Yon-Soo relaxed, lying in a meadow, the sun shining down. The trees were tall, gently swaying in the breeze, and the flowers smelled sweet.

It was… nice. He hadn’t experienced this sort of peaceful tranquility in quite some time. No newfoals or lunatics trying to kill him. No fighting. No barrier. No listening to Melnik forecasting their doom and being right.

But something was screaming at him to get up and move. What? What was it? Something was wrong, he was sure of it. ‘Why should I listen?’ he thought to himself, sleepily. He could just relax in the tall grass, with that calm breeze-

He stopped. For there was no breeze moving the grass. The trees were just shaking of their own accord, in no one direction. He stood up, curious, and saw faces embedded in the trees, equine and human alike, oozing sap like blood or tears. Then recoiled. The twists of bark and burls seemed to form the most awful expressions, as if they were in the midst of some unspeakable torture and were howling out in soundless screams of agony. The shaking branches and leaves seemed to form faces as well, blinking in and out of his vision, begging him to escape or release them. A great wall of pink was over the horizon, barreling down at him like a stampede of horses or a tidal wave, a wave of dust before it. It swept through the trees, over his head, stripping the leaves from the trees, blasting the faces away.

He screamed, trying to run away, practically sprinting through the grass, which seemed to part for him, bending against the pink wall, only to be burnt away. He tripped over a rock and fell, tumbling into a ravine, as clouds of dust washed over him. More screaming faces, faces he knew - his parents, his friends, anyone he remembered from the past couple days, even those poor tortured ponies in the elementary school the HLF had taken over - flashed by, forming themselves from the dust.

After an eternity, it stopped, and Yon-Soo pulled himself up, over the ravine, to find the land ravaged. The plants were rotting and diseased, the trees gray and sickly. Startled, he fell back down the ravine, screaming, and landing on his back.

“Sonovabitch that hurt,” he muttered, and pulled himself back up to find the wasteland -

Did not exist. The land looked almost as it had before the pink wall had hit it. The grass and trees were vibrantly green, the flowers in vivacious bloom, and the sun shone in a cloudless sky. Yet…

Yon-Soo realized something was horribly wrong with this picture.

Everything looked so perfect. Too perfect in fact.

The trees seemed too regular, no life or “zing” to them, as if planted in rows rather than the beautiful random chaos of nature. The flowers were too symmetrical looking, and much like the trees, they looked like they had been planted like a garden. But what really disturbed Yon-Soo was how the sunlight itself just felt… off. It didn’t really warm him up, nor did it provide the light in a real way. It felt cold, lesser somehow. Pallid, diminished. And it was all quieter than a mausoleum.

“Yon-Soo…” a familiar voice called out.

He turned around, trying to find who was calling for him. It seemed to come from everywhere at once.

“Yon-Soo, don’t you recognize me?”

He then saw her.

Eun-Hee, but not how she was before that fateful day. She was now a unicorn newfoal with a light cream colored coat and a dual-toned green and yellow mane. She had that characteristic empty, glassy eyed, too-wide-to-look-natural smile of the newfoals as she held a hoof out to him. The fact that her eyes - the irises themselves - were red only made her look even more unsettling. Like blood almost.

“Come on, Yon-Soo, join us. Come with me to Equestria, and we can all be happy under Celestia’s warmth and guidance,” she said to him. Even though she sounded gentle, it was strained; felt forced.

Yon-Soo immediately replied, “No! I won’t let myself be ponified! Eun-Hee, this isn’t who you are! She took your soul and twisted it to her will!”

“Now Yon-Soo, that’s not a very nice thing to say to Flower Pepper,” Porter cut in, suddenly appearing next to the newfoal Eun-Hee. He held a bottle full of a familiar purple liquid in one hand.

“Porter, what are you doing?!”

He said nothing, just opened the bottle and took a big swig of the potion. As the conversion process took hold, Yon-Soo scrambled to find his pistol. He couldn’t let his friend become one of them, losing his mind, body and soul in the process.

But he had no weapons on him, and in Porter’s place was a light brown newfoal with a dark blue mane. Porter and Eun-Hee/Flower Pepper then said in unison, “Join us, Yon-Soo. Embrace the harmony and join us in spreading it to those untouched.”

“NO!! NO, GET AWAY FROM ME!” Yon-Soo screamed as he turned to run away, pushing himself off the ground, breaking into a sprint. The ground came apart at his touch, revealing a black void under the paper-thin ground.

And the green flaked away on the plants as he touched them. The color drained from the flowers like wet paint, fading into browns, blacks, and grays as they drew closer to the ground. Where they weren’t disintegrating, that was, leaving puddles of dust in his footprints. All around him, it was disintegrating, coming up in little splashlike puffs around his bare feet.

“It’s dead,” he heard himself pant crazily, not knowing where the words were coming from. “It’s all dead and already decayed; all they can do is pretend they’re alive and put a coat of paint on it to make it look alive again!”

A newfoal rushed at him, galloping along the plain, and throwing a vial at him. He barely dodged, though - was that a drop on his skin?! NO! Had to be sweat, had to be sweat...

More and more newfoals followed, enough to turn the sky and horizon a rainbow of colors. All were pleading with him to join the herd, like an eerie chorus of death.

“You’ll become perfect!”
“You’ll have a true soul.”
“Embrace the light!”

“Just one drink and everything will be okay,” Firebrand suddenly said, holding out a vial of potion. He, as well as Blizzard, Aquamarine and Comet all had the same glassy smiles of the converted on their faces as well. It was utterly unsettling to see, maybe even more unsettling than the usual newfoal.

“Come on, Yon-Soo,” the newfoal that was once Porter said. “Join with us, and we’ll all be one big happy family.”

“No more fighting and sadness,” said Hyong-Jin, who, along with Aitmatov, Melnik, and Sergei, then took a drink of the potion to transform as well.

“And I will personally shepherd you and your friends into everlasting happiness and prosperity,” Queen Celestia declared.

Yon-Soo saw how imposing she looked; much larger than the average pony, maybe even bigger than a full grown earth horse. Her white fur was pure and bright, her mane shimmering, and the look on her face was the same kind of comforting and nurturing smile of a mother, but like everything else around here, it was so close to perfect that it fell short. Her eyes looked empty and Yon-Soo knew that he was little more than meat to her - a savage animal barely above a chimp, who would only be of some worth to her once he was on four legs, singing her praises.

And the queen would still use him as little more than cannon fodder for her crusade if he were added to her numbers. His mother’s love was genuine and unconditional. Celestia only loved things as long as they could serve her.

“All it takes is one little drink of this, my child. You can shed away your imperfect self, and let the light of harmony bless you with eternal happiness in a true paradise,” the Tyrant said. Her words were laced thick with honeyed sweetness and compassion, but Yon-Soo knew better. He knew that it was all a ruse, just an illusion to comfort him and coerce him.

“No! You won’t take my humanity away!” Yon-Soo yelled at her. “I’d rather die than become one of your mindless slaves!”

Immediately, her eyes narrowed with impatience and annoyance before she sighed heavily, with a sort of exasperation a parent would have with a naughty child.

“Why do they think defiance will get them anywhere? My little ponies, you know what to do.”

Immediately, Yon-Soo fell flat on his back, his legs and arms bound to the ground with magic. The newfoals that used to be his friends all surrounded him, with Comet holding a vial of potion.

“Drink up!” she said happily.

As they shoved the bottle into his mouth, forcing him to drink, Yon-Soo saw the Queen looking down at him with a smug grin of satisfaction before she said, “Now you are perfect. Welcome to the herd, my son.”

“No!” he tried to scream, but his lungs had no air and he could feel his bones popping and cracking, fingers and toes fusing together into hooves, organs rearranging themselves, and his skin felt like it was on fire as he could feel the fur sprouting out, everything hurt so bad, it was all getting darker, dark-

“NO!!”

Yon-Soo awoke with a start, gasping desperately for air. He looked at his hands to make sure he still had them. And he did. He flexed his fingers experimentally, just to be extra sure.

He rubbed his face dry of the cold sweat he was drenched in and tried to calm himself down. But that nightmare… it was truly in a class of its own. Everything about it was so unsettling; he felt like he’d just gone on a mental rollercoaster. Too much to handle in fact.

He tried to get up, and realized just how stiff his muscles felt. Whatever vodka Melnik had used last night, or whatever he used to make vodka, it was way too strong. What the hell had that dream been about? Why was he having nightmares of the Tyrant and hordes of newfoals trying to convert him, and his friends getting turned?

He hoped to God, Buddha, Confucius, Allah, and any other deity out there that this wasn’t a prophetic dream or anything like that.

“Yon-Soo, you doing alright?” Aitmatov suddenly asked him. Yon-Soo almost jumped in fright and screamed, but settled down quickly when he saw it was them.

“Holy shit, don’t scare me like that!” Yon-Soo gasped.

Blizzard looked at him with concern, noticing how pale and on edge he looked. “Whoa there, Yon-Soo, don’t freak out now! You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“That’s all?” Aitmatov asked, raising one eyebrow. “I’d be happy if all I had to be afraid of now was ghosts, or those voices in the pipes in the Moscow Metro. No, the kid’s seen something worse.”

Yon-Soo took several deep breaths to steady himself before he said, “It was a nightmare. No, it was more than just a nightmare… it was like being thrown into hell itself. I… I was being chased by newfoals, waves and waves of them, all trying to ponify me. And then the Tyrant came in... And you guys were in it too.”

“... As newfoals?” Blizzard asked, her voice shaking just a bit.

“How’d you know?” Yon-Soo asked.

“It’s… a pretty common nightmare for people and ponies these days,” Blizzard admitted. “Some of my best friends had it.” There was a curious hesitance in her voice, an uncertainty. If he had to wager a guess, she probably had similar nightmares herself.

“Yeah, that actually doesn't surprise me,” Yon-Soo nodded. “Did… either of you have a similar dream last night?”

“No,” Aitmatov said, hand on the back of his head. “I was, ah…. kind of busy.” He looked down at Blizzard, and the two of them looked away, blushing slightly.

“I was busy too,” Blizzard said finally, still blushing.

“I… see…” Yon-Soo said. He decided not to ask, and got up to stretch. The train was at full speed, so he stumbled a bit as he got up. He walked over to his foot locker, pulling on his gear and strapping on his weaponry. “Anything else happen last night?”

“Nah,” Aitmatov sighed. “We’re not in the badlands yet. Still keeping busy, though.”

Indeed, Yon-Soo was sure they were. He turned towards the door and decided to check on everyone. Sure, that nightmare wasn’t real (and he was going to make extra damn sure it would never come true either), but he couldn’t help be feel a little paranoid and wanting to make sure everyone was alright.

The cars were full of boxes, crates and other kinds of packages, securely wrapped around what Yon-Soo was certain were all kinds of priceless artifacts, relics, artwork, and other pieces of history. He didn’t ask what was inside. All he needed to know was that he had to protect them.

