexpected, instant blast of Unrelenting Force’s power coming from the yellow mare’s mouth. It fell backwards onto the ground with a crash, cracking what remained of the ground with its body. Fluttershy flew up higher into the air and Beowulf appeared on her hooves, ready for the finisher.

“SU GRAH DUN!!” She Shouted once more before coming down at the beast before her like a light covered comet, aiming for the head with her right hind hoof in a Bee Sting attack.

The moment Fluttershy impacted with the beast, a huge pillar of light burst from the point of impact and causing the three humans in MEGAS to avert their eyes. Coop shouted in agony as the light hurt his eyes despite being shut, Jamie screamed like a little girl while Kiva merely grunted.

**** **** **** ****

Deckard Cain was impressed as the Fallen lay dead, shattered or running scared as the two technicolored mares chased them down with deadly proficiency. As they returned to the caravan, they each wore a proud smile on their faces.

“Told you we could deal with a few demons,” Trixie said proudly as she dusted her self off and tucked Cerberus away under her cape.

“I see,” Deckard Cain replied, “Shall we continue?”

As the mares continued to journey with the caravan, they came across a giant building that would impress even the artisans of Canterlot. The building was almost entirely made of white marble while the gardens alone stretched almost forever. The stained glass windows reminded the pair of the windows in Canterlot, depicting the Elements of Harmony’s achievements.

The mares wandered with the caravan in awe of building but their wonder soon gave way to suspicion as the building seemed abandoned the more they ventured further. As they continued walking through, they found mangled, broken and torn corpses of men and women strewn across the floor, blood smeared on the walls and the ceiling. Some corpses were missing organs, some were found crushed a short distance away while others were unaccounted for. The caravan halted as a cathedral loomed before them.

“I fear whatever has slain these poor souls awaits us inside,” Deckard Cain said solemnly.

“Quit yer worrying,” Applejack said, “Trix and ah will be in an’ out licketysplit.”

Trixie rolled her eyes and followed Applejack into the building. Just as the passages and rooms before, these were also covered in mangled body parts and internal organs in various states of decay. Trixie felt like she was about to throw up but managed to stop herself.

The mares found no exit to the cathedral but found a door leading downstairs. They felt as if the darkness was taunting them, daring them to traverse into the depths below.

“Ah have a bad feeling about this, Trix,” Applejack said as they ventured downwards.

“I agree but we hardly have much choice in the matter since the caravan has to go through this area,” Trixie responded flatly.

“Alright but this place rustles my jimmies,” Applejack said as she held onto Volendrung tightly.

**** **** **** ****

As the light dissipated, Fluttershy was left standing while the beast she attacked was no longer breathing. The mare dusted herself off and flew towards MEGAS, ready to make a repeat performance.

“Uh-oh,” Jamie said with increasing fear, “That thing is coming for us!”

As soon as Jamie finished speaking, Fluttershy landed on the car’s hood and pointed her pistols at the windscreen. She glared at the glass with The Stare. Jamie cowered in an upright foetal position, holding his head and mumbling incoherently. Fluttershy noticed the humans and began to speak slowly and as threatening as possible.

“Get… out… now… slowly,” She said, motioning to the left with Pity in her left hoof.

The three complied, Kiva scrutinised the mare as she got out. She stood up to her abdomen, ‘How could such a small pony take down a monster as big as MEGAS with such surprising ease?’

“Who are you?” Fluttershy asked, her pistols still pointing towards them.

Coop rubbed the back of his neck as he replied, “Er, I’m Coop. That there is Kiva and over there is my best friend Jamie.”

“Leave me out of this!” Jamie shouted, trying to stay as far away from Fluttershy as she allowed him to be.

Fluttershy kept a cold expression on her face as she turned her attention to MEGAS, “And this thing?”

“Coop, don’t say anything about the robot,” Kiva warned.

A gunshot rang out, cutting a lock of Kiva’s hair as a result and making Jamie shriek, “You are in no position to tell him what he can or can not tell me.”

“She’s right,” Coop said, “Look, it’s called MEGAS. I found it in a junkyard and fixed it up. Kiva came and tried to take it back but my mods were too awesome for her to be able to handle so I still pilot it.”

Fluttershy nodded her head in understanding and turned to the dead monster, “And that monster?”

Kiva saw this as an opportunity to attack the mare and pounced. Fluttershy jumped forward to avoid Kiva’s spinning heel kick and took out Pandora. As Kiva changed tactics and brought her fist forward, Fluttershy activated the briefcase.

Kiva’s fist collided with Pandora number 340: Retribution. The large wall absorbed the kinetic energy from Kiva’s attack and fired it back at her at twice the strength. Kiva flew backwards and almost fell off MEGAS.

“You done?” Fluttershy asked coldly as Pandora reverted to its original form.

**** **** **** ****

“Ya sure ya wanna head on back all on yer lonesome?” Granny Smith asked.

Spike nodded his head, “Yeah, I need to be at the library in case Twilight or one of the others gets back. I just hope nothing is wrong.”

“Take care Spike,” Applebloom said with a sad smile. Her sister was never known for just up and vanishing without a word. Usually half of Ponyville knew where she went.

“Thanks,” Spike replied as he left the farmhouse.

As he journeyed back to Ponyville, he saw Clunker was still searching tirelessly. The faithful Kyklops demon had found his way into the town and continued his search there. He may not have been able to speak like the others but Spike understood his pain.

What Spike failed to see was a figure heading quietly towards Fluttershy’s cottage. Spike would’ve recognised Vergil just by the blue coat he wore or the blade Yamato in its scabbard in his left hand.

Vergil ignored the cold and carried on until he reached the cottage but something was amiss. The cottage was missing but it did not leave a hole in its place. The ground where the cottage once stood appeared untouched as if the cottage never existed to begin with. The various pens and cages behind the cottage remained, causing some confusion amongst the animals as they had also noticed the missing cottage.

Vergil observed the area around him with cold, calculating eyes. He searched for any sign of the cottage or what could have removed it from existence. He lowered himself down onto his haunches and gazed at the ground intensely.

“This is futile,” He muttered to himself, “Whatever this was… it was powerful to remove both Fluttershy and her abode from this plane with surprising efficiency and it left little trace. I still remember her so whatever force did this was not strong enough remove all traces. This is most infuriating.”

Vergil rose from the ground and unsheathed Yamato in a single, lightning fast movement. The blade slashed into the air as Vergil’s amulet glowed brightly, the two forces combined to slice a pathway to Vergil’s home which he shared with Dante: the Devil May Cry shop. He walked into the portal he made, closing it behind him.

**** **** **** ****

Sven’s car trudged along the dirt road. The car seemed to be purposefully hitting every bump and ditch the road had which was annoying Sven since Twilight and Nyx were still asleep.

The sun shone rather brightly onto Twilight’s rump, causing her a little discomfort. She shifted herself a little as Eve sat on the right hand side of the car’s back seat with Nyx snoozing on her lap.

The filly was a little too big for the young girl to have on her lap but Eve felt a strange sensation with every breath Nyx took. Alastor clung onto Nyx’s side, refusing to move whenever Eve or Sven tried to remove it to look at it properly. At one point it shocked Sven in retaliation to their attempts.

As the car hit a much larger ditch in the road, Twilight stirred again. Twilight’s senses decided to inform her that she was laid down and in motion. Still half asleep, she slowly raised her head.

“Ugh, Nyx? You there?” Twilight asked.

Sven turned around to smile at Eve, “So you decided to name them? Which one is Nyx? What is a Nyx anyway?”

Eve shook her head a few times before responding slowly, “It was not me who spoke. It was her.”

Eve pointed to Twilight who turned her head and looked into Sven’s one eye.

“Oh, so she’s the one who spoke,” Sven said as he returned his focus to the road once more, “Wait, what?!”

Sven slammed hard on the brakes, causing Twilight to slide straight off the seat and unceremoniously collide with the hard floor.

“Ow!” Twilight exclaimed as she fully woke up and saw Eve’s stoic expression looking at her curiously, “Uh… where am I?”

Sven looked at Twilight in utter bewilderment, “So not only does she have some horn sticking out of her head but she speaks as well?!”

Twilight looked at Sven and gave him a hard stare, “’She’ happens to have a name.”

“Uh, sorry?” Sven replied, looking rather confused.

Twilight simply smiled at him, “My name is Twilight Sparkle… and yours?”

Sven cleared his throat, “I’m Sven Vollfied and that there is Eve.”

Eve said nothing. She just stared at Twilight with masked wonderment. Sven looked at the two of them and gave a small chuckle.

“Go on, Eve. Say hi,” Sven encouraged.

“Hello,” Eve said flatly.

“Wow, you really have some personality there,” Twilight stated.

“There’s a really long story about that but let’s first get home,” Sven said as the car began to accelerate down the road once more, “It’s definitely going to be another one of those days.”

**** **** **** ****

Siegfried kept Requiem raised as he stared at Joystick and Rarity. The two unicorns shifted uncomfortably under his stone cold gaze. The tension between them could have been cleaved with a sword. A poor analogy given the fact one carried a large blade.

“Tell me what you are!” Siegfried commanded loudly. Joystick and Rarity’s ears fell flat against their heads from his shout.

“W-we’re unicorns,” Joystick stuttered slightly, “I-I’m Joystick a-”

Rarity scoffed and took a step forward, making Siegfried tighten his grip, “No need to be so on edge, dear knight. I am Rarity, fashionista extraordinaire and you are?”

Siegfried was taken slightly aback by Rarity’s forwardness but grunted his reply. Joystick’s eyes wouldn’t leave Requiem as it looked as if it could slice through both Rarity and himself without too much effort on Siegfried’s part.

Rarity tilted her head and frowned, “My dear knight. We have both graciously informed you of our names. The least you can do is reciprocate.”

“Siegfried,” He replied, his stance unwavering.

“What an absolutely divine name!” Rarity exclaimed, “It certainly matches your demeanour as well as your outfit and choice of protection. And those dashing looks, you must have the ladies eating out of those hands of yours.”

Siegfried’s blade faltered slightly, Rarity was striking at a nerve, “And that scar certainly draws attention, giving you that air of ruggedness that everypony must simply adore.”

“What are you doing in this forest?” Siegfried asked.

“To be honest dear, I haven’t the slightest clue as to why we’re in a dark forest,” Rarity replied, looking down at the dirt under her hooves with disdain, “I guess right now we’re looking for right now is somewhere safe so we can figure out what caused this rather unfortunate predicament.”

Joystick nodded his head in agreement. As Siegfried considered what Rarity said the sound of footsteps could be heard closing in on their location.

“Get down!” He said as he sheathed Requiem away and snuck toward the source.

Rarity and Joystick kept a short distance away from Siegfried, following as carefully as possible before hiding behind some bushes.

“You sure the source is reliable?” A voice said.

“Of course. Nightmare is here somewhere,” Another voice responded, sounding annoyed.

Rarity and Joystick looked at each other with confused looks. The only Nightmare they knew was Luna’s old alter-ego Nightmare Moon and that was never returning due to the Elements of Harmony restoring Luna to her current self.

Siegfried sighed. More people were looking for the monster he once was, seeking revenge or fame. That part of his life refused to leave him alone, haunting his every waking moment with self hate and loathing.

As Siegfried tried to double back, his foot hit the ground a little too hard and causing the armour to clatter audibly.

“What was that?” The first voice said, “It came from over there.”

“Well, what are you waiting for? An engraved invitation?!” The second voice shouted, “Go look!”

A lean man wearing a black bandanna walked over to Siegfried’s location. He wore a pair of black slacks and a pale green shirt underneath a few pieces of khaki coloured amour covering his shoulders, knees and chest. He carried a long sabre on his side.

His companion was more heavily armoured, covered head to toe in steel armour. On the woman’s back was a lance as long as she was tall, ending in an arrow-like tip.

Siegfried stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, coming face-to-face with the leaner man, blade drawn.

“I found you!” He shouted as he swung his sabre down hard.

Siegfried parried the attack with Requiem, forcing the attack to swing to the left and collide with the ground. Siegfried used the momentum from the parry to bring Requiem down towards the man.

The man dodged back and swung horizontally to the right. Sadly he didn’t fully anticipate his blade’s reach as it came up short to Requiem’s retaliation. The swordsman tried to block the attack but the force behind Siegfried’s attack shattered the blade and Requiem found the ground. Before the man could react, Siegfried kicked him in the abdomen and sent him flying back.

“Watch out!” Rarity shouted as the lancer appeared and attempted to ram her lance into his heart.

**** **** **** ****

The four arrived at a wooden house in the middle of a forest, far away from civilisation. Sven parked the car and exited with Eve not far behind. He took out the groceries and walked over to the back of the car and looked at Twilight.

“So, you coming in or are you going to stay there?” Sven asked Twilight.

Twilight tentatively got out of the car with Nyx still asleep on her back. Sven’s hideout had only the basic necessities such as a stove, oven, fridge, shower and small pieces of furniture. Although given the fact that he has been a little hard on his luck on his Sweeper jobs and still managed to provide for Eve proved he was at least making ends meet.

“Make yourself at home,” Sven said as he placed the groceries on the table and began sorting them out, “I have a guest room the pair of you can share if you’d like.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said with a smile, “But why are you helping us?”

“A gentleman always tries to help out whenever possible especially when it’s a lady,” Sven replied as he placed a few bottles of milk into the fridge, “Even if you aren’t from here.”

“Thank you again, Mr. Vollfied. Which way was that room?” Twilight asked.

“I will show you. Follow me,” Eve said as she walked down the small hallway.

Twilight soon followed, leaving Sven to his thoughts, ‘I wonder if they’re some escaped genetic experiment. Better call Annette or Rinslet just to be safe.’

“This is the room,” Eve said slowly as she opened the door.

The room was mostly bare except for a small coffee table, a television set in the corner, a shelf attached to the wall and the bed on the far side of the room. Twilight picked Nyx up with her magic and picked up the covers as she laid Nyx down before tucking her in. Twilight then took Alastor off Nyx and placed it under her pillow as she was still weary of Sven and Eve despite her slight disdain for Nyx carrying the Devil Arm.

“How did you do that?” Eve asked.

“It’s just basic levitation magic,” Twilight replied, “Thank you.”

“For what?” Eve asked, confused.

“I’m guessing by your father’s reaction you were the one who found us,” Twilight said.

“She’s not my daughter!” Sven shouted.

“Oh, sorry,” Twilight said, “Wait, how did he hear that?”

“The acoustics in this cabin are pretty impressive,” Sven replied from outside the room, “That and I was already walking here when I heard you.”

Sven came around the corner and grimaced, “So have you figured out what your next move is yet?”

Twilight hung her head, “No, I haven’t. I don’t know this place or anywhere around here for that matter.”

“You can stay with us,” Eve said with a very slight smile.

“Yeah, I guess it would be alright as long as you help out,” Sven said, placing his arms behind his head as he spoke.

Twilight smiled, “That’s alright with me.”

“Now that is out of the way,” Sven said as he looked at Nyx’s still sleeping form and then to Alastor, “What is up with the two of you and that sword?”

**** **** **** ****

Siegfried was engaged in battle between the lancer and the swordsman as the latter took out a dagger and attacked again. Rarity and Joystick looked on as the knight kept the pair of them at bay with Requiem’s long reach.

“That’s all I can stand for now, Joystick,” Rarity said through clenched teeth, “We must help him.”

Joystick nodded his head and took out Blue Rose, “Ready when you are.”

The two ponies burst out of the bushes, a battlecry issuing from their lips. Lucifer’s blades collided with the lancer’s armour, detonating and taking it apart. The shockwave from multiple blasts sent the lancer flying backwards into the ground.

A resounding bang fired from Blue Rose, knocking the swordsman’s dagger out of his hand. The dagger fell into a patch of soft earth a short distance away.

“One more move and your life shall be considerably shorter,” Joystick warned.

The swordsman took a few steps back before the flat side of Requiem met his face, knocking him unconscious. The lancer was trying to hit Rarity with her lance, sweeping the ground but Lucifer was as much a ranged weapon as it was possible to use it for melee.

“Keep still, agent of Nightmare!” She cried out as she missed once more.

Rarity was evading the attacks as if it were a choreographed dance routine. Every swipe missed her, she dodged every kick with flawless execution and every movement was as beautiful as a painted picture.

“Damn you!” The frustrated lancer shouted as her attack missed once more.

Sadly she failed to notice Siegfried bringing down Requiem on her lance as it swung in a wide sweeping arc. The two weapons collided with the latter of the two weapons breaking like a twig. As the woman wheeled around to see Siegfried’s gauntlet meeting her face with force. In the end only the knight and the two ponies were still conscious.

“Why did you help me?” Siegfried asked as he tried to put as much distance between himself and the scene of the battle.

“Well dear it was a rather unfair matchup to be fighting two against one so we decided to even the odds a little,” Rarity explained.

“Yeah and you didn’t kill us so that shows you aren’t some mindless murderer with a big sword,” Joystick said.

“A… mindless… murderer…” Siegfried muttered as the three continued to walk off into the distance.

**** **** **** ****

The air was cold as Soarin trudged along a barren landscape. While the air was cool, the ground beneath his hooves was warm. He saw out of the corner of his eye that he was beginning to draw an inquisitive crowd of dragons.

They were of many shapes, sizes and colourations but they kept their distance from Soarin as he approached the largest dragon stood by the mouth of a large cave.

The beast had three long, swept back steel grey horns atop his skull. His lime green scales shone in the moonlight as his yellow eyes centred on Soarin’s form. His face bore many scars, as did much of his body. They ranged from minor abrasions to near fatal gouges.

“I see you are keeping well, Fafnir,” Soarin said with a grin as the colossal dragon walked up to him, “And you’ve gained a few more scars as well.”

“If you think these look bad, you should see the other dragon,” Fafnir chuckled.

“Right. Look I am not here for a social visit,” Soarin replied callously, “What you dragons do to assert your positions is of little consequence to me as long as I get my support.”

Fafnir rolled his eyes, “Right, your support.”

“Correct, the time has come for you to reclaim the territory your kind lost over the past number of centuries,” Soarin said with a grin.

“Finally, I was beginning to think you were nothing but hollow words,” Fafnir remarked, “Are the two Princesses dealt with?”

“They will no longer be a problem by the time your forces attack Canterlot,” Soarin replied.

“Good, we shall march by sunset tomorrow,” Fafnir said with an evil grin.

Soarin did not reply as he turned around and walked away, ‘Everything is going according to plan.’

Author's Notes:

Welp, here's the next bit. The story will be basically be following this kind of format. Two crossovers then to Equestria so it doesn't look like a hash job. And we're back to showing lovable Fluttershy as the OP one mare army of Dovashy May Cry.

Pieces of the Puzzle (Part 1)

The Shadow of a King
Pieces of the Puzzle (Part 1)
Author: Draconis187

Dante rubbed his temples. His previous job didn’t botch up like they tended to but he ended up causing so much property damage, it took almost all he got paid. Lady took a cut to pay for her involvement. Dante couldn’t get a moment’s rest by himself between Trish’s random comings and goings and his brother’s rather callous attitude were a pain.

But this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. He was having a nice nap by his desk as usual only to have the sweet bliss of silence broken by Vergil’s return. Then there was the news he brought with him.

“Run that past me again, Verg. I’m sure I didn’t hear that right,” Dante said as he used a finger to clean his ear.

Vergil sighed as he stood in front of Dante as his brother laid back on his chair with his feet on his desk, “You need to get your ears checked, dear brother. It may become chronic if you neglect it. I said: Fluttershy and her cottage have vanished from Equestria.”

“Well that’s a bummer. You sure she didn’t move the house?” Dante asked.

Vergil’s expression didn’t change, “Highly unlikely since the animal pens remained. She would not have left them behind. It would be out of character.”

Dante sighed and got up, grabbing his coat, “Alright then, Verg. You have my attention. Let’s go ask her friends, maybe they know what is going on.”

Vergil didn’t reply but he took his half of the Perfect Amulet off from around his neck and placed it in one outstretched hand as Dante did the same. The two halves floated towards each other and combined, a dull glow intensified as the incantations Discord had placed on them began to create a feedback loop upon themselves.

Electricity crackled and arced around them. Dante smiled broadly as the red glow of the Perfect Amulet began to grow in size and intensity. Vergil didn’t move a single muscle nor did his expression change as he stood in front of his brother, waiting for the Amulet to send the pair of them to Equestria.

**** **** **** ****

“Hm… this is nice tea,” Twilight complimented as the cup levitated off the table in her magic grip while Sven and Eve drank theirs.

“Thanks. Nice trick,” Sven said, looking at Twilight’s small magical display, “So let me get this straight: that little pony in the room is your adopted daughter from a parallel universe and is adopted by that universe’s version of you. You two fought monsters, demons and other creatures called ‘Changelings’? All within a matter of a few days?”

Twilight nodded her head, “Correct. That is basically the long and the short of it on my side.”

Eve remained silent throughout Twilight’s slightly lengthy explanation. She was fascinated by this world the two of them apparently came from. They were creatures she’s only read in books, believed to be nothing more than a mere myth and yet two breathing specimens were before the curious girl.

Sven took a sip of his tea, looking at Eve, “Any questions for the nice pony, Eve?”

She looked at Twilight, “What is that sword for?”

Twilight looked down at her cup before answering. She knew they were bound to redirect the subject back to Alastor. She feared they would throw them out if they knew so she kept deflecting by twisting their questions and giving answers that were vaguely related to their questions.

A cold sweat broke over Twilight as she took a deep breath, daring to not look into their eyes, “It’s a Devil Arm. In a sense it’s akin to a living weapon, complete with its own mind and personality.

That Devil Arm is known as Alastor,” She looked at Sven with a slightly disgusted look on her face, “Pinkie somehow gave it to Nyx on our way back to Canterlot. It’s almost as if it’s formed a symbiotic relationship with her and maybe that’s how a Devil Arm works.”

Sven raised an eyebrow but didn’t interrupt her. This was out of his depth. Sweepers take on criminals that the standard police force are unable to cope with for profit. Magic swords and talking ponies? Way beyond what he’s seen in his time as an agent for the International Bureau of Investigation and a Sweeper.

“So that’s why it wouldn’t let us take it?” Sven asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I believe so. Alastor knows the relationship Nyx and I have so it allows me to handle him. Even if it was to store him away after the battle,” Twilight responded with a deep sigh, “I just wish she didn’t get sucked into whatever brought us here. That filly has suffered enough.”

A few light hoofsteps approached the table, causing the three sat there to stop talking and look towards the source.

Nyx looked as if she should still be in bed with the way she swayed about groggily. Her eyes were half open and she gave a large yawn as Twilight smiled at her. Alastor was on her back once more, the odd bolt of lightning striking the blade at random intervals.

“Sleep alright, Nyx?” Twilight asked as she got down and hugged the filly.

Nyx returned the hug but her meagre smile began to frown, “Yes thank you, Twilight. Where are we? What happened to Golden Oaks?”

“I am afraid we seem to have ended up experiencing a form of involuntary cross-dimensional travel,” Twilight responded, “I’ve been considering several variables but none make any sense and no it wasn’t Discord. We would have heard his laugh if he was behind it. He wouldn’t have been able to resist laughing at us before we left Equestria.”

Nyx nodded her head in understanding and turned her head to Alastor, “Sorry about taking Alastor out from the wall, Twilight.”

Twilight shook her head, “As much as you having a deadly weapon does make me a little uncomfortable, I’m afraid we’ll both have to compromise. We don’t know this world or what dangers are in it. At least you can defend yourself if push comes to shove.”

Nyx nodded once more, “May I have some tea please?”

Sven smiled as he got up, “Sure thing, kid. Eve, introduce yourself while I go get another cup and boil the kettle again for Nyx here?”

Eve nodded her head and got up from her chair. She walked up to Nyx with her usual flat expression and knelt down onto her knees.

“Hello,” Eve said flatly to a nervous Nyx, reaching out with her hand.

Nyx couldn’t place it but she could feel there was something off about the way the girl in front of her acted. The man with the eye patch seemed a lot friendlier than the blonde girl. Eve felt like an emotionless void to Nyx.

“H-hi…” Nyx replied, eyeing Eve’s hand with slight fear.

“It’s alright, Nyx. Eve may not seem it but she is actually very nice,” Twilight said, easing Nyx’s mind somewhat.

Eve began to pull her hand away from Nyx as she felt rejected by the young Alicorn. She was scaring the filly without intending to do so, bringing back her time with Rudman which was still fresh in her mind. Eve began to get up and return to her seat when she felt a small tug on her dress.

She looked down and saw Nyx giving her a small smile and reaching out to her with her hoof. Eve’s face curled ever so slightly with a smile as she knelt back down and held Nyx’s hoof by her fetlock. Nyx’s fur felt similar to velvet, an unusual feeling as Eve expected it to be much coarser.

“Sorry…” Nyx apologised. Eve’s smile grew a little more noticeable.

“Here we go,” Sven said as he returned with hot water and another cup with a tea bag inside. He looked at Eve’s smile and grinned, “Getting acquainted with Nyx, Eve?”

Eve nodded her head, “Yes.”

**** **** **** ****

Rainbow couldn’t sleep. Her augmentations were annoying her and her shoulder itched at the base almost constantly. She would’ve been in pain if it weren’t for the strong painkillers all of them were given. She felt it would have been better to have not had the entire foreleg if it meant reprieve from the annoyance.

She sat by Jensen’s window, staring out into Detroit. People walked along the streets below, not caring about the homeless man they passed. Women were offering themselves to men in the alleyways only for the ‘clients’ to get jumped and mugged.

Dash felt sick as she observed. She wanted to help, she wanted to get out and pummel the attackers until all the life was extinguished from their bodies. She shook her head at the thought, confused.

“Why did I just think that?” She murmured, “I don’t want to kill them, just make them stop.”

‘Is it really? Don’t you want revenge for Nevan? It wouldn’t be too hard. You still have power…’ A cruel voice in her head thought.

“N-no…” Dash replied audibly to the voice, “It’s not me. I’d be no better than them…”

‘They’d never hear you coming. Your wings are stronger and silent. You could take them out in an instant and they wouldn’t have the time to scream for help.’ The voice replied.

“No. No!” She shouted the last part, rousing Gilda from the couch as she turned and crashed onto the floor.

“Shards, what in Tartarus is going on?!” Gilda snapped. She got up onto her feet and saw Dash’s expression.

Dash was crying. Her mind felt like a puzzle but none of the pieces connected at all. It was fractured and holding on by fragile threads. She wanted it to stop. The pain, the itching… the living, she wanted it to just end.

She felt as if her entire world had finally caved in around her. She had lost most of her friends except for Gilda and the pair of them had almost died from Dash’s brash attack against the man that broke Nevan in half like it was a twig.

That echoing cry pierced her psyche like her Sonic Rainboom pierced the sky. She still battled to believe a Devil Arm could have been torn so easily, especially her Devil Arm. Her body was no longer her own as the words ‘Sarif Industries’ was painted in small yellow letters on her leg and wings, constantly reminding her.

“Dash… Dash!” Gilda shouted as she held her friend as she sobbed, tears falling down onto Gilda’s rebuilt arms.

The Griffon didn’t know what to do. Dash was always the strongest in terms of will between the two of them and yet Dash was crying like a filly that just had her Wonderbolts doll taken away and broken before her eyes. Gilda fidgeted, her wings making a few odd noises as she held onto Dash and held her close to her body.

Dash felt odd as her senses tried to tell her she was being held, being comforted. Her pride and ego screamed out to get out of the grip but another, stronger voice told them to shut the buck up. She felt odd as parts of Gilda’s cold, metal augmentations touched her fur.

“G-G?” Dash sniffed as she looked at Gilda’s mismatched eyes, “Not one word…”

Gilda grinned, “I never said a thing, Dash.”

A grumbling Adam Jensen entered the room, rubbing his one eye slightly. He didn’t look very happy as he looked at his two roommates.

“What is going on? It’s two in the morning,” He said harshly, “Don’t you sleep at all?”

Dash and almost threw herself out of Gilda’s grip, trying to make it seem that they were never hugging at all. Adam merely shook his head.

“Look, just get some damned sleep,” Jensen said as he turned around and walked back into his room.

**** **** **** ****

Someone began to knock on the door of Sven’s hideout, prompting the two ponies to hide in the spare room Nyx had slept in. Sven stalled at the door while Eve got rid of the two extra teacups, placing them inside the sink.

Twilight’s horn charged up and four magenta, translucent swords manifested. Nyx placed a hoof on Alastor’s handle as the Devil Arm arced lightning excitedly, ready for battle.

“Hello? Who’s there?” Sven asked at the door.

“It’s me. Sven, open the damned door,” A young voice replied.

“Oh, it’s just Train. Eve, go get our guests will ya? False alarm,” Sven called out as he unbolted his door.

Eve walked up to the ponies’ room and called them out while Sven remade tea for them. Twilight and Nyx came out of their room, weapons put away – much to Alastor’s disappointment – and came face to face with the new human.

He looked like a teenager. His brown hair was medium length and spiked in all directions but none draped over his face. He wore a black trenchcoat and kept his hands in his pockets. The most striking things to Twilight and Nyx were his cat slit eyes, the small yellow bell tied around his neck via a red ribbon and the Roman numeral ‘XIII’ branded in black on his collarbone to the left.

The young man regarded the ponies with curiosity before turning to Sven, “Since when did you get Eve pets? Think she can take care of two disfigured horses?”

Sven stayed quite as Twilight approached the rude younger man, “Excuse me. We are not disfigured, we are perfectly normal and healthy. Furthermore we are nopony’s pets and I suggest you stop regarding us as such right now.”

The young man’s jaw dropped as he stared at Twilight for a few seconds before leaping back in fear and shock, “What the hell?!! It can talk?!”

Twilight gave an exasperated sigh, “I’ve said before: I am not an ‘it’, I am Twilight Sparkle and this is Nyx.”

“Train get over it and sit down,” Sven deadpanned, “There’s a little story Twilight and I need to tell you.”

Train was not about to let the subject go though, “How can you be so damn calm, Sven?! You have two oddly coloured, talking horses that look like they were some madman’s experiment!”

Eve had taken a book out and was engrossed in it enough to not raise her head as she responded flatly, “He almost crashed the car when Twilight spoke. Trust me, he was not calm at that point.”

Sven sighed as he returned with fresh cups and more tea on a tray, “She’s right. Hell, I’m still having a hard time looking at them without questioning my own sanity.”

Twilight looked offended, “Just what is that supposed to mean?!”

Sven sat down at the table with the tray in the middle, “Sorry, Twilight. I’ve never seen anything like you before and neither has Train over there. How would you have reacted if you came face to face with something that shouldn’t be able to do what it does and yet it is doing so right before you?”

Twilight hung her head. There were a few things that questioned her perception on the world and her own sanity. Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense, Fluttershy rescuing her and the rest of her friends and wielding weapons like a warmonger and the other events that occurred during Equestria’s war with the Changelings and Mundus’ machinations.

The days during and the months after those events made her question almost everything. She was still afraid whenever a Changeling would visit Ponyville on its way to somewhere else or to thank them for saving them from total extinction by their hooves and the demons. Rebel and Legion only came back every so often and the knowledge that Bon Bon was a Changeling all along didn’t sit too well with the town until Twilight and the her friends stood by Bon Bon’s side.

“I… see your point,” Twilight said, defeated as she sat back at the table, “Well, I guess I had better start from the beginning once more.”

**** **** **** ****

“This is boring,” Gilda commented as she finished reading the current news, the Picus Daily Standard.

The news was sent wirelessly to an incredibly thin little device. One scrolled through it by using their finger to touch the surface of the device and swipe it upwards. Same worked in reverse in order to scroll upwards. In order to get more info on a topic, one just had to tap it and the subject would load almost instantly.

“I’m afraid Sarif was incredibly specific, Gilda,” Adam replied with irritation, “It’s been a week since the operation and our bodies are still on meds. Then there’s the check up for glial tissue build-up and getting a dose of Neuropozyne.”

“Neuro-whatsing?” Gilda said in confusion.

Dash was in the bathroom, taking a shower while Jensen mentioned about the incompatibility of augmentations on living tissue. The warm water ran over her mane and body, trying to soothe her pain. She soon got out of the water and shook herself dry, her augmentations whirring as she did so.

“I never asked for this…” She muttered to herself as she saw her fractured reflection in Jensen’s broken mirror.

The mirror looked like a spider’s web, Dash only saw fragments of herself but the augments were more prominent in her subconscious. She wanted to tear them off just to spite Sarif but a part of her knew if she tried she either wouldn’t succeed or would die from the resulting blood loss.

Meanwhile inside Sarif Industries, David Sarif was stood inside a small room with a team of scientists. The room was filled with pieces of equipment taking reading after reading that no normal person would be close to deciphering. In between the scientists and David, sat on a table was Nevan.

The broken Devil Arm was shattered in two, cleanly broken in half as if it were cut by a high powered laser. David had a hand resting on his chin as he thought.

“Can you do it?” David asked the lead scientist.

“Mr. Sarif… I’m not sure. We’ve never seen this kind of thing before. Sure it has the general shape of an electric guitar but the readings we’re getting are just baffling,” The man replied as he checked one of the monitors, “This thing is a mystery in and of itself.”

“Look I don’t give a rat’s ass about how unusual it is. What I need is for you to find a way to repair it or incorporate it into that mare’s augs,” David replied irritably, “There’s something between her and this thing and I want to find out what. The only way I see that I can get my answer is if we fix this thing or find an effective work around. I suggest you find it or I will find someone who can. Take what readings you can tonight. We’re moving this project out to Milwaukee under the name Project Excelion.”

**** **** **** ****

Celestia was sat at a table eating a dandelion sandwich. She took small bites as she absentmindedly ate the sandwich. Her mind was worrying about the missing Elements and she had received a message from Spike stating that the Bearers had vanished as well.

She placed a hoof on her head. She hadn’t slept since Spike sent the message at close to midnight. She could tell that both disappearances were not coincidental and it ate at her mind. A familiar white flash appeared in front of her and a certain Draconequus materialised out of nowhere as usual.

“Discord… please, I am not in the mood,” Celestia said with a sigh.

Discord walked up to Celestia and broke a piece of her sandwich off before eating it with a grin on his face, “So then Celly… what’s gotten your mane in a twist?”

“Discord, the Elements and the girls have vanished. How do you think I should be feeling?!” Celestia snapped. She stopped herself and sighed in exasperation, “Sorry, Discord. These two events can not be mere coincidence. I fear there is something else at work here.”

“Oh don’t worry, Celly. If I know them, they’ll find a way out of whatever trouble found them this time,” Discord reassured.

Luna came in through the doorway, looking tired as the bags under her eyes indicated. She smiled as she too took a piece of Celestia’s sandwich with her magic and took a bite.

“Good day to you all,” Luna said with a yawn, “Any new developments, Tia?”

Celestia shook her head, “No, none regarding the Elements and the Bearers. I was just informing Discord that this situation has a rather uncomfortable air around itself.”

“I agree. Something here is just not right,” Luna replied thoughtfully, “Any thoughts as to what the cause may be?”

Celestia shook her head, “I am stumped but I plan on informing the Griffon Kingdom and Broken Skies of the Changelings. Hopefully they can lend us some support. Without our most powerful form of defence, we are vulnerable.”

Discord scoffed, “Aw, come on, Celly. Two Alicorns that can move the sun and moon like toys not to mention a powerful and handsome Draconequus can surely handle any army?”

“Discord, you know how much I detest violence,” Celestia replied sadly, “The Crystal Empire’s liberation from Mundus was an exception.”

“Oh, I don’t think you’d have to worry too much, my dear Celestia,” A voice said as the doors opened once more, “You three don’t need to worry about the ponies for much longer. You’ll be too busy worrying about yourselves.”

A cloaked figure stood in the doorway, staring at the three of them. Discord chuckled, “And who – pray tell – are you?”

The figure reached of the hood with a hoof, gripping it tightly, “I do believe the sisters know of me. They’ve seen me perform a few times.”

The figure pulled his hood off, revealing Soarin underneath it with a smug grin on his face, “Remember me, dear Princesses?”

Celestia looked shocked, “You were on the train that was on its way to the Crystal Empire. It was the one Spitfire and the rest of the Wonderbolts were on. We thought she was the only one who had survived the attack. The others… were declared dead.”

Soarin nodded his head, “Oh, I did die but how I still stand here before you is another matter. Enjoying your sandwich? I see the three of you took a bite… that’s all it takes. Negates the necessity to attempt it again.”

Luna gave Soarin a seething look, “What in Equestria are you talking about?”

“There’s a lovely little flower, similar to a dandelion in terms of its colours and shape. Hard to distinguish really unless one looked at the centre,” Soarin replied, taking a few steps closer, “It’s rather nasty though. I do believe its name is the Mors Rubrum Minusculus or Pony Red Death. Fatal to normal ponies and acts as a powerful paralysing and anti-magic agent against more… immortal creatures. I should thank Silver Platter for his help.”

“Wh-where are the Elements?!” Celestia tried to shout. Her tongue was beginning to feel numb as the flower’s attributes began to take effect.

“Oh, they’re somewhere very far away. Let’s just say that they and the Bearers are taking a little vacation while Equestria falls under new management,” Soarin deadpanned as he watched the sisters and Discord begin to lose all motor functions.

“The same kind of vacation you will be taking,” Soarin said as his horn began to light up.

Three black cracks appeared above the three paralyzed immortals. In moments they all shattered like glass as the fabric of time/space tore apart. Soarin began to laugh as he watched the look of pure helplessness on Celestia’s face as she, Luna and Discord were pulled into them.

As the openings closed up, Soarin donned his rather shaky disguise and looked out the window, “One last loose end I need to tie up…”

**** **** **** ****

“Pinkie, please get out of the vents. How on Earth did you even get in them?” Sheppard asked as he looked at Pinkie’s grinning face as it stared at him from a vent in the ceiling of the main deck of the Normandy.

“Simple: I walked and wiggled like a worm, silly!” Pinkie replied happily.

Sheppard facepalmed and shifted his gaze to the Normandy’s pilot, “Joker, please tell me we’re near the Citadel. I don’t know how much more of this pink creature’s antics I can take.”

“It’s rude to talk about somepony when they are standing right in front of you,” Pinkie said as she stood next to Sheppard.

“Aw, I think it’s kind of cute the way she just seems to break every law of physics they taught us in school,” Jeff ‘Joker’ Moreau replied with a cocky grin.

“Thanks, Joker. At least somepony enjoys my attempts at cheering everypony up,” Pinkie stated, sticking her tongue out at Sheppard playfully.

“We’ve entered Citadel space, Commander,” Joker said as the Normandy entered a nebula.

Pinkie squashed her face up against the cockpit’s viewscreen as she made various noises while the Normandy navigated the nebula to the centre of space-faring culture and power: the Citadel.

Pinkie’s jaw dropped as if it wasn’t even attached to her jaw any longer. The giant space station consisted of a single large ring holding five long, wide arms lined with buildings facing inside while the opposite side of the curving arms were relatively smooth. The station was covered in a multitude of lights, varying in colour and size with ships flying yo and from it.

Pinkie looked around in awe as she saw ships larger and smaller than the Normandy pass by in space’s silent vacuum. They passed cargo ships, diplomatic vessels and military ships from all corners of Citadel Space.

“Oohh…” Pinkie said as she looked up, a colossal Asari dreadnought looming overhead.

“The Destiny Ascension,” Williams stated with awe, “The flagship of the Citadel Fleet.”

“Size isn’t everything,” Joker remarked.

The Normandy soon flew into the giant space station and inertial dampening pads locked the ship in place as it docked. The ground crew from Eden Prime including Pinkie left with Captain Anderson as they made for the Human Embassy in the Presidium.

**** **** **** ****

The clash of steel on steel rang through a once peaceful meadow as Siegfried and an aging man fought. The man wore robes of green and cream hues while wielding a katana. The man lunged for Siegfried but Requiem kept the man a decent distance away.

“You will pay for what you have done!” The man shouted.

“Please… stop this,” Siegfried implored as he parried the man’s katana and punched the man in the side, his gauntlet causing injury as his attack went through the robes’ protective padding underneath.

“You’d like that wouldn’t you?!” He spat with rage.

Rarity would’ve helped but she and Joystick were preoccupied with the partners the man had come with, his sons. The three of them carried a greatsword that paled in comparison to Requiem, a pair of wave swords and a sword and shield.

“Can’t we talk about this?” Joystick asked as he cocked Blue Rose and fired it, grazing the one son’s shoulder.

His target clutched at his shoulder, dropping his round shield before he slashed at Joystick with anger. Joystick could have shot him in the head and have been done with it but Siegfried seemed to frown on killing another person if his demeanour after the first fight they had together was any indication.

“I don’t think these ruffians will listen to reason, my dear. Best stop them before they injure themselves… or us for that matter,” Rarity replied as she dodged a sweeping attack from the greatsword wielding son.

The one carrying the wave swords turned the curved blades in his hands so the points faced forwards like the fangs of a snake as he brought them down on Rarity. She pulled out two more blades from Lucifer and blocked the attack, the tips of the wave swords almost touching her mane.

“Rarity!” Joystick shouted as Blue Rose changed targets and fired off a pair of bullets to Rarity’s attacker.

The rounds collided with one of the wave blades, causing him to release his grip somewhat and the second slug took the wave blade straight out of his hand.

Rarity took her opportunity and slammed her hoof into the man’s face. The connecting force was enough to make him drop the other sword and fall to the floor with a thump. He lay there unconscious, his weapons nearby as the greatsword wielding man brought his weapon down with force, planning on cleaving Rarity in half.

Requiem and the old man’s katana sliced through the air once more, clashing between their owners as Siegfried continued to talk the man out of the fight. Siegfried didn’t want to fight this pointless battle as the package on his back continuously trying to convince him otherwise… to remove the thorn in its body so it can be free again. Siegfried shook his head and swung his blade in a wide arc, the flat side of which colliding with the man’s side.

“I can not stop here!” Siegfried shouted to the man with conviction, “I must finish my duty!”

As the man got up, Siegfried swung his bade down once more. Requiem shattered the katana as the aging man tried to block the attack. The amount of force Siegfried had placed behind his attack also caused the man to stumble and fall to the ground once more. The man looked up at him as Requiem’s tip met his chin.

“Finish me then… be done with it,” The man said, his breaths pained from the fight.

“You could… never understand,” Siegfried stated as Requiem was removed and placed on Siegfried’s back.

Several gunshots rang out once more through the meadow as Joystick tried to bring the young shortsword wielding man down. He jumped backwards and lowered his head, his opponent’s blade missing his mane by mere millimetres.

“Don’t you ever give up?” He asked as Blue Rose was pointed to the ground before he pulled the trigger.

The resulting two rounds ricocheted off the ground and collided with the man’s leg. He cried out in pain as he stumbled onto the ground, dropping his weapon.

“Sorry but you didn’t give any other options,” Joystick apologised, “Good news is you’ll live though but you may want to lay off the leg for a bit.”

Four explosions made Joystick jump and turn to Rarity. The mare tossed several more blades from Lucifer at her opponent. He parried them with ease and charged for her.

“Alright, darling… sorry about this,” Rarity stated as she pulled out eight blades and tossed them at the man like daggers.

The man hefted his sword and blocked the attack. He grinned at Rarity as he was about to bring his weapon up in an attack stance. He faltered slightly as Rarity merely smiled at him.

“Again… sorry,” Rarity said with a small hint of sadness in her voice.

The man looked to his greatsword and saw all eight blades had impaled it, fully imbedded in the metal. They detonated as one in an instant, sending the man flying backwards and onto the ground with a dull thud.

Rarity carefully placed her ear on the man’s chest and sighed when she heard the slow heartbeat in his chest, “At least he’s alive.”

Siegfried’s clanging armour announced his return and the two ponies smiled at him, “Let’s get going before they get up.”

“No arguments there,” Joystick said, “Where we heading to now?”

“The port. The far east has some information I need regarding a slightly personal matter,” Siegfried deadpanned.

“It has something to do with that thing on your back, doesn’t it?” Joystick replied with a curious look.

“Drop it,” Siegfried said curtly.

**** **** **** ****

Pinkie looked around everywhere she could from the balcony in the Human Embassy as the group got berated by an irate Ambassador Udina. She paid the tan, aging and balding man no mind as she watched hover cars fly by and saw a multitude of new species, from the Volus to Asari and many in between.

“I see you brought half the ship with you, Captain. And what is that pink monster you brought as well? I thought Eden Prime was a farming community, not a science lab,” Udina said callously, looking at Pinkie with disdain.

“I just brought the ground team and Miss Pie just in case the Council had any questions,” Anderson replied flatly.

“I already have the reports. I assume they are accurate?” Udina replied curtly.

“Yup yup!” Pinkie said with a cheery grin.

“Did you manage to get an audience with the Council?” Anderson asked.

“Yes I did. They didn’t like us calling their best Spectre a traitor,” Udina replied.

“They can get used to it because it’s the truth,” Sheppard replied.

“That attitude can get you into a lot of trouble, Sheppard. Best keep those comments to yourself,” Udina warned, “I need to get this creature you brought with into the system. She can’t wander around without any identification. C-Sec has strict laws about animals. Especially talking ones.”

