After a couple hours of working the wires inside, we finally get the damned thing working. Now we just need to wait for me to power it up before we can get moving. Lucky for us, the tinted windows have been providing the perfect cover for us. The creatures from before have long since stopped fighting, returning the city to its quiet state. Applejack and I have been chatting away through all of the work. I've been trying to find out who the lucky guy is and... I don't have a single clue.

"Come on, give me a better clue then 'he was at the party' *shiver*." I ask as I finish with the power relay.

"NNope. Ah ain't sayin nuthin!" She says as she looks away; eyes closed with a large smile on her face.

"Is it Night Fury?"

"NNope!"

"Damian?"

"NNope!"

"True Will?"

"NNope!"

"Gah, who the fuck else was there... wait... is it Squishy?"

"AH HELL NO!" She practically yells, making us both laugh.

"Alright, you have completely bested me. I don't have a single clue. Lets check on the others before starting this thing up." I say as I get up and pull the door open. Everyone has moved into the next compartment and has fallen asleep. Purple Edge is the only one awake, sitting on one of the benches looking out the window. He sees us and motions to keep quiet. I nod and point to a bag of supplies, getting him to toss it to us. "I guess not."

"What time is it?" Applejack asks with a yawn. I pull out my phone to see it's two hundred hours.
"Darn, two am."

"Wait a minute." I mutter as I go to the videos on my phone. Sure enough, there it is. The video of the party. I'm fairly certain I don't want to watch half of this, so when it starts I make sure to fast forward through it. It was.... one crazy... social gathering. But there isn't anyone I didn't mention from before. I'm starting to think that she's lying to me.

"Watcha lookin at?" Applejack asks as she takes a seat beside me.

"It's a video from the party."

"Oh... WHAT!?" She yells a she nearly falls over.

"SHH! They can still hear us..."

"Miles, please don't! Ah...."

"Don't worry. Unless he shows up at the last second, I don't see him." She settles down a bit as the video nears the end. It moves to the guest bedroom where we find Pinkie and Squishy in the act. After some talking the phone is flung to Squishy and turned off. "No..." I mutter as slowly rewind. As the video flips through the air, I get a glimpse of him. "Noo.... just... nooo."

"He was charmin!"

"He's weird!"

"He was nice..."

"He has that fucking bag!"

"He has a good sense a humor!"

"He fucking filled a fridge with strawberries!"

"Why don't you like him? What did he do ta get ya ta hate 'im so much?!"

"BECAUSE HE SUPPOSE TO BE DEAD!" I yell in desperation.

"... WHAT!?" She yells in bewilderment. "W....what!?"

"I killed him, he came back! That's fucking cheating! And it makes me, and the Spartans, look bad!"

"That's why ya don't like him? Because ya couldn't kill 'im?"

"I COULD KILL HIM! HE JUST FUCKING CHEATED!"

"Well, if he can out live you, then there definitely more ta the stud...."

"Oh please don't call him that." I say as I lean against the wall and slide down. Applejack just chuckles as she takes a seat beside me and rummages through the bag, taking out some food to eat. I just accept her choice, at least at the moment, and begin to grab some food as well.

"Ah know it's a bit.... odd of a choice. But... ah see somethin different in him. Ah can tell he's an honest stallion and would be a good coltfriend." She reassures me in a soft tone.

"*sigh* Two things. If he ever steps out of line let us know, and for fuck sake, don't have sex in my bed."

"Now, what makes you think..."

"I've already caught Storm and Twilight, Big Mac and Fluttershy, the remains of Soarin and Rainbow Dash, and even though it wasn't in my bed, I've still walked in on Squishy and Pinkie Pie. There's more action in my house then there should be." She stares at me for a second before chuckling softly.

"Wow Miles, yer a pervert."

"I don't ask for this to happen..."

"Ya couldn't knock?"

"IT'S MY ROOM! IN MY HOUSE! And couldn't a single pony learn to lock their fucking doors! It's not that hard! Just turn the little thing!"