Outside the windows, the land was rushing past. Trees flashed by in blurs of green and brown, passing the rare road or small house.

Most roads they had passed the previous day, though, were clogged with traffic, even forgettable, tiny back roads. No-one was going to head westwards, for very obvious reasons.

He drew back suddenly, noticing a truck with a heavy machinegun and stolen missile pod grafted to it racing down a nearby road. “Was that-”

“Ignore it,” Aitmatov said. “Could be HLF, could be people just trying to survive. Besides, far as they know, we’re just an ordinary freight train.”

“Should… should we be worried, though?” Yon-Soo asked, his hand instinctively reaching for his K2 rifle. Or, more specifically, the rifle’s grenade launcher.

“Probably,” Aitmatov said. “Blizzard and I have been hearing bad things on the radio from here.”

“Like what?” Yon-soo asked.

“There might be a real psychopath around here,” Aitmatov said. “Man by the name of Kagan Burakgazi. Viral specialist… he’s used chemical weaponry on newfoals and PHL-affiliated towns.”

Yon-Soo shivered.

“Still… he’s not around at the moment,” Aitmatov reassured him. “We’d know if he was. Don’t worry about it.”

Yon-Soo breathed a sigh of relief, and headed off down the train, heading for the engine. He’d probably do this time and time again, but he needed something to do on the journey. He wished he had a Nintendo DS on him or something. That, and he’d likely end up reading all the books on his phone’s Kindle app by the end of the journey.

The car ahead had been taken as a… well, it wasn’t a mess hall, it wasn’t a restaurant, it was more of a general purpose hangout. His fellow squadmembers sat on chairs, plastic things that someone had pilfered from an abandoned store, drinking sodas and relaxing, reading old magazines or using the wi-fi. Sergei (who had a large, unfamiliar PHL gun that vaguely resembled a grenade launcher strapped to his back) was teaching Comet how to use the computer with an animated pair of gloves, as Aquamarine Glimmer looked on, unsure about what her daughter might be looking at.

“Hey,” Sergei said. “Don’t worry. Just because there’s some swearing in this movie doesn’t mean it’s bad. They’re nowhere near as foul-mouthed as Melnik can be.”

“Ooh, what’s that device?” Comet asked excitedly, pointing to the screen. “I bet it’s some kind of super-”

Sergei burst out laughing. “Nope. That’s… that’s a walkman. A thirty-year-old one. Haven’t been in use with the invention of CD players, and then those became obsolete with the iPod and smartphones.”

“Who even uses iPods anymore?” an unfamiliar American PHL man sighed.

“Least the song’s catchy though,” Comet said. “Heyyy… Heeeeyyy… what’s the matter with your head!” she half-hummed, half-sang.

“You guys having fun?” Yon-Soo asked. He immediately noticed Aquamarine and Comet failing to stop themselves from giggling as soon as he walked into the train car.

“Yeah, that’s one word for it,” Aquamarine said, little snorting giggles escaping through the spaces between her words.

Yon-Soo narrowed his eyes at Sergei and asked, “Did you tell them something about me?”

“Not tell; shown,” the blond soldier smirked as he opened the tab and played the clip. “Look closely at the subtitles.”

“Min-Jung!” a man that was clearly Yon-Soo, albeit not as himself, yelled, running through an airport. He was clad in a white outfit and a green apron that was covered in flour dust and dried frosting.

“Something sounds familiar,” Blizzard said, fluttering in. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she squealed, “I haven’t seen this in forever!”

They watched as Yon-Soo’s character ran up to a young woman in a red peacoat, carrying a rolling luggage bag as she was about to board a plane. The background music was a mixture of sad and romantic, and at the same time a bit melodramatic.

“What is it, Jin-Soo?!” Min-Jung asked angrily. “All you’ve been doing is loafing around and never making any real decisions your whole life! If you’re really so set on staying here in Andong and working at your family’s bakery, then go on ahead. I won’t hold that against you! You can be with Soo-Ah and be happy with her.”

“Please!” Yon-Soo’s character begged, his eyes watering slightly, as he fell to his knees, practically grovelling at her feet. “Soo-Ah is a wonderful woman, but it is not her that lights my heart and fills my dreams!”

“You know I can’t pass up this offer. I could become a big time actress in America! If I were to turn my back on it… I care for you, I truly do! But this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance!” she gasped dramatically, turning to the side, one hand held up in a bizarre gesture, as if she was attempting to milk a giant cow with one hand.

“Then I’ll wait for you!” Yon-Soo’s character told her. “Right here. No matter how long it takes, I’ll wait for you.”

“You would?!” the woman asked. “You… you would wait that long for me?!”

“Yes, for you, and for no-one else! I love you Min-Jung!” he said as he grabbed her into a hug, which she reciprocated in full as they passionately kissed. The background characters were all sighing with happiness and cheers for the couple, applauding them for their discovered love. With the exception of one extra who clearly hadn’t been paid enough, staring at everyone, confused, one eyebrow raised so high it threatened to merge with his widow’s peak.

As the credits rolled and a K-pop song (which Blizzard identified as one Yon-Soo had sung himself) began playing, everyone just looked at Yon-Soo as if he had grown another head. Several of them were snickering, others unable to believe that a former TV star was now fighting alongside them.

Except Blizzard, who was over the moon, saying in a wistful tone, “It was so romantic and sweet! Oh, I remember watching the whole series in a three days long binge. Thank you for existing, Hulu!”

“Poor Aitmatov then,” someone muttered.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that!” Aitmatov called over. “I actually liked it too!”

Comet giggled and asked Yon-Soo, “How come you never told us about this, Uncle Yon-Soo? You were so lovely!”

Yon-Soo twitched as he loudly said through clenched teeth, “Okay everyone, how about we not focus on my acting career and maybe focus on more important matters at hand?”

He silently prayed to God that no one would ever find that music video...

“Oh sweet Luna, thank you for portable video cameras not existing in Equestria,” Blizzard whispered.

Yon-Soo just rubbed his forehead, deciding not to question that either. “Riiiiiiight…”

“I thought you looked familiar,” Aquamarine said. “Did you-”

“Nope,” Aitmatov and Blizzard said at once. “Totally deja vu, just go with it,” Blizzard added.

“Knowing them, you don’t even want to ask about that one,” Melnik said, walking in. “Trust me.”

“Ah, Ivan!” Blizzard said quickly, desperately trying to change the subject. “How’s the new arm treating you?”

“Not too bad,” he said. “Still getting used to it though, and-” without warning, everything below his prosthetic arm’s wrist reconfigured into a large drill. “Yeah. Having a hard time with that. Still, it’s so great to have a new arm! I can finally play video games again too!”

“Whoa there, Simon,” Sergei said. “I… don’t feel like getting impaled on a huge drill today. Can you put it back?”

“But my name’s-” Melnik started, then smiled. “Ohhhh…”

The joke completely flew over Yon-Soo, Aquamarine and Comet’s heads.

“Whatever,” Yon-Soo sighed. “I’m starving. What do we have to eat?”

“Not much,” an American PHL soldier admitted. “Just rations. Might not be the best tasting stuff, but it keeps for a long time and it will nourish you.”

He handed Yon-Soo the package, which he began to examine. There was a bread roll, airtight wrapped pieces of ham and cheese, a pair of small packets of mustard and mayonnaise, and sides of trail mix, a fruit filled granola bar, milk, and two small chocolate cookies.

Yon-Soo sighed with resignation, knowing he’d have to get used to eating this crap for as long as this war was going on. He unwrapped the contents, made his sandwich and ate it. It tasted dry and a bit bland in fact, but he trudged on, chewing and swallowing diligently, even though the rations tasted like and had the consistency of cardboard.

He walked along the train car, listening to the various discussions between PHL members, human and pony alike, curious to see what the Americans had brought over.

Such stories they had.

“I was in Prague, right around the time of The Massacre. Couldn't get anyone, and we were about to leave on the train... when suddenly, I see this high-schooler, carrying his brother on his back. He was outrunning the Barrier, must've been running for hours…" one PHL stallion said. “He fell asleep for like ten hours when he got on the train.”

“...Oh, the Prague Massacre? That was nothing compared to Bosnia! We had the fucking zeps bombarding us the whole time… was a nightmare. We had children, women, cripples, people that shouldn’t have been in a war zone, throwing IEDs and mollies at newfoals… a man with an improvised flamethrower...”

“-Thank God that bitch Reitman is in custody now. She’s gonna scream, gonna bleed if there’s any justice in this world, if they’re anywhere near as angry as everyone else is. No jury’s gonna let her go without the chair-”

“-Funny thing is, the resort? They said my sister disappeared before Equestria manifested. Can’t prove it, but I always thought it was fishy there were newfoals at the grand openings of the bureaus…”

“Heard of this train called the Dreadnought. The HLF took some old diesel and armored it up, added on a tank… No, really, an actual goddamn tank! I think it might be somewhere in China.”

Yon-Soo sighed, knowing all too well the general vibe they gave off. He wouldn’t lie, he had done some pretty brutal things over these past couple of years, killing people and ponies alike. He was almost shocked he had actually survived this long, and still had a clear enough head to boot.

The former celebrity soon took a seat to further contemplate his thoughts, not really paying attention to the fact that someone was already sitting right next to him and he was muttering some things to himself.

“So how’s your magic? Is it good? Hmm I see, can you fly at least?” the man asked, a distant look his turquoise colored eyes… though he seemed to be talking to himself, was he out of it?

Yon-Soo wasn’t sure what to make of that, deciding to just leave the weird man be. ‘Wouldn’t shock me if some people just completely lost their marbles in this whole war...’ he thought to himself.

“Oh I agree, wholeheartedly; everything is just crazy with a capital K don’t you think?” the man asked, his eyes focused on Yon-Soo, no longer distant. His English was clear, and his facial features appeared to be of some Eastern European origin, but Yon-Soo couldn't place where he must have come from.

‘No sense in shutting him out or being rude.’ So, even though Yon-Soo was a bit unnerved by this guy, he nonetheless put on a cordial face and replied, “Crazy doesn’t even begin to describe this whole situation in general, in my personal opinion.”

“Well, given the fact that a glowing pink wall of doom has destroyed an entire continent and just keeps on going...” he stopped to give a brief chuckle, apparently there was an inside joke of some kind, “It figures that all the zombies, really hostile military people and crazy sell out terrorists would be prevalent given the fact that you’re talking to a guy like me… though you’re very kind in my opinion, Yon-Soo,” the man said, running his hands through his messy graying silver blond hair and exhaling.

Yon-Soo cracked a smile and replied, “Thanks, you’re very kind too, sir.”

