The night had grown quite cold, the wind picking up to a violent series of gusts. Another burst of wind blew her cloak away from her, dragging it behind her as if it had escape in mind. With a forceful tug shed brought the wild clothe to heel and wrapped it around herself once again, turning a shoulder to the icy force that assaulted her. Her destination was well within sight, yet it felt a mile away with the elements fighting against her. She couldn't help but travel at a simple step-by-step speed in a desperate struggle to get to shelter. Ponyville streets where deserted, everypony taking to the refuge of their homes. Shops that had once been the talk of the town where now boarded up and closed for 'redevelopment'. Further down the street she could see an alien checkpoint set up, a handful of guards stationed there along with an armored transport. Only now with a clear view and the moonlight gracing the air could she now make out the two alien guards strolling down the street, headed right for her.

This was reason enough to pick up the pace, icy gales or no. Her steps quickened until she picked her speed up to a trot, closing the distance between herself and the tree-made-library. She reached the  library door and gave three very ungraceful and desperate knocks. The candle upon the doors exterior had blown out in the turbulent winds, offering only the darkened red of Golden Oak Library door for the eternity it took its occupants to answer. Soon enough the door rattled and clicked as a series of locks were disengaged, the door finally opening to offer it's welcoming warm glow it had held within.

"Come in, quick!" Said a panicked voice inside.

The cloaked figure swept herself through the door as quick as lighting, breathing a sigh of relief as the indoors folded her within it's safety.

"Thank you so much for coming. Where are the others?" Asked twilight, the small alicorns body language harshly reflecting her anxiety.

Cadence threw her cloak off her shoulders to swing it to her front and fold over her arm. Beneath, her turquoise dress was what would be considered casual to equestrians. She lacked her crown and collar, her hair tied in a simple ponytail with a blue band.

"No pony else is coming, Twilight. I'm sorry, but it's just me." Cadence said with words as heavy as anvils.

"No one? I thought everypony you had contacted agreed to meet us?" Rarity asked in a shrill tone.

"They did. Things are....things are really bad back at Canterlot." Cadence said as she wandered over to the far side of the library to take a seat upon the stairs next to Rarity.

"W-what do you mean?....They're not....."

"I'm sorry Rarity. We've had five murders in the last two days. It would seem they were tracking their victims through the phones they'd given us. I threw mine out the day after I heard about Sapphire Shores."

Rarity let her head fall into her hands as grief gripped her. Some of her closest friends outside the elements had been Canterlot nobles, and now they'd been slaughtered like animals. Tears fell from her eyes, stretching her makeup down her cheeks, but she let out no sobs or sniffles. Rarity threw her head back and cleared her face of her hair that had lost a fair portion of its glamour over the last few months. She took a deep breath in and huffed it out again.

"Well then, we'd best make sure to make every second of this meeting count. Who are we waiting on?" Rarity asked with an almost military solidity.

Twilight hesitated a second, taken aback by Raritys' composure before sputtering a response.

"Um, well I think it's just Applejack now. Rainbow and Pinkie are upstairs."

"I can go get them, if you'd like?" Fluttershy offered, Cadence only noticing her presence upon hearing her.

"That'd be great, AJ won't be long, I'm sure." Twilight assured as she walked to a nearby window, staring out it in deep thought.

Fluttershy quickly trotted upstairs to fetch her friends. Cadence noticed how a few books had been pulled out for studying, but the majority of the library was well kept.

"Looks like you've been keeping tidy, Twilight?"

"Oh, yeah. Every other day I have a couple soldiers come into the library. Six months ago one got tetchy after finding a book open on the vanquishing spells page, so I have to keep everything stored away so they can't pick up on anything." She replied lazily as her focus was still on outside.

"Any big finds so far?"

"Not yet. We could throw a ton and a half of hit-spells and missile-glyphs at a single soldier and knock him out for a couple hours, that or put a spear in everyponys' hands and get physical with them. But we all know how that ends."

"So our choices are either bow down or die?" Cadence asked in desperation.

"Heh, there's always prayer." Twilight said ironically as she ran her fingers over the Liber Rosetta.

"I don't think there's anything Rosetta can do to help us, if she could I'm sure she would have done it by now." Cadence said, putting an arm over Raritys' shoulder, seeing how she was beginning to get lost in dark thought.

"Well, you know what they say; 'She always has a plan'." Twilight half-murmured.

