Chapter Twenty Five: Reunion.

***

Leeds Royal Armouries, March 11th, 2030.

Hell Blazer held up a hoof, forestalling the immediate barrage of questions that were thrown at him by all the ponies, Twilight especially. Only Errant Flight said nothing, grinning slightly at Hell Blazer's amused yet irritated expression.

"One at a time please!" the yellow pony said, smiling softly. The ponies quieted down, looking at each other and him with surprise. None of them had expected to see him again so soon; given his apparent unofficial status as being part of Elliot's group, none of them had expected to see him at all.

"Hell Blazer?" Twilight said after a moment. "What are you doing here?"

She looked him over as she spoke, trying to get a sense of his general state: the yellow pony looked harassed, like he hadn't slept in a few days, but he smiled tiredly at the group of surprised ponies, so his spirits weren't totally depleted.

"I was about to explain that," the pony replied slightly irritably, though his smile didn't fade. He looked them over, inspecting their uniforms and their generally more alert, militaristic stances. "I see you lot have done your bit to get ready," he said, a wry grin on his face. "But much as I'd like to say I'm here for a chin wag, I'm not. I'm here to take you to the council to discuss your next assignment."

"We're with Grey Squadron," Rainbow Dash said at once, indicating herself, Ditzy and Fluttershy. She looked remarkably resolute. "There's nothing else to it, is there?"

Hell Blazer raised an eyebrow. "Much as I'm sure you think so, you - like the rest of us - are beholden to the orders of the council, and it's them who want to discuss what to do with you." He sighed heavily. "And believe me, I agree with you. Elliot said to put you in Grey, and Elliot knew what he was doing, but Anderson and Blueblood are both convinced there has to be a better use for you than what you're doing in Grey Squadron and the infantry forces."

"Prince Blueblood himself is here?" Rarity said softly.

"Not here, no," Hell Blazer said. "It's his intention to speak with you via communication satellite connection. I'm supposed too take you there."

The ponies all exchanged uneasy glances, but it was True Grit who finally spoke up.

"We'll follow your lead, sir," he said smartly, saluting Hell Blazer. The yellow pony smirked slightly, his eyes glinting with amusement at the sight.

"You know, you don't have to call me sir," he said, sounding bemused.

"I'll take that under advisement, sir," True Grit replied with a slight smirk.

"In any case, I'd better head off," Errant Flight cut in. "The council won't want to speak with me, and I've a squadron of unruly ponies to rein in."

"Gotcha," Hell Blazer said. "We'll talk later, Flight."

Errant Flight headed off. Hell Blazer sighed as he walked off, before turning and heading off, indicating that the ponies should follow him. Twilight gave her friends a worried look, before heading after him. The others followed, none of them feeling particularly happy about this.

***

The group was led into the main complex of the Leeds base. For Twilight and the others who had trained at Pontefract, this was an entirely new experience - up until now, they hadn't been in a military base quite this expansive since the comparatively rag tag and battered facilities present at St Paul's. Even Ditzy, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash hadn't been in this part of the complex, and they too were somewhat in awe of it's scale.

The group was led to a door, outside which stood a gas-masked human guard armed with an MP5 and a midnight blue pony guard with a sheathed dagger at his side. The pony gave the Element bearers a glare with narrowed eyes.

"Sir," he addressed Hell Blazer. "We've had word ahead to expect you."

"Thank you, Star Vigil," Hell Blazer replied, sounding slightly irritated. "You can let us in now."

"I need your passcode, sir," Star Vigil said, sounding a tad irritated himself. "And I need to know that these... individuals have the proper clearance to enter the council chambers and -"

Hell Blazer narrowed his eyes at the pony, a frown developing on his face, and Star Vigil trailed off, paling slightly.

"My passcode,” the yellow pony said slowly, “is Constantine Sixty Six. These ponies are under my personal authority, which was ratified by Commander Albion himself as being second only to him and the council. That should more than cover their entry, Corporal Vigil."

"If you say so, sir," Vigil replied, sounding unconvinced but grudgingly accepting. "Open the door, Greg."

The masked guard - Greg - did so silently. As the group passed into the room, Twilight heard Vigil muttering to himself.

"Bucking murderers," he murmured, almost too quietly for Twilight's discerning ear to catch. "If I had my way, we'd..."

