Heavy breathing, heavy steps, and under heavy fire. Luna and Mac ran as fast as they could through the GoldenStrike mining complex. Mercenary guards behind them, discharging their weapons, aimed at them. She followed the android, who had been quick to access the site’s network and download its internal directional data, as they rushed towards the gravitational lift.

“To the left,” Mac called out, taking a sharp turn in said direction, Luna being right behind him. They both ducked as a barrage of projectiles hit the walls around them. The chaos was only made worse by the masses of panicked workers and unsuspecting civilians caught in the crossfire as they made their mad dash.

Time seemed to slow down for a moment as Luna pointed her horn forward, sending a volley of plasma spells against a blockade of guards up ahead. Mac continued to run towards them after they were hit and weakened, some turned into a mess of limbs, and crashed right into the rest of the blockade- his superior strength, height, and weight aiding him in clearing the way for him and Luna to go through.

They had gotten so far, dealt with so many things, and had someone make the ultimate sacrifice just to get there. Luna knew that they could not fail. She watched as Mac drew his gauss rifle and opened fire, blasting through a group of mercenaries that stood before them.

“Watch out!” Luna yelled as she spotted a blast door up ahead that was sealing up. Her eyes widened as the android picked up immense speed, his legs moving at a dizzying pace. In an instant he was upon the door, and with all his might he slowly forced it open for Luna to go through unharmed. She continued her gallop, looking back just to see the android sprint past her.

In their path, up ahead, a large metallic door was waiting for them. They made their way up to it and stopped, nodded to each other, and kicked it open.

Luna froze in place, marvelled at the imposing sight of the massive, open mine that she and Mac suddenly found themselves in a corner of. Hover trucks, and other forms of massive machinery cluttered the entirety of the hole itself, while down in the center was the grav-lift. She couldn't help but notice the sheer number of turrets and the myriad of guards aiming right at them.

A voice boomed out from seemingly all around them. "All forces, engage unknown hostiles!"

Mac was quick to bring up his arm and activate a pulse shield. “On me!” he called out. He ran towards a single, small hover truck, with Luna taking cover behind him. Projectiles bounced off of the shield and dug into the ground, but the alicorn paid no heed to them. Her only objective being finishing what was started, she followed Mac onto the truck and closed the door behind herself.

“Drive,” the android said, climbing onto the back with his rifle in hand. Luna nodded, stepping onto the driver’s seat and pressing both forehooves into the driving sensors. Never having driven a vehicle before, she struggled to get it to start moving forward while the android began to open fire on the offenders. “It uses strong mental and magical commands,” he calmly said while at it. “Follow the road down to the lift. Careful not to drive off the ravine.”

“Fast!” Luna yelled out. The truck accelerated, hovering along the road at full speed, avoiding most of the projectiles directed at it while the android continued to fire his rifle with inorganic precision. Without warning, a plasma missile hit the road next to the tuck, quaking the ground and sending rocks flying into the air. Luna steered clear of the blast, continuing to move forward.

As they continued to speed down the road, an imposing blockade became visible, composed of trucks and turrets. “Watch out!” Luna called. She gritted her teeth and continued driving, unsure as to what to do next. Mac meanwhile wasted no time assessing the situation and formulating a plan in a mere instant. He quickly took aim at one of the trucks, hoping to damage its hopper and create an impromptu escape. A ramp was their best option at the moment.

The Princess quickly noticed his actions and and steered over to the ramp, driving over it. While in the air, Mac placed his rifle behind his back, disposed of his cloak and balaclava, and moved into the driver’s cabin. Inside, he grabbed a hold of Luna, kicking open the door and jumping out with her. Just as he did, she ripped off her cape and hood, spreading out her wings to take flight down towards the lift, which was significantly closer. “Mac!” she yelled out, looking behind herself to see the android nosedive with a lift from his fusion boosters, managing to grab onto her in mid-air.

Luna huddled close to the metallic man, their speed increasing by every passing millisecond. She could do nothing more but close her eyes, hoping that they would make it to the bottom safely.

All that was left were the sound of Mac’s engines, the projectiles buzzing past them, the wind whistling as they cut through the air, and Luna’s thoughts, which seemed to be fragmented and out of sync with time, as the android yelled out, “Now!”

With a moment of great mental clarity, she opened her eyes, pushing herself off of Mac’s chest and flaring her wings open. Giving out a graceful spin whilst in the air, she caught a glimpse of the android landing on the ground with a deafening blast, sending debris flying in every direction. She followed suit, nosediving and landing next to him on her hooves, leaving four distinct, yet dainty craters in the bottom of the mine.

