I slightly wake when I feel something warm return to my side. I instinctively move closer to it, draping an arm around it's smooth, soft surface as I try to hold onto the last few seconds of sleep.

"Sorry, I had to lower the moon. Go back to sleep OK," Luna whispers to me as she nuzzles up against me. I nod slowly as sleep easily takes its hold over me again. In the last few seconds of consciousness I feel a low vibration on my chest as Luna begins to hum something.

I wince a bit as a bright light begins to shine down on my face. I start to roll over to avoid it, but wince from the knot in my back. Sleeping on a stone floor wasn't the best idea looking back. I look over to my side and smile when I find Luna nestled against me, sleeping peacefully. I guess a few more minutes on the ground couldn't hurt.

I pull her closer to myself, getting her to lay her head over my chest, as I gently run a hand down her back. She lets out a small sigh as she relaxes onto my side. She's been too stressed out recently. I wish there was a way I could help that.... well, other than dying faster.

Too soon? Fuck it, I'm dying. I get to make the jokes I want to.

In my head at least.

"MMM.... Miles, what time is it?" Luna asks as she stretches a bit.

"Not sure. You should go home to get some better sleep-"

"But... I might not get the chance to see you again." She says as she looks away from me while weakly rubbing a hoof against my arm. I bring a hand up to the back of her head and lightly force her to look at me.

"Luna, I want you to do something for me."

"Anything." She scoots a little closer to me as she perks up, ready to do whatever I ask.

"Go tell Celestia." She deflates a bit, dropping her ears a tad.

"Tell... Celestia. I don't know Miles, maybe we should-"

"Luna, I don't know if I'm coming back. If I do, I'm not anything holding back. I'd rather have her be upset in that moment then enraged beyond belief for a life time.... please." She leans into my hand as she takes a few slow, deep breaths. Trying to come to terms with my request.

"I will. I love you Miles, more then anything." She tells me, a tear escaping her eye.

"And I love you, Luna. More than I'll ever be able to show." We share a kiss. It wasn't anything lustful, rather passionate. A final kiss really. It didn't last long... well, it didn't feel as if it did at least. Then again, I don't think something like that could ever really last long enough.

Shortly after our kiss she left for Canterlot, hopefully to tell Soror about us finally. If she avoids it again... well, I'll just have to find some way to let her know then.

"... and with that we can split our resources to assist in the future agricultural deficit in the Griffon Colonies." Diamond Heart finishes, getting stomps of approval from most of the other business leaders.

"Do we truly need to strain our own resources for the griffons so cheaply? Our economy will take a massive dive from this." Blueblood adds, getting a few nods from the others.

"This will put quite a strain on our own nation, but it must be done. We are responsible for what's happened and must make amends if relations are to return. Hard times are ahead for Equestria, but I'm sure we can tough it out." I say as I sign off on the proposal.

"This is preposterous. We can't feed two nations, we barely feed our own as it is. How could we possibly feed all of our ponies and the griffons?" Blueblood complains.

"With great sacrifice." Luna says as she enters the meeting chamber, shocking everypony.

"Princess Luna? Shouldn't you be in bed? Night court isn't for-"

"Blueblood, what I do during my off hours is none of your concern. If I choose to come to a daytime meeting then I will come to a daytime meeting. You also will learn your place when speaking to me." She says as she approaches him.

"Sister-"

"No, no." Blood Diamond cuts me off. "They both need this." I nod to him and let her continue.

"I-I meant no disrespect-"

"I am a royal sister, herald of the night, and you of all ponies will not speak down to me. I've tolerated your disgraceful attitude for long enough. If I don't see changes in your little superiority complex I will have you removed from these grounds, geld you, have you thrown into the worst possible slums, and watch as your life withers away; you sad excuse of a stallion. Do I make myself clear?" She asks as she towers over Blueblood, who has shrunk into his chair.

"Yes."

"Good. Now, Celestia, when you have a moment I need to speak with you in private. I'll be in the courtroom." Before I could respond she teleports out of the room. I look back to the other family members and smile before teleporting myself to the courtroom.

"What was that about?" I ask Luna as she paces about the throne.

"I'm sorry. I just... wasn't in the mood to deal with him right now."

"Luna, quit pacing around and tell me what's wrong." She stops and turns to me, trying to say something. She stutters a few times before taking a deep breath and looks me in the eyes.

"I... I visited Miles today," she says quietly.

"Oh..."

"Yeah... he's... well, he-"

"I know. Twilight has sent many letters telling me. Is this what's bothering you?" I ask as I step towards her.

"Celestia... I... Miles and I are... we-"

"*sigh* I know." I say, getting her to do a double take.

"You what now?"

"I know. I've known the entire time. Luna, you're my sister. I think I know well enough to know when you're in love. I may not like it, but it happened. There's no changing it now. Are you going to be OK?" She stands there, stunned, unable to answer.

"I... you... I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner!" She says as she rushes into my embrace, sobbing lightly.

"It's alright. I knew you would eventually. But now isn't the time for that. He has a journey to finish. All we can do now is pray for their safe return and hope for a peaceful end." She nods a bit as she tightens her grip on me. I wrap my hooves around her and wait for her tears to cease. Luna, why did you have to go and fall in love like this?

At least it's only love.

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

Long after Luna left I finally gather myself enough to round up the others for Galena. I spent my time trying to get my armor back on, but with the constant heat it's starting to warp. Now I only have the chest piece and the thigh bracers. It's not much for protection, but it'll have to do.

With the last of my things on I leave my home, Lupus and Hati chasing after me. The snow melts beneath my feet as I make my way into town, leaving a trail for my fuzzy followers. Many of the residence greet me as usual. I wave back to them, offering them my own salutations. I doubt they know why my hands and feet are flaring, but that's alright by me. The less that know, the better. I make my first stop at Rarity’s.

"Hello? You home Rarity?" I ask aloud as I step through the front door. I can hear some talking in the back, she must be with a customer or something. Not wanting to disturb her, I leave the shop and head over to Sugar-cube Corner. Hopefully nothing is wrong with Rarity. It didn't sound like that one guy from before and she didn't seem to be upset, so I’m sure everything is al-

"MILES!"

CRASH

Before I could register anything a purple blur tackles me to the ground and picks me up. After blinking a couple time I realize that Spike is carrying me through the air towards the library.

"Spike! What the fuck man? Put me down! ... GENTLY!" I yell as I try to wiggle free.

"Sorry but I need your help. Something is wrong with Twilight!" He yells back as we descend towards the tree house.

"What? What happened to Twilight? Is she hurt? What's going on-"

THUD

"... ow." I mumble as I get up. Spike tries to apologies, but I ignore him as I rush inside to find Twilight. She's not in the front room, so I run up the stairs to her bedroom where I find her sprawled out in the center of the room. She looks a complete mess with a few empty vials laying around her.

"What happened?" I ask as I step beside her and kneel down.

"I don't know. She sent me to pick up a book from the post office, but when I came back she was like this. I tried waking her up, but she won’t respond. Please help her!" he begs as I investigate one of the vials. It seems to have been a complex solution with a rancid smell. She drank four of them.

"I'm going to investigate her mind and try to find out what went wrong. Gather everyone else and bring them here." I tell Spike as I begin to encase my hands with my magic. He doesn't respond. He just runs out of the room as quickly as possible. With him gone, I take deep breath before pushing into Twilight’s mind.

"What have you done?"

Everything starts out dark, but has a few patches of memories. What used to be an entire canvas of memories is now just a shadow of nothingness with flickers of thoughts. Whatever she drank, it erased her memories and brought some back. Some of the memories are growing while others are slowly fading away. I make up my mind and force myself into one of the larger ones.

"My book will be arriving at exactly ten am Spike. I need you to get it for me in addition to some of our usual things in the market." Twilight tells Spike. She's handing him a receipt as well as a list.

"Alright. I'll be back as quickly as possible," Spike says with a smile as he takes them and walks out of the room. Once he's he's gone she lets out a deep sigh before turning towards the... darkness? The memory must of faded.

The splotches of memories begin to fade in and out again. I'm fairly certain that this is just a memory spell, but I can't remove it without knowing it's make. But the longer I take the more memories I lose. I need to go deeper. I find the closest memory and push my way into it.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine." Rainbow Dash tells Twilight as they watch the blimp that took the Spartans fly away.

"I know. I'm not worried that he'll get injured, I'm just worried what will happen when nopony's watching him." Twilight tells her, keeping her gaze on the blimp as it floats away.

"Squishy said he'd keep an eye on him." Pinkie adds.

"He still has his own job to do. There are too many variables in this that could make it end in disaster. What kind of a wife would make this kind of a sacrifice?" she asks before lowering her gaze to the ground, her vision blurring from her tears.

"Oh honey." Rarity croons as she hugs her. "Everything will be alright. Any good wife would have chosen two months over two years in a heartbeat. He'll be back before you know it..."