But Twilight didn't find out what would have happened had things gone Vigil's way, for the door closed behind them, cutting them off from the vengeful-sounding pony. The group found themselves in a large room fitted with a large television screen, which was plugged into the wall with several dozen wires. Next to the screen stood a dark haired technician in a white lab coat. Hell Blazer coughed slightly, puncturing the mysterious atmosphere of the room.

"Bill," he said softly, "open the uplink please."

The technician nodded softly without speaking, and fiddled with a few switches. A moment later, the screen flared into life, and the image of a white unicorn appeared standing next to a Japanese man in a silver suit and a strong looking military man. This was the council: it had only been months since the ponies had last spoken to them, but both Anderson and Sato appeared to have aged a few years - no doubt the stress of their position. Only Blueblood looked the same, and even he had more bags under his eyes

"So," Blueblood said, looking down at the group, eyes slightly narrowed as he surveyed the group. "Judging from your uniforms, you've been through your basic training - I take it you all got through?"

"Yes sir," Twilight said, adopting the position of unofficial spokespony for the group once again. "We all passed through basic."

"Great," Anderson said, looking vaguely irritated. "More grunts. Just what we need."

"We are grateful for your willingness to help us in this matter," Sato added diplomatically. "However, my colleagues and I have a matter of some importance to discuss with you, should you be amenable."

"Certainly, sir," Twilight said politely. The others, stood behind her, made similar noises of assent.

"Put it bluntly, Sparkle, we've been talking about how best to use you," Anderson said shortly. "As assets, you and the others aren't going to be much use as grunts on the front lines, competent as I'm sure you are. Six grunts and three flyers won’t win the war."

"There are, however, other uses that you could be put to," Sato said, his tone friendlier than his colleagues. "We have been considering the possibility of deploying the Elements you bear as a formidable strategic weapon."

Twilight's eyes widened as Sato said that, and she turned to looks at the others. Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie looked as shocked as she did. Fluttershy, however, merely looked worried, as though she had been expecting this, and Rainbow Dash was frowning in annoyance.

"I've heard that rumour, pal," she said, speaking to Sato. "You do know the Elements aren't weapons, right?"

"And we don't even have them with us," Twilight added softly. She looked at Blueblood. "Surely you at least can understand that, Prince Blueblood?"

Blueblood, for his part, merely shrugged. "I was never privy to the functions of the Elements of Order. All I knew was that Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were the bearers of those Elements, and that they were sources of immense power."

"All the best pony minds we have - as well as human magical scholars who have been granted access to the relevant materials - agree that they are formidable devices, turned to the right purpose," Sato continued.

"Sorry to repeat myself, councillor, but we don't have them!" Twilight said.

"Why would Elliot bring you without them if he intended to bring you?" Blueblood asked, eyebrow raised sceptically.

"How much does Elliot even know about usin' the Elements?" Applejack asked.

"As much as most of us," Sato said. "They were wielded by your counterparts - in many cases to devastating effect."

"What?" Applejack exclaimed. The others looked similarly surprised at this new piece of information - the Elements of Harmony, used as a weapon?

"What did they do?" Twilight asked.

"The Elements of Order were considered their ultimate attack weapon," Anderson explained tiredly. "Sort of a super-artillery piece. It was one of the reasons nobody wanted to fight them when they were together - their combined attack was devastating."

"What did it do?" Twilight asked, almost fearful of the answer. To her, the Elements were something almost sacred: they couldn't merely be used to destroy, they were used as part of the magic of friendship.

"Mainly destructive concussive force," Sato explained, sounding tired. "The Elements were more powerful than firing a full barrage. Many towns and cities were utterly ruined by them. The state Leeds is currently in, for example, is largely a result of the Elements’ usage."

"They also had other uses," Blueblood added dryly, looking at some unseen notes offscreen. "I've read reports of anti-infantry attacks where they'd incinerate infantry, beams of power that could melt tanks..."

"None of that has anything to do with the Elements!" Rainbow Dash yelled, sounding frustrated.

There was a moment's silence as the council digested the outburst.

"Explain," Anderson said after a moment, looking even more irritated than he had a moment ago.

The Element bearers exchanged glances, and then Twilight sighed.