"Well, after the second time, couldn't you just lock it yerself? Or just do somethin to keep ponies outta yer room?Maybe jus remove the door. It could save you from being a perv..."

"I'M NOT THE PERV!"

"Ya kinda are."

"HOW AM I..."

"Now ah kinda wanna do it in yer bed... didja enchant it to make things better in there? Like, a stamina enhan...."

"NO! What the fuck? How would.... why would... when..... FUCK!" I stuff my mouth full of food and give up. There's just no winning anymore, I don't get a say in anything anymore.

"That'll do perv, that'll do. Let us smarter ponies take care of the hard stuff." Applejack snickers as she pets my head.

"I went to college for sixteen years...."

"An ya still can't knock."

"..."

"Thought so, now let's get some shut eye before moving out." She says as she takes the rest of the supplies and moves to the other room. That fucking... piece of... FUCK!

"Yeah, sleep sounds good." I mumble as I follow after her. Hopefully she'll come to her senses... hopefully.

..............................................................................................................................................................

After a few hours of sleep we all finally decide to move out. I head to the front and take a look out at the city. It must have been dark hours when we arrived, because most of the main lights are on now. Many of the creatures seem to be hiding now, fearing the light. That's good for us though, less trouble. Many of the buildings have large portions of wall missing, having scratches and tears around them. It seems many of the creatures that live here have taken residence there. We will need to be sure to keep clear from them.

Done with my sight seeing I engage the power, getting all of the lights to turn on and the dashboard to come to life. Lucky for us this thing is still operational, so I push the throttle up. The sound of metal screeching against metal fills the compartment as we slowly begin to gain speed. After a few minutes of screeching and tugging on old parts the monorail finally gets moving at my desired speed.

"Whoa... this things going." Storm says as he joins me in the conductors comportment.

"Yeah, good thing too, we need to get moving to make it back for Hearths Warming Eve." I say as I read over all of the gauges.

"Yeah, should be interesting... hey, why do you think the bugs got here to begin with? I mean, I doubt your people really a an insect problem."

"If I had to guess, I'd say they were picked up on the way here. Maybe during one of the moves some scientist picked them up or they just found their way in a truck, who knows. They made it in here, and if all of the generators are sending energy out like that one, that would explain how they grew so large.... unless that's normal."

"It's not, trust me." Storm says as he glances up. "Those Mothqitos are starting to stir again."

"Those what?" I ask as I look up. The dome is alive with activity as the flying creatures flutter around. "Is that what they are called?"

"Well, no. But it's what we decided to call them since they look like a cross between the two. How long until we get to the P.C.H."

Thirteen minutes, the on board computer tells us.

"Does this computer have access to the internet?" I ask.

Negative.

"Well, it was worth a shot." I sigh as the track before us begins to curve towards the P.C.H. I look up and notice a cluster of the Mothqitos starting to take flight, forming a massive swarm that seems to be moving.... towards.... "GET BACK INSIDE!" I yell as I pry the doors open and kick Storm inside.

"What's going on? Why were..."

"WEAPONS UP! WE'VE GOT A SWARM OF THOSE FLYING ASSHOLES COMING AT US!" I yell as I sprint down the aisle. "If you don't have a gun, use your blade to keep them off the tram! Stand back for when they first hit for breaking glass! HERE THEY COME!"

Right on queue the tram rocks as the swarm slams against us. Nothing has broken yet, but the sound of them crawling over keeps everyone's heads on a swivel. A few of them are giving experimental taps, but they haven't tried the windows yet. If we can get to the tunnel to the P.C.H. we'll be golden. I move to the back and check on the last cart, noting how they're breaking through the glass already. I flare my hands and hold them out towards the sides of the cart, tearing the metal apart. Once we're separated, I push back on the back and watch it come to a stop.

"DON'T!" I yell as I turn around to see Fluttershy about to shoot a mothqito that's prying its way through the front.

