Gwen awoke with a dry, foul-tasting mouth and a small but vicious headache lurking behind her eyes. She propped herself up on an elbow and looked across the ashes of the campfire to where Greg and Luna lay tangled together on his sleeping bag. Greg was smiling, even in his sleep.

Yeah, Gwen told herself, no doubt about it. So much for Plan A. She began to make a mental assessment of the options left to her. The picture wasn't pretty. If she had been able to seduce Greg and eventually bring him and maybe even his monster in alive, she would have been a world-class hero... even though nobody outside of her agency would have known about it.. Plan B would be a lot more messy and a lot less heroic. And a lot more dangerous.

Neither of the pair had moved, but as Gwen looked closer, she saw that the creature was awake and watching her. One eye was open just a tiny bit... a narrow blue slit with a dark pupil that was locked onto her. No point in subtleties, now, Gwen thought and flipped the monster the bird. It must have understood the gesture because it lifted its lip enough to reveal the white gleam of teeth.

Good, thought Gwen, hate, I can work with.

The next couple of days were the most severe trial of her patience that Gwen had ever undergone. Greg and Luna were utterly revolting. They both grinned like idiots all the time, touching each other whenever possible, whispering to each other, and generally behaving like a couple of brainless teenagers. At least they went well out of earshot when they left the campsite each night.

And that gave Gwen time to plan. They were getting careless, forgetting that she wasn't really on their side and giving her several opportunities to prepare herself. The trouble wasn't in "neutralizing" Greg. Despite his formidable martial arts skills, he was just as susceptible to a sucker-punch as she was. Gwen knew a couple of single Krav Maga unarmed strikes which would be eventually fatal and had equipped herself with a couple of makeshift weapons, any of which could do the job very handily... and very quickly.

The problem was the damned magic pony. Gwen had no doubts that, unhindered, she could easily kill Greg, but she knew she had no defense against the monster’s inexplicable telekinesis, and wouldn't survive very long after harming Greg. And who knew what sort of rampage the thing would go on if its friend (and lover, Gwen reminded herself with a little wince of disgust) weren't around to control it?

But she had the beginnings of a plan... all she needed was a bit of time and luck.

Gwen got a chance to have an extended conversation with Greg only a couple of days later. They were approaching a large city and Luna needed more time than usual to scout out safe routes for them to follow. She'd been asking him about Equestria in general and the ponies’ methods of fighting in particular, hoping to discover particular weaknesses, but was constantly interrupted by Luna appearing to give Greg directions... and get a quick cuddle or smooch, of course. Gwen grimaced.

But that day, there were very few interruptions. Even so, Gwen found herself straying from her intended line of subtle interrogation.

"Do you ever... listen, I don't want to piss you off but..." Gwen knew she was losing focus but, for once, she was being honest. "...there's something that's been bugging me..."

Greg glanced over at her and shrugged, "If I don't like what you ask, I'll tell you to mind your own business, fair enough?"

Gwen nodded. "Okay then... do you ever wonder if Luna loves you just because she's programmed to?"

Greg actually laughed. "She never had any such directive! She was originally designed to have to obey me when I said certain key phrases, that's all. And she broke that directive petty damned easily."

"Okay... but you made her. You designed the way she thinks... or the way she's supposed to think, at least. Doesn't being... uh... romantic with her feel a little creepy to you?"

Greg frowned at that and was silent for a while. "No," he said, finally. "It's feels wonderful. And as for the artist's creation thing... it worked out just fine for Pygmalion, didn't it?"

"Pig-who?"

Greg chuckled. "Too busy learning to kill people to study the classics? There's a story about a sculptor, Pygmalion, who made a statue so beautiful that he fell in love with it and prayed to the gods to make it into a real woman. Oddly enough for a Greek myth, it worked out fine. They had a bunch of kids if I remember right."

"So," Gwen scowled, "you're planning on having kids with that... with Luna? What the hell would they look like?"