"The Elements of Harmony in our world are used to channel the magic of friendship," she began after a moment. "Even if we had them, we can’t use them the way you describe. They don't… incinerate people or burn things or melt things. The most they've ever done is turn Discord to stone, and that's Discord. Usually they just use the magic of friendship to help ponies. That's how Princess Luna was transformed back from Nightmare Moon."

Blueblood exchanged glances with his colleagues, and sighed.

"You understand, it's difficult for us to entirely comprehend Elliot's motivations for bringing you here," he said quietly.

“That’s a fucking understatement,” Anderson said with a scowl. “He could have brought an army, but all we get is nine ponies of questionable military worth.”

“He explained why he didn’t bring back an army,” Hell Blazer pointed out, scowling. He’d kept mostly quiet up until this point, a couple of grumbles aside. “There’d be no point chucking more meat in the grinder - it’d just prolong the war.”

“And what has he done instead? Brought us nine lumps of meat that aren’t enough collectively to do jack shit and aren’t enough individually to bring anything special,” Anderson replied.

Blueblood held up a hoof, forestalling his colleague’s tirade. "Without Major Elliot being awake to explain, we have to assume he brought you here to use the Elements - its the only advantage we know of that you could bring to the field."

"And without them, I'm struggling to see why he'd pick you nine over any other ponies," Anderson added bluntly. "I'm starting to wonder whether he's lost it."

"Oi!" Hell Blazer put in angrily, looking thunderous as he addressed the council. "Elliot's as sound of mind as he was when I met him. I dunno what he brought this lot here for, but you can bet he had a damn good reason for everything he did!"

The council exchanged glances: Sato looked curious, Anderson irritated, and Blueblood just looked tired.

"Look," Hell Blazer added. "None of us know what the hell Elliot was thinking. He could have been planning something, he could have brought them here on a whim. Either way, we don't know. It's stupid asking this lot before Elliot wakes up."

"Is he going to?" Anderson asked, a sceptical eyebrow raised.

"Yes," Hell Blazer replied stubbornly. "He is."

The council exchanged another series of glances, and then Blueblood sighed.

"Alright," he said tiredly. "We'll speak to Elliot about this when he wakes up. I expect him to contact us the minute he can, understood?"

"Crystal bloody clear, sir," Hell Blazer said. Without another word, the yellow pony turned on his heel and exited the room. Twilight and her friends shared glances of confusion, before turning to follow him. The screen switched off, bathing the small room in darkness once again.

***

In the Leeds base canteen, Hell Blazer sat with the nine newcomer ponies, sighing slightly as he drank from a glass full of whiskey. Around him, the newcomer ponies sat, looking at him expectantly. Though they were here as part of "special operations” (Grey Squadron's members excluded), at present none of them had any practical duties to attend to and, until they were given such duties, they were at something of a loss as to what to do.

"So how long until Elliot's awake?" Twilight finally asked. It was a big deal - since Elliot was not only the one who had brought them here, but the only one who knew why, the sooner he was awake and back at it the better - plus it was still supposedly his job to defeat Solamina.

"No idea," Hell Blazer replied softly, sighing. "The big man is out and the Doctor's not been able to figure out what's up with him."

There was a pause as the various ponies exchanged glances. True Grit was focusing on his drink.

"You mean you don't know when he'll be back up?" Twilight finally asked.

"I don't even know if he will," Hell Blazer clarified. The ponies made various noises of dismay, and Hell Blazer sighed. "I told the council he knew why you were here to keep them off your back. I told them he'd be awake again instead of never waking up to keep them off of my back. If I don't keep them convinced that Elliot's gonna recover, they'll..."

He trailed off, looking shamefaced.

"They'll what?" Applejack asked, her eyes narrow.

"They'll ask me to summon another Avatar," Hell Blazer explained. "Which… can only work if the current one is dead."

There was a moment' pause as the group let that sentence, and all the grim implications it brought, sink in.

"You're not saying," Rarity said slowly, her eyes wide with shock, "that they'd actually... kill Elliot to allow for a new Avatar to be summoned?"

Hell Blazer snorted, looking morose. "We're living on borrowed time and the council knows it. They'd do anything they thought would give us even a few extra days."

"But that's horrible!" Fluttershy exclaimed, the volume of her voice surprising everypony there. "Why would they do that?"

