The stone buildings and pathways seemed to pass as a blur while I worked my way though the city.  Thankfully it seemed that both the oncoming Minotaur forces and the ponies that escaped with Seven seemed to hit a bump in their plan.  Canterlot thinned out appreciably as you neared the palace, buildings giving way to what had once been lush gardens.  Both parties knew crossing the no mans land was a death sentence from above, as evidenced by a moderate sized spattering of gore across several bushes.  The feed in the corner of my vision scrolled command after command as Control calculated and maneuvered drones to keep the hostiles pinned.  

Stopping to catch my breath, I kneeled behind a fallen section of masonry and double checked my equipment.  The suppressors were snugly attached to my weapons, and all were loaded.  All systems checked out on my armor and medical systems were primed just in case.  I sincerely doubted that a musket could damage my armor, but stupidity kills you pretty damn fast.  From the noises erupting through the city, it sounded like the ponies and their drones were having an interesting time through the occasional thump of an exploding grenade or rip of automatic fire.  No casualties were on my board yet, and considering the firepower on my side I hoped to keep it that way.

Content that all was well so far, I resumed my crouch just in time for a path and markers to appear on the real time imagery displays.  Control was doing a fine job of keeping things under control so far, but sometimes the plans seemed to be a little insane.  Either way, at least something had a plan better than "get Seven back."  The moment the first marker flashed green I was off, sprinting toward the cover that Control marked.  It wasn't ideal but a step in the right direction is still a step.  Or in this case, it was more of a "leap through a destroyed window," but still.  You couldn't even hear the ruckus I made when landing in what appeared to be a burnt out toy shop.  Toys that once would have been beautiful crumbled beneath my boots as I skid to a stop, waiting for the signal to move again.  What had happened to this town was a shame, it must have been beautiful in its prime.  In its own way, Canterlot shattered as it was, it was still beautiful through the limited color of my night vision.  Any other thoughts were forgotten as a bright  warning flashed on my displays.

>SHELTER

>SHELTER

>SHELTER

>FIRING FOR EFFECT

Knowing the "kiss your ass goodbye" position so well, I did my best to tuck against the scorched masonry of the toy store.  It only took a moment, but a moment and a heartbeat was all I had to spare.  Apparently Control was done fucking around with trying to get a clean firing solution and resorted to the tried and trued method of killing stuff.  Superior firepower.  Everything seemed to stop as a keening wail came from the darkened skies above.  My vision was fixed on the video feed while I cowered among the shattered childhood of so many foals while the night turned to day when a second sun appeared above the city.  Even through my armor the concussion forced the air from my lungs as the camera feeds flickered out.  Either way, I knew the end result was the building sheltering the minotaurs and all within was little more than a glowing pit of molten stone.  Breathing was hard as the pressure on my body faded, leaving me panting just as the hated map marker turned green.  Once again I was off to work my way toward where the ponies were huddling, hiding in fear of the drones that circled above like demonic sharks.

Elsewhere...

Big Macintosh was a hard stallion to impress.  Yet impressed he was by the machines the human had assigned to support his soldiers.  Between those things and the magics wielded by the unicorns there had been nary a single enemy to fight.  At first, the princesses felt that keeping the majority of forces together was the best plan as the three races could back each other up hoofedly.  He agreed with their balanced approach until seeing those things ply their bloody trade.  Nopony had even seen the minotaurs setting up an ambush inside a razed house until the first machine...drone acted.  At first, it was just a sudden movement of the housing that contained a group of lenses.  Immediately after, the entire top of the unit swiveled and coughed.  That was it, just a soft cough until a house at the end of the street burst into flames and bits of gore rained into the street.  Even at that distance it was easy to tell the...parts were minotaur.

From there, the pattern repeated themselves between the drones before the princesses began to talk among themselves.  It still was strange yet comforting to see Celestia walking the streets of her city again.  At least it was until he caught view of the look gracing her face.  What was once regal and calm was a stormy sea of wrath and anger before she began issuing orders.

"Big Macintosh, yourself and five of your best are to escort my sister and I.  Split the rest of your forces to escort the drones to clear the city.  One third of the unicorns and pegasi will go with each drone, with the remainder staying with the Elements as their fast reaction force.  Princess Twilight will teleport her team from the cavern entrance to wherever needed when a unicorn uses a flare spell.  As for us, we are going to meet up with our human to help him recover Seven before moving on to the palace."

Every pony present was awestruck to be hearing war orders from Celestia.  Luna, Cadence and Twilight yes, but it was different to hear it from the normally motherly Princess, let alone the terrifying look on her regal face.  Any other thoughts were forgotten as a banshee wail came from across the city and everything was bathed in harsh light for a heartbeat.

Finally, I'd reached the edge of the gardens where the ponies were still pinned down.  Whenever one of the creatures moved toward an exit of any form, that area would be engulfed by a burst of weapons fire from the drones above.  All in all, they were pretty well perfectly contained.  The challenge would be managing to take out two hostiles without getting injured myself.  As such, I was studying the thermal camera feed to see if there was any rhyme or reason to their movements.  The AI core was nestled in the heart of the house the ponies inhabited and relatively secure.  The two signatures seemed to be moving about randomly so it would be down to luck when it came time to solve my little problem.  

