Wait what? A new chapter?! Yep! Maze finally got a crossover we needed and I’ve even sort of gotten over my writer’s block! If you want to see where Maze has been, go check Chapter 19 of Monkey Business. It’s just a short little drop in but is something we needed all the same so big thanks to Frosthewolf for the opportunity! Sorry for the long wait readers, I’ll endeavor to do better; but for now, I hope you enjoy!

Luna flinched as another explosion washed over the town hall’s shield, the element necklaces dangling from her arms glowing bright as she fed their power into the hall's spire. Any relief she felt was short lived as she saw more soldiers and IGs pass through the town’s main defense.

‘How could she have known?! How the buck could she have prepared all this for right NOW?!’

They dropped the shield’s outer layers for twenty minutes to re-calibrate and reinforce the whole and now it was all she could do to just keep out the towering RAYs and her sister burning against what remained. Matters were only gradually worsening as their enemies were still slowly gaining ground into the town.

‘Bucking Tartarus is using all six difficult!’ Luna struggled to keep up her focus as she found a new respect for her sister’s ability to wield all the elements on her own; so much she missed the small click at her waist.

Below the lunar alicorn trying to maintain what little of the shield they had, Twilight did her best to guide the militia in their struggle against the onslaught of soldiers and lesser IG swarming through Ponyville. Among the ever growing distractions she ran option after desperate option through her head, each seeming less plausible than the last. Her focus briefly shifted to a small pack of enemy Fenrir trying to push pass the defenders to where the town’s non-combatants fled. The ground turned to a dense swamp beneath their paws and before they could even begin struggling against its pull it re-solidified, trapping the IGs and letting her refocus.

She was considering calling Trixie from her efforts on the other side of the hall to help in an assault against her former mentor. It’d be weakening that front and while she knew she they probably wouldn’t be able to actually hurt her, if they could just push the monarch back Luna could reassert the shield.

“GET DOWN!” a shout rang out ahead, snapping her attention back to the barrier. The solar princess’s aura began to spread across the dome, making it appear as if the very sky was on fire. She then saw the true reason of the warning, the two RAYs firing continuous beams against the now wildly fluctuating barrier.

“GET TO COVER AND RAISE SHIELDS!” the unicorn screamed at the gathered troops “SHIELDS NOW!”

Fractured beams cut sweeping arcs across the battle field as gaps fluctuated through the dome. The first volley shattered across the front lines where they were thankfully stopped by the gathered casters' barriers, but they wouldn’t hold out against many more attacks like that. However, as the dust began to clear she could now see the beams were only the second worse things making it through the barriers.

“What the hay are those?!” She heard Rainbow shout from above as a quartet of bipedal silhouettes dropped down from the towering gears. As soon as they landed they shot forward, splitting in to pairs to assault different parts of the front. The first was intercepted by a pair of changeling siss-prea as the latter ran into a squad led by a very pissed off aquamarine unicorn.

The pair leapt back as an explosion bloomed in front of the mare’s gauntlets. The dust cleared enough for the rest to see them; while they looked still unfinished, their intended shape was clear. Smooth alloy over slim frames without hooves on their legs or snouts on their heads; these gears had feet, single knee joints, and a flat, faceless visage. These IG’s were not based on ponies, these were based on a human.

They were based on the unicorn’s friend.

“You think you can take her from us and then steal her form for these weapons?!” Lyra screamed as her squad took formation around her, weapons raised “FIRE!!”

The ponies opened up on the IG’s, only for the first to raise its blade and deflect every round with mechanical precision. The one behind held no hesitation as it vaulted over its partner, bringing its large heat blade down against the squad leader.

Lyra nearly buckled as she caught the blade in the cross of her gauntlets, her arms screaming in protest as the heat washed over her. The air left her as a metal foot found her chest and the ground met her back a moment later. She knew better than to give even an instant to something that fought like Maze and immediately threw up her gauntlets, the IG flying backward from her explosive retaliation. She rolled to her hooves ready to face the next when she caught it retreating, the reason immediately becoming clear as she heard the building whine of power gathering above.

“LYRA!” a weight slammed into the unicorn’s side as the RAY’s beams cut across her squad’s position and launched those lucky enough to avoid a direct hit far the impact. She groggily stirred beneath her blue and pink maned savoir, seeing a notable stream of red down Bonbon’s face. The earth pony tried to lift them back to their hooves but fell to a knee, a deep gash shining down her leg.

“Bonny!” Lyra reached out to find she didn’t fare much better, as pain sparked through a bicep. Still they supported one another best they could until a terrible sight met their gaze; the pair of Maze based IGs returning and sprinting straight at them. Without enough time to even prepare a defense the pair clutched each other tightly, awaiting the first strike… That never came.

A dark blur shot over them with a deafening mechanical revving meeting the pair’s weapons, forcing them back and liberating one of an arm. The ponies’ stared stunned as the quadruped continued its furious spinning assault, not believing their eyes.

“W-Wolf?” the unicorn muttered, the question answered almost immediately-

As a blaring song swept across the battlefield.

The IG, Royal Guard and town Defenders alike all paused as they registered the sound, the assaulting force halting their advance as their programing prioritized locating the known threat. The eyes of a particular few defenders growing teary as smiles grew wide at the realization.

An expression not shared by the monarch pressing against the barrier.