Anderson shook his head, “Can’t we speed this up, Udina?”

“If you want to deal with the shitstorm that will come from an unregistered sentient species be my guest. Sheppard, I’ll make sure you and your group have relevant clearance to enter the Citadel Tower once you get there,” Udina said as he sat down at his desk, “Uh, Miss Pie. Would you please sit down so we may begin?”

Pinkie bounced onto the chair with a huge grin on her face, “I’ll catch up later, Sheppard. Whatcha wanna know?”

**** **** **** ****

The port city Siegfried and the two Unicorns walked into was bustling with trade. People flogging treasures and other oddities from across the seas. Rarity looked at a large man with an elephant on his head inside a cage. The two Unicorns kept their manes over their horns as much as possible so none would realise they were Unicorns.

“Keep to yourselves, stay close to me and do not talk,” Siegfried warned in a low voice as he walked up to a man, “Are you the captain of this vessel?”

The man Siegfried was talking to was a typical seafarer. Wearing a dark blue coat and sporting leather boots that reached the top of his shins. He had a full face beard and slightly tanned skin. The man looked at Siegfried with a hearty grin.

“You the captain of this vessel?” Siegfried asked again, slightly annoyed from being ignored the first time.

“Aye, I be the captain of the Adrian. How can I help ye?” The man replied, “Name’s Stern Cave.”

“Alright Mr. Cave, I wish to procure your ship and crew to ferry us to the Far East,” Siegfried said.

“Do you have enough scratch fer that, me boy?” Stern said.

“I do,” Siegfried replied as he pulled out a large number of gold coins.

“That’ll do lad. Just give us a holler when yer good an’ ready,” Stern said with a grin as he walked off with Siegfried’s gold, counting it as he went.

“That’s transport dealt with. If anyone asks me, I’m going to tell them I’m selling you over the sea,” Siegfried warned.

“What? Selling us like some common animal?” Rarity hissed in a hushed voice to Siegfried.

“Rarity, keep your voice low please. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves,” Joystick whispered.

“Sorry dear. I just don’t like the prospect of being considered a common beast of burden,” Rarity whispered back irritably.

**** **** **** ****

“We have contacted Saren as he should be present during these proceedings,” The Asari Councillor said to Sheppard, Williams, Udina, Anderson, Alenko and Pinkie.

“Quite frankly this is a waste of my time, Councillors,” A large holographic model of Saren spoke from their right.

“Was attacking Eden Prime a waste of time as well?” Anderson accused.

“Ah, Captain Anderson. Why is it you’re involved whenever humanity tries to slander me?” Saren deadpanned.

“We’ll get you for what you did, Saren,” Sheppard said.

“How? You hardly have compelling evidence. A traumatised dock worker is hardly able to give a definitive testimony,” Saren replied.

“I’m afraid I’d have to agree. In light of insufficient evidence against Saren, we’re going to have to drop the case,” The Asari Councillor said to the group.

“B-but that isn't fair!” Pinkie shouted.

“I am glad to see justice is served,” Saren said.

“We shall get to the matter about that… genetics experiment later,” The Salarian Councillor said, looking at Pinkie with fascination.

“I’m not some genetics experiment! I’m Pinkie Pie! Sheppard, tell them about that vision you had,” Pinkie suggested.

“Really? We’re allowing dreams into evidence now? However could I defend myself against that?” Saren mocked.

“This meeting is over,” The Turian Councillor said curtly, “I suggest putting a muzzle on that creature until such time we can determine what to do with it.”

Pinkie glared at them as she turned around and left, the rest of the group following suit. Udina looked furious.

“I knew bringing you along was a bad idea Anderson! You and Saren have too much bad history!” He spat.

In a fast, fluid movement, Kalina Ann came out of nowhere as the bayonet was placed near Udina’s throat. Everyone looked at Pinkie who had lost her cheerful smile, her mane and tail still had its ridiculous curls but she looked at Udina with a stern gaze before lowering the rocket launcher.

“It’s not Anderson’s fault and you know it,” Pinkie said as Kalina Ann retreated into Pinkie’s mane, disappearing from sight.

Udina looked at Pinkie for a moment, flustered and afraid of what had just occurred, “Fine. We need to find concrete evidence against Saren if we are to discredit him and revoke his Spectre status.”

Anderson nodded his head, “How about the Turian arguing with the Executor earlier? Garrus wasn’t it?”

“Any idea where to find him, sir?” Sheppard asked.

“Find Harkin in Chora’s Den. He’s usually there drinking himself into another stupor. If you have the time, talk to Barla Von, a Volus in the Presidium. I heard he has ties to the Shadow Broker. The Shadow Broker may even have something,” Anderson replied.

“Oki doki loki, we have our quest everypony!” Pinkie cried out as she bounced down the hallway.

“And I’ll see if I can’t pull a few strings at the armoury for her. I have a feeling she’s going to be in this for the long haul,” Anderson said as he and Udina left for the Human Embassy.

**** **** **** ****

The Wonderbolts Academy was closed down to new recruits as the current recruits were given leave to attend to family matters. This gave the Wonderbolts themselves a full run of the base without interruptions or annoyances from overzealous recruits wanting to prove themselves.

Spitfire was in the mare’s bathroom, taking a shower before heading for a nap. She winced as she washed her body, old wounds from the train attack to the Crystal Empire still making themselves known.

As she got out, she heard the clopping of hooves on the tiled shower floor but she thought nothing of it. She suspected it to be High Winds or Fleetfoot as the sound grew fainter. She draped three towels over her mane, tail and body before making her way to the barracks.

As she passed the stallions’ locker rooms, she found the door ajar which was rather curious as all doors are to be shut when in use and with regards to the locker rooms and bathrooms, even when not in use.

“Alright, which bri-” She opened the door with slight irritation and her voice failed her instantly.

Standing in front of her were Wave Chill, Lightning Streak and Rapidfire, thoroughly encased in crystal. Lightning Streak was facing away from them, his expression of pure ignorance as if he never had the chance to even see what was going on.

Wave Chill was near the locker, his one forehoof outstretched to his locker. He seemed to have spotted the attacker and made for one of the Abyss Scythes the Wonderbolts commandeered a while back.

Spitfire looked at Rapidfire with a saddening face. He looked like he tried to avert his gaze from the attacker but he ended up sharing the same fate as the others.

Spitfire’s sadness quickly turned to rage and fear as she turned tail, bolting for the mares’ locker room. She had to warn High Winds and Fleetfoot as quickly as possible, as well as inform Canterlot of what had just occurred.

She almost caved the door in as she flung herself into it to open it, not wishing to waste time. Her shoulder hurt from her brash decision as she picked herself up off the floor and stopped dead as she looked inside.

Fleetfoot and High Winds had suffered the same fate. It made her heart sink as she saw the scared expression on Fleetfoot’s face, as if she saw her darkest fear come to life before her. High Winds was looking in the direction of the door she just came through, scythe in hoof and ready to attack.

“What happened here?” She said aloud as she walked up to Fleetfoot and placed a hoof on the crystal.

“Oh, I could tell you. Been some time, Spitfire,” A voice said from behind her as the owner walked up to her, a cocky grin on his face that she was far too familiar with.

“S-Soarin?” She gasped, Soarin merely nodded his head.

“How nice of you to remember me,” He deadpanned, a scowl beginning to form, “Leaving my battered body in the middle of nowhere while you recovered in a comfy Canterlot bed.”

“Soarin… We sent out a search party, several parties but they never found you or the others,” Spitfire said as she hung her head.

“It was long since too late, Spitfire…” He replied.

“What happened here, Soarin?” She asked, “What happened to you?”

“Simple, I’m tying up loose ends and paving the way for a hostile takeover of Canterlot,” He said as his horn lit up.

Dark crystals began to encase Spitfire’s hooves, stopping her from moving and as they were still attached to the ground below, they prevented her from flying. Her eyes were wide as she looked down at her bonds and Soarin’s horn.

“What happened to you?” She asked.

“Now isn’t the time for my life story, Spitfire. You and the rest of these traitors are going to suffer as I had suffered as you all watch your precious nation fall around you!” He spat as he walked up to her, “I could spare you though. It would be like old times.”

Spitfire brought her head forward quickly and slammed it against his face, “I’d rather date Blueblood than be with you. You’re not the Soarin I know.”

Soarin chuckled as he wiped a small bit of blood coming from his nose, “Oh, well. I tried. Now then, because of our history I’ll spare you the trauma of being encased, helpless in stasis.”

Spitfire’s heart began to sink as he placed his head near her ear, “You are going on a trip somewhere far away, where you will never see the light of Celestia’s sun ever again. You will never see Equestria or another pony again for that matter.”

Soarin stepped back and his horn began to glow once more. The area above Spitfire shattered and she began to feel something pulling her into a vortex that appeared from the broken hole in space/time.

“You will never win, Soarin… and you know it,” Spitfire warned as her bonds broke, allowing the vortex to claim her.

As the hole repaired itself, Soarin looked out the door as a small tear fell to the ground from his face, unnoticed.

“We shall see,” Soarin muttered as he left.

Author's Notes:

Alright, Part 1!! Sorry, it seemed like the chapters were going to reach the 10k mark without editing and my word cound always increases when I edit. I will do Part 2 before updating another story.

Pieces of the Puzzle (Part 2)

The Shadow of a King
Pieces of the Puzzle (Part 2)
Author: Draconis187

“Summin’ about this place is creepin’ me out, Trix,” Applejack said in a low voice as the pair of them continued to walk deeper into the Rogue Monastery.

The area continued to smell worse as they passed corpse upon corpse of humans and beasts of varying description that would make anyone wish to turn and run. The blood on the walls were old, dulling the brick to a dull brown and making one’s stomach turn from just looking at them.

“I know what you mean, Applejack. Let’s conclude our business here as quickly as possible,” Trixie said nervously.

They walked down a passageway with steel bars on either side, making them feel as if they were in a deranged prison. Skeletons were hanging on the walls, chained by large steel manacles around their wrist and ankles. Some were kept in stockades, some had their heads or arms missing but they kept the same, knelt down pose.

A cold wind blew in from the east, right into the mares’ faces. Trixie and Applejack gripped tightly onto the brims of their respective hats as Trixie’s cape rustled loudly.

A small chittering sound came from the north, sending a shill up the mares’ spines. It wasn’t long until the source came after them... it turned out to be several sources.

“…Those are some big spiders,” Trixie commented.

“Meh, Clunker’s bigger. Squash ‘em!” Applejack shouted as she brought her hammer down on a Giant Spider.

The impact thundered loudly as the hammer flattened the spider’s thorax into a disgusting light green paste, making a sickening splat sound on the floor. A few of its thin, lithe legs twitched slightly as Applejack brought her hammer in a wide, underhand arc.

Volendrung collided with another Giant Spider’s face and sent it flying into the bars, splitting apart into gooey fragments and raining inside the cell.

Trixie took out Cerberus and used Ice Age as three Giant Spiders leapt at her. Their attacks failed to connect as their fangs found several inches of ice at a temperature below absolute zero. They stayed there for a few milliseconds before the ice shield shattered into thousands of fragments, showering the surrounding area with sharp shards.

“Watch it, Trixie!” Applejack spat as she dove around the corner in time to watch a shower of ice fly past her, “Ya, almost got ma hat!”

“Sorry,” Trixie said as she placed Cerberus on her back and observed her attack.

“Well, ah’m fine so ah guess no harm no foul,” Applejack replied as she came back from around the corner.

“Let’s keep moving. I doubt these five were the only ones responsible of thi-” Trixie said but Applejack tackled her to the ground as a fireball flew past them, missing the spot where the showmare’s head once was.

A Fallen Shaman and several other regular Fallen came running towards, brandishing their weapons. Trixie and Applejack nodded at each other as they charged at the Fallen Shaman.

The Fallen ran up to the mares, weapons high and ready for battle. Applejack brought her hammer down on the nearest Fallen and crushed him into the ground. The sound of his bones shattering echoed slightly through the hallway.

Trixie jumped and pushed down hard as her hooves connected with a Fallen’s head. She leapt over the rest of the group, Cerberus in hoof as she somersaulted and landed on the ground. As she landed, Cerberus connected and broke the ground in a Crystal attack.

As the trail of ice tore through their numbers she picked Cerberus up and slammed it into the ground, using the Million Carats attack as a massive ice pillar erupted from the ground in front of her, obliterating the Fallen in a shower of blood and body parts.

With the path clear to the Shaman, Applejack threw Volendrung as if it were a javelin as the Shaman tried to resurrect the defeated Fallen. The hammer impacted with the Shaman’s chest like a freight train going full speed into a brick wall. Its chest caved in instantly, killing it as the Daedric hammer tore through the Shaman’s body, flying out the other side, covered in blood before colliding and going through the wall behind it.

“It appears we may be in for quite a fight,” Trixie commented as she and Applejack navigated the bloody aftermath of their scuffle.

“Ah hear ya,” Applejack responded flatly.

**** **** **** ****

Fluttershy stood on all fours atop the right shoulder of MEGAS, looking out at New Jersey with disdain. Calling it a cesspool would be a compliment. The air was so thick with smog she could have cleaved it in half with Agni and set the entire city ablaze as a result.

The city was a living junk pile as the streets were covered in garbage as people casually just dropped their trash wherever they pleased and cared little to what it did to the surrounding environment.

Coop laid under the red car as it stood in the garage of his mother’s house. Various sounds came from under there, some were curses others were general grunts and shouts of triumph as he tinkered with the undercarriage for reasons only he understood.

Jamie was inside the basement watching his favourite show, showcasing some of the hottest models in the fashion industry. The thin man had enough drool on the floor to fill an Olympic pool as his eyes were fixated on the models’ bodies and paid no attention to the wet floor.

Fluttershy looked on as the city was being rebuilt for possibly the umpteenth time. The city was industrious as most buildings were making great progress in terms of being rebuilt. It was as if this was a regular occurrence and the local authorities left Coop alone of reasons Fluttershy couldn’t fathom.

As she looked on into the distance, Kiva walked up next to her. While the lady from the far future had reservations about Fluttershy, she could respect another’s fighting skills. She stood a short distance away and just looked at Fluttershy as she barely even registered the fact that she was there.

The wind blew past the two, making Fluttershy’s coat rustle and her mane flow in the wind. The calm stillness was almost perfect if it weren’t for Coop’s work below them and the sound of construction going on in the distance.

“You never told us your name,” Kiva deadpanned.

Fluttershy didn’t respond, aggravating Kiva somewhat. She sighed, “We all told you ours so the least you can do is tell us yours.”

“Fluttershy,” She replied curtly.

“Why did you help us and then turn against us?” Kiva asked, trying to gauge her intentions.

Once again Fluttershy didn’t respond as she continued to stare out into the distance, lost in her own thoughts. For the third time she had been thrown into another world but this time she had no knowledge on how she got there or on how to return. She was separated from her friends again and Celestia only knew if they were safe.

The memory of Ponyville’s state on her return after her year away in Skyrim and in Dante’s universe saw her friends in cocoons suspended from the ceiling in Canterlot and Ponyville had been overrun by Changelings, sucking the love out of every single pony. Then came the death she dealt afterwards. All the death on her hooves only to discover they were tricked and that this was all Mundus’ doing.

“I refuse to let that happen again,” She muttered softly as a tear fell from her face.

“Pardon?” Kiva asked as she walked up to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy turned to Kiva with a stone cold expression, “It’s my business. Nothing for you to concern yourself with.”

Kiva sighed and got off the robot to check on Coop. After she left, Agni looked around before speaking up, “Mistress Fluttershy. Why did you shun the woman?”

“Shun? What is ‘shun?’” Rudra asked, slightly confused.

“Well, to shun is to reject or push away but not with a push or a weapon. It is usually done using words,” Agni explained.

“Oh.”

“I don’t want to burden them with my problems. Besides that Coop seems to be a bigger danger to himself and this city than anything that could threaten it. I may have to stick around to stop him from causing too much damage,” She replied.

“That and if they found out I am not actually this mean, they would take advantage of me,” Fluttershy continued, “It’s probably for the best that they think I’m heartless…”

Fluttershy let a small tear fall from her face as she finished. She hated making others believe she was some mare of darkness that only cared about fighting.

**** **** **** ****

“Applejack behind you!” Trixie shouted as she flung Cerberus around her body, the ice cold weapon colliding with reanimated skeletons who brandished an assortment of weapons.

Applejack turned around and swung Volendrung in an underarm swing, her hammer collided with a skeleton’s skull and tore it right off its shoulders. The skull smashed against the ceiling and shattered into fragments. Applejack then used her momentum to bring the hammer around again in a sideways swing and fractured her attacker’s ribcage as well as tear off the arm that was carrying a round, metal buckler shield.

As the pair of them journeyed lower into the Catacombs beneath the Monastery they were met with fiercer resistance from the monsters and undead that made it their home. The area had several drawings of pentagrams and other arcane symbols on the ground, the walls as well as the ceiling, all done in blood.

“How many more do ya reckon we need ta kill?” Applejack asked as she swung Volendrung around herself, knocking back any that were too close and giving her some breathing space.

“As many as it takes!” Trixie replied as she used Ice Age once again to protect herself from a pair of Skeleton Archers. The arrows snapped as they made contact with the frozen shield.

“Well, we don’t seem ta be doing much ta stop ‘em!” Applejack responded as she threw Volendrung at Trixie’s attackers, crushing them as it collided with both of them from the side.

“I suspect that these cretins are not the ones entirely responsible for this predicament,” Trixie said as she examined one of the skeletons, “They do not seem to possess higher brain functionality and appear to possess only predatory instincts, attacking anything they come into contact with.”

Applejack groaned and placed a hoof on her head, “Trix, please don’t use ‘em fancy words. They’re confusing.”

“Sorry,” Trixie apologised, “What I mean is that these things are too stupid to have made symbols like these or to have come on their own. Whatever brought them here is most likely deeper in this place.”

“Deeper?” Applejack sighed, “Alright. Let’s just be quick, please?”

“Depends on whether they give up or fight us tooth and hoof, Applejack,” Trixie replied, “Although I believe we will find that the latter will be the most likely response.”

Applejack retrieved Volendrung before joining Trixie as they descended one more level into the demon and monster filled hell-hole.

**** **** **** ****

Fluttershy saw the sun starting to set in the distance as she laid next to the car on top of MEGAS. Coop finished fixing, removing or improving whatever he thought needed either before placing the car back on top of MEGAS’ shoulders. Fluttershy didn’t pay attention as to how he did it but didn’t feel it was important enough to note.

Jamie looked up at Fluttershy with his hands in his jeans’ pockets, “Are you out of your mind? We can’t have her around. She creeps me out…”

Kiva glared at Jamie, “As far as we know she is not from this planet. She may not even be from this reality. She will need some help and she defeated that monster, causing far less damage to the city than you, Coop.”

Coop shrugged his shoulders, “Hey whatever. You want to keep her, you look after her. I have my own problems with Jamie.”

Fluttershy’s ears perked up as she picked up a faint sound coming from a park in the distance. As she turned her head she saw a gaping hole in the air above the park. She spread her wings wide and shot off towards the park with as much speed as she could manage.

“This is PoPTV! Where we bring you the best music 24/7!” A man’s voice said in the middle of the park, blissfully unaware of the portal above his head.

As the man took a deep breath to rant on about celebrities remodelling their homes and how it was the greatest thing since the invention of the media itself, a house fell on his equipment behind him. He turned around slowly and the small crowd that had gathered saw the man’s clothes were completely torn off his back save for his polka dotted underwear and the front of his clothes were still there. The crowd cheered.

A young, tanned child with black spiked hair, a yellow shirt and a Mega-Slush in his hand just stared at the scene through his glasses as the man fainted, “Coooool.”

Fluttershy arrived just as the portal closed from the second the house collided with the ground. She looked at the devastation and a tear fell down her cheek once more. The house that caused so much damage was her cottage. It had completely survived the fall and looked as if it was there upon the rubble of the PoPTV set all this time. Fluttershy couldn’t have been happier.

**** **** **** ****

“Hey, Verg? Can I ask you something?” Dante asked as he and Vergil arrived just outside Ponyville.

“If you must,” Vergil curtly replied.

“Was the place filled with fire breathing monsters when you left?” Dante inquired as he looked up at the sky.

“If it was I would have seen to mention it,” Vergil deadpanned.

The skies above Ponyville were swarming with dragons of various shapes and sizes as they fought with the Royal Guard. Ponyville’s airspace was a battlefield of flame of various hues as the dragons tried to incinerate the guards.

“How should we handle this?” Dante asked as he pulled out Ebony and Ivory.

“Bring them down to our level and eliminate. Couldn’t be more obvious,” Vergil replied as several phantom blades materialised around to him.

Gunshots rang out through the air, pelting a few dragons’ scaly hides. Most took little notice until a translucent blade impaled itself into a dragon’s chest, killing it instantly. The entire force turned around to see the devil brothers attacking them from the ground.

“You really know how to draw a crowd, Vergil,” Dante chuckled as a group came towards them.

Vergil sighed and placed a hand over Yamato’s handle, “Shut up and kill them already.”

**** **** **** ****

Discord was unable to move as he laid in the snow, near the peak of a mountain which was Celestia knows where. His vision was blurred and his magic failed him as he was unceremoniously dumped into the snow from the portal Soarin created just hours ago.

As the cold was getting to him, he could hear the sound of footsteps getting closer. He tried his best to look up at the figure before him and was unsure of whether to be afraid or happy.

A slightly tanned man with slicked back, black hair stood in front of Discord, a short distance away. He wore a red arm bandanna which was tied around his right arm, near his shoulder and over the rolled up shirt. He had an open collared buttoned leather vest over the black shirt with both sleeves rolled up. He had a crucifix hanging from around his neck.

The man knelt down and stared at Discord intensely for a few seconds before getting back up. Discord could see he had an odd device with two blades on his left arm and he carried a pistol as well as some other firearm Discord was unfamiliar with.

“Looks like Frankenstein broke the mould when he made you didn’t he?” The man said before getting up. As he turned his back to Discord, he saw a red scorpion imprinted on the man’s back.

“Kane? I’m at the co-ordinates,” The man said into a device he took out of his hand, “You had better come see this. Looks like Panay has been delving into things other than the military.”

**** **** **** ****

Luna was in the middle of a scorching desert. The sun was murder on her dark coat, making her sweat as she lay on the floor as the flower’s effects still had her in its grip. She could still move her eyes and look around, even if it only helped to deepen her sorrow of being tricked by Soarin.

As the wind blew, the sand was threatening to tear her coat off but that was not the worst of her day as a strange creature came from the skies.

Luna could tell it was human in stature but the two large, noisy orange wings on the human’s back were an oddity. The human appeared relatively young with spiked, slicked back black hair. He wore a pair of orange goggles around his eyes as he landed on the ground. He wore a pair of black pants with blue geometrical shapes on them.

Luna’s eyes bulged slightly as the human’s wings retracted into himself, disappearing completely. He dusted his red and orange jacket off before looking at Luna with curiosity.

He reached to his ear with one finger and pressed, “Six, Doc? I’m here at the site but the only thing here is some freaky horse thing.”

Luna couldn’t hear the other side of whatever conversation the young man was having but she saw him nod his head, “Alright then. I’ll try curing now.”

Luna wanted to bolt but her legs - as well as the rest of her body - refused to respond. The young man reached for Luna with an outstretched hand. She could see he wore blue gloves with orange cuffs as he touched her side, near the base of her wing.

The young man’s hand began to glow a faint blue and several lines appeared, serving as the source of the glow. He removed his hand for a few seconds and looked at Luna with a confused expression before placing both hands on her side.

The young man got up and pressed against his ear once more, “Doc… I can’t cure it… No, it’s not incurable. It… hasn’t got any nanites to deactivate.”

**** **** **** ****

Soarin watched from a balcony in Canterlot Castle as the area descended into a form of chaos Discord would not have approved of. Dragons littered the sky, battling with the Royal Guards. Even the Night Guard were amongst the fighters, aiding the Pegasi Division.

Soarin just chuckled, “Fools. You’re only wasting your time.”

He walked into the room and gazed into a mirror there. Soarin’s horn lit up and his aura enveloped the mirror’s surface. The mirror started to darken in colour until the surface was pitch black, save for three large red dots staring back at Soarin.

“I have done as instructed,” Soarin said.

“Excellent,” A deep voice replied, “But there is one small matter that needs to be tended to.”

“Name it and I shall carry it out,” Soarin replied almost instantly.

“You did not trap Spitfire like the others as I ordered,” The voice accused.

“S-sir, forgive me bu-”

“Save it, I do not wish to hear excuses. I actually expected this outcome and have prepared a small ‘present’ for the mare,” The voice interrupted.

“A ‘present?’” Soaring repeated with a small bit of uncertainty in his voice.

“Let’s see if your old acquaintance can handle a little ‘heat,’” The voice half laughed, “What of the other allies?”

“Some false reports were sent to the Griffon Empire,” Soarin said, his voice still somewhat shaking but he soon regained his calm. “Bloodwing will be on a wild goose chase until it is too late. The Diamond Dogs have offered their support in exchange for gemstones.”

“What do they want with them?” The voice inquired.

“Buck me if I know. We can do with as many allies as possible. I doubt the Changelings will take long to notice a hostile takeover of Equestria,” A small smile began to form on Soarin’s face, “They will most likely try to help and that is when they will get wiped out.”

“You shall have your revenge, my servant. And I shall rule this land as I intended,” The voice said as the mirror began to revert to its original state.

Soarin closed his eyes and looked out to the balcony. A tear fell from his face as he recalled the moment Spitfire vanished from Equestria. He looked down to the ground for a second before he summoned his magic once more, causing an unusual set of items to appear.

The items he brought to him were six in total. They were made of an odd metal and looked like a pair of boots and gloves with pulsating etchings of energy running along their length. The boots had a large, spiked wheel on the side like a spur. The next two items were entirely different in design, the only similarity being the etchings in the metal.

The first of the two seemed to cover the face, protecting it from a frontal assault. The last item had a skull design in the centre with a strange, wing-like design on the sides. This item was meant to be placed on one’s back.

“You might make it a little hot for her but… maybe this will help temper the flames,” He said as the items vanished from Equestria.

**** **** **** ****

Spitfire was cold. She awoke in an unknown forest that could have been anywhere. She stumbled as she struggled to get to her hooves. Her body ached as if she had laid on the dirt for ages. The mare looked at her surroundings and sighed.

“Worst… day… ever,” She deadpanned, hanging her head as she opened her wings. “Ah!”

Her wing joints were sore. She tried to open them again but got the same jolt of pain ringing through them. It wasn’t just her joints but the muscles were giving her grief as well, preventing her from soaring to the sky.

“Damn it. Looks like I’m walking,” She muttered as she chose a direction and walked.

The jungle seemed to have no normal life living in it. She saw a few bugs and rather peculiar flora but that was about it. She soon stumbled upon some old ruins not of Equestrian design or origin. Moss covered the area as did rubble and a few dead bodies.

She couldn’t understand what they were as she looked at their green, grotesque forms. Their clothing looked as if it was haphazardly sown together to form makeshift apparel. They had very large, pointed teeth and had a more bipedal stance if their two arms and two legs were anything to go by.

They had large lower jaws and two huge teeth protruding from the same lower jaw. The teeth looked as if they had never been brushed. They had muscular bodies and odd pieces of metal imbedded in their bodies, as if they were fashion accessories. What they all had in common was an odd skull resembling their faces as some form of insignia.

She turned to look at an odd item one of the creatures were carrying but before she could get a good look at it, a loud roar echoed through the area and made her mane stand on end.

She turned around and came face to face with one of its kin. It was very similar to the deceased around her but of larger stature and build. The creature had more muscles than Snowflake. It looked at her with pure rage on its face.

“Oi! Wot’z you’z doin’ ‘ere?!” The creature shouted, “You’z lootin’ me boyz? You da one dat took down ol’ Bluddflagg’s Krooza?!”

Spitfire was at a loss at what to do. This creature was seething with rage, looking at her as if she were its next meal.

“I’z talkin’ ta ya! Speak!” Bluddflagg shouted.

**** **** **** ****

A bipedal being was walking through a cold, treacherous wasteland of snow and ice, encased in highly peculiar armour of various hues. The creature was unmistakably female with rather pointed ears and suffered from heterochromia which made her left eye purple and her right eye blue. She had shoulder length blond-white hair and a moderate complexion.

Despite the frigid temperatures, the figure continued to walk on, unabated as she had accidentally used an overly powerful fire spell to keep her body warm. The effect had melted a vast portion of the snow around her and had left some of her hair scorched, making her scowl.

“‘Explore the ancient ruin’ I said. ‘What could go wrong?’ I said. Damned defence system caught me off-guard,” The being said irritably.

The snow only served to darken the creature’s mood even more as she searched for a point of reference. She climbed up a steep incline in order to gain more altitude in order to see further and get a better view to look around.

“This… it’s the Moesring Mountains…” She said as she gazed into the horizon, “Finally something I can use to find a way off here and back to Vvardenfell.”

As she descended down the mountain, a bright light came down from above, “Azura?”

The source of the light didn’t respond but kept flying towards her, gaining speed and showed no sign of slowing down, let alone stopping at all.

“Don’t tell me…” She said as she jumped out of the way in time to see the ball of light collide into the snow.

As the woman walked up to the snow crater before her, she saw a creature she had never seen before. Celestia laid on the ground, groaning in pain.

“Perhaps that ruin was not a total waste of my life,” She muttered as she pulled out a small, ornate hammer of black and gold.

**** **** **** ****

“Are we there yet?” A rather angry Griffon asked on the bridge of the airship, the Arbiter.

“Bloodwing, sir… we are only halfway to Zebrica. It will take some time till we get there,” The helmsgriffon replied.

“Argh!!” Bloodwing shouted, throwing his fist into the air, lacking anything appropriate to let his frustration out on. “Fine… any word from my rat-faced niece?!”

“No, sir. Not since she left for Ponyville,” Another Griffon replied.

Bloodwing faceclawed. Gilda was known for many things, but severing communications without probable cause and so abruptly was a cause for concern. He laid back in his chair and looked to the helmsgriffon with a glare that would freeze Tartarus.

“When we get back to Equestria… that pathetic waste of fur and feathers is not going to be able to walk or fly for a month,” He spat, “The quicker we get to Zebrica, the quicker we can get back and sort out whatever mess my niece has gotten herself into.”

The 54th Fleet of the Griffon Empire had been fully repaired since the battle at the Crystal Empire. Even the Arbiter suffered damage from the demons that attacked it. The ships had been given a total overhaul as old, rusted parts were replaced by new ones and the bridge’s systems were given a revamp.

Bloodwing was uncomfortable that his pride and joy was one of them as they replaced the aging turbines that propelled it with the more powerful turbojet versions. Then there was the fact that his bridge had been altered as well with the improved systems. The one thing he managed to retain was his old chair since he threatened to disembowel whosoever dared to touch it without his consent.

As the 54th Fleet carried on across the seas, Bloodwing began to think, ‘Gilda… be safe my niece. If you got yourself in trouble again so help me...’

Author's Notes:

Well, here we are. Part 2! Time to play Guess That Crossover for the LAST time. Seriously, this is the last of the crossovers heading in and if I come up with another, I'm going to beat myself over the head to stop myself. Comment, fav, like and if not, do tell me why. I don't like being in the dark when one dislikes.

Thirst for Vengeance (Part 1)

The Shadow of a King
Thirst for Vengeance (Part 1)
Author: Draconis187

Sheppard facepalmed once they met a large, burly wall of meat and attitude by the name of Urdnot Wrex that the Volus, Barla Von spoke of. The Shadow Broker had placed a hit on a man by the name of Fist for apparently betraying him. The one carrying the hit out was the Krogan that stood before them. While it was not the Krogan in question that made Sheppard facepalm, it was the fact that he socked Pinkie in the nose for getting too close and trying to hug him.

The party mare’s nose was bleeding and Wrex got rocketed through a wall, courtesy of Kalina Ann and ten pounds of confetti. The Krogan merely laughed off his state as he picked pieces of wall out of his armour and insisted on joining the group. Wrex made it known to the humans and Pinkie that he would kill Fist no matter what they say to the contrary.

The five members walked through the Wards of the Citadel, the medical bay run by Chloe Michel being their destination for a proper inspection of Pinkie’s bloody nose. Medi-gel was all well and good but it was uncertain as to how it would affect Pinkie Pie. Sheppard thought she’d bleed sweets, given her hyperactive nature and love for aforementioned goods.

As the door opened up, four Humans were harassing the doctor while the Turian they were looking for, Garrus Vakarian was behind on of the beds. He stayed out of the thugs’ sight as their attention turned to the newly arrived group of armed fighters.

Blasters were drawn and Pinkie Pie looked around, wondering what was going on but drew Kalina Ann anyway. Everyone else was doing it.

“Who are you?!” One man demanded to the group, pointing his pistol at Dr. Chloe, using her as a meat shield.

A single gunshot rang out, killing him as the bolt blew his head apart. As the doctor crouched down, all hell broke loose. Wrex yelled and charged towards the others, not caring for the blasts he was getting until he rammed into one of them, shoulder-first before finishing him off with a shotgun blast to the face as his target fell to the floor.

Sheppard and the others got behind cover as weapons expended their payloads across the room. They lost sight of the doctor and Garrus as they tried to get a shot in. Alenko reached out with his Biotics and lifted one of the thugs into the air where he got pelted by Williams’ assault rifle, killing him. Pinkie’s mane got a hole blasted through it, only for it to somehow fill back in as she picked up Kalina Ann fired a single rocket.

The fireball that ensued from the rocket’s warhead, caused the last one still alive to get out of cover. He ran out right into Sheppard’s sights. With one pull of the trigger, his rifle tore a hole through his chest and killed him in an instant.

“Not bad,” Wrex said, looking at Pinkie with a small grin.

“Thanks, Wrexy!” She said happily as Wrex facepalmed at the nickname she gave him.

“Thanks, Sheppard. You provided the necessary distraction I needed,” Garrus said to Sheppard, shaking his hand. “Name’s Garrus. Garrus Vakarian.”

“Why were you here anyway, Garrus?” Sheppard asked.

“I heard that Fist ordered a hit on a Quarian on behalf of Saren. I came to find out why,” Garrus replied, “Turns out she has some information regarding Saren that may be of use to you.”

“But you’re a Turian. Why are you investigating him in the first place?” Sheppard said with a raised eyebrow.

While the two continued to talk, Pinkie helped Chloe up onto her feet. She gave the mare a grateful smile, making Pinkie beam in response. The movement disturbed her nose and made a small trickle of blood run out. She was placed onto a table and got looked at by Chloe’s Omnitool.

“So that’s why the Shadow Broker is after Fist,” Sheppard said, crossing his arms.

“Yep, you don’t betray the Shadow Broker and expect to live, Sheppard,” Wrex said, dusting the blood off his armour. Point blank shotgun blasts were messy but fun to the Krogan Battlemaster.

“So, we’re all off for Chora’s Den then?” Pinkie said with a smile.

“That depends. How are you?” Sheppard said flatly.

“Right as rain! Which is a strange expression to use because I haven’t seen any rain here and I know the weather at home is controlled by the Pegasi but you don’t have Pegasi because I’m the only pony here for some reason,” Pinkie said, quickly trailing off and rambling on to whoever was within earshot.

**** **** **** ****

Spitfire was angry with herself for being weak. She stood face to face with some repulsive monster and all she could do was whimper in response to its yelling. Its breath was worse than Baltimare sewerage and it temperament worse than a bureaucrat.

“Speak yer runt!” Bluddflagg shouted, getting angrier with each passing second.

Spitfire tried to speak but was cut off when the sound of battle erupted nearby. The sounds were unlike anything she had heard of. Lights of various hues shone in the distance, pulsing in the dark jungle ahead. The monster in front of her had also taken notice and hated it, he was being disturbed from yelling at Spitfire.

“Wotz it now?!” Bluddflagg shouted angrily.

A few smaller green skinned creatures came through the bushes. They were beaten, bloody and the pathetic excuse for armour they wore was littered with holes.

“Cap’n! It’s da ‘umies!” One of them shouted as it tripped over its own two feet and fell onto the floor with a clunk.

“Which ones?!” Bluddflagg roared.

“Dem red ones. Ya know dem wit the big daka!” It said as it got up off the floor.

“Well, why ain’t yez over dere, killin’ ‘em?!” He shouted, his rage was great enough to literally be felt if one stood close enough.

As if on cue, the bushes were torn apart. In the makeshift hole stood several red bipedal creatures with glowing green eyes, staring at the monsters with large metal objects in their hands. In the centre of the formation stood one wielding a large hammer, cracking with lightning and ordained with gold along its length.

“Kill the Orks!” The man shouted with a voice of unyielding authority. It was not a voice that commanded respect and loyalty from those around him, it demanded it.

The men yelled a collective battlecry and opened fire. Taking advantage of the confusion, Spitfire flew off as quickly as she could and forced herself to ignore the pain her wings gave her for the attempt. She didn’t get far as a Devastator Squad’s Heavy Bolter gun opened fire on her, clipping her wing and sending her to the ground.

Spitfire fell face first into the ground, getting a mixture of dirt and plant matter into her mouth. Spitting it out, the man with the hammer walked up to her and removed his helmet. The man looked like a typical military commander with very short hair, a few scars here and there but he had four flat round pieces of metal in his forehead.

Spitfire finally took notice of the rest of him, her eyes deciding they had enough of the odd face and the large hammer. His armour was mostly blood red with decorations of gold and beige on his pauldrons, chest and legs. On the one pauldron was a black bird symbol with a red teardrop. Spitfire wondered if it wasn’t actually supposed to symbolise blood.

“Now what manner of beast are you?” The man said slowly, “Certainly not native to Typhon. Not like any xeno I’ve encountered.”

Spitfire managed to find her voice although it was rather shaky at best, “N-no.”

At that, the man dropped his helmet and took a battle stance with his hammer, “What are you, beast?! Speak, Gabriel Angelos of the Blood Ravens commands you!”

Spitfire yelped and moved backwards in shock. This made the man grip his Thunder Hammer more tightly, ready for the creature’s attack… but it never came. Spitfire continued to shake visibly, weighing up her options.

She could try to run but Angelos might catch up to her and crush her with that hammer. If she stayed, he still might crush her with the hammer. Either way, she felt she was utterly doomed. Doomed to die on a world she didn’t know, by a man she only just met and sent there by her former right wing.

“Sir… Oh,” Another red clad man came up from behind Angelos. This one looked like a mechanic’s wet dream, enough metal and moving parts it was a miracle if he was in any way still organic.

“What is it, Martellus?” Angelos said, impatiently. He did not take his eyes off Spitfire. It looked like he was trying to bore a hole through her body by sheer staring alone.

“This creature appears to be one of the disturbances we detected,” Martellus said, flatly.

Gabriel loosened his grip somewhat, “This thing?”

“Yes sir,” Martellus replied.

“Fine, take it with us. We’ll find out what it knows aboard my battle barge,” He said, walking up to Spitfire. “You are coming with us.”

Spitfire had little choice and followed. In the distance, a group of Assault Marines picked up a set of odd looking items.

“Commander, we believe we have found the second source of the strange signal. It appears to be six strange looking artefacts,” One of the marines said over the radio.

“Maybe the creature knows of them,” Angelos muttered under his breath as he, Martellus and Spitfire walked up to a monstrous flying machine she would find out through casual chatter to be a Thunderhawk.

**** **** **** ****

Chora’s Den was a hovel of debauchery and drunken disorder but today it was something else entirely: a warzone. Tables were overturned, customers and staff were nowhere to be seen save for the security detail Fist had hired to protect him while weapons fire were the only thing on the house menu.

“How does this guy have a private army?!” Williams shouted as she got from behind cover and fired a short burst from her assault rifle.

“Hell if I know! Just keep shooting!” Sheppard shouted, getting up from cover and letting loose a Shockwave attack.

The wave of raw Biotic energy hit one of the guards in the chest and sent him flying backwards into the wall. When he woke up later, he found multiple fractures and internal bleeding waiting for him as well as C-Sec.

Pinkie vanished from the group’s side for a minute. Garrus was about to say something but got cut off as she reappeared on the other side of the room and fired at the guards from behind with a Hysteric attack from Kalina Ann.

The guards almost instantly went into a panic as the mini missiles detonated around them, causing a few fires to break out. Garrus and Wrex looked at Sheppard and the others, gobsmacked but the three humans weren’t too fazed. They knew it was just Pinkie Pie casually breaking the fundamental laws of the universe as usual.

As the guards were all dead or unconscious in the main room, the group got back together and opened the door. The storage room had a few workers still inside, who pulled out some lacklustre weapons against them.

Wrex chuckled, “We took out all your friends behind us. Think carefully.”

The humans looked at him with blank expressions as they processed what he said. They quickly dropped their weapons and left, mumbling about not getting paid enough to deal with them.

Wrex scoffed, “Cowards.”

As the next door opened into Fist’s office, they were greeted by the man himself and two shielded turrets. Pinkie, Wrex and Williams rolled across to the other side of the room, ducking behind cover while Sheppard, Garrus and Alenko stayed on the side they came in.

The battle… lasted five seconds. Pinkie took out her Party Cannon and fired a load of hot cake batter at one of the turrets. The batter found its way into the turret’s mechanisms and literally gummed it up as Pinkie used bubblegum flavoured batter. The turret overloaded and became defunct.

Garrus threw a grenade, the explosion dropped the shields of the second turret and Sheppard fired a round straight down its barrel, destroying it. Wrex fired his shotgun, distracting Fist for a second as they bounced off his shields before Williams’ assault rifle tore his shields apart. All that was left was Garrus firing and taking Fist down with a round to the shoulder.

He fell down with a satisfying thump, weapon falling out of his grip as he landed. The six walked up to him, weapons still drawn. Pinkie sat on her Party Cannon, keeping an eye on him from a short distance.

“Where’s the Quarian, Fist?” Garrus demanded.

“You won’t find her. She’s as good as dead,” He said with a smug grin.

He quickly came face to face with Pinkie. Her mane instantly deflated and her coat dulled in colour as she stared at him, murder written in her eyes. It was a face that could stare Death in the eyes and make him cower in fear.

“Tell us now,” She said slowly and coldly.

“She asked for me to set up a meeting with the Shadow Broker, saying she had valuable information to trade,” He said quickly.

“Impossible, even I was hired through an agent,” Wrex commented.

“Exactly but I told her I set up a meeting. Only when she gets there, she ain’t gonna find him,” Fist said with a grin, “The meeting point is not too far from here.”

Pinkie threw Fist back down to the ground and hopped off him. A second later, a loud bang rang through the room. Pinkie didn’t even look back at the target of the shot, knowing already who fired and at whom.

“I don’t leave jobs half done,” Wrex deadpanned, placing his shotgun away.

“Let’s move people!” Sheppard said, turning around.

The group ran out the door and back the way they came. Two doors were leading to the markets and the other to a passageway. Time was of the essence.

“We split up. Alenko, Pinkie, you’re with me. Wrex, Garrus and Williams, you head for the markets and see if they are there. We’re going down that way,” Sheppard said.

“I don’t take orders from you,” Wrex said with a huff.

“You can argue once we save her,” Garrus said, running into the marketplace.

Wrex mumbled but followed anyway with Williams not far behind. She didn’t seem too thrilled to be paired up with them for some odd reason but didn’t question the orders of her superior officer.

Sheppard, Pinkie and Alenko went down the passageway, weapons drawn. In the distance, amongst the soft ambient glow of the station’s lights were several suited figures. Sheppard put his finger to his lips, indicating they had to be quiet. The two nodded as they got closer.

“Where’s the data?” One of them asked to one that upon closer inspection was of a different stature to the others. It was the Quarian they were looking for… surrounded by Salarians.

“Where’s the Shadow Broker? Fist pro-” A female voice said but she got cut off as the Salarians drew their weapons.

“Fist lied,” One of them stated bluntly.

Sheppard’s eyes bulged, “Take them down!”

Pinkie and Alenko took cover behind some crates and opened fire. The Quarian got away from the fight and found cover as her assassins changed targets.

Pinkie dove out of cover, rolling along the ground twice before stopping. Kalina Ann rested on her shoulder, pointing forwards as she depressed the trigger. The rocket flew out of the tube with a nigh deafening roar. The rocket collided with one of them, sending him flying into a wall. As the rocket detonated, the group found themselves in the midst of a cloud of confetti.

“What is this stuff?!” One asked fearfully.

He got his response as Kalina Ann’s bayonet fired, impaling him in the abdomen. He let out a yell of pain before the bayonet retracted, bringing him with it. As he left the cloud of confetti, he was greeted by Pinkie atop her Party Cannon. The cannon fired a barrage of candy canes. The Salarian assassin died instantly and the candy got a new flavour.

One more Salarian got a high powered sniper shot to the head, splattering the ground and the wall behind him as his head almost literally exploded.

One more looked around and tried to fire but found himself caught in a Biotic field, hauling him into the air as gravity decided to forget about him. Pinkie came down on him, Kalina Ann stabbing him in the chest as they both collided with the metallic ground beneath them.

The Quarian came out from cover, “Who are you?”