BANG

The round tears through the creatures head with enough force to send it flying back. Simultaneously, all of the windows shatter from the concussion wave. Everyone freezes for a second as we wait for the inevitable to happen. In a moment of clarity, I happen to steal a glance towards Applejack. She's beside Fluttershy holding her rifle towards the window. Her hair is ruffled from the concussion but the rest of her seems to be frozen in time. Even though everything around her is turning to face the dangers, she's just standing there. Staring at me.

She says something to me.

And in an instant time catches back up with us as the cart fills with dozens of the creatures. I barely have time to dodge an incoming creature, getting a deep cut on my right shoulder. I pull out my revolver and push my magic to the first enchantment before firing it into its chest. It implodes on itself and drops to the floor.

Before I could even react, another one tries to bury its sword like maw into me. I send a round into it's head and whip out my trench knife in time to block another one of the creatures. I push my magic into the knife, bringing up its first enchantment, before slamming it into the creature. A powerful blast sends it flying out the nearby window, taking out another one of the creatures. I swing my pistol over and fire at one of the creatures as it tries to stab Storm in the back.

Next shot goes to the creatures trying to pull Purple Edge out the window.

Next round goes into the head of the creature that's lifting True Will off the ground. I have to parry with my knife to stop from being stabbed from behind. A quick jab in the head buries it into the wall.

I spin back and fire at the incoming creature. It's head implodes above me, showering me with a green, sludge like substance. The corpse falls on top of me. As I push it off I take a moment to look around. The room is a blur of fighting as the creatures buzz all around. I see glimpses of colored coats, but I can't see anyone's condition. I.... I have to.

"GET DOWN AND GRAB SOMETHING!" I yell as I push more of my magic into the pistol. My shirt burns off as the lines fall to my waist line. The lines on my pistol burn brighter as an archaic circle appears at the end of the barrel. I point off into the fray and hope I don't kill anyone as I fire the last round into the blur of creatures. I duck down and latch onto a nearby bar as I hear a ping followed by a high pitched whining sound. Here it comes....

KRA-BOOM

The only sound made was that of a pure cosmic explosion casting a perfect circle of destruction. Even though I held my eyes shut, a burning white light blared through. I felt myself lift off the ground as the cosmic energy began to suck everything towards the explosion. I tucked into a ball and held on for dear life.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTT

In an instant the world around me returned to normal. I waited for what felt like an eternity before my vision began to return. I look back to the rest of the cart, falling over due to my letting go of the rail, and try to see who's left. Though everything is still blurry I can see some colored forms moving about. After blinking a few times I begin to make out Twilight fumbling around.

"Tw.... Twilight!" I call out as I try to stand.

"Miles?" She asks as she begins to move towards me. "Wh... what was that?"

"MAKE YOURSELF KNOW IF YOU'RE ALIVE!" I yell as I fall over.

"Here!" Storm calls out from under a seat. "I've got Snow Bound but she's been knocked out."

"On it!" Twilight yells as she moves over to help them.

"Here! Let me help you." Fluttershy says from the front.

"Here! I've got Purple edge and Rarity, but they're unconscious as well." Subtle Shift calls out from the right.

"I'm good!" Rainbow Dash says as she runs over to check on Rarity.

"Same here." True Will calls out as he helps Dust Devil up.

"Yeah... good." Dust Devil says.

"Looks like everypony's alright." Pinkie says as she crawls out from under the seat beside me. I chuckle a bit as I let the lines on me fade...

"Wait.... where's Applejack?" I ask as I look around. No.... no she.... I....

"A.... ah'm.... here..." She calls out quietly as I see her hoof fall out from behind the front left seat. I push myself up and run over to her... "Heh.... heh ya can fix this... right?" She asks as she holds onto the head of one of the mothqitos, it's maw piercing through her midsection. I stare at all of the flowing blood from her wounds before I kick into gear. I try to flare my hands, but something goes wrong.