“No… no no no no No No NO NO NO NO NO-FIND HER!” Celestia screamed at her soldiers, not seeing how it could be possible; not after so long.

A sudden beep flared on her HUD’s motion tracker, immediately behind her. She rounded on the blip just in time to see its source decloak.

’Clever Bitc-’ a massive heat blade crashed across her face, sending her rolling against the barrier.

The princess spun back with her warhammer as the cyborg ducked past her, only for the weapon bounce off the town’s shield her opponent now stood within. The blade swept up to meet her chin, sending her reeling back off balance just enough to be carried back by the suddenly expanding barrier.

Deep trenches streaked the ground for several yards before Celestia stopped its advance again. The princess glared up see her troops had been pushed back some distance from the defenders, as well as her sister glaring right back at her from the town hall. Her furious sight snapped back to meet her adversary’s exposed eye.

‘Wait, why is she still so injured!?’ the monarch’s mind reeled. The mere fact that she survived meant Maze should have recovered far beyond this by now, even with the beating she had given her. Yet here she was still bandaged and bloodied with all the same wounds Celestia inflicted; a covered eye, countless wrappings around her center, a braced knee, and of course her left forearm still severed with the heat blade hefted with one hand across the cyborg’s shoulders ‘This doesn’t make any sense!’

“KILL HER!” she screamed at her troops, three of the IG doppelgangers barred the cyborgs path as she charged the monarch. The first of her new weapons fell instantly as Maze’s thrown heat blade smashed straight through its head. The next two fared a little better at impeding the one armed human, until sudden arcs of flame swept through them from a new red hued blade lit ablaze in the cyborg’s foot. The first lost three limbs before hitting the ground as the other found its head skewered from its jaw to its crown.

The monarch scowled at the human charging her once again. She braced her wing against the barrier still struggling to push her back, waiting as the cyborg snatched the heat blade to redouble her assault. Maze braced within the protection of the barrier already mid-swing when the alicorn’s magic exploded outward, forcing the town’s shield back; just enough to expose her opponent.

'Aw fuck m-’ nearly torn off her feet, the human spun fighting for balance as a fiery Warhammer struck a direct blow across her face. The corrupted ruler grinned only to have her victory cut short as the cyborg's foot planted and spun the strike’s momentum around, launching the hammer from her grip when it struck. A bright flash followed and a gilded great sword crashed against Maze’s own two-hander, the ruler’s massive strength steadily pressing down on her.

“I won’t fail to finish the job this time Maze” she delivered coldly in stark contrast to the ever growing aura burning against the barrier and pressing into the cyborg. Her scowl flared as Maze met her gaze, little more than deep gash to show for her hammers blow. The fact it should have caved half her face in however, quickly stopped being a priority.

“What?! H-How!?” She… She was holding her back! Maze stood nearly crouched from her pressure but… she was weathering the magics and now not only stopping her progress but actually starting to push back.

‘THIS- THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! WHERE IS SHE GETTING THIS POWER?!’ she increased her assault as her mind continued to swim. Her opponent now stood straight as their blades trembled against one another, evenly matched. A growl escaped her while the human gained a small smirk… and a fiery glow to her eyes. Shock seeped through the monarch’s rage, this wasn’t Maze’s power- ‘IT'S MINE!’

The alicorn immediately broke the stalemate, leaping back to see the remains of her left behind flames pour into the cyborg. Her hammer soaring back to her she readied her defense, she didn’t know how Maze augmented her absorption abilities like this but she wasn’t about to feed her anymore.

“Heh” was all the warning the ruler received however, Maze’s stance dropping and her blade vanishing in a flurry of particles. The entirety of the stolen power siphoned to her hand now tucked back… in an open, clawed palm.

“NO!” Celestia dashed forward just as the cyborg’s arm shot out. She could actually follow the ripple running through the ground ahead of the burning wave and for all her invulnerability, even she couldn’t resist the singular focus of so much power now forcing her off her feet.

She tumbled and clawed against the charred soil after finally landing, unbridled fury painted across golden skin as she glared back toward the town with a mass of solar flame already gathering in her hands; only to see a rapidly approaching mass of IG flying back at her. The clumped machines shattered and melted as they collided with her wrath, just to reveal the wall of magic behind them. Failing to halt the momentum she found herself carried with like the rest until the barrier stopped, throwing all free before shimmering brightly.

“NO! NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO!” Celestia screamed, pounding fruitlessly against the distorted reflection now before her. The remaining IG and guard ponies regaining their footing as the towering RAYs righted themselves above. The town defenders' cheered victoriously, loud enough to be heard even over the princess’s Canterlot voice shrieking at the town she could no longer see.

Finally letting her stance drop and slumping tiredly, Maze turned toward the rapid pounding of hooves coming up behind her. She quickly dodged an aquamarine horn threatening her one good eye as its owner slammed into her, squeezing tightly.

“Hey… easy there Ly, I’m fine” Maze returned the embrace, seeing Johnny helping an injured Bonbon hobble up and Wolf uncloak at her side.

“And you had believed they would not be so-”

“WOLF!” the robotic canine was cut off as the unicorn leapt on to him next. An abrupt burst of light flashed before Maze as she had to dodge another horn while her vision was blocked by a blue sea of stars and moons.

