Thunder's ears rang loudly and his back burned painfully as he dug his face out of the sand. What happened? Explosion, changeling, magical detonation; yeah, that's it. Thunder had trouble opening his eyes in the blazing sun light of the desert. The sun suddenly vanished in an instant and Thunder opened his eyes as he cranked his head up to see what was blocking out the sun. His neck burned terribly from severe sunburn. He stood on still unsteady hoofs in the sand and tried to focus his vision. In front of him, the splintered and still burning wreckage of the E.F.S. Lifeline. The bow was gone and the tattered remains of the purple balloon fluttered in the wind. The smoke, black and thick, blocked out the sun.

Thunder hobbled as fast as he could towards the ruins of the ship he tried so hard to keep aloft. There was no movement; everything was still in the sand as he approached. From out of nowhere, a something jumped him, grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around. Thunder was ready to punch whatever had just grabbed him, which is until he saw who it was.

"Captain!" He said happy to see his CO.

"You stable Sergeant?"

"I can walk."

"Start searching the wreckage. Get as many survivors as you can and help tally the dead."

"How many are alive?"

"I found fifteen. Out of thirty eight, that's not reassuring to me. Bit and Knight are already looking."

"Silver's alright?"

"All I did was ask. She said she was dizzy but that's it. Now get moving. Salvage what weapons you can find and find as many survivors as you can."

"Where did you send her?"

"The ship! What's left of the ship! Search it now soldier!" Nexus shouted. "If she's not okay then it's her problem. Now get to work."

Thunder Clap was speechless now. He'd never heard Nexus talk like this, not even in training. He sounded distressed, almost afraid. Nexus shook his head and started to limp off towards the ship.

"Captain, your leg."

"I'm okay."

"What leg is it?"

"They're fine." Nexus' right front foreleg locked up suddenly and he fell to his knees.

Thunder was at his side instantly. He patted his suit for his tool kit but Nexus threw him off.

"Captain, let me fix you. If you can't work, you can't fight."

"Stop talking to me like I'm one of your machines! I am your superior officer! Who do you think I am!?"

"My friend! I just want to help you."

"I don't need your fucking help! I don't need any of you!" Nexus hit the knee joint of his locked up leg until it moved again. He then started off with the sun on his back.

"Where are you going?"

"To the mountains. That's where I'd put an army."

"You're going alone? What about us? Your crew, your guard, your friends!"

"None of you are my friends! You are all my troops. Nothing more. I would never bring my friends to something like this. This is something I have to do on my own. If you follow me you will die!"

"Then I'll die fighting, we all will. We are the New Evening Armada Captain. We were born to die, but not before our enemies."

Nexus stopped where he was and he looked back.

"Why do you follow me Thunder Clap? Why do any of them follow me? I'm not some messiah. I'm a pariah."

"You're our pariah, Sir." White Knight said fluttering down with Silver Bit.

"Report." Nexus said.

"Thirteen more dead, Sir." White Knight said. "Stop trying to change the subject."

"What do you mean I'm your pariah?"

"Each of us are outcasts in our own right." White looked behind him to see the twenty five living soldiers coming up behind him. "We're not just soldiers, Captain, We're your marry band of pariahs. We're all strong as one. United we stand, together we thrive. And as one we succeed. All of us willing to die for you Captain. Celestia guided us to you and Luna gave us the strength to fight for you. And if we have to we'll die for you too."

" We, under sacred truth," they all said in unison. "swear to protect and serve honorably in the Evening Guard with courage and strength. No matter the circumstance, we will fight for all of Equestria and will always be on call for her people. As Soldiers of the Night, we swear to fight for honor and for all; day and night, forever we fight. All hail the night!"

Nexus looked over them all sternly. "We're at your side no matter what Captain. Like it or not, we serve you."

