We all make it to the large hole in the ground and stare down in awe. First obstacle, how do we get down? Storm, Fluttershy and Rainbow could fly down, but what about the others? I guess I could make a platform and then just jump down to the bottom... that would be best.

"OK, here's the plan, wait here and I'll jump down and make a Mico platform. Then we'll..."

"I'll go with you." Rainbow says as she begins to stretch.

"Why do you need to go?"

"To make sure you don't ditch us." I glance at her and shake my head.

"Alright, just give me a sec." I say as I start to remove everything that's on me.

"What are you doing?" Fluttershy asks.

"Taking off all of the excess weight. The last time I did this it was a bitch. I'm not going to make the same mistakes twice." I say as I begin to remove my armor.

"Uh Miles, do I have to carry this?" Twilight says as she shakes the rifle in the air.

"Actually, I was hoping you would use it."

"WHAT! I can't use a weapon, I hate weapons. I can't...."

"Twilight, I understand that you don't like weapons, but I would feel better if you ALL had weapons. Topaz is not safe, and I want you to be able to protect yourselves while we're there. Do you think you could ignore your hatred of weapons while we're in Topaz? At least as long as things aren't safe." Twilight thinks about it for a second before she nods and pulls the rifle closer to herself. "Thank you." I say as I finish removing the last of my armor and prepare to make the leap.

"How far down does it go down?" Rainbow asks as she stands next to me and looks down.

"Well, I'd have to say anywhere from a kilometer and a half to two kilometers." I say as I kick on the magic in my heels.

"OK, I'm getting tired of hearing this, how far is a kilometer?" Twilight asks.

"A thousand meters." I say before I kneel down and create the first Mico platform. Once I finish making it I leap into the dark hole, having Rainbow fly after me.

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GAH! This breakfast is taking FOREVER! Celestia and Regina keep talking about Steelwing and its making this take sooo long. I need to get out of here and get to Miles so he can get me off...

"What do you think sister?" Celestia asks me. I think I need something inside of me... right.... now.

"It's... definitely a sticky situation." HA! it will be soon at least.

"Yes... well we need too find him and bring him to justice as soon as possible. We'll be sure to have all city guards on the look out for him." Celestia says as she looks back to Regina. "Where do you think he'll strike next?"

"Well, I doubt he'll go to Ponyville again, now that we're on the lookout for him. My bet is somewhere we wouldn't be looking."

"Hmm... the closest target from Ponyville would be either Cloudsdale or Canterlot, and both sound like unlikely targets. The dogs can't get to Cloudsdale and an attack on Canterlot would be futile. What do you think Luna?" What do I think.... I should get some rope in case Miles tries to fight me some more.

"Well... uh... if he were to fight some more... we would have to subdue him... and try to get what we want from him... becuase... that would be... for the best?"

"Riight.... Luna are you feeling..."

KA-BOOM

A large explosion catches our attention, making all of us run to the nearby windows. Out in the court yards a large explosion has created a hole in the ground where hundreds of Diamond Dogs are pouring out of the ground and running towards the castle. The few guards that were nearby were quickly killed by the onslaught of the overwhelming number of dogs.

"But, but, but... this doesn't make sense. There is no possible way they could hold the castle. There's no way they could dream to take me or you prisoner. What are they after that they think they could achieve?" Celestia says in disbelief.

"I don't think this is the time for questions." Regina says as she turns away from the window and starts to walk towards the main doors.

"Right. Lets us go defend our subjects sister." Celestia says as she turns away. Those darn dogs.... they will pay for making me wait even longer.

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

I hit the ground hard, sending dust and debris into the air. I hear Rainbow cough a bit and land beside me.

"Alright lets get going." I say as I step out of the small crater and raise my hands to light the way.

"Wait, aren't you going to make the other thing so everypony else can come down?"

"I will, just closer to the door."

"Shouldn't we tell them?" She says as she walks up beside me.

"You want to go tell them?"

"I think I'll stick with you for now." She says as she quickens her pace to be the one leading. We make decent time making it to the room where we held the meetings. Rainbow looks in the room for a second before losing interest and wandering around the room. I go straight to the hole in the back and call rainbow over. It's a little wider then what I remember it being, but I guess that makes sense. Luna and Celestia probably made it larger for themselves. With a sigh I flare my heels and hop down the hole. After falling the entire length of the hole until I come to the slope, where I dig my hands into the ground and stop myself from falling off the edge. I look up to see Rainbow hovering beside me, offering a hoof.