“We thought… we thought…” she could hear Trixie weakly sputtering into her chests as a slight wetness began to soak through her shirt. The human awkwardly tried to calm down the mare now somehow squeezing her even tighter than Lyra had. She could hear more of the militia gathering on the other side of the mage’s hat before the light suddenly found her again as the red eyed unicorn was wrenched away, revealing a burgundy haired grey woman.

“Heya Cr-”

*CRACK*

The gathered ponies all jumped as Maze stumbled to keep her footing, looking back at the changeling while holding a hand to the new palm shaped mark across her face.

“DON’T YOU EVER DO THAT TO US AGAIN!” The shapeshifter screamed with her fists balled up and trembling, her shoulders shaking and her eyes doing a very poor job of fighting off a stream of tears.

“I’m… sorry?” Maze nearly fell over when the scene finally broke and she had a third rib crushing embrace in so many moments. She had expected a warm welcome but this… she hadn’t expect this! And certainly not from Crystal, hell even Trixie was a bit of a surprise. The embrace didn’t last long with the changeling's embarrassment finally getting the better of her.

“Maze? That really you?” she heard from the group as Rainbow stepped forward with a look of confusion… and a whole new lattice of cybernetics through her wings and chunk missing out of one of her ears. Now that she actually had a moment to take it in, everyone seemed a bit more worse for wear; some new scars on jaded faces and new cybernetics throughout. The town had several extra defense points set up and even refugee housing. A hell of lot more than what you think could happen in just a week!

“What-” Maze barely began before the world began to spin. Falling back into Lyra’s arms she quickly lost consciousness just as the familiar silhouette of an alicorn hesitated in its approach and began running.

“It’s okay! I think she just exhausted her systems with that last trick. She’s fine, she’s-” Lyra blanched as countless spots of red began to grow under the human’s numerous bandages “On no, no she’s not- MEDIC!”

Once again Maze found herself slowing rising up through the darkness to the faint sounds of a hospital echoing through the voids. Beeps and hums with the occasional air pump and odd smell finding her senses as she stirred. The light slowly came back to her as a blurry room came into focus.

The first thing she noticed was that she was covered with new bandages and her HUD noting a higher readiness percentage than before; meaning she’d been more appropriately repaired. She also noted something clamped on the stump of her left arm and that both it and her new bandages had a wet sensation that almost felt like it was flowing in place.

“Hey, there she is” she heard a voice next to her, a familiar grey face breaking through the haze “Take it easy, you were surgery for a good few hours.”

“Yeah, here I…” Maze stopped as her sight finally came back and just stared at the woman in the chair next to her bed for a moment “You’re not Crystal.”

The honey haired changeling giggled, flashing an amused smile at her; one that turned a little mischievous a moment later.

“That’s Amber” another familiar voice interrupted from the displaced’s other side. Bonbon sat in a bed with her leg wrapped up and laid across a stack of pillows.

“Thanks for ruining my fun Agent Buzz Kill” the changeling shot playfully at the mare before readdressing the cyborg “No I’m not Cryss, I just look like her.”

“Agent?” Maze stopped “You’ve been outed then?”

“I decided I could be of more help without having to hide it. Not that it hasn’t caused some difficulties of its own though…” the earth pony grumbled “I assume Wolf told you?”

“Nope!” Bonbon’s brow furrowed at the response.

“...Then how-”

“So! Siss-prea number six huh?” Maze smiled as she turned back at her friend’s near duplicate. She remembered Cryss telling them about all her sisters after they met Amethyst and now learned that in Amber’s case, she hadn’t been kidding; she looked the exactly the same as Crystal save for their hair color and the lack of red tint to her skin. Not that such a thing would be terribly difficult for a changeling but was notable for their natural forms all the same.

“By two whole minutes” she returned with glib humor.

“Well with your sister it may as well be fifth” Maze offered as she looked herself over. Her bandages seemed to be lightly soaked in some kind of blue gel that was also sloshing around in the canister clamped on her arm stump “So how’d you get stuck on babysitting duty?”

“The others know the town a lot better than I do so they’re more useful for the cleanup and recovery and such. Plus with the hive mind spell we have going, Cryss already knows you’re up” Amber explained tapping the side of her head “She’s gathering your friends as we speak.”

Maze smiled, which immediately turned to a sharp wince. She brought up her codec screen; while not very useful for its intended purpose with Equestria’s tech as it is, its outgoing image made for a decent mirror. She immediately noticed just how dark half of her face looked.

“Holy crap, I look more fucked up than Jon Bernthal did in Daredevil” she muttered inspecting the mass of blue, black and red covering half her face.

‘I guess my new aura really doesn’t do much here huh? At least my absorption seems to be enhanced… hmmm, I wonder if that’s my semblance… whatever, an upgrade’s an upgrade’ Maze turned to inspect her other, less bandaged side as the thoughts flashed through her mind. Considering she took a warhammer to the face it wasn’t really that bad, though she could just barely make out a slight bruising where Crystal slapped her.

“I really wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction from your sister” Maze admitted. Amber shrugged with a knowing smile.

“Well you are basically her best friend. When you died she took it pretty hard, even if she tried her damnest not to show it. She’s a lot softer than she tries to come off” the younger twin offered, be for a wider smile to grace her “Only further proven by the fact she’s screaming in my head to stop talking. What she doesn’t know is if I was actually trying to embarrass her, I could just tell you about the time when we were twelve and she stole our mom’s-”

“WILLYOUSHUTTHEFUCKUP!?” a familiar voice shouted as a burgundy blur burst into the room and tackled the changeling. A trio of unicorn walked in a moment later as Amber managed to get out from under her sister, laughing all the while.