Fucking dammit. The memory ended again. I don't have time for this. I need to know more about the potions she took! Next one.... there!

"Why does it have to be this way Cheesus? Isn't there some other way?" Twilight asks some pale white unicorn. They're sitting in an office with... many... they're in a dirty office, I'm leaving it at that.

"Twilight, I like you and Storm. You're both good ponies. But I can't just give out rooms, especially when the only ones that might be open are penthouse level. Not to mention the losses from housing ponies that probably won't be spending money. It's unfair to any other workers or patrons. And I can't willingly sell a room that is registered to another pony without some kind of compensation."

"You're going to stop us on an ethics code!?"

"Twilight, whether you like it or not, this is a business, ok. A business that I’m trying to add some ethics and morals to by the way.. I'm sorry, but unless I can get Storm to be a worker, I can't help you." He says as he leans back in his chair.

"Why Storm though? Why not any of the other Spartans? They're all just as buff an-"

"Storm has a history in the business. Not a very well known one, but he still has the most experience in it. I already have ten earth ponies and twelve unicorns, with only seven pegasi.... look. It's mandatory that all guest be on birth control. Squishy will try to keep him out of any problems that might happen otherwise. And... well, we have the option to make this an easier choice."

"... how?"

FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! Of course the memory would end RIGHT before they would discuss the potion! Of course it would! FUCK! .... alright, next one.

It's back to Twilight in the library. She makes it up to her room where she goes to her bed and pulls out a satchel from under her bed. She levitates out four potions. Two turquoise, two light purple. She walks out to the center of the room where she pace about, staring at the two vials intently.

"I'm so sorry Storm-"

And it ends, though I know how that was going to end up. The void is starting to grow, leaving little room for the memories to grow back. I need to get moving. There's one, it's small, but it'll due.

"I can't believe it... positive..."

And it's over. I really shouldn't be that surprised, with how small it was. There's a larger one, and it's the one with Cheesus.

"... and then he'll be back to his normal self. I've made and tested this potion myself, so I know it works." He says as he sets the five potions on the desk. Twilight levitates them up and looks each one over intently.

"Who did you test these on?"

"I can't answer that. Do we have a deal?" Twilight sets the vials down and thinks deeply for a moment.

"Squishy will watch over him?"

"As best he can."

"All of the patrons will be on birth control?"

"That and will be tested for any diseases two days before."

"And... he'll be back to normal when he makes it back?" Cheesus nods and pushes the vials forward.

"It'll be like it never happened. Do we have a deal?"

It ends. Again, I make the obvious assumption and move on to the next memory.

We're back in Twilight bedroom. She's stopped pacing around and is laying on the floor crying her eyes out. She glances back to three of the empty vials before looking to the turquoise one in her hoof. A small piece of paper has been tied around it. She takes it with her magic and reads it aloud.

"*sniff* turquoise will erase from up to a predesignated time. Purple will counteract the prior, providing a gap in memory. Do not drink in wrong order... what did I do? Where is Storm? What's going on..." she looks back to the potion in her hoof. "Memory erasers? These are suppose to be illegal due to their ingredients. Why do I have one? What kind of pony would grind up their horn for this... I... I think I did something bad. I... I don't want to remember anymore...." She drinks the potion and passes out.

I need a moment to think. Twilight, why are you so stupid. OK, she said it was made from another unicorns horn, so I just need to look for anything that doesn't align with her spiritual code and appears as another ponies. Not exactly easy, seeing how she's already ingested it, I just hope I can't do this before any real damage is done.

I push my magic throughout her body and try to search out the foreign parts. This is not easy. I've determined that she's eaten blueberry oatmeal for breakfast. There's something else... something.... almost. I search for an unknown amount of time before I finally isolate the potion and begin to remove it. Sadly for Twilight, there's only two way out... and her mouth is too far.

It takes awhile, but I finally get all of the potion out of her system. With my work done, I retract from her mind and return to reality. A foul smell hits me almost immediately, along with the sound of hooves running up the stairs. With speed even magic couldn't explain, I rush the doorway in time to stop anyone from entering the room.

"Miles! What in tarnation is going on? Is Twi alright? What-"

"You all need to go down stairs and wait, now!" I yell at them, getting confused looks. "Twilight is fine, she's just... indecent."

"Say no more. Girls, to the front room, now." Rarity says as she starts to shoo everyone away. I sigh in relief and thank Rarity before rushing back to Twilight. She's out cold. I pick her up magically and bring her up to the restroom to wash up. Once she's clean, I lay her in her bed and get to work cleaning up... the mess. Not something pleasant, but I stick through it till the jobs done. Once done I quickly check on her before heading down to the others, where I get mobbed with thousands of questions.

"Alright, just step back and let me explain." I tell them, getting some breathing room. "OK. Now, for some unknown reason, Twilight has taken several memory potions; as well as the recovery potions." I tell them, getting gasps in response. "I tried to remove the potion from her system, but sadly I can't stop any of the damage from happening. I don't know how much she's lost. Now, when she wakes up, I'm going to talk to her alone. We can't bombard her with questions, especially if she can't answer them."

"Why did she do this?" Fluttershy asks softly.

"She seemed fine this morning, why was she hiding this from us?" Spike asks.

"None of that matters." Rainbow Dash barks, getting odd looks from everyone. "Our friend is in trouble, and it's up to us to be there for her, no matter what. She'll tells us if she can remember, but until then it's nothing but love and support. You got that? SHOW ME YOUR LOVE FACE!" She yells at Fluttershy, who cowers; then tries to force a loving face up.

"... right, I'm going to go check on Twilight. The rest of you just... work on your love faces." I say before heading back up the stairs.

I make my way to her bedside and take a seat beside her... or was about to before I realized that would be stupid. Damn magic. With a heavy sigh I lower my head to listen to her breathing pattern.

"... Miles?" Twilight asks weakly. "Wh-what happened? Ah, my head. When did we get into Ponyville?"

"Take it easy, you had a... little mishap. How do you feel, other than the headache?" I ask her quietly.

"Um... normal, I guess. Wh... what happened in Ruby Canyon?"

"Ruby Canyon? Oh.... wow." I say as I back away from her. She's forgotten so much. "Um... Twilight. You... well. What's the date again?"

"Um... January fifth... or sixth. What day is-"

"It's Friday... January eleventh." She sits up in bed and tries to piece everything together. Her obvious frustration is starting take face as she mumbles to herself. "Twilight, don't strain yourself. I'm here to explain everything, but I need you to be calm first-"

"Where's Storm, I want to see Storm Cloud right now, bring him to me!" She demands hysterically, pulling the sheets close to herself.

"Storm isn't here-"

"Where is he!? Where did he go?! What's going on?" She yells, looking around frantically.

"OK, OK, calm down Twilight. I'm going to go get Spike, just... just stay in bed and try to relax. Do you think you can do that?" She looks back to me and huffs a bit before slowly nodding. I head down the stairs where everyone looks to me, waiting for answers. "Spike, come here real quick." I call to him as I pace about.

"We heard her yell, is she going to be alright?" he asks me with a tremble.

"She's just confused. She's missing a few days but I think she'll be fine over all. I need you to go up there and comfort her. Try to answer as many questions as possible and don't pry for information. Just let her do most of the talking, alright?" He nods to me and heads upstairs.

"What are we going to do about Galena?" Dash asks as she walks up beside me. "We can't really go without her."

"I know. Luckily she remembers enough to be able to help. We'll give her a day to rest and recover before heading out, if she's still willing to go."

"She'll go, trust me on that." I nod to her and leave the library, letting the others know about the situation first. They're just as worried as I am and vow to stay until she's better. I need to leave though. I can smell the burning wood from under my feet.

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

Once Luna finally goes to bed I take my leave for some other business. I need to speak with Regina about our plans for future support, the mayors of Manehattan and Coalton are both visiting and I still need to check on our emissaries to the Bears Soviet-

"Princess?" I sigh as I turn around to face Diamond Heart.

"Yes, Diamond, is there anything I can do for you?" I ask as calmly as possible.

"I don't know," he says matter of factly. "Is there anything you can do for me?"

"If there isn't anything you need then I-"

"Need?" He asks, smiling lightly.

"*sigh* Can we just stop beating around the bush, please?" I ask as I lower my head.

"Very well, follow me please." He says before slowly walking down the hall. I contemplate leaving him to do a check up, but decide against it. Despite being completely able to do all of the work I need to do well before he can walk anywhere. "And don't you dare think about ditching me."

"I wasn't-"

"You may beat me in age, but you're young at heart and I know that look. I can't believe you'd even consider leaving a poor old stallion to wander these halls by himself." He pouts, adding a bit of a dramatic edge to his words.

"Are you suggesting that I would pass up a chance to hear your wisdom to go to some boring business meeting? And hear I thought you knew me so well." I joke, stepping ahead of him a bit.