“I’m Pinkamena Diane Pie. Call me Pinkie, all my friends do,” She gasped, “Ohmigoshdoyouwanttobemyfriend?!”

The Quarian looked at Pinkie through her mask, “Um…”

“You get used to it,” Sheppard said, “We had best get to the Embassy where it’s safe.”

The Quarian nodded her head and Sheppard activated his radio, “Williams, this is Sheppard. Meet us at the Human Embassy with Wrex and Garrus. We found the Quarian.”

As the group walked off, Pinkie placed a hoof on her chin, “When is Sheppard going to be a Spectre? We’ve been at this for too long. We’d best get to that scene in the next chapter or else.”

“Who are you talking to, Pinkie?” Alenko asked.

“Then I said ‘but how does that help make cupcakes?’” Pinkie responded, oblivious to Alenko’s question. He dropped the subject.

**** **** **** ****

Ponyville was still plagued by dragons as Dante and Vergil continued to fight them. Mutilated bodies lined the streets, crushing a few buildings here and there while Town Hall stayed mostly intact, save for the dragon head impaled in the roof.

The dragons kept coming, their numbers seemingly infinite while the devil brothers were getting tired. While they could fight for ages, their bodies only had so much to give as they were covered in scorch marks and dripping blood from quickly healing lacerations, leaving behind pale scars once they healed.

They could have Devil Triggered but it was only worth it if the target was on the ground and their attackers preferred the skies. Even Vergil’s Nelo Angelo Devil Trigger was somewhat useless as it was only good for short bursts and gave him a feeling he despised for it reminded him of who turned him into that abomination.

“Verg, maybe we’d best regroup and rethink our approach,” Dante said with a small grin as he fired Ebony and Ivory at a dragon as it strafed them with fire.

“For one of the few times in my life, I’m inclined to agree. Rather reluctantly though,” Vergil replied flatly.

Vergil concentrated for a moment and Devil Triggered, sending a shockwave outwards, shattering nearby windows and causing a few dragons to have concussions as their ears rang. For a moment Vergil stood there and Devil Triggered again.

Before the dragons stood Nelo Angelo, Puppet of Mundus, the Dark Angel amongst other names. He charged his gauntlets and slammed the ground, creating a huge plume of dust and unholy fire to burst around him and Dante. As the dust settled and flames died out, the brothers were gone.

Dante pulled back on the slides of his favourite firearms while Vergil breathed heavily. Dante chuckled, “You sure have a flair for the theatrical don’t ya, Vergil?”

“Shut up,” Vergil sneered.

**** **** **** ****

Joystick looked out the window of the Adrian as it moved up and down along the waves, sailing to the mysterious Far East. Mysterious only in the regard that everything to him and Rarity at the moment was mysterious and new. Siegfried, Stern Cave, the world the ponies found themselves in and the odd crew he met on his way to their ‘luxury quarters.’

Rarity refused to sleep on the floor so Siegfried gave up his bed. Although Rarity almost immediately regretted her decision as the bed looked like it had not been cleaned in eons. She managed to find a way to clean it. The sheets, mattress and pillow were several shades in colour brighter at the end of her cleaning assault.

Siegfried couldn’t help but chuckle at the mare’s fanaticism, “You realise we won’t be here for very long?”

“She’d clean this ship from top to bottom if given the chance,” Joystick quipped.

Siegfried was about to question him but Joystick was visibly too tired for an argument or a conversation. The stallion curled up on the floor, Blue Rose in its holster on his side. The former Nightmare laid his back against one of the corners in the room and closed his eyes.

He had a bad feeling from the moment he looked at Stern Cave. Something about him didn’t seem right but he had little choice and chalked up his feeling to plain paranoia.

**** **** **** ****

Luna was quickly given an injection soon after a large dark grey airship came down. The one who had injected her wore a green suit and opaque, black sunglasses with a greenish tint. The man – if Luna’s assumption was correct – had a stoic expression that would give the guards a run for their bits. She passed out soon afterwards.

When Luna woke up, all she saw was white. White tiled floors, wall and ceiling. There was no smell in the room, save for her sweaty coat. Her coat was still covered in dust, much to her annoyance. She clumsily got to her hooves as the sedative wore off.

Luna, you’re really in a bind now, She thought to herself.

She walked about the room, her hooves echoing through it with every step. Her stomach growled at her and she silently berated it for getting her into her current predicament.

“What is it, Doc?” The young man Luna encountered earlier asked. He and two other humans stood in a room near Luna’s, observing her through some installed video monitors.

“I don’t know, Rex. This isn’t an EVO like any of the ones we’ve encountered before,” A woman with dark brown hair in a white lab coat said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“But how can it be an EVO if there aren’t any nanites?” Rex replied, confused.

“That’s why we brought it here in the first place, Rex. If we can figure out why it hasn’t got any nanites, we might be able to end this damned nightmare,” A middle-aged looking man said over the intercom, his face on a nearby screen.

“Chill out, White. I don’t think it’s that dangerous,” Rex said confidently.

“Never underestimate those monsters, Rex,” White warned, “Doctor Holiday, proceed.”

Holiday nodded her head, “Understood. First we need to find out what it eats. We need to keep it healthy if we are to get any accurate data.”

“If it looks like a horse, why not give it what they generally eat?” Rex suggested, “It didn’t seem to have any fangs so I doubt it’s a carnivore.”

Holiday nodded her head and turned to the man who sedated Luna, “Six, if you wouldn’t mind?”

‘Six’ nodded and left the room. Soon a tile opened up in Luna’s room, getting Luna’s attention instantly. She tore across the room, skidding to a halt as a plate of bleached carrots, lettuce and an apple appeared on it. All the food was purged of all nanites through a process known as ‘bleaching.’ Luna instantly inhaled deeply and placed her head in the gap behind the plate, ignoring the food.

“LET US OUT!!” If Six was actually standing on the other side of the sealed compartment – and if it were open – he would have flown several metres backwards and rendered deaf for the next month.

Rex’s eyes widened, Doc’s jaw dropped and Six raised an eyebrow as he returned to the room and saw their faces, “What did I miss?”

“It talks,” Rex said.

“Correction, she talks. She h-” Holiday was cut off as Luna sighed and picked up the plate with her magic, “H-how is that possible? How is it making the plate float?”

“Magnetics?” Rex offered, “Six can manipulate magnets with those swords of his.”

“This is not the same as Six’s Magna-Blades,” Holiday explained, “She’s somehow manipulating gravity at a whim and seemingly without even exerting herself.”

“Ok, so not magnets. Why not just ask her?” Rex said.

“Ask? I guess we could,” Holiday placed her hand on her chin in thought, “She seems to display some intelligence so it’s worth a shot.”

Luna bit into the apple. It tasted strange but food was food and her stomach’s complaining was getting annoying. She placed the empty plate back in the gap it came from and the tile came back up, sealing it. Luna sighed deeply.

“Hello? Can you hear me?” Holliday said as her voice came through the room’s intercom.

“Who are you, strange voice?!” Luna demanded, not using her Royal Canterlot Voice this time.

“My name is Doctor Holiday. May I ask for your name?” Holiday responded.

“I am Princess Luna. Why have you confined us to this prison?” Luna said. The voice came from all around the room, making it impossible for her to find a source.

“We did it for your safety as well as our own,” Holiday explained. She wondered why she was using plurals when she was the only one in the room but decided it to be a question for a later time.

Luna nodded. It was an understandable reason given the circumstances, “Where are we?”

“Providence HQ. You’re in what we call a ‘White Room’, a room devoid of any nanites,” Holiday answered.

“‘Nanites?’ What are these Nanites you speak of?” Luna asked.

“She really doesn’t know what a nanites is?” Holiday asked, looking at the others and shielding the microphone with a hand.

Rex shrugged while Six raised an eyebrow again. Holiday sighed, “It was rhetorical anyway.”

**** **** **** ****

A crack of thunder woke Joystick up from his sleep. He got up and looked around the room. Rarity was sleeping away, the odd unladylike snore coming from her every now and then. Joystick chuckled, if only he had a way to record it. It would make the best gift to her friends.

As Joystick chuckled as he thought about their reaction, he looked around to find Siegfried… who wasn’t there. He was nowhere to be found in their room. Joystick walked to the door and opened it.

Staring at him could only be described as the zombie apocalypse come to life. It was one of the crew members he had met earlier except parts of his skin were missing. There was a hole in his chest where a few major organs were also unaccounted for. It made Joystick’s stomach turn.

A single gunshot rang out through the hallway, making Rarity jump awake with a shriek. The ‘zombie’s’ head got blown clean off its shoulders and flew down the hallway, making a sickening squelching sound as it hit the floor. The zombie continued to move on, undeterred from the removal of its head.

“Mashed Braintatoes!” Joystick said with a half-hearted chuckle, “That sounded so much better in my head.”

“Sweet Celestia!” Rarity shouted, she held onto the blanket of her bed up to her face in some vain attempt to shield herself from the monstrosity.

“Little help here!” Joystick shouted as Blue Rose fired several more times, taking the zombie’s limbs off one by one before it fell to the ground.

The zombie soon stopped moving entirely, “Rarity! Come on, we’ve got to find Siegfried!”

Rarity nodded and jumped out of bed, Lucifer appearing in a glow of red, “Sorry about that, darling. I kind of lost my head.”

“As long as it’s not literal,” Joystick muttered, looking at the corpse.

The pair of them ran up to the deck, dodging the undead and killing them – again – as they tried to slow them down. The ponies jumped, somehow ran along the walls and kicked in several undead heads on their way to the deck.

The door leading outside shattered into millions of fragments as Lucifer’s blades impaled it and detonated. As they got out onto the deck, they found Siegfried.

Siegfried heard the explosion and sliced at the deck with Requiem, tearing the wood up and making his opponent jump backwards. His opponent was almost bare-chested as the breastplate covered most of his chest. He had a purple short sleeved vest over it with a long tail like a coat. His skin was a pale purple which disgusted Rarity’s fashion sense.

“Give me Soul Edge!” He shouted, firing a pistol with a blade on the top while swinging a rather grotesque looking shortsword.

Another shot rang out as Blue Rose intercepted the bullet.

“Welcome to die!’” Joystick cried out. The man was distracted long enough for Siegfried to bash him across the side with Requiem.

“Rarity, Joystick, find a lifeboat!” Siegfried ordered, “Now! You shall not have that accursed sword, Cervantes!”

The ponies nodded their heads and ran to scour the ship, this time encountering ghosts as well as the zombies as they went upstairs to the helm where the steering wheel was. Joystick found his gun to be useless against the ghosts but Lucifer on the other hand was able to hurt them, most likely due to the weapon's nature as a Devil Arm.

“There aren’t any lifeboats,” Joystick said to Rarity, crestfallen, “We were doomed the moment we boarded.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it, dear,” Rarity scoffed as they looked at a small army of undead, coming from the inside of the ship while Siegfried and Cervantes battled.

“Well, that won’t be for much lo-” Joystick was cut off as Rarity Devil Triggered, “-nger… Right, forgot about that.”

Rarity gave a demonic giggle and launched herself towards them, using the wheel as a springboard. An upbeat, Flamenco tune filled the air from Lucifer as the Devil Arm’s bone blades flew across the chilly, rain soaked battlefield that was the Adrian. Ghosts found their ethereal forms to be of no help as the blades stabbed them anyway.

“Your mongrels will not save you!” Cervantes spat as he assaulted Siegfried’s guard with several quick thrusts of his blades.

In one last thrust, he broke through his guard and stunned Siegfried long enough to roundhouse kick him. Siegfried fell to the ground and rolled to the side as Cervantes brought his blades down to where he was just laying.

Siegfried got up and swung Requiem with force. The massive blade collided with him, sending him flying backwards and colliding with the mast. A large crack formed near the base but Cervantes ignored it and got up.

Siegfried got into a stance, waiting for the pirate to come for him. In one movement, Cervantes leapt into the air, spinning at an insane speed as he came back down at Siegfried. The knight smiled and swung upwards. The blade connected too late as they hit each other at the same time. Siegfried fell onto his back, breaking some of the wood as he connected with the deck.

Cervantes found himself near the edge of his ship. He was seething with rage and fired a few rounds at Siegfried. His rounds proved ineffective as Blue Rose intercepted them again. At the angle Joystick fired, the second round from each of his shots tore small holes into the deck.

As two separate battles ensued, the ship took the worst of both of them. Lucifer’s explosive blades rocked it from side to side and took considerable portions of the ship with them. Bullets and cutlasses failed to find their target as Rarity danced away from them and back towards danger to confuse them.

This kept Joystick out of their crosshairs as he fired at the zombie pirates with Blue Rose and kept an eye on Siegfried’s battle. The damage to the ship was growing almost exponentially. Fires were starting to flare out, defiant to the rain pouring above before fizzling out.

Siegfried parried Cervantes’ attack and kicked him in the back. Cervantes fell to the ground and rolled onto his feet as Requiem came around in an arc. Cervantes underestimated his opponent’s reach and got clobbered again.

Siegfried had to hand it to him as his opponent defied his desire to keep him down. Cervantes was a tougher opponent but he forgot one thing about Siegfried: Cervantes was a soulless monster and it was a knight’s duty to destroy monsters.

Siegfried focused as Cervantes swung both blades in a wide arc. He dodged the attack and used the pommel of Requiem to bash Cervantes in the nose. Cervantes found himself on the deck again, looking at Siegfried with an angry, defiant glare.

“I will not let you leave here with that sword!” He shouted, getting up again, “It belongs to me!”

“That infernal blade belongs to no-one! It deserves to be destroyed,” Siegfried retorted, “Same goes for you, monster.”

“You don’t have the guts,” Cervantes said.

He brought his blades down on Siegfried but the knight raised Requiem like a shield and moved forwards. The blades connected but Siegfried won and punched Cervantes in the face. The cursed pirate fell to the deck, spitting blood onto his precious ship. He rolled to try get back up but Siegfried’s boot hit the exposed part of his chest, pinning him to the ground.

“Trying to stop me? How absurd,” Siegfried stated as he impaled Cervantes through the chest, cleaving his breastplate in two as the sword went through him and into the ship.

Cervantes shouted in pain. He was so close to his goal but Siegfried just had to wake up when he reached for Soul Edge back in the room he had given them. How the ponies slept through Siegfried throwing him out of their room was beyond either of them. Siegfried made sure they were still soundly asleep before chasing Cervantes to the deck.

“I will… have that sword… N-Nightmare,” Cervantes said as his body fell limp.

“I am… Nightmare no longer,” Siegfried replied sombrely to the corpse as he pulled Requiem out of his body.

The ghosts and zombies died almost instantly as their master expired. The ship rocked and began to fall apart around Siegfried and the ponies. They regrouped near the edge of the ship and jumped overboard.

As they swam away from the self destructing ship, they turned around to see the wood rotting before their eyes. It was as if the fragment of Soul Edge that lay within Cervantes was the only thing that kept him, his ship and his crew amongst the living.

“So now what?” Joystick asked.

“We swim or hope for a passing ship,” Siegfried deadpanned.

“My mane!” Rarity wailed, sodden from head to tail.

**** **** **** ****

Dante and Vergil had somehow found themselves in Bon Bon and Lyra’s house in their attempt to escape the dragons for a breather. The two mares were happy to see them, even more so when the brothers explained they came to help.

Vergil sipped some tea Bon Bon made for the brothers but due to Dante’s pathetic excuse for a ‘diet,’ he was drinking soda instead. The four of them sat in Bon Bon’s living room, looking at each other.

“How long have they been here?” Vergil asked since Dante seemingly had no intention on asking anything.

“A few hours now,” Bon Bon said, “They just came and started wrecking the place. Rebel and Legion left a short while ago. I sent them to tell Broken Skies of this. We need help and you two can’t do it on your own for too long.”

Vergil nodded his head, “Smart, but I doubt this is the only case of such an attack. We’ll need to stop them here then gauge their numbers. They came with an invasion force.”

Dante, “Aw, Vergil. Don’t go scarring them.”

Vergil scoffed, “I’m merely stating the facts. Nothing more, Dante.”

“Can’t you sugar-coat it just once?” Dante asked.

“No,” Vergil replied curtly.

**** **** **** ****

“Fer Pete’s sake!” Applejack shouted as she squashed another Poison Spider under Volendrung’s heavy form, “Where they all comin’ from?!”

“We can figure it out once we’re done, Applejack!” Trixie shouted as she used Cerberus once more to freeze a Fallen Shaman in place.

She turned around and bucked hard, shattering it into fragments of frozen body parts. The room they were in were filled with Fallen and Spiders. Despite being outnumbered, they had firepower on their side which was demonstrated to great effect as bodies flew across the room.

In moments, the room was as silent as the others the pair had come through earlier. Freshly killed bodies lined the floor, the walls and one was still attached to the ceiling, courtesy of an underhoof swing with Volendrung. The pair walked down yet another flight of steps into a room with a single passageway and one door to the right.

Applejack bucked the door down with her hind hooves while Trixie leapt through, creating a wave of ice as she entered the room with Cerberus. All of the demons and monsters too close were frozen instantly. Volendrung came flying over Trixie’s back, swinging around like a boomerang. The Daedric hammer smashed through the frozen bodies with force, killing them as they shattered into small pieces.

The hammer flew across the room in an arc before returning to Applejack who deftly caught it in her hooves and swinging it to smash a Spider into paste on the floor. The room was of similar design to the rest of the Catacombs, save for the hole in the floor. Inside was a pool of blood, swirling around.

“Please don’t tell me that’s blood,” Trixie said, trying to stop her stomach from turning and ejecting its contents.

“Ah won’t,” Applejack responded flatly, ignoring it as best she could as the pair walked up to a colossal pair of doors.

“Shall we knock?” Trixie said with a grin.

“That would be mighty kind of us ta do. It’s only polite,” Applejack said as Trixie froze the door with Cerberus.

The door exploded as Volendrung broke the door down with vigour, sending splinters across the floor and knocking the remaining pieces of the door onto the floor, shattering them into smaller pieces as well.

“They sure don’t make ‘em like they used ta,” Applejack commented.

“No they don’t,” Trixie giggled but stopped once she saw the room they entered.

It wasn’t the fact that the sides of the room were home to towering flames or the scary looking pillars, covered in thorns that held the room up in front to them. It was the huge monster, resembling a woman that stood before them that sucked the laughter out of Trixie.

She stood taller than any other human she had encountered before. She had red hair that stood on end, pointing towards the ceiling. There were four grotesque protrusions sticking out of her back, each ending in a sharp point, resembling scorpion tails. She had red claws for hands and feet, each looking like they’d tear through solid steel without problems. The last feature was the fact she was completely naked, save for some jewellery on her chest.

“Who are you?!” It bellowed in a vaguely female voice.

“Kill it?” Trixie asked, ignoring the question.

“Kill it!” Applejack shouted, charging towards the demon.

The demon shrieked and attacked, using the protrusions on her back to try and impale Applejack. What she failed to notice was the azure ball of metal and ice kicking her square in her chest. The demon fell onto her bone throne and broke it.

Trixie stood on her hind legs as she landed next to Applejack. Trixie stood, Devil Triggered and with a confident smile on her face.

“Let’s make quick work of this here demon!” Applejack shouted, throwing Volendrung like a javelin.

“No arguments here,” Trixie responded with the combined voices of Cerberus and herself.

If the force of Trixie’s attack was enough to shatter bones, the attack Applejack just used with Volendrung was enough to grind bones to dust. The attack caught the demon as she was getting to her feet, colliding with her face. The attack launched her into the wall behind her. The hammer was quickly picked up by the demon and thrown to its wielder in an attempt at murderous irony.

Applejack caught it casually and used the momentum to spin her body around and hurl it straight back. Trixie charged up towards the demon next to the hammer, leaving a trail of ice in her wake. The pair connected with the demon, sending her shouting into the wall again.

“That all ya got?!” Applejack taunted as the demon got to her feet and threw some form of green gas at her, “Whoa Nelly!”

Applejack dodged the demon’s attack with a side roll while Trixie leapt up to the wall and used it to launch herself to one of the pillars before using Ice Age as she jumped at the demon. The ball of ice knocked the demon into one of the plumes of fire, making it shriek in pain as it tried to get away.

“Kill it with fire, huh?” Applejack said aloud.

“Kill it with fire!” Trixie responded as she used Crystal to force the demon back into the flames. When that didn’t work out too well, Trixie slammed Cerberus into the ground once more, creating a supercharged Million Carats attack.

The pillar of ice shot out of the ground and smashed into the ceiling above them. As the ice faded away, the ceiling caved in on the demon. Trixie and Applejack ran out of the room as rubble fell down around them. As they got to the upper floor, they looked down through the hole Trixie had made.

Amidst the rubble was one of the demon’s claws, covered in flames. The arm struggled to free the rest of its body but soon its will faded and fell limp against its impromptu tomb. The flames died out a few short moments later, leaving a charred limb in its wake.

“Well, that’s that then. Shall we get going?” Trixie said, her DAT state having timed out a few moments earlier.

“My thoughts exactly,” Applejack responded as the pair walked upstairs, smiling at their victory.

Author's Notes:

Well here's the next part of another two parter. Only because with all the crossovers it's a little mandatory to keep the chapters from getting too long. Since we have ten crossovers each two part will have five each. Hope you enjoyed reading it. I never understood why Andariel was in a room with fire when she had a weakness for it. Oh well.

Thirst for Vengeance (Part 2)

The Shadow of a King
Thirst for Vengeance (Part 2)
Author: Draconis187

The streets of a small sized town were quiet as the hour was fast approaching midnight. Businesses were closed, homes were locked with only a few people up late tending to work or more personal matters. It was a calm, tranquil scene were one could contemplate life’s mysteries without being disturbed.

Atop the rooftops, a figure leapt across with unerring speed. The figure’s black trenchcoat billowed in the wind as his silhouette streaked across the sky as it bounced from rooftop to rooftop as if on a mission.

On the streets, another figure was running in the same direction. He held a leather briefcase close to his chest as he ran. He was sure something was following him with the intent to kill. Turning the corner, he ran down an alleyway and stopped as a man in a suit blocked his exit.

The man didn’t look up right away as he lit up his cigarette, “Embezzlement, blackmail and money laundering. I usually go for the more violent marks since they have a higher bounty on their heads but… you’ll do for now.”

“Y-you’re a-” The man tried to say but the other one cut him off with a wave of his free hand.

“A Sweeper,” He finished as the figure that had been chasing the criminal landed behind him with barely a sound. “Meet my associate.”

The other man pulled out his weapon of choice, the gun clicked as the safety came off as he aimed it. “Sorry I’m late, Sven. I would’ve been here sooner but the girls got lost so I sent them back to the bar. He doesn’t look like he’ll put up a fight anyway.”

Sven chuckled as he took a drag of his cigarette, “Well that’s understandable, Train. They’re all kind of out of their element here. They’ll catch up eventually. As for you my friend, you’re coming with us.”

The man gulped as he looked at Train, “Who are you two?”

“We’re Sweepers, man. I told you just a few seconds ago,” Sven replied with a shake of his head, holding his hat as he did so.

“Move,” Train said, pressing the barrel of Hades against the man’s back.

His close proximity gave the man a chance to properly look at Train. His heart almost stopped as he saw Train’s collarbone. More specifically what was tattooed on his collarbone.

“You’re a Number?!” He shouted.

“Former, I’m a Sweeper now. Now get moving,” Train replied coldly.

Half an hour later Train and Sven met up with Eve, Twilight and Nyx at the Sweeper bar known as the Cait Sith Café run by Annette Pierce.

She was a large blonde woman of considerable muscle, more than likely gained through her years as a Sweeper. Her current business was more along the lines of information but serving food or drink helped cover the overhead. She watched Train and Sven enter and greeted them as usual, her expression as stoic as ever.

“How’d it go?” Twilight asked as the pair of them sat down with a sigh.

“Pretty good. Cashed in the bounty,” Sven said, lighting another cigarette while Train opened up a bottle of milk. “He wet himself when he saw Train though.”

“Wet himself?” Eve repeated flatly in slight confusion.

Twilight looked at her with an annoyed look but it was from Sven’s choice of words. “He means he was beyond terrified when he saw Train, Eve. Why did he have such an adverse reaction anyway?”

Train looked away as Twilight asked the question, finding his milk far more interesting but Sven answered instead, “He used to work for Chronos as a Number.”

“What’s Chronos?” Nyx asked, turning her head while Eve stroked her.

She found it a pleasant experience as Eve’s hands were ever so gentle on her coat and it felt like one of Rarity’s spa ventures that she got dragged to. Although Aloe and Lotus were far more experienced but Eve was a decent substitute.

“They’re a secret shadow organisation to be blunt,” Train said flatly without looking at Twilight. “The Numbers are highly skilled assassins selected from the Erasers. An Eraser is a skilled assassin but a Number is more than that.

“They’re extremely ruthless, some are quite cunning and they all show zero remorse to carry out their hits or assignments. There were thirteen Numbers, each with a powerful and very unique weapon made from Orichalcum. It’s a powerful material, hard to get a hold of and harder to work with.” Train finally turned to Twilight, placing the bottle on the table and pointed to the Roman numeral on his collarbone.

“I was Number Thirteen,” Train continued, “I was a special case as there are only twelve Numbers active at any one time. I showed enough promise during my time as an Eraser to be considered joining the Numbers. At the time I accepted without hesitation.”

“What happened?” Twilight asked, looking at Train and Sven with fascination.

“Long story but in a nutshell Train didn’t kill Eve as he was sent to kill her and she later found him unconscious on a burning ship, rescuing him. She nursed him back to health and he left Chronos not long after,” Sven said, “Been with us ever since. Trust me when I say the full version is too long to get into right now.”

“O…kay?” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow.

“I still don’t see why I couldn’t help out with the bounty,” Nyx pouted, “I can fight and he was a… ‘white collar criminal’ I think Sven called him.”

Sven nodded his head but Twilight’s scowl made him place his hat over most of his face. He couldn’t do it all the way lest his hat catch fire from his cigarette.

“And like I said before, Nyx. You’re a filly. Unless you somehow grow up like last time, I will try to keep you out of this business as much as possible,” Twilight explained. “Not to mention your Twilight would be highly upset with me if I had you going around and catching dangerous criminals.”

“But they don’t kill their targets, Twilight!” Nyx protested.

“But the targets they go after do!” Twilight shouted. “I’ve seen some of the posters. There were rapists, murderers and other assortments of… of monsters that would not hesitate to kill you if they got the chance!”

Luckily the hour was too late for the argument to continue further as Annette finally got the group to leave. Something about her bar not being a hotel, day-care or a petting zoo. The tired group clambered into Sven’s car and drove back to his hideout. Nyx fell asleep with her head on Eve’s lap, a small scowl on her face. Eve’s massaging soon soothed the filly’s anger as her expression softened considerably before she began to snore softly.

**** **** **** ****

Dash got up from bed with a groan, the motors in her wings and body less of an annoyance. The scene of her breaking down and crying the week before still scarred her. She was Rainbow Dash, the greatest flier in all of Equestria and the most awesome pony in existence… yet she cried like a filly.

Her ego was nothing if not bruised and her pride fell down several rungs. Gilda promised not to tell and even made a Pinkie Promise to help alleviate her concerns. Jensen didn’t seem to care but he knew that she valued her image and silently promised to himself to never bring it up again regardless.

Six months flew past as their bodies were busy recovering and as a result they got somewhat used to the augments. Gilda hated the jet on her back as she found it too bulky and noisy. Dash did find out something interesting about the augment in her foreleg and in the wrists of Gilda’s claws: the combat nanoceramic blade. The blade was tougher than conventional steel as Dash punched a hole through one of Jensen’s walls to test it, much to his annoyance.

Another useful feature the two found was the Infolink. A communication system and database built into their ears like a radio transmitter and receiver, only much smaller and accessible to those who have their frequency. Another part of it encompassed their eyes. It stored maps, conversations and anything the users deemed important enough to store in memory. Prank calls to the local pizza shop happened within the next ten minutes of the discovery.

On the whole Dash and Gilda had slowly adjusted to life in Detroit, or at the least, Jensen’s apartment. Jensen mostly ordered take-out which was delivered quickly and efficiently while the rest of the time, the three of them tried their hand, hoof or claw at conventional cooking. Their dietary requirements were well met if none of them burned the kitchen down.

They got introduced to the world around them thanks to mainstream media sources, mostly courtesy of Picus TV and the Picus Daily Standard. What interested Gilda was the weapon Jensen told them that almost succeeded in killing them: a Diamond Back .357 revolver. Jensen saw it fit to inform them about all the weapons he had encountered during his time as the commander of SWAT’s Team Two and at Sarif Industries.

One day, Jensen got a call over his Infolink while the three tenants ate breakfast, “Yeah?”

“Adam, it’s David. We have a situation,” Said the voice of David Sarif.

“What do you mean?” Jensen asked as Gilda and Dash raised their eyebrows. They were also linked to the transmission via their own Infolinks but Sarif was mainly speaking to Jensen.

“Sorry, but I have to take the three of you off medical leave,” David said. “Head over to the offices and I’ll fill you all in once you get there.”

Dash looked at Jensen as the conversation ended, placing her half eaten toast on her plate. “So, we’re not staying in here anymore?”

Gilda folded her arms, and smirked. “Finally. Six months confined within four walls without being able to fly can make a gal start to feel a little claustrophobic.”

**** **** **** ****

One week had passed since the last bounty got cashed in and winter finally decided to settle in. Sven’s car was almost trying to hit every pothole in the dirt road as it moved along. Train sat in front with Sven at the wheel while the girls were sat in the back.

Eve was wearing her usual black attire while Nyx and Twilight wore scarves. Twilight’s was the same shade of magenta as her eyes while Nyx’s was teal like her headband. Sven hadn’t had any change in wardrobe. Train however, completely changed his outfit.

He now wore a blue half jacket with four odd objects attached to it which he called ‘meat patties.’ It disgusted Twilight and Nyx as they were herbivores but he kept them regardless. Underneath the jacket, he wore a plain white shirt and his pants were still black while the holster for Hades was clearly visible.

“It’s cold,” Train complained, his arms crossed over his chest as he shivered.

“Well, who’s the genius who sold his only coat?” Sven retorted matter-of-factly.

“You could at least fix the heater, Sven.” Train replied in annoyance.

“We don’t have the money,” Sven said in slight anger.

“Well, why doesn’t Twilight fix the heater? She’s got that magic voodoo junk doesn’t she?” Train replied.

“My ‘magic voodoo junk’ doesn’t apply to auto repair and mechanics, Train. Besides, I don’t know anything about cars so I can’t use my magic to repair it and before you ask the answer is no. Nyx doesn’t know about cars either,” Twilight rebuked.

“Well, I’m reading something like that now, Twilight.” Nyx said, levitating a book with information on Sven’s car model in front of Twilight. “But I’m still a ways before I can fix anything.”

“Sven, what on earth do you mean by ‘we don’t have the money?’ I’ve been helping on every one of your Sweeper jobs,” Train asked, “Where’s the money going?”

“You really want to know?” Sven said, his anger rising. “It goes straight to your ‘eat like a pig and live off of Sven for free fund.’ In case you haven’t noticed, Train we have Twilight and Nyx to help out here not too mention our own money troubles. It would help us all if you didn’t eat enough for an army of sumo wrestlers.”

Train groaned and looked back at Eve, “So Eve… What are you reading?”

“It’s called ‘The Desperate Trio: The escape from the pits.’” Eve replied flatly.

“That’s a bit heavy for you to read, isn’t it?” Train asked in slight confusion.

“You idiot, she’s reading to figure a way out of our own miserable situation,” Sven spat.

Twilight’s ears fell flat as she looked at Nyx. They knew that their needs were putting pressure on Sven as well and despite their attempts to help out, it wasn’t enough nor did Sven let them since he’d rather have them out of the public eye. They could only hope their next target – a former Park Ranger by the name of Igor Planter – would lighten the burden on their caretaker’s shoulders.

**** **** **** ****

Sarif Industries Headquarters was a massive building, towering over most buildings Dash had seen in Canterlot. To Gilda it was even more imposing as Griffon buildings tended to not reach higher than ten stories. Sarif Industries could have easily hit the higher end of the double digits.

Jensen and the pair walked in through the front, getting odd looks from passers-by and staff. 90% of it was directed at Gilda and Dash as ‘unique to their world’ would be an understatement. Jensen calmly walked to the reception desk with Gilda and Dash in tow.

“Good to see you again Adam,” The receptionist said cheerfully. “Sorry your medical leave was cut short.”

“Well, I can’t sit on my ass all day.” Jensen replied flatly. “These two have made my recovery… interesting.”

“I… see. Well, Mr. Sarif is waiting for you three at the Helipad outside. I’m sure you remember the way,” The receptionist said, not losing her smile.

Jensen and the Equestrians walked through the building, going up a flight of stairs but stopped as Jensen shook his head, “Damn…”

“Something wrong?” Dash asked.

“My optics are not responding properly. I’ll need to see Pritchard before we meet Sarif,” Jensen said.

The three walked over to Tech Support where Francis Pritchard worked. Although Pritchard preferred to be known by his proper title: the Chief of Cyber-Security. It didn’t make Jensen and Pritchard like each other any more as they butted heads more often than they’d like to admit.

“What is it, Jensen? I’m busy,” Pritchard said in annoyance, not looking up from his computer screen.

Pritchard was a rather thin man with black hair in a black and orange jacket with a white undershirt with a pair of jeans. He looked rather worn and annoyed as was indicated by his reply to Jensen.

“My retinal display is acting up,” Jensen replied flatly.

“Fine. Come here and I’ll fix it,” Pritchard said with a slightly aggravated tone. Jensen did as he was told and soon his retinal display was rebooted.

Jensen gave Pritchard a cold thanks which was reciprocated by Pritchard. As Jensen left the room with Gilda and Dash he got a thought, “See you later… Francis.”

Gilda chuckled as she looked at him, “Francis?! That’s a girl’s name!”

Dash and Gilda laughed the whole way to the helipad, much to Jensen’s entertainment as Pritchard shouted threats that both of them knew he couldn’t pull off physically. Staff looked in confusion at the pair of laughing mythological creatures with augmentations.

David Sarif looked at them with a raised eyebrow as he stood next to the VTOL aircraft. Gilda and Dash stopped laughing long enough for Gilda to whistle slowly.

“Bloodwing would lose his feathers if he saw me in something like that,” Gilda commented, pointing at the VTOl. “Doesn’t trust jets… He’s in for a shock when he sees me though. I got one attached to me.”

“Good to see you three,” David said warmly, either ignoring Gilda’s comment or he just didn’t hear it.

“Hiya,” Dash said with a small smile.

“Sup?” Gilda said in a neutral tone.

“Listen, we have a situation at our Milwaukee manufacturing plant. We’re running out of time so I’ll tell you more on the way over, get in.” David said as he got into the VTOL.

Dash and Gilda looked at each other, shrugging as they followed David and Jensen into the VTOL. Its engines roared with power as the aircraft flew upwards into the air. Dash looked out the window, her augmented wings twitching in excitement. Even the fantails’ blades gave a small whir as their blades spun softly.

Gilda’s and Dash’s wings were working perfectly but their flight privileges were revoked on the count of drawing attention to themselves and the recovery from the operation. It dampened their spirits but this got the Pegasus excited as she was no longer on medical leave, as was Gilda.

She turned her head to listen to Jensen and Sarif as the situation was explained to them, “A group of terrorists have taken our Milwaukee Junction Manufacturing Plant and I need you three to retrieve something from them. We were about to stop production on the Typhoon before the attack hit and now the staff are being held hostage.

“There is another thing,” He said as he turned to look at Dash, “Project Excelion is there as well.”

“Project what now?” Dash said, confused.

“The name is unimportant but I need you to retrieve it as well as the Typhoon,” David said.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card, handing it to Dash, “This will get you into the R&D section at the Plant. Use this, retrieve Excelion and join up with Gilda and Jensen.”

“Where exactly am I going to keep it? I don’t exactly have pockets,” Dash said with a confused look.

“Oh right. I got some uniforms made for you and Gilda. We took measurements during the operation and since it went successfully, I sent the data to a reliable tailor.” David replied. “They’re in the compartment behind you so once we land, take them out.”

“Uniforms?” Gilda faceclawed, “It feels like boot camp all over again. I hated boot camp.”

“Boot camp?” Dash asked.

“Tell ya later, Dash.” Gilda replied. She regretted saying that almost immediately.

**** **** **** ****

The 54th Fleet made its way over the ocean and into the airspace of a desolate landscape. Sporadic flora could be seen dotting the landscape and water seemed to be miles away for anything unfortunate to be restricted to the ground. The lack of shade meant the sun would be close to murder on one’s body but luckily for the Griffons, their ships were air-conditioned.

“Sir, we have successfully entered Zebrican Airspace,” The helmsgriffon said proudly.

“Thank those pony princesses’ asses, finally!” Bloodwing exclaimed. “Let’s find those bloody Zebras and be done with it.”

“Aye aye, sir.” The helmsgriffon replied as the fleet continued to thunder across the landscape.

To any on the ground, the sight of the Arbiter would be a terrifying sight to behold if it came after them and with the rest of the 54th Fleet… it was enough to lose control of all bowel functions for allies and enemies alike.

“Sir, we have multiple contacts. Bearing 180°,” A Griffon said. “Airspeed: 32 knots.”

“Well, don’t stand there gawking at the damned thing. What are they?!” Bloodwing shouted.

The Griffon looked at the blips on the radar and cross referenced their size and shape with a database of known aircraft. There were no definitive matches.

“Signature doesn’t match Zebrican Zeppelins or any other aircraft, sir. Looking through the local bestiary now,” The Griffon replied.

“Hurry it up! For every minute I don’t know will be another bruise on your body!” Bloodwing shouted.

Bloodwing was known for his more… violent nature but it was usually within reason. Whenever he made threats of that nature, his crew knew he was upset about something. The bridge and the communications crew knew he was worried about his niece and that his inability to simply turn the fleet about for a personal mission made him even more infuriated. His loyalty was the bane of his existence.

The pages of the bestiary flew as the Griffon paged through frantically, “Sir… I can’t find it in here!”

Bloodwing shot him a glare that could have frozen Tartarus, “Say that again!”

“Sir, whatever it is… it’s not local!” The Griffon replied.

“All Griffons get to your stations!” Bloodwing shouted. “Tell the rest of the fleet to go on to high alert. If whatever those things are so much as farts the wrong way, kill them!”

Too bad for them I’m in the mood to kill something, Bloodwing thought grimly.

“Sir… They’re coming from Equestria!” The griffon said.

All colour left Bloodwing’s face as the news hit him hard and paranoia settled in his mind, “If whatever they are are somewhat responsible for what happened to my niece… I’ll tear them apart myself.”

**** **** **** ****

Discord was literally dragged off the snow-capped mountain as the scorpion man tied him to the back of an ATV and drove down. Halfway down the mountain, the snow turned to dirt and flattened out in a large enough area where a helicopter had landed a few minutes ago.

Discord could barely feel his body and the ride was far less than comfortable. The man untied him and hefted him onto his shoulders in a fireman’s lift as he carried Discord over to a woman with blonde hair, wearing a combat vest and unceremoniously dropped him to the floor where he grunted in pain.

“Sheesh, Rico. If you manhandled this thing anymore like that, you could’ve broken something.” The woman said as she knelt down and looked at Discord.

“It’s still breathing isn’t it? You didn’t specify how you wanted me to bring it, Kane so I… improvised,” Rico replied smugly.

I’d like him… if he hadn’t dragged me down this mountain, Discord thought miserably.

Kane gave Discord a proper look over and placed a hand on her chin, “Well, I haven’t heard anything about Panay dealing with something so… drastic. Rico, get going and continue to cause as much chaos as possible while I figure out what to do with this thing. I’ll probably just kill it.”

Cause as much chaos as possible? Discord thought. If this lady was not about to consider killing me, I would’ve thought I was in Heaven.

“Whatever, Kane.” Rico said as he got back onto the ATV and drove off, kicking up dust and dirt.

As Kane pulled out a combat knife to end him with, Discord had enough movement in his body to be able to speak but it came out as a hoarse whisper. “Can’t we be civil about this?”

Kane glared at him while Discord tried his best to smile. The Mors Rubrum Minusculus was losing effectiveness as its poison left his bloodstream. Discord could feel movement in his tail and right claw and tried to slowly move them.

“I’m sure we can come to an agreement,” Discord said, trying to get up carefully as more of his body began to respond.

The knife quickly found itself lodged in Discord’s right arm, above the elbow. Discord shouted in pain as the woman twisted and removed it before going for his throat. Thinking quickly, Discord snapped his left claw and vanished. He reappeared nearby, with his back against the helicopter.

“Now that was just plain rude,” Discord said in a disappointed tone as the wound healed and the blood turned to lemonade as he licked it off with his long tongue. He looked at Kane and snapped his claw again, this time the blade of Kane’s knife went limp. Discord smiled broader than ever. “Shall we try this again?”

**** **** **** ****

Ten minutes alone was all Fluttershy wanted. Ten minutes to rest on her couch or her bed and rest her eyes. Sadly for her that wasn’t going to happen as a number of large, grotesque machines dropped from the sky and began tearing the city up again. She pitied the man in blue overalls, carrying a mop and broom in a cleaning trolley with other assorted items as he just looked up and groaned.

“Not another mess for me to pick up,” He said sombrely. “I really don’t get paid enough for this.”

MEGAS was in the thick of it as the robot jumped into the air and came down, shoulder-first onto the face of one of the machines. The shockwave tore down the PoPTV building as well as a few others but anyone nearby enough to see the building collapse cheered.

“Why’d the Glorft attack now?” Coop asked as he got MEGAS up from the ground.

“Why else? They want MEGAS,” Kiva responded flatly.

Coop looked at his dashboard thoughtfully for a second. “Oh, right. Forgot about that.”

“Less thinking, more hitting!” Jamie shrieked as the Glorft mechs came towards them.

Flying over the city, Fluttershy sighed. “He’s in the middle of all this again.”

“We are with you, Miss Fluttershy.” Agni said to Fluttershy as she reached for him and his brother.

“Yeah!” Rudra exclaimed, the pommel head smiling reassuringly at her.

Fluttershy smiled back, “Thanks.”

Yelling a battlecry, a flurry of wind and fire flew towards one of the mechs, burning through to the cockpit and exposing the pilot. Fluttershy stopped for a few moments as she looked at it. It was similar to an octopus with tentacles by its mouth and a pair of large red eyes. It had odd growths on its head and some of its body while the rest was covered by metal and cybernetics.

“What are you?” She asked, her grip faltering slightly.

“Watch out!”Agni warned as the pilot pulled on a lever and ejected from its mech.

Fluttershy flew upwards as the mech fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust in the process. As she looked at it, she inadvertently stayed still long enough for another mech to lock onto her.

Coop yelled with righteous fury as the mech that targeted Fluttershy got the Double Deuce as MEGAS swung its arms down, breaking its target’s arms off at the shoulders.

“Nice,” Jamie said with a smile.

Fluttershy turned around to see MEGAS punching the armless mech into three others, creating a massive explosion. Lasers and gunfire filled the air as the rest of the Glorft mechs tried to kill MEGAS or at least to an extent, the pilot.

Fluttershy looked to one of the attacking mechs and flew towards it as she spun Agni and Rudra wildly, creating an inferno of demonic power as she tore into the joint in one of its shoulders. She placed the demon swords away and activated Beowulf. As the mech tried to get her out, it found out that it was impossible, Fluttershy had broken into the shoulder that had a hand. The other had the weapon at the end and effectively made it impossible to take Fluttershy out, lest it blow off its own arm.

Which it did. A single shot into the exposed hole blew the arm clean off as well as most of the shoulder connector. The pilot inside smiled as he thought he had killed Fluttershy. In a few moments the robot rocked violently and the bottom of the cockpit was viciously torn open.

Fluttershy used Beowulf to literally dig into the robot and tear her way towards the cockpit from the inside. She quickly discovered as it blew off its own arm that they would not hesitate to kill her or anyone in their way. Sadly for them, she was no stranger to murder and as of that moment… all bets were off.

“You missed,” Fluttershy said with an uncharacteristic scowl as she used Beowulf to uppercut the pilot.

The Devil Arm tore through the pilot’s console as well as its armour. The force knocked him out of his seat and he collided with the ceiling, knocking him unconscious. Satisfied her job was done here, Fluttershy proceeded to punch a hole through the cockpit and expose it to the outside world. She flew out in search of her next target… of which there was plenty to choose from.

**** **** **** ****

Discord laid back, swinging in the air on a hammock made from vines that were attached to some invisible tether in the air as Kane tried to kill him with an assault rifle. As she fired, the rounds turned into a variety of items: flowers, confetti, ice-cream and even a double glazed donut with vermicelli. He ate the last one and spat out the donut.

After expending another magazine, Discord rolled over to look at her, “You done yet, milady? This is starting to get boring.”

Kane reached for another magazine to continue in the vain hope that one bullet would be overlooked and it would kill him but as she did so she found out she had run dry. Her pistol was finished, a shotgun and now the assault rifle. She had her knife but it was still as limp as a wet noodle so it was not going to be of much use.