Hoof-steps came from the staircase as three ponies descended into the main hall. The first was Fluttershy, who appeared as she always had, wearing her usual forest green sweater and jeans. Next was Pinkie Pie, who descended with a slight limp, one she would never admit to having not been a mistake, but in fact and affliction. She wore a surprisingly sensible outfit, a ink hoodie and loose sports trousers. Finally Dash followed the others, slowly, sheepishly, utterly devoid of the confidence and fire she had once had. Her eyes were sunken and dark, her mane an un-kept, dirty mess, her coat was equally as in a state and her body language was that of a mare broken. Her jacket and sports vest looked as if they'd gone unwashed for a month, along with her tight-fit shorts. Pinkie waited for her at the bottom of the stairs, beckoning her down with her welcoming grin. The blue pegasus made it to the bottom and sat down on a stool Fluttershy had pulled from a closet. Her facial expression remained near blank, limp with a hint of fear.

"Where is Applejack?! This is totally going down as a sad face on her 'dependable chart'." Pinkie squeaked in her bubbly voice.

"I'm sure she won't be long. She promised. And I know for sure she has more reason than most to come to this meeting." Twilight replied.

Not ten seconds later a strong, striking knock came from the door, seeing everyponys' ears perk up in response. Twilight rushed to the door and carefully pulled it open. Before Twilight could say another word in stepped the largest figure to be in the library that day. Though not quite as tall as Twilight or Cadence, Applejack came very close, standing a full 6' 2". Yet this was hardly noticeable when considering the farm ponies figure. Where Twilight and Rarity were petite, Fluttershy, Cadence and Pinkie were curvy and Rainbow was athletic, Applejack was just plain huge in comparison. Generations of breeding sturdy, strong farmers had resulted in AJ growing into quite the work horse, her limbs wrapped in thick, un-lady-like muscle. Her shoulders were wide, her hips twice as wide, and her stomach sporting a firm bulge of muscle. In the earlier days of their friendship, AJ was a gentle giant of sorts, using her strength only to kick the living hell out of trees in harvesting apples and haul about her farms hardware. Yet now she was using her physical prowess to see her works of sabotage and ruin accomplished. Her left thigh was wrapped in a bandage that was soaked with old blood, appearing as a brown stain among the yellow of the dirty bandages. The base of the top of her muzzle had a small plaster taped on, and her clothes were torn and dirty including her token family stetson that appeared to have a bullet hole to the right of its front peak. She held herself with a vicious strength, almost as if ready to pounce on one of her own friends and strangle them to death. Her eyes were wide with a consistent anger and her jaw was clenched.

"Sorry I'm late. Got held up by some pasties that decided tah have a chat outside the ally I was hiding in." She said in a harsh tone. Her work vest, shirt, scarf and denim shorts were all soaked through, yet it seemed the orange mare didn't care for such a discomfort if she noticed at all.

"It's no problem, AJ. We haven't been waiting long." Twilight said, but her words seem to go unnoticed by AJ, who had already started marching over to Cadence.

"Princess, what's happ'nin' in Canterlot? I hear there was some kinda accident?"

"There has been no accident. The UTF seems to activated some kind of assassin team to kill nobles. There's been no witnesses, but the troops in the city seem to be making little to no effort to hide the fact they are involved." Cadence replied, AJ growing tense as she spoke.

Applejacks' muscled tensed and strained with anger, her face twisting to something quite primal. She turned slowly before bringing both her clenched fists down on the central table like hammers, a noticeable crack bursting across its surface. The others simply stood in an awkward silence, besides Dash who simply sat, appearing as though she was somehow cold.

"Those.....Mutha.....Buckin'.....Pastes! Those buckin' freaks!" Exploded AJ, the muscles in her face and neck throbbing with hate.

"Please, Calm down, Applejack." Pleaded Cadence.

"How can ah Princess?! Am ah the only one here who sees what's happ'nin' here?! They're killin' us! They're killin' us and everypony's just ignorin' it, like it'll go away!"

"We know! We know, AJ. That's why we're here though, right?" Twilight assured, putting her fair hand on AJs' shoulder warily.

"Why we're here.....Yeh.....why we're here....." Applejack murmured between her deep breathes, trying to starve the inferno that was burning in her mind.

"Yes, why we're all here. We'll find a way to sort this all out. Right, first thing's first; have you got it, Cadence?" Twilight asked.