"You think I know you well? Hm, that's odd for you to say." He muses as he stops walking. I turn to look back to him, but rear back a bit when we suddenly flash away. I blink a few times before realizing we’ve teleported to Discords statue. "How well do you know Discord?"

"Well enough." I say with a bit of malice.

"Come now, try to answer honestly. How well do you know Discord?" He asks as points to the statue. I look up to him and try to think how much I actually know.

"He can't take things seriously. He only wishes to make things into jokes, never to aid anypony. His addiction to chaos makes him untrustworthy and... and... he..."

"So, you can only tell me things based on his actions. You know nothing of intent. You know nothing of his morals. And you know nothing of his methods."

"... why are you asking me this?" I ask him, getting a low chuckle in response.

"I was talking to Blueblood about Luna's little out break earlier, and the human named Miles came up. Oddly enough, we came to the same conclusion about him as you did Discord. Blueblood made the suggestion that Miles was Discord, but I laughed it off. That is, until I asked you about him. Two creatures, with similar beginnings, end up in Equestria and change the fates of all of us. Just a little more than coincidental, if you ask me."

"Are you suggesting that... Miles.... is Discord?" I ask slowly as I face him.

"Who created the Elements? Who is specialized in war? How much chaos has been brought through the land because of him? Things seem to revolve around him, and I don't like it. I normally wouldn't wish this, but the sooner he's gone, the better."

"No.... Miles.... no. They stand for completely different things. Not to mention Discord is in stone here. How could you possibly make that assumption?"

"I don't believe he is Discord, I believe they somehow made a deal of some kind. How many times have you set spells that Discord could worm around? His magic is fundamentally different than ours. The same could be said about Miles. We know that their beginnings start within those cities that Miles is so intent on traveling to. This could all be blind accusation, but with the evidence we have, this is the conclusion I have come to. I have also taken the liberty to not share this with anypony besides you. I hope you will take what I've said seriously. This could be monumental." He warns me before turning to leave.

"One last thing." I call out to him, getting him to pause. "Do you really think the one who created harmony, could make chaos?"

"We've already seen Discord in harmony. Ask Fluttershy, it doesn't last long."

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

I can't help but fidget around as I wait at the train station. I had a rather long and stressful night. I couldn't sleep due to a magical build up, so I just started making weapons. I must have made twenty custom weapons with some stupidly insane enchantments. It helped take the edge off, but I can still feel a light pressure pushing in on my chest and abdomen. Luckily my lines only grew a few centimeters. That's good... right?

In addition to those weapons, I also remade Fluttershy's sniper rifle, put a new damper spell, and attached the gem from the crystal rifle onto it. It was tedious and annoying, but I got it done. The weapon won't fire now. I don't know what that means, but I'm just going to assume that it's fine. Mechanically it's working, but something in the gem is stopping it. The worst part about it though was having to drag it here. Otherwise I would have chanced burning off the enchants.

"Oh, you fixed my rifle, thank you." Fluttershy says as she lands behind me, wearing her armor in addition to her saddle bags.

"Yeah, it's basically good as new. Though I can't get it to fire for some reason. I assume it's the gem doing that. We'll test it when we get out of the populated area." I tell her as she takes it and straps it to her back.

"Ok, that sounds like a good plan. And thank you for extending the trigger a bit more. Not that the way you did it before was bad, it's just going to be easier this time." she tells me as she paws at the ground. Paws at the ground... I think that's the terminology. Hm.... sounds right. "Good morning Applejack."

"Mornin y'all." she greets as she walks up to join us. Like Fluttershy, she's wearing her armor and bags. "Golly, what time is the train s'pose ta get here?" she asks sleepily.

"About an hour, why do you sound so tired?" I ask.

"Ah was up late bubkin apples. Don't fret none, we're on quota. Ah just wanted ta get ahead a bit before leavin."

"You could have asked for help." I tell her, mainly because bucking apples sounded so much better than crafting all night long. All. Night. Long.

"You really shouldn't stress yourself out like that AJ. We could have helped." Fluttershy adds.

"Ah know, but... it was more ta let some steam off. The whole Twilight potion thing had me in a fit. Don't worry though. I'm good now." she tells us.

"Good about what?" Rainbow Dash asks as she suddenly lands beside her.

"Dash... where is your armor?" I ask flatly. She looks back to herself before smiling and taking off through the air. We all laugh a bit as Rarity and Twilight join us.

"Where is Rainbow going?" Twilight asks.

"She forgot her armor. Are-"

"I've already had this talk with Rarity. Yes. I am still going. I know yesterday was... traumatic. But I know what to expect, I know I am still a vital part of the group, and I know I wouldn't forgive myself for letting my dearest friends go without me. So please don't bombard me with concern and-"

"I was just going to ask if you were ready." I tell her, making her blush a bit.

"Oh... yes. Aren't you-"

"Yes. But I figured that if you showed up there would be no convincing you to stay. That, and given my track record with saying no.... yeah, as long as you could make it here you were in."

"In what?" Rainbow Dash asks as she lands between Rarity and Twilight, clad in her armor. "Glad you could make it Twi."

"Dash, where are your weapons?" Rarity asks.Rainbow growls in frustration and takes off again. We all laugh again as we watch the rainbow streak through the air towards her home.

"What a dork." Pinkie laughs from beside me, scaring the shit out of me.

"Pinkie! When did you get here?"

"I've been here all night," she says proudly.

"Why?"

"Why not?" she shrugs. We all look to each other before dropping it. Pinkie being Pinkie, some things will never change.

THUD

"OK! I've got my armor, my weapons, my supplies, Scootaloo is at school and will be staying at the Apples. I did the laundry, washed the dishes, gave Scoots her allowance, spent the entire night cleaning- EVERYTHING IS DONE!"

"Did you lock the front door?" I ask. She thinks about it for a second before falling over."I take that as a no-"

"I'm just going to say that it is and hope nothing bad will happen. It's Ponyville, not Hoofington." she grumble from the ground.

WHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISLE

We all turn to see the train approaching the station. When it finally comes to a complete stop the ticket salesperson comes out and hands the conductor our tickets.

"Hmmm.... ALL ABOARD FOR COALTON!" he bellows as we head to our cart, the second to last one. Twilight and I spend a few minutes enchanting it to be able resist high temperatures before I board the train.

The ride west was peaceful enough. It wasn't very long, and we all slept through most of it. We made it to our destination in no time at all really.

Coalton reminds me a lot of Ponyville, just larger. Same building schemes, just larger on average. The train brought us to the center of town, so we had to walk through a good chuck of the city before making it to the outskirts. Many of the ponies avoided us, though I can't really blame them. Six armed ponies and a human that is constantly on fire are strolling through town. Not necessarily normal. Normal.... I miss those days.

"SPARTAN!" some guy yells. Rainbow and I both turn around to see a group or mercs walking towards us. I can't help but groan as our two groups meet in the middle of the street.

"So, you're the new set of mercs I take it." I say to some light green earth mare with rose red curled hair. The rest pause behind her and line up as she steps forward to address me.

"I am. It seems our previous group leader decided to go AWOL, so you'll have to do without one for now. May I introduce the next group of mercs that will traveling with you. You're explosives expert, Cooked Frag," she's a dark blue earth mare with black hair that resembles AJ's style. Her cutie mark is a bundle of TNT with a timer in front of it, surrounded by what appears to be an outline of a cloak.

"This unicorn is Arc Light, your mage." she says as a light tan, brown mane and tail, stallion steps forward. His mark is a wand and a wrench crossing each other. Both of his left limbs are missing and are replaced with mechanical replacements.

"Next is-"

"I am Smartian Ironhorn." The pompous Minotaur says as he steps forward and bows slightly. He's fairly tall, taller than any other Minotaur I've seen, with night blue fur and black horns. He holds a massive battle ax in both his hands and wear elegant light chain mail. "It will be an honor to serve with me."

"... wait, what?"

"Anyway," the light green mare cuts in. "Next is Mintelle, your mage." A grey- white mare walks up and dips her head a bit. She has long emerald green hair and a mark of a blue bolt off lightning.

"You can call me Minty, all of my friends do. Actually, everypony does. That's weird, well... not really. You should try to be friends with as many ponies as possible. I mean, who doesn't like friends-"

"RIGHT!" Pinkie yells as she leaps forward. The two of them start to talk A LOT. I don't think they're even listening to each other. They're just... talking.

"Right. So, next we have Aiming Node, your armed support." A brown-orange earth stallion and nods to me. His azure mane is spiked up, well, what's left of it at least. It ends right at his neck. His cutie mark is of six horizontal lines that form a pyramid, longest on bottom with small gaps between them.

"Lastly we have Hasel, your medic." The last earth stallion walks up and nods to me. He has a blue coat and black hair that has a strip of darker blue going through it. His mark is of a medical cross. "Well, now that introductions are over with, there's the matter of payment."