Kane let out a deep sigh and finally spoke to him, “What are you?”

“Well, I was trying to introduce myself but you were trying to kill me.” Discord replied. “Reminds me of somepony I know. I am - pause for dramatic effect - Discord!”

“Who?” Kane replied.

“My dear, I am Discord. God of Chaos, life of any party, the most handsome being in existence and the biggest headache you’ll ever have! Wait, that last one doesn’t sound right… Oh well!” Discord said cheerfully.

Kane was trying to think as she sat back, her back resting against a tree. God of Chaos? How on earth was it possible for him to be a God of Chaos? Yet there he was, defying every law of the universe on a whim in the attempt to not get killed. Maybe… just maybe he could help out but… would he?

“Well this island could use chaos right now but it needs the right kind of chaos,” Kane said.

“‘Right kind of chaos?’ What – by my amazing goatee – are you talking about?” Discord asked. He knew right away she was trying to bait him into helping but sadly, he was a better manipulator than her with centuries of experience.

“We need chaos to bring a possible traitor out and force the President of Panau to act in order to remove him,” Kane said, doing her best to convince Discord to assist.

“And how – pray tell – do you plan on causing this chaos?” Discord asked. He knew there was more than one type of chaos and was curious as to what kind they were trying to spread.

“We destroy anything that belongs to the Panauan government or at least Rico does. Satellite installations, fuel depots, SAM sites, communications arrays are amongst the more common types of targets. Essentially anything that bears the white Panauan star,” Kane explained. “We weaken the military’s strength and hold over the populace, inciting a revolution as more of their equipment is destroyed. It’s known as a ‘regime changing mission.’”

Discord scratched his chin, hanging upside down in the air. They were trying a form of destabilisation chaos required to impose order. He got curious as to how Rico was planning on doing it on his own. Although he figured out there must be something unique or special about him, maybe not devil’s blood or possessing the power of the Thu’um like the other humans he had met. It was something he wanted to figure out and he smiled broadly. He wasn’t going to be bored after all.

“Alright. I’ll help,” Discord said, teleporting right up to Kane where she attempted to roundhouse kick him out of sheer reflex.

Discord stopped it with his claw and shook his head, chuckling a little. “We really need to stop meeting like this.”

Kane’s leg was released and she stretched out her hand. With a firm handshake, Kane looked at his mismatched eyes. “I still don’t trust you though.”

Discord laughed, “That’s alright. I don’t trust me either. What do you want me to do first?”

**** **** **** ****

Fluttershy came down on another Glorft mech with Beowulf shining brightly. Her attack tore through the mech’s leg joint as if it were paper standing up against a 100mph freight train. Her attack caused the mech to topple over and fall against another, blowing them both up in a colourful fireball.

“She’s helping?” Kiva said out loud.

“Guess she’s not that bad,” Coop said as he changed gears and tore off a mech’s head as MEGAS had it in a full nelson. “Eat it, chumps!”

Inside one of the mechs, the leader was about to burst several blood vessels in pure rage, “What is that thing?!”

He was talking about Fluttershy as she used Pandora’s Retribution form to absorb one of the mech’s attacks and send it back at twice the strength. The rounds the Devil Arm sent back tore through its armour before the mech exploded, leaving only a pair of legs which nonchalantly fell to the floor.

“Unknown, War Master Gorrath,” Another Glorft said as a mech got used as a makeshift club by MEGAS. “But it’s assisting the prototype.”

“Well… find out!!” Gorrath shouted, “Or your life will be forfeit, Commander.”

Fluttershy used a Tempest attack to drill her way through another mech’s neck. As the head got ripped off, it spun around in the air before flying away like a projectile towards a mech and impaled it in its chest.

Using the newfound space as an attack platform, Fluttershy used Pandora’s Hatred form to fire a salvo of missiles at the same mech and destroyed them both. Fluttershy brought the Devil Arm off her shoulder and began to swing it around her body. Pandora changed forms in mid-swing, changing to the shuriken/boomerang known as Grief before Fluttershy released it down the ‘throat’ of the mech she stood on.

The Devil Arm spun through the mech, its blades severing cables and shredding metal as it travelled down before shattering a hole through the mech’s bottom. Fluttershy flew off the mech before it split apart exploded. Greif returned to Fluttershy only for her to throw it again.

“Sir… maybe we should retreat and reassess the situation,” The Glorft Commander said with concern as their numbers got whittled down to near nothing by Coop’s wrestling moves and Fluttershy’s demon weapons.

“Nonsense! Send in… the UMD!” Gorrath shouted.

**** **** **** ****

Griffons called the rematch between Bloodwing and Gustav to be the ‘Battle of the Winds.’ The battle was waged before the fleets the Griffons sent to aid Equestria reached the Crystal Empire. Although the official records stated it was the Equestrian forces that subdued and destroyed the 67th Fleet and the Ares’ Dagger, Bloodwing insisted they would not have gotten far without his fleets drawing their fire.

Soarin landed near the crash site of the Ares’ Dagger. He had been getting headaches recently but kept it from his master. In the nights, images of the Ares’ Dagger would show, as if telling him to go to it and with Equestria being in enough turmoil to get the Changelings involved, he had time to spare before they surfaced.

The airship was in pieces, the marks of battle and fires long since burnt out scarring it as he looked around. Any and all demons that remained in the airship perished as it fell from the sky. Demons were tough but not invincible. It was a fact what was reinforced several times from varying sources.

Surprise, Blaze, Fire Streak and Silver Lining followed Soarin into the wreckage, eyeing the damage. They all ended up splitting up as Blaze had put it but Silver retorted that they were lost. Blaze could only groan at his misfortune. They always ended paired together whether it was on and assignment or a general exploration. They hated each other with a passion.

Soarin ignored the echoes of Blaze and Silver as they decided to have something akin to a shouting match combined with an insult contest mostly involving their mothers. Soarin walked through the ship, heading for the bridge.

The doors were missing as he entered the bridge and headed to the helm. The consoles were long dead, the cables had lost power from the main reactor and had stopped crackling with electricity. On the floor were flakes of skin, feathers and fur. Most of it had blown away by the wind or the depressurization from Fluttershy’s makeshift exit. The mare had blown a hole large through the front of the ship that was large enough for a standard boulder to easily fit through.

Soarin looked around and sighed, “A wild goose chase… brilliant.”

The wind blew through the bridge, making the feathers on his wings rustle. He opened them to catch the air and gain altitude. The wind blew the flakes around the floor but Soarin paid them no mind. As he tried to leave through the same way he came, the walls gave way and collapsed the exit. Sighing, he turned around to fly out the hole.

As he flew towards it, he glanced down and almost fell out of the sky. On the floor the flakes had created a message, ‘Your goal has been twisted.’

“What the buck?” Soarin said aloud as he read the message.

**** **** **** ****

A warm fire greeted Celestia as she awoke. The frozen tundra she had landed in was well off in the distance, leaving her and her apparent rescuer in a forest. Her wings felt as if they were bound to her body with rope and a glance to her sides confirmed it. As Celestia looked around, a small blade found itself near her throat.

“What are you?” The woman said, the knife pressing against Celestia’s throat to show she needed to speak carefully and quickly.

“A-an Alicorn,” Celestia responded. The knife did not ease from her throat.

“So you speak?” The wielder said with a raised eyebrow. It was merely a stab in the dark. “Interesting.”

“Y-yes… My name is Celestia,” Celestia said, keeping her title from the strange being in case she got any ideas for ransoming her to Equestria. A moot point since they were nowhere near it.

“Hm… Celestia…” The woman repeated. “Why did you fall from the sky? Are you some herald of Azura?”

“No… I got sent here against my will by an enemy. I need to find my way home,” Celestia said, she tried to look at the woman without making her slit her throat. “May you tell me where I am?”

“… Near Raven Rock,” She replied after a few moments. “Solstheim.”

“No…” Celestia said in disbelief. “How am I ever going to get home?”

“Not my problem,” The woman replied callously.

“May you tell me your name? Or perhaps remove this blade from my throat?” Celestia requested.

“You may call me the Nerevarine,” She replied. “Keening on the other hand… we’ll see.”

Celestia looked at her and at the arm she was using to hold the blade. She guessed she was some form of warrior if her armour was any indication and as a result trying a spell could end badly for her. For now, all Celestia could do was follow whatever this ‘Nerevarine’ wanted for now.

“What are you going to do with me?” Celestia asked.

“Not sure just yet,” The Nerevarine said before a smile spread across her face. “But let’s see what happens first shall we?”

Author's Notes:

Part 2 yay! Please note that the Morrowind section may be subject to alteration once Dubious gets back to me. I wanted to update this before getting to bed. Have fun with the unedited Morrowind until Dubious gets back to me. Those of you curious enough, 32 knots is roughly 60 km\h or roughly 37 mp\h

Trust Issues (Part 1)

The Shadow of a King
Weapons and Warriors (Part 1)
Author: Draconis187

The Thunderhawk’s engines roared as they propelled the craft into the upper atmosphere. The ride for Spitfire was uncomfortable to say the least as the craft was buffeted by turbulence and let down by old, poor-quality parts. The Thunderhawk was in desperate need for a Techpriest and repair rites.

Angelos gazed at Spitfire with a stoic expression, his hands resting on the head of his hammer as the Thunderhawk continued to shake about. The rest of the men around her kept their weapons ready with their fingers near the triggers. The tension was palpable and the near silence made the scene even more harrowing as they all gazed at her with those green, soulless eyes.

As the Thunderhawk left the atmosphere and reached space, the ride became more comfortable. At the far end of the compartment she and the men were in was a large grey chest with a golden, eagle-like symbol on the top. Martellus had placed the six strange items inside it for safe keeping, as per Angelos’ orders.

“When we get back to the Litany of Fury,” Angelos began to say, looking directly at Spitfire. “You are going to talk.”

Spitfire shrank back in fear and said nothing. Martellus looked at her and back at his captain. “Sir, it may be more beneficial if we were to reduce our hostilities. This creature clearly poses no threat.”

“That may be, Martellus but my experience has taught me to never lower my guard when encountering the unknown.” Angelos replied curtly.

The Thunderhawk shook violently as it landed in a hanger within the Litany of Fury’s roughly an hour later. A contingent of Space Marines awaited Angelos as the doors opened, saluting as he walked past with their new prisoner following behind him carefully.

The inside of the battle barge was nothing short of a maze of steel, noise and discipline. Marines saluted as she was escorted by the Captain to her new home, a cold cell near what she was sure to be the lowest possible level of the ship. The facilities were less than satisfactory but Spitfire could call herself lucky as Angelos could have easily just killed her.

As she was forced into the cell, Angelos closed the door and relaxed his grip on his hammer for the first time. A few moments passed in total silence as the two stared at each other: one with fear, the other with mistrust and uncertainty.

“Name,” Angelos commanded flatly.

“S-Spitfire,” The mare replied.

“I am going to ask you a series of questions, Spitfire. If you do not answer truthfully, I shall see no further use for me to keep you around and I shall put you out of your misery.” Angelos warned.

Spitfire nodded her head, “I sh-shall answer to the best o-of my knowledge.”

Angelos nodded his head, “Where do you hail from?”

“Equestria. I come from a land known as Equestria,” Spitfire responded, easing up and sitting on her rump.

“Where is it?” Angelos asked.

“If I knew, I would’ve gone back.” Spitfire responded. “I have no knowledge of how to return.”

“Stuck… Isolated…” Angelos said slowly. Spitfire nodded at each word. “Are you certain you can not return?”

“All I know is that I do not know if I can,” Spitfire responded.

“You shall remain confined to these accommodations for the time being,” Angelos said. “When you require sustenance, ask one of your cell guards. I shall return when I have more questions. For now, I have matters regarding those Orks that needs tending to.”

**** **** **** ****

Luna was laid down on the floor as Dr. Holiday continued to question her. While the Lunar Princess silently commended the disembodied voice’s curiosity, she was getting anxious to being confined to a room. It felt like a prison cell and she began to despise it greatly.

“How are you able to manipulate gravity?” Dr. Holiday asked with curiosity. The more she found out about Luna’s home and her abilities, the more intrigued she became.

Luna raised an eyebrow, “Manipulate gravity? That’s a complex spell with various applications.” She recalled the report Twilight gave her sister and herself when she and the group returned from the Crystal Empire.

“Is that what you used to pick up the plate and the food?” Holiday asked once again.

Luna shook her head, “No. That is basic telekinesis. All unicorns learn this basic spell before any other.”

“Dr. Holiday, have you been here all night?” Holiday turned around with a small gasp but sighed when she saw it was Six. He showed no reaction. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’”

“Sorry, Six. It’s just that this creature is so… unique,” Holiday apologised. “A being that supposedly has control over the very stars is unbelievable and yet I find myself thinking she’s telling the truth. I… want to believe…”

Six merely raised an eyebrow. “Regardless, you should get some rest.”

Holiday nodded her head and said farewell to Luna as she left the monitoring room. Rex came in as she left, yawning and stretching his arms.

“So what did I miss?” He asked as his shoulders popped from his stretching exercises.

“Nothing,” Six said. “I suggest we leave this creature alone for the time being and focus on our current objective.”

“Riight… which was what exactly?” Rex asked, smiling sheepishly.

“Finding Van Kleiss,” Six deadpanned.

“Oh… him,” Rex was visibly irritated by the mention of the man he had very mixed feelings about but most of them bordered on distrust to borderline hate. “Are we going to search Abysus?”

“Not yet,” Six replied. “First we need to make sure Van Kleiss is in Abysus before we can begin preparations.”

“So till then?” Rex asked, dreading the answer.

“We train,” Six said coolly.

Rex groaned as he and Six left the room, leaving Luna in hers without anyone to talk to. She gazed at her surroundings once more, still coming to terms with the fact that if she left and got exposed for too long to the outside world, she could end up a monster.

What they didn’t know is that she had been a monster once, though it was nothing like the ones Holiday described to her. As Luna laid down on the cold, white floor, a small chime came from behind her. It was her ‘meal bell’ to be accurate. Luna shook her head as she gazed at her rather lacklustre meal.

“A princess eating food of this quality?” She mumbled as she chewed on a carrot. “If I was not starving, I’d have sent the chef to the sun. As my sister would say: ‘where’s the cake?’”

A few hours passed in silence, Luna thanked her stars they had the decency to supply her with a toilet and some semblance of a bed for the duration of her stay. More like confinement. She thought bitterly.

Luna felt something… odd as she laid on the bed. She felt something invigorating her and it took her a few seconds for her subconscious to inform her conscious that it was currently the night cycle outside her room. She could feel a connection with the world beyond her room, attaching itself to the stars and the glowing orb hovering in the far distance.

“They have a moon as well…” She said softly, smiling as her body and mind calmed down immensely, leaving her at peace.

She knew she was worlds apart, severed from her true moon and her sister but the moon of this world gave her some comfort, as if silently telling her that everything will work its way to balance once again.

Her musing was abruptly interrupted as a larger panel opened itself up. She gazed at the empty addition to her room with confusion and curiosity.

“Your Majesty,” White’s voice said over Luna’s intercom system in her room. “I do believe it is about time you and I spoke face to face.”

**** **** **** ****

It was several hours until Angelos returned to Spitfire’s cell. The guards he had posted to watch over her were enormous, metal clad men carrying a shield and hammer. Their armour was mostly red with white and gold. They had large, white helmets with the same disturbing green eyes as the others. They were stoic and spoke little, if at all as they ignored her for the most part.

Angelos acknowledged the Terminators and they left to take up a position near the entrance so Angelos would not be interrupted, at least, not without sufficient warning and permission. He still had his hammer but he placed a large, metal chest on the ground between him and Spitfire’s cell bars.

The chest was identical to the one she spotted inside the Thunderhawk but for all intents and purposes, there could have been a number of such chests. Angelos regarded Spitfire with his usual glare.

“Now, Spitfire. In this chest are the items we recovered with you,” He said, slowly and clearly. “You are going to tell me what they are.”

The chest hissed as the locks were disengaged, small gouts of smoke came out from the locks as the pressure inside the chest and the ship normalised with each other. Angelos reached in and pulled out a pair of gauntlets.

“Tell me: what are these?” He asked.

Spitfire looked at them strangely. How could they think she knew about them? They didn’t even look like they were made for a pony, they had fingers for Celestia’s sake! Spitfire shook her head vehemently.

“I am sorry but I do not know what those are. I haven’t seen them before in my life,” She answered honestly and sincerely.

Angelos frowned and placed them back in the chest to pull out a pair of boots. Again he was disappointed when Spitfire didn’t know what they were. This process repeated as the last two items were brought out, much to Angelos’ chagrin.

“I see…” He said, sealing the chest back up as all the items were returned to their current home. “There is nothing left to discuss other than what the Orks wanted with you.”

“I do not know. After I tried to search around the area to get a grip with my surroundings, I was shot at and… there he was. All angry, foul-smelling and ugly,” Spitfire replied. Then a fear-filled thought entered her mind as a realisation made itself known. “Y-you’re not going to k-kill me now, are you?”

“Why do you think that?” He asked, his face unmoving like a professional poker player.

“You said if I am of no use, you’d kill me,” She said, backing away.

Angelos sighed, “You misunderstand. I said if you did not answer truthfully, I would end you. You showed no signs of deception when I asked you and I do not perceive that there is a need to end you just yet.”

Spitfire gulped, “‘Y-yet?’”

Angelos nodded, “We are currently leaving Typhon to assist a skirmish with Orks on one of the planets in Sub-Sector Aurelia. Planet Calderis to be exact, we have received some… rather disturbing reports regarding an old friend of mine.”

Spitfire just looked at him, “What are you going to do with me?”

Angelos thought for a moment, “Tell me… what size are you?”

**** **** **** ****

The ride up to White Knight’s White Room was uneventful and Luna received a sense of vertigo from her trip. As the doors opened up, she stepped into the room from the side. To her left was another door, presumably the exit/entrance to this White Room. On her right was a white desk with a middle aged, white haired man in a white suit, sitting behind it with an odd set of devices nearby.

Little did she know that that was how he knew what was going on inside Providence at any given moment. At his desk he could see everything within the colossal building with a simple press of a button. In front of his desk was a low bench, presumably for her to lay on so they could be at eye level.

He looked at Luna with a neutral expression but Luna spoke first, “What is your name?”

“I am White Knight. You are Princess Luna or so you keep telling everyone,” He said. Luna could hear the distrust and borderline dislike for her in his voice. She could tell she and he were not going to get along.

“Your words ring true, Mr. Knight,” Luna said, slowly moving towards him. She sat down on the bench and stared into his eyes.

“Forgive me if I do not leap off my seat and start bowing,” White said callously.

“I do not expect you to. What you will do is stop talking to me as if you are beneath me,” Luna said with mild irritation.

“E.V.O.s are always beneath me. You may not have nanites but that doesn’t mean you weren’t some experiment performed by radicals,” He deadpanned.

“I am not some experiment. Why did you call me up here? I do not believe it was for us to develop the animosity we are currently building between us,” Luna said, derailing the current topic before she did something White would regret.

“I brought you up here so I could see you for myself. Rex claims that you have no nanites but you are still an abomination. I am trying to figure out why I shouldn’t let you take your chances with the world and see what monster you turn into,” White said callously.

“I am no monster!” Luna said angrily. If there was one thing she despised, it was talking about anything that reminded her of her past sins.

Her hoof made contact with the desk, cracking it from the force. White didn’t even flinch nor move a muscle. He simply sat and looked at her with the same cold expression.

“I see you have emotional issues… not entirely unlike someone else I do not care much about,” White said, his hands clasped together in front of his mouth.

“You are the leader here, I presume?” Luna asked, calming herself down with an old breathing exercise she was taught as a filly.

White nodded, “I am but I am the one asking the questions. I will tell you what you need to know when the situation dictates it.”

Luna smirked, “That may be but I will get all of my answers from you, willing or not.”

In a moment, her horn lit up brightly, making White avert his eyes from Luna. A few tendrils of energy came from the tip and latched onto White’s skull, holding it in place while one pressed against his forehead.

“Do not struggle,” Luna comforted. “This doesn’t hurt a bit.”

White struggled in her magical grasp but in the end it was useless as the one tendril against his forehead phased through his skull, making his body go limp as it turned off his nerves. There was only Luna and her probing magic since the meeting appeared to be unofficial.

Her eyes glowed pure white as she sifted through White’s recent memories, going backwards as she was not interested in his life-story but rather his knowledge of the world she was in. Being the Alicorn of the Night granted her a few abilities Celestia regarded as intrusive or unethical, probing the minds of others with ease and entering the dreams of others being two of them.

White’s mind was nothing more than an open book and she a knowledge-hungry student. All the events for the course of six years flooded her mind, sorted and stored away for her to mull over later. Drained of what knowledge he had to offer, she gently placed him down.

White was sweating profusely from the violation of his mind. He looked at Luna with a mixture of shock, disgust and pure hate. Luna on the other hoof didn’t care at all, as she had gotten enough information to pass the time in her room.

“You… monster…” White said, breathing heavily. “How… dare you…”

Luna scoffed, “You are not a patron saint yourself, Mr. White. You are rather ruthless and uncaring. It is of no surprise to me that you have no friends.”

Luna simply turned around and walked back to where the elevator was, “Our discussion is over. When you are in a better mood, we can talk properly.”

Luna’s magic seeped into the doorway and overrode the mechanisms inside, forcing it to open. White’s knowledge of Providence, its layout and how all the technology in his room and hers worked would prove highly advantageous for her.

**** **** **** ****

The basement of Twilight’s library lit up as Spike pressed the light switch. He was unsure of whether it would work but it was all he had. He may not have his Twilight but there was another one he could talk to, even if it was not the same.

Spike walked up to the false wall Twilight had cast the illusion spell and walked through it. The moment the spell felt the disturbance, it dispelled entirely. Spike merely had to step back again as the circuit closed and energy began to pour into the Celestial Archway behind him.

The tarp covering it began to billow from a wind originating from underneath it, soon making it fly off with speed and collide with a nearby wall before slumping into a heap. Spike had hoped that would happen since his small body lacked the strength to pull it off on his own.

The sound of the hissing gas brought Spike’s attention as an image began to form. In the image was the other laboratory that Nyx’s Twilight had but it was empty. Empty in the sense that neither Spike’s counterpart nor Twilight were to be seen, usually whenever his Twilight activated the Archway, one of them was nearby.

“Hello?!” Spike shouted into the portal.

At first there was no response so Spike continued to shout into it. Again and again the young dragon shouted into the image, clinging desperately to his only hope only to find it slipping away with each passing cry.

Spike’s eyes began to well up as his hope died out once again. He pinned all he had on this gamble and yet it didn’t work. As he turned around to open the Archway’s circuit, an orange hit him in the back of the head.

“Ow! What the!?” Spike looked at the orange with utter confusion as he turned his gaze to the portal. Again there was nothing there other than the empty room on the other end.

He began to look around the room and found he was still alone. Owlowiscious was still up on the second floor, reading a book to keep his mind off Twilight’s disappearance while Peewee was fast asleep in his nest near Spike’s bed.

“This isn't funny!” Spike shouted to the unknown thrower.

“Are you kidding?! That was hilarious!” A familiar sound said from within the room.

“Rainbow Dash, is that you?!” He asked to the air.

“Hey! Eyes here!” The voice said, drawing Spike’s attention to the cyan mare laughing at him from the other side of the portal. “Twi’s got some interesting things down here. Wish she told us about this thing. How’d you get there anyway?”

At that point Spike’s heart crashed and burned completely. That wasn’t his Rainbow Dash: she had no Nevan bat hair clip in her mane. He knew she never left her home without it.

“Why the long face?” Dash asked.

“Can you get Twilight, Dash?” Spike asked slowly.

Rainbow nodded her head slowly in confusion and flew out of sight in the blink of an eye. Spike was on his own again until Nyx’s Dash found her Twilight. “At least it works…”

**** **** **** ****

“It’s freezing,” Train complained as Sven drove the group to their new target: Igor Planter.

“It’s winter,” Twilight replied with slight annoyance.

“Yeah? Well why does winter have to be so damn cold?” Train shot back.

“Twilight’s not the one who sold their only coat, Train. And what are those things on your chest? Emergency meat rations?” Sven asked incredulously.

“He said they were ‘meat patties,’” Eve said flatly as she read a book.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Train asked with pride.

“I wouldn’t go that far but I will say that your style is rather unique,” Twilight replied.

Train had gotten rid of his old attire, fully severing his ties to Chronos. He had a blue half-jacket over a white shirt and kept the black pants. The holster for Hades was now completely visible to any who looked his way. The ‘meat patties’ were stitched to the chest area of his half-jacket in four places.

At that moment Sven sneezed on Train, “Oh jeez! What was that?! And you call yourself a gentleman?!”

Sven ignored his insult, “You know what? It is kinda cold.”

“You could at least get the heater fixed,” Train reminded.

“We don’t have the money,” Sven stressed.

“Well what happened to all the money we’ve gotten on all the jobs I’ve been helping on?” Train asked.

Twilight and Nyx tuned out the argument between the two men as Sven began to shout. The pair didn’t need anything warm thanks to their coats, it was a lot colder in Equestria by comparison. Eve had also failed to care about the argument before her, fully engrossed in her book.

Several hours later the group arrived in a place called Desburg after pushing Sven’s car since it ran out of fuel three miles prior to their arrival. A small town near a river seemed to be the perfect place for a convicted felon to call home. The group walked into a diner and sat down, with Twilight and Nyx sitting with them as well. If anyone was going to kick up a stink, they could just talk and scare people into serving them.

The Desburg Café was rather desolate as Sven and Train’s heads met the table in exhaustion. Twilight refused to have Nyx push and Eve was a young girl so she was out. Twilight had exhausted herself as she helped them with her magic until the exertion of moving a metal contraption weighing over a ton took its toll.

“We should hurry up to catch this man,” Eve said flatly. Nyx nodded her head in agreement at the bounty poster they had taken with them.

“Igor Planter the forest ranger?” Train asked. “He sounds like a really boring guy living a really boring life so why should we rush ourselves?”

“We don’t even know where he’s hiding,” Sven said.

“I’m too tired,” Twilight complained as her head finally met the table.

“Fine, I’ll go,” Eve said, reaching for the bounty poster.

Train took it out of Eve’s reach quickly, “I don’t think so, Princess. You’re crazy to think about going after him on your own.”

Nyx’s insides immediately turned from the name as she looked at Eve. It was still a sour point in her life and yet someone she didn’t even know managed to dredge it up in an instant. She knew that he didn’t know any better but it didn’t help her from feeling a little down.

“You think I’m a princess?” Eve asked with a small confused look on her face.

Sven chuckled, “‘Princess.’ Good one Train.”

Eve’s confused look quickly turned to an annoyed one as the waitress arrived. After a very awkward reunion with her and Sven, their drinks and food came soon after. Train gorged himself on a very substandard – in his eyes – meal as it was all hey could afford at the moment.

The hanging bell above the door rang as a young, lavender haired woman entered the room. Sven nearly popped a blood vessel as he recognised the woman as Rinslet Walker. She had a red, heart-shaped pendant around her neck, attached to a golden chain. She had a dark green overcoat with a yellow vest underneath and a pair of brown shorts.

As Sven and Rinslet began to catch up with each other, Train continued to devour the food that lay before him like a warmonger cleaving their way through a battlefield. It wasn’t until the waitress recognised Igor on the poster did they all realise that Nyx and Eve had vanished. Twilight immediately let them have it when she came to.

**** **** **** ****

Joystick, Rarity and Siegfried were eventually saved by a passing merchant vessel. They didn’t ask too many questions and kept their distance as the group managed to keep a hold on their weapons. The captain was quite friendly but since Cervantes a.k.a. Stern Cave was just as friendly, they were a little paranoid.

As they sat in the quarters they were given, Siegfried looked at Rarity with interest. During his battle with Cervantes, he noticed the small transformation the mare went through and was curious.

“Care to tell me what happened?” He asked as Requiem was placed on the floor within arm’s reach.

“Care to tell us about that man and what he wanted, darling?” Rarity countered with a mischievous grin on her face.

Siegfried sighed, “It’s personal.”

“It’s personal and yet whenever someone attacks, they call you ‘Nightmare’ or ask for some Soul Edge,” Joystick said. “We need to know since we are journeying together.”

“I didn’t ask for you to come with me,” Siegfried replied.

“Maybe, but you’re the only person we know and trust… despite the trouble you appear to attract,” Rarity said as she jumped onto one of the beds. “Much better…”

Joystick chuckled softly, “Happy now, Rarity?”

“I will be when I’ve groomed myself properly but now I’m too tired,” Rarity said softly.

“Who are you and what have you done with Rarity? The Rarity I know would have jumped at the chance to groom herself from the get-go,” Joystick said.

“That Trigger is taxing and we’ve been in an absolutely freezing ocean for Celestia knows how long so forgive me if I pride my beauty sleep over my fashion habits,” Rarity replied before closing her eyes.

“Alright then,” Joystick said as Rarity soon fell asleep. He turned his attention to Siegfried as the package he carried was carefully placed on his bed and pressed up against the wall. “Is that what he wanted?”

Siegfried didn’t look at him, “Leave it alone.”

“Bu-”

“I said ‘leave it alone,’” Siegfried’s tone told Joystick the topic was not up for discussion.

“Alright then. Where is the ship making dock?” Joystick asked, changing the subject.

“Egypt,” He replied flatly.

“Where’s that?” Joystick asked again.

“Africa,” Siegfried responded.

“Not up for an actual talk?” Joystick asked, finally getting on Siegfried’s nerves.

“No, and if I wanted to talk to someone it would not be with a creature that should not even exist!” Siegfried hissed softly to not wake up Rarity. He was face to face with Joystick, his rage pouring out from his eyes and making the unicorn stallion take a few steps back, his ears pressed against his head.

“Alright… I just wanted to know. You’re our friend after all… Friends stick together,” Joystick said weakly as he backed off towards his bed.

“I do not desire… a false salvation,” Siegfried said softly as he laid back on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. “Damned Soul Edge…”

**** **** **** ****

The botanical gardens was dark as the sun had almost finished setting in the horizon, bathing the giant conservatory in an orange glow. Eve and Nyx had been asking around for the gardens – mostly Eve since the moment Nyx spoke, people ran as quickly as they could – and they soon found it.

Tending to his plants was a man in a straw hat and denim overalls with straps over his shoulders. He was humming a small tune as he transplanted some beautiful flowers into the bed and stood back, admiring his work.

The pair walked down some stairs towards him as the man sat down by a table where a strange nearly white bottle with black markings and a small book were placed on. Alastor arced a few times, despising the tranquil scene he had been brought into.

“I’m sorry but the garden is closed for today,” The man said with a sincere smile.

“Who are you?” Eve asked flatly.

“I forgot my name a long time ago. No need for one when you have plants for friends,” The man responded, not missing a beat as if he had rehearsed the line several times.

Nyx had walked towards the table with Eve and leapt up onto the table. As Eve spoke to the man, Nyx’s eyes caught the man’s signature next to a line drawing of some flowers: Igor Planter.

“Eve! It’s him!” Nyx shouted happily. Alastor sighed with relief, praying that the man would put up a fight.

Igor turned around in shock, “Did that thing just speak?!”

Eve ignored his outburst entirely, “We found you.”

“Are you playing a game with me?” Igor asked incredulously, keeping his eyes on Nyx.

Eve pulled out the poster she took from Train earlier before the pair left and presented it to Igor. “We are what you would call ‘Sweepers.’”

“‘Sweepers?’ Both of you?” He asked, reaching for the bottle. “Why?”

“You killed two hikers,” Nyx said sadly as she recounted what Sven told them what he was convicted for.

“They were killing the plants what was I supposed to do!?” He exclaimed, his personality shifting on its head.

“Not kill them,” Eve responded with no hint of emotion in her voice.

“Tell me… would you kill an innocent flower?” He said, walking up to Eve, making her retreat a little. She stepped back and her foot landed into the flowerbed, crushing a magnolia. “Don’t step on the flowers!!”

He swung at Eve with a hoe, aiming to bash her head in. As it neared her head, she got tackled to the ground by Nyx, sparing her from Igor’s attack.

“Thanks,” Eve said as she got up, finding they had wound up in the flowers, crushing them with their bodies.

Igor bellowed with rage as he popped the cork of the strange bottle and drank. He picked up some form of fertiliser and threw it, the lip of the bag open, allowing the contents to spill out into the ground. Thick, green vines burst from the ground, wrapping Eve and Nyx’s bodies up.

“You think you have the world fooled but I can see you for the monster you truly are,” Igor said, his voice deepened from the drink for some odd reason. “You look all sweet and innocent on the outside and yet that’s all a façade for the demon within you.”

Nyx was unable to tell if he was referring to her or Eve. But his intent became clearer as he walked up to the Alicorn. “You… you will never escape the sins of your past. They will always be there, haunting you to the end of your days!”

Nyx felt on the verge of tears at his outburst. She was still just a filly in body and - in some regards - so were her thoughts. Her past was always there to remind her of what she had done in both worlds. She may be a hero in one but she still carries the guilt of her past sins in the other.

“Ah!” Igor shouted, clutching his body in pain. Nyx turned around to see Eve had severed one of the vines holding her, with a blade that came from the end of her arm.

Eve’s true nature as a bio-weapon reared its head as the blade continued to slice through the rest of the vines, making them fall to the floor to rot. Igor shouted in pain and left Nyx alone long enough for her to collect herself and grab Alastor in her magic.

Igor’s pain intensified as the lightning blade tore straight through her binds with nary a care. She fell to the ground and stumbled, having forgotten she had been pulled into the air and that she had wings that could have softened the fall.

“Damn you!” Igor shouted as Eve and Nyx stood side by side, blade-hand raised and Alastor in hoof.

He took another draught of the bottle, finishing it off as his body warped from the contents of the bottle. His muscles grew in mass and definition, it made him look like a professional bodybuilder. Several vines similar to the ones he had sprout from the ground came out of his back as well and his complexion became green.

Eve’s eyes showed the expression of shock, making Igor chuckle. “Like it?”

More vines burst from the ground, wrapping them up and gripping Nyx by her horn, cutting off her concentration as her horn felt like it was on fire from the pain coming from the vine’s vice-like grip. The vines had also wrapped around the barrel of her body, pressing her wings uncomfortably against her sides.

A massive flower burst from the ground with razor-sharp teeth and ready to eat both Eve and Nyx in one go. Igor chuckled as the head opened up. “You two will make excellent feed for my garden.”

In an instant the chaos came to a standstill as a gunshot rang out, coming from the entrance, “Sorry to keep you waiting, Princess.”

“Train!” Eve said happily as she landed on the ground, thanks to Train’s bullet severing the vine, allowing her to cut the rest.

Another shot from Hades rang out, allowing Nyx to cut herself free. She fell to the ground where Eve caught her, carefully putting her on the ground before the blade she had turned her hand into reappeared.

“I’ll make… you all pay!!” Igor shouted as more vines burst from the ground and came at the group.

Train deftly dodged the vines with grace and incredible speed. Eve sliced the vines as they came for her while Nyx did the same. Igor began to look smug as the group continued to dance around.

“Do you like flowers?” Igor asked maliciously.

Before train could answer, a very thin vine flew past Train’s eyes, spewing a pink mist. Sadly for Train, Nyx intercepted it by sheer reflex and they both got sprayed in the eyes, blinding them. Distracted, Eve got tied up again by the one trick pony Igor Planter.

Gunshots and a highly ticked off Twilight in Rage Mode burst through into the gardens. Magenta blades tore through the stem of the giant flower, sending its head to the ground. Sven and Rinslet had pulled out conventional handguns and pelted Igor with bullets to no effect.

Nyx flailed about as her eyes stung harshly, Use me.

“Wha-?” Nyx said aloud.

There is a reason you are not a mare! Alastor bellowed in Nyx’s mind, Use me!

Nyx felt about her body for the blade and gripped the handle tightly. She concentrated as the blade began to arc with increasing intensity. Air began to blow about as the sky above darkened. A blast of lightning blew a giant hole through the conservatory, travelling towards her, using Alastor like a lightning rod as Nyx Devil Triggered. The action distracted Igor’s focus long enough for Train to aim Hades at the pendant Igor had hanging around his neck.

A single gunshot ran out as Hades pierced the pendant and tore into Igor’s shoulder. At first Igor didn’t so much as flinch until the wound burst out with green blood akin to sap from a tree.

“What’s happening?” Igor said with confusion and fear as his body began to contort horribly.

Two minutes later, Sven lit a cigarette while Nyx fell out of her DAT state but idly enough remained a fully grown mare. Twilight explained that it was most likely due to Alastor tricked Nyx into Triggering and pouring demonic energy into her body and making her a full grown mare once more. It was how she explained the last time she had a ‘growth spurt.’

Igor Planter stood in the botanical gardens, a common tree and making their bounty worthless. The group had no choice but to turn around and give up on getting any money for the time being.

**** **** **** ****

The trip into Egypt was uneventful as the group parted ways with the captain, thanking him for rescuing them. Egypt was a desolate, barren desert, save for the odd pyramid and a little flora dotting the landscape sporadically.

“So, where are we off to next, darling?” Rarity asked.

“We head for the Far East but by foot this time. I’ve had enough boat travel to last me a lifetime,” Siegfried said callously as he walked off into the desert, showing contempt for the heat and sand.

The three trekked into the landscape once Siegfried paid for some provisions that Joystick offered to carry. Rarity refused profusely to carry anything heavy and so carried their food and drink. To her chagrin, the food and water were actually heavy but Siegfried’s expression told her there was no take backs.

The good thing about the boundless desert was the fact that it was impossible to get ambushed as there was almost nothing to hide behind. Despite this comforting thought, Siegfried maintained constant vigilance, especially when the package on his back began to react to something.

In the distance stood a temple, a form of worshiping grounds to a deity long since forgotten. The walls were weathered, eroded from the sand as it acted like sandpaper, slowly scuffing the sandstone down. It stood several stories high and would provide excellent shelter from the sun.

“We stay here till nightfall. Easier to walk when the heat is gone,” Siegfried stated.

The unicorns nodded their heads as they placed their provisions down. It wasn’t much but Siegfried had some money with him, quite a bit actually. It made Rarity question his background somewhat but given the fact he put up a proverbial wall whenever they wanted to learn about him, she decided to ignore her curiosity.

As they waited for the sun to set, Siegfried found an empty hall to train himself. It kept his combat skills and his senses in top form, lest the unexpected occurred and he was unprepared. Requiem swung in the air as Siegfried trained. Rarity and Joystick decided to leave him alone to his musings and weapon.

“What is his damage?” Joystick asked.

“He’s scarred,” Rarity said with a hint of sorrow in her voice, “He may not say it but I can see it in his eyes. He did something he wished to take back but can’t… he needs a friend even if he won’t admit it just yet.”

Joystick nodded his head in understanding, “Alright. He’ll open up when he’s ready…”

“Yes he will. And he will find the both of us there when he does,” Rarity said with a smile.

**** **** **** ****

“Dragons!” A griffon shouted as a massive number of dragons were identified and began to swoop down on them.

“They want a piece of us?!” Bloodwing cried out. “Tell the fleet to come about and let’s give them a show!”

The ships, including the Arbiter groaned as they were forcibly turned around hard, bringing the dragons within in sight of a full broadside attack. The 54th Fleet all floated in a line, weapons ready as the dragons flew closer.

“Wait for it… wait for it…” Bloodwing said slowly, the gunners in the airships were hanging on his every word, claws by the firing controls, ready to press at a moment’s notice. “Fire!”

The Fleet fired in unison, a massive deafening shockwave echoed through the sky and made trees below lose their foliage instantly as the shockwave alone tore them off. Dragons fell to the ground in droves from the attack, making Bloodwing smile.

“Reload and ready to fire again!” Bloodwing ordered.

The sounds of cannons reloading on the firing decks rang through the ships as new targets were allocated to each ship. The dragons were either stupid or brave but Bloodwing did not care in the slightest, they would all line the ground at the end of the day.

“Fire!” Bloodwing shouted. “Bring us about and ready the main gun!”

The helmsgriffon responded and the Arbiter’s bow faced the dragons and the blast doors concealing the Revengeance opened up to allow the massive gun to fire.

“Fire!” Bloodwing shouted once again.

The shockwave of the improved Revengeance rang through the landscape, the shockwave visible for a mile before dissipating. The Arbiter rocked violently from the shockwave as the recoil was greatly increased due to the new firing mechanisms in the base of the gun.

Griffons shouted, holding onto the most stable thing they could find and found only one Griffon to be laughing. Bloodwing picked himself off the floor with a smile on his face. “Now that was fun!”

**** **** **** ****

Trixie and Applejack were beaming, proud of their achievement once the horror they had faced was far away from them. The Rogues were going to sweep the Monastery to get rid of any remaining creatures while the pair went with Deckard Cain and Warriv to Lut Gholein.

The pair had finally noticed they were covered in blood, sweat and dust surprisingly. On their way they did encounter a spring before the grassy, forest-ridden lands gave way to rolling hills of sand. The heat was nigh unbearable due to the ponies’ warm coats. Applejack was used to working in the heat but this was unprecedented levels of heat and zero humidity.

“How much longer is it until we reach Lut Gholein?” Trixie asked as she drank from her third flask of water, lapping up the precious liquid as if it were the only thing that mattered.

“I apologise,” Warriv replied. “Lut Gholein is still another couple of days from here.”

“Another couple of days?!” Trixie shouted incredulously. “How can this be?!”

“Lut Gholein is not only in the desert, it is also on the coast.” Deckard Cain responded, “No doubt the Dark Wanderer has made his way here after bringing Andariel to thwart our attempt to pursue him.”

“‘Pursue?’ We don’t even know ‘im!” Applejack said as the wind howled, making the mares grip their hats tightly. “Confound this wind!”

That was the end of their conversation as the group carried on, trekking through the seemingly boundless desert as each sand dune gave way to even more without any sign of letting up.

To make matters worse for the mares, the wind was kicking up sand and the particles eventually got through their coats and struck their skin. It was painful and made them realise the humans were more than likely worse off.

The hours rolled on, the mares lost count but the heat was beginning to let up and – thankfully – so was the wind. The blue empty sky made way for the dark, black sky as the stars began to appear slowly.

The group made camp soon after the sun had finally set and the night had set in. Warriv’s caravan had set up a few tents, one for Warriv, one for Cain and one for the mares since they did not take up as much room as the humans individually.

Warriv removed a little firewood to make a small firepit, which Trixie set alight once it was ready. The camels Warriv had carrying the luggage were fast asleep once the group had begun to eat. The mares had a few leaves of lettuce, carrots and an apple or two. Trixie had one while Applejack had the rest.

“Apple hick,” Trixie teased.

“Now that’s mighty rude,” Applejack replied, offended.

“Let us not partake in any arguments,” Cain said rather forcefully. “You two killed a Lesser Evil and that is no small feat.”

“Trixie does not know the meaning of the word ‘small,’” Trixie replied with pride in her voice.

“Is that why yer with Thunderlane?” Applejack replied quickly.

Trixie’s cheeks went crimson, “W-wha-I-I… Applejack!” she spluttered, almost choking on her food. “This is not the time to talk about our personal lives!”

“Ye seemed happy ta call me a ‘hick,’” Applejack deadpanned.

“…Fine…” Trixie replied. Note to self: watch words with Applejack. Tends to know more than she lets on.

Author's Notes:

Yay another Part 1! Critiques, misspellings and the like do inform me and I shall address them. I seemed to make White a bit more of a douche here and Luna is rather... dark... Oh well.

Trust Issues (Part 2)

The Shadow of a King
Trust Issues (Part 2)
Author: Draconis187

An Agency helicopter hovered over a small village near one of Panau’s islands’ beaches, preparing to throw out the occupant. The pilot did not find it funny to fly through a storm of gummy bears raining from green clouds that tasted of greengage jell-o.

Nor did Kane find it amusing to find her guns insult her with every conceivable cuss word known to both mankind, ponykind and everything else in between. The pilot breathed a sigh of relief as Discord looked down to the village he was supposed to enter.

“Get out of here!” Kane shouted as she tried to boot Discord out the helicopter’s side. She missed of course when Discord teleported, causing her to tumble and fall out the side… without a parachute.

As the woman flailed about, Discord reappeared beside her, humming a tune and reading The Foal Free Press. How he had gotten his claws on it, he wouldn’t tell. He even conjured up a thick monocle to complete his ‘look.’

“Tell me, do humans fly?” Discord asked as they fell to the ground below. “I know that you have those contraptions but can you fly on your own?”

“Does it look like it, you idiot?!” Kane shouted, flailing her arms and legs about.

Discord shook his head disapprovingly, “Tsk tsk. Did your parents never teach you manners?”

“I’ll wring your neck!” Kane snapped at him.

Discord proceeded to literally pull his ears off and stash them away in his coat, “I can’t hear you. Lalalala.”

As the ground came perilously close, Kane braced herself for impact and closed her eyes. The next thing she knew, the loud roar of the helicopter’s rotors assaulted her ears. She opened her eyes to find herself sat in the back of the helicopter, before she attempted to kick Discord out of it.

“You alright, ma’am?” The pilot asked.

