So to take stock of my situation, I was flanked by two Reavers, cybernetic super soldiers who had a direct link to a cybernetic brain collective. The C.C.N. as it’s called, seemed to be the answer to avoid going insane due to not having an organic body, and gives them the processing power that allows them to use the complex body. They were the most dangerous threat to me right now.

Next were six republic soldiers. I didn’t know what their combat effectiveness was, but I was sure this time they were not simply recruited civilians. If anything, they at least had basic training, possibly advanced, all I really knew was that they looked far more prepared than other republic troops I had seen. Of the six, three were accompanied by modified sprite bots, the drones having more armor than the average bot, and a heavier energy gun. The biggest danger they posed was their connection to the C.C.N. I could feel it. This meant that they could share information in a blink of an eye, as well as suppress panic and doubt. Even if the six were shit fighters on their own, together, the three with the bots were still more dangerous to say the least.

Last was Blackspot and his cronies. Familiar faces all of them. To the side of the smug pirate was Shamrock and Couteau, and above them was the pegasus, Graceful. Blackspot only had a simple 10mm pistol on him, and a single edged sword. Not as intimidating as everypony else, but he still gave me a bad vibe. The two mares to the side of him were armed with the high caliber SMG’s that one of them had used against me before. The guns looked like shit, but that ammunition it used was more than powerful enough to take down a pony. Graceful hovered above us, holding onto a battle rifle, and having wrapped herself in explosive packs. The rifle looked like a modified version of the others I had seen, having a longer magazine, scope on the side, and longer barrel. From a distance, or up close, Graceful looked like the biggest threat if not taken out first

I also had to take note that the both parties had an annoying aversion to death. With the reavers not having a purely organic body, wounds that would be fatal to anypony, was easily survivable for them. Destroying the brain would be the only way to be sure, but even then that might not be the end to them. The pirates on the other hoof seemed to have some strange magic about them. Able to keep fighting even after taking damage that would disable most ponies. And then there are their eyes, having some way to entrance me, and even Theremin. If I got caught in their stare, it would be all over for me.

As for myself, I still had on the nice black suit, and the shocker leg Theremin gave to me. I might donate it to some needy orphan after I find a way out of this. On my back was a heavy case, it weighed around a similar amount as the gear I tended to take with me to the big island metro, so it didn’t bother me much. Other than that, I had no weapons on me, and my gasmask was tightly affixed to my face.

Blackspot pulled out a pocket watch, and flipped it open. “Now just so you know, we be on a tight schedule. Even if we like a good gun powder debate, I’d rather not be hung off t' mast by hook for tardiness.” He put away the watch and smiled, a bit too wide of a smile. “So, how about we talk less, and you give us t' mare. After that, we go our separate ways.”

Theremin huffed in irritation. “Listen here savage, we are not hoofing over one of our own just so you can do what you want with her.” Stomping forward, Theremin came face to face with Blackspot. “Once you make that critical blow to Orthrus, she is to be returned to us, understand?”

Blackspot did not flinch, instead he put his hoof under Theremins chin. “You’re a pretty mare, you know that.” The smile dropped from his face. “Shame if that would have to change.” Taking a step back, and tuning around, the unicorn slowly trotted away. “Be aye, t' mare be safe with us. No harm will come t' her, and when it’s all over, she can return t' you. Though after spendin' some time with me, I doubt she will want to.”

Laughing, Theremin followed the stallion. “Living with a bunch of seafaring savages, oh that is so much better than with a civilization at the height of technology.” The rest of us joined them, walking on a poorly maintained trail, the light rain making it muddy. “A good example is the drone we are lending out to you, I’m sure it will help prove our point, it’s instructions are with it in the case, just make sure not to have miss Echo haul it around everywhere you go, leave that honor for your pack mules.”

Well I now knew what was in the case, and having my own drone would be very useful, so it would be a good idea to keep it.

The bickering quickly faded as we walked, Theremin and Blackspot obviously not liking each other, but holding back on starting a fight. My guess to why this had not become a blood bath yet, Phobetor. Our trek along the path was slow, but at least this time the rain was not coming down in buckets, and the raincoat and gas mask thankfully did well to keep the radiation and toxins out. The only thing that had me concerned, other than when I should make a break for it, was that Blackspot started humming, and was later joined by his three lackeys.

The day felt odd, as the sun broke through the rainclouds, almost messing with my eyes every time I looked up. I’d read a few books that called it a fox wedding, though the origins to the saying had been lost to time, as well as whatever a fox was. Most Mirage Ponies just called it a mirage rain, as our shimmer seemed to be more powerful under such conditions. It had to do with the sunlight passing through raindrops, making the light bend even more than normal.

I had to keep myself from laughing, because if I could get some distance from them, I might be able to vanish from sight. Well at least it should work on the pirates, but the two reavers, it’s always possible their cyber eyes could track heat, or even magic. So before I could make a run for it, I needed the republic ponies to be distracted.

As we moved, we had to go through an old tunnel, the vegetation having grown so thick, that it nearly hid the entryway completely. The inside on the other hoof looked well maintained, the concrete floor only having one or two cracks in it, which to me meant that this place must not be that old.

“You know, from the surface this all looks like junk.” Graceful spoke up, an old spark battery lantern on her side lit up her smirking face. “But scratch beneath the surface, you ponies are doing well for yourself.”

Blaster Beam huffed. “And scratch beneath your surface, and all I’d see is more filth.”

The pegasus shrugged. “Ya, I got to agree with you there. Dig a little in me, you will find the enclave. More rotten than a two-hundred-year old apple.”

The mentioning about the enclave made one of my ears twitch. I had heard Merit talk about the enclave, but he sounded more bitter-sweet. Graceful on the other hoof, had this feeling of hate in her voice.

Both Blaster, and Theremin looked at each other and grinned. “You do know that this enclave has made contact with the island recently.” Theremin spoke up, and Gracefuls full attention was on him. “We recently… obtained information about it. Three scouts are currently being held by Orthrus, something about looking for a home for a cloud city.”

I couldn’t help but feel a little sick about this, as I knew they took the information directly from my head.

Graceful just burst out laughing. “So that’s what the big cunt has gone hunting for.” She hovered in place, slowly flapping her wings, and stretching her back. “Well it’s not like we don’t have a plan for getting rats out of holes. What do you say, first mate?”

Blackspot nodded. “It’s but a minor issue in t' long run. Once we make contact with Luna, our eneme’s will have t' bow their heads, or lose them t' her power.” The other pirates gave each other a nervous look, which to me meant that at least he was the only one of them being visited by Phobetor.

“Luna or not, you sure she can get us through t' back door?” Shamrock spoke up. “As lovely as this lass is, I don’t see her as important.”

Theremin groaned. “This is why I don’t understand why she has to go with you savages. There's a spot on friendly island protected by a barrier, like what the old ministries used. Only two ways pass the barrier, either have Orthrus shut it down, or be one of the direct descendants of the R&D Stables Heads.”

“And past that barrier is t' back door to Orthrus.” Blackspot finished. “And as it turns out, my lovely here is part of such a bloodline.” This made my blood run cold. I still didn’t know what Phobetor’s plans were, but it now involved getting the pirates passed most of Orthrus’s main defenses.