At first they just don't ignite. No matter how hard I shake my hands they won't lite. With one final shake I manage to get the flames up, only to have them jet out a bit before snuffing themselves out. This can't be happening..... not right now... not Applejack....

"TWILIGHT!" I yell as I move behind AJ. "TWILIGHT GET OVER HERE!" Twilight runs over with her gun and nearly faints when she sees AJ. "My magic is shitting out on me, use your gun! Hurry!" She stands still for a moment before Fluttershy pushes past her to take a look.

"Miles! Hold AJ so we can remove the proboscis. When we remove it we... GET ME SOME RAGS! When we remove it we'll need to cover the wounds and add as much pressure as possible. Twilight, once we're adding pressure heal her up.... WHERE ARE MY RAGS!" Fluttershy yells again, getting everyone to shuffle around. Luckily Rarity had a couple of scarves that we could use. I take a seat in the corner and pull AJ into my lap, trying my best to keep her still.

"AH! Ah.... easy there partner..." AJ says weakly. I wrap my arms around her shoulders and get ready to cover her back.

"OK, AJ, I'm going to cut the back off, but we have to pull the rest of it out of you. This is going to be very painful." Fluttershy tells her calmly as she readies a small saw from her satchel.

"Here." I tell her as I grab her hoof. "Squeeze, it'll help." She looks between the two of us, fear deep in her eyes, as she takes a hold of my hand.

"Don't let me slip... please." She asks quietly. I look back to all of the worried faces watching. I try to keep strong, but I can feel myself tearing up as I try to think of the best way to answer.

"Don't worry... you'll be home for Hearths Warming Eve." I tell her as I tighten my grip on her.

"Alive?" She asks desperately.

"GOT IT!" Shy yells as she tosses aside the chunk aside. "OK, AJ, close your eyes and..."

"Bite onto this." Subtle Shift says as he steps forward and pushes some brown thing into her mouth. "Bite down onto it so you don't bite your tongue off." AJ looks around a bit before biting onto the brown square.

"OK, on three..."

"Wait." I say quietly.

"We don't have time to wait!" Fluttershy yells. "ONE!"

"How long have we been on this thing?"

"TWO!"

"Where are we?" As I had feared, our topless monorail passes through an archway as it enters the P.C.H., going top speed.

"THREE!"

"NO!" I yell, but am too late as Fluttershy yanks out the maw of the creature. Blood pours out onto me as AJ screams out in agony, writhing in my arms as the length tears at her insides. In desperation I spin around and put AJ into the corner as...

CRASH

..............................................................................................................................................................

With a low groan I begin to open my eyes. I can't really tell where I am, it's too dark. I can see a light coming in from the left, but everything else is pitch black. There's a fire roaring from the far right. It's looks like it's coming from the remains of the monorail... that's odd. I look straight ahead to see Purple Edge lying halfway in the light, staring right at me. his body gives a nudge before being drug into the darkness.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" I yell as I fight to get up. I look around and pull my rifle over as I limp over towards him.

PEW

"Bring him back!" I yell as I aim into the darkness.

PEW

"I SAID BRING HIM BACK!" I yell as I fall forward onto the tracks. I begin to tear up as I look over to the wreckage. He's... he's...

"You know you nearly shot me there." He says as he stands over the edge.

"YOU'RE ALIVE!" I yell as I push myself up, wincing from the pain in my back left leg.

"I think so... if I'm not then heaven sucks." He jokes as he helps me out. I quickly hug him as a few tears escape my eyes. "We should find the others, especially Applejack.

"Right." I say as I let go of him and start looking around. "Do you remember what happened?" I ask as I start to limp towards the wreckage.

"Well, last thing I remember was being sent flying to the side as the tram flew off the tracks." He says as he runs over to a pile of rubble and checks underneath it. "We need to focus Twilight, go check over there."

"Right... focus." I say as I move towards the wreckage.