“No, not really. I should've introduced myself before starting this conversation,” the man said, putting a hand into his dark blue vest pocket. “It’s just been awhile since I’ve used my name is all, manners kind of get away from you I guess… but given all that’s happened it has to be understandable.” He rambled on as he took out what looked like a broken Unicorn horn. “Oh, you’d be surprised at what those crazy kids in the HLF leave behind, but then again you’ve actually saved a couple ponies from them, so you must have some kind of idea.”

Yon-Soo slightly flinched and asked, “How do you even know that? I get you knowing my name at least because of my old job, but that? Are my squad and I like, famous or something?”

“No, not yet… but you might be if you’re lucky… also that’s because I came to the site, went there to see more lives that are messed up… because of me.” He sighed, a weary expression on display. “This whole thing is my fault; the poor mare… she was just a pawn of a great evil’s hand… ” He sighed again, putting the horn back into his vest pocket, Yon-Soo seeing a spell circle of some kind with a book in its center on his worn out tie. “Sometimes I wonder, what would’ve happened if I had tried to do something more back then; maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess or I could’ve had my mind eaten up too… hindsight is 20/20,” he rambled again, before taking another sigh and asking, “Any regrets so far, Yon-Soo?”

Yon-Soo felt like he had just had a brick dumped on his head, not really sure just how to process this… or just who this guy was. But he tried to focus on the question at hand, thinking for a second before finally answering, “If you mean I regret going into this war, no, I don’t regret that. I had a comfortable life and I could’ve just sat this whole thing out. But knowing what the stakes are… I couldn’t live with myself without at least helping. And I’ve seen the reports of those refugee camps and those Dead Ends, and I’ll admit, I’m glad I’m not in there. I don’t want to just lie down and let them trample over me and lose everything that makes me human. And I won’t lie, I do hate that I have to kill, but it’s kill or be killed, and I have to help my friends too. Porter, Hyong-Jin, Sergei, Khan, Ivan, Firebrand, Blizzard, Aquamarine and Comet… I can’t abandon them and I know they have my back too.”

The man gave a smile after hearing that answer, muttering, “Spoken like a true Equestrian, but in their eyes he’s a monkey and says that silly propaganda… now isn’t that ironic?” He refocused on Yon-Soo and said, “Well now, I think you really gave me the confidence I need, Yon-Soo; friendship is universal and you sir, have embodied its spirit more than what the Solar Empire has been preaching for the last few years.” He then took out a notebook and pen, asking “By the way, mind if I can get your autograph? It would make this all the more memorable.”

Yon-Soo laughed and went along with it, saying, “Sure.”

After the former celebrity finished signing, the man put his notebook back in his pocket, eagerly saying, “Ah, this will be something, Hyacinth will loooove that I managed to get her another celebrity in the notebook; she thinks your celebrities are beyond amazing. She’ll be buzzing for days!” he said, a bit enthusiastic over this whole thing… though Yon-Soo noticed the man’s nose starting to bleed. The man seemed to notice this too, wiping it away and looking at his now bloody fingers.

“Oh… that isn’t good at all, I’m almost out of time,” the man said, taking out a handkerchief from his dark blue jacket’s pocket and using it to dab his nose. “That’s a shame; hoped I’d be able to stay here longer, but I need to get going now.”

“Where to?” Yon-Soo asked him.

“Not here, if I stay here I don’t think the refugees will like the sight of me turning back… I better get back,” the man said, pocketing the handkerchief and then pulling out a silver collar-like necklace with a cobalt colored spell circle cut gem in its center. He gave Yon-Soo a smile and a handshake. “It’s a pleasure to have met you, Yon-Soo Park, and I wish you and your friends the best of luck with your endeavors.”

He then put it on, grabbed the cane that was right next to him, got up and started heading towards a door that led outside of the train car. He closed the door behind him, a subtle burst of light going off on the other side.

Yon-Soo felt the compulsion to follow him, wondering what he meant by that. He quietly walked when the man exited the back car’s door, closing it. Before Yon-Soo could open it, he noticed that there was a light coming from the other side which only lasted a second before passing. He quickly opened it, only to find the man gone; no trace of anyone… but before Yon-Soo went back in, he spotted a piece of paper, a strange language and weird symbols he couldn’t recognize written on it, laying on the floor.

‘What the hell was that all about?’ he wondered to himself as he picked the card up and pocketed it; there was a feeling that he should hang onto it.

Erenhot, on the Mongolian/Chinese border…

It had taken several hours, the darkness of night slowly creeping in and coloring the sky with deep blues, purples and blacks.

It had not been an easy trip, though the American PHL members assured them it would get worse. There had been a few half-hearted attacks, bullets slamming against the train, or a ball bearing from what looked to be an airgun. Once even an arrow, to Aitmatov’s utter disbelief.

Sometimes there’d been RPGs, and they’d passed through towns that seemed entirely too unfriendly. They’d all been on edge, holding their weaponry at the ready, odd new PHL weaponry ready to be tested…

But it hadn’t happened, thankfully enough.

Everyone, human and pony alike, rushed to load the cargo into the next train. Erenhot was where the Trans-Mongolian Railway ended, and the Chinese national rail system began. Being built to different rail gauges, crossing the border required actually changing trains.

Now, as the last glimmers of twilight sparkled along the distant, open horizon of the Gobi desert, the last passengers and cargo were finally being transferred.

Assault rifle, this one a Kalashnikov cradled gently in his arms, Yon-Soo made a final check of the platform, inspecting each of the Mongolian carriages to make sure no-one had been left behind. Satisfied, he finally came to the head of the train, and paused to light a cigarette. He really wasn’t much of a smoker, but this was needed. And if you couldn’t smoke here, what could you smoke to?

“Too long… this took far too long,” he muttered between drags.

“Be careful where you stub that out,” Khan cautioned, joining him from the other side of the train. “You might set the whole town on fire. Lots of coal round here.”

Yon-Soo glanced down and saw how the dust and sand around him was mixed with pulverised black grains, and then looked across the tracks realised where it had come from: tens of thousands of tons of coal that had been piled up in a mile-long yard, awaiting freight trains that would never come. The Gobi was rich with the stuff.

“Thanks for the tip,” he said, burning the cigarette down to the filter and carefully rubbing it out against a carriage wheel. Then he considered the hulking beast marshalled at the head of the train.

The 2M62M locomotive that had brought them this far was a bulky and rather odd piece of work to his eyes, a huge double-ended monstrosity that looked as if two separate machines had been forcibly stitched together. Its age was reflected in the slightly chipped blue paint and even graffiti on several areas, as well as Cyrillic lettering that suggested it had been built in the former Eastern Bloc. It was nothing like the sleek white and silver bullet trains in Korea and Japan that Yon-Soo was used to seeing, but he found some irony in that a product of the Soviet Union had hauled everyone here to safety.

He was certain that when they were on their last legs, they’d still be supported by Soviet equipment. Amazing how rugged it all was.

As he turned away he noticed something that had escaped him before: a symbol of two horses painted on the side of the locomotive’s body. He smiled, remembering the legend of Genghis Khan, and his twin white chargers.

‘Maybe a sign of some good luck coming our way…’ he mused to himself, before saluting the old monster a farewell and turning towards the more modern Chinese train that would take them on in.

And then he stared in shock as he saw the border guards.

“Well, that’s something new…” Khan said, looking just as surprised.

Griffons, actual griffons, were meeting them at the checkpoint. In general, they had the bodies of lions, with wings, forelegs and heads like eagles; their colors were more muted as well, consisting mainly of shades of browns, black, grey and white. The ponies (Comet and Aquamarine especially) looked rather uneasy around them, a feeling that seemed mutual. ‘I know what you are and what your species has done,’ their gazes seemed to say.

“What’s up with all of them?” Hyong-Jin asked. “I mean, they look big and intimidating, but I don’t think they’re gonna eat us or anything.” He then turned to the ponies and asked, “They won’t, right?”

Firebrand clarified, “Well, through most of Equestria’s history, ponies and griffons weren’t always on the best of terms with each other. Territory disputes and power struggles mainly. Plus, well, some ponies haven’t really gotten past the fact that the griffons are carnivorous. But then Celestia and Luna took the throne of Equestria and strove for more peaceful relations… at least until it all turned into the Solar Empire. Last I’ve heard, Celestia cut off all trade with the Griffon Nation and they’re really struggling.”

“They are,” Aquamarine confirmed. “Before Comet and I got out of Equestria, we heard rumors of food shortages and attempts at protests. Even the royal family was apparently struggling, and if I remember right, Queen Hedwig was on the verge of dying.”

One nearby griffon, who was clad in a leather jacket with holes cut in the back for his wings, and carried a few pistols and knives on him, grunted and interjected, his voice a guttural growl, “Even worse than that. Queen Hedwig died and King Tobias is barely able to keep order. Heard rumors he sent his heir to America to be cared for by the PHL. But yeah, Celestia also pulled back all of the weather control pegasus teams that were helping us grow what little crops we could. Anyone still stuck there is barely scraping by. Will only be a matter of time before the Tyrant goes after us like she did to the Reindeers and the minotaurs. Haven’t seen one of either ever since the manifestation...”

Blizzard’s features hardened as she spat, “Or like she’s doing to humanity. Wouldn’t surprise me if she decided to modify the potion to find a way to ponify the griffons, zebras, diamond dogs and buffalos sometime in the future.”

“Wait!” Comet then cried. “Then that means Sint Erklass is…?”

Yon-Soo’s (and every other nearby human’s) eyes widened at the mention of the name that sounded so close to Santa Claus, but said nothing. The filly’s eyes welled with tears as the realization dawned on her.

“Who is Sint Erklass?” Porter asked. “Sounds really close to…”

“Santa Claus. And of course, Sinterklaas,” Blizzard nodded. “In Equestria, we have a wintertime holiday called Hearthswarming Eve, which celebrates the founding of Equestria. Sint was the ruler of the Reindeer, and the bringer of gifts to all children in Equus. He raised Celestia and Luna when they were foals, and he is also the eldest being in the entirety of Equus that we know of. And he’s right. I haven’t seen any minotaurs or reindeer or dragons for that matter ever since the manifestation.”

“Queen Celestia killed the reindeer?!” Aquamarine cried in outrage. “How could she?! She literally killed happiness itself!”

"Because she doesn't care," Porter grimly answered with a shake of his head. "We have our tyrants and dictators all over our history to learn from. They’ll kill and enslave for any reason. Racial or cultural cleansing, wealth, power. Doesn’t matter who gets in the way or how many innocents are killed, or how much they betray their own philosophies as long as they get their way. This isn’t about morality for her; it’s about power and nothing else."

Comet sniffled as she looked out the window, her mother gently nuzzling her to calm her down from learning the truth.

On Earth (or at least in Western society), the worst moment in a child’s life was to learn that Santa Claus wasn't real. In Equestria, it was the opposite - he was real and he was killed off because he was in the Tyrant's way.