"The Doctor has a saying, one he's fond of quoting at me whenever something really horrible happens," Hell Blazer said, looking faintly miserable. "'In the fight for survival, there are no rules'. The council are thinking of the bigger picture: there's only fourteen million humans left. If we're to have any chance of winning against the Equestrian Empire, we need Solamina dead. If we're to have any chance of killing the bitch, we need an Avatar. If not David, then somebody else."

"I can't believe that after everything he's supposed to have done for your world that you'd just kill him and replace him," Twilight said, trying not to sound too accusatory. In truth, she was utterly shocked. How could any beings that claimed to be civilised be so… horribly callous?

"It was his wish that if he died or was incapacitated to such a degree that we should find a replacement," Hell Blazer said softly. He didn't look particularly happy about what he was saying. "If I did it, I'd be doing as he asked."

"What kind of friend are you, that you would kill him - even if he asked you to!" Rarity said angrily. "Why -!"

She was cut off by a frosty glare that Hell Blazer sent her way, the admonishment dying in her throat.

"Understand this," he said softly, his tone icy and serious. "I don't want to fucking kill him. I've lost more than enough friends as it is, because of this war and because of other stupid things, a lot of which were my fault. The last thing I want is for the blood of another friend to be on my hands - my hooves,” he corrected with a grimace. He sighed. "But… and believe me, I hate this… but in war, people are expendable. Even the best of people."

There was a moment's pause as everypony considered Hell Blazer's words.

"You know what I don't get," Applejack said after a moment, her tone cold. "There's supposedly so few of you human folks left, and yet you're so willin' to let another die if you think you 'have' to."

Hell Blazer smirked humourlessly. "First off, much as I wish this weren't the case, I'm not human anymore, though thanks for the complement." He frowned, the smirk failing. "Secondly..."

"Secondly," a tired, old sounding voice spoke, "there are levels of survival that humanity is willing to accept."

The leather-jacket wearing Doctor was standing near them, looking expectantly at Hell Blazer.

"The physicians wish to speak with you," he said tiredly.

"I'm coming in a moment," Hell Blazer said.

"What did you mean 'levels of survival'?" Twilight asked the Doctor. He turned to her, his eyes impossible old and impossibly cold.

"Humanity would require only a scant few hundred viable breeders to survive and commence viable repopulation of this planet," he said matter-of-factly. "That is ultimately the base goal of the war - survival. Any other objective - be it cultural survival or moral high ground or any other, similar objective, must be secondary to that. We have fourteen million humans left alive at this present moment.” He smiled, though it was without mirth. “We can still, harsh as this may sound to your sensibilities, afford to lose one or two more. As a matter of fact, in the time we’ve been speaking, I believe we already have."

With that, he walked off, and Hell Blazer, shrugging apologetically, followed him. The remaining ponies were left sitting in the canteen, the conversation they had just had leaving them feeling a mixture of disgust and dread.

"I almost wish we hadn't come," Twilight said after a moment. "This place is just so…”

"Hopeless," Rarity supplied, her ears drooping in sorrow. "This entire place feels utterly hopeless - almost like there’s… nothing left to save."

The other ponies slowly nodded, each of them feeling that same crashing wave of dread.

“There has to be something to save,” Lyra said after a moment, looking suddenly, grimly determined. “These humans are alive. And as long as they’re alive, there has to be some hope.” She looked amongst the others. “I will not start thinking there’s no hope! I just won’t!”

“I’m not saying there’s no…” Rarity began.

“No, but you were,” Lyra cut her off. “You were, Rarity. You were saying it seemed ‘hopeless’ - that’s what ‘no hope’ means!”

“I know what it means!” Rarity growled. “And you know what? This place does seem hopeless sometimes! It’s seemed like that since we got here!”

“Please don’t argue!” Fluttershy snapped, louder than the others would have expected. Lyra and Rarity looked at her in shock, as did everypony else. She shrank back, slightly embarrassed by her outburst. “Please. If that’s alright.”

There was a long silence as the newcomers sat, everything being said and done around them weighing down on their minds.

"Come on, everypony," Twilight said after a moment, her voice heavy. "I think we should get to bed. I'm sure they'll find something for us to do soon enough."

With a few tired murmurs of agreement, everypony got up from their table at the canteen and headed off to bed, none of them feeling enthusiastic about doing much of anything at all. The only one who didn't move was Lyra, who, after waving off Ditzy, who was looking at her with sad, confused eyes, stayed put, grabbed Hell Blazer's unfinished glass of whiskey, and downed it. Then, coughing slightly and sighing, she too headed off.