Kane nodded her head, “I am fine. Get us out of here, that thing is really getting on my nerves.”

“Roger that,” The pilot responded as he pulled the flight stick back, pulling the helicopter’s nose up as it began to fly backwards before turning around and flying off.

Discord stood behind a fuel tank that had been built just outside the village. It stood taller than a man as it lay on its side, a single red band of paint with the white Panauan star on the strip. Discord looked at it for a few seconds, wondering what chaos he could create from it.

“Hey!” A familiar voice shouted. Discord looked around to find Rico pointing two revolvers at him, one aiming for Discord’s head, the other aiming for what Rico assumed was his nether regions.

Discord rolled his eyes, making them pop out of his skull and roll over to Rico, stopping to look up at him. He hesitated a little, the scene making him more disgusted than angry. “Not one move, hombre.”

Discord merely chuckled at Rico. “Do you honestly think you can scare me with those paltry weapons?”

“I thought Kane was going to kill you?” Rico said.

“Well, now I’m here to help you spread chaos!” Discord said happily.

Rico just looked at him. “Do you even know how to spread chaos?”

“Of course! I am the embodiment of chaos, of course I’d know how to spread it! Watch!” Discord said with slight annoyance. Some human walks up to him and insinuates that he doesn’t know how to cause chaos? Ridiculous!

Discord snapped his fingers and all hell broke loose in an instant. People floated in mid-air, wearing clothing made from fruit and vegetables, singing a multitude of Equestrian songs simultaneously. The Panauan soldiers found their guns looking at them, complaining loudly about poor maintenance and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t let go of the complaining firearms as they spat blackcurrant jelly beans at their faces.

**** **** **** ****

The Council listened intently to the recording the Quarian had taken from a Geth’s memory core. She was lucky to have gotten anything at all since they fried their memory cores upon death. It was only, Sheppard, Udina, the Quarian – who had introduced herself as Tali’Zorah nar Rayya – and Anderson. Pinkie and the others stood a short distance away from the platform, listening to what the Council’s reaction was going to be.

“Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit,” A voice identical to Saren’s said from the holographic interface of Tali’s Omnitool.

“And one step closer to the return of the Reapers,” A second, more feminine voice said.

“This evidence is irrefutable. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be carried out to bring him to answer for his crimes,” The Turian Councillor said with evident anger in his voice.

“I recognise the other voice: Matriarch Benezia,” The Asari Councillor said solemnly.

“Who’s she?” Sheppard asked.

“Matriarchs are powerful Asari who have entered the final stage of their lives. Revered for their wisdom and experience, they serve as guides to my people. Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic and she had many followers. She would make a powerful ally for Saren,” She replied.

“I’m more curious about these ‘Reapers.’ What do we know about them?” The Salarian Councillor asked.

“Only what we got from the core. They were a race of sentient machines that wiped out the Protheans and then mysteriously vanished,” Anderson replied.

“The Geth seem to believe the Reapers are gods. And Saren is going to try bring them back,” Sheppard said.

“We believe this Conduit is the key to their return. That’s why Saren attacked Eden Prime for the beacon,” Anderson said.

“Do we even know what this ‘Conduit’ is?” The Salarian Councillor inquired.

“Not yet, but if Saren’s after it, it can’t be good,” Sheppard replied.

“Just listen to yourselves for a minute here!” The Turian Councillor said with annoyance. “Where did these Reapers go? Why did they vanish? If they really existed, we would have found something by now!”

“You doubted me just a short while ago and I proved you wrong,” Sheppard said, scowling at the Turian Councillor. “Feel like making it two for two?”

“You tell them, Sheppard!” Pinkie shouted encouragingly.

“That was different. You proved he betrayed the Council,” The Asari Councillor said.

“The Reapers are obviously just a myth, Commander. A lie Saren is using to bend the Geth to his will,” The Salarian Councillor said. “There is no evidence to the contrary I’m afraid.”

“Fifty thousand years ago, the Reapers wiped out the Protheans. If Saren finds this Conduit, it will happen again,” Sheppard argued.

“Saren is nothing more than a rogue agent on the run for his life,” The Turian Councillor said, his annoyance apparent to all.

“That’s not good enough!” Udina shouted, finally deciding to voice his opinion. “You know he’s hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send your fleet in!”

“A fleet can not track down one man,” The Salarian Councillor reasoned. “If we sent a fleet out, we could start a war with the Terminus Systems.”

“Then send me,” Sheppard said. “I can take him down.”

“The Commander’s right,” The Asari Councillor agreed, “There is a way to stop Saren without fleets or armies.”

“No i-” The Turian Councillor failed to complete his response as a cupcake collided with his face. “Wha-”

The Councillor wiped the treat off his face, getting some on his tongue and sending his taste buds on a ride they never knew possible. He stopped talking instantly.

“You don’t have to send a fleet and the Ambassador gets his Human Spectre, everybody’s happy,” Sheppard said, capitalising on Pinkie’s confectionary ‘assistance.’

The Councillors looked at each other and nodded, pressing a button on the console panels in front of them. The Asari Councillor spoke first, “Commander Sheppard, step forward. It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the rights and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance Branch of the Citadel.”

The Salarian Councillor spoke next, “"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions lift them above the rank and file.”

“Spectres are an ideal, a symbol, the embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will,” The Asari Councillor said.

“Spectres bear a great burden. Both our first and last line of defence, the safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold,” The Turian Councillor said.

Pinkie jumped into the air as she threw a multitude of streamers, balloons and confetti. As Sheppard looked around to look at the party pony, he found a huge banner with the N7 logo on it and the words ‘Congrats Sheppard!’ on the somewhat colossal banner as it hung above their heads.

Many of the Citadel races just looked at it with confusion, astonishment and a tad amount of fear as it went up too fast for one of them to see. The group chalked it up to Pinkie being Pinkie.

**** **** **** ****

Rico was unsure of how to react to Discord’s version of ‘chaos.’ Granted everything went pear-shaped in an instant but it wasn’t how he operated. The rational part of his mind told him that if he could have done that, Rico was in deep trouble for dragging his body along the ground earlier.

“That isn’t the kind of chaos I was referring to,” Rico said as a wooden shanty roared at one of the soldiers, making him brown his trousers.

Discord tapped his chin, “Ah yes. Kane said about you spreading chaos by… blowing things up. Like this metal tank for instance.”

“Anything owned be the Panauan Government, yeah,” Rico said as he pulled a triggered explosive off his belt. “Stand back.”

Discord complied as Rico tossed the charge, attaching it to the side of the fuel tank. Rico walked down one of the dirt paths while Discord hung upside down from a vine, humming a tune.

Rico pressed the trigger and the fuel tank exploded in a colourful fireball, smoke billowing out of the torn metal casing as shrapnel flew about the area. People who weren’t affected by Discord’s magic – because he just wanted to see their reactions to everything around them – shouted and panicked even more.

“Why didn’t you say so?” Discord said cheerfully as he snapped his fingers. The nearby petrol station spontaneously exploded, firing fireworks all over the place, making the sound of Discord’s rather maniacal laughter.

Rico observed the instant destruction with an impressed expression on his face. “I think you and I will get along just fine. Just don’t do it to me.”

“If you don’t try to shoot me, stab me, or attempt to harm me in any way… deal,” Discord said, extending his lion’s paw to Rico.

Rico looked at it and holstered his guns. He firmly gripped Discord’s soft paw and the pair shook their respective appendages with mutual respect.

“You may want to think about wearing something to disguise your appearance,” Rico said. “Others may not take too well to seeing… you.”

Discord chuckled as he snapped his fingers. A small flash of light emanated from his body, making Rico look away as Discord’s appearance changed.

“How’s this, Ricky boy?” Discord said.

Discord looked like an average, middle-aged man with a tan cashmere coat over a white shirt. He wore a pair of gloves, one a bright yellow while the other was more gold in colour. He wore a pair of tan-coloured dress pants and a pair of discoloured shoes. His right shoe was green while his left was a darker shade of brown. His hair was white while his goatee still hung from his chin.

“Fine… and don’t call me ‘Ricky,’” Rico replied curtly.

“Sheesh, just trying to have a little fun,” Discord said, rolling his – still red – eyes. “So we’re partners from here on out, I take it?”

“That’s what Kane told me,” Rico replied. “She also said that you are to follow my orders to the letter, so listen carefully.”

Discord dug a piece of earwax out of his ear, flicking it away and causing a tree to turn into a sapling of a different type, “Sorry what was that? I’m kidding-” Discord said quickly as he saw Rico’s expression; rolling his eyes and sighing “-you people really have no sense of humour.”

“No time for humour when there’s a job to do,” Rico said. “Come on, we’re hitching a ride.”

The ‘ride’ in question turned out to be a green, military Humvee. It was a little beaten up, a few bullet holes riddled the sides and the windscreen was missing until Discord snapped his fingers and repaired the damage. Discord needed time to figure out a way home, so why not have a little fun while he was here?

**** **** **** ****

Pinkie was bouncing happily as the group made their way to the hangar where the Normandy was docked. The group found Udina and Anderson talking to each other near the docking hatch.

“Ah, Commander. I have big news, Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normandy,” Udina informed.

“She’s quick, quiet and you know the crew. A perfect ship for a Spectre,” Anderson said.

“Thank you sir,” Sheppard said, saluting Anderson. “I’ll take good care of her.”

“I know you will. Now onto Saren,” Anderson said. “He’s long gone so there’s no point trying to give chase, but we do know what he is after: the Conduit. He has his Geth scouring the Traverse looking for clues.”

“Geth have been reported on Feros before our colony there went dark and there have been sightings on Noveria,” Udina informed.

“Then let’s not waste anytime, everypony!” Pinkie cried out happily.

“Not yet, we have one more lead. The other voice: Matriarch Benezia? She has a daughter, a scientist no less who specializes in the Protheans,” Udina said.

“And one last thing, Pinkamena’s armour has been finished. It’s in a locker with her name on it inside,” Anderson said before Pinkie tackled him.

“Thankyouthankyou!” Pinkie said happily, hugging Anderson tightly.

“Something tells me this is going to be a looong trip,” Sheppard muttered as Wrex pulled her off Anderson while the others boarded the Normandy.

**** **** **** ****

Seaddle was an average pony city near the Griffon/Equestria border. The brick and glass city had the highest variety of ponies and Griffons who – until recently – went about rather boring, dull lives as the city saw very little excitement. It had turned out Seaddle sat on one of the Changelings’ larger Hives.

Broken Skies alongside the rest of the surviving Changeling Elites began to manage the Hives in a form of democracy. Drones were finally given names instead of numbers and Seaddle became a hub for all trade between the three species.

Deep below the city, within the winding tunnels and the bioluminescent flora that kept the caverns and tunnels lit at all times, two Changelings were talking to each other as they walked down the passageway.

“You sure it’s this way?” Legion asked.

“Of course,” Rebel replied with confidence. “Eighty-sixth tunnel on the left, twelfth one on the right after that and we should be- ah! Here we go!”

The cavern they entered was massive. The supporting columns had soft glowing vines running along them from the base to the ceiling, converging in a spider’s web above their heads. Drones buzzed, walked around and a group of ponies were being lead through the cavern as a Changeling gave them a tour.

The pair of Changelings walked through the cavern and down another tunnel. They ignored the breeding chambers and nurseries as their holey hooves echoed somewhat through the tunnels. The next cavern they entered was of similar design to the previous one but it was several sizes smaller.

The room had a simple-looking bed made of several layers of moss. Hanging on the wall above it was a halberd, far too large for either of them to handle on their own. Sat by a table in the corner with some documents floating about was a tall, slender Changeling that had zero difficulty walking on his hind legs.

“Yes?” Broken Skies asked as he turned to address the pair. He kept his face neutral as he gazed at them. “Rebel and Legion. What brings you to the Seaddle Hive?”

“We have news of Ponyville, Skies,” Legion said.

Broken Skies didn’t change his expression, “And?”

“The Elements have vanished and dragons are reported across Equestria. We seemed to have beaten them here or maybe they don’t want to attack Seaddle,” Rebel said.

Broken Skies walked over to his halberd and took it off its wall mount. “Anything else?”

“The Diamond Dogs have been reported to be more active as of late. I fear they are taking advantage of the confusion to raid small towns and rock farms in their search for gems and other precious items,” Legion said.

Broken Skies turned around, the tip of his halberd pointing at Legion’s muzzle, “We shall send word to the other Hives to investigate. I do not doubt your words but if we handle this incorrectly it may send an incorrect message. Our alliance is still unstable at best.”

Rebel and Legion saluted, “Sir yes, sir!”

**** **** **** ****

The alleyway on the far end of the docking bay was quite, save for a single person patrolling it. The Purity First member sighed in annoyance. He walked with his combat rifle held firmly in his hands while he smoked his third cigarette of the night.

On the nearby rooftop, three pairs of eyes were watching him intently as he turned around to walk in the direction of the Manufacturing Plant belonging to Sarif Industries. Adam loaded his Buzzkill Threat Negation Device – more commonly referred to as a stun gun – and nodded his head at Dash and Gilda.

Dash launched herself a little into the air and glided to the ground. The guard passed a storage shed used to store cleaning supplies that the janitorial crew sued to clean the loading dock with. As the guard passed by again, Adam activated the Infolink.

“Now,” He said, signalling Dash to make her move.

The guard was standing casually for one second but all of a sudden he fell unconscious as Dash silently crept out of the room and fired her own stun gun at point-blank range. The guard’s body convulsed a little before he fell to the ground in a heap. As Adam and Gilda got to the ground, Dash had just finished stashing the body in the room.

“We best hurry,” Adam said as he looked around the corner and to the docking area. “Keep to the edge of the docking area, time your movements and keep your wings closed so they don’t give you away.”

Gilda scoffed, “I say we just kill them. We’re a lot stronger than them.”

Dash sighed a little, “We’ve been though this-” Dash and Gilda kept to the edge with Adam, whispering to each other “-before G. If they die by our hooves it would only strengthen their cause.”

Gilda moved one of her bang feathers out of the way as they neared the wall to the main building. She hated the mission for several reasons. First was she couldn’t actually fly as her jets were too loud and could alert the nearby guards. Then there was the fact she was not allowed to use lethal force thanks to Jensen’s orders to take a stealthy, non-lethal approach.

Dash was given a stun gun, as was Jensen while Gilda received the PAX-22 tranquiliser rifle. Her new eye allowed her to aim it far better than she ever could before as it gave her information such as wind speed, target distance, target direction relative to her and its speed. Needless to say, the best shot in the Griffon Empire stood no chance against her now.

“Up there,” Adam whispered as he pointed to the roof.

Nodding their understanding – and keeping an eye on the patrols of course – they placed several containers on top of each other and Dash leapt onto them until she got to the roof.

“Dash in position,” She said softly over her Infolink.

“Good, while we go through the shipping and receiving section, you go through the ducts and get to Project Excelion. We will meet up after we complete our objectives and S.W.A.T. moves in,” Adam said as Gilda threw a small rock at a guard, distracting him long enough for Adam to get in by the standard employee’s entrance. Gilda followed soon after as the guard struck up a conversation with another, thinking he threw the rock.

“We’re in,” Gilda muttered as she and Adam moved behind some pallets, avoiding the patrols before climbing up a ladder on the far side of the room. On the wall was a closed vent, too high to reach normally. After finding a small crate, the pair climbed into the ventilation system.

Dash found the vents more accommodating to her smaller, athletic frame. She moved through them with more speed than Adam or Gilda would have. The new coats she and Gilda were given as uniforms were similar to Adam’s as they were more than likely made from the same tailor. The black leather coats covered most of their body but were designed to fit snugly over their flight prosthetics.

The lining in Gilda’s coat was flame-retardant due to her jets and both coats were thicker than normal as they were lined with Kevlar. Dash stopped at every opening, taking a look at the surrounding area and relaying information back to Gilda and Jensen as she went for her first objective.

**** **** **** ****

Celestia observed her ‘captor’ as they walked through the town of Raven Rock. It was a small settlement covered in ankle-deep snow, populated mainly by Nords. The Nerevarine was quick to find some form of leather and steel barding to cover Celestia’s wings while using an illusion spell to hide the horn.

This meant she needed to constantly focus her magic on the horn, which Celestia didn’t resist. In truth, the magic the Nerevarine was using allowed her to use her own magic without the Nerevarine noticing.

An abnormal calm feeling began to fall over the Nerevarine’s mind. It was gradual and unnoticeable at first until Celestia finally spoke up again.

“Where are you taking me?” She asked in a soothing voice.

“To Vvardenfell, to my home near Red Mountain,” She replied. She couldn’t understand it, she felt like she had to answer Celestia’s questions as if they were the only thing that mattered.

This had an adverse effect as the Nerevarine’s concentration fell and the illusion she was using dispelled, revealing Celestia’s horn glowing a bright yellow. She grabbed her blade and placed it by Celestia’s throat once again.

“So you can do magic?” She said in a cold tone.

Celestia’s horn stopped glowing, “Apologies for the deception but it was necessary.”

“You so much as dare do something like that again and I will slit your throat,” The Nerevarine threatened.

“This town would not be the best place for such a skirmish if that is what you desire,” Celestia replied calmly. “I do not wish to endanger the lives of this town’s residents.”

“I will carry out my threat, even in the middle of this town so do not test my patience,” The Nerevarine snapped back.

“Then I see it only fit to warn you that I will defend myself to the fullest extent of my magic,” Celestia replied.

“Like you would beat me,” The Nerevarine scoffed.

Celestia chose to not respond as they boarded a ship owned by a Dunmer. It was a descendant of Veresa Alver, another Dunmer who would offer passage to Fort Frostmoth for a fee. Gold and words were exchanged between the two women as Celestia laid down. If worst came to worst, she could fly off and find somepony who’d actually help her.

**** **** **** ****

Dash looked around a corner, stun gun at the ready. The hallway was empty save for some strange object staring straight back at her. It was the size of an average packing-crate with what Dash recognised were guns on its sides. It was a defensive turret, and it was staring at her with its video processers.

But that was all it did. Its targeting parameters did not account for a Pegasus and so didn’t perceive Dash as a threat. Sighing as she walked to the other side of the passageway as the turret watched her enter a room. She landed an uppercut to the jaw of another guard, using her normal hoof as her nanoceramic blade had a tendency to pop out at inopportune moments. With the security room secured, Dash activated her Infolink.

“Ok, I’m here. Disabling cameras,” She said as she pressed a few buttons. Hacking Jensen’s private computer with Gilda was paying off as she bypassed the password and brought up the display with several pictures as several cameras fed their information to the computer. Twilight would be proud of her but the thought made her realise she’d never hear the end of it from her scholarly friend.

Jensen looked around the corner in another section of the facility, spying a camera attached to the ceiling as it rotated around the room. A few moments later and the camera’s green LED lighting went black. Jensen moved into a room and found the Typhoon and a man with a hacking aug in his head. The man was scared as he shot himself in front of Jensen.

“Gilda, you have three near your position,” Dash said.

“Shards… alright, I see a vent. Hopefully there isn’t anyone in the room with the hostages,” Gilda responded as she climbed into the aforementioned vent.

“Hmm… no, you’re clear there. I’m disabling these cameras as well and moving on to my primary objective,” Dash said as she pressed a few buttons, making the cameras shut down.

“Good luck, Dash,” Gilda whispered as she climbed through the vent system.

“It’s me, G. What could happen?” Dash said with a smirk, hearing Gilda faceclaw.

The hostages were watching the timer on the bomb in their room slowly count down to zero. Some were praying to their various gods, others resigned themselves to their fate and waited while a few clung onto a rapidly failing hope that someone would save them.

A light clanging echoed through the vent on the wall behind the desk, drawing nearer. The vent opened up and the group saw a claw. Their eyes were ready to pop out of their skulls as Gilda climbed out, stretching her body, the motors in her wings softly whirring as she walked up to the device in the centre of the room.

An employee fainted on the spot but Gilda ignored her as she looked at the bomb, “Yo, Jensen? I’m here but… I don’t think we ever went over bomb disarming at your place.”

“It’s simple, just hack the keypad and disarm it,” Jensen whispered back as he snuck through a very large room on his way to confront Purity First’s leader: Ezekiel Sanders.

Gilda flexed her clawtips and began to hack the keypad. As she did, the counter went from a few minutes to a single minute. Gilda’s pupils shrank, “It didn’t work!”

“Can you see a tank of some form on it?” Jensen replied quickly.

“Yeah. I see it,” Gilda replied. “It’s pretty hard to miss.”

“Break it where it connects to the bomb,” Jensen said.

Gilda smiled broadly as she pulled her one claw backwards, her arm opening up and extending her nanoceramic blade. In one thrust, she impaled the blade into the space and – with her other claw holding the other side – pulled the tank off the bomb.

The counter reached zero and all the occupants cringed, looking away as Gilda dropped to the floor, the tank still in her claws. The bomb didn’t go off, making Gilda place the tank on the floor and sighing contentedly.

“Bomb’s dead,” She said with a satisfied smirk. “And I’m still kicking.”

“Good. I’m nearing my objective, Dash?” Adam replied.

“Just took care of the guards. I see the case, Project Excelion is secured. It’s all up to you with Sanders, Jensen,” Dash replied.

Gilda got up and got thanked by everyone who managed to get over the fact that a Griffon with augs just saved them. While she wasn’t expecting it, she appreciated the fact they didn’t scream and alert the still patrolling guards. Until S.W.A.T. arrived, she was going to have wait with the hostages and – from the way they were stroking her ego – she didn’t mind.

The case Dash picked up was made of stainless steel and weighed her down by a considerable amount. She chose to use her augmented leg to carry it and ease the burden on the rest of her body. The halls were dead as S.W.A.T. was already breaking in on the one side of the facility. With their jobs done, all that was left was to take in Sanders. If anyone could do it, it was Jensen since he managed to convince Gilda to take the stealthy approach and she was as hard-headed as they came.

As some S.W.A.T. members moved past her as they swept through the area, Dash heard something. It was very faint but she picked it up regardless.

Dash…

Dash’s eyes widened as she looked at the case, “N-Nevan?!”

**** **** **** ****

Boat travel always made Celestia feel a little ill. It never got bad enough for her to throw up but it was highly uncomfortable and if she ate, it only made it worse. Sadly, she was hungry and it was just as bad. The ship bobbed about the water as the sails caught the wind just right, propelling it across the waters.

“Hungry?” The shipmaster asked. Celestia looked up at her and her stomach answered the question for her. Smirking, the shipmaster gave her a few carrots and returned to the helm.

Regretfully she ate them. She knew of a spell to get rid of the seasickness but with the Nerevarine watching her horn with the intensity of her own sun back on Equestria, she decided it was better to wait it out.

The Nerevarine kept watch from a short distance, her hands holding onto a Dwemer bow that was built rather differently to a conventional bow. While it had the trademark colourations of the metal it was made from, it had a series of cogs working together in the centre for her to fire the arrows from. The cogs would spin at high revolutions and propel the arrow faster and further than a seasoned bowman could attempt.

Celestia was looking at some documents that she managed to get from the shipmaster. They were charts of the seas and a few maps of some countries she had never heard about. She prayed something, anything would be able to aid her situation and assist in getting her home.

The Nerevarine watched Celestia tap her hooves on the documents and was steadily growing more annoyed by it. “Would you stop that? It’s annoying.”

Celestia scowled, “Excuse me if I want to learn the layout of this land. This world is a little interesting and while I am currently residing here, I may as well learn as much as I can.”

Sighing, the Nerevarine walked up to her and sat down opposite her. “Fine then. I guess you can’t read?”

Celestia rolled her eyes, “I am perfectly literate but not in this language. This is a map of the world, is it not?”

The Nerevarine nodded at the map Celestia was pointing at, “It is the map of Tamriel. Cyrodiil, High Rock, Black Mars-”

Celestia’s eyes widened, she had heard of these names before from someone she knew. Baral spoke of such countries, each predominately populated by varying species.

“Is there a Skyrim?” Celestia asked as she held her breath. This could be her chance to get home. Baral knew of a Shout that Discord gave him to travel back to Equestria.

The Nerevarine raised an eyebrow, “Why?”

“It’s very important. Please…” She pleaded.

The Nerevarine pointed to a spot on the map, “That is Skyrim, homeland of the Nords.”

Celestia smiled broadly, she was genuinely happy as she now had a goal to get to but she would need a guide to get there and find Baral before she could ever get back home to her subjects.

“I need to get there… please,” She implored.

“Now why would you want to go to Skyrim?” The Nerevarine asked.

“There is someone I know there who can help me return home,” Celestia responded. Trying to lead her on with a lie may have been more ideal but given the Nerevarine’s more violent and untrusting demeanour, she decided against it.

“Your friend can travel between worlds?” The Nerevarine asked.

Celestia nodded, this sparked the scholar in her to show interest in Celestia’s friend. If he/she could travel between worlds, she wanted to find out how, why and if she could do it as well. She did have a cape that allowed her to travel to a pocket dimension where she stored a variety of precious items but it was not true interdimensional travel.

She gave Celestia her usual cold look and nodded her head before getting up, “Alver! Change of plans! We are heading for Skyrim!”

**** **** **** ****

Vergil looked up to the sky as the dragons continued to circle overhead. They hadn’t been attacking for the past half hour so Dante ran off to investigate, leaving the calmer brother to ponder the dragons’ actions.

“What do you know of these beasts?” He asked coolly to Bon Bon as she laid on the couch.

“Well, I don’t know all that much other than hearsay. Tough, brash and very quick to anger,” She responded. “Only one with a lot of strength or combat expertise can take them down and you two were taking them down without a sweat.”

“It only seems effortless from the outsider’s point of view,” Vergil replied. “My skill is formidable but – and it wounds my pride to admit this so if you tell anyone, I will deny it – even one fighter can’t win against insurmountable opponents.”

“I see what you mean,” Bon Bon said sadly. “Why are they just hovering up there though?”

“I would understand that they are waiting for something,” Vergil replied. “As to what it is, I am unsure so we’ll need to wait to ascertain what it is once Dante returns.”

“I don’t like waiting, it’s very unnerving,” Bon Bon said with a hint of fear in her voice.

“Understandable. I just want Dante to return from his excursion so we can figure out what these beasts are waiting for,” Vergil said callously as he looked to the door leading to the outside world.

The door opened with a thunderous crash as a blur of brown entered the room, whining from several injuries along its body as the heavy wooden door broke into splinters, littering the floor and the body. The blur was – in Vergil’s opinion – the ugliest looking dog in the universe. It appeared able to stand on its hind legs if its stature was any indication, its body was thick with strong muscles under the brown fur which was steadily becoming a deep red.

Vergil stayed where he stood, his hand holding onto Yamato’s handle as he waited for the beast to make its move. His thoughts were interrupted as another, more annoying voice called his name.

“Verg! Looks like the pound opened up! It’s an all you can beat buffet!” Dante said with a grin.

Vergil slowly facepalmed, “What are you blathering on about?”

“These guys are raiding the town, taking anything precious,” Dante replied, looking at Vergil as he fired three rounds into the hound’s head from Ebony. “And they look like dogs – rather ugly ones at that – and where do stray, ugly dogs live? A pound.”

“Your verbal acumen is to be commended,” Vergil said sarcastically before looking at Bon Bon. “Do you know what these mongrels are?”

“Diamond Dogs but… they don’t normally raid towns,” Bon Bon said slowly as she was horrified by the dead Diamond Dog on the floor. ‘It’ll take forever to get those bloodstains out of Lyra’s great-aunt’s carpet!’

“It is safe to assume we now know what the dragons were waiting for,” Vergil replied as he walked to the door as Dante holstered Ebony and grabbed Rebellion’s handle. “It appears they are working in tandem.”

**** **** **** ****

Fluttershy used Hatred to bombard a Glorft mech to pieces. The demonic missiles destroyed the joints in her target and sent it tumbling to the ground in a large heap. She and MEGAS had already accumulated a high number of metal corpses as more kept coming.

As Fluttershy readied Grief as she landed on a mech’s shoulders, it flew off to join a number of others who just stood there. Fluttershy flew over to MEGAS and landed on its shoulder, readying Hatred once again.

“Oh no…” Kiva said softly as several mechs began to retract some of their parts and shift form, attaching themselves to one another.

Coop looked on while Fluttershy’s eyes widen as the mechs combined into a single, massive mech that dwarfed MEGAS. The blue robot stood as tall as its foot. The last part to attach to the gigantic machine was Gorrath’s mech, acting as the head and main control node for the mech.

“I am going to enjoy this,” Gorrath said with a malicious smile as he flicked MEGAS away with a single, metal finger.

MEGAS flew into a building, crushing it under its weight. Fluttershy looked up at the machine, seemingly going on forever as it ignored her and lumbered towards MEGAS.

“W-what do I do?” She muttered as she hovered in place. “The armour on there must be thicker than my house is wide.”

As the UMD closed in on MEGAS, Jamie looked at Coop and sighed, “Well, Coop. If we’re going to die, I want you to know something.”

“Yeah?” Coop responded.

“This is all your fault!” Jamie shouted.

Coop grabbed the controls and fired MEGAS’ thrusters, launching them into the air in time to avoid the UMD’s huge foot. Coop looked around and pressed a button that read ‘won’t work.’

MEGAS opened up every missile bay the robot had and fired them all simultaneously. They collided with the UMD, creating a huge fireball and covering the UMD in smoke.

“Alright!” Coop shouted happily. His expression fell as the smoke cleared and the UMD was still unscathed. “Oh come on!”

Fluttershy assaulted one of the UMD’s legs with Agni and Rudra, trying to tear her way into the mech. Gorrath noticed her and flicked her away like a fly. Before the UMD’s finger made contact with her body, Fluttershy activated Beowulf and tried to block the attack. While she wasn’t completely injured, she was thrown into the air where Coop caught her with MEGAS’ hand.

“You alright?” He asked as he placed closed the roof and placed Fluttershy inside, next to Kiva.

“I’ll live,” Fluttershy responded.

“Prepare to meet your end, monkey-man,” Gorrath insulted as the UMD closed in on them.

“You listen here you sick, twisted, disgusting, walking creep!” Coop shouted with righteous fury. “You tear up my town, throw me around like a rag doll and tried to kill us on several occasions but no one – and I mean no one – hurts this yellow horse! It’s go time, pal!”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes, “Is he always like this?”

Kiva nodded, “Always…”

Fluttershy looked to Beowulf on her hooves and recalled the missiles Coop fired earlier. While Whirlwind Sprint would give her some speed, the boost was only temporary and only good at close range if she was using the Devil Arm. It was worth a shot anyway.

“Fire me,” Fluttershy said.

“What?” Coop asked as he dodged another attack by the UMD.

“Fire me from one of those tubes. I should gain enough speed to land a hit on it and cause sufficient damage,” Fluttershy responded.

After a very short, heated argument which still involved manoeuvring around the UMD’s attacks, Fluttershy was placed inside a missile tube in MEGAS’ arm and the robot pointed it high into the air. The robot fired her high into the air as she held onto a missile. Kiva disarmed the warhead, allowing Fluttershy to ride it as high as the fuel would take her.

As it ran out of fuel, Fluttershy leapt off it and came back down to earth. She entered her DAT state with Beowulf and came rocketing down, flying faster than she ever thought she could. In the back of her mind, she knew Rainbow would be proud of her guts for travelling at such a speed.

“Sir…” The Glorft Commander said, interrupting Gorrath.

“What is it Commander?!” He shouted. “Why are you constantly interrupting me?!”

“We have an incoming object travelling at high speed,” The Commander responded.

Gorrath activated one of the UMD’s monitors to look and all the colour instantly left his slimy face, “Uh oh.”

“WULD NAH KEST!!” Fluttershy Shouted. Her attack collided with the UMD’s head and shattered the metal apart with the force of a supernova as the blast encompassed a large section of New Jersey.

The UMD broke apart, exploding as the mechs ejected their pilots via escape pods. The mangled wreck collapsed to the ground, its body torn asunder from Fluttershy’s attack. As MEGAS walked up to the wreckage to retrieve Fluttershy, the mare found her vision blurring before fading to black as a large hand gently picked her up.

Author's Notes:

Another chapter done. Grammar issues and the like or any complaints please submit it in writing into the comments below.

Turning Up the Heat (Part 1)

The Shadow of a King
Turning up the heat (Part 1)
Author: Draconis187

Four Thunderhawks roared and clattered about as they entered the atmosphere of planet Calderis with four groups of Space Marines loading and double-checking their various weapons. Spitfire checked the blood red armour she was given for a moment, still finding it hard to believe she was given it in the first place and on such short notice. Several Techpriests performed several rites on the entire set, giving the smaller mare more protection and allowing her to be able to use the power armour without the painful surgery every Space Marine went through before joining.

It looked pretty standard in colour and design with its red and minor gold adorning the chest area but she lacked the heavy pauldrons on her shoulders. Her wings were inside the armour, unable to be move but the area was heavily padded to avoid discomfort and second-hand injury. To make up for it, she had a large jetpack strapped to her back with the symbol of the Blood Ravens on it.

“Now then. Your orders are to assist Davian Thule and repel the Orks attacking his position,” Angelos said over the intercom system she had in the collar of her armour. “You are to listen to Thaddeus’ every order as well as any other superior officer, is that understood?”

“Understood, sir,” Spitfire responded as she pulled the charging bolt on her Bolter back, loading the first round. She also had a standard chainsword on her side, ready for use as it whirred softly.

The Thunderhawk opened its doors and the Assault Marines began to jump out, igniting their jetpacks as they neared the ground to soften their landing. They all still landed relatively hard on the ground as the rock cracked under their feet but not one of them were injured in any significant manner. Spitfire didn’t even feel the impact from within the armour.

No sooner did they touch down, a group of Orks noticed their loud arrival and began to open fire. Spitfire alongside Thaddeus and two other Assault Marines that made up their squad took cover behind some crates and a low rock formation. Blaster fire bounced off Spitfire’s armour, her armour absorbing most of the impact but she could still feel it trying to knock her over.

She and the Marines retaliated with their Bolters while Thaddeus and the other Marines got closer to the attacking Orks, still firing as they ran. Their jetpacks fired up, launching themselves at the Orks and pulling out their chainswords as they got close and slicing at them with fervour.

Thaddeus flew into an Ork, shoulder-first before he brought his chainsword down on the Ork’s head, cleaving its head apart and splattering its blood and – surprisingly real – brain across the scorching-hot ground. Spitfire got up from cover and found an Ork less than a metre away from her. Reacting, she pulled the trigger on her Bolter and the Ork’s body was torn apart as the Bolter shredded the Ork’s armour, staining the arid landscape behind him with his blood and body parts.

“Looks like you’ll do fine, Spitfire,” Thaddeus said as he took his chainsword out of an Ork’s chest, the chainsword cauterising the wound.

“Thanks. How far are we from Thule’s location?” Spitfire asked as she reloaded her Bolter.

“We are two clicks north of his position and we’ve landed behind enemy lines. Assault Marines, move out!” Thaddeus shouted as he fired up his jetpack, the rest following close by.

They flew over a tall wall, landing in a small settlement and directly into the line of fire again. Growing slightly more confident in her abilities with her armour and weapons, Spitfire moved up with the others as they charged, firing their Bolters until they got close to cleave their enemies apart with their chainswords.

The advancing Orks turned around to spy the group of Assault Marines attacking them from behind. One large Ork: a Warboss who was steadily climbing the bloodied and gore-lined path of the chain of command, turned around to order his boys to retaliate.

“Kill da ‘umies! For da Waaagh!!” The Warboss shouted. As the Nobz complied, another yell broke through their lines from the east.

“For the Blood Ravens!” Angelos tore through the side of the Orks’ offensive line as they were distracted by the Assault Marines. “Kill the Orks!”

**** **** **** ****

The caravan arrived in the scorching desert city of Lut Gholein. The city was built mainly with stone, clay and straw but they kept the occupants cool with their large windows which Trixie thought were just large holes the builders decided to leave open.

“So this ‘ere’s Lut Gholein?” Applejack asked.

“Yes, this is the port city of Lut Gholein. We stop the Dark Wanderer from finding the tomb of Tal Rasha and freeing Baal, Lord of Destruction,” Deckard Cain replied.

“Why’s he doin’ this anyway?” Applejack asked.

“I fear he has fallen prey to the very monster he supposedly slain in the labyrinth beneath Tristram,” Cain responded. “It is a very long and dark tale that spans many lives.”

“Well, we got the time,” Trixie replied. “Not like we can just up and leave.”

As the caravan stopped just inside the city and began to unload, the city’s residents and some travelling merchants that came with the caravan began to buy and pedal their wares respectively. Warriv waved goodbye as the trio as he wished to help the Rogues rebuild their monastery by bringing trade goods back.

“Well, it all happened quite some ag-” Cain’s story was interrupted as Trixie bumped into a woman in purple robes and promptly fell onto her rear.

“Pardon me, miss. I did not pay attention to where I was going,” Trixie apologised. The woman just didn’t seem to care and dusted herself off. “Uh… are you alright?”

“You’ll have to forgive me. I’ve suffered a terrible loss as of late but that’s not your problem,” The woman replied. “I am Atma and I run the tavern here in Lut Gholein.”

“What is wrong? I am sure we can help out. We can can’t we, Applejack?” Trixie said, looking at Applejack.

The farmer adjusted her Stetson and nodded, “Ah’ll say we can help out.”

“Well, if you want to help, I would be grateful. There is a foul beast that roams the sewers. Radament is its name. Its hunger for human flesh has already claimed my husband, my son as well as several others. Please if you can, slay this beast,” Atma implored.

“Shucks, ah’ll ya needed ta do was point us ta where ya’ll wanted us ta go,” Applejack said. “Killin’ monsters like ‘em is our specialty.”

“Quite. This beast shall rue the day it decided to plague this city. Let’s find ourselves a sewer monster,” Trixie said as she looked to Applejack.

“The entrance is just outside my tavern. The sailor Meshif may know of another entrance to the sewers, you may find him by the docks,” Atma said, a small sigh of relief escaping her lips as she pointed the mares to the docks in question.

“Thank ya kindly and don’t ya worry none, we’ll get that monster,” Applejack said as she and Trixie walked over to the docks.

**** **** **** ****

Another Ork was torn to shreds as Spitfire flew into its abdominal area, buckling its makeshift armour before bringing her chainsword upwards, killing it as it shredded past its groin and carried on upwards. She wanted to throw up in her helmet there and then but thankfully didn’t get a chance as she was fired upon, forcing her to seek cover and purge the thought.

The Warboss was getting angrier with each passing second as his Orks died around him. He brought a form of chainaxe down at Angelos, only for the Captain to block it with his hammer, God-Splitter. The two weapons were pushing their owners away as they battled in that moment to push the other away and gain the advantage.

The Orks attacking Davian Thule’s position were cut down as the Assault Marines came down at them from the air, tearing them apart in a bloody mess. One landed on an Ork’s head, smashing it into red paste as it collided with the floor. Thaddeus tore an Ork’s arm off before plunging his chainsword through the wound, and forcing the tip out through the Ork’s ribs.

“Forward, Marines! For the Emperor!” Davian shouted, rallying his men to charge the Orks’ position.

The Orks were in disarray as they were attacked from all sides, even the air thanks to the Assault Marines. The Warboss finally fell as Angelos slammed God-Splitter against the ground and forcing the Ork to fall backwards onto his back.

Capitalising on the Orks’ predicament, Angelos leapt into the air and brought his hammer down hard. The hammer shattered the Warboss’ chestplate and carried on through, crushing his ribs and leaving a large hole in his body.

“Thank the Emperor for your timely arrival, Gabriel. It has been a long time,” Davian said as he and Gabriel shook hands.

Davian was of similar build but it was hard to accurately tell from all the armour all the Marines wore. His right eye was missing, replaced by a whole technological apparatus to replace it and make him fit for battle. He treated Gabriel with respect and comradeship.

“Glad to see you too old friend,” Gabriel said with a smile. “What happened here?”

“We don’t know. The local Orks just all up and started to assault our bases. It’s strange,” Davian said before turning his attention to Spitfire. “What’s with the xeno?”

Spitfire looked at Davian, “I am Spitfire. It is a pleasure to meet you, Captain Thule.”

Davian looked at Spitfire, sizing her up as he reluctantly shook her hoof, “I’m sure… Angelos, are you certain bringing a xeno is a wise decision?”

“I will admit I had my doubts, Captain,” Angelos said, looking at Spitfire. “But her prowess in battle this day has removed such thoughts from my mind. She will be a formidable ally to our cause until such time she can return home.”

“I see… I shall honour and respect your judgement, Gabriel,” Davian said. “You’ve yet to prove me wrong of any bad decisions of recruits.”

The Marines broke off into groups of five men each. Thaddeus, Spitfire and the rest of the Assault Marines went with Davian to one of the towns, clearing it of stragglers with extreme prejudice. Spitfire had to admit that while the battles were very bloody and filled with gore – one had its head torn off then kicked up another’s rear before getting a chainsword through the back as it tried to retreat – she knew that she had little choice in the matter and had to make the best of it in order to live.

As they awaited further orders, Spitfire sat at the edge of a cliff near the town, dangling her forehooves over the edge. She looked out to the horizon and saw a few other towns with the faint glow of weapons fire as well as the odd, faint explosion. Davian walked up to her and breathed in deeply before speaking harshly.

“On your feet, soldier,” Spitfire was quick snap to attention, surprising Thule a little, “This town is secure. We are regrouping on the far ridge with one of my detachments, move out.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” Spitfire said as she saluted. As she looked out to the horizon once more, donning her helmet again, she noticed something odd with the sky above. “Captain, permission to speak freely?”

Davian blinked a little but nodded his head, “Granted.”

“Is the sky supposed to look like that?” She asked, pointing to the sky. It was murky brown, green colour and seemed to expand over the skies.

Davian looked to where she was pointing and scowled as a foul screeching noise echoed through the landscape, “No…”

**** **** **** ****

The sewers were just as Trixie imagined them to be: cold, dark, damp and stinking to high heaven. They encountered skeletons upon skeletons but their numbers didn’t deter the mares’ onslaught as they carried on through them. Applejack had to pull some of her swings, lest she sink Lut Gholein into their own sewerage system.

They began to encounter reanimated corpses, wrapped haphazardly in bandages. While they were slow without Trixie and Cerberus freezing them, they created a terribly pungent odour that make them feel sick to their stomachs and made them cough badly as the poison racked their bodies.

“Ugh… this place reeks,” Trixie complained. “Let’s just find this monster and be done with it.”

“Ah ain’t gonna disagree there,” Applejack agreed.

The tunnels were still fraught the undead but they couldn’t withstand the damage they had to try and withstand. One mummy collided with a tunnel grate and exploded upon impact, covering the ground in remains.

The formula was essentially the same as they kept going further down into the sewers. The tunnels opened up into a larger area, held up by large, supporting columns. Standing with several monsters was a tall mummy that towered over them. Its one hand had long, sharp nails and it wore a large, gold and onyx headdress.

“Uh oh…” Trixie muttered as the monster pointed to them, signalling its minions to attack. “I’ve got these upstarts. You take out big ugly over there!”

Applejack nodded and charged forward, swinging Volendrung around her body to knock back the charging skeletons. With a clear path to the monstrosity, she yelled a battlecry and continued her charge.

Trixie whistled, somehow getting through to the skeletons as they looked at her, “Come along then. Come and get a piece of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

The skeletons charged at her while some fired arrows at her from a short distance away. She smirked and used Ice Age to protect herself from the projectiles. She broke the ice barrier as her melee assailants got close, assaulting them with shards of ice. Trixie slammed Cerberus into the ground, using Crystal to cleave a path through their ranks as the shards of ice shattered them apart.

The skeletons that were not in the path of the attack drew closer, raising their swords and axes into the air. Trixie slammed Cerberus down into the ground again, using her Million Carats attack to tear the skeletons apart, scattering bones everywhere across the ground.

Applejack swung Volendrung hard at the mummy, only for it to catch it with its grotesque hand. For a moment she tried to wrestle the hammer from Radament’s grip but it opened its mouth and breathed out a green mist. Applejack coughed and released her grip on her Daedric hammer as the poison assaulted her body.

The hammer was tossed to the side, out of Applejack’s reach. Trixie looked as the beast was about to deliver a fatal blow, “Applejack, behind you!”

Applejack bent her forelegs and raised her rear into the air, pulling her hind legs back as well. In one movement, she extended them both and her hind legs connected with Radament’s chest. The sound of bones buckling and shattering under the force echoed through the room, the force sending it flying backwards into the wall.

The monster was about get up when Applejack landed on its abdomen, Volendrung in her hooves once more, “Outta luck, partner.”

She brought Volendrung upwards, the hammer connecting with Radament’s head and dislocating it from the spine. The skin and tendons in its neck tore apart as the hammer went upwards. The head refused to leave the rest of the body but the hammer took a consolation prize: his face.

The face left the body, resigning its fate to the hammer as it flew away and landed somewhere in the room to forever be forgotten. Applejack kept the hammer’s momentum, swinging from the vertical plane to horizontal and connecting the head with the monster’s exposed brain. A large splat echoed through the area as the skeletons fell to the ground, dead once again as their master expired on the spot.