'What a way to find out…' Porter mused to himself. He turned to the ponies and said, "Blizzard, Aquamarine, do one last round around the train. I'll stay with Comet, keep an eye on her."

"Okay," Aquamarine nodded, kissing her daughter's head before she trotted away with Blizzard.

"Hey Comet." Porter reached down and picked the little filly and held her in his arms. "It will be fine."

"No, it won’t!" Comet sniffed, burying her face into his chest. "The Father of Hearthswarming is dead!"

The door open and Sergei walked into the room. "Hey, guys. Is everything alright?"

"Not really." Porter looked to the crying Comet. He leaned in close and whispered into Sergei's ear. "Santa is dead."

"What?" Sergei blinked in confusion. "Hey, sweetheart, you okay? My little sister senses went off and I came running."

"You have a little sister sense?" Comet sniffed, tilting her head in confusion.

"Yup!" Sergei replied, smiling as he rubbed her head. "Now what’s the problem?"

"Sint Erklass is dead and Hearthswarming is ruined forever!" Comet cried, looking up at the two men in despair.

"Hey now, don't think like that." Porter gently tapped her chin up. "He may be gone, but what he stood for and represents is still here."

Porter gently tapped Comet’s chest, causing her to look up at in confusion. "I don’t understand," she said.

"He brought a lot to you, all those... Hearthswarming presents? Yeah, so what? Presents don't make the holiday, it is the ideal that makes it important." Porter gave her a warm smile. "What does Hearthswarming stand for anyway, Comet?"

Comet tried to dig into her memories of classroom lectures that she usually didn’t listen to much. She finally managed to scrounge up some and replied, “It stands for the unity and harmony of the three pony races. But everyone’s celebrated it.”

“Just like Christmas!” Sergei said. “Or kind of. Well, Jews and Muslims don’t, but it’s a religious thing. Well, Jews have Hanukkah, but it’s really kind of a minor holiday...”

“It is?” Porter asked. Then again, he hadn’t known many Jewish people...

“Well, Hanukkah just happens to coincide with Christmastime on the calendar,” Sergei explained. “So… people get presents because of timing,” he shrugged.

When Comet looked confused, Porter explained, “Well, here on Earth, we have a holiday kind of like Hearthswarming. It’s called Christmas, where we celebrate the birth of a man named Jesus Christ who was said to be the son of God.”

Comet’s eyes lit up as she said, “Oh, I remember hearing about Jesus while I was in Italy! I saw a gigantic statue of him being held by his mommy.”

“Right,” Porter nodded, going along with her. “Well, in many societies there’s also an icon of Christmas named Santa Claus. Like Sint Erklass, he would bring children gifts.”

“An icon? You mean Santa isn’t real then?”

“Well, he was based off a real life person. His name was Saint Nicholas; he was a man who gave children gifts on the birthday of Jesus, and was remembered as a friend of children by the Catholic Church,” Porter explained.

“He sounds like a good person,” Comet remarked. “And yet… Celestia thinks all humans are bad. Why doesn’t she see the good? It’s like she doesn’t even want to believe humans can be good, and she’s not letting guardsponies either! It’s like… she just can’t!”

She sounded genuinely heartbroken by her own question, and neither Sergei nor Porter really knew how to answer that. They decided to take a walk around to get her mind off the news, and maybe take in some of the town's sights, possibly for the last time in their lives before it was either destroyed in a battle or vaporized by the barrier.

For a while they took in local sights, and the trio came across some local police officers riding on horses, talking over megaphones as they kept refugees in check. It wasn’t lost on Porter that Comet (and many of the other ponies) looked at the horses with unnerved expressions.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her.

“I don’t know,” Comet replied. “But horses from Earth… I can’t really describe it. They’re not like the newfoals, but there’s something weird about them. They look like ponies, but they’re not.”

Sergei nodded along, apparently understanding what she was getting at. “Uncanny Valley. It looks nearly completely like the real thing, but they’re not the real thing and…” he paused. It wasn’t easy to convey. “The way they’re so close just makes them miss that spark even more. Right?”

“Yeah, kind of like that,” the filly nodded along. “But still, they seem to be just better than newfoals.”

“Well, they look a lot different,” Porter pointed out.

The three of them shrugged as they continued on.

Yon-Soo put the large crate down as carefully as he could, relieved that it he didn’t hear anything crack or get shifted around too much. Their cargo was too precious and delicate to leave in any foolish hands, and he certainly didn’t want any art being destroyed.

This was far from a break, as it was easy to tell how cluttered and chaotic the town of Erenhot had been. There were PHL, Mongolian military officers, and local law enforcement trying to keep refugees (and really, anyone wanting to get out of here before things got really bad) in line.

He could see graffiti on the buildings nearby, some calling this the end of the world, others calling for repentance to God, others calling for Queen Celestia’s head on a stick. He could also see some flashy posters, some with pictures of apparently missing persons, others calling for people to join the fight against the Solar Empire, and the most curious of all, some with Chinese lettering. Going by his limited and simplistic knowledge of Mandarin, Yon-Soo could deduce that it was calling for mercy to the Solar Empire’s defectors instead of greeting them with suspicion.

Stranger than that, however, was a large graffito spanning one wall. It was done in red spray paint, featuring a monstrous vehicle that… might have been a train. It looked like a child’s drawing of a battleship, but placed on a set of rails.

Beware the Dreadnought, it said.

But they had finished the first round of loading, and it was late out now. The least he and his friends could do was to try to relax before they had to get back to work.

Melnik stood next him, a large crate held in his prosthetic arm as he waited for Yon-Soo to move.

"Isn't that a two man load?" Yon-Soo asked as he watched Melnik grunted and hefted the crate onto the ground.

"Yup. I figured I give her a test run. She can lift my sorry ass up easy enough, but damn it doesn't make lifting any easier." Melnik groaned as he rubbed his back.

"That is because you still have a normal back and legs, not prosthetic ones. You are still limited by your body, I thought you knew this?" Yon-Soo rolled his eyes as he pushed the crate to the wall before looking at the label.

“Well… It was cool, and I wanted to see what it could do,” Melnik said sheepishly. “Looks like Masamune Shirow was right.”

“About…”

“Eh, before your time,” Melnik shrugged. “See… he was this cyberpunk manga-ka that made some of the best sci-fi, weaponry, porn, and mini mecha that I’d ever-”

“What was that last part?”

“Mini-mecha,” Melnik said. “He’d said that full-body prosthetics are probably a better idea, cause if I get something like this-” he flexed his left arm, wincing slightly, “Then I’ll still tear something if I lift too much.” he paused. “I wonder if I should get something for my spine?”

“You know, considering that there’s a lot of people that have had limbs amputated thanks to the potion, that’s a good question. Okay, last train car left....” Yon-Soo muttered, looking over the train cars. He stopped, staring over at Melnik.

He was silent. Not even continuing with what he’d been saying about cybernetic limbs.

Were Melnik a dog, something like a Siberian Husky or some other breed that didn’t seem too far removed from a wolf, his ears would be pricked up, his hackles raised. He’d slipped into an almost primal stance, his normal fingers dancing over the silenced, laser-sighted Stechkin pistol on his hip. His eyes darted from side to side.

“What’s wrong?" Yon-Soo asked.

“I don’t know…” Melnik said, unholstering the pistol, holding it in a one-handed grip in front of his face, aiming in the direction of one train car. Yon-Soo?” he asked, worried. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

“What do you mean?” Yon-Soo asked, ignoring the prickling sensation as his hairs rose on the back of his neck.

“... Got a real bad feeling,” Melnik said, eyes darting to every cloud as if there was a PER pony hiding behind each one. He shook slightly, and a drill unfolded from his left arm. “Come on, you…” He gasped. “Sonovabitch!”

“What? What is it?”

"The air... it’s fresh. The sky is clear and cool," Melnik whispered.

"Huh..." Yon-Soo blinked in confusion at his words before he took a deep breath.

The smell of coal was gone, as well as the small particles of dust and coal that hung in the air. The sky had a dusty atmosphere and had a stifling heat to it, now replaced with clear blue sky and a cool breeze.

Both men stared at the cool blue sky before they looked to one another, bolting to their superior.

"Porter!"

They dashed through the railyard, bolting past lines and lines of train cars.

"Wow..." Comet stared at the two large sauropod statues that appeared to be kissing. "Were they really that large?"

"Some were even bigger," Porter said to Comet as she flew by Sergei's head. "Maybe even four times bigger than these two."

Her eyes lit up with surprise and wonder. "Whoa! Really? How come we’ve never seen any then?"

‘We should really get that old Jurassic Park movie...’ Porter thought to himself. “Well, that’s because they aren’t around anymore. The dinosaurs are extinct.”

"What happened to them?" Comet asked.

"No one really knows," Sergei said as they walked away to the main building. "The leading theory is that a large asteroid, a giant space rock, hit the Earth and caused their extinction due all the dust and fire."

"Others say that the climate of the world changed too quickly for them to adapt," Porter added. "No one knows for sure."

"Hey Porter," Sergei asked as he looked around in confusion, "Is it just me or did the weather turn really nice all of sudden?"

Porter looked around to realize what Sergei said was true. He wasn't alone as the dozens of people around them looked around as well.

The hairs on his neck suddenly spiked up, his adrenaline kicked in as he looked around before finally spotting what appeared to be a large storm heading their way.

There was only one problem with that view.

It was heading towards them from the Gobi Desert, northwest of them.

Sergei looked around to see many of the residents pointing at the large cloud formation, fearfully babbling in Mongolian. "I... I take it this is not a normal event."

Whatever Porter was going to say died in his throat as something massive came flying out of the storm. Comet whimpered as several potioneer ships accompanied the large ship.

"What the hell is that?!" Porter asked, taking several steps back. The ship was big. Big enough to put the zeppelins of Nazi Germany to shame, and bristling with what looked to be huge crossbows. There was a massive set of doors on the side, not entirely unlike bomb bays, and pegasi were quite literally pouring out.

"It’s a skyliner! The biggest airships ever created by hooves!” a nearby pony cried out.

Comet just simply said, “We’re fucked.”

"Hey! Watch your mouth, young lady!" Porter chided. “I really don’t want your mother to start washing our mouths out with soap.”

"Sorry." Comet rubbed her head with her foreleg. “But you know I’m right.”

"How many are there?" Sergei asked.

"I... I think there are ten of them," Comet said quietly. They covered their ears as the roar of Chinese jets flew overhead, heading towards Tyrant forces. There must have dozens of them, all of them releasing their missiles at the monster ship. “They’re probably making more. Daddy always talked about this new one from Trans-Equus lines…”

“The Monster?” another pony asked her.

“I don’t know what that is,” Comet said.