"I'll pay when this is completely done. Don't worry, I'm sure it's going to be over with soon, so just be a little patient." I tell her, getting a small frown in response.

"Of course. Well, I should let you all get going then. Much to do. Have a safe journey." she says before leaving. I sigh before looking back to the mercs before me. Three earth ponies, two unicorns, and a Minotaur. I guess they ran out of pegasi.

"Alright, I give this warning to every group, and they usually say the same thing in response. You shouldn't come. You will die. If you value your lives turn around and leave." The Minotaur laughs as the others look to each other.

"Don't worry little hairless ape. We have the training to keep you and your little filly friends safe." Smartian mocks. I just roll my eyes and walk away. If they don't want to listen then let them die. I've don't care if an asshole dies.

We go one mile out of the town and begin our descent down. Everyone outside of Pinkie and Mintelle kept quiet, though the two of them talked enough for everyone. I may have pushed myself a bit more than necessary, but if it helped end their conversation then it would be worth it. We crash into the dome of Galena, roughly near the edge. I quickly begin to clear a path to the side and make my way to the bulkhead.

"This is it. Fluttershy, I want you and Rarity to take up a high position. Somewhere where you can follow us and provide cover when needed-"

"Got it!" The two of them answer.

"Hasel, go with them in case they need medical assistance. Dash, you're with me in the front, but keep behind me in case I need to throw up a shield-"

"Roger that."

"Twilight, stick towards the rear of the group and keep in mind you can throw shields and heal. Applejack, I want you to stick with her and watch her back in case things get hairy-"

"Ya can count on me!"

"What about me? What do I do?" Pinkie asks.

"Get ready to tell us when your tail is twitching."

"Oh... yeah, I should be voicing that more often than usual huh. Okey dokey lokey."

"As for the rest of you, find someone and provide cover when needed-"

"What makes you believe we're in such danger? You haven't even opened the door yet." Aiming Node asks. I look back to him for a second before walking towards the bulkhead and lightly tapping it.

THUD

The entire thing comes crashing down, blown off its hinges long ago. We walk through the dust cloud and survey the city for a moment. Like many of the cities before most of the buildings have been either damaged or destroyed. An eerie silence falls over us as we begin our trek into the dead city. Bullet holes, scorch marks, magically altered walls litter the road; clear indicators of the heavy fighting that occurred. I look to the P.C.H. and note the heavy howitzers pointing out of the tall building. Ten on each side.

They must have made them back when Topaz was attacked. Artillery underground is usually a last ditched effort. And they easily made forty of them. There are a few spots where something destroyed part of the building, leaving a missing gap. But there probably still at least thirty left.

"We're going to go take up that tall building to the left. Stay safe." Fluttershy tells us before her, Rarity and Hasel turn down a street towards a large apartment building.

"Hold up.... what the fuck is that?" I ask as I head towards a section of destroyed buildings. In the middle of the ruble lays a massive machine. The head of it lays just in view for us to see. It's a large ball that has two hundred twenty millimeter cannons on the side of it, with fifty caliber machine guns mounted above and below each of them; making four in total. The center is covered in red lenses, several of which have been blown out. It's mostly black with red highlights.

The body of the machine is ginormous. Three legs are set on its side, and I'm assuming it has three more underneath. It's body is diamond shaped and goes up nearly two stories. Its back is made of smaller diamond sections, one of which is filled with an Aquila.

"What is it?" Twilight asks as she gawks at the large machine.

"I'm not sure. But whatever it was, it had an insane amount of firepower, Nine Aquilas, and thirty six legion bots. This thing was a mobile army. Let's move on and hope that there aren't anymore in working condition."

Our group splits. Fluttershy's going to the apartment and the rest heading to the P.C.H. I don't like the idea of splitting up, but If it keeps Fluttershy out of the main fight I guess it can't be too bad.

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

We make it to the large building in about an hours trot. It didn't seem so big before, but now....

"Maybe we shouldn't go inside-"

"Do you really think you can carry us all the way upstairs darling?" Rarity asks as she steps toward the door.

"Um... well.... no." Hasel steps in front of me and offers a reassuring smile before following Rarity into the building. With one final large gulp I keep my eyes low as I follow them inside. I'm sure it'll be less scary when we get inside.

The first room looks like a lobby to a hotel. A long counter takes up the left while mico platforms take up the right. At the very end of the room is a door with a stair symbol on it. Rarity and I make our way through the dusty room and try each of the platforms, to no avail. Somepony must have broken them during the fighting.

With no other way, we begin climbing the stairs. It wasn't really a problem at first, but after ten floors the path became blocked by collapsed stone. We head back to the previous floor and make our way through there, looking for any other collapses that could get us higher in the building.

As we go from room to room, we quickly discover what this building was for. It was an apartment. Ponies- er- humans, used to live here. Many of the rooms have evidence of fighting. Bullet holes, blown out walls... bones. Though they're not a abundant as when we were in Topaz, they're still enough here to make my stomach turn. After about an hour of looking Rarity lets out an annoyed grunt and begins to shoot out a ceiling.

"There, now we can move on. Can you keep still Hasel." Before he could respond Rarity's magic took a hold of him and lifted him up to the next floor.

"I can fly!" I mutter when she looks over to me. I try to lift off, but her magic grabs me and sets me on the next floor. Soon after I'm dropped Rarity levitates up and lands perfectly to my right.

"There, there, no need to thank me. Now lets get a move on. We have to get into position to cover the others." Hasel and I share a look before we follow after her. The next room... wasn't really a room. A large portion of the building has been blown out, leaving a perfect view of the city.

"I think this will be good, unless you think we should go higher." I tell the others.

"No, I like it. What do you think?" Rarity asks Hasel. He glances around a bit before shrugging. "I'll take that as a yes then. Go ahead and try to find the others, we'll keep watch." I nod to her and set up at the edge of the building. I pull out some extra magazines and lay them beside me before attaching the eye lens onto me. I move some to the rubble out of the way before laying down and aiming out at the city.

"Hmm.... there they are. I can see Rainbow flying around. They're about a third of the way there." I tell the others.

"That's good. At least they're making good time."

I zoom out to survey the rest of the city. There's nothing really interesting out there. It's a miracle that those lights still work. I started scanning back to the group when something caught my attention. Something big. It's the machine from before, only this one doesn't seem damaged at all. I can't help but hold my breath as I watch it climb over the buildings towards the others. Should I open fire? It hasn't done anything threatening yet.

I watch as the machine stops a bit before the group and stares them down. Black vehicles pop off its back and begin to fly around them, creating a tight perimeter.

"I think they might be in trouble." I tell the others as I wait for one of them to make a move.

"What's that darling?"

"I said-"

BOOM

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

After Fluttershy and the others we make our way further down the street. We end up finding a bus that's still operational... well. Operational enough to be driven at ten kilometers an hour. Not the fastest mode of transportation, but it beats walking. There are actually a surprising number of vehicles on the streets. I'd think the Unfamiliar would have taken everything worth taking. Then again, with seven cities sacked, they probably have more then they can carry.

"Hey Miles," Rainbow Dash says as she walks up to me. "Can you let me out so I can give my wings a stretch. I don't like being cramped up in these metal carriages."

"Well.... alright. But keep close. I don't want anything happening with you long gone. You're the only Spartan I have here." I tell her as I press the button to open the door. She gives me a quick nod before taking off through the air.

"Do you think it's wise to let go on her own like that? What if something happens to her?" Twilight asks. Yeah, Twilight asked that... just saying.

"She can handle herself, I trained her to do so. She'll be fine-"

"Captain! We've got movement up ahead on the right!" Rainbow yells from outside. I bring the bus to a screeching halt. I run out and immediately throw a shield around all of us as the massive machine crawls over the buildings ahead of us. Aquilas pop off of its back and begin to swarm around us.

"We need to drop down to the next floor where we'll have a better cover. Applejack, shoot a hole in the-"

KRA-BOOM

Before I could finish the machine opened fire. My shield held, but I felt my lines force their way past my shoulders. As if one wasn't bad enough, all of the other airship began to open fire as well. The world around us becomes obscured by all of the explosions from the combined assault. I drop to my knees as I fight to keep the shield up, my lines rapidly growing over my body.

"ANY TIME NOW!" I yell, getting AJ to blast a hole in the ground. I wait for everyone to drop down before falling after them.

"Miles! Move away and I'll make a landing pad for everypony else!" Twilight yells as we drop through the air. I nod to her and kick the air away, magically sending me away from them. Twilight conjures a large inflatable cushion for all them to land into while I use my magic to crash into the ground gracefully.

"Get into the buildings! Get moving, GO!" I yell to them as I rush to the nearest door and kick it open. I rush in and pull out each of my blades, waiting to see what comes after me. Smartian, Mintelle, and Applejack. "Where are the others?" Before anyone could answer, the sound of concrete crashing down filled the room.