“Just remember, once you’re in, have her return to us. Understand?” Theremin punctuated the last word with a stomp.

“As clear as a crystal pony.” Black Spot spoke in a mocking tone. “Oh look, the light at t' end of the tunnel.”

Indeed, we reached the end of the tunnel, this side was also covered in thick vegetation, only letting a little bit of light filter through. I figured that my window of escape was coming soon, and it was going to be small. I only had one weapon on me, the gift from Theremin, so might as well use it. From the look on my HUD display, the shocker leg was more than three fourths charged, and should take but a few second to finish charging.

Hit and run was what was going through my head, and it helped that both the republic and the pirates were all on edge right now. I could sense it from the republic ponies, and the pirate ponies had their head on a swivel. So if I could spark a fight, I should be able to slip away in the chaos. Maybe.

We passed through the vegetation and found myself at the foot of an old anti dragon outpost. Such structures were dotted all over the islands, made to shoot the flying monstrosities out of the sky if they were ever to attack. This one was a mix of old-world and modern construction, it’s large cannon now replaced by what I could guess was a massive energy cannon. A few thoughts ran through my head, but the only answer to why this existed, was to shoot down the Orthrus airships. To the side of the structure was a landing pad with a vertibuck on it, the aircraft painted in the pirate’s colors.

There were three more republic ponies here, and two more pirates. Two of the republic ponies were working on the cannon, taking what was likely a lookout position. The third was with the two pirates, who looked like they roped the poor mare into a drinking game, and the only thing she had on was her underwear, and her gas mask. The underdressed mare quickly stood to attention, but then wobbled, and fell over.

The position of the outpost was along a Cliffside, almost hidden among the vegetation that grew over it. If I had to guess, the side was not too steep a drop, too much for a pony to climb up on, but possible maybe for a pony to slide down.

Blackspot chuckled. “I was wonderin'; would it be possible for us t' borrow that six pounder thar. Big as fuck blasters like that be hard t' come by at t' best o' times.”

A growl came from Blaster Beam. “Touch it and you’re ash, savage.”

“Such hostility, and here I thought we were getting along.” Blackspot mocked. “But now that you escorted us here, I think it’s time for us t' go. I have a dance t' go to, and if I’m late, t' scurvey dog be givin' me forty lashes.” He trotted over to me and offer a hoof. “Care to join me, my lovely one?”

I rolled my eyes, and touched my right forehoof with his. “Have you ever stuck your hoof into a Twittermite nest?”

He tilted his head. “What’s a Twittermite?”

“It’s a local pest we have.” I said, giving him a nod. “They like to eat electricity, so they can be hell on the power infrastructure we have. And it is said that touching a nest of theirs without protective gear is like being struck by lightning.”

“That does sound like a pain.” Blackspot responded, tilting his head the other way. “Why are you tel…” his body locked up as the air was filled with a loud buzzing clicking sound.

Pulling my hoof back, the stallion fell over, his body no longer locked up. “Just felt like giving you a warning, not that you would understand it.”

Looking at the others, guns were drawn, most on me, but some of them were aimed at each other. Theremin took a step closer. “Miss Echo, stand down.”

“Yes.” I said, and Theremin relaxed. “I just wanted to test out the leg, he will be fine in a bit.”

“Fine, now board the vertibuck.” Blaster Beam commanded firmly. “We will have to go over this bullshit when you get back.”

“Right, I’ll just help the good stallion up first.” I responded. Tension was hitting an all-time high, and I only had one shot at this. Helping the dazed stallion up, I quickly checked the pockets, and Jackpot! I discreetly pulled out an metal apple with a pin on top.

I activated my S.A.T.S. and with a clear idea of what I wanted to do, I selected to shove the stallion at his lackeys, and to throw the grenade at the hooves of the two reavers. I figured that the pirate would be easier to get away from then the cyber ponies. In a swift motion, my body threw the explosive as I charged at the two pirates, using Blackspot like a battering ram.

*BOOM*

Confusion filled the air, but I knew what I had to do. Taking Blackspots sword, I charged for the railings. Predictably, the two reavers had survived the blast, and Theremin was already making his way to me. Reaching the railing, I did the only thing I could think to do, and jumped.

My left fore leg wrapped around the sword, Minerva using telekinesis to hold it in place as it carved into the ground, cutting thru vines and roots as i slid down the cliff. My vision became a blur of green as I struggled to keep on my hooves, and using the sword as an anchor to keep me from tumbling. Then it happened, I hit something too hard for the sword to cut thru, and I began to tumble, unable to pull myself into a ball, I helplessly flailed around the rest of the way down.

I lifted my left foreleg to check the time, which only reminded me that I didn’t know what time it was before, so I could only guess that I had only knocked myself out for a few minutes. One good thing about falling through a jungle, was as long as the fall is not too steep, the shrubbery would slow you down enough to not snap your neck when hitting the bottom. Well, usually.

Picking myself back up, it seemed that my legs took the brunt of the tumble, making me glad they were all cybernetic. My gas mask had come loose, an easy fix, and I should feel lucky that I didn’t lose it altogether. Choking to death up here was not a way I wanted to go. The sword I had taken was sticking out of a tree nearby, so lucky me, I still had a weapon to defend myself with. The case I had on me was sticking out of a bush, looking just fine, so I threw it back onto my back, even if it would slow me down, keeping the drone would still prove very useful in the long run.

Now for the hard part, making my way to a neutral station. I really wanted to sleep in my own bed right now. The republic must have defenses to keep ponies from coming and going from them, but I’ll just have to deal with them when they come up. Setting up the map marker on Minerva, it indicated I needed to head south. Which was thru thick jungle, with only a sword to defend myself with. Not an easy task, but one I had to do, or face being collared again by ponies I had grown to hate.

My body shifted as I walked along the forest floor, the ground here being far squishier then on the big island, but luckily dryer due to the rains being not as heavy over here. The light was also very dim here, not dark, but heavy with shadows. Also, as if the place was mocking me, there was no noise, not even a bird chirp.

Shaking the uneasy feeling off, I moved south, my hooves crunching with every step.

I hadn’t gotten far when the sounds of gunfire cracked overhead, whatever truce the republic and pirates had, must have broken down. Good for me, as it would give me more time to get away.

“Miss Echo!” I froze at the familiar synthetic voice of a stallion. “How did you regain control?” Theremin stepped out from behind a massive tree. “Why do you reject me?”

Fuck! At least he was in a much squishier body, but I had a feeling he still outclassed me in combat power. “Because you're wrong, about me, about the republic.”

He tilted his head. “Wrong, I don’t see how that is possible. Now if you would just give up this farce, and come back with me. It seems you need more time to understand the republic.”

“Understand?” I shook my head. “I understand enough, and I disagree with it all.” I slowly drew the curved sword, I could get one good slash with Minerva’s telekinesis, but only that.

Theremin faked wiping off a tear. “How could you say that. Everypony is provided for, water, food, shelter, work, everything.” He stomped on the ground with a soft thud. “Where we have stamped out outside influences, there is no crime, no drug abuse, suicide, or dissatisfaction. We have made the perfect system, and you would reject that?”