“Long story short, skyliner made in a pissing contest just to be bigger than the Great Equestrian. Luna help us all if that thing gets out,” the pony said. “Still, though. It has money troubles, so they’d have to put Celestia’s name on it to get it off the drawing boards.”

"There is no way they can handle that firepower." Sergei watched the ship kept moving forward. "There is no possible way..."

They watched as shields flared to life, taking the hundreds of missiles with ease, her shields not showing any signs of cracking before the final missile slammed into her.

She sat still, waiting for the jets to get closer while the potioneer ships fell back, her retaliation to the attack was horrifying. Plumes of magic and large crossbolts filled the sky, jets attempting to speed through found themselves in a flurry filled sky of death. China's proud fighter pilots were cut down, most exploding due to the piercing their armaments on board. Others lost power as spells took out their power, forcing the pilots to eject and fall into the hooves of waiting newfoal pegasus flocks.

Then the flocks turned and headed straight for them.

"Train. Now!" Porter roared out, the screams filling the air as they ran back to the station.

Many of the PHL rushed out, directing many people to the trains standing by to take them deeper into China, some even directing them onto the their own train for evac.

"What the Tartarus is that thing doing here?" a griffon growled out as he watched the group quickly load the last car.

"Causing havoc, what else?" a PHL unicorn mare growled as she lifted the last box in her magical grip.

"There are not enough trains in the yard! Please take us!" a Russian woman cried out, her child in her arms, along with dozens of others in a crowd that was growing in size. Doubtless, they were refugees from somewhere.

"There is not enough room. We can't take you all!" a soldier yelled. He clearly did not like having to do this, but orders were orders. "We can’t offload the items either, their importance to humanity is too grand!"

The woman looked like she was going to cry out in despair until several people got off train. An elderly man of Mongolian origin held up his hand, the group quieting down as he held out his arm to the child.

"The children... can go in our place!" he called out in heavily accented English, holding the crying child in his arms. He passed the child to a teen who was getting off with the group, only to be held back by the elder. "All children."

The teenaged girl protested in Mongolian, most likely refusing to go without her grandfather.

He turned to her and said, “I’m an old man who has lived his life out. You still have a full life ahead of you, Odval! Do not waste it! Now go!”

Odval’s eyes welled with tears as she hugged her grandfather and said, “I love you, Grandfather. I promise to protect them with my life,” as she grabbed the young toddler into her arms.

The crowd looked to one another before they quickly grabbed the children and pushed them forward.

"Go. Mama will always be with you!"

"Be brave, Bataar. Know that I will always love you."

The griffon watched in despair as the children began to protest when they realized their parents were not coming with them. Babies were crying as they were passed over the crowds' head with care and put into the arms of the older children getting on board.

"This isn’t right," he whispered, clutching his sword. "The stuff we have is just junk."

"It’s not our place to say. And you would not say the same thing if it was griffon relics," the unicorn said, causing the griffon to look away.

"We have room for a bit more!" A soldier called out, reaching down and pulling the mother onto the train. "All mothers get on board now!"

"Fathers! Defend your children and wives. Give them time to escape the devils!" the elder called out as he walked back to the city, many of the men nodding their heads and followed, grabbing any weapons, from old beaten up or even homemade rifles to newer models. Still, a few others ran, trying to escape the invasion on foot, or by any vehicles they could find.

Porter, Sergei, and Comet just arrived to see hundreds of men grabbing what they could to fight.

“You!” one man in a brown and grey camo uniform yelled over at Porter with heavily accented English. “Did you bring any weapons on that train of yours?”

“Certainly,” Porter replied. “It was meant to carry relics, but someone important figured a lot of people would need the things.”

“Good. We need all the help we can get. Kalashnikovs?” the man asked.

Porter nodded. “Any gun based on that platform that you can imagine, straight from every factory in Moscow before they were consumed.”

“Excellent! There’s people that don’t know how to shoot guns here… I’m sure that’ll help us a lot,” the man said.

"Over here!" They turn to see Melnik opening a car door and passing out weapons and ammo to the defenders.

"Come on." Porter pushed his way to the car and jumping on to help pass weapons out.

“Why, Lord, must we always be doom magnets?” Melnik sighed out loud, causing everyone to glare at him. “Oh, just try and deny it,” he said.

“Eh, he’s got a point,” Blizzard shrugged, looking off into the distance to see the former luxury liner dispatching more and more newfoals.

"Is there any way to fight that off?" Aquamarine asked with a mixture of terror and heartache, watching as the newfoals dove into the city, the sounds of screaming and distant gunfire filling the air. No doubt some of those were children, and being a mother made it even worse.

"We need the Navy for that," Porter growled, "they are the only ones that have the firepower to take an aircraft of that size that out."

"And we’re in the desert in the ass end of nowhere. Great," Firebrand grunted, watching as the ship drew closer.

Aitmatov had an… interesting look on his face. Strangely contemplative, yet horrified, but still intrigued. “Everyone, I have a really bad idea.”

"Which is?"

"Use the Fire Tornado."

"Uh..." Firebrand looked at the large invasion force before looking back at him. "No offense, but that won't do squat against the ship. Remember last time it got out of control?"

"It’s not for the ship. It’s for the city," Aitmatov clarified, causing the group to stare at him. "If this city falls to the Tyrant, it will be days before the information is passed to the world. By that time, thousands will still be heading here, and fall into their hooves. It’ll be a hole that trains just fall into, like that godsquabble trap from Railsea! And I don’t think I want Celestia getting her hooves on this much coal. Besides, if we lure the ship into the chaos and let it burn… we could cripple it! The force and the heat would turn it into a deathtrap!"

"It’s the only city around for miles!" Hyong-Jin growled.

“No matter what we do here,” Aitmatov said, “People will die or get ponified. If we have to sacrifice the city so fewer people die, then so be it.”

"We will be sentencing them to death by starvation! They have to go back the way they came, and they won't be the only ones." Hyong-Jin growled in frustration, his hands shaking at the thought of committing thousands to death.

"I don’t like it either Hyong-Jin, but as far as options go, we have no choice,” Yon-Soo pointed out, taking his binoculars out to inspect the carnage in the distance, shuddering at what he was seeing. “It’s either burn the city to the ground, or let the newfoals get themselves a stronghold in the way of thousands of other refugees, where they could add even more to their numbers!”

For a moment, everyone was quiet, taking Yon-Soo’s words in. The silence was then broken by the cheers and laughter of newfoals, singing songs about “uplifting humanity” and reciting scraps of nonsense poetry and corrupted scripture.

"How am I supposed to destroy the city? They could snuff it out within minutes!" Firebrand said, the idea of going along with the plan causing him to grow sick.

“We set up explosives all over the place,” Sergei said. “We’re in a town. Full of coal, probably at least one hardware store… I could rig up a lot of bombs if need be.”

"No no, that means running out into that death trap! We don't have time for that!" Porter said, before blinking at his words. "Coal? Wait, there is a lot of coal here right?"

"Yeah, entire train cars full of them." Sergei nodded his head, his eyes widening. "Okay, I think I follow. Firebrand's little flaming tornado got stronger last time he used it, right?"

"I think it was because it was feeding off all the fuel in the area. Gas and wood, and maybe even latent magic," Porter said, causing Sergei to snap his finger.

"And there is plenty of fuel and latent magic around now."

Comet looked at Firebrand and said, “We have to do this! All those people need to get out of here!”

"By killing people to spare them from a fate worse than death," Yon-Soo whispered solemnly.

"I think it is too late for that," Melnik said as he looked out the window, seeing the flocks growing closer.

"The train will leave in ten minutes. Cold start is not a good way to get this train going!" Their radio crackled to life, the conductor calling out.

"We don't even have five minutes!" Porter growled, grabbing his radio. "All units on the train, standby for defensive fire."

"Yes, sir."

Porter turned to the group and said, "Alright. Sergei, get out to those coal cars and rig them up. Firebrand, defend him until it’s done."

"Yes sir!" Both saluted and hopped off the train and took off to the coal cars.

“What do we do?” Yon-Soo asked, strapping on a couple grenades and taking out his K-7.

"We fight like rogue dragons!" Blizzard declared. "Lay waste to everything that threatens our horde."

Hyong-Jin grinned and said, “I like the sound of that!”

“Me too,” Melnik nodded.

“Alright,” said Porter. “Let’s go!”

"Hurry up!" Firebrand urged Segrei on as he set the incendiary on the gas tank.

"You know, I am carrying over twenty kilograms of explosives! If I do this wrong, we could be blowing ourselves up along with half the train yard!" Sergei fired back, hearing the sound of gunfire. "Aaaand done. Let’s do this."

"Too late. Train is moving. Hold on."

"Hold on - whoa!" Sergei yelped as Firebrand grabbed him by the waist and took off. "A little warning next time, hothead!"

"Sorry. No time!" Firebrand took off into the sky. "Porter! We're done! Coming back now."

"Negative! Area is too hot!" Porter shouted over the chatter of gunfire. "Newfoals are trying to break through the wall!"

"Got the bitch! I think you mean the area is surrounded by lava right now," Melnik called out.

"I can see it!" Sergei called out, seeing the train pulling away, bullets flying out of cars and taking out any newfoals trying to get onto the train. One new foal attempted to dive through the window when someone needed to reload, only for a light blue shield to appear to deny him entrance, bouncing off just in time to hit a pole that was passing by.

"Sergei, wait up ahead , preferably several miles ahead of us. Firebrand, get in position and get ready to unleash."

"Yes sir!" Firebrand called out, flapping his wings to gain distance. "I hope this works."

"Me too. If not, we have a problem," Sergei called out, looking behind to see the newfoals covering the city. "A really big one."

Firebrand huffed as he got the distance he needed to set up. Now he needed the speed to pull it off.

Firebrand and the others debated about his ability to create this attack. How it grew bigger and stronger as time went on, but they never wanted to test it.

Now they were throwing the chips on the table and unleashing a potential citywide destructive force.

He saw the train cars in the distance explode into fireballs, giving him the go ahead.

"Alright. Go time."

‘Hope I’m ready for this,’ Firebrand thought, and shot off into the air like a missile, flying over the town. ‘Hope I don’t-’

He shut the thoughts out. He couldn’t think about this too hard. He’d make up too many reasons it wouldn’t work, and then, well, that didn’t bear thinking on.

He gritted his teeth. This had to work.

It had to.

Ignoring the cries of the newfoals, and simply punching through the pegasi that tried to grab him, he made his way to the flaming cars and flew into a tight spiral, retracing his flight path at speeds that even Rainbow Dash would have been proud of.

“What’s he doing?!” one newfoal screamed as he was thrown back by the winds.

“He’s gone hysterical!” another yelled, and Firebrand silently wept for the future of Equestria if that was what they considered the ideal pony.