"We're exposed out here. And seeing as there's no cover, this is the last leg of our journey. We will most likely die on the mountains ahead of us. Don't let this slow you down. We've been gone for four months, many of you have wives, husbands and families to return to. If you don't return, remember this. No matter the outcome of the next few days of our travels, you will be remembered. The brothers and sisters that have fallen beside you, will always live on within those who have lived. May Celestia guide us, and Luna give us strength. For Equestria, we will end this war. Never surrender!"

"Never surrender!" the troops shouted back.

"Silver Bit, Thunder Clap, stay at the ship and tend to the dead. When Firebrand comes along, send up a flare."

"And if they attack us?" Silver asks.

"Don't fight back."

"What happened to never surrender?"

"This is different. Firebrand is not an enemy. We can't survive if he hates us. Just stay behind. You have both done your parts here. Help the survivors get what weapons we can find. And food, get the food. Wait a second… Where's Vince?"

Nexus looked over the soldiers faces trying to find them. White Knight moved forwards to Nexus cautiously. "Sir…"

"Where is Vince!?" Nexus shouted grabbing White Knight by the shoulders.

"He's dead."

Knight could feel Nexus' heart stop. He was speechless. He looked to the wreckage and then sprinted as fast as he could.

How could he be so stupid!? He'd promised himself he'd keep Vince safe. He had to be sure. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him and jumped into eh captain's quarters. The floor was angled at a forty-five degree angle, but he could see a blue hoof sticking out from behind the desk. Nexus flew over to the desk and leaned on its side. The desk was bolted down so that it wouldn't move in flight or in a crash.

Nexus peered over under the desk and saw Vince clutching the box that held the Elements of Freedom. He could see the dark red streak of blood streaming down the side of his head. He wasn't breathing. He still held on to the box. Nexus had told him to not touch the box because it was important. Nexus could feel tears in his eyes thinking back on it. He held them back and took a deep breath. He levitated the box away from him and opened the center drawer. Inside were his articles, his drafts. Nexus had insisted on putting them there to keep them safe. It would seem that Vince returned the favor by doing everything in his power to keep what was important to him safe as well. He gave his life for it, and that was the last thought that did it.

The tears streamed down his cheeks and dripped down onto his leather jacket. Nexus let out a sob as he put the articles into the box with the Elements. He pulled Vince out from under the desk and draped him over his back. He slid out into the sun and saw the crowd.

"Get food and water." Nexus said with a broken voice. "Find weapons and prepare to go off. I have something that has to be done."

The troops all walked away and Nexus went in the opposite direction. He found a piece of the balloon and laid Vince down in the shade of the ship. With him now laying comfortably in the shade, Nexus put the tattered piece of the cloth over him and made sure no pony could see him cry. What was he going to say to his Aunt now? What was he going to tell his mother!? He sobbed a few times and wet the sands with his sorrow. After a time, he straightened himself out and flew up onto the helm, leaving the box with the articles and Elements laying next to him.

"Alright everypony! Hang on to what you have. We'll ration what we have before dark. We need to get up on the mountains. If Sombra's not there, then we're at the mercy of Firebrand. Move out!"

"Nexus wait." Silver said coming up to him. "You sure you want us to stay here?"

"Stay behind. Firebrand should be here around nightfall. Stay under the shadows to keep cool here and use the fires to stay warm tonight. Just stay here."

"Are you sure Nexus? You could use every hoof you can get."

"I know, but you two are the only two I can trust to keep Firebrand busy before he comes looking for us. Just stay alive."

"Nexus, why does this sound like last words?"

"Because they just might be. If I don't get back, find my fiancé. Tell her I love her. And that I'm-"

"I'll tell her the first part, you can tell her the rest yourself."

Nexus nodded, then moved over to the soldiers starting to line up facing the mountains.

The Equestrian airship, the E.F.S. Andromeda, had anchored itself over the city that Nexus had left Ephilates and Hestaria in. It took Firebrand all of two seconds to find them both at the river helping purify the water. He had brought more than six hundred troops along with two other ships. All three were much larger than the Lifeline. Firebrand had chewed them out quickly. Saying that both Hestaria and Ephi were going to be charged with treason. They were relieved of their duties in the town, they were to accompany Firebrand to find the Lifeline.