Rubble scraped against my armored feet as I ducked behind bits of cover, working toward the windowless wall I had decided to enact my violence on.  It seemed that every time the drones would shoot at the house, the ponies would seek refuge against the solid stone walls.  With the right tool, hardened cover became little more than cover and that was the entire crux of my argument.  A few commands later, the drones started to whip around barely above the rooftops, firing small bursts into the polished stone walls.  Meanwhile, I was tinkering on the opposite side of where I needed to be.  Thankfully the soft compound I was shaping would quickly change that problem.  It only took a moment to affix the shaped charge to the wall before I found cover again.  As I lay face down on the grass next to a small retaining wall planted with shrubs, the oddest thought came to mind.  I was laying on the freshest grass I'd seen in god knows how long, and I couldn't even smell it through all the filters in my armor.  With this on my mind, I flipped up the cover on the detonator in my hand, slid the safety to the side, and pushed the big red button before everything burst into color.

The concussion wasn't so bad this time.  Joys of using shaped charges I guess.  Despite being behind a short wall, small chunks of rock and grit pummeled my armor before I started to rise.  Acrid smoke and dust from pulverized rock swirled around me as I stepped toward the ragged hole through the wall.  I could already see that the charge had worked better than imagined.  Bits of pony were spattered across what was once a tastefully decorated living room.  The hardwood floors creaked as I settled my weight onto them, rifle up and traveling with my eyes in search of the other pony.  The only lead was a streak of iridescent blue goo leading into another room as if someone...pony was dragging something behind them.  Thankfully my armor muffled most of my footsteps as I neared the corner leading into the next room.  With a thought, I dialed the camo up to maximum for now.  I'd only have a minute or two, but it was better than nothing.  

Knees bent and rifle shouldered, my bulk slipped around the corner tightly against the wall.  The muzzle of my weapon panning back and forth as I tried to find the last pony.  The blue streak lead toward the room where the AI core lay as an ominous feeling began building.  Every doorway was cleared while I progressed, the small stairwell was clear as well, with the strangely colored fluid becoming more prominent.  That's when I heard it.  Thin raspy breaths of someone, something on it's last legs in the next room just before the sound of snapping wires reached me.  Caution had no place now as I strode boldly toward the noise ready to gift the pony with oblivion.  I did not expect this though.  

Sprawled across the AI core was something I'd never seen before.  It looked like a pony in spots, but black plates jutted out from under it's fur in spots.  What should have been normal eyes were little more than blank spheres of color.  More importantly was the fact that it was both bleeding copiously on the cylinder AI Core from a severed foreleg and attempting to rip out wiring with what remained of its  horn.  It was too close to risk a shot, but three thumping steps brought me closer as my camouflage ran out of power.  Recognition appeared to cross the being's eyes for a fraction of a second before the muzzle of my rifle collided with the back of its skull and forced it off of Seven.  Only for a second before my rifle bucked in my hands and spattered bone and ichor across the floor.

Seven appeared to be in rough shape.  Most of the external case was covered in dents, dings, and shredded wiring.  Thankfully nothing appeared to have gotten into the main panel as I rolled the unit over.  Soft clicks met my ears as I released the catches holding the panel in place to reveal the heart of the AI Core, only to be met with a series of illuminated red displays.  I'm not a network engineer but screens flashing red is usually seriously bad.  As I fished around for my tablet, there were so many different thoughts swirling through my mind.  Thankfully training won out as I yanked the armored computer out and connected it to a socket inset into the core and diagnostics began scrolling.  

###Send burst transmission: User(s): Celestia, Luna, Twilight Sparkle, Cadence

>AI Core secured.  Unknown damage.  Attempting diagnostics.

>Will update as possible.

Words left me as the damage scrolled down the screen.  Power supply is critical and the drives SCRAM'd to keep from frying.  Downside is it would take another high end computer to bring Seven back online IF I could find something to plug him into.  The chassis back at the facility was pretty well destroyed so that left only one option that I was loathe to type out, but type I did before pulling out the needed tools to strip the casing off the core.  A small pile of scrap metal and screws quickly scattered across the room, some leaving small trails of that strange blood when they rolled through it.  Soon enough I had the emergency power unit and solid state components removed.  It was just in time as a dull scream was sounding from the destroyed garden outside.  Careful of the components, I placed all the tools back in my pack before picking up what remained of Seven.

Every step seemed to take an eternity as I crossed the blood stained and ruined house.  The paintings of various family members stared down at me disapprovingly as I traveled.  The one of a light grey mare with white and lavender hair seemed to glare at me before I crossed the threshold.  She looked eerily familiar for some reason.  Control had barely touched down in the gardens before the jets had started what remained of the grass to smolder and smoke under its engines.  The airborne drones circled, seeking for anything that could be deemed a threat to Control while it was grounded.  A panel was already open and waiting for me on the underside of the unit that followed commands to the letter.  Reaching into the recess, I withdrew a bundle of cables and began attaching them to the AI Core when Control chirped softly.  Immediately one of the drones peeled off and thundered across the city with a dull roar.  Finally the last connection snapped into place and I could slide the remains of the AI Core into the socket inset in Control for safe keeping before the panel automatically began to close.

The moment I was out from under the lumbering bulk of Control, its engines throttled up to a tooth rattling howl before it shot into the air and was lost to the dark.  The escorts went with it, albeit in a quieter method that allowed me to hear the soft jangling of armor plate and clopping of hooves against stone.  Turing slightly, I was surprised to see Celestia and Luna leading a small and occasionally bloody kill team into the gardens.  I guess it was time for part two of the evening's festivities.