Rain continued to fall from the skies, the pitter-patter of raindrops being drowned out by the monstrous thuds of the giant centaur's footsteps. It now had a red flag on it, distinguishing it from its old ownership. The flag was wet and pitiful, drooping against its pole.

"Boy, it's really pouring" Sandy Dunes noted, wiping some condensation from his face from his mane as he pulled away from the window. Most everyone in the resistance had pitched in to help build the mobile base on the massive beast's back where Sandy was currently residing. The young foal passed a table where Fleetfoot and Soarin' were sitting, making the two look out the window at the gray, dreary sky.

"It's been seven days now" Soarin' muttered, half heartedly peeling a potato. Fleetfoot stayed quiet for a moment before sighing.

"I still can't believe it" the swift pegasus sighed, not specifying what she was talking about. Everyone knew though. Soarin' nodded in agreement before continuing to peel the potatos.

Sweetie Belle's room was stark black with no furniture other than a bed. She had denied any luxuries. The only sound coming from the room was a constant, soft, whirring noise. Sweetie's eyes were nearly blank as she absent mindedly toyed with an energy drill. She hadn't left her room in days.

A stuffed dummy met the end of its life, a spear having gone straight through it. Babs scowled as she picked up another javelin. Missed the heart again.

"It's got to be Spitfire or nobody" Flim mused, drinking some cider(made by the Super cider Squeezy 10,000).

"Yes, brother of mine, she's the one who gathered us here, right?" Flam agreed, selling cider whilst his brother rested. The base set up on Tirek's back was surprisingly large, able to house many of the more important resistance members.

"Sweetie Belle is too unreliable" Flim added, tossing away the empty mug.

"Too mopey" the twins said in unison.

"Just because she has the Element doesn't mean she's the leader" Silver Spoon sneered, taking her shift to sell the cider. The slate grey earth pony had joined up with the unicorn duo when she was displaced from Ponyville. She found that their personalities matched hers rather well and had been working with them ever since. Especially after Diamond Tiara betrayed her to the Solar Queen. "If an obnoxious, weak unicorn like her is made leader, this whole resistance falls apart". The three ponies jumped up, startled as Babs slammed her hoof down on their stand, leaving a crack in it.

"Freedom Friends" Babs hissed, her eyes dark. "Not the Resistance, it's Freedom Friends now" Babs clarified, her voice a growl that made the salesponies gulp in fear.

Cold water poured down on Babs, slicking her mane back and making her fur stick to her body. Her head was bowed, not listening to the cracks of thunder in the sky. She didn't care that she was out of the shelter. She just needed to wash these feelings away. It wasn't working.

"You said you'd repay that kiss ten times over. What's the big idea, leaving a hole in my heart that's ten times bigger. You jerk" she grumbled, her voice cracking a bit. Babs was tough, she wasn't going to cry. But if someone saw her, they would have seen the tears building in her eyes and her struggle to keep them inside.

Slavering manticores and Ursa Minors, their minds long taken due to abuse give to them from birth, prowled the cliff side, waiting for the enemy of their masters.

"Enemies detected" Shining Armor called out, firing a magic flare into the air to alert the rest of his fellow comrades.

"I'll take the Element of Loyalty" Applebloom volunteered, affixing the now dull red necklace to her neck. With a slow rumble, the magic in the necklace sparked to life, forming the red avatar that had once protected Scootaloo.

"So, you're going to wear it?" Sweetie asked, bags under her eyes from lack of sleep, staring Applebloom down from the position of one of Tirek's shoulder blades. Her eyes held no happiness, only anger now.

"I've been practicing to make avatars" Applebloom countered, her temper growing short with Sweetie being either angry or sad all the time. "You can't do this by yourself". Sweetie's eyes narrowed before she gave her verdict.

"Fine" she spat, venom clouding her words.

Manticores of all sizes were sent flying as a mauve blur slammed into them, crushing bones like twigs. Scootabelle(no one dared to change the name of the fusion) spun around, goring an Ursa Minor on its drill and spraying its guts everywhere.

"Sweetie Belle, that's overkill!" Applebloom yelled, resisting the urge to vomit up her lunch.

"HE WHO STRIKES FIRST WINS, IT'S WHAT SCOOTALOO WOULD HAVE DONE!" the unicorn snapped in reply, her will power overpowering Applebloom's so that it was only her really controlling their avatar.

"Our power is unstable!" Applebloom retorted, noting the sparks shooting from the junction of the neck and head as well as the flashing of Sweetie's tiara. Sweetie didn't listen, merely making the energy construct smash a manticore's face underneath its hoof.

"MONSTER, BASTARD, JERK, TRASH, SCUM, FU-!" Sweetie ranted as she tore the already dead creature to pieces. She was interrupted by a shot of green magic slashing the shoulder of Scootabelle. From the hillside shot out Changeling Praetorians, massive, drooling beasts the size of a bear with scorpion like tails. Applebloom shrieked in shock, only to be reprimanded.

"Keep it together! Scootaloo never screamed, not once!" Sweetie bellowed, making them leap into the air, above the firing line of the Praetorians.

"You have to keep calm, if we keep fighting like this, we'll die!" Applebloom pleaded with her friend. An explosion of green blood littered the ground as ten Changelings were smashed.

"Scootaloo never ran away" Sweetie babbled, more so to herself than Applebloom at this point. They hit the ground spinning, dozens of soldiers turning to red or green paste with a single hit. Others came, only to be met with a battle cry and an energy blast that wiped them from existence almost instantly. It was all over, the attack had come and gone. Sweetie felt bile rising in her throat. Pressure rose in her horn. Her body was fine, her spirit, that which powered magic, was not.

"No" Applebloom murmured as their connection began to sever, their avatar coughing up large chunks of purple and black magic. The Earth Pony noticed the energy around her turn red as their connection fully severed and Sweetie bounced off inside her purple orb, she herself vomiting from stress that she had put on her magic. "Don't leave" Applebloom tried to order but it was too late, the purple orb was out of sight and disappearing into the mists. Only one had kept their eye on the pale unicorn...and it wasn't a friend. The Praetorian zoomed off, following Sweetie Belle into the ravines Next Chapter: Final Alicorn Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 16 Minutes