Had to go faster before they could stop him. He closed his eyes, head shuddering as he forced his mouth closed, as he flew in tighter and tighter loops. He could feel the heat building up inside and out. He wasn’t sure how Rainbow Dash must’ve felt when pulling off a Sonic Rainboom, but this was probably close, because he was going so fast, he was sure he could shatter glass with the resulting boom.

The air around him erupted into flames, the fire tornado in full force. Newfoals that tried to stop him burnt to a crisp, their voices lost to the swirling roar of flames.

Firebrand gritted his teeth and pulled out, throwing the tornado onto a path of the flaming coal cars.

He watched as the fire tornado drew closer to fires made by Sergei's bombs, his eyes widening as he saw the flames being sucked into the spinning vortex. The first train car was engulfed by the tornado and it exploded in size, he felt the winds slowly trying to draw him in.

"Oh boy..." Firebrand swallowed as he fled the scene, as several cars were absorbed.

“... What the hell did we just do?” Khan whispered, staring at the conflagration. The people on the train watched in silent shock as the small flaming tornado exploded in size once the coal cars were sucked inside.

“Mayhem and destruction on a grand scale,” Melnik said. “Just us doing us, Aitmatov.”

It reached the very sky, debris being sucked into the massive unnatural storm. The potioneer ships closest to it were sucked inside and ripped apart. Vehicles were quickly vacuumed into the tornado, the intense heat causing the gas tanks to explode and heating the metal chassis to red hot and flinging them back out at incredible speeds. Few potioneer ships that managed to survive so far found themselves in a barrage of flaming debris. A few even piercing the magical shields and shredding the balloons as they passed. Newfoals and humans were flung into the air and smashed into the ground or standing building.

And it just kept growing in size.

"What the hell did we unleash?" Porter whispered as he saw several objects, living and inanimate, being ripped apart, large tankers being lifted into the sky and flung away for several miles.

The firestorm grew out of control, and before their eyes a second tornado formed from the main body, snatching up bodies and debris and spreading the destruction, then another formed, and another.

The newfoals were trying to put out the fiery attack with rain clouds, only for the clouds to evaporate before it even got close enough to do anything. Clouds of smoke and ash filled the sky, overwhelming the cloud cover the Tyrant’s forces formed. The large skyliner drifted away, pegasi (newfoals, almost certainly) swarming out the side, pushing against the side of the leviathan supership, desperately trying to move it away from the vortex of heat and smoke.

It wasn’t working very well - numerous other refugees fired up into the flock of pegasi, taking potshots, the bullets overpenetrating anywhere from four to even ten of them.

At that same moment, a smaller fire tornado ripped through the city, picking up both debris and bodies as it drew closer to the skyliner. Her shields flaring to life to protect from the flames, pegasi were getting sucked into the wayward tornado.

The ash cloud began to rumble, before a large bolt of lightning shot out and struck a potioneer ship, causing shields to break. Soon another bolt flew out struck the rear of the ship, causing it to explode.

Screaming pegasi were pulled into the fire tornadoes, the fur and feathers stripped from their bodies as the swirling vortexes consumed them. Cars and those few train cars that couldn’t be salvaged were ripped from the ground, tumbling through the air, the metal almost melting...

And, horrifyingly, they were ramming into anything in the air affiliated with the Solar Empire. Old-model automobiles punched through the side of the Coming Dawn, a boxcar reduced a potioneer ship to bits of flaming powder, and a lump of rubble from one house flew through a window, smashing an earth pony on the Coming Dawn to red smears on the wall.

It would be described in the future as the biggest incendiary weapon ever deployed against the Solar Empire.

That was only the first five minutes.

The next five were worse.

War veterans always explained that to see hell on earth, all one had to do was to look at a city after it was bombed into oblivion and invaded.

What happened in Erenhot far exceeded expectations and then some.

A true vision of hell, unleashed by a desperate team of defenders.

The city was in flames, the fire tornado had long extinguished itself and the former city of Erenhot was all but wiped out from the face of the earth. Rubble of buildings, vehicles, and burnt corpses laid everywhere, the tornado left nothing out of its destruction. Only a scant few buildings on the outlying areas of the city were spared, where few newfoals and humans laid huddled for protection. Barely ten bricks were left together anywhere.

A piece of stone moved as a newfoal pulled itself from the debris and looked up to the ash filled sky. A potioneer ship flew over, orders being called out by what few officers survived. Many were newfoals, and even the staunchest PETN among them blanched - newfoals rarely made for good commanders.

The ship captain scowled as he looked over the side, seeing the destruction and death of a city.

“Blasted PHL. I have to write up a report for the Queen to read about this disaster. They are getting too strong for their own good,” he muttered as he looked at the down former luxury ship. Many ponies were searching the wreckage, desperately trying to find items to repair the damage.

“Sir!”

“Report.”

“Scouts report a long train convoy leaving the area of the train station to the nation of Mongolia,” the newfoal reported happily, “Several surviving converts reported that the train holds many children and rare human artifacts of importance. And more refugees with which we can bolster our numbers.”

His smile abruptly turned bloodthirsty, an unpleasant, unfamiliar sight on a pony.

"Maybe we can even get the buckers that destroyed our ship."

“Hm… Good. Gather all the healthy fliers, and I do mean healthy! I want them to be able to fly, not die halfway there! We will send a couple of ships after them and bring them back.”

“Sir, one newfoal said there is PHL on board the train.”

“Even better. Intelligence gathering is important. Now off with you,” the captain waved him away, the newfoal happily saluting and flying away. “Bloody idiot, good enough to soak up some damage at least.”

The train sped off into the desert, its wheels rattling against the old rails. The passengers, refugee and military alike, stared out its windows or over the tops of boxcars to check if they were being followed.

The sun was slowly making its way across the sky, slowly changing to late afternoon.

Blizzard Flurry stood on the train's roof just by Aitmatov, who was taking a knee with his SVN2015 up and ready. With an old PTRD below him, just in case. Both of them scanned the desert, looking for any signs of pursuers.

"We’re clear!" Blizzard called down once Aitmatov lowered his weapon and gave nod, struggling to be heard over the dadagadan of wheels against rails.

Everyone within range of her breathed a sigh of relief, and passed the news on down the train.

For whatever reason, someone had decided this made for a great time to relax. Songs from the Griffon Empire, from Mongolia, from now-consumed countries rang out the length of the train, and people set to telling stories, watching movies and playing games on what electronics they'd managed to bring.

Aquamarine looked on fondly as her precious Comet leapt into the fray, finding a mixed group of human children along with the few foals and griffon chicks that were stationed in Erenhot to interact with.

It almost felt like... Like before.

She figured she'd let Comet be a filly here. There'd be precious few moments for that in the future.

Thankfully some PHL soldiers had the foresight to have a few decently sized TVs on board for any bored passengers, and it was thankfully stocked with a system that streamed Netflix via satellite. There were so many movies and shows to choose from that it boggled the mind of the few ponies, and people, who never heard of it.

“What can we watch?” one little girl, who was probably at least seven years old and appeared to be of some kind of mixed heritage (Chinese and Mongolian apparently), asked.

Yon-Soo took a seat by Comet, scratching her ears and thought aloud, “Well something everyone of all ages would love… get me the remote.”

He turned to the queue, trying to look for something good. It took nearly a whole three minutes of slight frustration, but finally, he found the perfect film.

“How does Wreck-It Ralph sound to you?” he asked the kids.

A good number of the kids looked confused but curious, Comet most especially. “Is that a violent movie?” Aquamarine asked apprehensively.

Yon-Soo shook his head and replied, “No, not at all… well, a little but it’s not bad. It’s pretty cartoony, but very fun! I bet you’ll really love it. Maybe we can also watch Big Hero 6 after this if we have time?”

The other children shrugged and smiled, one earth pony colt nodding and saying, “I’m on board!”

One young Mongolian girl nodded excitedly. It seemed agreed upon, so Yon-Soo started the movie up.

It went by very swimmingly. The kids were generally entranced by the animation and colors, but the foals were mesmerized, never having the time to watch the shows of humanity during the war. Seeing something look so real, and yet so different at the same time blew their minds. Many of the references clearly flew over most of their heads, though curiously, a couple foals said they saw devices in Equestria similar to the arcade machines.

"Button would've loved this movie," one foal whispered.

And then came along a certain scene. Yon-Soo could hear Melnik whispering about wanting full body armor like the characters in the “Hero’s Duty” game, and also a plasma weapon. That could be useful admittedly.

“On a distant planet with no name, a top secret experiment has gone horribly wrong. You are humanity’s last hope.”

Comet whispered, “That music’s kinda cool. It’s so… awesome…”

“We are humanity’s last hope. Our mission: Destroy all cy-bugs. Ready, rookie? Let’s find out,” the lady soldier said.

“I wanna be just like her!” one filly exclaimed.

The music then turned louder as the action started up, and Comet’s eyes widened, watching on utterly mesmerized.

“While we let the kids watch, what about the rest of us keep out of their hair?” Porter asked around, only to see Melnik and Hyong-Jin ignoring him to sit with the kids, eyes wide with wonder.

Well, Melnik had his vodka still in hand, but was rather absentminded in his drinking while watching the movie. ‘Seriously… where is he getting those?! And how is he not shitfaced?!’ “Texas Hold ‘Em?”

“Five Card Draw,” Sergei said with a grin.

“Blackjack,” Khan said calmly, with Porter gaining a smile at it.

“Deal, easy enough to teach to anyone wanting to play. Deal the cards, Khan.” Porter chuckled as they walked to clear a spare table.

"Blackjack," Khan said.

"Do I... Do we owe you anything?" one woman asked, looking uncertainly at her cards.

"Think we've all lost enough," Khan said, idly wondering about things. Like his family… and his elusive father...

Who had that man been, anyway? And what was he doing now? Was he still alive, even?

"Everything alright?" Blizzard asked, looking at his face. That mare... She could read him like an open book.

"Sure, sure," Khan said. "I'm just worried. About my family."

He watched the scrubland go past. "Barely knew my father... I think he might be out here somewhere. He's probably a scumbag, but nobody deserves what the Empire's bringing. And my daughter, too, she's in America right now, and I just..."

Blizzard lightly slapped him on the back of the head. "You know how that usually ends. Besides, she's fine! We checked her Facebook last night."

"It's just that anything could happen there," Khan said. "Nowhere's safe, but she's just so far away! The HLF are out there, PER ponifying entire towns... I just wish I could do something, anything!"

"Hey," Blizzard said, one hoof over Khan's shoulder. "You're her father. If I know you, you would've raised her well."

"The girl can shoot," Khan agreed. "Did you see that Galil she got?"

"Thing looks like it could stop a truck," Blizzard said. "See? She's fine. You can message her when we get somewhere with wireless that isn't shit. Besides, you have another family to consider."

"But... I settled the paternity suits," Khan said, confused.