Trixie and Applejack surveyed the room and Trixie picked up a strange looking scroll with strange writing, “What do you suppose this is, Applejack?”

“Dunno, can’t read that gibberish,” Applejack said. “Maybe that Cain feller knows what it says.”

**** **** **** ****

The Zebrican landscape was covered with the bloodied heaps of dead dragons and assorted body parts. Bloodwing chuckled as the remaining dragons had cut their losses and retreated back across the sea. Luckily for Bloodwing’s blood pressure and the retreating dragons, they fled in the direction of their territory.

“That’s it! Flee before I mount you all on my wall and fashion your teeth into a backscratcher!” Bloodwing shouted from the bridge of the Arbiter.

“Sir, all targets have flown out of our maximum range, heading for their territories,” The Griffon on the radar said flatly.

“Good,” Bloodwing replied, only half-listening. “When were we meant to meet with the Zebrican delegates about this Snowfeather criminal?”

“Sir it was… ten minutes ago,” The Griffon down in communications responded.

“Wasn’t this the meeting point?” Bloodwing asked.

“Yes sir but even our long range radar hasn’t detected anything else other than the dragons,” The Griffon by the radar system replied.

“We… we’ve been had…” Bloodwing said, looking out to the skies where the dragons fled. “Tell the fleet to change course, bearing 245!”

The Helmsgriffon snapped to attention, “Setting course, bearing 245!”

The 54th fleet began to turn, the large ships of steel and firepower pointing in the direction of Equestria. Bloodwing was angry for the Empire not realising a false document and that his time was wasted.

“All ahead full! Next stop: Ponyville! Let’s see what these new engines can really do!” Bloodwing shouted as the 54th fleet’s engines roared in deafening unison, the vibrations akin to constant thunder rumbling across the land as they moved.

**** **** **** ****

The hot desert sun began to set into the horizon, fighting the night for all it was worth as the golden orb was forced to give way to the moon and stars. The ponies could feel the temperature drop very quickly, becoming a very manageable temperature to go trekking through the dunes.

“Let’s move, we don’t have all night to get to shelter again,” Siegfried said to Joystick and Rarity.

“Do lead on, Siegfried,” Rarity said with her usual flair as she swung her mane a little. “We are strangers to this land after all.”

Siegfried didn’t respond, instead choosing to walk out of the temple. The night sky was littered with stars of varying intensity and arrangements but in the ponies’ eyes it didn’t compare to Luna’s night sky. The Princess had a certain flair to arranging the stars that the world they were in couldn’t copy.

The desert was empty and quiet, save for a few sparse nocturnal fauna and the trio, Siegfried’s clanging armour the only thing to add to the ambience of the area they all strode through.

They took several hours to walk across the wastes, climbing dune after dune of sand. Rarity complained as usual but they were few and far between since the thought that a spa was nowhere for miles yet helped to curb her whining to a degree.

‘It’s not hard,’ Siegfried ignored the thought in his mind. ‘All it takes is one swing. They look like they have strong souls.’

Siegfried knew the thoughts were not his own, the man subconsciously looked to his right arm, absent-mindedly rubbing it as if secretly fearing it would warp into its old, disgusting form. He knew the blade was growing desperate since now he had others who were willing to support his venture without knowing the full story.

Rarity and Joystick smiled at him as he looked at them, trying to make him feel more at ease. Although it would take far more than a simple smile – like destroying Soul Edge and ridding the world of its evil forever – to make the knight feel at ease.

“I may not be one for architecture but is that building over there meant to have a large, disgusting hole in it?” Rarity asked, pointing to a pyramid in the distance that had a large hole cleaved into its side that could only have been formed from a very large blade.

A chill ran up Siegfried’s spine as he looked at the scene. The group walked up to the pyramid and Siegfried inspected the gash. In his mind he already knew this was the handiwork of Soul Edge as very little else could have been responsible for such destruction and the blade’s foul energy hung in the air. How it was possible when he carried the infernal only served to worry him more.

“Hey! You guys come to check out this place too?” A young voice said. “They say it was made by a powerful sword and since I am looking for it, I came to check it out for clues.”

The group looked around to see a very young man with a green, oriental open jacket that showed his chest and abs as well as a pair of baggy pants. He had a very goofy grin on his face and he seemed very energetic, not unlike Pinkie Pie.

Siegfried stepped forward and stared at the man straight in the eyes with an intensity that threatened to burn straight through the man, “Leave this place. Do not search for that sword. Forget you ever heard of it.”

“Sorry but I can’t give up. I got a duty to my home,” The man said, “Where are my manners? I am Yun-seong, what’s your name?”

“My name… is none of your concern,” Siegfried replied callously as he hefted Requiem off his back, the blade shining in the moonlight.

“Oh you want to fight? Why didn’t you just say so?” Yun-seong replied cheerfully as he pulled out a dao – or Chinese sword – from his side.

**** **** **** ****

The Normandy opened its main hatch underneath its body and a large, white, six-wheeled machine launched out, its engines roaring in the atmosphere as it plummeted. The M35 Mako engaged its vertical thrusters as it neared the surface, landing gently as the wheels’ hydraulics hissed, ready for action.

Pinkie looked at her bright pink armour with a grin. She made sure Anderson painted it the brightest shade of pink in the known colour palette. The only parts that were not covered were her mane and tail, instead being protected by a biotic field since Pinkie apparently stored her weapons in the collection of gravity defying hair.

She refused any other weapons, opting to keep her Party Cannon and Kalina Ann. Most would have argued that weapons like those would not work in low gravity or any other situation that was different to Earth-esque conditions but Pinkie Pie was Pinkie Pie as were her weapons: don’t bother asking because you will not understand the answer.

The Mako trudged along the arid landscape of the planet Therum in the Knossos system within the Artemis Tau Cluster. Pinkie was giggling happily as the Mako bumped around as it navigated the landscape, traversing the unstable land. She kept her eye on the sights of the turret as Sheppard drove the Mako. Garrus and Wrex looked at each other, each wondering when they would get out and silently praying for whoever was unlucky to get caught in Pinkie’s sights.

“We’re here,” Sheppard said as the Mako grinded to a halt and opened up the back hatch.

“Let’s find ourselves an Asari!” Pinkie cried happily as she leapt out the hatch with Sheppard and the rest in tow. As they neared the underground excavation site, laser fire shot past, barely missing Pinkie’s head. “Oooo! They brought friends!”

The ‘friends’ Pinkie was referring to were Geth Hoppers, modified Geth that moved at extremely high speeds and were capable of scaling any surface, even capable of hanging upside down on the ceiling with ease.

Kalina Ann was impaled in the rock in front of Pinkie as she pulled the tertiary trigger on the rocket launcher, firing a full Hysteric salvo. The mini-missiles tore across the battlefield, destroying a Geth Trooper as a result. Sheppard fired his sniper rifle alongside Garrus, trying to hit the Geth Hoppers while Wrex charged up the centre of the line and rammed his hard head against a Geth Trooper, crushing it under his weight.

As they neared the entrance, a large white Geth monstrosity – which Pinkie would find out later was call an Armature – descended upon their position. The group were quick to fire upon the slow, lumbering beast of a machine, whittling its shields down as the Armature fired back at them, charging a powerful blast that made Pinkie’s ears ring.

Sheppard distracted the Armature with Wrex, charging up at it before sliding into cover to avoid the attack. Sheppard let a Shockwave attack loose, the raw biotic power cascading along the ground, impacting with the Armature, shattering its shields.

“Now!” Sheppard shouted.

Garrus fired with his sniper rifle, taking out chunks of the Armature’s shell while Wrex’s shotgun did the same. Pinkie ran and jumped up into the Armature and jammed Kalina Ann into the holes made by the group and fired a massive cloud of confetti into it. The confetti found its way into every motor and jammed it, causing a massive overload and destroying it.

With the Geth outside destroyed, the group walked down into the entrance of the excavation site. The rock had been widened enough to support even Wrex’s height with considerable headroom left. The metal catwalks twisted around the top section of the site, leading to an elevator shaft.

Pinkie happily bounced as the elevator began to descend. Although it stopped before reaching the bottom due to a short circuit, forcing the group to abandon it in favour of getting to the bottom on foot, it failed to dampen Pinkie’s spirits. She was jovial even when they came under fire again, talking about the most unusual nonsense before getting up and firing.

One of the Geth firing at them carried a rocket launcher built for firing from any location on the universe, from the vacuum of space to a high gravity world and everything in between. As the missile left the tube, Pinkie got out from cover and pulled the trigger on Kalina Ann.

The two self-propelled explosives collided in mid-air, creating a shockwave that knocked Wrex off his feet. But while the Geth’s rocket was a standard explosive, Pinkie’s was filled with taffy. The explosion caused the Geth to get covered in the goo, getting it into their motors as they struggled to fire at Sheppard and the others. The taffy hardened, sealing the Geth in place, unable to struggle as the group finished them off at point blank range, execution-style.

**** **** **** ****

Siegfried was kicked in the abdomen, sending him falling to the ground with a thud as Yun-seong ran up to him, ready to strike again. Yun-seong leapt into the air and somersaulted, bringing his leg down at him but Siegfried rolled to the side and used his momentum to get to his feet again. With a heavy swing, Requiem made contact with Yun-seong’s back and sent him flying forward, landing in the sand face-first.

Rarity and Joystick could only look on at the scene, unable to help as a few people came to help the Yun-seong, believing Siegfried to be in the wrong. Although it was the knight who instigated the fight, he did it to force the younger man to give up his quest. He could not allow another to wield the blade that stole his life, his will and his soul from him.

Several of the ones trying to stop Siegfried carried weapons of their own, mainly a sword and shield combination with a few large clubs in the mix. Rarity used Lucifer’s explosive blades to create a line in the sand, separating the two fighters from those who wanted to stop them. Rarity and Joystick could have interfered and gotten them to stop but they knew Siegfried had his reasons for starting the scuffle.

“That all you got?” Yun-seong taunted as his dao was blocked by Requiem’s larger surface area.

“Give it up!” Siegfried retorted, putting his shoulder into the flat side of his blade and digging his feet into the sand before charging.

Yun-seong was not prepared for the change in attack and was easily over-powered by Siegfried in his armour. He lay in the sand and rolled as Siegfried brought his foot down on him, almost kicking him in the chest.

“Stay down!” Siegfried shouted as Requiem came down in a sweeping arc, slicing across Yun-seong’s chest and creating a thin wound as it took a part of his jacket with it.

“I liked this jacket!” Yun-seong complained as he leapt up, kicking Siegfried multiple times. His attack bashed against Requiem as Siegfried blocked it.

Joystick fired several rounds at several individuals as they kept trying to get into the fight. His twin shots knocked the weapons out of their hands on several occasions while others landed less critical hits on their bodies, either hitting their legs or arms.

“Enough!” Siegfried swung Requiem down hard in and overhand arc, the blade colliding with Yun-seong’s dao as they met above the young man’s head.

The force of the strike stung Yun-seong’s hands, the side of his own blade digging into his palm before his grip failed him. Requiem collided with his skull, knocking to the floor in an unconscious heap.

The young man’s body had a few cuts here and there but nothing was life-threatening, “I avoided your vitals… you’ll live.”

He walked towards Rarity and Joystick, “Move.” The last of the interfering fighters cut their losses and fled as Siegfried walks towards them. “Our destination is still the Far East. We can take the Silk Road in order to get there.”

“Will he be alright, darling?” Rarity asked as she looked at Yun-seong’s sleeping form.

“Yes. He will be bruised and sore but he will still live,” Siegfried replied curtly before muttering under his breath. “And I pray it is not to seek the sword again.”

**** **** **** ****

“How did you get there?” Sheppard asked as he looked at an Asari from the other side of an unknown barrier.

“I must have triggered some form of defence mechanism when I tried to get away from the Geth,” She replied, ashamed she allowed herself to make such a mistake.

“We’ll find a way to g-” Sheppard was cut off by a shrill shout.

“I found it!” Pinkie said as she stood by the controls of a large, mining laser, pointing slightly downwards. “Now if only I knew where the popcorn button was…”

“This’ll work,” Sheppard said as he activated the laser.

The laser fired forwards and drilled a large hole into the dirt, creating a tunnel for the group to circumvent the barrier and enter the site of the Prothean structure. They walked up to a platform and Sheppard activated to rise up to the level the Asari was on.

Pinkie slammed her armoured hoof onto the console, effectively shutting the field trapping the Asari off and allowing her to land on the ground safely.

“Thank you. Who are you anyway and why are you here?” The Asari asked.

“I am Commander Sheppard,” Sheppard said. “That is Garrus, Wrex and tha-”

Pinkie interrupted Sheppard once again as the party mare tackled the Asari to the ground. The Asari was unsure of how to react to the tackle and the abrupt invasion of her personal space.

“I… I’m Liara T’Soni,” Liara said slowly, looking at Pinkie with a highly bewildered expression.

“Any relation to Matriarch Benezia?” Sheppard asked coolly.

“She’s my mother,” Liara replied. “Why?” Before Sheppard could answer her, a tremor rocked the ruins. “Oh no. These ruins are highly unstable. You must have caused a seismic event with the mining laser.”

“Well what are we waiting for?! Let’s get out of here!” Sheppard said, shouting to the others as he helped Liara reach the elevator. “Joker, get your ass over here!”

“Roger that, Commander,” Joker replied.

As the elevator reached the top, the door on the far side of the circular room opened up. A Krogan Battlemaster on Saren’s payroll and several Geth came out, all carrying an assortment of weapons from sniper rifles to rocket launchers.

“Look what we have here,” The Krogan said happily.

“You idiot this place is coming down!” Garrus snapped.

“Exhilarating isn’t it?” The Krogan replied cheerfully.

“So much for diplomacy,” Wrex commented as he took out his shotgun.

The group dispersed, all charging for cover as the two Krogan charged at each other, shouting battlecries handed down to them for generations. The resounding crash they made caused them to fall backwards onto their backs before getting back up and duking it out, trying to tear the other apart.

Laser fire and biotics flew across the room as Sheppard and Liara used their biotics to send some of the Geth into the air, against the walls or into each other. Pinkie tapped a Geth Sniper’s shoulder, getting its attention. As it turned around, its torso was separated from the rest of its body as Pinkie’s Party Cannon fired a fully baked, three-layered vanilla sponge cake with dark chocolate icing. It would have been a delicious treat had it not been used as ammunition.

The Geth were losing quickly as Pinkie fired a Hysteric salvo once again, the warheads filled with glue. Their motors were glued together, causing overloads and making them easy targets for the group. Their tube-light heads were blown off by Garrus and Sheppard’s sniper rifles.

Wrex shouted triumphantly as he smashed his head with the other Krogan’s own, knocking him to the ground. Wrex stomped his foot on his chest and took out his shotgun once last time.

“It’s just business,” Wrex said as the shot blew the Krogan’s face apart, tearing the flesh with ease and fracturing the hard plate on its head.

“Let’s move!” Sheppard shouted as the group holstered their weapons and ran out the entrance.

All around them rocks were falling, dust covering their vision and forcing them to don their helmets. Liara had a mask which she placed over her mouth but the dust still got into her eyes, which made Sheppard slow down to lead her over the catwalks and out of the excavation site.

“Someone call for a lift?” Joker said over the radio as the Normandy thundered overhead.

**** **** **** ****

“This is fun!” Dante said as he swung Rebellion along the floor, using his Drive technique to tear a Diamond Dog apart.

“This is boring. They are no challenge at all,” Vergil replied as he moved past some Diamond Dogs, Yamato flying out of its scabbard and moving at lightning speed. He sheathed his blade, the blade making a soft clicking sound and killing the Dogs instantly as their bodies were massacred.

“Still, beats those oversized ladies’ accessories above us,” Dante said, pointing up at a dragon.

“Until these mongrels have concluded their… business I would surmise that these beasts above us will attack again,” Vergil said as two ethereal blades pierced the chest and throat of another Diamond Dog, killing it and adding its corpse to the terrifying pile the pair of them had already accumulated.

“Seriously, Verg… can’t you ever be optimistic, just once?” Dante asked as he threw Rebellion, tearing into a Diamond Dog’s chest with ease.

“Apologies if I do not live in Fantasy Land like you do,” Vergil callously replied.

“Come on, try it just once. We have cookies in Fantasy Land,” Dante said with a grin as he pulled out Ebony and Ivory, firing .45 calibre rounds into several poor Diamond Dogs.

“I shall repeat myself, Dante. No,” Vergil said curtly.

“Always the stiff,” Dante muttered.

“Always a buffoon,” Vergil replied, loud enough for Dante to hear.

**** **** **** ****

Fluttershy stirred awake, her body aching all over. She smiled a little as she felt the soft surface of her bed, putting the mare at ease as she tried to recall why she felt sore in the first place. It all came flooding back as she recollected flying at the UMD and tearing it apart using her DAT state and the Whirlwind Sprint combination.

She groaned as she finally lifted her head off her pillow, surveying her bedroom. “So you’re up.” Fluttershy turned and looked around, looking at Kiva who was leaning against the wall by the door. “Your vitals were low but stable so we brought you here.”

Fluttershy rubbed her head with her hoof, “Uh, thanks… whatever happened to that… thing?”

“The UMD?” Kiva asked. Fluttershy nodded her head. “It’s nothing more than a wreck. That was… a highly irregular strategy. How did you know it would work?”

“I didn’t,” Fluttershy responded as she carefully got down to the ground. “I just took a chance and hoped it would work.”

“It did, the Glorft retreated for now but they will not underestimate you again,” Kiva replied.

“Where are those other two?” Fluttershy asked.

“Coop and Jamie are ‘celebrating’ by watching an inane recreational sport that involves vehicles combating one another by colliding with one another at high velocity until one is functional,” Kiva said with annoyance.

“Ok… where are my things?” Fluttershy asked, noticing she was not even wearing her coat.

“I found a compartment that seems to be designed specifically to house your weapons and coat,” Kiva responded, pointing to the cupboard Fluttershy used.

Fluttershy walked up to it and opened the doors. Inside it, all her weapons – save for Beowulf which had refused to let go of his mistress and was still attached to her legs – were safely tucked away. Her jacket seemed to have been dusted off and cleaned as well, the polished leather shining brightly.

Fluttershy picked up her coat and donned it. Pity and Fool were next, followed the Devil Arm swords. Fluttershy placed her head through the necklace with the Amulet of Talos attached to it and picked up Pandora, swinging it over her shoulder.

Kiva smirked a little, “It took a lot of courage to get fired out of MEGAS.”

Fluttershy nodded her head, “I’ve done a lot of things I… would not have ever dreamed I’d do.”

Kiva left Fluttershy, walking down to the ground floor of Fluttershy’s cottage before leaving through the front door. Fluttershy followed and found the city already being repaired once again thanks to the battle that had ensued.

The mangled wrecks of the Glorft mechs were being carried away by cranes, trucks and scavengers looking to make a quick buck. The remains of the UMD had been stripped of anything light enough to be carried by the average pick-up truck.

“How long was I out?” Fluttershy asked as she walked on all fours next to Kiva as she observed the scene.

“Four hours, ten minutes and twenty-eight seconds,” Kiva replied. Kiva stopped and looked back as Fluttershy stopped dead, looking at the clean-up. “Something the matter?”

“They did all this… in four hours?” Fluttershy asked.

Kiva nodded, “These primitives are nothing if not industrious and annoying.”

The remainder of Fluttershy’s day encompassed getting to know Coop and Jamie better as they watched ‘Attack of the Robotic Pirate Ghosts of Dimension Five’ while eating junk food. Fluttershy chose not to touch the chips and soda, opting to raid Coop’s mother’s pantry for vegetables.

As the day carried on well into the night with a meaningless, boring marathon of video games, Fluttershy looked out of the small window in the basement and saw the New Jersey skyline returning in earnest. This city was strange, the three humans she was with were even stranger and Jamie clearly didn’t trust her if his scowl meant anything but he was a coward when she placed Pandora on the floor.

This world was also set upon strange enemies, all looking for the rotund, idiot pilot of the blue robot outside. She may as well stick around to keep him from causing too much damage. How hard could it be?

Author's Notes:

Here we go! Spitfire has formally joined the Ravens' ranks! May the universe tremble.

Turning up the heat (Part 2)

The Shadow of a King
Turning up the heat (Part 2)
Author: Draconis187

A Panauan military base was a symbol of the president’s might and frivolous spending as many dotted the islands that made up the country. The jungle trees surrounding one of them gave it ample camouflage from the road several metres away. Soldiers stood with sniper rifles and assault rifles, their fingers twitching by the triggers in anticipation as they hoped someone would be stupid enough to attack and cure their boredom.

Luckily for them, there were two. Sadly for them, they weren’t stupid. One checked the magazines in his pistols while the other smoked a luminous green cigarette which gave off pale blue smoke whilst playing with the colours of a small, indigenous bird. Rico didn’t understand it but as long as Discord kept his brand of chaos to a minimum, he could do his job.

Discord only agreed to tone down as it would have made his time in Panau a lot more challenging and that made it more fun for him. He looted a combat shotgun from a previous encounter when Rico told him to acquire a gun. Rico refused to give Discord a grenade on the grounds Discord would blow them up for laughs. Discord couldn’t fault him there, it sounded like a fun idea.

After a shot crash course in firearm use and maintenance, Discord was ready to help Rico take out a military base or so Rico hoped. Discord stood on a tree branch, hidden within its foliage as he scouted out the base, teleporting to a different tree and taking notes as he observed the guards with a pair of binoculars. He also teleported to one of the concrete towers on the base’s perimeter and stole one of the guards’ coffee mugs, still filled to the brim and piping hot.

Discord reappeared beside Rico as he waited near one of the trees, keeping out of the guards’ sight, “And?”

“Seventy-eight guards in total and that’s not including a heavily armoured general with his own personal guard,” Discord replied nonchalantly as the binoculars flew into Rico’s hands.

“The towers?” Rico asked, looking towards the base.

“Five, each with a guard inside. One drinks the worst coffee ever,” Discord replied, making a disgusted face before he ate the mug and tossed the coffee over his shoulder.

“Ready then?” Rico asked as he pulled out his pistols.

Discord smirked as he cocked his combat shotgun, “Always ready when chaos is involved.”

Rico rolled his eyes as the pair ran up to the tall, thick concrete wall that separated them from the inside of the base. Rico turned and pressed his back against it as he looked up as the tower less than three metres from him. He looked to Discord and nodded, the aforementioned chaos god then vanished in a bright burst of light.

The guard walked over to the north side of the tower and looked out to the base. He decided to let go of his assault rifle, the gun swung under his arm by a strap and reached into his left breast pocket, pulling out a box of smokes. As he lit one, he felt someone tap him three times on the shoulder. He gasped in surprise, hacking and wheezing as he inhaled the smoke. He turned around and came face-to-face with Discord’s shotgun.

“Smoking’s bad for your health,” He said as he pulled the trigger. The gun fired and tore the guard’s face apart, splattering blood and various brain fragments across the floor, the supporting pillar behind him and the ground below. “And so are guns, apparently.”

**** **** **** ****

Rainbow sat opposite Gilda in the VTOL with Jensen as they flew back to Sarif Industries. The cyan mare clung onto the case belonging to Project Excelion as if it was the only thing that mattered in her entire existence. She hadn’t heard the voice again and she couldn’t risk damaging whatever was inside the case if she were right about its contents.

“Jensen, deliver the Typhoon to Pritchard when you touch down,” Sarif’s voice said through the trio’s Infolinks, “I would also like Rainbow Dash to retain possession of the case and I want all three of you to meet me in my office after you have given Pritchard the weapon.”

“Understood,” Jensen replied flatly. Gilda and Dash nodded their heads and responded in the same manner.

“Good, we can discuss the augmented hacker you found then,” Sarif said before closing the connection.

“Yeah, those punks were not supposed to be augmented,” Gilda commented.

“Purity First pride themselves on that. Sanders didn’t know he had augments,” Jensen pointed out, “I managed to save the hostage… by shooting Sanders in the shoulder and then the leg before punching him unconscious.”

Gilda grinned, “I wish I could have seen his face before his lights went out. I bet it would have been priceless!”

“Yeah…” Dash didn’t look at them, just staring at the case with curiosity. She wanted to know what was inside the case, she had it right there in her hooves and yet couldn’t do a thing about it since she risked damaging the contents if she tried to break the locking mechanism.

“You alright, RD?” Gilda asked with some concern for her friend.

“You’ve been eying that case intently, is it bothering you?” Jensen inquired, showing a little curiosity. The man had a poker face professionals would die for.

“Yeah… it kinda is,” Dash replied, looking back at them with a slightly saddened expression.

Gilda just looked at her friend, her confusion clearly evident, “Why?”

Dash frowned and looked away, “Well… I think I heard it, well, I think I heard it speak. And it sounded like Nevan.”

Gilda’s eyes widened ever so slightly, “Nevan… as in the Devil Arm you had? The one that got, um… broken in half?”

Dash gave a short nod in response, “The same. But it hasn’t spoken again…”

Gilda was about to speak but she got cut off by the pilot, Faridah Malik, “We’re approaching Sarif Industries, get ready to land.”

Jensen looked at the pair, “We’ll take this up with Sarif. He will know what Project Excelion is.”

Gilda scoffed, “Just because he knows doesn’t mean he’ll tell. But I can make him talk.”

“If you attack Sarif, all it would get you is arrested and you still won't get your answers,” Jensen reasoned.

Gilda folded her arms and grumbled, deciding to keep quiet instead of trying to punch a hole through Jensen’s face. She wasn’t sure what it was but his voice irritated her and his demeanour annoyed her. No sympathy for her friend at all, it was like she was talking to a complete machine. One she wanted to rip apart and yet couldn’t at the same time.

The VTOL landed as gracefully as a heavy metal-clad flying machine could on the landing pad. The engines whined as they slowly shut themselves down, allowing Malik to open the door for the trio to exit. She wanted to do a post-flight check on the VTOL and so remained behind.

The trio walked through the double doors leading into Sarif Industries. Many of the employees and security guards nodded their heads at them, voicing their approval of the outcome of the mission. Gilda appreciated the boost to her ego while Dash was more concerned with Excelion as it rested between her wings.

Pritchard looked at Jensen with his usual callous demeanour as Adam entered with the Typhoon, “Well, if it isn’t Mahatma Ghandi. What is your next great deed? Stop world hunger? World peace perhaps?”

“Shut up Pritchard,” Jensen replied coldly as he placed the Typhoon down on a nearby table, “I just came to drop this off and then head up to Sarif’s office.”

“Well, pardon me for interrupting the hero from reporting to his superior,” Pritchard replied as he walked up to the Typhoon, “I’m just glad it looks like you handled it properly.”

The trio left Pritchard to play with his new toy and entered the elevator to take them to Sarif’s office. Dash placed Project Excelion beside her and looked out into Detroit as the elevator rose. It was still dark outside, lights were lit and most people were fast asleep in their homes. The only ones still outside were cops, criminals, bums and the odd jogger.

The elevator chimed as it reached the top floor, opening to reveal the reception area of Sarif’s office. It was simple, clean and well-organised. The receptionist sat behind a massive desk, looking down at the computer before her as the group walked towards her.

“Jensen, ladies,” The receptionist greeted in a neutral voice, “Mr. Sarif will see you now.”

**** **** **** ****

“Boom baby!” Rico said with glee as he tossed a grenade towards a group of soldiers.

Several rolled to the side, avoiding the blast while three were not so lucky. The explosion ripped their bodies apart like wet tissue paper, scattering their remains across the base. Discord laughed as he jumped down from a rooftop, landing behind a guard and pulling the trigger. The subsequent point-blank blast tore the guard’s vest as ice shards replaced the standard buckshot. The vest had no chance as the guard’s heart was impaled and torn apart.

The base was in disarray as Discord kept teleporting around the base, shooting guards and laughing maniacally as he did so. It allowed Rico to walk around the base with near impunity, planting C4 explosives on fuel tanks, a radio mast and a transformer. Rico whistled and Discord reappeared beside him in a lime green recliner with a glass of orange juice in his hand.

“I’ve planted the explosives,” Rico said as he tossed the detonator to Discord.

“So I get to blow it all up? You are too kind,” Discord replied with a chuckle.

Rico rolled his eyes as he walked to the entrance of the base and climbed into the driver’s seat of a green, military Humvee and crawled beneath the steering column. He tore off the plastic covering, exposing the wires and proceeded to cut them with a combat knife.

Discord climbed into the front passenger seat and just looked at Rico, “I would ask what you were doing but you’d snap at me and I’d rather not get into an argument right now.”

Rico moved a little so he could stare at Discord’s red eyes, “I’m trying to hotwire this thing so shut up and let me work.”

“Why didn’t you say so?” Discord replied, snapping his fingers and bringing the engine to life. “You’re welcome.”

“One of these days I am going to kill you,” Rico said in an annoyed tone. “Why didn’t you do that sooner?”

“You didn’t ask,” Discord answered with a sly smile on his face as he tapped the barrel of his combat shotgun with his right hand. In his left was the detonator. “Can we go now?”

Rico placed the cover back and turned around, sitting in the driver’s seat and putting the Humvee into first gear. “Yes, now just blow this damn place up.”

Discord chuckled and raised his left arm in a dramatic fashion, “One fireworks display, coming right up!”

He pressed the button hard with his thumb, sending the signal to the explosives as Rico drove out the gates like a man possessed. The explosives detonated, creating a shower of fire and smoke as the fuel tanks spilt their fiery payload across the base, setting as much of it as it could on fire.

The fire spread quickly like a hungry beast that had just come across a fresh corpse, reaching everywhere as the grass allowed it to spread to the base’s walls. Soon the fire reached some ammunition crates and the heat caused them to explode, sending bullets all over the place like an old-fashioned shoot-out. Some explosives were in the mix too, creating a display that made Discord whistle slowly as he looked through the rear-view mirror.

The Humvee thundered across the dirt path leading to the road as the radio informed them that there were more soldiers on their way. Rico grumbled as his PDA decided there and then to ring. He ducked his head as a jeep shot past and one of the passengers opened fire, shattering the driver’s door window, missing Discord’s face by mere inches.

“Now’s not a good time Kane!” Rico snapped as he turned the wheel hard, making the Humvee collide with the jeep, sending it into a tree and exploding.

“I swear things here just love to explode, don’t they?” Discord asked rhetorically as he lit another cigarette.

“Look, bonding time with Discord is over. I need you to check up on a guy by the name of Karl Blane,” Kane said flatly, not overly bothered by the sounds of gunfire and the odd curse from Rico as the Humvee screamed around a corner. “He’s a Swedish sleeper agent who may know of Tom Sheldon’s whereabouts. I’m sending you the coordinates for his current residence. I would take you there via helicopter but I do not want to see Discord’s face again.”

“She’s got spunk,” Discord commented as he snapped his fingers, making the tires of another Jeep explode in a burst of assorted flowers and making the occupants eject from the vehicle as it skidded to a halt, sparks flying in all directions before it too blew up. They didn’t survive the collision with the ground.

**** **** **** ****

“Congratulations on a job well done, you three,” David Sarif said cheerfully and with a broad smile on his face. “Not one employee died in the entire incident and you also kept the damage to company property to a bare minimum too. I’m impressed.”

“I’m more impressed by the fact that Purity First had an aug on their team,” Adam pointed out, trying to get back on the subject they were meant to be talking about.

“Ah yes, the hacker that shot himself. I’ve been trying to get the police to release the body to us but they’re stonewalling,” Sarif said as he sat back in his seat. “I’ll need you to get in there and get his neural hub.

“I suggest you three go get checked up at the nearest L.I.M.B. clinic as well for a check-up, preferably after you acquire the neural hub,” Sarif advised.

“Oh for that Neuropro-something,” Dash said, waving her hoof in an ‘I couldn’t give a buck’ motion.

“Neuropozyne, yes. Usually at six months you need to start taking it as the body starts to reject the augs,” Jensen replied matter-of-factly.

“Yes, I suggest going there to make sure everything checks out but again I ask you do that after getting your hands on the hub. We don’t have much time,” Sarif warned. The group nodded their heads but before leaving, Dash placed the case containing Project Excelion on his desk.

Sarif placed his fingertips together and thought for a few moments as the group turned and began to walk out, “Rainbow, I would like to speak with you… alone.”

“We’ll be waiting outside,” Gilda said, smiling at her friend. “If he so much as ruffles a feather or gets one hair in your mane out of place… he will be seeing his stomach from the ground.”

“Thanks, G,” Dash said with a grin as she turned around and walked up to Sarif. “So, whatcha need?”

“Actually it is what you need – or to be more specific – something you lost,” Sarif answered, getting up from his seat.

“Alright, spill,” Dash said with a little of impatience, he told them they had to hurry and now he wanted to speak with her, delaying them. If he was going to get upset if they failed due to running out of time, he would be introduced to her nanoceramic blade, up close and personal.

“Project Excelion started a very short time after you and Gilda appeared, in fact it was because of you specifically that I had it commissioned,” Sarif said, moving around his table to the briefcase and unlocked it via its keypad lock.

Dash gave her wings a flap and landed beside Sarif, trying to peek into the case as it opened. Her heart plummeted and rose all at once when she saw the contents of the case she had in her hooves for two hours. Inside the case were the two halves of Nevan, as it was when it was broken before her very eyes. Her brain struggled to figure out what had just transpired before her, leaving her expression blank to all around her.

Sarif looked at Dash with some slight concern on his face, “We tried to at least copy the weapon’s energy signature to create specific, tailor-made augments for you but the process has been tricky at best.

“The past six months I invested a few hundred thousand credits into the project but very little came out of it. I planned to deem the project a failure and hand the thing back to you but when all this happened I figured you could get it yourself,” Sarif said. “But we did notice it had an affinity for creating electricity and shorting out our equipment. So I had the boys in R&D make some augments for you that utilised high voltage currents. After helping Jensen and Gilda get the terrorist’s neural hub, head for L.I.M.B. and they’ll insert the new augs into your leg and wings.”

Dash placed the pieces back in the case and closed it before placing it on her back again, “Thanks, I guess, Sarif.”

“Anytime, Anytime…” Sarif replied as Rainbow left the office.

**** **** **** ****

“Like this?” Spike asked as he connected a cable to the Celestial Archway, as per N-Twilight’s instructions.

Spike had been spending the vast majority of his waking hours trying to get the Celestial Archway working with the aid of N-Twilight. The sounds of the devil brothers’ fighting was not helping his nerves, he dropped the heavy cable on his right foot twice already which forced him to walk with a limp.

“That should hopefully do it. I just have some calibrations on my end to do and we should be all set,” N-Twilight said from the other end of the Celestial Archway with a small smile on her face, trying to contain her glee.

“Alight, now if I calibrate the time flux algorithm on my side and account for cross-dimensional attenuation, it should stabilise both Archways and make it possible to safely send living subjects through,” N-Twilight said matter-of-factly as if she knew what she was talking about.

“Uh-huh, sure this won’t just blow up in our faces?” Spike asked sceptically as he folded his arms, “This universe or not, you’re still Twilight.”

Twilight scowled a little, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, just about every new spell or contraption you make fails almost every time,” Spike explained, “From what I’ve seen and heard about you, you’re almost identical to my Twilight and she’s a klutz when it comes to new spells and machines. I was surprised this even worked.”

N-Twilight sighed, “I know our experiments have had a rather shaky track record during their first attempt but that does not mean this one will fail. It can not fail.”

Spike shrugged, “I wouldn’t hold my breath…”

N-Twilight glared daggers at him, making the young, little dragon cower just a little. “Alright, I’ll just stand here while you do your whosits and whatchamacallits with that thing on your end.”

N-Twilight shook her head and walked off out of sight, her hooves echoing in the basement she was in on her end. A few odd noises came next, making Spike worry and fidget with his claws, rubbing them over each other with anxiety.

The Celestial Archway arced with pale blue lightning, hitting several objects in the same room as Spike, making him shout in fear and hide under a nearby table. He kept his eyes covered with his claws as he quivered in fear, hoping the Archway would stop.

His wish was granted as the Celestia Archway sputtered and cracked. The portal collapsed with a loud, ear-shattering bang and knocking N-Twilight off her hooves, landing against the wall in her basement.

As she came to, she saw her version of the Celestia Archway lay in ruins on the floor, “That… could have gone better…”

Spike opened his eyes very slowly and his heart dropped like a lead weight. In front of him was a ruined Celestial Archway and only Twilight – both of them – knew how to build it. He had tuned out when his Twilight was rambling on about how the Archway worked as she built it. He cursed himself as he shouted his frustration to the heavens. It made a Diamond Dog whine in pain, clutching its ears before its chest was impaled on Vergil’s Yamato and deftly sliced off.

**** **** **** ****

The air was getting chillier for Celestia as the ship continued to make its way through the choppy waters, rocking to and fro as the bow hit the large crest of a random wave, spraying the deck and Celestia with frigid water.

Luckily for her the Nerevarine was below deck, preferring to stay dry and warm, as opposed to the shipmaster and Celestia who were left out on deck for various reasons.

Celestia was still on the deck since the Nerevarine didn’t trust her enough to stand less than three feet from her and that was with one of her weapons in her hands. It gave Celestia the opportunity to use her magic to keep her coat dry and her body warm.

The shipmaster stood at the helm, steering the ship to maintain their speed and course as seas added ice floes to make her job that much more difficult. The ship lurched violently as it came into contact with one, making Celestia lose her concentration and getting her coat thoroughly drenched as water sprayed onto the deck once again.

“Need help?” Celestia asked as she looked up at the shipmaster.

“Unless you know how to stop us from colliding with ice floes, no,” The woman replied.

Celestia nodded her head but didn’t respond as she walked up to the bow of the ship, standing at the banisters separating her from the waters below. She couldn’t see where most of the ice floes were as they collided with yet another one.

Celestia’s horn began to glow its usual golden yellow, bathing the bow in her aura’s gentle embrace. She concentrated as she felt another floe collide with the ship but the impact was greatly lessened as her aura acted like a large, transparent yellow cushion.

‘That’s one problem down…’ She thought to herself as she concentrated a little harder.

The next ice floe foolish enough to collide with the ship was turned to water in a near instant. The rapid change in temperature to cause that could have compromised the hull’s integrity but the inside of the aura was as cold as the waters they were travelling through.

“I should take you on all of my voyages,” The shipmaster said with a slightly impressed tone.

“It is nothing really. It’s just a little magic,” Celestia pointed out, “I shall stay here at the bow and keep us from flying about.”

“Well, lookie here,” Celestia’s ears perked up as she turned around, hearing the voice of the Nerevarine.

“What do you want? Can you not tell I am trying to assist our voyage?” Celestia snapped before the Nerevarine could object.

“Now listen here. I was not about to say anything about you using your magic to stop our discomfort,” She replied as she folded her arms, “I’d rather you keep it up. I need my sleep.”

“Figures you would only want me to keep doing this for your own benefit,” Celestia said angrily.

“Life’s not all sunshine and rainbows,” The Nerevarine deadpanned as she turned around and walked towards the shipmaster.

Her walk was heavy as she somehow willed her body to not so much as slide slightly on the water-soaked deck. She shrugged off the next spray of water as the ship was hit on the starboard side by a rogue wave.

“What did you need?” The shipmaster asked, keeping her eyes on the waters in front of her.

“Nothing,” The Nerevarine answered, folding her arms once again.

“Well, we are still quite a ways from Skyrim,” The shipmaster said matter-of-factly, “There have been rumours of Ice Wraiths along the route to Windhelm and pirates between here and Solitude.”

“We’ll head for Windhelm. Ice Wraiths are a piece of sweetroll,” The Nerevarine said as she kept an eye on Celestia as the Alicorn kept the ship safe from the ice floes.

**** **** **** ****

Princess Luna was laid on her bed as she waited for either her food to arrive or for one of her ‘friends’ to open up a communications channel to talk to her. She was bored beyond all belief but her knowledge of the base – courtesy of White Knight – meant she knew all the possible escape routes should they decide to remove her.

Her stint with White did not go unpunished or unnoticed. White had strictly cut her diet, trying to weaken her by starvation but Rex snuck her some extra food and by snuck, more like broke down her door and gave her food direct from the mess hall.

This was a popular move to Luna but not so much to Dr. Holiday, Six or White. After the debacle, Luna was scanned for nanites infection and Dr. Holiday made a startling discovery.

Dr. Holiday stood at a control console as Luna laid on a bed, inside a scanning device usually reserved for Rex or other humans. She had to tuck in her wings and lay her back, perfectly straight with her legs close to her body. In order to prevent false readings, she also had to remove her regalia.

“Now, this will not hurt at all,” Dr. Holiday reassured as Luna was inserted into the large scanning machine. “I am just looking to see if your body had absorbed any of the nanites in the air.”

Luna nodded her head, “I understand Doctor. Do proceed.”

Dr. Holiday smiled slightly, “Alright, beginning scan now.”

Luna closed her eyes as the machine began to make a dull humming noise, not much of a bother to a human but to Luna’s more sensitive ears, it made her a little uncomfortable.

“This will not take too long, Princess Luna. Try think of something to take your mind off the noise,” Holiday advised.

Luna thought about it and began to let her mind wander, reducing the humming noise to nothing more than a delicate whisper. She thought about everything that brought her joy. Her sister, seeing the happy faces of her subjects, guarding the dreams of those who were lost and many other memories she cherished, laughing at Joystick’s GLaDOS costume during Nightmare Night.

Her eyes shot open as the bed she laid on jerked backwards as it began to exit the machine. As it stopped, Luna slowly rolled off the edge and landed on her hooves. She retrieved her regalia that had been laid on a nearby table for her and stood beside the doctor as several images appeared on the screen before them.

“What is your diagnosis, Doctor?” Luna inquired.

“Well, according to this, your body is taking in nanites but… they’re deactivating,” Dr. Holiday said flatly, placing her hand on her chin in thought. “The only one who can deactivate nanites is Rex but there is no indication that your very limited physical contact with him transferred that trait to you. It could quite possibly be your body that is forcibly deactivating them. Your magic could be acting as an EMP shield, protecting you.”

“So, I no longer need to reside in that white prison cell you call a room?” Luna inquired.

“It wouldn’t do you any good as your body has already been infected by nanites,” Dr. Holiday stated, pointing to one of the images to illustrate her point.

Luna smiled and looked at one of the cameras, “Looks like we shall not be having one of our discussions anytime soon, Mr. Knight.”

White Knight raised an eyebrow as he looked at the picture of Luna as he sat on his chair in his office. He was relieved, although his expression didn’t change. The gears in his mind began to turn as he considered letting Luna leave the base with Rex. She had nowhere to go, no friends but she did have power, power others would manipulate her to get. It made her a threat and an asset.

**** **** **** ****

The ship had stopped, the ice fully encasing the hull of the ship. They had run aground onto a frozen tundra of ice and snow but it was unnatural. It was made by flying, transparent, snake-shaped creatures Celestia discovered to be Ice Wraiths.

The monsters were a plague upon many an adventurer or caravanner. They were beings of ice, given form and an animalistic instinct to freeze and kill every living thing in their path. The ship was surrounded and the shipmaster had found her body frozen solid before anyone on the ship knew what was happening.

Celestia stood atop the frozen waste, losing her stability a number of times as her metal shoes provided zero traction. The Nerevarine was showing zero difficulty as she ran across the tundra, firing gouts of flames towards the creatures, setting them alight.

‘This is not working for me,’ Celestia thought as her horn glowed and a pillar of searing light came down on one of the Wraiths, melting it and the ice below. ‘Alright… time to try something else…’

Celestia spread her wide open and flew up into the air. The Nerevarine picked up Sunder after having pounded the fragile head of a Wraith into paste. Celestia’s horn began to glow a brilliant, intense yellow before flashing and creating several pillars of light to come down upon them, melting the ice and the Wraiths.

A few tried to fly upwards after her but were cut short as some arrows flew through them and shattered them like glass. The Nerevarine was slowly making her way back to the ship, keeping an eye on Celestia and the Wraiths, bow in hand and an arrow notched.

The pillars moved across the ice like searchlights, the source too high to see correctly but were nonetheless effective against the living ice elementals. As the remaining Ice Wraiths were turned to vapour, Celestia flew down to the helm of the ship and stood before the shipmaster.

“We should help her,” Celestia stated as she placed a hoof on the poor woman’s frozen body.

“Get the ship free first. The longer we stay here the more likely more Ice Wraiths will come and they may eventually succeed in freezing us,” The Nerevarine pointed out coldly, “She was stupid enough to not keep a sword or bow around, it’s her own fault she’s a statue.”

“That is a horrid thing to say!” Celestia exclaimed, glaring daggers at the Nerevarine. “How was she to know we would get attacked?”

“This area is famous for it, or at the very least infamous.” The Nerevarine said, folding her arms.

Celestia sighed, there was no getting through to the woman in front of her and her callous disregard for life irked her to no end. She resolved to simply abandon the Nerevarine the moment she found Baral. They would be better off parting ways anyway.

Celestia walked up to the bow and her horn began to glow once again as she prepared another spell. The hull of the ship became encased in her golden aura, melting the ice carefully.

“Hurry it up!” The Nerevarine shouted, looking out beyond the stern of the ship, seeing the ice encroach on their position as more Ice Wraiths made their way towards them and cutting off any chance of retreating.