"We should head to higher ground!" Mintelle yells. I look back to a stairwell and point it out.

"There! Head up, I'll cover the rear!" I yell as we all begin to run towards it.

CRASH

Something big comes crashing down out front, making the ground shake violently. I look out the window and see several legion bots dropping outside; some heading our way, others heading to the other side of the street.

"HERE THEY COME!" I yell as they run, side by side, through the windows. They land in all of the broken glass and charge straight for us, eight total

BANG-BOOM

Applejack fires her shotgun and groups three of them together. The explosion tore their limbs apart and sent metal work everywhere. A bolt of lightning from Mintelle struck another one as Smartian ran forward and brought his great ax down on another, burying it on its shoulder.

I run forward and punch forward with my trench knife, sending the bot flying back and slamming against the wall. The one to my right moves to strike at me, so I dodge to the right. I raise my weapons and circle to the right as the bot does the same to me. I wait and push some more energy into my sword before swinging forward. The bot easily catches my blade, but turns to ice from the spell.

I turn and help engage the last two bots. Smartian seems to be taking the both of them on single handedly, swing his ax madly as they retreat from him. Mintelle shoots another bolt of lightning that makes one stagger to the ground. Smartian takes this chance to bring down his ax onto the bot, who barely raises its shield in time to block the attack.

"SMARTIAN!" Mintelle yells as an Aquila drops by the windows.

VVVRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Its chain gun opens fire and tears through him with ease. I raise a personal shield and run for the stair well, making it in just after Mintelle and Applejack.We rush up the stairs as the doorway erupts in archaic fire. Red bolts smash through the concrete and blow holes through the stairs as we climb floor after floor. After about three stories it stops firing and everything finally goes quiet.

"Looks like they stopped chasing us." Applejack says as we take a moment to catch our breath.

"Yeah, lets keep moving. We don't want them to catch up with us. We'll meet up with the others at the P.C.H." I tell them as I begin the next flight of stairs. I look back to see Mintelle sitting there, dazed. "Or... we can take five, you ok?"

"... I guess. Nopony really liked him, but... he was still a member of our group." She says with a shrug. "Let's just keep going."

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

We hit the large cushion and bounce a bit before falling off.

"Get into the buildings! Get moving, GO!" Miles yells from the other side. Without really thinking I turn and run to the closest building. I turn around and watch as almost everypony runs in after me.

"Where are Applejack, Miles and the others?" I ask as I shut the door behind Pinkie.

"They must have gone on the other side of the street. I'll-"

CRASH

A bunch of rubble had been falling, but was quickly followed by the massive machine. I put a shield with my rifle and turn to the others.

"Miles can take care of the others. We need to focus on getting to the P.C.H. Rainbow, take the lead. Bring us back up top and keep an eye out for anymore of the Aquilas. I'll cover the rear. Lets get moving." I tell them as legion bots begin to advance towards us.

"You heard her, MOVE IT!" Rainbow yells as she runs through the mess of desks towards the back of the building. I drop the shield and open fire as everypony begins to run away. The bots just line up and hide behind their large shields as they march towards us. My weak energy bolts do very little against their thick shields, which I think are enchanted to deflect energy.

"I could use a little help here!" I yells to the others as I back away from the advancing bots. Cooked Frag runs to my side and starts tossing several Molotov cocktails at them. The fire spreads quickly over them, but does nothing to hinder them.

"They're not living beings! FIRE MAKES THEM MORE DEADLY!" I yell at Cooked Frag. Suddenly all of the bots charge forward and begin their attack. I jump back as one stabs at me. I feel the tip of the blade press against my armor. I push it back with my magic along with another attacking bot. I bring my rifle back around and open fire on it, hitting it along the torso. it shakes a bit before bring its shield back over.

"AAAHH!" I look over to see Cooked Frag take three blades into his chest. A moment later they rip them out and smash their shields in. I wince a bit from the sound of crushing bones before a sharp pain takes over my left leg. I look over to see the blackened steel sticking out through the back. I glance up as a shield makes its way towards my face.

CRASH

I yell out in pain as something yanks the blade out of my leg. I drop everything and fall to the ground as I grab my leg. I can't help but writhe around in pain as blood begins to pour over my hoof. I look up to see a bot stand over me and raise its blade-

BOOM

Something comes flying from outside and blows the head off of the bot. It stands there for a second before slowly falling back.

BOOM

Another shot downs another one of the bots, giving Rainbow the chance to open fire on the rest. She sets one of the bots falling back as her rounds tear through it's shield. What remains of the bots begin to fall back, forming back together as they walk back out the building. I take this chance to grab my rifle with my magic and pull out a blue potion with my good hoof. As I shoot my wound with the medi-gun, I yank the cork out and down the potion.

"Twilight! Are you alright?" Pinkie yells as she runs over to check on me.

"Ah! Yeah, I'll be fine in a bit. I just need to let this set-nnhhg. Why are they retreating?" I ask as Pinkie helps me to my hooves.

"Don't know, don't care. We need to get moving now! Pinkie, help Twilight move. Mintelle, Aiming Node, you're with me. We'll clear a path to somewhere safer. Everypony else, keep up. LETS GO!" Rainbow yells before charging towards a stairwell. Pinkie and I begin to make our way over when a loud noise comes over the room. We both look back to see three of the Aquilas hovering just outside the windows.

"GET DO-"

VVRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

We drop down as three red beams tear apart the room.Shrapnel from broken tables and chunks of debris spray over the room as the torrent of red bolts ripe the room apart. We huddle close to the ground as I set a shield over us. Hopefully it will protect somepony behind us-

KRA-BOOM

One of the Aquilas suddenly explodes, sending the other two reeling back. They spin around and take off through the air. We wait for a few seconds before finally realizing that they're not coming back.

"Lets get going while we have the chance!" Pinkie yells. We all jump up and run for the stairs. I turn back to do a head count.... we're missing two. I know about Cooked Frag... where's Arc Light?

"Lets go Twilight!" Rainbow yells as she pulls me into the stairwell.

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

I aim down at the black airships as the send explosion after explosion onto the massive shield. It only lasts for a few moments though. Soon the firing stops and they all disappear beneath the thick smoke. I look back to the others, who mirror my worried expression, before getting up from my position.

"I can't get a good view from up here. I'm going to fly down to lend a hoof. Why don't you two head towards the P.C.H.-" Before I could finish Hasel shook his head. "No? Well I don't think walking will be very-"

He reaches into his bag and pulls out a vial. It contains a light blue liquid that has a string of pink in it. He downs the entire thing and gags a bit before a pair of thin butterfly wings appear on his back.

"... how did you make a spell into a potion?" Rarity asks in astonishment. He merely shrugs before pulling out another one and giving it to Rarity. "Thank you." she says before drinking it... and nearly throws it up. A moment later, beautiful butterfly wings appear on her back, giving her the ability to fly.

"Great, lets get moving. follow me." I tell them before jumping off the side...

...

...

...

...

THIS IS TERRIFYING WHY AM I SO STUPID!!

I immediately tuck in my legs and wings and close my eyes as the wind rushes through my main. Why couldn't I have just gently floated down like a smart pony!? Why did I have to try to be cool like Rainbow Dash? Now I'm going to fall to my death and all of my friends...

...

...

NO! I will not let my friends down! I open my eyes and find myself about half way towards the ground. Taking a few deep breaths first, I open my wings to slow down. With the added weight of my rifle and ammo, the strain is immense, but I power through it until I gain control of my descent.

Three fourths the way down now. At this rate I'll still hit the ground pretty hard... unless I take out the ground. I whip my rifle back out and aim straight down.

BANG BANG BANG

A large hole appears in the ground just in time for me to pass through, though I did have to tuck in my wings. Luckily for us, the building below is fairly close to the ceiling... ground? With a painful effort, I slow my descent enough to not break anything from my fall. Rarity and Hasel land behind me and hiccup, making their wings pop away. Gunfire stops me from questioning this as I turn to see the flying machines from before circling in the distance.

I lay down and squint my eye, changing my vision to that of the scopes. I can see the others fighting off some advancing bots, with little success. Their shields are too strong for them to pierce through, luckily I set in my explosive ammo. As I line up my shot, their lines suddenly break as they rush forward and attack. The others fall out of view, but I see one ready to strike something down, so I fire-

BANG

- and take of its head. I don't like the idea of hurting something like this, but I will in order to protect my friends.

BANG

With the two lead bots down the rest begin to back out of the building. I keep my rifle aimed at them until the black flying machines from before begin to pick them up. I was about to get ready to move when they suddenly opened fire on everypony inside. I watch through my scope as the bolts tear through metal and stone with total ease. Poor Arc Light wasn't able to find cover in time, and was blasted away by the powerful weapons.

My lens begins to box off areas where jets of fire come out of the machines. I move my cross hairs over one of the larger ones and-

BANG

BOOM

The entire vessel explodes, sending a large black column of dark smoke into the air. I open my other eye and watch as all of the other aircraft scatter from the explosion. My smile soon falls though when they all turn and head straight for us.