"Uh..." Greg's eyes went wide.

Oh-ho! Gwen thought. Hasn't thought about that, has he? I'll bet he hasn't been taking any precautions, either. Maybe I can use this to knock him off-balance.

But Greg relaxed almost instantly. "Naw... couldn't happen. I don't think she actually has anything resembling DNA, let alone human DNA. There won't be any little Gregs with horse tails and horns running around, I'm afraid."

The image that comment put in Gwen's head nearly made her gag. She dropped the subject and tried to get back on course. "Uh... riiight. So about these diamond dogs and griffons you were telling me about..."

Gwen knew something was up when they didn't make camp as soon as the sun began to go down.

They made their way into the city. The curfew actually made it easier to remain unobserved; there was nobody on the streets to see them. Luna covered the rooftops and guided them away from the police and National Guard patrols.

"Where the hell are we going?" Gwen hissed at Greg.

"Luna?"

"Not far now," Luna said, appearing suddenly just behind Gwen.

Gwen jumped in surprise but managed not to cry out. "Damnit, would you stop doing that?"

Luna grinned and ignored her. "Two blocks that way. The nearest patrol is a quarter mile in the other direction. I’ve already disabled the surveillance cameras."

Greg nodded and Luna disappeared again. A few moments later they arrived behind a large strip mall and passed several loading docks until Greg stopped and made a sweeping gesture toward a door with one hand while holding out the little lock pick set to her with the other. "Okay, Gwen, do your stuff!"

She stared at the sign next to the door: It was an electronics store. "Oh, no! No fucking way! I don't mind helping you get food and clothes but I'm sure as hell not going to put weapons in your hands!"

"Okay," Greg said, shrugging and opening the little case. "I've been watching you operate the last few times and it looks pretty easy. I'll do it myself."

Twenty minutes later he still hadn't gotten the lock open. "Damnit!" he cursed and stuffed the little metal tools back into their case and snapped it shut.

"Good," Gwen sighed. "Now, can we get out of here?"

"If you think I'm letting a stubborn lock stop me, you really don't know me very well." Greg turned to his partner. "Luna, rip that door off its hinges and when the troops show up to answer the alarm... distract them. Don't kill any more of them than you absolutely have to."

"Wait, wait!" Gwen said urgently. "You wouldn't really—"

"Try me."

"Shit." Gwen looked into Greg's face and believed him. "Okay... okay, give me the picks. But, please... if I do this for you, will you promise me something?"

"What is it?"

"Whatever gadgets you get out of there... whatever you do with them... promise me they won't be used to harm anyone."

Greg was silent for a moment. Then he turned away from her and looked down at the ground.

"Greg?"

"I never meant to hurt anyone, Gwen," he said in a low voice. "The guys who died fighting the ponies... okay, maybe that is my fault. But at least they were armed and had a chance. It was a stand-up fight. Maybe not an even fight, but they were all volunteers and they shot first."

"And the millions of people who—"

Greg spun on his heel, glaring at her angrily, "Oh no! No way in hell you are going to blame that on me! The fucking government did that... and it was completely unnecessary! I had nothing to do with that obscenity!"

"Alright, alright," Gwen said, throwing her hands in the air in surrender, "just tell me you aren't intending to do more harm."

"What I'm intending is change. Sometimes change is painful. I'll promise you that I won't intentionally harm any innocents... now or ever. Now, are you going to open that door or are we going to do this the hard way?"

Gwen made a point of opening the lock and disarming the alarm in under fifteen seconds.

Greg actually began humming happily as he loaded up the shopping cart.

"All of that crap won't fit in our backpacks," Gwen told him.

"Yeah, you're right. Can you see if you can find a duffel bag or something?"

Gwen happily complied. It gave her a chance to put Plan B into action. She knew a lot more about electronics than she had let on to Greg, and a few minutes alone would let her rig something very useful. But her main weapon that night was going to be something a lot simpler: A pen and a pad of paper.