Celestia’s horn began to glow brighter still and a small area around the ship was bathed in a single pillar of light, melting all the ice around the ship and forcing the Wraiths to keep their distance. The Nerevarine saw this as an opportunity and began firing at them, killing them one by one.

The pillar then moved forward, melting a path through the ice, large enough for the ship to easily pass through. Celestia was sweating slightly, having not used that much of her magic in many centuries. She had to rest on the way back from the Crystal Empire when Mundus attacked.

“We haven’t got long before the Wraiths return again. They are nothing if not persistent and territorial,” Celestia’s ears perked up and she looked back to see the shipmaster thawed and back at the wheel.

She looked at the Nerevarine as she noticed a small flame resting just in front of her hands, the source of what thawed the shipmaster out. ‘Maybe she is not so bad after all…’ Celestia thought, a small smile appearing on her face.

“Focus on keeping the path clear,” The Nerevarine said, looking at Celestia.

‘Or… maybe not,’ Celestia thought as she turned her attention towards the waters just beyond the bow of the ship.

**** **** **** ****

“So, what? We’re bringing her along too now?” Rex asked, his left hand rubbing the back of his neck as he looked up at the large video screen before him.

Rex, Six, Holiday, a chimpanzee by the name of Bobo Haha and Princess Luna were all standing in the situation room of Providence, being briefed by White Knight himself as usual. The pale man looked at Rex with indifference and slight annoyance.

“Yes, Rex. Given how she has abilities that Van Kleiss or anyone have no understanding of, she can make a valuable asset to our efforts,” White explained, his hands clasped together as his elbows rested on his desk. “Luna will be earning her keep in Providence and I expect her to work.”

Luna rolled her eyes, “Thou hast little understanding of the enemy thou can make of me.”

“Wait what?” Rex looked at Luna in confusion.

“Old English,” Six answered as Luna gave a small giggle.

“Ah, great. Just what we needed: another comedian,” Bobo said with annoyance in his voice.

“I would be careful if I were you, Mr. Haha,” Luna warned, “The very little display of magic I displayed in my cell and on White Knight are parlour tricks compared to my true might.”

Bobo grunted and folded his arms, choosing to sulk a little. White cleared his throat, “Now that the pleasantries are out of the way. We have a situation in downtown Manhattan. There is a small E.V.O. outbreak that is tearing through the city. You are to take the Keep there and neutralise the threat.”

“So go to New York, cure some people and all before doing a little sightseeing. I can do that,” Rex said with a smile.

“This is not the time to think about sightseeing, Rex,” Six reprimanded, his tone flat and emotionless.

“He’s right, Rex. You need to focus on your mission, then you can sightsee,” Dr. Holiday stated, leaning forward enough for her to look at Rex.

“I know, Doc. No sightseeing until the baddies are dealt with,” Rex said rather dejectedly.

“Good, now get moving,” White ordered and sighed in annoyance when Rex gave him a mock salute.

Luna chuckled a little and followed the three humans and the chimp back the way they came and through the base. The soldiers all wore matching uniforms consisting of mostly black while their vests, boots, the pouches on their legs as well as their belts and weapons were white as sheets.

Luna was sure there was a joke about their laundry in there somewhere but she gave the soldiers’ weapons an odd look as they were more like oversized building blocks than firearms. Nevertheless, the soldiers kept them at their side at all times as they walked past the group, many ignoring them. The ones that did acknowledge them only stole glances at Luna.

The hangar they entered was gigantic but Luna quickly saw why. She saw images of the Keep from White’s memories but even he hadn’t stepped foot in it since he never left his White Room. It was a sight to behold but was similar to Providence’s firearms as it was more like a flying brick made from steel with sharp angles as well as a large, singular ring near the rear of the ship, giving it some definition and shape.

The differences between the Keep and Bloodwing’s Arbiter were staggering. The Griffon airship looked like a massive flying monster, ready to obliterate anything that was stupid or brave enough to cross its path while the Keep looked like it couldn’t scare a fly.

The inside was clean and sterile just like the halls of Providence Headquarters. More agents walked past them or sat in the bridge, awaiting permission for take off. The air felt strict and regulated just like the men inside it, save for Bobo, Rex and Luna.

Rex leaned against the wall as Luna stood near the helm, standing next to Six who kept his focus in front of him, staring out the windscreen and towards the wall that stood quite some distance away.

“Keep, you have permission for take-off,” A voice said through the intercom system.

A slightly muscular man at the ship’s controls nodded his head, “Thank you, Control. We are taking off now.”

The man was known as Captain Calan. The man was almost never seen with his helmet like other normal Providence agents, possibly due to his rank. He had a single, long scar running down the right side of his face, over his eye but didn’t cause enough damage to force him to keep it shut. Another noticeable feature was his short, blonde hair and brown eyes.

The Keep’s engines powered up as the ceiling slowly opened up. The hangar for the massive Hellicarrier was hidden beneath the ground, next to the base as the building did not possess a hangar large enough to house it.

“Hold onto your hats, we’re heading out,” Captain Calan stated to the group as the ship rose higher into the air, moving forward slightly before picking up speed. “Next stop: Manhattan.”

**** **** **** ****

Soarin could see all of Canterlot from the main balcony Princess Celestia used for public addresses. He could see buildings burning as some dragons spewed gouts of flames at them, engulfing shops, homes and somepony’s cabbage stand in the searing heat.

The sight seemed like a ruler’s worst nightmare come to life: they were unable to do anything while a strong, merciless enemy tore apart everything they worked so hard to build. It took Celestia around one thousand years to create such a peaceful land and Soarin helped tear it apart in days.

Yet, when he should be happy, it only created a pit in his stomach for reasons he could not understand. As he and the rest of his colleagues returned, the dragons were finished, only the younger drakes were setting things alight as they placed bets on who could burn down the city the fastest.

“Soarin?” Surprise’s voice snapped Soarin out of his musing.

He turned his head quickly towards Surprise, “Yes, Surprise?”

Surprise looked at him with an expression that made her look like she hadn’t slept in years, “Are we done?”

“Done with what?” Soarin asked as Surprise’s question was too vague for him.

“Are the rest of us done with what you wanted? Can we go now?” Surprise asked, her voice heavy and slow as if she was on the verge of collapse.

Soarin processed her request for a few moments, “Gather the rest. You all can go, there’s nothing else I’ll need you to do for now. Doubtful I’ll need your help again either. Once I see every Changeling lying dead at my hooves, I’ll join you.”

Surprise smiled as best she could, “Thank you…”

Surprise walked off, her hoofsteps as heavy as her voice had been. Soarin turned his attention back to the city that lay in front of him. The sun was setting once again on the day. He gathered some unicorns must have taken over the duties for lowering the sun thanks to the news of the Princesses’ disappearance, “I do believe it will be soon…”

**** **** **** ****

Nyx and Twilight sat next to each other on a bench as Sven spoke with Rinslet, Train and Eve. With their mark dead – or now a centrepiece at the botanical gardens – they were no longer able to claim the bounty. Twilight could see Sven’s anger while Train seemed indifferent. Rinslet looked like she was trying her best to diffuse Sven’s anger and frustration. Eve however seemed to not even care as her face was as blank as ever.

“Twilight… what do you think they are talking about? Think we’ll get the money for Planter?” Nyx asked with some concern.

After her Devil Arm Trigger ended, she remained at full size, dwarfing her old size as a filly. She looked every part a full grown mare, standing taller than Twilight even. Her purple mane had begun to shine and sparkle, akin to Luna or Celestia’s, her tail included. The two masses were slightly ethereal as they rippled in an unknown wind and they had gained size as the tip of her tail could touch the floor when she stood.

She was unsure if she preferred being a small filly, easier to hide from the people that just stared at them, pointing fingers. It was quite late still but the gunshots and lightning show that came from the gardens attracted quite the crowd. Most of the town had pitched up in the name of curiosity but upon seeing the source were two ponies and four humans who were all Sweepers, they kept their distance for the most part.

“I don’t know, Nyx. Sven seems upset so I think we might not get paid,” Twilight answered as she observed the argument, “I think when it comes to Sweepers, is that the target still has to be alive or at least identifiable if he/she is dead.

“It will be hard to convince anyone that that tree used to be a homicidal human who drank a mysterious potion that gave him control over the very plantlife he adored more than his own kind. I guess all we can hope for is for either of them to find a mark that won’t try to feed you to a plant.”

Nyx looked back at the gardens behind them and shuddered. What would have happened had she and Eve been eaten? Would they have returned as plants or would they simply die? She purged the thoughts from her mind, not wishing to dwell too much on what might have happened if weren’t for Twilight, their Sweeper friends and Alastor.

The Devil Arm in question arced happily on Nyx’s larger back, feeling at home as he met her in her current form. The source of her size that time was an infusion of demonic magic that brought her to Twilight’s universe.

Nyx peered over Twilight’s shoulder as the four humans returned. Sven was sulking, lighting up a cigarette as he looked at the mares. Train was standing with Eve, telling her how he was impressed by her abilities against Planter and called her ‘princess’ again. She didn’t seem angry or offended by the nickname as her face decided to bear the look of confusion.

“Well, we can’t cash in Igor Planter’s bounty,” Sven said rather dejectedly, “I propose we go sit down at the café again and figure out our next move.”

“You could help me with my next target,” Rinslet offered, “Sadly he’s also the last one so if I can’t get the potion Igor drank from this guy, I’ll be in a bind.”

Sven sighed, “Fine, who’s the mark?”

Rinslet smiled as she opened her bag and pulled out a wanted poster. The picture depicted a dark-skinned man with a massive afro atop his head. He smiled at the camera as if it were for a school photo. The group looked at the picture with indifference, all except for Sven.

“Gyanza Rujike?!”

Hit Hard, Hit Faster and Obliterate (Part 1)

The Shadow of a King
Hit Hard, Hit Faster and Obliterate (Part 1)
Author: Draconis187

“Get down!” Thule shouted as he and Spitfire were pinned behind a low rock formation that provided minimal cover from their attackers.

“Sweet Celestia, what are these things?!” Spitfire exclaimed in fear as she dodged a sickly-green, snot-like projectile flying over her head by ducking behind the formation.

“Tyranids! Never thought I’d live long enough to see these ugly beasts!” Thule responded as he opened fire on one of the aforementioned monsters.

Their position was teetering on being overrun by hideous creatures that made Spitfire wish she was facing demons again. They were of a pale green colouration with a thick layer of dark purple atop most of their heads akin to some form of armour. Although their ribcages were exposed, they were quite tough as they resisted a fair amount of bolter fire before finally succumbing and collapsing in bloody heaps.

There were many differences between types as one lacked arms and legs but levitated a short distance from the ground. It also seemed to possess a greater intellect than the others around it but it blew up all the same when Thaddeus shot its head a few times. Unlike the other Tyranids, this one violently exploded, bathing the area in snot-green blood as nearby Tyranids were either thrown back or horribly mutilated, covering the ground in bleeding body parts. The sight almost made Spitfire puke in her helmet, her desire for self-preservation being the only thing stopping her.

“We need to evac!” Thaddeus shouted as he engaged his jetpack, flying up into the air before falling on top of a group of small Tyranids that had been firing on their position, crushing two under his boots as the heavy, red boots went straight through their skulls and making a horrible squishing sound as he contacted with the ground.

“Fall back! That’s an order!” Davian shouted as he got up and kept firing, moving backwards and keeping his eyes trained on the encroaching forces.

Spitfire moved too, staying with the Assault Marines as Thaddeus returned. The group kept together, forming a wall of retaliating bolter fire as they moved backwards. Sadly a few leapt over the cover they had been using and charged the group. These Tyranids had large, scythe-like forearms unlike the ones that seemed to have a form of bio-gun.

“For the Blood Ravens!” They shouted – minus Spitfire, she shouted: “For Equestria!” instead – and drew their chainswords before charging the attackers.

Spitfire drove her old-looking weapon deep through the Tyranid’s chest area – or at least what she thought was the chest area – and the tip pierced straight through, the blade’s ‘teeth’ still moving at high speed as Spitfire pulled the blade out of the dying Tyranid as it bled to death on the ground.

“This is Captain Angelos to any surviving units. We have reports of Tyranid attacks all over the planet and they are tearing our stationed forces apart. Retreat to your drop zones for Thunderhawk extraction,” Angelos’ voice said as he spoke over the vox channel.

“You heard him!” Davian shouted as he tore a Tyranid’s head off with one hard slice of his blade, severing the neck clean and kicking it hard enough to collapse its chest cavity as he forced it onto the ground.

As the group began to fall back to their bolters and keep some distance between them and the blades the Tyranids had, the ground decided to start shaking. It was a rhythmic pulse as if it were footsteps. The group around Spitfire either didn’t notice or their combat experience made them immune to the kind of fear she was currently experiencing.

Around a large wall it came, a mammoth of a Tyranid with scythe-blades bigger than Spitfire’s body, tail and all. It had red markings on its body like warpaint and it had a rather small head for its size. It possessed a second pair of limbs but these were a lot shorter and wider, more like the claws of a crab. The purple armour covered its entire back and had strange protrusions sticking from it but like the rest, it lacked any form of protection underneath as its chest area and lower were completely unprotected. But those huge blades made trying to get close to kill it a suicide mission.

“Sweet Celestia…” Spitfire muttered under her breath.

Davian had also taken notice of the new arrival and shouted, “Carnifex!”

The group dispersed as the beast charged at them, obliterating their cover and making the ground shake as if there was a twelve scale earthquake occurring. More Tyranids began to push through the hole it made and began to pour in.

“This is Thule. Our position is being overrun and I doubt we can hold on for very much longer, requesting evac at our location as we can not make it to our LZ for extraction!” Thule shouted over the vox channel as he and the Assault Marines tried to find cover.

“This is Angelos. Assistance is on its way, Davian. Try to hold on for as long as you can. May the God-Emperor be with you,” Angelos replied.

“May he be with us all…” Thule steeled his resolve as he charged at the Carnifex with his chainsword held high above his head as he yelled another battlecry.

**** **** **** ****

“That’s a Horadric Scroll… As the last living Horadrim, I alone know of its meaning,” Cain said with some pride in his voice as he examined the ancient scroll.

“It just looks like gibberish ta me,” Applejack said as Cain began to read the scroll.

“Where is Trixie?” Cain asked as he noted the absence of the showmare.

“She’s tellin’ that Atma lady ‘bout the monster we killed,” Applejack replied. “After sellin’ off some of the things we found in them sewers. They had some value, money-wise. Go figure.”

“Ah. An understandable and wise course of action,” Deckard Cain said as he returned his attention to the scroll. “It is getting late after all and I do believe you two do not have any money to acquire a bed for the night since Warriv has left for the monastery you cleansed.”

“Darn tootin’,” Applejack replied.

On the other side of Lut Gholein, Trixie was just finishing telling Atma her tale of Applejack’s and her role in taking down Radament. Trixie could see the woman smile ever so slightly and her expression changed to one of peace when one gets the revenge they were seeking. She knew the expression well.

“Thank you very much, Trixie,” Atma said. “They say that vengeance is bittersweet but I find it to my liking. You and your friend have done us a great service. I have spoken to the townspeople earlier when you had offered your help and they have agreed to offer their goods and services at reduced rates should you return successfully. Which – of course – you have by virtue of the fact the sewers now lie silent once again.”

Trixie smiled and nodded her head, making sure her hat didn’t fall off, “Thank you very much, dear Atma. Do you know of anywhere we may rest? The sun is setting and I’d like to sleep on a proper bed instead of the floor.”

“Elzix runs the Desert Rain Inn. Just tell him I sent you and he should let you rest yourselves there,” Atma replied.

Trixie smiled sincerely and tipped her hat with her hoof, “Thank you very much, Miss Atma.”

“No, thank you… truly,” Atma replied as Trixie walked off, giving the mare a small wave with her smile growing ever so slightly.

Trixie trotted over to Applejack and Deckard Cain but saw her hammer-wielding friend facehoof as if something had happened. Sadly even with her good hearing, she was unable to catch what made her have such a reaction until she fully rejoined the two.

Trixie regarded Applejack with a look with a mixture of confusion and slight concern for any damage her action may have caused her freckled face, “What happened, Applejack? I saw you hit yourself in the face with your hoof…”

“Let’s jus’ say Ah’m starting to hate this place…” Applejack responded.

“Well, we can discuss it over at the Desert Rain Inn. Atma spoke with all the… people around here to offer us reduced rates with regards to their services but we will still need to pay for them though,” Trixie stated as she sat down next to her friend and looked straight into her eyes as she spoke.

Applejack nodded her head in understanding, “Ah wouldn’t want it any other way, Trix. It wouldn’t be right ta jus’ get things fer free ya know? Ah like ta earn mah keep.”

Trixie smiled and nodded her head, “On that we can both agree. Let us depart, the man we seek is known as Elzix. Strange name for a human though…”

“And our names aren’t strange ta them?” Applejack asked rhetorically as she arched an eyebrow and giving the showmare a small smirk.

Trixie giggled as she began to walk with Cain and Applejack towards the aforementioned inn, “I do believe you have a point there, Applejack. Now to find this Elzix…”

**** **** **** ****

Spitfire was thrown hard into a wall as the Carnifex charged the group and collided with her as she tried to fly over it. Her attempt got her airborne but one of the monster’s massive, scythe-like claws back-handed her and sent her flying into the wall which buckled and broke from the force.

The armour cushioned most of the blow but she still felt like she had just been tackled by Snowflake. The stallion was almost literally a flying wall of angry, Pegasus meat. But this was something else entirely, while the Pegasus in question would be apologising up and down for weeks, the Carnifex however planned on doing far more than that and came down on her with the force of a massive, collapsing building in an attempt to turn her into paste.

As Spitfire cringed as she saw the massive claws come down at her, a massive bang rang out and she found herself covered in warm, disgusting Tyranid blood as most of the torso was completely missing, giving Spitfire an excellent insight into its internal organs’ structure and layout. What remained of the Carnifex simply thudded as it connected with the ground, leaving Spitfire dumfounded until she heard something familiar roaring in the distance.

Bearing down on their position were the four Thunderhawks that brought them to Calderis in the first place. Spitfire heaved a sigh of relief but a shout brought her out of her musing and directed her attention to the Tyranids still nearby and calling for blood somewhat as the only thing they cared about were consuming everything in their path.

“Get your head in the game!” Thaddeus shouted as he brought his chainsword down on a Tyranid and cleaved its head in half, its ‘armour’ proving useless as blood flew in all directions, even onto his armour.

“Right, sorry…” Spitfire rolled and got up before collecting her bolter which had fallen thanks to the Carnifex’s attack. Her chainsword was nearby, the blade embedded in the ground and inactive as the motor was not humming with the ‘teeth’ moving merrily as usual.

“Head for the cliff-face, we will evacuate you there since there is not enough space down there at your current position. The other Thunderhawks provide close air support,” Angelos stated in a calm manner over the vox channel.

Davian Thule pointed to one of the Thunderhawks as it moved towards their extraction point which was a short distance away, to their right, “You heard Gabriel, move out!”

The Assault Marines let out a yell as they engaged their jetpacks and soared, coming down soon after and pounding a few Tyranids into the ground with their mighty boots. Thule and Spitfire ran together towards the Thunderhawk as it opened the front ramp, revealing two squads of Devastator Marines equipped with massive Heavy Bolters.

The red-clad Marines got out and set up their Heavy Bolters at the bottom of the ramp, giving the group covering fire as the Assault Marines landed nearby and boarded the Thunderhawk, firing back at the Tyranids until they were fully inside the flying, metal death machine.

Behind Thule and Spitfire were a large group of Tyranids moving at high speed and they were gaining ground. Most of the group were annihilated as three Thunderhawks gave the two supporting fire as Thule leapt over a low wall with Spitfire following close by.

The Devastators began to move back into the Thunderhawk and gestured for the two to get in. Spitfire engaged her jetpack and launched herself forwards, landing right by the ramp and running inside. She took off her helmet and smiled at Thule as he drew nearer but her expression fell instantly as Thule was sideswiped by a small Tyranid before he could reach the ramp.

The creature got a body full of Bolter rounds as Spitfire and Thaddeus fired their Bolters as they ran to grab him. As they got to him, they could see his chest plate was ripped open, a testament to the Tyranids’ strength and the sharpness of their claws. Thaddeus hefted Thule up in a fireman’s hold and carried him as the Devastators and Assault marines gave the two covering fire.

Soon enough they got back into the Thunderhawk and the red flying machine closed the ramp, flying off as fast as it could to get away from the Tyranids. Spitfire looked at Thule sadly as he coughed, his helmet having been removed after Thaddeus laid him down. Spitfire’s ears were flat, her lip quivering a little as she began to berate herself.

“If only I wasn’t so hasty… Then I-” She said but Thaddeus cut her off quickly.

“Then both of you would have been suffering whatever affliction is ravaging Captain Thule’s body,” Thaddeus said matter-of-factly, giving her a deadpan expression with his helmet under his right arm, “Those bastards are fast. You would have been attacked as well before I could have reached either of you. You were lucky, even if the Captain was not.”

Spitfire sighed, “I guess you’re right.”

“I’ve never met Tyranids before but I’ve read about them… Captain Angelos though knows more than I though due to his vast experience with xeno encounters,” Thaddeus said as he sat down.

Spitfire sat down near Thule, placing her helmet back on. “I’ll be sure to ask him for everything he knows about these creatures. And here I thought demons were ugly…”

**** **** **** ****

The Desert Rain Inn was a large, mud-brick building just like any other in Lut Gholein with the only exception being the fact that the owner was a former gang leader. The dangerous lifestyle had cost him most of his one arms but he took it as a sign to retire.

The middle-aged, balding man smiled at the two mares and Deckard Cain walked up the street. He began to mumble under his breath, “So, looks like the mummy in the sewers got what was coming to it. About time, I was beginning to wonder if my guests would ever be able to sleep again, let alone me. Wonder if they’d be interested in any weapons…”

The last thought went out the window as he saw the massive hammer on Applejack’s back, making him raise an eyebrow and decide that they might not need a new weapon. “Maybe armour? Hm… don’t seem like the armour-wearing type… may need to convince them then.”

The trio finally got to Elzix’s location and the man decided to spread out his arms in a dramatic fashion as he welcomed them warmly, “Welcome to the Desert Rain Inn! I am Elzix, what can I do for you?”

Trixie shook her head and spoke in a slightly callous manner, “We didn’t come for amateur hour, that’s for sure.”

Applejack looked at Trixie with a slight hint of annoyance in her voice as she spoke, “Play nice now, Trixie. Ah know that he ain’t quite yer level but be nice all the same.”

Trixie smiled sheepishly, “Sorry, it’s a force of habit to criticise another’s performance. Sort of ingrained into my mind, so to speak,” She then turned her head to talk to Elzix. “My two compatriots and I have come seeking a place to rest our heads before finding out where we are going to head out. I assume we can’t take a trip on one of the ships moored by the pier?”

Elzix nodded his head, “Yeah, the port is closed and there is nothing but desert out here. Unless you plan on going back into the sewers?”

Trixie laughed a little, almost mocking him in a way. “I would rather be in Las Pegasus again during the Changeling invasion than go trudging through that muck again.”

Elzix’s face turned to confusion but Applejack simply gave him and Cain a shake of her head when she saw him give them the same look, “Very long story. Tell ya’ll later. Ah jus’ want to get some shut-eye.”

Elzix nodded his head, “Alright. Please follow me sir and… um… ladies?”

Trixie, “Our difference in species does not change the nouns you use when describing us. We are ladies and I will accept mare as well since that is what we are.”

“Uh, alright,” Elzix lead the trio into the inn and Trixie let out a low whistle.

“For a hovel in the desert, you do have some taste in design. Although,” Trixie smirked as she looked at Applejack, “I still think Rarity would have a field day over staying the night in a building made of mud.”

Applejack laughed out loud, “Unless it was some fancy stuff, I doubt she’d even want to look at it. But she has been getting better with her prissy ways.”

Trixie giggled, “That much is true. Can’t see her trekking through a desert like the one we just came from without finding something to complain about though.”

Elzix pointed to a flight of stairs, “I gather you are after separate rooms?”

“One for each of us I should think,” Trixie replied as she took her hat off and searched through it for gold. “Funny how we have a similar currency and yet it’s still utterly useless here.”

Deckard Cain raised an eyebrow, choosing to speak after a while as his attention had been mostly taken up by the Horadric Scroll he had been reading, “I would like to know more about your kind, Madam Trixie. If you would be so kind as to oblige an old man?”

“M-madam Trixie?” Trixie turned to look at him with confusion. “Since when did I own a brothel? I’m a showmare by trade, not a madam.”

“Really? Given by the way you have been speaking, I would have thought you were a scholar,” Cain replied.

Trixie rolled her eyes and levitated her hat in front of him, “No scholar of any tribe in all of Equestria wears a hat or a cape when they begin or even finish their studies. It’s mainly for show purposes but it’s very important to me which s why I choose to wear it almost constantly.”

“See? Learning something already,” Cain answered. “Mind telling me more about these ‘tribes’ you spoke of?”

Trixie nodded her head, “Fine, but I’ll tell you tomorrow. I feel a little dead on my hooves. Night all.”

Trixie didn’t wait for Elzix to show her to a vacant room and quickly went into the first vacant room she could find, shutting the door and placing magic wards on it and the window to wake her should an intruder enter. She removed her hat and cape, placing it onto a nearby chair and placing Cerberus under her pillow so it would be close by should she need it.

Applejack and Cain were lead to two nearby rooms and were informed that the Desert Rain Inn served breakfast but it wasn’t much as most of the higher quality food was served in the palace. Applejack had no objections and neither did Cain as they said their goodnights and went to sleep in their respective rooms.

**** **** **** ****

The Helmsgriffon in the Arbiter ran a few numbers in his head as he looked over the ship’s current fuel reserves and the distance the entire fleet still had to travel as they made their way across the water towards Equestria. What he figured out was not good news for any of the airships and definitely not good for him since Bloodwing was in no mood for bad news.

“Sir, I am afraid I do not have good news,” He said as he turned to look at Bloodwing.

Bloodwing arched an eyebrow at him and let out an exasperated sigh, “Now what’s wrong?”

The Helmsgriffon took a deep breath before replying to Bloodwing who was being oddly calm as the red-winged Griffon stared at him, “I am afraid at the rate we are burning through our fuel, we will drop out of the sky before reaching Ponyville, sir.”

His previous thoughts to Bloodwing’s mood flew straight out the window as the Griffon in question bellowed so loudly with pure fury and anguish it made every Griffon in earshot cringe and hide as if some beast from Tartarus had been let loose aboard the ship and to be honest with themselves, they would have preferred that over Bloodwing.

“What?! Why didn’t you tell me this before we left Zebrican airspace?!” Bloodwing shouted, the Helmsgriffon now wishing he was somewhere else, an entirely different planet altogether if it were possible.

“Sorry, sir. I didn’t realise it till the fourth aft engine gave out,” He replied, only to make Bloodwing even angrier, something he thought wasn’t possible at this point.

“One of the engines g-” Bloodwing’s face made a variety of expressions as his one claw clenched so hard he almost cut himself with his own talons, raised slightly above his head, almost looking as if he was going to clobber the Helmsgriffon.

For a moment Bloodwing took a deep breath and calmed down to a state he could think better at, “Where is the nearest refuelling port that we can reach? And it better be on Equestrian soil or else someone is going through a window… Without their wings!”

The Helmsgriffon gulped, “There is one sir. A few but the closest to us is Baltimare, on the coastline. It is still quite new and we’d only get the Arbiter refuelled because of that and for the fact it was meant to only refuel the smaller, commercial airships.”

Bloodwing faceclawed, “Of course it is… Helios, tell the fleet to break up and find the nearest refuelling depot. We’ll meet up in Fillydelphia and move towards Ponyville.”

Helios nodded his head and returned to the helm, “Understood, sir. Attention all airships. Break formation and head for Baltimare, Stalliongrad and Pegisopolis for refuelling. Meeting point is in Fillydelphia.”

The commanding officers of the other airships voiced their confirmations of the order and broke formation, heading towards the cities that could refuel the massive war machines.

Bloodwing muttered under his breath as he sat back in his seat, “This is why I hate jet engines.”

**** **** **** ****

The Normandy flew towards the Mass Relay so it would be ready to head off to the next location Commander Sheppard wished to go while the ground crew sat in the debriefing room. Wrex, Garrus, Liara, Pinkie, Sheppard, Alenko and Williams all sat on chairs arranged in a circle so not one had their back to someone. Pinkie giggled as she spun on the chair. Joker buzzed in from the helm and spoke to Sheppard.

“Next time, Sheppard, could we not stop by an active volcano? I don’t think the ship was designed to get a tan,” Joker said in a light-hearted manner.

Pinkie gave a small, chortling laugh, “Good one, Joker! Hm…-” Pinkie placed a hoof on her chin “- I wonder what colour the ship would be if it could get a tan? Would it go brown and sizzle as if it were bacon or would it simply change colour?”

“I’d rather not know thank you, Pinkie. Any ideas about our next destination?” Sheppard asked to the group.

Alenko shrugged his shoulders, “The Normandy is your ship, Commander. I’ll follow whatever decision you make as I’m sure everyone will agree.”

“There is still Noveria and Feros to go to now but I agree with Lieutenant Alenko. I’ll follow wherever you choose to go,” Williams stated.

“Commander if you go to Noveria, may I request to accompany you? It is very important to me to see my mother. I might be able to find out why she is doing this,” Liara asked.

“Ooh… um I don’t think it’s a good idea…” Pinkie answered before Sheppard could reply.

“Matriarch Benezia is my mother, Pinkie. I can not stay behind when I have not seen her in many years. She may be confused or maybe it’s part of a larger plan she came up with. My mother has many centuries of experience so it is possible she is only helping Saren to get closer to find out his full machinations,” Liara argued.

“B-but…” Pinkie’s ears were flat against her head, trying to find a reason to not let her go with.

“Liara’s coming, Pinkie. She might help us figure out why Matriarch Benezia is helping Saren,” Sheppard said, his arms folded.

“Okie dokie lokie,” Pinkie said without her usual enthusiasm.

“Cheer up, Pinkie. You know what you could do to make everyone feel better?” Joker’s voice said over the intercom.

Sheppard’s eyes widened, ‘Joker… don’t you dare say it.”

Joker however did not listen to a word he said and carried on, “Liara is a new crew member and what do you give new members, Pinkie? A party.”

That was all the encouragement the pink mare needed to squeal with joy and run out of the room at a speed Liara thought was not even possible without some form of technological or biotic assistance. She had to blink a few times to realise Pinkie was there one second and completely gone the next, faster than her brain was able to realise what had just occured.

“What… just happened?” Liara asked in confusion as Wrex laughed heartily with Garrus giving a small chuckle.

“Let’s just say, when you see her with a cannon you may want to steer clear lest you be covered in party favours,” Garrus answered with a snide smile on his face.

Pinkie ran through the ship at top speed, her armour clean off her body and in its locker. Her Party Cannon was always nearby whenever she needed it but that was not her concern at that moment. Her hooves clanged as they collided with the metal flooring of the ship as she ran towards the helm.

Joker almost literally leapt out his seat – which could have caused a number of fractures in the process – as Pinkie’s head came into his field of vision instantly, “Shit! Pinkie… It’s just you. What’s wrong? I thought you’d be halfway trying to make Liara a party.”

“Silly Billy, I can do that in ten minutes but I just have a question,” Pinkie answered as she sat down near Joker’s seat.

“Oh? And what would that be?” Joker asked.

“What do Asari like?” She answered with a genuine inquisitive look on her face.

**** **** **** ****

Twilight and Nyx sat on the back seat of Sven’s car once more, this time with Eve no longer having Nyx’s head on her lap due to the Alicorn’s new size. This however did not stop her from gently stroking her neck. Eve’s face however was simply unchanged from its usual, blank expression.

“So, Twilight…” Sven began to say as he drove, a fresh cigarette in his mouth. “Mind telling us what happened back there with Nyx?”

Train nodded his head, “Yeah, even I’m a little curious. One moment she’s small enough to pass off as some children’s plushie and the next she’s the size of the average horse.”

Twilight shifted uncomfortably, “I was wondering when you were going to ask… But I should have known something like this would happen with Alastor around.

“Nyx’s transformation was caused when she invoked the inherent power within Alastor,” Twilight explained. “These Devil Arms seem to possess great power but they do not seem to ever fully unleash it until they find a user worthy enough to withstand it. Even after that, they still use only a portion of their full strength.”

“Wait,” Sven said, cutting Twilight off from saying much more. “You’re using plurals. How many more of those things are there, Twilight?”

“A few to be accurate but there may be more than the ones I’ve seen since they are not native to our world, even Nyx’s. But each one is quite unique,” Twilight answered, a little annoyance evident in her voice from being cut off.

“Alastor is actually one of two weapons I know that wield lightning,” Twilight continued. “Although the methods the two weapons use are quite different. Alastor is like a living lightning bolt and a lightning rod, able to fire lightning and it is also able to influence the weather to an extent. The other though… well, it’s a guitar.”

Train laughed as he turned to look at Twilight, “So… what? Does it shock its targets with bad notes? If it’s poorly tuned does it make you cringe?”

Twilight rolled her eyes and smirked, “No. It summons bloodthirsty bats and its strings are made of pure lightning. It’s also able to turn into a scythe and fires lightning like a cannon, of sorts.”

Train simply scoffed and laid back in his seat, “Sorry I asked.”

Train had to admit he found the world Twilight was from to be rather interesting. No war for a good number of centuries, who wouldn’t want that? Although such a thing may mean he would be out of a job if everyone was as nice as Twilight made them out to be, there would be no need for Sweepers.

Luckily that thought was purged from his mind as Twilight spoke, “Although despite we’ve had no major wars in a while, we still have a few criminals roaming about. And the Changeling invasion doesn’t count.”

“Invasion?” This time it was Eve who spoke. Despite interrupting, her voice was still flat and emotionless as ever. Twilight smiled a little, thankful to have someone with such a hungry mind to talk to.

“It’s a bit of a long story for all the details,” Twilight explained, turning her head a little to look at Eve. “The gist of it is thus: we were attacked by a race of shapeshifters. The second time it happened to be honest.

“But what both they and we didn’t know was that they were manipulated into the invasion by a demon from another universe,” Twilight continued, a look of sadness on her face as she recounted her tale. “It’s actually a rather sad tale to be honest as it ruined thousands of lives. We almost committed mass genocide and we would have regretted it for the rest of our lives.

“I was surprised Fluttershy didn’t cry as much as I thought she would have when we learned the truth,” Twilight continued, a very small tear on her face. “But given her experiences, it made her a little apathetic. I guess she found a different way to deal with it…”

“Everyone has different ways of dealing with the consequences of their actions,” Train stated, not looking at Twilight. “Our burdens are ours to bear, no one else’s. We all find our ways to deal with our inner demons. Some manage to do so while others let their demons control their lives, never getting over it until they kill themselves.”

“That’s a little deep for you, Train. Been reading some of Eve’s books?” Sven asked slyly, a smirk on his face.

Train smiled and closed his eyes, placing his hand behind his head as he relaxed. “Nah, I’m just a deep guy.”

Sven laughed, “You’re as deep as a pan, Train.”

**** **** **** ****

Pinkie’s party had hit the ship at a speed that would have made Rainbow Dash proud and baffle scientists until the end of time. At the end, everyone who was forced to attend – Dr. Chakwas being among them for some reason, despite her many protests – were completely exhausted. Everyone made a mental note to tell Pinkie it was Joker’s birthday next week as an act of vengeance.

Sheppard lay back on one of the seats in the mess hall, “We’re heading to Noveria first and then to Feros. And Liara is coming” – Pinkie raised her hoof, about to object again –“no arguments, Pinkie.”

Pinkie lowered her hoof and huffed, “Fine.” She then began to mutter under her breath, “Force Liara to kill her own mother but hey no skin off my bones…”

Garrus looked at Pinkie, “What was that Pinkie?”

“But English muffins taste like cardboard and not the nice, double-corrugated stuff, that really nasty, cheap cardboard that they don’t use unless there’s no other cardboard around or if they’re just trying to be cheep McCheapermans but that’s what Derpy at any rate says whenever she comes in to ask for them. She’s a crazy mare, you know?” Pinkie replied, smiling broadly at Garrus.

Garrus just looked at Pinkie and she did the same. The next few moments passed in silence as Garrus stared at her, waiting for a proper answer for once. Sadly, Pinkie thought he was challenging her to a staring contest and looked at him with a hard expression, as if trying to bore through his skull with her sheer determination to win.

Garrus sighed and walked off, resigning to the fact that she’ll only tell him or someone else when she wants to. ‘She’s as mysterious as the Perseus Veil.’ He thought as he went down in the elevator to the loading bay to check on the Mako.

Pinkie trotted over to Liara who was still a little dumfounded that one small pony managed to organise a party in such a short span of time without the use of biotics.

“Enjoy the party ‘cause when I called you were all like ‘what is it?’ and I was like ‘come over here and see!’ Then you were all -” Pinkie gasped loudly, placing her forehooves on the sides of her face, scrunching it up “- then I was all like ‘surprise!’ That reminds me, there was this Pegasus that used to be a part of the Wonderbolts but she died when the train they were on was attacked and now we don’t even have a body to bury since everypony thinks they were mutilated by the Changelings and eaten. Isn’t that strange though since they apparently feed of love and some other emotions?”

Liara and anyone within earshot was left in the dust as Pinkie spoke a mile a minute before ranting about ducks swimming backwards and walking off, still chattering away.

Sheppard got up and walked over to Liara, speaking before she could ask. “No, you don’t get used to it.”

Joker piped in using the intercom again, “Commander, we’ve entered the Pax System. Heading for the Horse Head Nebula now.”

“Good,” Sheppard said as he walked towards his locker. “Joker, tell Wrex to suit up. And if you find Pinkie, tell her to suit up as well. I want to move out the moment we land.”

“Understood, Commander.” Joker replied.

“Sheppard,” A voice said, making Sheppard jump and instinctively reach for his pistol. He looked at the source to find Pinkie standing a few steps away, fully clad in her armour.

“Fuck, Pinkie. Don’t do that,” Sheppard said as he placed his pistol down and picked up his armour’s chestplate, donning it. “Your antics are not easy to get used to, if at all. Something you wanted?”

“Yupperooni!” Pinkie replied cheerfully, “What is this Noveria we’re going to?”

“It’s a planet covered in ice and snow. You will freeze without a suit if you don’t suffocate first but with you… I don’t know,” Sheppard replied, not looking at her as he got the arm-pieces of his armour on. “It also has a bad history of allowing some companies to conduct experiments the Council would frown upon if discovered.”

“Oh,” Pinkie said, her eyes wide. “So are we going to bust a commercial conspiracy involving trafficking of humans or some Asari or maybe some Salarian is cutting open a Kro”- Pinkie stopped herself –“ nevermind. Let’s get going.”

“We’re not at Noveria yet, Pinkie so please just hold off on the enthusiasm for now. Please?” Sheppard implored, praying to the Maker she would agree.

Pinkie nodded her head and walked off to the helm. She stopped as she almost went around the corner by the stairs and looked back at Sheppard, muttering solemnly under her breath, “Taking Liara with us is not going to end up being okie dokie lokie…”

**** **** **** ****

Sven’s car continued to rattle heavily as it trudged along the road towards Rubeck City, the city their target - Gyanza Rujike - was rumoured to be hiding. But it was also rumoured that he was behind the massive increase in crime that forced the residents of the city to stay indoors for most of the day.

Twilight looked out the window, watching the landscape continue to move past her. “So… this Gyanza Rujike… what’s his modus operandi?”

If one were to look at Sven’s face, they would have seen a very morbid expression on it as he spoke, “Gyanza is the scum of the earth in almost every conceivable way. I nabbed him back when I was with the International Police. He gets his kicks from raping and murdering any women he finds.”

Twilight huffed, blowing a stray lock of hair out of the way. “Sounds like a real piece of work.”

“If whoever supplied Igor with that Spirit Water is planning on giving it to Gyanza, he’ll be a dead man before I let him so much as get his hands on it,” Sven said.

“Isn’t that a bit… extreme? Even for you?” Twilight asked.

“You don’t know that scumbag like I do, Twilight. He’s evil, pure and simple and I’d rather have a corpse than some jacked up, super Gyanza. There is no telling what that Spirit Water could do to him after we saw what it did to Planter,” Sven answered. “With that much power at his disposal… I’d rather not think about it.”

“I see… I do not agree but if it does anything similar to what it did to Igor Planter then I guess we don’t really have a choice,” Twilight said.

“Igor seemed reluctant to attack until we stepped on his flowers,” Eve stated flatly, her eyes fixated on Nyx’s mane. “After that he drank the Spirit Water and we were forced to fight him.”

Sven nodded, “And Gyanza will have no such reluctance. He’ll use the power to make his fun more enjoyable for him.” Sven gripped the steering wheel harder, his knuckles going a little white.

“Ease up, Sven,” Train said, turning his head and opening his eyes to look at him. “You’re going to give yourself grey hairs if you keep worrying about it. Not to mention you can’t really do anything till we get there you know. So quit your worrying.”

Sven shook his head, “Easy for you to say. You haven’t had to track this guy’s rampage back in the day. You don’t know what it’s like to chase a madman, watching him destroy everything that you swore to protect.”

Train’s expression turned cold in an instant and he turned his head, looking out the window. ‘You don’t know how wrong you are. You didn’t have everything you ever cared about ripped away,’ He thought coldly.

“Train?” Eve asked, moving a little forward and poking Train with a finger.

“Hm? Something wrong, Princess?” Train asked, turning his head to look at the three behind him.

“You seemed upset about something,” Eve responded, moving back a bit, returning to her original position.

“Who me? Nah,” Train replied, giving Eve a confident grin. “I’m Black Cat, kid. Master assassins like me don’t get upset over little things.”

Eve however was unconvinced, “You’re lying.”

Even Twilight analyzed Train’s smile. It was one that had seemed practised, as if he had years to perfect a smile that would fool all but a few that knew to look for the signs and the ones who used it themselves. Train’s smile may have said he was fine to most but to Twilight, Eve and even Nyx, they all knew he was hiding pain, regret and sorrow. Whatever he was hiding from them, it was hurting him deeply.

**** **** **** ****

A cemetery on the outskirts of Canterlot had become desecrated as Diamond Dogs exhumed the graves in search for valuables. They dug at the ground with fervour, not caring about disrespecting the ponies that had long since passed or the fresh bodies. Most of their searches turned out to be fruitless as all they found were skeletal remains of ponies while the odd one was clothed and actually had a valuable or two.

Several figures approached on foot towards the entrance to the graveyard. All but one looked beyond tired, as if they had not slept in weeks but they all kept pace with the one leading them to the graveyard.

Surprise looked at Soarin, “Thanks.”

Soarin shook his head, Fluttershy’s old ebony blades still on his back. “It’s no problem, Surprise… should have done this ages ago really.”

Silver Lining breathed a sigh of relief, “Finally… I’ve wanted to go back since I was brought back.”

Blaze sighed in annoyance, “You’ve done nothing but complain since we were brought back, you idiot! If it’s not one thing it’s bucking something else!”

Surprise shook her head, “remind me again as to why you had to bring them back?”

Fire Streak simply stayed quiet until Blaze bumped into him, “Would you two stop this incessant bickering for once? You were bad enough in life! There is no torture in all of Tartarus that could possibly be as bad as the pair of you two utter buffoons!”

Blaze just looked at Fire Streak with complete shock, “Holy mother of Celestia’s buttcheeks! You actually speak! I thought death made you a mute!”

Streak glared at him, “No it didn’t. I chose not to speak you ingrate! I chose not to speak so you wouldn’t talk to me and yet all it had yielded was you and Silver having a go at each other. You’re like an old married couple but without the rutting! Or maybe you did in life and now since you can’t get it up in death, you’re now taking out the frustrations out on each other. I do not know and quite honestly I do not care. Get a room, kiss and make up. Do something other than argue!”

Fire Streak stormed off into the cemetery, leaving the others behind. Soarin chuckled a little, “Well… Someone’s angry… But-” he turned his attention to Silver Lining and Blaze “-he has a point. You two can not keep this going. Fate is most likely going to pair you two together as usual so I suggest getting over your little ‘lover’s spat’ and get going.”

The rest of the group entered the cemetery and Soarin looked around. The Diamond Dogs stopped what they were doing and were about to attack until they noticed who exactly had entered. With a single gesture, the Diamond Dogs all cleared out without so much as a question or a bark.

“There. Hopefully they left your graves alone,” Soarin commented as he watched their forms retreat into the distance. “If they didn’t, I’ll make sure death itself won’t save them from what I’d do to them.”

Surprise shook her head, “Soarin… it’s not too late you know. You could come with us you know. Pass on and be at peace with the knowledge that you will get your revenge.”

“But I want to see it with my own eyes, Surprise. They took everything from me…” Soarin replied as he looked towards the city. “My job, my life… and you…”

Surprise hung her head, “You know that we were not supposed to have relationships with each other?”

Soarin chuckled, “We died, Surprise. You think protocol matters anymore?”