Cadence reached into her cloak and removed a great weight located at the lower back of its inside. From the cloak she pulled a large crystal item, a sky blue crystal crafted into the shape of a heart.

"Right here." Cadence said with a grin of satisfaction.

"Great, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy pulled from her pocket a necklace forged from a dark metal and a crimson stone at its centre beneath steel cut into the head of an alicorn.

"I was surprised at how easy it was to get this off Zecora, she practically threw it at me." Fluttershy stated.

"I'm not surprised at all." AJ growled.

"How about you AJ?" Twilight inquired.

"Five days, eight kilometers deep in Everfree across fourteen kilometers of it's width and nothing but the same piles of ash and dead trees. Pasties did a real number on that place."

"This is bad. If we've lost the Tree of Harmony, any magical threats that arise against us in the future could prove a real problem to deal with." Twilight said with a great deal of worry.

"Oh don't you worry, Twilight. I'm sure our pasty friends will just point a real big gun at it and blow it off the face off the planet. Just hope you don't miss that particular part of the planet they blow up." Applejack said through gritted teeth.

"Well, um, they haven't blown us up." Peeped Fluttershy.

"Yet." Shot back Applejack, seeming to afflict the pegasus with physical discomfort with her sharp word.

"A risk we cannot afford to take. So, what are our options?" Cadence added.

"Well the Crystal Heart emanates a magical aura, one that reflects the feelings of those it is surrounded by. That probably explains why it doesn't look so good," Twilight noted staring worried at the crystal relic that was missing it's magical radiance it once had, "So the idea is to essentially 'power it up'. If we can do that and recreate a beacon that broadens the Hearts effects like the crystal palace does, we could establish a stronghold. Though probably not for long, I can imagine the UTF will act immediately to put an end to our resistance."

"So basically, we're out of luck?" Rarity asked.

"Perhaps not. If we can bring up a defense for even just a few minutes, we could find a way to reactivate the Zebras magical field that kept the star-ships from landing troops when they first arrived." Twilight said in an upbeat manner.

"Just gotta make sure we have enough time to get the field up, and then we have to consider the troops that are already on the planet." AJ added in a gruff tone.

"I know, and funnily enough, that's the hard part. I've run some numbers together and found that we outnumber the UTF forces at eleven point six to one, meaning that we could, and I emphasize could have them beat. This would require absolute commitment from everypony involved, that's the military and every able bodied mare and stallion we have in every loyalist town and city. It won't be pretty, but we could do it." Twilight finished, everypony in the room seemingly having their spirits lifted slightly. All except one.

"What about...them?" Dash rasped, her voice weak and quiet.

The room turned to look at the frail pegasus, who kept her eyes fixed on the floor before her, her arms wrapped about herself so tight one would think she was in the middle of a blizzard.

"Look, Rainbow Dash, we already have enough to worry about considering all thing we know. We can't keep jumping at every shadow just because-" Twilight began to rant.

"I saw it, okay?! It was standing right over me!" Dash hissed through clenched teeth.

"I know what you think you saw, but you were in a panic, it was chaos. You probably just had a close encounter with one of the usual cronies we see every day."

"It wasn't like the others!....It was...taller.....and darker. It came out of nowhere, put me on the ground and pulled a bucking knife on me! I must have kicked it in the gut a dozen times and it wouldn't go down.....it just got closer....it's bucking eyes....getting closer..." Dashs' words trailed off under a flood of terror, her eyes growing wild and tight with fear.

Pinkie knelt by the pegasus and rubbed her across the back of the shoulders in an attempt to sooth her fears. Dash loosened up slightly, but began to shake uncontrollably.

"Fine, let's assume for a sec' that there are some freaky killer ghosts out there, what does that mean? That we just give up?" AJ asked in a sickeningly condescending tone.

"Yes. We hide. We dig deep ass holes, bury ourselves in them and hope they don't feel like coming after us," Dash said, her words heavy with panic, "These things could be anywhere, anytime ready to get us. They could be in our homes! They could even be in this-"

A haunting screech came from upstairs, a pained groan echoed from a dark reality to chill all it passed over. The floor upstairs gave a slow creak, the wooden straining as a weight pressed firmly down upon it. The girls downstairs tensed up and shrunk to the floor slightly. Dash scrambled across the room, as far away from the dreadful sound as possible.

"No! Don't let it get me! Don't let it get me!" Dash shrieked.