“Hey all! Just you three?” Maze waved with her stump. Rarity rolled her eyes and answered.

“Yes dear. Private Sasaki is on patrol and Wolf is with the princess, who sends her deepest apologies for not being he-” she found herself cut off as Maze began waving off the last bit.

“No no- no need for that. Needs of the many and all that; I get it. This is hardly the first time I’ve had to talk through one of her students after I got myself hurt…” Maze paused before quickly adding “Not that it isn’t nice to see you that is.”

Rarity rolled her eyes again and chuckled as Lyra broke away from two to deliver a quick peck on Agent Sweetie Drop’s forehead.

“Well you forgive quick, don’cha?” Maze quipped, the new arrivals’ faces falling to concern.

“…You didn’t tell her?” Lyra looked back and forth between the mare and changeling.

“We’d figured it be best coming from one of you” the agent returned. Lyra took a seat next to her partner on the bed with a sigh and looked back up at the human, trying to find the right words. Finally she spoke back up.

“Wolf told us you think only a week has passed since you died-er- disappeared.”

“From the context I’m guessing that's wrong?” the cyborg cocked an eyebrow, her gaze snapping back and forth between her obviously distressed friends. Lyra sighed again.

“Maze it’s been over four months.”

Lyra spoke plainly and directly, there was no mistaking her. Yet even then-

“Four Months?!” Maze repeated.

“The best we can figure from what Wolf told us is that after the two of you fell into your box, you kind of… drifted for a time. He said ‘the duration did not seem long but was distinctly immeasurable’ and that his chronometer stopped functioning until you landed in that other world. So… wherever it was you were, there's a strong chance time did not flow normally there, if at all” Lyra explained, though Crystal spoke up right after.

“That or time moves just that much slower wherever this ‘Wukong’ is” she offered.

“Though considering the crazy emanations and readings we’ve gotten from the surface of your box, we’re more inclined toward the former” the engineer finished. Maze however was still too stunned to respond, her eyes growing distant as they snapped about unseeing across her the bed’s sheets.

‘Four months!? They’ve been here fighting and probably dieing while I was... what?! Goofing around with Sun?! Floating uselessly in some damn box?! Even if it was just a week I shouldn’t have-’

“Maze?” the cyborg jumped when her eyes snapped up and found a pair of stern violet eyes nary a foot from her own, their owners hand on hers as she sat on the bed “Stop it.”

“But-”

“Stop. It.” Trixie repeated, focused and resolute “You’re back now, so stop it.”

And Maze did, but for an entirely different reason. Her own failures had become immediately secondary as she reached out to cup her friends face, eyes wide and searching.

“Trix what’s-?” she asked under a deeply creased brow. The mare tried to turn away but couldn’t hide it now. Subtle but still quite visible lines of dark grey webbed across her skin, following the veins from the depths of the pony’s collar, up one side of her neck along the jugular to stop only just past the jaw line. She quickly spotted more across one of the unicorn’s hands and up the forearm “…What’s happening to you?”

Maze looked to Lyra and Crystal when Trixie didn’t answer, only to have them avoid her gaze as well. Finally the finely groomed mare that was still standing, the only one who’d meet her eyes, spoke.

“We don’t know darling,” Rarity sighed “Apparently it started even before you disappeared and has been growing gradually worse…”

Maze looked back to the showmare confused, until she saw the tired shame on her face as she stared sadly at the floor holding her arms close. Maze put her head in her remaining hand and sighed before dragging it down across it.

“You could have told us Trix, we wouldn’t have thought any less-”

“That wasn’t it.” The interruption hung in the air a moment “I… I already slowed you all down once with my defects, I wasn’t about to do it again. I’m not completely disabled by this… It’s just pain so far, and I can deal with it.”

‘God damnit Trixie…’ Maze sighed again and turned to the engineer “Do we have ANY idea what this is?”

“We know it’s not a disease, not in the traditional sense at least. It didn’t start until after we gave her the custom nano-machines but from what we can tell there’s nothing wrong with them. If anything they’re exceeding expectations! So much that we actually can’t monitor everything they’re doing, so we still tried filter them out but… well…” Lyra faltered and Crystal finished for her.

“Let’s say it wasn’t a pleasant experience” Trixie visibly clenched at the thought, her eyes shut tight in a pained wince. “Other than that all her prosthetics are working great and she’s in perfect health… on paper. The best we can tell it’s like something’s trying to change her from the inside out… and it’s almost certainly our fault.”

“Trixie already said stop it!” the mare proclaimed sternly, eyes closed and chin high “She would not be alive today were it not for these upgrades. We don’t truly know what’s happening so it is no use paying it so much mind. We will simply have to deal with whatever comes as always. And as we now have a source returned to us, Trixie has no doubt our efforts with prove more fruitful.”

“Is she always… so…?” Amber whispered to her sister.

“Yes” Crystal answered plainly “but it does have a way of refocusing things.”

“Speaking of though” Lyra spoke up “I’m sure with your knowledge and abilities, not to mention your back up data base, we have a good chance of finally turning things around! Hell if we can get you close enough we may even be able to un-suppress the princess like you did Cry-”

“It won’t work” Maze stated bluntly.