“Yes I would.” Taking a step back, my eyes locked with his. “Your perfect system, it is nothing but slavery for the mind. Everypony there, nothing more than addicts to that system, dependent on it for everything.” I tapped on the jack that was attached to the back of my neck. “This, this is nothing more than a collar, meant to solidify the slavery. No secrets, but also no freedom of thought.” Just talking about it made me angry. “It felt like I was drowning in a sea, every free though I had was hit by a wave of doubt, and reinforced with pro republic thoughts. Only now I know none of it was my own.”

He laughed. “Oh wow, I knew you were something special.” He offered a hoof to me. “Your ego is strong, that much can’t be denied. But we just need to tame that rebellious nature in you, bring you back to sanity. Then you can join our ranks, become a reaver, obtain limitless power.”

I took another step back. This was quickly becoming too insane for me. “Yeah, if freedom and logic is insanity, then I don’t want to be sane.”

Theremin tilted his head, so far that I could hear the joints pop, before straightening it back out. “Shame. Then I will just have to break you here first.” Putting his hoof down, he took a step closer to me. “This is going to hurt me more than you. It’s going to hurt a lot. But that’ because I care so much about you.”

He took a few more steps closer, and I took a few back, pointing the sword at him. I knew that his current body could teleport and turn invisible, as well as cast a sleep spell, but nothing more. This fight, I had a feeling that it was going to be one sided, but even if there was one percent chance of victory, I had to take it.

*Wamph*

Decayed leaves went flying obscuring my vision for but a moment, and as they settled I saw a big green mass behind Theremin. I was like if a piece of a tree had suddenly fallen to the ground, but denser, and had long claws, and dagger like teeth, and hungry eyes. It was a Paradise Dragon, standing up on two legs, and it’s claws out.

Theremin only had a moment to see what had fallen behind him before the paradise dragon brought down a claw on him. The monster only hit the ground, as Theremin teleported behind it. “Fucking whore of a beast! I don’t have time to be dealing with your kind.” The monster retorted by growling, and wiping its tail at him, the cyber mare once more teleporting out of the way at the last second.

I didn’t want the trouble of being in the middle of this fight, so I galloped away not daring to look back. The twang sound of a magical energy musket went off from behind me. though strong, I didn’t know how effective those guns were against a paradise dragon, nor did I want to find out.

The sound of fighting soon left me behind as I galloped south. The jungle only growing thicker, and darker the further I went. I didn’t lose my stride at all, the four cyber legs I had, though miss matched as they were, proving to be highly efficient. The basic prosthetic legs rarely performed as well under such stress, so being able to gallop unhindered felt freeing.

*Crack*

A small bit of dead leaves jumped up ahead of me, and I slid to a stop. The sound of the gunshot echoed through the silent forest, yet no pony could be seen.

“You aren’t going nowhere wench!” looking up Graceful Gust floated above me, her wings flapping slowly, her battle rifle aimed at me. “Now the first mate said you should come to no harm, but I’m feeling that I might not have heard that order.” I could hear her chuckling to herself from inside her gas mask. “You know what my captain would say in a moment like this?”

“That you should just go fuck yourself. But I’m sure that rifle of yours would fit all the way in.” I spat back at her.

She just chuckled some more. “She would say to just fuck you up, and drag you back. And who knows, maybe I can use you to lubricate my rifle first. You wouldn’t be the first.”

Yeah… no. I dashed to the side, and rolled behind a three. With a loud crack, splinters of wood jetted out just passed me. “Just try and get me you flaming crotch bitch!” Her rifle had range and power, but we were in a jungle, meaning that trees provided me with plenty of cover.

“Oh, you smarmy little cunt.” A loud pop came from where Graceful was. “Let's see how much fight is really in you.”

Peeking out, I could see Graceful holding a flare gun, a trail of blue smoke rising up and through the canopy. This meant only one thing, she was calling the other pirates. Not that I planned on sticking around long enough for her friends to find me.

With a dash, I was off, but now weaving through the trees. There was another crack of a rifle, and the wiz of a bullet flying past my head, smashing into a tree ahead of me and sending splinters flying. A third shot went off, this one hitting a tree that I zigged behind, the dense forest proving paramount to my survival. A fourth shot almost got me, but bounced off the case which had sagged to the side a bit.

There were no more shots, just the eerie silence of the forest. This only fueled my paranoia, as I knew that the Pegasus could easily keep up with me, and I never got so lucky to have actually gotten away. Fixing the case, I then pushed on, the more distance I covered the better it was going to be for me, or at least, that’s what I’d hoped.

Another pop went off, this time ahead of me. A trap maybe, but the flare gun gave away her position, so… I skidded to a stop as I came to a tree line, and as the light grew brighter, I came to realize that not only did the jungle end here, so did the ground. I stood at the edge of a cliff face. Though not a far drop, it was far enough to severely hurt or kill me if I fell down it.

“End of the rode, savvy” Graceful hovered in air, rifle pointed in my direction. “Next time you make a move; I’m putting lead in ya. So now we stay nice and quiet like, and wait for the gull to get here.”

“Gull, what’s that?”

Graceful growled at my question. “I said quiet, the next time you speak, move, or do fuckin anythin at all, I blast off one of them pretty legs of yours. But to answer the question, a gull is a vertibuck that can land on water. That’s it.”

I sat there knowing that if I moved, she would make good on her promise. After what felt like an hour, though it only had to have been a few minutes, the vertibuck, or gull as she called it, flew overhead. Circling around before hovering in place above us, and slowly lowering down.

What greeted me was Shamrock pointing a mounted minigun at me. The rest of the pirates were there, the two whose names I didn’t know where the pilot and copilot. Couteau was sitting back, and Blackspot had gotten up and stood next to Shamrock.

Graceful fluttered over toward the gull, talking with Blackspot for a couple of seconds before flying over to me. “I’m going to carry you over, so no funny business. Try anything, we break the legs then take you anyway. Understand?”

I rolled my eyes. “I hear you, cunt breath,”

A hoof connected with my jaw, sending a sharp pain through my skull. “Now I’m up for friendly banter and the like, but sadly we just don’t have the luxury for foreplay right now. So the more you talk, the more I mess up that pretty face of yours.”

I got the message, though all they needed to do was point at the minigun to force compliance. A weapon like that would cut me down the second I try and get away, and they just needed to aim low to fuck up my legs. I contemplated using Graceful as a shield, but I had a strong feeling that they just shoot through her to get to me.

“Stretch out your forelegs for me like you stretch out your back legs for a dick.” I had another witty comment for her, something about how she must be an expert at that, but I didn’t feel like getting hit in the face again. Stretching out my forelegs, the Pegasus locked hers with mine, and I felt myself slowly being lifted up into the air.

*Twang*

A burst of red light shot over my head, and scorched the side of the gull. I jumped to the ground, as did Graceful, who began rolling around screaming “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” as a line of smoke came off of her wing.

“Change of plans.” Theremin stood at the edge of the tree line, his left cheek missing, and long gash along his side. Both exposing the synthetic flesh underneath, and leaking milky white fluid. “She’s coming back with us.” Shamrock revved up the minigun, but didn’t fire. I was between the two of them, making a better shield than Graceful would have been. “Miss Echo just take my hoof, and we will return to the others.”

Teleportation. I knew he could do it, meaning if he even touched me, it was all over. “Tempting thought, but I got other places I want to be.”

