Down the shattered halls, I followed the oddly colored hybrid as her pace quickened.  A hurried pace quickly transformed into a jog toward the shattered encampment.  As the doorways and passages flew by, the sounds of reviving machinery filled my ears.  A support drone was cutting away chunks of twisted and warped metal that were blocking a doorway, while another carried loads of ammunition towards the front.

In the end, it only took a few moments to burst back into the now harshly illuminated cavern.  Orbs of light floated dozens of feet above, causing jagged shadows and multicolored reflections over what had once been a military encampment.  In the distant dim, I could see the subtle movements of a trio of CQB drones as their weapons tracked the movement by the cavern entrance.  Movement that turned out to be a group of ponies using magic and muscle to throw the stripped and shattered corpses of the minotaurs out into the light.  I guess you could say I was lost in their actions and in my own thoughts, until Seven snapped me out of it.

***There is an approaching enemy force.  Unsure if the cavern is their destination.  

***Control will continue observations

***I recommend working expediently in case the cavern is the target of enemy movements.

That definitely put an urgent note on what I was needing to do, and put on a little burst of speed to catch up to Twilight.

"Seven says that there may be another minotaur attack soon.  I need to see your Princess before that, as this will take some time."

She just looked at me and continued her pace, the rough clicking of her hooves on the stone floor somehow managing to pierce my helmet.  As we passed huddled groups of ponies, I was astonished by the reactions I was getting.  Some trembled in fear, or even whimpered in terror, but the vast majority of them seemed to clutch their primitive weapons tighter as if expecting me to attack.  It was quickly filed to the rear of my mind to ask about later, as a pegasus barred our way.  Silver plate mail covered the majority of its body, with the odd patch of blue fur poking out here and there, along with a garishly dyed mane.  What caught my attention was the pair of shining blades attached to the leading edge of the pegasus' wings, not to mention what looked like a set of claws formed into the shoes it was wearing.

"Twilight, what is this THING doing here?  We don't know if it will try to hurt the Princess or not.  It may have saved a few ponies, but I'm just not sure about it."

Before I could even utter a reply, a voice boomed out of a tent that seemed to be wrapped in shadows. If it had not been for the voice, my eyes would have just skimmed over it, not even noticing it was there.

"Rainbow Dash, you will let them enter at once!"

Gritting her teeth, the guardian stepped from the path, gritting her teeth and glaring at me the whole time.  After a few steps, Twilight paused to take a breath.

"Don't mind Rainbow.  She has been taking her job as head of Princess Luna's security very seriously after the last Captain was killed during the siege.  Soarin was a good friend of hers."

There really isn't much you can say to that.  Then again, I never would have thought much on magical ponies in a genocidal war.  As we stepped into the gloom, I had to reach up and flip up the armored lenses over my eyes, the cameras not being able to see a thing.  My eyes couldn't either, I quickly found out as I followed the sound of hoofsteps until I was blinded by blue light that forced my eyes shut and a hand to rise in front of my face.  Of course, that is when Twilight decided to speak.

"Sergeant, this is Princess Luna..."

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, and a few more heartbeats for my jaw to drop completely.  Inside the tent lay a massive hybrid similar to Twilight, barring size and a dusky blue coloration.  What grabbed my attention was that her mane seemed to shimmer and sparkle like the night sky and fluttered in a nonexistent breeze.  Books and tomes lay every which way in haphazard stacks, seemingly discarded at random.  At least my presence seemed to have the same reaction as a stunned look appeared on Luna's face.

All that was forgotten when my eyes found the source of the searing light.  Inset to the floor was a large hollow of smoothed, yet glowing crystal.  As my eyes followed the edge of the chasm, filters flipped down over the thick lenses in front of my eyes.  In the crater lay an inferno of swirling energy.  Buried within lay the motionless figure of the one I assumed was princess Celestia.  The irony was that her and I appeared to have suffered the same injury.  Where my cheekbone was replaced with fused machines and metal, hers was still as fresh as the day it was inflicted.  Drops of blood stood frozen in time at the moment they were shed, like tiny rubies covering her white fur.  I stood there gawking for several minutes before I realized the creatures were talking to me.  Mostly when Twilight nugged me with one of her hooves.  Shaking myself out of my reverie, I said the first thing that came to mind.

"...wow."

Mentally, I facepalmed.

"We...I... have spent the last years studying, trying to find something that can heal my dear sister.  All of our efforts were for naught, as the very structure of my sister's body was shattered by what the foul creatures did to her.  I sent scouts to the most remote villages seeking knowledge, but nothing was ever found.  Nothing until I found a tome in the ancient archives about the creation myths of my people, the Alicorns.  There are so few of us, the tome was placed to the side, until Canterlot fell.  When we took refuge in this cavern, we found your resting place, and those of your people.  I...ask...I...request...beg... that you heal my sister.  Your kind created ours, so I pray it is within your power to grant."

".........................................................................................................................................."