"Thanks but we've got another drop to do." I say as I start to slide down.

"How much further is it till we get to the city?" Rainbow asks as she flies over to the next drop.

"Well... after this drop... about twenty meters or so." I say as I stop myself next to the drop. I take a deep breath before leaping into the dark hole. With my hands and heels lit I can see all of the grooves I made the last time I fell. I send a couple of flares down until I see the bottom coming towards me. There is some debris from before, but landing shouldn't be a problem. With a loud thud I hit the ground. I look back and wait for Rainbow to land next to me before I begin to move forward. Once the bulk head comes into view I stop and create the next platform. "Alright, just wait here for a moment and I'll bring everyone back."

"Alright." She says as she stares at the door.

"Stay away from the door. It'll lock if I'm not with you." I say before I step onto the platform and flash back to the entrance.

"Miles! What took you so long?" Storm says as she runs up to me. They made a little camp in the cave, just somewhere to sit down.

"Alright, one at a time, once you get to the other end just wait with Rainbow Dash until I get there." I say as I begin to put my armor back on. By the time I get all of stuff back on its time for me to take the platform, so I walk over and flash back to the entrance.

"So, this is your home." Fluttershy says as we all stare at the door to Topaz.

"Welcome to Topaz Falls." I say as I walk up to the door.

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"*SIGH* why are you here?" I ask lazily.

"Silence pony!" Yells a dog as he charges down a hall at me, swinging his sword wildly in the air. With another sigh I grab him with my magic and start to slam him into the walls, floor and ceiling. Puny dog, they are really starting to get annoying. They aren't good fighters, they're not that smart, they just have numbers. I finish beating the dog and toss him out the window, sending him falling to his death. I was suppose to do something, but I can't really remember what it was. While Celestia was talking I was to busy thinking about what I was going to do to Miles when I get back to him. Hmm... strawberries... some honey... and some kind of gag..."

"THERE SHE IS!" I look behind me to see a group of dogs running down the hall at me. I charge my horn and send a bolt of electricity through the group, dropping them instantly. I sigh again and continue walking down the hall. What was I suppose to do? I think it had something to do with the dogs... RAH! I NEED MILES! He would get rid of the darn dogs and then we could rut and then...

"THERE'S THE BLUE ONE, GET HER!" Yells a dog as I turn around the corner. There are five of them this time, easy enough. They start to charge at me but stop when Regina lands in front of me. She wielding a griffin blade and has a belt going across her chest that has glass balls hanging on it. She charges at the dogs and tosses one of the glass balls at the leader, making it shatter and filling the room with smoke. All I can hear is the sound of metal clashing with metal as I try to find the dogs, but I can't see anything. I spread my wings out and flap them, sending a powerful gust of wind that clears the room of the smoke. With the smoke gone I can see Regina standing in front of me with three dogs around her. The other two lay on the ground with large gash marks on their necks.

"Just hang tight Luna, I've got this." Regina says as she pulls out another glass ball and drops it, making the hall fill with the smoke again. Since when could Regina fight? I guess it comes with being a traveler. I wait for the clanging of the metal to end before I send another gust of wind through the hall, clearing the smoke and revealing Regina standing alone, surrounded by dead bodies. "Alright, now that that's been taken care of, where have you been?" She asks as she sheathes her sword and walks up to me.

"I've kind of just been walking around..."

"Didn't you hear what Celestia wanted you to do?"

"Uh... no. I was... distracted." I try to give her my best smile, but she just faceclaws instead.

"*sigh* well, it doesn't matter now. She wanted you to go to the guard barracks to rally them while she looked for the leader. I went ahead and did it for you, so now we need to find your sister and look for the leader, got it?"

"Got it."

"OK, what are we going to do then."

"Find Miles, tie him up, have good time..."

"No." She says as she taps my head with her fist. "No, no, no, no. That's not what we're doing..."

"Well duh that's not what we're doing. Miles is my man, you can go have... somepony else..."

"Not what I meant." She says as she taps my head again, making me blink back into focus. "OK, lets try this again..."