Seeing as neither of them had a choice, they got on the Andromeda and remained unarmed above deck. The two, recently engaged, sat at the prow. Hestaria leaned her head on his shoulder as they looked out onto the desert. Off in the distance, as the sun set, a low rumble of thunder came from the distant mountain ranges where black storm clouds gathered.

"Stari?" Ephialtes finally said breaking the silence.

"Hm?"

"You feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"I don't know. It feels kind of, dark."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Something doesn't feel right."

"You're darn right there is. I feel it too." Firebrand said coming up in full golden armor. "That's a lot of dark magic."

"Only two ponies I know that could push out that much dark magic." Ephialtes said standing up.

"Either one I'll be happy to find."

"What's going on. What do you mean you can feel it?" Hestaria asked.

"It's a unicorn thing. We can feel magical fields. Nexus has a big one but this is bigger than him."

"This is bigger than Sombra too."

"I forgot you were a few feet from Sombra before. Was Nexus following it?"

"N-No actually. He wasn't. I'm not sure why he wasn't actually."

Firebrand looked off into the distance and narrowed his gaze. "He wasn't planning on attacking anything else along the way was he?"

"No why?" Ephialtes followed his gaze and saw a plume of smoke drifting through the air, leaving a black scar against the desert and the sky.

"Full steam ahead! Prepare weapons! Nexus is near that plume of smoke." Firebrand bellowed. "You two stay on the ship."

"Not a problem with me. If at all possible, bring him back dead for me." Ephialtes said.

Firebrand walked off to bark orders while Hestaria leaned in to speak to him. "Do you hear what you're saying?"

"I hear what I'm saying. And I mean it."

"Really? You don't care?"

"Nope."

"You don't care about the guy that saved your life."

"I saved his too, we're even."

"But you work for him. Hell, we work for him."

"Worked. If you haven't noticed, we're out of a job at this point."

"Not yet. You see any paperwork telling us that the Evening Guard is dispended?"

"No. But it doesn’t matter. Nexus is the last pony I want to see. And I'm sure the feeling's mutual."

"What makes you think that."

"You saw the way he talked to me."

"Really!? That's what set you off. He can't show you special treatment. You talked back to him. What makes you think he wouldn't yell at you?"

"We were friends. Why would he even yell at me like that?"

"Maybe he's just hurting. Like you are now."

"I'm not hurting."

"You might be able to sense magic, I can sense your emotions."

"How can you do that?"

"I'm a woman, it's what we do. I know you're hurting. He might not say it, but you're still his friend. And if he was in the right mind, he probably feels the same way."

"That hunk of metal doesn't feel, he emulates."

"Ephi… Don't be so harsh on him. Underneath that hunk of metal is a heart. Kind of like you."

"I am nothing like him."

"Just last month you pulled rank on somepony just to make sure they called you Sir. You look up to him."

"I don't look up to him."

"Yes you do."

"So what if I do?"

"Nothing, just saying you don't makes you seem like a bitch."

"That's a bit harsh."

He hated to say it, but she was right. Nexus was hurting, even he could tell. He wasn't acting the same. This wasn't Nexus, this was something darker entirely. And in some ways, he did look up to him. Only as a leader. Anything else he could out do Nexus in. But he did care. He really hated to even think it.

"No, that is." Firebrand said coming up to the bow.

Ephialtes looked over the bow and saw something that made his heart sink. The stern of an airship stuck out of the desert floor. On the back, the words E.F.S. Lifeline were painted in white.

"Nexus." Ephialtes said.

"You still wanna stick to that whole, I don't care thing?"

"Shut it Batsy."

Author's Notes:

Nexus: .....
Me: Yeah... that happened.
Nexus: I'm sorry?
Me: Don't sweat it. Anyways, I'm posting all of the chapters i wrote over the weekend seeing as i had no internet. Be ready to be spammed.
Nexus: Fun...