Applejack drew a chunky looking wrench from inside her shirt, giving it a trivial twirl as she brought it to bear. The mare held the metal club low behind her flank and began to slowly climb the stairs leading upstairs. Each hoof-step brought with it a tiny creak as response to Applejacks considerable weight, the long fur flowing around near her hooves brushing gently across each step as she lifted a foot. The farm-girl disappeared from sight as she rounded the coil of the staircase and continued on. Downstairs remained quiet as could possibly be, only AJs hoof-steps being heard throughout the library. A moment passed before less cautious, faster paced steps came falling down the stairs.

"Nuthin'." Applejack simply stated as she stepped back down, holstering her wrench once more. She turned to Dash lifted her arms only to let them fall at her sides again,"See, jumping at shadows. We won't stand a chance against the pasties with an attitude like that Rainbow."

"You d-didn't see-" Dash stuttered

"Ah dun' have tuh! I no our only option is to buck up, no matter what. I dun' care if these things shoot lasers from their eyes an' fart lightnin', I'mma kill 'em all the same." The orange mare turned once again and folded her arms.

The room went quiet, nopony really knowing where to take it from such an emotional point.

"Well, I can easily say I never thought I'd be considering killing another living thing. I don't know Twilight, I don't know if I could really do it when the time came. Could Equestria, come to think of it?" Rarity asked, deciding to further deepen the subject.

"We might not have a choice. We can always roll over. We can play the good little pets and beg for more treats. We can burn our books on magic and history in exchange for an easy life, and exchange our castles and palaces for the favor of a race that calls us degenerates. We can hide, and live. Or we can kill, and...well probably die. But I know I'd rather die than forget everything we once had, than let my children, and grandchildren grow up oblivious to how a world of wonder and magic existed. I'd die a thousand times over inside seeing a whole generation grow up tapping on the screens of some dumb little techy-tablet rather than turning the pages of a story book. Playing a shooter game rather than playing in a forest! Shutting themselves inside their comfy new society rather than exploring the world with no one to tell them 'That's too far' or 'You have to pay to go there' or 'We'll shoot you if you come any closer! How can we live with ourselves knowing we have doomed all Equestria to a future ruled by a system made by 'superiors'?! Will we let all these needless deaths go unnoticed?! Un-avenged?! We don't have a choice. We owe it to the past two years we've wasted being cowards to finally stand up and say 'No further'!"

The room was silent again. This time in not such a grim way, but in a way that might just see the old Equestria breath again.

"That there's the right thinkin' Twahlight! So, it's simple, we get the heart powered, we find the energy field source, we activate the heart and by enough time to through up the shield, then we step out every pasties-faced freak we can so much as smell. It's a plan!" AJ cheered with a mildly dark grin as she tipped her hat back a little.

"I'm all for it! Might as well...go out with a bang, eh?" Rarity said with a gulp.

"I.....I'll try my best, Twilight." Fluttershy added meekly.

".......We can...try." Dash said weakly, her head sunk low.

"Um, and Pinkie, what do you think? You haven't said a word this whole time." Twilight inquired.

The pink mare looked down at the leg she had been limping on for the day, running a hand over it gently as she thought a moment away.

"I say, let's do it!" Pinkie stated in a surprisingly stern manner, one that would be much more effective if not for her squeaky voice.

"Uh, really?" AJ asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Those stupid-head-meanies have strutted about this town like they own the place. Well pony muscle build this town, and I'll be darned-deed-doodly if anything but pony muscle tears it down again! Preferably not for another fifty jillion years!" Pinkie roared, her face twisted into a colorful scowl.

"That's the spirit, Pinkie!" AJ chuckled as she pulled the comparatively tiny girl into a one armed hug.

"I'll let Shining and the princesses know what we've discussed, I'm sure they'll tweak up the details as best they can. I have a feeling Luna is going to have a pretty potent appeal to all this." Cadence said through a nervous grin.

"Ah'm gonna take to the streets in the mornin' an' contact every close supporter I know. Ah'll have Derpy spread the word up in Cloudsdale." AJ announced.

"No...I'll go. The Wonderbolts know me, they'll give solid support if I give the news." Dash said as she shakily stood up again.

"If you're sure Dash. In fact, it might be an idea to keep your hooves on the clouds a while. If the Federation catches word of this plan they'll waste no time in hunting us down. I advise you all arrange safe-houses you can hold up in if things get to dangerous." Twilight sternly stated, a chorus of confirmatory nods answering her.