“Well it may not be easy Maze, but we shouldn’t just dismiss-” Rarity began to just get cut off as well.

“It won’t work because I already did it” Maze reiterated, the group looking at her stunned “and sorry I keep interrupting you.”

“Wait, so you mean the Princess has just lost her mind?!” the earth pony agent exclaimed “I can’t believe that!”

“Oh no, her nano-machines are screwing her up alright; But there’s something… else keeping the reboot from going through. Something dark but very much sapient” Maze clarified, the blonde changeling the first to ask,

“So she’s suppressed AND possessed?” Amber received a shrug and a nod from the human.

“Well fuck…” her twin muttered.

“Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction” the cyborg agreed.

“STILL!” Lyra nearly shouted, her cheer stubbornly resisting the barrage of bad news “We have you back! You can already see the boost in morale, even after such an attack!”

“Morale? Ponies are actually glad I'm here? They aren’t up in arms about the Bloodletter being alive?” Maze asked skeptically. Crystal gave an amused scoff from her other side.

“Not only has Luna quashed pretty much any Bloodletter talk but you’ve been talked up to almost being considered a martyr. Yeah that was my reaction-” the changeling smiled at Maze’s perplexed face “but you did kind of die making sure we had that warning you left us in your sword’s hilt.”

“Yeah, except I didn’t” the displaced admitted “It was almost a complete afterthought. I was mostly focused on trying to not die.”

“Shut up, that’s not what matters. I’m not saying there aren’t the wary whispers, but there’s no denying you’ll be a shit ton of help and have just secured us a much needed win…” Crystal paused with a small sigh “And it’s been a while since we had one that’s felt like it’s been worth a damn...”

“Besides,” Trixie spoke, still in her boasting tone “Who better to fight Celestia than one of the very few who’s already beaten her before?!”

“Just a big god-damn hero aren’t I?” Maze muttered as her friends smiled at her, appearing a lot more confident than she certainly felt. She glanced down at the reminder of just how outclassed she was now. She couldn’t even hurt Celestia. She wasn’t sure if she even could be hurt anymore.

“I should have you a prosthetic ready in a few days. And while I’m not deriding how they saved your life over there; now that you’ve had surgery with the proper components and our fancy new nano-gel your recovery should be a lot faster” Lyra misinterpreted, she opened her mouth to continue when they all suddenly paused with a few heads tilting to listen “Eh, sorry Mazey. We have to get back out there.”

Lyra gave one last squeeze of Bonbon’s hand and rose to leave with Trixie and the twin siss-prea.

“We’ll catch up with you after movie night!” Crystal called back from the hall. Maze arched an eyebrow at the remaining unicorn.

“Movie night?”

“Don’t worry darling, Agent Drops and I will do our best to get you caught up.”

Maze leaned against the railing of Rarity’s balcony, playing with her food as she watched the crowd in front of the town hall down the road. The designer had left her to her own devices to help Bonbon home after she was discharged, and the cyborg’s friends had yet to meet back up with her; of course it didn’t help that she wasn’t supposed to leave the hospital. But hey, she was bored. A small holographic screen shone next to her in sync with what was playing on the hall’s large screen, but she was more interested in watching their reactions than seeing Toy Story again for the however many-th time.

Apparently Lyra managed to salvage her media backups from the Muramasa’s hilt and thought it could help keep up morale if they could keep the ponies entertained. Turns out humans made better movies and TV shows than ponies… or at least made a hell of a lot more of them.

‘Probably because we were a lot more advanced media wise’ Maze mused. Equestria had gotten pretty far in cybernetics and other such things, somewhere between the tech levels of MGS2 and 4 if she had to guess; but they only had a relatively small, though still steadily growing, entertainment industry. On top of that the closest thing they had to the internet, well… sucked, at least compared to what Maze left behind on Earth. The cyborg kept watching the reactions until she felt a familiar presence behind her.

“Hey Lulu, finally found a moment for me huh?” Maze delivered playfully without turning back. Her brow creased when she didn’t get a response, but before she could turn around she felt an arm slip around her waist and then another across her collar. A pair of dark purple wings followed and encased her as she was gently pulled from the railing.

No words were said as Maze felt the taller pony's head drape on her shoulder with a cheek against her own. She just placed her arm across the one on her stomach and leaned back into the embrace to simply enjoy it; Alicorns are the Best huggers. They stayed like that for at least a couple minutes until a heavy sigh escaped the night princess and she finally pulled away to take up the space next to the human. Luna looked toward the crowd with a small smile, one of the only truly content ones she had in months.

’It really is amazing what just a simple hug can do.’

“So…” the leader began quietly “You were suppressed by a fail-safe…”

“It’s not an excuse.” Maze let out a sigh of her own; she should have figured this would be the first topic.

“Isn’t it?” Luna countered.

“No, it really isn’t.” Maze bent over, arm braced on the railing “Look at you sister; she’s possessed on top of whatever her nanos are doing to her head and she’s so far only become a benevolent tyrant. Even if in a ruthless and absolutely terrible way, she’s still trying to help her ponies. Whereas I just became a sadistic psychopath taking pleasure in letting my victims bleed out; Not a very encouraging true self. Personally I’m surprised you bothered with the temple at all and didn’t just kill me… I would have.”