“But there's nowhere for you to go, no where to run. So stop being difficult, come with me.” There was static to his voice, which only further convinced me of the fakeness of his words, and who he/she was.

“Sorry, but there's plenty of places I can go. They might not be easy, or fair, but at least I know they’re not fake. What you offer, it’s slavery, but with a high tech and nice looking collar.”

He tilted his head. “Shame” in the blink of an eye, he was closer. “Not that you're wrong though. We ponies need to be tied down, or we will let unfairness run rampant and destroy the world again.”

He stretched out his hoof to touch me, and I jumped back, sliding off the cliff. I managed to grab the edge with my forelegs, but now I was in position to fall to my potential death, or be taken by the insane cybermare. The case on my back didn’t help at all, but maybe I could use it to break my fall, though I’d lose the drone, the sacrifices we must make.

My ears filled with the sound of what I would have to guess was a buzz saw going off. Theremin teleported out of the way as a stream of bullets flew at him, Shamrock fired the minigun, sending bullets flying everywhere. I couldn’t see if she had managed to hit him or not, but continued firing told me that the cybermare was doing well to avoid the attack.

The firing stopped, which I hoped meant that the Theremin was finally down for good. But the minigun started up again, dashing that hope, only to see the belly of a paradise dragon fly over me, and grab onto the side of the gull. The aircraft struggled to remain balanced, but the sudden added weight from the monster forced it to tilt, and drop. As I watched the gull drift off and out of view, Graceful chased off after it.

I felt a shadow loom over me. “Don’t see that everyday.” Theremin stood over me, sporting a few bullet holes now, and the white liquid oozed from his wounds, dripping down on me. “Those monsters are the bane of our existence. Every time we try to retake the surface, they tear down everything we build. It will be a good day when we see them exterminated.” His cyber eyes glared at me, now showing the synthetics underneath. “Now let’s get going, destiny awaits.”

There were plenty of things I could say, or actions I could try and take, but none of them could beat the cyber mare. Even damaged as he was, Theremin still outclassed me in every way. So I took a deep breath, and hoped my luck had not dried up. Letting my hooves loosen, I slipped from the cliff. Theremin tried to catch me, but it was too late, He would have to jump after me to catch me.

It was not going to be a long drop, but long enough to kill or hurt me really bad. I could only hope that the trees would break my fall first, maybe have the cases straps snag before I hit the ground. I felt a sudden tug right before I hit the canopy, slowing my fall before hitting the forest floor. Not the softest of landings, but I found myself standing on all four hooves, only a little bit hurt from the fall. “Did you get heavier since the last time I saw you?” The voice of a stallion spoke up right behind my ear.

Looking back, I saw a bronze male pegasus in black and brown light armored barding. “You!” I cried as Merit pointed at himself, and shrugged. Turning around I poked him in the chest, staring at him in the eyes. “You, the first thing you comment on after all this shit, is that I’m getting fat!? I don’t know if I should hit you, or kiss you.”

“I’m quite partial to the latter” For a moment he looked up at the hole we had made in the forest canopy. “But I think we should get out of here first, the others are waiting.”

“Others?” I breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness, and here I thought I was royally fucked.”

Merit tapped of the old pipbuck around his leg, and pointed south west. “We have a camp this way.”

The sound of laughter echoed through the woods, it having a wet synthetic sound to it. Unsurprisingly, Theremin stepped out from our left, and now one of his legs was scorched black. “It’s so sweet, I can see why you like him.” I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head. “He’s got that scruffy roughish look you like, with a little extra fur on the chin, strong body, and that look in his eyes that just tells you that he will be just fine with or without you.”

“What the fuck are you?” Merit growled at Theremin.

“He’s a reaver, one of the republic's super soldiers.” I informed him.

Merit tilted his head a little. “He? You mean she, right?”

A growl came from Theremin, “So like a savage, can’t even get a pony’s gender right!”

A long sigh came from the pegasus. “Look here freak, we had quite a few stallions who looked like mares up in the clouds. Not a lot, but enough that you knew they were around. And every one of them I met, had thick skin and a good sense of humor, so don’t get all prissy with me.”

The cyber mare just hoofed at the ground. “You think I care about what you have to say? All I need to know is that you’re a savage, and I need to get rid of you so i can take her back.”

A bronze colored wing opened up to block Theremin from my view. “I don’t think you’re in the position to be making threats. One of your legs is burnt out, and the rest of your body is mangled.” It was my best guess, but I was betting that the burnt out leg held his teleportation talisman. Which meant that if he wanted me, he was going to have to take me the old fashion way. “Let’s go Vibraphone, I doubt she can even follow us in that state.”

My legs refused to move, and the sharp pain I felt became like a hammer. My eyes felt like they were being forcefully moved, locking onto Theremin. He smiled his half deformed smile. “Oh good, looks like we finally reestablished your connection. And here I was worried that the bug was just not going to work with my systems.” He was not just talking verbally, but sending it into my head, but more than that, so much information to, it made my head hurt. “It was a bit of an odd experiment, but I think it’s starting to bear fruit.”

A bug… no the bug, the M.o.M. bug. And with his system… no, he couldn’t have. “You have the M.o.M. bug inside you!”

“What’s going on Vibraphone?” Merit sounded concerned, not that I could blame him.

“What’s going on is that you have to fight me.” Theremin mocked. “I currently have something she want’s, something she needs.” He tapped at his chest. “And unlike you, she no longer has the freedom to do anything, is that right.”

Merit looked over at him, and I nodded. “My legs won’t move. I think…” The pain in my head spiked for a moment. “I think you’re going just to have to carry me out of here.” I was not going to play his game, the M.o.M. bug was important, but I had a feeling he would follow me if I got away.

Merit sighed. “I don’t understand what’s going on, but I’ll get you out of here, and then come back to crack that mare’s spine in two.” It sounded less of a threat, and more of a promise.

“You!” Theremin shouted at you. “You would just leave, not even fight?” Merit just ignored him, as the cyber pony began to limp towards us. “That’s not how this goes, you don’t just walk away. I won’t let you!”

Lifting me onto his back, I was as stiff as a board. Theremin slowly made his way to us, but stumbled every step on his three legs. I found it a bit funny, as for too long I was the three legged mare. Before my noble steed could trot off with me, the sound of marching band music filled our ears. Faint at first, but quickly became more distinct, and we could tell where it was coming from. Above us.

Three modified sprite drones dropped down, surrounding us. The music cut off, and one of the drones hovered up to us. “I’d find all of this amusing, if it were not so frustratingly irritating.” It was Blaster Beam talking through the bot, the one pony we did not want to have catch up to us. “Now you better stay where you are, or I’ll have you killed where you stand.”

“And you’re not going to kill us when you get here?” It was her M.O. the mare seemed to love to kill, and I could feel her intent through the robot.

Blaster Beam laughed. “Aren’t you the smart one, I guess I should just end you here, and gather the ashes when I arrive.”

The gun on the drones began to glow, making a humming noise. We were trapped on three sides, and I was now rendered fucking helpless. “It’s okay, just leave me and let my sister know that at least I got away.”

He stomped on the ground. “No can do, not when we’re this close.” He then chuckled. “And not when help just arrived.”

