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.