“Have you ever considered that makes you all the more impressive? Maintaining your actual true self, as you are now, with such a darkness broiling beneath?” Maze simply rolled her eyes at the fantasy babble, but Luna continued undeterred “A poor excuse is still an excuse… and yours still certainly better than mine.”

The humans eyes flew wide before rolling again, only this time in a mild shame “God damnit…”

“Well now don’t I feel like an ass” Maze straightened. Luna gave a small chuckle as her wing dragged the embarrassed cyborg closer.

“Forgot about that did you?” the monarch shot with a sly look “I remember a saying from one of the stories you shared with us oh so long ago: ‘Redeption is a path, not a destination. A road much longer for some, and one with no end for others.’ We both have blood on our hands, but at least we no longer have to walk that road alone.”

“To be fair I wasn’t around for either time you went all nightmare on the land, and the details of what happened are sketchy at best” Maze returned “I don’t even know what you looked like for sure.”

A quick snap of black flame washed over the younger monarch as the wing retracted. Standing next to the brunette was now the darker half of her oldest friend. Subtly glowing cat-like eyes stared smugly back at her from above the dark and ornate armor adorning her notably more imposing form as her mane grew evermore ethereal. The were also… other notable increases and a far less modest air to her, and not just because the accentuation of her figure.

“…sexy” Maze offered, more observationally but still a compliment. Luna gave a halfhearted smile as she examined her hands and form.

“Egotistical. ‘Twas nearly a year after my transformation before my sister bested me with the elements, and just short of a week after my return before young Twilight and her friends accomplished the same. Though I admit my wrath was not as overtly violent as yours, there is no doubt a comparable amount of blood that stains these hands” Luna delivered calmly, the small note of regret carried by the words tempered by acceptance “We both served our time Maisie, and while that doesn’t undo what we’ve done it does allow us a chance to try to make some of it right and do good once again…”

Maze stood listening to Luna’s attempts to console her. It was sort of working, though Maze still couldn’t accept it was just that simple. Plus she was distracted by the form the princess still held, one aspect in particular…

“You really are jealous of your sister’s height aren’t you?”

A dark wing smacked her in the back of the head as soon as the words left her mouth, a far more familiar face giving her a scathing look as the dark flames returned their caster to her natural appearance. Maze just chuckled as she smiled back unashamed, it now being Luna’s turn to roll her eyes.

“Moving on, and speaking of imprisonment” Luna relented in favor of curiosity “You friends confirmed you were aware while within yours. How are you even still alive?”

“Well to be honest, I’m not sure for just how long I was aware for. Star Swirl’s spell wore down, but not all at once and I have no idea when or if it was ever completely inactive. For all I know it was actually only a couple hundred years instead of the full twelve. I just know it was probably at least that since that’s what my chronometer said when it shorted out. There were also periods of inconstant time; like I’d drop something and it’d take an hour to hit the ground, stuff like that.” Maze elaborated “So that may be an explanation of why I’m not a pile of dust; my perception was faster than my actual decay. Or maybe it was just magic, I don’t fucking know.”

“And how are you not lacking far more of your sanity? And for that matter how did you overcome the fail-safe?”

“The nano machines help, a lot. You ever turn those off then I’m sure you’d see me a lot closer to what you’d expect. But no, for a while I kept myself entertained with my media and ran through my VR training routines about a billion times. Then after my systems degraded past a certain point they put me into a kind of low power mode; basically a shitty form of stasis wrapped in a sudo-coma. As for the Bloodletter, without any thing to act on she eventually just kind of faded into the back of my mind, periodically creeping up to scream at me.”

Luna pondered the implications, realizing that had her sister only perused her current technological avenues more ethically this could have been turning point in their culture. ‘But no doubt Tia’s actions may forestall progress like the aftermath of the synthetic wars all over again…’

The princess snapped out of her revere by the sudden motion beside her, the cyborg giving an exaggerated wave to the pair of mares next to a guard pony down the road. The aquamarine unicorn gesturing they’d meet up later as she supported her partner on their way to the hall.

“It is good to see you with such close friends. You were not the most social when we last knew you” Luna said with a warm smile.

“How have they been holding up?” Maze asked genuinely, still watching the group heading towards the hall.

“Aside from this being the happiest I’ve seen them since the banquet? Well… apart from her condition and her constant head-butting with Miss Sparkle, Miss Lulamoon seems to be remaining steadfast. She’s also seemed to have found common ground with Miss Fluttershy where it comes to disappointing siblings. Young Lyra’s and Agent Drop’s relationship is gradually mending; they have a ways to go but they are thankfully past the silent and screaming stages. Mr. Sasaki is as persistent as ever. And I believe the young Siss-prea and I have begun a rather rewarding friendship, not terribly dissimilar to how the one between you and I began. I suspect her status helps bridge a gap more typical between the kingdom’s citizenry and myself. She’s also struck up quite the report with Miss Pie of all ponies…”

“I can see that…” Maze spouted “Pinkie doesn’t seem the type care that she’s a changeling, a princess or even a bitch; which is a really easy way to earn points with her. Plus that bottomless positivity of hers must be like a buffet to her and her sister.”

“Yes, I had considered that...” Luna agreed “It is also quite humorous that while you and Star Swirl were so adversarial, you’ve now become so close to one of his decedents.”