From behind me, I heard a loud thud, and a twang as bolt of energy flew out and hit one of the sprite bots. Merit dashed, managing to avoid getting hit by the drone that was in his face.

“The fuck was that!” Blaster Beam cried out. Another loud thud, and one of the sprite bots bounced into my light of sight. “Locate what did that!” the third sprite bot backed up, into my view and fired. “Why won’t you lock on, it’s right in front of you!” A cloaked pony charged into my view, and hit the drone with what looked like a hydraulic spear. With a thud, the spear gutted forward, and sent the drone flying into a tree.

The cloaked pony turned to me, and trotted over. It’s dark green cloak had a fresh burn mark on its side, smoke still wafting off of it. “Robots rely too much on their magical targeting programs, something they cannot use on me.” Pulling back on the hood, it was Mayall, and her chitin armor was now painted blue. One side had a nasty scorch mark on it, but looked overall undamaged. She helped stand me up, though shorter then me, it was like I didn’t weigh very much to her. “So what has you paralyzed?”

My neck felt stiff as I lowered my head. “They added cybernetics to my spine, making me part of their network. I can’t move as long as it’s not approved.”

She shook her head. “Slavery is freedom. I should have expected no less from such ponies.”

“So where did you get that spear?” It’s construction seemed odd, not something Orthrus or other metro dwellers would use. It looked more like an oversized power hoof attached to two poles. One of which had a nasty point it, and the other an easy grip.

She nodded again. “From the sub.”

“The sub?”

“Yes.” her voice had an up tone to it. “The workers who had long abandoned the nest quickly found us, and took us to safety. From there, we managed to fulfill your wish, and now we’re here, with help.”

“Wait, you mean the other Sparkle-Lurkers?” She nodded, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “So where are they?”

Her head drooped. “They fear fighting, don’t want to risk new nest. Plan on leaving soon, but not without me. I convinced a few to go with me, but they stay back even still.”

Merit landed in front of us, sending a few leaves flying about. “Now I love a friendly chat, but we must get going. Miss crippled freak there has almost made it close enough to be a nuance.” In the corner of my eye, Theremin was still limping toward me, it just made me feel unnerved.

“Yeah, I think the bitch is stalling for her comrades to show up. We need to get moving.”

One of the sprite bots floated up in a jagged motion, only to receive a kick from Merit that sent it bouncing between the trees. We’d only made it a few yards before another shot snapped through the tree line, and landed on a tree near us to send splinters everywhere. The thunderous sound echoed thru the forest, and I only knew one group to use such weapons.

Graceful came into view, her rifle aimed at us. “Well, well, well. Looks like the wench is a whore. So how much do those two pay for you, I’m sure I’d pay you better.”

“A Dashite, how am I not surprised.” Merit spoke up at the pirate. “Your kind were always the bane of order. If I was ever in charge of your kind, I would have put a bullet in your heads before sending you down to the surface.” I couldn’t help but agree with Merit here.

She just laughed at us. “Too bad the enclave are fucked. Day by day we collect more Pegasus slaves. Your kind? They’re nothing now. And soon we will have a whole city’s worth of you rotteners. Your children will be nothing more than cannon fodder for our empire.” She aimed her gun and fired, Merit dashed to the side right before she did, avoiding the shot.

Mayall rushed under cover as well. “We don’t have the guns to fight her. Damn me for rushing ahead. I should have grabbed some more gear.”

I smiled, though the situation refused to get better, I was glad they were here. “At least you got me out of the fire, though I rather you live than all of us die together.”

Mayall took a deep breath. “You know, I never really respected anypony until you stood up to my sister. Everyone else always cowered in fear, or died in her wake. You stood up and lived, I respect that.”

Couldn’t help but laugh, which made my legs feel less stiff. “You know I met plenty of smart ponies in my life. All seem dumb in one way or another. You? I think you can see the bigger picture. Past the theatrics, and poetry, you seem to know what counts and I respect that.” She looked at me a bit perplexed, but burst out laughing. I soon joined her in laughing, to the point I had to put my hooves over my mouth.

A shot thundered at us, the ground exploding in bits of dead leaves. “What’s so funny you moppets?” Graceful shouted.

I held my mouth shut, only to realise I could move my legs again. “Seriously, that’s how I beat Theremin’s control? Happy thoughts.” As ridiculous as it was, the pounding in my head was not as strong anymore. And more I laughed, the more I felt free of it. Shaking my head, I couldn’t help but smile. “You know, I got into a situation like this with Turnip, walked right into a bar I found a bunch of guns pointed at me. Oblivious to what was going on, Turnip walked in and just announced how wacky the party was. It actually took the bandits a minute to convince him that their robbery was not part of the party.”

Mayall laughed with me, though I could see a tear fall from her eyes as she did. “That sounds like him. Never quite knowing what he was doing. He actually got a mechanical manticore up and running, and thought the thing was a real pony. I don’t know how, but most of the maintenance crew thought ponies were made of metal. Though as creepy as the robot was, it was cute to see him baby Molly for two weeks before letting her original programing take over.” Another chuckle came from under her breath. “In the end we never quite got how robotics really worked, but we could repair most of them after that.”

So we had a robotic version of a mythological animal roaming around future park, I was glad not to have run into it. “Yeah, so any ideas how to get out of this situation?”

She shook her head.

*Crack* Graceful’s rifle fired again.

Rolling over to us, Merit flopped next to me. “So we should have a few minutes before the others join with us. You think she will stay there until then?”

“Others, which others?”

“That’s a surprise.” He told me in a cocky manner.

“Oy, love! Stop sucking dick, and come out of hiding.” That voice was familiarly annoying. Peeking out, Shamrock had joined her comrade, along with Blackspot and Couteau. “Just give it up, you’re not going to win this fight. Surrender now, and maybe we won’t let the dogs have a turn with you.”

Looking over at Merit, I had to know “Who else is here?” He didn’t answer, just put his hoof to his mouth in a shushing motion.

“Who the fuck are you?” spoke Graceful.

“What the fuck!” The other Graceful screamed out. “You think you’re so smart freak, I’ll kill you right here!”

“Come get me, freak!” Graceful shouted again.

Peeking out, I saw the pirates all looking up at two Gracefuls staring down at each other. Pulling back, I said. “So Sorrow is here too?” Mayall nodded. Peeking back out I watched as the madness unfolded. The one I guessed was the real Graceful pointed her modified battle rifle at the other Graceful. The one I guessed was Sorrow, pointed an unmodified battle rifle at the other Graceful. “Shoot her!” both shouted. “She’s the fake!” they shouted again.

Blackspot looked between them and shrugged. “Shoot them both, I don’t have time for this.” As his four lackeys took aim, two bolts of red energy blasted past the two pegasi, both managing to dodge the beams.

“Change of plans, you all die.” The synthetic voice of a mare called out as seven mirage ponies emerged from the undergrowth. Fuck, the republic had made it here. Theremin, who had been dragging himself around, was recovered by two of the troopers. “Why can’t ponies ever learn that resistance is futile. We will win, you will be absorbed into our collective, and nothing you can do will ever stop us”

“So you’re not going to let us go?” I shouted as I peeked out.