"Oh.... my..." I mutter as they all fire several puffs of smoke towards us. Hasel jumps forward and throws down a large green potion. From the broken glass erupts a massive, thick, green plant. It's trunk is thick and its thick, ovate leaves point up and create a wall.

KRA-BO-BO-BO-BO-BO-BOOM

Explosions burn the plant apart as a few more of the explosives shriek through the air and explode behind us. We all drop to the ground and cover our ears as a large fire begins to build around us.

THUD THUD THUD THUD

I open my eyes in time to see one of the black bots swing its sword at me. I roll over completely and bring my rifle up to it-

BANG

I fire point blank at its shield. Whether it killed or not is unknown to me, as I watch it fall to the ground. I see another one fall as Rarity opens fire with her weapons as well… where’s Hasel?

I look over to the left and see him trying to fight two of them hoof to hoof. Loud pings ring out as flesh and bone meet metal. They keep their shields up and begin to force him to closer to the edge. I rack the next round and fire at the closest one, causing its chest to explode. The remaining bot stabs him in the chest and pushes Hasel off the edge with its shield.

Without a second thought, I leap off the building after him.

I push myself as fast as I can as I inch closer to him. He sees me and lays flat, trying to slow his descent enough to give me an edge. We reach out to each other as we grow we slowly come closer and closer together. Just.... another... inch....

I see his eyes go wide for a second before something metallic wraps around my midsection. We stare at one another before he simply pulls his leg back to himself, and closes his eyes; a soft smile coming over his face.

FWUUUSH

I double over as the flying machine that has grabbed me flies off through the air. I try to wiggle out of its grasp, but the metal won’t budge. I try to move to shoot the thing, but we're moving too fast for me to do-

"YYAAAAAAHHH!" I scream out as the machine suddenly flings me forward. I quickly bring my rifle out and try to take a shot at it-

CLICK

My heart drops as i face the machine. Its large gun begins to glow as it readies to shoot me. Is this really it? Is this where it all ends? How-

KA-BOOM

I blink a few times before catching myself. I look to the right just in time to see Miles hopping from rooftop to rooftop..... with two of the massive machines chasing after him. They're leap high in the air and try to fire their large guns at him, but he moves too fast for them. He gives me a quick motion to the right before jumping off. I look off to in the distance before seeing several flying machines chasing a teleporting Rarity.

"Hold on Rare, I've got you." I mutter as I begin to reload.

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

After Fluttershy jumps off the ledge all of the remaining bots begin to draw closer to me. I'm out numbered and need to reload.

FLASH

I can only make it a few buildings away, and the drain is still fairly strong, but I needed to do it. I quickly pull my SMG over and pop the steaming, spent crystal out. I reach into my bag and-

THUD THUD

FLASH

I end up in some random dusty, disheveled apartment. I lean against the cold wall and try to catch my breath, panting deeply as I close my eyes to rest. I can feel a cool layer of disgusting sweat begin to form over what was my perfect white coat as I weakly begin to load the next crystal in-

VVVRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMM

One of the flying machines begins to tear apart the apartment. Though I'm tired, I teleport out again in order to escape. When I appear in the next area, I nearly fall over from exhaustion. I stumble a bit as my vision blurs and my head spins. I need to keep moving... I need.... to...

THUD

I fall to the ground and look up to the bot as it walks over to me, readying its sword to finish me off. I close my eyes and begin to-

BANG

I can't help but smile when I hear the bot fall to the ground. Another shot sounds off, followed by another bot falling.

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

Applejack, Mintelle and I make it up five floors before we run into a cave in. I was going to make an opening magically, when Applejack had an idea.

"Lemme head over ta see if ah can get a look at the others. Ah just wanna make sure they're safe."

"Well... you can go. If I go, they'll see my energy signature.... or at least it'll be easier to." She thinks about it for a second before turning down the stairs.

"If I take more than five minutes come lookin fer me." She tells us before running down. I take a seat on the stairs and wait patiently for her return. Mintelle sits beside me as well. She's grown uncomfortably quiet and distant. Understandable, she did see one of her fri- co-workers torn apart by a chain gun.

"Are you going to be OK?" I ask her, breaking her concentration.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess. I'm just worried about my friends. I'm starting to think that coming down here was a bad idea." she admits as she rubs her foreleg.

"Well, at-"

BANG BANG BANG

BOOM

We both jump up to our feet when Applejack begins firing. I throw my arms wide and make an opening in the stairs to the floor below. We jump down into the destroyed office to find Applejack running from more legion bots. She's already destroyed five of them and has three chasing after her. The moment they spot me they back off till they leap out the window.

"... OK. That was easy." I say wait for something to happen. "Lets stick together from now on, alright?"

"Sounds good ta me. Ah saw the others in the building across the way. Well... until they teleported away that is. It looked like they were in a fight of some kind."

"Then lets get going before that fight finds us." Mintelle complains, nervously edging her way towards the stairs. I was about to follow when the sound of jets caught my attention. Four Aquilas took place over by the window, their chain guns revving up to fire. I throw my arms up and put a set a shield as they all simultaneously begin to fire.

"HEAD TO THE STAIRS!" I yell as I fight to maintain the shield.

"WE CAN'T! WE'RE TRAPPED!" Applejack begins to yell as she fires a couple of times. I glance back to see the stairs well filled with legion bots. Clever trap. They waited for us to check on the others before drawing us in. But they didn't calculate for one thing.

"I'M GOING OUT!"

"WHAT!?" Before they could do anything, I push my shield forward and begin to run towards the window. When I make it to the broken windows I drop the shield and draw my sword as I leap between the two center ones. Pushing the final enchantment on my sword, I swing at the right one, sending a red slash at it that turned it to fire.

Before the others could react I send myself flying down. I can hear Applejack yell something, but ignore it as-

BOOM

-something blows a hole in the ground before I land so I keep falling to the next level.... I hate smart enemies. I push the air magically as I try to force myself back up to the same level as the others, having to make three leaps before I grab the ledge. I only get a few seconds to pick myself up before the airships begin to fire on me. Luckily all three of them target me, hopefully giving Aj and Mintelle some breathing room.

I magically run down an alley as I hold a shield over my head, blocking the incoming fire. When they give chase I leap up to the rooftops and jump from one to the next. They fire a few missiles at me, but I'd just shield them off before running to the next roof. I spin around and shoot a beam of soul fire at one of the Aquilas, causing it to explode. It goes downn in a ball of fire and crashes into some building.

CRASH

CRASH

".......... AH COME ON!" I yell as I face, not one, but two of the massive machines from before. The rest of the Aquilas fly back to the original and dock back with it. An intense stare down builds between the three of us. I don't know what they're waiting for but-

PATPATPATPATPATPAT

As they begin to fire I throw my arms up and lift the roof up to block the attack. Sliding back with the roof, I prep myself to try to launch to the main level.

BOOM

The concrete behind me explodes, sending me falling over the edge. I try to catch myself by making a few columns from the building, but I break through four of them before finally hitting the ground. I push myself up and run, magically, down the alley as quickly as possible. When I reach a dead end I leap into the air. Ahead of me is an Aquila about to kill Fluttershy.

"RRRRRRAAAAAHHHH!" I yell out as I thrust an arm forward, sending a beam of soul fire right into the exhaust port of the ship. It erupts into a ball of fire that leaves Fluttershy in a daze. I glance back and do a double take when I see the two machines chasing after me, leaping through the buildings with tremendous speed.

When I land I only get a second to think before they open fire on me with their canons. It soon becomes a game of chase and avoid cannon fire as we race about the city. I try a couple of times to fight back, but I think they've learned my movements. Every time I turn to use magic, they open fire with their guns. Whenever I land, they fire their cannons. After an hour of running I finally get a chance-

BOOM

...

...

...

...

...

Something opened fire on the machine and blew off its head. I look over to the P.C.H to see the others working the howitzers.

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

Lucky for us, Twilight was able to teleport all us to the P.C.H. after I brought Applejack and Mintelle over. The spell knocked her out, but we can take it from here. We rush inside to find Fluttershy and Rarity in the center of the mico station. Rarity is passed out, and Fluttershy has her right forelegs wrapped up in a bloody bandage. Eight legion bots lay around them, most of their heads have been blown off.

"Fluttershy! Rarity! Are you two alright?" Pinkie yells as she digs through Twilights bags and brings them both a healing potion.

"Oh, thank you. We're fine... well, fine-ish." Fluttershy says meekly before down the potion. "Is Miles still being chased by the two large machines?"

"What? We thought he was with you.... two? There's two of them." I ask, getting a slow nod from her. "Damn. OK, I'm going to go help him-"

"How exactly are you going to help him?" Mintelle asks bluntly. "Those things are tough enough to keep your overpowered captain at bay. We should just-"

"What about the big gun things above us?" Pinkie asks.