"Wait... Okay, never mind," Blizzard said. "Us. Mr. K-pop, Hyong-Jin, Porter, Sergei, Melnik, Firebrand, Aqua, Comet..."

"Cause of all the shit we've been through?"

"Yeah," Blizzard said. "Exactly."

"I think I understand then," Khan said, hands in her fur. "Thanks. I needed that."

The large man with wild hair fell from the grasp of the monster (whose design reminded the ponies somewhat of Changelings, but bulkier), falling straight towards the white dot below him. He gripped something in his hand as he fell, keeping his closed fist before him as he took aim.

“I’m bad... that’s good.”

He steadied himself, resolve faltering as he fell.

“I will never be good and that’s not bad.”

The emotions on his face clear, past regrets showing before he looked down at his enclosed hand. A cookie-like medal with the words ‘You’re My Hero’ written on it with frosting.

“There is no one I’d rather be…” His resolve fully intact, he prepared himself. “Than me.”

Comet sniffed as she watched the brave video game character getting ready to sacrifice himself for his friends. “He’s so brave…”

Porter smirked as he leaned over to Yon-Soo. “I still remember when this came out in the theaters. Been nearly a decade, and it can still make some people cry.”

Yon-Soo blinked in confusion, following Porter’s gaze to see Melnik and Hyong-Jin tearing up as they watched the movie with Comet and the other kids, who were slack jawed with awe.

“Well… It did win a lot of awards that year for best animation and stuff,” Yon-Soo noted as he folded out of the game. The cheers echoed around as Vanellope Von Schweetz used her glitching powers to save Ralph from getting boiled in hot Cola lava and Mentos.

Melnik and Hyong-Jin were cheering with them, with Melnik doing so more drunkenly.

“You save the big diurak little girl! That is a true drook!”

As the movie wrapped up, the kids were now in much better spirits now, which brought a smile to the soldiers’ faces.

Comet was over the moon as she recounted her most favorite moments from the movie, squealing, “Oh, it was so great, every single part! I loved the Hero’s Duty part with the music! Like, it didn’t have any words, but it was so cool, like I could dance to it! And Felix was so cute and sweet too! And Ralph is so brave and awesome! Oh, oh, oh, and giant mountains made of ice cream! I wish I could live there, that would be awesome!”

It was just too darn cute to see her so happy and excited like this, and Porter nodded and said, “Well, kiddo, you’re in luck, because I do know who made that music you liked.”

“Wow! Really?!” she beamed. “Can you show me?”

Porter laughed and replied, “Sure thing. Personally, I've never been big into Skrillex, but my little brother was obsessed with that music scene. I think he still is…”

*SCREECH*

Everyone froze at the sound of metal tearing from above head, Porter looked up to see a large metal beam piercing through the roof. It split open, latching onto the roof, and ever so slowly they felt the car begin to groan.

"How'd they get so close?!" Porter raced to the window to see a Potioneer ship slowly begin to pull away, a long chain connecting to the ship side.

"Must have used an invisibility spell or something!" Aquamarine cried out, gently pushing Comet behind her as her horn flared to life.

“Get the kids out now!” Yon-Soo yelled as he reached for the nearest weapon. “Take out the chain! They’re trying to pull us off the track!”

The few mothers that stayed with the children began to usher several of them to the front of the train, with a few others picking up weapons and beginning to fire at the attacking newfoals.

“I got it!” Khan said calmly as he readied his SVN2015 and a VSS Vintorez. "Just need a minute to adjust."

“You have thirty seconds,” Porter growled as his shoved his Saiga shotgun out the window and pulled the trigger, splattering the newfoal.

"I've had worse," Khan shrugged, quickly setting his scope before taking aim, a small grin on his face as he looked through. “Sometimes, I wonder if this war is making the old days of war look like a simple clean up duty.”

Khan pulled the trigger. The 7.62x54mm round flew through the air, the unstable magic coating the round exploded the moment it hit the chain, destroying it.

The chain fell away from the ship, uselessly stuck in the desert sand. A newfoal looked over the side to see the chain gone and turned to bark out orders, only for his head to explode into a mix of blood, bone and brain matter as Khan fired his rifle once more. Practically point-blank range for the thing.

"I know I said my life had new meaning the first time a newfoal exploded, but it appears that there's no depth to the self-discovery," Khan said, firing again, reducing the newfoal’s head into some chunky salsa. "That right there's a thing of beauty."

The true sound of war exploded as the final two cars exploded into a firestorm of bullets as the PHL members and civilian defenders began to take out the flying newfoals. The train roared out as it began to pull away, if only just.

“Keep all newfoals from attacking the cars with children in it!” Porter ordered as he reloaded his Saiga, “Keep an eye out for any newfoals landing between the cars!”

“Captain.” Khan scowled as he took out another newfoal carrying another grappling device. “Those bastards are going to try again.”

“Why haven’t they pulled above us?”

“Newfoal captain,” Khan answered as he took aim once more and pulled the trigger once more, “Not a problem anymore.”

“Wait? You’ve been taking out newfoals on the ship itself?!” Melnik said in surprise as he punched a newfoal in the face, his Stechkin dropping newfoal pegasi like flies.

“Yeah. No shields on it. Say, there's another big potioneer ship heading our way, ten newfoals on it.”

Khan fired.

"Correction. Eight newfoals."

Another shot.

"Correction, five newfoals."

He fired again, this time setting the rifle to hyper burst, two rounds flying out the muzzle in quick succession.

"Correction. No ship." Khan watched as the shieldless and empty-decked potioneer veered away, slowly losing altitude before crashing, the ship falling apart from the destruction. He focused back on the original potioneer ship and began to fire once more.

“Focus on the other ship!” Porter order to the few soldiers with long range rifles, “Help Khan take out their deckhands!”

Khan’s eyes widened as he pulled the trigger, only to see the newfoal manage to load the grappling device. Another newfoal took over and took aim at the train.

“Watch out!” Khan roared out as another grappling dart flew through the air, punching through the open windows and out the other side. “Hit the deck!”

Everyone threw themselves on the ground as the heavy chains tore the car apart, ripping the roof off with ease.

“Fuck me,” Porter growled as he saw the evening sky above him. He sat up to see the potioneer ship quickly release the chain before they could be further damaged by it. It slowly began to speed up after them, coming up from behind them rather than from the side. “Take defensive position!”

"As per fucking usual..." Melnik sighed he readied himself.

“More fliers in the sky!” Firebrand cried out in surprise. “Bastards were hiding in the clouds!”

“If it’s not raining, it’s pouring!” Porter yelled out in frustration as he saw the sky filled with bodies. Firebrand and Blizzard were probably up ahead, trying to keep out of the swarm of newfoals. The true problem was the potioneer ship gaining on them, and appears to try and shove them off the track.

The train roared out as it hit seventy miles per hour, the conductor pushing the train for all its worth to escape the ship.

“Porter! We are with the conductor, it’s getting bad up here!” Blizzard cried out.

“Just hold-” Porter started to say when another voice popped up.

“Captain, they are hitting the roof with some sort of potion. It’s rusting the metal off!” one PHL pony cried.

“They're trying to get to the refugees!”

“We have to stop-argh!”

“They're trying to get the couplings of the cars! Protect what you can!”

“There’s too many of them!”

Porter wanted to scream in frustration. Dammit, dammit, dammit! So many things going wrong!

“Porter!” His eyes widen as he rolled to the side, feeling the floor shake as a newfoal slammed into the ground. The newfoal smiled at him as he tried to flap his wings to get Porter, only to get enclosed in a magic grip.

He watched as the newfoal was raised off the ground, slamming into several newfoals that were trying to land on the open car, then had his neck violently snapped and thrown away.

"You're not welcome here!" Aquamarine snarled, her dome flaring to life around her, Comet staying close to her, clearly scared.

"Traitor!" one newfoal screeched as he slammed into her shield, “You and your spawn will be taken to Celestia herself to be healed of these apes’ corruption!”

Aquamarine froze, her eyes fixating on the newfoal, her horn glowing dangerously as she bared her teeth at him, causing the newfoal to flinch at the look.

"You will NEVER..." she growled, "for as long as I live..."

The newfoal seemed to crumple under this verbal onslaught, the shield pushing against him....

"DO ANYTHING TO MY DAUGHTER!"

The shield swept forward, sending the newfoals careening off the train, screaming.

"You alright?" Porter asked Aquamarine, pulling himself up and shouldering his AK12.

"I’ll be alright," she said through several deep breaths. "That just took a lot out of me."

"We'll rest when they're gone," Porter said. "Right now, there's people that need us."

“INCOMING!” Melnik cried out, looking above to see the potioneer ship pulling ahead of them, large barrels falling off the side.

“Not on my watch!” Aquamarine’s horn flared, a shield appearing above the train car, causing barrels to break on impact, dosing the shield with potion.

"Anyone have a rocket launcher?!" Porter yelled.

"We can't do that, the back blast would be too str-"

A flurry of grenades spat out from a lone figure on the roof of one train car, the grenades arcing almost perfectly to hit the potioneer ship's gondola.

That'd probably be Sergei then, he watched as the ship shuddered before falling back, seeing scores of crates, barrels and bodies falling out of the holes in the hull.

“Good job, Sergei. Save your stock, do it again when it tries it again,” Porter radioed out to him, sighing as he lifted his AK12 and took aim.

“I saw the big bastard when I took out a newfoal going after the couplings,” Sergei answered, pride in his voice. “And I thought to myself, look at that big target, I should do something about it.”

“Ha ha ha! Good thinking!” Melnik laughed as he drilled through the hoof of a newfoal trying to climb through the window, knocking him into another newfoal, sending them tumbling along the tracks... Only to be crushed underwheel.

“Alright! Second Wave incoming!” Porter called out as he cocked his rifle as he took aim at a newfoal, only to see him to be torn apart from weapon fire.

“Second? I thought this was like, the fifth wave!” Firebrand replied with a chuckle as he landed, a newfoal tried to take advantage of his distraction, only to get sucker punched in the throat by Blizzard. “Thanks.”

“I think we need to discuss just how tired these newfoals look. They’re a lot slower than they look. Numbers is the only thing that is helping them.” Blizzard chuckled, “Did they really fly after us all this time? Poor tactical thinking on their end. Tired soldiers are weak ones.”

"Nah, that implies the Tyrant might actually care about her soldiers," Melnik called over.

"There's probably a deep discussion in there, but CAN WE FIT THAT IN LATER?!!" Porter yelled, firing three rounds into a newfoal's head.

"Right!" Blizzard yelled, jumping up, bouncing off the ceiling, and plowing both forehooves into a stocky pegasus newfoal with a build like an earth pony.

The train car erupted into a storm of flying lead, ripping apart any newfoal in their sight. Later on, stories from fleeing refugees will tell tales of the ‘Bloody Tracks’, miles of railroad tracks splattered with blood and corpses, most of them from pegasus newfoals.