Blaster Beam chuckled. “No, no. we just talk now, as I have a few hundred of our troopers surrounding the area. An advantage of the C.C.N. is that nothing gets by us unseen, meaning that nothing gets away. So sit tight as we fuck up your day.”

“Fuck this!”

*Boom*

Blaster Beams head was engulfed in smoke and fire, as a pony teleported in, right next to the cybermare. She didn’t even budge from the sudden assault, her turret wings only turned to the other pony’s direction, and fired with a blazing red rapid fire succession that borderlined on the absurd.

The newest pony to join the fray didn’t even flinch, but now was engulfed in a blueish light which deflected the energy bolts off of her. Both continued to fire at each other, driving both of them back as their shots flew wide. The sound of the two ponies laying siege on each other was deafening, only ending when the two finally took cover. The new pony teleported over to us, and Blaster regrouped with the other republic ponies.

“Fucking shit, I thought for sure those incendiary rounds would fry the bitch, fucking cyber ponies.” The voice was way too familiar to not be who I thought it was. The mare took off her helmet, of which the front was scorched black, and had melted. Sitting next to me, staring at me with cyber eyes was Sweet Sax Solo. I almost cried right there as I leapt to give her a hug. “yeah, I’m glad to see you too.”

Graceful took a hard landing near us and rolled behind a three, just barely dodging gunfire that chased after her. Before we could properly react, she raised her hooves in the air, and was engulfed in silver fire. Sorrow took the form of a black and brown Pegasus, the pattern on her wing was similar to that of her natural state. “So who else thinks it was a stupid idea to rush over here without any weapon’s?”

“I brought the hydraulic spear.” Mayall stated.

“I took a rifle from the pirates.” Sorrow said with a smile.

“Heavy automatic shotgun here.” Sweet added, before shaking her head and sighing. “I don’t think I’m going to get used to the shapeshifter, and the lurker pony. Without me around, Viby, you make the weirdest friends.”

I rolled my eyes at Sweet. “Without you around, I had to find somepony at least half as crazy as you are.” The gunfire didn’t let up as the republic and the pirates attacked each other. A few shots flew in our direction, likely suppressing fire to keep us where we were. “So how did you get here; I thought the republic has this island quite well locked down?”

“True.” Sweet agreed. “Except for under the water. If I didn’t see it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it, but the those fucking glowing lurkers have a sub.”

I remember Turnip mentioning it before. “So is that our way out of here?”

She nodded. “Just try to not freak out when we get there, I know you’re bad around water.”

The pounding in my head suddenly became worse, the idea of the water, and going under it robbed me of some of my happy thoughts. But with sweet here, I managed to keep Theremin out of my head. “If I do, just knock me out, and drag me home.”

Sweet saluted. “Can and will do. Rather not be around these monsters any longer. I mean for fuck sakes, how many times did I blast her in the face and she still kept shooting at me?”

“If she’s not charging into ash us all, then you must have done some significant damage. But we need to go before our exit is closed off.” I looked at the others, Merit, Mayall, and Sorrow all gave me a nod.

“On the count of three.” Sweet told us as she threw two grenades out from behind the tree. “THREE!” We ran, and behind us was a loud pop, flash, and fizz. “A flash bang and smoke grenades, it should keep them disorientated long enough for us to make distance.”

The shootout continued behind us, echoing through the forest as we galloped. Above us the sound of the gull flew overhead, heading toward the fighting. It was not long until we heard the sound of a minigun gun going off, making me glad we left as soon as we did.

We only had made it a little further when a boulder rolled out in front of us, forcing everypony to stop. Jumping on top of it was the now bloodied paradise dragon, who looked down at us from its perch. Licking its lips, the monster’s eyes darted between us, sizing us up.

I looked up at the beast, making eye contact. Charging my new leg, I had one shot at this, though I didn’t know how effective it was going to be, I had to do something. “Mayall, get that spear ready, I’m going to try and stun it.” Stepping up ahead of the group, maintaining eye contact with the monster I came right up to the boulder blocking our path. “Let us pass, and you will live to see another day.” I didn’t know if it could understand, but I was hoping it was too injured to want another fight.

The paradise dragon gave what sounded like a laugh, jumping off the bolder, and down in-between me and my friends. The monster swung its tail at Mayall, sending the sparkle-lurker flying back. Sweet fired at it, setting part of the monster on fire, but she too was knocked back by a second tail swing. Merit and Sorrow managed to dodge the attacks by flying up, but they were without weapons, making them less then useful in this fight.

The monster breathed hot air in my face, the stench of its breath permitting even my gasmask, and fogging up the glass. “So that’s a no.” Focusing all the magic I could into my right foreleg, Minerva clicked as I drew the surrounding magical radiation. The beast opens up its maw, and roared in my face. If I survived all this, I had a feeling I was going to have hearing problems. Taking the opportunity, I shoved my leg in its mouth, and it clamped down. Time seemed to slow down as we looked each other in the eye, not knowing what the other was going to do.

Within a split second, I was flying through the air, and tumbling on the ground. Looked back, the paradise dragon still had my leg in its mouth, I managed to disconnect it as it attempted to flail me around. Behind me were Merit and Sorrow, having used themselves to cushion my fall.

*Kzz-Crack”

A spark of electricity arched from the dragon’s mouth, and the beast stumbled back. But it was not enough to even stun it, and it looked me in the eyes, it’s anger easy to see. Looking around for anything to defend myself with, the hydraulic spear lay not far from me. The monster charged, and I dashed for the spear, I couldn’t waste even a moment, so I entered S.A.T.S.

The options were clear and with one quick motion, my leg wrapped around the spear, and lifted it up, using the ground as an anchor. Leaping at me, I managed to catch the paradise dragon under the chin, I only managed to avoid a swipe of its claws by mere inches, millimeters even. Pressing down on the lever on the spear, the front half of the spear jolted forward, piercing the softer underbelly of the dragon’s chin.

The dragon screamed as it grabbed onto the spear, trying to pull it off of itself. Letting go of the lever, the spear quickly retracted, and I immediately pulled down on it. The monster managed to move the spear, but it still pierced its flesh, and going out part of its neck. Its blood splattered onto the ground, flowing like a fountain as the monster wobbled back, its face showing a look of shock before falling over.

I didn’t have time to second guess my actions, and placed the spear next to the monster’s head, and pulled the lever one more time. With the ground holding it in place, the tip of the spear went through the skull with a crack, and I watched as the monster wheezed its last breath.

The others brushed themselves off, Sweet and Mayall looking mostly fine, other than some torn clothes. “That’s Ooh-for-two on the dragon slayer title.” Sweet pointed out.

I looked back at the beast, and sighed. “Luckily this one was already injured, it would have ripped through us otherwise.”

“Too true.” Sorrow added. “I think it was trying to be careful do to already being hurt, if it were healthier, it might have just charged us outright”

Merit helped me stabilize, as we trotted past the large corpse, and around the boulder. Mayall had picked up the case, which had come off when I got flung by the dragon, though now the drone didn’t feel as necessary with my friends here. Looking at my now empty leg slot, I was starting to think that losing my right foreleg was becoming a bad habit of mine. Also the headache I was having was no longer dying down, but also getting worse. Which meant two things, Theremin was trying to turn up the C.C.N.’s signal to track me, or. “Fuck, everyone watch out!”