"The... what?"

"You know, those things pointing out the side of the building. The ones that look like the ones on the machine, bug things." We all stare at Pinkie for a moment before I finally realize what she's talking about.

"Pinkie, you're a genius."

"No I'm not, I'm a baker." I ignore her and fly around the room, looking for any insignia's that could send us to the large guns. None of these look right! Well... this one has a gun and lightning bolt. That might be it.

I step on the platform and teleport to a room filled with four of the massive machines. The black flying bots are zooming around them, making repairs and loading weapons and ammo. They all pause and look over to me.

...

...

...

"Uh.... I think I've got the wrong room.... so..... bye!" I jump back onto the platform and teleport away as they all open fire. "OK! It's not this one."

"It's this one!" Pinkie cheers as she points to a platform with a etching of a bullet behind it. I walk over to her and stare at the platform.

"How are you-"

"I went through it and there were all these big guns and big bullet things and computers and I think I saw some kind of carriage but it didn't have-"

"OK! I'll just take your word then. Um... Mintelle, you stay here with Fluttershy and guard Twilight and Rarity. Applejack, Pinkie and I will head up and see what we can do. Lets go." I tell them. Before anypony could answer I take the platform.

I step into the new room and look for any potential danger. This room reminds me of an air dock, only being in a building. The wall behind me is covered in munitions that are cased off. The wall before me is open, leaving room for the large grey gun to point out. The gun itself is mounted to the ceiling and has a panel the comes down on the side. The panel looks as is it mounts to your shoulder with a piece of glass in front of it. To the left is a large open roofed carriage that doesn't have wheels and to the right is a computer station with Pinkie and Applejack sitting at it.

"Hey, quit gawking around an get over here and check this out!" Applejack yells at me as she waves me over. I fly over to find them trying to get the thing to work.

"Any ideas on how-"

THUNK

"... works." Ends up Pinkie punching the thing gets it to work. We spend a few minutes trying to figure out what we're suppose to do. Watching Miles do this and doing it ourselves are two completely different things. Somehow, with enough poking and random clicking, we start one of the videos for Miles. We were about to stop it when I saw that in the background there were people using the guns. So we watched it until I could figure it out.

"OK. Ah think we all know what the plan is." Applejack says when the video ends.

"Right. You and I will provide cover until Pinkie can get down there and take on the pulices. Then we bring Miles over here and finish this once and for all." We all nod and head to our stations. Applejack runs over to the wheel-less carriage and carefully presses a button. With a loud roar, and a bit of blue smoke, it lifts off the ground. It moves out of the room and brings her to the next level with a canon.

Pinkie takes the platform away as I set my weapons down and get into the gunners seat. The harness wraps around me and holds me in place. There's a long tube with a handle at the end sitting on my right shoulder. A glass panel is set in front of me, taking up most of my field of vision. A number count down starts on the panel...

3...

2...

1...

Suddenly the canon begins to move with me. I move the tube to the left, and the canon goes to the left. Good, it still works. I grab the handle with my left hoof and pull it back until it meets my shoulder. The cannon's barrel slide back to reveal an opening for the shell to go in.

"Uh... high explosive." I say out loud. A mechanical arm slides from the canon to the cases behind me, where it opens one up and pulls a shell out. It sets the round inside and returns to waiting by the canon. I push the tube back out, setting the canon back into its firing position. A trigger pops out on the handle as the screen clears up. An aiming receptacle comes onto the panel, with smaller receptacles showing the drop of the round.

I search for the large machines for a few moments, then lock on. This things makes aiming almost too easy.

BANG

The air shakes when I pull the trigger. I watch the round fly through the air and slam into the head of the first machine, blowing it clean off.

BANG

Applejack fires at the other one, only for a flying machine to block the attack.

"High explosive!" I yell as I pull the tube back. A loud clang rings in the room as the spent shell bounces behind me. Once the round is in, I push the tube forward and get ready to fire again. All of the flying machines are flying right toward us, firing their missiles along the way.

BANG

I try to fire through the missile barrage to hit the machine. Instead I hit a missile and force the rest to explode. Unintentional awesomeness aside-

BANG

Applejack fires again,knocking another Aquila out of the air. The pulices begins to run out of view, so we begin fire after it. I score a hit on one of its legs as Applejack hits another Aquila.

"High explosive!" I yell out.

Beep beep

"Huh? High explosives!"

Beep beep

"Uh.... standard?"

Beep beep

"Just give me whatever's left dammit!"

Beep beep

"RAH! Fine!" I yell as I try to take the harness off. I pull on the straps as hard as possible, but they won’t budge. I glance back to see two Aquilas hovers a few feet from me, charging their guns.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man, this bad." I mutter as I continue to fight with the straps.

"CCUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNTT!"

"..... huh?"

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

Once I catch on to what’s going on I press my attack onto the remaining machine. I fire a few bursts of soul fire towards it and charge forward. It manages to fire a round off in order to block my attack. They must have my spell speed calculated. I need to get around it and take out its legs then.

The rest of the Aquilas launch and take off for the P.C.H. while the machine squares off with me, keeping its face between me and the howitzers. I fire a few more shots as I try to keep it at bay. Icy void could easily take it out, but I don't think it would be smart to use that much magic right now.

KA-BOOM

It fires at me again. I shield it off and run off towards the P.C.H. for better cover. It chases after me but takes a round right in its front leg. It staggers a bit, but stays standing. Why do we have to make these things so tough...

"Uh... Pinkie?" I ask as she casually walks past me.

"Just wait, I've got this." she says confidently. "Hey! Wanna hear a joke!" She yells to the machine.

"...... no. Just..... no." The machine hobbles over to her and leans down until its lenses are are right in her face.

"Knock knock."

"You have to be kidding me-"

"Who's there?" A deep mechanical voice asks.

"Interrupting applause."

"Inter-"

"YEAH! WOO! ALRIGHT! WAY TO GO *whistle*" She yells a she begins to cheer and whistle.

"Access granted. Welcome to Galena. Told you Miles, best joke ever."

"...."

"Are you going to be alri-"

"CCUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNTT!" I scream at the top of my lungs as I drop to my knees and hold my fist above head.

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

After an hour of gathering everyone, healing everyone up, and fuming about past friends using the worlds worst joke as a safety trigger on extremely dangerous machinery, we all head to the firing platforms.

... stupid ass knock knock joke.

We congregate around the terminal and watch the first video.... I think I'll be bitter about that damn joke for the rest of my life.

It starts out with Inficiunt sitting in front of the computer looking bitter about something. He's in some random apartment in civilian clothing by himself. He looks a bit strung out, with his hair unkempt and his eyes bloodshot.

"Miles," he says with a bit of malice as he faces the screen. "It's my turn, I guess. And before you even try to say it, this doesn't count. I'm still not talking to you. Old recorded videos don't count!

Anyway, I've been... messed up lately. You were... r-r-r-r-*ahem* you were r-r-r-r*AAAAAAHHem* you were r-r-r-r.... you were not mistaken to call me out on my drug problems. I shouldn't have abused them the way I did, and I shouldn't have been continuing them after the fall of Topaz. It was stupid and... I was wrong to have been so harsh on you. You still broke my promise though, and I will hold that against you until we finally meet up, I promise.

I've started going to an addict meeting to get help. The therapist is a stone cold, tough, hard ass... so needless to say I'm in love. The others are... well... drifting. Tenera and Fidus are inseparable ever since Tenera's return, Dare and Eximius wont talk to me until I'm completely clean, and Sine.... Sine just wants everything to go back to the way things were. But I know better. After everything we've been through, there's no going back.

Galena was safe for a while, but the Unfamiliar have shown up on our sensors now. They're starting to really overhaul their defenses. Howitzers, Pulices, allowing all forms of magic... they should have allowed this back you were with us, then we could have really kicked ass. No chaos magic, that was bullshit. No our greatest threat fucking utilizes chaos like its his dick!

Well.... we're slowly dying, drifting apart, losing the fight for humanity, and I've been dry for three days now. What else could possibly happen to make this day any worse..... I know what. I'm going to that therapist and being straight forward. No bullshitting this time. Good luck Miles, I hope to forgive you one day.... oh, and I'm leaving you my Boom stick. Seems to be justified. Later."

The video ends. I'm not that surprised that he was still mad at me, though I am saddened that I'll never get to apologize to him. I search around a bit and find one last video for me, so I start it.

It has Susurrans sitting before the screen as some people in the back operate the canon. A massive gunfight fills the air between the deafening shots from the canon. Susurrans is in his person full armor. It's standard light weight armor, but with golden trim along all of the pieces. He sets his helmet on the table and lets out a slow, deep sigh.

"Miles.... words cannot explain what we've been through. The things we've seen, the things we've done. I often think back to my simpler, idiotic, youthful days and try to think of what I could have done to avoid this. There is so much I've done wrong, to much to say in some simple video.