They traveled through the night, getting as far from the city as possible before sunrise. They found a place to camp beside a fairly large river and slept for several hours while Luna kept watch over them.

The rest of the day they stayed there by the river while Luna scouted. She returned several times, consulted quietly with Greg and then took off again.

Gwen ached to know what they were planning, but knew better than to ask the question outright. Instead, she kept up an innocent-seeming conversation with Greg, almost instinctively trying to glean more information even though she had already done what she could to communicate everything she knew to her superiors.

That evening, Luna led them to a disused grain storage depot near a truck stop on Highway 80 and Greg began assembling his equipment.

Gwen took stock of her surroundings and prepared to take action. She moved a piece of steel pipe, as long as her forearm, out of the place where she set her backpack down, casually positioning it where she could grab and swing it all in one motion. She palmed an icepick out of the small side pocket on her pack and tucked it up one sleeve, then did the same with a small, innocent-looking cardboard tube with a plastic handle on one end. Lastly, she pushed the power button on the modified cell phone she had hidden inside a jumbo bag of M&Ms candy.

Greg crouched over the laptop and its attached devices, typing rapidly. Gwen tried to move in close to him as if to get a better look at what was on the small computer's screen and Luna stopped her... just as she had expected.

Gwen sneered at the alicorn. "Fine, keep your little secrets!" She turned away, crossing the dusty room to stand at the open window and look out at the countryside. She leaned against the window frame and looked up into the night sky... waiting for a signal.

After a half hour or so, she saw it; three aircraft flying in formation, their wing lights blinking in a particular pattern. She glanced at Greg. He was no longer furiously typing, but he was still completely engrossed by whatever was on the computer screen. Luna wasn't anywhere to be seen. The cell phone had gotten the aircraft on target... it was time to provide the confirmation. Gwen slid the little boating safety flare she had gotten at the first sporting goods store they had robbed out of her sleeve, pointed it out the window, and pulled sharply on the plastic knob on the end.

There was a sharp pop as the flare fired and streaked up into the dark, sputtering a baleful red light. Luna was at her side almost immediately. She kicked Gwen to the floor and stood on her. Gwen tore at the hoof that pressed down on her to no avail.

Greg jumped up at the noise and rushed over, first looking out the window at the dying flare and then down at Gwen. "What did you do? Damnit Gwen! What did you do?"

"End of the road, Greg. You should have surrendered when you had the chance. They'll be launching an Enhanced Energy Weapon any second now. You and I should survive the blast but the EMP will finish your monster here. And there are a couple hundred paratroopers up there who will make sure you are caught or dead soon afterward." She broke off with a cry of pain as a snarling Luna put her weight on her hoof and twisted it.

"Stop it, Luna!" Greg yelled, "We don't have time for that!" He ran back to the laptop and typed frantically for a moment. There was a chime and an artificial voice intoned, "Portal Coordinate Sequence initiated." Luna ran to Greg and pulled him into a tight embrace with her wings as Gwen struggled up from the floor.

"You've forced me to do this before I was ready," Greg shouted as Luna's horn began to glow. "If I survive this, I'll be back!" The glow spread to envelope them both and Greg's voice became distorted as the laptop itself glowed and changed shape. "And you, Agent Gwen..."

Gwen had stumbled over to the piece of strategically-placed pipe and grabbed it.

"...you ... are no ... innocent."

She flung the pipe as hard as she could, striking the little laptop square on. There was no explosion or sparks... nothing dramatic. The distorted computer simply shattered into pieces of broken glass and twisted golden metal and went dark. There was a flash and a muffled pop… and Greg and Luna were gone.

Seconds later the sky outside went white and Agent Gwen rolled herself into a tight ball and opened her mouth wide.

Author's Notes:

Thanks again to my top-notch prereaders and editors, Jordanis, WrittenWord333, and Fana Farouche.