“Wait, what? Who!? Oh don’t tell me it’s Trixie, that’d be way too predictable.”

“Miss Heartstrings.”

“Lyra?! Seriously?! You’re sure?”

“There are a great number of prodigies in his line, both magical and otherwise and she is certainly keeping the tradition alive” Luna grinned at Maze “And I am certain Miss Lulamoon is not. No, she is one of mine.”

Maze stared dumbfounded at the alicorn.

“You and Trix are related?”

“Descended from my dear little Star Chaser in fact, whom you should remember” Luna clarified before noticing the human’s face and laughing “You act as this is some extraordinary thing! I assure you Maze there are more than plenty of ponies that share a connection to my sister and I. Why off the top of my head here in Ponyville alone there is Fluttershy, Mayor Mare, and even that adorable little hayseed Miss Hooves. Twilight Sparkle is herself descended from both myself and Celestia.”

“... Heh, nepotism at its finest I guess” Maze quipped after a moment “And ponies joke that the Apples are inbred-”

The wing found the back of her head again, Luna giving her a flat look that snapped up into a huff.

“I assure you that by the time any of our lines had crossed, whatever slivers of our genes that remained were far too derivative to have any negative impact. Apple family or otherwise” Luna delivered with royal dignity. Maze just shot her a bright smile, earning another huff. The human simply went back to watching the crowds, ignoring the pouting princess.

“Ugh, you never did give in…” Luna finally relented after the silence lasted a few moments too long “Did I see that you have already replaced your damaged blades? I still have the remains of your Murasama if you wish to attempt a restoration. Wolf also mentioned your other blade could use some work.”

“Oh yeah,” Maze summoned both her new and old katana, handing the first to Luna as she looked over the chipped, dented and bent blade herself “and you know as well as I do you can’t just reforge a brake like that and expect it to hold up like it used to. You’d basically have make a whole new sword.”

“I suppose there is some truth in that…” Luna trailed off as she inspected the cyborg’s new red hued blade. It was well made, not exactly a masterpiece but still a fine example of smiting “A respectable piece, though 'tis not as strong as your previous blades…” She muttered before a thought came to her “Come!”

The heavily damaged blade was wrenched from the human’s grip by a purple glow as the princess moved away from the railing. Maze turned to see the two halves of her Murasama and the new blade floating with it as a glowing, rune filled circle formed beneath. The remains of the two older blades began slowly rotating around the new red tinted sword as Luna looked at her expectantly.

“Come and…?” Maze asked still leaning on the railing, Luna returning a flat look.

“Just take your place,” she answered as Maze relented and moved opposite the floating weapons from the monarch “now close your eyes.”

“Oh, are we blessing my blades? So my new sword may inherit their righteous spirits and-” Maze began in a playful tone.

“Shut up and close your eyes Maisie” Luna cut her off. Maze just giggled and she closed her eyes “Good, now envision yourself wielding your blades. Know the weight, the feel and the balance; the strengths and weaknesses of each. Think of your pivotal battles, your victories… and your losses. Of those whom you’ve ended, and of those spared.”

Luna watched as the blades danced around one another, their paths no longer led by her efforts. Each trading places as she guided Maze through the memories, the one that kept taking prominence of little surprise to the monarch. Though a saddening sight she found in the expressions across her friends face as she reflected on the weapons, changing in subtle waves but always receding back to same: Regret. An expression she’d come to know all too well since her own return.

“Now reach out, trust your hand to guide you, and take your blade” Maze, with her eyes still closed, snatched a blade with a flourish as the gathered magic flashed and dissipated. The cyborg tentatively cracked open an eye to see the other two gone... and Luna giggling at her.

“My my, how Dramatic!” the alicorn laughed. The human shot back a blushing scowl before she looked down to the sword and saw… her old silver blade.

“Wait, we were fixing this one? but I thought…” she asked, the monarch replying with still a good deal of mirth.

“We always knew you cared more for that ‘boring utilitarian sword’ than you cared to admit” Luna grinned at her before nodding her head to the weapon “Look closer.”

Maze inspected it more closely, now noting it wasn’t exactly the same. The tsuba was reinforced to work with her gun-sheath and beneath the binding the hilt seemed to be a mix of the two now absent blades; the bio-lock and storage of the Murasama and the flame triggering mechanism of the sword she received from Raven. True it was now flawless and perhaps a bit more shiny but the rest appeared little different than the unnamed grey blade that had always been at her side. It even had the Taser weave along the back.

“So… it absorbed them?”

“In a manner of speaking. The ritual combines the weapons into the one that most reflects the wielder. While I had prepared it to have the new katana as the core it seems you’re more bound to that particular sword than you believed. Not terribly surprising actually, though it did shine red momentarily during your little flourish,” Luna explained “Did you not once tell us that it was the only of your weapons not a copy of somepony else’s?”

“I guess I did…” Maze muttered, wondering if this all had some deeper meaning until “WAIT! Is this the big secret behind the ‘Legendary Royal Weapons’?! You just combine a bunch until you’ve got something good enough?”

“Shhhhh” Luna shushed playfully with a finger to her lips until the pair burst out laughing, only relenting as they began to draw looks from passersby. Another quiet, content moment passed until Luna spoke again "I doubt I could express how glad I am to know you are with us again, and not just for the support you can offer to the effort. There has been an undeniable sense of absence among your friends… and myself. I had not thought of you for so long, but as soon as we lost you again after that diner… It is heartening to have you back.”