Your friends say I should confide in you, speak my mind. But I can't, not yet at least. I made a promise to someone.... a promise I intend to keep to my death bed. I know this fight is in vain, but we fight on anyway. We still out skill them, so we will show them our strength until our dying breath. They will suffer and bleed before we give them any ground. And when the last of us fades into the void... well, then we'll finally get to stop fighting. I've watched young men and women fight to the death in order to keep inches from them, I've personally cut down thousands of them with my blade alone.

And yet they keep coming. No matter how gruesome we kill them, five take their place just to be destroyed as well. I don't get it. How could they have these numbers? An entire population has come down on us and has been carving their way through our numbers. If we had followed through with your plan, we could have had a better chance... but I failed you there. I failed you when Altum took you elements. I failed you when he forced you to wear those damn potestatum anuls. And I failed you... when.... she....

Go to the armory, we've left you some extra gifts just in case you need the extra help to make it to New Garnet. I.... I have to go."

And the video ends. I take the coordinates and stand back in... disappointment. I can't help but shake my head at his reluctance to answer my simple question. Why is it so hard for him to say it. He doesn't eve have to say it to my face, just three words. With a heavy heart, I leave the computer and take the platform away. Everyone follows quietly after me, murmuring quietly to each other. I make my way to the armory where I look through the empty shelves with little interest. My mind is... elsewhere.

"Miles," Twilight says quietly as she approaches me. "I know you're disappointed that he didn't say it, but there's still New Garnet-"

"Yes, another city, and more death. I can't wait." I say as I lean against one of the shelves. "I'm.... I'm tired. I just want this to end so I can finally rest. Is it really hard to say those three words. 'I'm your father.' Why? Why all the pain and suffering for something so simple?" I ask pitifully as I look to Twilight for the answer.

"That's not easy to say." Pinkie says quietly from the back. "My parents haven't admitted it to my hometown since I've gotten my cutie mark. Parties and rock farms don't really mix well with the other farming communities, why do you think I live with the cakes?"

"But you know they're your parents. You didn't have to go on some quest to figure it out." I point out, getting slow nod from her.

"True, but it still hurts. I haven't seen my sisters in several years. Even longer for my parents. At least you didn't have that special connection with him before being separated. I've missed them every single gosh darn day since my move. They won’t write back, in fear of the mail mare telling the others, they won’t travel to visit, they just tend to all of the rocks. At least Susurrans had the courage to try to leave a message to the special ponies in his life. It means he at least wants to remember you. I'm jealous of that Miles, please don't give up when we're so close."

I stare at her for a few second before smiling, receiving one in return. The overall mood in the room goes up as we both smile to one another, some of us even laughing a bit.

"Alright. One more city, and then we'll be done. Terradisia only had nine holds, so we're literally almost done. Once we're through New Garnet though, we're finding that rock farm and I'm forcing your parents to hug the shit out of you."

"I'd like that. Are we ready to go then?" she asks.

"Well, they said they left something here..... *sigh* knock-knock?"

CLICK

Did I mention how much I hate that damn joke? Because I really hate that damn joke. I walk to the back of the armory and open the secret door on the.... wall...

"Oh sweet Barbra."

"Who?"

"That's an S-51C jumper suit." I mumble as I stare at the metal perfection.

"A... what?" Twilight asks as she stares at the suit with me.

"It's full body armor that is automated with twin jets on the back to provide some flight. I could probably out fly Dash in that thing." I say as I stare at the suit before me. Its all black with green highlights along the edges. The front of a helmet, did I mention the helmet? Yeah, it has a helmet. The front of the helmet has a human skull with fiery green eyes painted on it.

"Pfft. Keep dreaming. There's no way that clunky hunk of junk could out fly me." Rainbow says bitterly.

"Well? What are you waiting for then? Try it on then." Rarity says as she pulls the door completely open. I walk up to the suit and begin to attach each piece. When I begin to pull it out, Inficiunt's Boom stick falls from behind the armor.

"Pinkie, just a guess, but I think that one is for you." I tell her.

"What does it do?" She asks as she takes it in her hooves and looks it over.

"It's a six shot grenade launcher, but with a sick twist. I added some chaos to it to alter any soul based object to instantly transform..... short version, it turns living objects into other living objects... sometimes. Other times it turns them into.... well, almost anything really."

".... wabbajack."

"What was-"

"Nothing!" She says quickly as she straps it to her back. "Just... put your new armor on already!" Brushing it off as a Pinkie thing, I get back to putting on my armor.

The chest piece is heavy due to the folding thrusters on the back. Once its secured on I move on to the leggings. It's simple enough, just unlatch each part, and then re-latch them on. Once my magic begins to course through it, the screws secure it all on, leaving it air tight. The same goes for the arms; unlatch, then re-latch.

"Wow... that's pretty.... scary." Fluttershy comments as I give a few test movements.

"Why didn't ya have anything like this before?" Applejack asks.

"Well, it was available, I just didn't use it because the magic requirements were too high for me to use on a regular basis. But now, I think I can manage it just fine."

"What about your magic? Your hands are covered with the gloves now." Twilight points out. I just smile to her and give my arms a quick shake. A port opens on each of my palms, letting the flames fume out.

"I'll have to keep them constantly open, but it won’t really matter. Now for the last part." I take the helmet and slide it over my head. It's a bit stuffy, but once it connects with the main body the power comes on, providing me with air and visuals. The world comes back to me as the HUD blinks on. A few lines outline pop up around the room, outlining obstacles as well as a ground leveler in the center. A few program icons take up the top left, giving me all green lights.

"You look pretty cool in that.... can I have on?" Rainbow Dash asks as she begins to hover around me.

"Maybe one day, now lets get air born." I tell her, getting a wicked grin in response. Walking in the suit felt odd at first. It feels as if I'm walking on a platform just above the ground and have much more power in each step. I'm not sneaky in the slightest, but I feel invincible in this.

We make our way to one of the firing ports where Dash canters over to the edge.

"How about a race then? First one to the dome and back wins. You in?" She asks eagerly. I roll my shoulders, making the twin jet wings lift up on my back. They go straight out roughly two feet and end in round cones that pivot and swirl around. I walk over to the edge and take a readied stance beside her.

"Someone count it off." I say, getting Pinkie to run between the two of us.

"ON YOUR MARK-"

Get ready to eat my dust Captain." Rainbow growls as she readies herself.

"GET SET-"

"We'll see." I mutter back as I look out to the city, several markers indicating different building heights and distances.

"GO!"

FWUUUUUUUUM

I squat down and push myself out of the port. The two jets roar to life and launch me through the air with tremendous speed. Usually these were only meant for leaping over builds, hence Jumpers. But with my insane magical output, I make it a third of the way through the city before needing to land. I roll onto a rooftop and take a few running steps before launching myself again, adding even more power to my jump. The two cones screech loudly as the magical energy sends me soaring through the air, almost making it all of the way to the dome.

With another powerful leap I take off for the dome. I glance to my side to find Dash ahead of me, just a bit. I twist around and let my feet catch onto the dome before launching myself back to the P.C.H. We keep at each others necks as we near our destination. She would get ahead of me every time I would need to jump, but my raw power would help me keep up.

When we near the last few meters, we each give it our all as we try to beat the other to the finish line.

FWUUUUUUU-CRASH

"I WIN!" Rainbow yells as she jumps up in the port.

"My balls you won, I totally had that!" I yell back.

"Please, I completely had that, you're just made that your clunky hunk-a junk couldn't keep up-"
"Don't be so naive! This is Terradisian tech at its best. You're just mad you little feathers couldn't-"

"GUYS!" Twilight yells, getting our attention. "Lets call it a draw, and leave this place already, OK?" We look to each other before nodding in agreement to my victory.

We leave the city with a high moral. I kept 'testing' my armor by leaping tall buildings and punching through walls of concrete. The others were happy to see me happy as well. It was agreed that we'd head back to Ponyville to train Pinkie to use the Boom stick and rest up. Mintelle told us she would tell the Ursas to send in other mercs, but she would not be coming herself.

"That was bullshit! I was the only pony to survive through this, there is no way in hell I'm going to another one of these cities! I don't care what the Ursas say!" She told us before heading off on her own. We said our goodbyes and took the train ride back to Ponyville. We held conversations the entire way there, none of us could sleep.

Whatever New Garnet holds, we'll be ready for it.

Alright, this is it! The next chapter is the last chapter I will be taking merc Oc's, so go post them now!

On another note, the next chapter will.... be a dozy. Put it like this; I thought this chapter would be 10k, and it ended up being 17k and took this long to write. I projected the next chapter to be 20k. A LOT happens in it. And it all needs to happen in one go. So bear with me, I'll get it done when it gets done, until then,

Brony on!

P.S. Almost to chapter 200, next Q/A will be coming up soon. Can't wait!