Surprise and Soarin soon caught up with the other three as they stood by three gravestones. They were marble with a granite outline. The base however was made of sandstone. At the top of each gravestone was the Wonderbolts symbol. The lightning bolt was made of gold leaf while the wings were etched into the marble.

Underneath each symbol was their cutie mark and an inscription bearing their name, rank, date of birth, the date they died and the usual ‘you will be missed’ message at the bottom.

Soarin placed his hoof on the top of his gravestone and muttered under his breath, “Not yet…”

The others looked at him with rather solemn expressions, knowing his stubbornness would not allow him to go with them. Soarin’s horn began to glow and the dirt was slowly pulled from the ground, leaving four large holes in the ground, each six feet deep.

Each of them – save for Soarin – got into their respective graves and laid down. On each of their faces was a small smile, speaking volumes as to how grateful they were for finally getting the rest they so greatly desired. Soarin placed the dirt he had removed behind the gravestones and turned his attention to the ponies in the open graves.

“Thank you all,” Soarin said, a small smile on his face and a tear rolling down his face.

They all nodded their heads at him and with a single, bright flash from his horn their expressions remained smiling as their bodies fell to the ground, limp as their souls were instantly sent into the hereafter in the span of a second.

But that was not all that happened. Surprise’s coat began to bleach, turning progressively more white as her mane and tail turned blonde. The rest of the former Wonderbolts’ coats, manes and tails returned to their original states and colours. Even their uniforms began to change to a dark blue colour, revealing the former Wonderbolts spandex suits.

Soarin looked at each one of them in their original states and picked up the dirt he had removed. He slowly refilled each hole in turn, walking past each grave as he finished, stopping at the next before continuing. “Rest in peace…”

**** **** **** ****

Celestia looked out over the edge of the ship she was on, looking to the frozen horizon expectantly. Come hell or high water, she was going to find Baral and she was going to go home. As far as she was concerned, the Nerevarine could stick her callous demeanour up where Celestia never shone the sun.

The weather had died down somewhat, although the wind was still quite favourable to the ship, propelling it towards its destination. However, as Celestia saw what she gathered to be the mainland of Skyrim slowly getting closer, her mind began to think. She only heard of Baral’s world through his tales of grandeur and – sadly – violence.

Between Baral and the devil twins Dante and Vergil, Celestia found Baral a more frequent visitor. Or at least when he was not in the middle of some dingy, old dungeon and waist deep in trouble. She also found that despite his job, he seemed to be rather friendly for the most part with everyone in Equestria.

Celestia was so busy thinking about the Dovahkiin that she didn’t notice the Nerevarine had walked up beside her. For a moment, she didn’t speak until the bow of the ship collided with a crest of a wave, spraying water onto the deck which prompted Celestia to create a shield around her coat to keep dry. The Nerevarine didn’t draw any of her weapons, nor did she even flinch when some of the water soaked her on the one side of her body.

“Tell me what you know of Skyrim,” The Nerevarine stated, sounding like an order.

“I don’t really know much other than the hearsay that Baral liked to ramble on about after a mug of hard cider,” Celestia responded, not looking at her.

“All I know is that it is a large land fraught with danger, old burial chambers the Nords used and the ancient Dwemer ruins like Blackreach,” Celestia continued, recounting one of the tales Baral liked to talk quite a bit about.

This piqued the Nerevarine’s interest as she turned her head to look at Celestia, “Tell me more. Now.”

“All I understand is that it is a massive, underground city the Dwemer built. Completely abandoned for many, many years,” Celestia answered, still not looking at her. “Well… save for the Falmer that made it their home.”

“More information,” The Nerevarine said, her voice sounding more like a scholar that had just been granted access to a section of the library that had been off-limits to them for years.

Celestia nodded her head, “Alright. From what I heard there is some rare Red Nirnroot that grows there and there are some old contraptions that the Dwemer left behind as well but they seem to try to kill whoever activates them.”

“Well, that’s not surprising. More than likely they’ve been left in a sentinel state to guard the place from any who would try to steal everything,” The Nerevarine said matter-of-factly.

“That I can understand,” Celestia replied. “But that’s all I know, oh wait. There are several elevators all across Skyrim that lead into the same cavern.”

“It’s that big huh?” The Nerevarine said thoughtfully a hand resting on her chin. “Could have some valuable information there.”

“But now it is an archeological site,” Celestia explained. “They are trying to figure out how the machinery works and trying to replicate it.”

The Nerevarine chuckled. Oh how she would turn their research on its head if she told them of her relations with the only living Dwemer left, or as far as she and the rest of Tamriel knew anyway.

“Alver, what is our destination again?!” The Nerevarine shouted, turning her head to look at the helm.

Alver looked back, “It’s known as Windhelm. If I recall it used to be the headquarters for a rebel force known as-”

“-Stormcloaks,” Celestia interrupted. “Their leader was known as Ulfric Stormcloak and tried to become the High King of Skyrim.”

“‘Tried’? I gather he is now no more?” The Nerevarine asked.

“No, he’s alive and well. He had to abandon it when a dragon tried to kill them all,” Celestia answered.

“They’re fools. That Ulfric would try to take over again the first chance he gets,” The Nerevarine said callously.

“Not if he was going up against Baral,” Celestia replied with a small smile on her face.

The Nerevarine scoffed, “A single man can not stop a civil war.”

Celestia laughed, “He can when he’s the Dovahkiin.”

As the Nerevarine was about to respond, Alver interrupted, “We’re here. The mainland of Skyrim, ladies.”

Celestia looked over the frozen landscape, just barely making out a massive building at the very precipice of a massive cliff-face. She was about to ask what it was until she recalled a magic college Baral mentioned in his travels. While he apparently didn’t pay it much heed, the fact that it was the only building still standing after most of the city fell into the ocean for reasons none understood but it damaged the reputation of all magic users in Skyrim.

“Praise my mother… it is almost over,” Celestia muttered under her breath but her ears perked up as they caught something very faint on the wind.

The Nerevarine folded her arms, “Why are you praising yo-” Celestia stopped her as she raised her hoof quickly, staring at the Nerevarine with an expression that made her take a step back. She felt like the fury of the sun itself was glaring directly at her as if to incinerate her.

The momentary hesitation died out though as she shook her head, “Why did you cut me off? Explain or you will lose limbs.”

Celestia lowered her hoof and looked out towards the horizon, “I heard something… -” her ears perked up as she heard it once more, slightly louder this time around “-There it is again… Sounds like…”

Celestia’s eyes widened as she heard the noise again, clearly identifying it as a roar. She turned her head skyward, searching it feverishly.

“What did you hear?” The Nerevarine asked, slightly growing impatient.

Celestia spotted it finally: a light grey beast, its body adorned with long, black spikes. It soared through the air, flapping its massive wings as it came flying towards the small – in comparison – ship they were on, “Dragon…”

Author's Notes:

Aaand here's the next update! Well this was long but fun to do as always. Longest chapter so far for this fic.

Hit Hard, Hit Faster and Obliterate (Part 2)

The Shadow of a King
Hit hard, Hit Faster and Obliterate (Part 2)
Author: Draconis187

Rarity and Joystick were sweating bullets as they followed Siegfried across the scorching desert, thankful that their several mile long trek was near its end as Rarity could make out a small town nestled in the distance and beyond it was foliage not native to the arid landscape.

“Finally I can get some water, a much needed shower and some rest,” Rarity said wistfully as she walked between Joystick and Siegfried with a small smile on her face, her mind already envisioning some luxurious desert resort.

“We won’t be staying long,” Siegfried replied sharply, removing the smile from Rarity’s face almost instantly.

“Aw… why?” Rarity asked, pouting a little as she looked at the knight.

Siegfried didn’t even flinch at Rarity’s facial expression, “Because we need to stay on the move, otherwise we will get attacked again.”

This response, however, made Joystick turn his head to look at Siegfried with a confused expression upon his face. “Uh, Siegfried… Not wanting to be rude or anything but we’ve been attacked while we’ve been walking. Sure there was the Adrian but we were still technically moving.”

“We are not sticking around and that is final,” Siegfried replied curtly.

“Well… that was rather rude I must say, dear Siegfried,” Rarity said with a slight hint of sadness in her voice. “A good rest can do wonders for one’s complexion, not to mention if we do get attacked, a good night’s rest could help keep our reflexes sharp.”

“I never said how long that stay was going to be, now did I?” Siegfried said, making the two white ponies look at him with bewildered expressions.

This made Rarity giggle a little, “Why, Siegfried I do believe you pulled a prank on us. And do I see a smile on that face of yours?”

“I did not trick you two,” Siegfried said with a very sly and very faint smirk on his face. “It was your minds that dictated incorrectly.”

Joystick laughed, “Remind you of somepony, Rarity? A certain fashion mogul maybe, hm?”

Rarity found herself in the middle of a giggle fit, “Oh posh, Joystick. But I will admit that Siegfried did have me going. How rude of you to misdirect a lady such as myself, Siegfried.”

Siegfried’s small smile still stayed on his face as he replied, “You may be female but you are like no lady I’ve ever encountered.”

“Oh? What kind of ladies are you generally acquainted with?” Rarity asked, the gossip in her rearing its head.

“Most of them are trying to kill me with some form of weapon,” Siegfried replied as the small town got ever closer, starting to loom overhead. “The rest I avoid.”

Rarity’s ears fell back, “Oh… right. Kind of forgot about that.”

“How can you forget something that big?” Joystick asked. “We’ve almost been killed a few times now and yet you didn’t notice some of them were female?”

“It was the heat of the moment, Joystick. I do not focus on my opponent’s gender when I’m fighting to ensure I will see the next day,” Rarity replied, “Although, knowing when they’re male does provide an additional option to neutralise them and leave them open for a more fatal follow-up attack.”

Joystick cringed as his mind made the connection, trying to cross his hindlegs. Siegfried however didn’t flinch at all, either due to the fact he had been in many fights where tactics such as those were commonplace and he knew how to dodge them or it was the protective guard he wore to protect the aforementioned sensitive parts.

**** **** **** ****

The Humvee that Rico drove skidded to a grinding halt as he stopped just outside the wooden fence post that separated Karl Blane’s home from the rest of the world.

Karl Blane seemed to be living quite the high life, if the two-storey mansion of a building was any indication. Although, despite it was more of a house than the rickety, wooden shacks that Discord was used to seeing, the garden did seem in dire need of a mow and even then there were large patches of dirt in amongst the grass.

Then there was the fact that the house looked like it had been neglected for ages. The paint was peeling off somewhat, revealing hairline cracks in the building’s structure that would worry any building inspector.

Discord breathed in deeply with a small smirk on his face, “Reminds me of home, if home were a dreary hovel that I wouldn’t even use as an outhouse. Seriously, and I like things falling apart around me but this… this is just sad.”

“I can not argue with you there but we aren’t here to question where he chooses to live. We are here to find him and learn what he knows,” Rico replied as he got out of the Humvee, Discord doing the same on his side and closing the door.

The worn-out, wooden fence had a large section missing from it that was wide enough for even the wide Humvee to fit in comfortably. The long, low trenches in the dirt further cemented the thought that the area there was used for a vehicle but there was not one present at the moment.

“Hope he’s here,” Discord said as he followed Rico, his combat shotgun slung over his right shoulder. “I’d hate to have come out here for nothing. I could be spreading some lovely chaos right now and I’d hate to have missed out on the fun.”

“This coming from a guy who can just vanish, then reappear on the other side of the island in a second?” Rico replied, looking back at Discord with a raised eyebrow.

“What can I say?” Discord said, smiling broadly and spreading his arms with his palms wide open as he gave them a few quick, fast shakes. “Not everyone can be as perfect as me.”

“There are so many things wrong with that statement,” Rico replied, facepalming before he looked through a window to see if Blane was somewhere inside.

Discord however decided to snap his fingers, his chaotic magic being focused on the door which decided to unlock and unhinge itself. Rico watched with a blank expression on his face as the door hopped off the porch and towards the road where a truck soon ran over it, sending splinters flying everywhere. The truck continued on its way as if nothing happened.

“Discord… what did I say about you doing that shit?” Rico asked as he gave an exasperated sigh, walking up to the empty door frame and walking inside the house.

“Dunno, I think I forgot,” Discord chuckled. “Is he there?”

“No… and looks like he hasn’t been here in a number of hours,” Rico replied as he exited the house.

Discord and Rico heard a motor engine getting closer and stopped their conversation to look at the source as it came in through the gap in the fence. Discord and Rico could tell it was a woman, given her figure as she got off the bike, making sure the engine was turned off while they readied their weapons.

She pulled her helmet off to reveal her short black hair and the brown eyes it was hiding. She had fair, tanned skin while she wore a black leather catsuit and walked right up to Rico and Discord.

“What are you two doing here? This is private property you know,” She asked, eying the pair intently as she sized them up.

Discord chuckled, “Why my dear, we are simply looking around for someone. Perhaps you know of him? Karl Blane?”

“Karl Blane? Why?” She asked, folding her arms.

“I’m not telling everyone I meet who I am looking for and why so unless you know of his location, goodbye,” Rico said callously.

“And who are you to tell me to leave?” She replied calmly.

As Rico was about to retort, Discord cut him off quickly. “I am Discord, my dear. And this here is Rico. We’re from the Agency.”

Rico facepalmed with a free hand as the woman nodded her head, “Jade Tan. I work for the same people.” She turned her head to look at Rico. “I suggest you find a way to keep him quiet. The Agency is not supposed to have unwanted attention.”

“Well, with Discord, that is a bit difficult.” Rico replied as he holstered his weapon, Discord doing the same. “Where is he?”

“Blane’s most likely at the casino gambling as always,” Jade answered in an annoyed tone. “He’s racking up huge debts and I doubt they’ll just let him walk away this time.”

Discord chuckled, “Ah gambling. I remember gambling and losing my left fang. Oh wait, I never had one on the left. Nevermind.”

Rico could only sigh in annoyance as he looked back at Jade, “Where is this casino? I’d like to get this done now before I try to strangle Discord.”

**** **** **** ****

The town they entered was not something that either Joystick or Rarity would write home about nor could Siegfried find anything that would make the town even somewhat memorable. The buildings were made of clay bricks but the individual bricks were hidden under a thick layer of plaster. They could see the bricks though some holes in the aging plaster.

The roads running through the town were of the dirt variety as horse-driven carts went across them with some people walking around, going about their business. Some gave the trio odd glances, especially at Rarity and Joystick due to their manes, and more specifically what was jutting out of their heads.

The pair were beginning to get slightly uncomfortable as people continued to stare and gossip to one another about Rarity and Joystick. Siegfried however didn’t bat an eye but he did look at the pair and whispered to them in a low voice. “Not one word, got it?”

They nodded their heads at him as they continued to walk through the town, keeping close as they could to Siegfried as they felt comfortable. Rarity kept looking over her shoulder at the onlookers with a worried expression on her face.

“Maybe this was a bad idea,” Rarity whispered to Joystick and Siegfried.

“That would be your fault,” Siegfried whispered back. “Suck it up. Like I said, we won’t be here long. I never plan on staying in one place for very long anyway.”

Rarity nodded her head and waited outside a building with Joystick while Siegfried walked in. It looked like an inn but the language the sign was written in was something none of the Equestrians had ever seen before so it useless to try read it as they quickly gave up.

A few onlookers began to get uncomfortably close, mumbling about them being unusual, never-before-seen creatures and some other comments. Rarity took a few steps back when a dark-skinned man wearing a white hood over his head walked up to them, seemingly quite interested in them. She could make out one of his eyes weren’t natural as it looked like it were made of some yellow metal, possibly gold but she wasn’t sure. Even stranger was the fact that his normal eye was grey in colour.

He had a large medallion hanging by his chest with a thick green belt around his waist, making Rarity take note of his green pants, mostly hidden by his thigh-high white boots. On it were a few more golden trinkets that glistened and shone brightly in the sun. He reached out with his one hand, wearing white, fingerless gloves that covered three quarters of his forearm. Most of his white clothing and some of the finer detail were traced with some golden strips, often following the contours of the apparel in question.

“Strange creatures… in an equally strange land,” He said in a calm, monotonous tone. “Not natives, most curious.”

Rarity took a few more steps back from the man, Joystick doing the same but getting in between the two, eying the man intently to try and figure out what he was trying to do. He was close enough for them to note he was rather well-built and two large pauldrons on his shoulders but it appeared to be a single piece of metal. Whether it actually was or was not true was hidden by the man’s hood as it covered the bottom to his neck.

The man also noted the two’s weapons: Lucifer on Rarity’s shoulder and Blue Rose in its holster on Joystick’s side. This made him raise an eyebrow. “How unusual to see creatures such as you and burdened by such peculiar devices.”

At that moment the trio heard the clanging of metal on metal, announcing Siegfried’s return. He scowled at the man with his arms folded, “Who are you?”

The man bowed respectfully, “I am but a humble traveller. Where did you come across these creatures? In all my travels I have never seen such magnificence.”

Rarity blushed noticeably but the man’s focus was on Siegfried, contemplating as the armoured knight spoke again, his voice forceful and commanding. “Leave. Now.”

The man simply bowed once more, “As you wish. I do wish to warn you to avoid a certain clocktower, twelve miles to the northeast of here though.”

“Why?” Siegfried asked, his scowl only deepening as he glared daggers at the man.

“They say whoever enters never returns,” The man replied with a small smile. “I myself have not ventured in lest I fall prey to the myth should it turn out to be true.”

Siegfried grunted in response and gestured for Rarity and Joystick to get inside. The two white ponies complied without any resistance as the look he gave them meant he would take no nonsense from them. He watched them as they walked inside and gestured to the stairs.

“Head my warning, fallen knight. That tower may kill you but could provide valuable insight about the sword you seek to destroy,” The man said calmly.

“What do you-” Siegfried turned around quickly as he spoke but the man had completely vanished “-mean? Perfect…”

**** **** **** ****

The casino towered over Rico, Discord and Jade as they got closer to it, driving in their respective vehicles. Discord and Rico rode in the Humvee while Jade rode astride her motorcycle, a short distance ahead of them. The Panauan military had the place thoroughly surrounded while more searched every single floor, carrying weapons of various sizes and calibres.

“Aw…” Discord said in a slightly saddened voice as he got out of the car and cocked his combat shotgun.

Jade took off her helmet but managed to catch Discord’s lament. Rico made several gestures in an attempt to take her attention away from Discord but it proved fruitless as she finally asked, “What?”

“They’re having a party and didn’t invite moi?” He said, looking at Jade with sad eyes. “I am deeply hurt. No party is complete until I arrive.”

Rico sighed, “Take it up with their complaints department.”

“Who?” Discord asked in response, turning his attention back to Rico.

“Them,” Rico answered, pointing to the large number of guards near the dual entrances to the massive casino.

Discord merely chuckled, “Oh goody. I don’t have to go too far then.”

“Well, you boys enjoy your fun and tell me how it goes,” Jade said as she placed her helmet back on her head and getting back on her bike.

She revved the engine a bit before the tires squealed and she turned the bike around, speeding off down the tarmac of the road until she vanished around a corner.

“Well then, shall we go say hello?” Rico asked as he pulled out his guns.

Discord laughed, “I’ll give them my special greeting card!”

Rico chuckled softly, “Well what are you waiting for? An engraved inv-”

Rico did not even have to finish as Discord instantly vanished in a bright light as always. Rico yelled and leapt onto the hood of the Humvee, firing a few shots at two different guards before jumping off the hood and running towards them.

The Panauan military immediately opened fire but something stopped one from doing so. The reason wore a tan jacket whilst pointing a combat shotgun to his face. The soldier had no time to let out a shout as Discord pulled the trigger and fired, blowing the man’s head to oblivion and back.

The soldiers nearby were shocked with Discord’s appearance and turned their weapons on him instead, ignoring Rico to a degree as he killed a few more soldiers. Gunfire flew across the area as a teleporting ‘human’ and Rico thinned the military’s ranks at a phenomenal rate.

“You’d think with this body count, they’d give up,” Discord said as he laid upside down on a hammock that was tied to nothing but thin air, swinging to and fro slightly while he ate a mango smoothie with a green, plastic spoon.

“Well, I doubt they were hired for their brains, Discord. As long as they can shoot something, they’ll keep shooting until their dying breath,” Rico replied nonchalantly as he took cover near the base of the left-side tower of the casino.

Discord raised an eyebrow as he saw a soldier slightly different from the rest as he didn’t carry a gun. It wasn’t until he threw several beeping boxes at the duo that Discord realised, he was carrying explosives.

Rico rolled and got out of the blast range but Discord opted to stay and finish his smoothie. The explosion rocked the area a little and engulfed the disguised Draconequus in smoke and fire. The dust cleared, revealing Discord and his hammock to be unscathed. Sadly, his smoothie was obliterated.

Discord turned his head to look at the demolitions officer with a deadpan expression, “You blew up my smoothie. And it was my favourite flavour too.”

The demolitions officer merely scoffed, placing his hands on his hips and laughed at Discord, thinking he was joking. The embodiment of chaos shrugged his shoulders and snapped his fingers. The officer’s laughing was cut short as the sound of several items beeping filled the area, coming from him. Discord had armed and activated all the explosives he had on his person.

Discord could have sworn he heard the man call for his mother or it was his twisted imagination as the explosives detonated in one massive explosion, killing him instantly and creating a small crater in the ground. Fragments of ground, concrete, plantlife that was unlucky enough to be too close to the impromptu bomb and various other small items fell to the ground in a small shower.

Discord chuckled, “Now, let’s go find this Karl Blane shall we?”

Rico looked at Discord, keeping his guns held up as he walked up to the building. He began to speak in a slightly disturbed tone as Discord teleported next to him with his combat shotgun in his hands, “Discord, remind me to never blow up your drinks.”

**** **** **** ****

Dante was laughing as the Diamond Dogs died under a massive hail of lead and Vergil’s – too fast to follow no matter how slow you dialled a video recording of it down – slashing with his Yamato. The devil brothers worked in unison as Vergil got close and rushed past a group so fast he was nothing but a blue blur.

The tactic served as a diversion as Dante followed up with a Drive attack with Rebellion, carving up the ground with a shockwave and cutting through the Diamond Dogs as their attention was focused on Vergil.

“If we keep this up, we may be responsible for the genocide of an entire race,” Dante said thoughtfully as he shot off a Diamond Dog’s ears with Ebony and proceeded to kick it into a building with bone-crushing force.

Vergil sighed as he backflipped over a Diamond Dog and sliced through the air with Yamato, landing in front of it and facing Dante while his back faced his target. For a few moments the Dog simply stood there before thin lines of blood formed and the Dog literally fell apart. “Brother, I doubt these cretins are the entirety of their race. No doubt there are far more than these roaming about all over this world.”

“Perfect,” Dante replied sarcastically, “Anyone know the number of the dog pound?”

“And when we finish with these beasts, the dragons above will no doubt see no reason to keep hovering and will strike once more,” Vergil continued to say matter-of-factly. “We need a proper plan or in your case, blind luck and hope something comes in time to alleviate that problem.”

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix. Am I right, Vergil?” Dante said with a smirk.

“I will not dignify that with an answer. It would be impossible to dignify anything you ever say,” Vergil answered, facepalming for a moment before slicing four Diamond Dogs’ heads clean off their shoulders in one slash of his blade.

“And you love me anyway, right?” Dante asked in a rhetorical manner.

‘You’re lucky I can just barely tolerate your existence,’ Vergil thought coldly. ‘I swear that Nero character would be more tolerable. Should have had him come instead of Dante. But may as well make due with what I have, no point wallowing in the past.’

“Verg? You alright? You zoning out on me,” Dante said as he fired several rounds at some Diamond Dogs. A few got some in either their legs or arms, making them cry out in pain. This was short-lived as Dante walked up to a few of the ones that got shot in the leg and killed them at point blank range.

“I am fine,” Vergil replied as coldly as ever as Yamato left its scabbard, swinging through the air and killing a few Dogs that got too close to his person.

“Sheesh. Just worrying about you like a brother should,” Dante said as he hurled Rebellion at a Diamond Dog and killing it in an instant as it passed through the Dog’s stomach and impaling the wall behind it.

“Worry once this is over, Dante. Only do something that meaningless when we can afford to do it,” Vergil replied once again as he fired off a few ethereal blades at four Diamond Dogs, tearing into their throats and flooding their lungs with blood, drowning them.

“Fine,” Dante said, shrugging his shoulders and twisting his body around to use an underhanded slash on a Diamond Dog. He hit him with the flat of the blade, launching a howling Dog into the air where Vergil appeared just above it and brought Yamato down on its throat.

**** **** **** ****

Fluttershy sat in the back of the car that served as MEGAS’ control centre with Kiva sitting beside her. Coop was driving just the car itself around New Jersey, showing Fluttershy all his favourite places to eat and drink.

Coop introduced Fluttershy to his favourite beverage on a hot day: the Mega-Slush. Jamie and Coop watched as Fluttershy took a few tentative sips, killing their fun as they had hoped she would go overboard and slurp it like Kiva did with her first Mega-Slush.

Jamie laid back in the passenger seat, downhearted as he wanted to see the yellow mare’s reaction to a brain freeze. “Aw, man. I was hoping you’d drink it quickly.”

“I know of a few cold drinks and how to drink them right,” Fluttershy replied with a small smirk on her face, “Too bad for you.”

Coop chuckled as Kiva smiled at Fluttershy, “When I had one I felt a terrible headache within seconds. But this was because I had never had these beverages in the future. We were too busy fighting the war against the Glorft to ever indulge in something that didn’t involve some form of combat, training or an evacuation drill.”

Fluttershy’s ears pinned themselves back as she looked at Kiva with sympathy, “I’m sorry…”

“There is nothing you can do,” Kiva replied, “I need to get the time drive on MEGAS to work then I can hopefully go back to the Battle of the Last Stand, change history by defeating the Glorft with MEGAS and secure a real future for humanity.”

“Pfft,” Jamie scoffed, “Why bother? You’re in the past and every attempt has failed. If it were me, I would have given up long ago.”

Before Kiva could retort, Fluttershy grabbed Jamie and pulled a protesting human to the back, making him look her in the eyes. She gave Jamie a look that was only a few degrees short of The Stare in intensity, “That’s because you lack belief and will. You lack any desire except to just meander around life like its one big party and everything will just fall into place for you.

“Guess what? It won’t,” Fluttershy’s glare intensified to the point she finally gave Jamie The Stare, “I’ve found out the hard way how hard it can be to just survive. I’ve had to sleep with a dagger under my pillow in case I was attacked whilst sleeping and quite frankly I still do from time to time just to feel safe. Grow up and stop being an idiot for your sake if not for anyone else’s.”

Fluttershy released Jamie with a little force, giving him a small case of whiplash. Kiva smiled a little, “You and I are really going to get on well.”

Fluttershy’s ears pinned themselves back again, “I’m sorry… I don’t like being mean to others. I seem to have a very short fuse…”

“Knowing Jamie, I doubt it got through his thick skull,” Kiva replied.

Jamie scowled a little as he shouted back, “Hey! Not my fault the universe likes me.”

Jamie cringed as he noticed a yellow glow from behind his seat. The soft whir of Jealousy’s motor made the skinny man turn very slowly and his eyes widen when he saw the multi-barrelled machinegun, “Holy mother of god! I take it back, I take it back!”

Jealousy simply whirred once more before Fluttershy deactivated that form, returning Pandora to its original form. Coop laughed uproariously, “Remind me to never argue with you. Well, time to go back home and watch The Return of Cosmotron, Destroyer of Worlds!”

Kiva sighed as Coop and Jamie fist-bumped each other in their own signature way, “I still don’t see how you find anything entertaining in something that stupid.”

Fluttershy giggled a little and placed her head out the window, allowing her mane to billow in the wind. At first it got in her eyes until she managed to move it out of the way with her hoof. Even though she knew that anything stupid enough to go through her stuff was less than three feet away from her and in the driver’s seat, she decided it was best to travel fully-armed.

“What? It’s a good movie,” Coop defended. “The screams, the destruction and the level of pure level of total carnage!”

‘So you watch the form of carnage you wreak in real life? And I thought Rainbow’s Daring Do obsession was bad,’ Fluttershy thought.

“Probably because it is the only thing your primitive intellect can understand,” Kiva replied.

“Not everyone can jump start and mod a ride like MEGAS you know,” Coop answered with pride in his voice.

“Or utterly ruin it and turn the last hope I had to saving my timeline into some idiot’s personal toy,” Kiva rebuked.

“Hey, I worked hard on MEGAS!” Coop replied, his voice rising a little.

Coop drove the car into his mother’s garage, shutting the engine off as he turned his head to look at Jamie with a massive grin on his face. “Now for the mega movie extravaganza of total carnage and mayhem!”

**** **** **** ****

The rooftops and the dark night helped keep Dash and Gilda under the radar since walking through the city of Detroit as mythical creatures tended to make people both nervous and suspicious if they were seen walking out of Sarif Industries’ front doors.

Gilda was the happiest between her and Dash since she barely had been able to fly at all, most of the blame there was on Adam and Sarif’s orders. Her propulsion system fired in small, controlled bursts, just to keep her aloft as Dash kept close by, her fantail engines keeping her in the air but a short distance away from Gilda, keeping the briefcase of Project Excelion – or Nevan as she knew it – in her mouth by the handle.

The Griffon landed on every rooftop like a ton of bricks, each one loud enough for the occupants under her to hear and feel each shockwave. But this brought a smug grin to her face as she imagined the damage she could deal with that much force behind her landing. Bloodwing would be proud of her.

Adam had decided to not traverse the roofs and walked through the streets as the pair of flyers kept to the buildings as close to the streets Jensen was using. The police station was not too far, shorter for Gilda and Dash as they had nothing to hinder their progress.

“Got a plan for getting in, Jensen?” Gilda asked through the Infolink. “I doubt they’ll just let you stroll in.”

“Simple. Walk in through the front door and if that doesn’t work I’ll sneak in,” Jensen replied as he walked through the slightly empty streets, his eyes keeping a look out for trouble of any kind.

There were a few police officers in the street but once Jensen walked into an alleyway, he found the police presence to be quite lacking. Gilda and Dash changed course, turning as he did as Dash kept an eye around him with Gilda watching out for her and herself.

“Well, that sounds like a plan. For a wuss,” Gilda replied with slight disappointment in her voice.

Rainbow landed next to Gilda as the Griffon landed on the next rooftop and began walking to the edge to go to the next. The mare tossed the briefcase upwards and positioned herself so it landed between her wings. The sound of metal hitting metal hit her ears but the only thing she felt was the instant pressure of the case as it was forced to stop falling.

“Hey, if you want to go and get onto their wanted list that’s your problem,” Dash said in an annoyed tone. “We aren’t here to bash in the heads of everyone who looks at us funny. It’ll only get you in trouble or are you itching that badly for a fight of some kind?”

“Dash, we got these awesome things in our bodies, hell we can punch through walls for goodness sake!” Gilda said, her augmented wings flaring a little as they picked up the signals her brain was sending off whenever Griffons felt threatened or aggressive. This however had no effect on Dash. “Don’t tell me you’re not the least bit curious about the damage you can do?”

Rainbow shook her head, “I’m not. I prefer my old wings and hoof, thanks. I am not comfortable with the constant noises they make and the cold feeling I get when my wings touch my body. How can I do a Sonic Rainboom when I got these things?”

Gilda scoffed, “Have you tried to do one yet? No, you haven’t since you haven’t exactly had chance to because we’re supposed to be keeping a low profile as you, Jensen and that Sarif character keep telling me!”

Rainbow sighed, “The hiding is getting to you isn’t it?”

Gilda’s wings collapsed as she stopped at the edge and turned to face Dash, her expression softening, “Maybe just a little…”

“I know, G. I don’t like being indoors for so long, goes against being a Pegasus,” Rainbow said as she sat down next to Gilda, the case sliding off her back and landing on her tail. Rainbow winced as she felt a quick jolt of pain run up her spine. Getting held down by her tail was one thing but having something land on it – near the base to be specific – was far worse.

Rainbow collected herself as she continued, “Pegasi aren’t ones for staying grounded so I can relate but that doesn’t mean you should take your frustrations out on everything within, or just outside, distance of your claws.”

“Yeah I know, Dash. I’ll keep myself in check,” Gilda responded. “You gonna be alright? That thing seemed to hit you rather hard.”

“Stings a bit but we both know I've been through far worse,” Rainbow replied before she picked the case up in her teeth again.

Gilda soared into the air again with Dash hovering for the most part as they followed Jensen to the police station. The building shouted authority as police officers left and entered the building’s double doors, the building was about three storeys tall and who knew how deep its underground section was.

Gilda landed on the nearest rooftop as Dash landed beside herm placing the case down again. She activated her Infolink, “If Plan A and Plan B don’t turn out well, we’ll get in and get it as Plan Awesome.”

**** **** **** ****

“What the?” Coop was leaning over the television set, the crackle of static filling the air and annoying Fluttershy’s ears, making the mare find earplugs consisting of multiple balls of wool.

“Come on, Coop. Hurry up, we’re going to miss it!” Jamie complained as Kiva and Fluttershy stayed back while they argued.

“I don’t get it. It was working fine this morning,” Coop commented to no-one in particular. “Power’s on and…”

Coop decided to use the old credo that many a human went by when faced with none-working equipment: hit it with a hammer. Sadly the hammer didn’t work after Coop nearly broke the device’s plastic casing. Jamie simply sat on the couch with a frown on his face while the two females in the room simply watched on.

“Maybe there’s something wrong with the satellite,” Coop said as he got up and placed the hammer on the table.

“You know what that means?” Jamie said with a smirk. Coop shared his look as they cried out in unison, raising their hands into the air. “Road trip!”

“I still fail to see how traversing space is considered a road trip when there are no roads to travel on,” Kiva commented.

Fluttershy looked at Kiva quickly, “Space?”

“Well, yeah. That’s where they like to hang out and broadcast from so that’s where we have to go to fix it because the TV is just fine,” Coop replied.

Jamie scoffed, “Should’ve known she wouldn’t know what space was.”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes, “I know what space is. I just never thought I’d ever go into space.”

“I gather your kind have not invented space travel?” Kiva asked.

Fluttershy shook her head, “No, we haven’t.”

“Well, Flutters you’re in for a treat. Everyone get in the car and we’ll get this show on the road!” Coop said with a grin.

Several minutes later - after Jamie emptied his bladder - the gang were all present and accounted for in the red muscle car that was MEGAS’ head. Everyone got comfortable in their respective seats as Coop put the key into the ignition and turned the car on.

The engine roared to life as Coop revved it, pressing on the accelerator while the vehicle remained stationary. Coop disengaged the parking brake and in an instant they were all propelled upwards as MEGAS shot out of the garage, turning it into splinters probably for the eighth time that week.

Higher and higher the robot flew with the four sat in the car’s seats. Fluttershy clung onto the back rest of Jamie’s seat as if it would save her if the robot fell apart. She kept a very stoic expression as she closed her eyes and hoped the turbulence would end before it made her sick.

Fluttershy dared to open an eye and saw the clouds below them become smaller and smaller while the blue sky steadily grew darker. She began to see stars as the sky thinned to the point of nonexistence, leaving Earth’s atmosphere.

Fluttershy had been many places in Skyrim, Equestria and her travels with Dante saw her travel across continents and yet this new area where sky and earth did not exist trumped them all. It looked peaceful, serene and pure, untainted by the hazards of the planet below. Or at least New Jersey.

Fluttershy looked at Kiva, “What are we looking for?”

Kiva was working with several holograms detailing various parts of MEGAS which Fluttershy, Coop, nor Jamie understood. “I’m scanning for the satellite responsible for Coop’s… show…”

Fluttershy could see Kiva was not comfortable with using MEGAS’ systems for something it was never designed for. Fluttershy looked around as best she could, confined to the blue behemoth’s red head so she wouldn’t die in the vacuum of space.

She saw several metal objects of varying size simply floating in space, circling the globe. Some were spherical, some were cylindrical and the rest looked like a foal’s building blocks hashed together into some deformed metal monster.

All of which Coop ignored as MEGAS navigated the maze of satellites, in search of the one responsible for broadcasting his movie.

“Which one is it, Kiva?” Coop asked as he turned and accidentally crashed into the new PoPTV satellite, destroying it. “Uh oh…”

“Luckily not that one,” Kiva replied flatly as her hands skimmed the surfaces of the multiple holograms. Her expression changed from annoyance to confusion in the span of just a few seconds. “Odd…”

This got Fluttershy’s attention and she turned her head to look at Kiva, “What’s wrong?”

“I am reading a 23% decrease in satellite constellations and there hasn’t been an increase in space junk via malfunction or other means and there is no debris indicative of them being destroyed,” She replied. “They just… vanished”

“And I guess they don’t do that?” Fluttershy asked, more rhetorically than actually asking.

“Why, do yours like to play hide and seek with you?” Jamie asked, only to hear Fluttershy facehoof.

“We don’t have satellites and I was being rhetorical,” Fluttershy replied flatly.

“Well, not my problem,” Coop said nonchalantly. “I just want to watch my movie.”

“It will be your problem, Coop because the satellite in question is missing.” Kiva pointed out as her displays confirmed her statement.

Coop’s eyes widened and wailed loudly, making Fluttershy wish she had brought her woollen earplugs, “No!”

**** **** **** ****

Las Pegasus was literally burning once again as dragons burnt the buildings and Diamond Dogs looted the rubble once the fires became smouldering embers. Not that they got much as most of it got either incinerated or melted from the fires so they hit a few that had yet to meet a fiery demise.

Ponies hid in basements, wardrobes, under tables and in the cupboards under their sinks as the Diamond Dogs broke into their homes and took everything that was not nailed down. One even took the kitchen sink and left the cowering colt under it alone. Most likely because the Diamond Dog didn’t notice the colt’s dark coat and it got distracted by one of its comrades sighing in annoyance over the theft of a sink that had absolutely no value whatsoever.

But all was not a simple looting and pillaging as within the city, a few ponies as well as a couple of Changelings mounted futile efforts to stem the attacks on their homes. While their resistance was not as strong as Ponyville’s, they kept trying to keep the dragons and Diamond Dogs from taking everything and killing their loved ones.

The head of the ragtag resistance movement in Las Pegasus was one of the few Changeling Elites. Specifically it was a Heavy Elite, wielding a bell-shaped hammer that possessed a head as large as the average stallion, the weapon, not the Elite. Unlike most Elites, this one possessed no name other than the number it was assigned from its ‘birth’: 47. 47’s armour was pitch black and like most Heavies, it covered a vast majority of his body. He sought refuge in the basement of an aging apartment complex with a few other Changelings and several ponies.

The ponies were from each of the tree tribes while 47 was the only Elite Changeling in the city. As such he was the de facto leader of the Changelings in the city and because of it, he was also responsible if anything happened to them.

The room they were in was solid concrete and bare, save for a large oaken table in the centre that they all stood around and a few tiny windows large enough for a foal to squeeze through being their only way of seeing the nearby street. An aging light bulb flickered as the filament was slowly giving out, swinging slightly from time to time due to a small breeze coming in from one of the open windows.

“We are not making any progress…” 47 stated bluntly, his voice gruff and deep, resonating through the silent room as all the occupants’ eyes and ears were directed at him. “I fear we’ve lost this city.”

“Not again…” A pale blue mare said dejectedly. “We’ve lost this city once and I do not want to lose it again.”

“Unless a miracle happens, our guerrilla styled tactics merely delays the inevitable: the total destruction of Las Pegasus and the death of all its denizens, pony and Changeling alike,” 47 replied flatly.

“Sir… what about the other cities?” A Changeling asked, somewhat fearfully as if 47 was about to crush him for merely speaking.

“We will have to hope the one we evacuate to is not under siege as well. If it is… we will have little choice but to assist any resistance fighters in the city,” 47 answered.

“What about Seaddle?” Another Changeling asked. Unlike the previous one, this Changeling was far more confident as he spoke. “Surely the main hive is protected? Why not flee there?”

47 nodded his head, “Yes, that does sound like a reasonable destination if not a far one. Seaddle is about two days away since we can not exactly use the train station.”

“Yeah, the dragons torched it and the train there is nothing but a smouldering pile of ash,” A stallion said in annoyance. “I liked that train…”

“Just be glad you weren’t nearby when they attacked,” A mare almost spat, highly annoyed as the stallion had done nothing but complain about his precious train.

“Yeah but still…” The train engineer replied, miserably.

“Just shut up about your train!” The mare shouted, deciding to let him have it. “You’ve done nothing but constantly complain about the thing since you joined up with this movement! They can build a new one so just shut up about the damned thing and move on!”

“Remind me not to make her angry,” One of the changelings whispered to one of his compatriots who only slowly nodded in response.

“Are you two done with your lover’s quarrel?” 47 asked. Their mouths flapped in response but no sound escaped their lips. “Good. This is the plan: we get as many out of here as possible and head for Seaddle. I will send one of us to fly ahead and inform Broken Skies of the danger. Hopefully we are not too late.”

The group nodded their heads in turn as the Changelings began to discuss who would fly ahead. Little did they know one of Skies’ own scouts were heading their way as fast as it could.

**** **** **** ****

Manhattan was a city consisting of many towering buildings made of steel, concrete and glass with denizens going about their monotonous, repetitive daily lives. Or at least they would have been doing so if it were not for the outbreak of deformed creatures Luna had discovered was the E.V.O. outbreak White had spoken about.

Luna had thwarted the machinations of many a monster in her exceedingly long life, alongside her sister. From tyrants like Discord and Sombra to many other creatures that ponies nowadays regard as simple myth and old mare’s tales.

However her experience with holding down her lunch was tested as she saw a news feed from one of the local news channels. The creatures had a multitude of deformities from a single oversized leg or arm to vaguely resembling an insect and standing two storeys tall. One even had no eyes. Instead it possessed a massive mouth on its head with rows of jagged teeth.

“All units prepare to deploy to contain the threat,” Calan said to the group consisting of Luna, Rex, Six and Bobo. Dr. Holiday was staying behind unless her expertise was required on the ground.

“If this is what you define as ‘a small outbreak’ I do not wish to know what a full epidemic consists of,” Luna commented. “These beasts could only have been born of some demented mind.”

“Those ‘beasts’ are people. They have no idea what they are doing,” Rex replied almost solemnly as he walked with the rest into the Keep’s many hallways. “And it’s my job to cure them.”

Luna nodded her head, “I understand you possess rather… unique capabilities due to these nanites in your body. And I have already witnessed one of your many… ‘builds’ I believe you call them?”

Rex grinned, “Yeah, pretty cool aren’t they?”

Bobo scoffed, “I doubt you have a chance with the horse princess, Casanova.”

This time it was Luna’s turn to scoff, “For the record, Mr. Haha. I am a pony. A horse comes from Saddle Arabia. They are a lot skinnier and taller than the average pony. While my sister does stand as tall as they are, it is due to her being an Alicorn. Which is what I am as well.”

“You ponies are just plain weird,” Bobo replied with slight annoyance.

“‘Weird’ is a matter of perspective,” Luna answered coolly and with a sly smile.

The group arrived in one of the Keep’s hangars. There were several craft inside, similar in design to the Keep which annoyed Luna a bit at the lack of originality. All around them were squads Providence agents were climbing into smaller aircraft to fly them down to the ground below.

All except for Rex as he waited near the massive doors. Luna slowly walked up to him, knowing full well why he was there: he had his own method for getting to the ground below. He was not the only one capable of flight.

She stood next to him, not saying a word as the doors opened slowly, as if time had slowed down around them. The wind blew through the hangar, making Rex’s short hair wave about while Luna’s seemed unaffected as it moved on its own volition as always.

“Ready?” Luna finally said, looking out into the Concrete Jungle that was Manhattan.

“Me? I’m always ready to kick some butt,” Rex answered with confidence.

Luna gave a very soft chuckle, barely audible enough for the young man to hear. “Well, I thought you cured them? Not beat them into a pulp?”

Luna already knew the answer but as she looked to Rex, she could see there was some pain in his eyes. “I can’t always cure them all…”

Luna made her thoughts backpedal almost instantly. The pain on his face spoke greater volumes than his words. The mere thought of not being able to cure an E.V.O. seemed to cut him a lot deeper than she first thought.

“But that doesn’t mean I can’t save them,” Rex said, making Luna blink. “We just lock them up and Doc can search for a cure.”

Luna nodded, “And I gather when they resist… you…”

“Persuade them,” Rex said, smiling a little more.

“Rex, get going. We’ll meet you on the ground,” Luna and Rex looked back to see Six and Bobo enter one of the drop ships. Six seemed to be the one talking to Rex.

“And leave some for us will ya?” Bobo said in an annoyed tone as if he found some twisted pleasure in the violence and hated Rex taking it away from him.

“So, do you have an actual plan of attack?” Luna asked.

Rex smirked, “I have a plan: attack.”

Rex placed his goggles around his eyes as one of his builds took form. Luna took a few steps back, recognising the build as the one he used to fly. Rex leapt out of the hangar as the drop ships began to rise off the floor.

Luna looked over the edge and saw some of the E.V.O.s she saw on the news. She took a deep breath and spread her wings, “And so it begins…”