***

12th March, 2030, 6.30am.

Hell Blazer sat by Elliot's bed, his tired eyes not leaving the prone form of the man he himself had condemned to this fate.

"You haven't slept," a voice spoke. Hell Blazer turned to find himself facing, of all ponies, Lyra Heartstrings. For a moment, his mind rebelled against her presence, until he remembered that though his Lyra was dead, this unscarred Lyra was still here.

"How'd you find this place?" he asked.

"I asked," she replied quietly. Her eyes drifted to Elliot. "You know, he was the first human I ever met."

"Same for our Lyra," Hell Blazer said with a soft smile. "She was one of the heads of the exodus: came in with Doctor Hooves, Ditzy Doo and Bon-Bon, so Elliot told me."

At the mention of Bon-Bon, Lyra's eyes flicked up to Hell Blazer.

"Is she...?" she asked, not daring to speak the words. Hell Blazer didn't reply and Lyra sighed. "I suppose I shouldn't ask. Not my Bon-Bon anyway."

"No," Hell Blazer said, sighing. "And your Ditzy isn't the Doctor's Ditzy, either. That's what makes this all very awkward."

"I haven't seen Doctor Hooves," Lyra said, frowning in confusion.

"You have, he just looks very, very different these days," Hell Blazer replied, smirking slightly. He turned back to Elliot. "According to the Doc, he'll pull through this time, but..."

"But you don't know when he'll wake up and your command aren't very patient," Lyra finished for him. He gave her an odd look. "I do listen when you're talking to the Element bearers you know. I don't say much but I listen."

"Yeah," Hell Blazer said with a sigh. "Our Lyra was quiet too."

"It's just this war," Lyra said. "I always wanted to meet humans, but I thought if I did it'd be a magical experience, not..."

"Not a war like this," Hell Blazer finished.

"Not a war at all," Lyra said, frowning. "This is so far beyond my experience I don't even know what to feel."

Hell Blazer didn't know what to say, and so he said nothing. The two of them kept staring at the prone form of Elliot for a little while longer.

“You know,” he said softly, “I never told you. Your - our Lyra’s… her personal effects are technically yours, now.”

“They what?” Lyra asked, raising an eyebrow.

“They’re yours,” Hell Blazer repeated. “They were mine, that’s what she stipulated… but to be honest, I think you deserve them more.”

“I… I don’t know what to say,” Lyra said honestly.

“I’m sure you don’t,” Hell Blazer said with a chuckle. “I can have ‘em sent to you, if you like.”

“That… would be nice,” Lyra said softly. “What’s in there?”

“Oh, all sorts,” Hell Blazer replied. “I think there’s even a -”

Before he could continue, there was a sudden, loud noise that started blaring throughout the base, reverberating through the walls. It took Hell Blazer a moment to realise it, but when he did, his eyes widened in shock and alarm and his ears flattened.

"Oh horsefeathers - shit!" he swore, causing Lyra to look at him. "That's the b-fucking alert!"

"What should we do?" Lyra asked, looking around frantically.

"You should get to action stations," Hell Blazer said, turning back to Elliot. "I'll guard David."

"Gotcha," Lyra said, and without another word she bolted out of the room towards the assembly point. Hell Blazer watched her go before turning his gaze back to Elliot once more.

"You'd better wake up soon, mate," he said grimly. "Because I get the feeling we'll need you sharpish."

Author's Notes:

Hello again, everyone. Hope you enjoy this latest chapter: it's a little shorter than I usually manage, but it's said everything I need it to and the next chapter should more than make up for it EDIT: Not shorter than the average now.

EDIT: This chapter was edited 28th July 2015 - the first chapter "out of order" that I've done.

As before, I'll ask those of you who've read this far to consider reading the AOA Anthology, Tales of the War, which contains short stories from the AOA world. As well as that, there are obviously a lot of AU's that have been posted since AOA started, which you might find interesting, links to which are present in the long description.

As always, thank you all for reading my story, for favouriting my story and for commenting on my story, and thank you to RoyalPsycho (Isaac) and The Void (Matt) for making sure my stuff is always at least readable. :-)