“I just wish I had made it back sooner, even the week from my perspective-”

“You were dying Maze, not to mention learning some of the depths to this new ‘displaced’ development. Nary a soul here faults you for time that could not help but be missed, let alone a single week for recovery” Luna cut her off again. The Cyborg just shrugged, begrudgingly agreeing and quietly muttering her response.

“Well, unless Pinkie finds out I missed my birthday-”

“WHAT?!”

The pair’s eyes shot wide as the shriek shot all the way from the hall far down the road, and a growing dust trail veered straight towards them a moment later.

“Sorry” Maze offer bluntly “I should have known better.”

“Well, I suppose another party couldn’t hurt morale…”

Maze sat in the back of the town hall’s main room, once again using her codec screen as a mirror as the resistance leaders discussed strategy. She was currently using her octo-camo to see how she’d look with different colored hair, she was in need of a cut and wondered if a change was in order. A bright blonde covered her head as she looked to the changeling next to her, her own honey colored coiffeur bouncing as she returned a small shrug.

“Don’t you have any input on this?” the siss-prea asked, her twin speaking up next to her as Maze shook her hair back to its natural brunette.

“Maze isn’t really a long term strategy kind of gal” Crystal stated plainly.

“I more the type you point at a problem and say ‘do the thing’ to” the human admitted “I try to focus on tactics and take things as they come; the big picture stuff is best left to people that are good at it.”

“Oh I don’t know. Your plan to get us into Canterlot was pretty decent. Along with some of your other clever inspirations here and there, I think you do alright” Crystal offered.

“Yeah but that’s usually about as far as I get. I didn’t say I was necessarily BAD at it but I’m better at the ideas themselves than the long term specifics of ‘em” Maze offered before the princess spoke up.

“Did you three have something to add” Luna asked sternly, not accusatory but with her intention clear.

“No, sorry Lulu. Please continue” the human answered, the dream guardian returning to Twilight’s proposal.

“Well as I was saying, the prospects of the reconfiguration project may now warrant further-” Maze’s mind wandered off again as she scanned the hall and it inhabitants. First she caught Pinkie waving at her energetically. Maze just smiled back; she had managed to convince the pony to put off her party until she at least had her arm back, for whatever that was worth. Her gaze wandered over the rest of the elements and her friends but “-Do you think we may be able to pull that off Maisie?”

“Hmm?!” her head snapped back to Twilight.

“I said do you think your data could let us devise a parallel program to Celestia’s to offer the upgrade without the control?”

“Uh… yeah probably, I don’t know if it could resist another replacement upgrade once they figure out the ruse but it’s worth a shot” Twilight beamed at the response ‘looks like I guessed right. Good job following the context Maisie! Thanks Maisie.’

“I assume you’ve already deduced the most opportune time-” Luna began as Maze’s attention wandered again. Her gaze came to rest on a Q and A board behind her. It appeared to have been re-purposed as a community requests board; comments on ration allotment, housing concerns, refuge management and other smaller requests and questions were pinned to it surface. It was currently so over burdened with notes only the ‘Q’ was visible beneath.

“-At the very least it’ll cause a little confusion in the ranks and buy us more time” Crystal added to the plan Maze that really should have been paying attention to.

‘Confusion?’

“True but it still leaves the matter of what to do until then; my sister is becoming increasingly more ruthless and efficient in dragging the masses into this madness she calls harmony” Luna added.

‘Madness…’

“We um… we could try to find more allies again…” Fluttershy ‘spoke up’ “The Diamond Dogs have been very helpful… at least, I think they have been…”

’Fluttershy- Holy shit it is about that time isn’t it?!’ Maze’s gazed snapped back to the ‘Q’ board and let out a wicked laugh. Her friends immediately stiffened at the chortles.

“Uh oh, I know that laugh” Lyra lamented.

“I told you I was better at ideas” She shot at the changelings quickly before standing to address the group “Fluttershy’s absolutely right, what we need are allies! Or to be more accurate; ally.”

The group seemed wary but interested as Fluttershy blushed heavily and tried to hide from the confused glances her idea earned her.

“With Celly so completely focused on harmony and control, then our response should be obvious shouldn't it?!” Maze built up as the ponies grew more interested “What we need…”

’Pause for effect…’

“Is a little Chaos.”

Author's Notes:

Bonus points to whoever can guess why Crystal's twin is named Amber

HOLY CRAP I DID IT! Writer’s block and real life problems suck… but hey! New chapter! And hopefully the next won’t take another half a year... My sincerest apologies to any that have been disappointed by the wait. And another thanks to Frostthewolf for the crossover!

But yes! A bit longer than usual and I know it’s a lot of exposition but couldn’t think of how else to explain four months in a single chapter. And that wasn’t even all of it (more than the typical editing went into this one!) but more bits will be sprinkled through the coming chapters for those missing pieces. I tried to make what is here more natural and even a little slice of life-ish with character interaction, hopefully it worked…

But other than that, as always; Thanks for what I hope is still many of you reading and have a good one!
(Wow, I’ve actually really missed writing that!)

(Oh and for those of you who also read Locked Heart- The next chapter’s rough draft is already half done, so just sit tight a little longer! )