“KEEP FIGHTING! HOLD THEM OFF!” Porter yelled over the sound of gunfire. The children had been moved into the cargo holds with the relics of humanity along with their mothers. “PROTECT THE CARGO CARS!”

“PETUCHAK!” Melink growled as a newfoal slammed into his shoulder, attempting to tackle him to the ground. He managed to take the blow, grabbing him by the wing and slamming him against the wall. He pulled his prosthetic arm back, shifting smoothly into a drill and nailing the newfoal in the skull, spraying fragments of skull, and a thick soup of brains and blood all over him. He quickly turned and backhanded another, the drill still spinning and cutting the newfoals throat with the blades. “OTVYAZHIS!

A newfoal with potion leapt at him, and Melnik whipped out his Stechkin, downing him with a bullet to the head. “DIE, DAMN YOU!” Melnik yelled, sweeping the Stechkin to the side, downing ten newfoals in each window.

Another one leapt at him, and Melnik’s pistol clicked dry. Shrugging, he shifted his arm into shotgun mode, and obliterated the newfoal’s skull. Three more newfoals jumped in the window, and Melnik downed them both, the magically enhanced buckshot from his left arm pulping them into a red mist that splattered over the ceiling.

And then that clicked dry.

“YOU MEANIE-P-” one newfoal started.

“AW, SHADDAP!” Melnik roared. “GIGA… DORIRU… BREEEEEEAKER!” shifting his arm back into a drill, he dashed forward, faster than the newfoal could comprehend, and punched his drill arm up into the newfoal’s throat. The drill whirred, dark blood spraying out from between his head and his barrel, wet lumps of bone tink-tink-tinking against the floor.

“...Really?” Porter stared as he reloaded, with Melnik only smiling.

“I always wanted to say that!” Melnik protested, kicking another newfoal in the face.

“Whatever, pay attention!”

A newfoal, whose fur was drenched in potion, attempted to throw himself into the few civilians that joined them in the fight, only to be denied as he bounced off a translucent blue dome. Aquamarine’s horn glowed dangerously, her teeth clenched as a second layer began to grow over her shield.

“Aqua, what are you doing?” Firebrand called out as he kicked a newfoal trying to land on the rear of the train. Aquamarine scowled as she looked to the sky, seeing the scores of newfoals and the potioneer ship that was surely gaining on them.

“Giving us breathing room. Get behind me!” Aquamarine called as she reinforced her shield. Several soldiers ran behind her as another rush of newfoals dove at them, the potioneer ship now mere meters from them.

“RAAAAAAGH!”

A giant wave of magic exploded from her horn, and the newfoals slammed into the blue wall like birds flying into windows, bones cracking and blood splattering out. The potioneer ship, its shield unable to be regenerated after the battle in Erenhot, was hit by the spell. Aquamarine cried out as the ship shattered the barrier she put up; the sheer amount of energy she put into the spell was enough to cause the ship to pause in mid-flight.

A death sentence at the speed it was going at, from nearly 70 miles per hour to 0 in an instant. The laws of physics was denied to no one on that ship. Newfoal were thrown forward and slamming into walls or over the sides. The hull cracked as the ship came to a sudden, if brief, halt before it tipped forward from its own weight and the bow burying itself into the ground, slamming with a mixture of fiery explosions and frantic ponies. The ground behind the fleeing train shook as the ship broke apart as it tumbled across the grassland.

Porter and the rest of the defenders stared in shock as the potioneer ship broke apart, destroying the tracks and the ground behind them.

“Jesus…” Porter whispered at the destruction before his gaze drifted towards the unicorn mare before him, unable to believe what he saw. Porter was all but sure that they had to get rid of all the newfoals on the ship and in the sky to stand a chance.

She stood tall and proud, a smile on her face worthy of Lyra herself as she looked upon the destruction she wrought upon.

“I… I did it… I stopped them…”Aquamarine gave a heaving laugh as blood seeped from her nose.

“MOMMY!” Comet cried out as she saw her mother collapse.

“Hyong-Jin, get medics over here!” Porter shouted as he rushed over to the downed unicorn. “Aquamarine, stay with me.”

“I… took down…”

“Yeah. You did, and saved a lot of people. Come on, girl. Stay with me.” Porter gently wiped away her blood. “Where is the damn medic?!”

A PHL pony medic, an earth pony stallion with orange fur and a black mane, knelt down next to her, quickly pulling out several needles. He took a look at her, frowning as he ran his hoof gently across her horn. Sparks shot off as Aquamarine gasped sharply, whimpering from the agony of her magical exertion. He gave a sigh as he gently laid her down and took out a bag of supplies. Porter recognized these as painkillers.

The medic nodded with a reassuring smile and said, “Don’t worry about your friend, Captain. She overexerted herself magically, but she’ll be alright as long as she gets some rest.”

“That was more like a magical overload,” Firebrand commented as he landed next to them, the shocked look on his face still present. “She took down a potioneer ship by herself.”

“I did too…” Khan muttered under his breath, to which Blizzard only giggled and patted his leg.

“No… not by myself…” Aquamarine whispered, gently patting Comet as she whimpered softly. “With my friends…”

“Right…” Porter whispered as Aquamarine slowly closed her eyes, causing Comet to panic.

“No! Mommy, don’t leave me!” Comet cried out as she shook Aquamarine’s body to keep her awake.

“It’s alright, Comet,” Yon-Soo said as he gently took the filly into his arms. “It’s just the medicine kicking in; your mother needs her rest.”

“Okay… I just hope she’ll wake up soon,” Comet sniffed, sighing with relief.

“Don’t worry, zvezdnyy. She will be okay. As are the rest of us,” Sergei said, one hand on his shoulder. “Everyone alright?”

*CLANK*

Everybody stumbled when the train car jerked at the sound, Porter was unable to keep his balance and fell, landing on the floor. He tried to break his fall, reflexively putting his arm out

“Son of a-” Porter cried out as he wrist blazed with agony.

“Sir!” A PHL unicorn ran into the room, “The train car’s couplings had been rusted away!”

Porter quickly got up and raced to the other car, seeing that pony was speaking the truth. “Fucking A,” he groaned out, rubbing his head.

“Guys! We see you detached from us, we are going to stop-”

“Negative!” Porter interrupted, “At the speeds you are going now, it would take some time to even stop. Keep going with the mission, we’ll be fine. We will find the closest town and get an evac from there. We have enough food and water to last us two weeks, shouldn't take that long.”

“Are you sure, Captain?”

Porter looked up to see the determine faces of his team along with the remaining PHL soldiers and civilian defenders. He gave them a rueful smile as he answer. “We got this.”

“Roger, proceeding with the mission. Good luck out here, Captain.”

“Thanks.” Porter just grunted, wringing his wrist. “Ow ow ow ow ow…”

“Let me take a look at it, Captain Stanley,” the same PHL medic said as Porter held out his hand.

A Mongolian civilian woman, possibly in her thirties, replied, “I think we’ll all be be okay, but… where are we?”

That was a good question. They had managed to cross a good distance away from the Empire’s forces; far enough away from the desert that there was considerable greenery surrounding the group.

“Anyone?” the Mongolian asked.

“I think we’re near the border with China,” another Mongolian said. “Maybe somewhere near the Great Wall?”

“Wait. It’s somewhere green, which means we’re in very secluded territory, miles away from anything resembling civilization. I’m willing to bet all kinds of extremist factions have made hideouts around here. HLF, PER, maybe even people just trying to get away from the conflict,” Porter noted.

“... What was that Melnik said about us being doom magnets?” Yon-Soo asked, trying to crack a smile.

Of course, he didn’t actually need anyone to answer. It went without saying.

“So, unfamiliar territory where we’re far from even a modern toilet, check. Hostiles behind us, check. Stuck in the badlands, check, innocent civilians in the crossfire, check.” Firebrand groaned. “Can’t get any worse than this.”

Hyong-Jin grabbed Firebrand by the barrel, shaking him slightly. His voice was somewhere between angry, scared and unsure as he said, “Dude, don’t say that! Everytime someone says ‘it can’t get any worse’, it always gets worse!”

It was hard to blame either of them for being scared. They’d all heard the stories from here in this pocket of anarchy, of something emptying towns in single nights, of areas that PHL and military forces had essentially quarantined due to the chaos, of warlords and pocket tinpot tyrants running their own prisons for ponies and any human that they’d decided hadn’t met their standards, of villages that few PHL forces dared to liberate for fear of being attacked on three sides - from crazy refugees, HLF, and PER. There were even stories of more supernatural occurrences around here - maybe even ghosts.

But those were probably just embellishments. Right? Even so, you had to worry.

“Ahhh, what are we gonna do now?!” another refugee, a man in his twenties, asked in total despair. “What the fucking fuck are we gonna do? This is it, guys. It’s game over, man, game over!”

“We keep moving. Not much else to do but-

He heard the clatter of heavy, almost certainly stolen machineguns off in the distance, alongside heavy cannons. An explosion lit the space between several trees for a second.

“Nothing to do but to keep moving, and fight to survive,” Porter replied, looking like he was swallowing a lump in his throat to cover his own anxiety. ‘If I look scared, it’ll spread. Put on a brave face, everyone else does. Maybe then everyone will feel better.’

“Alright, we got a long walk ahead of us. Blizzard, take to the sky and try to locate anything man-made. Town, powerlines, hell, I will take the Great Wall. Just get us in the direction we need to go. The rest of us, gather food, water, and ammo. Try to see if we have any spare body armor for our civilian defenders, and make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. Night time is approaching and we are sitting ducks in this train car, I want to get under some sort of cover before we are found by unfriendly forces. Move out!”

Still. The anxiety was irrepressible. There was a particular horror in being in unknown territory, a sense that no matter what you do, you barely have a chance of finding shelter. It would have been bad enough while camping, but in the middle of a warzone where it shifted by the hour…

He couldn’t think about it too hard. That would really screw him over.

“We have to go soon, though,” Melnik whispered to him.

“What do you-” Porter started. And then it hit him. The train stalled on the tracks. The heavy fire. The potioneer ships. The bright neon glow of magic in the dimming sky.

Fuck.

“Exactly,” Melnik said, noticing the look on Porter’s face. “Someone’s bound to have noticed us.”

“We have to go,” Porter said, as commanding as he could be without yelling out and directing everyone to their position. “Right now!”

What would they find in this forest, he wondered…

Whatever it was, he hoped it wouldn't find them first.

Author's Notes:

That was a doozy of a chapter. And a wait. (But I do promise there's not too much more left, and this will be finished before the main story gets to the final battle).

Not much more to say besides the fact that TheIdiot has come on board as a co-writer and helper, and his input includes some foreshadowing for his own story, Shades of the Unsung. Check it out!

And yes, I do encourage a good game of "spot the shout-outs". ;)