It would take a second, if not milliseconds, for the mercenaries to take aim once again. Luna knew that much. She and the mechanical man looked forward, seeing the massive, purple rift that reached all the way towards the scarred moon. To their luck, the guards were still in the process of setting up yet another blockade. It was not complete.

Mac and Luna began a sprint that then turned into a mad race for the lift. Even if the mercenaries were ill-prepared, they reacted fast. Bullets were already flying past them, but this time they lacked cover. Luna focused, bringing up a shield around them as they moved forth.

Shadows of mercenary ships flew overhead, as the moon watched with care the events that took place below its might. The closer the Princess and the man of steel got to the lift, the more the moonlight shone upon them, giving Luna’s shield the strength it needed to withstand the wrath of the unrelenting gauss and rail fire. Pulse grenades, rockets, and various other projectiles all bounced off of the magical barrier, ricocheting off in seemingly random directions only to cause even more casualties and destruction as they detonated.

No more than a few dozen meters away from the blockade, her breathing intensified. The cybernetic shade of a human continued to sprint at a ludicrous speed.

Problems, oh so simple that they seemed to be before they arrived. Luna closed her eyes for a second. Consuming the world in darkness- an idea that almost seemed childish. Almost. She channeled more energy into her horn. Now, facing death, millions perished by means beyond what she used to believe. A bright blue orb began to spawn at the tip, growing ever larger and brighter. But, things change, the future does not wait for anyone, and she was not about to give up either. Nothing would stand in her way.

Everything came to fruition in the blink of an eye. The barrier around the two flickered, fading away in milliseconds, just a few meters away from the blockade. Luna let out a bestial cry, the built-up magic at the tip of her horn being instantly released as she passed the android. Contained power, to be released in such a way, would make titans fall.

Her concentration broke as she was overwhelmed with mental and physical exhaustion. She watched from her slow fall, as the magic pulse tore through the set blockade that was between her and the lift. The incredible power hit it's mark with brutal efficiency. The mercenaries closest were quickly vaporized, their scant remnants scattered to parts unknown. It was a decisive strike; the road was clear.

The hard, rocky bottom of the GoldenStrike mine approached Luna’s limp body. Something grabbed her by the back as she fell.

“Mac...” she whispered.

As she was hugged by the android’s cold, strong arms, a single, distinct set of words coming from him reached her ears, making her smile warmly.

“I... am not alone... if I have... you!”

His grip, mighty and gentle at the same time, embraced her limp form. Mac pushed forth. Luna watched in her stilled state as the android continued his sprint. The ground, composed of rocks, dirt, and blood, soon changed to that of a metallic floor made of metal and cybernetics, glowing purple. She felt herself, weightless, her mind, careless for a moment. They both were brought up from the floor and up into the sky in mere seconds. No weight, no care, no momentum, no nothing, just the stars as Luna and Mac sped through the atmosphere.

Luna observed in silence as she approached her wounded and scarred moon, the stars watching with care as well. The GoldenStrike complex fading into the blackness of space as they ascended into the heavens, yet the fires of the path they had just carved, glowed brightly enough to shine into space itself. Even from their rapidly increasing altitude they could clearly see the flames. Groggily, she looked back up to the moon, its mass and beauty gradually consuming their forward view.

From one uncertainty to the next, the path had never been so unclear. Yet as they moved towards the darkness in light, this was not the end. Feeling something odd, Luna’s eyes opened to their full. By every meter that they got closer to the rocky satellite, the stronger did her connectivity get. Regaining the sense of her body and mind.

She gasped, the air already past the point of it being breathable, past the point of the air even being there at all. In mere desperation, Luna looked over to Mac, who stood in a perfectly still manner while both going up the lift and staring at her. Her eyes, wide, she frantically waved her forehooves around for Mac to see, yet he did not react. It was only after a minute of repeating the same action that she realized that nothing was happening.

“Your Alicorn structure and cybernetics allows you to survive to vacuum and open space,” Mac’s voice sounded inside her head.

“How-” she thought, only to be interrupted.

“I am still linked to your neural interface. Now, look ahead.” He pointed upwards, Luna following the trail of his finger and finding herself looking at the moon, now able to clearly see the myriad of mining complex and other facilities that were planted on it, antennae protruding from it. “We are almost there.”

Slowly, the gravitational lift began to flip them over, in a manner so they would land on their legs when they reached the moon. Luna watched as the android grabbed a hold of his rifle and reloaded it.