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When the door slides open I run forward with my hands flared, ready for anything. I glance around, looking for any kind of threat. Once I clear the entrance I turn to everyone else and motion to them to come inside. They all walk in slowly, taking in the view of the city as they do.

"So this is Topaz." Twilight says as she looks up to the P.C.H. Once they all make it inside the door slides shut, sealing us inside.

"What's this?" Pinkie asks as she bounces next to the bot from before.

"That's a security droid. We'll probably see a lot of them later."

"OK, what a security droid?" Applejack asks as she looks it over.

"Its a machine. There are three basic forms you need to know about. Utility, security, and military. Though they vary in make up, they all follow the basic concepts. Utility bots are workers, security were basically the... guards, and the military bot were suppose to support us in fights. Lets get moving. First stop, I want to go check on the power generator." I say as I start to lead them down the street.

"You know, I was kind of expecting... more destruction." Storm says as he walks up beside me.

"This part of the city wasn't hit that hard... head to the back and watch the rear. If anything moves inside one of the buildings call it out."

"Got it." He says as he turns around and walks too the back of the group. We make it to the end of the street and make a right, finding the first groups of bones.

"Oh my..." Rarity says from behind. "Should we... bury them?"

"Maybe another time. Right now there are to many bones and to large a threat to get it done."

"But..."

"We don't have time for that right now. I'll do it another time." I say as I continue towards the power station. We make it to the generator in complete silence. We make it up the stairs and enter the half sphere. I go straight to where I laid Dolum and offer a salute to him.

"Uh, Miles?" Fluttershy says as they all approach the small trench.

"Sorry, just paying my respects to my friend."

"Oh... who is this?"

"His name was Dolum Ostendere. He was... my best friend." Everyone stays silent, paying their respects to my friend. " Storm, stay up here and keep an eye on the door. If anything comes near us let me know. I'm heading down to check the power supply."

"Right..."

"I'll go with you." Twilight says as she follows after me. I head down to the substation and tap the panel on the main reactor... its showing enough power to last a few more days.... shit. "Miles..."

"This isn't good."

"What isn't good?"

"When I filled these gems they had enough power to last two months, now they only show enough for a few days."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means that every bot that's operational in the city recharged completely. When we get into a fight..."

"Can't we just hide? Isn't there somewhere we can go where they can't go?"

"No. Anywhere we can go, they can go. Fuck, there places they can go that we can't. I'll refill the power, but we should get moving after that."

"I think we can wait long enough to bury your friend properly." I look back to her and nod. We can wait for a proper burial. I fill all of the gems back up as she prepares the body, I don't know what she's doing, but it can't be any worse then just leaving a ditch. When I finish up I head back to find that they had wrapped him up in a blanket and set him back into the trench. Everyone is lined up next to the trench, bowing their heads in respect. I walk up next to them and look down at the small bundle.

"Could you say some final words Miles." Rarity asks. I take a deep breath before I begin.

"Dolum... was my best friend. He was always there for me... and I was there for him. He received a lot of flak for doing things... a little unorthodox. He had a personality that made most people think poorly of him, but I knew him better then most. He was a husband, soon to be father, a Spartan and... I'm sorry this happened to you." I salute again and seal the ground over him, burying him at last. I kneel down and engrave his name and rank into the ground. "Can... can you guys give me a moment."

"Of course dear." Rarity says as they all head to the entrance. I sigh as I run my hand over the engraving.

"I promise you this, Dolum. I won't make the same mistakes I made with our friends. I'll be there to protect them this time through.... you deserved better than this brother." I rise to my feet and head to the entrance, pulling out my rifle as I go. No more holding back, no more hesitation. From now on I'm in everything one hundred percent.

"Where should we head?" Storm asks as I approach the entrance.

"We need to arm everyone if we're going to stay here. Lets head to the P.C.H. I know a few places that might of been left untouched that will have some weapons."

"Where's the P.C.H.?" Rainbow Dash asks. I point it out, getting them all to stare out at it.

"We'll take the freeway there, that way nothing can sneak up on us. Keep together and stay close to me." I say as I start to lead them around the large crater and head down the freeway.

Next Chapter: Chapter 80 Long Road To Ruin Estimated time remaining: 69 Hours, 37 Minutes