*Twang*

A bolt of red energy shot out from the trees ahead of us, hitting Mayall square in the chest. We all froze, looking at the sparkle-lurker. She too stood there frozen, but only for a moment, then raising a hoof to check her chest. The armor on her chest now sported a charred black scorch mark, it having had absorbed the shot. “I am alive!?”

“Clearly, you freakish monster!” Theremin stepped out into view, on a new leg, and looking a little less torn up. “But no matter, once we capture you, we will have a doubleplusgood dissection.” His head then swiveled to me. “And you, you destroyed the gift I gave, and gallivanted away with that stallion. I thought you were different, but you reveal yourself to be just another whore.”

“Really now.” I could feel the C.C.N. trying to force its way back into my head, but it only added to the hate I was feeling, and that hate was keeping it at bay. “You have no right to say a goddess damn thing. You think it’s right to just enslave another ponies mind, apply deadly force to a mare who is just worried about her mother. What other crimes have you committed, what other faces have you worn?”

He laughed. “Amusing. So sure that your way is the right way, that you understand the truth of our world.” Shaking his head, the cables that were his mane flopped around. “Through slavery we find true freedom. From war we can know peace. By making ourselves ignorant, we can then be truly educated. It is our struggle that makes us stronger, it is our struggle that makes us wiser. Something you could never understand on your own.”

“I don’t care.” I shot back at him. “Why don’t you fuck off, and be an ignorant waring slave somewhere else.”

“Oh, that’s not how this is going to work.” He took a few steps forward. “First we’re going to escort you back to Persephone station, where you’re going to execute your own friends. I think slow and painful would be for the best. After that, you’re going to be broken down to nothing more than a quivering foal, maybe have a few stallions have their way with you first, have you take part in the N.G.P. for a few years. Once all that was you is all gone, I’m going to have my way with you, and make you my personal slave. And everyday you will tell me that you love me, and that there is no pony else you can ever love but me. That’s how this is going to go.”

Theremins head exploded.

The form of a specter appeared from thin air, a rail gun still arching a few bolts of electricity on the mare’s side. “No pony talks to my little sis that way, ever.” The mare took a step back, then turned to us. “So every ponies fine, good, we need to get going.”

“Rototom!”

She nodded. “We can chat later, but first we need to get out of here.”

*Twang*

Rototom side bust into flames as she hit the ground, and rolled to put out the fire. “Fucking specters.” A synthetic voice came from Theremin, despite half of his face, and all of the back of it now scattered all over the forest floor. “I should have known your kind would get involved. The next batch of reavers will be more capable at detecting your approach.” The voice was cold, and full of malice, and all too familiar to me.

Merit and I took a step back as the cybermare stepped forward, and Theremins broken head turned to look at us, the one remaining glassy eye looked at me with a dead stare. “How is this possible, how are you controlling that body Livenka?”

Livenka smiled, it was an unnervingly cold smile. “It’s a most fascination project I’ve been working on, but yet never could get right. That is, until recently.”

“Phobetor.” I spoke softly, and Livenka nodded the mutilated head, white blood and gray matter oozed over the front, dripping through the one broken eye socket.

“She knows so much, things long forgotten, things the old world buried under rubble long before the great war.” She began to laugh, but that body seemed incapable of laughing properly, making a static garbling that vaguely sounded like laughter. “Now I know the secret of weaving in and out of a mind, controlling a body, playing others like puppets on strings. The C.C.N. is my magic, and you cannot resist it.”

The pounding in my head became like a jackhammer, forcing me to push off Merit and hold my head. It hurt, so much. “Stop. Please.”

Looking up at Livenka, I saw Phobetor standing in the way. Smiling. ‘Oh what a mess you have made, you really should have just stayed in that box, and slept the world away.’ She looked off into the distance and sighed. ‘you could have made this easy, just let it happen, and not have to suffer.’ Without moving her head, she shifted her golden eyes down at me. ‘Just remember, what happens from here on, the ponies you watch get hurt and die, it could have all been avoided. You could have prevented it all by complying, by staying locked away.’

The pain suddenly stopped, and Phobetor was gone. Able to focus, I saw Sweet and Merit fighting Livenka. Merit was armed with the hydraulic spear, dive bombing the cybernetic corpse, but Livenka would teleport out of the way, and turn invisible, allowing her to fire a bolt of red energy from the shadows. Sweet fired her automatic shotgun at Livenka, but the body seemed to have magic armor like Sweet had, so she was able to resist the gunfire long enough to vanish or teleport out of the way. The two of them were holding their own well enough to keep Livenka busy, yet only that. The corpse Livenka controlled was simmering, and the clicking Minerva was giving me meant that the cyber corpse was now drawing a lot of magical radiation too her, slowing tuning this area into a hot spot. If this battle did not end soon, we were at risk of dying of radiation exposure.

Rototom helped me up. The side of her armor had a nasty scorch mark on it, along with the wing on that side missing most of its fathers. “We need her to hold still long enough for me to get a clear shot at her, any ideas?”

“Why are you asking me?”

She sighed. “You’re the one with the most information on this right now, meaning you’re the only one who might know something to make her stop moving.”

Looking back at the battle, Livenka was literally all over the place, Merit managing to dodge the energy bolts fired at him, if only barely. Rototom was unlikely to hit the corpse right now, and drawing her attention could get one of us killed. Nodding, I had to brainstorm what I knew, which was a lot, yet too little. One thing came to mind. “Sorrow, you here?”

The not a real Pegasus trotted over from behind a tree. “You better not expect me to go out there and fight, that’s only going to get me killed.”

I shook my head. “No, I just need you take a form for a moment. Have you ever seen the Tremolo Sisters?”

“Yeah.” She answered. “But only in Photos. My kin could never get back into Persephone station in the last couple of years. “Why?”

“The bitch that’s controlling the corpse, she’s their mother.”

Sorrow froze for a moment, then nodded. “I got it, just you better shoot quickly, this gambit rarely works more than a few seconds.”

She flew off, and I turned to Rototom. “Get ready to fire, we probably only have one shot at this.”

The fighting continued, Merit taking a few glancing blows from the magical energy musket, his armor losing most of its color from being charred by the energy blasts.

“Let us go or the pony has her neck snapped!” Mayall called out, holding a mare in a fancy dress.

“Mom!” the mare called out. Though somewhat muffled by a gasmask, the voice had a distinctive tone to it.

Livenka gave a gurgling chuckle. “You think that will work on me?” She turned to face the Lurker and Changeling, aiming her musket. Suddenly, with a blast, her back half was separated from the rest of her, her mid-section shattering into pieces. “What!” Merit came down, the spear shattering the musket in one thrust.

The body still flailed it legs around, it making gurgling noises. Limping over, I looked at the broken mare, and saw a small box poking out, a few cables severed from it. Using Minerva to pull the M.o.M. bug out, the body flopped lifelessly, no longer trying to fight. Placing the bug in a tight fitting pocket, I limped over to Merit who offered a shoulder for me to lean on. “Let’s get out of here”

We all gathered together, and followed Rototom, who looked less exhausted then the rest of us. Overhead the Gull from before flew past, and I could see some black smoke trailing behind it. I could only hope they would soon crash and they all die.