THRUUM

I duck just in time to dodge a giant piece of metal flying off out from the wreckage. I look up to see an extremely dirty Rarity and a perfectly clean Pinkie Pie crawl out from the twisted metal.

"GIRLS!" I yell as I hobble over to them, hugging them each tightly. "Thank Celestia you're alright!"

"Alright!? Are you mad? Do you see how positively filthy I am!?" Rarity scoffs as she tries wiping off some of the grim. I just laugh and hug her again, glad to have her alive.

"Twilight, next time I think we should walk. Trams aren't that fun." Pinkie says as she hugs me again.

"YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!" We all look up to see Dust Devil and Rainbow Dash flying down towards us. Dash is using DD for support as her right wing hangs limply to the side.

"DASH! Your wing!" I yell as they land. I jump over the tracks, instantly wincing from the pain, but push on to check on her.

"It can wait, where's Applejack?" Dash asks as she looks around. The sound of somepony tripping catches our attention as we look over to the left side of the darkness. A metallic tripod with a metal tube on top lights up, revealing True Will and Snow Bound beside a metal table. A computer sits on the table with a small chest underneath it.

"So I take it Miles and Applejack aren't with you." True Will says as he helps Snow Bound over, her left claw appears to be broken. I take a look around, noting everypony’s injuries. Cuts, bruises, a couple deep lacerations cover everypony.

"Wait, Fluttershy is missing to." I say as I do a head count. "OK everypony, we need to search the wreckage for Applejack, Fluttershy, Storm and Miles..."

BANG

A hunk of metal falls from the wreckage as a cone of energy erupts from within. Fluttershy staggers out and falls to her side, blood pouring from her hairline and racing down her face. Everypony immediately runs over to check on her. I fire two Medi rounds into her, stopping the bleeding instantly. When I get to her side I look back where she came from to find Miles and Applejack huddle together, unconscious.

I run to Applejacks side and immediately begin to fire the Medi-gun into her body. I fire at least six rounds before I drop the gun and press my ear against her chest, listening for a heartbeat.

"COME ON AJ FIGHT IT!" I yell as I began pumping her chest, attempting to start her heart.

In an instant the lights coming from outside shut off and the room is pitched into darkness. The sound of clicking fills the room as unknown creatures begin to swarm around. Everypony huddles around us as they face away, looking for the threatening creatures.

"We need to move to that light!" True Will yells as he points to the tripod. "Get those three and lets move!" I grab them, as well as my rifle, and follow after them. Even though it was only a short gallop, the feeling of long antenna running along my side made it feel like an eternity.

When we all make it under the light we turn and began stabbing and shooting into the darkness. Only Rarity, Fluttershy and I have guns, but it's enough fire to reveal our enemies.... cockroaches. Big, disgusting, brown, icky roaches. Hundreds, if not thousands of them all crawling towards us. I take a quick glance around and notice that not everypony is armed. We can't fight them all...

"Stop fighting!" I yell as I point my rifle up and fire the Medi-gun, making the dome appear around us. Everypony takes a moment to breath as the roaches begin to investigate the shield with their antenna.

"Is that thing doing A.O.E. healing?" Snow Bound asks. I look around and notice everypony’s wounds slowly beginning to heal.

"I suppose so... makes sense I guess." I say tiredly as I...

THUNK

A massive, bloody, sword like appendage slams down onto the top of the dome, sending thick cracks all around. We all try to steal a glance at the creature, but it's too dark to see anything. The appendage rears backs into the darkness to strike again. I don't think this dome can hold against another hit like that...

FWUUUUUUUUUM

THUD

From within the darkness a powerful gust of wind knocks over the large creature, making it scream in pain. All of the roaches around us pause to flail their antenna around before scurrying towards something in the darkness. The sound of powerful gusts erupts, sending winds from all directions as the opponent moves about the room with great speed.

"Anypony know who that is?" Purple Edge asks as the fighting begins to die down.