"Right, we leave one at a time in an hours time. We watch everypony leave and only send the next after we lose sight of the former. Run into any trouble just hide as best you can. When you lose them, come right back here."

The girls began to converse, ironing out details and tactics they have observed over the months. Every card they could play was mentioned, every move and every trick they could think of, and each one was another step towards obliteration.

-------------------------------

"We've heard enough. Exit the premises and await further instruction, Archer." Mason said through a sigh.

"Copy that, sir." The assasin replied before cutting the comm channel to silence.

Mason lazily threw himself out of bracing against the holo-table, the orange light washing away from his pale face.

"You know what we must do now, Mason." Dragovich murmured.

"Their plan will never work." Mason droned.

"But this behavior? This rebellion? Such an atrocity has never gone unanswered before, and it won't be overlooked just because a plan won't work. These primitive race of daydreamers needs to be subdued. We've shown them there place, and still they refuse to peacefully comply!" Dragovich blurted in protest.

"I can't justify wasting resources on six girls who feel a little hard done by. The feds would have me by the throat."

"The feds...would have you throat bear a medal. You know what all this means to them, what any mistake here could mean for us all? These things are a threat. To reason, to what our way of life stands for. To think what the people would think of us if they see us waddle away from this world after letting some pretty pony princess get the best of our morality. There is no room for such things here. The colonies are watching our every move, and we must show them that we are still strong, that we will not go soft on anyone or anything just because it can shed tears. The PRM are waiting to rake in every defector that could come out of this damned mess, and that could well be enough to fuel a campaign that would cut our resources and military strength clean in half."

"I won't be part of this decision." Mason stated as he walked around Dragovich.

"But you must, Mason. Can't turn this key on my own. You know what call you have to make. For the greater good."

"You can go fuck yourself with that high-and-mighty shit!" Mason hissed, jabbing a finger as the stony face of his comrade.

"Tell me I'm wrong then."

Mason remained silent, lowering his hand slowly and tugging at the bottom of his uniform to rid it of creases.

"I will never get how you can sanctify this shit and be so god-....how you can be so happy about it." Mason didn't want to bring up any more awkward subjects into this debate, least of all being an agnostic.

"I try to make best out of a situation I have no control over." Dragovich said coldly.

"You see! You sound just like one of those shady fuckers, of whom I do not want on my ship, you understand?! You keep those fucking glorified animals locked up in you own steel, but you sure as fuck keep them well away from mine!" Mason shouted as he spun to face his rival again, turning a few heads in the bridge.

"Where you see animals, I see the perfect weapon. Nearly every usurper in the country accounted for in just a couple of days. And what have your men been doing, hm? Cutting ribbons at site openings? Kissing the babies of those damn natives you all seem to love so much? Or maybe just standing around looking shiny is enough to keep those savages gawking for long enough to see our plans advance?"

"Theo and his team are doing exactly what they need to do, and take pride in doing it. Not a whimper, not a hint of complaint from any of them. And exactly how many times have your ghouls called today squealing to fulfill their blood-lust? How many times have they yapped at you like happy puppies after they've just gutted someone? Someone with a fucking family?!"

"Something, Mason. These things are not people. They don't think like you or me. Understand this now General, those natives are as different to you as are the horses back on Earth." Dragovich calmly lectured, putting his hands gently on Masons' shoulders, giving them a small shake before releasing him again.

Dragovich gave a synthetic smile before turning to wander back to the Holo-table.

"Ponies," Mason tugged at his uniform once more, "They're ponies."

-------------------------------------------------------------

"Got it, sir. It'll be a pleasure." Scarecrow droned over his mic.

"Ops a go?" Archer asked as he climbed up to the rooftop his squad had nested upon.

"Sure is. Bandit, you want to finish what you started?" Scarecrow asked, cocking his carbines' mag-charge.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun." Bandit grinned in anticipation, drawing his combat knife from its sheath.

"Try not to take so long this time." Oxide growled.

The squad got there gear ready, yet seconds before they were ready to get to work a wave of voices came through the communications, a pre-recorded warning message reserved for when ground forces where required to take defensive positions prior to an aggressor fleets incursion. Muffled under the announcement came the stern announcements of the fleets captains and commanders broadcasting on a wide-set channel, ordering all hands to take to there battle stations. Finally, clear as could be heard, came the voice of General Mason.

"All Federation forces, the is General Mason. Initiate responsive measures Sierra through Alpha, we have incoming. I repeat, we have incoming."