There were a few republic troops we came across, but were quickly taken out by Rototom, and soon we found ourselves at the ruins of an old port. It was mostly overtaken by vines, trees, and ferns, but you could still see some of the old buildings through the green. On the water was a long pier, covered in green moss. At its end stood two ponies, both armed with what looked like rifles, though I could not tell what kind they were.

Trotting over onto the pier, I had to keep my eyes up, so as to not look at the water. Sorrow had given me a few more pills to keep my nerves calm, but I didn’t want to risk having a panic attack. Closer now, I could see that the two ponies were actually sparkle-lurkers with armor plated jumpsuits, and air guns rigged with spark batteries. It was a clever way of rigging the guns, if a bit unwieldy, but would work to keep the air pressure up.

“Right, now we need you to go down into the sub.” Rototom announced.

“Down!?”

“Yes down.” She repeated.

“You know I’m not going…” She shoved me, and I tumbled into one of the lurkers, and we fell down. With a thud, we hit the floor, the lurker groaning under me. Getting up, I was certainly in a ship, though falling down into one had me worried. It was metal all around me, and I could see more sparkle-lurkers down both ends of the hall, looking far more frail than the last ones I had met.

“Coming down!” Rototom called, and I scrambled to the side, and so did the Lurker. One by one, the rest of our group entered the ship from a hole in the ceiling. The second Lurker that was on guard, entered, closing the hole up behind him. “And now we’re home free, unless the republic has subs of their own?” She gave me a worrying look.

I shook my head. “I only know about just a fleet of hovercraft, with three of them being warships.” I had to stop and think for a moment. “A sub?”

Rototom sighed. “Yes a sub, just take your time to process all this, we should be heading home soon. In the meantime, there’s some sleeping quarters down over here, to the left. You should take a rest.”

I nodded, and left to where she had pointed at, this… sub was not all that spacious and I had to squeeze pass a lurker to get to where the beds were. I found tight little area with two bunk beds on either side. It felt good to relax after the shit I just ran through, my head still hurting even now. Sitting down, I pulled out the M.o.M. bug, the thing somehow finding its way back to me, little consolation to what I had lost, but at least I would be able to return one thing. “Three lives, and likely my sanity. That’s the cost of a failed mission.”

“I lost four because I got complacent.” Sorrow joined me, sitting on the bed across from me. “I lost my brother because of bad information, and six lovers because they were simply in the wrong places at the wrong time.” She looked me in the eye, and sighed. “That’s how life is here, and once everything has settled, I’ll be returning to the republic controlled metro. Probably lose more loved ones, maybe it will be me that’s next.”

I didn’t feel like being comforted, I felt like being left alone. It was good to have them here, but I think I just wanted to feel alone, to be isolated. That way I could know that my thoughts were my own. “You do it because you must, am I right?”

Sorrow nodded. “It’s what keeps my kin sane, gives us a purpose. Without a goal, without order, we would just scatter to the winds. But if we all gather in one spot, the hunger sets in, and we lose ourselves in it. We accept the world for what it is, but we also see it for what it could be, it helps deal with the bad times.”

I gave her an indignant stare “So your saying I should just not feel like my head had cables shoved into it?”

“No, Just that you should have a goal, maybe for after you get home and have some alone time. Though, I suggest you bring the Pegasus with you. Take it from me, sex therapy is the best therapy.” Sorrow gave me a coy smile.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that idea. After I get some alone time to myself, maybe I could see if Merit is up for a date. That is if other mares have not gotten to him yet. It had been a long time, so the possibility was high. “You might be right, but he might already have a few mares after him.”

She rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. There are so many lusty mares in the metro, each year there’s a rape gang of them forming up. Easy enough to break up before they do anything, but there was one year that it got real nasty. But what I’m saying is that you should just ask, no harm in that. And if you have to take a number, call me. I’m good at imitating stallions.” I balked at her proposition.

“Excuse me ladies, but my likeness is trademarked, so do not steal.” Merit interjected from the hallway.

Sorrow just rolled her eyes. “Fine, I can make it a threesome.” Both Merit and I dropped our jaws. “Seriously now, I’m an emotion-voure, it’s how my kin restores our magic. Sex is just the fastest way to get some good vibrations.”

Merit shook his head quickly, making a dumbfounded look from his face. “You know, I’m down for that. As long as you stay a mare I mean.”

I huffed. “No way, If I were to do something like that, not saying I would, it would have to be with two stallions.”

Merit and I glared at each other for a moment, and laughed. Sorrow got up and stretched her back. “Well it’s good to see you happier now, so I should give you some alone time, though in this ship, no pony is out of earshot.” Merit had to move to give her enough room to get into the hallway. “Oh, just so you know. I can be both at the same time, so let me know if you’re ever interested.”

Merit gave an awkward smile as he shook his head. “You know; she reminds me of this one mare I knew. She was a smoking hot slut, a free lover she liked to call herself, slept with most of the ponies she knew, and later got married and had a bunch of foals. Never cheated on the stallion once, as far as I knew it. She reminds me of that, an honest slut.”

I gave him a concerned look, and sighed. “You know; you might actually suck at flirting.”

He shrugged. “Maybe, but then again, I’ve yet to begin to flirt.” He took a step back, and pushed the case I had with me into the room. “So what’s in the box?”

“A drone I think, though knowing Theremin, might be a pony’s head.” I commented.

“Grim.” He said, sounding a bit disgusted. “So, open it.”

Unlatching the box, the case popped open. Inside all I could see was a bunch of foam, and a small air tank. “Strange” Suddenly the foam flew up, and the air canister fell to the ground. More surprising, was the foal that popped out, gasping for air.

“Remind me to never do that again!” The foal cried out, and preceded to look around. It was a filly with a golden blond mane, peach colored coat, and gem like sapphire blue eyes “So, am I in trouble?”

I face hoofed, which led to me falling over on the bed. “Why were you in the case?” I asked the new gen mirage pony filly.

She gave nervous laugh before answering. “Well, you see, I got really excited about wanting to see you slay a dragon, so I snuck into the C.C.N.! The guards were doing things, so it was really easy. When I heard that they were sending you on a super-secret mission, and you were to take one of the drone cases with you. So I switched the drone case with an empty one, took an air tank, and closed the case on myself.” The filly then started to tear up. “It was only when the case started moving when I thought about how bad of an idea it was.”

With a sigh, I got myself back up, and patted the filly’s mane. “Silly girl, at least you're safe now.”

“So… is she yours?” Merit blurted out.

I shot daggers at him with my eyes, but the imaginary daggers only flew through him. “No, she is not.”

“Can I be?” The filly asked me, with her big beautiful blue eyes.

That was it, I was done with this all. Letting myself flop back onto the bed, I rolled over, facing the wall. “I am not deciding anything until after I take a nap.”

The filly squealed loudly. “You didn’t say no. My name is Xylophone, I like apple flavored lollipops, climbing, and blue is my favorite color, because my eyes are blue.”

Merit laughed. “Even her name is like yours. It’s like destiny”

Nope, not listening, I’m just going to will myself to sleep now, not going to even acknowledge any of this until I had a nice long sleep.

Footnote:

Quest completed: Dragon-Slayers Gambit

Warning! Corrupted files detected, system reboot in 5... 4… 3… 2… 1-

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