"Yeah, it's..."

"Storm!" I yell as I see him limp towards us. I drop the shield and run over to his side, catching him before he collapses to the ground. "Storm! Thank goodness you're OK!" It seems that his armor took most of the damage. He has a slight limp, but overall he's OK.

"Yeah.... don't go out there. Giant... worm... thing." He huffs as he leans against me. He's a bit heavy, but I bring him over to the light and lay him down to check on him. "Everything OK here?"

"Well...."

THUD THUD THUD THUD

Four more massive beast drop into the darkness. I raise the shield again, but realize that it would be pointless against this many opponents. I'll need to teleport us...

EX COENUM TO FAVILLA

From above a bright emerald green light crashes down before us and raises its arms. From within the darkness hundreds of tan wisps begin to flow upwards. The sound of hundreds of creatures screaming in pain fills the room as the wisps grow higher and higher. Soon, all of the wisps are collected high in the air and fade away, silencing the room.

"Soul fire." I mutter as the green being turned towards us. "You have to help us!" I yell as I drop everything and run up to him.

I HAVE NO NEED...

"Please! You're the only one who can! Applejack is really hurt! Please, save her!" I beg him.

IF THE SOUL WISHES TO LIVE, IT WILL LIVE.

"But..."

I LEAVE THIS MATTER TO MILES. I HAVE NO NEED TO INTERVENE...

"HOW COULD YOU BE SO COLD!" I yell at him as I take a step forward. "Your name may be Soul Fire, but you're as cold as ice!"

YOU DARE SPEAK DOWN TO ME AS IF WERE A COMMON...

"If you were really the soul of Miles you'd help us in our time of need! And not just with the fighting!" I turn my back on him and take a seat beside Storm. If this really is the soul of Miles, then guilt tripping him should be easy.

VERY WELL. BUT WHEN YOU CALL ON ME AGAIN, I MAY NOT ANSWER.

Green energy begins whirl around us as Soul Fire begins to race about, leaving a green trail. I try to follow him, but when he starts to move above us as well, I just hold Storm and wait for him to be done.

FLASH

I blink a few times as I try to register where I am. A drop of snow makes me look up. Outside? How... how did we get out of the dome? Well, we did leave the door open...

PURPLE ONE

I spin around to see Soul Fire hovering above Miles, arms folded.

"Thank you Soul Fire." He nods and phases back into Miles, getting him to stir again.

"GAH! Where... where are we? APPLEJACK! WHERE IS SHE!?" Miles yells as he looks around frantically.

"Hold yer horses." Everypony looks behind Miles to see AJ standing there, smiling proudly. "Ah ain't goin nowhere! We better hurry though, ah wanna see mah family fer Hearth Warming Eve." In a moment of pure bliss everypony tackles her in a group hug. That was close, but I knew we could do it....

...............................................................................................................................................................

I march down the dark hall, pissed off at the news. ALIVE! Our best couldn't even get halfway in there! How could a group of mares do it! It's time we started bucking with that asshole Miles, and I know just how to.

"Password?" A guard asks as I approach my destination.

"Ursas Cub." I say as I shuffle my shades. He nods and pulls the door open. I step inside and find exactly what I'm looking for. "So, Trixie, ready to cooperate?" She lets out a little whimper as she struggles against her bonds.

"P-please... let Trixie..."

"Oh now what did we say about that third pony crap?" I ask as I pull the chair she's tied to back. I take a look at her bruised face and chuckle when I see the tears fall from her eyes.

"Please.... let me go..." She cries.

"Soon enough, but we need to give you something first." I stomp my hoof down, getting the guard to run to my side and present me with a box. "Ready for round three?" Her cries are all I need. I let her fall to the ground as I move back towards the door. "Get her ready for transportation, we're going to Ponyville."

Next Chapter: Chapter 159 The Great And Powerful... Estimated time remaining: 46 Hours, 52 Minutes